I'd love to hear some feedback, I'm also heavily editing these before I post any chapters. I did replace the first chapter after editing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Seven Deadly Sins, not that I wouldn't love to have the rights to have Ban... but yeah... It's Ban.
I own Hecate, her ability and any other characters not part of the anime. I also own the scenes not part of the original story and any additions to original scenes that are not there... originally.
Rated M for suggestive themes, strong language and potential explicit scenes later on.
These next few chapters are going to elaborate on the past that Ban and Hecate share. It will also expand on the relationship with her brother, Dante, Ban and Elaine and how all of that is connected together.
"Okay, Elizabeth. Let me officially introduce you." Meliodas spoke up, causing Elizabeth to look over at him now, while Ban leaned forward slightly, placing his elbow on top of his knee. "This is Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed." He motioned to the immortal, who gave the girl a lazy grin.
"Nice to meet you." Ban replied with a smirk as he watched the two women in slight amusement. Then again, the man always found amusement in something. At that moment it was how well his Kitten was getting along with others so naturally.
"Uh, where did you get that outfit?" Meliodas asked, tilting his head a little as if he was just noticing the new clothes. This caused Hecate to snicker behind her bell sleeves.
"You didn't notice before?" Hecate couldn't help but tease the man, who merely shrugged at her with a smile.
Everyone knew he wasn't always the most observant person in the world. What made it even more amusing for the halfling was the sheer look of disappointment on Ban's face, as if he couldn't believe their Captain's audacity to assume that he wouldn't get new clothes.
"I can't parade around naked in front of a princess, can I?" Ban shot back with eyebrows raised at the man. It was only hen he saw the amusement dancing in his Kitten's eyes that he relaxed with a lazy grin.
"You had money to buy clothes?" Meliodas asked doubtfully before looking over at Hecate with pinched brows, he wouldn't put it pass the halfling to do so, but he wondered if she even had money on her. "You give him some, Cat?" he questioned her, only to watch as the woman laugh quietly and shake her head.
"I stumble across them. It was a total fluke!" Ban explained, throwing his hands up slightly, exasperated at the treatment he was getting after their reunion.
This time, the halfling let out her laughter freely, shaking her head at the two. Sometimes it was too easy to rile Ban up, the man had a habit of taking things literally, which made it all the more fun to play around with him. Honestly, Hecate was glad the man hadn't changed so much, it made life so much more interesting when she tease people.
"Stumbled across… right." She snorted in amusement, shaking her head a bit.
Above, Diane rolled her eyes, sighing heavily at the sheer ridiculousness of the entire thing. The giantess was leaning against the rooftop to be included in the festivities, and as she watched the interactions with others, she found herself reminded of why she didn't like Ban in the first place. He had no honour, and he always took what he wanted without a second thought. He was a thief after all, a troublesome one at that.
"Speaking of introductions…" Ban mused as he looked up at the giantess with a lazy grin. "It's been a long time, Diane." He mused, attempting to be civil.
"I'd have been perfectly happy if I'd gone a hundred years without seeing you." Diane responded deadpan, looking away from the immortal in a huff, which caused the man and halfling to merely laugh. Both of them expected that from her.
"I'm Elizabeth. Please pardon me for not getting up." Elizabeth responded softly as Ban got up from his barrel, walking over to where she and Hecate were.
"Not at all, Highness. Our order doesn't stand on ceremony." He replied in a gentle tease, though it was the truth none the less, as he bowed before her. "Let's all be friends, the five of us." He responded with that lazy grin of his once he stood straight again, and Hecate rolled her eyes with a knowing grin on her face.
"Don't you mean six, buddy?" Hawk spoke up now in a slight huff, sounding slightly offended by being left out of the introductions.
Ban blinked a bit in surprise at the voice before giving a slight laugh, thinking there was some sort of prank being played on him. It wouldn't be the first time it happened, and he doubted it would be the last either. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon after rejoining the group.
"Are you out of it, Captain?" Ban asked, tuning to Meliodas, who was smiling knowingly at the taller man, but said nothing as he shared a look with the halfling. "There are only five."
"There are six!" Hawk insisted, his voice now rising in irritation. "Are you sure you don't have a screw loose?"
"Well… that's still undetermined… we haven't done enough testing to be sure." Hecate teased, speaking up without missing a beat.
This brought laughter from the others around her as she smiled innocently at the immortal, who gave her a dry, dirty look. It was easy for Elizabeth to see the connection between the immortal and halfling, the two seemed to feed off each other, and were comfortable enough to tease each other without a second thought.
"You're telling me." Hawk snorted, some of his irritation lessening at the jibe, but he was focused on the immortal currently, waiting to be recognized.
Blinking, Ban seemed to realize that the voice was not coming from the Captain or anyone else as he looked around the area. "Who said that?" he asked, curious and weary of who could be speaking to him.
"I did!" Hawk stated from in front of Ban and stomped his leg into the ground a little.
Ban paused slightly before he finally looked down and saw Hawk standing right in front of him. It took a moment or two before Ban stumbled back with wide eyes. The man easily freaked out at anything abnormal, was always taken by surprise. It was both amusing and draining to watch the man, a man who had been killed in so many ways that it was impossible to keep count, freak out about something so simple. He never blinked at the creative ways people had tried killing him, but have a talking pig stand right in front of him and this was how he reacted.
"God… he is such a dork…" Hecate chuckled, shaking her head as she watched the two.
"That pig is talking!" he yelled, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as the man jumped back, pointing at Hawk in shock.
"You're just freaking out over that now!?" Hawk yelled back, his irritation at the immortal growing. He had to deal with a lot with this group.
First it was Meliodas who always threatened to cook him. Diane who tried to eat him when they first met. Elizabeth was fine since she treated him with respect. He didn't know what to think of Hecate, she never tried to do anything to do him… yet. And now he had to deal with this idiot who was freaking out because he could talk. Why did he have to deal with such idiots?
"No way!" Ban responded, still in shock and denying what he was seeing was the best way to deal with it. "A pig that can talk like a person? That's totally crazy!" Ban stated, shaking his head in denial. He was waiting for the others to start laughing, to call their prank on him, but no one was. "I've got it! You're King, aren't you?" Ban pointed at the pig almost accusingly after snapping his fingers. "That must be it! You were cursed, and you finally turned into an actual pig!"
Ban started laughing, believing he had figured it all out. Except, no one else had joined him, even Hecate, who normally would have, stayed quiet. Noticing this, Ban turned to the others, to see what was going on. He looked to his Kitten first, she was always the one who could read a room, and her expression was odd, at least it was to him. There was something he was missing and turned to their Captain who gave him a small smile.
"King is dead. According to rumor, anyway." Meliodas reiterated simply with a little shrug.
Ban looked at his comrades, seeing no lie on their faces as he contemplated their words and his current situation. If King were dead… then how was it possible for the pig to talk like a human? It was something he had never come across before, never even heard about something like this happening. He looked between the pig and the group, wondering what exactly was going on until the pig stomped its foot against the ground.
"I'm warning you, I'm no ordinary pig." Hawk drew Ban's attention to him again as the pig looked at him fully, standing tall and proud with a grin on his face. "I'm Sir Hawk, captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal!" he declared proudly.
That declaration brought a whole new reaction from Ban, whose eyes once again bulged from their sockets, staring at Hawk with admiration as he practically began to worship the pig. That brought laughter from everyone else as they watched. The doctor and his daughter soon called for everyone to get some food, as they brought out the meal. The two had been watching the group interact with each other and found themselves smiling at the strange people. It was clear that they all cared for one another and the way they acted made the two relax more, knowing they were good.
It wasn't long until the table was flooded with the group, everyone grabbing as much food as they could. Hecate shook her head as she stood from the bed and made her way towards the others, easily able to snag two plates and enough food for her and Elizabeth to have before the boys ate it all. Once she got enough, she returned to Elizabeth's side and helped her eat, knowing she couldn't sit up for a while, under the doctor's orders. The doctor's doctor climbed up a ladder, handing Diane a large platter of food, as the giantess watched from above, shaking her head at the boys.
The night's festivities were filled with laughter and playful bantering. Ban, like usual, got himself drunk and began bothering Hawk, clinging onto the pig without a care in the world. Hecate mainly stayed next to Elizabeth, chatting with her and Diane, with Meliodas joining them every now and then. It was only when Ban dragged her away to participate in a drinking contest with him and their Captain, did she really move from her spot.
The entire night was filled with laughter and cheers, everyone was enjoying themselves. As it got late into the night, Hecate found herself laying on the rooftop, a tankard of ale resting against the stomach as she stared up at the stars. The ruckus from below had turned into white noise for the halfling as she relaxed. She couldn't help but think back to the time when it was just her and brother, and how many nights they spent just gazing up at the stars, trying to count every single one of them, but always failing. It was their way of staying connected with the world, and she knew her brother would have loved this, loved the people she now surrounded herself with.
Nights like tonight were when memories of Dante were the strongest, with clear skies and the stars in full view. She could picture it now, her brother laying back with his arms behind his head as he stared up at the dark sky with glittering orange eyes, his pale skin glowing lightly while the wind teased his shaggy purple hair. He would have a lazy grin on his face as he spoke about something, then turn to her to see her reaction. Her heart ached for her twin, but she knew she would get him back, some day… but for now, he had to sleep, because if he woke before her, there was no telling what he could do.
"None of that, Cat…" she murmured to herself, shaking her head forcefully as she sighed. She couldn't do that to herself, not now, she couldn't go back to that time.
Instead, the woman knocked back the rest of her tankard and took a deep breath. She had to focus on the good memories. Like the stupid, childish game they created to try and name all the stars when they were beyond drunk. They spent hours muttering names, and if they were wrong, they drank more until they were too drunk to make sense about what they were doing, so they always ended up just stargazing until they fell asleep.
It was something the woman was tempted to do now, but as she tilted her head back to gaze above her, she had to smile. Stars began streaking across the sky, and a second later the stars began crisscrossing one another. It was a sight the woman had never seen before as she sat up, setting the tankard next to her as she watched. She had never seen a sight like that before, not in all her years wandering the land. It was a wonderous sight to behold, but something told her it was a sign.
"It's just like a passage from of Britannia's old poems." The doctor spoke up from below, it seemed everyone was entranced by the sky. "When shooting stars streak across the same sky in the form of a cross, Britannia will face her darkest hour. That is a trail preordained since ancient times. And it will herald the beginning of the Holy War between the guiding hand of the light and the bloodline of the darkness." The doctor recited as the group continued to stare at the sky. Hecate was quiet as she stared at the sky, watching the crossing stars. The words of the doctor echoed in her mind, causing a pit in her stomach to form.
Over the next three days, the group stayed near town for Elizabeth's health. Hecate finally got to do her ritual and the tavern was stocked with meat for a time. She sold the pelt and antlers for a good price and used some of the money to buy herself a sketchbook and some pencils. The tavern was resupplied with other necessities and Hecate made sure there were medical supplies available if, and when they needed them. She wasn't concerned about needing a supply of blood to get her fix, there were always enough animals around for her to feed on and bring back the carcass to use the meat.
Other than the odd trip into town, the group mainly stayed to themselves. The doctor came by a couple times a day to check on Elizabeth's health, but Hecate had taken over the primary caregiver since Hawk refused to let Meliodas be alone with the princess. Diane would have done it, but the giantess was too large to properly take care of the girl, but Hecate kept the windows open so they could talk. Ban spent a lot of his time wandering and drinking, dragging Hecate from the princess' side when he was bored or if he thought she needed to sleep.
The night before they were meant to leave, Hecate was laying on top of the tavern, staring up at the starry sky. Everyone had gone to bed a short time ago, but the halfling was having trouble sleeping. She smiled a little as she thought about Hawk tying up their Captain before he could share a bed with Elizabeth. The pig was determined to not allow the man to get grabby with the princess while she rested. A soft smile crossed the halfling's face as she thought about the time spent helping Elizabeth out. The two females had forged a bond during the past three days and delved into their pasts a little.
Hecate spoke about her half-vampiric nature, and how she needed to feed regularly to stay sane or in control of herself. She explained when they met, that the halfling had not fed in a while, and was a danger to the princess if she got too close to them. Hecate admitted that she took great care to only hunt wild animals, which was why she had a ritual that she performed to honour the creature. She had never hunted humans or any other being, and that she refused to ever to do. She valued life and she always hesitated when it came to the morality of killing. She had strict guidelines that she followed. Which had become stricter after the incident twelves ago.
In turn, Elizabeth told Hecate about her family back in Liones, and why she ran away to find the Seven Deadly Sins. The princess also spoke about some of her favourite memories of her family that she had the two girls often started laughing because of them.
That particular morning, Hecate had been sitting behind the princess, brushing her hair as they spoke about something. Elizabeth commented ono the relationship the halfling had with the immortal, which caused the pink-eyed woman to laugh. Her history with that man was something else and hadn't started off in the typical way. The memory made Hecate smile, but she didn't elaborate too much, just telling her that they had an odd way of finding each other. After all, her history with Ban was a little complicated, and while it had been good, the ending hadn't been.
Groaning a bit, Hecate stood up from her spot, feeling a small throb in her head as she jumped off the roof onto Hawk's Mama's back, trying to land gently on her. She headed inside the tavern, deciding to try and get some sleep, and headed up to the room she and Ban shared. Like usual, the man was spread across the bed, taking up the entire thing. Rolling her eyes, Hecate shook her head and tugged off her top, leaving her in a black tank top that stopped just below her breasts. She kicked off her shoes and crawled over Ban to a small, open spot and curled up, bringing some of the covers over her. She nestled into the covers and closed her eyes, feeling the tug of sleep teasing her. Just as she was about to drift off, an arm fell across her waist and comforting warmth wrapped around her, letting her drift off with a smile on her face.
The morning was always warm in the Faerie Forest, a nice change to the usual places that Hecate and Dante usually visited. The sun was bright and there were a few clouds hanging around in the sky, but it didn't look as if it was going to rain. At the summit of the Great Faerie Tree, Hecate was sitting next to the Fountain of Youth with Elaine in the shade, the current protector of the fountain. She was childlike in appearance with short blonde hair, light coloured skin, and bright, golden eyes. Dante went off before sunrise with plans to gather food for the three of them and resupply the twins with their needed blood, leaving the two females alone to enjoy the peaceful place. The twins never hunted in the Faerie Forest, and always left to go hunting when they had to, they respected the Faeries and honoured their home and laws. They were lucky Elaine had vouched for them and showed the others that the twins weren't deviants or out to destroy their home.
The twins stumbled upon the Great Tree while searching for the Fountain of Youth. They heard about it in passing and grew curious, so they decided to look for it. Not because they wanted to take it for themselves, but to settle a debate the two got into about what it would look like. No matter how many stories they heard, what the fountain looked like was still up in the air and they wanted answers. They packed enough provisions to last them for at least a week or two, depending on how they decided to ration them. The location of the Faerie Forest was varied, but the twins used what little they knew about Faeries and what they learned from others to push forth. When they found the Great Tree and climbed to the top, that was when they met Elaine who immediately thought they were there to steal the fountain. Instead, she had been met with two excited halflings who were gazing out over the forest in amazement and commenting on everything they saw.
It was after that initial meeting that they formed a friendship with Elaine, and the twins promised to return for a visit, a promise they always kept. Though their visits only happened every few years, it never stopped the bond that formed between them.
"Tell me what's new in the world since you and Dante were here last." Elaine urged the halfling, lightly poking the woman's arm with a pleading pout on her face.
"Alright, alright!" Hecate laughed, lightly batting her friend's hand away. "Well… let's see, I mean, humans are everywhere, like usual, but some of the small towns have grown. Their population is increasing, but people seem to be happy. There are more farms around, so fresh produce is more easily accessible to other towns less fortunate." She spoke, watching as Elaine's eyes glaze over with a smile.
Elaine loved listening to the twin's stories about the outside world, and she often wished she could go see it for herself with them. She was lucky that Hecate drew what she saw to give Elaine some context to what they're talking about. She currently had the sketchbook open on her lap, going through the sketches while Hecate spoke about the areas. The two were as close as sisters, something neither of them fought. Despite being older than the twins, Elaine saw Hecate as an older sister and loved her as such. And Dante was someone Elaine held close to her heart.
Hecate was pointing out one of the places she and Dante had visited, showing Elaine a picture, she sketched of the view they saw from the summit of a mountain. "Oh! You will love this story, Elaine!" Hecate laughed, grinning as she remembered that moment. "Dante and I decided to climb to the top of the mountain, we were about halfway up when Dante lost his grip and started to fall. Before I could call to him, he grabbed my ankle. The dork didn't seem to consider that if he did that, he would cause me to fall too." She laughed at the memory and shook her head. "My grip didn't last long before we both began falling again—" Hecate cut herself off when the two women heard a distant voice coming towards them.
The two paused and looked towards the edge where the sound was coming from. The voice from a male, but he was not someone either woman recognized, even though Dante would be back soon, it was not his voice that they heard, plus, the twins had their own way of getting up now, rather than the straight way as this person was taking. Hecate shifted slightly as she slipped a hand down towards her brown leather boots, readying to grab one of the hidden knives she always carried around. However, Elaine stood, holding her arm out to stop her friend from acting.
"This is my job, remember? I'll take care of it." Elaine gave the halfling a smile, watching as the woman nod, but still take out a silver dagger to toy with, just to be safe.
Elaine found out quickly at how protective the twins were over those they cared about. They were always quick to defend Elaine if another faerie commented on her or gave a snide remark. Even though all of the Faeries loved Elaine, there were some tensions after her brother, their king, disappeared, several, hundred years prior.
The women waited for the male to reveal himself, and when he finally came up, both women were surprised. The man was tall and lanky with short, spiky blue hair and scarlet red eyes. He had a big grin on his face, and excitement shone clearly in his eyes. He wore an open, corn yellow jacket that had green plaid around the hem, collar and cuffs of the jacket, and no shirt underneath. His pants were the same colour as his jacket with a purple belt with green plaid cloth on it. His shoes were also green plaid and he had armor on his right leg and left arm. Hoisted over his shoulder was a purple rucksack. The man looked around the summit of the tree before spotting Elaine, where his grin faded, morphing into confusion.
"You lost, little girl?" he questioned her, bending down to meet her at eye-level. He didn't notice anyone else around, though he could sense someone else there.
"I'm guarding the spring..." Elaine replied evenly, floating up to be more eye-level with the bandit, who stood. "…from bandits like you."
She then raised her hand, flicking it in a 'shoo' motion and sent him flying from the tree. The man, for his part, had not expected that and let out a surprised yelp. Hecate watched with great amusement as she stood, laughing at the man's misfortune as he disappeared from sight.
Served him right.
"Aw, did I miss Ela fling someone off the tree?" Dante whined from behind the women, and the two turned around to greet him.
Hecate was pulled from the memory like dream when a loud crash and a jostle snapped her out of her sleep. She shot up with weary eyes, looking around the room for any indication of what was going on. Instead of trouble brewing, the halfling saw Ban laying part way on the floor, flat on his back as he stared up at the ceiling, clearly distracted from whatever he had been dreaming about. She was about to ask him what was going on, when an empty bottle fell from the shelf and hit the man in the face. While she would have shown her amusement at the man's misfortune, the halfling wasn't feeling it currently, not after that dream, or rather that memory surfaced.
With a groan, the woman got up and stepped over the sprawled out, distracted man as she grabbed a clean, olive green tunic with bell sleeves. She ignored Ban's gaze as she tugged the shirt on, wrapping her belt around her waist again and tugged on her boots. She headed out of the room, hearing a thump coming from Ban letting his head fall back onto the floor and started braiding her hair over her shoulder. She felt drained, more so than usual. She had a feeling it was because Dante had been on her mind lately, but also because she dearly missed Elaine as well. They were two people whose loss pained her the most.
"Get up, you slackers!" Hawk called from the main floor just as Hecate appeared, yawning into her hand as she greeted the pig. "Time for breakfast!"
As much as she would have usually flinched at such loudness in the mornings, the halfling merely murmured a response and walked past Hawk, greeting the others with a wave and headed to the counter to get something to eat. She noticed Meliodas behind the counter cooking and immediately the woman grimaced. Hecate refused to eat anything her Captain made, to be fair, none of the Sins willingly ate anything the man made. She would rather face the dangers of bloodlust than eat a smidge of cooking from Meliodas. Instead, she grabbed an apple nearby and polished it on her shirt.
"Just fruit, Cat?" Meliodas teased, knowing her aversion to his cooking.
"I'd rather face crippling bloodlust than have your food, Captain." The halfling stated in a deadpan voice, causing the man to laugh with a grin.
"Then more for us!" he chirped as he plated the food, walking around the bar and served Elizabeth, Hawk, and himself.
The woman bit into the crisp apple with a soft sigh, relishing in the fresh taste of the apple. She faced the others as they spoke, finding it amusing when Elizabeth brought up Hawk tying up the Captain for bed. While Hawk did get defensive about his reasoning, jumped when Diane's eye suddenly appeared through the window, asking who had been tied up. Not long after that, Ban came down to join everyone, but he seemed to be in a slightly foul mood as he joined Hecate at the bar and tried snatching her apple from her. In retaliation, the woman snapped at his fingers, one of her fangs drawing blood before he could retract them.
"Do not." She warned him seriously, staring at the man who gave her an irritated and tired glare as she licked her lips clean of the blood that she drew.
"Captain! I need a drink." Ban whined instead, turning around to face the blonde who moved back behind the counter. "Kitten is also being mean to me!" Hecate rolled her eyes at that and kicked him lightly, he was just being a brat now.
"Isn't it a little early?" Diane asked skeptically, her eyes narrowing at him, but Meliodas was already ahead of her as he grabbed a bottle from the back.
"Would you like some breakfast, Sir Ban?" Elizabeth offered with a smile, since there was already a spread laid out for them to eat.
Ban took one look at the princess and the food on the table and started laughing. "You expect me to eat the Captain's lousy cooking?" he asked with a lopsided smirk before shaking his head a little.
"Make it yourself, then!" Meliodas shot with a smirk as he tossed the bottle over to the immortal, who caught with a grateful grin.
Their Captain gave Hecate a knowing wink and the woman shook her head as she stood up and moved away from the immortal, it was for her own safety after all.
"Thanks, Captain!" Ban grinned, opening the bottle.
Just like she was warned and predicted, the amount of time the bottle had been in the air, and probably due to Meliodas shaking it before hand, the contents of the ale spewed out, covering Ban in alcohol. The scent filled the entire tavern, and she wrinkled her nose a bit.
"One, someone needs a bath after that." Hecate nodded to Ban who shot their Captain a slightly dark look. "And two, I am not cleaning this up." She added with a shake of her had as she returned to her, thankfully, dry seat.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Kitten…" Ban muttered to her as he took a long swig.
With a shake of her head, the woman didn't bother responding and just finished her breakfast, tossing the core into a nearby garbage. She stretched her arms out above her head and rubbed her temples a little. The headache she felt the night before was still there. She might have to go upstairs and take a nap while they headed to the Necropolis. Maybe that would help ease her mind too.
"Cat, don't you want anything else to eat?" Elizabeth asked hesitantly, looking at the pale woman with slightly pinched brows.
"No thank you, Elizabeth," Hecate gave the princess a reassuring smile. "I really don't need to eat much." She assured her, not wanting to worry the girl.
Before she could say more, a pear was shoved into her face, and with a roll of her eyes, she grabbed the offending fruit from Ban, who was staring at her hard, almost daring her to refuse.
"But I suppose I can eat another piece of fruit." She spoke slowly, glaring at Ban as she polished it on her shirt and took an unnecessarily vicious bite from it, imagining it being his neck that she was ripping out.