Chapter 7

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. Happy New Year! God bless!

Back in Britannia, two giant sky mantas make their way to Avalon with the small army in tow, led by Gowther the Goat Sin of Lust and Howser, the Holy Knights Grand Master. The flight takes a few hours, and Princess Veronica can't help but be thrilled to be flying on a manta for the first time and possibly seeing some action. Princess Margaret, while not much of a thrill seeker, might actually enjoy this if not for their father's vision that something disturbing has happened to Elizabeth and the rest. Gowther attempts to ease the tension by sharing the history of Avalon, how it's one of the oldest human settlements in Britannia, beforehand having been the homeland of the dwarf and gnome clans, which were both whipped out 3500 years ago during a war between humans and elves (another extinct clan). Only Guila, Margaret, and Gilthunder pay attention, the others quickly growing restless.

As they near their destination, Guila sits next to Gowther, making some awkward small talk. A year and a half ago, Gowther had altered Guila's memories, making her believe that he was her beloved and forgetting about her younger brother, Zeal, in the process. Gowther had done that to both save her life and in his own lustful search to find a heart and understand love. He later undid it at the prompting of his fellow sins and has since rediscovered his own lost memories and his heart, and now has a much better understanding of the unintentional damage he had caused.

Despite everything, Guila has developed genuine feelings for Gowther and has tried to convince him to hang out with her again. Gowther, while the feeling is mutual, still feels guilt over what he did to Guila and Zeal and thinks it's best not to get too close to her out of concern of hurting them again. Besides, he's interfered with their lives enough and has the memories of his love Nadja to sustain him.

The group arrives in Avalon. It doesn't take long at all to discover what happened and find Mayor Gilbert and the Reverend. They are informed that the sky manta had returned home alone last night with no word from anybody.

"That definitely doesn't add up;" says Gowther; "It's not like any of them to go back on a promise."

"It's most definitely not like Meliodas or Ban to miss out on a good party;" adds Howser.

"Please tell us, where were they heading?" ask Gowther.

"I have a good idea due to the map that was stolen;" answers the Reverend; "That map was actually a 500-year-old copy from an original stone map from around 5,000 years ago. It shows the original layout of some old ruins from what's believed to have been the very first permeant human settlement in Northern Britannia. As to why, I really don't know."

Gowther puts his finger on his chin; "Hum, I believe I know where those ruins are. If we could find out what they were after, we may be able to solve the mystery."

"What mystery?" says Jericho; "We know where they went, so let's get our butts moving and find them."

"I agree," says Howser; "Not a moment to lose."

"It's just that if we learn more;" replies Gowther; "We would know about what we're getting into and form a plan."

"Bull crap!" says Jericho; "Wouldn't we learn more on site?"

"I'm not one to usually jump in without a plan;" says Gilthunder; "but I agree with Jericho this time."

"You do?" says a shocked Jericho.

"I see your point;" responses the goat sin; "I just don't like going off into the unknown unprepared."

"My monks are already reading and researching;" informs the Reverend; "Hopefully we'll have some new information when you return."

"So, who's going and who's staying?" ask Graimore.

The group agrees that all the knights should go especially since they don't know what they may be up against. Gilthunder insists that Margaret and Veronica should stay in town, however, both insists on going, Margaret with a shocking determination. He relents only if Margaret agrees to stay safely away from any danger

Both princesses have been training in swordsmanship and combat recently, but Margaret's only been learning basic self-defense skills so she's not completely helpless, at least against normal humans. Veronica's very eager to show off her skills. Despite nearly a year of rigorous training and vast improvements with her swordsmanship and agility, they know she's not ready to face any foes stronger than humans and certainly not against magical foes.

As the group flies north, Gowther remembers what the Reverend said about suspecting about the two guys being from Egypt. He's aware of the legend of Egyptian Princess Scotia, including the rumor of her grave being among the ruins. He can't help but wonder if there might be a connection. What disturbs the goat sin more is the liquid fire person. Based on the description of her powers and destructiveness, Gowther wonders if she might be a vulacish, a rare, legendary branch of the human race said to live in volcanos. Almost nothing is known about them as they've never been known to live in Britannia, although if memory serves Gowther right, the book did say that they once lived in Iceland, ancient sailors bringing the legend with them. With no volcanos in Britannia, Gowther wonders what one would be doing here.

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In the Sahara, it hasn't been long since Nuri, Willie, and Meliodas left the mosque. When Meliodas asks for water, Willie gives him a cup, noticing that the demon is shirtless.

"Hey, why did you take your clothes off?"

"I'm burning up. It never gets hot and humid like this in Britannia." Meliodas throws his shirt, vest, and tie to the monk; "Will you put these in your bag please? I know you've got plenty of room."

"You better put your shirt back on Meliodas, or you'll have one nasty sunburn."

Meliodas shakes his head; "I already told you I don't burn. I barely even tan."

"Have you ever been in this kind of environment Meliodas?"

"I've been to purgatory;" although never in his physical body. He hands the empty cup back to Willie, who notices the dragon sin's figure and his eyes bug out. Meliodas is a lot skinnier than he expected, not to mention his lean yet rip muscles and six pace abs. Willie feels very envious.

"What?"

"N..nothing, I mean, you must workout a lot."

Meliodas gives him a funny look; "Workout? Oh, no, not really. Not these days, unless I'm in battle or a fighting match, if those count."

It's Willie's turn to give a funny look; "You're kidding right?"

"No, not at all."

Willie can't believe what he's hearing and cringes his fists. He hears a gasp from Nuri in front of them. She has her head down and her palm over her eyes, trying not to look back. Willie knows she saw Meliodas and liked what she saw, much to her embarrassment.

Meliodas jumps in front of Willie and slaps his hands together in the monk's face, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"HEY! Don't do that!"

"Sorry;" Meliodas can't help but chuckle; "You really need to start carrying a mirror or image catcher so you can see your reactions, their so freaking hilarious."

"Just back off, will you?" That's when he notices Meliodas' mark; "You've got a tattoo?"

"A what? Oh, you mean my mark."

Willie looks perplexed; "They do tattoos in Britannia? I thought only the Chinese did tattoos."

Meliodas is confused; "I don't know anything about tattoos or the whatever you just said. We were given these marks when the Seven Deadly Sins were formed. Mine means I'm the Sin of Wrath, the dragon sin."

Willie raises his eyebrows, and he's sure he hears Nuri clear her throat. She briefly pulls down her shades, looks sternly at Meliodas, returns her shades to their previous position, and resumes moving forward.

"What was that about?" wonders Meliodas.

"Nothing."

"Hey Willie, you want to hear about the Seven Deadly Sins? It'll make the time pass much quicker and may help take our minds off this heat and hunger."

Willie is kind of curious, so Meliodas enthusiastically shares stories about the sins, as well as about Elizabeth and the Boar Hat. He soon regrets his curiosity, however. Based on the things Meliodas is saying, it sounds as if these Seven Deadly Sins are a rag-tag, drunken, party animal club with compromising morels who love to brawl for fun, rather than honorable knights or soldiers. Definitely not the type of people Willie would associate with (Nuri neither) if he can help it (Herman's bad enough). It seems to make sense that this guy would be their captain. He's also very bawdy and proudly brags about his perverted actions.

On top of all that, who brags about all the horrible food he makes? Although Meliodas probably wouldn't be out of place in the monastery's kitchens, which for reasons unknown tends to attract the worst chefs in Egypt.

Meliodas also briefly mentions that he's 3,274 years old and the curses that both he and Elizabeth were under for 3,000 years. Willie's not too shocked to hear something like that. What he is surprised about is that Meliodas doesn't seem to be very smart or wise after all that time, most definitely very immature and childish.

Although he does have to give Meliodas credit for the way he took control of the group in a serious situation last night, as well as when he turned serious during the fight against the Goliath sand devils and complimented on Willie's abilities. If only he'd display some of that same attitude outside of battle.

Nuri listens to some of the stories, mostly disgusted with what she hears.

(Maybe I was mistaken. How could this guy possibly be related...?)

Nuri does take kin interest in the stories about her sister Merlin, but isn't to please by what she hears, especially when Meliodas brags that Merlin's the only one who can rival him in alcohol consumption.

The midday sun is rapidly heating up the temperature, not to mention the humidity. Nuri takes a quick leap ahead and sees some shade in the form of a shadow of a large sand dune. She tells the guys to rest there while she searches for more water. Meliodas is relieved to have some relief from this heat, which is much worst then he had anticipated. Even while sitting down, he tries not to show Willie just how exhausted, thirsty, and famished he's feeling (his stomach giving away the latter).

"Meliodas;" Willie says opening his satchel; "You need to put on your shirt and a cloak, or at least a visor. You're turning red."

Meliodas does notice a little redness on his arms but remains unconcerned. Plus, he's very dirty; "I'll tell you what I need, a bath! And a good, hearty buffet meal or three, and a few dozen stiff drinks."

Willie huffs and shakes his head while handing him some water; "Alcohol is the last thing you need in an arid desert climate."

"I'll be the judge of that;" replies Meliodas, quickly gulping down the water and removing his boots to shake out the sand. "Do you have an extra pair of sandals?"

"Sorry, I don't." Willie then pours Meliodas a cup of fig juice and gives him a couple of capsules.

"I'm getting so sick of this fig juice already." However, Meliodas drinks it and looks at the capsules; "What are these? Vitamins?"

"Energy supplements, sounds like you need them."

Meliodas' stomach rumbles in response; "Thanks, but I need an awful lot more then..."

"Wildel!" yells Nuri running towards them; "Asifa tarabia!"

"Huh?"

"DUST STORM!" answers Willie. Nuri throws some rags and a cloak to Meliodas, instructing him to cover his eyes, nose, and mouth, get on top of the sand dune, wrap the cloak around himself tightly, and lay down as they are hit by a large dust storm seemly out of nowhere.

Unknown to the guys, Nuri again disappears.

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In Amalfi, Ban, Elizabeth and Zeldris each get a glimpse of the church occupations morning routine. Jaz, Scout, and Amara all rose early to pray, change diapers, feed the babies and animals, get the children up, and have a light breakfast. After the older girls go to school, Jaz and Scout have a number of morning chores as well as Melidy, the human infant girl, the two-year-old and four-year-old, as well as several barn animals and dogs to care for.

Scout is dressed in a very loose fitting, oversized blue shirt and jeans. Black work boots and a blue cap finish off her attire, although she often goes barefoot or wears flipflops. Her face is completely cover, and all her hair is tucked underneath her hat. Ban and Zeldris both thought she was boy when they saw her this morning, not realizing it was the same person from last night.

Around noontime, Ban drags Zeldris to join him on the edge of the beach. Sitting on a low stone wall, Ban takes out a bottle and offers some to Zel.

"You didn't take that from the church cooler, did you?"

"Of course not;" Ban answers pouring the liquor; "I got this off that drunk guy passing by this morning. I'd say he had a few to many."

"I don't think I should try some unknown drink."

"You've had no issue eating their food and milk."

"That was different." However, he accepts the cup; "Might as well. Guess I could use a drink."

They both take a large gulp, which causes their throats to burn.

"What the hell is this?" says Zeldris coughing; "It burns."

Ban takes another sip to make sure but ends up spitting it out; "That's horrible! I'm not drinking this shit!" Ban pours out the horrible liquor. He definitely can't recall the last time he did such a thing.

"That's what you get drinking illegal steel moonshine;" Jaz says passing by. She hands them a bottle of white wine that she keeps in a cooler in the pantry. It has much lower alcohol content than Ban, even Zeldris prefers, but at least it gets that nasty taste out of their mouths. Jaz is a lover of red and white wines, but never over does it, even on a holiday. Scout despises alcohol, the taste and the smell, and is a teetotaler, but respects those who choose to drink in moderation

"You're the real thing;" says Ban, referring to her religious status; "The kind I really respect. We need more reasonable, non-judgmental Christians like you."

"I try;" she responds in a humble tone. They then hear a loud rumble, and the ground shakes a little.

"What's that?" ask Ban.

"Mount Vesuvius;" Jaz points to a mountain in the distance with smoke coming out of the top.

"What kind of mountain is that?" ask Ban.

"Oh, that's right, there aren't any volcanos in western Europe;" replies Jaz; "Basically, a volcano is an opening in the earth that allows gases and magma from the Earth's core to escape. Some form into mountains like that."

Zeldris thinks he's heard about these mountains before; "Magma? That wouldn't happen to be fire, would it?"

Jaz nods; "Yes, liquified fire, very different from surface fires. We actually call it lava when it hits the surface."

Both guys find this information extraordinary and stare at Vesuvius. The info also makes Zel think of that liquefied fire girl. Jaz also stares at the mountain, a look of concern forms on her face as Vesuvius rumbles again with a stronger ash cloud emerging.

"How dangerous are those things?" ask Ban.

"Extremely. Excuse me."

She goes to Scout, whose playing with the youngest girls, Hawk, and dogs in one of the tide pools, the infant strapped to her.

"Looks like Vesuvius is getting a temper again;" Jaz whispers; "I'm going to check it out."

Scout nods, then Jaz speaks again; "Any reply?"

Her sister shakes her head no.

"Hum, I could've sworn her last message said...something's not right. We'll investigate when I get back."

Jaz leaves. Meanwhile Elizabeth, feeding Melidy, and Wild join the guys.

"Amazing!" says Wild, "She takes the bottle from Miss Elizabeth, but still won't take it from me. In fact, she screams when I try to hold her."

An exhausted and hungry Hawk joins them; "I don't know if I want a nap first or lunch. How do Jaz and Scout do this every day, especially Scout. She doesn't even eat."

"She eats brother;" replies Wild; "She doesn't eat a lot. The girls said she doesn't need to eat or sleep as much as normal humans."

Ban takes a closer look at Melidy and offers to finish feeding her. "Don't be surprised if she doesn't like you right away;" informs Wild; "she can be picky." After a moment of uncertainty, however, Melidy calms down in Ban's arms and returns to sucking her bottle.

Zeldris allows a smile to escape; "Both of you look good with a baby." He realizes what he said and returns to his usual stoic look; "I didn't just say that."

"Hey Elizabeth, are you feeling any better?" ask Ban.

"I feel fine right now. Strange I throw up then I'm fine again. I still think I might be allergic to something in the food here, but I'm not sure what?"

Scout overhears Elizabeth and comes closer. She seems to be 'reading her', despite the fact they can't see her face. They hear a gasp and are sure they can make out a smile underneath the mask.

"What is it?" ask Elizabeth.

Suddenly Scout turns away looking in the distance. She gets the girls and signals for them to go to the church. Once inside, she sits the toddlers down and starts taking out some quick leftovers for lunch.

"Hey Scout;" says Wild, "If you need to do something, don't bother grabbing Mrs. Ricco, we'll sit for you."

"You better mean 'we' this time Wild," says Hawk.

"We can help;" offers Elizabeth; "What you need to do?"

Scout seems reluctant at first, but she nods her head in agreement. She writes down some quick instructions and is on her way.

"I wonder what that's all about;" says Zeldris; "they both left rather suddenly."

"At least they made sure the little ones were cared for;" says Elizabeth as she looks at the curious infant girl. Melidy, who can't walk yet, is on the floor trying to explore. Ban looks at the simple leftovers and decides to do his kitchen magic.

"I get to eat Ban's scraps again;" says Hawk leaping with joy; "Wild, girls, you're really in for the treat of a lifetime. Their food isn't bad, no question, but it sure isn't Ban's."

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In Japan, the young priestess points to herself; "Kikyo."

Diane and Elaine have very puzzled looks on their faces. "What's she trying to say;" ask Diane.

The priestess points to her herself again; "Kikyo, Kikyo."

The little twin boys also point to themselves, and to each other; "Haru". "Hiro". "Hiro." Haru."

Then the little girl comes up, no more than a toddler. They all point to her; "Hana." "Hana". "Hana."

"Hana;" she repeats.

"Kikyo."

Finally, Elaine thinks she gets it; "Diane, I think those words are their names."

"Really?" Diane points to the priestess; "Ke-ke-yo?"

She smiles and nods; "Kikyo, hai!" Kikyo points to the giant.

"Oh, Diane."

"Dye-ann."

"No No, Dee-ann."

"Dee-ann."

"That's right! Dee-ann."

Elaine gives her name, then they all practice a few times, pointing to the said person. Diane and Elaine also assume the word 'hai' means yes, and vice-versa. Everybody smiles that they at least got their names down.

"They've got the strangest names;" says Diane.

"They might think the same about our names;" replies the fairy.

Hiro speaks to his mother; "Why do they have such weird names Ooasan?"

"Don't be rude," replies Kikyo; "Obasan (grandmother) thinks they may be from a faraway land."

A few minutes later, the grandmother priestess, along with the two men, come outside with two purple-beaded necklaces. She magically puts them on Elaine and Diane, then they glow.

"These necklaces are so pretty!" says the serpent sin.

"Don't get too excited Diane;" says Elaine, "I think they're enchanted."

Herman comes out behind the two men, wearing the same necklace as the ladies. He's looking a little weary. He goes up to the old priestess and says something. She looks offended.

"Suwaru (sit)."

Herman is pinned to the ground and can't move. Grandma Priestess gestures towards the Diane and Elaine and points to him. She then says "Ageru (rise);" undoing the spell.

"Oh my;" says Diane, a little nervous.

"I think they're just taking precaution;" replies Elaine; "What would you think if strange people showed up out of nowhere?"

"I see your point."

Herman goes to the children. He tries to make funny faces, only the children are freaked out and start screaming.

"Suwaru." Again, Herman is pinned to the ground.

The ladies suddenly feel magic, and very strong magic. Kikyo and the men also feel it and get up, scurrying for their weapons. Grandma Priestess goes back into the shrine and returns, handing Kikyo a long, golden staff. The three of them run out. The sisters-in-law start to run after them, but the old priestess holds her strange staff in front of them, shaking her head. The children seem terrified. The priestess then gestures for them to follow her into the gardens and distracts the children by getting them to play a game. It doesn't take long before Elaine and Diane are playing with them, picking up on (or guessing) the rules in the process.

All the while, Herman remains pinned to the ground, unable to use his magic while under this sit command.

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After Gelda manages to drink some blood from the hairy beast, she pushes him out of the cave using her Wind Ash Burial, sending him a good way away into the valley below. Gelda squats making a horrible face.

"That's the most awful blood I've ever drank."

"That thing smelled awful!" adds King; "Like rotting meat. What was that thing?"

"I believe it's called a yeti;" answers Merlin, weakly.

"At least Gelda regained some strength."

"What about you two?" observes Gelda; "You're both suffering."

Gelda coughs repeatedly and still has a flushed look on her face. She too needs medicine.

"Gelda, try looking for plants, especially herbs. Maybe I can make a remedy."

Gelda agrees, King reminding her not to knock herself out. The vampire bundles up and takes flight. Flying here proves to be difficult, not just because of lack of strength, but this high altitude is making getting too high and staying there a struggle. Gelda must stop to catch her breath several times. After an hour, she still hasn't found anything in the way of plants. Are there even any plants to be found here? Soon Gelda starts feeling earthquake rumbling again, as well as a stronger wind and a storm forming. She's not as close to that mysterious mountain as before, so what's causing it?

Gelda takes flight again, the storms from the mountain, even more fierce than before, are reaching her location. Deciding she'd better move away; she doesn't get far when she notices what looks like red spots moving in the direction of the mountain. Trying to shield her eyes, she just barely notices what looks like two people wearing bright red cloaks. They seem to be dragging along and beating on an old person. She decides to get a closer look.

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On their way to the north shores, the Holy Knights spot what looks like three Viking ships and some rowboats headed for a small fishing village. Frustrated by the fact that these small settlements have little to no protection this far north, they must help them. Howser takes Guila, Jerico, and an all too eager Veronica, prompting Griamore to go as well. Since that should be plenty to get rid of Vikings, Gilthunder elects to stay with Margaret as they continue along with Gowther further up the shore. The mana is feeling very unstable and heavy as they continue northward. Gowther, realizes that this area isn't far from the island of Caledonia, Merlin's birthplace, recognizing the area from her memories (after which Merlin threaten to burn the goat sin into ash if he ever peaked inside her head again). Forty miles from the fishing village, they find the remnants of battle, including King's large vine branch and other signs of the Sin's attacks (as well as evidence, and feel, of unfamiliar attacks and mana, as well as non-mana energies).

"There was definitely an intense battle here between powerful foes, that's for sure;" obverses Gilthunder. While the intensity of the energies and gravity have faded, it's still very evident. The sky manta gets closer to the ground as Gowther looks at the map. They have seemly passed the location of the ruins, but first he wants to investigate here. They land where the mana feels the strongest and most disturbed.

"My goodness," say Gilthunder; "This gravity fills a lot stronger the Griamore's. I can even feel it coming from a very concentrated area from the sea."

"The disturbances here;" adds Gowther; "There are several, including what could have come from a dimensional portal like the kind Merlin used when Captain and Elizabeth were going to enter the demon realm."

"What are we looking for?" asked Margaret.

"Something that might suggest what happened to them;" answers Gowther; "maybe something out of place."

Not knowing what look for, Margaret walks around. Several minutes later, she notices some purple stuff on the ground; "Gowther, would this be considered out of place?"

Gowther and Gilthunder examine it. "Is this salting stuff?" ask Gilthunder.

"There's salt all over the beach;" say Gowther, "but yes Princess Margaret, this salt doesn't belong here. I think I remember seeing this kind of salt in Merlin's Labatory before. Yes, I remember asking her a question about it. She only told me that it was a transport salt. It's right in the middle of all the mana concentration. It might be a clue as to what happened to Captain and the others. I need to have this salt annualized. If what you told me about Barta's vision is true, then Merlin also disappeared, so she's not her here to help us."

"If what you're saying is true;" says Gilthunder; "Where did they go? Are they no longer in Britainnia?"

"Possibly. We must return to Lions."

"Gowther;" informs Margaret; "Avalon's supposed to have some of the best alchemy labs in the land. Maybe we should take the salt there. It's much closer."

Gowther agrees but wants to search for more evidence just in case. Suddenly, Gilthunder feels a mana shift in the direction of the ruins. "Gowther, it feels like a disturbance." They agree to investigate it. The trio board the sky manta and can make out something glowing. They land a safe distance from the ruins. Gilthunder warns Margaret to stay with the manta, and to get away on it if anything bad happens. Margaret, however, has a feeling, and decides to follow the men from a safe distance.

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Kikyo and her two companions search the woods. They are on high alert as they approach an ancient cave. They suddenly hear the roars of the wolf-like demons that guard the cave. They arrive to find the three wolf demons in battle with two foes in red-hooded cloaks and robes.

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Gowther and Gilthunder discover what looks like a small army of red-cloaked figures. They seem to be searching for something. One acts hysterically after digging a hole, yelling in a foreign language. It doesn't take long for one of them to detect the presence of the strangers and attack.

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Gelda gets the attention of the two red-cloaked figures, wanting to know why they are beating up an old lady.

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In the middle of the dust storm, Nuri feels a presence. She attacks in all directions, daring whoever it is to show their face.

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Scout's on high alert near a rocky cliff on the beach. She remains hidden and undetectable from the 'dark' red-cloaked figure looking for her.

"Show yourself, daughter of Barbatos! WHERE'S THE ANK?!"