I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.
Rewritten
Oswald stepped around the corner and stopped, watching Gowther and Guila. They were walking down the street, hand-in-hand, and Guila looked happy. However, something seemed off about it. He followed them at a distance, tailing them through the city for about ten minutes before they met Elizabeth and Diane.
"Guila, Gowther, something's wrong!" Diane shouted, running over with Zeal, Guila's little brother. "Zeal's not acting right!"
"Zeal?" Guila asked. "I'm sorry, but who are you talking about?"
"Who else!?" Diane demanded. "Your little brother!"
"Little brother?" Guila asked. "Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm Diane!" Diane said. "I'm small from a potion right now, but that's not important right now! Your brother needs help!"
"I'm sorry, but I think you've got the wrong person," Guila said. "This is the only family I have right here." She gestured at Gowther.
"Gowther," Oswald said. "What have you done?"
"Oswald," Gowther greeted. "Exactly what you believe."
"Let me guess," Oswald sighed. "It was when you were saving her from mutating?"
"That's right," Gowther nodded. "But I have no need of her brother anymore, so I removed him."
"How could you do that!?" Diane demanded.
"I want a heart," Gowther said. "Originally, I intended to learn about them by studying friendship, by means of Ban and the captain. However, during the battle, I witnessed something that went beyond friendship. In an attempt to kill Oswald, Ban surpassed his own limits, his power increasing six hundred nineteen. Then, later, to protect Elizabeth, Meliodas surpassed his own limits against Hendrickson by one thousand seventeen. The reason for these power increases was the emotion of love."
"Gowther, what are you talking about?" Guila asked. "I haven't understood anything you've said."
"Quiet," Gowther said, placing her under a sort of trance. "Her demon blood was going out of control because of her inferiority complex and self-hatred for being so weak. After I had erased those memories, I rewrote them so that she would have a happy childhood. I made it so that we were betrothed from an early age, and she became a Holy Knight by her own efforts. By imprinting that on her mind, I completely quelled the demon blood. I did not have time, but still dealt with it perfectly."
"I'll agree with that," Oswald said. "You figured out how to save her immediately, and stopped her transforming. And to be perfectly honest, I don't have any problem with you placing yourself in a relationship with Guila. I believe having something like that would be good for you. However, removing her brother was a step to far."
"How so?" Gowther asked.
"It doesn't matter how!" Diane shouted. "You can't mess with people's memories like that! It's wrong!"
"Her father, the Holy Knight, was suspected of killing his comrade, and then disappeared," Gowther said. "She had to endure the judgement of others as she maintained trust in her father and raised her brother. She eventually pursued the same line of work as her father, but her naturally peaceful disposition worked against her, as it thwarted her magic from ever fully blossoming. She lost confidence in herself and decided to take the demon's blood. But the price for that power was high, and she bore in her heart a suffering greater than any she had ever before. Those are Guila's real memories. Which do you think would truly make Guila happy? Those, or the fake ones I created?"
"But...but it's not your place to decide," Diane said.
"Guila's original memories were fraught with suffering, and yet, you insist that they would be better for her?" Gowther asked.
"That's right!" Diane said. "No matter how painful they may have been, they were her memories that she made with Zeal over all those years! They are precious and irreplaceable!"
"Incomprehensible," Gowther said. "They are unnecessary for my and Guila's love."
"That may be true," Oswald said. "But love is complicated."
"What do you mean?" Gowther asked.
"I love the world," Oswald said. "I love the Seven Deadly Sins. I love being strong. I love being weak. I love fighting, and I love peace. I love food and sleep."
"It is possible to love things such as that?" Gowther asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Love isn't restricted to merely romantic emotions," Oswald said. "Because of your false memories, Guila loves you. However, with her old memories, she feels an entirely different, yet equally strong, love for Zeal. If you wish to have a heart, and to learn about emotion, you can't choose a single emotion, or a single facet of that emotion. You have to learn about them all, all at once. Emotions are overwhelming and confusing by nature. That's just the way it is. You can't remove one part of an emotion just because it's more convenient for another part. That's not how a heart works."
"What do you suggest?" Gowther asked.
"Restore Guila's memories to as they were, to her true memories," Oswald suggested. "And remove the memory of you having manipulated her, or her having believed otherwise. Then, instead of her having been in love with you for a long time, change it so that she started to fall in love with you when you saved her life, but that she hasn't done anything about it."
"But then she and I wouldn't be together," Gowther said.
"That's true," Oswald nodded. "However, Guila isn't the type of person to allow her feelings to go unrequited for long. She'll confess to you before we leave for Camelot, and when she does, you can be more honest than this, and you can get her help learning."
"How?" Gowther asked, head tilted to the side.
"Simple," Oswald said. "Just tell her that you don't know what emotions are, and that you don't know what it means to be in love, but that if she's willing to be patient with you and help you, you want to learn with her."
"Just like that?" Gowther asked.
"Yes," Oswald said. "You'll have to change Zeal's memories of the last few days to remove you and her having been together so far, but that should be easy for you. And then I can handle Jericho, which is the only other person who might blow it for you. And this way, you won't have to do anything to Dale either. He'll still have existed, he'll still have come back, and assuming you two didn't see him since the battle, he won't know enough to blow your experiment."
Gowther was silent for a long while before humming thoughtfully. "This is a very good plan."
"However," Oswald said, voice serious. "After doing this, I want your word that you won't alter anyone else's memories, ever, without that person's express permission. And if you ever break your word, I'll kill you."
"It's not as easy to kill me as you believe," Gowther said.
"I'll find a way," Oswald said. "You're not immortal. Just very durable. Your word, Gowther."
"I give you my word," Gowther said. "After altering their memories to the specifications you have suggested, I will not alter memories without their owner's permission."
"Diane, can you live with this?" Oswald asked.
"I...yeah," Diane nodded. "I suppose I can."
Oswald nodded and Diane set Zeal down as Gowther turned to Guila, beginning to rearrange her memories before turning to Zeal and undoing his own work. Then, he stood, both staring in a daze for a moment before Gowther snapped his fingers, both coming out of their trance.
"I'm telling you, Diane, King will be back in a couple of days at most," Oswald said. "Oh, hello Guila. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you Oswald," Guila smiled. "How are you?"
"Good," Oswald said. "A couple of the others went missing a couple days ago, so we've been looking for them, but aside from that, we're good."
"A couple of the others?" Guila asked, glancing around, relaxing slightly as she saw Gowther. "Which?"
"Ban and King," Diane said. "We kind of need them since we're going to Camelot in a couple days, but we haven't been able to find them."
"I'm sure they're alright," Guila smiled. "They're two of the strongest."
"That's true," Oswald said. "And whatever's happening in Camelot, either we can handle it without them, or they'll wind up caught in the middle of it anyway. We always seem to find trouble."
"That's true," Guila laughed. "Gowther, do you have a moment? I wanted to thank you properly for saving me, and there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Of course," Gowther nodded, then flashed Oswald and the others a thumbs up. "I will see you at the Boar Hat later."
"See you," Oswald said, turning and walking past the girls, both following after him.
"What the hell Oswald?" Diane demanded after they were a safe distance away. "We can't just alter memories whenever we want!"
"No, we can't," Oswald said. "But Gowther can. He could make you a chicken if he wanted. I just ensured that he won't. And besides that, is it really so bad for him to learn about love and Guila to have something to brighten her miserable life, even if it is based on a lie?"
"Yes!" Diane snapped. "Would you want your entire life rewritten?"
"Yes!" Oswald snapped, Diane blinking in surprise, staring at him. "If I had the choice to do it without Gowther seeing my memories, and while keeping my abilities, I'd gladly trade my memories away for something happy! Lie or not! I don't agree with Gowther rewriting Guila's entire life, but adding himself in isn't going to do any harm."
"Was your life really so awful?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," Oswald said quietly. "In my entire life, I've had few enough bright spots to count them on one hand. My childhood hero, who was murdered by his father. My childhood hero's lover, who was...well...someone I idolized. I can't think of a better word for it. Anyway, she was murdered by her mother, alongside my childhood hero. After them, there was nothing. I was alone. Until Vaizel. Until Meliodas, and you two. Until the Sins."
"But, you're a member of the Goddess Race, aren't you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Actually, I'm from a sort of offshoot race known as angels," Oswald said. "We're like...guardians. Soldiers. Like the Holy Knights of the Goddess Race's army. Or, at least, my mother was. Anyway, that's not important. What matters is that the Goddess Race has never wanted me to exist, and I've never considered myself a part of them or any of their offshoots."
Diane and Elizabeth nodded, and Diane sighed.
"I guess you have a point about Guila," Diane said. "It's...acceptable this way."
Oswald nodded and turned, continuing back to the Boar Hat with the two of them. As they entered, Oswald looked out the window to see Gowther walking after them, Merlin and Meliodas walking along with him. He raised an eyebrow as Gowther walked inside, remaining silent.
"What happened?" Oswald asked.
"I took medicine to suppress my magical power," Gowther said. "As for Guila, she has agreed to help me learn."
"Good," Oswald nodded. "Remember the agreement."
"I remember," Gowther nodded. "I shall not break my word to you."
Oswald nodded and Meliodas turned to him suspiciously.
"What agreement?" Meliodas asked.
"I made him swear not to come to me with questions about dating or sex," Oswald said. "I don't want to hear about Gowther's sex life."
"That's fair," Meliodas agreed. "Anyway, we should probably call it a night. Tomorrow we can drop Elizabeth off with Bartra and be on our way. Maybe we'll pick up Slader on the way. Oh, and Oswald, how would you like-"
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Oswald said. "Drop off Elizabeth? She's not coming?"
"Nope," Meliodas said. "The battle to protect Liones is over. There's no need for her to come with us now."
Oswald's mind drifted back to the power he had sensed before. He could still sense them, if he tried.
"I'm still you friend," Elizabeth was saying as Oswald rejoined the world. "Or am I the only one who felt that way? In the end, am I just dead weight?"
"Preeeecisely," Meliodas said, only for Diane's fist to crash into Meliodas's cheek, sending him flying into Oswald's outstretched arm, sending him flipping end-for-end before Hawk slammed into him, launching him back into the bar.
Elizabeth ran out of the building, sobbing.
"I am confused," Gowther said.
"Meliodas, she's coming with us," Oswald said. "You know what'll happen if we leave her behind."
Meliodas sighed heavily. "She'll follow us."
"And then she'll be in harm's way without you," Oswald said. "Is that what you want?"
Meliodas was silent.
"I thought not," Oswald said, turning toward the stairs where the bedrooms were.
"Wait," Meliodas said. "You didn't let me ask before. Do you want to be an official member of the sins? We're two short, so we need the help."
"Sure," Oswald said. "I'll be the Eighth Deadly Sin."
"Now we just need an animal and label for your sin," Meliodas said.
"Ban already figured it out," Oswald said. "I'm the Demon Sin of Existence."
"Existence?" Elizabeth asked. "But that's not a sin."
"If you ask the Goddess Race, the existence of demons is a sin," Oswald said. "I you ask the demons, the existence of the Goddess Race is a sin. And everyone in the world exists alongside a single sin that governs their choices. Except maybe you. I am the embodiment of those sins. I am the Sin of Existence. Ban's joke fits."
The others remained silent and Oswald raised his hand in farewell, heading up the stares. Then, as he lay down, he pushed his senses out, finding her and focusing on her for a long moment before letting his senses relax. He'd be seeing her soon. How could he not? The moment she realized he was alive, she'd come to find him.
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