Ruthless

The Festival Pt 2

After they all completely demolished the food Elizabeth and Meliodas had bought, they debated where to go.

"I don't know." Diane sighed.

"Well, I don't really care." Ban grinned. "As long as I have some booze, I'm good~"

"Well, for starters, Lia can't drink alcohol." Gelda said.

"So, no one has any idea?" Estarossa summarised.

"Well, I did hear from one of my friends that there's a booze drinking competition, fun games, and music being played in the town square at two." Diane offered.

"Well, I'm in." Ban said. "You guys comin'?"

"Sure." Diane smiled. Everyone else agreed.

"Hey, Ban?" Meliodas smirked.

"What?"

"You ready to lose at that drinking contest?"

"Like hell I am!" Ban yelled. He started running towards the square and Meliodas just ran past him, obviously attempting to get there first.

"Honestly, it's like watching three kids instead of one." Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head.

"Meliodas has always been like that." Estarossa laughed, he had Lia on his hip. "A big kid. I'm surprised he's the eldest."

Gelda said "Most people would've thought he's the youngest. Even Zeldris looks older than him."

"I'm not sure whether to be offended that I look young or happy that I look older." Zeldris said, confused.

"Just take it as a compliment, brother." Estarossa laughed. "You won't get many of those."

"Shuddup!" Zeldris punched Estarossa in the chest.

They reached the square, and there was a large area with people dancing. Around the edges was various stalls with games and competitions set up.

"Let's go cheer on your brother at the drinking contest, okay?" Elizabeth smiled at Lia.

Lia nodded. "Okay!"

They walked up to a little crowd around a raised platform where they were doing drinking contests. Meliodas and Ban where chugging away fast. All the other competitors had passed out.

"Woohoo! Go Mel!" Lia cheered. Meliodas saw them at the front and flashed her a quick grin.

After another ten minutes, Meliodas was completely fine and still drinking away, a very large pile of ale bottles piled up below him. Ban had barely half the stack.

Suddenly, Ban swayed in his seat and promptly passed out. The crowd cheered in confusion, how did Meliodas drink so much?

Meliodas stood up. "I won." He turned to the judge of the contest. "Can I keep this?" He asked, indicating the half empty bottle in his hand. Meliodas didn't even sound drunk.

"S-sure." The judge stuttered.

Meliodas finished the bottle. "Thanks." He said, adding it to the already enormous pile of empty ale bottles.

Meliodas jumped down from the stage. He walked to them and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek. A few weeks ago, she would have blushed like crazy. She doesn't know why it stopped, but it has. "Shall we go?" He said.

"Where?"

"Oh! Could we go to the play park they have set up? Please, please, please?" Lia begged. My friend Mia will be there!"

"Fine. Is there someone watching?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Yep! There's three old ladies, they run a daycare centre, and the playpark bit is owned by them. You can see it from the dance floor bit." Lia confirmed.

"Well, we'll drop you off and then pick you up when we need to leave, okay?" Meliodas smiled.

"Okay."

Elizabeth and Meliodas walked with Lia to the daycare place. There was quite a few kids scattered round the area. They saw one woman sitting on a chair watching the children. "Be careful John! Wait your turn!" She cried.

Meliodas walked up to the old woman and tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Hello?" The woman faced them. "Oh, goodness gracious, you scared me! I'm Maria, I take it you want to drop your-"

"My sister Lia. Can we leave her here for a while?" Meliodas asked. "She is quite the handful. She can run really fast, if you know what I'm saying."

"Oh! Yes! Don't worry, I'll keep track of her. No need to worry. Well, on you go dearies, have fun. Goodbye!" Lia ran off to play, spotting a little fairy with black hair, most likely Mia.

The two left, then just kind of looked at eachother. "What now?" Meliodas said.

"Let's go to the dancing square. I'm in the mood to dance." Elizabeth giggled.

"Really? I preferred dancing on the balcony last night." Meliodas smiled. Elizabeth blushed. There it was. "I thought you didn't blush when I did things anymore?" He teased.

"What? I d-don't!" Elizabeth blushed even harder.

"Sure!" Meliodas laughed. They joined the dance floor, jumping into the group dance. Turns out, everyone except Ban who was passed out at that drinking contest,  was here and they all danced with eachother. Elizabeth found it strange, how nobody seemed to be scared of the strongest demons in the world were dancing with them.

She chuckled as she was passed from man to man, Zeldris and Estarossa too. She eventually found Meliodas. "Hello." She smiled as they danced.

"Hello." He chuckled.

The dance finished. Everyone clapped. Estarossa, Diane, Zeldris and Gelda made their way to Elizabeth and Meliodas. "Hey!" Estarossa said. "Do you-" he cut himself off as an ancient song started to play. "Do you guys know the dance to this?" He asked excitedly. They all nodded, being royal, they were one of the only people to know this.

Estarossa looked at all the people who hovered at the edge of the dance floor, not knowing the steps. "Let's say we give them a show, eh?" They all grinned.

Meliodas took Elizabeth and started off. They began to dance gracefully around the floor, helping eachother thought the intricate steps. Once they had completed an entire lap of the floor, Zeldris and Gelda joined, soon followed by Diane and Estarossa.

Everyone watched in awe from the sides as Diane, Elizabeth, Meliodas, Zeldris and Estarossa danced their way through the the ancient song. The  steps were so intricate and graceful, one might simply call it a masterpiece.

The ancient air ended and the couples bowed. The audience burst into applause. Once off the stage, Meliodas said "Well, I'll go get Lia, you can stay here and get a drink, then we'll go back to yours to get our stuff?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Alright. I'll be at the table over there." She pointed to where Gelda, Zeldris, Estarossa and Diane sat. "Have fun!"

Meliodas walked away. He made his way to the daycare centre. "Mel!" Lia squealed when she saw him walk in the gate.

"Hey there." Meliodas smiled as she jumped into his arms. He looked over to Maria. "How much do I owe you?"

"Oh, nothing at all dearie, nothing. My sisters and I run this because we love the kiddies, we do. Have a great night." Maria smiled.

"Well, if you're sure." Meliodas said uncertainly. "Come on Lia, let's go." He set her down and she grabbed his hand. They walked out of the daycare centre and we're heading back to the town square when they were dragged into an ally.

Lia was shoved roughly to the ground.  Before Meliodas could reach chains with strange writing on them wrapped around his arms and legs. The person who bound him, dressed in a long black cloak, cackled, saying "This is for my love!" And teleported away.

Lia, in a moment of urgency, ran as fast as she could and reached Elizabeth, sobbing heavily, in seconds.  "What's wrong Lia!" Elizabeth cried. "Where's Mel?"

"T-The person," Lia sobbed. "S-She put chains w-with funny writing on h-his arms and legs! They took him away!"

The full extent of what happened crushed Lia like a ton of bricks. "They kidnapped my brother!"