Pride's True Love.

Remembering.

"When I was alone and drowning in absolute darkness.. She was always the one that illuminated the path of my life, because that is what a sun does."

It has been two years since the incident.. Chaos and darkness overcame all of Liones  and its surrounding lands. Everyone suffered loss and this story is a sad one indeed but not entirely... As the towns villages and kingdoms slowly start their rebuilding, the people continued on with their lives trying to be as happy as they could but the memories of the war left bad bitter tastes on the tongues of everyone.

There was some happiness thankfully.. Ban finally got Elaine back, King was with Diane. Meliodas settled with Elizabeth and Gowther with Guila. It seems everyone found their happiness.. but, what about Merlin and Escanor? It all began that day.. the battle between Cusack and Arthur, king of Camelot.. the young king tries fighting against one of the higher ranking demons in the demon clan, the teacher of the leader of the Ten Commandments. Luckily Merlin had teleport Arthur out of the battle zone out of safety, or so she thought.. Under the influence of Resonant, a power that links Cusack and his target through eyesight, therefore making his target perform the same movements as him... Cusack, who is the former master of Zeldris, the leader of the Ten Commandments, ordered Arthur Pendragon to commit suicide. The sight of it all still haunts the boar's sin of Gluttony, Merlin. His arms raised up Infront of him gripping the legendary Excalibur with a reverse hold on the sword, his hands shook terrified of taking his own life but it was no match for Cusack. Undoubtedly Excalibur pierces his chest instantly making Arthur cough up rich blood. Collapsing to the floor, Merlin ran to his side and held him in her arms terrified and heartbroken that she had lost the man she loved so dearly.

Escanor so desperately wanted to comfort her somehow.. he had knocked on the door where she as well as Elizabeth was in As he built up his courage and parted his lips to speak, 'Merlin.. even if that young one is no longer with us.. I will be there to protect you..it is truly unfortunate what happened to King Arthur but.. you will always have me by your side..'he overheard the conversation taking place between her and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth spoken first, "Merlin.. you truly cared for Arthur didn't you.. he is completely irreplaceable to you, just like Meliodas is to me.. right?.." the shocked mage turned to the comforting friend revealing a tear stained eye and whispered in a painful voice. " now all I see is the darkness engulfing before me.." Prying from the slight crack in the door, Escanor, for the first time, saw Merlin cried. Everyone knew that Elizabeth loved Meliodas, it was not a secret but.. it sealed the deal for Escanor. There and then, he realized that he had no chance of being with the one whom he truly loved. Without saying a word, he closed the door and  and walked away from the room, as if.. his pride was broken.

He remembers the days back at Castellio when he first discovered his powers, the grace that chose him, Sunlight. Everyone thought of him as a monster for breaking his brother's wrist after he picked on him. The day Rosa helped him escaped in a barrel.. and the faithful day Merlin and Meliodas found him. Even then, as easy going as Meliodas was, Merlin was still the first to accept him entirely and considered him rather interesting rather than a monster. He loved her since and he still does..

'I never expected her to return my feelings.. I have accepted that.. but why do I still feel this way..' he asked himself everyday since then. Even after the war, when everyone else return to their 'regular' lives, those two kept living and remembering what happened. Back at My Sweet Gluttony, the tavern Escanor named after Merlin, he sat behind the bar polishing and cleaning the glasses staring at His sacred treasure, Rhitta. The beautiful golden axe embedded into the wall because of its sheer size and weight was a constant reminder to him of the days where he wish he could've protected Arthur for the sake of Merlin's happiness. He missed the days he spent with his old comrades and haven't seen them since the war ended. Ban, King, Meliodas, Hawk, Gowther, Diane.. they were all just memories again..  no longer being able to go outside, his powers held captive within him, he was just a skinny weakling that no one could love. His own self hatred and sorrow got the better of him as he looked behind him into the mirror and saw why Merlin would choose Arthur over him.

The taverns door was pushed open slowly and softly. "Merlin?" Escanor eyes lit up and turned around to face the doors for he thought that his true love came to pay him a visit but his happy expression soon faded. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Hello.. Welcome to My Sweet Gluttony. I'm Escanor, the bar master.." he said before placing the glass down neatly and gently and lowered his head in disappointment.

"Huh? Is that how you greet all of your customers? I should kick ya ass for being so down. We won the war. What's wrong?" The tall light blue haired, red eyed man approached him. It was Ban, the fox sin of Greed and his old friend from the seven deadly sins.
"Hey.. what are you doing here? Why isn't Elaine with you?" He said nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"The captain wants to get us back together. He wants to form the seven deadly sins again." Ban said plainly without much emotion or care.
"I don't know.. I can't leave the tavern behind. Everything I have is here. You guys don't need me, you are all stronger than I am." Escanor sadly replied
"Oh is that so?~ well then I guess I'll have to tell Merlin you won't be coming then.." he snickered but Escanor quickly shot up and shook his head "n-no! I'll be there! I.. just need help with Rhitta.. I'll wait until  morning before I begin my travels..oh! how rude of me! Can I get you a drink Ban?"
Ban declined placing a hand on his shoulder offering him a smile before taking his leave.

Thinking of what he would say or do when he would see her once more, Escanor couldn't help but smile as thoughts of the beautiful mage filled his mind. He looked around the empty tavern and clenched his fist in an attempt to try and get himself pumped up. "That settles it then... the Lion's sin of Pride will return.."