Thanks again to everyone who commented, left kudos, read, and bookmarked this story! ^^

I won't say anything more (just please, don't lynch me at the end of this chapter! .).

Warnings are the same as the other chapters.


CHAPTER 3

"I can't stop searching for your light"

"Who are you?"

His words were like a freezing cold shower on her enthusiasm, blocking her, and confusing her, so much that she didn't even know how to respond to that, her brain wasn't working at all.

She was completely taken aback, she was sure it was him, that was unmistakably his voice, that was his face, and his body, his expression and posture...it was HIM!

She swallowed, trying to force herself to do something, anything, he was looking at her confused and a little suspicious.

"Escanor?"

She could only repeat herself, but she needed to make sure that was still his name, she needed to understand what had happened and what was happening now.

"Yes, that is my name, but how do you happen to know it, Miss?"

She sighed slightly at that, relieved; ok, it was ok, it was really him, maybe he had just some memory problems, and that could be fixed... right?

"Do you really not remember?"

She was nervous. The lack of recognition in his eyes had her unnerved, she didn't like the way he was looking at her, as if she was a stranger...but she supposed it was to be expected, if he really had lost his memories, then she would really be just a stranger to him.

That knowledge did nothing to quench the pain that she felt inside.

He was looking at her seriously, frowning lightly, and he also seemed a bit uncomfortable at her question.

"Merlin!"

They both jumped at the loud voice, he looked beyond her, stiffening, but she couldn't take her eyes away from him, she feared that if she was to lose sight of him, he would vanish.

"Mer...Oh!"

The others had come looking for her, Meliodas had rounded them up, to try and cheer her up, together, but they too froze on the spot, shocked.

"Escanor!"

"Is that really you?"

"Ah! You found him Merlin!"

Mael was looking at him, opening his senses to make sure that a part of Sunshine was really with him.

"I can feel Sunshine, slightly, inside him"

The others cheered and clapped hands, but suddenly were very aware of the lack of sounds from the Mage, and the uncomfortable and guarded expression, and posture, of their comrade.

"Escanor?"

Diane asked, confused.

"I am sorry but I do not know you."

They looked at him with wide eyes, shocked.

"How is it possible?"

King asked anyone in particular.

Mael looked thoughtful.

"It could have something to do with how Sunshine reformed him, I'm quite sure that it is because of the grace that he is still alive, but having only a slight amount of it, maybe he was recreated lacking some things, like, in this case, his memories"

It made sense, even Merlin had to accept that.

"Well, there are other different things, he seems younger, and also his form seems stable"

Meliodas noticed, and everyone had to agree, again.

The younger man was looking at them completely confused, he had absolutely no idea of what they were talking about, he was younger then the last time they saw him, a good ten years or so, and despite the sun having almost disappeared over the horizon, his body hadn't changed in the slightest, he seemed fixed in his middle-form.

"I am sorry but I do not know what you are talking about"

He was still on guard, looking at everyone, unsure.

"Yeah, well, we may need to talk a little for all of this to make sense, for both sides!"

The Captain grinned his way, and Escanor relaxed just a bit.

"Uhm...ok?"

He was still perplexed, and especially uncomfortable by the intensive look that, the first woman he met, was giving him.

Merlin knew that she was staring, but she couldn't really help herself.

Suddenly there was a noise, someone else was coming towards them from the side.

"Escanor! I knew I would find you here!"

A young girl, with blonde hair and hazel eyes, appeared around a tree, she seemed prepared to run to him when she spotted the rest of them, and froze, in fear.

"W-what are these?!"

She was referring especially to Diane, King and Mael, who were clearly not human.

"That's rude!"

Diane lamented, pouting.

The girl shrieked and ran to Escanor, hiding behind his back.

"Escanor? What's happening here?"

He seemed a little uncomfortable but amused by her antics.

"Ah, Hanna, these people seem to know me."

He was clearly embarrassed, and Merlin bet that his cheeks were turning pink, she had missed his expressions.

"Oh, really? You remember something?"

She seemed curious but also worried, and the Mage almost frowned at that. In the meantime Escanor just shook his head at her question, and she visibly relaxed and almost smiled, and that had Merlin frown slightly, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Then who are you?"

She was staying slightly behind him, never loosing her grip on his shirt.

"We are Escanor's friend, and we would like to talk to him, so that we can understand what had happened, and explain some things to him too."

Meliodas had walked nearer, stopping beside Merlin, he had noticed her posture changing, and was a little worried.

"How can we be sure that you are who you say you are? You're also from different races."

That had the fairy, giant, and goddess, frown or pout even more.

"You can't know that for sure, you just have to believe us for the moment and listen to what we have to say."

Merlin couldn't stay silent anymore, speaking with as neutral a voice as possible, but her gaze seemed made of steel.

The girl frowned at her.

"You don't even show your face, but have no problems showing off your body, it's suspicious!"

She said matter of factly, her tone clearly unfriendly, her words made the Mage frown even more.

"Hanna! Stop."

Escanor chastised her, looking at her pointedly, she shut up, but continued looking at them suspiciously and unhappily.

"I am sorry, she did not want to be disrespectful."

He tried to calm down the tense air that was palpable, after the girl's words.

"I didn't say anything to be sorry about"

She said in a low tone, but everyone could hear her.

"And who would you be?"

King couldn't help himself asking, frowning slightly.

The girl, Hanna, looked at them, coming around Escanor, stopping at his side and gripping his arm, possessively.

"Hmpf! I'm his girlfriend!"

She declared with a smile like it was obvious.

The Sins and Mael were completely shocked.

"HIS WHAT?!"

They had their mouth hanging open, disbelief written on their faces.

Merlin just felt numb, until the pain in her chest awakened again, and was completely immobile, she was only just breathing.

...girlfriend?...

"Hanna! Stop saying that, it is not true."

Escanor chastised her again, sighing aloud.

"Awww! But you know I love you!"

She insisted, pouting, and gripping his arm tighter against her chest.

She was really straightforward, wasn't she? The Mage didn't like the way she was clinging to him like that, not one bit.

"I am sorry about her behaviour, please, do not mind her."

"You're meeeean!"

She pouted even more, maybe she thought to be appealing, but in Merlin's opinion she was just noisy!

Escanor laughed slightly in a nervous way, then turned to them.

"It is late, would you like to come back to the village? I cannot offer much, but I can make supper and then we can talk a bit."

He was smiling politely, and again the raven haired woman felt her heart beating faster, and felt also the angry look of the girl at his side, looking straight at her, making her try and rein in her emotions, putting on her poker face.

"I think that would be great!"

Meliodas agreed, smiling as usual.

"I will come helping you prepare dinner! But I don't think we have enough food for everyone, or space."

Hanna said, looking pointedly at Diane.

"You need not worry about that."

Merlin interjected, making a bottle of pills appear in her hand, that gesture had Hanna gasping in fright, and she went cowering behind Escanor, again, at that the Mage smiled slightly in satisfaction, and then threw the bottle to Diane.

"I improved them a little, so that you don't need me to change your outfit"

"Ah! Thanks a lot Merlin!"

The giant swallowed the pill, and immediately was reverted to human size, clothes and all.

"S-s-sorcery?!"

Hanna shrieked, and was evidently more afraid, and suspicious, than before, almost shaking, while Escanor just watched it all without even batting an eyelash, he didn't know why, but even when the three non-human people had arrived, he knew he didn't need to be afraid, and was even particularly comfortable at the sight of magic. He was confused by all these sensations and feelings, but that meant that maybe these people were telling the truth.

After that, the Sins and Mael followed Escanor and Hanna to the village, specifically, to Escanor's house, it was little, but they made it do, and were able, with some help from Merlin's magic, to find space for everyone. Meliodas, King and Diane proposed to go catch some ingredients for dinner, and in about a half an hour they had enough to cook something for everyone, and some more. Escanor insisted that they didn't have to help cooking, considering they had procured the ingredients, and the others were happy to hold the Captain away from any kind of food preparation, so Escanor and Hanna begun cooking for everyone, and dinner resulted enjoyable, even if Merlin didn't eat, saying that she hadn't appetite and that she would eat later, taking her part of food away, Escanor seemed worried at the fact that she wouldn't eat, but shook his head, as if dismissing the thoughts, and Hanna wasn't really pleasant, she was looking suspiciously at everyone, but luckily she stayed silent for the most part, just staying glued to Escanor the whole time.

After dinner they began talking for real, the Sins and Mael introduced themselves, and told Escanor, not in many details, what had happened, that he had died two years ago, and they were unable to find him, the Archangel tried to explain about the graces, specifically, about Sunshine, and what he thought it could have happened.

Escanor was very shocked, it was all so unbelievable, but at the same time he felt that they were being truthful, so he took a big gulp of air, and explained how he didn't remember anything since two years back, that he had woke up somewhere, near a strange big rock, remembering only his name, and that had began wandering around, he was alone in the wild for like two weeks, when one day he just collapsed, and was found by some of the villagers, who had taken him with them, had taken care of him, and he had stayed with them since then, helping with anything and trying to pay them back for their hospitality and kindness.

The Sins weren't surprised by his behaviour, it was typically Escanor to be kind and wanting to pay back anyone who helped him, Merlin felt again some warmth spreading in her chest, unable to look away from him.

"Well, that's it! He's with us now!"

Those words silenced everyone, and all eyes were suddenly on Hanna.

"Your story is absurd! And even if it was true, he's here with us now! And you could probably have the wrong person, he doesn't remember any of it, or you!"

Her words were angry, and she was gripping Escanor's arm possessively.

It didn't take a genius to understand why she was so against them and their words, she had already professed her love for him in front of them before.

In a way Merlin envied her, or specifically, she envied her ability to profess her feelings so openly to everyone, she wasn't afraid to do that, that little girl seemed bent on fighting for him.

She should have done the same two years ago, or even before that, if only she had listened to her heart sooner…

She slapped mentally herself, now it wasn't the time for self-punching like that, she had already lost him once, and that had been her fault, now that she had another chance she wouldn't give him up without a fight!

Her other companions were locked in a discussion with Hanna, while Escanor was looking from one to the others in evident embarrassment and uncomfortably.

She sighed slightly, she had some words to say to that little girl too, but she didn't want to make things harder for him.

"If it is a memory problem then we will just have to wait for Gowther to join us."

She said that in a neutral and calm tone, everyone turned to look at her, she caught Escanor's beautiful blue eyes regarding her, but she looked away quickly, she could already feel her cheeks beginning to burn up.

"I will inform Gowther and Ban, and see when I could get them here."

She stood up, and went outside, without a glance to anyone, leaving to her comrades the task to explain who these two people were, to Hanna and Escanor.

Outside it was already very dark, the moon couldn't be seen, so the sky was lit only by a myriad of stars, the breeze was a little chilly, but she wasn't really bothered by it, she was too immersed in her thoughts.

The Mage sent quickly a magic message to the other two Sins, and then stayed there, looking at the stars, and unconsciously hugging herself.

She was overjoyed, she had found him, he was alive, she had a chance to do the right thing!... but she was also worried, what if he couldn't remember them even with Gowther's help? What if he didn't want to go back with them? What if he wanted to stay here and have a chance at a normal life?

She was honestly afraid, gripping herself tighter.

Suddenly she felt something warm being placed on her shoulders, she immediately turned her head to the side, only to find herself looking at a strong neck and a chiseled chin.

"I am sorry, I know it is not much, but it is a little cold here at night, and you looked like you were cold."

She lifted up her eyes slowly, her heart had begun beating faster as soon as she had understood who was at her side, and looking in his eyes now, she couldn't help her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink, his eyes have always mesmerized her, the deep understanding and kindness that she could always find in them, she hadn't understand this at the time, but looking at his eyes had always made her feel safe and sure, they were her anchor.

The Mage grabbed the jacket that he had put on her, wrapping it tighter around her, and inhaling deeply.

It smelled like him.

"Thank you for your kindness, it is more than enough."

Her voice was soft and warm, her words had a deeper meaning, he could almost feel it and read it in her eyes, but she quickly looked away, leaving him a little unsure, and with more questions than answers.

They stayed besides each other, looking at the stars, in silence, for some moments.

Escanor didn't really know what he was doing, ever since this woman had appeared before him, he was finding himself acting and feeling strangely, he felt drawn to her, especially to her beautiful gold eyes that seemed to express great loneliness and hurt, he felt as if he wanted to protect her.

"Uhm...are you sure that you are alright? Maybe what we cooked was not to your liking? If you want I can cook you something else."

He didn't know why he was so worried about her, or so bothered about her not eating or not taking care of herself, he just was.

She looked at him, her head tilted slightly to the side, and he could swear that, under that kerchief, she was smiling in amusement, her eyes lighted up a little.

"I appreciate your concern, but do not worry, I will eat later, I prefer to not eat… with strangers…"

Her last words were almost a whisper, her eyes looking quickly towards the house and then down, just as quickly; she was referring to Hanna, it was evident that she wasn't comfortable in her presence,and she couldn't blame her, Hanna had been acting in a rude way towards them, even if he knew it was just because she wanted to protect him.

"Please, pardon me if it will sound rude to you, and I know it is none of my business, but… it has something to do with the fact that you cover part of your face?"

He wasn't a noisy person, at least, from what he could remember or know of himself, but he wanted so much to know more about this mysterious woman that he couldn't help himself.

She looked back at him, inspecting him, he was almost losing himself in her deep gaze.

"Yes. I don't feel like explaining something very precious to me to someone who wouldn't understand or appreciate it."

She sounded defensive, they continued to look at each other, he nodded just slightly, understanding her reasons.

"Perhaps I could tell you, one of these days."

Her voice was warm again, and he knew she was smiling softly, her eyes lightening up again.

"I would be honored"

He whispered back, smiling.

The atmosphere was strange, it seemed like at that moment there were only the two of them in the world, he was captivated by her, unable to tear his gaze away from her or even putting distance between them, instead he wanted to get closer to her.

"Escanor!"

The moment was brutally interrupted by Hanna's loud voice, the two of them startled, almost jumping back from each other, putting some distance between them, and looking toward the girl on the doorstep.

Escanor already mourned the lack of proximity with the raven haired woman.

Merlin could see the eyes of the girl burning with hatred and jealousy while watching them with suspicion, and especially her, noticing Escanor's jacket around her, then she looked pointedly at him.

"Will you help me wash the dishes?"

Escanor laughed, nervous and embarrassed.

"Yes, sorry Hanna, I am coming back in now."

He turned towards Merlin, smiling softly.

"Will you rejoin us inside?"

She smiled slightly and nodded stopping just to give back to him his jacket, thanking him again; he was almost sad to have it back.

After some other time the Sins excused themselves, retiring for the night, Escanor would have accompanied them back to their camp, he had the strange impulse to escort the Mage back, but he had to take Hanna home, it was late, and she was alone, while the Mage was in the company of her friends.

They parted, saying their goodnights and promising to meet up the day after.

Along the way Hanna talked, and ranted, and complained about all of the new, strange people, but he was only half listening.

He dropped her home, then went back to his own, going to bed almost in a daze; the last image in his mind, before nodding off, was that of beautiful, lonely, gold eyes.


The following day, Merlin woke up early, as usual, the sun almost appearing on the horizon. She had slept very well, she couldn't remember sleeping well like this in a very long time, and even waking up with a smile on her face.

She had dreamt of him, she was so grateful to have found him, that she could look at him again, talk to him again, she was absolutely ecstatic!

She dressed herself, and exiting her tent, began walking towards the village, at this hour most of the people would be awake, works in the villages started early, there were many things to take care off.

She was curious to see what job Escanor had chosen for himself.

Arriving on the outskirts of the village, she could see some movements, people already going out and about, and remembering the position of his house, she went in that direction, careful to stay outside of the village, not wanting to be spotted easily, the other villagers didn't know about them yet, and she didn't have the time, not the patience, to stop and explain, at the moment.

She spotted him, outside his house, on the back, washing himself at a little well, pouring water on his bare chest, not caring about his trousers getting wet.

She stopped walking, just beside a tree near his house, mesmerized by the view of his well muscled chest glistening, with water cascading in rivulets on it; she followed some of those rivulets all along his upper body, then moving her eyes up to look at his face, her breath caught in her throat, his hair were wet and disheveled, and he was passing a hand through them, while removing some water from his face with the other.

She was woken up from her dazed state by the appearance of Hanna, arriving at his side with a towel, smiling brightly at him, making him turn towards her and smile, thanking her.

That had her frown slightly, but when he turned his back towards her, something else caught her attention completely, making her gasp softly, and without thinking she resumed walking to him, her eyes fixed only on one thing.

Hanna spotted her first, frowning immediately at her presence, she may have even said something to her, but she didn't hear it, too focused to listen to the noisy brat. Escanor, seeing Hanna behaviour change so profoundly, turned just his head, looking behind him, he hadn't felt any threats, and in fact his eyes rested on the beautiful woman of the previous day, walking briskly towards him, he frowned slightly at that, she seemed shocked and worried about something, but she wasn't looking at either of them, instead her focus was somewhere else.

When he tried to turn completely to face her, she stopped for just a second, then walked over to him, sidestepping him, and stopping herself just behind him, facing his back.

He was about to turn again, when a soft cool hand rested gently on his upper back, moving slightly in a strange pattern.

He was frozen by her touch, it stirred something in him he couldn't begin to explain, but it wasn't unwelcomed, it was just surprising; at his side Hanna was fuming in angry jealousy at the scene, but neither of them minded her.

He could feel her hand trembling slightly, worrying him, and making him turn just his head, trying to stretch his neck to see the woman behind him, being careful to not move his back, that she was inspecting, too much.

"Miss…"

He began only to be interrupted.

"Where…"

He could hear her voice shake slightly too.

"...where is your tattoo?"

He tried to look quizzically at her, then turned more towards her, and found her looking shocked at his back, and then at him, letting him turn to her completely, her hand resting in mid air. He looked at her, worried, she seemed so lost at that moment, trembling, that he had the suddenly instinct to take her in his arms to reassure her, but clenched his hands at his sides and reined himself in.

"Tattoo? He had never had a tattoo on his back!"

Hanna's words and his confused look were all the proves she needed to know that she was seeing right.

The Lion Tattoo, his Tattoo, the one she had magically drawn on every one of the Sins, was gone, there was no trace of it on his skin.


After the disheartening discovery, she had called all the other Sins, showing them, and they looked at his bare back in pure shock, and explained the situation to him.

"Ha! That is just more proof that you have the wrong person!"

Hanna had stubbornly and happily exclaimed.

Escanor didn't even reprimanded her, he was too focused on the Mage, who now wouldn't look at him, and on the look in her eyes when she had asked him about the lack of tattoo on his back: she had looked like she had lost something so precious to her all over again, he had seen it all in her eyes, her fear, her shock, her crushed hope, and her sadden; it had made him almost sick, he didn't like to see her like this, so unhappy, he absolutely hated it!

He wasn't even asking himself anymore why he was feeling all of this towards a woman he had met just yesterday, he had already accepted that he did, and that was it.

"We can't do anything but wait for Gowther right now."

Meliodas said, perplexed, looking worriedly at Merlin, even Mael couldn't explain what was happening, or why the grace would rebuild him without the magical tattoo.

The Archangel looked at the dejected Mage, walking toward her and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, whispering reassurances' words to her.

Escanor couldn't help himself feeling irritated at that, he felt like he was the one to have to comfort the woman, not the other man, and he wasn't at all happy with him touching her like that.

He shook his head slightly, looking away and trying to focus on something else, he didn't have the right to feel that way.

After that Escanor introduced the Sins and Mael to the chief of the village, and explained the situation, so that the villagers wouldn't be worried about some strangers walking around their village. The chief welcomed them, talking with them for a while, after that he began spreading the news around, resulting in most of the villagers to almost surround them, curious about new people, they didn't have many visitors up here. After the excitement quieted down a bit, everyone went back to work, and even Escanor went to help here and there with many tasks, leaving the Sins to talk to each other and watching him from afar.

He seemed to have adapted well, and was well integrated within the village, and the villagers considered him one of them, seeing that, Merlin couldn't help but feel slightly sad, she was happy with his achievements, he seemed at ease with himself and with others, he seemed more confident, and even happier, than she could remember, he seemed almost at home with them… she was happy for him, but she couldn't help but feeling like she was losing him all over again.

Luckily for everyone, Gowther and Ban's answers arrived soon, so Merlin was able to teleport them to their location that late afternoon, already.

They spent their time until dinner by talking and updating each other about the various happenings of the last two days, and Gowther told everyone how he had been doing these past two years, catching up with his friends.

"So, you think it is possible to recover his memories?"

Finally the Mage asked the doll, and everyone went silent, all eyes focused on Gowther, waiting for his answer.

"To know that I would have to look inside his mind, and understand what the problem could be, but first of all he would have to be willing to let me in."

The Goat Sin had vowed to never enter the head of someone without his consent again, they all knew that and understood, but right now Merlin wished he hadn't, even if she berated herself right after, for wishing something so selfish, but she just wanted to know what they could do to have Escanor back!

She was also very afraid they couldn't have him back…

...if that was the case, then…

...what would she do?

...she hadn't an answer to that yet…

...in all sincerity, she didn't want to have to answer that.


Right before dinner they went in search of Escanor, and found him looking for them, noticing immediately the two new people in the group, who were quick to introduce themselves, and then they were joined by Hanna, who immediately latched on Escanor's arm, and regarded the two new men suspiciously.

Trying to prevent any more uncomfortable moments, Escanor was quick to invite them to his house for dinner, and like the day before, the Sins provided the food, but this time they insisted to have Ban cook for everyone, Escanor accepted, after some more pleading from everyone, but Hanna refused to let the stranger alone with food that also she and him would have to eat, so she shadowed him in everything he had to do, looking carefully at his every move. Ban was a little annoyed but paid her no mind, it has been a while since he had cooked for everyone, and he was secretly happy to do it again.

After the first bite of the food Ban cooked, even Hanna had to admit it was good, while everyone moaned in delight, wolfing down everything in sight, even Escanor was enjoying more food than he remembered ever eating in a single meal, but he sometimes looked towards Merlin, who claimed again that she would eat later, and felt bad about having her to do this because of Hanna's presence.

After dinner was finished and everything was cleaned up, finally they began talking about Escanor's memories, Gowther explained to him what he could do and that he would do it only if he was willing to let him, Hanna immediately stood up, raising her voice and claiming that they wanted to implant false memories in his head, at that the Goat responded that he had vowed to never mess with another's head.

The argument went on, more voices joining in, but Merlin was just looking at him, in the corner of her eye, Escanor had stayed silent, listening a bit to everyone, but mostly thinking by himself about the proposition, he wasn't really happy with the idea to have another person looking inside his head, but he didn't have a lot in his head to begin with, having memories of only two years of his life.

Unconsciously he looked toward the Mage,and what he saw had him hardening his resolve: the Archangel was again touching her, and talking to her in hushed tones, it was just an innocent touch on the arm, if prolonged, and he didn't know what they were talking about.

He didn't know why, but it felt completely wrong to him, his hands clenched tightly, frowning slightly at them, and suddenly he had decided.

"I will do it."

Turning toward the doll he announced that in a strong, and sure tone.

Everyone quieted down and looked at him, he could feel her gold gaze on him.

Hanna protested, trying to persuade him, but he was irremovable.

Gowther just nodded and instructed him to close his eyes, relax, and try to empty his mind, then the doll put both his hands on the other man's temple and closed his own eyes.

They stayed like that for some time, the others were silent, waiting nervously the result of all this.

Merlin was clenching her hands tightly, Mael's gentle words of encouragement and hope, before, weren't helping her at all, and she couldn't even feel the touch of his hand on her arm, trying to help her stay strong. She could hear only the nervous beating of her heart and could focus only on her shallow breaths, she was praying to no one in particular that this would work out, she desperately needed this to work out, she wanted him back.

After what felt like forever, slowly Gowther reopened his eyes, and retreated back in his seat, sighing, while Escanor opened his eyes, blinking, confused.

"So? Did it work?"

Ban asked, in an almost disinterested way, but was in reality well focused on the matter, he had seen how bad the situation was for the Boar, and wasn't looking forward to an even more depressed Mage, it wasn't like her, and he didn't like it, he was sure that no one in their group liked it.

Gowther sighed again, rubbing a hand on his eyes.

"There's nothing."

His words were welcomed by a heavy silence.

"Ah? What ya mean with that?!"

The Fox sounded almost angry, but he was just worried, Elaine always reprimanded him for not being good about expressing his feelings well.

Gowther paused for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully, but didn't find a good enough way to say what he had to, so he decided to just be blunt about it.

"There is nothing for me to work with, there is no block on his memories, there just isn't anything, I found nothing apart from memories of these last two years. There are no memories for me to recover. There is nothing."

In the shocked silence, and then animated discussion, that followed the doll's words, Escanor would have sworn to have heard the sound of something breaking, instinctively he looked to the raven haired woman, and almost stopped breathing.

She was looking at the table, in front of her, her eyes were wide with shock and desperation, and he could see, gradually, every trace of light leaving her gaze, leaving her eyes empty.

He would have sworn that the noise he heard was her heart.


I know...I'm a terrible, terrible person! X3 Merlin is my favorite character, and yet I treat her like this…! X3 but please, bear with me! I promise I will make everything worth it at the end!

...and with that I mean that there will be another terrible chapter before 'the end'...

Have a little faith in me! ;D

I imagined Escanor being around 28/30 years old, Hanna is about 18.