I had left Zephyr to rest in bed up in the attic before I decided to make my way down the hallway. Even if he'd been able to go up there the night before, his wounds had caught up with him, and I didn't want to disturb him.
I was floating now. There was no reason to walk at this point, seeing as my hosts now knew what I was, and I seemed to be better to the point that I probably wasn't going to fall as Zephyr had feared. I saw no point in the excess effort of walking when I could just fly.
When I entered the bar, the first thing I noticed was that I could hear Meliodas and Harlequin talking outside. Then I saw Ban across the room, slumped over the counter and mumbling. I made my way to his side, curious, to find that he was talking in his sleep, loud snores in between the words.
"I swear… I planted it, like you asked… Nyuum…" were the only words I could make out.
What's that all about? I tilted my head to the side. I glanced out of the window above Ban in time to see Harlequin floating a good ways in front of the shop. Wait, were we moving? Didn't Zephyranthes say something about this place being on top of a giant pig? Allowing my feet to land on the floor, I suddenly became aware of the rocking movement in the floorboards. How didn't I notice this when I first woke up?
Rising back into the air, I flew to the door and exited the building.
"Yo, Zinnia-chan!" Meliodas turned to see me exit. "How'd you like your new room? Nice hair, by the way."
I looked away, embarrassed. I had completely forgotten until just now that I hadn't brushed my hair, and it must've been a knotted mess. "It was fine. A little dusty, but nothing a little cleaning couldn't fix. Zephyr's still up there. I really hope he gets better soon; his wounds look really bad."
"That fox shade?" Harlequin asked as he approached. He was leaning lazily into his pillow, looking almost like it was the cushion holding him up rather than the other way around.
"Yeah." I glanced around. Zephyr had been right; we were atop a giant pig. It was covered in moss or grass, making it appear to be green. Hmmm, it did look like the tavern was a boar's hat.
"You never told us how you ended up traveling with such a rarely-seen creature…?" He was trying to get me to speak. I already knew that Zephyr had said all he was going to say, and I was tired of the fairy's prodding.
"And you never told me how you ended up with the title 'Sin of Sloth.' I guess that we've both got things that we aren't going to talk about."
Harlequin tilted his gaze towards the ground. Was that guilt glinting in his golden eyes?
After that, all that was left was an uncomfortable silence.
"Wow, this place is busier than I expected," Hawk remarked as we wove through the crowded streets of Byron.
"That's because merchants from all over come to buy ceramic wares here," Meliodas explained patiently.
Meliodas, Hawk, Harlequin, Elizabeth, and I had left the tavern and were now searching the town for information. It had been difficult to convince the group that I was well enough to come along, but I had managed to show them my recovery by flying a few swift laps around the Boar's Hat. I had barely felt tired, and had made certain to not even show that. But they had made me take my human form, as they didn't think it was a good idea to walk around with my wings trailing from under the edge of my cloak.
I just hoped that no one took notice of two girls that looked like twins acting like they weren't… I was never very good at acting, which was why my secret hadn't lasted under pressure.
"Captain, why was Diane left to house-sit while we're here?" Harlequin was walking along the ground in his fairy form, pretending to be human. I had seen him transform into his human form from my window that night that he found out that I was a fairy. He had been speaking to Elizabeth outside, but I hadn't been able to hear the words from my place at the window. It wasn't pretty; the Fairy King should not look like a fat, middle-aged man. Ban had freaked out when Harlequin had transformed, as though he had never seen it happen. So, if it hadn't been known that the other fairy had multiple forms, why had I been treated with such suspicion upon them learning that I did too? Huh? I even thought that I'd heard a snippet of conversation at some point before I met the other fairy where Ban was saying that that wasn't King, as though he had never seen Harlequin's true form.
"I had no choice," Meliodas's voice interrupted my inner musings. "She stands out too much. If there are any Holy Knights stationed here, we'd get no information, let alone any peace."
"Yeah… Good point." The other fairy sounded disappointed.
"And Ban-sama?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Because he looks miraculously identical to his wanted poster."
Hawk then pointed out, "And you two look miraculously different from yours." He had previously been saying something about being hungry, so I was actually surprised that he had been paying any attention to the conversation.
At this point, I realized that something felt off. It felt like eyes all around us were turned this way. I felt as though I was the center of everyone's attention, and I really didn't care for it.
"Ummm… Meliodas-sama…"
"Yeah, I noticed it too. It feels like we're being watched."
I actually dared to glance around now, only to find that many of the people in the crowd were looking our way. There didn't seem to be any Holy Knights, though, so that was good.
"Oh," Hawk turned to look up at the wall we were passing by. "There are some wanted posters here too."
"They don't look like they've been newly updated-" Meliodas started to say, only to stop.
"Oh!" This time it was Meliodas, Elizabeth, and Harlequin all in unison. What was it? I couldn't see from behind them.
Pushing my way up closer, I leaned over Harlequin's shoulder to see that a new wanted poster had been put up. With Elizabeth's face on it. And, consequently, my face. "Oh." What else was there to say?
"A wanted poster… of me?" Elizabeth's face was filled with both shock and fear as she put her hand to her chest.
Behind her, Hawk seemed furious. "Whaaaat?! There's not one of me?!"
Why would you want there to be? I had to say, sometimes that pig's personality just irked me.
"Hey, you." A couple of men came up behind us, thoroughly wrapped in travelers' clothes. "You look like the girl on the poster…" They were talking to Elizabeth, but the taller one glanced up for a second and noticed me. "You as well!" He started to take a step towards me when I noticed Elizabeth disappear from my sight in a blur.
Zinnia, get moving!
Wait, how long had Zephyranthes been here? I'd thought that he'd stayed at the bar, resting.
Apparently, my reaction wasn't quick enough, as I soon felt myself being swept off my feet and into the air. I automatically squeezed my eyes shut and started to kick it my assailant, only to freeze at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hey! Stop wiggling, you're going to make me drop you." Cracking open my lids, I realized that it wasn't one of the men that had grabbed me, but that it had instead been Harlequin using his Spirit Spear's (I really needed to learn the name of it…) pillow form to propel me along. "I don't know if you can keep up with us, so just stay put."
"A wanted criminal's getting away!" I could hear swiftly fading voices behind us. "Good lord, they're quick! Capture her and turn her in to the Holy Knights!" There was another, quieter, questioning voice that I just barely managed to catch: "Wait, which one?"
"Did you find her?"
"Dammit, where'd she go?!"
"Search over there!"
The voices resounded from the ground below. We had managed to escape into a tower, and were now huddled at the top, hiding from the townspeople's view. And by 'we escaped' I more of meant Harlequin, Meliodas, and Hawk; they had been the ones doing the running (or, in Harlequin's case, flying). Elizabeth and I had just been along for the ride. I wasn't very happy about it, though. I had wanted to not be a burden and escape with them, but Harlequin had been right; I wouldn't have been able to keep up. Those two were fast. I didn't even know how Hawk had managed to keep pace with them.
"We were careless," Meliodas was saying. "Of course the Holy Knights are looking for Elizabeth, too. Since she hasn't been away long, she looks just like her wanted poster."
Hasn't been away long? Away from where?
Meliodas crouched down next to Elizabeth, who was huddled up with her back pressed to the wall, shaking violently. Concern showed clearly on his face. "Elizabeth, you don't look so good. Do you feel okay?"
She shook her head shakily in response. Her hands were clutching tightly to her upper arms - so tightly that I was almost surprised that she wasn't drawing blood. "I knew it would eventually come to this. But… When I saw my wanted poster… I suddenly couldn't stop shaking…"
"She can't help it," Harlequin noted from his place behind his captain. "She's just a sixteen-year-old girl, after all."
Sixteen-year-old? Then she couldn't be… I pondered, before shaking my head. No time to wonder about this right now. We have to get out of this situation. "Zephyr, are you still there?"
Everyone turned to me as I seemingly spoke to myself. Well, most everyone. Elizabeth still seemed a little preoccupied with shaking on the floor. The others seemed curious, though Hawk looked like he thought I was crazy.
You called? The fox shade materialized as wisps of darkness lifted themselves out of my shadow, leaving it slightly paler than before as the wisps gathered and solidified. He glanced around curiously, as though he hadn't been watching the whole time. His gaze traveled around the whole group, and landed for a split second on the pig. I could hear a quiet Tch, before he faced me again. I would have laughed out loud, had the situation not been so stressful.
It was good that Hawk appeared to not be able to hear Zephyr.
"Do you know where the Boar's Hat is from here?" I asked my friend.
He lifted his snout in the air, sniffing as though that would somehow determine our exact location. The fox then paused for a second before speaking. I believe so. The journey to this spot was fast and unpredicted, but I'm certain that I could get anyone back to within fifty meters of the tavern.
Smiling and patting his head, I turned to the group. "Hear that? We can get back to the tavern right away if you guys want." Suddenly remembering that at least two of my company couldn't hear my companion, I added, "Zephyranthes could get us there in a flash."
"But… We came here to get information. I don't want us to have to leave because of me…" Elizabeth didn't seem very happy at the thought of returning to the tavern. She was looking directly at me, and a small frown marred her features.
"It's fine, Elizabeth. You guys can go back, while King and I continue to scout for information on the other sins' whereabouts." Meliodas turned to face the fox shade before placing his hand on Zephyr's head, causing Zephyr to dip his head slightly under the pressure. "Thanks, Zephyr-chan. Make sure they get back safe."
Zephyranthes bowed his head a little deeper and closed his eyes for a moment. Of course. Anytime, Meliodas-sama.
Meliodas turned back to the frightened girl after removing his hand from the fox's head. "Elizabeth, please go with Zinnia-chan and Zephyr-chan back to the Boar's Hat. And take Hawk with you."
Elizabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she steeled her expression in resolve and nodded. "Okay, Meliodas-sama." She seemingly forced her legs to stop shaking and stood up.
"Wait, when did I agree to this?" Hawk squealed. "I could help you guys look for information. Why should I go back to the bar?"
Meliodas had been walking to the edge of the tower when he glanced over his shoulder to respond. "Well someone needs to protect the girls!" He smiled and, laughing, jumped off the tower. He was soon followed by Harlequin.
"Hmph!" came Hawk's response. "I guess that's true…"
"We might as well get going, then." I glanced at my fox friend. "Care to do the honors?"
Zephyr nodded once and approached the inner wall of the tower. He pressed a paw to my shadow, which was stretched across the wall, and melded into it. Unlike his usual shadow-melding, though, the shadow turned pitch-black. Looking at the darkness felt almost like looking into the night sky or a bottomless pit. Just looking at the new portal gave me a foreboding feeling. This came whenever one of Zephyr's portals appeared, but I still wasn't used to it.
"Well, after you." I looked to the pig while gesturing towards the hole. A small smile played on my lips.
"Wha- why me first?!"
Well, it didn't have to be Hawk first. It could have been Elizabeth. I just wanted to mess with the swine. He didn't seem to like me anyways, so might as well get a kick out of it. "In case you hadn't noticed, my shadow was used as a base. As soon as I go through, the portal will disappear. That means that you and Elizabeth will have to go before me. And since you're the one that's supposed to be protecting us, I thought that you'd want to go first to make sure the other side was safe." Not that Zephyr would let me go through if the other side wasn't safe.
"I- I guess that makes sense…" Hawk was visibly shivering. "Then I'll go first." Shaking and obviously scared, he approached the portal. As soon as he was fully through, it was as though he was never there; no part of the pig could be seen in the blackness.
"You're next. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe," I added, seeing that the other girl was also frightened. "I'll be right behind you."
Elizabeth nodded slightly before she, too, disappeared into the darkness.
For a moment I glanced around to make sure no one had forgotten anything and that we weren't being watched. After being certain that we were in the clear, I followed the two into the abyss.