I do not own Seven Deadly Sins or any of their characters.

Settled

Oswald inhaled slowly, smelling mud, trees, and grass, and allowed himself to drift into consciousness. He was aware that he was lying on the ground, which didn't surprise him as much as the fact that he was alive. He was sure Meliodas would have killed him by now. Maybe Derieri had returned the favor and protected him from Meliodas as he had protected her. Which would, of course, mean she was dead, just as surely as if she hadn't protected him. Meliodas wasn't about to let two Commandments live. Oswald inhaled again, and a new scent caught his attention. He couldn't quite place it, but he knew it from somewhere. It stirred up old memories, though they were too cloudy for him to make out much detail. Blurry faces. Foggy places.

Finally, Oswald allowed his eyes to drift open and stared up at the canopy of leaves above him, swaying slowly in the wind. He blinked slowly a couple of times before sitting up and looking around. Monspeet was sitting in front of him, against a tree, watching him in silence. Derieri, on the other hand, was lying beside him, bruised and broken, but breathing, sleeping relatively peacefully.

"You two saved me," Oswald said quietly, Monspeet nodding.

"Derieri's choice," Monspeet said. "She wanted to know why you saved us before she killed you, and she didn't want Meliodas to kill you instead of her."

"And he just let us go?" Oswald asked.

"Elizabeth begged him," Monspeet said. "I'm assuming you knew who she is."

"Yes," Oswald nodded. "I knew."

Monspeet nodded as Derieri winced and began to stir, looking up at Oswald for a moment before sitting up and punching him, launching him away, into a tree. Oswald pushed himself up, sighing and wiping a trickle of blood from his cheek.

"Good morning to you too," Oswald said.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Derieri shrieked. "We're your enemies! Why would you save us!?" She grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up against the tree. "Why would you shield me!?"

"You...suffered...enough," Oswald choked out.

Derieri blinked, staring at him before dropping him, Oswald coughing and massaging his throat. "What?"

"You've suffered enough," Oswald said. "I couldn't bear to see you hurt anymore. Not because of me. Not if I could stop it."

"That's rich coming from you," Derieri spat, glaring down at him.

"I'm sorry," Oswald said, staring at the ground. "I...I never wanted her to die."

He closed his eyes, bracing himself, and sure enough, Derieri's foot collided with his chest, sending him crashing into the tree instantly before she caught him by the throat, not choking him this time, just holding him up.

"What did I tell you about talking about her?" Derieri snarled.

"I tried to protect her," Oswald said.

"Bullshit!" Derieri screamed, turning and hurling him into another tree. "You let her die!"

"I couldn't save her!" Oswald said. "I tried. I swear to you that I tried."

Derieri stared at him for a long moment before sitting down. "Say what you have to. I'll decide whether or not I'm killing you after."

Oswald nodded, shifting to a seated position against the tree. "When we were young, you beat me constantly. Every day, you would hunt me down, just to practice your Combo Star. You used me as your punching bag, because I was the freak. I was the mistake. I was the thing that was never supposed to exist. No one cared if I was hurt, or if I died. But you were careful. You always made sure I survived. But then one day, you just stopped coming. It's...It's funny. The only times I saw you, you were beating me to within an inch of my life, literally a couple of times. But once you stopped coming, I missed you. Beatings or not, you were the only one who would acknowledge my existence. You were the only lifeline I had. Something to let me know that I was real. That I was alive. Without you, I was lost. Then one day, I met your sister. She looked so much like you. Of course, she tried to kill me too. Almost succeeded. But then you showed up, and you stopped her. I don't know why you stopped her, but you saved my life. I wanted to thank you for that. I wanted to show you how much it meant to me. How much you meant to me. But I didn't know how. Then, one day, I heard about the disappearances. They were from near where your sister was. I went to see if she was okay, and I found her, but when we tried to get back to someplace safe, Ludociel found us, and brought us to the others. To his Arc. I promised your sister that I'd save her, but I was too weak. I couldn't break the Arc. I couldn't get us out. And then you all arrived. I knew I couldn't get out, so I tried to use Heaven's Shield, and my darkness, to shield your sister. But it wasn't enough. I had promised your sister I would save her, but all I could do was watch her burn. But the Arc didn't effect me because of my heritage. So when the Arc faded, you saw me there. The only survivor. I'm sorry. I wish I could go back and fix my failure. I wish I could save her for you. Bring her back to you. But I can't. When you were all sealed in the Coffin of Eternal Darkness, I tried to save you from it. I tried to find you so that I could keep you from being sealed, but I was too late. I couldn't save you any more than I could save your sister. And I've lived with that my entire life. I've lived with my failure, my sin, for thousands of years."

Derieri stared at him in silence for a long while before shifting her eyes to the ground. "Why should I believe any of that?"

"I can't answer that," Oswald said. "It's all true. But beyond my words, there's no proof." He stared at Derieri for a few seconds before speaking again. "Your arm and leg..."

Derieri looked down, the darkness at her left hand's fingertips and her right foot's toes beginning to retract. Her foot began to show almost immediately. However, her hand didn't. Oswald watched in horror as the darkness shrank back further and further, reaching up above where there should be an elbow before finally fading entirely, revealing the stump of her left arm. Oswald swallowed hard, eyes watering.

"I'm sorry," Oswald said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's...it's not your fault," Derieri said. "And besides, my new left arm is formed from darkness, which means it doesn't feel any pain when I'm fighting, and it deals more damage."

Oswald didn't respond.

"I'm used to it," Derieri said. "After having a fake arm for long enough, it's become my real one."

"You should never have to have a fake one," Oswald said. "I...I never wanted to see you hurt. You always...I always thought of you as the symbol of power. I never wanted you to be hurt."

Derieri watched him in silence for a long moment before sighing heavily and pushing herself up, reforming her darkness around her leg and reforming her arm. "Dammit. I was so looking forward to killing you. I guess there's not much choice now. If we're not killing you, we'll have to join you."

Oswald and Monspeet both stared at her like she'd just grown three extra heads, and all of them had spoken in a different type of gibberish.

"Join me?" Oswald asked.

"Well yeah," Derieri said. "If we go back to the Ten Commandments, you'll be killed, and we'll end up having to fight Meliodas, or worse, that monster Escanor. But if you go back after protecting us against Meliodas, you'll be killed as a traitor."

"I...suppose," Oswald nodded, staring at his hands. "So, what then? We just hide?"

"Sounds good to me," Derieri shrugged. "Oh, by the way, this is yours."

She held up Oswald's bow, back in its normal gold and blue form, and he accepted it, the bow not changing in the slightest. Maybe he had imagined the change. After all, a Goddess weapon wouldn't have a demon wing for a blade. He nodded, standing and drive the end of the blade into the ground.

"If I get seen with it, our cover's blown," Oswald said. "Better to leave it here."

Derieri nodded. "I suppose. Come on. Let's find somewhere to lay low."

Oswald nodded and they turned, Derieri glancing to Monspeet.

"You coming Monspeet?" Derieri asked.

"I suppose so," Monspeet nodded.

They all turned, starting off through the trees together, Oswald sparing one last look back toward Liones before following them.

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