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"ɪ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ᴀʟʟ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ."
ᴋᴀᴛʏ ᴘᴇʀʀʏ
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Bright star, please wake up.
What an ugly voice. Why is it shouting so much?
Oh, you little—(Y/n), you have to wake up!
Shhh, just stay quiet. At least for a couple more minutes.
Daughter, open your eyes right now.
Heat consumes my entire mind as my eyes snap open to be met with blinding light. Flinching at this, I shield my eyes with my forearm as I quickly sit up from wherever I'm laying down.
How the hell did I end up here? Where is here?
Will you stay?
I can't—You know I can't, (Y/n).
Sword pierced through my chest.
Dark mauve eyes quivering in fear.
Blood-curdling scream that is most certainly not mine.
Not mine—
Not mine—
Gasping quietly, I move my forearm away and then let out a strangled choke that echoes loudly around the large room I'm in.
Of course, the youngest son of the Demon King betrayed me. What the hell was I expecting? For the two of us to run away towards the sunset without any problems? Idiot.
My hand moves to my chest to the area where Zeldris stabbed me and my fingertips drag across the healed wound. Because of the force of the attack, I was knocked out before I could even heal myself. So who healed me?
I let out a small cry when an intense pain erupts within me before engulfing my conflicted mind. Roughly digging all my fingers into my hair, I fall back onto the soft sheets behind me and tightly shut my eyes, my back arching off the bed.
I can't feel him. He's not here anymore. He's not here. Meliodas.
"(Y/n)?"
Cold steel tickles my warm forehead and my eyes immediately blink open.
"You," I snarl and quickly try to grab the Commandment of Piety but it appears my body's still weak since Zeldris easily grabs both my hands and easily pins me down to the bed.
"(Y/n), breathe," he orders, a firm look on his face. "I need you to breathe for me."
"I will do nothing for you," I snap, trying to escape from his grip. "You lying, awful son of a—"
"(Y/n), please," Zeldris says and his voice wavers slightly.
"Where is he?" I demand as his magic holds me down. "Where is he?"
Crossing his arms over his chest, Zeldris opens his mouth and then shuts it, looking away.
No, please no. Please don't tell me—
"I did it to protect you," he says to the floor instead of me.
"He's dead," I whimper, my lips wobbling. "He's dead, isn't he?"
"The curse will bring him back—"
"And what about me?" I scream at him. "Did you ever think what the curse might do to me?"
Zeldris blinks, confused. "(Y/n), the Supreme Deity and the Demon King only cursed you with eternal life—"
"You fool," I hiss and I realise now that I'm becoming rather wild as I thrash around and try to break the bonds holding me down. "Every time your older brother dies, my powers grow to terrifying measures it scares me. Why do you think I always try to conceal them? When I die, your father will feed on that power, just like he feeds on Meliodas's emotions every time he dies."
"But you can't die, (Y/n)," Zeldris insists and I can tell he's surprised about what I've just said.
True, I was cursed with eternal life and everyone in the Demon and Celestial realm knows this. But this is a part of the curse that only the two Gods, Meliodas, Elizabeth and I know: every time I fail to protect my best friend and he dies, my powers grow and when I eventually die, that power will leave my body.
And I know for sure that when this happens, the Demon King and the Supreme Deity will go to war to obtain and consume this damn power for themselves.
And this is also another part of the curse that even Meliodas and Elizabeth do not know. "Every time Meliodas dies," I say as I try to calm down, "one of my hearts is destroyed."
"No," Zeldris instantly whispers. "No."
"And this is the fifth time that Meliodas has died in this realm during our 3,000 year journey," I say as I bite my lip, my tired arms sagging by my sides since I no longer have the energy to fight back. "But because you also destroyed one of my hearts, I only have—"
"One heart left," Zeldris chokes out and I try to not look shocked when I see tears rolling down his perfect cheeks.
"Yeah," is all I can say as my eyes focus on the white sheets wrapped around my legs.
Right now I don't feel fear or dread. All I feel is anger, anger that I was not there to protect my best friend, anger that I was betrayed by the one whom I just started to care for.
When I look up, I can barely contain my rage when I see a drop of red blood on Zeldris's left boot; Meliodas's blood.
"Get out," I say, voice barely above a whisper.
"(Y/n), please—"
Something terrible cracks within me.
"Get out!" I roar and the entire room shudders at the extent of the power I've released through my voice. "I said get out!"
Zeldris protests weakly, "I just—"
"How can you love me more than your own brother?" I scream with my hands clenched in front of my chest. "How could you let his blood be on your hands?"
"(Y/n), I beg you—"
"Do you deny it?" I demand as my whole body starts to shake. "Do you deny the fact that you let your older brother die right in front of your own eyes?
"No—"
"Then get out," I seethe. "Youngest son of the Demon King, Commandment of Piety, leader of the Ten Commandments, Zeldris. Get the hell out of here before I kill you myself."
Zeldris curls one of his armoured hands into a fist as a conflicted expression takes over his face. "And I would let you," he whispers before leaving through the huge wooden door on the other side of the room.
The moment he closes the wooden door behind him, the magic holding me down disappears so I immediately jump out of the bed and rush to the door, the only way out of this room. But I'm unable to open it. Of course.
Where are you? I ask my father as my eyes roam around the room.
You can't reach me, he answers solemnly. The Prince took the dagger when he brought you to this room and left it in his own room.
So where are we exactly? I question.
In the Kingdom of Camelot. Oh bright star, my father sighs in my head.
I should have listened to you, I say as I lean against the door, falling to the ground to my knees.
(Y/n)—
If I had just followed Diane, Elizabeth and Hawk, none of this would have happened, I say as cold tears fall from my eyes to the stone ground below. I wouldn't have gotten myself kidnapped and Meliodas wouldn't be dead right now.
It was inevitable, my father says.
I flinch. That I would mess up?
No, he says sternly. It was inevitable that the Ten Commandments would make their move on the Dragon Sin of Wrath. And even if you had been there, both you and Meliodas would not have been able to take on the Ten Commandments by yourselves.
Meliodas went against the Ten Commandments by himself? I whimper.
Then he stood absolutely no chance since he hadn't fully awakened his powers.
Hasn't. I shouldn't say hadn't because he's coming back. He has to.
The situation was complicated, my father says gently. At least this is what I heard from the Prince when he was speaking to the Demon King.
The Demon King. So Zeldris is still able to keep in contact with the bastard from Purgatory.
Why didn't anyone help Meliodas? I ask firmly.
They were all teleported to a more secure location but the Fox Sin of Greed tried his best to help when a Mage sent him back, my father explains.
But it wasn't enough.
Who killed him? I bark out the question.
Estarossa, the Commandment of Benevolence, my father answers me.
That arrogant bastard. The same Demon who always teased me when I was younger, the same warrior who was always challenging me, the same Prince who always had his eyes on Elizabeth despite the fact that her heart already belonged to someone else. I hate him, and I always will.
The door behind my back budges and my butt slides across the floor slightly. Jumping to my feet, I spin around just as the door opens to reveal a young woman holding a bowl of water.
"My lady, I'm glad to see you're awake," she says as she quietly closes the wooden door behind her, her dark bronze hair falling across her cobalt blue eyes.
"Who are you?" I question as I cautiously take a step back.
"Just a maid, my lady," she politely answers me, walking past and sitting on the bed. She pats the white sheets and shoots me a small smile. "Come and sit. We shall clean up your wounds."
"What wounds?" I say, wrinkling my nose in confusion.
Sharp blue eyes dart to my hands and then back to my face so I raise both of my hands and gasp lightly when I see the state they're in; they're blackened and slightly swollen. I must have injured them while fighting back against Zeldris's magic earlier.
"Prince Zeldris asked me to be your personal caretaker," the woman says as I slowly walk over to her and sit beside her. "I hope I'll be able to meet all of your needs, my lady."
Aww, what a sweet thing.
"Please don't call me that," I say with a wince as she dabs at my wounds with a wet cloth. "It's not necessary."
"Then I shall only call you that when we have an audience," the woman says with a giggle as her cobalt eyes blaze with amusement.
"You're a Demon," I state very slowly.
However, her power levels are so low that I nearly dismissed her as a Human. How very strange.
"I am, my lady." A small cough. "Miss (Y/n)."
Groaning, I roll my eyes. "Really? Come on now, drop the Miss."
The Demon in front of me grins, saying, "Of course, (Y/n)."
"And what shall I call you?" I ask her as she dips the cloth into the bowl.
The maid hesitates, pausing for a second. "I do not have a name."
My eyebrows furrow. "Has Zeldris never asked for your name?"
"He has, but I simply told him that I would like to choose my name in my own time," she says as the cold cloth meets my bruised wrists. "So Prince Zeldris just calls me 'My lady' to be polite."
"But why would you choose your own name?" I question. "What's the name your parents gave you?"
She places the cloth back into the bowl and then moves it to the bedside table, saying, "My parents died when I was just a baby so I don't know the name they would have wanted for me."
I place an injured hand on my chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—"
She grabs my hand that's on my chest and pulls it towards her. "It's alright, my lady. I had no family so I lived on the streets with the rest of the savages. I was simply called 'the girl' and I never saw a need to give myself a name."
My hearts wrench at this confession as she starts to gently wrap my hands with some bandages.
"I see," is all I say before the two of us fall into silence.
What a cruel world she must have grown up in. I had the great privilege of growing up within the palace walls with Meliodas, Zeldris and Estarossa, away from all the ruthlessness and brutality of the Demon realm my father tried so hard to shield me from.
But while I was living like a princess, there were so many other Demons my age who were barely making it through the day. What I considered challenging and difficult must have meant nothing for them since they most likely faced other problems that were even more demanding.
"My lady?" My head shoots up to the soft voice. "May I ask something?"
"Of course," I say with a wide smile. "If you call me by name that is."
A small chuckle. "Apologies. (Y/n). Is it possible if you could—" She cuts herself off, biting her lip hard. "Do you think you could perhaps give me a name?"
"Me?" I say, shocked. "But I thought you wanted to pick your name?"
"I changed my mind. I trust you, (Y/n)," she says firmly as she finishes tending to my hands.
A name. What the hell, talk about pressure. A name. It has to be a good one.
What are some names Meliodas and I talked about when we were younger? I remember he told me once if he ever had a son, he would like to call him Tristan, and in return, I told him if I had a daughter I would like to call her—
"Lenora," I breathe as my eyes flicker up to the beautiful Demon in front of me.
"My lady?"
"What do you think of the name Lenora?" I say.
"It's beautiful," the Demon in front of me says. "I would love that name."
"Lenora," I say with a cheeky grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Lenora giggles and nods her head. "I'm glad I was able to meet you, (Y/n)."
The door of the bedroom suddenly swings open and the person at the entrance is none other than the youngest son of the Demon King.
"My Prince," Lenora sputters as she drops herself to the ground and bows.
"My lady," Zeldris says as he crosses his arms, "there has been an accident in the throne room."
"An accident?" Lenora asks and then stands up.
"A Human attacked one of the younger Demon maids and none of the maids can calm her down, including me," Zeldris explains, rubbing the back of his head shyly. "Do you think you could—"
"Of course, Prince Zeldris," Lenora says with a bright smile as she heads over to the wooden door and Zeldris swiftly moves to the side for her to get through.
"Lenora," I call out and she immediately turns around at the same time Zeldris's ebony eyes widen. "Thank you for taking care of my hands. I appreciate it."
"Of course, my lady," Lenora says as she shuts the door behind her.
"Lenora?" Zeldris questions curiously.
"I gave her that name," I say bluntly and then look away.
"Ah, I see. So she's told you of her and the others' past?" Zeldris goes on.
"The others?" I say, turning back to see that he's sat down at the end of the bed.
"Including...Lenora, I brought in other Demon children found on the streets," he explains, tapping his fingers on the white sheets. "Lenora spoke on behalf of all of them when she said that they wanted to repay my kindness by helping around in the castle."
"Speaking of castles," I quickly say, despite the fact that my hearts—well, one heart now—warms up to know that my best friend's younger brother still has those soft hearts from his young age, "where's the King of Camelot right now? What have you done to him?"
Zeldris sighs heavily. "We tried to bring him in but he managed to slip past our fingers."
"So he's in hiding?" I push.
"Yes, along with a handful of other Humans from his kingdom."
"Good," I say loudly on purpose and then pull the sheets to wrap them around myself.
It's a childish response but I don't know how else to act right now.
"How are your hands now?" Zeldris asks.
"Fine, no thanks to you," I snap.
Another sigh, a softer one this time. "If you need anything, I can get it for you."
"My freedom," I say quietly underneath all the sheets.
"Anything but that. I can't risk losing you," Zeldris says quietly. "I can't lose you, (Y/n)."
"If you protect Meliodas, then I'll be fine," I say as I throw the sheets off.
I let out a little gasp when Zeldris's pale face suddenly appears right in front of mine.
"Which is why we will be retrieving my older brother's body," he says simply.
But then that would mean—
"Zeldris—" I say as I instinctively grab one of his hands. "You're actually—"
"We'll be heading over to the Kingdom of Liones and once we make it ours, we'll have Meliodas," the leader of the Ten Commandments says as his dark eyes soften slightly and he then caresses my hand with both of his. "And then you'll be safe, (Y/n). I'll make sure nothing will happen to you."
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