A/N: A little snippet that occurs during the events of the anime during season 3. It's the battle with the Commandments that happens in the Great Fight Festival Arc :P

Till next time,

Drama

I Can't Stand It

When she had been transferred to Liones with the others, Elizabeth had not figured that she'd feel the way she did. She had not figured that her heart would feel so heavy, guilty, over the fact that they had all left Sir Meliodas alone to deal with the Commandments. She was used to it. She was used to the idea of standing back from the brunt of the attacks, knowing very well that the captain of the Sins did not like it when she was near danger. He focused better when she was safely tucked away from harm.

But this time wasn't like the others.

In previous times, Elizabeth had not been so far away. She had been close enough to run in and get involved before - even if it wasn't the most smart and sensible thing to do. But it made her feel better to be there. It made Elizabeth feel more helpful to be near and ready to help in the only way she knew how: moral support and her healing powers. But even then she wasn't a master at those things. Just about good enough to get someone out of a rough patch.

Overall, Elizabeth wasn't skilled at being in the middle of a conflict. She didn't even know how to hold a sword. Yet as she stood there, safe and sound with the Sins and everyone else from the fight festival, the princess could not help but feel her heart clench. She couldn't help but want to scream out every time she saw the Dragon Sin receive a blow from one of the Commandments. She wanted to be there. She wanted to make sure he made it out alive.

Unfortunately, that was tough to do when she was miles and miles away in Liones. The only other time where she could recall being kept this distantly away was when she had been abducted by Vivian. But even then Sir Meliodas had rushed to retrieve her once more. He was always saving her: she wanted to repay that. One day, somehow, she would find a way to make it even, to repay him for all he had ever done for her.

Although that day wouldn't be today. Facing the Commandments was something Elizabeth wasn't suited for - no matter how much she yearned to just be there.

"Teleport me there!" Antsy, on edge, Gilthunder seemed to share the same twitchy restlessness that Elizabeth herself had. Watching the flickering orb within Gilfrost's hands, brow pinching at the image of his role model - his lifelong idol - snared within such a nasty, cruel trap, he seemed almost annoyed at how powerless he was in this situation. How useless he was in reality. "We must help Sir Meliodas! We must- "

"It's too dangerous!" Cutting off Gilthunder, seeming adamant in his words, Gilfrost frowned. Even though he disagreed with returning to the site of the fight festival he was still screening its events live, capturing every moment of the battle for all available eyes to see. "You'll die."

Yes, that was one thing for certain. All of them would most likely die if they were sent to that battlefield, any power they held being minuscule compared to the massive hoards of experience and power the Ten Commandments held. Death would be the outcome; its delivery would be the tricky thing to pinpoint. Torture wasn't beneath people like the Ten Commandments; nor was sucking out the souls of those who got into their way.

"We can't just sit here!" Hawk now, puffing out an annoyed cloud of steam, had turned an angry eye to the wizard, "Leaving Meliodas by himself is- "

"We know what it is," Cutting the pig off, a defeated expression upon his face, Gilthunder let out a sigh. Drooping, his shoulders sagged as he shook his head and looked at the glass orb once more, "But there's truly nothing we can do..."

Watching it all unfold herself, heart twisting and pulling with every brutal blow, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel herself agreeing. Really, there wasn't anything that any of them could really do. At least, not in this present moment.

In that battle, determined to win, Sir Meliodas was acting somewhat strange. Something was off. Something not like him. Not like him at all. Sure Sir Meliodas had always been a fighter; he was someone who was no stranger to the violence and brutality of war, but this was different. This battle, this... whatever Elizabeth could call it, was not like the Sir Meliodas she knew. It was different. Much different. It was like he was on autopilot.

Maybe that was why, as soon as his Revenge Counter was nullified by his brother, the Sin Captain more or less collapsed from exhaustion. All out of steam, every possible outlet used, he was limp and weighted, heavy and immobile. And, keeping him firmly squashed against the cracked earth, his brother's metal-plated foot was ensuring that every following second would be one filled with anguish and pain.

At least that's how Elizabeth had felt when the first sword plunged into Sir Meliodas' chest.

"Stop it!" Screaming out into the midnight air, face buried in her shaking hands, the princess yelled her throat raw as she shook her head. Tears burned at her eyes, pricked at her skin, and she couldn't help but feel herself falling apart, "Just stop it!"

But nothing did stop. Even when Ban teleported to the scene, a strange look in his eye and a weird gait to his walk, the attack did not stop. One by one, slowly but surely, the seven swords all found their way into Sir Meliodas' body. Piercing his hearts, flooding his other organs with blood, the damage done was visible with every new sword. Red. Bright red. Then a look on his face that pinched with agony and pain.

All the while, Ban was growing more desperate. Drawing more and more power, muscles swelling with the gained magic, he seemed almost like an unstoppable beast as he attempted to choke Estarossa. Only, it didn't work. At all. Instead, still as stone, a straight look upon his face, Estarossa continued his work, looked his older brother in the eye as he summoned the next sword that would bring him closer to death.

When the final sword went in and Sir Meliodas stopped moving, that was when Ban had exploded - a shower of red that had failed to stop Estarossa from killing his brother. Everyone else was simply silent from shock, attempting to fathom and process what they had just seen. Their complete opposite, teary and yet also certain in her resolve, Elizabeth stood with a straight posture and approached the stunned wizard cradling his glass orb.

"I want you to teleport me there," Calm, collected, the princess showed no trace of her anguish as she spoke to the strange wizard. Her blue eyes were unblinking, clear, as she clasped her two hands over her heart, "Please."

"Very well," Gilfrost nodded, seeming reluctant and yet bending to her request.

One moment, Elizabeth was stood upon the cobbled stones of a tower in Liones. Clear, fresh, the air had smelled of the night and its earthly scents. Now, she stood in the middle of what looked like a desolate place, cracks spiraling out in a chaotic mesh of stone and dried dirt. Smokey, sharp, the air smelled of destruction and death as the princess took her first real steps - her first real look - into the aftermath of the battle.

None of it was a good sign.

"Sir Meliodas!" Calling out into the destruction, trudging over large stones and boulders and cracks in the ground, Elizabeth cupped her hands around her mouth. If he was still alive, then she could heal him up and get him back to Liones. He'd be safe and sound as long as he was alive. As long as he was alive. Oh heavens, please let Sir Meliodas be alive!

Tears now threatening to spill from her eyes, Elizabeth's voice wobbled as she stumbled over a low hill, "Please answer me!"

Silence filled the air. Lingering, lasting, lengthy silence that clung to Elizabeth's ears like the muggy heat of an unwanted summer's eve. Silence was the last thing that she wanted to hear; even if it was a stupid insect, a rustle of the wind, a pained groan, Elizabeth would appreciate it much more than this silence. This silence that represented the dreaded unknown hanging in the air around her as she stumbled across the wasteland.

"Sir Meliodas can you hear me?" Staggering over another hill, on the verge of tears as her lungs burned from the scent of the acidic air, Elizabeth finally caught of glimpse of something. A bump - it was nothing more than a bump. And yet, it had her heart racing, her legs pumping, as she raced down that hill and threw all the energy she had into getting as close to the bump as possible. Hope was building in her system. Powerful hope.

Such hope was not wrong. Because as soon as she slipped to the bottom of that hill, scraped her legs against the tough ground, the princess knew that she had found him. Still, motionless, the Dragon Sin was almost peaceful - if you could ignore all of the blood and the unsettling surroundings. Really, he had never been so still, seemed like he was just asleep and was catching a well-deserved rest. Part of Elizabeth wanted to think it was just that: he was pretending to be dead. He was just sleeping it all off.

Yet as she drew closer and Sir Meliodas failed to stir, something within Elizabeth's heart wobbled. Quaked. Beneath her, her legs were beginning to buckle, the princess staggering over her own ankles. Of course her clumsiness chose to kick in now.

"There you are..." Wavering, a small smile graced the princess' dainty features at the familiar sight of her beloved knight. But it fell short when reality begun to sink in, Elizabeth falling to her knees as she wrapped her arms around his motionless body. If he was sleeping it off, he would've gave some kind of response. If Sir Meliodas was still alive, he would have... he would have...

"No," Firmly shaking her head, a thick river of tears spilling from her eyes, Elizabeth found her grip tightening around him. That wasn't possible. Couldn't be anywhere near possible. "No! No! Open your eyes," Cradling his face, feeling the vapid coolness of his skin, Elizabeth could feel her heart shattering into thousands of tiny pieces, "Please, no!"

But no matter how much she begged, how much she cried, nothing happened. Instead Elizabeth's pleas echo through the lands, the rising sun cresting the mountain tops proclaiming the start of a new day without Sir Meliodas.