"When you removed the spell book from the cradle you forgot to say the words." Gabrielle said in a voice that sounded like hers but was also hollow.
"What are you talking about?" Alcmene asked confused as she backed away from the possessed Gabrielle. "How did you get inside her? I basically said the words."
"You didn't speak the exact words and now I'm awake again, thanks to you." Gabrielle laughed.
"Look, maybe I didn't say every tiny syllable, no. But basically I said them, yeah." Alcmene argued. Gabrielle laughed again and lunged forward.
…
Xena, Hercules, and Iolaus arrived at the witch's cave and found where Brooklyn had crashed through several tree branches on his way to the ground.
"The witch must have gotten him." Xena pointed out. Hercules nodded.
"She is back, which means that we need to take care of this now." Hercules stated and walked into the cave followed closely by Iolaus. When they stepped inside they quickly realized two things. The first was that the cave appeared much larger on the inside than the outside and it was cleaner than they would have thought possible, and the second was that they were suddenly alone. Xena turned around and realized the cave entrance had disappeared and she was standing in the middle of a grand ballroom. All around her were portraits of a woman in a purple dress with long black hair. Her skin was tan in color and she had crystal blue eyes. Each portrait showed her in a different pose.
"Where am I?" Xena asked just has a large round table appeared in the center of the room surrounded by twenty different chairs and hanging horizontally ten feet above the table was Brooklyn and he appeared to be unconscious. Xena started to rush towards him but suddenly the portraits began to stir.
"You do not belong here." One of the pictures snapped irritably.
"Who are you?" Another asked her curiously.
"What do you want?" A third portrait asked. Xena watched in awe as the women in the portraits stepped out of the paintings and sat at the table while they were staring at her.
"Where am I?" Xena asked again as she started to look for a way out.
"You are everywhere and nowhere." All three of the paintings stated simultaneously.
"That makes no sense." Xena replied irritably.
"Nothing here does." The women replied. Just as they finished speaking blood began to pour from the walls and Xena began to frantically look for a way out. Before long she was holding her breath and felt as though she was about to pass out.
…
Hercules found himself walking down a long hallway. He walked past several portraits and when he walked by them their heads turned to watch him. When he passed by the last portrait he heard a grinding noise and noticed the far wall was slowly coming towards him. He noticed that the walls around him and the ceiling began to close in on him to. He reached back and punched the wall to his right. He was surprised to see that he didn't even leave a dent in the stone. The ceiling was getting closer, so he attempted to hold it up but found that it was slowly getting lower and lower. Then the world went dark.
…
Iolaus opened his eyes and discovered that he was standing in the middle of a forest. Fifty yards in front of him was a cabin. He could barely see it through the trees, but he heard shouting coming from that direction. He began to run forward when he heard a woman scream and suddenly the cabin caught fire. He raced forward and took out the first thug with a slice of his sword. It was then that he recognized the cabin.
"Mom," Iolaus shouted. He ran forward and put his vest over his face to keep from choking on the smoke. He ran inside the building and the fire disappeared and standing in front of him was a mirror with his reflection pointing and laughing at him. When he got closer he realized the reflection looked younger.
"Oh, lookie here, if it isn't the goodie little to shoes." The younger image mocked him. Iolaus tried to ignore the reflection and started to look for a way out, but the voice began to irritate him as it continued to taunt him.
"Shut up," Iolaus threw a dagger into the mirror and it shattered into dozens of small pieces. He began to search for a door again when he noticed that a miniature reflections began to rise from each piece of broken glass. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the ground and the world went dark.
…
Cold-Fire and Demona woke as the moon began to rise over the horizon and were surprised to find that they were alone.
"Are you feeling better?" Demona asked while she checked on the wound. She was relieved to see that it had fully healed as Brooklyn predicted it would. Brooklyn, what happened to him and the others?
"Where is everyone?" Cold-Fire asked while they began to search the property.
"If I had to guess I would say there." Demona said in an ominous tone as she pointed to where pink and green smoke was beginning to rise above the trees.
"We should hurry." Cold-Fire said, and they raced for the smoke. When they got through the trees they were surprised to see the Fates standing over a boiling cauldron.
"The timeless one has retained his bond." The blonde fate stated in a melodic tone.
"Now comes the one with which his heart is fond." The white-haired fate added.
"If she knew the truth she'd turn around." The black-haired fate said ominously.
"But with the traveler her fate is bound." They all said in unison.
"I don't understand any of that. Begin making sense." Demona growled irritably.
"We told you all we can. If there is room in your heart you and you alone can save them." The Fates said before they vanished and Demona and Cold-Fire found that they were staring at an entrance to a cave.
"Well, after you." Cold-Fire grinned at Demona. Demona shook her head and cautiously stepped into the cave entrance.
…
"My sisters are working on getting us reinforcements but when the war begins I'm not sure if we'll be able to stop Lucifer." Puck pointed out.
"It's our only option. Have you located my lady-wife and Michael?" Oberon asked already knowing the answer but wanting to hear Puck say it.
"Yes and no. Your wife is still with Renard." Puck sighed before he continued. "She agreed to a deal with Lucifer that could destroy us all." Oberon glanced at him and then went back to looking through his books.
"What might that be?" Oberon asked after Puck didn't continue. Puck dropped a book he was looking at.
"She will tell Renard her second child is his but in truth it will be Lucifer's." Puck nearly whispered the last couple of words. If Oberon heard him he gave no indication. After a few moments he turned towards Puck.
"I will take over the planning from here. I need you to stay with her and make sure that does not happen." Oberon said. His voice sounded shaken and that worried Puck because he had never heard anything worry Oberon before.
"I don't know that I can stop them, but I will try." Puck said after a moment and then vanished from the room.
"I pray you succeed old friend or Lucifer will be the least of our worries." Oberon sighed and sat down to go through his books. "Fates, I would speak with you now."
…
"The bill banning gargoyles from public places and government buildings without an owner was passed by congress by a narrow vote this morning." A blonde reporter was saying while facing the camera. "It's expected that the President will sign it the moment it hits his desk."
"That's great news Jane, now we won't have to worry about one of those creatures attacking our children or carrying them off. I mean whose idea was it to give wild animals rights in the first place." Jane's co-anchor added.
"That's what the representatives thought as well. I mean who really wants their dog or cat to be able to vote." They both began to laugh and Titania turned off the television. She was rocking Fox to sleep and grinned down at her. She walked over to put the infant in her crib and slowly walked out of the room. Titania turned and saw Renard watching her.
"I think she's finally asleep." Titania smiled at him and walked past him. Renard reached out and grabbed her arm and when she turned to face him his eyes began to glow a bright white.
"I am here to complete the terms of our agreement." Lucifer said sternly. He walked her into the room she shared with Renard. "We do not have long. Take your clothing off." He ordered.
"Well, that's not very romantic." She pointed out. Lucifer reached forward and ripped her shirt from her. She instinctively used her arms to cover herself but then thought better of it and let them drop back to her sides.
"That is not my purpose here. If you wish we may go back to the original arrangement." Lucifer pointed quickly shook her head and took off her jeans and panties in one quick motion.
"Well, let's hurry then. I have things to do." Titania said impatiently. Lucifer quickly stripped and bent her over the bed before quickly getting behind her. "Wait that's to…" She couldn't say anything as she gritted her teeth and clutched the bedspread as wave after wave of pain surged through her. After what seemed like hours she finally felt him back away from her as she slid to the floor as he disappeared from the room without as much as a word. "Asshole," Titania mumbled as she climbed up and laid on the bed to recover from the encounter.
"Damn," Puck said irritably when he appeared in the room. "I'm too late." Titania's eyes flew open and she quickly sat up and covered herself with a sheet.
"What are you doing in here? Get out." Titania ordered angrily.
"You did it, didn't you?" Puck asked irritably. "Do you know what you've done?"
"I've insured that I will keep my soul and my daughter… This is something that you couldn't do for me." Titania pointed out.
"Alright, we need to keep Oberon from finding out about this. I will help you with this." Puck sighed and reached for her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Titania asked irritably. Puck gave her a confused look.
"I'm making sure that monster didn't leave you with child." Puck informed her in a tone that said she should have already known that.
"What if he did?" Titania asked bitterly.
"Then I will deal with it." Puck said plainly as his hand and eyes began to glow green. Titania waved her hand and Puck hit the wall several feet behind him and nearly went through it.
"You would dare to decide that for me. Now, you sound just like that ass, Oberon." Titania said angrily.
"Perhaps it is time that one of us did." Puck replied. Titania's eyes narrowed and she rose from the bed and wrapped the sheet around her before walking forward. "I'm still on your side but you have to understand what could happen if you have his child."
"I will deal with it. It is not your place or anyone else's to tell me what I should and shouldn't do." Titania's eyes began to glow green again.
"I'm still your friend and I was concerned." Puck said attempting one last time to reason with her. Titania sighed and her eyes went back to their normal color.
"I know, but after he came and demanded that I obey and now you telling me what I need to do… I need time to think Puck." Titania advised him. They both froze then when they heard the door to the house open and close. "Halcyon's home. Hurry, disappear and please don't tell anyone what has happened here until I decide what to do about it." Puck slowly nodded and vanished from the room. Titania quickly got dressed and sat on the bed just before Renard walked into the room.
"Did you see the news, Love?" Renard asked in an excited tone.
"Yes dear, I was just…" Titania began but Renard quickly interrupted.
"Our plan is working. The Crusaders are becoming a militia that will hunt down any gargoyle that fails to follow the new laws." Renard gave her a kiss and she looked at him in surprise.
"Why would they hunt them down instead of the police?" Titania asked curiously.
"Well, because the police aren't equipped to handle them. Since the penalty will be the same as with any other animal that gets out of hand they expect for there to be some resistance." Renard pointed out. Titania's eyes opened wide.
"The law will call for them to be killed?" Titania asked.
"Well, yes like any wild animal there really is only one penalty if they get out of line." Renard chuckled and went to take a shower leaving Titania to think over what he had told her.
"I'm thrilled that my daughter will be safe but is this right?" Titania asked herself several times as she got dressed.
…
"Gilcomgain," Drexia shouted. She landed in the courtyard of Castle Moray. Bodhe, Macbeth, and Gil stepped out to meet her. "I defended you and I find you here." She shouted angrily. "You better have a damn good reason."
"Drexia, it's good to see you my friend." Gil said. "We need to talk. If you would like you can come inside, and I would be happy to explain everything to you." Gil offered.
"You will tell me now… Why should I not burn the flesh from you and your new friends?" Drexia asked menacingly, but Gil also heard a pained tone in her voice.
"I am still your friend. I've always had faith in you. I'm asking you to give me that same trust now." Gil tried again to convince her. "Please come inside and allow us to explain."
"Fine, because you were my friend once I will come inside and hear what you have to say." She walked inside with them and gave Gil a hug before they walked in. "Don't think because I hugged you I forgive you." She whispered. "I just missed you."
"I understand and I missed you too. I'm really hoping that we can work together." Gil replied.
"We'll see," Drexia said. They walked into a conference room and Gruoch and Vivienne rose to their feet. "So, the other traitor is here to. Good, that means I don't have to waste time hunting you." Vivienne gave Gil a concerned look and Gil looked over at Drexia. "I said that I would listen, but if I don't like what I hear then this is convenient."
"Very well, Bodhe would you like to get started?" Gil asked as everyone sat down. Bodhe began to pass out stacks of parchment. Most of them detailed Prince Duncan's cruel behavior and his lawlessness. "After Bodhe finished passing out the stacks.
"We all know what Duncan has become. We can't just allow him to brutalize his people." Bodhe announced before he turned towards Drexia. "Drexia, this man is evil. What he demanded Gil due to my daughter was the last straw for me and I hope that today we can show you why it's wrong." Bodhe said after everyone had a chance to begin looking through the stack. Drexia nearly became sick when she got to the last page and saw a detailed record of what she had done to the helpless prisoner on Duncan's command.
"We may disagree with what he does but that doesn't give any of us the right to turn against him. There are other ways to handle this." Drexia pointed out.
"There were other ways. Duncan killed everyone that spoke up legally about his atrocities, including my friend and Macbeth's father Findlaech." Bodhe sighed and sat down. Gil stood up and faced Drexia.
"Of all the people here, you know me the best. You know that I would never take this step unless there was no other choice." Gil reminded her.
"The Gil I knew would not, but how can I be sure that she isn't playing games with your mind?" Drexia snarled and pointed to Vivienne.
"I don't know if there is anything I can say to make you believe me, but we love each other. We would prefer to just settle somewhere and avoid this fight, but we can't." Vivienne added.
"I want proof. Kiss her." Drexia demanded.
"You want me to…here?" Gil asked curiously. Drexia's eyes started to glow gold.
"I need to know the truth. If you are so in love then you will kiss her now." Drexia demanded again. Gil reached his hand out to Vivienne who eyed everyone nervously. Gil took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. Drexia watched and for a moment felt a pang of jealousy but she shook her head to clear it. "Very well, that's enough."
"Will you help us?" Gil asked in an almost pleading tone. Drexia felt her eyes starting to tear up but she blinked quickly to clear them.
"I will not kill you now, but I need to think about this." Drexia replied. She rose unsteadily to her feet using the table for support. Gil rose to help her, but she waved him off. "I'll be fine." She gave Gil a look of longing before she walked out of the room.
"Do you think she'll help us?" Macbeth asked suddenly while gripping Gruoch's hand.
"She's a woman in love." Gruoch interrupted. "Her mind may believe us and want to help but her heart may take her down a different path." Everyone looked at her clearly not understanding what she was talking about. "She's in love with you Gil." Gruoch said and everyone looked stunned by the news. "I believe if you didn't kiss Vivienne and professed love for her she would have agreed to help us immediately, but now she needs to process that you will never be hers and that can be difficult."
"So, whether she trusts us or not she may still turn against us because of me." Vivienne's face visibly paled and everyone sat silently for a moment.
"There's nothing we can do about it now." Bodhe sighed. "We'll see what she decides to do, but the last thing that we want to do is rush her."
…
"Everything is going according to plan, Milord." Puck grinned when he appeared in the conference room of Avalon. "Oberon believes that I am going to help him, and his Queen is indeed with child."
"That's good news." Lucifer nodded and walked over to the table in the center of the room. "I wonder however if I give you the order to kill them will you do it without question?"
"Of course, Milord." Puck made a mock bow as he spoke. Lucifer grinned and shrugged.
"I'd really like to believe that, but you can never be too careful in this day and age, so I need some proof of your devotion to me." Lucifer replied.
"I will do whatever you ask." Puck stated firmly. Lucifer grinned and snapped her fingers. The Banshee appeared in the center of the room and her eyes grew wide when she realized that she couldn't move.
"Kill this creature." Lucifer ordered. The banshee's eyes widened in shock and she tried to back away.
"Why would we waste the energy to kill her?" Puck asked in a surprised tone. Lucifer gave him a surprised look.
"Call it a little loyalty test. Kill her and I will know I can trust you to follow my orders. Don't do it and I'll know what I have to do next." Lucifer stated while she sat in Oberon's throne and waited for Puck to decide. Puck considered what he would do for a moment.
"Please don't do this. I'm your friend." The Banshee wailed. Puck's eyes hardened.
"I have no friends." Puck's eyes and hand began to glow green and he leaned forward and whispered in her ear before he put his hand on her forehead. She screamed for a few moments before disappearing in a ball of light.
"Hmm… I was hoping to see what her corpse would look like." Lucifer said in a disappointed tone.
"Well she was pure energy." Puck reminded her. Lucifer just nodded.
"Now, that I know you can be trusted let's go about putting our other pieces into place." Lucifer and Puck sat at the table to go over their plans.
…
"We apologize for the theatrics, but we had to find a way to bring you all here in a way that wouldn't be too suspicious." The Fates said. They were sitting at the head of a very large table and Hercules, Xena, Iolaus, and Alcmene were sitting on one side and Brooklyn, Demona, and Cold-Fire were sitting on the other.
"Why did you bring us here?" Demona growled. Cold-Fire put her hand on her friend's shoulder to stall her.
"I'm sure they are about to tell us." She grinned at the irritated look on Demona's face.
"Your sister is correct. We brought you here because we in this room and a few others are the last line of defense against the might of Lucifer. Oberon has been removed from Avalon and we do not yet know where Puck's allegiance lies, but we have seen him with Lucifer, Oberon, and Titiana on different occasions."
"So, what can we do?" Xena asked.
"The first step is for us all to go to Castle Moray to help Macbeth and another ally of yours deal with a man who has been taken over by the Devil and is creating havoc within his own kingdom. Demona and Brooklyn looked up suddenly at the mention of Macbeth.
"Wasn't he the one that my future-self told you about?" Demona asked suddenly. Brooklyn slowly nodded his head.
"I guess now I will be able to see what happened back then…or in the future…or now." Brooklyn stumbled over the words for a moment.
"Before we agree to this, we need to know just what it is that we're walking into." Hercules added. "The last news from Castle Moray suggested that the political climate is in turmoil."
"There may be risks but if this is truly an Arch-angel that we're dealing with I don't know how we can pass this opportunity up." Xena advised.
"Can we talk to Zeus or maybe Ares?" Iolaus suggested. "If we can get the gods on our side then we may just be able to win this fight." Hercules shook his head.
"Ares will be around during the war. That I have no doubt, but he won't interfere because he will get exactly what he wants." Hercules sighed then before he continued. "Zeus would tell us that it is not his problem, and of course Aphrodite is busy with helping her newest recruit."
"Where is she?" Xena asked after noticing that Gabrielle wasn't among them.
"We sent her to Castle Moray to explain our situation to them before we arrive. We didn't want to risk them mistaking us for enemies."
"That's the plan then." Demona rose to her feet. "Take us there." The Fates nodded and began to chant.
…
Drexia sat in her room for several hours after she returned to the castle. She was mindlessly clawing at her wall when Duncan opened the door and entered the room. She quickly sat up and looked at him expectantly.
"You know why I'm here. Tell me what you found out. Is he dead?" Duncan asked. Drexia shook her head.
"I haven't found him yet, but I caught his scent near Castle Moray." She replied.
"I didn't order him to go there yet, but then he could simply be visiting his future bride." Duncan said while he thought of his different options. He opened the door and called for a guard. When one appeared at the door he ordered him to bring Gregor to the courtyard. Drexia grinned.
Gilcomgain will have to see that I am the right one for him once he finds out what I'm doing for him. Drexia grinned wide and Duncan thought it was because she was eagerly anticipating the kill which unnerved him.
"Come my pet let's take care of that liar once and for all." Duncan ordered.
"It would be my pleasure." Drexia said with her eyes glowing bright gold. They walked outside and saw two guards escorting Gregor to the center of the courtyard.
"What's this about?" He asked but neither of the guards would answer. Then he saw Drexia and Duncan waiting for him. "I see that she discovered the truth behind his lies."
"She did indeed discover the lies that were being told, but they were not his lies. They were yours." Duncan said calmly.
"That's impossible." Gregor shouted. "I saw it with my own eyes. You must believe me. She's in love with him and she would say anything to cover for him." Duncan looked at Drexia for a moment, but Drexia showed no reaction to what Gregor said.
"If that were true you would have mentioned this long before now." Duncan pointed out. "Drexia, carry out the sentence."
"You'll regret this Duncan. Do you hear me you bastard. When my brother hears of this it will be war." Gregor shouted. He would have said more but Drexia began to breathe fire on him and true to her word she melted his skin off as slowly as she could. His screams lasted for hours until finally death overtook him. Drexia smirked and turned back around.
"You would never lie to me would you my pet?" Duncan asked curiously.
"How could you ask me that? You're like a father to me." Drexia asked in an injured tone.
"So many that I thought I could trust have turned against me. I need to know who I can trust." Duncan pointed out.
"Well, you can always trust me." Drexia said in a matter of fact tone. Duncan smiled at her and they both walked inside.
"Yes, my pet I do believe that I can." Duncan agreed.
