I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.
Trouble
Oswald remained silent as the others chatted away. His senses were rivetted on the fight. Ban was fighting against Melascula and Galland. And winning. Ban had probably stolen their strength, because his power had rocketed up to about half what Galland's had been, while Galland's dropped to a little below half. Then, he began to beat Galland around and around. However, Melascula wasn't being hurt. Not only that, but her power, which had spread itself to multiple places around Britannia, wasn't fading. Whatever she had done, it wasn't ending. And just after she had done it, King had taken off, presumably to investigate.
"What's going on?" Merlin asked, stopping beside him.
"Melascula's power spread over the country, and a bunch of new powers appeared," Oswald said. "One of them attacked Ban, but after a bit it stopped. Now he's fighting Galland and Melascula. However, he can't win."
"Why?" Merlin asked.
"He can't steal enough strength to win quickly, and he can't hold it long enough to win slowly," Oswald said. "His magic's starting to burn itself out."
"And the Commandments' he's fighting?" Merlin asked.
"Neither have taken significant damage," Oswald said.
"Can he escape?" Merlin asked.
"No," Oswald said. "If he holds the power too long, he'll be left helpless."
"So what do we do?" Merlin asked.
"He needs help," Oswald sighed. "Send me."
"You'll probably die," Merlin said.
"I only need to be there for a few seconds," Oswald said. "Just long enough for Ban to escape. Beside, they'll chase me. I'm more of a target than anyone except Meliodas."
"Can you survive against them?" Merlin asked.
"No," Oswald said. "I'll die if I stay there long."
"How long do you need?" Merlin asked.
"Give me thirty seconds," Oswald said. "After that, bring me back."
Merlin nodded and Oswald closed his eyes. A moment later, his senses screamed at him and he opened his eyes, drawing his sword in time to deflect Galland's hand as it reached for a sphere of light. Oswald instantly recognized it as a soul and grabbed it, dropping to the ground and lunging at Ban's body, shoving it into his mouth before hurling Ban at the girl in the black dress with short blonde hair that was behind him.
"Go now!" he shouted.
Ban flipped, landing on his feet and grabbed the girl, taking off at a sprint. Oswald spun, ducking under Galland's staff before lunging, sword glowing as he slashed at him, Galland leaping backward. A massive fist of darkness shot at him from the side and he flipped into the air over it, flipping and slamming a foot into Melascula, launching her into Galland. Then, as he landed, he held his arms out, his wings spreading themselves out to the sides, both shining. Then, the feathers all exploded off of them, streaking through the air and around, tearing into the two demons in a crossfire of sharpened, magical feathers, the two demons' blood spraying into the air as they did. As soon as the feathers had stopped, Oswald shot forward, leaping over Melascula and slashing at Galland, scoring a hit across the gem in the center of his chest, Galland staggering backward, screaming in pain. Oswald flipped, landing on his feet and ducked under Melascula's darkness before lunging, stabbing at her, only for more darkness to crash into his side, sending him flying. He flipped, landing on his feet before hurling himself to the side, Galland's staff barely missing him as it exploded into the ground.
"You've powered up since we last met," Galland commented as he easily stepped around Oswald's blade again and again.
Finally, he twisted, throwing a punch at Oswald, only for his fist to crash into a super-compressed Heaven's Shield beside Oswald's forearm, sending Oswald flying but not breaking the shield. Oswald flipped, driving his sword into the ground and skidding to a stop before streaking forward again. Galland pulled his spear free of the ground and grinned, streaking forward and slashing at him, only for Oswald to flip over it and swipe his hand upward, feathers exploding out of the ground below Galland, tearing into him once again, Galland screaming in pain. The feathers stopped tearing at him just as Oswald's sword bit into Galland's shoulder, only for darkness to crash into his gut, hurling him backward away from Galland.
"You sent some of your feathers into the ground as a trap," Melascula said. "Impressive. You almost got Galland with that. That holy power of yours is very dangerous."
"I'm still bleeding!" Galland shouted from where he had collapsed, Oswald's magic having kept both of their wounds from sealing like they normally would.
"It's his magic," Melascula. "He can charge it with holy power in order to make it effect us far more than any other kind of attack would."
"I'll kill-"
Oswald kicked a rock, sending it crashing into Galland's forehead, cutting him off. "Careful you don't bind yourself to an oath you can't keep, Galland." Then, he blinked and was standing in front of Merlin again.
"You're alive!" Jericho cheered, throwing her arms around him from behind. "Were you hurt?"
"Nothing permanent," Oswald said. "A few bumps and bruises. I got lucky and caught them by surprise."
"What happened to your wings?" Merlin asked, staring at the bald appendages.
"Don't worry about that," Oswald said, glancing back at them and the feathers slowly growing back in. "They'll be useable again in a few minutes. The real problem is that Galland and Melascula might be on their way here."
"Are they?" Merlin asked.
Oswald focused for a moment before shaking his head. "No, they're chasing Ban and some blonde fairy."
"I see," Merlin nodded. "Do you want me to send you back? Perhaps with Ban's help-"
"No," Oswald said. "If you send me back now, it won't change anything. Ban will have to handle it alone."
"Lady Merlin," Guila said, walking over with Gowther. "I would like you to send me back to Liones Castle."
"Why?" Merlin asked.
"I want to be there to protect Zeal, and I can also find the relic that girl was talking about," Guila said.
"Very well," Merlin nodded. "We'll be by to collect it as soon as we can. Until then, keep it safe."
Guila nodded and Merlin snapped her fingers, Guila vanishing.
"Are you okay with this Gowther?" Oswald asked.
"Yes," Gowther nodded. "This will also give me time to reflect on what I have learned since we left the kingdom."
Oswald nodded. He looked up at the darkening sky. "I wonder how long it'll be."
"How long?" Merlin asked.
"Until I see Derieri again," Oswald said, hands curling into fists. "I don't know if it's fate or bad luck that she's one of the ten Commandments."
"How do you know her?" Jericho asked as the four of them walked into the bar.
"Back before the last Holy War, when I was a child, Derieri spent every day beating me to within an inch of my life," Oswald said.
"Before the Holy War?" Jericho gaped. "Just how old are you!?"
"Old," Oswald said. "Very, very old."
"You age really well," Howzer said.
"That's a part of my sin," Oswald said.
"Sin?" Slader asked.
"Existence," Oswald said, accepting a bottle of liquor from Meliodas. "My sin is existence."
"Why do the Goddesses hate you?" Gilthunder asked. "What did you do to be banished?"
"I was born," Oswald said. "From the day I was conceived...or maybe even before then, my entire existence has been a sin."
Everyone stared at him. He took a large swig from the bottle and sighed.
"I'm not getting any more specific than that," Oswald said. "Just know that I'm not actually the Demon Sin of Existence. It's the wrong creature. There's a more accurate one."
"What?" Jericho asked.
"Which one?" Arthur asked.
"I'm confused," Howzer said. "Is he a Deadly Sin now?"
"Yeah," Meliodas nodded. "He's like a stand in, but he's also the Eight Deadly Sin. The Demon Sin of Existence."
"Demon Sin?" Howzer asked. "But he's a Goddess isn't he?"
"Technically he's an Angel," Elizabeth corrected. "He says it's an offshoot race."
"So, wait, what's a more fitting creature for the sin of existence than a demon?" Arthur asked.
"Well that would be..." Merlin trailed off, watching Oswald as he drank silently. "Oh. I see. That explains it then."
"What?" Jericho asked.
"Search-"
"If you use your magic to find out what she means, I'll kill you, Gowther," Oswald said. "And trust me when I tell you, I have a way to kill you, doll or not."
"Doll?" Diane asked. "He's a doll?"
"That's right," Gowther nodded.
Oswald sighed, after a few more minutes, standing with the rest of the bottle. "I'm going to bed. Wake me up if any of the Commandments show up." He walked up to his room, dropping onto the bed and tipping the bottle back, taking several long swigs before setting it beside the bed, then raised his hand over his head, staring at it. "Dammit. Why can't they just hurry up and kill me already?"
After a moment, the door creaked open and he looked over, seeing Jericho peeking into the room.
"What?" he asked.
"I...I wanted to see if you needed anything," Jericho said.
"You're wasting your time," Oswald said, rolling away from her. "You won't be able to win my heart. I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but I'm not going to fall in love with you. I can't feel love. There's too much hate."
"Maybe that's because no one's ever loved you," Jericho said, sitting on her edge of the bed and tentatively reaching out, setting her hand on his shoulder. "Has anyone ever loved you?"
"I've had sex before," Oswald said.
"I didn't ask about sex," Jericho said. "I asked if you've ever been loved."
Oswald remained silent.
"Please let me show you," Jericho said.
"You won't win my heart," Oswald warned.
"I don't need to," Jericho said. "I just need you to know."
Oswald turning his head slightly, staring at her for a long moment before sighing heavily. "Alright."
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