"Spirit Spear Chastiefol!" The bear morphed back into his signature spear and he swung it like a baseball bat, knocking me from the sky the same way he did to Jericho.

I landed on the balls of my feet, sword drawn out to the side. I swung it so the tip pointed forward, all while shouting, "Firework!" The air around King rippled then exploded in a multitude of sparks and colours. It was similar to Guila's Chain Reaction but had the added advantage of blinding the target.

Little blades came whistling down. Flames wrapped around my left hand and I used Enflame to blast them away from me. They regroup back into the sword. King floated down slowly, blinking furiously.

Seeing my chance, I held up my arm again, fingers clawed. "Thi-"

He held up two fingers then swung the hand in a complex manoeuvre. His spirit spear obeyed, slashing at me in all directions. I parried the blows with lightning reflexes then caught the jab he sent to my face by the crossguard of his spear. My breath fogged the steel.

"Stop it, King! She's one of us!" called a voice.

"Princess Elizabeth?" I muttered then with a surge of strength, beat the spear back and backhanded it. It twirled away and arced back towards King. He levelled the tip to me again.

I wouldn't have enough time to cast Thief before the blade got me. He seemed...aware of my power when he shouldn't have known. Not many know I share this trait with the Fox's Sin of Greed.

"How can you say that? She's siding with Guila and Jericho. And you said it yourself, Hawk, she doesn't remember you or any of us," King replied, his eyes never leaving me.

"Of course I don't remember any of you! Why would I? The only person I know is the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas. He's the only one I even care about because it was his wrath that burned my village to the ground. My parents," I choked back tears but enough was said.

"That's not true!" piped Elizabeth. My eyes zeroed in on her voice – she was tiny! And she sat on the back of the pig. "Estra, you're a fox. You're the Fox of Greed. You told us that yourself."

"Shut up!" I roared. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I dropped my sword and cradled my head in my hands. Violent shudders ran through me. "I'm not your goddamn friend!" But the words were bitter in my mouth.

I chomped on my tongue, tasted blood, but it anchored me enough to regrip my sword. "I'm done playing games." I stood tall, spat out a wad of bloody saliva. "My objective is to get to Meliodas. If I have to carve my way through you, so be it."

King's feet hit the ground. "Then do it. That way, I won't have to hold back."

I quickly closed the distance between us in a few short steps. He raised his blade and snapped his fingers. I dropped low, sliding. The blade sailed harmless overhead; my feet connected with King's ankles. He fell down and I jumped to my feet, blade raised overhead. Hawk and Elizabeth were screaming behind me.

"One down," I said through gritted teeth, the bubbling anger towards these foul knights erupting. I stabbed downwards.

A hundred pound walking ham side-tackled me. A cacophony of cracks sounded. I landed heavily, gasping for air, curled in on myself. Four cracks. Four broken ribs. Damn, stupid pig. I raised my head, strands of hair falling down over my face, searching for the enemy. My sword laid a good metre away. Something heavy landed on me, smothering my face in fat, plushie paws.

I growled – King's stupid guardian again! Would he never give up? It raised me up then held me under the armpits to restrain me. I kicked at it but it didn't budge. I clenched fists and orangey-gold flames fanned from fist to elbow on both sides. King stood before me, a hard look in his eyes.

"You almost had me there."

I hissed through gritted teeth. "If you hadn't been saved by that pig, you'd be skewered by my blade."

"Sir King, don't hurt her. Please. Something wrong. She's been changed."

"Nothing's wrong, Princess," I leered and ran my tongue over bloodied teeth. "This is how it's supposed to be. A Holy Knight against a criminal of the Liones kingdom." I directed my voice to King. "Now what will you do, oh Grizzly Sin?"

"I'm not going to kill you."

With an anguished cry, my flames surged over my shoulder and down my chest, covering me entirely. "Defuse!" The fire burned brilliant red before exploding, a halo of static electricity left in it's wake. I stumbled to my knees. My throat was dry and I tasted smoke. A quick once over confirmed my fears. Only a single vambrace remained, the one on my left arm, and even then it was a little worse for wear. My boots had been reduced to the ankles. My clothing had holes in it but because of the fabric's double layer, I was safe from being indecent.

I got to my feet, glaring at King. He floated before me, unharmed by the blast. "You should have."

He snapped his fingers and the little blades circled around me. I didn't have the Mana to bring forth anymore flames. I twitched my fingers and breathed out a word. "Kitsune." He didn't hear it. Mana trickled into me but because I needed Mana to use the magic, I'd have to settle for it dripping into me like a leaky tap so I didn't kill myself in the process.

"Hawk, Elizabeth, take care of the other two. I've got some questions for these ladies. Especially you."

"Just leave them to me."

My head whipped round to see Hawk barrelling away, Meliodas and Ban dragged along to.

"Damn you!" I shouted. The blades closed in tighter. There was a spike in Mana. It was like a floodgate beginning to open. Still too slow though. "Once I kill Meliodas, you'll be next."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

I breathed deeply and relaxed. His demeanour had changed – he wasn't planning to fight me anymore. "You wouldn't understand."

"You want to kill Meliodas for burning down your village. What I don't understand is why you're saying that but the others tell me that you're the Fox of Greed and you're a fox turned human looking for Merlin to turn you back into your original form."

"What? Did you inhale too many magic mushrooms? What type of stupidity is that? No one turns from fox to human. Crap like that doesn't work." I pointed a finger at him and the blades buzzed to block my view of King. At least he still had the mentality to protect himself from me. Good. He was scared. "I know what's in my head. Your Captain needs to pay for his crimes."

"Do you really know what's in your head?" His tone was soft, almost coaxing. As if I was an injured creature he wanted to help. I scowled. "The Holy Knights have many tricks up their sleeves."

"So do Sins with powers of hallucination. I already fell once to your party tricks but I won't again. My resolve burns as bright as fire and it won't be put out so easily."

"None of us-" He paused and floated up, looking off into the distance.

With his back to me, I allowed the pain I'd been wallowing in to drag me under. I clutched my injured side. A massive bruise had already blossomed, spreading along my right side. My breath whistled through my nose and ached in my chest. The pig had really done a number on me.

"What's the matter? You're looking rather pale, Fairy King." Guila got to her feet; so did Jericho. They both looked to me quickly but their attention went back to King.

A part of me felt like it'd been stabbed. I knew they didn't like me but a little concern would have been nice.

"What have you knights done to Captain and Diane? And Ban too, I suppose," King asked. Jericho and Guila were silent.

The little blades whirred and transformed back into a spear. It appeared at King's side. All I wanted to do was lie down but I forced myself to stay standing. My legs gave way either way and I was kneeling again, backside on the ground. Not a safe position to be in.

"Nevermind, I'll go check on them myself." King turned away, an opening now created for the others. Silently, I cheered them on. In reality, I was just silent. "Oh and just so we're clear, if you two get in my way again."

The threat was left unfinished. Guila attacked. Fireballs distracted King as Jericho came from behind, slashing down with her sword. I watched the explosion unfold. King's words rang in my head.

He'd said you two. Why? I'd just tried to kill him, threatened his captain and he still wouldn't retaliate. I guessed I should have been grateful but it was soured by the fact they all were trying to convince me I was someone I was not.

"Let people finish when they're talking."

I craned my head up. King had escaped the attack. He'd flown up so fast!

"If you two try to get in my way again, I'll end you." He closed his fist. The ground shook and split in three. From the earth, a giant bud rose on a thick stem. It towered over King. "Spirit Spear Chastiefol! Fourth Configuration: Sunflower."

The bud unfurled like a flower in bloom to reveal petals that glowed with the light of the sun. Numbness prickled me and I got an overwhelming sense of doom. The same fear was written on Jericho's and Guila's face.

"I'll admit, you three are fairly powerful. Just train for another century and you'll be on the right track."

The petal's glow coalesced into the centre of the flower. It shot out as a hundred solid beams of light. I looked up the heavens – it was so bright.

Was this the end?