Time
Kristina Brannan
kebrann@bgnet.bgsu.edu
---------------------------------------
Gargoyles and all related characters belong to Disney and Buena Vista
Television. Not me. Clear enough?
After struggling through many months of writer's block, distractions from other
series, computer troubles, and sheer laziness, it's done. The fic took over a year
to write. I went to a lot of trouble to finish it, and I'm actually pleased with the
finished product.
However, if I don't get a TON of feedback on this, this will be my last story. I'm
losing my inspiration for Gargoyles fics. They don't write themselves anymore. I
concentrate on whatever I'm being inspired by at the moment. I can't force
myself to write something good. Something good has to be thought about very
carefully. My e-mail address is kbrannan@raex.com, in case you didn't see it at
the top. And please, don't e-mail me saying "I like the story, don't stop writing,
send me a copy of your next story, write more please..." I want REAL feedback.
Tell me what you liked about the story! Tell me what you didn't like! I want to
know. I'm not writing for my own enjoyment (well, not totally)! I want to know
what the people reading my story actually think!! SEND ME MAIL!! I LIKE MAIL!
And if you're new here, you must read these stories in order to fully understand
this:
Music Says It All
To Live Again, Parts I & II
Echoes of the Future
The Gate
Soul Mates, Parts I & II
The Coven Saga, Parts I, II, & III
Faith at Heart
If you like Dragon Ball or Yu Yu Hakusho, visit my website to get other fanfiction.
Oh, and sign my guestbook while you're there.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~krystiana
And so... after a year of production, I finally bring you... "Time." (How's that for
dramatic? :p)
--------------------------------------------------
TIME
-
In memory of April Hanick
May 11, 1980 - March 13, 1998
-
PROLOGUE (from "Faith at Heart")
-----------
Elisa sat in her couch, watching the news. Goliath had called her and told
her what had happened. The broadcast was still playing, and would probably be
playing until well after 3 o'clock in the morning. She shook her head,
remembering her own experience with guns. Except it felt worse when it was
done on purpose, as opposed to an accident, even when you didn't know the
person who was shot. Cagney rubbed against her, purring. Elisa stroked her cat,
frowning.
Cagney suddenly began hissing loudly. He leapt off the couch and slid
underneath it. "Cagney?" Elisa asked.
A sudden heat swept through the room. Elisa jerked her head up and
heard a high-pitched whining. A globe of fire formed in the middle of the room,
burning brightly.
The Phoenix Flame dissipated, and Elisa gasped at the figure standing in
her living room.
-----------
Time
-----------
"Krystiana?!" Elisa gasped in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Krystiana shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I... uh... yeah, um..."
"Don't babble."
"I'm not babbling. Just..."
"Stuttering."
"Yeah... I think..."
Elisa gave Krys a strange look. "A bit confused, aren't we?"
Krystiana shook her head, sending her dishevled white hair everywhere.
"No!" she said. "I'm just kinda nervous about something."
"About what?"
"I need your help."
Elisa took a step back. She knew immediately that whatever the job was
Krys wanted her to do, she wouldn't like it. And Krys knew it, too. "Doing what?"
she asked suspiciously.
Krys wrung her hands. "Could you... kinda..."
"Get on with it."
"Go back in time?"
Elisa stared at Krys. Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't this. "What
for?!"
"Um... saving my mother?"
Elisa blinked. "Saving Demona? From what?"
"Humans," Krystiana said with a slight sigh. "I guess you could also find
out why my mom hated humans so much."
Elisa thought for a moment. "Why does it have to be me?"
Krystiana stared at her as if she should know. "Because she knew you
back then! She wouldn't suspect any-"
"Wait, wait. She _knew_ me?" Elisa smiled wryly. "I'm sorry, that's just a
tad early. Like by about a thousand years?"
"No! I mean..." Krys's eyes widened in realization. "Oh... never mind..."
Her face took on a look of deep thought. "Then what did Salem mean?"
Elisa narrowed her eyes. "Salem?" she snarled. "That lying, sneaking,
son of a bitch?"
Krys's eyes flared scarlet for a moment. "What do you mean? He was my
Grandfather!"
Elisa kept her reaction to herself as Krys said "was." Krystiana was from
the future - of course Salem would be dead. Of course _she_ would be dead.
~Damn...~ Elisa thought, for a reason of her own. She looked up, realising Krys
was still waiting for an answer.
Krystiana sighed. "Oh, never mind. I'll come back tommorow night."
* * *
Cassie stared at Sasha. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me," Sasha said with a slight smirk. "I know that a
few of your friends have wings."
"Uh-huh. And so do you, I suppose. No, wait, don't answer that."
"Cassie, I know you knew Brook before he came to Roosevelt," Sasha
said, sighing. Her face wasn't smiling anymore. Every time someone talked
about Brook, she thought about Faye. Faye's funeral had been today, and Brook
wasn't there. Cassie didn't act all that surprised, and that's when Sasha pieced it
all together. Cassie bit her lip, eyes widening. "How -" She stopped.
"How did I know?" Sasha finished for her. "You know I can spot a liar from
a mile away."
Cassie stared at Sasha blankly.
"You know I wouldn't hurt them," Sasha said softly.
Cassie sighed. "You figure people out too easily." Sasha simply grinned
and Cassie continued. "I'll have to check with them first. I can't just waltz in with
you."
"Well, you could always just plain WALK in with me..." At Cassie's glare,
she stopped and smiled. "I know. You have to ask their permission first."
Cassie stretched. "Now, I got to sleep." She put her keys in the ignition.
"You sure you don't need a ride?"
Sasha nodded. "I'm sure."
Cassie shrugged. "Suit you. Just don't get into trouble, okay?"
"Who, me?"
Cassie smiled grimly and started her car, driving off.
* * *
Lex was having a rather boring patrol with Hudson. Only three muggings
stopped tonight, and two had been just showing up and scaring the muggers
away. What fun.
In the middle of Lexington's thoughts, two screams ripped through Lex
and Hudson's ears. One from the left, the other from the back.
"Two muggings at once?" Lex mused. "That's odd..."
"Who cares about how odd it is!" Hudson snarled. "Ye get the one in de
back! I'll get this one!"
"Yes, sir," Lex mumbled, then turned backwards and dived.
As he landed, he spotted a girl against a tree, with blond hair. The
attacker was your good old average jock - scruffy, scrungy, and slimy.
"Get away!" the girl screamed. She looked like the old-fashioned all-
American girl, if you didn't count the huge hoop earings. A second scream was
cut off as the scruffy, scrungy, slimy man slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Cut it, bitch!" he hissed. "If you're nice, I won't kill you when I'm done."
~When he's done...~ Lex thought blankly. He broke into a run on all fours.
The man began ripping open her dress like an animal. He found her bra,
and began trying to rip it off. Lex sped up as he threw her onto the ground. Just
as the man began undoing her bra strap, Lex ran into him from the side.
"You know why the human race just about doesn't cut it on my "good"
list?" Lex taunted. "Because of assholes like YOU!"
The man's mouth dropped open. "You... you're a..."
"Come on, spit it out. I'm a gargoyle," Lex said, shaking his head. "Yeah, I
kinda noticed that a while ago." With a snort, he added, "I was just as shocked as
you were, believe me."
* * *
Brooklyn sat on the tower's edge, waiting for Cassie. They were going to
go visit someone tonight, someone important. So what could possibly be keeping
Cassie?
"Red!"
Brooklyn turned around sharply to spot Cassie sprinting up the stairs.
"Sorry I'm... late..." she gasped, trying to catch her breath. "I-"
"It's okay," Brooklyn interrupted. He held out a hand and didn't say
anything more. Cassie didn't say anything else, either. She simply crawled into
Brooklyn's arms and they took off.
* * *
"So..." Elisa drawled on, trying to break the icy silence that had formed
between her and Krystiana. "Explain to me exactly what you want me to do."
Krys sat, giving Elisa the notion that she should sit as well. Taking out the
Phoenix Gate and setting it on the coffee table, Krys cleared her throat.
"I want you to basically go back in time to 951 A.D. ... in a gargoyle form."
Elisa stared. "'Basically?'"
Krys shrugged, trying to make it look nonchalant, and being rather
unsucessful. "You need to mix in with the crowd. Something is supposed to
happen to my mother the night I'm sending you to. The Sisters never told me
what, but-"
"The _SISTERS?!"_ Elisa gaped at Krys. "As in the Weird Sisters?"
Krystiana nodded. "I know you probably wouldn't trust their word because
you think they have the sensitivity of an earwig, but they are really caring
people. They wouldn't be SISTERS if they weren't."
Elisa opened her mouth to make a smart remark, but shut it quickly,
remembering Krys's reaction to her smart remarks about Salem. "So go on."
"Okay. The Sisters never told me exactly what would happen, but it
involves you rescuing her. Don't ask me how they know it was you, but they
apparently know everything." Elisa could detect a faint trace of resentment in her
voice. Krys continued, ignoring Elisa's expression. "So you just need to go back
in time into a gargoyle's body, stop my mom from being killed... or something...
and come back safe and sound."
Elisa hiked an eyebrow. "Sounds like a breeze. I won't even break a
sweat."
"I do believe I hear sarcasm hidden somewhere in there."
* * *
Brooklyn and Cassie landed at the cemetary. Actually, they landed IN the
cemetary, since it was closed. Brooklyn looked around, absently noticing most of
the names on the headstones were worn off. Here and there was a chunk of
stone missing and a barely noticable burn on the headstone. They were in the
same cemetary where Demona and Hudson fought over a year ago. They had
landed in the old part of the cemetary, of course, to avoid attention. They would
walk over to the new part.
And so they started walking. It was well over a mile away, and Brooklyn
despised having to walk that long. He was used to traveling that great of a
distance on his wings. One major flaw of being a gargoyle was walking. Putting
that much weight on only your toes for great periods of time wasn't fun.
They finally reached the grave they were looking for. It was still fresh,
with new flowers that had barely begun to wilt surrounding it. Some from
teachers, some from classmates, some from relatives... All the blossoms circled
around one name - Faye Jackson.
Brooklyn bent down and laid his own gift there. It was her well-deserved
Best Actress award that she had won for being Titania in the play. The director
had decided she should be included in the awards, even though she wasn't
there. Brooklyn had been up in the rafters, watching Cassie and Sasha accept
the awards on Faye's behalf. Their eyes had been shining then. But it wasn't
with pride - they were with tears. Next to the award he placed a rose.
Bowing his head, he murmed something only audible to him. "I'll come
back later, Faye. I promise." He then stood and backed away.
Cassie then knelt at her friend's foot. She took an envelope out of her
pocket and took out the paper inside. Clearing her throat, she read the words on
the paper.
"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints of snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn's rain
When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft star that shines at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die."
While her voice had started out strong, she ended up in a whisper. Biting
her lip, Cassie folded the paper back up and placed it among the flowers. She
stood for a moment, staring at Faye's name. The she turned to Brooklyn.
"Let's go."
* * *
"Okay, so how exactly do you plan to put me into a gargoyle's body?"
Krys sighed. "Magic."
"Gee, as if that's not obvious."
"I sense more sarcasm."
"Do you, now?"
Krys stared at Elisa. "You are NEVER this difficult to talk to in my time."
"We're not in your time."
"I noticed that." Krystiana glared at her. "Are we just going to sit here and
yak at each other?"
"You're the one who got off track."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."
"We're just frustrating ourselves." Elisa said after a moment. "Just explain
what's going to happen."
Krystiana sighed. "It's really kind of hard to 'just explain,' but I'll try." She
looked up. "I'm going to put you into a gargoyle's body using Wicca."
Elisa responded with a blank stare.
"Witchcraft."
Elisa's eyes simply widened this time.
And since Elisa apparently wasn't planning on saying anything soon, Krys
continued. "It's not really a simple spell, but it's not hard to mess up."
"What happens if you do mess up?"
"I won't mess up."
"But just say you did... what would happen to me?"
Krys glowered at Elisa. "You'd turn into a mindless paranoid."
"I - hey!"
"Nothing will happen. At the worst, your carpet might get a little singed."
Elisa stared. "We're doing the spell in my APARTMENT?!"
* * *
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
Brooklyn landed at the castle tower and let Cassie get to her feet. "I need
some time to think - alone..." he said, avoiding Cassie's eyes.
Cassie simply looked sympathetic and forlorn at the same time. She
nodded an understanding and went inside.
Brooklyn sat on the tower wall, looking up at the moon and not really
seeing it. He zoned out to the sounds around him and let his mind simply float.
Faye's smiling face... Faye lying there dead. Faye calling him a fucking
asshole for giving her a concussion... Faye's blood all over his hands. Faye
laughing, Faye talking to him, Faye, Sasha, and Cassie all acting up and getting
in trouble... Faye...
FAYE!
Brooklyn felt a tear escape from his eye, bringing him out of his spaced-
out time zone. "I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."
Two glittering eyes watched him from the shadows.
* * *
Demona peered at Brooklyn. She had never in her life seen him look like
he did now. He needed someone by him, to help him...
Part of an instinct made her want to go comfort him herself, but she
quickly shook the thought out of her head. Even in his distraught state, his
hatred for her would still burn through.
Something about that made her feel hurt.
Why did she suddenly feel so attached to Brooklyn?
She shook her head. This was not the matter at hand.
But sneaking her way around and into the castle, she couldn't get the
crimson second-in-command off her mind.
* * *
Lexington sighed as he and Hudson landed at the tower. Brooklyn was
sitting there, looking more solemn then he usually did. He didn't notice Lexington
and Hudson's arrival, or he chose to ignore it. Lex was about to go talk to him,
but Hudson pulled him back, shaking his head.
"Let him be, lad," Hudson said. "Let him be."
Lex reluctantly nodded and turned to go into the castle. The first thing he
saw was an azure head with frizzled red hair...
"Demona!" he yelped. The female gargoyle turned and growled at him.
She leapt at him, but he dodged to the side, yelling something resembling a
warning to Hudson and Brooklyn.
Hudson was too close to the doorway to be ready, and Demona barreled
into him. Brooklyn, however, had time to stand up and face her.
Lexington had gotten outside by now, and watched as the most
astounding thing happened. Brooklyn and Demona had both tensed for a fight,
but now they were just staring at each other. Not waiting for the other to make a
move, just looking at each other. Then, as Lexington and Hudson watched them
in amazement, they both slowly relaxed, and they just STARED.
"What are they doing?" Lexington whispered to Hudson.
That little sound got a reaction from both of them. Brooklyn tensed up
again, and Demona turned towards them, hissing. She then shot one last look at
Brooklyn before jumping off the tower and taking off into the air. Brooklyn
watched her glide away with a look of confusion on his face.
Hudson was getting up, brushing himself off. He looked at Brooklyn.
"What was that all about, lad?"
Brooklyn turned towards Hudson. Shaking his head, he said, "I don't
know. It was strange..." he trailed off, turning his head back towards Demona's
diminishing form.
"What was strange, lad?"
"I... I couldn't attack her."
* * *
Cassie tiptoed into the library. "Goliath?" she called out. "You in here?"
"Over here, Cassandra." Goliath's deep voice came from behind the
stacks.
"Just Cassie, or Candy, Goliath," Cassie corrected. She walked over to
Goliath, straining her eyes in the dark.
"What can I help you with... Cassie?" Goliath asked.
"Well, I need to ask you a question. I know I haven't known you that long
or anything-" She cut off, relectant to ask the question.
"You're going to ask me a question and you're afraid I'll say no, aren't
you?"
Cassie stared at him. "You're psychic, Goliath."
"So what is the question?"
"Um... I have a friend that kinda figured you out."
"What?"
"Oh, um... my friend Sasha figured out that 'a few of my friends have
wings.' Her words, not mine. Brook sorta gave it away when..." She didn't finish
the sentence, but Goliath knew what she was talking about. "She wants an
introduction. She wouldn't hurt you or anything!" Cassie said. "She may be a bit
of a martial arts freak, but she would never drop kick anyone without being
threatened."
Goliath smiled. "You can bring her here, if you wish."
"Hell, yeah, I wish!" Cassie blurted out. "Oops..." She smiled, looking
rather meek. "Sorry... it just gets tiring keeping a secret like big things with wings
and glowing eyes that turn to statues during the day all by yourself."
"What about Elisa?"
"Elisa? She's never around..."
* * *
Elisa glared at the gargoyle. "Couldn't you have waited until my night off
so I wouldn't of had to call in sick?"
"No."
"I'm losing money by doing this."
"Is money more important then a friend's love?"
"I-" Elisa didn't say anything more, and watched as Krys set the stuff up.
"So what exactly am I doing?"
"I already told you."
"No, I mean in the spell."
"Sleeping."
Elisa glowered at her. "What?"
"Sleeping."
"I heard you. Why?"
"Because I told you so, and because if you're awake the spell won't work,
and you really WILL turn into mindless putty."
"Oh, really?"
"Really."
* * *
Demona stormed into her building, growling. What on EARTH had come
over her?
What had changed about Brooklyn that wouldn't let her attack him?
Or perhaps she, herself, had changed...
She shook her head. She felt the same as always.
At least he looked as incapitated as she had felt when they laid eyes on
each other. But that probably didn't say the same for the rest of the clan.
Which meant she couldn't go back until she figured out what was wrong
with her. Didn't mean she could send someone else...
A slow smile crept up her lips. She knew exactly who to call.
* * *
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints of snow
Brooklyn felt the cool breeze run through his hair as he still stared off into
the direction that Demona had gone. What the hell had been running through his
mind when he faced her?
"Hey, Red."
Brooklyn turned his head towards Cassie's smiling face. "What's up,
Cass?"
"I've got a surprise for you tommorow," Cassie said, her smile turning
slightly maniacal.
Brooklyn cringed. "Why does that not make me feel excited?"
* * *
Demona set down the phone, smirking. Those two were ecstatic about
how much she was paying them.
She just hoped they didn't get sidetracked, as they were known to do.
Now, about Brooklyn... what had happened back there?
Demona walked over to the window and crossed her arms, looking at the
moon outside. Finding herself touching the necklace around her neck, she froze.
Could her old feelings for the Coven be resurfacing? She HAD made a
vow...
She suddenly gripped the necklace and put a hand on the window to
steady herself as a wave of dizziness came over her. Still gripping the necklace
until her knuckles were white, she looked out into the night.
Something was happening.
* * *
Krystiana looked at Elisa's peaceful face in front of her as she called on
the four Watchtowers to watch over them as she worked the magic.
Krys had lied. The spell wasn't easy, and it WAS dangerous. But she
wasn't exactly an amatuer at Wicca, and she had gone over the steps a hundred
times in her mind.
Krystiana thanked the Watchtowers before kneeling down in the middle of
the circle she had drawn. She glanced at Elisa's face one more time before
beginning. Finally, she bent down her head and closed her eyes.
"Powers of Air, I call on you, with your blessings."
A wind suddenly began blowing through her hair, lifting it up off her neck.
"Powers of Fire, I call on you, with your blessings."
She heard something of a roar of flames, feeling heat at her back.
"Powers of Water, I call on you, with your blessings."
The sound of trickling reached her ears.
"Powers of Earth, I call on you, with your blessings."
Beneath her, the ground began shaking. "I thank you." She opened her
eyes and lit the candle in front of her. "Fire and Air," she whispered. She bowed
her head again.
"Traveling on Air, protected by flames."
She reached into a bowl beside her and dipped her hand into it. She put
her hand on Elisa's head, and then picked up the bowl and poured the rest over
her body.
"Protected by Fire, doused by liquid."
She finally reached into a bag beside her and took out a handful of dirt.
She sprinkled it around Elisa, circling her.
"Traveling on Air, Protected by Fire, Doused by Water, Mission by Earth."
Krys held both of her hands over Elisa and looked into the candle flame.
"In this time of need,
Go now, by my weaving.
Go now, by my heed.
Go now, without delay."
Krys slowly moved one of her hands over to the candle flame, and held it
there. She hissed in pain, but ignored it.
"In this time of need,
Go now, by my weaving.
Go now, by my heed.
Go now, without delay."
On the last word, she pinched the flame out.
* * *
Elisa's mind drifted.
* * *
I am the diamond glints of snow
Brooklyn shivered. What the hell was going on? He suddenly felt so
cold...
He turned and looked into the castle, getting a strange feeling. "Who..."
he began. He stopped, halfway grinning. ~Boy, I feel like a moron,~ he absently
thought, going inside.
He walked in, cautiously. There was something of a thickness in the air.
There was someone in here.
He peered around the corner of the door, squinting and straining his night
vision. The corner had a low ceiling, and too many shadows for his comfort. He
ducked down and took a few steps in-
"Brooklyn!!"
"WAGAAGH!!!!" Brooklyn jerked up and smacked his head on the rock
overhead. "OUCH!!!"
Angela blinked. "What _are_ you doing, Brooklyn?"
Brooklyn stepped out of the corner, rubbing his head. "I'm playing hide
and seek with my invisible goldfish."
"Ah...." Angela raised an eyeridge. "Must be fun..." She glanced at
Broadway, who was (rather unsucessfully) trying to stop laughing.
"Are you okay?" Angela finally said, after she stopped Brooklyn from
threatening to "kick Broadway's gargoyle ass to Hong Kong and back."
"I'm fine," Brooklyn muttered, still rubbing his head. "My ego has been
bruised, though."
"Oh, dear me. We can't have that, can we?" Lex said as he came around
the corner. He looked at Brooklyn and smirked. "Um... you've got a large lump
on your head, there."
"SHUT UP!!!!" Brooklyn shouted, before stalking off to find some ice,
mumbling something along the lines of "I'm surrounded by morons..."
"He's in a pleasant mood, wouldn't you say?" Broadway said after his
rookery brother had turned the corner a few minutes ago.
"I HEARD THAT!!" Brooklyn's voice came booming around the corner. He
suddenly hopped back in front of them, with both hands behind his back. "Why
don't you go do something constructive?"
That earned him three stares.
"You've gone completely and utterly insane, Brook, old buddy," Lex said
after a moment.
"Oh, have I, now?" A grin started spreading across Brooklyn's beak.
"You're... plotting something, aren't you?" Broadway said.
"However did you guess?" Brooklyn said as he brought his hand in front
of him.
"GACK!" Lex sputtered as he got a large stream of water in his face.
Broadway and Angela began sprinting away from the angry Brooklyn
armed with a Super Soaker.
* * *
no sense of being
who am i
what am i
no hands
no feet
no eyes
no life
nothing
but pain
* * *
Elisa knew who she was. She didn't know where she was. She couldn't
see. She couldn't feel anything.
~Am I dead?~ she thought to herself.
Suddenly she felt herself snap awake. She had been sleeping. Something
around her crackled, and a sound came from her lips that startled her -
something of a panther's roar.
She could see again. She scanned around her... it looked bleak. Looking
up, she could see the tower of the castle. But outside of the castle was not the
city of Manhattan...
"Sister?"
Jumping, Elisa turned to see a female gargoyle looking at her. "Huh?"
"Are you all right?" The gargoyle looked concerned.
"Uh, yes," Elisa said after a moment.
"Bad dream?" the female said.
Elisa nodded, relieved the gargoyle had offered an explanation.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
Elisa shook her head. "No... I was just confused," she said. ~Still am,~
she thought to herself.
"All right. If you want to talk, you know I'll be here," the female said, then
turned and glided off.
Elisa leaned against a nearby wall and put a hand to her head. Pausing,
she looked closely at her hand and gasped. ~Talons?!~
Unconsiously, she wrapped her wings around herself. She began
breathing heavily and she closed her eyes. ~Brooklyn could deal with being
human... I can deal with being a gargoyle.~ Taking a deep breath, she opened
her eyes and surveyed the area again.
"Sister!"
Gasping, she turned to her left to see a familiar face. "De-" She stopped
herself. ~Demona,~ she thought. ~Younger... but it's her. I'm in the past now.
She's not Demona yet.~
*Did you forget, Nocta?*
Demona's voice... in her head!! Elisa barely restrained herself from
gasping again. ~How...?~ A memory suddenly pushed to the front of her mind.
~The Early Hatchers'... can communicate by this. But how... why is she
communcating with me?~
*Nocta?*
Elisa desperately began thinking of what to do. ~How do I do it?!~
Trying... using her mind... it wasn't working. HOW?! ~What did they use?~ As a
faint breeze brushed by her, she remembered. ~By the Power of Air...~
*Sorry. You startled me.*
*We should go now. Leader is waiting for us.*
Elisa blinked. *Of course.* She then followed Demona off the side of the
castle, trying to remember how to use her wings from the time Puck had
changed her into a gargoyle. A bit shaky, but it was barely noticable.
~There is no way I'm going to pull this off,~ Elisa thought to herself.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn's rain
Brooklyn peered out into the east at the pink sky. His fun had been over
when they ran into the activity room and he accidentally squirted Hudson.
Brooklyn grinned to himself as a drop of water fell on his beak. He looked
up to see it had begun drizzling.
The sun rose, freezing him in that position.
And just as the stone around him crackled, two shadowed figures snuck
into the castle.
* * *
Sasha stretched and lazily reached for the remote to the TV. She pushed
the power button and the television clicked on. It was one of those annoying
commericals for Burger King. She snorted and walked across her room to get
the day's clothes. The commercial ended, and the "Now Back to Our Show"
music came on.
Sasha dropped the shirt she was holding when the familiar background
music came on. She had learned to hate that music with a passion, just because
of what memories went with it.
~Why are you doing this?~ she thought, to no one in particular. ~Why are
you tormenting me?~
* * *
When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
Cassie took a deep breath as she looked out the window. Two pigeons
were teasing each other. ~Epitomy of lovebirds,~ Cassie thought absently.
Staring out into the city, she closed her eyes. ~Faye loved this time of
day. It was beautiful to her...~ Without realising it, she started crying again. She
sunk to her knees.
She whispered out loud to herself. "Why did you have to take her away?
She was the only one I could talk to about ANYTHING..."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa had to admit, gliding was fun. She loved the feel of the air at her
face, running through her hair, hitting her wings.
Wings were fun, too. It was interesting having two extra limbs to control.
She noticed Demona dropping out of the air in front of her, so she began
to descend as well. Her landing was a bit bumpy, but she managed to stay under
control. She looked back up at Demona, who had begun to walk into a nearby
cave. Elisa blinked, then followed.
"We're here, Leader," Demona said as they came into a large cavern lit
by torches. "Sorry that we are a bit late." Elisa watched as Demona walked up to
a familiar face, one that she didn't trust at all.
~Salem...~ she thought, tensing up. ~What is he doing here?~ She
remembered that 'Leader' had once been a good, kind, and SANE person, and
she tried to keep herself from lashing out at him.
"Aurora, welcome back." Another female gargoyle walked over from a
small group. Elisa peered at her curiously. Her skin was azure, and her hair was
red. As Elisa looked from Demona's face to the newcomer's face, she was sure
of her suspicions.
She was Demona's mother.
* * *
Elisa walked out of the cave and crossed her arms. She didn't see the
point of even going to the "meeting." She had no clue what they had been
talking about. Something about spies in the castle, which apparently had been
going on for several weeks.
If there were spies in Castle Wyvern, why didn't they just tell someone?
*We can't tell them! They know about the Coven! They'll reveal us!*
~Who...?~ Elisa thought, looking around. During the meeting, she had
gotten used to the Powers that this body possessed, learning to sense when one
of "her own" was near.
But she didn't sense anyone just now.
And that voice... had seemed so familiar...
It had been her own.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Owen glanced at the surveilance screens as a buzzer went off. Looking
from screen to screen and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he hiked an
eyebrow.
The far left screen went out.
~That's in the Great Hall,~ Owen thought, flipping a switch and sprinting
out of the room.
* * *
A metal hand, glinting in them dim light, slashed through the air and left
four deep gashes in the glass.
"Would you hurry up?" hissed an annoyed female voice.
"I'm having fun," a male voice protested.
"This isn't a time to have fun!" the female snapped.
"Fine," he growled. "I'm hurrying." The hand formed a fist and broke the
glass, grabbing what was inside. "Why does she want this thing, anyway?"
"Who cares?" the female said, grabbing the object. "She's paying us
enough not to ask questions." She tucked the object away in a pouch at her
side.
"True. But it's still curious."
The female glanced around once more. "Let's go."
The two figures began to sprint towards the way they came, when
someone loomed in front of them. They skidded to a halt and backed up a few
steps.
"Jackal and Hyena," Owen said, stepping out. "Most surprising to see you
two again."
Hyena's upper lip curled back, and she glanced towards a window.
"I wouldn't try it." Owen had caught her plan. "There are forcefields
around all the windows. They'll send an electronic pulse to your mechanical
parts, causing them to short out."
"Then I guess we'll just have to go through you," Jackal muttered, bending
down into a pouncing crouch.
Owen pulled out a gun and shot Jackal with it. Lightning seemed to
crackle througout his body before focusing on his left arm. A spark flew, and
then smoke began to curl up from his shoulder.
"Damn you," Jackal hissed, realising he couldn't move his arm. He backed
up a few more steps.
Hyena suddenly grabbed him and began sprinting towards a wall. Owen
fired at her, but missed as she jumped into the air with her brother and kicked
through an air duct in the upper part of the wall. They disappeared.
Owen didn't waste any time before running back to trace them.
* * *
960 AD
Elisa sat on the edge of the cliff, puzzled.
She was in the past. She was a gargoyle. Now what was she supposed to
do?
She sighed and put her head in her hands, letting her hair fall into her
face. The wind brushed past her, letting her hair tickle her nose.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She jerked
her head up, looking over to her right. Two gargoyle silhouettes, one male and
one female, were highlighted in the moonlight. They were sitting on a nearby
ledge.
Elisa cocked her head to the side. Apparently they had not noticed her.
They were talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She decided not
to intrude on their privacy, and got up to leave quietly. She turned around, her
backs to them.
"Sister!"
Elisa gasped, turning. She knew that voice. ~Goliath?~ she thought,
squinting at him.
It WAS him. And next to him... Demona.
Elisa closed her eyes. ~This is the past. Think through this before you
speak... you have no clue what year this is, more or less if he's called Goliath yet
or not. Or if they're an item...~
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Goliath peered at her. "For what?"
"I didn't mean to intrude... I was just leaving." She turned to leave again.
"Don't go, sister." Demona stepped towards her.
"No, I need to," Elisa said, backing away. "I need to think. By myself."
Goliath's face tried to look understanding, but she could see the
confusion behind his mask. "Come to us if you need help, rookery sister."
Elisa forced a smile. "I will."
She chose to walk rather then glide.
It was several minutes before she heard the familiar sound of a gargoyle's
wings cutting through the air. Elisa jerked her head up to see Demona fly right
over her. Elisa blinked. ~Did she see me? Is she looking for me?~ The
distressed look on Demona's face told her otherwise.
Elisa followed her.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
"It's almost sunset," Xanatos said in a surprisingly calm voice to Owen.
"You tracked them just after dawn. Are you sure they're still in the building?"
"Quite sure, Mr. Xanatos."
"They were clearly avoiding the gargoyles by breaking in during the day.
Which means someone hired them to steal the Hitodama Stone."
"Someone who knows more about the stone's properties then we do.
Either that or someone who just wanted it."
"Yes." Xanatos glanced out the window. "Only ten more minutes."
"David?" Xanatos looked up at his sister... and a companion. His eyes
widened slightly.
"This is Sasha. She's here to meet the gargoyles."
"Is that wise?" Owen questioned.
"Goliath said it was okay."
"You two, stay in here until sunset," Xanatos ordered, walking over to the
door.
"What? Why?" Cassie asked, cocking her head to the side.
"There's intruders in the building. Very dangerous ones." Xanatos exited
his office.
"Damn. I wanted to see them wake up," Sasha murmured softly.
Owen couldn't help but glance at her. "I'll accompany you," he said.
"That'll be all right."
Sasha's face lightened.
* * *
Sasha and Cassie peered at the statues. Sasha could barely sit still.
Cassie had described what watching them wake up was like, but she couldn't
wait to see it for herself.
It started with a slight crackling. Sasha stared at the biggest statue with
wide eyes as tiny hairline fractures began running through it. The crackling got
louder and the 'statues' suddenly started moving. They arched back and the
stone around the gargoyles flew off as a great roar came from each one's mouth.
Sasha stared with an open mouth for a few seconds before jumping up
and shouting. "WOW!" Startled, Goliath turned around.
"Goliath, this is Sasha," Cassie said, gesturing to the rather loud and
jumpy girl.
Lexington and Brooklyn turned around at the same time. Lex took one
look at Sasha and let out a squak and Brooklyn promptly covered his mouth.
Brooklyn jumped down from his perch. "Sasha," he said in a rather quiet
voice. "Nice to see you again."
Sasha squinted at Brooklyn. "Hey... Brook? Oh, wow!" She practically
knocked him over in a hug. "I've missed you!" She smiled up at him. "How have
you been doing?"
"Okay, I suppose." Brook smiled back at her.
"Someone you met at the school, I take it?" Angela asked, watching
Sasha carefully.
"Yup!" Sasha exclaimed.
Owen let the meeting carry on a bit longer before turning to Goliath.
"There's a problem."
Goliath glanced at Owen. "Problem?" he said, eyes narrowing.
"There are two intruders in the building. Jackal and Hyena are back."
"Jackal and Hyena?" Lex jumped forward. "Where are they?"
"Somewhere inside the building. They have turned off all inside sensors,
but we know they are still inside because the outside ones haven't gone off."
"Why are they here?" Hudson asked.
"They stole an artifact that, as far as we know, has no magical properties.
It's very valuable, however."
"What is this artifact?" Goliath questioned, crossing his arms.
"It's called the Hitodama Stone. It's a very old gem that was carved into
the shape of a kanji that means 'death.' It's from ancient Japan. It was also
called the death stone."
"'Kanji?'"
"Chinese writing, incorporated by the Japanese," Sasha said quietly.
Owen glanced at her.
"Where did the name 'Hitodama' come from?" Broadway asked.
"It roughly translates to 'spirit lights' or 'death fire.' Supposedly if you saw
a fire spirit it was a sign that you would die very soon."
A few moments of silence passed before Lex finally spoke up. "Then...
um... should we go look for them?"
"The building is big, Lex," Brooklyn said. "It's more than just the castle."
"I know that!" Lex snapped. "But we need to find them!"
"We need a plan." Goliath said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "There
are still people in the building below the castle."
"The last I saw, they were in the air shafts." Owen put in.
"Then we'll start looking there," Goliath said. "Let's go look at the
blueprints of the building."
The gargoyles left, Angela glancing at Sasha one more time before
following.
Cassie stared after them as well, then turned back towards Sasha.
"What is it?"
Sasha closed her eyes. "Nothing."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa peered around the tree. Demona had landed and was now walking
through the woods. The look on Demona's face puzzled her. It was that of a
frightened young girl. It reminded her of several runaways that she had brought
in to the station.
Laughter was carried over to her ears by the wind, startling Elisa. She
looked around, but saw no one. She looked back towards Demona, who had
paused in hesitation. Elisa inched closer to her as she began moving again.
Demona led Elisa farther into the woods. In the distance, Elisa could see
a light, seemingly from a fire. ~Who would be this deep in the woods?~
"Hoy, look! It's da monster!"
Elisa jerked her head up at the voice. She crept closer to the small
clearing that Demona had entered.
"Didja do whot we asked ye to?" A man, one of three, glowered at
Demona.
Demona's head was tilted down in shame. "Yes," she whispered.
"I can't hear ye!" The same man put a hand to his ear.
"Yes, I did," Demona said in a louder voice.
"Good. Now give." A different man put his hand out.
Elisa wrinkled her nose at the three men. They were unclean, and she
could smell them from where she sat. They were dirty looking, even for the
middle ages.
Demona reach for her belt, where she withdrew a small sack. She handed
it to the man, who snatched it from her greedily.
He emptied the sack and counted the money inside. He looked back up at
Demon in anger. "Dis ain't the amount we wanted!" he hissed. "Ye trying to
cheat us, monster?" He stood up.
Demona's eyes widened. "No! I don't know the amount you wanted! I
can't count very well - I'm sorry!"
"Ye damn monster! Ye know what we warned ye about!" The man pushed
Demona to the ground. Elisa felt her lips pull back and low growl rumbling in her
throat. She changed her position from crouching down to hide to one coiled up
to pounce.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Lexington slid into the seat near the computer. Goliath had ordered him to
try his hardest to get the indoor scanners turned back on. Lex doubted that he
could. Owen had tried all day, and he knew the system better then Lex.
"What do you think, Lex?" Broadway questioned, leaning over his
shoulder.
"I think it can't be done. I think they cut off the actual power supply to the
scanners. In which case, they can't be fixed from the computer." Lex leaned
back in his chair, thinking. "Maybe I can try the individual scanner..."
Owen glanced at the gargoyle. "That scanner takes a great deal of power.
It can only scan one room at a time. We'll have to turn off all other power
sources in order to scan the whole building."
"But if we can find them, won't it be worth it?" Lex said, grinning.
Owen stared at the gargoyle, then walked into a corner and pulled out a
cell phone.
* * *
Goliath looked up as the lights flickered and then went out. "I don't like
this," he growled.
"It's all right, Goliath." Xanatos walked out from a hallway with his mecha-
gear on. He turned a flashlight, bathing everything in an eerie light. "Lexington
and Owen and getting a different kind of scanner to work. They'll tell us where
Jackal and Hyena are within a few minutes.
Cassie peered around the Great Hall, looking at the smashed display
case, then the entrance to the air shaft. ~How could they do that?~ she
wondered. ~That entrance is at least 25 feet in the air.~
"Xanatos?" Lexington's voice came over a pair of headphones that
Xanatos was wearing. "They're in the Library. That's as far as we could pinpoint
them."
Xanatos nodded and led the way.
* * *
Sasha blindly followed the gargoyles. ~Do I really want to face this?~ she
wondered to herself. "I don't know," she whispered.
"Don't know what?" Sasha looked at Cassie, then shook her head.
They came to the entrance of the Library, then slowed down. "Hush,"
Goliath said, holding up a hand. "We don't want to scare them away. Don't make
it obvious we know they're in there." He opened the door quietly.
They walked in slowly, expecting an ambush. Goliath gestured to
seperate. Sasha had no idea if that order included her and Cassie as well, but
she didn't really care. She walked over to the stairs to the second level of the
library and began climbing.
"Sasha!" Brooklyn hissed, barely audible. "What the hell are you doing?"
Sasha didn't hear him. She walked silently, placing her steps carefully as to not
make any sound at all. Brooklyn watched her as she suddenly stopped and
looked around. "Sasha..." He began walking towards the stairs. Cassie reached
out with her hand and stopped him, shaking her head.
A sudden sound startled everyone in the room as Sasha whirled around,
bringing her leg up and smashing in an air duct. She didn't make any vocal
sound as she reached into the hole she had made and pulled out two surprised
cyborgs by the neck.
Brooklyn started running and leapt straight up to the upper level. Goliath
did the same, running towards Sasha.
But Jackal and Hyena made no move to attack her. They simply stared in
shock.
Hyena finally opened her mouth when Sasha began walking away from
them. "S...Sasha?"
* * *
960 AD
The growl in Elisa's throat grew louder as the men began hitting Demona.
"Don't forget, monster! We know where yer castle be! We can smash yer
clan during the day while they sleep! We know which ones ye care about!"
Demona blocked most of the blows, but she made no move to attack
them.
"And even if ye kill us, there's plenty more of our band! Ye'll never be able
to kill us all!"
Elisa stopped growling. Was it true? Even if she did help Demona fight
these three men off... there were more? She clicked her teeth in frustration.
The men finally threw Demona against a tree. Demona groaned in pain,
reaching up to rub her shoulder.
Elisa looked up, an idea flashing into her mind. She sank her talons into
the tree she was hiding behind and climbed up it swiftly. The low growl started
again. Elisa hopped from one tree to another until she was right above one of
the men.
"Never," the man was saying, "Never forget it, monst-"
The man suddenly disappeared as a hand reached down and dragged
him up through the branches of the trees. He screamed and Elisa smacked her
hand over his mouth.
"Eh? What's up there?" She heard the other men wondering about their
comrade's sudden absence.
The man she held in her grasp suddenly jerked his head and bit down on
her hand. Elisa yowled and pulled her upper teeth back, hissing in pain. She
pulled him closer with her other hand and put her now bleeding hand on the
back of his head.
Swiftly, she yanked his head to the side. A sickening crack was heard, but
to Elisa's ears, it sounded wonderful.
She dropped the body. She could hear his companions shocked cries.
"These woods... these woods are haunted!" one of the men cried. "It's
some kind of demon around us!"
The other man, however, was not so superstitious. "It's a demon, all right.
But it's not a ghost. It's a damn gargoyle!"
Elisa moved from the tree she was in with care. Adrenaline was pumping
through her veins at a furious pace. Her eyes narrowed as she heard his words,
and fury began building. A slow wind began billowing around her, lifting her hair
straight up. She had to adjust her wings so that they would not be caught in it.
The wind blew down and around them as well.
"Wh-what's that?" the frightening man said.
"It's... it's one of the gargoyle's tricks!" The other one didn't sound so sure
of himself now.
The wind picked up even more, and the men were knocked off their feet.
"Get out of here!" Elisa shouted in anger. "You don't belong here!"
The men backed away from her voice, which seemed to be coming from
all directions because of the wind. It was as if the wind itself was speaking.
"A gargoyle can't do that," one of the men said. Elisa couldn't quite see
which one.
"LEAVE!" she screamed, one final gust of wind blowing them across the
ground. The men climbed to their feet and began running. When they were out
of sight, the wind died down.
Elisa smiled to herself, and looked down at Demona.
"Nocta?"
* * *
PRESENT TIME
"Sasha?" Hyena's voice came out more certain then it had the first time.
Goliath noticed that for once, Hyena didn't sound insane. She sounded...
relieved? Concerned? Sad? Something like that...
Sasha was still walking towards the stairs. She didn't even cast a
backward glance.
"Sasha," Jackal said. "You ran away."
Sasha stopped walking, but didn't turn back. She didn't say anything,
either.
"You left us, Sasha." Hyena's voice sounded angry now. "Why?"
"Is that what Daddy told you?" Sasha's voice was quiet, but tightly
controlled. "That I ran away?"
"... told?"
"I didn't run away." Sasha turned to face them. Her eyes were hard as
stone. "Daddy sent me away to a boarding school. Only it wasn't a boarding
school. It was a facility for the criminally insane. He faked records of me, telling
them that I had repeatedly tried to kill you two and him on several occasions. He
lied to them to get rid of me. He kicked me out-"
"He wouldn't do that!" Hyena stood up, nearly shaking in anger. "Don't
talk about him like that! He's dead now, and all you can do is bad-mouth him?"
"Give us one reason why he would send you away." Jackal's voice was
only a fraction more calm.
Sasha was silent for a few moments. "Remember Mom's wish was for all
of us to go into 'show biz'since she didn't make it?" Hyena nodded. "When she
died, Daddy pushed us to do just that. He wanted us to act and do nothing else.
You two were already interested in it. You had done a ton of school drama
productions, and you were both majoring in acting at the university. But me..."
She looked down. "I didn't want to act. Oh, I could - but I didn't want to. I would
rather direct then anything else. And when I told him that, he sent me away. He
said I had betrayed the memory of our mother."
"It sounds a bit far-fetched," Jackal said.
"And like a soap opera," Hyena addded.
"Daddy was insane." Sasha crossed her arms and looked away from
them. "You two obviously take after him."
"What?!" Hyena screeched, grinding her teeth.
Sasha closed her eyes. "How could you do this to me?" Her voice
sounded strangely defeated.
"What? What did _we_ do?"
"They released me from the insane asylum after they realised I wasn't
insane. I fought my way to get to New York after I saw that show you were in -
"The Pack." By the time I got here, it had been cancelled because you guys
were doing various stupid things.
"After you guys escaped from jail, I had no idea where you were. But I
knew that David Xanatos had created the Pack. I knew that if anyone knew were
you guys were, he would. I tried to get an appointment with him, but they
wouldn't let me past the lobby.
"So I got myself enrolled in school. Had to get myself adopted first, but I
managed. I enrolled carefully - with Cassandra Xanatos.
"At first I was just using her to get to Xanatos, but Cassie was actually
nice to me. I decided not to use her, except as a last resort. So my foster father
started searching. He found your last traces - the ones you left in Guatemala.
But when that fell flat, I decided to go ahead and shoot for Xanatos. I didn't
expect you'd fall right into my lap."
No one said anything for a few minutes until Jackal finally broke the ice.
"So what's the problem?"
"What's the problem?" Sasha didn't sound angry. She just repeated his
tone of voice. "Problem. No problem here."
"Sasha-" Hyena started moving towards her.
"Expect for the fact that I searched for you for three fucking years, and
when I finally find, you're not even in one piece. You've got metal body parts that
you can't even pass as human. But other then that, no problem here."
She turned away. "You were the last family I had left. Daddy kicked me
out, and then he died. You were my last relatives." She lowered her head. "But
you're as good as dead now. All you can do is work for money that you can't
spend anywhere. Thank you for ruining not only your lives, but mine as well."
She began walking again. "I hope you're happy with what you've done to
yourselves. Because you've got to live like that for the rest of your lives."
They let her leave.
* * *
960 AD
"Nocta?" Demona's voice carried up. "I know you're up there! Come
down!" Elisa hopped down from the branches.
Demona smiled at her, then promptly pounced on her and pinned her to
the ground. Elisa looked startled until she saw Demona was laughing.
"You're an idiot, but... I don't know how to thank you, sister!" Elisa's face
couldn't hide her shock when she saw a tear drip from Demona's eyes. "I
couldn't get rid of them - they kept threatening the clan if I didn't do what they
said! And I tried to tell the humans at the castle, but they didn't believe me! Now
those stupid humans won't ever come back!"
"But... aren't there more of them? Can't they come back and...?"
"Not after the way you scared them off! Most of them are VERY scared of
spirits and forest demons." Demona smiled and let Elisa stand up. "I can't ever
repay you, Nocta. But someday..." Her smile faded.
"What?" Elisa asked, frowning.
"I'll get revenge on the humans. Why should we have the beg the humans
for our lives when we are stronger then them?"
"I don't know..."
"Why do they beat us and..." Demona's eyes narrowed. "Someday I'll
make them pay."
Elisa smiled weakly. "Yes... you will." She put a hand on Demona's
shoulder. "Come on. Let's go back home."
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Neither Jackal or Hyena were putting up a fight. Sasha's words had
somehow bruised them. They weren't even moving. They even looked a bit sad.
Xanatos reached forward and took the pouch from Hyena. He opened at
took out the stone. "Too much trouble for this little thing." He looked at them. "So
who hired you?"
Jackal sighed. "Something Destine. Lots of cash."
Everyone froze. "Mother?" Angela whispered.
Brooklyn looked at Hudson. "That's what she was after last night. Good
thing you and Lex were there." He didn't mention himself - he, Lex and Hudson
had solemnly agreed to keep his freezing a secret (although Hudson was
confused as to why Brooklyn had wanted it that way).
"What's so special about that stone then, Xanatos?" Broadway
demanded.
"Yes," Goliath agreed. "If Demona is after it, then there is something
about it that we should know about."
Xanatos didn't answer for a moment, but when he did it was as smooth as
ever. "There are certain properties about the Hitodama stone that are magical.
We don't know exactly how the stone works, Goliath. No one does. Including
Demona."
"Which is why it should be destroyed."
"What?" Xanatos jerked his head up as something hopped on top of him
and snatched the stone out of his hands. Whatever it was knocked him to the
ground, then pushed itself over the edge of the upper level. It landed on the
lower level with little sound.
What was a blur before was now a girl who couldn't have been more than
17. She turned golden eyes towards the amazed group above her. She tossed a
head full of snow-white hair, smiling. As they watched, she bent over and put the
stone on the ground. She then pulled out a knife that was decorated with odd
designs and brought the blade down on top of it. The stone shattered, and an
eerie blue light seemed to puff out of it, then disappear. She stood back up and
looked at them again.
"Don't look so shocked!" she shouted at them. "The Hitodama stone is the
stone of death, right? Well, it's dead now, and now no one can use it!"
"Wh-who are you?" Brooklyn said, leaning over the railing. "And why did
you smash it?"
"Something with magical properties that no one alive knows how to use
shouldn't be around. It's too dangerous!" The girl grinned. "And as for who I
am... we'll just wait until you find out again! Ja ne, otousan!" She turned and
began running. She ran into the shadows of the stacks.
Brooklyn hopped down and ran towards where she had gone. He looked
around, but saw nothing. "She's... gone!"
"'Ja ne, otousan?'" Xanatos repeated her last words with amusement. "I
wonder who she was talking to."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa stood on her perch, watching the few rays of sun come over the
horizon.
*Nocta.*
Elisa turned and saw the gargoyle she had singled out as Demona's
mother come up behind her. "Aurora told me what you did for her tonight," she
said quietly, as to not attract attention. "I want to thank you. Aurora is very
special to me. As are you, child." She reached out and stroked Elisa's cheek.
"Live in happiness, young one. Tell me if you need anything." Elisa smiled as
she left.
~Live in happiness,~ she thought. ~How do I get back to my own time?~
She looked up, almost sadly, at Goliath. He was watching his brothers
and sisters get ready for a wonderful day's nap. He finally looked at her and
noticed her staring at him. He blinked, and then smiled warmly at her.
Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away from him. ~Great... make
it look like this gargoyle likes him!~ she thought to herself.
The angry look on her face froze as the sun peeked at the castle.
* * *
Elisa was sleeping.
She was dreaming, too.
"Sister..."
Elisa looked around and saw Demona smiling at her. Demona... no...
Aurora?
Aurora was smiling at her.
Since when had Demona become Aurora to her? Aurora was what
Brooklyn had called her. Aurora was what Salem had called her. Aurora was
what the Coven had called her.
Nocta?
Oh, god... she had killed a man tonight. With her BARE HANDS, no less.
She had just been so caught up in the moment... she had felt the need to punish
him for hurting her sister.
Sister. Her rookery sister.
Suddenly, in a rush, memories flooded into Elisa's mind. Memories of
growing up with Goliath and Demona. Memories of the Coven and learning their
secrets. Memories of jealousy of Demona, since Demona had gotten Goliath and
she hadn't. Memories of the last night before the Vikings attacked, and what
Leader had done to her to protect her. Memories of going to sleep one
morning... and never waking up...
Elisa began shaking.
~Oh, god.~
She put her head in her hands. ~There's no such thing as reincarnation!~
she thought definately. But there was no denying it. She couldn't. Not when she
had suddenly been filled with two lifetimes of memories. She had two lives, and
one was over - but she couldn't give up thinking about it now that she
remembered it...
"I am Nocta."
* * *
Krys reached out and shook Elisa on the shoulder. "Elisa! Wake up!"
Elisa's eyes fluttered and then opened. "Krystiana?"
"Are you all right now?"
Elisa sat up shakily. "Yes."
"Did everything go okay?"
"Yes."
Krys was silent for a moment. "You remember, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Is that all you can say?"
Elisa didn't even glance at her. "Krys, can you leave me alone for a
while?" She was leaning back into her pillow.
Krys reluctantly stood up and started to leave. "Elisa... will you still help
me?"
"Help you what?"
"Make my parents remember."
Elisa closed her eyes. "I made a promise. Now go away."
Krystiana smiled and hopped out of the skylight.
Elisa put her head back down, curling up.
Mentally, she was a mess. And she didn't know how to start reorganzing
her memories. She couldn't help it... even though her two lives were completely
different, she was confusing them.
She didn't know what to do. She sat still for a few hours, not moving and
inch and barely breathing.
After a while, she heard a click at her skylight. She slip her eyes up and
saw Goliath looking in at her with a concerned look on his face. He hopped in
and walked over to her. He gathered her up in his arms, supporting her.
"Elisa?" he whispered. "What is it?"
"Just... a dream. Old memories." Elisa closed her eyes.
"What can I do?"
Elisa was silent before answering. "Hold me."
Goliath titled his head to the side.
"Just... hold me."
* * *
I am the soft star that shines at night
Sasha's eyes trailed on Brooklyn as he knelt once more in front of Faye
Jackson's grave. She turned her back and began walking. Brooklyn needed a
few moments alone with her.
Brooklyn didn't look over his shoulder as Sasha walked away. He didn't
need or want to.
"Faye," he whispered. "I'm sorry. You wouldn't be in the ground if it wasn't
for me. I know people keep telling me not to blame myself - but it IS my fault. Liv
wouldn't have shot you if I had never been there. She wouldn't of snapped. And
even then, I could have saved you. If only I had been..." Brooklyn choked and
his eyes shut. "... been faster..." He put his face in his hands. "Oh, god... Faye."
He stared at the grave marker almost in anger. "Why couldn't I stop it? Why
can't I go back and change what happened? Why the hell DID it happen?"
Shaking his head, he continued. "You were one of my first friends in this world.
Elisa is a friend, and so is Cassy... but you were the first one who really
accepted me in whole for who I was." Brooklyn's fists clenched tightly. "But
you're gone. And there's nothing left for me now. You were all I had."
Brooklyn took and breath and let it out shakily. "Faye... why can't you
come back?"
He curled up at the foot of her grave, wrapping his wings around himself.
The only sound that could be heard was the crying of a lost and tortured young
gargoyle.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.
-
FIN
-------------------------------------------------------
Finished: 12-30-99, 2:53 AM
Edited: ?
MAIL, PLEASE! I'm serious about this, folks.
Well.... three more stories, and then I'll have written all the stories
I need to have written for Gargoyles.
On This Joyous Day - about halfway done
Mind Games - not started yet
The Coven Saga, Part IV: Dark Reunion - not started yet
Watch for them. But please don't ask me to send them to you.
Kristina Brannan
kebrann@bgnet.bgsu.edu
---------------------------------------
Gargoyles and all related characters belong to Disney and Buena Vista
Television. Not me. Clear enough?
After struggling through many months of writer's block, distractions from other
series, computer troubles, and sheer laziness, it's done. The fic took over a year
to write. I went to a lot of trouble to finish it, and I'm actually pleased with the
finished product.
However, if I don't get a TON of feedback on this, this will be my last story. I'm
losing my inspiration for Gargoyles fics. They don't write themselves anymore. I
concentrate on whatever I'm being inspired by at the moment. I can't force
myself to write something good. Something good has to be thought about very
carefully. My e-mail address is kbrannan@raex.com, in case you didn't see it at
the top. And please, don't e-mail me saying "I like the story, don't stop writing,
send me a copy of your next story, write more please..." I want REAL feedback.
Tell me what you liked about the story! Tell me what you didn't like! I want to
know. I'm not writing for my own enjoyment (well, not totally)! I want to know
what the people reading my story actually think!! SEND ME MAIL!! I LIKE MAIL!
And if you're new here, you must read these stories in order to fully understand
this:
Music Says It All
To Live Again, Parts I & II
Echoes of the Future
The Gate
Soul Mates, Parts I & II
The Coven Saga, Parts I, II, & III
Faith at Heart
If you like Dragon Ball or Yu Yu Hakusho, visit my website to get other fanfiction.
Oh, and sign my guestbook while you're there.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~krystiana
And so... after a year of production, I finally bring you... "Time." (How's that for
dramatic? :p)
--------------------------------------------------
TIME
-
In memory of April Hanick
May 11, 1980 - March 13, 1998
-
PROLOGUE (from "Faith at Heart")
-----------
Elisa sat in her couch, watching the news. Goliath had called her and told
her what had happened. The broadcast was still playing, and would probably be
playing until well after 3 o'clock in the morning. She shook her head,
remembering her own experience with guns. Except it felt worse when it was
done on purpose, as opposed to an accident, even when you didn't know the
person who was shot. Cagney rubbed against her, purring. Elisa stroked her cat,
frowning.
Cagney suddenly began hissing loudly. He leapt off the couch and slid
underneath it. "Cagney?" Elisa asked.
A sudden heat swept through the room. Elisa jerked her head up and
heard a high-pitched whining. A globe of fire formed in the middle of the room,
burning brightly.
The Phoenix Flame dissipated, and Elisa gasped at the figure standing in
her living room.
-----------
Time
-----------
"Krystiana?!" Elisa gasped in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Krystiana shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I... uh... yeah, um..."
"Don't babble."
"I'm not babbling. Just..."
"Stuttering."
"Yeah... I think..."
Elisa gave Krys a strange look. "A bit confused, aren't we?"
Krystiana shook her head, sending her dishevled white hair everywhere.
"No!" she said. "I'm just kinda nervous about something."
"About what?"
"I need your help."
Elisa took a step back. She knew immediately that whatever the job was
Krys wanted her to do, she wouldn't like it. And Krys knew it, too. "Doing what?"
she asked suspiciously.
Krys wrung her hands. "Could you... kinda..."
"Get on with it."
"Go back in time?"
Elisa stared at Krys. Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't this. "What
for?!"
"Um... saving my mother?"
Elisa blinked. "Saving Demona? From what?"
"Humans," Krystiana said with a slight sigh. "I guess you could also find
out why my mom hated humans so much."
Elisa thought for a moment. "Why does it have to be me?"
Krystiana stared at her as if she should know. "Because she knew you
back then! She wouldn't suspect any-"
"Wait, wait. She _knew_ me?" Elisa smiled wryly. "I'm sorry, that's just a
tad early. Like by about a thousand years?"
"No! I mean..." Krys's eyes widened in realization. "Oh... never mind..."
Her face took on a look of deep thought. "Then what did Salem mean?"
Elisa narrowed her eyes. "Salem?" she snarled. "That lying, sneaking,
son of a bitch?"
Krys's eyes flared scarlet for a moment. "What do you mean? He was my
Grandfather!"
Elisa kept her reaction to herself as Krys said "was." Krystiana was from
the future - of course Salem would be dead. Of course _she_ would be dead.
~Damn...~ Elisa thought, for a reason of her own. She looked up, realising Krys
was still waiting for an answer.
Krystiana sighed. "Oh, never mind. I'll come back tommorow night."
* * *
Cassie stared at Sasha. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me," Sasha said with a slight smirk. "I know that a
few of your friends have wings."
"Uh-huh. And so do you, I suppose. No, wait, don't answer that."
"Cassie, I know you knew Brook before he came to Roosevelt," Sasha
said, sighing. Her face wasn't smiling anymore. Every time someone talked
about Brook, she thought about Faye. Faye's funeral had been today, and Brook
wasn't there. Cassie didn't act all that surprised, and that's when Sasha pieced it
all together. Cassie bit her lip, eyes widening. "How -" She stopped.
"How did I know?" Sasha finished for her. "You know I can spot a liar from
a mile away."
Cassie stared at Sasha blankly.
"You know I wouldn't hurt them," Sasha said softly.
Cassie sighed. "You figure people out too easily." Sasha simply grinned
and Cassie continued. "I'll have to check with them first. I can't just waltz in with
you."
"Well, you could always just plain WALK in with me..." At Cassie's glare,
she stopped and smiled. "I know. You have to ask their permission first."
Cassie stretched. "Now, I got to sleep." She put her keys in the ignition.
"You sure you don't need a ride?"
Sasha nodded. "I'm sure."
Cassie shrugged. "Suit you. Just don't get into trouble, okay?"
"Who, me?"
Cassie smiled grimly and started her car, driving off.
* * *
Lex was having a rather boring patrol with Hudson. Only three muggings
stopped tonight, and two had been just showing up and scaring the muggers
away. What fun.
In the middle of Lexington's thoughts, two screams ripped through Lex
and Hudson's ears. One from the left, the other from the back.
"Two muggings at once?" Lex mused. "That's odd..."
"Who cares about how odd it is!" Hudson snarled. "Ye get the one in de
back! I'll get this one!"
"Yes, sir," Lex mumbled, then turned backwards and dived.
As he landed, he spotted a girl against a tree, with blond hair. The
attacker was your good old average jock - scruffy, scrungy, and slimy.
"Get away!" the girl screamed. She looked like the old-fashioned all-
American girl, if you didn't count the huge hoop earings. A second scream was
cut off as the scruffy, scrungy, slimy man slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Cut it, bitch!" he hissed. "If you're nice, I won't kill you when I'm done."
~When he's done...~ Lex thought blankly. He broke into a run on all fours.
The man began ripping open her dress like an animal. He found her bra,
and began trying to rip it off. Lex sped up as he threw her onto the ground. Just
as the man began undoing her bra strap, Lex ran into him from the side.
"You know why the human race just about doesn't cut it on my "good"
list?" Lex taunted. "Because of assholes like YOU!"
The man's mouth dropped open. "You... you're a..."
"Come on, spit it out. I'm a gargoyle," Lex said, shaking his head. "Yeah, I
kinda noticed that a while ago." With a snort, he added, "I was just as shocked as
you were, believe me."
* * *
Brooklyn sat on the tower's edge, waiting for Cassie. They were going to
go visit someone tonight, someone important. So what could possibly be keeping
Cassie?
"Red!"
Brooklyn turned around sharply to spot Cassie sprinting up the stairs.
"Sorry I'm... late..." she gasped, trying to catch her breath. "I-"
"It's okay," Brooklyn interrupted. He held out a hand and didn't say
anything more. Cassie didn't say anything else, either. She simply crawled into
Brooklyn's arms and they took off.
* * *
"So..." Elisa drawled on, trying to break the icy silence that had formed
between her and Krystiana. "Explain to me exactly what you want me to do."
Krys sat, giving Elisa the notion that she should sit as well. Taking out the
Phoenix Gate and setting it on the coffee table, Krys cleared her throat.
"I want you to basically go back in time to 951 A.D. ... in a gargoyle form."
Elisa stared. "'Basically?'"
Krys shrugged, trying to make it look nonchalant, and being rather
unsucessful. "You need to mix in with the crowd. Something is supposed to
happen to my mother the night I'm sending you to. The Sisters never told me
what, but-"
"The _SISTERS?!"_ Elisa gaped at Krys. "As in the Weird Sisters?"
Krystiana nodded. "I know you probably wouldn't trust their word because
you think they have the sensitivity of an earwig, but they are really caring
people. They wouldn't be SISTERS if they weren't."
Elisa opened her mouth to make a smart remark, but shut it quickly,
remembering Krys's reaction to her smart remarks about Salem. "So go on."
"Okay. The Sisters never told me exactly what would happen, but it
involves you rescuing her. Don't ask me how they know it was you, but they
apparently know everything." Elisa could detect a faint trace of resentment in her
voice. Krys continued, ignoring Elisa's expression. "So you just need to go back
in time into a gargoyle's body, stop my mom from being killed... or something...
and come back safe and sound."
Elisa hiked an eyebrow. "Sounds like a breeze. I won't even break a
sweat."
"I do believe I hear sarcasm hidden somewhere in there."
* * *
Brooklyn and Cassie landed at the cemetary. Actually, they landed IN the
cemetary, since it was closed. Brooklyn looked around, absently noticing most of
the names on the headstones were worn off. Here and there was a chunk of
stone missing and a barely noticable burn on the headstone. They were in the
same cemetary where Demona and Hudson fought over a year ago. They had
landed in the old part of the cemetary, of course, to avoid attention. They would
walk over to the new part.
And so they started walking. It was well over a mile away, and Brooklyn
despised having to walk that long. He was used to traveling that great of a
distance on his wings. One major flaw of being a gargoyle was walking. Putting
that much weight on only your toes for great periods of time wasn't fun.
They finally reached the grave they were looking for. It was still fresh,
with new flowers that had barely begun to wilt surrounding it. Some from
teachers, some from classmates, some from relatives... All the blossoms circled
around one name - Faye Jackson.
Brooklyn bent down and laid his own gift there. It was her well-deserved
Best Actress award that she had won for being Titania in the play. The director
had decided she should be included in the awards, even though she wasn't
there. Brooklyn had been up in the rafters, watching Cassie and Sasha accept
the awards on Faye's behalf. Their eyes had been shining then. But it wasn't
with pride - they were with tears. Next to the award he placed a rose.
Bowing his head, he murmed something only audible to him. "I'll come
back later, Faye. I promise." He then stood and backed away.
Cassie then knelt at her friend's foot. She took an envelope out of her
pocket and took out the paper inside. Clearing her throat, she read the words on
the paper.
"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints of snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn's rain
When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft star that shines at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die."
While her voice had started out strong, she ended up in a whisper. Biting
her lip, Cassie folded the paper back up and placed it among the flowers. She
stood for a moment, staring at Faye's name. The she turned to Brooklyn.
"Let's go."
* * *
"Okay, so how exactly do you plan to put me into a gargoyle's body?"
Krys sighed. "Magic."
"Gee, as if that's not obvious."
"I sense more sarcasm."
"Do you, now?"
Krys stared at Elisa. "You are NEVER this difficult to talk to in my time."
"We're not in your time."
"I noticed that." Krystiana glared at her. "Are we just going to sit here and
yak at each other?"
"You're the one who got off track."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."
"We're just frustrating ourselves." Elisa said after a moment. "Just explain
what's going to happen."
Krystiana sighed. "It's really kind of hard to 'just explain,' but I'll try." She
looked up. "I'm going to put you into a gargoyle's body using Wicca."
Elisa responded with a blank stare.
"Witchcraft."
Elisa's eyes simply widened this time.
And since Elisa apparently wasn't planning on saying anything soon, Krys
continued. "It's not really a simple spell, but it's not hard to mess up."
"What happens if you do mess up?"
"I won't mess up."
"But just say you did... what would happen to me?"
Krys glowered at Elisa. "You'd turn into a mindless paranoid."
"I - hey!"
"Nothing will happen. At the worst, your carpet might get a little singed."
Elisa stared. "We're doing the spell in my APARTMENT?!"
* * *
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
Brooklyn landed at the castle tower and let Cassie get to her feet. "I need
some time to think - alone..." he said, avoiding Cassie's eyes.
Cassie simply looked sympathetic and forlorn at the same time. She
nodded an understanding and went inside.
Brooklyn sat on the tower wall, looking up at the moon and not really
seeing it. He zoned out to the sounds around him and let his mind simply float.
Faye's smiling face... Faye lying there dead. Faye calling him a fucking
asshole for giving her a concussion... Faye's blood all over his hands. Faye
laughing, Faye talking to him, Faye, Sasha, and Cassie all acting up and getting
in trouble... Faye...
FAYE!
Brooklyn felt a tear escape from his eye, bringing him out of his spaced-
out time zone. "I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."
Two glittering eyes watched him from the shadows.
* * *
Demona peered at Brooklyn. She had never in her life seen him look like
he did now. He needed someone by him, to help him...
Part of an instinct made her want to go comfort him herself, but she
quickly shook the thought out of her head. Even in his distraught state, his
hatred for her would still burn through.
Something about that made her feel hurt.
Why did she suddenly feel so attached to Brooklyn?
She shook her head. This was not the matter at hand.
But sneaking her way around and into the castle, she couldn't get the
crimson second-in-command off her mind.
* * *
Lexington sighed as he and Hudson landed at the tower. Brooklyn was
sitting there, looking more solemn then he usually did. He didn't notice Lexington
and Hudson's arrival, or he chose to ignore it. Lex was about to go talk to him,
but Hudson pulled him back, shaking his head.
"Let him be, lad," Hudson said. "Let him be."
Lex reluctantly nodded and turned to go into the castle. The first thing he
saw was an azure head with frizzled red hair...
"Demona!" he yelped. The female gargoyle turned and growled at him.
She leapt at him, but he dodged to the side, yelling something resembling a
warning to Hudson and Brooklyn.
Hudson was too close to the doorway to be ready, and Demona barreled
into him. Brooklyn, however, had time to stand up and face her.
Lexington had gotten outside by now, and watched as the most
astounding thing happened. Brooklyn and Demona had both tensed for a fight,
but now they were just staring at each other. Not waiting for the other to make a
move, just looking at each other. Then, as Lexington and Hudson watched them
in amazement, they both slowly relaxed, and they just STARED.
"What are they doing?" Lexington whispered to Hudson.
That little sound got a reaction from both of them. Brooklyn tensed up
again, and Demona turned towards them, hissing. She then shot one last look at
Brooklyn before jumping off the tower and taking off into the air. Brooklyn
watched her glide away with a look of confusion on his face.
Hudson was getting up, brushing himself off. He looked at Brooklyn.
"What was that all about, lad?"
Brooklyn turned towards Hudson. Shaking his head, he said, "I don't
know. It was strange..." he trailed off, turning his head back towards Demona's
diminishing form.
"What was strange, lad?"
"I... I couldn't attack her."
* * *
Cassie tiptoed into the library. "Goliath?" she called out. "You in here?"
"Over here, Cassandra." Goliath's deep voice came from behind the
stacks.
"Just Cassie, or Candy, Goliath," Cassie corrected. She walked over to
Goliath, straining her eyes in the dark.
"What can I help you with... Cassie?" Goliath asked.
"Well, I need to ask you a question. I know I haven't known you that long
or anything-" She cut off, relectant to ask the question.
"You're going to ask me a question and you're afraid I'll say no, aren't
you?"
Cassie stared at him. "You're psychic, Goliath."
"So what is the question?"
"Um... I have a friend that kinda figured you out."
"What?"
"Oh, um... my friend Sasha figured out that 'a few of my friends have
wings.' Her words, not mine. Brook sorta gave it away when..." She didn't finish
the sentence, but Goliath knew what she was talking about. "She wants an
introduction. She wouldn't hurt you or anything!" Cassie said. "She may be a bit
of a martial arts freak, but she would never drop kick anyone without being
threatened."
Goliath smiled. "You can bring her here, if you wish."
"Hell, yeah, I wish!" Cassie blurted out. "Oops..." She smiled, looking
rather meek. "Sorry... it just gets tiring keeping a secret like big things with wings
and glowing eyes that turn to statues during the day all by yourself."
"What about Elisa?"
"Elisa? She's never around..."
* * *
Elisa glared at the gargoyle. "Couldn't you have waited until my night off
so I wouldn't of had to call in sick?"
"No."
"I'm losing money by doing this."
"Is money more important then a friend's love?"
"I-" Elisa didn't say anything more, and watched as Krys set the stuff up.
"So what exactly am I doing?"
"I already told you."
"No, I mean in the spell."
"Sleeping."
Elisa glowered at her. "What?"
"Sleeping."
"I heard you. Why?"
"Because I told you so, and because if you're awake the spell won't work,
and you really WILL turn into mindless putty."
"Oh, really?"
"Really."
* * *
Demona stormed into her building, growling. What on EARTH had come
over her?
What had changed about Brooklyn that wouldn't let her attack him?
Or perhaps she, herself, had changed...
She shook her head. She felt the same as always.
At least he looked as incapitated as she had felt when they laid eyes on
each other. But that probably didn't say the same for the rest of the clan.
Which meant she couldn't go back until she figured out what was wrong
with her. Didn't mean she could send someone else...
A slow smile crept up her lips. She knew exactly who to call.
* * *
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints of snow
Brooklyn felt the cool breeze run through his hair as he still stared off into
the direction that Demona had gone. What the hell had been running through his
mind when he faced her?
"Hey, Red."
Brooklyn turned his head towards Cassie's smiling face. "What's up,
Cass?"
"I've got a surprise for you tommorow," Cassie said, her smile turning
slightly maniacal.
Brooklyn cringed. "Why does that not make me feel excited?"
* * *
Demona set down the phone, smirking. Those two were ecstatic about
how much she was paying them.
She just hoped they didn't get sidetracked, as they were known to do.
Now, about Brooklyn... what had happened back there?
Demona walked over to the window and crossed her arms, looking at the
moon outside. Finding herself touching the necklace around her neck, she froze.
Could her old feelings for the Coven be resurfacing? She HAD made a
vow...
She suddenly gripped the necklace and put a hand on the window to
steady herself as a wave of dizziness came over her. Still gripping the necklace
until her knuckles were white, she looked out into the night.
Something was happening.
* * *
Krystiana looked at Elisa's peaceful face in front of her as she called on
the four Watchtowers to watch over them as she worked the magic.
Krys had lied. The spell wasn't easy, and it WAS dangerous. But she
wasn't exactly an amatuer at Wicca, and she had gone over the steps a hundred
times in her mind.
Krystiana thanked the Watchtowers before kneeling down in the middle of
the circle she had drawn. She glanced at Elisa's face one more time before
beginning. Finally, she bent down her head and closed her eyes.
"Powers of Air, I call on you, with your blessings."
A wind suddenly began blowing through her hair, lifting it up off her neck.
"Powers of Fire, I call on you, with your blessings."
She heard something of a roar of flames, feeling heat at her back.
"Powers of Water, I call on you, with your blessings."
The sound of trickling reached her ears.
"Powers of Earth, I call on you, with your blessings."
Beneath her, the ground began shaking. "I thank you." She opened her
eyes and lit the candle in front of her. "Fire and Air," she whispered. She bowed
her head again.
"Traveling on Air, protected by flames."
She reached into a bowl beside her and dipped her hand into it. She put
her hand on Elisa's head, and then picked up the bowl and poured the rest over
her body.
"Protected by Fire, doused by liquid."
She finally reached into a bag beside her and took out a handful of dirt.
She sprinkled it around Elisa, circling her.
"Traveling on Air, Protected by Fire, Doused by Water, Mission by Earth."
Krys held both of her hands over Elisa and looked into the candle flame.
"In this time of need,
Go now, by my weaving.
Go now, by my heed.
Go now, without delay."
Krys slowly moved one of her hands over to the candle flame, and held it
there. She hissed in pain, but ignored it.
"In this time of need,
Go now, by my weaving.
Go now, by my heed.
Go now, without delay."
On the last word, she pinched the flame out.
* * *
Elisa's mind drifted.
* * *
I am the diamond glints of snow
Brooklyn shivered. What the hell was going on? He suddenly felt so
cold...
He turned and looked into the castle, getting a strange feeling. "Who..."
he began. He stopped, halfway grinning. ~Boy, I feel like a moron,~ he absently
thought, going inside.
He walked in, cautiously. There was something of a thickness in the air.
There was someone in here.
He peered around the corner of the door, squinting and straining his night
vision. The corner had a low ceiling, and too many shadows for his comfort. He
ducked down and took a few steps in-
"Brooklyn!!"
"WAGAAGH!!!!" Brooklyn jerked up and smacked his head on the rock
overhead. "OUCH!!!"
Angela blinked. "What _are_ you doing, Brooklyn?"
Brooklyn stepped out of the corner, rubbing his head. "I'm playing hide
and seek with my invisible goldfish."
"Ah...." Angela raised an eyeridge. "Must be fun..." She glanced at
Broadway, who was (rather unsucessfully) trying to stop laughing.
"Are you okay?" Angela finally said, after she stopped Brooklyn from
threatening to "kick Broadway's gargoyle ass to Hong Kong and back."
"I'm fine," Brooklyn muttered, still rubbing his head. "My ego has been
bruised, though."
"Oh, dear me. We can't have that, can we?" Lex said as he came around
the corner. He looked at Brooklyn and smirked. "Um... you've got a large lump
on your head, there."
"SHUT UP!!!!" Brooklyn shouted, before stalking off to find some ice,
mumbling something along the lines of "I'm surrounded by morons..."
"He's in a pleasant mood, wouldn't you say?" Broadway said after his
rookery brother had turned the corner a few minutes ago.
"I HEARD THAT!!" Brooklyn's voice came booming around the corner. He
suddenly hopped back in front of them, with both hands behind his back. "Why
don't you go do something constructive?"
That earned him three stares.
"You've gone completely and utterly insane, Brook, old buddy," Lex said
after a moment.
"Oh, have I, now?" A grin started spreading across Brooklyn's beak.
"You're... plotting something, aren't you?" Broadway said.
"However did you guess?" Brooklyn said as he brought his hand in front
of him.
"GACK!" Lex sputtered as he got a large stream of water in his face.
Broadway and Angela began sprinting away from the angry Brooklyn
armed with a Super Soaker.
* * *
no sense of being
who am i
what am i
no hands
no feet
no eyes
no life
nothing
but pain
* * *
Elisa knew who she was. She didn't know where she was. She couldn't
see. She couldn't feel anything.
~Am I dead?~ she thought to herself.
Suddenly she felt herself snap awake. She had been sleeping. Something
around her crackled, and a sound came from her lips that startled her -
something of a panther's roar.
She could see again. She scanned around her... it looked bleak. Looking
up, she could see the tower of the castle. But outside of the castle was not the
city of Manhattan...
"Sister?"
Jumping, Elisa turned to see a female gargoyle looking at her. "Huh?"
"Are you all right?" The gargoyle looked concerned.
"Uh, yes," Elisa said after a moment.
"Bad dream?" the female said.
Elisa nodded, relieved the gargoyle had offered an explanation.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
Elisa shook her head. "No... I was just confused," she said. ~Still am,~
she thought to herself.
"All right. If you want to talk, you know I'll be here," the female said, then
turned and glided off.
Elisa leaned against a nearby wall and put a hand to her head. Pausing,
she looked closely at her hand and gasped. ~Talons?!~
Unconsiously, she wrapped her wings around herself. She began
breathing heavily and she closed her eyes. ~Brooklyn could deal with being
human... I can deal with being a gargoyle.~ Taking a deep breath, she opened
her eyes and surveyed the area again.
"Sister!"
Gasping, she turned to her left to see a familiar face. "De-" She stopped
herself. ~Demona,~ she thought. ~Younger... but it's her. I'm in the past now.
She's not Demona yet.~
*Did you forget, Nocta?*
Demona's voice... in her head!! Elisa barely restrained herself from
gasping again. ~How...?~ A memory suddenly pushed to the front of her mind.
~The Early Hatchers'... can communicate by this. But how... why is she
communcating with me?~
*Nocta?*
Elisa desperately began thinking of what to do. ~How do I do it?!~
Trying... using her mind... it wasn't working. HOW?! ~What did they use?~ As a
faint breeze brushed by her, she remembered. ~By the Power of Air...~
*Sorry. You startled me.*
*We should go now. Leader is waiting for us.*
Elisa blinked. *Of course.* She then followed Demona off the side of the
castle, trying to remember how to use her wings from the time Puck had
changed her into a gargoyle. A bit shaky, but it was barely noticable.
~There is no way I'm going to pull this off,~ Elisa thought to herself.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn's rain
Brooklyn peered out into the east at the pink sky. His fun had been over
when they ran into the activity room and he accidentally squirted Hudson.
Brooklyn grinned to himself as a drop of water fell on his beak. He looked
up to see it had begun drizzling.
The sun rose, freezing him in that position.
And just as the stone around him crackled, two shadowed figures snuck
into the castle.
* * *
Sasha stretched and lazily reached for the remote to the TV. She pushed
the power button and the television clicked on. It was one of those annoying
commericals for Burger King. She snorted and walked across her room to get
the day's clothes. The commercial ended, and the "Now Back to Our Show"
music came on.
Sasha dropped the shirt she was holding when the familiar background
music came on. She had learned to hate that music with a passion, just because
of what memories went with it.
~Why are you doing this?~ she thought, to no one in particular. ~Why are
you tormenting me?~
* * *
When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
Cassie took a deep breath as she looked out the window. Two pigeons
were teasing each other. ~Epitomy of lovebirds,~ Cassie thought absently.
Staring out into the city, she closed her eyes. ~Faye loved this time of
day. It was beautiful to her...~ Without realising it, she started crying again. She
sunk to her knees.
She whispered out loud to herself. "Why did you have to take her away?
She was the only one I could talk to about ANYTHING..."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa had to admit, gliding was fun. She loved the feel of the air at her
face, running through her hair, hitting her wings.
Wings were fun, too. It was interesting having two extra limbs to control.
She noticed Demona dropping out of the air in front of her, so she began
to descend as well. Her landing was a bit bumpy, but she managed to stay under
control. She looked back up at Demona, who had begun to walk into a nearby
cave. Elisa blinked, then followed.
"We're here, Leader," Demona said as they came into a large cavern lit
by torches. "Sorry that we are a bit late." Elisa watched as Demona walked up to
a familiar face, one that she didn't trust at all.
~Salem...~ she thought, tensing up. ~What is he doing here?~ She
remembered that 'Leader' had once been a good, kind, and SANE person, and
she tried to keep herself from lashing out at him.
"Aurora, welcome back." Another female gargoyle walked over from a
small group. Elisa peered at her curiously. Her skin was azure, and her hair was
red. As Elisa looked from Demona's face to the newcomer's face, she was sure
of her suspicions.
She was Demona's mother.
* * *
Elisa walked out of the cave and crossed her arms. She didn't see the
point of even going to the "meeting." She had no clue what they had been
talking about. Something about spies in the castle, which apparently had been
going on for several weeks.
If there were spies in Castle Wyvern, why didn't they just tell someone?
*We can't tell them! They know about the Coven! They'll reveal us!*
~Who...?~ Elisa thought, looking around. During the meeting, she had
gotten used to the Powers that this body possessed, learning to sense when one
of "her own" was near.
But she didn't sense anyone just now.
And that voice... had seemed so familiar...
It had been her own.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Owen glanced at the surveilance screens as a buzzer went off. Looking
from screen to screen and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he hiked an
eyebrow.
The far left screen went out.
~That's in the Great Hall,~ Owen thought, flipping a switch and sprinting
out of the room.
* * *
A metal hand, glinting in them dim light, slashed through the air and left
four deep gashes in the glass.
"Would you hurry up?" hissed an annoyed female voice.
"I'm having fun," a male voice protested.
"This isn't a time to have fun!" the female snapped.
"Fine," he growled. "I'm hurrying." The hand formed a fist and broke the
glass, grabbing what was inside. "Why does she want this thing, anyway?"
"Who cares?" the female said, grabbing the object. "She's paying us
enough not to ask questions." She tucked the object away in a pouch at her
side.
"True. But it's still curious."
The female glanced around once more. "Let's go."
The two figures began to sprint towards the way they came, when
someone loomed in front of them. They skidded to a halt and backed up a few
steps.
"Jackal and Hyena," Owen said, stepping out. "Most surprising to see you
two again."
Hyena's upper lip curled back, and she glanced towards a window.
"I wouldn't try it." Owen had caught her plan. "There are forcefields
around all the windows. They'll send an electronic pulse to your mechanical
parts, causing them to short out."
"Then I guess we'll just have to go through you," Jackal muttered, bending
down into a pouncing crouch.
Owen pulled out a gun and shot Jackal with it. Lightning seemed to
crackle througout his body before focusing on his left arm. A spark flew, and
then smoke began to curl up from his shoulder.
"Damn you," Jackal hissed, realising he couldn't move his arm. He backed
up a few more steps.
Hyena suddenly grabbed him and began sprinting towards a wall. Owen
fired at her, but missed as she jumped into the air with her brother and kicked
through an air duct in the upper part of the wall. They disappeared.
Owen didn't waste any time before running back to trace them.
* * *
960 AD
Elisa sat on the edge of the cliff, puzzled.
She was in the past. She was a gargoyle. Now what was she supposed to
do?
She sighed and put her head in her hands, letting her hair fall into her
face. The wind brushed past her, letting her hair tickle her nose.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She jerked
her head up, looking over to her right. Two gargoyle silhouettes, one male and
one female, were highlighted in the moonlight. They were sitting on a nearby
ledge.
Elisa cocked her head to the side. Apparently they had not noticed her.
They were talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She decided not
to intrude on their privacy, and got up to leave quietly. She turned around, her
backs to them.
"Sister!"
Elisa gasped, turning. She knew that voice. ~Goliath?~ she thought,
squinting at him.
It WAS him. And next to him... Demona.
Elisa closed her eyes. ~This is the past. Think through this before you
speak... you have no clue what year this is, more or less if he's called Goliath yet
or not. Or if they're an item...~
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Goliath peered at her. "For what?"
"I didn't mean to intrude... I was just leaving." She turned to leave again.
"Don't go, sister." Demona stepped towards her.
"No, I need to," Elisa said, backing away. "I need to think. By myself."
Goliath's face tried to look understanding, but she could see the
confusion behind his mask. "Come to us if you need help, rookery sister."
Elisa forced a smile. "I will."
She chose to walk rather then glide.
It was several minutes before she heard the familiar sound of a gargoyle's
wings cutting through the air. Elisa jerked her head up to see Demona fly right
over her. Elisa blinked. ~Did she see me? Is she looking for me?~ The
distressed look on Demona's face told her otherwise.
Elisa followed her.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
"It's almost sunset," Xanatos said in a surprisingly calm voice to Owen.
"You tracked them just after dawn. Are you sure they're still in the building?"
"Quite sure, Mr. Xanatos."
"They were clearly avoiding the gargoyles by breaking in during the day.
Which means someone hired them to steal the Hitodama Stone."
"Someone who knows more about the stone's properties then we do.
Either that or someone who just wanted it."
"Yes." Xanatos glanced out the window. "Only ten more minutes."
"David?" Xanatos looked up at his sister... and a companion. His eyes
widened slightly.
"This is Sasha. She's here to meet the gargoyles."
"Is that wise?" Owen questioned.
"Goliath said it was okay."
"You two, stay in here until sunset," Xanatos ordered, walking over to the
door.
"What? Why?" Cassie asked, cocking her head to the side.
"There's intruders in the building. Very dangerous ones." Xanatos exited
his office.
"Damn. I wanted to see them wake up," Sasha murmured softly.
Owen couldn't help but glance at her. "I'll accompany you," he said.
"That'll be all right."
Sasha's face lightened.
* * *
Sasha and Cassie peered at the statues. Sasha could barely sit still.
Cassie had described what watching them wake up was like, but she couldn't
wait to see it for herself.
It started with a slight crackling. Sasha stared at the biggest statue with
wide eyes as tiny hairline fractures began running through it. The crackling got
louder and the 'statues' suddenly started moving. They arched back and the
stone around the gargoyles flew off as a great roar came from each one's mouth.
Sasha stared with an open mouth for a few seconds before jumping up
and shouting. "WOW!" Startled, Goliath turned around.
"Goliath, this is Sasha," Cassie said, gesturing to the rather loud and
jumpy girl.
Lexington and Brooklyn turned around at the same time. Lex took one
look at Sasha and let out a squak and Brooklyn promptly covered his mouth.
Brooklyn jumped down from his perch. "Sasha," he said in a rather quiet
voice. "Nice to see you again."
Sasha squinted at Brooklyn. "Hey... Brook? Oh, wow!" She practically
knocked him over in a hug. "I've missed you!" She smiled up at him. "How have
you been doing?"
"Okay, I suppose." Brook smiled back at her.
"Someone you met at the school, I take it?" Angela asked, watching
Sasha carefully.
"Yup!" Sasha exclaimed.
Owen let the meeting carry on a bit longer before turning to Goliath.
"There's a problem."
Goliath glanced at Owen. "Problem?" he said, eyes narrowing.
"There are two intruders in the building. Jackal and Hyena are back."
"Jackal and Hyena?" Lex jumped forward. "Where are they?"
"Somewhere inside the building. They have turned off all inside sensors,
but we know they are still inside because the outside ones haven't gone off."
"Why are they here?" Hudson asked.
"They stole an artifact that, as far as we know, has no magical properties.
It's very valuable, however."
"What is this artifact?" Goliath questioned, crossing his arms.
"It's called the Hitodama Stone. It's a very old gem that was carved into
the shape of a kanji that means 'death.' It's from ancient Japan. It was also
called the death stone."
"'Kanji?'"
"Chinese writing, incorporated by the Japanese," Sasha said quietly.
Owen glanced at her.
"Where did the name 'Hitodama' come from?" Broadway asked.
"It roughly translates to 'spirit lights' or 'death fire.' Supposedly if you saw
a fire spirit it was a sign that you would die very soon."
A few moments of silence passed before Lex finally spoke up. "Then...
um... should we go look for them?"
"The building is big, Lex," Brooklyn said. "It's more than just the castle."
"I know that!" Lex snapped. "But we need to find them!"
"We need a plan." Goliath said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "There
are still people in the building below the castle."
"The last I saw, they were in the air shafts." Owen put in.
"Then we'll start looking there," Goliath said. "Let's go look at the
blueprints of the building."
The gargoyles left, Angela glancing at Sasha one more time before
following.
Cassie stared after them as well, then turned back towards Sasha.
"What is it?"
Sasha closed her eyes. "Nothing."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa peered around the tree. Demona had landed and was now walking
through the woods. The look on Demona's face puzzled her. It was that of a
frightened young girl. It reminded her of several runaways that she had brought
in to the station.
Laughter was carried over to her ears by the wind, startling Elisa. She
looked around, but saw no one. She looked back towards Demona, who had
paused in hesitation. Elisa inched closer to her as she began moving again.
Demona led Elisa farther into the woods. In the distance, Elisa could see
a light, seemingly from a fire. ~Who would be this deep in the woods?~
"Hoy, look! It's da monster!"
Elisa jerked her head up at the voice. She crept closer to the small
clearing that Demona had entered.
"Didja do whot we asked ye to?" A man, one of three, glowered at
Demona.
Demona's head was tilted down in shame. "Yes," she whispered.
"I can't hear ye!" The same man put a hand to his ear.
"Yes, I did," Demona said in a louder voice.
"Good. Now give." A different man put his hand out.
Elisa wrinkled her nose at the three men. They were unclean, and she
could smell them from where she sat. They were dirty looking, even for the
middle ages.
Demona reach for her belt, where she withdrew a small sack. She handed
it to the man, who snatched it from her greedily.
He emptied the sack and counted the money inside. He looked back up at
Demon in anger. "Dis ain't the amount we wanted!" he hissed. "Ye trying to
cheat us, monster?" He stood up.
Demona's eyes widened. "No! I don't know the amount you wanted! I
can't count very well - I'm sorry!"
"Ye damn monster! Ye know what we warned ye about!" The man pushed
Demona to the ground. Elisa felt her lips pull back and low growl rumbling in her
throat. She changed her position from crouching down to hide to one coiled up
to pounce.
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Lexington slid into the seat near the computer. Goliath had ordered him to
try his hardest to get the indoor scanners turned back on. Lex doubted that he
could. Owen had tried all day, and he knew the system better then Lex.
"What do you think, Lex?" Broadway questioned, leaning over his
shoulder.
"I think it can't be done. I think they cut off the actual power supply to the
scanners. In which case, they can't be fixed from the computer." Lex leaned
back in his chair, thinking. "Maybe I can try the individual scanner..."
Owen glanced at the gargoyle. "That scanner takes a great deal of power.
It can only scan one room at a time. We'll have to turn off all other power
sources in order to scan the whole building."
"But if we can find them, won't it be worth it?" Lex said, grinning.
Owen stared at the gargoyle, then walked into a corner and pulled out a
cell phone.
* * *
Goliath looked up as the lights flickered and then went out. "I don't like
this," he growled.
"It's all right, Goliath." Xanatos walked out from a hallway with his mecha-
gear on. He turned a flashlight, bathing everything in an eerie light. "Lexington
and Owen and getting a different kind of scanner to work. They'll tell us where
Jackal and Hyena are within a few minutes.
Cassie peered around the Great Hall, looking at the smashed display
case, then the entrance to the air shaft. ~How could they do that?~ she
wondered. ~That entrance is at least 25 feet in the air.~
"Xanatos?" Lexington's voice came over a pair of headphones that
Xanatos was wearing. "They're in the Library. That's as far as we could pinpoint
them."
Xanatos nodded and led the way.
* * *
Sasha blindly followed the gargoyles. ~Do I really want to face this?~ she
wondered to herself. "I don't know," she whispered.
"Don't know what?" Sasha looked at Cassie, then shook her head.
They came to the entrance of the Library, then slowed down. "Hush,"
Goliath said, holding up a hand. "We don't want to scare them away. Don't make
it obvious we know they're in there." He opened the door quietly.
They walked in slowly, expecting an ambush. Goliath gestured to
seperate. Sasha had no idea if that order included her and Cassie as well, but
she didn't really care. She walked over to the stairs to the second level of the
library and began climbing.
"Sasha!" Brooklyn hissed, barely audible. "What the hell are you doing?"
Sasha didn't hear him. She walked silently, placing her steps carefully as to not
make any sound at all. Brooklyn watched her as she suddenly stopped and
looked around. "Sasha..." He began walking towards the stairs. Cassie reached
out with her hand and stopped him, shaking her head.
A sudden sound startled everyone in the room as Sasha whirled around,
bringing her leg up and smashing in an air duct. She didn't make any vocal
sound as she reached into the hole she had made and pulled out two surprised
cyborgs by the neck.
Brooklyn started running and leapt straight up to the upper level. Goliath
did the same, running towards Sasha.
But Jackal and Hyena made no move to attack her. They simply stared in
shock.
Hyena finally opened her mouth when Sasha began walking away from
them. "S...Sasha?"
* * *
960 AD
The growl in Elisa's throat grew louder as the men began hitting Demona.
"Don't forget, monster! We know where yer castle be! We can smash yer
clan during the day while they sleep! We know which ones ye care about!"
Demona blocked most of the blows, but she made no move to attack
them.
"And even if ye kill us, there's plenty more of our band! Ye'll never be able
to kill us all!"
Elisa stopped growling. Was it true? Even if she did help Demona fight
these three men off... there were more? She clicked her teeth in frustration.
The men finally threw Demona against a tree. Demona groaned in pain,
reaching up to rub her shoulder.
Elisa looked up, an idea flashing into her mind. She sank her talons into
the tree she was hiding behind and climbed up it swiftly. The low growl started
again. Elisa hopped from one tree to another until she was right above one of
the men.
"Never," the man was saying, "Never forget it, monst-"
The man suddenly disappeared as a hand reached down and dragged
him up through the branches of the trees. He screamed and Elisa smacked her
hand over his mouth.
"Eh? What's up there?" She heard the other men wondering about their
comrade's sudden absence.
The man she held in her grasp suddenly jerked his head and bit down on
her hand. Elisa yowled and pulled her upper teeth back, hissing in pain. She
pulled him closer with her other hand and put her now bleeding hand on the
back of his head.
Swiftly, she yanked his head to the side. A sickening crack was heard, but
to Elisa's ears, it sounded wonderful.
She dropped the body. She could hear his companions shocked cries.
"These woods... these woods are haunted!" one of the men cried. "It's
some kind of demon around us!"
The other man, however, was not so superstitious. "It's a demon, all right.
But it's not a ghost. It's a damn gargoyle!"
Elisa moved from the tree she was in with care. Adrenaline was pumping
through her veins at a furious pace. Her eyes narrowed as she heard his words,
and fury began building. A slow wind began billowing around her, lifting her hair
straight up. She had to adjust her wings so that they would not be caught in it.
The wind blew down and around them as well.
"Wh-what's that?" the frightening man said.
"It's... it's one of the gargoyle's tricks!" The other one didn't sound so sure
of himself now.
The wind picked up even more, and the men were knocked off their feet.
"Get out of here!" Elisa shouted in anger. "You don't belong here!"
The men backed away from her voice, which seemed to be coming from
all directions because of the wind. It was as if the wind itself was speaking.
"A gargoyle can't do that," one of the men said. Elisa couldn't quite see
which one.
"LEAVE!" she screamed, one final gust of wind blowing them across the
ground. The men climbed to their feet and began running. When they were out
of sight, the wind died down.
Elisa smiled to herself, and looked down at Demona.
"Nocta?"
* * *
PRESENT TIME
"Sasha?" Hyena's voice came out more certain then it had the first time.
Goliath noticed that for once, Hyena didn't sound insane. She sounded...
relieved? Concerned? Sad? Something like that...
Sasha was still walking towards the stairs. She didn't even cast a
backward glance.
"Sasha," Jackal said. "You ran away."
Sasha stopped walking, but didn't turn back. She didn't say anything,
either.
"You left us, Sasha." Hyena's voice sounded angry now. "Why?"
"Is that what Daddy told you?" Sasha's voice was quiet, but tightly
controlled. "That I ran away?"
"... told?"
"I didn't run away." Sasha turned to face them. Her eyes were hard as
stone. "Daddy sent me away to a boarding school. Only it wasn't a boarding
school. It was a facility for the criminally insane. He faked records of me, telling
them that I had repeatedly tried to kill you two and him on several occasions. He
lied to them to get rid of me. He kicked me out-"
"He wouldn't do that!" Hyena stood up, nearly shaking in anger. "Don't
talk about him like that! He's dead now, and all you can do is bad-mouth him?"
"Give us one reason why he would send you away." Jackal's voice was
only a fraction more calm.
Sasha was silent for a few moments. "Remember Mom's wish was for all
of us to go into 'show biz'since she didn't make it?" Hyena nodded. "When she
died, Daddy pushed us to do just that. He wanted us to act and do nothing else.
You two were already interested in it. You had done a ton of school drama
productions, and you were both majoring in acting at the university. But me..."
She looked down. "I didn't want to act. Oh, I could - but I didn't want to. I would
rather direct then anything else. And when I told him that, he sent me away. He
said I had betrayed the memory of our mother."
"It sounds a bit far-fetched," Jackal said.
"And like a soap opera," Hyena addded.
"Daddy was insane." Sasha crossed her arms and looked away from
them. "You two obviously take after him."
"What?!" Hyena screeched, grinding her teeth.
Sasha closed her eyes. "How could you do this to me?" Her voice
sounded strangely defeated.
"What? What did _we_ do?"
"They released me from the insane asylum after they realised I wasn't
insane. I fought my way to get to New York after I saw that show you were in -
"The Pack." By the time I got here, it had been cancelled because you guys
were doing various stupid things.
"After you guys escaped from jail, I had no idea where you were. But I
knew that David Xanatos had created the Pack. I knew that if anyone knew were
you guys were, he would. I tried to get an appointment with him, but they
wouldn't let me past the lobby.
"So I got myself enrolled in school. Had to get myself adopted first, but I
managed. I enrolled carefully - with Cassandra Xanatos.
"At first I was just using her to get to Xanatos, but Cassie was actually
nice to me. I decided not to use her, except as a last resort. So my foster father
started searching. He found your last traces - the ones you left in Guatemala.
But when that fell flat, I decided to go ahead and shoot for Xanatos. I didn't
expect you'd fall right into my lap."
No one said anything for a few minutes until Jackal finally broke the ice.
"So what's the problem?"
"What's the problem?" Sasha didn't sound angry. She just repeated his
tone of voice. "Problem. No problem here."
"Sasha-" Hyena started moving towards her.
"Expect for the fact that I searched for you for three fucking years, and
when I finally find, you're not even in one piece. You've got metal body parts that
you can't even pass as human. But other then that, no problem here."
She turned away. "You were the last family I had left. Daddy kicked me
out, and then he died. You were my last relatives." She lowered her head. "But
you're as good as dead now. All you can do is work for money that you can't
spend anywhere. Thank you for ruining not only your lives, but mine as well."
She began walking again. "I hope you're happy with what you've done to
yourselves. Because you've got to live like that for the rest of your lives."
They let her leave.
* * *
960 AD
"Nocta?" Demona's voice carried up. "I know you're up there! Come
down!" Elisa hopped down from the branches.
Demona smiled at her, then promptly pounced on her and pinned her to
the ground. Elisa looked startled until she saw Demona was laughing.
"You're an idiot, but... I don't know how to thank you, sister!" Elisa's face
couldn't hide her shock when she saw a tear drip from Demona's eyes. "I
couldn't get rid of them - they kept threatening the clan if I didn't do what they
said! And I tried to tell the humans at the castle, but they didn't believe me! Now
those stupid humans won't ever come back!"
"But... aren't there more of them? Can't they come back and...?"
"Not after the way you scared them off! Most of them are VERY scared of
spirits and forest demons." Demona smiled and let Elisa stand up. "I can't ever
repay you, Nocta. But someday..." Her smile faded.
"What?" Elisa asked, frowning.
"I'll get revenge on the humans. Why should we have the beg the humans
for our lives when we are stronger then them?"
"I don't know..."
"Why do they beat us and..." Demona's eyes narrowed. "Someday I'll
make them pay."
Elisa smiled weakly. "Yes... you will." She put a hand on Demona's
shoulder. "Come on. Let's go back home."
* * *
PRESENT TIME
Neither Jackal or Hyena were putting up a fight. Sasha's words had
somehow bruised them. They weren't even moving. They even looked a bit sad.
Xanatos reached forward and took the pouch from Hyena. He opened at
took out the stone. "Too much trouble for this little thing." He looked at them. "So
who hired you?"
Jackal sighed. "Something Destine. Lots of cash."
Everyone froze. "Mother?" Angela whispered.
Brooklyn looked at Hudson. "That's what she was after last night. Good
thing you and Lex were there." He didn't mention himself - he, Lex and Hudson
had solemnly agreed to keep his freezing a secret (although Hudson was
confused as to why Brooklyn had wanted it that way).
"What's so special about that stone then, Xanatos?" Broadway
demanded.
"Yes," Goliath agreed. "If Demona is after it, then there is something
about it that we should know about."
Xanatos didn't answer for a moment, but when he did it was as smooth as
ever. "There are certain properties about the Hitodama stone that are magical.
We don't know exactly how the stone works, Goliath. No one does. Including
Demona."
"Which is why it should be destroyed."
"What?" Xanatos jerked his head up as something hopped on top of him
and snatched the stone out of his hands. Whatever it was knocked him to the
ground, then pushed itself over the edge of the upper level. It landed on the
lower level with little sound.
What was a blur before was now a girl who couldn't have been more than
17. She turned golden eyes towards the amazed group above her. She tossed a
head full of snow-white hair, smiling. As they watched, she bent over and put the
stone on the ground. She then pulled out a knife that was decorated with odd
designs and brought the blade down on top of it. The stone shattered, and an
eerie blue light seemed to puff out of it, then disappear. She stood back up and
looked at them again.
"Don't look so shocked!" she shouted at them. "The Hitodama stone is the
stone of death, right? Well, it's dead now, and now no one can use it!"
"Wh-who are you?" Brooklyn said, leaning over the railing. "And why did
you smash it?"
"Something with magical properties that no one alive knows how to use
shouldn't be around. It's too dangerous!" The girl grinned. "And as for who I
am... we'll just wait until you find out again! Ja ne, otousan!" She turned and
began running. She ran into the shadows of the stacks.
Brooklyn hopped down and ran towards where she had gone. He looked
around, but saw nothing. "She's... gone!"
"'Ja ne, otousan?'" Xanatos repeated her last words with amusement. "I
wonder who she was talking to."
* * *
960 AD
Elisa stood on her perch, watching the few rays of sun come over the
horizon.
*Nocta.*
Elisa turned and saw the gargoyle she had singled out as Demona's
mother come up behind her. "Aurora told me what you did for her tonight," she
said quietly, as to not attract attention. "I want to thank you. Aurora is very
special to me. As are you, child." She reached out and stroked Elisa's cheek.
"Live in happiness, young one. Tell me if you need anything." Elisa smiled as
she left.
~Live in happiness,~ she thought. ~How do I get back to my own time?~
She looked up, almost sadly, at Goliath. He was watching his brothers
and sisters get ready for a wonderful day's nap. He finally looked at her and
noticed her staring at him. He blinked, and then smiled warmly at her.
Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away from him. ~Great... make
it look like this gargoyle likes him!~ she thought to herself.
The angry look on her face froze as the sun peeked at the castle.
* * *
Elisa was sleeping.
She was dreaming, too.
"Sister..."
Elisa looked around and saw Demona smiling at her. Demona... no...
Aurora?
Aurora was smiling at her.
Since when had Demona become Aurora to her? Aurora was what
Brooklyn had called her. Aurora was what Salem had called her. Aurora was
what the Coven had called her.
Nocta?
Oh, god... she had killed a man tonight. With her BARE HANDS, no less.
She had just been so caught up in the moment... she had felt the need to punish
him for hurting her sister.
Sister. Her rookery sister.
Suddenly, in a rush, memories flooded into Elisa's mind. Memories of
growing up with Goliath and Demona. Memories of the Coven and learning their
secrets. Memories of jealousy of Demona, since Demona had gotten Goliath and
she hadn't. Memories of the last night before the Vikings attacked, and what
Leader had done to her to protect her. Memories of going to sleep one
morning... and never waking up...
Elisa began shaking.
~Oh, god.~
She put her head in her hands. ~There's no such thing as reincarnation!~
she thought definately. But there was no denying it. She couldn't. Not when she
had suddenly been filled with two lifetimes of memories. She had two lives, and
one was over - but she couldn't give up thinking about it now that she
remembered it...
"I am Nocta."
* * *
Krys reached out and shook Elisa on the shoulder. "Elisa! Wake up!"
Elisa's eyes fluttered and then opened. "Krystiana?"
"Are you all right now?"
Elisa sat up shakily. "Yes."
"Did everything go okay?"
"Yes."
Krys was silent for a moment. "You remember, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Is that all you can say?"
Elisa didn't even glance at her. "Krys, can you leave me alone for a
while?" She was leaning back into her pillow.
Krys reluctantly stood up and started to leave. "Elisa... will you still help
me?"
"Help you what?"
"Make my parents remember."
Elisa closed her eyes. "I made a promise. Now go away."
Krystiana smiled and hopped out of the skylight.
Elisa put her head back down, curling up.
Mentally, she was a mess. And she didn't know how to start reorganzing
her memories. She couldn't help it... even though her two lives were completely
different, she was confusing them.
She didn't know what to do. She sat still for a few hours, not moving and
inch and barely breathing.
After a while, she heard a click at her skylight. She slip her eyes up and
saw Goliath looking in at her with a concerned look on his face. He hopped in
and walked over to her. He gathered her up in his arms, supporting her.
"Elisa?" he whispered. "What is it?"
"Just... a dream. Old memories." Elisa closed her eyes.
"What can I do?"
Elisa was silent before answering. "Hold me."
Goliath titled his head to the side.
"Just... hold me."
* * *
I am the soft star that shines at night
Sasha's eyes trailed on Brooklyn as he knelt once more in front of Faye
Jackson's grave. She turned her back and began walking. Brooklyn needed a
few moments alone with her.
Brooklyn didn't look over his shoulder as Sasha walked away. He didn't
need or want to.
"Faye," he whispered. "I'm sorry. You wouldn't be in the ground if it wasn't
for me. I know people keep telling me not to blame myself - but it IS my fault. Liv
wouldn't have shot you if I had never been there. She wouldn't of snapped. And
even then, I could have saved you. If only I had been..." Brooklyn choked and
his eyes shut. "... been faster..." He put his face in his hands. "Oh, god... Faye."
He stared at the grave marker almost in anger. "Why couldn't I stop it? Why
can't I go back and change what happened? Why the hell DID it happen?"
Shaking his head, he continued. "You were one of my first friends in this world.
Elisa is a friend, and so is Cassy... but you were the first one who really
accepted me in whole for who I was." Brooklyn's fists clenched tightly. "But
you're gone. And there's nothing left for me now. You were all I had."
Brooklyn took and breath and let it out shakily. "Faye... why can't you
come back?"
He curled up at the foot of her grave, wrapping his wings around himself.
The only sound that could be heard was the crying of a lost and tortured young
gargoyle.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.
-
FIN
-------------------------------------------------------
Finished: 12-30-99, 2:53 AM
Edited: ?
MAIL, PLEASE! I'm serious about this, folks.
Well.... three more stories, and then I'll have written all the stories
I need to have written for Gargoyles.
On This Joyous Day - about halfway done
Mind Games - not started yet
The Coven Saga, Part IV: Dark Reunion - not started yet
Watch for them. But please don't ask me to send them to you.