Idea stemmed from a personal tumblr post on the possibility of a Tainted AU time travel. Except this is in Eleanor's pov completely.
Eleanor stared at the pair that had appeared in front of their group.
Velvet had decided on a whim to visit Lothringen once again. Perhaps to scare any exorcists training there again, but Eleanor knew that after their first appearance there, no one dared to return to the tower for training, for fear of the Lord of Calamity returning to destroy them.
Of course, Eizen's bad luck had to trigger the moment they stepped into the room Melchior used his illusions in. The pillar of darkness that appeared was comparable to what was normally released after they freed a Therion from its barrier, the Malevolence choking all but the Daemons of the group.
It was what appeared when the pillar dissipated that had her staring. In front of them was what seemed to be a human and Malakhim pair... except for the fact that the both of them were not exactly normal, with the taint of Daemonblight visible on them both, despite a lack of physical features altered.
The human of the two was dressed in a facsimile of Lord Artorius' outfit as the Shepherd, the white that symbolised purity stained black with Malevolence, gold lining the outfit and a blood red shirt underneath it all. His eyes glittered like emeralds, with a hint of madness and insanity in them. The Malak... if it could be called that anymore, was dressed in ghostly white and dark blues, hardened amethyst eyes slit like a dragon's, but gave away that it still had its free will.
All of them were immediately on edge. The Malevolence rolling off the two was not normal. The only one who seemed unaffected, was Velvet herself, her Therionized hand transforming out of instinct to consume the emitted Malevolence.
Taking a fearful step forward, Eleanor took a deep breath and questioned, "Who are you?"
The answer Eleanor got from the two completely shattered her beliefs of what she had been taught as an exorcist, beliefs that had already been cracked with her experiences with Velvet. Velvet only gave them a look of understanding, knowing that logic and reason had no place in the extremes one would take for the sake of their loved ones.
A Fallen Shepherd and his bonded Malakhim. A Lord of Calamity and his tainted servant. Both of them tainted beyond belief, both of them fallen out of free will and out of devotion to each other. It was confusing. It was ridiculous. It was contradictory. It was insane. It made her fear for the future, but at the same time it made her realise that the role of a Shepherd didn't change the fact that they were still human, prone to inexplicable emotions, prone to mistakes.
Velvet extended her untransformed hand to them. A gesture of welcome. Eizen huffed. He wouldn't judge, having already been tainted by Malevolence himself. Rokuro simply looked eager, staring at the ritual sword on the Fallen Shepherd's waist. Laphicet looked at them in innocent confusion, wondering how neither of them had turned into Daemons yet. Magilou looked on with calculating eyes, storing the knowledge she gained here for future use.
Eleanor could only giggle as the two looked at the group dumbfounded, the madness in their eyes clearing in their surprise. Their crew was an accepting one, they took on Therions, Daemons, a Reaper, an escaped Malakhim, a witch and a traitorous Exorcist. Perhaps, having these two on the crew wouldn't be too bad, with people around who accepted their faults. Perhaps the both of them could live normally... well, as normally as the crew of the Aifread Pirates lived.
She wondered, what was the future like, that a human and Malakhim were closer than brothers... to follow each other into the deepest darkness. Sorey, the Fallen Shepherd, and Mikleo, the tainted Malakhim. She looked forward to learning from them, of how the world was in the future...
If you were wondering what the original idea was, here's the link: rainixdra. tumblr post/ 160825322797/ berseriazestiria-fic-idea.
It deviated from it quiet a lot and no I am not planning on continuing it. Its a big what if idea and heavy reaction idea fic. Hope you enjoyed it (Also, I feel this is one world where a Tainted AU Sorey and Mikleo can find acceptance.)