Mliodas was waiting patiently along with the others later that day, to ambush their fellow Sin when Merlin finally walked back into the pub. "Merlin!" Ban practically shouted with barely concealed excitement the second that he saw her.
The raven haired woman gave him a subdued sort of smile and wave as she walked over to where all of them were sitting and grabbed the spare seat that they had saved specifically for her and this particular talk that Meliodas had planned out.
"So... What did the kid decide? About this heir business?" He asked as she took a moment to make herself comfortable before slowly replying.
"She agreed that it was something that needed to be done." Merlin said with s soft sigh as she reached out and grabbed one of the ale's sitting on the table untouched and took a long drag from the glass.
Meliodas made a humming sound as he watched her and wondered what exactly he should be feeling about this? After all, it was sort of like Ban said. He and the former bandit were both very child friendly.
Something that was unusual given both of their dark backgrounds and less than stellar upbringings.
However, even so- that was no reason to be bringing any small and defenseless baby into their midst. For heaven's sake it could get hurt or even killed!
"So who's going to sire the kid?" Meliodas asked.
Not because he was trying to be nosy or anything. But because Merlin and her lady king were both girls. And frankly if Merlin was expecting them to not be just a little bit creeped out by a woman siring a baby on another woman...well, she'd probably be terribly disappointed in the lot of them.
Because a woman siring a child on another woman was creepy as fuck to him.
"We haven't exactly spoken about that just yet. But I was wanting to see what might appeal to her first before I try to even broach the subject. Especially since she doesn't take kindly to...specific implications about her character."
"Gottcha. No calling her a tramp." Meliodas said jokingly. Merlin merely stared at him for a moment and then slowly shook her head and sighed.
"I can't wait for you to slip up and say something stupid to her... She'll eat you alive after stomping your face into the ground just for funsies."
"You make it sound like she can take me in a fight." Meliodas said with a small hint of curiosity.
It had literally been more than three thousand years since he'd stumbled across someone who could beat the ever loving hell out of him. Especially given his demon blood and abilities were barely matched by anyone. Barring Ban of course, but well... the man was immortal and could steal other people's power- he was literally a freak of nature!
And if Merlin's girl, could do that- even with his demon abilities being given free reign...
I would love to see that. He thought somewhat maliciously. Hell, he would welcome the ass kicking with open arms and even step aside and make the girl the new Captain of the Sin's.
Ban may not like it any. And the others might not either.
But if the girl could defeat him in a honest to god fight, then none of them would have a choice in the matter. Besides...it may be the only way that he and the others might honestly manage to keep the girl king and her offspring safe.
"Oh Captain," Merlin crooned as she reached out and laid her hand on top of his on the table before then grinning and saying, "You'd die screaming if the two of you got into an honest to god fight. My king is nothing but ruthless in combat. She would show you no mercy."
The blond gave her an slightly irked look. Not liking that she was pretty much calling him weaker than her girlfriend. Especially in front of the other Sins.
"You make it sound as if I'm weak or something." He said in a slightly sulky tone.
"You aren't weak Captain. However Ichigo is one of the most powerful beings to ever walk this world. Even more so than even myself... And I know that she's definitely more powerful than you and Ban."
The blond let out a low whistle. His green eyes boring into the woman's own before he asked, "Seriously?"
"Seriously." Merlin said sagely. Everyone had been sitting there fairly quietly up until now, both carefully paying attention to the conversation and not. The moment that Merlin uttered the last sentence aloud- everyone including Meliodas leaned forward in their seats and eyed the woman skeptically.
After all there was no way in hell that Merlin was being totally honest with them. Meliodas was a frigging juggarnaut! And aside from Escanor, there wasn't anyone more powerful than him in their entire group!
So naturally someone just had to ask, "Even more powerful than...Escanor?"
Was it weird that whoever asked the question had paused to gulp? Meliodas thought it was. But only a little bit since someone being even more powerful than the lion sin of Pride was literally inconceivable to them as a whole.
Merlin gave them a wry smile. Which was more of an confirmation than it should have been as far as Meliodas was concerned. Ban let out a whistle as he abruptly leaned back in his seat with a thoughtful look on his face as Gowther started to mutter something inaudibly to himself.
"But if that's true- then why didn't you bring her to meet us sooner?!" Diane asked.
"She needed some time to heal before I brought her to meet the lot of you. Besides, I didn't want her to be dragged into any of our fights."
"Huh?" Everyone said in unison. Their expressions all mirroring their bewilderment. After all, if Merlin's girlfriend was as powerful as she claimed- then why hide her? Merlin's words about needing to heal, was a clue. Indicating that she must have been badly hurt or something.
If that was true, then it was understandable why Merlin hadn't brought her to meet them sooner. However she'd also indicated that she didn't want Ichigo being dragged into any of their fights either. Which was simply something that none of them could really understand.
After all, what was the point of having so much power if you didn't use it?
"Okay, so dish." King said. "If she needed to heal- then what happened to her? Was she in some sort of really tough fight and lost?"
"No." Merlin said before deciding to toss back the rest of her drink in one go. Everyone blinked at the woman as they watched the whole pint of ale disappear in one long gulp. The moment that it was gone, Merlin slammed the mug down on the table and then reached over and snatched Ban's drink right from his hand, earning an annoyed sounding 'hey' from the man as she shifted a little bit in her seat before finally saying, "Ichigo wasn't in a fight. Not in the typical sense of the word anyways. It was...fifty years ago. Long before I ever met any of you and formed the Sins. Ichigo and I lived together. I liked to experiment with my magic, just like now-"
"Hold up," Gowther suddenly said, interrupting her. "Would it make things easier on you if we simply saw your memories?"
Merlin gave the golden eyed man an appraising look. Almost as if she were weighing the pro's and con's in her head before finally saying, albeit reluctantly. "Perhaps. But I'm reluctant to give you free reign to see my memories. Many of them are of war, blood and death. And simply aren't very pleasant."
"I will only go go as far as you allow me, Merlin." Gowther said as he put his hands up as King added in a slightly dark tone.
"I'll punch him in the jaw if he tries anything funny."
"And I'll help." Meliodas promised. Merlin chuckled as Gowther shot them a look promising some bizarre form of retribution later on and then looked back at her and waited somewhat patiently for her to say yes or no.
"Very well, but know that if you try to go any further than I want you too into my mind, Gowther- then the two of us will have a serious discussion later about boundaries."
"Understood."
