There was silence following Guila's likely demise, a nice, peaceful silence. However, it was short lived. There was a loud shout coming from the opposite direction of which the Holy Knight was taken down, right behind where King was hovering.
"Heeeeeey!" Hawk shouted, trotting toward us with Elizabeth on his back. Once he reached the group, he looked around seriously, examining the area. "Man, you guys sure made a mess of this place... Are you hurt?"
"Nope, we're all good," Meli smiled, turning to the two.
I jumped at King, tackling him in a hug. We continued to float, but he almost fell to the ground at the unexpected action. King and I had been friends for a long time. He was the one who first recruited me to the team, and, in the beginning, was the kindest toward me. What I had done to gain my 'sin' wasn't exactly something people accept right away- and I understood that, of course! I guess it was kind of disheartening to be in a group of criminals and still being seen as a bad person. But after a year or two, everybody warmed up to me; first coming Diane, then Meli, Gowther, then Escanor, Merlin, and finally, Ban.
"That was so cool, King! You're the man!" I laughed, smiling broadly as I squeezed him tighter. "It's awesome to have you back!"
"It's good to see you too, (y/n)," King smiled, awkwardly trying to pry me off of him. After a few more moments of the hug, I let go, still smiling like an idiot.
I turned toward Ellie and Hawk, my bright gaze softening lightly. "So, are you o-"
My question was cut off by a slight rumble from behind me. I whirled around, seeing Guila rising from the rubble, covered in bruises and cuts. She launched herself at King, thrusting her rapier in his direction as an explosive formed at its end.
"King," she growled, smiling crazily. "At this range, even if you defend yourself with the spirit spear, neither you nor your teammates will come out unscathed."
My automatic reaction was turning toward Meli, who was previously next to me. However, he was no longer there; he was in between Guila and King, and had defended King from her attack using his ability, Full Counter.
"I believe it's the other way around," he said smugly, smirking at Guila. Her entire body began to be enveloped in an explosion.
"No..!" She shouted, her crazed tone still maintaining as she stared at the sin in disbelief. "NO!"
The large explosion blew her away, and her presence disappeared. I could no longer sense her presence or magical power anywhere near us- which most likely meant throughout the entirety of the Capitol.
"Her presence is gone.." Hawk muttered, "she died."
"That was anticlimactic," Ellie spoke, staring at where the explosion once was. I smiled at the subtle joke. I glanced over at Ban, but took a double take, and stared at him.
There was a cluster of the yellow particles that floated through the sky hovering next to him, and he seemed to be muttering something to it. For a split second- just as I realized soemthing was off- I thought I saw the girl he was chasing after standing where those particles were.
Of course, before I could investigate further, Hawk distracted me by squealing loudly.
"What's wrong, Hawk?" Diane asked, staring down at the pig.
"MY EAR'S GONE!" He shrieked, staring up at his ear as best he could. I stared at him for a moment, looking for the missing ear. Sure enough, his left ear was completely gone.
I tried to contain a laugh, bringing my hand to my face. It took me a moment, but I realized my hand was gone as well, and my arm was beginning to disappear.
"AHHHH!" I shrieked, waving my slowly disappearing arm frantically. "What's happening? Where's my arm?! What the hell?!?!"
"Its happening to me too!" Diane exclaimed, staring down at her own limbs, which were also disappearing. "My... my body! What's happening?!"
I continued to wave my arm until it returned to its original form: whole. I continued to wave it, slightly skeptical. I narrowed my eyes, poking my flesh a few times. Once I was satisfied that I wasn't possessed, becoming nonexistent, and/or dying, I looked around. We were back in the clearing, the village and the cliffs surrounding us.
"Huh, we're back here," I commented, stating the obvious as I continued look around.
"I wonder whose memories lead us there..." Ellie pondered aloud, looking around as well. She shrieked, spotting a familiar person. Guila was standing a couple feet away from us, her hand dug into where her heart is.
"She left herself half-dead!" Hawk squealed, "So she could appear at any moment!"
"Let's just kill her now," Ban hummed, and King glared at him. I had a very different plan. I reached into my back pocket, pulling out a black permanent marker. I grinned mischievously, turning to the captain.
"How savage," King huffed, frowning. "I'll just petrify her."
"That's the same thing," Ban said, rolling his eyes. I poked Meli on the shoulder, and he turned toward me. My smirk widened as I held up the marker, guesturing for Meli to take it. It took him a moment, but he smirked as well, taking the marker and turning to the other sins.
"Don't worry, guys!" He shouted, crossing his arms and nodding conclusively. "I'll handle it!"
• Time Skip •
We returned to the tavern, looking around for the two siblings we left here. After searching the entirety of the bar, it was clear that they were not present.
"They're not here," Ellie said worriedly, coming back from the upstairs she had been exploring. I sighed, wandering outside where Ban and King were. They were talking, facing the tavern casually. Behind them, were the children.
I beamed, "There you guys are!"
King and Ban both looked up, seeing me running toward them. At first, they assumed I was talking about them, but when they heard a familiar, childish voice speak, they were very aware that it was not them I was waving to.
"I'm glad," Said Ellen, smiling contently. The lower half of her body seemed to be transparent, as did her brother's. "You were able to see the person you wanted to see!"
"And you used your memories and feelings to get there, right?" The boy asked excitedly.
"Wait... your bodies..." Ban muttered, and King's eyes widened.
"You're dead, right? Ghosts, apparitions, whatever your preferred term is," I said, looking down at the two with a small, kind smile. The boy nodded.
"We Rest In Peace until we must lead others like your team to the Capitol," he elaborated.
"Thank you for the food, mister! It was really delicious," Ellen complimented, addressing Ban. He nodded in response, a small smile gracing his lips.
"Thank you, Miss, as well," The boy said, turning to me. My eyes widened in shock as I stared at him.
"For what? I didn't do anything..."
"You are one of the few who truly believed," he said, smiling. Truly... believed? What does that mean? "Yet you still respected both yourself and your principles enough to disregard your memories. Your family is grateful that you had the strength to not make them, or yourself relive it."
"And so are we!" Ellen chimed in happily.
My eyes widened even further as I stared at him. His words raced through my head a million times in those few seconds of silence. The only thing I could utter was, "My... my family..?"
But-but nobody knew about my family! All anyone knows is that they're long gone. These two... these two children can't possibly know what happened!
The boy smiled knowingly, still looking at me with a content smile. All he did was nod in my direction, before turning toward King and Ban once more. They were both looking at me, confused. They were both well aware that family was a tough subject for me, but they didn't think I would react in the way I did. I was always more cheerful and thankful- they were expecting some sort of thank you or excited response, not... that.
"Thank you all," The boy smiled, his and Ellen's bodies beginning to fade out. "Thank you."
With that they disappeared, a small whooshing sound following their vanishing. Both Ban and King turned toward me. My body was stiff, and I was still staring at where the little boy was standing.
"Hey, (y/n)..." King said, slightly worried. I did not move. "Hey, are you okay?"
I blinked, then blinked again, before shaking my head. They couldn't possibly know.... No. They don't know what happened. Nobody knows what happened except me and Meli- that's it.
"I'm fine," I turned toward him, smiling. "It's just a touchy subject... I wasn't expecting it."
With that, I turned on my heel and skipped toward the tavern. There was a notciable lack of springiness in my step- and both Ban and King were not convinced by my excuse. Still, they followed me quietly, not mentioning it again.
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Sorry for all the short chapters.
I watched the anime, which spurred my interest in the manga, so I began reading it. I started writing this when I began reading the manga, so I'm using that as a sort of reference for events and quotes. There are a bunch of awkward time skips and it's really hard to find a way to incorporate those into the story without ending each chapter with like 500 words or having a time skip every two lines. T~T
Anyyyywayyyy- enough of my rant about author problems. Thanks for reading! There was more character development in this chapter (compared to others), so I'm proud of it.
I hope you're enjoying this story so far, because I am thoroughly enjoying writing it!
Goodbye~