I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.
Maze
Oswald sat up from the bed, raising a hand to his face and rubbing his eyes. He glanced back at Jericho, who was still asleep, covered by the sheet. Then, he stood, picking up his liquor bottle and finished it in a few gulps, hurling it out the window. He pulled on a clean set of clothes, consisting of a loose blue shirt with the sleeves rolled to just below his elbows, a sleeveless yellow trench coat, a pair of grey pants, and a pair of black boots, then picked up his sword and sack, walking out of the room to the bar. he set his things on the bar and reached over it, getting himself another bottle only to stop as Meliodas caught his arm.
"What's wrong?" Meliodas asked.
Oswald stared at the bottle in silence for a long while before pulling it up from behind the bar, opening it and taking a swig. "I exist. And the only people who seem to actually care only care because they don't know what I am, besides you and Elizabeth, who wouldn't care if she knew. Merlin just wants to experiment on me, and if the others knew they'd all avoid me, just like everyone else."
"And Jericho?" Meliodas asked.
Oswald shrugged. "She insisted. I warned her it wouldn't be what she wanted."
"Do you think she'd avoid you?" Meliodas asked.
Oswald stared at his bottle in silence before taking a long swig. "I don't care. I just want to find someone who's powerful enough to finally kill me."
"But you know what that would mean," Meliodas said.
"And I'd welcome it," Oswald said. "Anything to finally escape this hell called life."
"But you won't kill yourself," Meliodas said.
"No," Oswald said. "I have too much of my parents in me for that."
Just as he raised his bottle again, he froze, a massive power registering in his senses. He turned, staring out the door, Meliodas doing the same. Then, as Oswald extended his senses, the power continued to climb, only for Galland's, whose own power had nearly doubled as he fought whoever owned the massive power, to vanish. A moment later, the gigantic one did as well, leaving only Melascula. However, after a moment, the roles reversed and her power dropped like a rock as the massive one returned, continuing to climb. Though, Melascula's power didn't disappear. It was simply left on the very brink of death.
"Escanor?" Oswald asked.
"Yeah," Meliodas nodded. "No doubt about it."
Just then, Merlin stepped into the room, nodding her agreement to Meliodas, and Arthur and Slade both followed her out of the stairwell, Arthur yawning.
"Good morning," Slader said. "How did you sleep?"
"I didn't," Oswald said.
"Yeah, it didn't sound-" Arthur stopped as Slader elbowed him.
"Don't," Slader warned, watching Oswald's hand trembling slightly as he raised the bottle to his lips again.
As he set it down, Jericho walked over, wrapping her arms around him from behind.
"What are you doing?" Oswald asked.
"My feelings don't stop at the bedroom door," Jericho said. "I asked you to let me show you how it feels to be loved, not how it feels to have sex."
Oswald stared at the bar for several seconds. "Something's coming."
Everyone turned to the door, Oswald and Meliodas both stepping out of the door just as a Blue Demon, a withered, featherless, bird-like demon with darkness for wings, shot over them, dropping fliers. Oswald and Meliodas both caught one, staring at it.
"The Great Vaizel Fighting Festival will be held in a few days," Meliodas read. "The winner gets any wish granted."
"It's a trap," Oswald said, eyes closed and senses extended. "Drole and Gloxinia are at Vaizel."
"Oswald's right," Hendrickson said. "No matter how you look at it, it's definitely a trap."
"We should enter," Oswald said, staring ahead of them blankly.
"Are you serious!?" Jericho demanded. "You just said it's the Ten Commandments!"
"It is," Oswald said. "Two of the more powerful ones. And it's likely that other extremely powerful people will be drawn in by the festival. Knowing who's in charge, it'll probably have all fights be to the death."
"Are you sure about this?" Meliodas asked. "Is this to stop the Sins?"
Oswald didn't answer.
"You don't want to win, do you?" Jericho asked. "You're hoping someone will kill you!"
"I'm always hoping someone will kill me," Oswald said.
Jericho stepped up behind him, spinning him around and slapping him, hard. "You idiot! What do you think I would do if you died!?"
Oswald again remained silent. He turned back to the front, resting his forearms on the railing. The others looked around at each other before turning to Meliodas for an answer.
"We're going," Meliodas said. "But Oswald, as the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, you are absolutely not allowed to die."
Oswald sighed. "You're too cruel Meliodas. Fine. You have my word. I won't die. Yet."
Meliodas nodded and turned, walking back inside. Most of the others followed, only Jericho remaining. She stepped up behind Oswald, wrapping her arms around him from behind.
"I know you don't feel the same, but please don't die," Jericho said, voice trembling. "For me."
Oswald remained silent. She was cruel too. Because he was guilty. He wanted to be able to return her feelings, but he couldn't. And he knew that it really would hurt her if he died. Guilt cut through him like a jagged blade.
"That's not fair," Oswald said. "You don't know what you're asking."
"I'm asking you to live," Jericho said. "I'm asking you to suffer, so that I don't have to say goodbye. I'm asking you to let me be selfish."
Oswald swallowed hard. He was heartless. He had to be. Because he didn't love her. Because he couldn't make that promise. After a few more minutes, Jericho released him, walking back inside. Oswald stared down at the ground before them in silence. After a few hours, they finally reached a hill overlooking Vaizel, only for Hawk's Mom to stop, all of them coming out to see why, joining Oswald in staring down the hill at the gigantic maze below them. It was spread over miles around the massive boulder Diane had dropped on Vaizel, which had been levelled off. However, given what Oswald remembered of the boulder's height, the maze walls were easily three hundred feet tall by comparison.
"So we have to travel through a maze to get there?" Meliodas asked.
Oswald hurled one of the mugs from Meliodas's bar and it sailed out over the maze, only for a massive spike of stone to erupt out of the top of the maze and impale it perfectly. "Yes."
"Alright," Meliodas smiled. "Sounds fun."
"Yeah," Oswald mumbled. "Fun."
He pulled on his sack and sword before they all left the bar, heading down the hill to the wall and walking inside. He pushed his coat back out of the way and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked, Jericho stepping up beside him.
"Hey, if you're going to try to impersonate Ban, could you at least try to be drunk happy Ban?" Meliodas asked.
"Seriously, you being moody is really getting annoying," Diane said. "What happened to upset you so much?"
"You wouldn't understand," Oswald said. "You aren't constantly being reminded that your existence is a mistake. That you're a stain on existence that needs to be erased."
"You're not," Jericho said. "It will never be wrong for you to exist. Not as long as there's at least one person who accepts you."
Oswald sighed, staring at the ground just as something behind them slammed and they spun, seeing the others were gone. Jericho clung to him instantly and Oswald's left hand wrapped around her as his right drew his sword.
"Where'd they go?" Jericho asked.
"I can sense them in tunnels on either side, of us," Oswald said. "And a couple below. Looks like there are traps in here."
Jericho's hold on him tightened. "I'm scared."
"Relax," Oswald said. "None of my friends are dying today."
Jericho nodded and Oswald turned, Jericho releasing him but slipping her hand into his free one. He glanced at her but she looked genuinely terrified.
"Please," Jericho said. "I don't want to get separated from you."
"Alright," Oswald sighed. "But I might need to take my hand back to fight at some point."
Jericho nodded and they walked on in silence. The maze was a lot harder than Oswald originally expected. they ended up backtracking several times, and then repeated paths multiple times as well. After multiple hours, and multiple hours after the sun had set, the sky began to lighten again and Oswald sighed, sitting against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Jericho asked.
"Resting," Oswald said. "We'll be fighting against the others, and also against two of the Ten Commandments when we get there. We need to not be exhausted."
Jericho looked hesitant for a moment before nodding, sitting beside him and looking around nervously. He sighed, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against him.
"Rest," Oswald said. "Nothing's going to hurt you."
Jericho relaxed at that, resting her head on his shoulder and drifting off to sleep quickly. Oswald remained awake for a little while longer before also drifting off to sleep. A few hours later, he stirred, gently shaking Jericho awake. She yawned, looking around.
"I was kind of hoping this was all a dream," Jericho said.
"Unfortunately no," Oswald said.
Jericho nodded and placed a light kiss on his cheek before standing. Oswald sighed, pushing himself up as well, then flipped his sword up to himself with his foot, continuing down the path they had been in after he had caught it, Jericho again taking his hand. They walked in silence for about an hour before running into trouble. A massive set of jaws exploded out of the ground from below them, snapping closed within a couple of seconds, though not before Oswald had flown out of their reach, holding Jericho in his arms bridal style.
"Hang onto my back," he said, swinging her around behind himself, Jericho clinging to him.
Then, he gripped his sword with both hands and dropped. The Earth Crawler, a giant creature like a fish with an alligator's mouth that swam through the ground and was big enough to swallow several Diane's whole at once, leapt into the air at them. However, Oswald slashed, an arc of blinding white light shooting outward and expanding, splitting it in half. Then, as they landed, on the ground, another burst out from each side, Oswald spinning and sending out a ring before flying into the air again, the upper and lower halves of the two Earth Crawlers stacking on top of one another staggered in the center of the open area they were in.
"You're amazing!" Jericho cheered. "Why didn't you use that against Galland?"
"It's an area of effect attack," Oswald said. "It's actual power at any given point is weaker than you think. It's got about a quarter the power of me just slashing directly. It wouldn't have left a mark on Galland."
"I see," Jericho nodded as Oswald began to drift through the passages of the maze using his wings, allowing her to ride on his back like a piggyback.
Finally, he landed and Jericho dropped off of his back. Just as she did, a massive column of stone fell at them from above. Jericho screamed, dropping into a crouch, only for the column to explode against Oswald's fist, being blasted into pebbles. She stood, sighing and slipping her hand into his, only for him to pull it back and walk forward.
"That's not necessary anymore," he said.
"Why?" she asked, following, only to stare as they stepped into a massive clearing with the bolder above them.
"We're here," Oswald said, glaring up at the two beings on top of the bolder.
Drole was blue-skinned and was double Diane's height with a white rag over his face, long brown hair, and blue eyes. Gloxinia had long auburn hair, and the rest of his body hidden by thick tentacle-like vines, all of them tipped in black.
"So you really are alive," Gloxinia said. "Galland was quite certain he had killed you. But since Meliodas was alive, we all had our doubts. Derieri was quite surprised to hear you were alive. And quite furious. She was angry that Galland had supposedly killed you."
"I can imagine she was, yeah," Oswald nodded, just as the wall exploded into a hole that was round on one side, then a massive gash on the other.
Oswald was able to sense Meliodas, Ban, Arthur, Merlin, Elizabeth, Howzer, Diane, and Gilthunder from the far side, and spread around the clearing were Slader, Gowther, Elaine, King, a guy wearing loose clothes with a katana, a small girl with a lute, a blonde giant with a peg leg, and a couple other randos that Oswald payed no attention.
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