Chapter Text
“So what was your childhood like?”
The sins were finally getting a rare break. So far, no new leads on the commandments had been found and there didn’t seem to be any new chaos so far, so the sins were taking advantage of the free time.
Elizabeth snapped out of her daze, staring up at Diane, small and sitting between Meliodas and Ban on one of the stools, her violet eyes gleaming. Elizabeth blushed slightly, sitting upright.
“Who are you askin’?” Ban asked, taking a sip from his ale.
“Well...anyone I guess! We’ve known each other for so long, and we still barely know anything about each other! How bout you go first Ban!” Diane said excitedly. All eyes were on Ban.
“Well, if you really wanna know, my childhood was complete shit. I had parents that didn’t love me, and if it weren’t for my friend Zhivago then I wouldn’t have gotten out of Ravens,” he explained, opening another bottle, “But I don’t focus on that stuff, childhoods are dumb anyway.”
“What about you Diane?” Elizabeth asked.
“Hmmm...well, I can’t really remember a thing! I think I lived in a cave with…someone small. He was super adorable, but that’s all I can remember!” she explained. King yelped, fumbling with his pillow as he stared at Diane, his face completely red.
“Oh! What about you, King?”
King blushed, stuttering slightly, before laughing nervously as Diane waited patiently for King to explain.
“W-well I lived with someone for a long time, and after awhile, I was forced to leave them. I still feel guilty about it sometimes, I wish I could apologize.”
“Awww! That’s so sad, King! I hope you can find them one day!” Diane said loudly. King’s face turned bright red again.
“Gowther, you don’t exactly have a childhood since you’re technically a doll, Merlin, what about you?”
“That will remain a mystery, I’m afraid,” Merlin said, smirking.
“Aww, okay...Captain! What about your childhood?” Diane asked eagerly.
“I didn’t have a childhood,” Meliodas said, his face blank, shrugging.
“So you had a shitty one, then?” Ban asked.
“No,” he replied, his face twisting into a frown, “I just didn’t have one.”
Everyone was silent as Meliodas got up.
“I’m gonna go restock the ale for tonight. Be right back,” he said, walking to the back of the bar, out of sight.
“Well, that was weird…” Ban muttered, “Damn, well now I’m curious. That leaves just Escanor.”
The large man was silent as he formed his words.
“I was a Prince, outlawed from my own kingdom because of my curse,” he said, his mighty voice shaking the bar, “They could not handle my fierceness and my raw strength. I was far too amazing for anyone of that weak kingdom to handle.”
Everyone laughed at Escanor’s boldness, before turning to Elizabeth.
“My childhood?” Elizabeth hesitated as everyone nodded their heads, “Well, it was pretty typical. A sort of...fairytale you could say. Even though I didn’t know my real parents, I still had a loving family and a gentle father that made up for the loss of my mother. I don’t remember much about my childhood, but I do remember a certain nickname everyone at the castle used to give me…”
Everyone stared at Elizabeth as she found herself lost in thought.
“What was the nickname?” King asked. Everyone else murmured in agreement.
“Hmmm...I can’t seem to remember, all I know is that it felt...right. But the court stopped calling me it when I was around 11 or 12. I guess they thought I needed to grow up a bit, so they all started calling me Elizabeth,” she hummed in thought, before snapping her fingers, “I remember it now! They used to call me Liz!”
“Liz, huh?” Ban said, smirking, “Kinda suits you.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth said, twirling her hair, “I always kind of liked it better, I somehow felt more at ease when being called Liz...but I guess it wasn’t a name right for a princess…”
As Elizabeth’s expression turned to sadness, Diane got up excitedly, “I have an idea! Why don’t we all start calling you, Liz? It’s not like you’re in the kingdom currently anyway, right guys?”
They all nodded in agreement.
“Yeah! You look sorta like a Liz, anyway!” King exclaimed.
“Okay then, that settles it, you’re nickname is officially Liz,” Ban said, smirking.
Elizabeth smiled happily. She felt at home again for the first time in awhile.
The shift soon after was a long one. Since they were parked right outside of one of the larger villages, they all crowded over to the Boar Hat for drinks, and everything seemed fine. She hadn’t had time to talk to the other sins before she went to bed, and she assumed that they all forgot about the nickname from earlier.
She sighed happily as she slid into bed next to Meliodas. She would love it if they called her Liz, but she knew it was too good to be true.
Well, it was worth a shot, Elizabeth thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
However, they in fact did remember her newfound nickname, and to her excitement, she was greeted with a, “Morning’ Liz” from Ban, and another greeting from King, who were both in the kitchen getting everything ready for breakfast.
“Good Morning everyone!” she said happily, getting a chair next to Merlin.
“I see everyone is used to your new nickname,” Merlin said, grinning as Escanor took a seat next to her as well. Elizabeth nodded happily.
“Yes! And I thought everyone had forgotten, too!” she replied, her eyes glimmering.
Everyone slowly started to sit down to eat breakfast, Meliodas finally coming downstairs last.
“Man, I could really go for a drink right now,” he said, yawning. He nodded a delighted good morning to the sins as he went into the kitchen to grab a glass and fill it with water.
“Hey, we need some napkins over here, Diane!” King called from the table, struggling to clean up a small spill of juice on the table.
“Umm...my hands are full right now helping Ban! Do you think you could get some, Liz?”
Elizabeth was about to stand up and walk over to the bar to get some, but instead a loud smash from the kitchen entrance stopped her, and everyone else in their tracks. They turned their heads to find Meliodas, a glass recently in his hand shattered to pieces on the floor.
His face clearly showed shock, his face in a deep frown.
“WHERE?!” he asked loudly, frantically whipping his head around, emerald eyes gleaming. The rest of the sins stared in silence as Meliodas stared at each and every one of them.
“She’s right here, captain,” Escanor said.
“What?” he said in quiet shock, his voice cracking slightly. Elizabeth stood up and made her way over to the captain.
“Sir Meliodas! I forgot, you were restocking and didn’t hear our conversation!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“She used to be called Liz when she was a little kid, but missed the name when she grew older. So we all decided it would be her nickname from now on!” Diane said, walking in with a plate full of food.
“Yes, it always felt right, and I’m so happy that everyone’s calling me by it again!” Elizabeth said, smiling brightly.
“Suits her, doesn’t it?” Ban added on, carrying in another plate of food. Meliodas nodded numbly.
“Yeah. It does,” he said, quietly.
“Captain, you don’t look so good. Are you feeling alright?” Ban asked, setting the plate down and walking over to where the captain and Elizabeth were standing.
Meliodas seemed to have snapped out of it, laughing nervously, and bending down to pick up the glass.
“Of course I’m alright, Ban. Just not used to hearing that name, I guess,” he said, his face still showing a bit of shock, but quickly being replaced by a forced smile, “Now let’s eat!”