A-Z of Melizabeth by Fullmetal Pyromaniac
C is for...
Children
Elizabeth hadn't come out of her room in days.
They had been in a town, a small one, Elizabeth and Diane had gone into town looking for groceries. Diane had returned a while later alone, apparently Elizabeth had stopped by an orphanage and was looking after the children.
According to Diane they all idolised the Lyones family and were ecstatic when Elizabeth visited. Elizabeth was more than happy to stay, Meliodas smiled at that, she'd always had a soft spot for children. He did too.
Meliodas decided that he'd visit the children too, and see how Elizabeth was. The orphanage was located in the middle of town, it was a large wooden building, painted white with paintings all around it embellished in the children's names.
Meliodas knocked on the old wooden door and walked inside, it was big, a plump woman sat at a wooden desk. Children's photographs surrounded her desk. Meliodas walked up to her and grinned. The woman looked up and beamed at him.
"Och, hello dearie" she said, her voice thick with a unique accent only found in the far north, "How may I help you?"
"I'm Meliodas, I'm here to see the children, I'm friends with Princess Elizabeth"
The woman clapped her hands together and sighed.
"Oh, how the children love the Lyones family. Miss Elizabeth has done a great thing visiting them. They're in that room right there" she cooed, pointing to a set of double doors. Meliodas thanked her and walked inside.
The interior was pretty, the floor was carpeted and the walls covered in book cases filled with every type of book you could imagine.
Elizabeth sat surrounded by at least thirty children of all different ages, she was retelling the story of Hendrikson and how they had saved the Kingdom of Lyones.
"I put the shruriken to my neck and told Hendrikson that if I was dead he couldn't open the coffin. Then another knight came along, it was Dryfus"
The children gasped and Meliodas stood right at the back, he tiptoed forward and sat at the back. Surprisingly, he fit in well with the crowd.
"Dryfus told me to stand back while he dealt with Hendrikson. I was so scared but in a way I wasn't because I knew Sir Meliodas would come and save me"
Meliodas chest swelled at this.
"Did he?" Asked a small girl eagerly, eyes wide. Elizabeth nodded.
"Of course he did, but not before Dryfus and Hendrikson fought. The two used to be great friends. It was such a shame, then Dryfus used a spell but Hendrikson defected it. All I remember is a blinding light and a terrible pain in my side."
Meliodas winced as the children gasped.
"You were hit?" One boy exclaimed, Elizabeth nodded solemnly.
"Yes, Dryfus came to me and tried to stop the bleeding but he couldn't do much. He fought with Hendrikson some more but I'm sure he died. My memories are a little patchy there" Elizabeth's eyebrows scrunched together.
"I remember being saved by Sir Meliodas, then he said something to me. I was placed on Sir Hawks back and then saved by Diane. If you want a better account of the story, you'll need to ask Sir Meliodas"
One child raised their hand, "Can you bring him tomorrow?"
As Elizabeth was about to answer, Meliodas stood.
"No need" he said calmly, "I'm right here"
Elizabeth squeaked while the children gaped at him before hugging him. His eyes widened but he patted each on the head affectionately.
"Sir Meliodas? What are you doing here?"
"Diane said you were with the kids, so I thought I'd contribute to your story time" he said, then he turned to the mass of children who were surrounding his legs.
"Who wants to hear what happened next?"
He was answered by the children's gleeful shouting.
The story went on for hours until night came and the receptionist came to take all the children to bed. As each one went upstairs, he or she gave Elizabeth and Meliodas a hug. The last child beckoned for Elizabeth to crouch down.
"Will you visit tomorrow?" He whispered, Elizabeth nodded.
"Yes, I promise"
and he climbed the stairs to his bed.
*~*~C is for...~*~*
The sins were awoken I the middle of the night by a banging at the door of the Boar Hat. Meliodas and Elizabeth went down to investigate, they were followed closely by the rest of the sins.
A man Elizabeth recognised as the farmer she had bought apples from earlier was at the door, eyes wide with shock and terror. He was shaking.
"S-S-sir! P-Princess" he gasped out, "T-the orphanage!" He choked out.
Elizabeths fists tightened, "what happened?" She demanded. The man coughed and pointed towards town. Elizabeth gasped when she noticed an orange glow and a large pillar of black smoke rising to the sky.
"M-Ms Scott l-left the fire i-in her o-office on" he said, Elizabeth didn't waste any time. Ignoring the sins cries, she sprinted towards town.
People had surrounded the building, crying and shouting. Elizabeth heard Meliodas and the others calling for her but ran forward straight into the inferno.
Meliodas' world stopped. Elizabeth had run straight into the fire. Rage bubbled inside him but Merlins cool hand on his shoulder pushed it down.
"Elizabeth will be fine, I'm sure of it. It's not safe for anyone else to go in" she said nonchalantly but Meliodas noticed the anxiety on her pointed features.
It seems like centuries later when Elizabeth emerged from the building, she carried a single child that lay limp in her arms like a doll. Elizabeth was seemingly unharmed. The ends of her silver hair were slightly singed and she was covered in soot and whatever else.
Her blue eyes were gazing at the child in her arms, she walked over to Merlin.
"Save her" she whispered, "my magic can't. I'm not strong enough, please Lady Merlin, save her"
Merlins eyes filled with pity and she placed two manicured fingers on the child's wrist.
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth" she said after a pause. "She's gone, that's why you couldn't do anything"
Elizabeth crumpled to the floor and held the girl to her chest. Sobbing "I'm sorry" until she had worn herself out.
*~*~C is for...~*~*
Meliodas stood at the door to their bedroom, Elizabeth locked herself in during the day. Then at night she opened it but lay in their bed facing the window. Silent.
She hardly ate during the day and rarely spoke to anyone. Meliodas understood her actions perfectly, he had been in the same position many times he only wished he could help loosen Elizabeths pain.
Diane and King bid their good nights and headed to bed leaving Meliodas standing outside his room. The door clicked open and Elizabeths footsteps told him she had gone back to her bed. Sighing, he opened the door and got changed into his nightshirt.
He didn't bother with the ropes, Hawk had trusted him not to touch Elizabeth whilst she was vulnerable. He wouldn't even think of doing that. Closing his eyes, Meliodas fell into an uneasy sleep. He was awoken hours later by soft whimpers coming from Elizabeth.
Her face was twisted into pain, tears streaked down her face and she was shaking. Meliodas took her shoulders and gently shook her, saying her name gently, trying to rouse her from her nightmare.
Elizabeths eyes snapped open and she clutched Meliodas, pulling him down to her and sobbing into his chest. Meliodas rolled onto his back and held Elizabeth. Stroking her hair and kissing her temple.
After a while Elizabeths cries turned to soft sniffles and she turned her head so her ear was pressed to Meliodas' chest and his steady heartbeat calmed her.
"Sir Meliodas?" She whispered, Meliodas hummed. "Does the guilt follow you forever?"
Meliodas stiffened. She felt guilty, she couldn't save them. Not even that one little girl.
"Yes" he replied softly, "but over time it lessens. Over time you learn to deal with it and you learn whatever happened wasn't your fault and that you shouldn't dwell on it"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Eventually it fades to the background but it won't unless you let go and begs to live normally. Think about the sins, we've all had our fair share of grief but look at us. We've learned to cope with it. It took sometime but we've done it. It might take you a while too, but you'll get there, I promise"
Elizabeth nodded and hugged him tighter.
"Thank you"
*~*~C is for...~*~*
"Elizabeth!" Shouted Diane, she ran over to the princess and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay, I thought you'd be in that room forever"
Elizabeth laughed and returned the hug.
"I'm not okay yet, Diane" Diane frowned and Elizabeth turned to Meliodas and smiled.
"But I will be, right?"
Meliodas nodded, "of course"
And Elizabeth was. Eventually the guilt of not saving the children that night grew into a distant nightmare and Elizabeth, with Meliodas' help, learned that it wasn't her fault.
They were okay. Yeah, they were just fine.
The End.
A.N. Hey guys! After tons of drafts I've finally finished something I'm vaguely happy with. I'm not good at writing angst, the ending seemed too rushed for me so when I've finished the story I'll re do this prompt, this is my first proper try at it so tell me what you thought!
Thank you for all the support I've gotten! :3 it means so much.
when I upload this, I'll have deleted my other A.N. So I'll put it here:
I won't be uploading for at least three weeks, in that time, send me prompts so I can easily get back to writing these when I get back to Wifi! I might have some in two weeks but no promises! I'll focus on writing my other story while I'm away, it's like 27/26 chapters? So it might take a while to come out.
Okay, I'll see you at some point!
-Ruby xxxx