I Thought I Knew You

Hope

A/N: The last pre-written chapter. It's taken me WAY too long to catch up with the fanfic version of this. Sorry for the delay everyone!

O.o.O.o.O

Elizabeth's (normal) P.O.V

"Has she woken up yet?"

I gently close the door to Elaine's room to meet the anxious face of her older brother. His usually controlled and indifferent features are now twisted into concern and worry, the fairy seeming to pace about as he squeezed Chastiefol close to his chest. Not that I could blame him for being in such a state.

When I'd first come by, I could sense that something was wrong. There was that eerie and solemn shift in the air, the type of shift that comes with grief and misery, much like when a whole family discovers that a tragic event has occurred. 

Merlin had seated herself outside of the door, her bleary eyes working away at examining the books that were stacked by her side; Diane had been trying to cheer Ban and King up, suggesting that they grab something to eat or get some fresh air; Ban and King were the worst off.

Ban and King seemed like empty shells in a way. King was pressed with worry, his small form seeming consumed with emotions so powerful that he shrunk in on himself. He sat in a corner, thinking away as he mumbled a few things and wiped away tears that came every so often. He refused to let himself cry. He was a complete wreck, a complete mess, and I could sense the guilt that appeared to pour out with the extreme worry that tied to Elaine.

Ban, on the other hand, was silently brooding. A deep sense of pain, along with melancholy, was coming from him, but unlike with King, Ban's emotions had stirred together to create an intense anger. An anger that could spark a powerful inferno that would lead to him doing reckless things. 

Just like earlier on in the day, when he had stormed off to deal with the problem alone, I could see the anger flickering in his blood red eyes. I could see it clear as day. That's why Diane had dragged him out on her quest to get some food.

But like I said before, I can't blame them both for being in such a state. How could I when what had happened was truly terrible?

Elaine had been still, corpse-like, when I had slipped into her room to check that she was alive. The usual scent of flowers, fresh air and nature that poured into everything around her was faint and ghost-like, almost akin to a perfume that had diffused and dissipated across a room. Her skin had been pale, paler that what was her natural snowy shade, and when I'd held her wrist to check for a pulse it had felt eerily cold and smooth like a stone. Like finely polished marble.

But despite her deathly appearance, Elaine's vitals had been fine. Her heart was pumping at just the right rate and her lungs were falling and rising in perfect, even breaths. Even the way she felt, the way I sensed her power, seemed alright.

However, I couldn't ignore the small spike in power I had noticed. The little rise in her magical abilities that had been missing just hours before in the day. It was sign that her soul was being messed with, experimented on like a new subject in a lab.

"No, not yet," My voice leaves soft, gentle, a wave of understanding and guilt spreading as I looked at King. "She's still got healthy vitals, though. Her heartbeat and lungs are working just fine..."

I can't help but gnaw on my lip in shame, my gaze slowly drifting to the laminate floor of the dorm. 

None of this would've happened if I didn't spark the schism. If I'd just kept my mouth shut and didn't have that outburst, then this wouldn't have happened. Meliodas wouldn't have left, the school wouldn't have been split into two, and Elaine wouldn't be in a comatose state.