The good news is, I'm not dead. The bad news is, I've become monstrously busy compared to how I was when I first started this. I'm not going to abandon this but I'm sad to say I don't think I'll be able to resume a regular update schedule for a while.

Still, I hope this can make up for the wait. Enjoy, I hope~

Many long hours after their arrival in Istar, Elizabeth walked alone past the now-empty clearing to the quarters that had been set aside for her, absolutely exhausted.

As it turned out, Merlin's request for the druids wasn't difficult but it was tedious, tiring, and time-consuming work. She hadn't known but true healing magic was an ability that belonged exclusively to the Goddess clan and the druids that revered them, so while Merlin could create empty incantation orbs for Hyper Recovery spells as easily as anything, the ability to actually imbue them with healing power was a task she always left to the druids of Istar and, this time, her. She wasn't going to complain, of course, she was always happy to help but she had to admit, after spending three hours continuously casting her newly-learned Invigorate spell on what looked like an ordinary, unresponding rock, she was just about ready to collapse.

"But it will all be worth it," she reminds herself, smiling. "If I can help Sir Meliodas and the others like this, I'll do it as many times as it takes..."

It's then that she hears an unfamiliar voice.

"... It's odd. I'd known of your condition, of course, but seeing it for myself... it really is something."

High overhead, figure backlit by the full moon, was a diminutive, rather androgynous-looking figure with short blond hair tucked under a pointed green cap. Even knowing it was rude, Elizabeth couldn't help but stare at the stranger and, more importantly, the four, feathered wings extending out from their back. They fluttered softly as the stranger descended, and when the stranger lands, it's without a sound and with careless ease, the stranger not once looking away from her and her alone.

It should've been uncomfortable, she knew, being stared at by some person she's never met but... somehow, this person seemed rather... familiar. In fact, now that she thought of it, hadn't she met this person before, all the way back when she was—

"Oh, hello! I am known as the bardess, Doremifa Solatido," the stranger says, flying over to eye-level before introducing herself with a jaunty bow and a flair of her poncho, rather startling Elizabeth out of her train of thought. "You may call me Solatido. And you are, of course, the lady Princess Elizabeth, are you not?"

"Yes!" she squeaks automatically, nearly jumping out of her skin. "It's very nice to meet you!" she adds hastily. Then, after some hesitation. "But, um, if you don't mind... have we met before?"

For a moment, just a moment, the bardess' expression turned sad, almost mournful, and Elizabeth almost began to apologize for somehow offending her when the bardess grins and strums a chord, expression playful.

"I am the great bardess Solatido," she declares. "My songs have been heard far and wide, from the slums of Ravens to the highest kings' courts in all of Britannia." She flashes her a wink that was almost... suggestive, to Elizabeth's embarrassment, and plays a quick little ditty. "Perhaps you've heard me perform, Princess! I've played for all manner of royalty, you see~"

"Er—I suppose so!" she says. She couldn't remember having heard her play before but—

"But what are you doing here, my lady Princess?" she asks, lowering her lute. "From what I'd heard, you were safe and sound in your Liones, weren't you? This place is... " she pauses, seems to have to think for a moment. "Unsafe for someone with your condition."

She is only confused. "My... condition?"

Solatido smiles, though it's without mirth. "Your physical condition, Princess," she answers carelessly. "It's so easy to get lost in here; Istar can be such a treacherous place, don't you know! It would be terrible if you were to get hurt!"

"Oh! Um, well... " she shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot under that intense gaze. "I'll be fine, really. Lady Jenna and Lady Zaneli have shown me nothing but kindness. And... besides! I'm not alone. Sir Hendrickson is with me."

Solatido looked unconvinced. "You don't mean that traveling companion of yours, do you?" she asks, looking dubious. "That sickly knight couldn't even protect himself from a simple stomach flu. Are you certain you mean to call him your protector?"

She couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks. For whatever reason, Hendrickson had gotten nauseous the moment they reached Istar and hadn't recovered despite her best, albeit admittedly inexperienced, efforts. Luckily for him, Jenna had been happy to personally take him aside for treatment but still. She has yet to see neither hide nor hair of him since they'd gotten here...

"H-he's very capable when he's on the job," she defends, instead. "I trust him with my life!"

Solatido's expression remained dubious. "... not that I don't trust your judgment, Princess, but are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Of course!" she says immediately. "Sir Hendrickson is one of the most capable knights in all of Liones!"

"And what an impressive place Liones must be if that's what counts as one of its most capable," she answers dryly. Before Elizabeth could even begin to process her response, too aghast at the sheer audacity of this stranger, saying such an insult to the kingdom right in front of one of its princesses, Solatido had begun to speak once more. "For all that he's gifted with light, his blood reeks with darkness. His mere presence is an insult to this place... as meager as this place is."

Her hands clench into fists and she can't help but raise her voice. "Sir Hendrickson is atoning for his mistakes," she says, her voice calm but uncompromising. "I know he did terrible things while under... under that demon's control, but I know he's a good man. I won't let you keep insulting him, Miss Solatido."

Solatido meets her gaze, at first, before finally breaking away, muttering under her breath. "I will never understand how you can tolerate such filth."

Elizabeth hears. She stills. "Filth...?" she asks, sounding almost calm. "What do you mean by 'filth', Miss Solatido?"

Solatido's eyes were unflinching. "What else?" she says, beginning to pick at her lute. "Those lower beings who are the enemy of the whole world, those worthless parasites that taint the world by their very existence... demons and those stained with their blood."

"How can you say that?!" she bursts out, eyes flashing. "How—how dare you say that!"

"How dare I?! How can you say otherwise?!" was Solatido's equally furious reply, the little bardess springing to the air to meet her gaze on four, splayed wings, making her look more imposing than she otherwise would've been, though Elizabeth doesn't flinch, doesn't back down, doesn't yield even the slightest. Upon seeing this, Solatido has to visibly force herself to calm before she continues. "Lady Princess Elizabeth, you are one of the people I respect most in all the world. Without a doubt, you are brilliant beyond words... but I will never understand how you can stand to keep lowering yourself, choosing to associate with those just unworthy of you—much less with him!"

For a while, a very short while, there is silence after the little bardess' outburst, enough that their breathing was the only sound to be heard in the empty clearing, the evening sky their only witness.

"You're... referring to Sir Meliodas, aren't you?" Elizabeth finally asks, her voice soft but her eyes hard. It was not a question, despite whatever tone she might've used. Her expression was steel. "I don't know what you might have heard about him but you're very mistaken."

"Mistaken? Hah!" Solatido scoffs. "What I know is that you've gotten into nothing but trouble since you've met him and yet you still refuse to see reason! What has he ever done for you that you keep feeling the need to defend him like this? He's nothing more than a demon like the rest of them, as bloodthirsty and out of control and even more of a stain on this world than most. Since the day you've met, he's only ever brought you suffering and I just can't understand why is it that you keep on defending him!?"

With each word she said, Elizabeth turned paler and paler, knuckles turning bone-white, her breathing beginning to shake.

Solatido didn't seem to notice as she continued, lost in thought. "Once, I might've... might've begun to think otherwise," she says bitterly. "Back then, because of... but, then, look at everything that's happened! Look at what happened to you! If... if you'd never met him, you could've just lived a happy life as our Princess and you would've... you would've been happy."

"You're wrong!"

Her answer comes out as a scream that sends ripples scattering over the waters around Istar, a primal, furious sound torn from her throat once she could no longer take it. She can see her reflection in the bardess' surprised gaze, see just how manic she must appear to her in the blue of her eyes, but far from making her calm down, it only makes her grit her teeth all the more as she began to speak.

"I'm happy because I'm with Sir Meliodas—whenever I'm with him I feel happier than I'd ever thought I could be! He makes me happy. I..." the words she wants to say linger on her tongue but, no, if she were to ever finally say it, she wanted it to be to him, would want him to be the first to hear those words from her lips. Instead, she takes a deep breath and glares. "I can't imagine what sort of life you think I should be having but I already know I'd be miserable living it."

Solatido's protest was immediate. "Lady Elizabeth, he's filth—"

"What right do you or anyone have to decide what's filth or not?!" she shouts, eyes blazing. "He's a good man who's only ever done his best to be good, not just to me but to everybody! And you're calling him 'filth'? Why?! Just because he's a demon?!"

Solatido did not respond. All she could do was stare, wide-eyed and absolutely dumbstruck, as Elizabeth's voice rose even further, her passion, her emotions making her cheeks burn and her eyes water—not from sadness or sorrow, but from rage, an indignation that set her blood boiling like it had never before.

Elizabeth has to force herself to calm before speaking again, has to give herself a moment to figure out exactly how she wants to say what she means to make Solatido understand it. "Because if it's because he's a demon that you're calling him 'filth'—why should just being a demon make him filth?" she asks, as calmly as she could manage. "He's always doing his best to keep doing good and if someone like that can be called filth just because of what he is... what right do you have to judge all demons without looking at their actions? What right does anyone have to decide an entire people's worth?! No matter what you might call them, the demon clan... th-they're all people, just like any other race! Demons, humans, fairies, giants... at the end of the day, when we're all standing under the same skies... we all have value and neither you nor anyone gets to decide otherwise!"

There is a silence after her outburst, the night quiet save for her breathing as she fought to bring it back under control. In contrast, Solatido didn't seem to need to breathe. The four-winged bardess only hovered in place, absolutely still, eyes unreadable. You could've heard a pin drop in that absolute silence.

If she'd had her outburst for any other reason, perhaps she might've felt guilty for her actions, for the distress she'd so clearly caused. As it was, she didn't. She could never stand anyone insulting Meliodas, not after everything he'd already been through. And, even knowing what the demons had done since they'd broken free from their seal... the thought of someone deciding their worth based on what they were and what they were alone, without caring for what they'd done and what they were trying to be as people...

She would never stand for it.

"... you really haven't changed at all, Lady Elizabeth," the little bard says, at last, looking at her, fondness and exasperation warring in the blue of her eyes. "I will never understand how someone of your stature could become so devoted to those... to a criminal like him."

She can't help it. "Sir Meliodas isn't a criminal!" she bursts out hotly. "He's—he might've done terrible things, before, but he's been—he's already atoned enough! He's worked for so long and so hard to make up for it... I won't let you call him that!"

Something like a smile graces Solatido's face. She hadn't seemed to take offense at Elizabeth's outburst. If anything, there was... something like fondness in her eyes, now. "I know you won't. I can't say I understand you and I won't pretend to, but..." she looks at her, expression unreadable, before finally smiling, hesitantly at first but bright enough to rival the stars. "... I will abide by your wishes, as always, Lady Princess," she informs her. "Don't be so surprised, Princess," she adds, seeing the shock on her face. "If there's one thing I would hope you never forget, it's that I will always be on your side. I swear that on my life."

"That's..." her voice falters, the sincerity, the warmth in Solatido's expression catching her off-guard. There was something close to reverence in the bardess' gaze but, more than that... there was something almost familial, too. "I... thank you. I'm... I'm honored," she finally says, composing herself enough to offer a shy smile back. Then, she hesitates. "But... if I may ask... why do so much for me? Who are you, really?"

For the briefest, most fleeting moment, she thinks she might've seen something like grief in her expression, only for the bardess to then laugh, the sound high and playful.

"You wound me! My lady princess, I am the current leader of the druids. Jenna and Zaneli are my subordinates," she says. Then, she gave a regal bow, wings folding in so that she landed before her on one knee, head lowered, right hand held over her heart, though her expression rather took away from her pose' courtly effect. "And, starting from today, lady princess, I," she began to declare. "Will be your personal instructor regarding the use of your powers."

She stares. "Wh-what?" she stammers. "L-Lady Solatido, I..."

"—I am at your service, lady princess," she finishes for her. In her position, Solatido's folded wings almost resembled a knight's cape. She extended the hand not over her heart, eyes twinkling. "Only if you have no complaints, of course?"

She shakes her head. "N-no! Of course not. I-it's such an honor that you're..." Now, the heat in her cheeks had nothing to do with anger, only embarrassment. To think, the leader of the druids was here to personally give her lessons after... after she'd been so rude. Of course, it was only because she'd said all that about Sir Meliodas... but still! She won't regret that she said those things but, she could've—in hindsight, she could've been calmer about it. "I—thank you so much!"

She accepts Solatido's hand. Her hand is small but strong. A sudden breeze sent the leaves flying around them in a swirl of green just as she pulled the little bardess to her feet and Solatido's smile is bright when she does.

"It's my pleasure to be of service to you, Lady Elizabeth," she says simply, sincerely. "Always."

Meanwhile, back in the Valley of Fossils, dragon carcasses littered the grounds of their once-clean campsite. Silver alone sat awake by the fire as he slowly and steadily re-sharpened his blade. He'd volunteered to take the first watch for the evening—not that any of his traveling companions actually heard it. After the last of the hourglass dragons had been slain and harvested for heartscales, all Gilfrost and the three Holy Knights could do was crawl into their tents and before collapsing onto their bedrolls, absolutely exhausted. For his part, while he was certainly in better condition, Silver couldn't find it in himself to blame them. In a single day, they slew and butchered thirteen full-grown hourglass dragons, a feat unheard even in the entirety the Liones Holy Knights' long, storied history.

"All the same, I had to do a lot of the heavy lifting back there. They still have a lot to learn," he mutters, his thoughts lingering the three in the tent, with his son, of course, at the forefront. It doesn't disappoint him really. If anything, it actually makes him...well, happy. "I guess Sir Meliodas was right after all... he does still need me."

He lets his gaze wander over to the sleeping Gilthunder and, for a moment, just stares. The last he'd seen him, he'd been a boy knee-high to a grasshopper, always curious, always energetic, always determined to prove himself... he was so different now. His son had become a man, serious and driven, an exemplar of a knight, as he'd heard him be called. His son.

He's proud, of course.

He just wishes he'd been there for him as he'd grown.

Just wishes it wasn't his own death that had eventually led to such growth.

"But that sort of thinking isn't going to get me anywhere, is it?" he sighs, with an irritable shake of his head. He lets himself look at his son again, before looking down at his own hands. Despite the circumstances, his hands were undeniably real, solid, strong, and even warm. Despite the cold of the evening air, he strips the gauntlet and glove from his left hand, examining how it looked in the flickering firelight. It looked exactly as it had before everything went down all those years ago; an ordinary hand and nothing more, nothing less. "Not when I have a chance to make things right."

Before he'd been brought back, before that swirl of power that had inexorably drawn him back... he'd been at peace in the Capital of the Dead, with his beloved Renee and all the friends and family he'd lost over the years. He'd been happy, content, really yet, despite everything...

... he always wished he could've been there for his son. He'd always wished he could've guided him as he'd grown.

"I can make things right," he says to himself. He stares at his reflection on his sword's freshly-sharpened blade before taking a breath and lifting his visor. His reflection stares grimly back at him and he can't help but smile at the sight of himself, almost amused. "... I can be such a coward sometimes, eh, Renee?" he muses, lifting his gaze to the skies. "Tomorrow, I'll tell him everything. Everything we ever wanted to tell our boy... I'll make sure he hears it from me, loud and clear."

The skies provide no answer but he thinks he hears a ghost of a laugh and imagines his wife with him, as the two of them had always been there for their son over the years. It makes him smile.

Then a shadow fell over the moon and all of his hairs stood on end, his every instinct screaming as a chill raced down his spine.

The skies overhead were darkening, the light of the previously-brilliant full moon being smothered as... something sped through the open air. He might've thought them clouds on sight but some instinct, some internal sense of wrongness had him on his feet once more, sword held ready, visor once again over his face as he squinted up into the darkness and saw—

"Demons," Silver whispers, sword going slack in his grip. "The demon clan, they're...!"

That something was an entire army of demons, from the minuscule whites to enormous grays, their gaps filled in with monsters, vile abominations of twisted, tainted flesh, all of them flying on dark wings as they raced through the skies. From their distance, they looked like not much more than specks but there were just so many of them, they covered the skies in their entirety and, with them, they brought a miasma thick enough that he wanted to choke at the scent of it. Even from this distance, the air was becoming putrid in their wake. They didn't seem to notice him or any of his companions but that brought him no comfort.

"Get up! All of you!" he barks, not even sparing his companions a glance as he raced up onto a vantage point to observe the demons' trail, his exhaustion forgotten in the face of the swarm infesting the skies. "Now!"

His desperation must've leaked into his voice because Gilthunder, Gilfrost, and Jericho were all up within seconds, all of them still looking dazed from their sudden awakenings but already pulling on what armor or equipment they'd taken off for the night with an automatic efficiency, his son the fastest of them all. He doesn't need to look to know that they saw the threat; he heard the exact moment they processed the threat before them, a moment filled with outbursts of shock and surprised swears.

"Mmf... what's going on?" Howzer, alone, remained prone on his bedroll, blinking blearily up at his companions as he slowly began to pull himself up into a sitting position. "'S the middle of the night..."

"Howzer," Gilthunder hisses. "Get up! Look!"

Despite himself, Zaratras sneaks a glance back at them. His son had already finished re-equipping himself as a Holy Knight of Liones. In place of the shield that had been destroyed during the fight with the first hourglass dragon, he was holding the charm the second Meliodas had Merlin give to him, a length of golden cord hung with incantation orbs, some for teleportation Merlin had made to ease their travels, others for healing and protection. Despite the bags under his eyes, he looked alert as he looked up into the skies and saw the same sight that had so horrified him before, his own sword drawn as he went to his side by the vantage point he'd chosen.

Even through all the fear the sight of the demon army brought in him, he can't help but feel something of a thrill to have his son by his side, as well as a warm glow of pride at what a good knight his son had become.

He doesn't have the time to let it show, however, so he doesn't.

"Holy shit, what the—" Howzer was sputtering, gaping openly at the swarm racing through the skies, now fully awake once more as he hastily began to rearm himself. "How are there so many demons?!"

"The demon clan must be on the move," Gilfrost mutters, hands white around his staff as he levitated into position. His eyes were wide and terrified. "There's so many of them...!"

"What are we going to do? W-we're going to have to stop them, right?!" Jericho demands. The fear in her voice was obvious but the look in her eyes was resolute and her grip on her sword was surprisingly steady. "Right?!"

Though hidden by his helmet, Silver smiles a death's head grin. His drawn sword began to glow with a faint light as he readied it by his side. "Of course."

Before them all, the swarm flew, vast enough to cover the skies.

"Get ready."

They've already had a full day to get used to the idea but it still comes as a shock to see the two Meliodas side by side, theirs still in bed, sitting propped up against the pillows, and the one from the future on a chair by his side, matching grins on their faces as they watched them enter the room one at a time, all of the Sins present—save, notably for the future's Ban and Gowther, who was standing in Ban's usual place at the foot of their Meliodas' bed, eyes unreadable as he watched them from behind his glasses.

"Yo!" the Meliodas from the future is the one to greet them. "Thank you all for coming here so quickly."

"You guys called a meeting, didn't you? You'd have kicked our asses if we were slow." Ban drawls. Despite his glib tone, however, there was a tension in his posture and his eyes were somber. "How're you feeling, Cap'n?" he asks the Meliodas in bed. "I haven't seen you out of your room all day... you alright?"

"'Course I am! I don't even feel 'em anymore!" was his immediate, flippant response, puffing out his chest. However, at a look from his counterpart, he winces and settles back against his pillows. "... I... don't feel too great," he admits. "My hearts are back in perfect condition but aside from that, I'm still..." He lifts the sleeve from his right arm, revealing the regrowing but still gruesome-looking stump. "Not great. Ban—that other Ban's Gift is pretty amazing but it's kinda slow. I mean, I've got my elbow back!" he adds, looking cheerful as he lifted said elbow and began to flex it—what little of it was there. "But... since Gift is focusing on my arm at the moment, the rest of me's... well..."

"Not great," his future self supplies. "Elizabeth's fixed a lot of it but, for the time being, he's going to be on bed rest for a while. It'll be fine, though!"

"Are you sure?" Diane asks, concern obvious as she walked over to his side, King following behind her. "Elizabeth might not be back for days! Captain, are you really going to be alright?"

The one from the future is the one to answer, a warm smile on his face. "Of course. I'm made of pretty sturdy stuff, you know!" he says reassuringly. "Besides, Ban's Gift is really effective. As long as he's around, we'll be fine."

Their Ban snorts. "Definitely," he says quietly. For a moment, his eyes were downcast but before anyone could comment, his usual smirk was on his face as he faced their Meliodas, one eyebrow quirked. "So, Cap'n, what's this meeting about?" he asks. "Not that I'm not happy seeing you or anything but it's been a while since you've called for any official meetings."

Theirs coughs. "Right," he says. "So... the thing is, what we told little Gil, Hendy, and the others... it wasn't a lie per se but it wasn't the whole truth."

King stiffens. "The whole truth?" he repeats. Cautiously, he approached, landing just by Diane's side, though his eyes remained fixed on Meliodas. "What do you mean by that, Captain?"

"There's a lot of stuff we didn't mention back there," the one from the future answers, expression turning serious. "I—we trust them with our lives but... it's personal. We trust them with our lives but... you're the Sins. More than anyone, I think you guys deserve to know everything."

King has to swallow before he can speak. "Why?" he has to ask. "You've never—before now, you never even gave us the chance to know about all of this! Why are you telling us all of this now?"

Theirs is the one to answer, this time, his expression turning remorseful. "Because now I know what could happen if I don't," he answers simply. "You guys have always deserved to know everything. It's just that, before now, I was..."

"... I was just scared," the one from the future is the one to finish. He looked bitter as he looked down at his hands, eyes distant. "Back then. Even now, really. In a lot of ways, it was just... easier to keep things the way they were, to just try and live without looking back but..." he releases a long breath. "Now, it would just be unfair to you guys. Because this fight with the Ten Commandments, the Holy War—it all dates back to what happened all those years ago. The reason there even was a war was because of me. Me and... Elizabeth."

There is a sharp intake of breath. For a moment, it seemed all the Sins, save the two Meliodas and Gowther, had been stunned into silence. They'd been made aware of this, of course, during their Captain's ultimately disastrous fight with the Ten Commandments but to hear him admit it so plainly... it should've been hard to believe but, somehow, looking at the two versions of their Captain, it really wasn't.

Yet, all the same... how in the world could Elizabeth be involved in the start of a war over five thousand years past?

"It would just be unfair for me to expect you guys to keep fighting without knowing the reason why," their Meliodas continued. His gaze was downcast, his one hand clenched into a fist, and his eyes similarly distant as his counterpart's were. "You're my friends. If there's anyone I can trust with this... it's you. It's not going to be easy," he hastened to add. "What we're going to tell you—what we're going to show you—it's a long story that spans over three thousand years and none of it is easy to hear. I won't force any of you to go through it. You can leave now if you don't really want to, but... you at least deserve the chance to hear it from me."

"Captain..." King didn't know what to say.

"I really won't force you!" the Meliodas from the future says hastily, apparently misinterpreting King's expression. "If you don't want to, it's fine! I understand completely; it really is a lot to go through. I just wanted to make sure you guys had the option to... to hear it from me."

It's then that King remembered: for all that the Meliodas from the future seemed as cheerful as could be... he had died, in his future. He might've looked more... well, alive compared to their Captain but theirs had been saved from death while he... hadn't. For all intents and purposes, he was just a ghost like Helbram. A very solid ghost, sure, but still just that.

He'd never thought of it but the him from that future, he and the Sins who'd remained after... after their Captain had died and Ban had left to save what was left of him... what happened to them?

While he was lost in thought, Escanor had begun to speak. "I... I won't say I understand what exactly you're going to show us, Captain," he was saying. It was the middle of the night and his form reflected it but despite that, his eyes carried an echo of the same steel his noon-form always did, and it made him seem tall even in the dark of the night. "But... it seems you've had to go through this... alone for all this time and no matter what it is... you shouldn't have to keep carrying such a burden alone. I would... if it's alright, I... I want to hear it."

"Escanor..." their Meliodas says, looking rather taken aback. "You don't need to do that for me."

"I want to," he answers, simply but firmly. "Y-you've always been here for us, Captain. L-let me do the same for you."

"Yeah!" Diane bursts out. While there was a pensiveness to her expression, there was determination burning bright in her eyes. "I won't pretend I understand everything. I still don't understand everything from last night or... or even all our adventures from before I lost my memories," she admits. "But... I'm part of the Seven Deadly Sins, too, and I want to be here for you. You're my friend, Captain. Even before all..." she waved vaguely at her own head. "This, I remember you being there for me. I want to do the same."

"... Alright," is all their Captain could say, disbelief clear on his face, eyes wide but warm. "I... thanks, Diane." He seems to need to take a moment to recompose himself and, once he does, he looks to King, expression questioning. "What about you?"

King nods. "I want answers," he says first, sounding almost gruff before he swallows and continues: "I want to trust you." His answer seemed to rather startle both Diane and Escanor, though neither of the Meliodas seemed surprised, Gowther showed no reaction, and Ban, of course, already knew. He forges on. "I... I know you're not one of them," he says. "I don't know what you're hiding or-or why you're hiding so much but... you're my friend. I... no matter what, I want to help you."

Their Meliodas only manages a smile in his usual unreadable, seemingly unflappable fashion but his future counterpart beams, and it is warm, bright, and so absolutely open, King, who's never been good at reading hearts like his sister can, thinks he can read his every emotion in the depths of his eyes, so intensely grateful, he feels almost embarrassed to have caused it.

"I told you, our friends are great, aren't they?" that Meliodas says to theirs, looking almost shamelessly sunny before finally turning to Ban. "And you?

Ban scoffs. "Y'have to ask?" he drawls, to which both Meliodas chuckle. "Didn't think so."

"Alright, then!" their Meliodas says decisively. "Now, Gowther—"

"W-wait, Captain!" Escanor suddenly interrupts, making them all turn to him. He looked hesitant under their collective gaze—more so than usual, anyway, given that he was in his midnight form—but forges on regardless. "Wh-what about Lady Merlin?" he finally says. "Shouldn't she be here as well? A-and that other Ban—shouldn't he be here too?"

"Merlin already knows about what I'm gonna tell you," their Meliodas says casually, to all their surprise. His expression looked almost cheeky. "We've been friends for a long time, you know."

"A really long time," the other Meliodas concurs. Unlike him, his expression had turned almost soft. "She was there when it all began so it's not like it was ever a secret from her. And Ban—the Ban from my time already knows, of course," he adds, looking to their Ban with something of a smile. "It's... actually related to the reason why he got me out from Purgatory." He coughs. "So, Gowther, if you could explain the plan..."

Gowther first adjusts his glasses before beginning to speak. "Due to the sheer volume of information, the Captains have decided that it would be unfeasible to relay through speech. As such, it falls to me!" He suddenly struck a cutesy idol-like pose, one finger pointing at himself, all while his expression remained absolutely deadpan. "To use my powers to transmit that Captains' memories directly into your minds."

"Oh! Like what you did for me?" Diane asks, looking curiously at her fellow Sin, to which he nods.

"Precisely," he says. "As such, you will all experience the events we plan to show you through the Captain's point of view, exactly as the Captain remembers experiencing it."

"It's going to be pretty intense," their Meliodas warns. "I'm just saying that if any of you want to back out—"

The chorus of refutals from the rest of the Sins cut him off before he can even finish his sentence, making the future Meliodas snicker.

"Thought as much," the future Meliodas says, smirking at his counterpart. "... It is going to be pretty intense, though. Just, brace yourselves before we get started. If any of you are hungry or thirsty or need to take a leak, you better go now. We're going to be here for a while."

"How long are we talking here?" Ban asks, one eyebrow raised.

Gowther is the one to answer. this time."There are millions of years' worth of memories between the two Captains," he informs them, prompting many muffled exclamations of shock and disbelief, though he ignored it all as he continued. "The Captains will be guiding us so that we will only have to go through the relevant portions but I predict we will be here for at least the night."

"How can you have millions of years of memories?!" King burst out. He was just boggled. As a Fairy King, he was already much more long-lived than most but he didn't expect to live past five thousand years. Even his predecessor, the Fairy King Dahlia, a full-fledged Fairy King with magnificent, full-grown wings... even she hadn't lived anywhere near that long. Millions of years...

"It'll all be explained," their Meliodas promises. "But, first—do any of you need to eat first? Drink? No?"

"I... I think w-we're all just interested in hearing about this, now, Captain," Escanor answers weakly. He looked so shaken; it almost looked like that reveal had taken a physical toll on him. "Whatever, erm, this is."

The future Meliodas nods. "Alright, then. Are you ready, Gowther?"

Gowther readjusts his glasses before holding out his arms by his sides. The Sacred Treasure Harlot materialized from his outstretched hands, making it look as if he were holding out bolts of pink lightning.

"Of course," he says. With the way that the light from his manifested Sacred Treasure bounced off of his glasses, his eyes were hidden in the glare of his lenses. "Firstly, however, I would recommend you all hold hands."

"Eh?! H-hold hands?!" King was horribly flustered as he looked from Gowther to Diane then back again. "Is... is that really necessary?!"

"It's easier for me to transmit memories en-masse when there's contact between those I'm transmitting to," he explains. "Normally, it isn't necessary but the current circumstances deem it such." He then tilts his head to one side. "Why are you asking?"

He's trying to come up with a response when a hand grasps his own as easily as anything, warm, soft, strong fingers entwining around his as if they belonged there. He can feel his face burning as he slowly looked up to face the culprit.

"Come on, King," Diane says encouragingly. Her smile was warm, wide, and friendly. At her side, though he looked rather timid about it, Escanor was already holding her hand, with an unconcerned Ban holding his other. "We're friends, right? There's no need to be embarrassed!"

The future Meliodas then walked on over to his side and took his other hand, smiling all the while, their Meliodas' one hand in his other. "C'mon, King, lighten up!" he tells him. "Just think of it like a... friendly bonding exercise for us Sins, just like old times."

"We have literally never had one of those before, Captain," Ban retorts, smirking. His expression fell, however, once he looked down at their Meliodas who was at his side. "How're we gonna do this, Cap'n?"

"Just hold my stump," their Meliodas tells him, looking supremely unconcerned as waved the shortened and still very gruesome-looking limb at his friend. "Just, ah, avoid holding where the bone's still stickin' out. It itches."

"Uh... sure." Ban, who generally considered his own dismemberments an annoyance at their very worst, looked discomforted at the sight of it. He gingerly placed his hand on their Captain's shoulder, instead, seeming unable to look at where the arm ended for too long. "... so, are we doing this or what?"

"I will begin," Gowther announces. "Captains?"

Both nod.

"Searchlight."

What looked like pink lightning bolts shot out from his extended fingers and into the Captains' foreheads, making both tense, though not, it seemed, from pain. Behind his glasses, Gowther's eyes were gleaming as he raised his other hand, tracing a line of light in the air as he met their eyes and stared at their joined hands, his fingers sparking with a steadily intensifying pink light, bright enough to fill the room and chase away all the shadows of the night.

"Broadcast!"

A bolt of pink light slammed through all of their foreheads, making them gasp at the impact as the magic of it made their surroundings fade in a rush of noise, light, and sensation as they first seemed to fall through an infinitely empty space before new surroundings, new sounds, new lights, and new sensations filled that void, completely different from those of Meliodas' room in the Boar Hat and those of a time long since passed. Each opened their eyes to the sight of the world as it had been all that time ago through eyes that weren't their own. If it were not for the faintest ghost of pressure they felt where hand met hand, where skin touched skin, they might've thought they'd become alone.

A long story was going to be told.

Outside the room, Ban felt uneasy.

He'd been standing guard since the night began and now, he knew, it was finally really getting started. He'd felt a frisson go down his spine as he sensed Gowther's magic, even before he'd seen the pink light flashing even through the tiles that formed the roof shingles of the Boar Hat. He'd been tempted to go sneak a glance but he knew it would've been pointless and so he hadn't. There had been no screaming, no wild bursts of magic, no indication that their plan had begun to go awry—yet, all the same, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was some kind of sixth sense, hell, maybe it was some kind of memory—he doesn't understand it but there was something wrong and he knew it. Without a word, he slips out of the Boar Hat and onto its lookout, eyes wary, searching. Outside the Boar Hat, the night was calm and clear, the air cold against his skin. At this time of night, Liones had long become quiet. With only very few exceptions, most of the populace had already gone in for the evening. The only ones still moving around were the knights with the bad luck to draw the evening patrols, and even they looked as if they would prefer nothing more than to go to bed and finish their shifts already. Ban can see all of this at a glance from his vantage point at the Boat Hat's lookout balcony, but while that should've been comforting, it only makes him tense.

While the kingdom itself seemed calm, something felt amiss. He didn't have anything to go off of but he couldn't have endured centuries of Purgatory without learning to trust in his instincts. It was distant but he could sense something—

"Shit." He hadn't even meant to say it, his "Damn it...!"

But if he left them now—

He swears and steals a glance through the Captain's window, squinting through the brilliant pink light flooding the room to look at his friends inside.

Though normally easily some of the best warriors in all of Britannia, currently, all of the Sins in the Captain's room were sitting unresponsive to the world around them. Gowther had warned them early on that there was no easy way to stop once the Broadcast began. For all intents and purposes, they were all sitting ducks. If anything came to attack them, if the Commandments came to try and finish what they'd already started—

He grits his teeth.

"Helbram, get over here!"

Though he'd been inside, in the middle of a conversation with Elaine, the fairy ghost is by his side in a flash, eyes wide. "What is it?!"

Without any word of greeting, he jerks his head to the window he'd been looking at, to his friends all lost to memories within. "Watch over them," he says quietly. "Something's coming."

Though initially taken aback, Helbram is quick to nod. "Where will you be?"

He bares his fang in a grin, though one without any humor. "I'm going to welcome them."

"You're going to what?!"

The squeal stops him in his tracks. Hawk was gaping at him from the door leading to the lookout.

"Where are you going? What were you talking about?!" he demands in a torrent of rapid-fire questions. "And-and who the heck are you talking to?!"

He doesn't really mean to but his next words come out in an angry growl. "Master, I don't have the time for—"

He feels it.

He whips around to look in the direction of what he'd sensed, so close now that he could smell a trace of its approach in the air—a distinctive scent like the sweetness of carrion and rotting flowers mixed with that of ozone and ashes. He recognizes it now. It transforms his expression into one of deadly, deathly calm, eyes narrowing into slits.

"... Get Slader to get the other Holy Knights to suit up," he orders curtly, looking not at Hawk or even Helbram but into the distance, far beyond the walls of the kingdom. His eyes were gleaming the color of blood. His voice was cold enough that even Hawk shut up and just stared. "Trouble's coming."

Then, without another word, he leaps.

He leaps with enough force that the lookout of the Boar's Hat is left cratered in his wake, leaving an explosion of dust and smoke and a protesting, disbelieving Hawk standing in the room's remains. He neither notices nor cares. He moves with all the speed he can muster, a speed that even Meliodas had never been able to beat on his own, footsteps leaving craters in his wake. The interior of the capital of Liones blurs into its outskirts, then far beyond as he ran with all the speed of a man possessed, following to where his every instinct was screaming at him to avoid without pause or break. He might've been running for minutes or even hours and he wouldn't have noticed through the fury he felt thundering through the entirety of his being as he followed his instincts, his intuition—

To face where Estarossa was flying on dark wings, eye searching, his figure silhouetted by the fullness of the moon bright overhead

He skids to a stop before him, his back to the kingdom miles beyond. He meets his gaze when the demon takes notice of him He stands, tall and proud and unyielding.

"Well, well, well," the demon drawls, eyeing him he always did—contemptuous, proud, and, above all, dismissive. His wings were large enough to leave Ban cast in a shadow a mile wide. "A gnat."

Ban only looks coldly back. "... You're not getting him," he states without bothering with any preamble.

"Oh?" He only seemed amused. "And who's going to stop me?"

Ban does not smile. He merely remained standing, eyes narrowed into slits, and arms crossed as he stared up at Estarossa, animosity obvious despite his quiet, his apparent calm.

"I will."

Whew, writer's block's tough and night classes are a killer. I honestly meant to post this all the way back at the start of the month but midterms burnt me out something awful and Sariel was waaay chattier than I'd initially planned. I hope this was enjoyable, at least.

Coming up next: fight scenes and a literal trip down memory lane. Expect explosions.

On a... relatively unrelated note, since it's my birthday, I'm trying to spread some cheer. Around next week, I'll be posting either a oneshot along the lines of Stagnation or an update to Oft-Sprung Surprise. Whichever I finish first.

Anyway, all feedback's appreciated and have a nice day.