She didn't like plane rides IN fact she hated them, they were smooth but the people were packed in to close for her. She loved downtown Miami the heat was wonderful, but New York would be cold this time of the year so she bought a parka. She had a hotel room booked for tonight and tomorrow night and then she would have to get back on this stupid plane again. She grabbed her duffle bag, she was only one test shy of getting her detective license so when she flashed her badge for the precinct the guards said she could carry her gun as long as she kept it in the shoulder holster. Arianna hated going through baggage claim so when she had her bag in her hand from the overhead bin all she had to worry about now was a cab.
The taxi had dropped her off around one giving her enough time to take a shower and clean up before she had to be at the restaurant to meet the Mazas. The restaurant was only ten blocks down and five over, besides she could do with a nice little walk right now. Butterflies were building in her stomach but she walked into the restaurant like she would an undercover case.
The old Italian place was decked out in deep purple and forest green; "Miss Maza?" The hostess said moving forward, "if you'll follow me." The woman was twenty maybe twenty-one, and seemed a little more alert than a normal person, Arianna locked this information away in her steal trap mind before she saw the only party in the place.
In the back of the restaurant three people sat at a round table two women and a man. The older man and woman were obviously married, the African American woman adjusted the Native American man's tie who quickly loosened it while the woman went to work straightening the younger woman's skirt. "Mom," the younger one said; "cut it out!"
The man stood smiling at Arianna; "Ladies," he said redirecting their attention. The two women scampered up as Arianna joined them.
"Would anyone like a refill?" The hostess asked. The man shook his head sending the girl away, he was older than she first thought, early seventies but Peter Maza was still in shape.
"Peter Maza?" Arianna asked uncertainly not looking away from his eyes. He nodded smiling then gave her a one armed hug before Diana Maza swept Arianna up in a big bear hug.
"Mom god, let go of her before you squish her!" Beth said as the two let go then smiled; "I'm Beth, your mom's younger sister."
"Oh so your Beth," Arianna smiled mischievously as she sat at the table.
Beth groaned; "I promise I've grown up since my teens."
"I didn't say a word," Arianna smiled again.
After they had ordered from the real Italian menu, and Beth had complimented her on the green dress she was wearing, the Mazas started asking questions. "So what are you going to do for college?" Peter asked.
"Well," Arianna smiled; "I'm going to be a detective."
"Really?" Peter smiled; "well this place might be of some interest to you if you decide to go to the NY Academy, it's where all of the recruits start working."
"I've only got one test to go and then I get my license," she said taking a sip of her drink.
"The written?" He said; "it'll take you at least three months to complete that."
"I've already taken the written."
"What?" Peter said choking on his water.
"The precinct bent the rules for me a bit, normally they make anyone wait until they are at least sixteen but I snuck in under the radar at fourteen."
"What did the state do when they found out?" Peter asked a little excited.
"At first they were going to ban my training until I was eighteen but when they looked at my record they decided to drop it and just let me continue."
"Was that because of the good or the bad?" Beth asked sipping her wine.
Arianna smiled a bit; "the good."
"What did you get on your written?" Diana Maza asked, she had been studying her granddaughter the whole time.
Arianna looked around as the food came out; "food's here!" She announced happily. The food was soon gone and they ordered desert, all the Mazas now looking at Arianna for the answer she had been avoiding. "One ninety nine," she groaned.
Peter choked at her answer; "That's impossible, it's only out of two hundred. Your name would of been all over the country by now."
"The stats for this year's test haven't come out yet, I probably won't be in Miami much longer, they'll send me to a city where they can use my talents better."
"There have only been two others who ever got a one ninety nine on the placement detective test," Peter explained to his wife and daughter; "Elisa got a 192."
"What test do you still have?" Diana asked.
"I just need to have a professional evaluate me," she said; "it's suppose to be the most draining."
"I remember Elisa didn't like that one," Beth smiled; "came home swearing about shirks."
"Are you going to see your father while your here?" Diana asked cutting into her cake as the two others shot her looks.
"My father?" Arianna said softly cutting into her brownie. "We never talked about him."
"Never?" Beth said dropping her fork.
"It never really came up," she told them; "mom normally had to worry about daycare or school or about our next case and I was busy trying to stay sharp, so we never talked about it."
"Maybe we should talk about Derek," Beth looked at her parents.
"It's all right I understand, he was working," Arianna smiled.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" Peter Maza asked.
"Not after eight," she smiled; "why?"
Peter pulled out a card and handed it to her; "Met us there at nine then."
Arianna said her good-byes, then went back to her list her mother had left in her will for her. Even after her death Elisa Maza's opinions could still be heard. Arianna looked down at her list again and started to cross off the things she had already done.
Things to do while visiting NYC:
Eat at an Italian restaurant, Stop a mugging, buy a poor man a meal, sit by the pond in Central Park, watch the sunset and sunrise from a high point, go to midnight mass, have dinner with old friends
Arianna went around the corner then walked down to Central Park and sat down by the pond skipping rocks on the surface, it was amazing how calm things were here. She glanced down at her watch it would only be a half an hour till sunset, so she started her walk to the penthouse. Her mother had insisted on keeping the apartment though she hadn't used it since before Arianna was born, it would be an ideal place to watch the sunset.
Her key worked amazingly and she entered a dusty old apartment with a flashlight she had bought at the store in hand. There had been a diagram of the penthouse with one of the letters her mother had left for her but the sun was setting fast and Arianna didn't know when she would have the chance to get back up to New York. She moved to the balcony and watched as the sun set brilliantly over the city of New York, her back tickled, something about this sunset in this place was different.
Shaking the thought off as New York was covered in the dark blue she returned to the diagram of the apartment she had. She was relieved to find the electricity still worked so she didn't have to fumble around with a flashlight while she was trying to find what she was looking for. After finding the spot marked on her diagram she went to work. The X on her map was in the corner of her mom's old bedroom; 'what ever it is must be under the floor boards.'
Moving the bed she examined the room carefully until she found the something she was looking for. There was a gap in between the wall and the molding, her mother hated that, quickly she ripped the molding away. The wall was nothing special but there was a place where a hand could slip in to move the floor board, quickly she moved the board. Reaching down she pulled out an old leather bound journal. 'What in the world?'
All of a sudden there was a swooping sound and the roof seemed to groan; "Who's there?" Arianna asked whipping around and going out onto the balcony, a slight breeze had picked up and she was glad she had her hair back in a pony tail. Glancing around she didn't see anything, then looked down at the journal still in her hands then left the apartment making sure to grab her parka on the way out.
Arianna was use to the night shift and so far she had been awake all day so for a few hours she would sleep before she had to get to the address Peter had given her. When she woke she put on a pair of comfortable black pants with a green sweater under her parka of course, then ran to the address given. It was and old brownstone and wasn't even locked when she tried to enter; "Arianna?" A voice came from another room, it was Beth Maza.
"Come on kid," she laughed at Arianna. "Time for you to met Derek." The two went down stairs where Arianna found herself on an abandoned subway track.
"Something you want to tell me?" Arianna asked raising an eyebrow.
Beth whistled as a figure came out of the darkness. It had a face of a panther, the body of a body builder, the claws and feet were half and half, he also had wings sprouting out of his back. Her eyes must of looked like tea kettles because Beth pushed her towards the figure; "Arianna, this is Derek."
Arianna gave him a bit of a sideways grin taking him in as he uncomfortably shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Well mom always said I have a diverse background."
Relief spread across his face; "come, let me show you the labyrinth."
Arianna Maza found herself eating dinner with Claw, Talon and Maggie. "So what have you done so far?" Maggie asked.
Pulling the list from her pocket she read things off; "ate at an Italian restaurant, sat by the pond in Central Park, oh I gave a homeless man the rest of my lunch, watched the sunset from a high point and stopped a mugging."
"What is this?" Derek asked; "and what do you mean you stopped a mugging?"
"Mom's list of things I must do while I'm in New York. And it was just your run of the mill mugging, I didn't even have to draw."
"Draw?" Derek choked.
"She's practically a detective already Derek," Beth piped in.
"Have you taken the written?" He asked leaning in across the table.
"Yeah. Why?" She shot him a look.
"Derek don't start anything," Maggie said.
"Why not?" He smiled; "now when I took the test I got a 195. I really don't expect you to get that high after all you're seven years younger than I was and Elisa only got a 192."
Beth sniggered; "you are so going to get it Derek."
"No," Arianna smiled; "I could see why you might think that. All this cold air probably freezing your brain. I got a 199."
Derek had been smiling at her banter until he heard her score and his jaw hit the floor. All Maggie and Beth could do was laugh at mister high and mighty.
"That's what you get for being smart Derek," Maggie smiled.
"Well about this list," Derek said changing the subject; "these were all things your mother use to do pretty regularly. I know the church she would want you to go to. Would you like me to take you? Mass starts in fifteen minutes."
"Sure," Arianna said; "how will we get there?" Derek showed her up to the top floor of the building and spread his wings.
Gently they landed on top of Saint Catherine's just as midnight mass began to start. "Now that's a way to fly," Arianna smiled as Derek let her down.
Her uncle just smiled down at her; "this was where Maggie and I were married."
The two silently listened to the mass and Arianna let it wash over her; her mother had been here she thought to herself. It was still amazing that Elisa Maza, the best detective in the precinct, was dead. Arianna suddenly heard a gun shot ring through her ears and jerked away from the mass which had just finished.
"Arianna?" Derek asked putting a claw on her shoulder; "are you alright?"
"Didn't you hear the shot?"
"Shot? What shot?"
"Nothing, I must be tired," Arianna smiled weakly at Derek; "I should probably get some sleep. If I came by the Labyrinth tomorrow before I left would you be home?"
"Yes," he smiled. She was so excepting she didn't even think about the change, he thought; it's a good thing to for when she meets her father.
Derek had dropped Arianna off at her hotel the night before but she hadn't gone to sleep, she wanted to read the journal. Her mother's journal had been waiting for her half of the night and it wasn't like she could sleep. Ever since her mother's death she couldn't sleep, she was use to having family near her, a partner, she didn't feel safe. It had been five days and she was starting to get tired, but right now she was wide awake.
She read the first entry with a slack jaw:
I have gone absolutely mad. Tonight I dreamed that I went to the Eerie building and meet a real, live gargoyle named Goliath. God I've got to get some sleep...
(A/N): please someone tell me if I've got something here or if I'm wasting my time...