"I can not wait to be done with fairies." Chase mumbled. Ella nodded in agreement. He threw his hands in the air as the three walked on. "Fairies, magic, curses! The lot of it! I'm so sick of it all."

Viola nodded. "I get it. It's never been as bad for me, but... I get it."

Ella sighed. "I just want my sister to be alright. If she's okay then hopefully I'll get to go home and everything will go back to normal and I'll never have to deal with anything magical ever again."

"Is that what you want? Just to go back to normalcy?" Chase asked.

Ella shrugged. "What else is there? I've got my future all mapped out. I just need to get the messes in the way all cleaned up and then I'm golden."

Chase scratched the back of his head. "All I want is to get rid of my curse. Once that happens, everything won't be so crushingly stressful."

Viola placed a hand on his shoulder, but didn't say anything. He smiled weakly back at her.

A town came into their view, if you could even call it that. It was more like a few scattered buildings on the outskirts of the forest, but it seemed that was just what they needed.

Ella squinted ahead, shielding the sun from her eyes. "There's a clothing shop up ahead. You both need to change. I don't think we can be inconspicuous traveling like this."

Chase nodded. "And you need shoes."

Ella shook her head. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Chase opened his mouth to argue, but froze when his little sister winked at him. He shot her a curious look. Ella missed the exchange as she glanced onwards, observing the town.

She was caught off guard when Viola suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"Oh!"

"We'll be back real quick. Just stay right here." Viola shot her a sweet smile before pulling her brother inside.

Ella waited, examining each other building. According to a little sign they'd passed right before the clothing shop the town was called Mylles.

They were on the right path to Avolyne if Ella remembered the maps she'd seen. Her father had had a map of Adelinelle in his study. He had used it to tutor Ella when she was a little girl. Marabeth had likely gotten rid of it. Her stepmother hadn't allowed her in his study in years...

She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. Marabeth had cut off her food before. She could forget to eat. Marabeth had treated her better recently, but if Ella needed she could probably hold off on eating for a while longer.

However... Chase and Viola probably hadn't eaten anything since yesterday either. They needed to keep up their strength for the journey.

So Ella scouted out the little town. There had to be somewhere to eat... And indeed there was.

Alaric's Pub was the gossip hot spot of Mylles, but to Ella it just looked alright place to eat.

It wasn't much longer she waited. Chase and Viola emerged from the shop, looking much more casual. His suit and her gown were gone.

Ella let out a sigh of relief. Traveling would be much easier now. They wouldn't be stopped with questions or odd looks.

Chase approached, holding up a pair of slippers.

"I told you-" Ella crosses her arms.

"And we didn't believe you. It'll be easier for everyone if we all wear normal clothes and two shoes, right?" Chase smirked. He bent down, sliding the slippers one by one onto Ella's feet. They fit almost perfectly.

"How'd you get my shoe size?" She asked.

Viola whipped out Ella's glass slipper from her pocket, beaming. "I've acquired many skills, sneaking out from under Mom and Dad's eyes, stealing from the royal guards and such."

Ella's eyes went wide. "You what?"

Chase shot her a look. "Vi, don't-"

"My friend is a guard. It's a game we play. No biggie." Viola flashed a charming smile.

Ella almost believed her.

"Well thank you. You really didn't have to." Ella pocketed her glass slipper once more.

"We did. Trust me." Chase said. Her eyes met his, both smiling dopily at the other.

Ella broke the gaze. "How about we get some lunch? We'll need our strength for the journey."

The two siblings nodded. They followed Ella to Alaric's Pub.

This story is not dead. I haven't been feeling much inspiration for Silver or Cinders and Slippers much recently but I think that's about to change. This wasn't my favorite or the greatest chapter, and to be honest it was supposed to be longer, but I'm already late. It is 1:29 AM on Tuesday as I post this and I technically promised it Monday. Forgive me? It was a hard chapter to write. I swear I will not start updating this story only every eight months. More regular updates are coming. Let's aim for every Sunday, maybe?

I give you full permission to harass me to write if you haven't seen me update CAS recently. Any time I hear from my readers helps. If I feel like nobody will miss it, I don't tend to care if I stop...

I was planning on making this chapter about what happens in Alaric's Pub but this chapter is already too long.

ANYWAY, I APPRECIATE YOU ALL READING! THANK YOU!