She perched on the ledge of Castle Wyvern, looking out over the courtyard where the hatchlings were running around chasing after each other. They were only ten years old, and they were still experimenting with how their bodies moved. Many of the young ones were play fighting, jumping at each other and swiping their dull claws in the way they'd seen their guardians do. Some especially bold little ones were jumping from crates and spreading their wings as they attempted to glide.
She smiled to herself as she watched the little ones play. They would make great warriors, she could tell. It was astonishing how young they were. She was just one generation older than them, not quite old enough to even be one of their guardians yet, but she felt a fond protectiveness of them.
They were the future of the clan, and what a bright future it would be.
She watched them fondly for several minutes before she noticed something that was a little odd. One of the boys had accidentally been too rough with his smaller brother when they played, and now he was being scolded by one of the guardians that was watching them tonight. The lecture wasn't harsh, and she knew that he was just being told to be a little more careful, but the boy's body language made it seem like it was far worse.
The little one in trouble, a red lad with long white hair, was curling in on himself. His wings were wrapped around his shoulders almost protectively, and he was hunched over in a way that made him look smaller. He was almost crouching. She didn't see gargoyles stand like that. Not even the young ones.
She hopped off her perch and glided down into the courtyard. By the time she got there the simple lecture was over. The guardian knelt and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, offering comfort. The little one had been trying to be strong, but at the touch he started crying. The guardian gave the small one a sympathetic smile as they lifted him into their arms.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing." The guardian said. "This little one is sensitive." She already knew that much. He wasn't too anxious, but he seemed to feel things more intensely than his rookery siblings.
"I can watch him for a while." She offered, holding out her arms to take him. The guardian looked unconvinced.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" They asked. She pouted. She knew that she wasn't quite grown. She was only thirty. But she could handle one ten year old for a few minutes.
"I can do it." She said. The guardian's gaze softened.
"Alright." They said. They handed her the little one, who clung tightly to her, still sobbing. The guardian smiled encouragingly and went to look after the other little ones. She sighed and put the little one down, kneeling in front of him.
"Come now, little one, you're okay." She said gently, but sternly. "What are you crying for?"
He just sniffled and shook his head. He had his large wings wrapped around himself. He was trying to stop his tears, but he was hunching in on himself again, making himself smaller. That wouldn't do.
"Don't do that." She put her hands on his shoulders and guided him to straighten. "It makes you look weak and scared. You need to be strong." She stood up, holding herself proud to demonstrate a confident posture.
There were still tears in the young one's eyes, but he wasn't sobbing anymore. He looked up at her with a sob as he slowly tried to mimic her posture. It was definitely better than hunching in on himself. He no longer looked like he was terrified out of his wits, but he still looked incredibly uneasy.
"Better." She said. She put her hands on his back and applied just a touch of pressure. "Pull your shoulders back. Lift your head just a little bit. There you go." She smiled encouragingly. "Now you look like a warrior."
The boy frowned and tilted his head at her as his shoulders dropped slightly. "But I don't know how to fight."
"The first step to fighting is to look intimidating." She said. "If you can scare your enemies away, you can stop the fight before it even starts, but nobody's going to be afraid of someone who already looks defeated."
The boy pouted. "I don't want to scare anybody."
"It's part of protecting the clan." She said. "It's really not that bad. Being scary doesn't make you mean. It' just makes you someone that others won't try to hurt."
The young one looked at her with wide eyes. "I want to protect the clan. Can you teach me how to be scary without being mean?" He looked so earnest, and she couldn't help but be reminded of how she was when she was younger. She felt a fondness in her chest as she smiled.
"I would like nothing more."
Demona liked to get her work done as Dominique as early as possible. It was partially because her meetings always involved talking to humans, and she wanted to get those disgusting interactions over with as soon as she could. The more important reason was that sometimes meetings went wrong, and she didn't want to risk letting humans know about her better self.
She arranged to meet with Matthew in the mid-morning. She went to his estate, and he wasted no time in taking her down to his rooms downstairs. No part of the building looked fit for the keeping of any creatures, let alone a gargoyle. Even the large room where he kept Brooklyn's stone form just looked like an empty living room.
There were only a few things that made this room look like it was meant to keep someone contained. The door had an electric lock on it. There were chains connected to an odd looking machine and the collar still around Brooklyn's neck. That must be what was responsible for the shock Brooklyn had been subjected to last night.
There was another bit of machinery against the wall. Demona wasn't an expert in technology, preferring magic over man-made machines, but she wasn't foolish enough to think that magic could achieve everything. There was always a trick or price to magic. Technology was much more straightforward, and it did have its uses. She had a curiosity about this technology.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Matthew approached the machine. "I had it installed just the other day."
Dominique crossed her arms. "It can look as fancy as you like, but that doesn't make it useful."
"That's what I brought you here for." Matthew said. He looked a little sheepish. He seemed aware that he could have been duped by whoever he had bought this machinery from. "I've heard you're the expert on these monsters. Maybe you can tell me if this beauty can actually keep him contained."
"Well, let's see." She took a step back. Matthew went to the machine, double checked some settings, and pulled a lever. The room suddenly got brighter and Demona could feel a surge of power in the room. A series of plasma bars appeared around Brooklyn, caging him. She had seen things like this before, and they certainly were good enough to efficiently contain a gargoyle. It was certainly better than a steel cage, because these couldn't be torn apart through raw desperation.
"Not bad." Dominique admitted. She walked around the cage, looking for a hole or weak spot. "Why didn't you have this set up last night? You're lucky that chain held him. He could have torn your face off." That would have been a sight to see."
Matthew approached the cage himself. "I enjoy collecting rare items and specimens, but I don't think there's any point in having something priceless if I can't admire it. The bars obstruct the view too much for my taste. I have them just in case, but I prefer to use alternative means to keep my belongings."
She clenched her teeth and crossed her arms tightly to keep herself from scratching at Matthew. If she was a gargoyle, she would tear him apart for merely suggesting that a gargoyle was nothing more than his personal plaything. As a mere human, she couldn't do such a thing. She had a reputation to uphold.
"I'm curious," Dominique said when she could trust herself to speak. "How did you catch this young one? You seem prepared, so I expect this wasn't a spur of the moment decision."
"Oh, no." Matthew laughed. "I heard about gargoyles a while ago, and I've had my eye on one in particular since then."
"Why him?" She asked.
"For one thing, he's young." Matthew said. "He'll last longer than the older ones." He seemed to have no idea that Goliath and even Hudson would probably outlive Matthew. "And for what I want him for, he seemed like the best choice."
She frowned. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted a gargoyle as a pet." She spat out the derogatory term.
"I do." Matthew said. She could hear the smile in his voice. "But this one isn't exactly what I had in mind. It's just a means to an end. A bonus, if you will." She felt shivers go down her spine at Matthew's words. She turned to look at him, only to see that he was back at the machine. He lifted the lever, putting it in a halfway position. Before she could move or think she saw the bars around Brooklyn disappear as new ones appeared around her.
She wished so badly to be a gargoyle in that moment. She wanted to growl properly and intimidate Matthew, frightening him into letting her go. The weak excuse for a growl that came out of Dominique was pathetic. She'd heard hatchlings that were better at striking fear into someone's heart.
There wasn't a hint of fear in Matthew's eyes. He just looked even more proud of himself.
"And here I thought it would be a challenge to capture you." Matthew said. "I think catching the young one took more planning."
If she wasn't human, her eyes would be glowing a dangerous red. "If you release me in the next five seconds then I'll grant you mercy." She said lowly. "Your death will be quick and painless."
"As generous as that offer is, I have a few ideas of my own." Matthew stalked around the cage, going towards Brooklyn's stone form. "Behave yourself, and I'll reconsider your punishment."
Demona scoffed. "If you even try to lay a single finger on me, I'll scratch your eyes out." How dare he speak of punishing her, as though she was a disobedient child or pet. She hated all humans, but ones like Matthew were particularly disgusting.
"Oh, I'm not foolish enough to think I can beat you in a fight." Matthew said. "And as you've so kindly pointed out, my nice little collar won't work on you the way it does the young one, so I've had to find a more creative way of encouraging compliance."
Matthew put his hands on Brooklyn's, showing an intense interest on his claws. "You said you wanted to scratch my eyes out. I think an appropriate punishment is in order, don't you?" He gave her a pointed look, but he was still focusing his attention on Brooklyn. It was clear that he was threatening to hurt Brooklyn when Demona stepped out of line. If he thought that would work on her, he was a fool.
"You can't declaw a gargoyle." She crossed her arms. Even when they weren't in their stone forms, their skin was a lot tougher than that of humans. And Matthew had already said that he was a collector. He wouldn't damage one of his goods in a foolish attempt to teach Demona a lesson.
Matthew just looked amused. "You think you can call my bluff." She didn't like how confident he looked. "I'll tell you what, I'll be generous for your first offense. I'll give you until tomorrow. If you apologize by then, this offense will be forgiven. If not, you'll see just how much I'm bluffing." Demona had far too much experience with human bravado to even consider that he would follow through.
Matthew patted Brooklyn condescendingly before he left the room. Demona was stuck in a small cage that wouldn't allow for much pacing, and when she had her true form again she wouldn't even be able to spread her wings out. It was truly humiliating, but at least she wasn't stuck looking at Matthew's face and listening to his taunts.
Demona was left alone for hours as she tried to think of a plan. She thought that she could slip her wing past the plasma bars with minimum burns, and possibly reach the lever from here if she really stretched. Once these bars were out of the way she would easily be able to get away from this estate.
She usually took a nap during the day, but she didn't dare to now. There wasn't any room, but even if there was she wouldn't give Matthew the satisfaction. She couldn't trust him, and she wasn't going to give him the chance to see her any more vulnerable than he already had..
Matthew returned to the room shortly before sunset, and she hated that he was going to be here to witness her transformation. There was nothing she could do about it. Whether she liked it or not, the sun set, and she felt the sharp pain as she transformed to her true self.
She let out a furious roar just as Brooklyn did the same. She wanted to only have eyes on Matthew, because he was the threat, but Brooklyn's gaze was only on her. He didn't seem to understand that, for once, he wasn't her enemy.
"Demona?" He sounded confused, though there was something else in his voice that was hard to identify. "What are you doing here?" He frowned. "How are you here?" He didn't know that she became human during the day. All he knew was that she hadn't been here when he'd turned at dawn, but she was now.
"And you thought my plan wouldn't work." Matthew gave Brooklyn an arrogant look. He put his hand on top of Brooklyn's head. The young one stiffened and whimpered. He clenched his eyes shut tight and he hunched his shoulders so much that he looked like he was crouching. It was a truly pathetic pose, but what made Demona seethe was the way that Matthew started to pet Brooklyn, and the little one didn't fight him at all
Demona growled at the disgusting sight. Matthew just smirked as though he had both of them right where he wanted them.
"She's here because I invited her." Matthew said. She hated how right he was. "I just told her I had a gargoyle, and I wanted some help to contain it better, and here she is."
Brooklyn whimpered again, sounding absolutely heartbroken. He opened his eyes and gave Demona a wounded look. "That's why you're here? You…you wanted to help keep me chained up like a dog?" He sounded like he was either about to start screaming or crying, and it made Demona's gut twist in anger. She couldn't bear to look at him.
"Why else would I come?" Demona seethed. She only ever came near humans if a gargoyle was involved in one way or another.
Brooklyn made another pained whimper. He slumped even more, making himself even smaller. It almost looked like he was trying to hide behind Matthew, who was their true enemy here. Matthew chuckled and gave Brooklyn a condescending pat before he backed away.
"I have some more work to do." Matthew said. "I'll leave you to get reacquainted." He looked at Demona. "Remember what I told you."
He left, and since Demona couldn't take her frustration out on him she turned it to the only available target.
"Stop your cowering." Demona snapped at Brooklyn. He just made himself even smaller, which she hadn't thought possible. "You look like a scared gargoyle beast. It's pathetic."
Brooklyn wrapped his wings around himself and looked pointedly the other way. "Why should you care?"
"It gives gargoyles everywhere a bad name." Demona said. "I taught you better than that."
Brooklyn growled and his head snapped up. He glared at her, his eyes taking on just a hint of a glow. "You also betrayed our clan and tried to kill us more times than I can count. You gave up the right to talk to me like you're still…" His voice cracked, pain coming through the anger. He huffed and looked away. He turned his back on her, and Demona felt the familiar pain and loneliness tug at her heart before she hid it behind her anger.
It didn't matter that he wanted nothing to do with her. It didn't matter that he would rather let their captor pet him like he was a mutt than even consider talking to her. Demona had been alone for a thousand years, even when she was in the company of others. Why should now be any different?
Let Brooklyn act like a child. He was right. Why should she care? Her only concern should be getting out of this place. She shouldn't spare Brooklyn another thought. She needed to worry about herself, because if she didn't then nobody would.