Secrets Forgotten By Time

by ol-11jrw

Secrets such a small thing on the surface but even the small secrets could lead to consequences, wars or even changing the very foundation of the world and Ruby Rose will soon learn them all with the help of the Seven Deadly Sins and her world will never be the same again. Dislcaimer: I don't own RWBY or Seven Deadly Sins.

2. Chapter 2

SFBT CH1

Qrow waited impatiently in a bar for his sister to turn up. He was not happy to be wasting as much time as he was, waiting for Raven to turn up when there were more important things to do. Ozpin was dead, Yang was crippled and traumatised, while Ruby and her friends were travelling through the kingdoms, unaware of the risks or the danger they faced. It was impossible that after what happened at Beacon, that Salem was unaware of Ruby. He needed to ensure she was safe and the more time he wasted waiting for Raven was time that Ruby could be attacked.

Qrow perked up in the chair he was sitting in when he heard the tell-tale sound of Raven's portal activating. Turning around he saw Raven standing there, wearing her normal bandit attire with her signature grimm mask held in her arms. Though what caused him to raise an eyebrow in surprise was the bandage wrapped around her shoulder, with her uniform clearly recently torn.

"Raven." He greeted in return as she took a seat opposite him at the table. As she did so his eyes looked for any further signs of injury on Raven but there was none he could see. It was strange that she was even injured. Say what you will about Raven, but she was a nearly unrivalled warrior, so the fact that she had faced an opponent that was capable of breaking through her aura was impressive. It also made him pity the poor bastard; Raven wasn't someone to show mercy to her opponents.

"So, what do you want?" Qrow asked, wondering why Raven had gotten in contact with him asking for a meeting. Why she went through the effort when she could literally open a portal to him at any moment, Qrow didn't know. Then again, Raven had always enjoyed frustrating people, including him. Or rather, especially him.

"A girl just can't catch up with her brother?" She asked rhetorically with an annoying smirk on her face.

"She can but you're not, so why don't we just get on with it." He spoke taking a gulp from the drink in his hand. Raven didn't do social calls after all. "Unless you plan on buying your dear brother a drink." Qrow said swirling his drink as he placed it on the table.

"Does she have it?" Raven asked, all previous amusement gone from her face as she brought up her reason for contacting him.

"Do you know Yang lost her arm?" Qrow instead questioned, he knew the answer, but he wanted to see his sister's reaction.

"That's not—" Raven began before he interrupted her.

"Rhetorical question, I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you bring up family and yet carry on like your own daughter doesn't even exist."

"I saved her." Raven defended, not looking at all ashamed of her role in Yang's life, or lack of it.

"Once, real mom of the year." Qrow sneered, not even trying to hide his disappointment. As he reached for his glass, Raven's hand shot out, grabbing his wrist, a look of anger in her eyes. Raven could deny it all she wanted but he knew his words had affected her.

"I told you Beacon would fall, and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail, and he has. Now you tell me, does Salem, have it?"

"I thought you weren't interested in that." He deflected. He knew his sister, Raven was impatient, and from the injury on her shoulder he knew that she would be angry as well, it wouldn't be long before she gave up and left.

"The tribe is already in danger as it is," Raven gritted out, her anger starting to get the better of her. "I need to know if she has it."

Qrow narrowed his eyes as he took in his sister, focusing on her injury. He was missing something, something important. "What kind of trouble?" he asked genuinely curious. While he had no sentiment for the tribe of bandits he'd been born into, he knew how they worked and operated. They're was always some kind of trouble, whether it was grimm attacking their camps, or raids from hunters and rival clans, danger was a part of bandit life, and yet Raven seemed, not scared but definitely concerned.

"Huntsman from Liones have been targeting us." Raven answered, unusually willing to provide information for once.

Qrow considered the implications of Raven's words. Huntsman and huntresses in Liones operated differently to the rest of kingdoms, they were much more closely affiliated with the government then in like Vale or Mistral to the point independent hunters were practically non-existent in Liones. Much like in Atlas, huntsmen were essentially an extension of the kingdom, with independent huntsmen being a rarity. And unlike the other kingdoms they weren't placed into groups of four but instead their numbers could range from range from between two to over a dozen.

"Let me guess, you attacked several settlements in Liones assuming they would be lightly defended, and instead found yourselves being hunted down." Qrow spoke in clear amusement, as the glare on Raven's face intensified, proving he was right. The tribe had always prayed on those they had thought weaker than them, Qrow had no sympathy whatsoever for them being hunted down, give them a taste of their own medicine. Still, it did raise a few questions, unless he was mistaken Raven had the Spring Maiden serving her. He'd seen too many sites of destruction leftover by the tribe for there to be little doubt that Raven had someone powerful in her employ.

"These weren't ordinary huntsman," Raven growled out. "They called themselves the 'New Generation.'"

"Tell about these 'New Generation' hunters from Liones?" Qrow asked, wondering who came up with such a stupid name. Nonetheless it was a cause for concern. Ever since the death Zaratras ten years ago the kingdom of Liones had developed an isolationist policy regarding the rest of Remnant, hell the huntsman academy there hadn't even bothered participating in Vyzal Festival. Which was very suspicious. 'Is Liones working with Salem?' It was not something that Qrow wanted to consider, not only did the Kingdom of Liones possess the strongest military after Atlas, but they also owned some of the most numerous dust deposits in all of Remnant with the founding family of Liones being the second richest family in Remnant after the Schnees. Which meant that if it came to war the kingdom would have a considerable arsenal, despite the dust embargo Ironwood had initiated.

"Not until you tell me what I want to know." Raven refused, her smirk coming back on her face as she looked at him in amusement.

Qrow frowned in thought as he considered his options. Raven was a wild card, that was pretty much the best way to describe her and Qrow was reluctant to give her more information than necessary. Raven would use that information to support her own best interest. On the other hand, he needed to know what was happening in Liones, not only that but the tribe weren't weak fighters. They were trained killers and Raven was one of the best fighters in all of Remnant, and if Qrow's suspicions were true then she also had the Spring Maiden in her service. If these 'New Generation' hunters could force them to retreat, then he needed to know what they were capable of in case they proved to be either friend or foe.

"No, she doesn't." He answered, while Raven nodded in response as she proceeded to answer his own question.

"There was something unusual about the way they fought. They didn't fight like normal hunters. Most of them were brats barely old enough to have left the academies yet they all fought like seasoned hunters with years of experience. No mercy, no hesitation, it was actually rather impressive." Raven remarked, annoyance in her voice mixed with a grudging amount of respect.

Though she didn't state it Qrow understood the meaning behind her words. The various combat schools and huntsman academies around the world trained people to fight grimm, but there was much less focus on fighting people. They were taught to kill grimm but incapacitate and capture people, only killing as a last resort. Yet if what Raven said was true Liones wasn't teaching its hunters to capture their opponents but to instead eliminate them.

If Liones was truly preparing for war then that would explain why they had developed such a mentality in their military and huntsmen and huntresses. But to what end? The last thing Remnant needed was another Great War, yet it felt like it was going to break out at any moment. Tensions along the boarder between Mistral and Liones were rising, was Liones planning to expand into Mistral territory and conquer the rest of the Anima continent? It was not a pleasant thought.

"There was another thing that stood out. Their eyes, most of them had purple eyes." Raven added, though her tone was sceptical about whether it had any true relevance. Both she and her brother had red eyes which in of itself was an anomaly.

"Like the giant race?" He asked curiously. Though Qrow had only met a few giants in his life he had noticed that they all seemed to have to have purple eyes.

"Darker, much darker. And with no pupils." That was strange, and it didn't really give any answers, only more questions. "Well its been fun brother but I have to get going." Raven spoke, standing up from her chair while a portal opened behind her.

"You contacted me for a reason Raven. We both know the threat that Salem poses, and possibly Liones as well. You wouldn't have told me about them otherwise, we need to work together to stop Salem." He knew his words were futile, but even then he was surprised the way Raven burst into laughter.

"Do you truly believe that stopping Salem will end the problems plaguing Remnant?" Raven asked sounding genuinely amused.

"Salem is—" Qrow began before Raven interrupted him.

"Salem is evil incarnate who desires the complete and utter destruction of Remnant. Yes I remember Ozpin's explanation, but brother even if you had a way to stop Salem, which you don't, contrary to what you think Salem is not the source of all evil in the world."

"Human-faunus relations have never been worse, elites in the kingdoms offer little protection to outside settlements, leaving them to the mercy of the grimm. Nowadays a giant is more likely to kill a human then work with them and the fairy race, despises both humans and faunus because of how they are hunted so their wings can be used as medicine, or simply for decorations. Salem did not create these problems, nor would killing her stop them. Remnant is on the verge of war and Salem did not cause these problems brother, she merely fanned the flames."

"And so fighting her is pointless. Is that what your saying?" Qrow snapped.

"Countless people have wasted their lives fighting Ozpin's war, if you want to be one of them then so be it Qrow. Goodbye brother." Raven spoke in goodbye as she activated her portal, leaving him along as he finished his drink.

As Qrow finished his drink he reflected on what Raven had told him regarding Liones. Clearly things were much worse in the kingdom then he and Ozpin had feared. He knew that Oz had never believed that Zaratras had been murdered by the Seven Deadly Sins and had tried using his influence to get them pardoned, or at the very least a fair trial and removal of the bounties on them but with no success. Contrary to what some thought Ozpin's influence was not without limit, and his attempts to interfere in Liones had only worsened the diplomatic relations between Vale and Liones, which had never been great. The two kingdoms had been allies in the Great War, but that was more due to the deep seated hatred between Liones and Mistral that led to the kingdoms allying more then anything else.

From what Raven had described Liones was preparing for war, but against whom? With the attack on Beacon all the kingdoms were likely making preparation to avoid being caught of guard from a similar attack, while the few people in the know regarding Salem throughout Remnant made preparations behind the scenes. Not only that but he knew that the huntsmen academy in Liones was guarding something incredibly valuable, just as valuable as the relics protected in the other academies. And the new headmaster of Liones Academy, a man named Hendrickson was not someone to be trusted.

Which meant that he had a choice to make. He could continue on his way to Haven and ensure Ruby and her friends were safe, or head to Liones in order to find out what was happening in that kingdom.

Line Break

"Pyrrha."

Ruby bolted from her bed as she awoke from her nightmare. Rapidly blinking she looked around the room to see Nora sleeping in her bed, snoring loudly as she did so, while some drool dribbled from her mouth. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight of Nora as she walked over to her bed to wake her up.

Ruby glanced around the room they were in, noting the two beds with a closet in the corner of the room, next to a window, with both Crescent Rose and Magnhild in their deactivated states on the windowsill. Her and Nora were sharing this room while Ren and Jaune shared a room next to them. Grabbing her attire, Ruby changed from her nightclothes into her huntress outfit. Glancing out the window she could see Vanya village in the distance. It looked a lot like a lot of the settlements and villages she had seen over the last few months. A few dozen buildings and houses, with high walls surrounding the settlement to protect it from grimm.

They had been saved by Meliodas, leader of the Seven Deadly Sins who had also agreed to help them get to Mistral, though on top of a flying pig the trip would certainly be much quicker travelling by land.

"Come on Nora, time to wake up." Ruby told her friend as she gently shook her awake, causing her groan as she snuggled deeper into the pillow. Ruby laughed lightly, she could understand Nora's reluctance to wake up. After months of sleeping on the ground and in shady motels, sleeping in a proper bed like the ones Meliodas had was truly a blessing.

After failing to wake up Nora Ruby decided to pull out the big guns. Leaning down she whispered in her ear. "If you don't wake up now then Ren won't make you pancakes."

"I'm up, I'm up." Nora yelled as she bolted upright, causing Ruby to laugh. "Not funny." She pouted.

"Yes, it is." She singed. "But anyway, time to get dressed, I doubt that Ren is doing pancakes but he is cooking."

"And he is a much better cook then Meliodas." Nora stated as she got out of bed, pulling off her pyjama top as she did so, after months of travelling together and sharing rooms, the two of them had little embarrassment around each other.

After Meliodas had saved from them from Tyrian, they had come to an agreement with Meliodas. He would help them and get to Mistral and bring justice to Pyrrha's killers, while they would help him find his teammates. And after Ren cooked them supper, they had also come to a unilateral decision that Ren would be cooking instead of Meliodas. Not that Meliodas was bothered, on the contrary he seemed happy to have Ren cooking, while Hawk remarked that this way, they should have more customers.

They had also agreed to work at the Boar Hat while they travelled with Meliodas but considering he had saved her life, that seemed like a small price to pay.

Plus hopefully she could also find out what Meliodas knew about this Salem, along with her silver eyes. The question had been bothering her ever since the fall of Beacon. The last thing Ruby remembered was Cinder killing Pyrrha, and then a flash of white light and that was it. And apparently she had caused that light with her eyes and had somehow turned the wyvern to stone. And apparently, she had inherited it from her mother, but… she was adopted. Which suggested that her actual parents might have had silver eyes as well if it was genetic. Ruby shook her head, now was not the time to think about things she didn't know or would likely never find out.

Once Nora was fully dressed the two of them walked down the stairs, finding that Meliodas along with Jaune and Ren were already awake. Ren was behind the counter cooking while Meliodas and Jaune sat at one of the tables. "Morning, did you two have a good night sleep?" Meliodas asked as he saw the two of them enter the bar.

"Brilliant thanks." Ruby smiled as she sat down.

"Your beds are really comfy." Nora added.

"Glad to hear it." Meliodas replied while Ren put to plates in front of them which to Ruby's surprise actually was pancakes, causing Nora's eyes to light up as she dug into the food in front of her.

"So Vanya is along the boarder between Mistral and Liones, we'll stop at the town to restock the Boar Hat, and learn anything we can and then we can continue on the way to Mistral. On Hawk's Mama it should only take a couple of days." Meliodas informed them.

"That's great." Jaune exclaimed excitedly. The fact that a journey that should take weeks, if not another few months would only take a few days, and that was only because they would need to stop for supplies.

"So how do you have flying and talking pigs?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Yeah where did you even find them? I've never even heard of such creatures." Ren added, curiosity clear on his face.

"Hey," Hawk yelled from under the table, causing them to jump in surprise as the pig glared at Ren. Honestly Ruby had to resist the urge to coo at the sight of him, he looked absolutely adorable pouting like that. "me and mom are not just some random creatures."

"I'm sorry," Ren spoke, a look of guilt on his face as he realised how his words could be considered offensive from Hawk's perspective. It was still hard to believe that the pig could talk. "I didn't mean offence, honestly." Ren spoke, holding up his hands in surrender.

Hark simply glared at him, before going to back to eating from the bowl of food in front of him. "You're lucky your scraps are much better than Meliodas', so I'll forgive you."

"Hey." Meliodas yelled in mock offence, the large smile on his face showing that he didn't mean it. "As for where Hawk and his moma came from, well let's just say that there's more to the world then you realise." Ruby wondered what he meant by that but knew he was right. Cinder had some kind of power that allowed her to defeat both Ozpin and Pyrrha and even control grimm. Compared to that, a talking pig probably wasn't that weird.

With that they continued their breakfast in mostly silence, with some polite small talk filling the void. As they put away their plates and cutlery for cleaning Jaune brought up a topic that caught their attention.

"Hey Meliodas, I was wondering if maybe…" Jaune began to ask before trailing off as Meliodas turned his attention to him.

"You don't need to walk on eggshells around me." Meliodas reassured them. "Ask away."

"Could you, maybe train us?" Jaune asked, causing them to look at him in surprise.

Though thinking about it, Ruby had to admit it wasn't a bad idea. Four on one, yet they had been nearly defenceless against Tyrian, and yet Meliodas had defeated him. There was no doubt in Ruby's mind that Meliodas could help them further improve their skills.

"Is that what you all want?" Meliodas asked curiously, glancing around the room.

"It could be very helpful." Ruby added, seeing that both Ren and Nora agreed as well.

"Alright then, lets start now." Meliodas spoke.

"Right now?" Nora exclaimed. "But we just ate."

That however only made Meliodas smile widen. "Exactly, you never know when you might end up in a fight, whether you've just eaten, are starving to death, or if you need the toilet. In fact, we'll do this every morning after breakfast. Now then let's head outside."

Without even waiting to see if they were following him, Meliodas was already out the door and had left the Boar Hat. "Well shall we." Ruby spoke as she followed Meliodas out, with the rest of Team RNJR following her outside.

"I've already had a chance to see how you fight as a group, so I think we should focus on one vs one training." Meliodas informed them before a huge chesire grin appeared on his face. "And since this was your idea Jaune, how about we go first."

"Ah well…" Jaune trailed off as he felt like kicking himself.

"You can do it Jaune."

"Break his legs captain." Her and Nora cheered him on as the remaining members of team RNJR sat down to watch the upcoming fight.

Deciding to face the inevitable Jaune drew his sword and shield and get in the ready position. Meliodas by contrast was completely at ease, not in any kind of fighting form as he stood with his hands in his pocket, the dragon hilted sword still sheathed on his back.

Almost faster than they could blink Meliodas closed the distance between him and Jaune and before Jaune had a chance to block or dodge, Meliodas had already punched him in the stomach. Groaning, Jaune stumbled back a few feet as he glared at Meliodas. "Do you have a punch so hard?" He complained, this was supposed to be sparring after all.

"A real opponent won't pull their punches, so I won't either. Consider it an incentive to block or dodge." Meliodas told them all.

With that the fight between the two continued. Though Jaune had improved a lot over the last year, he was not on Meliodas level, nonetheless he did an admirable job. Learning from the previous attack he kept his shield close in order to prevent Meliodas from targeting the weak areas of his body. He also used his larger size to his advantage, giving him greater range then Meliodas which he used to his advantage to try to prevent Meliodas from getting to close to attack him.

Unfortunately Jaune's greater size did not mean he had greater strength then Meliodas, not only that but Meliodas was incredibly fast as well. The fight ended when Meliodas ducked under a swing from Jaune's sword and grabbed his shield, literally wrestling the shield to control Jaune's movements, the fight ending when he knocked Jaune to the floor, leaving him disarmed.

"Jaune can I ask you when you started learning how to fight?" Meliodas asked contemplating. Meliodas had long since learnt how to analyse the way people fought, seeing their strengths and weaknesses.

The question caused Jaune to glance down in embarrassment as a shame filled his expression. "I only started having proper sword training last year when I arrived at Beacon." He admitted.

"Really?" Meliodas asked a little surprised. "For only a years' worth of training your skills are impressive. There is room for improvement, but your biggest problem is simply a matter of inexperience. Who's next?" he asked, glancing at the three of them.

"Oh me, me." Nora exclaimed excitedly as she drew out Magnhild in its Warhammer form. Though Nora didn't realise it she was already at a disadvantage. His teammate Diane's main weapon was a warhammer and Meliodas was very experienced at fighting that type of weapon.

Nora rushed at Meliodas with the intent of bashing him into the earth. Dodging the attack, Meliodas had to admit that Nora was indeed skilled with a Warhammer. She wielded it with a level flexibility and experience that truly took Meliodas by surprise, and with a deceptive amount of strength in her lithe frame she was unlikely to become tired out anytime soon.

Unfortunately for her Meliodas very quickly noticed the key problem in how she fought. Nora was used to overwhelming her opponents through sheer strength, which meant she wasn't accustomed to facing opponents with superior strength. Unlike his spar against Jaune, Meliodas didn't use his speed to get past her defences and attack her blind spots. Instead drawing his broken blade he matched and surpassed Nora's attacks. Blocking the hammer strike with the blade of his sword, Meliodas grabbed the hammer and simply yanked it from Nora's grip, placing the blade to her throat to signal the end of their fight.

"You're a good fighter, but your too used to overwhelming your opponents through sheer strength." Meliodas told her as he removed the blade. "So, Ren, Ruby who's next?"

"I'll go." Ren spoke calmly as he drew StormFlower, his weapons in both hands. As soon as Nora was out of the way Ren immediately started shooting at Meliodas, hoping to prevent Meliodas from getting to close to him, or at the very least keep him at bay long enough to devise some kind of plan to give him an advantage against Meliodas.

Unfortunately his plan to keep a distance between Meliodas and himself didn't work as well as he hoped as Meliodas constantly dived from one side to another, preventing Ren from getting a clear shot while Meliodas used the opportunity to get closer to Ren. Once Meliodas got close he striked at Ren's weapons attempting to disarm him.

Ren dodged the attacks, after having witnessed Meliodas best Nora in a contest of strength he didn't even try to match him in terms of physical strength. Unfortunately while Ren managed to prevent Meliodas from taking his weapons he had failed to stop Meliodas' leg swipe knocking Ren onto his back. Using the opportunity Meliodas grabbed both of Ren's handguns, and Ren realising Meliodas superior strength to his own didn't try to maintain his hold on his weapons as he released his grip.

Stumbling slightly at the lack of fight for the weapons, Ren quickly used the opportunity to get back to his feet as he took a punch at Meliodas. Dropping StormFlower Meliodas engaged Ren in hand to hand combat, curious about the extent of Ren's abilities. He'd noticed that Ren seemed to be a very well rounded combatant, skilled in ranged, melee and also hand to hand combat. Truthfully Meliodas was genuinely impressed by Ren's skills but in the end Ren was simply no match for him as he knocked Ren of his feet and placed a foot on his chest to keep him down.

"Good job." He admitted, unlike with Nora or Jaune there was no glaring weakness in Ren's fighting style, he just simply needed more experience to truly hone his skills. "Ok beautiful, lets see what you can do." Meliodas said to her causing Ruby to blush slightly. Ruby honestly didn't know how to respond to Meliodas' compliments and flirting, the boys at both Signal and Beacon had only ever seen her as Yang's younger sister, not to mention having a very protective older sister and a dad as one of her teachers meant Ruby had never had a boyfriend before. So she really had no idea what to do about Meliodas' flirting.

Putting those thoughts out of her head Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and held it ready as she eyed Meliodas waiting for him to make the first move. "I know I'm gorgeous, but you should attack me instead of gawking at me." Meliodas teased her.

"Wha- that' not what I'm doing." She sputtered before she realised that Meliodas had purposely been trying to unbalance her as he rushed at with the broken dragon sword in his hand. Using her semblance enhanced speed to swing scythe at Meliodas before he could attack but he deflected the attack with almost laughable ease.

Shooting the weapon, Ruby used the recoil to her advantage as she darted around Meliodas trying to attack any kind of blind spot or weakness in his defence. But honestly despite her semblance, Meliodas was still incredibly fast and more then capable of blocking her attacks, making her wonder if Meliodas had a speed semblance of his own. Now that she thought about it she had no idea what his semblance could possibly be.

Putting the thought out of her head, she instead focused completely on Meliodas, not giving a second thought to what Meliodas' semblance could be. As she swiped her scythe at Meliodas, he dodged at the last second, getting within reach to attack her before, she fired her weapon, using the recoil to put some distance between the two of them.

It didn't work as without wasting a moment Meliodas was immediately on the offensive, getting close and preventing her from utilising Crescent Rose to its fullest abilities, as she often struggled to raise the weapon to successfully block Meliodas' attacks, the size and incredibly range of her weapon having been turned against her.

Though Ruby couldn't be sure she felt Meliodas was almost refraining from ending the fight as fast as he could. Like he was testing the extent of her abilities before he ended the fight as the battle dragged on between the two of Ruby that was the truth. The only reason that she hadn't already been defeated yet was because Meliodas was dragging this fight on for whatever reason. Something that irked her quite a bit as she realised Meliodas was toying with her.

Her annoyance giving her a renewed sense of vigour Ruby tried desperately to gain the upper hand on Meliodas, only for her attacks to be just as ineffective as before as Meliodas ducked under a swing from her scythe and come up right behind her.

Before Ruby had a chance to turn around and attack Meliodas, his arms immediately reached under her own and proceeded to squeeze and grope her breasts, causing her to gasp and drop her scythe in response. Without wasting a second Meliodas held his broken blade to her throat, as he walked around her so that they were face to face, her blushing visage meeting Meliodas' grinning one, especially since Meliodas still had one hand groping her left boob.

"I win. Nice and perky by the way." Meliodas spoke cheerfully as he unabashedly groped her.

"I—Wh—Bu." She sputtered as a massive blush grew on her face as she struggled to find words to describe what Meliodas just did. Luckily for her Nora was more then happy to speak on her behalf.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Nora screamed in anger, with Magnhild in her hand, ready to attack Meliodas. Ren and Jaune were in little better moods as they both glared at Meliodas, though unlike Nora, neither had drawn their weapons.

"Proving a point." Meliodas answered, completely unbothered in the face of their anger. "Ruby was fighting well but as soon as I grabbed her boobs, she let herself get distracted and dropped her weapon, allowing me to win. In battle your opponents will be using any and all methods to win, I just showed one."

"So your saying you grabbed her… chest," Ren spoke hesitantly "to prove a point?" There was no doubting the scepticism in Ren's voice.

"No I did that because I wanted to. Proving how someone can be easily distracted in battle is just a bonus." Meliodas answered calmly, unbothered by the glares being sent his way as he finally took his hand off her boob, leaving Ruby feeling really uncomfortable about what happened.

"Well he… isn't wrong, I was distracted." Ruby reluctantly admitted, still blushing heavily while Nora looked ready to use her hammer to pummel Meliodas into the earth. Not that it would probably do much good, Meliodas had already proven to be a superior warrior.

"Exactly." Meliodas exclaimed excitedly. "I defeated the four of you in different ways to properly assess your strengths and weaknesses. For example you Jaune are easily to taken advantage by an opponent of greater speed. You need to learn to adapt to fighting faster opponents, Ruby isn't the only opponent you might face with a speed semblance." With his armour, sword and shield, Jaune was considerably slowed down, which meant that Jaune was at a great disadvantage against a faster opponent. "While you Ruby get distracted too easily." He answered causing Ruby to frown slightly, but she couldn't deny that Meliodas had a point, twice in their fight Ruby had been distracted which Meliodas had used to his advantage. But did he have to grab her chest to prove his point?!

"But three of you also had one key weakness. Can you guess it?" he questioned the four of them. He could see the looks of confusion in their eyes, but it was Jaune who realised the answer first.

"Unarmed combat." Jaune stated, causing Meliodas to nod.

"Yep. Of the four of you only Ren was able to deep fighting after I disarmed him. So, we will work on correcting this weakness."

"But learning a new fighting style could take months." Nora objected.

"And years to fully master it." Meliodas added. "But where not going to focus on teaching you a new fighting style, simply adapt your current one to unarmed combat."

Ruby contemplated Meliodas words and knew he was right. Without Crescent Rose she was nearly useless in a fight. Her experiences with Mercury and the White Fang were proof of that, and while she knew that it was unlikely, she would ever be a master of unarmed combat like Yang or Meliodas, she disliked the thought of being helpless as well. "Your right, it's a good idea."

"Great. We'll start training in unarmed combat tomorrow. We should probably head to Vanya; we can get the supplies and be back in the bar by nightfall."

"But what about grimm?" Ruby asked casting a worried glance towards Hawk.

"Aww no need to worry about me Ruby, mama will keep me safe." The pig spoke with certainty.

"Yep, Hawk's mama is more then a match for any grimm." Meliodas spoke confidently. "Now let's head into town."

Line Break

Vanya was not a particularly large town but due to its position along the boarder between Liones and Mistral it often had a large stream of visitors and tourists. Combined with its famous Vanya Ale the town was rather wealthy despite its small size. Of course due to how much money Liones got from taxing Vanya Ale, the capital often had a small host of soldiers and even a few huntsmen guarding the town. Which meant that they would have to be careful in mentioning Meliodas' name.

They'd asked Meliodas why he was wanted by the kingdom of Liones but he hadn't given them the exact answer, only giving them a few dirt jokes about stealing women's panties and groping women's boobs. Although considering how he had acted around Ruby, it wouldn't be surprise if that was actually the truth. Jaune glared at the short blond who was talking amicably to Ruby and Nora about Vanya village. Growing up with seven sisters, he disliked the way Meliodas acted, especially towards his friend. Ruby had been his first friend in Beacon, had supported and encouraged him more than anyone except Pyrrha and he didn't like the idea of anyone taking advantage of her good nature.

Then again despite being clearly embarrassed Ruby hadn't appeared that bothered by Meliodas' actions. Was Ruby an exhibitionist? Jaune couldn't help but blush as soon as the thought entered his head, especially as further thoughts Ruby's potential kinks began entering his mind about Ruby in public. 'Bad brain, brain bad, bad brain.' Jaune scolded himself as he literally shook his head to get rid of those thoughts, glad everyone was walking ahead of him so that no one could see his blush.

Or maybe Ruby had a bit of a budding crush on the pervy barkeep. Meliodas had saved Ruby from that freak that attacked them, so Ruby having a bit of a crush wasn't entirely unexpected. Though if Yang saw them she'd likely blow a gasket and try to pummel Meliodas into the ground, something that brought a small smile to Jaune's face.

Looking around Jaune also noticed something strange, wasn't there meant to be a river running through Vanya? It had been a few years since he had been to Vanya but he had been there and there had definitely been a river running through the village and yet he couldn't hear any sound of rushing water. Feeling a sense of unease Jaune voiced his thoughts to the rest of the group, drawing their attention directly to him.

"The plants and bushes." Ren also noticed with a bit of unease. "They're dead."

"Something's stopped the water." Ruby also added as she saw would normally be a stream of water was actually empty.

"Well no point in wondering what, let's head to Vanya and find out what's happening." Meliodas ordered as they proceeded to rush towards Vanya.

They rushed to the walls surrounding Vanya, designed to keep grimm out of the settlement, and they appeared to be secure, with a couple of guards at the gates to keep watch. "Halt." One of them ordered as they reached the entrance, the guard pointing a gun at them, while the other also readied his weapon.

They all tensed visibly, but none of then reached for their weapons, not wanting to this into a fight. "Yo, how's it going?" Meliodas waved, completely unbothered by the weapon pointed in his direction.

"What are doing here?" The same guard demanded. Ok Jaune may not be an expert but this was definitely not normal. What the hell had happened to put these guards so on edge.

"I'm a bar owner, here to pick up a shipment of Vanya ale." 'How can he be so calm with weapons pointed at him?' Jaune wondered as Meliodas approached the guards without any concern, still grinning widely.

"A bar owner? A little young aren't you." The other guard spoke for the first time, looking very sceptical. "Lets see some identification." He demanded.

"Sure no problem." Meliodas spoke as he pulled an ID, most likely fake considering his wanted status, from his pocket and handed it to the guard.

"Mmmm, ok everything looks fine." The guard spoke after a moment's hesitation. "Though I am not sure you will get your Vanya ale. Production has been stopped."

"Yeah we noticed the river has stopped flowing, has it been blocked?" Ruby asked.

The two guards shared a glance, clearly not wanting to share more about what has happened. "Something like that. Now the village is preserving what little ale it has and keeping it in storage."

"Not that it stopped that bastard Twigo from claiming most of it for himself." The other guard grumbled.

"Twigo?" Nora asked about odd sounding name.

"Nobody," The guard responded, glaring at the other guard who had said the name. "Just go on ahead."

They walked through the gates and Jaune was sure his friends were all as on edge as he was, especially as they reached the village centre and found a large crowd gathered. "Are they trying to sort out what happened with the water?" Ruby wondered out loud as they approached the crowd.

"We're trying to undo what that blasted huntsman from Liones, stuck into the ground." A villager who had overhead Ruby responded angrily. "Bastard even went so far as to coat it in lightning dust so none of us can grab hold of it and yank it out."

There was a gap in the crowd as they saw what had happened, leaving the group in shock.

"A huntsman did that?" Nora asked completely horrified.

Jaune balked in shock. A huntsman did this? Infused a sword with lightning dust and then jammed it into the ground, cutting off the water supply. Was that even possible? It sounded far fetched to Jaune, and yet he could see the results himself. A sword buried deep into the ground almost to the hilt, leaving cracks in the earth. The people also weren't wrong about the dust coating it, he could see a few sparts coming of the hilt that no doubt zapped anyone trying to touch it, so the villages had wrapped ropes around the sword to try to pull it out, but it looked like their efforts were in vain.

"But why?" Ruby asked.

An elderly man standing near them answered. "A few days ago a huntsmen visited to collect the usual taxes, and tried some of our ale in the process. He described it as swill so one of the kids pranked him by putting a bug in his drink."

That just made Jaune laugh a bit along with Ruby and Nora. "Its not funny." The man spoke, not pleased by their response. "The man shoved his sword in the ground, cutting off the water supply, but the worst thing is that the military officer, a man named Twigo, then proceeded to seize all our remaining ale, stating since we no longer could make the ale, what we had left would be seized in place of taxes."

"Despicable." Ren snapped, showing more anger then he usually did. Destroying the villages only means of earning money, and then seizing what little wealth and means they still had available to them. "They're laughing." Ren added, pointing to a pair of soldiers, sitting on a sealed up well, who were pointed and laughing at the crowd all the while drinking the stolen Vanya ale.

"We have to do something." Ruby said, careful not to speak to loudly and draw the attention of the sodiers in the distance.

"And we will." Meliodas responded.

"I'll handle the sword." Nora declared slamming her first together as she stared at the weapon with undeniable excitement, eager to test her semblance against the weapon.

"Ruby, Ren, Jaune, you three handle the guards. I'll deal with this Twigo person when he shows up." Meliodas ordered.

Laughing loudly Nora skipped towards the sword, people giving her a wide birth as she approached.

"No wait, get away from it." One of the villagers called out as Nora reached out, but his teammate took no notice as she grabbed hold of the hilt. Jaune could hear Nora grunt at the force of the lightning dust affecting her, but as she focused on activating her semblance, Nora pulled the sword outwards to the shock of the crowd as inch-by-inch Nora freed the sword from the stone.

With a bellowing laugh Nora raised her newfound sword in the air, the weapon cackling with electricity from both Nora's semblance and the dust. "Behold the hero who pulled sword from stone." Nora called out to the cheers of the crowd.

The two guards sitting on the well were openly gaping in shock, clearly not sure what to do before the well burst open from the force of the now freed water, leaving them both unconscious. The noise however drew the attention of the two guards the group had met by the gate, but Ruby and Ren were already prepared for them, and in the face of two weapons, one of which being a massive scythe that could fell trees, while the being packed by the group of villagers who looked like they'd eagerly deliver payback on the guards who exploited them… The two reluctantly put their weapons on the ground.

"WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?" A bellowing voice called out and Jaune blinked in shock. The man was an absolute giant, to the point Jaune actually wondered if the man had giant blood in his veins. Standing at near ten feet tall he completely dwarfed Meliodas to the point Jaune couldn't help but be a little scared for the pervy barkeep. Surely this was not a man to take lately, even for the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins.

"Are you responsible for this you little runt? Regardless I will punish you. Conclusion, I will annihilate you and your criminal companions." The man bellowed as he swung a massive great sword at Meliodas.

"No Meliodas." He heard Ruby call out and Jaune could also feel a scream clawing its way out of his throat as the sword swung downwards, while Meliodas hadn't even drawn his own weapon.

Yet against all odds the man, Twigo stumbled backwards, clearly hurt and bleeding from a slash across his face.

"That's impossible." The man bellowed as he glared down at Meliodas. "My technique was flawless, I'm certain my blow struck you, yet the one who actually felt the force of the blow, how could it possibly have been me. And what is that in your hand? A broken blade."

"Wait a minute, your face is familiar. But if its truly you, how can you look exactly the same?" The giant of a man growled out in anger as he glared at the miniature blond.

"All right, time's up. Figured it out yet?" Meliodas mocked as he got into a sword stance.

"No it can't be. And yet, you still dare to exist." Twigo yelled as he raised his great sword and then slammed it back down, his aura amplifying his already considerable strength.

And against the Dragon Sin of Wrath, it all proved useless as Meliodas' own strength blocked the attack and his counter attack sent Twigo flying.

Jaune had to resist the urge to wince slightly, aura or no aura the force of Meliodas' attack had sent the man literally flying out of Vanya and when he crashed, well he'd be lucky if he only had a few broken bones. 'Just how strong are the Sins?' Jaune wondered and not for the first time.

With Twigo's defeat, the entire village seemed to explode in cheers and catcalls and demands for celebrations. But despite the cheers and celebratory yells going on around them, with people thanking them and patting them on the back, Jaune felt… useless. It was Nora who pulled the sword out and restored the water supply to the village, Ruby and Ren had defeated the guards while Meliodas fought that huge Twigo guy.

Jaune had done nothing, like usual. 'I'm just a fake huntsman, like I have always been.' He thought to himself as Meliodas announced they'd head back to the Boar Hat.

Line Break

Ruby looked at the mirror looking at her reflection in the uniform Meliodas had laid for her and Nora as they served as waitresses in the Boar Hat. Ruby couldn't help but blush slightly as she admired herself in the mirror, glancing over to Nora who was doing a little twirl to see how well her clothes fit her. Nora was undoubtably a lot more confident in her waitress uniform then Ruby was, there was no doubt about that. The clothes weren't actually that revealing despite Meliodas being a pervert, though they did show off both Nora and Ruby's figure. The pink shirt accentuated their breasts and left their bellybutton exposed, but other then that, they weren't too tight, nor did they expose their boobs in any way. The skirt though much shorter then Ruby was used to wasn't bad either, showing off her legs.

'Yang would love these clothes,' Ruby thought to herself as she looked down at her uniform, the pink tightfitting top that left her midriff exposed while accentuated her bust, which Ruby couldn't help but admire slightly. Being on a team with three older and very beautiful girls, Ruby had often felt a bit insecure about her body, especially compared to Yang, who Ruby knew from overhearing far too many crude jokes from boys at Signal, and from Yang's own boasts, about being a complete bombshell.

But since she had started Beacon, in what felt like a lifetime ago, Ruby had grown quite a bit. She was at least two inches taller, her old corset dress that she had designed herself no longer fit, while her skirt had gotten damaged in a bad encounter with a grimm a few months back, causing Ruby to update her uniform and replace many of the clothes that she had taken with her when she had left Patch, since they no longer fit. Especially her bras, which no longer fit as well as they used to. And the uniform certainly showed off her body more then her old clothes did.

"You know the clothes suite you." Nora announced. Drawing Ruby's attention to her friend who was currently looking at her own ass in the reflection.

"Skirt is a bit small though." Ruby grumbled slightly, since it barely covered her butt. "Wondering if Ren's an ass man?" Ruby finally asked as she saw Nora 'subtly' raise the skirt slightly.

Her question simply got a smirk in response from her friend. "I know he's an ass man. Just need to get him to start looking at my ass." Nora spoke proudly, a determined grin on her face.

At Beacon she had noticed that Nora seemed to act extra odd around Ren, but it wasn't until they spent months travelling together that Ruby realised Nora had feelings for Ren, and promised to help her friend in any way she could. Unfortunately there were two problems, one having never had a boyfriend herself, Ruby didn't really know how to help Nora. Two, Ren was pretty oblivious to women's feelings and saw Nora as only a friend.

"Alright, lets head down there. Work to do, customers to serve." Ruby announced.

Line Break

Glynda Goodwitch sighed as she walked through the streets of halls of Beacon Academy. The academy was still heavily damaged in the aftermath of the attack by the White Fang and the grimm, orchestrated by Salem. The sight of the destroyed academy brought stabs of pain to Glynda's heart. For years Beacon had been her home, where she had helped train the next generation of hunters and huntresses, and now it was nothing more then a ruin rather then a symbol of hope.

Glynda knew that restoring Beacon was an endeavour that could potentially take years, and that wasn't even taking into account the frozen grimm constantly attracting more of its breathren to the surrounding area, she noted as with a brief use of her semblance she sent a grimm boarbatusk colliding into a ruined wall, the force of the impact being enough to kill the grimm and force it to fade away.

Glynda couldn't help but sigh in annoyance as the sound simply attracted more grimm to her location. 'Well my goal is clear out all the grimm, this just makes things easier,' Glynda thought as she got in a battle ready stance eyeing the four beowolf grimm and the two grimm ursa with caution as she waited for the grimm to make the first move.

She only had to wait a few seconds before two of the beowolfs rushed towards her, with one of the ursa following them. Not wasting a moment Glynda used her semblance to throw one of the beowolfs charging at her, right into the other, knocking them both down. Ducking under a swipe from the ursa, she used her semblance to lift the monster and banish it onto the other ursa. Returning her attention to the four beowolfs Glynda used her semblance to summon the debris around her and unleashed a barrage on the four grimm, the force of the attack quickly leaving them nothing but dust.

Turning back towards the two ursa Glynda prepared to kill them only for them to freeze in place as they rushed towards her, completely encased in ice. "Well you've certainly come a long way from the adventure seeking girl we saved all those years ago." A husky sounding voice remarked.

Looking at the woman who had frozen the two grimm, Glynda was surprised by who it was. Merlin, the Boar Sin of Gluttony of the Seven Deadly Sins. Merlin was a very beautiful woman, with a tall, slim figure with chocolate coloured hair and golden eyes, and a birth mark below her right eye that only seemed to enhance her beauty. Merlin was a beautiful woman, and she both knew it and flaunted it, her attire was proof of that. Her clothes were revealing and impractical in almost every sense of the word, with an open fur coloured long coat, that left half her breasts bare and her panties revealed.

Glynda first met Merlin, and by extension the rest of the Sins over thirteen years ago, before she had started working at Beacon where she had nearly gotten killed on a mission, only for the Sins to save her life. She had only spent a couple of days with the Sins, but it had been one of the most memorable experiences of her life. Not before or since had Glynda ever encountered such a unique group of people that included a giant, fairy and humans. She had never believed the Sins were guilty, a sentiment she knew Ozpin shared. Unfortunately, whoever had framed the Sins had done an excellent job, leaving little room to prove that the Sins weren't the traitors many thought they were.

"Lady Merlin," Glynda began cautiously. While she didn't believe the woman guilty, that didn't change the fact that she knew without a doubt that Merlin was an undoubtedly dangerous woman. "What brings you here?" After a decade of the woman hiding, why would she now choose to reveal herself?

"Well, I'm here for two reasons. The first is to remove that tedious little grimm on top of that ruined tower." Merlin answered while Glynda couldn't help but glance towards the tower where said grimm was located. "As for the second reason, well that's something you can help me with after I've dealt with that wyvern."

She frowned briefly at Merlin's words, wondering what she could possibly help the Sin of Gluttony with. Her status as acting headmistress, her position on the Vale council perhaps. Either one of those positions could be potential helpful to Merlin.

"Well then lets head to the wyvern grimm." Glynda spoke professionally as she began heading towards the broken tower.

"So I have to ask, were you guilty?" Glynda questioned Merlin. Just because she didn't believe the Sins guilty, didn't change the fact that Glynda was still a huntress and dedicated to upholding the law.

Merlin glanced at her in amusement, a smirk gracing her face. "No we didn't murder Zaratras, nor did we kill dozens of hunters and soldiers as we fled the capital. A coup was launched in Liones, removing all those that supported grand master Zaratras and Lord Mayer Bartra. The Sins were just adequate scapegoats, and due to our power and influence we had a large number of ambitious rivals in the kingdom." Merlin explained.

Even though Merlin was describing how she and her team had been betrayed she seemed unusually calm and unbothered about it. When she had met the Sins she had noticed that Merlin seemed to calm and collected one, the rational one who always thought ahead. But nonetheless Glynda would have thought that there would be some anger in her voice, a crack in her calm façade as she described how she was betrayed. She couldn't deny that it was a bit unsettling. But then again, Merlin had ten years to come to terms with what had happened to her team.

As they reached the base of the CCT where the grimm was located right at the top, heading to an abandoned elevator shaft, which Glynda used to her semblance, in order to take them to the top floor. "But who framed you, and why?" That was the most important question, and the easiest way of to clear the Sins of all charges was to bring those who had truly committed the crime to justice.

"The who is easy. The current heads of the huntsman and huntresses and the military forces of Liones, Dreyfus and Hendrickson." Glynda grimaced at the answer, yes Ozpin had suspected those responsible for the actions in Liones would be highly ranked figures, but those two men were arguably the two most powerful men in the kingdom of Liones. Bringing them to justice would not be easy.

"As for why," Merlin frowned, a look of genuine annoyance and even anger crossing her features. "That is what I don't know. I have a few theories but nothing definite." Merlin had always hated not knowing something after all, the Sin of Gluttony referred to her desire for knowledge after all, not food like some fools thought.

"So I'm curious, what plans do you have for dealing with Salem? After all restoring Beacon is pointless if she can simply attack again in the future." Merlin asked curiously.

Glynda had to resist the urge to wince at those words. At present she had absolutely no plans for dealing with Salem. None of their contingency plans had even considered the possibility of the fall of Beacon and the complete collapse of communication between the kingdoms. "At present we are simply focused on repairing the damage of the attack on Beacon, not to mention the Vale council is very much divided on what to do at present." Glynda answered and regarding the Vale Council the situation was terrible.

The Vale Council was divided at the moment, but also completely enraged. The heart of Vale had been attacked, grimm overwhelming its cities with the Atlas androids turning on both hunters and civilians alike, while members of the White Fang continued their acts of terror. A small portion of the council were dedicated to repairing the damage done to their cities, but the majority were more interested in revenge, against both Atlas and the faunus. Vale had been one of the more tolerant regions of Remnant regarding the faunus, but the recent attacks had destroyed much goodwill both the council and human population had for the faunus living in the kingdom. Already there had been numerous attacks on faunus businesses and homes, with many members of the local police force happily turning a blind eye. As for Atlas, well Glynda knew they weren't responsible for what had happened to Beacon but convincing the council of that had proven to be very difficult.

"Have you thought about telling the council about Salem?" Merlin asked, causing Glynda to snap her head in Merlin's direction so fast that she briefly wondered if the huntress had whiplash.

"You can't be serious?" Glynda asked incredulous.

"Why not? Its true that accepting the fact that Salem exists will be hard to accept but after they learn the truth the council will stop its attempts to discriminate against the faunus as well as provoking Atlas." Merlin's words were calm and reasonable, like always.

"Ozpin believed that the best way to fight Salem was in the shadows, in order to avoid widespread conflict and destruction." Glynda pointed out, and she agreed with her old friends sentiment, though her words merely made Merlin snort.

"And how has that worked out." Merlin snarked. "Let me give you a bit of advice Glynda, Ozpin may be wise, but he is hardly infallible. Otherwise, Beacon wouldn't have fallen. For centuries Salem has watched Remnant, slowly spreading her influence, always present in the world. She's adapted, Ozpin hasn't. Salem is no longer going to strike from the shadows, which means you can longer fight her the way you once did."

As the semblance powered elevator reached the top floor, Glynda waved her hand to open the door and the two women entered the ruined circular chamber where the frozen wyvern was located, and where Pyrrha Nikos died. Glynda stared at the spot where Pyrrha had died, there hadn't even been a body to bury for a funeral, only small remains from her armour.

Glynda swallowed thickly as she looked around the room. Pyrrha's death had been their fault. Pyrrha had been a prodigy in nearly every sense, a skilled combatant, academically gifted, with a strong set of morals and a caring personality, leaving no doubt that she would have become the ideal huntress. She had seemed like the most natural choice to become the Fall Maiden and they had forgotten one simple fact. For all her skills and abilities Pyrrha was still only a seventeen year old girl, one who hadn't even finished her first year of training in the academy and yet they had placed on her shoulders a burden that no young woman deserved. And at that moment Merlin's words rang through her head, "Ozpin may be wise, but he is hardly infallible."

Glynda glanced back towards Merlin who was staring intensely at the frozen grimm, an expression of keen interest on her face as she stared intently at wyvern. "Incredible." The woman muttered. Glynda didn't understand what was incredible about the grimm, it was simply terrifying. For a grimm to reach this wyvern state meant that it must have existed for millennia. Just thinking about all the people that the grimm must have killed was more then enough to kill any scientific interest she could possibly have in the creature.

"To be incredibly powerful, yet completely imprisoned. Aware of what's around it, yet unable to influence the world. To have imprisoned you she must be very powerful. I would love to take you for my experiments, I've never tested a grimm as old as you. Unfortunately, your still connected to your mistress aren't you? I'd never be able to move you without Salem knowing about it." Merlin spoke to the creature, sounding genuinely disappointed that she wouldn't be able to experiment on the creature as she snapped her fingers, and a circular orb appeared in front of her.

"EXTERMINATE RAY." Glynda had to cover her eyes as a beam of purple light blasted into frozen grimm wyvern. The impact completely annihilating the frozen beast, leaving only a hail of dust and ash.

If Glynda was a less controlled women she would have been openly gapping and even then she couldn't completely stop the look of shock from covering her face. Glynda had seen many things in her life. She was a veteran hunter, a member of Ozpin's inner circle and had seen things that most people couldn't believe. She had witnessed giants create entire buildings out of stone, had seen fairies performed acts that could only be qualified as magic and yet this woman, a criminal from the kingdom of Liones had just destroyed the most powerful grimm she had ever seen with ease. Only from the maidens had Glynda seen such comparable power.

"I suggest you convince the Vale council to speed up construction efforts on Beacon." Merlin spoke, drawing her from her shock, a small smirk on her face. Merlin would be lying if she claimed she didn't enjoy the shellshocked expression from the normally unflappable woman. "Right now Salem's plans are focused on the other kingdoms, but she will certainly still have her eyes on Beacon. The fact her little maiden pet wasn't able to reclaim the Relic of Choice guarantees it."

The reality of the situation immediately sobered Glynda up. Without the wyvern constantly attracting more grimm to Beacon construction efforts could finally commence to restore Beacon to its former glory. They would also have to make extra defences to protect both the academy and the relic hidden within to prevent Salem from retrieving it. Though how they were going to stop a fully powered maiden was not something Glynda wanted to consider when even Ozpin had failed to stop Cinder.

But the rest of Merlin's words caught up to her as well, regarding Salem's attention currently being focused on the other kingdoms. In the aftermath of the attack on Beacon all remaining huntsman academies around the world would likely be taking extra precautions, but still Glynda made a mental node to send messages to James, Theodore and Lionheart to be as careful as they could be.

"Now then, since I've helped you perhaps you can help me. Now tell me where is Ruby Rose?"

Line Break

Gilthunder stared down at the battered and bruised form of Twigo, a dropout of the huntsman academy who had later joined the military, but he knew the man still desired to become an official hunter. Personally Gilthunder had little positive opinions of the man, a brutal and cruel person, especially to those who served under him in the military, not to mention there had been more than a few 'training accidents' that involved Twigo and his men, especially any faunus who was unfortunate to be placed under his command.

Ideally the man would be stripped of his rank for his behaviour and attitudes, if not sent to prison. But Twigo was a brutal man who had no hesitation about fulfilling any order, regardless of what that order was. Such merciless tendencies made him valuable to many of the higher ups in the military who were happy to make use of a man who wouldn't hesitate to fulfil any order.

He had been sent to Vanya village to stay out of trouble, not because Gilthunder actually believed it was likely one of the Seven Deadly Sins would actually visit such a remote village. But it seemed that not only had one of the Sins actually gone to the village, but if what Twigo and his men reported was true then none other than Meliodas himself had been there.

'Meliodas,' He thought with a growl as his hand tightened over the scroll he held, one of Twigo's soldiers had managed to record Meliodas and his accomplices. What surprised him however was the fact that he recognised them, the four of them had all been fighters in the Vytal Festival a few months back, for Beacon Academy.

While Gilthunder disagreed with many of the decisions by the Liones government, the decision to not participate in the Vytal Festival was not one of them, and that wasn't even counting the disaster that had happened at Beacon. For all the other kingdoms spoke of the festival as being a sign of peace and collaboration between the kingdoms, it was in reality a pissing contest between them, with the Kingdoms showing off their strongest warriors. The fact that it was only in the last decade that faunus were permitted to join it, while giants and fairies were still forbidden to join was proof of that. But thanks to that festival not only did Gilthunder know the identity of every one of Meliodas' accomplices, but he also knew their strengths and weaknesses as well.

Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc and Lie Ren. "Have these people recorded as criminals wanted for their collaboration with the Dragon Sin of Wrath, Meliodas." Gilthunder ordered as he stood up, giving the scroll to the guard standing next to him as he exited the meeting room as he headed to the balcony, grabbing a spear as he did so. While some regarded his use of traditional sword and spear as old fashioned, Gilthunder disagreed. While many hunters wielded powerful and unique weapons that were technological marvels, those weapons were usually very high maintenance, and prone to malfunction if you damaged a specific part of the weapon. The traditional sword and spear may not have the advantages of some weapons hunters wielded, but they also lacked any of the weaknesses. Besides even if they were not technologically advanced he still used dust to power his weapons, lightning dust in particular connected very well with his own lightning based semblance.

As he reached the balcony, Gilthunder's keen eyesight saw Vanya Village in the distance. Raising his spear, Gilthunder used his semblance to power it with lightning, connecting with both the lightning and gravity dust in his spear. Taking careful aim, he threw the spear.

Line Break

Ruby frowned in the distance. She had been having trouble sleeping and had decided to go outside to clear her head. Most of the villagers had returned to Vanya, and Ruby could hear sounds of partying in the village as they celebrated the return of the river and their ability to once more make Vanya ale. Jaune, Ren and Nora were already fast asleep, exhausted by the battle in Vanya and then later serving the almost overwhelming number of customers in the Boar Hat. Well her first shift as a waitress hadn't been too bad, embarrassing clothes aside. In fact they'd often been too busy for Ruby to even be embarrassed about the uniform. If nothing else, being a waitress at a very busy bar had proven a surprisingly useful practice for her semblance with Ruby often rushing around the room, delivering drinks, food and cleaning up tables.

And it had been a long day, Ruby's body felt tired, and she almost collapsed onto her bed after midnight when Meliodas had closed the Boar Hat down, but Ruby hadn't been able to get to sleep. She must have been lying in bed for over an hour before she decided to go outside for some fresh air. Sitting on a patch of grass outside the Boar Hat, Ruby found herself thinking about what had happened at Beacon, the destruction of the school, her friends who she had no idea what had happened to.

Ruby couldn't help it when the tears started falling, when memories of Penny and Pyrrha started filling her mind and knew that she would not be able to see them again, that both of them were dead. Sobs filled the air as Ruby hid her arms as tears started falling. Ruby barely registered as someone sat down next to her while she sobbed, or as Meliodas pulled her into a hug, rubbing comforting circles on her back as she sobbed.

"I HATE HER." Ruby managed to get in between her sobs. "Why did she do it. She destroyed Beacon, hundreds of people are dead because of her. Yang is hurt because of her, Penny is dead because of her. She ki- Pyrrha is dead." Ruby continued to sob into Meliodas shoulder, while he held her tightly and she let loose all the bottled up anger and sadness that she had been feeling.

"Why? I thought she was a friend, I thought they were friends. Why did they have to do that?" Ruby hadn't expected any kind of response from Meliodas but he did so.

"Some people just can't help but hate. They get dealt a bad hand at life, suffer a loss they can't overcome and its just easier to hate. And they take it out on the world, those that they think hurt them, those that they think are responsible or more fortunate." Meliodas spoke, drawing her attention to him as she pulled her face from his shoulder.

"Don't ever forget your friends Ruby. Nothing you do can bring the dead back, but remembering ensures that they live on. That they were important and that they matter. Don't let them be forgotten." Meliodas told her, his words and the expression on his face making it clear that he was speaking from experience.

"Thank you." Ruby said as she hugged him, tears still streaming down her face, but feeling a bit better.

They were silent for a while, the two of them sitting in silence looking at the sky. "Ruby if you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but why do you want to be a huntress?"

"What, why are you asking?" Ruby demanded, feeling more then a little defensive.

"Being a hunter is a dangerous job, and I'm not talking about the risks fighting grimm. The constant danger, the fighting, it can take its toll on you. It changes you and I am scared for you." Maybe it was the honest concern and worry in Meliodas voice, or the fact that Meliodas was a former huntsman turned, supposed criminal who was now helping her and her friends without asking anything in return, but Ruby was compelled to answer.

"I'm not blind to the risks and stresses of being a huntress, even before the attack on Beacon I knew being a huntress would be dangerous. My mum was a huntress, and one day she went on a mission and never came home. I was only a little girl but I remember my dad collapsing into tears and struggling with depression, my uncle whose visits would become rare and infrequent, often turning up completely drunk. My sister forced to take responsible in raising me." Ruby spoke, describing things she had never told anyone else, yet found herself opening up to Meliodas.

"So that's why you want to be a huntress. To honour your mother and make sure that everything that happened won't be for no reason." Meliodas surmised.

"That's…" Was she really going to confess that? "Part of the reason." She admitted. Despite herself she couldn't help but remember Dr Oobleck asking her teammates why they wanted to become huntresses but had never asked her. She wondered if it had been because he knew about her past, or because she had asked about his own reasons for being a hunter. Weiss and Blake thought that it was because of her mother and while it was true, it wasn't the full answer. Only Yang, her dad and her uncle knew the full reason why she was determined to become a huntress. Why she had made the choice to confront Roman Torchwick despite the danger.

"Have you ever heard of Danafor?" Ruby asked, and by the intake of breath, Meliodas definitely recognised the name of the city. Which wasn't surprising, Danafor was pretty infamous considering its destruction over fifteen years ago. "Well I'm from Danafor. My mum, my adopted mum, she was sent to Danefor to investigate what happened and she found me there among the ruins. I don't know what happened to my birth family, but for whatever reason, I survived when everyone else died. I want to prevent what happened to Danafor from happening again. That's why I want to become a huntress." Ruby admitted, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders as she admitted to someone who wasted her family about why she was so determined to be a huntress.

Ruby did not like talking about Danafor, when she learnt about where she was from, Ruby had spent months tracking down every scrap of information about the city, but despite her efforts she was never able to find out what had led to Danafor's destruction. What had happened at Beacon had awakened a lot of nightmares about Danafor from when she was younger. When she was a little girl, she used to have nightmares nearly every night, of a massive purple monster more terrifying then any grimm attacking her. Her dad had said that it might have been suppressed trauma and memories from when she was baby, combined with the overactive imagination of a child, but the nightmares had continued for years. And after what had happened at Beacon, Ruby just couldn't stay home at Patch and do nothing, not after what had happened to Danafor nearly happened to Beacon.

"Meliodas, why did you become a huntsman?" She asked, wanting to know the answer, especially after she confessed her own reasons for wanting to become a huntress.

"I became a huntsman because I felt like fighting was the best thing for me to do. I am a good fighter, and I've always enjoyed a good scrap so becoming a huntsman seemed natural. But then I made friends, I met the other Sins, and being huntsman was no longer about fighting. It was about protecting my team, my family." Meliodas confessed.

The two of them continued sitting in silence, before a flash of light heading right for them caught her attention. "Get down." Meliodas ordered as he pushed her onto her stomach, the flash impacting directly with Meliodas.

"Meliodas, no." She yelled out in horror, only to realise that the attack, a large javelin that had been aiming at them, lit by lightning dust, had been caught by Meliodas with his bare hands, though not unscathed as the residual lightning from the dust coated weapon proceeded to destroy his clothes. Though the force of the javelin had forced Meliodas back roughly twenty meters, he had managed to catch the weapon, only to turn it around and throw it back in the direction it came from.

'Just how powerful is the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins?' Ruby thought in awe as she watched Meliodas, his bar uniform mostly destroyed by the lightning from the spear, leaving him mostly dressed in rags.

Meliodas was very cute Ruby could admit, in fact he was actually pretty gorgeous. Admittedly he wasn't very tall, barely standing at five feet he was shorter then Ruby was but despite that he just had a, presence about him. An aura that made him seem more formidable and larger than he actually was. But seeing him now with his clothes destroyed by that attack, seeing his ripped form, Ruby couldn't help but flush at the sight as she quickly turned away.

"Was that attack from the huntsman who lodged his sword into the ground earlier?" Ruby asked, desperately hoping that Meliodas would not comment on her blush.

"Probably so," Meliodas spoke as he flexed his bloody hand that grabbed the spear. "I think that's our cue to leave here as soon as we can."

"But what if Vanya village is attacked again?" Ruby objected.

"I think they'd be in a lot more danger if we were to stay." Meliodas countered. "Though now we need to lay low for a few days."

It was at that moment that Ruby recalled what one of the customers at the Boar Hat, a kid named Mead had said earlier. "One of the customers mentioned a place called the "Forest of White Dreams" said not even hunters go there. Could that be a place to hide?"

Ruby was surprised and a little proud of the way Meliodas' face completely lit up at the suggestion. "Yep, but we are not going to be hiding. In fact I think we might find an ally in that Forest."

"Wait an ally? You don't mean…"

"Yep let's go find another Sin." Meliodas declared.

Line Break

Emerald hated Salem's castle. The entire place screamed intimidation and terror. It was oppressive and terrifying and that wasn't even taking into account the countless grimm that stalked its halls. Much like most people, Emerald both hated and feared the creatures of grimm, and being constantly surrounded by the abominations did nothing to change her opinions or reassure her when it was only Salem's presence that prevented them from killing her.

But what Emerald hated most about Salem's castle was the inhabitants. Most of them were obnoxious, prideful pricks who looked down on her, and in the case of Tyrian constantly mocked and threatened her. But what she hated most was how they treated Cinder. All the time Emerald had known her, Cinder had always been so strong and powerful, someone who equally commanded respect and fear. But since the attack on Beacon she had completely changed, and not just the physical disfigurement that had affected her. Cinder had become so submissive and docile that it honestly horrified Emerald. She had also noticed that Cinder's nervous tich had only gotten much worse since the attack. Emerald had always been an observant person and she had noticed that Cinder would often without truly realising would often brush her hand up and down, almost like she was cleaning something. She was no shrink, but Emerald knew such a thing only developed from deep, emotional trauma. What this trauma was, she didn't know, the one time she had brought it up Cinder had bluntly told her it was none of her business.

Cinder had been reduced from a strong independent woman who Emerald had admired and respected more then anyone, to a shell of her former self. 'For what you've done to her Ruby, I promise you that you are going to die slowly and painfully,' Emerald promised herself as she balled her fists angrily as she looked over to Cinder protectively, the woman sitting next to Salem while the witch instructed her.

She wouldn't pretend to understand what they were talking about, discussions of magic and grimm completely went over her head. Not for the first time Emerald wished she was with Mercury training, but Cinder was still unable to speak and needed Emerald to speak on her behalf when required.

The doors to Salem's throne room slammed open, causing Emerald to instinctively reach for her weapons. The sight that greeted her honestly took her by surprise, Tyrian had had returned and was grovelling on the floor, while whimpering in clear pain. His body was covered in cuts and bruises and it looked like he had a few broken bones as well.

While Emerald wasn't pleased about the fact that the man had clearly failed to retrieve Ruby as he had been ordered, she would be lying if the said that the sight of the man who constantly tormented her, Mercury and Cinder, grovelling and in clear pain, didn't bring her any joy. But it also brought her a bit of wariness. Ruby was a good fighter, Emerald would reluctantly admit that, but she wasn't that good and taking on someone of Tyrian's skill was beyond her, so obviously something must have happened.

"Tyrian," Salem spoke calmly as she eyed the faunus whimpering before her. "I see you were unable to retrieve the silver eyed girl." Salem's words were calm and understanding, even seemingly sympathetic, and yet despite its seemingly kind nature Emerald couldn't help but shiver slightly. Emerald knew fear, but it wasn't until she met Salem that she understood what terror truly was.

"My goddess, the girl was protected." Tyrian spoke, his voice wrecked with pain from his injuries and fear of failing his mistress.

"By whom?"

"The Dragon Sin, of the Seven Deadly Sins. Meliodas." Tyrian gasped out.

At those words Emerald noticed how Cinder immediately straightened, while her head snapped towards Tyrian's direction. 'Does she know the Seven Deadly Sins?' Emerald wondered curiously. She only knew the Sins by reputation, a group of hunters that had betrayed the kingdom of Lionas, and had been hunted ever since, with a fortune placed on their heads, the price increasing every year. Last Emerald had heard each individual sin was worth half a million lien while the captain, Meliodas was worth a full million. She knew that several 'bigshots' in the underworld liked to boast that they would be the ones to capture the Sins and claim the reward money but that was always empty boasting, the Sins knew how to hide.

"Is that so? Interesting." Salem muttered.

"Do you remember what I told you about the Holy War Cinder?" Salem questioned Cinder, causing her to nod while Emerald watched on in confusion.

'The Holy War?' Emerald thought frowning, not understanding its relevance. What did that have to do with the Seven Deadly Sins and that blasted Ruby Rose.

Emerald recalled what she knew about mythological Holy War, which was very little. A supposed conflict where the humans, faunus, giants, fairies and the mythological Goddess race united against the malevolent demon race. If you believed the stories, which Emerald didn't, then the war supposedly ended when the goddess race sacrificed themselves to destroy the demon race. Personally Emerald thought that if the war did happen then it was in reality a unity between their ancestors to destroy the grimm, which were referred to as demons while the supposed goddess race was likely the silver eyed warriors. Considering what that Rose girl was able to do to the wyvern grimm despite having no idea of her powers then it wasn't too much of a stretch that millennia ago fully trained silver eyed warriors could be considered 'goddesses'.

However from what Salem was saying clearly this war was not a myth, or at least not truly. Emerald supposed that it wasn't surprising that Salem knew of the war. She didn't know how old the witch truly was, but Emerald wasn't surprised that Salem was alive during this supposed war.

"The Demons and the Goddesses had always been at war," Salem began explaining. "But the war didn't truly involve all of Remnant until the leader of the Ten Commandments, and the demons strongest warrior deserted. Using the opportunity the Goddess race incited the humans, faunus, fairies and giants into an alliance known as Stigma to destroy the demons once and for all."

"Unfortunately for the goddesses the war did not turn out the way they hoped. The kings of the fairy and giant races deserted Stigma, infighting between the humans and faunus weakened their ranks, and the strongest warrior of the goddess race was killed. Unable to outright defeat the demons, the goddesses decided to sacrifice their physical bodies to imprison the demon race forever once and for all.

"Only one demon survived, the traitor who deserted. Meliodas." Salem explained.

Emerald struggled to keep her face neutral. Meliodas, the feared Dragon Sin of Wrath was in reality an all powerful, millennia old demon?! One who was apparently now protecting Ruby bloody Rose. How did one even kill a demon? As much as Emerald loathed Tyrian she couldn't deny he was a skilled fighter, much more skilled then she was, and yet Meliodas had apparently easily defeated Tyrian.

"You know you are incredibly lucky Tyrian." Salem spoke as she got off her throne and stalked towards Tyrian's still prostrating form, while the faunus looked up towards her hopefully. "Meliodas' power is equally matched by his skill in combat, and in all my centuries I can only think of maybe half a dozen people who could hope to fight Meliodas on equal ground, and you are certainly not one of them." Salem spoke, causing Tyrian to whimper. "Nor are you for that matter Cinder." Salem added, causing Cinder to flinch at her words and Emerald to grit her teeth at the blatant insult.

"For someone of Meliodas power defeating you would be child's play, and yet he deigned to fight you when he could have defeated you with ease?" Salem spoke, her voice taking a quizzical tone as she stared at Tyrian, looking at him as if he was part of a puzzle she needed to work out.

"Unless…" Salem didn't say anything else but a small smirk did find its way onto her face. "I'm going to give you another chance to capture miss Rose and redeem yourself Tyrian."

End of Chapter 1

Been over two years but I have finally done an update. Seven Deadly Sins manga and anime have both been finished, absolutely loved it, despite the poor quality animation in the last couple of seasons. Love the movies and also like the sequel manga series.

So some background information to make the story easier for readers. One Liones in this located in the continent of Anima in the world of Remnant, sharing a boarder with the kingdom of Mistral, with Mistral territories in the northern half of the continent, Liones is located in the eastern half of the continent when you look at the map on RWBY wiki.

Second magic though not as common as in Seven Deadly Sins world is a bit more common then in RWBY canon, especially among humans. This is due to the presence of fairies, giants, demons and goddesses, which means magic is a bit more common among humans and faunus, but is still very rare. So hypothetically 95% of humans only have aura and semblance but like 5% who are part of bloodlines who were blessed by fairies, goddesses etc can weild minor magical abilities.