Too many memories.
Painful and pleasurable.
Ones that increased her blood lust and ignited a flame in her lower belly.
"~O-o-ohh Mel!~
"Come out and face me, Meliodas! Or will you continue to let your friends be slaughtered because of your cowardice?!"
She had to make it stop. Her mind and body were at war with each other as the woman had returned his affections the man had descended down upon her but her mind was tearing itself apart because of it.
She had enough.…..
Yet her freed hand pulled him in for more, deepening the kiss.
Enough…
Meliodas released her other wrist and grasped her jaw in a possessive and dominating way, knowing the effects it had on the woman - smirking without fail when the woman beneath him began to rub her legs together to release some of the tension that had been building.
….Enough!
Biting down on his lower lip as hard as she could, Alfie reveled in the crimson metallic liquid that slunk into her own mouth in response from puncturing his lip with her teeth. Sucking in air, Meliodas jerked away sharply, throwing himself off of the woman and holding his sleeve to his mouth. However Aelfryth was all over Meliodas in an instant, pinning the small blonde underneath her and holding a blade to his throat firmly.
Staring up at her panting form, Meliodas couldn't resist the grin that stretched across his lips. "You're going to need more pressure than that If you're going to slit my throat." He said aloofly.
The pink haired woman narrowed her eyes and took the blonde's advice, pressing the blade down hard enough until blood pooled beneath the blade and ran down either side of his throat. "That's better." Meliodas praised. "You've doomed me to an eternity of suffering." Aelfryth murmured, her voice cracking with emotion. "Why won't you just die so I can too?" a tear rolled down her cheek, causing Meliodas to sober a bit.
"I wish I could." he murmured back to her, reaching up and brushing away a stray tear even though it caused the blade to sink further into his neck. "I hate seeing you suffer." the blonde haired captain said truthfully, "And I wish I could relieve you of your suffering...but I don't know how myself."
Huffing, Alfie increased the pressure a little more, the blade now buried in his flesh but she didn't jerk her arm to deliver the final blow. "Why won't you do it?" Meliodas asked. Before she could give an answer though, the duo heard the familiar voices of the others sounding in the near by distance. "Because they're near by?" the man asked. "That's never stopped you before….or is it because you know I'll come back anyways?" he wondered.
"Shut up." Alfie whispered, taking a moment to think to herself before removing her grip from the blade and sheathed the sword. Lifting a wrist to her mouth, Alfie bit into the flesh of her skin so hard that the skin broke and blood began pouring out. Lining up his neck with the leaking blood, Alfie watched as her blood and his mixed and merged with each other until the wound across his throat began to close and leave no trace of it being there outside of the blood stains on his skin.
Leaving the blonde to clean himself up. Alfie lifted herself off of his smaller frame and stood to her feet. She hesitated, but the woman ultimately offered a helping hand to the blonde using his sleeve to wipe the blood away.
Meliodas blinked at the sight but then soon his child like demeanor returned and he was all smiles and chuckles again as he usually was. Accepting the hand, Meliodas allowed the woman pull him to his feet and began to brush himself off. When the blonde had looked up, he had seen that Alfie wouldn't meet his eye.
"We're going to have to figure something out." he stated evenly. "The others are bound to catch on that something isn't right between us." he warned Aelfryth couldn't help the scoff that escaped her lips. "Yeah, Ban's already figured that much out." she informed. Lifting a hand to his chin thoughtfully, Meliodas began to think of possible solutions but his thoughts had been brought to a screeching halt when Alfie suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I suggest you either get me drunk off my ass from here on out or we find Gowther as soon as possible." she offered before moving off in the direction where she had last heard her companions. Wasn't that something. Despite her magical ability, Alfie couldn't use it against herself to free herself of the memories. "How come sleeping together is never an option?" Meliodas asked innocently, following after.
" Why are you always asking?" Alfie shot back. " Well, you were my first." the blonde said with a grin but was met with a deadpan look. "First human woman." Meliodas amended but when her expression didn't change, he kept going,
"First human woman hybrid"
….
"That I actually liked"
….
"Sober."
The pink haired woman's deadpan dropped enough to grant the man a huff of laughter and that's all he received, but Meliodas would take what he would get. "Don't kiss me anymore either." Alfie abruptly stated, suddenly remembering what had happened moments before. "It's only going to cause problems." she stated. "You weren't complaining just minutes before." Meliodas pointed out and got his cheek pinched in return.
"I said what I said, Meliodas." Alfie grumbled. "Alright, alright. I hear you." The blonde conceded, rubbing his cheek though the devious look in his eye didn't bother to disappear. It took a few seconds for the pinkette to actually take notice but once she felt wind drift in between the slit in her skirt, her eyes widened. "MELIODAS!"
The blonde haired captain leapt out of range of her back handed swipe with a hearty laugh and began to run away from the raging woman. "You cretin! When did you even take my underwear?!" Aelfryth demanded as she chased after the short male. "Don't pretend like it really bothers you~" Meliodas winked, dodging out of the way of a thrown sword.
Without pause, Alfie summoned the weapon back to her side and continued to chase after the blonde with no real idea on where he was going since she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. However when the man came to a sudden stop at the edge of the village, it was far too late for Alfie to slow herself and she inadvertently sent to two tumbling into a field of flowers. "Ouch" the woman hissed rubbing her head after she shoved Meliodas' frame off of her. "A little more warning next time, would ya?" she asked.
"You should pay more attention." Meliodas quipped in return, watching as Ban appeared behind the woman and helped her to her feet. Diane, Elizabeth and Hawk were approaching the field a bit behind the fox sin. "Well, I guess this cuts our search for you guys short." Ban said plainly. "Sir Meliodas, what's that on your sleeve?" Elizabeth asked once she reached his side, catching sight of the blood stain.
"Nothing to be too worried about, I just got some red dye on it earlier, that's all." Meliodas brushed off the concern. Ban and Hawk however, having the sharpest noses knew otherwise. They could smell the blood on his sleeve and while Hawk didn't notice Aelfryth's slight furrow of the brow in guilt - Ban did. Brushing herself off, Alfie casually looked around and blinked in surprise.
"Holy hell." she murmured, "This is it." the woman realized. "What's it?" Hawk asked. "This is the gate to the Necropolis." Alfie stated, recalling the image pulled from Ellen's declaration sent the group into a surprised state, all individually looking around curiously. "This is it? But there's nothing here." Diane frowned, twirling one of her pig tails. "Nothing but these flowers anyways." Hawk walked forward and sniffed at one pointedly.
"No, this is it." Alfie said for certain. "If that's true then all that's left is to share memories with the dead, that's what Ellen and Luigi said isn't it?" Elizabeth wondered. " That and hope the dead actually hopes they let us through." Ban mentioned pessimistically though a split second after the fox sin had said that, a whirl of wind and flower petals had enveloped the group to the point where they couldn't see outside the vortex anymore.
The group of five had been entrapped in the vortex for a good thirty seconds before it suddenly disappeared, depositing them into a world with a yellow sky and green crystals all over the place. "Well I guess that's that then." Meliodas blinked, taking in the environment. "Who triggered the gate to open I wonder." Elizabeth mused but instead listening for a reply, Alfie found herself tensing.
That same presence from before was with them and this time she wouldn't ignore it. Unsheathing Jericho's sword, Aelfryth threw then magic covered blade with ferocious strength at a crystal behind them. The strength of the throw had sliced the crystal clean in half and at the same time thoroughly gotten everyone's attention. As predicted, a small figure darted out from behind the crystal to avoid the attack and into the open, floating in the air.
"Who the heck is that?" Ban frowned with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "How did he get here?" Hawk asked as well. "Hey wait a minute..." Diane said with narrowed eyes as she scrutinized the floating figure. "It's King! Hi King!" the giant greeted merrily. "If he's here, doesn't that mean he's dead?" Hawk attempted to whisper to Elizabeth but he had been heard by the others with ease.
Scoffing with a heavy frown, Ban shot down the possibility. "There's no way that scrawny brat is King. You may have never met him before master, but even you should at least have known that just by looking at his wanted poster." Ban chided. "But sir Meliodas doesn't look like his poster…" Elizabeth frowned.
The fairy like child watched with cold indifference to the conversation before him. Sliding his eyes over to the pink haired woman who had sensed him in the first place, "Your awareness to your surroundings is as annoying as always, Aelfryth." King said coldly. " You were always our eyes and ears back in the day, always watched our backs...a true friend and comrade"
The pink haired woman in question remained silent. " Or so I thought." King glared. "I've come to realize that you only were a friend when it suited you and I can tell that it hasn't changed a bit." he accused. "King, what are you talking about?" Diane questioned the fairy, upset at what he had said. "I don't know who you are you little punk, but listen up!" Ban jumped in, "You've got it all wrong about Al' and if you put her name in your mouth one more time, you're going to be sorry!" the fox snarled.
"If you were a true friend…" King continued to stare down Aelfryth, ignoring Ban. "You would of done something about the Fairy King's Forest all those years ago. I don't know where you went after we split up but the least you could of done was seek vengeance for all the innocent lives lost in that forest - plant and fairy alike. I know you must have heard about its' destruction and what was stolen right before its down fall." he stated as fact.
"And who would you have me go after in retribution?" Alfie finally spoke, slowly at that. "The man to blame of course." King answered, his spear flying into his grasp. "And he's closer than you think. In fact...he's standing right beside you." the brown haired fairy stated harshly. Aelfryth didn't bother to look over at Ban like the others did, she settled for continuing to frown at the floating fairy.
"Sir Ban had something to do with the destruction of the Fairy King's forest?" Elizabeth echoed, eyes concerned and confused. "But..." she trailed off unhelpfully, showing her hesitance to believe the accusation despite knowing the man for a short amount of time. "You got a big mouth kid," Ban now frowned unhappily. "And you talk about a lot of shit you don't know anything about." the glimmering red coloring of his fox like eyes narrowed into slits as he said this.
"On the contrary, I know all there is to know." King said plainly, the grip on his spear tightening. "The greedy human budded Ban the Theif destroyed the Fairy King's forest, killing the guardian of the fountain of youth and obtaining eternal life for himself as he drank from the fountain….I've always wondered about your immortality but I can't believe I never put the pieces together." King glared.
It was silent for a long moment as a sudden wind blew around through the group, rustling clothes and hair alike. "Knowing that, Aelfryth, the Tiger's sin of Revenge…" King broke the silence. " What will you do?" the fairy implored. Exhaling a deep breath of air with shut eyes, the pink haired woman held out a hand, magic coating it as she re-summoned the sword she had thrown at King earlier.
When the weapon flew into her hand, the others tensed momentarily when she rose it as if to strike at the man by her side but then relaxed when the blade went back into its sheathe. "Nothing. No wrong has been committed against me." Alfie told her old friend. "This beef, is between you and him." she then looked to King.
The fairy warrior was pissed to say the least. "I should of known better than to expect anything different out of you." King spat. "You always defended that despicable monster no matter what he did. You're just as bad as he is when you do that." Alfie frowned at this. "Now that wasn't nice." she murmured and was shocked when Ban was suddenly launching himself into the air after the floating fairy.
"I told you already kid, keep her name out of your mouth and shut the hell up already!" Ban yelled, attempting to back hand the brown haired runt out of the sky but the attack had been dodged eloquently, forcing Ban to make a landing atop a giant crystal. "You haven't changed a bit." King narrowed his eyes onto the blue haired male. "You always used to hit me out of the sky like that."
Hearing this, Ban inwardly realized that the kid really was the grizzly sin. How annoying. Before he could respond though, Ban found himself dodging out of the way of the floating spear with seemingly a mind of its own. The force of the spear shattered the crytal the man had previously been on before he leapt away - and continued to force the man to leap away in order to avoid being impaled.
"Hey! Cut it out you two!" Diane shouted annoyed but when the two males failed to cease their fighting, she turned sharply to the dragon and tiger. "Shouldn't you two at least try to stop them?" she asked irritated. "Mmmm...it looks like they have a score to settle like Alfie said earlier. I say we leave them to it." Meliodas proclaimed.
"But what if they go too far?" Elizabeth fretted, worrying about how angry the small brown faired boy seemed to be and his thirst for blood. "It's law, doll face." Alfie piped up, drawing attention."The fifth law of the sins to be specific. If two sins have a problem with one another then it is to be resolved with a fight. We stay out of it and return to the world of the living." she stated.
"King's out for blood though." Diane mentioned, the sounds of the duo fighting ringing in their ears in the background. "Doesn't matter, it's not like Ban can die." the pink haired woman stated. "But King can!" Diane cried, stomping a foot. "We have to stop them. It's law!" Diane threw the chief's words right back at her. "Law number six of the sins. If two sins are in a fight to the death then the others have to do all they can to stop the fight- even if it means killing the winning party." the giant recited.
"Then go break it up." the pinkette quipped. "Hawk, Elizabeth." she barked, "We're going back. We need you two out of the way, Ban and King can get out of control when they fight." Alfie said with little room for argument. "So soon?" a new voice joined the conversation, startling the group of five. Turning, they were greeted with the sight of a slim, black haired woman with a thin sword at her side and her eyes remained closed.
Her voice freaked Aelfryth out if she had to be honest, it was robotic. "It would be such a shame if you left so soon after I had just arrived." the woman said, holding a hand over her heart and bowing a bit. "My name is Guila, a crystal ranked holy knight and I've been searching far and wide for those known as the eight deadly sins. As you can see, I'd be willing to travel to the ends of the universe to find you." she smiled.
"Congrats." Alfie said flatly. "Thank you, much appreciated." Guila smiled and drew her blade, pointing the rapier at the group threateningly. "If I am correct then you three are Diane, Meliodas and Aelfryth. The serpent, dragon and tiger sins respectively with Meliodas and Aelfryth being the leaders of the group. I see that I've made quite the discovery." the smile on her face only grew though it faltered when Ban suddenly came crashing into the ground near the group.
"Oh?" Guila said curiously at the sight. "Ow." Ban grumbled, bloodied though there was no real concern for his well being since he was woundless. "You must be Ban the Undead, the Fox sin." Guila assumed, King arriving short after she said this. None missed how the fairy floated by the holy knight and made no move against her, and it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. King and Guila were allies...how annoying in the point of view of the tiger sin.
"Who the heck is she?" Ban asked, sitting up. "A holy knight." Meliodas supplied nonchalantly. "Oh. You gonna take her sword too Al?" Ban finally pushed himself to his feet. "Maybe." the blue eyed woman shrugged. "To my understanding, you've collected swords from a holy knight and an apprentice who you deem unworthy of them." Guila said, "I can assure you that is not the case with me. Would you like a demonstration?" she asked though she wasn't really seeking permission.
"Not really, but I feel like you're going to show me anyways." Alfie mused. "Indeed, please come at me with all you have. I've been looking forward to battling the rumored true leader of the deadly sins. " Guila beckoned the other woman forward with her free hand. "You know, I'm starting to sense a recurring theme here." Aelfryth scratched her cheek, pausing momentarily before plopping her butt against a crystal.
Not too long after she had done that, King and Ban had suddenly leapt back at one another, no doubt the fairy was the first to fly forward and it's what caused Ban to retaliate. With those two pre-occupied with one another, Alfie turned to the holy knight in particular and studied the dark haired woman for a long moment. "I have no interest in fighting." the pinkette declared honestly at the end of her evaluation.
"But we do," Meliodas grinned, jumping in front of Alfie with Diane on his heels. "So if you want to fight Alfie, you'll have to get through us first." he declared. "How inconvinient." Guila frowned momentarily before recovering. " But very well. I accept your challenge Meliodas and Diane of the eight deadly sins." she stated strongly.
That's all that was needed to be said before a battle commenced and Aelfryth had to admit that the black haired woman had some speed on her from the way she dodged and weaved around attacks sent at her by the dragon and serpent alike. She apparently had some strength behind her as well when Guila sent Meliodas soaring through the air with a well timed kick and surprisingly Diane was quick to follow only a few minutes into the fight.
"Oh wow" Alfie blinked in appreciation of the attacks. Not just anyone could send a giant flying. "Are you kidding me?!" Hawk squealed in disbelief at the sight as well, "Just how strong is this lady?" he wondered. "There. Now will you fight me?" Guila asked of the blue eyed woman. "Mmmmmm." Alfie pretended to think for a minute before ultimately shaking her head childishly and took off towards the direction Guila had sent her companions.
"Why will you not fight, Aelfryth?" Guila called not far behind the sin. "I attacked your comrades, my actions call for retaliation do they not?" she asked of the pinkette. "It can be considered so yes," Alfie acknowledged, she certainly had retaliated over less in the past. "But have no fear-I'll get my revenge sooner or later if not today." the woman assured, catching sight of Dane's hulking form on the ground up ahead.
"Get up, Diane. You're not hurt." Alfie said unsympathetically upon arrival. Sitting up, it had been revealed that Meliodas had been holding the giant up by his self in order to stop her from being impaled by a crystal from the looks of it. "Brutal as always, chief." Diane pouted, getting to her feet. "Hurry up and kick her ass, you two. Don't let her knock you around like that." Alfie hyped up the tag team fighters, Hawk and Elizabeth arriving not long after- the princess riding on the pig's back.
"Indeed." Guila joined in as she arrived before the group. "Let us finish this battle with most haste. I am eager to fight the tiger sin." she insisted. Glaring, Diane molded her hands into hand signs before slamming them into the ground. "Keep on dreaming, the cheif won't be fighting the likes of you." Diane said with a smirk, watching as Guila suddenly began sinking into the ground at a frightening rate.
"Oh?" Guila too noticed this and looked down to find herself sinking into a sand pit that materialized out of no where. "Is this an ability of the giant clan? Or of your own accord?" the knight asked.
"Of the giant clan. We can turn minerals into sand." Diane answered, watching as the knight was neck deep in sand now. "I see. Very informative." Guila managed to say before disappearing beneath the grainy material completely. The sins held their breath as they waited to see what happen in the next handful of seconds and none of them had been disappointed.
Guila burst forth from the trap, eyes widening - Diane broke off a chunk of crystal next to her and launched it at the woman. Without flinching, Guila brought her sword forth and set off an explosion in which the crystal shattered like glass. Meliodas was hot on the knight's tail though and attacked Guila straight out of the sky with relentless attacks.
When the duo had finally stopped jumping from crystal to crystal and exchanging blows, Meliodas had sent the woman onto the ground and dropped her onto a solitary knee - attempting to stave off the blonde with her brute strength and sword. "Why do you not use your sword, Meliodas? Your strength is quite formidible as they say but I am willing to bet it would be even greater with a blade." Guila noted factually before jumping away to create some distance between them before charging forward again.
"You want me to use my blade? Well okay, if you say so." Meliodas grinned as she approached, reaching back for his own weapon. Within seconds Alfie watched as Meliodas sent Guila's attack right back at her with the twice the power delivered though much to her surprise, Guila was able to shake it off as if it were nothing.
Impressive.
Narrowing her eyes on the dark haired knight, Alfie took it upon herself to interfere in the fight. "Hey!" Aelfryth's voice cut through the air, causing all to still in place and look to the woman. "Back off." the pinkette said, motioning to Meliodas and Diane with a hand, walking forward to approach Guila. "You're jumping in?" Meliodas asked at the same Diane gave a protest of her own. "But chief!"
"Cht!" Alfie shushed the duo and turned back towards Guila. "Four times." the woman declared, confusing Guila but Diane and Meliodas knew exactly what she was speaking about. "Better keep your distance." Diane trilled, barely managing to get out the warning before Alfie suddenly disappeared and reappeared infront of the female knight. Guila coughed up blood when she was struck in the gut by the tiger, her bare knuckles the culprit of the attack.
"One." Aelfryth's cold and detached voice resonated through the city of the dead and just as quickly as she had done before, the tiger struck the knight again but this time in a different spot - her left side in the upper chest area. "Two." Guila had never this type of pain before in her life, and the fact that she had been rendered into such a state with only two hits was mind boggling.
"Three" Guila braced for the third attack but it never came. Instead of dwelling on it, she collapsed onto her knees- the holy knight curled in on herself, holding her stomach and struggled for breath as she vomited up blood.
"What a shame." Alfie tisked. "If you were able to take Meliodas' full counter then I thought you would last past two hits. You're no different than any other holy knight who wants to fight me." she looked down at the woman disinterestedly. "That attack..." Elizabeth said with widened eyes, "It's the same one she used on Gilthunder and left him unable to move." she recalled. "It makes you wonder why she bothers to use swords when she can bring people down with only a couple of hits." Hawk commented as well.
"W-what did you-?" Guila began to ask through the pain. "What did I do?" Alfie assumed, holding her hands behind her back and bending at the waist to get a closer look at the woman. "Well your pancreas and left lung each took a crippling hit, it certainly would explain the pain in your gut and the difficulty to breathe wouldn't it?" the woman asked with a tilt of her head.
"If you can't fight your way through a little pain such as that then how do you expect to fight me seriously? Not at all from the looks of it." Alfie quirked a brow. Gritting her teeth, Guila tightened her grip on her sword and was quick to fire off an explosion straight to the woman's face despite the pain she felt in her frame. "Chief!" Diane cried. "Al!" Meliodas followed after, the duo waiting in suspension for the smoke to clear.
Once it did, the duo was surprised. There still Alfie in the same position as she was before Guila had attacked, "Oh my." the pinkette blinked, feeling a tingling sensation over come her frame in random locations where she was injured from the blast. "You've got a temper on you. Have I hit a nerve?" Alfie smirked as her healing factor kicked in right before the holy knight's eyes. It was a shame nothing could be done about her clothes at the moment though.
"What a pity."
A strangled sound escaped from Guila's throat when the tiger sin had suddenly lifted grabbed the knight by her face and lifted the ravenette clear off the ground. "Try again though, really. Put more effort into it." Aelfryth asked of the knight. "I want you to do it" her eyes glowed as her desire was hissed lowly.
Guila was helpless to stop her arm from rising between them though it was clear she was trying to fight off the magical hold over her form from the way her arm shook with exertion. Within seconds though, an explosion went off between them at point blank range.
"Again."
…..
"Again."
…..
"Again."
With each explosion that went off, the sin's clothes continued to get tattered and ruined but the wounds on her body healed with no problem. Having no healing factor of her own, Guila didn't have such a luxury.
"Your magic is unique, "I'll give you that." Aelfryth acknowledged, " but your still no match for me - let alone any of the other sins when they truly try. You have a long way to go Holy Knight Guila Come find me when you get much stronger." the woman stated and clenched her hand around the woman's face - a sickening crack resonating through the air.
Elizabeth gasped and covered her mouth as if she were going to be sick and expected to see Guila drop dead when Alfie released her. But to the group's surprise, she just completely disappeared before she hit the ground. "I can't feel Guila's presence anymore." Diane said a bit unsurely. "That's because she was only here in spirit." Alfie answered, turning towards the others.
"She put herself into a near death state to get here...and it's how I was going to get here too instead of sharing memories with the dead before you all decided to tag along." she explained and took a deep, calming breath. "Now let's go find Ban and King." the pinkette grinned cheerfully with a wink and headed back towards where she could feel their magical energies clashing.
Aelfryth would be lying if she said it was easy to ignore the desire to not grab Meliodas as she passed him and break his skull as she did to Guila. "I don't know about you guys, but Alfie never fails to scare me out of my giblets." Hawk commented shakily, trotting after the pinkette with his companions. "No question about it." Meliodas agreed quietly.
0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.
"This is getting pretty old King." Ban complained as he dodged out of the way of another attack, coughing up blood when he was impaled by one of the fairy's many knives from behind that he didn't see coming.
"I agree! Let's hurry it up, I want a drink!"
The fox smirked at the call while his opponent scowled. When Ban noticed their new audience watching but keeping their distance, he figured the holy knight that had arrived with King had been taken care of. "You don't even know the whole story, why are you set on killing me or whatever when you're missing details?" the man asked. "Be quiet." King glared, waving two fingers in the air and drawing a symbol - the knife running through Ban's back suddenly turned into King's beloved Chastifold in its spear form.
"You can't talk your way out of this one. As I said before, I know all that there is to know about that day." the grizzly said resolutely. "Spirit Spear Chastiefold: third configuration- fossilization!" King cried.
"Huh?"
"Oh boy." Alfie frowned, watching as Ban began to turn to stone before them. "He's becoming a statue!" Hawk gaped. "You can fix that with your magical ability, can't you lady Alfie?!" Elizabeth looked over at the pinkette frantically though the woman remained silent. "Are you watching Elaine? This is all for you." King smiled, looking up longingly.
"Who the heck is Elaine?" Meliodas wondered himself with a frown. "If you have any last minute confessions then I'll hear them." King could be heard saying as the fossilization neared its completion. "If he doesn't think he did anything wrong, then what is there to confess to?" Alfie murmured to herself and just as she suggested, Ban remained silent. The fox merely offered up a smirk to the fairy as the final bits of stone finished enveloping him. "No words of regret?" King noted and then scoffed,
"That's just like you. At least Elaine can rest easy now after everything that happened." he murmured and looked to the one person who may be able to break Ban out of his eternal prison.
Her pink hair pooled around her legs from her sitting position on the ground, but when she rose her hair danced around her waist. Tensing, King held out a hand and Chastiefold flew into his grasp. "Don't you dare make a move towards him." King barked knowingly. " He deserves to suffer for all eternity!" he shouted. "Fine." Alfie narrowed her eyes slightly but made no move towards Ban or King as demanded of her.
Instead, her eyes slid over to a cluster of yellow lights that manifested out of thin air. Noticing her diverted attention, King too looked back at Ban and gaped slightly. "No...no…. What are you doing?!" the fairy screamed, watching as the lights danced across Ban's frame momentarily before retreating once more. Where the lights touched, did cracks appear and spread all over the fossilized Ban until the petrification broke completely.
"You did it, lady Alfie! Sir Ban is free again!" Elizabeth cheered but the woman in question remained neutral at the sight. After all… she hadn't done anything. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?! " King yelled hysterically, flying towards the sin at an incredible speed, Chastiefold right beside him. "The audacity of some people." Aelfryth murmured with a glare, hand grasping a sword at her hip in preparation to strike the fairy down as he grew closer and closer.
"King."
Wide brown eyes stared into blue eyes in disbelief as a feminine voice drew the fairy to a halt, moments before reaching Alfie. "Elaine?" King muttered softly and turned around to see the floating lights still there next to Ban. "Is that you, Elaine?" King asked louder and flew towards the lights, forgetting his anger towards Ban and Alfie alike. Ban rubbed the back of his head with an unreadable expression on his face and walked away from the very thing that had saved him, passing by King without a glance.
"I don't know about you guys, but I've had my fill of this place." the fox said upon arrival. " I second that!" Hawk agreed eagerly. "But what about sir King?" Elizabeth asked with a worried glance thrown in the fairy's direction. "Never you mind him, he has some business to settle here." Ban patted her head comfortingly. "Al'" he then whined somewhat. "I wanna go back to the tavern." the crimsion eyed man looked to his friend.
"You and me both." the pinkette sighed heavily and no later had she said this, did the group of six begin to glow an errie yellow light. " Looks like the Necropolis has just about had it with us" Alfie noted.
"Sweeet~"
Their re-entrance into the world of the living was one filled with releif. There had been too much action in the city of the dead for any of them. Hawk's scream of fright set off an alarm in everyone and had them looking to see what had set the pig off. "It's her! Guila's back!" he trembled but the knight showed no reaction to the declaration. "Oh." Alfie said in realization after a moment.
"It's okay Hawk. Guila's still trying to recover, virtually unconscious." she explained to the motionless knight who was frozen in place with her hand striking her heart. "I say we kill her while we got the chance." Ban said aloofly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Don't be barbaric." Alfie scolded. "We ought to leave her be and head out before she wakes up." the pinkette suggested, eyeing the rapier at her hip.
After a moment of thought, Alfie reached forward and claimed the blade as her own to add to her collection. "Now we can head out." the woman grinned to herself and sauntered away. "And they say I'm a thief." Ban hummed in amusement as he followed after. "But what about sir King?" Elizabeth fretted. "He'll catch up." Ban waved off the concern.
"We're bringing someone who sided with a holy knight that attacked us and who tried to kill you?" Hawk asked dubiously. "King only sided with what's-her-face to get to me, I asked him about it earlier during the fight. He never swore allegiance to them, and as for what happened between us - it's in the past now." Ban declared with a wave of his hand.
"But it literally happened less than 5 minutes ago."
"Past is past."
With this declaration, Alfie stopped in her tracks and held out her arms expectantly in general. "What?" Ban quirked a brow at her strange actions "Carry me, my feet are tired." Alfie requested, causing a grin to spread across the towering male's face. Just as Ban reached for the woman, Diane had flicked him away and scooped the woman into her hands herself. The force of the flick had effectively sent the fox flying into a near by wall of one of the many abandoned homes.
"Keep your hands off of her." Diane grumbled at the theif, as she brought Alfie up to her shoulder. "Do you want to be carried too Elizabeth?" Meliodas asked with a devious smirk and made grasping motions with his hands but the blonde had been punched into the ground by the giant a second later. "That goes for you too, captain!" Diane yelled, grabbing Elizabeth less gently than she did with Alfie and set the princess on her other shoulder and stomped off.
"My giant in shining armor." Alfie blinked lovingly up at Diane with a playful smirk. "And don't you forget it." the giant sniffed as Elizabeth silently looked back at where the two abused men had remained with a bit of concern though she remained silent on the matter.
"If sir King is coming with us, shouldn't we wait for him to return from the Necropolis?" Elizabeth asked. "Naaaahh, King can catch up. I mean it's not like we're the most discreet things traveling around the country." Alfie said carefree. "I suppose that's true." The princess murmured to herself as the giant continued on her way back to the tavern, leaving the men of the group to catch up on their own.
True to the tiger's word, they didn't stay in place at all the wait for King. Meliodas had gotten Momma Hawk up and moving immediately in order to put as much distance between them and Guila as much as possible before she woke up and broke free of her bonds that the blonde had taken it upon himself to wrap her in. Around sunset is when their traveling home finally stopped and near a pond at that. Once buried underground, the smaller occupants of the Boar Hat stepped out into the setting sun and began to make camp.
"Lady Alfie." Elizabeth called once the group had settled outside, food and ale going around at a healthy rate. " Hm?" The woman herself hummed in question. " I was just wondering…" the princess trailed off, " Diane told me back when you and sir Meliodas fought that you had a really powerful magical ability that let's you manipulate just about anything so long as you have the will to do so." she recalled.
"Ah-huh, what about it?" came the pink haired woman's response. "Well, if that's true - can't you just …. Just...will the holy knights to stop their plans for the kingdom and get them to stop hunting you all?" the princess questioned. The blue eyed sin let out a carefree laugh and pinched Elizabeth's cheek playfully. "Well aren't you cute and just pure of heart?" Alfie cooed before releasing the princess.
"I'm no goddess doll face, or magic genie." she laughed, "There's limitation to my magic just like everyone else has. On top of that there is a good portion of my magic that's been… in hiding so to speak." Alfie wiggled her jaw back and forth absently. "In hiding?" Elizabeth echoed, puzzled. "Once upon a time, I got into a fight with this really strong guy." Aelfryth began, paying no mind to how everyone's attention was on her at the moment.
"We fought for what seemed like forever - we kicked the crap out of each other but ultimately I won. That victory wasn't without its' downsides though, he did a number on me and I was hurt for a long time. After I healed, the extent of my magic was never the same. I know it's there, it's just…..hiding." Alfie finished lamely. "Well at least you killed the dumbass who fought you." Ban slurred.
His cheeks were rosy from the ale he had been drinking, Meliodas was deathly quiet at his side as he held his own mug of ale in hand. "Ohhhh~ he's not dead." Alfie smiled despite the statement, "He's still wandering around the place - I seen him not too long ago actually." she swirled her ale around absently.
"Someone lived through your revenge?"
The group collectively started at the new voice joining the conversation and turned to see King floating nearby with a slight blush on his cheeks at the sudden attention. "Heeyy, there he is~" Ban grinned wolfishly, his proclamation being followed by other greetings thrown the fairy's way by the sins.
"Come sit and drink with us King, this little party is for you after all!" Diane chirped excitedly and forcibly grabbed the small knight around his middle and set him down soundly on the ground. Frazzled, King blinked twice before he suddenly found himself with a beer in one hand and a grilled fish in his mouth that had been roasted over the fire.
Recovering from the abruptness of what had just happened in the span of a short few seconds - King removed the fish from his mouth and took to floating again, Chastiefold settled under his rear in the air.
"Thanks Diane...You never answered my question, chief." King pressed. Fighting off a sigh, Al merely shrugged. "Eh, what can I say? It would make him the only one to survive. Have no fear though, I won't rest until he's dead and in the ground for good….and that, doll face, is my sin." Alfie finished, looking to the princess pointedly.
"Speaking of dead things, does this mean you two are good now?" Hawk looked to Ban and King, referring to their previous beef in the Necropolis. "Is that a talking pig?" King uttered to himself in bewilderment. " I was literally in the Necropolis with you!" Hawk shouted enraged. "Take it easy master~" Ban grinned lazily, "not everyone can be aware of your awesomeness from the get go." he then chugged his cup's contents.
"Master?" King repeated even more confused than before. "King meet Hawk. Hawk meet King. Hawk is our captain of the order of scraps disposal." Alfie explained for the fairy. "I see.." King said thoughtfully and then looked to the plump pig, "And to answer your question, yes. Ban and I are good...as good as we can be anyways." King nodded and then yelped when he had suddenly been snatched out of the air and into Ban's muscled chest much to the fairy's horror.
"Did you guys hear that? He forgives me! DRINKS ALL AROUD!" Ban laughed heartily, losing his balance and falling onto his back- taking King with him as he did so. "Get off me you big brute!" King flailed, somehow managing to keep his ale from spilling atop either one of them. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at the sight, but she did try and muffle her chortles but it didn't do much.
Standing to her feet at the same time King had managed to free himself from Ban, the brown haired boy had jumped a bit when Alfie rested a hand on his shoulder and to his surprise, he suddenly stopped floating - Chastiefold too. Landing on the ground with a jolt, King looked up into eyes that were glowing blue and paled. "Hehe~, uh chief?" he asked nervously through strained laughter.
"You wouldn't happen to take what happened earlier personally would you?" King squeaked, shivering when she grinned. "I'd take that as a yes." Ban chuckled, having pushed himself back into a sitting position and awaited eagerly for the scene to play out in front of him.
"I am entitled to retaliation King." Alfie sang, head locking the small fairy momentarily as she delivered a rapid barrage of punches to his head before launching King into the body of water nearby. The group burst into laughter at the fate of the poor fairy, not even feeling sorry for the male as he resurfaced a sputtering mess.
Swimming to shore King shook himself admittedly like a dog and began the process of attempting to wring out the water from his clothes. "Would you like me to fetch you some new clothes, sir King?" Elizabeth asked him. "No, that's alright. I suppose they could of used a wash anyways." King frowned and then looked to the green haired princess. "Who are you by the way?" he wondered. "That there is the third princess of Liones - Elizabeth." Hawk commented, munching on some food himself.
"Otherwise known as doll face." Alfie piped in before returning her attention to Diane who was trying to shove a massive fish down Meliodas' throat. "Cut it out Diane - you know that's way too big!" the woman scolded the giant who merely pouted in return but ceased her efforts.
"Thank you." Meliodas sighed deeply in relief but yelped when he received a harsh blow to the side of his head. Without looking up, the blonde frowned into his mug - feeling the glare burning into his skin as the pinkette moved past him to pull more barrels of ale from the tavern.
She needed to get drunk.
0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.
"There's no way. I'm not sleeping here!" King hissed at Hawk, Ban's snoring form mere feet away. "Well we have no where else to put you! Heck Alfie had to resort to sleeping in the attic!" Hawk snorted pointedly, unwaivering under the fairy's glare as they argued over sleeping arangements. "Then I'll stay outside with Diane." King sniffed but admitted squealed when he was suddenly grabbed and thrown onto the bed from behind.
Hawk blinked up in surprise at a hardly awake Ban, who had been the one responsible of such actions. "Big baby." the fox grumbled, stumbling around before managing to make his way out of the room. It took the towering man a while - and a lot of cursing too as he stumbled into the walls repeatedly until he finally managed to make his way into the hallway that lead to the attic.
Reaching up -and missing quite a few times- Ban managed to grab the dangling cord from the ceiling and gave a pull, yawning as he did so. Stairs dropped down from the ceiling flawlessly, allowing Ban to climb up into the desired resting location. Taking one stair at a time, the fox sin completed the task of entering the attic but didn't bother to pull the stairs back up - that was far too advanced for his state.
Maneuvering his way through the attic was much easier surprisingly since it was so empty and a bit more spacious than the hallways down below. Ban didn't even know he had found the bed until he tripped and landed on top of it soundly. "This feels nice~" he murmured sleepily and still drunk, appreciating the softness of the mattress. "What the hell are you doing?" Alfie asked quietly.
Unlike the fox, the woman had still been awake and alert at that before he had even made his way up here. "Sleeping," Ban mumbled before he wiggled his way towards the top of the bed so his head could rest on a pillow, falling into light snores.
Shaking her head at the sin, Alfie dropped it and turned to Meliodas who had been up there with her the whole time. "Now we definitely have nothing to talk about. Go to sleep." she hissed quietly.
"Alfie-" Meliodas tried but the pinkette wasn't having it. "Alfie nothing, I told you before what needed to happen. Gowther needs to be found and found now, that's all there is to say on the matter" she insisted, the blonde was ruining her buzz with this talk on trying to find a way to smooth things over that didn't end with his death. "Alright fine, I'll drop it." he frowned, making his way towards the stairs.
"Just to let you know, we're going to Vaizel next." Meliodas mentioned. "What for?" Alfie asked, admittedly curious. "It's where Diane's Giddeon is. and Vaizel is surrounded by woods- I know you didn't get to really look around this last town for Gowther because of me but you can go ahead and look around Vaizel - I'll leave you to it." Meliodas stated.
"..."
"Aelfryth." Meliodas sighed sadly, "We have nothing else left to go on. We need our sacred treasures anyways." he reasoned and after a moment, was met with a nod from the woman before she moved off for her bed silently. Hesitating as if he were going to say more, Meliodas thought it over before ultimately sighing and making his way down the retractable stairs.
It took a few moments for Alfie to slip into her night clothes but once she did, the woman sank into her bed with a deep sigh. The comfort of the mattress nearly lulled her to sleep just by being atop of it.
"Snuggle up buttercup~" the fox moaned near her ear and pulled her into his chest, meeting little resistance from the woman. "I don't know what your deal is with the captain but I'll kill him if he ever did anything to you to make you two like this~" Ban mumbled incoherently before drifting off into oblivion once more.
"Get in line bud." Alfie muttered, a blush on her cheeks from being pulled into such an intimate position with the man but allowed herself to relax and fall into a deep sleep safely cocooned by Ban's frame.
0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.0o.
A/N: Ta-Da! See it was sooner than last time...even if much didn't happen (Insert Sweat Drop here). Thanks for reviews!