"MELIODAAAAASSS!" Elizabeth screamed the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins' name desperately. She was crouched over the unmoving body of her elder sister, Veronica, and her face was soaked with tears. The purple crystal that had absorbed both Meliodas and Zinnia swung on its chain, which was wound tightly around her hand. Guila stood behind the princess, and her arms were wrapped around Elizabeth, constricting the silverette's movements.

Nearby, Ban and Jericho fought a ferocious battle. Ban was covered in wounds that refused to close, blood covering almost every inch of his body.

"That's enough-" Guila started to say into her ear.

Hawk, in his battered state, broke in, "You jerk! Touch Elizabeth again, and I'll…"

Shadows began to form in the depths of the stone that Elizabeth held. A chill swept through the air. Guila shivered and, on instinct, dropped her hold on the princess. With a flash, cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the crystal. When the girl held it up, darkness - like beams of light - shone through the cracks, and the crystal exploded into countless microscopic shards. Shadows poured forth from the origin of the explosion. For a second, darkness covered the surrounding area, chilling everyone in the area to the bones.

"Cap'n?" the bloodied Ban questioned. But, as the wave of darkness washed over him, he added uncertainly to himself, "No… This feels different… It can't be…"

As quickly as the darkness had appeared, it vanished. The crystal that the princess had held was gone, to be replaced by two forms. In front of her stood Meliodas, All clothes torn away except for his pants, which were missing half of one of the legs from earlier's fights. His eyes - normally seafoam green - were black, and they seemed almost vacant. Darkness covered most of his right side, tapering off into spirals in many places. At his feet lay the fairy, Zinnia. She was curled tightly around her bundled up cloak as though it were a lifeline, and her eyes were clenched shut, red, puffy, and wet. Dark swirls were visible over her body, as well; even her wings had a few markings at their base. The difference was that, unlike the markings on Meliodas, the ones on Zinnia were retracting in on themselves. Within a few heartbeats, it was like they had never even existed.

"Ehhh… And I'd been doing so well, too…" was the first thing I said after regaining consciousness. "It'd been so long since I'd last collapsed. I had thought it was over!" I was trying to joke around a bit, even to myself if no one else was around. But then my memory of what had occured rushed back to me, and I opened my eyes and bolted upright.

Around me, sunlight was streaming into the box-filled attic. Dust moats glistened it the air, and I could feel the slight rise and fall of the Boar's Hat moving. Zephyranthes, still covered in bandages, stood at my bedside. Relief filled his ivory eyes when I sat up.

Zinnia! You're awake. I'm glad, and I'm certain that everyone else will be, too. He placed one paw on the edge of my bed, as though trying to be closer to me without actually getting on the bed with me. Your injuries are minor, luckily.

"How long was I out?" I rubbed my eye as I asked the question.

Not long. We only left Vaizel a short time ago. As though anticipating my questions, he continued. Everyone is fine. A little worse for wear, but fine nonetheless. Though it appears that Elizabeth-san's elder sister has passed. She is grieving, but is trying to stay strong. And on another note, Diane-sama has retrieved her Sacred Treasure, although Meliodas-sama has lost his sword.

How are you, Zinnia? You have never truly been in a battle such as this, so I was worried when the fighting started. I only got to see a small portion of it when Boar-sama entered town to bring Diane-sama a change of clothes.

"Boar-sama?" I couldn't help but ask. He couldn't mean Hawk?

The boar on which the tavern resides, he answered easily, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Don't they call her 'Hawk Mama'?" But I just waved off my own question before answering his. "I'm okay, I think. I just feel exhausted - both mentally and physically. I got a few bumps and bruises from a fight that I had with a Holy Knight named Marmas. A very short fight. Which I did terrible in. And doesn't even deserve to be called a fight it was so awful. It was more like I was flailing around in an attempt not to die. I wouldn't have even gotten into the fight, had I been more level-headed and just not said anything; perhaps I could have just flown down into the crevasse to try to help Diane-sama, rather than getting mad and attacking someone who is obviously stronger than me." I was getting more and more annoyed with myself with each statement. My mind flashed back to the time that I had been forced to relive. "It was the same with Kay's death… If I had just swiftly supported him, rather than calling out, then perhaps…"

"Those sound like to very different situations. Besides, you should worry about what you can do in the future, rather than what you couldn't do in the past." I turned to see Meliodas standing in the doorway. I hadn't even heard the door open. He was still covered in cuts and bruises, they were all bandaged (probably by Elizabeth), and he was wearing a fresh set of clothes. "Mornin' Zinnia-chan. Did you have a good nap?" He approached my bedside, and Zephyr made way for him to pull up one of the shorter crates to use as a chair. "You should probably thank Ban. I heard he carried you, Elizabeth, and King to safety when Diane was about to destroy the place. Though I wonder how he held all three of you? It must've been awkward…" he pondered.

"Meliodas-san-" I started.

But the captain spoke as though I hadn't said anything. "That cloak of yours isn't just a cloak, is it?" I gaped. I tried to deny it, or at least to give some sort of explanation, but he continued on. "Diane told me that Howzer said that you had transformed it into a weapon. He also said that you tried to fight his companion with it, while changing it into different forms, in an attempt to get revenge for what he had done to Diane. Even if you did a poor job." The whole time he spoke, it was like he was telling me something that we both already knew; this could be a simple chat about the weather, he said it so simply.

I just tilted my head down, casting my eyes down to where my hands were clutching the sheet that still covered my legs. "I just… I haven't really fought before… I mean, I kinda did, once, but that was different, and it was a very long time ago…" I tried to excuse myself, rambling on, but Meliodas stopped me by standing and placing his hand on my lowered head, mussing up my hair. I looked up to see that he was smiling at me, and his hand fell away from my head.

"It doesn't matter how well you did! We all know that you tried. You tried your best to fight for your comrades, even when you didn't know your own fighting abilities, or those of your opponent. That showed real courage!" he explained.

Why do I feel like he's talking to me like I'm a kid...? Actually, I kinda feel like he's always treated me like this from time to time... But it didn't matter that I felt like he was treating me weirdly. Perhaps I was a kid on the inside, because his words had made me feel better, if only a little.

"Thank you, Meliodas-san."

But he wasn't done. His tone grew more serious. "That goddess amber - you were sucked into it too, weren't you?"

I was taken aback. "G-goddess amber? Do you mean that crystal thingy? W-well, everyone saw me come out of it, so it's no secret, but…"

"When I fully came back to myself, I remembered seeing you right before it was activated. Knowing what you are, I guessed that you had been pulled in, too. But why didn't you react the same way I did…?" He held his chin, deep in thought, before sitting back on the crate.

"W-what I am? How do you-"

"I was asked to keep it a secret." Meliodas looked up from his thoughts and lowered his voice. "I wasn't certain that you, yourself knew, though. That's why earlier, when you showed me that scar of yours, I stopped myself from mentioning that you'd lost one. But, after the incident with the goddess amber, it didn't matter if you didn't already know what you were, you needed to know."

"Wait, lost one what?" While I knew some of what he was talking about, I was confused by some of the things he was saying. He'd made a promise? To who? Onii-chan, perhaps?

He held up one finger. "One heart," he simply said. He glanced back to the doorway to make sure it was still empty. "Since you're half demon, you must have inherited your hearts from your father."

I lost a heart from the wound that caused that scar? How didn't I notice? Though, that would explain why it hurt so much when it happened. The trail of thoughts quickly raced through my head before I spoke my biggest fear. "You aren't going to tell everyone, are you?"

"No." The captain stood up. He pushed the box that he had been using as a seat back into its place among the others. "You should probably come down soon. Oh, and if you're wondering, Elizabeth took your cloak to a nearby stream to wash it. It was covered in blood from the fighting. King and Diane went with her to kill time until dinner is ready." And he was out the door, gone before I could say another word.

"Well, that was very informative, yet not informative at all," My annoyed voice bounced off the walls of the room a few moments after he had left.

What do you mean by that, Zinnia? Zephyranthes laid his head on the edge of the bed. He was now back in the spot that Meliodas had been occupying.

"What I mean, is that I already knew that I was a half demon. He acted like it was some big secret that he had to keep from me. Of course I would know! It's me!... But… I hadn't realized that he had known, nor had I known that I had lost a heart. Really, it's stupid of me to have not known. The scar's right over where a heart would normally be. And was it Onii-chan that he was talking about when he said he'd promised someone? It had to have been! Only Onii-chan and Otou-chan knew what I am. Maybe Onee-san, too…" Suddenly some of Meliodas' words clicked in my mind. "Wait! My cloak! Dyrnwyn! Elizabeth, Diane-sama, and Harlequin-sama are going to wash it in a stream? I thought we were still moving." Of course, we had stopped. The swaying of the room had stilled, and the orange light of sunset had made its way across the walls.

The movement stopped soon after Meliodas-sama entered. Why? He was curious, and tilted his head to the side in a motion that I always found adorable, but I pushed the thought of the cuteness away.

I threw the blankets off my legs and stood. "If Harlequin-sama inspects my cloak closely, he'll probably know what it is!"

Is there a problem with that? Meliodas-sama already knows, and it appears that Diane-sama does as well.

"N-no. I guess it's fine if he knows, but I want to be there when he finds out! I don't want him drawing the wrong conclusions. I don't want him to think that I lied to him. So I have to be there to explain myself before things get out of hand."

You may not have lied to him, the fox shade told me, but you hid facts from him. Sometimes that can be just as bad.

"Don't lecture me, Zephyr-kun!" I teased him, tapping his nose as he fell into step with me. "Everyone hides things. I'm certain that everyone here holds a secret or two, even you."

But the fox remained silent as we exited the room.