the broken boy

From what I could tell, my brother was back to his normal self, but I was still pretty damn scared about what all of it meant.

The sun had begun to set, and Meliodas continued to stand there, his head down.

I didn't see the need to confront him in front of all the Sins, but a severe tongue-lashing was coming his way.

I know, he said in my mind.

Good.

I stuck my hands in my pockets, just analyzing him for any sign of trouble. He was unpredictable right now, and I needed to deduce his behavior before I could feel comfortable.

Ban stood next to me, also watching his captain.

"How long are you going to stand there?" Meliodas asked Ban. I felt a surge of relief hearing his voice, light and somewhat cheerful again. "You want to say something to me, right?"

"Well, yeah." Ban walked over to Meliodas hesitantly, and placed his hand on Meliodas' shoulder, without looking down at him.

"I'm glad that you're alive and well...buddy."

I could cut the tension in the atmosphere with a knife.

"Why don't we throw back a few drinks tonight to celebrate?" Ban said as he walked away. "Sound good?"

Meliodas said nothing. His head remained down, and the smirk that seemed plastered to his face earlier was long gone.

Eventually, after everyone else had slinked away, Meliodas looked up at me, and gestured that I follow him.

We walked in an eerie silence, and as uncomfortable as silence made me, I didn't know what to say.

After some time I decided to break the ice with a joke. "Hey, I think you should give me permission to fight you beforehand, huh? Don't wanna just stand there if you decide to pummel my ass."

I chuckled awkwardly, but he stayed silent, so my laughter fell flat.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked him.

No response.

The joke I'd made earlier was starting to feel more and more serious now. I swallowed, scratching at the skin on my hands the way I used to back when Meliodas and the Demon King were the nightmares that kept me up at night.

We arrived at a broken-down building, the remains laying on the grass.

Wait. This was the Boar Hat.

"What the hell happened to it?" I asked, half-expecting silence again.

But this time, he spoke. "Derieri happened."

I looked at him.

He placed his hand up on a hanging beam above his head, his foot resting on a raised platform. "Man, they really did a number on this place. There's nothing left of it now."

He walked around the debris a little, then smiled. It wasn't an evil smile like the one before, but it was still kind of creepy to see him smiling after everything that happened.

"I see a few bottles survived."

He walked a little further. "And it seems there something left to make a meal with!"

I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows at him. "Meliodas-"

"Help me start the fire, will ya?" he asked, reaching in for the food.

I sighed, knowing I would get jack shit out of him unless I did what he wanted.

I grabbed a few planks of wood from the remains of the Boar Hat and found a place that still had some semblance of shade, and threw them on the ground, using a little bit of Hellfire to light the wood.

Meliodas walked over and sat down next to me on the stump of a tree that luckily happened to be there. He skewered two pieces of meat onto some sticks he'd found, and handed me a mug of Vanya ale.

"Not too shabby, if I do say so myself," Meliodas said, smiling at the food.

"Yet somehow you'll always manage to screw it up and make it taste nasty," I chuckled.

To my surprise, he laughed too.

He poured some ale into his own stein and held it up. "Toast?"

"To what?" I asked.

"I managed to avenge Liz," he said simply.

My eyes widened. It all made sense now. Sure, dying had fucked him up somewhat, but his rage had probably been festering for years now. Killing Fraudrin was an act of retribution.

Now that sounded like my brother.

I smiled. "I'll toast to that."

We knocked our mugs together and took a heavy chug.

"Have I mentioned how thankful I am that you're back?" Meliodas said. "No one else can understand this, you know?"

I nodded.

"That puts a lot into perspective for me," I said, once I had finished. "But you're still definitely different. You would've killed him, yes, but you definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it so much. What happened when you died?"

He perked up, looking beyond me. Then he put his finger to his lips, telling me to shut it.

I turned to the direction he was facing, and heard footsteps approaching, until Elizabeth came into view, crouching down and smiling at us.

"Elizabeth?" we both said.

"Why are you here?" Meliodas asked.

"Because I wanted to be."

I stood and moved away so she could sit down. "I'll just leave you two, find out what Ban and the others are up to."

Elizabeth smiled at me, waving.

"Catch up with you later," Meliodas called.

I'd been walking back for a few minutes now when, suddenly, a sharp pang of despair hit me. Just the fact that I could feel it meant that Meliodas was pretty damn hurt right then, since only his strongest emotions got relayed to me.

We still had a lot to talk about, me and him. But for now, he needed Elizabeth.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••When I opened the door to the top room in the castle where I'd sensed Meliodas' energy, I didn't think I'd walk in on a naked Merlin, lying in a bathtub with no docility, even though the room was full.

Her confidence really was quite alluring.

"Hey, everyone," I waved, putting my hands in my pockets as I stood next to Elizabeth.

"Hello, Prelialduis," Elizabeth said, looking down at me.

Merlin looked at Meliodas. "It isn't a crime to celebrate a win, Captain, so be happy."

Meliodas looked down, a smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Right."

I noticed that Elizabeth looked at him with the same concern that I did. She could tell he wasn't himself.

"Captain," Ban said, moving over to him.

Meliodas avoided looking up at his face, not even turning to face him. "What's up?"

Ban suddenly grabbed Meliodas by his head and gave him a hard noogie. "How come you didn't join our little get together last night? Cause I gotta admit, our party was pretty lame without you there!"

I smiled. That would definitely make him feel better.

Meliodas finally looked his best friend in the eyes. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I guess I had no idea what to say to you after the battle, y'know?" Ban smiled then. "It was stupid. Like anything would change between you and me."

Meliodas smiled too, a real smile this time. "Nah, you didn't do anything wrong, Ban."

Ban chuckled. "I know, right? I mean you've always got that blank look on your damn face anyway, so I guess I was worried for noth—"

Meliodas, having had enough, punched Ban and sent him flying into the wall. "Shut up."

He created a crater in the wall, his blood splattering all over.

Damn.

Meliodas looked down at his hand like he was impressed by his own strength, when, out of nowhere, Escanor began to recite a poem.

Ah, my friendO noble wrathThough our bodies may be desecrated by awful cursesThey can't damage the beautiful rose blooming in our heartsO my treasured friendThe gallant and noble Sin

"A poem?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh...please don't get the wrong idea. I wouldn't be so arrogant as to presume what your true feelings might be, Captain. However, as someone who's also been inflicted by a curse, I do understand that pain, if nothing else," Escanor explained.

He walked over to Meliodas and bent down to address him. "What I'm saying is, please try to cheer up, alright?"

"An 8," Meliodas said, deadpan.

Escanor cried out. "Huh?! Hold on a minute, an eight out of how many points?"

"I hadn't docked the score. Who rattled off a poem then explains it?" Meliodas asked.

"Yeah, he's got a point," I added.

Escanor lowered his voice in Meliodas' ear, but still loud enough for us to hear. "By the way, what I meant by beautiful rose was Lady Merlin, in my case. But in your case—"

"Okay! That's enough," Meliodas cut him short.

"Please let me finish my explanation," Escanor said dejectedly.

"Escanor, Ban," Meliodas said.

We all turned to him.

"Thank you," he said, chuckling.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The rebuilding of the Boar Hat took place right away, and we were making great headway, too. We only had the finishing touches left to do, and now we sat in the new tavern.

"I haven't had Ban's scraps in forever!" Hawk exclaimed, his face in his bowl. "Oh, man, I'm in Hog Heaven right now!"

"Starting today the drinks are going to be better too. Right, barkeep?" Ban asked Escanor.

He looked up from the mixing cup he was meticulously wiping. "R-Right. I'll do my best. So, um, Lady Merlin?"

Elizabeth walked over and placed the pie Ban and I had made down on the table where Meliodas and Merlin sat.

"Aren't you going to restore this building as well?"

"No," Merlin said. "That isn't my job."

"She's right. We've got to fix this place up with our own hands," Meliodas said, placing his mug down.

"Now then," Merlin said. "We won the fight, but we can't let this victory go to our heads, so let's plan our next move. What we know right now is that a large number of citizens and Holy Knights stricken by the Commandments have fled to the south. In other words, the Ten Commandments' next stronghold is the capital, Camelot."

Elizabeth looked down sadly. "Poor Sir Arthur."

Meliodas placed his hand on her head comfortingly. "That kid's not going down without a fight."

"Yes, I guess that's true."

"Merlin, there's a couple of other things to think about," Ban said seriously. "Elaine is still alive."

We looked at him, silent.

"You understand? And that means, Melascula of Faith isn't dead yet, either."

Gross. She'd always been freaky.

"Oh, it's not just her," Merlin said. "Zeldris of Piety, Gloxinia of Repose, Drole of Patience and Estarossa of Benevolence."

At that bastard's name I clenched my fists so tightly I saw Meliodas look at me in concern.

"Each of these Demons still pose a threat. If we rush into battle we're sure to be defeated."

"We've already lost so many good people along the way. I'm afraid we'll be lacking in terms of overall fighting power," Escanor added.

"That is true, we've lost a good deal of power. But...power's created as a result of such losses. That's the way the world always works. We can't be too hopeful, but we can't lose hope either."

Meliodas smiled determinedly. "I think we can live with that. And now that Escanor's back with us..." He stood. "This time, we'll finally be able to bring each of the Seven Deadly Sins together! Prelialduis, we still haven't had that welcome back celebration yet."

He raised his mug, and we all raised ours in cheers and drank happily. The day, and the night passed as we talked and celebrated, and for that moment, everything was absolutely perfect.