The sun was setting, and Elizabeth, Hawk, and Ban were sitting in front of the boulder with King beside him and Celeste in his arms. "See? It's messed up, huh?" Ban asks. "Yup!" Hawk replies. "Hey!" Diane calls out, walking out from behind the boulder. "Diane!" Elizabeth runs over to the giant, with Ban behind her, holding King and Celeste. Diane leans down, opens her hand, revealing a normal Meliodas, and rubs him on her cheek before setting him down. Elizabeth smiles at him then frowns. "Hey, what's wrong?" Meliodas asks, and Hawk bursts into tears, confusing him and Diane. "Lady Celeste..." Elizabeth mumbles, tears welling up in her eyes. "Huh? What happened to Celeste?" Diane asks, then gasps, seeing the unconscious Goddess in Ban's arms. Meliodas looks behind Elizabeth, and his eyes widen when he sees Celeste.
"No." Meliodas whispers, stumbling over to Ban, who hands her to him, and Meliodas gently takes her still in a daze. "How'd this happen?" Diane asks. "There was a mine on the ground, and she covered my sister with her body to protect her." Elizabeth cried, and they stood in silence. "M....M... Meliodas, she said she was sorry!" Hawk stutters out. "There's no need to be sorry. You did the right thing." Meliodas mumbles, bringing Celeste closer to his body, nuzzling into her face as tears well up in his eyes, he pauses and gasps. "What's wrong?" Elizabeth asks. "She's alive." Meliodas whispers. "What?" Hawk asks. "She's still breathing." Meliodas says a little louder. "We should bring her back to the tavern." Diane suggests, her voice wavering slightly.
Meliodas, looking down at Celeste, nods in agreement. "Yeah, we have to lay her down on something comfortable." Meliodas murmured, trying to keep his emotions in check. "Then we'll tend to her wounds and get her out of those dirty clothes." Meliodas explains. Elizabeth looks at Celeste, feeling guilty because none of this would've happened if she hadn't run away. "Right, we'll take care of her until she gets better." Elizabeth says, feeling the need to take responsibility. "She's tough. She'll make it through." Ban chimes in, trying to act tough, but his voice wavered slightly. "You're right, she's Celeste, a member of the Goddess race, she'll totally make it." Hawk claims. Once that was decided they went back to the tavern.
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Back at the tavern, they laid Celeste on her bed, with Meliodas refusing to leave her side, holding her hand. Elizabeth went to go fetch the medical supplies, Ban went to go put King on his bed, Hawk stood on Celeste's side looking at her worried, and Diane went to go find an enringi mushroom to shrink so that she could help with Celeste. As Diane and Elizabeth tend to Celeste's wounds, they exchange worried looks the entire time. "These wounds... they're serious," Elizabeth remarks, her voice filled with concern as she examines the Goddess. Diane, her hands steady but her heart heavy, nodded in agreement. "She took the brunt of the explosion. It's a miracle she's even alive," she observed, her voice a mixture of amazement and worry. Meliodas sat beside Celeste wishing there was a way to take away her pain. "Don't worry cap'n. Mother'll be all right." Ban says, walking into the room after setting King down. The two girls work tirelessly to tend to Celeste's injuries.
The tavern, once bustling with activity, now felt subdued, as if it held its breath in anticipation of the Goddess's fate. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, there was a faint stir from Celeste. Meliodas, who had been holding her hand, squeezed it gently, his eyes welling up with hope and relief. "She's waking up!" Elizabeth exclaims, a mix of excitement and anxiety in her voice. Celeste's eyelids fluttered, and as she regains consciousness, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Meliodas's lips. "You're safe now." He whispers, his voice thick with emotion. With a soft groan, Celeste slowly opens her eyes, blinking against the dim light of the tavern. She glances around, her vision blurry at first, until her gaze settles on Meliodas's face. Recognition dawns in her eyes, followed by a weak but genuine smile. "Meliodas..." she murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper.
Tears well up in Meliodas's eyes as he leans closer, overwhelmed with relief. "You're going to be okay," he assured her, his voice filled with unspoken gratitude. "I know." Celeste slowly sits up, wincing. "Don't strain yourself." Meliodas tells her, trying to lay her back down, but she slaps his hand away. "I'm fine, and I'll be better if you allow me to sit up." Celeste tells him. Meliodas, understanding what she meant, helped her sit up, and the others looked confused by what she meant. Once she was upright, she placed her hands on her chest, and they glowed green as she healed herself. When she was fully healed she sighs. "Thank you for helping me." Celeste says. Diane was the first to act, jumping into Celeste's arms hugging her tightly. "You're okay!" Diane cries tears of joy, and soon everyone joins in, expressing how relieved they are that she's okay.
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A few hours later, Celeste left the tavern, walking around aimlessly until she found Meliodas, sitting on a rock facing a mountain. "It's hard to believe the Holy Knights have gotten that powerful. I guess it means I can't pull my punches from here on in." Meliodas says, feeling her presence behind him. "I guess so." She replies. Meliodas plucks a petal from a flower and puts it in his mouth. "Cool!" He states, spitting it out, breaking a branch from a sprouting tree beside him. "Guess I'll have to give up on that." He says, standing up. He raises his hand with a serious expression, then swipes it down, splitting the mountain in half. Both he and Celeste walk through the mountain.
'I need to stop being useless. Meliodas, Ban, King, and Diane are always the ones fighting, Hawk too, but that's different. Whether I like it or not, I'm going to have to start fighting. So from this day onward I vow to never stand on the sideline again, because I'm Celestel of the Five Archangels, and with the Grace bestowed on me by the Supreme Deity, I will protect the ones I love.' Celeste thinks determinedly, joining the rest of the Sins on the other side. "I promise you. For the sake of the person who always fought at my side. This war's been raging on for 3000 years... but I'll end it once and for all!" Meliodas tells them.
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