**DISCLAIMER: The
concept of the Night World and all related characters belong to L.J. Smith, not
me.**
Author's Notes: Hi everyone. This takes place in the
Night World universe but there's not going to be much going on with L.J.
Smith's characters. These are all mine. Also, it takes place before Circle
Daybreak is formed and therefore before the Night World books take place.
Please send some feedback or review! Enjoy reading!
*******************
"In love the paradox occurs that two beings
become one and yet remain two."
~Erich Fromm~
Amulet of Artemis
by: The Silver Princess
Elise sat in her seat, idly tracing the pattern of
the wood on her desk. She sneaked another glance at the girl sitting beside
her. She was new—that was for sure, and that alone merited great interest. In
their town, new students were a rarity. She seemed pretty, not gorgeous but
adorable with a heart-shaped face and dimples. Her short flame-like hair of
impossibly red, orange, and yellow curls, clustered wildly all over her head,
and her fiery green eyes were hanging intently on every word the teacher said.
Elise had already heard the first-day talk that all
the teachers gave; it was as though each teacher memorized it and recited the
same thing each year. She mouthed a few words with the teacher and then, with
nothing to do, she turned her attention back to this new girl. She ducked her
head down, pretending to look intently at her notebook but actually trying to
read the name scrawled on the spine of the other girl's textbook.
Leilani. Elise squinted but couldn't make out the
last name. The unusual name seemed to fit the girl with the funky hair. With a
wry face, she thought, But this Leilani girl's not unusual enough to be an
outcast, just exotic enough to be interesting. With a sigh, she
straightened up.
Just then the girl glanced over at her, and her eyes
widened almost imperceptibly, the fire in them flaring, before she looked back
to the teacher.
Slightly unnerved at the flare—of recognition?—in
those eyes of emerald fire, Elise devoted her attention to doodling cartoons on
her paper for the rest of class and didn't glance over again.
She noticed that the fiery-haired girl was in her
next class as well. In fact, everyone noticed her when, two steps into the
classroom, she collided with the history teacher, Mr. Freestone. His books and
papers flew all over, and he barely held onto his cup of coffee. Unfortunately,
despite Leilani's well-meant attempts to help, she only succeeded in knocking
the coffee that he had salvaged at the expense of his books and papers onto his
shirt. Wisely, she backed off, and Mr. Freestone grumped and grumbled his way
to change his shirt.
With a rather amusingly self-conscious look on her
dimpled face, she slid into the empty seat next to Elise. She didn't stay
embarrassed for long though and she turned to Elise. "Hi! I'm Leilani Morgan.
What's your name? You don't think he'll be that upset do you?" she bubbled,
practically radiating ebullience.
"I'm Elise Bradley, and no, he's usually pretty
easy-going. Just stay out of his way for a few days," she answered slowly. With
a sudden thought, she added hesitatingly, "Look, you're new, and so I'll just
tell you now and save you the trouble. You see, I'm sort of a—for lack of better
term—social untouchable. It's not that I want to drive you away or anything,
but you should keep that in mind."
"Wanna be friends?" Leilani asked with a wide grin.
Elise gave the girl a sharp glance, her eyebrows
snapping up. Was she just out of it or hadn't she heard her?
"Look," Leilani said, suddenly turning serious and
wise-looking, her steadily-burning emerald eyes looking earnestly into Elise's
cerulean ones. "I kinda have a feeling that I'm not going to fit in with you .
. . ah . . . small-towners all that well; so it doesn't matter if you're . . .
whatever you said. Besides," she continued, her green eyes seeming to flare
again, "there's something about you."
Elise could just stare at her in dumb astonishment.
Who was this strange flame-haired
girl who actually wanted to befriend her? Leilani, no longer serious, was
chatting on, apparently unaware of her companion's inner musing. Elise smiled
shakily.
Leilani, flashing her smile confidently and
cheerfully, continued to radiate vivacity.
The rest of the morning passed fuzzily and before she
knew it, Elise was stuffing her books into her locker and pulling out her
lunch. Leilani leaned against the closed lockers, waiting patiently.
"Did you bring your lunch?" Elise asked as she
slammed her locker shut and twirled the lock to secure it.
Leilani shook her head vigorously, flaming locks
bobbing back and forth in time with her headshake.
"You should've," Elise grinned mischievously. "Now
you're in for the dreaded Mystery Meat that our cafeteria serves."
"Hang on, is it ok if my twin brother eats with us?"
Leilani asked, grabbing her arm.
"Uh, sure," she responded, flustered at the sudden
idea of eating with two people.
"Great!" Leilani replied and off she bounded.
Xander's morning had been uneventful. He hadn't been
paying any attention in his classes because all the while he had been straining
all his rather unusual senses to identify that girl from his vision. He knew
she was here; her essence was so strong that it permeated the entire school,
but it was too strong to tell from which classmate it originated.
"Xander!"
He turned and saw his sister bouncing towards him. He
smiled warmly at this welcome recess from the surrounding humans.
"Xander," she said solemnly, executing one of her
customary attitude revolutions. "I think I've found her."
"What, how?"
"Her name's Elise, and I used Craft to look at her,
and she's, well, suffice it to say an incredible person. Plus, well, come see
her. You wouldn't believe me. You have to see her to believe it." She looked at
him, plainly asking, well?
Xander sighed. Whether serious or not, Leilani was
obstinate. He hadn't had any luck finding the girl, and he certainly didn't
want to eat alone among all the chattering, alien humans, so he waved his hand
in yielding consent and followed her beacon of hair to the cafeteria.
She led him through throngs of humans waiting in the
lunch line and then pointed out a girl sitting at the corner table. He muttered
a word to enhance his vision, and then he saw her.
"Craft Lords," he whispered, losing his breath in
astonishment. "She's Elemental. But I thought that Elemental humans were
extinct." In his peripheral vision he saw Leilani nod happily, pleased with
herself. But he was too busy concentrating on the girl—Elise, Leilani had called
her.
She was . . . dazzling. Looking at her he understood
the sappy, romantic poetry that he'd always scoffed at. Her hair was golden
yellow, not blond, but a true gold like butter and sunlight merged together to
form golden tresses falling perfectly straight and silky over her perfectly
molded shoulders. Her flawless ivory skin was like smooth alabaster or fresh
daisy petals. A faint rosiness flushed slightly over her high cheekbones, and
her full lips, naturally pink, were like two satiny rose petals. And her wide
eyes framed with long black lashes, those eyes now trained on her lunch, were
luminous blue, shades that were constantly changing depending upon the way the
light struck. They shifted from the color of clear summer skies, to cornflowers,
then the luminescence found in the center of flame finally melting into twilight
cobalt. She brushed her hair back from her face, and he marveled at the curve
of her slim forearm and its graceful movement. She was as soft as velvet surrounding
a hidden iron core. From just a glance, his senses were already screaming. The
beauty of her spirit as well as her person shook him to the core. It was as
though she was surrounded with glowing golden effulgence. Just as he managed to
get ahold of himself, she glanced up from her lunch, looking for Leilani.
Emerald eyes met sapphire eyes, and he braced himself
for the shock his magical senses would feel. He looked deep into those liquid
cobalt gems and felt a strange lurch in his senses.
She must be Elemental, no human's ever done this to
me before, Xander thought giddily as
he stumbled, eyes still locked with hers. His senses were in overload. He felt
everything on a level above impossible. He could feel the individual molecules
of air and See pictures too quickly. I haven't invoked it, he thought
unsteadily. At the same time, an undercurrent of his mind was simply
concentrating on this high-school Aphrodite called Elise. He didn't know if he
should be euphoric or alarmed by the reeling in his heart.
Leilani grabbed him and helped him to his knees
before he pitched forward headfirst. The pressure of her concerned hands on his
bare arms jerked him back from his introspective shock. He dazedly noticed with
a deep breath that everyone else was also stumbling. Elise was coming towards
them steadily on hands and knees to keep her balance.
"Leilani!" Her voice like water trickling over rocks
combined with the music of the Muses. "You guys okay?"
Through glassy eyes he saw his sister nod, and then
the girl reached them. "Jeez, you two are having a great first day aren't you?
Earthquakes here are pretty normal, despite what those geologists say."
Ashen, Leilani nodded slowly. Xander squeezed her
hand, knowing the quake must have been especially hard for her earthy senses
than his ability with minds.
The earth rumbled to a stop and Leilani's color
returned. Looking at Elise, she said breathlessly, "Well, this is my brother
Xander. Xander, Elise."
Her rose petal lips curved into a smile revealing
exquisite pearl teeth. "Nice to meet you," she responded. She pulled herself to
her feet and offered the still unsettled twins a hand up.
Her hand was cool and silken with a good grip. She
yanked both Xander and Leilani up with a brisk jerk.
"You shocked me!" she accused laughingly, absently
rubbing her palm where Xander and she had shocked each other. "Come on, food's
still on the table despite the shaking, and you seem hungry."
Elise led them to her table, all the while stealing
glances at Leilani's brother, Xander. Her insides were quivering, and her chest
thumping from that strange feeling when her eyes had met his just before the
earthquake. It was as if he had shocked all of her, not just her hand. It
wasn't just his movie-star looks, although that certainly helped. It was
something she'd seen deep inside those blazing green pools. She shivered
slightly just as an aftershock lightly touched the building, and she absently
shooed an amber-eyed black cat away from her seat.