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Chapter 46 – Hymn For The Missing

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Capital Of Liones

When the Dawn Roar still went out for their mission, Gilthunder recognized Gelda and Elias had come back. Carrying Elias on her hand, Gelda approached him when Gilthunder was walking on the hallway with Howzer. Gelda just wanted to tell her gratitude to him because thanks to his recommendation, her nephew was getting better quicker. Gilthunder realized that Elias' and Gelda's body got stiffened when Cardinal Helbram came closer so Gelda quickly excused herself with note that she would go to work immediately after she left Elias on her room in the Castle, because right now Elias could be left alone and he could take care of himself. Before Gelda left, Gilthunder asked her to check on princess Margaret because she seemed too distant lately and she also could bring Elias if it was okay for them. Gelda and Elias nodded their head, telling it would be no problem for them.

Howzer sniggered in mocking way after Gelda and Elias went away "looks like they hate you, Cardinal Helbram".

"I don't know what's my fault to them", Helbram shrugged, caressing his jaw "though something's off about them... well, watch over them will not bring harm, right?".

Guila came not too long after that, greeting them formally "someone saw Jericho? I want to train with her".

"yo, Guila! Miss me?", Jericho waved her hand, walking closer to her friend. After she gave the formal greeting to her superiors like Guila did, she slung her hand over her friend's shoulder "sorry, sorry, I was rather busy hiding from my brother".

"so that's why you weren't there when I demanded you have to present on your engagement?", Gustaf, Jericho's older brother appeared behind her with a vein popping on his head "for the rest of a day, I've been looking for you, you know?".

Jericho simply whistled, dragging her friend instantly "let's go training, Guila!".

"Jericho! You renegade, come here so I can scold you properly!".

Gilthunder shook his head and Howzer only commented about how Gustaf must have quite in a pickle to control his little sister. Hendrickson and Dreyfus joined them not too long after that, telling them to come with them to visit Camelot Kingdom for a meeting with King Arthur and princess Guinevere, regards the refugee from Liones Kingdom who moved to Camelot Kingdom.

Helbram recited what he had learned "thanks to the hard works of King Arthur and princess Guinevere, mostly the refugees from Liones Kingdom who moved to their Kingdom have been getting new job and new home, they even more get prospering compared to their lives on Liones Kingdom so mostly they don't want to go back and choose to stay in Camelot Kingdom instead".

"yeah, not to mention they don't need to do forced labor", Gilthunder dryly noted mentally before he caressed his jaw thoughtfully "speaking of which, I heard young King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot Kingdom has ordered his men to rebuild the once devastated Cameliard Kingdom and will inaugurate it as new region of Camelot Kingdom before his wedding with princess Guinevere. Practically, with their wedding that united Cameliard Kingdom with Camelot Kingdom, vast land of Cameliard Kingdom will undoubtedly be the part of Camelot Kingdom but does it true that King Arthur deliberately rebuilt Cameliard Kingdom as the wedding gift for princess Guinevere?".

Hendrickson nodded "that's exactly what we have heard from some nobles and merchants of Camelot. In order to prevent refugees are getting overloaded in Camelot Kingdom, they will be transferring some of them into the renewal land of Cameliard Kingdom".

"rebuild a Kingdom as the wedding gift, so much for the wedding gift, eh?", Howzer's eyes were about to pop out when he heard the news but he sighed, putting his hand on his hip "surely, King Arthur really is in love madly with this princess, huh? I've heard about her beauty that can match with the goddess but now I'm getting more curious".

Everything went hell after the dusk.

First, there was a messenger came from Camelot Kingdom bringing the bad news which led Dreyfus and Hendrickson to call Gilthunder, Howzer and Helbram right away. Both Great Holy Knights said that their meeting with King Arthur and princess Guinevere would be cancelled due to princess' sudden declined health.

Helbram read the report on the letter "seems like someone tried to kill the princess with poison. Princess Guinevere was puking blood suddenly in the middle of the banquet to announce the renewal Cameliard Kingdom that being held by King Arthur and attended by some Royalty and noblemen. The young King has been upset and distraught. No foreigners are allowed to come to Camelot Kingdom and no guests are allowed to go home even, until they can find someone who dare to poison the princess. They aren't faking it. There's even the witnesses in the dinner and one of them is our ambassador".

Gilthunder seemed unfazed "please don't tell us that they suspect we have sent the assassin to kill her or something like that?".

"perhaps you can say that they suspect the other Kingdom as the main culprit which one of them is our Kingdom", Hendrickson shrugged "what else the reason for them to suddenly ban the foreigners to come to their Kingdom?".

Howzer crossed his hand before his chest "this is bad... Although Camelot Kingdom is still a new, rising power that just started gathering strength in the past few years and their military still can't possibly compare to that of Liones, their leader aren't someone we should underestimate of".

Dreyfus agreed at that "despite their young age, both young King Arthur and princess Guinevere have been able to save Camelot Kingdom from its darkness years for the temporarily empty throne post King Uther's reign. Knowing how King Arthur adores the princess, I guess it will not be strange at all if he even dare to wage the war for her".

Howzer half-heartedly suggested "well, I guess we should do something to emphasize that we aren't the culprit... with sending princess Margaret to Camelot Kingdom for visit the sick princess, perhaps?".

Dreyfus, Hendrickson and Gilthunder stared to him while Helbram surprisingly agreed with him "that's not too bad idea coming from you, Howdy-boy! Why not?".

Just when Gilthunder and Howzer wanted to bring Margaret to here, in the meeting room, they opened the door and revealed Jericho who carried Elias on her arms with Vivian and Guila. Unexpected quartet they should admit, but the frown on their face sent them unsettled. When Hendrickson demanded what they wanted, Vivian came into the room with Guila, Jericho and Elias in tow.

Vivian apologized for interrupting their meeting "but there's something you immediately need to see and know, Great Holy Knight Dreyfus and Great Holy Knight Hendrickson. They are the witnesses".

Vivian's words made them turning to Elias, Jericho and Guila. Guila told them that she and Jericho just finished their training when they saw Elias wandering on the garden. Elias was looking for Gelda who followed princess Margaret who went to the old fortress (where Seven Deadly Sins were framed) but Elias didn't know where was it. Both Guila and Jericho were baffled, why would the princess go there? Jericho and Guila discussed about what to do, they were about to disperse which Jericho should bring Elias back to the mess for castle's workers and reported to their superior when Guila would go to pick Margaret and Gelda. However, Elias ran before Jericho could catch him, telling them that he had known the direction to old fortress thanks to his friend. Jericho and Guila went to chase after him, until Jericho finally was able to catch him in front of the old fortress. When Guila asked Elias about who was his friend, Elias simply told them that she had been in front of them as he pointing to the clearly vacant air in front of them. No one in front of them, yet Elias told them that he had a friend, a little girl around his age who still stood in front of them and her name was Gwen. Despite her poker face, Guila was feeling chilled on her nape indeed and Jericho had turned deadly pale. Ignoring Elias' protest that he still wanted to play with Gwen, not to mention he still wanted to look for Gelda and Margaret, Jericho carried him and was about to run from this place right away. That was when they noticed someone was singing, it was Margaret. From far distance, they saw Margaret walking to the old fortress as if she was looking for someone and Gelda kept persuading her to go back. When Margaret refused and went back to the old fortress instead, they saw the ceilings above her falling and they were buried under the fallen debris of old building.

Guila finished the story "right now, the Knights are still digging through the ruins".

Jericho sighed "and this kid was crying himself to sleep... it's really hard to hold him back when he tried to go pursue his Aunt".

That was the story from them, now the story from Vivian who lifted her crystal orb with pale face "...I bet all of you will hardly believe this, but this is what my familiar saw".

Vivian referred to her mantis-like Chimera. It was the projection of what truly happened to Margaret and Gelda, through the mantis-like Chimera's eyes.

Margaret woke up from her sleep, wandering to the old fortress when Gelda found her. No matter what Gelda said to persuade her to go back, Margaret didn't listen to her and didn't respond, she only kept singing "where are you now?~ Are you lost?~ Would I find you again?~ Are you alone?~ Are you afraid?~ Are you searching for me?~ Where did you go?~ Now I'm reaching for you~ will you wait, will you wait~ will I see you again?~".

When Margaret stopped singing, Margaret blinked away her tears "there you are...".

They saw a ghost of transparent little girl floating on the air, waving her hand with mischivous manner and asking Margaret to come and catch her. Margaret went to chase after her but Gelda asked her to go back to the Castle, telling her that there's been no one in front of them. Margaret persisted and went to chase after her, but the ceilings above them suddenly collapsed.

When the ground beneath them gave away, Gelda wrapped her arms around Margaret "princess!".

They both fell down to the abyss like the little Gwen had before 10 years ago.

Of course, Vivian's familiar didn't want to let go its eyes of its prey easily. Even in the middle of the darkness, the mantis-like Chimera kept searching for Margaret and Gelda's whereabouts but suddenly, its body froze with some knives pierced through its body.

The little girl wore white dress with two pair of white feathered wings from her back, floated before landing on top of struggling mantis-like Chimera. She innocently tilted her head with devilish smirk on her angelic face "well, well, well... look at what I've found here?".

Vivian who looked through her chimera, her eyes widened in shock "you... it can't be! How could you... you're supposed to be dead! Or not yet? But why did you not change at all if you were still alive?".

As if she could read her mind, she tilted her head "huh? I see... Must be your familiar eh, Vivian?".

Vivian flinched at that.

"well, this is still nothing compared to my familiars", clapping her hands, she smiled sadistically "you may want to burn this into crisp, Vampire Princess. And you can eat this once it's roasted enough, Cath Sith".

They didn't see who or how did she look like exactly, this Vampire Princess, but they could feel the chill on their nape when they saw a pair of red eyes glistening even in the darkness with sexy lips as red as blood showing its fangs which glistening in dangerous way from how that sexy red lips formed a sadistic smirk. When they heard creepy and sensual evil laugh from that lips as her dainty fingers with claw-like red nails snapped her fingers, what they knew Vivian's familiar had been burned, enough to be the proper roasted meat.

Next second, they just realized the knives that had been holding the mantis-like chimera wasn't knives, but claw of beast. That cat-like beast that turned out to be the black giant feline with white spot on its chest. It bared its sharp fangs with its menacing golden eyes gleaming in blood-thirst, growling.

"don't worry, big brother Gil~ I will make sure that I'm gonna take care of big sis Margaret here in the afterlife~", Gwen put her forefinger on her lips before she put hand on her hip, pointing her forefinger and giving order to the giant feline with bossy manner "now, Cathy! Eat that!".

The giant feline paused before turning to Gwen "Mistress, I already told you my name so please don't change my name into Cathy!".

...Surprisingly the giant feline could speak in human language!

Gwen deadpanned, unimpressed "you want to eat it or not?".

"of course I will", ignoring the unaffected struggles from the mantis-like chimera, Cath Sith opened its mouth wide "here I go~".

And everything went black after that.

Vivian finished her report and lowered down the orb on her hand "...that's what happened".

Howzer dreadfully turned pale. He turned his head slowly to Gilthunder... only to find his comrade had climbed on the windowsill, ready to jump "Gilthunder, what are you doing? We are on top of the highest tower, for God's sake!".

"let me go!", Gilthunder struggled to no avail because not only Howzer, Dreyfus also tried to stop him as he cried "Margaret!".

In the end, Gilthunder punched the wall, leaving the crater on the wall and weakly whispering "why did you have to go when I have to stay?".

Howzer patted his shoulder sympathetically "Gil...".

"when will I see you again, Margaret?", looking up, he knew Margaret would be safe, she would be okay under Gwen's protection but now, he had no idea where was she and when they would able to see each other again. Turning to Jericho, Guila and Elias, Gilthunder asked "...and how about that kid?".

Jericho and Guila exchanged glances before Jericho lifted her hand "ah... since he lost his caretaker, his Aunt, we planned to find if he still had relatives or not. If he still had, we would send him but since he had no relatives other than his aunt, we think maybe we will send him to nearby orphanage or church who want to accept him, unless there's someone who want to take him in".

Guila waved her hand "well, I can't because I already have a little brother".

Jericho repositioned Elias on her arms "me neither. Although I quite like this kid, I don't think my older brother will accept it".

Guila smiled lopsided "oh? I don't know you have that soft spot, Jericho. How cute, not to mention this kid also quite liked you I think, from how he can be clingy on you".

Jericho grumbled, rocking the sleeping Elias on her arms "well, at least this kid is cute, unlike my older brother who only know how to scold me and always fight with me".

"I will take him in, then", Gilthunder took Elias from Jericho's hands, carrying him like Jericho did "I think this kid will not want to be alone, not for a long time".

Jericho hesitantly asked "um, can I visit him sometimes?".

"of course", Gilthunder bowed to Dreyfus and Hendrickson "now, I will excuse myself here".

Howzer went to follow him "oi, Gil! Are you sure about taking in that kid to your house?".

"of course", Gilthunder walked forward, ignoring the odd stares from others "I need to do something, Howzer. Otherwise, I don't know what I'll do when I'm all alone".

Howzer couldn't say anything at that, it felt like 10 years ago when Gilthunder just lost his father so he scratched his cheek, trying to encourage and being considerate to his friend "well, you know... I know you can take care of yourself and this kid, but you can bring him to my house, my parent, especially my mother, will gladly take care of him for sure and don't doubt to ask something to my family when you need something, okay?".

"thank you for your consideration, Howzer", Gilthunder smiled lopsided at that before turning to leave "now, let's see what are you planning to do after this, Gwen? I have played my part".

Ordan Forest, East Of Vaizel

When Lily handed over Elias to Diane, at first Diane and King exchanged confused glances but when Elias cuddled his head against Diane's chest and Diane spoiled him instead, a vein popped in King's head as he realized the mischievous smirk on his little brother's face. King had to suppress his intention to smack his head or clutch his neck, not in front of Diane when Diane herself spoiled his little brother like this.

Still carrying Tristina on her arms, Elizabeth realized that Nel Hativa had prepared chains and shackles on her hand while her other hand carrying her Death Scythe "...um, Lady Neiva, what are you gonna do with those chains and shackles?".

"to catch them and drag them back to Necropolis, obviously", Nel Hativa shrugged and explained as she playfully swinging the chains on her hand "it's been the Death God's job to prevent the stray souls a.k.a ghost who supposed to stay on Necropolis from wandering on the living realm especially those with evil intention".

Lily gasped and lifted her hands to cover her mouth "...it can't be...".

They turned to see a man with green hair with silver eyes just like Oberon, he had a pair of large Fairy wings with the color of Dahlia flower. He reached out his hands and smiled lovely when he looking down to Lily "what's wrong? Have you forgotten your husband's face? I missed you so much, Lily".

"Dahlia!", Lily pulled her veil off before throwing herself to Dahlia. As member of Fay Clan, even the Queen of her Clan, Lily was strong enough to able to communicate and contact with the dead, so she could hug him like the way she had when her husband was still alive "...I missed you so much, too".

"I love you", cupping her face, Dahlia kissed her "forgive me. I have to leave you that fast".

"no, don't apologize. It's not your fault at all...", Lily sighed in content as he hugged her. Wiping her tears, she smiled "after all, you don't leave me behind all alone. I still have our son, Oberon. And I even have an adorable adopted son who become a good brother with Oberon".

Diane and King chuckled when they saw how Elias blushed furiously. When Lily asked him about what he was doing here, Dahlia told her that he simply wanted to see her and warned her for what would happen in the future "our sons and your people still need you. If it's possible, please survive and avoid the battle as much as you can. I know you and each people of your clan are trained and able to defend themselves, unlike my clan, but even so... I don't want to see you fight if you can".

Lily apologized "my husband, forgive me, but I can't promise to not fight, because when it's needed, instead I have to fight in the frontline as their Queen. Back then before you died, I obeyed to stay due to my pregnancy, our child's life. I don't want to see anyone die again".

"such strong and stubborn woman, but this is why I love you", Dahlia kissed her again on the forehead, eyelids, cheeks before longingly kissed her in the lips. Before he left, he told her "find the truth through the help from the water with unfading light of the lake who have been keeping every memories".

Before he disappeared, Dahlia glanced to Meliodas who simply nodded. Dahlia smiled in a way that no one could describe what did it mean, even King wondered why the former Fairy King Dahlia that he'd respected the most would smile that way to their Captain. Although Elizabeth just met with Lily here and now, she somehow felt nostalgic that she unable to explain. Elizabeth came to her side, helping her to stand. When Elizabeth asked her if she was okay, Lily only smiled and wiped her tears.

"oh, before I forget", Lily tapped her fist on her palm, turning to Jericho "my son, catch her!".

Elias instantly snapped his fingers to use Enkidu "as you wish, mother".

Jericho shrieked "EH!?".

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Omake – What Happened, Gwen?

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After Cath Sith a.k.a Fairy Cat ate the mantis-like Chimera, it turned into a a russian blue cat with the very same a pair of golden eyes who turning to Gwen after that "so, why Cathy?".

Gwen rolled her eyes, that again? She innocently tapped her cheek "what? You said your name is Neko Chaos but because you are female, I'd like to give feminine name".

"such as Cathy? NO. I'd prefer name that can disguise me".

"you mean the name that can be used by male and female?", Gwen tilted her head thoughtfully "hm... well, well, well, how about Fou, then?".

The Cath Sith nodded at that "okay, deal".

Gelda laughed because she couldn't take it anymore "oh, thank you so much, princess. I'm so thrilled to play role as villain just now. I don't mind at all if I have to play as villain or spy again someday. You even played it really well as a ghost".

"yeah, I think it's quite fun. I can imagine how afraid Vivian can be", with mischievous lopsided smirk that matched with Meliodas, Gwen crossed her finger across her chin. Next second, comically she put her hands on her hip and puffed her cheeks "besides they deserve for it! For making big sis Margaret and big brother Gil suffered for 10 years... ugh! Had I known this sooner, I'd like to just kidnap her sooner!".

"now, now, you have saved them, just like what your father would do", Gelda patted her head to calm her down before hugging her because her cuteness was too overwhelming "but to think I can see your cute form like this... I bet Arthur and everyone would love to see you like this either".

"...um, Gwen. Are you really...? But why did you not grow at all?", Margaret who had been silent, cautiously asking. When Gwen confirmed it was really her, Margaret cupped her own cheeks in shock "what happened to you, Gwen? Why did you not grow at all? Are you ghost or what?".

Gwen facepalmed "oh, we still have to send her to Camelot to hide and explain everything to her".

Gelda knew what happened so she asked "but how about the commotion on the Castle? Is it over?".

"well, technically speaking, I am only spirit now, sort-of a ghost, but the different is, I'm still alive so I'm just a spirit who comes out of my body temporarily. Since my spirit is here, obviously my body is still asleep on Camelot", Gwen explained "so yes, I bet the commotion isn't over yet".

"you can go back first, princess", Gelda picked the Cath Sith and Margaret on her hands "I will teleport back to the Castle right away".

With that, Gwen waved her hand and cheerfully said goodbye before she vanished into the thin air, back to her body in Camelot Kingdom.

A/N :

The reason of why I write 'Gwen' instead of 'Guinevere' here because she is using her child form (about 6 years old) to kidnap Margaret and pretend to be a ghost in front of everyone in the Liones Kingdom or to put it simple, to trick them (she's really got it from her father, huh?)

To Ansy : I'm glad you love it and yes, motherly moments are needed *lift_thumb although yes, maybe it's confusing for Veronica etc. Oh, good idea. Actually I only think about Lily's hubby, the Fairy King Dahlia but since you mention it, maybe I will add later.

To believergirl62 : yeah, and she will come in the right time, not now. Sorry if it disappoint you. About Nel Hativa, I indeed planned to pair her up with someone but with who, you will see it when we enter the Ten Commandments Arc which we still need a long way to go. I've been meaning to ask though, it sounded like you do like Nel Hativa here so I want to know, what do you think of her?

To Nimthiriel Miluiel : I admit I don't plan to give it Elaine easily just like you said.

To Guest #90 : I already have my own plan with Horn of Cernunos and Supreme Deity. Next time, please add something to make it easier for me to address you like nickname so I know to whom I can givie credit, thank you for the advice *wink

To Guest #91 ; oh, sure~ not to mention her spirit is also about 3.000 years old in fact within 16-years-old body