Elementals Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The familiar smells of soap and fresh cut grass wafted over her as she started to rouse from her sleep. She knew this blend of scents, there was only one person she knew that smelled like that. She slowly opened her eyes to find Damien asleep beside her. The sunlight falling gently on his face, his long black hair was disheveled and there were bags under his eyes. He must have been up late as he watched over her, she thought. She rolled over onto her side, gentle as not to wake him. She studied his face as they lay together on the bed. He looked so peaceful as he slept, his long eyelashes almost touching his cheeks. A strand of his hair had fallen across his face, she gently brushed it away. His brow furrowed slightly as he stirred, than he sighed deeply as he relaxed again.

Olivia thought she could watch him sleep for hours, she was so relieved that he was okay. If she had not been practically unconscious she would have gladly leaped int his arms. But laying beside him like this was nearly as good. The room was quiet as it was still very early and she wasn't sure how long it would be before someone else came to check in on them. So she was content to gaze upon Damien's sleeping form for as long as she could. Memorizing the contours of his face and the slop of his wide shoulders. The delicate veins along his slender hands and arms.

Even the way his eyes moved behind his eyelids as he dreamed. There was not part of him that she didn't find attractive, his kindness, his sincerity, even his charming demeanor. She wondered if it was possible to feel as close to someone as she felt towards Damien. She wondered if he saw her in the same way, they were both so different. Different strengths and insecurities, but when Damien looked at her all she could think of was the touch of his hand on her face. The way he smiled at her with a boyish grin, and when he showed off his dimples when his smile broadened. The way he told her things even when they made him uncomfortable. Even when he chewed on his lower lip when he was deep in thought.

All the time she spent running and dodging the orders soldiers, all she could think of was seeing him again. His face was all that gave her hope, driving her forward. Even when she was too exhausted to take another step. When her body screamed at her to stop and rest, even when she would stumble; scraping her arms and legs. She would think of Damien and it would fortify her, giving her the strength to continue.

Damien's eyes fluttered as the light of the sun grew brighter as it crested the horizon. Making the gold in his green eyes sparkle as his vision adjusted. Looking around the room in a moment of confusion, then his gaze fell onto Olivia. She smiled at him, putting a hand up to keep him from rising a making a commotion. He complied with his own smile, jus as eager to have her all to himself. Without saying a word Olivia cupped his cheek and brought his face closer to hers. Shifting his body closer to her, Damien layed his arm around her waist. Pulling her in close to him, sharing his warmth with her.

“Why didn't you wake me?” he whispered as he let his body relax next to her again. Olivia curled a lock of his hair between her fingers playfully as she snuggled closer to him.

“You looked like you needed the extra sleep,” she answered. She wasn't about to admit that had been starring at him while he slept. “How long have I been out?” she asked quietly.

Damien sighed, “the better part of three days. You must have exhausted a lot of your energy to fight your way to us. We would have come for you sooner, but they didn't want to leave without me. I was unconscious for a couple of days after they captured you. Clay told me your the reason I survived in the first place. How did you do that anyway?” Damien asked curiously.

Olivia smile and leaned forward to kiss him. He gladly kissed her back as their limbs intertwined. He held her so tight, she thought that they would meld together like two pieces of metal becoming an alloy of an unbreakable metal. She felt so complete in his embrace that she almost forgot that he had asked her a question. Parting and returning as they drew breath between kisses Olivia gradually forgot the last few days spend away from Damien. Her heart brimming with her feelings for him. Eventually they lay in each others arms, satisfied for the moment to simply lay in the quiet room. Leaving their worries in the world outside this room.

The sun was high in the sky when Damien propped himself on his elbow, gazing down at Olivia. “You know, you never answered my question,” he commented.

“There is a lot to explain, it would probably be best if we had everyone gathered before I explain it all,” Olivia said quietly. She suddenly remembered something she had been too distracted to remember. She sat up with a jolt, suddenly making her head spin. With a groan she slowly laid back down on the bed, the room seemed to swirl as if she had spun around too quickly.

“Yeah, you probably shouldn't strain yourself too much after a drain like that. Your gonna feel pretty rotten for the next couple of days. You should probably get something to eat before you do anything strenuous,” Damien explained as he smoothed her hair gently away from her face.

“That's probably a good idea,” she agreed, letting her mind settle before turning her gazed back to Damien. “What have you guys done with Holt? Is he still in the manor?” she asked rubbing her temples to help ease the ache.

Damien grunted with displeasure at the mention of Holt, he must not have made a pleasant impression of Damien. “Yeah, he's still here. We have him in a holding cell in the east wing. We have been taking turns guarding him,” Damien answered as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Switching on the screen, he read the time. “Madison should be on duty with him now. I don't know who I feel more pity for, Holt or Madison. Holt seems to be very chatty and you know how Madison can be with people she doesn't know. I hope Clay has been keeping an eye on them,” Damien said as he held his phone in front of him. No doubt wondering if he should check up on Clay, but he knew that if he did that would bring him rushing in and disturbing their alone time. He thought for a few minutes longer before he chucked the phone on the end of the bed. Turning back to Olivia, “Why did you bring him along anyway? He wouldn't tell us, he just insisted that we wait for you to wake up before he would tell us anything. I thought you would have killed him on the spot since he's the one responsible for...” Damien started to say but thought it better not to finish that sentence. It had been a subject Olivia didn't want to touch on and she had made that fairly clear.

“According to him, he wasn't the one that shot Penny. He says the person that shot her was a woman named Maeve, I met her when I was in their facility. And when he said it was her I remember there being a woman at the party that looked like her. His order were to capture both of us alive. He has since modified his plan and he claims that he has information to share with us, and that he is willing to fight with us. He only asked for one thing in return,” Olivia explained.

Damien's brow furrowed with suspicion, “and what would that one thing be?” he asked. He clearly didn't like the sound of Holt having conditions, but if it gave them the information they needed on the order he was willing to consider his request. That's if it was something he was willing to do.

“He wants me to heal the damage that was done to him by the orders experiments when they managed to make him an elemental. I don't him that even if I can heal him that reversing the process that made him into an elemental might be beyond my power. I am not even sure that I can heal him to tell you the truth,” she admitted. She wished she understood her new abilities more, it was already a lot to except just being an elemental. Now she had to figure out a whole other set of powers on top of that, she would have to talk to Alex and the original counsel about what her abilities were exactly. She hadn't tried to contact them since she last saw Alex running off into the woods to distract the soldiers so that she and Holt could have more time to get to the clearing. She sighed with frustration, “I figured that if we could get some useful information out of the deal than it would not be a waste of effort. What do you think?” Olivia asked.

Damien chewed his lower lip as he thought it over. “It would be a great to have an insiders information. I'm not sure exactly what the prodicalls are for something like this. We've never had someone cross the line. What is wrong with him exactly?” he asked curious.

“When the order ran their experiments they triggered a side effect that keeps normal people from becoming elementals. Without medication to keep it in check he will die from organ failure. At least that's what Holt says, I can't say if he is telling the truth. But I couldn't risk not taking him with me, he knows far too much about me and my abilities to risk leaving him in the hands of the order. They could have tortured him for the information he possesses,” Olivia explained.

They lay on the bed in silence, each thinking about how to approach this situation they had found themselves in. Olivia had to admit it was a lot to take in, and she knew that there was more to share with the rest of the team. Whatever information Holt had to share would help them in the fight against the order. Damien finally broke the silence first with a sigh of resignation. He must have reached the same conclusion as she had, they would have to try and do what they could for Holt if they wanted the information.

“You know what this means, right?” Damien asked hesitantly as he rolled off the bed and onto his feet. Olivia shrugged as she watched Damien pour a glass of water from a pitcher on the bedside table. Damien swallowed a couple of mouth fulls before continuing. Clearing his throat he starred at her with an annoyed expression on his face. “We are gonna have to call the counsel in on this one. This is too much for our team to handle alone,” he said as he poured a separate glass for her. Also grabbing a white bottle of aspirin he carefully opened it and shook two pills into his hand. Then handing them into Olivia's waiting hands as she carefully and slowly raised herself to a sitting position on the bed.

“Thanks,” she said popping the pill into her mouth and taking a couple sips of the water. It was still fairly cool and it helped to ease the scratchy feeling in the back of her throat. She quickly finished what remained in the glass before responding to Damien's suggestion that they bring the counsel in. Lauren had promised that she would gladly offer her any assistance she might need. But Olivia was hesitant to go along with that idea before she got to talk with Holt again. She had only met Lauren for that brief meeting, and though she seemed like a logical and even headed person she wasn't sure she could trust her either. Even those people had their own agenda's that they wouldn't readily share with others. No, she wanted to find out more about what Holt knew before they would bring Lauren into the mix.

Olivia looked up at Damien after making her decision. “Let's hold off on calling them in just yet. I want to know more about what Holt has to offer before they get here. That way we can evaluate if the information he has to offer is worth getting the counsel personally involved. When we know more than we'll make the call,” Olivia suggested. Damien looked hesitant to agree though he could see the logic of holding off till they knew more. They hadn't even touched on what Olivia had to share. He sighed in resignation after a few minutes.

“Alright, we'll hold off for now. But we need to setup some security measures before we let you go in there with him. Who's to say what his real objective is,” Damien said firmly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Olivia smiled at him, slightly proud of herself for convincing him to do what she wanted.

“I knew you would see it my way,” Olivia stated. Damien raised an eyebrow, trying to hide his amusement.

“Is that what you think,” Damien said with a challenge as he leaned in to kiss her again.

“Yep,” she replied with a giggle as she playfully dodged his attempts to kiss her. They both giggled like a pair of kids trying to catch the other in a game of tag. They kissed and wrestled playfully on the bed, hushing each other their laughter would grow too loud.

They suddenly heard a knock on the door, Damien put his finger to his lips. “Lets stay quiet till they go away,” he whispered as quietly as he could. She nodded in agreement.

“I know your awake in there, I could hear the giggling before I knocked. Are you gonna open up or should I break the door. Your choice,” Harper said from the other side of the door. Olivia was glad that it was only Harper, if it had been Clay she would likely be fawned over. Sometimes Clay reminded her of a mother than a team leader. Damien groaned and reluctantly rolled off the bed. Adjusting his clothing before reaching the door, and Olivia did the same with the blankets. No need for Harper to jump to conclusions, Olivia thought. She would probably assume too much already, judging from her tone from the other side of the door. She would hear a barrage of questions the minute they were alone, Olivia suspected. Damien threw open the door as Harper was about to knock again. Her hand had been raised when Damien had opened the door. A look of surprise on her face as she looked at Olivia still laying under the blankets on the bed. A serving tray balanced in her other hand, with another pitcher of water and a plate of food on it.

“It's about time you woke up. We were about to start hooking you up to an IV if you didn't get up soon,” she said relieved. Olivia smiled at her reasuringly, motioning for Harper to enter and sit on the bed with her. Harper carefully walked into the room and set the tray on the bed side table. In a flash she jumped onto the bed and tackled her with an enthusiastic hug. “I am so glad your okay, we were so worried. I have so many questions for you,” Harper said holding on to Olivia as she tightened the hug.

“It's okay Harper, there will be plenty of time to catch up. It would be nice to eat something though,” Olivia hinted as she returned the hug. Olivia was glad that she was sorely missed, they must have been driving themselves crazy with fear and worry. She suddenly realized that she had started to consider them more than just friends and teammates, they were almost like family. Olivia had only had Penny, it had been a long time since she had been apart of a family. She hadn't realized just how much she missed the warmth of having more than one person caring about her. She returned the enthusiasm of the hug more tightly, Damien smiled as he joined in wrapping his arms around both of the girls. They all hugged for a few minutes when Olivia's stomach growled hungrily.

“Right, food,” Harper said letting Olivia go and reaching for the plate of food. Lifting the lid Olivia saw and smelled a delicious grilled panini with a healthy serving of fries on the side. Olivia felt her mouth water, she had to admit that Clay knew his way to her heart. She would have to be careful living here, all this high calorie food might catch up to her one day. She dug right in and a few minutes handed the empty plate back to Harper, rubbing her stomach with satisfaction. With her stomach full her dizziness had lessened a great deal.

Harper looked at Damien, nodding her head in Olivia's direction. She was confused, did Damien forget to tell her something important. She looked to him for an explanation, but he looked pensive as he thought about how to broach the subject. “Olivia, we've been kind of wondering about something. I wanted to wait to ask you till you had started feeling better to ask you. I know you have a lot to tell us, but,” he hesitated. Leaving Olivia confused about what they wanted to know, it almost seemed they were accusing her of something.

“Okay, what do you want to know?” she asked.

Damien sighed, “How did yo know were we were going to be landing in that clearing. We didn't even know we were going to land there till we spotted it from the air. I just can't seem to swallow the idea that it was a coincidence that you found us when you did. Is it one of your new abilities?” he asked.

“No, that's part of what I need to explain to you all,” Olivia answered. Harper and Damien looked at each other, intrigued as she would have been if she were on the other side of the fence. “I have someone else you guys need to meet, let's set up in the living room. Harper I need you to get a bowl and a sharp knife for me. Some bandages too,” she ordered. Throwing back the blankets and scooting off the edge of the bed. They both looked thoroughly confused about her orders.

“Trust me, you'll understand when I show you. First I want to take a shower and get dressed, I will meet you in a few,” she assured them. Giving Damien a kiss on the cheek she headed for the shower room, closing the door securely behind her. She waited on the other side of the door for them to leave the room. Listening carefully to their foot steps as they left the room, and then she waited for the click of the latch when they closed the door behind them. Quickly turning on the shower she turned back to the washrooms mirror.

“Alex, are you there?” she whispered out loud. The steam from the shower started filling the room as she waited for a response, frosting over the mirror with condensation. An image started to form on it's surface, as her reflection started to fade out. Alex's face starred out at her with a concerned expression on his face.

“What's wrong? Why haven't you told your friends about us yet?” Alex asked with a hint of irritation in his voice. She could vaguely see the others in the background as if she were looking into a window of another room, rather than an ordinary mirror.

Olivia rolled her eyes and folded her arms over he chest. “What? You want me to tell them that I am in contact with the members of the original counsel from 3,000 years ago. And that they have chosen me to restore the balance of this world. Oh! And that unless I give you my blood to drink, I am the only one that can see and hear you. And your wondering why I haven't told them about you?” Olivia asked knowing how ridiculous it would sound to anyone with half a thought.

Alex stood on the other side of the glass, taken aback by the tirade. “Point taken,” he replied. In that moment he looked more like a scolded child then an all powerful elder. “So what's your plan?” he asked.

Olivia paced in the empty space in front of the mirror and the shower as the water continued to run. How was she going to explain without sounding like she was completely off her rocker, she wondered. What could she do other than the obvious, she racked her brain for a way to make the other understand that she wasn't crazy. If only there were a way to prove to them that she really could talk to the original counsel members. Than an idea occurred to her, it would be a low blow but it would prove her point. “Hey Alex, am I the only one you've been watching?” she asked.

“Sometimes we watch the people around you. There's not much to do when you can only observe the living. Why?” he asked hesitantly. Clearly confused to where she was going with this.

“Have you seen them when no one else was around. Maybe learned some things that they might not want others to know?” she asked in return. Her tone suggesting what her idea might be. She could see Alex's eyes dart from side to side as he tried to follow her train of thought. “Maybe something they might be embarrassed about?” she pressed. His eyes went wide with understanding, and than he grinned at her.

“Oh that's devious. They would have to believe you than,” he chuckled evilly.

“Exactly, now get out of here I need to take a shower,” she waved. “Why don't you go watch the others, let me know what they are doing while I am not there. I want to spend some time alone to think about how I am going to approach this. I don't want to shock them too much,” she explained. Alex nodded and the image of him and the rest faded, leaving only her blurred reflection on the mirrors surface. There was a lot to explain and she wanted to make sure that they didn't think she was crazy before she showed Alex to them. She went to the shower and adjusted the temperature of the water as she thought about what she would say.

*****************************

Some time later Olivia walked toward the living area on her way to the meeting she had set up with the rest of the team. She felt glad to be wearing her own clothes after her shower. She was pretty sure that Harper and Madison had changed her out of her torn and dirty combat suit. And she was fairly clean, probably cleaned the best they could, though her hair still smelled of dirt, pine and smoke before her shower. She used almost half a bottle of shampoo and conditioner cleaning it.

Turning the corner she saw the large double doors ahead of her. She stopped in the hallway and tried to collect her thoughts, taking in a long deep breath to calm her nerves. Here goes nothing, she thought as she charged the doors so that she could not change her mind midway. Bursting through to the softly lit room on the other side, the team was lounging about the room waiting to see her. In an instant they all surrounded her, hugging her and telling her how they had worried about her. That they were all glad that she was okay and back at the manor safely. Even Liam who was normally aloof in their gatherings, greeted her enthusiastically. Olivia was equally glad that they were safe and unharmed by the orders attack on them just a few days before.

“Thank you everyone, but I have a lot to tell you. Where is Holt?” she asked looking around the room.

“He's over there sulking. He's lucky I haven't put a muzzle on him,” Madison said glaring at Holt sitting in one of the high back chairs. Shackles and leg restraints limiting his movements, Olivia assumed that they had been Damien's idea. Meeting her eyes Holt gave here a quick nod in greeting, clearly not happy about the restraints. “You know for a full grown man he talks an awful lot. Just about drove me crazy having to listen to him go on and on about books and movies. I thought about encasing him in a water bubble till you called this meeting,” Madison complained.

“Sorry, I was just making small talk,” Holt said in his defense. “Didn't know you were the strong, silent type,” he commented.

“Oh I like to talk too, just not with the likes of you,” Madison fired back.

“Okay that will be enough of that children. There are other things that we need to discuss so lets cut the bickering down to a minimum,” Olivia interjected. Stepping between Madison and Holt, she could understand Madison's hostility but letting it continue would be counter productive. There was far too much to talk about to let the others get side tracked at the moment. She was even willing to put aside her mistrust for the moment to get things done.

“Now I called for all of you because there are a few thing I need to explain. And I am sure that you have been talking amongst yourselves about certain things that I will now explain. If everyone will sit down I will start,” she gestured for them to be seated. They reluctantly did so as Olivia went to the table where the items she had requested sat neatly arranged. Taking another deep breath as she turned to face the curious stares of everyone. She looked at them individually, till her gaze fell on Damien. He smiled at her encouragingly.

“What I have to say might make me sound a little crazy but...” she hesitated. “But I have a couple of ways I can prove it's true. While I was hiding from the order on the night I escaped I had a vision of the original counsel. They said that I was to become the next spectral elemental and that my duty was to restore the order of this world. I thought it was just a dream at first but they gave me something to let me know that I wasn't dreaming,” she said lifting her sleeve and showing them the tattoo on her wrist. They looked at it in almost disbelief.

“What is that?” Clay asked as he came closer to examine it. Holding her wrist gently he looked at it closely. “You say they gave you this?” he asked.

“Yes, and that's not all. I can talk to them, they are here with us now,” Olivia said. She felt Alex's now familiar presence in her mind. Clay and the others looked at her as if she had suddenly grown horns out of her head. Looking at their expressions mixed expressions of concern and disbelief. Well I knew this was the way it was going to go, she thought.

“She's telling the truth, I talked with the leader before we met you in the clearing. I didn't believe her either till she showed me,” Holt said. The others looked at him, not sure they should believe him either. Not long ago he was the enemy but some of them didn't think that Olivia would have any reason to make this up.

“I don't know Olivia, this is a lot to swallow even if it is true,” Harper chimed in.

“I know, it was very new to me too. But I have a way that I can prove that they are real,” Olivia replied taking her wrist back from Clay. They stared at her with curiosity.

“How?” Damien asked.

“They don't just watch me, they can also watch others. Clay,” Olivia said focusing his attention on her. “When your alone you read romance novels,” she said. Clay instantly looked alarmed, “And you cry when the main character get together,” she continued.

“What? How do you know that?” he asked blushing furiously. The others scoffed and giggled as quietly as they could.

She turned to Liam, he squirmed uncomfortable in her chair. “Liam, you keep your nudey magazines taped to the bottom draw of your dresser on the left side of your bed,” she said looking disapprovingly at him. Moving on to Ryder who was laughing at Liam stutter his denials. “Ryder you keep a collection of bird feathers and incomplete metal projects in a loose floor board next to the second window in your room,” she said matter of fact. Ryder stopped smiling and looked at her in wonder. She gave him a nod and moved on to Harper who seemed to fidget in her seat. “Don't worry Harper your secret isn't very embarrassing, you sing to your plants when you are alone. I think it's rather sweet that you sing your favorite songs to them,” Olivia smiled.

“Okay, Okay I think your point has been made,” Clay said as she was about to move on to Madison. “But how do we know that this isn't just one of your new abilities? I mean it's still a stretch that you can talk to the original counsel after all. We don't even know when the first counsel was formed much less when they lived. And you can talk to them, their dead. How is that even possible?” Clay asked.

“I was hoping I didn't have to do this but if you have to see him that there is no other alternative,” she said returning to the bowl and the knife. Damien looked uncomfortable.

“Olivia what are you going to do with those,” he asked leaving his seat to stand beside her. She smiled at him reassuringly as she picked up the knife and quickly slit her calm open. Damien hissed grabbing the knife away hurriedly.

“Don't worry, you'll see in a couple of minutes,” Olivia promised as she held her wounded hand over the bowl. Letting the dark red blood collect in it, she could feel Alex move to the bowl as he began to drink in deeply. The process seemed to take less time then the first time as he started to appear to her eyes and quickly solidify. She was fully aware when the others could see him after he drank the last of the blood in the small bowl.

“What the hell, where did he come from,” Madison said loudly. Some of the others had jumped out of their seats and into a fighting position as she watched Alex solidify. Alex looked at them with amusement, smiling broadly at their reaction.

“Everyone this is Alexandros, the first leader of the counsel and my ancestor,” Olivia introduced as she bandaged her wound. Damien was the first to recover his wits, taking the bandage from her hand and doing a proper job of treating her wounded palm. The others took a little longer to relax, eventually they took their seats again.

“Is this really happening?” Clay said stepping forward to lay a hand on Alex's arm. He seemed only slightly alarmed when his hand touched the sleeve of Alex's robe. Olivia couldn't blame him for being skeptical, she had had a similar reaction when she found that she could physically touch Alex.

“Indeed, I really am here. Olivia wanted to give you time to adjust before allowing me to make an appearance. We didn't want to shock you too much,” Alex explained gently removing Clay's hand from his arm. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, we have also been watching all of you for some time now. It is good to finally be able to talk to you all directly,” he said looking from face to face.

“Why have you been watching us?” Damien asked as he finished wrapping Olivia's wound.

Alex smiled at him warmly, “because you all are central to helping Olivia fulfilling her duties as the spectral elemental. Ever century or so we pick one of our descendents to become the spectral elemental to maintain the balance. With recent events we were worried the she alone would not be able to set things right. We set certain points in your lives to bring you together to assist her. Do not fear your paths would have brought you together eventually, we just expedited the process a little bit,” Alex said. They others looked confused and horrified at the same time.

“In what way did you expedite the process exactly,” Harper asked with an edge of anger and suspicion.

“Not in the way you think, the death of yours and your brothers parents had nothing to do with us. We only helped to guide you after that event towards the opportunity to join the current counsel. We are not exactly all powerful, we have...” Alex hesitated. “Limitations to what we can and cannot do,” he finished. “The only one of you that we didn't plan on was Klaus. His arrival in Olivia's life was rather unexpected,” Alex stated looking at Holt. Olivia wondered what she had missed that Alex would call Holt by his first name. She still had mixed feelings about him still, she was unsure whether those feeling would ever change. Even if he hadn't been the one to cause Penny's death he was still responsible for the capture and deaths of many others. She remembered the look of guilt on his face when he hinted at what the order had made him do in order to stay alive this long. The look had seemed genuine but that didn't mean she trusted him by any stretch of the imagination.

“I have talked with the other counsel members and we think the reason that we did not see him was because he was not born an elemental, he was made into one. We are equally blind to the other humans that were altered. We think it is because there is no blood connecting us to them,” Alex explained as he walked closer to Holt.

“That's quite an advantage the order has, I thought you might have a way of backing up my intel. I guess it's going to still be a long road till they can trust me after all,” Holt said looking up at Alex and than shifting his gaze to Olivia. He seemed genuinely disappointed, and Olivia glared back at him as if to say that even if his intel and intentions were true she would still be suspicious of him.

“A very long road,” Olivia stated walking over to an empty couch with Damien at her side. She allowed him to put his arm around her as they sat down together. She caught a strange look in Holt's bright blue eyes as Damien pulled her a little closer to him after they were seated. Then he snapped his attention back to Alex, his strange expression disappearing with it. She was confused by the expression, it was one that she was not familiar with so she didn't know what it meant. She pushed it out of her mind for the time being, focusing her attention on Alex again as he returned to his place in front of the group.

“Indeed, you will have to prove yourself to everyone that you can be a productive member of this group and that you can be trusted. Till than we will be keeping a very close eye on you,” Alex warned as he turned his attention to the rest of the group.

“So let me get this straight, you are a what? A ghost or something?” Madison asked. “I mean with all due respect how can you do anything if your... you know...dead,” she said tentatively. Alex chuckled, he must have heard the same questions before, Olivia thought.

“Just because we are dead does not mean that we disappear,” Alex replied. “3,000 years ago we took an oath to guide and protect each spectral elemental even into eternity. That oath allows us some measure of influence in this world, such as guiding others we think will be beneficial to the current chosen. With the blood of one of our descendents we can physically come into the world for a time. But even with that we have limitations of what we can do here,” Alex explained as everyone listened with wonder. Clay looked floored as he leaned into the high backed leather chair he had chosen to sit in. He had briefly told her some of the history they knew of the elemental lines, his mind must have been reeling with this new information. He also looked a little excited by the prospect of talking with one of the original founders of the counsel. All that history at his fingertips, it would make any scholar salivate at the thought of their questions being answered by someone who was actually there.

“I think we need to decide what we are going to do with our guest right now. We can't keep him locked up forever and we need a way for him to prove his worth to us. Any suggestions?” Olivia asked aloud, drawing every ones attention to her.

“You are correct, he can't prove he is trust worthy unless you allow him to do so,” Alex agreed.

“Well, I might have something to solve that problem,” Clay said as he walked over to a large roll top desk in the corner. He returned a moment later with a shiny silver bracelet in his hands. Olivia looked on with interest as he approached Holt with the bracelet. “This is a tracking device, we will know at all times were you are. It's tamper proof, if you try to remove it in anyway it will deliver an electric shock powerful enough to knock you out for hours. And it will transmit a signal to let us know when an attempt to remove it is made. So I suggest that you not try,” Clay said placing it on Holts wrist. Holt seemed slightly worried as Clay activated the device, it seemed to come to life with a faint buzzing. Than Holt's restraints were removed, freeing his hands and feet. He stood up rubbing his wrist and walking around the room freely.

“Oh that's so nice,” he said stretching his limbs over his head, leaning in to the stretches. Everyone watched rose from their seats, as it was now lunch time. Olivia realized that she was hungry again, though it kind of made sense that she would be. She still wasn't a hundred percent recovered and she would need to replenish her energy before she could even think about resuming any training.

“Let's go get some lunch,” she suggested to Damien as they rose to leave the room. Damien agreed that that was a good idea, slipping his hand into hers. Harper and Ryder also agreed to join them as the rest gathered around Alex. He was more than pleased to answer their questions, like an eager teacher on his first day of school. Olivia smiled at them as she and Damien passed on their way out the door.

“Mind if I join you, I have had nothing but sandwiches and chips the last couple of days. I am kinda hoping for some variety,” Holt spoke up as he trotted to catch up with them. Olivia glanced at him over her shoulder, clearly annoyed. Well I guess he has to eat too, she thought as she nodded hesitantly. Glancing at Damien she that he wasn't happy about it either, he tightened his grip on her hand. She squeezed his to draw his attention back to her, his eyes softened as they connected with hers. “Let's go,” she said as she continued walking out of the room with him at her side. They went down to the kitchen and discussed what was on the menu for lunch today.