Chapter Text
Meliodas stared at the smouldering crater Danafor had become and viciously shoved down the guilt that threatened to drown him. Liz’s bloodied face flashed in his vision and the blonde clenched his eyes shut in a vain effort to keep the tears at bay. A sob tried to force its way up his throat, but he swallowed it down. However, before the despair could consume him completely, a glint from the corner of his swimming eyes caught his attention and he hurriedly wiped the moisture from his face. On the ground next to him laid a strange artefact that looked somewhat like a dragon, completely pristine despite the apocalyptic landscape around them. Meliodas stumbled forwards and picked the strange instrument up, eyeing it even as a familiar jolt of energy travelled down his arm. ‘Demonic energy? This… Oh, I remember. This must be part of the Coffin.’ Meliodas frowned at that, staring back across the chasm he’d created as if to try and spot any potential demonic activity through the smoke. However, there was nothing but the crackling of flames and Meliodas relaxed a touch as he allowed himself to believe that the Demon Seal had remained intact during the attack.
A cough shattered the broken silence around Meliodas and he spun on the spot, tensing in preparation. However, instead of coming face to face with a demon, or even maybe a surviving member of the Holy Knights, Meliodas’ gaze landed on a crumpled figure between two rocks. Slowly approaching, Meliodas’ eyes widened as he realised it was a woman. A small baby’s cry rang out from her direction and Meliodas swallowed a curse as he caught sight of the small child wrapped in the injured woman’s arms. “Hey! Hold on, I’ll get you out of-” Meliodas scrambled over the rocks to reach the pair, but was cut off by the woman. Her forest-green eyes swung around to meet Meliodas’ and the man paused as she held out her precious bundle in shaking arms to him. “Please! Please, take her! Please!” The woman sobbed, choking, and from the rattling in her lungs and the blood on her lips, Meliodas knew that she wasn’t long for this world.
The demon was proven right in the next moment when the lady’s strength evidently failed her and her arms collapsed, threatening to send the babe smashing into the rocky ground. Lunging forward with a hiss, Meliodas snatched the child from the air and gently settled her in his arms. Peering at the woman, Meliodas opened his mouth, aiming to say something reassuring, but paused before he could. The mother had collapsed backwards, eyes dull, vacant, and undeniably dead. Meliodas’s face crumpled at the sight of another soul he’d killed and the child he’d orphaned. Taking a deep breath, Meliodas glanced down at the newborn squirming in his arms in an effort to spot any injuries. However, the moment his eyes landed on the babe, the breath stuttered in his lungs.
The child was peering up at him with the greenest eyes he’d ever seen, only a few shades darker than his own. Her hair, black as pitch and silky in texture, was already curling around her ears and over her forehead. Her skin was pale, much paler than any shade he’d seen before, but it still glowed with vitality despite the curiously-shaped birthmark marring the left side of her forehead. However, it was the absolute overwhelming pull and yearning in his chest that froze him in place. He’d recognise that feeling anywhere, having experienced it 107 times by that point. Even if the child looked nothing like his cursed love - hair black and curly instead of smooth and silver and eyes like the brightest of emeralds rather than the colour of the ocean - there was no doubt about it.
“Elizabeth.” Meliodas choked out, feeling the tears he’d been desperately trying to keep at bay roll down his cheeks. The baby, his Elizabeth, just cooed up at him, little arms reaching for his chin and a tiny grin lighting up her face. Meliodas clutched her tighter to his chest, trying to shield her from the smoke and fumes surrounding them. Liz’s final moments flashed in his mind and Meliodas had a heart stopping moment of realisation that he could have killed Elizabeth’s newest reincarnation before she was even born. Shaking his head to rid himself of those dark, dangerous thoughts, Meliodas shifted both the dragon handle and Elizabeth around in his arms so he could hold the child securely. Glancing around one last time, Meliodas gritted his teeth and started the trek out of the cavern, wanting to get as far away from the destruction as possible.
It took him an entire hour to finally claw himself and Elizabeth free from the crater Danafor had become, ignoring the burns and wounds he’d sustained every step of the way. He’d been almost startled when he’d breached the worst of the dust cloud that had been formed from his wrathful loss of control to see that it was actually still daytime, although the entire attack had made it seem much longer. He’d been
wildly
grateful for it however; he hadn’t fancied his chances of getting somewhere safe during the night, not to mention his utter lack of supplies or allies. He wouldn’t put it past the barbarians to the north to take advantage of Danafor’s fall, to come to investigate and pillage, and with his current condition he feared he wouldn’t be able to fend them off, especially not with Elizabeth so vulnerable in his arms. Thankfully the baby in question remained almost silent the entire time, the little girl watching him with attentive, emerald eyes. She hadn’t squirmed once, her tiny hands latched onto his shirt, and Meliodas gently adjusted the brown cloak surrounding her in order to protect her further from the smog.
Gasping as he finally crested the hill, Meliodas coughed briefly as the smoke he’d inhaled rebelled against his lungs. Elizabeth gave out a small whimper that caused his attention to snap to her in an instant, but she simply stared at him with what Meliodas would have thought to be concern if she hadn’t been so young. Meliodas smiled gently back at her, ignoring the continuous tears dripping down his cheeks, and rubbed a finger gently over her cheek. She hummed, eyes fluttering, and a small hand detached from his shirt and grabbed onto his finger immediately. “It’s okay, Elizabeth. I’m okay. We’re okay.” Meliodas murmured, repeating it like a mantra as he stumbled forward. However, it was at this point that the clanking of steel reached the man’s ears and he halted abruptly. Eyes narrowed, Meliodas watched as the two mounted men grew closer, surveying them. Their magic didn’t seem too powerful, although the younger one was definitely strong, but the fact that Meliodas had his very fragile, infant reincarnated lover in his arms immediately ratcheted up the threat level.
“Hey!” The younger man with long silver hair called, running over, and Meliodas tensed immediately. “Hey, you’ve got some pretty bad wounds there. Here, let me take the babe so you can sit down-” The moment the blonde saw the hand heading straight for Elizabeth, he lost it. Meliodas all but snarled at the man, brandishing the dragon artefact like a weapon. “Don’t you dare touch her!” Meliodas growled out, mind running a mile a minute in an effort to work out the best possible way to either deal with the threat or escape safely. However, instead of attacking, the armoured man took several steps backwards, hands raised in surrender. Panting with his rage, Meliodas clutched Elizabeth closer to his chest and raised the dragon higher. “Don’t touch my girl, do you understand me?!” Meliodas all but roared again, mentally apologising to Elizabeth for the volume when she winced and squirmed. Immediately the man fell back even further, giving Meliodas some breathing space. The blonde heaved as his injuries finally screamed back into his notice and the sweat began dripping down his forehead. Grimacing as his legs threatened to give out, Meliodas locked his knees to avoid toppling over, although he could feel his entire body trembling. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re here to help. I’m Zaratras, the Grand Master of Liones. We’re not going to hurt you. I won’t touch her, I promise.” The man rambled, and Meliodas felt himself relax a tiny bit at the news. He’d heard about Liones before, their Holy Knights being some of the best in Britannia, and he’d even had a few interactions with them. He knew most of them were trustworthy.
As if that was the trigger, the moment Meliodas came to that understanding he felt his aching body finally give out. Grunting as he collapsed to his knees, Meliodas didn’t even try to shrug Zaratras off when he gently supported him with hands on his shoulders, despite his mind screaming at him to remove the threat to the child in his arms. “Steady, steady. Here, we’ll bring you both back to Liones. We can get you medical attention there, okay?” Zaratras gently said and Meliodas did nothing but grunt.
“She stays with me.” The blonde ground out and the silver haired man immediately nodded in agreement.
“Of course. Now here we go-” Meliodas winced as he was gently lifted into Zaratras’ arms. Ignoring the sting on his pride by being carried like a child, Meliodas just held Elizabeth closer to him. Finally feeling like he could relax, with his little girl’s tiny fist still firmly clenched in his shirt and her fluttering heartbeat thumping gently away on his chest, Meliodas let his eyes flutter shut. The grief and exhaustion hit him like a sledgehammer and he didn’t even have it in himself to be embarrassed when his head flopped back onto Zaratras’ shoulder.
‘Just a few… minutes…’
And then he was out like a light.
A dark-haired man with piercing golden eyes sighed in relief as he watched the knights gallop away from the crumbling remnants of Danafor’s crater, Meliodas and baby Elizabeth secure in the younger knight’s hold. Waving a hand, he returned the pool of water to its normal still surface and sat back with a groan. Stretching his arms above his head, the man peered at the perpetually starred sky above him, recalling moments when he would sit alongside
her
and watch them together.
“Good luck once again, little Mistress.” The man murmured, feeling a slight grin begin to curl his lips. “Hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon. You’ve got a lot of people worrying about you here. Don’t keep them waiting for too much longer.” The man sighed, closing his eyes as the crushing silence, so different than what he’d gotten used to enjoying all those years ago, threatened to stifle him.
“It has been over three thousand years, after all…”