renegade (seven deadly sins)

ACT ONE / the entrance

<EDITED ON JANUARY 30>

"i'm going to take a break for the weekend," i say as i write another chapter to this.

bold of me to assume i know what a writing break is. i also blame the fact that this is a guilty passion project and i have a lot of ideas lol

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The group decided to head to the Necropolis, where King was last spotted. It took a few days to get there, giving you ample time to recover and practice controlling your powers. By the time you arrived, you were more confident in your abilities and back up to full health.

Mama Hawk stopped at the top of a hill on the outskirts of a village, the closest point to the Necropolis in the human world. The others jumped down to the ground, and you followed with Elizabeth and Hawk in tow.

"We'll start by gathering intel on King and the Necropolis," Meliodas explained. "We also need money to feed ourselves." He put his right hand out and grinned. "Okay, let's get ready for business!"

"You're seriously going to run the bar, Captain?" Ban asked, a teasing expression on his face as he looked down at Meliodas.

"He's so cute when he's working!" Diane cooed.

"You guys are going to work, too!"

He assigned everyone a role. Diane was the "jumbo billboard girl," which she took eagerly, not wanting to disappoint Meliodas.

Ban was the "jailbird cook," and having experienced Meliodas' cooking, you hoped Ban's was at least marginally better.

Meliodas turned to you and clasped his hands together. "You'll head into town and see if there's anyone around," he said. "Diane will attract people from up here, but we need someone to spread the word!"

You gave him a mock salute. Meliodas seemed pleased and gave you a thumbs-up in return. You had almost forgotten about what had happened when you first met him. It seemed he was content with letting it stay in the past for now, so you decided to do the same.

The others headed back up to the tavern. Diane stayed next to Mama Hawk as she shouted for people to come to the Boar's Hat Tavern.

Ban had completely disregarded Meliodas' orders and went into town by himself. You jogged to catch up to him. Although he glanced over his shoulder at you, he didn't seem to care or mind that you were following him.

"What kind of intel does he expect us to get in a gloomy dump like this?" he asked, walking at an easy pace with his hands in his pockets. You shrugged, looking around at the seemingly abandoned town.

"There must be at least someone around. It is still a town, after all," you said. He hummed thoughtfully and continued along.

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, you decided to change tactics. "Ban, you continue this way. We might find someone if we cover more ground."

"Sounds good, shortcake," he said. You grimaced at the familiar nickname and headed deeper into the village. Something moved out of the corner of your eye, but as you turned your head, all you saw were more abandoned buildings and forest.

You crossed your arms and peeked into different buildings, growing less and less hopeful the longer you continued. Maybe being this close to the Necropolis had made the villagers leave...or maybe they had been drawn into it. You frowned and shook your head, deciding to stop and head back to the tavern.

As you made your way back, you saw the others gathered in the center of the main path. In front of them was a small male with short brown hair, an elegant and well-made spear floating next to him. Your eyes widened and you took flight to catch up to him.