Elizabeth steeled herself before walking down the narrow staircase. She really had no idea what these people could be like. She had always imagined The Seven Deadly Sins as the most powerful and horrible knights in the land. They would treat each other like dirt, and everyone else like… something worse than dirt! They would do anything to get what they wanted, including killing innocent people. Elizabeth had even heard that one of them had fangs!

She shivered. No human had fangs, right? That was true. She would have had the blood sucked out of her after she passed out, right? That was also true.

…

Even though not all things with fangs sucked blood. But now was not the time to dwell on such things. Elizabeth shook herself out of her nasty thoughts and put her shaking hand on the banister. Slowly, she stepped down the stairs, one at a time. This was easy. She started to count them in her head. One, two, three, four –

"DUCK!"

Only years of play fighting with her sisters allowed Elizabeth to duck out of the way of the flying bottle, which then shattered against the wall above her, dousing her in glass and what looked to be a brown alcoholic drink of some sort.

The bar was completely silent, aside from the ringing in her ears from the smashed glass.

"I'm so sorry!" A girl slightly taller than her was first to break the silence, bounding up to Elizabeth with a smile. "I'm sure Ban didn't mean to almost hit you! I'm Diane!" The Serpent Sin… Elizabeth was confused.

"I'm sorry, but aren't you meant to be bigger? I was told you were a giantess…" Almost like flicking a switch, her attitude went completely sour.

"Well SORRY, I wasn't aware it was a problem!" Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she immediately tried to stutter out an apology. Diane, however, wasn't stopping. "Damn, you guys! Why can't any of you look past my goddamn height?" A boy immediately flew over (flew?) with a pillow that was also mid-air (?) and tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry Diane!" He said, flailing his arms about and just basically looking very desperate. "I could always see you for who you are! I always will! No matter what!"

"Aw King, you always know what to say to make me feel better!" Diane smiled up at the FLOATING BOY and walked away from Elizabeth towards a woman and a man with pink hair, who were chatting quietly and occasionally sneaking glances at her. She felt more confused than ever. King smiled at Diane's back, looking love-struck, making her cough to try to get his attention.

Which didn't work.

She tried again but louder, which resulted in snickering to her side and King still not looking at her.

"King, I think the lady is trying to get your attention." A smooth voice interjected from behind her.

Elizabeth spun around to find herself face to face with the woman she could've sworn was talking to Diane. The lady extended a perfectly manicured hand. "I'm Merlin." The hand led to a body which was covered in a purple cloak with a fluffy collar and basically nothing else. Wasn't she cold? Maybe she was one of those weird people that didn't feel the cold. Why was she wearing so little? Veronica had once worn about this much when she was going out to run some errands. It still confused Elizabeth, because she had gone to Griamore's room instead of out.

Realising she had been thinking for almost 30 seconds and an arm was still out for her to shake, Elizabeth grabbed it. "It's lovely to meet you?" She didn't mean for it to sound like a question, but it did. Merlin raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she found herself turning around once again to be greeted with a very red King. "I-I'm so sorry! I was, um, distracted…" He looked to where Diane, Merlin (? HOW DID SHE GET THERE SO QUICKLY) and the pink haired guy were. He, too, held out a hand. "I'm King." Elizabeth wondered why his name was King when he looked like he was five. She withheld her judgement, however – Elizabeth had once mistaken one of the neighbouring Kingdom's Queen's husband for her son. Her father had done some quick talking that day.

"It's great to meet you!" He was cute anyway, and she couldn't help smiling.

That smile quickly faded when a tall platinum blond waltzed up to her. She looked up at him and his… Fangs.

Screaming loudly, Elizabeth picked up the nearest thing (King) and threw it at him. "HE HAS FANGS! WHO THE HECK HAS FANGS?" King managed to stop mid-air before he hit the tall man, but didn't move out of the way in time as he was promptly hit in the face with the leg of a chair. "NOBODY HAS FANGS!"

King, now with a bruise smack bang in the middle of his forehead, attempted to calm her down. "Yes, we know it's weird, but we don't question it."

"HE COULD SUCK US DRY ONE NIGHT! ALL THE BLOOD FROM OUR BODIES, GONE!" She was afraid of vampires? King was seriously starting to doubt that she had watched Twilight growing up. Which, he supposed, was kind of a good thing.

"Very funny, but I'm not a vampire~" Elizabeth stopped at the voice.

She turned and looked at him. "And why should I believe you?"

"Didn't you seek us out~" Well… Yes. Yes, she did. But she had had no idea there would be vampires! If she was honest with herself, though, she had to admit that the others would be dead if he truly was a vampire.

She extended a shaking hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you…?"

"Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed, at your service~" He bowed, to which Elizabeth frowned. She had always hated people bowing to her because if they looked straight ahead they could see her breasts. And who was comfortable with that?

"What are you? You can't be human." She asked. King coughed politely. "Um, miss…? Nobody here is fully human, except maybe you." Elizabeth staggered backwards.

She had led a sheltered life at the castle, sure, but how did she miss that things other than humans existed? Nobody gave her history lessons, nobody took her to the library, and she was barely a princess! She only really learnt things by going to the library and reading… and she always got caught before she got to the non-fiction books.

"O-oh…" Elizabeth stuttered. "Okay..."

"Okay?" King questioned, swapping a glance with Ban. "Are you sure? I guess if really you didn't know different creatures existed…"

"No! No, really, it's fine, I read about them in story books that my sister used to sneak out to me." A lie.

"Alright…"

There was an awkward silence before Ban went and dragged over the guy with pink hair. "Lady, this is Gowther, the weirdest damn person you'll ever meet."

Elizabeth hadn't seen a man with pink hair for a while. Gilthunder has had his dyed electric blue ever since Margaret commented that it is "quite ladylike for a male to have pink hair." Gowther was also wearing purple clothes. Maybe he was a woman? He was wearing a rather lovely shade of lavender, almost the same as her sister's hair. She hadn't seen a man wear purple before. Then again, she hadn't seen a woman wear nothing but a cloak before.

"Hello there! It's nice to meet you!" She held out her hand. Gowther tilted his head. "Is this the part where I shake your hand? I have read about greetings like this. It is mostly common in men that are too "manly" to hug it out. Is that what's going on here?"

"I am NOT a man!" Elizabeth retracted her hand immediately and grabbed Gowther in a hug. "I am not like Howzer! I will show emotions!" His skin was smooth, but… didn't quite feel like skin. It weirded her out.

Gowther took a second before wrapping his arms around her too. "It is a pleasure to meet you, human. I am quite enjoying this "hug." This is what a hug is, is it not?" Elizabeth pulled away and giggled, nodding her head.

She looked around what looked to be a small tavern. Ban was at the bar, drinking what looked to be his fourth drink of the night, not counting the one that smashed above her. Diane sat down next to him and appeared to scold him for the amount of drinks he had, but he just laughed her off. King floated nearby on his pillow, snoring slightly.

Merlin and Gowther were talking again, but were joined by a frail man who looked to be the bartender. Elizabeth walked up to him, not missing the way he stared at Merlin.

"Hello? Um, excuse me!" He turned around, and she got a look at his face. He looked to be quite old, maybe around 50. As soon as he turned around, he apologised immediately, even though he didn't do anything wrong. "I'm so sorry for not introducing myself sooner, my dear! I am Escanor, and am very pleased to make your acquaintance!"

Elizabeth was very confused. He looked to be so ancient… not to mention weak! How could he fight? As well as this, weren't The Seven Deadly Sins the vilest order of nights in the land? Why was one of the members apologising? Her brain felt like it was overloading with ridiculousness. This had to be the weirdest thing here.

"HEY! Why isn't anyone spilling any food? I want some scraps!"

Never mind.

"THERE'S A TALKING PIG HERE! WHY IS IT TALKING? PIGS DON'T TALK!" Escanor, this time, attempted to calm her a lot like her Father did, whilst the pig looked highly offended.

"I'm Hawk, the Captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal. But there's no scraps to dispose of!"

Elizabeth honestly thought she was going insane. "Why can you TALK?"

"I don't know." This was preposterous.

"Hey Maaaaster~"

"Not this again!" Hawk shrieked, as if Ban sloshing around attempting to climb onto his back, making him run around and knock furniture over and just make a mess in general was something that happened often. Which, looking at Ban, it probably did.

"BAN! DON'T MAKE ME TURN THE RADIO STATION TO POP MUSIC!" Diane hollered over the ruckus that was Hawk making little piggy squeals, the furniture falling to the ground, and Ban whinging about how "Master won't teach him his ways."

Ban sobered immediately. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

The staring contest that (obviously) ensued was in dead silence as everyone for some reason waited to see who would win, until –

"Yo guys, I'm back!" The door slamming drew the attention of all the people in the room, as a blond mop turned around to reveal emerald green eyes that Elizabeth immediately realised would make her forget how to hold any sort of rational conversation.

The mop frowned, looking at the faces of everyone, and the state of the bar, before coming to rest on Elizabeth. She felt her heart start to race. What the heck? Who the hell was this guy?

He seemed to read her mind. He smirked, and slowly walked up to Elizabeth. Before he reached her, however, 8 people were suddenly in front of her.

"Lady, be careful!" Hawk practically whimpered. "Meliodas is not known for being kind to women." Meliodas? The worst of them all?

"I suggest vigilance around the captain, my lady, I'd hate it if you were hurt…" Escanor muttered, before quickly ducking out of the way and heading upstairs.

"Your increased heart rate suggests that you are physically attracted to the captain." Elizabeth stared at him in shock. How the hell could Gowther tell that? "A word of caution."

Ban eyed her with a lazy expression before drawling out, "Yeah, he's gonna love you~" He wandered off to the bar.

King looked at you with a frown. "Seriously, be careful. The captain is quite… handsy." Handsy? What's that supposed to mean? He flew up the stairs with everyone else, except Ban, who was drinking, and Hawk, who had gone behind the counter.

Merlin looked down at Elizabeth, smirking. "Be careful of Diane." A warning about Diane? Why would she –

An orange blur shoved Merlin out of the way, and pinned Elizabeth to the ground. "If you lay a hand on him, I'll kill you." The blond mop (Meliodas?) tugged Diane off her, saying quite loudly, "You know Diane, we aren't anything either. I'm 100% single. I repeat, single." He looked at Elizabeth and winked, and she felt herself blushing as she stood up.

Diane stomped outside, huffing. Elizabeth realised she was now alone with Meliodas in the room, apart from Hawk, who sounded like he was eating somewhere, and Ban, who was grinning and drinking as if he was about to witness something beautiful.

Elizabeth coughed, then held out her hand. "I-It's nice to meet you." Instead of shaking it, Meliodas kissed it in the most predictable way possible.

"The name's Meliodas. Dragon Sin of Wrath, Meliodas. Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Dragon Sin of Wrath, Meliodas." A cough that sounded an awful lot like "show off" floated down from the top of the stairs.

She pretended not to hear, instead choosing to stare into the eyes of Meliodas. He had a kind face, but his eyes were the interesting part. They held secrets. Elizabeth was only mildly surprised when she realised she was determined to find out what those secrets were.

"And, you are?" Jolting back to reality, Elizabeth tilted her head and smiled in what she hoped made her seem like she was less freaked out by his order of knights. He grinned back. "I am Elizabeth Liones, third princess of Liones."

Ban choked on his drink, she heard a slightly muffled "WHAT?" from outside, and there were a couple of thumps as King fell down the stairs. Elizabeth found herself wondering how he managed this, as he could fly, but guessed that she had caught him by surprise. Meliodas' mouth had dropped open, and his eyes were wide.

Elizabeth stared at him whilst King stared at her and Ban probably died laughing. King immediately scrambled up to her. "P-Princess! I had no idea! Oh, please beg my pardon for my rudeness!" She looked up at the now sweating King as if he was a foreign object. "Uh… It's fine? You didn't even know."

"Well! Please allow me to introduce myself formally!" He scrunched his face up, and suddenly –

*POOF*

"Good evening, fair Princess Elizabeth! My name is King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth, of the Seven Deadly Sins!" Elizabeth stared at King. Ban was spluttering into his drink.

He had transformed into a completely different person! He was bigger, much bigger, and his face was rounded, with bigger lips and nose. His hair was the same, but his clothes were so different! He was wearing a golden striped shirt with a ruffle around the collar, and a dozen rings on his fingers.

"I-I… It's okay King! Don't feel pressured to act different around me!" Elizabeth wanted him to change back. He looked like some creepy old man!

"Well, if you insist…" He transformed back with another poof, and collapsed on his pillow. He nodded at her, then flew back up the stairs, muttering something about a nap.

"Ban? Are you okay?" Said man was coughing and laughing at the same time, but he gave a thumbs up.

"M-Meliodas? Are you okay?" Elizabeth turned to face the man who had not shifted from his original position; eyes wider, if possible. She clicked her fingers in front of his face and whistled a bit. "Meliodas?"

He snapped out of it. "You're a princess?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Well, not technically, but – "

"Great! Then I get to feel less guilty!" He then reached out. And put his hands. On her boobs.

Um. WHAT?

"What the hell? Get off me!" She shoved him off, not even considering for a second that she slightly enjoyed it.

"Hey now, don't be like that. Guys! You can stop listening now! Come out!" Meliodas yelled out, and Merlin immediately appeared behind Meliodas (? The hell?), with her seemingly permanent smirk in place. Diane walked in the front door a bit sheepishly, and Hawk walked out from behind the bar, scraps on his nose. King came down the stairs more carefully this time, followed by Gowther and Escanor. All of them faced Elizabeth, including Ban, who had dragged himself away from his drink for just a second.

"Do you think you'll like it here?" Meliodas asked, green eyes sparking.

Elizabeth smirked. She can't remember the last time she did that.

"Oh, hell yes."

This was gonna be great.