Disclaimer: I do not own the Seven Deadly Sins, and am simply borrowing the characters. I also do not own the title "Adarlan" as it is from the Throne of Glass series, which I also do not own, and am borrowing also.

Chapter 3: Cursed Destiny

"G-gah! Are you okay?" When Elizabeth ran into the person, they were both knocked to the ground. She stood, offering a hand to the boy in front of her who was still on the ground.

He had messy blonde hair, and when he looked up, Elizabeth immediately noticed the emerald eyes that gazed into her aqua. They were slightly glazed over, as if he was reminded of something and lost in the memories.

Speaking of which, why did he feel so familiar to her?

She was sure that she hadn't seen him before, but there was this sense of recognition inside her, she must know this person from somewhere.

He took her hand, almost hesitantly, and stood. He was a bit shorter than her, so he had to slightly glance upward to meet her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Sorry for not looking where I was turning…" She clenched her hands together. "Did- are you-"

"The one who found you, yeah." The corners of his mouth were upturned in a small smile. "Why were you outside in the pouring rain all alone? It's dangerous." He looked at her, cocking his head slightly to the side.

She sighed and looked down, separating their eye contact. "I was… trying to get away from someone, I suppose."

"Believe it or not, I know just how you feel."

"Huh?" She stared into his eyes once again. They were full of compassion and kindness. He nods at her, the small smirk once again on his face. "So who are you, exactly?"

/-/-/-/-/

He looked at her, fake interest on his face. Well, not entirely fake, as he did want to know why she was outside, but he already knew who she was.

Elizabeth, 2nd Princess of Adarlan. Or, as he would call her, the 108th incarnation of the goddess he loved.

The goddess he failed to save. For now, at least.

A bit of the sadness sealed inside slipped out of him, and he knew his eyes showed it. Elizabeth looked at him, worry on her face. "Are you okay?"

Not at all, he thought. But maybe he would be soon. Hopefully, as he couldn't really do anything about it. The curse didn't allow permanent death, as much as he felt he wanted it. He certainly didn't want to go to that place again. Where he'd give up his emotions to live once again.

He thought of that time when himself and the previous Elizabeth had recently met, and they promised to each other that the other would go on, even if they died. It was more of a promise to her from him, as he couldn't really die.

Quickly, he realized that the current Elizabeth was talking to him, probably telling him who she was. That would be easy to cover up.

Slipping on the mask, he continued their conversation, silently promising her that he won't let her die this time.

/-/-/-/-/

"I see." was all he said. Elizabeth had no clue how he possibly managed to get anything out of the flustered sentences she quickly mumbled to tell him 'who she was'.

She sighed, face a bit red. At least he did understand, and she didn't have to repeat herself.

He, however, did repeat his question. "Why were you, the princess, outside in the pouring rain, unconscious against a tree?" He stressed the word 'princess', as if he were scolding her or something.

She avoided his questioning gaze by looking down again. "I… was running away, I suppose." She glanced up to see his expression. It was still stone. "From?" He motioned for her to continue.

From what was she running from? Her father? No, that's not it. "I'm running from… my life I suppose. Responsibility and the like. But I feel terrible now, and I would like to go home."

At his raised eyebrows, she added a "please?" and he laughed. "Of course we can go back, I would have offered from the start if I knew that's what you wanted to do."

They walked down a slightly muddy path, the sun breaking through the horizon. It was beautiful, she thought. Elizabeth glanced over to the boy, who was looking at her. She blushed, and looked back at the sunrise.

I wonder how many of these he's seen… She couldn't usually get a good view of sunrises in the castle, as the thick stone walls usually covered it, and besides, her wing was on the west side of the castle anyway.

But he must have had amazing views every day. Maybe he could show her them one day.

Wait, where did that come from?

She closed her eyes and shook her head, earning a questioning glance from the boy. He was simply leading her back home, she probably wouldn't see him again. Stop thinking like that, Elizabeth.

He met her eyes (once she opened hers, of course), asking a silent question of 'are you okay?'. She gave him a half-smile, nodding.

He smiled, then suddenly looked confused. "Is that smoke?" He was looking into the distance now. She followed his gaze. Her eyes widen. "I think so…"

She broke into a sprint, him following after her with a surprised look. "Elizabeth, wait! It might be dangerous-"

She stopped running, and just stood there, shocked. He had cut himself off, maybe out of respect for her, or maybe since because at this point he was stating the obvious.

Her breathing became ragged, and her vision started, ever so slowly, to go reddish-black.

Her kingdom.

Her home.

It was all burning to the ground.

/-/-/-/-/

Hello. I seem to really love ending chapters with cliffhangers… but don't worry, I already have the next chapter in progress, so it'll be out soon enough.

You have probably noticed that I changed both the story's cover and description. The previous cover art was something I used as a placeholder while I drew the cover that you see now. And the description? I don't know, I guess I just thought that maybe I was being too specific or something, so I changed it.

This story is actually going to take a different route than the one I had planned, and the cover art I did kinda hints at that. I hope you'll still like it though. I don't want my story to be a cookie-cutter, I wanted something different, and hey, it's an alternate universe anyway, reality can be whatever I want. (Insert Thanos meme)

Enough talking on my part, see you in chapter 4! *Hops through a Doctor Strange portal*