Title: Not Quite Right...

Theme: #24 Good Night

Fandom: Nanatsu no Taizai/Seven Deadly Sins

Pairing: KingxDiane

Notes: Spoilers! AU that veers from canon during the war with the Ten Commandments but before King confronts Mael.

Disclaimer: Sometimes I wish I didn't have to even put this down. You are all aware that I don't own this. Go ahead. Rub it in. I'm not mad. Feel free to buy me a King plushie to make up for my hurt feelings. XD

Not Quite Right...

There's a day when all hearts will be broken

When a shadow will cast out the light

And our eyes cry a million tears

Help won't arrive

~I May Fall ft. Casey Lee Williams

There was so much destruction. The fighting seemed endless, a vast loss of life littering the plains of Liones. Ghost towns replacing once-vibrant settlements that had once teemed with humans.

As scores of demons appeared, screeching, the remaining members of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Holy Knights of Liones all rallied together to counter attack, their battle cries filling the air as they bravely surged forward to meet their opponent in armed combat.

Leading his own armada was King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth, his eyes serious as they focused on dwindling the enemy numbers as much as possible as quickly as he could. Chastiefol in it's fifth configuration made short work of the small fry, a particularly nasty beam from Sunflower laid waste to whole clusters and with the aid of Form Two to repel any attacks at his back, King swarmed through the demons at a terrifying pace.

Swooping down low he flew through an entire league of demons. Chastiefol surrounded him in a spiraling torpedo of Increase, the sharp knives shielding him while simultaneously shredding through every demon unfortunate enough to venture too close. He left behind him a field of carnage, while the Holy Knights beneath him looked on in awed fear.

A large behemoth roared it's challenge, the twisting horns ripping through it's skull giving off a sickly glow as it leveled it's head in King's direction. Steeling himself King raised a hand as the creature, easily triple the size of a red demon, charged. With a spark of light Chastiefol blazed into it's rarely used third form, the twin-headed spear gleaming dangerously. Looking tinier than ever in the face of such a large opponent King fearlessly gripped his hand over his head, waiting as the demon closed in on him. There were shouts from behind him, the Knights who had managed to survive so far to watch the spectacle, but King had ears for nothing but the sounds of battle. When there was only yards of space between them, King gave an almighty yell, amber thin-pupil eyes blazing with fury, and brought his fist down. Chastiefol flew forward like a shot, screaming through the air to embed itself right in between the Demon's soulless black eyes.

It stopped instantly.

The Fairy King threw his chin up disdainfully as the creature fell, it's body flying forward to land heavily, it's skin crackling as flesh rapidly became stone. Cheers from the Knights, his small wings beating languidly, King leaned back to rock himself in the comfort of Chastiefol in it's most basic form. He wiped at the dirt that had landed on his cheek before bringing his fingers together and contemplating the battlefield before him.

He had managed to deal with the worst of offenders on his side of the battle, only a few straggling demons were left and the Holy Knights made easy work of them. Knowing that the others were probably still fighting he floated down to where Guila was catching her breath, Jericho kneeling nearby and panting heavily.

"King of the Seven Deadly Sins.."

Cocking his head King surveyed the area. "Guila, take the injured and set up a way point. Get what rest you can."

With her narrow eyes furrowed in concern Guila gestured to him. "What about you?"

King glanced at her, recalling those same words from Diane before they had split to lead into the fight and he felt his eyes draw down.

"I'll be fine. Let me take care of the rest for now."

Without waiting for a response he flew up, Chastiefol in it's spear configuration, Diane's face at the forefront of his mind.

.xXx.

Diane crouched low, her skin copper brown and her arms crossed in front of her as she took the brunt of the Demon's attack. Screams filled the air as Knights from Liones were caught off guard by the blow of power. Gritting her teeth Diane spun Gideon in a wide arc in the air before kicking off her feet to speed to where the most Demon's had grouped together. She brought Gideon down in a powerful blow, smashing through the head of the demon that it connected with while she twisted her body to summon pillars of earth that sped from the ground so fast the Demon's weren't given a chance to react as they were flattened between them. She cried out as several shots of Demon fire connected with her shoulder and she rearranged the structure of her chemistry to harden her skin. Her skin jet black now she faced the flying demons with a glare. Conscious of anyone who may be underfoot she braced her knees and shot into the air on a column of stone. The flyers scattered but not fast enough to dodge the lightning swing from Gideon. As they fell Diane leaped from her perch and hardened her body to the heaviest metal. She gained on their descent and finished them off with a series of blows before shifting herself back to her normal self and somersaulting into a landing.

A yell from behind called her attention and she spun to see Howzer go flying. Diane gasped and reached out to catch him.

"H-Howzer!"

The Holy Knight groaned and Diane breathed a sigh of relief to see him alive. Looking back at the battlefield she saw the smoke-spewing leviathans of the sky, their masked faces dripping blood and maw's gaping. Diane felt her heart beat in her chest for a moment before she gently lowered Howzer down into a cluster of Knights and warned them to back away, she would take care of the remainder. Howzer weakly called out a warning to her and while she spared him a fleeting smile, Diane's thoughts briefly flashed to King.

In the middle of battle and her mind went right to him. She hoped she survived this. She thought of what would happen if she fell here and she recoiled slightly. She didn't want him to experience that pain. She never wanted to be the reason that he couldn't smile.

Diane shook herself from such thoughts. She couldn't bring herself to be distracted. If she was going to make it back to King alive then she needed to focus. Her fingers gripped Gideon and she readied herself against the flying demons.

They attacked. Diane raced in to fight.

.xXx.

The aftermath was almost as terrible as the beginning. Bodies lay in heaps, carnage littering the landscape as far as the eye could see. Meliodas eyed the wreckage with a twist of his heart, emerald eyes grieving by the reality before him. Clinging to his side Elizabeth wept unashamedly, her hand clenched in his. Ban stood at their back, his arms cradling a grief-stricken Elaine, Merlin unconscious in Escanor's arms. Gowther, alone, on his knees beside two recognizable bodies.

Diane had fallen first, felled by the Demon King himself when he had targeted her for interfering with his fight against Meliodas. King had followed soon after, pouring everything he had into avenging Diane, giving Meliodas and Merlin the chance to seal the Demon King back into Hell.

There hadn't been anything beautiful or sweet about their death. Diane had died instantly, crashing into the ground. King had used up every trace of magic he had to make a last stand against their opponent before he allowed himself to fall, using the final dredges of his strength to make it to her side where he now lay, his hands outstretched towards her.

Gowther cried for them, his heart as broken as when Nadia had died. The few remaining survivors of the fight, the last of the Holy Knights and the refugees of Camelot watched as the Seven Deadly Sins mourned their comrades, the Goat's Sin of Lust sobbing over their bodies, begging for a chance to forget, to have never seen it at all.

In another plane of existence where none of them could see, Diane and King stood side by side watching the events unfold. Their expressions were sad, their hands entwined as they played silent spectator to their friends grief.

Though they now inhabited the land of the dead Diane felt herself remember vaguely a memory from so long ago, when a Fairy had promised a little Giant girl that he would always come back to her. It wasn't the way she would have wanted it, not what she would have asked of him, but it was her one truth now.

King had come back to her, as he had promised, and now they would never have to be apart for the rest of eternity.

Their spirits turned to each other, peaceful acceptance emanating from them as they moved forward to share a kiss and the world around them melted away. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't what they imagined. But it was their reality and they were together.

That was good enough for them.

OWARI

Huh. I killed them both off. Yikes. Was not supposed to go that way...

The idea behind this one is that I really love that right now in the manga we're in the middle of a Holy War and everything is going down, questions are getting answered, people are dying, and I generally just like that they take the time to show the characters just fighting. They're in a war. It makes sense.

I'm really happy we've gotten to twenty-four down. Only six more to go! It may have taken me longer than I wanted to get here but knowing that I haven't given up makes me really proud of myself. Thank you to all the amazing and outstanding reviews! I appreciate everyone who took the time to read this unworthy work of fiction and hope I don't disappoint with the remaining themes. Wish me luck ne?