Diane tilted her head. 'Sorry, but who are you?'

You looked at Meliodas and he looked at you. This wasn't something Diane would joke about. You bit your lip. Maybe this was related to all the times she had gone funny before?

King jerked back before laughing nervously. 'Come on, Diane. Don't give me a heart attack like that. It's me, King.'

'Wait, you're King?'

'That's right! You got it.'

Diane laughed. 'You must be kidding. I know him, and he's not a tiny little boy like you. He's more of a scruffy, oafish, blimp of a guy.'

'Well, I mean, yeah, that can be true,' King said falteringly.

But if it was related to her weird spells, that means something had been wrong and you hadn't done anything. You clenched your fists.

'Hey there, Diane,' said Meliodas. 'Are you still half asleep?'

Diane gasped and then beamed. 'Meliodas!'

'That's weird,' said Hawk. 'When did she stop calling you by your title?'

'Are you feeling all right, Diane?' you said, taking half a step forward. 'Does your head hurt at all?'

'[Y/n]? You're here too!' Diane leant down more, still smiling. 'Now that you mention it, my head does hurt a little.' Her face froze as she caught sight of Elizabeth between you and Meliodas and upon whom Meliodas was leaning.

Elizabeth looked slightly nervous under the scrutinising gaze. 'Um, Diane, are you okay?'

Diane's smile disappeared. 'And who are you?'

'Memory loss? It might be short term amnesia caused by blunt force trauma to the head,' said Merlin, turning to look at you, Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk. Her voice still sounded echoey and her body was glowing at the edges. Aldan floated at her belly button.

'Woah. Merlin, how did you get your body back?' asked Hawk.

'I didn't. This is just an illusion to make things a bit easier.' The glow faded and the image of Merlin's body grew clearer.

'Oh, I guess that makes sense.'

Elizabeth lifted a hand to her chest. 'It's so strange. While Diane's forgotten that Hawk and I ever existed, she still remembers Sir Meliodas and [Y/n] just fine.'

'Been a long time since she called me Meliodas instead of Captain, though,' said Meliodas as he rubbed the back of your head.

You stared at the wall opposite and wrung your hands. When had Diane started feeling weird?

'Poor King,' said Hawk. 'You should have seen how pale he was. And don't think I haven't suffered. I came this close to being eaten alive.'

'Speaking of pale,' said Merlin with no visible sympathy to Hawk's plight, 'are you feeling okay, [Y/n]? You've been staring at that wall for a while now.'

You started. Everyone was looking at you. 'I ... well ... Diane ... ugh, I mean, I saw ... no, that's not right.' The right words weren't coming and everyone was still staring at you. You twisted your fingers faster. Until you caught Meliodas's eye.

Deep breath, he said, and start from the beginning.

You nodded. Deep breath. Easy. 'Just before we came to Camelot, Diane had this weird moment. She's had them since then as well. I meant to heal her. I was just about to, but then Galand came back and, well, you know what happened then.'

Merlin sank into thought, one hand cupping her chin. 'Interesting.'

Meliodas caught you hand in his. Not your fault.

But –

His eyes hardened.

You sighed. Fine.

Meliodas frowned. What even happened before we came to Camelot? So much has happened, I don't remember.

You scrunched up your face. Elizabeth was asking to come with us ... I went shopping ...

Meliodas picked up where you left. I went to ask Merlin about our power but –

You both gasped. Gowther!

Just as you came to that conclusion, the door burst open. King in his human form stood in the doorway panting. 'It happened again!'

'Hm,' said Merlin. 'She's continuing to lose more memories?'

'Yes, exactly. It's not just me she's forgotten, it's Captain and [Y/n] too!'

'Hold on a second,' Meliodas interrupted. 'I'm pretty sure that back when I first met Diane, she might have called me by my first name.'

You rolled your eyes. 'Well, duh. It's not like you introduced yourself to her with your title.'

Meliodas opened his mouth to retaliate, but Merlin got in first. 'For now, let's just observe her.'

Easier said than done. When you all got back to Diane's room – with Merlin floating eerily along with you this time – it was empty.

'What do you mean she's not here?' King demanded, looking around the room as if he would spot Diane hiding in a corner.

'Well, she left in a rush without saying anything,' said the knight King had left to watch Diane.

'Where could she be?'

'That's easy,' said a familiar voice. You turned to watch Gowther and Slader walk closer. 'Where she used to live before joining the Seven Deadly Sins.'

King landed in front of you with a slight thump. 'What do you mean?' His voice kept wobbling.

In contrast, Gowther's voice remained the same monotone. 'I erased her memories using my Lost World ability. Wanting to learn about emotions, I manipulated Guila's memories. Diane strongly condemned me for doing so and said "If you think memories are something you can just then you've got another think coming." So as a test, I erased hers. As I predicted, they were quite easily removed.'

Yikes, said Meliodas. Still, proves it wasn't your fault.

'Memories are nothing but simple bits of information, after all,' Gowther finished.

'You miserable little –' King took a step forward. He was visibly shaking with rage. 'How could you do that somebody's mind?'

'Easy, King,' said Meliodas.

King clenched his fists and seemed to struggle for a moment before turning back into his original form. 'Gowther, I'm upset but I shouldn't have said those things.' He floated over to Gowther. 'Maybe you can at least tell me this: what feelings did you experience when you erased her memories?'

Gowther blinked. 'What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand the question. To wipe away the recollections of somebody, feelings aren't necessary at all.'

King turned away. 'They're not necessary, huh?'

Slader sighed deeply and shook his head. You were inclined to do the same.

'Uh, what's wrong?' said Gowther, trying to look at King's face. 'Why are you angry?'

'Gowther!' Slader chided.

'I'm not angry about this,' said King. 'But I'm genuinely disappointed in you. Because a person's heart isn't your plaything.' And he punctuated his sentence with Chastiefol's Guardian slamming a ferocious punch into Gowther's face.

As dust flew through the air from the attack, you grabbed Elizabeth's hand. 'Come on,' you said, tugging her along with you as you ran.

She looked at you. '[Y/n], are we –?'

You grinned. 'Yep.'

She grinned back and sped up to run beside you.

'Come on, don't just stand there,' Meliodas called to King, slightly behind you as he ran while looking back. 'We'll look for her right now.'

Memories swam through your mind as you watched Camelot shrink in the distance. But this time you weren't alone. You joined everyone else on the verandah, Hawk's mum's footsteps getting louder as you stepped outside.

'So where do you think we should start?' asked King with Chastiefol clutched in his arms.

'Before Diane joined the Sins, she was still living in her hometown,' you said.

'Hold on. You don't mean –?'

Meliodas nodded. 'The Giant race's homeland, Megadoza.'

King never looked away from the horizon. 'I'm on my way. And I swear, Diane, I will get your memories back.'

You smiled softly at him before sighing quietly. Meliodas turned to you with a quizzical frown.

I was just wondering, you said, what Diane's last memory is. She left in such a hurry. It couldn't've been something good.

Meliodas hummed. Doesn't matter either way. We're going to bring her back.

—

'Anyway, turns out it wasn't a huge lizard. The children of the village were all working together to get more visitors.' You snorted lightly as Meliodas laughed. You were both walking through the countryside, maybe a little slower than you should have been and definitely slower than you had been that morning. But the weather was so nice it seemed a waste to spend the day running up and down grassy hills.

'Kinda backfired, huh?' said Meliodas as he swung your joined hands back and forth.

You laughed. 'That's an understatement. In fact, I – wait, do you hear that?'

Raised voices floated over the grassy fields. Together, you and Meliodas moved closer. A Giant dressed in very un-Giant clothes stood on the road. She was frowning and at her feet were a group of knights.

'This road was masterfully built by mighty humans and we don't let barbarians like the Giant race use it without permission,' one of the knights said as his friends sniggered.

You didn't have to look to know Meliodas was running beside you. But while he ran to the knights, you ran to the girl. You watched with a smile as Meliodas knocked out the knight who had spoken.

'You guys should be ashamed. A whole group ganging up on a single girl like this?' he said before taking out the rest of the knights with no trouble.

'Hey, are you okay?' you said over the sounds of punches and groans. The girl looked down at you in shock. 'They didn't hurt you?'

She shook her head before turning back to watch Meliodas with awe clear in her eyes. You laughed softly. Seems someone had an admirer.

'Retreat!' The knights ran away, some staggering and some supporting their friends.

'Thanks for your help,' said Meliodas, glaring playfully at you.

You shrugged and grinned. 'You had it handled.'

He smiled at you before turning to the girl. 'You should be safe now. They didn't scare you, did they?'

'And you're sure you're not hurt, right?'

The Giant girl fiddled with one of her pigtails.

'Hey, uh, what's the matter?' said Meliodas. 'Are you hurt? Because [Y/n] can fix you up no problem.'

She gasped. 'Nothing! I mean, I'm fine. Thanks for all the help.' She knelt.

'No problem,' Meliodas said again. 'Anytime.'

'Hey, uh, I'm a Giant. Why aren't you afraid of me?'

You smiled at her. 'Do you want us to be?'

She shook her head vehemently.

'So just take the win.' You laughed before breaking off as Meliodas tugged your hand. You didn't miss the way Diane's face fell slightly. 'What?' You followed where Meliodas was pointing and spotted the growling animal slinking through the bushes. Your stomach rumbled.

Meliodas snickered before turning to the girl. 'Well, we're gonna have lunch now. Do you want to join us?'

The Giant girl beamed. 'Yes please.'

You folded your arms and opened your mouth but Meliodas beat you to it.

'Yeah, yeah,' he said, already pulling out his sword. 'I'm not cooking.'

As you set about preparing the meat and Meliodas built the fire, the Giant girl watched you both. You wondered what she was seeing. The subtle touches and glances. The way you both moved in well-practiced harmony that was second nature by now. The not-so-subtle touches. You slapped Meliodas's hand away from your chest.

'Are you two married?' the girl asked suddenly.

You and Meliodas froze. 'Huh?'

'Humans have short lives, so they enter a contract together called marriage in order to live on.' She spoke the words softly, her eyes far away. She focussed on you again. 'Isn't that right?'

You licked your lips. 'Well, yes, but –'

'– but we aren't married,' said Meliodas, shooting you a look. The girl didn't seem to notice.

'I guess you two are pretty young,' she said, tapping her chin with a finger.

'That's right.'

It wasn't long until delicious smells starting drifting through the air. It was long until the meat was ready, though (okay, maybe it just seemed like a long time. You were hungry). Meliodas smiled and gave the biggest portion to the girl.

'Really? So you came here from Liones?' she said.

'Yeah, come visit some time if you want,' said Meliodas.

The girl looked down. 'I would, but since I'm part of the Giant race, I'd probably scare everyone.'

You had just taken a bite of food so you couldn't say anything even though you wanted to.

Meliodas had also taken a bite of food. He said, 'Well one thing's for sure, our friends wouldn't be scared of you at all.'

You swallowed. 'Yeah. All of them are different, so it's pretty fun.'

Meliodas laughed. 'Oh, by the way, I'm Meliodas. And this is [Y/n]. We're looking for someone, so we'll be around for a while. Maybe we'll meet again sometime.'

The Giant girl's whole face shone.

After lunch, the girl said she had to go.

'See you later,' she called, waving both hands and smiling. 'Oh, my name's Diane.'

'See you, Diane,' said Meliodas, also waving.

You stood beside Meliodas and waved your hands. 'It was nice to meet you.'

'You too,' she shouted, bouncing on the spot. 'Goodbye, [Y/n] and Meliodas!'

You kept waving until she disappeared over the horizon. 'She was nice.'

Meliodas nodded. 'I hope we do get to see her again.'

'Me too.'

—

'Megadoza lies to the north,' said Merlin, 'at a distance of over three hundred miles.'

'I'm so worried,' said Elizabeth beside you. You looked around to see her clasping her hands at her chest. 'I hope Diane's all right.'

Meliodas didn't turn. 'We'll bring her back no matter what. Because it's my responsibility to protect her.'

–

You sat on the stone parapet and tried not to hotch too much. You had been sitting there a while and your butt was starting to hurt. But it wouldn't be good if anyone spotted you spying.

The people below continued the proceedings, one reading from an official looking scroll. Diane just stood in silence. Her eyes were so dull compared to when you had last seen her. There was no smile on her face. It made you sad to see her like that with heavy-looking manacles around her wrists. You wanted to jump down and break them off.

But this was an official trial and, as such, it had to be stopped in an official way.

'Diane of the Giant race, out of envy for her power, you poisoned and killed Matrona, warrior and friend of the kingdom,' said the man with the scroll in a clear voice. 'In order to silence any witnesses, you massacred three hundred and thirty innocent Liones knights. These great sins are despicable and horrific. Thus, you are sentenced to be beheaded.'

'That sentence will have to wait,' a familiar voice interrupted. Of course he was going to make such a dramatic entrance. You leaned precariously over the edge, gripping the wall tightly.

'Who are you?'

Meliodas stepped into the light. 'By direct orderof His Majesty the king himself, I, Meliodas, will take custody of theapprehended Giant named Diane.'

~~~

a new song 👀

https://youtu.be/9E7deWsjFys

stay safe, everyone! 💕💕