After we ditched the knight, we found a lake some distance away. The giant green pig carrying the bar was waiting for us there, and we all take some time to relax a bit. I take the opportunity to ask about the pillow that King was carrying around.

"Oh, that's my sacred weapon. Speaking of which, where's the ones you guys got?" King asks, turning his attention to the other sins.

"I lost mine!" Diane says.

"Sold it." Meliodas says.

"Mine got stolen." Ban continues. King's jaw drops.

"Those were priceless weapons! What happened?!" he shouts. I chuckle at his response.

"I needed money for the bar..." Meliodas grumbles, pouting. He was strangely cute like that.

"It was taken away when I was imprisoned." Ban explains. I turn to Diane, but she just drops her gaze and looks at the ground, fidgting uncomfortably.

"King... am I a bad girl?" she asks meekly. I sigh heavily, and King shakes his head.

"No, but when we get it back please do be more careful."

"What do you mean get it back?" I wonder, floating up beside him. His face turns slightly more pink at my proximity but he quickly gets over it.

"It's got to be somewhere, right? So we just have to find it again."

"Where do we start, though?"

We ponder over this for a few minutes when I notice a piece of fluttering paper in the wind above us. I fly upwards and snatch it from the breeze, holding it still while I read it. It seemed to be advertising some kind of fighting festival, and the reward was... a giant hammer.

"Oi, I found something!" I call, floating to the ground and passing the paper to Meliodas.

"It's gotta be Diane's treasure. I heard a rumour about this festival a while ago, as well, but wasn't sure about it. Guess we've got a new destination!" he says cheerily, passing the paper off to King. We all board the pig and set off towards the town it was located in. During the journey, Meliodas trained me hard. I didn't own any weapons of my own, so he trained me unarmed combat. It was tough, though, and we only had about a day before the festival.

"Come on, (Y/N)! Harder!" he shouts, his arms raised in defense. I grit my teeth and swing my leg up at him, catching the side of his head and making him stagger. I surprised myself with the amount of force I used, but them again I had been getting real frustrated by this monotonous training. Suddenly, he leaps forwards, grabbing my arm and swinging me over his shoulder and into the dirt. I don't move, staring up at the sky, stunned by the impact.

"You're going to have to be quicker than that if you want to help us fight. Want to take a break?" he asks, losing the intense and intimidating aura about him. I roll to my feet and nod, grabbing my water bottle from King. We were almost at our destination now, and the others had mostly kept out of our way while we were training, but the fairy king insisted on watching us while we sparred.

"You okay? That was rough." he asks as I sit beside him, taking a deep swig from the bottle.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just stunned me. How are you?" I ask. We make small talk for the rest of my break before Meliodas calls me over again and we continue our fight.

~

"Ah, damn... He couldn't have gone any lighter?" I moan in distress, clutching my arm and limping back into the boar's hat. Meliodas had gotten rather pushy at the end, and now I could barely walk without falling over.

'Wait. I'm an idiot. I don't even need to walk.'

I float a few centimetres off the ground and up the stairs to the room they gave me. On the plus side, I was now much better at fighting than I used to be about five hours ago. Meliodas was surprisingly a great teacher. King came in to check on me first, giving me some food as well and making me laugh. Elizabeth was next, along with Hawk.

"Honestly, that man really doesn't know how to hold back! I'll give him a knock on the head for you!" Hawk snorts, then waddles out of the room. Elizabeth continues to keep me company for a few minutes before leaving as well. And, less than ten minutes later, all my wounds and aches are healed.

~

"Do I really have to do this?" I groan, standing with Ban to sign our names for the festival. He clicks his tongue at me in annoyance, which in turn makes me annoyed.

"Stop complaining. Diane needs her war hammer." he replies, writing down our names. Fake ones, of course. Meliodaz, Baan and... Old Fart.

"Really?" I ask, shaking my head at him and taking the pen for my own name. I knew exactly who he had called Old Fart. I scrawl my chosen name, Fae, onto the board. It was the only thing I could think of and it seemed fitting. Ban snickers at me, then turns around and leaves before I can say anything. I glare after him, then suddenly feel someone's eyes on me. I dart a glance around and my eyes fall on a flash of bright violet hair, then it's gone. I frown.

"Oi, Fae! You coming or not?" Ban calls, startling me. I jog up to him, a bit flattered and impressed he used my fake name so soon.

"Did you feel that?" I ask, "Like we were being watched?"

"Yeah, I did. But we shouldn't call attention to ourselves yet." Ban says, lowering his voice in case we were overheard. I nod, walking beside him with my head held high, my mouth drawn in a straight line. We find the others quickly and get ready for the festival. When it's time for the preliminary round, we all pile onto the stage and take a moment to suss eachother out. A shorty wearing nothing more than a metal helmet and some sort of red dress steps into the middle and announces himself as the referee.

"My name is Lovehelm! I'll be the referee in this festival. Here are the rules!"

I quickly get fed up with his squeaky, annoying voice, but thankfully it was over soon. A giant ape of a man with the same hair as one stood a bit too close to me for my liking, and I felt others eyeing me in a demeaning way. I frown, dropping my gaze to the stone below me and hoping nobody starts screaming "monster" because of my eyes and driving me away. Nothing happened, though.

"Alright, begin!!"

I jump backwards as two men immediately rush towards me, grinning lewdly.

"We won't get in trouble for putting our hands on you in a fight, will we?" they slur, their arms outstretched towards me. I leap above their heads, kicking them off the stage in the process and staring coldly down at them. I despised people like that. King ran underneath me, away from a group of people trying to hunt him down, and I swoop to help him.

After those guys were dealt with, a bunch of people suddenly fly into the air and out of the ring. I smirk when I see Meliodas and Ban in the middle, just tossing the other competitors about like they were nothing. But there was another girl, too. She was wearing a dark hat and cape that covered her entire body, hiding her face from sight, and she seemed almost as powerful as Ban. I dive to attack her and get her out of the ring when I suddenly get a flash of her eyes and back off. She seemed familiar, somehow. Someone who wasn't an enemy.

In my moment of distraction, someone grabs me from behind, pinning my arms to my side. The man's thick arms and strong hold prevented me from escaping easily. I felt his face move closer to my ear, his breath tickling my neck. I felt revolted.

"Hey there, babe. What're you doing in a place like this?" he purrs, then I feel his tongue slide across my neck. I kick behind me with as much force as I possibly can, nailing him directly in the balls. He gasps in shock and lets me go, allowing me to soar out of reach and turn around, ready to finish him off, then stopping as I see King beating the crap out of him. I didn't think much of it and watched his back, preventing anyone from jumping him, and we both made it to the next round.

"Nice job, King," I congratulate, patting his back. He didn't know, but I was secretly admiring how well-built he was underneath those clothes-

'STOP THAT LINE OF THOUGHT RIGHT NOW.'

He stayed silent for a few more seconds, brooding quietly, before turning to me, his eyes troubled.

"Did that guy hurt you?"

It took me a second to realise he was talking about the man who grabbed me. I subconsciously raise my hand to touch my neck where I felt that slimy sensation, then push away my feelings.

"Not really. I'll be fine," I say, forcing a smile onto my face. He smiles weakly, staring at my eyes, but he holds his pillow tighter.

~

"First round: Fae and Jared!" Lovehelm shouts. It takes me a second to realise it was my round. A large, fat man enters the stage with me. He had a pig-like nose and his eyes were small and shrewd, glaring down at me from his height.

"On the north side, we have the ferocious fairy that won't stop fighting! Fae!! Her height is 154 cm and her weight's a secret!"

"And on the south side, we have the jaded giant, Jared!! His height is 246 cm and his weight is 167 kilos!!"

'Jaded giant, huh?' I wonder, keeping my face blank but also innocent as I stare at him. I would have to use a few tricks, seeing as how he was almost three times my size. I sized up everything I could about him and noticed just the slightest tremble in his legs.

'Bingo.'

"BEGIN!!"

I don't hesitate for a second, knowing that whoever made the first move would win. I shoot towards him and whip my legs up, kicking him squarely in the chest and sending him toppling off the stage. It seems I had guessed correctly. His legs were too weak to support his enormous body properly, so it was easy to knock him over. Never skip leg day, kids.

"IT WAS DECIDED IN AN INSTANT!! Fae advances to the next round!" Lovehelm screeches, making my ears hurt. I give a lopsided smile and head back to the crowd, settling into place beside King.

"Nice job," he says, "You did good figuring out his weakness so quickly."

A slight blush coats my face at his words and I quickly look away.

"I barely did anything though. Anyone could've figured that out."

He smiles and says nothing, but his hand brushes mine. I subconsciously shuffle away from him, then break away altogether and excuse myself to get a drink from Hawk. Once again, all too soon, it comes to my match again. This time, I'm up against another girl. It was the same one wearing the hat and cape.

"Excuse me, you can keep the hat, but you need to remove your cape to make sure there's no weapons hidden underneath," Lovehelm says to her. She frowns a bit but complies, taking off the cape to reveal the Boar's Hat uniform underneath. My eyes widen and I barely have time to blink before Lovehelm announces the start of the match. The woman dashes at me with surprising speed and agility. I shoot into the air but she grabs my leg and slams me back into the ground.

The impact alone. That made me cough up blood. I quickly roll to the side and dodge long enough to get some distance away from Matrona, then dive and aim a kick at her head. She blocks it, but the wind pressure from my kick whips the hat away from her. Brown pigtails fall out and violet eyes stare directly at me. I choke in surprise and boost myself backwards, hovering just out of reach, my eyes bulging.

"Dia-" I start, out of surprise, then get winded as she elbows me in the stomach, giving me an apologetic look. I fly out of the ring and my power falters, making me crash to the ground. Or, would have, because King made Chastiefol catch me.

"Fae is out of bounds! Matrona wins!!" Lovehelm cries as I stand up, rubbing my head and shielding my body with my arm, even though the match was over. King makes his way through the crowd to me and helps me back to our group, but not without some prodding from the onlookers around us, aimed at my body. It got so annyoing that I started snarling at anyone who even looked at me.

"I'm going back to the bar," I say, my voice betraying my grumpy mood, "Being in such a crowded space is making me jumpy."

"I'll come with you," King offers, but I shake my head. Meliodas had his eyes on us even though Diane was shoving her boobs in his face.

"Your match is next. I'll be fine on my own," I say, once again a bit more snappy than I intended. His eyes show a bit of hurt and I quickly turn away, feeling bad, and leave the crowd. The sounds of fighting follows me as I trudge through the town, my multi-coloured eyes glued to the ground, when I suddenly bump into someone.

"Oh, sorry," I say, glancing up at them. It was the girl with the bright violet hair again, with a massive hulk of a bodyguard. I shuffle past and keep my head down, hoping I didn't touch anyone else on my way back. Suddenly, a hand shoots out and grabs me, dragging me into an alleyway between buildings. I kick and bite against the hand that was held over my mouth, and the person releases me with a masculine yelp. I fly up above the roof line, soaring as fast as I can home. Today had been enough.

I had just reached the front door when a large explosion kicks up a huge dust cloud over the arena. I stare hard at it, suspecting Meliodas, when something else shoots into view. More explosions follow and I quickly realise something other than the fighting fest was going on. Ignoring my feelings and injuries, I sprint and let my feet leave the ground again, flying at full speed back towards the arena.