Hey everyone!
Sorry about missing posting a chapter last week (and yesterday). I've just been kinda stuck in this story. Since you guys probably know that it's coming up on a bunch of fighting, I want you guys to know that I'm not very good at fighting scenes, so please bear with me as I struggle to get the story through it. I don't know if I'll even have the chapter done in time for next week, since I don't even know what Zinnia and Zephyr will be doing during the fight, so please just be patient. And this chapter is kind of just a transitional chapter - exciting stuff can't happen all the time, you know. Sorry that it's mostly just what already happened in canon; there's not much for Zinnia to do, but this part is important to get to the next part, so it's still needed.
So, anyway, here's the chapter!
After dropping off my new sewing supplies in my room in the Boar's Hat, I made my way towards the arena.
I had been momentarily surprised to find the other girls gone. But, after a moment of thought, I remembered that they had said something about going to look for ingredients before I'd originally left. Also, I'd found that Zephyr had woken up during my absence. He had been determined to try to go with me. After explaining that he wouldn't be able to hide in my shadow and reminding the fox of what happened the last time he went out in broad daylight, Zephyr had grudgingly agreed to remain behind.
I managed to get to the ring just in time to see the start of Harlequin's fight.
"What's going on?" I murmured as I moved into place beside Meliodas, who was clutching Harlequin's Chastiefol. "Who's winning?"
The dragon sin glanced at me before looking back to the fighters, his face half-covered by green pillow. "Just watch. You should see King fight without his sacred treasure - it's incredible."
"I've never seen King fight without a weapon before!" came a familiar voice from behind me.
"Diane-sama!" The voice turned out to belong to the brunette giantess. But, for some reason, she was now human-sized, and was also wearing Elizabeth's clothes.
"Hey, Zinnia-chan! Surprised?" Her eyes crinkled in a smile as she tilted her head.
I only had time to give a slight nod before Meliodas continued what he was saying. "It will only be my second time seeing him fight without a weapon." He chuckled slightly before adding, "This fight won't last long."
"Ummm, okay." I turned back to the ring, taking in the sight of Harlequin and his opponent. I gasped. "But his opponent is an old man! What if Harlequin-sama kills him?" Meliodas didn't respond, which confused me slightly, but I just continued to watch the fight, which was just about to start.
"Let the fight begin!"
Having already settled on the ground, Harlequin began running across the ring. I had expected something graceful, as the Fairy King's movements normally were, but this was not at all what I was expecting.
It was so lame.
The fairy jogged across the ground, exaggerating each movement, each stride of the leg, each swing of the arm. Even his expression was lame. Right as Harlequin reached his short, older opponent, he puffed out his cheeks as he slowly swung a fist at the geezer, widely missing.
"He's pathetically weak!" Meliodas burst out from beside me, smiling maniacally.
At the same time, Harlequin exclaimed, "He dodged that?!" as his opponent hiccuped.
Is the old man drunk?
The small man brought up his fist. Just before the fairy could defend himself, the old man weakly hit him on the head.
Harlequin put a hand to his head, squinting his eyes. "He's… He's strong!"
Meliodas sweatdropped. Diane nearly collapsed in exasperation. Behind her, I could hear Ban choke. I hadn't fully realized that he was there, but I wasn't surprised. Surely Hawk was in the crowd somewhere too. In fact, I was sure I heard his voice coming from somewhere, selling ale.
"Har har! Ready to through in the towel?!" The old man calling, hopping back from Harlequin, who also jumped away.
"This barely qualifies as a fight!" Many people shouted from the crowd. Many members of the audience were booing, and some were even throwing food and whatever else they could get their hands on.
"He even lost against a cat who stole his food," Meliodas murmured from beside me.
Suddenly, Harlequin's gaze became serious. He reached out a hand towards his opponent, and I sensed a bit of fairy magic stir in the air. Is this finally going to get exciting?
Nope.
The old man shivered, then jumped forwards and struck suddenly, blasting Harlequin out of the ring towards me and the rest of the group. He skidded across the ground, landing with a soft "thud" in the fluffy form of his Chastiefol, which didn't even cause Meliodas, who was holding the pillow, to shift.
"Oof!" The fairy's muffled voice came from the fabric.
"Old Fart's out of the ring!" The announcer's voice came again. This time I noticed that the announcer was super tiny, and most of him was covered by a helmet and some cloth. He seemed odd, but then I realized what he said.
"'Old Fart'?" I questioned quietly.
"Lame~" Ban mumbled. He glanced over, noting my confusion. A sharp-toothed smirk edged his lips. "It's the name I gave him for the tournament. Like it~?"
I looked away, but I couldn't stop the amused grin that tugged on my cheeks. "Maybe…"
"Cain wins!" The helmeted figure shouted.
"It… It's not fair. All I did was irritate his rheumatism with 'Disaster.'" Harlequin whimpered. He was sunken into Chastiefol, with Meliodas leaning over him.
"Next is round one for Group D! Meliodaf versus Baan!"
"Welp. guess that's me~" Ban stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered onto the stage.
"Meliodaf and Baan? Those are so obvious!" I murmured furiously to Diane next to me. "How does no one notice?!"
The giantess shrugged, unknowing. Nearby, I heard Meliodas telling the announcer that his sword was just for show so that he could bring it in the ring.
"Hey, why are you here, anyway? And what happened? Why are you so small and where's Elizabeth?" I lowered my voice at the last part, scanning the crowd for anyone who might be a holy knight. One could never be too safe, and being wary had always kept me safe.
Diane grinned, scratching the back of her head. "There was an accident while looking for food. Oh, Elizabeth shrunk, too!" She pushed aside the ribbon at her neck, revealing the princess to be nestled in between her breasts. Elizabeth, who was quite lacking in clothes, blushed slightly at being revealed.
"Huh." I leaned forwards slightly and lower my voice even further. "You okay, Elizabeth?"
The tiny girl nodded, and a high-pitched "yes" could barely be heard.
Diane looked over my head, noticing her comrades entering the ring. "Cap… I mean, Meliodaf! Fight!" she cheered loudly. My ears rang from the noise of it and I cringed.
Harlequin glanced at her, frowning, and he also turned to the contenders. "Ba-Baan! If you let him beat you, I'm telling Elaine!"
"You should cheer, too, Elizabeth. No one will notice you." Diane told her. "Hey, Zinnia-chan, who will you cheer for?"
"Ummmm, maybe Meliodas-san…?" I shrugged. I wasn't particularly cheering on one or the other. I'd never seen Ban fight, but judging from what I knew of Meliodas' strength, I guessed that Ban was surely powerful as well. This would most probably be a bloodbath.
She smiled, but paused, as though realizing something, and her gaze grew curious. "Hey-"
"Let the fight… begin!" the announcer interrupted.
Instead of continuing, Diane shook her head and turned to watch Meliodas - who had given Harlequin back his Chastiefol - and Ban.
What was she going to say? I thought before I, too, turned my attention to the men.
I had been right. That had most certainly been a bloodbath. Though no one had said anything, I suspected that Ban was immortal. How else could he fight toe-to-toe with Meliodas? The blonde had looked like he was going to die, too, at times. They had even split the giant boulder that the arena was on in half! Who even does that kind of stuff? The movements of the two sins had been so quick, it had been difficult for my eyes to keep track of them. I couldn't even imagine what it would have looked like for a human. And I'd gotten to see some of Ban's powers that I hadn't known about before - "Physical Hunt". That strength stealing sure didn't seem fair.
But there had been a moment that had sent a chill down my spine. Guessing by Diane and Harlequin's conversation after the match, they probably saw it too. Right when it looked like Ban was going to win, Meliodas' eyes darkened, and a dark mark appeared on his forehead. During that split second, he had beaten Ban. And not just beaten him - he had sent him flying through the air, holes all through Ban's body.
Due to my previous knowledge of Meliodas, I knew what this power was, but judging by the way the fairy and giant reacted, I assumed that they didn't. It was probably better to keep quiet about it for now. If their captain hadn't already told them, then there was probably a good reason behind it. Guess I'm not the only one keeping secrets.
After Ban and Meliodas' match, Diane fought a guy named Howzer, who Harlequin claimed to be a holy knight. Howzer kept spouting off inappropriate things during the match - seemingly unintentionally - making me cringe almost every time he spoke. Diane ended up winning, worsening the crack in the ground with her final move.
Then there was Meliodas' next match, in which he fought the old man Harlequin had lost to: Cain. Apparently, Cain had thought that Meliodas was Meliodas' son, and he knew Meliodas from some past experience to do with some place known as Danafall. According to Cain, Meliodas destroyed the kingdom of Danafall. But Meliodas said that he was trying to protect them. A lot more was said, but it was a long conversation with lots of fire and punches and exclamations. I won't get into it. In the end, Cain accepted that Meliodas was Meliodas and that he didn't betray Danafall, and he conceded the match.
That meant that the final was between Diane and Meliodas. I was looking forward to the outcome of that fight, but it was just not to be.