The Endless Hourglass

Chapter Seven

"I hope you aren't talking about that sorry excuse for a Holy Knight, Pandora. She may have claimed to have brought you in, but it was all thanks to me. She's nothing more than a weak and scared little girl." Pandora at last emerged from the cell, appearing from the darkness, her green eyes almost glowing in the dark.

"I'm older than I look, Jude." She spoke ominously. The Holy Knight visibly cowered at her appearance. He began to slowly step away from her. "You are right about helping me bring this criminal in, however." Red eyes met her green ones with a look of confusion. "After you ran for the hills, it was much easier to capture him when you weren't there acting like a child afraid of their own shadow." Jude began to tremble slightly as she spoke. Ban, noticing Jude no longer had a tight grip on the piece of metal, pulled it from his chest and stabbed the Holy Knight with the other end of it. "Are you done?" Pandora asked boredly.

"You don't enjoy watching people suffer like all the other Holy Knights do?" Ban spoke in a mocking tone, but there was some sincerity to his voice as he asked.

"It appears I don't. It might come as a surprise for you to learn not all of us became knights just to watch people writhe in pain."

"You're right, it would come as a surprise. Then why would a noble knight such as yourself wish to lock up the Seven Deadly Sins?"

"Why would I ever want to lock up murderers who stabbed the kingdom in the back? Why would-" Before she could finish her sentence, she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly slipped out of sight so the person the footsteps belonged to couldn't see her. She only hoped that they were so distracted by Ban that they couldn't sense her presence.

"Ban." That voice...It couldn't be. She hadn't heard it apart from her nightmares in centuries. It haunted her every night since the last time she heard it, and yet, here it was, the exact same as it always had been.

"Cap'n." Her thoughts ran a mile a minute. The captain of the Seven Deadly Sin's name is Meliodas. She knew that but never questioned it, but now, hearing his voice again, she couldn't help but think it could be him. The thought of seeing him again made a shiver run down her spine. It wasn't possible. She dreamt of this moment for years, but then she had to face reality and accept his death along with it. She had moved on. And yet, curiosity got the better of her. She took a quick peek around the corner, and just like that, everything changed. There her brother stood, in broad daylight, very much alive. Standing there, staring at his face, she didn't know what to think. Part of her rejoiced over the fact her older brother was alive, hope flooding her veins, while a larger part of her was enraged. He abandoned her time and time again just to move on with his life and not even bother to try to find her. She was still mourning his death all these years later and he didn't even care enough to try to find her.

Ban and Meliodas began throwing each other through the walls of the prison Pandora was supposed to protect, but she couldn't care less. She couldn't care less about anything. She stood there, frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. Even as the ground beneath her feet crumbled, she still found herself unable to react. She expected to feel the pain of landing amongst the rubble, but instead, someone caught her before she could hit. Her green eyes met red ones when he at last opened them. As quickly as she could, she jumped from Ban's arms and started her way back towards Liones, trying to disappear before her brother could recognize her. Ban, of course, wasn't going to let her get away without saying goodbye.

"Aww come on, I'm hurt. You're not going to say bye? I thought we really bonded there for a minute." Pandora rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"Who's that?" It was her brother's voice again. There was no way he wouldn't recognize her if he saw her face. She had to get out of there as fast as she possibly could. She kept walking, faster now. She knew she couldn't run without Meliodas chasing after her. She just hoped that walking away would make him lose interest.

"The Holy Knight that locked me up five years ago. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up. I want to have a little chat with her first." She increased her pace yet again. She knew if Meliodas saw her sprint he'd be suspicious. She just had to make it to the woods. She was so close. She walked as fast as she possibly could, and once she was hidden by the trees, she broke out in a sprint. She could hear footsteps gaining on her, but as long as it wasn't Meliodas, she didn't care. In one fluid motion, she unsheathed her blade and pointed it at Ban's neck.

"What do you want?"

"Why did you have to run away? I've been locked in a cell and haven't been able to get my cardio in, that's just not fair." Ban fake pouted. They both knew that sitting in a cell for five years wouldn't affect him physically at all.

"I am a Holy Knight and you are a prisoner who just escaped. I need to warn Liones that murderers are on the loose."

"You were acting strange before you started walking away. When you were falling and I caught you, you looked like you saw a ghost. You would have fallen flat on your back because you were so distracted if I hadn't caught you."

"Don't pretend to know me and don't pretend to care. You are a criminal that I was ordered to lock away along with the six other sins. I visited you to ask if you knew of their whereabouts. Saying as I now know where three of them are, your assistance is no longer required." She turned and began to walk away.

"You seemed so fearless." Pandora stopped in her track, confused where this was going. "It was natural of me to wonder what made you look so terrified." She let out a deep sigh.

"I saw someone that I haven't seen in a very long time." She spoke quietly without turning around.

"Who was it?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"If you don't I'll tell everyone you sympathized with one of the Seven Deadly Sins." She turned around at last to face him. He had a confident smirk spread across his face.

"Why would anyone believe the word of a traitor above a Holy Knight? Also, how do you plan to spread this rumor without people trying to capture you immediately?"

"Well two sins entered the prison and three emerged while said Holy Knight just walked away. I'd say it's looking pretty good for me. Also, all I need is one person in a village to believe I am who I say I am, and the word will travel like wildfire." She too would be seen as a traitor if this story got out. She had to keep it concealed, at least for now.

"If I tell you, you must promise to not tell another living soul." Ban looked entertained as if she were a kid telling a secret that everyone already knew and yet was asking for secrecy. "Promise?"

"Fine, you have my word that I won't tell another living soul."

"I knew your leader many years ago, before the Seven Deadly Sins was formed. I never knew that he was the leader. I thought he died years ago."

"How did you know him?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, but please, I'm begging you, do not tell a soul."

"Fine, fine I won't."

"Good. Also just a warning, next time we run into each other, it will be as enemies. I will not hesitate to cut you down where you stand."

"Right back at you." Pandora rolled her eyes and started her long journey home.

When she at last arrived at home, she slammed the door shut behind her and locked it. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to feel. Her brother was alive. She quickly removed her metal gloves and threw them to the side. He abandoned her. And yet a rush of relief still flooded through her knowing he was alive. She always thought that had Meliodas lived, he could have saved her from the people who captured her. She could have been saved. Instead, he woke up and left without ever even bothering to look for her. She was tortured by the people of the village for hundreds of years and if he bothered to look for her, it could have been just a week or so. At that moment, thinking of all of the pain she went through in her older brother's absence, she swore she'd never forgive him for abandoning her.