I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.
Awarded
"I just want you to know, we're settling things once this party's over," Ban said as he and Oswald were walking down the street.
"I know," Oswald nodded. "And I want you to understand, you're not going to beat me."
"You never know," Ban said.
Oswald sighed and nodded. "Alright. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see Merlin about a way to manifest my wings without halfway bleeding out every time."
Ban nodded, branching off, and Oswald made it exactly two blocks before the next interruption arrived. Jericho skidded out of a side street, panting and glaring at him.
"Jericho?" Oswald blinked. "How are you?"
"I'm weak!" Jericho snapped. "And it's all your fault!"
"You're also human," Oswald said. "I stopped you from being a monster and killing countless people. I'm not apologizing for that."
Jericho glared at him. "It's all your fault, so you'd better take responsibility!"
"Whoa now!" Oswald said. "I took away your demonic power, not got you pregnant. Stop making it sound worse than it is."
"That's not what I meant!" Jericho screeched, face crimson. "You have to find a way for me to be powerful again!"
"Why not just train?" Oswald asked. "You know, like every normal Holy Knight?"
"Alright, then you'll train me," Jericho said.
"Yeah no," Oswald said. "I'm not looking for a student."
"Didn't you hear me?" Jericho demanded. "I said this is your fault, so you're going to fix it!"
"I already fixed it," Oswald said. "You just don't like my solution."
"Exactly!" Jericho said. "So you're going to make me strong again!"
Oswald sighed. "Look, if you're really that desperate, just go ask Ban if you can drink his blood and share his immortality. You'd become super strong, and he'd have someone he could be with for all eternity without trying to kill me."
"Ban's trying to kill you?" Jericho gasped.
"No," Oswald sighed. "He just wants to fight so often that he's been giving me a headache." Oswald sighed heavily. "Alright, fine. I'll make you a deal. I have something to take care of after the celebration. Assuming I'm alive by then, I'll train you once that's finished. Happy?"
"I think I can accept those terms," Oswald sighed, shaking his head as he walked past her.
He continued walking in silence, and reached Merlin's mansion after about another five minutes, this time uninterrupted. He knocked on the door, and suddenly found himself standing in a room where Merlin was using a small orb to examine Hawk. Finding out Hawk had come back to life as a mouse-sized pig was a bit less of a shock than he had realized. After all, Her Highness was capable of some truly amazing things. Or, it could just be because Hawk is Hawk.
"How can I help?" Merlin asked.
"Do you know a way to make it so I can summon my wings without spraying blood all over everything?" Oswald asked.
"For that, I'd have to know exactly what you are," Merlin said, smirking knowingly. "For the time being, I'd suggest just leaving them out. I could make armor for them, if you want."
"No, then they'd be decorative," Oswald said. "I can't fly with them unless they're uncovered."
"I suppose," Merlin nodded. "Anything else I can help with?"
"Do you know where the coffin is?" Oswald asked.
"No," Merlin said seriously.
Oswald nodded. "I didn't think so. I'm going to go help the city rebuild then."
Merlin nodded and Oswald turned, walking back out he door and lifting off, flying to the castle and beginning to help rebuild. Work was quick, and it kept Oswald busy. Before he knew it, he had worked through the festival celebrating the kingdom's birthday, and several other days after. He decided he had helped enough the day before he and the others were supposed to be awarded medals, and headed back to the Boar Hat. As he walked in, Diane, who Merlin had given magic pills to allow her to be human sized, turned to him, grinning.
"We have a surprise for you!" Diane said.
"Oh god, please tell me it's not Meliodas's food," Oswald groaned.
"It's about to be Meliodas's foot," Meliodas said from off to the side.
Elizabeth and Diane laughed before Elizabeth reached down behind the bar and lifted up a cuirass formed from silver armor with a scaled design that looked like feathers reaching outward from the center of the chest where a gold triskelion rested. She turned it around, showing the same feather design on the back, but with a pair of holes for his wings.
"It's...amazing," Oswald said. "But...I don't really wear armor that much."
"Consider it a precaution," Meliodas said. "In case someone we'd rather not see again shows up."
Oswald nodded and walked forward, picking it up and lifting his wings, slipping them into their opening as he pulled the cuirass on over his head. It fit perfectly. It was more form-fitting than he had thought, and it flexed and twisted with him, not hindering his movements at all, even when he bent forward to touch his toes.
"I love it," Oswald smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Elizabeth smiled. "But it was Diane who made it."
"It was Elizabeth's idea," Diane said. "She said we should give you something as thanks for helping the captain fight Hendrickson, and for defending so many people during the fight, as well as an apology for Ban."
"Where is he anyway?" Oswald asked. "He was supposed to come talk to me again but he disappeared."
"King too," Diane said, looking worried. "I hope they're okay."
"I'm sure they're fine," Oswald said.
"You're right," Diane smiled. "And whenever King gets back, I can tell him the truth."
"Truth?" Oswald asked.
"I remembered everything," Diane said. "He and I used to be best friends. I loved him. But I never actually told him, so he never realized it. And then one day, he made me forget him. I need to tell him I remember, and apologize for hurting him for so long."
"I'm sure he doesn't blame you," Oswald said.
"It's not about that," Diane said. "I want to tell him that I love him back."
Oswald smiled and nodded, then they all began to drink. As always. The next morning, they all went to the clear area in front of the castle, a group of Holy Knights arriving to watch the ceremony. However, as King Bartra was speaking, thanking them for saving the kingdom, several Holy Knights behind them were whispering words of descent, calling Meliodas and the other Sins criminals, among other things, and calling Oswald a freak.
"I object to those medals," Meliodas said finally, "is what some others would like to say. Right?" He turned to the crowd. "There have been some people whispering for a while now. If you have something to say, out with it. I'm all ears."
Three Holy Knights walked forward, one extremely tall man with short black hair and a strip beard running down his chin, wearing a green jacket and pinstripe pants, one short bulky man with a bowl cut, a bushy mustache, a sword bigger than he was, and no shirt under his coat, exposing the fir covering his chest, and one man of average height with long wavy hair, a thin mustache, a suit jacket, greaves, and a katana hanging from his left hip.
"Huh, I got the feeling there were more, but it looks like you three are the only honest ones," Meliodas said.
"Funny, the first three to speak out against us are three that I definitely didn't see risking their lives fighting Hendrickson," Oswald said.
"Under the rule of the traitorous Grand Masters' rule, we were assigned to an outer region, so we weren't present during the battle," the one with the katana, Deathpierce one of the other knights called him, said. "As a result, we didn't get to witness the strength of the legendary Deadly Sins first-hand. Until we see their strength, we cannot condone their decoration."
"Very well, do as you wish," Bartra said.
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty," Deathpierce smiled.
"I'll go first," the taller one with the green jacket said, cracking his knuckles.
"Hold it right there!" Hawk said from off to the side. "Magic, two hundred ninety, strength, four hundred seventy, spirit, one hundred. Total battle strength, eight hundred sixty."
"You wanna try speaking in normal words now pig?" Oswald asked.
"That new earing of his, it's an evil eye, isn't it?" Gowther asked.
"It is," Merlin nodded. "Barol's Evil Eye. It's a talisman that allows one to see an opponent's strength as measurements based on their magic power, physical strength, and their spirit. The higher the number, the stronger they are."
"I see," Oswald nodded. "So you were saying words."
"Of course I was!" Hawk snapped. "Whoa. That can't be right."
"Sh," Oswald said. "Don't spoil it for me. I like surprises, and if I know my numbers, it won't be as fun for me. I prefer guessing games, and to not be told I'll lose just because my numbers are lower."
"Shall we, Mr. Hero?" the Holy Knight that had challenged Meliodas asked.
"Ready whenever you are," Meliodas nodded.
The Holy Knight began to attack him in a massive flurry of punches, but Meliodas avoided them all easily before delivering a devastating, yet barely above a tap, punch to the side of his jaw. The Holy Knight crashed to the ground, staying there for a moment before standing.
"Is that it?" the Holy Knight asked. "If that's all it took to defeat the Grand Master Holy Knights, they were nothing but pushovers. If I'd known that, I'd have killed them myself."
"I don't want to be rude, but they'd have killed you in an instant," Meliodas said.
"What's that!?" the Holy Knight demanded.
"I don't know what happened to make them get such a stupid idea in their heads, but the Hendrickson and Dreyfus I know were good men with the courage to do what was right, and the strength to see it done, no matter what it was," Meliodas said. "You lack something right here," he tapped his chest over his heart, "and it makes you fail as a Holy Knight."
"A Holy Knight doesn't need courage!" the Holy Knight laughed, charging again. "All he needs is overwhelming power!"
He threw another barrage of punches at Meliodas, only for Meliodas to block them all, shattering the Holy Knight's fingers.
"If all a Holy Knight needs is overwhelming power, then I guess you're not even an Apprentice," Oswald said as the knight staggered backward a couple steps. "You don't have the power, or the courage to be called a Holy Knight."
"I think you should start over," Meliodas suggested as the Holy Knight moved to headbutt him.
Meliodas raised his hand, and when the Holy Knight's head met Meliodas's palm, the Holy Knight shot backward, bouncing three times before Deathpierce caught him with one hand, watching Meliodas in interest.
"Who's next?" Meliodas asked.
"Pardon us," Deathpierce said. "I apologize on Dogedo's behalf as well. His best friend lost his life during the battle. We've seen your strength now, and we concede our complaint. We'll take our leave."
They left and Oswald shook his head, then stared up at the sky as his thoughts began to drift, completely ignoring Hawk as he began to realize that all of the Sins had battle stats of three thousand or more, freaking out because they exceeded his own level, which he thought was three thousand thanks to Merlin saying that it was, if multiplied by a hundred. After a few more minutes, the medals were awarded and they were all leaving the ceremony, Meliodas and Elizabeth leaving with the king, only to meet up with them again on the way to the Boar Hat. They walked in silence for a while before Oswald stopped as Jericho stepped out in front of him, arms crossed and glaring.
"Well?" she asked. "When are you going to start training me?"
"When I feel like it," Oswald shrugged. "Your weakness isn't my problem. You wouldn't even know the difference if you hadn't drank demon blood to begin with."
"But I-"
"Meliodas," Griamore said, stepping around a corner behind Jericho, along with Gilthunder and the Holy Knight with the wind power. "Thank you for what you said about my father."
"Don't mention it," Meliodas said. "I was just telling the truth."
"Are you feeling better Howzer?" Diane asked.
"Yes," the third Holy Knight nodded. "Physically, at least."
"I heard what happened," Meliodas said. "Dreyfus wounded you and killed the Roars of Dawn while you were escorting him, then escaped."
"That's right," Howzer nodded.
"That's impossible!" Griamore said. "My father would never-"
"It wasn't your father," Oswald said. "I didn't say anything because I assumed you guys had figured it out, but I could sense demonic power from Dreyfus. I think he was possessed by a demon, even more so than Hendrickson was."
"I agree," Gowther said. "When I attempted to lock him in a nightmare, I would have succeeded, but then a second entity that I could not identify interrupted and subdued my own consciousness."
"That's...impossible," Griamore said. "My father fought Hendrickson to the death! He gave his life trying to save Lady Elizabeth!"
Everyone was silent for a long while.
"If something doesn't add up, the best way to solve it is to turn everything backward," Merlin finally said. "Assign a meaning to something, and the meaningless comes to meaning."
"What?" Howzer asked, confused.
"Think about it and you'll understand," Merlin said, raising a hand.
"Don't think too hard," Meliodas said, he and the others following Merlin.
"Meliodas, what did the King want to talk to you about after the award ceremony?" Oswald asked.
"He had another vision," Meliodas said. "Something big is happening in Camelot, to the south."
"Something big?" Oswald asked. "Could you be a little more specif-"
He stopped as the ground shook and needles drove themselves into his entire body at once, robbing him of his strength as agony seared through him, dropping him to his knees. He stared blankly ahead as every cell in his body screamed to run. Beside him, Meliodas was trembling.
"What is this?" Hawk asked. "The ground is shaking."
The shaking subsided, but Oswald's senses continued to scream at him.
"Oh, I guess it's over," Hawk said. "Meliodas? Oswald? Are you okay?"
"They're..." Meliodas trailed off, sweating.
"Free," Oswald finished, voice barely a whisper. He focused his senses on them and found one in particular that made his entire body begin to tremble. "It can't be. Why her?"
"Who's free?" Jericho asked.
Oswald pushed himself up slowly, dusting off his knees and taking a slow breath, forcing his senses under control before smiling cheerfully.
"Some thieves a couple towns over," Oswald said.
"They tried to steal my panty collection," Meliodas added.
"It's nothing to worry about," Oswald said, continuing to walk, Meliodas walking along beside him, hands behind his head.
The others stared at them for a moment before deciding not to push the subject, all following in silence.
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