I should have said this way before chapter 5, but thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, follow, fave, and review! All of those notifications make me smile every time, so thank you!

"That was an earthcrawler!"

Diane swore that Gilthunder's eyes sparkled as he whirled around with his finger pointed in the air and told her, "They're capable of consuming buildings and even multiple men on horseback! They can span hundreds of feet in length, and-"

"Nerd." Diane and Hauser both muttered and then laughed at each other.

"It's useful information if we run into another one!" Gilthunder retorted.

"Gil, how can you even remember all those facts, anyway?"

Diane tuned out the Knight's reply as she began walking faster. She didn't want him to get too far. "Harlequin!" She called, cupping her hands over her mouth, "Harlequin!"

"Huh? Wait, aren't we looking for King?"

Gilthunder studied her curiously. "That's King's real name, isn't it? Since when have you been calling him that?"

Diane's fingers began pulling her pigtail towards her face of their own accord. "Well…" Why did she feel so shy all of a sudden? "I used to call him that when we were kids."

Both Knights stared at her in shock. "Whaaaaaaat?" Hauser exclaimed.

"I kind of grew up with him? We were good friends."

"It means we're really good friends!" King's voice defined the word "couple" in her head, and blushing she retreated further behind her hair.

That is what they were once, wasn't it? A couple. He promised he'd always love her, and always be by her side. But with the way he had acted around her lately, the way he had disappeared again and again, no matter what stage his memories were at, she wondered if that was still true.

"…So that's why you guys were always so close."

Diane looked back to see Gilthunder put a hand on Hauser's shoulder. What was with them? "Actually, I forgot those 500 years I spent with him until recently."

The two Knights were ogling her again, and she was starting to feel defensive. "How do you forget 500 years?" Gilthunder demanded.

"Is this like King's memory loss? Is this a thing with you guys?!"

Her face darkened from the accusations, and then fell when she realized she couldn't answer the question. She scanned her own memory. One minute, she was tearfully watching her Harlequin fly away, trusting in his promise to come back to her no matter what. The next, she was returning to the Giant Clan. She wondered absently if he had come back, unable to find her. And then, hadn't he said he had ended up in jail?

But…for so long her mind had been focused on King. Confessing. Searching. Waiting. And recently she hadn't allowed her mind to entertain thoughts that went far beyond "why hasn't he come back yet?" But now she couldn't seem to stop her mind from wandering and wondering. How had she lost such a large chunk of her memory?

"Diane!" A familiar voice called, "Gil! Hauser! I'm so happy to see you all!"

"Elizabeth! You're okay!" Diane bounded over to her friend, and both excitedly brought the other up to speed. Elizabeth had also been attacked by those monsters that Gilthunder had rambled about, and had been saved by a mage named Gilfrost. Gilthunder seem uneasy around the newcomer- maybe he didn't like someone copying his name- but Diane didn't give it much thought.

She had other matters to focus on, as she explained to Elizabeth, and before long they were all looking for King while trying to reach the center of the labyrinth. Diane was grateful how quickly everyone had jumped to aid her search. Once or twice, someone even thought that they'd caught a glimpse of the Fairy King, but no one had successfully found him yet.

Wait, what was that sound?

"Watch out, everyone!" But Elizabeth's warning was unnecessary, as everyone had already leapt out of the way of the blast. Diane didn't have time to look, but she could feel the shock wave as it shattered the wall to their right and continued smashing through the walls to their left and beyond.

"Elizabeth!" He had called before the smoke even cleared, and Diane laughed. Of course the Captain and Ban would not find but make a shortcut through the labyrinth. "Yo, everyone!" He said as he finally stepped through the debris with Ban and Arthur.

"Now that the Captain is here, we'll get through this maze in no time!" She said excitedly.

Meliodas waved. "Oh, hey, Diane! Haven't seen you look that happy for a long time!"

Ban smirked. "Maybe she finally gave up on King and started crushing on you again."

"Shut UP, Ban!" She backhanded him and flung him far into the gaping hole.

He reappeared a few minutes later, laughing with his hands in his pockets. "I can't even tell if that's a yes or a no."

Diane tried to ignore him, which became easier as she was distracted by the reunion of Meliodas and Elizabeth. They were staring at each other in that way that made her want to scream, but the pangs of jealousy that came from watching them seemed different. They were other emotions tied up with that envy as well, and she recognized fear and dread at the forefront. If… No, when she saw King again, would it be possible to have such a sweet and blissful reunion? He had given her such looks of malice, hatred, and disgust a month ago. He had attacked her. And she was trying so, so hard, but those images just wouldn't go away.

What if he rejected her again? She wasn't sure if she could endure that.

Everyone rushed to the tunnel before it could close up. When Diane peered through to the other side, the first person she saw was…

"Matrona?!" So she hadn't imagined her? Diane surged forward, pushing her friends aside as she crawled through the hole first. Matrona was alive.

She listened as her old friend and mentor explained how she was still alive, what she had been doing all this time, why she was even here, but Diane soon became distracted by a flash of blue and orange. Her eyes lit up, and she started to run towards him, but Matrona held out her arm to block her.

"Matrona, I'm sorry, I want to catch up later, but I need-"

"Never mind that. Look." Diane followed Matrona's gaze up to the top of the boulder. She heard Meliodas declare behind her that these were Commandments, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the larger one.

"Is that…?"

Matrona nodded. "A giant, with incredible magic power."

"Dolor." She heard the smaller Commandment address him, and they looked at each other in dismay. Dolor?! As in the founder of their clan?!

Awestruck, Diane watched as his four arms shaped a stage of two enormous hands. Her admiration quickly turned to dizzying nausea as the other Commandment sent out his "death thorns" to kill every remaining life in the labyrinth. Of course, she was horrified at the deaths of those unknown numbers of people, but she wondered what would've happened if Meliodas hadn't blasted his way through in search of Elizabeth. If she'd been alone, even if she'd still been with just Gilthunder and Hauser, the three of them would be-

But now King had flown dangerously close to the Commandments, and her heart leapt high into her throat. What was he doing? He had to get away, now, from this- Fairy King?! No wonder King looked so horrified, they had the same powers and title. Because King could probably do exactly what this Gloxinia had just done. But he never would, right? Right. It was essential for her to believe that.

But now she learned that Escanor had been located, just as this former Fairy King had stabbed him, and she along with the rest of the Sins raced towards him. Matrona did not halt her this time.

Before anyone could even reach him, however, a single droplet of water fell from a large rose's thorn, and the gaping wound in Escanor's abdomen closed.

The Commandments excused stabbing and healing Escanor as an example of what they could offer a potential victor, but Diane was disgusted. She wanted no prize that these malevolent people could provide, she just wanted to protect her friends and bring King home.

"Dolor, if you'd please." The Fairy King gestured dramatically at the First Giant and the ground beneath Diane began to shake. She was propelled into the air on a small platform of earth, and the shouts of confusion around her showed that the same had happened to her friends.

Her platform melded neatly into one of the stone fingertips, and Diane took an unsteady step forward as she readjusted to solid ground. Her partner for the contest had already arrived, and he was peering over the side of the stage, watching the other groups assemble. She began walking towards him, and he either ignored her or was simply too engrossed in his task- he was probably looking to see if Elaine was all right.

She had to speak to him, or she would explode right there on the spot. But she had no idea where to start. She had so many questions, and she couldn't decide which answer was most important.

It seemed she wouldn't need to make that decision, however, as King suddenly turned around to face her.

how many manga chapters did I fit into these four pages, seven? I may have been rushing towards a certain someone...I figured no one would mind.

Words can't even describe how excited I am to write this next chapter. Everyone's going to hate me, it'll be so much fun!

Thanks for reading!