Disclaimer: It's all property of Weisman, Summers, and their respective studios.
A/N: I wonder if anyone appreciates how hard it is to write about a character with no name. Thank goodness she gets one in this chapter, but tell me how I did with it up until now.
It was late when Stella Delliceneri set down a pile of field reports on her desk and began to skim through them, taking notes as she did. The Order had promoted her to temporary head of processing in a hasty shift of positions after the previous winter's attacks. There had been a small outcry amongst some members of the Council of Faiths at the promotion of a woman to a position of power, but the fact that she was the only member of the department that was not dead or in hiding seemed to be the deciding factor.
Under ordinary circumstances, the position was one of prestige. The head processor was normally one of the highest ranking advisors. But the Council had thus far found better use for Stella as their personal secretary and librarian. Stella spent far too much time running their errands and doing their research that she had barely begun taking stock of the ransacked libraries. She had no idea what had been stolen in the attacks five months ago. She had no idea what to look for in the first place.
There was a knock on the door, not the front door of the library in which she lived and worked, but the back door, the one used by members of the Order. She groaned at the thought of an interruption but got up and walked down the hallway to the door, opening it.
"Ciao, Carl…" she said, recognizing her friend. She trailed off when she realized that the friar was not alone. Standing behind him was a man in a trench coat whom she immediately recognized as the legendary Gabriel Van Helsing, caring a small child; at least it looked like a child, covered in a cloak and hood.
"What in the …"
Carl cut her off.
"It would be better if we discussed this inside."
She nodded and stepped back into the building, the friar and monster hunter following close behind. She led them up a flight of stairs and into her private study, closing the door behind them.
Van Helsing took the opportunity to study her. She was not, thankfully, the feminine carbon copy of Carl that he had imagined. She was a young woman of average build with dark hair pulled into a simple and efficient bun. Efficiency seemed to be the code by which she lived. Her pace was swift, her movements deliberate. There seemed to be nothing absentminded about this Stella.
The study itself was tidy, organized. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Still, it was a comfortable room. The upholstered furniture in front of the unlit hearth gave him the distinct impression that it was a place for hospitality as well as study. A small child could easily curl up on the couch with a picture book or a toy. This was, he realized, very important. He could not leave his little one in a place that was not suited for children.
"Could someone please explain to me what is going on?" Stella asked. Her Italian accent thickened as it always did under pressure.
Van Helsing stepped forward.
"I'm Gabriel Van Helsing…" he began, but Stella waved him off. She had written enough reports to know him by both face and reputation. He was known to kill first and leave others to sort out details from the corpse; a processor's worst nightmare.
"I know who you are, but what are you doing in my library and who is the child?"
Van Helsing opened his mouth to explain, but Carl interrupted, using Stella's question as an opening.
"Well, I know how you've been working on that study in your spare time…?"
"The whole Order knows."
Since gaining the position of chief processor, Stella had been given access to every document in the Order's possession. She had found many to be fascinating and others to be more frightening than anything she had ever imagined. One day, she stumbled upon a strange report. It documented a hunt that had taken place over fifty years ago. An agent had been killed, but the circumstances under which it had happened were vague. The report had been missing many key elements. Whole pages seemed to have been lost.
From the report, she did manage to learn that two hunters had gone after a clan of gargoyles in Germany. Only one had come back. The surviving hunter's name seemed to have been excluded from the report. She spent quite a bit of free time—although she did not exactly have much of it to spend—trying to find out who he was, but the records were suspiciously mute on the subject.
She then began to research Gargoyles in general, hoping that something would turn up. Stella found little of use, wild legends and incomplete reports. Much to her dismay, the Order had ignored her findings, and her continued persistence led to public humiliation.
"Stella, you and I have known each other for a long time, haven't we?" Carl asked. He had always been, if not genuinely supportive of her research, very good at pretending and usually willing to listen to her tell of a new discovery.
"Since I came here from the nunnery, why?"
"And you would say that there is a trust between us, wouldn't you?"
"Who is that concealed under the robes?" she asked, suddenly afraid. Two small, yellow arms, poked out from beneath the cloak. The creature pulled back the hood, revealing a small yellow gargoyle with pale silver hair and pink freckles. Van Helsing placed the child on the ground. Stella gasped in surprise, but not terror. The child clutched the monster hunter's coat with one hand, and looked up at her with wide eyes. Stella aimed a questioning glance at the friar.
"Is this a…?"
"…yes, a young one."
Stella knelt down and reached a hand out to the creature child.
"Ciao quella piccola, non è impaurito." she said softly, unconsciously reverting to her native tongue.
The child smiled at the familiar words. Several of her clan's elders had spoken only Italian, and hearing the language once more comforted her. She released her guardian's coat and stepped forward, taking Stella's outstretched hand.
"Do you have a name, little one?" Stella asked.
The little one shook her head.
"Gargoyles don't have names." she said, repeating the explanation.
Stella felt a thrill of excitement. After months of fruitless research, she was at last getting facts directly from the source—granted that source was very young and, Stella had to admit, very adorable. Still, human instinct told her that the creature should, like each of God's creations, have a name.
"May I call you Bella? It is a fitting name for one so lovely, little one."
The newly christened Bella smiled and nodded, then stepped back, taking the hand of her protector once more.
"Where did you find her?" Stella asked, standing once more.
"On my last assignment." Van Helsing answered. He glanced from Bella to Carl. The friar took the hint.
"Um, Stella, would you mind if I showed her around the library?"
Stella gave him a confused look, but consented.
"Come on, Bella" whispered Carl. "I'll show you where the stingy lady keeps her good books."
"I herd that!" she called. "Don't you dare think of pilfering my personal library!"
The librarian and the monster hunter sat down, and Van Helsing recounted the destruction of the Italian Clan.
"And she does not know that you were involved?" she asked when he concluded.
Van Helsing shook his head.
"Part of me wants to tell her, but I haven't the heart to do it."
Stella nodded.
"I believe it is better that way. Your little one needs a friend and guardian, not someone to blame. And, I do not think that you are even to blame. You had no way of knowing her kind was not evil. No one here would believe you." She said darkly. "From what you have told me, you hesitated to shatter them when you saw her and it was Canmore who actually destroyed them, not you. You did not ever raise your weapon against her clan."
"Then why do I feel so responsible?"
At that moment, Carl and little Bella reentered the room. She released the friar's hand and raced into her guardian's arms. Carl fought a loosing battle to hold back fits of laughter.
"I'll help you find the information you need." said Stella, quickly changing the subject. "But what will you do with Bella when you are called on assignment?"
Hearing her name, the gargoyle looked up at him, confused. Van Helsing gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, it's almost dawn and I should probably get her home before she turns to stone."
Stella nodded and walked them to the door.
"Arrivederci quella piccolo." She said quietly, as they disappeared into the twilight.
A/N- I officially love Babelfish!!! Best translator site there is! The first bit translates to "Hello, little one, do not be afraid," and the second, "Goodbye little one." Thanks to those who have reviewed. It gave me an ego boost & I needed that.
Reviews Love.