A Cold Day in December [Melizabeth]

Chapter 15 - Your Kiss

Today was the day that I get to hang out with all of my friends. We've been so excited to just hang out for once, without all the adventuring and craziness of a thieves life. We actually all went to the meadow this time, Meliodas and I wanted to share it with them. So it was all of our place, and the sleepiness spells didn't work on any of them so it worked well. It is our meeting place now, "If we ever get lost in our journeys, whether solo or together, we can always find our way here to find our way again." I said to all of them as we sat in the flower beds. My friends, they've helped me so much and honestly I will never let that go. We laughed and talked and ventured around the Meadow when I hear Diane screech loudly and King yelped right after her. Meliodas and I gave each other a look then ran over to the sounds. Last I saw, they went behind the large boulder pile beside the waterfall. I was curious as to what they found. When we reached the area I thought they were in I could hear some scuffling and coughing a little ways into the rocks. "Diane? King? Where'd you go?" I heard more stifling before I heard a muffled voice say something inaudible. "What?" I called to the voice. I turned to this wall of rock that was covered in moss and split deep in the middle. The split could fit a person in it and down below it looked dark and quite a fall. "Elizabeth!" I hear a muffled Diane say from the split. "We're down here!!" I quickly ran over to the hole in the ground, at the edge, and looked down. I felt Meliodas' hand on my shoulder as we gazed into the darkness. "Are you guys alright?" I called out to them. Ban, Escanor, and Gowther finally made it over to us with questions of their own. "We're alright, but I think Diane hurt her ankle on the fall. It looks like this goes further back down here too." I hear King say, concerned about Diane I jumped down without hesitation. I could hear the others behind me gasp and try to stop me but I was gone already. It was a winding, very slope tunnel that I slid down to reach Diane and King. When I reached the floor it was very dark and it was hard to see anything at all. "King? Diane?" I turned to this small glowing light, a piece of the enchanting pollen from above. It led me further in as I crawled through the tunnel, where I found Diane and King surrounded by more enchanting pollen. With the dim glow I could definitely see it went further back. "Are you guys alright?" I asked as I crawled towards them. Diane was in King's arms and she was smiling brightly at him and he stared back. I was ignored but, I guess that's alright. I took the time to check out Diane's ankle, it looked bruised and cut up on a side. Probably from the edges of those rocks. I used my powers to heal her, the glow of my healing brightened the tunnel but only for a moment. Then when I was done I could hear her sigh, "Thanks so much El.. I feel a lot better now." I nodded and forgot she probably couldn't see me. "It's no problem Diane, now lets go to that opening to tell the others your alright." We all crawled back to where we think the opening is. I could hear some voices above us. "Meliodas! We're okay down here. Should we go furthur down this tunnel??" I called, the voices paused and then I heard some crumbling of the rocks and then there was a Meliodas, Ban, and Gowther in front of me. "We'll come too." I agreed and we all left through the dark pollen filled tunnel. It seemed as if we'd been crawling for ages when suddenly King slips and is falling down. Diane was about to go after him but I grabbed her leg before she could. "No don't, King are you alright?" I called. There was no answer for a minute, then an echo barely made it back to us. "I'm alright, I've found something though, its safe to come down." With those words Diane was down in an instant. I took a look at Meliodas then jumped down as well. This tunnel was a lot steeper than the other and covered more in fungus and moss. It was also a longer fall. There seemed to be a dim light at the end of the tunnel and when I fell through it, I landed on a bed of moss and dark flowers. It was a cave, on the walls there was fungi and moss covering most of it's surface and crystals glittering from the walls. It was tall enough for two Escanor's at his largest state. What caught my attention most was the glowing water that flowed from the ceiling into a glowing pool that looked pretty deep. Along the wall there was more tunnels that led other places and some seemed covered and hidden by vines. "Wow." A voice mutters beside me, making me jump. "O-Oh.. Meliodas you scared me. It is amazing isn't it?" His arm wrapped around my waist as he stood beside me. Diane and King sat by the pool and Ban and Gowther went to investigate the other tunnels. "I think it is a new place for all of us to really share. Maybe if we include our own lamps, it couldn't be too bad at all." His smile was wide and genuine. I nodded at him and placed a kiss on his cheek, "It really could be. These crystals look similar to the ones in the pond above." I told him, "that could possibly mean.. this is the same enchanted water too." Then as if on cue I hear loud splash, Diane and King had fallen in! I let go of Meliodas and made my way quicky to the two. "That's enchanted water you guys!" They looked at me and then held each other tight. "What do you mean by enchanted water?!" Suddenly, as I fell on the edge of the pool, it turned to a boiling and bright pink. The two yelled in fear as I reached out to them. They were swept away into the water in a whirlpool and then it was still, my heart stopped, where did they go?! Just then the water forms like a tornado and drops down on the opposite side of the pool that I wasn't on. Then as it disappeared I could see Diane and King laying there. I ran over to them and immediately checked for pulse, they were alive and surprisingly dry? Diane gasped and jolted up, King following after. "W-What just-?" I huffed and smacked both of them. "That was enchanted water! It brings to anyone who swims in it good fortune and love in your case, couples can be bound together for eternity. It's powerful and if you end up with the wrong person in the waters.." I didn't even want to finish that thought. The two looked at each other nervously, "Well it's a good thing I love you to bits, huh King?" They laughed and I guess I couldn't be upset forever so I laughed along too. Then I left them be and went back to Meliodas. His smile never ceased to falter in advance when asking the outcomes of his friends stupidity. In the end though, he ended up laughing at them too. "Oh dear, they do amuse me that's for sure." I smiled at him and hugged him tight while not breaking our eye contact. "Hey Mel?" I asked him and he made a hm? sound while his eyebrow made to have a look of curiosity. "I love you." I told him and he just pulls me into a kiss that should've lasted forever, but only insisted a minute. When we pulled away his smile was big and bright. "I love you too El. You have no idea." I laughed and poked him in the cheek. "Mel, if I could, I'd love you more than my knowledge of how much you love me. But, I guess I already do that huh?" He grumbled and pulled me closer making me giggle. "Oye! You two and you two! Stop bein' all lovey dovey and get over here. We've found a way out!" Ban shouted from a vine covered opening. Everyone was there in an instant, the tunnel seemed tall enough for Ban to fit through. "This is the way, Gowther has already gone up, it's a little steep but there are stairs eventually." Ban explained as he gestures to the dark hallways with pollen bobbing and floating around. We then decided to go back up to tell Escanor about the crazy and beautiful new place we found. Getting back to the surface felt like ages but Meliodas never took his hand out of my own. When we finally got out of this hole covered diligently by a bushy trapdoor, I noticed something engraved into the rocky wall beside us. A small grove was what I discovered, and in it was a box with a pretentious rose on it. "Elizabeth? What did you find?" I hear Meliodas call over to me. I took the box gently into my hands and investigated further, on the back there were the words Ma petite elisabeth, Ma chérie Ellie It was an almost unfamiliar language, possibly french. Then I remembered that my father used to study many different languages while he was alive. "It's from my father, look." I tilted the box gently towards him and watched as he observed the old looking box, made of wood, with rusted hinges and latch. To others it would probably be the most ugly box you've ever seen, if you are particular like that. "Why would it be here? It looks like it has been here for a while." I took the small box into my arms as if to hug it closer to me. "I couldn't possibly care, if it's left for me from him. I will just open it later." He chuckled at me and nodded in agreement, "Alright then, my love, shall we go?" I nodded excitedly as we ran to catch up with the others who were now entering the flower beds again. I could see Escanor sitting in the middle with a floating Merlin just next to him, possibly deep in conversation.