Ruthless

Tantrums

Elizabeth was sitting in her room, trying not to cry. It has been about four days, Elizabeth estimated. She wasn't keeping track. As soon as she heard the news of Meliodas's kidnapping, she had wanted to cry right there and then, but tried to stay strong. But Elizabeth didn't feel strong.

They were all staying in Elizabeth's large room. Everybody. Estarossa, Zeldris, Lia, Gelda, Ban and Diane. They decided to keep it quiet. Well, as quiet as they could.

Elizabeth had her legs pulled up to her chest and her wings drooped behind her. She was staring vaguely into space.

Diane sat beside her. "Hey, Elizabeth. You alright?" Diane cursed herself inwardly. Of course she isn't! Her Fiancé just got kidnapped a month before her wedding!

Elizabeth looked up and flashed her a smile. "I'm fine." Elizabeth went back to staring at nothing, lost in her own thoughts.

Diane sighed and gave up, walking to where Zeldris, Gelda and Estarossa were trying to calm Lia down.

Since Lia had realised that her brother had been kidnapped, she had thrown a huge tantrum. She has cried, screamed, sobbed, and yelled for Meliodas nonstop for about 18 hours.

Lia was inconsolable. Nothing was helping. The most they had her do was take a few bites of a sandwich and drink a few mouthfuls of water.

Diane walked up to the shrieking girl, wincing as her headache came back. Everyone had one. "Any progress?"

"Nope." Estarossa grimaced over the wails.

Gelda soothed "Lia, calm down-"

"NO!" Lia wailed, flinging her blanket everywhere. "I WANT MELIODAS!!!!!"

Zeldris reasoned "And you will, eventually. It won't help if you keep screaming-"

"I WANT MY BROTHER!!!!!" Lia's face was bright red, tears and snot were everywhere.

"I give up." Zeldris threw his hands in the air. "She can scream all she wants, for all I care. I've got a headache."

"We all do, brother." Estarossa winced. Lia was screaming in his ear.

"I WANT MELIODAS!!!!!"

"Well, how will we find him?" Diane, Estarossa, Gelda, and Zeldris sat on the bed beside Elizabeth.

"I don't know. We could see if we could trace him/her, maybe." Zeldris suggested.

"With what?" Gelda snorted. "A talking pig?"

"I WANT MY BROTHER!"

"Maybe."

"They don't exist!"

"You don't know that!"

"I WANT MY BROTHER!!!!!!"

"This argument isn't helping!" Estarossa chuckled. "We need to figure out how to find where this kidnapper took Meliodas."

"Why don't we just wait for Meliodas to come back, he's a demon after all, won't he be fine?" Diane wondered.

"What Lia described is Demon Sealing chains. It suppresses demon powers and renders them useless as long as they are in contact with the metal." Zeldris shook his head. "Mel won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

"Oh."

"I WANT MELIODAS!!!!!!!"

"WELL HE ISN'T HERE, IS HE?!?!" Elizabeth snapped.

Lia turned and looked at Elizabeth's blank face, her eyes watering even more. She turned into her pillow and sobbed. 

"Well, at least she isn't shrieking anymore." Estarossa said tensely.

"True-"

They were cut off by a large pained shriek from Elizabeth. She had collapsed onto the bed, grasping her right arm, her hand hovering on the demon mark.

"I-It b-b-burns!!!" Elizabeth hissed. She suppressed a scream. "Not again!"  Elizabeth relaxed on the bed, her hand leaving her wrist after twenty minutes of agony.

"Elizabeth what was that?!" Diane gasped, her hand at her mouth.

"I don't know." Elizabeth sighed.

"It's her mark." Estarossa concluded after a minute. "If her and Meliodas were completely bonded, that mark meant that she can feel any extreme pain he goes through, but only on her mark as a burning sensation."

Zeldris then looked terrified and said "Elizabeth, when you said not again, have you had it happen before?"

"Yes." She replied weakly. "Once, every hour or so for about half an hour every day for a week. It was only slightly, barely noticeable. It made the mark kind of itchy."

"No!" Zeldris yelled.

"What?" Diane asked.

"Meliodas was sent for a week's torture, or punishment, by his father, for refusing marriage to the demons his father offered. Because he marked Elizabeth." Gelda said gravely.

"No way. His father did that to his own son?!"

"Yes." Zeldris said. "It's how we're raised. You wouldn't think it, but that's our reality. Our family gets 'Punished' daily by our father. Or sent to the punishment room if we are bad."

"And because Elizabeth was bonded, she felt it all through her wrist?!" Diane exclaimed in a horrified voice.

"Yup."

"Hey guys!!" Ban ran over, grinning.

"What are you so happy about!" Diane snapped.

"I know who can help us!"

"Tell us!" They all yelled.

"Merlin."

***

Meliodas pulled at his chains. He refused to give up.

Even though both of his arms were broken in at least two places, and his skin was virtually nonexistent,  tugging at the chains didn't help, he wanted to try and escape.

"Would you stop that?!" A feminine voice echoed through the room Meliodas was held captive in. "Are you trying to get yourself punished?!!"

Meliodas stopped. He remembered Elizabeth. He knew that eventually she would feel the pain, even if he tried to keep it away from her. He was weak. Meliodas remembered earlier:

The caped woman glanced down at Meliodas's bleeding body. She twirled a knife disinterestedly between her fingers. "This knife is beginning to bore me now. What should I use next, hmm?"

Meliodas glared up at the woman, his eyes filled with hatred.

"Ooh, I know! Fire!" The lady said in glee. She left and came back shortly with a tub of alcohol and some matches.

She poured the alcohol all over him and lit the match. "This might sting a little."

Meliodas knew that he wouldn't be able to keep the pain away from Elizabeth for long.

"Oooohh," the feminine voice taunted. "Did the ruthless demon Meliodas just submit to me?"