Oneshots!

#65 Darkened Powers But Never Heart (Part 4)

The group had been traveling for two days now without stopping and weren't even at the base of the mountain yet. Which made King anxious as- although he had a close friend, ally, and someone personally trained by him in control with him gone- he didn't like leaving his kingdom for too long. This would be the longest hed been away since Elaine had passed.

That thought sent his stomach in knots..

Doing his best to not complain regardless of his agitation and suspicion of why this was taking so long as it would only worry Elizabeth more, he walked behind as usual with his guard up as he watched Elizabeth and Meliodas.

She was smiling in a way he hadn't seen her do since Meliodas's sacrifice, and although he was worried it would end in heartbreak for her, Harelquin couldn't deny that he liked seeing her so happy again. It was like her light had been extinguished when the blond's was, and was now slowly coming back even as his light had been turned to darkness.

It was refreshing to see, and eased his agitation ever so slightly as one of his closest friends looked happier then she had been in a long time.

Getting lost in his thoughts again, he didn't realize how dark it was getting until he saw the other two stop walking and go back towards him.

"We should probably stop for tonight since it's getting dark. Where we were yesterday was fine to walk through since there wasn't anything truly harmful out, but in an area like this, it would be safer to stay where we are. I'll take first watch."

"Excuse me? I don't think so. I'll take the first watch. No offense, but I don't trust a demon to be on the lookout for monsters. Who says you won't leave us behind or purposefully bring the monsters to us?"

"Why would I leave you behind when I wanted you two to come along in the first place? Same going for summoning monsters. Look, I completely get that you don't trust me, but at the very least we're on the same side. I wanted you two to come along, I wouldn't just ditch you like that."

"I'm not exactly going to just take your word for it demon. I'm taking first watch."

Meliodas sighed, clearly getting annoyed.

"Look, you want to be sleep deprived when climbing a mountain? Fine. But I don't exactly trust you either ya know. It wouldn't suprise me if you tried to take Ellie and find the place on your own since clearly you hate me that much and don't use logic in risky situations and want to get your ass killed. So either way I'm staying up. It's just your choice on if you want to sleep or be exhausted tomorrow."

Elizabeth seemed nervous while King was slightly surprised by that. The Meliodas he had known was always very even tempered and cheerful, always dealing with arguments with calm, tactful, and patient behavior. And yet now he was not only being sarcastic and sassy, he had cursed. Something he never ever did before.

Although he couldn't be too surprised, the boy was a demon after all. Although he couldn't really blame the blond for not trusting him either. As much as he hated to admit it, the other had been right. He had considered a few times taking Elizabeth and trying to find the place on his own.

So both too stubborn to back down, the two decided to avoid conflict. They would both stay up while Elizabeth got some sleep. She had offered to stay up herself so both of them could sleep without worrying, but both boys refused the offer as they knew she must be exhausted as well.

So making a fire as King collected sticks and Meliodas lit it with a demon's ability called Hellblaze, the three sat around the fire to keep warm as Meliodas tended to it periodically and the fairy kept a good supply of vines and wood nearby to make sure it didn't go out.  However as the three stayed in silence and the fire continued to burn and crackle, Elizabeth slowly drifted off and rested against the closet thing to her.