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essays-for-breakfast · 4 years

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Second Chances

Melizabeth Week Day 4: Journey/Home

Elizabeth’s heart beat faster as a gust of wind hurried past and brushed her face. To avoid the backwards push of the current, she drifted sideways with a minimal flap of her wings, into the fluffy banks of a cloud. The tiny drops of water tickled her arms, and the nerves connecting her four wings to her spine bristled with an energy she still learned to adjust to. The white feathers could carry her farther than she could have ever walked, and as long as there was magical energy inside of her, they would never tire.

The sun warmed her skin, and joy fastened her pace as she rose to higher spheres where the winds blew in her favor.

The sharp sound of larger wings beating air confirmed that Meliodas had caught up to her, and when Elizabeth rolled midair to look skywards, he faced her with a wide grin. “Didn’t you say back-flying was a stupid stunt only invented for the purpose of showing off?” he asked and placed his hands on his hips in the most indignant and amusing position he could perform.

“I’m only taking this risk because I know you will catch me if I lose focus,” Elizabeth said. “You’ve always been there to catch me. And it offers me the opportunity to watch you.”

“Well, that’s a very good excuse, you can learn from the best Demon sky artist in all of Britannia. Although gotta say, the competition has become sparse recently.”

Elizabeth laughed and returned to the facedown position she was more familiar with. Her back had tensed during the short-lived performance, and she waggled her wings to prevent a cramp as she used the fading edges of an upcurrent to glide alongside Meliodas.

“I’m so happy for Arthur for what he has accomplished in Camelot already,” Elizabeth said. The images of their visit filled her inner eye, and she couldn’t help but awe in silent at the splendor the capital of the south had displayed. “In such a short amount of time, he has brought wealth and peace to his kingdom. And the citizens were so happy… I think in a few years Camelot will overtake Liones as the most powerful kingdom in Britannia.”

“At this pace it won’t take longer than a couple months I’d say. Every low-class Holy Knight is already begging to become part of Arthur’s elite. But he’s a good kid, he earned this victory.”

Elizabeth smiled. “He looked so proud when he guided us through the streets. Like a king people want to follow, no matter where he leads them.”

“Of course he’s proud of Camelot, it’s his home. He rebuilt that place with nothing but the crazy powers Merlin handed to him when he was barely old enough to drink.” Despite Meliodas’ joking comment, he failed to ban the bitterness from his voice in its entirety. A few grim lines had formed around his mouth.

“Are you still angry with Merlin?” Elizabeth asked. The shift in his expression confirmed she had been dead right with her assumption.

“Yeah, I am, and if I stop showing it, her dense head won’t pick up on the fact that she made a mistake. She hurt you. Even risked killing you. She won’t get away with it that easily.”

Elizabeth slowed her pace to examine the hills and cliffs and ranges of fine weather clouds around them. Merlin was their friend, moreover, she belonged to some of Elizabeth’s earliest memories of a time burdened with hardship but also beautiful, tender moments. What Merlin did might have been selfish, but Elizabeth had long forgiven her. And if Meliodas did the same, maybe their friendship would return to the better shape of days past.

“Merlin is your comrade, our friend,” Elizabeth said. “The Seven Deadly Sins were like a family to me when I journeyed with you across the land. And I know you feel the same, all these people mean more to you than your own happiness. You can’t tear this bond apart because Merlin has found something she dedicated all her efforts to. We both saw how happy she was to stand next to Arthur as his advisor. I will not begrudge her of the joy she had been searching all her life.”

Meliodas looked at her with an adoration strong enough to outshine the sun in the heavens above. “It seems I’ll never stop learning from your kindness and your strength.”

They continued their flight in silence, a warm, welcoming silence that never felt uncomfortable. One with the wind and the clouds, the Demon and the Goddess glided northwards, sometimes racing each other through the white, fluffy towers, then drifting along with lazy movements, their fingers interlaced. The delight filling Elizabeth’s heart like the warmth of an open fire in Liones’ castle during the cold winter months could only be tainted by the tiredness of her muscles.

As the exhaustion of her legs and arms pulled her downward below the clouds and allowed a glimpse at the landscape, Elizabeth’s heartbeat stumbled. Liones’ capital, with its uncounted houses of waddle and daub secluded by tall stone walls no human army had ever overcome, lay embedded into the hills of grass and bright yellow canola. An image of true beauty. They had almost reached their destination.

Elizabeth fell into a gentle dive to cross the remaining distance while Meliodas followed at her heels, ready to catch her if the long hours of travel claimed their toll on the last miles before the finish line. But Elizabeth was confident that she could make it, and as a metal finial caught the light between the treetops of a grove just outside the city, she steepened her flight path and hurried towards the beacon. The tented roof coming into view right after brought a smile to her face. The Boar Hat.

Home.

Over the course of 107 lifetimes, Elizabeth had lived in many houses, and for a while she might have called them home. The simple tent of Dusk Bison skin she had slept in during her time as a member of the savage tribe; the cabin of a trading vessel where each morning had been filled with the smell of salt and old wood; like a faint dream, the images of her first homeland, the massive alabaster towers of the Goddess Realm. The small house with the green door she had shared with Meliodas in Danafall had been especially dear to her. But all these could not compare to the tavern with its pointed rooftop and newly polished sign that identified the building as the ‘Boar Hat’.

When Elizabeth would one day breathe her last in this world, this place would be the one she would remember as her home Their home.

A few steps away from the porch, Elizabeth touched down on the ground with wobbling legs but with a joy in her heart so great it cramped her chest. Meliodas came to a hold beside her. But when he and Elizabeth entered the tavern room, they stopped dead in their tracks.

“SURPRISE!”

They had all gathered in the crowded space close to the entrance door, the Sins and company. Ban held out a massive apple-pie to the newcomers with a grin, Elaine clinging to his neck with a smile almost as wide. Gowther, dressed in the tavern uniform and covered with garlands of paper in more colors than Elizabeth could name, carried a tray stacked to the brim with mugs of ale while Hawk sniffed at his feet with a self-confident ‘pugoh’. Diane, who had been waiting at King’s side, rushed over to trap Elizabeth in a hearty embrace.

“Have you guys organized all this just for us?” Elizabeth asked once Diane had given her space to breathe.

“Sure,” Diane answered with a grin. “It’s been two months since we all got together like this, so we wanted to use the opportunity now that you have some time to lie low. You two are so hard to track down these days.”

“It was all master’s plan,” Ban said as he patted Meliodas’ unruly strands of hair, making full use of his height advantage. “He informed Gowther, who happened to be in town, about when ya’ll be back home. He’s the one to get the whole party running.”

Elizabeth dropped to her knees to give Hawk a hug. “Thank you, this is wonderful, Hawk.”

“I only did it to taste Ban’s scraps again,” he said to misdirect suspicion, but his eyes were leaking tears.

The group joked and laughed and sat together as though they had never been apart. Ban swayed dangerously in his chair after the third serving of ale, Diane and King talked about how well the merger between the Giant and Fairy Clan was coming together, and Hawk happily munched his way through an enormous bowl of Chicken Mantango scraps. After about an hour, they sent a toast to Escanor with a bottle of Castellio wine Gowther had obtained in a remote market place of an even more remote town for this special occasion. And while Elizabeth felt a knot in her throat when remembering the loss of their friend who had stood beside them throughout their journey, she had rarely been happier.

Because even though the Boar Hat was her and Meliodas’ home, the picture remained incomplete without their friends. These clay walls and coarse-crafted tables had been her favorite place for so long not because of the charm of its interior design, but because of the people she had shared this place with. And were it not for the two empty seats, Elizabeth could have pretended to return to these carefree days.

Elaine was about to hand Elizabeth a bottle with mild cider when a knocking came from the entrance. All heads turned and conversation died down, before King left his stool to open for the guest.

“You’re late,” he said with a tad of unease and shifted to allow Elizabeth a glimpse at the person entering the Boar Hat.

Merlin looked lost and remained at the door, emptyhanded and smaller than she actually was. She failed to meet the eyes of the gathering for long and lowered her gaze.

“I invited Merlin as well,” Gowther said in an attempt to bridge the silence hanging in the room like a physical weight. “I hope you don’t mind, Captain.”

Elizabeth spun in her chair in expectation of an angry growl or a question about why Merlin was standing in his house without permission ready to hurl at their heads, but no muscle twitched in Meliodas’ face. Without a word, he walked to the counter, reached for a wine bottle in the far corner of the shelf, and filled a wine glass with red liquor. If someone had placed a fork on their table, the sound would have echoed through the room like a cacophony; even Hawk had paused his meal. Meliodas’ feet on the stone floor sounded too loud in Elizabeth’s ears, despite his light step, as he crossed the final meters between himself and Merlin.

He handed her the wine glass with a smile, small but earnest. “Have a seat.”

Merlin stared at him in stunned silence, the glass shaking in her hands. “Thank you, Meliodas,” she said with a hoarse voice. Not since the Seven Deadly Sins had been founded had she addressed him by his name instead of his title as ‘Captain’.

Still a little uneasy, Merlin followed Meliodas to the large wooden table where the rest of the party had gathered and seated herself next to Gowther.

“Anyway, what I wan’ed to say’s that the Captain really messed up on our first mission,” Ban said. While he still sounded drunk, his eyes were clear and attentive. “Ya still remember how bad his motivation speech was? Merlin had to take over halfway through, isn’t that right Merlin?”

“I remember,” Merlin said with the tiniest of smiles when the memory resurfaced. “He was interrupted because you continued to challenge him to an arm-wrestling match and refused to take no for an answer.”

“That was the first time I won against him. Elaine, did I ever tell ya about the competition I have running with the Captain? You see, I…”

And like that, pleasant chatter returned to the table, and Merlin, despite sitting on her stool with a noticeable stiffness, had regained her place in the group if only for a little while. Elizabeth beamed at Meliodas and took his hand under the table.

“I’m so happy all of us can sit together like this. And that Merlin is with us too,” she whispered. “I believe she realizes how much she has hurt you, and if you give it some time, this matter will never again stand between you. All she needed was a second chance.”

“Just like I needed a second chance when I met you. I wouldn’t have been able to take a single step forward if it weren’t for you. Thank you, Elizabeth.”

Instead of an answer, Elizabeth gave Meliodas an encouraging squeeze of his hand and leaned her head against his shoulder. No matter what he did or what he would do, she would stand beside him to show kindness and forgive his mistakes when he could not forgive himself.

Always.

#melizabethweek #nnt fanfiction #nanatsu no taizai #seven deadly sins #meliodas #elizabeth #melizabeth #my writing #Did I abuse this to write about the issue with Merlin?#yes #I want Meliodas to forgive her #but not right away #Elizabeth wants everyone to be happy

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