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"ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ɪ ᴀɪɴ'ᴛ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ."
ʙᴀᴅ ᴏᴍᴇɴꜱ
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The piercing gazes of many at this party were starting to get to me so I decided to step out onto the balcony of the main hall. I don't think I would have been able to handle it a second longer.
Once everyone got over the shock of losing the Lion Sin of Pride, we all slowly headed back to the Kingdom of Liones where we were greeted by massive crowds of the citizens of Liones.
But the moment those Humans saw me, chaos broke loose. Some immediately started backing away from us, some started screaming and shrieking, and some even tried to attack me. But the two Princes of Liones quickly stepped in and tried to reassure everyone that everything was fine.
While they did this, my hearts were filled with humiliation. I was the reason why this kingdom lost so many of its people. And now here I was, just waltzing back in like nothing had happened.
As I step out onto the balcony, I inhale deeply and then exhale quietly, trying my best to calm myself. Clenching my hands by my sides, I slowly tilt my head back to look up at the blue skies.
It will take a very long time for the four other races of Britannia to forgive and trust the Demon race. And this may not even be possible, to be honest. But I really hope I will be able to make a difference. If I become the new Demon Queen, that is. Only if I become the next Demon Queen.
"Oh, such a sour expression," someone speaks on my right side and I squeak as I quickly turn my head. "What thoughts plague your mind, Princess (Y/n)? Or should I say, new Demon Queen?"
"I'm not the new Demon Queen," I say firmly to the Boar Sin of Gluttony with a small frown.
"Hmm," she says thoughtfully as her lips drag along the edge of her glass of wine. "Is that so?"
"Daughter of Belialuin," I address her formally and then clear my throat awkwardly. "Apologies, I didn't realise you had stepped out as well. If you need some privacy, I can leave if you want—"
"Please, stay," she says, waving at the empty balcony with her free hand. "Honestly, I appreciate the extra company. And might I say that your new outfit looks quite splendid, Princess (Y/n)?"
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(𝗬/𝗻)'𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗳𝗶𝘁
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗔𝗔𝟮𝟵.
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"There really is no need for the formalities," I say uncomfortably and then look away. "And thank you...for the compliment. Zeldris wanted me to dress up a little bit for this celebration. I believe his tailor made this outfit. I was rather surprised he made it so quickly since we just got back."
"Don't worry. It looks good on you, (Y/n)," I hear Merlin insist gently so I slowly glance back up at her. "However, the only thing that is missing now is a content smile. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Perhaps," I say, wincing. "Sorry, I know I should be happy right now. We were able to defeat the Demon Queen and save Britannia. There is nothing amiss with this victory. I suppose, I just—"
"You are conflicted over what is to come," Merlin says softly. "That's perfectly normal, (Y/n)."
"I shouldn't worry about any of that now," I say, shaking my head. "I should be...celebrating."
Merlin immediately chuckles at my words before stating, "The fact that you're thinking about all of this just proves you are worthy of becoming the new Demon Queen. I know you struggle to see it, but it's very obvious to the rest of us, (Y/n). You are exactly what the Demon race needs."
You are exactly what our people need, (Y/n).
"Hey Merlin," I hear the eldest son of the Supreme Deity speak up from behind Merlin and I. "This may be none of my business but it's still possible for me to heal that burn away if you'd like."
"Is it ugly?" Merlin asks weakly as she turns around to face those who have entered the balcony.
Meliodas shakes his head with a soft smile on his face as he answers, "On the contrary, I actually think it looks quite beautiful. So if you're OK with it, then I'm OK with it too."
"Me too, me too!" the Serpent Sin of Envy agrees loudly with this assertion before crashing into Meliodas and wrapping her arms firmly around his neck. "I think it's really striking."
"I agree," the Grizzly Sin of Sloth speaks up. "And I think it's honourable to keep it."
"As long as she has that scar, Escanor will continue to live on as part of Merlin," the Goat Sin of Lust notes as he walks over to stand beside Merlin, smiling brightly at her.
"Aww man, I lost," the Fox Sin of Greed says out of nowhere as he joins us, his entire face flushed.
"Beauty's in the eye of the beholder, right?" Elizabeth says gently, her sharp blue eyes flashing.
Merlin's stoic face immediately softens when she hears these sweet words from my eldest sister.
"It's really sad to think about Escanor but there's hope now," Diane speaks up as the youngest son of the Supreme Deity walks over to me, grinning crazily. "Everyone finally has the chance to live a happy life. By using up all the power she got from her Demon Queen heritage, the Captain doesn't have to go back to the Demon realm and Meliodas and Zeldris's curse has been lifted too. So that means Meliodas and Zeldris can finally be with Elizabeth and (Y/n). Ban resurrected Elaine and now they finally get the chance to be together. Gowther was able to remember his heart and all of his memories of Nadja. And King went through a full transformation and became the true Fairy King. Then he...uh...he asked me to marry him and it was so sweet."
"Yeah, and the dummy did it right smack dab in the middle of battle," Ban comments, smirking as he playfully ruffles King's brown hair.
"Hey, you're the one that got me going!" King immediately argues with his future brother-in-law.
"And that now brings us to Merlin," Diane says excitedly as Merlin takes a quick sip of her wine.
I flinch when I feel a hand brush against mine and then hear Zeldris say, "Easy, it's just me."
Exhaling heavily, I shoot him a mischievous grin and then wink which gets him spluttering.
"That reminds me. What exactly is it you want, Merlin?" Diane asks her fellow comrade curiously with a small pout. "You don't really talk about yourself very much, do you?"
My second eldest sister blinks her blue eyes in surprise at this last question and then turns her attention to Merlin while Mael places a hand on her shoulder, his gaze focused on Merlin as well.
"She's been helping out the Captain for a long time," King points out while he floats beside Gowther. "Way before the Seven Deadly Sins were even assembled, right?"
"And they've known each other longer than anyone else in the group," Gowther points out.
"I can't imagine she'd be the type to help others out of sheer goodwill," Ban says jokingly while the younger sister of the Fairy King desperately tries to hold him back from drinking even more. "No way she'd do that for 3,000 years without any kind of reward in mind."
"Ban," Princess Elaine protests with a disapproving expression on her adorable face now.
"So tell us," Diane insists excitedly and then quickly raises both of her hands in the air. "There's gotta be something that you wish for, right? Is it some crazy magic experiment? Getting yourself some ultra-rare materials? Whatever it is, tell us! We can all help you with it!"
"Alright then," Merlin says as she closes her eyes. "After all we've been through, I suppose you have a right to know and an obligation to see it. As my trusted fellow comrades in arms—"
The Daughter of Belialuin swiftly snaps her fingers and she teleports all of us to a new location.
"Everyone, look there," Meliodas says as he points at something up ahead. "It's the Boar's Hat."
"And the magic lake too," Elizabeth notes slowly with a confused tone, narrowing her blue eyes.
"Now then let's begin, shall we?" Merlin says and I look up to see her floating above all of us.
"Hold up, what is it that's about to start?" my eldest sister questions as she looks up as well.
"I am going to awaken Arthur," Merlin answers her and I whip my gaze over to Zeldris, frowning.
Grimacing, the youngest son of the Supreme Deity then whispers to me, "Arthur didn't make it, (Y/n). I think Cusack used some sort of spell because Arthur killed himself with the Holy Sword."
Whatever your reasons are for doing this, betraying those who believe in you, all your friends, the person who I thought you loved, it's unforgivable!
Eyes widening, I suck in a sharp breath when I finally remember what happened to the young King of Camelot before the Boar Sin of Gluttony managed to teleport themselves away from us.
I'll never ever forgive you!
"Wait, for real?" Elizabeth says while Zeldris slips his hand into mine, intertwining our fingers.
Merlin makes her way towards the Boar Hat Tavern and begins to make strange hand gestures, saying softly, "Etionee ludtha oyemasee edobook."
A dark portal immediately opens on the side of the Boar Hat Tavern and my hearts drop when I recognise the body that slowly comes out of the portal. The Holy Sword is embedded right in the centre of the young Human's stomach and his eyes are closed, a peaceful expression on his face.
"Hold on. Did she say awaken Arthur?" the Serpent Sin of Envy inquires as dread starts to spread all over my chest. "Does that mean she plans on resurrecting him? I'm confused."
"Maybe. I don't know," Elizabeth admits before looking over at me. "We'll wait and see I guess."
"You swines!" a squeaky voice cries out in the distance and I spot the pig who was at our first battle against my mother. "What took you so long? I feel like I've been out here waiting forever!"
"What the heck?" Meliodas mutters under his breath as Elizabeth says cheerfully, "Hawk!"
I snigger when the pig throws himself at Meliodas's face and says, "I was so lonely out here. I was trembling like a fawn trying to learn how to walk in a blizzard under the shade of a giant rock."
"That's a lot to imagine," my lover's older brother grumbles and then tries to get Hawk off him.
"Hold on," King says while Zeldris giggles quietly. "Have you been out here the entire time?"
"To be honest, I hadn't even noticed that you weren't around," Diane admits. "Sorry."
"How mean!" Hawk exclaims at this. "I came all the way here with my mum to do my part in the fight against the Demon Queen. But you guys all beat her up before we even got here, right? So I thought oh well guess that's that then and tried to turn around but mum went all weird on me and wouldn't budge from the spot near that freaky deep water."
Clearly annoyed now, the eldest son of the Supreme Deity mumbles, "Hawk, let go of me."
"I'll never let go," the large pig wails. "Oh, wait. Zeldris, you're here too! Then maybe I'll—"
"Nope," Zeldris says, waving his hands around. "You can spend your cuddling session with Mel."
"Damn you, Zel," Meliodas says with a grunt and I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.
"I have followed your revelation and everything is in place," I hear the Daughter of Belialuin announce loudly so I glance up to see what she's doing. "Princess, are you ready as well?"
"Princess?" Lenora murmurs worriedly. "Anyone have any idea who Merlin is talking about?"
"Who knows?" Gowther responds while Ban places a hand on his head, balancing himself.
"It seems the time has come to welcome him, to your and our master," an eerie voice echoes around all of us before various rays of light suddenly burst from within the blue lake.
The bright light surrounds Arthur's body and then engulfs him whole. Gritting my teeth, I quickly grab hold of Zeldris when the light erupts and sends powerful gusts of wind towards all of us.
"Woah," my lover whispers once the light dies away to reveal the King of Camelot waking up.
"No way," Diane breathes in shock. "He's alive again! Woah, she brought Arthur back to life!"
"What have I been doing till now, I wonder?" I hear Arthur ask weakly as he slowly straightens his back and then looks down at his body, his purple eyes shimmering with bewilderment.
"Out of all the races, Humans are the most contradictory," Merlin says as she observes the young Human in front of her. "Possessing both the good and evil, light and dark, and contradiction is no different from Chaos. In fact, it may be Chaos in its purest form meaning a Human who's been chosen by the Priestess of Chaos is certain to become he who commands Chaos."
Do not fight the young King of Camelot, Gelda's words from the past quietly echo in my head.
"Arthur's acting rather strangely," Elizabeth says nervously once we realise that his entire body is shaking in discomfort. "Merlin, what's going on? What's wrong with Arthur?"
"Nothing's wrong," Merlin answers her simply with a blank face, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I told you from the beginning my goal was to awaken him, to become the King of Chaos."
"King of Chaos?" Mael breathes while Lenora blurts out, "The what now? What's she on about?"
"What's happening to me?" the King of Camelot groans, squeezing his eyes shut. "To my body?"
"Don't be afraid," Merlin reassures him with a soothing tone. "Embrace it, Arthur. The time has finally come to awaken the immeasurable magic within you."
"What? What are you saying?" Arthur grunts in pain, teeth clenched. "Help me, Merlin. It hurts."
I startle when the enormous green pig next to us makes an odd sound, the ground shaking a bit.
"What?" Hawk asks, looking up at her. "What's going on? What in the world is the matter, Mum?"
"When the King awakens, he will release the seal on Chaos," Merlin states as she simply watches the King of Camelot struggle in front of her. "Chaos will return home to the King."
My eyes widen in horror when Arthur suddenly throws his head back and screams in pure agony. Everything starts to tremble around us when the massive green pig next to us roars as well.
"Arthur, hold on!" my eldest sister cries out as she swiftly makes her way to the pair above us with her dark wings beating on her back. "Arthur!"
"Why are you here, Elizabeth of the Demon race?" Arthur hisses bitterly and then whips his head around. "You are not welcome! I won't let the Demons have their way with Britannia!"
A horrified cry escapes my lips when I see his newly-formed eyes; black eyes with purple irises. The very same pair of eyes that have been haunting me ever since I came back to Britannia.
"(Y/n)!" Zeldris yells in shock when my knees unexpectedly buckle and I collapse on the ground.
Just as the Goddess grabs hold of my shoulders, everything around us turns pitch black and then lightens up to reveal a whole new terrain full of strange and bizarre entities of sorts.
"What is all this?" I hear the Serpent Sin of Envy cry out while she firmly holds onto Meliodas.
"And where the hell are we right now?" Meliodas questions as we all examine our surroundings.
"Everything's...chaotic," Zeldris whispers in realisation as he quickly drags me to his broad chest.
"Elizabeth!" Lenora shouts our sister's name and I turn to see her fall into the ocean below us.
Zeldris and I immediately sigh in relief when the Fox Sin of Greed manages to yank the Dragon Sin of Wrath out of the raging ocean and then head elsewhere, disappearing from our sight.
"Lady Elizabeth," Arthur speaks up, his cold voice echoing everywhere. "We met by the guiding hand of a momentous destiny so what matters isn't what others think of you but what you think of others. Lady Elizabeth, I looked up to you. I don't understand. Why? Why? Why?"
"What's going on with you right now, (Y/n)?" Zeldris questions firmly as he places a hand on my cheek, forcing me to look at him. "Arthur's new eyes...They threw you off guard, didn't they?"
"Yes," I answer with a small shiver. "Those are the same eyes I've been seeing in my nightmares."
I blink in surprise when everything around us brightens up again and we're all back near the magic lake once again with the Boar Sin of Gluttony and the King of Camelot floating above it.
"Woah, everything's back to normal," Hawk says as we all quickly look around, disoriented.
"So what exactly was all that?" Meliodas questions once he catches sight of my eldest sister.
"I think we just saw Arthur's magic," Elizabeth answers quietly, her blue eyes filled with worry.
While Zeldris helps me stand up, Arthur and Merlin come floating back down to the ground.
"That was a huge mistake," Arthur says to everyone, evidently embarrassed as he slowly ruffles his ginger hair. "One for the history books. I'm sorry is not enough to cover it but I am. And to be honest, my head's still kind of a mess right now."
"You didn't do anything wrong," Elizabeth reassures him. "I'm the one who should apologise."
"What? No, no," Arthur protests as he waves his white-gloved hands. "You didn't do anything at all! Besides, I'm really happy to see you again."
"Good to hear and likewise," Elizabeth says in response, relaxing a little. "Anyways, there's something I wanna ask you, Merlin. What did you do to Arthur? What do you mean by Chaos?"
"Chaos," Merlin whispers as Elizabeth's blue eyes watch her carefully. "It's a simultaneously pure and impure entity. Even the Demons fear its darkness, even the Goddesses worship its light. Its power is immense and it's believed that with a single intention, it brought about this world and all the races from nothingness. That would include the Demon Queen and the Supreme Deity. This led the wise men of antiquity to call it the Mother of Chaos. Arthur, you command Chaos. That makes you the King who will lead Britannia to a new world."
"Huh? I'm the what now?" Arthur splutters and then points a gloved finger at himself. "I'm not following what you're saying here."
"Why would you awaken a power that's just as much a curse as it is a blessing?" Elizabeth questions angrily. "What exactly are you plotting? If this is your wish, I don't understand it!"
"My wish, huh?" Merlin says quietly and I wince when I see the sorrow in her yellow eyes.
"Allow me to answer that question on Merlin's behalf," the voice from earlier speaks again and both Zeldris and I squeak at this. "I will tell you about the wish made by a lonely witch who wandered the land in search of Chaos."
"And just who is it that's talking?" my eldest sister demands. "Come out, show yourself!"
"I'm afraid you'll have to pardon me for that for I cannot part from this lake," the voice says.
"This whole thing is getting really fishy," Ban jokes lightly and then smiles widely when the two Goddess brothers shoot him an unamused look. "What? Admit it, that was a great joke."
From within the deep waters of the blue lake, a dark silhouette of a woman suddenly appears.
"I am the one who was wrought from Chaos," the voice continues to speak. "The ancients call me the Lady of the Lake but I am also known as the Priestess of Chaos."
"The Lady of the Lake?" Arthur repeats the words slowly, leaning his head to the side. "Where have I—Oh yeah! You're the one who gave the Holy Sword to King Calfan the first."
"Listen whoever you are," Elizabeth says firmly, scowling darkly. "I've been around for over 3,000 years. Not once have I ever heard of any being of Chaos. Not from Merlin, not from anybody."
"Of course you haven't and there's a reason for that," the Priestess of Chaos says in response to this statement. "For the past 3,000 years, she's hidden it from you and everyone else."
"Merlin kept something that big a secret from us?" Diane says in disbelief, her purple eyes wide.
"Why would you do that?" Gowther questions with a clear expression of hurt on his pale face.
"Come on," Elizabeth says and then crosses her arms over her chest. "Out with it, Merlin."
Before the Daughter of Belialuin can answer her, the waters from the lake shimmer brightly.
"Ah," the Priestess of Chaos speaks again softly. "Princess (Y/n). My, you've grown so much."
I flinch at these unexpected words, stuttering, "Uh, wh—what now? Lady, I don't know you—"
"No, I suppose you do not," she hums. "Indeed, the Oracle of Chaos was granted more time than me to become acquainted with you, youngest daughter of the fallen Demon Queen."
"The Oracle of Chaos?" I say quietly and shake my head. "I—I don't know any oracle of any kind."
"Oh but you do, Princess (Y/n)," the Priestess of Chaos insists with a chilling voice. "After all, in order to protect both you and the youngest son of the Supreme Deity, the Oracle of Chaos allowed herself to be reborn as the only child of the Vampire King over 3,000 years ago."
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