A/N: Again, a VERY late update. I apologise for it. Also HOLY COW the amount of people who have favourited this is astonishing! Thanks a ton everyone who's showing support! It totally keeps me going and is really appreciated. Have a complimentary cookie :D

Till next time,

D.L.D

Chapter Six: Breakfast

After finally prying Elizabeth away from the door, Zeldris had begrudgingly occupied her with looking after Hawk. That had led to the two falling into eager conversation, the fire demon happily chattering away to Elizabeth as she nodded and chimed in at appropriate intervals. As a result, Zeldris, who had just wanted to get Elizabeth out of his way, ended up having to listen to them chatter on and on about pointless little things that honestly didn't make much sense to him. All he knew was that it was annoying him. Greatly.

"Alright, I've had enough of this crap!" Zeldris huffs, pushing his chair away from the table and setting down the heavy book within his hands. Pushing a hand through his dark hair, he then heads to a drawer and pulls it out, revealing a loaf of bread, before taking a plate with cheese along with it. "I need some breakfast. All of this is giving me a migraine."

"I can cook for you if you want!" Elizabeth immediately abandons her post with Hawk, hurrying toward the other table brimming with food. Upon it she spots bacon and eggs - a good, hearty breakfast option - and immediately thinks that she should cook that. It was, after all, the least she could do after barging into the young man's space, very much annoyingly and very much unwanted. "Look! There's bacon and eggs. I'm sure that's much better than bread and cheese."

"Well, we can't exactly use the fire," Zeldris grumbles, shoving things aside on the table filled with papers, books and magic artifacts. He grunts with the effort. "We have to wait for my idiot brother to get back before we can cook anything."

"Oh, I can cook!" Elizabeth responds cheerily, already pulling a frying pan from the three that hung from the wall. She hums as she approached Hawk once more, determined to cook a proper, filling breakfast. "I'm sure it won't go too badly at all."

"It doesn't matter if you can cook or not, idiot," Zeldris sighed, watching as Elizabeth set down the plate of bacon on the hearth. Beside it lay a few eggs, surprisingly still intact despite the long and clumsy journey. "Hawk only obeys Meliodas. The stupid fire demon is too stubborn to even consider- "

"I don't take any orders from anyone!" Hawk cries out, his flames flickering with his indignant voice. Bright amber and orange jump from the hearth - hot sparks of ash. "That includes you, Mr Grouch! And you, Miss Weird Lady! Even Meliodas has to beg me to complete things because no-one controls the great and powerful- "

Elizabeth wasn't listening to either of them. Instead, she was rummaging around the stuff she'd organised around the hearth, including her discarded shawl and walking stick that rested by the chair she'd slept on. Humming, she mindlessly moved the walking stick behind the chair, tucking her shawl and coat neatly around the back of it. As she did, Elizabeth pulled up her hat, the item being something she'd forgotten about until now.

"Oh, my hat!" Elizabeth smiled brightly, placing the headgear onto the seat of the chair. "I'd completely forgotten about that!" She then turns back to the fire, moving the frying pan toward the still flaming Hawk. "Now Hawk, this will only take a second. Be a good fire and maybe I'll give you some more fuel."

"Did you not hear anything I just said, Lady!" Hawk fumes, steam curling from his nostrils as he glares at Elizabeth. "I don't cook! I'm an extremely powerful and scary fire demon. No-one, and I mean no-one commands me!" A flaming tongue pokes out of the fire demon's mouth, yellow in colour and forked at the end. His little hands wrapped around the two spokes sticking out of the hearth, grounding him as he leaned forward in a menacing fashion. It all fell short in the face of Elizabeth.

"I guess a bucket of water can always suffice," The goddess sighed, placing a hand on her cheek. Her voice lowers a little, dropping to a mere whisper. "Or should I tell Meliodas or Zeldris here about the deal you made with me?"

"Oh, stupid me!" The fire cursed, his voice loud and filled with regret. His two eyes rolled with the flames, their backs pale white. "I knew I shouldn't have let you in here!"

"It'll only take a second Hawk," Elizabeth responded just as calmly, her lips fixed into a placating smile. She shook the pan within her hands. "So what do you say? Do you want to help me make breakfast? I'll let you eat the scraps."

As Elizabeth said this, she thrust the pan in front of Hawk, wordlessly urging him to agree. Furiously, he pushed back at it, his little limbs glowing with the extra effort. Flickers of flames climbed against the sides of the pan, licking at its metal with a fierce defiance; they grew short and blue as soon as Elizabeth flattened Hawk with the base of the pan. Just like Hawk's protests, his fight against it, they died against the will of the determined goddess.

"You're such a nice fire," Elizabeth cooed, watching the pan begin to sizzle and crackle with heat. Easily, the goddess picked up a strip of bacon and placed it into the pan, its fat spitting and crackling as it sizzled away in the pan. "Thank you for cooperating."

Full of ire, Hawk glared up at her, his beady eyes set with a petty and petulant glare, "Here's another curse. Let all your bacon burn."

Giggling, Elizabeth shook her head at Hawk's comment, knowing that he was only upset because she had managed to somewhat tame him. In contrast, Zeldris sat there, speechless, watching as the goddess effortlessly handled Hawk.

No-one, not even Meliodas, could get him to be so compliant and agreeable. Usually, his brother would just threaten the fire until it actually decided to comply. But this strange lady had managed to somehow calm and control him - just like a witch. Yet, she was clearly not one. This strange lady, although peculiar and odd, was not at all witch-like. If anything, she was like an innocent girl, experiencing the world for the first time.

"Tea would go nicely with this..." Elizabeth mused, her voice awfully dreamlike despite the spitting bacon in the pan. Mindlessly, she turns to Zeldris, raising a brow. "Would you like some tea too? I'm pretty sure I saw a kettle around here. Do you know where it is?"

"Uh... sure," Zeldris slowly nodded, surprisingly getting up and doing as she'd asked. He didn't know why, nor how, but this woman had a strange sort of pull over people. It was like with just one simple look, one little request, she could get an entire army to perform her every whim. Honestly, it was no wonder why Hawk had been so compliant with her; even Zeldris himself found it hard to say no when she asked him so nicely.

"Hey! Don't help her!" Hawk squawked from the hearth, his voice loud and defiant against the gentle spit of his flame. Annoyed, he watched as Zeldris diligently went to fetch a kettle, searching through the pile of cups, plates and other crockery and cutlery, until he produced one.

Just as he did, the dial moved, clicking into place to indicate the door that was being used; the black one. That could only mean thing.

Meliodas was back.

Swinging open with a creak, the front door shed darkness into the warm interior of the building. Following it came the footsteps of the missing Meliodas, the blonde silently walking in as he closed the door behind him. All sign of thought and emotion was hidden on his face, guarded by a veil of wild blonde hair that hung about his features. An air of solemnness hovered around him, surrounded him, and appeared to seep into the entire room as he arrived.

For a moment, Elizabeth believed him to be a different person. None of the same mysterious man who had made her walk on air was visible. Nothing from the day previous appeared to be displayed. But then she knew that it was probably all an act. Meliodas was known to try and win the hearts of girls alike, ultimately using them to further his own mysterious agenda as he hid away in the Wastes. And yet, people still adored him. People still looked at him with awe.

But why? Shouldn't such a monster be locked away forever? Elizabeth certainly thought so.

"It's about time you came back!" Zeldris huffed, his face puffed with agitation as he stomped toward the steps. Not at all welcoming - or kind - he glared at his brother, his disappointment obvious. "The mayor and the king and all these pompous assholes are sending you letters again. Thanks to your genius idea, you now have to report at the palace as both Dragon and Jenkins."

Completely ignoring Zeldris' rant, Meliodas bypassed his thoroughly pissed brother and instead approached the obvious change, the obvious intruder. Silently, she stiffly poked away at the frying pan, her eyes glued to Hawk's dancing flames as she listened to the approaching footsteps.

One. He has now passed Zeldris entirely. Two. She could sense his stare and feel the poking prod of his judgement. Three. He is standing right by her, silent and observant, still not saying anything. Nothing at all.

For a moment, Elizabeth considers the possibility that she may shrink down to a size so small that no-one will ever see her again. For a moment, she thinks that she will wake up and this moment will be a dream. Yet, for that moment, she is still standing there, poking away at the frying bacon and keeping her gaze attached to the tenacious firecracker that threatened to burn her meal. All the while Meliodas is still there, aware that she is intruding and very much a trespasser.

"Hawk," His tone is entirely light, almost as if he were joking. It reaches her ears and makes her nerves seize with surprise, entirely caught off guard. "You're being so obedient."

"Not on purpose!" The fire demon hissed, his flames immediately sparking to a more vigourous spit as he yelled at Meliodas. Spewing thin wisps of smoke, the fire rolls his eyes, gesturing toward the anxious Elizabeth. "She bullied me."

"Now that's surprising," Meliodas glances at Elizabeth, something passing through his features but she cannot catch it. She is too slow to ever get such signals. "And you are?"

"You can call me Elizabeth," The goddess blushes, entirely taken aback by how casual and nice he is. After all she had gone through, being cursed, travelling to the Wastes, meeting Turnip Head, she had never figured that meeting Meliodas again would be so easy. When he had taken her hand and made her light as air, she had been a very different person; now, she was someone that people would rather sneer at than help. She was someone who many would rather ignore than see.

"I'm your new cleaning lady," The lie easily slips from her tongue, mainly provided from the fact that she'd just been making breakfast. In her old home, with her mother, the cleaning ladies always did those types of jobs. They were the ones to maintain, clean and present the home as somewhere stately, grand and perfectly clean. "I just started today."

"Well, there's no need for you to do this then," Easily, Meliodas took the pan from Elizabeth, pushing her to the side. Completely flustered and caught off guard, Elizabeth could only be pushed aside as she helplessly handed control over to him. If she wanted to survive more than a day here, then she needed to gauge how much she could get away with. Hawk was different from Meliodas - so was Zeldris. If Elizabeth wanted to truly break her curse, then she needed to get Meliodas to help her.

"Do you need anything else done?" Elizabeth asked softly, too nervous to say much else. Usually, cleaning ladies were the sort to already know what needed to be done. It was rare when they asked her mother about what needed to be done; her mother often told them automatically what was needed to be done each day.

"Just pass me two more pieces of bacon and six eggs," Meliodas responded, seeming entirely absorbed with the task he had taken over. So, as obediently as possible, Elizabeth passed Meliodas the requested items. As she did, her brain fired at a million miles per minute, worrying and fussing over all sorts of possible outcomes that this conversation could lead to.

When she had first entered the castle, Elizabeth had known that she would encounter Meliodas at some point. With him being the owner of the place, it was pretty much inevitable. Yet after waking up with no sign of him, as well as spending quite a bit of time with Zeldris and Hawk, Elizabeth had figured that Meliodas wouldn't show up so abruptly. In fact, she thought he may not be back for quite some time, perhaps taking days at a time away from home like the many husbands her mother had gotten married to.

However, once again, the blonde had surprised. He had done something that Elizabeth had not anticipated and because of that she was unsure of how to even respond.

Silence stretched over the room for a few moments, only broken by Hawk's happy munching of the eggshells Meliodas tossed his way. Greedily, the fire demon chomped each one, savouring the crunch, as he burned away on his hearth. With each new shell the creature only grew more ravenous, until the last shell - which was monstrously devoured whole, Hawk licking his flaming lips with glee as he let out a contented snort.

All the while, Elizabeth watched, her anxiety sizzling away like the bacon and eggs that cooked in their pan. This moment was as if she'd just chucked herself from a heated frying pan into a ferocious fire. This moment was as if she'd just made everything worse by thinking that she'd done something much better. Following Turnip Head, coming here, had been a silly and desperate mistake. She should have just turned back when she had the chance.

"Who exactly hired you?" Meliodas mused offhandedly, breaking the silence as he turned a slice of bacon. The fat hissed, immediately cooking against the heated metal surface of the pan.

"Oh, Hawk did!" Elizabeth chimed in, still rather dazed from her own panicking thoughts and anxiety. Frowning, she added in a more serious and matter-of-fact-tone, "He told me that he was quite disgusted with how dirty the place was."

"Hmm," Meliodas hummed, not explicitly saying anything, before swiftly removing the frying pan from the fire. Without another word, he walked away from the pair. "Hey Zel, get some plates!"

"Wait, you guys get to eat while I work?" Hawk whined, his flames stretching as he moaned. Frowning, the fire glanced to Elizabeth, entirely expectant of her side of the deal. "I thought I was gonna get some scraps?"

"You already got 'em, you greedy pig!" Zeldris snapped, his glare intense and firm as he glanced at the fire. However, it softened as he spotted Elizabeth, fixing into a grumpy grimace. "And you'd better eat something before it gets cold. It'll go to waste otherwise."

Blinking, Elizabeth slowly nodded at Zeldris' request, shaking herself out of her daze. If she wanted to truly pull off her guise as a cleaning lady, then she needed to keep her wits about her. That meant no daydreaming, no deep thoughts and definitely no getting amazed by Meliodas, Hawk or Zeldris. All Elizabeth should do is listen, clean and do her job. If she does that, then she'll get closer to finding a way to reverse this curse.

Gingerly, Elizabeth made her way to the table, wringing her hands in her dress as she felt like an outsider looking into someone else's home. While Zeldris set out all of the plates, methodically placing them where there was available space, Meliodas cleared the way, stacking books and objects on top of each other into tall towers. By the time Elizabeth had gathered her wits about her and sat down at the table, Meliodas had already served out the food, Zeldris offering her one of three utensils: a dull spoon or one of two forks.

"You can only have one. The rest are dirty," Zeldris says, thrusting the objects closer to one. As he did, Elizabeth noticed that they weren't exactly the cleanest, most likely being from the pile of crockery that was buried in the full sink. "Choose wisely."

"I guess I have my work cut out for me," Shaking her head, Elizabeth took the spoon, figuring that it was easier to clean than one of the forks. Using her sleeve, she polished off the spoon, making sure that it was clean before even considering to tuck in.

Judging by how the place seemed to be covered in a fine layer of dust, Elizabeth would most definitely spend quite a bit of time cleaning the castle. No doubt she'd tackle all of the washing up first, cutlery and crockery being extremely important. Then she'd move onto dusting, sweeping, mopping and waxing the place, making sure that every surface shone as brightly as a polished diamond or her mother's golden bracelets.

Mindlessly, the goddess brushed away at the small drifts of dust and crumbs that were settled by her. She definitely had to give this place a good scrub. Maybe two to make sure that it was extra squeaky clean...

"Bread, Elizabeth?" She's broken out of her thoughts by Meliodas offering her bread, the blonde looking at her with imploring green eyes.

"Yes please..." Helplessly, a blush forms on her cheeks, fueled by her own embarrassment. Unknowingly, she had zoned out again, her mind focusing on tiny, little drifts of dust instead of the mysterious man whom she was supposedly working for. Not just that, she had zoned out so much that she had barely touched her food, instead thinking about cleaning and what she would do in the future, forgetting about the present. A silly mistake. A childish mistake.

If Meliodas had not broken her out of it, then she would still be thinking about dusts balls...

"God, it's been ages since we've had an actual breakfast!" Zeldris grins a little, chuckling as he stabs at his bacon. Teasingly, he raises a brow at Meliodas, "Hey, maybe it'll actually taste good this time?"

Ignoring his brother, Meliodas sighed. However, despite his sigh, a small grin was settled on his features as Zeldris lifted his fork to take a big bite of his plate. As soon as he chomped down on his food, Zeldris cringed, his face pulling with immediate disgust.

"Ugh!"

Eyes wide, Elizabeth watched with concern as the dark-haired brother spat out his breakfast, a dark expression forming on his once semi-lighthearted face. From just the looks of it, Zeldris was annoyed, beyond annoyed. No doubt he was angry and anger only meant one thing for household staff. Involuntarily, Elizabeth tensed.

Breakfast should have never been offered; Elizabeth should have never picked up that pan. She knew she wasn't the greatest cook, especially since her mother never pushed for her to learn such basic domestic skills, but she didn't think that her food was that bad. After moving into the hat shop, Elizabeth had to learn how to cook a few basic things - bacon and eggs included. Sure, she never mastered it. Sure, she did sometimes make the bacon overly crispy or charred the eggs a little too much, but she rarely ever spoiled a basic meal.

However, all panic in Elizabeth's heart dies when she spots Meliodas' face: a big, amused grin. No doubt because he had some part to play in the horrible taste of Zeldris' food. Did he perhaps... mess with it?

Frowning a little, Elizabeth examined her plate. Everything appeared perfect, the egg white with a lovely golden yolk and her bacon crinkly and not at all burnt. From how the plate looks, everything should be fine. From how the plate smells, the food should taste good. Yet something told Elizabeth that appearances could very much deceive. Carefully, Elizabeth scooped some of the egg on her plate onto her spoon. She then took a cautious mouthful of it, wary of the reaction Zeldris had given.

For a moment, she was fine. The next, she tasted something amiss, something sharp and sour and definitely not egg. Immediately, the goddess cringed. Ah, there it was. The horrible, horrible taste.

Too polite to complain, nor point out Meliodas' obvious lack in culinary skills, Elizabeth tactfully swallowed her mouthful of egg and hid the shiver that ran up her spine. To then get rid of the taste, she tore at the slice of bread Meliodas had given her, glad that he couldn't taint that at least.

"So, Elizabeth, what's in that pocket of yours?" Meliodas suddenly asks, catching her off guard again as she pauses mid-chew. He says it so casually, so normally, that it takes the goddess a second to register his question.

"My... pocket?" Elizabeth repeats, reaching to pat down her dress for the very thing.

Why would he mention her pockets? Being raised as a daughter of class and status, Elizabeth had no need for pockets and so rarely used them. If there was anything in there, she would probably have a few pins, feathers or other hat-making stuff stuffed into them. More important objects, such as her hat or her purse, were often stored within Elizabeth's bag or basket - never her pockets which could be easily robbed.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth located and dug into her pocket, finding an unfamiliar object within it. Smooth and flat, a piece of folded paper found itself within her palm. She didn't remember putting anything in her pockets; Elizabeth never actually used her pockets for anything other than storing hat accessories. Red in colour, the paper was ominous and strange, reminding her of the flamboyant witch who had attacked her within the hat shop just one day ago.

"What is this?" Elizabeth frowned, pressing her lips as she examined the paper. Carefully, she turned it within her hands, fascinated by the bright crimson shade.

"Let me see," Meliodas reached out for the paper.

Complying, Elizabeth stretched her own arm to give the magician the object. Just as they were about to touch and transfer the paper, sparks popped between them, startling the cursed goddess as she immediately dropped the paper from her hands. Gracefully, the paper floated to land on the table's surface, now open from its fold and revealing an image that looked a lot like an incantation.

Glowing with embers, the markings burned into the wooden table. Left behind was an image of a person standing beneath a sky split into two different zones. One zone was the tail of a blazing star - the star itself sitting in the middle of the divide - with a heart situated between the star's tail and the person. The other side was what looked to be a representation of the sun, circular rings being filled with different patterns and designs.

Curious, Elizabeth studied the markings, trying to decipher their meaning. Usually, pictures told much more interesting stories than words. Often, it was the art of visual images that made simple words into a much more impressive feat.

"Great, it scorched into the table," Zeldris groused, his expression sour as he shoveled more eggs and bacon into his mouth. Rolling his eyes, the darker haired sibling frowned. "You better read 'em now. It'd be a waste of a good table just leaving the markings there."

"You can read them?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide with wonder as she stared at the two brothers.

Of course she knew that they could do many different things related to magic and its various fields. Meliodas was not so renowned for no reason - and Zeldris would definitely have a part in that gift as his brother. Yet, despite that prior knowledge and assumption, Elizabeth still felt amazed by the fact that they could decipher such basic symbols. As a speaker of two languages, she knew that translation took a lot of skill.

"Only I can, Zeldris skipped learning it," Meliodas grinned a little, seeming proud of the fact that he had been the more resourceful of the two when it came to deciphering ancient magic. However that pride faded as he focused on the markings, his face becoming an unreadable mask as he spoke out its meaning, "You who swallowed a falling star, oh heartless man. Your heart shall soon belong to me."

"That's definitely not good for the table," Zeldris chuckled, shaking his head.

"Definitely not," Meliodas agreed, his expression somber as he stared at the markings.

Elizabeth could only watch in disbelief as Meliodas placed a hand over the mark, smoke escaping from beneath his palm as he slowly passed it over the entire symbol. As he did, flames formed beneath his hand, small and less powerful compared to Hawk's crackling spit but still just as breathtaking for someone who was unused to such use of magic like her.

"It's gone," Elizabeth breathed, entirely in awe at the now clear table. One moment ago, carved deep into the wood, was the message left by the paper's author; now it looked just as it had before, the wood clear of any markings that depicted the person standing beneath a sky.

"The mark's gone, but the spell's still there," Meliodas responds, a sigh seeming to escape as he got up from the table, taking his plate with him. Easily, he supplies Elizabeth with a reassuring grin. "And now I think I have something to attend to." Mindlessly, he gives Hawk the scraps off his plate, entirely ignoring the fire demon's pleased lip-smacking and gobbling. "Hawk, move the castle sixty miles to the west."

No other words said, the blonde then went to disappear upstairs - yet another mystery to Elizabeth. Both she and Zeldris watched as Meliodas left them alone at the table, seeming to be in quite the hurry, only to pause as he reached the top of the steps. Unexpectedly, he peeks his head down - just enough for them to see him - and adds something else to his initial orders for Hawk.

"While you're at it," Meliodas pauses for a second, seeming to consider something before speaking once more. "Heat the fire in the library too."

"Like moving the castle's not enough!" Hawk huffed, entirely exasperated. Steam curled from his flames as he munched on the remains of his scraps, glowering as he worked away at completing Meliodas' orders. "You're working me like a mule here!"

Once again Elizabeth was left as a spectator, surveying all that went on before her. Silently Zeldris sat beside her, thoughtfully studying the newly hired cleaning lady as he worked his way through his breakfast. Undeniably, the unexpected presence of her, as well as the mysterious note with the spell, had him feeling awfully suspicious of Elizabeth and her intentions. Before she had come crashing into the place things weren't this haywire. Before she had made herself cosy and buddied up with Hawk, Meliodas had never received something like that mysterious red note.

Aware of Zeldris' intense stare, Elizabeth shifted a little in her seat. Attention was not anything new to her; attention was unavoidable. However, she still didn't like it. Elizabeth would never like being at the centre of someone's attention. Not ever. Being at the centre of someone's attention always led to bad things; it always led to her suffering or some kind of misfortune. First her mother trying to marry her off, next the witch of the Waste targeting her because of Meliodas, now she was being suspected of something; the misfortune never ended.

"You're not working for the Witch of the Waste are you?" Zeldris asks carefully, spooning his eggs with a sudden precision that he had lacked moments before. Not taking his eyes off Elizabeth, he ate his spoonful.

At Zeldris' question Elizabeth couldn't help but feel offended. Hurt. Meliodas knew that she would never work for the witch. He had been there when she was entangled into this messy world of magic and witches and wizards. Meliodas knew that Elizabeth didn't like the drama and complications of such a life - he had seen that in her when she'd helped her to avoid those two pushy soldiers. But Zeldris didn't know any of that.

Zeldris didn't know that Elizabeth actively avoided anything to do with magic. Zeldris didn't know that Elizabeth had met Meliodas before she even knew who the Witch of the Waste was. Zeldris didn't know that Elizabeth was cursed because of that witch and her silly assumptions. Zeldris didn't know anything about Elizabeth. Not at all. But that didn't erase all of the hurt she felt - especially because she was a victim in all of this.

"I would never work for that witch!" Elizabeth suddenly yelled, her brows pushing with annoyance at just the thought of the smug woman. Her coy smirk. Elizabeth's hand tight around her spoon, she frowned as she continued, "She was the one who- " Her words are abruptly cut short, her jaw feeling tight and locked as the goddess tried to communicate how the witch had cursed her last night. How she had barged in, unannounced, and morphed her into a completely different girl. But instead of words, all that escapes are bits and pieces of her words, her jaw locked tight and her tongue tied into knots.

Huffing, Elizabeth tried to breathe, "Actually - the witch - uh - " Her hand suddenly flies down onto the table, making a few books jump with her rage. "Oh confound it! If I ever get my hands on that witch, I would give her a piece of my mind!"

Surprised, Zeldris could only stare at the cursed goddess as she ate her breakfast with a new determination, her limbs moving at the speed of light as she chomped through her plate. Clearly, Elizabeth had some sort of vendetta against the witch. Clearly, she had a lot of bad scores to settle. Judging from this newfound strength and rage within her, Zeldris knew that he didn't want to make an enemy of Elizabeth.

"Told ya she was scary," Hawk piped up from the hearth, a smirk sat on his fiery lips.

"Oh shut up," Zeldris rolled his eyes, entirely done with the fire.