Awakening

Meliodas' vision faded, his surroundings blacking out as the last thing he felt was his body floating into the air. Below him, two women on a small wooden boat watched in horror at the explosion caused by Acnologia's roar. Unaware of Meliodas who was falling right above them, his body came crashing into their boat.

"What was that!!" A woman's voice yelled as a figure crashed through their boat. The boat split in half as Meliodas' limp body made impact. Splinters and broken planks went flying, scattering around them in the ocean and leaving the two women floating in the water. The blue ocean waters around them began to take on a reddish tint as Meliodas' body floated back up to the surface, his head just above the water.

"It's...a person..." One of the women said as she stared at Meliodas' current appearance. 'This person is-?!'

"Ultear, quickly fix the boat!" The voice said, snapping Ultear out of her daze.

"Right." Ultear responded as she raised her right hand out of the water. A green orb formed just above her hand and began to glow. The broken parts of the wooden boat immediately began reforming itself back together until it was restored to its previous state. Ultear climbed on the boat and extended a hand out towards the other young woman who was holding onto Meliodas' body.

"Meredy! Here!" Ultear said as she reached out. She pulled Meredy onto the boat then reached down towards Meliodas' body. As she lifted his body out of the water she immediately felt the urge to vomit as she stared at the grotesque scene before her before placing him down in the boat.

"T-this is horrible!" Meredy exclaimed as she looked at Meliodas' body while covering her mouth.

"This person..." Ultear said as she examined Meliodas' body. On Meliodas' right shoulder, she noticed Fairy Tail's insignia. "This is...Meliodas, Fairy Tail's Blond Demon…"

"Even he didn't survive that explosion…" Meredy commented as she looked away from the grotesque scene.

"These injuries couldn't have been from the explosion...no...wait…" Ultear's eyes widened as she stared at Meliodas' body. She placed a hand on his chest and felt a faint sign of breathing. Meredy turned again to look at Meliodas. Her eyes widened as she saw the faint movement of Meliodas' chest rising.

"He is still alive!" Meredy shouted.

'How is he still alive with injuries like this?! His innards are exposed and nearly falling out of his body one of his arms is barely hanging on by a flap of skin…' Ultear thought as she looked at him.

"Then...we should be able to treat him right?" Meredy questioned. Ultear nodded and raised her right hand up out in front of her. Her palm began to glow brightly for a brief moment, before fading and revealing a roll of white bandages.

"Meredy, help me wrap him up." Ultear said.

"Right!" Meredy responded as she began pulling out a long string of bandages from the roll that Ultear requipped out. "Can we really fix up someone who is like this?"

"I dont know…." Ultear sighed. Neither she nor Meredy knew anything about first aid beyond the basics, with fixing up the mangled mess that was Meliodas' body seeming nearly impossible. As Meredy and Ultear attempted to stop the bleeding, they both paused as they noticed something strange.

"This is…?" Ultear suddenly noticed a strange dark substance leaking out of Meliodas's body. It slowly enveloped his injuries and began mending his body, pulling some of the separated parts back together. 'Is this even magic…'

"What's happening to him?" Meredy asked as she watched Meliodas' body attempting to repair itself.

"I don't know. Whatever this darkness is, I've never seen or felt anything like it before. But it looks like it's slowly healing his body. For now we can just wrap up the serious wounds and focus on getting to land. He may end up surviving this." Ultear said.

January 1st, X785

Meliodas slowly opened his eyes, his vision flooded by bright rays of light. He lay down looking up at a blurry yet familiar ceiling. Down below him, he could hear the muffled cheering and laughter of many voices.

"Meliodas you're not just going to nap all day are you?!" A familiar high pitched voice called out from a nearby hallway. Meliodas' eyes immediately opened wide and he jumped up from the bed he was laying down on. He rubbed his eyes, clearing his vision as he looked around.

'This is...the Boar's Hat? And that voice earlier was Hawk…' Meliodas looked around the room and saw Lostvayne in its sheath right next to the bed leaning against the nightstand. He looked down at his apparel and saw he was wearing his typical tavern clothing consisting of a baggy white collared shirt and a black vest along with a loosely worn red tie. Meliodas picked up Lostvayne and mounted it across his back. Before walking outside the room, he lifted up the right sleeve of his shirt and glanced at his arm. To his surprise, the Fairy Tail symbol was not there.

Meliodas walked into the hallway and headed downstairs. As he walked down the wooden spiral staircase, he could smell the aroma of Ban's cooking getting stronger and stronger. He immediately felt a deep aching pain in his heart(s) as if it was being squeezed upon reaching the bottom floor. He looked around at all of the familiar faces, his eyes beginning to tear up.

"There's the Captain ~ ♫" Ban shouted with a large grin as he sat at the bar with a mug of ale in his hand.

"Captain! You're finally awake!" King shouted from the corner of the bar next to the window. Sitting next to him was Diane in her human sized form.

"How are you just going to sleep through the Boar's Hat grand reopening in Liones!" Hawk shouted with a mouthful of food underneath one of the nearby tables.

"Elizabeth! Come here! The Captain is awake!" Diane exclaimed.

"Meliodas are you feeling better?" A woman's voice said in a kindhearted tone. Meliodas turned his head and immediately towards the bar. A familiar young woman began to walk towards Meliodas, tears beginning to run down his face.

"Elizabeth…" Meliodas said silently.

Elizabeth had a worried expression as she ran over to the now crying Meliodas, giving him a hug as she placed his face in her bosom.

"I...just had a bad dream is all…" Meliodas mumbled as his face was muffled between Elizabeth's breasts. He took a deep breath in, engorging himself in her scent as he started to relax.

"I'm glad you're feeling better...BECAUSE THIS HELL HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN!"

Meliodas immediately jumped back as he heard Elizabeth's voice change. Elizabeth's face contorted into an evil grin as the tavern around them began to melt away, with the other people in the tavern nowhere to be seen.

Within seconds, Meliodas found himself standing in a black void facing Elizabeth, whose face began to transform into that of the creature Cath Palug. Meliodas immediately felt a deep rage grow inside him. His eyes turned dark as he glared at Cath and a black circular splotch formed in the middle of his forehead, surrounded by an outer ring that extended unevenly outwards.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!" Meliodas shouted angrily as he put his hand on the handle of Lostvayne, gripping it tightly as his dark eyes went wide with rage.

"Meliodas you have to calm down!" A woman's voice yelled out.

Meliodas jolted up, his eyes wide open and panting heavily. He looked around at where he was. The room around him was a run down old room with dark wooden walls and floors. The floors and walls had massive cracks going through them. Above, sunlight peeked through a small hole in the ceiling, with bits and pieces of the ceiling falling apart. He looked towards the woman standing across from the bed he sat on. The woman was pale skinned with dark purple hair and red eyes. She wore a tight fitting, mainly white bodysuit divided into three sections and trimmed with gold patterns and black sleeves on her arms.

"Who are you?" Meliodas asked wearily. His head was still fuzzy as he thought about the dream he just had.

"I am Ultear Milkovich. I was previously associated with Grimoire Heart but that is no longer the case." Ultear answered. "You must have a lot of questions, so I'll answer them to the best of my abilities."

"Grimoire…" Meliodas mumbled. A wave of panic fell over him as he remembered what had happened on Tenrou. He remembered his fight with Acnologia and getting nearly cut in half. Meliodas looked down at his body and saw he was shirtless, his upper body completely covered in bandages. He put his hand on the left part of his chest and across different parts of his torso. 'Looks like I lost four of my hearts…'

"What happened to Fairy Tail? How long have I been out?" Meliodas questioned.

"I suspect they were killed by Acnologia. Acnologia destroyed the entire island with a roar. As for how long you've been out, it's been two weeks. It's now X785." Ultear answered. "Meredy and I were escaping from Tenrou when your body was launched straight into our boat. Thankfully, my magic helped me fix the boat after your body crashed right through it and we took you in."

"I see…" Meliodas answered solemnly as he looked down at his hands. "So in the end that fortune came true and I couldn't protect my friends…" Meliodas said silently to himself.

"Well it was certainly a miracle you survived an encounter with Acnologia, let alone the injuries that were inflicted upon you." Ultear commented. Meliodas remained sulking as he looked down while Ultear looked at him skeptically. 'His body was barely attached together, nearly split in half...no ordinary human could have survived that kind of injury, especially since Meredy and I lack the healing magic to fix him. But here he is, completely recovered from his injuries…Not to mention that dark magic he flared out when he screamed earlier.'

"I assume you were the one who defeated Master Hades." Ultear inquired. Meliodas nodded his head.

"I don't know your reasons for rescuing me despite coming from an enemy guild, but you have my thanks." Meliodas said as he slowly got up from the bed.

"You shouldn't push yourself. I suggest you rest a bit longer." Ultear said. "I sent Meredy out to get supplies an hour ago so she should be back soon."

Meliodas nodded and sat back down at the edge of the bed. He could still feel a dull pain in his body where four of his hearts used to be.

'That dragon was too powerful. None of my magic worked on it and neither did anyone else's. I need to rely only on my physical strength and darkness. I probably won't be able to fight it until I return to my original strength...' Meliodas thought to himself as he recalled his fight.

"And the reason as to why I saved you...well I've changed my ways since leaving Grimoire and it was thanks to Gray for opening my eyes. Seeing as you were a member of Fairy Tail, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had just left you to die..." Ultear said, a tear beginning to form in one of her eyes.

"You knew Gray?" Meliodas asked.

"Gray was my mother's disciple. My mother was someone I had initially despised and was a large part of why I had turned out the way I was. But Gray showed me the truth." Ultear continued.

"Ultear I'm back!" A young girl's voice shouted from another room. A young girl of short stature walked into the room Meliodas and Ultear were in. She had short pink hair and pink eyes. She wore a gold, wing-like headgear around her ears, a tight purple leotard, and brownish thigh high boots.

"Ultear where do you want-" The young woman immediately stopped as she looked around the room, which was on the verge of falling apart from Meliodas' outburst. "What happened here?!" She exclaimed.

"It's nothing, Meredy. I'll fix it soon." Ultear responded. Meredy nodded and glanced at Meliodas.

"You're finally awake, Meliodas. I'm Meredy." Meredy introduced herself. Meliodas looked up at Meredy and nodded in response.

"Meliodas what will you do now?" Ultear asked. Meliodas remained silent for a moment, and placed his hand over his chest where he could feel several hearts missing before glancing at Ultear.

"I'm not sure yet. I think I'll rest a bit longer before I do anything else…"

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