Chapter seven : A Touching Reunion

Ban climbed over the branches of one of the largest trees he had ever seen, and when he reached the top, he chuckled at the sight of an even larger one. "Bingo !" He reached the enormous tree and climbed up its trunk singing happily. "A drop on the tongue adds ten years to your life, one gulps adds 100 ! Drink it all and you'll love forever !" He threw his back pack on the ground and laughed excitedly when he apperceived the pink fountain. "So that's the Fountain of Youth, the treasure guarded by a saint ! Anyone who drinks the water flowing from that cup will be granted eternal life, huh ? Talk about blowing something out of proportion, I don't see any treasure-guarding saint around." He looked around him and stopped smiling when he noticed the short girl in front of him, looking up at him. "You lost, little girl ?"
The girl floated up until she was at eyes level with the bandit. "I'm guarding the spring. From bandits like you." She raised her arm and a strong gush of wind knocked Ban somewhere in the forest.

The Fox Sin fell from his bed, awakening from his deep slumber. A glass bottle fell on his face and he let out a yawn.
"Get up, you slackers !" Hawk's voice resonated in the bar. You slowly opened your eyes, adjusting to the brightness of the room.
"Good morning, ___ ! Are you feeling better ?" Meliodas' smiling face greeted you.
"Good morning. Thank you, I'm feeling much better. Here, let me untie you really quick." You sat up on the bed and smiled awkwardly at the situation you were in.
"Be gentle."

This is a tale of ancient times... an era before the human and non-human worlds were forever divided. When the Holy Knights defended the realm wielding their magical powers, they were feared and highly respected. But among them, a group emerged that betrayed the kingdom and become mortal enemies to all Holy Knights. They were known throughout the land...as "The Seven Deadly Sins".

You and the rest of the group, minus Ban and Diane who were still sleeping, were having breakfast. "Hawk ?" The pig looked up from his bowl of scraps. "About Sir Meliodas, could you, perhaps, tie him up a bit looser next time ? He can't get a good night's sleep like that."
"It defeats the whole purpose if he's not tied up properly ! Elizabeth, back me up !" Your sister looked at Meliodas and you before turning to the pig and shrugging her shoulders. "Huh ?! ___, he's gonna get all groped if he's in the same bed as you ! Great precautions are needed !" Just as you were about to add something, Meliodas cut you off, biting into a peace of meat.
"If you think of it as foreplay, it's actually pretty pleasant." Elizabeth choked on her bread and hit Meliodas on the back of the head.
"You pig !" Hawk scolded.
"What's that ? Who're we tying up ? Hawk ?" Diane took a peak at the panicking pig from behind the window. Ban suddenly appeared from the staircase and sat down, still half asleep.
"Captain, I need a drink." You frowned, worried for him.
"Would you like some breakfast ?"
"You expect me to drink the Captain's lousy cooking ?" He waved his hand at you. But grabbed the bottle Meliodas sent his way.
"Make it yourself, then !"
"Thanks, Captain !" He pulled the cork out of the bottle, immediately getting hit by the foam that had gathered at the top and was waiting to explode.

"We're heading for the Necropolis, we'll look for King when we're there." Meliodas pointed the way that was in front of you on a map.
"I thought Fatty was dead ?" Ban nonchalantly said, leaning on one of the stools.
"It's our only lead, so let's check it out."
"What sort of place is the Necropolis ?" Elizabeth asked the Captain.
"Beats me." He crossed his arms and looked around in thought. "All I've heard is that it exists."
"If it's called the Necropolis, then it's gotta be haunted, right ?" Hawk, who had his two front hooves on the table, said. "Gloomy even in the middle of the day. With graves all in one row ?"
"There... won't be any bugs, will there ?" Diane worried, leaning away from the window.
"If King really is there, will he still be alive ?!"
"Hawk, cut it out !" Cemeteries didn't usually scare you, but with Hawk's exaggerated words, you couldn't help but panic a little.
"Ghosts, huh ?" Meliodas absentmindedly stared at Ban.

"Huh ? This is the saint guarding the fountain ?" Ban had landed on a branch that was holding him up by the jacket. He quickly got off and started climbing up the cliff again. "A drop on the tongue adds ten years to your life, one gulps adds 100 ! Drink it all and you'll love forever !" As soon as he got o to firm ground, the girl sent him away once more. This time, he landed on a huge mushroom, which softened the fall. Ban resumed trying to reach the Foutain over a dozen times, only to get hit by the maiden's power each time. "Knock it off ! Damn it !"
"You took the words right out of my mouth ! How are you even still alive ?!" The guardian suddenly got angry. "No human should be able to survive a fall from this height !"
"Oh I got caught on a branch once, I fell in a clump of trees another time..."
"What ? Why would the forest be trying to save a human ?" The girl wondered out loud.
"Like I care. I still can't believe a little thing like you is guarding the fountain. Now it's my turn to get serious." Ban took out his nunchucks from his bag, leaving the maiden to look at him with a deceived look.
"You kill, and streak... You humans are all the same." The nunchucks shone a purple light, alerting the blond. "A magical ability !" Before she had time to stop him, Ban had the goblet in his hands, sniffing it.

"This doesn't smell like booze at all... Oh well. Bottoms up !"
"No ! Don't !" Two large branches sprouted from the Tree and wrapped themselves around the bandit. The guardian walked up to Ban and scolded him, tightening the bound around him. "I won't try to make you humans understand. But if the Fountain of Youth disappears, this entire forest will wither and die ! So leave !"
"Oh, all right." Ban nonchalantly answered.
The fairy yelled louder. "What do you mean "all right" ?! Don't lie to me !"
"I'm not ! Swear." He laughed. This idiot doesn't understand how our power works... Her eyes lit up a bright gold color, letting her see the inside of the human's mind. Bummer... ale made from this place's wild berries must be some seriously good stuff ! Sucks I can't try it. I came here for nothing. The maiden allowed the branches to loosen up and let the bandit escape. But she leaned closer to him and asked in a soft voice.
"Just, who in the world are you ?"
"Can't you tell ! I'm a bandit, I go by Bandit Ban. How 'bout you, kiddo ?" He turned to get a good look at her face.
"I'm not a child. My name is Elaine."

Hawk's mom settled down when she arrived at the village. Seeing how abandoned and trashed it looked, Diane asked. "Is this the Necropolis ?"
"How can they call a run down hamlet city like this a city ?!" Hawk added.
Meliodas jumped off of Hawk's mom and started explaining the plan. "Rumor has is that this place is the closest to the Necropolis. We'll start by gathering intel on King and the Necropolis. Also, we need money to feed ourselves , let's get ready for business !"
"You're really gonna run the tavern, Captain ?" Ban chuckled.
"He's seriously adorable when he's working !" Diane gushed over her captain, completely opposing with Ban's reaction. Meliodas pointed at his comrades. "You guys are gonna work too ! Start attracting us some customers, jumbo billboard girls !" He said to Diane and Elizabeth. "You cook us some tasty stuff, jailbird cook !"
"Me ?" Ban asked reluctantly.
"You sure you didn't mean "smelly" ?" Hawk drop-sweated at the thought of having to eat more disgusting scraps.
"I want to be sarcastic and say it's just skillfully made, but it's genuinely tasty." Ignoring his best friend's complains, Meliodas clapped his hands. "To work, then ! Put your all into it, people !"
"Please, give me something to do, too ! My injuries don't bother me anymore." Meliodas turned to face you and smiled at the determination on your face.
"Just... don't push yourself, okay ?"
"Okay !" Diane suddenly grabbed Meliodas in one of her hands and rubbed him up and down her cheeks.
"Captain ! You made me one of the billboard girls ! I'm so, so happy ! Thank you, Captain ! I won't let you down !"
"Yeah, I know you'll do great. By the way, Ban ! The pantry's in the back !" He looked down to warn his friend. But noticed the empty spot next to you. "He bolted !"

You were wiping the counter while Meliodas was refilling the shelves with more bottles.
"Sir Meliodas ?" He hummed to let you know he was listening. "What sort of person is Sir King ?"
"Let me think... to put it simply. He's kinda like our mascot. Our pet, I guess."
"Hey ! No pets allowed ! What's the big idea, keeping livestock in a dining establishment ?" Hawk screamed from behind you, making both you and Meliodas turn to him with a confused look.
"Pot, meet kettle. But anyways, there was this one time when Ban was into collecting plushies."
"Plushies ?" You giggled while Hawk was more baffled by the fact.
"Wow, that's so adorable for a guy like him."
Meliodas explained that Ban had actually stole all of the plushies he collected from young children around the capital, which had angered the fairy. "King sobbed all night..." Meliodas shuddered at the monody of having to comfort his friend. "Then, around dawn, when Ban was still sleeping, he took every plushy back to its owner."
"Sir King seems a little odd, but he sounds like a very kindhearted man." You cooed at the thoughtfulness of his act.
"Ban on the other trotter, is an even bigger jerk than I thought." Hawk critiqued. "I hey they were always fighting."

"Why would you think that ? These two were always joined at the hip. Come to think of it, maybe it was only to clean up Ban's mess..." The captain smiled. "But when it's all said and gone, they were a great team."

After about thirty minutes, Meliodas started wondering why Ban hadn't came back so he went out to look for him, leaving you, Hawk and Elizabeth outside the tavern. Diane had also joined him in searching, but they both came back after only a few minutes. Ban and two children were with them, and he thought they might know something about the Necropolis so he cooked them a full meal to convince them to talk. "All tight, eat."
"Oh, it smells amazing !" You exclaimed to Elizabeth who nodded her head excitedly hoping she'd get to try some of it.
"But, we don't have an-" The young boy politely tried to refuse.
"If you don't eat it, it'll all go to the pig."
"We're eating !" They both happily started digging in the food. "Thank you so much, mister !"

Ban sat down on the stool in front of them and put his hand under his chin. "Quid pro quo time. In return, tell me about this "Necropolis" place."
"Ban, we found King already so there's no more reason to go there, right ?" The captain asked, starting a banter.
"There's no way that's King."
"Trust me, it's him."
"It's a fake."
"It's really him."
"It's a fake !"
"You guys also want to go to the Necropolis ?" The boy questioned, surprising the two. "That boy, from earlier, he asked a bunch of questions too, multiple times. He said he wanted to reach the Necropolis no matter what it took."
"King said that ?"
"He said he'd been looking for it for a long time."
"It's in this hellhole ?" Hawk asked.
He shook his head. "No, but it's nearby."
"What do you mean ?" Diane asked through the window glass.
"The entrance to the Necropolis is in the hamlet. But it's not a place you can reach just because you want to."
"Riddles aren't my thing." Ban complained.

"Oh, I get it. What you're saying is..." Meliodas tied a stick on Hawk's back and hung a plate full of Ban's food in front of his nose. "It's like this !"
"Sir Meliodas... I don't think that's it." You tried to say kindly.
"Is it a grave that's normally hidden or something ?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's not a grave. They say the Necropolis is a place for the dead to go."
"The other side, you say ?"
"How can se reach such a place ?" You wondered.
"How can I reach such a plate ?!" Hawk yelled with his hooves in the air to try and catch the plate.
Ban leant over the table to get closer to the children. "Have you ever been there ?"
"Of course not ! That stuff is just superstition!" The boy waved his hands around, sweating.
"Precious memories shared with the dead will guide you to the capital." The girl set her eyes on Ban. "The man next door always used to say that. I'm sorry, that's all I know."
The sin smiled at her and softly pat her head. "That tip paid for your meal and then some. Thanks a lot, Elaine."

"Um... my name is Ellen..." She corrected.
"Oh, sorry Ellen." Ban laughed before pointing and her food. "Go on, you haven't cleaned your plate."
You walked closer to Meliodas. "Why do you suppose Sir King wants to go to the Necropolis ?"
"That's a very good question. I guess we'll learn the answer when we get there."

"Even in this Necropolis place exists, there's no way to get there." Hawk complained as you walked around in attempt to find the city's entrance.
"If it's the afterlife, you just have to die, right ?" Meliodas answered, and Hawk quickly ran in front of him, yelling.
"Are you stupid or what ?!"
""Precious memories shared with the dead", huh ?" Elizabeth muttered. "I guess I'd love to meet our mother. She died when we were too young to remember her." She explained sadly.
"Then that rules her out." The pig deadpanned.
"Yeah, you're right we don't have any shared memories with her." You said.
"Ban that's so not your style !" Diane laughed, catching your attention. "Elizabeth, ___, look at all these pretty flowers !
"What kind of flowers are they ?"
"Who cares about a bunch of stupid flowers ? You can eat and eat these things, it'll never fill you up." Hawk blew on a flower, making all of the petals fly around your group.
"Guys !" The boy from earlier called out. "Be careful !"
Suddenly, the petals formed a tornado around you, almost making you lose your balance. "Mister ! Lady !"
When the petals dispersed, you were in a place, surrounded by green crystals.
"Captain..."
"Yeah, this is it."
You turned to your sister. "Do you think it was our wish to meet our mother ?"
"No, maybe it was my powerful longing for all the scraps that passed me by."
"My mind was a blank !" Meliodas said, picking nonchalantly at his ear.
"Totally blank !" Diane added.
In an instant, Ban was running away from your group, and being followed by a young boy.
"King ?" Meliodas questioned.
"That's king ?" You asked, surprised because he did not fit the description you had been given.
Clearly, your sister also seemed confused. "What the hell ?"
"Captain, what do we do ?"
"I guess we run after 'em."

At the same time, outside the Necropolis

The two kids' hair had been blown in a mess by the portal opening.
"Ellen, did you see that ?" The boy asked his sister, not believing what they had just witnessed.
"Yeah, they... they went away." She stuttered in response.
"Well, well. It would seem that the Necropolis isn't a legend." A cold voice startled the children. They turned around to see a woman in a white and pink armor, who was carrying with her, the largest weapon they had ever seen. A long fencing sword.