Darkness.
It was so, so very dark.
What was going on?
I knew that I had just stepped into the portal that Zephyranthes had opened, but it never took this long to get through it. It was usually step in, see a flash of darkness, then step out to the destination. It felt like I'd been walking for hours. In front of me, I could vaguely make out a lighter patch, which I assumed to be Elizabeth. I tried to call out to her, but when I opened my mouth, no words came. I tried to call for Zephyr, but got the same result. Feeling terror threaten to take over, I closed my eyes and pushed the feeling down. Opening my eyes again, I realized that I had stopped, and yet Elizabeth had grown no farther away. Well, if going forwards wasn't working, then…
Reaching out my arm, I found that I could just barely reach the other girl, and I grabbed her wrist. Please let this work. I yanked her towards me and, in the process, fell backwards.
Blinding sunlight greeted my eyes for a moment before the weight of the silverette knocked the breath out of me and her hair blinded me.
Elizabeth quickly moved when she realized what she had landed on. The look on her face was even more terrified than it had been when she had been shaking on the ground. "Oh, Zinnia-san! I'm so sorry; I don't know what happened." Tears started to make tracks down her face. "I couldn't see anything or anyone… I tried calling for you, but I couldn't speak. I felt like I was all alone and that I'd never get out of there. And Hawk-chan… Where's Hawk-chan?" She was now looking around wildly in search of the pig.
"He probably managed to get through to the tavern, since he went first. I have no idea what happened after that, though. That's never happened before. I'm usually only in there for a split-second," I explained. "Zephyr, what's going on?"
"I found her!" The shout from below interrupted my inquiry. "I'm not lying! I swear I found her! Please believe me!"
I peeked out over the edge of the tower's railing, and Elizabeth followed suit. Down below, one of the men who had seen us by the wanted posters was pleading with a very large man perched on a horse. The man on horseback wore armor that covered most of his body, exempting a large portion of his chest and right arm. Rain had started to fall, adding a dreary, desperate feeling to the air.
"I came after I heard the report," The armored man was saying, "But where is this wanted criminal?"
"Like I said, she ran away as soon as I talked to her. Please believe me, Holy Knight-sama!"
A Holy Knight?
"It's Griamore!" Elizabeth was nearly yelling from her spot beside me before I clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Shush! We don't want them to know we're here," I whispered fiercely before removing my hand. "And who's Griamore? How do you know a Holy Knight?"
"The only thing that I can believe is that you have wasted my time," came the voice from below.
"B-but…! You said that if we found any of them, you'd exempt us from recruitment and taxes…"
"But in the case of false reporting…" Griamore hopped off his horse, landing on the ground with a dull thud that caused water to splash up around his feet. "... the punishment is death!"
Before I could react, Elizabeth jumped out of the tower. She hadn't even given any warning - she just jumped. "STOOOOOP!" She commanded as she slid down the side of the building, gripping one of the gutters to slow her descent.
I sighed. "Guess since I'm part of the reason we're in this mess, I should probably follow her." As I was still in human form, I took the same route down the tower as her. I could have floated down if I had wanted to, but I didn't want to make it too obvious that I was a fairy.
"That man is not lying. I'm right here, so let him go." Elizabeth had faced the crowd, and was the most serious that I had ever seen her.
But it didn't seem to phase the Holy Knight that stood before her. "Long time no see, Elizabeth-sama. How noble of you to turn yourself in."
He had begun to take steps towards her, but she held her ground. I took a step forward, hood covering my features, ready to protect Elizabeth. I wasn't going to let anything happen to one of the people that had been so kind to me.
"Griamore, you're a Holy Knight whose family has served Liones for Generations. I will not permit such tyranny from you!"
At this, the larger man tried to grab Elizabeth's arms, but I used my fairy magic to pull her out of his arm's reach and towards me. She gasped as I stepped between her and our adversary. Griamore seemed surprised at the action, but he simply took another step towards us.
"You seem to be mistaken. I didn't swear my loyalty to the royal family. And who is this accomplice?" He bent down ever so slightly as though trying to catch a glimpse of my face. "Would this happen to be one of the members of that group of criminals that you've been running around with?"
What was he talking about - the royal family? And why was Elizabeth attempting to order him around? When this was all over, that girl would have some explaining to do.
"Stop right there! I won't let you harm my little sister!"
Who was that? I swiftly faced the voice, almost causing my hood to fall. There was a new girl there, but she looked rather tomboyish. She had short, dark purple hair, and wore black pants and a pink jacket lined with fur. I didn't catch much else as I let my hood fall back over my face.
She was still speaking. "Putting up these wanted posters… How dare you!"
"No way…" I heard Elizabeth mumble from behind me before she shouted. "Veronica-nee-sama!"
Veronica glanced over to Elizabeth, a furrow knitting her brow, before looking to me. She she appeared to be trying to figure out who I was and just how I played into this whole situation. Did she think that I was one of the Seven Deadly Sins, like the holy knight seemed to think?
Seeing Griamore move even closer to Elizabeth and I, I made a decision. They were trying to capture us - or at least Elizabeth - and I couldn't let that happen. Meliodas would kill me if I did. It was all going to be over soon if I didn't do anything.
Well, here goes nothing… I grabbed the edge of my cloak and threw it in the air above me head, allowing myself to return to my fairy form and floating a foot above the ground in the process. "Sp-" Before I could even speak a single word, a magic force surrounded me, encapsulating both my body and my cloak within it. "Hey!" I banged my fists on the clear surface, but that only resulted in pain shooting up my arms.
"Wall!" Griamore chanted, holding a hand out towards me. "I will not let you harm Veronica-sama." He swiftly approached and grabbed Elizabeth by the wrist.
"But… I was just going to…" I sighed. I wasn't going to be able to break out of this anytime soon. My cloak fell to the bottom of the magic bubble and I plopped down on top of it. My head drooped in misery. That's it. Meliodas is gonna kill me… Look on the bright side, at least I can't feel the rain in here. Pushing my hair out of my eyes, I looked up to see that Veronica and Griamore were walking away, Griamore dragging along the slightly-struggling Elizabeth. They weren't getting any further away from me, though, as the space that I was in was moving along with them. Can't you try a bit harder to get away, Elizabeth? You look like you want to be captured. I sighed inwardly before laying on my side and curling into my cloak.
Zephyranthes, where are you...?
