"It has been a long time, has it not, comrades?"

"Wow, Merlin??? Where have you been?!"

"You were with King Arthur the whole time?"

"Our chances of coming out successful have increased considerably with you here."

"Woo! I called it! It's awesome to have you back!"

We all shouted out 'hello's happily, Diane first, followed by King, Gowther, and I. Merlin smiled at us appreciatively, all of us giving her toothy grins back. Well, except for Meli. He was glaring daggers at her.

"It's good to be back," she hummed, then turned to the short blonde. "Why such a scary face captain?"

"I have a few questions to ask you," he responded vaguely in a sinister voice. "But for now we need to-"

"You're absolutely right," she answered before he could finish. She snapped her fingers and the world around us flashed a bright white. Suddenly we were within the castle, in front of a large door with various gold and indigo designs littered across it. Everyone looked around curiously, before coming to the realization that she had teleported us. I glanced around.

"Isn't this...?" I started, and Merlin nodded.

"Just outside of the King's bedchambers I believe," she spoke.

"You believe?" I asked, "Aren't you the one who brought us here?"

"Yes," she said knowingly, "I attempted to teleport us within the room, but was denied. It must be the work of my worthless apprentice. A spell that grants only the caster access inside: Perfect Cube."

"Well, we tried," I shrugged, turning around and stepping forward. I was met by a set of metal armor. I felt up the chest-plate and down the sides of the armor until I rested on the crotch part of the metal armor. I scrunched up my face in confusion, "Dad?"

"Gwah! Get offa me!" Screeched the person, scrambling away from me. I looked at them, finding a familiar, white-haired Holy Knight. I beamed.

"Wow, hey! You're that Dawn Roar kid!" I grinned, then looked behind him to find four other Holy Knights. My smile grew larger. "And you're Dawn Roar!"

"It's Slader and his merry friends," Gowther confirmed, looking at them.

"Where did you come from?!" The chick- I recalled how she flirted with Ban and scowled; bitch- asked, raising her weapon. I rolled my eyes, clicking my tongue.

"Hello," Gowther greeted, then turned to Slader. "Why are you so hurt?"

"Because I can't even break down a door... I'm pathetic..." he chuckled humorlessly, his bloodied and bruised body shifted lightly. "It would only be natural for someone of your power to laugh at me..."

"Very well!" The Goat Sin replied, then laughed robotically.

"You really need to learn to read the room..." I sighed, smiling as I shook my head disapprovingly.

"(Y-Y/N)! Is that you? Is Sir Meliodas there as well?" A familiar, soft voice came from across the room. We all turned simultaneously, somewhat shocked to hear her. Was I really that loud? Meli immediately shot over to the door, pressing his ear against it. He mumbled something I couldn't quite make out, then stepped back, unsheathing his sword and staring determinedly at the door.

"Alright guys, stand back," he spoke, glaring at the door.

"God, I ship you guys so hard!" I growled, "I don't care how big the age gap is- it's meant to be."

"Wait captain," Melin interjected, "Even with your power, this door will not break."

"What is this 'shipping' you speak of?" Gowther mumbled. I chuckled quietly, whispering that I'd explain it later.

"Maybe King, (y/n), and I can help because we have our Sacred Treasures!" Diane spoke, "That should be good enough, right?"

Merlin shook her head distastefully, "I'm afraid not. Perfect Cube is a spell originating from the demon world that reflects all attack, no matter how strong or weak they are."

"Then what should we do?" King huffed, slamming his fist into the door. His head snapped to the side and a red hand mark was in his cheeks. Comical tears fell from his eyes as he rubbed his face, and I snorted, having to cover my mouth to stop myself from brekaing out in full-blown laughter.

"This," hummed Merlin, walking forward. Her boots clopped against the floor, echoing loudly in the large hallway as we all eyed her. She put her hands on the handles of the door, smirked to herself, then swung them wide open. I crossed my arms and huffed.

"There's no need to be a show off..."

"What..?" Guila questioned, "With her bare hands..?"

"Witch!" Shrieked the girl of Dawn Roar. Bitch.

"How'd you break the spell?" King asked incredulously.

"I merely erased it," Merlin hummed, "Absolute Cancel."

The door opened, and there stood the two most royal people I know in the most royal room I've seen. The King, who was now old and grey compared to when I had last seen him, but still tall and confident, stood in front of the ajar door. He had the essence of a King oozing from each and every poor, and it still showed, even with his old age and illness. He had always been the best decision maker under pressure, which may be due to his power, Vision, but still impressed even Meli with the innate ability. Next to him stood his silvery-green haired daughter, who was just as tall as me, wide eyed and curious. She scanned our crowd until her eyes rested on the captain. She practically dove on him without a moment's hesitation.

😓

"It hasn't even been a day..." she chuckled, seeming on the brink of tears. "And I still missed you so dearly..."

"There, there," Meli grinned, pressing his hands against her chest and squeezing. Diane, the King (the royal one, but not Arthur. Geez this is getting confusing), and I all shouted at the same time.

"HANDS OFF, PERV!"

Elizabeth let go, and Meli turned to face the King. He smiled, "You've gotten old, Bartra."

"And you haven't changed, I see..." sighed King Bartra.

"Diane! You're covered in wounds!" Shrieked Ellie, "and Sir King, you are as well! Oh, my goodness, (y/n)!"

"Don't worry!" I grinned heartily, "It's not mine!"

"Yeah!" Diane cheered, "And as long as we saved you, it was all worth it, right?"

I nodded in agreement, but didn't mention how I was forcefully brought here without much of a choice- and it didn't seem that I was top priority. I'm hurt, guys... I'm really hurt. Sniff.

"Even if you say that..." Ellie started.

"Don't worry," grinned the giantess, "King protected me, so I'm fine!"

"I-it was nothing...!" King managed, his face a blossoming vermillion as he covered the lower half of it with his Chastiefol, which was now in its pillow form.

"Did they do anything to you?" I asked, them noticed that the princess began stuttering profusely, blushing. I noticed as well that Meli had his face buried in her ass. I growled, kicking him in the side so he flew across the room and slammed into a wall. Huffing, I returned to my original place.

"(Y/N)," said Merlin, and I turned toward her, and eyebrow raised.

"Yo," I grinned, "You haven't aged a bit."

"I like to believe so," she chuckled, then pointed at the shackle on my left wrist, grinning. "I also believe it is safe to assume these are the work of my apprentice?"

I nodded, holding them up with a sigh. "Yeah, probably. I haven't been able to use any of my powers, and it's really annoying."

"Well, we cant have that, now, can we?" She purred, reaching down and touching each of the shackles. They melted off of my wrists as soon as the pad of her finger made contact with the metal, and once the one off my neck melted, I smiled. I rubbed my left wrist, then my right, igniting a small flame to make sure my powers really were back. I grinned up at her and she smiled back. "You are quite a formidable opponent when you have access to your powers."

I gasped jokingly, "What's this?! The almighty Merlin thinks that I, a lowly peasant, am a formidable opponent?! I can't believe it!"

She chuckled, "I see you haven't changed a bit- the same, childish humor."

"Neither have you," I grinned, "You're still the mom of the group."

"That is... one way to put it, yes," she nodded, a smile on her face. She paused before saying, "Dare I say, I've missed you."

"Missed you too," I beamed, "You're the only know-it-all I've ever been able to tolerate, much less enjoy being around."

"And you're the only idiot on my end," she hummed, then laughed when I made a pouting face.

"I'll let that one slide, but only because it's good to see you again," I laughed, her joining in with a small chuckle. It seemed as though she was about to say something, but was cut off by Dreyfus yelling.

"SILENCE, YOU TRAITORS!" He boomed, and I mumbled a small 'I think I missed something' to myself. "YOU BETRAYED THE KINGDOM TEN YEARS AGO! THE FACT THAT YOU KILLED ZARATROS, MY BROTHER, HAS NOT CHANGED!"

"But I saw it..." Margaret whimpered, everyone shifted their attention to her, and Dreyfus with a look of horror. Gil held her closer, as if to protect her from the replacement Holy Knight Grandmaster. "Ten years ago, on the morning of the Kingdom's founding anniversary, I witnessed the atrocious scene of you and your accomplice, Hendrickson, murdering Sir Zaratros. When I was telling Gil, Vivian heard us and we became her hostages."

"That makes sense," Merlin agreed, "Vivian was absolutely obsessed with Gilthunder- she was killing two birds with one stone by holding Margaret hostage to control him, and vice-versa."

"Grand...master?" Mumbled Hauser. He looked pained, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Poor guy... "This cant be..."

"It's true," Gowther confirmed, "I witnessed it. Your motive was jealousy of Zaratros's success. You convinced Hendrickson to poison him, then once you weakened him, the two of you finished him off. Then you lied to the Holy Knights, framed our group, and took the position of Grandmaster Holy Knights for yourselves."

"Sir, please defend yourself..." Hauser whimpered, looking imploringly at his mentor. His hands shook in disbelief, "This can't be true, right? You... you taught me what it means to be a Knight... someone like that- they can't possibly... it's absurd..!"

"It is true," Dreyfus caved, kneeling down with a look of agony. I opened my eyes in shock- I wasn't expecting him to just give in. Most people would've denied it, or something. He sighed in defeat, setting his weapon down next to him.

"I've lost. Just kill me."