(A/N)

Sorry about not posting last weekend! I was away from home, and it can be hard to keep up with this when my routine is broken. Let's see, I got one review for the last chapter, so since I started responding to reviews:

To the guest that reviewed: Maaayyybeeee ;)

Thanks for the review! And I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

Hopefully it won't take me too long to write the next one, as I'm a little stuck on where to go from here.

"Something's wrong!"

A couple of days later, I had managed to find Harlequin out and about in town when he was shopping for groceries. Helbram was back at the Boar's Hat, and Zephyr was nowhere to be seen, so it was only me and Harlequin. Plus the surrounding crowd, of course. Yesterday he had spent the whole day with Diane, so I hadn't wanted to bother him, but today I would! I just couldn't put this off.

"Something's definitely wrong!" I repeated, panting, as I approached the Fairy King.

Harlequin glanced over his shoulder, stopping as he realized that I was following him. His arms were stacked with paper bags overflowing with fruits and vegetables, and he looked like he would topple over any second. Without thinking, I grabbed a couple of bags from him.

"What is it?" His brow furrowed as he took in my panicked state. "I assume that this isn't about you messing up on baking a cake again?"

"That was only once, and no." I stopped, putting my hands on my knees to support myself. "Something's wrong with Helbram." I hurriedly recounted the story from the night of the festival - leaving out the part about Helbram's promise to me; that was too embarrassing to tell Harlequin. "His memory was foggy, and as soon as he saw some humans, he was just gone! He didn't even remember the conversation we were having right beforehand."

"Hmmm, kind makes me think about how I forgot about almost everything that happened yesterday…" Harlequin put his hand to his chin.

"But you're not the one that was pretty much brought back from the dead the other day with a rarely-used magic, damn it!" I practically shouted at him. Suddenly realizing what I was doing, my eyes widened and I stepped back. I could feel people staring at me from the crowd. "S-sorry!"

Harlequin looked just as surprised as me. "I-it's okay…" Sobering, he looked around at the listening people all around us. "We should go somewhere else to talk. Come on."

Harlequin ended up leading me to a tower that I had glimpsed in the city, but I had never been to it. Inside, Merlin - a mature witch and a member of the Seven Deadly Sins - was doing all kinds of experiments. Glasses and vials littered every surface, surrounded by piles of notes. Strange instruments I never could have even dreamed of lined some of the upper shelves of the circular space.

"What can I do for you two today?" She turned to us, gently swirling a vial in one hand.

"M-Merlin?" I was only half-surprised to find another familiar face.

"Hello, Zinnia." She didn't seem phased in the slightest that I was here.

Harlequin sweatdropped. "I'm just going to stop questioning how you know people."

"That's probably for the best…" I murmured, looking around the room. "Well, Merlin, I kinda ended up bringing someone back to life - I mean, he was already alive, but he had died previously and was being brought back and manipulated by someone-"

"-by Hendrickson." Harlequin put in helpfully before smirking. "He seemed quite shocked when he couldn't bring Helbram back again to fight me."

"-by Hendrickson." I continued, nodding at Harlequin. "But I made it so that he was really revived, and no longer being manipulated. But now he's acting kinda off. I don't know if it's because of what I did, or something else…"

"Sounds interesting." She set her vial down on the counter and stepped towards us. "What do you mean by 'off'?"

For the second time today, I explained the events of the other night. "He had been acting perfectly fine up until he saw the group of humans. In fact, I had introduced him to the Sins and Elizabeth earlier that day, and he seemed completely fine - other than being awkward over the fact that he was the one that stole Meliodas' sword and how he had attacked everyone before."

"Hmmm…" Merlin's eternally sinister smile darkened. "Sounds interesting. And what did you use to heal him?"

"This; my spirit spear." I grabbed my cloak from my shoulders and transformed it into a spear in front of me, only…

"Huh? Another one of the blades is missing…" Harlequin looked over my shoulder at the spear.

Where there had been two crescent blades before, only one remained. The thin rod between the spearhead and the shaft now looked rather flimsy. Looking at the thin, v-shaped slot where the blade had been until a few days ago, a memory surfaced. "Oh… I had been told that that power had been used once before by my mother. That must be what caused the first blade to disappear. And now…"

"Only one remains." Merlin finished for me, her gaze intently focused on the weapon. "And what happens when they are all used up?"

I didn't like the sound of that - all used up… "I have no idea." I shook my head, banishing my worry. "But that's not what I'm here about. I'm worried about Helbram. Did I do something wrong when I altered his connections?"

"It sounds to me like most of this problem stems from traumas formed before he died," Merlin explained.

"But what about the foggy memory? And his being fine with humans like Ban and Elizabeth?" I asked her.

"His memory is most likely clouded by you destroying what kept him alive during that time. He no longer has anything holding him to those years. The parts he still remembers are probably connected to the people he met during that time. That's my theory, anyway. And as for that second part…" She looked at Dyrnwyn again, which was still floating in between us. "How exactly did you restore him?"

"I used my connection with him to strengthen his body's connection with his soul," I told her, tucking some hair behind my ear.

"And that made you an integral part of him…" she trailed off, looking into space. "Perhaps that has something to do with it…"

"What?" I questioned, but Merlin only turned back to her notes.

"I suggest that you investigate the connection you tampered with between you two. That might be where the solution lies." She had picked up the vial again, looking at it closely. "Of course, you could always bring him here so that I can take a look for myself."

"I know that look on your face Merlin!" I called. Harlequin was trying to drag me out of the tower. I shouted over my shoulder as I was pulled away. "You figured it out didn't you?! Why don't you just tell me?"

But I only saw Merlin's smirk deepen as the door was closed in my face.

"What do you think Merlin meant when she said that the solution was probably in the connection?" I asked Harlequin as we slowly made our way back to the Boar's Hat. I had decided to help him pick up groceries for the bar, considering that I had interrupted his errand, so now we both had heaps of bags in our arms, and my cloak was back to being draped over my shoulders.

In the distance, the sun was starting to set and I was beginning to wonder just where Zephyr was. He had been out and about most of the time ever since I woke up, and was rarely in the same place as me. It was starting to worry me. Had I done something to upset him?

"I don't know…" Harlequin was looking towards the bar. He looked like he was searching for something - or someone. Probably Diane. "Why don't you just use Dyrnwyn to look at those connections again? That might help."

"But… I'm worried that that might use up the last blade on it. What happens then? I don't want to find out, at least not yet…"

Harlequin just gave a nod of understanding and we continued together in relative silence. There were still the sounds of children running and playing in the streets and that of the construction that was taking place all over the city, so it wasn't really quiet. The sounds became more muffled, though, when we exited the city gates.

Right before we entered the tavern, I spoke up. "Hey, Harlequin-sama?"

"Yeah?" He glanced over at me.

"Random thing, but I noticed that everyone has stopped using honorifics for me. Is there a reason?"

"Not really…" He looked back up at the building ahead of us. "Everyone just decided that you're a part of the group, so we should refer to you as so."

I blushed lightly, smiling. "Oh, okay… So should I do the same?"

"If you feel like it." He didn't seem to be paying much attention, and was instead looking around us. I suddenly remembered that he had seemed to be looking out for something when we were in town. I just smiled knowingly as I thought about who he was probably looking for.

"Okay, Harlequin."

"Where've you been all day? It's been so booorrrrriiinnnggg sitting in here doing nothing." Helbram was lazily floating around when I returned to my room. Currently, he had his legs crossed and was floating upside down, slowly drifting to the side. Surprisingly, no one else was in the room; they must have taken the watch off of him.

"Ehh, I just had some things to do in town." I brushed off his question, plopping down on my bed. "It never hurts to have extra hands to carry bags, you know?" I tried to push down my worries. Helbram hadn't acted weirdly since that first night, so maybe there was nothing to really worry about.

Helbram narrowed his eyes. "Even if you and Harlequin can't, you shouldn't forget that fairies can read hearts, Zinnia. Why are you so worried about me?" He crossed his arms as he sat down next to me.

"N-no reason!" I tried harder to put the worries out of my mind and to think positively. "Sorry for leaving you up here all day on your own. It's just that we don't yet know what side effects the magic I used on you might have."

"Even so, why can't I at least go downstairs? Or outside?"

Because both of those places have humans… I didn't say the answer aloud. Not being good at being put on the spot, I said the only thing I could think of. "Well, it just seemed like it would be a good idea…" It had to be the most pitiful answer I had ever come up with.

"What's wrong with both the places having humans? I said I would be better with them." Well, crap. "Zinnia, what's going on?" He seemed slightly annoyed. "You've been keeping something from me ever since the festival, and Zephyr-kun's been avoiding me."

"He's been avoiding me, too, so I have no idea what's going on with him." I looked away, staring across the room at the dust that was shimmering in the beams of late sunshine streaming through the windows. "Helbram, no one's even told me what it is that caused you to turn against humans. The only thing that I know is that one day we were talking, and you were happily telling me about humans and how they fascinated you, and the next time I saw you, you were going on about slaughtering them all. What happened? Why'd you disappear? Knowing that might help me now."

The light in his eyes dimmed, and he stared out into space. I was afraid that I had lost him again, like the other night, but after a moment, he began to speak. "It all started with that peddler that I got the flute from…" He went on to tell me how it had been a trap - how humans had wanted to capture as many fairies as possible for their wings, as the humans thought that they could be used for life-extending potions. He told me how the fairies were held for years and years in cells, and how he had had to endure the ripping, snapping, and screaming as, one by one, the humans gently tore the wings off of the live fairies. I could feel tears in my eyes as he told me about how Harlequin had come to save them but had ended up being knocked into a ravine, where Helbram had thought he had died. He spoke about spending his time after that taking revenge on the evil humans that had murdered so many of his friends. And, when he finally found Harlequin, alive and well, in the middle of one of the villages had had been pillaging, the other fairy had killed him. He vaguely remembered being in Necropolis for awhile, but he soon found himself waking up in a human city, Hendrickson standing over him.

"So…" I could hardly speak after that, but I wanted to know. "If Harlequin killed you, how is he still your friend?"

Helbram gave the tiniest smile. "Because he was just fulfilling my request." I gave him a confused look, but he didn't go on.

(The Previous Day)

Sitting on the rooftops, Zephyr watched from the shadows as Diane kissed Harlequin on the cheek in front of the half-destroyed church. He sighed, padding away as he heard the hourly bell tolling.

He wandered through the twilit streets, not worrying about hiding too much, but also avoiding crowds. He could feel a few curious gazes, but none seemed laced with hostility. Soon, he found his way to his newly-found safe haven: Merlin's lab.

The two of them had an understanding, and, as long as Zephyr didn't get in the way of her experiments, Merlin said that he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. He preferred it for the moment over the tavern, as it wasn't as noisy, and he had more privacy with his thoughts.

His thoughts about how Zinnia had been taking such stupid, reckless actions! Yes, he had told her that she could save Helbram, but he hadn't expected her to entwine their lives and to offer up her life if it didn't work out! And then, right after she woke up, to choose to spend the night alone with the fairy, who could still be psychotic?

He shook his head in annoyance. He often wished that he had been born a fairy. Then perhaps Zinnia would listen to him better. Perhaps she wouldn't feel the need for friends other than him. Perhaps…

He sighed, pushing open the door to Merlin's lab with his snout.

"Ah, Zephyranthes." Merlin was busy poring over some notes. "How about helping me with some things today?"

I don't feel like being a guinea pig right now. Maybe later. He limped over to the corner he had pretty much claimed as his own, crawling under a desk. The spot was nice and hidden from the view of most of the room, and was covered in shadow. The perfect place to stay comfortable and out of sight.

"Suit yourself," mumbled the mage as she went on with her business.

Zephyr sighed and closed his eyes, still vaguely sensing the chaotic mess that surrounded Zinnia and Helbram. It felt like they were caught in a giant tangled spiderweb, and being near them made him nauseous.