The Master Swordsman
A/N: Thank you to Sinfulfics and The Entity for polishing this up. You've both become great friends in the process of us working together and I can't express how much you have come to mean to me!

Chapter One: A Goddess Awakens

Meliodas wipes down the last wooden table then stretches out his back with a yawn as he looks around the bar's floor for his companion. He feels he is getting better at this business owner thing. Setting up near the festival had been very profitable as after the event many people had strolled in looking for drinks to prolong the fun. He closes up the bar before heading through the kitchen and out the back door.

"Hawk's Mama!" He yells, "Let's head due north, I want to check out the ruins." Meliodas holds onto a support pillar perpendicular to the porch as the ground rumbles beneath him. The bar shifts, rocks, and erupts up as a giant green pig unburies herself from the ground with the building, in the shape of a crude hat, anchored to its back. The big pig turns and stomps in the direction near enough where Meliodas wants.

The view is open skies and as the town grows smaller behind them, the valleys and upcoming forests look more and more inviting. While Meliodas is pondering what leftovers he has to eat, hooves snap loudly across the wooden floor. The door opens behind him and Meliodas doesn't turn because he knows who it is. There is only one companion left traveling with Meliodas as all his old ones have moved on with their lives.

"I thought we were done with the bounty jobs." A round pink pig speaks, stopping at the blonde man's side, grumbling as he clomps to the edge to whine to his mother and friend. "Can't we just keep moving from place to place for a taste of the different foods," the pig side eyes Meliodas to add for his benefit, "and the drinks?"

"I want to pay off our debts," he explains. Meliodas is making ends meet but he still owes his benefactor for the start-up fee and paying it back this slowly is racking up interest. How Merlin had so much money when they were both doing the same jobs for the king still boggles his mind. She's relentless though and when she sent this job his way with a little note about how the item he is to acquire 'would more than cover what remains of his debt' if he delivers it to her untouched. Meliodas smirks as he continues, "It's a simple 'grab and go' mission."

"That's what you said about the last job. That Sandcrawler ate me, in case you forgot!" Hawk grumbles and Meliodas laughs, raising his arms for his hands to rest at the base of his neck. He's not a tall man, but he's much more than he appears.

Meliodas used to be a holy knight, doing obscure missions for a king in a small kingdom but after they were framed for the grand master's murder he and his fellow knights moved on with their lives. Meliodas has grown up since then but is having a hard time finding contentment in the path his life has taken. He's happier when he visits his old companions but among the affectionate couples, he grows too restless to settle for longer than a few days.

The last time he visited he had missed Ban and Elaine. Those two are harder to pin down as they are determined to see the world- or in Ban's case drink every beer this realm has to offer. With him being immortal and his girl being magically undead- they have more than their entire lives to find all the nooks and crannies of this world. Meliodas does not doubt they will move on to the next realm when their families and friends have gone on without them.

Even with Ban having to return to the forest every few years.

Escanor had his own bar, but he prefers a stationary life. The man wanted to settle and establish himself. Meliodas had snickered quite loudly when Merlin decided to join up with the young king of Camelot and suddenly Escanor's bar ended up in that kingdom with her. Those two were still figuring each other out and after this bounty, he would be checking in on their progress once more.

Every one of his friends has someone, even his surly brother has found love in Gelda, but all Meliodas has is a dumb pig. He's had a few potential love interests but no one stuck, all being ill-suited for the traveling bar life or simply didn't fit him well.

Meliodas is an attractive man but he supposes being short and stuck in his ways doesn't help matters. His green eyes roam the landscape a final time before looking over to his fat and lazy friend who has laid down on the porch. "I'm going to eat, wake me when we get there." He takes two steps towards the door when he smirks, expecting his friend's ire and he is not disappointed when it comes.

"You can't just order me around like that!" Hawk starts, jumping to all fours and bracing "I'm not your personal ham-clock!" Meliodas nish-nish's a laugh as he walks through the front door of the boar hat, letting it shut behind him. He fills his belly, strips naked and falls into his bed ready to rejuvenate after the long night of serving drinks and cooking horrid food.

︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵

Golems erupt from the earth. They are great stone angels with heavy wings that hit as hard as their fists. Meliodas had forgone his armor as he truly thought this would be a walk in, grab the magical item, walk out scenario. He dodges the rock-goddesses punch and uppercuts him in the gut, the golem soars through the air and crashes into the crumbling ruins a mile or so up ahead.

He had climbed down this vine-covered crack in the earth to find a long, trap-filled walkway that led to the decrepit temple up ahead. Hawk rolls into an attack, trying to have his back in this fight, but Meliodas turns to dispatch the last golem before the pig's attack hits. The thing is reduced to rubble under Meliodas' blows. He's heaving breaths, pushing back his sweaty hair as he looks around at the runes engraved into the larger chunks of an obviously ancient city. Some debris and stones are scattered along the sides of the expansive cliff walls.

Meliodas barely glances at the warnings and fizzed out magical curses imbued here. "Come on Hawk, we're through the thick of it," and the man walks on casually while the pig scoffs, trotting after him.

"We haven't gone in yet!" Hawk complains under his breath as he stretches, "No matter, I can beat anything this old place throws at me."

The two step around the rubble, up to the fractured and crumbling stairs and what is left of the door, which hangs open off its hinges, show ornate dull gold depictions of goddesses. Meliodas sighs, thinking he has figured out why Merlin hadn't gone into detail, "This is a fallen sky city." He tells Hawk, as he points to the curving of the wings on the stones before them. "Keep your eyes open, this entire race is extinct because of their bloodthirsty nature."

"If they are extinct, how can you know what their nature is?" Hawk pays no mind and strolls forward into the shadowy expanse of the temple. Vines and roots cover the floors and climb the walls. The stairs are unusable, piles of remains litter here and there and the dome ceiling has a hole that shows the clear sky overhead along with the edges of the deep crevice they were in.

Meliodas takes a deep breath, smelling the rot and decay of this place, but follows Hawk. In the center of the room is a statue of a goddess, big breasted and holding in her outstretched hands the hilt of a broken blade. The handle is a soft blue, glinting like the sapphire it was chiseled from thousands of years ago. Right away he knows that is the weapon Merlin wants as it had a faint magic pulse as if it is alive. It even sounds as if it has a faint beating heart.

"Yo, Meliodas- these depictions on the wall, these are your people, right?" Hawk calls out, he's standing in front of a mural. The images show winged people fleeing from the dark hellfire of grotesque looking demons with howling, vicious faces. A spider made its home here and the big fat thing scurries away through a sliver in the stone leaving behind its webbing.

"My people and theirs warred for thousands of years before they died out." Meliodas scratches at his chin as, for a moment, he questions the history he learned growing up in the demon realm. From this depiction alone he knows the goddesses must have had a different viewpoint of who the bloodthirsty ones are.

"Look at this." Hawk moves a few panels down and Meliodas looks over the stone reliefs with mild interest. He is careful as he moves, stepping over vines and under fallen pillars. The sword is in this picture, a blade that cuts through darkness and he thinks with a scoff 'it's broken now though' as he looks at the man wielding the weapon that held back the masses of demons. His pig friend continues, "The sword is a woman."

Meliodas stands beside his friend to look at the images of a shapely woman either coming out of or being sucked into the blade under her. She was naked and the runes read 'Princess Slave' which Meliodas chalks up to having not paid enough attention in his youth when he learned the ancient language. "Don't be an idiot. A sword can't be a person." Meliodas moves to the next picture, the rubble of the collapsed stairs blocking part of the image.

What could be made out is that same shapely, silver-haired goddess with her crown, kneeling before the knight that wielded the blade. "What's it say?" Hawk asks.

"That part is cut off but at the end, it says 'refused to war for her people', but the rest says," and Meliodas read the runes aloud, written in block letters above the partial image. "- the Princess bore our Curse to serve the knight who fights in her stead. With her as our shield, our people will not fall. With her on her knees, our warrior will endure."

"So it is a woman?" Hawk turns, looking at the other images of battles, victories and each one has the sapphire hilt sword as the luminescent centerpiece. He trots over to the shapely woman statue holding the broken weapon and up close he can make out the two sets of wings carved as the guard of the sword hilt.

"That's ridiculous. My guess is the girl's powers were taken from her and put in the blade, but it's snapped now, it will be only an echo of what it used to be." But as Meliodas speaks, walking closer to the hilt with the few inches of jagged broken metal jutting out, he can feel strong magic.

He stands before the goddess statue and the stone head moves to look at him. Meliodas tenses, expecting it to be a warrior golem set to defend and if it wields this darkness-cutting blade, he will be in true danger. A goddesses power counteracts with a demons. Slowly, the statue moves, dropping to her knees and she holds out the sword as if it were intact, her other hand acting as if she is bracing the nonexistent pointy end.

"That's it then?" Meliodas asks, reaching for the hilt. "What did I tell ya, Hawk, easy peasy." The pommel of the blade is a swirling orb, it shines like a pearl but light and sparkles dance in it like stars floating in cool waters. As soon as his hand wraps around the hilt Meliodas freezes, shocked into releasing a groan as flashes of memories, of images, bombard him.

To be exact, one hundred and seven vivid memories play in his mind. All of them are of her face, her body, and her dull blue eyes. Those things stay the same in each flash but her hair changes as well as what she wears and her actions. Some flashes are of war, bodies falling around her crying face as she turns to look at him, others are of her undressing and reaching for him with wide, expressionless eyes. Each impression calls to Meliodas as she scrubs floors, bends over to expose herself and, in one, sits in a small dark room completely bare while eating a little bowl of porridge. After seeing a glimpse of all the lives this sword has lived a warm shiver runs down his spine and the strange foreign memories stop.

Just as he can refocus on himself in the temple, Hawk charges at him. He slides into a screaming, "rolling ham attack" and Meliodas uses his other arm to block. He pushes his pig friend's rear from him and Hawk rolls out the temple door and down the steps with many grunts and groans. At the base of the stairs, he yells up, "I was trying to get you away from the haunted weapon!" He snorts and shakes off the dust as Meliodas strolls out of the temple with the gemstone hilt in hand.

The stone golem that Meliodas had sent flying had returned and he stands over the rubble but when he braces for the fight, the stone-angel simply bows. At him or the sword, he doesn't know. Hawk complains to him as they make their way back, limping slightly on the side Meliodas had hit him. "At least we recovered Merlin's desired treasure. She can dissect it now, or whatever she does when she experiments on these types of things." Hawk's words leave a trickle of unease in his gut.

He didn't know why, but he wants to protect the broken thing. It is a weapon and yet he feels like he's holding a little hummingbird, fluttering under his palm.

︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵
One Month Later

"Five steins!" Meliodas grins as he puts the ales on the table before the rowdy men. Gold is tossed about and he collects it with a scoop across the polished top when the men all grab their handles and lift them to their lips. Hawk noses an apple pie in front of a patron to his right, under the elbows of another bargoer. It is busy and roars of laughter follow just as often as thrown around drink orders. "At this rate, we can pay off Merlin in no time!" Meliodas grins as he hops behind the bar.

Hawk snorts as he looks at the broken sword hilt strapped to Meliodas back. He always has it on his person and Hawk is suspicious that it has done something to his friend. Hawk plans to tell Merlin everything next time they make their way through Camelot. "It could already be paid." The pig mutters, grumbling about broken useless swords and a drunken guy roars with laughter at his side.

"Talk pig! Again!" The red-faced man demands and Hawk trots on with his drink tray, ignoring both Meliodas and the men.

The night wears on, the drunkards get drunker and Meliodas' gold sack stretches, threatening to burst. Even his cooking got fewer complaints than normal and his mood grows as a ragtag group of knights join the fray, partially armored and takes over an empty table slapping each other's shoulders. "You took 'em down, good." The dusty man says as another follows with, "I cannaw wait to tell Twigo!" This is their celebration and the lot order food and drinks- which Meliodas prepares himself.

It's full in here, the noise bolstering. With hard work, Meliodas and Hawk refill drinks and keep everyone satisfied. The two do not have a moment to rest over the next hour while the guests get drunker and more demanding.

The Knights are given their food and they all take a slice of their mystery leftovers pie. Meliodas is already situating the table next to theirs with more drinks when they react. With the first bite, the lot of them howl in anger. "What did you do to our food, boy!" The leader of the group, a brown-haired man younger than Meliodas shouts.

"I never said it would be good." He replies while muttering how he is a grown man. Another knight demands to speak to the owner and Meliodas sighs, "I am the owner." The lot of them scoff.

"What should we do, Alioni?" The bulbous-nosed man on his right asks and Alioni stands from the table, knocking the mockery of food off to crash to the floor. His brown hair is combed back with his fingers as he refuses to acknowledge his blunder. The man squares up to Meliodas, looking over his worn slacks and slightly oil stained white shirt. Due to his shortness, messy hair and round face Alioni smirks at what he sees, thinking the fight will be an easy win. Then his eyes fall on the glinting sapphire blade hilt with the curved goddess wings and swirling stone end greedily.

"I, Alioni of the Beard of the Mountain cats, challenge you to a duel." Alioni slaps at his own blade on his hip and his call out is received with mixed reactions throughout the bar. His fellow knights straighten up with boastful pride while a few patrons egg on the threat.

"Over some bad food?" Meliodas inquires incredulously and Alioni's fellow Knights give a slew of affirmatives as their captain winces a little out of the side of his mouth. The drinks have affected him, his friends being around amping up his need to prove himself but Alioni feels stuck with his own thoughtless words. "Hawk!" Meliodas snaps his fingers. "Clean this up!"

The pig's tray strapped to his back has its last ale taken from its top and he clomps over, "It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it." Hawk quips before he scarfs down the leftovers with loud smacking and chewing noises. Some of the other patrons and even one member of the Beards of the Mountain Cat, laughs.

Meliodas turns, ignoring the knight's table and making his rounds to the other bar-goers. He wants the group to calm down but they whisper to one another as the bar thins out. Hawk warns Meliodas as the night wears on that they aren't leaving. Their drinking slows to a trickle but he acts unconcerned.

When the last outside patron leaves, the Beard of the Mountain Cats stand in unison and approach Meliodas. "For your slight against us, your sword is forfeit." The red buttoned nose man demands. Where Meliodas skirts conflict and tries to play off insults, Hawk rises to the aggression. The pig cuts off the knights approaching by positioning himself in the center of the round room with legs spread in a solid stance. He blocks them from nearing Meliodas.

"You don't know who you're messin' with-" Hawks words are cut off as the tallest man with the square face punts Hawk, who goes flying. The pig screams through the air until he hits the wanted board, papers falling. Meliodas sighs and hops over the bar with one hand on the top of it as he taps down to face off with the men as they draw their weapons.

"This isn't a good idea," Meliodas quips as a small warning to the aggressive bar-goers who are readying for a fight. Meliodas reaches over his shoulder and for the first time since he found the sword, draws it to use. He intends to defend himself just enough to throw this lot out.

Instead of a clash starting, as is usual when a weapon is drawn- even a broken one, the pommel of his hilt glows. Light illuminates every nook and cranny, every eye in the Boar Hat is shielded with raised arms from the power as it feels as if a small sun sparks to life before them. As quick as the light comes, it blinks out as if a miniscule black hole forms and a smooth, creamy woman with her flesh bare is stretched into existence.

She steps down as if gravity works differently for her before Meliodas' wide, stunned eyes. She wobbles, her body quivering from the chill, unsteady on her feet. Her blue eyes are the same dull luster as he remembers from the flashes of memories the weapon in his grip had given him when he first touched it. She stares into him with no true comprehension but instead, a deep sorrowful resignation is shining in her orbs- his gaping face reflecting in them.

"Master?" She asks, her voice is smooth like a trickling stream and it flows across his mind before she teeters backward and passes out on his floor.

The knights, so boisterous in their threats scramble over one another to leave. They push one another away to be the first out the door, knocking over tables and chairs in their wake. All believing something different has occurred as their minds try to make sense of the situation. Meliodas doesn't care about the stampede, as he stares at the woman's long silver tresses. Her face is heart-shaped and in her unconscious state, her pink lips are puckered just enough to draw his eyes for long, avid seconds.

His eyes travel down her body. From the dips of her collar bones, over her perfect mounds with her dusky round nipples, across her belly, her mons and down her long lithe legs to end at her petite feet. Meliodas steps closer, unable to resist smelling her as he dips forward, his hand acting on its own as his fingertip makes contact with her nipple. The peak tightens perfectly, her body reacting to his.

Meliodas' eyes darken, his hearts race and his cock hardens.

"How did a naked woman land in our bar!?" Hawk exclaims. "Don't touch her like that you pervert!" He chides. "Cover her up with something! Don't gape at her, she's unconscious!" The pig has more moral standing than the demon in this case, but reluctantly Meliodas agrees, an idea forming as he scoops the girl in his arms. Hawk squawks, following after him. With her in his arms, he groans, his chest rumbling from the feel of her silken flesh pressing to his. "Put her down you barbarian!" The pig continues.

"I'm laying her in the guest bed, follow if you don't believe me." Meliodas quips, and Hawk does, as he doesn't trust his friend after seeing the raw hunger in his eyes. As, for the first time, Meliodas looks every bit the demon he is as he gazes at her.

︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵

Meliodas arranges the tray. He has cut up fruit, toast and fried eggs expertly arranged with a cup of tea all balanced in his grip. This man has studied the sword hilt at length since he's acquired it and it feels lighter now that a woman has come out of it. He shakes his head, his blonde locks flapping in chaos as he tries to make sense of what he has pieced together.

'The runes at the temple told a story about a cursed princess,' of course parts had worn away, lost to time but what he could make out and infer from the pictures, 'this woman is trapped somehow and I want to free her.' Meliodas' thoughts swirl as he wonders why she came out when she did since he's had the blade for over four weeks and never once had he thought this is the type of magic it held.

"The flashes of her in different places with different hair... were those her past forms? All the times someone else has been the 'master' of the sword?" He asks, but he doesn't expect an answer as he is alone in the kitchen. He hates to think it, but he needs to talk to Merlin if he wants any more concrete answers, unless the girl knows herself. Merlin being involved will complicate things as she's the one who sent him after the blade to begin with.

Meliodas walks through the bar, up the stairs, and to her door. He's just about to knock when he hears a soft choked gasp, then an even softer whimper. It sounds like a dying baby bird but he knows it's her alone in there. "Uh," he flounders, not knowing her name. "Girl, I brought you breakfast."

Inside the room, silence falls similar to the stilling of crickets when alerted to possible danger. Her little cries fall away and he calls out again, "I'm coming in!" hoping it was enough time for her to cover herself and be prepared. He takes a few deep breaths to steady himself and turns the handle, walking in backward while looking over the tray to make sure everything was in place. She's had plenty of time to sink back into the blankets but when Meliodas turns around his jaw slackens.

Elizabeth is standing, in all her naked perfection, as if in offering to him.

"Oh!" He exhales, almost losing control of the tray as it slips from his fingers, but he catches himself and it from the air, not spilling a drop of tea. Meliodas tries to avert his eyes, resisting the allure and pull of her. He walks around her, placing the tray at the end of the bed and flushing hot as he realizes he needs to find her some clothes, or teach her about simple societal norms.

'Why does she have to be perfectly formed?' He thinks, his hands closing into fists as he remembers the pearling of her nipple and the softness of her lustrous skin in his rough palm. Meliodas clears his throat, turning to her with eyes roaming her round perky rear and toned calves. She hadn't turned to him when he walked behind her to the bed.

He had planned to put her in the guest bedroom upstairs but somehow he had ended up putting her in his own bed. The mattress is in the center of the room over a wood frame. To keep himself busy, and away from her, he goes to the bay window to pull open the curtain. He fiddles with the tie as he starts talking.

"You can wear some of my clothes until we can find you something, if you want?" Meliodas clears his throat, unable to stop himself from looking over his shoulder as she shifts to face him. His eyes flit over her rounded breasts, thin waist, and an unexpected groan is caught in his throat. Strange half-hacking noises leave him as he tries to breathe. He goes to his dresser to pull out a shirt and pants, somehow feeling inept for not having clothes that would fit her when he had no reason to buy women's clothing previously. "What's your name?" He inquires, with his back to her as looking is overwhelming to him.

"Whatever you desire," She answers in a low, hushed tone and his spine stiffens. His eyes blow wide and he hates, loathes, that his shaft fully hardens in his pants.

Meliodas isn't a stupid man. He realizes at this moment, from the depictions on the temple and the flashes of her in the past doing various sexual and violent things, that this girl truly is a slave to, presumably, whoever wields the sword. Merlin hadn't sent him after a magical item, but a cursed one- the options of what to do float in his mind but one thing he knows is he can't entrust the girl to anyone else.

He turns, a shirt and trousers in his hands to offer as covering but to his astonishment, the cursed goddess is before him on her knees. Her thin fingers reach forward and the clothes in his grip slip to the floor as she pulls the knot of his pants undone. His dick strains and he doesn't react quick enough as he realizes he can't even trust himself not to take advantage of her situation. "Fuck." He grouses.

"If that is to be my name, I accept it." She speaks and Meliodas is lost for a moment until he remembers her name is whatever he desires, or picks. His head shakes from side to side as he steps back, bumping into the dresser behind him. She inches forward on her knees, her dull eyes looking to his in fear and confusion.

"Stop." And she freezes, her hand reaching between them, inches from the tent in his pants. Their eyes are locked and his breathing is heavy pants as he sees the dim flickering of life in her blue orbs. "I, uh, I want to know what your name is." He states, floundering with his own chest tightening as he thinks of all the past hers, "what did the others call you?"

The cursed goddess doesn't move her body, but her brows furrow and an expression rolls across her face of deep thought. "I have no memories of anything after joining with the Sacred Blade."

Meliodas tears his gaze from her to internally curse at the ceiling. He calms his lungs but his hard member does not listen to him berating it into softness, staying stiff as if reaching for her outstretched fingers. His thoughts click and he grasps for it like a raft while drowning. "Your name before you were sealed in the sword then." He rasps, bowing back as far as the dresser allows.

She thinks about it as if it is buried deep in her diced up memories. He finds her eyes again and they shine more reflective than before but lacking spark.

"Elizabeth," she whispers as if unsure before her eyes lose the sheen and she's back to lethargically waiting for a command. He realizes this with a sudden onset of seven sporadic heart palpitations and he fears what he will do next. She's naked, glorious in her shape but this isn't right... yet the thought comes that she will forget every depraved thing he does to her as soon as the blade is no longer his. His jaw tightens and his teeth grind as his fists clench painfully. Her eyes roam over his covered chest, past the dangling strings over his hard cock and when she sees his fists her shoulders sag as if resigned to the violence as well.

Briefly, he wonders if even without the memories do the feelings she had previously remain?

"Fuck, fuck." Meliodas groans, but a voice calls outside the door. He looks to the entrance but she cannot. She is still frozen while facing him, her eyes straining to the side to see as best she can while 'stopped'. Hawk opens the door, strolling in with a tray on his back.

"I thought with all the drama yesterday you would like a-" He turns in place and balks at what he sees. The naked goddess reaching for Meliodas- hard in his pants. Hawk howls, the tray crashing to the floor as he charges at his demon friend and Meliodas allows the rolling ham attack to tear him away with a solid body slam. The two crash to the ground, Elizabeth gives a surprised yelp but stays in her position.

"What are you doing to her?!" Hawk bites at Meliodas hair and pulls his limp body farther away. Meliodas crosses his arms, grateful for Hawk's intervention as he wasn't sure what he would have ended up doing if left on his own. "Have some decency! Some empathy!" When Hawk feels he has separated Meliodas from the girl enough he turns to her. "You scared her so much she's frozen!" Hawk trots to her, grabbing the blanket off the bed to toss over her shoulders.

"I'm following Master's order." The cursed goddess answers, confused and straining to see what was happening behind her. When the blanket drapes over her bare body, bewilderment blanks her mind. Before she had been sealed three thousand years ago she had been taught what will be forced upon her and having her body covered hadn't been mentioned. A slew of thoughts rush in her mind, all doubts and fears of not being pleasing for her new master. "I must please him and abide by his wishes."

Hawk sputters at her words, gawking back at Meliodas in horror. "You don't have to listen to him! If he does something to you, just haul off and punch him!" The pig says, exasperated while glaring at Meliodas and bristling at Elizabeth's side.

Gears snap together in Meliodas' mind and he winces at himself as he remembers telling her to stop, and she had, fully. He rasps, "You can move if you want," he feels strange having to direct her like this and they both come to a stand. Meliodas is wide-eyed, trying to come up with a way to free her from the curse or at least how to phrase things so she has her own choices. Elizabeth, on the other hand, gathers the blanket to bunch in front of her while feeling very unsure about why she was summoned from her prison if the chosen warrior does not want her.

"Actually, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to." Meliodas carefully enunciates before walking forward. Elizabeth takes a side step away but he goes past her, picking up his dropped clothing to fold and walks it to rest beside the food tray."Can you tell me about your curse?"

Elizabeth's wide blue eyes swirl with misgivings and sorrow. "I am to please my master however he wishes." She answers, flashing her eyes up from the floor to meet his green ones for a blink before looking down. "Which is you, as you carry the weapon to protect the people."

He wearily pulls the sword hilt from his scabbard. She steps back, afraid of the weapon, her foot catching on the blanket and she falls back in a heap. "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you." Meliodas peers to the smooth stone hilt glinting in the sunlight through the open windows and shows her the end, "It's broken, did the blade snapping affect you or your curse at all?"

Slowly, her eyes fill with unshed tears. "I don't know... My-my people will though." She whispers, a fistful of blanket raises to her face and she wipes at the gathered moisture. "The goddesses, are they still..." When the cursed woman looks up, first at her master and then at the pig she understands from their posture alone that whatever the news about her race, it wasn't good.

"Elizabeth." The man starts and she flinches at her name, focusing on the blonde man. "I promise you I will try to break your curse but until then I will hold on to this," he sheaths his broken blade, "so you never have to restart your life or obey another's command again."

His green eyes stare into hers and she wonders how many lives she's lived and why this man would make such a promise without knowing her. "I..." She starts, her mouth going dry and throat thickening. "I don't even know your name." Her voice catches but she swallows the sob with a quick bitten lip.

"Meliodas." He quips and he points to the pig, "and that's Hawk." She nods, her chin quivering until a soft exhale of a sob escapes her. Meliodas takes a step forward but she tightens the blankets at his movements so he stops, grinding his teeth as he motions for Hawk to head with him to the door. "Take however long you need, wear what you want if you don't like what I picked and if you are hungry try to eat but in no way is any of that a demand."

Elizabeth stays in a heap on the floor with so many questions and fears warring in her heart but she is grateful when the door shuts behind the man and his pig. She listens to his retreat and she wonders how many masters have ever tried to help her as Meliodas promises he will. She whispers to the emptiness, "But words mean nothing."

Meliodas scowls at his situation, turning to Hawk but as soon as him and the pig met eyes they both knew neither had any idea on how to break an ancient goddess curse. "Fuck." The man cusses and Hawk nods with a simple reply of, "We have to try," of which they both agree is paramount.

︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵

She tugs at the end of her skirt, trying to keep it down over the swell of her rear as she returns a slew of dirty mugs to the kitchen. Elizabeth slides them into the sink as Meliodas, with two matching mittens on either hand opens the burning oven to pull out a roast. It looks amazing but smells vaguely like burning sweaty socks.

Elizabeth is about to say something, but when her hand raises she changes her mind and lowers her fist. She stuffs down the urge to speak. It's been two weeks and she still isn't comfortable. Meliodas treats her well, is careful not to command her by saying most things as a question and nothing has happened in regards to her curse. All they have done is travel around serving drinks. He's taught her how to work as a waitress and each night he asks her questions she doesn't have answers to.

He exits the kitchen, back first with the food in his grip with her following, and the roar of the common room raises in volume. "Will you give that man want he wants?" Meliodas nudges his head to point out a beefy man alone at a far table who is raising his mug with a stern, expectant face. Elizabeth follows the order, stepping around patrons calling out for her attention until she stands before the bald man Meliodas had indicated.

"What can I get you?" Elizabeth's eyes are dull but her lips twisting up in a smile. The beefy man has two chins, beady eyes that roam her figure and dirt smeared on his trousers. She tugs on her skirt once more, no longer bothering with the open mid-drift of her work uniform.

"I want a few things from you, little lady." The man flirts, his smile flashes his missing front tooth but he tips his ale back against his lips and his mouth is covered as he finishes the last dregs of his drink. "But first another of those Crillian Ales." The man hums, giving a little chuckle as he pushes his empty mug into Elizabeth's chest, forcing her to grab it from him.

The man leans back on his stool, releasing his cup handle to grip her forearm. Meliodas ordered her to give him what he wants and this qualifies as he pulls her around. She knows he wants her in his lap but find herself resisting, her stance firm and she feels the pull of her curse. 'Do what he wants', is the drive but her eyes are wide with burning flames, until that simmers and his strength trumps her own.

When she should have met his leg, she instead finds herself released and pushed a few feet to the side. She turns confused just as he crashes to the floor, the stool rolling out from underneath him. Meliodas is between her and the excited, overly grabby customer. "Elizabeth, cancel what I said before. If you want will you finish up serving the others?" Meliodas asks, his eyes dark and she senses something, a danger but he turns to focus on the man sprawled across the floor.

Her eyes flash but she can't feel where the power comes from or link it to any single source so does as Meliodas asks, but on high alert. The beefy man turns boisterous as he bumbles to a stand, tipsy and overconfident from the ale, but rather irked this 'kid' cock blocked him. Elizabeth watches from across the bar while filling up others drinks, abandoning the beefy man's ale mug in the process. Meliodas easily manhandles the angry man out of the bar without using more than one hand as he blocks his hits while guiding him out.

Words are exchanged outside but Elizabeth does her best to keep up with the tables and taking orders. She has a tray of seven ales when Meliodas returns and her foot catches another patrons stool leg causing her to crash to the floor. The drinks go flying, coating the floor, paying customers, and Meliodas. Tears spring to her eyes as she flails, coming to her knees and looking at the havoc she caused.

"She's really a worthless waitress." A dry patron mutters but another chimes a response in her defense, "She's doing her best, don't worry girl." But it only mildly lifts her spirits as she shakes, refusing to look at Meliodas. In her mind, he's done so much for her and given so much kindness when he did not have to. He's fed her, protected her from groping hands and from his accidental stray commands. He seems to always be watching her, ready to spring into action and prevent the curse from taking over. She stands on wobbling legs as she apologizes, rushing to get a bundle of towels to return and pass out to those dripping from the spill.

Elizabeth passes one to Meliodas, their fingers brush over the coarse fabric and a tingle spreads from the contact. "I'm sorry," he whispers a breath before she can say the same to him and in her surprise, she gazes at him with flushed cheeks. She had been told she would be used by her warrior master frequently and in any way he desired but she feels as if she is using him by being so incapable. Everything about this curse makes her easily abused with minimal guilt and somehow Meliodas isn't like that. 'He's a good man', Elizabeth thinks as her tummy warms.

"No, I'm sorry." She hushes, unused to talking to him outside of his questions in the evening when the bar is shut up. He gives a straining chuckle, wiping up his face before gathering up the sopping towels and kneeling on the floor to soak up the ale. "I got this, you get the mugs and refills if you want." Elizabeth rushes and she does, avoiding Meliodas the rest of the evening as she works the best she can at the job she was given.

She steals glances as he chops ingredients, watching his skilled fingers gently handle the apples. When she's dropping off dirty dishes her eyes are drawn to the lines of his back as his shirt clings to his form from the heat. As Hawk is barking orders, Elizabeth can't help fondly gaze at Meliodas' placating nature. 'Meliodas does not want to hurt anyone' , she thinks as the night wears on.

"Last call!" Meliodas hollers when his apple pie finishes and he moves it to the bar rather than delivering it to a customer. She is pulled away from her observing by the most profitable table of the night, and at this point, the drunkest. The four men are rambunctious in their joking and laughing at their friends not so funny stories. She brings over the requested pitcher and bends to tip the brew in the farthest man's mug when a rush of that same dark energy ekes into the air.

She turns, dripping drops of golden liquid on the table before she rights it, spotting Meliodas at her back and mere inches away. He had a man's wrist in his fist, the red man's hand angled to her rear and Elizabeth flushes hot, realizing what Meliodas had stopped. Yet, he had been across the room and to get here fast enough to prevent an assault made her curious about her master.

"I understand the temptation, but no." Meliodas takes the pitcher from Elizabeth with a soft smile and nudges his head to indicate the rest of the bar. He doesn't give her an order but she understands he wants her to get away from these patrons in particular. He finishes up that table and as the minutes pass, her blush stays while her imagination runs wild.

Twice tonight she sensed danger. Once with her accidental order to give another man what he wanted and now again when that other man tried to touch her, but both times it was Meliodas. She knows this now and as the last person leaves they begin to clean up the bar together, Hawk boasting about the night's take in gold. And as usual, the questions start.

"Why does your hair change when you are, I guess, reborn?" He locks the door, a towel tossed over his shoulder and he points to the apple pie. "Should be cooled, want to eat with me?" She nods as she walks over to the food.

"I didn't know my hair changed." Elizabeth reaches up to the silver she's always had, the long tresses slipping softly through her fingers. "I superficially change to be what my master desires most but I don't feel different from who I was, at least this time I guess." She frowns, knowing from their previous talk that her people died out long ago, that she is the only Goddess he's ever met and he's traveled extensively.

Meliodas hums an assent, slicing up the pie. "Plates, Hawk," he orders. The pig trots to the kitchen as Meliodas calls back to Elizabeth, "After the bar is shut up if the uniform bothers you, you can take it off." Elizabeth's spine straightens and slowly she realizes the uniform does bother her, the place is closed so she undoes the buttons to her top. "I know there weren't many options from that theater trope we bought your outfits from but you can always wear my clothes, I wouldn't mind." He continues before he yells out to Hawk, "Ask your mom to continue our trek to the Fairy Forest, we're done here."

"One thing at a time!" Hawk complains and the sound of him putting the plates down and going out the backdoor can be heard in the main bar area. By this time, her shirt hits the floor, alerting Meliodas as she pops the buttons to her skirt and he turns with wide alarmed eyes. The fabric slips over her hips and down her thighs before bunching at her feet with a soft 'plop'. Her shoulders sag but her eyes don't fade, they shine with unshed tears and Meliodas winces.

"I didn't mean..." Meliodas starts and he shakes his head. Elizabeth knows and she nods her head but it doesn't matter what he intends when it comes to this curse. She will comply if he gives her a command. The back door opens once more and Hawk can be heard in the kitchen. "When I give you a command, tell me 'yes, master' so I know and I can cancel it." He orders.

"Yes, Master." She speaks, her voice soothing in a tempting way, breathy against her will. She swallows heavy as his cheeks flush before he winces, running his hand through his hair. Her body is too tempting, bare outside of her underwear and no matter his self-abusing thoughts he can't look away. Her creamy breasts with her perky, dusky nipples beg to be suckled and his hands twitch, wanting to grab at her rounded hips to pull her flesh to his. His cock springs to attention in one unsteady struggle of an inhale.

A crash of plates sound from the doorway of the kitchen, yet the noise is unable to draw either of their gazes away from the other.

"I leave you alone for one moment!" Hawk aggressively stomps between them and Elizabeth's arms move to cover her most private of places to shield her from Meliodas' molten eyes. She's warm, growing more so and she feels her own urges. Her thighs rub together and Meliodas groans, knowing. "If you take advantage of her you'll go to the special hell! Where rapists and abusers go!"

Hawks words sink into Meliodas and he vaguely states, "I'm sorry, go dress, Elizabeth," as his head falls in shame.

"Yes, Master." Elizabeth replies and he flinches, his failsafe of knowing when he gives her an order hurts as he can't cancel this one. She's silent while moving across the floor and stepping up the stairs. He returns to his task of cutting up the apple pie and Hawk grumbles and gruffs as he goes to collect new plates.

"I can't trust you with her!" Hawk scowls. "She's been stripped of her free will!" And Meliodas knows it's true, knows it's barely right to have her working at the bar for him when he doesn't know for sure if she wants to. She may want to please him because he is the holder of the Goddess Blade and that alone feels wrong to him. He's studied her, he's watched her kindness and gentle nature shine through and he fears this world and he himself is too cruel for her.

When she returns in his shirt and slacks, the situation in Meliodas' pants does not rectify itself. They sit side by side at the bar, facing the various alcoholic drinks, while they eat together. Hawk, who is still rather furious with Meliodas, glares at him as he eats his scraps from his bowl. The pig has been escorting Meliodas to the guest room every night, as he never reclaimed his own room after Elizabeth's arrival. After today, Hawk reaffirms being her guardian.

"Can I..." Elizabeth whispers, surprising Hawk and Meliodas both as she has never spoken before being spoken to or, for that matter, ever asked for anything. Their sudden neck-jerking reactions cause her face to flush and she clams up. The two boys both talk at once, reassurances and encouragements to have her own wants and to request whatever. Hawk puts his hooves up on the bar, leaving his scraps bowl behind and Meliodas pushes at Hawk's face when he gets closer.

Quiet falls in the bar once more and Elizabeth sets her fork down beside her half-eaten slice of apple pie. It tastes like glue but it was one of Meliodas' more palatable meals. Her stomach flutters with nerves, but Meliodas asks once more, "Please go on."

"Can I ask you some questions tonight?" She inquires and her wide sapphire eyes flash to his and then to Hawks. They are both nodding, Meliodas half smirking and Hawk encouraging. "Are you a demon?" She asks, refusing to ignore her main curiosity.

"Yeah." He answers, his face morphing into an apologetic expression, almost a wince. "I was born in the demon realm but escaped in my youth with my younger brother." Elizabeth scrutinizes his face. The demons she knew in her childhood had physical indications of their race, her friend Derieri had been the closest to her own form and she had a monster arm. "Is that bad?" He asks with a small cringe.

"No." She answers. "I was punished because of my refusal to fight the demons. Our worlds had been one long ago but our gods separated them, causing so many disruptions in both realms from their own wounded egos." Elizabeth shivers as Meliodas' brows furrow. That was not what he learned in his history books but he instantly trusts her as she had been there.

"What happened?" He whispers, curious but finding it hard to speak louder as this feels like a secret. As if they are talking about treason or being sacrilegious before a wrathful god.

"I couldn't stop them." She answers just as low. "Our realm was torn in two and without balance they were both doomed to eventually be uninhabitable." Elizabeth's arms tingle with goose flesh. "I did extensive research on the goddesses half and my friend Derieri did hers in her own, the demon one. The signs of unraveling at the seams were already there- but rather than listen..." She sighs.

"I don't know how the Celestial realm is, but the Demon one is rough, or was before I left. Sandstorms that suffocate and mindless beasts that attack without provocation. Nothing can grow there, not even hope." Meliodas had meant his words to show she was right about her research back then but Elizabeth does not want to be right. Her shoulders sag and she smiles softly to him, it doesn't reach her eyes.

"It seems though, that at least your race survived the prolonged separation and mine did not." She moves from her stool, standing before him. "It's fitting I suppose," it was her Deity who sacrificed her physical form first to remove the darkness from their light, not trusting Elizabeth's theory of yin and yang. "Thank you. You are a good man, Sir Meliodas."

Although Meliodas himself disagrees he doesn't say anything as she bows, unnecessarily, and heads to bed. Moments later, Hawk escorts Meliodas to the guest room a floor above Elizabeth and before he shuts the door the pig whispers "The special hell." Meliodas does need that reminder as in the dark it's her he thinks about.