Four more months passed, and Jasira was now the size of an adolescent gargoyle child. This was what Demona was hoping for. "Get her out of there." Demona ordered.
"Very well." Anton replied.
Demona was pleased. She had a beautiful daughter. She looked more like her father though.
Jasira was released from the test tube. For now, she was unconscious. She was wet from the fluid she had been living in for the last nine months from her conception. She was detached from the placenta too. Demona picked her daughter up in her arms to take her to the bathroom to clean her up.
She just gave her a wipe down bath this time. A real bath would come later. She also tried to dry her hair. After that, she put some clothes on over her breasts and lower region. All gargoyles had to wear clothes at least over those regions. If more clothes were wanted later, then so be it. They were like a white tank top and white loincloth too.
"Jasira, can you hear me?" Demona spoke to her daughter.
There was moaning in her sleep but nothing. Demona really hoped Jasira wasn't a failure. She couldn't bear to lose two children. "Perhaps your first stone sleep will help you get stronger, my dear."
Demona then took Jasira to a bedroom to just sleep the rest of the night away. She was like a newborn on this night. She also had a look in her daughter's mouth. She did have teeth so she would be able to eat solid food when she was given her first real meal.
She tucked Jasira into bed and stayed by her side the rest of the night. Demona watched over her girl and would sometimes read a book or magazine that she had in there. Towards morning, Demona was getting tired herself. She would soon turn into her human form and go to bed. But she had to get Jasira outside to have her first real taste of being outside and getting the stone energy she would need for her first day of life outside the tube.
Around dawn, just before sunrise, Demona got Jasira out of bed and took her outside on her balcony. She laid her down. "Soon, it'll be time to wake up, my dear."
Jasira heard a voice speaking to her and she opened her eyes for the first time. She felt strange air around her and was hearing strange noises, chirping noises. Birds. But then, when she felt something bright shine in the face for the first time, she felt her stone formation taking hold for the first time outside the tube.
Demona was glad her daughter had made it to the first time turning to stone outside the tube. Now she would get rejuvenated solar energy. "Sleep well, Jasira. I'll be back tonight to start your education with me before you go off to lure the clan to their demise. Maybe with the exception of your sister." Demona told Jasira though she couldn't hear her. Then she started screaming as she changed into her human form. Then she went inside to her room to go to bed for the morning.
If Jasira had been another failure, then perhaps Anton would have had Brooklyn recaptured as he heard that he was still alive from Demona. If the test tube baby had failed, then perhaps it might have been wise to see about creating an artificial womb inside the father next time, but so far, things were going according to plan. Jasira was just a baby at this point practically. After her stone sleep, hopefully, she would be stronger tonight.
…..
When the sun went down the next night, Demona changed into her gargess form and she immediately went to check on her daughter, who was outside. She would be waking up any second now.
When she got to the balcony where Jasira was, the stone skin began cracking and there was a cougar-like scream. Demona was so proud that Jasira had woken up. She seemed stronger now. She now wanted to win over her daughter.
Jasira was looking around and had no clue where she was. There were noises she was hearing for the first time and seeing. There was still some light on the horizon from the setting sun. Then she heard a voice behind her.
"Well done, my dear." Jasira turned at the sound of the voice.
"Uh, w-." Jasira started to say.
"Keep trying, my dear. You must be wondering who I am. I am your mother. I have waited a long time to meet you in person. You are a gargoyle like me. Welcome to your first night here in this wonderful world. I will take very good care of you and train you for a very important mission." Demona explained. "Your name is Jasira. That's what I will be calling you when I talk to you. Do you understand what I said?"
"Mo-ma." Jasira first said. "Mama."
"It's a start." Demona smiled at her teen baby.
That first night, Demona showed Jasira how to walk, how to learn to talk, showed her around and where she could sleep, inside and outside, how to eat her first food, and told her what certain things were. She would need a doctor exam soon, but Demona didn't want to scare Jasira on her first night.
Jasira walked on fours at first and was trying to find her balance. It was a trait of hatchlings. But Demona easily also saw it as a reference to Brooklyn too, as he had done it often enough as well. Even though Jasira was likely to have much in common with Brooklyn, Demona was determined to not let her daughter be like him.
Demona was determined to start Jasira's education too. To help her start talking better, she got out some simple small kid's books and read to her, but also helped her say words to start talking. She had to get the youngest type of education out of the way before she even thought of talking to her about what she wanted Jasira to do eventually.
Jasira was an innocent right now. Demona adored that about her daughter. She was innocent of all killing and crimes. She had no idea the dangers around her that she would one day have to learn to kill. Demona loved seeing her baby's loving nature. She was a loving mom and didn't want to be mean to her, but she knew that her daughter would one day question many things in order to understand what she needed to do.
…
A few weeks passed. Demona was loving being like a teacher and mother. She finally had someone who needed her and wanted to be with her.
One time when Jasira was learning to read a book, when they spoke of a daddy, Jasira asked, "Mom, where's my daddy? Do I have a daddy?"
Demona knew that she had to tell her about her father. "Yes, you do, my dear, but he doesn't live with us." She put a hand on Jasira's cheek lovingly. "You see, he wants nothing to do with us. He chooses to live with some other gargoyles here in this city of New York and wants to serve the evil humans."
"When I look in the mirror, I see that I look nothing like you, Mom." Jasira said.
"That's because you look exactly like your father, my dear." Demona stated calmly.
"But if I look like him, and he doesn't want to be here, how come I live with you? Did he even want me?" Jasira asked.
"No, he didn't. Let's just say he was on my side once and he chose to leave when he didn't see things my way. Humans are evil, Jasira. They are not to be trusted, and neither are the gargoyles that serve them. Humans are responsible for killing the rest of our clan that used to be a lot bigger a long time ago." Demona explained.
"Can I ask what my daddy's name is?" Jasira asked. She knew her mother's name was Demona by now but was to address her as Mom or Mother.
"When they were brought to New York by Xanatos, after exploring the city for the first time, he chose the name of Brooklyn, after the Brooklyn borough and bridge." Demona explained.
"Oh. Cool." Jasira smiled. "But he didn't have a name before?"
"No. Gargoyles just didn't need names back in the time of our youth. I got my name from a human naming me. Yes, I have lived alongside humans before and have always been betrayed by them. The man who named me is called MacBeth. You will also need to watch out for him too. You see, him and me share a special magical link. We can't actually die by anyone else's hands, so you can always count on me to come to your rescue. I can't die." Demona explained. "MacBeth is the only human I have to fear for he is the only one who can kill me."
"I will gladly protect you, Mom." Jasira said.
"We must always be there for one another, my dear. Thank you. This is what it means to be a clan together." Demona declared.
"But who are the other gargoyles here in this city, just so I know them?" Jasira asked.
"You have a half-sister among them. She's the only other female gargoyle here in this city. She looks a little like me except that she's got purple skin and dark hair. Her name is Angela. Then her father is the biggest one among them. He is called Goliath. There's an old male called Hudson. He has brown skin and white hair. He also carries a sword and is blind in one eye."
"Then there are the two young males called Broadway and Lexington. Broadway is a blue-green male, and the biggest of the young males. Lexington is the smallest of them and the smartest one. He has a different wing pattern than the rest. He is green in color. Then there is their pet, a beast called Bronx. He lacks wings and is a lot like a dog in behavior. He's a dark blue." Demona finished explaining traits of the other gargoyles.
"But when you are stronger and able, Jasira, you will have a mission to help me lure them all to my place and that is where we must get rid of them. Your father too." Demona proclaimed. "They are all that stand between us and the path to get rid of the humans."
"But what do you know about my father, besides my looks, that I could get from him?" Jasira asked. "Wouldn't he accept me if he saw me?"
"No, he wouldn't, Jasira. He wanted nothing to do with you. That I can assure you." Demona said. Jasira looked sad and she hugged her. "Don't worry. I'm here for you, my daughter." Demona said. She loved being needed by her child. This was something that she wanted to throw in Brooklyn's face when he ever found out that he had a child after all.
Eventually, Demona also taught Jasira how to glide. That was one very important thing she needed to learn and not be afraid to do it. It was going to be a part of luring the clan to their demise. It was also the tool she needed for them to leave Nightstone Unlimited and get far away from Sevarius too.
…
Over the time that Demona had been teaching Jasira things about what it took to be a gargoyle, Brooklyn was a lot stronger now with his clan. He was still mateless, but he had a closer bond with the clan.
Brooklyn was still getting guidance from Goliath, he hung out with Lexington, he had separate hangouts with Broadway and Angela, he would watch tv with Hudson or read books. Elisa even offered him more patrols with her and Goliath.
Brooklyn was more likely to be on patrol with Goliath or his brothers, or with Goliath and Angela. Sometimes even with Hudson. Goliath still wouldn't let Brooklyn be alone with Angela on patrol.
Despite all the attention his clan gave him even today, Brooklyn still had a loneliness in his soul, that yearning for a female to love him for who he was.