Someone asked: Why is Gelda mute?

Answer: Valid question! In canon, Gelda definitely isn't mute. However! In this fic she is. Just how in canon Meliodas and Elizabeth were cursed, here both Zeldris and Gelda were cursed alongside them.

The 4 curses are eternal life (Meliodas), reincarnation (Elizabeth), silence (Gelda), and chains (Zeldris). Since her curse is Eternal Silence, Gelda is mute!

You are not the only one who has asked this 😅

Ban was no psychic. In fact, you could ask anyone - including the immortal man himself - and they would say that he had no sense of foresight whatsoever.

However, Ban did sense when a crime would happen.

Specifically, a crime against food.

His luck that he now lived - once again - with a man who made atrocities in the culinary realm on a regular basis.

With a head feeling as though someone were splitting his skull open, Ban forced himself from the softest bed he had ever slept upon minus the one time he was allowed to sleep in the Liones castle and clumsily got pants on before walking down the stairs. He really had no reason to go downstairs, neither hungry or in any kind of mood to tolerate voices, but something just felt wrong and despite it being far too early for a man who had spent the night chugging beers until he passed out he still headed to the kitchen.

It was still incredibly quiet, to Ban's relief. And the bar smelt absolutely wonderful.

Which meant one of two things.

Either Ban was actually hungry, and his mind was tempting him to cook up some breakfast - an actual breakfast! He can't remember once in the last 10 years ever having a proper meal, and okay, maybe his mouth did water at the thought - or, someone was cooking.

The only one Ban knew for certain who could cook other than himself was Zeldris; but, Ban knew Zeldris almost as well as he knew the captain, and the younger brother was not a morning person. Ban had never once seen the guy before the sun had completely risen at the very least, and as it stood, the sun was only just peeking over the horizon, the sky still very much pink and purple.

He was sincerely hoping that, if it weren't Zeldris, that it was either the princess cooking - he had no clue if she could cook or not - or the pig. Ban didn't have very high hopes on the pig, and the princess wasn't much higher.

Turning the corner, Ban huffed at the sight of a short blonde flitting around the kitchen as quietly as possible.

Ban only watched Meliodas for a minute, trying to figure out what in the ever loving world the captain could possibly be making. It smelled delicious, in all honesty, however Ban knew how deceiving that was.

His captain couldn't cook for the life of him.

Ban distinctly remembered being sick for almost a week once because of Meliodas' horrid culinary skills, and Ban did not get poisoned very easily.

He cleared his throat right as Meliodas grabbed a pan, and Ban had never seen Meliodas be startled before. The pan clattered to the ground as Meliodas let out what could only be described as a yip, almost jumping right out of his own skin and whirling around with wide eyes. He scowled as Ban delved into a fit of laughter, doing his best to muffle the sounds but by the goddesses, Ban was never going to forget the big bad Dragon Sin of Wrath getting scared by someone clearing their throat.

Meliodas was still scowling when Ban recovered, his head still pounding but much less now - though the laughter hadn't helped. Ban just grinned at the blonde and sauntered into the kitchen.

"Weren't you banned from entering anything resembling a kitchen?" he asked as Meliodas got back to work.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Excuse you, I was banned from the Liones kitchens. This is my kitchen, and therefore I cannot be banned from it."

Ban raised a brow. "Oh really?" Meliodas hummed, nodding as he poured something into the pan he had grabbed. "Well then…"

Meliodas didn't get a chance to do much else, as Ban grabbed him by the middle and literally tossed him out the kitchen.

"I'm stealing your kitchen."

Meliodas made an indignant sound, scrambling off the floor and twisting around. Ban's face was scrunched and a spatula with some of the concoction on it was in his hand. Meliodas huffed and crossed his arms.

"It's not that bad!"

"Captain, who do you hate so much that you'd feed them this?"

Meliodas pouted. "I've made worse," he pointed out.

Ban couldn't deny the truth there, but still, holy hell the captain had to dislike someone enough to feed them this.

"Did you and Zeldris get into a fight, and you were going to give him this?"

The captain tensed, and although it was weak he still glared at Ban. Ban tensed slightly under the gaze, but it melted away as Meliodas huffed again and his expression softened into something like a fond smile. If it was forced, Ban didn't have to know. "Zel would never eat anything I make even if he was starving to death."

"Smart man," Ban mumbled. "Alright, then who?"

Ban began to clear the food into the trash, because there was absolutely no way that was ever going to touch someone else's taste buds so long as Ban was alive. He was a criminal and a murderer of many, yes, but even he wasn't that cruel.

"Elizabeth."

Ban choked on his next breath as he looked to the captain with wide eyes and dropped jaw. Meliodas snickered at the reaction, climbing onto and sitting on the counter.

Hey, if Ban was going to cook, Meliodas would not complain - even if he had been making breakfast first.

"The princess."

"She's the only Elizabeth in the building, yes."

Ban continued to give him that bewildered look.

"What?" Meliodas asked innocently - or as innocently as a man who knew he was a shit cook could look just after creating what Ban could only describe as a one way ticket for someone normal like the princess to get food poisoning.

"Why in any realm would you give the princess your food?"

Meliodas pouted again. "She likes my cooking!"

Ban almost fainted.

When Elizabeth awoke, it was to the gentle sway of Mama Hawk, the sun shining into her - no, not her room, she realized quickly this was not the room she had been staying in - and her body way too sore. Each small movement had her hissing softly, but she still pushed herself up so she was at least sitting. Something was snoring in the room, and after a quick glance around Elizabeth found that Hawk was the source of the noise.

She was also startled to see Gelda fast asleep at the end of the bed, jumping slightly and cringing at the creak it forced from the bed. Elizabeth held her breath, but Gelda didn't move an inch, and slowly she relaxed. Gelda's skin looked irritated, though, and Elizabeth shifted a little on the bed, lifting the sheet she was under.

It cast a shadow over some of Gelda, and Elizabeth nearly missed the way a tension she hadn't noticed was there before melted away. Nearly missed it. She frowned.

Elizabeth winced the entire time, but she slowly climbed out of bed. If Gelda was here, was this her and Zeldris' room? Drawing the curtains so they were closed completely on her way to the closet, Elizabeth considered changing into the tavern uniform. But after a quick glance into the closet, she realized not only was she not in her room but she also was definitely not in Gelda and Zeldris' room - unless the two kept their clothes in a totally different place, and Meliodas stowed all his uniforms in their room.

She frowned, looking down at her still tattered clothes before glancing up at the uniforms. Maybe she could borrow one, just for a little bit, just until she was able to get her hands on her own - still technically borrowed - clothes.

Would that be too much?

Elizabeth bit her lip, the clothes she was currently wearing rubbing uncomfortably against her skin, the cloth still very much coated in dirt and blood.

Sighing and mind made up, Elizabeth grabbed one of the uniforms in the closet.

After changing, Elizabeth folded the ruined pink uniform and left it to deal with later. She wondered if it would be possible to salvage it, or at least be able to use the fabric for something else. Shaking her head, Elizabeth quietly left the room.

Gelda and Hawk deserved their rest. They surely had to be exhausted, Gelda especially after the ordeal yesterday. Elizabeth made a mental note to ask Gelda later how much power she had used, and if she could do more. She had practically torched the entire swarm, after all, that couldn't be any small feat.

Her mouth watered as she walked downstairs, slowly and leaning very heavily on the wall, but the most wonderful thing she had ever smelled was a very pleasant distraction to her aching bones.

The last step creaked and she flinched, but continued into the bar area anyway and followed the smell. There was arguing, she finally realized, taking a look around. Elizabeth smiled as she caught Meliodas and Ban in a heated debate, over what she wasn't too sure yet, but Zeldris was there as well, watching on in amusement and very obviously adding fuel to the fire. She'd recognize that smirk anywhere, it's the one Howzer had always adorned anytime he had either embarrassed either of his friends or got them to argue about the silliest of things for hours on end.

Her heart panged at the memory, a sour taste filling her mouth as she remembered they were Holy Knights and therefore probably… probably people she'd have to fight, or see the Sins fight. As sweet as the three were, and how she hoped they weren't related to anything going on, her hopes weren't exactly high.

She took a deep breath, forced the thoughts away, put on a small smile, and walked over to the bar.

"Good afternoon, Sir Zeldris!"

Zeldris glanced at her, still smiling and nodding his greeting before turning back to watch the other two. He did a double take, turning back to Elizabeth and looking her over before chuckling. Elizabeth flushed, playing with her hair.

"I didn't exactly have anything else to wear," she mumbled.

The black haired brother shook his head. "No, no. It looks fine on you. And I'm sure Meliodas won't mind. At all." He glanced at said brother with some kind of knowing grin that absolutely screamed mischief, then shook his head and looked to Elizabeth once again.. "Excuse them, Ban refuses to believe that you like Meliodas' cooking."

"There is no way that a princess of all things would like anything made by the captain! I don't even get how Master likes the scraps! I wouldn't feed it to a roach unless I was trying to get rid of them," Ban huffed.

"Who's Master?" Elizabeth asked.

Ban blinked for a moment, finally realizing that Elizabeth was there. He promptly ignored her question, and instead answered with his own. "Princess, do you actually like his cooking?"

Elizabeth smiled. "I do, though it doesn't taste good."

"Told you!" Meliodas grinned triumphantly at Ban, who's bewildered look soon disappeared with an eye roll as he huffed again.

"Fine, whatever. She's still not going to eat anything you've made ever again, unless it's a dire situation, got it? No one should be subjected to that horror, especially while I'm here."

Meliodas turned, still smiling. Whatever he was about to say, however, died in his throat once he actually caught sight of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, who was wearing his clothes.

Meliodas swore all his hearts stopped beating for a second.

Zeldris covered his mouth to muffle his snickers, though Ban made no effort to hide his as he left the kitchen carrying multiple plates full of food.

Elizabeth's cheeks turned red again, and she ducked behind her hair. "Sorry, I didn't have anything else to wear," she repeated. "I can change if you want, though!"

"No!" Everyone jumped slightly at Meliodas' exclamation, and Meliodas cleared his throat. Zeldris sent him a look that Elizabeth could only imagine as a warning, but she couldn't think of why that would be. Meliodas' face was tinged pink. "I mean, uh," he coughed and looked away, "I don't mind." Meliodas smiled softly at her. "Although, that does remind me that we have yet to actually go shopping for you. We can go today." Elizabeth relaxed but frowned.

"Are you sure? Aren't you still hurt?" She glanced between the brothers. "Both of you."

Meliodas' gentle smile turned into a grin, and he shook his head. "Nah, we both feel fine. Right Zel?" He clapped Zeldris on the back, to which Zeldris grunted slightly as he lurched forward and rolled his eyes, but he smiled slightly anyway.

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"The both of them have some wicked recovery skills. It's almost as scary as Merlin. Now princess-" Ban gestured to the plate he had set in front of her, "-you should probably eat up, before it gets cold."

Elizabeth did as told, and she could have melted after just the first bite.