Chapter Text
At the ruins of Vaizel, the Seven Deadly Sins and the Ten Commandments are face to face. With the tension rising, the leaders of each group step forward.
"Hello, Zeldris…" Meliodas said as confidently as he could, even if he hated this situation.
"Meliodas, it's been a while, are you still tied to that vixen?" Zeldris teased.
"Brother? Vixen?" Ban yelled, "Captain what'd he mean by that?!"
"Oh, my~ Have you not told your comrades your past?" Zeldris grabbed Meliodas by the collar and whispered, "Will they still trust you if they knew the truth?"
Zeldris grabbed Meliodas by the throat to bar him from speaking, or potentially kill him.
"CAP-" Ban was cut off by Merlin giving him a look that said "Shut up" and at the same time, it was a look of worry.
With Meliodas unable to speak, Estarossa walks up and starts to reveal Meliodas's complicated past.
"Captain? HA! I'm surprised that anyone would trust you of all people to lead. After all, the only reason we're all in this situation is because of your traitorous action of 3,000 years ago."
The sins, excluding Merlin, and their allies all had similar looks of confusion.
"W-what are you talking about?! How could Sir Meliodas have done something 3,000 years ago? No one can live that long." Elizabeth stuttered out as she saw Meliodas still struggling, in vain, to get out of Zeldris's grip.
"It is exactly as it sounds princess, you see, Meliodas is the eldest son of the great Demon Lord, and the former Commander of the Ten Commandments, as well as the former heir to the Demon Lord's throne. He abandoned the throne and his position as our leader when the princess of the Goddess race tricked and seduced my poor elder brother." Zeldris promptly said as he loosened his grip slightly on his elder brother.
A deafening silence filled the air as Meliodas's past came up to the surface. Meliodas struggled to turn around, but he could feel the painful faces that his allies were making.
Monspeet jokingly said, "Hm? Can you all not speak, or are you all that astonished by your captain's history?"
"So what! The captain's still the captain no matter his history!" Diane yelled all teary-eyed.
"Ah, but that is not all giantess. You all are aware of the Holy War 3,000 years ago, are you not?" Zeldris asked releasing Meliodas from his grip.
"I'm aware of the general synopsis of it," King explained, "The story goes like this; In the ancient Holy war of 3,000 years ago, the 4 major races teamed up to destroy the Demon race once and for all. Though, after suffering many losses, the Goddess race decided to sacrifice themselves to seal away the Demon race."
Melascula laughed a bit, not at the situation, but at the sheer lack of knowledge that the Seven Deadly Sins and their allies possessed about the Holy War.
"Do you know how the Holy War started?" Melascula asked.
Meliodas and Merlin got a surprised yet worried look on their faces as King replied.
"Oh my Meliodas, your friends sure are clueless, aren't they?" Melascula said in a mocking tone.
Finally, Meliodas caught his breath and stood up.
"Enough of this! You only trying to–" Meliodas was cut off by Monspeet shooting a hell bird at him. Meliodas used counter-vanish to evade the attack.
"Now now, Meliodas, your friends will want an explanation now. If you have nothing to hide, then why are you trying to quiet Melascula?" Monspeet knew that asking this would trap Meliodas and shut him down.
"Now then, would you all like to know how the Holy war, which devastated both the Goddess clan and the Demon clan, started?" Melascula asked whilst smirking.
"Enlighten us demon, how did the ancient war start?" Hendrickson asked, though he kept his eye on the other Commandments who were silent.
"Alrighty then," Melascula said all innocent and child-like as if she hadn't destroyed several villages and killed a bunch of people, "It wasn't what, but actually who started the Holy war."
Meliodas was about to lose control when he saw the concerned and confused faces of his comrades.
"What do you mean by 'whom' Melascula?" Jericho asked whilst pulling out her sword.
"No need for weapons human, and the answer to your question is, a Goddess and a Demon started the Holy war 3,000 years ago."
'What?!' Everyone stood astonished. 'A Demon and a Goddess started the ancient war?!'
"Would you like to know who it was?" Melascula asked, tilting her head to seem as if she was genuinely interested.
"Fine, tell us, you witch." Escanor stuttered.
"Alright," Melascula smiled at the fact that she would be the one to screw Meliodas over, "It was the Commanders of the Goddess and Demon armies. The princess of the Goddess Realm, Elizabeth, and the prince of the Demon Realm, Meliodas. They betrayed the gods that ruled the realms, and in doing so, were cursed. Meliodas was cursed with Everlasting Life. Meaning when he 'Dies' he will always come back. The only drawback is, that when he comes back, the Demon Lord in Purgatory takes some of his Emotions. The vixen who seduced our commander was cursed with Eternal Reincarnation. Every time she dies, she is reborn without her memories of her past life. Meliodas must be there to witness her die each time. If she was to regain her memories, she would die in three days no matter what."
"That's horrible."
"Captain…"
"Damn it."
Meliodas turned back to see his allies with mixed looks. Merlin, of course, was annoyed that the truth got out. Escanor had a look of sadness on his face. Ban looked conflicted. Meliodas couldn't even look at Elizabeth.
"Wait... Captain, is Elizabeth the Goddess princess Melascula was talking about?" Diane asked.
"Lady Diane! How can we even be sure that her story is true? " Gilthunder blurted out, turning to Meliodas, he said, "I mean, it can't be. Right, Meliodas?"
"I... It's true." Meliodas said shamefully. On the verge of tears he said, "And to answer your question, Diane, Yes. Yes, Elizabeth Liones is the reincarnation of the Goddess Elizabeth."
The battlefield had that deafening silence again as Meliodas admitted the truth.
"But, Elizabeth nor I wanted to start the Holy war! It was a mistake that I regret." Meliodas said almost to tears.
"What's to say he won't betray us? He did it to his own kinsmen, what's to stop him from betraying us?" Gilfrost (Vivian) said.
"Gilfrost has a point. And Meliodas came to Liones from the ruins of Danafor, a country he destroyed." Hendrickson pointed out, much to the dismay of the others, and especially Meliodas.
"Sir Meliodas… why? Why would you and my past self do such a thing?"
"Elizabeth-" Meliodas was cut off by Zeldris.
"Meliodas didn't do anything. It was you, Elizabeth. You seduced my elder brother and forced him to betray us. Meliodas isn't at fault, you have been torturing him for the past 3,000 years. Because of that, I will bring Meliodas home and away from you." Zeldris said, then he raised his sword to cast a spell, "Dies Irae!"
Zeldris aimed at Elizabeth. Merlin protected her, and he let out an annoyed click.
"Brother," Estarossa pleaded, "Come home, stop this foolishness, and come back with us. Father will be more lenient with you if you come home now."
"May I interject," Merlin interrupted, "We haven't decided whether or not to let Meliodas go with you."
"Meliodas is not an object!" Estarossa growled, "What are you planning?"
"We were planning to lock him up, somewhere he couldn't do harm."
"Meliodas," Melascula asked, "What would you like to do?"
"I want to..." Meliodas staggered, "I want to go... home."