A full moon shed its quicksilver light over the peaks and cornices of the massive cathedral. Even at night, Notre Dame Cathedral was an awe-inspiring sight. The Rose Window glimmered ethereally in the silvery light, an immense change from its daytime glow for which earned it its name. Its spires grew up and up and pierced the sky with their tips. The hundreds of gargoyle statues set on the building's roof looked even more frightening in the blackening light. Well, the stone ones did. The ones that were beginning to move were a common sight for the lamplighters and night guards of the cathedral's exterior and front square.
Unbeknownst to the better half of Paris, France, Notre Dame Cathedral housed a centuries old rookery and was home to the gargoyles of the Paris Clan. Just as the Manhattan Clan had their Clock Tower and Castle Wyvern, the Paris Clan had their Cathedral. In the catacombs beneath the city had been a perfect place to locate the clan's rookery, and there were more than enough ledges and places to roost for the adults on the cathedral roofs. The hatchlings and children stayed in the catacombs and inside Notre Dame itself. They blended in perfectly with the statues within as well as without.
Few humans actually knew the gargoyles existed; the night watchmen and lamplighters always thought it was the moonlight tricking their eyes, and had accepted the fact. The priests of the cathedral knew the building had otherworldly protectors, and left articles of food as thanks. Too bad their gifts were never enough to sustain an adult gargoyle just woken from a good day's sleep. Of all these, the only ones who actually knew of the gargoyle's true existence were the cathedral's janitors and one girl, Evangeline, only daughter to a poor artist father and homemaker mother, a dear friend of the Paris gargoyles.
Tonight she sat in her favorite spot: a worn stone seat placed just inside one of the higher arch levels of the cathedral. With knees pulled to support her notebooks and the moon's rays to light her paper Evangeline, or Eva as her strange friends affectionately call her, sketched a scene of the night as a pair of gargoyles swoop overhead, leaping off their roosting spots of the previous day. She grinned as she heard the wave of roars and shrieks from other gargs just waking out of their stone skins.
"Never a silent moment with these around."
"Why would you ever wish it otherwise?" a masculine voice sounded behind the girl and she looked up, a grin forming on her face even before her eyes beheld the young male gargoyle standing in the dim shadows. She didn't need the light to know his black skin was shining with its customary jet blue highlights as his white-silver hair caught the glow of the moonlight and shimmered as quicksilver. The baubles woven into the single small braid pulled over his shoulder and hanging from its tip also shimmered as he took a step forward. His golden eyes glowed with the animalistic reflection of light as he looked at her sitting there in the moonlight.
Jett had known many humans in his short life, but none had ever stood out as this girl did. Her singular grace and presence was a thing held in high esteem by humans, as well as gargoyles. She was strong of spirit, mind and will; very little could upset her.
Until it comes to me. With me, she is as fragile as a rose in winter's grip.
"Wot's wrawng, Jeatt? Gout a li'le mewnshine in yer ayes der?" the gargoyles laughed softly at the girl's heavy Scottish brogue. True, she was Scottish by blood, and both her parents spoke with the accent, but she could use it when she chose to – or not.
"If Feys could claim such a creature as you and use the moonshine to try to make you even more beautiful, it would not work. I dare say there is not another creature in all the world as fair as you, my lady." He watched her grin, gently shutting her sketchbook and standing. She brushed imaginary speaks of dust off her gray skirt as the gargoyle walked towards her, hind talons clicking against the aged stone. When Eva looked up, she was staring at the creature's defined chest, before she tilted her head up even further to met his eyes. He was a gargoyle with a more human appearance than some; there was only a small beak distancing them. He leaned down, getting into her face, staring at her with his glowing eyes and she looked right back with her own glowing orbs. The difference between the two was that her eyes had begun glittering with untamed Fey magic.
Having any sort of lineage in the British Isle could earn you Fey blood-ties as well, and it so happened that Eva was not mortal, but a occupant of the fairy world Faelyn. In fact, she was not only of the ethereal Fey world, but she was one of their highest Mages and a Princess to boot. Her parents had been sent into the human world as spies and informants to their magical home, and the mortal world had done little to Eva since her birth. She was still Fey by blood, and Fey she would remain. It was little wonder she'd become quick friends with the gargoyles, and even more so that both species had approved of her deepening relationship with the Gargoyle Jetter. The gargoyle's older brother Alphonse also began a relationship with a fey, but one of lesser blood. There were no complications, and the garg - fairy couples grew closer at every waking.
"Been waiting long?" the gargoyle asked softly as he wrapped the girl in his arms. He was scheduled for patrol tonight, but those chores wouldn't begin for several minutes – several minutes he could have more with his Eva.
"No more than I always do." She snuggled up to him, enjoying the feel of the gargoyle's deadly talons caressing her skin gently. She wore a traditional costume of her true people, very little but enough to be modest in the necessary ways. A close-fitting top, a long slitted skit over short shorts, buckled boots, arm protectors in place, hair pulled back into a tight braid, all in black, all imbued with Fey magic of protection. The costume complimented the girl's silver and black wings, patterned on the edges with fanciful, dark designs that followed the girl's daring nature. But now her wings were folded down and hidden beneath a lightweight, back-cut cloak, also protecting them from the steely, powerful arms and talons of the gargoyle now holding her.
"And how long is that, my precious?"
She looked up at him. "All day?" her lover's expression of shock made the girl laugh. "What else is there to do for a Fey Princess Mage in the land of mortals? They're entertaining enough, but it's not fun until my folk mess with it or the sun sets, freeing my love from his stony slumber to return to me once more." As well as being magic by nature, the girl held a deep gift and love of words. There was never one so eloquent in speech yet as quick of tongue as the young Princess Eva.
"You patrol tonight?" the gargoyle dropped the subject of Feys in the human world and nodded in answer to her last question. Her eyes brightened, and he felt the wings on her back quiver.
"Can I fly along?"
"Don't you think one gargoyle is noticeable enough on its own without adding a FPM to his side?" the gentle sarcasm in his voice made the girl laugh.
"Yes, but what if you can't see her? It makes a world of difference using invisibility spells, you know."
He sighed in a grumbling manner. "I know, I know." They both laughed. Jett felt the wings trembling, and knew she desperately wanted to spend time with him. Gently he nuzzled her pearly black hair, smelling the scents of both the human and fairy world on her.
"I'll ask Al." she grinned as he unwrapped her, taking her hand and walking to the archway leading into the night. Sketchbooks forgotten (no one would find them where they were), Eva stood beside Jett, a little in front of him as she felt him open his wings, stretching the last of the daysleep kinks out of his muscles. She was patient, not even bouncing in eagerness when she felt his talons brush the skin of her throat, and automatically lifted her head as the gargoyle undid the clasp of her cloak, lifting it off and away from her wings. She felt his eyes on her and knew he was watching in enjoyment as she allowed her extra limbs to unfold to their true size, a little smaller than the gargoyle's own massive span. He tossed the cloak onto the sketchbooks and stepped up beside the Fey. She slid her hand into his, and laughed in joy as he leaped up, pulling her with him as he caught an air current and began gliding up towards the upper level of the cathedral.
Other gargoyles waved at the pair, some hailing Eva by name as she and Jett glided past. They had already gotten their route assignments from Alphonse, the head of their clan, and were beginning to set out for the night. Looking ahead, the pair could see a few stragglers still talking with Alphonse on the top of the cathedral's left tower. The big gray form of the older gargoyle was quicksilver in the night as the moon's light played over his rippling muscles and wings fluttering a little in the early night breeze. The last of the clan waved to Jett and Eva as they passed; the Fey and gargoyle landing, they walking to the ledge to take off in flight. Eva waved back, Jett nodded respectfully as they watched the others vanish into the dark sky, before a gruff clearing of the throat was heard behind them. Eva spun around, eyeing Alphonse teasingly.
"What, a little edgy tonight, Al? Eager to see your lady?"
Even though she was a Fey Princess, Eva never lost an opportunity to tease her best friends. But she wasn't expecting a sudden flair of blue light at the edge of the tower, nor to see a woman emerging from the hazy smoke left behind. The woman shook herself, looking around to see where she was before she caught sight of the trio. Her eyes lit up when they fell on Alphonse, and Eva grinned, knowing this was Ylia, of her own Fealyn world. The Princess raised her arm in greeting, and the other Fey returned it, adding a slight bow as she stood beside the clan leader.
"Princess."
Eva grinned, even as Jett poked her in the back with his claw. She shot him a look before turning back to the Fey woman. "It's good to see you in the human world again, Ylia."
"It has been some time, Princess. But not all of us are as free as others to travel as we wish." The gentle jibe made Eva smile and laugh. It was a common joke in Faelyn that Eva had traveled in and out of the Fey and Human worlds more times than anyone else, even some combined! There were always laughed warnings of unwanted attention from other magical creatures and/or humans, and whenever a Fey met Eva in the human world they'd remind her to be careful or "Go home already!" Fey humor – it never grew old.