well, they're acting strange

A/N: Thank you bumblesquee15 and insert_penname  for helping me through my writer's block and the silly mistake I made. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the book!

My flying had gotten pretty sloppy. I'm not exactly sure why, I'd been flying regularly most days. Was it that I needed to practice flying faster?

Either way I was going to be late if I didn't pick up the pace.

I leaned forward as if that was going to somehow increase my speed, until I finally saw the rock expanse where we were supposed to meet.

'Just five minutes,' he'd said, already pulling me into his lips. 'You're fast, you won't be late.'

I'd be damned if I was going to think with my nonexistent dick again and let him convince me. This was a serious mission, I couldn't be late!

I spotted Drole's large body and sighed in relief. They hadn't left yet, thank goodness.

I hadn't even landed before Meliodas shot me a narrowed glare. "Dude, any other day. Literally any other day."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let's just go," I sighed.

"This conversation isn't over," he said, fashioning his wings and taking to the air.

Which meant it certainly was. He really wasn't one to hold petty grudges, not anymore. Thank God for Elizabeth.

"Prelialduis, you're here too?" Drole asked.

"Jeez, I know I was late, you don't have to egg on me too."

"Uh, hello?" Meliodas called. He was already taking off.

"Right," I said, conjuring my own wings and following him.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Drole asked frantically.

"Hey!" Gloxinia called behind us.

We took off in the direction of the Valley of Fossils.

"Hey, come on, wait up!" Drole whined uncharacteristically.

I think I had pretty much ruined the mood, because apart from Drole and Gloxinia talking quietly behind us, the journey was silent. Elizabeth glanced at me at one point, her face unreadable.

Okay, those five extra minutes with Riane were not worth all this tension.

The green expanse made way for a forest of dried up trees and I stopped thinking about the guilt I was feeling. We had bigger problems.

"We're coming up on the Valley of Fossils now!" Meliodas called back to all of us. "Are the three of you ready?"

I nodded fiercely, letting my Demon mark expand on my forehead to increase my power and deal with the more dangerous threats we were going to face. Ordinarily I'd have bitched about why he wasn't asking Elizabeth, but I didn't have time for that now.

Drole didn't seem to have the same priority for the situation. "For what? What are you talking about?"

The bright and vibrant landscape of Britannia was completely gone. In its place a scene of ruin and chaos was ablaze as bright as the fire that ravaged the land. Littered around were the unmistakable silhouettes of the gray Demons and Albions. A group of grays in the air released a wicked red beam of energy from their mouths and destroyed the buildings in their direction. The Albions finished the job by punching holes in the places where the Humans were hiding and seeking them out.

I noticed a Human running away from a gray that had locked onto him and was about to trample him, and sped to his aid, slashing up the Demon in one slice. Three more showed up behind me immediately and I swung my cutlass wide, cutting off one's head, the other's torso, and finishing off the third by slicing it in half.

A growl in the distance caught my attention and I whirled around to see Calmadios facing Gloxinia and Drole.

"Not good," I mumbled. "Meliodas!"

He turned to me, and I pointed to the problem.

I looked at the Fairy King and Giant King. They looked kind of scared. What the hell was up with them today?

Oh no, they better not try to run...

"No good!" I heard Meliodas call out to them. "You'll just be cursed by his Commandment! Don't run no matter what!"

A gray interrupted him by sending a beam his way, and he dodged it and moved to defeat it. I moved to go and help them, but I was intercepted as well, Albions and grays moving toward me.

I growled and cut through them each two by two, until I was left with two particularly stubborn Albions. I stole a glance at the two kings, and saw Gloxinia launch an attack at Calmadios that inflicted significant damage.

Guess they were done screwing around, at least. I sighed and faced my opponents. The Albions both sent simultaneous blasts towards me, just as I had turned back.

"Oh, that's low," I smirked. "Trying to defeat your opponent when they're not paying attention?"

I took to the air, getting slightly closer to the attacks coming my way. When they were almost too close, I swung my sword.

"Full Counter!"

The blasts ricocheted right back to the Albions and engulfed them, disintegrating their cores.

As if an echo, Meliodas' "Full Counter" came a moment later, from a distance.

I turned in the direction it came from and watched Calmadios' 'Evil Breath' head right back at him. I looked away, sighing a little. It didn't make it any easier hurting our former comrades just because they were fighting for something different.

Once it was done, I flew over to the three of them, looking at Elizabeth as I flew. She'd driven the rest of the Demons away.

"Oh come on!" Gloxinia's voice carried to me as I landed. "How can you all be so calm right now? There are Demons behind us--"

He cut himself short with a glance as he realized they were all gone.

"W-Where'd they go?"

Elizabeth descended beside him. "Oh, I just had them leave."

"What? And how'd you manage to pull that off?" Drole asked incredulously.

"Yeah, cause those things were on a rampage," Gloxinia agreed. "What did you do?"

Elizabeth looked back at them, smiling. "All I did was talk to them for a little bit. Nobody wants to be in a constant state of conflict, after all."

"Wow," Meliodas and I whispered together.

"Hey!" a voice called from behind us. "You really helped us out there!"

We turned to see three humans approaching, one I recognized.

"Thanks to you, we're still alive and kicking."

I stared. "What is he doing here?"

At the same time, Gloxinia yelled, "Ban!"

I turned to him in confusion. "Who?"

But he wasn't there anymore. He'd flown to Rou and hovered beside him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Ban? Who's that?" Rou asked.

"Oh, sorry," Gloxinia faltered. "You just, uh, you kinda look like somebody I know."

"Really? Huh," Rou hummed.

Someone who looked like Rou? That meant the person also probably looked like Riane. Weird.

"How do you know this guy?" Meliodas asked.

"Oh, he's Riane's cousin," I said, trying to hide my distaste. "I met him a few times."

"So you guys are Stigma warriors, right?" Rou asked, completely ignoring me.

"Stigma what?" Drole asked.

I looked at him. So they were still playing this silly game, huh?

"You know," Rou prompted. "That three-race alliance between the Giants and Fairies who are led by the Goddesses."

Meliodas walked up to him. "All of us came out here from the Fairy King's forest. We heard this place was under attack by the Demon race and wanted to help out."

"Hey, do you think you could let us come on board too?" Rou asked him.

"I don't see why not, welcome aboard!"

"You can call me Rou," he smiled.

"I'm Meliodas."

They fist bumped to solidify their union. I tried not to gag.

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

The warm light shone as Elizabeth's hand hovered over Silas' arm. The wound slowly faded away until his skin was perfectly fine.

"Woah, it's healed up," he gasped, amazed. "Thanks so much."

"It's dangerous out here. I think it's best if we hurry back to our base now," Elizabeth said.

We all took off, walking now to accommodate our Human guests. We didn't take more than a few hours before we reached the outskirts of the Fairy King's forest.

"So this is the Fairy King's forest, huh?" Rou said, looking around.

Gloxinia sighed. "You can really see the difference in magic power levels. I think I'm losing my confidence."

Wasn't this his forest? What the hell was he going on about?

Drole looked up at the white tip of the base above the trees and gasped. "What's that over there?"

"You know," Meliodas said, turning around to face them, "the two of you are acting really weird today."

"It's our base, don't you remember? The place where we gather as Stigma and live literally almost every day?" I said slowly, like I was speaking to a child.

They covered their mouths as if they were shocked.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I didn't have time for these games, I already had to put up with the insufferable Rou being here already.

We finally got to the base and stood at the bottom of the steps. The silhouette of one of the Goddesses approached, the pink hair coming into view revealing Nerobasta.

As if this day couldn't get any freaking better.

"Woah, is that...?" a Human said behind me.

"A Divine one. The Goddess race's Lance Corporal," another one said beside me.

Her eyes closed, Nerobitchsta spoke. "So you've finally returned? To think it actually took all three of you to take down a single Ten Commandment."

She had this thing where she addressed all of us and conveniently left out me and my brother. She thought it was hilarious. What were we, five?

I narrowed my eyes even more, and felt similar waves of anger coming off of Meliodas.

"Come now, Nerobasta," a new voice, even more irritating than the last, said, approaching beside her. "That's quite enough."

"This magic power," Rou mumbled. "Wait, could it be?"

Nerobasta spread her hand out all divine-like (I personally thought she looked stupid) and declared, "Down on your knees, Humans! You are in the presence of our glorious Leader. Sir Ludociel of the Four Archangels!"

Ludociel stood there regally, drinking in the sick satisfaction he got from being given so much attention.

"I am pleased to have heard what happened," he said, after a few moments. "You were able to save our friends who were wounded in battle. That being aid, I would like to welcome you all here."

"I don't believe it," someone remarked.

"One of the four Archangels of the Goddess race."

"Your timing is perfect," Ludociel continued. "I have good news for you. That which all races have been hoping for.The end of the Holy War, at long last, is upon us."

"That's wonderful!" Elizabeth smiled. "Have we called a truce with the Demon race?"

Oh, Elizabeth. So naïvely optimistic. I sighed.

Ludociel wore an unsettling smile on his face. "The time has finally come. For the Demons to be destroyed."

My breathing became faster. My vision was going red at the ends. I needed some air before I wrung this man's skinny neck. I walked away without another word, into the dense coverings of the forest.

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

I had been pacing angrily at my favorite spot in the forest for two hours trying to calm down. I finally took a few breaths and sat down on a boulder, my head in my hands.

That pretentious prick. How could he say something like that so casually? I didn't know where these Goddesses got off being so cocky, but I had to bear it. While their priorities were misconstrued, their intentions were in the right place.

But I would be damned if I'd let that son of a bitch lay a hand on any Demon that hadn't done him any wrong.

"Hey," a voice said in front of me. A voice that immediately subdued my homicidal thoughts and calmed me down.

When I looked up at Riane, I was smiling. "Hey."

He moved around the animals I had accidentally killed with my miasma and sat down on the boulder beside me, letting me lean on his shoulder.

"You heard what Mr. High-And-Mighty said, didn't you?" I asked.

"Rou filled me in. Ludociel's an ass. Don't let him get to you. I know you, Meliodas and Elizabeth will never let him implement what he's planning."

"Never."

His head rested on top of mine. "I missed you."

"It's been a long day, huh?" I smiled.

"Yeah, wish I was fighting beside you."

I stopped leaning and looked at him. "You know, Riane, things are getting really serious in the war right now. I'm really scared you might get hurt."

"I'm tougher than that," he chuckled. "Don't worry about me, Little Demon, I have some pretty good survivalist skills. I'd never leave you alone."

I smiled. Yes he would. Maybe not now, but in about sixty years he'd be gone. I tried not to think about that and reassure myself that for now, he'd be okay.

He kissed me, his hands holding my cheeks tenderly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in deeper.

"We'd better head back," he said, out of breath, a smile on his face. "The others will start thinking a bear ate us."

"Hilarious," I sneered. "By the way, what is Rou doing here, anyway?"

Riane laughed. "You could at least try and pretend you're not struggling to say that normally."

I shrugged. It's been a long day, I didn't care much for appearances right then.

"He wanted to join Stigma. He's been talking about it for a while."

"Well, I would have appreciated a heads-up," I huffed, standing up.

"You're cute when you're pouty," he said, his hands grabbing my waist and pulling me back so that I was sitting on his lap.

"Shut up."

He kissed me again, this time more passionately as his tongue slid out to meet mine.

'Well, this is a fine way to get rid of my anger, I suppose', I thought as I lifted his shirt over his body.