"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."
—Lewis B. Smedes
You know what we saw there?
The Captain as he was long ago, along with someone who could have been your identical twin, Elizabeth!
"So odd," Elizabeth murmured to herself.
The bell on the new Boar Hat jingled as Ban stomped in, followed by Escanor and King. They carried crates of food, Elaine bringing up the rear with an armful of bread. Elizabeth smiled and waved as they walked by, the Sins nodding in acknowledgment. "Did you have to give me the biggest load?" King complained as they weaved through the tables, heading for the kitchen.
"Listen, Baby Wings, quit your gripin' or you don't get dinner~" Ban said over his shoulder.
"Baby Wings!" The Fairy King stopped in his tracks, making Escanor crash into him. "These are the symbol of the power of my clan, and the result of a great trial that I went through when —"
"Yeah, yeah, save the lecture," Ban called as they entered the kitchen. "Just cuz you got wings now don't mean I can't give ya a nickname."
The argument moved behind the kitchen door, and Elizabeth giggled to herself. She went back to sorting silverware, the delivery having arrived just a short time ago. Unfortunately, when the box was opened she had found a complete disaster, the utensils in a pile of disarray. Now Elizabeth patiently took each piece out, wiped it down, and placed it into a sorting bin.
"Not a very nice nickname," she said to herself, but as she wiped a fork with her cloth, she paused.
Liz was a nickname for someone with the same name as you, Elizabeth.
She was Meliodas' lover.
Instantly her cheeks were burning. Her hands shook slightly as she carefully laid the fork down with the others. It had been months since that exchange, and of course Meliodas had a past that did not include her. He had been alive for — well, she didn't know how long, not completely — but it made sense that he would have had other women in his life. It didn't mean he cared for her any less.
Along with someone who could have been your identical twin, Elizabeth!
This must be a dream! . . . Liz!
People make mistakes . . . I thought that Liz had come back to life.
An unsettled feeling began to pulse inside her stomach. Cain had been convinced she was Liz, hadn't he? And then Diane said she saw someone just like her. Was it possible that Meliodas had found others that looked like her?
Other girls, who looked like her. Other girls, with the name Elizabeth.
"Impossible!" she scolded herself, snatching up a spoon. "Don't be ridiculous. The likelihood of that happening —"
But it was happening.
Liz . . . the same name as you . . . someone who could have been your identical twin! . . . I thought Liz had come back to life . . . she was Meliodas' lover . . . the Captain as he was . . . along with another . . .
Cain wasn't the only one either. Derieri had recognized her. What are you doing here?
Liz . . . Elizabeth . . .
"Elizabeth!"
She jumped, her hand flying to her burning cheek. Her eyes went wide as she looked at Meliodas, standing over her with a grin. "You daydreaming?"
"I s-suppose so," she stuttered. Her heart was racing, so she swallowed slowly, catching her breath. "I'm sorry. You scared me."
"Did I?" He chuckled, hands on his hips. "You must have been out of it. What are ya thinking about?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "Just thinking, really. But I was completely unaware. I didn't notice anything."
I couldn't stop anything . . . I couldn't do anything . . .
"What?"
"Huh?" Meliodas frowned, leaning in as she blinked.
"Did you say something?"
The blonde shook his head. "Nope. You sure you're okay?"
Elizabeth quickly nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry."
"You don't have a single thing to be sorry for. You've done nothing wrong." Meliodas turned his head a bit, smiling softly. "Do you want to go rest? Just leave all this to me, I can figure it out."
"But —"
Elizabeth gasped. But the Indura. That's what she was about to say. But that didn't make sense. What was an Indura?
What are you doing here?
She watched as Meliodas picked up the tray of silverware, and the moment his back turned, she remembered.
Everyone had said the plan was a bad idea. Whether they had objected to the strategy or just objected to Elizabeth being a key component, she did not know. But she was determined, her snapping response so unlike the sweet princess she was and so much like the goddess she was becoming that the arguments stopped immediately. There were hurt and concerned looks, and a very abbreviated lecture from King, but Elizabeth's mind had been set.
She had to save him. Meliodas was alone, suffering — running away from Camelot had been so unbelievably stupid. She was thinking with her heart and not her head and his cruel accusation had wounded her so badly she took off like a girl running away from home. Which is exactly what she had done: Meliodas was home, and she had left him.
"This will work," she had told the Sins as she prepared to leave. "I know this will work. It's our best shot, anyway."
Now Elizabeth looked at the doors before her, at the end of an alley she had never been that seemed to lead under the castle. "Are you sure this is it, Sir Ban?" she asked.
"Yeah, this is it~" he drawled, placing his hands on his hips. "Looks a bit different, but the bitch is definitely down there."
Diane hissed his name in chastisement, but Elizabeth only pressed her lips together. "It's all right," she said. "I know what they are."
She took a step forward, but a firm hand on the arm stopped her. "Princess Elizabeth, don't do this."
His voice was strained, and when she looked at Escanor, his eyes did not meet hers. "I'm going to be fine," she assured him.
Gently she pulled her arm away, and then placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I know what I'm going to find. Sir Ban was good enough to describe it in great detail. There is nothing they can do to me, and if this works, then we'll all be saved." She tilted her head a bit, trying to catch his eye. "Please trust me? I know I can do this."
Ban was silent as Merlin and King mounted a final defense, only admitting defeat when she turned on her heel to walk away from their arguments. "At least let us come with you, Sissy!" Merlin pleaded.
The childish tone in her voice gave Elizabeth pause. She smiled, remembering the little waif of a girl, big eyes and dark hair and enough precociousness to send a dragon screaming for the hills. "Will you come with me, then?" Elizabeth asked.
Elizabeth knew they could not argue this much. The calls of encouragement and to be careful followed them down as the two women began to descend the steps. Merlin led the way with an orb of light she had created, casting long shadows on the walls as they walked. Elizabeth kept a hand on the rock wall for balance. The only sound was their breathing and the shuffling of Elizabeth's feet; somehow Merlin made no sound at all.
As they carefully made their way, Elizabeth's thoughts wandered to the night before, when Meliodas had taken her to Camelot in his wrath. Knowing the terrible truth of what seeing her die had cost him over all these years was enough to drive her to face this unknown darkness and the thing that lay beyond. Each click of her shoes on the stone steps brought her closer to a chance she refused to abandon, no matter what his arguments were. She had seen Meliodas die, and now she knew what he had suffered for three thousand years, to the point where he had abandoned himself to become a person he hated. Elizabeth would end this now, even if it cost her her life.
But she was actually glad for the company. Neither spoke until they were on the stairs, crude little things that were broken from the pounding of soldiers' feet and demon attacks up above. Elizabeth clutched the wall tightly since there was no banister, Aldan leading the way with a soft glow of light.
"What made you think of it?" Merlin asked suddenly.
Elizabeth waited until the echo of her voice settled. "Margaret," she replied. "It hadn't connected when my uncle called forth Nerobasta from the sword. Of course without an object, the souls of the goddesses would manifest."
There was another silence and Elizabeth swore she could hear Merlin's brain working. "This will work," she says firmly.
"How do you know who is in there?" Merlin asked.
At that the princess swallowed nervously. There was little evidence at the moment, but the sheer size of the horn was a giveaway. "I don't," she answered carefully. "But I don't think it will matter."
"No, I suppose it won't." Merlin glanced over her shoulder. "Meliodas needed a catalyst to unlock his inner demon. You are presuming this will do the same for you."
Elizabeth nodded. "Please don't stop me."
"I won't," Merlin assured her. "As dangerous as this is for you, I don't think you'll be harmed. And this is the best idea we have." She looked around the dark cave, Aldan still providing the only light. "What if the creature is gone?"
"We would have known. No goddess emerged. They must be still attached down here, somewhere." The continued in silence for a long moment, the only sound their footfalls. "I know what this is doing to him," she answered quietly. "I finally know what it truly feels like, and I can't allow it to go on. I've been waiting for him to break this curse when it was really on both of our shoulders. It's time I recognize my responsibility in this."
Merlin did not respond, so after a minute, Elizabeth asked, "Do you think this will work?"
"It's hard to say," she replied in an even tone. "But it is an interesting theory."
That hung between them as the descent continued.
It wasn't nearly as many stairs as Elizabeth had thought it would be. Behind them, the light from outside grew dimmer and dimmer as they walked down into the ground; eventually, however, an unmistakable light came from up ahead. It was a dull sort of purple, and Elizabeth's heart leapt to see it.
Together they headed through the cavern, tracing the steps Ban had made months before. But this time the Horn of Cernunnos was gone: no twisting spiral shape, no glowing purple light, no unearthly voice to greet them. Merlin had taken copious notes when she finally poured enough ale into the Fox Sin to pull the tale from him; Elizabeth could almost see it, the fabled relic of the ancient days that had been the source of more than one ghost story courtesy of Veronica.
The darkness, however, seemed a bit too . . . full. "Can you see anything?" Elizabeth whispered.
"Not a thing," replied Merlin blandly.
"Send Aldan away," said Elizabeth suddenly. "I want to try seeing in the dark."
Merlin raised a brow but did as asked, and at once they were plunged into pitch black. Elizabeth nearly panicked, feeling as though the oxygen had been snuffed out as well; but the feeling was also familiar, tugging on her mind like a ball on a string. She followed the feeling until her feet began to move, never stumbling or tilting, simply following the silent voice in her mind.
All at once her shoe hit something, and she knelt on the floor to take it into her hands. Elizabeth was blinded momentarily as it flashed a blinding light, Merlin shouting behind her. But Elizabeth blinked as her eyes adjusted, and then looked down in horrified awe.
It was Her, it must be, the figure she could see in her dreams, the one always on the edge of nightmares. Golden hair and downy wings, the sweeping gowns of silk, the spiked gauntlets adorned in jewels. There was never a being in all of the world as glorious or as dazzling as her mother; it had been said that any mortal creature that gazed on her face would be struck instantly mad from her beauty. She had been the pinnacle of grace and beauty and strength for a thousand years . . . until her wretch of a daughter betrayed her by falling in love.
The fractured horn pulsed in her hand, reminding her of the way the queen's foot would tap to get her attention. Elizabeth smiled, almost fondly. Almost. "Hello, mother," she said softly.
At first she feared nothing will happen. Then the horn seemed to roar at her, her hair lifting as a burst of impatient magic sprayed in every direction. "You," the voice said. "I know you."
"Of course you do," Elizabeth replied politely. "I am your daughter."
"I have no daughter."
She sighed, stroking the rounded spiral. "There's no need for all that. I know you haven't forgiven me."
"Get out."
"I can't." Elizabeth took a cleansing breath, cursing silently at the furious butterflies inside of her. Three thousand years and her mother could still make her feel three years old. "I have come to ask for your help."
"My help!" The voice began to laugh, and Elizabeth cringed. Why must she be just like the mothers in stories? Even the most powerful goddess of all time could still embarrass her daughter. "As if I would help you. As if I would help a lying, traitorous, murdering slut —"
"That's quite enough." Merlin stepped into view, Aldan ready at her hand. "We all know your thoughts on the matter."
"One bitch brings another," sneered the voice. "Where is that little demon with the light hair and dark eyes? He is all that is needed and my torture will be completed."
Elizabeth steeled her courage as she said, "That's why I'm here. Meliodas is in trouble. He needs my help."
"As if I care —"
"He wants to break the curse you created and will stop at nothing to do it."
"I hope he chokes."
"He is going to unleash the Demon King to challenge him for the throne."
Elizabeth smothered a smile as the horn went silent. That got her attention at least. The cause of their rift was unknown to any living creature, including their children: but it was deep and ancient and had touched every living creature since. "That . . . cannot happen," the horn said slowly.
"You're right," agreed Elizabeth. "Meliodas is taking in the decrees of the Ten Commandments. When he is finished he will be more powerful than the king and will take his throne. Then he will be able to break the curse you put on us."
There was another silence before the horn huffs, "I don't care about the curse. You can both enjoy it another ten thousand years for all I care."
Fury filled Elizabeth's senses, but the voice was not finished. "Do you think I sealed myself to this horn and lived under this rock for three thousand years to be summoned by you? You, a goddess who could not fight, who could only heal and talk and show off your figure to attract someone to keep you alive. You think that I would give you one ounce of my power to see you satisfied? Do you think I care if that demon lives or dies? My only regret is that you never had the chance to watch him die. But the king insisted Meliodas should suffer more — who was I to argue that?"
Elizabeth's fingers held the horn so tightly she wondered briefly if she could crack it. Would that kill her? Would she finally be rid of her mother then, and break this curse? She could snap it in half, dash it to the ground, stomp with her heel until the horn was nothing but dust. The tips ached as she squeezed them, picturing her life without this cloud that hovered over her always. Elizabeth had never taken a life before. Could this be the first?
Then Merlin's hand touched her shoulder, and Elizabeth let go a long breath. "Your words don't hurt me anymore, Mother," she hissed. "I don't fear you. I've lived through the worst thing that could ever happen to me — I watched Meliodas die. I watched as his body was torn and beaten and I saw his last breath. I held his cold body and washed him with my tears and I died every moment, over and over again, hundreds of times over to be without him."
She grabbed the end of the horn and twisted, feeling it crack. "Merlin has the ability to trap you forever. She has the Commandment of Peace, living in a little box on a shelf. Would you like to be there too? I can arrange it easily."
"Elizabeth . . ." the voice warned.
"No," the goddess replied. "You will listen to me now. I don't want your magic: your power has only ever been good to destroy, and I am sick of death and war. I want my own. I need it unlocked from my soul so I can use my ability to fight Meliodas when he emerges. That is what you will do for me now, do you understand?"
At first, no word came from the horn. Elizabeth squeezed her hands tightly, feeling the air shift sharply and Merlin behind her. Then the voice said, "Is that all you want?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Fine." Relief flooded her like a warm drink, and Elizabeth sagged on the ground.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"What will you do with me afterward?" the voice asked.
"You cannot possess me so your spirit can go free," she replied. "I can let you go. Or I can send you to the Beyond."
The voice chuckled. "Spoken like a true queen."