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 Odyssey34.

Previously:

"Guards," he spoke into his communicator. "Prepare for departure. Building secure?"

Taurus listened, as his men reported. So far everything was still okay. "Alright, let's go," he said to Cassy and Rion.

Cassy didn't say anything, and just followed the security chief with Rion behind her.

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As they walked off, joking about Taurus's attempt at family life, they didn't notice the dark silhouette in the alley beside them, a shadow with rage-filled eyes, growling in contempt.

'HOW DARE HE!' Achilles snarled, tightening his fists. 'ATTEMPT TO STEAL MY WOMAN? ATTEMPT TO TAKE MY CHILD? TAURUS WILL PAY!'

A child…a baby…his child…

Achilles shook the anger from his head.

His…

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"Hello, lover," a harsh voice suddenly sounded.

Cassy froze.

-The Darkness within, Part I-

And Now, The Continuation:

Earlier That Day; Outside Cassy's Apartment Building:

He had slunk through the alleyways, like a snake hell bent on a mission of stealing an egg from a bird's nest. Achilles has made it to the back of Cassy's apartment…yes…he remembered it well. Ixion had showed it to him.

"And here's the home of your future girlfriend! We're gonna get her for you tonight…just for you, man, since we're such great friends." Ixion put his arm around Achilles shoulder. "You're gonna love her."

A grin cracked across Achilles' black mouth, filled with anticipation, much like it did then. He licked at the saliva dripping from his lip.

A smell distracted him. It emanated from the dumpster just a few feet ahead of him.

Achilles trotted up to the dumpster. He attempted to open it, but found it locked; only members of that particular apartment complex had access to the dumpster. With a snarl, he cracked the iron cuff on his wrist against the lock, breaking it. He tore the top off and flung it against the wall He grabbed a bag out of the dumpster and slashed it open, inside were papers, the dried remains of food, and several shreds of clothing. He picked up a dirty, bloodstained rag and inhaled its scent, peaches and cream mixed with the iron smell of blood, his sweat, and the scent of the earth of his hut.

Beautiful…

"Yo, Cyc!"

It was muffled. Achilles stuffed the shredded cloth into the iron ring around his waist. He crept up along the wall, blending into the shadows. He knew those two…two of Cassy's friends. He had taken them before, so it should be an cinch. Then again the traffic that was overtaking their conversation may prove to be a danger as well. He could not afford to get caught. Perhaps if he wanted it out, he could quickly snatch the little female Centaur…yes, and the big Cyclops would follow after them.

"I'd thought she'd be home by now."

Achilles shook and began to slink back into the shadows.

"Where did she go?"

"To the park…"

To the park, that is where she is. They had given him all he needed to know without him enjoying beating it out of them. It did not satisfy him, especially since the big Cyclops…Cyc…made several rude references to his mate. But his mate was all he had, he could not afford to lose her and let her fall into the hands of Taurus. He snarled. He should have broken his head off, instead of that horn. To claim his mate and child!

Attempt to steal his woman! His child! Oh so many will pay, he would have to find her first! To keep her safe…to keep them safe…keep them his.

He charged down the alleyway, leaving crushed garbage cans and garbage scattered in his wake before thundering over a wall.

He followed her scent. It was weak wavering, the passing vehicles and the heat of the day threatened to wash it away as he searched. The trail split…one went in the way of the park…he assumed…the other went down an alleyway…it was much stronger, much fresher. Achilles sneered and followed the trail.

It did not take him long to find it…well…he found the Security hovercraft first. Draped over its handle bars was a towel…a towel Cassy had used in the bathhouse…the towel that the unfortunate guard picked up to clean off his hands and forehead, and forgot to return to the bathhouse, and had brought it with him.

He picked the towel off and inhaled the odour…yes her smell was there, it was stronger than that on the rag, but it was tinged with the smell of soap, cologne, and other people. It stung for him to breathe it, but he still managed a second sniff.

Yes she was here…but where was she? Achilles tucked the towel into the band around his waist. He heard noise from the alleyway, but he knew it was not she… as her scent ended with the towel.

There was the static cry of a communicator from behind the building, a former warehouse now broken down and empty, the entire area was nothing more than abandoned buildings, just a few months shy of being demolished for some new construction projects. It was the ideal place for riff-raff, thieves, and insane convicts to hide away. Achilles backed up into one of the buildings.

A guard strolled out from between two buildings.

"Got nothing here, place is empty," he spoke into communicator. He seemed unnerved, surrounded by ghostly gaping buildings. "He most likely just passed through…you know…like a ghost, like when we first fought the guy. He could be anywhere."

"Chief Taurus wants you to check out by the wharf, some of the kids have been saying there's a lot of caves and tunnels down there," a disembodied voice responded.

"Do you know how much that place freaks me out?" the guard stated. He clicked off his communicator and strolled up to his hovercraft. He stopped, realizing that the towel was no longer on the handlebars. He glanced on the ground and around his feet.

"Looking for this?" Achilles asked, strolling out of the building, swinging the towel on one of his fingers. He stepped farther out into the light, revealing his full form. "Looking for me?"

"Oh damn!" the guard swore and faltered, going for his gun.

In shaking hands he managed only one shot at Achilles, who blocked it easily with the cuffs around his wrists. The guard dropped his gun, as Achilles attempted to fall on him. The guard only managed a few steps before Achilles grabbed him by his collar. He dragged the guard into the warehouse like a spider drags a beetle into its trap.

"Where is she?" he snorted, his eyes and nostrils burning red as blood.

"I dunno!" the guard screeched back. "Where is who?"

"My mate! Where is she!" he snarled shaking the guard.

"I dunno! They took her to some secret facility!" the guard screeched back.

"Where's that?" Achilles snorted, pulling the guard up to his face.

"I dunno! It's a secret!" the guard exclaimed.

Snap!

Achilles snapped a finger back.

"I'm just a subordinate guard! They don't tell me stuff like this!" the guard screamed like a school child.

Snap!

"I'm not lying! They didn't tell me!"

"Do you have a family?"

There was silence.

"A family? A mother and father, a wife, children? Tell me!" Achilles asked, revealing his teeth and licking his lips. The guard was silent. Two fingers broken and blood pouring down his arm from the wounds. "Sister, brothers? A family, do you have one?"

No answer.

"You have a very unique smell… just like my mate does. How do you think I found you? I followed her scent on the towel…it's a very unique smell, and it was very easy for me to find it and you. Your smell, it smells of spice and old leather and the broken bark of trees…I bet your family smells just like that…maybe not your wife, but your parents and maybe your children, they'll have your smell, or something similar…you know…close enough for me to know they're yours. I wonder if their fingers would break as easily or as loudly as…"

Snap!

"It's in the mountain! The mountain! Somewhere in the mountain!" the guard cried. "I don't know anything else, I just overhead Chief Taurus-"

[Whump!

Achilles cracked the guard across the side of the head, knocking him out. "DON'T SAY THAT NAME!"

He dropped the guard's limp form on the dusty ground of the warehouse. From around his neck he snapped off the key to the hovercraft. He left the building. On the floor the communicator, knocked from the guard's belt in the scuffle, buzzed with static and a faint voice of the operator.

With one stomp, Achilles crushed it into dust, leaving only a faint buzzing in the wiring. Soon that faded into nothingness.

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Control Tower:

"Talos!" one of the guards exclaimed. "Phineas's communicator just went out. I can't get a signal."

"Where is he currently stationed?" Talos asked.

"Down in the old trade district," the guard answered.

"That is a distance away, however by my calculations not enough for his communicator to stop signalling," Talos stated. "Does it appear that it had a poor battery?"

"No sir," the guard answered. "It was a steady signal, not signs of fading."

"Who is the closest patrol?" Talos asked.

"That would be Libra and Aquarius," the guard answered. "They're about two city blocks away in the marketing district."

"Send them to the approximate area of Phineas's last signal," Talos stated. The guard flicked on a microphone around his neck and began to type in coordinates to reach the patrol.

Five minutes went by…

"They found him!" the guard shouted. The guard's face was flushed with bile. "That…that…that thing got him."

There was startled gasps and whimpers from the other staff members.

"What is his current condition?"

"They didn't say," the guard answered.

"I want all available patrols sent in that area immediately. Inform Chief Taurus that there has been an attack. Achilles should still be in the general vicinity," Talos stated.

"Ah...Phineas's hovercraft is missing," the guard quickly stated. "It's nowhere, and his key's missing too…you don't think that thing could fly one of those…do you?"

Talos looked out the window. "I cannot compute that…unfortunately in this time I cannot also answer no to that question."

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Taurus was racing towards the mountain when the communicator on his hoverbike began to beep. That specific ring tone could only come from one person. He clicked it on.

"Any news, Talos?" he asked.

There was buzzing and beeping, as the transmission came through.

"We…have…a…problem-"

"Has Achilles found the safe house?" Taurus quickly spoke, almost bringing the hovercraft for a halt.

"…No…"

"Oh thank the gods…." Taurus exhaled into the wind and the hovercraft stopped fully.

"Chief Taurus…"

The relief quickly subsided. Stiffly, Taurus asked, "What's the problem?"

"He's incapacitated a guard, and quite possibly stolen his hover bike. We have yet to locate the missing bike…we believe it may be in Achilles' possession…and it is possible that he has abducted a civilian to use the hovercraft, but that currently is unknown…"

"Oh damn…" Taurus stated, shutting the communicator off. He pressed down the accelerator. He was too aware of just how important a few seconds were.

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Outside New Olympus; The Safehouse:

Cassy wanted to be strong, to stare her enemy in the face and show no fear… but instead all she could do was stand there helplessly, as Achilles wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing her affectionately, causing her to shudder violently in terror.

Achilles seemed to find this amusing, as he chuckled softly, brushing his thick lips against the base of her neck.

"I had almost forgotten that sweet scent of yours," he said casually, as his nostrils flared against her skin. "Like fresh fruit," he moaned softly, as he licked her. "Sooo sweet."

"H-how did you escape?" Cassy stuttered nervously, trying hard to steady her nerves.

Achilles chuckled. "Let's just say I have friends in high places," he said. "You never came to visit," he then said almost accusingly.

Cassy almost stared at him in disbelief. 'After all he did, he expected me to visit?' she thought.

"And you never told me," he then said, stroking her belly, indicating his point.

Cassy realized with shock that he must have found out about her would-be pregnancy. 'How could he possibly know that?'

"Achilles," she slowly started. "I'm not pregnant. I don't know how you heard about it, but I'm not."

Achilles gripped the base of her neck hard. "Don't lie to me!" he hissed dangerously.

"I'm not!" Cassy whimpered. "I thought I was, but I went to the doctors and had myself checked out, and it turns out I was wrong. I'm no more pregnant than you are, I swear!"

Achilles cursed lightly under his breath, still not releasing her. "This is a bit of a disappointment, I can tell you," he said, and then started stroking her neck affectionately again. "But you know what they say?" he said amusedly. "If at first you don't succeed… try, try again!"

Cassy felt her blood run cold, as she realized what he was saying. "Achilles, don't," she pleaded. "If you take me away again, they'll find you, and you can bet they'll never let you see the light of day again!"

Achilles snorted. "Like they were planning to let me do in the first place," he told her sarcastically. "You've forgotten what I taught you, Cassy… There's no place on this island for freaks like us. You're a human, and I'm a genetic mistake of birth. These are crimes that no New Olympian can forgive or forget…" He grinned darkly. "But I plan on making at least a few of them see the folly of their ways."

Cassy feared for her friend when he said that. "Don't harm, Cyc, Taurus or the others, I'll…" She choked, as Achilles applied more pressure on her neck.

"Never!" he swore, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and wrenching her from the ground. "Never mention that Minotaur's name in my presence… ever!"

'Where the hell are those guards?' Cassy prayed, feeling his breath across her face.

"We'll find a new place to live," Achilles told her, rambling on and setting her back on terra firma. "We can't go back to the hut, but I'll find us somewhere new to live… somewhere where we can be safe and alone, free to raise our children. I'll protect you; I'll protect you all. No one shall ever harm you," he swore.

'Yeah, except for you,' Cassy said mentally. Achilles began to drag her away.

"Where will we be going?" she said, gently prying at his fingers, getting him to loosen his grip.

Achilles loosened his grip in her, but kept his grasp around her neck. "I don't know yet," he said wondering. "But I'll find someplace… Mother will help me…"

'Mother?' Cassy thought, slightly startled. She remembered the stories he had told her about his mother who used to abuse him regularly, and who joined her husband in abandoning him alone in the forest when he was but a child. Why on earth would she be helping him now, and why the hell would he even want her to?

"But first things first," Achilles said, massaging her neck. "I saw my true enemy today, and I intend to even the score with him. "

"What… what do you mean?"

Achilles look was murder. "My father, my tormentor… I saw him at the institute where they locked me up. I promised him he would see me again, and I fully intend to keep that promise!"

His father???

Cassy became even more worried. She had just assumed that Achilles parents would be dead by now. But if they were still alive, then chances are they wouldn't be for long, not once Achilles got through with them.

"I… I've missed you," she said, hoping to get him off guard, while at the same time she tried to remember everything that Taurus had told her about the safehouse in case of an emergency. She recalled him saying there was a panic-room, a sort of safe where she and Manty could hide themselves in the case of an attack.

Achilles looked down at her and smiled. "No more than I you," he told her truthfully, and leaned down to kiss her.

Cassy tried to picture Taurus's face in front of her, instead of Achilles', but his distinct rusty aroma made it difficult.

Achilles leaned down, puckering his lips as he did so.

Cassy moved her head up supposedly to meet his kiss, but just as he was about to…

Cassy suddenly slammed her head forward; head-butting him as hard as she possibly could, so hard it reverberated through her skull.

"BITCH!" Achilles roared, as he grasped his now bleeding nose.

Cassy wasted no time, and made a dash to the left. She quickly remembered Taurus's instructions, and shouted. "House, safe!"

The house's installed computer automatically recognized the access code, and a nearby wall shimmered away, revealing an entrance to a secret room.

"NO!" Achilles struck out his arm to grab her, one hand covering his nose, but she was too quick. At the sight of the room, she raced over towards it, heading inside. The nanosecond she was in, the wall rematerialized just as Achilles ran into it. He was so close behind her she feared he would have been half stuck in the wall.

A loud thud was heard from inside the room, as Cassy breathed deeply to slow her heart down.

"YOU CAN'T GET AWAY FROM ME!" Cassy heard Achilles' murderous voice from the other side of the wall. "I'll get you eventually! You know I will… "

Cassy kneeled down to the floor, curling up in the corner, listening to him as he continued rambling on, but didn't dare whisper a single word. She covered her head with her hands and tucked her face into her knees.

After a while, Achilles quieted down, but his punches on the wall continued for a short while longer, but soon his knuckles were rubbed raw, and the punching seemed to have ceased.

"NO! NO! NO!" he was screaming to the point of crying-like a small child. It nearly ripped her heart out in terror and disgust. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! MOTHER! MOTHER!"

Occasionally he would strike at the wall, but most of the time he spent it pacing back and forth shouting, and soon the shouting faded away into muffled, childish pouts and sobs. During this period the punches became extremely brutal and sporadic, much like a child pouting and continually remembering what angered it and lashing out with every thought.

Cassy stayed where she was on the floor until she lost track of time. The house computer would have been able to tell her where Achilles was, or if he was still there, just by asking it, but at that moment she was unable to think clearly. All she knew was he was out there…and would stay there, and she was safe in here, as long as there was a wall between the two, she would be safe. Her head was too heavy, and her heart too worn out, for her to even get out of the corner.

Her thoughts jumbled, she didn't notice a second voice begin yelling through the wall.

Cassy?!

Miss Williams? Cassy?

A few seconds later, the door shimmered away again. Cassy looked up in fear, as a Minotaur's face came into view… Fortunately, this Minotaur was the wrong colouring, and did not have a gold beard. Taurus looked very relieved to the see the girl huddled in the corner-relieved to see her here.

"Taurus," Cassy sighed in relief, and ran to him. The hug reassured both of them that what they saw was not a mirage.

Taurus embraced her firmly. "It's okay," he said assuredly. He wiped the blood from her face (from when she struck Achilles), and was relieved to see no wound. "Manty is doing fine. He's a bit bruised up, but otherwise okay."

"What about the guards?" she asked, remembering her bodyguards, even though they hadn't exactly been living up to the title lately. "Where's Achilles?"

Taurus looked apprehensive, as he looked down at her. "We found them in the loading bay. Half of them are beaten up like Manty, while the others…" he looked down further, looking regretful. "Achilles is gone. He must have cleared out of here some time ago."

Cassy's eyes watered. "This is all my fault," she said hoarsely.

"No!" Taurus said fiercely. "Achilles did all this; he…"

"He came here for me," Cassy insisted. "If I had been alone, no one would have gotten hurt. I should have just left!"

Cassy tried to run, but Taurus kept a firm grip on her, even when she started hitting his chest with her bare fists. After a few moments she wept softly, burying her face in his chest. Taurus kneeled down supporting her.

"Sir?" Chiron asked, as he entered the room.

Taurus looked at him, and slowly detached himself from the young human. "Wait here, I'll be back," he promised.

Taurus left with Chiron, speaking as he did. "Have you found him?"

Chiron shook his head, frustrated. "No! The guy seems to have done a complete disappearing act. We've checked every square inch of this place, done multiple scans around the surrounding area… Nothing!"

Taurus frowned. "No one can vanish into thin air," he said. "Even Proteus, with his shape-shifting abilities, leaves at least some traces… And this guy Achilles, he's not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box. Therefore…" Taurus frowned even more.

"What is it?"

Taurus chewed on his lower lip. "Like I said… no one, least of all Achilles, can make an escape like this. So I'm betting… Achilles didn't do this alone."

"You mean…?" Chiron said shocked.

"I think Achilles might have a partner in this somewhere," Taurus deduced. "Only question is… who?!"

"You don't think he still has ties with Ixion, or at least his house?" Chiron asked.

"I do not think the Centaur House had anything to do with this," Taurus stated. "Only Ixion had any personal gains in his dealings with Achilles. His family didn't even know about Achilles, as far as we know. And I find it doubtful that they would need or find a use for a person as bipolar as Achilles, as well as have the equipment for containing and moving a person like Achilles without notice."

Taurus began to walk away towards the destruction of Achilles' wake.

"So it has to be someone higher in power than a house then?" Chiron said, trotting behind him.

"I fear so," Taurus answered. "Maybe even higher than we think…"

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Outskirts of the City, 02:45PM:

Achilles raced through the thickets of the forest, striking away the branches as he stormed through them. He had just scarcely escaped when a vision from his mother flashed through his mind-Taurus and the security officers armed to the teeth with guns and tranquillisers.

Run...they'll take you away again, and lock you away underground, and you'll never find her…ever, she hissed. The sounds of the hovercraft engines only fuelled his mad dash, as his mother brushed away his footprints like any good mother, sweeping away her toddler's muddy shoeprints.

When security arrived, armed with what with what they had on hand…mostly a few guns and communicators let alone tranquillisers and a massive guns like in Artemis's vision…they found nothing other than what remained of Achilles' entrance, nothing spoke of his exit albeit his absence from the scene.

'Gotta find her,' he thought hurriedly. 'Must find her. Have to get her back. Can't rest. Can't… '

"My son…" a female voice spoke to him, seemingly from everywhere at once.

"Mother!" Achilles cried out. "Mother! He took her away from me again! He took her away from me again!" He began to cry. "My mate's gone."

"It is alright, my child," Artemis spoke up, appearing from the brush. Achilles rushed to her and kneeled down, burying his head into her lap. She brushed the leaves from his hair and wiped away the blood on his face. His hands were scraped and bruised. "Oh my poor, poor son, what injustices you have suffered, what loneliness you have dealt with…they do not deserve to treat you as such…"

Achilles pouted softly.

"There, there, my son," she said patting his head. "You have lost your love, but we will get her, we will get her back for you…tomorrow is another day."

"He may take her away! He tried to take my baby away! My baby that does not exist, and he tried to take it away from me!"

"Oh child…they want it all don't they?" Artemis cooed.

"Yeah, they want it all, they won't let us be!" Achilles cried.

"I know, child. They'll never let you be…" she stroked his mane. "But you have let them know…all of them who have harmed you…you've let them know that nothing will stop you from getting her back…you let them know you won't stop…you let them know that they can't do anything to stop you…their bondage…their poisons…their threats…are nothing. You freed yourself…you're out here, they're in there…you're prowling and they are in fear."

Achilles pulled himself up and snarled in the direction of the city. "YES!"

He clenched his fist. His eyes burned like a forge. "Yes! Mother, nothing will stop me, I won't let them stop me!"

He turned fully to the city and reared up. "Hear that, New Olympus? I'll be back, I'll come back and there's nothing in the world you can do to protect yourself!"

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Safe House:

"MANTY!" Cassy cried out, throwing herself onto the stretcher.

"Hey, Cassy. It's good to see you're okay," Manty said, slightly hoarse, opening one battered eye. His other one was just a purple bruise and there was a black gape where one fierce canine stood.

Cassy cried and she held his paw. "Are you going to be okay?"

Manty chuckled. "A busted fang, haemorrhaging in the eye, and a mild concussion…I'm in pretty good shape for the beating he gave me."

To reassure her, he pulled her close and gave her a tight hug with his one leg. Comfort and anger flooded Cassy's body.

"Miss Williams, you better let go of your foster father, he will be needing medical attention as soon as possible," Taurus stated.

Cassy slowly pulled away from Manty, as the attendants lifted him up into the ambulance.

"What's going to happen now?" Cassy whimpered.

Taurus put his arm around her comfortingly.

"I will make sure that you and Manty have guards around the clock," he promised. "We'll supple the guards with all the maximum weapons and see to it that Achilles doesn't come within 50 millimetres of you… "

Cassy suddenly remembered. "Somehow, I don't think I'll be his next target," she said worriedly.

Taurus looked questioningly at her.

"Achilles mentioned that he had found his family…the family that abandoned him," Cassy told him. "I think he might go and try have revenge on them or something. The way he spoke of them, I don't think he could do anything else."

Taurus frowned. "I suspected as much," Taurus said silently. "We'll have our people look into it." He guided her over to one of the hovercrafts. "Go with Chiron. He'll see to everything."

Cassy nodded, and reluctantly released his hand, as she followed Chiron.

"Connect me to Boreas," Taurus ordered Helios.

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Senate House, 03:06PM:

"No," Boreas said, as Taurus finished his report on the viewscreen. "I agree with you, Taurus. It does sound likely that this Achilles must be working with someone, but for now I want you to remain close to Cassy, see that absolutely nothing happens to her this time… I will assign someone else to look into the possibility of Achilles' partner."

Taurus sighed on the viewscreen. "As you wish, Boreas," he saluted, and ended the call.

Boreas frowned, as he tapped his desk in frustration. "Fates damn you, Artemis," he swore. "What have you gone and done now?!"

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Safe House, 03:37PM:

Going through the wake of destruction caused by Achilles proved to be a more time-consuming task than Taurus had first thought. His men were busy with finding out how exactly Achilles had managed to get in, but what they saw so far hinted at simple, brutal strength, waltzing trough the rooms like a force of nature.

It was impossible that Achilles, for as incredibly strong as he was, could have achieved so much strength on his own or through natural means.

"Well, any ideas?" Taurus asked them while moving to the next room. He only wanted to get this done as fast as possible, so that he could return to Cassy. He felt that Achilles wouldn't rest until his mad goals were satisfied.

"Ideas? No. But this place is now rather useless, if you ask me," one of Taurus' men, a rather weak looking Gorgon-man told his boss. "Not only had he no problem with entering, getting through all security measures and guards, but he now also knows of this place. To put it bluntly, this place is no longer safe."

"This was the best safe house at our disposal. And he still had no problem with entering. This guy must be a monster to manage all this, and still escape with his hide intact," a female Centaur added, while looking around. "I wonder why she hadn't heard anything of this...it must have sounded like a hurricane…"

"Soundproofing. With the door closed, she couldn't hear it from her room," Taurus said, when they arrived in the landing bay, or what was left of it.

"Look at this! He ripped it open, as if it was cardboard! Man, what kind of steroids is he on? A wonder that he was unable to bash down the wall," Helios exclaimed, while looking at what was left of the big door.

The big door was ripped open by brute force, letting in the daylight. The whole room was a mess, littered with debris and bloodstains, the walls now decorated with dozens of small burn marks from weapon fire. Either Achilles had managed to evade every shot, or the hits from the laser handguns had been nothing more than mosquito bites.

"He can't be weapon-proof, but he must have a really thick hide to shrug of the lasers from the small handguns," Helios added. "A reeeeaaaallllly thick hide."

"The question is now, where to hide her? This was our best hideout. The only thing we know is that he hasn't a hover vehicle at the moment..." Taurus started to think, while looking around. The smell of blood in the air he had to endure started to cause him headaches. "Continue without me for some minutes. I'm going out for some fresh air. I feel like the ceiling is falling down..."

Helios watched Taurus leave.

Helios had tried his best not to show it, but he really feared Achilles by now. He hadn't felt like this before; it was really scary. And the most disturbing thing was that this monster came from their city, he was one of them!

If you see your kind as generally superior, physically, mentally, and most of all morally superior, to humans, this was a hard blow to take. And it bothered him to no end.

For centuries, the New Olympians had done their very best, both mentally and physically, to suppress the darker side of their genes, the old instincts to hunt, feast, fight and kill. And this Achilles… it was as though he was all of the darkness of the entire island's occupants put together.

Walking on the walkway that led around the house, Taurus looked over the railing. The destruction inside had caused some systems to fail, including the cloak field, exposing the house. Well, it didn't matter anymore anyway. He only wanted to finish the analysis before leaving to do his primary job for now, namely protecting her.

Trying to gather his thoughts, he slowly looked over the surroundings of the house… the thick forest below, the mountains in the background. Taurus looked at the biggest mountain, the sun shining brightly on it.

'A safe place... A place where even this psychopath would have huge problems coming in... A place that can be very well guarded...'

Continuing to think about the problem at hand, he noticed a small but bright reflection from the big mountain. Curious, he picked up a pair of binoculars, and realized, that it was from the metal at the mountainside exit of the Gargoyle clan's lair. Remembering the island layout, he only now recognized Mt. Thanatos.

'Ah yes, I totally forgot them. Surely looks different at night... Hmmm...' The wheels in his head started to turn while he watched the entrance through the binoculars.

'A place that is very hard to reach, virtually unknown and easy to defend...' Normally he wouldn't even think about going this way, but in desperate times, desperate measures were needed.

However, there was still the problem, if the clan would agree it. It was quite a risk for them, and he had no idea if they would tolerate him and several of his men in their home (after dealing with them for the first time, he of course had informed himself about them, thus learning about the really bad relations).

Looking up to the sky, he saw that the sun wouldn't set for several more hours, since it was summer. Meaning that asking them would have to wait for now, since it was totally impossible to talk to a statue.

"Chief, we are done here!" Helios called him. Most likely they had given up and accepted the unbelievable fact that it was a show of unbelievable and brute force.

"Finally!" Walking to his hoverbike, Taurus only wanted to catch up with Cassy. He had a feeling in his hooves that trouble could turn up at any moment.

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City Morgue, 04:17PM :

This wasn't one of his usual duties. Normally...But this time, it was different. The death toll caused by Achilles was something that that hit very close to him, even if nobody knew that.

Walking through the dimly lit, cold room, he saw the bodies of all the people Achilles had killed on this day. First during his escape out of the mental hospital, and later when he stormed the safe house. All in all, almost 20 were dead. The same number again for the injured. It had been a bloody day.

He had no doubt that while Achilles had been still re-sociable when he was cast away by Roan, Artemis had made sure that he would become a lost cause, living in his own world of madness, where his psychopathic behaviour actually made sense.

It was sick.

It was wrong.

And he actually realized that he should have expected something like this.

He had never imagined that she would do something like this, taking a being that was in pain, and transform it into a psychopathic, super-strong and almost uncontrollable monstrosity, then use it as a proxy at her leisure, so that she wouldn't have to get her hands dirty. It showed a total disregard for life, even if she claimed to have his best interests at heart. The life of Achilles, as much as the life of the ones he crippled or killed, simply seen as worthless. As horrible as Achilles' acts were, he wasn't born like that.

He was transformed into this... thing. Moulded, taken advantaged of, his brain warped, nothing was truly his; he never had a choice in the matter of what he'd done with his life, from cradle to the jungle to jail to freedom. Nothing was his.

All that knowledge she had achieved... and still it hadn't done anything at all to make her see the worth of life, hadn't shown her how foolish it is to look down on beings that aren't immortal.

'All this knowledge...wasted. Wisdom didn't come though it... I learned my lesson, as painful as it was. Why didn't she?' He found no answer.

And for now, Boreas had no illusions, the only thing he could do was to pray for the innocent victims and hope that Achilles was put to a permanent end. For the safety of everyone, as much as to finally give Achilles the peace that was denied to him in life.

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Mt. Thanatos, 08:55PM:

"Please take no offence, leader, but I think this would be madness. We would literally invite this...this monstrosity to give us a visit and destroy all of us," an elder male said, after Sphinx had told them why she had gathered the clan for a vote on something important.

They hadn't been awake for a minute, when a call came in for Sphinx. For a clan that had practiced a total communication shutdown for ten years, they were suddenly called quite often. Sphinx had listened to it, before calling the clan together. Then she had told them the matter at hand. She told them of Achilles' escape, him storming the safe house and trying to abduct Cassy, and Taurus request for her, him, and some of his men, to re-locate to the clan's dwelling, since it was the safest place on the island, very hard to reach.

To say that the clan was shell-shocked by these events was an understatement. Sphinx had accessed a file concerning Achilles, and even for them, he was a monster, almost four times as strong as their biggest male gargoyle. A psycho who even scared the most experienced warriors of them. Their dislike for the idea of some New Olympians in their home was only secondary to the fear of what Achilles could do, should he manage to invade their home.

"Yeah, but letting this psycho run free would be even worse. Could you have a decent day's sleep, knowing that he is out there, planning to do horrible things to her, only to then move on to his next victim? I for my part can't. I might dislike the city dwellers, but even they don't deserve this beast," another, much younger, male threw in.

"I more fear to actually give him a reason to come here!" a scared female called.

"Right, we have our hands full with caring for the wilderness!"

"Damn it!" Vespa shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "Gargoyles protect. It is our nature, our purpose. To lose that is to be corrupt, empty, lifeless. What do you want to protect!? The trees out there, or a living, breathing being, who is in great danger. Not to speak of all the other possible future victims of this madness. I know how you feel, but we have to put back our dislike for these people in such dire situations!"

There was silence. They hadn't expected to hear this from Vespa, who was known to be somewhat bitter against the city population, hurtful memories of her childhood still pretty much present in her.

Sphinx decided, that the elder's flaming words had brought an end to the debate. "Are we ready to decide?" she asked them. There was no answer, which actually was an answer.

"Good. Who is against us offering our help?" she asked.

There were some raised hands. It didn't surprise her, they werre the most isolationist and bitter ones in the clan, but they wouldn't dare to defy a decision made by the majority.

"And who is in favor of us helping?" she then asked.

A lot more hands went up. It was easily bigger than a 3/4 majority. A clear decision. Sphinx didn't hold back a small smile. When it came down to such things, in the end almost all of the clan had the heart at the right spot.

"Then the decision is made. Please prepare everything for our guests, while I call to tell them how we have decided."

The clan scattered to tend to the various tasks that had to be done. Finally, the small group of gargoyles that had voted against was left alone. Four of the six were already elders, only two of the group younger than 40 human years.

"I don't like this..." Thyphoon said. "We are about to get ourselves in danger for people who couldn't care less about us. And this over a human. Sometimes I really wonder if Sphinx really knows what she is doing. She shouldn't have become leader, that would have been a job for someone older and more experienced."

"I also dislike this total stupidy, but the majority has spoken. But better don't get any ideas. Remember that the clan stands almost totally behind her, this vote again shows it. And also remember that she was confirmed as leader by vote only half a year ago. So unless you can present a better candidate for this job, which I doubt, and convince the clan to topple Sphinx, which I doubt even more, you shouldn't say things like this aloud," a female elder reminded him.

"Damn," he growled.

At the beginning, many had thought that Sphinx wouldn't last long, since she seemd far to young for the job of leadership. But the sheer strength she put into her job and how fast she learned had convinced the clan otherwise. So much, that she was confirmed as the leader at the vote they did every two years, where the clan would decide if they are statisfied with the work of the current leader.

Since then, she had won every vote. (And actually only the oldest elders remembered a vote that had gone negative)

"Whining is now useless. We can only hope, that the foolishness of this young one and the ones that follow her, won't be our deaths," a male elder added.

The group then scattered.

They had no idea that old Vespa had listened to all this. While she did understand their fears, she could only despair over so much hard-headedness. But the elder was right, there was no one to replace Sphinx. Still...

'Have we lost so much, that some of us now miss this integral part of ourselves?' she wondered, while returning to the task at hand. Beside their inability to reproduce, their biggest worry, this problem also now bothered her.

What would happen to a gargoyle that loses this part of the very being?

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Base of Mt. Thanatos, Mid-Afternoon :

'DAMN!'

Achilles looked up the big mountain in disappointment. He had caught his mate's scent by pure concidence (and as well with a little help), and followed the trail to the biggest mountain. But he had to stop when he realised that the faint trail, it was already many hours old and started to disappear, actually led to a opening in a mountainside.

Very high in the mountainside.

There was no way for him to reach that opening without artificial help, but it would take him hours to return to the city, and again time to find a suitable vehicle that he could take.

His mother had been strangely quiet about that...place.

At first he had thought that he had displeased her, but that obviously wasn't the case. She had finally told him that she was unable to either give him a lift up there or tell him what's inside, because something blocked her, thus leaving him to do it on his own. Not that he wouldn't be able to do it anyway.

But despite his one-minded quest to find Cassy, something bothered him. A scent he had never smelled before. He couldn't imagine why, but it smelled like danger and a warning to leave.

But he wiped this aside. He had more important things to do.

Leaving, he would never realise why Artemis couldn't help him. Even she had no idea, she only knew that someone even mightier than her had blocked her with ease. That was something, which hadn't happened to her in a LONG time.

Neither of them knew that the Great Dragon had protected his children. These specific children, whose despair had been so great, that it woke him up from his long slumber.

While Gargoyles had developed naturally, like all life on this planet, he had chosen to watch over them. For him, they were his children, adopted, but still his children. But he had become sleepy with time, and fell into his slumber over 1000 years ago, only to finally awaken when something touched his heart, a despair so deep and strong, that it had reached him.

And while he couldn't interfere directly due to the bounds laid on him, it was no problem for him to shield them and their home against the magic of the female immortal who endangered his children.

The rest was up to his children.

To Be Continued...