I'm waiting patiently in the field for Nobu to show up.
"Seriously, how long is it going to take him to get here?" I groan to Sung.
"You know he isn't really one to be on time." He points out. I scratch Oslo's head absently.
"Still…" King and Ban left this morning. I told them I would catch up after the awards ceremony and bring it to them.
"Good morning, Lillian." I glance over my shoulder. Gilthunder?
"Good morning, Sir Gilthunder. Is there something I can do for you?" Haven't seen this guy for a few days.
"I came to let you know that Nobuyuki is currently going around the castle saying goodbyes." Of course. Jeez, and I gave him a few days for it too.
"Oh. Thank you." He still stood there. I shift around awkwardly. "Um, is there something that you needed-"
"What do you know about the demon clan?" He straight up asks. I blink. Five seconds pass.
"Wow, I have no idea who you are, I assume you name is Gilthunder, but you managed to surprise Lils. Thought you couldn't be surprised anymore." Sung comments dryly.
"S-sung!" I stammer, flustered by his comment. I cough. "Anyway, why do you ask?"
"According to Hauser, you had a symbol on you as well." A symbol? Oh… the diamond.
"U-um…." I don't see anyway out of this. I've dragged this on too long to not know anything. "Can… you be specific?" I mentally slap myself.
"What's the demon clan's connection to Meliodas and Griamore's father? Or yourself for that matter?"
"Myself, I have no idea. It was a recent development. Dreyfus was a matter of possession and Meliodas…. I have no idea how to answer it really." I blurt out. There. Not that much revealed that won't be revealed sooner or later.
"Lillian!" I was tackled by a blur. I notice Hauser a little bit behind him.
"Did you have to take so long?" I ask Nobu. He pouts.
"I wanted to say good bye to everyone! It's not like I'll ever see them again. Probably." He explains. I gave you a few days for that… I sigh. Whatever.
"Sung, are you in a park?" I ask, glancing at the mirror.
"Yup! Ready to go when you are?" Nobu looked confused.
"How come you're not doing it with like Coby?"
"I set it up with Sung first and attempt to contact everyone else to no avail." I mutter. "So Sung it is. Suck it up." I pat Oslo on the head. "Can you go to the guy in the mirror please?"
[Food after?]
"Yep." The hound disappeared into a purple portal, appearing moments later beside Sung. He jumps, letting out a yelp of surprise.
"GIVE ME A HEADS UP, WOULD YA LILS." He yells.
"Call it karma." I shrug. "Okay, Oslo, come back please?" The dog landed on my head. "Now can you send him to where you just were?" He nods before growing in size. Nobu shrinks back a bit.
"Kay, Nobu. You're ready right?" He nods slowly. "Now close your eyes."
"Why?"
"It's less disturbing that way." He scrunched his eyes shut. I nod at Oslo. He eats him in one gulp.
"OI, SPIT HIM BACK OUT!" Hauser hurriedly demands. I glance at the mirror.
"He with you Sung?"
"He fucking crushed me." Sung's muffled groans filter through the mirror. True, Nobu did land on his back, knocking him down somehow.
"Nobu, you can open your eyes now." Sung shoves Nobu off of him so he can get up. Nobu scrambles back a few steps before taking into account where he was.
"I'm home!" He exclaims happily. "Thanks guys." Without another word, he runs off, likely to go home. I just stare at the mirror dumbfounded for a second.
"That was fast." I could think of no other words to say.
"Yeah." Hauser was openly gaping while even Gilthunder looked slightly surprised. Some people can surprise you in the weirdest ways.
"Thanks for helping me anyway, Sung."
"No probs. Lil. Talk to you some other time. I gotta help Luke edit the vocal clips."
"Haha, go and be a good brother will you? See you."
"Have fun over there." I shove the mirror in my pocket.
"Well, I should probably make my way back to the Boar's Hat. I'll be setting out later as well." I begin walking away.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just staying to pick up some things for Ban and King and then I'll be catching up." Probably grab some food for Jericho now that I think about it.
I sat on the nearby walls as the sins stood in front of the King in a row in front of the Holy Knights. There was a crap ton of whispering happening, likely insulting them.
"The Seven Deadly Sins, along with the Knights of the Le…" He totally forgot leaning over to Elizabeth who was standing at his side to reaffirm what he was hearing. "Leftover cleanup. I hereby bestow upon you, recognition for you services in protecting the kingdom from the recent menace."
"Objection!" Meliodas declares. And of course they left it as a cliffhanger here the first time. Hawk is still eating to his heart's content… as per usual. "To the award!" The two in front of him were confused. "Or at least that's what some of the guys behind me want to say. Am I right?" He turns, looking at everyone over his shoulder, prompting the rest to do the same. Merlin just wears her ever constant smirk. "Oh and Lillian helped too. Know she's watching somewhere."
"She said that she'll come see me when the crowds thin a bit to pick up Ban and King's awards before leaving to join them." Elizabeth informs Meliodas as three people step forward.
"Hey, those three are from the six stars of the azure sky, who serve under Lord Denzel, the assistant to the Great Holy Knight, Dogedo," What sane mother would include dog in someone's name? "Death Pierce," ….are people seriously named this or was it something he picked up later? "And Wayeo." Finally, something relatively normal.
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure there were more of you who wanted to complain, but only three of you are honest, so what do you want?" He muses.
"We just wish to see how strong the legendary order of knights who saved the kingdom from evil are!" He seems condescending. "Of course there was another outsider but she mainly focused on keeping the civilians safe which is commendable. However, will you grant us the privilege of seeing your strength, Sir Meliodas, Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Some of the other knights were protesting against this.
"Unfortunately, we were stationed at the borders by the two traitorous great holy knights. Unless we can see proof with our own very eyes, we cannot accept the giving of this award." Death Pierce explains.
"Very well… Do as you wish." Barta concedes reluctantly.
"Thank you your majesty." He bows.
"I'll go first." Dogedo cracks his knuckles. I give him an exasperated stare. What idiot would crack their knuckles in front of their sovereign? Hawk intervenes, I think it was something about giving numbers? With that over with, Dogedo looms over Meliodas, trying to be all tough and intimidating. Pft, as if that's going to work.
"Let's get started shall we, Mister Hero?" He smirks.
"I'm ready when you are. Oh and Lillian, just come down already." My eyebrow twitches. I don't feel like it. Dogedo goes in for a series of punches. Like anyone can really see anything. I mean like, come on, this is anime fighting 101, all the op people go like the speed of light, or was it sound? Anyway so fast it's always a blur. In the end, Meliodas lands a kick on his head as he falls to the ground. Of course, picking himself back up instantly. I prop my chin on my palm. How long is this going to take.
"Is that it? A fly could've done more." He says cockily. Bro, do you really think he was trying? "If Hendrickson and Dreyfus were defeated by the likes of you, then they really didn't amount to anything!" First off, Meliodas doesn't have all his power. Second, he's still not going all out. And if you face it, I'm pretty sure Gilthunder is a higher rank than you are. And still got his ass kicked. He continues monologuing to which I just tune out the rest of it for a bit. Soon enough, Dogedo goes in for another series of attacks, this him with magic, where Meliodas managed to break his fingers with a few well placed hits and sent him reeling. There was some mutter from the holy knights.
"Well, who's up next?" Meliodas invites. I sigh, actually landing on the castle walls. Taking off my cloak, I turn lunalight into its sixth form, playing a melody that resounds through the courtyard.
"Forgive us." Death Pierce says, tossing Dogedo onto his shoulder. "I apologize in Dogedo's place for his speech and disruption of the atmosphere. But please, forgive him, while we were away, his close friend nearly lost his life in this battle." Nearly? "In addition to that, I must thank your friend for healing Dogedo from her place on the castle walls right now. I assume she must be Lillian. We've seen enough. Your strength has been made abundantly clear to us."
"Oh?" Meliodas inquires. "I'm impressed that you could tell from just that little exchange."
"Yes, how you strength knows no bounds. I can definitely see how you might have been able to defeat Hendrickson who had fallen into depravity." What, there's Magi references in here?! Just kidding. "We will be taking our leave now. Farewell." A few more minutes pass at they continue with the proceedings as I observe it all, bored.
"Lillian? Could you come here please?" Elizabeth had called out after a majority of people had left. I land on the cobblestone gently.
"Yeah?"
"You're going to be joining Sir King and Sir Ban right?"
"Yep."
"Could you give this to them?" She handed me a container. I'm going to assume that these contain their medals.
"Of course, Princess. If you don't mind, I'll be off. Stay safe." I let out a piercing whistle. "Oslo, can you take me to King?" He let out a bark before growing bigger. I leap through his mouth. Okay, that sounds weird. When I come out, I glance around. A waterfall?
"Lillian?" I whip my head around.
"Heya, King." I greet cheerfully. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Ban dunking his head into the river. King glances over at him skeptically.
"He does realize that the way we're going isn't the way to the fairy king's forest right?" He mutters.
"It's not the one you were raised in." I point out. "They do move. The location of the forest that Gloxina's forest ruled is beneath the capital in fact." He blinks in surprise. Ban takes chastiefol in that one moment and uses it to dry his hair. "Anyway, Princess Elizabeth asked me to pass these along to you." I hold out the box containing two medals. One's yours and the other one's Ban's." I hand them out. Not to mention some food I have in my pocket. They both shove them into their pockets. I stare at them blankly. Seriously. Whatever. "Well, I'm just going to tag along now, so don't mind me." And so the journey continues with King constantly questioning Ban's actions. I kind of goes something like this.
"Hey, where are you actually headed?"
"Fairy King's Forest. You're so annoying~ How long are you going to follow me?"
"Until you tell me the truth."
"When have I ever lied to you?"
"When have you ever not lied?"
"Okay both of you calm down." I interject weakly.
"Are you sure about this. If you leave the bar without telling anyone, people will be worried." Ban smirks. "Come to think of it, Diane was saying, 'if King ever left I'd die of loneliness!"
"That's utter bullshit." King deadpans. I wince. King rarely swears so I guess the topic of Diane has left him testy. "Replace King with Hauser and you might be on the right track. She's not into me. I've faced that fact ages ago."
"So what, you're into Lily over there or something?" My cheeks heat up.
"What the hell Ban?!" I shriek.
"What no?!" King protests at the same time.
"You two are so awkward~" He grins cheekily. "Fess up already." King's shaking from embarrassment, while I'm hiding my face and looking away.
"Ugh… Ban? You already have Elaine, so what is that over there?" He jerks his thumb over at a nearby boulder.
"Yeah, that?" Ban attacks said boulder, cracking it into pieces to reveal Jericho.
"It's Janko."
"It's JERICHO!" She corrects.
"What are you doing here?" Ban asks. King sends me a few side glances.
Explanation.
Pretty sure she's in love with Ban. I think. Anyway, she'll basically stalk him for a while.
That…. Seriously?
Don't question storyboarding.
"I… I just happened to be wandering around the bar that you were staying at.." She hesitates. "Yeah, and then I saw you leaving to go somewhere, so I was…."
"Hm?"
"I WAS CURIOUS, SO I FOLLOWED YOU FOR A BIT! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!" She yells.
How in the world is twenty miles a bit?
Don't question devotion.
"Why are you following me?" Her face lights up as she blushes.
"LIKE HELL I KNOW! THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW! ANYWAY, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND TAKE ME WITH YOU!" She accuses.
"Ban what did you do?" King whispers.
"I just stripped her once, that's all." He said it so casually…
"That's terrible." King mutters.
"Lillian, what are you doing here?" You just noticed.
"I typically go with King. Henceforth, where else do you expect me to be? By the way, here's some food, this isn't going to be a day trip." I toss her the food I stored.
"T-thanks…" She stutters in surprise.
"Lily~" King whines. "Tell me a story. Make this stupid journey go faster."
"Be specific."
"What's the story behind one of the songs you sang yesterday?" I pause for a moment.
"Well… Okay." Everyone appeared to be listening. "Once upon a time there were two kingdoms. Let's call them Red and Blue. They're actually called GuiVermillon and Blue Oak but that's complicated. Anyway, due to clashing ideals the two kingdoms are constantly fighting each other. After many years of this war, the two rulers agreed to marry to end the war." I didn't continue from there.
"Is that it?" Jericho asks. I sigh.
"On the altar when they were about to get married, an assassin shot the red leader. The two heirs to the kingdoms had been spending time together prior to that. The red heir lost himself in rage later on and killed the blue leader spurring the blue heir to act and the two that were in love with each other engaged in war with each other instead. The end." Obviously it could be perceived in a different way as well. Our journey went with relative silence for a while after that.
"How did we end up with such a weird party?" Ban asks.
"Thank you for the food." Jericho mutters, as she eats some of it.
"I'm making you leader, Ban." King yawns lazily. "So, mister bizzare leader, are we there yet?" King peers at Ban upside down. I rotate him so he's upright.
"It's bad to be upside down. Then all your blood rushes to brain."
"Don't call me that." Ban retorts. "But seriously, King. You really shouldn't come. It's for your own good."
"I daresay he should." I murmur.
"What are you talking about?" King asks.
"Lillian, you know the situation don't you?"
"Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Then why is it a good thing for him to go back?"
"He needs the reassurance and closure." I glare at Ban. "No matter how painful it may be."
"Lillian what are you talking about?" King asks. "Anyway, if you really are going to the Fairy King's forest, I would think that my presence would be an absolute necessity? The forest can judge the people that pass through with its conscience, so it's entirely possible that a villain like you would get rejected. But if you're with me the Fairy King, I might be able to do something about it."
"Then again, Ban's one of the only people who actually spent time with Elaine while she was guarding it." I point out. "So that might be stronger than whatever else he did. Besides, his greed runs for a different reason."
"Hey, what are you three talking about? Aren't faries and fairy forests just legends?"
"Jericho you have been educated on the five clans haven't you?" I deadpan.
"Jericho, by the time you were born, the forest was already burnt down." King explains. "But aren't I, the Fairy King, being right in front of your eyes enough proof for you?"
"Isn't Fairy King just a nickname?" She asks bluntly. King just puffs up his cheeks and looks away.
Rude much?
Don't blame her for her lack of knowledge sometimes. I have to say… brace yourself emotionally. We were surrounded by a white fog.
"When did this fog…" King muses to himself.
"Isn't this fog to thick?" Jericho whimpers while clutching onto Ban's arms.
"Don't grab other people's arms!" I ignore the rest of their argument, opting instead to pull King out with me.
"Come on. This is something you need to see." As soon as we clear the forest, his eyes widen and he briefly collapses. "Quin!" I catch him. "Jeez, a bit more warning next time…" He's in shock.
I can definitely feel the same power as the great tree of the Fairy King's forest from that young tree… so the Fairy King's forest really was still alive. Tears begin to leak out of his eyes. I set him down gently but he stands right back up. Three fairies are close by.
"The Fairy King!" They cry out in happiness.
"That's Cisca, Ende, and Melik!" King identifies, still crying. He flies up to greet them.
"Wait, Quin-!"
"Everyone! You're all alive! I'm so happy to see you again!" He opens his arms up.
"Harlequin the traitor?!" One shrieks in disgust.
"What are you doing here?! Leave this place now!" Another orders. I don't know who is who really.
"Because you left the forest seven hundred years ago, Lady Elaine was…" He couldn't finish the sentence.
"She guarded the forest by herself all that time and lost her life to the demon's attack because of you! If you had come back sooner, Lady Elaine and the forest wouldn't have had to die!" The three fly past him coldly.
"The forest should have been destroyed then. But because he was entrusted with the seed of the great tree by Lady Elaine…" The final fairy who had yet to say anything began. "The forest was revived."
"No." Ban stands there, indifferently. "All I did was plant the seed." And water it with your blood.
"Welcome back, Fairy King Ban!" King's shaking…. I grab his hand.
"Do you think you can hold on a bit longer?" I murmur gently.
"Y-yeah.." That's not confident.
"King come with me. There's something you need to see." He leads us to the great tree.
….Where Elaine's body resided.
"A little girl?" Jericho mutters. "Is she a fairy too?" King was frozen. Staring at Elaine's face. Emotions flickered through his eyes, before he zoomed out.
"Harlequin!" I shout in alarm, chasing after him.
Damn it, Quin, where'd you go?!
Don't look for me Lily… I couldn't even protect my little sister. I felt his aura, flying as fast as possible over.
"Hell, King, don't leave me like that." He looked positively depressed.
"I can't do it… the way I am now… I don't even have the courage to look at Elaine's face!" He mutters dejectedly. I summon a dome around us, blocking all the debris the fairies were throwing at us and their words from King's ears.
"Lily, you don't have to do this." King protests softly.
"Well, fuck their opinions." I mutter angrily. "Let's go." I grab his hand, resisting the urge to yell at the assembled fairies. Oslo drops out of the air. "Keep them at bay while I bring King far away from here yeah?" He growls in assent. He grows larger letting out a loud roar.
"Both of you stop!" He cries desperately.
"Like I said, fuck their opinions, they don't know both sides of the story!" I argue.
"Thanks for defending me.. But they're not in the wrong." My hands balled into fists. "It's just as they were probably saying. I abandoned this forest and my sister to save my best friend and the others. But.. not only couldn't I save anyone, I even had to kill my best friend with my own hands…" We were now in the outskirts, sitting beside each other on a ledge. "I'd completely forgotten about it. I'm a failure of a king beyond saving."
"You got a fucking concussion King! You had amnesia! That's not something that instantly recovers! Hell, it's a miracle that you even managed to get you memories back! Then once you had it back, you had to deal with a shitload of problems and to top it off, you got caught and accused of a crime you couldn't help! And you stayed true to your honor by staying with them and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." I rant. "The fairies could've spent more time with Elaine instead of leaving her alone on the tree! BAN is one of the ONLY beings to talk to her since you left!"
[Let's go back to the kingdom.] Oslo suggests.
"Maybe… but now that the kingdom is at peace, the seven deadly sins aren't needed anymore. I'm neither the fairy king nor a member of the seven deadly sins. I'm a nobody." He leans into me, gazing over the forest sadly.
"You're not a nobody. You're Harlequin. You're King. You are who you are."
"Hah… you're probably better of without me too, Lily." He whispers, tears silently rolling down his cheeks.
"Quin-" He flicks his hood on with the helmet on.
"Lillian over there is right. You're you." What the-? "You're still the same crybaby you've always been."
"Helbram?!" He shrieks in confusion.
"Why can I hear you?!" I wonder panicked. I shouldn't be able to hear him. The only reason that King can see him is because of their emotional bonds! So how can I-?
"Calm down Lillian, you're close enough with King that it's for some reason rubbing off on you too. Besides, there was that request. He's not dead yet, so that's a start." Should I be offended?
"But you died!" King pulls of his hood to be greeted with seemingly nothing. "What? Was that an illusion?"
"No. I'm not an illusion." Helbram's voice carries a deadpan somehow. "My soul or something is resting in this helmet. You can only see me if you're looking through it though." King puts it back on. "See?" No, I don't see, but I get the general idea.
"Lily, take over my eyes to clarify." He stammers. I roll my eyes but I do it anyway.
"That's a lot of green." I remark. "He's real alright."
"But how?" He stammers, as I pull myself back into my body. He begins tearing up again. You waterfall of a fountain…
"Who knows? Maybe it's because you killed me over and over again and I can't move on to the other world. Seriously, it's such a pain." I think Helbram took in King's tears. "There, there, don't cry at every little thing. I was originally going to go the capital of the dead. But would you call it? Regrets? Or, more like, I just can't leave my best friend be… You might have Lillian but when anything happens to you, you start crying and get depressed and mopey."
"That was an insult just now, wasn't it. Tell me the truth, you got kicked out of the capital of the dead, didn't you?" He laughs loudly.
"You're partly right, but that's not exactly it." I stay at the side, not interfering with their conversation. "Your sister asked me to do her a favor, and be with her brother for a little longer. She also gave me a message for you. 'Protect Ban for me, will you?'" King turned away, puffing up his cheeks.
"Oh, don't sulk! It's a special request from your adorable little sister!"
"I'm not sulking!" King protests.
"Well anyway… Until you get over that, I'm going to talk to your girlfriend over here! So Lillian, what clan are you from?" I jerk up at being addressed.
"I… um… it's complicated?"
"It's fine! Include with your explanation of how you two met!" He seems too chipper.
"Erm… so I was human, King came and told me I was a fairy, and then a few weeks ago I'm told I have demon powers? I think the core of that is that I'm a fairy though." He pouts.
"That's not descriptive at all! If you break his heart, I'll haunt you okay?"
"Why are you even assuming we're dating?" He looks at us skeptically.
"So you aren't?"
"No, why would we be!" I protest. "You probably know this already, but-" I cut myself off. Right, the future changed. "...never mind. Anyway, I'm just another person and there are much more notable people that King every possibly get involved with."
"What did I say about showing yourself downward like that?"
"Don't do it?" I answer weakly.
"Right! So don't beat yourself up!"
"You know, you're being an extreme hypocrite right now?"
"Shut up!"
"And he's back to being sulky." Helbram sweatdrops. "Seriously Lillian, you aren't interested in him?" My hands ball up.
"Look." I whisper quietly. So quiet that I know King can't hear me. "I have no chance and I know that. The core of his being is attracted to Diane. There's no chance."
"You're both dense idiots." I feel like he's stretching. "Just start dating already."
"HOW MUCH OF THAT CONVERSATION ACTUALLY GOT THROUGH TO YOU?!" We both shriek.
"Absolutely nothing." I can hear the smugness radiating off that statement.
"ARGH! You're so annoying sometimes even if you're dead!"
And so, Helbram spent the next hour pissing us off.
Ban probably thought they were being idiots. Anyway, yo. Continuing with the story! And probably ignoring a significant amount of manga! And canon! So it's AU for sure now! And so we have the teasing on two ends. So... yeah, you probably hate me but some people wanted it so why tf not. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, although it's shorter than the other ones have been. I have my science final tomorrow, and I really should've studied haha... Please leave a review! Feedback/criticism is appreciated! Also working on other stories as well that will be put up eventually, probably after this is done. If you guys want to see anything specific, PM me and I'll try to include it as an extra. Most of the other stories don't come back to Seven Deadly Sins so sorry. TBH, this is basically my only NNT story. The others are mainly crossovers. K bai~!
I used a lot of exclamation marks and sorry if anyone is OOC.
Made a spelling edit, corrected 8/7/18