This is a tale of humans and beings from other worlds. It is a story of ancient times. Countless conflicts have been repeated throughout Britannia's history. No longer is there anyone who knows how it all began and how to bring everything to a stop. However, there is one man who does know and the order of knights that man commands is...

...The Legendary Seven Deadly Sins!

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https://youtu.be/8UbS2pKIyOQ

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Chapter VIII
Welcome to the Team

Chronology. A collection of two so-called 'clock hands'. For some strange reason, the King of Liones had handed her these twin blades before locking her inside of a dungeon, never to see daylight again. Some murmured he was going mad. Others thought he had foreseen a grave prophecy.

To begin with, the scythes had a strange design. One longer than the other, an intricate connection of loops intersected each one, a long curved blade extending off of each end. The scythes came with an odd handle, the hole in which they would attach to a clock if there was one. Difficult to wield and heavy to handle, it was a miracle in itself that Victoria had learned how to use it.

Supposedly, there may have been a third hand- a long thin scythe representing the second hand- but this was just speculation. She didn't know how to wield three scythes anyway.

Coincidentally or not, they seemed to work in conjunction with her innate ability; Reset, a useful power. Not originally meant to be used as weapons, the scythes had a tricky setting. In order for Victoria to activate them with her ability, she had to coincidentally guess what time it currently was, holding her scythes in the exact same position an analogue clock would be. Doing so would allow her to rewind time one minute before her moment of peril, effectively resetting the clock.

However, there were several drawbacks to the ability. The ability lasted as long as the single minute it reset and she could not use it again within an hour's duration. It was a last resort move, granted, that she could use others.

However, she could not afford to waste time. Having her memory rewritten would mean that she would lose valuable time and thoughts even. She could not afford to forget the most important thing of all; Gowther's thought process.

Forgetting it would mean that a potential ticking time bomb was left in their midst. There was no telling to whose side he would switch and the Ten Commandments' could leave grave consequences. If he had already successfully subverted the rest of the sins, incapacitated Meliodas, thwarted her and injured Elizabeth while still undecided- imagine if he were fully on the Commandments' side. They'd be done for.

Thirty seconds left, she realized, moving around the frozen Gowther and tapping his neck hard with the scythe's handle. Shuddering, she realized just how well he had portrayed that witch- and this was from her vague memories. Burning the face into her mind, she walked off out of the valley, waiting to hear the thud behind her.

Three...

Two...

One...

Zero- thud! She heard the doll clatter limply into the dirt. It seemed that she had won this battle...

Battle...

Battle...

...What was she thinking about again? Turning around, she noticed the unconscious body of Gowther, a bow disappearing from his hand.

"What's he doing here?" Victoria wondered in confusion. She had been about to get more firewood when she saw his unconscious body.

"Lord Meliodas!" a scream pierced through the quiet, directing her attention to the sound.

"Elizabeth!" she realized in horror, rushing off to find the silver-haired girl. She knew leaving her alone was a bad idea. Stumbling towards the light, she finally reached the camp and was greeted by a horrible sight.

A huge demon held Elizabeth in his grasp, who looked badly injured, a beam of darkness quickly charging in his large mouth. Grabbing her scythe, Victoria rushed to block the attack, horrified to see it release from its mouth.

I won't make it! She realized in dread, feeling violently sick at the thought. "ELIZABETH!" she yelled loudly, stretching to intercept the attack. "Reset! Reset!" the brunette screamed frantically.

The attack collided hard.

"Full Counter!" a familiar voice proclaimed, the demon blasting away along with the rest of the forest in its wake.

Landing softly on the ground, princess in hand, was Meliodas himself, frowning at her.

"Meliodas!" Victoria breathed out in relief that he had saved her. Running towards the two, she glanced down at Elizabeth's injuries, the girl peacefully asleep. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," he rested her gently on the ground. Turning to her he spoke, eyes pitch black, "Enchantment: Hellblaze!" he muttered eerily calmly, sweeping his sword at the goddess.

Barely, Victoria dodged, her cloak catching in black flames. Ripping it off quickly, she threw it away, coughing terribly at the demonic flames. Choking, she turned to Meliodas, "What the hell, Meliodas?!" she hacked, "You know my situation! I could have died!"

"What the hell, you say? That's my line!" he retaliated angrily, "What the hell were you thinking, leaving her alone out here?! What if I hadn't come in time?! Where were you?!"

"I was getting wood for the fire! I didn't think-!" she explained.

"Getting wood, huh? Maybe you were biding your time for your little friend to show up! When did you leave?" he interrogated sarcastically.

"Around 9:00."

"And when did you come back?"

"9:29, I think."

"What were you even doing for twenty-nine minutes, huh?!" he was pissed. Elizabeth stirred, opening her eyes slightly.

"...I... I don't remember..." Victoria furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"...What? Well, what do you remember after?" Meliodas felt a small spark of concern through his rage.

"I remember I was in the forest... And Gowther was on the floor unconscious... Then I heard Elizabeth's yell," she recalled.

"Gowther? Are you sure?"

"If that was the pink one's name... then yes," she nodded.

"I don't know why he'd be there..." Meliodas thought in suspicion, "But still, how could you be so reckless?!" he resumed his rant.

"Again, I didn't think that-"

"Hah, where have I heard this before?" he chuckled dryly, "Maybe you really just are another one of the Ten Commandments after all!" he accused.

"How could you say that?! I can't believe you really think that-!" A slap echoed throughout the air, a red handprint marked on Victoria's face as she recoiled in shock, shading her face darkly.

"Please stop it! Lord Meliodas!" a new voice yelled loudly, intercepting in between them.

"Elizabeth..." the captain was taken aback, his eyes turning green, "you shouldn't be standing-"

"Let me finish!" the princess yelled, arms extended to the sides as she stood protectively in front of Victoria.

"Elizabeth... You don't have to-" the goddess murmured depressively.

"No, I do have to!" Victoria was also surprised.

"I have to clear up my misunderstanding!" she shook her head firmly. She then turned to Meliodas, "Lord Meliodas, this isn't Victoria's fault!"

Just Victoria... Meliodas noticed the unusual closeness between the two. "Look Elizabeth-"

"No! Please let me finish!"

"...Alright, go ahead."

"Thank you," the silverette took a deep breath, "Victoria didn't leave me alone- I told her to."

"What?"

"She asked me if I was sure I wanted to stay by the camp or come with her. She didn't want to leave. I told her I would be fine. She even set up a barrier to protect me!" Elizabeth explained, "Victoria's a good person- she isn't like the Ten Commandments!"

"Elizabeth, how can you possibly defend her if you don't know what she's done-?" the captain began, sighing.

"I do know," she revealed.

"What?" he was dumbfounded.

"I do know because she told me," she elaborated, sensing his confusion.

"Is this true, Victoria?"

"Yes..." Victoria mumbled slightly.

"And you think it was the truth?"

"Yes I do," Elizabeth nodded firmly.

"And you still trust her?"

"Yes."

"...Well, it seems that you can stay at the bar, Victor," he relented finally, "If Elizabeth trusts you that much- I can't possibly refuse," he folded his arms in thought, pokerfaced.

"I'm sorry but I'll have to refuse," the devil's sin clenched her fists, bangs covering her eyes.

"Victoria..." Elizabeth frowned sadly.

"Heh, I told you it wouldn't work," she smiled bitterly, "I just bring chaos wherever I go."

He had done it again, Meliodas realized angrily, twice in a row he had hurt her- thrice if you counted three thousand years ago. This time he would fix it.

Grabbing, Victoria's hand tightly, he dragged the struggling girl over to the side, looking apologetically at her. "Look, Victor, I'm sorry I yelled at you. Both times. If we can just work this out-"

"No, you were right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left Elizabeth. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's fine," she didn't look at him, "With this, you won't have to worry about me again."

"It's not fine. I'm mad at myself," he clenched his fist in shame.

"Don't be. It's my fault anyway. Elizabeth could have died and I wasn't there to protect her."

"Not only because of that."

"I... I don't understand," she stated in confusion.

"I'm mad because I keep hurting you, Victor. You keep trusting me and I keep failing you. Not just today, but back then too," he shook his head.

Victoria was silent. "I didn't know how to approach you about it so I acted as if it didn't exist. As if I didn't betray you. I'm stupid, I know. I understand if you don't forgive me."

"But please, if not for me, do it for Elizabeth. She wants you around, I can tell. It's funny how she can believe in you so much after minutes of knowing you, yet I still can't after three thousand years."

"Meliodas..."

"Please look at me, Victoria," the captain of the deadly sins pleaded.

She shook her head.

"Look at me," he asked once more.

Turning her face slowly, Meliodas was shocked to see tears streaking down her face, wiping them off with his thumb. Finally, she spoke.

"It hurts, Meliodas."

"I know. I'm sorry," he apologized once more, pulling her into a hug as she bent down, stroking her head soothingly.

Smiling softly, Elizabeth watched as the reunion took place, wiping her tears at the sad scene. It seems she had some interesting competition, she thought, happy that the two had finally made up. She was glad to see that her friends weren't at odds anymore. She made her way across to them.

Drying her tears, Victoria accepted the hand before her, standing up once more. Meliodas grinned, "So, to celebrate... How about you join the Seven Deadly Sins and make it eight?" he suggested.

"You're serious? Won't that seem weird with eight?" Victoria was surprised.

"Sure it'll take some getting used to... But I'm sure it'll be fine! We'll be glad to have you on board! Right, Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Yes, Lord Meliodas," Elizabeth agreed, nodding.

"So how about it?"

"Yes! Thank you, Lord Meliodas," she bowed in gratitude, "Again, I'm sorry for what I said."

"It's in the past," Meliodas waved it off nonchalantly, "Besides, we're not strangers. Call me, Meliodas," he said, walking with Elizabeth towards the bar. Stopping, he glanced back at her.

"Well what are ya waiting for?" he asked.

"Yes... Meliodas," Victoria smiled, running to catch up with the two. Exchanging smiles with Elizabeth, she started a conversation between the trio, laughing happily as they walked.

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The Eighth Deadly Sin Arc- end

A new beginning is on the horizon! And this one has eight deadly sins!

Meliodas and Victoria have finally made up, but can the King of Liones do the same? Or will the new devil's sin meet with her abrupt end?

~Nia