One minute I was hand-in-hand with Leraj, cradling an overgrown fox toy that barely resembled one; next I was standing empty-handed in a crowded tavern that I had never been in before but was as familiar as my room back in Liones.

The sounds of the festival blurred away, replaced by the raucous shouts of the customers, and the dark night dissolved into sunlight that spilled through polished windows. I looked down at my hands expecting to find the toy at my feet only to find yellow gloves to my elbows. I flexed my fingers, utterly, horribly confused. My stomach churned and I was short of breath, vision blurry and spinning.

'Hey, Estra!" I snapped my gaze up and the room stopped running in circles.

None other than Elizabeth walked over to me, dressed in a ridiculous getup and carrying a plate of food.

Ridulous getup? No, she always wears that.... But surely not, she's a Princess... no, but remember, she's not a Princess, she's a runaway.

"Are you okay?" she questioned.

"I'm-I'm f-fine," I stammered out. Where had Leraj gone? This had to be a hallucination. I leaned back against the window, felt the cool glass heating slowly under the sun.

A very real hallucination.

"Oh, Estra." Meliodas appeared in front of me, carrying two plates in hand. Meliodas, Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins. The man who killed...my...parents?

No, that wasn't right. My parents were foxes a thousand years in the past. Why do I think Meliodas killed my parents? Meliodas probably wasn't around then. My parents most likely died of natural causes.

While that caused an awful ache to begin in my chest, I worried more about the confusion in my head. It was like there were two versions of me and I was stuck in the middle. I tried thinking back to what I'd been doing before now but I was blanking, not even able to conjure half a thought on the matter.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of my face and I reeled my wandering mind back to reality. "What?" I snapped.

"You away with the fairies there, Estra? Come on, there's work to be done," Meliodas said, pulling off my gloves with one hand and thrusting the plates towards me with the other. I juggled them awkwardly, trying not to lose the sausages that rolled in each direction.

"But, Meliodas, I don't-"

"Oh yeah, I think you're in need of a new uniform," he mused, totally ignoring me which irked. "I found your other one outside the window."

I scowled and bared my teeth. "Seriously, I'm not wearing anything else you give me, Meliodas. You idiot." That part I said under my breath.

He whacked me on the head. "Hurry along. The customer's need their food."

Glaring daggers, I raised my head high and spun on my heel. "Some days, I don't know why I listen to you," I muttered and headed in the direction he pointed.

For the rest of the day, I served food and drink to men and women who entered the tavern. They were a lively bunch, I'd give them that. And rich too. My eyes caught each glint of gold thrown on the table for more drinks – I scooped them up and batted my eyelashes at them, a silent thanks for filling my pockets.

Well, the tavern's coffers but Meliodas probably wouldn't notice a shiny coin missing here or there. I rested against the counter, spent but pleased. Business was booming once again. Standing there, a warmth filled my abdomen. A sense of contentment, watching Meliodas, Hawk and Elizabeth interact with the patrons of the Boar's Hat Tavern.

A sense of relief.

In the back of my mind churned old memories, horrible memories that I wished were nightmares. I shook my head and pushed the regret away. I didn't matter anymore. I'd returned home to my friends. Everything I'd done, I would make up for it.

"Estra, I need three new tankards over here! The finest stuff," Meliodas called out.

"The finest, hey? Hope they're paying well because I have Vanya ale lined up." I grabbed a bottle off the wall and filled three new tankards. I filled them level with each other – my handiwork was on point today!

Then quite as suddenly as we had customers, we had none. My hand still formed around the bottle of ale but it no longer existed. The perfectly level tankards were gone. The back of my neck prickled. I wasn't drunk so there wasn't a plausible explanation for the time skip.

Unless there was. A dream, it has to be a dream. One I couldn't wake up from.

"Make way, make way," squawked Hawk and I jumped back as he scuttled around the corner devouring scraps. He had a sort of fuzzy look to his outline.

"What's wrong, Estra?" Elizabeth asked. "You've gone pale. You aren't sick, are you?" Elizabeth too had the issue, like she was blending into the background, colours fading away.

My mouth flapped open and close and I struggled for words. All that came out was, "I'm sorry for what I did in Vaizel to you all."

Her brow furrowed and she put down her dishcloth. Instantly I knew, I just knew, that whatever she said next would only cement that this was too surreal to be reality.

"We haven't visited Vaizel yet. We're on our way to the Forest of White Dreams."

The world was spinning and tumbling again and I reached out to steady myself on the counter. I squeezed my eyes shut amidst an overflow of memories, all sharp and bright and real, all so very different, contradictory even considering who I was.

Who was I? Holy Knight or Fox? Was it really so hard to forget who I was?

The front door banged open, cracking the wall behind it. Meliodas moved his way to block whoever hovered on the threshold of the tavern. They were nothing more than a black silhouette in the doorway but I knew, I knew who it was.

"You," I snarled, two memories burning a hole in me. One that broke my heart and one that made me hate him forever more. "Leraj. Why, you bastard, why?"

~

I woke gasping in Leraj's arms. He caught me, held me tight and whispered sweet nothings in my ear.

"We have to go," I said urgently, pushing myself to my feet and grabbing him to haul him up. My eyes darted around the alleyway, sweat building. "They're here."

"Estra, what do you mean? Who's here?" he asked, trying to hold me still but I slipped free from his embrace and began running back to the horses. "Estra, stop!"

"We can't!" I yelled back, my voice an octave higher than normal and making the people around me to turn in my direction. I couldn't bear their eyes on me, not when one of them could be them. "King lied, King lied," I said over and over, searching desperately for where we left the horses.

A hand wrapped around my upper arm and I jumped, a shriek in my throat dying down when I realised it was Leraj.

"Estra, stop. Tell me what happened."

"Why were we in the alley?" I questioned, heart pounding in my ears. I felt like I was being watched by a pair of eyes but I couldn't spot their piercing gaze in the crowd. There were too many people here – we have to get away.

"You passed out. Don't you remember?"

I shook my head. "No, no, I don't remember. I don't remember that at all. All I remember is..." I paused and looked into his face, seeing the concern wraught in those amber eyes and the creases of worry in his brow. "I remember horrible scenes... horrible ones that cannot be true. And other things too, things I know cannot be real," I whispered. "One of the Sins is here and we have to leave. Now."

Lips pursed, he hooked his arm in mine and led me towards the horses. "Why do you think one is here?"

"It's the same thing that happened in Vaizel," I murmured. Myra came into view and I rushed over to her, throwing my arms around her neck and burying my face into her neck. "I don't- I don't want to talk about it here."

I unhitched Myra and mounted, wheeling her out of the town before Leraj had even climbed into the saddle. I half expected someone to attack us but no one did. I wished I brought my sword, my hands clammy and needing something solid and heavy in my hands. Instead I twitched the reins and Myra shot off faster, the crowd peeling apart to avoid her hooves.

Leraj didn't take long to catch up – Butch was faster than Myra. He matched her stride as we left the bonfire behind, darkness enveloping us. We rode for several minutes until Leraj leant over and hauled Myra to a stop alongisde Butch.

The horses snorted and tossed their heads, skittish. I shushed Myra with a shaking hand and dismounted. We were in the middle of nowhere – I hadn't taken note if we were headed in the same direction the Rose Cottage had been. Eyes no longer followed me but I couldn't quell the frantic beat of my heart.

Leraj followed me and walked towards me slowly, like I was ready to run. I realised I was ready to, run until the memories couldn't catch me. He touched my shoulder gently and I burst into tears so suddenly I surprised myself, hiccuping before the sobs returned.

He hugged me fiercely, a kiss to my forehead.

"The Sins," I said with each breath that didn't burn with a sob. "The Sins know who I am. They told me things in Vaizel, things that can't be true but something deep inside me says that they are." I clutched the back of his shirt tighter. "I-I-I don't think Meliodas is responsible for killing my parents."