A/N: Another week has past! *Cricket noises disturb the silence*

I don't even know why I bother with author's notes for this story. Maybe I just like to voice my thoughts? Meh. Anyway I made this chapter a little longer than usual as I wanted to fit the theme for the chapter. Oh, I also have a suggestion! Are there any kiddie scenarios you can imagine happening? I like to include some reader ideas in my stories to kinda make it special and unique in a way, so if you have any feel free to tell them to me. Odds are I'll include it.

Anyway once again, I have nothing major to say so I'll just move onto reviews:

Silver - Thanks for the review. King, Escanor and Merlin being the trio just happened I guess, but I can think of several reasons why they're the least likely to revert. Plus raising the Sins to be evil is a perfect tactic. UvU

Till next time,

D.L.D

It was raining. Hard. The constant pitter patter of raindrops sounded as the sky darkened and grayed. The group decided to stay indoors on this fine rainy day. A wise choice as the water seemed to pelt down in clusters, soaking all around it. Winds howled and rattled against the window panes, as everyone stayed nice and warm inside. The constant sound indicated a particularly violent storm. Dark clouds could be seen swirling above as well, the things seeming to confirm that a storm was on its way.

Fast.

King sat by a window, sighing as he watched the drops race down the glass. He'd been distant all day. Thinking. Thinking about what Merlin had suggested earlier and how it could all be proven true. How now that she had mentioned it, all of the obvious pieces were falling into place and he was witnessing the gradual regression of his comrades. His friends.

It didn't seem too long ago that they were all normal. That they were journeying across Britannia on their way to stop a threat that seemed so small now. That seemed so insignificant and even nonexistent now that they were kids. In fact there hadn't been an attack in days. They seemed to stop once the Sins and Elizabeth had woken in child versions of themselves. Like a bolt in the blue, it came out of nowhere, changing the whole of Britannia with it, it seemed. Like they had all gone back in time to the days where their biggest woes were all small meaningless things.

"Why are you so mopey today King?" Diane frowned as she looked at him, pigtails spilling over her shoulders.

She'd been watching him all day, watching how he'd been thinking away at the window. Thinking away and not saying much. All he did was think today. Something that the brunette didn't like. She didn't like it when he drifted off into his own head space. When he seemed to be carrying the whole world on his shoulders. Diane didn't know why she didn't like it, but she knew that it linked to something. It linked to one of those memories that were slowly coming. Slowly forming and seeming to replace ones that were recent. The ones she had of the Sins and defending Britannia with them.

It was a weird feeling. Something that the giantess couldn't quite place yet. It was like being happy but having a sense of dread, a sense of forgetting who you are in the process. But whenever she tried to dig deeper into it, Diane would find herself getting distracted. Even when that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Come on you have to tell me eventually!" Diane rolled her eyes in a playful manner, trying to earn a smile out of King. "I know it's raining but that doesn't mean you have to have a bad mood."

"It's not that Diane," King sighed, a hand swiping over his face. "It's complicated."

The giantess simply scoffed at that. Whatever King was moping about now had to be something boring. Or maybe so practical that he was boring himself thinking about it. But maybe it was serious. Maybe what the fairy was spending so long contemplating over was so serious, that he had to think about it carefully. Like how you can't always just charge into something headfirst without knowing what you're up against. If you did you were bound to lose someday.

"Well I'm taking you on a break," The giantess spoke proudly, puffing out her chest. "You need to stop sitting there all the time and gazing out that window. So I'm gonna find something fun to do."

A slight smile ghosted the fairy's face. A sign that whatever the giantess was doing was working. This earned a bright smile from her.

"Ok, but nothing too wild," King warned knowing that things can easily get carried away within their group. One small activity can easily turn into an all out brawl or something just as chaotic, plus with the extra stress of anyone reverting anything was possible.

"Well I can't promise that," Diane laughed as she spotted a napping Hawk.

Oh she had the perfect repayment for all those missed piggyback rides.

Merlin sighed as she once again placed down her books and halted her work. Once again the sounds of squealing and shouts could be heard and she knew that Escanor and King were having a hard time controlling the haggle of kids downstairs. Ironic as they both seemed to retain almost the exact same power levels they had at their chronological age. In fact both didn't seem to be affected by the memory blanks, or spells of childishness either.

It was fascinating to Merlin as to how that was possible. As to how she, King and Escanor managed to not feel these side affects of the spell. Of course Merlin had figured that she had probably had the defenses built naturally within her. That meaning her knowledge and skill of certain types of magic had helped her to subconsciously defend herself from this. However with King and Escanor it was a different point of view.

From what she had researched, she'd narrowed some of it down to what they possess naturally. In fact Merlin had figured that it was taking longer for the spell to kick in for these two as well as herself. That the spell was looking for a weak point to enter, so that it can carry out its purpose of erasing their more recent memories and things that gave clues as to who they were. Since Diane, Elizabeth, Meliodas and Gowther were more likely to be susceptible to this, due to many different factors, it would explain why they still had control over their abilities but not their memories. Hence why Diane was suddenly being hit by memories that were most likely erased.

But if that were true, what would happen to Elizabeth?

It was a secret between her and the Captain of what Elizabeth's true nature was. She had memories that could be triggered and if they were the countdown to her death would start. That would mean three days. Three days before the child version of her died. Something that could have been prolonged and maybe even prevented if this spell didn't happen. But this spell could also do the opposite. It could restore the memories, but somehow deactivate the countdown because it blocks certain ones out.

Merlin groaned as she could feel a headache beginning to form. She reached her hands to her temple, attempting to massage the knots out.

The whole situation was definitely perplexing. Maybe even confusing. There were so many things that contradicted each other, or just didn't make much sense. It was like running in circles only to find out you were making a huge square instead. Makes no sense does it? even when you thought you'd been doing something logical...

Getting up, the mage left the room and headed downstairs. Clearly her duty as the group nanny was a twenty-four-seven job.

"Duck, duck..." Diane smirked as she trailed out her words, tapping Meliodas and King on their heads.

When Merlin had arrived to see a flustered Escanor and tired-looking King, the mage had proposed a game that was simple and couldn't get out of hand. A game that had been played by a lot of children she'd observed over the years and so she decided to try it out on the group. Of course there were the ones who refused, like Ban, but eventually they had all moved the tables out of the way and gathered in a circle.

The rules of said game were extremely simple. The group would gather in a circle and one person would go around tapping each person's head and saying 'duck' as they did so. Then once they were ready, the person tapping would say 'goose' and the other person would get up and try to get the tapper before they reached their spot in the circle. If the tapper got there before the chaser, the chaser became the tapper, but if the chaser got the tapper the tapper stayed the same.

Simple. An easy game that couldn't get out of hand or become too rowdy. The perfect way to occupy the Sins on a rainy day, as well as a way to tire them out. That meant no fights and some peace and quiet to figure out what was going on. Plus if that got boring Merlin knew a bunch more games, so it was win-win situation in a way.

"Goose."

Diane had stopped at Elizabeth, dashing off as the princess scrambled to her feet. Like many had the past few times, they ran round the circle Diane managing to slide into Elizabeth's spot before the princess could catch her. Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be the tapper.

"Duck," That was one head.

"Duck," Another.

"Goose!"

The game went on and on, somehow not getting boring at all. In fact there had been a few moments where they'd all laughed at each other. Ban had gracefully kept calling duck for what seemed like ages just to annoy others; Diane had easily gotten her spots casing laughter when any of the slower Sins had been picked by her; and even Gowther had gotten involved although he walked around the circle causing him to be the tapper again when he was chosen.

However Merlin's plan had worked. Night had begun to fall and the Sins were growing sleepy. Most of them could just about open their mouths to speak, let alone keep their eyes open. They were all one big, sleepy group. The perfect atmosphere for the mage to get her research done in peace.

"Ok, off to bed now," Merlin filled in her role as mother duck, clapping her hands to gain their attention.

Most of the group agreed with the mage, silently heading towards wherever they'd claimed as their sleeping post. Elizabeth and Meliodas left to go upstairs, followed by a rope carrying Hawk; Diane and King made do with Chastiefol and Gowther was getting comfy while Escanor awaited to help Merlin with her research. It was only Ban who refused.

"But I don't wanna ~" The Fox Sin was still the most mouthy, a protest leaving him even as he yawned. He rubbed his eyes, a scowl forming from where the yawn had betrayed him.

"I don't have time for this, tonight," Merlin frowned, a serious look in her eye. "Go to sleep now Ban - you won't be missing anything."

"Whatever," He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he sat at a table. His chin rested on the furniture, a stubborn look in his eye.

He wasn't going to drift off. He was going to wait until everyone had fallen asleep and get a -

Merlin laughed as ban was snoring in seconds, his eyes closed and body slumped at the table. He thought he was going to get a sneak at the alcohol behind the counter. That would be highly unlikely. Well for now it would be. After all she'd just put him to sleep to make sure he won't wake up and sneak to the forbidden goods.

"Let's get on with that research Escanor," Merlin chuckled as she tilted her head, an indication to follow her.

"Right away," He nodded and the two headed upstairs to her room.

A clap of thunder woke the princess, startling her from her dream.

The sound of rain filled the silence immediately, the sound oddly violent. Darkness seemed to surround all around her, shadows looming over things in a display of terror. Usually the objects around her wouldn't be so scary - so isolating and huge - but in the darkness of a stormy night they seemed terrifying. Nightmarish.

Elizabeth withheld a whimper as she tucked her knees to her chest, watching as the rain fall against the glass. Focusing on that seemed to help with the sense of knowing that another rumble of thunder was about to come. That she'd probably be startled again if she tried to sleep. The princess had always hated thunder storms as a child. She had never liked to think about them nor be in one. Each time they happened she hid away and curled into a ball so tight that Veronica and Margaret had to hug her sideways.

However her sisters won't there this time to comfort her.

The thought made her tuck her knees tighter, just as another bolt struck. Her heart quickened, chin now resting on her knees as Elizabeth willed her eyes to focus on on the rain. To focus on anything other than the thunder rumbling.

"Elizabeth?"

The princess seemed to blink away invisible tears, as she turned to the person beside her. Relief seemed to flood over her, the feeling evident on her features. In fact Elizabeth instantly relaxed knowing that she wasn't all alone. That someone was with her. She had completely forgotten about the blonde.

Meliodas could almost smile at the way Elizabeth seemed to be a million times more comfortable with his presence. Almost. The look of panic and fear is what stopped him from smiling. He never liked it when she seemed upset, or when she tried to cover it up like she was doing now. It was just something that didn't suit her. Not his smiling happy-go-lucky Elizabeth.

"I didn't mean to wake you," The princess squeaked out, face hidden in her knees. She risked a peek at the blonde. "I just - I don't like thunder storms..."

Of course she didn't expect him to laugh or anything, as many people fear thunder and lightning, but the princess couldn't help but feel silly as she let the words out. After all thunder and lightning are one of those things that you'll encounter sooner or later. You can never get rid of it, it'll always be there. Plus it seemed like such a trivial fear, especially compared to what the Sins must've faced. All of the stories and countless battles they've gone through make her fear seem like a small thing. Like something that is easy to get over.

"How about I stay up with you till it goes away?" Meliodas smiles, every bit of genuine kindness and sincerity in his expression.

He felt that it'd be for the best if he stayed up to make sure Elizabeth got some rest. From the sound of the thunder, she'd probably be up all night waiting for the storm to pass. And Meliodas wouldn't allow that. At least if he stayed up with her she'd have so company to distract her from her fear too.

"Sir Meliodas you don't have to!" As always Elizabeth put others before herself, pink spreading across her face as she grew flustered. "I mean - I wouldn't want to be the reason why you haven't gotten any sleep!"

"Well, someone has to make sure you get some," The blonde answered breezily, "We can't have you falling asleep in the middle of the day can we?"

This earned a small smile from the princess.

"Ok, but...only until the storm ends," She insisted.

"Only until the storm ends," He nodded, though he knew he'd probably stay up much later.