Seek and Ye shall find - Part II

By M.C.

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles (Goliath and Company) belong to the Buena Vista television/ The Walt Disney company. In NO way do I profit from their use.I wrote this story purely as an interested fan. Any soft drink, products, songs, etc. will be given full credit at the end. Trust me I don't have a lot of money if you tried to sue me you wouldn't get much, but just in case that's what this disclaimer is for, thanks. Thanks once again to JEB for posting this.

Note1: Yes I rewrote this...added a part and took a part out. Modified some areas. Nothing big...just enough so it fits with my future stories and part 3.

Note2: Pardon the Latin...It was translated for me but took it straight from a dictionary and the grammar is probably nonexistent. Sorry. I'm trying to learn but....it's going to take awhile. If anyone knows of a good Latin translation site I'd be interested. Thanks

Descriptions: How many more details do you need? This is part 2. It'll make sense if you read part one (don't worry. Part One isn't that long at all. 3 pages.) On with the show

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Demona: Humans are our enemies, Goliath. I thought you learned that a millennium ago.

( The Awakening part 2)

Captain Chavez : .... only one object seems to have actually been taken from the store, a pendant..

(Seek and ye shall find -part I)

Demona : I will have vengence for the betrayal of my clan, vengeance for my pain

( City of Stone part 4)

Demona: Yes Puck. I want you to get rid of the humans, All of them.

(The Mirror)

Goliath: With Demona involved it's more than weird. It's dangerous

(The Mirror)

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A magical pendant stolen..... by Demona no less. A frightened, sarcastic fey who couldn't answer a straight question if his life depended on it. Another hot day PLUS it was raining which ordinarily would cool things down a bit just ended up making things more humid. Great. Elisa Maza ..... this is your life.

" Puck. What's wrong.?" Elisa asked, getting frustrated and scared.

He ignored her, grabbed her wrist and began pulling her towards the door, mumbling to himself all the while " Oh this is bad. This is so bad."

Elisa pulled her hand back . He was surprisingly strong for a little sprite. " Tell me what this is about." As a cop Elisa had learned to turn fear into another emotion.....anger. Right now she wasn't quite there but just about.

" Look , we don't have much time as it is. Just come on. You wanted to find _it_ didn't you?" he said, stressing the word ~ it ~ as if saying the name would 'cause the thing to magically appear and destroy them both instantly.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. Why is this thing so dangerous?"

" I don't really need you, you know. " he said, raising an eyebrow at her almost quizzically.

" You do if you want _our_ help. Tell me what's going on."

Puck slowly floated back down to Earth muttering something about mortals under his breath.

" Alright. But we haven't got long. " he scowled. " If Demona has it then we're all in for big trouble"

" So what IS it?"

He sat down resignedly, cross-legged. " _It_" he practically sneered, " is called many things; Seeker of Truth, yada yada yada... but most commonly The Seer's oracle." Puck shook his head. " It is ancient even for my kind. Often called a myth , legend, fantasy..... I always told them it was real. But NOooooooo," He mocked " No one listens to Puck." Elisa placed a fingertip to her jaw, thinking.

NNNNNNNNNNNNN

She jumped, startled, and nearly fell off the building. She steadied herself and turned around to look at him. " Broadway," she admonished, "You scared me."

He looked down shyly " Sorry Angela. I didn't mean to....... I was just wondering...... are you ok?"

She looked back down at the street below and sighed. " Yes I'm fine, really. And...I I'm sorry for.... acting how I did earlier. It's just....." She looked back up at him frustrated. " I don't know. I just wish everyone would stop..... I don't know. " She sighed again and screwed her face up in intense concentration, trying to find the right words to explain how she felt." When something bad happens they just immediately assume it's mother's fault. I just wish they wouldn't."

" Angela... I'm sure they don't mean to it's just...."

" I know. She's done a lot ......but that doesn't make her responsible for everything. Father said that she was once a very good person. I know she still has that in her.....somewhere. It's just like giving up when they say that. When they blame her. I don't want to give up....she's my mother ,Broadway. I have just as much of her in me as Goliath. You know?" She looked at him hopefully.

He sat down on the ledge beside her. He had absolutely no idea what to say, so he just put his arm around her shoulder. Angela lay her head on his shoulder and they sat there like that for the rest of the night. Neither really needed to say anymore.

NNNNNNNNNNNN

Dominique Destine paced back and forth clutching an object in her right hand and thinking.

This stupid pendant was supposed to help her achieve her ultimate goal, the destruction of the human race. So far she hadn't been able to figure out how to use it. She must soon. Those human loving disgraces for gargoyles were not going to inhibit her yet again. They had messed up her plans far too many times. This time she would succeed. She would save what was left of this world for her kind and her daughter. Afterwards she would decide what was to be done about Goliath and the rest. They would have to pay of course. Just how much was up to them.

The death of his sweet little detective should do nicely for Goliath....for awhile. His own death, of course, was inevitable. Quite unfortunate actually. She had loved him once. That was when she was young, stupid, weak. It could have been different , she would have spared his life ........but no not now, he had stopped her to often, delayed her for too long. The virus would have worked, if it wasn't for meddling Goliath.

Now, it was kept safely locked away in her chambers, a danger not only to the humans but since the praying gargoyle was destroyed by that _fool_ it was also a danger to herself, her daughter and gargoyles everywhere. She would have her revenge if it was the last thing she did. The humans would pay and Goliath would pay for taking their side over hers. He would pay for betraying her.

If only she could get this blasted pendant to work. "UUHHHHGgg!" she cried and pulled over a vase laying on her table. It crashed to the ground, spraying millions of tiny porcelain pieces everywhere. She tossed the pendant after it. The star shaped object bounced twice before coming to a rest and popping open.

Dominique walked quickly over to it, her interest piqued. She picked it up and turned it over. Hmm. It seemed to have some sort of secret compartment. Why didn't I think of it before? Of course, if it was to be passed on to a child of course the spell would have to have been written somewhere. She grinned devilishly, looks like this plan was going to work after all. She sat herself down in her swivel chair. This was going to be fun. She'd crush those puny little humans, kill them, destroy them like they did her clan. And she would enjoy doing it. Like the night she turned all of New York to stone. Only this time it would have a more... global effect. She looked at the inscription squinting in her effort. The writing was very small. She squinted. Blast this body, not even human eyes worked well. What was the use of this abomination of a species. No matter, she'd fix them soon enough. The inscription read:

As Demona began to chant the pendant began to take on a greenish cast. She felt power building inside her. Heard voices calling out. The pendant seemed to come alive. Her breath grew short, a cast iron belt was squeezing her lungs shut, or so it seemed. It glowed, positively radiating power, and she was the recipient. Never in her life did she feel more in control and yet out of it. Never in her life did she feel the responsibility of millions of lives weighing down on her, seeming to pull her down. She fell to her knees. Yes, she'd take the power and then they'd pay. Pay for their wrongs, for their betrayals, for her loneliness, for the pain that she had seen, for the pain that she had felt.

The power began to grow inside her. Overwhelming her. "AHHHHH!" She dropped down to her hands. Doubled over in pain. This was worse than her twice daily metamorphosis. Her brain was flooded with information. For a brief moment there were two sets of consciences , two sets of agendas, squeezing to overtake control. Demona grabbed her head and slumped down to the floor. The last coherent thought she had was, *It was too much.*

The sun had just set. For the average person the weekday was dying down, coming to a close. On top of the Eyrie building, the "day" was just beginning. The gargoyles awoke with a roar, shattering their stone shell. They stretched and swooped down off their perches. They found Elisa waiting for them and Puck floating beside her. A little Further away stood David and Fox Xanatos. Fox was cradling her 3-month-old son, Alex, in her arms. None of them looked very happy. "Good evening Elisa," Goliath beamed warmly. He nodded to the Xanatoses stiffly. "Xanatos , Fox."

"What, I don't get a hello?" Puck asked.

Goliath narrowed his eyes and grunted. He turned his attention back to Elisa,

"Is there any good news tonight?" he asked

"Aye lass, what has happened while we slept?"

Elisa shook her head. "Sorry guys. No GOOD news but I have some news. Which do you want first? The bad or the worst?"

"Let the fun begin," Brooklyn groaned.

"Hey, has anyone seen Broadway or Angela?" Lex cut in. "They didn't get back last night."

"The lad and lassie most likely found a safe place to roost."

"Yeah, but shouldn't they have gotten back by now?" Lex asked.

"Yes, they should have," Goliath responded, looking around. They were all silent for a minute. Just what they needed, something else to go wrong. Elisa was beginning to wonder when they were going to get a break.

"We should probably go look for them," Brooklyn said slowly.

"If _she_ did anything to them...." Goliath was cut off by two gliding figures swooping down for a landing.

"Hi Guys!"

"Where were you two?" Goliath rumbled angrily. Deep inside he wasn't really angry. He was annoyed, relieved, happy... not angry. But they had worried the clan; it would not do to just accept that.

"Sorry Goliath. I guess we stayed out too late," Angela said, stepping forward and looking down abashedly. "Father ... I want to apologize to everyone for how I behaved last night. And it wasn't Broadway's fault we're late. He just came looking for me."

Goliath looked at his daughter. She had a lot of her mother in her; that temper... she rarely showed it, but it was there. "Alright," he sighed, "We have bigger things to deal with right now. I will deal with you two later."

She stepped back and Broadway took her hand. "Yes, father."

Brooklyn turned away. He had realized who her choice was a long time ago, but it still hurt when he saw them getting all cozy. He knew it wasn't fair of him to ask for her just because she was the only female gargoyle in the neighborhood. Broadway loved her. You could tell. She deserved him... they deserved each other. Still... each time they did that, looked into each other 's eyes, held hands, walked together... it hurt. The pang of rejection.

"Elisa... Please fill us in on what you've discovered. "

"Right, big guy. I think everyone is going to want to sit down for this." She started walking to the den. They followed her and took seats: Hudson in his chair, Bronx next to him, and so on. Broadway of course sat down near Angela. Elisa was still standing, Puck floating beside her. She cleared her throat. "Alright, this is what we've found out so far about Demona... nothing. No one knows where she is... or won't tell us. Dominique Destine's secretary says she's on vacation. To where? She doesn't know. Puck here," she motioned at the floating fey. He took a bow. *At least someone was in good spirits,* "can't find her either."

"There is no trace of her. Most likely the little scamp locked herself up in an iron room somewhere," Puck added cheerfully.

"He knows all about the pendant though, it's called ‘The Seer's Oracle’," she continued. "I'll let him tell you the rest." Elisa sat down next to Goliath and turned the floor over to Puck.

"Thank you, my dear lady. Well yes, as the good detective said I will now...."

"Puck, get on with it," Hudson growled at him.

"Nobody appreciates me," he said in fake sadness, shaking his head.

"PUCK!"

"Alright already. Sheesh. The Seer's Oracle.... How do I start? It used to be a fable fey mothers used to scare bad little children into behaving. It seems that it's real."

"So it's bad then?"

"No it was not originally created that way. It depends on how you use it. My own mother often told me this story."

"Like that's a shock," Brooklyn mumbled.

Puck caught it, but chose to ignore it. After all, it was true. "I'll tell you the abbreviated version. In the beginning, there were the fey, humans, and gargoyles. For a while, they got along swimmingly. Each group cooperating and working together. The land was a paradise ... yada, yada, yada. You know, the usual boring stuff. Then one day a handsome, smart, fun, especially brilliant fey decided he had enough. Decided he wanted to have some fun. So he played a trick on the humans and blamed the gargoyles, played a trick on some fey and blamed the humans, played a trick on some gargoyles and blamed the fey, and so on. I forget what the tricks were, but that's not important. So he plays these tricks, and all of a sudden everyone is all upset. Apparently no one can take a joke. It blew up, everyone mad at everyone else. Wars broke out. Fey had magic, Gargoyles had fangs, Humans were pretty much left in the dark, so some sided with gargoyles, some sided with fey." He sighed. "Earth was a mess. Bodies strewn everywhere. Friends turned into bitter enemies.... Awful. That's when fate stepped in and decided we needed help."

"Fate?"

"The goddess of the Universes; the ultimate ruler. The one who decides our futures, our destinies. She stepped in and found the one who could save us. The Seer. The term seer means exactly what it sounds like it means. The one who can see past the hatred, into the truth. The one who is brave enough to try, strong enough to keep going. She is not created that way, it depends on the person. The Seer can be human, or gargoyle. I've never heard of a fey Seer, probably because a fey is the one who started it in the first place. And the Seer is always female."

"Why always female?"

"Well the time honored rule is that females are usually more gentle, subtle, in tune with their environment. Females are more likely the ones who would try to understand. Caring for young children and such, you know. Females are also naturally weaker than males." He caught Angela's look and decided to rephrase that. "Females are physically weaker than males, not my fault, it's just so. In the beginning, they had to be mentally tougher than males just to survive. So I guess that's why." Puck looked around at them to see how they were taking it. So far, so good. "Fate didn't just send her out there unarmed. She gave her weapons, abilities. The ability to empathize deeply, the ability to start fires... pyrokinesis, the ability to move objects with her mind... psychokinesis. The ability to materialize objects from her thoughts alone. And if still she could not succeed, then she'd use her ultimate power... the Oracle."

"So what does it do?"

Would these mortals never understand? It was quite obvious already. "It's not what the _Oracle_ does, it's what _you_ do with it. It was crafted by Fate herself and contains more power than Oberon, Lady Titania, and the Children put together."

Those words hit them all like the massive impact of a freight train at full speed.  If Demona got that power... there'd be no stopping her. "How long do we have?" Goliath asked solemnly.

"Assuming she's activated it already, we have exactly 3 days. After that time any changes made will become permanent." No one said anything for a long time.

"So what do we do?" someone asked finally.

Puck brightened up considerably. "The only thing we can do, find the seer."

NNNNNNNNNNNN

Demona stood up shakily and clutched her head. The pendant was now clasped snugly around her neck... but how it got there.... She looked at it and blinked. ~~ When did that happen....I..~~ She blinked again. Two memories, two sets of identities, two agendas surfaced in her mind. She sat down hard and rubbed her head. The sense of confusion was overwhelming. Simple involuntary commands sent out by her brain -- like breathe, look, touch, feel pain -- were doubled. Her pulse rate was jerky and unsure.... She couldn't think. The confusion was mentally agonizing. She passed the back of one taloned hand across her eyes. And lay her head against the coolness of the wall. It was impossible to think clearly.

~~ The humans... I.. no we... must kill the humans.... Yes... the humans, always the humans.... We must get rid of them. They must die.... That's the important thing. We must have revenge. ~~~ Demona got up and walked around the room becoming steadier and firmer in her conviction with each step.

~~YES. Revenge... kill the humans... kill the traitors.... Use our new powers... kill the humans....~~ The oracle spoke of many things.....you just had to listen. Demona had more than a lifetime's experience with listening to magical incantations and spells. It was an easy task for her. She searched the oracle with her mind... until she found what she was looking for. She grinned.

"Spontaneous Elimination.... Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?" she muttered to herself. Demona walked back across the room to the wall. She placed her hands on it, palms flat. For this spell, a surface was necessary... a table top, a mirror, anything really... in this case she would make do with a wall.

"Animas raperint. Numquam nascerint numquam enotescerint. Calx est amoverent genorum. Res creatae pestilentiae terris cedere. Aufere angor qui ortorum cum!"

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"Castle meeting.... Have I got everyone's attention?" Puck bellowed. "Alex my boy, might as well make this a lesson."

Fox held her son closer to her. "I would rather not, Puck. This is serious enough as it is. I don't want to draw Alex into it too."

"The kid's already in it, M'dear. Besides, the tyke already knows the spell. Watch the mirror." They turned their attention to an old mirror Elisa was rolling in the room. Apparently they had discussed all this already. The mirror looked ordinary enough.

"Alright Alex, do your stuff," Elisa said, moving away from it. Alex nodded his head seriously and began to wave his chubby baby arms around. It was amazing how much he seemed to understand. What came out was a stream of unrecognizable baby babble... but the mirror started to glow. "I knew you could do it, Alex," Puck grinned happily, turning a back-flip in mid-air. The mirror began to shake and shimmer. Quaking with waves of blue between the wooden frame. Waves rolling and tumbling, threatening to overflow. One would almost expect to feel the cool air of the ocean and see the circling of the seagulls searching for dinner. Then suddenly, everything was still.

FLASH

A meadow. At night. You could still tell that the grass had dried out and turned a yellow-green shade from the hot sun. It looked to be early summer. Nothing but wide-open space; a few trees were scattered here and there. You could hear someone singing. More like a crooning sound actually, the song had no words but conveyed an emotion no words could capture. The mirror seemed to be trying to find the source of the song. The mirror's focus was flying left and right. It stopped on a female gargoyle hunched over, she was the one singing. She was cradling something. What it was you couldn't tell, her wings were draped around herself and it. She was looking down at the thing, rocking back and forth, back and forth, crooning to it. A look of pure innocent love was pouring forth from her eyes. The kind of emotion that was hard to find nowadays . The kind that expected and asked for nothing in return. She stood up suddenly, flaring her wings... that's when they saw the egg.

FLASH

The scene changed. A little girl gargoyle no older than a human 3-year-old sat on a rock, next to the edge of a lake. Wisps of her hair were blowing lightly in the wind. It was jet black and pulled back into a braid, curling around and hanging down to just above her shoulders. She had extremely intense eyes, the eyes of a child who knew more about the good and bad of the world than she should. She wasn't pouting but her jaw muscles were tight. She was looking down at her reflection in the pool. The moon hung overhead , her only source of light. She stared down at herself, barely breathing, just looking. Tears started rolling down her chubby baby cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away, just stared at herself in a kind of dreaded fascination. Her lower lip began to quiver. Her eyes were no longer there in the present; they were far away, lost in another world, time, place.

FLASH

New scene. Daylight. Bright overhead, about twelve 'o clock, noon, sunny, warm. Day, the kind that the gargoyles had only seen in movies, the kind Elisa told them about, yet here she was again. A little bit younger, maybe two, and human but unless she had a twin version of herself in human form this was the same girl. Intense eyes, wary is really the word. Wary of all that went on around her, ever watching. She looked happier here, but still she was waiting for something to go wrong. If it did, she wouldn't be surprised. It would be more surprising if _Nothing_ happened. She was playing a piano... more like banging on it and belting out her version of 'Old MacDonald'.

Bang Bang Bang

"She couldn't possibly be the same girl," Brooklyn sputtered. "She was just a gargoyle, now she's human."

"Shhh, I want to see the rest of this if you don't mind." Lex said, clamping his beak shut. Brooklyn shoved him away and frowned.

"Ol' Mic Donnnnnaaaaaallllld had his faaaaaammmmmm. EEeeeeee IIIii eeeeee IIIIiii Oooollll."

A human female walked into the room and stilled her hands for a minute. "Sweetie, play the song, don't...."

The little girl twisted her hands away, raised them high... and pounced on the keys with all her might.

Bang

The woman winced. "Bang on the keys," she whispered in a defeated voice. She grimaced as the little girl began a new set of notes. _If_ you could call them notes. "Honey, please let’s stop now, ok?"

The little girl looked up at her like she was crazy. Stop playing the piano? Are you nuts? Never. "No Isthsseee (her translation of Issy?), I wan pay da pano." She said it calmly, trying to form the words. She had a slight accent, where from though... hmm.

"Well, we can't play the piano right now."

She nodded her head at her enthusiastically. "Yes we can. Pay the Pano!" She began to bang again. The woman grabbed her hands once again.

"Not right now, we'll play later."

"NO!! I WAN PAY DA PANO, RIGHT NOW!" She began to twist and turn on the bench getting ready to throw a hissy fit if need be.

"Woohoo, the terrible twos," Lex chuckled. "I can't wait to see what Alex'll be like."

Brooklyn lashed out and grabbed him with his tail. "I thought you wanted to see this," he mocked .

"Guys, we all want to see this," Elisa reminded him calmly.

"Yeah, break it up, break it up. To your respective corners, gentlemen," Puck said in a sing-song voice, holding up his hand like a microphone.

Meanwhile, in the mirror’s image, the older woman sighed exasperatedly. "Shhhh ... don't yell." She clutched her head, feeling an oncoming headache.

"But I wan do my pano now Isthabayllll," indignant at the prospect of having to do otherwise.

"No!" Be firm, just be firm. "You can play it later." The woman grabbed her hands again and moved them away from the piano. She closed the lid and sat down on the bench placing the girl on her lap. "We'll play later ok?"

"No Isthabayl. I wan play it NOW!" Her voice was calm up until the last word , she screamed that one out and just as she said it, the piano cover flew up and the bench flew out from underneath them. The bench crashed into the opposite wall. They landed on the cold floor with a thump.

This time the light lasted longer. It died down to a dull glow... and then disappeared, leaving a regular mirror once again. "Well folks, I believe we've got our seer."

"You have got to be kidding. That little kid is going to save us?" Brooklyn asked.

"Looks that way, Brookie." Puck grinned at him. The young gargoyle didn't like being called that.

"So now what? We have what?... 72 hours to find this little girl." Elisa said.

"Actually, we have 69 hours; give or take a minute," Puck returned.

"Puck, since you now know who she is, you now know _where_ she is, do you not?" Goliath rumbled, eyeing him carefully.

"Well.... No, I don't know the exact location."

"But you have a general idea right puck?" Angela asked, stepping forward.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "She could technically be anywhere... including the next world."

Elisa's jaw dropped. "You mean dead?"

"No No No No!" Puck said impatiently, rolling his eyes up in the air. "I mean the next world. A different reality, a dimension similar to this one most likely."

"A different reality?" Broadway asked, looking as confused as they all felt.

Puck looked at him, shocked. "You don't know about other worlds? "

"Well no, of course not."

Puck sighed in the time honored gesture of ‘See what I have to put up with?'. "What you mortals _don't_ know could fill up a black hole."

"Puck," Goliath growled in warning, "How do we go about finding this child?"

"Well I'll have to do a spell of course." Wasn't that obvious?

"SO DO it already"

"Not so fast Brookie."

Brooklyn growled.

"I need time to gather my energy, calm my spirit, take a breather, gather power... so to speak."

"And exactly how long will all of this take?" Lex asked him critically.

"Two days at the most. Boys scouts’ honor," Puck said, holding up his hand and placing the other on his heart.

"What!" Goliath roared, "We have only 3 days to begin with."

"Hey, I don't make the rules Goliath," Puck scowled at him.

Xanatos had been quiet up 'till this point but decided he better say something before things got out of hand. "And in the meantime I'll have Xanatos Enterprises take a special interest in finding a young female gargoyle or young female human with... certain unusual abilities," he said, stepping in between the two.

Goliath looked down at him. "Thank you, Xanatos."

He waved his hand in dismissal. "No need Goliath. We're allies now, remember. Besides this affects us all.. Now if you'll excuse me, I should get started on that." He turned around and began to walk out the door. "Puck shouldn't you be gathering those energies?" he called back.

"Yes sir, Boss Sir, getting right on it," Puck said, standing mid-air at attention; then suddenly he was gone.

Elisa sighed. "I have to get back to work."

"Yes and we should do patrol tonight," Goliath said. "Brooklyn and Lexington. You two patrol the west side. Broadway and Angela, the east. Hudson, you're with me. We'll do the north and south. I'll catch up with you after I take Elisa back to her apartment. Bronx," he reached down and patted the doggoyle, "stay here boy, and guard the castle. If anyone sees anything call in. Lex did you finish those ... radio transponders? " he asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar words.

"Yeah, Goliath I have them right here. Everyone gets one. It works like a walkie talkie. Just push the button and talk into it." He handed them out. They looked like walkmans.

"Good. Are we ready?" An assortment of nods and readies. "Alright. Let's go." Everyone glided off except Goliath. He looked down at Elisa. He had been especially worried about her lately.

Fox cleared her throat. "I better get going too. Alex needs his diaper changed. Don't you, Alex? You left mommy a surprise, didn't you?" she cooed down at her baby. Fox walked out of the room and they were alone.

"Are you all right, Elisa?" Goliath asked. She looked up at him

"Yeah, Big Guy. I'm fine. Just a little tired. It's been one heck of a year, hasn't it?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, it certainly has." He frowned. "I suppose for better or worse at least this part will be over soon."

She smirked at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel _better_ Goliath?"

He smiled back at her. "It was intended that way. yes."

"Don't give up your day job... or should I say night job."

He chuckled. "I'll take your advice on that one. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes... no, wait. Goliath, can we talk for a minute?"

"Of course, Elisa." His eye ridges wrinkled in confusion. "We can always talk about anything."

She walked over to him and placed one hand on his massive biceps. "I know. We haven't had much time to talk lately though... ever since that night... Goliath, I have to know; do you regret that kiss?" She looked up at him, her large brown eyes worried and scared that he would say yes. He looked back down at her, gazing into the eyes he loved so much.

It hurt him just to know she'd even have to ask. He didn't answer. He reached down and pulled an errant lock of pure black hair out of her eyes, held her by her waist, and pulled her up for a kiss. A long one this time. It was all the answer she needed.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Demona was crouched on top of a building looking down at a group of young gargoyles. She was contemplating whether or not she should go down and introduce herself. Allies could be helpful... but she was powerful enough to complete this task without them. They seemed to be heavily involved in some sort of argument about humans.... Always the humans, wasn't it?

She grunted and turned away, opting to leave them alone for now. No they weren't needed. With the oracle she could do anything.

~~ We will see what they do... we will watch them and if they prove worthy we will go to them. ~~

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Brooklyn and Lex had been on patrol for more than an hour and had seen absolutely nothing unusual. Brooklyn wasn't in a particularly good mood. So, needless to say, not very much conversation was going on. They stopped two muggings by appearance alone and in both cases the victims had run away screaming. Still, that shouldn't have put him in such a mood. Of course, Lexington wasn't very jolly either. Demona was, after all, bent on destroying the human race and probably a certain pesky clan along with them and this time she might actually succeed. But he didn't think that was the only reason Brook was so pissed. Probably 'cause Goliath paired Angela and Broadway up. Lex had gotten over that a long time ago. Sure it hurt to be rejected, but you can't change anyone's feelings and moping wasn't going to help him any. One day he'd have a mate of his own. So would Brooklyn. He wished Brooklyn would hurry up and see that and get over this Angela thing.

It wasn't fair. Why would Goliath go and do that? They had been with each other last night... all night. Wasn't that enough. He should at least get a fair shot at courting her. She hadn't actually come out and _said_ Broadway was her choice. It just wasn't fair. Goliath had Elisa, Broadway had Angela, Lex had Alex... ok, so it wasn't the same thing but at least he _had_ someone. Besides, at three years’ younger than his rookery brothers, Lexington was too young to start worrying about a mate. It just wasn't fair. Brooklyn growled and jerked violently upwards on a wind current. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of flaming red hair on top of an apartment's roof. The figure had caped wings about her shoulders. DEMONA!! Oh, she picked a bad night to show her face again. He folded his wings and dived in to attack. "Brooklyn! What are you doing?" he heard Lex yell after him. He ignored him. Bellowing his war cry, he attacked the unsuspecting gargoyle. His expression turned from one of anger to one of shock. The gargoyle had wild red hair, yes, and she was a female... but it wasn't Demona. She was built differently, younger. She wore more modern cloths, had a different skin tone... looked nothing like Demona. She was also real pretty.

He only had a moment to realize all this before he was attacked from the side and thrown into the opposite wall. Another young female had thrown him. She pulled out a danger from somewhere and held it to his throat, her eyes glowing madly. He vaguely realized that more gargoyles were coming out from somewhere. He was surrounded. Yeah, great night.

She yanked him up viciously to his feet, pushing his back into the wall. She pressed the dagger a little more firmly into his throat. "You've got exactly 3 seconds to come up with a very good explanation on why you attacked her. And if I don't like it I'll cut your throat anyway," she growled out.

*Nice going Brookie,* his mind sneered at him.

"1 ........2......"

Brooklyn came to the frightening conclusion that he was going to die. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't talk. His throat had frozen up, nothing would come out. Great time to get laryngitis.

"..........3..........."

Ok. Here it is in all its revised glory. Hope you’ve enjoyed and that it’s better than the first time around. I’d like to thank my two editors without whom this story would have just been a collection of scribbles and run on sentences (which I happen to be extremely partial to). I couldn’t have done it without them. And I also thank everyone who took time to read this. Ok now here’s the part where you people out there write me and tell me what you think. ::grins:: Ego boost. Seriously, write me tell me what you think and how I could improve and I promise I’ll try. Besides It’d be nice to get something I actually _don’t_ delete. Questions, Comments, Criticisms and/or Complaints. Send them to me!!! Part three should be out real soon. Promise!