This is a companion piece to my other story Twice an Orphan. I highly recommend that you read that one first, but you don't have to.
Immortality got old really fast.
The pain of losing his family the first time around, Elizabeth, their unborn child, and little Merlin, had been agony.
Burying Elizabeth an additional 27 times since then was torture. Which was probably what the Supreme Deity and the Demon King had been going for. Sometimes he wondered what became of the little girl he had helped raise in their first life, his heart aching for her as well, but he never found her. By the time he had woken up on the mountain, Merlin had vanished.
After Elizabeth had died the twenty-eighth time, Meliodas was wandering again, waiting to come across the next reincarnation. But also keeping an eye and an ear out for any hint on a way to break the curse.
He had heard of a sorceress in a village not far from where he was who had incredible magic and wandered helping people across Britannia. He prayed she could help him.
He made his way into the town's inn and sat down at the bar, making sure his threadbare cloak covered him and his hood was pulled up as far as possible. He knew his father was likely watching him, but he would make it as difficult as possible.
"What can I get for you?" the tavern owner asked as he came over.
"A stein of the strongest ale you have please," Meliodas requested quietly putting three gold coins on the bar top. "And the whereabouts of the miraculous sorceress."
The barkeep raised an eyebrow at his request but began filling a mug regardless. "What's a young man like you need magic for?"
"It's a long story," Meliodas murmured.
"Aye, isn't it always?" the barkeep asked setting his mug down kindly. "Well she made a home on the outskirts of town, straight down the main road and past the seamstress. Can't miss it."
Meliodas threw the ale back and slammed the mug back down on the counter. "Thanks." Then he slid off the stool and followed the instructions.
The home was a strange shape, but Meliodas had always been a lover of strange things and felt his lips quirk at the sight. Pulling his cloak tighter around himself once more he knocked on the door.
"Come in," a female voice came from within.
Meliodas heaved a deep breath and opened the door. Inside was the most cluttered, chaotic workspace he had ever seen. The room was round with a table in the middle and every inch of the place was covered with something. A woman stood across the table with her back turned to him as she worked on something.
"How can I assist you traveller?" she asked without looking at him.
"I'm looking to break a curse. Two of them intertwined really," he said cautiously.
"Oh?" she inquired still engrossed in her task.
"One is a curse of perpetual rebirth, the other is a curse of immortality. The two souls are always destined to meet, fall in love, and lose each other."
"Indeed? It sounds like a powerful curse. Who was the caster?" she asked curiosly.
Meliodas hesitated, but replied, "The Demon King and the Supreme Deity."
The woman threw her head back and laughed loudly and darkly. "Of course! I should've known! Those two always did have a penchant for cruelty."
"You know them?" Meliodas asked in surprise.
Finally she turned to look at him. His features were still obscured by his hood and cloak and he was masking his powers, but he could see her clearly. Short black hair. Golden eyes. A beauty mark high on her right cheekbone. "Darling, I know them better than almost anyone these days. They took everything from me. Twice."
Meliodas gasped. It couldn't be… "Merlin?" he whispered.
She cocked her head to the side in confusion at his tone of recognition. "Have we met?"
The demon threw back his hood and shook out his unruly blonde hair.
The entire room went utterly still and silent. "M-meliodas?" she choked.
"Hey Mer-Bear," he said gently his eyes filling with tears.
"But- but you're dead. I saw your bodies with my own eyes," Merlin said, leaning against the counter top behind her for support.
"Oh Merlin," Meliodas sighed. "I prayed you hadn't seen that."
Merlin snorted. "Since when are the prayers of beings like you and me ever heard?"
She chuckled humourlessly, but Meliodas just stared sadly at her, crying internally. Merlin wasn't their carefree little girl anymore.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"For what?" Merlin questioned.
"For dying in that battle. For not being able to protect you. For leaving you alone all this time. For all of it. I'm so, so sorry Merlin," Meliodas said walking around the table to her.
"No, I'm sorry Meliodas. I had all this magical power, but in the end, all I could do was watch you and Sissy die," Merlin said with eyes full of tears.
"C'mere," Meliodas reached out pulling her into a tight hug.
They still had a lot to talk about. The curse, how Merlin was still alive, what they'd been doing the last few centuries, Elizabeth. But for that moment, they just continued to hold one another. Mourning the life they had lost, and rejoicing in their reunion.