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

Any kind of feedback is welcome and much appreciated.

Four

Demie

Author: NotreDame ()

Manhattan, 1996

During her career, Elisa Maza already had to tell painful news to families. A son had been killed, a sibling had been attacked, a daughter had been raped… Dealing with the families' reactions was always very difficult. Seeing mothers and fathers burst into tears in front of her or starting to act like zombies and knowing that nothing could be done to really relieve them their pain always made her uneasy for days. She could still remember the first time she had to tell a man that his daughter had been raped and killed. The girl was not older than her sister Beth was at that time.

However, this case was going to be really tricky. "Mr Gregarino", she said to the greyish-haired man who was sitting in front of him, "Mrs Gregarino", the portly woman with a friendly face smiled to her, surprised, "I'm afraid I have bad news about your daughter, Valeria."

"About Valeria? What's happened?" asked Mrs Gregarino, worried. Elisa sighed. "It appeared that she had an accident yesterday evening, when she went back home. She involuntarily put a chemical she was working on in her coffee. She is currently at the hospital."

"Do you mean that she tried to…" asked the father, not daring to finish his sentence. Elisa shook her head. "No, we are pretty sure that it was no suicide. The bottle looked very much like the one of a sweetener she regularly used and apparently, it tasted very sugary. It was nothing but an accident. She apparently had a hallucination just after drinking it and she phoned the police, believing there was something abnormal in her apartment. So we were able to send her to the hospital at the soonest."

"Will she… be all right?" asked Mrs Gregarino. It was the part Elisa dreaded at most. "According to the doctors, just now, her life is not in danger. But there were unexpected side-effects." At this point, a man in a white coat coughed and put his hand on Elisa's shoulder. "Let me finish, detective", he said. "I am Dr Sato and I have just examined your daughter. I'm sorry. It appears that the mix of chemicals has affected her physiology."

"What?" gaped Valeria's mother. Her husband embraced her and Dr Sato carried on. "Apparently, she has reached a stable point. She doesn't suffer at all and she is perfectly conscious. But I think we'd better keep her at the hospital for a moment."

"When will be able to visit her?" asked Mr Gregarino. The doctor exchanged a brief look with Elisa. "Before any visit, there are two things you need to know." He took a hand of both in his owns. "I'm afraid it won't be easy. First, she suffers from amnesia. She can remember her name, but not her job or her address. But that's not the most disturbing." Valeria's mother was on the verge of tears. "Her morphology has changed. She doesn't suffer at all but she looks exactly like a four-year-old child. It seems…" Mrs Gregarino burst into tears. Her husband got as pale as a ghost. "What does this joke mean?" he asked. "This is impossible! Is our daughter dead?" Dr Sato shook his head. "We are working into turning her back normal. But it will probably take quite a long time."

Elisa tried to find words to comfort the two unhappy parents. They finally left the precinct, both upset, and headed to the hospital. Elisa hesitated and then decided to follow them. She could visit Goliath and the clan later.

Wyvern Castle

In a corner of the children's room, four-year-old Dominique Destine was playing with two-months-old Alexander Xanatos. They had apparently decided to be friends the first time they saw each other, that was a few hours before. Owen Burnett was watching them, his face unreadable.

Suddenly, Dominique dropped the puppet she was holding and started shouting. Her skin turned blue, a tail and wings erupted, tearing her yellow dress, her white socks were destroyed when her feet turned larger. Alex watched her, horrified. He didn't mind his new friend being a gargoyle, he liked gargoyles (especially Lex). But he could see that the nice little girl was suffering horribly, and this was wrong. His fey senses were telling him that there was something magic about it but his powers were not developed enough to relieve his little friend from her pain. So he started crying, too.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor and Fox burst into the room, closely followed by Angela. Both took a child in their arms and started to comfort them. The clan and Xanatos entered the room and watched them uneasily. After a few minutes, the children calmed down. Fox and Angela exchanged a look. "Has she… turned human by day?" asked the lavender gargress.

"Yes", said Alex's mother. "And she couldn't remember why. I'm afraid it was still painful. There was no problem the rest of the day, she watched TV, she played with Alex, she took a bath, she slept a bit."

"Thank you for having taken care of her", said Angela. Xanatos frowned. "May I know why… what happened to this… child?" Brooklyn sighed and explained again about the events of the night before. "Maybe Elisa will be able to tell us more", he finished. "I hope we won't all be turned into hatchlings." He watched the two kids who had gone back to their plays. They were laughing happily and the Demona he knew would have never played innocently with a human child. She was not faking. Yes, he didn't mind the hatchling Demona to stay in the castle.

Goliath felt it weird to see his former mate as a hatchling, though. He had forgotten how cute, innocent and vulnerable she had been. And she had not recognised him. She seemed ready to consider him as a rookery father. That was nice but disturbing.

It was Hudson who felt the most disorientated. Since Goliath had come back from Avalon, he had supposed that the clan's next generation would be Angela's first egg and he had hoped to live long enough to see him/her hatch, in 2018. At that day, he would be the equivalent of 70. In a way, it was great, not to have to wait to see a hatchling play in Wyvern Castle.

On the other hand, he had already seen Demona as a hatchling, more than a thousand year before, when she was not yet Demona, nor even Goliath's 'Angel of the Night'. She had been one of his rookery children, like dozens of other gargoyles. Seeing her reminded him of Goliath as a hatchling. And of Othello, Desdemona and all their rookery siblings as hatchlings. Suddenly, the playroom was full of young gargoyles who had been shattered to death when they had reached adulthood. And it reminded him that his mate's first egg had hatched the same year as Demona's. They had been so happy together. And then she had been killed. Happy and painful memories came and go into the eldest gargoyle's mind until he had to chase them away. Being nostalgic was pointless, only the present mattered.

At that point, little Demona walked to her grown-up daughter and pulled on her hand. "Mother, why did it hurt when my wings came back?" Stunned, Angela said: "that's a good question, sweetheart. But there's a way to solve this problem. Isn't there?" she added, glaring at Owen. "You can remove the curse, can't you?"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy" Burnett said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, come on, trickster", she whispered, ushering the blue hatchling away. "You had your little fun, torturing each other when she was grown-up but now she's a hatchling and she can't remember anything! Will you let a child suffer?"

"The problem, Miss Angela, is that I can't use magic unless Alex is involved. And he is still too young to perform such a complicated counter-spell. There could be unexpected side-effects."

"At least make the metamorphosis less painful" pleaded Angela. At that point, Fox went to her son and lifted him in her arms. "Alex", she asked, "do you mind if your little friend feels this horrible pain again at next sunrise, and again at next sunset, and…" The baby nodded furiously. "Do you want to help to relieve this pain?" He nodded again. "So", she said, smiling at Owen, "everything has been said." And Owen turned into Puck.

The hatchling laughed like mad while the fey made the baby repeat the incantation. "The child who is human by day, And gargoyle when sun is away, From now on will feel no more pain, When the magical change happens." Everyone stepped back. The little girl was lifted from the floor, red and blue sparks appeared around her, disappeared and she fell softly on her feet. Puck turned back into Owen. Alex giggled happily at little Demona, very proud of himself, then fell asleep in his mother's arms, exhausted.

"Thank you", said Angela.

Elisa came to the castle later. She found all the gargoyles in the common room, except Brooklyn, who was alone in the courtyard, and Broadway, who was in the kitchen with a very hungry Bronx. The television was on but no one was watching it. Lexington was browsing the internet to look for anything that had a link with grown-ups turned into children. The hatchling was drawing. She was now wearing a simple white tunic similar to Angela's. Hudson, Goliath and Angela were talking.

When he saw the detective entering the room, Goliath got up and walked to her. "I'm glad you came, Elisa", he said in a low voice.

"I'm glad about it too", she answered. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yes. She still can't remember anything, not even Hudson or the castle, but she's all right."

"Same thing about Valeria Gregarino." Elisa explained again how the lab assistant had accidentally put the chemical in her coffee and concluded: "I was with her parents at the hospital. They could hardly believe it." Elisa sighed. "Dr Sato and the Nightstone research team have started to work on an antidote but it will probably take time. And money."

"You know, Elisa", said Brooklyn from the doorway, "I really think I prefer her this way." The red gargoyle more or less expected Angela to protest but she didn't. For the first time, she could see her mother happy. Not with the evil joy she has displayed when she had tried to wipe out humanity on hunter's moon, but with pure, innocent happiness. "Yes", said the lavender female slowly. "It may be a new start for her."

Hudson wondered if this was right. His mind was still buzzing with little Demona's hatchling rookery siblings. "Ye, lads", he whispered, "but how are ye going te explain her why she turns human by day? Or why her logical hatching date doesn't match with any hatching year? She will find out something, ye know. She was never stupid." Angela shrugged. "We have time to think about this", she said.

The child suddenly jumped onto the floor and ran to the group, gesturing at Elisa. For a second, she thought the girl wanted to attack her. But no, she was holding a drawing. "This is for you", she said proudly, expecting to be complimented. Stunned, Elisa didn't react. After a few seconds, the child asked sadly: "You don't like it?"

"Demie, Elisa is a bit shy, sometimes", hurriedly said Angela. "Elisa, you like it, don't you?"

"It's… beautiful, thank you." It looked like a cross between a house and a porcupine. "What is it, exactly?"

"A castle!" Indeed, there were doors, windows, turrets and crenels. In what was probably the courtyard, people were standing. Some had wings and tails, some hadn't and a few had an abnormal number of appendages. Satisfied, Demie ran back to the table. "Mother, the next one is for you!" she shouted to Angela.

"She calls you mother?" Elisa asked. Angela shrugged. "Let's say I'm her clan mother." Hudson and Goliath exchanged a look. They hadn't expected the Avalon-born gargoyle to stick to gargoyle ways. But somehow, her reaction was not that surprising: as she herself had been raised by foster parents, she didn't mind being a foster mother, and she wasn't the kind to reject a child. "OK", said Elisa. "You call her Demie, now?"

"It seemed appropriate. Well, more than her previous name."

"You should have seen her playing with Alex", added Lex from behind his keyboard. "Too cute. One should have filmed them and sent the tape to the Quarrymen."

"What is the Quarrymen?" suddenly asked Demie.

Nobody dared answering.

Before the end of the night, Goliath and Xanatos had reached an agreement. He and Fox would take care of Demie during the day, and the clan would carry on protecting Alex by night. The leader of the Wyvern clan wondered if he was right to trust Xanatos about one of the clan's hatchlings. But anyway, he had no choice. He told himself that since Xanatos had a son, he would probably not endanger someone else's child. But… well, this had been Demona! He nearly told her to phone Elisa if there was any problem. But could a hatchling that young use a telephone? This was going to be tricky.

Xanatos found the situation destabilizing, too. What would happen if little Demie suddenly turned back into her Demona mode and tried to harm his son? Well, there were dozens of alarms systems in the castle, as well as a fey majordomo. And Alex liked the new clan member, and Fox was willing to consider her as a member of the "family". He would have to be careful.

On the other hand, this was going to be interesting. There was a way to get more than twenty or thirty years younger in only an hour? It could prove very useful. Of course he wouldn't use this kind of product on him or Fox without knowing the consequences. But he would witness the consequences, here in his castle. So this could be a good deal for him.

When she left the castle, Elisa wondered how many time it would take before Dominique Destine's disappearance was noticed. The police would probably have to investigate on that case. But how to explain that this CEO (and gargoyle, immortal and former arch-enemy of the Manhattan clan) had been turned into a dainty little thing and lived now in a castle above the clouds?

And she hadn't recognized her. She had even given her a drawing. After having tried to kill her several times. It was too weird. Kind of cute, but weird. It may be the solution to a lot of problems on this planet, thought Elisa. All the mad, dangerous people should be turned into very young children. They would be happier. And so would we.

When Elisa went back home that night, she pinned the drawing of the castle over her bed. She couldn't help feeling some kind of a twinge of sorrow when she though of little Demie, cuddled in Angela's arms. Why? because she wanted to have a child, too? No, she though. With the hectic life I have, there is no place for a baby. And by the way, with which man would I make it? She though of Goliath and smiled. Yes, he would be the one she would choose but it would lead to no child. Don't even think of it, she told herself. Things are what they are.

Nightstone Unlimited, the following day

Dr Bonnot feared the moment he would have to tell Ms Destine what had happened to poor Valeria. She had been absent all day. One has tried to phone her but nobody had answered. His team had been trying to work normally anyway. The properties of the chemical (it has been decided to call it VAL001) were unforeseen but fascinating. Maybe it would be possible to use it, not only in cancer cases but also about other diseases.

Helen, Josh, George and himself had been visited by Valeria's parents. They were destroyed, poor ones. They had only two children and their son was abroad, in Japan. He had to promise them that he would do anything to find an antidote. Poor Valeria. Stupid Valeria. Why did she have to do something as foolish as putting a chemical that dangerous in her coffee? It was lucky that she was the only one who drank it.

The research team tried to spend the day normally but it seemed that everyone was uneasy. Nobody dared drinking coffee. Josh tried to make a bad joke about it but when everyone glared at him, he stuttered and didn't dare finishing his sentence.

The results of the tests on rats seemed very ambiguous. The product was apparently instable and Bonnot wished he had much more time to study it. But the priority was to heal Valeria, as soon as possible. He couldn't let his parents suffer this way.

He was distracted by a telephone ringing. "Hello", said an unfamiliar male voice. I want you to carry on with the researches on VAL001 whatever happens."

"Sorry?"

"Carry on with the research. Nightstone Unlimited belongs to me. And I want you to send me samples of everything you find interesting."

Dr Bonnot hung up. The phone rang again. "I'm afraid you didn't understand me. If you don't carry on with your analyses and researches, I'll have to fire you."

"What?" gaped the scientist. "What do you mean? First of all, who are you?"

"Oh, my dear Dominique never told you about me? Pity. My name is Alexander Thailog and it happens that I own her company."

"What?"

"It appears that she is on vacation. I will replace her. Just phone her manor and leave a message on her answering machine if there is any problem."

"But…" a click indicated that the mysterious phone-caller had hung up. Grumbling, Bonnot got up and went to leave the building. Just before leaving, he asked the receptionist if she knew about a man named "Alexander Tailor". She was hardly surprised. Yes, she had heard about him but nobody had ever seen him. Maybe he was just very shy. Or very ugly.

Ishimura, Japan. 02:00 AM

The phone rang and woke Vinnie Gregarino up. He managed to get up and stumbled in his tiny bedroom. Maybe he shouldn't have drunk so much the evening before. Japan was a nice country. They had nice drinks and nice food. Nice people. And nice gargoyles. He had gotten used to them but he still hadn't told anyone at home that his new job consisted in keeping watch on sleeping statues. Well, the task was easy. He just had to call the security if there was a problem. But, sure enough, Mom, Dad and Valeria would find it weird. Who was calling him at that time of the night? "Hello?" he growled.

"Vinnie? It's Mom. You need to know… your sister had an accident. We need you to come back to New York as soon as possible."

"What?" he shouted, suddenly very awake. What had happened to his sister? It was to be serious: his mother was obviously upset. "Well… she's traumatised. She doesn't recognise us any more."

"What kind of accident? If someone has harmed Val, I'll…" he stopped suddenly. He was not a violent person. The most dangerous weapon he had ever used could have fit easily in a baby's cartoon. But if this was about Valeria… "Is she going to…"

"The doctor says she'll live. Vinnie, dear, do you remember when you two had measles? When you used to stay in front of television and watch Bambi."

"Yes, Mom", he said.

"It's the same thing now."

"She has measles?" At her age, it was very serious.

"She watches Bambi all day."

"What?"

"Please, sonny, come back home! Things are going… weird." Vinnie sighed. He would come back home to put Mom's mind at ease. She was overreacting. What was wrong in watching a cartoon? His sister couldn't be that bad.

To be continued…