HI! ^^
Here is chapter 3! I hope you'll like it! :D
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( /RoryWild4)
And Bertaz too! (She draws Escalin sooooo well! She's an inspiration and a huge help every time!)
( /BertazHead)
CHAPTER 3
"What is he doing in there?!"
The Supreme Deity stayed calm and just turned to look inside the room.
"Oh, I see you found Ludociel."
She wasn't surprised nor angry about that.
"This is where my Archangels are transported by their Graces to be reformed and reborn."
She pointed further behind his brother and following Her direction now he saw Sariel and Tarmiel too.
He had known that their Graces protected them and made sure that they were never really lost, but he had never been told the specifics and he hadn't thought to ask, not until now.
Seeing as the Supreme Deity was still serene and collected he calmed himself down too, moving back from the wall, his arms resting along his sides, then turned towards Her, bowed, and once up again he began opening his mouth to tell Her the reason for his visit here.
"The one you're seeking is over there."
He shouldn't be surprised that She had already known about what was going on, so he nodded and followed Her towards the last room, on the other side of the hallway.
True to Her words, inside he could see the unmistakable form of Escanor's soul, but something wasn't completely right.
"I was able to recover every part of this soul, it was very well attached to the Grace, so it was easy, and now I am trying to decide what to do with him."
The Archangel turned to Her, She seemed a little troubled, and he frowned at that.
"I have two options really: I could separate the soul from the Grace, it would be a bother and tricky, but it is part of my power, so I can do it, I could retrieve Sunshine and let the soul go on his journey; or, I could make him one of my celestial troop, maybe even a new Archangel, he has potential and a good affinity with the Grace."
She was thinking very hard about that, but seemed to be inclined towards the second option.
Mael looked again at Escanor's soul, he couldn't let go of the feeling that something was missing.
"You noticed."
He turned towards the Supreme Deity, who was looking closely at him, and nodded.
"As it is now, that is just an empty shell. I was able to find every single piece of that soul except for one, that piece is nowhere to be found and that makes him incomplete. I could just reform him as one of the goddesses like this, but it is a pity to have it without personality."
Now it was the turn of the Archangel to think hard about the situation. To divide his soul and the Grace wasn't an option if he wanted to have him alive again, making him into one of the goddesses could have been better but without his personality it would just be completely another person, he wouldn't be Escanor anymore. The main problem was that he lacked a piece of his soul, and Mael was beginning to suspect where it could have gone missing.
After a few moments lost in thoughts he finally turned to look at the Supreme Deity, who was watching him with a calm and interesting smile.
"Would you take in consideration a third option?"
The setting sun found the Mage sitting on the roof of her lab, looking intently at the view trying to find some inspiration.
How had Escanor done this?!
Writing poetry was resulting in more difficulty than she had anticipated.
She had tried to write what she was feeling, but was too accustomed to describe things scientifically and that was the opposite to poetry.
This was supposed to be about sentiments, it should be spontaneous…
Maybe she could try just to write down the first words that came into her mind while thinking about her situation and then work from there.
She wasn't surprised that the first words that appeared on the page were 'regret', 'sadness', 'alone', and others similar. Maybe she had to think more about him, to let his memory lead her, to let his qualities infuse her. She sighed deeply and tried that, thinking of his kind smile, of when he goofed around to make the others smile, of his gentle touch… the man had been a dichotomy, but the essence of his soul had always been there, day or night.
She hadn't realized that thinking of him had sprouted a big affectionate smile on her mouth, he was able to make her feel better even now.
Maybe, instead of concentrating on the loss of him, she had to think of all the things he had given her, she could write a poem of thanks instead of one of regrets, it would be a better way to honor him.
Happy with that decision she began to write once more, a fond smile on her lips.
The Supreme Deity listened to Mael's option with a serious look on Her face.
"You're basically asking for him to be returned to the living world."
The Archangel almost grimaced, but was able to maintain a neutral expression.
"It would be for the best, and also we owe it to him… his death wasn't his fault, he died giving his life to protect the world from the Demon King, it shouldn't have been his mission to do it, he and his companions were able to achieve what even we couldn't, and his life had been already partly consumed by the Grace, Sunshine wasn't meant for a mortal body, but he survived decades with it, he could do even more if given a second chance."
He suddenly lowered his head, knowing that he had let the passion take him too forward, he was talking to the Supreme Deity, he had to remember his place.
"In my humble opinion he deserves another chance, and I feel responsible for his demise."
The silence that followed his words was tense, at least for him, the Supreme Deity had listened and was thinking about everything he had said to Her.
"It's true that he was just a tool in the greater scheme, and that he had behaved admirably, and I am impressed myself and curious about this being."
Mael dared to look up, seeing Her thoughtfully looking at Escanor.
"Although the problem of his missing piece remains."
"In that regard I may have an inkling on where to find it."
He had answered almost without thinking.
"Oh? And where would it be? It must be in a place where it finds itself at home, more than with the rest of him or within my domain."
Mael had a bad feeling about all this, but he couldn't not answer a direct question, even if he didn't like Her tone.
"I think...it may be attached to another person."
He tried to be evasive, but knew that it couldn't work, not with Her.
"And who might this special person be?"
The gaze of the Supreme Deity was fixed intently on him, Her body was seemingly relaxed, but Her eyes told another story: she was already thinking of some kind of punishment for this mortal who dared defy her powers and have a part of one of Her Graces and souls to prefer this person.
She could be petty sometimes.
"I think it stayed with the woman he loved."
The Archangel swallowed, trying to appease Her, and in fact Her gaze softened.
"Oh, his loved one, I presume that she would like to have him back then?"
She lifted an eyebrow, he was caught.
"All the Seven Deadly Sins, her friends, and me, are trying to do our best, but his loss isn't something anyone can fill, for her, us, and the world. Everyone wants him back."
The Supreme Deity smiled slightly.
"Love uh.."
She was silent, thinking again.
"Who is this remarkable woman?"
The question was asked almost with nonchalance, but it had 'trap' written all over it. He could do nothing to avoid this.
"It's… Merlin."
The reaction was immediate: Her eyes hardened and Her hands closed into tight fists, Her face wasn't able to conceal Her anger.
"Belialuin's daughter?!"
She thundered, Mael could just nod, afraid.
After a moment the Supreme Deity calmed down, and began thinking again, but he didn't like the expression She bore this time, it was clear that She was thinking about revenge.
"Well… this might be more interesting than I thought."
She smirked lightly, then turned towards him with authority and commanded him with an imperious tone.
"Bring me the Seven Deadly Sins, let's see what we can do about this one."
He nodded, bowed, and quickly turned around, he took just a couple of steps before She was speaking again.
"And of course, bring me Belialuin's daughter, bring me Merlin."
He nodded, swallowing, Her tone had been almost dark.
Mael had never walked so fast in his life away from there.
This wasn't good.
The sun had almost gone all the way over the horizon, and Merlin felt quite satisfied with her work, she was able to write down something that could pass as a poem at least, and thinking about all the good times and his qualities had made her smile and feel lighter.
She was about to teleport back inside her lab when she spotted something nearby, frowning at that, she put away her things and began following the interesting sight at a distance, making sure not to be spotted.
There was something going on and her instinct and curiosity told her that she wanted to be present for what was going to happen.
"Do you have news then?"
Arthur was nervous, he hoped and feared the words that the Archangel had to tell them.
Mael had immediately contacted him and the Seven Deadly Sins, so that he could update them as soon as possible.
Now they were all here, waiting for him.
"I found him."
He was terse and to the point.
Everyone looked shocked and relieved, no one thought it would have been possible.
"Tell us more."
The young king requested, his eyes full of hope now, and a big smile on his face.
The Archangel explained why and where he had gone to search, how he was in the goddess realm and why.
"So, my mother has him."
Elizabeth looked worried, and had every right to be.
"Yes, but there is one big problem."
The others were again concentrated on him, so he also explained what the Supreme Deity had thought to do with him, that he had suggested another way, and how they had arrived to talk about the Mage.
"It's obvious that She is still resentful towards Merlin, and that isn't good."
There was a tense silence.
"The Supreme Deity has ordered me to bring you to Her... especially Merlin."
"No!"
Arthur raised up, forcefully.
"If we bring her she would be in danger, right?"
Mael couldn't answer that, he didn't think that the Supreme Deity would really do something outrageous, but he feared what She could do nonetheless.
"I agree. I won't take Merlin in the wolf's den, my mother can be vengeful sometimes, and she didn't appreciate being made a fool by a child."
Elizabeth was determined.
"We will go and talk to Her, see what She intends to do, and try to bring back Escanor without the two of them meeting. While I don't know for real what my mother could do, I'm pretty sure that, as she is now, Merlin would bring down the entire goddess realm to have him back, more so knowing that the Supreme Deity had had him all this time."
The prospect of an enraged Merlin made everyone agree with the goddess.
They prepared swiftly, making Arthur stay behind, despite his protests, but he had to stay to guard his reign and to make sure that the Mage stayed here, also he could be another person that the Supreme Deity could use against Merlin; after all Elisabeth's explanations the young king agreed to stay behind, grumbling.
They soon took to the sky, the ones that couldn't fly on their own transported by King's 'pollen garden'.
They followed Mael, Elizabeth and Meliodas were especially tense and worried, seeing as the last time they had met the Supreme Deity she had cursed them. Now they were more powerful, had the Seven Deadly Sins with them, and had already defeated the Demon King, so She had to at least listen to them.
The Archangel took them directly to the palace where he had encountered the Supreme Deity, guiding them to where Escanor's soul was staying.
The Sins ran immediately towards the room, surprised and relieved to see their seventh member.
"You brought them, good work Mael."
The thundering sweet voice had everyone still and tense.
"But I thought I told you to bring me one more person."
The Supreme Deity had appeared out of nowhere a little distance away from them, She was in a smaller form, taller than all of them but not by much, Her eyes sharp on Her Archangel who could just bow his head, but before he could utter a single word someone else stepped forward.
"She won't be coming here, she doesn't know. We are enough to talk about the matter at hand, mother."
Elizabeth had courageously taken a couple of steps towards Her.
"Oh, I am delighted to see you again Elizabeth...even if you insist on staying in the company of that thing."
She grimaced looking at Meliodas, who was about to respond to Her but a gesture from Elizabeth calmed him down, for now.
"We're not here to talk about us, we are here to see how we can bring back Escanor."
She stayed resolutely in front of her mother, looking Her straight in the eyes.
"I told Mael to bring you all here just for curiosity sake, and I wanted to see you again, but my business concerning this soul is not with you."
The goddess' hands tightened into fists.
"I won't let you harm her!"
She was determined to keep her 'little sister' safe, she had let her down too many times already, she could no more, not this time, it was too important that they bring him back to her again.
They were watching one another intently, but the moment was interrupted by a loud gasp.
"Escanor!"
Ta-dan! :D
What will happen now?!
Please comment! ^^