Ellen is the magic medallion

Ellen's story begins in a village in Greece.

Ellen was simply on vacation, a vacation she'd taken to forget her latest breakup, perhaps also to find someone capable of making her forget her ex.

She was with a group of tourists admiring the ruins left by the ancient Greeks, half-absorbed by the modern city, when she noticed a jewelry stall. The elderly woman who ran it spoke little English.

Ellen tried anyway, asking for a good luck charm, perhaps for love.

The old woman seemed to understand her somehow and handed her a crescent-shaped medallion. It seemed designed to fit into a second, mirrored medallion. The side offered to her featured a representation of the goddess Aphrodite. Ellen imagined the gem bore the effigy of Hares.

The old woman, mumbling in English, told him that the amulet would help her find her soulmate. The price was, well, what you'd expect for a souvenir in a highly sought-after tourist destination. In the end, she took it, even if only as a keepsake, not expecting anything magical about the amulet.

That same night at the hotel, she had to change her mind.

Ellen didn't know why she'd put the amulet on before going to sleep, but she did. While she slept, her bedroom window opened, the moon illuminated her bed, and the light began to bend and take shape. A female body was forming next to Ellen, and with it, the twin of the medallion, which was forming, fitting together with the first, but it wasn't Hares as Ellen had imagined; it wasn't a second Aphrodite.

Slowly, the moonlight began to condense in the woman; the light became flesh, becoming a perfect, mirror image of Ellen.

Ellen, sleeping on her side, found herself facing her twin, their bodies lightly pressed together.

Still asleep, they began to feel the contact of their bodies, the sudden discomfort of sharing the same single bed with someone. Their bodies tried to move away and stretch out, seeking a better position. Their legs rubbed together, their arms brushed against each other. The contact, the sensation of each other's breathing, was palpable. The still-connected medallions kept them from moving too far from each other.

Slowly, sleep took its toll, while conscious thought began to awaken, recognizing the presence of someone in the room with her.

Ellen opened her eyes. It was still dark, the moonlight entering the room through the window, but not enough to identify the other.

Her heart was pounding.

She had a strange feeling of connection with her, as if she already knew this woman, as if she had waited for her all her life.

The other seemed to be the same.

Ellen acted on instinct, moved closer to the other and they kissed, their hands clasping their bodies together, their legs curled up together, the complete medallion between their chests emanating its metallic cold between their warm bodies.

They continued to kiss and touch each other, unable to resist each other with ever greater abandon, continuing until both were satisfied and fell asleep again in each other's arms.