**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!

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"In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."

~Erich Fromm~

Amulet of Artemis

by: The Silver Princess

7

Sensation returned to Elise slowly. She slowly became aware of the cushions she was laying. Firm, not squishy. Some sort of cloth like corduroy. A couch then. When she breathed in, she suddenly realized that the air was heavy with the smell of herbs. She was still at the Morgans'; the house always smelled like that—supposedly from Leilani making her homemade balm.

Finally she began to hear voices. Indistinct, but growing clearer.

"Do you think that was really Sinael who she saw?" Xander asked.

"Probably. The description fits her to the T and Elise would have no reason to lie or make it up," Leilani answered tiredly, as though they'd already been through this several times.

"But then why is she here? The circle certainly wouldn't send her after us," Xander thought aloud.

"I don't know Xander," Leilani said exasperatedly. "Perhaps it's all a coincidence. Maybe her reason for being here has nothing to do with us. Maybe she's here because of that strange feeling. She sensed it too. You'd have to be human not to."

Elise's eyelids flickered in surprise. Human? As opposed to . . . not human?

"Xander! She's coming out of it already. I thought you said she'd sleep until tomorrow morning," Leilani said sharply.

"It's probably because she's Elemental."

"What are we going to tell her?" Leilani asked, as fingertips gently rubbed Elise's temples. Xander said something; his voice was practically next to her ear, but the words got lost between his mouth and her ear, and Elise drifted asleep again.

When she woke again, she was huddled in her bed, her eyes shut tight against the sunlight pouring into her room. She opened her eyes a crack to squint at her clock. Nine o'clock AM. She yawned, stretching sore muscles like a cat. She needed some more of Leilani's balm. She frowned, still half-asleep. Why was she so sore again? What was it she felt she had to remember?

She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and stumbled blearily from her bed. She splashed some cold water on her face and stared clear-eyed at her tousled reflection, the strange events of yesterday and her suspicions flooding back. A dream? she wondered, biting her lip. But then what happened to the rest of yesterday? Her view of the world tilted crazily as the realization raced through her mind. It was as though everything she'd known had been make-believe, a cover-up for whatever she'd just caught a glimpse of. She gripped the edge of her sink, her knuckles turning white.

Knock, knock.

She breathed, stubbornness taking hold of her. Certain that the Morgan twins would try to avoid her questions, maybe even put her to sleep again, she steeled herself as she clambered downstairs.

Unlocking the door, she smiled as she let them, carefully not letting her eyes meet either of the twins'. "Listen," she said as she led them to the kitchen, her back stubbornly towards them. "I don't want you to tell me whatever story you've planned out. I just want to know the truth. Please just trust me."

"Elise—"

"No!" Elise exclaimed, sidestepping Xander's outstretched hand. "Just tell me exactly who that woman," she paused, dredging up the name she'd heard. "Sinael is. I want to know exactly why you could put me to sleep with your eyes. And why only a human would be blind to whatever is in this town." She risked a glance at Leilani, who was staring at her openmouthed.

"How did you—oh, you weren't just coming out of it that time; you were actually awake," she said.

Elise nodded as she sat down and stared at her hands. "Tell me, please."

"We're witches," Xander whispered, but Elise could hear the words as though he was speaking in her ear. She jerked and looked at him, forgetting to avoid his blazing green eyes.

There was no deceit in them, just solemn conviction. Elise swallowed. "Witches?" she faltered. Her brain felt numb. Well, that explained the whole not human thing.

"Xander, the law is death—"

"Leilani, after what happened yesterday, I don't think the Night World law is our greatest concern."

Leilani shrugged, conceding the point. She hadn't seemed to adamant about it anyway.

Elise felt as though she had stepped into something she didn't understand. "I assume you're not talking about the Wiccan religion," she forced out, desperate to say something, anything.

 "You assume correctly," Leilani said. Elise turned to face her, and the fire-haired girl smiled crookedly. "Elise?" Leilani scrutinized her carefully.

"I'm okay, just . . . go on. I want to know everything."

Leilani looked over Elise's shoulder at Xander who must have gestured for her to continue because she smirked and said sarcastically, "Thanks." She took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, magic isn't exactly just snapping our fingers or wiggling our noses and poof. We're just, well, more connected to things, and we can often use that connection to our benefit. For example, I have a knack for things that are related to nature. That balm is not just plain old herbs when I prepare it. Xander, on the other hand, has more of a feel for the mind, that is he does better dealing with people, and he has the Sight. That kind of thing."

"But what about that lightning sort of stuff?" Elise faltered, wondering how to describe it.

Leilani glared at Xander, but he stayed silent, a mute presence at Elise's back, so she said, "We can, well, kind of call up that inner ability." She paused, considering. "It's kind of that we can physically hold our power in our hands. We're our own stun gun," she finished, with a half laugh.

"Witches," Elise whispered to herself. "Omigod, real witches." She looked up at Leilani. "Why are you here?" she asked carefully.

Leilani tried to hide a smile, gave up, and shrugged. "We ran away. Our circle, well just about all circles, are—to put it mildly—really old-fashioned. It didn't really fit us. Circle Midnight was the worst, but even ours, Circle Twilight, was pretty bad. Plus, all the witch-hunting in the past spooked our ancestors, so association—any at all— with humans is strictly regulated. We didn't really conform to that particular rule either."

"That's it?" Elise asked, the numbness in her brain starting to dissipate. "Just run-of-the-mill—well sort of—teenage rebellion?"

"Hey," Leilani said indignantly. "We personally think those are very good reasons. We're not being rebellious or anything just for the sake of it. Do you want to know what some of the more extreme Night Worlders have done to humans? You think we wanted to be a part of that—"

"Hey," Elise interrupted. "I wasn't criticizing or anything."

"Fine," Leilani said, somewhat mollified.

"What is this Night World you keep talking about?"

"Something of a secret society that witches are part of."

"There's more."

"Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters…Okay, just breathe."

Elise gulped in air. Vampires? Shapeshifters? All of it was real. She bit her lip hard, forcing down her tumultuous feelings to remain rational. "Okay. I'm okay. But—why here? Our dinky little town?" Elise asked.

"Oh, we just picked at random actually," Leilani confessed. "By the time we realized there was that 'something' here, we'd already enrolled and gotten everything arranged. That's it. No biggie."

"And that's it," Elise repeated. "No big deal. But, hang on. This 'something' and that woman. And me. I mean . . . what . . . if it's . . .how am I . . ." She faltered, not knowing how to voice her question.

"You mean Sinael," Leilani said. "She's a surprise to us too actually. She used to be in our circle, but  . . . you see, she's one of those radicals I mentioned and her 'antics' were drawing too much attention, so the circle basically kicked her out. We tried to erase her memory, but she escaped, became a renegade. She's very powerful and always looking for a little more. So we think that she's most likely here to seize whatever that 'something,' that power, is. As for you, Xander did a Seeing and Saw that you were involved somehow. Sinael must have realized the same thing. That's why she went after you," Leilani said matter-of-factly.

 She'd been listening carefully, accepting Leilani's explanation until the end. "Me, but why me? I can't have anything to do with this," Elise declared, bewildered.

"You're Elemental," she answered. "Elemental humans were thought to be extinct, but apparently . . ." Leilani shrugged, and Elise just stared at her. "Elemental humans have Element blood, ancestry, in them. Elements are what we call them. I guess, they're kind of nature spirits. Sylphs are spirits of the air. Salamanders are spirits of fire. Undines are spirits of water. Nymphs are spirits of specific trees or streams or whatever. From what Xander and I could find, descendants of undines are most common. But you—from what we can tell—are descended from all of them. Which is...well, unheard of. But that does explain your strong life essence and, of course, your unearthly beauty."

Her reaction to the discovery of witches had faded. It wasn't that big of a deal when she thought about it logically. But this. Elise sat quietly, trying to assimilate this extraordinary information. She'd always knew she was different, but this. This was unbelievable. But she still couldn't react the information. Her mind wasn't numb; it was paralyzed.

"Elise," Leilani was saying softly. "Can you tell us about you're parents? That might help us figure this out before Sinael does any harm."

Elise said flatly, "I'm adopted. I was abandoned here as a baby apparently by someone passing through because no one found a trace of them, so no one can tell me who my real parents are." All of a sudden, she started shaking. Witches, Elements. Maybe she wasn't dealing with this as well as she thought. She wrapped her arms around herself.

Leilani said in a soft, compassionate voice, "We should head home, give you some time with this."

Not looking her in the eye, Elise nodded.

Leilani left, but Xander remained, a silent presence still at her back. Through the whole conversation, he'd remained mute, just standing and listening. She loved him, she did, but she needed time. Witches. She was surprised at herself that she wasn't already hysterical. She loved him, but he was supernatural for God's sake. A witch! He was a witch! There. Some hysteria had bubbled up there.

Finally, he spoke. "Elise," he said hesitantly, and she could hear the concern and worry in his voice even though she couldn't see him. "I realize this is a shock, but maybe you can understand that that's why I tried to push you away. I thought I'd endanger you. I'm so sorry," he whispered.

She twisted around in her chair to look up at him. "Xander," she spoke irresolutely. "It's not that. I forgive you; I completely understand. It's not you. It's just, well, I need time. You're witch. Everything's just, I mean—" her voice broke, half-sobbing "—My best friend and my boyfriend are witches. Some psycho power-hungry witch who absolutely loathes humans is after us, and I'm apparently descended from, from—" she fumbled for the word "—from fairies!" Her voice rose feverishly at the end.

"I understand," he answered in hopeless tone.

Numbly, she stood up, the chair standing between her and Xander. Her stomach wrenched with indecision. He's still the same, her mind whispered. Look, it said, he still loves you and he's still the same wonderful guy. He has the same adorable dark red-chocolate hair falling haphazardly into those blazing emerald eyes. Oh, god, she realized, but now those fire-green eyes seemed heartbroken and begging, gleaming with unshed tears. How could she be so superficial? He had entrusted her with his secret, and now she was callously rejecting him.

Her chest tore with love and anguish, and in an instant, she covered the distance between them and buried herself in his arms. With a shudder, his arms embraced her with relief.

She trembled, and then she was sobbing into his shoulder. She stood there shaking, tears soaking his clothes. He just murmured soothingly and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, voice muffled against him.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I love you," he said, and that was all that was needed.

She looked up with a small wet smile, tears melting away. He wiped away the last trace of wetness with his thumb. Then he kissed her delicately on the mouth, shyly as though they'd never kissed before. "I should get going. Leilani will wonder what's keeping me," he said finally, as he pulled away.

Elise grinned and pulled him back for another quick kiss. "Se ya' later, witch," she murmured faintly against his lips.

He smiled, and then pulled away. "We'll come by tomorrow," he said. After a pause he added, "After we finish our homework," and then he was gone. Elise went over to the cupboard to get her cereal out. She laughed as she poured bran flakes in a bowl. Her life had just skyrocketed off the weirdness scale, and all she could think of was that she had no milk! Sometimes, she didn't understand herself.

"Incredible," she murmured. "The Night World," she added, trying out the name on her tongue. "Incredible."

**Review and tell me what you think! Thanx!**