Familiar Fire

Chapter One

The cold water clawed at the girl's skin. She was surrounded by it, being dragged deeper and deeper into its abyss. She couldn't think, she could only focus on the pain. The pain of the ice cold water on her skin. The pain of the deep gashes that littered her body which filled the water with crimson. The pain of her lungs aching to take a deep breath. The pain which felt endless and inescapable. Her lungs felt like they were going to explode. She didn't want this to be her end. She knew if she let the ice cold water and her need for air take over, it would be the end for her. She couldn't die, not here at least. She couldn't let herself die all alone.

Her mind was filled with the most dangerous thing; hope. If she could just wait another minute, another second, someone would come. She was sure of it. She grabbed the ankle cuff and the chain that was attached to her. She frantically tried to break it. If she could just separate herself from the weight pulling her down, she could swim. She knew she wouldn't be able to swim back to the surface but if she was freed from the weight, someone could, someone would rescue her. It was futile of course. The chain remained strong but made a dull sound as it rubbed against itself as if it were mocking her. She still tried to free herself. Trying to ignore the burning sensation in her lungs as they ached for a breath of air. She looked up toward the surface. It seemed ever so far away yet so close. It was far enough to be unattainable but close enough to tease her. She relaxed her body, letting it go limp. She simply looked around the water as she watched darkness creep across her vision. She didn't let her eyes wander from the surface. No one was coming. She was alone again. But this time, she had no hope of escaping. She had no hope of a stranger stumbling upon her and rescuing her. It was over. She was alone and it was the end. Her red hair fanned out around her as she continued to sink further and further into the dark abyss. Bubbles escaped from her mouth as she took a gasp of water, her last bit of hope leaving with them.

~~~

"The Fox Sin, Ban, was thrown into a dungeon...and the Grizzly Sin, King, is buried and dead...and it's rumored that Aurora is locked away in the same dungeon as Ban." Meliodas held up posters of the three, reminiscing as he did so. It had been so long since he had seen them. It had been so long since he had seen any of the sins beside Diane, saying as she was right next to him.

"Who is Lady Aurora?" Elizabeth asked politely. She didn't want to ask in case it was an uncomfortable topic but her curiosity got the better of her. She had heard the name around the castle but never knew who the girl was.

"She worked with us. She was like an honorary Sin but she never became one."

"Do you think she's still alive?" Diane asked, fear filling her voice. She wanted to be hopeful but as the ten years went by, it seemed less and less likely. "The first thing I heard about her in the past ten years was from that Holy Knight and he only said that she might be locked away in Baste Prison. "Do you think she could really be alive after all of this time?"

"God, I hope so." Meliodas said quietly. She was one of her oldest and best friends. "I guess we'll find out once we get there."

"Why would you think she wasn't alive?" Both of the sins sighed. They both knew the kind of person Aurora was.

"If she were alive, she would have brought us all back together a long time ago. Even though she wasn't a sin, she was the glue that kept us together. If she were alive-" Diane cut herself off. It was too much for her to believe that her friend was gone forever.

"Or she's just busy. It's completely possible that she got busy. Especially if she's locked away in prison, okay?" Diane sniffed and nodded quickly.

~~~

"Aurora!" The voice was quiet and distant but the girl could still ever so slightly hear it. It was as if the voice was underwater. "Sorry about this." Before she knew it, there was a loud crash, Aurora spilling to the floor. She opened her eyes for the first time in what felt like forever and looked around. She was in a cell with nothing but shattered ice littering the floor. She was in a block of ice just a moment ago. She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt two arms effortlessly pick her up. The person held her tight to their chest. Even though Aurora didn't know who it was, she couldn't pull herself away from them. They were so warm but also because her body felt numb. "Are you alright? I've been looking for you everywhere but then I ended up here. I just heard some guards talking about you and they said you were here too. I had to see if it was true. Are you okay?" Aurora looked up at the man, noticing the worry that filled his crimson eyes. She also noticed a long scar that went down his cheek and onto his neck. She immediately pushed herself away from him, resulting in her falling to the stone floor. She pushed herself away from him so she was sitting against the wall across from him.

"W-W-Who are y-you?" The words quietly escaped from her blue lips. The man's features filled with confusion.

"It's me, Aurora. It's Ban." He slowly started to walk toward her but she moved farther away from him.

"Stay away from me! I have no idea who you are!"

"What are you talking about? How do you not remember me? I mean you obviously remember the Captain. You've been friends for ages!"

"Cap-tain?" Aurora paused in the middle of the word as if it were foreign to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about."

"The Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins! Meliodas!"

"Look. I think you have me confused with someone else. I don't know a Meliodas or a Ban."

"Well you have to remember something! How about when we all had to flee from the kingdom?" She just shook her head. "What do you remember?" Aurora thought for a moment.

"Water."

"Water? What else do you remember?"

"Just...Just water."

"How about before the water?" Aurora looked up and made eye contact with the man and shook her head.

"I-I only remember the water, nothing else."