Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with work, college, and being sick. And having to share writing time with my main Fairy Tail fanfic—that will always be a priority. Maybe a wait too long for a short chapter. Hope it is worth it.

Chapter II: Sin of Pride

It has been a month since the Seven Deadly Sins guild got their last member. And it had been chaotic to say the least. Who would have thought adding an immortal, mentally immature, volatile Fire Dragon Slayer to a guild full of misfits and screw ups could be a recipe for chaos?

Not everyone was fond or tolerable of Zane's behavior. He was too reckless, to loud, and his constant boasting about his successful one-man missions was getting annoying. Pride, indeed. Everyone of the Sins, except for the guild master, had a bone to pick with him.

It went both ways. During the time he had been a member he was distant toward others. It made them wonder why he had bother to join in the first place. The only member he spent time with was Salem. Zane had grown attached to him. In ways that had caught the other members off guard.

Three of the Sins were in the guild hall, the sins of Greed, Sloth, and Envy.

"Peace and quiet. That annoying Dragon Slayer is too loud, somebody should sow his mouth shut," said the man with the slicked back, jet black hair, and copper skin, Exoru of the Sin of Greed. And he made sure to look the part. As the man had an expensive taste in clothing, and wore rings with gems of each color of the rainbow. Of all the Sins, he was the one with the biggest mouth, always speaking his mind, and finding faults with everyone. And Zane has been his target since day one. "That brat has a mouth too big for his small, dim brain. It gives me a blasted headache just hearing him."

The first of the Sins to join Salem, making him the second in command, sort to speak. A senior to all of the other members, though he care nothing for that or them. And the oldest member at 42, well, if Zane's chronological age was to be ignored. And of all the Sins he is the farthest from redemption. There was no profit, no gain from redemption. Only being part of the guild because he knew he'll gain something. Power. Despite that he does take care of the guild's monetary needs, being in charged of the guild's finance. Who better but the living embodiment of greed for that.

"I hate how he took the spotlight!" the Sin of Envy said. Envy, Sora Taidama, was a pretty sixteen year old cat-girl. Short in stature, sakura-pink hair with two long ponytails, cat ears above her head, cute face, a tiny fang, and flat chested. And one who hated not being the center of attention. Zane had taken it from her. Before him she was the newest one, and the youngest. "Salem used to give me all the attention, but now he's spending all of the time with him. And now that that stupid Pride isn't here, neither is Salem."

"Sora, would you…be…quiet?" Nama Taidama, the Sin of Sloth, complained. Sora's older brother, Nama was a quite, composed guy. Preferring to expend as little energy as possible. Usually found sleeping for most of the day. Just like Sora's a human/feline hybrid, so was Nama. Except the brown hair, 18 year old was a human/demon hybrid. As his pointy ears and golden, curved horns give it away.

Both Taidama siblings were victims of experimentation done to them by dark mages, who refused to accept Zeref's death.

"But Onii-chan, I'm just saying!" Sora complained.

"You are too…loud," Nama yawned. His love for his sister was unquestionable, but he hated having his precious sleep interrupted. "Just… shut up about… him." Of all the Sins, Sloth hated Zane the least, hating took precious energy that was better used for sleeping.

Exoru rolled his eyes, he would criticize Zane left and right, but that didn't mean he liked hearing others complain.

Everybody went silent when they heard the guild master walking from downstairs. Every Sin but Exoru preferred to avoid talking about Pride in Wrath's presence.

"Hey, has anyone seen Pride?" Salem asked.

"Why? You want that brat to even the building by destroying the other wall, too?" Exoru replied.

The previous day Zane broke one of the guild's wall after a fight. He tried to fight Salem after shouting "fight me" only to be knocked away, right through a wall. The fight lasted barely a second.

"That was an accident," Salem said.

Exoru scoffed, "An accident? You punched him through a damned wall. You realize every time the guild needs repairs I have to deal with it? That's my precious time being wasted because of some stupid, uncontrollable boy, and a master that refuses to keep him on a leash."

"I'm no one's master, Greed. Remember that."

"Yeah, yeah. But I'm getting tired of having to pick up after him. Like some babysitter. The guild has been damaged more times in this past month than in the previous year put together. We are starting to sounds like those Fairy Tail losers."

"I know Greed but—"

"The only bright side, if you can call it that, is that the brat makes up for the damage with the money he brings from his suicidal missions. I guess even a brat can have a use." Exoru grabbed his fancy cane and stood up, walking away.

"You keep insulting him, but I am sure in the end you'll end up liking him the most," Salem said.

He turned, bowing to Salem, "your prowess in foresight is truly hilarious, Salem. May you one day teach such an ability to me." He walked away.

Sora jumped onto Salem's lap. "Yay! Now I can spend some time with you." It was her opportunity, not only because the Dragon Slayer was absent, but because Lust, Salem's girlfriend, was also gone. "Can you pet me?"

"Sure," Salem humored her. "How have you been, Envy?"

She smiled as her master's hand caressed her silky hair, "I'm good, now that I can spend some time with you."

"I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you, Envy. Had my hands full."

"I don't care. The important thing is that you are here with me."

"Sorry, Envy, but I can't stay. I am looking for Pride."

The young girl jumped out of his lap. "Why?! You've been spending so much time with dragon boy, did you forget about me?" she was outraged.

"I have dedicated time to each and everyone of you equally, Envy," the Sin of Wrath answered her. "So we can get to know each other, and trust each other. But he's a special case."

"Special? More than me?" Sora pouted.

"Not what I mean. He's a handful, more so than any of you," he said. "Pride is reckless, and does things that endanger his life. Of the six of you he's the only one that actually fought me."

"... Mission," Nama said through a deep yawn. "Pride is doing a mission."

"A mission?" Using the power of hindsight he should have thought about that. The guild master walked up to a cabinet filled with papers about missions. All of them had to fill one out before going on one.

It was easy to look for Zane's as he always took the most challenging missions. Salem sighed. "Taking on an entire dark guild? Sounds about right. I'll be back. I need to make sure Pride comes back in one piece."

Sora pouted as her master left the guild. She was angry. She needed a distraction. "Onii-chan let's go on a mission together."

"Don't wanna," Nama yawned. He only wanted to sleep.

"Come on. Get off your lazy butt for once and act like the earl you were meant to be," she said. "Or I'll go all by myself."

Nama sighed in defeat. He had no other choice. Last time he was lazy his sister was placed in mortal danger. Both of them. A terrible situation that cost them a normal life. "Alright. An easy mission."

"Yay!" the young loli jumped around. She searched for a fun mission to do. "I think this mission could be fun. Let's go, Onii-chan."

The sounds of a heated battle echoed throughout a ghost town. The abandoned town, with its run-down buildings, closed mines, and neglected roads, was the HQ location for of one of Crooked Moon's several branches. In a matter of years it had become one of Fiore's largest dark guild.

"Dark Flame Dragon's Meteor Fist!" Zane punched a member of the dark guild with his flaming fist, knocking him unconscious.

"What is it with this brat that he won't stay down?!" the captain said. "There is twenty of us and one of him." There were twenty, already a few of them had been beaten.

"Numbers don't win battles, idiot," Zane said. His breathing was fast, while his face was covered in wounds, dirt and sweat. "You guys are boring. Dark Flame Dragon's Wing Attack!" The slayer sent two other foes slamming into trees with a whirlwind of fire.

"You little brat." One of the youngest dark guild member jumped from behind him with a dagger in hand. The same hand had the guild's mark on its back, a crescent moon with a laughing smile on it. "Your little game is over," said the young man as he licked the dagger. Then he dashed forward, ready to pierce the neck of the slayer.

Just as the dagger was inches away from the slayer's neck it was blocked by a massive battle axe; the dagger bounced off of his hand. The guy's hand vibrated due to the impact. "The hell?"

"Can't let you do that," Salem said as he rested the heavy ax on his shoulder.

"Who the hell is this guy?" the dark guild member asked.

"N-Nii-san?" Zane gulped, his fierce and confident demeanor turned nervous, as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

"Salem-san!" Atticus, on the other hand, looked more relieved.

"Pride, this mission is of S-class difficulty. You need my permission to do it," the Sin of Wrath said, "and you need to do them in pairs." Six Sins, three pairs. Salem was the only one strong enough to do them single-handed.

"I know, but, Greed didn't care when I gave him the form," Zane said.

I should have known. "That's no excuse. The decent thing for you to do is come to me before taking this kind of mission."

"I'm sorry, Nii-san."

"I told you Zane-kun," Atticus said. "I'm sorry for him, Salem-san."

"What the hell? These two must be very confident to ignore us." The same dark guild member from prior picked up the dagger and dashed at Salem.

"Did that talking cat say Salem?" the captain asked himself. He only knew of one mage called like that. "Wait, you idiot! He's too strong for you." The stout, middle-aged man tried to warn his younger subordinate.

"I'm gonna kill you. Then I'm gonna slice the brat's neck open—"

The young man found himself smashed into the ground by a punch from Salem. The impact created a wide crater.

"You don't threaten to harm any of my Sins in front of me." With a single punch the Sin of Wrath knocked the dark guild member out.

"Damn, no mercy," the Dragon Slayer whispered.

"That imbecile. He should have listened to me," the captain swallowed hard as he could sense Salem's ridiculous power, "so, you are the guild master of this brat? That independent guild that has been the talk of every dark guild for months."

"So you've heard of us. I assume you've heard of me, too, right?" Salem asked.

"Yeah. Most dark guilds alliance have been warned about you, specifically," the captain answered. "That includes our guild master."

"Oi, boss. If this is that Salem guy, isn't there a large bounty for his head?" one member asked him.

"You want to try and aim for that reward, go ahead. But you already saw what he can do."

The guild member said nothing more.

Damn it, that Dragon Slayer was already troublesome enough, but with this monster there is just no way. The captain had to make a rather embarrassing decision. "We don't want any more problems with your guild. As I said, our master said not to mess with you, if it was avoidable. Can we avoid any more problems?"

"Stay away from my guild," Salem said. There was a clear "or else" in there too. "Let's go, Pride."

"What? But the mission!" Zane argued.

"The mission is over, Pride. We are going back to the guild."

Zane and Atticus walked behind their guild master. The slayer had been silent the entire trip back to the guild. He was angry at Salem for interrupting his mission. His fight. He murmured under his breath, kicked rocks and sticks. He was acting like a spoiled child not a proud Dragon Slayer.

The patient Salem took a deep breath before breaking the silence. "Pride, do you want to spar with me?"

That startled the Dragon Slayer. "Say again?"

"I assume you are still itching for a fight after interrupting your mission," Salem said. "Do you want to spar with me to pass the time?"

Honey for Zane's ears. "Damn right I do." Without the slightest hesitation Zane dashed at his guild master to throw a flaming fist at him.

You always charge forward. Never hesitating. No matter how strong your opponent. Why? To prove you are not afraid? Or…?

Salem blocked the attack with his forearm. He struck Zane on the back with the side of his right knuckle. His crazy physical strength slammed Pride into the ground. "Damn, maybe I should take it easier on you."

The ground beneath Salem started to shake. "Huh?" He looked down and saw as the ground began to bubble. Then a large eruption of black fire sent the Dragon Slayer up into the sky. "Smart use of your Roar."

"You take it easy on me and you'll get burn." Zane fired a stream of dark flames from his hands that spiraled together as they headed towards Salem. "Dark Flame Dragon's Spiraling Ember!"

Salem swung his axe just as the attack got close enough, the blades sliced the attack, cancelling it. But just as the attack disappeared and cleared his view Salem saw a Zane falling down straight at him, hands together and cloaked in flames. Zane slammed them on his head.

The spectating Exceed gasped. "He hit Salem-san."

The slayer had a proud grin on face. He had finally hit him. "You might be able to cancel my magic but that axe is heavy enough to slow you down even with your strength. That one second is all I needed."

"Good thinking. Most people are too worried about their magic being nullified to figure that out," Wrath said.

As happy as he was to finally hit his powerful master, Zane knew that attack probably tickled him. "Sparring or not, I'll not let you take it easy on me. Dark Flame Dra—"

Salem's speed overwhelmed the Dragon Slayer, in a blink he was standing a few paces in front of him, axe ready to slice him. "If that's what you want," he said before swinging the axe at his Sin.

Zane grabbed the handle of the weapon, but the force behind it was still great enough that it dug his feet into the ground. A drop of nervous sweat separated the axe's blade from the tip of his small nose.

From a tree branch a horrified Exceed could do nothing but look on. He sighed in relief as his friend managed to stop the axe from slicing him in half. "Zane-kun, why can't you just enjoy the sparring. I know you'll get yourself hurt, even when Salem-san doesn't want that to happen."

While Atticus was worried for Zane's safety, Zane was more worried about the humiliation. Ridiculous! He's not even trying and yet I am barely able to stop the axe. Zane couldn't believe how heavy the axe felt. If Salem were to let go of it it would probably crush him under its own weight.

Zane was used to overcoming his lack of physical strength by using his agility, but that wouldn't work against someone much faster than him. That only served to infuriate him more.

"What's wrong? A little too hot for you?"

I am going to make you eat those words. What Zane did caught the mighty Salem off guard. He released the axe.

"Shit," Salem swore as he lost control of the axe. Without Zane holding on to it the weapon swung down. The battleaxe pierced the ground, making a large and deep crack. The blade was covered in blood, lots of it. He looked at Zane and saw the terrible wound the axe caused him. A deep wound right where the left arm was connected to the shoulder. The Sin of Pride was bleeding rapidly. His shirt was turning red. "Pride, I'm—"

"Sword Horn!" Zane headbutted Salem, hitting him with a blazing heabutt on the nose. It actually knocked him on his rear.

While Salem was horrified to see the terrible wound he caused Zane, the Dragon Slayer was wearing a smug smirk. "Told ya. If you take it easy on me you'll get… burn…" Due to the fast blood loss Zane fainted.

"Zane!" The Exceed quickly flew from the tree branch to his friend's side. "Zane. Zane! What did you do? You're supposed to be his guild master!" The accusing eyes of the blonde cat pierced right through Salem's heart. "He's bleeding a lot."

That only served to increase the guilt more. Salem stood up, wiped the blood coming down from his nose, without saying anything he grabbed the bleeding Sin of Pride. He ran back into the guild, leaving the Exceed behind.

I think I figured it out. Salem thought.

"Here, neko neko. Here, neko neko," Sora shouted, her voice echoing as it bounced from the many trees that made up the deep woods. "Come here, neko neko."

"Sora, you are being too loud." Nama was resting under the shade of a tree, his back leaning comfortably on the smooth surface of the trunk.

"I'm calling for the cat, Onii-chan," she said. "You know, the mission? Looking for the pet of that old lady? Which you are supposed to be helping me with."

Nama rubbed his sleepy eyes, "Couldn't we have done an easier mission?"

Easier than looking for a cat? That was lazy even for his standards.

"You are not going to get up your butt to help me?"

"I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"Stupid, lazy brother!" She stuck her tongue out, then started to walk away.

Nama was falling asleep. "I'll be with you in a few—" his sister's screams woke him up. "Sora?" When his sister was in danger he stopped being lazy. He immediately ran after her.

He found her laying on the floor, trapped under some sort of net. "Sora!"

"Wait Onii-chan."

But she wasn't able to warn him in time. When he touched the net he was electrocuted. The shock tumbled him down.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I should be the one asking that." Part of his body was numbed, but other than that he was well. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"I've finally found you, my children."

That voice was something neither sibling would ever forget. It sent chills down both of their spines. "You?"

An old man come out from the shadows. He was old, past his fifties. His gray hair was untidy. His white, mage robes was old and tattered. "It's been a while, hasn't it, children?"

"What do you want with us?" Nama asked as he was standing up, ready to fight if necessary. However, as soon as he moved a muscle he found himself trapped in a net, too. He could feel his powers not answering to him.

"Come on, my boy. You think I would come unprepared when you possess that nifty Curse Power of yours?" the man said. "After all, I gave it to you. After studying the genius of Zeref."

"What do you want with us?!" Zora cried.

"Well, to get my children back, of course," the man answered matter-of-fact. "I've come to take you home."