Love is Stronger than Pain

Chpt. 8 "Blame"

             Hawk's mom rushed along the plains of Brittania, heading north towards Liones. Inside the Boar Hat, Merlin, Ban, Arthur, Escanor, and Gowther tended to King and his many injuries while Meliodas and Elizabeth stayed with Diane as they waited for her to wake up.

            A red liquid poured into King's mouth and all four sins and Arthur watched as King's injuries instantly began to heal.

Arthur: "Woah... That's amazing Sir Ban."

Ban: "There. That should be enough right?"

Merlin: "It should. We're lucky to have you and Elizabeth here otherwise we'd have no way of healing him in time to get back to Liones and properly treat his wounds."

(Nighttime) Escanor: "Miss Merlin. Are you positive King will be alright? After all, his wings are still missing."

Merlin: "Unfortunately that isn't reversible and his wings will likely stay that way for the rest of his life. Aside from that he'll be alright. He'll likely wake up before we reach Liones."

Ban: "Tsk. Damn bastards! How in the hell could they do shit like this to them!?"

Gowther: "I must say, it's amazing that King even survived. A head injury, torn wings, two slash wounds in the back and chest as well as several broken ribs and a burst lung. It's a miracle that he's still with us."

         Up in the other room. Diane laid in her bed unconscious, but still tossing and turning to the torment of a nightmare.

(Diane's dream)

         Diane's eyes opened as she found herself in a room so dark she could barely see 2 feet in front of her.

Diane: "W-Where am I? Hello!? Is anyone there?"

        Diane walked around for a little while before she saw something slightly glowing slowly fall down in front of her face. Diane caught the object and realized that it was a wing. King's wing.

Diane: "W-Wha-"

Fraudrin: "Hello there."

        Diane's eyes widened as she began trembling and hyperventilating.

Fraudrin: "What's the matter? Too scared to look me in the eyes? Come on. LOOK AT ME!"

        Suddenly Diane's vision became clear enough to see Fraudrin standing in front of her. Diane looked up at the demon who towered over her like she normally towered over humans. It was also clear that Fraudrin had someone's entire stomach impaled on his hand with blood dripping down his purple arms. Diane squinted her eyes and the figure on Fraudrin's hand quickly became clear. It was King.

Diane: "HARLEQUIN!!!"

King: "*weakly* Look Diane... Look what you did. Look what's happened because of you."

Diane: "W-What? What are you saying?"

King: "Think about it. Why did we get captured in the first place? Because you just had to sleep outside that night. And what happened because of it? We got taken here... we were tortured, I was tortured... my wings were ripped off and my child was killed in front of my eyes!"

           Tears began to well up in Diane's eyes.

Diane: "King please... y-you know I didn't want-"

King: "You didn't want any of this? I'm aware of that. But it doesn't change the fact that it was you who put us in this situation whether you wanted it or not. It was you who merely sat there WHEN EVERYTHING I CHERISED WAS LITTERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY RIPPED AWAY FROM ME!!!!"