Behind the Clouds

Please Stay

Nightfall started to roll in when Elizabeth noticed the change in scenery from the midlands of Camelot to the more rocky and mountainous regions of the borderlands. Sunset had just finished, setting the sky in a dark and dusky hue as the trio glided over the bombed out remnants of different towns and cities littered across the country. Many of them were places that Elizabeth didn't have much sentiment for. Many of them were yet another town affected by conflict.

All of them except her own hometown.

Sleepy and quiet, it was like a star in the sky as it twinkled among the shadowy darkness of the dusky countryside fields. Cutting between the lights and the rocky beginnings of the moorlands was a band of water, glittering with the reflections of stars and man-made lights alike. Only the train track broke the trail, a cement bridge that was dotted with the insignificant pinpricks of signals and other directional lights.

When she was at the castle, Elizabeth had barely noticed the attachment she felt for her hometown. In her mind, it had been far removed from her new life. Elizabeth Liones, the pretty daughter of a wealthy widow and infamous divorcee, felt much different from the simple Elizabeth who worked as a cleaning lady for Meliodas the mysterious wizard who lived out in the Wastes. This new Elizabeth didn't have a home to miss. This new Elizabeth didn't have anyone to miss her.

At least, it had felt that way before. Before seeing her town, looking at the smoking piles of ash and destruction that were dotted around the outskirts. War and death and grief felt so unreal in Meliodas' castle, his domain. But out here, in the real world, it definitely felt real. Too real.

"We're almost back," Elizabeth had found herself saying, not sure if she was reassuring herself or the Witch of the Waste more. Straightening her spine, keeping her eyes fixed to the path ahead, she added, "We're passing over my hometown right now. Soon enough we'll be entering the Wastes."

And she had been right. Within twenty minutes, the air vehicle was cutting through the thin veil of fog that bordered the Wastes and the more inhabited lands of the country. For a while, there was nothing but grass and silence to keep Elizabeth company. Merlin had drifted to sleep, wrapped up in the thin material of her sheer shawl. In her lap, Oslo was also in a similar state, letting out little adorable snores every so often.

Scoffing, Elizabeth tried not to relate the dog too many positive emotions. He was a traitor after all, a spy of Jenna's. Cuteness was his way of gaining people's trust.

Silence lingered in the air. Only the wind whistled by as Elizabeth tried to stay awake and keep the air vehicle on its path. Then, she heard a low creak, the groan of machinery as it whirred and whizzed to supply power. Blinking lights. Spewing smoke. An odd figure in the wisps of cloud that gathered in the waves of fog that rolled across the hilly landscape. Familiarity pounded in Elizabeth's heart as she came to attention, believing that she knew what the figure was.

"It looks like the castle is coming to meet us..." Squinting into the distance, trying to focus on the blurry silhouette, Elizabeth stood slightly on the air machine. All too soon she could spot Zeldris, a grumpy face that slouched next to a wall as he stood on the balcony. Held in his hands was a simple letter, a velvet ribbon tangling with his fingers every time the castle took another step across the vast lands of the Wastes.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" His voice didn't sound too happy, but Elizabeth could read from the lack of tension in his face that he was glad she had returned. Cleaning up the place was her job, after all. Zeldris did like to have nice things.

"Hey, Zeldris!" Calling back, Elizabeth waved from her seat on the air vehicle, "Do you have any idea how to stop this thing?"

"Not a clue!" Zeldris yelled back, shaking his head. Pushing off the wall, stuffing the letter into his pocket, he pointed toward the door to his left, "I'll meet you inside, yeah? Get Hawk prepped for the landing!"