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Chapter 2 – Gone Forever

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Merlin pulled the blanket up to cover both the young man and a little girl on her bed. They were exhausted and miraculously survived with minor injuries. When Merlin and the Sins, under the Great Holy Knight Zaratras in charge as their leader, had gone to the Cameliard Kingdom due to the catastrophe, they only found this young man with his little sister and a magic beast nearby.

They wondered what could have happened in the fallen Cameliard Kingdom.

Gowther had peeked a little into the memory of a couple of survivors, to check about their identity and to find out about what happened in the Cameliard Kingdom. It turned out that they were Mordred and Guinevere Cameliard, the Royalty from the Cameliard Kingdom. It seemed like Mordred sustained minor injuries like the scratches or the gashes on his body when he was trying to run away for their life. The magic beast named Fou followed them, clinging to them (probably a familiar from one of them). Being the part of the Royalty family, it was only right to bring them into the Liones Castle, but both Mordred and Guinevere had refused to leave and insisted to stay with the Seven Deadly Sins, instead. Or, to be more precise, they kept clinging to Meliodas and Merlin. Merlin went downstairs after she made sure they were sleeping, closing the door behind her.

In the dining room, Merlin joined her comrades, sitting on the chair which she had pulled "They've calmed down, for now. The injuries on their body can heal perfectly, but I'm more worried about their mental state".

King sceptically asked, "You seriously could not see what happened, Gowther?".

Gowther shook his head "If they simply refused to show me about what happened because they don't want to remember it and sort of those things, I would able to forcefully sneak into their memory and take a peek of what happened. The thing is, it is not that simple".

Ban lazily leaned his back on the chair, a bottle of Aberdeen Ale in one hand "Just cut it out already, Gowther. What's the problem with those kids?".

"When I entered the girl's memory, I found out that she and her older brother, Mordred, are not related by blood. Their parents adopted him. As far as I've investigated, I could see some pieces of memories of princess Guinevere, though it's blurry in some parts. It can happen sometimes, because either she does not remember it well, or she simply started to forget about it. However, when I tried to take a peek into prince Mordred's memory... I found nothing but the complete darkness".

Diane asked in concern "And what's that supposed to mean?".

"It only means two things. First, whoever they are, there's someone who deliberately cast the magic spell to brainwash him or to prevent whoever from trying to mess up with his memory. Or—", Gowther raised his fingers "—Two, prince Mordred himself possesses the immense powerful magic, strong enough to stop anyone, including me, to meddle into his memory".

"Third, they indeed possess the powerful innate magic, enough to shut his mind from anyone who tried to take a peek, before they were deliberately locking their memory unconsciously due to the extreme trauma they suffer", Merlin put her chin on her intertwined hands "I do not think his tears in agony which he's shown in front of us, as a lie".

Silence. Like the hell, they could forget how Mordred was crying when the first time they saw him.

Gowther still didn't think so "Maybe, if you allow me to take a peek one more time...".

Merlin cut him off "Gowther, I forbid you to meddle with their memory from now on".

Ban whistled and drawled playfully after Gowther complied her strict request "Such a protectiveness, Merlin~ what? Don't tell us, you like the young leaf?".

When she felt Escanor's increasing tension, Meliodas' observant eyes, and a sly grin from Ban, Merlin had to hold back from rolling her eyes. She quirked the corner of her lips and snickered "Humph, don't get me wrong, Fox Sin Of Greed. You do not forget that those kids are orphans who have no place to go, correct?".

Meliodas rolled his eyes "Then, what is your plan? Baltra has offered to adopt them, which they turned down instantly".

Merlin smiled "Simple, I will adopt them".

Meliodas dropped his hands to the side and gaped, did not know what to say "...Okay?".

Too shocked, Ban dropped his ale and Escanor's eyeglasses fell from his face. King literally fell to the floor which Diane caught him despite the Giantess had her mouth gaped.

In three seconds "WHAT!".

Unbeknownst by them, in their shared bed, when Guinevere leaned closer to him, curling into a ball, Mordred tucked her head under his chin and his eyes glistened dangerously. Holding her tightly, Mordred hissed to no one in particular "...Shut the hell up, whoever you are. She's mine".

Cath inside his head also groaned "They're so annoyingly noisy, the heathens. Should I shut them down and eat them?".

"Find them. After I absorb those fiends, you can eat them".

They referred to the evil spirits of the Cameliard Kingdom who died in that catastrophe. They were the reason why Guinevere and he had the nightmare. He could get rid of them, but it was a different case with Guinevere. Not to mention, he also felt the watchful eyes from the remnants of Demon Clan and Goddess Clan. He could not lower his guard.

"Fou".

Fou perked at his whisper, opening an eye and lifting an ear "Kyu?".

"Protect her no matter what".

Fou waved its tail "Kyu!".

Mordred had prepared for this. He knew, sooner or later, he would meet with them again, as long as he stuck close with Guinevere. If he were to meet with them again, it would be fine. They hadn't met with his Original version yet. Not to mention, his physical demeanour and his attitude had completely changed, thanks to the harsh years he had to go through, as long as he was sitting on the throne as the King Arthur Pendragon of the Camelot Kingdom.

Compared to his original version in his youth, his skin was slightly darker. His body was taller and bulkier (more or less, similar to Tristan and Ban). His eyes were slightly narrower. His orange hair turned into the slightly brown reddish or auburn. What the most changed, they would no longer see the youthful innocence and naivety from his old self. The one who stood in front of them right now was Mordred, the fully grown-up adult who had earned the harsh crucibles of life which made the blood in his vein and his bone as firm and tenacious as the steel's sword.

King asked out of the blue "So, how old are you, Mordred?".

Mordred had prepared for it. He answered without missing a beat "17 years old, Sir".

He was not lying. It was his age when his body stopped growing older post his growth spurt. After his awakening post-his death, he experienced the growth spurt which made his body growing quickly, to the point his body reached the state of the well-trained Knight. He stopped growing and never aged after he had turned 17 years old. He just hoped that everyone would not be so dubious or suspicious of him, after witnessing how he never aged in the future. Thinking that her adopted son was too nervous about this situation, Merlin tried to calm him down.

"Relax, Mordred. We just want to test you, so we can know what is the daily chores you need to do and which position we can put you in our team. As I said, you and Gwen are not only my disciples but also my adopted children", Merlin leaned closer to check his eyes, cupping his cheek "But did you even have a proper sleep last night?".

Even if he felt the sharp, staring dagger from behind, Mordred said nothing and grabbed Merlin's wrist, lowering her hand with (well-trained one) an indifferent attitude "It will be helpful if you give me the sleeping pill, Lady Merlin. I admit, I've deprived sleep because I was on guard, watching over little Gwen who had the nightmare terror last night".

Knowing that her adopted children experienced that, Merlin asked "Why did you not call any of us?".

"I do not wish to disturb you with the trivial things such as that, as long as I can take care of it myself" before she could say something, Modred so cleverly chose to direct the conversation. Turning his head to Meliodas "Then, what should I do first, Sir Meliodas?".

Merlin shrugged, thinking that he just hadn't opened his heart yet like Guinevere did before she let the Captain into his view.

Meliodas walked closer, pulling out his Lostvayne "simple. You just need to show us, what kind of the innate magic you have and how it works?".

In the previous timeline, he was called 'The King Of Knights', so Mordred chose to show only a little part of his Chaos magic power.

Lifting his hands, Mordred wriggled his fingers "This is my magic power. The Knight Craft".

When Mordred showed the swords flying in the air, their eyes widened (including Merlin) before the Sorceress admired his work "Impressive. Is this Creation?".

"Well, no", Mordred chuckled, lying a little "I took the remnants of good swords from the Armory or the battle I've joined before I simply stored them in the different dimension. When I wanted to use them, I just need to call them forth, like this".

In fact, he did create it, but his Master would never think that he could be an Imposter now, right?

After a week…

Diane, who had watched over from outside, reported "He barely slept and chose to stay up every night with those bloodshot eyes, sitting on the ledge, or lying in his shared bed with little Gwen to calm her down".

King reported the same thing "He did nothing but to stare into the certain particular direction".

Ban scratched his nape "Huh, wonder what and to where he's been staring to?".

Gowther caressed his chin "Is that so? I'm more wondering with what kind of feeling he's stared to that certain particular direction".

Meliodas scratched the back of his head "Well, well, well… I guess it can't be helped, though".

Merlin nodded, both hands crossed over her chest "That's right. We can't simply let it down".

"Merlin, the preparation has completed", Escanor came with their preparation to have a picnic "I know what are you up to. I think it will work with Gwen, but how about Mordred?".

"in this picnic, it's Gwen's turn", Merlin smirked "and Mordred's turn is tonight".

Later, after Merlin had made Guinevere cry in their little picnic, to open her heart, Mordred trained with Meliodas. Done with their training, Mordred was a bit surprised to see a little barbecue feast in their garden.

Ban had gotten drunk, lifting his mug "Just join us, Mordred!".

Reluctantly, Mordred joined them, pulling the wooden chair beside Merlin (only because Guinevere sat on her lap) "Okay".

Later, at the night, after Guinevere had gone to sleep with a story-telling from Gowther, the Sins held a drinking contest in their living room.

It was good, he thought. To have a little feast and drinking contest together with the Sins like this. Though, he felt pity for Escanor, Diane, King, and Meliodas. Escanor stared longingly to Merlin, which the latter either obvious of it, or she simply ignored it. Diane, who non-stop praised the Captain and one-sidedly seduced him, in an attempt to win over his heart. King, who stared dagger to the Captain in jealousy, and kept staring to Diane longingly. Meliodas, who had been the target of Diane and King, deliberately ignored them.

Seriously, Mordred remembered the time when Morgan, his older sister, deliberately was being rude and mean towards the Original version of Guinevere (before her love for Lancelot was returned, that was). OG (a.k.a Original) Guinevere was right when she said that he (as a King Arthur) was insensitive.

Having had enough with the increasingly annoying attitude of Diane, King, and Meliodas, Mordred put down the glass on the table and with all seriousness "Sir Meliodas, with all respect I have for you, why do you not simply tune it down already?".

All Sins turned their eyes to him, but it was Meliodas who asked "what do you mean, Mordred?".

Mordred knew it because he had witnessed it as 'King Arthur Pendragon'. The love between Meliodas and Elizabeth, that kind of love was True Love. It would only hurt Diane in the end. Even if Diane ended up being happy with King, why did not make it quicker for them?

"I mean, rather than to give a false hope to someone who waited for you, why don't you make it clear that you have fixated your eyes on someone else and reject the girls who chase after you properly?".

Ban whistled because they clearly knew what Mordred was trying to do "so bold of you, kid~".

"Someone I knew, my close friend, told me", reminiscing the quotes from Isolde and Tristan, Mordred twirled the glass on his hand "when you do not think about the happiness of someone you love and just forcefully push your love to them one-sidedly, it is not Love, but an obsession".

Diane growled in irk "How about you, then? Do you even have someone you loved? Talking as if you're so experienced in love when you're just a snot-nosed brat!".

"Oh, you wanna fight? Bring it on", Mordred snorted "I do have someone I love".

Meliodas perked on it. Truthfully, as long as they lived together, Mordred had not realized it, but several girls admired him from far distance as long as they trained in the Castle's ground with the Three Misfits.

Escanor asked out of curiosity "Oh, is that so? How does she look like?".

"If you ask me about my impression of her, Sir", considering Escanor's romantic hobby (writing the poems), Mordred made it short into the poem-like "As beautiful and gorgeous as a Goddess. Having a smile as bright as the sun. Quiet and composed like the Moon. Graceful and delicate as the blossoming flower".

Ban snorted "Wow, wonder if such a girl does exist?".

Gowther followed Escanor's curiosity "What is she look like?".

"She's a lovely, generous, honest, friendly, polite, and quiet person. The type of a woman with confidence and dignity who will not seduce a man and one-sidedly push her feeling forcefully to her love interest".

Diane retorted "Huh… Seems like that type of girl is too good to be true for you".

Mordred's eyes widened at that.

"Seems like that type of girl is too good to be true for you. After all, she's dead already. Just accept it, brother".

Mordred knew it was not Diane's fault. It was Morgan who spat those words to his pathetic self when he still could not cope with Guinevere's death.

Thinking that something was off, Meliodas tilted his head and reached out his hand "Mordred? You're still awake?".

"…You're right…", Mordred whispered defeatedly "After all… She's already dead…".

When the four of them let out the surprised gasp, Meliodas froze, and Gowther was the only one who shut his mouth to observe the situation, Mordred stood up.

Merlin reached out her hand "Mordred".

"Lady Merlin, you will sleep with Gwen tonight, right?", without giving anyone the chance to say any more, Mordred turned his back and walked to the front door, pulling a cape from the nightstand "I guess I will go outside for the midnight stroll, then".

After wrapping the cape around his body, Mordred noted to Fou "take care of Gwen, Fou".

"Big brother?", yawning, Gwen trotted closer to him from behind "Where will you go?".

When the little Guinevere, Gwen pulled his cape, Mordred simply said as he patting her head "…Just sleep with mother tonight, okay? I need to go somewhere".

Gwen tilted her head "Is there an evil people again? Fou told me that every night, you went out to beat the evil people".

"Oh, my… Did it tell you? I thought I've done my best to not get red-handed", Mordred chuckled dryly before gently nudging her "Go back to sleep already. I have to go. Good night, Gwen".

"…I am such a pathetic coward. To think I was the one who started it, then I was the one who ran away as well…", standing on the roof, Mordred scouted the surrounding area "…Found it".

Jumping from the rooftop, Mordred landed on the dark alley where five young men tried to rape a young woman. Walking closer to them, Mordred called them as his shadow hovering above them "stop it now. Otherwise, you will regret it".

When those men simply turned down his warning and scoffed to him, Mordred took off his red cape and smirked dangerously "I have warned you".

It took about 15 minutes for Mordred to beat those ruffians into the pulp. The woman he saved only could cower in the corner, as long as he punched those rapists as his alternative sandbags.

Meliodas narrowed his eyes, tucking his hands into his pocket "Found you".

Looking at his deed, Ban whistled "Does beating those bastards black and blue make you feel better?".

"That's right. I feel so much better. It will be better if I can drink Ales after this", throwing the bastards in his hands to the ground, Mordred smirked devilishly, ignoring the splattering blood on his cape or his face "Or what? Am I not allowed to do this much?".

"Considering that you have saved that woman, no problem", Meliodas lifted his hand before giving the instructions to his teammates "King, Diane, please escort this woman to her house. Escanor, Ban, drag those fiends to the patrolling Holy Knights nearby".

Scratching the back of his nape, Ban thought it was a boring daily chore "And what are you going to do, Cap'n?~".

Meliodas pulled Mordred by the back of his collar "Drag this upset kid back to home".

Mordred blurted out, lifting his forefinger. He did not waste his strength to resist Meliodas' iron grip because he knew it was useless "I am not a kid, so you can stop treating me like one, Sir. Also, I am not upset".

"Yes, you are", Meliodas rolled his eye "Go home, now. You make your sister and mother worried".

With a mention of how his sister worried, Mordred complied to go home this time.

When the four of the Sins (who had been given the boring chores by their Captain, they said) arrived in their shared house back, they saw Gowther sitting on the front door, waiting for them. The Goat Sin had told them to be quiet and just observe because Meliodas and Merlin were busy pestering Mordred in their drinking contest after they put Guinevere back to sleep.

Ban was being Ban, kicked the door instead "Yo! We're home! Allow us to join!".

In the end, they were back to the first arrangement, where they had a drinking contest. Meliodas did not even tipsy when he reached his 25 tankards, while Mordred was sluggishly flopping his head on the table in defeat.

Yep, thanks to his experience in the previous life, his alcohol tolerance had increased. Although, it was still impossible to beat the Dragon Sin of Wrath when it came to the drinking contest.

Ban twitched his eyebrow "…Oh, damn. I'll lose when I have a drinking contest with this kid".

Maybe because of his tipsy state, Mordred blurted out something he should not have said, "...I've married twice".

They were shocked, without a doubt.

"Not too surprising", Merlin shrugged "I have married once, too. We have divorced, though".

All the Sins (minus Meliodas and Gowther) shrieked "WHAT?!".

Without directly mentioning his previous life as 'King Arthur Pendragon', Mordred told them about how he had married the woman he loved, his first love and first wife before he married again with his second wife.

"With the first one, we married because I loved her and she returned my love. However, she was… too sick to survive in childbirth. I lost her and our baby. Later, because my Godmother worried about me and my family needed the successor, I married again with someone who looked so much like her, to the point you can call her as my first wife's twin".

Merlin and Morgan cooperated to create Guinevere 1.0 (the Homunculus), the duplicate of Guinevere which they had gotten from the Cameliard Kingdom. The Camelot Kingdom needed their successor and their Queen, thus King Arthur Pendragon accepted her as his second wife secretly, which the people of their Kingdom thought that she was their Queen.

"I told her that I might not able to give her love because all love I have… it's been taken away by her, my first wife, the only woman I love… because there's only one her".

All love he had, had been stolen away by the one and only Guinevere, the Original one. At first, the Guinevere 1.0 was okay with it. She did a good job as the Queen. She always stayed by his side, with him as the King and her as the Queen. Arthur did not realize it, the Homunculus which people thought of as the doll, had changed. She had the heart and feelings of a human and she started to yearn for his love. However, it was something he could not give to her. Succumbing into her despair, Guinevere 1.0 who yearned for love, finally accepted Lancelot's love.

To think Ban and Elaine's son would do it behind his back…

One day, Agravain found out about their relationship, but he was killed by Lancelot who tried to hide his relationship with the Queen. Unfortunately for them, Mordred who claimed himself as Morgan and Arthur's biological son (Homunculus too, nonetheless, courtesy created by his sister), announced it to Arthur and everyone. His people and his Knights were enraged, however…

"Even after knowing that my second wife was cheating behind my back with my best friend, I did not angry. Instead…", Mordred chuckled bitterly "Strangely, I feel so much better".

He really meant it. He was not in denial, neither he was lying when he was telling himself, that he was glad.

Arthur had the high self-conscience, fully aware of the fact that he was not a good husband for her who could give the love she yearning, but Lancelot could give the love for her. That was why he forgave Lancelot and Guinevere, but his people and his Knights had enraged even more.

In the end, he was at fault for everything.

After the moment of self-deceitfulness, everything was clear. He was so sick of feeling numb.

Strangely, he felt so much better. Now, he was not the King anymore. He need not think about how the people think of him. His darker part who resented them all for cornering him, even whispered that he felt so much better. He was glad that they were gone from his life. He even hoped to see their reaction when they knew that he was gone forever. In this life around him, he was feeling so much better that they were gone forever now.

"It felt like your burden has been lifted, correct?", to his questioning eyes, Merlin put her wine glass on the table "Do you want to know why do I choose to adopt you and Gwen as my kids, despite my status as a single woman?".

This time, it was Merlin's turn.

"The reason why do I have divorced my husband, it's because I could no longer bear the guilt in my heart. I was his second wife. My ex-husband's first wife… she's my little sister. We lost someone we loved so dearly and in need of someone's companionship desperately. We ended up married. He's a good man, truly. He treated me nicely, but we could not fill the emptiness in each other's heart and we decided to divorce", Merlin glanced sideways and smiled thinly "You reminded me of my ex-husband, Mordred. The loss on your eyes when we met you, it's just the same with the eyes of my ex-husband when he lost his first wife, my dearest little sister. Irina, their daughter, was as old as Gwen when she passed away along with her mother. I know this is only the void, empty hope, but… I hope, with saving you two, I can forgive myself a little".

Mordred always thought that Merlin only thought of him and Guinevere as the tools to reach her goals, but this? He sceptically asked, "Why did you tell me this?".

"Because what we want the most, sometimes can be our weakness. You told us that you feel better. It is because you finally lost the burden you have to bear. However, do you truly mean it when you said that you are alright?", Meliodas patted his head "You should not have bottled up your feelings".

It cracked the ice wall in his heart. Mordred remembered the time when Meliodas was still by his side as his mentor. Someone he admired, respected, and idolized. Someone he wanted to follow before he and Elizabeth fell to the pitch-black darkness. Mordred thought back to the most miserable and painful time in his entire life when he did not only lose his wife, but also his parents-figure and his trusted comrades, one by one. It was all started by his loss of his wife.

Running his fingers in his hair, Mordred chuckled dryly "…I don't know what's going on and what went wrong. It feels like a thousand years because I still can't believe that she's gone already. I tried to stay up every night, thinking how these walls surrounded me with the story of our life. However, nothing can change the fact… that she's gone…".

Right now, Guinevere was only 3 years old (physically), and it would take 13 years further before she and his Original version married in their 16 years old. At that time, he married her because he loved her. Now, he was not sure anymore, about her feeling. Was she marrying him only because it was part of her plan? Had she ever loved him?

Even if their marriage was only part of her plan…

Even so…

"Why I was too helpless? Why could I not save her? Even now…", blinking away his tears, Mordred buried his face on his forearms "I still love her…".

Merlin said nothing, sitting on the chair as she patting his head with that solemn expression on her face. Escanor wiped his tears with the handkerchief from Gowther, thanking him. Diane and King were crying mess. Ban tipped his head backwards with those understanding eyes and solemn expression.

Meliodas sat on the table beside Mordred's head, patting his head "Yeah, we understand. You've been going through a lot. For now, just rest".

This time, he would not fail her.

Even if it would cost his life.

Even if it meant he would have gone forever from this world, he would still...

A/N:

Okay, you can expect it in the next chapter. Starting from the next chapter, we will jump into the Ten Commandments Arc after a little flashback.