Author's notes: Heyyy guys, so just a warning for this chapter, there's some implied content ahead 😳
Other than that, please enjoy this brand new chapter! ❤
"ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ ᴍᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ 'ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ᴀᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀꜰʀᴀɪᴅ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ."
ʜᴀʟꜱᴇʏ
"The Archangel," I whisper when I realise that there's a magical presence slowly fading away from the large group. "Ludociel."
With Ban's large arms still wrapped around me, I turn around slightly to see Mael protectively holding his older brother in his arms, his face full of pain.
"It's become so quiet," the eldest Archangel murmurs. "Tell me what's happened. I'm afraid that I can no longer see."
"It's all over, brother," the younger brother answers. "The Demon King has been defeated. The threat is finally over. It's all thanks to the Seven Deadly Sins. They were able to accomplish what no one else could ever dream of doing before."
Ludociel sighs in relief at this. "Oh, is that so? Just because they defeated the Demon King doesn't mean the Holy War is over."
"Easy now, brother," Mael says quietly as Ban and I make our way towards the group.
"This is but one small step along the way," Ludociel states weakly. "The first step that will bring the Goddess' and the Demons together after despising each other for so long."
Standing by my older brother's side, my eyes widen slightly in shock when I hear these words leave the lips of the leader of the Four Archangels.
"I can only imagine," Hendrickson murmurs.
"That's very true," Elizabeth agrees as she steps closer to the Archangel. "But honestly, I never thought I would hear you say something like that."
"You're telling me," I mutter under my breath and then smile nervously when I see my mother shoot me a death glare.
"Please forget what you've heard," Ludociel says. "I've simply grown weary of this endless and futile conflict."
"Ludociel, you sacrificed your life to protect everyone," Elizabeth says quietly. "Thank you. We won't forget."
Ban's arms tighten around me when we see the Archangel finally disappear with bits of his white grace drifting off into the orange skies.
"Brother," Mael says faintly.
"May you finally find peace," Elizabeth whispers as we all helplessly watch.
"The Captain, Ban and (Y/n) are finally back in the present world," the Lion Sin of Pride says once a couple of minutes have passed by. "There's nothing else we could ask for. What's with the long faces? What am I missing here?"
"Listen, we're happy that the Captain, Ban and (Y/n) have returned, however, the biggest problem hasn't been resolved," the Grizzly Sin of Sloth points out.
"Yes, they're right about that," the Boar Sin of Gluttony agrees with her comrade. "The time limit on Elizabeth's curse is up in one day and unfortunately, we've lost the only way to stop it. The Captain tried absorbing the Commandments to stop the curse once and for all but in the end, he had to defeat the Demon King. And (Y/n) still hasn't obtained all of her powers yet as the new Demon Queen."
"With things the way they are, Elizabeth will die," the Serpent Sin of Envy chokes as her lover tries to comfort her.
"It's alright," Elizabeth says. "The two of us have already made a decision about that. What matters most is that we've got the old Meliodas back, just as he was before. If he'd ended up challenging (Y/n), who knows what would've happened. And if I die, I'll simply be reincarnated."
"Sisi, I know that was your wish from the start but are you really alright with that?" Merlin asks the Goddess.
"Sorry to butt in the middle of a super-serious conversation," Meliodas says abruptly, "but there still is a way to lift the curse."
Everyone gasps in shock at this statement while I tilt my head questioningly.
"The truth is when I escaped from Purgatory, I happened to come across that power by complete coincidence," my older brother explains.
"Now is not the best time for joking around. You're going to upset the others," the Goat Sin of Lust scolds his captain.
"Sorry Captain but Gowther's right," Ban says as he gently places his chin on the top of my head. "There's no way you just conveniently picked up the power you needed to—No way, are you serious? You've got your intrinsic powers back?"
"Yeah, that seems to be the case," Meliodas says as if nothing special's happened.
"Meliodas?" Elizabeth calls out to my brother.
"Now, if everyone could give me and Elizabeth a little room here," he says simply as he waves his hands about. "You too, Mum."
"Why?" Diane asks but listens to the simple order. "Is something about to begin?"
"That's your cue, Merlin," Meliodas says as he clicks his fingers.
"Understood," Merlin says as she raises her hand that's engulfed with purple magic.
What the hell is going on right now?
The second the daughter of Belialuin does this, a black cloud of magic surrounds the feet of Meliodas and Elizabeth before shooting to the skies.
"What's that black haze around their bodies?" Diane questions.
"What are we looking at, Merlin?" King asks his comrade.
"Their curse," Merlin responds. "At least the visible form of it rendered by magic."
"Everlasting life and eternal reincarnation," I breathe as I stare at the ghastly symbols of Meliodas and Elizabeth's dreadful curse.
"So these two," Elizabeth whispers, "they represent the curse that's been afflicting us?"
My brother immediately catches my attention when I see him cross his arms before swiftly moving them to his sides.
"Holy crap," I mumble when his form changes into something I've never seen before.
"Captain, what's happening?" Escanor squeaks.
"You look different!" Gowther notes as if no one else can see it.
"Elizabeth, I'm sorry for making you wait for 3,000 years," Meliodas says. "Now I can finally keep the promise I made to you."
"Meliodas, tell me," his lover says as she clasps her hands together nervously. "Will you still love me after you've fulfilled your promise? Even after the curse is lifted?"
"Well of course I will," Meliodas answers her cheerfully with the most wonderful smile. "Forever. You'll get sick of me long before I get sick of you."
I smile warmly at this beautiful promise as the Goddess nods her head happily and enormous tears start to stream down her face.
"Now, be gone forever," my brother says to the visible forms of their curses as his new magic clusters together and then blasts upwards to the curses.
Everyone cheers when the awful curses disintegrate above us and then completely disappear from our sight.
"We can tick that off the list then," Ban suddenly whispers into my ear as we watch the freed Goddess throw herself at the eldest Demon Prince. "Now all we need to do is find your other brother and my mother."
My heart warms when I hear my lover call the first Demon Queen his mother. "Yeah."
Squeaking when he suddenly lifts me off the ground and places me on his shoulder, he says, "Let's head back, right Captain?"
"You got it!" my brother says with a chuckle as my ancient scythe comes flying into my hand.
And with that said, we all finally head towards the area where the other Holy Knights are who are desperately waiting for our return.
"Thank you all for all your hard work," Elizabeth says to all of the Holy Knights with a huge smile on her pale face. "The battle is over thanks to your efforts!"
"Alright everyone, let's return to Liones with the heroes, the Seven Deadly Sins!" Howzer yells to all of his Knights and all of them cheer with him.
"We need to make a little pitstop before getting back," my brother says as he turns to the group.
Everyone shares confused and puzzled glances with one another but then nod at the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins.
As we all make our way onto Mama Hawk, the Fox Sin of Greed suddenly offers his hand to my mother, saying, "Here."
Looking down at his hand and then back up at him, she says, "I do not understand."
"It's time to start anew," Ban says to her simply. "Trust me, Amara."
Cobalt eyes shining with hope, she places her hand over his and whispers, "Thank you, Ban."
***
"Edinburgh?" King questions in puzzlement. "This is the castle where—"
"Escanor made a huge mess of it," Gowther finishes his sentence and I instantly snort at this.
"Thank you for your help back then," Escanor notes and I can't tell whether he's saying this sarcastically or not.
"I'm going by myself at this point," Meliodas announces to us as Mama Hawk reaches a deep, dark pit. "You guys wait for me here, OK?"
Elizabeth immediately grabs her lover's hand and when my older brother looks over to see her encouraging face, his own face softens and then they both leap together into the pit.
"Be careful!" Escanor blurts out as we all stare after the pair. "If I recall correctly, the Captain created this hole himself, didn't he?"
"I see," Merlin says simply. "So his aim is to break the seal."
"The seal?" Escanor repeats.
"When we were here twelve years ago when the Vampires attacked, the Seven Deadly Sins were tasked with dealing with them," Merlin explains and my heart stops when I hear this. "There was one Vampire in particular that the Captain didn't kill. Instead, he chose to use dark magic to seal her."
"Her name," I say in a quiet voice. "What was her name?"
"We don't know," Merlin answers and the others all look at me curiously. "Why do you ask?"
"Because if the Vampire you're talking about is the same Vampire I'm thinking about, then my brother has a lot of explaining to do," I say through gritted teeth as I try my best to stop myself from going after Meliodas and Elizabeth.
"(Y/n), what's going on?" Diane asks me gently.
"This Vampire that Meliodas has supposedly sealed," I say slowly, "is most likely Zeldris's lover."
"What?" everyone yells at this.
Ban lowers himself so that his face is right next to mine and then says, "The Vampires twelve years ago took over Edinburgh kingdom but I knew there had to be a good reason why the Captain decided to seal away one of them in particular."
"So besides Zeldris's lover, they're all dead?" I ask softly as I turn slightly to see Ban's red eyes.
"It was for the best," he says quietly and then kisses me on the side of my nose. "Trust me, (Y/n)."
"Something just flew out of there!" Diane cries out as a bright purple light shoots up from the pit and towards the mountains ahead of us.
"Gelda," I whisper the name of my brother's lover as the light eventually fades away.
***
"Are you sure you don't want to join the others downstairs for a drink, (Y/n)?" Elizabeth asks me gently as I absent-mindedly play around with the belt of my new outfit.
"Huh?" I say dumbly as I look up at her, flustered. "Uh, no I'm alright, Elizabeth. You go on ahead."
"But I just—"
"Does my outfit look stupid?" I blurt out shyly.
"No, of course not," Elizabeth immediately says as she playfully ruffles my hair. "You look wonderful in it, (Y/n)."
This is how I imagined the new outfit that (Y/n) is currently wearing and the artwork belongs to Daa29.
Frowning, I turn my gaze to my clasped hands on my lap. "I'm just not used to the sleeveless part of this outfit I guess."
"You look beautiful," Elizabeth insists as she sits down beside me on the bed. "Really, (Y/n)."
"Elizabeth!" we faintly hear my older brother call out to his lover from downstairs.
"Go, Elizabeth," I tell her and shoot her an encouraging smile. "I promise I'll come down in a while."
Hesitantly, Elizabeth stands up and kisses me on the top of my head. "Alright. I'll see you soon."
Waving at her, I let my hand slowly fall to my lap when she closes the wooden door behind her.
Right now, the Seven Deadly Sins, my mother and everybody else is celebrating in the Boar Hat Tavern downstairs but I decided to stay upstairs in the room Ban and I share since the noise and smell of booze was starting to get to me.
My new wings and the odd symbols in my eyes have finally disappeared so my eyes have gone back to the colour (y/e/c).
However, I still haven't managed to control my new voice which is just radiating with powerful magic. But I guess I'll figure that out tomorrow since I'm too tired to think about it right now.
Tomorrow, I'll also need to figure out how to wake up Kilia since she still hasn't woken up. And, damn it, I still need to tell Ban everything about her.
"Hey, gorgeous," I hear a low voice from the door and I quickly lift my head to see that the Fox Sin of Greed is peeking his head in. "You not coming downstairs?"
I shake my head. "A bit too noisy."
Swinging the door open, Ban asks quietly, "Can I join you?"
I shake my head again. "Go back downstairs, Ban. I know you want to drink."
The immortal immediately flinches at this. "Hey, now you've really hurt my feelings. I don't always need a drink. All I wanna do right now is spend some time with you."
When I say nothing to this claim, the Sin closes the door and slowly makes his way to me. Once he reaches me, he shoves my legs so I place my legs on the bed and then shift around until I'm leaning against the wooden headboard.
"What are you doing?" I whisper in confusion as he lies on top of my legs and then buries his face in my stomach. "You're really heavy you know."
While he moves his massive arms next to my waist, I move my legs from his heavy weight so that they're pressed against his sides instead.
"Wanna be close to you," he whispers back his response.
"What's wrong?" I ask when I realise there's definitely something wrong here.
But what my lover asks me next causes my whole world to collapse. "You can't stay here long, can you?"
No, because to keep the balance in this world, my older brother and I have to leave this realm soon and head back to Purgatory. Otherwise, everything will spiral out of control and nature will fall into complete chaos.
Despite everything we have done, despite everything we have sacrificed, the two of us have to leave everything we had fought for behind. Which means Meliodas will need to leave Elizabeth behind and I'll need to leave Ban behind.
"I was going to tell you," I say weakly as he raises his head to look up at me. "Really, I was."
"How long do you have?" he asks emotionlessly.
"A week?" I guess since I'm unable to hide the truth from him anymore. "Maybe a couple of days. I don't know."
"It's the same with the Captain, right?" Ban asks, his pale face still blank.
"We didn't actually talk about it with one another, but yes," I respond with a small wince. "The two of us will have to leave this world in order to keep the balance."
After I say this, I start twirling a strand of my hair nervously and stare at the floor instead of Ban's wonderful face which is right in front of me. But my eyes immediately dart over to him when he slowly licks over his lips.
"Stop doing that," I say but my voice is shakier than I expected.
The Human quickly stops doing this and instead silently stares at me, but I can now see a glint of fear in his crimson eyes.
"I wanna make love to you!" he finally blurts out loudly and then quickly stuffs his blushing face in my stomach, groaning quietly.
"Make...love to me?" I question softly while hesitantly stroking his hair.
"Don't know how I'm meant to ask," he admits, words muffled in my belt.
"I...think you asked it perfectly," I murmur as my cheeks begin to heat up. "But...now?"
"We don't have to if you don't want to!" he says as his head whips up and he leans closer to my face. "No pressure. I was just...asking. We can do it whenever you feel like you're ready, (Y/n). So it doesn't have to be before the wedding. Or after. Or any time soon. Just whenever you're—"
I squish his cheeks together so he stops talking. "I'd like to."
"Huh?" he says with my hands still holding his cheeks.
"Just...be careful," I say shyly as my hands move to his broad shoulders. "Just be careful."
"But—"
"I trust you," I breathe as he shifts his body entirely so that he hovers over me, his large body covering my own, shaking with nervousness.
"I love you, (Y/n)," Ban whispers against my lips before he kisses me.
As I slowly wrap my arms around his pale neck, his warm hands begin to roam all over my body and without a doubt in the world, without even hesitating for a second, I let go of everything within my grasp and let the man whom I love with all my heart take control.
***
"What?" I snap at the Fox Sin of Greed when he continues to blankly stare at me without saying anything. "Spit it out."
"Are you..." he trails off as his usually pale face turns bright red. "You in pain right now?"
"In pain?" I wrinkle my nose in confusion. "Why would I..."
Eyes widening at what he's trying to ask me, I feel my face start to burn terribly and Ban immediately starts patting my head.
"(Y/n/n), your hair's on fire!" he hisses but starts snorting in laughter when I join in with the patting. "Stop, we look like idiots."
"Then don't go asking idiotic questions, bastard!" I hiss back but I can no longer control my giggles.
"What the hell is going on with you two?" the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins questions before taking a tiny sip from his glass.
"Nothing," Ban and I immediately say and turn to share amused looks with one another.
Right now, we're all in the grand hall of the Liones palace where King Barta has invited us to celebrate our victory but to also announce something. What that is exactly we still need to find out.
This morning, I found out that my voice had gone back to normal which makes me wonder if what happened last night had anything to do with it—
I slap my cheeks with my hands and Ban immediately snorts at this and asks, "You alright there, beautiful?"
"Bastard," I hiss at him. "After you said that, I feel so exposed."
Ban rolls his eyes playfully at me. "Be glad I only left love marks where your new outfit covers it."
Blushing fiercely, I punch his arm. "Shut up!"
"Good evening," King Barta speaks up and everyone quickly stands up with their glasses in their hands, except for me since I don't really like alcohol. "I would like to thank you all for gathering here on my summons on such short notice."
"No problem but what's this all about, Barta?" my older brother asks.
King Barta clears his throat before speaking, "Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Dragon Sin of Wrath, there's a favour I would ask of you in front of everyone. Speaking as King of this land and as a father, I ask you to marry Elizabeth and become the new King in my place. Nothing would make me happier."
As everyone gasps and makes loud shocked noises, Meliodas spits out his drink all over the King's face.
While Slader wipes the beer off of King Barta's face, the King goes on, "I'm not getting any younger. The truth is I went to Margaret and Gilthunder and asked the same of them first. But they declined, saying they're not cut out for the job and I can't count on Griamore and Veronica at this point. But everyone would acknowledge you as their King without question. You have the honour and charisma to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. How about it Elizabeth? I trust you have no objections."
"Listen, Father, I'm sorry but I cannot accept your proposal," Elizabeth says as she wraps her arms around one of Meliodas's. "I have other plans. I'm going to the Demon realm with Meliodas and (Y/n)."
"What?" everyone, including me, screams.
"What the hell?" Ban mumbles beside me.
"Ban, you idiot, what about you?" King shrieks and points an accusing finger at his comrade.
"Ain't it obvious?" my lover drawls as he throws an arm around my shoulder and gently presses his cheek against mine. "I'm following (Y/n) wherever she goes. And if she's heading back to Purgatory with the Captain and the Princess, then I'm doing the same."
"Ban," I say his name quietly but start smiling like a mad man.
"Bunch of dumbasses you guys are," Ban says as he sticks out his tongue at King. "I made her a promise when I found her in Purgatory; I'm never letting her go."
***
"As of today, the Seven Deadly Sins are officially disbanded," my older brother announces to everyone present as the cold winds around us grow stronger.
"Elizabeth," the King of Liones says with a trembling voice as he hugs the Goddess tightly. "I love you. Live a happy life, alright?"
"Yes, I will, Father," Elizabeth promises him.
As she continues to hug her adoptive father, I throw myself at the Lion Sin of Pride and the Goat Sin of Lust, hugging them around their necks.
"Bye, you two," I say with a big grin as I pull back.
"Stay safe, (Y/n)," Escanor tells me with a wobbly smile.
"Keep an eye on Ban for us, alright?" Gowther teases.
"Huh?" Ban asks and turns his head when he hears his name. "What the hell d'you say?"
"Of course," I say with a snigger.
"I mean, you are the new Demon Queen," Gowther points out as he taps the side of his head with a single finger. "Anything's possible for you now, (Y/n)."
"I guess so," I say and rub the back of my head sheepishly.
I jump when I feel a pair of unfamiliar arms wrap around my shoulders and I turn my head to see the Boar Sin of Gluttony who says quietly, "Goodbye, (Y/n)."
"Bye, Merlin," I say to her, smirking. "And thank you for agreeing to look for Ave and Zeldris for Ban and I."
"Of course," she says and smirks back.
I move onto the Grizzly Sin of Sloth who immediately pulls me in for a hug and whispers into my ear, "Make sure Ban makes you happy."
Chuckling, I promise, "I will, King."
Before I can make my way to the Serpent Sin of Envy, she rushes over to Elizabeth, saying, "I'm sorry for calling you cold-hearted. I was wrong so please, I just—I just don't want you to leave hating me."
Elizabeth quickly walks over to her and grabs her hand tenderly. "I could never hate you. You'll be one of my dearest friends forever, Diane. Don't worry. Now you and King get along for me, OK?"
Diane makes an affirmative sound at this as Elizabeth slowly lets go of her hand and starts walking towards the portal to Purgatory.
Crashing into Diane, I kiss her firmly on the cheek and say, "You better have a cute mix of Fairy and Giant babies for me."
"(Y/n)!" Diane exclaims as I roar in laughter and run after Elizabeth.
My brother and lover start laughing at this while my mother shakes her head disapprovingly but still smiles.
"Goodbye, King Bartra, Princess Margaret, Princess Veronica!" I yell at the Royal family of Liones as I continue to run through the snow. "And goodbye to you too, Slader!"
"So long, everybody!" Meliodas bids farewell to everyone as they all wave at us.
As I try to catch my breath, I call out to the Goddess, "Elizabeth, wait up—"
Out of nowhere, a forceful blast of wind knocks me off my feet and I immediately go flying backwards onto the cold snow, painfully slamming my head in the process.
I hear my brother scream for his lover but over his voice, a roar echoes around me, "(Y/n)!"
Vision darkening, head spinning, I feel the snow around me begin to melt and a voice whisper in my head, My Queen, brace yourself for what is to come.