Familiar Fire

Chapter Ten

Ban quickly left the room, doing as he was told. Aurora kept the towel tightly pressed to her chest but blood still ran down, staining the nightgown she was wearing. She listened closely to what was happening on the floor below her. She could hear a distant yet hurried knock then could hear two sets of footsteps running up the stairs, towards her. Meliodas ran into the room, slightly out of breath and hair more disheveled than usual. His eyes shot down to the blood-stained towel in her hand. He looked back up into her ocean blue eyes with a look of understanding.

"We need to talk." Ban stepped out of the room, the tension between the two was not something he wanted to get involved in. Both seemed desperate to know what the other knew and he felt it wasn't his place. He nodded to Aurora who gave him a weak smile. He shut the door behind him. "How many years ago did we meet?" Her voice was calm and monotone but Meliodas could see anger brewing in her blue eyes.

"About three thousand."

"Three thousand years." She said aloud, mostly to herself. "So please explain to me why the sixteen-year-old, Princess of Liones, Elizabeth, was alive and well three-thousand years ago?" She whisper yelled at him. She was furious that he kept something so big from her but she also didn't want anyone else overhearing.

"It's a long story-"

"I don't care if it's a long story!" Aurora yelled, cutting him off. She took a deep breath. " I don't care if it's a long story, I want to know why Elizabeth was the closest thing I had to a mom since mine died." She said in a whisper again. Meliodas sighed, figuring he couldn't avoid this conversation any longer. He sat down at the foot of her bed.

"I'm not sure how much you already know about the Holy War but I'll try my best. I grew up on the wrong side of the war. Once I was old enough, I was the leader of the Ten Commandments." Aurora had a puzzled look on her face. "They were the most powerful group of demons in all of the demon realm." Meliodas watched as Aurora's face paled. "As time went on, I realized it wasn't me. I didn't want to kill innocent people or ruin people's lives. Even so, I was too afraid to stab my race in the back, at least at first. I wasn't happy but I was alive and I wanted to stay that way. I built a small house in the woods and had a mage place protective spells over it so no one could find it. It wasn't much but anything was better than being with the other demons."

"You didn't like them?" Aurora asked fearfully.

"Not one bit. They relished in killing and enjoyed hurting people. I wanted to stay as far away from them as I could get. I still had to lead them on missions but during my freetime, I liked to be as far away from them as possible. I didn't do anything until I heard about a young human girl who was prophesied. She was the key to ending the war, whoever had her on their side would win. I was curious. I didn't understand how a kid could be stronger than thousands of soldiers so I went to see for myself. I hid in the trees as I watched the girl grow flowers through the snow." Aurora's eyes widened, knowing the exact moment he was mentioning. "It was simple magic but the girl's magical aura was almost overwhelming. Just seeing you for a split second made it clear why you were prophesied. Even though your magic was so strong, I could tell you had a pure heart. Just watching you smile at your younger sister was enough to make me take action in the war."

"Take action?"

"I went back to the rest of the Ten Commandments and told them no one was allowed to try to capture you or hurt your family. My brother, Zeldris, didn't listen. He wanted to make our father proud and decided to take matters into his own hands. When he heard that the humans were planning on taking you, he went to intercept you and bring you back to the castle. He kept it a secret from me, knowing I would be furious. He was able to keep the secret for a while, but once I found out, I was going to kill him, right after I saved you from his science experiments." Meliodas shook his head angrily. "I still don't understand how he could live with himself. I was on my way to break you out when there was a loud explosion from where you were being held. I thought you had died. I felt overwhelmed with guilt, wishing I found out about my brother's plans sooner so I could have saved you. So when I saw you sprinting towards me, I was definitely surprised."