Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit longer now I hope this makes up for the last short chapter! Thank you once again, all constructive criticism is welcomed! Cheers!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Seven Deadly Sins [七つの大罪 Nanatsu no Taizai] nor its characters which are works and story are made by Nakaba Suzuki
Always and Forever
Ch. 09 For What It's Worth
"What a beautiful morning" said the giantess to herself as she saw from the window of her room the gorgeous view of the forest, she then turned towards her beloved who was still sound asleep "Poor Harlequin, you must be really tired after all the fun we had last night" she smiled, kissed his forehead and whispered "I'll let you rest my love"
She got up headed towards the washroom to take a bath, after she was done she got dressed and went towards the vanity mirror to fix her hair. She smiled at her own reflection. "Today is the day me and Harlequin will address both the fairies and the giants as their new king and queen. Let's see what this day has prepared for us."
She then felt someone hold her "you're up early my sweet Diane" the young red headed man told his beloved, she smiled and turned around to meet with his gaze "Good morning sleepyhead" she said as she gave him a small peck on the kiss "Go and get ready we have a long day ahead of us, Harlequin"
The redheaded fairy sighed "Right... Why do I feel this is going to be a tough day?" He kissed his beloved's forehead and headed towards the washroom he then said "It's a shame I didn't woke up earlier, we could have taken a bath together"
Diane amazed by the words that left his lips "Harlequin!" she said as she blushed
He with a smug smile on his face "What? We are getting married and what happened last ni-"
She right away interrupted him "I know!" she giggled
"It just surprised me since you're usually so shy, I just didn't expected for you to be so forward now..."
Before she could finish he replied "Get use to it, love. I told you I was going to try my best to make you happy and show you how much I love you." he proceeded to get inside the tub "Alright, once I'm ready we will head over to the central plaza"
Diane with a smile "Right! I will go tell Gerheade and Matrona to gather everyone at the plaza"
She left the room headed towards the central foyer there she noticed Gerheade and Matrona were talking to each other, Diane waved at them "Hey! Good morning ladies!"
Gerheade greeted Diane with a smile "Good morning Lady Diane, how did you and his majesty slept?"
Diane playfully answered "sleep? we barely got any, we were too busy having fun" she right away got startled at what she said and started blushing "I am so sorry, I shouldn't have said that"
Both Gerheade and Matrona started laughing, Matrona teased Diane "Seems like my little Diane has finally become a woman"
Diane covered her face as she blushed "Matrona please... I am so embarrassed"
Gerheade smiled trying to hold the laughter "Nothing to be embarrassed about, you two are getting married and it's normal for a young couple to engage in s... such activities"
"not you too Gerheade!" Diane said with a pout on her face
"I am sorry Lady Diane!" said the blonde fairy as she laughed
"Alright Diane let's get going" Matrona said to the young giantess
"Wait a minute" said Gerheade "Where's his majesty Harlequin"
"Oh" Diane chuckled "He should be here any minute, he woke up a little late" said the giantess while she was blushing.
Across the hall the redheaded fairy was running towards the girls "Hey! Here I am, sorry I am late, let's get going Diane"
Diane said "Oh Harlequin, you shouldn't be running like that"
he said sheepishly "I thought I was late, sorry about that"
"your majesty, Lady Diane are you both ready?" said the light brown haired fairy
"READY!" both said in unison
"Let's get going" said Matrona
They all headed towards the central plaza where there was a crowd of both giants and fairies waiting for them, A group of giants noticed Diane and they started waving at her
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"Hey its Diane! Hey Diane!" said a red haired giant, he got hit on the shoulder by a blue haired giantess
"Have more respect Garuk, you dumbass she is now queen Diane" Said the embarrassed blue haired giantess
"Oh right! Sorry Terina, Queen Diane you look beautiful!" Said Garuk making the blue haired giantess cover her face in embarrassment
There was a group of small fairies were gossiping to themselves
"His majesty Harlequin looks so handsome" said a pink haired fairy
"I know right, now that he has his wings fully developed...I am so envious of that giantess" Said a green haired fairy
"Hush, Florinda! that's our new queen" said the pink haired fairy
"I don't care Maya! she is not good enough for-" said the green haired fairy
Just as Florinda was about to finish what she was saying, she noticed that Harlequin was glaring, they right away changed the subject.
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The central plaza was busy and buzzing with giants and fairies. Gerheade approached the center of the plaza and started to organized everyone
"Everyone please take your seats we will begin the crowning ceremony thus uniting our kingdoms"
Everyone started cheering, you could feel the genuine happiness both clans felt specially from the older generations.
"This is will be like the time where King Gloxinia and King Drole were ruling this place"
"Right! I have faith in these two younglings"
"Everyone" said Gerheade "I am once again asking you to settle down, the ceremony is about to start"
Everyone from fairy to giant started to get quiet, Gerheade smiled
"Thank you all for joining us on this ceremony of this unison of clans" she then turned her attention towards Diane and Harlequin "King Harlequin and Queen Diane, please come and address your people"
Both Harlequin and Diane became a bit timid but stood up to heads towards the center of the plaza
"Right..." Harlequin said
"Thank you everyone for joining us, I promise that there will be prosperity and harmony. We will do our best to make sure both fairies and giants alike are treated equally, just like King Drole of the giant kingdom and King Gloxinia of the fairy kingdom"
Then Diane followed
"That's right, we want the best for all of our people. We will do everything to keep peace and protect both of our kingdoms-"
Someone in the crowd interrupted Diane
"Who said you could be our queen? You're still a child, did king Drole really appointed you as the next queen of our clan?"
then another voice followed
"Yeah! you need to prove to us, both of you need to prove to us you are worthy of ruling over us"
The voices started to get louder and started spreading like wildfire, both Matrona and Gerheade intervened
"That's enough!" said Gerheade then Matrona continued
"Have some respect for these two, they saved us all of us not just giants and fairies but the whole world from the destruction of the demon clan."
"Yet you still choose to question them? Both of them have the strength to take a whole army on their own, perhaps they are young but they have gone through harsher trials than any of us present here, Do you really want to question that? if so then-"
Diane smiled "It's okay Matrona, I understand... I too once was like you all, questioning my leaders, questioning everything. I am not going to lie many times I wanted to run away from my destiny, I wanted to hide never to be found." with tears in her eyes "But I realized I couldn't run away anymore and I had to face my fears, if not I was going to lose someone important to me" She then smiled and held Harlequin's hand, he then continued where she left of
"Yes we both may be young, but we promise you all that both our kingdoms will be prosperous. We will do our best to follow both King Gloxinia and King Drole's footsteps, we are not saying we are like them but we will do our best to make sure everyone of you is safe, we just ask to have faith in us"
Both Harlequin and Diane's reassuring speech gave both clans a peace of mind but there still was one giant who was not content
"I challenge you, Diane to a battle, I Tusk one of the strongest warriors in Megadozer to a match, to prove your worth and that you are indeed worthy to rule over our race"
"And I..." Said a small feminine looking purple haired male fairy "Fiori... Once being part of Gloxinia's army challenge you Harlequin to a match, you may have fooled both kings Dolor and Gloxinia. But me and Tusk are not convinced, so you must both prove to us that you are in fact worthy to rule over our races"
"Preposterous! who do you think-" Said Gerheade astonished by Fiori's claims
"It's okay Gerheade" said king "We accept both of your challenges"
Tusk confidently said "If you lose... both me and Fiori will rule over this forest and both races"
Fiori followed in a teasing manner "But... that's a big but...If you were ever to win, we will serve under you and will never question you ever again" he then proceeded to bow
Tusk then continued "Do you accept these terms"
Diane confident in herself extended her hand towards tusk "It's a deal" they both shake hands at the same time both Fiore and Harlequin did as well.
"There's a battle dome in Megadozer we can have our match there, we really don't want to hurt the forest" Said Tusk
Then Fiori continued "And I will teleport the 4 of us along with Matrona and Gerheade so they can be the referees"
"Even if you didn't told us we were going to go, we would have done so anyways, there's no way in hell we are gonna leave his majesty and Diane with you two"
"Oh so the "king and queen" have body guards and puny ones at that" Tusk boasted "Matrona you couldn't even defeat me what makes you think this girl stands a chance against me?" as he laughed
"Oh Tusk... You really haven't seen her in battle, she will give you a run for your gold. Just you watch, you will eat your words" Matrona said back
Tusk huffed "We shall see about that..."
he then barked "Go ahead and take us there already, Fiori...Hurry up!"
"Geez so rude!" he then whispered to himself as he sighed ("If only you were as rude in bed...") he snapped his fingers and everyone suddenly was teleported to Megadozer, the place looked so empty and desolated.
"The perfect stage for an epic battle, wouldn't you agree Fiori?" Tusk said to the small purple haired fairy
Fiori just sighed "I would have wanted a bit of an audience, have them watch as we defeat their dear "King and Queen" But... I suppose beggars cant be choosers"
"Alright who will get to go first?" Diane asked
"Simple! lets flip a coin" said Fiori
"Alright, I choose tails" Diane said
"I guess head for us" said King
"I don't care who gets go first just flip the damn thing" Said Tusk growing more desperate by the moment
Fiori flips the coin and it landed in tails, he smiled "I guess the gods heard you, Tusk... You and the young lady here will get to battle first"
"Alright! I promise it will be over before you know it" Said Tusk in a mocking way
Diane replied "We will see about that, just learn to be a good loser once I kick your ass"
Tusk grinned "Oh I love your warrior spirit! This is going to be fun"
Both Diane and the warrior Tusk headed towards the battle dome, both warming up before starting the match. Diane summoned her sacred weapon, Tusk chucked
"Oh it seems you brought Gideon to play, alright I too shall bring mine" He summons a huge claymore type sword
"No way..." Diane says as she sees the weapon
"Is that Caladbolg?" Matrona asks shocked "I thought King Drole destroyed that weapon due to it's bloodlust nature"
Tusk smiled "I was the one in charge of "Destroying it" but... It would be such a waste to destroy such a beautiful instrument of war, so I just hid it until the time was right, a fitting weapon to battle our "future queen" wouldn't you say, Matrona?"
Matrona didn't reply and turned her vision towards Diane "Please be careful, if that blade touches your skin it will start to drain your energy and your blood. Try to avoid it as much as you can Diane"
Diane smiled "I got this, don't worry! Let's get started"
Both giants with their powerful weapons on their hands begin to fight, Tusk started an aggressive attack while Diane was on the defense
Tusk laughs at Diane's defensive moves "Is this the best the savior of Lioness has to offer? You really are not worth my time" his attacks started to get faster and more aggressive, all Diane could do is avoid that blade as much as she could.
Their moves became faster and faster to the point of becoming invisible to the normal eye.
Fiore started applauding "Marvelous! You better not disappoint me, your majesty... I expect a fight as good...NO! I expect a better fight than the one we are watching!"
King ignored the purple haired fairy's remarks, he was worried about Diane he noticed her life force becoming weaker as the fight continued, he thought to himself ("Diane...")
She was blasted off the platform with major gash on her body, Harlequin wanted to intervene but Fiori stopped him "No no no! that's cheating your majesty! if you intervene she will automatically lose, do you really think she will want that? I'd say I think she would rather die..." Fiori started laughing
Furious and frustrated Harlequin watched as her beloved was being thrashed around by the warrior giant as if she was nothing but a rag doll.
The giant laughing as he continued to thrash her "Oh is this all you had to offer? The legendary sin of Envy?! Diane the serpent sin...What a fucking joke!"
She thought to herself ("Damn, if this continues I am definitely going to lose... I can't lose, I really can't lose... Everyone...Everyone is depending-") Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain on the side of her stomach, she realized she had been hacked by the powerful sword, but she noticed no blood was coming out, but she noticed the blade was changing to a crimson color. She thought to herself "Crap... Is this really it?" tears started forming in her eyes "I let everyone down, I let Harlequin down, why am I always so weak? I am going to die...?" she then remembered her promise to Harlequin at the white rose festival "No... I can't think like this I promised Harlequin... No I promised everyone I was going to protect them, I can't give up!"
Diane went from defensive to aggressive mode and started attacking back, Tusk was impressed with the giantess
"Ah despite of having such a huge gash on your stomach you continue to move as if nothing had happened, I must say I am impressed, but you are going to need more than that to defeat me" He started swinging his claymore as if it was light as a feather, Diane avoided all attacks and finally landed a hit, blasting Tusk away
he started laughing as he noticed he was bleeding "Not bad! Not bad! Things are starting to get fun!"
Diane said to herself ("I better finish this quickly before all the life force and blood is drained from my body") she then directed all her energy to her Gideon, the celestial weapon started to shine and emit a golden aura, changing its color to pure gold, she then shouted the following words
"FATAL RISING METEOR!" as she raised her Gideon as high as she could, erecting an enormous star shaped pillar below Tusk, hitting him and trapping him. Suddenly a flash of fireballs started to fall from the sky hitting the star shaped pillar along with the giant warrior that was inside it, destroying it and crumbling.
Tusk fell but managed to say the following "I am quite impressed... You really showed me, despite of having such a huge wound and despite having your life force drain you still stand tall and strong. Diane I Tusk the warrior giant accept you as my.. NO!.. as our new queen" thus admitting his defeat, he became unconscious.
Diane with a smile and tears on her face "I did it, Harlequin..." she said as she passed out
Harlequin right away summoned summoned his eight form, pollen garden to heal both Diane and Tusk
Fiore surprised by this "You are healing him as well?"
King smiled "Diane wouldn't forgive me if I only healed her and not him, despite of you both questioning us. You are still part of our clan and it just wouldn't feel right if I left him like that"
The giant simply said "Thank you... But you must understand where we come from"
Harlequin smiled "I understand, no hard feelings." he then noticed Diane wasn't waking up despite of her wounds being healed, he right away flew towards her side "Diane...Please Diane wake up..."
The giantess started to gain conscience "Harlequin, did you see that?" with tears in her eyes and a faint smile on her face "I did it..."
The redheaded fairy smiled "Yes you did, I am so proud of you, my love"
"Ugh would you two cut it out? you still need to prove yourself Mr. Fairy "KING" she already prove herself as worthy to rule our kingdom...Now it's your turn" Said Fiori annoyed but at the same time envious of the love these two had only to stare at Tusk and thinking ("Oh my sweet Tusk, why can't you be as loving with me as these two are with each other, I sometimes wonder if you actually love me or are just using me...")
"Let's get this over with" said Harlequin
"Right" said the purple haired male fairy
A/N : Okay this is where I will leave it at, I think I might end the story on chapter 10, thank you so much for taking your time reading! Reviews and critism are welcomed!