Meliodas and others were fully focusing on rebuilding the tavern. He wanted it back in the business as quickly as possible. He watched as King and Diane fixed and strengthened the roof and walked away just a couple of meters further.
He stopped, it was a pretty view. They had stopped a bit higher cliff and the little town could be seen below it, after that there was just clear landscape until to the sea. The view was surrounded by forest. He found it peaceful, just what he needed right now. After coming back from dead he felt it clearly how a piece of his feelings was ripped, it ached him to know that. He scared himself the most, nothing else could make him that terrified than seeing him being that person again. He didn't even want to believe it was possible or it could happen again. It was a fight he didn't want to lose. He kept thinking it always when he found himself alone.
Isn't love supposed to be the greatest power? But how can I know what I feel if my emotions keep on disappearing? He kept thinking.
"Sir Meliodas?" A girly high pitched voice behind him asked.
He turned around to see her, "yes Elizabeth," he answered and took a couple of steps towards her.
Elizabeth smiled and stood there in the tavern uniform, keeping her hands close to her chest.
"I just.. Merlin-san has something she wanted to talk about with you and only you and.." She hesitated and took a more serious face. "She said it was important and I... Is it something bad... She sounded extremely serious."
"Sate sate sate... Where is she now?" He asked crossing his hands behind his head.
"She and Escanor will be here soon she said, but after she gets here she specifically said that she wanted to talk to you alone." She determinedly responded.
"Well, then it must be important, teehee." He grinned and walked past her and kept walking back inside.
Elizabeth stayed standing there with a worried look on her face, she felt like everything wasn't okay. What could possibly be so important and so secret? She placed her another hand down keeping it firmly in a fist. She glanced at the ground.
"Sir Meliodas!" She raised her voice and lifted her look just to find out he was already inside.
-
As she reached inside she found out Merlin had already arrived. Meliodas was standing behind the counter and Merlin was leaning on it. They both glanced at her as she arrived there. She looked at the room scanning it through.
"Escanor is doing his stuff until he transforms back into less cocky form," Merlin said and after turned on Elizabeth.
"Oh yeah..." She got to say.
Meliodas put down the cleaned stein from his hands, "so Merlin should we go someplace else to talk about your information?" He blurts out.
"Or I could just do this", she snapped her fingers creating a perfect cube around her and Meliodas. She snapped again, "now she can't hear us either."
Elizabeth couldn't hear them anymore so with a worried face she watched them by the door.
"Okay then straight into it. I think we both know that beating Zeldris along with the six others is going to take us a lot more than any fight we've been through now. After all, he's your brother and we already know a thing or two about your powers, but as well as we know you have your limits too. And this is going to be a fight you can't battle by yourself." Merlin fixed her standings by standing up and took a serious face, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Teehee so there still are the commandments of faith, piety, repose, patience, reticence, and purity. Plus we know that Gowther is the commandment of selflessness. Then you've captured the commandment of pacifism. Galand the commandment of truth is stoned by his own curse and Estarossa reportedly died in a fight against Escanor. So until Gowther remembers there are only six of them." He grins.
Merlin laughs, "oh captain you're such a player, then tell me..." She leaned closer to him, "do you want to die again? So you could go see your daddy and get your emotions tossed away more?" She leaned back on her standings, "if that's how you want this to go then fight them alone, but there are other options and you know that."
Elizabeth watches as his head goes down a bit, his hair drops to cover his eyes, his grin fades it starts to scare her.
"We need to bring her..."
"Not her", he cuts Merlin off. "She isn't used to people since when did we even see her last? We don't even know where she is, is she even alive? We can't rely on something so fragile and uncertain. Plus they don't know anything about her."
"We can feel her magic aura, can't we? So wouldn't it be time for them to know? Also, she's almost as powerful as Escanor which means she can fight one commandment alone. That's our best shot or you can go sacrifice yourself over nothing." She rolls her head and places her other hand on her hips. "Your choice captain."
What could her return cause? He lifted his head without changing his expression. His hands leaned on the counter.
"I know what you're scared of about bringing her back, and I can admit it's going to be messy, but we can't ignore the fact that we need her." Merlin opened her mouth.
Meliodas was still keeping his look downwards, Merlin started to give up.
"So you've decided", she snapped her fingers causing the cube to go down. She started to reach the door until she stopped after hearing Meliodas hit his fist on to the counter. He raised his gaze, he didn't like her plan at all, but he didn't want to take any pointless risks. His face was dead serious, "Merlin!" He shouted.
She stopped her hand from turning the handle, she grinned.
"Just let me do this my way and tell me where to search for." He continued.
Elizabeth was really confused and a little scared too, Sir Meliodas was looking really uncomfortable.
"With pleasure captain." She walked out.
Elizabeth watched Merlin walk away then she turned on Meliodas who had his back turned to her. His arms were crossed in front of him. His expression was blank and impossible to read.
"Sir Meliodas is everything okay? What were you talking about? Where are you going?" She asked question after question.
"Elizabeth..." he started.
"Oh, I'm sorry... Um, it's probably a secret.. isn't it?" She cut him off, "but if you're going somewhere we'll come with you. So you don't have to face anything alone, right?"
She cautiously smiled. He turned around yet his facial expression unchanged.
"You can't, but don't worry I'll tell you what it's about before I leave." He turned around smiling, fake smiling, but it was enough to keep her from asking more.
Silence set between these two, she knew everything was definitely not fine, so what was he hiding?
"Elizabeth, could you gather everyone to meet here by sunset? I'm gonna go and buy some materials." He asked.
She had never seen him so lost, but she quickly replied, " of course Sir Meliodas!" She smiled and he smiled back then he jumped over the counter passed her and left.
-
He was walking towards the shoreline, the sun had already started going down, the sound of the waves was calming but it also brought back memories from a long time ago. He remembered that scared little girl who was in pain. He remembered how she loved the sea and the waves. And how the moon made her eyes truly shine. He remembered how carefree and lively she was, but also how lost and confused she used to be. He remembered how she left, how it felt. What he didn't know was what everything meant. Why did she leave? He watched as the sun laid all the way down to the depths of the sea.
-
He stepped back to the tavern everyone was inside, Elizabeth stood in front of the counter Hawk beside her. Diane in her tiny form sitting around a table with King floating next to her. Ban behind the counter cooking something. Gowther stood lifeless at the end of the stairs. Escanor wretchedly sitting, his weak shoulders close to his neck and Merlin stood next to him. They stopped talking as soon as they saw him.
"So, captain tell us what is this reason why we all are here and not fixing this hell hole." Ban sarcastically said and stopped what he was doing.
"Yeah Merlin said it was important, but shouldn't we focus on upcoming things?" Diane joined.
He walked towards the counter expressionless look on his face, he jumped on it.
"Captain?" Diane asked carefully a bit worried.
King watched Meliodas with a judging look, he still doubted him after seeing that demonic form defeating Fraud like that his worries had only grown.
"Just that I wanted to talk to you about, we need all the help we can get so.."
"But aren't you the only one who can fight them?" Diane cut him off.
"Escanor is also powerful enough to take care of one of them," Merlin announced.
"Weell yeah, we saw him defeat Estarossa after all," Diane admitted.
"But none else of us has that kind of powers, you've said that even together the rest of us couldn't make it out to even one of them." King worriedly blurt out.
"It's a half-truth," Merlin admitted.
"So what are you trying to say then?" King heated up a bit to Merlin.
"Well, it could be possible if you all draw your inner, true power out, but we also need some of us to help the people who can't handle the demons by themselves," Merlin responded laying her other hand on her hip and raising the other.
"I think holy knights got it." Ban carelessly said handing Hawk some leftovers.
"Perhaps." She said.
Gowther raised his other hand's finger-pointing into the air, "I'm sensing tension why is that?"
Everyone started speculating their gathering up, except Elizabeth who just observed Meliodas as he still with a dull face stood on the counter.
"There is someone as powerful as Escanor." Meliodas blurt out and everyone went silent.
"How aren't the sins most powerful on the good side?" Diane asked confused.
"Yes."
"But it isn't one of us," Diane said really confused.
"She was."
"What?!" She crushed on the table.
Ban dropped the leftovers onto the floor and King almost dropped out on his Chastiefol. Merlin stood there smiling impishly and Escanor's mouth dropped open.
"She?" Elizabeth worriedly repeated.
"You're telling us there was an eighth sin?" King questioned.
"Yes." He raised his determined gaze,
"the dolphin sin of betrayal."
-
SOOOSOOSOSO rly don't know what to think about this it's reeeaallllyyy I mean rlly hard writing about so many characters that I just need to improve in it a lot, BUT anyways I decided to start my story from where the anime right now ends so if you've read the manga plss don't compare this to it ;))))))))) bc umm I rly don't know where to start with. this episode's word count is also a bit over 1900