Tinted Windows

Chapter Thirty-One

"I can't believe you, Elizabeth!"

"I'm so sorry! I guess I just got ahead of myself!" Selene let out a soft sigh.

"It's fine but if I'm going to keep telling you everything you gotta keep some of it a secret." Before Elizabeth could respond, one of the assassins jumped at her. She didn't have the time to do anything but put her hand in front of her face. Selene however, saw the attack coming and jumped in front of her friend.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw in front of her. Selene stood in front of her with a deep gash on her arm. Selene put a hand on the assassin closest to her, catching him on fire. The other assassin tried to extinguish the flame but they both failed.

"Why did you do that?" Elizabeth asked her friend.

"It was completely self-defense! He started it!"

"Not that. I meant why did you jump in front of me?"

"Because you're my best friend. I can't lose you." Selene said looking over her shoulder at her friend with a sad smile. Before they knew what was happening, they were completely engulfed in smoke. Elizabeth let out a scream when a snake bit into her shoulder. Selene got distracted by her friend's scream and almost got stabbed by the assassin behind her. Before he got the chance, Selene grabbed his wrist and disarmed him. The dagger in his hand plummeted off of the platform. Selene put her hands out in front of her and directed flames towards both of the assassins. Elizabeth ran over to them but Selene's focus went to her cut. It was deep. But instead of worrying about it, she worried more about her dress that now had a cut in it. Before Selene even realized it, her arm felt warm, and then it stopped hurting. Elizabeth removed her hand from Selene's cut and it was completely healed.

"There."

"Thanks, Elizabeth! But I wish your power could fix my dress." Elizabeth just rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I guess we won!" Immediately after Selene said that the two assassins plummeted off of the platform and towards the ground. Elizabeth screamed but Selene just pulled her away from the hole in the ground. "Elizabeth, you can't save anyone if you die right now! And last time I checked you can't fly so get away from there."

"But I wanted to save them!" Selene nodded sadly and hugged her crying friend.

"I know. I do too but I have the feeling something bad is about to happen." The girls completely ignored the fight Ban and Meliodas were having and just kept talking.

"What do you mean? You got Ban back!"

"I don't know. I just sense something is coming. And this sketchy festival doesn't help. You know with two of the commandments." Elizabeth nodded softly. "Well, it looks like their fight is over."

"Hey! Sir Meliodas!" Meliodas just waved in return. Selene looked over to Diane and King and started hysterically laughing. "Selene? What is it?" Selene could barely breathe; she was laughing so hard so she pointed over to the situation King was in with his bloody nose. They just sat down and watched the rest of the fight. Well, Elizabeth did. Selene was trying to figure out her game plan. They were obviously going to attack the commandments, but when?

~~~

"Are you okay?" Selene looked at Elizabeth with confusion.

"Yeah. What's wrong."

"The fight ended and the other one started. But you're still staring off."

"I'm sorry. Something just doesn't feel right." Selene went back to ignoring the fight and just tried to figure out what the feeling she had meant. She knew the commandments watching their every move wasn't helping her nerves but it felt like there was something about to happen. As if confirming her suspicion, she heard a woman's voice in her head. The woman from the void.

"You need to get out of there immediately."

"What, why?" Selene asked out loud.

"Selene, are you alright?" Selene ignored Elizabeth's question and waited for the woman's response.

"Get out of there now. Something is about to happen."

"And do you mind telling me what it is? Why is everything so cryptic?" Elizabeth looked around for who Selene was talking to but saw no one.

"If you stay here for another moment, all of Britannia may be destroyed. You can argue with me all you want but you will just waste time."

"Okay. And where am I supposed to go? I'm not leaving my friends to die! The commandments will kill them. I need to protect them."

"How are you supposed to help them if you are dead?" The lady screamed in her head. Selene's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that."

"But...If I die, everyone dies." Selene started to laugh. "What a dilemma I'm in! If I leave, all of my friends will die and if I try to save their lives, they will end up dying anyway. So, no matter what choice I make, everyone I care about ends up dead."

"Selene! Who are you talking to?" Elizabeth asked, shaking Selene out of her conversation.

"The lady in my head, who else?" Before Elizabeth could react, they heard a large explosion. Escanor just attacked the commandments. Meliodas jumped down and started to attack them just a split second later. Selene tried to jump down after him but Elizabeth stepped in front of her.

"I can't let you go get yourself killed! You just said it yourself."

"I need to help him. I don't have time for this! I need to protect him." Before Selene could jump down and help, Drole made the stone hands imprison them.

"No. No! We need to get out of here!" Selene yelled while hitting her hand against the stone that trapped them. Even when her knuckles started to bleed, she didn't stop until Ban grabbed her hand.

"There's no point. We can't get out of here." Ban said while inspecting her injured hand.

"Well, we need to find a way!"

"You can leave that to me. I can teleport all of us here to somewhere safe." Even though that was the answer to getting out, Selene looked at the ground, upset. She wanted to protect Meliodas. She couldn't let him die.

The mage teleported them to Liones but Selene couldn't help but worry. Something didn't feel right. Everyone discussed but she focused on the feeling of dread that was growing in her stomach. She had a decision to make. Let everyone die after she betrayed them or die because she did everything she could to protect them. Or plan C. Let herself die protecting them and do everything she could to make sure she didn't come back to life. She decided she would take her chances.

"Hey, Ban?" Selene asked, walking over to him. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Selene smiled softly at his words and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"And I can't let anything happen to you." Ban gave her a curious look but she pulled him in for a kiss. Once she pulled back, she looked into his eyes, holding back tears.

"Goodbye, Ban." Ban gave her a questioning glance but it quickly went away once Selene snapped his neck. She tightened her arms around him and gently guided him to the ground. She took a deep breath and looked over at her friends. They all looked deeply concerned. "Tell him I'm sorry when he wakes up. I just needed him out of the way. I want you to send me to Meliodas."

"No, you can't!" Elizabeth screamed. Selene sent her a soft smile.

"Can you do it? Can you teleport me?"

"Yes."

"Well, goodbye everyone. It's been a pleasure."