"New Beginnings"
by Lisette: Lisette_1@lycos.com

Created on: 8/20/98

Revised on: 7/20/98

Legalese: Nothing here is of my own creation.  Goliath and his crew belong to Buena Vista and Disney while some of the words used within are taken from "An den Mond" (To the Moon) and "Wenn ich ein Vögel wär" (If I a Bird Could Be), two German folk songs that were arranged by William Bausano.  In no way will a profit be made from this.

Author's Note: This story is the fifth installment to the Talika Series and a thanks to Skydancer for some of the quotes used within.

Brief Summary: The forgotten past is about to resurface its ugly head for Talika and the clan.

Rating: PG-13 due to language and content

Imagine the day when the world finally does come to and end.  

Imagine the feelings of sorrow, courage, despair, fright, hatred, and love that will be felt by the general populous in their final days before imminent death.  

Now imagine the sobs of a young mother who listens to her lonely baby's wail as she realizes for the first time that there will be no tomorrow or future for her child -- no chance.  

Now watch as an aging man sacrifices his life by shoving a young boy out of the path of a speeding car, knowing all the while that the boy will be dead by nightfall but not caring because he knows that any time is better than none.  

And now watch as a middle aged man with a loving family at home is so filled with despair that he purposely throws himself in front of that same speeding car, so eager to end his pain that he can't wait for night to fall on the city.  

And watch as his next door neighbor chooses instead to return to  his family to comfort and be comforted in his last moments by his family.  

And listen to an old woman's scream of pain, outrage, and fright as she is first mugged for ten dollars and then senselessly shot by a teenage girl that has lost all respect for the life of others -- knowing that soon she will be joining her innocent victims.  

And now I want you to watch and listen as two desperate individuals find comfort and love in each other's arms -- all the while whispering tear-wrought promises to find each other in the next life -- convinced that the power of their love will conquer all... 

In a world so devastated and filled with pain, it is up to each person to decide how they will live out their final hours:  in sorrow, heroics, despair, hatred, or in love.  

Your life is what you make it and only you can decide.

Egypt -- Present Day

    Grunting, the group of hired workers strained to lift the heavy slab of stone that lay imbedded in the soft sand with the aid of pulleys and steel wires.  "Pull men, pull!" urged another, standing back from the group in the shade of a tent, protected from the hot desert sun.  They had been working this particular site for weeks, searching for yet another lost tomb in the sea of sand that covered Egypt.  Weeks and weeks that were spent using up a grant given by one of the larger universities back in the states.  Still, Doctor Harold Osborne was convinced that despite the fact that as of yet nothing had been found, that soon they would make a discovery so great as to outshine even the discovery of King Tut's tomb.  In all truth, they had to or else the good name of Doctor Osborne would be slain and never again would a grant for research be so easily won.

    With a final grunt of protest, the strong Egyptian workers heaved the large slab up from the ground and swung it away from their dig, causing it to fall heavily to the ground.  As the sand and dust flew, workers and archaeologists alike turned away quickly, covering their eyes from the blinding storm.  When the sand finally settled, Osborne carefully took his hand away from his face and stepped quickly out of the shade of the tent and towards the dig.  There had to be something here -- there had to be.  There was no other logical reason; why else would such a large and carefully carved slab be lying out in the middle of the desert?  

    When their digging had first uncovered the stone slab, they quickly set to work clearing the sand away from all sides till it was revealed that the slab, which was about nine feet long and about five feet wide, was in fact a lid of some sort covering a stone box of the same dimensions.  While his curiosity and excitement grew, the group of experienced archaeologists quickly began digging deeper and deeper until the mystery grew.  Now the hole around the stone box was four feet wide and ten feet deep, with no signs of anything but the box that was now ten feet tall.  Finally, the decision was made that while the strange writing on the lid, which was also a mystery seeing as how it didn't seem to resemble any sort of writing known to man, continued to be deciphered, the group of hired workers would see if they could remove the lid.  Which led up to now.

    With excitement burning in his eyes, Osborne reached the edge of the dig and quickly climbed the ladder down into the hole surrounding the stone box.  As the workers quietly stepped aside, Osborne stepped towards the ladder, his knees shaking with every step as he slowly, slowly climbed up the ladder that would lead him to the greatest discovery of all times -- or so he hoped.  Seconds later, he reached the top and tentatively looked over the side and into the opened box.

    "Well, Harold, what do you see?!" one of Osborne's fellow archaeologists yelled from the tent, a bright smile on her face.

    "I.. I see a dark hole!" Harold yelled out in confusion as he turned back towards the gathered workers and co-workers.  "The stone on top here is only a foot thick on each side, and on the inside it's been smoothed till it feels as smooth as glass," Harold described as he gently rubbed his hand over the smooth stone.  "The light of the sun reaches down about ten to fifteen feet and it all looks exactly the same.. I can't see the bottom!"

    "But.."

    "Here, pass me up a rock or some sand!" Osborne called out suddenly as he turned and looked down at one of the workers below.

    Nodding his head, the young Egyptian who was fortunate enough to speak English quickly scavenged the ground and sand till he found a good sized rock and then climbed up the ladder till he stood beneath the Doctor and passed up his find.

    Without another word, Osborne snatched up the rock and returned to the edge of the box.  Leaning as far over as he dared, he then hushed for silence before dropping the rock into the box.  In the dead silence, everyone listened for the tell tale sound of the rock hitting the bottom.. and waited, and waited.  Finally Osborne gave up and turned back to his colleagues with wide eyes.  "If we couldn't hear the stone hit the bottom, then this thing must be over a hundred to two hundred feet deep.. probably a couple of miles!  But.. that's impossible!" Osborne whispered, the confusion clear in his eyes.  "Who would build a stone box like this that's that deep.. and it must be man made because how else could the walls become this smooth or the box this proportional?" he muttered, thinking out loud as he puzzled over the idea.

    "Doctor Osborne!  Doctor Osborne!" a young man called out, unaware of the tense silence as he ran past the group of archaeologists, heedless of the happenings around him.

    "What is it, Jeffrey?" Harold absently asked the graduate student that called out to him, his mind still firmly rooted to the mystery of the box.

    "We've got a partial translation of the writing on the..." Jeffrey began, trailing off as he finally noticed the open box.  "You got the slab off!" he exclaimed in excitement.

    "You have a translation?  But-"

    "It turned out that the language is an extremely ancient form of hieroglyphs mixed with a few other languages," the student hastily explained, his wide eyes remaining locked on the open box.  "The partial translation reads something like 'Beware all those who try to..' we think that the next word is something like desecrate, 'the resting place of..' and then we don't know about whose it is yet or much else after that.  Although it does seem to be warning about evil, genocide, and something about some kind of matter..." the student trailed off, waving his hand airily at the common warnings found on all Egyptian tombs.

    "And that's all?" Osborne asked, scrunching his eyebrows together as the mystery grew.  "Well, it must be a tomb then.. but why would it be so incredibly deep?"

    "Maybe it would be better, sir, for you to close up the box and leave it as it was found," the young Egyptian who passed up the stone spoke quietly, his eyes wide with fear.

    "Don't be foolish, young man.  All tombs that have been discovered up to date have had some similar warning on their doors-"

    "No sir, there is something different about this tomb, and I suggest that you replace the lid before the evil is let out."

    At this grave warning, both Osborne and the rest of his colleagues burst into laughter.  "Young man, I can guarantee you that there is no evil surrounding this mystery here.. if there is anyone down there I can guarantee you that he has been dead for quite a long time," he stated firmly as he turned and once more looked down into the long box.  Still, the man's words rang in his ears as he noticed for the first time that the box was now six to seven feet long and three feet wide... the usual proportions of a coffin.  As a shiver ran through his aging bones, the Doctor began to turn away from the opening once more when a flash of light from below caught his eye.  Gasping, he turned quickly and stared rigidly down into the hole as the light grew brighter and brighter, closer and closer towards him.

    Seeing his rigid posture one of the archaeologists stepped away from the tent and closer towards the hole that surrounded the box.  "Harold?  What's wrong?  What do you see?" she asked, her voice trembling while a cold coil of fear wrapped itself around her spine.

    Unable to answer, Osborne continued to watch with growing fascination and horror as the green light grew brighter in intensity until Harold knew that it was now only a few feet below him.  Soon the light and glow was evident for all to see, causing a panic to go up among the workers as they struggled and rushed for the ladders leading out of the pit, sure that the Devil himself was rising out of the pits of Hell to greet them.

    "Harold!  Get away!" she screamed as the light grew brighter and brighter.. the green eerie light that had no place in the middle of the desert.  As she watched in horror, Harold remained where he was till the glow of light left the box and surrounded him.  With a blood curdling scream, he was then lifted into the air above the box until he was laid out flat on his back, floating in mid air.  Still screaming bloody Mary, the green light then lowered, taking Doctor Harold Osborne with it, a look of horror fixed upon his face.

    Screaming out, Osborne could do nothing as the green light carried him further and faster down the dimensions of the box, watching the sunlight slip further and further from him till darkness encased him; darkness that was only broken by the eerie green light.  Suddenly, seconds, minutes, hours, or days later -- which, he had no idea -- he stopped descending and was laid gently on his back on a cold, stone floor.  

    Breathing heavily in the purest form of fright he had ever experienced, Osborne quickly climbed to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.  From what he could tell, he seemed to be in some sort of large room with carvings similar to those found on the lid written on all of the stone walls.  His curiosity getting the better of him, Osborne moved closer to the walls and attempted to read the hieroglyphics -- which was when another mystery came to life:  where was the light coming from that allowed him to inspect these writings?  

    Fear growing once more, Harold quickly turned and saw that the source of light seemed to be coming from the far end of the chamber.  Not knowing why he did, Osborne began to slowly walk across the chamber, noticing how the floor and walls were unnaturally smooth.. as smooth as glass, and that all of the walls were perfectly straight and perpendicular to the floor.  Not even a modern day architect could make such a perfectly dimensional room such as the kind he was walking in.. a room that probably dated back to the earliest times.  Shaking his head, Osborne continued walking across the large chamber until finally the light source was revealed: torches.  Lit torches lined the walls in this end of the chamber -- perfectly lit torches where there waas no breeze to cause them to shift or move... perfectly still flames burning straight up into the air, causing no smoke to cloud and choke him.  

    Mystified, Osborne turned once more and saw the real mystery of the chamber:  against the far wall of the chamber stood a raised dais with what looked like a stone box that was what seemed to be the perfect dimensions of the interior of the corridor in which he descended.

    "The tomb.. I'm in the tomb and this must be the coffin," Doctor Osborne whispered, his eyes lighting up.  All thoughts of escape from this place, the glowing light that brought him down, and of the warning of evil and genocide fled his mind as the blinding curiosity of the past replaced it.  Walking across the room, Harold gently laid his hands upon the smooth surface of the coffin, marveling at the intricate writings that lay across the lid.  

    As he traced his hands over the top and down the sides, he noticed a seam that marked the end of the lid and the beginning of the actual coffin.  Smiling, Osborne began pushing against the lid with all of his strength, all of the rules and procedures of archaeology forgotten as the stone grated further and further until it crashed to the ground, breaking instantly into pieces.  Had Harold's attention not been focused on the contents of the tomb but on the lid itself, he would have noticed one final warning.. a gathering of the green energies across the lid until all of the carvings blended into one flickering word:  EVIL, before that too disappeared and left the lid bare of anything.

    But Doctor Harold Osborne's focus wasn't on the lid and instead was fixed firmly to the contents of the coffin.  Inside lay a body covered by a shroud of white, making the details completely obscure.  And on top of the shroud, lying where the chest of the body would be, was a large angel.. or was it an angel?  Osborne couldn't tell, because even though it was shaped like an angel, it was like nothing was there.  The object was black.. but it wasn't really black either.. it was like the absence of light.  All light cast by the torches seemed to be absorbed by the object creating a void of emptiness in the shape of an angel.  With shaking hands, Osborne slowly reached out to the object and touched it with one finger.. and was amazed to discover that it had substance.  He could feel it and touch it and define its shape with his hands, but he couldn't feel any texture whatsoever.  It looked as though he was touching nothing, but it was something because it was outlined by the white shroud.  

    Grinning like a fool, the professor slowly reached out both hands until they were gripping the angel firmly.  As he then lifted it from the shrouded body, and as the angel finally left its resting place against the cool shroud, a sense of evil so great and pain so powerful overwhelmed Osborne and wrapped itself around his belly.  It was then that the last word of his student's warning came to mind.. came to mind too late.  The lid on the surface had warned not to touch some sort of matter.... now the Professor knew what it was referring to.. dark matter.  The dark matter that was the last and only defense against the evil that should never be released.  

    And then, as the shrouded body lifted itself with its own strength from the coffin -- the body that should have been dead after being laid to rest here for centuries.. millenniums -- Doctor Harold Osborne cursed himself and all the workers who helped to unleash this evil... the last thought that Doctor Harold Osborne ever knew.

New York City -- two months later

    As the doors slid open to accommodate the flow of people entering and leaving the busy airport, a young woman parted from the crowd to stand alone on a small piece of sidewalk.  Turning around in circles, the girl stared in wide-eyed amazement at the towering piles of steel that stretched farther up than the clouds, the roaring traffic, and the crowds of people.  Sure, she had seen the crowded city of Paris before, but absolutely nothing -- not the pictures or the news reports -- could prepare her for the large -- no, huge buildings that imposed over the busy streets of Manhattan.

    "Skyscrapers," the young woman whispered quietly to herself, her musical voice trying out the unfamiliar word.  Then, shaking her amazement away, she focused on the question at hand.  "Now, where to?" she said quietly as she once more scanned the busy streets.  "I have to find the gargoyle clan," she murmured as she waved her hand in the air.  Not even a moment passed before a taxi squealed to a halt beside her.  Opening the door, the young woman quickly hopped into the back seat.

    "Where to?" the cab driver asked as he peered at his new customer through his rear view mirror.

    "To the 23rd precinct Police Station," the young woman murmured as she stared out the window at the tall building of the airport.

    Nodding his head, the guy quickly swerved back into the flow of traffic.  Glancing back over his shoulder at the beautiful young woman, the cab driver finally fully took in his new customer.  She looked to be in her early twenties, with long pale blond hair that fell in a straight wave down her back.  She was of average height, about 5'7" with a slim frame that was modestly covered under a baggy pair of blue jeans and a white tee-shirt.  Her skin was tanned, and as the woman glanced in his direction he saw the most brilliant pair of blue eyes he had ever seen.  With the backpack that she clenched to her side, she could easily have passed for another college student.  But he knew better than that.  "So, you're French?"

    Startled out of her reverie, the young woman met the cab driver's kind gaze and said, "How did you know?"

    "When you drive a cab as long as I have, you become pretty good at picking out accents," he explained casually as he zipped through the heavy traffic.

    "Ah yes, I am from the province of Bretagne in France."

    "Oh.. well, what's your name, sweetheart?"

    Inwardly cringing at the pet name, the woman offered a tentative smile before saying, "My name is Lisette."

    "Just call me Harry," he said as he honked the horn at another cab that cut him off.  "So, what ya doing in New York City... to the 23rd precinct, no less?  Did ya know that some crackpots blew that place up about a month ago?"

    "Yes, I heard," Lisette replied simply.

    "I mean, they've got the place workin' again, but what ya want there?  You can't be more than a teeny bopper!"

    "Nineteen, actually," Lisette interrupted.

    "Ah, you probably want to meet the gargoyles that lived there, huh?" he probed.

    "You could say that," Lisette agreed as her mind drifted back to that day two weeks ago.

    She had been in a small cafe, reading a novel, when a news report caught her eye.  Putting down the book, Lisette had watched in fascination as a shaky video taken at night showed four winged forms jump from a smoldering, devastated building.  According to the news caster, in a place called New York City, New York in the United States of America, a police station was blown up -- whatever that meant -- by a group of monsters called gargoyles.  

    Right away Lisette had discarded the news report as being false, for she knew that the gargoyle race was a noble one and could never have caused the destruction she saw.  Still, the important fact was the fact that there were gargoyles alive somewhere in the world today.  Ever since her awakening two years ago, she had been waiting to find a purpose to this new life that was forced upon her.. now she knew:  she had to go to these United States and find this clan of gargoyles... it seemed as though she had a second chance; and this time you could bet that she wasn't going to let her inexperience get in the way.  There would be nothing that would stop her from protecting this clan of gargoyles.

    As the days went on, Lisette kept an eye peeled to the news, hoping for any word of the clan, while she spent the rest of her time diligently studying and learning the English language.  By the time she saw the next news report five days later that cleared the gargoyles of all blame of the bombing, Lisette found that she could speak English fluently.  Within another week she was on a plane for Manhattan.

    "Lisette," the cab driver said.

    Snapping out of her reverie, Lisette noticed two things right away.  First of all, the cab was no longer moving, and second of all, from the tone of the cab driver's voice, he had obviously been trying to get her attention for some time now.  "I am sorry Harry, what were you saying?" she asked sheepishly.

    "I was just saying that we're here," he answered good naturedly as he indicated the sidewalk besides the car.

    "Oh, good..." Lisette mumbled as she pulled a small black wallet out of her backpack.  "How much do I owe you?"

    "Sixteen-fity."

    Quickly Lisette dug through her wallet before pushing a twenty dollar bill into his hand and said, "Thank you Harry, keep the change."

    "Hey thanks!" Harry called out as Lisette climbed from the taxi.

    Squinting up in the darkening evening sky, Lisette took in the tall building before her.  She recognized it instantly from the news casts -- the 23rd precinct.  From outside appearances, she could immediately tell that a lot of repair work had been done.  Still, Lisette slowly backed up till she was staring up at the ruins of the clock tower -- the gargoyles' apparent home.

    "Horrible, ain't it?"

    "Excuse me?" Lisette asked, looking around to see who had spoken.

    "I said that it's horrible... how they repair the rest of the building and don't even touch that old clock tower."

    Turning again, Lisette finally found the speaker -- an older African American officer.  Quickly she scanned his uniform till she found his name tag.  Officer Morgan.  "Yes, it is," she agreed as she watched him shake his head slowly before leaving the early night and entered the brightly lit building.

    Shaking her head, Lisette quickly looked up at the towering ruin above her and muttered, "Sad indeed," before she straightened her shoulders and entered the building.  Right away her breath caught in her throat at the loud bustle found throughout the large squad room.  

    "Qu'est-ce que c'est..." Lisette trailed off in amazement.  Never before had she seen such noise, movement, and apparent disorganization.  Shrugging her shoulders, she daintily sidestepped a handcuffed, screeching woman accompanied by a man and woman wearing blue uniforms.  Scanning the room, she quickly looked around for anyone who looked as though they weren't busy and knew what they were doing.  To her immense relief, her eyes easily found a familiar face.  Trying to look as though she belonged there, Lisette quickly moved across the room to a cluster of men and women dressed in identical blue uniforms.  "Excuse me, Officer Morgan?" she interrupted as she tapped the elder man's shoulder.

    Turning around, Officer Morgan looked at Lisette with a questioning glance.  "Can I help you, miss?" he asked, a smile on his kind face.

    "I'm hoping so," Lisette said, returning his smile.  "I was wondering if you could tell me how to get up to the clock tower?"

    "The clock tower?!" Morgan asked, crinkling his eyebrows in confusion.  "Now why would you want to go up there?  It's a wreck and very dangerous.. no one is allowed up there."

    "Oh yes, well I am a reporter and I was given permission to go up there and check it out for a story I am doing about the gargoyles..." Lisette fibbed smoothly.

    "A little young to be a reporter, aren't you?" Officer Morgan asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

    "Never too early to start," Lisette quipped quickly.

    "Uh huh, and who was it that gave you permission?"

    "The Captain."

    "Captain Chavez?"

    "Who else?" Lisette agreed.  This wasn't looking good... at this rate she'd never get the directions.  Then again, she never was a good liar.  Just as she was about to tell him never mind, the suspicion in his eyes disappeared and his warm smile returned.

    "Well, alright.  All you have to do is go up those stairs behind you, take a left and then find the door labeled 'supplies.'  Just pull down the ladder inside and you're set to go."

    "Thanks!" Lisette replied, smiling gratefully at the elderly officer.  Turning, she quickly hurried away before he could change his mind and followed the directions given to her.  A couple of minutes later she found herself standing on the glass covered remains of the clock tower.  Everywhere she looked she saw smashed glass, pieces of wood, furniture, and masonry.  Sighing, Lisette shook her head sadly at the destruction and moved till she was standing on what must have been part of the glass clock face.  

    There she stared out at the dark and starry night, the soft wind blowing through her silky blond hair.  Smiling at the peace that welled up within her, Lisette inhaled a deep breath of the cool air -- and then gagged as the smog and pollution-ridden air filled her lungs.  "New York City, not your little village," Lisette chided herself.

    Out of all of the places in Manhattan to search for the clan of gargoyles, this was probably the best place to start the search.  Despite the fact that dozens had probably already gone through the rubble of the gargoyle home, there was still a chance that she may find the one clue that would lead her to their present hideout.  Turning around, Lisette quickly surveyed the massive ruins.  Bending down, she carefully picked up what must have been, at one time, a beautiful mirror.. now just a frame with a piece of cracked glass within.  Staring through the dirty glass at her reflection, Lisette couldn't help but think back to her own clan and their home together.. and the destruction that was left in their wake.  Shaking her head, she quickly put the shattered mirror back on the ground and moved about the destroyed area.  "No time but the present," she murmured as she dug in.

    Sighing, Elisa moved around the busy squad room, knowing which spots to avoid from experience.  As she neared Matt and her desks, an audible groan escaped her lips.  Not only did Matt have the night off, but from the unorganized stack of files on her desk space, it was apparent that he also left all of his paperwork for her to finish.

    "Hey Detective!"

    Turning around, Elisa managed a small smile for the officer that was approaching her from across the busy room.  "Hi Morgan."

    "Did Bluestone stick you with the reports again?" Officer Morgan asked as he eyed the pile of folders that were balancing precariously on Elisa's desk.

    "Yeah.. I guess this is his way of pay back for being gone so much last year," Elisa said wryly.  "But what are you still doing here?  I thought you'd be out on patrol by now!"

    "I should be, but the Captain wants me to go kick a girl out of the clock tower."

    "Another?" Elisa groaned.  "And here I thought we were done with all of the people trying to get up there and gawk!"

    "You and me both," Morgan agreed with a smile.

    "So, how did this girl get up there?"

    "I told her how," Morgan replied sheepishly, his dark cheeks darkening even more while his eyes twinkled mischievously.

    "Morgan!" Elisa laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at her old friend.

    "Hey, the girl was really nice, and I didn't think there'd be any harm in letting her look around while I checked out her story."

    "You're just too nice sometimes," Elisa chuckled as she glanced at the waiting paperwork.

    Catching her wary glance, Officer Morgan quickly spoke up.  "Yeah, maybe I was a little too nice.  I really should be hitting the streets, but first I gotta escort the young lady from the premises.. unless you'd be willing to put the pile of paperwork off for a couple of minutes and do this old man a favor?" Morgan trailed off as he looked at Elisa with twinkling eyes.

    "We both know that it'd be you doing me the favor," Elisa said, smiling gratefully at her old friend.  "You go hit the streets and I'll take care of our curious visitor upstairs."

    "Thank you Detective... and please be gentle; she really was a sweet kid," Morgan implored with a smile as he started heading for the exit.

    "Aren't I always?" Elisa called after him with a grin.  Still smiling Elisa turned away from the huge workload and headed to the familiar supply closet.  Seeing that the ladder was already down, she quickly climbed up into the shadowy remains of the clock tower.  Peering into the inky darkness, Elisa moved until she was standing in the bright moonlight of the clock remains.  Now doesn't this bring back memories? she thought wryly as memories of the time she spent here with the clan and of the night she and Goliath had ended up at this exact location after being attacked at her apartment.  Things would have been so much easier if she only would have known then about her forgotten past.  Then again, that was the whole point of a memory wipe, wasn't it?  To not remember.

    Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and focusing on the task at hand, Elisa turned back to face the demolished clock tower.  "Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing in the demolished abyss.

    "Uh, oui, une minute s'il vous plaît.. I mean, one minute, please!" a female voice called out from somewhere in the darkness.  Hiding a smile, Elisa listened as the person stumbled over the debris and into the moonlight.  Surprised, Elisa saw that the 'girl' she was looking for was in fact a slender young woman with long, pale blond hair.  "Sorry, I was... just..." the young woman trailed off as she stepped into the moonlight and focused on Elisa.

    Her own smile faltering under the young woman's intense gaze, Elisa shook her head once more.  "Listen, you're not allowed up here, so if you'll follow me I'll escort you back downstairs..." Elisa trailed off as she noticed the shocked expression hadn't changed.  "Hello?" she asked as she waved a hand in front of the girl's face.

    "You're fey.. no.. not fey.. but something," the young woman said quietly, her face screwed up tight in concentration.

    Startled, Elisa stepped back a few paces before she regained her composure.  "Excuse me?"

    "I can.. I can sense your magic.. what.. what are you?" Lisette asked as she stared closely at the woman, taking in every detail through her eyes and her other 'senses.'

    "I.. um, I'm a detective," Elisa said, finally regaining control of her shock.  "Second class, here at the 23rd precinct..."

    "No, that's not what I meant," Lisette said, shaking her head slowly, I can feel your magic.. but it's not quite that of the 3rd race..." she trailed off slowly as she continued to stare at the woman.  Something wasn't right here.  The woman before her looked nothing more than an ordinary woman, very beautiful, but still just a human.. but she wasn't.  The dark skin, the high cheek bones, the dark eyes, the long black hair, the jeans and jacket... it all looked human, but she wasn't.  The woman before her had an audible aura of something else, with powerful magic and energy pulsing behind every move.  This 'detective' was very powerful.. and she couldn't be human.

    "I.. um.." Elisa trailed off, so surprised that she didn't know how to answer the young woman's questions.  How could she sense that?

    Luckily for Elisa, an escape route quickly appeared.  "Hey Maza!  You up there?" a male voice called out from below in the supply room.

    "Uh, yeah..." Elisa said, turning at the sound of the new voice.

    "The Captain is looking for you!"

    "Okay, I'll be right down!" Elisa yelled back, her eyes returning once more to the mysterious young woman.  "Listen.. I have to go back downstairs, but I want you to wait here for me," Elisa said quietly as she met the young woman's direct gaze.

    "But.."

    "Listen.. uh..."

    "Lisette," the young woman supplied quickly, a small frown pulling at her lips.

    "Okay Lisette.  I want you to wait here for me.. I'll be back soon," Elisa said as she started moving towards the ladder leading down to the dark supply room.

    "But I need to find the gargoyles!" Lisette called out as she followed the detective.

    Stopping abruptly, Elisa turned to face the young woman, throwing her off because of the quick stop.  "What?"

    "I came here to find the gargoyles.. can you help me, Detective Maza?" Lisette asked, flashing a small grin at the older woman.

    Looking into her crystal blue eyes, Elisa was amazed at the depth found within.. it was like looking into a bottomless pit.  Shaking her head, Elisa broke her gaze and started backing down the ladder.  Stopping at a half way point, Elisa looked back up at the shadowy figure of Lisette.  "Listen, just wait right here for me.. I'll be back as soon as I can get away and then we can talk.  Alright?"

    Sighing, Lisette nodded curtly and mumbled, "Fine, I'll wait here for you.. but please hurry."

    Smiling, Elisa continued down the ladder and called out, "I'll be right back!" before closing the door of the supply room behind her.

    Sighing once more, Lisette turned away from the ladder and moved till she was once more staring out into the dark night from the open face of the clock tower, dropping her backpack on the floor beside her.  What was going on?  She should be out in the night searching for the gargoyle clan.. then again, maybe this Elisa Maza would be able to help her find them.  And even if she didn't know about the gargoyles, it would still be worthwhile to find out exactly what she was; maybe she knew of her mother...  "No, my mother is dead.." Lisette murmured to herself as she stared out into the dark night sky.

    Suddenly, a flash of red caught her eye.  Turning, Lisette studied the dark night carefully, searching for what had caught her attention.  There it was again.  Turning, Lisette strained her eyes, trying to make out what she was seeing.  Just at that moment, the moon decided to make a sudden appearance from behind its cloud cover, revealing the shape she had been trying to see.  "A gargoyle," Lisette breathed, watching the form in amazement.

    Now she was left with a decision.. should she wait for the mysterious detective to return or should she chase after the gargoyle that she saw?  It didn't take long for Lisette to decide on the gargoyle -- that was her main purpose in being there, after all.  Besides, she always knew where she could find the detective.

    Moving quickly, Lisette mumbled something in French and then in a flash of green light her form changed: body lengthening about half a foot, skin turning light blue, blond hair turning even paler till it was almost white, jeans and tee shirt melting away to be replaced by a white halter and loincloth, and talons, wings, and a tail sprouting from her form -- her transformation complete.  

    Smiling at her luck, Lisette turned and jumped from the edge of the clock tower, her wings catching her easily and lifting her high into the dark night sky.  It had been quite a while since she had done this.. glided on the dark currents of the night.  Not since that night so long ago.. the last night she had glided with her clan -- the night before their destruction.  Looking down at the city streets below, Lisette marveled once more at the gift that she had.  "If it was not for you mother, I would not be able to see the world as I now do," she murmured as a warm current of air carried her higher into the night sky.  Clearing her mind once more, Lisette turned and followed the air currents, straining to catch up to the gargoyle she had spotted.

    Moving through the crowded hallway, Elisa hurried past the throng of people, sidestepping crooks, cops, and lost civilians.  After a few more twists and turns she finally arrived at her destination:  Captain Maria Chavez's office.  Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Elisa lifted up her hand and knocked on the closed door.

    "Come in," was the hardened reply that she received.

    Forcing a smile on her face, Elisa opened the door and stepped into the cluttered office.  "You called for me, Cap?"

    "Yes I did.  Where have you been?" Captain Chavez said as she looked up at Elisa through narrowed eyes, the paperwork she had been working on temporarily forgotten.

    "I told Morgan that I'd escort the girl who was snooping around in the clock tower to the door," Elisa said truthfully, her usual half smirk showing through.

    "Uh huh.  That's good.. so what are you going to do now?"

    "Um, excuse me?" Elisa said, completely caught off guard.

    "Well, when I came in here tonight, I couldn't help but notice the pile of late paperwork that was stacked on your desk.  You were about to tell me that you were going to spend the majority of tonight finishing that up and then finally turning it in, right?" Chavez asked, an evil glint in her eyes.  "Unless you've somehow managed to finish all of that work in the last few minutes?" she asked archly as she crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

    "No, I was just..."

    "Stop.  I don't want to hear it.  Whatever it is, it can wait.  Right now I want you to get your little butt back to your desk and finish that paperwork!"

    "But Cap..."

    "No buts," Chavez quickly interrupted as she stood up from her seat and leaned across the desk, her hard eyes meeting Elisa's.  "I'm not stupid Detective, I know of the little game that you and Bluestone play -- always leaving the dirty work for the other one.  Well, you're here now, so you're stuck with it!"

    "And that was just what I was planning on doing," Elisa said with a sigh as she turned away from the Captain and left her office.  Trudging across the busy squad room to her desk, Elisa couldn't help but look towards the ceiling and curse her rotten luck for not getting out of the precinct sooner.  "Guess my mystery woman there will have to wait," she muttered as she took off her red jacket, rolled up her black sleeves and turned back towards her desk... and looked down in surprise.  Next to the huge pile of paperwork that was scattered on her desk sat a long and narrow white box.

    Surprised, Elisa slowly drew the box closer to her as she turned to survey the busy squad room.  Everything looked normal.  Curious, Elisa slowly reached out and opened the lid of the box and gasped.  Within the box lay three of the most beautiful red roses she had ever seen in all of her very long existence lying on white cotton.  Exhaling slowly, Elisa reached her hand down tentatively and picked up one of the three roses and held it to her nose.  It was a perfect rose.

    Suddenly, one of the long and sharp thorns stabbed into her delicate skin, causing her to cry out in pain as the rose tumbled back down to her desk.  While holding her hand protectively in her hand, Elisa looked around quickly and was relieved to see that the sound of her cry had been covered up by the loud squad room.  Turning her head, her long black hair trailing down her back, Elisa looked down at her hand and watched as the wound healed quickly, leaving only a small smear of blood where the wound once stood.

    "Man, if anyone ever saw something like that happen, my cover would be blown," Elisa thought worriedly to herself.  She just couldn't afford to get hurt in front of anyone, because now that she was in her body, the body of Talika the protector instead of a mortal's body, she couldn't control her healing.  If she received any sort of wound, it would instantly heal up, no matter if she wanted it to or not.  The mortal body of Elisa Maza that could receive wounds and sustain them was dead and gone forever.

    Shaking her head, Elisa turned back to her desk and saw that the white cotton lying beneath the three red roses now had a drop of blood: her blood from the wicked thorn.  For some reason, the roses no longer looked beautiful, but ominous instead.  Shaking her head once more, Elisa quickly closed the lid of the box and pushed it aside, turning once more back to the large stack of paperwork; she would ask Goliath about the roses later.. after all, even though he was asleep now, he could have found someway to deliver the roses.. who else would have given them to her?

Somewhere over Manhattan

    "Argh!  This isn't getting me anywhere!" Lisette groaned in frustration.  She had been doing her best to catch up to the mysterious gargoyle for the last half hour.  Instead, it seemed that despite her best efforts, she was only managing to follow her and maintain the distance between them.  "Yep, it definitely has been a while!" she huffed as she strained her tired wings.  Suddenly she had an idea.  "If I can't catch up to her, then I might as well go in front of her!" Lisette huffed.  Quickly she stopped moving and began to hover over the dark streets below.  Murmuring something quickly in a mix between French and Latin, Lisette then began to glow a bright green.  When the glow dissipated from around her, she found herself standing on the rooftop of a building in her human form.  Turning quickly she caught sight of the gargoyle.  From this close, she could tell that she was female, with blue skin and wild red hair.

    "Hey!" Lisette yelled, jumping onto her tip toes as she started waving her hands in the air wildly above her.  "Hey!  Over here!"

    Startled, the blue gargoyle looked down and saw the young woman waving frantically at her.  "Humans!" Demona growled in hate as she stared down at the beautiful young woman.  She was still in the process of trying to eliminate all of the humans of the world, but it didn't hurt to kill this one now.  Smiling evilly, Demona descended quickly in the night sky till she landed a few feet away from the annoying human woman.

    "Hi!" Lisette huffed, trying to catch her breath.  "I did not think that I would ever be able to get your attention!"

    "Oh, you got my attention all right, human!" Demona growled as she reached behind her and unslung her laser gun from around her back.

    Confused at the venom in the gargoyle's voice, Lisette backed up a few paces and stared at the gargess.  Already she could see her eyes lighting up in a flash of red -- never a good sign when dealing with a gargoyle, for that usually signified anger.  "What.. what's wrong?" Lisette stuttered as she watched the gargoyle take something out from behind her back.  The object was about two to three feet long and made from a black metal unlike she had ever seen before.

    "Die you foolish human!" Demona screamed out as she pulled the trigger on the device and an arc of deadly red light shot out and crossed the distance between them, intercepting once with the human's right shoulder.

    Screaming out in pain, Lisette quickly fell to the ground.  Gaping up at the gargoyle that now towered over her, she gently lifted her hand up and pressed it against her shoulder, whimpering as the pain flared through her shoulder.  Pulling it away quickly, Lisette was amazed and horrified to see that her hand was now covered in blood -- her blood.

    Laughing maniacally, Demona raised the gun once more and aimed it at the young human's head.  "And another one bites the dust," she whispered quietly as her finger began to tighten once more on the trigger...

    This couldn't be happening.  This couldn't be a gargoyle before her!  Gargoyles were born to protect, it was a part of their nature!  But all that this gargoyle seemed capable of was destruction -- her destruction at the moment. ; Quickly Lisette felt her eyes begin to burn a bright green as her pain and fear began to change into a blinding anger.  In a sudden burst of magic, Lisette sent the startled gargoyle flying across the rooftop where she landed in a pile, instantly knocked unconscious.

    "Bitch," Lisette mumbled, recalling the one word that she had heard so often since her arrival.. most commonly used in a negative tone of voice towards women.  She had no real idea of what it meant, but she imagined that it wasn't good.  Straining, Lisette slowly got to her feet, crying out in pain as even that small movement caused her shoulder to burn.  As the tears stung her eyes, Lisette moved across the roof until she was standing over the evil gargoyle's body.  "Je te n'aime pas, donc, tu dois aller à l'Antarctica maintenant!" (I don't like you, therefore, you should go to Antarctica now!) she whispered harshly as a green glow overtook her blue eyes once more.  As the green dissipated, so did the evil gargoyle that had attacked her.

    Instantly a pang of guilt sprang from within her.  "But, elle était mal!" she reasoned with herself in her native tongue.  Shaking her head, Lisette decided to worry about it later as another wave of pain shot from her injured limb.  Crying out, Lisette clutched her shoulder with her already bloody hand, any slight movement causing pain now.  Gritting her teeth, she searched the rooftop for her backpack before realizing that she had left it back at the clock tower.  

    "Great, just great.  And where is the clock tower now, oh stupid one?" she asked herself as she turned in a circle and surveyed her surroundings.  Everywhere she looked she saw building after tall building, all looking the same and none looking familiar.  "With my arm hurt, I will never be able to glide back to the clock tower, and without my sack, I have no money which means I cannot take a cab or use anything to help stop the bleeding," Lisette said in frustration as she realized how much her predicament really did suck.  "Now I am stuck somewhere in New York City, which is probably as big as Paris, with no idea where I am, hurt, no money, and no way to get back to the only place where I actually knew someone!" she ground out, wishing all the more that she would have stayed at the clock tower like the detective has asked her to -- or better yet, back in France.

    "But whining about it will not aid the situation," she countered to herself once more.  Looking around the deserted rooftop, Lisette found what she was looking for on the far corner:  a clothesline with two large sheets draped over it.  Grimacing at the throb in her shoulder, Lisette moved slowly across the roof and then gently ripped off a piece of the sheet.  Steeling herself  against the pain, she then tied it tightly around her wounded shoulder.  She knew that it wouldn't hold for long, but hoped that it would at least stop the bleeding for now.

    "And now time to get down from here," she said firmly as she walked to the edge of the building and looked down to the ground.  Sighing, she bit her lip against the pain in her shoulder and then quickly cast a spell that placed her on the sidewalk five stories below.  Turning, she then lifted her head high and began to walk along the deserted sidewalk; where to, she had no idea, but at least she was going somewhere.  

    That, though, remained a good question: where would she go now?  Did she even need to go back to the clock tower and the detective there?  Maybe to get her bag, but that was it.  Her purpose there in New York City was no longer.  All this experience with this gargoyle did was prove to her that not all gargoyles were as kind and as good as her clan back in France.  But they were nothing more than dust that lived on in her memories.  The clan here in Manhattan was obviously nothing like them.. they were evil and cruel.. and maybe they did have something to do with the bombing of the clock tower.  The menace in that gargoyle's eyes was enough to make Lisette believe anything.. not since the Roman's had she seen such hate in a person's eyes.  

    But now what?  Her whole reason for being here in New York City was to find a purpose with this new clan.  Should she go back to Bretagne?  But what was there?  Definitely not the existence that she wanted.. alone with her memories.  Alone.  That was what she was feeling.  Her dreams had been shattered once more and now she was alone with her destroyed hope and her memories.  Now she was in a new world with no home, no friends, and no one to love her or care of she lived or died -- she had never felt more alone in her life... not even when she awoke in the cave, confused and disoriented with her mentor's dusty remains laying on the floor beside her.  She was all alone now.

NYPD 23rd Precinct

    Sighing, Elisa turned off the computer and closed the folder that she had been working on.  Turning, she put the folder on the newly organized stack of files that had been lying on her desk.  "Done," she mumbled with a small smile as she picked up the heavy load and moved it over to Matt's desk.  "I'll just let him take care of filing it!" Elisa continued with a grin as she stood from her chair and stretched her stiff muscles.  Leaning down, she grabbed her red coat from the chair, slipped it on, and moved down the hallway, up the stairs, and to the supply closet.  "Time for some answers," she murmured as she pulled down the ladder and climbed them until she was once more standing in the devastated clock tower.  "Hello!?" Elisa yelled as she surveyed the dark wreck.  "Lisette?"

    Silence was her only answer.  "Where did she go?" Elisa asked herself as she surveyed the dark ruins.  Turning towards the open clock face, a piece of black cloth caught her eye.  Moving closer, Elisa saw that it was the backpack that the young woman had slung over her shoulder earlier.  Bending down, Elisa knelt before the heavy sack, her conscious weighing against her curiosity.  Eventually, her curiosity won out.  Looking around the ruins to make sure that she was alone, Elisa gently reached down and opened the zipper on the large part of the bag.  After digging around for a couple of minutes, she found nothing of interest:  a discman, CDs, batteries, a couple of French novels, three candy bars, and a bottle of water.  Sighing, Elisa then moved to the smaller pocket.  There she hit the jackpot.

    Inside she found a hairbrush, gum, a pen, a small notebook with the address of the precinct on it, a small dark blue velvet pouch, a passport, and a small black leather wallet.  Smiling at her luck, Elisa first opened the billfold.  Right away she found a wad of French and American money, which together totaled more than $50,000 US dollars.  "At least I can be sure that she had enough money to survive here in New York City... although right now she's sitting without this money," Elisa thought worriedly to herself.  

    After checking the pockets of the billfold and finding nothing else, she then moved to the French passport.  According to the information there, the young woman that she had met earlier was really Talia Seul.  "Talia Seul.. Talia Alone.." Elisa murmured, relying on her knowledge of the French language to translate the meaning of the last name.  She was born on June 25, 1979, making her 19 years old, in the province of Bretagne in France.  "Why would she lie to me about her name?.. unless her name really isn't Talia Seul either," Elisa thought out loud as she stared at the picture of Lisette.  Shaking her head, Elisa put the wallet and passport back into the bag.

    Curious, she then picked up the small, dark blue velvet bag.  Pulling gently on the ribbon that tied the bag shut, Elisa stared in wonder at the contents of the bag.  Inside were eight coins that caught and reflected the moonlight.  Carefully, Elisa reached out and lifted one of the coins, allowing the moon to reflect off of its surface so that she could read its dulled surface.  Gasping, Elisa quickly lowered the coin and placed it back with the others.  "Eight French coins that date back to 990 AD... they must be worth a fortune!!"  

    Quickly Elisa redid the delicate ribbon and placed the velvet bag back into the backpack.  Picking it up, she quickly slung the bag over her shoulder and hurried down the ladder and into the halls of the 23rd precinct.  "I have to get to Goliath and have him help me.. we need to find her!" Elisa mumbled as she rushed down the hall and out of the building, ignoring the stares of her fellow co-workers as she jumped into her car and tore out into the night traffic, before she gets herself in trouble she finished silently, worry creasing her brow.

Somewhere else over Manhattan

    "I can't believe you ate the whole thing," Brooklyn muttered as he eyed his gliding companion's paunch.

    "Hey, all this gliding gave me an appetite!" Broadway protested as he patted his large blue stomach good naturedly.  "Besides, I said you could have some."

    "Yeah, after you finished it off!" Lexington piped up from Broadway's other side.  "Whoa!  Talk about deja vu!" he quickly exclaimed as he looked at his rookery brothers in amazement.

    "Probably because this happens nearly every time we go on patrol together!" Brooklyn said as he dipped his wings to glide lower and miss Broadway's swipe.

    "Ha ha, very funny!" Broadway growled.

    "Ah, he's just steamed cause Goliath took Angela patrolling with him and he got stuck with us!" Lexington laughed as he too avoided his rookery brother's aim.

    Soon a full out war began as the three brothers swirled and dipped, trying to best the rest.  They hadn't had fun like this in ages; they hadn't had the chance to act like rookery children in ages.  Still laughing, Brooklyn stopped doing the aerobatics and started gliding back towards the Aerie building.  "Come on guys, let's head back to the castle -- the others are probably back by now!" Brooklyn laughed.

    "Are you suggesting this as our second in command?" Lexington laughed as he caught up to Brooklyn.

    Winging up on Brooklyn's other, Broadway tried to put on a serious face -- failing miserably -- and said, "Yes, oh mighty leader, we shall do as you command!"

    Rolling his eyes at the laughing duo, Brooklyn just smiled and said, "No, as your rookery bro-" he trailed off as his eyes narrowed.

    "Our rookery what?" Broadway asked in disbelief.

    Laughing, Lexington quickly nudged his brick colored brother.  "What was that?" he questioned, smiling broadly.  

    "Just shut up and look!" Brooklyn snapped as he pointed to something on the ground in front of them.

    Silencing immediately at the intensity in Brooklyn's voice, the two gargoyles quickly glanced in the indicated direction.  About 100 yards in front of them walked a young human woman on the deserted sidewalk.

    "Jeez, when will these humans learn that it isn't a good idea to go walking around by yourself at night?" Lexington asked as he peered down at the young woman.

    Shaking his head, Broadway met Lexington's gaze and said, "I don't know, but all it does is make our job more difficult.  Should we follow her to make sure that she gets where she's going alright?"

    "Probably.. Brooklyn?" Lexington asked, turning to his rookery brother.

    "Yeah, it's a good idea to make sure that she does make it alright, but I don't think that all three of us need to follow her.  If you guys want, I'll go ahead and make sure she gets home and you two can head back to the castle," Brooklyn suggested as he followed the young woman's movements with his sharp eyes.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Broadway turned and met Lexington's gaze once more.  "I think that it's a good idea.. but are you saying it as our rookery brother..."

    "Or as our second in command?" Lexington finished with a small smile.

    Turning to glare half heartedly at his brothers, Brooklyn grinned instead and said, "As your second in command.  Now get moving before Goliath begins to worry!"

    Laughing, the two brothers altered their course and began to glide back in the direction of the castle.  Brooklyn barely heard Lexington say, "He just thinks that she's pretty and wants to be her hero if she needs help!" before they both broke up in a fit of laughter that gradually died away on the night breeze.

    Smiling, Brooklyn shook his head as he dipped lower to follow the young woman's progress more closely.  As he got closer, he realized that Lex was right.. she was beautiful from what he could see.. for a human that is.  She was wearing blue jeans, a white tee shirt, a red piece of cloth tied around her shoulder, long blond hair that stretched down her back.. a red piece of cloth?  Squinting his eyes to see better in the night gloom, Brooklyn saw that the red piece of cloth was in fact tied tightly around her shoulder, and that not only was it red, but it glistened slightly under the occasional light of a street lamp.. as though it were wet.  Also, he could now make out red splotches all over the back of her white shirt.  Concern etching his face, Brooklyn glided lower still and watched closely as the young woman continued walking down the side-walk, her gate becoming more and more uneven as she occasionally placed a slender hand against a nearby wall for support.

    Just as Brooklyn was about to dive down to assist the woman, a loud and jeering voice caused them both to pause.  Shaking his head, Brooklyn quickly glided down to the nearest rooftop and watched with glowing eyes as four guys sauntered out from a dark alley and encircled the young woman.

    "Hey baby, whatcha doing out so late?" one of the guys with green, spiky hair asked quietly as he advanced on her.

    "Alone?" the other guys taunted as they expertly began to move closer, causing her to back away.. right into the alley.

    "I am going to the police station, thank you," Lisette said coldly, her eyes flashing angrily as the young men began backing her into the alley.

    "Oh hoh.. did you hear that boys?  The girlie is going to the police station!" the leader of the group, the one with the green, spiky hair cried out as the rest began to whoop and laugh.  "Well, hey baby.." the leader crooned as he darted forward and pushed Lisette against a grimy brick wall, his body pinning her against it while he gently pet one hand against her smooth cheek.  "We can help you out!" he whispered fiercely as his friends drew up beside him.

    "Hey look at that!  She's bleedin'!" one of the boys cried out with a stupid grin on his face as he poked at her bandaged shoulder.

    Screaming out in pain, Lisette flinched as darkness started to steal over her vision.  Reacting quickly, the leader quickly covered her mouth with his dirty hand as one hand began to travel lower.  "Shh, honey.. we don't want anyone interruptin' us."

    As the pain subsided and the throbbing returned, Lisette turned her icy stare on the young leader.  Meeting his dark glare, she felt her eyes slowly begin to burn green as her anger built.  Suddenly she released it all in a burst of magic that sent the leader flying across the alley and into the far wall.  "DO.. NOT.. TOUCH ME!" Lisette cried out, her breath heaving as she fought to regain her composure.

    "What the hell!?"

    "Did you guys see that!"

    "What's up with this bitch?  Let's get the hell out of here!" the other members of the little punk squad yelled out as they turned to run from the scene.

    "No!  Grab her!" the leader called out, halting his friends in mid-step.  "This bitch is going to pay!" he said as he brought a hand to his mouth and wiped away a trickle of blood.

    At this command, the group quickly shrugged their shoulders and began advancing on the woman.  Seeing this, Lisette quickly called upon her magic and started dealing out devastating blows to the group.  And up from above, Brooklyn continued to watch, his mouth wide in amazement.  Just as he was about to come down and kick some butt, the woman surprised him by sending the leader across the alley, her eyes glowing green.  

    "She's fey!" he gasped in amazement.  Frozen in shock, he continued to watch as she began fighting the group of punks using nothing else but magic.  Suddenly, he saw the leader of the group begin to sneak around Lisette, moving closer and closer to her unprotected back as she dealt with the others.  Seeing the punk's intent and having no time to dive, Brooklyn did the only thing that he could think of.. the exact wrong thing to do.  "Hey, watch out!"

    Startled, Lisette broke off her attack and looked high up into the alley in search of the cry.  That second of inattention was the one thing that the leader needed as he darted forward and dug his nails into Lisette's shoulder wound, causing her to scream out in agony.  This time she could do nothing to prevent the darkness from swimming up to meet her as she lapsed into unconsciousness.

    As the woman fell to the ground, the group of punks hesitantly advanced forward, afraid of another attack.  When they saw that none would be forthcoming, they knelt beside her.. ready to watch at first and then take their turn at revenge on the beautiful girl.

    Slipping out a jack knife, the leader inched the gleaming blade towards the top of her shirt when a demon like roar broke the quiet of the night.  "Oh God," the leader stuttered in fear as the knife dropped out of his hands and onto the grimy ground of the alley.  Turning, he just had enough time to turn and stare up into the sky before he was knocked off of his feet and to the ground by a flash of red.  Groaning, he looked up and into the eyes of the Devil himself.  "A gargoyle!" he screamed out in panic as the glowing red eyes focused on him.  "Let's get out of here!!" he screeched in panic as he scrambled to his feet and ran from the alley, the rest of his gang close behind.

    Sighing, Brooklyn allowed his eyes to quit glowing as he turned back to the young woman.  She didn't look so hot.  Her shoulder wound was bleeding fiercely, easily soaking the bandage and dripping down her arm as her tanned face became increasingly pale.  "She needs help," Brooklyn muttered thoughtfully as he knelt beside her.  Just as he had seen Elisa do it before, Brooklyn gently reached out one hand and placed it firmly over the wound, hoping to slow the bleeding.  Groaning, the young woman shifted slightly, but still didn't regain consciousness.  "I can't bring her to the hospital.. what if they try using some instrument with iron on her!" Brooklyn said aloud to himself as he stared at her face.  She was even more beautiful in person, with high cheek bones, a small, pert nose over wide, full red lips.  "I need to take her to the castle," Brooklyn finally mumbled to himself, coming to a quick decision.  It made the most sense, because not only did Xanatos have state of the art equipment, but there was also the rest of the clan, a fey, a half fey, and a quarter fey living there.. they may just be of some help.

    Nodding to himself, Brooklyn leaned forward and gently slid his arms under the woman and easily lifted her into his arms.  When she didn't wake he turned and surveyed the dark alley.  He needed to get higher so that he could get some altitude and find wind currents to glide off of.  Disappointed, he quickly realized that there was nothing to be found here that would do the job: just trash bags and a few dumpsters.  Sighing, Brooklyn gently readjusted his hold till he was holding on to her firmly around the waist with one arm, her head tilted forward.  Careful not to jostle his passenger, Brooklyn gently scaled the side of the building, the crunch of stone the only noise.  It was extremely slow going, each step a baby one because of the difficulty of trying to climb with one hand, but a few minutes later he was at a high enough height that he was able to push away from the wall and let his wings catch him.  Once he was airborne he readjusted his grip on the unconscious young woman once more so that he was again carrying her in his arms, her head supported on his shoulder.

    "Goliath's not going to believe this," he muttered as he soared higher into the night sky, looking down at his passenger to see her eyes moving quickly beneath the cover of her eye lids.. dream time.

    Smiling, the young baby gurgles in her mother's warm grip, the arms safe and protective as she stares across the room.  It was the same room.. always the same room with the same view:  grimy dirt floors, a hearth with a small fire burning, a rickety old table with wooden benches, an old bed made out of lumber pressed against the far corner, and the pale and cold sunlight seeping in through the open doorway.  No, look at her face.. please look at her face! Lisette begged of her mind's eye.. it wasn't to be.  Every time it was the same dream with the same view.

    Laughing, the baby gurgles some more as she is gripped tighter by the hands as she rises higher in the air, moving with the mother as she stands up from her chair quickly.  This isn't a game!!  Look at her face! Lisette urged, knowing that the baby wouldn't do any different than usual.. too young to understand.

    Suddenly the room begins to tilt as the baby is lowered quickly to the floor and then laid on the cold dirt.  The cold upsets the child, and she quickly begins to scream with tear filled eyes.  Turning her small head, the young infant watches through blurry eyes as the mother walks towards the open door, never once looking back.

    Then she stops.  Holding her breath, Lisette urged for the dream to go on.  As the baby continues to cry, the mother stops by the door and weakly reaches one tanned, slender hand out and rests it against the door, the hand trembling.  Ever so slowly she begins to turn.  Just as the corner of the woman's face reaches the light, the dream slowly fades to black.

    No, Lisette sobbed in her mind's eye as darkness once more reigned over her world.  I need to see her face...

Aerie Building

    As the elevator dinged open on the highest part of the Aerie building, Detective Elisa Maza rushed through the opening and into the Great Hall of Castle Wyvern.  Turning in circles, she quickly found what she was looking for.  "Owen!" she yelled as she rushed up to the calm as ever man servant.

    "Yes Detective Maza?" he asked in his usual bored voice.

    "I need to speak with Goliath!  Where is he?" Elisa panted, trying to regain her breath.

    "I do believe that he and the rest of the clan are gathered outside in the courtyard."

    "The courtyard?" Elisa asked in disbelief.  Usually when she came to the castle, the clan was always gathered in the recreation room with Goliath hidden away in the library reading one novel or another.

    "Yes, they have just returned from patrol and are.. uh hem, swapping stories," Owen said, raising his eyebrow slightly as he said the last part, indicating that it wasn't his own term to describe the event.

    Nodding her head, Elisa turned and ran towards the far end of the room where the large doors leading into the courtyard were located.  "Thanks Owen!" she yelled over her back as Elisa pulled open the massive doors and ran into the courtyard.

    It was beautiful out here, with spring already past and summer in full bloom.  There were trees, grass, and flowers of all varieties blooming in the warm night air.  But Elisa saw none of this.  Ignoring the beautiful scenery, she ran past and out onto the stone parapets where the clan was gathered.  "Goliath!"

    "Elisa?" Goliath asked in confusion and the beginnings of worry as he watched his love run up to the group.

    "I need your help!" Elisa said as she pulled to a stop beside the group, ignoring the looks of worry from everyone gathered.

    "What's wrong Elisa?" Angela asked as she watched her human friend closely.

    "Do you need help with a case?" Broadway broke in eagerly, a smile lighting up his face.

    Flashing one of her small smiles, Elisa shook her head at Broadway.  "No case, but something different.  I need your guys' help finding someone!"

    "Who lass?" Hudson asked as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.

    "She's in her late teens, early twenties, with long blond hair that stretches down her back, blue eyes, about my height, 110 pounds, tall and thin, and last seen wearing baggy blue jeans and a white tee shirt," Elisa described from memory, replaying her time with the girl in her head.  "Also, her name is either Lisette or Talia Seul."

    Just then a sudden noise from behind the group caused them all to turn quickly in surprise.  "I think that I just found who you're looking for," Brooklyn panted quickly as he hopped down from the parapets, careful not to jostle the girl anymore than necessary.

    "Oh God, what happened?" Elisa said, immediately by Brooklyn's side as she gently checked out the shoulder wound.

    "To her shoulder?  I don't know.  But I found her wandering the streets where she was attacked by a gang of punks..."

    "Was she hurt?" Angela asked quickly, concern touching her face as she looked at the still form of the woman.

    "Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" Goliath asked, worry creasing his own features.

    "No, she wasn't hurt," Brooklyn answered quickly to Angela as he began moving past the clan.  "She managed to fight them off pretty well on her own."

    "She fought them off on her own?" Lexington asked in amazement as he looked at her small frame, moving beside Brooklyn.

    "Where are ye going lad?" Hudson asked as Brooklyn hurried past.

    "To the infirmary, and get Owen!" he yelled over his shoulder, with Elisa and Lexington running beside him.

    "Owen?" Broadway asked in confusion.  "Why do we need Owen?!"

    "Because I think that she's fey!" was the yelled response as Brooklyn disappeared from sight.

    "What?!"

    "Broadway, go find Owen!  Hudson, Angela, come with me!" Goliath ordered as he turned quickly and began running after his second in command, the rest of the clan in hot pursuit.

    As Goliath rounded the final hall, he quickly entered the infirmary where he saw Elisa and Brooklyn bent over the young woman.  "Elisa?..."

    "Where's Owen?" Elisa asked as she gently untied the cloth that was wrapped tightly around the girl's shoulder.

    "Broadway went to find him.." Goliath trailed off as he stared at the red wound on the girl's shoulder.

    "Is it a gun shot wound?" Lexington asked quietly from his perch against the wall.

    "No, I don't think so.. I can't see any gun powder or anything..." Elisa muttered as she grabbed a scissors lying on a stainless steel table nearby and gently cut off the sleeve of the shirt and pulled it away to show the wound.  "It looks like a clean hole straight through her shoulder..."

    "A laser?" Brooklyn asked as he pressed his hand over the wound in hopes of slowing the bleeding.

    "I think so," Elisa agreed grimly, meeting his shocked expression.

    Suddenly the door burst open behind them as Owen and Broadway hurried into the room.  Without saying a word the man servant moved instantly by the young woman's side, pushing Elisa and Brooklyn out the way.  There was no reaction or no word as he quickly went to work on her shoulder, a tense silence falling over the room.  A while later, Owen finally stepped away from the young woman, a clean white strip wrapping its way around her shoulder and arm.

    Before anyone had a chance to say anything, they watched as the mysterious young woman's eyes fluttered open.  The first thing that those striking blue eyes saw was Brooklyn's smiling face.  "Oh no!" Lisette whispered as her eyes widened in fear and she sat up quickly, crying out as the pain flared up in her arm.

    "Hey, take it easy!" Elisa said quickly, instantly by the girl's side.

    "You!" Lisette gasped, recognizing the detective easily.

    "Who else?  Now just hold still or else you're going to hurt your arm even more," Elisa soothed as she gently pushed the young woman back onto the infirmary bed.

    "But.. but the gargoyles," Lisette gasped as she looked at the gargoyle clan, who now all mirrored her shocked expression.

    "It's okay, they're friends!" Elisa urged, a small smile on her face.  "Besides, I thought that was why you came here.. to find the gargoyles..."

    "It was... but one of your clan sisters found me first..."

    "Uh oh," Lex murmured as the picture of that particular gargoyle came to mind.

    "And the first thing that she did was shoot me in the shoulder with.. fire, from this big machine!" Lisette said angrily, her eyes flashing a bright green, which caused everyone in the room to flinch back in surprise.

    "Demona!" Brooklyn growled, his eyes flashing white as he thought of his hated enemy.

    "Ah.. so she finally made it back to New York City," Elisa said thoughtfully, thinking back to when she sent Demona to Norway in a fit of anger.. well justified anger.

    "It was a short stay then," Lisette snapped angrily, her eyes flashing once more that eerie green of the fey as she thought of the gargess's unexpected trip to Antarctica.

    "Are you one of Oberon's children?" Lexington asked quietly, breaking in on her anger.

    "What?" Lisette asked, thrown off guard for a minute.

    "Are you fey?" he persisted, the perfect picture of innocence.

    For a moment, the anger faded back from her eyes as she smiled at the younger gargoyle.  "I.. wait a minute!" she broke off suddenly, the wary look entering her bright blues once more.  "How do I know that you will not hurt me with another of those machines?" she asked, eyeing the clan.

    "It's called a laser gun, and it's because it's not our way to do that.. attack humans.." Brooklyn answered slowly.

    "But isn't this Demona a part of your clan?" Lisette asked, not letting her guard down yet.

    "Not any longer," Goliath answered with a tired sigh.

    "I.. I do not understand," Lisette answered back, her French accent mixed in with her melodious voice causing each to strain to hear her words.  "Is she the one who destroyed your home above the clock tower?"

    "How did you know about that?" Elisa asked in confusion.  "You were in France at the time, weren't you?"

    "Yes," Lisette answered slowly, eyeing Elisa suspiciously.  "It was all over the news.. that bombing of your home at the police station... how many are there in your clan?" she asked, taking them all off guard at her sudden change in topic.  "The news footage showed only four gargoyle forms.."

    "Well, after the massacre at Wyvern, there are just seven of us.  There's Lexington, Broadway, Goliath -- our leader," Brooklyn began explaining, pointing to each gargoyle in turn.  "And Hudson -- the previous leader, Angela, Goliath's daughter, and then there's Elisa Maza and that there is Owen Burnett..."

    "And this is Brooklyn, the gargoyle that saved you from that gang and brought you here," Elisa interrupted as she pointed to Brooklyn with a small smile forming on her face.

    Smiling tentatively at the gathered group, Lisette lifted a small hand and pointed to herself.  "And I am Lisette.. but what is this you said about a massacre?" she asked, her voice straining at the mention of the word.

    "A very long story," Goliath broke in sadly, thinking back to all of their adventures of the past three years.

    "Very well," Lisette agreed, understanding the need for silence about something so personal.  Besides, there was something else that still bothered her.  "But if you are human, Elisa, then why can I sense such powerful magic from you?" Lisette asked, once more taking the detective off guard by such a direct question.

    "Ah.." Elisa stuttered as her gaze jumped back and forth between Goliath and Owen, the only ones who knew the real story.

    "Well," Brooklyn broke in quickly, not even noticing the small look of relief that spread across Elisa's face.  "Apparently when Puck turned her into a gargoyle one time, she developed the ability to do magic as a side effect.."

    "Turned into a gargoyle?" Lisette asked in confusion.

    "Long story," Brooklyn replied with a sheepish grin.

    "But.. who is Puck?" Lisette asked, her confusion growing.

    Sighing, Angela shook her head slowly and smiled at the young woman.  "That could get complicated."

    At this, Lisette leaned back against the propped up pillows and thought for a moment.  It all sounded plausible.. it could happen.  But for some reason, Lisette had the gnawing feeling that it wasn't the whole truth.. Elisa felt just too powerful for that to be the whole explanation.  Shaking her head, Lisette looked up to the clan and smiled a bright smile.. she would worry about that later.  For now she would accept that explanation.

    "But that hasn't answered any of our earlier questions.." Elisa broke in hesitantly as she laid one of her dark hands on Lisette's shoulder.  Turning, the young woman moved till her dark blue eyes met her own dark ones.  "How can you sense my magic?  How did you fight off those guys?  How were you able to send Demona away... and where did you send her?  And why do your eyes flash green
whenever you become upset?  Are you fey?"

    "No, she is not," Owen said quietly, interrupting whatever Lisette was about to say.  "I have never seen her before in my life, and she is not one of my sisters."

    At this admission, Lisette cast Owen a strange glance.  "Well, you are partly right," she finally broke in with a small smile.  "I am half human and half something else.. I was born in 979-"

    "Nine hundred seventy-nine?" Brooklyn interrupted in obvious disbelief and confusion.

    "To my parents," Lisette continued, as if he hadn't spoken, "Jean-Marc, a human, and Jasmine, who was not quite human -- or so we think..."

    "You think?" Broadway asked in confusion.

    "Well, I never actually met my mother... or my father for that matter," Lisette admitted sadly.  "A few months after my birth, my mother disappeared.  My father quickly traveled to a nearby village in the province of Bretagne in Gaul, now called France.  There, he was said to have begged the townspeople for help -- help that he would never get."

    "But why wouldn't the villagers help your father?" Angela asked quietly.

    "Because by that time, rumors of my mother had spread, and her disappearance only fueled the flame," Lisette replied softly as her head dropped to her chest.  "The villagers were afraid of her and thought her a witch..."

    "Why would they think her a witch?" Elisa prodded quietly.

    "Because strange things would happen whenever there was magic around... like if our village was ever attacked by magic, a blow that would maim or kill another villager would cause little to no damage to my mother.. or so it was said.  Also, no one knew who she was or where she came from, including my mother... just one day she was there... and the next day she was gone...  My father, a very poor farmer, began the search for my mother by himself.  While he searched, the gossip spread until it reached the ears of the wizard to the lord of the land, Craigen.  Intrigued, he traveled far to our village where he talked to the peasants there and heard the stories first hand.  Even more intrigued, he then traveled to my father's decrepit cottage where he met with my father.  It was then that he saw what would most likely become of me, and then convinced my papa to release me to his care..."

    "Why did your father give you to the wizard?" Goliath asked in amazement, casting a quick glance in Angela's direction.

    Sighing, Lisette lifted her head and met Goliath's baffled gaze.  "I like to think that he gave me up because he loved me so much -- that he knew he could never bring me up properly by himself -- or that he figured that when he found my mother that they would come for me... I never had the courage to ask Craigen why, and I was told that my father died just a few years later, still searching for my mother..." Lisette trailed off, a sad smile on her porcelain face.  Shaking her head, she quickly steeled her emotions.  "In any case, it was done.  I was raised by Craigen in the lord's château where I was taught to read, write, and study many things -- including the study of magic," Lisette finished with a small smile.

    "He knew you were magical?" Lexington asked from his perch on a nearby infirmary bed.

    "No, but it was a good guess.  Strange things began happening when I was just a child..."

    "Like what?" Angela asked, her eyes eager in curiosity.

    "Well, one story that he told me was that when I was just an infant one of my bottles began to teeter and fall off of the counter.  Rushing forward, he tried to get to it in time to prevent it from smashing to the ground... when suddenly the toppling glass halted in mid-air and then floated back up to its place on the counter.  The only people in the room were he and I.  After a few more instances like that, he became convinced that I was no ordinary child!" Lisette laughed, instantly lightening the mood in the room.

    "What else happened to convince him?" Elisa asked with a small smile, seeing that these memories were good ones for the woman.

    "Well, one time, when I was just a year old, I apparently learned how to levitate things...

Craigen's room - 980 AD

    Smiling, the young wizard sat at his table and mixed his brews, trying to create a potion that would magically stop the smell that always seemed to permeate from the young child's diaper.  He knew that the smell meant that she needed to be changed, but he knew that he could figure that problem out without having to smell that horrid stench.  Periodically, he would stop his mixing to peer over his shoulder and ensure that the child was still sitting in the crib that he had made for her.. and staying out of trouble.  Suddenly his smile grew as he realized that he had figured out the potion, and that all he needed to do was mix these last two bottles.

    Ever so carefully young Craigen lifted the bottles close to his face and began to slowly pour the contents of one bottle into the other.  Almost immediately the substance within changed colors from a forest green to that of the sky.  Grinning, he continued to hold the bottle up to his face as he absently set the empty bottle on the table.. or where the table should have been.  Surprised, Craigen looked up.. and then down.  Crying out, Craigen realized that he was now floating a good eight feet off of the ground, his stool and table five feet below him.  So surprised was he that both bottles dropped out of his hands and then smashed on the stone floor so far below.

    A sudden girlish laughter caught his attention.  Turning as best as he could while floating in the air, Craigen looked down and saw his young ward sitting as she was supposed to.. but her eyes were glowing an eerie green.  Laughing again, she clapped her hands, her eyes focused firmly on Craigen's flying form.  It didn't take a genius or a wizard to figure out why he was suddenly floating in the air.  "Lisette!" he called out, his voice trembling slightly.  Why did he have to be afraid of heights?  "Lisette, sweetie, put me down!" he called out, trying to keep his voice calm.

    Not calm enough, apparently.  Smiling, this caused Lisette to laugh all the harder as she began to move her head back and forth, causing poor Craigen to float back and forth as well.

    "Lisette!  Put me down!" he yelled out as his face began to turn green because of the movement.  "Help!"

Present day and time

    "So as you can see, it did not take a wizard to figure out that there was something special about me.. and because he met my father, he knew that it wasn't due to him, which just left my mother."

    "Well, at least you didn't drop him on his head!" Brooklyn said, laughing at the thought of a baby causing her unsuspecting mentor to float in the air.

    "Well, I guess that's one thing to be grateful for!" Lisette said with a warm smile in Brooklyn's direction.

    "Yes, but how did you manage all of this time?  Are you immortal?" Elisa asked, getting back to the subject at hand.  After seeing the young woman's expression fall once more, Elisa wished all the more that she hadn't.

    "If I were immortal, I would not have this mess, would I?" Lisette answered with a sad smile as she gazed at the human detective.  Turning slightly, she focused on the warm eyes of Brooklyn instead.  "No, I am definitely not immortal... I spent all of my time in the château either with Craigen or with the gargoyle clan that protected the château.  They were my friends -- whenever I could, I would sneak away from my chores and studies so that I could be trained and just be with the clan.." Lisette said, trailing off as a small smile caused her full lips to lift slightly at the pleasant memories.

    "So the humans and gargoyles lived together in peace?" Goliath asked, smiling at the thought of his dream of peace between the two races a reality.

    "Well, not exactly... I think that the humans of the château resented my clan because they were different from themselves -- which meant that the wizard and I were resented as well," Lisette explained slowly, a sad smile filling her face.  "In any case, life went on like that... until the Roman Invasion... It was a time of war -- battles were won and battles were lost, armies advanced and armies retreated, homes were destroyed.. and friends were killed," Lisette described as her voice turned hollow and her eyes seemed to focus on nothing.  "One day in the summer, when I was 17 years of age, the château was attacked by the mighty Roman army..." Lisette whispered as her thoughts traveled back to that time so long ago.

The Lord of Bretagne's Château -- 996 AD

    Yawning, Lisette moved slowly down the stone hallway of the castle, her long skirts swishing against the floor as the weak sun filtered through the occasional window.  "Oh, these late nights are killing me!" she said, trying in vain to wipe the sleep from her eyes.  She was late for her lessons with Craigen and she knew it.  From the position of the sun it seemed that it was almost noon.  "No, he is going to kill me!" Lisette murmured as she picked up her pace and quickly began climbing the stone stairs of the tower.  Breathless, she finally reached the top and burst into the cluttered room.  "Craigen?"

    "I'm here, just where I said I would be earlier this morning when it was time for your lessons," an aged voice replied tersely.

    Moving carefully around one cluttered table after another, Lisette finally found her mentor reading on a stool with a very large book on his lap.  "I'm so sorry, Craigen, but..."

    "You were out late with the gargoyle clan and accidentally slept in," the wizard said as he finally looked up from the book he was reading to connect his tired brown eyes with her blue.  "It is always the same with you, my child," he sighed, shaking his white head as he slowly got up from his seat, his brown robes catching the occasional ray of light.

    "But the Romans attacked a nearby village and I went along to help scare them away..." Lisette argued, trying to defend her actions.

    Waving his hand in the air, Craigen quickly replied, "And tis good that the gargoyles did so...  tis in their very nature to protect... but you are not a gargoyle."

    "But..."

    "I know, you can take on the form of a gargoyle with that magic of yours, but inside you are still a young mage.. my apprentice and ward... a human being..."

    "A halfling," Lisette interrupted quickly as she watched her mentor begin to mix some concoction.

    "Yes, but if the lord or his son ever knew that at night you changed yourself into a garg..."

    "Oh, phooey on the lord, and especially on his son!  I don't like the way he keeps eyeing me!" Lisette said angrily as she plopped down on the wooden stool, her dress flaring around her.

    "The boy likes you..."

    "The boy just wants to own and control me like he does everyone else in this château!" Lisette argued, her eyes flashing green at the thought.

    "Shh, now child," the aging wizard said as he knelt in front of his ward.  "You know that..."

    "Hush, Craigen... did you hear that?" Lisette cried out suddenly as her large blue eyes grew wider.

    "Hear what?" Craigen asked in confusion as he placed one hand gently on Lisette's shoulder.

    "Shh, there it is again!" Lisette cried as she jumped to her feet and rushed to the nearest window.  There she looked down upon the peaceful château, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.  However, when she looked further, past the château's walls she saw what caused the noise.  "Oh, mon Dieu!  Craigen, the Roman's are attacking!" Lisette cried quickly, willing her eyes to be wrong as man after man began pouring out from the nearest wood.

    "What?!" Craigen called out quickly as he rushed to stand beside Lisette at the tall tower window, just as the cry of alarm was sounded throughout the château.

    "I just see the watch guards... where is the lord and his forces?!" Lisette cried out in alarm as she watched the measly watch guards attempt to defend the château walls.

    "They are gone, helping Lord Louis to defend his lands from the Romans," Craigen replied hollowly as he watched guard after guard retreat further from their posts under the hollow of spears and arrows.

    "But the Romans are here!" Lisette protested weakly.

    "And the château shall fall under their control."

    "Then we must stop them!" Lisette cried out shrilly as she picked up her skirts and rushed for the door.

    "Stop, Lisette!  Can't you see?  The sun is high and the gargoyles won't awaken for hours... till it's too late," the old wizard trailed off slowly.

    "I know, but we can stop them!  You can use your book of spells, and I my magic!  You said that I was strong..." Lisette trailed off, one hand resting on the door.

    "No, my child.  I am an old wizard and you a young girl.  You are strong, but we can't take on an entire army!" Craigen urged.

    "But..."

    "And we shall use that to our advantage.  The Romans are fierce, but they are not barbarians and will not harm us," Craigen said wisely as he stepped beside his ward and pulled her gently away from the door.  "They will take us captive with the rest of the château and later the lord shall bargain for his people's freedom."

    At that exact moment, one of the fore mentioned Roman warriors charged into the room, sword ready.  "Who are you?" he barked out quickly, eyeing Lisette in her tightly bodiced gown.

    "I..." Lisette started, aiming her best glare at the invader.

    "We are nothing more than an aging man and his granddaughter," Craigen interrupted quickly, placing a firm hand on Lisette's shoulder.

    The guard continued to eye them for a minute longer before nodding slowly.  "Fine.  Move it," he ordered, pointing for them to move ahead of him and down the stairs where they were then placed in the open courtyard with the other inhabitants of the château.

    There they sat and waited for hours on end as the Romans finished turning the château upside down in search of valuables.  And then the group of scared and hungry captives were told to start moving by the Roman Captain himself.

    Smiling in reassurance at Lisette, Craigen reached over and gently squeezed her hand.  "See my child?  I told you that everything would be alright."

    Lisette herself was about to agree with her aged mentor when a sudden shout caused everyone to freeze and made Lisette's blood run cold.  "But what about the gargoyle statues, sir?" one young Roman warrior called out hesitantly as he eyed the many statues that adorned the château's walls.

    "What about them?" was the Captain's curious reply as he too eyed the fierce statues.

    "Why, we must smash them sir, before the sun goes down and they come to life and after us!"

    At this, the contingent of warriors broke into uneasy laughter.  Hearing this, Lisette felt her worry ease... until she saw the Captain's face as he contemplated his warrior's request.

    Brushing away Craigen's restraining arm, Lisette stepped away from the group and towards the Roman captain until the cold steel of a sword blocked her way.  Straining to keep her face a mask of ease, Lisette met the captain's eyes and said, "Must your pillaging of our home be so complete that you must smash the masonry that decorates the very château itself?"

    Turning, the mighty Roman captain stared down from his tall stead at the brave young woman before him -- brave, but foolish as well.  It was obvious that she hadn't yet learned that it was a woman's place to be silent.  She was beautiful, for a French peasant, that is.  Still, later he would probably take pleasure in putting her in her proper place himself.  Ignoring her objection, the Captain finally turned his wise eyes back to his young warrior.  "And where did you hear of such superstitions?"

    "From another troop, sir.  They said that a band of demons flew outta the night sky last night, screeching and roaring with glowing eyes, chasing the troop right outta the village they were inhabiting.  I was told that the demons were called gargoyles and that they came to life when the sun falls below the horizon..." the young man trailed off slowly, his mind ticking off the short hours to sunset.

    Turning, the mighty Roman captain surveyed the many statues adorning the château walls, as did every other soldier in the contingent.

    "Don't tell me you actually believe that fairy tale!" Lisette cried out, breaking into a mocking laughter.  Turning, she called out to the rest of her people that were gathered behind her with shocked expressions on their faces, "Did you hear that?  The mighty Roman army that is out to conquer our country is afraid of gargoyles!  A child's fable!"

    "Enough!" the Roman captain yelled out fiercely, his cold gaze locked on Lisette.  "You have quite a tongue.. one that I will have cut out if you don't shut your mouth!  The Roman Empire fears nothing!" he yelled out, meeting Lisette's piercing blue eyes.  "Now move out.. we have much ground to cover!" the captain barked out as he turned his horse and began leading the troops from the château.

    Sighing in relief, Lisette quickly moved to Craigen's side.  "They're not going to hurt the clan," she whispered as she began moving beside her mentor.

    "Oui, and all thanks to you, my foolish child," Craigen whispered back in a scolding tone, thinking of how close he came to losing her, yet also with a slight twinkle in his eyes as he thought of how she outsmarted the captain and used his pride against him.

    "And it was..."

    "Captain, sir... what about the gargoyles?" the same guard broke in, causing Lisette's words to freeze on her lips.

    Pulling his horse to a stop, the Roman captain looked over his shoulder at the deserted château.  "You may take a small troop back to smash the statues and catch up to us later if it will ease your worry," he said smoothly as he faced forward once more and urged his horse on.

    Stunned, Lisette could only watch in horror as a small group of men broke quickly away from the troop and advanced on the stone gargoyles.  Numbly, she felt Craigen yank on her arm, trying in vain to pull her away as one of the heavy maces broke down upon the first gargoyle form, reducing it to rubble.  "That was the gargoyle that I called Petite... she was the one who taught me to glide," Lisette whispered, tears glistening in her blue eyes as she stared at what was left of her friend.

    "Lisette, we must go!  I'm sorry about your friends, but there is nothing that we can do!" Craigen whispered, pity covering his face at the devastated look on his ward.

    Gasping, Lisette watched as yet another of the noble gargoyle clan was reduced to rubble -- this one the second in command's beautiful young mate that was heavy with egg.  "No..." Lisette whispered as the mace lifted again, this time over one of the clan's young.  "No!" she screamed out, all of her sorrow and disbelief turning into blinding anger.  Surprised at the scream that broke the quiet, everyone turned and the mace paused in mid-air.  "I warn you now, foolish humans, that if you do not stop in your destruction, there shall be severe consequences!" she screamed once more, shaking off her mentor's restraining hand.

    Surprised, the Roman warrior, now and forever a barbarian in her mind, turned away from the young woman to throw his captain a questioning glance, mace at his side.

    Staring coldly at the young woman, the captain quietly uttered one word: "Proceed."

    Nodding at his superior, the young man raised his mace once more.. which was all the prompting Lisette needed.

    "Arrêt!" she screamed as her eyes began to glow.  Startled, the guards and peasants drew back as green energy shot out of the young woman's hands and hit the young warrior, causing him to fall quickly to the ground.  As she turned and began dealing out similar blows to the other mace wielders, she began to float a few feet from the ground.

    "A witch!" was the surprised and fearful word that went up throughout the Roman warriors as they jumped for cover from her magical attacks.

    "A witch indeed," the mighty Roman captain murmured as he hid behind a nearby boulder, abandoning his horse to fend for itself.  While making sure to keep his body protected from the green rays of magic, he slowly lifted his head above the rock.  There he saw Lisette, floating in much the same place, her eyes glowing that same eerie green with her pale blond hair blowing behind her in an unfelt wind.  Turning, he saw that already a third of his mighty army was down, either unconscious or dead, and that the rest were taking shelter behind boulders or trees, trying their best to launch a counter attack before  they were brought down like their comrades.  Turning further, he saw that their prisoners were hiding from the onslaught as well.  And then his eyes focused upon the old man that was brought down with the witch.  Even now his eyes were riveted to her form, concern etched upon his wrinkled old face.  "Thorne!" he barked to one of his soldiers that was hiding behind a nearby oak tree.

    "Yes sir?"

    "I want you to gather all of the men that you can and then follow me!  I have a plan..."

    "Sir?" the young man asked, casting a wary glance back into the battle field.

    "Get moving!  We need to get over to our prisoners!" the Captain barked, his face cold as he stared back out at the beautiful witch.  "We shall end this NOW!" he hissed, his eyes as hard as the granite that his men had been destroying.

    Nodding, the young warrior quickly hurried away and did as he was told, trying to remain shielded from sight at all times.  A few minutes later everything was set and ready to go.  Turning, the Roman leader nodded once at his troops and as one they stood.  "Stop your fighting and surrender to us now, witch, or they shall die!"

    Turning quickly, Lisette looked for the source of the threat, ready for some new targets.  What she saw caused her blood to freeze once more.  There stood her people, knives and swords pressed against their throats with the Roman barbarians standing behind them.  Even worse was that at the front of the group stood the Roman Captain, his own broadsword held tightly against her mentor's throat.  "Craigen?!" Lisette gasped, her mind spinning.

    "Like I said, surrender to us now or they all die, starting with the old man!" the Roman captain warned as he tightened his grip.

    As fear choked Lisette, she racked her mind for a way out -- some way to save them all.  She couldn't just cast a spell to send the Romans to some other place, for all of the places that she knew of and was capable of sending the army were close by, and that would just eliminate the problem temporarily -- the Romans would be back.  No, she had to deal with these Romans once and for all.  So what to do if she needed to deal with the enemy but there were innocents in the way?

    "Well?!"

    Steeling her emotions and forcing her face to be impassive, Lisette met the evil Roman's dark stare.  "No," was her simple reply.  Before anyone could react, Lisette quickly chanted a simple rhyme as green mist shot out of her fingers to surround the group.  Seconds later the mist dissipated and all that remained were the baffled Romans with empty hands.  You simply have to eliminate the innocents from the equation.  Smiling, she was about to perform the same spell on the remaining gargoyle statues so that she could deal with her enemy alone when someone tackled her from behind.  Crying out, Lisette and her assailant tumbled to the ground a few feet below, knocking the wind out of her.  

    Groaning, Lisette felt a knee shoved into her back, pinning her to the ground as her arms were yanked roughly behind her and secured in place with cold metal.  Coughing as the soft dirt entered her lungs and as she tried to regain her breath, Lisette felt rough hands at her back and shoulders as she was lifted to her feet.

    "Now let's see you try your magic with your hands bound, witch!" the Captain growled, angry that even when her clothes were torn, her hair messed, and her tan face smudged by dirt she still managed to look like a goddess.

    "You fool!  You think that I need my hands free to use my magic?!" Lisette hissed, preparing herself to launch another magical attack.  Suddenly she realized that something was wrong, very wrong.  Nothing was happening!  She couldn't feel her eyes burn green or the tingle of her magic waiting to be released.

    "You can, can you?" the Captain asked smugly, laughing at her apparent distress.  "Did I mention that you are now being restrained with iron cuffs?"

    "So?" Lisette mumbled as she focused on her magic... or lack of it.  "What's iron?"

    "What?  You don't know about iron?" the Captain laughed, finally capturing Lisette's full attention.  "It seems as though I get to teach you first hand about your weakness!"

    "Weakness?" Lisette asked in confusion, a cold trickle of fear running down her back.

    "Yes.  Long ago, the ancient Romans, our ancestors, learned that the one weakness to all magic users was to be restrained by iron.  For some, even the touch of the iron caused the skin to burn and severe pain.. to others it just caused for their magic to become null and void... as is the case with you," the Captain said with a cold smile.

    "No... this can't be happening!" Lisette cried, shaking her head as she tried even harder to call upon her magic.

    Laughing, the Roman captain turned away from the witch, now nothing more than a harmless young woman.

    "And what do we do now, sir?" one of the older warriors asked as more and more of the downed soldiers slowly climbed to their feet, apparently stricken unconscious by the witch's magical blows.

    Stopping, the Roman captain turned to face the young witch.  She hardly looked dangerous now as she struggled in the heavy iron shackles, one of his men on each side holding her arms tightly.  "Destroy the remaining statues," he finally replied coldly, an evil glint in his eye as he watched the witch jump into action once more.

    Quickly, Lisette began to struggle fiercely in her captors' grip.  "No!  Oh God no!" Lisette screamed as she watched a group of men advance on the remaining gargoyles, maces ready.  Slowly, gargoyle after gargoyle was destroyed by the flying maces.  "No, please stop!" Lisette sobbed, twisting weakly in her captors' grip as her friends were destroyed one by one before her eyes.  Soon it became just too much to bear as Lisette's knees gave way, the warriors struggling to keep her standing as she turned her head away from the sight as her tears left trails down her dirty cheeks.

    "Oh no, witch, you must watch your demons be destroyed," the Captain whispered from beside her as he roughly grabbed Lisette by the hair and forced her to watch the destruction, slapping her hard across the face whenever she closed her eyes.

    Soon the destruction was complete and only one gargoyle statue remained:  the leader of the clan who sat on the highest tower of the château.  Looking up at the sun through a red haze that was caused from a head wound that was inflicted by the captain, she saw that sunset was just moments away.

    Unfortunately, the Roman captain saw this as well.  "Well, now... I think we should see if this gargoyle story is just a story or what.  Men, I want you to secure as many chains as you can around the statue!" he called up to his warriors that were standing beside the statue.  Turning, he then motioned to the two that were guarding the witch and said, "Come on."

    Nodding their heads, the two guards half dragged, half carried the witch between them as they entered the château and climbed the stairs that led up to the tower that housed the remaining gargoyle.

    Feeling more helpless than she ever had before, Lisette could do nothing but watch with tear filled eyes as the sun slowly dipped over the horizon.  As the cracks spread quickly throughout the stone form, the Romans stepped back in fear.

    Slowly, the stone particles exploded off of his gargoyle form as the Leader awoke to greet the night... and was stopped by chains.  Surprised, the young leader struggled for a moment to no avail before looking down and seeing the destruction below him.  "No!" he roared into the dark night sky as his eyes focused on the pile of rubble that sat where his mate once rested.  "No!"

    "Leader, I.." Lisette called out as the tears poured down her cheeks and as her heart broke all over again for her friend, the guilt at not being able to stop this destruction welling up within her.

    Surprised, he turned quickly to see himself surrounded by strange men in strange clothing.  Suddenly he saw a familiar face.  "Lisette?" the leader called out in confusion.  "What has happened.. why didn't you use your magic to stop this?!" he cried out.  Watching her closely, he saw her flinch visibly at his words.  It was then that he noticed the chains and the blood on her face.  As a growl split the night and his eyes began to glow white, the young leader called out "Are you..."

    "So, the stories are true," the Roman captain broke in, his face expressionless.  "Well then, witch... or Lisette I suppose, your demons are now dead..."

    "You monster!" Lisette screamed, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

    "You are the one who destroyed my clan?" the leader roared as he prepared to charge the man.  The chains that bound him held his arms and wings tight against his body, but that didn't restrict his feet or the sharp talons found there.

    Stopping the gargoyle in his place with his words, the Roman captain yelled out, "Your clan is dead, and this witch did nothing to stop the destruction because she preferred to save her own hide!"

    Backing up on his perch, the gargoyle stared at Lisette in confusion, not wanting to believe what the man was saying.  But the evidence was right in front of him.. sure Lisette was chained, but she didn't need her hands free to perform her magic.

    "No, I.." Lisette broke in weakly, the tears pouring down her face as she pleaded with the Leader with her eyes.

    "Kill him," the Roman captain broke in quickly.

    "NO!" Lisette screamed.  Turning quickly, she kneed one of her guards in his most vulnerable place before elbowing the other one sharply in the nose, causing them both to go down.  Then she ran as fast as she could across the tower as she watched two of the Romans run up to the unsuspecting gargoyle and shove him as hard as they could, sending him over the edge of the tower.  "No!" Lisette screamed again as she elbowed her way to the edge or the tower and looked over, just in time to watch her friend smash to the ground five stories below.  "No," she sobbed in denial as she was quickly surrounded by the Romans once more.  Turning her roughly, Lisette found herself staring up into the evil Captain's eyes.  "Why?  Why did you lie to him and say that?" Lisette sobbed brokenly.

    "Because now your demon died believing that you betrayed his clan to save your own life... he died cursing you!" the Roman answered, laughing at the idea.

    As anger consumed Lisette's being, she did the one thing that she could in her situation.. she spit in the evil man's face.

    Quickly she was repaid with a hard slap across her face, causing her to cry out as she began to fall to the ground.  Moving fast, her guards lifted her arms and forced her to stand once more and face the captain.  "Thanks to your inexperience and blinding anger, we were able to defeat you today, witch.  Because of you, your demon friends are now dead," he said coldly, loving every minute of the pain that flashed across Lisette's face as her entire being was filled with sorrow and guilt and as each word cut her to her very core.  Smiling, the Captain moved to the edge of the tower and looked below at his troop of men milling below in the courtyard.  "Hurry men, we leave immediately!"

    "To where, sir?" one of the younger men called up from below.

    "To the city of Reims..."

    "But what of the other prisoners, sir?  They're gone!" another of the men called out, looking about in the darkness.

    "Yes, and the witch probably sent them far away from us," the Captain agreed, sending a cold look at the witch.  Looking at her though, he quickly saw that he would get no more reaction out of her.  She stood with her head tilted down, her long blond hair hiding her face, and her shoulders sagging down:  the perfect picture of defeat.  "It matters not.  We have something even better... a witch to be burned at the stake!" he yelled out, causing a cheer to go up throughout the crowd of men.  "Move out!" he ordered a few minutes later, after everyone and thing were gathered and ready to head out.  Lisette, heavily guarded and surrounded, was placed somewhere in the middle.

    And so they did.  The group traveled by day -- leaving before the sun rose and making camp after night fell -- always moving.  As for Lisette, she ignored everyone and thing, so filled with guilt and remorse that she didn't even care that she was marching to her own demise.

    That was fine for the Romans though, because they were so afraid of the 'witch' that they kept their distance -- except for the Roman captain.  Every chance he could he would be at her side, taunting and tormenting her in hopes of a reaction.  In all honesty, he couldn't help it.  She was so beautiful that he couldn't help but want to spend his every free moment with her -- which infuriated him all the more.  He blamed it on Lisette of course, believing that she had cast some sort of spell that caused the attraction.

    One night, the Roman captain decided that the witch's temptation was too much to bare and decided to act on it...

    The hour was late as the Captain finally gave up on sleep -- the woman, as always, most on his mind.  Throwing his blanket aside, the Captain slipped on his clothes and then left the stuffy tent for the cool summer night air.  Walking aimlessly, the Captain nodded at the occasional night watchman before finding himself in front of the heavily guarded prisoner's tent.  Without even knowing what he was doing, the Captain then waved the guards away -- who left with knowing looks, figuring that the witch was about to receive another nightly beating.

    Moving as though in a dream, the Captain very slowly pulled back the tent flap, revealing the witch huddled in her chains within the tent.  As like all of the times before, the young woman didn't even stir as he stepped into the tent.  With that same blank look on his face, the Captain slowly knelt before her.  "You did it, didn't you?" he whispered harshly, his hot breath on her impassive face.  "You cast some sort of spell on me, so that I can't get you out of my mind, didn't you?!" he rasped, pushing closer still.  When he still got no response, his anger flared to an all time high... and his lust as well.  "Fine then, witch!" the Captain hissed as he shoved Lisette onto her back.  "I give into your damn spell!  I'll give you what you want!" he yelled out as he whipped off his belt and straddled the witch.

    It was at this point and time that Lisette finally broke out of her self-imposed isolation and became aware of her environment for the first time in days -- she didn't like what she saw.  "Get off of me!" Lisette screamed, instantly bucking her hips, causing the surprised Captain to roll off of her.  Moving quickly, Lisette stumbled to her feet, her arms still tightly bound behind her as she rushed over to the unsuspecting Captain, catching his chin with her knee.

 Crying out, the Captain backed away and touched his chin gingerly.  "You witch!  I was just giving you what your spell demanded of me!"

    "What are you talking about?!" Lisette yelled, barely able to believe what she just prevented.  And here she thought that things couldn't possibly have gotten any worse.

    "You put me under some damn spell so that I can't get you out of my mind!" the Captain roared before he charged Lisette.

    Unable to move fast enough in the heavy iron chains, Lisette was easily tackled, causing her to cry out in pain as she landed on her bound hands.  "Get off of me!" Lisette screamed as she began to twist and squirm violently under the Captain.  "Use your head, I couldn't have cast that spell!  I've been bound in iron chains!"

    Those words seemed to knock some sense into the Captain as he backed away quickly.  Before he could respond, the tent flap opened behind him, revealing her guards and a couple of the night watch as well.  "Is everything all right in here, sir?" one of the guards asked as he eyed the scene: Lisette lying on the ground, her dress even more torn and the Captain breathing heavily before her, his belt lying on the ground.  It didn't take a genius to figure out what had been going on.

    Without saying a word, the Captain looked once more at Lisette before leaving the tent.  That was really the last that she ever did see of him, for he never again came to taunt and torment her.  And never again did Lisette withdraw into herself in order to hide from the pain of her memories.  From that point on, Lisette decided that she would rather face reality and deal with everything as it happened.  And that's exactly what she did those last few days of the journey to Reims:  attempt to cope and deal with her tremendous guilt and pain at losing everything that matter in the world to her.. at least Craigen was safe.

    After their arrival, there was a quick hearing at which Lisette was declared a witch.  And then it was time to burn...

    As Lisette stared out at the mob of people that laughed and jeered at her, she couldn't help but wonder about the direction her life had taken as she struggled uselessly against her iron bonds.  "Such is life," she muttered as a masked man stepped forward with a burning torch in hand.  Inside the mask, Lisette knew that the man was smiling as he bent low and lit the piles of hay that were scattered below her pole that she was tied to, on fire.

    Coughing as the thick black smoke drifted up, Lisette began to struggle fiercely against her bonds -- all to no avail.  In a matter of seconds the fire blazed and the hot scorching heat began to sear her skin.  A second later her dress caught on fire and her skin began to burn under the onslaught.  As Lisette began to scream in agony, a fine blue mist enveloped her burning form.  When it dissipated, the crowds, smoke, sunlight, and pole were gone as Lisette tumbled to a hard, stone floor.  Unfortunately, the fire was still there.  Screaming as the fire climbed higher, Lisette thrashed and rolled on the stone floor, trying to put out her dress.

    "Oh mon Dieu!" a voice called out, as though heard from far away.

    Suddenly a large blanket was thrown over her body as gentle hands patted out the fire.  Crying at the flashes of pain she felt on her burned skin, Lisette felt a yanking on her arms before a release and then the cold iron was gone.  Confused, but in too much pain to care, Lisette felt the gentle hands at her back once more as she was turned on her back.  Opening her eyes, Lisette saw that she was lying in some sort of cavern... and then a familiar face came into sight.  "Craigen!?" Lisette gasped as pain flared around her legs once more, the tears pouring down her cheeks.

    "Yes, child, it is I," Craigen soothed as he took Lisette's small hand in his.

    "Craigen... my legs!" Lisette gasped, fighting against the pain.

    "I know, I know.. you are free from your bonds, and now you must change your form into that of a gargoyle once more, so that stone sleep may heal you," Craigen whispered softly as he averted his eyes from her badly burned legs, the bruises covering her face and arms, and her thin form as he met his ward's scared blue eyes instead.

    "Oh Craigen, the gargoyles..." Lisette sobbed, remembering all that she had witnessed.

    "Hush, I know Lisette.  We'll talk later, but now you must rest," Craigen urged, a tear burning in his eyes at all of the horrors that his girl must have faced in the last week.

    Nodding her head, Lisette weakly gathered all of the magic she could manage before casting the transformation spell.  It was evident just how weak and wounded she was by how long the transformation took and by how much she had to struggle to go through with it.  Fortunately, though, she was changed to a gargoyle and then to stone.

    As the sun set over the horizon later that day, the stone skin surrounding Lisette's gargoyle body cracked and then broke away.  Roaring, she awoke on the cold stone floor of a cavern, completely disoriented and confused.  Without even thinking, Lisette shifted back into her human form and looked down at the stone particles littering the floor.  "I've never slept in stone before..." Lisette whispered in amazement at her stone skin.  "But why..." Lisette trailed off as all of her memories of the past week or so came crashing back.  Gasping, Lisette quickly lifted the bottom of her skirts, revealing her smooth, unmarked legs.

    "Lisette?"

    "Craigen?!" Lisette yelled, searching desperately for her mentor, panic squeezing her heart.

    "In here, child!"

    Turning, Lisette saw a shaft of flickering light that seeped out from another chamber.  Picking up her skirts, shee ran across the dark cavern and into the chamber where a strange sight greeted her.  The new chamber was relatively small with hundreds upon hundreds of brightly lit candles placed about, particularly next to a high slab of stone that sat in the middle of the room.  Cringing at the fire, Lisette saw her mentor standing beside the slab of stone, spell book in hand.  "Oh, Craigen!" Lisette sobbed, releasing all of the emotions that had been bottled up as she ran into her mentor's embrace.  "They're dead... all of the clan is dead..."

    "I know child..."

    "I couldn't stop them, Craigen... it's all my fault..." Lisette cried, her tears soaking Craigen's long white beard.

    "No, it's not..."

    "I let my anger blind me and then they used something called iron on me, which caused my magic to leave me!"

    "Shh, I know Lisette," Craigen comforted as he smoothed her long blond hair.  "But it's not your fault, you did all that you could..."

    "But they're dead..."

    "And I along with the other château inhabitants are alive, thanks only to you and your quick thinking."

    "But..."

    "It was very smart of you to transport us to the lake like that... although it did take us till morning to get back to the château," Craigen said with a small smile.  In honesty, it was nothing to smile about.  Because of that delay, Craigen was a good day behind Lisette and the army as they traveled, meaning that he didn't make it to the crowded square of people in Reims until the hay beneath Lisette was already lit on fire, causing her to be badly burned.

    "Yes, but..."

    "Hush now, Lisette, right now I need for you to get up and lie here on this slab," Craigen interrupted as he helped Lisette up and then forced her to lie down.

    "What?... But why, Craigen?" Lisette asked in confusion as she began to feel groggy.

    "The world is no longer safe for you my child... the people of Gaul believe you to be a witch.. not even the people that you saved at the château would come and help me to save you... you're no longer safe here, and until the world is once more safe, you must sleep," Craigen said quietly with a sad smile.

    "Craigen, I..." Lisette started, the tears pooling in her eyes as she no longer found the energy to lift her arms or head.  He must have cast the spell before I entered, Lisette thought as her eyes remained fixated on Craigen's kind old face.

    "There are about ten coins in the pot by the wall, and we're sealed in, so you'll have to use your magic to get you out once you awaken..."

    "No," Lisette whispered as a tear drifted down her cheek.

    "Lisette... be careful and always remember that I have always loved you as my daughter..."

    "Please don't leave me Craigen..." Lisette whispered one last time as darkness stole over her vision and Craigen's face disappeared from view.

    "I... love you," Craigen gasped as the spell took hold and Lisette fell into a timeless sleep.  At the same time, Craigen felt his heartbeat slow as he fell to the cold stone floor.  He had used all of his magic and energy to cast the sleep spell, and now was left with nothing.  His dying thoughts were of his adopted daughter, Lisette, for whom he died to save.

Present time and day

    As the minutes ticked by, Brooklyn finally gave into his concern and hesitantly laid a hand on her small shoulder.  "Lisette?"

    "He used everything he had to cast that final spell and must have died there by my side.. for when I awoke two years ago, I found his dusty remains on the floor by my side," Lisette whispered, another tear trailing down her cheek.

    "Oh God Lisette.. I.." Elisa trailed off, her own eyes filling with tears at the thought of this young woman being put through such horrors.

    Holding up her hand to stall the comments, Lisette continued.  "After I awoke, I used the coins that Craigen had left to me.. now worth a fortune, to reenter this strange new world," Lisette said with a small smile, struggling to push what she just relived to the furthest corners of her mind.

    "And what 'ave ye been doin' this last year then, lass?" Hudson asked as he rubbed his chin    thoughtfully.

    "I've actually spent the last year on a computer and in front of the television trying to catch up on all that I've missed these last 1000 years!" Lisette said, laughing at the idea.  "And that's a lot to catch up on!"

    Smiling softly, Brooklyn moved closer to the hospital bed that housed the young woman, who seemed all the more vulnerable after hearing of her tragic past.  After all, many of the experiences that she faced were similar to the same tragedies that filled Brooklyn's past.  Then again, unlike Lisette, he never had to face these tragedies alone -- and he didn't have to watch the destruction of his clan either.  "Lisette, I'm sorry," he whispered sadly as he laid one of his brick red hands on her good shoulder.

    "As am I for your loss," Lisette replied quickly with a sad smile.  "I'm not anything special.. you have gone through this all as well, so don't feel pity for me..."

    "If anything, you have to be special because you're definitely not normal!" Brooklyn interrupted before thinking.  As soon as the words left his mouth though, he blushed fiercely, causing his brick coloring to turn an even darker shade of red.

    "The sun will be rising soon," Goliath spoke up, saving his second from further embarrassment.  "You are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish," he finished, sending a small smile in Brooklyn's direction.

    Smiling up at the large gargoyle, Lisette whispered, "Thank you," before redirecting her stare back down at the hospital bed she was sitting on.

    "Ach, let's be goin' then.. tis been a long night," Hudson muttered as he turned and slowly left the room, headed for the cool night air.

    "Good idea... my shoulder is killing me!" Lisette agreed, her thick French accent blending the words as she slowly swung her legs out over the side of the bed.

    "And where do you think you're going?" Elisa asked, instantly by her side in case she needed assistance as she tentatively stood up on her weakened legs.

    "To rest and heal," Lisette answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

    It made sense to Elisa.  After all, she wouldn't want to spend the day in an infirmary when she could be elsewhere.  "Uh, Owen?" Elisa prompted as she looked over at the manservant.

    Picking up on his cue, Owen stepped forward and said, "If you'll follow me, ma'am, I'll show you to one of the spare rooms of the castle."

    "That would be nice.. but maybe later, I'll be going with the others right now," Lisette replied as she slowly began walking towards the door, heading in the direction that Hudson had taken.

    The clan exchanged quick glances before Angela spoke up.  "Okay, but let me help you.. that shoulder wound is very bad and you must be weak from it!" she called out, concern touching her voice as she stepped forward and supported Lisette on one side.

    Smiling her thanks, the two young women slowly left the room, with the trio talking up a storm behind them.  Next went Owen, who turned off in a different direction.. most likely to inform Xanatos and company of their latest 'guest.'  And then came Elisa and Goliath.

    "So what do you make of our new friend?" Goliath asked quietly, his eyes focused on the five young people ahead of them.

    "She seems sweet and kind, definitely brave... but also someone who's seen more than her fair share of pain," Elisa answered slowly.

    "Well, Angela seems to like her," Goliath remarked as he watched his daughter tilt her head back in laughter at something Lisette must have said.  It would be good for her to have a female companion of her own age.. someone to talk with.

    "And Brooklyn as well," Elisa replied with a knowing smile.

    "Aye, that he has," Goliath agreed as he linked his rather large arm with Elisa's.  I just hope that this one doesn't end the same as with the others."

    Smiling up at her love, Elisa squeezed his arm gently before saying, "Don't worry, Big Guy, I have a feeling that it's mutual this time."

    Turning, Goliath looked once more at the trio plus two and saw the not-so-subtle looks that Lisette and Brooklyn kept giving each other when they thought that the other wasn't looking.  "Well, what do you make of her mother?"

    At this a small frown appeared on Elisa's face.  "I'm not sure... as far as I know, magic for humans is taught, but this seems to be inherited.."

    "Do you think that her mother was fey?  I mean, green magic, no spell book, weakness to iron?"

    "I'm not sure.. later I'm going to have Puck help me test just how powerful she is, but from what I can sense from her, she's very powerful indeed.  Which means that you can bet I'm going to do a little digging to see who exactly, if anyone, was fooling around with a human back then!" Elisa murmured as a yell from ahead caught her attention.

    "Oh!" Lisette cried out suddenly as her legs gave out beneath her, leaning heavily on Angela.

    Reacting instantly, Brooklyn quickly moved beside her and easily lifted her up into his arms.  "Are you alright?" he asked, concern covering his features as he looked at his new friend.

    Smiling weakly at her savior, Lisette said, "Yes, I guess I am just not as strong as I thought.."

    "I'll just carry you then," Brooklyn replied with a grin as he set off once more for the parapets where they rested for the day, the three other gargoyles following behind, large smiles on their faces.

    "I think that Brooklyn likes her," Broadway whispered, stepping next to Angela.

    "Oh you think so, do you?" Angela asked with a coy smile.  "Well, I for one am very happy for him... Lisette seems to be very nice!"

    "And now maybe he'll finally leave us alone!" Broadway replied, returning Angela's smile.

    Laughing, Angela punched him lightly on the shoulder as she stepped ahead of him and walked out into the moon lit night.  Feeling the warm breeze on her up turned face, she couldn't help but wonder at how perfect things were starting to look.. not only did they have a new friend staying with them, but she was female, her age, nice, and Brooklyn liked her.  Things were definitely beginning to look up.  Still smiling, Angela hopped up onto her perch and turned to watch Brooklyn and their new friend.

    Ever so slowly, Brooklyn moved forward across the hard stone until he stood before his daily perch, throwing occasional glances at Lisette's large blue eyes every so often.

    Noticing Brooklyn's attention, Lisette couldn't help but smile softly to herself.  This wasn't the first nor the last time that she would receive such attention; still, the knowledge that the attention would be short lived stopped her from taking the thought any further.  She had dreamed of love before with both human and gargoyle suitors -- but always her heart was broken when the poor fools who thought they were in love learned of the true nature of her heritage -- she never expected anything different any more... although Brooklyn did already know of that heritage and he was an extremely handsome gargoyle that did seem to be a nice guy.  Shaking her head, Lisette decided to stop both their thoughts at once.  "The sun is almost up.. you can probably put me down now," she whispered confidentially in her soft French accent.

    Blushing, Brooklyn quickly complied and put Lisette gently on her feet.  "Uh.. see you tonight?" he asked as he quickly jumped up onto his own perch, conscious of his clan's eyes on his back.

    "Yes, tonight" Lisette agreed as she glanced at the rising sun -- she had better hurry!  Closing her eyes, Lisette quietly mumbled a quick spell to herself as a green mist surrounded her form.

    Surprised, Brooklyn watched as the green dissipated, leaving a gargoyle in Lisette's place.. a very beautiful gargoyle.  As she turned those same deep blue eyes on him, a large smile covered her face as she jumped up onto the parapet beside him.  Before he could utter a word, the sun came up over the horizon, freezing the look of shock on his face.

    Smiling, Elisa turned away from her love's stone statue and moved closer to the two gargoyles that caught her eye.  So, the new friend to the clan could change forms into that of a gargoyle.. interesting.  Yes, things were sure to change around the castle now, but change was not always bad.  It was true that things would be more complex with another magic wielder around, more difficult to contain her secret if Lisette got curious.  Then again, the situation just became 100% better for Brooklyn.  As her smile widened, Elisa looked at the look of utter and complete shock that covered Brooklyn's stone form as he looked at the stone statue of the new gargoyle.. shock and something else.  And then she turned to face the new gargoyle.. she was beautiful and when one looked closer, it quickly became evident that the gargoyle in fact was none other than Lisette, with the same facial structure, bone structure, only with added inches, wings, tail, talons, and a loin cloth and halter top, similar to Demona's.  "Things are definitely looking up for my little clan," Elisa finally whispered as she turned away from the stone statues and began walking towards the door to the Great Hall; she needed to get some sleep.

    Just as she reached the large door, it suddenly came open and banged against the side wall.  Surprised, Elisa stepped back quickly, relieved when she saw who it was.  "Xanatos, Owen," Elisa greeted as she moved around them and continued on her way.

    "Detective," Xanatos greeted as he allowed her to pass by and then continued walking with Owen.  "So, my friend, where is the young woman, Lisette, that you were just telling me so much about?"

    "Try the parapets!" Elisa called back over her shoulder, overhearing Xanatos' question as the elevator dinged open and she stepped inside.

    "The parapets?" Xanatos questioned, quirking his eyebrows at his manservant.

    Shrugging his shoulders in response, Owen replied, "She stated that she was going with the gargoyles.. perhaps Miss Lisette wanted to see the gargoyles turn to stone?"

    "Perhaps," Xanatos replied, a calculating frown appearing on his face as they continued walking towards the stone forms of the gargoyles.  "So I ask once again," Xanatos continued as they walked up onto the stone battlements where their gargoyle friends were sleeping, "where is this new friend to the gargoyles?"

    "I don't know sir," Owen replied with a frown.  "I doubt that young Lisette would be wandering around the castle with her arm hurt as it was."

    "Well, she has to be somewhere!" Xanatos said in exasperation as he backed up till he was leaning against the stone parapets.  Turning his head, Xanatos looked first off to the right at the towering form of Brooklyn.  "I wonder what was on his mind as the sun caught him," Xanatos murmured as he took in the frozen look of shock on the young second's face.  Smiling, he then turned around and looked to his left... and then jumped away from the parapets in shock.  "I thought that you said that she was human!" he accused as he looked at the unfamiliar gargoyle that was frozen next to Brooklyn, a large smile on her face.

    "Part sir.  It seems as though her father was human and her mother was something else... something magical but definitely not gargoyle," Owen answered, a frown covering his features as he studied the statue.  It was definitely Lisette, even with the changes, that much was evident.  "She
was human when I left her side."

    "Well, she's definitely not human now," Xanatos muttered, stating the obvious as he moved closer to study his guest.  She was a beautiful gargoyle, meaning that she would most likely be just as beautiful as a human.. but young as well.  From the lineless planes of her face, he wouldn't place her age over that of twenty-two years old.  "How old did you say she was again?"

    "Nineteen, sir," Owen answered as he stepped beside his boss and stared up at the young gargess.

    "And about how old would you guess Brooklyn and Lexington's ages to be in human years?" Xanatos asked, a small smile forming on his face as he stared up at the looks that the two statues were directing at each other.

    "I would guess about her age to a little older.. no more than 22 years old for Brooklyn, and probably about 17 years of age for Lexington."

    "I see," Xanatos answered, the smile growing.

    "And as you can see, Mr. Xanatos, Brooklyn and our new guest have hit it off quite well."

    "Very interesting.. not only do we have a new addition to our little 'family,' but also a magic wielder that is strong enough to shift her form to that of a gargoyle.  Not to mention that things should be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of the attraction between these two.. speaking of her magic though, she must be pretty powerful in order to change her form like she has.. correct?" Xanatos asked, another calculating gleam in his eyes.

    "Pretty powerful," Owen agreed.

    "At what point would you put her power level?  She's not stronger than you, is she?" Xanatos questioned as he finally turned away from the statues and started heading back towards the Great Hall.

    "I can't say for certain without testing her magical ability, first, but from what I can sense, her power level is definitely close to that of the Puck's... but without any training besides that from a human wizard, I imagine that she is further behind than what she should be and is incapable of reaching her full potential at this point and time."

    "Hmm... and do you think that you will get an opportunity to test this?" Xanatos questioned as he began heading towards his office.

    Smiling a hidden smile that Xanatos couldn't see, Owen replied slowly, "I believe that Detective Maza will be requesting my assistance in such a test shortly."

Castle Wyvern – sunset

    As the sun dipped below the horizon, the eight gargoyle statues began to crack and then slowly explode with light as they awoke to greet the dark night.  Yawning, Lisette marveled once more in the feeling of her stone skin exploding off of her; something that was only experienced once before under more serious circumstances.  Turning, Lisette saw that the expression that Brooklyn had carried into sleep was still plastered on his face.

    "Lisette?!" Brooklyn asked in amazement as he stumbled down from his perch and away from his new friend in shock.  In place of Lisette's lithe human form now stood a very gargoyle counterpart -- the most beautiful gargoyle Brooklyn had ever seen.  He couldn't help but notice the beauty: her long blond hair billowing out behind her and the moon light caressing her pale blue skin.

    Ignoring Brooklyn's gasp, Lisette hopped down from the parapets and turned her attention to her wounded shoulder.  Slowly, she gently ripped the tape that held the bandage in place.  Turning her shoulder into the moonlight, all that was revealed was smooth, pale blue skin.  "All better, she murmured in relief.

    "But.. how?" Brooklyn gasped as he continued to stare unabashedly at the gargoyle before him, barely aware of the others gathering behind him.

    As her smile widened, Lisette couldn't help but fill the dark night with her soft and tinkling laughter.  "What better way to heal a wound then to rest in stone hibernation?!"

    "You can change yourself into a gargoyle?!" Angela asked.

    Turning around quickly, Lisette realized for the first time what a crowd she had gathered.  Smiling, she nodded and then replied, "Yes, at a young age I taught myself how to change.. so eager I was to join the other gargoyles gliding in the night air."

    "Do you.. do you change often?" Lexington spoke up from her other side as he stared up at her in awe.

    "Well, to be honest, last night was the first time that I had changed since I awoke..."

    "Very interesting."

    Surprised at the unfamiliar voice, Lisette turned quickly and saw a stranger standing slightly behind Goliath and Hudson.  The human was tall for human standards with long brown hair tied back in a band, a brown goatee, and black clothing.  He was a handsome man with a beautiful red head with a tattoo around her eye standing beside him.

    Noticing his young guest's surprise and nervousness, Xanatos quickly stepped forward and extended his hand.  "I am David Xanatos, the owner of the castle."

    "I am pleased to meet you, Monsieur Xanatos," Lisette said shyly, smiling slightly as she changed her form back to her human counterpart and stepped forward to take his offered hand.
 
    Trying to hide his surprise at the quick change, Xanatos shook the young woman's hand firmly.  He had been correct.  A beautiful gargoyle made for a beautiful human.

    "And my name is Fox, David's wife," Fox spoke up, elbowing her husband to the side so that she could get a good look at their new guest.

    "Hello," Lisette replied, taking Fox's hand next.  The handshake was all that she needed to feel the strength that was well hidden behind the beautiful face.

    "Xanatos," Goliath interrupted, stepping forth into the circle, a wary look on his face.  "Is there something that you wanted?"

    "Just to meet and welcome our new guest to the castle, Goliath," Xanatos answered smoothly, eyeing Lisette out of the corner of his eye.

    "Well, if you're done welcoming her, we should probably go on patrols now, right Goliath?" Brooklyn asked, unconsciously stepping in between Lisette and Xanatos as he eyed the billionaire.

    "You're right, Brooklyn.  We can't forget our duty to the city," Goliath agreed, surprised at the sudden commitment to patrol that Brooklyn never quite had before.  "Lexington and I will patrol to the North.  Brooklyn, I want you, Broadway, and Angela to go on patrol in the East..."

    "And what about me?" Lisette spoke up, worried that his instructions were heading where she thought they were.

    "You may stay here with Hudson and Bronx to.. help protect the castle and rest up.  We should be back by three or four..."

    "Goliath, I am completely healed and more than capable of going on patrol with you and your clan.. if you'd let me," Lisette quickly broke in, knowing that it was rude but knowing all the more that she didn't want to spend the evening locked up in the castle.  "Besides, I would like to see some more of this New York City -- and I always helped my old clan out with patrols, so I might as well help your clan as well," Lisette pleaded.

    Growling slightly in indecision, Goliath stared at her frail human form.  Unable to see anything but her smallness and unable to think about anything beside the fact that she would just get in the way.

    Seeing this, Lisette quickly spoke up in her defense, "Goliath, just give me this chance to prove myself.. to prove that I can be of assistance to your clan..."

    "Goliath, I hate to get involved in your clan's business," Xanatos interrupted Lisette, sending an apologetic glance in her direction, "but there's already enough rumors and stories flying around about you guys.  If you started to become associated with magic and the like.. well, let's just say that it wouldn't be any good for the PR."

    Sighing, Goliath smiled sadly at Lisette and said, "I hate to say it Xanatos, but you may be correct on this one."

    "But I can handle myself and anyone else just fine without using my magic.  Will you let me go if I promise only to use it in emergencies?" Lisette prodded, crossing her fingers behind her back and pleading with Goliath with her large blue eyes.

    Growling in indecision, Goliath looked back and forth between Xanatos and Lisette, unable to decide if he could trust her.

    Seeing his leader's indecision, Brooklyn decided to speak up.  "Listen, Goliath, why don't we give her a chance?  I mean, I'll go on patrol with her and keep an eye on her, judge her capabilities at handling herself, and take responsibility for her."

    Sighing, Goliath grudgingly began nodding his head.  "Fine. Broadway, I want you and Angela to still cover the East end of town, and I want Brooklyn and Lisette on the West end."

    Lisette couldn't help the large smile that lit up her face as she turned to Brooklyn and mouthed her thanks before quickly changing her form once more back to a gargoyle.

    "Don't forget that if anyone needs any help, to just radio for assistance," Goliath reminded everyone, sending a special look at Brooklyn before turning and gliding off into the night sky, Lexington on his heels.

    Shrugging their shoulders, the remaining gargoyles dove into the night sky together before breaking off in opposite directions.  Shaking his head, Hudson murmured something to himself before he turned and headed back into the castle, Bronx at his heels.

    Smiling at the old warrior, Fox turned back to her husband and noticed that same calculating look on his face that she hadn't really seen since Goliath and he had settled the score and became allies.  Instantly she became alert and asked, "David, what are you thinking now?"

    Not missing the condescending note in his wife's voice, Xanatos smiled at his beautiful wife.  "Nothing quite yet, my love, but after Puck gets a reading on Mademoiselle Lisette's power level, we can always work from there."

    "David, it took you so long to regain Goliath's trust... I wouldn't do anything foolish to betray that now," Fox warned as she linked arms with her husband and began moving back into the castle.

    "Don't worry, I promised myself and Goliath that I would never again do anything to harm or betray Goliath or his clan again..."

    "That's good.."

    "But then again," Xanatos broke in, interrupting his wife, "Lisette isn't a part of that clan and what Goliath doesn't know won't hurt him."

Somewhere over Manhattan

    As the warm wind carried the two gargoyles high into the night sky, a comfortable silence fell between them.  The night was beautiful, the breezes just right, so what else needed to be said?  Smiling softly to herself, Lisette couldn't help the occasional glances that she kept taking in Brooklyn's direction.  Not only did this gargoyle save her life the other night, but he was also kind, handsome, and brave enough to stand up to his leader in her defense.  It was because of him that she was to be given this chance to prove herself to the clan tonight.  And because of that, she would do her best to prove to everyone that she was more than capable of taking care of herself -- without the aid of her magic.

    Turning her head, Lisette decided to question Brooklyn about the thing that had been foremost on her mind all evening:   his relationship with Angela.  It was obvious to her from the start that if something wasn't going on between the two right now, then it had in the near past.  If that was the case, she didn't want to be trudging on delicate territory... what was she thinking?  Such a question was unnecessary, because even though Brooklyn was showing interest now, that didn't mean that it wouldn't change soon enough.  After all, love had never panned out for her before.. and plus no one could forget how horribly she had let down her last clan.  Still... there was no harm in asking.  Gathering all of her courage, Lisette turned her head once more towards Brooklyn and said, "What is..."

    Just as Brooklyn turned to her and stated, "Were you..."

    Both of the gargoyles stopped immediately, the color rising in their cheeks.  Finally, they both broke into laughter.  "I am sorry, Brooklyn, what were you going to say?" Lisette asked, smiling shyly.

    Smiling, Brooklyn was about to reply when they heard a cry from down below... a woman's voice screaming out for help.  With glowing eyes and without another word being said between the two, they both immediately began to dive to a nearby rooftop.  Straining, they both leaned dangerously far over the side of the building and into the alley below.  There they saw a group of punks that were surrounding a helpless young woman in the alley.  The fear was evident on her face.. as well as the look of perverse pleasure of the gang.

    Turning, Brooklyn quickly looked over at Lisette and whispered, "You wanted to prove yourself to the clan?  Well, now's the time!"  Then, without another word or look to see if Lisette was following, Brooklyn dove down to the alley, landing right behind the gang.

    As he pounded to the pavement, the group jumped and turned around in surprise, weapons ready.  For a moment, they paused in indecision, staring at his sharp talons and glowing eyes.  Then, an evil grin lit up one of their faces as he called out to his buddies, "Looks like we get to do a little exterminatin' for the city, boys!"

    At their friend's call, the group all began to smile and advance slowly on Brooklyn, swinging their weapons back and forth.  Suddenly, they heard another thud on the pavement, once more from behind them.  Surprised, they turned and saw another of the demons behind them -- this one was definitely a female judging from the curves.  Still, that didn't stop her from looking ferocious with red glowing eyes and a fierce stance.  Turning back and forth, it didn't take long for the group to realize that they were now boxed in.  Turning as one, they all stared at their leader, who was now busy holding a gun to the young woman's head.  Noticing their reluctant look, the leader quickly barked, "Three of you go at the red one and the other three can take the female!  Now attack!"

    Without another word, the punks did just as ordered as they closed the distance between them and the demons.  But like any untrained warrior, their first mistake was attacking one at a time.  As Lisette stood her ground, the first of the punks charged her, brandishing his knife as he ran.  Sighing, Lisette realized that fighting tactics evidently hadn't changed much in the last thousand years.. at least not out in the streets.  As the guy drew closer, she easily dodged the attack by moving quickly to the side and then used her tail to knock the guy in the back, effectively sending him and his knife flying to the ground.

    Without missing a beat, another one took the cue and began to charge.  Seeing the attack coming, Lisette quickly used her powerful leg muscles to jump right over him.  While in mid-air, she also managed to reach down and snatch the chain he was swinging at her as she landed gracefully behind him.  Startled, he turned around quickly and stared in amazement as she proceeded to break his chain in two pieces.  Before he could launch another attack, she then punched him in the face, sending him flying across the alley where he hit the wall and fell to the ground unconscious.

    Grinning, Lisette watched as the guy slumped to the ground when suddenly her sharp hearing picked up a sound from behind her.  Acting on reflexes, she quickly ducked to the ground and turned, just missing the lethal swipe of a lead pipe that the remaining punk swung at her like a bat.  Growling at the close call, Lisette reached forward and pulled the pipe from the guy's hand, bending it in half before she swished her tail around and swiped his feet out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground.  Before he had a chance to react, she then quickly lifted him up from the ground and threw him into a nearby dumpster with enough force that the lid fell shut on top of him.

    Though once again before she could congratulate herself too much, another shuffle of feet from behind her caused her to turn quickly.  Surprised, she saw that the first punk that she had dealt with was now on his feet with his knife once more in hand.  Seeing that he no longer had the advantage of surprise, he lunged quickly with the knife.  Gasping, Lisette quickly did three backflips in a row, putting her out of harms way.  Roaring, she then jumped up, catching the brick wall in her strong talons before pushing off of that and into the punk.  With fangs bared and wings stretched out, Lisette caught him in the front and landed on the ground on top of him. While pinning him to the ground with one hand, she then reached forward and squeezed the hand that held the knife until the punk dropped it, his hand aching -- possibly even broken.  Seeing that he was already on the edge of hysteria, Lisette growled once more, her eyes glowing red, scaring him into fainting and unconsciousness.

    Smiling a smile full of fangs, Lisette climbed off of the punk and saw that Brooklyn was just finishing up with his last punk as the kid fell to the ground unconscious.  Moving cautiously over, she watched as he then put a talon tentatively to the punk's throat as though checking something.  Curious, Lisette was about to comment when a sudden whimpering came to her ears.  Surprised, Lisette turned quickly and saw that the leader was still standing against the wall, the young woman in front of him with some sort of metal device pressed firmly to her head.  She had forgotten about him.  Suddenly, her eyes began to narrow as she watched him then shift the device -- no doubt a weapon of some sort -- till it was pointed at Brooklyn's crouched back.  Seeing his intentions, Lisette quickly launched herself at the man, her talons digging into his arm as she pushed it back against the wall.  As the device smacked against the wall, the arm jerked suddenly as a loud bang was heard, causing Lisette's ears to ring.

    Surprised, Brooklyn turned quickly at the sound of the gun going off.  The first rule of fighting -- never turn your back on an enemy -- and he had forgotten.  As he faced where he last saw the leader, Brooklyn expected to see the worst.. either Lisette or the innocent woman lying bleeding on the ground from a gun shot wound.  Boy was he surprised.  Instead, he saw the young woman sitting on the ground, staring up in horror as Lisette took the gun out of the man's hand and crushed it in one of hers, the other hand at his throat, her talons piercing his skin as little trickles of blood trailed down.

    Staring up at the demon before him, the leader mustered up all of his courage before stating, "You bitch!"

    Growling some more, Lisette flared up her wings, felt her eyes glow an even brighter red, and flashed her sharp fangs at the leader.  Just like before, that was all it took for the man to faint in fear.  Smiling, she once again cloaked her wings around her and felt her eyes go back to normal as she released her grip on the punk and watched him fall to the ground.  Turning, she looked at the frightened woman and knelt down slowly beside her.  Smiling her kindest smile and making sure to hide her fangs behind her red lips, Lisette whispered, "Are you okay, Miss?  They did not hurt you, did they?"  When she got no response, she instantly became worried.  "Miss?"

    Suddenly, the woman snapped out of it as she focused on her savior.  All she saw was a demon as she screamed in terror.

    Startled, Lisette jumped back against the wall, tripping over the leader and falling on her back as she watched the young woman jump to her feet and run screaming from the alley and into the lighted streets beyond.  Panting, Lisette could only stare at where the woman disappeared into the street in shock until Brooklyn stepped into view.  Smiling sadly, he extended his hand and pulled Lisette to her feet.

    "All right... did I miss something here?" she murmured, her soft French accent belaying her surprise.

    Smiling at Lisette, Brooklyn merely shrugged and muttered, "Human gratitude."

    Laughing softly, Lisette just shook her head as she turned to survey the gang of humans lying around in the alley.  "So what do we do about them?"

    "We call the police station from the air and report what happened... oh, and great job," Brooklyn said, smiling softly at her before turning to climb the wall, quickly taking to the air.

    Smiling at the compliment, Lisette once more surveyed the pile of punks laying about before climbing the wall and launching herself into the night sky after Brooklyn.

NYPD 23rd Precinct

    Sighing, Elisa stared blankly at the pile of papers and reports piled on her desk, not seeing them or anything else.  Try as she might, she just couldn't get focused on her work tonight.  Instead, her mind kept wandering back to the mystery of Lisette and her mother.  It was driving her crazy... who could the mother be?  Suddenly, a flash of movement in front of her eyes caused her to break her reverie and focus on her surroundings.  Looking up, she saw that the culprit was none other than her beloved partner, Matt Bluestone.

    Seeing that he had finally caught her attention, Matt moved back until he was once again comfortably slouched in his chair in his desk across from hers.  "You know partner, if you would start focusing on the pile of paperwork in front of you that we're supposed to be doing and not the thing that you've been thinking about all night, we may actually get out of here by sunrise," Matt broke in lightly as he began working on his computer once more.

    "I'm trying," Elisa sighed, trying once again to work on the dreaded paperwork.

    "Well what has been on your mind the whole night?" Matt asked, not even looking up from the screen in front of him.

    Sighing once again, Elisa leaned forward across her desk and whispered, "Last night we gained a new addition at the castle.."

    "Huh?" Matt asked, finally giving Elisa his full attention.

    Making sure that no one was around, Elisa quickly filled Matt in on everything that had happened the night before until he was up to date.  As soon as Elisa finished, Matt leaned back slowly in his chair and whistled softly.  "Wow.  Looks like you did have quite a night last night.." Matt trailed off, sorting though the story in his mind.  "But what about Lisette's mother?" he asked, his detective skills causing him to focus in on that particular subject as well.  "Do you guys have any idea about her?"

    "That's what I'm going to find out," was Elisa's vague reply.

    "Yeah, well you can find it out later, 'cause right now I'm star-"

    "Uh Matt," Elisa broke in vaguely, her thoughts swirling around her as she stood from the desk and grabbed her jacket, "I need to go to the bathroom..."

    "Hey!  But I thought that we were going to go and get some food!" Matt complained as his stomach growled, as if proving his point.

    Smiling at her good fortune, Elisa patted Matt on the back and said, "Go ahead and get your food.. I'll stay here and try and catch up on some book work."

    "But.."

    "Just bring me back something!" Elisa called over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.  When she reached the right floor though, she quickly detoured away from the bathroom and instead found the door to the Supply Closet.  With that same strange smile on her face, Elisa quickly climbed into the ruins of the clock tower.  There, in the privacy of the night, she raised her hands above her head and cast one of many transportation spells that would take her to the throne room of Avalon.  "Vocate venti fortunate ex ripae Oberonis et hic navis flugem regate ad orae Avalonis."  As she finished casting the spell, the green mists quickly surrounded her and then seconds later dissipated, leaving her exactly where planned.

    "Lady Talika, what a pleasant surprise," Titania greeted from her position on the throne as she stared at her old friend, back in her normal garb of a halter top of old and a skirt made of billowing veils.

    "Queen Titania, Lord Oberon," Talika greeted, smiling up at her old friends.

     "Surely this is not a social call?  What may we help you with?" Oberon asked, his voice full of regal dignity as he got right down to business.

    "How true, Lord Oberon," Talika acknowledged, sending a small smile in his direction.  "I come to you today with a question that you may be able to help me with," she said softly as she held up her hand and brought up a foot high hologram of Lisette in her human form.  "This is Lisette -- a young woman that stumbled upon my clan last night."

    "And you tell us this because.." Oberon prompted, raising his eyebrow in a gesture that clearly said 'get to the point.'

    "Because Lisette is only half human..."

    "Half?  Well what is the other half?"

    "That is what I ask of you.  I believe that she is half fey."

    "What?!" Oberon asked, disbelief clouding his features as he studied the hologram closer.

    "Now I ask you.. which of your children mothered this woman by a human male back in 979 AD... or perhaps not one of your children but you yourself, Titania?" Talika asked, raising her eyebrows in Titania's direction.

    "How dare you..."

    "Hush my husband..." Titania soothed, laying a gentle hand on her husband's clench fist in order to restrain him.  "Talika, the child belongs not to me or one of Oberon's children of Avalon... if anything, I do believe that the woman seems to resemble you more than any of us."

    Instantly Titania resented her words as a deep look of sadness covered Titania's face.  "How easily you forget my infertility, Titania," she murmured, trying to bury the pain once more.

    "I don't forget anything... that or the fact that this was not always so."

    "But it was so at the time of this woman's birth."

    "Well I doubt that she is the child of any of my children.. why would you even think this?  I assume that she has magical capabilities?" Titania asked, letting the other issue drop -- for now.

    "Yes, but she was trained by a human wizard..."

    "A human wizard?" Oberon scoffed.

    Quickly Talika raised her hand in the air and continued.  "Yes, a human wizard.  Because of that, her power is not at the level that it should be, but already she has taught herself to change forms at will and is able to sense my magic..."

    "Very interesting, Lady Talika," Oberon interrupted, yawning to show that he wasn't that impressed.  "Anything else?"

    "Well as I said, she just came into the picture last night, and I haven't had the chance to test her power and find their true extent yet.."

    "And you came to us with so little information?  Lady Talika, I'm surprised at you.. perhaps we can be of some more assistance when you have some more information for us," Oberon said haughtily.

    "Perhaps.." Talika sighed, frustrated that the trip earned her nothing.

    Seeing her friend's frustration, Queen Titania leaned forward and said comfortingly, "I am sorry that we could not aid you Talika, but if this is any assurance, I am almost positive that the mother is no child of mine.  None the less, I shall do a little checking with my children.  If anything comes of it, you shall be the first to know."

    "And for that I thank you Titania," Talika replied, forcing a small smile.  "And if I learn anything new, you shall hear from me as well.  Oh, and may I use the aid of the Puck in my search?" Talika questioned, raising her eyebrows at Oberon.

    "But.."

    "Yes, Talika.  Puck may aid you with his full capabilities whenever you deem necessary," Titania answered with a smile, interrupting her husband in mid-sentence.

    Nodding her thanks, Talika then raised her hands above her head one last time and reversed the spell, transporting her back to the ruins of the clock tower and into her work clothes once more.  Sighing, she then moved slowly back down the ladder and into the hallway, her thoughts drifting over the puzzling question.  As she entered the ever busy squad room and crossed it to her desk, she decided to push the question from her mind for the time being.  Sighing, Elisa sat once more at her desk and began working once again.

    "Okay, first you disappear for the whole night and then, when you get back, you sit down and go to work like nothing happened?!"

    Surprised, Elisa looked up from her work and across the desk space to Matt sitting opposite of her.  "Huh?" she asked, confusion written all over her face.

    "Where have you been all night?!" Matt asked again, snapping the folder shut that he was working on.

    Confused, Elisa looked at the clock mounted on the wall across the squad room.  "Three o'clock!" she whispered, groaning at the same time.  "Uh, Matt.. I.." Elisa mumbled, racking her brain for an excuse.  Looking up, she watched as Matt's scowl turned into a small smile as he chuckled quietly.

    "Don't even bother," he laughed, loving the look of panic on Elisa's face.  "I guess that fair is fair after I stuck you with all of the paperwork last night!  In any case, I'm heading home for some shut eye."

    "But.."

    "Don't worry, I left you some paperwork as well."

    "But.."

    "It should only take you a half hour to an hour!" Matt interrupted quickly as he turned and began walking away.

    Groaning, Elisa slid further into her chair, her head in her hands.

    "Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Matt called out, turning around quickly.  "When I got back from getting our food, I found this lying on your desk!" he called out as he dug in the inside pocket of his trench coat.  Finding what he was looking for, he took out a small box wrapped in silver paper and threw it to Elisa.

    Surprised, Elisa merely stared at the box in her hands as Matt left.  Remembering the rose from last night, Elisa smiled softly as she quickly opened up the paper wrapping and then gently opened the box.  Inside on a bed of cotton lay a beautifully carved angel ornament made out of crystal.  Breathing in awe, Elisa picked up the delicate angel and held it up to the light, watching in amazement as the light played off of the crystal and splashed across her desk.  Smiling, she looked back into the box and saw that inside lay a piece of paper underneath the cotton.  Setting the angel aside, she quickly took out the note and read the scrawlings slowly:

To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour...

    "Goliath," Elisa murmured, smiling even bigger.  She didn't know how he did it, but he always did have a way of amazing her.  With the scrawled words on her mind, Elisa quickly picked up the angel and put it gently back into the box.  Humming a small little tune, she then quickly turned off her computer, shut all of the folders, and then grabbed her keys.  She had a certain lavender gargoyle to visit and thank.

Castle Wyvern -- 3:30am

    "Broadway, Angela," Goliath called out as he glided closer to the open courtyard of Castle Wyvern.  With Lexington at his side, he allowed the night breezes to carry him further and further down until his large taloned foot touched gently onto the hard stone floor of the courtyard.  Walking closer, he and Lexington joined Broadway and Angela, making a sort of circle against the night air.  "How was patrol?"

    "Ah, it was normal," Broadway scoffed as he patted his tummy unconsciously.  "We foiled three muggings and two robberies," he bragged, wiggling his eyeridges at Angela.

    Shaking her head, Angela just laughed at his obvious attempt to impress his leader.  "Father, how did you and Lexington fare?"

    "Ah, same old same old," Lexington broke in, excitedly jumping from one foot to the other.

    Noticing this, Goliath turned to his young friend and eyed him closely.  "Lexington?" he questioned.

    "Ah, Goliath?  Are we almost done here.. I kind of promised someone that I'd meet them on-line in a chat room," Lexington said, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.

    Smiling, Goliath just shook his head and chuckled quietly.  "Go ahead Lexington, you did well tonight."

    Nodding, Lexington quickly scampered off in the direction of the computer room, no doubt eager to meet his friend.

    "Where is Brooklyn and Lisette?  Have they already returned?" Goliath asked, looking around the courtyard for his second and new friend.

    "No, we haven't.." Angela began to answer when a sudden peal of laughter could be heard on the night air.  Surprised, all three gargoyles turned quickly and watched as Brooklyn and Lisette glided down to the open courtyard, large smiles on their faces.  Smiling to herself, Angela couldn't help but think how right they looked together.  Not only did they seem to make each other happy, but they just looked like they were made for each other.. a very handsome couple.

    "Brooklyn, Lisette," Goliath acknowledged with a hidden smile, also noticing the bright tint of Brooklyn's eyes.. something that he and the others hadn't been seeing as much of lately.

    "Hey Goliath!" Brooklyn nodded.  Then, without another word, he quickly grabbed a hold of Lisette's taloned hand and began leading her towards the Great Hall.  "You've just got to see this!" he was busy saying to her, completely missing the large smiles on everyone's face and the shrug and small smile that Lisette threw to the rest of the clan.

    "Uh, Brooklyn!" Goliath called out to his second, causing him to pause in mid-stride.

    "Yeah Goliath?" he asked innocently, stopping to turn and face his leader.

    "May I speak with you for a minute?" Goliath asked, pointedly informing everyone else that the talk was to be between just the two of them.

    Nodding, Brooklyn let go of Lisette's hand and began walking back towards Goliath, not missing the lost look that covered her face suddenly.

    Noticing this as well, Angela quickly left Broadway's side and bounded up to Lisette.  "Come on!  You have to see the library!" she called out with a large smile, grabbing on to her taloned hand.

    Smiling at the kindness that Angela was demonstrating to a stranger, Lisette nodded her agreement, and then began running towards the entrance to the castle with Angela, changing back to her normal form in mid-step.

    "Hey.. uh, wait for me!" Broadway yelled after realizing that he was being left alone with Goliath and Brooklyn.  Turning, he quickly began to run after the two females.. a sight that would cause anyone to laugh.

    Shaking his head, Goliath turned back to his second in command.  "Brooklyn, how did Lisette do this evening?"

    Instantly a large smile lit up Brooklyn's face as he started gushing about the adventures they had during patrol.  "Oh man, she was awesome!  First we broke up this mugging, and man.. she took three punks out in a matter of minutes, and then she took out the leader who had a gun and a hostage and in the process saved my life cause he was going to shoot me, and then we found..." Brooklyn said, panting as he went through every single thing they did and how great of a job she did.

    Hearing this, Goliath tried to hold back for the longest time.  Finally, he couldn't any longer.  To Brooklyn's great bafflement, suddenly his serious and mighty leader broke into a huge smile and started to laugh.  Confused, Brooklyn stared at Goliath until finally he couldn't stand it any longer.  "Uh, was it something I said?"

    Unfortunately for Brooklyn, this question just caused Goliath to laugh even harder.  A few minutes later Goliath finally gained control of himself and wiped the tears of laughter away -- it had been quite some time since he had ever laughed that hard.  Smiling at Brooklyn, Goliath laid a hand gently on his shoulder and said, "It sounds as though our new guest did an impressive job this evening.  Still, I think it may be wise for the clan to.. ah, test her further -- seeing as how the report that you just gave may be the slightest bit biased."

    Finally understanding why Goliath laughed so hard, Brooklyn began to blush fiercely.  "Ah, Goliath.."

    "Goliath!" Elisa called out, interrupting Brooklyn as she jogged into the light of the moon.

    "Elisa, what are you doing here so early?" Goliath asked, surprised to be seeing his love so early in the night.

    "I.. kind of left early," Elisa said with a small smile, thinking of how mad Matt would be tomorrow night when he found those reports that he had left for her unfinished.  Shaking her head at the thought, Elisa smiled up at her big love and said, "Besides, I need to talk with you."

    Taking the hint, Brooklyn quickly turned around and started heading towards the doors to the Great Hall, calling back over his shoulder, "I'm going to go and find Lisette and Angela!"

    At this, both Elisa and Goliath smiled at each other.  Shaking his head, Goliath turned back towards his human love.  "You wanted to speak with me?" he asked, unable to resist running a talon through her soft, black hair.

    Smiling, Elisa quickly stood up on tip toes and leaned forward, planting her soft lips against his.  Surprised, Goliath merely stood there for a minute before finally reacting by wrapping his own large arms around Elisa, lifting her closer to him.  A few minutes later the kiss ended as Elisa pulled away and hopped back to the ground.  Breathless, Goliath stared at his love for a few moments more before saying, "What was that for?"

    Shaking her head, Elisa felt yet another smile lift up the corners of her lips.  "It's a thank you," she whispered as she stepped up to her love and took his hand gently in hers, her eyes never wavering from his.

    "For what?" Goliath breathed, his eyes caught in her own gaze.

    "For your gift, silly!" Elisa called out with a laugh, breaking the spell as she punched Goliath lightly on the arm.

    "What gift?" Goliath asked, staring down at her in confusion.

    Thinking that it was all some sort of a joke, Elisa laughed. "For the roses last night and the crystal angel tonight..." she trailed off, her smile faltering as she noticed the continued blank expression on Goliath's face.  "You did send me the gifts, right?"

    "I am sorry, Elisa, but I did not send anything."

    "Well then, who would have..."

    "It seems as though you, my love, have a secret admirer!" Goliath called out with a small smile.

    Shaking her head, Elisa punched Goliath lightly on the arm once more.  "Where's Lisette?" she asked, getting back to the other matter that brought her away from the precinct this early.

    "She's in the library with Angela... Brooklyn took her on patrol with him tonight..."

    "Are you sure that was wise?!" Elisa broke in quickly, worry covering her beautiful face.

    "Don't worry Elisa.  Lisette promised not to use her magic unless it was in an extreme emergency," Goliath soothed, taking her hands in his.

    Smiling at his warmth, Elisa said, "Well, how did she do?"

    "Apparently well."

    "And who was judging her?" Elisa asked, starting to get the feeling that she already knew the answer to that one.  At Goliath's look of innocence Elisa groaned and said, "Well, if Brooklyn was judging her capabilities, it was no wonder that she did well!"

    Laughing, Goliath said, "Don't worry, Elisa, I'll be testing her tonight anyway."

    "Maybe we both can test her tonight... I want to see the extent of her magical capabilities first, and then the clan can have a crack at her physical ones."

    Nodding his head, Goliath said, "A good idea.. we can gather the clan and then meet in the Great Hall."

    "Okay, but I need to find Owen first.." Elisa began when she heard a shuffling of feet behind her.  Turning quickly, she watched with shielded amusement as Owen walked into the light of the moon.

    "I am ready.." Owen began to say when a sudden flash of green blinded Goliath and Elisa.  When their eye sight returned to normal, they found Puck floating in place of Owen, "whenever you are!" he finished with a large smile.  "I trust that you okayed this with Daddy Oberon first?" he asked, the tiniest bit of fear entering his eyes.

    Rolling her eyes at the little fey, Elisa nodded her head.  "Yes Puck, I spoke with him earlier this evening.. although it was actually Queen Titania that made your help a possibility."

    "That's my momma for ya!" Puck called out gleefully as he quickly zipped through the open doors of the Great Hall and into the large room beyond.

    Looking at Goliath, Elisa shrugged her shoulders wearily and followed him into the large room.  "Well, I guess that I'll go and get Lisette and the others..." Elisa trailed off as she turned to begin collecting the clan.

    "Why Elisa," Puck broke in as he zipped across the room to hover before her.  "To think that with that magic that I accidentally gave to you, you would have figured out how to transport whomever you wish into a room by now!" Puck finished with a large wink.

    Groaning once again, Elisa moved next to Goliath and watched as Puck murmured a spell quietly and began to spin in place rapidly.  Suddenly, in a flash of green light Hudson and Bronx appeared in the room.. and then Lexington and Broadway, Xanatos, Fox, and Alex, and then Angela, Brooklyn, and Lisette.  All appeared in a matter of seconds and then stood where they appeared, dumbfounded by the sudden change of scenery.  Amazingly, Hudson was the first to snap out of it and notice the unusual guest they had with them.  "Puck!  What are ye doin' 'ere?!  Ye're not teaching young Alex, are ye?"

    "Well, no.." Puck answered truthfully, "but Mommy Titania okayed for me to perform a little test this evening."

    "Mother actually let you run free as Puck?" Fox broke in, arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Hey, I'm here aren't I?" Puck asked, showing his annoyance.

    "Well, what is your test that you want to perform?" Xanatos asked, getting to the matter at hand, all the while pretty sure that he already knew what the answer would be.

    "I'm here tonight not only to bless everyone with my presence..." Puck began, ignoring all of the groans of protest, "but also to test and find out young Lisette's magical capabilities."

    "What?!" was the general response throughout the room.

    "Come on!" Puck yelled defensively.  "I'm sure that we're all more than just a little bit curious as to see how powerful our new guest really is... not that she could ever be at her full potential right now seeing as how she was only taught by a human wizard," he amended, sending an apologetic look in Lisette's direction.

    "Puck, I don't think that this is something that you should be deciding to do.  It's Lisette's choice!" Brooklyn broke in angrily, his eyes flashing white as he stood protectively in front of Lisette.

    "Brooklyn," Elisa interrupted, stepping in front of the trickster, "don't get upset with Puck.. the testing was my idea."

    "What?" Brooklyn asked in disbelief, remaining in front of Lisette.

    "All we'd find out is how strong magically she is right now in comparison to other magic users," Elisa explained calmly, understanding Brooklyn's concern.

    "Brooklyn, it is all right," Lisette broke in quietly, smiling at his kindness as she gently pushed him aside.  "I would be honored to be tested by the great Puck."

    Blushing slightly at the compliment, Puck couldn't help but like the new person on the block even more, all the while trying his best to ignore all of the smirking going on by the rest of the people gathered.  "Heh, finally someone who respects being in the presence of greatness!" Puck laughed as he floated up to Lisette and grabbed her hand, pulling her gently into the center of the room.  Turning, he called out for Elisa to join them there.

    "Why do you need Detective Maza?" Xanatos asked quickly in surprise.

    "Because she now contains a lot of magic due to the mirror fiasco, magic that will help me to determine the power level," Puck answered matter of factly.

    Nodding his head, Xanatos decided that the reason sounded plausible enough.. besides, why would Puck lie to him?  Turning, he then watched as Detective Maza left Goliath's side and joined Lisette and Puck in the center of the room.

    Smiling, Puck landed on the ground in front of Lisette and said, "This will only hurt a little."  As the shock of his words covered Lisette's face, Puck's smile grew as he quickly put his small hands up to Lisette's temples.  Immediately, green energy began to arc out and around between them, his eyes glowing green.

    Seeing this, Elisa quickly stepped up beside them and placed her hands over Puck's, causing the energy to arc between her as well.  As everyone watched in amazement, the green energy filled the space around them, till their eyes glowed green and their hair, a mixture of white, blond, and black flowed round.  Soon, their feet lifted off the ground as the three as one lifted higher into the air until they were floating near the tall ceiling some fifteen to twenty feet up in the air.

    "Wow," Lexington whispered quietly in awe, his eyes riveted to the three figures floating above them all.

    Amazed like his clan, Goliath only managed a small smile at the younger gargoyle till his sight as well returned to the spectacle before them.  There they floated for seconds, minutes, hours.. an eternity for all anyone knew.  Time crept by and at the same time flowed by in an instant.  All they could think about or see was the sight of the fey trickster, their beloved detective friend, and the new mystery that had popped into their life; all connected by the green energy that marked the third race.

    Soon the people and gargoyles gathered realized that the show was coming to an end as the energy began to lighten in intensity.  With their eyes riveted to the sight, everyone watched in awe as suddenly the green energy stopped and all three, Elisa, Puck, and Lisette began falling quickly to the ground.  Reacting on pure instinct, three people quickly jumped into action.  Moving as fast as he could, Goliath positioned himself underneath the three and easily caught Elisa in his arms.  Turning, he watched as Brooklyn did the same and caught Lisette in his.  Smiling, Goliath turned to see who had caught the last of the magical three.. and was surprised to see Xanatos sprawled on the ground, Puck lying on top of him.

    Groaning, Xanatos pushed the heavy fey off of him, all the while muttering, "Get off of me!"

    Trying to hold back his laughter, Goliath calmly asked, "Xanatos, is there anything hurt?"

    "Just my pride," David Xanatos muttered with a small smile as he climbed to his feet with the aid of his wife.

    Shaking his head, Goliath turned his attention back to his catch.  "Elisa, are you alright?" he asked quickly, concern covering his face.

    Laughing slightly, Elisa motioned for Goliath to put her down and said, "Just fine Big Guy.. oh, and nice catch!"

 Blushing, Goliath quickly complied, noticing that Brooklyn still held Lisette in his arms.  "Are you okay?" he whispered quietly to her, his red face slightly pale from the scare he got when he watched her plummet to the stone floor so far below.

    "Oui.. I just don't think that any of us realized that we were floating that high up when they stopped!" Lisette answered with a small grin.

    "Uh.. Brooklyn?" Goliath asked, nudging his second lightly in the side.

    "Huh?" Brooklyn asked, turning quickly towards his leader.  It was at that point that Brooklyn and Lisette realized that the entire room was staring at them, smiles vainly hidden on their faces.  Turning an even darker red, Brooklyn quickly and gently put Lisette on her feet and turned back towards the room, trying his best to ignore Broadway and Lexington who were snickering off behind them.

    Shaking his head, Xanatos was the first to break the silence as he dusted off his, no doubt, expensive suit.  "I trust that you found out what you were looking for?" he asked, throwing a semi-dirty look at Puck who was slowly climbing to his feet.

    Nodding his head, Puck snapped his fingers and shifted forms back to his alter ego, Owen Burnette.  "Like we assumed, Lisette's power is very formidable.  Even with just the training that she received from the human wizard, which has hampered her capabilities, at this point and time she is slightly below the level of the Puck and the Weird Sisters..."

    "Uh.. is that good?" Lisette broke in, noticing the astonished looks that the rest of the clan were giving her.

    Ignoring her question, Owen continued in his same dry and bored voice, "With the proper training, Lisette will be able to gain her full power level..."

    "Which is?" Xanatos asked, arching his eyebrow in curiosity.

    "Second only to the King and Queen of Avalon," Owen finished calmly as he slowly took off his glasses and began polishing them on a handkerchief that he always kept handy.

    For a few minutes there was a dumbfounded silence as the clan turned as one to look at their young guest in a new light.  But Lisette didn't like this new light.  It made her different, even more so, from the others than she already was.  It made her even more of an outsider.  "Would all of you please stop staring at me like I am a part of some.. some.. ugh, what is the word?" she whispered, frustrated by her loss.

    "Circus?" Elisa asked as she stepped forward and placed her hand gently on the young woman's shoulder.

    Turning, Lisette smiled faintly at the look of amusement on the detective's face.  "Oui, circus."

    "Lisette, we all know that you are not a part of some circus or freak show.. but you must understand that as it is, the children of Oberon are extremely powerful with magic.  To know that you.. a woman that has only had 19 years to practice her magic, is already almost equal to the most powerful of the children.. well, it's unbelievable," Elisa finished quietly, shrugging her shoulders at the thought.

    "I think I understand that.. but you all must understand as well that I am the same person that I was before this silly test!  If I had known that you all would look at me with.. well, with different eyes... I would never have allowed myself to be tested," Lisette finished quietly, her eyes dropping to the ground as small tears clouded her vision.

    "Lisette?" Brooklyn asked quietly, drawing next to her side as Elisa silently backed away.  As her dizzying blue eyes lifted to meet his, Brooklyn smiled.  "Lisette, we still look at you in the same light and know that you are the same person.."

    "But.."

    "The new light that you are seeing in our eyes is just a furthered level of respect that we hold for you and your magical abilities.. that's all!"

    "Aye lass," Hudson broke in, smiling a rare smile at the young woman.  "Before, we all figured that it would nay be a good idear to 'ave it out with ya.. but now we all know tis for certain!"

    Lisette couldn't help the smile that quickly lifted the corners of her mouth, nor the tinkling laughter that filled the room, along with the laughter of everyone else present.  "I do not think that you need to worry of getting into a fight with me!"

    "You are probably right.. but that does bring up another question," Goliath broke in quietly.  "What exactly is your level of fighting at?"

    "But Goliath, I already.." Brooklyn broke in, confusion written all over his face.

    "Yes, yes, Brooklyn, from what you've said, Lisette is very skilled when it comes to dealing with humans.. but what of other gargoyles?" Goliath asked, arching his eyeridges at Lisette.

    "I doubt that I would ever be fighting any of you..." Lisette began quietly, a small smile on her face.

    "Yes, but what of Demona?  Wouldn't you rather be prepared the next time you meet up with her?" Goliath asked.

    Smiling, Lisette quickly changed forms and then smiled a fang-filled smile at Goliath.  "Does anyone care to find out what would happen to this Demona if I do ever meet up with her again in gargoyle form?"

    Nodding at her belief in her abilities, Goliath instructed clan member after clan member to fight against her; urging for everyone to give it their all and not to hold back anything.  Astonished, Goliath then watched as clan member after clan member was put through the runner as the girl demonstrated that she could indeed hold her own against a gargoyle.  Not only was Lisette an excellent fighter, but she also had a way of using every single thing to her advantage; constantly rotating back and forth from using her brain, reflexes, strong muscles, powerful jumps, strong kicks, hard punches, sharp talons, strong wings to anything else that she could use last minute -- including the wall, ceiling and floor.  Soon, all that remained standing of his clan was Hudson and himself.  Before the next round could begin, Elisa stepped forward into the ring.  "Very impressive indeed, Lisette, but now I have a new challenge for you... change back into your human form and try fighting against one of the clan."

    "What?!" Lisette asked in confusion, turning to watch as the clan gathered behind her, smiles on their faces.  "But a human is no match for a gargoyle.. there would be no chance!  Gargoyles have a height, speed, weight, and muscle advantage over us!" Lisette called out as she shifted back to her normal form, clad once more in her jeans and shirt.

    "That's true, but you're wrong about having no chance," Elisa replied with a small smile.  "I've known many a human that have put up quite a fight against a gargoyle with all of these advantages!"

    "But.."

    "Well how about a human?  It's true that you should fight well as a gargoyle, but your true form is that of a human.. how well do you fight against another human?"

    "I.."

    "Good then, let's try it!" Elisa called out with a smile as she quickly took off her red jacket and tossed it over to Goliath.  As Lisette stood there stupefied, Elisa slipped down into a fighting stance.

    Noticing that she wasn't going to get out of this, Lisette sunk low, trying her best to imitate Elisa.  Without warning, Elisa darted forward and jumped in the air, her foot catching Lisette in the mid-section and sending her flying across the room and onto the stone floor.  Gasping, Lisette tried to regain her wind, her hand wrapped protectively around her abdomen as she tried to get to her feet.

    Smiling apologetically, Elisa was instantly by her side and reached down a hand to help her up.  "You never have tried hand to hand combat in your true form, have you?" Elisa asked quietly, a small smile on her face.

    "No," Lisette agreed, wincing slightly at a flare of pain in her side.  "Craigen barely consented with the idea of letting me help out the gargoyles and train with them in gargoyle form.. never would he have let me have the same training with the humans or guards.  In that time, a woman's place was to be protected in the château while the men did all of the fighting.. there would have been serious consequences if I was seen fighting."

    "Well, then I think that it's about time for you to learn.. times have changed."

    Smiling at the thought, Lisette nodded quietly.

    Turning, Elisa moved to stand beside her love.  "Goliath, with your permission, I'd like to make a ruling of sorts."

    With an idea in mind of what Elisa was about to say, Goliath tried to hide his smile as he nodded for her to go ahead.

    Smiling in thanks, Elisa turned towards Lisette and said, "If you are to stay with the clan in the castle, then you must take up responsibilities like the rest of them."

    "I would be honored to patrol with them," Lisette spoke up quickly, a sparkle in her eye.

    "That, as well as.. well, for instance, do you know how to read?"

    "Yes, Craigen taught me.."

    "Good, then you can help Angela with teaching some of the others.  Also, each night you will train in magic with Puck."

    "But.." Xanatos broke in quickly, a small frown appearing on his face.

    "Don't worry, Xanatos.  You will still have the normal aid of your manservant.  She will only be taught when your son, Alex, is taught," Elisa said with a smile, knowing already the complaint that he was about to lay.  "Also, each night you will train to enhance your fighting skills in your human form."

    "Train with who?" Lisette asked, taking all the rules in stride.

    "With either me or.."

    "Me," Fox broke in, speaking for about the first time that evening.  Smiling at the beautiful young woman, Fox strode across the room to stand before her.  "We'll have a chamber near the gargoyles' rooms set up for you so you have a place to sleep during the day.  Also, you can join my family and I for meals as well as.. training."

    "Training?" Lisette asked, raising her eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Well, David and I prefer to keep our fighting skills sharply honed.  Therefore, each morning or evening we practice in the gym.. if Detective Maza is unable to train you one night, you could always join us in the gym."

    Smiling, Lisette impulsively reached forward and hugged the older woman.  "Thank you!" Lisette cried out happily.

    Smiling at Lisette's warmth, Fox gently pulled away and said, "You're welcome."

    "Well," Elisa broke in loudly, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.  "With that settled, what are we all sitting around here for?  Let's get started!"

    "You mean right now?" Lisette asked in amazement.

    "No time better but the present," Elisa replied quickly with a smile as she brushed a stray strand of her blue-black hair out of her eyes.

    "But.."

    "Well, I suppose that I might as well get started on getting that room prepared for our new guest," Fox interrupted with a bright smile as she left the room, cell phone in hand.

    "And Broadway, it is time for your reading lessons," Angela spoke up quietly, grabbing Broadway by the arm and dragging him from the room.

    Groaning, Broadway immediately followed.  "Yeah, no time better but the present," he griped, sending a look at Elisa.

    "Aye, that program that Robinson was telling me 'bout should be on 'bout now anyway," Hudson agreed as he slowly turned to leave the room.

    "But Robinson is blind!" Brooklyn broke in, confusion written on his face.  "How does he know what's on tv?  Does he have a tv guide written in Braille?" he asked in jest.

    "Aye, he does," Hudson agreed, wiping the smile completely off of Brooklyn's face.

    "Great!  Hey Brooklyn, we should have just enough time to start up that new program I was telling you about!" Lexington broke in quickly, eagerly grabbing his rookery brother by the arm.

    "Okay, Lex!  I'm coming!  Just don't pull my arm off!"

    "And I do suppose that it is time for young Alexander's lessons," Owen agreed as he gently took the child from his father's hands.  "Lisette, would you care to join us?"

    Smiling at Elisa and the remaining people, Lisette nodded her head and began following the manservant from the room.

    Shaking her head, Elisa watched as Owen turned to Lisette and said, "As the Puck once said long ago, 'Everyone has a talent.  What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place it leads.'"

    "Did Puck really say that?" Lisette quickly asked, raising her eyebrow at the manservant.

    "Well, no, but.."

    Laughing, Elisa turned back to Goliath and was about to say something when she noticed that they weren't quite alone yet.  "Um, don't you have something that you should be doing, Xanatos?" she asked pointedly to the billionaire.

    "Well, I do suppose that I could be hatching some horribly evil plot to take over the world, Detective," Xanatos answered with a bright smile, ignoring the dirty look she sent in his direction as he turned to saunter from the room.

    "You know what Goliath, I really don't like him," Elisa muttered quietly as she watched him go.

    "He is harmless now.  Xanatos just enjoys.. how does Brooklyn put it?  Ah, pushing your buttons?" Goliath asked, raising an eyeridge at his love.

    Smiling, Elisa punched his shoulder lightly.  "Very funny, Big Guy.  Seriously though, you're not mad at me for.. well, for kind of taking charge a minute ago, are you?"

    Laughing softly, Goliath smiled down at his love and tenderly brushed his hand across her smooth cheek.  "Of course not, Elisa.  The decisions you made were wise ones.. plus, you always have been slightly bossy..."

    "Hey!" Elisa laughed, pulling away from him in mock anger.

    Smiling, Goliath just pulled his love closer to him, holding her forever close to his heart.  "Things have finally settled down once more, my love."

    "Perhaps.  And perhaps things will go back to normal.. although I'm afraid that the excitement has just begun-"

    "I love you, my Elisa," Goliath interrupted as he held her closer.

    And I you, Big Guy.. always and forever."

Castle Wyvern -- two months later

    As the clouds shifted in the early darkness of the afternoon, one could barely see the bright fiery ball of light as it finally dipped over the horizon.  This was the only indication to those who watched that night was to fall, for already during the day the darkness of night had fallen.  Starting slowly, one drop at a time, the rain began to fall on the stone statues just as they began to crack; strange light filtering around them.  As the torrent of the storm was unleashed, all seven gargoyle forms finally broke free of  their casings and woke to the dark night, each unleashing their own roar to shatter the storm darkness.

    Yawning, Brooklyn stretched his stiff muscles as he stared out into the night, rain pelting his body.  Turning, he easily jumped down from his perch, ready to greet the guest that was always there when they awakened.  To his great surprise though, she was no where to be seen.  "Hey Broadway, do you know where Lisette is?" Brooklyn asked, concern entering his voice as he turned towards his rookery brother.

    "Oh yeah, I've only been sleeping for the past day, but despite that I know exactly where she is!" Broadway cried out with a laugh, trying his best to dodge Brooklyn's swipe.

    "Uh Brooklyn, maybe she's waiting inside and just didn't want to come out into the storm?" Lexington asked as he brushed off the water that was already running down his face.

    "Which is a very smart idea!" Angela agreed as she turned to hurry into the Great Hall and out from under the weather.

    "Yeah, but she stood outside in a rain storm before waiting for us to awake.." Brooklyn mumbled, really worried now.  Suddenly, his sharp hearing detected a noise behind him.  Turning quickly, Brooklyn looked up into the towering frame of his leader, Hudson and Bronx behind him.

    "If you are so concerned, why don't you go look for her?" Goliath asked, a small smile on his face as his second in command turned a darker shade of red.. something very common as of late.

    "Uh.. good idea," Brooklyn replied quickly as he turned and walked from the parapet.  Shaking his head, he couldn't help but laugh at himself as well for his behavior.  After all, it's not like he could expect for Lisette to stand outside and be there when they woke every night!  Chuckling to himself, Brooklyn quickly reached the door to her private chambers.  He then took a minute to compose himself and attempted to dry himself off as best as possible before knocking gently on her door.  When there was no answer, he gently turned the knob and pushed open the door.  

    Walking in, he looked around quickly at the drab stone walls and floor that were somehow transformed by the appearance of several paintings and tapestries, the floor made soft by beautiful throw rugs.  Turning, he saw her canopy bed made and fluffed, the small teddy bear he gave her a while ago lying on top of the pillow.  The vanity table beside it was neat as always, as well as the armoire closed and everything in its place.. as well as all of her own books on their proper shelf.  Shaking his head, Brooklyn couldn't help but be amazed at how neat Lisette always seemed to be.  When he asked her about it before, she had said that it was a habit brought on by Craigen.  Smiling, Brooklyn quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.  Standing in the dark hallway, he looked left and then right, trying to decide where to look next.  Then an image of her perfectly stacked books came into mind.  "The library!" Brooklyn groaned, slapping himself in the head as he turned and hurried down the hall.  Without a doubt, that would be where he would find her.

    Sure enough, as he drew closer to his destination, Brooklyn's sharp hearing quickly detected sounds within the large room.  But the closer he got the more and more the sounds sounded like crying.  With his worry escalating and afraid of what he would find, Brooklyn quickly rushed forward...

The Library

 "What to read?  What to read?" Lisette murmured as she walked around the massive library.  She still had some time to spare before the clan awoke, and what better way to spend it than reading a good book?  Smiling, Lisette finally settled on a book that had caught her eye earlier.  Grabbing the book off of the shelf, she quickly moved over to one of the throw rugs in front of the roaring fire that she had started, making the room warm and snug away from the growing storm outside.  Smiling, she read the cover of the book, "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul," she murmured.  Well, she liked soup, and until July of next year, she would still be considered a teenager.. it sounded as though the book was made for her.  Her smile growing, she quickly closed her eyes and opened the book to a random page in the middle.

    "Somebody should have taught him, retold by Jane Watkins," Lisette whispered reading the name aloud.  "I went to a birthday party but I remembered what you said.  You told me not to drink at all, so I had a Sprite instead," Lisette murmured, reading the poem out loud.  

    "Hmm, but having a Sprite is drinking," Lisette murmured, confused by the words.  Shrugging her shoulders, she quickly continued.  "I felt proud of myself, the way you said I would, that I didn't choose to drink and drive, though some friends said I should.  I knew I made a healthy choice and your advice to me was right as the party finally ended and the kids drove out of sight.  I got into my own car, sure to get home in one piece, never knowing what was coming, something I expected least," Lisette whispered, fear tightening her throat.  Unable to stop, she quickly continued.  

    "Now I'm lying on the pavement.  I can hear the policeman say, "The kid that caused this wreck was drunk."  His voice seems far away.  My own blood is all around me," Lisette whispered, tears clouding her vision, "as I try hard not to cry.  I can hear the paramedic say, "This girl is going to die."  Oh God, no," Lisette whispered, shaking her head, wanting to stop but unable as the tears came faster and faster.  

    "I'm sure the guy had no idea, while he was flying high, because he chose to drink and drive that I would have to die.  So why do people do it, knowing that it ruins lives?  But now the pain is cutting me like a hundred stabbing knives," Lisette murmured, her heart clutching painfully as she sobbed and tried to continue.  

    "Tell my sister not to be afraid, tell Daddy to be brave, and when I go to heaven to put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave," Lisette whispered, flashes of her own faceless father clouding her mind.  "Someone should have taught him that it's wrong to drink and drive.  Maybe if his mom and dad had, I'd still be alive.  My breath is getting shorter, I'm getting really scared.  These are my final moments, and I'm so unprepared.  I wish that you could hold me, Mom, as I lie here and die.  I wish that I could say I love you and good-bye," Lisette finished, the tears pouring down her face as deep sobs wracked her slim form.  "That poor person is dead.. dead because someone was not told not to do that.. and they never got to say goodbye to their dear sister, their beloved father... or hold their mother," Lisette whispered as the tears began to fall even faster and faster, the words choking in her throat.  "I never had a mother to hold me.." she whispered as another sob ripped its way up from the depths of her heart.

    "Lisette!  Are you okay?!  What's wrong?!" Brooklyn asked quickly as he burst into the library and saw her sitting dejectedly on the floor, her legs crossed and her head buried in her hands.

    Surprised, Lisette looked up quickly to see Brooklyn standing in the now open doorway.  Sniffing back her tears, Lisette watched as their eyes slowly connected.  As she stared into his dark and caring eyes, Brooklyn slowly moved across the room till he knelt beside her.  "What's wrong?"

    Laughing quietly, Lisette attempted to brush back more tears, the color rising in her cheeks as she pointed down to the book lying at her feet.  "I.. I was reading this poem.. and.." she stuttered, trying to push down her feelings of sorrow.

    Breaking away from the hypnotic stare of her eyes, Brooklyn looked down to the indicated book.  Sighing, he recognized it instantly, having walked in on a similar incident with Angela a few weeks ago.  "Oh Lisette, I.." Brooklyn trailed off as he shut the book.

    "Brooklyn," Lisette interrupted, meeting his stare urgently once more, "what does it mean to 'drink and drive?'"

    Sighing, Brooklyn sat next to her and gently took her hands in his.  "Do you know what alcohol is?" he asked quietly, not quite sure how to begin.

    "Al-co-hol?" Lisette asked slowly, trying the new word out on her tongue, her French accent sliding over its unfamiliar tone.  "No," she whispered, crinkling her large blue eyes in confusion.

    Sighing once again, Brooklyn scratched his head slowly.  "Well, it's a kind of liquid that the humans drink that makes them.. well, it makes them act strange and different.."

    "It changes them?" Lisette asked quickly, fear entering her eyes.

    "Well, no.. not in the way that you mean.  You see, it's not permanent.. just temporary."

    "But why would anyone want to change themselves?  Are they forced to drink it?" Lisette asked quickly, shock covering her face.

    "No.. it's actually very accepted in today's society... adults tend to drink quite a bit of it while they're at parties.. like I've seen Xanatos, Fox, and even Elisa have some now and then.. even saw Fox have quite a bit of it which caused her to be drunk.." Brooklyn said with a smile, remembering how funny it was to watch Fox make a fool of herself and stumble about.  "But people that are under the age of twenty-one aren't allowed to have any."

    "But this person here had some and they were not over.."

    "I know.. just because it's a rule doesn't mean that everyone follows it.  Also, you're never supposed to drive after you have had alcohol.. which is what this person did," Brooklyn explained.  At her continued look of confusion, Brooklyn quickly took out the French/English dictionary he now always tried to carry with him for just these such instances.  "Okay, what I meant is.. do you know what l'alcool is?"

    "Ah, l'alcool?  Oui, I have heard of it before... but have never had any.. but what was Fox?  What does 'drunk' mean?" Lisette asked, still not completely sure that she understood.

    "Ah, Fox?  Well.. elle.. était.. ivre," Brooklyn said slowly, trying to remember the little bit of French that Lisette had taught him, looking up the French word for 'drunk' quickly.

    "Hmm, I think I understand now.. but it is so sad.. that this young girl had to lose her life so that another young person could have fun by doing something that only adults should be doing.. that he would enjoy losing control of himself," Lisette whispered, understanding now what had happened, but not understanding why.

    "I know it's sad.. but why are you reading something so sad anyway?" Brooklyn asked suddenly.  Quickly, he jumped to his feet and rushed to one of the many walls of books.  "Here, you should be reading stuff like this!" he called out as he grabbed the book that he was looking for and moved over to sit on the couch.

    Smiling, Lisette quickly got up and walked over to Brooklyn, pushing his tail aside so that she could lean up against him.

    Grinning, Brooklyn wrapped his arms around her and held the book in front of them.  "Hope is not pretending that troubles don't exist, it is the hope that they will not last forever, that hurts will be healed and difficulties overcome.  It is faith that a source of strength and renewal lies within, to lead us through the dark -- to sunshine."

    Smiling, Lisette leaned back contentedly into Brooklyn's arms.  "That was beautiful," she whispered.

    Nodding, Brooklyn quietly showed his agreement.  "So, how was the movie that you and Angela saw together last night?" he asked innocently.

    "Oh, it was wonderful!" Lisette gushed as she absently stared into the flickering flames of the fire.

    "Yep.. sure wish that I could have seen it as well," Brooklyn prompted quietly, his smile growing.

    "Hey, we told you both that it was going to be just a girls' night out anyway!" Lisette laughed, elbowing him gently in the side.

    "Yeah, yeah.. you and Angela do seem to have gotten really close the last couple of months.."

    "We have," Lisette agreed with a small smile.  "It's like having the sister or best friend that I've never had.  And then there's Fox and Elisa," Lisette replied with another smile.

    "Fox and Elisa?" Brooklyn asked, raising his eyeridge at Lisette's golden hair.

    "Yes.. it is like they have taken me in as their little sister as well.. it is kind of nice... and then there is Puck.."

    "Puck?" Brooklyn groaned as he too stared into the fire.

    "Hey, he is not that bad.. actually, he is kind of sweet," Lisette conceded, thinking back to all of the different lessons she had been taught.  "Not to mention a good teacher.."

    "So you're learning some new stuff?"

    "Oh Brooklyn, you would not believe all the new tricks and spells that I have been taught!" Lisette murmured.  "I mean, Craigen was a wonderful teacher, but as a human wizard, he just did not know all of the different ideas of the fey.. the training is a whole new level!.. but wait, let us not sit here and allow me to bore you with such things," Lisette quickly amended, a smile on her face as she snuggled nearer against Brooklyn's chest.

    Sighing, Brooklyn felt her warmth against him.. the warmth of a human.  Who would have ever guessed the attraction and emotions that he would feel.. could be felt for a human?.. well, half human.  Smiling, Brooklyn lifted up the book once more in front of them and turned a couple more pages until he found what he was looking for.  "I want to say I love you, but I'm so afraid you'll laugh," Brooklyn read quietly, his soft voice whispering by her ear.  "And if you laughed when I told you it would break my heart in half.  I want to do more things with you because I love you so.  And if I asked you to do these things I'd die if you said no."

    Smiling and blushing at the same time, Lisette snuggled further towards him.  Staring into the flickering flames, she listened to Brooklyn's words, his warm breath fanning softly against her skin.

    "I want you to love me as much as I love you.  And if you said you hated me I don't know what I'd do.  My love for you is like a stream that runs forever true.  And my stream of love will never run dry as long as I have you," Brooklyn finished softly.

    Before he could say another word, Lisette quickly turned the book a couple of pages further, familiar with the work.  "Personally, I prefer this one," she whispered quietly.  "A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous," she whispered before turning slowly to meet Brooklyn's fiery gaze.  Smiling, both slowly leaned towards each other until her lips met his beak -- together sharing their first kiss.

    "Hey Brooklyn, I..." Lexington broke off suddenly as he ran into the library, surprised to no end to see Lisette practically sitting on Brooklyn's lap, their lips connected.  At the sound of his voice, both quickly jumped apart -- not quick enough.  "Uh.. sorry to interrupt.. uh, I was.. working on something but I.. uh.. realized that I left an important disk at.. at Elisa's apartment.. and I, um.. was wondering if you'd go and.. get it for me?" Lex finished quickly, embarrassed about what he obviously interrupted.

    Embarrassed as well to be interrupted, Lisette quickly jumped to her feet.. too quickly, and announced, "Oui, we would love to go and get that for you.. uh, would we not Brooklyn?"

    "Um, yeah," Brooklyn quickly agreed, his face burning red as Lisette and he quickly rushed from the room.

    Laughing, Lexington watched them go before turning and heading back towards the computer room.  "Yep, I think that they like each other," he muttered with a large smile.

Elisa's apartment

    As Lisette and Brooklyn landed on the balcony to Elisa's apartment, it was easy for them to see that no one was home.  Smiling at his companion, Brooklyn quickly moved forward and opened the latch to the darkened apartment and indicated for her to step inside.  "Ladies first," he quipped quietly, whispering due to habit.

    Smiling, Lisette nodded to Brooklyn and then climbed inside the window and into the dark room.  She had been to Elisa's apartment many times before.. but never in the dark.  The lack of light had a way of transforming the whole room into something mystical and mysterious.  Shaking her head at her own silliness, Lisette quickly set to work searching the apartment for Lex's disk.  Fortunately for them, the apartment wasn't very big, and in a matter of minutes it became apparent to them both that the disk was no where to be found.  Sighing, Lisette turned dejectedly towards Brooklyn and whispered, "I guess that it is not here after all.  Come, let us head back to the castle.."

    "Wait.. we still haven't checked Elisa's bedroom," Brooklyn said, nodding his head towards the closed door.

    "Do you think that we really should?  I mean, I have never been in her bedroom before.." Lisette trailed off uncertainly as she eyed the closed door.

    "Neither have I, but it's not like we're going to snoop around or anything.."

    "Snoop?" Lisette asked, unfamiliar with the word.

    Sighing, Brooklyn grabbed her taloned hand and moved towards the door.  "We'll just look in and if we don't see it, we'll leave."

    Nodding her head uncertainly, Lisette watched as Brooklyn slowly opened the door and then turned and flicked the light switch.  Shielding her eyes, Lisette watched as one lamp against the far corner of the room turned on with dim light.  "Brooklyn, you have to move over and let me in as well!" Lisette hissed, pushing Brooklyn gently to the side so she could join him in the room.  The minute she did though, she too stopped in her tracks as she stared in amazement around her.  Everywhere she looked she saw angels ranging in size, color, and material.  There were angel dolls, figurines, ornaments, carvings, statues, and even pictures.  They were made of anything from glass, stone, cloth, wood to paper.

    "Uh.. a month or so ago I heard Matt mention something about Elisa having a secret admirer who gave angels as gifts.." Brooklyn muttered as he stared in amazement at the hundreds upon hundreds of angels.

    "This looks like less the work of a secret admirer and more of the work of someone deeply obsessed with her," Lisette murmured as she turned, her eyes alighting upon a box filled to the brim with notes.  Her curiosity getting the better of her, she tentatively reached out a hand and picked up one of the notes.  Slowly she opened the letter and read it aloud:

    "That was one of the letters she was given?" Brooklyn asked in disbelief, peering over her shoulder.

    "Yes.. and listen to this one," Lisette said, putting down the disturbing note and grabbing another:

    "Uh.. are we seeing a pattern at all here?" Brooklyn asked in disbelief.

    "Besides the fact that they all are negative and sound threatening?" Lisette asked sarcastically as she grabbed another one.

    "Lisette, I found the disk!" Brooklyn cried out quickly as he spied it on a dresser across the room.  Rushing across, he quickly scooped the disk up and ran back to Lisette's side.  "Come on, let's get out of here!" he cried out as he grabbed her arm and drug her from the room, hitting the light switch and closing the door behind him.  Hurrying, the two gargoyles quickly left the darkened apartment and once more joined the breezes in the dark and stormy night sky.  Never to look back and watch as one stray moonbeam entered the apartment and glistened off of the cold and dark eyes of the angels gathered within.. the dark angels of the night.

NYPD's 23rd Precinct -- a few weeks later

    Sighing, Elisa trudged wearily across the busy squad room, her destination the safe haven of her desk.  Yawning, she tripped over a pencil lying on the floor and then stumbled across to her awaiting chair.  Groaning she leaned dangerously far back and yawned once more.

    "If you keep yawning like that, then I'll never make it home and will have to sleep right here!" Matt complained as he tripped over the same pencil before sliding into his chair opposite of her.

    Trying to muffle another yawn, Elisa grinned sheepishly and muttered, "I can't help it.. these late nights are really starting to get to me!"

    "Yeah, you and me both!" Matt agreed, nodding his head wearily.  Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he focused on something across the desk space.  Lifting his hand, he pointed out a small box nearly hidden under the pile of papers on Elisa's desk.  Groaning, he shook his head slowly and said, "Please tell me that's not what I think it is!"

    Confused, Elisa leaned forward and shoved the papers aside, revealing the perfectly wrapped box lying underneath.  Sighing, she slowly drug the box towards her and then gently ripped open the packaging.  Lying on yet another pile of cotton was an older movie titled "My Guardian Angel."

    "What is with this guy's fascination with angels?!" Matt cried out as he saw the title of the movie.

    "Beats me," Elisa muttered as she set the movie aside and picked up the note that was lying underneath it.

    Seeing what Elisa held, Matt got up quickly and darted around the desk till he was standing behind her.  "Let's see if it will be a romantic or a threatening poem this evening!" he cried out eagerly, trying his best to make the statement funny.

    Laughing weakly at the attempted humor, Elisa slowly opened the note, revealing the contents within:

    After a few minutes of looking at the note, Matt finally shook his head and spoke up.  "Okay, I give up.  I can't read this thing!  It must be in Latin or something!"

    "German, actually," Elisa spoke up slowly, her eyes trained on the note.  "It says, 'Gentle moon that shines so brightly through the cloudy evening sky, oh so peaceful do you not wonder what makes my sad eyes cry?  I am longing for my loved one who is far away from me, O my heart is nearly breaking that she cannot be with me,'" Elisa murmured, her soft voice lilting through the translation.

    Amazed, Matt stepped back a few paces before turning again to look at his partner.  Sensing his gaze on her back, Elisa turned around slowly, a small smile on her face.  "I had no idea that you spoke German!" Matt said suddenly, his eyes wide.

    Laughing, Elisa shrugged it off and muttered, "There's a lot you don't know about me, partner."

    Giving Elisa a weird look, Matt finally shrugged his shoulders and stepped back to her side, staring at the note lying on her desk.  "Well, he's written in every other language so far.. English, Spanish, French... why not German?  There's a first for everything!" he muttered quietly, unable to believe that Elisa's secret admirer was that worldly known that he was able to be fluent in all of those languages.

    "Second, actually," Elisa broke in as she opened up her desk drawer and took out another crumpled note and handed it to Matt.

    Curious, Matt took the note and asked, "When did you get this?"

    "Sometime last week."

    "Hmm," Matt grunted as he opened the little note and read the scrawled words within:

    "Uh.. translation please?" Matt asked after a few moments.

    Smiling, Elisa took the note back and read it through once.  "It says, 'Yet though I'm far away from thee, Still in my sleep I see and kiss my own, but, when I wake again, I am alone.'"

    "Wow, that's deep," Matt muttered sarcastically as he took the note back from his partner and stared at the foreign language.  "You know Elisa, you really should be careful," he said quietly as he turned to look at his partner and friend.  "I mean, it's obvious that this guy is more than just a little obsessed with you... have you told Goliath?"

    "No.." Elisa whispered quietly, her vision focused on something far away.  "He knew about the first ones, but I haven't mentioned it since.. I didn't want to worry him over nothing..."

    "Elisa," Matt broke in quietly as he laid a hand gently on her shoulder, causing her to turn and focus on him.  "I don't think that this is nothing anymore.  I'd be worried if I were you..."

 Taking Matt's words to heart, Elisa quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed her jacket from the chair behind her.  "I need to go!  See you tomorrow!" Elisa yelled out quickly as she ran across the room, leaving her befuddled partner behind.

    "But.. what about my ride home?" Matt sputtered as he watched her raven locks disappear out the door.

Castle Wyvern -- gym

    Sighing, Lisette slowly entered the empty gym.  Closing her eyes, she bent over and began doing some slow stretches, working on clearing her mind and trying her best to slow her breathing.  Standing straight once more, she then straightened her short gray cotton shorts and matching sports bra before she reached her hands up and swept her long blond hair into a high pony tail.  

    Turning, she moved towards the punching bag set up in the center of the room, a determined look on her face.  Slowly, she began the routine, starting out with easy punches until they became faster and harder.  Soon, she began to practice her kicks as well, using her powerful round house kick that Elisa had taught her, literally flying through the air.  As her punches, kicks, and overall movements became faster and more and more violent, images of her shattered clan began flooding her mind.  As her anger and guilt built up, and the feelings of helplessness consumed her, she began to kick and punch harder and faster, ignoring the stabs of pain in her limbs.  

    Suddenly, the leader's face flashed before her mind's eye.. the look on his face in the final seconds before his death as he was told that Lisette did nothing to save his beloved clan... the look of betrayal.  Even though Lisette knew that she could do nothing to save the clan, that the words were a lie, the guilt at not being able to save the clan.. the guilt of sitting there and watching as her loved ones were killed before her eyes filled her very being until all that she was was guilt and mindless fury as she punched and kicked harder and harder.  

    As the tumult overwhelmed her, Lisette stepped back and then jumped forward, turning in mid-air and landing a hard kick to the bag.. so hard that the heavy chain that held the punching bag aloft broke into pieces and the bag tumbled to the ground.  Sobbing brokenly, Lisette followed the bag to the ground; nothing but her tears to comfort her.

    Grumbling to herself, Elisa rushed through the dark hallways, badly wanting to talk with Goliath before the sun's rays captured him in stone, but knowing that she only had minutes to spare.  "What kind of people are causing traffic jams this early in the morning, anyway?" Elisa whispered to herself as she mentally cursed the people that kept her from arriving at the castle sooner.

    Turning down another hallway, she quickly passed by the brightly lit doorway that would lead into the gym when the sounds of someone sobbing came to her ears.  Stopping quickly, Elisa turned back and looked at the open doorway and debated quietly to herself.  She really needed to talk with Goliath about the letters before she lost her nerve.. but then again, she couldn't just pass by without knowing who was crying and why.

    Sighing, Elisa allowed her conscience to turn her around and make her leave the dark hallways for the brightly lit room inside.  There in the middle of the room was a sight that she never thought that she'd see:  Lisette sitting in the middle of the hard gym floor, her legs drawn up to her chest as she sobbed against them, a punching bag lying on the ground beside her.

    Goliath completely forgotten, Elisa quietly stepped across the floor till she knelt on her knees beside the girl.  Very gently she reached up and touched Lisette's shoulder.  Without hesitation, the young woman turned quickly and fell into Elisa's arms, burying her tear stained face into the soft red material of her jacket.  Surprised, Elisa sat for a moment before quickly holding Lisette tightly against her.  "Lisette, what's wrong?" Elisa whispered slowly as the woman sobbed against her.

    In between wracking breaths of air, Lisette slowly whispered, "My clan.. my clan is all dead because of me!  I.. I sat there and watched as they were being destroyed.. they're dead because I failed them," Lisette sobbed as she drew away from Elisa and blinked back the tears.. her guilt ridden blue eyes meeting Elisa's sympathetic brown.

    "But Lisette, surely you know that it wasn't your fault!" Elisa broke in quickly.  "You said so yourself.. you were bound in iron!  There was nothing you could have done!"

    "Tell that to the Leader," Lisette muttered darkly as she brushed away the tears with one hand, the horrible memories darkening her vision.

    Sighing, Elisa sat back on her knees.  From her vast experience, she knew that no matter what she said, she wouldn't be able to erase the feelings of guilt that her friend was obviously feeling.. comforting words would do nothing for her.  "I know how it feels to lose someone," Elisa whispered slowly, her eyes focused far away on another time.  "And how it feels to carry the guilt of their death on your conscience... time will help but it will never erase your memories."

    Closing her eyes, Lisette slowly shook her head, feeling bitterness well up within her.  "Thank you for your words Elisa.. but how could you possibly understand what I am feeling?" she dead-panned as her bright blue eyes seemed to pierce into Elisa.

    Smiling sadly, Elisa turned and focused once more on Lisette.  "Trust me, my friend, I understand," she whispered quietly, trying to force back her own memories.  "As someone once said, 'Cold steel may penetrate the flesh, the wound may throb and smart, but far more are the wounds inflicted on the heart.  Soothing balms may cease the pain that body blows impart, but what can heal the deep cut wounds inflicted on the heart?  Yes -- the mark upon the flesh will fade, forgotten with the pain but when the heart is wounded thus the scar will long remain.'"

    Shocked, Lisette stared up at Elisa in awe.  Nodding to herself, she then realized that Elisa really did understand her pain.  She didn't know how someone like Elisa could possibly know the pain she did.. but she really did understand.  And for some weird reason, just knowing that someone else shared a pain similar to hers was enough to ease the pain somewhat for that night.  Smiling sadly, Lisette slowly reached forward and hugged Elisa once more.  Both remained that way, clinging slowly to each other as their own horrid memories bombarded their minds.  Shaking her head, Lisette slowly pulled away and climbed to her feet.  "Thank you Elisa.. for listening," she murmured before turning and walking slowly from the room.

    Turning, Elisa watched her go.  Sighing, she slowly shook her head and turned to leave herself.  Sighing, she lifted her watch and then cursed quietly -- the sun had risen ten minutes ago, meaning that her love was already captured in stone.  Shaking her head, she quickly turned and began heading back, realizing that it was probably for the best seeing as how it would be better for her to just return home and sleep off the memories that now plagued her mind.

    In her many years of existence, she had lost many a loved one and friend due to no one else but herself... the guilt of losing a loved one would always stay with her.. especially when the pain and guilt was due to that of losing your only child...  Holding back tears, Elisa quickly rushed through the remaining hallways, eager to find her way back home.

Castle Wyvern -- three weeks later

    Smiling, the young baby gurgles in her mother's warm grip, the arms safe and protective as she stares across the room.  It was the same room.. always the same room in the same dream with the same view:  grimy dirt floors, a hearth with a small fire burning, a rickety old table with wooden benches, an old bed made out of lumber pressed against the far corner, and the pale and cold sunlight seeping in through the open doorway.  No, look at her face.. please look at her face! Lisette begged of her mind's eye.. it wasn't to be.  Every time it was the same dream with the same view.

    Laughing, the baby gurgles some more as she is gripped tighter by the hands as she rises higher in the air, moving with the mother as she stands up from her chair quickly.  This isn't a game!!  Look at her face! Lisette urged, knowing that the baby wouldn't do any different than usual.. too young to understand.

    Suddenly the room begins to tilt as the baby is lowered quickly to the floor and then laid on the cold dirt.  The cold upsets the child, and she quickly begins to scream with tear filled eyes.  Turning her small head, the young infant watches through blurry eyes as the mother walks towards the open door, never once looking back.

    Then she stops.  Holding her breath, Lisette urged for the dream to go on.  As the baby continues to cry, the mother stops by the door and weakly reaches one tan hand out and rests it against the door, the hand trembling.  Ever so slowly she begins to turn.  Just as the corner of the woman's face reaches the light, the dream slowly fades to black.

    No, Lisette sobbed in her mind's eye as darkness once more reigned over her world.  I need to see her face... mama.. mama...

    "Mama!" Lisette cried out as she sat up quickly in her bed, a single tear dripping down her face at the thought that not once had she ever seen her mother's face... all she ever wanted since the dream first started occurring all those years ago was to see her mother's face just once.

    Shaking her head in order to clear the troubling and reoccurring dream from her mind, Lisette looked around the familiar walls of her room... her room.  With Fox's help, the two had quickly transformed the drab bed chambers that she had been given to her own little hideaway decorated in her own tastes -- a tasteful mix of the tenth century with the twenty-first.

    Smiling to herself, Lisette stuck one arm out from under the covers and felt the air outside of her warm cocoon.  "Ah, I see that despite the many conveniences of modern life, the chilliness of a castle remains," Lisette murmured.  Without a thought, she turned her head to the brick fireplace opposite of the bed and added a spark of fire to the wood sitting ready.  In a matter of minutes, a large fire was started and the room began to gradually warm.

    Laughing in delight at the aid of magic, she then looked over to the alarm clock sitting on the ancient bed stand.  "Oh zût!  It is almost time for breakfast!" Lisette murmured as she quickly tossed her covers aside and jumped out of bed and headed for her private bathroom for a quick shower.  Five minutes later, she stepped back into the room and opened up her ancient armoire which was filled to overflowing with everything ranging from ratty jeans to the latest fashions.  Groaning, Lisette noticed some more of the expensive clothing that she detested.  

    "It looks as though Fox has gone shopping for me again," Lisette muttered with a small smile as she quickly
bypassed the expensive clothing and slipped into a pair of her favorite blue jeans and a comfortable long sleeve shirt.  Smiling, she quickly sat at her vanity table and brushed through her wet blond hair and then turned to slip into her shoes.  All set to go, she quickly turned out all of the lights and headed for breakfast.

    A few minutes later, she emerged from the twisty hallways of the castle and entered the dining hall.  Like usual, she was late for breakfast and already Xanatos sat at the head of the table, eating his supper while reading a newspaper with Fox to his right, eating while she read as well.  Shaking her head, Lisette quickly moved to her seat opposite of Fox's and sat down.  Within a matter of seconds, a plate of steaming scrambled eggs and pancakes was set before her by Owen.  "Thanks," Lisette said quickly before lifting up her fork and digging in.

    At the sound of Lisette's voice, Fox glanced up from her paper and frowned slightly.  "I wonder if I'll ever break you of this jeans fetish that you have and be able to introduce you to some modern fashion," Fox commented idly as she turned her attention back to her paper.

    "Not likely," Lisette said with a small grin, used to the comments seeing as how it was sort of a tradition between the two.

    "Hmm, and I don't suppose you'd be interested in going shopping with me after you finish your breakfast and I my supper?" Fox asked, turning her paper down to raise an eyebrow at the younger woman.

    "Why Fox, you of all people should know that all of the stores that you usually shop at would be closed by now.. the sun will be setting, after all, in less than an hour."

    "Yes, but.."

    Sighing, Xanatos lowered his own paper and mock glared at the two women sitting beside him.  "Must I sit here and listen to you two women argue over clothing every single night?" Xanatos asked pointedly as he quickly picked up his paper once more and continued to read.

    Surprised, Fox and Lisette looked at each other for a minute before both broke out into laughter.. soon, not even Xanatos was able to withstand it as all three laughed together.  Shaking her head, Lisette quickly focused back on her food and polished off the remainders.

    "Lisette, would you care to join David and I in the gym after we're all finished eating, seeing as how the clan won't be awake for a while yet?" Fox asked as Lisette pushed back her chair and stood before them.

    Smiling, Lisette shook her head.  "No thank you.. I think that I would rather go and try to walk off breakfast instead.  If you will excuse me."

    Nodding, Fox and Xanatos watched the newest addition to the castle go.  "She has adapted to castle life well, hasn't she David?" Fox asked with a small smile as she turned to her husband.

    "Yes, she has," Xanatos agreed as the door closed behind the younger woman.  "I must admit that it is refreshing to have some new blood around the castle again... a new player to be added to the game."

Elisa's apartment

    Noting the time on the wall clock, Elisa hurried throughout her apartment turning off various switches as she went.  Suddenly, a soft and furry object darted against her leg.  Gasping, Elisa jumped back a couple of feet before realizing who her attacker really was.

    "Cagney!" Elisa gasped as she tried to calm her racing heart.  "You bad cat!  You startled me!" she muttered as she reached down and lifted the pile of fur into her arms.  Immediately the cat began to purr like a fine tuned engine.  Smiling, Elisa gently began to stroke her pet as she moved into the kitchen and looked into the empty bowl on the floor.  "Ah, so this is why you've become so friendly all of a sudden.. you're hungry!" Elisa muttered with a small smile as she placed the gray cat on the floor and turned to quickly pour some more cat food into the empty bowl.  Suddenly, the front door opened behind her, the creaking alerting her.  Reacting on instinct, Elisa dropped the bag of cat food, causing it to spill all over the linoleum floor as she drew her gun and pivoted quickly till she was aimed at the front door.

    "Hold it, hold it!  Don't shoot!" Matt yelled out quickly as he held his hands out in defense.

    "Goddammit Matt!" Elisa cried out in frustration as she slowly holstered her gun so that it was hidden beneath her red jacket once more.  "Can't you learn how to knock?" she asked as she turned to survey the mess of cat food all over the kitchen floor.

    "Sorry," Matt muttered as he joined Elisa in the kitchen, trying his best to hide his smile at the mess.  "I was just coming in, though, to tell you that I found this sitting outside your front door," he continued, his gaze turning serious as he withdrew a silver wrapped box from one of the many pockets of his trench coat.

    "Another one?" Elisa groaned as she gingerly took the box from Matt.

    "Yeah, another one at your home!  Elisa, he's always left them at the station.. but now he knows where you live!" Matt cried out, worry creasing his tanned face.

    Shrugging off Matt's worry, Elisa just repeated to herself slowly that there was no reason for her to be afraid.. after all, what could this person possibly do to harm her.. the protector of the human race?!  Besides harm her in some way in front of someone.. an act that would surely blow her cover when she began to heal almost immediately.  Shaking it off once again, Elisa quickly tore open the packaging and opened the box within.  Almost immediately, her voice caught in her throat as she saw what lay upon the white cotton.

    "What is it?" Matt asked as he leaned forward, trying to gain a better view.  "Wow, that's nice," he muttered as he saw yet another carved angel.. this one completely black.

    As the cold and slimy tendrils of fear wrapped its way around Elisa's spine, she slowly reached a hand forward and took the statuette into her hand, her face becoming pale.  The angel countenance was unmistakable.. but the utter blackness of the statue was threatening.  Rubbing her finger over the smooth surface, Elisa quickly decided that it must have been carved from obsidian.

    Noticing how pale Elisa had gotten at the sight of the gift and how tightly she held the angel, Matt slowly reached forward and unclenched her fist from around it and then placed it on the counter.  Worry covering his face, Matt turned towards his partner and gently took her hands in his.  "Elisa, what's wrong?" he asked slowly.

    "It's... it's a dark angel," Elisa whispered, her mind flooring at the indications of that simple gift.  Praying to God that it wasn't true, but all the pieces falling into place nonetheless, Elisa let go of Matt's hands and picked up the empty box once more.  Like always, underneath the bed of cotton lay a single, hand scrawled note.  Her hands shaking, Elisa gently picked up the note and opened it, allowing the light to shine forth onto the words.  "With love all things are possible, forever...." Elisa whispered, reading the words aloud.

    "Elisa?"

    "Matt.. I know who it is.. oh God, I know who it is," Elisa whispered as her eyes widened in disbelief and fright.  Turning, Elisa dropped the note quickly and pretty much ran from the room and out into the hallway beyond.

    Confused, Matt quickly hit the light switches and closed the door behind him as he chased after his partner.  "Where are we going?!"

    "We have to get to the clan.. oh God, we have to get to the clan before it's too late!"

Castle Wyvern

    Humming softly to herself, Lisette moved slowly through the open air courtyard of the castle and then into the luscious gardens beyond.  Sighing, she admired the towering plants and flowers that all but obliterated everything but the sun sinking slowly in the horizon beyond.  As the heady scents of the flowers filled her mind, Lisette entered the middle most part of the gardens and sank down onto the stone bench -- relaxing and taking in the sight of the bright flowers fading into the darkness of twilight... twilight?  

    Gasping, Lisette quickly shot to her feet as she realized that the others would be awakening soon.  True, it was beautiful here and she would like to see the rest of the sunset in this setting, but Brooklyn would worry.  Shaking her head at the thought, Lisette's smile grew as she turned away from the bench and began making her way back.  But before she even left the center of the large gardens her senses began warning her of something not quite right.  Instantly cautious, Lisette turned back in the direction where she had been and saw a stranger sitting on the bench she had just occupied.

    He was very attractive, with short, curly blond hair, large blue eyes, a strong jaw, and an obviously well muscled physique hidden under the thin dark blue sweater and khaki pants he wore.  He seemed to be older than her.. about Elisa's age.. but his eyes bespoke of a wisdom far older than he looked.  Regaining her control, Lisette turned her fiery blue eyes to his and stepped slowly back into the center of the gardens.  "Who are you?"

    Smiling at the question, the man slowly stood up and began advancing towards her.  "Someone," he whispered quietly, a toying smile on his lips.

    Maintaining the hard line of her lips, Lisette's eyes narrowed slowly.  "How did you get up here?  What do you want?" she asked slowly, showing no fear as she planted her hands firmly on each hip.

    Ignoring her questions, the man continued to advance slowly.  "Has anyone ever told you how very lovely you are?" he asked quietly, his piercing blue eyes never leaving hers.  "A goddess of sorts," he continued, his dark gaze latching onto hers, mesmerizing her with their intensity as he finished off the distance between them.

    Lost in his gaze, Lisette stared up into the stranger's eyes as he slowly reached one warm hand up and rubbed it gently across her cheek and then trailed it down her neck and shoulders.  Shivering at his touch, Lisette reached her head toward his as magic seemed to take place:  the moon light in the gardens making everything glowing and beautiful as their lips came closer and closer.. as magic.. magic?  The word snapping her out of it, Lisette quickly stepped back and glared up at the stranger.

    Smiling even though his trick didn't work like planned, the stranger quickly began advancing again, causing Lisette to dart around and head back towards the center of the garden.  Seeing this, the stranger quickly darted forward, intending to capture her in a bear hug of sorts.

    Falling back into the training that Fox and Elisa had been giving her, Lisette easily sidestepped his grasp and then did a roundhouse kick, her foot smashing into the back of his head and sending him flying towards the stone bench where he hit it with a large crack.  Breathing heavily, Lisette watched as the stranger slowly turned around and pulled himself up from the ground.

    His eyes trained on her, he slowly and deliberately reached up and wiped a smear of blood away from a large cut on his chin.  "I'm impressed with your skills," he replied simply, watching in amusement as Lisette's eyes widened in amazement as the wound on his chin healed right before her eyes.

    "What are you?" Lisette asked quickly, a large knot of fear beginning to form in her for the first time.

    "Your worst nightmare," the stranger ground out as his eyes began to glow a bright green.  Before Lisette had a chance to duck or run for cover, he then released a powerful magic bolt that caught her straight in the stomach.

    Crying out, Lisette quickly fell to the ground.  Holding her stomach delicately, she felt her anger build so quickly that it overpowered her fear.  Climbing to her feet, she quickly called upon her magic.  As the wind built around her and caused her hair to swirl, her eyes began to glow the same green color.  With an angry cry, she quickly lashed back at him with her own magic, throwing him against a brick wall of the castle.

    Climbing to his feet once more, the stranger quickly began his magical attack on her -- an attack that she was ready for.  Both began to concentrate most of their energy on shielding themselves from the blows as they tried to outsmart and outpower the other one as they began to circle and turn against each other.  As a heavy sweat filmed Lisette's skin, she realized for the first time in her life that her magic was no match for the fight that she was in.  Suddenly, one of the stranger's blows broke through her shield and threw her against the same wall he had just visited.  Crying out, she slowly got to her feet and looked up just in time to watch as the stranger shaped some sort of large glowing horseshoe in his hands and then fired it at her.  Having no chance to react, the horseshoe easily wrapped itself around her before imbedding itself straight into the stone, pinning her hands tight against her sides.  After a few minutes of struggling, it quickly dawned on her that not only was the metal too impossibly strong for her to free herself, but it was also made of iron, making her magic useless.  Looking up, Lisette watched in horror as the stranger slowly drew closer towards her, causing her to struggle all the harder.

    "How does it feel to be the one bleeding?" he asked slowly as he noted the trickle of blood that trailed down her face from a small cut on her forehead.

    Ignoring him, Lisette continued to struggle, knowing that it was useless but not understanding the concept of giving up.

    Laughing at her attempt, the stranger slowly reached down and withdrew a wickedly long blade from a sheath that had been hidden under his sweater.  Turning suddenly serious, he slowly pulled the blade up until the sharp edge of the knife was pressed tightly against the delicate skin of her long, tan neck.

    Gasping in fright, Lisette immediately stopped struggling and tilted her head back against the stone wall, the knife moving with her -- always remaining tightly pressed against her soft skin.

    "Is tonight your night to die?"

Castle Wyvern -- Parapets

    As the sun finally dipped over the horizon, all seven gargoyle statues quickly began the awakening process:  stone skin cracking, an eerie light revealed, stretching and roaring as the skin burst away and they awoke into the night.  Out of all, the loudest and fiercest roar to be heard came from Goliath as he greeted the night like he greeted all others.  As the last of the stone shards dropped away, Goliath turned with his clan away from the bright lights of the city and jumped from the parapets to greet those who awaited.

    "Xanatos, Fox," Goliath nodded, acknowledging the Lord and Lady of the castle.

    "Good evening, Goliath," Xanatos greeted, a small smile on his face.  "I trust that you slept well?"

    "As always," Goliath growled, wondering if the billionaire would ever get to the point as the rest of the clan assembled around them.

    "Right," Xanatos replied with a slight frown.  "In any case, Fox and I were just wondering if.."

    "Goliath!" Elisa yelled as she raced out from one of the many doors leading into the castle.

    "Elisa?" Goliath asked quickly, turning to face his love, the panic in her voice causing his to rise quickly.

    "Wait up!" Matt yelled out as he exited from the same door seconds later, panting and trying to regain his breath.

    Ignoring all, Elisa ran quickly to Goliath and grabbed his arms urgently.  "Elisa, what's wrong?" Goliath asked quickly, trying to read the expression on her face.

    "Goliath, I know who has been sending the gifts and letters.. Goliath I knew who it is!" Elisa cried out breathlessly, completely missing the surprised looks that she was receiving from all gathered.

    "Gifts.. notes.. what are you talking about?" Goliath asked, his confusion growing.

    Sighing in frustration, Elisa shook her head quickly.  "Goliath, there's no time!  He's back!  Caleb's back!  You guys are in danger!"

    "Caleb?" Goliath asked, staring at Elisa as though she were mad.

    "We may already be too late!!  He may already be here!" Elisa cried out, frustrated that no one was understanding the caliber of what was going on.  "Is everyone here?  I need to get you guys out of here!" Elisa muttered quickly as she surveyed the group.  "He's going to try and hit me where it will hurt most," she murmured, so quietly that only Goliath heard.

    His eyes widening, Goliath too looked to make sure that everyone was here.  As far as he knew, Elisa as her counter part, Talika, was unstoppable -- but if something had her this worried, then that something had to be.. bad.

    "Someone's missing," Elisa murmured, her eyes narrowing.  "Lisette!" she shouted suddenly, fear gripping her tightly.  "Brooklyn, where's Lisette?" she asked quickly, turning to the second.

    As fear and worry tore at Brooklyn's insides, he too realized that this must not be an ordinary threat.  Never before had he seen Elisa so frightened.. not even with Mozenrath.  And his fear was ten times worse when he realized as well that Lisette wasn't with them.

    Before he had a chance to answer though, one of the doors leading to the castle crashed open as Owen ran outside and to the group.  "Sir, Security has picked up a disturbance in the gardens..." Owen muttered quickly to Xanatos.  "I believe that Lisette was seen heading there last..." he trailed off, the closest thing to worry covering his emotionless face.

    Fear tightening its hold, Brooklyn didn't wait for another word to be said before he was off like a bolt of lightning.  Please let her be okay, please let her be okay, please let her be okay, was the mantra that he began chanting in his mind as he hurried to the castle gardens.

Castle Gardens

    "Do you want to die?" the stranger asked slowly as he teased the knife slowly across Lisette's throat.

    Trying her best to ease her breathing, Lisette fought the tidal wave of fear that was enveloping her, refusing to give in.  Still, the feel of the sharp knife against the delicate layer of skin at her neck was a powerful weapon.  As the tears built in her eyes, Lisette sobbed out one word: "No" as the knife continued to dance.

    "Then call them.. call your friends to us," the stranger whispered as he tightened the knife against her flesh.

    "What?" Lisette asked in confusion, looking into his blue eyes.. his cold blue eyes.

    "Scream bloody hell for all I care, just call them over here," he whispered again, taking the knife back a little from the neck.

    Suddenly, realization dawned on her.  She was to be the bait that would gather her clan to her... so that he could either capture or kill them -- or worse.  "No," Lisette whispered slowly, determination building within her.

    Frowning, the stranger pressed the knife tighter once again, the sharp edge nicking her skin and starting a thread of blood.  "Call to them or die," he whispered, his voice turning hard.

    Sobbing, Lisette tried her best to ignore the stinging pain.  She didn't want to die.. not now or in this way.  But never again would she be the cause of her friends' death... she would play no willing part in this game.  Determination strengthening her limbs and drying her tears, she spoke again, this time her voice as hard as her will.  "No," she stated, her blue eyes as cold and hard as his.

    Suddenly, a sole voice broke the night quiet.  "Lisette!" Brooklyn yelled as he entered the maze of the garden.

    Smiling, the stranger turned back to his captive.  "It seems as though you won't be needing to call to them after all," he whispered with a sneer, completely distorting his handsome face.

    At his words, fear once more tightened its cold hands upon her heart -- fear no longer for herself, but for her friends instead.  "No, Brooklyn, run aw.." Lisette began to yell before the stranger's hand clamped down over her lips, shoving her head back hard against the wall.. so hard that her vision dimmed briefly as the sharp pain flared in the further regions of her skull.

    Angry at her words, the stranger smiled at the look of pain that flashed across the woman's beautiful features as she sagged against the wall.  Still, her words may have cost him.  Anger filling him once more, the man quickly placed the knife tight against her throat.  As her eyes opened and focused on him once more, he slowly whispered, "It seems as though you, my love, have just made it your night to die."  As her lovely blue eyes widened in fear, the stranger prepared himself to bring the knife that was held so tight against her throat in one quick swipe.

    A sudden rustle of leaves and branches off to his right alerted the stranger of a new player in their little game.  Careful to keep the knife tight against the woman's throat, the stranger took his other hand away from her mouth and placed it at the base of her neck.. a place where if he so chose, could choke the life out of her with one tight squeeze.  A smile flitting across his handsome face, he then turned to watch as one of the demons, a brick red one with wild white hair, ran out from behind the bushes.  "Come no further, creature, or this woman will die," the stranger whispered, stopping the creature in its tracks.

    "Lisette," Brooklyn gasped out as he located the body that accompanied the soft timber of the stranger's voice.  There was his worst nightmare come true.. his first real love in the grasp of a strange lunatic, blood dripping down her face, with a knife pressed against her throat.  Then again, wasn't that everyone's worst nightmare come true?

    "Brooklyn, get the others and go!" Lisette called out quickly.

    Angry at her words once again, the stranger quickly grabbed her head by the hair and pulled it forward before smashing it viciously back against the stone wall, once again causing the darkness to try and grab her in order to drag her down, a soft cry escaping her lips.

    "Stop it!" Brooklyn yelled out urgently, his eyes flaring white in anger, but not daring to move another step forward with the knife pressed so tightly against her throat.  Suddenly, he felt movement behind him as the rest of the clan gathered behind him.

    "Like I told the red one, don't any of you take a step closer or else she dies," the stranger said as he tightened his grip on Lisette.

    Suddenly, the crowd of creatures parted as someone stepped fully into the garden.  Smiling, the stranger noted that only the largest of the creature tried to stop her.

    "Caleb, let her go," Elisa ground out fiercely as she took in the knife pressed against Lisette's throat.

    Nodding at Elisa, Caleb slowly stepped away from Lisette, placing the knife back in its sheaf.  "As you wish, my love."

    Eyeing the stranger, Brooklyn only waited till he stood a few feet away before he gave up all restraint and rushed up to Lisette's side.  Almost immediately he began tugging fiercely on the iron horseshoe that held her tightly against the wall.  A few seconds later, the iron slowly grade out of the wall, causing Lisette to tumble into his arms.  Relieved, he held her protectively as his angry glare returned to the stranger.

    Seeing this, Caleb nodded slowly at Brooklyn.  "What sort of creature is that anyway?" he asked slowly as his eyes narrowed.  Not waiting for an answer, he turned quickly and sent a magical blast at Lexington, enclosing him in a glowing orb of magic that slowly drew the smallest gargoyle towards him.

    Without even thinking, Elisa turned quickly and sent a blast of her own at the connecting light, breaking it easily.  As the magic dispersed, Lex fell from the orb and back to the ground.  Shaking his head slightly, he grabbed Angela and Broadway's hands as they pulled him quickly back with the clan, shielding him with their larger bodies.  "Leave them out of this, Caleb," Elisa hissed fiercely, her eyes fading from the green glow back to her normal brown color.

    Completely ignoring Elisa's statement, Caleb continued to carry the same questioning look on his face.  Turning back towards Elisa, he slowly muttered, "How puzzling.. they are a separate species that show traces of our and Oberon and Titania's magic... how can this be?"

    Ignoring his question for the time being, Elisa slowly fixed her large brown eyes on Caleb.  Her voice hard, she finally asked the question that had been on her mind ever since the final gift gave away the giver.  "How did you escape?"

    Waving a hand in the air as though to brush off the question, Caleb shook his head slowly.  "You shouldn't have left that entrance that led to the surface, my Dark Angel," Caleb admonished slowly, a small grin on his face as he used his pet name for her.  "A human stumbled upon it and was so kind as to remove the angel that you left to restrain me."

    Confusion clouding her lovely features, Elisa shook her head slowly.  "But there was no entrance to the surface...."

    Not missing a beat, Caleb's smile grew even more.  "Perhaps the Creator's plan for me isn't so cut and dry then."

    At his words, Elisa's smile slowly faded into a frown as her expression became troubled.  Shaking her head, Elisa decided to focus on that later as she turned her eyes once more to Caleb.  "What are you doing here?" she asked slowly, afraid that she already knew the answer.

    Almost immediately Caleb's expression softened as a large smile lit up his face.  "I've come back to regain my love, of course.. my Dark Angel -- my wife.." Caleb whispered as he closed off the space between them and then went on one knee before her, taking her hand in his.  "I still love you, Talika my love, and forgive you for what you did.. for your betrayal," he whispered, a frown flitting across his face briefly.  "I want my queen back at my side to rule over what is ours..."

    Shaking her head sadly, Talika slowly squeezed the hand that she held.  "I'm sorry Caleb, but I'm no longer your love and I no longer want to rule... for a long time now the humans have lived on their own, not knowing anything about this; making up their own minds, settling their own disputes, and living in their own way..." Talika stated quietly, her eyes never leaving his.

    Growing angry, Caleb quickly released her hand and backed away.  "How can you let them rule themselves!  They're too dangerous and evil for that.."

    "No they're not!" Talika disagreed quickly, shaking her head in denial.  "It's true that some of them do have evil hearts.. but not all of the humans in the world have evil in them..."

    "How can you possibly believe that?!  After what they did to our child?!" Caleb cried out angrily.  But as the tears welled up in Talika's eyes, he instantly regretted his harsh words.

    "You mean what I did to our child..." Talika whispered quietly, her hands balled up into fists.  "It was my fault.."

    "No, my love," Caleb disagreed quickly.  "We have gone over this before.. it wasn't your fault!  The humans are the ones who did it!  I know that it's hard for you to believe it, but the ones that we were created to protect have turned against us!  For the crimes that they have done, they must be punished... and as King and Protector of the human race, I declared long ago that they shall die for their actions!" Caleb hissed quickly, his face turning into an ugly mask of rage and hate.

    As Caleb's words rang through the courtyard, Talika's face grew hard and stony.  "I see that all your millenniums of rest did nothing to make you see the light," Talika whispered coldly.  "Your ravings and proclamations are the reasons why we used our one weakness against you so long ago.. why Oberon, Titania, and I turned against you... because you turned your back on the Creator and on our purpose... you began killing every human that crossed your path!  You turned evil when our purpose was light!"

    "And you betrayed your husband!" Caleb broke in quickly, anger rising within him.

    "You are no longer my husband or my love!" Talika whispered harshly.  "Long ago the Creator gave me your power as well as mine -- giving me the power to protect the first race by myself!"

    Drawing back as though he had been slapped, Caleb shook his head slowly.  "By yourself?  For so long?" he asked, a new emotion popping onto his face.  An emotion that could be read as pity.  "Come back to me Talika, my love.. my Dark Angel.. the sole protector of the human race... come back to me and all will be forgiven.  Together we can give the humans what they deserve for what they did to Hope..."

    "I love another."

    The color draining from his face, Caleb lifted his hand slowly and pointed it at Talika.  "A human?!  You dare love a human after what they.."

    "No," Talika broke in quietly.  "A gargoyle."

    "A what?!"

    "The creatures that stand before you," Talika whispered quietly as she motioned to the clan standing behind her.  By now, all wore looks of shock upon their faces as more and more of the story unfolded before them.  Shock and confusion.  All except Goliath.. he too looked shocked but for a different reason.  For never in his time with her had Elisa ever mentioned this Caleb or this portion of the story.  "Long ago," Talika continued, her eyes trained on Caleb, "the Creator gave me visions of this time and of my love.  With Titania and Oberon's help, we created the second race:  the gargoyles," Talika finished proudly, a large smile on her face as she indicated the clan standing behind her.  "And after all this time, my love is here to stand beside me," Talika finished as she stepped back and took Goliath's hand in hers, drawing him forward to stand beside her.  "Goliath is destined to be by my side and rule with me.. in time, he shall take on your powers and together we will be the protectors of both humans and gargoyles, who in the future shall live together in peace."

    Turning, Goliath looked over at his love, shock written upon his face as well as the faces of his clan and friends.  This was the first time that he had ever heard this -- he knew that Elisa and he would be together as long as Elisa maintained the spell between them.. but he had no idea that she planned on giving him half of her mighty powers and naming him as ruler beside her.. plainly, it was just too overwhelming of a thought for him to grasp.

    Stricken, Caleb slowly backed away.  "The Creator would never turn his back on me..."

    Sighing, Talika slowly shook her head.  "You turned your back on the Creator first, Caleb."

    Speechless, Caleb turned and looked at the group of gargoyles and humans gathered behind his ex-love.  Sneering at them all, he felt his heart grow cold once more.  "Your friends look shocked," he commented idly as he began pacing back and forth.  "Did they not know that they have been standing in the presence of greatness all this time?  Did they not know that before them stands the mighty Talika, protector of the human race?.. Or do they just know you as the weak human detective, Elisa Maza?  Even though you stand before them as that name, do they know that even now you're inhabiting nothing other than your true form?  That if they wound, cut, or maim you, that your wounds will heal right before their eyes?  Do they actually think that you are just twenty-eight years old?  Don't they know that you are one of the oldest things on this planet?  Hell, you're probably even older than the planet itself!  That you have lived countless lives masquerading as you did in human form with countless other lives and loves... possibly other children as well?" Caleb asked, his expression growing pained.  "Did you even know that the woman you knew as your precious Elisa Maza had a child once?  And that she was murdered by the humans that we were sworn to protect?!  Huh, did you ever know that?!" Caleb yelled crazily as he quickly sent a fiery bolt of magic at Talika that surrounded her in green mist.

    Gasping, all assembled watched in fear as the mist dissipated from around their friend's form, revealing Talika in the way that Caleb remembered her last:  the same body clothed in a dark blue halter top and skirt made completely out of veils, lined in gold, that began below her belly button; a golden tiara on her head; a gold bracelet on her right wrist; a golden ring on her left ring finger; and a golden anklet on her left ankle above her bare foot.  Without missing a beat, he then did it to himself:  while retaining the same form but now wearing matching dark blue baggy silk pants with a single blue sash across his bare chest, lined in gold with a gold staff in hand and a golden crown on his head.

    "Enough Caleb!" Elisa yelled, watching helplessly as all hope for a future with her clan disappeared before her very eyes.  Who was she kidding?  The minute that this all began and they began speaking the clan learned too much.

    "If you will not stand by my side then you shall take my place in that resting spot you created for me in the pits of hell!" Caleb yelled as he sent a powerful bolt of magic at Talika.

    Unprepared for the sudden attack, the magic easily caught her full force in the chest, throwing her to the ground in pain.  Even worse, because of their link, Goliath quickly fell as well.  Turning quickly, Talika saw that Goliath was indeed hurt and now unconscious.  Groaning, she turned quickly to the clan.  "Watch over him!" she ordered quickly as she turned to soar off into the night sky, Caleb quickly joining her.

 As they both flew back and forth, firing at each other almost constantly, it quickly became apparent to them both that they were equal in power once more.  Apparently, as soon as Caleb awakened from his sleep, the power that once belonged to him deserted Talika and reverted back to its rightful owner.  With both being equal to each other, that also meant that neither could really get ahead in the battle.  Crying out in frustration, Caleb decided to change tactics.  Looking down towards the ground, he checked out his selection and then with an evil grin selected his victim.  Without warning to those below, he then sent out an extremely powerful bolt down to the ground, striking Lisette where she stood and causing her to fall quickly to the ground.  The split second of time that it took for everyone to turn in fear to watch Lisette fall to the ground was all that Caleb needed for a distraction before he swished down out of the night sky, grabbed the red haired man around the neck, and then soared into a ball a flame, disappearing completely from sight.

    Without wasting another second on watching the ball of flame disappear into the night sky, Brooklyn quickly dashed over to Lisette's side and knelt beside her.  Worry clogging his throat, he tried shaking her gently, his worry growing when he got no response.  Turning, he looked over at the clan and felt his hope lift as Fox left her husband's side and ran over to join him.

    With the precision of a medic, she quickly reached a hand out to check Lisette's pulse.  "Weak pulse, labored breathing.." Fox muttered as she tried her best to assess the situation.  Turning, she quickly yelled over to the stunned people behind her.  "David, alert the infirmary!" she yelled out quickly, her voice urgent.

    But before Xanatos could take a step Brooklyn's voice broke the hushed quiet of the night.  "Oh God, she's not breathing!" he yelled out frantically.  Not knowing what else to do, he turned quickly and looked up into the night sky and met Talika's eyes.

    Nodding slowly, Talika quickly soared back down to the ground and pushed Fox aside.  Stepping closer, Talika knelt beside her friend and assessed the damage herself with her magical senses.  Shaking her head, Talika muttered two words quietly, so quietly that only Brooklyn heard:  "She's dying."

    Shaking his head in disbelief, Brooklyn quickly turned his large eyes towards his friend.  "Elisa.. Talika.. whoever you are, please, you've got to help her," he whispered desperately, tears clouding his vision.

    Nodding her head and doing her best to smile encouragingly at the young second, Talika focused her attention back on her dying friend.  Gritting her teeth, she slowly leaned forward and placed her tan hands on Lisette's still form.  "Forces of magic that I call upon, to undo this horrible and mighty wrong.  This person before me should not be in pain, so now I take it and thus do contain," Elisa chanted quietly, preparing herself for what she knew would follow.  Biting her lip, she watched as the green energy left her hands and grew around Lisette's still form.. and then as it gathered together and entered her once more.  Unable to hold it in, Talika cried out softly, holding her bare stomach in her hands as she fell away from Lisette and slowly lay back on the soft grass.  As Fox quickly knelt above her, Talika felt the pain spread and her breathing slow.  "Don't worry," she whispered quietly before darkness enveloped her.

    Smiling, Brooklyn kept his eyes trained on Lisette as her breathing slowly increased.  "She's breathing!  Elisa, she's breathing!" he called out happily, turning to where his friend once knelt.

    As tears formed in her eyes, Fox met Brooklyn's eyes instead.  "She's dead," Fox whispered, not believing it herself as she took her hand away from Elisa's still warm skin.

    Smiling, the young baby gurgles in her mother's warm grip, the arms safe and protective as she stares across the room:  grimy dirt floor, a hearth with a small fire burning, a rickety old table with wooden benches, an old bed made out of lumber pressed against the far corner, and the pale and cold sunlight seeping in through the open doorway.

    Laughing, the baby gurgles some more as she is gripped tighter by the hands as she rises higher in the air, moving with the mother as she stands up from her chair quickly.

    Suddenly the room begins to tilt as the baby is lowered quickly to the floor and then laid on the cold dirt.  The cold upsets the child and she quickly begins to scream with tear filled eyes.  Turning her small head, the young infant watches through blurry eyes as the mother walks towards the open door, never once looking back.

    Then she stops.  As the baby continues to cry, the mother stops by the door and weakly reaches one tan hand out and rests it against the door, the hand trembling.  Ever so slowly she begins to turn.  Crying, the young baby holds out her hands towards her mama as she looks over her shoulder once and meets the child's young eyes.  For the first time, the face is revealed: long, silky black hair cascading over her shoulders, large caring brown eyes now filled with tears, a strong chin and a beautiful tan face.  It would be impossible for her not to recognize this face.

    "Elisa!" Lisette screamed as she jolted awake, turning back and forth quickly.  Everything came rushing back at once as she saw that she was still lying in the same place she must have fallen in the gardens.  Turning, she looked quickly to her right and saw her worst nightmare come true:  Elisa's body lying beside her.. and she obviously wasn't sleeping.  Screaming, Lisette quickly tried to back away from the body, only to encounter warm flesh beside her.  Turning, she found none other than Brooklyn kneeling behind her.  As the tears streamed down her face, Lisette quickly buried her head into his chest, his strong arms wrapping protectively around her.
"Oh God Brooklyn.. Elisa," Lisette sobbed, the tears streaming down her tan face -- tan like her mother's.  "What happened?" she asked quickly, pulling away to look up into his sad, sad face.

    Sighing, Brooklyn met her strong blue eyes.  "After Caleb hit you with that blast.. he grabbed Matt and disappeared... you were dying," Brooklyn whispered, tears entering his eyes at the thought of losing her so soon after he had just found her.

    "But.. but Elisa," Lisette whispered, glancing back over at the body lying behind her.

    "She absorbed the blast from you and into her.." Brooklyn mumbled quietly, guilt filling him to the core.  After all, he was the one that asked for Talika to help, knowing deep down what it meant.

    Shaking her head in disbelief, Lisette buried her head back into his chest.  "No," Lisette sobbed, the truth of the matter breaking through.  "No, she can't be dead!" she cried quietly as the rest of the clan left their unconscious leader's side and formed a circle around their fallen friend, tears filling most of their eyes.

    Suddenly, Talika's body arched up as she gasped for air, her eyes popping open.  Surprised, the group stepped back quickly.  A large smile appearing on Angela's face, she rushed forward and hugged Talika to her.  "Oh Elisa!  We thought that you were dead!" she gasped.

    Coughing, Talika smiled weakly and then pulled away from Angela gently.  "I'm immortal.. I can't die, remember?" she laughed quietly.  Suddenly, the picture of Goliath tumbling to the ground flashed through her eyes.  Fearing the worst, she quickly jumped to her feet and ran to his side.  Relieved, she saw that, although his breathing was ragged, he had a strong pulse.

    "What's wrong with him?" Angela asked slowly as she joined Talika at her father's side.

    Sighing, Talika gently rubbed a hand through his hair.  "About four or five months ago I connected him to me -- kind of like MacBeth and Demona."

    "But why?" Angela asked, confusion covering her face.

    "So I'd never have to worry about him dying again," Talika answered truthfully, the love she felt for him shining on her face.  "That shot that Caleb took at me was felt by him as well.  I was able to shrug it off, but it was too strong for his system to be able to handle it.. and then with the blast that I took from Lisette.. but don't worry, he'll be just fine," Talika finished with a smile as she slowly reached forward and snapped the magical bond between her and her love with her powers.  Deep down, she knew that there was a chance that Goliath would be safe here.. and that if she did happen to fail in the coming battle, she didn't want to take him with her.  Unlike the spell with Demona and MacBeth, they didn't have to kill each other in order to die.  The spell only kept him alive as long as she lived... she was supposed to be immortal with no chance for death, ensuring that Goliath would then live forever.  While the temporary death caused by taking Lisette's blast slowed her down temporarily, it was only temporarily.  But with the current spell, if she should ever perish for good, so would her love.  If things worked out here tonight, she could always relink him to her later.

    "Why don't you just help him like you did with Lisette?" Angela asked, unaware of what Talika just did but still concerned about her father.

    "Because I'm going to need all the energy I can gather for the coming battle..."

    "Speaking of which, what the hell just happened here?" Xanatos interrupted, stepping forward to face Talika.

    Standing up, Talika faced the group and sighed wearily.  "Back in the beginning, the Creator created the two races:  humans and fey.  He then created four beings to protect these two races... Oberon and Titania were created to protect the fey and Caleb and I were created to protect the human race," Talika explained slowly.

    "He was a protector?" Lexington asked, raising an eyeridge in disbelief.

    "Yes... at one time he was a very good person; all love," Talika whispered, a far away look entering her eyes.  "Long, long ago he and I had our first child together.. a precious little girl named Hope.  At the time we were the rulers of the humans, and then one day, when Hope was just four years old, the unthinkable happened," Talika stated, a strange light entering her eyes.  "Caleb was out taking care of a dispute and I was watching over Hope in the gardens.  I thought I heard a noise out front and left her side for just an instant... when I returned I found her dead, a human standing over her still holding the bloody knife," Talika whispered, a single tear dripping down her face.  

    "Devastated, I killed the man and knelt by my Hope.  I was still kneeling there when Caleb returned... even though I blamed myself, he never did," Talika said, trying to regain control of her emotions as a thoughtful expression flitted across her face.  "Instead, he blamed the human.. and from there his grief and anger changed until it covered all humans and he believed that all were evil and that all must die.  He went on a killing rampage -- murdering every single human that he came across -- young or old, good or bad.  As his equal, I knew that there was no way that I could stop him alone, so I went instead to Oberon and Titania.  Together, we captured my love..."

    "How?" Broadway interrupted, hanging on her every word.

    Smiling at the large blue gargoyle, Talika replied, "As you all know, the weakness of Titania and Oberon is iron.. the children of Oberon have nothing to fear from it besides the fact that it makes their magic useless.. or under the control of someone else..."

    "Like Lisette," Brooklyn added as he turned to his love.

    "Yes, like Lisette.  For example, remember Angela, when the Magus imprisoned the three weird sisters in iron?"

    "Yes.. it didn't harm them, but it caused for us to be able to tell them what to do," Angela agreed, a thoughtful smile upon her face.

    "Like when Puck was in iron chains and controlled by Demona!" Lex called out eagerly, a similar smile on his face.

    "Correct," Talika replied with a smile.  "For Caleb and I, it is dark matter..."

    "But there's no such thing as dark matter.. it's just a myth," Xanatos broke in quickly, disbelief covering his face.

    "No, dark matter is very real.. and Oberon and Titania gathered it up and formed it into an angel... a dark angel that was laid upon his shrouded form in a cavern located near the center of the Earth... forever imprisoning him..."

    "Till now, it seems," Xanatos broke in with a frown.

    "Till now," Talika agreed slowly, a frown upon her own face.

    Throughout the story, Lisette remained in Brooklyn's arms, her thoughts and emotions swirling wildly throughout her mind.  Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer and slowly parted from him and stepped up to Talika.  "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked slowly, a tear dripping down her face.

    "About this?" Talika asked quickly, surprised at the sudden question.

    "No.. why didn't you tell me before that you were my mother?" Lisette asked quietly, her eyes remaining fixed on Talika's.

    "What?!" was Talika's astonished reply.

    "Why did you leave father and I?  Don't you even remember us?" she asked quickly, a deep hurt becoming evident in her voice.

    "But Lisette, I'm not.."

    "You masqueraded as Jasmine and then married my father, Jean-Marc, didn't you?!" Lisette asked quickly, growing frantic and ignoring the strange stares she was receiving from the group.

    "I'm sorry, but I'm not your mother," Talika replied quietly, sorry to be doing this to her friend.  "I have been unable to have any children since Caleb.. I didn't have any children since Hope died," Talika whispered, a knot forming in her heart.

    "You're lying!" Lisette accused as tears began filling her eyes.  "I saw your face in the dream!"

    "What dream?" Talika asked in confusion, baffled by the sudden turn of events.

    "Ever since I was a child I've had the same dream... of when my mother left me... I've never been able to see her face because the dream always ended before then... but just now after you took the hurt away... the dream continued and she turned around.. it was you!" Lisette accused, the tears falling down unchecked.

    "But.. but I wasn't even in France at the time of your birth!" Talika muttered in confusion.

    "I know you're her, that you're my mother!  You just don't love me!  You've never loved me or else you wouldn't have abandoned me!" Lisette cried as the tears poured down her cheeks.  Turning, Lisette stumbled away from Talika, ignoring her and the clan's cries for her to stop.  Here she had grown up with the knowledge that her mother had disappeared shortly after her birth.  When faced with the choice of believing that her mother had either abandoned her or had died, Lisette quickly opted for the death of her mother; for the pain would be far easier to handle than the thought that her mother had abandoned her; in other words, her mother didn't love her.  Sobbing, Lisette allowed the pain to fill her.. the pain of being unloved, before she cast a spell and then disappeared in a flash of green light.

    "What in the hell just happened?" Xanatos asked slowly, breaking the stunned silence that had fallen over the group.

    "I have no idea and no time to find out," Talika muttered as she shook her head sadly.  Turning, she slowly began walking away from the group, changing her form to that of a gargoyle in mid-stride.

    "What?  Where are you going?" Brooklyn asked quickly as he turned and followed his friend.

    "After Caleb and Matt..."

    "But how?  They just disappeared... how can you possibly follow them?!" Brooklyn asked in confusion as he looked back at the assembled clan worriedly.

    Sighing, Talika stopped to stare at Brooklyn.  "It only appeared that they disappeared.  Really, he just traveled with Matt so fast that it was impossible for our eyes to follow them.  It may take a little time, but as long as I go while the trail is still fresh, I should be able to track them."

    "But why would he do that?" Brooklyn asked quickly.

    "Because he wants me to follow them," Talika whispered grimly as she neared the edge of the castle.  "Matt is his bait for me and I need to get there before Caleb kills him."

    Stopping dead in his tracks, Brooklyn looked quickly at the grim expression on his friend's face.  "If Matt is the bait, why would he kill him?"

    "Because Caleb has never really seen the difference between live bait and dead..." Talika whispered, refusing to believe what she just spelled out so carefully to Brooklyn.

    "But.."

    "When Goliath wakes up," Talika interrupted quickly, sparing one last minute to look at the current leader seeing as how her love was out of commission, "tell him what's going on.. please ask him to wait here till I get back!" Talika pleaded quietly.

    "But, Lis.."

    Shaking her head, Talika turned back towards the night sky.  "Look for her if you have time.. otherwise we'll have to deal with that later.."

    "No, I'm coming with you!" Brooklyn interrupted as he jumped up to join her on the parapet.

    "What?" Talika asked quickly, turning in surprise to face the temporary leader of the clan.

    "She's got a point, lad, why would ye be goin' wit' her?" Hudson asked slowly as he moved up next to the two gargoyles.  "Wit' Goliath down, even fer awhile, it be yer job ta lead us."

    "You know as well as I do that Goliath wouldn't let Elisa.. er, Talika go alone!" Brooklyn broke in quickly.  "Besides, as my first order as temporary leader, I declare that the rest of you shall stay here and look after Goliath -- I'm going with her!"

    As a slow smile spread across his face, Hudson began to nod slowly.  "Very well then.. good luck," he replied as he slowly walked back to the clan.

    "Oh no you don't," Talika interrupted as she watched the elder walk away.  "You are not going with me Brooklyn!  No offense, but you'd just get in the way!"

    "Well, I'm coming with you whether you'd like it or not!" Brooklyn broke in smugly as he jumped off of the parapets and began to soar into the night sky.

    Sighing, Talika quickly followed her friend.  "Just promise me to not get involved.. there really is nothing that you can do to help!"

    "I promise," Brooklyn replied as he crossed his fingers behind his back.  "Now let's get going!"

    Smiling, Talika nodded her head and soon they were off, heading in the direction that Caleb and Matt had gone.

    After a few minutes of silence, Brooklyn couldn't handle it any longer and finally voiced the question that had been foremost in his mind.  "Why didn't Caleb die when you placed the dark matter on him?"

    Sighing, Talika paused in her tracking and turned towards her friend.  "We can only be killed by the dark matter if it enters our blood stream.. that's lethal for us.  By just having the dark matter touching our skin or on top of us, that causes for our power to leave us.. most likely draining into the dark matter itself.. the darkness being the opposite of our light.  It's a painful process.. one that will soon cause for us to fall into a coma-like state," Talika explained, only knowing these facts because she watched it first hand with Caleb.. the hardest thing she ever had to do.

    "What do you think happened to the human that released Caleb?"

    "If the human really did remove the dark matter from Caleb, then he's undoubtedly dead," Talika said grimly as she continued to use her magical senses to pick up the faint trail.

    "You think that Caleb killed him?" Brooklyn asked quietly as his thoughts drifted to Matt, their other detective friend.

    "Well, the dark matter most likely caused the man's death, but if he was still alive by the time that Caleb awoke.. then yes, Caleb did finish him off without a doubt," Talika whispered slowly, her eyes flashing red at the thought.

    "The dark matter would kill a human?" Brooklyn asked slowly, confusion crossing his face.  "But I thought that it would.. well, it would just do something to them like it causes the faes' powers to go away..."

    "But the humans have no powers to take away," Talika rebutted quickly.  "Like us, the dark matter drains their only power.. in essence, it's their strength, knowledge, awareness... even if the contact is only brief, the person will surely die within a few hours after falling into the coma-like state."

    "Oh," Brooklyn gulped as he followed closely behind his friend.

    Sensing the trail coming to an end, Talika dipped quickly and landed on a large rooftop.

    "Where are we?" Brooklyn whispered as he looked around the deserted area.

    "The Natural History Museum," Talika whispered back as she recognized the familiar building.  Turning, she looked around to see where she should turn to next.  As her eyes caught a hold of a flickering light that could be seen from one of the many skylights that lined the large roof, Talika knew that the answer was obvious.  Holding her fingers to her lips, she slowly turned and tiptoed across the roof till she was able to kneel beside the glass.  Looking down, she found what she was looking for.  Below lay a large room that was lit by flickering candles.  Everywhere she turned she saw object after object that seemed to be from the medieval times.

    "It's a medieval exhibit," Brooklyn whispered from her side.

    Nodding, Talika looked past the large wooden dinner table, the ancient bed, the cage hanging in mid-air with many a wicked looking spike pointing inside, the stretcher, the large stone coffin covered with strange symbols to rest upon an ancient golden throne that housed none other than Caleb, gold staff in hand.  Before him lay Matt on some sort of medieval torturing device.  His arms were chained tightly above him and his feet were pulled tight and chained below; his mouth sealed shut by a large piece of tape.  Even from her distance, she could see his eyes wide with fear as they traced the path of a large blade that swung back and forth over his body, each swipe causing it to drop a notch closer to his middle.  At the progress of the blade, it was obvious to Talika that in a matter of minutes her partner would soon be cut in half.  Anger building inside of her, she felt her eyes glow a mixture of red and green as she turned to Brooklyn.  

    "Wait here," she hissed before turning and diving through the glass skylight and gliding to the floor far below.  Changing quickly back into her normal form dressed once more in her royal garb, Talika turned quickly and snapped her fingers, causing the long and sharp blade to disappear just before it would have cut Matt into two pieces.  Meeting his eyes, she quickly flashed a worried look.

    Seeing this, Matt nodded back as relief flooded through him, his head dropping back against the hard wooden table.  Turning, he watched as his partner turned away from him to face the evil that had taken him.

    "What is the point in this, Caleb?" Talika asked slowly, her anger dying down as the green light faded from her eyes.  "Why make me come after you when we both know that we can't beat one another?"

    "Maybe you can't, but I can," Caleb answered as he snapped his fingers.  In a flash of green light, a bright white stone suddenly appeared on a gold chain around his neck.

    "Has geology become your new hobby?" Talika muttered quietly as she looked at the stone, completely unimpressed.

    "I see that your sarcasm hasn't left you in the millenniums that we've been apart," Caleb replied with a smile as he stood from the throne and moved a short distance to where a similar bright white box stood on a pedestal.

    Confused, Talika watched as he slowly opened the box.  Immediately, a flash of pain went through her body as she slipped to her knees.  Putting a hand up to her pounding head, Talika slowly looked up and watched as Caleb removed a long golden chain from the stone box.  On the end of the chain hung a single crystal.  Fear welling inside of her, she quickly realized that the crystal wasn't just a crystal.. but a black crystal.  Actually, it wasn't even black.  It was more like when she looked at where the crystal should have been, she saw nothing; like all of the light in that area was being absorbed by the crystal -- the absolute opposite of the light.  Like there was
an empty void in the shape of a crystal.. yet there was substance to the object because Caleb held it firmly in his hands.  "Dark matter," Talika whispered weakly, knowing that it couldn't be anything else.

    Laughing at her analysis, Caleb drew closer to Talika, the pain increasing in her body along with an unsettling weakness.  Soon, she could barely stay on her knees as her hands pressed firmly on the floor before her, trying their best to support her.  Straining, Talika slowly tilted her head and met Caleb's cold blue eyes.  "How?" she whispered weakly.

    His smile widening, Caleb drew closer still.  "The white stone I wear protects me from our only weakness.. a gift from a new acquaintance."

    From his vantage point on the roof, Brooklyn watched first in confusion and then horror as Caleb advanced on Talika.  Deep inside, he knew that there was nothing he could do to help his friend.. then again, on the surface he knew that there was no way in hell he was just going to sit there and watch her be destroyed.  Roaring a roar that would impress even Goliath, Brooklyn quickly dove down through the hole that Talika had created.  Keeping his wings tight against him, he kept the dive going as he swooped lower and snatched the dark crystal from Caleb's hands.

    "No!" Talika screamed weakly as she watched Brooklyn try to gain altitude in vain.  Soon, his own piercing scream of agony joined hers as the dark matter did its job.  Quickly, both he and the crystal fell to the ground.

    Smiling, Caleb bent down and picked up the crystal before moving next to the unmoving gargoyle.  "Foolish creature," he muttered sadly as he kicked the beast lightly in the side, getting no response.

    Seeing this, Talika urgently tried to get to her feet.  "Oh God, no!" she sobbed as she tried to stand on her own, unable to meet Matt's horror stricken eyes as he too looked at their downed friend.

    His smile turning grim, Caleb turned quickly and walked back towards his ex-love, a sad smile on his face.  Crying out in pain once again, Talika quickly slipped to the ground.  Steeling his emotions, he then slipped the necklace over her head and watched in horrid fascination as the crystal rested against the base of her throat and as all light drained from her as she fell the rest of the way to the ground.  Shaking his head and trying to stop the tear that he knew was forming, he then bent slowly down and lifted her gently into his arms.  Looking at her there, he couldn't help but hate himself for what he was doing.. what he was doing to his love.  As the tear dripped down, he forced his head to look away as he moved across the quiet room -- quiet but for the muffled yells of the remaining police detective -- towards the large stone coffin that rested against one end.  Closing his eyes, he slowly and gently lowered his dark angel into the stone box until she rested inside.  

    Looking down, he watched with tear filled eyes as Talika struggled to fight the dark matter -- fought the immense pain to stay awake.  Shaking, he slowly reached down and took one of her beautiful hands in his.  "I'm sorry, my Dark Angel, but it is the only way..." he whispered sadly, his clear blue eyes meeting her pain filled brown.  "Perhaps someday we can still be together..."

    As she struggled against the pain, Caleb's words of love found their way to her ears.  Love.. he still thinks that there is any chance for us? Talika thought to herself in disbelief as her anger began to build and outshine any pain she was feeling.  As her eyes began to burn a weak green, Talika used the last of her strength to whisper one word: "Never" before the light faded and she fell victim to the coma-like sleep.

    Sighing, Caleb tried to fight his own anger as he gently laid his love's slack hand back by her side.  Who was he kidding anyway?  After their past, there was no chance that he and Talika could ever have a life together again.. she could never love him and return to his side.  Yelling in frustration, Caleb ignored the echoes of his voice as he moved in angry strides across the room to the white stone box once more.  As his hands reached inside, Caleb shook his head sadly.  Perhaps He had been right after all.  

    "She must be destroyed before my mission can be completed," Caleb whispered as he slowly drew a wicked looking knife out of the box.  The handle of the knife was a glittering gold with sparkling jewels lining the hilt which led up to a completely black blade.  His eyes growing wide, Caleb watched as the light around the sharp blade seemingly was absorbed by the dark matter that composed it.

    Watching the mad look in Caleb's eyes that he had seen far too many times in the eyes of killers, Matt Bluestone struggled helplessly against his metal bonds.  Turning, he watched with a certain helplessness as the evil protector turned away from the stone box and walked back towards the stone casket that Matt knew held his partner.  Yelling uselessly against the tape, Matt turned and looked on the other side of him and at the downed gargoyle.  Shaking his head, he watched as the strong gargoyle's labored breathing began to gradually slow.  Turning once more, Matt then stared up through the hole in the skylight and towards the starry night above.  Then he did something completely out of character for the wise cracking detective he had become:  he prayed for the life of his partner and for Brooklyn.. he prayed for them all.

Castle Wyvern

    Muttering quietly to herself, Angela quickly hurried through the twisting hallways of the dark castle.  "She better be here," she hissed as she rounded another turn and closed down on the door that she wanted.  Without even bothering to knock, she quickly threw open the large door and rushed into the room.  Turning, she found her query sobbing on her bed.

    Without turning, the young woman held her pillow tighter against her face and sobbed out, "Go away Brooklyn!"

    Knowing that there wasn't time for this, Angela quickly slammed the door shut behind her and said, "Brooklyn is gone."

    Baffled at the unexpected female voice behind her, Lisette turned around quickly, revealing a tear streaked face.  "What?!"

    Sighing, Angela moved closer and sat on the stiff bed beside her friend, gently placing her hand on her shoulder.  "Listen Lisette, I'm sorry for what you are feeling... I'm truly sorry about your mother and this mess with Elisa, but we need your help!" she stated quickly, the urgency obvious in her voice.  "Father is still unconscious and Elisa and Brooklyn left to find Matt..."

    "Brooklyn went with her?!" Lisette asked in disbelief as she jumped to her feet.  "But.. Talika may be able to take care of herself, but there's nothing that Brooklyn would be able to do to help..."

    "I know, we're worried too," Angela broke in, worry filling her to the core.  "There's nothing that any of us could do to help!.. except maybe you.." Angela trailed off slowly as she stood up and faced her friend.

    "Me?" Lisette squeaked, unable to believe what she just heard.

    "Lisette, we're just gargoyles... but you're a part of something else.. part of something that may be able to lend a little bit of magical assistance to Elisa!"

    Sighing, Lisette shook her head slowly.  "You're right," she whispered, a sad smile covering her face.  "I've been letting my emotions cloud my judgment.. and Brooklyn may be in danger because I've been acting like a spoiled child who thought of nothing but herself," Lisette whispered sadly, disgusted with her behavior.  "I suppose that it's high time that I start acting my age and become the real adult I was destined to be," she murmured, her voice becoming hard as she quickly cast a spell that covered herself in green mist.

    Coughing, Angela quickly backed away and watched in amazement as the green mist dissipated.  "Lisette?" she asked in amazement as she looked at the beautiful woman before her.

    Smiling, Lisette looked down and admired her blue, medieval gown that matched her eye coloring.  The gown was her favorite when she lived back in France.. and in the small year or two that it had been since she had worn it last, a few changes had occurred.  The tight bosom and flowing skirts revealed her tan skin and womanly body; her pale blond hair trailing loosely down her back with an occasional small braid here and there.  Turning, she smiled at the amused look that now covered Angela's beautiful face.  "If everyone is getting dressed into their normal clothes, I might as well join them," Lisette stated and she too grinned.  "After all, if I will be using my magic, it is only right that I wear my usual clothing."

    Laughing, Angela couldn't help but think back to Princess Katherine in her own medieval garb.  In the same instant, a picture of Elisa flashed into her mind.  As the smile faded, Angela realized for the first time how similar she and Lisette looked.. actually, they were almost identical.  Both were of the same height, Lisette a little shorter.. the same bone structure in the face, Lisette's a little rounder.. the same tan skin and body structure.. the same soft and flowing hair, Lisette's a pale blond opposed to the blue-black of Elisa.. the only real difference would be the eye color: Elisa's soft brown eyes opposed to Lisette's striking blue.  Why she, or any of the others for that matter, didn't see it before was a mystery to her.

    Seeing her friend's fallen expression, Lisette felt a frown pull the corners of her lips down.  "What's wrong?" she asked quickly, afraid that Angela left something out before.

    "Oh, nothing," Angela replied quickly, focusing back on that matter at hand.  "I was just wondering where you will search.. after all, Elisa and Brooklyn left long ago.."

    Smiling and waving off Angela's worry, Lisette replied, "Unlike Talika, my search will be quite easy.  No doubt Caleb hid his and Matt's position, instead leaving a faint trail of magic for Talika to follow.  She, on the other hand, did no such thing with her and Brooklyn..."

    "So you can find them?" Angela asked, a smile spreading across her face as well.

    "Yes.. all I need to do is focus on Brooklyn and pick up his location," Lisette whispered as her face screwed tight in concentration.  Suddenly, another large smile lit up her face. "Gotcha," Lisette muttered as she opened her eyes to wave once at Angela before disappearing in a spark of green.

Museum of Natural History

    As the green mist disappeared from around Lisette, she quickly looked at the source that brought her here.  "Brooklyn!" she murmured as she dropped quickly to his side.  There was her love, lying in a crumpled heap on the middle of the linoleum floor.  From the angle of his position and the way the one wing was broken backwards beneath him, it was obvious to her that he had fallen from some distance to the hard floor.  As tears sprang to her eyes she gently reached a hand forward to touch his soft white hair.  "Please be alive," she whispered slowly, not knowing enough about life in general to be able to tell.  All she knew for a fact was that he wasn't moving or responding to her touch.  As this fact drilled its way into her head, Lisette felt her heart slowly break into pieces.  Turning, she slowly stood up and faced the rest of the room for the first time, a sharp anger burning within her as she took in all details at once:  Matt strapped onto a wooden table and Caleb poised over a stone coffin, bright red blood staining his hands.

    As Caleb watched, the young woman slowly began advancing on his position.  "Welcome, Lisette," he muttered quietly, his cold blue eyes meeting hers.  Suddenly, the blue of her eyes began to change to a bright green, signifying her anger as a wind sprung up in the large room; caused no doubt by Lisette herself.  "Think wisely, young one," Caleb muttered, his eyes never leaving hers, "we've already tried this avenue once this evening, and I would think it apparent to you that your power is no match for mine."

    "How true, Protector," Lisette spoke, her voice light and lilting over her soft French accent while a hard line ran beneath it all.  "But then again, that was when the fight was between I and a stranger who was only threatening myself... the minute that you take my friends and harm my love... well, let us just say that this is a different matter altogether."

    "Oh.. so you mean that the red gargoyle is not dead yet?" Caleb mocked, his eyes cold as he stepped away from the stone casket.  "Well not to fear, my pet, the end is near for him as well."

    "Speaking of loves.. where is yours?" Lisette asked innocently.  "Oh, wait.. how silly of me to forget.. she loves another now, is that not correct?" she asked, driving the blow home with her innocent smile.

    "Touché, young one," Caleb answered, trying his best to return the smile.  "In any case, she would be the one lying in the stone casket... a knife buried in her belly.. and this would be her blood," Caleb gasped in mock worry as he looked down at his blood stained hands, a deep laugh welling within him.  "It is just you and I."

    As fear and anger gripped her even tighter, Lisette clenched her fists together.  "So it is," she muttered as she allowed all of her feelings to enter and fuel her.  Closing her eyes, Lisette tilted her head up towards the heavens and screamed as all of the doors she had long ago locked came crashing open filling her to the brim with her feelings from the start:  the love she had felt for mentor, father, and mother she had never known, the simple amount of pleasure she gained each day from the morning sun, the anger over petty things, and then the guilt of the slaying of her clan, the pain of being burned alive at the stake as the fire consumed her, the fear and shame at the Roman captain's advances, the torture of the look of hatred and confusion on the leader's face before he died, the new hope of friendship she felt with Elisa, the guilt eating her alive from the knowledge that had she only gotten here sooner and not been moping she may have been able to prevent the blood of her friend and mother from staining this evil man's hands, the love of Brooklyn, and the guilt at not being able to save him as well, and the pain over Talika's abandonment of her all those years ago.. all of these experiences, feelings, and emotions filled Lisette till she thought she would explode.. and explode she did with a blast of magic so powerful that all who encountered it should fear for their lives.  A blast so powerful that it left her body through every opening and pore within in and gathered into one single beam of light that flew forth and connected with the dark, evil thing that was Caleb and threw him against a far wall.. ending his pitiful life before it could end the lives of anymore innocent people.

    Sobbing from the intense emotions still swirling within her, Lisette slowly climbed off of the floor from where she had fallen after the blast and stumbled over to the large wooden table that held Matt.  Wiping away the tears, she quickly used a slight burst of magic to break both chains that restrained him.

    As soon as his hands and feet were free, Matt quickly sat up and ripped the tape off of his mouth.  Sliding off of the table, he gently gathered Lisette into his arms and let her cry onto his shoulders.  "Shh, you did great," Matt whispered, his voice hoarse from his attempts to yell.

    Shaking the detective off, Lisette stumbled over to Brooklyn and knelt by his side.  As the tears poured down her cheeks unchecked, she gently lifted one of his hands into hers.  Turning, she watched as Matt knelt beside her.  "Is he dead?" Lisette whispered, afraid of the answer.

    Reaching forward, Matt gently felt for a pulse.  Sighing in relief, he was unable to keep the smile off of his face as he whispered out, "No, he's alive for now.. but he is getting weaker."

    Laughing, Lisette quickly leaned forward and planted a kiss on Brooklyn's beak, not caring who saw.  "But.. Elisa," she gasped quickly as her detective friend rose in her mind.  Turning, she quickly jumped to her feet and rushed across the room to the stone casket.  Looking within, she saw something that scared her to the core.  Elisa, like Brooklyn, lay within the casket not moving.. a single golden hilt sticking out of her uncovered stomach with wet blood all around.  "No!" Lisette gasped as she reached forward.

 "Don't touch it!" Matt yelled as he ran up to her side, wishing he didn't see the gruesome image of his partner lying in her own blood.  As he stepped closer, a sudden wave of pain and weakness flashed through his body.

    "But we have to get it out of her!" Lisette sobbed as she reached once more for the handle to the knife.

    "No," Matt hissed as he reached forward and pulled Lisette away, all the while clutching his stomach in pain.  "Listen, I love Elisa too, but can't you feel it?  The blade of the knife is made of dark matter.. it's what hurt Brooklyn!"

    "No.. I don't feel anything," Lisette murmured as she stared at the dark matter.  "I'm only half human..."

    "Which probably means that you're still susceptible to it... just not as much as the rest of us," Matt groaned as he backed away further, the pain lessening the further away he got.

    "I don't care... she may not be gone yet," Lisette whispered slowly as she reached her hand forward yet again.

    "No!" Matt called out quickly, his strength returning once more.  "If she's still alive then you gotta leave the blade in -- it's slowing the bleeding!" he explained, stopping Lisette's hand with his words.  "If you pull it out, then she'll bleed to death!"

    Shaking her head, Lisette debated the matter quickly.  "No... she'll die a quicker death if we leave it in," Lisette decided as she stared at Elisa's pale and unmoving face.  Grimacing, she reached forward once more and gripped the golden hilt tightly in her hand.  Ignoring the sudden flare of pain that flashed through her body, Lisette pulled the long blade from her friend's body, trying not to watch as more of her dark red blood poured forth from the wound.  As her body began to grow weaker and the pain increased, Lisette turned to show Matt her prize... and dropped the knife and froze in her place as her eyes saw movement behind him.  "Matt!" Lisette screamed urgently as Caleb threw a powerful bolt of magic at the detective, sending him crashing to the ground.  Before she had a chance to move herself, he was upon her.

    Gripping her throat tightly with his blood smeared hands, Caleb shoved Lisette backwards till she fell onto the wooden table that once held Matt prisoner.  "But you're dead!" Lisette gasped as she struggled for air.

    "No, I'm immortal," Caleb hissed coldly as he leaned over her, squeezing his hands slowly -- easily cutting off her oxygen supply.

    "No!" Lisette gasped as she fought weakly against him.  As the air fled her body, it quickly became more and more difficult for her to think.  Gasping, Lisette tried in vain to fight him back -- her own small hands clawing and pulling against his large.  As spots began to appear in her vision, she fought instinct by turning her hands away from the useless battle against the choke hold and instead scratched at his own neck, her nails connecting with the thin gold chain that housed the white stone.  Coughing against the lack of air, Lisette listened as the stone clattered to the floor.

    "For your meddling, I will choke the life out of you!" Caleb replied coldly as his hands tightened even more on her neck, unaware that he was missing his ornamentation.

    Ignoring Caleb, Lisette focused her fading vision on the dark knife lying beside the stone coffin a few feet away from her.  Using the last of her energy, she slowly sent her magic out to the knife and drew it closer to her until it seemed to jump off of the floor of its own will and landed firmly in her outstretched hand.  Without taking time to think or wasting a heartbeat, she turned her face once more towards Caleb and reached forward with the knife, planting it deeply in his chest.

    Gasping at the sudden flash of pain and weakness that flew through his body, Caleb backed away quickly and looked down in horror at the gold handled knife that was sticking out of his bare chest.  Stunned, he looked up slowly and connected eyes with Lisette.  "You.. shall.. pay for this," Caleb gasped as a sudden intensity of light surrounded his vision until there was nothing.

    Coughing weakly, Lisette slid away from the table and onto the hard cold floor of the museum.  As strength slowly wound its way back into her body, she looked back at the place Caleb once stood.  "He disappeared," Lisette whispered in awe, unable to believe her eyes as she replayed the scene in her mind of the mist that suddenly formed around him and then disappeared just as quickly.  Shaking her head, her pale long blond hair twisting around her, she quickly decided to puzzle out that mystery later as she slowly climbed to her feet, rubbing her sore neck gingerly.  Suddenly, she heard a low moaning from behind her.  Turning quickly, she watched as Matt weakly put one hand against the wall as he attempted to get to his feet.

    "Ouch," he muttered quietly as he held a hand against his throbbing head.

    "Matt!  Are you alright?" Lisette called out quickly as she stumbled towards him, her long skirts flaring around her.

    "Yeah, I'm fine," Matt groaned quietly as a flash of pain went through his skull.  "What happened to Caleb?"

    "He's gone," Lisette answered quickly, her eyes traveling back to where he last stood.  "Where, I have no idea," she whispered a bit quieter, Matt leaning forward to hear.

    "Huh?"

    "Matt, go check on Elisa!" Lisette ordered quickly as thoughts of her friends returned to her mind.  Turning quickly, she rushed over to Brooklyn's side and knelt on the cold floor.  Reaching a hand out slowly, she held her shaking hand over his beak.  Holding her breath, Lisette waited expectantly until a soft breath of air hit her awaiting fingers.  Half sobbing in relief, Lisette drew her hand back and touched it to her lips.  "He's still alive!" she cried out happily, a smile lighting her face.

    "So is Elisa.. but for how long I can't say!" Matt cried out grimly as he reached forward to check his partner's pulse.  Crying out, he quickly drew his hand away as a flash of pain went through his body.

    "What's wrong?!" Lisette called out quickly as she turned and rushed to Matt's side.

    "I don't know.. there still must be dark matter here.."

    "There probably is some running throughout her body.. which can't be good," Lisette murmured quietly as she stared at the detective's pale face.

    "Yeah, but I shouldn't feel that.." Matt trailed off slowly as his eyes suddenly caught sight of darkness.  "She's still wearing the crystal necklace!" Matt cried out suddenly, his eyes focusing on the dreaded dark matter.

    Turning slightly, Lisette's eyes narrowed as they too focused on the necklace.  "Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?" she asked grimly as her hand darted forward and snatched the necklace off of Elisa's skin, the crystal burning into her hand.  Biting her lip against the pain, Lisette quickly darted away from the stone coffin and ran over to the white box.  As weakness climbed up her legs, she quickly threw the dreaded jewelry into the white stone box and smashed the cover on.  Instantly, the pain faded as her strength slowly returned.

    "That looked like that hurt," Matt commented idly as he hurried over to help Lisette back to Elisa's side.  "But it still didn't do the complete trick.. if she does have dark matter running through her blood stream, then that itself will be enough to kill her," Matt muttered quietly, his expression turning sad as he reached a hand out and touched his partner's face gently.

    "Maybe not!" Lisette whispered slowly, a new light entering her eyes as she left their side once more and walked back towards the torture table.  There, lying on the floor where it had fallen, was the stone of light that had protected Caleb from the ways of the dark matter.  Smiling, Lisette quickly scooped it up and hurried back, proudly showing Matt her find.  "Light is the opposite of dark.. maybe, just maybe it will help!" she whispered quickly as she reached down and fastened the necklace around Elisa's neck with Matt's aid.  Immediately a bright light began to glow around the white stone till it faded back to normal.  "Did it work?" Lisette asked anxiously as she stared down at Elisa's face.

    Suddenly, Talika's eyes blinked open as she stared up at her two friends.  "Ouch," she whispered weakly as she tried to lift her head up.

    "I'd say so," Matt replied quickly as he reached a hand down to make his partner sit still.

    "Get me out of here, Matt," Talika hissed quietly as pain flared through her abdomen.

    Nodding, Matt quickly complied and bent low, easily lifting his partner into his arms.  "Sorry, sorry," Matt whispered as Talika cried out in pain.

    "Brooklyn.. where's Brooklyn," Talika hissed through a red cloud of pain.  "Bring me to him.."

    "He's over here," Matt muttered quietly as he walked over to Brooklyn's side and gently propped Talika up against a wall.

    Hissing against the pain, Talika quickly clamped a hand down firmly against her open wound, trying her best to staunch the bleeding.

    "Are you alright?" Matt asked quickly, worry entering his eyes.

    "Don't worry, it takes a while to bleed to death from a stomach wound," Talika whispered quietly, trying her best attempt at humor.

    "But why aren't you healing?" Lisette asked, confused as to why the detective still suffered from the stab wound.

    "Because I'm assuming that the wound was caused by my only weakness.. henceforth," Talika replied, a grimace crossing her face, "it will heal like it would for any of you.. with time... but enough of that.. we need to help Brooklyn..."

    "But it's okay, he's still alive," Lisette whispered quietly as she knelt beside her love.

    "Not for long," Talika said sadly as she replayed the image of Brooklyn grasping the dark matter crystal tightly in his hand.  "We have to help him now or else he'll die."

    "What?!" Lisette gasped, her attention riveted upon her unmoving love.

    "The dark matter.." Talika hissed as another wave of pain rolled through her belly, "it absorbed too much of him.  We need to help him and take it away.. take it to someone that can withstand it," Talika whispered as she turned her eyes and stared at Lisette.

    "But.. but I don't know how to do that.. Puck never taught me.." Lisette sputtered, fear entering her eyes.

    "I'll tell you," Talika gasped as a sudden tiredness began to come over her.

    "But.."

    "If you don't do this, he'll die," Talika whispered, fighting the urge to lie back and close her eyes.

    Turning, Lisette looked once more at her love and calmed her fears and emotions.  "Let's do it," she whispered, her voice hard with determination.

    Smiling a weak smile, Talika held her hand tighter against her abdomen.  "Good then.. but we must hurry," she whispered, knowing that she was losing blood much too fast and that she couldn't resist the urge to sleep for much longer.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matt watching her with the same concerned look on his face.  Both of them had been at too many crime scenes where a person received such an injury, and both knew that if she didn't get medical attention soon, there was a great chance that she would die.  Thanks to the dark matter that wounded her, if this wound did in fact cause her death, there would be no coming back.

    "What do I do?" Lisette asked quickly, missing the looks being sent between Matt and Talika.

    Focusing back on that matter at hand, Talika looked at the crumpled form of Brooklyn before her.  "First," she gasped, her breathing becoming ragged, "you need to straighten him out... bend his wing back in a normal position."

    "Matt, help me!" Lisette ordered as she quickly complied, moving Brooklyn ever so gently for fear of harming him further.

    "Now.. you must place.. place your hands on his chest," Talika whispered, fighting the darkness that was hounding her.

    Nodding slightly, Lisette moved her hands forward and placed them gently on Brooklyn's brick red chest.  "Now what?" she cried urgently, turning to look at her friend.  "Elisa!" she called out frantically as she saw that her eyes had closed.

    At Lisette's shrill call, Talika's eyes popped open quickly.  Shaking her head, she whispered, "Repeat.. after me... forces of magic.. that I call upon..."

    "Forces of magic that I call upon," Lisette whispered quietly, her attention focused on the slow, unsteady beat of Brooklyn's heart.

    "To.. undo this horrible.. and mighty wrong.."

    "To undo this horrible and mighty wrong," Lisette repeated solemnly.

    "This person before me.. should not be in pain," Talika whispered quietly, her hand falling away from her stab wound and to the ground beside her.

    "This person before me should not be in pain," Lisette whispered, chancing a worried glance over at Elisa.

    "So now.. I take it.. and thus do contain.." Talika whispered before her eyes closed and she slumped down against the wall.

    "So now I take it and thus do contain," Lisette whispered.  As she watched in awe, a green energy began building in her hands before it spread out to cover Brooklyn, glowing the brightest over his broken wing and over his heart.  Then, the green magic quickly left and covered Lisette's hands once more.  Crying out, the feeling of the dark matter entered her once more as a sudden weakness overcame her.  Luckily, Matt was behind her and ready to catch Lisette as she fell backwards, screaming out as a blinding pain filled her body.

    Shaking his head, Brooklyn slowly sat up from his position.  Stunned, the first thing he saw was Elisa propped up against the wall in front of him, her head lying on her chest and dark red blood covering her tanned stomach.  "Elisa!" he yelled quickly, just as the sounds around him entered his ears... the sounds of someone in tremendous pain.  Surprised, he turned his head slightly and saw Lisette lying on the linoleum floor in a dark blue medieval gown, twisting back and forth as she screamed in pain, Matt standing beside her with a lost expression on his face.  "What happened?  What's wrong?!" Brooklyn yelled out quickly as he jumped up and rushed over to Lisette.  Scared to death, he knelt by her side and gathered her into his arms as tears poured down her cheeks, her face screwed tight in pain.

    Before Matt had a chance to answer, Lisette's eyes opened slowly as her body slowly untightened.  "Brooklyn?" she whispered hopefully as one hand held her stomach tightly.

    "Lisette, are you alright?" Brooklyn asked quickly, totally confused.

    "No, not really," she murmured quietly as the pain slowly died away, leaving her stomach and heart hurting like they've never hurt before.. not to mention a constant ache back where her wing would be if she was a gargoyle.

    "What happened to Elisa?" Brooklyn asked, his eyes darting back to her unmoving form, Matt kneeling by her side.

    "She's just unconscious, but we better get her to a hospital and fast," Matt muttered as he checked his partner's stats.  "Lisette, are you well enough to.." Matt broke off as he turned a concerned glance back at the young woman who just saved Brooklyn.. and all of their lives.

    Knowing what he was going to ask, Lisette nodded her head slowly.  "I can get us back to the castle.. just bring her over here," Lisette whispered quietly, grimacing as yet another wave of pain traveled throughout her body.

    Nodding his head, Matt gently gathered his partner into his arms and carried her over to Brooklyn, who now was holding Lisette in his arms.  "How cliché," Lisette whispered quietly, a small smile on her face as she looked around at the four of them.  "The women are the ones who came to the rescue and we go home looking as though the guys did everything," she muttered sarcastically as the green mist began surrounding the four.. the mist that would take them home.

Castle Wyvern -- three weeks later

    Sighing, Lisette watched as the sun slowly slid down over the horizon.  For once, Goliath slept on a different tower, leaving Lisette the best view that the castle offered on the highest tower of them all.  Smiling softly, she watched as the sky turned from the light sky blue to the orange, yellows, and golds that made up the perfect sunset.. soon, even those colors were gone and replaced by reds, purples, and eventually blues.  "All the colors of the rainbow to be seen each day in a sunset," she whispered as a soft wind ruffled her blond hair.

    "Nice dress."

    Turning quickly, Lisette watched as Elisa climbed the final steps that led to the top of the tower.  Looking down, Lisette admired the soft dark red velvet that made up one of her many medieval gowns.. her usual clothing nowadays.  "I gave the modern style of jeans and a shirt a try and have decided that, for now at least and to Fox's great consternation, it didn't hurt to dress in the style that I am accustomed to," she murmured as she cast her attention back to the glorious sunset.

    Nodding, Elisa limped slowly to Lisette's side.  While that may be true, Elisa herself preferred the jeans combo, apparent by the usual outfit that was customary for her.

    "How's your wound?" Lisette asked, not taking her attention off of the setting sun.

    "It's healing.. slowly, yes, but it is healing," Elisa muttered as she gingerly patted the black tee-shirt she wore that so conveniently hid the large white bandage that wound its way around her middle.  "But that's not what I came up here to discuss."

    "Oh?" Lisette asked, trying to show nonchalance as she turned to face the beautiful detective.

    "No, it wasn't.  I came to talk to you about what you said to me before I left to search for.. for Caleb," Elisa whispered, a confused frown flitting across her face at the mention of his name.  Ever since when she had awoken in the castle infirmary and heard of what happened to Caleb, she had been thinking of nothing else.  How could he have escaped?  From having that same blasted knife stuck in her, she knew first hand that there was no way possible that he could have transported himself out of there.. which left a puzzling mystery.  Who did take Caleb away in a cloud of smoke?.. and was he still alive?  Shaking her head, Elisa focused back on that matter at hand.  "Lisette, you and the clan now know the whole truth about me.. my past and everything that it entails..."

    "Are you afraid that someone.. one of the select few whether it be the clan, Matt, or Xanatos and family, will tell another about your secret?" Lisette interrupted as she turned back towards the setting sun, dodging around the subject that Elisa was trying to broach.

    "I trust the clan and Matt with my life.. the only one that I would be worried about would be Xanatos, and I think that the threat of death is sufficient enough to keep his mouth shut for now," Elisa muttered, unable to stop the grin that graced her face.  "But once more you know that isn't why I walked up all those damn steps to get up here..."

    "Yes, but.."

    "Lisette, I'm sorry, but I'm not your mother..."

    "But the dream was real!" Lisette cried out quickly, trying to hold back the tears as she turned to face Elisa.  "I wasn't making it up and I didn't just subconsciously put you in the dream to stand for something else as Brooklyn is trying to tell me I have!"

    "I know that you're not doing that and I know that the dream is real..." Elisa whispered fiercely as she grabbed Lisette's forearms and forced her to meet her eyes.  "Which is what makes this matter so confusing.  I'm not your mother; I wasn't even there.. which brings up the question of who managed to have my face.." Elisa trailed off quietly, her mind spinning.

    "That as well as the question of why she abandoned me so long ago.. why she would hate me so much as to leave me all alone with papa," Lisette whispered, the tears dripping down her face.

    Her heart breaking, Elisa quickly drew Lisette into her arms and held her tightly.  "No, Lisette... whoever your mother was.. wherever she may have gone, I'm sure that she loved you very much!" Elisa whispered as Lisette sobbed into her arms.  "She never abandoned you -- she must have been forced to leave you and your father for some reason.."

    "How do you know that for sure?" Lisette mumbled quietly as she stepped back and looked into Elisa's large brown eyes.

    "Because no mother could ever leave a child like you behind unless it was a matter of life or death," Elisa answered confidently, smiling softly at the young woman.

    Smiling at the kind and sincere words, Lisette pulled forward and hugged Elisa tightly, only pulling back when Elisa cried out in pain.  "Sorry," Lisette whispered sheepishly as Elisa held her hand tightly to her stomach.

    "Like I said earlier.. slowly healing," Elisa commented with a wry smile.

    Turning as one, both women moved back towards the stone that lined the edge of the tower and watched as the sun finished its trail over the horizon.  "Do you ever think of Hope?" Lisette asked quietly, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

    "All the time," Elisa whispered as she watched the golden rays disappear.. a picture of Hope's blond curly hair and smiling face popping into her head.

    "I'm sorry that you lost your daughter," Lisette whispered quietly, thoughts of her mother floating through her mind.

    "So am I.. but I've gained so much since then.."

    "Luckily for you, not another daughter!" Lisette cried out suddenly, a large smile on her face.

    Turning, Elisa looked at Lisette and smiled sincerely at the younger woman.  "I would have been proud to have you as my daughter."

    Turning serious, Lisette smiled broadly.  "And you as my mother... although you look way too young to ever be my mother!" Lisette laughed, shaking her head slowly.  "Why, it looks as though there is only nine years between us!"

    "If anything, I'm way too old to be your mother!" Elisa laughed.  "Caleb was right about one thing..."

    "Like what?"

    "I'm probably older than the dirt that covers most of this land!"

    "Oh là là!  You are old!" Lisette cried out, her laughter joining Elisa's as darkness covered the land and as seven stone statues awoke from their daily sleep far below.  For even as the sun set on the past day for some, a new night was about to begin for others.  Endings and new beginnings are what life is all about.