The three misfits now had another mission: Find the Liones magician, Viviann. She had a major crush on Gil, despite being at least 7 years older than him and could always be found spying on Gil when he trained, ate, slept… she was always found spying on him. Gilthunder decided to go look for Viviann himself, mainly because Hauser had suddenly disappeared and Griamore was afraid of her. He told Griamore to remain in Merlin's lab and look for other ways to release Escanor, in case Viviann was unresponsive. He honestly wanted Griamore to just stay inside the lab, so that he would not get into any trouble. Hauser, on the other hand, wandered around the castle for the first time and thought the entire experience was incredible. His hyperactive nature shone brightly in the corridors as he ran past all the servants and knights that were passing through. Hopefully Hauser would return to the lab or at least to Escanor's cell so that they could leave on their main mission together. Gil's task had taken the spotlight and he scoured the castle attempting to find an elusive magician. He did not find Viviann; however, he did run into Margaret. They encountered each other in the castle gardens, next to a stone fountain, surrounded by red roses.
Gil: "P-P-Princess M-M-Margaret, so nice to see you today! He stated, nervously and with a clear tinge of red across his face.
Margaret: "Good afternoon, Gilthunder… do you know if anyone has found my sisters yet?" she asked, clearly worried about her sisters lives.
Gil: "Unfortunately, there seems to be no trace of them your highness… But, don't worry because I myself will be going to look for them as well." He said, a sudden burst of confidence leapt out of his chest.
Margaret: "But, you're just a knight in training… what good can you do Gilthunder?" she asked, breaking Gil's sudden burst of confidence and replacing it with a surge of depression. He quickly recovered and began acting more like a child, than he usually did.
Gil: "In that case, I'll show you and all the other knights how great my team is. Mark my words; we'll be the ones that find your sisters and after that I expect a decent reward too… like a kiss or something." He yelled, a few moments went by before he realized what he had said… but, it was far too late to take back his childish words.
Margaret: *chuckles* "IF you bring my sisters back, I will gladly give you a kiss Gilthunder… but if you don't I'm going to remind you of this day for the rest of your life." She said, an evil glare appeared in her eyes, as she believed that he would fail this task against other knights with far more experience.
Gil: "Deal! Now I just have to find Viviann…" he stated.
Margaret: "You mean her?" she questioned, pointing towards the bushes behind Gil.
Gil: "Yeah… her…" he said, a look of desperation came across his face.
Viviann: "What did you want, sir Gilthunder?" she asked, eager to please the man of her dreams.
Gil: "I need you to release the Lion's sin of Pride from the perfect cube, please." He asked, with a serious expression on his face and an aura of confidence rose in his voice.
Margaret: "ARE YOU INSANE! THERE IS A REASON HE IS SEALED AWAY INSIDE THAT CUBE AND YOU WANT TO BREAK HIM OUT! WHAT KIND OF MORON ARE YOU?" She yelled loudly so that the entire kingdom could hear her.
Viviann: "I can do that, but, may I ask why you wish to release such a dangerous man?" she asked, puzzled by Gil's almost suicidal request.
Gil: "Lord Escanor has agreed to help me and the rest of my group to find your sisters… I think he just wants the fresh air, to be honest." He said, pointing towards his chest and trying to create less anger in Margaret's eyes.
Margaret: "IF HE HURTS MY SISTERS I WON"T FORGIVE YOU!" she yelled, storming off.
Margaret's thoughts: "Please don't get yourself killed Gil" she thought, she too had some feelings for him… she just never had the right moment to tell him.
Viviann: "Let us go then, shall we?" she said, waiting for Gilthunder's approval.
Gil: "Sure, but, first let's stop by the Merlin's magical lab because Griamore is there and I kind of need him." he stated, pushing Viviann to teleport them quite a distance away.
Viviann: "Of course, Gil." She said, teleporting them to the magical laboratory and finding Griamore rolling on the floor crying.
Griamore: "I'm so scawed!" he cried
Gil: "What are you doing, crying on the ground?"
Griamore: "You left me alone and forgot to tell me where you were going" *hic* *snivel*
Gil's thoughts: "Oops!" he thought, realising he did leave without warning.
Gil: "My bad… anyway I'm here and now and we can finally go save princesses Elizabeth and Veronica" he said, smiling towards his crying companion.
Griamore: "Okay… let's go save the princesses" he said, returning the smile and holding his head high with confidence.
Gil: "Viviann, if you'd please!" he asked politely.
Viviann: "O-O-Of course, Sir Gilthunder." She fumbled, before teleporting them all to Escanor's cell.
Escanor's cell:
In front of the cell the rest of the group found a very active Hauser, who had chosen to bother the sin of Pride with an endless supply of questions. The sin of Pride seemed to be reluctantly answering them.
Hauser: "How tall are you?"
Escanor: "At Night, I'm 190cm tall and in the day I'm like 270cm tall."
Hauser: "Cool! What's your favourite colour?"
Escanor: *sigh* "Black"
Hauser: "What food do you like?"
Escanor: "Meat in the day and fruit at night"
Hauser: "Who do you have a crush on?"
Escanor: "THAT"S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, CHILD!" he yelled, clearly not wanting to talk about his love life. Hauser was quite surprised to see him explode on the topic, but, chose to ignore the outburst and resumed asking him questions.
Gil: "Hey Hauser, I think you should stop pestering him… we're going to let him out." He said, Hauser's face suddenly turning to dread when he realized they were doing this.
Hauser: "Oh…Crap!" he said, clearly knowing where this was going. Viviann teleported Escanor to the outside of the "perfect cube" and the Lion's sin of Pride immediately walked to the exit. The three misfits followed suite as they were unsure of what this man intended to do. They followed him outside, where Escanor opened his mouth and inhaled a large amount of air only to exhale the remnants back out.
Escanor: "Fresh air always tastes better when I've been cooped up in that cube for so long." He said, the wind brushing against his long hair and his ponytail flying in the wind.
Gil: "Lord Escanor, we need to hurry and find the princesses… its 5:30 in the afternoon, so your power is going to start dropping soon. He stated, noticing the Lion's sin of Pride letting out a slight smile.
Escanor: "I know where they are. The time of day is not detrimental to the success of this mission, rather the arrival of bandits and a large beast in the area, will be what we must overcome." He explained, leading them in the direction of the eastern gate.
Guard: "Halt, for verification I need to know the size of your group and which of you is a diamond rank holy kni… I'm sorry Lord Escanor; I did not realize it was you. You look quite different from the last time we saw you.
Escanor: "I let my hair grow out… I intend to cut it for the upcoming festival. Anyway, back to business… I'm the diamond rank holy knight and I will be accompanied by these three knights in- training." He said, confidently and without a strand of emotion on his face.
Guard: "Of course sir, I suppose you'll be searching for the princesses as well?"
Escanor: *smiles* "I'm not going looking for the princesses; I'm going to find them… I need those three behind me to do something important thought." He stated, clearly confident and turning towards the three misfits.
Escanor: "Get ready for quite a tough fight, I sense a few power levels that are higher than yours including the beast. I suggest you work on a strategy whilst we walk over there… oh and could Viviann; you're not coming with us… I do not enjoy having a magician around who can teleport me back inside the perfect cube." He stated, walking through the kingdom's western gate and waiting for the three misfits to rush towards him.
Gil: "Thanks for your help Viviann, I really appreciate it. Come on guys let's go!" he said.
Griamore and Hauser: "YEAH!" they yelled, clearly both passionate about their adventure.
Viviann: "I'm just glad to have been of service, sir Gilthunder." She said, turning her head and blushing slightly.
Escanor's thoughts: "I wonder how they will fair against the upcoming threat, and whether or not they will fight individually or as a team. I suppose I will find out the answer soon enough, I just hope the sunset doesn't arrive sooner than expected."
Next Chapter: Bandits, Beasts and Bridges
