A/N: Another update. I don't even know what to say so I'm just gonna respond to some reviews...
Silver - Yep I was surprised. But I do see that you read quite a few stories on here so I guess it would make sense for you to find this one XD
I've never drank. Never. I just thought since they still have their memories and mental age, that I'd add things like that but there'd be consequences to doing so. As for the reason why this happened, I'm still kinda developing it but I have a main idea and your review really helped me to see what options there are for this story. Speaking of that, I'll definitely keep the magic thing in mind, I can see quite a few scenarios I can fit in.
Thanks for the review!
Amy - Ban definitely isn't as skilled in the kitchen as he usually is XD As for anyone coming across them - saying an answer would spoil.
Thanks for the review!
Till next time,
D.L.D
"Why can't I figure this out?"
Merlin frowned, a hand running through her midnight locks as she paced the room. Books were strewn all over, open on random pages or stacked into piles on the ground. All of them were ancient looking and thick, covers written in both familiar and unfamiliar tongues. But none seemed to aid the mage in her mission.
"It should be simple," Merlin continued, sinking into thought as her pacing halted and brows furrowed. "A spell to revert all of our ages so we wouldn't be of use to Liones or any of Britannia. But there's something more to it. Something underlying..."
As if on autopilot, the female headed towards a pile of books. Sifting through the titles, she pulled one out causing the others to tumble. Dust and other signs of age flew into the air - but Merlin didn't care. Instead she brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face before taking a seat and opening the book.
"Maybe this will give me some answers," She murmured as her eyes began to skim over the pages. Her brain began to process them immediately.
"So Captain is the Boar Hat gonna be open tonight?" Diane chirped as she nursed a groaning King.
The choice to consume alcohol earlier was hitting him and in his childlike body the after effects seemed to be multiplied by at least a thousand. Ban and Meliodas had shared a laugh at the fairy when he'd first complained at a headache and only continued to tease as it got worse. After all even Ban seemed to stay away from the booze - well for now anyway.
Ban was now in the kitchen, trying his best to make something more than cookies for everyone to eat. So far it had resulted in a load of cusses and a permanent burning smell that seemed to linger in the air - and he was meant to be the good cook. Thank goddesses he didn't let Meliodas in the kitchen. It would've been a billion times worse. Especially since the blonde was even tinier now than he usually was.
"As much as I'd love to say yes, we're gonna have to remain closed for a while," The blonde sighed as he sunk into thought. He'd been considering whether to open up or not, but decided against it since they could barely manage as it was now. After all a bunch of kids serving patrons would be viewed more as a joke than an actual tavern. They'd just have to wait it out until they were normal again. "Well for as long as we're kids for anyway."
"But that could be forever!" Diane frowned, jostling the ground slightly. King groaned as the others all ducked for cover expecting worse, but it ended quite swiftly.
Usually the ground would quake a pillars of rock and dirt would shoot up at random, causing all sorts of chaos. But this was much quicker than Diane's previous outbursts, indicating she was slightly calmer.
Diane immediately apologised, twirling her hair between her fingers. "Sorry Everyone! Especially you King, you're not feeling too good and I doubt that helped...Wait, let me go grab you those pills Merlin made for this. Apparently they work really well!"
Now in a better mood, the brunette hopped up, a bounce in her step as she disappeared up the stairs. King had tried to protest but she was soon gone, her humming the only thing left.
"You really shouldn't have had that ale Sir King," Elizabeth sighed as she watched over the fairy in Diane's absence. "After all children are usually forbidden from such things."
"Yeah, but I - hic - needed it," He frowned as he turned over. Hiccups were annoying. So was the pounding in his head. He was over this agony. "Everyone made me - hic - make clothes and stufffff..."
He trailed off before falling asleep, the new need of naps doubled with the influence of alcohol knocking him out instantly. Within seconds the fairy was snoring.
"We really can't go on like this," Escanor sighed as he peered at the people around him. It was one of the few times he had spoken, let alone been in the room without zooming off to help Merlin only to be dismissed. However besides the mage, Escanor appeared to be one of the eldest in the group. That age being around eight or nine.
"Escanor is right, everyone is a lot more crankier. I'd say by at least sixty percent," Gowther agreed, nodding curtly. A book sat in his lap. "Even Elizabeth has had meltdowns and the Captain had an episode when he couldn't reach the counter from the ground."
A laugh sounded from the kitchen and was joined by a few more. All of them recalling the blonde's frustration.
"Well it's not my fault everything's gigantic," Meliodas huffed as he inwardly groaned at being short. It was always something everyone poked fun at. That and his babyface but then again that wasn't so obvious when he was a kid.
"Well I think it's cute!" Elizabeth blurted out, her cheeks redding. Her eyes widened and her hand flew upwards covering her mouth. It was a lot harder not to say everything you think. "I meant that - that you're tiny. Not that being tiny is cute, it's just cute on you and - "
"Shush I'm trying to sleep~" King mumbled between snores before covering his ears with Chastifol. He rolled over to not face the now fire hydrant red princess. "Just tell him that you..."
The fairy began to snore again. Sleep taking over his sentence.
"Whoa, little Ellie really has no filter," Ban's voice chuckled from the kitchen, followed by the sounds of spluttering oil. A loud cluttering sounded. "Oh shit! I got it on me."
A few chuckles went around the room as they guessed what had happened to Ban. No doubt his ability to regenerate would make the incident no big issue.
"Well, looks like this predicament may be fun after all," Merlin clicked her tongue as she arrived in the room. Diane was beside her, a simple smile on her face as she skipped ahead to give King his pills.
"Did you find a cure?" Ban was the first to talk, his face sticking out to face the mage. It had a slight burn mark on his cheek and was covered in flour.
"Sadly not," Merlin sighed as she seated herself at a table. "It's more complicated than I had anticipated. However," Her eyes drifted over to each of the Sins. "You all should've figured that out."
She received an array of agreements and nods before she decided to continue.
"I think what happened to us wasn't what was meant to happen. That being said our best option is to head to Liones," Merlin rested her chin in her palm. "If we can find Vivian, then we can get her to reverse this or at least give us an answer."
"Is that our only option?" Diane raised a brow as she stopped tending to King.
"Well yes if we don't want to run out of your shrinking pills," The ravenette replied, a grimace on her face. It was difficult to obtain the ingredients at their normal age, so as kids it was near impossible. "How many do you have left?"
"Two?" Diane chuckled sheepishly as she began to twirl her hair between her fingers. She kicked at the floor. "You see I lost some of them yesterday and I was meant to tell you, but then this happened."
"I see," Merlin sighed as she leaned into her palm. "Well when you start to grow, don't use them unless it's necessary."
"Ok," Diane nodded, before smiling as Hawk emerged from his hiding spot. "Hawk! Where's that ride you promised?!"
"Ride?! What ride? I never promised that!" The animal then took off, making a dash out of the door. Diane followed, a breeze trailing inside.
"Great, she got out again," Ban frowned as he came in with a few plates. "Dibs not getting her back in."
"Dibs," Everyone except King had said the word, meaning he was the one who had to get the brunette. Even with a killer hangover.
"I'll get her," He rolled his eyes as he began the float. The world swayed slightly, but it soon stopped. The pills seemed to be working already.
"Good luck!" He heard Elizabeth say and then laughter filled the room.
"Diane!" King called for the brunette, his senses feeling slightly better than a few moments ago.
He was floating in the middle of the meadow just shy of where the Boar Hat had stopped. Quietness seemed to surround him as the grass slowly swished in the summer breeze, the scent of flowers and dew drops filling the air.
"Diane!" He veered more towards the left, eyeing the thick layer of trees not too far from his line of sight.
The thought of her being all alone in that place. A dark and possibly even scary place; most likely filled with bugs, her worst fear, made his heart drop to his stomach. He knew that Diane didn't like bugs at the best of times, but as a kid it was guaranteed that she'd be petrified.
As if confirming his thoughts. He heard a scream. Loud and clear and full of the girlish squeals he recognised as Diane's. Several birds flocked from the trees, causing clouds of shadow to pass over the meadow.
"Don't worry I'm coming Diane!" The fairy zipped off towards the row of trees. The still pillars, looming as he grew closer.
"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" Diane spluttered as she attempted to wipe the spider's web off her face, hair and hands.
The thin, sticky rope was definitely not pleasing to her. The fact that a spider had even been scuttling all over it put her off. So naturally she was disgusted.
"Chill out, Diane it's only a web," Hawk scoffed as he shook himself of the substance. "No spider's ever hurt me!"
As if in cue, the pig squealed. A red mark appeared on his ear.
"Looks like it bit you," Diane joked dryly as she got the last of the web from her hair. She then placed her hands on her hips as she thought of where to go. "We should head back but - Ew, ew get it off me!"
The giantess stomped and shook as she attempted to get the centipede off her leg. Her pigtails swished and arms flapped, all of her attempts being futile to getting the insect off her.
"Geez such a drama queen," Hawk rolled his eyes as he used his snout to skilfully remove the insect. He then stomped on it, killing it. "Happy now?"
"Yes, thanks," Diane smiled slightly, however she could still feel the bug on her skin. "So what way do we go?"
"Oh this way!" Hawk smiled smugly. "I have a great sense of direction."
"Sure..." Diane resisted the urge to roll her eyes and followed the pig.
They'd gotten quite far, until Hawk made the mistake of breaking off some tree bark. Instantly, a whole network of bugs were revealed and Diane began to scream.
"Hawk! Why did you do that!" She glared at the pig as she backed away from the tree. All sorts of bugs emerged from the tree, all crawling in different directions although most approached the invaders of their home.
"Well I thought there's be something tasty under all that bark," Hawk sniffed indignantly.
"Well look what you've done! They're coming towards us and - " The ground began to quake slightly as Diane desperately began to avoid touching any bugs. "They're everywhere!"
"Yeah, but they're only bugs," Hawk murmured and Diane only glared before screaming as she noticed a bunch of bugs had made their way up her legs.
"Someone help!" The brunette cried as she began to shake off the bugs. Birds began to fly off, the quaking ground disturbing their nests and roosting spots. Soon the whole area was abandoned, with only the brunette, the pig and the bugs.
By now the bugs had made their way onto her arms, some of them staying while others left. Hawk also had trouble with the bugs he'd disturbed but most had focused on the squawking Diane.
"Diane!" King came into view, a worried look on face and Chastiefol by his side.
"King!" Diane rushed into him, tears streaming down her face as she tried to remove the bugs. "They're everywhere and - i - it's gross and nasty and - and - Hawk was being a meanie!"
"Ok let's just get you back inside," King spoke in a calm voice as he helped her remove some of the bugs. "After that we can do something to cheer you up, ok?"
"Mhm," Diane hummed as she sniffed. Her mood was slightly better now that the bugs were gone.
"Come on then," King led the way and Diane grabbed his hand, staying close to avoid any more encounters with bugs.
Hawk just looked at the incredulously, frustrated that he had been forgotten. He did have some sort of consciousness and understanding after all.
"Hey what about me!" The pig dashed after them. "I'm real you know!"
But the two continued on and so Hawk decided to follow.