(A/N): currently unedited.

"You're sure he's in this tower?"

"Yes, Captain. I doubt he'd lie to our faces."

I laughed, remembering the scaredy cat expression of the man when I flashed my fangs at him. "Yeah, Diane's right. He's a coward, not an idiot."
Meliodas hummed and nodded, "I see."

We had managed to climb up Baste Prison's huge stairs and stood on the stone steps in front of a ridiculously huge doorway. According to what the man had told us, Ban was supposed to be in this section. Diane sat on the step below us, holding her backpack on her hands carefully; Elizabeth slept inside peacefully with a soft smile.

Meliodas peeked into the bag and smiled at the unconscious girl. "Thanks, Elizabeth."

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes, just because I refused to be so petty and sighed, glancing at the doorway and the dark hallway that extended in front of us, dimly lit. "Let's just go find that fool already."

"Right." Meliodas agreed.

Diane put her backpack down on the step carefully, leaving Elizabeth sleeping in the backpack. The three of us entered together, the hallway stretching out and continuing beyond our sight. I scrunched up my nose a bit, the smell of iron and the blood of the prisoners making me uncomfortable.
The doorway was tall enough for Diane, tall enough that she only had to bend a little bit.

The hallway was narrow and dimly lit with small lamps to each side of a door. I squinted at it and twisted my mouth. "Well this is weird."
Diane hummed and agreed, "That's strange. The place is completely deserted."

Meliodas shrugged, as he stared at the walls. "I think my attack on that Holy Knight really did a number on their confidence."

Hawk trailed in front of us, hoofs clicking on the stone. "Bunch of wimps." He scoffed.

We delved deeper into the dark hallways in the prison, looking for Ban and the doctor's daughter. Soon we managed to find her in one of the halls, in a cell to the very end.

"This is her, no doubt. She's the doctor's daughter." Hawk whispered.

Meliodas and I stared at the girl, tilting our heads. The short haired blonde slept quietly, curled into herself. She didn't seem to mind sleeping on her side, despite the glasses.
Meliodas stared and blinked, "Let's get her out then." He declared, turning back to Diane-who had not been able to fit in this hallway-and yelling, "Got room for one more?"

"Yep, no problem." Diane answered cheerfully, reaching out with her arm and pulling the cell's door off the wall and its hinges as easily as if it was dough, the metal bending to her grip. The daughter, unfortunately woke right in that moment and only saw one enormous arm heading her way and screamed, fainting.

I snorted, grabbing the girl before Meliodas went to carry her bridal style, and putting her on my back like a potato sack. Meliodas smirked slightly at me, a quiet snicker making its way out before I glared at him.
We walked back out the small hallway and Diane laid her down with Elizabeth, closing her backpack.

"Is she okay?" Hawk asked, frowning worriedly.
Diane, nodded. "Yeah, I think she's just passed out."

"Definitely. Too much shock for her I suppose." I snorted, shaking my head in amusement. I looked back at the dark hallway stretching out behind us and sighed, holding my hips. "Well we still gotta find Ban though. That fool still owes me money!"

Diane chuckled awkwardly at me. Before I could go ahead and complain some more about my monetary loss, slow footsteps caught my attention. I snapped my gaze to the dark hallway, narrowing my eyes. You know. Those steps sound slightly familiar...
Meliodas noticed the sudden tension in my figure and furrowed his brows. "What is it?"

"Someone's coming." I answered, squinting at the darkness. The figure became clearer to me before it did to the others, and I gaped slightly.
Is that Ban?!

Meliodas stared as the figure suddenly became clear to him. It was a shirtless silver haired man in his late twenties, shirtless and wearing surprisingly stylish dark rouge pants with some holes in them. I couldn't decide whether he looked incredibly good or terrible, barefoot and all.
I gaped at him and pointed incredulously, yelling "Ban!"

Ban blinked at us, recognizing us in a moment and halting his steps. He squinted at me, wide eyed, "(Y/N)? Captain?"

Melioodas stared at him intensely and Ban did the same, suddenly the air becoming tense as no one said anything. I was still a bit shocked and gaped at him, pointing like a fool. Is that fricking Ban?! And then remembered that they had the custom of doing that handshake and decided to step back a bit.
Hawk shrunk back a bit, sweating. "Why is the air suddenly so tense here?!" He exclaimed, stepping back. "I have a bad feeling about this.."

"And you're right to. You should hide behind me." Diane said with a sigh, sitting down. Hawk squeaked and went running to her side.

Suddenly huge grins stretched on Ban and Meliodas' faces and they exclaimed.
"Ban!"
"Captain!"

They ran to each other and suddenly started to clap their hands together like children, at ridiculous speeds and exclaiming like monkeys. I sighed but smiled. Idiots don't change I suppose.

"What the hell? I know they're friends but this is ridiculous." Hawk exclaimed, deadpanning.

I sighed, dodging Meliodas' figure as he flew into the wall, stone shattering like glass. Walls broke one after another, and Meliodas stood up quickly, dusty and dirty. Ban jumped excitedly with a childish grin, "Now me! Me next!"

Meliodas suddenly jumped back to the same spot and sent Ban flying into the other wall, walls shattering and the building seeming to rumble all around us.
"...What the heck is this?" Hawk said in annoyance.
Diane sighed, resting her cheek on her palm with pursed lips. "Just ignore them."

"Well, nothing changes I suppose." I sighed, crossing my arms as the boys suddenly started cackling like crazy birds.

Ban stood up, grinning, "What the heck man, I thought you'd gone soft, but you're as spry as ever!" Ban exclaimed.
"And alive!" Meliodas replied, dusting off his clothes with a grin.

I sat beside Diane, with a pout, crossing my arms. I didn't want to admit it but I kind of wanted to be included in the stupid antics.

"Ready!"
"Go!"

They arm wrestled like children on the ground, all wide smiles even as the floor shattered under us and the walls broke down.
Hawk squeaked and jumped into Diane's arms, looking around frantically. "What's going on?!"
"Those two have always been like this." Diane said, looking at our friends with fondness.
"Been like what?!" Hawk replied.
I snorted and pointed at the boys currently destroying the prison. "Like children."
Diane nodded in agreement, smiling and rolling her eyes fondly, "Honestly, men are so immature."

"Out of 720 matches against you, I've won 361 as I recall!" Ban grunted out, as he put all his strength in trying to bring Meliodas' arm down to the ground.
"You must be out of it! I've won 361!" Meliodas protested.
Ban smirked tightly and yelled, "Oh yeah, dear (Y/N), our arbitrator! What's the count?!"

I jumped a bit at being included, as the floor suddenly caved beneath and we started to fall. Despite the sudden fall, I couldn't bring myself to scold the two at the moment. I rolled my eyes and grinned. "It's a tie actually!"

"What?!"
"No it's not!"

Both of them protested in unison and I tried to glare at them unsuccessfully. If you are going to argue with me, then don't ask!
Wind blew past us, striking our faces harshly as we fell down to the ground quickly, and the Baste Prison fell in pieces with us, crumbling. I laughed a bit, deciding to enjoy the fall and stretching my limbs out, smiling widely as the wind untied my ponytail.
Hawk squealed in fear loudly as we fell, clinging to Diane's leg. Diane just stared dreamily at Meliodas, gushing, "The Captains' so cute when he gets all worked up!"
"This is hardly the time!"

I laughed at them, chest feeling warm and cozy. It had been a while since the last time I had been able to laugh like this with friends. I had missed them, the Sins; us together joking, on missions, fighting back to back.
It's nice to have some of it back.
'

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

"How's Elizabeth?"

"She seems to be resting comfortably."

"That's good."

"Why is she sleeping in your room, Meliodas? Elizabeth's is in the third floor."

Meliodas and Hawk sat on Diane's shoulder, the three of them looking at Elizabeth from the window.
Overhearing the conversation, I peeked out the door and leaned against the walls of our tavern.
I crossed my arms and huffed. "Because Ban took hers."
I wasn't happy about the new change, certainly. Meliodas and Elizabeth sleeping, in the same bed?! No way!

Meliodas and Hawk jumped down from Diane's shoulder, and stood beside me.

Hawk looked from me to Meliodas and back again, sensing the tension I exuded. "What's Elizabeth supposed to do then?"

Meliodas seemed to shrug and smile mischievously, closing his eyes. "She could sleep with me."

Hawk and I jumped at the sentence, yelling at him in unison. "No way in hell pervert!"

I scoffed, looking away. He was kind of right though. Meliodas' room, my own, and Elizabeth's were the only ones. Well, I suppose Elizabeth's was now Ban's. If anything it made sense for Elizabeth to room with me rather than him. A low growl built in my chest and I pouted. No way is Elizabeth sleeping with the Captain. No way. Who knows what they'll do?! I coughed into my hand to disguise the angry blush on my cheeks.
"She'll room with me, obviously Hawk."

Hawk immediately calmed and exclaimed, "Ooooh! Yeah, that makes sense!"

But then Meliodas was raising his brows at me and shaking his head. "No, you can't room together."

Um excuse me. Why are you deciding that?????! I scoffed and furrowed my brows at him. "And why is that, exactly? We're both girls, we're.. friends, and the bed is big enough for the two of us. What's your excuse?"

Meliodas pursed his lips. He shook his head again, leaning closer and crossing his arms too. "Well your room is always dark! And the curtains are always closed! And there's definitely no space in your bed!" He exclaimed, shaking his head in protest. He leaned closer to say something quietly. "And there's also the thing. You can't be sure you won't attack her, and she doesn't even know yet. Plus, your room is your safe space, not even I go in there. I try not to."

Even Diane, who didn't know much about what I was, knew enough to know that Meliodas had just fucked up. She winced and covered her mouth. Hawk gasped and stepped back a bit too.

I had tuned out the last bit of the sentence, because as soon as Meliodas had said what he said, I was jumping in my skin and furious. It was one thing to know about my... eating disorders. It was completely another to imply that my self control was so bad that I'd hurt a friend, unknowingly and without her consent. It was worse that it was him who was saying it. As if I were already an animal. Uh excuse me?! What do you mean attack her! You were the one who wanted to talk to me about it! This is definitely not how it's supposed to start!
I snapped, growling at him, stomping closer until I was two inches away.

"What?! How dare you say that! How dare you even imply that- that I'd-!" I yelled at him, sore throat crying out in pain at the effort. Furious I couldn't even put together a proper retort.
Meliodas realized quickly too that he had fucked up. But it was a little bit too late for that. Emerald eyes widened and he frowned, guilty and regretting what he said. He raised his hands in defense, exclaiming "W-wait! I didn't mean it like that! I just-!"

I growled in frustration, jaw snapping and cutting him off with a shove. Unable to think really, I just shoved him away, and sent him flying back a few feet. "Whatever! You can sleep with her for all I care! Go find someone else to fix your stupid shirts!" I yelled loudly, turning back and stomping back inside, slamming the door close.

I climbed up the stairs quickly and slammed the door of my room close, as I slid down to the floor. If my heart wasn't dead, I'm sure it'd have been hammering in my chest. But it had never beat.
I covered my face, as angry tears suddenly burst from my (E/C) eyes. How could he say that?! What a stupid jerk! I've gone years without feeding! A couple of months is nothing in comparison to that pain! How could he even imply my self control is so little?! I didn't even bite him when he was wounded.

I snarled in frustration, grabbing a chair and sending it flying against the wall. What a damn joke. The day had been going so well, we even managed to find Ban, and Meliodas had to go and suddenly say a stupidity and ruin it for me. I grabbed the chair's remains and furiously stabbed and scratched the floor with them, sending wood splinters everywhere.
In my defense, it is a very touchy subject for me. Makes me.. unstable.

A knock on the door stopped me and before I could yell at whoever it was, Ban was walking in nonchalantly and closing the door behind him. He glanced at the chair's remains, the scratched wall and the splinters and sighed.

"What did he say now?"

My lip wobbled and then Ban sitting beside me, ruffling my hair roughly and nodding along as I just explained what he said with teary cheeks.
If it's not obvious by now, Ban and I are really good friends. He's like a brother to me, almost. Besides Meliodas, he is the only one who knows the extent of my feeding issues.
It was a comfort, to have him back.

Ban rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue. "Oh come on (Y/N). Everyone knows he's an idiot when it comes to you. I'm sure he'll apologize profusely later."
I pouted, as Ban laid sprawled on my bed and I sat on the floor against it. "Doesn't mean it's okay."
"Well duh."

I sighed, crossing my arms. Ban's right. It's not like it's the first time Meliodas says something I don't... agree with... regarding my circumstances. He always apologizes though. Anger fading slightly, I remembered the issue of my money and narrowed my eyes at Ban.

"Hey! You still owe me money!"

.....

"I don't know what you're talking about. BYE."

"COME BACK HERE YOU THIEF!"

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

"Okay Elizabeth. Let me officially introduce you; this is Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed."

We stood on the roof of the doctor's house, ready for the meal he had promised us in thanks. Elizabeth was laying in a bed we had set up for her and Diane stood next to the house, of course unable to actually stand on the roof with us, she peeked over the wall. Meliodas introduced Ban to Elizabeth, as the silver haired man sat on a barrel with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you princess." Ban said, a smirk on his face.

Meliodas turned to look at him with raised brows, observing his clothing. "Uh, what's with those clothes?"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance, clicking my tongue at him from my spot in the corner. Ugh. Of course. Mels doesn't want Elizabeth to see any other man. Really dude. Jealousy rose like bile in my stomach and I scoffed, "Well he can't go around naked obviously."

Ban nodded, mischievous smirk on his face. "Exactly! It wouldn't be very polite."

Meliodas glanced between the two of us with an unreadable look, raising his brows. "You had money for clothes?"

I growled at the reminder and Ban shrunk slightly, laughing awkwardly. You can guess he still owes me money. Being in prison is not really conductive to paying off your debts.

"I stumbled across them on my way here. It was a total fluke!" Ban exclaimed, shrugging with an innocent smile. I snorted and chuckled as Ban and I shared a look.
Yeah. Definitely not a lucky fluke. We just went for a walk and found a guy wearing them.

Diane sighed, leaning on the rooftop and holding her cheek as she looked bored. Ban looked up at her and grinned, "Speaking of introductions, it's been a long time, Diane."

Diane seemed to huff, turning away. "I'd have been perfectly happy if I'd gone 100 years without seeing you."

Ban stood up and walked towards Elizabeth's bed, who looked at him and frowned.
"I'm Elizabeth. Please pardon me for not getting up."

Ban smiled at her, turning a little gentle. "Not at all Your Highness. Our order doesn't stand on ceremony." He reassured her, bowing formally. "Let's all be friends, the five of us."

I walked to Elizabeth's bed and nodded, smiling at her. "Yeah, just relax Elizabeth. No need to be so formal all the time." I reassured her, patting her shoulder. "You're among friends here, it's safe." I affirmed, with some bite at the end directed towards the stupid blonde.

"Don't you mean six?" Hawk asked with a huff.

Ban rose his brows in confusion, not knowing whose voice it was. "Are you out of it Captain?" He laughed, turning to Meliodas. "There are only five of us."

"Six! Did the prison mess up your brain or something?" Hawk exclaimed, standing right in front of Ban.

I snorted as Ban tensed and blinked. "Huh? Who said that?"
"I did." Hawk replied.

Ban finally looked down. He stared for a second and then suddenly panicked, jumping back.
"A TALKING PIG?!"

I cackled at him, as he stumbled back as the piggy huffed at him, stomping his hoof. "WHAT, ISN'T THAT NORMAL!" Hawk exclaimed, huffing angrily.

"OF COURSE NOT! A PIG THAT CAN TALK LIKE A PERSON?! THAT'S CRAZY!" Ban exclaimed, blinking at the pig. Then there was a sudden realization look in his eyes and he relaxed a bit, pointing at the pig. "I've got it you're King, aren't you? That must be it. You were cursed and you finally turned into an actual pig!"

A high pitched laugh broke out of me at that and I couldn't keep it together, falling to my knees with laughter, cackling like a mad witch and pointing at the fool. "Of-of course not! How did you e-even come up with that?!" I exclaimed, gasping for breath between laughs.

Diane rolled her eyes at Ban and giggled with me. "Guess again."

Meliodas smiled a bit, shaking his head. "King is dead. According to rumor anyway."

"Aish." Ban muttered, clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes at me. "Oh c'mon, you can't tell me you didn't think that too!"
"Of course I didn't! King wouldn't be a pig in any case! Maybe a hamster!" I retorted, still gasping for breath.

Ban cackled with me, a bit as Hawk cut in.

"I'm warning you, I'm no ordinary pig. I'm Sir Hawk, captain of the Order of the Scraps Disposal!" Hawk exclaimed, beaming as he thought of food.

"Oh wow! I've never heard of that before!" Ban exclaimed incredulous.

At this point I can't tell whether he's serious or just playing along.

"Have you made your introductions? Eat up before dinner gets cold!" The doctor called out to us from the table, smiling and gesturing towards the large feast.

I lit up at the mention of food, running to the table, followed by the two boys.
"Let's eat!"
"Don't start without us Captain!"
"Any scraps are the purview of the captain of the Order of the Scraps Disposal, got it ?!"

A joyful laugh came out of me, as we sat down to eat. My stomach hadn't stopped grumbling in hunger for a long time and I immeaditely made a jump for the meat on the rare side, biting down and swallowing it quickly. Ban laughed at my lack of decorum, patting my back as if to save me from choking and grabbing all the steins of mead he could hold.

The atmosphere was bubbly and joyful as we all ate dinner together, laughing and joking. Soon Ban was tipsy and I was on my fifth meat skewer, reaching out for more and pouting when there was none. Meliodas glanced at me and smiled softly, handing me his own steak. I looked at him for a moment, pursed lips. I'm still kind of mad. But I'm going to take it because I'm hungry.
I took it as an attempt at reconciling and with quick hands grabbed it, eating it in three bites.
Meliodas chuckled and looked at me softly, emerald eyes glinting.

We laughed until we couldn't breathe, as Ban got drunker and drunker and attempted to ride Hawk like a horse.
A couple of hours later Ban was hanging on to Hawk, being dragged by him. I was laying on the floor with a satisfied smile, patting my stomach. I was still hungry as hell and extremely thirsty, but I could do nothing about it, so I just enjoyed the feeling of my stomach feeling satisfied momentarily.

"C'mon don't hold out on me Captain Hawk... Teach me Master!" Ban slurred drunkily with a dopey smile as he clung to the pig.

Hawk walked shakily under Ban's weight, squeaking, "Do something about this guy!"

I laughed as Diane frowned a bit at them. "Ban, don't overdo it." She scolded him, holding her own empty stein.

Elizabeth smiled and turned in her bed, staring at the scene softly. "I wish this could go on forever. But I guess that's not in the cards right now."

I smiled at her sentence, closing my eyes and ignoring the calls for help from Hawk. Poor piggy. It was nice. This friendly atmosphere going on, the faint smell of the grilled meat and sweet mead in the air fading; the starry sky above us; Ban and Meliodas teasing poor Hawk.
It was all nice. It's been a while since I hanged out with a group like this. So many years... I missed this. The loud dinners and the jokes and the starry sky above us.
Even Diane had softened up with the mood and befriended Elizabeth, impressed by her bravery earlier.

I opened my eyes staring at the sky. Yeah. This is nice.

A sudden line of light caught my eye and I sat up slightly, squinting at the sky. Senett had spotted it too and exclaimed, "Father! Look at the sky!"

My eyes widened in awe as suddenly stars were falling in bright straight lines, crossing the sky. There was something about the bright lights that called out to me, but at the same time the sight of the crossing shooting stars unsettled my stomach. There was something about them that made me gulp and stare in anticipation. But of what?

The doctor snapped his head towards the sky and his eyes widened at the shooting stars. "That's... that's just like a passage from one of Britannia's old poems."

Everyone turned to look at the sky, with awe and happy smiles. Meliodas and I seemed to be the only ones not that surprised.

" 'When shooting stars streak across the same sky in the form of a cross,  Britannia will face her darkest hour.' This is a trial, preordained since ancient times. And it will herald the beginning of a holy war between the guiding hand of the light and the bloodline of darkness." The doctor quoted.

The doctor's words did nothing to calm my stomach. In fact, they just unsettled me even more. The awe at the stars turned into fear, and I shut my eyes. Something about those words. It scares me. Makes me... feel like... I don't know.

Like there's something I can't remember.

A Holy War....

Darkness and light...

What does it mean?

Unknown to me, Meliodas was looking at me intently, studying the way I had suddenly tensed and looked fearful. He pursed his lips and closed his eyes, expression turning sorrowful for a second.

'It is not the time yet. We still have time.'