Crash Landing
Meliodas' body tensed as it moved through space. Teleportation only took a few seconds to work, but without knowing if Elizabeth was safe, it was still too long.
When he materialized, he immediately looked around. He was on a street in Liones, the wall of the castle straight ahead. There was no sign of the princess.
Damn it, Merlin, he thought, clenching his fists, when a shout caught his attention. He looked up and saw a figure standing on a tower, hundreds of feet over his head. Meliodas narrowed his eyes, focusing his vision—and then his eyes widened when he realized it was Elizabeth.
He backed up a bit, trying to assess what was happening, when the figure fell. "Elizabeth!" he shouted. All at once he was moving, using every ounce of his strength to jump. Meliodas caught her halfway, and as he gripped her tightly, he turned his body to protect her as they hit the castle wall. Elizabeth cried out and gripped his shirt, her fingers digging into him, as the stone broke apart and rained down around them. Meliodas planted his feet into the wall for a moment and jumped, landing on the ground moments later.
Meliodas quickly dropped to his knees and cradled the princess against him, looking her over for injuries. "Elizabeth," he said. "Elizabeth, are you hurt?" She didn't answer at first. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she still held onto him with a grip so hard her knuckles were turning white. He shook her gently. "Come on, I need you to say something." He placed a hand on her forehead and felt her trembling. "Elizabeth? Are you all right?"
Slowly, she lifted her head, opening her eyes. She blinked and looked around, finally meeting his anxious gaze. "Meliodas?" she gasped, and he was filled with a huge wave of relief. His heart thudded in his chest, and he sucked in a huge breath, finally able to breathe.
Elizabeth began to shake. He gripped her firmly as she trembled, tightening his mouth in concern. She gave a sob that made his chest constrict and said, "Is it really you?"
He pulled her up against him, pressing her against his chest and his cheek against hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered furiously. And he was furious: at Diane for leaving her; at Gowther for stealing his coin; at Ban for giving him the idea. He would be soon turning his wrath on whoever had forced her up on that tower and sent her over the edge. But most of all, he was angry with himself for letting her go in the first place.
Meliodas gritted his teeth. "I didn't know," he said. "But you are safe now." He would make sure of that. She was not going to leave his side again.
Suddenly her trembling increased, and he looked down at her again. She whispered his name and then went limp in his arms. Elizabeth's eyes slid closed. "Elizabeth?" he said again, but he realized she had fainted.
He glanced up and saw a figure leaning over, looking down at them. Meliodas squinted his eyes. He thought for a moment that is was King Baltra, but that was impossible. His senses told him it was a completely different energy—one he had never encountered before. But the glimpse he got before whoever it was disappeared had looked exactly like the old king.
Meliodas stood and lifted Elizabeth in his arms. He knew he couldn't stay there in the open with her. He jogged down the street, carrying her, before turning a corner. Jericho had told them the Holy Knights were using the South Tower as a base of operations. He figured that until the rest of the Sins arrived, it was his best shot at getting some help, and maybe some answers. He moved like a flash, carrying the princess carefully.
The South Tower was nearly completely deserted. He could hear noise coming from the direction of the city wall, along with a concentration of power. Meliodas assumed they were all there, dealing with the attack Diane had mentioned. He stalked through the yard towards the entrance of the building. A handful of knights were there, on guard, and one of them shouted at him to stop. He ignored them and continued until one stepped to block his way. "Move," he said without slowing down.
He heard one shout, "Is—is that the Dragon Sin?" and the one in his way started. "Are you the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins?" he called.
Meliodas didn't answer, and simply walked around him. The knight's eyes grew wide as he spotted the unconscious princess in his arms, and turned to follow him. "Are you here for Sir Gilthunder? Because he is—"
Meliodas pulled up short. "Gilthunder is here? Where?"
"Is—is that—Princess Eliza—"
"Where is Gilthunder?" Meliodas growled. He glared over his shoulder at the knight.
"There—in there—" The knight pointed to a door inside, and Meliodas took off without another word.
He pushed the door opened and stepped inside. Sure enough, Gilthunder was inside, bandages covering half of his torso. He was standing with Princess Margaret, and it looked as though they were arguing.
Both of them whirled around at the intrusion. "What are you doing—" Margaret started angrily, but then she caught sight of her sister. "Elizabeth!" she cried, running over, and placing her hands on the girl's sleeping face. She glared at Meliodas with fresh tears in her eyes. "What did you do?" she hissed at him.
"She fell from a tower," he answered through gritted teeth. Meliodas stepped around the princess and carried Elizabeth to a bench, laying her down. Margaret followed, pushing Meliodas to the side so she could examine Elizabeth. "Is she…?"
"She fainted," Meliodas answered. "I don't think she's hurt otherwise."
Margaret gave him another dark look before fussing over her sister. Meliodas stepped back and turned to Gilthunder. "What happened to you?"
Gilthunder shook his head. "You won't believe me if I told you." Meliodas raised his eyebrows and he went on, "King Baltra. He has some kind of power now—I don't know if it's demon power, or something else. He named himself Grand Master, and…" Gilthunder gestured to his injuries. "I objected."
Meliodas furrowed his brow. He had thought his eyes had been playing tricks on him, but perhaps that was Baltra on the tower when Elizabeth fell. "This doesn't make any sense," he muttered.
Elizabeth started to stir. He moved towards her, but Margaret turned and blocked his way. "Leave her alone," she cried. "Haven't you done enough?"
"Margaret!" Gilthunder exclaimed. "Meliodas is the reason why any of us are here."
"And I am grateful for what he has done for us," she said, struggling to replace her mask of composure. She looked at him critically. "This is the second time my sister has been brought back to the castle injured after being with you."
Meliodas met her cold gaze, not bothering to offer an explanation. The princess was right, of course. There was a flash of heat under his skin as he heard Elizabeth say his name.
Margaret turned and took her by the hand. "Ellie dear, it's me, Margaret."
"Margaret?" Meliodas watched as Elizabeth turned her head to look around. "Where is Meliodas?" The princess sat up cautiously as Margaret placed her hands on her shoulders. "Ellie, don't worry. You're safe now."
"Sir Meliodas?" Elizabeth sat up and looked over her sister's shoulder. Meliodas locked eyes with her and couldn't help but smile. She gave him a soft smile back. "What happened?"
She reached her hand out towards him, and he found himself moving in an instant. He gripped her hand in both of his and said, "I was hoping you'd tell me. Do you remember being on the tower?"
Elizabeth frowned in thought as Margaret sat next to her. She gave Meliodas a warning look, but he ignored her, peering into Elizabeth's face. "Yes," she breathed, and looked up at him in alarm. "My father—he was locked away! We found him, all boarded up in his study. There have been two kings, false kings, and they—we need to go back there!"
She went to stand, but both Margaret and Meliodas pressed her to sit. "Ellie, you're not making any sense," the princess said worriedly.
Elizabeth grabbed Meliodas by the arms. "We have to go and find my father. Please. He is in danger."
Meliodas let out a breath. "Where?"
"His study. The east wing."
"Can you stand?" Elizabeth nodded and he helped her tentatively to her feet.
"No!" Margaret protested. "Elizabeth, you're not going anywhere. You need to—"
"I'm not leaving her," Meliodas said, cutting her off. "Don't try to stop us."
Margaret sucked in a breath and looked at Gilthunder. "I'm coming with you," he said, looking away from the princess' shocked expression.
"Let's go, then," said Meliodas, and together the three of them left.
.o0o.
Jericho stood on the balcony, watching the lights from the capital get closer. She gripped the railing tightly, still getting used to riding on the back of Mama Hawk. Merlin had given the giant boar something that made her go three times as fast as normal, and as they speeded towards the city, Jericho felt her nerves grow.
Traveling with the Seven Deadly Sins for the past few days had been more than interesting. They were some of the most powerful beings in Britannia, and she had expected the group to be, well, an elite force. Instead, it was more like a circus running a tavern. None of them seemed to take anything seriously, and to Jericho—who took everything seriously—it was incredibly frustrating.
"Hey!" Jericho looked down and saw Ban leaning out of the second floor window. "Have you seen that other barrel of the Bernia? I can't figure out where Captain—"
"Are you serious?" she shouted. "We're going to be at the capital soon, and you're drinking? Now?"
Ban laughed. "Sounds to me like there's no better time to drink. The capital can be a real drag."
Jericho fumed as he popped back inside the tavern. Her hands clenched around the wooden railing. If she had half—no, a tenth of Ban's power, she wouldn't be just wasting it like he did. She didn't know what infuriated her more: the fact that he didn't care, or that she cared so much.
"Jericho!" Diane trotted up and started walking backwards, swinging her axe over her shoulder. Jericho tried to hide her scowl as the giantess smiled at her. Here was another example. Diane had incredible strength, and the ability to actually reshape the earth—but she was just… silly. Jericho shuddered internally. She could not stand silly girls.
"Can you see anything?" the Serpent Sin called.
"Probably exactly what you can see," Jericho mumbled.
"Oh yeah!" Diane laughed, and Jericho turned and climbed back inside. Frustrated, she headed down the steps to the main room. The other four Sins were there, each doing the same thing they always did: Ban had found his ale, King was snoozing, Gowther was reading, and Merlin was looking at her orb.
"So do we have some kind of strategy?" she asked the room. No one looked up, but Merlin responded, "A strategy?"
"Yeah. You know, a plan." She put her hands on her hips and looked around. "Liones was attacked by another country, and according to Diane, there's a battle going on right now. What exactly are we going to do when we get there?"
Ban wiped his mouth with his hand. "Same thing we always do."
Jericho gritted her teeth. "Which is what, exactly?"
There was a pause, and then Ban burst out laughing. "Whatever the hell we want to do!" Jericho huffed as he laughed, and she heard Merlin give a chuckle. "Don't worry so much, Jericho," Merlin chided her.
"I just think it would be a good idea to have some kind of plan." She turned to the sleeping fairy. "King? Don't you agree?"
King yawned. "We'll just do whatever when we get there," he answered, not bothering to open his eyes.
Completely annoyed now, Jericho went to the window, looking out silently as the others returned to their own activities. Less than an hour later, the wall of the city was visible. So was the giant hole that was now there, courtesy of the battle. "Look!" Jericho cried. She ran out of the tavern and across Mama Hawk's head, holding her hands out to steady herself. The others joined her moments later.
"Looks like the Marakians broke through," King said.
"Unless it was Liones' Holy Knights," Merlin observed.
Jericho looked at her with a scowl. "Why would the Holy Knights destroy their own city?" Merlin didn't answer, keeping her own counsel.
"Now can we decide what to do?" Jericho said, but then shouting came from the direction in which they were headed. "Um, does anyone know how to stop this thing?"
She looked behind her as the Sins all looked at each other, all of them coming to the same realization at once. "Hawk's mom!" King shouted, jumping over to yell in the pig's ear, as Ban made a beeline back to the tavern, yelling, "Master! Get out here!"
"What do we do?" Jericho yelled wildly, looking at Merlin. There was a pause as the mage pursed her lips in thought. Finally, she said, "Gowther, can you please see if you can tell Mama Hawk to stop?"
Gowther raised a hand and made a swipe, but it was too late; the giant pig had reached the city walls, and went crashing through the stone, widening the already huge hole that was there. The impact thankfully made the pig stop, but it also sent everyone on the ground scattering in all directions, and the group riding on top went flying. Jericho shouted as she flew through the air, covering her head and bracing herself to slam into the ground.
She suddenly stopped short and looked up. Ban had grabbed her by the shirt and was holding her up as he expertly touched down on the ground. "Let me down!" she screamed furiously, and for the second time since she had stumbled on them, he dropped her in a heap.
"Relax, Jellyroll," he said. "Didn't I tell ya we'd think of something?"
Jericho screamed in frustration as she scrambled to her feet. The others were moving together, gathering around Mama Hawk, who was happily digging into the ground to rest. Diane ran up and crouched on the ground. "Is everyone all right?"
"I suppose we should find the Captain," Merlin said. She turned to Diane. "Which way?"
"I think—" The giantess stopped short and exclaimed, "Look! It's the king!"
They all turned and looked. Sure enough, it was King Baltra, slowly walking towards them with a large group of Holy Knights behind.
"Yo! Baltra!" Ban called. Merlin shot him a look and stepped forward. "Your Majesty, you're looking better than ever. We're sorry about the mess—"
"You must be the Seven Deadly Sins," the king said. They all exchanged a glance. "Interesting, I only see five here." He narrowed his gaze on Jericho. "And one little apprentice."
"Your Majesty—" King began, but Baltra went on, "Have you come to attack Liones too? Marakia tried the same thing, and we annihilated them easily. Now you'll meet the same fate."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ban shouted.
The king gave a smile. "It seems as though Liones' enemies believe that she is vulnerable without a Grand Master. But you are mistaken, because I am now the Great Holy Knight." He drew his sword, and at once it was on fire, burning brightly in the fading light of the evening.
"What…?" King gasped. "What is this?"
"This is not the king," Gowther observed.
"Yeah, no kidding," King muttered. The king, or whoever it was, stalked forward. "What do we do?"
"The same thing we always do," Ban laughed. Jericho turned in surprise, but they had already moved. The Sins pressed forward as the knights advanced on them.
