King floated around the abandoned village. He had debated whether it was a good idea to land and walk in between the buildings, but just focusing a little with his power he could sense that nothing remained there. Which, as embarrassing as it would be to admit, did unnerve him a bit.

Even in towns where no one resided permanently, there was usually some form of life. Someone just passing through taking advantage of the empty homes, or animals finding shelter under floorboards.

But here, there was nothing.

He sighed, leaning back on Chastiefol and allowing himself to just drift above the deteriorating buildings and resigning himself to a boring fate until the other Sins arrived.

Well. He could try getting into the Capital of the Dead himself.

King frowned at the dark sky. He wasn't all too sure how to get there, actually, now that he thought about it.

Merlin had mentioned it once, long ago. But it was just a hazy memory. He was probably partaking in one of the drinking games the Captain and Ban often had, Ban more than likely goading him into it. Like he usually did.

King's frown shifted into a scowl. Ban was infuriating on the best of days, and he was damn lucky he was immortal, or else King would have murdered him a long, long time ago. He wasn't sure how he had ever tolerated him, and after discovering what had become of the Fairy King Forest… he could say with utmost confidence that he wished he had killed him before they had gone their separate ways.

At least then he could have avenged his sister, and all the fairies that had perished, because of Ban's greed.

He was startled from his thoughts by some rustling below him. Turning Chastiefol into a spear, King floated closer to the ground with narrowed eyes, surveying the foilage for any more movement. There was a small gasp to his left and he spun to face it, Chastiefol ready to launch-

Kids.

There were two kids staring up at him with big eyes.

King faltered, frowning. How come he hadn't felt their presence before?

He shook his head. It didn't matter. He was probably just out of practice. Besides, these were kids. He couldn't, in good conscience, hurt them. They were probably lost.

He sighed and turned Chastiefol back into its pillow form, floating to be just a few inches above the ground and to be just slightly higher than the children before him. They were still gaping at him as though he was a unicorn.

"Um, hi?"

The kids jolted from their shock, rushing up to him before he could process it with wide grins on their faces and speaking in a rush.

"Wow! How are you floating?!" the little girl asked. "It's so cool! You were so high just now!"

"Your pillow was a spear!" the boy gushed, practically bouncing as he circled Chastiefol. "Is it a spear that can turn into a pillow? Or a pillow that can be a spear? Does it have any more forms? I've never seen anything like that!"

King blinked, words lost to him as the kids kept firing off questions he could barely keep up with.

Finally he found his voice, bringing his hands up in an attempt to calm them. "Hey now, slow down, I can't answer your questions like that and you'll definitely turn blue if you keep going."

The two paused and took an exaggerated breath, giggling on the exhale but their questions at least died out so King decided it wasn't something he should be concerned about. King smiled softly. He always did like kids. Their energy could be too much for him sometimes, but their curiosity was endless and endearing.

Normally, they were accompanied by adults. These two, however, seemed to be on their own and they didn't appear very taken care of. He really hoped they were just lost.

They may have information though.

Well. There was no point in beating around the bush, and it wasn't like King had the time to go searching for any caregivers that may or may not still exist right now. He could look after them for the time being and still make use of the little time he had left before the other Sins arrived. He'd figure out what to do with the two later.

Besides, it wasn't like he had any resources to actually share with them at the moment.

"Do you two, by any chance, know about the Capital of the Dead?" he asked. "If you tell me anything you know about it, I'll answer your questions about Chastiefol."

The kids looked to one another with wide eyes once again before hastily nodding.

"Alright everyone!" Meliodas exclaimed from the center of the dining room. "We're almost at Tala Village - about an hour out, right?" He looked at Gelda for confirmation, and she nodded. "Right. So, we all know who's going with who to find out what we can, right?"

There were various hums in response, all positive though, so Meliodas didn't have much else he needed to go through.

"Good! Make sure you're ready for anything, though. None of us are entirely sure what the Capital of the Dead or Tala Village will be like."

Elizabeth, in all honesty, wasn't sure what they could even expect. She'd never heard of Tala Village before - though she did recall some bedtime stories a long, long time ago about the Capital of the Dead. She could only assume it wasn't a very exciting town, was probably small, small enough that no one in the palace ever bothered with it. She and her sisters had studied geography and that had included learning about all the different cities that would be under their rule when one of them assumed the throne, but she couldn't recall Tala Village being among those studies.

No matter, though. She wasn't alone in not knowing much. Ban and Gelda had been the only ones to know its exact location, and all Ban knew about it was that somewhere near the village was the way into the Capital of the Dead. How to get there, even, was still a bit of a mystery to everyone. Suspicions were held, but they wouldn't be able to confirm those possibilities until they were actually there.

Elizabeth glanced around at her companions. Really, no one looked exactly thrilled about going to the Capital of the Dead. Diane had expressed some anxiety earlier but admitted it was the thought of ghosts that unnerved her more than anything, and Elizabeth couldn't blame her. The thought of ghosts also made her hair stand on end. Hawk seemed even more terrified after learning about the ghosts they were likely to encounter, and Elizabeth had spent the better part of an hour comforting him and convincing him that he'd be safe if he went with them - though she did assure him that if he really, truly did not want to go, he did not have to. Meliodas, Gelda, and Zeldris all appeared indifferent, though she swore she had seen them exchange some concerned glances before. Zeldris had also offered Ban some of their stronger alcohol, which Ban had taken gratefully. And Ban…

Ban looked downright depressed. He had all morning, making a rather pathetic attempt to appear as indifferent as their other comrades but it fell flat pretty quick.

She'd tried to approach him, ask him what was wrong, but Zeldris had pulled her upstairs.

"I know you mean well, but don't ask him about it," Zeldris had said.

"Why not?" she'd asked. The Fox Sin was clearly distressed, why would Zeldris stop her attempts to find out what was wrong and try to lift his spirits?

Zeldris shook his head. "No matter what you do, it won't help in the end. He's going to be like this probably all day." He took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "Someone… someone he loves died, many years ago. He's likely going to see her today if we do manage to get into the Capital of the Dead. At least, and as far as I'm aware, he's going to try. That doesn't mean he's going to be happy about it, though."

Elizabeth's mouth had fallen open as Zeldris spoke, and for a moment she couldn't think of what to say.

"Oh," she finally managed, then promptly cringed. Zeldris cracked a small smile.

"Yeah." Then his smile turned more sympathetic and he rocked back on his heels. "Besides, if you approached him when he's like this without alcohol he might have snapped at you, and he can be a hurtful bastard sometimes whether he means it or not. Maybe try lifting his spirits after we do this, alright?"

Elizabeth had nodded and they returned downstairs where Meliodas and Gelda were apparently having an argument about whether ghosts were actually real.

She shook her head, turning her attention back to the rather quiet room. There wasn't much else they could do besides wait.

Gelda had lived longer than three millennia now, and she could say with complete confidence that it took a lot to truly put her on edge. Sure, there were plenty of scenarios where she had to be cautious, but she had been a little girl the last time a place had her feeling uneasy.

Tala Village, however, managed to accomplish just that.

Meliodas had started talking when they arrived, telling Ban in an attempt to lighten the mood that Ban would work as a chef in the Boar Hat. He'd still been rambling when Ban silently made his escape, and Gelda followed, departing only with a small nod towards her husband before catching up to the Sin of Greed.

Ban seemed unconcerned with their surroundings, and Gelda supposed it made sense. There wasn't much in the world that could cause him harm, fewer things that could lead to permanent death for him. She wasn't very different - being a vampire did have its perks. Like being extremely difficult to kill.

Though the sun issue was starting to get annoying… if they found Merlin, she'd have to ask if there was a spell that could work around it.

But that was another thing about Tala Village that was a little unnerving - though it wasn't too bizarre, it still made her uncomfortable. The town seemed surrounded by clouds, and just outside of what she would consider its borders there wasn't a cloud in sight. She didn't have to worry for the moment about shielding herself from the sun.

She shook her head, returning her attention to surveying the area. Just because Ban wasn't worried - or at least appeared to not be - about their safety didn't mean that she shouldn't be.

He was walking slower though, still hunched over himself a little, but as they weaved through the buildings and approached a wall he began to pay a little more attention until he abruptly stopped. Gelda came to a halt beside him, tilting her head and glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ban was frowning, and he didn't say anything. His silence, however, let the silence in the rest of the town really hit her.

It was eerie.

Nothing should ever be this silent - her own circumstances being an exception.

She strained to hear anything. Distantly, she could hear Diane, still close to the tavern, and the rest of their companions slowly making their way into the village. But they were expected. She tuned them out and began to walk along the wall, Ban jolting slightly beside her at her sudden movement before falling into step beside her. He wasn't silent like she was, but he did make an effort to lighten his footsteps so they could still hear everything - or the nothing that seemed to inhabit the village - clearly.

Gelda was about to tell Ban that they should go look somewhere else in the rundown town, turning to sign to him, but froze just as he did when he uttered-

"Elai-"

Ban cut himself off, mouth clicking shut and Gelda followed his gaze. She frowned at the little girl that was facing them. It was odd. Why hadn't she sensed the kid?

Even if the child was as weak as a newborn human baby, she should have at least smelled the girl.

Gelda could see where Ban could have been mistaken, though. She remembered his description of Elaine, and with his mental state as of late…

She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, and offered a small smile when he turned to look at her.

He sighed heavily and leaned back. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but he was stopped by a thud and they whirled around.

The little girl had collapsed to the ground. Gelda's jaw fell open, and Ban winced before walking over to the kid. Gelda followed suit, standing over Ban as he crouched to try and wake her up.

King hovered above the house the two kids had claimed for their own - he wasn't entirely sure if it was actually theirs, they had dodged many of his questions about them and he wouldn't push. He was a random armed person to the children. But they had answered his questions about the Capital of the Dead.

They called it the Necropolis. And after he dealt with Ban, he'd make an attempt to visit it.

He had considered going to the Necropolis first, but then he'd spotted a building that definitely wasn't there this morning settling just on the edge of town. Plus, anyone with any critical thinking skills could deduct it was sorely out of place when most of the village's buildings were in various states of decay.

But that building meant the arrival of Ban and the others, and just his luck, Ban had found the kids.

"Ellen!"

King rid himself of his thoughts and focused his attention back on the ground, raising an eyebrow as the little boy "defended" even littler sister. Really, it was kind of sad. The stab wound couldn't be more than an inch deep.

They stared in horror as Ban simply tossed the weapon to the side, and the girl - Ellen, the boy had called out, and if King's heart ached just a little no one had to know - defended Ban. The boy looked between Ellen and Ban, trembling so badly even King could see it, before suddenly going off about atoning for his sin.

King barely held back his snort.

Ah, the innocence…

If the kid's defense of his sister was considered a sin, King was certain that most of the population would have to atone for many, many sins.

Speaking of atoning…

One minute, Ban was telling a kid that sins couldn't actually be atoned for after lecturing him for not caring enough to feed his sister, and the next there was a spear through his chest with another kid on it looking like the cat that caught the canary.

"Hey, Ban," the kid said.

Before Ban could even think of a response, the kid's eyes widened and he barely managed to dodge a ball of flames from behind Ban.