[Words: 4734]

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Chapter 7:

The Sin in the Sleeping Forest

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(Meliodas handed me the basket, of which was topped off with white, green and black fabrics. "Thought you'd like some more in case something happens. Plus, I saw how you were eyeing my sleeve just now too."

My cheeks warmed. I had planned to offer to repair it if he'd need it…

"—And below is some stuff that I thought you'd be needing since you're staying long term."

I blinked and lifted the fabric to see what exactly he was referring to.

"Oh, right. Thanks."

I dropped the fabric. Honestly, anyone mentioning or referencing menstruation wasn't that big of a deal for me. Albeit other women often seemed perturbed whenever it was mentioned. It might've just been because I originally grew up in a time it was normal and wasn't ostracised. Too much anyway. "I hadn't thought about that."

Mel grinned cheekily. "Better to have remembered sooner rather than later."

I huffed my amusement before bidding him goodnight.)

I tapped the pencil against the last page of my sketchbook. I had offered a goodnight to Mel and Hawk to come up, but I hadn't planned to go to bed just yet.

I ground my jaw side to side in frustration. Every time I set the pencil down on paper, no matter how much I tried to remember—nothing came to me.

What the hell was happening?

I knew memories fade, no matter how hard you try and remember. I could accept that but…

Nothing but names, flashes, and a rough timeline of events I was struggling to remember were all I could pick out.

When had this happened?

When had I forgotten so much of the show?

And it was mostly the show; I was missing Bethany's memories, yes, but nothing to this extent—

I forced my breathing deep so I didn't fall back onto short and shallow breaths. It wouldn't do to work myself up—especially since Meliodas was still awake. I didn't want to worry him by having a panic attack.

Correction: having a second panic attack.

I sighed and set the pencil down, closing the sketchbook.

And I happened to burn all my old notes before fleeing Liones because of course, I did.

Damnit all to hell.

I was going to have to wing it from now on. Not what I wanted but it can't be helped.

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A hand coming to rest on my forehead had me blinking up at Mel as he removed it. "You feeling okay? You look exhausted."

I sat up, politely hiding my yawn as Mel set my tea down on the table in front of me. I murmured a quiet thank you and wrapped my hands around the warm drink. "I had trouble sleeping last night."

"Worried?"

I shrugged and rubbed an eye to wipe the sleep away. "I get bouts of insomnia sometimes."

Not a lie.

Mel hummed, "Just randomly or?"

I sniffled, my nose feeling a little stuffed and answered: "Randomly, I think. Been that way for a few years now, about the same time…" I began having those dreams I could never remember. The only thing I could recall was a man calling my name. It was always Elizabeth, sometimes it was tenderly, reminiscent, or even pleading on a few occasions. I frowned, now that I really thought about it, why was I having these dreams and most importantly who was this man calling me? His voice didn't sound familiar, but it was duel-toned so... Ugh, why is my memory so shitty in this life.

Fingers snapping in front of my face jerked me back to the present. I blinked up at the pinched-browed look on Mel's face. "You zoned out, Beth."

"I did?" I frowned again.

"You trailed off and got this glazed look in your eyes," Hawk pipped up and I turned to him.

Huh, when had he arrived?

"Just lost in thought," I waved off.

Mel tilted his head and smiled but the questioning glaze in his eyes never left. "Okie-dokie then. Ready to head out when you are, Beth."

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"Hey, are you sure about this? It's been three hours since we entered the forest," Hawk questioned from up ahead, he was beginning to clearly grow unnerved. "There's no sign of any animals, much less people."

It was true; the thick white fog and leafless (dead?) trees made the entire journey a little eerie. But honestly, it would've been worse had it been dark. We could at least see where we were going.

"You're forgetting that people tend to avoid the forest, Hawk," I chimed in before turning to look over my shoulder at Mel. "You really think one of the others are staying here?"

"Probably."

I rubbed the back of my neck and wiggled my left toes in an attempt to ease the ache in my calf while Hawk squawked in outrage: "We came here without any hard evidence?!" Hawk bowed his head, eyeing our surroundings nervously. "You know, rumours say that there's a terrifying monster lurking in this forest!"

A hand expertly slipping under my dress to grope my butt made me yelp. Eyes wide, I turned to look at Meliodas, frozen in my shock as he squeezed, grinning cheekily. "I knew you weren't wearing your leggings."

"Meliodas!" Hawk exclaimed.

Finally regaining control over my body, I go to shove his hand away—he moves it as I do—and I hold my dress down against my legs, cheeks burning.

Dear stars, I was so sleep-deprived that I had forgotten my leggings this morning. How in the hell did I let that happen? At least he hadn't taken my knickers. Guess there were some miracles.

Mel just smiled like he was the cat that got the cream. "I do have evidence, sort of." Mel ignored Hawk's scolding—like always. "As you can see, the Forest of White Dreams is a place that's difficult to traverse on horseback. It's also easy to lose your bearings. Even hunters and travellers go around it which makes it the ideal place to hide."

I sighed, fondly exasperated. However, as I took a large step up, my calf muscles decided it was time to cramp up, and my knee gave out under the pain mid-step. I slipped and would have fallen backwards in a no doubt painful fall when Mel nabbed me before I could.

He lowered me.

"Beth!" Hawk called, rushing back down to us.

"You okay?" Mel questioned, shifting to look at my leg, all humour from a moment ago completely gone.

"Ah," Was the only sound that escaped as I grimaced, quickly massaging my calf.

"Beth?"

"I have a bad leg. I was in an accident several years ago, ended up with an arrow in my leg," I offered.

Mel's brows furrowed deeper, jaw tight and for a moment his emerald eyes looked significantly darker. "An accident… that resulted in you… getting an arrow to the leg?"

He met my eyes, cocking a brow, and his expression was a warning enough not to try and downplay it. Stars, my palms suddenly felt sweaty.

I dropped my gaze, biting my lip. "I was out on a hunting trip…"

"And?" Mel's voice was low and demanding, stars. His grip on my ankle tightened and I curled my toes nervously, feeling like a scolded child.

"Some bandits thought it would be a good idea to try and ransom me off. They chased me and one of them ended up shooting me in the leg to stop me."

Hawk was wisely silent as he shuffled anxiously. I felt Mel stare despite me not willing to meet his eyes. A distant crow and the creak of branches were the only sounds for a very long minute.

"Hawk," Mel's voice was clipped and Hawk actually jumped.

"Y-yes?"

"Go on ahead, would you?" Mel's eyes didn't leave my face. Hawk hesitated. "Now."

Hawk moved.

Why was Mel being so weird? It had happened years ago.

"Beth, look at me."

I didn't, instead found the tree to my right a lot more appealing.

"Elizabeth." I tensed, something inside lurching and my eyes snapped to his. Holy Shit. How'd he do that?

Mel sighed and released my ankle to instead ruffle his hair. "I don't want to come off as annoyed here, but I would have liked to have known this sooner, especially if we end up doing a lot of fighting. How bad is it?"

I bit my lip and half-heartedly shrugged. A guilt I had felt very few times in both my lives festering. It ate away at my heart as if it was warping my insides. There was a time when I had been Bethany, I can't remember exactly what happened as I had been a young child, but my cousin and I had done something stupid, and I could remember my grandmother scolding us. I could remember, even now, the guilt and sadness our actions had caused to upset our grandmother.

"It just depends on a day-to-day basis," was all I could offer. It was true, I could go a while without any sort of pain, or I could do something slightly strenuous and limp for the rest of the day. "Sometimes uphill walking can set it off but I can't predict whenever it starts playing up. It's not normally this bad, I promise."

Mel frowned again and sighed heavily.

I swallowed. "Sorry." His eyes snap up to meet mine again. "For not telling you. It wasn't intentional."

He nodded. "It's okay. But let me know if you're in any pain in the future, okay? You're not a burden, Beth and I don't want you to think telling me you're in pain will make you one."

I worried my lip and ducked my head, cheeks burning in embarrassment—it hadn't… I hadn't. I hadn't thought it would be a burden, but I will admit I didn't want to cause Mel any unnecessary worry. I didn't want to be a distraction for him, and so telling him about my leg hadn't even crossed my mind in the first place…

However, I was brought from my thoughts as I was lifted. I yelped, hands instinctively finding something to grab onto, which happened to be Mel's shoulders. Holding me securely with an arm under my knees and another behind my back, I was carried bridal style up the hill.

I buried my face into his chest to hide the flush on my cheeks. Stars, emotions are complicated and tiring. I murmured a quiet thank you and Mel hummed in reply, nose brushing against my temple.

But when he reached the top of the hill, Mel stopped and the numerous cries of "Meliodas, Beth!" had me looking up and I choked on my spit at the sight of a dozen Hawks.

"Huh." Mel blinked. "A herd of Hawks." He smiled as if there wasn't a single thing wrong with the scene in front of us.

"Uh," was all that escaped me, and I blinked, then shook my head and questioned: "A type of shapeshifting creature?"

"Seems like it."

One Hawk rushed towards us, begging us to believe he was the real one, and it was probably him but he got muddled up with all the others who quickly followed behind.

All the cries for us to believe which one was real made me cringe at the volume. Mel hummed thoughtfully and I yelped as he rushed forward, making me bury my face again against the gust of wind. Mel sent the Hawks flying with their own cries. He even directly kicked a few of them and I bit my lip to stop a pearl of laughter from escaping at the thought of Meliodas taking his constant annoyance at Hawk out on the copycats.

Immediately, the creatures scrambled away, poofing back to their original forms as they fled.

Without much thought, Mel took off after them, and I was tempted to say he could put me down and I could run, but when I opened my mouth to say it, Mel seemed to anticipate what exactly I was thinking.

"It's fine, Beth."

"Are you sure?"

He flashed me a smile. "Of course."

I nodded, subdued for now, but my attention was snagged by the shape that was slowing coming into our sight through the mist. Diane. I perked up. "That's someone up ahead, right?"

Mel tilted his head as Hawk awed his confusion before squawking when he realised the person wasn't very far in the distance but was instead a giant woman.

The shapeshifters cried out for Diane and how they were sorry for allowing Holy Knights into the forest.

Oh man, Diane had threatened them, hadn't she? I bit back my smile, especially when Diane woke up, slamming a hand into the earth to send them fleeing again and kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Mel set me down and I wobbled at the feeling of being back on my feet.

Diane stood, towering over us and—I had forgotten just how tall she was. That feeling hadn't changed at all since the first time I had ever had the chance to meet her. She was still scarily tall, but I loved it. Stars, do I love Diane. She had always been one of my favourites.

"Did you say Holy Knights?"

"S—she's huge!" Hawk gapped.

"N—No, we're not Holy Knights." I raised my hands in an attempt to ease the murderous look on Diane's face.

Her eyes honed in on me and the look turned inquisitive then—"Little Bee?!"

I was scooped up with a loud squeal and cuddled to her chest. I squeaked in shock, huddling close at the dizziness that hit me from all the movement—I hadn't even seen her move to grab me!

"D—Dee-dee." I was huddled up in a half-ball against her chest as Diane giggled away.

"It is you! I've missed you, Little Bee!"

"Little Bee?" Hawk exclaimed in shock.

Diane's starry eyes turned to Hawk and grinned. "Oh! You've brought dinner!"

Hawk screeched in terror, "I'm not dinner!"

Diane blinked and pouted. "Aw, but I'm hungry!"

I bit my lip to stop the giggle that threatened to escape.

"Huh?" Diane turned her attention to Meliodas, and she squinted down at him. "Captain? Is that you?"

"Yo!" Mel raised a hand in greeting, but then Diane frowned, eyes shifting to me, then back to Mel.

"How comes you're with the Captain, Little Bee?" She asked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."

"Ah." I rubbed the back of my head. "It's a bit long story and why we are here truthfully."

She paused, eyes narrowing down at Mel. "And you're all alone with him?"

I blinked, confused. "Well, Hawk's here too, but yes."

I heard the quiet mutter of Hawk thanking me for considering him important enough to remember him as a companion too. How cute.

Diane smiled tightly. "Oh, really? Just you two?" She turned to me. "He hasn't done anything to you, has he?!"

Oh, oh. I withheld a wicked grin as a thought came to me and I purposefully met Mel's eyes, whose said eyes widened in horror as he seemed to catch the devious look in my eyes.

"Actually—"

I didn't even get the chance to say anything else. Diane seemed to take me looking at him enough of an answer, and then Diane punted Mel, sending him flying. I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my giggles. Payback is a bitch.

"You filthy bastard! How dare you touch my Little Bee like that!" Diane cried, huddling me against her chest. "How dare you try and corrupt her with your pervy ways!"

Hawk oinked happily, "Now I'm not the only one that can protect Beth!"

"Di—Diane," Mel started, hesitantly trying to push himself upright, not doubt worried she might try and punch him again. But as I looked at him over Diane's hand, the look he gave me promised my comeuppance by his hand. I just grinned.

"None of your excuses! You pervert! You philanderer!" Diane set me down to focus all her attention on beating Mel up.

Whoops…

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"—So anyway, to put a stop to the Holy Knights' rampage, Beth is on a quest to locate the Seven Deadly Sins," Mel, all bruising and scratched up, explained once Diane had stopped beating him to a pulp.

Diane sniffled, "I'm still not apologising for attacking you, Captain. But… I am always jumping to conclusions. I'm sorry."

Mel rubbed the back of his neck, and I couldn't help but smile, especially when Mel eyed me from the corner of his eye. I was definitely going to suffer at his hands later, but it was totally worth it. I flashed him a grin and his eyes narrowed before he shifted back to Diane.

"Anyway," Mel waved her off. "I'm working with Beth to gather the other Sins."

"All right. In that case, I'll go with." Diane stood, brushing the dirt off her knees as she did. "I'll be sure to lend you my strength!"

I beamed up at her. "Thank you, Diane!"

"Th—Thank goodness." We all turned to the group of relieved shapeshifters hiding behind a rock. "She's been threatening us for years, saying she'd go on a rampage if we didn't shelter her!"

"I feel your pain," Hawk mutters under his breath.

CAW!

The crow startled all of us, and my eyes swerved to the red-eyed creature in a nearby tree; it was the one I had spotted earlier! How had I completely missed that?

"That's strange. I thought there were hardly any animals in this forest."

There was a tingle on the back of my tongue, and I tensed, turning to Mel just as Hawk commented on the smell of rain.

"Lightning," I chimed in. Mel met my eyes. Awareness flashed onto his face.

There was a crackle of thunder and a flash of lightning overhead as the clouds darkened almost instantaneously. The lightning was a bright blue, and I knew Gil had arrived.

"What's happening?" Hawk questioned.

Before I could comment on just who was causing it, a large bolt of lightning zipped down. I squeezed my eyes closed against the bright light and pressed my hands to my ears at the loud sound. I had always hated thunder oddly enough. No matter how much I had tried to train myself out of it by watching Gilthunder train, it never worked, and I couldn't stay long if he was using his magic.

Surprisingly, he hadn't bound me. I knew it was likely he knew I wouldn't be a problem to deal with and while that annoyed me, it was true.

The sound of armour made me lower my hands and twist my head to look at the approaching Gilthunder.

"And you are?" Mel questioned.

I had long ago understood that Meliodas was a damn good actor and now was no different. It was always funny seeing the shenanigans he got up to when I was a child.

"We meet at last, Sins," Gilthunder greeted, stepping through the fog and into our sights for a clear view of him.

"This power…" Diane grumbled.

"You're a Holy Knight, aren't you?"

I worried my bottom lip. "Gilthunder."

"Princess Elizabeth," Gilthunder greeted. He eyed me for a moment and while his voice and face didn't give anything away. I have known him long enough to know he was relieved at seeing me unharmed. It was the slightest twitch of his lip.

"You're the one who blocked Vanya's water supply and then tried to blow away the village, right?" Meliodas asked.

Diane tried to break her binding and Mel made a comment of not bothering to try and break it.

Gil approached and I tensed as he brought his sword to Mel's shoulder. "Do you know why the Holy Knights are after the heads of the Seven Deadly Sins?"

"Not really."

"Half call for the eradication of the rebel order that plotted to overthrow the kingdom. The other half want to do battle against the former legends in order to prove their own strength."

"Which half are you in?" Mel asked curiously—which really wasn't the time to be curious. The sight of Gil's sword so close to Mel's throat made me nervous, especially when I knew the injury he was going to end up with. One that I would struggle to heal and leave me drained if I did attempt it. There goes avoiding the doctor and Glorgius? Was that his name? Nevermind, at this rate I'll find out.

"Both," Gilthunder answered, eyes narrowing. "No, I want more."

"More?"

"Yes. I want revenge for my father, Zaratras, Grand Mater of the Holy Knights. Killing you will show that I've surpassed my father, celebrated as the most powerful Holy Knight ever."

"So what you're getting at is that I'm the man who murdered your father?"

"You claim differently?" Gilthunder cocked a brow.

"Beats me," Mel shrugged. "The thing is, I don't remember very much from back then."

I saw the confused frown that appeared on Diane's face and licked my lips nervously.

"The last thing I remember is Beth calling out to Merlin and me some point after our return to the capital. The rest is a blank.—" I frowned this time—that might have happened, I remember searching for them and considering I can't remember much that day either, I can't prove or argue about it. "—The next thing I remember, I was lying in a cellar somewhere. That's when I met Hawk."

"What difference does it make?" Gilthunder commented aloofly. "A traitorous order that plotted to overthrow the kingdom. That's what you people are."

A burst of frustration hit me, but I knew there was nothing I could do in this situation to stop Gilthunder.

But I was surprised when Gilthunder turned to me. "The kingdom's given top priority to take you into protective custody and I intend to do just that. But I would like to ask how you snuck out of the kingdom in the first place. There was no possible exit that wasn't covered by knights and not without help."

I pursed my lips and said nothing.

"You had help then," He concluded easily, and I didn't deny it. "Very well, we'll have plenty of time to sort that out later." He turned back to Mel. "Once I have defeated you both, I'll have proven that I am now more powerful than any of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"Maybe you are. But maybe you aren't," Mel argued.

"In that case, I'll release your bonds so that I can prove it."

Mel smiled. "Thanks, but I can do it myself." And proceeded to do just that, Diane too.

"We could've escaped whenever we felt like it."

"And if I felt like it, I could annihilate you along with this entire forest," Gil retorted.

"Hmm, I doubt that." Mel smiled again.

"Then I'll simply cut you down."

"Right back at you." Mel peered up at Diane. "Don't interfere, Diane."

She pouted. "Okay, Captain."

"You don't want to risk the shame of me defeating you both?" Gilthunder cocked a brow, raising his sword and fell into a fighting stance.

Meliodas copied him but didn't draw his broken blade. "Can't you tell when your elder is trying to be nice to you?"

Gilthunder struck first, and I instinctively backed up to give them room to fight without being in the way. They moved almost too fast for me to keep up. All I could catch were arks of lightning and distorted flashes of them when they slowed enough to see them. Mel landed on an outcrop of rock in the near distance and was too far for me to hear what they were saying.

Gilthunder jumped up to attack Mel and the rock eventually gave out under the pressure they were making. Into the air they went, then back down in another flash of movement too quick for my eyes but the clashing of magic on my tongue told me Gilthunder was using more magic then Meliodas, the latter replying primarily on physical skill.

Mel crashed into the ground, and I tensed—

I choked, slapping a hand over my mouth as Gilthunder sliced Mel's shoulder, sending blood flying. He hit the ground, and I curled my toes to stop myself from lurching forward to heal, especially when a bloody puddle began to form.

"C—Captain?" Diane called hesitantly and I clutched my elbows, worrying my lip until it bled.

Gilthunder rolled Mel over with his foot.

"Meliodas, the Seven Deadly Sins' Dragon Sin of Wrath. Do you have any last words?"

"I… just wanted to know what happened to the other Sins…" He rasped.

I trembled. I knew, I knew, he was playing his injuries up to some extent, but hearing his voice and the bloody puddle made my eyes sting because fuck, I might have seen some severe injuries before and might have helped heal such wounds before but seeing it happen, seeing the wound be inflicted, was a different story entirely.

Gilthunder sheathed his sword. "Very well, I'll tell you. Of the remaining five, three are still unaccounted for. But two of them have already been dealt with. The Fox Sin of Greed is being kept under tight guard at Baste Prison. The Grizzly Sin of Sloth is already dead and is interred in the Necropolis. Don't worry, I will send them all to join you."

"No kidding…" Mel burst into a smile, flipping to his feet and I could breathe again. "Thanks a lot, Little Gil! So, Baste Prison and the Necropolis, huh? I'll go check out one or the other."

Gilthunder blinked, lips pursed, but didn't look surprised. "I see. You deliberately took my blow to learn the whereabouts of your fellow Sins."

Mel smirked. "Let's pick this up later, 'kay?"

"I think not." Gilthunder reached for his sword, swiping at Mel, who dodged it in a show of speed I had even worse luck at keeping up with. Another attack, another dodge. Again and again, until Gilthunder's back was facing Diane. Mel glanced over his shoulder with a smile. "Catch ya later."

Before Gilthunder could question Mel's words Diane grabbed and lifted him with a smile. "You heard the Captain."

"Unhand me!" Gilthunder snarled, expanding a burst of lightning which did nothing to her but ruined her glove.

"Didn't I teach you a long time ago? Girls hate guys who shock them!" She threw him. Far. He was gone from sight in seconds. Goodness.

(Diane yelped and drew back as she pouted down at a shocked, heh shocked, Gilthunder. "How rude!"

Panicked, Gilthunder began stuttering out apologises, "I'm—I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too!"

Ban laughed loudly which made me giggle into Merlin's shoulder.)

I let out a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding, my grip tightening on my elbows as my entire body slumped with the tapering of the adrenaline rush and my exhaustion really made itself known.

"Thanks, Diane," Mel smiled and blinked. "Wow, that vambrace is ruined."

"Aw," Diane pouted and pulled the ruined brace off.

I moved closer to Mel, tugging at his sleeve to get a closer look at his shoulder. I licked my lip and wanted to whine. It was far too much for me to even attempt to heal in my exhausted state.

"I can't heal something this bad," I admitted shamefully.

Mel just flashed me a smile. "It's alright, Beth."

"No, it's not! And don't try and play this off as nothing, either! " I glared and my eyes stung again—damnit, I wasn't going to cry! I reached under my belt to pull off the black fabric I used over the white dress and pressed it to his shoulder.

"Beth," Mel's tone turned soft, his hand attached to his non-injured shoulder settled on top of my hands which were holding the fabric. "It won't kill me."

"But you still need a doctor, especially if I can't heal this!"

"She's right, Captain." Diane crouched to get closer. "I'll give you three a lift to make it out of the forest quicker."

"Don't argue with us," I chastised.

He sighed and nodded, "Okay."