2 Chapter 2: A Date With destiny

He ran.

And he ran.

And he roamed through Britannia like a body without a soul. With the little hope he had left that he would find his lover. It have been so many years since then. Perhaps he just imagined it? Meliodas ambled through the new human kingdoms, which were build only a few years ago. Now that godesses and demons were gone, humans began to rule over Britannia. A few royal families were crowned and villages, new houses were build. Meliodas thought he would never see something like that again after the war. The demon always watched humans from his realm with little bits of disgust. He didn't understand how so many of these creatures could live in so little space. Safety in numbers, I guess. It wasn't that humans were necessarily weak. But shit, why did they have to be so goddamn terrified all the time? He read and saw enough of the human nature to understand it. He understood the need of humans to run from things they know could kill them. But he wasn't one to complain. Meliodas had to pretend to be a human himself, or he would probably cause a mass panic. You should imagine the chaos, if the prince of the demon race just walked through a village of humans...he didn't know if he should laugh or cry at the thought.

The blond lopped from alley to ally. With sore limbs and an empty stomach he walked into a bar and sat in a corner. The hood of his cloak was drawn deep over his face, his eyes not visible. He drank the beer the waitress gave him. None of the other guests tried to interact with him. It wasn't that this was a surprise, however. He knew that height wasn't the only option to intimidate others, and his aura still wasn't one that someone could be comfortable with. Meliodas drank his beer, lost in thought, until he heard a blood-curdling scream.

The demon didn't know why he jumped from his chair and ran in the direction the scream came from. He didn't even know why he cared. But the scream sounded oddly... different. The cry made his blood run cold. And that should mean something, a long time ago he had been the cause of such screams.

The demon ran into the ally and found three men, cornering a woman with a hood, similar to his. "What's going on?" the group of man turned to Meliodas. "She's a thief! She tried to steal our money. Now she's getting her punishment."

"That isn't what it looks like." Meliodas voice was emotionless,but his facial expression told them exactly what he meant.

"What should a tot like you kn-"

The demon didn't even give him time to finish his sentence. The girl sat in the corner, her hood covering her whole face, making her unrecognizable, and tried to follow his movements with her eyes. But it was impossible. His moves were far to fast to be recognized with the human eye.

The blond strolled with the grace you would expect from a noble. He stepped over the bodies of the unconscious men and stopped in front of the girl. He gave her his hand. There was a warm smile on his face, but his eyes stayed cold, like an evening in December.

The girl, however, didn't seem to notice. She took his hand and tried to stand up. "Thank you" she said. The woman was taller than him. Not that it was surprising. He couldn't see her face, it being still covered by her hood. Just as she wanted to turn around and go, they heard another scream. Come on, what's going on today? The blond and his companion began to run. A second scream, from another person tjis time, told them which direction they had to take. Not that it was necessary. As soon as they saw it, they knew what was going on.

Fire.

Every house in the valley stood in flames. Many humans ran into their direction, either crying or screaming. Meliodas remained standing on his position. He saw running into the maze of burning wood and smoke was pointless, so he was tempted to just turn around and leave the village. But the woman next to him didn't seem to think so. The whole village was burning. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't get everyone out of the deathtraps that were once houses. And if he wanted to try, what's next? Which human would want help from a filthy demon? Nobody, that's who. So no, it was a pointless endeavor.

But then again, the person next to him didn't seem to think so. She ran into on of the burning houses, if you listened, you could hear screams coming from it. He saw that most of the villagers already fled their houses, no, the whole town. And those who didn't make it were either swallowed by the flames of crushed under the debris. So what should he do? Should he run and run back into safe territory, and let the child and the woman burn to death? Cowardly. Should he reveal his demon powers and try to save them? Stupid. Waiting until the woman dies? Elizabeth would rotate in her grave. Which of these choices was an option? None.

So, as a result, he did the silliest thing imaginable.

He ran into the house without using his powers.

Meliodas didn't know what came over him. Why did he run into that house? It didn't matter. Somehow, nothing mattered, except to get the woman out alive. And as soon as he ran up the nearly-decayed staircase, he saw her. She must have inhalated too much smoke,for she lay there on the ground, unmoving. A little girl, he thought she might be 10?, tried to wake her up. The former prince ran to their side and picked the two girls up. In lightning speed he ran out of the house and, without looking back, out of the village.

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Every town has a horror-house noone likes to be nearby. The house very child and adult avoids. Where the rumors of death and violence come to no end or conclusion.

In case of a little village named Oredon, it was a building that was called "Aberley".

The property, which was near the edge of the woods, was said to be haunted. The old facade and even older looking garden didn't help either. The ground and first floor were made entirely of wood. The only exception was the chimney, which was made out of bricks. But it wasn't the look that scared the villagers.

There were rumors about vampires, ghosts, werefoxes and even demons, which should roam the estate at night.

But for the real inhabitant of the house, it was nothing but convenient. No human disturbed him with his chores or expeditions. And, as a consequence, not a single human soul saw what happened in Aberley on the 4th of July.

The news of the fire in the nearby village spread quickly through Britannia. Noone knew what the cause of the fire was or if there were more survivors. Oredon took the remaining five refugees in and the tumult it caused was the best thing that could possibly happen to the demon of Aberley.

While the older girl slept in the bedroom, Meliodas sat the little girl on the couch in his living room. She just became conscious again and now they just stared at each other.

"Hello, my name is Meliodas. Are you aware of what happened in your village?"

The eyes of the girl became impossibly wide. She opened and closed her mouth time and time again, until she actually said something, ignoring his former question:

"Where am I?"

"You're in my house. We are in Oredon. "

Silence. The girl and the blond just stared at each other.

"My name is Mei Asada... "

Ant then he looked at the girl, really looking. Mei had long, violet hair and shining gold eyes. She had to be as tall as him, around twelve years old. The girl wore an azure-blue dress with frills, paired with a pair of black shoes. But that wasn't the interesting thing. Her face told him she was nervous, but Meliodas could see in her eyes that she wasn't scared of him. They showed him the silent horror of screams and the memories of smelling burned flesh. The nightmares that would, perhaps, dull with time but never quite leave.

"I ran into my house because my little sister was still in there. But when I reached her she was already dead. Our parents died years ago and we lived on our own...But, come to think of it, where's the Lady-"

"I'm sorry, but where am I?"

Meliodas and Mei looked up to the staircase that lead to the first floor. A woman with silver hair and blue eyes stood there. And it took a few seconds before Meliodas knew what was going on.

And the universe said fuck you.

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Elizabeth and Meliodas sat in their garden and looked at the many houses of Oredon. It was a beautiful view, combined with the wonderful weather it was almost perfect. The demon and the Godess, the former Godess, he reminded himself, practically adopted Mei and renovated the horror house. It still looked old on the outside, so the villagers didn't get suspicious, but on the inside it was warm and cozy. It was a good life. The people in the little town greeted the two new people warmly. Mei even found two new friends. And Meliodas was happy. He could actually try to believe that this life was real. He could try to believe that this moments with Elizabeth would never fade, that there was no curse waiting to be broken. He could try to believe that this was his Elizabeth. And he, first and foremost, tried not to be disgusted with himself. That he didn't break his promise with this course of action.

Should he tell her?

He knew she would remember if he said something. She would be Elizabeth again, which he had been in love with for hundreds of years. The Elizabeth that always fluttered with her wings when she was excited. But he was scared. He was scared she would die after three days.

Did that make him a coward?

The answer was: he didn't know. Because how on earth should he keep his promise? He was too weak to break the curse. About three hundred years ago he would have punched himself for saying that. But he had to find a way. And he would, someday.

But how?

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"Meliodas, Elizabeth, could you help us?"

"What's your problem, Mei? "

"I've got problems with this task... "

Mei, Suzaku and Isabel, theast two being her old childhood friends, were currently located on their kitchen table. All three of them were accepted to the local school and were doing their homework.

Meliodas watched the scene from the corner of the room how the 14 year olds were discussing the task with his wife.

"It. Doesn't. Work."

"Suzaku, you are aware that we have to hand the homework in tomorrow."

"Yes, but how exactly am I responsible for my soon-to-be exploding head!"

"You aren't. But that doesn't change the fact that we have to hand in the assignment tomorrow. "

Meliodas, as strange as it was, thought the scene was quite cute.

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"I think we're at the place"Mei said, not even looking at the map.

"Oh, and how would you know? " Suzaku questioned.

"Well, I'd say that is a very good clue!" Isabel replied, pointing at the direction of a little, snow covered bay, only a few meters away. They were in the edge of the fairy kings forest. There, in front of the stunned teenagers eyes, was a hord of unicorns. They were beautiful creatures: white fur with golden horns and pink hair (which was surprisingly similar to Isabel's haircolor) and golden hoofs.

Suzakus eyebrows shot upwards, his mouth fell open. "Oh godesses" he said "that's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"I want to pet one!" both girls screeched in unity and ran towards the unicorns.

"Mei, Isabel, be careful!" Suzaku warned,

"perhaps they have rabies! "

"Unicorns don't have rabies, Suzaku!" Mei deadpanned.

"You don't know where their horns could have been already!"

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"Meliodas, do you think Mei will be alright?"

"Of course. And if something should happen, Isabel and Suzaku will be there. They'll be ok" Next to the fact that he will rip the one who hurts his daughter apart, but he didn't want to scare Elizabeth by saying that.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement. She knew that nothing could happen while they were nere the fairy kings forest, but she was still worried. Mei was her daughter in anything but blood so if something were to happen to her...

"Come on, you don't have to be so worried!"

Meliodas took his wife's hand and pulled her outside. They wandered to the market of the little town, were greeted by several people of tree he village, and let themselves sit on the bench next to the street. Elizabeth relaxed in his embrace and all her worries didn't seem to matter anymore. The couple hugged itself, standing in front of the enormous Christmas tree. Their breath could be seen, thanks to the chilling winter-temperatures. But they themselves weren't cold. They were warm, in fact. All they could concentrate on was eachother and their love. The demon kissed his wife on her cheek. Listening to the soft songs that were sung in a foreign language, they just stood there, feeling at ease.

Das ist die stillste Zeit im Jahr

Immer wenn es Weihnacht wird

Da fallen die Flocken

sie fallen so leis

Der Welt wächst ein Mantel

so weiß und so leicht

Immer wenn es Weihnacht wird

"Merry Christmas, Meliodas!"

"Merry Christmas, Elizabeth."

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It was Meis birthday. Meliodas, Elizabeth, Isabel, Suzaku, and many of her comerades from the army sat at a table. Yes, in the meantime, Mei and her two friends were accepted into the military and had a great success in climbing ranks. Elizabeth was, as always, worried, but Meliodas was filled with pride.

I mean, what else would you expect from his daughter?

The kingdom lived in peace, no war to be fought, which was why Meliodas wasn't overly worried for his child. But he didn't want to think of that right now. The people (+the demon) ate the cake they bought this morning (Mei almost fainted at the thought of either Elizabeth or Meliodas baking the cake. They couldn't afford another citchen) and drank many bottles of alcohol. It was a great evening. As the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains, the beautiful lanterns all over the kingdom were lighted.

Mei had been growing up to be a stunning woman. Her violet hair was going down to her waist and her golden eyes were shining with intelligence and happiness. Meliodas didn't know being a father was coming with so much pride. Even if he didn't know how he could bring Elizabeth back, right now, he was happy. On the warm evening of the 13th April, as all the fairy lights were shining, the soldiers spoke cheers to his daughter and Elizabeth lay in his arms, he was without a doubt happy. This is what life should be like.

But of course, he wasn't destined to be happy.

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In contrast, it was a rather cold morning in spring when Mei got her convocation. She, Suzaku and Isabel were ordered to fight in the war against the kingdom Baste. The war, in all honesty, wasn't even meaningful. The only thing this war brought was bloodshed. And that was exactly what Meliodas told his daughter. But what could he do? It was an order from the king himself. Should he really just march into the castle and scream at the king of Oredon: "LEAVE MY DAUGHTER OUT OF THIS NONSENSE"?

.

.

.

.

Meliodas would have done that, if it weren't for Elizabeth's death grip and her resurances. Even if she didn't exactly want to stop him, it wouldn't do them any good to be executed for insubordination.

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It have been seven months since Mei has been conscripted. Elizabeth lay in her bed. She got sick and the doctors couldn't cure her. Her skin was pale. She, although she was happy and playful before, now seemed nothing less than weak and pitiful. Like a blooming, colorful rose that now began to wither.

She held his hand as she died. Her grip began to go slack and her eyes lost their shine.

"I love you so, so much Meliodas... "

Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper. Elizabeth was as pale as a ghost. The hands of the demon began to tremble.

"Please... Tell... Mei..."

She closed her eyes and her pulse stopped.

"What should I tell Mei? Elizabeth?"

He never got his answer.

Meliodas should have known his luck wasn't meant to last.

But he couldn't give up yet. He still had one person waiting for him. He still had one person he should, could and had to wait for.

Mei Asada

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Mei send letters in which she explained that she was fine and well.

And both of them know that was a lie. Mei wasn't fine, not even close. Not after Elizabeth. The letters where send for two reasons: 1. Let him know Mei was alive, she didn't die at the front. 2. Stop him from worrying. The first one functioned, the second did not. Elizabeth, in the meantime, was being buried in the local graveyard. It was a truly sad day, thousand times worse because of the fact that Mei wasn't there. Wasn't allowed to come home for this ocassion. It rained on that day. Some people came up to him to say that even the gods cried upon the dead soul of his lover.

If he wasn't so sad and angry at that time, he might have laughed about the irony.

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Mei, Suzaku und Isabel rode on their horses through the thick mist and thin ways of the forest.

"Perfect! I can't see anything!" Isabel complained.

"What's the name of this forest again? The forest of white dreams... ?"

The three lost their group of comrades because of the mist and quickly knew, that on top of the already bad situation, they got lost.

"We should get away from here. I've heard rumors of monsters that could stay here in the forest."

"Oh, come on Mei, that's nothing but nonsense."

And, as if on cue, Mei lost sight of her best friends pink hair. And Suzakus black hair followed suit.

"Isabel?! Suzaku?! "

She didn't get her answer. Mei couldn't even see anything out of an armlengh because of the fog. Damnit, she couldn't even see the trees, or even the path!

But then she heard it.

A scream

Isabels screams.

Mei rode to the direction the shout came from. As the horse didn't comply with her demands anymore, she jumped to the ground and, against her instincts telling her not to, ran. And just as she lost track of her path, she saw something. A little spot of pink that stuck out against the endless abiss of white. She ran towards it, identified it, and quickly wished she never got off of her horse. Before her feet, propably five feet away, lay Isabels head. And it took a few seconds until her brain connected the dots.

Oh godesses... no... Isabel... 

The girls blue eyes didn't hold an ounce of life inside them. Her mouth wasn't formed into a smile, instead contorted into a gap. She had an expression of pure, unimaginable horror on her face.

And then she looked up. In front of her was a enormous monster, so big that it was able to be seen trough the fog. The... Thing... Was about as tall as a giant, but it's eyes held no intelligence, no emotions. Only bloodlust. And slowly, its gaze fell upon her. Crimson eyes stared at her. And between its teeth, which had to be the size of her torso, Mei saw something.

Suzaku.

His face, in contrast to Isabel's, didn't show any emotion. But, like Isabels, it was robbed of every spark of life.

And then the Titan bit down, literally splitting her best friend in two. It spit out on half, as if it was some old toy, and swallowed the other.

Mei stood there, as if she was frozen in time. It felt as if her mind was out of her body, her puppetstrings cut. But slowly, her shock began to change. In this moment, she felt nothing but anger.

Unbelievable, overwhelming rage.

In her anger, she attacked the monster, chopping it to bits.

For you two, Isabel, Suzaku.

On a second thought, she probably should have checked how many monsters were there.

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Ironic, she always wanted to die in winter.

" I'm so sorry. Mom, dad..."

She saw flashes of silver and golden hair, perfectly warm smiles and the feeling of home...

I'm so sorry.

"Elizabeth, Suzaku, Isabel, I love you, I'm coming soon.

Meliodas... I'm so sorry, I'll leave you alone like that... "

Well, either way, she always wanted to die in winter.

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Meliodas got letters from Mei. Every week, without fail. For one year and seven months.

Until he didn't.

The last letter arrived three days after christmas. It was nothing but a confirmation of what he already knew: Mei was dead. He was thanked for his daughters services on the battlefield and they explained what they thought had happened. Mei, Suzaku and Isabel went missing during an expedition and didn't come back. (Would hsi father have felt like that if he were dead? No, no he wouldn't.)

The only thing confirming she was dead was her arm, no corpse was found.

With the letter came her badge  of rank and a ring, which was gifted to Mei by Isabel for her 20th birthday. As a keepsake, they said.

He took a necklace and thread it through the ring, putting it around his neck. He put Meis badge of honor in his pockets.

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.

.

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Aberley, just as the people of Oredon celebrated new years eve, was consumed by violet flames. Every person living in the village was nervous. Only demons could conjure Purgatory flames. But how should a demon be here? They were extinct.

Noone who watched the event had a probable explanation. And those who didn't watch didn't want to believe it. But there were two indisputable facts:

1. Aberley, the house built near the outskirts of the woods, was burned down.

2. The man known as Meliodas, who had lost his wife a year and his daughter a few days ago, was gone. As if he had dissappeard from the face of earth, nor a single soul knew where he was.

And he shouldn't come back for many years to come.

Oh well, it started in fire and ended in fire.