I had planned on carrying Zephyr the whole way back, but Meliodas stopped me and made the fairy carry the fox back on his floating pillow. The fairy didn't seem too happy about that, but complied after a few grumbles. In fact, Meliodas was going to have him carry me on the pillow too, but I'd refused, stating that I could make it back on my own two feet.

How I regretted that decision now.

While I hadn't wanted to annoy the newcomer anymore, I wished that I had agreed with Meliodas. We were only halfway back when I reached the point of barely being able to breath. I had forgotten that I'd had to run all the way out there, and had run out of energy just from that. At this point, I had to focus on the ground in front of me just to keep from tripping. I was breathing really hard and had almost come to a standstill far behind the rest of the group when I heard a sigh from up ahead.

"We aren't getting anywhere like this~" I felt a strong arm lift me into the air, and I glanced upward to see Ban, who wasn't looking at me, but at the destination. It would've been nice if he would've carried me a little more gently; he was carrying me under his arm as though I weighed nothing, and it gave almost no support. But at least it was better than walking.

"So, who are you?" The fairy was questioning me as soon as Ban dropped me on the floor of the bar. Ban didn't drop me very gently, either. Oh, and it sure would've been nice to know who this fairy was. It was probably the friend they were looking for - King - but I wasn't going to make any assumptions.

"My name's Zinnia…"

"That's not what I mean. Who are you?" Probably-King seemed annoyed.

"I… I don't see what you're asking…" I knew exactly what he was asking, but I was trying to put off the moment that they found out.

"King's asking you what you are~" Ban deadpanned (So I was right - the fairy is King). "Why do you have Elizabeth's face; you aren't related to her from what I can tell~"

"And how do you know a fox shade - a member of a supposedly extinct species?" King wasn't letting up. He was hovering in the air just in front of my face. "Not to mention the fact that you even seemed to be able to hear-"

Leave her alone. Zephyr projected from his spot on King's pillow. He had just woken up, and had started to make one of the few audible sounds that he could make: a low-pitched growl. She's done nothing wrong. Why do you expect her to tell you everything when you've told her nothing?

Elizabeth, Ban, and Hawk looked confused when King stopped talking mid-sentence, but they didn't say anything. Diane, from her spot looking in the window, looked as though she was having difficulties hearing something, and King and Meliodas were looking directly at the fox.

King glared at Zephyr, but gave a quiet sigh and turned back to me. "I'm King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth."

Tell her your real name, King of Fairies.

"How-?"

Perhaps I'll tell you someday. Zephyranthes squinted his glowing eyes. Just tell her.

"Why am I listening to a fox…?" King muttered under his breath before speaking up. "My actual name is Harlequin. I'm the Fairy King, or, at least, I was, until the forest burned down."

I sucked in a breath, and I'm sure my skin paled a few shades at this point. The Fairy King, Harlequin? I may not have been in the forest at the right time to know the current king, but I was certain that I'd heard that name before.

"Hey, Zinnia!"

"Yeah?" I turned to my best friend, who was floating upside down in the air above me. I was currently in my fairy form, and I had just put on my new dress for the first time. It fit me perfectly, and I wasn't even wearing my cloak, which lay folded on the ground nearby, so that I could admire the new outfit.

"It looks good on you." The other fairy smiled. "Did you know that I asked the Fairy King, Harlequin, for help with that? He learned how to make clothing by watching humans. While the base was made in the same way that fairy clothes is usually made, we had to make adjustments since it wasn't you who made it directly for your body." They chuckled mid-story. "You should have seen it. We were making Harlequin's sister Elaine wear it as it was being worked on, since she has the same build as you. She wasn't very happy about it, especially since they don't even know you."

"I'm surprised that you even got them to go along with it!" I laughed along with them. I could just imagine it. Even if I'd never met the siblings, my friend had told me enough about them that I could easily see the whole situation.

"I think you'd get along well with Harlequin," the other fairy commented, for about the thousandth time. "Why don't you ever go to the Fairy King's Forest? It's your home too, you know, since you're a fairy."

"Well…" I sighed, looking away. "It's just that-"

"Zinnia-san," Elizabeth's voice broke me out of my memories. "Would you please just tell us? Just to put everyone's minds at ease." She held her hands clasped together in front of her chest, and I could see in her eyes that she was earnest. She probably just wanted to calm everyone down and to stop King and Ban from getting so aggressive. Realizing that she wanted me to tell everyone for my own sake as well, I sighed. Well, it's not like I was getting out of this at this point anyways…

"Fine."

Zinnia! You don't have to tell them.

I glanced at my companion. "No, it's fine. I can barely remember why I was keeping it a secret anyways. Plus, if this continued any longer, I doubt they'd trust me when I finally did tell them." I'm not going to tell them everything, though. I turned to look directly at Harlequin. "I'm a fairy."