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Chapter 15 - Requiem Faure
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Meliodas opened his eyes, he felt his body really light and he wondered if he had died already or was he still alive? Last thing he remembered, he felt like he heard Elizabeth's comforting sound. He thought Estarossa had killed him, could it be that Elizabeth came to pick him after that?
Floating down, he looked down to the scene unfolded before his eyes "ah, I see... I'm dead already... wait, it means she too—!".
It was unlike he didn't predict this, he expected it might happen although not this fast. He wondered what would happen after his death this time and he got his answer.
After Estarossa stabbed the seventh sword piercing Meliodas' seventh hearts, something, or someone, came from the sky with full speed and landed right before the Ten Commandments' eyes, leaving the craters on the ground.
As the dust dissipated, Meliodas gasped after he saw their unexpected visitors, looking up to his oldest daughter "oh, no...".
His oldest daughter cried silently "...father...".
She reached out her hand forward, using Invigorate magic spell to heal all his wounds...
...for nothing, as he would never open his eyes again. Next second, she coughed bloods as her heart exploded due to her curse and Tristan caught her body. Tristan and Isolde stepped forward, looking down with their frighteningly shocked, blank expressions.
Tristan lowered his head and let out shaky breath "...father, sister...".
It was Isolde who cried as she covering her mouth, cradling Tristan's twin on her arms "...we're late...".
Next second, Tristan appeared behind Estarossa, lifting Estarossa by the back of his collar, throwing Estarossa to the side along with Ban. Ban and Estarossa landed on the ground not too far from where Meliodas who had been lying on the ground as corpse. Standing tall, hovering above his father's corpse, Tristan lowered his body before carrying his father's corpse on his hand.
Leaned down, Tristan leaned his forehead into Meliodas' and whispered as his tears cascaded down his cheeks "...let's go back to home, father".
The Ten Commandments, or more exactly Estarossa didn't want to let them go easily. Lifting his sword, Estarossa appeared behind Tristan "you're not going anywhere".
Next second, Estarossa coughed bloods because many dragon hands and sword-like dragon tails that came out from Tristan's back stabbed him and created the gaping hole on his torso, piercing through his torso.
Tristan looked behind over his shoulder with piercing icy glare "don't worry. I don't have a plan to go as well. Not before I make sure you will pay my father's blood with your blood".
After Isolde helped Ban to stand, telling him to go from this place and handing over Tristan's twin to him, Isolde reached out her hand and asked her husband "Triss, hand over father's body to me".
Looking down grimly to Meliodas on his arms, Tristan handed Meliodas' body to his wife "forgive me, father".
Tristan pulled out all seven swords that embedding on Meliodas' body. He lifted his hand, the droplets of Meliodas' blood fell to his palm before he drank Meliodas' blood. The white on his eyes turned into dark and his green eyes turned into bloody red eyes. In a second, Tristan had stood tall on the edge of the cliff, holding Ban's shoulders who carrying Tristan's twin while his other hand carrying Isolde who carrying Meliodas' corpse that looked so small on her arms. Tristan spread his own wing out as Isolde floated beside them. His wing was different with Isolde, his wing was the wing of darkness, just like his father's.
Turning to Ban, with a single tear of blood cascaded down his cheek, after asking Ban to bring his wife and his father's corpse back to Liones, Tristan moved his hands and recited ancient spells "open the door of Nine Beasts".
Eight portals from other dimensions opened on the sky, revealing eight different beasts from legend. Each of beast appeared after Tristan called their names. Bahamut. Orthros. Cerberus. Chimera. Tiamat. Kraken. Leviathan. Orochi.
"Hydra", at this, Tristan himself turned into Hydra after he threw himself off of the cliff and nine heads of Dragon appeared from his back. He landed on the ground in Hydra form. As the smoke dissipated, it bared its fangs, its eyes gleaming red and when it opened its mouth, it breathed green purplish smoke, the poisonous breath before it roared, standing tall in front of Ten Commandments when the eight other beasts encircled surrounding Ten Commandments.
"Lord Fox Sin of Greed, Undead Ban", Isolde turned to Ban with sweet smile on her face "thank you, for being such a good friend of our father. Please, take care of our father's body and bring him to Liones Kingdom".
Accepting his friend's corpse, Ban asked her "but how about you?".
"I am his wife. I'm gonna follow him to wherever, even if it means I have to go to the Hell with him", Isolde smiled lovely in the middle of her tears before her expression hardened, turning to the bloodied battlefield "you should leave this place, quick".
Before Ban could react, Isolde jumped before her body burned down, fire enveloping all over her body before she fully transformed into Phoenix. She spread out her golden wings as fire colored her body to the mixed colors of red and orange. It roared, flying down as it fought alongside nine other beasts. Ban only could stare down to the bloody-bath in front of him, carrying two bodies on his arms.
Ten beasts from the legends fought against eight of Ten Commandments (well, without Melascula, it was only the eight of them) and Ten Commandments were crushed under ten beasts' feet. Estarossa's body was fatally wounded and Zeldris tried to catch him as Estarossa's body was burned by Phoenix's gigantic fire ball before they both were sent flying too far from the battlefield. Melascula, Monspiet and Derieri were lying on the ground with their charred body. Gloxinia and Dolor were lying unconscious on the ground due to poison of Hydra. Grayroad and Fraudrin had fled with them because the ten beasts let them running away this night.
After the Ten Commandments fled, eight beasts disappeared as Tristan and Isolde turned back into their normal form. Tristan dropped to his knee, spewing bloods and Isolde ran to his side, hugging him with her own wounded body which her body was fulfilled with burns. Ban realized what kind of side-effect on their bodies, as Ban looked down to Tristan who dying on Isolde's embrace and the burns on Isolde's body.
"you idiot...", Tristan coughed bloods "what I told you before... to run?".
"I can't...", Isolde whispered weakly with sad smile as tears streaming down her face. Cupping Tristan's cheeks, she leaned her forehead on his "it's alright... just sleep for a while... let's meet again... on the Capital of The Dead...".
"you're right... I'm tired... and sleepy...", Tristan whispered back, coughing more bloods "hopefully... Irina and Iris will be alright... without us around...".
Right after Isolde collapsed unconscious and Tristan's eyes lost his light, as quick as she had appeared on this place, Lilith disappeared with Isolde and Tristan after she spread her enormous wings to wrap Isolde and Tristan "let's go home, idiot kids".
Nothing much he could do, so Ban went to the Boar Hat that was parked not too far from this place and Merlin, using her teleport, sent them back to Liones. As the morning sun arose on the horizon, they had made it back to Liones Castle after parking Hawk Mama on the outskirt of the mountain. Elizabeth was the first to run to them, instantly wrapped her arms around Meliodas' shoulders before cradling him on her arms and hysterically crying, begging him to open his eyes. Warm green yellowish light came out of her body, trying to heal Meliodas with hope he would wake up again but it was not gonna happen.
It took them for good minutes to persuade her, as Elizabeth had so desperately, persistently refused to let him go, saying the nonsense things they thought, that he would come back and open his eyes again, that he just fell asleep and she just needed to try harder to heal him. Only after Merlin asked Gowther to use Blackout Arrow to make Elizabeth unconscious, they could separate her from him. Meliodas' body was fixed, but lifeless. Elizabeth was sleeping on her room but crying on her sleep, both Veronica and Margaret stayed with her, accompanied by shrunken Diane and Merlin before the five of them decided to join the meeting. As if it was not enough, about three hours before the noon reached its peak, there were two women who came with a little girl and a baby when they gathered on the meeting room to discuss about their next moves.
Elizabeth asked his father who strangely looked pale "father, who are they?".
King Baltra recognized them and introduced them "...they are Meliodas' daughters".
"my name is Guinevere, the youngest daughter", the blonde woman with heterochromia eyes, green and blue, bowed her head before realizing to where their eyes had landed, Guinevere explained "oh, these kids are Isolde and Tristan's daughters. The older one is Irina and the baby is Iris. They left them on our home before they went here. My older brother, Tristan and his wife, Isolde went with our oldest sister. I knew maybe they have a lot to talk, but... can I see them?".
They turned pale, how could they tell them? Not only Meliodas, Tristan and Isolde, even her older sister also had...
"Guinevere".
They were shocked and turned deadly pale this time when they saw the oldest daughter of Meliodas that they thought and convinced even, that she passed away already because last time they checked, her heart had totally stopped beating but this? They saw Arthur came here carrying her. After Guinevere asked Irina to carry Iris, Irina carried her little sister and went outside to the garden.
Turning to her sister, still on Arthur's arms, Guinevere reached out her hands "sister, you look so pale! What happened?".
"I can explain", Arthur, pale as death, told them that he only wanted to check them for the last time but when he came into the vacant room where they had put their bodies, he was shocked as well to see her awake, sitting on her bed like she was just sleeping "I swore I felt like having heart-attack".
After her older sister told her that last night, their father died, thus she had the heart-attack, Guinevere turned deadly pale like all bloods drained from her body before she dropped to her knees, holding her chest, she was hyperventilating.
"Guinevere, take a deep breath", holding her little sister's shoulder, she touched her chest and using her healing power "does it feel better?".
Guinevere wiped her tears and coughed "...yes, I'm so sorry".
"don't force yourself", encouragingly patting her shoulder and holding her sister's hands, she stood and helped her to stand, turning to her father's comrades who flinched "could any of you bring my sister to where my father is, Sir?".
Gilthunder offered "...sure".
Though it was not only them, Howzer and Slader came with Gilthunder to accompany Guinevere but before she went with three of them, Guinevere turned to her older sister.
Only with a single glance, she knew what her sister meant "you know where to find me. Call me when you're ready".
When Guinevere saw her father's corpse, she only asked one thing "...how could he die?".
Gilthunder, Howzer and Slader told her about what happened last night and Guinevere only said "...I see. Could you leave me alone for a while here?".
Gilthunder hesitated but Slader touched his shoulder and shook his head before Howzer pulled him out of the room. Right after they closed the door, they could hear hysterical cries from inside. Gilthunder punched the wall hardly, on the verge of tears as well. Howzer patted his head knowingly and Slader let them all have their time to mourn.
Meanwhile, Arthur found her standing above the brick fence of the wall on this fort. For heaven's sake, it was not safe at all because from the way she looking down from this height, he was dreaded by the chance she would just throw herself forward so Arthur grabbed her wrist and wrapped his other arm around her waist before pulling her, carrying her and putting her down on the floor of the fort as if in reflex.
Awkwardly, Arthur scratched the back of his head "um... it's not quite safe, you know?".
"what? Don't worry. I'm not gonna do something stupid. It's unlike I'm gonna just throw myself off of this place", she sighed "it's unlike I'm gonna fall either. I have wings to fly".
"what are you doing here?".
"want to do sort-of my ritual", looking up to the sky, she closed her eyes slowly "when someone I know passed away... I always do this for them".
When she was singing the Requiem in front of his eyes, Arthur was enchanted "so beautiful".
"thank you", she smiled to him, though it didn't reach her eyes and looked sad, that Arthur had to look down before she continued "when I was a child, after I told father that I love singing, father would give me some music books and taught me the song he knew though, he is the worst singer".
Arthur sputtered in laughter before he cleared his throat "sorry... um, your mother?".
"died on the childbirth".
Arthur flinched, now she lost her father too...
Lowering his head further in shame, Arthur clenched his fist "...I'm so sorry".
"what for?".
"everything. I could do nothing but to witness your father's death. Sir Meliodas... I always look up to him and always want to be like him".
She blinked in surprise "even if he is a Demon?".
"it doesn't change the good man he is", Arthur smiled sadly "looking at you, I bet he must be a great father... I'm so sorry, I was too weak...".
"no problem. Your kind words, admiration and sincere feeling is enough. I don't blame you of his death so no need to apologize or feeling guilty", she touched his cheeks and leaned her forehead into his "the song that I was singing just now, is Requiem Faure".
"Faure created this Requiem as memento for his late father", wiping his tears, Arthur held her hands "are you alright?".
"of course I am. I've known it for so long, Arthur... this world is cruel, but it's also too beautiful for us to just sit still, do nothing or to forget with", looking up, she narrowed her eyes with her sad, lonely eyes "my father told me once, he said it in front of our mother's grave... I'm not afraid of the death and I'm ready to die but I wonder, actually, what for do I die? here and now, as his daughter, I wonder... did father find his answer in the end or not?".
"...I don't think you're alright right now. For some reason, I can't leave you alone. Not after...".
"just don't tell anyone what I told you just now, about what father told me once, okay?", she tilted her head and offered reassuring smile that too painful to look at before she lowered her gaze with those blank eyes "now he's dead and nothing I can do with it... what I do right now, only to do what he asked us, to protect each other and live. If I die, I can no longer remember him and I don't want it to happen. If no one remember him, it means he will really die, right? After all, people who die only can live on other people's memory".
"...I don't think you should hold back your tears right now", Arthur leaned her face to his shoulder "it's alright to cry".
"...my tears have been dry, it seems. No matter how sad I feel right now, I can't cry at all...", she gave thanks to him before breaking the hug "also, if I have time to cry here and now, it's better for me to just prepare myself. I bet the Demon Clan will go all out with their morale gets increased and they will start their full invasion. Someone have to fight them".
"exactly what I thought of. If you can fight, I need your aide. Come with me, if you don't mind", Arthur reached out his hand to her "what is your name?".
"my name is Morgaine Le Fay, but my father and my siblings call me Lily. My mother passed away on heavy labor when she gave me birth thus Lady Lilith, father's old friend called me with that nickname. Lily is a flower represents Death and the soul returning to innocence, usually associated with the Greek goddess, Hera, the Goddess of Childbirth and motherhood. The reason of why I was called Lily, maybe because of my mother died on the childbirth or at least that's what everyone told me", Lily smiled thinly that felt bitter "but I don't mind at all. Lily is my favorite flower".
"...my mother passed away when I was too young, so I don't remember her too much. My biological father is the King Uther Pendragon, I barely know him. The only figure that I can think of my parent is my adopted father and Merlin", Arthur put his hands on his hip before forced a smile "I guess we have something in common".
Lily hummed before turning her body "...let's go. I have to discuss with my siblings first".
In the hallway, they saw Guinevere carrying Meliodas, wrapped in blanket, and she was followed by all Meliodas' comrades.
Howzer asked in disbelief, as if asking for the sanity of the woman in front of him "wait! You're not serious, right?".
"why not?", Guinevere stopped, looking behind with wrath and hatred on her beautiful eyes "I thought I have made it all clear. Ten Commandments killed my father, so they can't protest if we kill them as well, right?".
"she's right", Lily came into view with her hardened expression and cold eyes "if you have time to do nothing and only can cry, just continue your life that way for the rest of your life, pathetic".
Ban shouted "your father's just dead, kid! How could be so cold—".
"if I cried hysterically here and now, would it bring my father back?", looking down with her blue eyes that cold and sharp like the ice blade, she earned no answers "no, right?".
"sister", Guinevere hissed, pointing to where they saw Elizabeth and the others female comrades of them standing "explain it details".
"...I'm sorry, looks like I've gone too far with my words. It's just...", Lily was troubled to find the right words before she decided to just say it bluntly "if I have time to cry, it's better for me to prepare myself and fight them back".
King asked "do you want to fight the Ten Commandments and Demon Clan all by yourself?".
"yes, I am. My father's dead, nothing we can do with it. For now, we only can do what we should do and fight back. If we do nothing and not fight back, we will not win and die. I know the risk. If I can't, then I will die but if I fight back and win, then I will live as my father's wish", without doubt or fear on her eyes, Lily said as she took ever her father's body from Guinevere "maybe there's a time when it feels like it's better to just die and to put this suffering to its end, however, our mother told us to never give up. In our dream, she told us once that as long as we continue to live and still have the reason to live, we can go through our suffering and grief. That's why, for our parent, we have to live and fight. For those who dead, what we can do as someone who still alive, we only can keep walking forward".
"you're right. This is not the time for grieving. We still have the Demon Clan and Ten Commandments on our heels", Guinevere huffed before looking up encouragingly "just don't forget father's message to protect each other and survive no matter what, will you?".
Gowther didn't mean to insult but he couldn't help it, he said with interest "for someone who just lost his father, you look so calm".
"calm? Calm, you said?", murderous intention burst out of Lily's body "I have to suppress every ounce of my murderous intention or else, I'm gonna run outside, looking for those who responsible of my father's death, to seek for revenge upon my father's death, rip them apart into pieces, giving them slow and painful death. Do I really look that calm on your eyes?".
They gulped and at this time, Elizabeth braved herself to go forward "Lady Guinevere, your mother is...".
Guinevere closed her eyes "...passed away, got heart-attack not too long after I was born".
Lily thought it was enough to talk "let's go to the Boar Hat".
Irina came carrying Iris "Aunty, what's wrong? Why does grandpa still asleep? Where is my father and mother?".
"he's just tired after the battle last night. It's okay... everything's gonna be okay", with trembling body, Guinevere hugged Irina and took over Iris before looking down to her with reassuring smile "your father and mother... they aren't here, they went to grandmother Lilith's place to take the medicine for your grandpa".
Irina tilted her head "huh? Grandpa is sick?".
Guinevere lifted her finger to her mouth and shushed "that's why, Irina has to be a good girl if you want to meet with father and mother in grandmother Lilith's place. Don't be noisy and take a great care of Iris, alright?".
After Merlin took Irina and Iris, once they were out of sight, Lily sighed in relief "you do realize that we can't lie to her forever, right?".
"I know, but until we know Tristan and Isolde's condition, this is the only right thing that I thought I can do", turning to Lily, Guinevere narrowed her eyes "knowing you, you must want to fight and hunt down all Demons".
Lily shrugged "knowing you, you're gonna go to the Necropolis, right?".
"then it's settled", pulled out her sword, Guinevere pointed her sword to her sister "whoever they are, if one of us meet the Ten Commandments—".
"—we have to kill them", lifting her hand, a sword appeared on her hand before Lily crossed her sword on Guinevere's sword "let's make them singing the Requiem, not for our father, but for their brethren's demise".
Before these women, Meliodas' daughters went, Elizabeth came to them "wait, if you want to go to the Necropolis, let me come with you!".
Lily turned to Guinevere "I will go with Arthur".
Nodding in understanding, Guinevere hugged her "take care. I'm gonna go with her to Necropolis and I promise, no harm will fall upon us, as long as I'm there".
Lily hugged her tightly "you also have to take care of yourself too, sister".