It turned out that Diane was a giant. I met her for a moment before Ban disappeared and, after realizing that they weren't going to get any business anytime soon, the group decided to go look for him. I had wanted to join them, but I would have only held them back, so they told me to stay here with Hawk and Elizabeth. Ban had even cooked up some more food for me before they left, as the group as a whole decided that I needed more meat on my bones. They were not wrong.

Oh, how I wish that Hawk-chan and Elizabeth-san weren't here, I thought as I took a bite of mashed potatoes. Then Zephyr could come out and we could talk. I mean, he could talk to me right now, but I couldn't respond…

Hawk was drooling all over the floor (and a little on the table) as he stared at the food that covered the table in front of me. I would have gladly given him some, but Meliodas had strictly told me not to, and to eat as much of it as I could. I had a feeling that he would know if I went against his orders. Not to mention the fact that the other girl was sitting directly across from me. She was smiling as she watched me eat, and was politely refraining from asking the questions that I knew she had.

I couldn't stand it anymore. This near-silence was unbearable. I had to hear my friend's voice. Shoveling another bite into my mouth - this food was delicious, I needed to thank Ban again - I started tapping my fingers on the hardwood surface.

Tap… tap tap tap… tap tap… tap… tap tap…

I felt a little shiver in the air around me as response. I'm still here, Zinnia. I was just exploring the area through the shadows. Did you know that this entire building is on top of a giant boar that has burrowed its way underground? I nearly choked on my food at this. Hawk didn't seem to notice, but instead stared at my plate hopefully, as though there was a chance of me knocking it off the table. Elizabeth stood as though to help me, but I swiftly took a drink from the water they had given me and followed it with a another spoonful of potatoes, causing her to slowly sit back down with a slightly worried expression. Sorry, I didn't realize that would startle you like that. But anyways, I'm trying to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary - not that I know what ordinary is for around here. The voice paused for a moment before continuing in a more hesitant tone. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but would it be possible for you to try to sneak some of that food to me at some point? I haven't eaten since you were brought here; if I had left I would've had no way of knowing if they moved you.

After taking another bite - this one of chicken - I slowly nodded as though savoring the food. But Zephyr knew what the small signal meant, and he sighed in response. They're back. I'm gonna be quiet for now. Just know that I'm still here. The voice faded away, but the fox's slight presence remained as the door to the tavern slammed open.

"Yo, Elizabeth! We're back!" Meliodas sauntered through the entryway, Ban and two small children in tow. He glanced at the table to see that a large pile of food still remained, even though my plate and been filled and mostly emptied. "Perfect, Zinnia-chan didn't eat it all, so there's still food left." What, had he expected me to eat this entire pile? There was enough food here for five people. Plus, my stomach had shrunk after going for so long without food. I'd only been able to finish half a plate's worth of food. "Here you go." He gestured for the kids to sit down next to me. "Go ahead and eat."

The two kids plopped into their seats and swiftly filled up plates. They looked almost as starved as me. Ban sat down across from them and leaned over the table.

I barely registered Meliodas saying something about any food not eaten going to the pig before my head almost fell into my half-empty plate. I just barely managed to catch myself. I guess that eating so much food had made me drowsy. It had been the first full meal I had had in years, after all. This must have been my exhaustion catching up to me. I guess that just sleeping for a few days straight wasn't enough to catch me up on rest.

Pushing myself from the table, I attempted to tell them that I was going back to bed, but all that came out was a slur, before I felt myself falling and everything went black.

"Well that didn't last long."

Meliodas had managed to catch the girl's body before it hit the ground. Ban hadn't even bothered, and Elizabeth hadn't been fast enough. "How many times am I going to have to catch you?" He looked at her face only to realize that she was asleep. Her face looked so like Elizabeth's, it was a wonder that they weren't related. An idea started to form in his mind, and he lifted her off the ground. "Hup!"

"What are you doin' Cap'n?" Ban gave the small man a slightly curious look. His elbow was propped on the table, and in turn his head was resting in his palm. He had been watching the children eat - as he planned to question them afterward - but he looked away to ask Meliodas this.

"Well we can't just let her sleep on the floor down here with the swine."

"Hey!" Hawk's indignant cry went ignored.

"I'm going to return her to bed, then I'm going to search for her new uniform. We can't leave her in tattered rags of clothing forever, can we?"

"But Meliodas-sama, a uniform?" Elizabeth sounded worried at the idea. "Surely you can't be planning on having her work here? She's too weak right now."

"Maybe now she is, but she'll get better soon enough. And she needs to pay off the debt she owes us for helping her so much." A mischievous smile played across his lips. "I was thinking that having a twin act should boost business in here."

"Ugghhh… Is this just going to keep happening?" I gently put my hand to my forehead, expecting a bruise. Nothing. "Huh, guess someone caught me." Slowly sitting up in the comfy bed that I found myself in, I looked around only to see that I was back in the same room that I had previously woken up in. Whose room is this anyways? I feel sorry for taking up their space for so long. That was when I felt an unexpected chill on my upper arms.

My dress usually covered that spot. I was wearing different clothes. They were the same clothes that Elizabeth had been wearing, only in my size. Was this a uniform of some kind? I had just assumed that it was what she had liked to wear. I guess that it was probably what the barmaids here normally wore. But wait… I wasn't a barmaid. Why was I wearing this? What happened to my clothes? Where was my cloak? I didn't want to lose either, but it was exceedingly important to me that I still have my cloak. Luckily I didn't even have to get up to see that my cloak was folded neatly at the foot of the bed. But my dress was nowhere in sight. I hoped they hadn't gotten rid of it - it had been a gift from a precious friend.

While I was a fairy, and fairies were naturally able to make clothes that fit them (like how they can transform and change the clothes in the process), I was never quite able to get the hang of creating clothes. A good friend of mine had felt bad for me and made some for me. I had been able to keep the dress in usable condition for many, many years, and wanted to never lose it. It was very important to me because my friend couldn't make me a new one seeing as how they was most probably dead by now.

But I couldn't stress about that now; I needed to look for them. And hopefully in the process I could find the answer as to why I was in new clothing, and who changed me into them while I was asleep. I just hoped it was Elizabeth, rather than Meliodas. It was definitely not Ban.

Turning my body, I placed my feet on the floor and slowly stood up. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard. I had expected to take longer to heal than this. What does Ban-sama put in his cooking? I had wrapped my pine-colored cloak tightly around my body, as this outfit was just a bit too revealing for my tastes. Only after I stood up did I notice the note on the end table beside the bed. It was covered in fine, smooth handwriting.

'Zinnia-san~

We have all gone to search for Necropolis. I'm sorry for leaving you at the tavern by yourself, so please be safe.

I hope you don't mind, but I changed you into the bar's uniform while you were asleep. Meliodas-sama said that you are going to have to work off your debt here. Your old clothes are in the drawer under this note.

~Elizabeth'

Sure enough, my dress was in the drawer, rips, dirt, and all. My old shoes were also in there too, though now that I wasn't wearing them, it became obvious that almost no soles remained on them. I didn't know where to put the shredded fabric, so they remained in the end table for now.

Feeling the cold floor through the socks that I had been given, I decided to slip on the new, mismatched shoes that had been placed next to the bed before checking to make sure that I was truly alone.

"Elizabeth-san?" No response. Just had to make sure. "...Hawk-chan?" Silence.

Well, then if I was actually as alone as I thought, then I had one more name to call. "Zephyranthes?" This call was not so much a shout as it was a whisper. It never seemed to matter how loud I called him, the fox shade always came. Until now. I had expected an immediate reaction. There was usually a slight chill when I felt him enter my shadow, but it didn't come. No voice resounded in my head. "Zephyr?" Even though I was louder this time, there was still no response.

This was worrying. Where is he? Zephyr never ignores me. He's always come whenever I've called him, so why not now? He said that he'd been exploring, and now since he knows that I shouldn't be leaving here anytime soon, he probably explored further while I was asleep. He tends to be very curious and enjoys exploring new places, so… My eyes darted to the note on the desk next to me, and I registered what the words in the first sentence said.

Necropolis.

It didn't take long for the run into town to exhaust me. In fact, I was surprised that I was able to run at all right now, seeing as how I was unable to even walk without falling before. Was it because I was a fairy? I had no idea what was normal for fairies, seeing as how I didn't spend much time in the Fairy King's Forest before leaving, and I hadn't seen many fairies after that, either. Perhaps there was some other reason, but I had other, more pressing matters at the moment.

Where were they? Had Zephyr really followed them into Necropolis? Was that why he wasn't responding? I had a really bad feeling that something bad was going to happen in Necropolis. Fox shades weren't a very strong species; they were better suited to stealth and escaping. But if he was in Necropolis, Zephyranthes wouldn't be able to use the abilities that fox shades used to escape. They were similar to black hounds in that they could teleport themselves and those around them places, but there was a catch: the fox shade had to know the exact relation between the places they were going to and from. They had to know both the distance and the direction, which was why fox shades were always known for being good with directions and were known to never get lost.

But if they were in Necropolis, then it was unlikely that Zephyr would know the way back.

By now I could barely put one foot in front of the other, but I trudged on. My cloak hung limply across my back - I had taken just a moment to properly put it on before leaving. I couldn't stop moving. I couldn't let anything happen to the fox; he was my only friend and one of my last two connections to my distant past. I didn't know what I'd do with myself if I lost him.

But where was Necropolis?

I stumbled and fell to the ground. Not again! When I looked up, I found that I had reached the edge of a barren field. Ruined and crumbling houses littered the area behind me, but there were none in front of me. In fact, the only thing in front of me was a woman that was standing completely still, her hand plunged into her own chest. I could feel magic emanating off of her, but it just didn't feel right. Everything about the scene felt wrong, and I couldn't bring myself to stand up and approach. Luckily, it appeared that I didn't have to.

"Elaine!"

Suddenly there was a brightly light and six figures materialized in front of me in the field. It was the five that had left that morning, plus a new one that appeared to be a young boy, and he was floating in the air as he held a spotted green pillow in front of him. He had short, pale red hair, and sported an odd blue outfit with orange-yellow trim. It had been him who had shouted the name upon appearing.

"Looks like we're back in the land of the living," Meliodas observed, hands on his hips.

I stopped listening at that point. Where was Zephyr? He should have said something if he was here… I dragged myself to my feet so that I could walk over to the group, but that extra height gave me a better view of what was just past them: a pitch black heap was slumped on the ground. It seemed as though none of them had noticed it yet. The sight of my friend gave me the strength to push myself further, and I was almost running when I reached the edge of the group.

"Zinnia-chan?" It was Diane that noticed me first.

"You shouldn't be out here-" Meliodas started, but I continued past him.

When I reached the dark huddle, I dropped to the ground and lightly placed my hands on it. It was definitely Zephyranthes. The silky smooth fur was cool, but a warmth could be felt underneath, and the fox twitched when I pressed my hand to his side. A thin white slit became visible on the side of his head, and his body relaxed as he saw that it was only me.

"Zephyr, what happened? Are you hurt?" I was speaking somewhat under my breath, as though to keep the others from hearing, but this secret of mine was pretty obvious now. The sins, along with Elizabeth, Hawk, and whoever the floating boy was, had all come to stand behind me. When they saw what I was crouched over, they went silent. Except for Ban.

"Hey~ What's that?" Meliodas shushed him.

Zinnia, I'm sorry… The newcomer perked up. Could he hear Zephyr? I left without telling you… I was in the giant's - Diane-sama's - shadow… I got caught up in one of the blasts from the fight… and hit the ground… hard… I'm so tired… I'm going... to sleep now… the slit disappeared, and his voice got softer. That fairy… he's… the voice trailed off into silence.

"Zephyr?" My voice was barely audible. I pressed my head to my friend's chest, only to realize that there was dark blood under the fur. Swallowing down my fear, I listened for a heartbeat, only to sigh in relief immediately afterward. "He's fine, just sleeping."

"Will someone answer my question now?" Ban seemed pretty annoyed to have had to wait. He probably hadn't been able to hear the fox shade speak, and had thought that we were waiting in silence. "What is that thing~?

"It's a fox shade," the boy - the fairy, if Zephyr was right, as I was certain he was - said before I could reply. "I had thought they were extinct, but apparently I was wrong." He turned to me. "Who are you? How do you know this creature?" He then paused for a moment, scrutinizing my face. "And why do you have the same face as the other girl?"

"I- He's- I-" The stress was getting me to the point that I couldn't even speak. I didn't even know what to say. What had Zephyr been about to say about this fairy?

Elizabeth gasped "The Holy Knight, Guila!" She had just noticed the woman at the edge of the field. The rest of the group now turned to look at the statue-like figure, but I remained obstinately with my friend.

"Now I see," came the voice of Meliodas. "So she made herself half-dead in order to get to the Capital of the Dead."

Hawk squealed in terror, "Which means sooner or later she's going to wake up!"

"We should all get away!" Elizabeth had gotten as worked up as Hawk.

Ban and the fairy moved towards the woman, rather than away. "Let's kill her while we've got the chance~" Ban grinned at the idea.

"How barbaric. I'll turn her to stone." This was the fairy. I wondered briefly how a fairy could turn someone to stone before focusing back on the fox.

"It's the same thing~"

"What was that, Ban?!" Apparently the fairy knew Ban. Was this their companion, King? He didn't look anything like the wanted poster, but, then again, neither did Meliodas.

"How immature." Diane did not sound amused.

"Uh-uh!" Meliodas sounded like he'd come to a decision. "Leave her to me! After that, we can deal with this whole 'fox shade' business back at the Boar's Hat."