A/N: Format problem has been fixed. (Me: One, Computer: Nuthin). Italics are going to be thoughts now. Enjoy!

Elizabeth ran up to her room to put her story away. She was practically glowing with pride because Adam had liked it. He had told her to create a love triangle to pick it up a bit. I guess it's worth a shot. She decided to ask him if she could read his story later. After all, she had let him read hers. She was really starting to like Adam. I wonder if we're friends. I hope so.

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Elizabeth walked home with Dan after their lesson with Luna. They had been progressing quickly and she was beginning to teach them how to use the elements to their advantage. It wasn't really controlling them, that was too dangerous, it was more like manipulating them. It was still dangerous and it required a lot of skill so she hadn't let them try it out yet. (A/N: I think this might actually be of use to the story! Don't hold me to it tho.)

When they got back to Discipline, they both went into Elizabeth's room. Dan sat down on her bed and drew her over to him and onto his lap. He kissed her neck softly before she lightly pushed him away. "Not here. What if someone comes in?" Dan sighed and rolled his eyes, but smiled at her.

"They'd see us and leave again." He replied. She laughed but got up off his lap. "So," he started, "This whole 'using-the-elements to-our-own-advantage' thing…it's kinda cool, huh?"

"Yeah. It's wicked cool. I can't wait to try it!" She declared excitedly.

"Why wait?" Dan asked. Elizabeth fixed him with an icy glare. If looks could kill he'd have been flat on his back in a nanosecond. He laughed at her and said "Just kidding." She punched him in the arm and turned a bright red from her embarrassment. She could be so gullible sometimes. Dan rubbed his arm where she had smacked him (angry girls can hit hard) and smiled like an idiot. "Aw, come on" He said, "You know you love me!"

"No I don't." she said, but she smiled and sat down next to him to put her head on his shoulder.

A Few Weeks Later…

It was 2:00 in the morning. Elizabeth was fully dressed and stumbling through the woods. What in the world am I doing out here? Adam had woken her up an hour before and told her to get dressed, they were going somewhere. When she asked him where, all he would say was "Out." She was getting extremely angry at being dragged on this insane trip to the-middle-of-nowhere and was seriously considering rendering him unconscious with a fallen tree limb. Of course, she realized, if she knocked him out she'd be totally lost. But then, she wasn't so sure that even he knew where they were anymore.

"Adam, would you mind informing me, since there's no way in hell I can find my way back to Discipline in any kind of elaborate escape routine, why I'm out here in the woods at God-knows-what hour?!" A few minutes passed and she was about to ask again when he stopped and pushed through a bunch of tree branches, holding them back so that she could do the same. When they emerged from their cover, they were in a huge cave. Adam picked up a lamp from the shadows and lit it before leading the way through the rocky halls. They finally stopped in a chamber much smaller than the entrance. With awe, she thought that they must be inside some sort of mountain, though she couldn't remember any that existed here. Maybe a hill then she decided.

"Whoa…" She breathed, "this is so…beautiful." Adam turned to face her. She didn't recognize what she saw. His face, thrown into shadow by the lamp, was contorted in malice. He shoved her down roughly.

"Sit down and shut-up." He replied sharply.

"What the fuck?!" She shouted at him as she stood up. He pushed her down and kicked her in the ribs.

"I said sit down and shut up." He said, breaking up the words to give them emphasis. Note to self: Elizabeth thought, don't contradict someone who shoves you down with a look of pure hate on their face. Apparently they mean it. Elizabeth continued to wonder what was going on. She thought Adam was her friend, they'd been getting along so well. Well, apparently something happened. Dragging me to a secluded cave in the middle-of-nowhere at an insane hour of the night, pushing me down, and kicking me isn't exactly considered friendly behavior. Then it finally hit her that she was in a secluded cave at an insane hour of the night being abused by someone she thought she could trust. And no one else knew about it. Whatever was going to go down here was not good. Damn. How do I get myself into these situations? If I'm not being crushed to a pulp by the raging sea, I'm being abducted by my best friend and brought to some obscure location to meet some uncertain, but most likely unpleasant, fate. I must be the luckiest girl in the world! She thought with bitter sarcasm.

Back at Discipline…

Dan woke with a start. He wasn't sure what was wrong, but he was feeling really…wrong. He got up and walked down the hall to Elizabeth's room. Whenever he was feeling bad, somehow she made him feel at ease again. He saw that her door was open. That's weird. Oh well, she must have just forgot to close it. Stepping into her room, he saw that that wasn't the case at all. She was gone. But everything she had was in order, almost like she left on purpose. Still…he just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Okay…okay…I have to think. Come on, think man, think. After pacing the floor for another minute, an idea hit him…or rather, he hit the idea. Dan looked down at what he had tripped over. It was Elizabeth's scrying bowl. Grabbing it up, he ran out to the kitchen pump and filled it. Then he sat down at the table with the bowl in front of him and sank into a deep meditation. He looked into the water and sent his magic into its depths. Where is Elizabeth? He asked, What's going on? He sent his emotions, the worry, unease, urgency, and sense of foreboding with his question. It was the only way he could think of to convince the water to show him. The surface rippled and a picture formed. He saw Elizabeth being led through the forest…then he saw her in a room and someone shoving her down and kicking her…Dan heard a whisper that he recognized as the water's say "past". Then the surface went dark. That was the past. He said, What is the present? Again he sent his emotions through it. His answer came not in pictures, but in emotions. He felt fear, confusion, despair, panic, a fierce anger and shame, and an uncertainty that wasn't his own. He couldn't get anything else out of the water. Dan thought again. Okay…I know those feelings weren't mine. They must have been Elizabeth's. Alright, so she must be in trouble. But what am I gonna do? This isn't my area of expertise. I'm not the problem solver in this relationship!!! Okay, calm down and THINK. Obviously I can't do this alone; I'm not dumb enough to try that…………… OF COURSE! Duh! I'm only friends with four of the most powerful mages in the world! Not to mention their students. With that decided, he got up and ran to Briar's room. It was time to get the Circle kids into action again!