A/N: Here is another entry for the Twisting the Hellmouth, Fic-For-All Challenges. As stated in the rules of the challenge, the pairings do not have to be romantic (and in this one, they're not), they just have to interact with one another in the story.

TTH FFA Challenge 2: The Key and The Enchantress (Dawn Summers/Amora the Enchantress)

Dawn was feeling much better after speaking with Xander and sighed wistfully as he walked away.

"It's hard, isn't it, watching him as you do, yet not being seen in return," said an unfamiliar voice which startled Dawn as no one else had even been in the room.

"W-Who are you?" Dawn asked hesitantly.

The mysterious woman with a figure that far surpassed Cordy's, hair that Buffy would envy and an aura of sexiness that surpassed even Faith's laughed at Dawn's nervousness.

'Even her laugh is sexy...' Dawn thought to herself.

"No one you want as an enemy," the beautiful woman replied. "Some one who has looked after Alexander from time to time."

"Why?" Dawn asked, her eyes darting around looking for either an escape route or a way to fight back against whatever this mysterious woman was. She contemplated calling out for help, but her gut instincts told her that would end badly for anyone who tried to mess with the woman. She didn't think any of them, except maybe Willow, would stand much of a chance against the woman.

"Because he is, or at least was, an ally of mine. Had been for a long time," the woman answered. "Long before he was banished."

"Banished?" Dawn inquired, her curiosity piqued.

"Oh yes," the woman responded. "Your so-called normal friend is quite extraordinary. More so than any of you could possibly imagine. He's changed too. Far more than anyone could have imagined. I relish the thought of the mischief and trickery he will sow once he has been returned to us."

"Is that why you're here, to take him away from us?" Dawn asked nervously, dreading the answer.

"No, I am not here to take him from you. Quiet the contrary, Little Key," the beautiful woman replied.

Dawn's eyes widened in sheer terror as she took a step back from the woman. "Y-You know what I am?"

The woman huffed in amusement. "How could I not? Even if I haven't been looking in on Alexander through the years, if not for your close proximity to that cursed portal, I could have sensed you from nearly anywhere in this pathetic realm. Fear not, I have no designs in utilizing that power of yours. I'd not risk alienating Alexander. In fact, I could teach you how to truly master that power."

"I'd have to think about it," Dawn replied, trying to stall for time while trying to figure out what the woman wanted.

"Suit yourself," the woman told her with a shrug.

"Amora, what are you doing here?" asked a startled Anya as she entered the room.

"Hello to you too, Anyanka. It's been such a long time," Amora greeted the former vengeance demon.

"You two know each other?" Dawn asked hesitantly.

"Of course. I was the one who empowered the spell she used on that fool Olaf that brought her to the attention of that opportunistic bastard D'Hoffryn," the woman replied before she turned to address Anya. "And to answer your rather rude question, I am here looking in on one of your former patrons given mortal form. Now leave us. My purpose here does not include you."

"But it does include Dawn?" Anya asked warily.

Instead of answering, Amora waved her hand causing Anya to be tied up in glowing strands of light. "Stay away from Alexander. You've already proved yourself unworthy of him." A portal then opened up underneath the former vengeance demon and she fell through it.

"What did you do to her?" Dawn exclaimed.

"I merely bound her and sent her back to her apartment," Amora answered easily. "The bindings will fade once our business is concluded."

"And what is our business?"

"Alexander, of course." Amora replied. "Even before his exile, the fates have never been kind to him."

"Why not?" Dawn inquired.

"Because he was different. In a society that valued martial prowess above all else, he had the courage to forge a different path. While those like his brother would take on any and every obstacle before them head on, he would use subtlety, cunning and guile," Amora told her in a cold tone. "And since being sent here to Midgard by his foster father, things are hardly different. Your sister and the one he calls his sister in all but blood belittle and degrade him and constantly take him for granted despite everything he's accomplished. And what's ever more insulting is that they don't even do it intentionally as if he was beneath their notice, yet he drops everything to aid them in their own personal struggles."

"But... They... I... It's not like that!" Dawn protested.

"Isn't it?" Amora asked. She didn't wait for a response. "Despite everything, including how 'normal' he is." she scoffed at the statement. "You have continued to hold great admiration and affection for him. It is only through your continued existence here that I don't take him away from all of this, consequences be damned. So this is what I propose: I could, if you want, make him see you as you want to be seen."

Dawn gulped. It was a very tempting offer. It was something she'd dreamed of for a long time. So long, in fact, that she often wondered if she had been created to love him. Her brief infatuation with Spike, however, proved that she could have those types of feelings for others, but there were times where she wondered if she really had a choice And there it was, the crux of the matter. Choice.

"I... A-as much as I'd like you to, I can't let you do that. I couldn't do that to him and live with myself," Dawn replied.

Amora smiled at her and Dawn was once more awed by her beauty. "You are worthy of him."

"It was a test?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"Life is a test, Little Key. Alexander deserves more than he's gotten." Amora told her.

"You love him," Dawn stated her heart sinking into her stomach.

"I do, but haven't always," Amora answered truthfully. "There is far too much history between us for it to work between us. For years, before his exile and reincarnation, I lusted after and pursued his brother. He was my greatest ally, though more often than not we were merely allies of convenience and neither one of us would have hesitated to put a knife in each other's backs if it suited our means."

"Then why the change in heart?" Dawn inquired.

"I saw the man he could be, beyond the role he was forced into through the actions of others. Being here has changed him and watching him here struggle as he has, has changed me in turn," Amora admitted.

"Who was he, you know, before?"

"Haven't I given you enough clues?" Amora asked mischievously. "He is the Trickster God of Mischief and Fire. I bid thee farewell, Consort of Mischief. We shall speak again."

With that, she disappeared into a portal of her own.

"H-He's..." Dawn stuttered before she registered what Amora had called her. "C-Consort!?"

Her only reply was a melodious laugh that she wasn't too certain she hadn't imagined.

It was completely forgotten when Xander reentered the room. "Are you okay, Dawn-patrol?"

"I... Yeah, I think I am," she replied with a dazzling smile and walked out of the room leaving a befuddled Xander behind.