Like a Dream

Chapter 9

She smiles, the sky above her bright and blue with small white clouds in random shapes. The giggles and laughs of her friends fill her ears, her smile growing all the more.

"Hey, Ellie!" Her best friend calls. Her eyes find him, a small grin on his face as he motions her to come to him. Her silver hair gets blown by the wind as she stands with an even brighter smile.

Once she makes it over to him, the world becomes dark.

She stops completely, not daring to take another step. The sky is dark, the clouds are a blood red, and the whole atmosphere is eerie.

Elizabeth looks down, and she nearly stumbles backwards. Her lips part in disbelief and denial; there's just no way this is real...

She falls to her knees, her eyes watering and fluttering shut, her tears running down her face. A cry leaves her as she reopens her eyes, the sight still there.

Before her, are her friends. But, they're not alive. They're laying, lifeless and motionless on the grass, their blood staining their skin and clothes and the once grassy green land underneath them. No matter how bad she wants to turn away, she can't seem to do it. Elizabeth stares at her best friend, his emerald eyes wide open and staring into the dark abyss above. His dark hair is tainted with his own blood and the scene only makes Elizabeth cry harder.

She manages to tear her gaze from Zeldris's motionless body, but again her vision fills with the corpses of her friends. King's eyes are closed, Diane's too, Elaine lays on top of Ban, their eyes lidded yet not moving.

And finally, her eyes land on her best friend's brother. His eyes are open, staring back at her, a pained expression on his pale face. Blood paints the small parted smile on his lips. Elizabeth only cries harder as she crawls over to him and holds his shirt in tight fists.

"Please," she begs, "please don't be dead, please!" She closes her eyes, her tears still escaping and wetting the blonde's shirt. "I-I can't-" Elizabeth gasps, her broken cries the only noise in the air.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

The silver haired teenager lifts her head at the sudden voice. It sounds familiar, yet vague at the same time.

But before she could question the voice, she feels a sharp pain in the back of her head and the world suddenly goes black.

She shoots up, her breathing laboured, and she snakes a hand to the back of her head.

It was only a dream.

Elizabeth removes the covers of her bed from her body and leaves her room. Her breathing is still off, her body is shaking and tears stain her cheeks. She clutches the railing of the stairs as she tries to walk down, but a voice stops her.

"Elizabeth?" They say, causing her to turn around. Her eyes lock with sharp emeralds, and she can't believe she'd forgotten. Meliodas and Zeldris stayed over. "It's like two in the morning; what're you doing up?" He asks, his blonde hair messy and his steps quiet as he nears the girl on the stairs. She cries silently, hiccups escaping her.

"What's wrong?" He asks again, but all she can see is the image of him lying dead on the ground from her dream. So, without thinking, she latches onto him, her tears soaking his shirt. She feels his arms snake around her body, and suddenly she's being carried in a bridal hold. Her arms loop around his neck, and she continues to tremble in his hold.

Elizabeth doesn't feel him move anymore, so she suspects that he's likely seated on the couch with her in his lap. Her tears continue to run and she lets them. Meliodas strokes her hair in a comforting manner.

Once her crying dies down, Elizabeth lifts her head a bit, her crystal eyes staring back into his grassy green ones. He smiles easily at her, but she can see the worry in his smile and in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Meliodas asks again, one of his arms wrapping around her waist a bit tighter than it was and the other still stroking her hair.

"I think so," she softly responds.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I-I had a bad dream," she says. "I dreamt that you and Zeldris were there, and King and Diane were there too, and so were Ban and Elaine." Meliodas looks into her eyes, and he waits patiently for her to continue.

"It was all nice and happy, and then the sky turned a dark color and the clouds were red and when I looked over to everyone, you were all-" a whimper escapes her lips as she recalls the dream. "You were all dead and your blood was everywhere. Zeldris's eyes were wide open and so were yours. B-But you were smiling at me - it w-was like one of those pained smiles, but your eyes seemed so emotionless a-and-" Elizabeth sucks in a breath, not being able to finish her thought.

Meliodas holds her tight, and her hold on him tightens as well.

"It's okay; it was just a dream, 'kay?" He comforts in a soothing tone. "We're all still here - I'm still here, alive. Nothing's gonna happen to us, and more importantly, nothing's gonna happen to you. No matter what, I'll be there to protect you, Elizabeth."

She leans back a bit, their eyes locking for a moment before she leans closer to him and presses a warm kiss to his cheek. When Elizabeth pulls away to see a blush slowly creep onto his cheeks.

She smiles, "Thank you Meliodas," she thanks, nuzzling her face into his neck.

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I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long :(
Ive been busy and dealing with some personal things. But im back :))