I trained with her for another few weeks. In the beginning, I was unsure of myself, considering myself completely lucky to have dodged and flown away from her attacks. After her first few days of initial assessment, she was able to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses. According to Merlin, I was exceptionally powerful. However, I never felt that way about myself. That supported her next point; my mind was all over the place and I was insecure.

My life had been a blurry and colorful mess so far. Memories floated in and out of my brain, sometimes trigged by bright colors and food. I couldn't help but worry that I'd find things about myself that could trigger me to lose any control.

"You're thinking too much." Merlin scolded. She sat across from me, legs crossed on the green grass. A few feet away the ground caved off and gave way to a beautiful waterfall, crashing down onto sharp white rocks down below. A fall off the edge would have been fatal.

I apologized, folding my hands back together and closing my eyes tight. Merlin wanted to take a day for me to search through my memories before the fire. She said if I could find some clarity, it might aide me in focusing my abilities. "I want you to picture your mother."

I did as she asked, carefully putting together her facial features and clothes. She only stood there in my mind, but I patiently waited to see if something would change. My breaths became steady and I felt the rushing water from below calm my body.

Her light dress changed into tight beige pants beneath tall black boots. Her burgundy corset was laced tight over a white blouse. She glided across my bedroom, placing a book back onto the shelf before blowing out the candles. After she shut the door, I heard another one open and shut. I became aware I was walking in a dream-like state, but I didn't let myself become too aware. As the younger version of myself, I pushed my ear to the door.

"You've been doing this for too long, and now we have to move again."

"We have to stay here, El. If we move again, it could blow my cover."

"Volaria, I don't even know who or what you're investigating. If you want to stay, then that's fine. I am taking Lenara back to the city."

I heard a shuffle of feet, and a woman stifle a cry. "You can't take my daughter away from me."

"I'm trying to keep her alive." My father seethed angrily through gritted teeth.

"She has never been exposed to anything evil."

"Lenara told me about the man from the forest a long time ago. Do you remember a silver haired man, Vee? So if you're telling me he wasn't evil, then who was it?"

I heard a gasp and a thud. Their voices became low, but I swear I heard my mother ask about the smell. My heart began to race, and then I knew what would come next. The front door flew open and I could feel the missing presence of my father. My mother sobbed.

After what seemed like forever, I heard the door slam again. "There's fire everywhere, we need to get Lenara!"

The shadows danced along the bottom of the door as I felt them come closer, but something stopped my father from reaching the handle. As I heard his body fall backwards, I launched myself back to the bed in fear. There was a scuffle behind the door, and I couldn't decipher what was happening any longer. There was another fall, and I watched the blood seep into my bed room.

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Merlin was above me, with both hands on each side of my face. I rose from my back and wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Shit." I whispered before taking a few deep breaths. The sound of the rushing water didn't calm me down. I broke into tears.

"It hurts so much." I cried, hugging my shoulders. It hit me all at once.

"We don't need to continue this today." She assured me. "However, I think maybe it would be good to go back and see the other sins for support."

"Where are they now?" I sniveled.

She raised her hand and snapped a finger, transporting us so quickly that I fell face first onto a wooden floor. "They're having dinner." She quipped as I scrambled to my feet.

"Hey Lenny!" I heard. Meliodas was behind the bar serving drinks to customers while Elizabeth and Diane served food to the tables. "Good to see you too, Merlin," He went on. I heard Gowther's light footsteps and watched as he straightened his outfit.

"Gowther, what are you doing?" I questioned, seeing him adjust his newly perky chest beneath the tight pink top.

He looked up with a blank expression. "Oh hello, Lenara. Elizabeth and Diane make more tips than me. After a few days of observation, I've realized that this is based on the amount of cleavage shown to customers."

My lips started to twist in disbelief but turned into a smile. "Sure, Gowther. Do whatever you need to do."

The door kicked open. King walked in with a frustrated expression while Ban followed, smirking like a smug bastard and holding a bottle of ale. Meliodas put a cup in my hand and told me to drink, 'because I would need it soon'. I shrugged and took a sip, hoping it would calm my anxiety. Seeing him again made me feel warm, flushing my cheeks. "Lenny," He said, brushing my shoulder with his fingertips as he walked by.

King and I sat together at the bar and had a drink while Ban slipped behind, tying on his apron before pulling out an assortment of knives. King sighed, taking gulps of his drink. "He's picked up a new habit."

"Oh would I like to know?"

"He's getting…"

Ban slammed a full glass of ale on the table. "Hey Lenny! Check this out!" He pulled the front of his pants down so far that the women in the boar hat came flocking behind me.

"Oh my god." A woman gasped.

"It's huge!" said another.

"It's fading terribly." I commented, receiving scowls from the ladies. The orange fox tattoo began below his navel; the tail trailed down low fanning down onto…let's just say if it went any lower it would have made for a painful experience.

"Yeah, I guess it's because I heal so quickly. Definitely not as good as my other one, but it's not like I got an expert to do it." He pulled his pants back up, and the women dispersed.

"Ban, there are children here!" King whined.

Meliodas laughed. "Yeah but by all that attention, I'm starting to think he should start serving the food."

"Hell no." Ban disagreed. "If I'm serving, I'm not cooking. If I'm not cooking, then you probably are; and if you're cooking, we all die."

"I guess that's true." He nodded. "Hey, Merlin. How's she doing?"

Merlin adjusted comfortably on the bar stool. "She's doing quite well, actually; much better than my old apprentice."

I wrinkled my nose. "Whatever happened to her?"

Meliodas snorted, taking a peak of Elizabeth's behind as she hopped behind the counter for more drinks. "You don't wanna know."

Ban put his apron back on, sighing at the sudden rush of customers walking through the door. He began the fire and seasoning the skillet as I walked behind him. I seemed to have forgotten how tall he was after being gone for a few weeks. "Are you tired?" I asked quietly.

"Yes." He responded, expertly slicing down meat. I was impressed by the way he handled the cutlery. Beautiful fingers moved like a dance, seasoning and cutting.

"Would…you be opposed to some help?"

Ban gave a small grin, taking the weight of tension from the air. "Sure. I haven't seen you do your thing in awhile."

He moved out of my way and wiped his hands onto the apron. Then, I grabbed the hot handle of the skillet, prompting a shocked Ban to grab my arm in surprise. "What the hell are you doing?"

"If I concentrate the energy just right…"

Within ten minutes, plates were made and served. Meliodas was pretty impressed, mostly because he knew there were other things I could do with that ability. Ban had retreated to the bar at some point, having a drink with King. He seemed pretty satisfied about not having to cook. I looked over to the plates rolling across the counter on their sides, smiling as they washed themselves. Luckily, it didn't take me much energy to clean the dishes.

"If you keep spitting food out every second, we'll never slow down." Ban laughed deeply as I slid him another drink. "You still can't have my job, Lenny. If I get too bored I-"

King interjected. "You'll get more tattoos? Maybe a piercing somewhere you shouldn't?"

"I was going to say drink too much. Wait, what about a piercing?"

King let his head fall on the table. Ban shrugged, catching my stare. "Does your head get tired?"

"It's not really great for me to get over stimulated."

"We'll work on that." Merlin said with a wink.

A few more hours had passed before Merlin disappeared. Meliodas said that happened a lot, mostly when he got around to asking her about past events. Thankfully, the boar hat emptied its customers and we could all get some rest. However, that didn't happen.

Meliodas swept behind the bar, green eyes beaming at Ban as he passed by. "Hey Ban, I think it would be fun to throw some moves at Lenny in the morning. I'd like to see where she's really at."

"Oh really? Count me in." He laughed.

I perked up from beneath the table, hitting my head on the edge as I cleaned a sticky mess from below. Kovak rushed over, slobbering all over my face. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Actually, we're picking up and heading back to Liones tomorrow. We'll take some shots at you before we go, if you can handle it." Meliodas grinned. I blinked at him slowly and rolled my eyes. Something caught my attention, drawing me to the door.

"Hey, that poster must have fallen." I headed over to the front door and picked it up. It was one of the wanted posters from the board. I recognized the faces from the others, but this one was pretty different from the actual person I knew. Wow, that's supposed to be Meliodas? It doesn't really look like him. This man is so much…

Volaria?

I wasn't in the boar hat any more. Instead, I was standing in front of a shimmering lake. The sun began to set, taking my breath away as I felt a hand hold mine. "Volaria, you are the most remarkable witch I have ever met."

"Do you love me?" I asked him, but it wasn't me. These weren't my lips.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly. "I wouldn't call it love." I felt him pull my body closer into him. His lips hovered over my neck, planting light kisses before whispering into my ear. "You've been lying to me." At that moment, his powerful arms gripped my back, pulling my chest into his. I could barely breathe.

He raked his nails down my body, tearing cloth and flesh. "What are you…" I whimpered, feeling every sting as if I was truly there. I could even feel the cracks in my mothers heart. She didn't love my father like she loved him, and I felt it. It was forbidden; it was so wrong. I looked into his eyes, glazing over the edges of his jaw and the tip of his nose. He was sharp like a knife, with a hint of a sweet smile just as poisonous.

"You chose the kingdom over me." He threw me to the ground. I gasped, landing on my back and stealing another glimpse of the light shining between his silver locks. Lazily, he tilted his head and rested his hands in his pockets. "Take your family and run before I catch you."

"This man isn't Meliodas." I said flatly, breaking free of the vision. I felt sick. Ban grabbed a bucket and pulled back my hair.

"Yeah I've seen that look in the mirror plenty of times." He laughed. "What were you saying about that poster?"

I vomited into the bucket, hanging my head on the side. "We'll talk in the morning."