"I FOUND HER!"

The shout came from the town below, where villagers had gathered in front of a small fruit stand. I darted over to the ledge, where I had assumed the noises had originated. Ellie had followed me, only she had more cautiously leaned over the wall. I furrowed my brows, watching the scene before me.

A few villagers, all male, were cowering before a Holy Knight on a horse. He was staring down at them through his helmet, glaring, by the looks of it.

"I came over here when I heard the ruckus," the Holy Knight spoke coldly, his deep voice echoing through the quiet area. "But I don't see anything worthwhile. Where is the fugitive?"

"I-I'm sorry for disturbing you!" The villager said desperately. I recognized him, he was the one who originally recognized Ellie as the girl on the wanted poster. "She ran away as soon as I talked to her! I saw her run over here with another group of people, but they disappeared... I thought I saw her hiding in this shop, but it wasn't her."

"Is that a Holy Knight?" Hawk asked quietly from my right. I nodded.

"Yeah," I growled, narrowing my eyes at him. My hand gravitated toward the whip attatched to the skirt I was wearing, that I HATED, by the way. "Stay up here- I'll intervene if it gets ugly."

"It can't be..." Ellie whispered to herself, "Griamore..?"

"I cannot be sure whether or not you are telling the truth," the Knight said, getting off his high horse (both figuratively and literally. His horse was really tall). "But what I do know is that you are currently unable to back up what you claimed with actual proof."

"B-but you said if we find the fugitives we'd be excused from taxes and fines!"

"Yes, yes... but if the report is false," the Holy Knight hummed, unsheathing his sword. "It is punishable by death."

I was ready to intervene, I pulled out my whip and was preparing to jump off the ledge. However, my attempt was cut short by none other than Ellie.

"STOOOOP!" She yelled, causing my head to snap in her direction. She was sliding down a drainage pipe on the side of the building we were in. My eyes widened.

"ELLIE!" I shouted back, jumping down after her. I dived in the air feet-first, landing just after she did. I looked at her, standing beside her as everyone turned to face us in surprise. I muttered, "What the hell are you doing?"

She stomped her foot forward, turning their attention to her. "That man is not lying, I'm right here! Let him go!" She shouted, glancing back at me and mouthing. 'Go with it'.

I shrugged, stepping forward as well. I smirked, putting my hand on my hip. "And not only do you have her, you have one of the eight most wanted criminals in the kingdom. The so-called orchestrator of it all, (y/n), the Raven Sin of Despond."

"Your courage is admirable," said the Holy Knight, turning away from the man. He seemed to be addressing Ellie more than he was addressing me. "To come out here on your own-" he glanced at me, I grinned and waved- "at first is rather admirable. It seems it has been a while since we've seen each other, Lady Elizabeth."

Ellie growled from under her breathe, "Griamore, you come from a lineage of Holy Knights that has served Liones for hundreds of years! I will never forget this betrayal!" She enunciated her words very effectively. I felt a little guilty and she wasn't even talking about or to me.

The Holy Knight reached for her, but I stepped in front of him. I narrowed my eyes, and he did the same back. "Hands off, big guy. I'm her body guard, so back off."

"Traitor," he muttered, using the side of his large sword to launch me away from him and the princess. I wasn't expecting it, so I went flying into a nearby shop. I saw him pick her up by the hair.

"Okay," I growled, standing up and brushing the rubble off of my clothes. "Game on, fatass."

I launched myself forward, landing a few yards away. I reared my dominating hand back in a fist, preparing to punch him, and reached out with my other to grab Ellie. My action was halted by a loud shout, that distracted me, the Holy Knight, and Ellie.

"STOP!" The voice shouted; it was very feminine, so I assumed it was a woman. I turned toward where it originated, finding a somewhat short girl with neck-length purple hair. She was a wearing a jacket with subtle pink fabric and a large, fur-rimmed hood. Under that she wore a dark red crop top and black leggings, which were decorated by thigh-high armored boots. She held a large sword with a purple sheath on her back, and she was glaring daggers at the Holy Knight. "I will never forgive you if you hurt my sister!"

I raised an eyebrow, assuming that she must've been addressing me. She looked like she was with the Holy Knights, so why would she try to save Ellie? And sister? I knew there were three princesses in the kingdom, but I was almost certain none of them looked like her.

"Forcing us to make wanted posters like this," She muttered bitterly, holding up Ellie's wanted poster and tearing it in half, then tossing the prices to the ground, where they glided down. "Despicable."

"No way...!" Ellie exclaimed, looking at the girl. Am I missing something here? Cause I feel like I'm missing something. "Veronica?"

"Wait... Veronica?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She turned toward me, doing the same. "As in Princess Veronica?"

"That's none of your concern," she replied sternly, turning back towards the Holy Knight. "Let's go- take her to the Ceramic Tear Inn, it'll be easier over there."

I glared at the girl, "Woah. You're not taking Ellie anywhere."

Her face scrunched up. "What did you call her?"

"Ellie," I spat, stepping forward. "And she stays with me."

"She is coming with us," the Holy Knight, Griamore, I believed they called him, spoke. He began to walk away. "Come, Lady Veronica."

She nodded, turning to begin walking as well. I sighed, grabbing my whip. I reared back the hand I was holding it in, preparing to grab Ellie from behind. Sadly, I was unable to do so, as I was snatched away from where I was standing.

A sudden, strong force yanked on me from behind and began running, dragging me with it. I turned around, ready to sock whoever had grabbed me.

"Hawk!!" I shouted, seeing the pig. Instead of punching him, I pushed against his fatty side. "Let go of me! I need to get Elizabeth!!"

"No," he said, his voice muffled by my top as he continued to run. He sharply turned on a corner, shoving me to the safe and causing the back of my shirt to rip. Damn. "We need to find Meliodaf and the ophers!"

"Hawk! I can get her!" I shouted, almost being rammed into another building. "Hawk, let me go!"

"I'm sorry, (y/n)!" He cried, turning around another corner. My skirt almost fell down, I had to yank it up and hold it to make sure I didn't lose it. "There they are!"

The group was ahead of us. I continued to shout. "Let me go, Hawk! I swear to god, I'm going to roast you! I need to get her! Hawk!"

"Meliodas!!!!" Hawk shouted, throwing me as he stopped. I tumbled on my side, falling against the pavement. I growled, glaring at the pig. Tears leaked from his eyes. "I'm so sorry! I'm terrible! They got Elizabeth!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I fumed, standing up and seething at the pig. "I could've saved her if you didn't drag me away!"

"I had to!" He protested, "You would've hurt someone!"

"Yeah, the Holy Knight who was holding the girl I was supposed to protect!" I shouted.

"Calm down," King comforted, putting a small hand on my shoulder. I stared at him for a moment, breathing heavily. I scoffed, folding my arms.

"We need to get her," I said, my voice quieter. "They said they were taking her to the Ceramic Tear Inn."

"Let's go."

Meliodas had spoke in a way I hadn't heard him speak in a long time. I turned to face him, and was immediatly unsettled. He was glaring into the town, at what I assumed was the Inn. He looked monumentally pissed.

After his order, all of us immediately followed after him, running. It had begun to rain, and my shirt had a large hole in the back (from where Hawk had bit into the fabric and dragged me), so it was getting somewhat cold. I didn't complain though, or even say a word; nobody did. I'm not sure whether it was Meli's face or the general aura coming off of him, but the group seemed to have made a simultaneous decision not to bother him.

We stopped in front of the Inn, and Meli was the first to enter. He had no hesitation. King followed suit, then Ban and I.

"Hey, whadoya think is wrong with the captain?" I muttered, asking him. He raised an eyebrow, looking at me.

"I dunno. He really likes the princess," he answered, his voice quieted, just as mine was. He continued, "I could ask you the same thing."

I scrunched up my face, "That's vague. I'm not sure how to answer, but right now nothing's wrong."

"That's a lie and you know it," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, it's King's job to care, not mine."

"Uhm, okay," I shrugged, furrowing my brows slightly, but still returning my focus to the current situation.

The door that marked the room across from us opened, and the girl from before, Veronica, I believe, exited. I looked over at Meli, who was standing eerily still, a shadow cast over his face. I hesitated, but still spoke.

"That's the girl who was with the Holy Knight who took Ellie," I said. Meli nodded slightly, acknowledging my words. "I sense his presence in the room- so she's probably in there."

"Will you be okay without your sacred treasure?" King asked unsurely, speaking up as well. "If we cause a big commotion, it's pretty likely reinforcements will come. Plus, we might drag the townspeople or Elizabeth into the fight!"

"It's fine. I'll handle it," Meli responded shortly, beginning to walk forward. "Just go with what we planned, and it'll be fine."

We all nodded unsurely, remembering the faint words of the plan he had told us during our trek toward the Inn. King sighed, floating forward and tapping Meli on the small of the back. He disappeared, transported into the room where Ellie and Griamore were. I glanced worriedly at King, who returned my gaze, then at Ban, who stared emotionlessly at the door.

We heard a few bangs and one or two clangs of metal in the span of a second or two. Then it was silent. Looks like the captain did it. I sighed, directing my attention away from the room and toward my shirt. I slipped it over my head and King immediatly shouted.

"AGH! (Y/N), what are you doing?!?!"

"Hm?" I asked, holding the shirt and examining the back. I groaned, then turned back to King. "Fucking Hawk ripped a hole in it when he dragged me away from where the Holy Knight and the second princess were. It's pointless to wear it now."

I tossed it into a trash bin in the corner of the room, and King gasped at me. "But you don't have a shirt on!"

I shrugged, "It's just a sports bra, no one can see anything. Besides, it's pretty much the same thing as my normal outfit-" I glared down at the skirt I was wearing- "Other than the skirt."

"At least you had a cloak to cover yourself up!"

I laughed, "Don't worry about it, King. I'm gonna get my clothes back from Meli when we get back to the Boar Hat. I wore the clothes for a day, just like he asked, and I wrecked the shirt. He'll give me my stuff back."

"I sure hope so..." he groaned, glaring at my clothes for a moment before turning his attention back to the door.

"Next thing you know you'll be dressing like Merlin," Ban smirked, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.

"I wish, but I'm nowhere near sexy enough to pull off an outfit like that," I laughed, earning a small chuckle from him.

Our laughter was cut short by the door of the room opening. We all immediatly tuned toward it, sighing in the relief as we saw Meli, grinning, and Ellie standing behind him. They walked up to us, Ellie waving shyly and Meli looking at me.

"What happened to your shirt?"

"Hawk ripped it, so I threw it away."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to give you your clothes back, then," he frowned, and I grinned.

"Yup!"

There was small chatter as we exited the Inn, making our way back to the Boar Hat. Most of it was mindless banter, going back and forth laughing. Ban and I separated into our own small conversation as we exited the town and headed toward where the Boar Hat was.

"Hey, what'd you mean earlier when you said that you 'could ask what was wrong with me as well'?" I asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Hm? Oh, I was talking about your mental breakdown."

"Mental breakdown?" I asked, repeating his words. "The hell do you mean by that?"

"You know what I mean," he said casually, "You're not stupid, remember?"

He's just going to keep using that comment against me, isn't he?

I sighed, "I told you- it was just a nightmare."

"You also said you never get any sleep, and I have a hunch that it's because of nightmares like that," he commented.

"You're being more serious than usual," I said, obviously avoiding the question.

"You've always been the carefree happy one," he explained, "I was just surprised. It's not like you to be like that."

I chuckled dryly, "Looks like we've both changed, then, huh?"

"A little bit, yeah."