The demon realm wasn't exactly how he imagined it.

The demons' home, however, was the last thing he should've been worrying about at the moment. It did serve as a good distraction from his current predicament, though.

Dolor still hadn't fully wrapped his mind around the new and unexpected turn of events... hard to blame him. Choosing to become a commandment, to join the same thing he had been fighting against for so long... it wasn't a simple choice. And a little voice in the back of his mind kept telling him it wasn't the right one either. Dying in battle was far more honorable than turning his back to his people- he didn't betray his people and Stigma, he was going to destroy the Demon Clan from the inside, and then he would take the Demon King's head, that was what he would keep telling himself. It sounded like a good plan at the moment, at least while he still was under the demon's threat. Now, with more time to actually think about what he did... not so much.

What really worried him was his friends and al- ex-allies' reactions at this turn of events; they would obviously find out sooner or later if he was going to fight as a Commandment, and there was no way he could just sit down and explain them what happened. Meliodas... Meliodas was unreadable, Dolor really had no idea of how he would react, and wasn't really looking forward it neither. Elizabeth would surely be sad, she was far too kind and forgiving to really get mad, and this somehow made him feel worse. The one that really worried him, though, was Gloxinia. They had been friends for so long, fighting for the wellbeing of their people... he wouldn't take this news well. At all.

The demon -what was his name, again? Zeldoris? Something like that?- stopped, and so did Dolor.

"Wait here. The Demon King will be here soon." and without waiting for questions, he left.

Maybe now he could really focus on how different the demon's territory was from the Fairy King's Forest or the giants' home, or maybe he could keep thinking of a decent way to explain to his old friends that now he was with the demons. Instead, he was distracted by the broken sob nearby.

"G-Gloxinia?!" he was definitely the last person he ever expected to find in that place, and much less in that state; he was, to simply put it, a mess: curled up on himself, shaking and crying, muttering something under his breath. This... this was the first time Dolor ever saw him crying. He would always be the calm one, keeping everything under control, and despite his silly jokes every now and then, he could easily be strong when the situation required it, a truly admirable king for his people. To see him like this...

Softly picking him up, Dolor cupped two of his hands to hold him closer.

"Gloxinia..." the fairy didn't react. In fact, he didn't really seem to be even aware of what was happening. Seeing his friend in such a miserable state and not knowing how to help was terrifying, he didn't even thought that there could be something capable of doing this.

".. dead...she..." now that he was closer, his muttering was starting to make more sense.

"What... Gloxinia...?" Dolor tried to catch his attention, poking his shoulder with a gentleness that seemed impossible for someone with his strength. That apparently did the trick, going by how Gloxinia turned his head to look at him, eyes still wide, realizing only now that he wasn't alone.

"... D-Dolor..?"

"It's me, I'm here." to see his friend, the fairy king, so vulnerable, so frail... it was truly frightening. Something really bad must've happened, and Dolor wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"... She... she's d-dead..." then silence. Dolor blinked, looking at the shivering form of the fairy, the words sinking in.

"What..."

"Those bastards... they killed her..." snapping his head towards the giant, his face was twisted in pure rage, tears still spilling from his bloodshot eyes. "Those fucking humans... they killed Gerharde!"

That... that couldn't be true... right?

Never before, since he met the Fairy King, he saw Gloxinia so angry, so... broken. And crying. He still couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening.

"W-wait, is that true? Is she really dead?!" he couldn't believe it. Gerharde was a smart and strong girl, despite her sweet appearance... but she absolutely abhorred the violence of the war, too. She was the perfect target.

Gloxinia was muttering under his breath again, and despite most of it was just nonsense, Dolor managed to catch the gist of what he was saying: he would avenge his sister, and he wouldn't be satisfied until he killed every single one of the bastards who took her life.

They really had nothing left to lose now. With their sudden disappearance on the battlefield, the chances of their clans thinking they died fighting were probably pretty high, and if the Goddesses ever found out about their desertion -which was bound to happen, sooner or later-, there was no doubt that they would hunt them down and use them as example for any other Stigma's member planning on leaving or betraying them.

They would be part of the Demon Clan, part of the Ten Commandments now. The very enemy they were trying to eradicate. There was no way back anymore.

Funny how things could change so fast and take unexpected turns.

Carefully sitting down to not disturb the fairy in his hands, Dolor rested his back against a stone wall. There would be time later to figure out where their fate would take them, what was awaiting for them in the grim future. But now, at least for awhile, they could allow themselves to mourn their losses, before once again preparing for war.

And so, he let the frail and broken fairy cry and scream until his throat was sore and there were no more tears to shed. He may have become a traitor now, but there was still someone he could help, at least a little, and he sure as hell would do so. In that exact moment, he swore to himself that he would stay at Gloxinia's side to pick up the pieces and put them back together.

They would keep walking.