All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of NotreDame. I disregard The Goliath Chronicles as invalid in the continuity.

Any kind of feedback is welcome and much appreciated.

Many thanks to Hardwing and Storyseeker for their advice and suggestions.

Four

Responsibilities

Author: NotreDame

Previously, on Gargoyles:

Brooklyn was the first to leave. He was enjoying himself but he said that he just wanted to make a short patrol, just in case. "You never know, with all those drunk people, an accident may happen…" He glided away to the place he used to go.

A few minutes passed. Then the usual fireball appeared…

"Baby-sitting"

Hudson, to Arch: "So ye've been hanging around with a book full of magic spells that had been macerating in the air of Avalon for a thousand year? It's a magic book ye have in yer hands, lad, and a very powerful one!"

"The Grimorum!" (Demona) said. "Or I kill her!"

"Bye bye, little angel"

Avalon Castle

Mike pinched himself. He was dreaming. He was obviously dreaming. He didn't believe in the Tooth Fairy, or in fabulous creatures, or in what politicians told on TV. But obviously, he was facing the proof that he was wrong (except about honest politicians, of course). What could be happening? Lenny elbowed him and whispered something. "SILENCE" shouted the creature with blue skin, white hair and pointy ears. Everybody stopped talking with awe. Mike supposed the 'man' was probably a king and bowed. Lenny tried to go and shake hands with the king but was prevented to do so by a few weird creatures and finally bowed, too, before asking: "please, sir, can I have my camera back?"

In the audience, a man in his mid-fifties, dressed like in the middle-ages, discreetly gestured him to shut up. A few feys started to laugh. A woman with fire-colored hair in a white Greek dress who was now watching the camera walked to them with an apologetic smile but the red-haired and green-skinned woman who was standing by the king stopped her with a motion of her hand. "Later" she said. "Now, tell me, why did you trespass on Avalon?"

"It was an accident" Mike said. "We did not intend to invade you." The feys laughed again. These two humans, one short and plump, the other thin and clumsy-looking, neither of them having weapons on them, didn't remotely look like invaders. Lenny added: "We are journalists, that's all!" Mike elbowed him. How stupid, these creatures probably didn't want any journalists to visit them! In the audience, the medieval man was holding his forehead in dismay. The woman Mike had seen earlier on the parapets was at his side, whispering something in his ear. Michael wished he were back home. "We are sorry for having trespassed."

"Who found you?" the king asked. Lenny quickly answered. "Two of your gargoyles. Very nice creatures, we are P.I.T. members, by the way. Perhaps…" Mike elbowed him again. It was no time for asking for an interview. Oberon was already asking for the names of the gargoyles. Then he said: "Faith and Edward, awake and come!" And the two gargoyles appeared in front of them, blinking. Although they were obviously surprised (but much less surprised than the two trespassers), they bowed and asked what the matter was. And they had to explain everything, as well as they could.

At the end of the explanation, Lenny started to wonder when his camera would be given back to him. It was now in the hands of an American Indian young man who was talking with a man in a toga. "Please" he shouted at him, "be careful, this is fragile!" The last time he had let someone tamper with his camera, it had ended up in the Hudson River. It was a bad memory.

A lot of feys laughed. A man with three eyes and four arms, dressed in Indian clothes shouted. "My Lord and Father, those humans are trespassers, they deserve death!"

"I agree with Shiva!" added a man who looked like the Greek god Ares.

"No!" protested the woman Mike had noticed earlier. "This would be pointless violence."

"I agree with Athena" added the woman in the white dress.

"Let keep them here, they look funny!" noticed the elephant-headed man.

"I agree with Ganesha" added a giant spider (Mike half-closed his eyes. He hated spiders). At that point, the two gargoyles walked to the trespassers. "We found the humans, they are under our protection, now!" said Edward. A few fairy beings stepped back (Faith's arrows were iron ones) but Oberon shook his head, said "sleep" and they froze into stone. Mike tried hard to remember why he had chosen to be a journalist.

"My Lord" said the green-skinned woman, "our children all have a point. We cannot let them go back the way they are to the place they belong but it wouldn't be worth of you to murder them. Just erase their most recent memories and bring them back to New York City."

"OK, but give me my camera back!" protested Lenny. The camera appeared in Titania's hands and she laughed. "Later" she said. Then she looked at the strangers, said "sleep" and everything went dark around them.

Later, Mike half-regained consciousness. He was lying in a skiff and someone was putting a small object into his hand. "You seem to be the cleverer of the two" said a male voice. "Please develop the photos when you are back home and… you'll see what to do. Okay?" Then everything became dark and silent again.

Nightstone Unlimited, Monday, 28 April 1997

After a whole weekend spent in her home, a thin and weary-looking Dominique Destine was back at work. She terrified her employees, who had become used to come to work wearing jeans and tee-shirts, to eat donuts during the breaks and to tell jokes about her. Demona was allergic to humour. She asked about the most recent researches and results and went completely mad when she was told that no one had the data about the VAL001. Dr Bonnot was gone, allegedly hired by someone called Xanatos. The other employees who had been working with him were mysteriously missing, not counting stupid Vincenza Barbarino (or whatever her name was), still a kid. Dominique promised herself to fire her as soon as she could (after all, it was all her fault if they had both been shrunk, with all the disastrous consequences that had ensued). After having bullied all her staff, she locked herself in her office and sighed. She was back in that maddening human world.

Then she opened her briefcase and took the book, the Grimorum Novum. She had spent a part of the weekend trying to read it. A lot of sentences in red were probably not magic spells: the Magus' memory was not infallible. Some were interesting, though. This book could be a source of power.

A word in black attracted her attention: the name of her daughter. Curious, she read. The eggs hatched four months ago and it is only now that I find time to write! I would have never believed that raising children was so tiring. We hardly see the sun now. It's strange, I feel important now that these fragile little things depend on me and I think Katherine and Tom feel the same way. Katherine was so moved the night they hatched, she actually rocked and sang lullabies to the 36 of them! I had never really seen her motherly side before. She found most of their names. First, she wanted to give angels' names to all of them but she quickly lacked of ideas. There's a Gabriel, a Raphael, a Uriel, an Archangel, an Angelina, an Angelica, an Angela and so on. I wonder how the eggs will feel later when they will know what I have done to their families.

And there was the problem with Faith. Her wings do not remotely look like her siblings' and we wondered how we could make her wear clothes. According to Tom, there was a gargoyle like her in Castle Wyvern and he thinks his wings were pierced. Katherine didn't want to hurt her so we waited and she spent hours, trying to make suitable clothes. But it was obvious she would keep losing them and finally we had to pierce her wings anyway. She shouted like mad…

Demona dropped the book, furious. No gargoyle on earth would have waited before piercing a web-winged hatchling's wings: if they were pierced at the moment of his/her hatching, it was much less painful! Those humans had been torturing one of her poor rookery children! And what did he mean by "I feel important"? Did he consider himself more important than the hatchlings?

Dominique put the book away and decided to go and bully someone. It would calm her down.

The rooftops, the following night

Brooklyn was patrolling with Archangel. The guy was a quick learner, a bit stubborn but there was nothing really wrong with him. Angela and Broadway had been with them for an hour (and the red gargoyle hated patrolling with those two ones, who kept holding hands and trying to kiss when they thought he wasn't looking at them) but now they had stayed on a rooftop to check something (Brooklyn didn't know what and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know) and the second-in-command found himself alone with the Avalon-hatched male. And at least he was able to ask him the question he had been dying to ask for ages.

"Tell me, Arch, are there many unmated girls on Avalon?"

Arch wasn't surprised. "I have sixteen sisters, not counting the beasts, of course. Officially, Ophelia and Gaetana are mated. You know about Angela. There are three sisters of mine who are practically mated, one who falls in love with a different guy every other week and I don't know about the other ones."

"That makes nine or ten potential mates. Are they pretty?" Arch laughed. "You seem a bit obsessed about finding you a mate!"

"Are you not?" Brooklyn asked, surprised. Arch shook his head. "No, it is not really my priority."

"You're gay, maybe?"

"Gay about what?" he asked.

"I mean looking for a boyfriend." Arch opened wide eyes. "Of course not!" Brooklyn was a bit uneasy about his answer: was Arch a homophobe? "There's nothing wrong with being gay, you know" he noticed. Oh, I know. You left Avalon because you were in love with one of the girls who got mated?"

"Couldn't we talk about something else?" Brooklyn wondered why it was that moaner who had come to New York. He could have done with one of his sisters instead of him. "Yes! What do you want to talk about?"

They fell silent. Then the beaked gargoyle jumped. "What's the matter?" Arch asked. Brooklyn laughed nervously. "Nothing. I saw a big light and I thought it was something else."

"What?"

"You know…" On a whim, Brooklyn decided to tell the truth. "A few months ago, Goliath got rid of the Phoenix Gate. It is lost in time, now. But, it may seem extraordinary but I saw it appear several times ever since. The problem is, it always disappeared too early for me to use it."

"You want to go away from this place?" Arch laughed. "How I understand you!"

"Yes" he said wistfully. "I could meet a girl in another time and place. And I'd go back early enough and nobody would notice that I were gone. Or she would come to Manhattan with me!"

"You're dreaming" Arch said. "You won't find a girl this way. Leave New York City."

"I can't! I'm the second-in-command. I have responsibilities."

"Responsibilities?" he said slightly scornfully. "That's your idea of life? Get rid of them, you'll feel much better!"

"How old are you? Twenty-six?" Brooklyn asked. In a way, he couldn't help envying Arch's unconcern, but he knew that he was wrong. "Life is difficult but you can't get rid of all the problems only by saying Deflagrate Tempi Muri et Intervalia…"

"No, indeed" he answered, laughing. "Wrong incantation. The right one is Deflagrate Muri Tempi et Intervalia, not the other way round."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Excuse me" he added, looking at a public clock, "is our patrol over?"

"Yes." Brooklyn looked at Arch gliding away, lost in his thoughts. Then he decided to go to his secret place.

Another rooftop

"I miss her" Angela said. Broadway didn't have to ask her who she was talking about. He knew too well. He too had gotten attached to little Demie, completely forgetting who she had been. And now Demie was gone. "It's not your fault" he said. "It was unavoidable."

"Yes, but…"

"We'll have other children." Angela smiled in spite of herself. They were not even officially mated! "Is this a proposal?" she asked mischievously. The aqua gargoyle blushed. She kissed him and added: "I accept! I'll be more than happy!" He kissed her back, relieved and pleased. For weeks he had been trying to find a way to make his proposal to her. Now it was done, quite unexpectedly. Thank you, Demie.

A long moment passed. They were still embraced and he realized that she was crying. "Angela, what…" She put a finger on his lips. "Nothing. It's just that… you know, I got used to her and…"

"So did I. But she's not dead, you know" he said comfortingly. "She's…"

"Still my mother. And still unhappy." He tightened his embrace. She felt sorry for her mother who was alone again with her rage and her pain, forever. He knew that she was sorry for her. And he didn't know how to comfort her.

She kept crying in his arms.

Destine Manor

Demona was checking the balance sheet of her company. Eduardo (or Alberto, or whatever his name was) had a nasty look and she wouldn't have been surprised if he had stolen her something.

Someone knocked at her window. She looked up, expecting to see her daughter but instead, she saw that other gargoyle, Alf, or Arch, or whatever his name was. She grabbed her laser canon and aimed at him. He didn't seem remotely afraid. So, she thought, this one is either very brave, or very stupid. Unless he has never heard about the concept of firearms. She opened the window without putting her weapon away. "Come in" she commanded. He entered the room and asked: "I suppose you expected me to come."

"No."

"I want my book back, Demona."

"This book?" she asked. "The Grimorum? Why would you think I would give it to you?" She straightened herself. This could be a trap.

"Because the Magus legated his diary to me" he said coldly. "It is mine. I can give you something in exchange if you want to but I want my book."

Something in exchange? The immortal gargoyle had a better look at him. He was good-looking, undoubtedly, and didn't seem too stupid. Moreover, the naivety of his step let her guess that he was probably as inexperienced as Angela, if not more. Slowly, she put her gun away and gestured him to sit down. This dreamboat could be a godsend (or a devilsend) for her. "I suppose Goliath and the clan told you I am evil?" she asked.

"Oh, Angela likes you. But I wonder if she's right."

"What?"

"You attacked my clan when you came on Avalon. And a few nights ago, you threatened and kidnapped my rookery sister. But if you are not that evil, you will probably give me my book back?"

The Avalon events! Demona couldn't remember anything about them but Angela had explained her everything when she was in jail in the Labyrinth. "I was under a spell in Avalon" she explained. "Why do you want this book?"

"Because it is mine. The Magus told me that one day, I could take his diary."

Flashback. Avalon, several centuries earlier.

The reading lesson was over. The hatchlings, all biologically ten, left the room, except Archangel, who couldn't help noticing how sad and lost his foster father looked. "Magus, is there a problem?" he asked. The white-haired man forced himself to smile. "No. Go and play, child." The hatchling shook his head. "I'd prefer to stay with you and read, if you don't mind." Arch didn't really like reading but he had the feeling the Magus needed company.

The Magus nearly felt like crying. He knew that the woman he was in love with would never reciprocate his feelings for her. And he couldn't possibly hate the one she had chosen, or even mind about him. He had more or less gotten used of being a third wheel but every now and then it was getting too hard for him. He guessed that the little boy was trying to cheer him up and was deeply moved. "Choose a book" he said suddenly. "Whichever you want, I give it to you. But don't say it to anybody."

"Me?"

"Yes, choose!" Happily, Arch had a look at the books. "I want this one!" he said.

"Arch, it's my diary!" his foster father protested.

"You said I could choose the book I want!" The Magus sighed. "I am currently writing it but I make you a promise: when I have finished, you'll have it. Agreed?"

The child hugged him.

"It is not only a diary" Demona said. "It's a magic book. That's why I want to keep it."

"Hey, look at all that you have" Arch answered, gesturing at the richly furnished room. "I only have that book. I need it."

"Perhaps I could offer you something else?" she suggested. He listen, interested. This woman was obviously dangerous and untrustworthy but he liked it. After all those years spent in the most boring place in the earth, he just wanted something else. "Yes, what can you offer me?"

"Power."

"You want to cheat on me" he suspected.

"It seems that you were very close to the man who wrote that book", she noticed. "Did he ever explain you what magic is about?"

"No, but…"

"He didn't even trust you!" Arch didn't know what to answer. Yes, he had asked the Magus several times to teach him magic but he had always refused. "So", he finally asked, "what do you propose me?"

"You let me keep the book and I teach you how to use it, rookery son" she said, smiling. It was a real torture for Arch. He didn't want anyone to read his poor foster father's most intimate thoughts. But what she was suggesting him seemed really exciting and he didn't want to miss this kind of opportunity.

Well, if she was only interested in magic, perhaps she wouldn't read the diary parts.

"Yes" he said finally. She smiled in a nearly seductive way.

Elsewhere

Brooklyn was gliding alone, somewhere over the rooftops. He was still thinking about what his life was: although he had a clan, he was more or less alone. The Trio was gone as Broadway was spending more time with Angela and Lexington with Alex. He had more responsibilities than the other ones, except Goliath. But did he get any reward?

One night, he had noticed a fireball over a rooftop. He had thought it was a dream. But it seem that it had been appearing several times ever since, always on the same rooftop. He had finally understood what it was and asked for the incantation to Angela the night Demona had been turned into a hatchling, just after she told him that she was not interested in him. She had probably forgotten about this, having other things to worry about. But he had never been able to use the incantation and to leave. Anyway, he had never really dared. That wouldn't have been right.

Now he was on that very rooftop, alone with his dreams. The day before, he had dreamt that he was with a gargess he had never seen before. She was gorgeous, there was no other word: beautiful eyes, an incredibly sensual voice and the most perfect body he had ever seen. They had kissed immediately, slowly, very slowly, his tongue exploring her mouth, and then he had found his hands running on her body, exploring her curves, hills and valleys, finding their way under her clothes, on her warm, soft skin. She smelt so good… It was an ecstasy he hand never experienced before, he didn't want it to stop, it had been such a disappointment when he had awoken! Why couldn't he have that, why did his arms have to be eternally empty?

The fireball appeared. Without thinking, he jumped. Deflagrate Muri Tempi et Intervalia! This time, the fireball swallowed him. It was too late for regrets, he was gone.

A forest, 1897

Luckily enough, it was night-time. The red gargoyle looked around him while hurriedly putting the Phoenix Gate in a leather purse at his belt. The place was quite dark, even for his sharp gargoyle's eyes. Oh no, he expected to end up in an interesting place, with cool things, adventures and beautiful girls (not necessarily in this order), not in a dark, silent forest!

Well, perhaps there was some way to have fun in this place. He started searching (he would come back to Manhattan later and nobody would notice that he was gone) and he finally saw lights in the night. A few humans were camping. He guessed he would probably not be welcomed and stayed hidden for a while to listen. He could only make out a few words. "Tomorrow we'll leave… explore the remnants… rid of all of them" Puzzled, he left and finally found a clearing. There were ruins in the middle of it. It looked like an enormous building that had just been destroyed, silver-colored stones under the moonlight. Brooklyn went round it.

Then he heard a humming. It came from under the stones. Curious, then worried, the beaked gargoyle started clearing them away. He finally managed to clear a way and, after a long effort, ended up in a narrow corridor that leaded to a dark room. His foot hit something: a lamp. He lighted it and what he saw filled him with sadness.

The room had been a rookery once. But most of the eggs had been destroyed, crushed to death when the ceiling had fallen. There were still four of them that seemed to be intact, at the feet of a female gargoyle who was lying on the floor. She was about twenty-nine biologically, her skin a pinkish red, pretty but for once, Brooklyn didn't feel interested. She looked as if she hadn't eaten for days. Appalled, he knelt at her side. "Can you hear me?" he asked. She opened her eyes, looked at him curiously and said: "yes."

"Can you follow me?"

"I… think I can walk and glide. What has happened to my clan?"

"I'm afraid someone destroyed the pyramid" he said. She buried her face into her hands and started to cry. "Did you find anyone?" she gasped.

"No. I'm sorry. But you can't stay here, they could come back. I can bring you into safety, don't worry. What's your name?"

"I don't have a name" she whispered. "And I won't follow you, my eggs need me!"

"We'll bring them with us." Softly, he stroked a wisp of her dark red hair. She cuddled against him, then straightened herself and tried to stand up. She was slightly smaller than him. "Where do you come from?" she asked.

"Manhattan."

"I have never heard this name before. In which forest is it?"

"It's not a forest, it's a city. I bet we are in Guatemala."

"If you know it, why do you ask me?" Brooklyn sighed. He would come home earlier than expected, after all. He put the eggs closer to each other and took the Phoenix Gate in his purse. Deflagrate Muri Tempi et Intervalia.

New York City, the rooftops

The Mayan gargoyle looked around her, terrified. Gone was the rookery, gone was her beloved forest! Instead, she was standing on a strange place that felt nasty. Some horrible noises were coming from below, there were weird lights everywhere and she couldn't see or smell any kinds of vegetal, at least not normal vegetal. How was it possible? "You… sorcerer!" she shouted, eyes glowing red, before snatching the magical artefact from his hand and throwing it away. Brooklyn's heart jumped – it had fallen into the Hudson River – but he didn't try to retrieve it. Instead, he tried to calm the lady down.

"I just did it to help you!"

"Don't approach me. Don't approach my eggs!"

"I wanted to bring you to my clan!" The gargess shook her head. "I died when the pyramid was destroyed? You are the angel of death and you are bringing me into hell?"

"No, I'm bringing you into a safe place." He looked at the sky. There were still hours before the sunrise. "Listen, I'll go and get my clan, they'll come back and we'll bring your eggs safely into our rookery, OK?"

"What does it mean, OK?" He nearly laughed nervously. He had forgotten that it was a word that probably did not exist at her time. "Never mind. Stay here, My Lady, I'll be back." And he glided away to the castle.

Castle Wyvern

Bronx greeted Brooklyn loudly but he didn't care. He entered the castle and bumped into the leader. "Goliath" he said, we have a problem. I…"

"You disappear for two nights and you tell me there's a problem?"

Two nights? Brooklyn didn't expect that! Well, it could have been worse. "I… I'll tell you later but there's a sick lady in the city and her eggs are in danger!" Goliath wondered what was happening. His second had disappeared unexpectedly and the clan had been searching him throughout New York City. They had called upon the mutates' services, spied on Sevarius and Demona, Elisa had not slept during a whole day. And now he was coming back, just saying "the eggs are in danger" (he had already heard it once). "Which eggs?"

"The…" Brooklyn would have blushed, were he not already red. "Gargoyles eggs, four of them. We need to be at least five to bring them back here."

"Lexington, Angela and Archangel are on patrol, they should be back soon. Hudson and Broadway are in the castle." At that moment, the three gargoyles came back. Angela hugged Brooklyn, relieved to see him back (and he realized only later that he didn't regret that it was only a friendly hug). Arch and Lex both seemed to be in a bad mood. Goliath finally decided that he would give a telling-off to his second later and he commanded to him, Broadway, Arch and Angela to go and get the lady and the eggs.

She was still on the rooftop. A gargoyle never forsakes the eggs of his/her clan. While Goliath was offering her hospitality, the red gargoyle couldn't help noticing that indeed, she was pretty. And she was not that much older than him. He had never been lucky with girls but perhaps things would change. At his side, Archangel looked completely puzzled. "How can she have no name?" he asked in a very low voice. "It's completely scandalous, no one should be treated like that! How did her clan call her?"

"Friend, sister or rookery keeper, I guess" answered Brooklyn. "In some clans, no one has a name. But perhaps she will want one, now."

"Don't call her Angie" quickly said Angela, guessing the situation would soon become embarrassing if he carried on staring at her like a starving animal in front of a bowl of food he can't reach.

The beaked gargoyle looked away.

A few minutes later, everyone was gliding back to the castle with the eggs. The Mayan newcomer was feeling miserable, in spite of the compassion of these strangers. Her clan was gone forever and she was trapped into an ugly, alien place. She really wished it was a nightmare.

The quays

Mike opened his eyes. His head was heavy, as if he was waking up after being plastered. But there was no taste of alcohol in his mouth. He was not in his bed, although his head was resting on something flabby. It was cold and he was lying outside, his head on someone else's belly. How on earth had he gotten there!

He got up and shook Lenny awake, hoping that this one could inform him about what had just happened. "Lenny? Lenny!"

"Hmmmm?" the photograph opened his eyes, smiled weakly and frowned. "Mike? What are we doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question!" Mike started to panic. He searched through his pockets and found everything he had brought with him, which reassured him a bit. Perhaps they had been for a report to a place where the wrong kind of people went and they had drunk one of those drugs who made you amnesic. He decided to go and see his doctor as soon as possible. Then he noticed Lenny's camera on the ground and had another idea. Perhaps he had photographed the place they had been and the people they had met?

The digital camera hadn't registered anything valuable, or all the pictures had been erased. Only one photo had been taken. It looked like a text, nothing else. Mike was tired. He decided they would develop the photo the day after. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

To be continued…