Brooklyn took off first, leading the way back to the castle. He looked back to make sure that Ziana was following him.
The clan would be returning from their patrols soon. It was still the middle of the night. They all carried monitor trackers now, as well as phones that they wore in their ears for talking and not getting in the way. It was just safety precautions.
Ziana was amazed that her father was leading her back to his home. And they had only known each other for only a few minutes.
Brooklyn called his clan back to the castle that he had found someone that they all should meet.
The clan responded and were headed back. Tonight had been pretty quiet anyway.
When Brooklyn and Ziana landed on the castle battlement, the girl had a look around. "Pretty amazing, Dad. Quite the place. But then, so is Nightstone Unlimited."
"Demona raised you all those years in that place?" Brooklyn asked.
"Yes."
"That place is no place for a child to grow up. Your mom didn't exactly treat me very well, or any of us. That's why we wouldn't allow her in the clan anymore." he explained.
"My mom treats me just fine, just so you know, Daddy." Ziana snapped.
Ziana definitely had some of her mom's inherited moods. She had been raised in the wrong environment in Brooklyn's eyes. If his daughter was choosing him over Demona, he would be pleased with that. Demona didn't deserve her.
The clan soon returned and they were surprised that there was a new gargoyle among them.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to a daughter I didn't know I had for the last 30 years. This is Ziana." Brooklyn introduced her. "Ziana, this is Goliath, my leader, your uncles, Broadway and Lexington, Bronx, our pet, and your other siblings, Angela, Gabrielle, and Tony."
"Ziana, as a child of Brooklyn, you are welcome among us." Goliath said.
"Cool! I have a sister my age after all!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "I'm Gabrielle." She took her younger sister's hands in her own. She danced around with her.
Ziana found it disconcerting and let go. "Yeah, nice to meet you too, sis."
Paula and Elisa also came up to meet the newcomer. Ziana eyed them warily. They were older women now.
Both Gabby and Ziana were beaked daughters, and so easy to tell apart. And Demona was their mother. They were full biological sisters.
"I heard that my mother is also your mother too." Ziana said.
"No, my mom is right there. That's Paula." Gabby said.
Brooklyn had never told her. "No, Gabby. That's not true. I'm sorry we never told you. She's right. Her mom, Demona, is your birth mother."
Gabrielle was shocked. "Why? Why did you not tell me then? I'm not a small child anymore, Dad."
"I know. I didn't want you to know. I was ashamed of your mother." Brooklyn explained. "You see, she hurt me back then."
"What about me?" Tony asked.
"No. You have some other human for a mother. Her identity was never known." Brooklyn said to his son.
Things were getting so awkward now.
Gabrielle was at odds with her father right now. She flew off to be alone. He knew she was upset at him for lying all those years. She was his only pure gargoyle child. She seemed like the youngest now. Her human gargoyle siblings already seemed older than her, but still teens.
Rebecca and Nolan were also introduced as well. As was Aladdin, Othello and Desdemona's son. And Artus. Everyone was introduced.
….
Demona soon found her daughter had snuck out when she didn't come to dinner and she took off, knowing where she must have gone. She had said she wanted to meet her father for so many years. Now she was going to be in trouble for disobeying her mother.
….
The whole clan knew Brooklyn had lied to Gabrielle to protect her, but now, the secret was out. They had all lied to her. Tony too, but it wasn't nearly as upsetting for him because he didn't know who his real mother was. Only Sevarius knew and they weren't about to track him down.
While Ziana was preoccupied with the clan, Brooklyn went to find his other daughter. She was in her room. He knocked and opened the door when she didn't reply.
"Gabrielle, can I come in?" he asked.
She was on her bed. She didn't reply.
"Gabrielle, honey, I'm sorry." Brooklyn stated. He came into the room.
"Why? Why wait until my sister shows up that you tell me?" Gabrielle demanded.
"I didn't want to think about it all these years, Gabrielle. Way back when, the real truth is that I gave birth to you and Tony. It wasn't natural, but it had been made possible by Demona and Dr. Sevarius. Your birth mother also raped me. That's why I never wanted her to taint your upbringing. And she certainly has Ziana's." Brooklyn explained. "I really, truly didn't know you had another sister. I only just met her out on my patrol. I brought her back to meet the clan and maybe get her away from Demona. I'll never call her your real mother. She may be your birth mother and Ziana's, but she'll never be welcome here."
As Gabby listened to her father's story, now she understood why her father had never told her the truth.
"I understand that you're mad at me, but please understand how much she hurt me that I wanted nothing to do with her." Brooklyn declared.
"And you wanted to get rid of us, or keep us when you found out?" Gabby asked.
"I was shocked at first, but no, I never wanted to get rid of you. You and your brother were innocents in everything that happened so long ago. And look how I've raised you with my clan. I have no idea how Demona raised Ziana, but I have a fairly good idea how. She'll have some big differences with you all. She probably won't want to protect humans like we do. She's been raised differently, to hate them." Brooklyn explained.
"Yeah, she wasn't comfortable being around me."
"This is the first time Ziana is seeing other gargoyles besides her mother. Of course she's uncomfortable." he said.
Gabby turned and got off the bed. "I'm so sorry that Demona did what she did to you, Dad." she stated as she came over to him and hugged him.
Brooklyn smiled that his daughter had forgiven him. He accepted and hugged her back. "Good, now we need to go join the others." he said.
The two of them left her room. There were more things that needed to be talked about with the Guest of Honor. And it probably wouldn't be long before Demona would join them.
….
Ziana was shown around the castle, but she was also talked to about many different things, that protecting the city's humans was a gargoyle's purpose, not just living for themselves, and that the lifeblood of the clan mattered more than anything.
"I know I have limits on that feeling, as all I had was Mother all those years." Ziana explained. "Yvonne and Dr. Roland too. Yvonne was my surrogate mother, I was told. But I am all gargoyle. Yes, I know of my mother's gift of becoming human in daylight."
"So, you do turn to stone in daylight?" Angela asked.
"Yes. Like any gargoyle."
"You are welcome here always, Ziana, as long as you don't do anything to violate our trust. That's something Demona had done way too many times." Goliath declared.
"And yet, you welcome her into the clan." an all familiar voice dropped down from the sky.
Brooklyn and Gabrielle had made their way back when Demona dropped in for a visit.
"Demona!" Brooklyn glared, saying and pushed his daughter behind him.
"Brooklyn. I see you are doing well and taken in my daughter. And she has met you and the clan now." Demona declared.
"Mother! I just wanted to meet my dad. He brought me here!" Ziana exclaimed, worried about her mom's feelings of what she could do to punish her.
"Don't you dare hurt her, Demona!" Brooklyn warned her.
"Why would I hurt her? After all, I raised Ziana all these years. And I see that must be my other daughter right behind you." Demona pointed out.
Elisa and Paula stayed clear of the immortal gargess. The whole clan was protecting them.
"How did you have Ziana if I didn't know about her?!" Brooklyn demanded.
"Let's just say there was leftover seed from our coupling." Demona replied. "But that's over and done. You still gave me a child, one that I wanted for so long. Since you wouldn't allow me to see my other ones."
"It would be the same with Ziana if I had known sooner about her!" Brooklyn snarled at her.
"Ziana, come home with me this instant." Demona ordered.
"Please, Mother. I just wanted to be among other gargoyles for a change." Ziana pleaded.
"You're staying with us, Ziana." Angela declared.
"Fine! But when you want to come home, Daughter, you know where we live." Demona said. "And I said my battle with you all was over. Just take care of my daughter while she's with you. Yes, it was a matter of time before she sought you all out. Wanting to be around others of her kind. I'll be off."
Demona turned and left. She wasn't going to pick a fight, and knew that her little girl was grown up enough to take care of herself and make her own choices.
"She didn't abuse you all those years, did she?" Elisa asked.
"No. She was actually a great mom and teacher. She taught me fighting skills, and much about history. How to read and write. How to adapt. About business and such too." Ziana replied.
"Well, now you have a chance to learn some skills from other gargoyles and humans too." Brooklyn said.
"We all just have to get to know each other." Lex said.
"Yes, but there will be times when I want to go back to her." Ziana said. "She still is my mother."
"Just be careful. She might still be hiding some things from you though." Goliath said.
"I know, Goliath." Ziana stated. "There's much I need to learn compared to what she knows. I know she's immortal and has a human counterpart too."
"MacBeth." Brooklyn replied.
"We were enemies at one time, but now he's an ally of ours." Broadway said.
"But we haven't seen him in a long time. He is part of the P.I.T. crew too." Angela stated.
"I've heard of them. Humans who really want to welcome gargoyles. But Mom says that no humans can be trusted, no matter how friendly they seem." Ziana said.
"They can be. You just have to find the right ones and not betray them. Your mother had done that all too many times in her life over the centuries." Brooklyn said. "I know because she had told me about them quite a long time ago, and still remember some about them. She's lived through some of the most hard centuries while we all were in a stone slumber for one thousand years."
"Yeah, she told me that you, Goliath and the others were put under a spell for a thousand years." Ziana replied.
"Of course, we weren't even born yet." Tony jumped in. "We were born like four years after they were awoken from that spell."
"As was I." Ziana said.
"I was on Avalon. My rookery kin and I hatched and grew up there during that duration." Angela said.
The clan went on to explain many more things to Ziana throughout the night and even in the morning, she was still there at the castle, in stone sleep with them.