I just want to say that I am sooooo sorry about the long gap, I really don't have any good excuse, but I swear I'll try harder next time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get back here you pansies!" I shouted at the soldiers who were running away from me, yelling something about a monster who had gotten into Liones. Unlike the others, I had no clear direction when I came here, so I simply provided backup where I could. Meliodas had gone to fight Hendrickson, Ban had disappeared to who knows where, and Gowther had gone to help Diane. I also sensed Merlin's presence here near Meliodas', so I decided to follow Ban, which had been put on hold when I was surrounded by a group of Holy Knights.

I had hoped for a bit more of a fight, but I was only toying with them when they ran away screaming, "What about me is so scary? I swear, I look just like a regular person, then they act like this." I started to feel Ban's power coming from right above me.

"Perhaps it's the, 'I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully' vibe you give off. That's about enough to drive most people away, I should think." Ban called from a nearby rooftop and then jumped down with his hands in his pockets, "Janis, you really should go help the others, I'm not worth following right now." He said then walked away.

"Ban? Where are you going then? I mean, someone should know, just in case." I said quietly, sensing a great deal of disturbance in his mind.

"Nowhere, Janis. Go help the others while I can't."

"Okay, I'm trusting you to safe then, Ban. If I find out that you've gotten yourself hurt, I will hunt you down just to kick your butt." I knew that something was up with him, but I didn't want to intrude until I felt it was necessary, so I ran off to find Gowther.

I found him getting his head cut off by Great Holy Knight Dreyfus, I hid in a side ally to try and see what had happened, apparently, Diane had gotten through somehow, along with King, but she was in really bad shape. I watched as Dreyfus, Helbram, Gilthunder, and Jericho moved to face off against Howser and Gila, who looked like they had already taken a bit of a beating; but they remained firm as they protected Diane. I wanted to jump in now, but I knew that victory would not be certain if I gave up my presence now.

"Gila, I'm going to give it all I've got, you have to do that with me or we'll have no chance of winning!" Howser yelled and then he shot his wind magic at his opponents, while Gila imputed a stream of fire, turning the column into a fire tornado. It was impressive magic, but not enough to defeat the combined power of two of the best knights in the kingdom.

I sensed kings magic approaching and I breathed a sigh of relief, I knew that if he was fighting for Diane's sake, he would be just fine. I watched carefully as Dreyfus had to run off to deal with something and I decided to join him since this wasn't my fight.

He stopped shortly after he had gotten into a more desolate part of the town, "How long have you been there, Janis? You've gotten better at concealing your presence." I sighed and walked out into the open.

"Long enough to know that you're a total idiot."

The look he gave me was definitely meant to be deadly, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, if you would have had your senses open, you would have realized that you just left your comrades to fail; but if you're asking about just the idiot part then I've known about you being one for years."

"You haven't explained anything."

"Hmm, I suppose I haven't, but should I really tell the man who is undermining the King?" He looked shocked at this, " You must have thought I was an idiot not to pick up on Hendrickson and your actions, you were practically screaming for me to notice and take action."

He looked murderous, which was hilarious, "I suppose I can throw you a bone, your people are screwed because the Grizzly's sin of sloth, King, was heading towards them, and Gilthunder is going to fight Meliodas. I know that Helbram is strong, and I have a feeling I know his true identity, but King is fighting for the girl he loves, so he is going to kick their trash."

"He sneered, but there was a small look of panic behind his eyes, "Don't be so sure, I know that we have some tricks you haven't seen; I have total faith in all of my knights."

"Even the ones entrusted to you by Hendrickson?" I asked happily, knowing that whether or not he showed it, I had just hit a sensitive spot.

"How did you know about that?" He asked harshly and I laughed.

"Oh dear, it appears that Sir Pig didn't tell you that one of your trainees was actually a fearsome member of the Eight Deadly Sins. I was here for a little over a week, exploring and listening, and learning. I was able to pick up on the discord between you two and I even learned the source of the new generation's power; I think that you forgot that I was the kingdom's top spy, what a silly lapse of memory."

"How dare you insult me and my fellow Great Holy Knight in such a way. We would never betray the kingdom like that!"

"Oh, don't make me laugh, if you haven't betrayed this kingdom, then what do you call what you did to your brother?"

He paled slightly, "I-I have no idea what you mean."

"Of course, you do! You would have to remember the time that Hendrickson and you tricked your brother into meeting you in a lonely tower, then you filled his body with spears, or is your mind just too fragile?" My voice turned into a cutesy one that you would use on a baby, "Is wittle Dwavis too fwagile to remember such a scawy memowy?"

"How could you possibly know about that, there was no one around then."

"Perhaps not, perhaps I was just guessing and you just confessed to me, but perhaps there were two people there who saw everything, and will live forever with that memory burnt into them."

I slowly began advancing towards Dravis, "You condemned one of the best men out there to die an agonizing death while the girl who saw him as a father looked on. I watched you carve your brother like a turkey and then leave him bleeding there for his son to find. I was then pegged with the blame of his murder by everyone. If you don't remember, I can give you a live demonstration, I believe it started something like this!" I thrust Durendal into his stomach and twisted it, bypassing his magic deterrents and severely wounding him.

"Janis, that is enough." I stopped, shocked, as the voice of Queen Hel sounded in my head, "You will have to give up your revenge for right now, he has other places to be, and you will not be the one to take his life, that eventuality has yet to be decided."

I drew back slightly and smacked Dravis across the head, knocking him out, "What would you have me do then, my queen?" I said this respectfully, but with a grimace.

"You must go to Ban, he is about to make a mistake, and I have a need to speak to the beings he is attempting to contact. Haste is of the essence." I nodded in disgruntlement, but took on my mist body form and flew towards where Ban was.

***

I flew through several cracks until I reached a room with a giant horn that was lit up and Ban and Hawk were standing in front of it.

An eerily familiar voice spoke to Ban, "It would be a simple matter for us to revive a single fairy, but there would be a price. Since we are trapped in this realm, we have no choice but to ask a being such as you to complete this task, will you do it?"

Hawk leaned into Ban, "You should find out what it is before you agree."

"I'll do it, I already said that I'd do anything to get her back."

"WHAT?!" Hawk screeched and my heart sunk, he was going to the Goddesses to get that girl back.

"Very well, we need you to kill a grave threat to this world, we need you to kill Meliodas, the Dragon's sin of Wrath."

Both Ban's and Hawk's mouths dropped open when they heard that and I decided that now was the perfect time to reveal myself, "So you're at it again, huh? You know, it's really rude to ask a man's closest friends to kill him, you really should try something new."

The two whipped around and Ban yelled out, "Janis, what are you doing here?!"

"Oh, you know, calling the Goddesses idiots and following the orders of a certain Queen who we all are in debt to."

"Huh?" Hawk said and I chuckled.

"Queen Hel wished me to come, otherwise I would have no idea that these Goddesses were up to it again. Oh, and Ban, how do you think your little lady would feel if you revived her by killing one of your closest friends; I really do get the desire to bring someone back, no matter what, but it isn't worth it. She seemed like a kind-hearted, gentle person, so I bet she would be smacking you over the head for considering that."

I was going to continue, but the voice of Queen Hel appeared again, "I'm sorry to do this, Janis, but I have need of your voice. These goddesses have been abusing their powers for far too long and it's time we discussed this." 

The next second a light voice that obviously didn't belong to me was coming out of my mouth, "Goddesses, you certainly have changed since we last spoke."

I swear the horn gasped, "Hel, what are you doing projecting yourself through the body of this creature?"

"I would refrain from insulting my vassal if I were you, she's been granted extreme power from me, just as you were several millennia ago. I see you have been using the Horn to convince people to murder?"

"You do not understand the situation perfectly, you are promising this man the empty hope of his love being brought back to him in order to kill an old rival of yours? Pitiful. We both know that it is impossible for the dead to be revived to their former bodies; whatever you brought back would not be the woman he knew."

"We would not be so sure if we were you, Hel; we have learned many new things that could even put your power to shame." The goddesses voice was starting to sound malevolent.

"I see, you have been exploring dark magic, did you never listen to any of my warnings? There will be consequences for that later on. However, we must discuss the desire you have for Meliodas to die, if he dies now, then so will this world. He is needed to protect everyone from my Father, so I will not allow him to be killed; even if that means destroying myself to stop you, I will do it."

"You really believe that this puny group of beings can protect the world from Lord Loki? We question your judgment Hel. We will not stand against him when he comes to fight."

Hel sighed through me, "So that is where you have been learning your dark magic? From my Father? Very well then, I will take great pleasure in removing your only source of communication with the outside world. We both know that if the horn is destroyed, then you will not be able to talk with my Father, Janis, or anyone else again until your power is fully recovered."

A power other than my own began to build and an outside force raised my hand; a pulse of energy was shot at the horn and it began to burn, magic greater than I had ever felt was swirling around it, causing more explosions to go off until the whole thing was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes.

"Queen Hel, why would you do that?" My body was turned around so that we could look at Ban, "They were my only chance of seeing Elaine again, now I will never be able to hold her again." His eyes were burning with fury and Hel made me walk up to him and wrap him in a hug.

"They were lying to you. The goddess race holds no power over death, but they claim they do in order to gain favors from others. They could bring a semblance of Elaine back to life, but it would not be her, it would be an abomination that would have to be destroyed to stop its rampage. I'm so sorry, but no one would want their loved ones to be brought back in such a state."

His head dropped, "Is there any way, Queen Hel? You are the queen of the dead, if anyone would know, it would be you."

She sighed and lifted his head, "There is no way. I'm so sorry, but the cycle of life is one of life and death, if there was a way to disrupt that balance, then all would be thrown into chaos and it would bring sorrow to all." I felt something mischievous sneaking up in her brain, "Ban, instead of focusing on what is gone, you really should see who is right in front of you, it would be a blessing to you both."

"Queen Hel, that was totally unnecessary and ill-timed, he's mourning over a woman he loved!" I shouted mentally and I felt her slight irritation.

"Janis, that may be so, but your brother is right about something, which you will never hear me say again, but you have been alone far too long. It is time for people to enter your life in a more permanent way. I'm doing this for your own good."

"I don't care if you're doing this for my own good, you will stop this right now! If anything happens, it will happen naturally, so stop it!"

She grumbled but I felt a slight sense of relenting in her, "Ban, you really should go with Janis sometime to the Necropolis so that you can have an in-depth talk with Elaine, I have heard that she wants to talk to you." And with that, my body was my own again, thank heavens.

"I'm sorry about that Ban, but the queen was right, if they were to revive Elaine, she would be a threat to everyone." I continued to hug him tightly, but our time was running short, "What do you say Ban? Should we go out there and save the friends that are still living?"

He didn't say anything but stood up with the most determined look I've ever seen from him, "I'm ready, let's go stop these idiots."