Episode 1: The Eight Deadly Sins
Geralt's POV
Y'know, I'd expect there to be at least one bar fight when I enter a tavern but to my surprise, when I open the door to the boar hat there's just talking and the wave of smell coming off the booze and ale. Guess the kid really knows how to run this place, cooking probably still sucks ass though. After I had opened the door, a few of the people in the bar looked at me and welcomed me, some even offered a seat. I didn't really answer but I did shake my head and walk over to the counter, taking an open seat in front of a five foot tall blonde haired kid with a very familiar dragon hilt on his back. He was also wearing a loose tuxedo-like outfit which I could never see anyone but him pulling off.
"Hello and welcome to the Boar Hat Tavern!" The kid welcomed me. "What can I get you?" He asked as he finished cleaning a cup.
"Just a simple ale please." I responded plainly.
"Comin' right up!" He said cheerfully as I noticed his bright green eyes.
"Thanks." I said.
After a few minutes the kid poured me an ale and I could see the foamy alcohol overflowing from the cup a little. I handed the cup to me which I took, giving him a nod of thanks before taking a sip of it. Another few minutes passed and things started to get fairly crowded. People talking and laughing like there was nothing to worry about. Idiots… In this world, there's always something to worry about. Suddenly, a man bursts through the door of the tavern and with terror written all over his facial features he said.
"I saw it!"
After a couple of minutes the man was sitting down behind me and was explaining about the 'it' he had seen.
"No kidding! I saw it with my own two eyes, I swear by all that's holy it was the Wandering Rust Knight I saw out there!" He said before taking a drink of the booze he had.
"Seems like it's been all anyone can ever really talk about lately." One man agreed.
"C'mon, those are just made up stories that parents come up with to make their kids behave, 'If you don't do what I say, one of the Seven Deadly Sins will come for you in blood rusted armor!' Ooh, aah!" Another man joked before laughing while the others laughed along with him.
"Seven Deadly Sins?" I heard the barkeep ask, looking at the men discussing it.
"You mean you've never heard of them, my young tavern owner?" The man asked.
"Their wanted posters are everywhere, like the ones over there." A second man said pointing to a group of eight posters with different people on it, their names under highly detailed facial renditions, the eighth however was much different.
"'Bout ten years ago, dozens of Holy Knights from across every corner of the land were butchered so fast that they didn't have time to react or defend themselves. And the Seven Deadly Sins were the ones responsible for it." The man explained.
"People say that their leader, Meliodas was the scariest one of them all, some say that he's even brought down countries!" A third man said.
"What about that eighth poster? Why doesn't it have a rendition or a proper name?" I asked looking at the eighth poster before turning to the barkeep. "Also, is it okay if I rent a room here?" I asked once more.
"Oh, sure." The blonde said.
"Well the eighth one my dear friend belongs to a rumored eighth Sin. No one knows what he looks like or what his name is but they do know what his Sin is. The Wolf Sin of Treachery." A different man explained. "As far as the rumors go, people say that he's even more scary than Meliodas and that he was once a Holy Knight Grandmaster! But no one's ever heard from him since the day the previous Holy Knight Grandmaster was mercilessly murdered." The man said.
"Yeah, but the current Holy Knights would never let those criminals go free, I'm betting that they're all probably dead by now." One man chuckled.
"But… Don't those posters get updated every year? Doesn't that mean they're still out there?" Another man asked.
"Yeah, but some spooky guy walking around in some rusty armor sounds rather ridiculous to me." One man played it off.
"Guess you're right." Another man agreed.
Bang! A loud clank of metal against wood rang out from outside the door. Bang! The clanking got louder, I heard the pig that was next to the barkeep say something about rust but I paid them no mind. The clanking got louder and louder until the door finally creaked open slowly and a person clad in extremely rusted armor stumbled in.
"The… Seven… Deadly… Sins!" They croaked out as they walked into the middle of the tavern.
"IT'S HERE!" Everyone roared in a panic as they ran out of the tavern leaving me, the pig whose name I think is Hawk, and the kid barkeep.
"Well… That was fast." I say slightly impressed.
The barkeep leapt over the counter and in front of the Rust Knight before saying. "Now who are you?" He asked before turning to me. "And why haven't you run away?" He asked.
"Kid, when you're my age you learn to ignore things that aren't certain doom." I tell him, calmly sipping more ale from my cup. "Right now, I'm also interested as to who this Knight is." I tell him, setting my cup down and standing up joining the barkeep in front of the Rust Knight.
The three of us stood there, looking at each other before the Knight began to tip. Forwards, backwards, forwards before finally falling onto their back with a sickening THUD! Their helmet had tumbled off their head to reveal their face… Or should I say, her face. THe barkeep let out a soft gasp as he looked at the face behind the helmet. My eyes widened greatly as I recognized this person.
Her skin was incredibly pale and she had semi-long eyelashes. Her hair was silver almost teal and it laid on the ground all over the place. On her left ear was an earring which depicted the sun, moon and several stars encased in an aqua gem.
E-E-Elizabeth!? I thought in shock at who laid before me. Hawk trotted over and asked. "This kid's one of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Hawk asked in slight befuddlement.
"I… Don't think so." I told him. "C'mon, help me get this armor off her and let's get her into a bed." I tell the barkeep.
"Right." He nodded his head.
After about thirty minutes we had finally gotten the armor off of her and had set her in a room's bed. I had finally gotten a good look at her and saw that she wasn't in a very healthy condition. She was wearing an almost black skin-tight body suit that hugged her figure, she had two sleeves on her arms that went down to her palms and was disconnected from the rest of her clothes (if you'd call them that) by the shoulders. She wore the same colored shoes and leg warmers that were disconnected near the upper thigh, and they went down towards her lower ankles.
"She's a girl, definitely." Hawk deduced as we looked at her, wondering what to do.
"Let's make sure." The barkeep said, causing Hawk to raise his ears in slight anger and shock.
"Wait… What?" I asked in confusion.
Suddenly the kid zipped over towards where Elizabeth was sleeping and he rested his head in one hand, elbow on the bed. "That sweet gentle face," In a flash he was suddenly on the other side of the bed, hands on his hips as he swung them side to side. "Those bucks and curves," He said once more before suddenly being over near her legs, all four limbs on the bed, sniffing around her. "This perfume." He said before zipping back to his original position, and he was groping one of her breasts. "The firm springiness." He mumbled causing me to almost lash out in anger. He stood there, groping her breast for a few seconds before continuing to do so and saying. "Yup, she's a girl!" He said.
"Well not shit gold hair!" I yelled at him.
"You already knew that!" Hawk growled at him.
Suddenly, Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and she sat up as the kid continued to grope her breast. She looked at the kid with a slightly embarrassed voice and asked.
"Uh… P-Pardon me?" She asked looking at the kid.
For a few more seconds the kid stood there groping her breast before releasing his hand from her breast and turning to us, saying. "Your heartbeat is just fine!" He played the groping and perversion off.
"O-Oh, thank you." Elizabeth thanked hesitantly. "W-Where am I? Excuse me, but what am I doing here?" She asked looking around as I was holding Hawk trying to calm him down and stopping him from kicking the shit out of the barkeep, as much as I wanted to do that myself.
"Oh, well you walked in my bar and then you passed out cold on the floor." The kid said as Hawk calmed down allowing me to set him on the floor.
"Your bar?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, his tavern. The Boar Hat." I answered her.
"Wait, you're… the owner?" She questioned.
"Is that so weird?" The barkeep asked.
"Yeah, probably because you look so young and you have a sword on your back." I pointed out.
"Oh, this old thing?" He asked before grabbing the hilt of the dragon and taking it out.
"Ah!" Elizabeth cried out in slight fear, flinching.
"Hey, don't worry. It's a broken blade… Nothing to be scared of." I told her pointing to the broken blade.
"Sorry about that, guess if you see just the handle it looks pretty intimidating. Makes the patrons think twice about skipping off on their tab." He chuckled, resheathing the broken sword.
"It's the customers who have to eat your shitty cooking." Hawk remarked.
Elizabeth noticed Hawk and her smile grew into an incredibly large one. She ran over to him and began to hug and pet him all over, laughing all the while. "It's a talking piggy, he's so cute!" She squealed.
"Hi there. I'm Hawk." Hawk introduced himself to her.
"A long time ago, I pestered my father to give me a piggy like this on my birthday!" She giggled happily, continuing to pet Hawk over and over.
"So, did you like having a pet pig?" The barkeep asked with a small grin.
Suddenly, Elizabeth's smile drooped and she softly said. "I didn't get one." She said sadly.
"Anyway, I bet you're feeling hungry. I'm pretty sure the barkeep here could whip up something for you to eat." I cut in.
Suddenly Hawk's face turns blue. "Are you alright Hawk?" Elizabeth asks.
"Watch it alright?! Geez!" Hawk yells toward the barkeep.
"C'mon, I've got some clothes I want to change into so can you please get out?" I request.
"O-Oh, right!" Elizabeth says, walking down the stairs.
"Come down when you're ready." The barkeep tells me as he leaves the room with Hawk, closing the door behind him.
After the three left, I made sure the door was closed before letting my cloak drop to the floor. Revealing my face and armor. Sighing I place my bag on the bed and take out a spare change of clothes I have. A white button up shirt along with black pants. Taking off my weapons and armor, I store all but my sword in the bag and cast a rune over it to make sure it'll only open for me. After doing that, I get dressed but not before pausing to look at myself in the mirror, seeing all the scars I had gained over the years and seeing the brand of my Sin.
My sin was in the very center of my chest and it was like the other Sins' brands, was a dark scarlet color. It looked like the side of a wolf's head and the mouth was open, fangs bared. The scars on my body were numerous and in every place. On the left of my chest where my heart would be, was three long claw slash marks and above to the left of that was a red and newer one which I gained from getting stabbed by a spear. On the right side of my chest was a fairly large ballista bolt scar. Directly below my Sin brand was a fading old scar that went almost down to my belly button, under that and under my chest going onto my upper abs was a fairly long scar and under that was an arrow scar, and below that on my abdomen was an equally as long scar. On the opposite side of my abdomen was three equally as long scars that resembled the ones on the left of my chest.
If I could see my back I would be able to see several other scars. Three massive claw scars going diagonally down my back from my right shoulder blade down to the left. On my left shoulder you would see three sword and knife marks scattered about. Not as many but still painful when I got them.
Suddenly I heard a crash coming from outside so I put on my shirt and buttoned it up. Looking outside I could see that Elizabeth was running away into the forest, with five guards right behind her! I grit my teeth and grabbed my sword, strapping it onto my back before throwing the windows open and leaping out.
I landed on the ground with a hollow thud, and I blasted off towards Elizabeth with great speed. Noticing that the barkeep, Elizabeth and Hawk were talking about something when I caught a sword swing in the corner of my eye and the cliff they were standing on was sent crashing to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
"NO!" I yelled as I ran at the cliff.
Looking down I could see the rubble falling, hitting the ground with a crash. I could faintly hear a few people talking and then I spied a man with a mustache looking down at the cliff, his face wearing a shit-eating grin. I growled as my eyes' pupils became slits and I stalked towards the man.
"Hey!" I yelled at the man. "Are you the one who sent those people off the cliff?" I asked as calm as I could be.
"Why yes I am. What of it?" The knight asked.
"Well, one of those people was a very good friend of mine," I told him, raising my hand to draw my sword. "Almost like a daughter to me… You can't just go around killing whoever you want y'know." I tell him, placing my hand on the grip of my sword.
Then I hear a sound and turn my head to see the barkeep carrying Hawk, Elizabeth and one of the knights who fell off, landing on the grass. Though the barkeep's sleeve was slightly torn on his left arm. I gasped before running over towards Elizabeth going to see if she was okay.
"Hey! Are you three alright!?" I asked mainly focusing on Elizabeth.
"Um, I-I think I'm okay." She hesitantly answered while looking at my face. "W-Why do you seem so familiar?" She asked me.
"YOU THERE!" The knight who sent them off the cliff in the first place yelled. "How dare you survive without me saying so! I will not be revising my death tally conclusion!" He told us, placing his hand on his sword's handle.
"WHO THE FUCK ASKED YOU TOO ANYWAY JACKASS!?" I roared back in slight rage. I then turned to Elizabeth and the barkeep. "You three, when I give you the signal I want you to run back to the tavern, go upstairs and get my bag. Bring it to me right away." I told the three of them, turning and placing my hand on my sword's handle.
"But-!" Elizabeth tried to argue.
"Elizabeth we both have time for arguments, just go." I cut her off. "I promise I'll tell you all what's going on but for now just go!" I tell her.
"Wait… Elizabeth?" I heard the knight ask. Shit! He must've heard me! "Hold on, the gem in that earring is from the royal family, which means that you… CONCLUSION! Are Princess Elizabeth!" He smiled smugly, walking over towards us. "There's an order out for your capture, unharmed but if you were to lose your life in an unfortunate accident," He started as he began to draw his sword.
"Shit, Elizabeth RUN!" I yelled, trying to draw my sword.
Elizabeth, the barkeep and Hawk began to run off to the tavern but the knight swung his sword at them, creating an energy wave that cut through all of the forest.
"CONCLUSION! ACCIDENTAL DEATH!" He roared, sending a wave of energy through the forest.
I ran over to block the attack but it just hit me, kept going and sent me flying into the ground knocking the wind out of me as I hit my head on a tree stump. I let out a yelp of pain as I saw that my shirt was ripped to shreds and a piece of wood was stabbing my arm. I gritted my teeth and ripped the wood out of my arm and watched as it quickly healed.
Sitting up I noticed that the knight swung his sword upwards at Elizabeth who was trying to surrender herself peacefully and sent a massive wave of energy at her. I got up and tried to get to her but the barkeep had tackled Elizabeth out of the way in time, thought it ripped his left sleeve off. I also noticed that Hawk was running off in pain as a stick was making him bleed. I could hear Elizabeth crying and that only fueled my rage further. I couldn't let her cry, I wouldn't let her cry… Not again, not ever! I walked slowly out towards them when I saw a brand. I saw a brand on the barkeep's arm, right under his torn sleeve.
It focused my vision on it and saw that it was a Dragon! I still walked over to the two and noticed that part of my torn up shirt was still covering a portion of my brand. Good, I didn't want to let myself be known just yet. I then had to leap in front of the barkeep, or should I say Meliodas as he was about to be caught off guard. The knight swung down on my chest and slashed it, leaving a massive gash and making Meliodas gain a look of immense shock and Elizabeth I noticed had one of horror.
"Old Man!" Meliodas yelled as I stood in front of them. "Hey, old man are you okay!?" He questioned walking towards me.
"Shut the hell up kid. I'm not dying yet, you should know me better than that." I told him with a small smile, my chest began to heal rapidly as the blood on my chest washed away. "After all," I say, placing my hand on my sword and activating the runes, causing Meliodas to gasp.
"No way, old man are you-?" He started to ask, as I drew my sword.
"So you finally fucking remember me kid?" I asked with sarcasm. "Took you long enough. Also, it's nice to see you too Elli, you've grown a lot since the last time I saw you." I tell Elizabeth as I heard her sit up and heared a gasp come out of her mouth.
"What the hell are you?" I heard the knight ask as he took a step back watching as the last of the blood washed off my chest, revealing my Sin's brand. "T-That brand… I-It can't be! HOW!?" He roared in anger.
"Well, that's my little secret you little fool. And it's the last that you'll see… After all, us wolves are loyal to their pack!" I roared causing a small shock wave of my released magical pressure, pushing the knight, Meliodas and Elizabeth back a bit.
"How… How!? YOU DIED CENTURIES AGO! HOW IS IT THAT YOU ARE ALIVE!?" The knight roared.
"That's where you're wrong you fool of a knight, Sins can never die or be erased… AND MINE IS THE WORST OF US ALL!" I screamed as my amber cat-like eyes glowed in rage.
"Y-You… YOU STILL DARE TO EXIST!" The knight yelled in rage as he swung down, trying to hit me.
I simply side stepped to the right and allowed his blade to fall right next to me, before wiping my sword up and holding it in the sky for all to see. Suddenly, waves and waves of magical pressure began to erupt from my sword as the knight leaned back in shock. He couldn't speak as electricity and flames sparked from the arc my sword made. That's when it happened, a massive eruption of flames and lightning blew up in the knight's face as his body rocketed into the air, his armor cracking and falling off his body before he held his left arm screaming in pain as he landed because laying right next to me was his severed left arm.
As I stood there I felt it right to announce my return to all who would dare to listen. "My name is simple and it is one you'd do well to remember." I announced. "I am, The Seven Deadly Sins: Secret Eighth Sin, The Wolf Sin of Treachery: Geralt of Rivia!" I roared aloud, causing Meliodas to smile with glee. Elizabeth however… She did smile but she was also crying, this time it was not with sorrow but with joy… With happiness.