"Talking"

'thinking'

"Spells"

Disclaimer: I do not own either Fairy Tail or the Seven Deadly Sins

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Chapter 12:

The Byzel fighting tournament

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Unknown Location

Jericho and Twigo could only look on is shock, awe and fear as they stood before the demon. Twigo eyes went so wide it looked like they would fall out. But with Jericho she took a step back as a rumor she heard was stuck in her head.

"Wh… What is this monster!?" Asked/demanded Twigo finally finding his voice.

"It's the corpse of a demon." Said Hendrickson as if there no problem. "We discovered it twenty years ago in the Fairy kings's forest."

"A demon?" Said Twigo in shock as Jericho took another step back in shock.

"She was right." Said Jericho as this caught Guila, Hendrickson and the mystery knight attention.

"What do you mean 'she was right'?" Asked Hendrickson confused.

Jericho looked at the Holy knight with confused and worried face. "That blond girl with the Sins. She's been saying that the Demon clan was coming back. The knights who have heard this has played her off as someone crazy, but seeing this…" She trailed off as she now believed her.

Hearing that Hendrickson frowned. This was the first he had heard of this talk amongst the Holy Knights. While he could use this, at the same time it could be harmful to his recruitment.

"Guila is this true?" Asked Hendrickson as she was the last person to see the Sins.

"It is." Confirmed Guila as she added. "She is quite convinced that they would be freed, and we will lose."

Hendrickson nodded and was glad she was carful with what she said.

"Great Holy knight Hendrickson why did you show us this thing?" Asked Twigo as he was getting nervous.

"You know why you were called here, correct?" Asked Hendrickson as he got back on track.

"You… you said you give us a new chance." Started Twigo confused by what he meant.

"That you'd give us new powers" Finished Jericho wondering where this power would come from.

Hendrickson then walked over to one of the demon's hands. He then cut it open allow blood to flow out. But rather then let it hit the ground he had the blood fall into two glasses.

"Drink." Said Hendrickson as he presented the glasses to them. "It's demon blood."

Hearing that shocked the two as Jericho found her voice.

"Why should we drink it?" She asked Hendrickson who understood why she would ask that, as others had too.

"I understand." Said Hendrickson as he then explained.

"When we were recovering this demon, there were several hundred dead crows around the corpse. It looked like they are some flesh and died from it. There were crows that were alive as well, but one suddenly transformed into a monster and killed about a dozen knights. It seems that the flesh and blood of the demon has the effect of transforming living beings and drawing out immense power."

"But if we drink this, will we die or turn into monsters?" Asked Jericho as she wasn't sure what was worst.

"If a human is compatible their appearance will stay the same, but their power will be greatly increased." Said Hendrickson as he looked at Guila. "Guila is proof of that."

"Either way, now that you know this, we can't let you go." Guila told them making both Twigo and Jericho nervous and hesitant.

Hendrickson saw this and decided to give them some initiative. "What's wrong? Do you not desire power?" He asked them.

Hearing that Twigo remembered how Meliodas beat him and how Lucy helped him.

At first Jericho, remembered how Ban stripped her of her amour and left her in her underwear. But she then stopped and thought about Lucy's warning about the demons and looked at the one before her.

"Sir." Said Jericho as everyone looked at her. "Why do we need this power?"

Hearing that made Hendrickson frown as she was the first to ask that. But before he could speak up the mystery knight did.

"Because a war is coming." The knight told her. "The one that girl was talking about."

Hearing that made Jericho more confused. "If that true why is she siding with the Seven Deadly Sins and not us?" She asked the knight. Hearing that even made Guila a little curious.

"We do not know." Said Hendrickson as Lucy was a wild card he never could have imaged. "But if she doesn't side with us soon, she'll be considered a criminal like the Sins. It is our duty to stop the evil that threatens our kingdom."

Hearing the word duty Jericho though of her older brother and how he's a great Holy knight and how others would compare her to him. But if she took this blood that could change. But what if she lost herself to it.

But she was in a no-win situation right now. If she didn't take the blood she would die, but if she did, she might also die. But if she did, she would gain great strength and power, but at what cost?

Jericho then took the cup and brought it to her lips and drank it as it was her only choice right now. Seeing this Twigo gulped his glass down too.

As soon as the blood entered their systems they screamed out in pain as the others stood by and watched. Jericho then coughed up a ton of blood as she then collapsed to the ground while Twigo stood crouched over.

"What is this?" Twigo asked himself as he felt the power. "This… new feeling. Power is overflowing form my body! So this is the power of the demon blood!"

"So, one of them is compatible." Said Hendrickson as he was indifferent if both or none of them obtained the power.

"Co…confirmed! I have obtained explosive power!" Said Twigo as his body started to expand and swell as his clothes and amour started to break. "Confirmed, I'm exploding!?"

The next thing everyone saw was Twigo exploding as none of them batted an eye at the scene. It was then that Jeicho's body started to move as she started to get up. But something was different about her. Her eyes were blank as if she lost some of her soul or something.

"Welcome to our side Jericho." Said Guila as she helped her up.

"Guila help out our new comrade." Said Hendrickson as the two left the cavern.

"So, we have another ally." Said a voice from now where.

Soon an older woman around 30 appeared from nowhere. She long blue hair and black eyes. She wore a regal light purple holy knight armor with a long dress.

"Hello Tiffany." Greeted Hendrickson as Tiffany walked over and saw what was left of Twigo.

"Another failure." Said Tiffany mostly to herself. No matter how hard she tried she could get it to where everyone lives after having the blood. With a wave of her hand she made Twigo's remains vanish.

"Unfortunately." Said Hendrickson grateful that she cleaned up the mess. "But with each failure we get closer to perfecting the process."

And ever since Tiffany joined him in this operation more and more lived. It also helped that Tiffany was one of Merlin's students and has extensive knowledge and such to help their cause.

"True." Agreed Tiffany.

"So, what brings you here?" Asked the mystery knight.

"If you must know Helbram, we nearly found him." Said Tiffany as this surprised the two men as they knew who she was talking about.

"You have?" Said Helbram surprised as they've been looking for him for years but couldn't find him.

"Yes. Someone powerful has been keeping watch over him." Said Tiffany as it was difficult to track him. "But we've narrowed it down to two locations and once we have, I have a team ready to go."

"Excellent work Tiffany." Praised Hendrickson as he knew he could count of her. He then turned to Helbram.

"Is your operation ready?" Asked Hendrickson curious.

"Everything is in place." Helbram told him as he added. "But there might be one problem."

Hearing that made Hendrickson curious. "And what is that?"

"Well a Holy Knight is heading there right now. We check the records and he has time off. If I had to guess he's going there of his own free will." Explained Helbram as Hendrickson thought about it. He had a good guess who it was, and it was a tricky situation.

"Leave him be." Said Hendrickson as it was the best course of action.

"I understand." Said Helbram as he then left to get things ready.

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Byzel

Byzel was a fair size town built on the side of a mountain. There wasn't anything special about this town other then it's a merchant town that holds a flea market every year along with a fighting tournament. The tournament was held on a large boulder with a bridge connecting the town to the area. The tournament was the more famous of the two as people from all over would come and fight in it.

The Sins came to this town because they heard of a weapon no one could use. Since they had no other leads, they headed to the town in hopes of finding one of their scared treasures.

While Meliodas, Hawk, Ban, King and Lucy looked around the town Diane and Elizabeth stayed back at the Boar hat. As the group waked around they saw people trying to sell everything and anything as the street was so crowded, they could barely see anything.

Even Hawk got in on the action as he tried to see some beer from a barrel on his back. But due to all the people no one saw or heard him.

"Alright! The annual Bystel fight festival is here!" Yelled out a man on a stage gaining the Sins attention.

"No weapons allowed! If any of you bastards want to let your fists do the talking. Enter now!" Added the man as Lucy, King and Hawk gave him dry looks.

"Oooh sounds funs." Said Hawk sarcastically.

"Pummeling each other with your bare hands is so savage. Captain there's no way a sacred treasure can be in a place like this." Said King as he seen enough.

"I can think of a few people who would enter this in a heartbeat." Said Lucy as she looked over to two of those people. Lucy took a step back as they looked ready to fight.

"Of course, we'll enter right captain?" Asked Ban as he couldn't wait.

"Shall we put an end to this once and for all, Ban?" Asked Meliodas as he cracked his knuckles.

"Come on you two! Looking for scared treasures come before horsing around!" Yelled King only for Lucy to place a hand on his shoulder.

Feeling it King turned to face her. "Do you really think they're going to listen to you?" Lucy asked him as King sighed knowing she was right. Seeing this both Meliodas and Ban grinned at each other.

"The grand prize is 100 gold coins! And as a bonus you get a giant's war hammer!" They heard the man as he told what the prizes were.

"Where did you get the hammer?" Asked Lucy curious as people mumbled hearing her question wondering the same thing.

"It was found in a valley near here." The man told Lucy as he added. "It's stronger than steel and weighs 2200 pounds!"

Hearing that the next thing Lucy and King knew they were being pulled by Meliodas to the registration person.

"Hey, we have four entries here!" Meliodas told the man in charge.

"Wait captain! I don't want to!" Exclained King as he didn't want to fight.

"I don't think I'll be any help here Meliodas." Said Lucy as she also didn't want to fight.

"I know you can do it Lucy." Said Meliodas in a series tone. "You've been training hard and I know you can do this."

Hearing that touched Lucy as it filled her with confidence.

"Ok, but I'm selecting our names." Said Lucy as she walked over to the registration and put in their names before Ban had the chance.

While Lucy was doing that a large bald man suddenly picked up Meliodas by his shirt.

"Hey this isn't a festival for kids!" Said the man as he glared at Meliodas. "Don't you dare bring the level of this tournament down!"

"I don't know what you're saying?" Said Meliodas confused to what this guy was saying.

"What I'm saying is, get lost before you get hurt!" Said the man as Meliodas heard the threat in his tone.

People were watching this happen as many were scared and some shocked.

"That's the three-time champion, ex-mountain bandit turned mega-merchant Taizoo!" Said someone in the crowd as the crowd spoke louder.

"That's no way to treat a kid. Someone stop him!" Someone in the crowd yelled as no one moved, except one man.

This man had dirty blond hair that was nicely combed back except for a couple strands of hair that fell in front of his face. He wore a green muscle shirt and a sleeveless tan jacket. He wore purple pants with strips on them and drown boots. And to finish his outfit he wore a belt over his shirt.

"Don't be like that, geezer!" Said the blond as he easily lowered Taizoo arm with no effort.

"Why you!?" Said Taizoo surprised that this guy lowered his arm with such ease.

"Thanks!" Said Meliodas as he got out of Taizoo grasp and jumped back to enjoy the fight.

"Age doesn't matter during a festival! Lets just have fun!" Said the blond as Taizoo looked annoyed. Taizoo then left to get registered as he would get even with this guy later. Seeing that the situation was dealt with the crowd dispersed as the blond man grinned.

"Alright!" Cheered the blond with a big grin on his face. "Every year I wanted to enter, but my job kept getting in the way. But finally, it's my long awaited first fight Festival. Let's have some fun."

"Sure." Said Meliodas with a grin as the blond left.

'I've definitely seen him somewhere before.' Thought King as he tried to remember where.

It was Lucy walked over. "Well we're all set." She told them as she noticed something. "Where's Ban?"

Hearing that Meliodas and King looked around and didn't see him.

"He's around." Said Meliodas as that was the best he got.

Hearing that Lucy sighed as she knew there was nothing she could do. So she went with another course.

"We have some time before the tournament starts, could we check out this war hammer?" Asked Lucy as she wanted to know if it was the real deal or not.

With nothing better to do Meliodas and King agreed as the three of them went to the boulder where the tournament was being held. They walked pass it and looked at the side opposite of the town.

There they saw the giant's war hammer as it rested on the boulder. The hammer was as tall as Diane and was double sided. One side was a hammer while the other was a warpick. On the bottom was a pommel.

"Is this Diane's scared weapon?" Asked Lucy looking at the hammer.

"Yes, it's Gideon." Confirmed King as he was glad they found it.

"So, this is a trap right?" Asked Lucy causing both sins to look at her.

"Why do you say that?" Asked Meliodas curious to her reasoning.

"You remember what Diane said. She left it behind in the kingdom. So, for it to randomly show up here can only mean it's some sort of trap." Said Lucy as Meliodas nodded in agreement.

"That's who that was!" Said King as he remembered who that blond hair guy was.

"What are you talking about King?" Asked Meliodas.

"That guy who helped you earlier he was a Holy Knight." Said King with a hint of worry in his tone.

"True, but he's here for the tournament." Said Meliodas as he dismissed King's worry.

"How can you be sure?!" Demanded King as he wasn't sold.

"He was too pumped for the tournament. If he was here for a trap, he would have stayed in the shadows or something." Explained Meliodas as King knew he was right.

"But maybe it would be better to steal Gideon." Said Lucy to herself as Meliodas and King heard her.

"I like that plan." Said Ban as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere startling Lucy.

"Where have you've been?" She asked Ban as she controlled her breathing.

"Around." Was all Ban said as he looked at Gideon.

"Captain, do we steal or fight?" Asked Ban as he wants to fight Meliodas in the tournament.

Meliodas thought about it before answering. "I say we take part of the tournament." He told the other.

"What?" Said both Lucy and King at the same time while Ban fist pumped.

"If we know it's a trap, we can be better prepared. And only Diane can move the hammer easily and everyone would see her coming." Explained Meliodas but Lucy wasn't so sure.

"But can we?" She asked Meliodas as she continued. "When we face Gilthunder and Guila we barely won, and those fights were random, spur of the moment. If this is a trap who knows how many there will be and how strong they are."

Hearing that Meliodas understood where she was coming from. "I understand what your saying Lucy. But sometimes you have to take a chance and hope for the best." He told her as he wouldn't lie, she brought up a good point.

Lucy wasn't convinced but she knew their options were limited. If they steal the hammer that could set off the trap, or if they took part of the tournament they could wait until they were too tired to fight.

"Well let's go." Said Meliodas as he headed towards the ring.

"Wait!" Said Lucy as Meliodas stopped and all three of them looked at her.

"Let me tell you your aliases first." Lucy told them as none of them saw a problem with that.

"Ok Lucy what are our names?" Asked Meliodas.

"Well my name is Erza, Meliodas you're Natsu, Ban you'll go by Gajeel." Said Lucy as she gave king a grin. "And King is Elfman."

Hearing this Meliodas nodded in acceptance while Ban grinned for two reasons.

"So were using the names of your friends back home." Said Ban as his grin didn't leave him. "Maybe I should have come up with our names."

"Really? And what would our names be?" Asked Lucy curiously.

"Um?" Thought Ban as he then pointed to Meliodas, Lucy, King and then himself. "Meliodaz, blond, old fart, Baan."

Hearing that Lucy deadpanned him as Meliodas spoke up. "I think I'll stick with Natsu." He told Ban.

"Why is my name Elfman?!" Cried King suddenly as from what Lucy told them Elfman was a buff guy who kept yelling 'man'.

"You're right king." Agreed Ban making King curious to what Ban will say. "Your more of an elf boy then a man."

Hearing that the others laughed as King was furious. As King and Ban argued Meliodas and Lucy headed over to the ring as the other followed arguing.

At the ring Lucy and the others stood in the ring as Lucy looked at the competition. She noticed the Holy knight from before, and that guy named Taizoo. But three others stood out to her.

Frist was someone wearing a cloak and large hat covering their face. Next was a man dressed in black shorts with star holes on the knees and wore red gauntlets. And he was extremely buff with black hair that went down to his neck. The last one was an old man with grey hair and a grey mustache and beard. He wore a green cloak and pink pants. And the strange thing was his eyes seemed to be closed.

Outside the ring a huge crowd had shown up as Hawk walked around selling beer as he had a large barrel on his back.

"The fighting festival preliminary begins now!" Lucy heard someone say as this pumped all the fighter up.

"Hey Ban! Don't use your full strength on the other guys, alright." Said Meliodas as he stretched.

"Duh. If I kill someone, I'd ruin the fun of the festival." Said Ban as he didn't want to ruin the fun.

"Captain! If Diane finds out you've been playing around in a festival, she'll get mad!" Warned King but in reality he really didn't want to do this.

"Don't be stupid. Does it look like I'm just in it for the fun of it?" Asked Meliodas with a serious face.

"Yes." Answered Lucy and without missing a beat turned to King. "But it's either this or stealing Diane scared treasure back. And what do you think she would like; you bring her, her hammer or you saying she has to steal it?"

Hearing that King did think about it and his face went serious. "I'm going to win it all!" He declared as Meliodas grinned at Lucy.

"Not bad." He complemented as Lucy grinned.

"Its what us girls do best." She told him.

It was then a weird creature came up onto the stage. It was a very small man with a helmet covering his face and a rose cloth covering its body as only it's arms and legs were seen.

"I Love Helm, will be the referee!" Said Love Helm as some of the crowd roared while other wondered what he was.

"The rules for the preliminary are simple, knock your opponents out of the ring! The last eight remaining fighters will advance through the preliminary!" Announced Love Helm as the fighters were pumped up.

"Throwing! Pushing! Sending them flying with your fists! Anything is allowed as long as you use your bare hands!" Love Helm told the figheters.

"Now let the preliminary Begin!" Said Love Helm as everyone started to fight.

The crowd roared as they watched as everyone fought trying to knock their opponent out of the ring. Some of the weaker fighters were already knocked out as some of the stronger ones like Taizoo was making short work of the people around him.

With Meliodas and Ban the two of them made short work of anyone that got too close to them. The two didn't even put any effort in as the simply walked and anyone who bumped into them went flying. But the same couldn't be said with King as he made himself as small as possible and darted around the ring.

With Lucy she dodged a punch from a man as she punched him in the stomach making him haul over. Lucy then kicked the man as he fell out of the ring. Lucy then looked around as she saw a man charging her. Thinking fast Lucy waited and at the last second moved to the side as the man hit another person causing them to fight.

"Nice moves." Said Meliodas as he tossed a man out of the ring.

"Thanks." Said Lucy as she was lightly panting.

Lucy and Meliodas then saw the person wearing the cloak taking out a ton of fighters as the next thing they knew only eight were left.

"Such incredible speed!" Announced Love Helm. "You couldn't even follow it with your eyes!"

"She's pretty good." Admitted Meliodas as he felt he saw that fighting style before.

"Oooh scary. I wonder if she'd ever be able to get married." Said Ban in a joking tone.

"Don't even say thing like that." Warned Lucy as if fell on deaf ears.

"That's eight!" Announced Love Helm as someone in the crowd spoke up.

"Hey what about him?" A man said as he pointed at King.

King was floating on his pillow as he was just above the ground outside of the ring. Seeing this people cried out saying he was cheating and should be disqualified.

"Well." Started Love Helm. "He's technically not on the ground, but at the same time he's not in the ring with the others. And since we already have eight in the ring he will not count."

Hearing that the crowd cheered as King felt relieved. King then went over to Hawk as he knew that Meliodas and Ban would give him a hard time for this.

"The main tournament will begin in ten minutes." Love Helm told everyone as he added. "Will the eight contestants please come to the waiting room!"

Everyone in the ring then walked over to a hut on the side on the boulder as they entered it. There wasn't much in it a chimney, some benches and a table.

"Will thew eight remaining fighters, please draw lots." Said Love Helm as he held a pot with sticks in it. "The person with the same letter as you will be your opponent in the first round."

Soon everyone was lined up as they drew lots. It was at this Time Lucy looked at who was left. There was herself, Meliodas, and Ban. Then there was Taizoo and they Holy knight. Finally, there was the cloaked person, the old man and the man wearing the shorts Lucy noticed earlier.

Soon everyone drew their lots as Love Helm looked at them.

"Here are the match ups! Going from last to first is Griamor vs Matrona." Love Helm told them as Lucy and Meliodas looked at Matrona.

"Do you know who that is?" Asked Lucy curious as she was powerful.

"Matrona? Never heard of her. The world sure is a big place." Answered Meliodas as Matrona looked at the two then turned away confusing them.

They then looked over at Griamor as he was with the Holy knight as the knight was talking casually with him.

"Think Griamor is a Holy Knight?" Asked Lucy wondering if he was or not.

Meliodas thought about it before answering. "I think he is, but his primary mission is to protect one of the princesses." He told Lucy who nodded.

"The next round is Howzer vs Taizoo." Love Helm told them as Taizoo was ready for some payback from earlier.

"For the next round we have Gajeel vs Cain." Hearing that Ban looked over at the old man as he was drinking. Hearing that made Lucy's eyes go wide as she realized who she was going to fight.

"And for the first-round match it is Natsu vs Erza!" Finished Love Helm as he stepped out of the hut.

Hearing that Lucy felt her legs shake and get weak. She knew she couldn't win, not after seeing Meliodas in action. A part of her felt like forfeiting but then Meliodas gave her a pat on the back.

"Let's give it our all." Said Meliodas with a smile as Lucy nodded.

But as Meliodas talked to Lucy, Howzer looked at both Ban, Meliodas, and Lucy.

"Hey, you over there." Said Howzer as he walked over to Ban.

"That huge scar on your cheek. Are you the man on the wanted poster?" Asked Howzer as he turned to Meliodas and Lucy. "And the kid and your female friend..."

'If I remember correctly, Gil said the captain of the sins was a child. And that they have a girl with long blond hair traveling with them.' Thought Howzer to himself before he made up his mind.

"But the names are different!' Howzer suddenly said. "My bad! It's just a mix up."

Howzer then walked away as the three of them looked at him.

"We're saved." Said Ban as Howzer was out of ear range.

"By his stupidity." Added Meliodas.

"Is he really a holy Knight?" Asked Lucy.

But Lucy couldn't help but feel like they were in the middle of a trap. But when and how it would be sprung was still up in the air as she hoped they would come out of it in one piece.

And next chapter we have Lucy vs Meliodas. Place your bets now.

But in seriousness not much action in this chapter, but I do hope you enjoy the new OC Tiffany courtesy of Warmachine375.

Here's a little info on her. Tiffany was one of Merlin's students and was Merlin's prized pupal, but she left to broaden her horizons. When the Sins were framed Tiffany came across the knowledge of the demon clan. When Hendrickson found out about this, he recruited her helping his research greatly.

And she is just the first of some OC's courtesy of Warmachine375.

On another hand Lucy's warning about the demons have reached the ears of other Holy knights. How this will affect the story who knows. But as you could see with Jericho it has caused to her have doubts about Hendrickson plan and we will see more of this in the future.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, until next time.