Meeting Destiny
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the story. They belong to their respective Netflix owners; I only own part of the plot, as the rest also belongs to Netflix. And, fair warning, I have only watched until Episode 8 of Season 1 and have not read the mangas, so I do not have all of the Seven Deadly Sins knowledge out there. However, I was hooked on the Banlaine ship and saw appreciation week was this week. So, if you could, please review with thoughts on how I can improve for the rest of this week! Enjoy the story!
Their first encounter had been absolutely terrible. Well, to be completely accurate, their first encounters were terrible. If relationships are made or broken by first encounters, then Ban and Elaine would have ended each other then and there at the Fountain of Youth. However, through unseen circumstances that neither bandit nor fairy could predict, the two grew closer together than any human and supernatural being had ever been before. Neither Ban nor Elaine could have predicted how they would fall in love because Ban decided not to steal the Fountain of Youth's power. This is the story of their first encounter, or, in other words, the first day Ban and Elaine found themselves falling in love for the first time.
Originally, Ban had come to steal the power of the Fountain of Youth whether he was opposed or not. He had not expected to fall in love with the fountain's Guardian. He had been so young then, having just turned twenty-three two weeks before journeying to the Fountain of Youth. How was Ban to know how deeply involved he was to be in protecting the Fountain and falling for the saint guarding it? Little did the bandit named Ban know his life and destiny would forever be changed when he reached the top of the tree.
Bandit Ban had not been alone in his quest for the Fountain of Youth. Not at the beginning, anyway. At the start of the quest, Ban had been in the company of no fewer than seven of the most infamous bandits and crooks of Britannia. When Ban had caught wind of their plan to kill him, he drugged their food- it didn't kill them- took the map, pocketed the gold at camp, and set off on his own, making sure to create a hard-to-follow trail. He never left a direct path to the Fountain of Youth; Ban was too clever for that. The twenty-three-year-old bandit traveled across rivers and covered his tracks so as to not be tracked by his "comrades" that seemed so intent on killing their youngest member. One of the first actions Ban took in his escape route was to go to an inn three towns away from the campsite before he spent two or four- Ban's not entirely sure which number it is- nights at said inn as he laid low. If there was one place Ban knew the bandits would not look for him, it was a town where all of the bandits except Ban were wanted for murder, treason, or both.
After four- or was it two?- nights at the inn named the Captain's Angel, Bandit Ban set out for the Fountain of Youth and hoped the gang hadn't gotten there before him. It took him three nights- Ban's positive of this count- to reach the famed spot of the Fountain of Youth after he travelled at night and slept during the day to try and divert attention away from himself. Three nights of walking, hiding, and doing his best at being undetectable really took their toll on Bandit Ban. In fact, when he reached the famed tree, Ban took a quick nap in one of the neighboring thickets in order to have enough strength to scale the formidable plant.
With his strength rejuvenated, Ban began to climb up the tree's trunk as he chanted under his breath.
"Bingo!" he cheered, bright red eyes glimmering as he caught sight of the top of the tree and Fountain of Youth.
Ban dug his heels in and continued to scale the behemoth tree, and he had to stop every once and a while to catch his breath. If he was going to successfully obtain immortality, he would need some serious encouragement.
"A drop on the tongue adds ten years to your life," Ban chanted, a grin breaking on his lips and revealing his sharp canines. "One gulp adds one hundred!" he happily shouted, nearly at the top. "Drink it all and you'll live forever!" Ban sang in a care-free, confident voice as he threw his bag onto the grassy ledge.
With that, Ban pulled himself up to where his arms and face were over the rise and he could see the object he had journeyed so far for.
"So, that's the Fountain of Youth, the treasure guarded by a saint!" Ban gasped and chuckled as he marveled at the flowing pink liquid and beautiful forest.
Bandit Ban pulled himself entirely onto the ledge, and he licked his lips in anticipation.
As he stared at the glowing, pink Fountain of Youth, Ban began to remember what the thugs he travelled with said about its magic.
"Anyone who drinks the water that's flowing from that cup gains eternal life, huh?" Ban asked himself aloud, trying to convince himself that the power was real.
He licked his lips again, canines exposed once more as he tossed his travelling bag over his right shoulder.
"Talk about blowing something way out of proportion," Ban scoffed as he looked all around him and thought of the supposed danger the other bandits warned him of. "I don't see any treasure-guarding saint around here," he announced in his nonchalant tone, red eyes gazing around lazily before landing on something.
A person two feet shorter than him wearing a solid white dress that exemplified her golden eyes and blonde hair caught his eye.
"You lost, little girl?" he joked, leaning down to get closer to her height, but he still towers quite a bit above her.
"I'm guarding the spring," she announced in her no-nonsense tone she reserves for bandits as she levitated off the ground and floated closer to his face.
At least he had the decency to look shocked as she got in front of his face and held her hands out.
"From bandits like you," she told him before she cast her hand upwards and flung him off the tree he had spent so long climbing.
Oh, he didn't like her already, no matter how cute she was!
Ban felt the breath leave his lungs as he shouted bloody murder and fell rapidly from the top of the tallest tree in the forest where the Fountain of Youth lay hidden. Then, as if someone was looking out for him, Ban felt himself come screeching to a halt. As he looked up, Ban expected to see nothing but white as he had assumed he died. However, when the sight that greeted him was a tree branch that had caught him by the back of his shirt, Ban let out an involuntary sigh. He was relieved and somewhat surprised that he had lived through that experience.
"So, that's the saint who guards the pond, huh?" Ban smiled, intent on going back up there to get the Fountain of Youth's water or at the very least find out why the guardian saint flung him so harshly off the tree.
"It's okay now. I've dealt with the bandit," Elaine comforted the Fountain as she believed Ban had been dealt with and disposed of forever.
"A drop on the tongue adds ten years to your life!" Ban began chanting again as he attempted to get up the tree once more. "One gulp adds one hundred!" he shouted in confidence as he sprang further up the tree with a grin plastered on his face. "Drink it all and you'll live forever!" Ban tried again before once again Elaine flung him off the tree as he hoped he wouldn't be so lucky at surviving this time.
One time was luck, after all. Two or more times, and he was sure to be cheating or using magic.
When the human bandit came back no fewer than three times, Elaine and Ban were both with terrible tempers. In fact, Elaine began to wonder how such a fragile human could survive such harsh encounters with the ground and still be alive, breathing, and trying to steal the Fountain of Youth's power.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Ban yelled at the guardian whose name he still did not know but still thought that she was cute.
"YOU TOOK THE WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH!" the blonde fairy saint/guardian named Elaine yelled at him, looking even more annoyed than before if that is even possible. "How are you even still alive?!" she demanded, still not knowing how he had not died in all her attempts to keep him from coming back. "No human should be able to survive a fall from this height!" Elaine shouted in annoyance, speaking the words that had been echoing in Ban's mind the whole time.
He was thief, but he knew when luck ended and when something else was at play. This was not luck.
"Oh, I got caught on a branch one time," Ban admitted in such a cute voice that Elaine almost felt like forgiving him.
Almost.
"I fell into a clump of trees another time…." he continued his explanation, still hanging on for dear life as he thought the guardian was going to fling him back off only for him to have to climb back up.
Again.
"What? Why would the forest be trying to save a human?" Elaine questioned as an aside, mostly to herself and the surrounding forest.
"Like I care!" Ban loudly laughed, his head tipped back as he jumped onto the ledge for the umpteenth time. "I still can't believe a little thing like you is the guardian of the secret treasure," he taunted before throwing his nun-chucks into the air and then he grabbed the goblet that held the water from the fountain of youth.
Elaine had wasted no time wrapping the vines around his neck and holding him against his will as she ripped the goblet back from him and threatened him never to return.
When their eyes met, warm golden ones melting together with fiery red ones, Elaine realized that she was falling in love with this man. He had promised not to return to the Fountain of Youth, and then Elaine felt herself wanting to believe that was true. However, she knew all humans were the same and that he would not keep his promise.
"Honest," he promised, and out came that dazzling smile that he turned on many people throughout his life.
Elaine felt her heart melt, and she wanted to look away, but she found herself captivated by his face, smile, and overall confidence. This encounter with this thief was unlike any of the other thieves that had come to the forest, and Elaine could see that. However, she still felt in her heart that he could not be trusted, so she used her mind-reading abilities to see if he was really telling the truth.
She found out that he actually was telling the truth, much to her surprise. So, she decided to let him down, and the thief began to pop his shoulder back into place since the vines had corded into his arms and cut off any circulation that could otherwise flow into his shoulder.
"Who in the world are you?" Elaine asked him, wanting to know more about the man who risked his life to climb the tree continuously.
"Can't you tell?" Ban asked in kind of an annoyed voice, thinking that much was obvious. "I'm a bandit," he deadpanned, and Elaine almost wanted to smack that stupid grin off his face.
However, Elaine considers herself to be a lady, so she would never get physical with an attacker on the forest if she could help it.
"I go by Bandit Ban," he introduced himself as he spun around to face her. "What about you, kiddo?" Ban smiled at her as he ran a hand down the back of his neck.
"I'm not a child," Elaine retorted, wanting that point to be extremely clear to the human whose life the forest seems intent on saving. "My name is Elaine," she announced, and it was as if the light decided to shine down on the two of them just then.
Ban found himself mumbling her name under his lips. It was an absolutely beautiful name for a beautiful lady that was not a kid at all, according to her words. And, if that was the case, Ban could live with that.
Not long after their introductions, Elaine and Ban had eaten a bit of lunch of fruit and a bit of the rations Ban had left in his pack. Then came the question that Elaine had been wondering the whole time Ban tried to climb the tree in desperation.
"Ban…" Elaine quietly spoke, turning around to face him, her golden eyes glowing and blonde hair flowing around her face perfectly in the wind. "What is your purpose in seeking the Fountain of Youth?" she asked, and it was out there in the open with no way of taking it back.
"No real reason," Ban admitted, looking up from his lap to lock his dark red eyes onto her honey colored ones and then let out a bit of a sigh before he continued. "If you live a lousy life long enough, maybe something good will come your way eventually," Ban put forward his own personal philosophy, and he was definitely not beginning to think that Elaine could be that something good coming his way.
Of course he wasn't.
They had just met.
But, already, Ban was whispering her name under his breath and gazing at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. And he was already trying to plan a way to make Elaine his girl for the rest of his life.
"That's all," he finished, and they held their stares for what seemed like an eternity before Elaine spoke up.
"What if you gain eternal life and nothing good ever comes your way"? Elaine asked, and Ban didn't realize at first that Elaine was referring to herself as she thought of the lack of good aspects of her life.
And then, Ban had wandered into it, and everything seemed to get brighter and immeasurably more interesting even in the few hours he had been here with her in her world.
"Huh?" Ban questioned as he turned around from where he had been staring off into the distance.
When Ban jumped down from the tree, he saw that Elaine was close to tears and her golden orbs looked like water would pour out of them any second. The bandit walked up from behind her and crouched down before he set his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist in a comforting move. Elaine gasped at first at the contact, not used to anyone comforting her in this way. However, after just a few seconds, Elaine melted backwards into his touch and rested her head against his warm chest.
"I never had anyone who cared for me these past seven hundred years," Elaine admitted, her voice cracking as she revealed the fact to Ban. "I—" Elaine started again, only for the tears to overcome her face and Ban swiftly situated her to where her face was pressed against his warming chest.
The tears flowed from her eyes and hit Ban's chest, sending trickles of water down his skin in the process.
"Hey. Hey," Ban softly said as he moved a lock of her blonde hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Elaine," he gently said and then he raised her chin slightly to look her in the eyes and try to comfort her. "There you are," Ban smiled, and her heart nearly melted as he looked at her so tenderly and without a hint of malice or bad intentions.
"Ban, I'm-" Elaine began, and then Ban placed one of his fingers over her lips.
"No," he softly commanded before he removed his finger from her lips. "Don't apologize. I understand. My father abandoned me and my mother when I was young," Ban admitted, his dark red eyes clouded over with some emotion, most likely hatred at the man who was never there for him. "And then my mother died a few years ago due to an epidemic in my hometown. So, yeah, I get what it's like to be alone," Ban told her, and he knelt down on the ground, pulling Elaine down to the ground in the process where she was sitting on top of his legs.
"Ban, I—Thank you," Elaine smiled, and she placed a soft hand on his face to comfort both of them. "I am sorry for your losses, but I do believe that it is your turn to experience something good," Elaine told him, sitting on his legs as she leaned into his face and brushed their noses together slightly before pulling away.
"What does that even mean?" Ban inquired, confused by the statement to be quite honest.
"Well, you found me, didn't you? I would say our chance encounter gave you the adventure you were looking for and a friend to tell your troubles to," the guardian saint smiled at the bandit.
"I would say so, too. Now, with our chance encounter done, I'd like to make a proposition if I may be so bold," Ban smiled, and he moved closer to her face, making a hot pink blush appear on the fairy's face.
"You may. As long as it is not threatening to myself, you, or the forest."
"Well, I would say I have met my destiny here with you. And I would love to stay here in the forest with you if you would have me."
"Of course, Ban. I believe you are my destiny as well," Elaine smiled, and she pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, making it Ban's turn to blush deeply at the contact.
"Well, then, Elaine, I do believe we have reached an agreement. Now, is there anything interesting to do around here? Because watching the Fountain all day doesn't seem like my favorite activity," he joked, and Elaine ruffled his light blue hair with one of her hands.
"There are a few things I do around here for fun other than watch the Fountain of Youth, yes," Elaine admitted, standing up and detaching herself from Ban's legs since he still had her sitting on top of his thighs.
"Such as?" Ban inquired, as he stood up and spread his limbs out a bit before he cracked his back just a little to relieve the pain of crouching behind Elaine.
"Well, you will just have to follow me and see, silly Bandit Ban," Elaine smiled, and she took off running among the branches of the trees, her infectious laughter echoing off the trees of the forest.
And with a smile, Ban ran off after her, certain that his chance encounter with this fairy saint and Guardian led to the new happiness in his life that was sure to follow. He could get used to living in this forest with her, protecting it from thieves who would try and use the power for their own greedy purposes. Oh, yeah. This was definitely the life.
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed.
Everything has changed.
Author's Note: And there it is! My first Seven Deadly Sins FanFiction is finished! I know quite a bit of it was from the original episodes, but I needed that as my basis for their encounter and my twist on how Episode 7 should have ended. So, I thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! As always, reviews are always appreciated, and I hope you keep a lookout for any future Seven Deadly Sins works from me! Have a nice day, afternoon, or evening! I'll do my best to update more in the Banlaine appreciation week if I get a break from schoolwork since my school is involved in three weeks' worth of End of Course testing that I don't have to take since I am in IB. Until the next time, my dear readers! ?