Gargoyles : Legacy
Episode 1: Wyvern's Heirs
By Cosmic Inspiration
Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series and the Goliath Chronicles is the property of the Walt Disney Company and Buena Vista, originally created by Greg Weisman. No infringement is intended here and not authorized by the copyholders, this author only writes for fun and entertainment of this beloved animated series. All original characters are the property of the author Cosmic Inspiration.
As dusk slowly blanketed the cool grey stones of a Medieval Scottish castle set high upon a horizon of diminishing darker grey storm clouds, a suave businessman stood in the courtyard patiently waiting for an event he had come to expect nightly. Through the distant acoustics of cars driving by, blaring horns, or warbling sirens echoed throughout the streets of an iconic city from below, the young businessman paid no attention to it knowing it would soon be overwhelmed by what was to come very shortly.
As the sky darkened a bit more, to relieve the Sun of its daily duty of granting the Earth its blessing of light and life and give the sky nightly view of sparkling stars from above, among which dances with them human created satellites and the everlasting International Space Station, a young boy of no more than twelve years with a toasted complexion and dark hair came running excitedly out into the courtyard to stand by the suave businessman and smile up at him as he excitedly asked,
"Are they awake yet?"
"No, not yet," the businessman said with a patient smile as he looked back to what he awaited for.
All around him and the boy were an assorted collection of unique statues, fantastic creatures with wings that now stood in various poses to appear fierce and frighten away any intruders who dared to pry into and invade their fortress. Upon the highest tower, one figure kneeled in a more solemn and thoughtful pose while below him more stood with wings spread and claws bared as their faces evoked silent snarls.
The last of the Sun's luminous rays soon faded and true night was finally embraced, yet still held at bay by bright lights from the city below. Moments later there came loud gravely cracks of braking stone and the reverberated echoes of fearsome primal roars from all around the suave businessman and his young companion as they watched in fascination the awakening of the Gothic statues now come to life, most of whose roars were dwarfed by the cry of the mighty figure upon the castle's highest tower.
After giving the last of awaking roars and stretching their wings, the creatures of myth hopped down from their perches and began greeting each other and their human admirers.
"Evenin', Lex," the suave businessman greeted to a short olive colored gargoyle with webbed wings, a gold head piece and a golden prosthetic right arm.
"Hey, Alex," he greeted back in a normal voice, "And how have things been today while we slept?"
"Same old, same old," Alex said as he then smiled to the female walking lovingly next to Lexington, "Evenin', Rae, you're looking very radiant tonight."
The mandarin colored gargoyle gave Alex a dirty look, but could not help but smile at the old joke, though it still annoyed the New Mexican she-garg how much of his father's humor Alex had inherited.
Alexander Xanatos had indeed inherited a lot from his parents, not just financially but hereditarily. He looked and sounded every bit like his father, David Xanatos, right down to his height, build, and his goatee, yet he had his mother's sunset red gold hair, styled as a mullet and pulled back into a ponytail, and blue-green eyes over which he also sported a teal canine head shaped tattoo, just like his mother. He also inherited his father's taste for expensive business suits, one of which he wore in a creamy white color.
Alex and his lifelong friend and gargoyle 'uncle' Lexington got to talking about the day's business progress report, but the boy standing next to them ignored them as he went running up to two people who just released each other from a passionate embrace.
"Hey, Mom, hey, Dad," he cried happily as he ran up to Elisa Maza and her gargoyle husband, Goliath.
Though Elisa Maza had gone grey in the temples of her raven black hair and she now wore in a tight ponytail, she still had the strength and will of a 25 year old young woman and still wore her signature jeans and red bomber jacket, though it had faded over the years. However, her current job as a police captain required her to wear business suits, which she detested, and would only wear them for 'important' things, such as meetings with higher law enforcement officials or city politicians.
Goliath had also gone slightly grey at the temples of his hair, yet he was still a formidable warrior and leader of the Manhattan Clan, though now he wore uniform trousers and X crossing straps with a large badge in the center of his chest and metallic arm bands.
"Hey there, Sport," Elisa said, "What's happening tonight?"
"Homework's done if that's what you're asking, Mom. It's Saturday, the guys and I are just gonna go to a 4D movie," Elisa's human son said.
"With supervision, I hope. I can't afford to have a bunch of adolescent gargoyles and a human kid getting into trouble, Malcolm. You know it's taken your father and me many years to get gargoyles socially accepted in this city."
"Yes, Mom," Malcolm groaned.
"It's alright, My Love," rumble the familiar voice of her large husband, Goliath, the leader of the Manhattan Clan of gargoyles, "Broadway and Angela had agreed to take Malcolm and his rookery brothers the other night. From what I understand this film is not to be missed."
Both human son and gargoyle father smiled at Elisa, though she smiled back with a bit of a skeptical look, yet she knew she could only relent.
"Have you seen your sister?" she asked the young Malcolm.
"Des? No, she might be inside getting breakfast, I'm starving by the way," Malcolm said as he gripped his rumbling tummy and ran for inside the castle before all the good food was taken by the rest of the clan.
Every evening and early morning meals were a small feast for the clan, which was always prepared in advanced by Alexander Xanatos's private army of chefs and caterers. Nothing but the best for his extended family, though often enough the clan insisted on their own share of hunting for their own meat during hunting seasons, or going out into the city to buy the freshest fruits and vegetables in a fresh food market and face the occasional dirty snark or near violent encounter from a few still prejudice humans on infrequent occasions, all to keep in touch with their roots of being a 'hunter/gatherer' clan.
The long table of the old Great Hall of Castle Wyvern was set from end to end with an assortment every breakfast food imaginable, from bagels and biscuits to a variety of egg omelets, pancakes, and waffles, and even had dispensers for a variety of coffee and tea, which almost half of the clan turned their noses up at.
At the table gathering her evening breakfast, was Elisa's eldest daughter, Destiny Faith, who was a near spitting image of her mother with coppery golden brown skin, fiery brown eyes, and her father's long sable black hair, bat styled wings, small brow ridges, long tail, four toed digitigrade feet, and small pointed ears. She was waiting for her turn to get a quick cup of coffee with her meal of two bagels, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, and breakfast meat cold cuts.
"Good evening, Honey," Elisa said to her grown daughter as they embraced, Destiny's wings enfolding her mother for a moment.
"Evenin', Mom," she said as she tried to balance her plate with one hand.
Elisa eyed her eldest daughter, who was already a head taller than her, up and down at the jean shorts and sleeveless purple shirt with a wide back for her wings that she wore. Elisa could remember how her own parents occasionally criticized what she would wear as a teenager, and tried not to repeat that habit herself with her own children and tried to remember there was no real harm to it seeing as how it was the middle of summer.
"So what do you have planned for tonight?" Elisa asked.
"I've told you like a million times for the last week, Mom, I'm going to the Dark Wind concert in the park with my friends. And yes, I know not to try any of the drugs I may be offered no matter how much I'm pressured into it or stuff like that."
Elisa looked at her daughter with a small smile but still worried like a mother always did, though she knew she could trust her daughter. Yet her honed 'cop instinct' also told her to protect Destiny with her life all because of what she is.
"I hope you have a good time, sweetheart, and I want you to promise me you won't start any trouble just because there are still a bunch of bigots out there looking for a fight with gargoyles or mutates just to prove they're tough."
"Mooom," Destiny groaned, but she knew Elisa was serious, "I know, I know. I don't want to start to any trouble, I just want to have a good time with my friends, and I don't need a chaperone, I can take care of myself."
"I know, Honey, but being a mother and a police woman I still worry about my kids. I knew I couldn't hide you all away in this castle forever, no matter how hard I wanted to."
"But then we would've missed out on a lot of great things in the world," Destiny said with a smile, "Like going to movies and concerts, or Disney World, or just playing in the park and messing with mom and dad. And I may finally have a chance at going to college in a couple of years."
Elisa smiled at this opportunity as any mother would be proud of her daughter going off to college and discovering her independence. Yet at the same time she feared for Destiny, for it had taken years for the Manhattan Clan to even earn the most basic civil rights and even citizenship as any proud red blooded American or bright eyed immigrant of times long passed looking to live the American Dream, which in this day and age sounded like almost nothing more than empty words thrown around as loose as untied string.
But one thing Elisa Maza always believed strongly in was hope for a better world, and she believed in it more strongly every day as she saw her extended family grow.
She smiled at her oldest daughter as she said, "Well, you and your friends have a great time at the concert, and bring me back a souvenir T-shirt, okay?"
"Yes, Mother," Destiny groaned at her mother's bad clichéd joke and continued with trying to eat her evening meal.
Captain Elisa Maza said good-bye to the clan as she made her way to the express elevator on her way to work, giving one last kiss to her lifemate, Goliath, who waited by the elevator.
Destiny made her way to another end of the Great Hall passed the main banquet table to one of the small side tables to sit with her good friend Rowena, a girl who looked to be like a human teenager like Destiny appeared to be, but both were actually older than they seemed. Rowena, or Ro for short, was a girl of slim yet well proportioned build, a tall height of 5'10'', delicate yet well angled features of a beautiful Elvin like face, eyes an iridescent color that changed with an opalescence of various shades of blue and green, and back length hair of an unusual platinum blond color, yet through her inherent Avalonian Fey magic her hair changed color to match her mood. Though she could also make her skin look to be an average Caucasian shade, its true coloring was that of a lovely pale pastel green, and with magic she kept hidden a pair of enchanted gossamer butterfly like wings that glistened even with the faintest of light.
Now she just looked like a normal human teenager with magenta colored hair styled in a wild side braid, and she wore a starburst pattern bedazzled one strap bright purple top and denim shorts with bedazzled back pockets and high platform shoes.
"Hey, D," Ro cheerfully greeted her best friend, "Ready for the concert tonight?"
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to it for weeks. Just us, Kyra, Leona, and the club. A regular girls night out with no parents, no clan, and best of all no annoying little hatchling rookery siblings. I'm hoping to see one of the Dark Wind guys take his shirt off, Dustin's sooo hot."
"Oh, puh-leease," Ro groaned, "Everybody knows Ricky is way hotter, you've seen those abs and his mega tight butt. _Seventeen_ says he can break eggs with it."
"Whatever, I just hope they do my favorite song first, Lady In the Night. I always wanted to show off my sky dancing skills I practiced to it every chance I got, but you know how my Mom is with letting me go outside the castle."
"Hey, we promised not to talk about parents tonight, remember, D? But, yeah, I know how you feel. My Mom and Dad are so strict when it comes to fun, but it's all just harmless trickery." Tiny bits of sparkling fairy dust danced from her finger tips. "Even if you come from a family of cops, your Mom's great. Anyway, I want to see if Ricky will sign my chest." Ro pushed out her chest and her bosom seemed to become a couple of cup sizes bigger.
Destiny gave her friend a dirty look to her lewd behavior, but Ro just smiled wide in self amusement. She then gave a low hoot as she said,
"Oooh, speaking of hunks, look who's comin' this way. The clan's most eligible bachelors from Avalon."
Destiny turned around to see who Ro was referring to, two young adult male gargoyles walked near to the young hybrid and Fay girls, both different from each other but attractive each in their own way, Metatron and Zuriel.
Metatron was the taller and more muscular of the two, at 6'7'' with an impressive warrior's build and a wide wing span that would rival Goliath's or Othello's wing spans. His coloring was a pale lilac, his hair a dark auburn, and unlike most other gargoyles he had stunning emerald green eyes which was said to be an after affect of an accidental exposure to magic in some way. Being of Scottish descent, he had two pairs of horns over each brow ridge, the inside horns were three inches long and curved up slightly while the outside ones were seven inches long coming up from his temples, slightly wavy, and came close to his cranium. He had spurs on his knees, elbows, and knuckles and toe talons, standard male wings with blue-violet membranes on the inside and raspberry membranes on the outside, and his long tail ended in a tear drop arrow shaped spade. His face may have slightly resembled actor Chris Hemsworth at a younger age with a strong jaw and high cheek bones and a deep voice. He simply wore tight denim shorts under a denim loincloth with a big belt buckle with a dragon design, and a buttoned denim vest with large pockets.
Zuriel was a tall 6'4'' and had more a wiry yet muscular runner's build. He had a more prominent beaked face, while Metatron's was more human looking, and a thick brow ridge with small horns, but his beak was shorter than Brooklyn, Ariana, or Graeme's. It was said he may resemble or even be related to a slaughtered cowardly brother from Goliath's rookery generation. Zuriel's coloring was a pleasant mossy green color and his dark blond hair was naturally styled like a combination of a Mohawk and a mullet which framed his fin shaped ears. Although his wings were the common bat style, they lacked any digits, and he wore jeans with a hole for his tail and a black sleeveless shirt.
As hatchlings they were inseparable, and it continued into their young adult years. Being from Avalon, they were indeed rookery brothers to a now older Angela, however with the time difference between the real world and the magical world, they were of a younger age than Angela like a human leaving their teenage years and going into their early twenties. They had left Avalon in search of adventures and their places in the world, as their now older rookery sister had done long ago, yet only a few days may have passed on Avalon while they had joined a now extended Manhattan Clan several months ago.
"Many merry greetings, Destiny and Lady Rowena," Metatron politely said with a gentleman's bow to both of the girls, Zuriel doing the same.
"Hey, Tron, hey, Zur," Ro cheerfully said, "What's the haps?"
The two young males looked at each other with amused smiles, though their time in the outside world has thus far been brief, the way most people spoke in the outside world still greatly puzzled them as well as bemused them.
"My brother and I are on leave from training with the city's police guardians this night and mean to see more of the realm with new friends. I hear word of thou fair ladies attending a festival this night in the Central Park. Mayhap we may join you hither at a later time," Metatron said.
"That sounds nice, Tron," Destiny said with a bashful undertone as she began playing with a lock of her dark sable hair, "But. . ."
"Sorry, guys," Ro spoke up, "It's a girls' night for us, so no guys, gargoyle or human. Maybe another time."
Metatron did not try to hide his confusion or disappointment, but he accepted their refusal with dignity as he said,
"Mayhap another time then. Though it is vexing to me you call this a 'girls' night' when you wish to attend a festival for a group of all male minstrels that plays blaring noise called 'music' in this world."
"'Tis not so difficult to understand, Brother," Zuriel finally spoke up, "'Tis a gathering for females only, and we be not invited. Leave them to their frolicsome time, and we go see what challenges befit us as warriors when not training on the police force. I wish to know more of this sport our friends call 'football' for they speak of it as being most exciting."
Metatron then gave another gentlemanly bow as he and Zuriel took their leave, Destiny watching Metatron with a faraway dreamy look on her coppery face.
"You so like him," Ro teased.
"Do not," Destiny protested, then absentmindedly smiled as she said, "Okay, he is kinda cute."
Ro gave a wide grin as she said, "Well, I know he really likes you, it's why he always comes up to you every night and tries to ask you out. He's just too shy to say so."
"Shut up, Ro," Destiny said snippily.
The two friends finally finished their evening meal, walked out to the castle's parapets and took off into the night, headed for Central Park.