"Well, Jesus Christ, I'm not scared to die,

I'm a little bit scared of what comes after

Do I get the gold chariot?

Do I float through the ceiling?

Do I divide and fall apart?"

He was falling. But shockingly, it didn't seem he was falling from a great height. There was no wind, no drop in his stomach, no rush in his head. No, he was falling slow. A short fall, one that should have been quick. It was too slow. The world was tilting backwards slightly and he couldn't keep himself rooted to the ground. His lungs wouldn't take in air, his mind wouldn't process thoughts. The world was a blur of grays fading to black, his body too heavy and no longer under his control. He ached to hit the ground and know it was over. He ached everywhere. He was frozen in time and yet time passed slow and he was falling, falling, falling…

Meliodas woke with a jump, immediately sitting up. The blood rushed to his head, spotting his vision black and dizzying him. He blinked a few times, noting outside the bedroom's single window was a night sky. Elizabeth still lay peacefully beside him.

Undoing his ropes easily, he reflected on his dream. He quickly let it go. He'd always been one to have nightmares since thousands of years ago. Years of war and bloodshed and loss gave his dark mind plenty to conjure up in the late night. Falling was one of the lesser horrors, if it could be called a horror at all.

He looked at the clock on his wall, which told him the time and date. Elizabeth had seen it as a sound investment, although he had already possessed a clock previously. This one was nicer, she insisted. He hardly liked to stop her from investing in the finer things in life.

December 21st. 6:03 am. The first day of winter, he noted. The tavern tended to get less busy in the colder regions, such as the one they were passing through now, during the winter months as people liked to stay in more. That, and he also personally hated the cold. He set a mental reminder to start heading south bound.

The time he usually awoke was close, anyways, so starting his day a few minutes early didn't seem too awful. He wondered if he should stir Elizabeth; she was usually up before him by a good hour, a natural morning person. She immediately woke up smiling like the sun, cheerful and bouncing. Meliodas appreciated her enthusiasm, though he couldn't imitate it. It usually took him a good hour in the morning to fully awaken.

He decided against waking her. She seemed too peaceful. Peaceful was a good expression for her.


"You're up early today, Captain," Merlin commented with her usual smirk.

"Do you ever sleep at all, Merlin?"

"Hardly. There are too few hours in a day," she replied, as if she had fully predicted his question.

He smirked back in return. Merlin was a mysterious enigma, but one of his most trustworthy comrades. He was glad she had returned to the Sins.

"Where are we heading today?" asked Ban, exiting the kitchen with breakfast in tow.

"South," Meliodas answered, but besides that didn't have many details to add. Since the return of the Ten Commandments, the Sins were on a journey for information. There was no way to combat them in the state they were in, so Meliodas was making sure they first scouted for their motives and information on their scattered whereabouts before the destined confrontation. He needed to know if there was more on their mind than world domination, not that he expected there to be; the demons were pretty straightforward in their plans.

Merlin unfolded an aged map, pointing to their location and dragging her finger downwards as Ban looked over her shoulder. "South can be anywhere. We are nearly at the Northern tip of Britannia. We can stop at Dorningham for supplies since it's less than a mile south from here, but as for travelling in the long term, we'll need a more particular route."

"Why not head all the way down to Camelot, see how things are holding up?" Ban suggested.

"I guess we could just go straight down the center, hit a few stops along the way," Meliodas speculated, staring at the map with narrowed eyes. Until the Commandments began to act, there was nothing to do but reflect and wait.

He couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the plan, though. He also had a bad feeling about where they were right now. All around, he had been rather wary since waking up. He thought back to his dream again.

The trio closed the map as the rest of the tavern began to awaken, first joined by Gowther, then King and Diane. It was another seemingly normal morning in the Boar's Hat, but Meliodas still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He needed to get out of here, get some air, clear his head.

"Well," he said, clapping his hands together in his normal, light-hearted way, "I'll be heading to town to get some ingredients for tonight. It'll be our last day open for a week or so, so everyone get ready to make some money."

"Shouldn't I be the one getting the ingredients, since I'm the only one who knows how to cook?" Ban sighed.

Meliodas only replied by flicking his forehead, which Ban cursed at in reply. After a few goodbyes, he was off to the town of Dorningham.

It was frigid outside, the sky gray and cloudy, an upcoming storm in the distance. The wind bit his face, and the streets were mostly clear of lingering villagers, everyone wanting to get out of the harsh cold. For once, he was enjoying the freezing air. It helped him focus. He stopped in a few stores, grabbing some food for the tavern, but he couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid within the town. Something was definitely wrong, either with this place or himself. He couldn't focus on the stores or who was selling him what. A few storekeepers tried to make conversation with him, but he couldn't get out more than a few words. Finally, he decided it was best to just return to the Boar's Hat. Hours had passed, and being away from the tavern obviously wasn't helping his mood.

Meliodas observed the Boar's Hat upon his return. Hawk Mama had buried herself under the frost covered ground, leaving just his tavern, smoke coming from the chimney, looking as usual as ever. Was anything off? Not that he could tell. Maybe he was losing it.

"Lord Meliodas!" a voice called from behind him. He immediately felt warmth spread through his cool skin.

"Elizabeth? What are you doing out here, especially in this weather!" He was happy to note she had managed to find a jacket. It was the first time he was glad she wasn't in her skimpy tavern uniform.

"Well, you see," she hesitated for a moment, and he observed her curiously. Elizabeth wore her emotions obviously, from her flustered blushing to her heartbroken sobs. He could easily observe that she seemed to be hiding something.

"I just..." she continued, "something just felt right about going into the woods today!" She gestured to the barren forest a hundred feet away from the tavern.

He had to have been looking at her like she had grown another head. "You went into the woods? By yourself?"

"Well, yes!"

"In this weather, which is nearly below zero?"

"Well... yes?"

"Just because? It felt like the right thing to do?"

"Um..." She hesitated again before nodding.

He smiled largely at her before poking her in the forehead, leading her to blush. "You are too adventurous for your own good."

She smiled warmly at him, "Well, Lord Meliodas, if I had not wanted to adventure, I never would have found you."

"I don't know if going after a group of criminals could be considered a good thing" he joked.

"Oh Lord Meliodas," she exclaimed with a serious expression, "it was the best thing that ever happened to me."

He smiled at her compliment. After a second in the serious atmosphere, he gave her curvy bottom a firm squeeze, "Yeah, the best thing to happen to me as well!"

Her face turned crimson, a heavy contrast to their surroundings. The land was snow covered and barren. If not for her blush, Elizabeth's silver and pale and blue would blend right in.

"W-we should really go inside!" Elizabeth spluttered, trying to recompose herself.

"Mm sure," he agreed, "but Elizabeth..."

"Yes?"

"I'm serious, don't go out there alone," he made his expression and tone match the seriousness in which he felt, "I need to protect you."

He could only imagine the devastation of her getting lost or hurt out here in the cold. One of the main reasons he had decided it was okay for her to join the Sins while the Commandments were on the loose was because if they had threatened Liones while he was away, there was no telling what could have happened to her. The thought kept him up at night; the safest place for her, he hoped, was with him.

"I'll be fine, Lord Meliodas! Please, don't worry about me. I know I don't have what you and the other Sins have - I'm not strong and my magic isn't far along yet - but I don't want you to feel like you are obligated to protect me."

She always mentioned obligation, as if he was being forced to protect her. He wondered if she was as oblivious to his feelings as she seemed. He at least had a sense for hers, even if they didn't discuss them. "You may have been fine today, but it'd be a risk testing it more than once."

"I already have! I went yesterday!" She let the words roll off her tongue, and looked to immediately regret them as soon as she did.

"What!? Why!?"

She shrugged, twiddling with her skirt. "How about we talk about it later tonight?"

He pursed his lips and gave her a nod. He respected her enough to give her time. But he couldn't lie to himself; he was curious.

As they entered the tavern and started preparing for the few guests he was sure they'd have tonight, he found his eyes wandering to the princess more than once. Maybe he should bring up a few other topics tonight as well. Like the real reason he wanted, no needed, to protect her.


Meliodas wiped down another mug carefully, using more attention than usual. His mind was far from the chatter of the bar, still stuck on his negative premonition. Usually, his bad feelings came with atrocities; but even more frequently, he was able to track the source of these bad senses. If an enemy was flying towards them at high speed, he'd know. A weapon, he could easily track. And yet... he could sense nothing astray coming towards the bar. Nothing wrong with anyone around him. Nothing even slightly unusual. So why did something in him feel so wrong?

"You seem distracted," a soft voice washed over his panicked mind. He was surprised he didn't sense her making her way over here. It just went to show how distracted he was.

He gave Elizabeth his best grin, "Not much for me to do with so many employees. I used to have to handle cooking and serving by myself. But now I have Ban to do the cooking, and of course," he paused, giving her behind a teasing squeeze, enjoying the rose colored flushed that spread through her cheeks, "a beautiful waitress attending the customers."

She blushed deeper at the compliment, before giving him a small, chastising smile. "Two beautiful waitresses!" she corrected, referring to Diane.

"Of course, of course," he agreed good-naturedly. Diane was one of his dearest friends, and he could compliment her for hours, but never in the flirtatious manner he reserved for the Princess.

Elizabeth continued to smile warmly before refocusing, her grin faltering at the corners. "I don't think you answered me fully about the distraction, though. You seemed worried. Is there something on your mind, Lord Meliodas?"

He shrugged, drawing his eyebrows together a bit. She always read him so easily, as much as he tried to mask how he was feeling. He wondered if he was starting to let his emotions slip out a bit more obviously, or she was just getting to know him better and better. Both options were probably not for the best.

"Just a bad feeling today."

"Bad as in... How? Bad as in feeling ill?"

"No, not ill, just..." He shrugged again. He felt more comfortable talking to her than anyone else, but he still felt foolish for having such a bad feeling without any source.

He looked from the mug in his hands over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was observing him thoughtfully, leaned against the bar. One wide, blue eye giving him her full attention. She didn't seem to think he was foolish at all.

There was a familiar feeling that surged through his chest when he looked at Elizabeth in moments like this. Random moments of quietness or beauty or conversation. When he watched her peaceful in her sleep, when she smiled at him genuinely, when she got the determined look in her eye for her cause. This feeling wasn't an unfamiliar or indescribable feeling. It was just one he was too afraid to focus on after the last time it had absorbed his life and ended as it had.

"You know," she interrupted his thoughts again, her voice even softer, but something he was able to hone in on in the overlapping loudness of the tavern, "you can talk to me, Lord Meliodas. I know there's many things I probably don't understand or know like you or the others do, however I-"

"You?"

"I..." She was biting on her lip. Meliodas knew that meant she had something to say but she was unwilling to speak it out loud. Overthinking her words. "I care about you," she settled on, "and I'm willing to listen."

The corner of his mouth turned up. They both had a lot of unspoken words between the other. He'd have to breach the subject soon.

He decided he couldn't turn down her request after her honesty. "I'm not ill," he began, leaning against the bar as well, "I had a... well, I always have... dreams. Darker dreams." He glanced at her, but the news didn't seem to surprise her. I guess your sleeping habits became transparent to someone after sharing a bed for so long. "But most of the time they relate to the past," this seemed to grab her attention, but he wasn't going to elaborate any further on that subject. "But this one was just simple. Just dark and it felt like, I don't know. Dying?" he ventured. Obviously he'd never died before, but he'd imagined the feelings were similar.

She nodded solemnly, pursing her lips in thoughtful concentration.

"So you're upset over the dream? Well, nightmare?"

"No, no, I can handle a few nightmares!" He confidently flexed, shooting her a cocky smile to her giggling amusement.

He faltered again, however, as he continued, "it's just, I never quite woke up from the bad feeling, I guess. All day I've just gotten, I don't know? The feeling something bad is going to happen, but no reason to believe something will."

"How strange..."

"I know, doesn't make much sense! But-"

"No, no. I'm not saying you're strange. I'm just saying it's strange you are feeling that way when, well," her eyes narrowed as she focused on her twiddling hands, "I've had the same strange feeling all day."

His eyes widened a bit. Both of them? He went from over-analyzing his thoughts to now emphasizing his fear. But Elizabeth and him didn't normally have the same sense: she didn't have a sense for power at all.

"But," his eyes snapped up to her as she continued speaking, refocusing, "Lord Meliodas, I find that I'm not afraid. If bad things are to come, let them. I believe we can get through any challenge together, all of us. I do," she gave him another small smile, but her eyes were filled with a fiery genuineness that left him in awe.

She placed a reassuring hand on his cheek and his body focused all his senses on it. He felt numb everywhere else. When had she become so bold? After she had unlocked her power? After he had confessed to her injured body that he was practically living for her sake? She tilted her head to the side "Whatever the future holds, I'm glad I'm here right now, in this moment, with you."

He blinked, running this moment through his head on repeat multiple times, trying to form a coherent sentence. He was normally smoother than this but she had caught him off guard, on top of his paranoia all day. What an emotional wreck.

She giggled again; he must have had quite a look on his face. Her laughter sent warmth from his heart to the tips of his fingers and toes. He tried to find a proper comparison: it was like music, wind chimes on a clear day.

He wish he could enjoy it more thoroughly. But there was still a biting shadow in the back of his head.

"Elizabeth..."

"Yes, Lord Meliodas?" She sounded excited, and a bit nervous. What was she expecting him to say?

He hesitated, before posing the question he had thought earlier today, "Why did you go into the woods? I don't think you just had a feeling."

Her hand dropped from the side of his face, her expression dropping as well. She looked a combination of shocked and disappointed, and then more nervous.

"You know you can tell me things too, Elizabeth. I thought you knew that."

"I do know that! I do."

"But you won't-" and that's when he felt it. Right in the middle of his sentence. An overwhelming power, close to here. Chills ran up his spine, a weight like gravity leaning down on his shoulders. A part of his head throbbed. He knew this feeling. He'd felt it during a number of attacks through his long life

"I won't…?" Elizabeth was looking at him in concern.

He shook his head, trying to remain calm. "Stay here and watch the tavern."

"What? Where are you going?"

He ignored her temporarily, calling out for King and Diane. Gowther was already getting up from the other side of the tavern.

"Ban, let's go," he said, swinging open the kitchen door. Hawk was gathering scraps from the floor as Ban cooked away.

"Where are we going, Captain?" King questioned, immediately preparing for the worst.

"Can none of you feel that?" Meliodas exasperated.

"Feel what?" Ban took off his apron, turning off the stove.

"Feel-" Meliodas threw his hands in the air, lacking words. How was he supposed to describe this?! Was he the only one with sense?!

"We're leaving, Captain?" Merlin called down the stairs.

"Yes! Just need to check something outside I have a bad feeling about. Be ready."

"Lord Meliodas!" Elizabeth grabbed his shoulder from behind, "I don't understand, what's wrong?"

He smiled at her reassuringly, "Nothing, I'm sure. Just need to take the Sins out to check on something. Please, stay here."

"I should really come-"

"No, Elizabeth," he said with a bit more force than he meant to, "you shouldn't."

She blinked a few times, and he wanted to comfort her and the hurt look that crossed her face. He never meant to hurt her. He just needed her to understand. He never wanted to leave her behind, he just wanted her to be safe; was that so hard to comprehend?

He pursed his lips, trying to think of something to say to make her feel better, but nothing came to mind. He decided he'd make it up to her later. For now, he had to go.

Six of the Seven Deadly Sins made their way outside the tavern. Five out of six were asking their captain plenty of curious questions, all of which the captain temporarily ignored.

Meliodas was too focused. Where was it coming from? Where? The answer came to him immediately. The woods. He should have figured.

He quickened his pace, the other sins following farther behind as he sped, still conversing their curiosity. They could catch up. He needed to know, needed to see. He needed to confirm that he wasn't insane, that this feeling that had lingered with him all day had a reason.

The tree line was only a few feet away now. The Sins were farther behind.

He never made it there.

He felt the pain before he saw it. He saw the blood before he saw the weapon.

Seven in his torso, piercing each of his hearts. A few in his legs, making him collapse to the ground. One had scraped right above his left eye, pouring blood into his vision. They had made it all the way through his body. Surely, they must be poking out through his back. But no, there was no visible weapon. Just the remnants of something that had been there for a moment, and had left him like this. Briefly, in the shock, he thought maybe they had been made of a bright light.

He fell back into the iced earth. The warmth of his blood steamed the snow around him. He heard the Sins shouting as they approached the area, but he couldn't make out what was happening. Too much shock. They were past him in a moment, at the tree line. He noted someone trying to help him, but immediately having to protect himself from an attack, quickly leaving his side. It was too dark.

As the pain coated his body, the blood pooling from him, the shock subsided and he came to the realization. He was going to die. Actually die. And he wouldn't even know why. Minutes ago everything had been normal, and now he was here on the ground. Dying.

He wasn't ready to die yet. He'd been willing to sacrifice himself a million times for a number of causes. Most of them had been for Elizabeth. If he knew he'd be dying for her, he'd go in an instant. But if not for her, than for what? He had too much to live for. Too much uncompleted. He needed to tell her everything. How he'd known her for thousands of years. How he wished, the moment she had entered his tavern, he could have had her right there, but he had stopped himself. How he knew he'd love her this time as he had the others, but he'd hesitated because he was afraid of how her affiliation with him would affect her life for the worst. How he'd tried to convince himself he didn't need to fall in love with her, and yet her actions had drawn him in. How he'd fallen in love with every determined look in her eyes, every sacrifice she'd make, every blush of her cheeks, every morning when he saw her asleep. How much he loved her. How he had whispered nothing but the truth when he told her he was living for her. How he'd been foolish, so foolish, for not telling her so long ago.

He wanted her to know, needed her to know, with every fiber of his being. He'd thought he would've had more time. He'd procrastinated it like it was nothing. He had let the days, the joyful, carefree days, slip through his fingers.

And now, it was too late.

The barrages must have been focusing elsewhere, because he heard the sins shouting in the distance. He wondered if they'd make it. He could only hope they did. He hoped the enemy wasn't too tough, now that they were on guard.

He was brought back to his physical distress as he had a fit of coughs. He felt the blood welling up his throat, choking on it. He tried his best to cough up as much as possible, but knew it was futile. All his hearts were pierced. Most were not functioning at this point, and those that were still in service were failing rapidly. His entire torso was in a maddening, throbbing pain. He couldn't feel the lower half of his body at all, nor his arms. With the suffocating obstacles in his throat, speech and breathing were both being lost. His vision was blurry, his thoughts becoming more hazy.

He thought about how easy it would be to just close his eyes and lean back, give in to the last minute. His pride would not let him. His thoughts started focusing on the pain. Physically, dying was probably easy. Living was hard.

The pain was all he thought of until he heard her voice. He prayed to the Goddesses it was some illusion of his mind, giving him the gift of peace: that he was just imagining her voice, and she was somewhere far away, safe.

"Lord Meliodas!" The voice cried. Her voice. It couldn't have been summoned from his mind; he'd never heard it so desperate.

Through sheer will, he turned his head towards the voice. There she was. Long strands of silver whipping around her face as the wind blew. Rose petal cheeks and teary eyes and oh goddesses, she was so beautiful. He should've told her every moment of every day.

There was more noise, farther away. Distress. Diane had cried out King's name. Ban had shouted a little too pained. Were they falling? Was it all going to end like this?

Elizabeth was closer now. Only twenty feet separated them. His throat was too clogged for him to shout anything to her, but he found himself wheezing, choking, trying to tell her anyways. What was he going to say? He was stuck between yelling for her to run far away from her, and yelling for her to come to him.

And that's when it hit. So fast it could have been in the blink of an eye, so slow he swore his world had stopped.

It had come from her side. One hit her temple, another slit right across the bottom of her neck. Others had hit all sorts of places throughout her body. Streams of red like ribbons came from her as she fell over away from the wind.

He was devoid of thoughts, devoid of ability. The ability to move, the ability to breathe, the ability to form coherent thoughts. It wasn't physical anymore. Every molecule of his being was solely trained on her. He knew, without a doubt, he could live forever and never forget the paleness of her body as she lost too much blood, the unfocused emptiness in her half-lidded eyes. He could never forget the red as it fell in streams. He could never forget the moment when life left her. When she ceased being Elizabeth and became a corpse.

His injuries meant nothing to him. Any bloody fight he'd had, every limb he'd lost, any close call to death he'd encountered was not like this. He'd never felt closer to death than he did right now, watching her fall.

Looking at her, he realized the irrefutable truth; death didn't happen to your body, it happened to your soul.


Meliodas sat up with a gasp, choking on oxygen and working up a scream. His body was coated in sweat, but uninjured. His vision was spotted black, his entire body shaking heavily.

He immediately looked around, taking in his bearings. His room. The Boar's Hat. There she was, next to him, sleeping peacefully.

As he shook her awake, needing to make sure she was truly safe, he looked at the clock on the wall.

December 21st. 6:03 am.


Author's Note: This story's concept has been my child for years. Before I knew what the Seven Deadly Sins was, I planned on having it used for another fandom. However, it fits incredibly well with this fandom's world. I hope if this chapter interested you at all, you will stick with me. I have a lot planned for the future, and I hope you will forgive that it needed to start sorta slow.

Thank you to Lickitysplit. I will probably thank this wonderful user in every chapter. The most wonderful member of this fandom I've met, who has put up with my screaming online, my 3 a.m. editing needs, and my convoluted wording of concepts going on in my wreck of a brain.

The beginning quote is from the song "Jesus Christ" by Brand New. Lickity told me lyrics were not their cup of tea but unfortunately I'm trash.

Thank you for reading. Any feedback whatsoever is appreciate. This will be my first multichapter fic ever, and even a review that says "this sucks" is completely useful to me. I really have no idea where interest for this will be. Thanks again!