Working Through The Damage (A Meliodas X OC)

Episode Thirteen: Dark Meliodas

I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T POSTED IN THREE WEEKS! It's my spring brake now so I'll try to make it up to you guys this week! (My spring break ends in three days no counting today so hopefully I can make it up to you) Also, the picture above is something I drew for my math binder last year. I NEED YOUR HELP, GUYS! I've been trying to come up with a ship name for Lauren and Meliodas but I can't think of a good one. Because you guys are supporting the origin of all the things yet to come (one shots, more books based on seasons, drawings, etc.) and you guys are more creative than me, I really want one of you to come up with a ship name! WHOEVER DOES CREATE THE SHIP NAME I THINK SOUNDS THE BEST, YOU WILL GET A SHOUTOUT EVERY TIME I USE IT! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Jericho made a remark about her insides burning and Guila questioned how Meliodas was able to break free from inside the amber. Suddenly, Meli rushed past Guila and cut off her hand that was holding his sword. My eyes widened in fear as I watched him throw her hand to the ground. This wasn't the Meliodas that I knew and loved; it couldn't have been. He waved his sword and caused a blast, sending Guila and Jericho flying. Jericho was in shock at how he did such a thing while the dust cleared. I got up and began to back away from Veronica's body, the dry tears that covered my face now getting replaced with new ones. What had happened to Meliodas? His aura felt demonic. It reminded me of when we went to the town next to baste prison. His eyes had become black and he had a crest on his forehead. This was much worse, his entire body becoming covered in the black markings. I was ashamed to admit that I was scared... of my own boyfriend! I watched as Jericho grabbed Guila's severed hand and ran over to her. Jericho used a spell bead to heal Guila's hand and I watched as they figured out what to do. Ban bent down behind them and sarcastically said that it was bad news. He then revealed that he had stolen their spell beads, holding them up in between his fingers. He then looked up to see Meliodas, still covered in black markings, rushing towards the three of them. Ban told the holy knights to watch out before charging forward to meet Meliodas, asking if it was really him before being sliced in half. My eyes widened at the sight. Meliodas wasn't himself. He had just injured Ban for no reason. I watched as Elizabeth began to worry and Hawk asked if she was alright. She told him she was fine, rushing over to him. She began asking about Meli frantically but Hawk had no answers for her. Suddenly, I could no longer see or hear them as a giant dust cloud formed around me. I winced before opening my eyes to see Meliodas standing in front of me. I was standing but I fell to my knees out of shock and fear. The ground underneath us was like an island with the surrounding land within a 10 foot radius being demolished. Meli leaned down and began sniffing me. My tears began to flow again, his sniffing reminding me of when he was normal. It reminded me of sleeping next to him just the night before, when his breathing was calm and he wasn't covered in black markings. I began to blush, calling his name and not getting a response. More tears fell as I stood up, determined to take action this time and not let my cowardly ways lead to hurting my friends again. I grabbed the back of Meliodas' neck as he straighten his stature and pulled him in for a kiss, hoping that it might pull him out of his trance. I felt him freeze and begin to loosen up before gently pushing me away, causing me to cry harder. All of his markings moved to the right side of his body, the majority going to his arm before forming a wing. Then he flew off. "NO!" I screamed, jumping up and trying to grab his foot, anything, to prevent him from leaving and hurting more people. But my efforts were in vain and he flew away effortlessly. Immediately, I began climbing down off of the pedestal that was created when Meliodas landed here. Eventually I fell to the bottom of the ten-foot hole and began climbing, trying to get out of the hole. I dug my fingers and the toes of my boots in the soft dirt, trying to climb up. I succeeded while also getting my entire body covered in mud which stung the cuts and burns on my stomach and legs. I wiped away the mud the caked my face before dusting myself off and running to where I saw Meliodas fly off to. I saw Meliodas fighting a third holy knight, one that I knew from around the castle as Helbram. I continued to run as I watched Helbram try to swing his sword at Meliodas. Meliodas countered it with his black markings and I smirked. Even in this weird trance, he was still able to defend himself. He flew into the air again, impressing Helbram before attacking from above with his giant, black, wing. Meliodas came to the ground, the black markings still forming a wing, as Helbram began to take things more seriously. Meliodas struck again and Helbram dodged, countering with the swing of his sword before getting worried that he may have cut Meli in two. The dust cleared to reveal that that the black markings had moved to protect a Meliodas from the blow. Meliodas' markings moved to his right and once again formed a wing and he began charging towards Helbram. The holy knight countered by using his attack, hunter wisp. Golden wisps formed in Helbram's hand before taking off after Meliodas who was already airborne. They hit him straight on and I winced as he fell to the ground. I ran towards Helbram, refusing to be a coward like I was before, and punched his chest plate, causing a dent that was roughly the size of his head. He coughed up a little blood, eyes widening as he turned to me. "Princess! How do you have such strength! I must study you! But at a later date, I'm sad to say." He said, before punching me in the face with such a force that I fell to the ground. I could feel my black eye already forming as I stood back up to see that Meliodas was also up. Helbram began taking notes on Meliodas, as Meliodas formed giant claws on both hands with the black markings. Meliodas began chasing Helbram while flying, almost crushing him with his claws as Helbram narrowly escaped each time. I ran after the two, watching as Helbram pulled out his sword and tried to attack before being crushed by Meliodas' giant, clawed, hand. Helbram pushed the hand off, saying that it was magnificent. He explained that he had a special ability called link which enabled him to take powers from others who willingly gave it to him. Then he struck his sword at Meliodas. That caused Meliodas' shoulder to squirt blood before he flew towards Helbram and head-butted him in the chin. He then punched Helbram twice, with his clawed hands, causing Helbram to slide back quite far. It was then that both Helbram and I realized that the markings were growing. Meliodas flew towards Helbram but the holy knight struck first, sending Meliodas flying into the mountain behind him. "How could you!?" I screamed, punching Helbram in the back causing him to fly forward 20 feet. He grimaced, grabbing me by my shirt and throwing me into the mountain next to Meliodas. I groaned in pain, my entire body now littered in cuts, burns, and bruises. I slowly began to smile as I turned and saw Meliodas, next to me, no longer covered in markings. Meli was back. He was bleeding and unconscious but he was back to normal. I struggled to crawl to him, almost passing out as I did from the pain but smiling the whole time I did it. I finally got to him as I watched Helbram put on his helmet, ready to take Meliodas through half-lidded eyes. I growled at the thought before turning to see Ban running away while holding Elizabeth and Hawk running by his side. Helbram turned to meet my gaze, assuming that they were fleeing in shame. Helbram reached his hand out, about to grab Meli, when Diane's gideon came crashing down, scaring Helbram. I smirked, finding it harder and harder to remain awake as I watched Diane, now normal size, pick both Meliodas and Me up. "Captain. Lauren." She muttered, upset. Helbram began trying to bargain with her, trying to get her to hand over Meli and Elizabeth and me but she ignored him, her rage building as she asked him if he was the one who hurt us. She raised her guideon in the air, getting ready to attack as she became angry that Helbram wasn't answering her question. I began to fall unconscious as Diane used her attack, mother earth catastrophe. That explained why Ban was running. I heard Helbram trying to escape as everything faded to black. I was woken up by Diane shouting "Hey!" to Elizabeth, Ban, and Hawk. Diane opened her hand and Meliodas and I greeted the others before Diane gave us a face hug. She put us both down and Elizabeth began crying. Ban ran over and punched Meli in the face, causing me to wince. I had seen him in enough pain for one day. "That outta do it. I had to pay to back for before." Ban explained while I smiled slightly at their strange friendship dynamic. "Yeah, that's cool." Meliodas responded weakly while smiling. I ran up to him and helped him up, tears forming in my eyes. He was really back to normal. "I was so worried!" I exclaimed, helping him up. "Sorry." He apologized weakly. I hugged him, kissing his collarbone like he had done to me when he was unconscious. "You have nothing to be sorry for." I whispered, beginning to cry again. "I have everything to be sorry for." He replied, pulling away. "I made the person I care about most cry." He finished, wiping away my tears. I blushed before he pecked me on the lips, causing me to hide my face in his shoulder. He laughed before looking me over more closely. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked calmly but sounding mad. I waved him off saying "I'll tell you later." Before hearing rocks fall. I turned to see Griamore, holding Veronica in his arms, his wall fading away, causing the rocks to fall. Both Elizabeth and I ran over, glad to see that he was alright. "I wouldn't qualify to be a holy knight. I couldn't even protect you two. That was Princess Veronica's final order to me and I ended up disobeying her. But... But I..." Griamore struggled to speak as Elizabeth thanked him. "I know how much you cared for her." I voiced, my voice quivering as tears began to form again. "Please burry her on the shore of Pienes Lake." Elizabeth and I said together because my voice was beginning to grow too weak to understand. I began walking away as more tears fell down my face. That was the first time I had ever cried in front of someone and I hated that it was in front of a huge group of people. But, I couldn't help it. The only friend that was by my side my whole life was gone. Elizabeth finished, saying that it was all that she asked because she remembered all the fun we used to have there. "I'm going to stop the holy knights no matter what. I will. I swear." I announced, my words almost unintelligible as I continued to cry, almost falling to the ground before being caught by Meliodas. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." I whimpered over and over, rocking back and forth in his arms. He held me close and rubbed my back as Griamore told Elizabeth that we were strong, saying "The both of you are so strong now. Even Princess Lauren, who is crying. She still possesses strength within her. Strength enough to defend what she thinks is right even if others oppose her." I smiled, my crying calming down as I snuggled into Meli's warm chest. He smiled sadly at me, kissing my forehead before asking, "Do you need a nap?" I nodded sleepily, tears still falling from my eyes. He picked me up and put me on his back as I sleepily watched Griamore walk into the distance. Ban asked where Meli's sword had gone and his response was surprisingly nonchalant. "Oh. I guess it was stolen." Everyone, including myself, was surprised that he was so calm about the situation. I asked about it and he responded by saying that the situation was serious. "But. I'm glad you're alright. Besides those injuries that I still need to hear about... 'Cause that's what really matters to me." I began to blush, my entire face heating up as I kissed his cheek. Diane asked why he didn't care that she was alright and Hawk said that he was a mess. King told Hawk that he was pretty tough before Meliodas sniffed the pig and said "He just needs to be tenderized." That caused me to smile. I fell asleep while Meliodas piggy-backed me home. I woke up surrounded by everyone in only a bra and underwear. I yelped, blushing furiously, before pulling the blanket over myself. "Why am I half naked!" I shouted, turning to Meliodas who had a solemn look on his face. He rested his hand on mine, rubbing his thumb over top of my knuckles. "Calm down. We were just looking at your wounds and cleaning your clothes. What happened to you?" He questioned, his face stern. I looked out the window to see Diane's big purple eye. I sighed before explaining what had happened. "I was protecting you. I refused to be a coward like I was when you and Ban got hurt by Guila and Jericho. I didn't just want to be a stander-by. I wanted to help yo—" I was interrupted by Meliodas screaming at me. "SO GETTING BEAT UP IS HELPING ME!?" I was slightly frightened by his outburst and I felt tears filling my eyes but I didn't want to cry in front of them again so I blinked the tears away which hurt my black eye. "WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE ELIZABETH?! SHE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING STUPID AND DANGEROUS! YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" He screamed again as I stood up, trying to remain calm before I heard him compare me to the girl who had tormented me my entire life. "SHUT UP! DON'T ACT LIKE YOU CARE! I KNOW YOU DON'T" He grimaced, growling slightly, as he shouted back "I DO CARE! WHY DO YOU THINK I'M TELLING YOU NOT TO DEFEND ME!?" I grimaced, making my way to his closet and grabbing one of his belts, a pair of his pants and one of his white shirts. "BECAUSE YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY EMOTIONS AND GET INSIDE MY HEAD! YOU OBVIOUSLY LIKE ELIZABETH BETTER SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST DATE HER INSTEAD!?" I screamed at him, putting on the clothes I grabbed which were kinda tight on me. "MAYBE I WILL! SHE"S OBVIOUSLY BETTER THAN YOU!" He retorted. He grimaced and everyone's mouth hung agape at the fact that we were fighting. "Fine." I replied calmly. "Have fun with her." I said, tears falling down my face as I ran down the stairs, grabbed a knife, and ran into the surrounding woods, Meliodas' voice, screaming my name slowly faded as I ran deeper and deeper into the woods.