Mysterious Barrier

As Caelestis makes another stop in the Hungarian mountains (still in her smaller form) in the pouring rain, another female goddess nearly collides with her. "You're Highness, you almost made me lose my fight."

Caelestis is unsympathetic; "Watch where you're going you imbecile. Why are you here?"

"Ma'am, we couldn't reach you. I thought it was important to inform you that your nieces have been spotted heading for Transylvania. They're not alone either. They've got like a small army with them. One is believed to be your daughter Lady Elizabeth, along with some the Seven Deadly Sins, demon king Zeldris, Gelda, a giant pig, and three mysterious dragon creatures. We failed to identify the others."

Caelestis is annoyed to hear this. They're probably coming for Meliodas. Plus, Elizabeth has somehow learned about and met up with her cousins. She's really surprised that the daughters of Artimes weren't affected by the curse she thought she put on them. She was warned about Apolline's power but severely underestimated it. Plus, she thought that she had acted quickly enough before her blood niece could override it. She had been extremely furious when she learned that her blood sister had not only fallen in love with a demon just as Elizabeth had but also MARRIED him and had a child with him. Caelestis had provided Vald with the means to "deal" with his "rival," as he saw him 25 years ago. She wonders why she hadn't killed those girls when she had the chance, especially the goddess/demon hybrid Apolline, instead of using them and toying with them. Then again, that's what she usually does.

"Me and Lucy will take care of them personally. They're no match for me alone, especially now that I'm at full power and they're without Meliodas."

"Lucy's disappeared ma'am. And actually, we've got even bigger problems than them. Much bigger."

"What do you mean much bigger?"

"Well;" the goddess twitches her fingers; "The goddess and demon clans of Poland and the Holy Roman Empire have joined forces and are getting ready to attack us right now."

"WHAT!?" Caelestis is very angry; "What about those wars I started between them? That was supposed to keep them busy."

"No war ever started, your Highness;" explains the goddess; "According to our informants, the leaders met before any attacks were made, and they must have figured it out. Guess they're a lot smarter than we thought they were."

Caelestis hates hearing that and attacks her subordinate, killing her on the spot. The Supreme Deity had actually believed it wouldn't be difficult to start wars between these clans even though they've always been neutral allies. She especially wanted to punish and start wars between Britannia's cousin clans sense their ancestors broke away from the original western European clans because they wanted no part in the Holy War hostilities. Caelestis goes to the secret base where most of her loyal goddesses (and some people of other races from around Europe) are located. She orders them to prepare for defense. She also orders a certain barrier to be activated around the fortress and all the surrounding areas.

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Meliodas is getting bored sitting on the couch in the spa, not to mention he's hungry again. He had tried to busy himself looking around the spa, but there's really not much here to interest him, although most of the perfume and scented stuff do smell good and would be perfect for Elizabeth. Some of the scented candles smell nice, although none of them smell like alcohol or a woman's body scent, and the ones with food fragrance only make him hungrier. He had gotten a telepathic message from Gowther telling him that they'll be a while longer. Meliodas is getting very antsy and gets up. Hawk, who had fallen asleep again while in the hot tube, woke up about half an hour ago and is also getting antsy.

Willie returns to the spa. He's been searching all over this wing looking for Eyelash but has failed to locate the prankster llama.

"Yo, Willie. Have you found the amulet?"

Willie's words prove that he hasn't. He had wanted Meliodas to go with him because if they started understanding each other again, the amulet would be nearby. However, the dragon sin failed to understand the message and continued to relax in the hot tube. Meliodas can't help but wonder what the Supreme Deity and some of her still loyal goddesses are doing here (wherever here is). At least she doesn't know of Elizabeth's where abouts. They should have time to learn what's going on. Knowing the Supreme Deity, she moves slowly, and it takes her a while to get things organized, even when she's in a hurry, just like the late demon king.

GRRROOOWWWLLL!

"That does it!" says Meliodas in a firm tone, putting his palm on his stomach; "Let's go to that lab and find the others. Gowther beamed the directions to us, so there's no reason to just keep sitting here doing nothing. We all really shouldn't be separated like this. We should stick together. Maybe we'll find some food along the way, too."

Hawk rolls his eyes. He knows that Meliodas is partly motivated by his stomach, but he is sincere about wanting to get the group back together and dislikes waiting around doing nothing. He especially wants to find Iris.

Meliodas keeps talking to Willie like normal, hoping he'll get the message, even waving his hand to come on. Willie does realize that the dragon sin wants to leave the spa and is asking the monk to go with him. He fully intends to, hoping they'll avoid getting into trouble. But with Meliodas, it'll be a miracle if they do.

"Ok, let's go;" agrees Hawk; "I need to check on Melidy anyway."

Hearing that, Meliodas rushes to the back and returns with the cute pink and blue dress that the piglet had been wearing earlier.

"Yo Hawk, here's her dress. I have to admit that she looked rather adorable in it. She's a cutie pie. I really need to start bonding with the little porker."

Hawk feels a bit uneasy about that. "You better NOT try to eat her again, or I won't return to the Boar Hat or baby sit your kids. And don't use your stupid pork jokes or threats on her either!"

"Chill Hawk. I won't eat her, I promise. You, on the other hand, no promises."

"I believe it;" replies Hawk.

"Maybe I'll even get the tavern's uniform made for her."

"Wait a minute! She's WAY too young to work or eat scraps."

Meliodas grins. "Who said anything about her working? I just think she'll look cute. Come to think of it, maybe she will bring in a few more customers. She'll be the perfect mascot! If I can't resist her cuteness, nobody can?"

"Don't even think about exploiting her."

Willie really wishes he knew what they were saying. He's not used to being out of the loop and thinks he better start learning Britannian. The monk then throws a red cloak to Meliodas, having already magically changed his own clothes.

"Oh cool, a disguise." Meliodas puts on the oversized cloak and asks how he looks. Hawk really doesn't think the color suits him but keeps his mouth shut.

"What about me?" asks Hawk, looking at Willie. He already has a cloak for the pig and puts it on. Meliodas laughs while looking at him.

"That's a good look for you, Hawk. You look like a very rare-cooked bleeding demon pork coated in demon red ale, which is actually my favorite dish from the demon realm. I'm sure glad we're not outside in that desert, or you'd really be fried pork."

"What desert?" Hawk then remembers what Jasmine had said two days ago. "Oh yea. You were in Egypt, right? You're not there anymore. We're in, Romania, I think."

Meliodas doesn't even want to know, just as long as they aren't in the desert (or the North Pole).

Willie grabs a bag and stuffs both Inuyasha's and Gowther's clothes in it, then they're on their way.

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Elizabeth's group is flying over the Transylvanian Mountains. Nearly everybody got their fill of Stormy's magnificent cooking, but it did more than just fill their bellies. Stormy's power adds special elements to the food she prepares, which allows people to almost instantly regain energy, power, and stamina, especially energy burned in battle or any excessive activity, enabling people to continue with what they need to do far longer than they'd normally or naturally be able to. They've also discovered that Stormy has a magic storage pocket dimension (like Merlin) in which she stores food and ingredients for up to five hundred meals, which she's completely restocked. Everybody is so energized that those who can fly are flying on their own while the others can't keep still riding on the phenixgon. Most keep challenging each other to races and games despite the constant showers they keep going through. Even Elizabeth, Zeldris, and King can't resist racing and showing off. It only annoys Kagome (a little), Appoline, and Kadia (who's not as laid-back as her siblings). Everybody is wearing raincoats that Merlin and Arwen made. Apolline, however, didn't eat a single crumb of food, except for a cup of herbal tea and one small self-injection shot of very little nutrients. Apolline is meditating again and has almost completely zoned out everybody else. Elizabeth looks at her cousin and is sincerely worried. She's never seen anybody this emancipated. It's obvious to anybody that Apolline is in no shape for battle and is completely numb to any hunger or her deuterating body. It's a wonder that she's still able to even stand and move about looking the way she does.

After going through a brief dry area, the rain starts pouring down again, making vision difficult for most except the phenixgon. While it's not lighting or thundering, the rains very heavy and Merlin tells everybody to come into the perfect cube. Ban, Diane, King, Jasmine, Arwin, and Hana join Merlin. Elizabeth, Zeldris, Gelda, Kagome, Apolline, and Wild join Stormy.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen this much rain in my life;" says King as he allows Jasmine's heat to dry him off.

"Not unusual for this time of year?" replies Arwin; "We really need this rain. We've hardly got any precipitation during the fall and winter, so this rain is overdue."

"How much longer until we reach this fortress of yours?" asks Ban.

"Really close;" answers Arwin. "In fact, there's Alba lulia and the river Mures straight ahead."

The phenixgon want to race again, even Kaida can't help herself this time. Goro cheats and gets an unfair head start on his sisters. Some of the others want to race again, too, and Stormy speeds up the perfect cube. However, Elizabeth gets a very uneasy feeling and asks Stormy to slow down. Zeldris and Apolline also feel an unusual magic presence. Suddenly, all three phenixgon disappear. Stormy puts on the breaks, but the perfect cube makes contact with something invisible, and it, along with everyone inside, disappear into thin air.

Everyone on Merlin's cube gasps as Merlin stops it.

"What happened?!" shouts Ban.

"What?" says King in shock; "Where are they?"

"They didn't just...disappear!?" adds Diane.

"Arwin," says Merlin; "Is there supposed to be a barrier up around the town?"

Arwin's in shock as well. "No. Not since Mama put one up against that freakish monster tornado that come through last year."

The sins demand to know what happened to their friends.

"I've heard of something like this;" says Merlin; "Of a shield that if you touch it, it transports you to another location. This barrier is humongous too."

Jasmine twitches her nose in thought. "I've seen this once on a much smaller scale. A person once used a shield that transported whatever touched it to another location. He even had a spell that would follow a target and make contact with them, and they'd disappear. It was like a 20-mile radius."

"If that's true, where did it teleport them too?" ask King. Ban is especially impatient for an answer.

Merlin sends a spell of elements towards the barrier. Sure enough, they disappear on contact. Jasmine too sends an attack, and her lava also disappears. If this barrier covering a 50-100 miles area, that's a tall order even for her, at least not with large consequences.

Everybody looks at Arwin, who freaks out.

"Why are you all looking at me for? I'm no leader or strategist, that's Stormy."

"We're not asking you to lead us;" says Merlin; "This your territory. What do you know about this barrier?"

Arwin puts her face in her hands; "Stop looking at me. I don't know. I'm a botanist and herbalist, I don't know anything about barriers."

"You just said your mother used a barrier against a tornado last year;" reminds Merlin; "You should know something about your mother's abilities."

"But I don't! I know she uses the goddess shield and can cover 500 miles with it, but this isn't that. And it feels so, unnatural."

Feeling her uneasiness, Diane and King get between Arwin and the others to get them from staring at her. Jasmine was thinking the same thing but just turns her eyes. Hana moves along with Diane, wanting to stay next to her.

"Are they alright?" asks an impatient Ban; "Tell me that barrier or whatever happened didn't harm them?"

"No...;" Arwin's not so sure; "I don't think so."

"If it transported them to another location;" answers Merlin; "The contact alone wouldn't have hurt them. It'll depend on where they've been transported too. If they're only a few hundred miles, Stormy and Apolline should get them back here. Am I right?"

"Yes;" replies Arwin, who looks like she's about to throw up; "Stopping looking at me like that."

"Ban, Merlin, please stop looking at her;" says King trying to block her view; "You're freaking her out."

Diane give Arwin some water. She takes a few minutes to gather herself and them ask the fairy and giant to scoot over so she can see everybody again. "Sorry about that. I don't take being on the spot too well. Now that I think about it, there should be a way in, that is if the barrier doesn't reach underground. And I think I do recall Dr. Pendergrass showing Mama some sort of barrier device he had gotten from Hephaestus. Mama wasn't interested in using it. I don't remember anything else. "

Jasmine and Merlin both gasp hearing that name. If anything came from Hephaestus, it's probably disastrous. Merlin and Jasmine then realize that the barrier seems unstable, but they don't have time to waste looking for a weak spot if Arwin knows a way in. Arwin points to a stream several miles outside of town that follows from the Mures River. It is covered by tall and dense grass. Unfortunately, it's inside the barrier, which extends underwater. Everybody looks for weak spots when they suddenly feel a massive amount of magic and powers coming their way. It feels as if it's an army. Merlin confirms that it's a massive amount of both demon and goddess energies headed their way. Jasmine then feels vulacish energy amongst them. She also realizes that everybody is looking to her to make a decision. Everybody else agrees that Jasmine is their current leader, especially given how she executed her leadership abilities before and during the rescue. She worries that something major is going on here but decides to focus on their mission. She realizes that the barrier can't possibly extend to too far below ground. While she herself could easily dig a tunnel underneath it, it's to risking and her using her power could give them away. She tells Diane and King to use their powers on a low scale level, which should be more than enough to dig a tunnel and hopefully not give their presence away with all the massive energies currently surrounding them. With that, the giant and fairy get to work.

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Meliodas, Hawk, and Willie go down several hallways according to Gowther's instructions, or are they. Willie's not so sure they're still on track. Meliodas and Hawk keep talking, and the pig noticeably keeps sniffing the air. Willie hopes they haven't gotten off track because they're searching for food but feel that they are. They've only seen a few people rushing past them paying no mind to them, two even knocking both Willie and Meliodas down without any acknowledgment and tumbling over Hawk, again with no acknowledgment. Meliodas finds it odd that these people are being so rude, also strange that they'd be in such a hasty rush on a late Sunday afternoon (or anytime for that matter). Willie feels something's off here as well. Meliodas keeps talking to Willie as normal, forgetting that they can't understand each other without the amulet. Willie, too, forgets from time to time. He realizes just how much he's already missing chatting with the dragon sin.

Hawk suddenly smells something awful and says something to Meliodas, who feels the intense magic. He immediately grabs his two companions and rushes to the nearest door. The smell and the magic feel suggest it's a purgatory indura, a demon beast that's even worse and stronger than the induras from Britannia's demon realm. The Seven Deadly Sins together can barely defeat one of these creatures, and Meliodas knows better than to engage one by himself. They partly crack open the door to peak. There's not one, but two induras, being led by two people. Meliodas and Hawk wonder how these two possible humans are seemingly controlling monsters that can rip them apart like soft cotton and pull them on leases. Willie notices that the beasts are wearing shock collars and electric spark helmets, and the people are holding devices in their hands, which may explain how.

GRRROOOWWWLLL!

Both the humans and induras hear that and look at the door as they pass. Meliodas rubs his stomach and tries to stay quiet. His gut growls again, but the humans seemly shrug it off and go about their way, although one of the induras grrrs at the door. Willie tries to exhale when he notices an unwelcome smell. It smells like marinated pork. Meliodas immediately takes off to another door on the other side of the room, much to both Willie and Hawk's dismay. Hawk certainly didn't mind stopping for a snack, but he doesn't eat pork for obvious reasons if he can help it.

Willie tries to get the dragon sin's attention by whistling, clapping, then trying to get in front of him. Hawk guesses what Willie's thinking and suggest to his friend that maybe they should get back on track.

"Yea yea sure;" Meliodas replies; "Just give me a minute, or two. Maybe the amulet's over here. It's obviously not in the direction we were heading."

He follows the pork smell. Willie huffs and prays that this doesn't go bad.

Meliodas goes through two other rooms until he finds what's obviously a giant boar about the size of Wild on a giant roasting rack. It's so marinated that the juicy sauce is dripping off it. He takes off huge chunks of meat and starts feasting on the tender, juicy, heavily marinated pork when he hears an unfamiliar voice. Somebody is next to him, speaking in a foreign language. Meliodas's face is mostly covered by the hood, but a little of his blonde hair is visible. He plays it cool and keeps eating large chunks of meat quite vigorously. The teenage looking girl is actually yelling at Meliodas in Hungarian that the roast wasn't quite ready, but the dragon sin doesn't understand and keeps eating, really not phased at all.

Willie and Hawk are watching from behind a spice shelf. Hawk's stuck in between trying to hide and wait and wanting to knock the girl out to help his friend. Willie tugs on Hawk's ear, urging him to wait. Meliodas keeps eating the meat, and the teenager slaps him on the head, resulting in a bone crack and her hollering in pain. It feels like she just hit a brick wall. Her quick ability to heal herself and the sense of her magic reveal her as a druid.

Another person enters the room, this one is a goddess, and as it turns out, a Britannian one. "What are you doing? Her Highness is calling EVERYBODY to battle!"

The druid speaks in Britannian; "A battle? Right now? But the roast isn't done..."

"Leave it! When her Highness says now, she means NOW!" She notices Meliodas, who's still eating the undercooked roast. "Carlos! What are you doing here?! Quit stuffing your face and get back to the hospital immediately. All personal on duty NOW!"

Carl? Meliodas thinks to himself.

"Give him a break, will ya?" says the druid; "He's been in the OR without a break for 47 hours, I'm sure he's starving."

"I don't care!" The goddess grabs Meliodas by the arm and tries to yank him. He replies by punching her with his left fist, knocking her out cold. The druid doesn't even bother checking on her.

"Goodness Carlos! Have you been working out? Oh, I mean..." She repeats in Hungarian.

"Speak Britannian please;" Meliodas says without thinking.

The druid looks confused. "Britannian? Since when do you speak Britannian?"

From their hiding place, Hawk and Willie both slap their heads, holding the breath and thinking "what a moron."

"Uh..." Meliodas swallows his food and looks down, trying to keep the hood over his eyes. "Yea, I've been...I've got a magic amulet so I can understand your language. Neat, huh?"

The druid seems satisfied. "Oh, I see. You set it to the Britannian language to understand those goddesses. I was forced to learn their language. It was hard, believe me."

Meliodas stuffs another chunk of meat into his mouth. "I'm sure it was."

"What happened to your voice? You sound so much more upbeat and clearer than usual. And you seem taller. Guess those spin and neck stretching exercises are working."

That surprises Meliodas, that this 'Carl(?)' guy is supposedly shorter than himself.

The druid then notices that nearly a third of the undercooked roast boar has already been consumed and doesn't really care anymore. "Dang, you are eating two days' worth of food. Don't blame me if you get a major stomachache from all that undercooked pork. But it may not harm you since you're a demon, anyway."

This is certainly one of the oddest consequences Meliodas have ever heard and fights not to laugh. Even Hawk barely control his giggles and needs Willie to hold his mouth, and snout, shut.

The druid seems reluctant to check the goddess over and huffs picking her up. "Guess I need to take her to med bay, then get out again before they recruit me to heal the wounded. Get some rest Carlos and sleep off those drugs, they can't keep track of everybody around here. Caelestis is such a slave driver. I've never seen the like."

Meliodas nearly chocks hearing that. Where has he heard that name?

"The Supreme Deity?! Is that who you mean?"

The druid gives him a funny look. "The Supreme what?" Meliodas is looking up and she sees his face and eyes. "Hey, you're not Carlos? Who are you? You're not a spy, are you?"

The dragon sin pulls his hood down a little. "No, of course not. I'm Melio..."

His mouth gets muffled by threads and Hawk knocks the druid out.

"Really Meliodas!" says Hawk; "would it kill you not to give yourself away."

Meliodas clonks the pig on the head and rips off the threads.

"Thanks guys, but I had everything under control."

Willie tries to slap the dragon sin on the head but hurts his hand instead. Meliodas asks if he's ok when they realize that the goddess is waking up. Willie grabs the half-demon's arm and tugs on him, urging him with body language to hide. Hawk runs behind the shelf again and tells Meliodas to please comply. Meliodas really doesn't believe it'll work but joins them.

The goddess wakes up and rudely shakes the druid awake, telling her to get her medic bag and join the ranks.

"But what about the demon? It's not Carlos. I think he's a spy."

The goddess sneers at her. "There's hundreds of spies here. You shouldn't trust anybody, including me. Come on now! The sooner we get this mess over with, the sooner we can finally stop sucking up to the old psycho bitch and Lucy can finally take the throne."

"You mean Nemesis, don't you? Personally, I prefer Madame Artemis."

"Oh PLEASE! She's not fit to lead a pack of headless chickens."

They exit through the back, not bothering to close the door. The goddess's loud voice can still be heard. Their words catch the dragon sin's interest, and he wants to follow them. He tells Hawk to go to the lab and get the others. Gowther, of course, will be able to find them easily once Hawk points to a general direction. He then tells Willie the plan, forgetting again that Willie's not understanding him. The monk makes the speak gesture and shakes his head no.

"Oh yea;" says Meliodas, scratching his head.

Hawk intervenes, first asking Willie if he knows Greek, which he does. Then Hawk says one of the few Greek phrases he's learn, this one from playing with the girls. "Follow the leader, Meliodas." Willie looks at Meliodas, points to himself, then to Meliodas, and gestures.

"Yea Willie, you go with me, Buddy." Meliodas says Gowther's name and points to his head, then says Iris and Inuyasha's names and points to Hawk as he takes off. A slightly intense look is in the dragon sin's eyes, which Willie's seen briefly just a couple of times. Meliodas must be getting serious and is taking control. Perhaps Willie's finally going to see the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins in full action.

Meliodas then picks up the remaining two-thirds of the boar, takes a huge bit, and heads for the door. Willie's mouth drops open in dismay.

"What? Can't go into battle on an empty stomach. Want some?"

He offers a piece of pork to Willie, who's very disgusted by just the thought of pig's meat. The poor monk's face turns green, grabs his stomach, runs to a waste bucket, and throws up. Meliodas just shrugs his shoulders and keeps eating.