Behind the Clouds

Shooting Stars

If there was anything Elizabeth wasn't, then it was a damsel in distress. Even if Meliodas was risking his life to protect her, perpetuating the stereotype of ladies like her being a damsel in distress, she wasn't going to sit back and let him take all the risk. Not at all. That wasn't her style and would never be her style; Elizabeth had dragged herself to the barren Wastes to fix her curse for that very reason. This situation wasn't any different.

Not long after she had burst out of the main building, the mass of blob men had turned their attention back to Elizabeth. Crawling in the doorway, some of them dripping off the walls of the building, they were still determined to put up a decent fight.

Well, so was she. Huffing at the sight, the way two of the blob men - conjoined at the hip - tried to amble towards her, Elizabeth decided not to give them the slightest time of day. Instead, she simply turned on her heel, picked up the skirts of her dress and rushed back inside. As she closed the front door, let the blob men pound against its wooden surface, she noticed the feathers scattered at her feet, ashen or dirtied. Her feathers. Her wings.

Had they come back?

Shaking her head, Elizabeth tried to eradicate all thoughts about her possible condition. Right now she had to focus on what was currently going on, the shaking door and the danger Meliodas was placing himself in. Everything else - every other development - could wait until later on to be understood. Especially if that development was her wings suddenly coming back after all this time she'd spent being cursed.

Reaching for the doorknob, Elizabeth easily twisted it. One twist switched the door to the red dial. Another twist went to black. One final twist landed on green, the planned destination she had in mind. Arguably, it was the safest place for them all to be while she tried to figure out what action she should take next; plus Meliodas wouldn't be able to meddle if he did find out about what she was planning to do.

Pulling the door open, Elizabeth peered outside. Cool air, gentle rain, kissed her cheeks as she popped her head outside. Mist tried to pour into the building from the exterior, light and so different from the clinging smoke of the bombs and their damage. Only silence and the pitter-patter of raindrops filled the background of this location; only calmness and tranquility dared to bloom within the peaceful confines of the Wastes and its rolling green hills.

Stepping outside, Elizabeth let herself get wet in the rain, savoured the cooling effect of the drops and their misty veil. Clinging to her forehead, she could feel the familiar weight of her fringe sticking to her skin. Equally, her shoulders drooped from the tug of extra muscle and cartilage getting soaked from the rain. Subconsciously, it confirmed her suspicions about her wings; that had never happened to her while she was cursed. 

"It really is horrible," Staring out into the distance, the bright red that stained the otherwise blue skyline, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel her heart clench. This was Danafor all over again. This was the loss of a country, a nation, all over again. And Meliodas was out in the middle of it, trying to protect her and everyone else when really it was like fighting an uphill battle. Then she noticed the gleam of the warship.

"That's where we are at the shop..." Squinting at the skyline, the mass of bright metal that signaled their location, Elizabeth couldn't help but frown. All of her body was leaning toward the horizon, balancing on her tiptoes and stretched out wings.

Everything happened so quickly: a bright burst of flame, dozens of dark figures swarming and scuttling over the warship, shimmery dragon's scales shifting as a large claw swept at its assailants. Meliodas was being attacked. Clear as day, surrounded by dozens of wizards, Meliodas was vastly outnumbered and being attacked at all sides. All while the warship was failing, bursting into flame and sinking to the ground.