Chapter 4: The immortal man of greed
(Baste prison: Ban's cell)
With half of the weird fangs departing to fight Meliodas, the whole prison was on guard should there would be an escape attempt by Ban, by since he went five whole years without any activity since capture, only two guards were standing in front of the captured knight's cell, and both guards were pretty bored out their minds.
"Why are we still here? Clearly no one thinks this guy is gonna escape." One of the guards spoke up.
"I wanna get out of here too, but someone's gotta keep an eye out. We were put here in case one of the seven deadly sins sneak in to break their buddy out." The other guard said which posed a question in the first guard's mind.
"Hey, wanna bet on who will win?" The guard asked, much to the confusion of the other knight. "The weird fangs or the seven deadly sins. They're fighting in town right now."
"That's not much of a bet. From what I heard, the sins are down to their captain and one other member, rumor is that their so out of touch is that they hired some kids to fight for them. Their clearly no match for active duty holy knights, so…" The second guard placed his bet.
"Well that's good news! Sounds like it oughta be fun!" A voice from inside the cell spooked the two guards as they turned to see a foot imprinted in the iron door and fell to the ground between the two knights as Ban walked out with a pair of metal spikes still impaled in his arms and several other holes in his body, which didn't seem to bother the man.
"N-no way!" One of the guards stammered in disbelief at the sight of the pincushioned Ban.
"Feels so good to walk around after all this time." Ban said as he cracked his neck and proceeded to stretch his arms and legs as the two guards drew their swords.
"Damn you! How did you get out of there?! And why now?!" One of the guards demanded.
"Isn't it obvious? I kicked the door down." Ban answered as he pulled out the metal spikes in his limbs without a twitch of pain, much to the terror of the two guards. "And as for why, it's because you were talking about some totally interesting stuff. You said HE was alive. Our captain."
"Hey, uh...Think you wanna take that break now?" One of the guards asked the other.
"Yeah, ice cream seems a little better than this." The other guard said as the two knights proceeded to run away in fear after dropping their swords in the ground while the holy knight, Jericho had arrived.
"What's all the commotion about?" Jericho questioned as stomped in.
"I don't know, ice cream break?" Ban answered for the now missing guards.
"Ban of the seven deadly sins. I don't know how you escaped from your cell, but return there at once!"
"How about some respect kid? I'm not sure about how you were raised, but is that any way to talk to a hero?" Ban questioned as he scratched his bread.
"I am an apprentice holy knight, you dare call me a kid? That's pretty disrespectful for a prisoner that's at death's door." Jericho said as she placed a hand on her sword and drew it before rushing at Ban and attacking him with lightning fast sword slashes that seemingly made contact.
"AHHHH!" Ban yelled, seemingly in pain as Jericho then appeared behind him and stealthed her sword. When Jericho turned around, expecting to see Ban on the floor dead, instead saw that the escaped prisoner was instead admiring his now shaved face. "Do you think I had you take off too much? Well it feels pretty good, so I guess I'm okay with it."
"You dodged my sword, even with all those injuries?" Jericho questioned how someone full of holes was able to dodge, let alone get a safe shave.
"Injuries? What are you talking about, huh?" Ban questioned as Jericho noticed that the escaped prisoner no longer had any holes in his body, with no sign of any scars either, save for the one on his neck.
"Impossible! Just a minute ago your limbs were full of holes from steel spikes that went through them!"
Just remember this kid. There's only one wound on me." Ban said as he pointed to his neck scar. "And it's this one right here, got it? So you can say injuries I get from that guy are a special case, I guess."
(Dalmally town)
After bringing back 's body to his clinic and covering him with a sheet, the group minus Elizabeth made preparations and went towards the edge of Dalmally town with baste prison in view at the end of the long road.
"Is that the prison?" Ryuko asked.
"It's gotta be, the bugs came from that direction." Sora said.
"Guess that's where we're heading then." Meliodas said as he twirled the dragon handle on his finger.
"So are we leaving Elizabeth behind? She hasn't come out since you carried that quack back to his clinic." Hawk asked.
"Don't be stupid, she's better off staying put in town. Besides, the holy knights over there in baste are after her. Geez, you really are stupid."
"You called me stupid twice! People who call stupid are stupid!" Hawk said.
"Then I guess that means you're both stupid." Ryuko said.
"Oof, she roasted you so bad, porky, that you can smell the bacon cooking on you." Meliodas said with a sight chuckle.
"She insulted you too! So that could be the smell of your own bacon cooking! " Hawk shot back.
"Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth called out as she ran up to the group, all tired out.
"Elizabeth? What are you doing here?" Sora asked as the princess tried to catch her breath.
"What did you run out here like that for?" Meliodas asked.
"For this." Elizabeth said as she held up the dragon handle's scabbard, all repaired from when Gilthunder slashed it. "I mended your scabbard for you while you were asleep. I can't really atest for the quality though."
"You're such a thoughtful girl." Hawk noted as Meliodas took the scabbard and wrapped it around him before placing the broken sword in it.
"Thanks. It looks like it's holding." Meliodas thanked Elizabeth for repairing his broken equipment.
"It sure does look great, better than new. Almost makes me want one." Sora said.
"Sora, you can make your keyblade disappear. What do you need one for?" Ryuko asked.
"Well you used to carry the scissor blade in a case."
"And that was before I figured out how to shrink it down." Ryuko made her point by taking out the scissor blade out of her pocket and twirled the shrunken weapon on her fingers to make a point as the scene froze and Sora looked at the audience.
"She makes a good point, but I still want something cool for saving the universe three times. Maybe I can convince Satsuki to buy us jetpacks" Sora said as the scene switched him flying through the air with a jetpack strapped to him.
"WHOOHOO!" Sora cheered with two thumbs up as the scene switched back to real time with Satsuki staring at the keyblade wielder with a raised eyebrow.
"Get whatever thinking out of your head, Sora." Satsuki said.
"How did you know?"
"I'm glad you like it, sir Meliodas. So on that note, off we go!" Elizabeth cheered as she passed everyone else. "I know I'm not a knight. But I'm gonna keep on fighting to protect too, so I can keep on protecting the kingdom and its people. So even if you were to die now, that wouldn't change things at all."
"Don't go killing us off yet." Meliodas said which made Elizabeth fluster.
"S-Sorry!" Elizabeth apologized as Hawk ran up to her.
"Elizabeth! How would you handle it if I died?" Hawk asked.
"Well, um..I'll try to move on."
"Elizabeth, that was like night and day." Hawk said with tears as Meliodas smiled at Elizabeth's return to her old self.
"You can rest easy, Hawk. If you end up dying, we'll make sure your meat doesn't go to waste." Meliodas said.
"Say what now?!"
"I think it's eventlable, porky. He's planning on eating you once you go to the great big pig pen in the sky." Ryuko commented.
"You guys really don't think that, do ya?" Hawk asked worried.
"It's the natural order." Satsuki answered as Hawk shivered.
"So, I guess we're off to save sir Ban?" Elizabeth asked.
"Not him." Meliodas said, much the other's surprise. "Think her name was Sennet, wasn't it? We gotta make sure to save the doctor's daughter first." He said as Elizabeth smiled at the former captain's plan.
"I'm glad we're going to save the doctor's daughter, but what about Ban?" Sora asked the group to begin walking down the road to the prison.
"Don't worry, once Ban hears we're coming, he'll probably bust himself out." Meliodas said as everyone else was confused at the statement.
"Wait, how long was this guy in prison again?" Ryuko asked.
"I think about...five years."
"You mean he could've gotten himself out, already?!" Ryuko shouted when something suddenly crashed in front of the group and caused everyone to go on guard as Sora summoned his keyblade and Meliodas reached towards the dragon handle.
"AH! Are we under attack?!" Hawk questioned as everyone looked forward to see a familiar giant foot and looked up to see the source of the rumble was Diane, who seemed to be in a trance.
"Diane? What the heck are doing way over here?" Meliodas asked as Diane continued to give a blank stare, until her eyes suddenly lit up and the giantess shook her head.
"What are you doing here? You should be in bed and trying to get a little rest. You know you shouldn't be outdoors like this." Diane said with concern, forgetting about her momentary trance.
"Forget about me for sec, are you doing okay?"
"What are you talking about? I feel fine."
"After you squashed all the bugs in Dalmally, you charged full speed ahead to baste prison." Hawk explained as Diane looked confused.
"Wait, I did?" Diane questioned as she tried to remember.
"You don't remember going towards the prison?" Sora asked, a little worried that something was amiss.
"What's wrong, lady Diane?" Elizabeth questioned.
"I can't put my finger on it, but something's not adding up. You really sure you're alright, Diane?" Meliodas asked.
"Uh...Yeah. My head's just a little fuzzy." Diane answered.
"Are you sure? Perhaps you've encountered a holy knight along the way." Satsuki suggested.
"I definitely would've remembered that."
"No, Satsuki's got a point. I've seen people's memories get messed around with by others." Sora agreed with the thought of Ansem the wise blocking out Roxas' memories of his past.
"I'm telling, all of you, I'm fine!" Diane insisted until the sound of a bell ringing struck a chord in her head and looked down to see the group had disappeared with a lone holy knight in their place.
"I am the holy knight, Ruin. Member of the weird fangs and destroyer of the seven deadly sins!" Ruin introduced himself as Diane put her guard up.
"There is a holy knight here! Captain! Protect the princess!" Diane said and then noticed the group's disappearance. "Captain? Wait, where did everybody go?" The giantess asked. But unbeknownst to Diane, the group was actually still present.
"Hey, what's going on with her?" Sora asked, confused at why Diane suddenly couldn't see them.
"It appears our suspensions were correct, Diane under some sort of influence." Satsuki said as Ryuko noticed Diane was raising her foot for a stomp.
"Uh, guys?" Ryuko called out to get the other's attention.
"Give the captain back, right now!" Diane demanded as she brought her foot down onto Meliodas, who dodged the stomp by jumping into the air, only to be struck by Diane's fist and sent flying some distance away.
"Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth shouted as she ran over to the former captain as he managed to get himself out the hole he was smacked into. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"He looks fine, but for some reason, Diane only attacked him." Sora said as Meliodas dusted himself off.
"She seems to think I'm a holy knight. But what the heck made you go berserk out of the blue in the first place like that?" Meliodas asked as Diane ignored him and stomped forward.
"Lady Diane! Sir Meliodas is right here!" Elizabeth pleaded while the giantess ignored her too.
"Come on! Your head can't be that thick!" Ryuko shouted.
"I'm gonna tell you here and now! I'm not losing to some holy knight!" Diane said as Meliodas noticed that her eyes had gone blank again.
"Those eyes, she can't see us at all, even if she wanted to." Meliodas said.
"So, she's under some sort of spell?" Sora asked as Meliodas nodded in confirmation.
""What are we supposed to do now?" Hawk asked as Meliodas grabbed Elizabeth and carried her over his shoulder as the group ran the opposite direction of Diane as the giantess started chasing after them.
(Music: Apprehension~2.5 ver~)
"We run for starters!" Meliodas said while running.
"I had a feeling you were gonna say that!" Hawk said while Diane smashed her fist into the ground, barely missing the group before attempting to swing a tree she uprooted at them.
"Are we gonna fight her?" Ryuko asked.
"No way! She doesn't even know what she's doing! YIKES!" Sora shouted as he barely managed to get away from a stomp from Diane.
"Fighting her is probably what the enemy wants! We need to figure out how to break the spell!" Satsuki said as the group noice two civilians on the road ahead, a man and a small boy with a cane with a bell attached to it.
"Crap! There are people around!" Hawk said.
"Hey! If you don't wanna die, then start running!" Meliodas shouted as the bystanders noticed Diane chasing the group and froze in fear before Sora and Ryuko grabbed the man and boy as Diane grabbed a boulder out of the ground and chucked it at the group, and created a cloud of dust upon impact, which caused the giantess to lose sight of her target when the dust clear and no one was around.
"You can't hide forever, holy knight! When I find you, I'm gonna twist open and pulizerze your armor right along with you!" Diane threatened while the group had managed to hide themselves underneath a cliff.
"I think we lost her for now." Sora said as he peeked over the cliff.
"Help us, please!" The man the group saved pleaded.
"What's going on here? Did something happen to lady Diane when she went to baste prison?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Well, whatever it was, really made her nuts." Meliodas said as he then handed Elizabeth the child they saved. "Look after kid, will ya?"
"Right." Elizabeth said as Meliodas went to look over the cliff with Sora.
"Any sign of Diane?" Meliodas asked the keyblade wielder.
"I think she's getting close!" Sora said as loud stomping could be heard getting closer to the group's hiding spot, and just when Meliodas was peeking his head over the cliff, he heard the sound of a bell ringing and looked up to see Ruin at the top of the cliff.
"Huh? Where did you come from?"
"I am the holy knight, Ruin. Member of the weird fangs and destroyer of the seven deadly sins!" Ruin introduced himself as Meliodas geared himself ready for a fight.
"Hey tall and gruesome. You're the one who casted that spell on Diane, aren't ya?" Meliodas questioned as Sora looked at him confused since could only see Diane at the top of the cliff.
"Meliodas, what's going on with you? Diane's the only one up there." Sora stated and then noticed that the former captain's eyes had gone blank like Diane's did before and realized that Meliodas had also fallen under a spell. "Oh no…"
"Hey, Sora! What's going on up there?" Ryuko shouted as the keyblade wielder slowly backed away from the two sins.
"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" Sora warned as he jumped away from Meliodas and Diane when they engaged in combat once Diane smashed her fist down on Meliodas when the former captain jumped into the air above the giantess.
"Now turn Diane back to normal!" Meliodas demanded as he drew the dragon handle and slammed it down on Diane's armored hand.
"This is hard to believe! But I think Meliodas is caught in the same illusion as Diane right now!" Hawk said.
"That means the caster must be nearby!" Satsuki said while Meliodas and Diane continued fighting and Sora ran down the cliff.
"Time to run again!" Sora said as he passed by the others.
"Don't need to tell us twice!" Ryuko said while she, Satsuki and the shepherd man followed the keyblade wielder and Elizabeth held on to the young boy with Hawk following during the fight, Diane had smashed her fist into the ground and unleashed a swarm of earth pillars like she did in town upon Meliodas as the pillars narrowly missed the group before they made it to a safe distance.
"Elizabeth! Keep those two safe, we'll try to stop Meliodas and Diane." Sora said as he summoned the hero's origin keyblade along with Ryuko and Satsuki drawing their weapons as well.
"Are you guys really gonna get in the middle of that? Either Meliodas will pulizerze ya, or Diane will stomp on ya!" Hawk said.
"Might as well cause a big enough racket to get attention, and we're damn good at that!" Ryuko said as she followed Sora and Satsuki towards the fight where Diane was attempting to stomp on Meliodas which the former captain was able to avoid until Diane's foot was suddenly frozen in ice by none other than Satsuki.
"This another trick of yours, holy knight?" Diane said as she struggled to get her foot loose while Meliodas jumped into the air in an attempt to strike, only for Sora to block the attack with his keyblade.
"Meliodas, stop!" Sora shouted as he pushed Meliodas back to the ground where Ryuko grabbed him from behind and put him into a headlock.
"Knock it off! You've done enough!" Ryuko said as Meliodas struggled to break free and broke her grip while Diane managed to break the ice that trapped her leg, and just when the fight between allies was about to continue, Elizabeth and Hawk along the shepherd and the young boy suddenly appeared.
"Both of you have to stop it! That's enough!" Elizabeth pleaded, which seemed to work as Meliodas and Diane's eyes suddenly went back to normal, stopping the two sins in place as the spell was seemingly broken.
(Music stops)
"Princess? What are you doing here?" Diane asked as she noticed Elizabeth for the first time since the illusion was cast.
"We should be asking you that!" Hawk shouted.
"Huh? What just happened?" Sora questioned, confused at why Meliodas and Diane were suddenly back to a normal state of mind.
"The spell must've been weakened. But the caster could still be nearby." Satsuki said while Meliodas and Diane noticed each other as well.
"You're here too, captain? But where's that holy knight?" Diane asked while Meliodas looked around.
"Huh? Hey you're right." Meliodas said.
"What happened to you two? You both suddenly went nuts on each other and ignored us." Sora said.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure...I could've sworn I was fighting a holy knight."
"Mister, are you okay?" The young boy asked as he walked up to Meliodas.
"Huh? Yeah of course, kid." Meliodas assured the young boy when he heard the sound of a bell ringing and looked over to see the holy knight, Ruin again. "That holy knight again!"
(Music:No time to think~1.5 ver)
"Say what? Meliodas wait!" Sora said as Diane had a look of anger, along with blank eyes again.
"You're hiding everyone again!" Diane shouted as she brought her fist down on her captain.
"They've gone nuts again! What the hell's going on?!" Ryuko questioned as she herself heard a bell ring and looked behind her to Ruin with a sword in hand.
"I am the holy knight, Ruin. Member of the weird fangs and destroyer of the seven deadly sins!" Ruin announced as he prepared his weapon and Ryuko gritted her teeth in anger as she prepared her scissors.
"Ryuko, why are you looking at Satsuki like that?" Sora asked in worry as Satsuki noticed that Ryuko's eyes had gone blank.
"She's under the spell too!" Satsuki said.
"RAHHHH!" Ryuko shouted as she charged forward at Satsuki and clashed weapons with her. "You better fix the other's you tin can!"
"Damn it, Ryuko! Snap out of it! Must we battle once more?!" Satsuki questioned as Ryuko pushed her away.
"Hah!" Ryuko shouted as she threw a large firaga spell at Satsuki feet and caused a massive explosion upon impact and caused the cliff underneath Satsuki to collapse and caused her to fall.
"Satsuki!" Sora shouted as he rushed over the side of the cliff to see the Kiryuin successor getting up from the fall.
"Nevermind about me! Find the caster and take him to lift the spell!" Satsuki said as Ryuko jumped over the side of the cliff to bring her scissors down on bakuzan.
"Okay simple enough! Just gotta find the knight that's causing this!" Sora said as he looked around the area, only to see the many trees in the area. "And for all I know, he could be a tree or a rock. Perfect.."
"I'm so scared! I don't wanna die, please!" The young boy said in terror as he ran over to the shepherd who froze up in fear again.
"I'll protect you! I swear! Even if it means trading my own life for yours!" Elizabeth said to the man and the boy.
"Y-you'd do that?" The shepherd asked, surprised.
(Music stops)
"Yes!" Elizabeth answered while a new face was approaching the princess from behind, the holy knight, Friesia.
"It's touching to see a princess who actually cares. But is it truly what you would do? Or is it an empty promise?" Friesia asked.
"Who are you? Wait,that voice...You're the one who was controlling those bugs back in town!" Sora said as he recognized Friesia's voice speaking from the swarm that attacked dalmally town.
"That's right, boy. And you're in a world of trouble now!" Friesia said as she drew a whip and raised it above her as another swarm appeared out of the trees.
"More bugs? Is that the best you got?" Sora said as a small cloud tried to fly at him, only to be easily swatted away by his keyblade.
"Far from it. Storm rondo! Now tear apart their flesh my little beetles!" Friesia commanded as she waved her whip and the swarm began forming into a tornado of beetles.
"No! I'm scared! Don't let them get me!" The young boy said fear as he ran off which Friesia noticed.
"The kid's whining is really annoying me! You die first!" Friesia said as she sent her storm rondo in the direction of the small boy.
"Not so fast!" Sora shouted he jumped in the path of the tornado and was swallowed up by it.
"Sora! No!" Elizabeth shouted while Sora was trying to take apart the tornado from within by striking his keyblade in every direction, but any bugs he sliced away in the swarm were easily replaced by more.
"I can handle it! Ahh!" Sora yelped in pain as the beatles began pelting him from all directions, allowing the storm rondo to catch up with the young boy and swallow him up as well.
"No! Please!" The young boy pleaded as Sora quickly managed to break away from the beatles to stand over the child to protect him.
"I got ya!" Sora assured the boy as he swatted away any bugs that flew at them.
"Let me see…"Even if I have to trade my life for yours" was that the phrase? For all your brave platitudes, you'd never actually believe you'd follow through with it did you?" Friesia taunted as Elizabeth remained still at the sight of Sora trapped in the tornado.
"Oh, that's sick!" Hawk said as Elizabeth began walking towards the storm rondo. "No, Elizabeth!"
"Wha? Really?" Friesia said in surprise at the princess' bold choice to walk towards the danger, which Sora noticed.
"Elizabeth, don't! Stay back, I got this!" Sora shouted as he defended himself from the beatles while Elizabeth ignored his warning and entered the tornado.
"I promised, I gave my word." Elizabeth said while the beatles were slicing through her skin from all sides and cut wounds open, which the princess ignored as she walked closer to the young boy at the center of the tornado. "Even if you die along the way...I would do it, even if I were left all alone. I would still protect the kingdom, and all it's people from the holy knights." The princess said as she made to the boy and held on to protect him despite that she was bleeding more and more from the beatle attacks.
"Elizabeth! Hang on!" Sora said as he raised the keyblade above his head. "AEROZA!" He shouted as he summoned a giant force of wind that formed around him and Elizabeth to struggle against the storm rondo until it was finally able to break through and blew all the beatles away.
"AH! My babies!" Friesia shouted in terror as she watched her beatles get scattered away in every direction by the tornado Sora summoned to counter her attack. Meanwhile during Sora's defence of Elizabeth, the hypnotized Ryuko was still fighting Satsuki, believing she was the holy knight, Ruin.
"What's the matter, helmet head? Scared of fighting me?!" Ryuko shouted as she swung her scissor blade with heavy blows against Satsuki's sword, who could only defend herself in order to buy time to break her sister out of the illusion.
"Stop it, Ryuko! I'm not the one you need to be fighting right now!" Satsuki yelled, only to fall on deaf ears since Ryuko couldn't even hear her as the scissor blade ignited in flames and knocked Satsuki back.
"Guess I'm gonna have to beat the shit out of you now!" Ryuko said as her hand went towards the glove on her left hand. "Life fiber synchronize! Kamui-"
"ENOUGH,RYUKO!" Senketsu shouted as he used his power to lock Ryuko in place and stop her from unleashing her full power.
"S-Senketsu? What are you stopping me? I need to transform to beat the shit out of that knight!"
"There is no knight, Ryuko. Focus and take a closer look!" Senketsu said as Ryuko began focusing more on Ruin, only for the image of the holy knight to blur between Ruin and Satsuki.
"The...hell? Satsuki?" Ryuko questioned as the image of Ruin faded away, allowing Satsuki to be seen by her again.
"The spell is broken...Senketsu, you can release her now!" Satsuki said to the living uniform as Ryuko was once more able to move.
"Son of a bitch! I can't believe I fell for that!" Ryuko cursed to herself.
"You're lucky to have me around. It would seem you were able to still hear me since the knight put you in that illusion didn't even know I was a living being." Senketsu said.
"Yeah, thanks,Senketsu."
"What happened, Ryuko? Could you've seen something out of the ordinary?" Satsuki asked.
"Beats the hell out of me. Although I could've sworn I heard a bell before I thought I was fighting that knight." Ryuko explained as Satsuki began pondering.
"A bell?" Satsuki questioned before she remembered that the young shepherd boy had a cane with a bell on it. "Ryuko! We must head back! Sora and the princess are in danger!" She said while Sora and the others were free of Friesa's tornado of beatles.
"Are you guys okay?" Hawk asked with concern for Sora and Elizabeth.
"We're fine, but only here who actually got hurt was Elizabeth." Sora said as he kneeled down to check on the princess. "Are you alright? That was crazy of you to do."
"I had to, I made a promise." Elizabeth said as Sora helped her stand up.
"So, you would risk your life to save a poor boy like this one? That's quite commendable of you." The young boy said a monotone voice that was starting to put Sora and Elizabeth on edge.
"Uh, yeah? Why would you say it like that?" Sora asked as the boy smirked.
"Because…" The boy said as his image began fading away and morphed into a taller figure, the real Ruin. "Reality can be rather cruel!"
"...Didn't see that one coming."
"That holy knight was the boy? We're the victim of illusions?!" Hawk questioned as he rubbed his eyes with his ears to make sure his vision was right.
"You did this...You're responsible for everything, the other's behavior." Elizabeth said as she realized that illusions were Ruin's doing.
"Hahaha! The seven deadly sins are nothing more than little playthings to me!" Ruin laughed.
"Oh, so you're nuts." Sora said as he prepared his keyblade for battle again.
"Turn them all back to normal, now!" Elizabeth begged, only to be kicked away by Ruin.
"Elizabeth!" Sora shouted as Elizabeth rolled away from being kicked, caused the keyblade wielder to grit his teeth in anger at the holy knight. "You jerk!" He shouted as he jumped at Ruin, only for the knight to counter with his bell staff against his keyblade.
"Hahaha! You may not want to waste too much time on me! Your friends will kill each other soon!" Ruin said.
"Sora!" Ryuko's voice caught the holy knight by surprise when he looked to see Ryuko and Satsuki arrive.
"Hey, whatever you, don't trust that kid-" Ryuko warned only to see Sora was already fighting Ruin. "Oh, nevermind…"
"What?! How did that punk looking girl break out of the spell?! AHH!" Ruin shouted in pain as Sora shocked him with thundaga while the knight was distracted. "Little brat!" He said in anger as he was about to swing his staff at Sora, only for Elizabeth to suddenly stand in the way.
"Turn the others back to normal, now!" Elizabeth repeated her earlier demand, only for Ruin to continue swinging his staff again to strike the princess in the face and send her back a few feet away.
"Elizabeth!" Sora shouted.
"You know what? Princess Elizabeth, out of respect for your bravery, I will tell the source of the hypnotic suggestion I placed them under. It resides here on my staff." Ruin said he held out his staff to show the bell, only to notice it was gone. "Huh? It's gone!"
"Heh…" Elizabeth let out a small laugh before she spat out the bell she managed to bite out when she was struck.
"Alright, Elizabeth! Now I don't have to worry about Meliodas and Diane." Sora said as he held out his keyblade as he transformed into the counter shield.
"That little bitch! That's what she was after the whole time!" Ruin said as he realized that Elizabeth had already figured out how to break his spell.
"Now it's my turn!" Sora said as he tossed his shield at Ruin's head, causing a dent in his helmet.
"AHH! So be it! Now you've made me angry" Ruin shouted as he rushed forward, letting Sora believe the knight was rushing at him, only to go right by him towards Elizabeth.
"Oh no, Elizabeth!" Sora said as Ruin was about to punch the princess while she was on the ground, only for his fist to be stopped when it was a few inches away from her face by Meliodas, who was gripping Ruin so hard it left a dent in his armor.
(Music: The seven deadly sins ost: 7tsuno:The1)
"Not a chance…" Meliodas said as Ruin pulled away from the former captain's grip.
"The spell's been broken?!" Ruin said while Meliodas kneeled down to put a hand on Elizabeth's face.
"Elizabeth...You were so brave, now I see how far you'll go." Meliodas said while Ruin took advantage of his opponent's turned back.
"He who strikes first wins!" Ruin said as he jumped at Meliodas to swing his staff, only for Sora to stand in the way to block the attack with his shield. "What?!"
"Better think twice about that!" Sora said as a large fist emerged from his shield to punch Ruin away with tremendous force.
"Thanks for the save, although I could've handled him." Meliodas said as he cracked his knuckles.
"I'm just glad you're back to normal. But how about we both get him for Elizabeth." Sora suggested which Meliodas nodded in agreement.
"Oh no, Ruin!" Friesia said as she raised her whip to summon more bugs, only to be stop when it was sliced to pieces from behind by Ryuko's scissors.
"Hey, you forget about us, bug bitch?" Ryuko asked as Friesia nervously turned around to see Ryuko and Satsuki giving her angry looks, and her fear worsened when Diane came stomping in, cracking her knuckles.
"What do you ladies say? Each of us take turns with her?" Diane said in a threatening tone as Ryuko and Satsuki put away their weapons to crack their own knuckles.
"Sounds like a grand idea." Satsuki agreed as Friesia proceeded to have the worst day of her life. Meanwhile, back with Ruin, who landed in the middle of a field was getting himself back up from Sora's counter fist attack.
"Now I see why a child is traveling with the seven deadly sins." Ruin said to himself as he heard a horse neigh and looked up to see Sora and Meliodas flying at him on Sora's charrot being pulled by the thunder pegasus. "What?! AHHHHH!" He yelled as a thunder storm rained down from the charrot upon the holy knight before Meliodas jumped off to deliver a powerful punch that sent Ruin flying.
"AAHHHHHHHHHH!" Ruin yelled as he flew through the air, all the way towards baste prison until he collided with a wall that put a huge crack in the side of the building, surprising the guards that were standing nearby.
"What was that?!" One guard questioned.
"I think that was a man flying in!" Another guard said as Ruin pulled himself out the wall to see Sora and Meliodas arrive.
"Alright this is more like it! Both of you are quite fun! I would go as far to say that boy is as strong as you, dragon sin, Meliodas!" Ruin said as Sora and the former captain walked closer to the holy knight as the guards were surprised to hear Meliodas' name.
"You want the honors?" Sora asked as he planted his keyblade into the ground.
"With pleasure!" Meliodas said as he rushed forward to deliver a punch to Ruin's abdomen so hard, it shattered his armor, causing the holy knight to kneel over.
"Impossible! How could you have crushed my armor with a single blow? Well….done...IS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECTED ME TO SAY,YOU FOOLS?!" Ruin shouted as his exposed skin turned darker and seemingly hardened. "This is nothing more than a thin outer shell! My flesh is my true armor, many times harder than steel! Now what will you-" He boasted until Sora tossed his keyblade straight at Ruin's midsection, striking him with the guard and causing the holy knight to reel back from the blow.
"This guy talks too much, wanna shut him up?" Sora asked Meliodas.
"You betcha!" Meliodas as he grabbed Sora arm and began swinging him around in a circle and tossed the keyblade wielder forward as a blue aura surrounded him as flowmotion activated and Meliodas jumped forward with his fist reared back and Sora had his leg out as he flew forward.
"Oh no…" Ruin said as he watched Sora and Meliodas fly at him as Sora kicked the holy knight in the face and Meliodas punched him in the stomach.
"RAAAAAHH!" Ruin screamed again as he was sent flying back again into the prison wall, and this time, he was unable to get back up.
"I had no choice, because you hurt somebody who means everything to me. And that, well that sin was yours!" Meliodas said to the downed Ruin as the knight prison guards looked at the defeated holy knight in horror.
"A holy knight, with one blow!" A guard said in terror. "It's really true! They must be the seven deadly sins!"
"Run!" A guard said as he and several other knights fled.
(Music stops)
So long! Don't forget to write!" Sora shouted to retreat soldiers before turning back to Meliodas. "Should we head back and make sure the others are doing all right?"
"Don't think we need to." Meliodas said as he pointed behind the keyblade wielder to see Ryuko, Satsuki, Hawk and Diane walking towards them.
"Hey, guys. Glad to see you're doing alright!"
"Glad we're not trying to kill each other any more." Ryuko said as she looked behind Sora to see the defeated Ruin. "That is the real guy, is he? Not an illusion?"
"Yeah, he is. But what about that bug lady we left you behind with?" Meliodas asked.
"Beat the living hell out of her and left her in a ditch somewhere."
"Here's proof if you don't believe us." Satsuki said as she casually tossed Friesia's helmet to Sora, which was all dented and broken.
"Ouch, there are just times where you gotta feel bad for the bad guys." Sora said as he tossed the helmet adside and noticed that a certain princess was missing. "Where's Elizabeth?"
"Right here. She wouldn't take no for an answer by the way." Diane said as she took the large backpack off her shoulders and opened it up to show the injured Elizabeth resting inside as she placed it on the ground.
"Elizabeth, you didn't have to come here." Meliodas said as he walked and held onto Elizabeth's hand.
"I had to...I can't fight like the rest of you, but I still feel like I had to be here." Elizabeth said as Sora walked over and got an elixir out of his pocket.
"Here, at least take this. It might heal up those cuts and bruises, but it'll help make you feel better." Sora said as he handed the elixir to the princess.
"We also have some good news, we figured out their keeping Ban and the doctor's daughter according to the guy who was pretending to be a shepherd." Diane explained.
"Awesome! Let's go into the prison and get what we came here for!" Meliodas cheered as Diane picked up the backpack with Elizabeth inside it as the group began walking towards the prison entrance, while Sora was thinking back to Meliodas' earlier statement to Ruin.
(The way Meliodas talked about how Elizabeth was important to him. I wonder if he's known her longer then he lets on.) Sora thought to himself as he began following the rest of the group
(Inside the prison)
"Aw, man. You're armor totally ain't my style at all, Jude. Too many spikes on it." Ban commented as he observed the armor of the holy knight he had just killed, Jude of the weird fangs. After easily subduing Jericho earlier and stole her armor, leaving the poor apperteince holy knight in her underwear, Ban encountered Jude who had tried to kill him, however Jude had underestimated Ban's ability to heal from any injury and then rammed the holy knight though the heart with the same spike he was impaled with. "You know what? Forget armor. I'll just find something in town when I get out of here."
"So you're finally leaving? I guess you were tired of waiting." A voice caught Ban's attention as he turned around to see young Xehanort leaning against a wall. "I guess being an immortal leaves a lot of time on your hand."
"Oh hey. You're the new guy that popped up in my cell before. I like your coat, but black isn't my color,so I'm not gonna bother stealing it. Don't get in my way or you'll end up like Jude over here. Right, Jude?" Ban asked the holy knight's corpse as he kicked it.
"I am not one of the holy knights, so I couldn't care less about their quest for glory by slaying you." Xehanort stated.
"Well that's convenient for me. So what can I do to thank you? Steal ya something?"
"Just a question. How far are you willing to go in your own quest?" Xehanort asked as Ban gave him a confused look.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ban asked.
"I know you weren't always an immortal. It was given to you when someone important to you sacrificed themselves to save you." Xehanort said as Ban was caught by surprise.
"How the hell you know about-"
"From what I know you fell in love with the guardian of the object that gave you your immortality. And it would you've let yourself be captured in order to receive some sort of punishment, and now that you're free, what will you sacrifice to bring her back to life?" Xehanort questioned as Ban quietly walked over to the time traveler and looked him dead in the eye.
"I'm gonna have to ask you to leave before I change my mind about hurting you." Ban said as Xehanort smiled at the comment before vanishing into a corridor of darkness. "Freak, how does he even know about Elaine?"
(Meanwhile…)
"Are you sure she's in this tower?" Meliodas asked as the group was in front of the entrance to one of baste prison's towers.
"Well let's just say he didn't strike me as the kind of soldier who's willing to lie to my cute little face." Diane stated.
"The threat of an ass kicking helps too." Ryuko said,considering they had to threaten the man pretending to be a shepherd to give them the location of Ban and 's daughter by showing him the beaten Friesia.
"A woman's interrogation technique knows no bounds." Hawk commented.
"Hey guys, where is everyone?" Sora pointed out the lack of guards as he peeked inside.
"Hey, Sora's right. This place looks totally deserted." Diane said.
"Maybe we scared everyone off when me and Sora knocked that holy knight around." Meliodas as he walked into the entrance corridor and everyone followed while Diane had to duck her head to get inside.
"What a bunch of wimps!" Hawk said as the group walked further into the prison while Sora's half of the group had their guards up.
"You know, I'm surprised not even the heartless are in here." Sora commented.
"It is most likely because our enemies have fled. They follow the holy knights, remember?" Satsuki reminded them.
"Kinda makes a prison break a little boring." Ryuko said as they finally began seeing cells lined up on the sides of the hall.
"Here are the cells! Everyone start looking!" Meliodas said as everyone began peeking inside the cells to see if anyone was locked in, however, the cells were empty.
"Hello? Is anyone named Ban in here? Or maybe a doctor's daughter, maybe?" Sora asked no one in particular as he looked inside an empty cell. "Had to ask." He said while Diane bened down to rip a cell door off its hinges and poke her head in.
"Hey, Ban! Are you in here?" Diane asked as she looked inside and saw a shadowy figure in the corner of the cell. "Ban! Is that you?" She asked as Ryuko walked over and grabbed a nearby torch for light.
"I think that's someone." Ryuko said as she moved the torch closer over the figure, only to reveal that it was a pile of rats in the shape of a person.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Both Ryuko and Diane screamed in terror at the same time as the rats quickly ran out of the cell and down the hall.
"NOT BAN!" Diane shouted as Ryuko tossed the torch away.
"Uh...Did you just like a little girl, Ryuko?" Sora asked.
"HELL NO!" Ryuko denied as Hawk stood in front of another cell.
"Scary cats! I betcha Ban is this cell right here." Hawk claimed as he hopped up and grabbed the handle to the cell to open it up.
"WRRAAAAAAAA!" A monstrous roar bellowed from inside the cell, scaring the wits out of Hawk as he quickly closed the cell back up.
"Nevermind…"
"Hey! Over here!" Meliodas called out to everyone as they gathered around a cell the former captain was standing in front of to see a girl with glasses sleeping inside and everyone already knew it was 's daughter.
"This is her, without a doubt. The doctor's daughter." Hawk confirmed since the girl had a similar scent as the doctor to the pig.
"Then let's get her out." Meliodas said as he turned to Diane. "Got room in your backpack for another one?"
"Yep, no problem." Diane said as Sora noticed that Sennet was starting to stir awake.
"Wait, hold on. We might-" Sora tried to warn Diane, but was too late when the giantess reached forward to rip the cell door off.
"AHHHHHH!" Sennet screamed as she witnessed the door ripped off and then fainted from shock.
"Freak her out." Sora continued as Diane looked dumbfounded at the unconscious girl. "You know my keyblade can open any lock, right?"
"Oops.." Diane said as she picked up the doctor's daughter and placed her in her backpack, next the sleeping Elizabeth.
"Sure she's okay?" Hawk asked with concern that the holy knights may have harmed Sennet in any way.
"Yeah. Think she's gonna be just fine." Diane said as she prepared to close her backpack, only for Sora to notice something in Elizabeth's hand.
"Wait, hold on." Sora stopped Diane as he walked up to the sleeping backpack to take a closer look at Elizabeth, and saw that she was holding on to Kairi's wayfinder charm.
"How did she get that?" Ryuko asked as Sora managed to pull out the charm from Elizabeth's hand before exiting Diane's backpack.
"I don't know. I don't think I gave this to her."
"What is that thing anyway? Looks like your face is drawn on it." Meliodas asked.
"Oh, that's a long story. But someone real important to me made it. But I have no idea how Elizabeth got it." Sora said.
"Could you have given it to her by accident earlier?" Satsuki suggested.
"No way, this isn't what I gave to her." Sora said, swearing that he gave the princess an elixir. As the keyblade wielder pondered in thought, footstops could be heard echoing from down the hall.
"Guess this place isn't empty after all." Ryuko said with her guard up as a figure in the shadows could be seen approaching, once they got closer to the light from the torches, it was revealed to be none other than Ban.
"Ban?" Meliodas asked.
"Hey, captain.."Ban confirmed as he and Meliodas exchanged intense glares that put Sora, Ryuko and Satsuki on edge.
"Uh oh. Did these two don't not get along?" Sora asked.
"Wait for it…" Diane said as Meliodas and Band suddenly grew goofy grins on their faces.
(Music: Laughter and merriment~2.5 ver~)
"BAN!" Meliodas shouted with a smile.
"CAPTAIN!" Ban shouted as he and Meliodas rushed towards each other and began performing rapid double high fives.
"What's that? Looks like a game of patty cake gone horribly wrong." Hawk said as everyone watched the strange reunion unfold.
"Looks like a secret handshake, but they got lost after step one." Ryuko commented.
"So, their best friends? That's great, but it's a little weird." Sora said since he and Riku didn't even do that.
"Yeah, they do that alot. But that's even half of it." Diane said as Ban had stopped high fiving Meliodas and raised his arms above his head.
"Captain!" Ban said before slamming his fist into Meliodas and sent him through several walls, much to the surprise of everyone except Diane.
(Music interrupted by record scratch)
Captain! My turn! Me next!" Ban said in excitement before Meliodas launched forward to headbutt Ban through several walls like he was.
"Oh crap. It's that type of bromance isn't it?" Ryuko asked as she realized that Meliodas' and Ban's idea of fun was to beat each other to a pulp and destroy everything around them.
"Yup, they've been like this since as long as I've known them." Diane said.
"SINCE FOREVER?!" Ryuko and Hawk shouted at the same time.
"Typical boy stuff." Diane said with a smile.
"I understand since me and my own best friend, Riku like to duke it out sometimes, but…" Sora said as he looked back, seeing Meliodas and Ban happily slapping each other around like maniacs. "This is nuts."
"I think it's time for a withdrawal before those two bring the whole prison down on us." Satsuki suggested as Meliodas and Ban began arm wrestling that was creating shockwaves that was causing the prison to crumble around them.
"You guys can go, I gotta watch this. I love it when Meliodas gets all focused like that." Diane said as she watched the destructive arm wrestling match.
"Your funeral! We'll be sure to send you flowers!" Ryuko said as She, Sora and Satsuki rushed away.
"WAIT!" Hawk shouted for help before Sora's half of the group disappeared. "WHAT ABOUT MEEEEEEEE!" He yelled as rubble began falling from the ceiling while Sora's group were avoiding the debris as the prison crumbled around them until they were able to see a light at the end of the hall.
"There's the way out!" Sora shouted as the prison entrance could be seen up ahead. "And out we-OOF!" He groaned in pain as he ran face first into a purple barrier that suddenly appeared at the entrance.
"Now what?!" Ryuko questioned as Sora rubbed his face.
"No wonder why there wasn't any security. They were trying to trap us inside the prison as a last resort!" Satsuki said.
"Not a problem really." Sora said as he finally rubbed the pain off his face before summoning his keyblade and shot a beam of light at the barrier that caused a hole to open up, allowing escape to be possible. "Come on! Let's go!" He signaled to Ryuko and Satsuki as another shockwave created more debris behind Sora's group as they made their way outside away from the slowly crumbling prison.
"Whew! Got out of that shitfest in time." Ryuko said as she watched the prison get demolished.
"I believe the only thing we can do now is wait for this little reunion to wrap up." Satsuki said.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A voice caught the group's attention as they turned to see Jericho and Golgius standing in front of a squadron of knights.
"Isn't that the guy who can turn invisible and we then froze?" Ryuko asked.
"I'm glad you still remember me and-ACHOO!-And no thanks to you I may have caught a cold!" Golgius said angrily while Jericho drew her sword.
"For aiding and abetting the criminals known as the seven deadly sins, you three are now under arrest! Do you have any thing to say in your defence?" Jericho asked.
"Aren't you a little young to be a knight?" Sora asked as he called his keyblade.
"SHUT UP! I'm at least the same age as you! Get them!" Jericho yelled at the knight troops as they charged forward, only for Sora and Satsuki to point their weapons forward and shot out blizzaga at the same time to freeze all the troops at once, much to Jericho's and Golgius' dumbfoundment.
"Got any more flunkies to throw at us? Or can we all just call it a day and go home?" Ryuko taunted as Jericho, who was already in a bad mood thanks to Ban, was getting even more irritated.
"I'll show you!" Jericho shouted as she made a charge forward, but stopped in place when a dark portal opened up between her and Sora's group. "The hell?!"
"Sora?" Satsuki said to the keyblade wielder, who was confused as well.
"I got nothing, but be ready in case it's Vanitas." Sora said as a figure began walking out of the portal, but however, it was not Sora's dark double, but a tall figure, cloaked in shadows with the only visible feature being two horns on their head, whose presence was certainly caused shivers to go up Jericho's and Golgius' backs.
"Uh, whoever you are, stand out of the way! This is official holy knight business!" Jericho demanded, only for the dark figure to stare at her.
"I think not. That is my quarry you are hunting!" The figure said as he reached the throat of a frozen in fear Jericho. But before he could…
*CRASH!*
"What?! The prison!" Golgius shouted as everyone including the dark figure turned to see the entire prison finally crumble from Meliodas' and Ban's arm wrestling. "It seems a hasty retreat is necessary!" The holy knight said as he turned invisible to escape.
"How much power do those guys have?!" Jericho questioned while she watched the prison fall apart. As the dark figure also watched the prison fall to pieces, he noticed that Sora's group were taking the opportunity to retreat.
"Fine, leave for now usurper. But you will die by my hand." The figure spoke before he opened up another dark portal that crackled with dark energy and walked into it. After Sora and the others had managed to escape the prison's destruction and stood on top of a nearby hill to watch it fall.
"Okay, this is getting even crazier. Between your evil twin and these, I'd rather choose the evil twin." Ryuko said as the prison completely collapsed.
"Well,they're the only clue we have to finding the next piece of Kairi's heart, and they kinda help too, especially with that new guy that just popped in just now." Sora said.
"So you have no idea who that was?" Satsuki asked as Sora shook his head to answer. While the keyblade wielder was talking to the sisters, a certain holy knight apprentice had followed them after shaking herself out of her shock seeing the prison being destroyed and was currently hiding behind a tree and was slowly unsheathing her sword before running forward.
"Sora! Look out!" Ryuko warned as Jericho jumped at Sora from behind and brought her sword down before he was able to summon his keyblade in time to block the attack.
"Thought you could run?!" Jericho said as she attempted to push back against Sora, only to be easily overpowered by him.
"Actually, I was thinking we'd already got what we came for!" Sora said as he broke away from Jericho.
"Just back off, knight chick!" Ryuko said.
"I may have let Ban escape, but I won't allow three more criminals escape too!" Jericho said as she rushed at Sora again, only for Satsuki to stand in front of him.
"Freeze!" Satsuki called out as she shot out a blizzaga spell at Jericho and ice formed over her armor and slowed her down, allowing an opening for Sora as he delivered a powerful swing from his keyblade onto the apprentice holy knight so hard that the ice around her shattered and knocked her on her back.
"Now how about you call a day?" Sora said as he turned to leave and dismissed his keyblade, but Ryuko and Satsuki noticed something he didn't.
"Uh, Sora? I think you might've gone too far." Ryuko stated as Sora turned to see he had not only shattered the ice off of Jericho, but also her armor, leaving the holy knight yet again in just her underwear.
"Oh no... not again." Sora said, thinking back to the time he left Nonon Jakuzure in tattered clothing after fighting.
"Y-you, YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Jericho shouted in embarrassment as she tried covering herself with what remained of her armor.
"So sorry!" Sora apologized as he, Ryuko and Satsuki rushed away from the scene.
"First Jakuzure and now another girl. You're starting to develop a habit, Sora." Satsuki said.
"Oh, come on! That was half your fault!"
"I'd like a lawyer to settle that."
(Meanwhile, in scala ad caelum)
(Music:Scala ad caelum)
Faraway from the world of Britannia was the seat of power for all keyblade wielders, and monument to the keyblade war, was scala ad caelum and the place where Sora put an end to master Xehanort once and for all. Right now, the town floating upon the water was repaired from the damage done by the hero and the keyblade master's final clash with the sun shining upon it again above the castle tower that stood at the top of the town, with none other than Vantias standing atop the tower looking down at the many islands surrounding the mainland.
"So this home for all the keyblade wielders. At least at one point." Vanitas said as he looked down at the water.
"And it will be again!" A gruff voice spoke from behind Vanitas as he turned around to see a man in a bear mask and brown robe walk up behind. "Tell me, creature of darkness...why are you still here when Luxu has already released you?"
"Last I checked,he doesn't really care where I go now, in return for a small favor." Vanitas answered as he walked away from the tower ledge to approach the man in the mask.
"Oh really? And what is that?"
"Simple, I just took a look around the worlds I go to while looking for information about the box like you were asked to. But instead, it looks like you're spending that time hating on me."
"HA! As if you yourself are as innocent. You're spending your time lounging instead of searching!" The man in the bear mask accused.
"Not really. I got a friend looking around too." Vanitas said as he saw a dark portal open up behind the mashed man. "And there he is." He said as the dark figure that following Sora back in Britannia walked out.
"My lord, I apologize to report, I have nothing of value in the world of knights. They know nothing, I have searched in the places where they keep their darkest secrets. Even the possessed one knows nothing." The dark figure explained as Vanitas sighed.
"Well, guess it was worth a shot following Sora."
"Do you still wish for me to destroy that undeserving child?"
"Didn't Luxu say not to let the boy know of our existence? Sending this...this thing could expose us!" The masked man said as he gestured to the dark figure.
"Don't worry, if anything my friend here will do the exact opposite. Sora will know it was me who sent him." Vanitas assured, but the scowl that could easily be seen under the man's mask did not fade.
"I still don't like the idea of this abomination running loose! He created it from the essense of our fallen brethren." The masked man said as Vanitas simply smirked at the statement.
"Hahahaha! It's funny you say when you killed some of them!" Vantias laughed.
"Arrrrrgggg!" The masked man growled as he was about to pick a fight with Vanitas when a hand suddenly stopped him by none other than Luxu, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Take a chill pill, Aced. That temper of yours gets you in a lot of trouble you know." Luxu stated as Aced took a step back.
"Luxu, I know you agree! You can't just let this being of darkness run loose out in the worlds! Who knows what chaos he'll unleash?" Aced argued.
"We got no room to talk about causing chaos. He's right about us having the loss of life on our hands." Luxu said, which immediately caused Aced to go quiet. "SO! Vanitas, what do you got for us? What did your pal find out?"
"Nothing really. Not a certain grandmaster in that world knows nothing apparently." Vanitas repeated what his creation had told him.
"Nothing about the box, huh? Well that's good news at least. But that doesn't mean there's nothing at all." Luxu said, much to the confusion of Vanitas and Aced.
"Luxu, what could mean?" Aced asked as Luxu smiled under his hood.
"It's got something to do with a certain missing fox." Luxu said as Aced immediately put the pieces together.
"Ava…"
(Dalmally town: Clinic rooftop)
After return to town from baste prison and reuniting with Meliodas, Diane and Ban, Sora and the other brought sennett home to see her father, only to be surprised that the doctor was still very much alive and only had a scar from where Golgius had stabbed him, just like Meliodas' wound, leaving with no explanation. To thank Sora and the sins for saving his daughter, offered a meal and medical care for Elizabeth, who was currently resting in a bed, covered in bandages and watched over by Diane on the clinic rooftop.
"Alright, Elizabeth, Sora, Ryuko, Satsuki. Allow me to introduce you guys to Ban, our fox sin of greed." Meliodas said as he gustred to Ban, who was now wearing a bright red leather outfit.
"Hey, nice to meet the replacements for the other sins." Ban said.
"Ban. Sora and the others aren't replacements."
"They aren't?"
"Hey. Where did you get that outfit?" Ryuko pointed out Ban's new clothes.
"Well I couldn't parade around half naked in front of a few girls now could I?" Ban stated.
"Who did you come across them without money, fox sin of greed?" Satsuki asked with an eyebrow raised.
""I totally stumbled across them! It was a total fluke!" Ban claimed while the truth was he stole off a guy.
"Nope! You totally stole them! You haven't even known Sora for five minutes and you stole his necklace." Meliodas accused as the keyblade wielder processed the statement.
"He did what?!" Sora asked as he realized his crown necklace was indeed gone.
"Hahaha! You wouldn't last long where I come from for five minutes kid if you're that easily caught off guard." Ban laughed as he tossed Sora back his necklace while receiving an angry glare from the keyblade wielder.
"You're worse than Mako's brother." Sora said as he placed the necklace back around his neck.
"So yeah. Haven't seen you in awhile, Diane." Ban greeted the giantess, who couldn't be less disappointed to see Ban.
"I would've been perfectly happy to go a hundred years without seeing you again." Diane said as Ban walked over to the bed prone Elizabeth to meet her.
"I'm Elizabeth. Please forgive me for not raising to greet you." Elizabeth apologized for her inability to get up.
"It's fine, you're highness. No worries at all. We're not big on ceremony." Ban said as he bowed for the princess. "So let's just be friends, the seven of us."
"You mean the eight of us!" Hawk spoke up, much to Ban's confusion.
"Captain, I think you need glasses, there are seven of us."
"Down here, jackass!" Hawk spoke up again as Ban looked down to see the pig. "You got a couple of screws loose or something?" He asked as Ban was processing Hawk's ability to talk.
"...THERE'S A FREAKING TALKING PIG HERE!" Ban shouted as his mind was being blown to smithereens.
"You're just now noticing that?!"
"No way! A pig talking like a person?! That is way more than I can handle man!" Ban said.
"Then there's no way he wouldn't be able to handle Donald and Goofy." Sora whispered to Ryuko and Satsuki since his two usual companions were talking animals as well.
"Hold on! That's it! You're King, aren't cha?" Ban asked, believing that Hawk was another one of the seven deadly sins. "Of course! You were cursed and finally turned into an actual pig!"
"Guess again." Diane corrected the immortal.
"We heard that King is dead. At least that's the rumor." Meliodas repeated what Gilthunder told him.
"And I'll warn you, I'm no ordinary pig. I am sir Hawk! Captain of the order of scraps disposal!" Hawk boasted, which seemed to easily impress Ban.
"Wow! I never even heard of that order before!" Ban said as Sora, Ryuko and Satsuki watched the whole scene unfold.
"You know, everyone saying things about Meliodas and the others were wrong. In the short time we've known them, I've seen what good people they can be." Sora said.
"I knew they would be." Elizabeth spoke up as the keyblade wielder turned to face the princess. "When I went out for my quest, I knew in my heart that the seven deadly sins had to have kind hearts, I've heard stories of them from my father when I was growing up, stories that could only only belong to the bravest and noblest knights."
"Brave is definitely the right word that I would use right now." Ryuko said as she watched Ban try to ride Hawk.
"I can think of a few other words." Satsuki said as and his daughter came in with a feast prepared for the group.
"Are you all finished with the introductions? Come! We need to eat up, before your dinner gets cold!" said as Meliodas, Ban and Hawk drooled at the entire line of food.
"Alright! I'm there!" Meliodas said as he rushed at the dinner table.
"Hey! Don't you dare start without us, captain!" Ban shouted as he and Hawk followed after Meliodas.
"Any scraps are protority of the order of scraps disposal!" Hawk claimed as Sennet walked over to Sora's side of the roof with a plate of food.
"And here's yours, you five." Seenet offered the plate of meat kabobs.
"Thanks! Looks tasty!" Sora thanked as he, Ryuko, Satsuki and Elizabeth took some food while Diane was treated to giant sized meat kabob.
"You know I kinda wished this would go on forever. But I guess that's not in the cards for us, is it?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Some things might not last forever, Elizabeth. But it's moments like this that you keep in your heart for a long time and isn't something you forget." Sora said to make the princess smile. As the feast went on,something was happening in the sky, something that wouldn't be forgotten about for a while.
"Father. Do you see that?" Sennet pointed at the sky as looked up.
"Huh...Remarkable!" said in amazement as stars began shooting across the sky in a pattern, as everyone else were caught mesmerized by the event.
"Wow! Look at that!" Sora said with wonder as the cluster of shooting stars began crossing over each other in a cross shaped formation.
"This is like a passage from one of Britannia's old fables!" said as everyone looked up the amazing event, an event that could be seen from across the country by allies and enemies. "When shooting stars rule the night sky, in the form of crosses, Britannia will face her most desperate hour. This is a trail, preordained since ancient time. And it will herald the beginning of a holy war between the guiding hand of the light, and the bloodline of the darkness."
"A sign of war. No doubt for us." Satsuki said.
"What do we do now? We didn't come here for a war." Ryuko said.
"Maybe not…" Sora said as he took out Kairi's wayfinder and held it tight before holding it in front of face under the shooting stars. "But it's what we have to do to save a lot of people. Our work here only just started!"
Party member added!
Ban
Equipment: Immortal body
Abilities
Snatch
Hunter fest
Journal update
Ban: An immortal man and fox sin of greed. Many years back, Ban went in search of the fountain of youth and met it's guardian and fell in love with her, whoever, disaster soon struck and the guardian was killed by an invading force and gave Ban the fountain's water to give him his immortality and save his life. Now Ban is on a search to find a way to bring his deceased love back from the grave.
Jericho: A young holy knight apprentice. After being looked down upon her older brother, Jericho strived to be a holy knight to prove herself, at any cost necessary.
Ruin: A holy knight with power over illusions and a member of the weird fangs. Ruin loves to play with the minds of his victims that have been caught his illusion, but it is also his fatal flaw.
Friesia: A holy knight that commands swarms of insects and a member of the weird fangs. Ignorant in her skills, Friesia often underestimates her opponents and gets in over her head as a result.
Aced: A mysterious man wearing a bear mask that appeared with three other figures after the seven lights and thirteen darknesses clashed for kingdom hearts. Possessing a strong sense of justice, Aced often has a fierce temper alongside it. After being summoned by Luxu, Aced questions his ally's role from a long time ago.
