6The Approaching Darkness

by Hardwing

Lucifia holds a hostage and forces Demona to reveal things in front of the clan she would have liked to stay hidden. See how the game is developing.

I just want to thank the creators of DARK AGES for creating such a great background and Storyseeker for correcting my fics and helping me with great ideas.

6. The approaching Darkness

09.08.98; 03:51; Castle Wyvern, Great Hall:

"Hello mother!" These words, spoken so soft, but at the same time with such brutal forced and dark promises in it, stood in the Great Hall like a cloud since everybody had been able to hear them.

Xanatos looked at Owen in shock when this came to stand aside from him.

"Owen what has happened?" the billionaire asked him, unable to hide his shock behind his usual facade. "Why can we hear her.... why is she alive?"

"I can't answer the last question sir," the servant replied in his usual stoic manner, but Xanatos could sense by the slight tremble in his voice that Owen shivered within. A fact which didn't calm the billionaire. "I've just been called by her on my cell-phone and she instructed me to bind the call with the intercom so that everybody is able to hear her dialogue with Demona."

"Why haven't you informed me at once?" Xanatos asked surprised.

Owen took his glasses and cleaned them.

"She has a hostage." Owen replied "She would have killed her if I wouldn't have followed her instruction."

"Whom?" Xanatos asked in shock, he had a short image of his son, but he should sleep secure in his nursery.... should.

"Someone of the clan..." Owen replied "Who is important to Demona."

Xanatos wanted to ask him further, but finally Demona had gained the strength to speak further.

"How were you able to survive?" Demona asked emotionless.

"Oh mother is this all?" Lucifia asked as if she had a heart which could be hurt "No happiness that your daughter is alive?"

"How were you able to survive?" Demone repeated herself.

"This is my little secret," Lucifia explained "But I told you that I would come back, didn't I? There had to be a next time since all good things are three."

"What do you want?" Demona asked in the same voice like before. She didn't looked on the shocked clan around her, she didn't notice the fact that they all could hear Lucifia, too, instead she sat down on the next free seat.

"Need I a reason to speak with my mother?" Lucifia asked playfully "I mean we could speak about old times like you have seemingly done here..."

"I am not interested!" Demona snapped, the pain she felt helped her, fuelled the fire she needed to survive this night since she knew deep down the worst had just to come.

Xanatos looked surprised by that and whispered Owen some instructions, on which the servant moved away, again vanishing in the floors.

"Oh come," Lucifia said calmly "else I would start the ritual without telling you where the party starts."

"The ritual..." Demona nearly whispered, her realisation led her, like many of the clan, to a terrible thought.

"Oh yes the ritual." Lucifia repeated happily "You have to know I'm for some reason not on the top of my power, I'm not totally one with darkness anymore. And what do I need to be so again?" Lucifia asked happily.

The whole clan looked on Demona in shock when they realized what they meant and at once Brooklyn, along with a female and a male of the former Moray Clan ran through the floors to the rookery of the clan.

Demona just noticed that on the bottom of her mind, she didn't need it to inform herself if there were all eggs in the rookery since she knew there was one missing.

"I need not to say which egg I chose, or?" Lucifia asked and Demona's claw tightened amongst the cell phone until it nearly broke. "Oh and it the real one, no fear I have sensed it, it is no double created by you in the future."

"It has always to be a sibling or?" She asked cool, mentally she imagined the egg when she had seen it the last time.

Goliath looked first to his former mate then to Connor's father in wonder.

Angela just looked on her mother in shock.

'"No," Demona answered her daughter with certainty "you have no other siblings wandering through the world, believe me."'

~she has lied to me again!~ Angela noticed more surprised than angry ~how could she... why?!~

Angela looked to Desdemona who simple nodded "Eggs don't wander through the world." she explained, shocked like her niece "I've asked a female from the former Moray Clan because of this and she had said that your mother took part in their last breeding season and has laid an egg."

"Why hasn't she told us this?" Angela asked perplexed and a bit angry that she hasn't thought on this by herself.

Desdemona simple shrugged her shoulders. "I think we should ask her this later." she replied and concentrated anew on the drama in front of her.

"I like it that way." Lucifia replied happily "A tradition you might say."

"Where?" Demona asked, her voice bare any emotion, she knew that all what she said might not be enough to save her egg, that Lucifia would gloat over her attempts, but she had to try.

"Oh come mother," Lucifia teased her "we had so few time to talk over the past the last time, why not talk now? Then I might inform you where the end of your world begins."

Demona noticed that Brooklyn had returned. He looked to Goliath, but out of his eyes she could read what she knew already.

"One egg is missing." He explained full of horror.

The common shock of the clan was more something to feel than to hear...

"You told us the eggs would be save here!" an elder female accused Xanatos.

"I said no human could enter here without that the security system would notice it." Xanatos replied coolly "But for gargoyles it was never conceived."

"Yes such sloppy, pity really." Lucifia noticed "But what calls themselves a gargoyle clan when it is not able to protect his own rookery?!"

Some gargoyles growled by this insult, other bowed their head in shame, then Lucifia continued.

"Well I have even so the half of the Phoenix Gate Goliath hide in the castle's library." On this Goliath's usual stoic face showed signs of surprise and fear "I think it makes us equal since nobody can betray the time."

The clan grew nervous, thinking of that they had lost an important joker in fight against this monster, but Demona stayed cool.

"You wanted to speak about old times," Demona said to her daughter "about which then?"

"Oh about many..." Lucifia explained, not angry that her mother had changed the time "You haven't told them everything, did you?"

Demona, despite her best efforts to keep cool, snarled by this, while the clan looked on her in surprise... had their sister lied to them again?

"No you didn't." Lucifia noticed laughing "Well for the first... tell them and me since I still don't know what has happened then, how you defeated the hunter. And hurry, since the egg like I haven't all time of the world. Stone-sleep is such a damnable weakness of our kind, don't you think so?"

"Yes...." Demona explained icily and if she wouldn't turn into a pitiful human during the day she would say that everything was better than this. "How do you know this all?"

Lucifia laughed slightly "Mother, I don't think your egg has enough time for thus..." she explained "Come time for a story. You know I ever liked it when you told me and my siblings stories about your adventures.... I still like it."

Demona looked on her claw, she didn't want to tell the story, but she knew that for her egg she had to. "Like I told you I tried to distract the Hunter to give you a chance to flee...."

08.06.1675; 23:16; The woods:

Demona breathed heavily, she had attacked one of the Hunter's men and broke his neck. This had been enough to draw the attention on her and while she had broken through the lines of her enemies from behind she prayed to the dragon that the two younglings would be safe. But for now she had to worry about herself and this were enough troubles.

She listened in the night, sure her senses were more sensitive than the of the human, but the pain of her amputated wing and the fact that she hided herself in the bushes dumped this senses.

In front of her was a larger open plain, she knew past of this was a high cliff and deep down of it a river. Demona couldn't glide, by the rate her amputated wing grew again she would sure have to wait until next night since she was able to glide again, so she couldn't glide from the cliff.

But she could climb down there and out off the reach of the humans who couldn't climb half as good as she.

~if I just would know...~

A sound broke through the woods and Demona recognized it at once, the barking of dogs, dogs who were out for the hunt and aside this the thunder of sound of hooves. She started to run on all fours through the open area since she knew her hide was no longer one, at last not for the noses of these dogs and she had to try to escape on this way.

She ran and while she did so she heard the barking dogs and the running horse came nearer and nearer. But when she was at the half of the way she knew that she would reach the border of the cliff without having to fight against the pack.

This was the moment when her right feet-claw seemed to explode in pain....

Demona stumbled and fell over her arms and painful onto her back when the pain raced through every part of her body. But before she could register what had happened or simple was able to stand up, she registered two dogs jumping on her.

Due to her warrior-reflexes her old teacher had taught her so hard, and the life which had improved these reflexes even more, she didn't thought conscious but just reacted after her instincts. Demona threw her arms in front of her face and just in this moment a dog jumped on against these, doubtlessly to tear her throat into peaces, but so just threw his fangs into her left upper arm while the other dog bitted into her tail.

This was the moment when the animal instinct in her in her took completely over and she grabbed the dog who still drove his teeth into the flesh and bone of her left arm with the right claw. Then she drove her fangs into the dog's throat and tore it to peaces while she felt the dog's blood running down her throat and it tasted good.

The dog stopped to bite and his body relaxed when the life vanished out of its body, but Demona still bite the dead animal's throat until the felt the neck-bones. Then she grabbed the death body and threw it away to concentrate on the dog which still bite her tail.

She grabbed him with all her limbs despite the pain she felt in them and additional even so threw her fangs in the animal's flesh. Within ten seconds the dog was just a bloody pulp and the demon stood up, even when the pain her weight on her left feet-claw brought her let her nearly scream in pain, to search with blood-red blazing eyes the next opponent to kill. Doing so she stared on a gun aiming straight on her face.

The Demon looked up to see the Hunter sitting on his black horse and looking down on her with eyes which shone through the slits of the mask with contempt and satisfaction.

"So you show your through face Demon." the Hunter said, looking on the blood-smeared face with the bared fangs. "This is your end."

The Demon knew that it wouldn't be her end, but a bullet in her head was nothing she wanted to experience.

"RHOOOAAAAR!!!!"

Driven by instinct she snarled loudly and opened her one wing left to her to seem larger. This didn't impress the Hunter, but his horse reacted like mad, reared up and threw the hunter from its back.

The Demon looked on the Hunter, who was laying on his back and out of the reach of his gun and grinned. "Now you will pay Hunter!" she promised.

But before she could fulfil her oath, more masked humans came out of the woods and she realized that she would be overthrown in some minutes if she would fight. She snarled angrily and turned her back on them to flee on all fours to the small piece of wood covering the cliff.

Every time her wounded limbs touched the earth a shiver of pain raced through the Demon's veins, but she knew she couldn't stop. Then she was there, in front of the cliff and looked down of it where fifty metres downwards floated the wild river.

The Demon knew that she was in a trap, she couldn't glide down since her left wing was crumbled, she couldn't climb down since she was even just barely able to stand on her right feet-claw which had been torn by the Hunter's bullet. And the loss of blood had weakened her additionally so she knew that she couldn't win the fight.

She turned around in order to find another way out, but in this moment she noticed the Hunter in front of her.

*BANG*

More in surprise than shock the Demon looked on the smoking gun in the Hunter's hand, then she looked down on herself. Blood was floating down her breast and mixed itself with the blood of the dogs the Demon was still covered with.

She looked on the Hunter and the other human coming nearer, without hate since she hadn't the power for this anymore.

"The hunt is over." the Hunter said with satisfaction.

The Demon reeled backwards, she had not the power anymore to stand and the world around her became dark. Suddenly there war no earth under her claws...

She fell and while she did so and her injured heart stopped beating, her last thoughts were devoted to her clan... and a special green-eyed and black-haired female which meant a lot to her. Then she hit the water and knew no more...

09.06.1675; 20:05; the shore of the river near the town Oaksburg:

Marie Steiner, a 21 years old maid of the town went to the river like every late afternoon to check the nets. She had been warned to do so by her friends, who feared that the wolves of this area would come too near and would attack her, but she had countered that there hadn't been wolf-attacks for years now.

When she had left the woods behind her and entered the small shore Marie noticed a large rock lying there where hadn't been any before and coming nearer she realized that it wasn't a rock but a statue, seemingly of a demon... a female demon after the build of its body.

It laid there as if the river has deposited it after it has drunk in it and while Marie still wondered where this statue might come from the sun set....

Suddenly the statue shattered like Marie believed, but then she realized that it didn't shatter, but lost it stone-shell.

With a load roar the demon freed herself of the sleep and looked around wildly. Then her eyes caught the ones of the humans and in two seconds she had caught the rest of the maids body by her claws.

"Which day is today?" The demon snarled with red-blazing eyes and when the shock-frozen woman didn't answer she added "Answer me then I might not kill you!"

"Thursday..." the woman answered full of fear "the ninth of July."

Demona studied the woman's face, she didn't lied which meant that she had just been dead for one day...

"Where am I?" Demona asked "Near any town?"

"Oaksburg..." the woman answered timid, while she felt how the demon's claw went through her delicate flesh. "This is the river near Oaksburg."

Demona snorted, this wasn't such far, maybe one night-trip when she was fast and since she saw that her wing like her whole body was healed completely...

"Go..." Demona ordered the woman and gave her free.

On this the woman first fell on her back and crawled backwards before standing up and running away.

Demona didn't even looked after this human further, but climbed on the nearest tree which was large enough and leaped herself in the air, to make her way back to her clan.

09.06.1675; 23:11; over the road back to the mountains:

Demona glided as fast as she had never before... at last she tried, but the winds were against her and she had to use all her skills to glide straight to the plain.

Then she noticed something with her eagle-like eyes, down below her was a human riding on a horse, with two dogs running in front of them. Even when the man didn't wore a mask so that she could see his short dark hair she didn't doubt that it was the same human who had attacked her before since he led the same sort of dogs and rode on the same horse.

Demona's eyes glared red.

~this blasted Hunter~

Seemingly he was searching for her on the shores of the river, sure to take her body or at last parts of her body as trophy to show it to the rest of his damned family. So he didn't look upwards, but concentrated on his dogs if they discovered a track of her cold corp.

Her first idea was to drove down and kill the unprepared human at once, but then, maybe out of instinct, maybe out of luck, the Hunter looked upward and registered her in the air.

Demona cursed her hesitating. The man took up the mask and became the Hunter again then he took the gun out of his belt and aimed on her.

Instinctively she let herself fall down in the woods and stopped just a metre from the nearest tree to land on it larges knot....

The Hunter looked in the dense woods where his dogs had vanished in, barking angrily and surely sentenced to death by the Demon's claws. He knew better then to follow them and instead went of his horse, not wanting to repeat the mistake of the last time and draw his sword since he knew that his gun wasn't effective now.

The dogs' barking was added a snarl like of a puma or a panther and a short whining of pain showed the Hunter that his dogs had been killed.

"You know Demon that this were special dogs?" the Hunter asked her coolly "Special trained to find the tribes of your damned demon-kind?"

The Hunter studied the woods, he knew that the Demon was there, looking on him and waiting for the best moment to attack him. He wouldn't go in the woods where she might attack him from behind and he knew that she knew...

Deep down he admired the Demon for this, he had fought against other of her kind before, but no one had been so dangerous, so animal-like like her, no one in a special way so beautiful and terrifying.

~you're truly the most dangerous of your unholy kind~ the Hunter thought. ~but I know where I can hit you... and what bleeds can die~

"I fed them with flesh I took from the one I slaughtered of your unholy kind during the night." he explained "I still have a lot of those flesh."

He tried to provoke her, to attack him at once, but it was still quite, not the usual silence of a wood, but the silence of when a predator waited on its prey. It was the same silence he had noticed when he and his men had waited on the Demon in their trap, but now he was the prey and in the darkness he believed to hear the breathing of his predator..

"Sometimes I even eat some of the flesh." The Hunter continued.

This seemingly hit the Demon and she snarled angrily while her eyes shone like hellfire in the woods in front of him.

The Hunter didn't wait a second but shot his gun at the red points. Then there was silence again and he couldn't see any shapes in the wood in front of him anymore.

Had he hit the Demon? Did she lay there dead in the woods and the endless quest of his family was over? Had he missed her and she still waited on him?

He didn't know and with every passing second his tension enlarged while he threw away the still smoking gun since he knew he hadn't any time to load it anew.

"I'll take your head as trophy..." he told the darkness while slowly entering the woods where no starlight broke through. "Then I'll go back and kill the rest of your damned kind on the plain if the men haven't done this job until now."

There was it, a rustle in the bush left besides him and his reflexes were faster then his thoughts. A painful voice went through the night and the Hunter grinned... until he raised the sword and discovered that he had indeed stabbed a squirrel.

Then there was a sound behind his back and while he turned around the Hunter saw the shape of the Demon. He raised his sword but it was too late and the Demon's fist hitting his face led him to loose his sword and hitting with his head a tree behind him.

His last sight was the Demon's red blazing eyes....

Demona looked on the unconscious Hunter and snarled, she grabbed the sword he had lost to hold it on his throat. This would be easy, one hard push and there was one Hunter less on this world, one human less to threaten her kind.

~It would be easy~ Demona thought when she saw the Hunter slowly breathing ~but I won't make it so easy to him~

"You will pay." Demona snarled on him, thinking on her death mate and the death gargoyles back in New York she had never met. Then she smiled when an idea crossed her mind how to punish him.

10.06.1675; 01:07; a clearing deep in the woods:

The Hunter slowly awoke out of his sleep, but held his eyes closed while he tried to gather any information of the world around him. He knew it was still night and he had been bounded on a tree with ropes he couldn't slacken, while near him a fire burned he felt the heat of.

"Your attempt to hide the fact that you're awake from me is foolish," the Demon on the other side of the Hunter's closed eyes said "like your existence... something I will end soon."

Since he had no reason to fake unconscious anymore, the Hunter opened his eyes and looked around. There was she, the Demon standing in front of a fire and with the back to him. The Hunter couldn't see what she was doing exactly, but seemingly she formed a small circle of stone.

The fact that he still lived scared the Hunter deep down in his soul, he had heard what the Demon had done to some of his ancestors and felt that this fate might be his, too. Driven by fear he tried to loosen his ropes, but they proved too firm.

"You can stop your efforts Hunter," the Demon explained while she took her bag from her belt "your only way to escape me now is death."

The Hunter saw how the Demon emptied some powder around the circle.

"And I'll make this way more painful for you than you ever could imagine in your little brain." The Demon promised, again without turning around to him.

"Try your best..." the Hunter teased her "my family will never stop to hunt you and your damnable kind."

He saw the Demon's body tensing, but then she relaxed and continued her ritual.

"I know." the Demon explained "But you will not."

With this she took three maggots in the circle, then she set the powder of leaves around this in fire.

"Noka Lokata." she intoned, while the Hunter saw in wonder how a sort of blue fog raised above the circle. "Margata Mobare Ko!"

The Hunter saw in terror how something happened, it seemed as if a hole in the air had been opened and in this hole was nothing but darkness. And out of this whole came three... the Hunter couldn't describe it better than as ghosts, but these ghosts were more, he felt it. Their body seemed made out of flying dark fog and they hadn't the form of anything he knew, but seemed completely made of tentacles with three evil looking eyes.

They floated in the bodies of the maggots and these seemed to change. First they enlarged, until the length of the small finger and became much thicker. Then their skin-tone changed from white to a mixture of black and red and small thorns grew out of their bodies.

"What in all hells....." the Hunter exclaimed full of fear.

"This is quite correct human." the Demon explained while holding a possessed maggot, who tried to free itself, between her thumb and middle-finger. "What you saw was the gate to an area you might describe as hell.... don't fear you'll be in it soon enough!" She explained smiling cruelly on him.

"I've called this dark spirits to take over this maggots" she explained "and to transform them for my uses."

"Dark sorcery!" the Hunter screamed, "This proves that your an ally to the devil himself."

The Demon laughed while she slowly came nearer to the Hunter, the demonic maggot still in her claw.

"No I have just called some of the lower dark spirits to my uses." she explained and hold the maggot in front of his face so that he could see it better. "My mate, the one who taught me that, would have never done so. He respected the life too much sure even yours to do so."

She studied him with red-glowing eyes.

"But now he is death by your bullet and you will pay for this with pain." she explained.

"And how?" the Hunter asked teasingly "Shall I eat them?"

The Demon smiled viciously "On the contrary," she explained "you'll be their next meal."

The Hunter's eyes widened in realization and the Demon saw his fear with satisfaction, then she turned around to take the other maggots.

"A pity that I haven't any of my magic books here," she explained "else I would show you how wonderful it is to be in stone and to wake up without legs or arms."

The Hunter didn't notice this allusion, but saw how the Demon came back, this time all three maggots in her left claw.

The Demon grinned on the Hunter and knelt before him. Then she slit his shirt at the stomach open and tickled his stomach.

"Human skin is such soft." she explained.

Then she dig her claw deep into his flesh and slit the skin open while the Hunter gritted his teeth to not scream in pain. It wasn't a large wound and definitely not deadly, but large enough to let the Maggots slip in.

"These little things are hungry." the Demon explained while putting the Hunter's shirt above the hole after the maggots had vanished in it. "But I think there is enough flesh in you."

With this the Demon stood up and looked down in the Hunter's eyes.

"Can you feel them?" she asked "Well you'll do so soon enough. They don't go after your important organs at once, but will keep you alive as long as possible. No fear you can scream as much as you want nobody will hear you here."

With the Demon turned around in the woods.

"I would like to see you dying but I have to see after my clan." she explained without turning around.

"Demon!" the Hunter called her, while he slowly felt the movements in his stomach and the pain enlarging.

To his surprise the so called turned around, smiling viciously.

"What is Hunter?" the Demon asked.

"Kill me..." the Hunter pleaded, which surprised her now. "If my ancestors were wrong, if there is any good in you or your kind kill me now and fast."

The Demon snarled "I'm so sorry Hunter." she lied "But what was left on mercy for your kind in me died with my mate."

With this she turned her back on him and vanished in the woods, leaving him to an unbelievable painful and lonely death.

09.08.98; 04:15; Castle Wyvern, Great Hall:

The whole clan stared at Demona, as this was definitely the cruelest way of death they had ever heard of, even Deborah was shocked about how far her former pupil had gone then.

Angela looked on her mother more scared than surprised. Since her father had told her of all the crimes her mother had committed, she knew deep down that there must have been more, much more things she didn't know of, but this showed how much farther her mother was ready to go even before the night of Hunter's Moon.

"OOOOHHH!!!" Lucifia cheered happily. "That was good!!! I'll have to memorize this, as I may use it in the future."

Demona just looked blankly ahead at her daughter's praise, nobody in the clan was able to read her expression.

"You know, after all these years you're still able to surprise me with your cruelty and surely even so your clan," Lucifia explained happily. "Yes, after all this time I still can learn from you. Since we're the same flesh and blood, I dare to hope that I will one day be as good as you mother."

"You are part of the darkness," Demona told her through the cell-phone nearly emotionless. "Part of the nearly unbelievable evil, I don't think you need me to get ideas for how to bring pain and death."

"Oh, but I do," Lucifia told her mother. "Sure the darkness brings me power, some knowledge and motivation, but what is this without a sense to use it? Oh I could kill the whole city, but what would be the sense of this? Every animal can kill, but to be cruel and bring pain, you need intelligence and a special sense of compassion to know what hurts. I'm still your daughter mother, no soulless marionette like my father was, and you know it don't you? Your daughter whom you taught gliding and fighting, whom you taught to become a shaman and sorceress and the one who admired you so deeply and you know it?!"

Demona closed her eyes having trouble to hide her feelings, to imprison the pain deep down in her soul, but despite her best efforts, one single tear ran down her cheek, making her pain visible for the clan.

Nobody was more shocked about that than Deborah, she hadn't thought that her former pupil was still capable of such feelings, had still a heart which hurt, at last she hadn't seen anything of this until now.

"Yes," she answered with a trembling voice, ignoring the sympathetic looks of the clan around her, she couldn't bear them, couldn't bear to have shown those pathetic feelings to her... the clan.

*"Awwww," her brother Thersities crooned mockingly, elbowing another of their brothers. "She's going to weep like a human bairn wanting its mother, so she is!"*

Demona answered the distant memory with a slight growl, even so to guard her feelings before the other and mostly before herself.

~ No weakness... not here. ~

"Oh, have I hit a hurtful point?" Lucifia asked sympathetically. "I'm sorry." And then added…

"Well, where was I, "Lucifia asked herself, "Oh yes! Your crested brother Ajax or the muscle bound gargoyle Javin could never achieve this level of cruelty as we do, like Asrial..." Lucifia laughed, "I don't doubt that your clever sister could construct machines, which could be crueler than those of the inquisition, but she wouldn't want to, maybe because she wouldn't even know how to, as it doesn't lay in her nature."

They heard the cruel laughter of Lucifia, while the so mentioned looked at each other, unsure if they should be embarrassed that Lucifia didn't believe in their skills to be cruel or happy about it.

"Then there is your former mate Goliath and my beloved sister Angela..." She explained with false love. "They have enough brains and heart to be truly cruel, unfortunately they are both too much full of good gargoyle hearts, so they couldn't be cruel without being sorry after it... a pity."

"Yes," Demona told Lucifia, ignoring the looks of her other daughter, "but you digress from the subject."

"Indeed I do, sorry." Lucifia said. "Well, did you like the torture you gave the Hunter?"

Demona smiled shortly. "Oh yes," she explained, much to the disgust of Angela, Desdemona and the rest of her siblings.

"Would you repeat it?" Lucifia asked.

"I wouldn't make so much effort to bring a Hunter pain anymore," Demona replied. "But what principle would speak against this?"

The whole clan stared at Demona.

"Moral," Goliath answered.

"Compassion," Angela explained.

"Sanity," Brooklyn tried.

"Oh nice answers they give you, but not one truly matters for you do they?" Lucifia asked, but without waiting for an answer she continued. "Well I think the only thing you regret is the time you lost. If you would have simply killed the Hunter or ignored him then maybe you would have come in time to stop me from becoming what I am, or at least from sacrificing the egg."

"I wouldn't have reached the plain in time on that night," Demona replied, her claws gripping the cell-phone until it nearly broke, "At least not if I wouldn't have taken the corpse of your father with me and even if I did, I surely wouldn't have been able to stop you."

"Yes, pity that you don't *know* it..." Lucifia teased. "Mother... think about it, if you just would have tried harder to come home, if you would have left your revenge behind.... Maybe, I would still be who I had been."

"I HAD TO KILL HIM!!!" Demona screamed into the phone with red-blazing eyes, which gave her some surprised looks of the clan. "I could not let him kill any more of the clan and destroy any more lives."

"I understand this mother," Lucifia explained sympathetically. "Nobody around you may, but I do... I don't think this should be the reason why you should blame yourself. There is another reason what brings you sleepless days. Then again there is the next time that you made a mistake, which you haven't told them. Indeed, this was a lie since this was just an omission. You know what I speak about."

"Yes," Demona explained with a blank expression, not registering the looks of the clan around her. "I know."

"Come on, tell them." Lucifia demanded. "Tell them how you spared my life when you could have merely ended it."

Demona didn't see the surprised looks of the gargoyles around her, as of this moment there was just she and her dark daughter.

"It was when I had knocked the sword out of your claw," Demona told more her daughter than the gargoyles surrounding her. "You didn't knock it out of my claw instantly as I said, indeed you offered me your throat."

"Oh yes and what did you do?" Lucifia asked.

"I hesitated," Demona answered

Lucifia continued, "How long?"

"Five seconds, maybe longer," Demona replied.

"You didn't hesitate," Lucifia concluded. "You just couldn't do it."

"Yes," Demona replied emotionlessly.

"You couldn't kill me that time, so finally the spirits of our dead clan had to come to help you." Lucifia explained.

"Yes," Demona replied again, this time a bit more tensed.

"If they hadn't have come then you could have brought them back easily with the Phoenix Gate couldn't you?" Lucifia asked.

"Yes," Demona answered, her free claw had now cut its own palm.

"You killed them," Lucifia noted.

This let the alarm-clocks in the whole clan ring and a breathless silence followed until Demona broke it.

"Yes," she answered and in doing so set afire a loud chorus of negotiations.

"Lass, this is nonsense," Hudson told her slightly shocked.

"Mother no," Angela began full of compassion.

"Demona, mercy isn't..." Goliath started.

"Sister, you can't think that... " Desdemona said.

"This is bullshit Demona... " Brooklyn even tried.

Many more of these sentences went through the room, while Deborah just starred on her former pupil completely surprised, but Demona wasn't interested in such. She closed her eyes and held a claw on these to stop her tears from coming up; she didn't need her clan-siblings thinking now that she would need help, as their words were meaningless since they couldn't understand her. But Lucifia could...

"Oh they are telling you that it wasn't so," Lucifia said. "That it was understandable, but we both know what it was… a weakness and nothing else. A weakness, which cost our former clan's lives and that of the clan in L.A., isn't it mother?"

"YES!" This time she didn't breathe out the answer, but snarled it out with her eyes under her lids, glowing red. She was angry, so very angry that it burned in her, but not on her daughter, the humans or the life in general, but on herself. Her weakness had led to this, her weakness had led to the final, unchangeable death of her clan and maybe now to the death of another one of her eggs. But yet she didn't give up, as less hope there was, she had to fight for her egg's life, to protect it.

Demona opened her eyes, which were clear again and ignored the sympathetic looks of the surrounding gargoyles, but concentrated on the cell phone.

"This was it," Demona explained. "I have no more secrets about this night. Now tell me where my egg is?!"

There was a longer silence in the line and Demona feared that Lucifia would have done it, but then she came again.

"Well naturally I'll tell you mother, such is the deal and I think that after all you have been through in this night, you have a right to learn it." Lucifia explained and not just Demona but the whole clan listened. "I'll begin at the end where the end should have started.... until then mother."

With this, there was a click on the line and the phone went dead.

First there was silence and then the gargoyles spoke around nearly in panic.

"SILENCE," Goliath roared and the voices stopped.

He looked to Demona who simply looked ahead with a blank expression.

"Demona is there any place... " Goliath asked, but Demona cut him off.

"The St. Damien's Cathedral," she said. "There should it end... and there is an altar there. She loves repetitions."

"Quickly, to the Cathedral," Goliath ordered and practically the whole clan moved out to the gate... except Demona, who still sat on her seat.

Brooklyn noticed this.

"Demona, come on," he told her. "Every second counts."

Demona shook her head sadly and looked directly into his eyes.

"We will arrive too late so or so," Demona explained him. "Lucifia won't give us a chance."

Brooklyn wanted to say that she was wrong, but deep down he felt that she spoke the truth.

~ Shit! ~

09.08.98; 04:21; St. Damien's Cathedral:

Lucifia crushed the cell-phone with her claw with a happy shimmer in her black eyes and an evil grin on her face.

~ This is fun. ~

She looked on the monitor in front of her, which showed the clan in terror because of the lost egg and shut it on sending. It was a PC in a bag, the same sort Thailog had used once when he had made the deal with Sevarius, but a newer model. With this, she had been able to control the bugs that she had installed in the castle during the last months and now it sent a constant video-transfer to Xanatos's security system.

She liked these conversations with her mother, they were fun and it seemed as if her mother was the only person who was able to understand her completely, most likely because of the darkness which lay even so in her own heart.

"If you just would accept the complete darkness," Lucifia sighed. "This would be fun!"

A part of her would like her mother by her side, she knew that they would both have much fun by bringing death and pain amongst the world, but she knew this was impossible. For one thing, because her mother had too much good in her heart, more than she would ever admit before herself or the clan. Even those wretched humans that she held mercy for, which had been the reason why her first plan had failed so she would never agree into letting the darkness, consume her soul.

Then there was the problem that the darkness hadn't the power to bring one more of her to the world...

~ Whatever! ~ Lucifia thought, as now there was something she had to do.

She looked down on the egg in front of her, her mother's egg indeed. It hadn't been difficult for her to sneak into the castle with the help of a little invisibility spell from the magic book she had stolen from this sorcerer in L.A., shortly after she had taken his life.

Even when the whole clan, even Xanatos, had been so damned concentrated on her mother's little story, she might even have had strolled through the Great Hall without being noticed. The rookery had been unguarded and finding the right egg had been no effort with the right spell.

She had played with the thought of destroying the other eggs, but had decided against this. Sure the looks of pain and desperation of the clan would have been priceless, but this would have cost her time and the invisible-spell wasn't ever-lasting. Besides, the little things already could live without the protecting shells and their screams might have alerted the rest of the clan.

~ No reason to take a risk, ~ Lucifia thought, ~ not since I'm not invincible for the moment. ~

Oh she had told her mother where she was and she had no doubt that they had understood the riddle, but she wouldn't risk loosing, not in such an important thing. Later, when she would play with the practically helpless clan, she would give them true changes and choices and let it seem as if they would be able to defeat her, but not now.

The grin on Lucifia's face enlarged when she thought of the torment she would bring them, especially her mother. The last time she had killed a clan so, it had been fast but now she would show her whole art, which would even surprise and impress her mother while the Manhattan clan became smaller and smaller.

~ Yes, good times are ahead. ~

Lucifia looked down on the egg and softly touched it, stroked over its hard shell until she felt a movement in it.

"Oh, do you want to hurry little sis?" Lucifia asked the hatchling in the egg, since through the brighter color of the egg she was pretty sure that it would be a sister.... should be, but this life would end before it began.

"I'm so sorry," she lied with a soft lovingly voice. "Believe me you will miss a lot by dying now, but don't fear, your mother... your whole clan will soon be with you."

Lucifia smiled. She had given them time, half the time they would need to glide to the church from their castle, so they couldn't say that she had hurried.

"Time to end it," she explained to the egg.

With this, she grabbed the dagger beside the egg. It was the same dagger she had used the first time and it was still red of the eggs blood after all these centuries. Slowly, she slid the dagger about the egg's shell and then she raised it above her head.

Suddenly, there was an enlarging sound at her back and more surprised than alarmed Lucifia turned around to the large window above her. It showed a mighty angel defeating a dragon, and behind this a shadow coming nearer.

The glass broke with a large shatter and a mass of glass-fragments rained down on Lucifia who held her arms up to protect her face from the shards. At the same time, the creature that had shattered the glass became visible for Lucifia. It was one of Xanatos's Steel clan robots flying through the window, over the altar, taking the cross with it and into a wall where it exploded.

But while she looked on the robot's remains in complete surprise, two powerful claws grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her away from the altar with the egg on it.

Finally, the claws let her go and she fell into some wooden banks and breaking them. Lucifia slid down further until the end of the line and then stood up, first on all fours so as to be more agile in case her enemy would attack her again. She looked ahead and saw there landing her greatest enemy.

"Mother, really I hadn't thought you to arrive this fast..." Lucifia said happily, overriding the hatred she felt that she had been stopped, if she would show it then she would show weakness. "So Xanatos has given you one of your robots, a pity that I forgot to plan them in, naturally they can *fly* faster than even you could even *glide*, yes I'm sorry."

Demona didn't reply anything but came nearer, her eyes glaring red, but without snarling or any words.

Lucifia raised her dagger and made her warrior pose like her mother had taught it her once. On this, Demona grabbed a 1.5 meter long candlestick and used it as a staff. Knowing that her weapon was inferior and her enemy immortal, she decided to say goodbye. The fact that Deborah had appeared at the broken window and ran like the devil to her strengthened this decision.

"It was nice of you to come around but I have to go," Lucifia said and grabbed a bag on her belt, just to throw in on the earth.

"NO!!" Demona screamed and now ran to the place to attack her daughter while fog set around them, fog from the same sort of balls that Demona had used once to flee from Goliath and his clan.

The fog surrounded Demona at once while she attacked the place her daughter had knelt shortly before, but just hit empty air. She screamed in anger and despair, whirling around with the staff until she hit someone on the legs and heard the person falling. Before she could give the person the death-blow, claws hit her ankle and made her fall down, loosing the staff.

But she didn't let herself be stopped by this, as she leapt on the opponent, sensing the red glare of two female gargoyle's eyes and laying her claws around her neck while her opponent did the same. This was the moment when she noticed against whom she was fighting.

"Teacher," Demona asked surprised, looking down on the angry female.

"Demona," the surprised teacher asked, seemingly she had even so thought to fight against Lucifia until now.

Both warriors stared breathlessly at each other while Demona was still lying on her old teacher. They looked around, noticing in the vanishing fog that Lucifia had escaped, when a common thought crossed their minds.

~ The egg! ~

At once Demona who had the better start-position, stormed in the vague direction of the altar with Deborah close at her tail.

In two seconds, she was at the altar and inspected the egg. It was alright, besides the glass-fragments lying beside it, which Demona wished away as fast as she could and without caring for the cuts she got through this.

"Thank the dragon," Deborah, who stood now beside her former pupil, noticed. "For one moment I thought we... "

She couldn't end this since at this moment, little cracks started to run over the egg like spider-webs. Then the cracks enlarged until the egg exploded in a shiver of little shells. The hatchling cried up in surprise and indignation about what happened, but then its mother softly took it up and cradled it in her strong, but even so soft arms.

Demona calmed her little daughter with soft, loving noises while tears dwelled up in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Deborah studied the hatchling. It was a female with red hair like her mother's, but unlike her she had two horns, growing on the side that seemingly must have come from her father, Demona's former second. Even her skin was similar to the grey of her father's skin and not to Demona's azure blue. Her body seemed, all in all, burlier than her mother's once was, but she had her mother's forehead and most noticeably her mother's green eyes, sparkling with innocence and curiosity while she studied the world around her.

"They were supposed to hatch in two weeks," Deborah noticed.

Demona smiled on her daughter who tried to grab her mother's long fiery hair with her little claws, happy gulping by so much affection.

"Yes, but the breeding season had started early back then." Demona explained. "Even though I doubt that her siblings will hatch very soon."

Deborah nodded and looking on Demona with the hatchling in her arms. For just one moment everything seemed okay, despite all that her former pupil had done, despite all Lucifia was still capable of. At this moment she remembered another hatching time, so unbelievably long ago now.

"Yes, she is an early-blossom," Deborah noticed, "like her mother was."

Now Demona took her eyes off of her tiny daughter and looked into Deborah's eyes. For one moment, there was understanding between the two gargoyles and for one moment there was just a sort of love and no pain, no hardness like it had been since they had met again.

"I... " Demona started, but the sound of jets stopped her and both gargoyles looked to the broken window to see Xanatos, in his battle-suit, beside Goliath who were coming in.

"I needed some time to get this thing on," Xanatos started.

"Is everybody okay?" Goliath asked them both while landing beside them.

"Lucifia escaped." Deborah explained, her features hardening again. "But we managed to save the egg... the hatchling."

Goliath stared at the wee thing in Demona's arms, noticing that this hatchling and Connor definitely hadn't the same father.

"Demona, she is...." Goliath started, totally surprised.

"My daughter," Demona answered with a firm voice, which made clear that she definitely had no intention to discuss this with Goliath now.

Goliath stared on her and then nodded. She wasn't his mate anymore so it shouldn't bother him with whom she had mated during his stone sleep... it shouldn't. Yet he decided to have a serious talk with the hatchling's father, like with Connor's.

"Well I think we are all done here, I think the police will come soon and I don't want to answer too many questions." Xanatos said, taking up the PC-bag. "With this, Owen should be able to find the bugs in the castle and maybe even Lucifia's hideaway."

"Then let us go," Demona concluded and began climbing up to the broken window and while the group glided back to the castle, on which way they met a group of five more gargoyles, they thought about how short it had been.

09.08.98; 05:36; Castle Wyvern Great Hall:

The whole clan, except those who had left for the mission, was tense and silent as they waited on any news of their lost egg. They had left two warriors to guard the rookery out of fear that Lucifia might come back and harm another egg, also because they felt guilty that they had so badly failed to protect one of them.

"We should have all gone," Angela whispered, her fear growing from second to second.

"We couldn't," Hudson said and to calm Angela and the rest of the clan he added. "Don't fear lass, your mother and my mate won't have any problems to stop Lucifia."

"IF they get there before Lucifia has performed the ritual," Thersities said. "before Lucifia can..." He stopped, sinking his eyes, not able to speak further, but they all knew what he meant, they all thought the same.

Suddenly Shade, who sat next to Angela's feet, depressed of not being able to follow and protect her master, turned her head to the door and a second later there was a sound of the doors being slowly pushed open.

They all looked on the door and, after a seemingly endless time, when it finally opened, they all stopped breathing. Demona entered, her wings folded around her arms like a cape, protecting what she held in her arms. Then she opened them and some of the clan gasped when they noticed that it wasn't an egg. For one moment the clan all thought that their sister held a dead fetus, until they noticed that it was indeed moving very vividly.

Shade stood up and ran to her master, barking happily and Angela, who had sat nearest to the door, jumped up out of joy and ran to her mother who held her little sister who looked curiously around. She looked on her little sister, full of joy that her mother had been able to safe her and softly stroked the little hatchlings hair. This was the moment when Angela noticed the horns growing out of her sister's head and the tone of her skin, on which she looked unbelieving into her mother's eyes.

"Mother?!" Angela told Demona in shock.

"Old clan rules Angela," Demona said simply, with a short look to her former second.

Angela followed her mother's look and saw the Grey, hairless gargoyle looking on his former leader with a rather unreadable look.

Angela, still shocked, looked on her younger sister again, unable to say something and with a blank expression on her face.

~ I, Lucifia, Connor, my little sister ~ Angela thought unbelieving ~ how many more mother? ~

Meanwhile, Deborah and the other gargoyles that had arrived with Demona came in and were greeted by their mates and brothers, like Xanatos was greeted through his wife.

"Leader," Javin started, looking on Goliath who had just entered, "you have defeated Lucifia?"

"We stopped her from performing the ritual," Goliath explained while more of his clan gathered around Demona, studying the hatchling in her arms, "but she is still around."

This made the clan look rather uncomfortable, as they knew that with this monster free and the Phoenix Gate out of use, the world had become dangerous once more, maybe more than it had been with the Vikings.

Goliath knew this, but there was something else he had to care for now.

"Xanatos," he told the billionaire beside him who was still in his battle-suit. "I want to thank you in my name and I think in the name of the whole clan for your help tonight. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to save our clan's child."

Xanatos nodded after he heard the agreeing murmurs coming out of the mass of the clan.

"Thank you Goliath," he explained. "I think it was the very least I could do after Lucifia had been able to come in here so easily. I will take care of the security system and have it upgraded to sense Lucifia the next time she tries to break in."

Angela, who stood beside her mother, noticed that Demona, unseen by the rest, studied Xanatos with icy eyes.

~ He has helped you to safe your daughter ~ Angela thought disappointed ~ can't you say at least *thank you* ~

Goliath was going to say something more when suddenly one of the gargoyles, who was supposed to be guarding the eggs, appeared out of one of the hallways to the rookery.

"Quickly, the eggs, they hatch!" He told the gathered clan.

This let the clan at once forget about the new threat or the question about whether or not they should be thankful to the owner of the castle, and the mass stormed through the hallways to the rookery. Even Demona, still with her little daughter in her arms and Xanatos together with his wife Fox went after them.

When Demona entered, the rookery was already full of the whole clan, including the beasts and the hatchlings. Pairs like Deborah and Hudson, Angela and Broadway and much to Demona's disgust even Goliath and his human hold each other in order to share this happy moment. Demona didn't thought that she would see much, but the gargoyles in front of her made her look on her own hatching, respecting the fact that these were, after gargoyle law, her children even so.

In the first line before the eggs, she discovered Connor standing with his rookery-siblings and he discovered her, happy to see his aunt again.

"Aunt I..." he started, but Demona held a talon before her lip, to show him to be quiet at this moment.

Connor nodded seriously while Demona knelt by his side. This was the moment when he noticed the little baby in his aunt's arms and smiling he stroked, unknowingly, his little sister's face, which made Demona smirk shortly.

The first two eggs already showed cracks and slowly, two newly hatched gargoyles, both males, filled the rookery with squirmy screams while the other 4 eggs already showed little cracks on their shells too.

But Demona wasn't allowed to relish in this happy moment for long, since a hand lay on her shoulder and demanded her attention. Demona glared at the hand on her shoulder, she hated it when humans touched her, especially now. Then, her eyes followed the hand to its owner, which was Owen. Somehow the wooden servant had gotten through the mass of gargoyles without being noticed and now he stood before her... in his right and un-petrified hand, he held an active cell-phone.

~ She don't waste any time does she ~ Demona thought, feeling as if ice raced through her veins.

Demona nodded to Owen and turned to Connor.

"Connor," she told him quietly, banning the fear out of her voice so as not to alarm him or the rest of the clan.

"Yes?" Connor asked, turning his attention away from the hatching eggs once again.

"Could you please take your little sister?" She asked him. "I have something to do."

Connor nodded eagerly, happy that his aunt trusted him so much to entrust him with caring for his little sister.

Demona smiled shortly on this picture of happiness, but when she turned her head around to Owen, her face drained of all these happy emotions and became cold like ice. She grabbed the cell-phone out of Owens hand and moved out of the rookery, ignoring the surprised looks of the gargoyles she passed and Goliath following her out.

When she was out of the rookery, she led the cell-phone to her ear.

"Hello daughter," Demona greeted icily.

"Mother!" Lucifia replied happily, "I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?"

"You know you are," Demona answered. "Else you wouldn't call me."

"Yes, hatching is ever a wonderful event isn't it?" Lucifia asked. "I remember when you gathered me and my rookery siblings to see our younger brothers and sisters hatching, why wasn't it so the second time?"

"You killed them all before they could hatch," Demona noted, remembering how she had discovered the shattered eggs.

Goliath meanwhile, silently studied Demona talking into the phone. He couldn't hear what was being said, but from the way his sister replied he could figure out what her daughter had said.

"Oh yes, sorry I forgot." Lucifia lied. "But now you have new hatchlings to care for.... I'm asking you how long you think they will life?"

"Longer than you," Demona snarled, her eyes glowing red.

"We will see." Lucifia replied happily. "But this is the reason why I wanted to talk to you and this large teddy bear your former mate is. We will surely spend some time together and our war will be bloody, but I don't want it completely without rules."

"You don't hold the rules," Demona told her daughter

"Yes, but this time I might do it," Lucifia explained, "and it isn't a rule, but an offer. I won't attack you and the clan at your home if you don't do it by me. What do you say on this? A nice offer considering that you don't even know where I live."

Demona looked blankly ahead for two seconds, having no idea what to say on this.

"What does she say?" Goliath asked beside her.

"She offers us a deal." Demona explained. "She won't attack the castle or my mansion in the future if we hold it so with her home too."

"What do you think?" Goliath asked his sister.

"I won't bet a cent on her word, but it is better than nothing." Demona explained.

Goliath nodded simply.

"Agreed." Demona spoke into the phone.

"Wonderful mother, you'll see we will have lot of fun." Lucifia said happily. "Oh and don't fear, I will find a way to regain my immortality, but until then I have to find another way to play with you and you know I always have had good ideas! Greet the clan and especially my little sister from me, until then!"

*Click*

The cell phone was out and Demona stared on it.

~...I always have good ideas! ~

Demona shivered.

"What has she told you?" Goliath asked his sister, sensing her trouble.

"That the game has just begun." Demona replied simply.

Goliath looked on his former mate and read something in her eyes that he could nearly call desperation.

"Demona, we will defeat her." He told her. "The clan has faced greater opponents and... "

"Have you?" Demona interrupted her brother, looking deep into his eyes, seeing the soul she had once loved with all her heart, then she shook her head. "She is like none other you've ever faced before Goliath."

"She isn't immortal, so we can stop her even without the Angel-swords," Goliath explained, "and without the ritual, she turns to stone by day doesn't she?"

Demona nodded, but her brain was miles away.

"This makes her even more vulnerable," Goliath continued, "and it stops her from using the day for scheming."

"Yes but..." Demona began, but before she could continue an idea crossed her mind. "Goliath, are there any more clans out there with eggs?"

Goliath stoic face hid his shock since he hadn't thought of this, but then he relaxed.

"She won't be able to reach any other clan tonight," he tried to calm her and himself, "but I will inform the other clan-leaders of the threat as soon as possible."

Demona nodded. "Inform all clans about her, Lucifia might try the same with other clans even when they don't have eggs." She explained. "I will talk to Sevarius. He has just one clone-tube, which is able to create eggs. I will order him to destroy it and the plans."

Goliath wanted to nod, but then he stopped.

"Demona, please make him bring this tube here," Goliath asked her. "We might need it thus in the days ahead... if we are able to get the Phoenix Gate back one day."

Demona wanted to deny this, as after this night she didn't really trust in the clan's ability to keep something safe but then it was just a machine, she nodded. As long as Lucifia hadn't achieved the next level then she shouldn't be able to break into the castle again, not to speak of taking a complete cloning tube with her.

"I will," Demona assured. "Now I think we... "

Xanatos who, now in his normal business suit, walked to them with a questioning look on his face stopped her.

"Demona, Goliath, please come to the security room. Owen discovered something, which will surely interest you." The billionaire explained and turned around again to walk back to the security room.

Demona and Goliath looked at each other and followed in union, one single thought crossing their mind.

~ What has she done now? ~

When they came to the security room, Owen was already waiting for them, the bag PC on the desk before him.

"Owen, show them what you have discovered." Xanatos ordered.

The wooden servant nodded and pointed to a glass on the desk.

"Might you please look in there?" Owen asked.

Both gargoyles followed this without much asking.

Goliath, at first, didn't see anything, but then he noticed a mosquito... a mechanical mosquito caught in the glass.

"What kind of creature is this?" Goliath asked perplexed, but before Xanatos could answer, Demona started.

"They are bugs Goliath." Demona explained with crossed arms and a rather angry expression, after she had taken a fast look on the machines. "MY bugs."

Goliath looked up, surprised, to his sister until Xanatos nodded.

"Indeed, many of these machines have been stolen from one of Nightstone's labs last year." Xanatos explained.

Demona stared on the human millionaire with a kind of cold expression. This had been top secret in her firm, seemingly the human had much more information about Nightstone than she had believed... This was something she had to care of also.

"I believe you would have stolen them," Demona explained to Xanatos, "since they are one generation above your bugs."

Xanatos shrugged his shoulders.

"I believed you would have faked the theft to use them for illegal activities," Xanatos admitted. "Besides, my next generation is much better than these."

Demona opened her mouth, seemingly to teach her business rival that Nightstone had better technology, but Goliath interfered, not interested in the business-games of his... allies?

"How many had she installed here?" Goliath asked.

~ This explains how she knows so much about us ~ Goliath thought and looking to Demona, he added ~ besides what she might have told her about us back then ~

"See for yourself Goliath." Xanatos replied and showed Goliath the monitor of the PC-bag, now online.

"Bug one." Xanatos explained and showed on the monitor where Goliath could see himself, studied by the mechanical eyes of the bug.

"Owen discovered it in my and Fox's bedroom." Xanatos explained in his usual cool manner, not showing if the fact that he and Fox had been watched during their... joyful hours had embarrassed him.

"Bug two." Xanatos pushed a bottom of the PC and they saw the empty Great Hall.

"Bug three." He pushed the bottom again and the view changed to that of the courtyard.

"Bug four." To Goliath's shock, the monitor now showed the rookery, from which the clan had slowly left since the hatching was over.

"Bug five." The monitor showed the information room.

"Bug six to ten." Xanatos explained and the monitor showed different floors, every one of them up to the relative central.

"Ten bugs..." Goliath breathed out heavily. "How has she been able to install 10 bugs here without us noticing?"

"They are constructed not to be seen, else they would be useless." Demona explained to him. "Besides, they surely would have flown here by themselves, as their wings are not just for decoration. So my daughter had no need to come here and install them, even when I don't doubt that she would have been able to do so."

Goliath ignored this insult.

"How many have been stolen?" Goliath asked.

"Twenty three," Demona explained, "which means she has still some more, since there aren't enough here."

"Is there any way to locate and destroy them?" Xanatos asked.

Demona seemed to think about it, then she shook her head.

"No, they neglect any attempt to scan them and the frequency they use to deliver the information to the basis station is shifting," the immortal explained. "Even if you would be able to catch one to get the code, it would destroy its microchip and so this is useless."

The silence showed that Goliath and Xanatos had understood, if Lucifia would send new bugs then they had no way to stop them.

"I'll inform the other clan leaders at once." Goliath said finally. "Lucifia might have learned the location of some, maybe all the clans."

Xanatos nodded, as he disliked the idea of Lucifia having full power again.

"Owen, take him to the com-system," the billionaire ordered and saw how Goliath followed Owen out.

Xanatos was alone with Demona.

The gargess studied the human, her largest business-rival and ex-ally.

"I will see after the robots." Xanatos, who, despite his coolness, disliked the way that Demona looked on him, explained and started to walk away.

"I owe you something Xanatos." Demona gritted under her teeth, her claws tensed into fists.

Xanatos raised a brow and looked surprised to the red-haired gargoyle, he hadn't believed that Demona would ever consider being thankful for him.

"You needn't." Xanatos replied calmly, knowing that this was hard for the proud gargess and not really interested to anger her. "Like the clan said, I missed my duty by lowering the security level and... "

With a tensed snarl, she stopped him from speaking any further.

"I know very well that you hadn't been prepared, but this is even to the clan's failure since it is Goliath's duty to protect the rookery, not yours human." Demona explained angrily. "But without your help then it might have been worse, much worse... For that, you saved my daughter and I owe you something."

Xanatos stared at Demona. This was definitely odd for her... and a possibility for him. One month before, he wouldn't have hesitated to ask for immortality for him and his family, but now it seemed that true immortality seemed impossible because of the Angel-swords. And then with Lucifia around... From all that he knew about her, she might very well show him that death was sometimes a mercy.

Shortly, he considered asking her to sell Nightstone to him and somehow he believed she would have even accepted this since it was better in her eyes than to be in the debt of a human.

~ Or she might even kill me for that? ~ Xanatos thought.

Finally, he shook his head.

"There is nothing now, but maybe I will ask you later for something." Xanatos explained coolly.

Demona studied him for one second longer, then turned around and left the room.

Xanatos looked a while further on the door she had left through.

~ Having Demona in my debt... ~ Xanatos thought ~ the future might be interesting. ~

09.08.98; 06:16; Castle Wyvern, bathroom:

Angela gently put the tiny loincloth about her little sister, being carefully that the tiny horns didn't slit the clothing.

"You're ready," Angela explained softly to the little hatchling lying on the soft blanket before her, "little sister."

Her little sister gulped happily, having enjoyed the warmth of her first bath and her first meal before that.

Angela smiled and held her, holding her against her breast and humming an old song the Princess had sung to her and her siblings when they were little hatchlings.

"You make a wonderful rookery mother Angela," Broadway stated behind her.

Angela turned around, her smiling even enlarged. Broadway, as official cook of the clan, had to make the first meal for the hatchlings since they were, unlike human babies, able to eat solid meals with the help of their already existing teeth. This didn't mean that they weren't nursed, but the solid meal gave them additional energy for their rapid growing.

But now, Broadway was seemingly ready and more than willing to support his mate by caring for the hatchling.

"Thank you," Angela said while Broadway came to her side.

Broadway led his claw, powerful enough to crumble massive stone, to the cute baby's chin and tickled it. At the hatchling's laughter, he grinned and softly stroked her red hair.

"Hey little Princess," Broadway told the hatchling, smiling now even so on Angela.

"Seemingly I'm not the only one who has talent as a parent," She said, smiling, "but now we have to go to the rookery. I promised one of the clan's elders that I would bring her back at once after she was ready."

Broadway nodded and followed his mate out onto the hallway, but they had just gone some metres when they met Demona and Goliath standing in the hallway and speaking in low voices about something.

"Mother, father… what is wrong?" Angela asked warmly, happy to see her parents so peacefully talking after this night's trouble.

Both turned around to their daughter, seemingly not having noticed her before, but with a serious expression on their faces.

"Angela," Demona greeted, and nodded shortly to her daughter's mate before coming nearer and stroking her youngest daughter's hair.

Then she looked up into Angela's eyes, showing strong concern. "Lucifia has installed bugs here," she simply explained.

On the shocked looks of the pair, Goliath nodded. "Maybe they were installed here already since maybe a year ago." He added. "I've informed the other clan-leaders who aren't stone by now since Lucifia maybe knows the location of all other clans."

This shocked Angela and Broadway even more.

"This is terrible!" Angela gave the common feeling an expression. "Some of them have rookeries and...."

"They will guard them from now on even more than usual." Goliath explained. "Lucifia won't have a chance to do the same like with us. I will speak with the clan about this tomorrow night."

Angela nodded, knowing that there wasn't much that they could do now. Then Angela sensed her mother still looking on her little sister in her arms.

"You can hold her." Angela told her mother. "But we have to bring her to the rookery."

Demona looked on her and in a second Angela could see distant pain in her mother's eyes, but then she shook her head.

"No, I will go to Connor and his siblings to tell them the story I've promised them." Demona explained and Angela could hear the tiredness in the voice. "Then I have to hurry back home before dawn. So I don't know if I can come to say goodbye."

"Maybe I'll come to hear the story too mother." Angela replied, not sensing her mate's slight disapproving look. "But now I must really go to the rookery."

Despite her tiredness, Demona raised her lips to a slight smile.

"Goodbye then," the immortal told her and turned back to Goliath while Angela and Broadway departed.

Then Angela stopped abruptly and turned around to her mother.

~ How could I forget this? ~

"Mother, what name shall she have?" Angela asked her. "In all the trouble, we forgot this."

Demona first looked on her with a surprised expression, as she seemingly hadn't thought about this yet even so.

"Jaheira," Demona said finally. "She shall be called Jaheira."

Goliath accepted the choice. "So shall it be."

Angela smiled. "A good choice mother, I'll go now."

Demona nodded and saw how her daughter went off.

"You will come to the clan meeting tomorrow?" Goliath asked his sister finally. "You know her best of all... Indeed, you're the only one who knows her." He corrected himself. "So we will need you to know her next step."

"I will," Demona said. "But Goliath, I can only just guess what she is planning. Who knows what she has already prepared during the last year? Or all the time since she was freed?" She shook her head. "The best way to imagine what she is planning next is to think what the cruelest thing she can do without bringing herself in danger, since she is woundable now."

~ And you know, out of the best of us, what is cruel don't you sister? ~ Goliath thought and spoke out loud. "Do you know any way to defend us against her if she tries to sneak in again?"

Demona thought about it. "I could install talismans to neglect invisible spells if this is allowed," she suggested, "And Xanatos should program the security cameras so that they don't film you all the time during the day. On this way it is granted that you have a loophole to bring the one back who is shattered during the day."

"Lexington thought of that, three months ago already," Goliath explained. "Xanatos programmed the system to shut down early in the day for fifteen minutes so that we could use the Phoenix Gate if needed."

"He shall program longer breakdowns and earlier," Demona practically ordered. "The best way is to shut the systems down for 15 minutes up from dawn. Remember, she possibly knows of this." She held in and looked deep into his eyes. "If this is all, I'll go to the hatchlings now."

Goliath nodded and let his sister leave to go to the hatchling-room. While looking after her, Goliath thought of the slight change in Demona's behavior. She didn't seem optimistic about the future fights with Lucifia, which was strange since back in the Dark Ages she had ever been the most optimistic in the fights against the various enemies the clan had had to face.

*"She is like none other than you've faced before Goliath."*

Sure, it was different for his sister since she had to fight against her own daughter and maybe to kill her... again.

~ But it has been so even for me during the first few times that I fought against her ~ Goliath thought ~ she will get over it ~

While he still thought so, Elisa approached his side. She had helped the elders to care for the hatchlings, even when they didn't seem to like this.

"Hey Big Guy," His mate told him softly and brought him out of his thoughts. "Demona has gone?"

Goliath shook his head slightly. "No my love, she has gone to the hatchlings to tell them the stories she has promised them," he explained. "She didn't want to disappoint them, especially Connor."

Elisa shook her head and smiled. "Demona as a loving rookery mother," she noted. "I still can't imagine this."

"She always had good relations to the hatchlings, even as my second." Goliath explained. "It is good to see that she had managed to keep at least this one good feature."

"Yeah," Elisa replied, "but what about her daughter?"

Goliath knew of which one of Demona's three daughters that she spoke of, the cold wind in her voice showed it.

"We have to wait until she makes her next move I fear." Goliath explained. "I have already informed the other clan leaders that I could reach. We will guard the castle better from now on. I have already spoken with Brooklyn about guards around here and we plan to start them tomorrow night. But I fear there is not more that we can do."

"Perhaps there is," Elisa started and at Goliath's look, she continued. "We have to inform Chavez."

"No," Goliath replied simply.

"Goliath, the police have more resources, they could search her during the day or support the clan when it becomes worse." Elisa tried to convince him.

"If we do this, it might destroy the one bit of good reputation that we have in the city," Goliath responded with a hard tone in his voice. "If it becomes clear that there is a gargoyle in the city... just one in the world who is a killer, then many will think the Quarrymen were right."

"And if we do not and if Lucifia kills a human, just one, without us warning the public then it might seem as if the clan was covering her up." Elisa argued. "I'm even so against informing the public, but let me at least inform Chavez that Lucifia is around again so that she can prepare."

Goliath closed his eyes shortly,

~ There is no alliance without trust ~ he reminded himself.

"Inform her then," he finally allowed. "But ask her, in my name, to not inform the public and to tell just the officers that she really has trust in."

Elisa nodded.

"I will," she explained and gave him a kiss on his mouth.

Goliath nodded while he softly stroked her hair. "Then go my love, I'll wait for you tomorrow."

"I had hoped that we would finally have some time alone between us," she explained while embracing him, "but maybe the next night."

"Maybe," he hoped and gave his mate one of his rare smiles. "And not even Lucifia might take us this."

"I'll wait," Elisa promised and left to go to the police department, leaving her mate with a smile behind.

09.08.98; 06:29; Castle Wyvern the rookery:

Angela handed over the freshly named Jaheira to a female elder. "Here."

The elder nodded. "Thank you for bathing her child," she replied and took the hatchling.

"No need," Angela explained. "I enjoyed bathing my little sister."

The elder frowned by this, sharing a short look with the other elders in the room. "You would even so have enjoyed bathing the other hatchlings."

Angela looked on the elder, as she disliked the disapproving tone in her voice, but knew that this wasn't the right time to argue about this, especially with this elder who had decided not to take a name.

"Sure," She replied. "Our mother has named her Jaheira and my father and clan leader has approved this."

She held the look with the elder until she nodded.

"So be it," the elder replied, even when Angela saw in her eyes that she disapproved of this, "Until later."

With a slightly angry expression, Angela turned around and headed to the rookery's door where her mate waited for her.

"What happened?" Broadway asked when he saw the expression in his mate's eyes.

"Nothing," she answered and went further down the hallway to the hatchling room.

"Angela... " He whispered softly and embraced her from behind, breathing softly into her hair until he felt how she relaxed.

"It is just so frustrating," she explained and turned around in her mate's embrace and looked into his soft eyes. "Every time I want to spend some time with my father, it seems as if the elders look disapproving on us and now they disapprove that I see Jaheira, not just as my clan-sister, but even so as my blood sister. Why can't they just accept it?"

"They are just worried about the future of the clan." Broadway explained. "You have to see their point."

"And what is their point?" Angela asked. "That we should simply ignore the fact that we are related through blood in any way, that I no longer should see in Goliath my father, but just my clan leader?"

"The fact that hatchlings belong to the whole clan is one of the foundation stones of what they define as clan," Broadway explained. "It has been so for as long as the memories of the clan can reach."

"But this is the present, not the *Dark Ages*." Angela noted angrily. "A hatchling, every child needs it parents, this is natural!"

"For humans yes, but not for gargoyles," Broadway reminded her. He did not want to argue with his mate, for it pained his heart terribly, but he knew that this had to be spoken about. "We never knew another way, it held our clan together."

"The clan in London has changed their ways and it hasn't killed them," Angela reminded him. "A clan is more than that."

"They are the only clan we know of who handles it so." Broadway replied and when he saw that this didn't convince his mate he sighed. "My love, why do we argue about something we can't change? Practically the whole clan agrees with the elders on this and we both know that not even Goliath can change that, perhaps in two generations or maybe three, but certainly not now."

"Maybe we couldn't change the situation in the whole clan." Angela explained and looked deep into the big, green-skinned gargoyle's eyes. "But between you and..."

"Angela, no," Broadway asked her, "please don't."

"WHY NOT?" Angela nearly started to scream by this and Broadway looked around to see if there were any other gargoyles on this floor, but there wasn't.

"Why can't you start to see them as your parents?" Angela continued. "I mean, they both.... it is more than obvious that you are their son."

"I would be their son even if we were not biologically related Angela. They are my rookery parents."

Angela shook her head angrily on her mate's stubbornness in this subject.

"This isn't the same. I mean..." Angela started then stopped shortly and began anew. "Deborah was dead or supposed to be dead for over twenty years! Broadway, if she were my mother then I would try to spend every free moment with her. I would be happy that she is alive!"

"I AM happy that she is alive, Angela." Broadway told her angrily. "I just don't need biological parents for this."

He swallowed.

"Back then, when I and my brothers and sister's were just hatchlings in the rookery, she told us stories, sang for us and I didn't want more, neither do I want now." He tried to explain. "Not all of us want more."

"But there is more." Angela said and leaned against the wall. "Being connected through blood means more."

"Not always Angela. Look at me, Lex and Brook," he said, "we are and were ever close. Nothing could destroy that and even if I have a biological brother or sister out there, these are the ones who come to my mind when I think of my siblings. Look at your clan in Avalon, despite the fact that you have biological siblings now, they are still your brothers and sisters, more than Connor or Jaheira can be since you have grown up with them."

Angela bit her lip, she didn't want to agree with this, but deep down she felt that it was at least a bit right.

"And is this a reason to care more for them now," She asked him, "To make as many happy memories together as possible, to build a basis for this?"

"I have happy memories with them, why should I want more?" Broadway replied and when he saw that his mate wasn't convinced he added, "My love, think about it. When Deborah died I was... hurt. Hurt because I missed her as a rookery mother, but I knew that she was just one of my rookery mothers. The clan was my father and mother, I was never alone and neither will Connor or any other hatchling if their biological parents die. But if the clan is made of families then there can also be orphans. Do you want this? Do you want to let one hatchling feel alone?"

"They wouldn't be alone, there is still the clan." Angela said. "But as long as there are their parents, I think they should care for them mainly."

Broadway sighed.

"My love, have you missed your parents back on Avalon?" He asked softly.

"Yes..." she admitted. "I love the Princess and never missed anything by her, but even as a hatchling, I always thought about what my parents were like and wanted to know them."

She looked deep into her mate's eyes, her eyes were sparkling.

"You can't imagine how lucky I was when I discovered that Goliath was my father and that my mother lived too, despite who she was. I mean, we knew that part of the clan hadn't been trapped in stone and killed, but I couldn't allow myself to have any hope that my parents were alive and now..."

Angela shook her head.

"I don't want to loose that Broadway. I don't want to loose my parents just because some clan members do not want to accept the bond that is between us."

"I understand it Angela," Broadway told her, "but you must allow the rest of the clan to make their own decisions as well."

Angela nodded slightly then she looked on the ground, "And what about our own children?"

Broadway winced by this question. He had hoped this wouldn't come up, but deep down he had known that this would come.

"Angela, breeding season is in 10 years and hatching would be in 20 years and..." he tried, but his mate didn't want to let her be blocked by this.

"I know when breeding season is!" Angela retorted angrily, "But I want to know it now from you not when I'm already with egg."

Broadway swallowed, the tone in which she spoke this in hurt him.

"I want them to be my children." Broadway replied cautiously. "Want them to call me father and you mother, want to give them all the love I have," he saw how his mate relaxed a bit and her eyes became softer, but then he added. "But... but if they don't want it so, if they want me just as their rookery father… then I would accept this."

Angela looked on him as if he had changed in front of her eyes and in some ways, he had for her.

"You can't be serious," she said unbelieving. "You can't be so heartless..."

"Angela..." Broadway started, feeling his heart bleed by these words, but Angela cut him off.

"You wouldn't acknowledge them as your own children?"

"I would acknowledge them as such," Broadway replied. "But I wouldn't be so selfish to bind them against their will on me."

"Selfish?!" Angela said angrily. "Am I being selfish just because I want the best for my children, just because I don't want them to call me *aunt*?"

"Angie, I..." Broadway started, using her nickname in a hope to reach her better, but Angela turned around and ran through the floor, obviously fleeing.

Broadway followed her as fast as he could, ignoring the other clan members he passed and who looked on him surprised. He discovered his mate standing outside on the highest tower of the castle.

"Angela... "

She turned her head around and Broadway saw tears glittering in the moonlight.

"Hey," he whispered softly and embraced her.

"I'm sorry," she explained, still crying, but relaxing in her mate's strong arms.

Finally, Broadway felt her even laughing a bit.

"Lucifia's right apparently, I really cry too often."

Broadway shook his head. "It was a hard night for us all," he told her. "It is clear that you are stressed."

Angela shook her head. "But I shouldn't have overreacted so," she explained, "and because of our children..."

"We will talk about that another night."

Angela nodded and then relaxed in the time she was in the arms of her mate until finally, she relaxed completely.

"Come, let us go to the hatchling room," she suggested. "My mother has surely already started the story."

Broadway nodded and they went off.

09.08.98; 07:14; Castle Wyvern highest tower:

Angela, Diomedes and Fuchsia stood on the highest tower to say goodbye to Demona and Shade.

"Goodbye mother," Angela said warmly and embraced her. "Maybe you will stay longer the next time you are here?"

Demona nodded seriously, "I fear so."

Angela didn't know how to react on this, but Diomedes did.

"As long as you are here then the whole thing has at least one good thing sister." He explained and offered her his claw.

Demona reached for this claw and shook it in something an observer could call brotherly affection, even when this warmth mainly came from Diomedes.... Neither of them saw the angry looks that Fuchsia threw on them.

Then Demona turned to Fuchsia who simply nodded to her, which Demona replied. "I'll come tomorrow night to speak about the measures that your clan can make to prepare itself for Lucifia." Demona explained and climbed on the battlement, taking Shade with her, "Until then."

With this, she jumped into the sky and disappeared into the night.

Angela left with a smile while Diomedes and Fuchsia stayed on the tower, starring into the night.

"As long as she's here," Fuchsia asked her mate, swinging her tail angrily.

"What?" Her mate asked in honest confusion.

"The way you said goodbye to Demona," she explained. "By the dragon, the way you looked on her during the whole time when she told her story."

"And how did I look on her?" Diomedes asked, even when he knew on what his mate was pointing.

"As if nothing had happened," Fuchsia retorted, "As if she would earn our mercy, our forgiveness."

"Perhaps she does," he explained. On the angry look of his mate he added, "She has gone through hell in these 1000 years. The constant death, the loneliness, the Hunters... "

"She created all this!" Fuchsia accused him angrily. "She created the Hunter, she betrayed our clan and fled instead of warning us, she betrayed Macbeth. She caused her pain and that of countless more gargoyles and humans alike and you want me to forgive her?"

"It nearly killed her," Diomedes replied, trying to reach his mate's heart. "Maybe not physically, but from what Goliath told us, she could be called insane by their awakening."

Fuchsia shook her head, laughing bitterly, "Not insane my love. She simple couldn't... no, didn't want to admit her guilt and rather killed what she had left of our clan than to admit this."

"But now she has and she is sorry," her mate replied.

"Is she?" Fuchsia asked her mate. "I didn't see much regret in her behavior and her words tonight, not when she dared to oppose our clan leader and not in the way she spoke to our teacher."

She looked now deep into her mate's eyes.

"When she asks me personally for forgiveness and I see that she is truly sorry, I will consider it, but not now."

Diomedes sighed. "And how should she do this," he asked, "fall to her knees and beg in front of you? Maybe even in front of the whole clan?"

"Considering that she let us all be killed by the Vikings then this would be just about adequate," Fuchsia explained.

Diomedes shook his head. "She couldn't," he noted, "and if she did then I would fear for her since she is a too proud a warrior."

"She has been so even before she became a good warrior," Fuchsia replied. "Remember the Nucklavee?" He was about to reply, but before he could say anything, she continued. "Besides, it wouldn't surprise me if she used one of the Archmage's spells considering her vast improvement in the fighting lessons by the teacher."

"You can't mean that," Diomedes told her. "She wouldn't do this."

"Wouldn't she?" Fuchsia asked. "You have seen what she has done and yet you still defend her."

"She is our sister, so we should believe in her good core and try to show her that the clan is there for her."

Fuchsia shook her head and her long blue hair blew in the wind. "For me, she may move away when this is all over and never come again."

Diomedes looked at her for some seconds, but when he saw in her eyes that she spoke out of her heart, he sighed.

"This is your decision my love, but I hope you find one day the strength to forgive her," he told her and went off.

Fuchsia snorted angrily, "I don't think so."

Then her mate was gone and she looked angrily in the sky where Demona had vanished.

Shortly before, at a lower battlement in the shadows:

Deborah watched Demona glide away with Shade in her arms and threw a questioning look on her former pupil's back.

"The lass won't blast up the castle," a voice explained behind her back, "At least not tonight."

Deborah didn't even respond to her mate's remark.

"I don't understand her," she admitted while turning around and looking into her mate's eyes. "I thought I would, but seemingly I can't."

"I've known the lass now a longer time than you," Hudson explained, "and believe me, she is quite a mystery to me sometimes, as to the rest of the clan."

"Did I fail her?" Deborah asked more to herself than to her mate. "Failed I to teach her at least a bit of moral?"

Hudson shook his head. "No my Angel of the Sea," he said. "We gave the lads and lasses all that we had and raised them in the same we were, but in the end they all had to choose their own ways by themselves and Demona..." Hudson swallowed. "The constant war she lived in was what formed her."

"But I should have taught this to them," Deborah blamed herself, "Taught them neither to be a coward in a fight nor a gory monster like she is, but now..."

Hudson softly embraced his mate, smelling the scent of her hair and still thanking all powers of the world that he had the possibility to do so again, to hold her in his arms.

"Nobody could teach her how to survive 1000 years while standing normal and not loosing what defines us." Hudson told her. "But maybe there is hope for her.... hope that she comes home at last."

Deborah sighed, relaxing in the warmth of her mate's embrace and looked into the dark sky of the night.

09.08.98; 07:43; Destine Manor:

Demona landed before the glass door, releasing Shade on the ground. At once the beast started growling slightly, scrapping against the glass-door.

Demona felt at once how her senses went into battle mode again and she looked on the glass door, which hadn't been broken off. She opened it and slowly moved into her mansion, Shade before her smelling the air.

Demona doubted that a human thief had tried his luck tonight.

Seemingly the one who had broken in had gone already.

Demona looked around until she noticed one of her secret shelves hidden in the wall opened, empty aside from a piece of paper, a note which Demona grabbed with her claw and read like in a dream, a nightmare.

"Dear Mother, next time I will bring the swords again."

Demona crumpled the note up in her claw, feeling numb and fearing, deeply fearing what was still to come.

To be continued...