Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from The Seven Deadly Sins/ Nanatsu No Taizai. They all belong to the wonderful Nakaba Suzuki.

This story, however, belongs to me.

~26~

-Aligning With Old Habits-

Splotches of color return to him until gradually he can see and feel everything clearly around him. The ground is scratchy and rough beneath him like stones spouting grassy fur. His eyes take in the glaring sun's rays over him. He can see the brilliant hue without a problem. The thing is… he can't feel it. The warmth that usually envelops him in a cozy embrace is gone. Missing.

Elizabeth is not there.

The lively green of his eyes withers away into the deathly black hues of destruction. She is gone. His palms find purchase on the ground beneath him and he rises with a shaky quiet only granted to those consumed by the fires of a silent rage. His muscles strain under the pressure of trying to hold himself in check. His eyes, shining a cold fury, first seek the tree she resided in for a visual confirmation, just to be sure. He needs to know that she's not dead and was simply taken. Neither are good by any means, but her death equals the immediate eradication of those who fall in his line of vision.

Her figure is not there, but he spies something vivid upon the ground just below the tree… Ignoring the scattered unconscious forms present all over, his feet weave a path through them until he's kneeling on the ground. A sweet coppery scent wafts to his nose as his cold onyx eyes bore into the small puddle of blood seeping into the brittle grass at the base of the slumbering tree. She fell and bled from her brutal impact. He should have been here to catch her…

Fists shaking at his sides, his rage whispers in his ear. It tells him to go, to unleash it upon those present. It'll find those who did this… It'll make them suffer… He almost listens. He almost wants to, but instead he inhales and feels her scent calm him, just enough to think rationally. Follow her trail…

He's on his feet and following her floral scent tinged with copper without hesitance, uncaring about the possibilities of the Commandments being on the lookout for him. He doesn't give a damn about anything. All that matters is that she is found and that she is safe. He'll do anything, go through anyone to make that a reality.

He runs through low grass and bodies of knocked out humans and is surprised by how far the middle class power managed to spread in their attack. Another odd thing he sees in the way they fell after the world seemed to be engulfed in an overwhelming white light, is various pockets of missing people… If everyone had fallen instantly at the assault, there wouldn't be odd gaps like random holes in a tunic. This was deliberately done.

Elizabeth was taken by chance.

"FUCK!" His rage takes its chance to surge forth, appearing in a devastating explosion. The ground quakes and trees bend and twist at the oppressive force that is his power. Dry leaves tear free from their resting place and scatter about in twisted chaos. Slumbering forms begin to unsettle and roll back with the force. His rising anguish wants vengeance though, and the spilling of blood is always a good place to start. Black tendrils shoot out like daggers from his form. They pierce unconscious forms and string them up in the air as if being hung out to dry. Crimson rains warm and sticky, speckling the unconscious Holy Knights in his innocent victims' drained life.

Meliodas breathes unevenly as his vision wavers. He knows it's only moments before he sinks into himself and total destruction is let loose onto the world. He tries to fight it. He has to. He's already murdered innocents which is something he promised himself he'd never do, no matter how many times he ends up breaking it.

The monster inside him rankles and he reels, falling to his knees as his arms shake in keeping him up. "I'm fighting for her, for her! I need to find her!" The lifeless people are still sustained in the air behind him. They watch his plight with deadened, hollow eyes. Their forms eventually waver midair as the shadow's keeping them up flicker then dissolve as his power recedes just enough to be right under his skin. Ready and waiting for his next slip.

The heavy thuds as their bodies hit the ground rouses his gnawing guilt further. He inhales the crisp air fiercely to aid in clearing his mind. Its chilling burn battens his anger and clears a path for rationale to come through.

One leg pushes under him, then the other as he stands and once more he tries to follow Elizabeth's scent. A waft of the air is taken. He chokes as his eyes widen. Her scent, it just… vanishes. Meliodas walks a bit, in circles even, but no matter how he goes about it, her scent comes to a point and just ends.

This time it's fear that stands in line to strangle him roughly. "Okay, think, Meliodas. Without her energy or scent, what would be the best way to find her…?" His hands clench and release repeatedly at his sides as he runs through possible ideas. A coarse wind blows past him seeming to bring with it a reminder. That smug smirk…

One works its way onto his face, only it's a lot more sinister as he retraces his steps back to the three demons he knocked out previously. They knew what was going to happen, therefore they will provide him with answers. He finds them effortlessly, crumpled on the ground where he took them down. Bending down, he grabs each at the scruff of their shirts and half drag, half carries them in his sprint to the nearest cover of woods.

There's no need for anyone to be privy of his interrogation.

~.~.~

She becomes aware of a loud banging noise first. Like one you'd hear if someone were slamming a door closed… no, perhaps a caged door? It happens periodically in time with the slithering sound that seems to echo off the walls. A long continuous swish, a pause, and then it starts up again as if someone's dragging something much too heavy. Her breathing begins to pick up with fear's rising. It's so loud she's afraid someone will hear the thunderous noise. Her heart begins to strain fiercely in her chest it nearly deafens her when she hears people screaming. It's so distant it nearly haunts the place like the troubled souls of those who never moved on.

She feels tears well in her eyes as her form starts to tremble. She has no idea where she is and it completely terrifies her to the very depths of her gentle soul. She's afraid to open her eyes because she's sure it'll draw attention to her. If the sounds of those tortured screams are anything to go by, she'll pretend to be a corpse if it comes to that. So with a force of will she stops her trembles and eases her breathing. 'Calm down, Elizabeth. You need to figure out how to get out of here… and where you are exactly.'

Underneath her, the ground feels smooth. She believes she has to be in some kind of building. She can't sense Meliodas anywhere and that causes her heart to twinge. Even Veri would have been a good second, but her senses don't feel her friend's energy either. Examining further by touch alone, she notices something poking quite uncomfortably in her right thigh. Her hand twitches to figure out what it is.

"Hey, you finish up on your end?" She hears someone ask with a suddenness that nearly has her jump. The neat business like tone came out of nowhere. She hadn't even realized there was someone conscious in the room, let alone two. 'And they're both demons…'

"Yeah, now we just got to sort through these and get them in their cells. We need to get them trained and ready to be presented as soon as possible." She hears him answer in a more boisterous tone.

'Ready and trained? Cell?' She's alarmed by the numerous possibilities. The thudding sound of their footsteps to her far left echo like a bleak countdown don't offer any comfort. Her thin brows crease against her will and the goddess chooses to take a risk of a chance. Her eyes peel open. The slit of her vision is so thin visual is almost nonexistent, but she still manages to see the two demon's location. From what she can tell, there is a messy row of lying humans. There are at least a dozen maybe a few more before the shabby blue haired and the neat ravenette reaches her.

'They seem to frisk the people for weapons,' she realizes after watching a few being pat down and any shiny objects they possessed be removed. That niggling object that pokes persistently into her thigh calls her attention once more and she takes a chance to place her hand on it to remove whatever it is. A smooth leather feel greets her hand and the crease is removed from her eyebrows in favor of them rising. '…Wait a second, is this the knife I saw before?' She hadn't even realized she'd possessed it with how quickly things occurred over the course of the eventful morning. 'Meliodas gave it to me? Why?'

Through her squinted vision she sees the two demon's much closer and doesn't give it more thought. Pulling the long knife from its hilt, her mind frenzies in a way to hide it from the males. They appear closer and she hastily moves it beneath her. She glides it slowly into her leather pants and feels the cold metal chill against her skin until the hilt reaches the waist of her pants.

Her heart jumbles her breathing and she's sure they'll know she's awake when they get to her. She still moves her hand back to her side and prays they don't check her too thoroughly. The demonic energy twists over her and she holds in a shiver. She waits for the hands to run over her, checking for a weapon she hopes they don't find, but there seems to be a pause.

"…Do you realize what she is?" The boisterous one asks. She's afraid sweat will begin to bead across her skin if they don't hurry up.

"We managed to capture a goddess, hmm… I'm sure he'll be pleased to see her once we've gotten her trained to the standards."

"So she'll be a special case then? Goddesses are pretty much our equals depending on their strength… We won't need to hold back with her," Why does the sound of glee draping his tone herald the arising of a sickening foreboding?

"Yes. You're correct in that. Even with this new development, we still don't have time to lollygag so commence with checking her." Straight to the point the demand is poised.

"Alright, alright…" Again she tries not to hold her breath or fidget in worry, but the moment his hands settle on the sides of her ribs beside her breasts, she stiffens reflexively just a smidgen. The hands pause in contemplation as if wondering if her motion just occurred. Waiting for him to continue and move on is more damaging to her nerves than witnessing a battle scene. It makes it even more of an impossibility to pretend to be in forced slumber. The hands slowly resume their search.

She's so unused to the heat and feel of this stranger's touch. It's so heavy and uncaring. It exudes not an ounce of the strength or the love she's used to feeling from Meliodas. The thought makes her expression downtrodden which is her first mistake. The second and last comes when the demon's hands skim over her chest on their path downward to find any hidden items. She cringes in recoil.

Her airways are forcefully constricted as her slim figure gets heaved from the ground in a vicious rush. Her eyes opens in haste as her hands paw at the ones the demon use to strangle her. She can't breathe and she can't scream for mercy. Tiny choked sounds of fright escape her trapped throat and her eyes brim helpless tears in their corners. Her round blue eyes finally focus on her assaulter and she tries to shrink back from the malicious hunger that seems to pollute his blackened hues.

"So you were trying to pull a fast one, huh? Probably had some little trick up your sleeve, right? Well, this outta teach you a lesson…"

"N—!" She tries to plead, but she can't find the air to do so. Her heart is racing so fast it's unrecognizable to a continuous hum at this point. She sees a deadly gleam shine in his eyes just as a screech scorches her throat raw. Her skin erupts into deep gashes all over. It feels as if thousands of needles are ripping and tearing into her from the inside out. All over, they're trying to shred their way free and she hollers silently as they burn with an excruciating ache on their way out. Blood quickly spreads over her clothing and drips to the floor in a continuous rain as her heart struggles to endure the agony.

Her vision is hazy from the tears that pour from her eyes and the blood that burns into her sight. The salty liquid adds to her torment as it travels the holes, pockets, and valleys gashed into her skin, mixing with the crimson that mars her. She feels the sensation of his energy flood into her further and her eyes roll backward as she convulses with her suffering. Her heart stutters and stops constantly enough for her to feel herself steadily slip closer to eternal darkness. She's going to die. This is where she's going to die. This is not how she was supposed to leave this world.

"Enough." The calculating of the two huffs out.

The one with blue hair chuckles. "What? She can take it…"

"I said enough. We don't have time for this. Just throw her in a cell, damn it."

"Fine." The statement is curt and like a switch the overbearing waves of torment shut off leaving the goddess completely limp in his hold. His footsteps echo in a marching drone until the creaky screech of a door opening results in his halting. Elizabeth is flung without a care into her tiny chamber. Her skull cracks against the cement wall as she tumbles unmoving to the cold ground. Her heart sputters in her chest as heavy air fills her lungs in sluggish pulls.

She shivers so violently. Alone and left to die unceremoniously. Her sobs mingle heartbreakingly with the haunted echoes of screams that float through the building. With halting breaths only a few pleas touch her lips in a silent departure. "M-Meliodas, help m-me… Please, h-help me…" A darkness she eagerly sinks into claims her awareness and leaves her powers to heal her ruined skin.

~.~.~

Sopping wet with her bangs plastered to her forehead. This is how Veri wakes up. She closes her eyes as a grimace becomes more and more apparent with the sticky clinginess of her clothing to her skin. "Who let her turn on the waterworks?" The sheer amount of calm and restraint it takes to ask this question is apparent to all of her squadron. The battle strategist knows of the goddess who can control the weather to her whim and waking up to pouring buckets is not something she wished to do.

The gathered goddesses all twiddle their fingers and look in other directions. They all no whoever answers that question will be put on scouting duty for the next several weeks. No one delights in the task.

Veri forcefully expels air through her nose before standing to her feet. It was a very stupid idea to make it rain in such a climate. Already she can feel the chill wracking through her from the wind. She shakes the inadequacies of her team out of her mind and instead tries to mull over why they're in such a cold place anyway… Northern Britannia… Her mind clicks.

"Elizabeth!" the goddesses watch as Veri dashes around with wild eyes and drastically shifting emotions. 'The Holy Knights! Why are so many of them dead? No, that's a stupid question! We were overrun by those demons before!' Her breaths come out in huffs as her boots squelch in the forming mud. 'Where is Elizabeth and that blond male!? Were they killed?' She forcefully aims to not see the image her mind paints of Elizabeth with dull blue eyes staring forever at nothing, especially when she spots the bloody men pierced through by those monsters. It becomes harder and harder not to, when Elizabeth nor her lover can be found amongst the people gathered.

"Veri!"

The voice pulls her from her search so she spins to them with a hiss of irritation. "What is it?"

The brunette looks almost regretful in calling her but her eyes harden in determination soon after. "Demons. We've detected them up ahead in a distant forest. Elizabeth might be with them."

Now why the hell didn't she sense that? No, why the hell didn't someone tell her sooner!? "C Team, stay here with the Holy Knights and help out where needed. Afterwards head out to where A Team and B Team are advancing. Clear?" She barks out with eyes squinted in demand.

Many hands of her subordinates raise in salute. "Yes, Ma'am!"

She leaves with the two teams in the direction she now notices with a sinking feeling in her gut. The rain slips along her form as she flies towards her destination. A fierce glower dominates her visage at the thought of encountering the demons that dwell there. 'Time to kick some ass and get some answers. Elizabeth better be alive. She better…'

~.~.~

His three suspects are bound to separate trees by the will of his twisting shadows. Each sagging forward until he chooses to awaken them. Meliodas eyes them coolly as a slow smile forms on his face. The carefully placed barriers he keeps within himself that guard against the monster that delights in the torture and the suffering in others is removed. He slips into a person he hasn't been in nearly a century. He has no reason to keep himself within those barriers. These demons have stolen something from him. The very something that keeps him grounded and gives him reason. Now that she is gone, he finds it easy to revert back to the ruthless demon that many feared so long ago. Until he gets answers and she is returned to him safe and sound, no one will be spared. He knows he'll regret the torment he'll enact in this time—he can feel the revulsion towards himself already beginning to rise within his conscience—but for now he can shrug it off as his darkness swirls idly beneath his skin. The time for repentance is not now after all.

He lifts his left palm up as flames of black with a plum core kindle in his palm. His hand then swipes sharply in a horizontal line right where their chests lie. A deep gash is torn through their flesh, spurting crimson and eliciting cries of agony as the three are rudely awakened.

Meliodas hums in satisfaction at their responses. Their class pins them just above the strength of Holy Knights, so his plans for them should work out just nicely. He hops onto a fallen tree, right in front of them, and crouches. He displays an ease he doesn't feel in the slightest. "A little late to be sleeping in don't you think? Besides, I have some questions I need you all to answer," he points out in a blasé tone.

The brunette—Meliodas knows he's going to have trouble with this one—snaps his dark eyes to him enraged. "You again, you piece of shit! We don't have to answer to you—!" He struggles against what holds him with the furies of a raging typhoon. The male's puffed up bravado deflates entirely once he truly takes in Meliodas' appearance. The black eyes and, more importantly, the crest upon his forehead.

The brunette gapes as he attempts to splutter a response. He can't seem to fathom how this human is actually one of their own. Not only that, but—

"I guess I didn't make it clear before," Meliodas comments calmly as he moves from his place upon the withered tree and towards the brunette. His gait is slow, casual, not giving away his intentions as the other two who'd been struggling their bonds finally turn their eyes to him with astonished looks of their own. Meliodas stands before the burly brunette and tilts his head to the side as his hands rest upon his hips. "Unless it has to do with my questions, you should really watch what you say." His foot rises then slams on the demon's extended leg with a crushing force. He feels the bones snap and shatter under his foot. Meliodas thoroughly enjoys the tortured screech the male lets out.

He knows his enjoyment is wrong and realizes he'll look back at this time just as he always does with a bitter shame. But right here and now, he'll delight in their suffering until they give him the answers he needs. They've stolen what doesn't belong to them and, so, will see a side of him he tries to hide from all.

"There's no way this short bastard is really him, right?" He hears one say off to the side in a slightly strangled voice full of disbelief as the two watch him apply more pressure to the writhing brunette's leg. Meliodas refuses to let it heal.

"O-of course he is! The crest is right there! He's the Prince who abandoned his right to the throne," The disheveled voice rushes out which causes Meliodas to grit his teeth in irritation. He twists his foot and absorbs the sight of fevered sweat and distressed howls echoing around them through the woods. Meliodas lifts his boot slowly after a while, then he sets his sights on the remaining two.

After the near earsplitting cries cease the air sounds almost too quiet. 'Now that won't do...' The one with crimson hair and the notably shakier one with icy blue both feel their stomachs squeeze painfully at the unnerving stare Meliodas gives them.

The crimson one glares fiercely and snaps viciously regardless. He's unwilling to back down despite who stands before him, just as Meliodas thought he would. "I don't believe it! Any demon in their right mind wouldn't turn down such power and greatness! You're a damn fool!"

Meliodas extends his hand palm face up. "I'm sorry you feel that way…" His eyes crinkle in glee as he sends flames towards his crimson victim, centering them on his right arm. The male wails and thrashes as they begin to consume his limb so slowly he's tormented with the sensation of his flesh and bones withering away into nothingness. The agony is white hot in the crimson's brain, Meliodas is sure. A cruel smile grows on his face at the very thought and a hint of a chuckle rumbles in his chest as he deeply enjoys the show his flames give him.

Meliodas turns his eyes away from the flames he controls and sets his sights on the remaining demon with a menacing smile. "You seem to know who I am!" It's joyful, his greeting, "And if you know of my past… Then you know what I'm capable of." The switch is flipped and dead seriousness ices his tone in a fine layer. "So, where do you take them? The people you guys snatch."

The icy blue one's eyes widen under the pressure of the ex-Prince's stare. Far weaker than his three associates, simply witnessing their torture makes him want to answer quickly, so he's not subjected. But the consequences of betrayal weigh just as much on his mind. "I-I... We—" A sharp shriek rings through the air in a splitting pitch. The cowering demon's eyes are drawn as if spellbound towards the one slowly being burned alive.

Meliodas, in his anger at the slow answer, had flared his flames, consuming the crimson one's arm up to his shoulder. The icy blue one recoils as his skin pales. He knows that arm will never recover. The brunette will at least be able to heal his leg, but the other will never get his arm back. The words start pouring from his lips like a leaky fountain. "I don't know where they are! We h-have rotations! Some of us a-attack while others snatch! We are on the attack team! I swear!"

Meliodas raises his eyebrows in contemplation as he pulls his hand away from the crimson one as his arm has completely been removed. Just as he wanted. Where the limb once was now resides a raw skinned stump attempting to be closed by the crimson one's own demonic essence. The demon's entire form is soaked in sweat as he writhes and twists from the phantom pains of his torture. Meliodas turns away from the sight with a grimace when the demon finally loses it and vomits all over himself.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. Are you saying you don't take them all to the same place each time you take them?"

The icy blue one shakes his head frantically as sweat from nerves of his own beads his head. "N-No! We change each time! We stay hidden with the help of—" They each hear the wet thudding of liquid spattering across the ground as the icy blue one's head is severed from body. Meliodas watches the scene unfold with no outward change in his expression, but on the inside his power rails in a bloody fury he's willing to set free. The one giving answers was murdered by his own comrades simply to keep the blond in the dark.

Apparently he went too easy on the brunette who used a nifty ability of his to kill the weaker demon. Meliodas doesn't even hesitate in drawing his sword as he approaches the male. He basks in the fear that rises in the brawny man's expression, but he'd much rather relishes in his strangled screams. Meliodas comes to his knees swiftly as he reaches out to grab a fist full of brown hair in order to jerk the man's head back. His sword rises and Meliodas draws it harshly across the brunette's throat.

Meliodas doesn't flinch when blood sprays onto his face. He holds the man steady and watches intently as the male struggles to breathe through wet coughs and choked screams. The brunette eventually heals and Meliodas looks pointedly into his eyes as he lifts his sword.

The demon begs. "D-don't—"

Meliodas slits his throat once more and the demon becomes subjected to the torture of unbearable suffocation once again. The blond watches as the demon's eyes twitch as he convulses. Just hearing his screams and feeling his blood moisten his skin soothes the furious temperament inside him in ways he hasn't experience in years. When the demon before him heals once more Meliodas is quick to slice through his throat, applying more pressure each time. He repeats the cycle again and again and again.

Until there's barely any life left in the brunette.

The gory sight of the brunette's suffering is nearly methodical to the shadows that rests just below his skin. Unfortunately, he can't afford to end the life of another information well. Meliodas releases the male hanging on by a thread. The blood from his sword is quickly swiped on his black pants before the weapon is sheathed. His cool dark eyes observe his two suspects with a pleased sort of glee. They both look hollow. Much more willing to talk.

"So are either of you going to tell me how to find the snatched people? I'd be happy to have a bit more quality time with you both, if not…?" he asks them brightly, rubbing in the fact that he's the one in control. They either cooperate or suffer his rage.

A splotch of water splashing upon his cheek halts his next words and furrows his eyebrows in confusion. He watches then as the sky seems to open up above the towering trees and water begins to fall from the skies as if the heavens is crying in loss of one of their own. His head bows and his fists quake at his sides. He feels them in the distance. The goddesses have arrived which means his interrogation has to be cut short. He makes sure to sear his gaze into their crumpled forms with the rise of his anger one last time. Meliodas strides rapidly into the forest as he releases their bounds. Cutting his losses.

He'll let the goddesses do what they please with those two. Right now he's sure the spell bead he used will begin to wear off soon and he still has to figure out a way to find out where they're keeping Elizabeth.A