We had arrived in Belford early in the morning, and by that time, my booze-induced headache, as well as my slight hangover, were almost entirely gone. It seemed that only Meli, Ellie, Hawk, and I were prepared to start the day, because the other three sins didn't seem too keen on celebrating our arrival with anything but sleep. I had to admit- it was kinda nice. I got to make my own breakfast (as well as some for Ellie and Hawk- that perv can suffer his own cooking) and hang out with the princess for the first time in a while. Obviously we didn't talk about anything too interesting, it was mostly just us getting to know each other. Fun fact: we had the same favorite color, (f/c).

It was really fun, actually- having such a quiet morning. Even Hawk kept his volume down and enjoyed the serenity of the morning.

"WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?!"

Well, I guess it was pretty serene until Ban and I got into an argument.

"YOU'RE AN IMMATURE TWAT! THAT'S WHAT MY GODDAMN PROBLEM IS!"

As far as an explanation goes, I'm sure you're curious. When the other three sins had (begrudgingly) joined us, Meli explained that we needed to go out and get some information. Clearly, Ban and Diane we're out, since they were the most recognizable from their pictures. King didn't want to go, and Meli and Ellie had to man the bar. So, he said it was pretty obvious that I would be the one to 'take on the job', or whatever. I was best at discreetly getting information in the group, save for Merlin, who would just read someone's mind or extract the information straight from their subconscious- no interaction necessary.

For some reason, that asshole- who, by the way, has had no civilized conversation with me for three or four days- didn't want me to go. I'm stubborn. He's stubborn. The other Sins would be entertained. It was basically the perfect formula for an argument to escalate way out of proportion. And so, here we are outside, yelling our brains out.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES MY MATURITY HAVE TO DO WITH MY ABILITY TO GATHER INFORMATION! I'M LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES OLDER THAN YOU!" I seethed, my forehead pressed angrily against Ban's.

"YOU STILL MANAGE TO ACT LIKE A GODDAMNED TWO YEAR OLD! SO I'M GOING!" He retorted loudly, his fist clenched around the point where my cloak connected at my clavicle.

"YOU'LL GET SPOTTED, YOU NARCISSISTIC ASSHOLE!"

"AS LEAST I WON'T GET INTO A BAR FIGHT OR KILL SOMEONE!"

"WHO IN THE HELL SAYS I'LL DO EITHER OF THOSE THINGS?!"

"YOU'RE TRACK RECORD DUMBASS!"

"WHAT TRACK RECORD?! I'VE BEEN PASSIVE THESE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS, DICKWAD!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A DICKWAD, ASSHOLE?!"

"YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!"

"Guys, maybe you should-" King's voice came from beside us, nervous and somewhat uncomfortable. However, he was cut off by us both simultaneously shouting.

"SHUT UP!"

"YOU'RE NOT FUCKING GOING!" Ban immediately resumed the argument, cutting off the insult I was about to spit at him. My face was flushed red in anger and from the exertion of the loud exchange.

"YES I AM!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT!"

"WHO ARE YOU, MY FUCKING DAD?!"

"NO, I'M SOMEONE WITH HALF A GODDAMN BRAIN!"

"YOU DON'T MAKE THE DECISONS, ASSHOLE, MELI DOES! SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO YOU'RE CAPTAIN!"

"WHO'RE TOU TELLING TO SHUT UP, BITCH?!"

"WOULD YOU FUCKING STOP IT!" My voice rang out in a screech as my fist reared back and made direct contact with his face. He went flying backward, coughing up blood when he slammed into a nearby boulder. His body formed a large crater in it, cracks webbing it from where his bleeding form was.

I stood, panting heavily as I glared in his direction. I still held my hands in fists as I stared, anger and frustration clearly painted across my features.

"Whoa, (y/n), stop!" King exclaimed, getting ready to fly out toward me and defuse the battle. However, he was stopped by Meli.

"Calm down, there, King," he said, holding the brunette's arm. "The Eight Laws of the Eight Deadly Sins: Law 5. If two Sins are in a disagreement, they can resolve it in a fight."

"But Captain! They're both pissed- they're going to kill each other!"

"If they try to, then we intervene," the blonde shrugged, "Law 6."

The Grizzly Sin sighed begrudgingly, hanging back and allowing Ban and I to continue our fight. I was still standing, and it seemed Ban had just healed all the way.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" He demanded, to which I growled, shooting toward him.

"You."

I was now in front of him, throwing a kick. He barely managed to block it, skidding to the side, creating canals in the earth. He glared at me, and I glared right back.

We proceeded to go hand to hand, throwing lightning-fast kicks and punches in each other's direction. We blocked and counterattacked constantly, sometimes dodging or accidentally blocking one another's attacks with our own. It would be lying to say the battle wasn't fierce, and I hadn't noticed right away, but we seemed to have made our own arena. There was a large crater- similar to the one Ban made in the boulder, but much larger- in the ground below us, which grew increasingly deeper with each of the collisions of our hands. Somehow, I had managed to land the first direct hit. He slammed into the side of our "ring", creating a crater in the crater.

We were both panting at this point, our arms slightly bruised and our legs smudged with dirt. I didn't give him a chance to recover, pouncing on him the instant he went flying.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" I repeated the phrase each time my fist pounded into his annoyingly attractive face. I was straddling him, face contorted in rage as I hit him as hard as I could. His face collapsed in on itself, healed partially, then collapsed again.

Suddenly, he wrapped one of his hands around the wrist I was throwing a punch with. I went to throw one with my other one, but he caught that one as well. He flipped us over, putting us in a rather compromising position. My legs were still wrapped around his waist, and he was hovering over me, holding both of my arms down on either side of my head. I would've been embarrassed if I hadn't been so pissed.

"Get off me!" I seethed, struggling under him. He held my arms firmly, and one of his knees was pressed up against my ass, preventing me from moving my legs.

"(Y/N)!" He growled, "Stop it!"

"No, you stop it!" I shouted back, pushing his crotch up against mine. His eyes widened, and I took the opportunity. I shoved my arms upward, causing him to lose his balance and fall on top of me. At the same time, I removed one of my legs from its position around his waist, shoving my knee upward against his stomach. He coughed up blood, momentarily remaining where he was before shooting upward. I steadied myself, then followed him.

I met him midair, and he threw a half-hearted punch, which I easily dodged. I growled angrily.

"Take me seriously!" I shouted, throwing a kick which sent him flying downward. "Blaze Storm!"

Fireballs went cascading down toward him in hurtles, their flames a bright red, mimicking my emotions. I began to fall downward, following directly behind the attack. The flames disappeared, revealing Ban's body, which was healing various burns. I extended my legs in his direction, the balls of my feet pointed upward so my heels made sharp contact with his stomach. Blood spurted up from his mouth again, sickening cracks coming from his abdomen as I reared back my fist in preparation for another attack. However, I felt someone's arm on my elbow, and it stopped me from hitting him.

I turned back, eyebrows furrowed and my chest heaving. My teeth were bared, grinding against one another, and my face was flushed bright red in exertion and anger. My expression faltered when I saw Ellie holding my arm. Tears brimmed at her eyes as she looked at me, and she was clutching my arm tightly within both of her own. I could've easily shoved her off of me, but I felt instant regret at the sight of her expression.

She looked scared.

"Please! Don't hurt Sir Ban anymore! I can't allow this to escalate anymore!" Her voice was soft and desperate, and she stared up at me with pleading eyes. I looked down at the man below me. Blood was sizzling around him, and his various burns and wounds were still healing. One of his eyes was shut, and he was wearing an expression I couldn't read. I looked back at the princess. "I know you're angry, but please don't take it out on Sir Ban!"

A flash of my nightmare made its way into my head, and my face scrunched up.

"You killed my people," the soft voice came out stern, trickling with anger and fear. "You killed... my people. So many lives were lost to you and your.... your rampage...."

"Ellie," I whispered, "you'll be afraid. You'll hate me for everything."

"You... you monster," I looked up; she was trembling almost bad as I was. "How can you live with yourself? With what you've done?"

I didn't say anything as I stood up, removing myself from Ban's form. Ellie was still clutching my arm, holding tightly onto me.

"I'm sorry," I croaked, "I-I didn't mean to scare you."

"(Y/N)..."

"I-It's fine, Ellie, you don't have to say anything," I muttered, removing her arms from mine. I could feel her gaze boring into my back. "Tell the others I'm going into town. I'm... I'm gonna occupy myself. You guys shouldn't have to deal with me."

"Wait, (y/n)...!"

She cut herself off, seeing that I was already walking off into Belford. I had put my hood up and shoved my hands into my pockets, face scrunched up in frustration.

Fuck...

I had been wandering around the city for a good hour, walking in and out of shops and bars. The place was insanely crowded, merchants and stores were everywhere- I don't think there was one plot of purchasable land open. Prostitutes wondered around, touching gross men and saying equally as gross things. I wasn't a huge fan of the district, in total honesty, but this one store... Holy crap, I wish I could live in it.

There was a small booth, set up by a buff man with a bushy mustache and eyebrows. His eyes were bright green and his messy hair was a chocolate brown, not to mention he was apparently a great cook. He sold various baked and cooked goods, as well as fresh ingredients for various dishes. I was a big fan of his chocolate chip cookies, and his lemon cake was amazing. He and I had been chatting for a while, him occasionally having to stop the conversation to help another customer. Using some of the leftover money from my Byzel drinking game, I had bought a shit-ton of his sweets.

"Rosalina? That's a cute name," I smiled, finishing off the last piece of his lemon cake I had bought. I was contently full, and slightly drowsy. I guess the exhaustion of the last few hours was catching up with me. I had exerted myself a bit more than I anticipated.

"Yeah, ma' wife though' so," he agreed, chuckling. "So. I been meanin' ta' ask. What's a lil' thing like you doin' out here in Belferd?"

"Oh! I work at a traveling bar that stopped over here," I grinned, nibbling in a new cookie. "I'm a waitress along with a few of my other friends."

"Really? I didn' take ya' for the waitressin' type. I actually though' you's was one of the hookies," he chuckled awkwardly.

"Considering my outfit, I don't blame you," I sweatdropped, yawning quietly. Man, I'm tired. "I assure you, though, I'm not selling sex or anything."

"Tha's good," he grinned, "In total honesty, I though' you was tryin' to do somethin' like tha'. Turns out ya' jus' got a big sweet tooth."

I grinned widely, taking a bit of another cookie. "So, how'd you end up out here? No offense, but I don't exactly take you for the type to live in the 'Black Pleasure District.'"

"None taken," he laughed, quickly giving a man two cuts of pork and a few fresh carrots, then collecting his pay. "Jus' tryin' ta' support ma' family. I got a few jobs out here."

"Really? You mind if I ask what they are?"

"Not at all. I'm a mercenary on the side- bou'y hunter a' sorts."

"I used to be a mercenary out in Ravens," I hummed, finishing off a third cookie, then yawning again. "I used to have another job, but I got... fired. Now I don't do much except help my friend out at his bar."

"Really? Huh, I woul' think you did more considerin' the fact tha' you's a big-time criminal."

My head shot toward him, eyes wide and alert. God, I was tired.... "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really, (y/n)? Cause I coulda' sworn you was one a' them Eight Deadly Sins criminals," his voice was dark and sinister, and three (equally as) buff men appeared behind him, holding knives and rope.

I attempted to stand, but I stumbled to the side. My entire body was overcome with drowsiness; all of my limbs felt like dead weight. I wondered, stupidly and completely unrelated, if this is what Diane felt like when she used her Heavy Metal ability. I was heaving, and my vision was cloudy. I could hardly tell that I was looking at the floor, my arms and legs shaking profusely under the weight of my body.

"Oh, come on girlie," said an unfamiliar voice, no doubt belonging to one of the three men who had approached. The words were muddy, unclear- just like my vision. My mind was racing with a thousand thoughts a second, but my body could hardly compute with one of them. I willed myself to stand. To fight. Nothing happened. "You can't run~"

"Enchant... ment," I heaved, feeling that my arms and legs were about to give way. My entire body felt like lead- I couldn't move anymore. I vaguely saw four sets of feet in front of me. "Food... you put... sleep en... chantment... on... the food."

"Oh, you's is smarter than I though'," The man who I had been speaking to before pulled me up by my hair, relieving the weight from my arms and legs. His face was a blur, spots dancing across my vision, staining his features red and black. "Bu' I guess I shouldn' expect any less from the organizer a' the whole shabang."

"Didn't... do... it..." I rasped, feeling myself beginning to slip into sleep. I willed myself to stay awake, but my will was running short. I was wheezing, my breath coming out hoarse, and I could barely form coherent thoughts anymore, much less get my body to move.

"It's all right, pretty lady," Purred one of the newcomers. His voice was higher pitched than the rest. "We'll take care of ya' until the Holy Knights come to pick you up."

Holy Knights...?

"We shoul' get outta here so we don' get spotted."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's go. We've got work to... mak... lothes... gon..."

His words became blurred and unclear, and my my eyelids wouldn't stay open anymore. I couldn't faintly feel myself being slung over one of the men's shoulders, and the nearly silent crunch of their footsteps echoed. Their voice were there, then they were gone.

Then everything was black.