Back on Earth, the gargoyle clan was getting ready for sunrise. Goliath counted them up, and besides himself, came up with only 5 others. Bronx included. "Where's Brooklyn?" He asked.
"We don't know. He disappeared around lunchtime. Haven't seen him since then." Broadway said.
"I saw that he was headed towards Xanatos' collection museum." Lexington spoke up. "Maybe he's still there."
"But we will have to wait until tomorrow night." Hudson said. And with that, they all turned to stone.
The next night, Goliath and the others awoke and went to the museum to see if Brooklyn was in there. When they entered the room, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Ok, you all go off and search the castle for him. I'll meet you all back here in an hour." Goliath ordered.
Hudson and the others all searched for him and returned. Nothing.
"There was no sign of him, Father." Angela said.
"Ok. Then he must have gone out on a flight around the city. Go look for him." The lead gargoyle ordered.
They all began to leave the room when Lex noticed a diamond glass holder had been opened and the diamond was on the floor. "Wait guys, I think I found something." Lex said.
The others came back.
When Goliath picked it up, the diamond morphed into a portal. Flames reached out and grabbed Goliath. The others immediately saw what was happening and grabbed their leader and pulled him to safety.
Then the portal closed and dropped back to the floor as a diamond. The gargoyles just stared at it.
Lex then said, " Maybe Brooklyn was pulled through it, Goliath. Look at the floor. Drag marks on the floor! They have to be Brooklyn's."
"I'm going to let Xanatos know of this portal diamond." Goliath said and left.
He returned a few minutes later with the man. "This is the diamond."
"That is not a diamond Goliath. That is a portal that will transport its holder to another world." Xanatos said. "And only an immortal can touch it."
"Well, how do we get Brooklyn back?" Angela asked.
"We need someone who is immortal and can do magic spells." Xanatos said.
They all knew that Owen/Puck couldn't do it without Alex. Demona was the only other one they could turn to.
"I know we don't want her here, but Angela, you go and get Demona. She may be our only hope of getting Brooklyn back." Goliath said.
"Yes Father." Angela said. She went to get her mother.
About an hour later, Angela returned with Demona. They went to the museum. "Ok. Let's hurry this up. I need to get back home. So you think I can help you with this portal to bring Brooklyn back?" Demona inquired.
"Yes. You are immortal and you know magic spells. Only an immortal can touch it." Goliath answered.
"Alright. Where is this portal?" Demona asked.
They all pointed at the ground and there it was. A gem on the floor. She went over and looked at it. She kind of seemed to recognize it.
"You got the part down about only an immortal can touch it without the portal opening and I am going to do two spells. One to tell where Brooklyn is, and two to get him to come back." Demona said.
With her first spell, an image opened up from the gem and they saw another planet. They had no idea what it was or where it was. Then she cast another spell to get the portal to pinpoint Brooklyn's location.
On planet Thra, the Skeksis and Brooklyn were now in the Crystal Chamber. They were now trying to figure out how they were going to do this.
Chamberlain asked if it were possible for him to come back to Earth with him. "I suppose you could, but it would be dangerous, Chamberlain. If I thought the Garthim were to me, the humans would be even more dangerous to you. They have weapons and technology you wouldn't believe ever existed. They could kill you. And humans will kill beings that they don't understand. That's why they killed my clan."
"Anything would be better than staying here with all the rivals I have." Chamberlain continued to try to persuade him.
"Maybe. I'm not promising Chamberlain. We'll see what happens."
At least Brooklyn had said it was possible for him to come back to his planet. None of the other Skeksis liked him much. And he had gotten a friend in Brooklyn at least.
Back in the Chamber, Brooklyn was fascinated with the Crystal. He had never seen one so dark before. He saw a small spot up on top where there was in fact, a shard missing as he had been told.
Then, the Crystal began to make a humming sound and it began to glow. The Skeksis had never seen it do that before. They all and Brooklyn began backing away from it.
The portal was intercepting the power source of Thra. Then, a portal opened up in the middle of the room!
The light was bright. But they all didn't keep their eyes covered for long. They had to see what this was.
Brooklyn instantly recognized it. "This is the portal that brought me here!" He said happily. "I can go home!"
All the Skeksis could only do was just look on. The High Priest was thinking, 'Get out of here already then!'
Brooklyn began walking toward it. But Chamberlain couldn't let him.
"Brooklyn! Wait!"
He turned.
How do you know you trust the portal to take you home? We didn't even try anything." skekSil asked.
"I know, but I recognize it Chamberlain. It's my only ticket home." Brooklyn said.
"What about me? Can I come?"
Brooklyn saw a serious face on skekSil. He really wanted to go.
The other Skeksis would be so pleased to see him go.
"Alright, but on one condition, you have to listen to me to stay safe." Brooklyn said.
"Ok." Chamberlain just wanted to go. "But how are we getting to it? It's up in the air."
"This way." Brooklyn said.
The other Skeksis had no idea what Brooklyn was pulling, but they saw Chamberlain and Brooklyn head up to the balcony on the second floor.
Brooklyn got down on all fours. Chamberlain knew what he was doing. He smiled and got on.
The Skeksis couldn't believe what they were seeing.
SkekSil walked behind Brooklyn to the edge of the balcony, and Brooklyn now spread his wings for takeoff.
Chamberlain closed his eyes as he felt Brooklyn hunch and tense. And with a jump, they were in the air. And in one big swoop, Brooklyn flew into the portal. It closed right behind them.
The Skeksis left behind were speechless at what they had seen. And they had finally seen Brooklyn use his wings. But mostly, the best thing of all, was Chamberlain was gone for good! No more whimpering! And for General, one less rival around.
Chamberlain and General were the biggest rivals in the whole clan of Skeksis.
On Earth, Brooklyn and Chamberlain made an appearance through the portal, gliding in. The gargoyles all ducked to the ground to avoid being hit.
"Whoa!" Brooklyn cried out. He instantly recognized his castle home.
He barely missed the wall and he didn't want his friend hurt. He turned real fast with the flap of his wings and his fast reflexes.
Chamberlain was now scared. He had opened his eyes when Brooklyn had said something. Now he had an idea of how agile the gargoyle really was in the air.
Now Brooklyn was back on course and he slowed down. He flapped his wings and came down. He saw his clan. Lucky this room had had a high ceiling.
"Sorry everyone." Brooklyn said.
His clan was now back on their feet, and Chamberlain got off of Brooklyn's back.
"Brooklyn, what happened to you?" Lex asked.
"I remember I was just looking at that gem and the instant I touched it, it opened up and grabbed me, pulling me in." Brooklyn said.
"Yeah, we saw the claw marks." Goliath said.
"But you can't touch the gem without being immortal." A female voice said.
Brooklyn knew that voice. He looked and saw her behind the clan. "Demona!" He tried to attack.
That was the first time Chamberlain had ever seen Brooklyn in an attack mode.
"No Brooklyn!" Goliath held his second in command.
"She used the portal with spells to bring you back home." Angela said. "We had no choice."
Brooklyn now calmed down. "Fine. And thanks." He said grumpily. He hated her.
"Now that things are fine here now, I must head home." Demona said. She walked out.
Chamberlain saw that this female had red hair, purple wings, and blue skin. She knew magic spells too! And was she immortal? He had heard only an immortal could touch the gem. He looked at the gem too.
The clan rejoiced once she was gone. Then Goliath said, "Brooklyn, who is your friend?"
"Oh. Everyone, this my friend Chamberlain from the planet I was on. Chamberlain from Planet Thra." Brooklyn introduced the Skeksis.
Chamberlain was amazed now at all the different sizes and colors of Brooklyn's clan. "Chamberlain, this is Goliath, my leader, Angela, his daughter, Lexington and Broadway, my rookery brothers, Hudson, and Bronx. The one leaving was Demona."
"Nice to meet you, Sir Chamberlain." Goliath welcomed.
"That's Lord Chamberlain!"
Brooklyn nudged him. "Be nice."
"Sorry. Lord Chamberlain." Goliath corrected himself.
Bronx came up and smelled him at a distance. He didn't like what he smelled. Just like a dog protecting his family, Bronx growled.
Chamberlain backed away from the large beast.
"Bronx won't hurt you unless provoked." Brooklyn said. He put his hand on the beast's head.
Bronx knew that was the signal not to attack a newcomer. Strange or not.
Chamberlain knew he would have to watch himself here. He kind of remembered Brooklyn telling him of his clan. Now that he had met them, he wasn't so sure if he did want to stay permanently. But he would get used to things here. He had to try to find a better life than the one he had in Thra. Where no one wanted him around.
"So Brooklyn, you weren't harmed while you were there, were you?" Goliath inquired.
"I was wounded on my stomach by the Skeksis' Garthim. It was a case of mistaken species." Brooklyn grinned. "But I'm healed now."
"What are these Garthim?" Broadway was curious.
"They are Skeksis soldiers. They defend Castle." Chamberlain said.
"What he means is what do they look like. Kind of picture large beetles or crabs and blackish color." Brooklyn said.
The Skeksis had no idea what those were, but perhaps he would find out. But of course they were creatures on Brooklyn's planet.
Then, Angela had to ask, "Are you male or female?"
"I am mix of both, but I like the term he over she." SkekSil said. He knew what she meant.
"Your voice could nearly be female though." She said.
"Its just the way it is. None of my clan can stand me." Sil said.
"And why's that?" Lex asked.
"We all have different things of our own and not mix." Chamberlain said. He didn't want to say it was because of his whimper or devious ways. Back home, he did have ways of sleuthing around and finding ways to get the others in trouble and end up only getting himself in trouble.
"I want to know more about Thra." Lex said. "What's it like?"
"Warm at least, but not too hot. I wasn't there long enough to experience cold." Brooklyn said.
"Thra has 3 suns. One moon. I don't go out of Castle much, except for exile in fight to be new Emperor." SkekSil explained.
The gargoyle clan could tell that the Skeksis was in distress about losing.
"If you only had more gentle ways of doing it." Brooklyn said. "I sensed the hostility you and the others had toward each other. Like choosing a second in command. Goliath choose me to be his second, so if anything ever happened to him, I would be leader some day."
Chamberlain's eyes lit up. Seems his friend had high ranking too.
"What about turning to stone?" Lex asked.
"Oh yeah. I still did that. I think we would all still turn to stone in daytime no matter what planet we're on." Brooklyn said. "The Skeksis also lived in a Castle like us. The place surrounding it was in need of rain real bad. But when the gem portal sent me there, I landed in the swamp. So it has swamplands too."
"Chamberlain found me in the swamp and he pointed me to the Castle in hopes of getting me home. The Crystal had special powers and I think that when Demona did her spell, it came in contact with and affected the Crystal, making it open in the Crystal Chamber."
After a little more explaining, soon it was time for lunch.
"So what do you like to eat?" Broadway asked.
"Meat." skekSil said.
"We have plenty of that. Fish, ham, steak, turkey, chicken." The chef gargoyle said.
"Broadway! He doesn't know what all that is. Just serve him up some meat and he'll eat it." Brooklyn reprimanded his rookery bro.
At the mention of it all, Chamberlain could feel his own stomach growling.
Tonight, they would all be eating together. Chamberlain was the guest of honor. While they were waiting on dinner to be cooked, Brooklyn took Chamberlain on a tour of the castle. Huge place. He was also introduced to the Xanatos family, David, Fox, and Alex, and Owen. Elisa would be later on if she came by.
When Chamberlain finally saw some humans, they really did remind him of just really tall Gelflings.
Soon, dinner was ready. A new chair was added to the table.
Chamberlain sat down next to Brooklyn. To him, he had never seen chairs that didn't allow his tail through. He sat down anyway, his tail curled out to the right, but close to his feet.
The table had already been full of food when they arrived, but the Skeksis couldn't wait to dive in. Once they were all seated, they all began passing food around, and Chamberlain just grabbed at what he could get at.
"Chamberlain, we don't do that here." Brooklyn said. "It will come to you. Just be patient."
"I'm hungry now!"
"Just wait your turn!" Goliath burst out in his deep voice.
"You don't want to get Goliath mad at you Chamberlain." Brooklyn said.
SkekSil had almost jumped out of his skin when Goliath had yelled at him. He sat down. He waited because he didn't have a choice. Soon the food came to him and he took most of the meat.
The Skeksis could eat something alive meant they could tolerate raw meat too. But this was the first time it seemed that he was eating cooked food. This felt good.
Brooklyn didn't want to risk him getting sick on something that was unfamiliar to him when it came to drinks. Chamberlain was given just water to drink. Though he did get curious as to what the others were drinking. It sure didn't look like water.
Chamberlain was real grabby at the table. Brooklyn was wary of how the others were glaring at him. That maybe they weren't going to let him stay. Chamberlain was too hungry to care at the moment.
Since this was only his first night here, Goliath would let it slide for tonight, but he would talk to Brooklyn later on how to get him to improve, or he wouldn't be staying.
Everyone kind of lost their appetites watching the Skeksis eat, though everyone did eat a little. Chamberlain practically ate most of the food on the table. He was full when dinner was over. They were all glad to leave the table and go do something else.
Just as Brooklyn was about to go do something with Chamberlain, Goliath said, "Brooklyn, I need to have a word."
"Ok." Brooklyn knew what this was about. "Wait here Chamberlain."
SkekSil stayed put for a moment. He saw the red and purple gargoyles go out of his sight to talk. He wondered what it was that they couldn't say in front of him.
In a private room, Goliath was saying, "Brooklyn, I know you care about Chamberlain, but he has to be taught some manners. Otherwise, if he doesn't, he won't be staying here!"
"But Goliath, I have seen how the others treat him. I promise I'll help him get better. Those manners are just what the Skeksis did at their table. Not the best." Brooklyn said. "I promise."
"We are going on patrol tonight, but I'm going to have you stay here tonight and have Chamberlain learn the ropes. Teach him some manners. Bronx will stay and help too. The way I saw that he was afraid of him means that you might get better cooperation from him if Bronx is helping you." Goliath said.
"I just don't want him afraid of everything to do. But I'll let Bronx stay close by. So, is Hudson taking my place then?" Brooklyn asked.
"Yes. Now go and find him." Goliath said.
Brooklyn nodded and left.
Chamberlain had followed from a distance. He was worried. Was it about him?
He backed off when Brooklyn came out of the room. "Chamberlain."
"Yes?" Sil answered.
"Goliath told me to talk to you while he and the clan go on patrol." Brooklyn said.
"Patrol?"
"We patrol the city and stop evil doers." Brooklyn said.
"I see, but what do we have to talk about?" Sil asked.
"I hope none of what I have to say offends you, but Chamberlain, we have to make some improvements in your manners. Or they won't let you stay." Brooklyn said.
"What?"
"You can't be so grabby at dinner, wait your turn, don't throw things, all the rude manners have to stop." Brooklyn said. "I know you're capable of it. That's why I'm staying here to help you out."
Chamberlain was not too pleased about this, but he knew if he wanted to try to stay, he needed to work on it with Brooklyn. They still had some hours left before sunrise. The rest of the clan had gone on patrol.
Bronx was now hanging around too. He was bored without Hudson or something to do. Chamberlain definitely did as instructed when the gargoyle dog was around. (I like the word dog over beast. Beast sounds mean.)
After some training lessons on good manners, Brooklyn decided to go to the training dojo. In there, Fox and Xanatos were training ninja and martial arts.
Chamberlain couldn't believe how well these two could fight. He might have been able to move like that long ago, but he was kind of older himself. He couldn't move that quick anymore.
"Brooklyn, Chamberlain, what brings you here?" David asked.
"Boredom. Showing him around." Brooklyn replied.
"We're through now. You can use the dojo if you want." Fox said.
"Thanks." The two lovers left.
"You spar?" Brooklyn asked.
SkekSil cocked his head.
"I mean do you practice in how to fight?"
"No. We just know how to." Chamberlain said.
"You think that you could learn some fighting moves? Because here, one day your life might depend on it. Especially because of the humans. Ones outside the few that we know are not all that trustworthy. And you saw what they were doing. There are some tougher ones out there." Brooklyn said.
"I'm not as young as once was."
"Neither is Hudson, but he can still fight." Brooklyn said.
"He also has wings. I don't have them."
"We gargoyles trained with humans as well as with other gargoyles in combat training. So training you is almost like training a human to our fighting skills." The red gargoyle explained.
"Can you show me some?" Chamberlain asked.
"Sure."
Brooklyn showed him some hand fighting, kicks, how he used his tail as a hand, his wings as weapons, and there was one last one. "Here is a great one. Many opponents don't expect it, but it is the tail whiplash." He said.
"Huh?"
"You can use this move to either hit someone who's preparing to fire at you, or you can use it to trip their feet out from under them." Then in a quick spin, Brooklyn didn't trip Chamberlain, but he spun around, and his tail lashed out. "It can also be used to knock things out of the enemy's hand too. I did it with a book a long time ago with Demona."
Chamberlain knew he might have to watch out for that one.
"Your tail seems about as long as mine, I'm sure you could use it as a weapon." Brooklyn said.
"My tail is not used much."
"Well, now's a time to get started if you had to. See if you can whip it out like I showed you."
"I am not a fast mover."
"Its ok. Do what you can." Brooklyn encouraged.
"Maybe later." Chamberlain wasn't sure he could do it now.
"Alright. I guess it's time to give it a break anyway. Xanatos will show you to your room once the clan and I are asleep. Its time to get prepared for dawn anyway." Brooklyn could sense it approaching.
Chamberlain couldn't agree more. They both left the dojo.
The rest of the clan was now returning. They were greeted by the two friends and Bronx. Xanatos was up there as well, for he would be showing the guest to his room right afterward. They were all up on the highest tower. In Brooklyn's case, it felt good to be home again.
Chamberlain watched as every gargoyle jumped onto his or her perch, and just as the sun peeked over the horizon, each one growled and took a pose. He heard each one had a different growl. It was amazing. Then they turned to stone, even Bronx.
Now Chamberlain was alone. But he was glad that Bronx wasn't watching him anymore.
"Come on Chamberlain. I'll show you to your room." Xanatos spoke up.
The Skeksis looked one last time at Brooklyn, then followed the man. He was wary of someone that just reminded him of Gelfling, but he had to know what room was going to be called his.
