"Hey Ban, did you have an extra one of those outfits?" Meliodas questions the Fox Sin.
"Nah, I picked this one up on the way to the village!" Ban replies, turning around with a smile, two barrels of ale in his hold.
"Stole, you mean?" Gowther corrects.
"This looks so good!" Hawk shouts, his front trotters on the tree stump which holds food.
"Hawk, mind your manners." Diane reminds, sitting behind the pig who whimpers.
"Yeah, mind your manners or I may think you're are just a simple, but very tasty, piggy for me to eat." Y/N says, sat crossed legged on another tree stump besides Hawk, drool falling down her mouth. Hawk looks to the Sin with wide eyes and letting out a noise of disapproval.
"I think its bad manners to sit like that" Elizabeth says, looking to Diane and Y/N with a gentle smile. The two sins look at each other before standing up, giving Elizabeth a returned smile. Meliodas and Y/N then walk over to Cain, smiling at the man.
"Leaving already?" Meliodas questions Cain, "Why don't you stay for a drink?"
"Yeah old man, you still owe me that drinking challenge!" Y/N says, holding up a mug of ale to the man, another one in her other hand.
"Thanks, but I won't trouble you any longer." He replies, "Seeing you two again was enough."
"Alright."
"One last thing before I go, keep in mind that if you're seeing traces of Liz whenever you look at that princess, uh, well never mind." Cain turns around, "Until we meet again, Meliodas and Y/N!"
"Take care of yourself Barzard!" Meliodas shouts, Y/N waves at the man before downing the two mugs of ale, giving Meliodas a sheepish smile.
==
Back with the other sins, the three of them and Elizabeth stand in front of Gowther, Elizabeth introducing herself to the Lust Sin.
"Nice to meet you, Sir Gowther. My name is Elizabeth. I'm the third princess of Liones. Would you please consider joining all of us in our quest to save the kingdom from Holy Knights?" She asks, a confident smile on her face.
"No." Gowther responds with a monotone voice, causing the small group's eyes to widen in shock.
"No?!"
"This isn't the first time we met." Gowther replies, walking towards Elizabeth.
"R-Really?"
"We crossed paths once before in Ordan, and before that you became acquainted with us when you were only a small child." The pink-haired sin explains.
"Well what do you know, she was the little runt always hanging around the king." Ban says, scratching his head at the realisation.
"Oh how weird, I totally don't remember that!" Diane says, giggling.
"Show respect when you speak to her highness." King says, floating close to Gowther's ear and loudly whispering.
"I beg your pardon princess." Gowther corrects.
"O-Oh sure! So uhm, think you could tell me if I met Sir Meliodas and Lady Y/N before by any chance?"
"Of course you have!" Meliodas responds, he and Y/N walking towards the group, the Wolf Sin having her hands behind her head.
"Sir Meliodas, Lady Y/N!"
"What will it be Gowther? Wanna join up with us?!" Y/N asks, looking to him with a wide smile.
"I think I should, it was the king who appointed me to the Eight Deadly Sins, so the least I can do in return is submit to his daughter's wishes."
"Great! And with you, our Eight Deadly Sin count is up to Six! Let's get drunk to celebrate!" Meliodas shouts, raising his hand, Y/N following shortly with an appeared mug of ale in her hands.
"Well we would have done that anyway, but I'm in!" King says and Y/N wraps her arm around the fairy's shoulders, holding the mug close to his lips.
"Well let's get this started shall we!" She says, laughing and swaying side to side with him all while King has a small blush as he drinks the ale given to him.
The group turn their attentions towards the bottles of alcohol and the food on the tree stump, empty bottles already surrounding the Fox, Dragon and Wolf sin.
"I hope you brought your A game, Captain. Same with you Lieutenant!" Ban teases, already drunk.
"Less talking more drinking!" Meliodas says, the two quickly downing their ales.
"Tch you boys won't be beating me." Y/N says, throwing the empty bottle over her shoulder before quickly opening another one and drinking it. Gowther watches the three drink with a straight face.
"Eat! I'm sure we have something here you'd like!" Elizabeth says, walking up to Gowther and placing a plate of food in front of them.
"I have no preferences when it comes to food." He replies. A loud munching noise is heard from behind him. "Something feels odd." He turns his head around to face the loud munching noise.
"Hey Gowther, I'm Sir Hawk, Captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal!" Hawk introduces, his mouth full of food. "If you've got any questions, just ask. I'm always happy to help!"
"How in the world does a pig know how to speak?" Gowther questions, a hint of shock in his words.
"No idea."
"So why are you eating all those scraps?"
"'Cause they're yummy!"
"That's all." Gowther finishes, turning back to face the others.
"You're done already! Now, you've got to have more questions than that!" Gowther continues to look over at the others, seeing Elizabeth and Diane talking and laughing then moving his eyes to where he sees Y/N drinking and laughing with Meliodas and Ban all while King watches her with a blush and a soft smile.
"I'm so moved. I was starting to think I'd never be reunited with the others again." Gowther thought, or at least he believed he did before Meliodas slams his mug on the table besides him. "That's what you were just thinking about, wasn't it!"
"I was noticing none of us are from the same species."
"That's all?!"
"That's all."
"Now that you mention it, I guess you're right." Meliodas says as Y/N makes her way over to them, setting down opposite him.
"So, Gowther, 10 years ago. When all of us were framed for trying to overthrow the Kingdom of Liones, well, I was wondering if you remem-" Meliodas is cut off by Gowther using his ability on him.
"I know what you want to ask. I see your own memory of the event is clouded, incomplete, but you wish to find out who assaulted both you and Y/N when we fled." Gowther says, to which the Captain looks to his second-in-command, nodding.
"Do you know?" She questions, looking to him with a tilted head.
"Yes. I do, in fact."
"It was the Boar Sin of Gluttony, Merlin."
Merlin looks down at the two unconscious Sins of the floor with half-lidded eyes.
"Merlin?! But why?" Meliodas and Y/N questions.
"I can't speak to her motive. I did hear several rumours, but none of them proved to be reliable. And whenever I got close to the truth, she would disappear again without a trace."
"H-Hey guys, you won't believe this!" Ban says, drunkenly grabbing Gowther and pulling him up, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "But our buddy Gowther here was actually able to pick of King by his BO!"
"Along with bone structure and tone." Gowther adds.
"Really?"
"You recognised him by his smell?"
"I'm curious! Let's all have a smell!" Ban grabs King, who lets out a small yelp as he's pulled up and put in the middle of everyone. Ban takes the first sniff. "Kinda sickly-sweet, isn't it?"
"Like flowers!" Hawk adds. Soon Diane and Elizabeth are also smelling the fairy, to which he now has a large blush on his face.
"It smells so familiar." Diane says.
"It's what the fairy king should smell like." They all get closer to him, still smelling. He looks over to Y/N, seeing her nose twitch as she closes her eyes, a small smile on her face.
"Oh god, Y/N can smell me. She's smelling me right now, oh god!" King thinks, his face turning fully red.
"Guys, knock it off! If you keep crowding me, I might-" King is cut off by himself transforming into his big form.
"Now he smells kind of sour!" Ban says.
"Like sweaty socks!"
"It's not that bad guys! You must be imagining things!" King says, trying to change their minds.
"This one smells familiar too!" Diane says. King switches back to his normal form, tears falling down his cheeks at the embarrassment.
"Gross man." Ban teases, smirking down at him.
"Don't let him get to you, Sir King." Elizabeth says comfortingly.
"What's the big idea ganging up on me?!" King yells, throwing a temper tantrum of some sort towards Gowther.
"I didn't do anything to you."
"Of course you did! You started this mess, so you need to clean it up!"
"Very well!" Gowther says, holding out a finger before zapping it into Diane and Ban's neck. "Diane, you claim to be 29 feet tall, when in fact, you know you're actually closer to 30." Diane shoots her body back in shock and embarrassment, but Gowther continues. "The fudging of your weight is even more severe."
"Gowther!" Y/N shouts, standing up from her space from the tree stump. "You can's just say that to a la-" She's cut off by Diane punching Gowther into the ground.
"What is wrong with you, Gowther! Why do you have to be so mean!? A lady is allowed to keep some secrets, you jerk!"
"What's the point in lying about a food when you're as tall as she is?" Meliodas questions, standing besides Elizabeth, who turns her head to him.
"You're a boy, you wouldn't understand." The dust clears and Gowther lays on the floor, unharmed and no emotion as he looks to Ban.
"As for you Ban, during the battle with the vampires in Edinburgh 12 years ago, you got rather unreasonably drunk."
"Yeah, that's right. I got pretty hammered and decided not to join the mission." Ban says, unbothered as he takes a sip out of his bottle. "I said I was sorry."
"But you didn't apologise for using Physical Hunt to steal King and Diane's power, or for laughing at them as you watched them both struggle." Gowther continues, standing up and cleaning his glasses. Ban spits out his drink as the secret is revealed, the twin sins in question now standing behind him and staring menacingly down at him.
"Oh... So that explains why I felt so weak all of a sudden." Diane says, King besides her with his daggers floating around him.
"That was you!?"
"Come on, it was a long time ago." Ban doesn't turn around straight away. Forget an-." As he turns to face them, Diane grabs him in a tight hold around his top half, squeezing him until he bursts. He then manages to open up Diane's fist, "It wasn't my finest moment, but I don't deserve this!"
"You're right!" Gowther says, before using his powers on King again.
"Knock it off! Why do you always have to make trouble for everybody!" King says, now on the ground and looking to Gowther. "Could you please just give it a rest."
"Yeah, there's no reason to air our dirty laundry. Right?" Y/N says, acting innocent.
"That's right!" King agrees, before realising what he said. "I mean, not that I have any dirty laundry!" Y/N gives him a quick chuckle, holding her hands up in surrender.
"You could have defeated that opponent without me. As a matter of fact, King, you would've won easily if you'd pushed your power to the absolute limit." Gowther says, King's face becoming serious while the other sins look in confusion "Perhaps the alcohol is affecting my judgment but...Elaine?"
"Gowther, no!" King says, trying to stop him.
"This Helbram person, who is he?" Gowther continues, as King just listens to him. "It seems, because of this man, you find yourself unable to ...Perhaps "unable" isn't the word."
"NO, NO ,NO, NO, NO!" King shouts, using his big teddy to cover Gowther's mouth, breathing heavily.
"Calm down." Meliodas says, smiling. "Nothing to get worked up about."
"Oh, yeah?"
"This is why you probably shouldn't delve so deep into people's memories, Gowther." Y/N jokes.
"She's right, gotta read the room a little dude." Hawk adds as King removes the teddy's hands from Gowther's mouth, who looks to them with squinted eyes.
"Read. The...Room?" He repeats in confusion.
"Sir Meliodas, your meat just came out of the oven!" Elizabeth shouts, walking to him. Meliodas turns around, walking towards her.
"Oh, thanks!" Gowther puts his glasses back on and looks to Meliodas and Elizabeth talking.
"Is the princess in love with the Captain?" Gowther asks, causing Ban, King and Elizabeth to all gasp while Y/N just lets out a loud laugh. "Her voice rises in pitch and her heart rate accelerates, which doesn't happen when she speaks to the rest of us. I've heard of this before. It's called love." Ban and King sweat drops as a shadow casts of Diane's eyes as Gowther continues, all while Elizabeth has a red blush on her face. "A condition that affects humans, as well as other species."
"Stop! Quite talking, you idiot!"
"Man we're really in for it now!" The two turn back to face the giant, worried smiles on their faces.
"Just take it easy, Diane!"
"No need to blow away the village!" However their worrying ceases when they turn to see the giantess fast asleep on the floor, smiling happily.
"Well, I think I'll go back inside."
"Elizabeth?" Meliodas stops her before she could, holding the sword she threw to him out for her. "Here. Thanks a lot!"
"What do you mean?" She questions.
"It's not that Liz wanted you to fight. She wanted you to live, right?" Meliodas sits down, the sword still held up and his gaze looking at it. Elizabeth follows him, making confused sounds to which Meliodas hums in response.
"I was just wondering about what kind of person Liz was."
"Let me see. She was the exact opposite of you!" Meliodas says with a fond smile. "Really strong-willed so we'd fight sometimes. But in other ways, you two are a lot alike."
"You think so?" Elizabeth asks, turning her head to face him.
"Yeah. You're strong." Meliodas also turns his head to look at her, his smile never fading. "Both of you."
"Really? I am?"
"And...you've got a couple of other things in common." Meliodas says, going straight back to his pervy self by grabbing Elizabeth's boob, giving her a small squeeze. Y/N, having been watching the scene, spits out her drink.
"MELIODAS! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER RIGHT NOW!" She shouts, throwing the mug at his head.
"Tell me, is that some kind of greeting?" Gowther questions, looking at them.
"For perverts!" Hawk adds.
==
Later that night, Y/N sits atop of the Boar Hat, resting against the roof with her hands behind her head as her pillow, looking up towards the stars with a glare.
"You are not sleeping?" A voice says from besides her, she jumps in with her weapon raised only to see it to be Gowther.
"Holy Hell Gowther, can't just sneak up on me like that, could have cut you in half." She says, placing down her weapon.
"No you couldn't have. You have a good reflex, you would have stopped before the blade touched me." Gowther responded, moving to sit down near her.
"Good point." She says, going back to looking up at the sky.
"So why are you not sleeping?" Gowther repeats, following her gaze up to the sky. The woman shrugs.
"Just can't tonight I guess." She looks to Gowther with a smile. "I'm surprised that you didn't use your power on me, why not?"
"Because you are my leader, I do not wish to invade your memories unless given permission." He respond, his eyes not moving from the sky.
"Well, thank you for that. But it will save you time and questioning, so I'll just tell you. It's about 10 years ago, about Merlin..."
"Your powers?" Gowther questions, Y/N goes to open her mouth in shock before shaking her head, knowing she already knows the answer. "Yes, I seen that you too have not been using your full potential, and that you only have one side of your axe?"
"I woke up with neither side, I only recently found this one in the necropolis, buried in the crystals. Had to damn near kill myself just to get it out. You don't think Merlin has my other one."
"I do not know, but if she had taken your axe and separated it, why would she hide one in the necropolis and keep the other to herself." Gowther asks.
"More on the fact, how would she even know we would be going to the necropolis." Y/N says, looking down at her axe. "How did she know, and why did she do it...When I grabbed this axe, I felt some of my strength come back to me. Maybe the rest of them are locked in the other half."
"I wish I had the answers for you, Lieutenant." Gowther says, looking to her. "I too would like to understand why. Next time we see her, I will be sure to ask her for you." Y/N smiles at him, nodding.
"I'd like that very much, thank you." The two sit in silence, looking back up to the stars. "Oh and Gowther?" He hums in response. "Stop looking into their minds, it's not cool to know everything."
"Yes Lieutenant, I will stop looking into their memories... Unless given the permission of course" Y/N shakes her head with a light chuckle.
"Of course."
【Ａｓｐｅｎ】
Date Created: 15/02/2024
Date Published: 16/02/2024