Sorry for the late update here, it's been crazy between Ren Faire season, adopting a new kitty, and auditions for a play. Enjoy!

Diane followed King for miles and miles, wondering how on Earth he was so FAST. She had gotten tired long ago, and at this point, her lagging strides were powered only by her sheer resolve.

Eventually, King slowed down, passing her one more terrified glance. She didn't reduce her speed at all, closing the distance as best she could. She was only a few yards away when that big black dog of his appeared and King flew straight into Oslow's mouth. He vanished seconds before the hound.

Diane cursed, her exhaustion catching up to her. She finally stopped, curled her hands into fists, and nearly doubled over. She gave herself only a few minutes before she straightened, still panting, and examined her surroundings. Green fields and forests as far as the eye could see- but not the Forest she knew she had to find. The one she actually had no clue how to reach. But that was okay, because there must be someone who would help her.

She trotted to a village only a mile or so away, her lungs and legs both protesting at the effort. She stumbled onto the wider main road, but before she could even get a word out, the villagers began shrieking and running for cover.

Diane bit her lip. She should have expected this. She should have thought about this more, or brought someone smaller along: the Captain, Elizabeth, even that Slader guy. At the very least, she could have asked Meliodas for directions. But she had charged ahead without thinking as usual, and now she was getting about the same response as the last time she tried to find help for a man she loved.

But she couldn't give up. She traveled quickly through the rest of the hostile village and to a few villages beyond, looking for anyone to even say hello to the lone giantess. She lost count of towns by the time someone finally said "that's the Serpent's Sin of Envy! She's one of the heroes who saved us from the Holy Knights!"

Sighing in relief, Diane was finally able to learn that she had inadvertently wandered in the direction of the ruined Forest, and could be there in about an hour's time (at human speed, anyway). Knowing she had already wasted half the day, Diane hurried to the craggy mountain pass, wishing and hoping that King was still there, and that he was all right.

There was no doubt about it. This was the remains of the Fairy King's Forest. The piles of ash and charcoal seemed to go on forever, and even the hollowed out husks of trees were taller than Diane. Far off in the center of this wreckage was a blackened, enormous tree that was wider and higher than Diane could imagine. She knew immediately that this must be the Sacred Tree that King was always talking about. But where was he?

As she rushed through the remnants of King's Forest, she moved gingerly. There was something about these ruins that called for reverent care. She also had a vague feeling that someone was watching her, but she didn't want to dwell on that right now. Soon, she caught the tail end of desperate shouts.

"...bram? Elaine?" He called out for a few other fairies whose names Diane didn't recognize, and then he dropped a few feet from the air onto his hands and knees. Diane surged towards him, concerned, as he mumbled, "I've been searching for hours…I can't find a sign of anyone. Did no one… survive?" Though she couldn't see his face, she could hear the sob in King's voice. She knelt beside him, wanting to comfort him but fearing rejection. He slowly raised his head, and Diane saw the tears streaming down his cheeks. He seemed to be looking at her as he spoke, until she realized he was looking past her to the Sacred Tree. "… Why…? Why did you choose me if you knew that only a few years later I would destroy everything?"

He stared at the tree a few moments longer, as if expecting an answer. Then, he suddenly turned his face towards her, and those watery eyes turned vehement. He zoomed up to her face, his eyes filled with hurt and hate. "You, giant… Did you do this!?"

Diane was dumbstruck. She was angry with herself for feeling afraid at the way he gazed at her. She shouldn't be afraid of him, she should be getting him help. But the memory of those knives closing in on her head wouldn't disappear, and of course she wasn't too happy that he was blaming her for all of this.

They stared at each other, King with rage and Diane with dread, while both trembled. Finally, it was King who tore his gaze away. "Of course she didn't… No giant could be capable of doing this." As he spoke, he slowly sunk down from the air. "No, the only way this is possible is if… But the Demon Clan was sealed 2000 years ago… So how…" By this time, he had already reached the ground, and he continued staring at some unknown point in the distance as he whispered, "this is all my fault." He dropped to his knees, and the only indications of his silent weeping were the tremors that wracked his entire body.

"Harlequin…" Diane murmured. "Harlequin, are you…" She stopped herself when she realized that asking him that question was useless. She had absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. Comforting people had never been her thing, and she wanted more than anything to bring him back to his present self who had already dealt with this mess so she didn't have to see his reaction anymore. Was that selfish?

But the feeling of eyes on her back intensified, and now she was sure she could hear light footsteps in the ash. She turned around to see, of all people, the Sin of Lust walking towards them. "Gowther! What are you doing here?"

"Merlin sent me." He answered in his usual matter-of-fact monotone.

Diane felt the first smile on her face in hours. "Oh! Great! Let's get King back to see her as soon as possible!"

But Gowther made no move to help her, and just kept studying the pair with mild interest.

"Gowther, come on!"

He continued staring at her, and then suddenly raised his arm over his head in a stiff mimic of a victory pose. "I win."

"…What?"

"You claimed that feelings have nothing to do with memories, and would last even if the precious memories connected to them were lost. You were wrong. I win."

Diane glanced back at King, who showed no sign of even being aware of the conversation happening next to him. "Are you talking about what I said to you when you screwed around with Guila and her brother's memories?"

Gowther nodded. "Yes. I was curious, so I decided to test your assertion."

Diane finally rose to a standing position. "So you're telling me that even after we stopped you from manipulating Guila, you targeted King from wherever the hell he was and ruined his memory just to challenge me?" Her voice was flat, much like that of the one who answered her.

"Not quite. When King appeared in the middle of Camelot's Castle demanding to see you, I realized that his previous memory restoration and intense emotional attachment to you would make him a good test subject, so I took his memories while he was waiting for you to wake up."

"Oh." Diane replied in her sweetest voice, "I understand now."

WHAM!

Gowther's body smashed through several collapsing trees and eventually smacked against one more solid than the rest on the other side of the Forest. Diane took another peek at King. He hadn't moved. She felt like millions of tiny red-hot creatures were scrambling around her insides trying to bite their way out. There had to be something inside physically tearing her apart, or how else could she feel like this when she looked at the despondent Fairy King?

But Gowther had pulled himself to his feet, and that just wasn't okay. She rushed towards him again, screaming, while he stood still and looked her in the eyes. "I'm not quite sure if I deserve this one."

Diane punched him again, this time so hard that he collided with the rocky mountainside that formed the edge of the Forest. "YOU DESERVE EVERY SECOND OF THIS!" She roared.

She waited only a moment for Gowther to drop from the crater his body had made in the wall, and then she began frantically beating him over and over again into the ground. Huffing, she finally glanced down to see he had barely a scratch on him. "You…" The word ended in a snarl. She had nothing to say to him.

Her fingers closed around his body, and as she brought him up to her eye level, she slowly tightened her grip.

"Do you plan to kill me, Diane?"

Her narrowed eyes widened. Sure, she was furious. She despised him. But he was another Sin, someone she had spent so much time traveling with. She couldn't possibly.

"I see. As they say, you do not 'have it in you.'" His voice was still so flat and calm that she regretted loosening her hand.

"Maybe I do." She answered venomously, "and Gowther, stay the hell out of my thoughts!"

His expression never changed as he gave her a half-assed apology that did nothing to ease her fury.

"Why aren't you fighting back, anyway?!"

"The Captain ordered I should allow you to strike me as punishment for endangering all of the Sins. However, if I felt my life was in danger, I would then be permitted to disable you," he said as he adjusted his glasses.

Diane grimaced at the word "disable." She didn't even want to think of whatever mental hellhole he would stick her in, but she cautiously assumed it would be worse than the one she was in now. "The Captain said that, huh…"

She "dropped" him, which really entailed her throwing him back into the earth. She caught another glimpse of King, but it appeared he hadn't moved the entire time. Even when she ran back to his side he did not react to her presence at all. She could still hear him breathing heavily, which comforted her at least a bit, but he didn't respond even when she shook his shoulder with her finger.

"You did this to him." She looked over at the pink-haired man walking towards her.

He tilted his head in confusion. "I did not burn down the Forest."

She needed to smack him again. "No, but you made him experience it again, you slimy, heartless, good-for-nothing asshole!" She swung her arm back, ready to nail him again, but she found herself suddenly unable to move. "wh-…"

"I was explicitly told to ensure you were not hurt. You are still recovering. So do not anger me." Gowther's voice had only the slightest hint of a threatening tone.

She struggled with every part of her being, but only felt herself quivering from the effort.

"I was also asked to bring you back to Camelot as soon as possible. Everyone is waiting for us so that we can discuss what to do about the 10 Commandments."

Finally, he returned to her control of her mouth. "I'm not going anywhere without King!"

"Ban and Escanor will not be present either. Is that so strange?" Diane loathed that head tilt.

"Turn him back." She demanded in a low voice. "Turn him back right now, Gowther."

"But if we wait just a bit longer, he will no longer remember ever being the Fairy King at all. The destruction of the Forest will become someone else's mistake. He will lose centuries of guilt. Don't you think that would make him happy?"

Maybe she should have thought about it more, but she replied without hesitation. She knew Gowther had to be wrong. "Turn him back. Then I'll go with you."

He nodded. "Okay." He released Diane and made a strange gesture at King, and Diane whirled around excitedly to see him. But it looked like nothing had changed. He still hadn't stirred.

"It's not working!" She panicked.

"He has over 1500 years of memories to restore. It will take some time."

She reached down to pick up the frozen King. "Then let's take him with us." To her frustration, Gowther halted her hand again.

"That is not a good idea. While his memories are being repaired, he should not make any new ones of the people within those memories. It would cause overlap, and only confuse him. It could harm him."

Diane shook her head. "You can't expect him to just stay here the whole time! He's going to eventually move around and make new memories! So you're not even making any sense!" She said with her hands on her hips.

"Many of his memories involve you. If he sees you, it will harm him."

"But, I…"

Diane peered down at King for a long time, watching as he now lacked the strength and spirit to even cry. If there was anything she could do to avoid hurting him more, she would do it. Even if it pained her endlessly.

Gowther extended his hand to her. "Shall we?"

She crossed her arms and turned her head aside. "I'm not touching any part of you," she said with gritted teeth.

"You must, in order for the teleportation to work."

She sighed, allowing the farthest tip of her pinky fingertip to barely graze Gowther's hand. It took only seconds for the charred Forest and its defeated King to vanish from her sight.

...Well, that's the end of the story folks! Hope you enjoyed it XD
In all seriousness, I didn't expect to write this much for this fic! It's basically writing itself at this point. It is definitely getting near to the end of the fic though, so look for the last (second-to-last? next?) chapter next week!

p.s. I really thought I would accomplish so much more in this fic, and then Gowther happened. And then it just became ALL Gowther. There is so much Gowther...