A/N: Welcome! I am familiar with the first 250 or so chapters of Seven Deadly Sins (I think that's around the same place season three gets to, but I'm not sure). If you haven't gotten that far in the anime/manga, I'd highly recommend familiarizing yourself with that before exploring this story or any others. There are some exceptionally good reveals in Seven Deadly Sins, and I'd hate for anyone to accidentally get spoiled.

This story is not canon, so not all of the details will align with the source material.

Enjoy!

"-best idea I've ever had." Zeldris was saying, waving his hands enthusiastically as he led his older brother down a depressingly underused hallway.

What was once a grand castle had slowly begun to dilapidate into something much less impressive. The red carpet had tears, the walls spoke of cobwebs and other lurking insects, and the sconces were full of crusted candle wax.

Many years ago, a constantly rotating team of caretakers had worked tirelessly to keep the grounds sparkling. But after the start of the war, it became too dangerous to have outsiders coming and going, so they'd fired most of the staff. The ones who remained could never leave upon threat of death.

They'd run out of chefs. Zeldris had killed most of them- two because they'd begged to be allowed to leave and see their daughter, and the most recent one because he'd been failing at the impossible task of trying to provide food for the all the castle's tenants by himself.

So Zeldris had garnered what he thought to be an absolutely brilliant idea, an idea his older brother couldn't have given two shits about.

"You could just make your own food." Meliodas told him boredly, nevertheless following without complaint as Zeldris led him to an empty storeroom on the first floor.

Zeldris waved his hand dismissively, looking as haughty as a true prince would. Meliodas didn't make any further complaints, because the thought of eating only his own cooking for the rest of his life really didn't sound appealing.

They approached their destination. Meliodas had never been in the part of the castle, which wasn't unusual. It was in even worse disrepair than the last hallway they'd gone down, which was saying something. The heavy wooden door in front of them was half off its hinges and crawling with tiny spiders.

Zeldris stripped his glove off and swatted it at the pests while Meliodas hung back, thinking about nothing in particular.

Suddenly he perked up, his attention going to the center of the door like he was trying to concentrate hard enough to see through it.

Goddess. He would recognize the feeling of that magic anywhere.

Just as quickly as it had flared up, it disappeared without a trace. Meliodas took his hand off the hilt of his sword, considering his options.

He glanced to his brother, unsurprised to find he hadn't noticed anything amiss. Zeldris had a tendency to pick and choose his battles, meaning if he wasn't looking for a fight, his instincts were totally turned off.

Meliodas could have told him about the magic. But he decided to wait, if for no other reason than he'd just about reached the daily limit of tolerance he had for listening to Zeldris boast, and learning he'd accidentally captured a goddess would no doubt have him spinning a wild tale that would last all night.

So Meliodas kept his mouth shut as Zeldris finally pushed open the door to reveal the scene within.

Elizabeth cast another cursory glance about the room, keeping her chin on her knees as she maintained a low profile.

One of the girls was crying, not making any attempt at all to cover up her sobs. Another was pacing the room, trying her hands in various places like she expected an escape route to pop out.

Elizabeth was merely waiting.

They would escape, yes, but it wouldn't be until after they were moved from this room. They'd been captured, not killed, and she knew it was for a reason. It would only waste space to keep them in this room, so she knew that eventually, someone would come to extract them.

Disguising herself as a human had been a stroke of good luck.

She'd been on a scouting mission. One of her brothers had gotten bored, careless. He'd started toying with the humans below, egging them on for a fight they couldn't win, releasing too much magic in his need to impress. Angered, Elizabeth had broken the fight and promptly left him alone to finish the mission by herself.

His power had ended up attracting the attention of some wandering demons.

She'd rushed back to the scene, but by then it was far too late. His burned carcass stared up at her from the ground. A pile of dead humans sat beside him. With little choice, she'd crept through the rest of the village, trying to get a read on the situation.

She always folded her wings away when she spoke to humans. They had little reason to trust demons or goddesses, and she no reason to get them to start. So she'd been in a half-collapsed house, helping to drag an unconscious man out from beneath a crumbling stone wall, when the dark-haired demon had swooped in and taken her by surprise.

They'd only captured girls- the youngest she saw was around 15, and the oldest no older than 35.

Elizabeth's gaze swept over to examine the two girls in the corner. They were clearly twins, the only noticeable difference between them being the length of their hair. One girl was resting with her head on the other's lap, her torso slowly bleeding out in what was becoming a long, torturous death. Her sister was the one who'd been crying loudly, but her sobs had begun to cease.

Elizabeth could have helped. It would have been so easy to fix the wound. But instead she sat, stonelike, her nails digging harshly into her palms. If she healed the girl, she would reveal herself. And the demons would likely kill everyone here.

She stared at the girl again, her magic flaring up despite her best efforts. She beat it down savagely, hating herself for doing nothing even though she had no other choice.

When the door suddenly burst open, they all jumped. The light that puddled into the room came from the dim sconces in the hall, but it still felt like being blasted with the sun.

"Well, go on and stand up."

She recognized the dark-haired demon who'd captured her. They all stood, all except for the dying twin and her sister.

"Whoops," The demon said, unsheathing his sword from his waist. "Must have missed that."

He was across the room in two seconds, bringing his sword down in a wide arc to the girl's neck. The woman beside Elizabeth screamed.

A strong hand caught his arm at the last second. A second demon, this one blonde but with the same crest on his forehead, stared at his brother expressionlessly. Elizabeth felt a chill go down her spine at the knowledge of how fast he'd moved and how little effort it had taken him to completely halt the force of the blow.

"She's already dead." He said. His voice was quiet, calm. But there was also something strange about it, a dangerous authority that suggested he was used to having his commands followed without question.

Elizabeth suddenly had a very good idea of who this demon was.

"Hmm. Whatever." The dark-haired boy snatched his arm back and sheathed his sword. He tugged the stricken sister to her feet and shoved her toward the others.

Elizabeth was still watching the blonde man. He was scanning the group, his eyes calculating each person for a consistent half second.

Finally he landed on her.

His eyebrows went up, barely enough for her to notice. But she did notice, because she was already looking at him. And they stood in their own little world, the two of them, while the other demon began a speech neither of them was listening to.

Did he suspect her? Is that why he was staring at her so intently? He hadn't spent this much time looking at the other girls. At least…she was fairly positive he hadn't.

The blonde boy narrowed his eyes, just a little. Then, just as sporadically as the moment had begun, it was over, and his eyes slid over to someone else.

She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"And thus, I decided to hire all of you!" The dark-haired demon was saying. Elizabeth floundered, looking around covertly to see if anyone else had missed the first part of the speech. The other girls all seemed to be paying rapt attention, so Elizabeth tried to look like them.

"After all, I was told the females in your species are the ones who do the cooking." He said proudly.

Elizabeth had never known a human personally, but she wasn't entirely sure this was true. Another look around the room assured her she was correct.

"If you'll follow me to your new quarters," The demon continued. "You'll find uniforms waiting for you there. You all start tomorrow."

He let that information sink in for a moment. Most of the girls looked mystified, like they couldn't believe their lives had been spared for this purpose. Elizabeth didn't really blame them. What kind of place was this? What kind of people were they that they had to kidnap humans to do menial jobs?

"We're going to walk without any guards." The dark-haired boy said, throwing his hands carelessly behind his head. "And you'll find yourselves doing that a lot here. No one will escort you from your room to the kitchen. No one will need to. If you ever try to escape, you will not make it."

He took a small step forward, separating himself from the quiet demon.

"My name is Zeldris, second son of the Demon Lord." The dark-haired boy boasted. "And this is my brother, who could snap your neck with just his thumb and index finger. I wouldn't recommend trying our patience or hospitality. Wouldn't you agree, brother?"

The blonde man looked off to the corner of the room, as if uninterested. His brother barely seemed to notice, like he was used to this sort of behavior.

To the other girls, the Zeldris would definitely seem like the scarier of the two. But Elizabeth had been watching the other demon closely. By letting his brother do the talking, the blonde one had been able to carefully study the girls. She imagined he was the sort of person who saw much, but contributed little. And if the stories she'd heard about him were true, he didn't find solace in anything besides destruction and killing. Maybe he had no interest in words, unlike the other demon, who was clearly in love with the sound of his own voice.

"Now, then." Zeldris said, ushering them out the door. They left the dead twin where she was, her blood already congealing on the floor.

Elizabeth went last. Everything had happened too fast when they'd been escorted here, but now she took the time to look around, beginning a mental picture of the castle and its various twists and turns.

She heard a low chuckle behind her, and her back straightened as she suddenly became certain the blonde demon was staring at her, clearly guessing her thoughts and mocking her attempts at hope.

His eyes felt like physical pools of warmth on the back of her neck. She tried to keep her steps steady, like she didn't notice. Her hand slid up to her necklace, where she worried the worn charm between her fingers before realizing it was a stupid idea. She couldn't use this- not here, not in this place.

She tucked it under her ruined dress, and it fell between her breasts. It would have to remain there indefinitely. She would need to be strong enough to get by without the thing.

They turned a corner, and she stumbled a little, her feet sore from exhaustion. It was strange to think about, but it had been a long time indeed since she'd needed to walk.

A calloused hand caught her arm, just above the elbow. She would've thrown him off if he'd gripped her for any longer than half a second. One moment she could feel his warmth at her back, and the next he was several feet away again, like nothing had ever happened.

She didn't turn around to thank him, silently wondering if he'd touched her on purpose. Was that a test? Was he trying to see if her skin hummed with magic? She turned her head, looking at him from the corner of her eye. His gaze was far off, his hands at his sides as he looked for too long at a half-ruined portrait.

The picture of an innocent demon.

She curled her lip at the oxymoronic phrase. It was virtually the same as referring to an innocent goddess.

Zeldris's tour was mercifully shorter than his speech had been. It became apparent within four seconds that the man had never set foot in his own kitchen before, so after clearing his throat slightly he'd walked them a few hallways over to the servants' quarters.

The room wasn't very big, but it was perfectly suited to sleep the eight of them. Freshly pressed uniforms hung in a wardrobe with no door, and mats for sleeping were set along the floor. The sight of them had even the strong Elizabeth ready to weep with relief.

Finally they were left alone.

The door didn't have a lock, but no one made a move to leave. One by one they all made their way to a bedroll and collapsed. There was no food or water, no way to wash off the dirt and grime that covered each of them.

Not a single girl spoke. It was dark in the room, but a certain amount of light came through the room's only window. Elizabeth made her way over to it, peering out to see a foggy, sunless sky.

She couldn't figure out where exactly the light came from. It was dim in this realm, inside and outside, but there must have been light coming from somewhere.

Elizabeth looked back, realizing she was the only person still standing. She took the last remaining bedroll and plopped flat on her back, studying the ceiling in silence.

Time stretched out. Then, impossibly, a small voice rang out.

"Does anyone know how to cook?"

Elizabeth gasped with surprise. And then, impossibly, she laughed. What began as a small giggle escalated into a full-on chuckle. It was contagious enough that she even heard one or two girls joining her.

She had no idea how to cook. She hadn't even considered that before now. It wasn't funny, not at all. Nothing about his situation was. But she laughed anyway.

And as she came down from that momentary high, it occurred to her that it was the first time she'd laughed in months. Years.

She didn't want to be in this place. Not at all. But she couldn't help but feel grateful to be somewhere different than where she'd been.

Lost.