Renovations

A/N: I'd like to give a special thanks to @Autri2004 for getting me off my lazy ass. Sorry y'all, I'm back on it now. Here's your first chapter. Now shoo, shoo!

"He is the biggest drama queen ever," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

Ban looked at me and chuckled. "You're realizing this now?"

I pushed him a little, then looked back down to where my brother Meliodas slaughtered a blue Demon using his power '1,000 divine cuts'. He didn't have to use it, these Demons were beyond easy to kill, so all he needed was a simple slash. But because Meliodas was Meliodas, he had to make it snappy.

"Ugh." I stood, drawing my swords.

"Prelialduis, please fight these stupid Demons with me," Ban smiled, holding his hand out to me.

Ban was kind of a dick, honestly. One night a few weeks ago, I drank too much sake - which, by the way, meant I finished everything in the tavern, since we were heading to Vanya the next day anyway - and I told Ban all about his doppelganger Riane. Yes, I'm an idiot, I know. Maybe I subconsciously assumed he would be too drunk to remember the next day.

But remember it he did, and now he went out of his way to tease me subtly at random times. At first it completely caught me off guard. Especially that time he went out and bought a brunet wig and came back wearing it and decent clothes. I quite literally choked on my food. Meliodas howled with laughter until tears streamed down from his eyes.

But now I'd more or less gotten used to it, and I'd reciprocate his stupid actions with ease.

"It would be my pleasure," I grinned back now, taking his hand.

We jumped off the cliff we'd been standing on and I let go. I moved my blades in wicked arcs, cutting down three Demons in one go. When I landed on the ground, two surrounded me, but I slashed wide and their heads were detached from their bodies. Another two circled above me, but I leaped into the air, took their heads and bashed them together, and they dropped to the ground, dead.

I landed again and looked around. Meliodas and Ban had taken care of the rest.

Meliodas dusted his hands, a smirk on his face. "Mission accomplished!"

"What's going on? You were looking kinda rusty back there, Captain," Ban teased.

I walked over to them.

"Right back at you, buddy," Meliodas retorted.

"Of course, I was perfect, as usual," I smirked, my chin in the air.

"Yeah, if perfect was sloppy as hell," Meliodas said, flicking at me.

A grunt from in front of us called us back to attention. Our smiles dropped and we looked at the men we'd saved. They'd managed to free themselves at least, and they sat on the ground in exhaustion, watching us.

We walked over to them.

"Okay, I got a question," Meliodas said. "Where did these Demons manage to capture all of you guys?"

The man closest to him spoke. "There's a village not too far from here that fell for an evil trap. Those who lived there, and those passing through..."

"I get the idea. We'll talk some more after we've taken care of them."

We all removed our weapons and went in the direction of the remaining Demons.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Meliodas swallowed a piece of meat hungrily. "Oh man, this tastes so good! Just getting to eat your cooking makes coming back from the dead totally worth it."

"Aww, thanks, bro-" I began.

"I was talking to Ban."

"Then let's see how you do without my cooking, dumbass," I hissed.

He chuckled.

"Thanks, and I'm glad to be fighting by your side again, Captain, I gotta say," Ban smiled, diverting the attention.

"Yeah, me too!"

"Listen..." Ban continued in a solemn tone.

We looked at him seriously.

"You've got your strength, and that's great, but you're still nowhere near the level you were that day, right?"

Meliodas looked down.

Suddenly a flash of my memories - no, not mine, my brother's - flashed through my mind.

Earlier when I killed Fraudrin, I felt so good.

I felt tears sliding down my face, but my mouth was turned up into a smile. I looked down at the fire as it crackled.

I'm scared...of turning back into who I once was. But I...I still gotta let it happen. Otherwise I won't be able to save you.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me comfortingly, a warm body pressing against me. Immediately, I felt a wave of happiness and assurance.

Everything's going to be alright. I promise you, the voice said.

Elizabeth.

No matter what happens, no matter what enemies we face, I'll be on your side, forever and ever, until the end of time.

Then the crackling of the fire brought me back to the present, where Ban looked at both of us with a confused look, and Meliodas' head was still down.

"What just happened?" he asked.

I shrugged it off.

He looked at my brother. "Hey, just so you know, no matter what kind of mental baggage you're carrying around in that head of yours, it doesn't change the fact that you're my friend. You're the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas the Dragon Sin."

Then he took a large bite out of his meat, ending his monologue.

Meliodas smiled. "Thanks, Ban."

"I want a compliment too," I whined.

"You're a big baby," Ban deadpanned.

"Gee, thanks."

"Alright, then, what's our next move?"

Meliodas hummed in thought. "Well, it seems like we're done rescuing the travelers captured by the Demon race like Bartra asked, so our next move would be to take back Camelot Castle. At least, that's what it would be."

I turned to him.

"But, before all that, there's something else we've gotta do, remember?" he said, grinning.

"Oh, Ordan," I said.

"Uh huh."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A purple-tongued yellow Demon - famously nicknamed "Slimy" by Meliodas and Yours Truly - had a little kid in a chokehold, its fat tail wrapped around his poor throat.

Ugly fuckers they were. I had no idea why my old man created them.

Meliodas slipped ahead, and silently took down a red Demon that was spectating. We all jumped on top of it to make our presence known.

Slimy turned to look at us with that repulsive face of his. "Who the hell are they? Kill them!"

A grey Demon lunged at us from the air, but I swiped one of my swords, not even bothering to take the other out of its scabbard, and the Demon fell to the side of us, chopped in half.

Two other greys made their way at the same time, but Meliodas and Ban dealt with them, slicing their heads off.

A rumbling sound like an earthquake erupted behind us. We all turned to find an orange Demon bounding towards us.

"Come here, let me devour your souls!" it declared.

Ban and Meliodas ran to meet it, and sent blows its way that knocked it back. But it regained momentum, and marched forward again.

"Your souls!" it repeated.

"He's stubborn," Meliodas said, landing.

"What a pain in the ass," Ban agreed.

"Let me devour them!" the creature yelled, running heavily towards us.

I looked up at Escanor, who had an impassive look on his face. I still couldn't wrap my head around his contrast from day to night. It was crazy.

He looked at me now, and I swear to God I saw him winking.

"Um, Escanor, the Demon-" I began.

"Hush," he said, silencing me.

So, as Meliodas and Ban jumped out of the way, Escanor stood there as the orange Demon got to him and rained down punch after powerful punch. I knew subconsciously that he was going to be okay, but, like I said, the change still threw me off.

From the corner of my eye I saw Slimy the motherfucker release its hostage, throwing the child high into the air and launching a barrage of punches at him.

I growled, moving to end its miserable existence, when Gowther intercepted, sending an arrow of light into the center of its head.

"I don't think so,' he said in his monotone voice.

Suddenly Slimy began throwing punches at itself. "What the-? Why am I hitting myself?"

Gowther caught the child who'd been falling, and watched calmly.

The man I assume to be his father rushed over to take his son, and Gowther handed him over.

Well, I guess he's fine there.

I turned back to Escanor, who was still being pounded on by the orange Demon.

Suddenly it stopped, looking down at its fists. "Huh? My hands! What happened to my hands?"

Escanor stood in the exact same position, unfazed, and cracked his neck.

What a showoff. I'd never seen such pride before, it was kind of intriguing.

"That massage was pretty average," he said, then turned to side-eye the Demon. "Needs work."

He jumped into the air, spinning once to gain traction, and with his massive freaking axe he ripped a line clean through the Demon's torso. Both halves fell to either side.

Slimy had finally finished beating itself black and blue, and looked over at us weakly. We moved so that we were next to it.

"Alright, you blob," Meliodas said, grinning. "Wanna keep going? Or would you rather take off with that dirty tail between your legs?"

"You're actually uglier than you were before. Now that's shocking," I chuckled.

It turned then, slithering away hurriedly and escaping.

"Damn," I sighed. "I did want to kill it."

Suddenly we noticed a darkness approaching, and we looked up to find a whole army of red and grey Demons flying towards the village. 

Slimy the motherfucker spoke. "You've done it now! Turning the Demon race against you is the same as turning the Ten Commandments against you!"

He raised his nasty hands in the air to guide the Demons. "Burn the whole village to the ground!"

Each Demon opened its mouth, and each mouth formed a ball of power.

"As a matter of fact, that's exactly who we came to take down," Meliodas said, his eyes narrowed. "We're the Seven Deadly Sins!"

I jumped into the air. 

"Full Counter!" I shouted, swinging my swords in retaliation to all the Demons' blasts, and reflecting it all back to them.

An explosion ensued, eliminating every last Demon in the air.

"Don't forget, okay?" Meliodas said, now looking at Slimy, who looked so scared it could shit itself.

"Have a nice trip back to Hell," Ban said. I turned and saw he held Slimy's heart in his hand.

It frantically grasped at its heart in disbelief, before spurting out blood and dropping to the ground, dead.

The village started cheering in victory.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Alrighty, you swine!" Hawk announced. "Come one, come all, behold! It's the moment you've all been waiting for, the dedication ceremony for the new Boar Hat!"

I stood and looked way, way up at the tarp that covered our new tavern. It was way larger now, so we could each have our own rooms.

Meliodas dashed to pull the tarp. "C'mon, Ban, let's take a look!"

Ban materialized next to him, his hand on the tarp too. "I'm right behind ya!"

"Hey! Get away from there, that's my job!" Hawk squealed.

But it was too late. The two boys pulled down the tarp, revealing the new Boar Hat. It was shaped like a large flagon, complete with a decorative handle. I saw a really beautiful balcony shaped like a saucer on what looked like the second floor, somewhere we could all sit together and have a drink.

Meliodas laughed. "Oh wow, it's perfect!"

"You robbed me of my moment, you scumbags! I hope you get run over by a big fat pig and die!" Hawk sobbed.

"Not gonna happen," Meliodas said, deadpan.

"That's so mean!" I mock-complained.

Meliodas turned to me, eyebrow raised in amusement and arms folded.

"I'm so sorry, Hawk," I said, walking over and petting him on his rump.

He sniffed a little. "Th-Thanks, Prelialduis. You're so nice, I still can't believe you two are related.

"Oh, I can," Meliodas mumbled.

"Aw, don't worry, Master," Ban smirked. "I promise to give you all the best scraps in the world."

Hawk broke into tears again. "Ban, you're forgiven!"

Meliodas turned to Elizabeth. "So, what do you think? The new Boar Hat's pretty awesome, right, Elizabeth?"

"It is," she agreed, a warm smile on her face.

"Hey, Elizabeth," Hawk interjected. "Just remember, it's not like he built it or anything. He didn't lift a finger!"

"Easy, Hawk, who do you think paid all the renovation fees on this place?" Meliodas said, trying to defend himself.

"Uh, the King?" Hawk answered without hesitation.

I snorted.

"What?! How'd you know about that?" Meliodas spluttered.

"It wasn't exactly a secret, dumbass, he literally told all of us," I laughed.

"Yeah, and you gotta get up pretty early in the morning to fool me," Hawk added.

 "Your argument is null and void, you didn't do shit." I stuck my tongue out at him, to which he responded with a warm middle finger.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Although peace has been restored to Liones," King Bartra announced, "the rest of Britannia remains vulnerable to the ongoing threat of the Ten Commandments. Therefore, to prepare for the imminent battle with the Demon race, I would like to appoint a new Grandmaster."

The Sins, Elizabeth, Hawk and I stood in the palace courtyard surrounded by a crowd of Holy Knights, summoned by Bartra for an announcement he wanted us all to hear.

"Uh, who was the previous Grandmaster again?" I whispered to Ban.

"Dreyfus," he responded.

Fraudrin's previous host. Weird, why'd he step down? It wasn't his fault he got possessed.

"Now I will appoint him. The new Grandmaster is...Howzer."

I looked toward the sandy haired guy I'd met when I first came here. He was powerful, definitely, but he also seemed to have a lot of untapped potential, if he got a little more serious. He was a good choice.

"Wait, m-me?" he spluttered, his eyes wide. "N-No way, I come from a family of commoners."

"What is your point?" Bartra asked him matter-of-factly.

"But I just--"

"In the defensive war against Liones," the king interjected, "you kept a cool head in a time of crisis. You encouraged the others and used your own body as a shield. These qualities are exactly the kind needed in a Grandmaster."

Howzer looked like he was about to pass out.

"Of course, you still have a lot to learn, so you'll only be serving in an interim capacity for now."

The Holy Knights began to cheer for him. "Way to go, Grandmaster!" "Let's do this!" "Fix the haircut first!"

"Hold on, what's wrong with my hair?" Howzer yelled indignantly.

"So then," Bartra said, "what's your answer?"

He looked at the king for a moment, before assuming a warrior stance. "I promise I'll do my very best!"

Uproarious cheers erupted from the crowd.

"Attaboy, Temp!" Meliodas cheered.

"Way to go, Howzer!" I yelled.

"Yeah, good luck, Temp!" Hawk called, copying Meliodas' jeer.

"Go, Gil's fill in," Griamore smirked.

"Hey, aren't you going a little overboard with all this 'fill-in', 'temp' stuff?!"

"Can't let a guy have his victory, can you?" I scoffed at my brother.

"Hey, I'm very happy for him! He's a kind-of Grandmaster," he chuckled.

The knights began filing out now that the king's announcement had been made, and we followed right behind them, me still going on to Meliodas and now Hawk about their half-assed congratulations.

Bartra's voice stopped us. "Meliodas, do you have a minute?"

He turned around, his hands on the back of his head the way they usually were when he was thinking and didn't want to look solemn. The rest of us turned as well.

"Sure, what's up, Bartra?"

"This morning, I had quite a clear vision," Bartra announced.

Meliodas' hands left his head. "Oh yeah?"

"The moon shining at midday," he said, his eyes closed. "Low hanging fog. When it fills the kingdom, the Seven Deadly Sins will gather once again."

"King and Diane too, huh?" Meliodas muttered.

"I'm all about it, but I'm not really seeing that moon anywhere, guys," Hawk said, looking at the sky.

We all followed his gaze to the clear sky, daylight shining bright.

"Indeed. It seems that for now the time has not yet come."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

First night in my new room. It was definitely bigger than the attic Meliodas had dumped on me, and quite a bit nicer. The bed was at one corner of the room, facing out to a window that had a pretty good view. There were two chairs and a table next to it as well, though I loved having my own personal space so I doubted they'd be used much. A stand for my swords was situated next to the door, beside a closet.

I placed my swords in their new stand and walked over to my new bed. I had intended on simply testing how comfortable it was, but the moment I plonked onto it I felt my eyelids begin to droop. I hadn't slept much since Meliodas...you know...and it had caught up with me big time. It was only moments before I drifted off into a heavy slumber.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Glimpses. Of the Fairy King's Forest. When Riane was by my side. When Meliodas and I would patrol the forest because we couldn't sleep, thinking of how we'd betrayed our family.

But something felt different. Something was completely off.

Gloxinia. Drole. Why were they acting like this?

Fucking weirdos.