Title: Caught in Stone

Theme: #8 Our Own World

Fandom: Nanatsu no Taizai/Seven Deadly Sins

Pairing: KingxDiane

Note: Spoilers in general.

Disclaimer: Don't own Nanatsu no Taizai. I only own the urge to grab King, hold him tight, and never let the precious cinnamon roll that he is go.

Caught in Stone:

It was the kind of day that made you want to just stretch your arms into the air and fall back into the grass as you watch the world spin.

The sun was high in the sky, brilliantly beaming. The wind was a cherished child, soft and delicate. The call of a hawk sent an echo through the verdant valley, signaling the passage of time to the carefree citizens that lived amidst the treetops. Recent rains had moistened the roots of the flower gardens, causing the flora to glimmer with a particularly healthy glow. At one edge of the enclosed community were fungi that had grown to be well over twenty feet tall varying in shades of brown and yellow spotted gray. Meadows were littered throughout, brimming with full blooms of violets, thistles, daisies, sunflowers, even vine-like variations that creepily crawled through cracks in the canyon walls. Hills of the greenest blades of grass rose and fell while scattered pools of purest water shone.

Beings of alternating sizes with iridescent wings flitted about. Magical dust fell from them in a haze, blessing the plants beneath them. Busy fairies travelled from the great tree that stood at the center, it's vast trunk rising well over two hundred feet in the air, it's massive branching reaching further. There was power that emanated from the holy icon, peaceful and comforting. The fairies of the great forest lived in perfect contentment, tended to by the great tree as they in turn tended to the wildlife around them.

It was truly the perfect haven.

At the center, standing within the tallest branches of the holy tree was a solidarity figure. A small shape of a boy who at full height reached a mere five feet three inches. His skin was flawless porcelain, his hair silken apricot cut short. He bore a regal bearing despite his youthful appearance. The ruler of the grand forest was none other than the Fairy King Harlequin.

The fearsome sovereign held within him limitless power, blessed by the holy tree. He was trailed by a reputation of grand scale, first and foremost as a former member of history's greatest heroes, the Seven Deadly Sins. He had been known as the Grizzly Sin of Sloth, accused for a crime that he did not commit but took responsibility for. He was further portrayed as an anomaly as the Fairy King that had supposedly forsaken his wings to achieve greater power to protect the forest. A champion against demons and responsible for reestablishing a peace treaty between the fairy and human realms once again. He was revered, respected, feared, and sadly always at a distance.

The Fairy King was once known to hold the trust of human, giant, and demons alike. He had been allied with a human nation and charged as one of it's protectors. He was honored in cities that spanned thousands of miles and was considered one of the most powerful beings in the world.

Yet eyes that once gazed upon the world with compassion had dulled. Those that had befriended him in the past were aware that the strong kindness that once dictated his power was gone, replaced by an iron will that bent to no adversary.

Harlequin gazed through the branches of his home with an expression that revealed nothing of his thoughts. The Fairy King took great care of the holy forest and it's residents, fulfilling the responsibility he was charged with. The responsibility that he had shirked for a fair number of years in his earlier years.

A part of him wished desperately to return to the past. To a time when he had freely lived in the human world, surrounded by his comrades in arms, fighting for just causes. In the fairy world the passage of time was hardly noticed. Centuries for man was a mere span of a season for him and his kind.

"My lord."

The empty eyes of the fairy patriarch settled on his advisor, offering the barest of nods in her direction. She inclined her head graciously, carefully managing to face him without catching his gaze. Her fingers nervously rubbed against the stem of her fruit staff. Gerharde had been an advisor to the King of Fairies for a number of years, always looking out for the best interests of the fairy realm. She placed the well being of the forest above all else and truly believed in her king. Still she could not keep the chill from creeping up on her when he would rove his head in her direction.

"My king. I come to inform you, as you requested, that...as of this moment, there is nothing of great importance binding you here now."

Harlequin turned away from her, hands clasped behind his back. "Very well, you have my thanks Gerharde." His voice was soft, his posture rigid. By his feet sat Chastiefol in a miniaturized variant of it's second form. Slowly Harlequin's feet began levitating from the ground. "You know where I will be." He continued. "I ask that you send for me should anything happen."

"Yes my king."

Just as he made to fly away he was stopped by Gerharde quickly calling out to him. "My lord," She hesitantly began. "You-you are aware that you are more than welcome to join us here. The others will be glad of your company."

He did not look at her, aware that she was bowing low with painful realization that she had assuredly overstepped her boundaries. The reprimand she expected didn't come. Instead she was given a simple curt response. "No, thank you." Harlequin flew into the air, Chastiefol following close behind.

A small figure approached Gerharde from a niche in the wall. Her sun-kissed hair fell just past her shoulders, the travelling skirt she wore past her feet and hanging as she floated in the air. A lanky form twice her size lumbered forward from the shadows to stand with her. Gerharde merely turned to them sadly and shook her head, the vivid flower on her hat browning as it wilted with her mood. The Fox's Sin of Greed narrowed his eyes and frowned while Elaine quietly watched the sight of her brother's back disappear from view with sad eyes.

HarleQuin did not look back.

Flying over the forest, stoney expression never faltering, he headed towards a specific point on the border of the valley. Accompanying him were the various dark thoughts that filled in the space in his mind whenever he was alone. Images of mistakes he had never been able to forgive himself for. Remembered screams in his ears that existed from his negligence. Tortured stares that he saw whenever he shut his eyes. The pain that swam in his blood made him cold. The shivers that followed the length of his spine agitated him. He never looked back with the intention to see the past. Yet it was always there. Taunting him. Jeering with it's salivating jaws, guffawing at the pain it caused him.

His body was shattered beyond repair. The flawless skin that marked a member of the Fairy race was heavily marred by the weight of his sorrows. Jagged crackling lines ran the length of his height. From his hairline down over his shoulders, running along the sides of his body and ending on the tips of his toes. The blemishes echoed the unforgiving state of his mind. The glamours he cast over himself to mask the scars from the eyes of Gerharde and anyone else who might just happen to catch a glimpse of him on the rare occasions that he was present outside of his dreaded seclusion were unaware of the reach of his physical deformations. The large impressive wings he had earned in the past were nothing more than an illusion he cast upon himself now to keep Gerharde from prying. In their place were two scars that ran parallel to one another along his back, the wounds appearing fresh and raised even a thousand years after ripping them out with his bare hands.

In some small unheard part of his subconscious he knew he had taken things too far. It was not what she would have wanted for him. It wasn't even what he really wanted for himself. The guilt that had wrapped itself around his heart had poisoned his blood, forcing him to give in to the despair that he had been given at the reality of his greatest defeat.

He hadn't been able to accept her loss. She had saved her last breath for him, calling his name with as much love she could muster as her heart ceased and she shut her eyes for the last time. His friends had tried to console him, to keep him from falling to self-hate and blame. They failed. He had taken her back to the Fairy forest, determined to always keep her safe. He couldn't bear the thought of her body returning to earth and so he had decided to summon forth the third configuration of Chastiefol. He petrified her body in the exact state that it was, forever preserving her the way she looked the day she died. With a twisted sort of care he kept her in a cave at the edge of the forest's barrier to ensure no harm would ever come to her and that he would always have a place to go that he could keep just for the two of them. It was in that cave that Harlequin resided for most of his time, stripped of the magic that hid his failing body from view, leaving only to tend to any issues that may have arisen in the forest. Gerharde was under strict orders not to disturb him for anything less than important. If summoned for any sort of frivolous errand he had already promised retribution of the worst kind.

For years he would sit on her stone shoulder, resting his head against hers, eyes shut, reliving the memories of a time when she lived and they loved each other openly. Back then she had confessed to him her desire for children and he had promised her, "One day. One day." He regretted never taking the time to stop thinking of the future as a sure thing and fulfilling the promises he had freely given her. He longed for what he could never have. A child of Diane's would have kept him from the nothingness he had become since her leaving. His want for a life and family together with Diane never disappeared, only festering and growing stronger with time. A darkness was welling up in him, only spurred by the passage of time and he knew without a doubt that there would come a day when he would no longer be able to keep it from overtaking him. On that day he would seek out the Captain and beg him to end his life, for there was no one in the world who could now match him in battle except for the Dragon's Sin of Wrath. Until then he would do the duty that was mandated of him by his people and he would continue living in the dark cavern with his fingers caressing her frozen cheeks, his lips brushing against a lifeless pair, and the tears that always came at the latest hours of the night.

He returned to her with a smile that didn't quite match the tired strain of his eyes. Without his having to utter a single sound Chastiefol spun into it's seventh configuration to illuminate the path into the dark cavern. There was nothing in the space around besides the spiraling turret rock formations and Her petrified form at the back. As always, a hollow feeling that he had been falsely calling happiness for the past years blossomed in his belly. "Diane..." He whispered tenderly. He rose in the air to place a hand against her cool skin. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long." The Fairy King let his forehead rest against her nose, shutting his eyes, and visiting the place he could only reach in his dreams. In that place the world was bright and Diane was alive, smiling at him with her carefree charm, calling his true name with so much love like she once did.

That was where he would stay for the next hundred years. Until Gerharde would appear at the mouth of the entrance, bowing her head, calling out for his help with whatever had decided to target the forest. That he had not forsaken his homeland yet told of some tiny shard of hope that one day perhaps, just maybe he could return to living among the world again. Until he would suffer, fighting against his own mind, mourning his heart, and struggling to learn how to live without her.

-Owari-

Ack! Two days late! I'm sorry! Glad I was able to get this out at least though. I debated heavily on the idea of killing one of them off so soon in the challenge honestly. I'm not fond of hurting them but it was time for some dark ficcage. Frankly, I love the idea of King dwelling for years after Diane's death, sitting on her shoulder after petrifying her body so that he would never have to lose her to decomposition, and losing a bit of his sanity to his grief. I might just be weird to find that adorable. Lol.

As always, thanks for reading. As I've said before reviews are not mandatory however please keep in mind that if you wish to ask me anything it would really help if you were signed in so that I can respond. At this point I also wouldn't say no to a review or two but it certainly won't stop me from continuing the challenge. Kiane will live on!

Twenty-two more to go!