A/N: Yes, this fic has like... basically been pushed back to the very depths of my update factory. I kinda forgot about it. Yes, I forgot about this crossover that I got into and totally wrote the iconic scenes for (yes the flower garden scene folks). I am so SORRY about that. Chapter six has literally been sitting here for months, waiting for me to finish it off and publish it to kick start the next stage of the story.

Anyway, once again, thank you for all the support. Thanks a ton everyone! It's totally making me motivated to finish this and is really appreciated. I'll try to update this more often.

Till next time,

Drama

Response to Reviews:

theshyanimenneard15 - I have delivered an update! Thank you so much for the review :D

Chapter Seven: Cleaning Lady

Usually Elizabeth was quite a passive creature. Whenever it came to doing anything within her life, she often bowed her head and tried her best to maintain the peace between herself and her mother. Hence the secrecy when she had chosen to live her days as a hatter, forever poking her dainty fingers with sharp needles and living on a modest budget. Violence and forcefulness were never things that Elizabeth had appreciated much - especially after losing her home.

Yet, after the mention of the Witch of the Waste, the cursed goddess found herself alight with a renewed spark of energy. Much too vigourously, she plowed her way through the not-so-great breakfast Meliodas had made and decided to crack on with her job: cleaning this goddamn place.

Rolling up the sleeves of her dress, Elizabeth tied a handkerchief around her hair and fashioned another into an impromptu mask. Once that was done, she gathered her cleaning supplies and buried herself knee-deep in her work - really, she put her heart and soul into cleaning the place.

Grabbing a broom, she started with clearing out the cobwebs, something her mother had always bemoaned as the first signs of dust. Batting at the delicate strings of rope, she envisioned that nasty witch, cackling away from whatever location served as her lair. Even as the dust and cobwebs rained down on her, spiders and other insects scuttling about from the sudden disturbance, Elizabeth persisted. A few mice even scurried away, wide-eyed at Elizabeth's abruptly forceful actions.

"I've had enough of this," She'd huffed as she swept all the dust and cobwebs into a pile. Shoulders heaving with exertion, she shook her head, "That damned witch..."

Poor Zeldris, much too frazzled to get in the middle of whatever Elizabeth was going through, had simply followed her orders. Helping her to clear out, somehow reduced to being her assistant, he managed to get rid of a few items which were deemed as 'unnecessary clutter'. Right outside of the door which led out to Vaizel, the seaside town, he'd set up a table for anyone who wanted to take the useless items.

At some point a few customers had gathered, asking about whether their orders were ready. Each time he would give them the same begrudging response, nodding toward the window and door which was being overwhelmed with the echo of Elizabeth's grumbling and vigourous cleaning.

"Come back tomorrow," He'd managed to say each time, withholding an eye roll. "Right now there's a very angry witch on a rampage."

After extensively dusting the place, even with her arm muscles aching from so much manual labour, Elizabeth didn't take a break. While Zeldris disappeared upstairs, rambling an excuse about how he had to prep his room before Elizabeth even dared to enter it, she decided to crack on with washing and waxing the floors. In the past she'd always admired the maids for being so efficient at the process, their lean arms somehow powerful enough to scrub entire dining rooms clean.

So, filling a bucket with water and grabbing a broom with more sturdy bristles, Elizabeth tried her hand at it. Pushing water, ensuring that it cleaned everything, she suddenly discovered just how much skill and concentration came with cleaning an entire house - let alone the large estates her mother loved to reside within. Speaking of her mother, she would just about keel over if she saw Elizabeth now, down on her hands and knees in the dirt, scrubbing it away with a vigourous hand. Her funeral would definitely be an early one.

By the time Elizabeth had finished her polishing, sweat was piling on her brow. However, she couldn't stop now. Not when she had so much to prove about herself, about how she was more than a flimsy damsel in distress looking for other's help. No. When given the right environment and the right motivations - in this case that wicked witch - Elizabeth could prove to be an extremely invaluable worker. That was why she was chosen to be a hatter's apprentice. That was why she was capable of going so far in the world without her mother's meddling. Elizabeth was a hard worker.

Soon the floors were gleaming with the evidence of her hard work - a testament as to how efficient she could be. Almost everything was done by now, polished and cleaned and gleaming with the sparkle of a fresh spring clean and pair of hardworking hands. And only at the small cost of her once dainty, sheltered goddess hands.

Proud of herself, Elizabeth couldn't help but let out a sigh as she carried a full bucket of water across the room, ready to be dumped. Never before had she done something so physical. Never before had she been able to perform a task so well, barely tripping over her own two feet in the process. Maybe this castle really was magical. Maybe this curse had given some kind of strength along with all its backlashes.

That didn't mean she wanted to keep it though.

"Elizabeth!" Hawk's voice called from the pile of grey ash that had built up around his hearth. Still occupied with the bucket, and now noticing a rolled up rug that she needed to beat dust from, Elizabeth pushed his call two steps down on the list. It couldn't be that urgent.

"I'm going out!" Another call came from Hawk as she walked past him, heaving the heavy rug with both of her skinny arms. How she did it, Elizabeth just did not know. Perhaps it was the simmering embers of frustration leftover from the mention of the witch. "Please get me some fresh wood."

Now that was urgent. Setting down the rug - because a rug could always wait - Elizabeth grabbed a sheet of material (Zeldris said she could use it to clean the ashes) and laid it flat beside the hearth. Humming something beneath her breath, the cursed goddess then grabbed a pair of fire tongs and carefully grabbed onto the dwindling log of wood which Hawk clung to. Immediately, the fire demon's eyes grew wide.

"W-what are you doing?!" His voice squeaked out in panic, his tiny arms now grasping tightly at the wood. As he was lifted from the pile of ashes, Elizabeth noticed that most of his body mass was contained in his lower half, something solid buried within his bright amber flames. "Be careful, I'll fall!"

"That's why I'm putting you here for the minute," Elizabeth attempted to soothe Hawk as she placed him within a black metal container - something to do with a fireplace that she'd completely forgotten the name of. Setting down the tongs, she then grabbed some other device (because a girl can only know so much about fireplaces) and began using it to push the ashes onto the sheet on the floor, clearing the hearth.

Working as quickly as possible, while still humming, Elizabeth managed to clear out the entire hearth. All the while Hawk kept squeaking at her, demanding that she hurry up because he was going out and being away from the hearth was simply much too dangerous. Figuring that he was being over-dramatic, Elizabeth had simply assured him that she was going to dump the ashes and then he would have a nice, clean fireplace with plenty of fresh wood to burn.

Once she'd rolled up the sheet of ashes, she didn't expect it to be as heavy as it was. Nevertheless, with a slight grunt and a promise to return quickly, Elizabeth went to dump it. If Hawk could wait five minutes he could wait a little more.

Dumping the heavy load of the ashes, Elizabeth had never felt more relieved in her life. However, it was short-lived as she returned inside, walking up those cold stone steps to spot Meliodas by the hearth, seeming to relight Hawk. In her conquest to be the best cleaning lady ever - fueled by her wish to be somewhat useful - Elizabeth had completely neglected the importance of putting Hawk first. Because of that he'd nearly went out.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't torment my friend," Although he didn't sound too disappointed, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel as if she'd done something wrong. Pure instinct, it was, to feel like everything that went wrong was her fault. Usually, it was; whenever anything went wrong in the past - even when it was just her and her mother - Elizabeth was usually the root of the problem. The one, true cause of it all.

Standing awkwardly at the top of the steps, she did want to say sorry. Tipping at the edge of her tongue, Elizabeth really did want to apologise about the small mishap. But, so locked up in her own fears of punishment - or perhaps retribution - she chose to remain silent. That was what her house staff used to do in the face of her mother's wrath; that was what most house staff did whenever someone made an error in judgement.

Saying nothing was better than saying the wrong thing. Elizabeth had learned that a long time ago.

For a moment, it seemed as if Meliodas understood her silence. There was nothing else to be said. There was nothing else from him that suggested she was fired or had even done anything to upset him further. Instead he smoothly bypassed her, heading straight for the magical door.

"Leaving so soon?" Zeldris' voice was what dragged Elizabeth out of her own thoughts, the more stoic sibling raising a suggestive brow at his older brother. Looking as if he'd just walked through a maze for a single tiny prize, he looked almost unimpressed.

"I've got something to do," Meliodas answered, closing the door that led to Vaizel and turning the doorknob. Silently, Elizabeth watched as the dial flicked to black - the most dangerous door - and she couldn't help but wonder why he would always go through that specific door. What was so important about it?

As if sensing her rising curiosity, Meliodas grinned as he turned to Zeldris, "Just make sure the cleaning lady doesn't get too carried away."

And then he was gone. Right through that door, opening up into a smokey abyss that Elizabeth was much too muddled to much sense of in that moment. How could she? That moment was so quick, so confusing, so... overwhelming. By the time Elizabeth came back to the grip of reality, the dial had flicked right back to the warm tones of Vaizel, sunlight and the scent of sea-salt and brine carried in the windy air.

"What did you do now, Elizabeth?" Zeldris grumbled, turning a stormy glare toward her direction. Both of his arms folded, his body language and facial expressions voicing obvious disappointment.

"She almost smothered me!" Hawk cried out, now a bright and flourishing fire. Glaring at the woman in question, the fire demon snuffed out a trail of powerful steam, "I hope you know that if I die, Meliodas dies too."

That was something she didn't know. If anything, that was something Elizabeth should have known if she was going to permanently clean this place until she figured out how to break this confounded curse. Hawk's tie to Meliodas - however that deal worked - should have been explained to her in some way, even if it was a simplified, watered down, babied version of the real truth. At least then she wouldn't have nearly murdered them both.

"I didn't know that," Elizabeth admitted, her ears feeling awfully warm as she fumbled with her hands. "And I'm sorry. I'll start on upstairs now."

Picking up the discarded bucket, along with a broom, Elizabeth trudged toward the staircase leading to the second floor - somewhere she had yet to explore. However, just as she was about to go up, Zeldris blocked her. Solid, stoic, more or less a literal wall, Zeldris stood before her with the same disappointed face, blocking Elizabeth's way.

"You can't do my room yet," That was his request. More like a demand as he stared her down with impossibly stormy eyes. "Give me five more minutes."

"Ok, five minutes," Elizabeth nodded.

As soon as she vocalized her agreement, Zeldris was a changed man. Almost like a small child, he swiftly turned on his heel and scurried up the stairs, definitely rivaling a cat running away from a maniac with a watering can. Part of Elizabeth wanted to chuckle at the sight, reminded of the small children who used to play outside of the hat shop. That part was buried deep down as she shook her head, trying to ground herself in reality.

What happened at the hat shop was another life. Buried in the past, left to be forgotten, that life she once had was but a distant dream. This life was what she lived now. Being Elizabeth, the cleaning lady, was her new destiny.

Those words ingrained into her mind, Elizabeth sighed as she made her way up the stairs. Immediately, she noticed more cobwebs, the pesky signs of dust and an ancient deep clean now being her morbid enemy.

Honestly, Elizabeth wasn't too sure of what she was expecting after going up those stairs. Part of her, the more practical side, had braced for a similar mess to what was downstairs, aching arms at the ready to deliver an excellent polish and shine to whatever surface she needed to take care of. Bucket in hand, sleeves rolled up, she was ready to tackle any mess that came her way with her newfound enthusiasm for cleaning.

Another part of her, though, much more childlike and innocent, couldn't help but wonder about what she'd find. This place was the residence of one of the country's most gossiped about magicians. All sorts of rumours and whispers had floated to Elizabeth's ears back in Liones, circling around the fact that Meliodas was known to steal and eat young women's hearts. Someone like him was bound to have some kind of interesting items stowed away in his home; he had to have something that any curious soul would die to solve the puzzle behind.

Really, Elizabeth found herself quite disappointed to find that her first stop was the bathroom. But at least that provided a window.

Bypassing the eventual cleaning that she'd have to do, the young goddess approached the window and cracked it open. Instantly, cold, fresh air whipped past her, reddening her cheeks and watering her eyes as the room she stood in seemed to move. Whistling winds echoed in her ears and the brightness of a baby blue sky met her eyes as Elizabeth could only gawk, watery eyes wide, as she took in the surrounding scenery.

Instead of Vaizel, decorated and speckled with small shingled roofs and the smooth white walls of the village's homes, Elizabeth saw green. Overwhelming amounts of green, clover and bright, stretched over low hills and flat plains for miles. But that was all below her, below the rocky texture of the mountains that must have been moving beneath her with how the sky and clouds seemed to roll past her eyes.

Endless patches of forest spanned the horizon of her sight line, cut by the jagged peaks of the cliffs below. Cutting through them was a shimmering band of river - almost a stunning aquamarine as it followed and meandered around the curve of the land and its structure. Even from high up, Elizabeth could recognise it as the one that she had vaguely followed on her way to the Waste. This meant what she was seeing now, before her very eyes, was the Waste.

Billowing with the wind, the handkerchief Elizabeth had tied over her hair blew away in a gust of wind. Too busy gawking, she didn't even bother to catch it. Instead, bringing her head back in, she wanted an answer to the millions of questions filling her inquisitive mind.

"This is amazing!" Elizabeth couldn't hide her awe, not with the air filling her lungs and the redness to her cheeks. Not even stood outside and she could feel herself being more connected to the land around her. "Hawk? Are you doing this?"

"Of course I am!" Annoyed and full of snark, the tiny fire's voice was loud enough for Elizabeth to hear it from the hallway. "It's not like anyone else does any work around here."

"Well I am completely awed!" Coming to the stairs, more or less hanging over the banister like a giddy child, Elizabeth grinned widely as she addressed the fire demon. Something infectious twinkled within her blue eyes, "You are a really impressive fire demon and I love your spark! What you're doing is amazing!"

For a moment there was silence between them. As Elizabeth raced back up the stairs, footsteps echoing with the energy she held within herself, Hawk was brightening up into a pinker shade. One that suggested that the snarky fire was quite touched and proud from Elizabeth's compliments. At least, that was what one could surmise from the dopey grin on his face, joined by a snuff of steam and smoke that puffed from his nostrils.

"Really?" Blinking, still wearing the same grin, Hawk spoke out into the empty room. Then, in one sudden moment, he expanded, burning even brighter as a larger grin rippled across his flamey face, "She thinks what I'm doing is amazing!"

Suddenly, there was a lot more noise. Suddenly, even as she clambered back up the stairs, Elizabeth could feel the castle jostling even more beneath her feet. Clearly, what she had said had motivated the little fire demon to work even harder than he already had. Clearly, touched by her words, he was proving to her just how amazing he could be. Somehow, knowing that made Elizabeth all the more giggly, stumbling over her own two feet as she struggled to balance.

Once she reached upstairs, a hand on the wall the support her balance-impaired body, she could only laugh as she spotted Zeldris. Wide-eyed, brows furrowed, he stood in his doorway with a pile of items in his hands.

"I'm not done yet!" Slamming the door shut, locking Elizabeth out, he'd come to the wrong conclusion. But Elizabeth didn't mind - cleaning could always come later. Right now she wanted to really soak this in, to get a real, deep breath and feel of the land surrounding her, beautiful and enchanting and freeing in every way.

Stumbling her way across the hallway, the cursed goddess fixed her hand around a door handle. At first, it was rather stiff. With a good tug, though, she was able to pry it open, the door flying open and thudding against the wall. Whooshing, cold air rushed into the hallway like water through a crack in a glass, and Elizabeth found herself savouring it, almost sighing with relief as she tottered out onto what must have been a balcony.

Nothing could have prepared Elizabeth for the view she was about to see. Even from the window, feeling as if she were up in the air, Elizabeth knew that such a view paled in comparison to the experience of standing on that balcony, absorbing every detail while the winds immersed you in the very atmosphere of your surroundings. Leaning from a window could never be as surreal as standing on a balcony and actually seeing everything; leaning from a window could never be as immersive.

From the balcony, Elizabeth could make out much more than trees and rocks and cliffs. Active herds of deer were running through well-trampled paths, zig-zagging around the castle's legs and not even batting an eye at its presence. Much smaller streams glistened with the shiny surfaces of pebbles and stones, the occasional fish flashing bright colours into the air. Fallen trees and broken branches made for impromptu pathways, artificial bridges over streams and blockages for narrows paths.

In the past, Elizabeth had never been exposed to so much nature at once. Ever since fleeing Danafor, forced to hide away from war, she had only seen the confines of her mother's endless lists of homes and the towns that surrounded them. Rarely would Elizabeth ever see the countryside and the wonderful things that bloomed and flourished within it. Even rarer did she get to see the mountainous Wastes and the beautiful secrets it seemed to hold.

Releasing a dreamy sigh, leaning on the metal railing of the balcony, Elizabeth smiled, "It's beautiful..."

"It's called Star Lake," Almost appearing from thin air, Zeldris spoke up from beside her. Leaning against the wall of the castle, far away from the railing, he nodded toward the large body of water ahead, glittering azure blue under the golden sunlight. "It's one of the best spots around this dump."

Following his nod, Elizabeth fixed her eyes onto the lake. Instantly, Zeldris' statement was proven correct, all breath seized from her already breathless lungs as she took in the landscape: deep blue waters, picturesque rock faces that framed its shores and the grassy, flower-sprouting banks which encompassed all of that.

Now, to her, it made sense why Meliodas hid out in the Wastes. If such beautiful things were hidden in plain sight, free to be seen and enjoyed by the beholder, why not use it to your advantage? Why not choose to spend your days in such a picturesque place?

Loud clanging snapped Elizabeth from her thoughts. Coming from down below, loud and jarring against the soft chug and thrum of the castle's mechanics, the sound definitely didn't seem like a natural one. Frowning as she approached the direction it came from, Elizabeth bent over the railing a little more, studying the framework of the castle.

"What's that stick doing there?" Pointing to a rather large stick, thin and almost pole-like as it remained jammed in some kind of gap, Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and raised a brow at Zeldris.

After receiving a pretty helpless shrug, Elizabeth could only sigh as she turned back to the stick. Which clearly didn't belong there. But since she was now the cleaning lady, the one who was supposed to handle all the maintenance work around here, she guessed she'd have to deal with it. Stretching further downward, wrapping one of her hands around the stick, Elizabeth could feel her arms straining as she stuck her tongue out.

Pulling out this stick was obviously going to be much more harder than she thought. That in mind, she fixed her other hand around it too, grunting as she attempted to heave the stick out with all her might. In the end, she only got it a budge just a little.

"Alright, let me give you a hand," Rolling his eyes, Zeldris huffed out a breath as he joined Elizabeth at the balcony's edge. Fixing his own hands around the stick, he also tried to heave the stick out of the thin nook it had managed to get jammed into.

Ultimately, it took quite a lot of work to life the (surprisingly) heavy stick out of the gap. However, as soon as the top of it came into view, Elizabeth realised why it had been so heavy. Dressed in his white suit, top hat still somehow attached to his turnip head, the scarecrow who had guided her to this very castle was once again in Elizabeth's hands. Did he just have this thing for her putting him upright whenever he got into a pickle?

"It's a scarecrow," Zeldris grimaced, frowning at the object as he dusted off his hands. Examining it with a critical eye, he seemed particularly interested in the suit and top hat the scarecrow wore - almost as if he recognised them from somewhere.

"Yes, I call him Turnip Head," Elizabeth, deciding to brush aside the weird feeling niggling in her gut, smiled as she examined the scarecrow as well. Without him, she definitely wouldn't have gotten this far. "Somehow he always ends up turning himself upside down."

As if activated by her words, the scarecrow then sprung away, clearing the distance between the balcony and another ledge on the castle. Hopping on the spot, his wooden pole smacking against the metal material of the building, he wore his usual turnip smile as he looked at Elizabeth and Zeldris, pipe still dangling from his mouth.

"He keeps following me around," Brows furrowing now, Elizabeth sighed as she stared back. Yet another mystery that had recently popped up in her life. First the strange blob men, then a curse from the Witch of the Waste and now this. "It seems like he's taken a liking to me."

"That's weird," Zeldris more or less blurted out his suspicions, turning his grimace toward Elizabeth. Even without explicit words, she could tell that the man was thinking something about her, something she didn't entirely want to focus on. "Are you sure you're not a witch, Elizabeth?"

That was exactly what she didn't want him to think! If Zeldris thought that she was a witch, someone who was a threat, then she would have no chances of reversing the curse placed onto her by the Witch of the Waste. But, at the same time, she couldn't resist poking a little fun at the stoic brother - especially since he liked to ask the infamous question whenever he became suspicious of her true identity.

"Like I said before, I'm a not a witch," Releasing a sigh, Elizabeth shook her head. Nevertheless, she revealed a small smile as she winked, "But if I was, I'd love to clean!"

And, exactly as she'd predicted, Zeldris ended up paling, reminded of her incoming visit to his room. As Elizabeth giggled at the sight of Zeldris booking it, rushing right back to making sure that his room was 'Elizabeth-proof', Elizabeth herself went back to admiring the view. Clear, bright, wonderful: Star Lake definitely did seem like a magical place on earth. However, with her mind kicked back into cleaning lady mode, Elizabeth had another idea in her mind.

Hopefully, Turnip Head wouldn't mind helping her do some laundry.

Late afternoon had arrived by the time Elizabeth had managed to coerce Zeldris and Turnip Head into helping her do the laundry. Large basket shared between herself and Zeldris, Turnip Head bouncing ahead with the rope and pegs, the team somehow managed to amble their way out onto the banks of Star Lake. Even Hawk had agreed to comply with her plan, stopping the castle in its journey and parking it right by the bank.

Warm sunlight was still out, splashing onto their skin as Elizabeth instructed the scarecrow to bounce out as far away as possible while she held onto one end of the rope. Once that was done, she got to work with hanging out the freshly washed laundry and pegging the items down so that they wouldn't blow away in the gentle gusts that seemed to be so natural to the lake's banks.

Apathetic and work avoidant, Zeldris insisted on holding onto the other end of the rope. His argument was that he would mess up a task as simple as hanging out clothes because people like him didn't have to do such simple tasks; with just the flick of his wrist he could easily come up with some kind of spell for such a problem.

Not as reliant on magic, Elizabeth had simply sighed at his attitude and taken over hanging duty. That led to Zeldris begrudgingly standing there, frowning as he watched her take her time, smoothing out the very sheet she had used to dispose of Hawk's ashes.

"Quit pulling so hard, Turnip Head!" Glaring at the scarecrow, the dark-haired brother scowled. "You're gonna ruin the washing and then we'll have to start again."

"If you keep holding the rope so low, then we'll have to redo it anyway," Elizabeth responded, not at all hiding her annoyance with the begrudging nature of her assistant. Especially since the cost of his aid had been the promise of something decent to eat for lunch - much more edible than the odd-tasting breakfast they had shared that morning. "And if that happens, lunch will definitely be delayed by an hour or two."

With her threat delivered into the open, Zeldris became a changed man - at least for the period of time it took to get everything hung out. Once all the washing basket was empty, Elizabeth had secured the other end of the rope against a nearby tree. Following her instructions to keep the washing high and dry, Turnip Head was bouncing about the place, stretching out the impromptu washing line as Elizabeth and Zeldris went back inside.

All too soon, the pair were emerging outside once more. This time they carried a small table between them - because Elizabeth was sick of being cramped indoors - and set it out on the perfectly maintained grass of the lake's banks. Pulling out a small cloth and some cleaning product, Elizabeth began to polish the table's surface. While Elizabeth dusted off the table, Zeldris slunk back inside to grab a pair of chairs.

Grunting and grumbling, the small man definitely was a comical sight as he effortlessly carried both chairs within his arms. Balanced on one of the seats was also a stack of two plates, joined by some of the gleaming cutlery that Elizabeth had worked religiously to return to cleanliness.

"This better be worth it," Was all Zeldris said as he placed the chairs down on the grass. "Otherwise, you owe me more than lunch."

Laughing at his words, Elizabeth simply smiled as she got to work with her adjustments. Once everything was set up to her liking, perfected for a nice little lunch outdoors, Elizabeth decided to fulfill her end of the bargain.

Sandwiches were never a hard thing to make - especially for a girl who had been raised within a household where labour was done by everyone but herself. When she had first moved away from home, began working in Margaret's hat shop, sandwiches were the first thing that Elizabeth had learned to make. For a long time, sandwiches were all that she had lived off, causing her to become quite creative in her combinations.

Luckily for Elizabeth, Meliodas and Zeldris didn't seem to be short on ingredients - at least when it came to sandwich making material. Bread, butter and all the other basics seemed to be available, as well as some leftover bacon that hadn't been used for breakfast. Without even stewing over it for too long, Elizabeth effortlessly came up with the perfect thing to make for Zeldris; surely he would appreciate the effort spent.

Grabbing the same frying pan she had used that morning, Elizabeth approached Hawk.

"Oh no!" Frowning at Elizabeth, the fire expressed his annoyance through a sparky raspberry. "I am not doing that again!"

"Please, Hawk," Begging with the fire, pleading with the powerful creature, Elizabeth gave her best pout. "I promise I'll feed you all the scraps. I'll even toast a bit of the bread for you."

For a moment, silence settled between them. Aside from the crackle and spit of Hawk's flames, nothing but the shared eye contact of two stubborn souls was shared between the cursed goddess and fire demon. Then, releasing a dramatic sigh, the powerful creature cracked. Unable to resist her offer, the tempting, tasty trade of scraps for a bit of measly heat, Hawk more or less became malleable clay in Elizabeth's hands.

"You sure do know how to bribe a guy," Hawk grumbled, rolling his eyes as he huffed out steam. "No wonder why Zeldris is so grumpy all the time."

Ignoring the fire's remark, Elizabeth plonked the frying pan right down. Once again, Hawk's flames turned into a brighter blue, warming up the pan and preparing its surface to cook whatever she desired. In the end, that resulted in an array of sandwiches for herself and Zeldris, ranging from simple cheese all the way to complex egg and bacon fry-ups.

Now, sat on opposite ends of the small table, Elizabeth and Zeldris were enjoying said lunch. Each with a cup of tea, Zeldris digging into what must have been his first decent meal in months and Elizabeth faced toward the view of the lake, they were enjoying the peace of the afternoon. Even Turnip Head, still rotating around to keep the laundry within the wind's path, seemed to have quietened down with the passing of the day.

"I think he likes doing the laundry," Zeldris spoke, egg yolk speckled on his cheek as he nodded toward the scarecrow. Ripping off bread with his teeth - as if he'd never learned decent table manners - he added, "He's taking that job you gave him super seriously."

"That means it'll be dry in no time," Smiling at Zeldris' words, Elizabeth took a small sip of her tea. Right now, she was too focused on the peaceful atmosphere of her surroundings to care much about Turnip Head, let alone anything else. Sitting here, staring at the lake, was like being back at the hat shop, staring at nothing while her fingers mindlessly stitched away at her latest creation for Margaret's shop.

"I bet he's some kind of demon," Zeldris broke the silence once more, finished with his sandwich and now looking to start another. Picking up a plain cheese one, he added, "Hawk doesn't seem to mind him at all."

"You're probably right about that," Agreeing, Elizabeth nodded as she set her tea aside. Casting a glance at the scarecrow, now perched on the castle, looking right back with his beady eyes, she couldn't deny that she felt something uncanny about him. Something that screamed magic and curses and unfortunate luck. "But he led me here, so maybe he's the good kind."

There was no response provided to her words. Instead, Zeldris swallowed the chunk of a sandwich he had just bitten off and they returned to their amicable silence.

Honestly, Elizabeth could not tell you how long she sat in that chair. Honestly, she would say that she hadn't noticed when Zeldris began to pack away, first taking the plates back in and then carrying his own chair. Turnip Head bounced around a few times, rotating every once in a while. At some point, the sky had began to blaze a brilliant orange, casting the light over the lake's crystal waters. Shadows danced in the distance, clouding over the peaks of the mountains.

None of these things were noted by Elizabeth. Not Zeldris telling Turnip Head to help him collect the dry washing; not Zeldris removing the table with the now stone-cold tea; and definitely not the gradual shift of afternoon to evening, the wind becoming just that tiniest bit more chilling against her skin as she stared.

"We got the laundry back in, Elizabeth," Zeldris broke the spell once more, tapping her on the shoulder. Staring at Elizabeth with a weird crinkle to his eye, the dark-haired brother frowned, "It's getting late so I suggest we get back in."

"Oh, thank you Zeldris. I must have lost track of the time," Blinking, almost as if she were sucked out of a trance, Elizabeth stood up from the chair. Blushing now, stumbling over her words, she couldn't help but to smile sheepishly as she explained, "I don't know why but this place... it makes me want to just absorb it all. I've never felt so peaceful."

Because nature, places like Star Lake, had always been locked off for Elizabeth. Nature, her true element as a goddess, had always been so far away from the places that she called home. But now, a new person with a new face and a possibly new home, she felt closer to nature than ever. Now, stood on the banks of Star Lake, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel as if she had found someplace where she would always belong.

Staring at her critically, Zeldris couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure you're not some kind of witch?"

His answer was her tinkling laughter, silvery and like bells as they headed back inside. Neither of them noticed the feathers trailing in the wind, remnants of what once were goddess wings.