Note: I want to thank everyone for their feedback on Rori's personality, I love hearing about how you all are reading her character and it helps me adjust her as the story continues. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm going to try and post every two weeks or so but once school starts up again I don't know if I will be able to, however I will try my best. Here is this new chapter and I hope that you all will enjoy it.

Chapter 7

I sat on my bed after changing out of the blue and lightly stained dress. When I came to my room I quickly discarded the blue dress in favor of one of the other dresses that Eleniel and Vanya put in the closet for me. I lightly bounced my leg off the edge of the mattress while I twirled coffee colored locks of hair around my fingers. This morning had been too close of a call, I let my guard down for a moment and it nearly exposed me in front of everyone. I frowned as I closed my eyes while leaning forward, I pulled my hand free from the locks of my hair and pressed my face into both hands, resting my palms against my forehead. How would I do it? How could I keep what I was secret when every turn I took was a chance to be exposed? My head was throbbing with stress and I felt the urge to go outside getting stronger, pressure was building up in my chest as I wrapped my fingers around the tuffs of hair near my forehead. Resisting the urge to rip the hair form my scalp I forced myself to let go and sprung up from the bed.

I started to walk back and forth in front of my bed, my toes getting cold from walking on the stone floors barefoot. At the moment though I couldn't bring myself to really care about it, it all seemed rather unimportant when it came to the true problems I faced. How do I get home, and if I can't get home soon how do I keep my secret? What can I do to hide it? Or what will I do if they find out, and even worse what will they do if they find out? I paced around the room quicker, letting the thoughts of what terrible things would occur if they found out circle into a downward spiral in my mind. How could they react if they found out that I couldn't truly even call myself fully human anymore or that I had no control over my abilities whenever a full moon took over the sky? Once a month I was a walking hazard that could very well do harm to them if they edged the siren in me on.

"You pace whenever there is a lot on your mind. I've noticed it the past few days." A soft voice chimed from the doorway and my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest at the sudden intrusion. Spinning quickly on my heel I saw Eleniel standing in the opened doorway. Her obsidian hair was in a perfectly long and tidy braid that fell over her shoulder and flowed down past her ribcage. I imagined that whenever she had it fully down her hair must have fell in light waves down to her hips, if not longer. Beside her stood Vanya with ebony locks pulled into a half braid behind her pointed ears and sharp eyes that seemed to cut right through me before they fell onto the blue dress casted aside on the bed.

"I find that there is something odd about you, something that you won't tell us." Vanya's voice was not nearly as soft as Eleniel but none the less it still sounded almost musical. Despite the polite and charming tone of her voice I felt my whole body go rigid at her words, my pacing subsided and I stood frozen near the window. The temperature in the room felt like it suddenly dropped and I let my fingers dig into the fabric around my thighs as I clung onto my dress like it was a lifeline. Vanya must have noticed the change in my posture because without even a glance her way I could feel her orbs piercing through my body. I felt naked in front of them, but it wasn't as though they were seeing right through me; instead it felt as if their eyes were piercing through my skin and right into my heart, into my mind. I was left completely unguarded and exposed in front of the two of them, even more so in front of Vanya.

"I… I don't." I sighed as my voice faltered, running my hands through my tousled hair. I felt my fingers get a little stuck on a few waves in my hair and reluctantly pulled my hand from my head. I glanced up at Eleniel who still had her eyes trained on me. "I don't know what you want me to say." Eleniel's eyes seemed to become a little warmer for a moment before she walked fully into the room that I had been loaned, Vanya followed on her heels after she quietly closed the door. I felt Eleniel's warm hands take mine as she guided me to sit on the mattress. I found myself being seated on the bed, with my knees naturally shifting towards the right. I stared down at her pale hands while Eleniel took a seat beside me towards the right, where I was mostly facing, and Vanya sat on my other side.

"We want you to be honest with us Miss Rori, you are clearly troubled," I frowned a little at Eleniel's use of the word troubled as it didn't do justice to how I felt, "more than that, whatever secret you harbor is eating at you. I see it in your eyes, and in your own fear. You do not need to be frightened, we only wish to you help you but we cannot if you won't confide in us." Her tone made me think of a mother lightly scolding her children for getting themselves into some type of trouble. I felt her hand rest on top of my head before she ran her fingers down over the strands of my cocoa colored hair, and soon she started to fully stroking my hair. It felt like my body involuntarily leaned towards her, the feather light touches reminding me of the first time I ever changed. For a minute I lost myself in the memory, all my surroundings faded away until I was met with the marble grey floor tiles that were in my bathroom at home. I still remembered it like it happened yesterday.

I had just fallen onto the floor in the shower, my arm has some red seeping out of it from where I scratched my arm against the metal that lined the sliding glass door of the shower. My lower body felt heavy and I couldn't get myself off of the floor. I turned my head to inspect my legs I was met with orange scales lining the long fishtail where my legs used to be. I did the only thing I could think to, I screamed. My mother came running to the bathroom door within a minute, pounding on the door and asking me if I was alright. I only answered her in my hysterical shrieks, and that caught my papa's attention. Soon my mom and dad were both at the door demanding that I let them in. A few more hard thuds and my dad broke the lock on the bathroom door as he finally kicked it in. After forcing the door open all movement from my parents just froze. They stood in the door, shell shocked when they saw their fourteen year old daughter on the floor with one large fish tail fused at my hips. Then all at once my mom spurred into action, ripping the white hand towel from the wall and rushing to me and covering my bleeding arm with the fabric. Together they lifted me from the floor and took me to my bedroom. My dad thought it was some prank, and so he tried to pull the tail off of me, and a few yelps later they stopped when they realized it was real.

My parents were just as hysterical as I was, they argued on what to do with their abnormal daughter. My mom was shouting at my dad to get the phone, to call a doctor, a hospital, or anyone. The bleeding on my arm stopped pretty quickly, it had just been a scratch, so no stitches or hospital visits were needed. There was the entirely new issue involving my condition, they didn't know what to do about the fish tail that I suddenly sprouted. I was laying there in stunned silence while my dad convinced my mom that they couldn't call anyone, they didn't know what the doctors would do when they saw what I had become. Then I was back, my bare legs suddenly returned after I was submerged in bubbles, I couldn't move from the shock and my dad pulled the blanket over me. I didn't leave my room that night and neither did my parents. We all sat there confused and emotionally exhausted from whatever it was that happened to me. My mom sat beside me on the bed and I felt her fingers brush the hair from my eyes and then she started stroking my hair. Then I started to hear her hum… It took me a moment to resurface from the memory and realize two things: the first was that it was not my mom humming it was Eleniel, and the second thing I noticed was that my checks were wet and my eyes were a little blurry. After a moment I brought the back of my hand up to my face and wiped away the tears and my cheeks were flushed with the new found embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, you just… My mom used to do that whenever I was upset." I pulled away from Eleniel and rubbed at my puffy eyes and tried to choke the sniffling back down. I sucked in one breath after another until I could feel myself starting to breathe normally, and during that time Eleniel and Vanya remained quiet.

"You must miss your home a great deal Miss Rori, your heart is aching." Vanya spoke from behind me after my sniffling had subsided, her voice seemed a little warmer than it had been when she first entered the room. I wasn't sure if it was because she saw that I started to cry or not, but I was grateful that she didn't sound sharp and a little cold at the moment. I took a few more breaths, trying to steel myself to prepare for what I would have to tell them.

"I just… I want to go home but I do not know how. I have no idea where I even am right now, nothing here is familiar, nothing." I emphasized the word nothing before I stopped speaking, I needed a moment. I had to force down a wave of hysteria that was threatening to wash over me when I started saying everything out loud. At that point Vanya removed herself from the bed and glided over to where Eleniel was sitting. I could see the concern starting to form in her eyes, and I was starting to realize that the only way to see the emotion in elves was through their eyes. "I don't know what I am going to do. I can't just sit here and do nothing, but I don't think I can go out there either. I feel beyond stuck right now because I can't get home. I am hopelessly lost and I don't know what to do. I am trying my hardest… My hardest just to keep myself together, but I feel like I am falling apart." My voice cracked once I admitted that I was falling apart here and I instinctually covered my mouth with hand as my body tried to curl into itself. Tears were beginning to sting at my eyes and I found myself in a losing battle against the waves of hysteria that were drowning me.

I don't know how long I sat on the bed in front of them trying to keep my sobs quiet. Or how long I sat there hunched over my own body, because saying it out loud and admitting that I had no idea what I was doing or how to get home felt like a thousand needles being pierced through my heart. Then there were the secrets that they wanted me to address and I don't have a single clue how to approach that subject. I couldn't tell them that I magically turned half fish whenever I got exposed to water. I spent the past three years of my life keeping it a close guarded secret because my family didn't know what to do about it. My whole life was flipped upside down and I lost all my friends, my high school, and any chance at a normal life. Even with all those thoughts weighing heavily on my mind, I still knew that I had to tell them something, because they were already so suspicious and enough to actually confront me.

"I…" I took a deep breath to calm myself and wondered what to say. What am I supposed to say that isn't going to get water thrown at me? "Well, you see I… I am…" Both women seemed to be patient despite my stalling. I pushed the next few words out of my mouth, "I am a little different for a human." I wrecked my mind trying to desperately think of what to say next. Luckily for me Eleniel took that moment to speak, buying me a few precious seconds.

"What do you mean when you say that you are 'different'?" Eleniel asked, the warm and kind tone of her voice almost made me want to spill all my secrets. To just tell her and confide in her so I wouldn't have to look over my shoulder every time someone came near me with water. I forced that feeling back down, because somewhere in the back of my mind I convinced myself that this wasn't the time to tell her. If there would ever be a time to tell her. I tried to think for a moment, what were they most suspicious of? I recalled that they once discussed finding it odd that my hair was dry after a bath. Or when they found me entirely dry beside the river. Was it my ability to end up completely dry after just having interacted with water?

"I have a special ability that surfaced a few years ago, when I was only fourteen." I rubbed the back of my neck and darted my eyes down to my lap. Telling them about my ability to warm or heat water would probably be the safest right now. "I found out that I was able to heat up things. It's how I can dry myself off so quickly but I was told to keep it secret, because we didn't know how other humans would react to the ability. So… I try not to show people. It's why I run off." It wasn't like it was a lie, I do have that ability, and I do usually run off so I can dry myself off before I sprout a tail. That's why it confused me so much, why did it feel like it was a lie?

"If that is all you are concerned for, that we may doing something to harm you if you had magic Miss Rori, then you are mistaken. Magic is not so uncommon and some of our kin have magical talent or abilities. Even some races of man carry magic within them, no matter how minor the ability may seem. Although you should inform Lord Elrond about your abilities. I'm sure he could help you and perhaps it is part of the riddle as to where you came from, and why we can't find your home on any maps." I felt myself blink in surprise, Elves had magic? I mean… With everything I witnessed since arriving here it wasn't as shocking as it would have been a week ago, but I never saw them do anything that looked magical. Maybe that is how they always have flawless hair and posture! The thought occurred to me briefly before I pushed to the back of my mind, honestly if they had magic I doubt they used it for something so silly or vain for that matter.

"Lord Elrond… You said that he might be able to help me right?" I paused, "so then does he have magical abilities?" I asked a little hesitantly, I already was considered a little odd around here from my clothing when I arrived, then there was the fact that I knew little to nothing about this land or the people who lived here, and lets not forget the strange occurrences and the disappearing acts I was already notorious for.

"That is correct Miss Rori, Lord Elrond has a few different types of abilities but he is famous for his healing as well as foresight." I pondered that for a minute and soon I felt Eleniel get up from the mattress of the bed.

"You look troubled Miss Rori, we will not speak a word of what you told us today but we do believe that you should tell Lord Elrond when you feel ready." I felt one of her warm hands rest over mine for a moment while she lifted my chin with her other. "You have nothing to fear from our people, no one here wishes to do you harm child." With those words she removed her hands from mine as well as from my chin then she turned and walked to the doorway with Vanya.

"Oh and Miss Rori," Vanya spoke as she opened the door, "We will prepare a bath for you, it will help calm your nerves." Vanya glanced at me briefly and gave me a polite smile before she left with Eleniel down the hall. I sat there for a moment and put my hand over my hammering heart. How I managed to say all that without losing my head was beyond me, and luckily they did not seem to dig too deeply into what my ability did. I got up from the bed after spending a few minutes steeling my emotions and practicing some breathing techniques. I would need to start digging into the circumstances that brought me here. There were only a few things that I knew for certain: first, there was the full moon that night and it seemed to beckon me more than usual, so it couldn't be a coincidence that I woke here after becoming moonstruck. Secondly, the water here felt alive, there was an energy constantly present and I yearned to be near it.

I continued to dwell on my thoughts as I walked to the bathroom with the large marbled tub. There was so much that had to be done, and I couldn't waste more time pouting about the situation I was in. It was time to start acting, to do something hell to do anything, to work on getting back to where I belonged. When I arrived at the bathroom the wooden door was wide open, and when I peered inside I saw that Vanya and Eleniel were filling the tub with water. It wasn't till I walked in when I noticed that they were putting some type of salts in the water. It made the whole room smell absolutely wonderful and I felt my body relaxing simply from the aroma. I imagined that being in the water must have felt like heaven and it made me eager to help them get it all put together.

"Is there anything that I can help you with?" I asked as I walked over to them. Neither of the women seemed surprised by my presence, they probably heard me the moment I was near the door.

"Would you mind putting these jars back onto the shelves? They are placed on the third shelf from the top, where the other jars rest." Eleniel asked as she lifted the two jars filled of salts from the floor and held them up to me. I nodded and carefully took the glass jars from her manicured hands, being extra careful not to drop them as I walked back to the shelf to put them away. "Thank you Miss Rori, and please do be cautious, you would not want to injure yourself my lady." Eleniel said from the bath as I stood on my toes to put the jaws on the shelf.

"No worries, I got this." I responded quickly after placing the jars on the shelf, I walked back as Vanya sprinkled petals into the bath after standing. Once she finished she handed Eleniel the small woven bowl of petals and then brushed the wrinkles from her gown.

"There is a robe resting on the chair beside the bath Miss Rori, you do not need to worry about draining the water once you are finished. We will take care of it." Eleniel told me as she placed the flower petals on the window ceil and pulled the mostly transparent curtain over the window. It was placed there so that no peeping eyes would watch me bathe, but honestly I wondered what good it would actually do aside from blurring my figure. Then again it was probably that way so there was still sunlight shining into the large bathroom. "Oh, and you don't need to worry about sharing the bath with other elleths," I frowned a little at the unfamiliar term, "none of them accompanied our woodland kin, nor are there any women with the company of Man."

"Elleth?" I questioned.

"Mm. I forgot that you are not as familiar with our terms and language Miss Rori. Elleth is the term for an elven women, as such the term for an elven man is an Ellon." Vanya explained as she placed a towel near the robe.

"Oh… I see, well that is a relief." I started with a slightly high pitched chuckle, and then noticed the curious looks in their eyes. "Ah, well I'm a little self-conscious of my looks. I suppose you could say that I'm a little less confident in my appearance." I said rather quickly, hoping to cover my little slip up.

"You need not worry about such things Miss Rori, you are a lovely young woman. You will grow even more beautiful as you reach your prime years." Eleniel smiled at me as she spoke and Vanya nodded in agreement.

"Yes, and you're rather thin for a daughter of man, and taller than most of the women in human towns." Vanya said in agreement to Eleniel's comment and I felt myself growing a little flustered at the compliments. It felt like it was truly something coming from two of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, honestly they were far more beautiful than most of the models and actresses that I have seen.

"Thank you," I said as sincerely as I could, "it means a lot coming from you two." I smiled. I wanted to do something for them, to repay their kindness. "Please, if I can help you with any chores or anything you might need, please let me know." I told the two elven women as they neared the door. The two of them stopped and looked back at me with a light twinkle in their eyes. Vanya's lips twitched downwards a little while Eleniel seemed to smile ever so slightly.

"Nothing of the sort is necessary Miss Rori. You are a guest in this home, we couldn't ask you to do such a thing." Eleniel's tone was as warm as ever and there seemed to be a bit of cheerfulness as well. Almost like a spring in her tone.

"I want to." I persisted, watching the two women. Vanya and Eleniel looked at one another and seemed to have a silent conversation between the two of them. Finally Vanya let out a light sigh and turned her sharp grey eyes to me.

"If you truly feel like you must then you can help us prepare the dining hall in two hours, and then again tonight for dinner." Vanya said before she walked out, Eleniel on the other hand giggled and smiled at me before she followed suit and closed the door to the bathroom. I felt myself smile too, then I held my hand up to the door and watched the door knob freeze over. That should keep it from just opening. I thought to myself before I undressed and carefully climbed into the warm water, despite the comfort of the salts the burns on my legs tingled painfully; it was as if I repeatedly pricked my upper legs with darts. However I forced myself to sit down quickly before my tail took form. I sighed in relief once the scales took over my legs and the pain subsided for the most part. Turning my head I gazed at the curtain and lightly pushed it to the side so I could rest my arms on the windowsill and peer out. I could see people moving around in the gardens below the window, I must have been a good two or three stories off the ground.

I could also see the river flowing down to meet a waterfall, and upstream there was the vast water I swam in prior. It was all beautiful and I felt the ache in my heart grow stronger as my tail twitched, and all I wanted to do was swim. I tilted my head to the side and started to hum to myself, the words from a movie coming to mind. Letting out a light sigh I let some of the words flow out of me, my eyes never leaving the river as it flowed.

"Every turn I take, every trail I track, every path I make, every road leads back to the place I know where I cannot go, where I long to be." I hung onto the last note of the last word a moment longer than it actually did in the movie. "See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me, and no one knows how far it goes." My tail seemed to flop happily in the water I smiled as I watched the sun dance across the river. I continued to hum the next few lines of the song rather than singing them out loud, I felt the smile spreading on my lips.

"See the light as it shines on the sea, it's blinding! But no one knows how deep it goes. And it seems like it's calling out to me, so come find me, and let me know what's beyond that line, will I cross that line?" The line I was singing faltered when I heard something crunch below the windowsill, it pulled me from the song I was starting to get really into. I cast my eyes downward to the ground and I saw the clones standing below my window, and it only took a moment for one of the clones to look up. It was as if they had some type of radar to know when someone was looking at them, because within seconds of him lifting his head we made eye contact. I felt my cheeks heat up instantly then within moments I grabbed the curtain and pulled it closed, my tail even went completely still. How are they always around to see me embarrass myself?

Note: So there were a few questions for me regarding Rori and some of the things happening around her, so I will take a moment and address those questions for you.

The water: I have had a few questions regarding Rori and how the water draws her in, and why it is doing so when it doesn't seem to be affecting other characters. I've had a few fan theories about her being a Demi-God of the sea (possibly wind?) and honestly that has more to do with the magic present in Middle Earth. The water is also cleaner and it's calling out to the Siren in her, but over all it has more to do with the power present in Middle Earth, and especially in Rivendell. Which leads to the next question,

Rori's heritage: is Rori a demi-god? No. She was born to two human parents and then was chosen when she fell into the Moon pool. So I think a more accurate question to ponder is why was she chosen? And by who? Is it just the power of the moon, or was it something else? So there is some food for thought, and if you guys have ideas or theories as to why she was chosen and by whom I would love to hear it.

For fun here is a question I pose to you: who do you think will find out about Rori being a mermaid first? Will it be Vanya, Eleniel, Elladan, Elrohir, or somebody else?