I'm back! Yay!

So it's been a little bit. I had a quarter finished before x-mas but stuff got in the way. Then when I did want to write, I was recovering from a breast reduction surgery and so typing become a wee bit of a struggle.

Anyway, hope you all are staying safe!

There is a link to see Beth's Boar Hat outfit on my profile!

[27/5/2020—minor corrections]

Chapter 7: The Sword of the Holy Knight

It felt so surreal when I woke; while I'd accepted long ago who and where I was, actually standing within the Boar Hat was just… just so incredulous.

The rock of Mama Hawk walking was surprisingly soothing, nothing like the jarring movement I was expecting.

Hawk was napping quietly to my right as I sat on the edge of the porch sketching ideas for an outfit—something that was nothing like Liones wore. The pink uniform was never going to be something I would even contemplate wearing. Instead, I wanted something to my knees, something that fit in within the Boar Hut. That meant black, white, and green—all of which Meliodas had in fabric.

Honestly, I was kind of afraid to ask how much clothing he got through.

But once I'd gotten a rough idea of what I'd wanted, it all came together.

A white underdress with black overtop, the green for a belt to act as an accent to break up the white and black. The final piece, with black leggings underneath for my own sanity and modesty with Mel, should do the job.

The door of the tavern opened and closed again, Mel coming to sit to my left.

"Told you you had beautiful drawings." There was a grin on his face and was obviously referring to something that I couldn't remember.

"What?" I questioned with a confused huff.

"You used to get this adorable blush whenever someone asked about your drawings." His grin widened, reaching out to pinch my cheeks. "It was so cute—awe, you're blushing."

I batted his away as he laughed lightly, my cheeks warm. Right, I remember that now. My drawing skills were still in the refining stage before Zaratras's death, so he hadn't seen the leap in progress I'd made, but I'd been really hesitant to show anyone my drawings since a lot of them was me trying to remember my life as Bethany, so people would get confused about what the images were about.

"Well, art's always been my favourite pastime. That's certainly never changed." I held the sketchbook for him to take. He did. "Is that okay?"

Meliodas hummed, lips curling upwards again—this time into a smile that I was getting rather familiar with, unfortunately. "You sure I can't tempt you into something a bit shorter?" I scoffed and he continued with laughter in his voice. "It's lovely, Beth. I'm glad you kept your passion for art."

I nodded enthusiastically. "I love drawing environments a lot, there's just so much to encapsulate! And being able to sew lets me bring a lot of my ideas to life."

"May I look through the rest of the book?" He asked, head titled but never looking away from the sketchbook.

"Knock yourself out." I shot him a smile and stood. Intent to start figuring out measurements and how much fabric I had to work with.

I had memorized all the numbers when it came to sizes for myself—I couldn't rely solely on having a written version in case something happened to said written piece.

It took me roughly seventy-two hours, give or take, to complete the outfit. With how simple the entire plan was, and lack of any real complex additions, the time was significantly cut down from my usual dresses, which were more upper-class and suitable for my status. The only time-consuming part was the ruffles at the base, collar, and sleeves of the dress.

Within the day of finishing the dress, we had reached the outskirts of Bernia.

"So." I lifted an arm, pulling some of the fabric with it, to display the dress better. "Whatcha think?"

Hawk squealing. "Amazing! I've never seen someone put clothes together that fast before! Meliodas sure can't!"

Hawk got a thump on the head from said blond for the comment.

"It came out perfectly, Beth. Good tavern uniform." Mel answered giving a thumbs up and purposely ignored Hawk's groan of pain.

I can only imagine what his skills are like, especially with his cooking as the only example.

I beamed happily.

"I'm just happy pervy over here can't do anything with an outfit like that, Beth." Hawk grumbled.

Only for Meliodas to promptly lift my skirt high enough to reveal my leggings, I epp-ed this time.

"Relax." He purred, amusement colouring his tone. "I'm just checking eeeeeeverythings in order."

I slapped his hands away, holding the fabric against my legs as I tried to ignore the burn on my cheeks.

Hawk snagged Meliodas's ear. "Moron! Stop assaulting Beth! You're gonna scare her off! I don't want the only friendly company to leave!" He wailed.

Aww, I love you too Hawk.

I just smiled fondly at the scene before focusing. "How should I go about asking about information? Don't you think just randomly asking about them might seem a bit off too people?"

"Stuff on the Holy Knights would be a good idea, too." Mel mused, hand finding his chin thoughtfully and completely ignored what I'd asked.

"That reminds me." I rubbed the back of my head where I'd hit my head and gotten that concussion. "You don't happen to remember what happened the day of Zaratras' death, do you? I remember I had been looking for you when everything went to hell."

Meliodas frowned. "You don't remember either?"

"Huh?" I blinked, what was he talking about? "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't remember anything myself, only some flashes." Mel answered, arms crossed. "Curious."

"I had a concussion if that makes a difference."

Hawk squawked. "When was this?"

"Ten years ago, Hawk." I waved him off. "But the Physician said memory loss can be normal with a concussion."

Meliodas's frown deepened before he shrugged, a smile replacing the thoughtful expression but I knew he hadn't forgotten about it.

"First stop for information: Bernia Village!" Meliodas announced as he stepped outside and we got a beautiful view of the entire village. "I get my liquor from all over, but Bernia's is special. Bernia Ale is made from what's touted as the finest water in all Liones and the gruit that grows along the river." He flashed a grin my way. "It has fans all over the country."

"Can't say I've ever tried any ale before." It was true, my statues left me drinking wine more often than not and I wasn't a big a fan of wine to begin with—and wine here was a lot stronger tasting, albeit having less alcohol in it.

"Guess we'll have to remedy that, eh?" Meliodas wagged his brows and I only gave him an amused look.

"Maybe so, but the famous water of theirs has gone bone dry." Hawk noted, and Mel and I stepped up to the bridge to peer down into the dried up river.

"The herbs have withered too, must have been at least five days since they are plants that need a lot of water." I mused thoughtfully. Both Mel and Hawk blinked at me and I gave them a confused look. "What?"

"You know a lot about plants, Beth?" Hawk asked.

My cheeks warmed. "I… have a few back home."

A flash of my shelves of potted plants come to mind. Heh, a few.

I hope someone's watering them for me.

"I wonder what happened." Meliodas questioned, peering down the path toward the village centre. He made a curious noise. "There seems to be a gathering of sorts up ahead."

I followed Mel, and Hawk trotted after us.

Approaching, it was easy to see that everyone was crowding around the centre of the village square. Despite the number of people and the volume of noise, it was clear something was wrong. The villagers were all wearing looks of frustration and desperation.

Mel moved forward. "Yo."

The redshirted guy just in front of him turned; a look of surprise but familiarity too. "You're the owner of the Boar Hat, right?"

"Yep, that's me. What's going on?"

"We're trying to pull out a sword a Holy Knight jabbed into the ground!" He ground his jaw in anger.

"A Holy Knight struck his sword in the ground? But why?"

An older gentleman stepped up. "The other day, we incurred the wrath of this Holy Knight. He infused the sword with magic and sealed off all the groundwater sources under the village."

"If we don't do something, it won't just be water, we'll lose our gruit, too!"

"If that happens, there'll be no more Bernia Ale… damn it!"

With the slight gap between the people, I snagged a glance at the sword handle—Gilthunder's sword.

I exhaled, hating myself at that moment for allowing my memory to fade over time. I could remember flashes, names, words—but like my memories of Before…wait—

I pursed my lips, when had my memories started to fade? I could have sworn—never mind.

Shuffling nearer to Mel, I leant close. "I know that sword."

He blinked. "You do."

I nodded. "Gil."

His eyes widened.

"Only the power of a Holy Knight can draw the sword of one." The old man continued grimly. "It'll be difficult to break it to everyone, but this village is done for…"

Before I could respond to the elderly man, a child—Mead, right?—approached. "What's with all the pathetic moaning and groaning, you guys?"

"Mead!" I was right.

"Some Holy Knight's sword stuck in the ground is nothing! This would be a piece of cake for my buddies, the Seven Deadly Sins."

("Does random people saying that happen often?"

Meliodas simply smiled. I didn't know if I wanted to sigh or rub the back of neck; I did both. Mel patted my arm.)

"That's enough, Mead! Whose fault do you think it is that we're in this fix?!" A brunette woman interrupted, tone distraught. "Of all this things to say! Why bring up those criminals?!"

"She right! Don't make the Holy Knights any angrier!"

"Do you have a grudge against us?!"

"Oh, come on… that isn't why I did it!" Mead argued, tone wavering.

"We've had all we can take of your lies and mischief!"

A young girl grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it—only instead of hitting Mead, it flew right past him and collided with Meliodas's face. I winced, hand covering my mouth as the rock fell and he blinked his eyes open, more startled than in any actual pain.

"Hmph! I hate you guys!"

"Yeah, well we hate you more, Mead!"

The kids started throwing more rocks as Meliodas chose that moment to swoop in and lead Mead away.

"Looks like we picked a lousy time to come here." Hawk commented.

"Deep down, he's an honest, earnest lad." The elderly man sighed heavily.

"Where are his parents?" I asked.

"They passed several years ago. They were travellers and we happily took him in when they did. But it seems he doesn't quite understand why we keep him here." He mourned quietly. "He lashes out in the only way he thinks will get him attention. He threw a bug into the Holy Knights drink and in retaliation, the Holy Knight did this." He waved an arm half-heartedly at the sword.

"Thank you." I smiled softly, an idea forming and I beckoned Hawk to follow as I began the journey to the Boar Hat at a more passive pace than Meliodas.

I heard them talking as I opened the door to the tavern.

"Hey, you two." Mel greets.

I give Mel a smile before focusing on Mead, hands linked behind my back as I lean forward. "I hear that you're quite the troublemaker." His eyes widen. "The elderly man told me all about it." A bit of an exaggeration but it was needed for where I wanted to go.

"What's with you? Who do you think you are, lady?" He sniffled, turning his nose up.

"When I was younger, I was often scolded by my father for playing pranks on one of my sisters whenever we'd get into an argument about petty things."

"So what?"

"When he would scold me, he would have me sit with him. Somethings we did nothing, other times he made me do work. But it didn't matter because I had his attention. You see, he isn't my real father and between work and other things, I never really got to spend as much time with him as I liked. There was one time I climbed a really tall tree that was in the garden and tried to give my father a scare. When he saw me, he turned pale as a ghost and climbed up the tree after me. He'd never climbed a tree before and sure enough, he fell out of the tree and hurt himself, fortunately not seriously."

Mead's eyes watered. "I don't lie and stuff just to get a rise out of people either." He admitted.

"Will you tell me about it?" I crouched beside him, hand gripping the edge of the table to ease the strain on my left thigh, the muscle wasn't as strong as my right after I'd been hit with that arrow.

"My… my mum and dad were travellers. But when we made a stop at Bernia a few years ago, they both died in an epidemic. The people of the village took me in and raised me as their own. I was really happy but I wasn't anybody's real family. I got jealous of everybody for having what I didn't." He rubbed his eyes of the falling tears. "So I started lying and playing pranks."

"Is that also why you put the bug in the Holy Knight's drink?"

"No!" He hit the table, startling me enough to waver on my toes. "I did it because that knight treated everybody like crap! The adults and kids alike go to a lot of time and trouble making great ale! And that jerk insulted them all! Holy Knights are no-good bastards!"

I eased myself onto the stall as my thigh began demanding I move position.

"What about that talk of you being friends with the Seven Deadly Sins?" Mel pipped up.

"I—I lied." He looked away sheepishly.

Mel sat back. "I see. I gotta admit, my hopes were up a little."

"But why would you lie about that exactly?" I questioned.

"Well, the Seven Deadly Sins are wanted by the Holy Knights, right? If they're being hunted by evil Holy Knights, then aren't the Seven Deadly Sins the good guys?"

I peered at Hawk first, our expression of amusement matching as we turned to Meliodas to see him finishing his ale. When he realised we were waiting on him, he lowered the cup and opened his eyes in confusion. "Huh?"

Before anyone could comment further however, there was shouting from outside.

"That's coming from the village!" Mead stood and rushed out the door.

For a long moment neither of us moved.

"Say, Beth." Hawk started. "Did you really climb that tree?"

My cheeks burnt in embarrassment; it wasn't one of my finest moments.

"Ahh. Guess you did." Mel hummed.

"I was being a stupid eight-year-old." I sniffled in my defence. "But, uh, we gonna go see what's happening?"

"We probably should."

The two knights—disgusting and corrupt as they came—laughed their drunken heads off. "It's not even budging!"

"We're gonna sit down and have more of this cheap swill of yours!" the other snickered.

It was sickening—seeing the sight before me, as they tried so desperately to free the sword all the while they mocked them.

"Look at the desperate expression on his face!"

"Here's to morons!"

I clutched my elbows, knowing it was the only thing keeping me from lashing out at them.

I felt Mel's fingertips purposely brush against my knuckles as he walked passed, swiping the cups from the knights with little effort that they didn't even notice until they were gone.

"People who can't appreciate good booze don't deserve to drink it."

The rope snapped and the men and Mead all stumbled from the sudden freedom to do so.

I bit my lip, resisting a smile as Mel downed the remains of the ale and set the cups down.

"Sorry, I don't have any money on me right now." Meliodas smile and wrapped his hand around the handle of Gil's sword. "Can I pay with this?"

He pulled the sword like he was simply lifting a near weightless object and I didn't hide the smile this time at the looks of awes from the townsfolk.

"Impossible! Only a Holy Knight could pull that sword!" the shorter knight gapped.

"H-How could a kid like that…" the taller one stuttered.

The ground rumbled and I grinned as water burst from the well they'd been sitting on, sending them flying forward. I approached Mel as he stepped up to the knights.

"You forgot this." He dropped Gil's sword with a smile. The knights flinched back, grappling for the sword before running away.

Mead ran up, eyes wide. "Hang on, mister, are you really…?"

"Yep! I really am the proprietor of a fine drinking establishment!" Meliodas smiled and crossed his arms.

"That's not what I meant!" Mead pointed out.

Mel leant forward with a wink. "Enough about me, don't you have something left to do?"

Mead turned to the other villagers that had finally stood and moved closer.

"Mead…" the elder gentleman that I had spoken to earlier was the one to speak. I supposed he was the head of the village. "What we did was wrong. Can you ever forgive us?" People among the crowd all looked guilty and apologetic.

"What right do I have to forgive you? I'm not one of you…"

I pushed him forward. "Silly boy."

He stared up at me, wide-eyed. "W-What the hell? Why'd you call me that?!" He lowered his gaze. "I don't… understand…"

I muffled my laughter behind my hand as the villagers began chanting Mead's name and it was only moments before he burst into tears, rushing to their open arms.

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can't fool your heart." Mel commented lightly.

I bit my tongue at the sad glaze in his eyes... It wasn't my place.

I smiled out at the sea of customers as I waited for Meliodas to fill the next set of cups.

The feel and crowd was familiar to me and I easily fall back into the routine beside it being seventeen years. Having been a waitress Before, it left me feeling at home in this environment.

"You sure are a natural at this, Beth!" Hawk praised.

I beamed. "I'm used to walking around with a tray when moving my art supplies. So I should hope so!" A semi lie because I couldn't exactly tell them I'm a reincarnated girl that had previous worked in a restaurant. Plus, I did use a tray to move stuff around, albeit not often, so it wasn't technically a lie…

"If anything, it feels kinda good and the familiarity makes my heart pound!"

"Ah, I see. But it's your first time doing it like this."

I paused, Holy shit, was that an innuendo? I turned to Meliodas, face blank and clutching the tray to my chest. He met my eyes, nothing gave away if it was because goddamnit, did Mel have a pokerface.

"Seriously Meliodas!" Hawk butted in and I blinked. Okay, it probably was…

Honestly, I made innuendos as Bethany, albeit they were an inside joke with my friends but—two can play at this game.

I set the drinks on the tray and turned to leave but not before flashing him an oh-so innocent smile. "It sure is, but I'm enjoying it very much, I'm happy you gave me the chance to experience it!"

I did hear the slight choking noise that escaped Meliodas's throat just as Hawk squawked: "E—Elizabeth!"

I laughed and scampered out into the main area. Perhaps this is how I get my payback? I resist the evil grin at the thought.

"—If you get too cheeky, we might leave you in the Forest of White Dreams." The woman Mead had called Auntie scolded playfully and Mead rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

I tilted my head. "What's the Forest of White Dreams?"

Mead spun on his heels. "It's a spooky forest that not even Holy Knights go near!" He shuddered.

I smiled as Mead and the woman continued bantering, a deep ache filled my chest at the sight. But suddenly there was a tingle at the back of my tongue and I swallowed… Gil…

I turned to Meliodas to see he had noticed as well, catching his eye I stepped outside. I breathed in the cool night air but it did little to stop the ozone on my tongue.

Mel stepped upside me. "You felt it too?"

I nodded. "It's Gilthunder's magic." I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth and commented absently: "It's always tasted weird."

"Tasted?" He echoed, looking rather baffled.

I rubbed my neck. "Ah, not taste exactly. I've always been quite receptive to feeling magic, it develops almost like a taste on my tongue. Gilthunder's tingles and like the feeling before a storm—which fits since he's lightning-based. Although—" I frowned. "—considering yours is wheat and pomegranate, Gil's is normal since the taste takes after what the magic is."

"Wheat and pomegranate." Mel reiterated. There was something to his tone that I couldn't quite place, almost like he was remembering something. He shook his head. "I've never heard of someone responding to magic like that before."

I shrugged. "I know. When I first started experiencing it, I asked a few people but none react like I do, so—weird."

He huffed lightly in seemingly amusement and bafflement. Before he focused, turning to face the way the tingle felt the strongest.

"A little more to the left?" He tilted his head.

Then—we heard it.

I tensed, hands pressing down against my dress knowing the strong air current about it hit would likely send it flying upwards.

Watching him catch the spear was rather breathtaking. The bright lightning that encased the spare let it be that I never lost sight of Mel as he was pulled along from the speed at which the spare had come flying.

The loud sounds of ground breaking as he collided with rock had my eyes widening in worry, I knew it wouldn't severely hurt him but it didn't make the sight and sound any less worrying.

"Meliodas!" I found myself calling before racing down toward the village.

He went flying through brick house after brick house, doing major damage to those he did.

Finally, he stopped himself, spinning and launching the spear back at Gilthunder and boy was it just as stunning as seeing him catch the thing.

"Meliodas!" I lifted the front of my dress to run faster when I spotted him again, stood in the middle of the village square. Villagers that hadn't visited the Boar Hat had come running out of their homes...

Thankfully it seemed no one was in the houses Meliodas had gone flying through, which was a relief to see.

Seeing the blood on his hand and the wound it was coming from, I reach forward, cupping his hand with both of mine and tugged at my magic. My hands lit up and I began healing the wound.

While the blood was still there when I removed my hands, the wound was long gone.

"Ah. Thanks." He smiled.

"Whoa, Beth!" Hawk oinked. "I didn't know you could do magic."

I shrugged. "I can heal and make my own arrows. That's about it, nothing too special."

Hawk awed.

"I wouldn't say that's nothing." Mel argued, looking amused before growing serious again. "That was probably our hint to leave the village as soon as possible though."

"You think they'll leave this place alone then?"

"I don't doubt it. If Gil was the one to send it, he knows I wouldn't stay and endanger anyone like that." Mel argued and I nodded in agreement. "True…"

"It'd be nice if we had a place we could hide." Hawk mused.

"Ah, now that you mention it." I tugged at my button lip.

"What is it?"

"Earlier, Mead said that he never wanted to go to the 'Forest of White Dreams'. He said that even Holy Knights steer clear of it."

"That sounds perfect!" Hawk hastily agreed.

"That settles it, then. But we're not gonna hide." Mel put a fist into a palm. "We're gonna do what we're meant to do."

"What do you mean?" Hawk questioned and I myself blinked before my eyes widened with realisation—god, how'd I forget—?

"You mean—?"

"Yeah, I bet one of us lives there." Mel grinned.

Beth's quite forgetful isn't she?