Meli and I simultaneously nodded to each other and began running at the door. I kicked it open, turning around to face Diane so that I was running backwards.

"Diane!" I called out to the giant, who turned away from the village and toward me. "It's him!"

Here eyes widened for a moment, but soon returned to their normal size as she stood to her full height, nodding. She began to walk alongside Meli and I, who were running over to where we sensed him.

We booked it into the town, spotting Ban and a small boy fighting, while two children hid behind a nearby wall. The boy was hovering above him, standing on a spear as Ban shoved his hand upward at him. Shit, he's going to use his power on King!

I turned toward Meli, who nudged his head in the direction of the kids. I nodded, running over to them. There was a boy with dark brown hair who was hugging a girl, holding her close to him- they were most likely brother and sister. I kneeled in front of them, and he hugged her tighter.

"G-get away from us!" He shouted, obviously trying to look brave.

"Hey, it's okay, guys. I'm here to help you," I said kindly, smiling, before pointing up at the entrance to the village. "I need you to go that way, okay? None of us want you to get hurt, but we can't protect you and stop the fighting at the same time."

The boy looked apprehensive, but the small girl finally spoke up. "Are you with that boy or the tall mister who saved me?"

I smiled, "As of right now, I'm with Ban, the man who saved you."

"Then we should do what she says!" The girl said to her brother, turning toward him with a determined stare. He pursed his lips for a moment, glaring at me. After a few more seconds of contemplating, he nodded, grabbing his sister's hand and running toward the front of the village. They were a small distance away from the Boar Hat- so if need be, I could bring them to the tavern so that they were safe.

Once they were a good distance away from the group, I walked back over to where everyone was. Ban was staring at Meli with a frown, and Diane was staring at King curiously.

"Is everyone out of attack-mode?" I asked jokingly, and everyone turned to face me. The flying boy's eyes widened, and I waved at him with a grin. "Hey there, King. It's been quite a while, huh?"

His gaze turned stony, and he crossed his arms. He looked anywhere but at me. It seemed, however, that Ban had not caught on to what was happening. He was staring at me with wide eyes, pointing at King.

"HOW IN THE HELL IS THAT KING?!?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, cocking my head to the side. "Huh? You mean you didn't recognize the magical aura he gave off?"

"There's no way that midget is King!"

"No matter how you look at it, that's King." Meli said nonchalantly, reinforcing my point. He looked at King, putting his fingers on his chin quizzically. "Well, I guess he has lost a bit of weight..."

"THAT'S WAY MORE THAN A BIT!" Ban yelled, waving his hands in King's direction. "But that's not at all the issue here!!!"

"King!!" Diane squealed at the sin, smiling widely. "We've been looking for you! I've missed you a whole bunch- it's super awesome to see you!"

King turned away from the group, facing the large forest that surrounded the village. He flew away, taking his spear with him. My eyes widened in surprise. I would have expected a reaction like that to Ban... maybe me and the captain, but not Diane. She's always been the only one King truly liked to be around.

"That's weird..." I muttered, furrowing my brows as I stared in the direction he disappeared into.

Ellie and I were helping Ban bring out several trays of food. There were turkeys, muffins, breads, and biscuits- pretty much any delicious food you could imagine, he had made it. I knew that Ban enjoyed cooking, but what surprised me about what he had done was that it was (hopefully) out of kindness. All of the food he had prepared was made solely for the two children who had been left alone in the village, who were practically starved.

"Alright, eat up!" Hummed Ban, placing the last plate onto the table. The two children were staring at the food, drooling.

I- and everyone else in the Sins- had always really enjoyed Ban's cooking. How he had become such an amazing chef will always remain a mystery to me, but compared to some people's cooking (*cough cough* Meli *cough cough*), his food was heavenly. Someone new had also found a sudden appreciation in his cooking.

Hawk had dived toward the food, but Meli grabbed his ear before he could reach it. I smirked, seeing the pig drooling a river as he stared at a rather large portion of a soup. I couldn't immediately recognize the type, but it looked pretty damn good.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Asked the boy, looking at Ban. It was extremely obvious that both he and his sister wanted to eat it, but it seemed that the two of them hadn't been shown much kindness in their lives.

Ban sighed, then pointed to Hawk. "If you don't eat it, I'm giving it to the pig."

Hawk began drooling significantly more, but fell onto his snout in disappointment when the two children began feasting on the food. I grabbed a small piece of the cut turkey and flicked it into my mouth. Ban glared at me and I smiled.

"It's one small piece, Ban." I hummed, enjoying the amazing taste of the browned turkey. "You don't expect them to be able to eat all of this, do you?"

His frown was still fairly evident, but he glanced down at all the food he had prepared and shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I guess not."

"Are you sure it's okay?" The boy asked once again, slowing his pace and looking at me and Ban. "I mean, we don't have any money to repay you with."

Ban sat down on the chair nearest to where we were standing, staring the kids from his seat across the table. "We aren't looking for money, we're looking for information. You're going to tell me where the Capitol of the Dead, or whatever, is."

"But we already found King," Meli said, "So we don't need to go there anymore."

"There's no way that was King," Ban retorted, "It was a fake."

"Y'know fairies can change their appe- AGH!" My sentence was cut short by a large, unexpected mass jumping onto me. Meli and Ban kept bickering back and forth, saying King was real or fake to the other. Meanwhile, there was a very drooly pig on top of me.

"Get... offa me!" I strained, attempting to push Hawk off without hurting him.

"Please, (y/n)!" Hawk begged, "Grab me a piece! Anything will do- anything! I just need something! I have to have a taste of this heavenly food!"

"No! You're in the Knights of Scraps Disposal- not the Order of Overeating!" I growled, shoving the pink mass off of me. He toppled across the bar, leaving a trail of drool in his wake. "Ack!"

I flicked my hands, flinging the drool that stupid animal had gotten on me off. I wiped the extra fluid off of my hands and onto my cloak, which I then took off and wiped the rest of my torso off with.

"Stupid fucking livestock..." I muttered, going up to the bar counter and placing the now slobber-covered garment onto it. I took my whip off of its secure home on my hip and placed it under the cloak. Just until it dries off, then I'll clean the cloak and keep it with me again.

"You're trying to get there too?" Asked the boy. I had just caught that sentence, only zoning back into the conversation at that moment.

"'Too'?" Asked Ban, Meli, and I, staring at the children with our collective eyebrows raised. I added afterward; "As in we aren't the only ones?"

"Yeah!" Said the girl, swallowing a large heap of three biscuits. I returned to my place next to Ban, who was in between Meli and I. "That boy from earlier asked us a few times as well. He wants to get into the Capitol of the Dead 'no matter what'. He kept saying that he needed to go there, even if he had to die to do it."

"King's also trying to get to the Capitol of the Dead?" Diane asked incredulously from behind the window. Why would he want to do that...?

"He's been coming here for the past two days attempting to get into the Capitol," Said the boy, wiping his food-stained cheek with his tattered sleeve.

"If he's been trying for two days, does that mean it's a grave, or something, in a really remote place?" Asked Hawk, staring at the children as he huffed loudly.

"Mm-mmm," replied the boy, shaking his head. "It's right around here."

"King's not an idiot- so if it's right around here, how has he not found it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. The situation was growing increasingly suspicious- how did these kids know so much?

"The entrance in right in this village," The girl hummed, "but you can't get there just because you want to."

"Of course you can't..." I muttered, rubbing my temples. "It's never that easy."

"I have no interest in riddles," Ban said, staring at the children.

"I see," muttered Meli, walking over to Hawk and tying something to his head. When he stepped to the side, it was revealed that he had tied a large stick with a plate of food hanging off of its end to the pig. The plate was just out of his mouth's reach, so he began desperately running around, trying to eat the food. "So, it's like this?"

"I don't think that's what it is, Lord Meliodas..." Ellie muttered to the captain, who shrugged as he watched Hawk run around the tavern like a maniac.

"The Capitol of the Dead isn't a grave- it's not somewhere that you can be in physically. It's the place where the dead go after they've passed away," explained the boy, "It's like an afterlife, of sorts."

"Have you been there?" Ban asked, leaning into the table once more.

"N-no! Of course not!" The boy said quickly, shaking his head and hands. "It's all superstition! But every once in a while, merchants, soldiers, and those of considerable wealth would come here because of the rumor. That's how the village started- people wanted to live here to see if anyone could access the realm of the dead."

"But if it's the afterlife, how are we supposed to get there?" Ellie asked curiously, staring at the children with wide eyes (or eye, I guess, since her bangs covered her right eye).

"'A priceless memory shared with the deceased will open the gate to the Capitol'..." the girl quoted almost immediately, her body going into a state that made her look as though she were possessed. "That's what our neighbor used to say to the people who travelled here to try and get to it."

My face went shadowy, and I turned away from the group and stared at the floor. What if there are too many memories, with too many people, to count..?

There was an uncomfortable, sinister silence that filled the room until Ban finally decided to speak. "Thaaaaaanks, Elaine~" He placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "That information was more than enough to pay for your meal."

"Uhm..." the girl said awkwardly, "My name is Ellen..."

"Oh, sorry, Ellen." He chuckled, letting go of her head. She smiled, nodding happily.

"Of course, mister!"