Chapter 18 - What The Heart Wants
Diane and King finish telling us their story and their friends begin to ask all kind of questions, so I decide it's time for me to leave the room. I feel like I need some fresh air to get my mind off. I'm happy that Dianes memories are back and that her and King are stronger now. Also, her and King are finally together, which is the greatest news I've heard in a while. But I don't like the idea of her and the real Gowther talking, just shortly after I went to see him. What if he has told her anything about me and she just kept this informations from the others? I get shivers just thinking about it. I don't want anyone to know about Zeldris and me just yet. If we're really going to fight against each other, I don't want them to think I'm hesitating. Of course I don't want to fight against Zeldris but I'll do whatever is necessary to protect the kingdom and Elizabeth.
I can feel my demonic power inside me grow stronger and trying to break free and immediately know that we're getting closer to any kind of demons. "Mama Hawk, please come to a hold!" I shout and get up on my feet. Just seconds after, Meliodas and his friends step outside.
Meliodas looks up at me, a worried expression on his face because I made Mama Hawk stop. "What's wrong, Yami?"
"I can sense something" I say and my friends face gets serious and he joins me checking our surroundings. "There!" I say and point to the sky, where eagle-like demons are flying towards us.
"You're ready to kick some demons asses?" smirks Meliodas and we all spread out to fight the enemies.
"Now, that was good" says Meliodas after we're back on Mama Hawks back and whipes the last bit of demon blood off his face.
"Captain, were you really ready to fight again?" asks King carefully and with worry.
"Why shouldn't I?" giggles Meliodas. "Nothing's better than a good fight. Well, except for some good ale. What do you think? Should we toast on our first fight together again?"
Ban laughs and pats his friend on the back. "You really know what we want, Captain. But let me check on Elaine first" he says and walks inside already.
"We should check up on Elizabeth as well, what do you think, Hawk?" Meliodas aks the pig, who finally joined us and nods.
"Did she get hurt?" asks Diane worriedly.
"Meliodas, you haven't told them?" I ask surprised and Meliodas glares at me angrily, making me take a step back in shame. Once again, I should have just kept my mouth shut. I watch everyone walk inside and decide to stay outside. I don't want to hear about the curse laid upon Meliodas and Elizabeth again and I don't want to see the pain in his friends eyes, knowing I am the reason the couple has to suffer once again.
I'd do everything to free them from the curse his father and Elizabeths mother laid upon them but I can't. But what I could do was make sure it didn't repeat again. But I failed. From now on, Elizabeth had just one more month to live.
Time passes and it's late afternoon already. I'm still sitting outside, watching our surroundings pass by, whilst Mama Hawk is coming closer to the kingdom Liones. It feels good to leave the Seven Deadly Sins alone for a while and let them be the group they used to be before I appeared.
"Hey Yami, why don't you come join us inside?" I hear Dianes voice and turn around to see her walking towards me. I haven't noticed her joining me.
"I feel more like staying outside" I say and turn back around but the giant, that's thanks to Merlin human-sized again, sits down next to me.
"And I feel like it's just half of the truth" she says. "What's wrong with you? You seem so sad."
"Why shouldn't I be? After all, it's my fault Elizabeth has regained her memories. I'm sure Meliodas has told you everything."
"You know... If you hadn't done it, it would have happened to me. I was so excited to see who Elizabeth used to be that I couldn't wait to come back and tell her everything. After all, she loves the Captain so much. So, if you really caused it, it's just a matter of a couple of days."
"You're all talking like it's not my fault."
Diane just shrugs. "I have a feeling."
"I'm sorry, Diane. I really tried to protect all of you whilst Meliodas was sleeping but I failed."
"You didn't fail!" she says and smiles at me encouraging. "You let King and me go to the fairy forest to protect us, you kept Elizabeth and the Captain hidden so no one could find them and managed that Elaine could stay at the castle whilst Ban fought for what's right. And you saved the Captain from the Commandments in first place. I'm sure all of this wasn't easy but we're back here and we're all safe. So I don't see any failures."
I smile at Diane weakly. "Thank you for your kind words."
"You're my friend, Yami. I'll always be there for you."
"M-my friend?" I stutter surprised and now Diane returns my surprised face.
"Of course" she says and finds back to her happy smile. "You helped me with King and were always so kind to us. Of course you are my friend, Yami."
Dianes good mood doesn't fail to cheer me up and I feel so much better already.
I am her friend. After all, I didn't fail to make friends with part of Meliodas' group.
Knowing this already fills my heart with joy. "Thank you, Diane. I'm happy to have a friend like you" I say and smile at her, which she returns.
"Hey Yami... There's something else I want to talk about."
There it goes... She'll now tell me that she knows why I went to Gowther 3.000 years ago and what I asked him to do. She'll now tell me that she knows about how I dumped Zeldris and betrayed the demon race just shortly after Meliodas did.
"Well, what is it?" I ask, being prepared for the worst.
"When I met the both Gowthers, they told me you were a friend of them."
"They did say that?" I ask surprised. I'd have never expected to be friends with any of the two Gowthers. After all, I just met the real Gowther the day the Holy War ended and the puppet Gowther and I have only met a couple of times.
"Uh-huh" she says and nods. "You probably know that but Gowther, I mean, the Gowther we know, once had a heart. I watched the real Gowther give it to him."
"A real heart, huh?" I wonder loudly and pull the silver heart out of my pocket. "Did it look like this?"
Suprised and in shock, Diane grabs the heart out of my hand. "Where did you find it?" she asks too loudly in excitement and I grab the heart back in my own hands.
"Shush! Will you please don't tell the entire kingdom?" I say more quietly. "King Bartra gave it to me and told me it belongs to Gowther."
"But why did he have it?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me. All he said was that Gowther is going to need it soon."
"We have to give it back to him!" says Diane excitedly. "He's been looking for a heart for so long!"
"Diane, hold on! I don't think that this is really his heart."
"What do you mean?" she asks confused and looks at the heart I'm holding in my hand. "You just said-"
"I said that the King said it belongs to Gowther. But do you really think this silver thing is his heart?"
Carefully, Diane grabs the heart out of my hand again and looks at it closely. "There's no doubt, it's the heart the real Gowther gave to him."
"To be honest... I don't know what happened to Gowther. I don't know if the real Gowther has told you but we barely knew each other." I say and look down in sadness. "I don't know anything about his heart. I don't think that I'm much of a help. To be fair, I think Sir Bartra only gave this heart to me because you weren't there. Or because he thought like you. I know Gowther from 3.000 years ago but that's all."
I feel Diane place her hand on my shoulder as she comforts me. "You want to know what I think?"
"I think you're going to tell me, no matter what I say" I giggle and Diane chuckles.
"I think you've always seen the good side of Gowther, regardless of whether he had a heart or not and that this is the reason the King gave you Gowthers heart. Gowther will need us, you know? No matter if this is his heart, which I'm sure it is, I promised him to lead him the right way. This heart, no matter if it's real, it belongs to him. And when he remembers, he'll need his friends."
I put my hands around hers, that still hold the heart in them, and carefully close her fingers, so that she holds the heart tightly. "Let's do this" I say with a smile.
Diane and I walk back into the tavern and straight to the table where Gowther is sitting at. Hesitating, Diane looks over her shoulder, to see if I'm still with her and I smile at her encouraging. We'll do this together.
"Gowther" says Diane to have her friend look up at her. "I haven't told you everything earlier."
"I don't think I understand" he says in confusion and tilts his head to the side.
"When I talked to you and your creator... I made a promise to the both of you. And I finally want to fulfill it."
"A promise?" he asks, still confused.
Diane nods happily and King joins us, watching from hovering over us with confusion. It's kinda cute how he's always watching over her. "Together, we'll get back the heart you lost!" says Diane.
"The heart I lost?" asks Gowther, his yellow eyes looking straight into her purple ones.
"But this would mean that Gowther..." mutters Escanor, who overheard the conversation just like everyone else.
"Yes, in the past, Gowther had a heart" I say. "At least, that's what we can infer."
Finally, Diane pulls out the heart I gave to her and shows it to Gowther. "Do you remember, Gowther?"
The yellow eyes from our friend widen in shock as he sees what Diane holds in her hands. Within seconds, he jumps up from his seat and runs out of the tavern.
"Gowther!" Diane and I exclaim but he's already gone.
"Diane, what is this?" asks Meliodas and comes to stand next to us.
"In the past, this is what embedded in Gowther's chest. It's his heart" she explains.
Merlin comes over as well and looks at the silver thing in Dianes hand. "I don't sense anything heart-alike" she states.
"B-but how is that possible?" mutters Diane. "I saw the real Gowther hand it to him."
"Diane..." I mumble and look down at the ground as I try to hide my sadness. "This Gowther is just as real as the other one. He might be a puppet but what's the difference between a puppet and a demon? Or a puppet and a piggy? In the end, we're all real. We all are able to feel emotions. So can we please stop calling just one of them real?"
"Oh... Of course" she says, also saddened but then finds back to her earlier mood. "Let's hurry and chase after him!" she says.
"Diane, he's too far away by now" I say but then see Meliodas' green eyes lighten up as he waves us a smile.
"The Seven Deadly Sins' Seven Codes, Article Four. When one of us is in danger, everyone uses their combined strength to help!" he says and rushes out of the door and everyone runs after him.
"Hawk, please watch out for Princess Elizabeth one last time!" I shout to the small piggy before I run out of the Boar Hat as well, following the Seven Deadly Sins.
"Gowther, no!!" I shout when I find him close to a nearby town, ready to erase his memories.
"No way!" shouts Diane and kicks him in the side so he goes flying a few meters.
"What are you two doing?" asks Gowther madly and glares at us.
"You just tried to erase your memories, didn't you?" asks Diane. "Does that mean you were about to remember something?"
"I was only trying to erase this noise that was generated."
"What if that was your heart, Gowther?" I ask, still not believing the silver thing is really his heart.
"You forget that I don't have a heart!" he says to me madly. "Now, don't get in my way!" he shouts, sending white and purple colored flashes towards us.
"Diane! Watch out!" I shout whilst ducking and see Gowther running away again. "Gowther, please stop!" I shout and Diane and I run after him just to see King blocked his way right around the next corner.
Again, Gowther raises his hands and is about to erase his memories but Diane runs over to him, pressing his arms apart.
"No, Gowther!" she says sternly.
"I must erase this noise again!" says Gowther and tries to break free his hands.
"Gowther, that is no noise!" I shout.
"Be quiet!" he shouts at me before glaring back at Diane. "I erased my memories once before." Suddenly, he screams in pain and I find Merlin hovering close to him.
"Don't let him escape, Diane. ... Gowther, I finally understand the reason why your mental state is unstable" she says and holds the heart in her hand.
"Merlin...How..." I mumble, wondering when she took the heart and she looks down at me.
"You lost it while chasing after him, so I looked inside it a bit and there isn't any heart's magic imbued in this at all." Then she turns to face Gowther again. "Every time you started to remember something, you triggered a negative reaction and went berserk. This one causes it, too. It's just a reminder."
We all look at Merlin in surprise but Diane doesn't loose her grip on Gowthers arms. "I hear you gave it to His Majesty's older sister, Nadja, who died young from a weak heart." I look at Merlin in shock. Where does she know that from? "Nadja couldn't be resurrected" Merlin continues and Gowthers eyes look at her, filled with pain.
"Please..." whispers Gowther, suffering in pain. "Help me. I want you to destroy me."
"Gowther..." King mutters saddened.
"Keep it together, Gowther!" shouts Diane at him and pulls him close to her face, looking deep into his eyes. "If you're in pain, we're here for you! All of us Seven Deadly Sins and even Hawk and Lady Yami!"
Finally, I think I know how to help them and slowly walk closer. "Gowther, for all the painful memories, there must be some precious ones, too" I say and think about Zeldris. Even when what I did to him is tearing me apart, I'm glad I ever even knew him and was able to spend time with him. Even when Zeldris is my enemy now, there was a time where he was my friend. Even when Meliodas and I have to fight him, there was a time he was the one catching me when I was about to fall. "Please, try to remember those, Gowther! Your heart, it still exists inside yourself. That is why you went nuts whenever something caused you to feel emotions."
Again, Gowthers eyes widen in shock and he growls in pain, when his memories finally fully come back to him. "I have a heart?" he asks.
Diane finally lets go of him as he's no more threat to himself. "That's right, Gowther. Those tears are proof more than anything else" she says and just then I see him crying.
A bright light surrounds him and I can sense his magical power surging. "Along with his memories, his magical power has returned" states Merlin the obvious.
"I've closed my heart with my own hands. And I lost the memories of those I held dear along with my pain" he whispers and I whipe away the tears that escape my own eyes. "Thank you, Diane! And thank you, Yami!" Gowther says happily and for the very first time, I see the pink haired guy smile. "For guiding me to the correct path."
"Nice to see you again, Gowther!" Diane says just as happily, looking very pleased.
When we come back to the tavern, Elizabeth is already waiting for us. Her memories have regained fully and her blue eyes have changed into orange ones with the goddess sign in them. Once again, I feel guilty for what happened to her and listen to everyone telling her excitedly and across each other what happened to them and how they came back here and what just happened to Gowther. I look out of one of the windows and realize that the night is about to fall. Tired and overwhelmed by everything that has happened today, I empty my ale and walk upstairs, hopefully without anyone realizing.
Quietly, I sneak into my room, open the window and climb out of it, changing my arms into wings. I let out a sigh when I leave the Boar Hat behind me and travel across the entire kingdom to wait at the cliffs until I finally hear another pair of wings bringing someone down a couple of hours later.