Chapter 13: Surprises
She looks well, standing tall before me and giving me a stern eye as I assess her. Meliodas is still clothed in his darkness with no bag for our trip, but during our tense breakfast with Mael and Jelamet observing, he reassured me that he will manage. I had my own pack ready and I grip both its handles in my hands before me. "You're sure?" I ask again, eyeing around her room as she hadn't left her own space.
"Elizabeth Liones!" Jelamet starts her third scolding, shoulders back. "You and that man must go on with your lives. I will not have you stay in this castle a moment longer than you have to and especially not on my account." Half of her face shifts to a grin, the other always sagging but she stands strong with the help of her cane. I scrutinize her, really looking into her eyes as I don't believe her. She's putting on this show so I won't worry because she's stubborn. "Go, or I'll bitterly complain the entire time when you could be on an adventure."
Meliodas though, he steps beside me and draws my attention. My worrying eyes and frown meet his and I'm a bit surprised to see the expression on his face but he's been showing more of his feelings so the shock fades quickly enough. "If you want to stay, that's fine. I'll set up near here so we can-," I see his eyes shift toward Jelamet before he blanks, his face dropping as her cane soars through the air and slams into the back of his head.
"Jelamet!" I screech, stepping forward while dropping my bag to touch the side of his face to protect him, my other hand roams into his soft hair to feel the solid knot forming from the wack. Why did he let her hit him? I frown as she shoos us, raising her cane again and I position myself between them enough to get my point across. "None of this! Go! Let an old lady rest," she complains and I finally relent as Meliodas takes my waist to guide me toward the door.
He snags my bag up, guiding us out and we walk down the hall silently. I'm still shocked she hit him but when I peek over to Meliodas he has a soft, wry grin on his face. "She'll be okay, right?" I ask and his handsome face softens around the edges as he nods. "That woman is too stubborn not to be," he quips and immediately I feel better, more at ease with his reassurance. I think he can tell as he takes my hand then and holds it until we meet my clan's mage, Vivian, in the great hall as scheduled.
She's in a red dress, the standard mage cloak is gone and her knobby, twisted staff is in her grip but at the end is a claw-like ominous hand. Her eyes roam over us and I suddenly know what Jelamet must have felt like with me looking her over so intently as Vivian does the same to us. I flush a bit as I feel dissected visually before she asks, tightly, "Where to?"
His arm is firm around my waist when we stop before her, the hall is empty and her words echo softly around us. I take a breath, unsure why I need it when I'm in my own home and at Melidoas' side. My thoughts scatter though as Meliodas grins, his hand squeezing just enough to give me a signal to something but I don't know why as I look to his profile as he speaks.
"I want to show her the scenery so drop us at the border between Megadozer and the Fairy Forest. There is this mile marker between the two, a statue of the old Kings- Gloxinia and Drole, right there please." He gives me a flash of a side smirk that I would have missed if I hadn't already been looking at him. My cheeks grow hot just from the gaze but he's looking back to Vivian once more. When nothing happens for a moment, I refocus as well and I'm surprised to see our mage is seemingly staring over our heads. I assume in concentration but her mouth is set so hard I can't peg it until she jolts. Her eyes fall to the hand on my waist before she bows and I feel us fading before I watch the darkness come.
I'm not afraid as my dream comes to mind and I try to let go of my worries about Jelamet as a new piece of the world becomes solid around us. It's almost as if we stayed still and the earth spun over and under itself to reach us in time. I smile softly as I see the large, overgrowth before us. The green foliage and soft dirt greet me, the smells are fresh, and the warmth embraces me as a soft breeze flutters around us.
Meliodas releases me, spinning on his heels to face the other way and I have a hard time pulling my gaze from the canopies, the sounds of insects and wildlife so inviting. Still, my eyes follow him after a moment. Behind me is an expanse of dirt, the ground packed down with a few struggling weeds breaking up the grey and brown rocky landscape. With nothing really to look at besides rocks my attention shifts to the statue to the left of Meliodas, and where he is looking.
A giant with four arms and an eye patch had his huge lips in a kissy face with a long-haired fairy with butterfly wings' cheek pressed to them. The thing stretches into the sky and if the massive trees weren't beside it I know it would look much bigger. The fairy forest makes proportions feel off. I marvel at the detail I can see through the grime and vines, taking in the divots of the Fairy's wings and the calf muscles chiseled to perfection. Of course, it would be stunning if it was taken care of with any regard. It's obvious this has been left to rot between the two clans.
"It was a gift," Meliodas starts. "They were the first interspecies couple in our history. I'm sure there were others before but these two are household names." I smile, wondering how the two would even fit together and when I think of Meliodas' claw footprints, I flush over the same thought for us. I look to him and I'm embarrassed but not surprised that he's already looking to me. "I have a bit of a surprise," he hushes, stepping back and appearing casual, even with the darkness clinging around him.
Meliodas looks to the rocks in the distance, nudging with his nose for me to look. "That's Megadozer, the huge formation that looks a bit like a hammer. His weddings are always something to see, lots of alcohol and lots of hooking up." Startled I snap to see him and his cheeks are pink as he shrugs in a, 'it's what they do' kind of way. He turns to the wilds and does the same motion to indicate with a nudge, "That way is the Fairy forest. They are more wary of outsiders but King Harlequin and I are friends." He smirks as I look from one side to the other a bit confused. I end with meeting his green twinkling eyes but otherwise blank face. "Which would you like to visit?" he asks softly and I stare as slowly his face melts into a gentle smile.
I point, grinning, wondering if this will cause any trouble for us but he doesn't seem to care. He tosses my bag over his shoulder and offers his hand as he turns toward the forest. My laugh echoes in the trees as I take his hand, his canines shining as he returns my expression. He's been here before as he points and explains things as we go. "We'll stay inside the Great Tree, it's the heart of this whole place." He sounds philosophical as he goes on about how everything is connected, even the races.
Seamlessly, after climbing roots like cliffs and jumping across massive mushroom tops together, the growth starts to buzz with activity. Fairies fluttering about. They all look young, are small and seem to only use flower petals and leaves for most of their clothing. I stare in awe as I realize trees are hollowed out with books, strange items, and sweets for sale inside of them. This is a city that blends in so well with its surroundings I hadn't noticed at first.
Fairies steer clear of us, taking to the skies when they see us. I'm too excited until I eye an apple tart in the hollow of a tree but the fairy promptly slides the bark across the entranceway and the inner glow vanishes. A clear, 'the shop is closed to you', gesture. Meliodas is blank-faced most of our walk through town but I whisper excitedly as we go about what I observe around us. Trade is going on. No coins, just goods from one hand to another. Pouches of berries are hanging heavily from a tree branch and I watch as smaller fairy snags one with a laugh before darting off, another following with a string of curses left behind. Softly, I giggle, leaning into Meliodas but he doesn't acknowledge the event, simply meets my eyes with ease.
Even with the forewarning about the Fairies not welcoming new people, I feel differently once I'm here. I feel out of place. Like a metal spoon mixed in with fine china. The urge to fly through the leaves and over the branches with the others above is near overwhelming but I know with barely being tolerated on the ground I don't dare join them in the air.
My doubts creep up, words of my older sister Veronica surfaces, that I am naive about how the world works. It circles and lands with a solid, 'she's right'. The vampire ball shows me how high society is and this here shows me the fairies want to be left alone, don't wish to mingle with other races. So far, I felt more connected with humans at Vaizel. Thinking of the fighting competition reminds me.
"Will Elaine be here?" I tear my gaze from a child fairy being flown away from us to meet Meliodas' emerald eyes. He's blank, his stare is hard and we come to a stop in a patch of moss.
"It's not what you expected," he states calmly, his lips closing in a straight line to rest. I look to them, flushing before dropping my gaze to his dark feet. His darkness licks at the ground but doesn't burn away the moss. His forearm flicks with it and I move my hand from his grasp to trail up to the power. It parts from his flesh as if giving me free rein to feel him. I don't answer, he technically hadn't asked and after a pause, he exhales. "Elaine and Ban are in Camelot. They offered us their place though, in the Fairy tree. You'll like that."
Meliodas voice sharpens slightly at the end and I snap my eyes up but he's turning away, the set of his jaw all I catch before he's guiding me gently by the forearm, protectively. Our conversation takes less than a moment and when I look around once more we are alone. The buzzing of wings is fading in every direction. The fairies have vacated their mini city because of us. I flush even hotter, swallowing thickly, wondering if I should have chosen Megadozer. My eyes brim but I suck it down and as he helps me maneuver the steep slope of the next tree root. I make sure my hair shields my eyes. He's so perceptive and I don't want him to think I dislike it here but I wonder if he's upset about the fairy's lack of welcome as well.
After a moment I decide it doesn't matter because exploring the forest with Meliodas will be amazing. I refocus, my chest easing as the calmness around me starts to seep in. Fairies dislike visitors but obviously a few have to be the exception. Elaine is with a human man. I pause, biting my lip before we touch down in the next open expanse of dirt between the massive trees we were walking through. "How, uh... Did you meet Ban?"
"We met in a competition, underground," he answers, his voice still flat. "Man can take a beating, as you saw," Meliodas smirks back at me. "He put me in my place. I was a bit rougher in my younger years, too cocky and Ban put things in perspective. Elaine and Ban have been wonderful friends." I nod, looking at the massive bird's nest, stepping a bit closer to Meliodas as I do not want to meet the animal that lives in it.
"Does he know who you are?" I question at a whisper, unsure if we are pretending on this trip.
"Yeah," he answers softer. "We have never spoken about it though. It's never mattered to him." A flippant chuckle leaves him. "I think it helps that his lady is royalty here. She's the princess of the forest and the Maiden of the Fountain of Youth." This eases my worries. The fairies will branch out more if their own princess is.
Our jaunt is peaceful after that. Meliodas' shoulders ease and his darkness stops flaking. He starts pointing again and giving little tidbits about types of greenery and where things are located. A massive beast of a Bovidae passes, grazing with his snout for foliage, his horns stretch into the sky. Meliodas pays it no mind but when I halt, he does, watching it with me until it goes on its way. Its hooves tap softly on the dirt, his white and brown fur shining in the speckling of sunlight that breach through the canopy.
"Everything is beautiful here," I whisper and I hear him hush his agreeance before we move on. It seems like only moments pass when we reach a wall of hard vines inner linked so tightly I can't see through them. "We have to fly," Meliodas directs and I bloom my wings a fraction of a second before him. They are much easier to invoke lately and together we lift off, his darkness expanding. Our fingers are intertwined and halfway up, I brush my wing to his just to see what will happen with our magic. I think for a moment the two will blink out, cancel one another but instead my wing feels like water slipping through warm mesh. Tingles spread down my spine and I shiver, abashed at having not thought it through.
"You're like cool spring water on a hot day, Elizabeth," he tells me and my stunned gaze meets his soft one. For a moment, I feel like I'm finally seeing the sun and something gentle bubbles inside me. My throat tightens and my lips part as I try to swallow the feeling back down. He's open and I watch as he mirrors me, his own eyes widening and his Adam's apple bobs but at that moment our ascent reaches the top of the vines at canopy level and the great tree comes into view.
Branches stretch into the clouds, the crown of the leaves fades into the mist and the sight is breathtaking. The tree stretches over the others below and with the size of this one those massive trees below seem small now. The teeny ones I'm used to are infants in comparison. I marvel, dropping Meliodas' hand to fly forward, wanting to reach the branches closest to us. The shade is warm, the scents become sweeter and the air fresher. "This is... paradise." I whisper and a few feet behind me I hear Meliodas give a, 'uh-huh' from his throat in agreeance.
"We'll be staying here?" I ask, finding the news harder to process even though I've known it for a while. "On top of this tree?" The giant leaves rustle softly as the nearest sturdy looking branch comes into landing range twisting toward me. I angle for it, tapping my toes down softly to test if it will hold before I drop my wings when I know the wood will hold. It gives under my weight with a little bounce and I giggle as I tiptoe up the branch.
I weave around the sister branches coming out of the one I've chosen to follow until I stop to find Meliodas. He's not fair. "What's that?" I ask, pointing over his shoulder and as soon as he turns, I step off the branch and fall through the leaves below with a laugh. I bloom my wings after, seemingly a thousand fast heartbeats, before flapping furiously to change directions as I hear Meliodas' heavy chuckle in his pursuit.
Flying through the great Fairy tree is amazing, but doing it with Meliodas playfully is about as good as I imagine it can get. I dip, slipping around tufts of greenery while he gives chase. He toys with me, trailing his fingers up my back in my last attempt at escape and I gasp, cutting off my laugh. Which sparks his own hearty one. "I'll always come for you," he promises as I loop around a branch and soar up, seeing how far and fast I can go in an attempt to breach the canopy here. The air thins, growing cooler and mistier. He follows but our game is over as soon as I hit clouds. I see something familiar, a flap of dark wings in the distance but it's gone through the haze by the time Meliodas joins me.
"Are dragons around here?" I ask, thinking Griamore would be a far way from home if that was truly him. Meliodas mock tackles me, clouds dispersing as his arms embrace me and I waste no time wrapping him up as he acts alarmed. "Yes, better stay close or something other than me will gobble you up." He smirks as I flush, processing his words and wondering if he means kissing. I can't help but look at his lips, which twist up a fraction higher with my gaze on them before he spins us in the air, he removes one arm to point. I follow the direction, expecting to see another dragon but instead, the clouds have parted and the vast forest stretches endlessly outward. A sea of green.
All this fresh air and I forget to breathe.
We stay until the clouds close up once more and in the mist, he takes my hand to guide us down. The moisture evaporates as we continue. I think he's lost as we circle the great tree until we head to an alcove near the top under the canopy. A wall of dangling vines is before us and he parts it while stepping down on cush moss. "Come on." He grins, ushering me in with his other arm.
I duck inside, peering around. We enter the tree, the air is cool and fresh. The walls are dark wood. The floor is soft moss and it's pleasantly humid. Edible plant life lines the floor in different sized vases on either side of the entrance. In a few steps the room opens up and I gasp, my eyes wide as I look around at the single oval room. A bed is in the center, a desk cut into the wood against the far wall and rows of shelves are mirrored on opposite sides etched into the walls with bottles and bottles of alcohol.
"What do you think?" Meliodas' eyes are on me when I turn to his querying voice. For a flash, he looks a bit anxious but it goes so fast I'm unsure if it was ever there at all. He grins, goes to a side shelf after tossing my bag to the bed and hops up to snag a bottle from the top. When he touches back down he spins in place, uncorking it with a swift tug and he jerks his head toward the desk. I step closer but stop when he reaches up into the cabinet over the tabletop for glasses.
"There is a bathroom through that doorway." He points to his left with the opening of the neck bottle and I tilt to see, timidly staying back. There is nothing there, just a wall of chiseled out wood and Meliodas pours a drink, before stepping to the side and pushing against said wall. It unhinges and pops forward. "That's the only secret I know about." He winks at me and I'm unsure if he means that isn't the only secret or if he's trying to put me at ease. Meliodas pours the second drink and steps back to me, offering the other glass as he takes a drink of his.
I sip it, trying to stifle the instant wince it induces but Meliodas' chuckle rings through the air. I grow warm but I think it's from the drink as it soothes the longer I focus on the feeling slipping down to coat my belly. I take another sip with a small smile, my nerves easing. Being alone with him, truly, as Mael isn't outside nor Jelamet sitting in the corner, is different for us. It's only happened a few times. My cup is empty soon enough.
"Are you hungry?" he questions softly, but I shake my head no as I slowly meander to the desk to set my cup down. "Meliodas?" I whisper, finding it hard to meet his eyes. "Can I ask you something? A favor?" I fear I've spoken too softly as I don't even register the sounds. Yet, he follows, putting his cup beside mine by leaning and reaching past my side. He smells good. "Of course," he breathes and his exhale tickles before he leans back, rocking on his heels.
"Can I see what you look like?" I bite my lip as soon as the words escape between us. His green eyes flash stark, his mouth slackens before he blanks to stare silently. I try to smile, fail, and end up folding my hands together over my belly full of fluttering nerves. I should have built up to asking, or inquired into why he is holding himself back to get to the root of the problem. A slew of possibilities come to mind, that he's self-conscious or he wishes he were like this, like his alter ego, The Captain. "Why?" He asks, his voice empty but his volume is solid.
My eyes flick to his and when they meet I can't look away, caught in their swirling emerald depths. This matters, he is truly listening and I take a deep silent inhale as I gather my thoughts as the weight of this presses down on me. "I want to know you," I plead and his head tilts just enough to the side for me to notice. "I do, I... I feel like I do, but I don't want there to be any secrets. For either of us to hide anything, even the little stuff." My smile comes easy, thinking I've said this well but his eyes tighten and his lips don't mirror mine.
I'm surprised he hasn't softened and my own elation falls away with my smile the longer he's blank before me. I expect an answer and the silence stretches. I fear I must have pushed a button unintentionally. "I'm sorry," I whisper, not sure for what exactly before I step forward, my fingers unlacing to reach for him as my touch usually gets a response. I need one as my anxieties are creeping up on me. When my fingers brush his shoulder he breaks eye contact to look at my hand as if he hadn't expected the caress.
"Okay," he answers, not looking me in the eye and rather than come into me for an embrace he steps back. "I don't want you to fear me," he confesses, his voice thick but I don't have time to respond as the darkness he is wearing flicks and solidifies before receding. Taking a leaf out of his book, I blank my face as best I can, anticipating the worst and hoping that he's at least not a monster.
He can't be, not with how kind and selfless he is with me. He just can't.
Yet, as he grows my tummy tightens, my throat constricts and I feel as if I am being squeezed on the inside. His darkness marks over his skin like ink, he stops growing when he is roughly a foot taller than me and I stare up at him as slowly horns twist into existence on either side of his head. I can't look at the black protrusions any longer and as neutrally as possible my eyes lower to take in his face. His skin is clear here, his face an aged version of the one I've grown to adore.
A small smile twists on my lips as I recognize him, finding him appealing. My eyes roam down over his wider frame and added buffness. The darkness, inked into his skin, moves. He's fit, with no extra limbs or flaws at all. His boxers are the only clothes he's in and I grow warm in a few places while taking in his rippling abs down to his strong legs with no hint of claws for feet. I frown slightly but his eeking darkness licking under his skin swirls reminding me that it can be solid. It's possible that power made the marks on my floor. "This is the real you?" I ask, and he snorts.
"Not at all. I've been the real me, this is simply another version of my demon self." He sounds a little different and I notice as he speaks that his canines, normally a bit larger, are even more so now. The flesh of his mouth protruding to accommodate. His hands are behind his back and I step to the side, moving toward him to lean obviously trying to get a peek. "Let me see," I whisper and he exhales slowly before he sags into his adjustment of holding out his hands, palms up to me.
They look like normal hands too, except the nails are black as night and thick pointed claws. Honestly, seeing him like this, I'm relieved. The tensing in my tummy dies a quick death and I straighten, feeling lighter and fuller in the same quick heartbeat. I lick my lips, tears sting at the back of my eyes but I swallow it down, wondering what the sudden rush of feeling means exactly. "There, no secrets from here on out." I declare, grinning before closing the little gap between us to take his hands in mine.
It's a shock as up to now our palms fit together at roughly the same size. Now, mine are small in his, his long fingers curling around to cover me and his slightly darker skin contrasts mine. He's tense, I can see it in his shoulders and I fear he is still wary of my reaction. To combat it, I tiptoe, my lips reaching for his and a soft giggle escapes me when I have to pull on Meliodas' arms for him to bend to meet me. His horns are right there and I close my eyes to remind myself that he tastes the same, feels the same and these small changes mean extremely little.
Only he does feel different. He's resistant, his mouth hard against my own and I flush, blinking too quickly as I release him while dropping to the flats of my feet. Rather than buckle to the looming thoughts of what I've done wrong, I focus on what he must be feeling and my theories center around my main hypothesis of his fear of rejection. Not that I can really do that, seeing how we are arranged to be wed after all.
With my hands free, I slip them under his arms at elbow level to wrap around his waist and I lean into him. Embracing him. He smells the same and I focus on that as I try to relearn his body with ours touching. "Elizabeth," he groans, his hands grip at my shoulders as if he is going to push me back but they caress down my back and he almost bows as if to cover me in the hug he sags into. I feel his nose in my hair and hear his heavy inhale as I whisper his name in response, my lips grazing against his collar bone.
His chest rumbles against me, like a growl but softer and I still, assessing just how warm he is against me. He feels nice, smells even better and my body reacts naturally. As if he is kissing me, my core swirls and anticipation trills up my spine. This already feels naughty as I'm not supposed to be alone with him like this and him revealing this side of himself feels like it is more intimate. His hands grab my rear and I yelp, fingers gripping at his back in surprise as he's never been so forward!
In one move he lifts me and my clinging only increases. His palms smooth over my backside, his chest rumbling against me as he adjusts to slip my thighs over his hips. I feel him against me as he steps and although the flapping and twisting of my tummy nears overwhelming, I trust him. I hear his shin hit the bed and I turn to look just as he releases me. I tumbled down, giggling as I bounce slightly on the cush mattress.
"Let me kiss you," he growls, his face looming above is tense, as if he is conflicted or fighting something within. My brows furrow as he bends forward, his knees coming up to rest by my ankle on the bed and as he is so much bigger in this form, I feel differently. I'm more intimidated. Instinctually my palms brace against his chest to hold him up and away from my body as I process this sudden change in activity.
Even with my arms between us, he dips, his head nuzzling just under my jaw and he groans hotly against my neck as he licks at my flesh there. I shiver, feeling warm slickness as he shudders above me. More of his weight presses into me and I find my palms gliding along his chest to open for him, my fingers slipping across the dips of his ribs. His tongue follows my collar bone and once more my lower tummy swirls. My body readies and he sniffs, his nose leaving my skin to scent the air before grinning down at me predatorily. His canines protruding has my eyes widen and heart racing. I wonder if perhaps Meliodas is buried in there with his demon at the fore.
"Meliodas?" I warble, shaking as I retract from him to grip my own hands together in front of my chest in apprehension. His rumbling sounds more like growling. With my fear spiking, his endless black orbs reflect my scared face like onyx mirrors that do not show an ounce of comprehension. "Come back," I whisper. He dips forward to take my mouth and this kiss is unlike all the others, hard where he's always been soft.
I meant for this new demon side of him to recede not for him to kiss again. His mouth is ungiving and I shiver, my breathing harsh as my chest clenches tighter. "Please..." He pauses, his body over mine stills and I am torn between wanting him to press on, to show me what else there is to explore in a relationship, and him giving me some time to think. I can't focus, as he is so close and my body is rushing through so many sensations.
"Elizabeth!" I hear faintly in the distance. My brows furrow and Meliodas' rumbling chest truly turns into a growl as he retreats his face from mine to look toward the doorway. The difference between his noises are vast but I don't have time to think it over as my name is called once more and Meliodas leaves me go toward the entrance. By the third yell, followed quickly by a roar of pain, I recognize the voice in the distance as he looks back to me with dark eyes, "I won't let them touch you."
He sprouts wings, dark and more like flickering shadow flames then the sloping ones I've seen before. His legs go wide and he bounds for the door as his words register. Them? I know what he's thinking and I stand, his form disappearing down the bent hall as I call out to him. "That's Veronica," I rush to the wall and look down the hall, the vases are still shaking from his movements, but he's not there. "Meliodas!"
I rush to the greenery covered entrance, blooming my wings to follow and stop him. As soon as I exit, a heavy rumble sounds below, a massive howl is heard before a clash of magic shoots one way and then ricochets back the way it came. Sparks and earth erupt, and even this high above I have to maneuver fast to avoid getting hit with the backlash. Leaves and branches from the canopy below explode up with it. This isn't my sister's doing, but as the magic fades, the noises ring clearer as a scream cuts through it all, setting my heart to race.
Veronica is down there, in the middle of that mess. I hesitate only a moment, as I am not a fighter, not by a long shot. Still, I want to try to help. Veronica is in the crosshairs. My goal is to get her out of the way so Meliodas can work to catch the attackers and I dive, avoiding sudden projectiles and the limbs of trees between myself and the ground.
It's deafening, the chaos of too much happening over top one another. Things are going so fast I barely spot Meliodas' golden hair crouching below until he's slammed in the side by a massive blur. I wince, having no time to make another decision when a shout comes from the left. The ground is torn up here, piles of earth with deep slices in it below and the forest around it is shaking from the fast fighting. Shadows cast the whole area in darkness and I struggle to spot anything as the three on one fight keeps drawing my attention.
"She's there!" A man shouts and a guttural, animal roar follows with a wet smack. I flinch, dropping a few feet in the air as a head rolls down a dirt pile. Tears fill my eyes as somehow I'm just glad it's not Meliodas or Veronica blankly staring up at me, but the nameless man's dull brown eyes set in the pale, sagging face will not ever be forgotten. I ignore the fighting, the surges of dark energy clashing against flashes of bright blue and green power. The howls and pounds take a back seat as I call out for Veronica.
The trees bend to my right and I fly that way as the massive beast Griamore swoops in, my sister armored on his back. In the shadows, I can't make her out, but I know it's her. I move in their direction when a bolt shoots out past my hip and I flinch looking back, missing what happens before me as I briefly look for Meliodas. Griamore roars, the wyvern's trembling howl shaking the trees around us.
I'm scattered, overwhelmed and I flinch back to look but just as I catch sight of my sister and her dragon a body slams into me. It's hard, ungiving and I go down, my wings dissolving in sparkling dust as arms loop around me. We spin just as a second bolt of energy wizzes past where I just stood, the wind of it picking up my hair as it soars toward Griamore. I'm cocooned as we crash to the earth, the dragon's roar sounding pained and distraught in the same moment but the body beneath me cushions me from the landing. He smells familiar, his body is bigger than I am used to so it takes my brain a moment to connect the dots but I know who saved me when darkness erupts around us.
Trees upend, screams echo distantly and I shake as I withdraw enough to look at him. He's tense, horned, bloody, and leaking his demonic void onto everyone around us. The cold overwhelms, my fear spiking and a vortex begins. Things outside of us start to spin in orbit, the sounds drowning in the wooshing winds and I feel it, the pull of the ominous darkness. Gooseflesh spreads up my arms and chills shiver down my back as I know where I am. The live version of the nebula in my nightmares.
"Run!" I whisper to myself, pushing off Meliodas' chest and finding resistance, his arms trapping me in. My skin becomes clammy, my breath shallows and I struggle, tugging and fighting against his restraining grip. I can't accept this! I shake, tears springing and falling in a shuddering breath and I call out, a strangled sob as I search the swirling darkness. "Elizabeth!" His voice is guttural and deep, a gravelly echo of what he sounds like as the man I knew before he changed and I still, eyes wide with tears continuously falling as I slowly rotate to look at him.
On his forehead, cracking down his face is the Star of the Night.
I freeze, trapped and horrified. His face tenses, the blood on the side only partially distracting from the sheer emotion he shows as he matches my dread. Purple hissing bolts shoot off around us and I know, I know to the depth of my core that Meliodas himself is my nightmare- the reason for my panicked terror over countless nights. A scream resonates around us, erupting with such a high decibel the void's wooshing is drowned out, my throat burns and I scramble from Meliodas using all my might.
The terrified screech continues, but the sparking dark power slows, the swirling stops until it's suspended around us as if time itself has ceased. I thrash against Meliodas, his voice just under the crying and I can't make it out. Then he lets go and I fall back, mixed up and tumbling ass over elbow. The dark purple sparks disintegrate around me as if responding to my presence and receding by my will. "Please," he pleads as the scream cuts off, dying in my throat as I land sprawled on my rear after my tumble.
Slowly, he rises, his being larger, his horns jutting into the darkness sucking into him from behind. The gore splattered across his side glints from the purple sparks of lightning flicking around him and his body has changed. His legs are black, marbled deep purple with flaking power leaking off it, but at his feet are dark three-pronged claws just like the stains left on my carpet. "You lie," I breathe, shaking and choking, inching back with my heels digging into the soil.
"Please," he reaches for me and I flinch, pushing farther away as all the manipulation flashes before my eyes. I thought he'd been different but he's not. "I've seen this before," I say, shaking and slapping at his hand. "Don't touch me! You're the worst of them!" His brows lower, his lips part as if I've hit him and his teeth grind as his hand fists before retreating from me. The last bits of darkness around us disappears inside of him and he arches back as if hurrying to accept it all. It's too late though, I've seen who he is and he's been hiding it since the start. "Why did you trick me?" I hiss, scooting back all the more and he winces, his teeth grinding as his hands find his hair to tug at as if to remove it from his skull, his horns glinting in the moonlight.
It's then that my hand, reaching back as I'm crab crawling away, hits something that's wet and giving. I turn, mortified at what's at my side. My sister's body, twisted in an uncomfortable way from her obvious harsh landing with her leg jutting in the wrong direction, and my hand hit the open gash on her calf with no response from her. "Veronica?" I whisper, as Meliodas groans, low and dreadfully pained. "Sissy?" I shift to all fours on shaking limbs, leaning over her as I fumble for her pulse point at her throat forgetting everything else now that the situation has grown dire.
Power rises in me, a soft glow emanates from my skin and in the light, my sister's bruised and bloody face comes into focus. A sob escapes me, my searching fingers soften to a caress as below me the grass starts to grow and flowers sprout, a breeze picking up around me. Meliodas moves opposite her, crouching, "Let me help you get her home," he croaks softly, but I snap forward, slapping him away as I gather her to my chest and plop back away from him.
"You did this!" I wail, rocking my sister as I burst into light, Meliodas' hair flapping in the wind I create. "I've been trapped all my life because of you, I've never had a choice- not once- and now Veronica?" My voice morphs from strangling anger to trembling sorrow. I keep her close as I stare him down, holding her tight as I fear she's lost and something too deep is bubbling up inside me. I'm gasping, tipping forward and back as I shield my sister's body from the demon who has taken everything from me, has controlled my life since I was a child. "Go away," I choke to Meliodas, eyes tight and I hate that tears still fall, that my fear of him is much higher than my anger.
"Elizabeth..." he quavers, standing and stepping back in a stumble as if recovering from a heavy blow to the head. "I've... broken us," he starts before he howls, a wasted moan to the sky as his wings appear once more and in my light I see he's healed too, that he benefited from what I was emitting. "I won't hurt you anymore." In a rush of wind, he flaps into the air, then like a shot, he bolts through the canopy above and disappears into the forest.
He's left me here and although I expect to be glad of it, my fear spikes as I look around. The forest ground is healed, the uprooted trees having been taken over with green growth and I see one, two and then the third body of the attackers Meliodas has taken care of. When I assess that I'm alone, I look down at my elder sister. "I'm so sorry," I whisper to her dirty face, knowing if I hadn't called for her she would have never gotten so close to the battle. I lured her to her death and I can't live with that guilt, it's too heavy. I feel it pressing down on me now and my audible, gasping breaths, shake us both.
I'm alone.
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