The sun reached its zenith over Camelot, bathing the battlefield in a golden light that seemed to mock the surrounding destruction. Escanor stood, his body radiating a heat that made the air around him tremble, as he gazed at the horizon with a serene expression that contrasted brutally with the chaos that had just ended.
He had done it. He had protected Britannia one last time.
But the price...
His hands trembled, not from weakness, but from the certainty of what was to come. He could feel it in every fiber of his being: the Sun's grace was consuming him from within, burning him with the same intensity with which it had incinerated his enemies. It was ironic, he thought with a bitter smile. The power that had made him the strongest of the Seven Deadly Sins would also be his executioner.
—Escanor!
Ban's voice cut through the silence, laden with a desperation the immortal rarely displayed. Soon, everyone was running toward him: King, Diane, Gowther, Merlin... his comrades. His family.
He tried to stand upright, to maintain that proud posture the midday sun bestowed upon him, but his knees buckled. Ban caught him before he fell, holding him with a force that seemed intent on anchoring Escanor to the world of the living.
"No, man... you can't..." Ban gritted his teeth, his voice cracking. "Not after all this."
—Ban... —Escanor's voice still resonated with that characteristic midday power, but there was something more, something definitive—. It has been... an honor... to fight by your side.
"Shut up!" Ban growled. "Don't you dare say goodbye yet."
Diane wept uncontrollably, her tears falling like rain on parched earth. King embraced her, his own face contorted with grief. Gowther, who had learned so much about human emotions, watched with an expression of pure sorrow, his former indifference gone.
And then he saw her.
Marline.
She walked toward him with that grace that had always taken his breath away, her face a mask of composure that couldn't quite conceal the pain in her violet eyes. She knelt beside him, and for a moment, only the two of them existed in the entire universe.
"Escanor..." Her voice, usually so controlled, trembled imperceptibly.
"Merlin..." He smiled, and it was the most genuine, most vulnerable smile he had shown all day. "My dear Merlin... You know? Even now, at the end... you are still the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen."
She closed her eyes, a single tear escaping down her cheek. Escanor raised his trembling hand and gently wiped it away, as if he were touching the most precious thing in the world.
"Don't cry for me," he whispered. "I've lived a life worth living... because I had the privilege of knowing you. Of loving you, even though that love was never reciprocated."
"Escanor, I..." Merlin tried to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat.
"That's fine," he interrupted gently. "I never expected you to love me. It was enough to be near you, to protect you, to see your smile now and again. That was my true sunshine, Merlin. Not the grace bestowed upon me by the heavens, but you."
The power within him pulsed violently, and Escanor knew the moment was approaching. The sun would soon begin its descent, and with it, his life would be extinguished like a candle.
"Promise me something," he said, looking at all his companions. "Promise that you will carry on. That you will protect this kingdom we love so much. That you will live... with the same fierceness with which we fight today."
"We promise," Meliodas said, appearing from the crowd with Elizabeth at his side. Tears streamed down the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins' face. "We swear it, Escanor."
"Well..." Escanor coughed, and blood stained his lips. "Then... I can leave in peace."
"No," Merlin's voice finally broke. "You can't leave me. Not like this. Not when I'm finally..."
But Escanor could no longer hear her. His vision was darkening, not from the setting sun, but from something deeper. The world around him began to fade, the faces of his friends becoming blurry patches of color and light.
And then, everything went black.
Escanor floated in darkness, a darkness so complete it seemed to have weight, texture. He felt no pain, nothing at all except a strange peace. Was this death? This absolute silence?
"Not quite."
The voice resonated everywhere and nowhere, a voice that was all voices and no voice at once. Escanor tried to move, tried to speak, but discovered he had no body with which to do so.
"Escanor. The Lion of Pride. The Sin of the Sun."
Then, the darkness opened up.
Before him, or rather, around him, above and below him, a presence appeared. It had no defined form; it was more a concept than a being, an existence that surpassed any mortal understanding. Yet Escanor knew, with absolute certainty, that he stood before something supreme. Something beyond gods, beyond demons, beyond everything.
The One Above All.
"I have watched your life, Escanor of Britannia. I have seen your courage, your sacrifice, your unrequited love. I have seen how you rose above your destiny time and time again, how you turned a curse into a blessing, how you bore a power that would have destroyed lesser men."
Escanor wanted to speak, wanted to ask why, but the presence continued.
"And I have seen your heart. A heart that, even at the height of your pride, never lost its essential humility. A heart that loved with a purity few attain."
Images began to appear in the darkness. Escanor saw his life unfold before him: his lonely childhood, the awakening of his power, the years of exile, his encounter with Merlin, his time with the Seven Deadly Sins. He saw moments he had forgotten, moments of tenderness and fury, of pride and shame.
And she saw Merlin. Again and again, she saw Merlin.
Her laughter when he did something silly at night. Her admiring gaze when he shone at midday. The stolen moments of conversation, the battles where they fought back to back, the comfortable silences when they simply existed in each other's presence.
"Your love for her was your greatest strength and your greatest pain."
"I know," Escanor finally found his voice, or something like it. "But I don't regret it. Loving her was the greatest honor of my life."
"That's why I'm here, Escanor."
The darkness pulsed, and Escanor felt... hope?
"Your story in that world has ended. But your essence, your soul, is too bright to simply fade into nothingness. You deserve more. You deserve a second chance."
"A second chance?" Escanor could barely process the words. "What does that mean?"
"There is another world, Escanor. One filled with ancient magic and new challenges. A world where your light can shine again, where you can find a new purpose, perhaps even a new love."
Escanor's heart, if he still had one, skipped a beat.
"But there are conditions. If you agree to be reborn in this new world, you will forget your past life. The memories of Britannia, of your companions, of Merlin... all will vanish like a dream upon waking."
"No," the answer was immediate, visceral. "I can't forget. I can't forget Merlin. I can't forget my friends."
"Your love will not be forgotten, Escanor. Your essence will remain intact. Who you are in your heart, your nobility, your pride, your gentleness... all of that will remain. But the specific memories, the faces, the names... those will be gone. It is the price of rebirth."
Escanor wanted to protest, wanted to scream that he preferred death to forgetting, but then he understood. It wasn't just for him. It was for them too. His friends would have to move on, they would have to heal. And perhaps, just perhaps, he deserved that chance as well.
"You will retain your power. The Grace of the Sun will be yours, but perfected. You will no longer be weak at night. You will be able to control your power at will, deciding how much strength you manifest at any given moment. Your sacred weapon, Divine Axe Rhitta, will accompany you to this new world."
"And my death?" Escanor asked gently. "Am I still destined to burn?"
"All mortals are destined to die, Escanor. But in this new world, your death will be yours to decide. When your time comes, it will be because you have fulfilled your destiny, not because your power consumes you. You will have a full life, a chance to find the peace that was denied you."
Escanor closed the eyes he didn't have, pondering. He thought of Merlin, of her smile, of the way her hair shone in the light. He thought of Ban and his unwavering friendship, of Meliodas and his leadership, of each and every one of his companions.
And he thought about the possibility of living again. Of loving again. Of being more than a man marked for destruction.
"If I accept," she finally said, "and forget... will there be anything of them in me? Anything to remind me of who I was?"
"Your soul bears the scars of all you have lived through, Escanor. Even if you don't remember their faces, the love you felt will shape who you become. You will be a man capable of loving deeply, of sacrificing himself nobly, of fighting fiercely. You will be, in essence, the same Escanor. Only free from the pain of unrequited love."
Escanor took a deep breath, even though he had no lungs.
—Then I accept. If this is what I must do, if this is my next battle... I will face it with the same pride with which I faced all the others.
"So be it."
The darkness began to fill with light, a light not like the sun of his grace, but something softer, more ancient. Escanor felt his being fragment and reform simultaneously, each piece of his soul being polished and renewed.
"But before you depart, Escanor of Britannia, allow me to give you one last gift."
The images returned, but this time they were different. They were the final moments, after his death. He saw his friends standing around his body, saw them weeping, honoring him. He saw Merlin holding his hand even after his last breath left his body.
And he listened to her words.
"I loved you, you know?" Merlin whispered, her voice breaking. "I always loved you. But I was afraid. Afraid of losing you, afraid that my love would weaken you. How foolish I was. How incredibly foolish."
She kissed his forehead, and Escanor felt that kiss even in this space between worlds.
—In another life, Escanor. In another life, I won't be afraid. In another life, I'll tell you how much you mean to me.
The tears Escanor hadn't known he could shed in this state flowed freely. Pain and joy mingled in equal measure. She had loved him. All this time, she had loved him.
"Now you can leave in peace, knowing the truth. And who knows, Escanor... perhaps in this new world, you will find a love that isn't afraid to be reciprocated."
"Thank you," Escanor whispered. "For everything."
"Live well, Lion of the Sun. May your light shine even on the darkest lands of this new world. Welcome... to Middle-earth."
The light became blinding, and Escanor felt himself being pulled through an endless tunnel of stars and darkness, of time and space. His memories began to slip away like sand through his fingers: Merlin's face blurred, the names of his friends faded, the details of their battles dissolved into nothingness.
But something remained.
Love. Pride. Honor. The essence of who Escanor was.
And as he fell into his new birth, one last image lingered before he faded away: Merlin, smiling through his tears, whispering a farewell that would resonate in his soul even without the memory.
—Until we meet again, my dear León. Until we meet again.
Then, everything was light.
And somewhere, in a world of elves and dwarves, of wizards and dragons, under the sky of a land called Media, something new was about to begin.
The Lion of the Sun would open his eyes once more.
To be continued...