(A/N): currently unedited. Blame animation homework. Also, my fantasy novel is out already! Check it out if you like the genre!

"Here Captain, I broiled this just for you! Open up!"

"That's way too big."

"Say aah!"

I laughed, as Diane continued to unsuccesfully try to make Meliodas eat the fish. Granted, the fish was five times his size. "Diane, that's impossible!"

We had left the village behind quickly, and soon realized that we hadn't had lunch yet. Then we had stopped near a small lake and forest, and sat down around a fire with food and drink. Diane sat on the ground while the rest of us sat on logs and rocks around the small fire. Sitting between her and Meliodas I was eating through my own huge fish, just like Diane's, savagely ripping through the meat completely uncaring about how I looked.

I was feeling particularly ravenous today. After so long without using my magic, not to mention proper feeding, I was feeling very very hungry. And well, what do they say? If you cannot satisfy your needs, at least satisfy your wants??

"Uh Diane, are your injuries really healed now?" Sweet King asked worriedly, floating close to Diane.

I snorted into my drink as Diane, caught with her hands dirty as they say, covered her face with the huge fish, looking away. "S-sure, I feel fine!"

"Dumbass, she pretended to be hurt so the Captain would fawn over her." Ban slurred mockingly with a large grin, already flushed up to his ears with the alcohol he had been drinking.

"Diane's not that kind of girl!" King protested angrily in her defense as Diane flinched and looked away nervously.

"Calm down you two." Meliodas cut in calmly, sipping from his stein.

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked yet. What is your relationship with this girl Captain?" King asked with a slight tilt of his head, looking at Elizabeth and Meliodas as he floated closer to us.

Meliodas snickered a bit, twirling Elizabeth's hair in his fingers, "The lovers kind?"

Excuse me?! I am embarrassed to say my drink almost came out through my nose, as I coughed at that. It only made the hunger in my throat burn worse really.

"No it's not!" Elizabeth squeaked in protest, pulling her hair away from him as he made a grab for her.

I bonked him on the head before he could try though, anger bubbling in my chest. "Stop it!"

King could only stare, completely baffled and confused. He had never seen the Captain act like that, well, maybe once in a while with me, but still, never with anyone else. "Uhhh"

Meliodas rubbed his head with a pout, "She's a princess of the realm. The third right?"

"Yes." Elizabeth replied meekly, still a bit shaken and gaze fleeting between my fist and Meliodas' quickly swelling bruise.

"A-a princess?!" King burst in surprise and some panic, eyes widened. "You should have told me! If i'd known i'd have made myself more presentable!"

I stared as King suddenly tensed and seemed to clench his muscles, while Elizabeth shook her head with a smile and tried to reassure him, "That's alright, you don't have to-"

King's form suddenly grew and in a puff of mist he changed into the form that all of us, well, the Sins, were familiar with. Except he was dressed in an honestly ridiculous expensive looking orange jerkin and a white collar thingy, which I must confess I had never seen anyone wear in all my time as a Holy Knight, even in court.

Beer spewed out of Ban's mouth like a fountain, and I coughed violently as the water had gone down the wrong tubes. Good Goddess, what is that suit?!?!

"Hey your clothes changed!" Meliodas exclaimed with an unaffected look, despite the change.

"Look closer!" Ban yelled outraged.

"You know, it requires a great deal of mental effort to change into his form." King boasted. Even his voice was completely different; the sweet high pitch was gone, replaced for a deeper rumble.

"Sheesh, what a pig." Hawk mumbled as he chewed his food.

"Says you!" I exclaimed at the pig in amusement. Oh the irony.

"I am King, the Grizzly Sin of the Eight Deadly Sins!" King exclaimed politely as he bowed to Elizabeth. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

"O-of course, the pleasure is mine!" Elizabeth exclaimed nervously, inching back as King's form got uncomfortably close to her face.

"I didn't know you were royal! Please forgive my poor manners in the Necropolis!" King continued, wide eyed and attempting to excuse himself.

"T-think nothing of it!" Elizabeth reassured him, stepping back with a smile. "Please don't be so stressed out, feel free to realx and be comfortable!"

"O-oh, if you insist Your Majesty." King said hesitantly, already sweating. Whether it was from the heat, the suit, or the effort of holding the illusion was unclear. He deflated like a balloon, and King's true form was back, falling back on Chastiefol's pillow form.

He panted, "I am out of practice, that was exhausting!"

"Whoah, his clothes changed back!" Meliodas exclaimed, still with a poker face.

"Look closer dammit!" Ban yelled again, baffled. I had to agree with him.

I snorted, taking another huge bite out of the fish and speaking with a mouth full, "I weally dunt get the pwoint of that iwusion."

"I really must say, you are one powerful individual, truly Mister King!" Elizabeth exclaimed with an awed smile as King swayed in the air, hugging his pillow. "On your own, you took down an opponent that Sir Meliodas and the others had trouble with together!"

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty powerful. But any of you could have beaten that Holy Knight if you had just unleashed your real power." King dismissed the praise, narrowing his gaze on the rest of the Sins. "Fess up you three. Where are your sacred treasures?"

"I lost mine." Diane confessed with a cute giggle.
How?!
"Sold mine." Meliodas snickered, making the sign for money with his fingers as he grinned unabashed.
"Mine got stolen." Ban admitted in his drunken state with a large smile.
I sighed, as King's jaw dropped in outrage. "To be fair, I tried to stop him from selling it."

King stared in complete bafflement, face reverting to his other form. "Shame on you!"

I snorted, agreeing with him. I turned to Diane with a truly apalled look, "The real question should be how did you lose it?! It's literally huge!"

"W-well..!"

"Why is (Y/N) the only one responsible here?! Shame on all of you!"

~~~><><><~~~

"The New Generation? What's that?"

"Apparently there have been some failed apprentices who have gained powers like those of a Holy Knight overnight."

I hummed, unsettled by King's story of what was happening. Former failures suddenly gain tremendous power? Sounds like some dark shit's going on.

We had ended up spending the rest of the day there, setting camp for the night. The sky had already turned to orange and red hues, and the fire shined brighter now as the night got closer. Ban was still drinking like nobody's business, but the rest of us had all sat down around King to listen to his story (since Diane had avoided telling hers at all costs).

"Guila, for instance. She was just a Holy Knight apprentice until just the other day. Can you believe that?" King revealed with a serious look, obviously bothered by it too.

"Her?" Meliodas asked incredulously.
I rubbed my chin, "While hard to believe, it does explain a lot. She was powerful, but overall not as experienced in combat as us."

"In spite of this mess we're in, you took the sacred treasure the King Liones bestowed on the Eight Deadly Sins when it was founded and sold it?!" King exclaimed in outrage once again, still not over the fact that Lostvayne was gone.

Meliodas chuckled, a bit embarrassed at least as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I needed seed money for the tavern."

"Yours was stolen?!" King continued, staring at Ban accusingly.

"When I was thrown into prison." Ban replied as he slumped over Hawk, completely out of it.

When King turned to Diane to scold her, she was immediately doing her best puppy eyes and covering her face with her hair, amethyst eyes about to drip tears. "Am I a bad girl?"

King softened predictably, flinching. "W-well if you misplaced it, no one's to blame!"

Silly lover boy. I snorted in amusement. I hadn't moved from my spot beside Meliodas, but I had taken to lying on the ground instead, finding more comfort in the grass than the rock that kept stabbing my butt. When we had gotten out of the Necropolis I had been struck by hunger once again, pretty bad. I had eaten at least five Diane-sized fish and six human sized, and even though that had settled my stomach for now, the telling burn of my throat didn't relent. My gums ached with the need to bite something so I had just ended up nibbling on a bone I took from the tavern kitchen, gnawing on it to take the edge off.

I knew Meliodas kept glancing at me discreetly, glaring slightly at the bone. He had said days ago that we were going to talk about it, but he hadn't had a chance to. I was counting on us being too busy to talk about it for the next couple of weeks still. With some luck, I'd be able to hold on for at least three more months. I mean, I was almost about to hit the three month mark of no blood anyways, and I had managed not to go hunting for animals yet. It wasn't that bad. Right? I'm doing this for the sake of others. Nobody likes drinking blood.

"But seriously! How come only (Y/N) kept hers safe?! " King exclaimed, raising his hands in the air in frustration at his teammates. I could hardly blame him for being as shocked as he was; Ban losing his was expected, but Diane's being lost was truly confounding.

"Don't be in such a huff King. These guys do pretty well barehanded." Hawk tried to defend them.

King sighed, looking at the pig sternly. "Good Sir Pig,"
"S-Sir Pig??"

"Let's say that this lake reprents the mana of one of those Sins." King started, pointing at the lake right beside us. "How much of the Lake's water could you scoop out using your hands?"

Hawk raised a hoof. King nodded, "Right. No matter how much mana there is, your hands limit you." He explained, stretching out his hand towards the water, and using his own power to make it rise into a bubble. "But if they used a weapon, especially their sacred treasures, they could draw forth vastly greater amounts of mana."

I hummed along, smiling. "Great analogy King. You'd be a good teacher."

"Sacred treasures sure are awesome, right?" Meliodas said with a grin.

"Oh it all makes sense!" Hawk exclaimed with a smile, then suddenly turned to Meliodas grabbing him by the shirt. "Why the hell did you give yours up?!"

Meliodas merely laughed as he was shaken like a milkshake by the tiny pig. I laughed at him, and rested my weight on my elbows, staring up at King as he continued, letting the huge bubble of water he had lifted up drop back into the lake.

King crossed his arms with a sigh. "In any case, we will need to locate your sacred treasures." He declared, then shrugged. "Assuming you're serious about saving the realm."

Elizabeth stood up suddenly and got closer to King, "Excuse me.." She said softly, "Sir King, you were working with someone inside the castle, weren't you?"

"Yes, more or less."

"Do you know what became of my father and sisters? The king and the other princesses?" Elizabeth asked, a hint of despair in her voice as she frowned.

"No, I'm sorry." King grimaced.

"Oh I see.." Elizabeth replied quietly, deflating a bit.

I pursed my lips, fiddling with the grass. Must be hard to not know whether your family is okay.

~~~~~~<><><><>~~~~~~

After the sky had darkened completely, we had all decided it was time to turn in. Hawk and I had managed to get King settled with Ban, and I got a good laugh out of it as the drunkard grabbed him as a plushie, while Diane was stuck outside as usual, unfortunately. Elizabeth had gone to Meliodas' room where she was sleeping since Ban took her room, and it appeared like Meliodas and I really would be sharing my room until further notice. It's not like I was actually mad about it, I just wasn't sure I could deal with another night of his cuteness. Truly, for someone who was a demon, it was unfair how adorable he was when asleep.

I changed my clothes, pulling on a loose sleeping gown. As I emptied the pockets of my shorts, I was struck with the realization that I had forgotten about the crystal. I sat in my bed and rustled through the pockets, only to pull out a handful of green dust, fine but sharp.

I slumped on the bed, staring hopelessly at the remains of the Necropolis crystal. It must have broken when we left the area... I suppose it would have been too much to hope for. What did I expect, to get some answers out of him? For me it was the first time seeing him, but he clearly knew me. Yet he was unwilling to tell me about it. I don't understand anything.
Maybe he's the reason I.... No, I wouldn't do that. Even if somebody precious to me died, I wouldn't really... I wouldn't kill innocents just like that, right?

That was how Meliodas found me a couple of minutes later, as he entered my room and closed the door behind him; staring blankly at a pile of turquoise crystal dust. He blinked and sat beside me, nudging my shoulder. "Hey."

I blinked and sighed. "Hey."

Meliodas glanced at my hands with an impassive look, attempting to breach the subject. He could obviously see something was wrong. "Are you alright?"

I pursed my lips, turning my hand over and letting the crystal dust fall on the wooden floor, seeping into the cracks of the boards. Lance... Lance.... I don't know his face. I don't know his name. Nothing, it's all blank.
But he couldn't have lied. He looked at me... like...
Like I was everything.
He knew me.

A hand on my shoulder startled me and I snapped my gaze back to Meliodas, who stared at me worriedly. He frowned, and quickly guessed. "Did something happen while we were separated in the Necropolis?"

I gulped a bit, frowning as I let my hands grip my knees, and hunched over the edge of the bed. "I... I met someone. In the Necropolis."

Meliodas immediately tensed beside me like a taut bow, and glanced at me, emerald eyes slightly wary. "What do you mean?"

"He...." I started, finding it hard to tell him that I had seen a ghost. A real ghost of my past. "He said his name was Lance, that he knew me, a long long time ago."

The way that Meliodas stiffened didn't escape my notice. "... And do you? Know him that is."

I shook my head slowly, guilt consuming me as I remembered the grief in Lance's red eyes. I clenched my fists, "He... he looked at me like.... Like he loved me Meliodas. Why... why can't I remember anything about him? I have no idea but who he is..." I muttered brokenly. "Yet he looked at me like that..."

Meliodas sighed a bit, tension seeping out of him. He smiled slightly, patting my back. "Maybe you knew him from before Dahlia. After all, that's the hole in your memory, right?"

"Right... maybe."
I wasn't convinced. Lance's looks... his manner of speaking... the way he looked at me... it seemed like he hadn't seen me in hundreds of years, not decades. That and.... The way Meliodas had stiffened at the mention of him, so unnoticeably no one ese would have known if it wasn't me.
Meliodas is hiding something from me.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, suspicious and unsettled now. I felt the pull in my stomach and the burn in my throat flare again painfully, and looked away. Let's not talk about it yet. "Maybe. You... you think I-"

Hawk burst in, cutting off any chance of further digging into the subject. He jumped on the bed, tackling Meliodas with rope in his snout. "Don't think you'll escape from this!"

Ah. Right. The rope. I sighed, watching as Hawk quickly winded the rope tightly around Meliodas once again, Captain not doing anything to stop him.

Wait what am I saying?! I'm not disappointed by this turn of events!
I'm not!

~~~><><><~~~

It wasn't the songs of birds that woke me up this time. It was the growing ache in my stomach and a sore throat so painful I couldn't swallow my own saliva.
I woke up slowly at first, as the pain grew, and then all at once as there was a sharp pull in my rumbling stomach and I groaned quietly, shrinking into myself as if that'd help. It was somehow worse than period cramps.

I blinked blearily, glancing around. My room was as dark as ever, with windows covered and lights off. Meliodas slept beside me, completely out of it as he laid turned towards me. He hadn't broken out of his bonds, even though I knew perfectly he could, I mean, heck, he easily broke out of Little Gil's thunder bonds. He could snap the rope if he wanted to, but he didn't. It was sweet, in a way.

This time one of his legs had gotten free, and he had unconsciously thrown it over me. I flushed at the skin contact and shuddered, partly from the pain, partly from nerves.

I stared at him for a while, taking my chance since he was asleep. These were moments where I could shamelessly love him in my own way, even if he didn't know. I could stare at him all I wanted, even be tempted into caressing his hair or touching his face tenderly. I didn't do those things though, I just stared longingly as he breathed. Although I don't know for sure when the stare had turned from tender into predatory.

At some point, I started staring at his neck instead of his face. It wasn't that big of a leap to be fair. You know... I try not to notice often. But he smells really...
Nice.

My nose brushed his neck and my gums ached fiercely, fangs dangerously close to skin before I even realized I had opened my mouth. A predator stuck in a hunting trance, I had inched closer to him slowly, painfully so in an effort not to alert my prey. (E/C) eyes turned red, standing out in the dark of my room. The pain of my throat was so bad, it burned horribly just to swallow, I just wanted to make it go away.

Meliodas stirred for a second and I froze, a deer caught in headlights, but then he settled again, breathing evenly and a leg still thrown over mine. He was, in that moment, a small prey.

It was Hawk who saved us both.

"Hey you up yet?!"

I was shocked out of the trance immediately, scrambling back so far I fell off the bed with a thump. I groaned, laying there on the hard wood as the red in my sight faded and my (E/C) eyes returned. The ache didn't go away though, it seemed to just get worse in vengeance.
"I'm awake.." I replied with a groan, as Meliodas stirred in the bed, sitting up.

"Just come have breakfast or I'll eat everything you lazy butts!" Hawk replied as he left, little hoofs going down the stairs.

"(Y/N)? Why are you on the floor?"

I jumped in my skin at his voice, almost hitting the bed with my head as I scrambled to get up, straightening my sleeping gown as Meliodas stared in confusion, still on my crimson bed sheets. "I just fell hahah, nothing happened!"

Before anything else could escape my traitorous mouth I hid behind the screen and pretended to get dressed.

I didn't notice Meliodas' emerald knowing eyes staring at me, as he rubbed his neck.