"WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUMS, COME GET YOUR BREAKFAST!"
"That was a beautiful wake up call, Hawk." Alfie smirked weakly, resting her cheek against a closed fist. "Why thank you." the pig beamed proudly. It was the rare occasion when Aelfryth threw together enough food for everyone and according to Hawk, it was not acceptable to miss out on. "Make sure they eat, Hawk," the woman then pushed herself off the stool and headed for the front door.
"Where are you going?" the animal asked confused. "Just for a little walk." Alfie threw a hand over her shoulder before leaving the tavern. "You want me to come with you?" Diane asked the moment the door had closed behind Alfie, having overheard the conversation.
The pink haired woman had even found some wild deer to cook up for Diane earlier in the morning when everyone was asleep and the giant had been pleasantly surprised and delighted to partake in the meal prepared for her. The deer remains at Diane's fee told Alfie that much at least.
"No it's okay. I won't be long." the pinkette assured her friend. "Morning Momma Hawk." Aelfryth then threw down to the giant green pig carrying them all. Momma Hawk gave a snort of greeting to the woman before she had launched off the pig's back and landed with a thud on the ground.
"I'll rip you apart! Give me your flesh, I want to taste it!"
Aelfryth shook her head violently at the abrupt thought that hit her and quickened her pace into the forest. "I'm going to bathe in your blood, Meliodas!" Alfie used the palm of her hand in order to hit herself repeatedly in the head. "Get it together." the woman cursed herself. "You're going to pay for crossing me...you have no idea who you're dealing with!" Aelfryth jumped over a fallen tree with clenched teeth, the vegitation around the woman thankfully had long been sheltering her from prying eyes.
"I don't care how many you hide behind or who has to die...I'll kill you!" The woman's fingers twitched involuntarily. "You will die a million times over by my hand before I ever consider my vengeance to be fulfilled!" Stopping in her tracks, the tiger sin remained motionless as the wind blew her hair around aimlessly.
"I won't let you forget. In my own time I will take back what's mine, for you are not my friend, Meliodas!" ever so slowly did Alfie lower herself onto the lush green grass below after this last thought reared its head in her mind, leading the woman to bring her knees to her chest and wrap her arms around them.
"So much time has passed since then." she whispered to herself. Now that she thought about it, how many years had she been alive? How many of them had she spent so bitter? How many has she wasted getting revenge on whoever crossed her? It was all a blur.
Aelfyrth was exacting revenge on others before the deadly sins even formed." Three thousand years." the woman uttered subconsciously. Alfie was certain she was cursed. Doomed to suffer. Three thousand years of revenge seeking….the realization of that made the woman scoff out loud. She wasn't even supposed to have lived this long. She was human...mostly anyways. "Yet here I am." Alfie muttered in distaste.
Every last person who had wronged her was cut down. Hundreds of thousands died curtesy of the tiger sin. There was no human,fairy, wizard, giant or demon who lived to tell the tale of surviving Aelfryth's vengence. The only one who still lived was Meliodas.
He was like a mold. Everytime she supposedly killed him, he came back time and time again just in different locations. Everytime he appeared, he had a stupid grin on his face.
"Hey Alfie, how's it going?"
How could he continue to go on as if she hadn't destoryed his life at every turn? How could he still sit there and smile at her? City after city, friend after friend, lover after lover...she destroyed them all in front of his very eyes. Yet he still welcomed her. Still sought her out as if she hadn't committed said atrocities. What did he want from her?
But then again, did it matter?
Alfie was convinced that she couldn't die until Meliodas met the true death, and after three thousand years of trying - the woman was beginning to believe that he was immortal to some degree like Ban. "I really am doomed to suffer." Aelfryth said miserably as she continued to look at nothing in particular.
'Fucking Meliodas' Alfie sighed deeply, closing her eyes.
Lady Alfie….?"
"Hey, Al…?"
"Alfie, where the heck are ya?!"
"You around here, Alfie?"
Eyes snapping back open, Alfie heard her friends calling out for her. "I'm telling you, she's this way!" Hawk's voice sounded close. "My nose never lies, I can sniff out anything." the pig gloated. It sounded really close. "Is that true?" Ban could be heard asking in awe. "From what I've seen so far, it is. Sir Hawk's nose is rather impressive. If he says she's this way then I'm sure she is" Elizabeth's gentle voice replied just as she and the others broke out of some shrubbery and into the open.
"And what an impressive nose it is." the pinkette said, startling Hawk and Elizabeth more than the others."HA!" Hawk cheered happily, bouncing back quickly. "I told you I could find her." he hummed, incredibly pleased with himself.
"I'll never doubt you again, Master." Ban flashed a smile down at the pig. "What's the deal Al? We've been waiting for you - we're ready to head out." the blue haired man then told her. "I've only been gone for a few minutes, I didn't think you guys would be done eating so fast." Alfie defended herself with a small shrug..
"A few minutes?" Hawk echoed dubiously. "Uh...lady Alfie. You've been gone longer than an hour." Elizabeth said hesitantly. "An hour?" Aelfryth said surprised, frowning lightly. She had forgotten how time worked differently when she retreated into her own head.
A few minutes there meant an hour out in the real world. "My bad." the pinkette bid,pushing herself to her feet. "Let's get going...we're headed to the Necropolis right?" Alfie walked past everyone and headed back towards the tavern without meeting anyone's gaze. "You okay?" Ban quirked a brow. "Right as rain." Alfie threw a small smile over her shoulder without stopping.
"I don't think she's okay." Hawk uttered, staring after the pink haired woman with the others. "Don't worry guys, I'll handle this." Meliodas grinned confidently, prancing up to Aelfryth in a rather feminine manner. However, the dragon sin couldn't of been next to the tiger sin for longer than three seconds before Aelfryth abruptly back handed Meliodas and sent him crashing through many of the forest trees. "Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth gasped, running after the blonde.
Get him while he's down!
Alfie's brow furrowed heavily, shutting her eyes and attempting to block out the thought.
Ban blinked in surprise at Aelfryth's violent actions and Hawk began trembling, sweating bullets. The fox sin hesitated but he steadily closed the distance between he and his friend. "You're not going to hit me too are you?" Ban semi joked still an arm's reach away, he didn't want to risk being back handed like Meliodas had if he got too close. Hawk made sure to remain behind Ban, intending on using the man as a meat shield.
"No." Alfie answered simply, smirking lightly when she could still sense a bit of wariness from the blue haired man next to her. "So what was the deal with breakfast? You never cook." Ban shoved his hands into the pockets of his new red leather outfit.
The woman's face contorted into one of confusion and she looked over at the taller man. "That's what your worried about?" Alfie huffed. "No, not really." Ban informed, "But I also have no intention on getting hit if I do ask what's crawled up your butt." he admitted aloofly.
Ban didn't know about Aelfryth. He didn't know that she was well over three thousand years old or not that she wasn't human. Alfie most certainly doubted he knew Meliodas was the farthest thing from human too.
"I just had an urge to hit something and he was the closest thing near me." she lied, earning a long look from Ban because of it. The guy's first set of words may as well have been some kind of lie, there was no lying to a man like Ban. "If you don't want to tell me then fine, but don't lie to me." he grumbled. A muscle in Alfie's face twitched, their whole friendship may as well be based on a lie. "Did you eat?" she asked instead. " The others did but I had a beer." Ban drolled.
"Without me?" the woman whined, "Mannn~" she sighed in disappointment. "Hey…" her companion suddenly said. "What do you know about the Necropolis?" he asked. "About as much as the next guy." Aelfryth admitted, "I heard that a person's memories are needed to call forth the spirits of the dead when you get there but I don't know how true that is." she shrugged.
"Looking to talk to someone again?" Alfie then wondered. "More like looking to avoid." Ban grumbled much to the woman's confusion. Unlike any of the other sins, Alfie knew Ban didn't have many connections in the world outside of the sins. There was a woman he mentioned once or twice in a drunken haze but Aelfryth didn't know what had happened to her.
"Do you think the Necropolis is haunted?" Hawk asked nervously, "Dark and gloomy all day with rows and rows of creepy creeps?! What if we get there and King is dead?" the pig fired off rapidly. "Then we move onto the next sin?" Alfie ended her statement as a question.
"Do you think he's six feet under?" the blue haired man then asked. "I don't know." Aelfryth admitted, "We're only going off of rumor here that he is." They had finally come back upon Momma Hawk and Diane again. "Momma!" Hawk chirped, running towards his mother merrily. The larger pig lowered her snout down to Hawk's and snorted a puff of air into his face lovingly.
"Hey!" Diane grinned, relieved at the sight of Alfie. "There you are, we were all worried about you Chief." the giant relayed squatting down low to the ground. "Sorry about that, I got lost in thought is all." Alfie chuckled lightly. "Hey, where's Elizabeth and the captain?" Diane then asked, noticing their absence. "Well Al' here knocked the hell out of Meliodas back in the forest so the princess went to go get him back on his feet." Ban explained with ease.
"So they're together….alone…..?" Diane's brow twitched in annoyance. "Why? Are you jealous, Diane?" Ban teased with a toothy grin but was quickly punched into the ground by the giant. "Awe come on, Diane, you know he was just playing around." Alfie looked up at her friend.
"There's no shame in being jealous." she continued. "I'm not jealous!" Diane shouted in defiance, bringing her hands up to her chest. Grunting, Ban slowly pulled himself out of the crater he had been hit into and stumbled to his feet. "Alright, alright, so you're not jealous." he conceded. "...Does that mean you're envious?" the fox grinned, all too pleased with his word play.
Aelfryth barked out a laugh that practically became an airy wheeze. "I don't care what anyone says." she laughed, "That was funny." Ban smiled and chuckled along with the pink haired woman, though Diane was a blushing mess and wasn't as amused. "You two are practically made for each other." the brunette sneered lightly. "Who's made for who?" Meliodas' voice sounded, causing his group to look over and watch he and Elizabeth emerge from the forest.
'Fucking kill him!'
"Quiet." Alfie hissed lowly with a turn of her head, eyes sliding closed and pressing two fingers to her the center of her forehead. "What was that, lady Alfie? Are you feeling okay?" Elizabeth asked. "I'm fine, doll face." the tiger sin forced a smile after a moment, opening her eyes and dropping her hand before turning back towards the group. "Let's go Momma!" Try to get us a bit closer to the village, yeah?" the pinkette cast upwards towards the giant pig who carted them around everywhere.
Groaning in agreement, Momma Hawk stomped a hoof in anticipation. Alfie jumped onto the pig's back, shortly followed by Meliodas, Elizabeth, Ban and Hawk. With the Boar Hat inhabitants on her back, Momma Hawk began walking closer towards their destination, Diane walking by the pig's side with ease.
What Alfie wasn't expecting was Hawk to come sniffing up her side. " Uhhh, whatcha doing there, Hawk?" the woman asked with a blink. "You smell weird." the pig stated. "Now that's a bit rude, don't you think Master?" Ban frowned lightly. "It's not a bad smell!" Hawk hurriedly said, "It's just more. You smell like more you...it's hard to explain." he frowned.
"Mind if I take a whiff?" Meliodas' coy voice sounded and the blonde suddenly popped up out of thin air, sniffing at the pinkette as well. Aelfryth's eye twitched before she lashed out a hand with intentions of sending Meliodas straight off Momma Hawk's back. The dragon sin tensed at the feeling of an incoming attack and quickly captured her wrist with his hand in order to avoid another hit without even looking in that direction.
"Boy you sure are riled up and violent today." He commented lightly. "What's got you so tense?" Meliodas wondered. The re-awakening of some rather violent and bitter thoughts for one. "Mmmm, feeling a bit restless is all." Alfie supposed, which wasn't entirely a lie.
The thoughts stirring in her mind were like a caged wild animal. It was exhausting to have to chase them away. "Restless?" Diane frowned, "You just ripped the captain's arm off in a fight not too long ago. Are you really itching for another fight?"
Yes. Yes she was.
Alfie's face remained neutral as she held her hands up in a what-are-you-gonna-do fashion. "What can I say? It really got the blood pumping, you know?" the pinkette simpered, throwing a small wink down at the blonde whose perverted mind ran a mile long with its implications.
" Well I know of a few things that we could do to release some of that tension." The man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively with an all too eager look in his eye. Hearing this, Ban tensed and glared at the shorter male heatedly, a possessive feeling overcoming him. "No" Aelfryth said plainly, much to Meliodas' disappointment. "How do you sleep next to him, Elizabeth?" the pinkette then turned to the princess.
"Tied up with rope" Hawk supplied and Aelfryth believed the pig to be joking, but when he didn't snicker, she knew he told the truth. "Really?" Alfie asked incredulously. "Well of course!" Hawk said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "If I didn't then he would have more hands than a teenage octopus as he laid in bed with Elizabeth! Precautions must be taken!" he exclaimed.
" In a foreplay perspective, it's not so bad." Meliodas said lightly. "Jeez you need to get laid." the pinkette deadpanned. "Offer still stands." the blonde sang. "And my answer is still no." Alfie said simply before turning to Elizabeth , "We could put the boys in one bed if you want." she offered. "Eh?" Ban blinked, "No way! I'm not giving up my bed." he argued. " Technically it was mine and Elizabeth's." Alfie said dryly, looking to the theif who had snatched away the princess' bed during his first day with the group.
There were two rooms in the Boar's Hat. One was Meliodas' and the other originally belonged to Aelfryth, but when Elizabeth came into the picture the older woman had surrendered her room to the princess and took to sleeping in the attic. However Elizabeth didn't get long in the room before Ban promptly kicked her out of it and left her no choice but to bunk with Meliodas.
"The point still stands," Ban waved off the technicality, " Why can't we just keep tying him up every night? Why do we all have to be punished for his grabby little hands?" he asked. "Grabby little hands?" Meliodas echoed confused, looking down and flexing his fingers. "Oh no it's quite alright, lady Alfie!" Elizabeth spoke up. "I don't mind sharing with sir Meliodas." she assured.
"Promise?" Aelfryth pressed. "Promise." Elizabeth nodded with a smile, leaving the pinkette to drop the issue. "Speaking of which," Ban spoke, "Where exactly do you sleep?" he asked, yawning afterwards. Most nights he usually drank himself until he passed out and Meliodas usually had to carry him up to bed. "In the attic. Gives me and Diane some girl time late at night." the tiger sin shrugged.
"The attic?!" Ban repeated incredulously, " Well what the hell Al'?" he rubbed the back of his head, "I don't bite and I certainly don't grope like the kid over there, we can share a bed. Especially since it was originally yours." he pointed out. "It's no big deal," the blue eyed woman brushed off, reaching out and playing with Elizabeth's green locks. "I wanna play with your hair. Can I play with your hair?" Aelfryths randomly asked.
The abruptness threw Elizabeth off at first but the princess quickly grinned merrily. "Of course ! I haven't had anyone play with it in so long, I've missed the feeling." The royal said wistfully. "Come on then," Alfie nudged the delicate woman jovially, "to the attic we go. Let's have a little girl time until we reach the Necropolis" the tiger offered, walking off without waiting for a response.
"Oh, I can't wait ! Come on Hawk!" Elizabeth followed after the soldier and called out to the pig as well. "Coming!" The animal chirped. "Give us a second and we'll be up there soon, Diane!" Alfie called right as she disappeared into the tavern. "Okay!" Diane called back and adjusted herself to be level with the attic window that she and Alfie spent most nights conversing at.
With the girls, and Hawk, successfully distracted - it left Ban and Meliodas alone in an awkward silence. "Uh...what just happened? Since when does Al' like to play with hair?" Ban asked Meliodas.
"Beats me." the blonde rubbed the back of his head just as confused. A moment of silence surrounded them until Meliodas broke it. "Wanna drink until we reach our destination?" he offered, causing a grin to break out across the fox's lips. "Now you're speaking my language, captain." he chuckled along side the blonde as the duo headed into the tavern themselves.
0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0.o0o.0o..0o.0o.0o.
'He's just outside, let's get him!'
Alfie shut her eyes tightly and held her head in her hands, elbows resting against the bar counter downstairs. These thoughts of hers hadn't let up in the least lately despite the pinkette smothering Elizabeth or Diane with attention so she wouldn't have to look at Meliodas. She was tired of it.
'Those were the days though, weren't they? Tearing each other apart limb from limb until we could fight no more.'
"Stop it." Alfie hissed harshly, grasping her head with both hands and lowering her head further and further until it rested on the bar counter. "Are you okay, Alfie?" Hawk's voice sounded seconds later, causing the pinkette's head to snap back up nearly immediately.
Looking over her shoulder Alfie flashed a little smile down at the pig who looked very concerned for his friend, "Morning Hawk," her elbows came to rest on her knees as she reached down half heartedly to pay the top of his head. It was morning wasn't it? Alfie gave a quick glance to the window but to no avail, it was cloudy outside. "I'm doing okay." she said.
"Are you sure?" Hawk asked tentatively and was met with a nod. "Well good, because we've reached our destination." on que, Momma Hawk came to a stop and snorted loudly, signalling their arrival as Hawk had said.
"We're heeeeeere!" Meliodas' excited cry sounded from outside. "Just between us." Hawk started as Aelfryth pushed herself to her feet and headed for the door, " We are in the right place, right? I mean just look at these houses. How could this be the Necropolis?" the pig wondered about the run downstate of the village. "Well, it's not. This is just the place closest to it." Alfie said as they exited the tavern.
"There you two are!" Meliodas' chirped at their arrival. "We were just getting down to business." the blonde beamed. Aelfryth held back a wince when a fresh wave of violent thoughts hit her. "We're setting up here and trying to get information on King and the Necropolis." Meliodas explained.
Alfie blinked and looked at him strangely as he continued on. He really expected to get information from this place? "Diane is going to be our jumbo billboard girl, Ban will be our jailbird cook and Aelfryth is going to head into town to do some snooping around" Meliodas finished.
Ban raised his hand half heartedly, "Can I trade with Al'?" he asked. "No." Meliodas said simply, leading the man to groan in disappointment. "What am I looking for exactly?" Alfie wondered. "Anything that sticks out. Who knows maybe you'll even spot Gowther? This is a rather remote area with a forest after all." Meliodas gestured to the dense population of trees surrounding the little village.
"Huh?" Ban blinked, "Gowther's supposedly here too?" he asked confused. "I have no idea, all we know is that he's been spotted hanging out in areas like this. Just taking a shot in the dark really." Meliodas smiled up at his friend, "Now let's get going people, chop-chop!" he clapped his hands together.
"But sir Meliodas, what am I going to do?" Elizabeth asked. "You can help wipe down the tables and counters for the customers, Ban - the pantry's out back." Meliodas then directed towards the fox sin. Aelfryth heavily doubted there would be anything of interest in the village but nevertheless she departed with the group to do as directed, back flipping off of Mama Hawk as she did so.
Ban frowned a bit envious of the pinkette, watching as she jogged towards the town. He wanted to go with her, not cook. Casting a look towards his blonde captain, Ban pursed his lips and did exactly that. Heading towards the kitchen as to not rouse suspicion in Meliodas, Hawk or Elizabeth, the fox sin slipped out the back door and hurried towards the last direction he seen the pinkette heading in.
Considering Alfie hadn't broken out into a run and hadn't been traveling for that long anyways, Ban had nearly caught up with the woman not too far from the entrance of the village with ease.
"Al!" Ban called out to the woman's shapely figure. However she didn't turn around. "Hey Alfie!" he tried again but still received no response. Tsk'ing under his breadth, Ban sprinted the short distance to her side and nudged the woman upon arrival. "Hey, Al what the hell? I was calling for you." he complained immediately, walking by her side now.
He got nothing.
"Aelfryth?" Ban then said soberly, resting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her to a stop. The woman blinked, snapping out of her warring thoughts when she felt herself being grabbed. "Ban?" the pinkette said questioningly. "What are you skipping out on work for?" Alfie wondered. "The captain's got a couple screws loose if he thinks I'm going to be cooking for no reason. We don't even know if this town is occupied...but that's not what I'm worried about." the towering man frowned.
A frown that Alfie mimicked curiously. "I'm worried about you. You good?" Ban's head tilted to the side as he asked this. "Yeah I'm fine." the tiger said with slightly widened eyes. "Then why haven't you been answering me, been trying to get your attention." Ban shoved his hands into his pockets. "...My bad." Alfie said finally, walking once more with her companion on following a second later.
Exhaling in defeat, Ban held his hands behind his head as they walked. "Soooo….~" he trailed off awkwardly, much to Aelfryth's amusement. "Yes?" Alfie quirked a brow. "Are we going to pretend like you aren't avoiding the hell out of the captain?" Ban's question effectively dispeled Alfie's humor. "Damn it Ban," she cursed, throwing a glare his way. "Why would you bring it up if you knew it was a sore topic-not that it is" the woman said.
"My ass." Ban rebuked, "You've been a ghost around the tavern. Ever since that little girl's night you, Hawk, Diane and the princess had - you've hardly come down from the attic anymore. And it's not like I can get anything out of them either, every time I mention it they clam up. " he pointed out. "And?" Alfie failed to see the point. "And?!" Ban huffed bewildered, " we never have secrets between us before, why start now?" he said with a furrowed brow.
Aelfryth's annoyed glare didn't lessen in his direction but when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, the glare faultered. Up ahead, leaning against a crumbling archway was a small blonde child wearing a yellow dress. The disagreemen between friends was
forgotten in that moment as the pinkette and her companion cautiously walked up to the child. "Excuse me, little girl?" Alfie called out. The dark blonde little girl turned her head to Alfie, revealing her face to the sins. Her face was plump and her eyes were a dull brown, in fact to the older woman, it didn't seem like the girl was all there. Aelfryth managed a tilt of her head before the girl suddenly face planted into the ground.
"Now you did it." Ban uttered half heartedly. "I really did." Alfie frowned, approaching the child and kneeling down next to her. Ban had scooped the child into his arms and supported her head gently. "Hey." Alfie nudged the girl carefully, "you okay?" Aelfryth tried though the child remained motionless. "Hellooooo~?" the pinkette took the ends of her hair and dusted them over the blonde's nose. As expected, her nose twitched twice threateningly before a sneeze escaped past her lips. "There we go, that's better" Ban hummed relieved.
The child's eye lids fluttered momentarily before finally opening fully to reveal brown orbs once again. "Morning sunshine." Aelfryth teased, a slight blush dusting the girl's cheeks. "Hey!" a new voice joined the conversation. A handful of feet away stood a brown haired boy dressed in clothes too big for him and weilded a pitch fork. "What do you think you're doing with Ellen? Get your hands off my sister!" he demanded.
"Woah, woah, easy there boss." Alfie held her hands up in surrender for her and Ban both. "No need to get so tense, we were only trying to help." she frowned lightly. The duo looked a bit thin if she had to be honest with herself. "You guys want to get something to eat?" Alfie asked as Ellen worked herself to her feet, using the larger form of Ban for support.
"My friend here is pretty good in the kitchen, he can whip you guys up something to eat if you want." the woman offered with a small smile. "Food?" Ellen whispered hopefully, looking at the two adults with glistening eyes before she locked her gaze onto her elder brother pleadingly.
Wincing, the older boy hesitated for a long moment before hesitantly stabbing the pitchfork into the ground. "W-well alright, I guess." he agreed reluctantly. "If your sister's name is Ellen, then what's yours?" Alfie asked kindly. "My name's Luigi, what's yours?" the boy supplied and then asked.
"Call me Alfie." the pinkette winked,rising to her feet in tandem with the fox sin at her side. "This over grown bastard next to me is Ban" she introduced good naturedly. "Hey~" said man purred with a smirk and small wave.
"It's nice to meet you!" "..Yeah…" the two kids replied with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Flashing a kind smile, Alfie turned to her friend and began to whisper up to him. "Take 'em to the tavern while I keep looking around." she instructed. "Huh?" Ban looked confused. "You heard what I said." Alfie admonished. Ban blinked and merely held out a closed fist over the palm of his other hand pointedly.
Rock, papper, scissors to see if he would do what she asked. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Aelfryth obliged and the duo quickly engaged in the game.
RockPaperScissorsShoot!
"Damn it!" Alfie exclaimed loudly, causing Ban to laugh heartily. His scissors and beat her paper with ease. "Better luck next time, huh Alfie?" Ban chuckled, throwing an arm over her shoulder and brought her into his side good naturedly, locking her in securely.
"Best two out of three." the woman requested as she was led forward, Luigi and Ellen set off in front of the two adults. "No, no, no none of that. I won fair and square." Ban grinned cheekily. "You cheated." the tiger said childishly. "I think you're just a sore loser. How can anyone cheat at that game?" Ban humored her.
Aelfryth opened her mouth to respond but then temporarily froze when she caught a breif blip of a prescence lurking behind them. When she paused, she too caused Ban to stop walking as well. "What's wrong?" Ban muttered lowly to his friend who was now looking over her shoulder and glaring at nothing in particular consisting of the run down village remains. His brow continued to deepen its' furrow when the pinkette flared her magical aura warningly at whatever had caught her attention.
"...Nothing I guess." Alfie answered quietly after a moment. "You sure?" Ban pressed, his grasp on her tightening as he too cast his gaze out at the area behind them - searching for what ever had out the woman on edge. "For now at least." the woman nodded her head, ignoring the increased hold he had on her. "Miss Alfie, Mister Ban! Is something wrong?" Ellen's voice caught their attention, snapping them out of their daze.
Returning their focus onto the children, the tiger and fox realized just how far the children had gotten ahead of their older counter parts since they had only now noticed that they had stopped walking. Alfie forced herself to give a small smile and wave a hand to show that everything was alright and the siblings were okay to keep on going.
"Do you know what it was?" Ban questioned as they followed after the children. " No but whoever it was knows how to hide their presense well, whatever distracted them is probably the only reason why I sensed them in the first place." Alfie informed. "Well, it'd be their mistake to make a move on us." Ban grumbled darkly. "I agree." his beloved companion murmured, finally returning his gesture and wrapping an arm around his waist.
With the two sins successfully turning their attention away from what lurked behind them, a boy like figure was able to finally step out from behind some rubble of a ruined house. "How annoying, the rumors are true after all." he simpered, the wind blowing his short brown locks of hair around.
"Ban's been released from prison and Aelfryth is with him and the others….powerful as ever too. What a pain. This is going to make things a lot harder than they need to be" he growled with narrowed eyes, his grip on his spear tightened so much that it began to shake.
0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.
"Mmmmm no one's coming." Diane pouted, falling onto her butt in defeat, "And I thought I was doing such a good job too." she sighed in disappointment at her failure to bring in any customers from the village.
"What's gotten you so pouty?"
Diane perked up and turned her head to see Alfie and Ban standing below with a couple of kids. "Chief, you're back!" the giant greeted happily, resting her upper body down on the ground while her behind stuck in the air.
"Hello to you too Diane." Ban muttered sarcastically. "And you brought kids?" the giant tilted her head curiously at the siblings, ignoring the blue fox. "I promised them a meal since they look like they could use it. It gives us something to do at least." the woman simpered, still tucked into Ban's side.
"Diane, meet Ellen and Luigi." Aelfryth said to the giant. "Hi there! Aren't you two a couple of cuties!" Diane trilled merrily. "So pretty~!" Ellen beamed, grabbing her brother by the arm and shook him. "Look, Lui! It's a giant like in mom and dad's stories!" the little blonde said excitedly. Diane giggled and waved her fingers at them charmingly.
"It sure is." Luigi blinnked a few times in awe, the duo still gaping at the giant as Aelfryth and Ban corraled them into the tavern. "Ah, Hello! Welcome to the-!" Elizabeth's cheery welcome was cut short when she spotted the young guests. "L-lady Alfie? Sir Ban? Who are they?" Elizabeth asked, Meliodas and Hawk also turned around to observe the children. "What's up with them? Meliodas asked with a pointed finger. "They're hungry." Alfie led Luigi and Ellen over to a table and sat them down.
"I tell you to keep an eye out on things and you come back with a couple of kids?" Meliodas asked, scratching the back of his head. "These kids are the only things left in this village,captain." Ban defended the pinkette, Elizabeth kneeling down to the young ones' height and speaking to them softly with a smile.
"That reminds me…" Meliodas trailed off as he looked to Ban for a hard second before suddenly appearing before him and boking the taller man on the head with a beer mug. "Ow" the blue haired man said plainly with a frown. "That's for running off after Alfie and skimping out on work." the captain said simply. "It wasn't really skimping out on work, I have to start cooking anyways." Ban shrugged and moved off towards the kitchen.
"So besides them, did you discover anything else?" Meliodas asked his pink haired chief. "Well...not really but I think if the Necropolis had to be anywhere then it is near by." Aelfryth admitted."You guys are trying to get into the Necropolis too?" Luigi asked, over hearing the conversation.
"What do you mean, too?" Diane asked from outside the tavern window. "There's a boy who hangs around here saying that he needs to get into the Necropolis and is always asking us questions but there's only so much we can tell him before our knowledge runs out on the matter" Ellen informed. "I thought you said that they were the only ones in the village?" Meliodas looked to Alfie.
"Oh we are." Luigi answered for the woman, " He just comes around pretty frequently." the boy said. "Do you know who he is?" Elizabeth asked but was met with dual head shakes. "No, but we can tell you what we've told him." the young boy said.
"The Necropolis is for the land of the dead. They say there are different ways to get in but the only way we know of is by presenting precious memories to the dead and then from there on they'll allow you into the capitol." Luigi recited. "But really even then it's not for certain that entry will be granted." Ellen spoke, " If the dead don't want you there then you won't be allowed in." she warned.
Entry isn't granted easily, huh? Aelfryth looked off to the side in thought. It was fair enough, spirits could be picky and if she had to force herself in then so be it. "So how do we get into a place where we won't be wanted?" Hawk asked the question hanging over everyone's head.
It was silent for a few moments before Aelfryth broke it with a sigh, "I think I may know a way to get in." she admitted slowly. "Huh? Really?" Diane asked, backing up temporarily when Alfie pushed open the window for her so the giant wasn't speaking through the glass.
"Well that's great, lady Alfie!" Elizabeth chirped excitedly, clasping her hands together. "We may be able to find sir King after all!" she smiled. "I said I can get in." the woman corrected, dampering the mood and causing many eyes to fall on her, "The rest of you will just have to wait until I return either alone or with King." Alfie stated. "Well hold on just a stinking minute." Ban called, appearing from the kitchen with four plates of food balancing on each of the length of his arms.
Hawk squealed, foaming at the mouth at the sight of such good looking and smelling food. Meliodas had to grab the large pig by his ear to keep him from charging into Ban and eating the food for himself.
"Why do you get to do all the dirty work?Alone at that?" the fox complained, setting the plates down before the children, Elizabeth struggled to keep her composure along with Hawk. She was used to Meliodas' horrid cooking but to have Ban's food flooding her senses - the princess couldn't blame the pig for his constant efforts to get to the food.
"Because I'll know what I'll be doing?" Alfie tried with a quirk of her brow but Ban only met her with an unhappy stare. "Which is what exactly?" Ban questioned, leaning against his closed fist on the table as the Luigi and Ellen dug into the food with fervor much to Hawk's dismay.
"Well if I told you it wouldn't be a secret now would it?" Alfie mimicked his actions and leaned in close. "And why does it need to be a secret?" the crimsion eyed man continued. "Because we can't have every person trying to pop into the Necropolis every hour of the day if they know how to get in." Aelfryth explained.
Narrowing his eyes, Ban and Aelfryth engaged in a miniature stare down until Meliodas spoke up. "I agree with Ban, you probably shouldn't go alone." the blonde said, causing a wide smirk to spread across Ban's lips and a frustrated scowl to go across Alfie's.
"Tch. Whatever." she scoffed with a jerk of her head and plopped down on chair, threw one leg over the other and looked away disinterestedly with a frown on her face. Sulking was the pinkette's admitted go to when she didn't get what she wanted.
"This guy you say that comes around a lot." Meliodas chimed. " What's he look like anyways?" he wondered. "Well he looks about your age," Luigi said around the food in his mouth " brown hair and eyes and he carries a big green pillow and a spear." multiple eyes widened at that between the snake, tiger, fox and dragon.
"That sounds like King!" Diane chirped merrily from outside. "So where is the tub of lard anyways?" Ban asked with a slight frown. "Well I don't know where he is now but he usually hangs around the edge of the village at the clearing. We can take you there if you'd like." Luigi offered. "Well that settles it, let's get to it then." Meliodas declared jovially, heading towards the door while Alfie remained seated.
"Let them eat." Alfie threw a cup at the blonde's head grumpily, pouting for a few more seconds before an idea hit her. Pushing herself to her feet, she wandered up behind Ellen and laid a hand atop of the little girl's head after making sure the others were thoroughly distracted by making the game plan to go to the Necropolis. "Just relax, sweet heart." she cooed when the girl twitched under her grasp.
"Do me a favor and don't say anything, just think about what we're looking for." Alfie whispered into the girl's ear, the palm atop of her head had then become enveloped in magic as she said this. Remaining calm, Ellen did as the blue eyed woman requested with ease - not paying any attention to the looks she gained from her brother.
Alfie loved her magical ability sometimes. It was so useful to have the thoughts of the child be revealed to her just because she willed it. After finding what she wanted, Alfie removed her hand and set off, patting Ellen's shoulder as she did so.
Slipping into the kitchen, Aelfryth snuck out the back door of the tavern and made her way towards he destination Ellen had pictured without so much as raising a single head of the others. "It really is too easy sometimes." Alfie shook her head in exasperation as she ran into the village.
"What's too easy?"
Aelfryth admittedly shreiked in fright at the sudden voice at her side, slowing down in the process. "Woah, take it easy scaredy cat." Melidoas chuckled, matching her pace. "Damn it Meliodas." Alfie cursed, holding a hand over her heart. "What the heck are you doing here, anyways?" Alfie asked, speeding back up. "You didn't really think I didn't notice you leaving after getting the information you needed from Ellen, did you?" the blonde grinned by her side.
"You may have been able to get away from the others, but you'll never be able to get rid of me." Meliodas proclaimed good naturedly as always. This caused an unhappy frown to fill the pinkette's face, turning to face forward once more. His statement had hit a little to close to home for the woman's liking. "You don't need to remind me." Alfie uttered.
Smile dropping, the dragon sin actually took on a expression that differed from his usual goofy and carefree one. Switching his trajectory, Meliodas successfully tackled the blue eyed sin - the force of the hit sending the two of them crashing through some houses and walls until they finally came to a stop in a pile of rubble and smoke. Coughing, Alfie took a moment to catch her breath that had been successfully knocked out of her.
"What the fuck is your problem?!" the woman demanded, beginning to push herself into a sitting position but was forced down immediately afterwards. Two calloused hands had her wrists pinned above her head as a smaller but powerful body sat atop of her. Steely green eyes bore down into Aelfryth's baby blue ones unrelenting. "Get off me." the woman growled lowly, tensing under his deceptively strong frame.
"What's the matter with you?" she demanded a second later. "I could ask you the same." Meliodas mumbled. "You just tackled me out of no where, you don't get to ask me that." Alfie said pointedly.
"You think I don't know when something's wrong with you, Aelfryth?"
The sudden use of her name effectively silenced the woman. "I know every thing about you. There's not a second of your life that I don't know. I know every thought that flows through your mind." his hand reached up and two fingers pressed into her right temple not to hard but firm enough for her to get the point.
" I know every inch of your body." one of her wrists had been freed so the dragon sin could drag his fingers down face and along the length of her body within reach. "And I know every emotion that you feel." his hand then reach up and rested over her heart.
"There's nothing you can hide from me." the distance of their faces were now incredibly close. The woman can feel every exhale of breath on her face that he took. "None of this should be surprising really considering how long we've known each other." Meliodas said softly. "I'll kill you." Alfie whispered, her eyes never wavering away from his own. "I know." the blonde answered.
" I'll tear you apart, limb from limb-"
"I know."
"And bathe in your blood-"
"I know"
"as your corpse rots away under the sun on the battle field-"
"I know"
"And kill anyone who gets in my way"
"I believe every word you say and have complete faith that you'll do it." Meliodas said genuinley, stroking the side of her face - his thumb rubbing the tiger symbol on her neck. "It's not like you haven't done it before." he chuckled humorously and then did something that he hadn't done in years…..
He kissed her.
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A/N: I promise the next chapter will be up a lot sooner! Thanks for reviews