It was a normal day. The sun rose on time as usual. People were waking up as they always had. The cars on the streets of New York were always there, no matter what time of day. People were having breakfast, getting ready for work, while some kids prepared to head to school. However, only a certain few were out of place in this environment.

One of these was Eliza Maza. She had just returned home to head to bed.

Eliza was up all night with Goliath and the clan, having a usual visit before her shift, then a long night patrolling the city and taking care of crime. She had almost forgotten that the day before she had received a package from a "Cousin Louie" concerning her birthday. The funny thing was, her birthday was months away, and she never recalled HAVING a cousin named Louie. Still, she was quite eager to check it out before she went to bed this morning.

Eliza headed to the door of her apartment, and began to unlock it. However, the door was ajar. She gasped, then quickly drew her gun. She gently eased the door open while she had the gun at the ready. What she saw was very strange for a New York break-in. Everything was intact. Not one thing was missing, or messed-up. It was just as she had left it last night. Confused, she kept her gun at the ready in case someone was still in here. After a quick 10-minute search, she finally put her gun away, satisfied that no one was in her apartment. Still, she wondered as to why her door was ajar.

She checked all her valuables, and found them still there. She looked at the lock of the door, noticing that it had been busted. So someone was probably looking for something specific. Then she remembered the package. She had hid it under her bed. She quickly ran over, and checked. The box was still there, but it had been unwrapped. She pulled the package out, and placed it on her bed, surprised that it was a bit heavy. The package's outer paper wrapping had been torn away to reveal a heavy metal box with a tough looking lock. On further inspection, the lock looked like it was dented, as if something was bashed against it. Eliza figured that this was the thing the robber was coming for. But what was it?

She frowned. She had no key, like the robber, to open it up. She tried all sorts of manners, from tugging it to using a screwdriver to knock it off, but she had nothing strong enough at the time to break it. Of course, a gargoyle could break this lock. She smiled. She would have this open by tonight. She slipped the package under the bed again, got into her nightgown, and plopped onto bed in sleep.

When she woke, she was surprised it was still daytime outside. She was also surprised to find some man in black clothes and a mask holding a knife over her. Gasping, she quickly brought her foot to kick the man in the groin, then knocked the knife out of his hand. She then got up and tackled him, punching him in the face and knocking him out. Breathing heavily, she pulled away his mask. She didn't recognize the man's face. Was it just some punk? She would have to think about this later, as she grabbed the phone and called the police.

It was finally night outside, as everything had been resolved. The guy was charged with attempted murder, breaking and entering, and was also assumed to have been after the box. A fingerprint test proved that, showing that he indeed had gone after the box. Finally getting some answers and relief after the man was in prison, Eliza headed back to her apartment. She let out a troubled sigh as she found the door once again ajar. "I have got to get rid of this thing!" she said, drawing her gun and again examining the room. This time, no crook. She put her gun away, and ran over to her bed, taking out the box. She noted more dents in the lock this time, and boy was it heavy! She decided to get this thing taken out right away, notifying the landlord for the third time today that she needed a new lock. As she tugged the thing along, she realized how hard it would be for a robber to try and take this thing with him! The punk that was captured wasn't very well built, unlike her, so he definitely would have serious trouble just carrying like she was now.

She popped into her car, placing the heavy metal box into the passenger seat. "Better buckle up, whatever you are. I'd hate to lose you," she said, taking her own advice and starting the car. She drove down to the Eyrie Building, and was surprised to find the sun close to setting. This was good, because she wanted to get rid of this box. She dragged the box along with her on the first floor, reaching an elevator and taking it up to the top floor. She was allowed access due to the friendship she had of what lay on it. Dragging the box, grunting all the way, she managed to lift the thing onto the table where her friends usually ate and sat around, and waited.

In the distance, she could hear something roar, as the sky outside darkened. Then, about 5 minutes later, Goliath, Brooklyn, Angela, Broadway, Hudson, Bronx, and Lexington stepped into the main room. "Hiya Eliza. What do ya got there?" questioned Lexington, hopping over and looking at the box.

"It's a box with a very tough lock, that's all I know. Do you realize how many people have broken into my apartment looking for this thing?"

"Are you ok Eliza?" ask Goliath, plenty of concern in his voice.

"I'm alright Goliath. It's just I had 3 break-ins today, and 1 murder attempt. I'm guessing it's not safe for me right now until this blows over."

Lexington was busy looking at the lock, as Goliath said, "You may be right. Perhaps you could do some extra undercover work for your job, thus not being Eliza for awhile?"

"Yes, didn't you become Salli right before the Hunter's Moon deal with Demona?" asked Angela.

"That would be a good idea...but first I want to know what's in this box," said Eliza.

"Allow me," said Brooklyn. He walked up to the box, cracking his knuckles. "On side Lex..."

Lex groaned, not done with examining the lock. "I don't know if just pulling is going to work..."

But before he could say anything more, Brooklyn slashed at the lock. It showed a noticeable scratch, but the lock was hardly damaged. "What?" said Brooklyn, highly confused. He began to pull hard on the lock, but to no avail. "That has got to be the toughest lock on the planet."

"Let me try," said Goliath, grabbing the lock in one hand. His face strained as he gave the lock a good haul, but Goliath's strength outweighed that of this metal, along with most metals too, as the lock was ripped off, allowing access to the contents of the thing inside.

Goliath looked at everyone, with a look of puzzlement on his face, as Eliza put herself in front of the box, kneeling. "Let's see what's so important!" she said, pushing the box's heavy lid open.

Styrophone.

Eliza groaned, pushing the masses of styrophone packaging out of the way. She figured it must be something very delicate to be wrapped up in all this cushioning! Her hand groped around, trying to find the object that was located within. Finally, her hand came across something solid. She grabbed it and felt it before pulling it out of the box. It felt round, with slight indentations and raised parts on the surface. It felt like it had some sort of design. She would have to further investigate it by taking it out.

When she pulled it out, everyone gathered around and looked at it. It looked like a large medallion, with two symbols on them, side by side, on it. One symbol was colored blue, while another was colored pink. Each of them was different, and, after a few seconds of looking at them, it was clear after Lexington’s response that none of the gargoyles knew what it was.

Of course, Lexington said, "What are those symbols?"

"I don’t know," said Eliza. "I’ve never seen anything like them before."

"They look ancient," said Hudson. He paused and rubbed his chin, looking off into the night sky while possibly pondering what this all meant.

"I’m being killed over this? It’s a good hunch cause this might be worth some cash!" said Eliza, standing and looking over the artifact. There were a couple scratches on the artifact’s back, but nothing seemed to special about it. Eliza had to wonder where exactly this thing came from. It looked so unique, and one-of-a-kind.

"You know, I could do a Internet search and see if this is anywhere on there," said Lexington, who hopped up onto a chair and looked at the group.

"That’d be a good idea Lex. Why don’t you give it a try?" Lex nodded at Eliza’s comment and headed out of the room.

"Meantime, would you guys hang on to this for me? I’ve been having problems staying alive with this thing being in my apartment, if the lowlifes of New York are coming after me to get it," said Eliza. She offered the artifact to Goliath.

"We would be honored. Perhaps you want one of us to watch over your apartment while one of us is free?" asked Goliath.

"That’s ok Goliath. I’m going to have to do some undercover work anyway to see what is going on with these murder and thieving attempts. I might be gone a few days though." Pause. "Won’t miss me will you big guy?" Eliza smiled after her comment.

Goliath smiled as well. "Don’t worry, I can manage."

Eliza nodded. "Well, I had better head down to the station. They’ll be expecting me soon. I can get some work done on this case while I’m there."

Goliath nodded. The group of gargoyles said there good-byes while Eliza waved and left the Eyrie Building.

Frustration was all over Lexington’s forehead. He had searched the ancient archeological archives on artifacts in various online museum webpages, and has not found one thing that even looked like the artifact that they had! He had searched for over an hour now, and, although a short time on the computer, he had managed to find all the museums and found nothing. He continued to search, hoping to find something interesting on this artifact.

About 30 more minutes into the search, he came across an interesting tidbit. Apparently, a new expedition had been just finished three months ago in Peru. What surprised him even more was the fact that the expedition was run by Nightstone Unlimited! What would Demona be doing down there that was so important? It listed various artifacts that were found in the ground, but Lexington knew that if Demona were involved, these "simple" artifacts would not be the only things found at the site. Perhaps this came from the site as well! But how did it reach Eliza’s hands? Who in the expedition would have sent this thing over to the United States from Peru and make it escape from Demona’s grasp? Lexington pondered this as he brought up some more information on the culture that was found.

Apparently, this ancient culture had polytheistic beliefs. That is, they believed in more than one god. Lexington browsed through the gods, noting several variations, including a wicked looking picture of a wolf-god named Garou. Finally, he came to picture of a fertility goddess. According to the legends of the goddess’s symbol, a certain ritual could be performed on it to summon the goddess to change that person who invokes it into another person! Lexington managed to figure this out after a somewhat complex translation.

Continuing to read, he found out that the new person was form was used many times in the village’s past when invaders came and took all the women for their "pleasure". Lexington knew history was disgusting, but he did not know that it was THAT disgusting! He passed that whole paragraph by, not wanting to read the rest concerning when it was used. He only cared what it looked like.

Finally, at the bottom of the page, was a small number "1". Lexington wondered what it was as he brought his mouse over to the 1. He found that it was a link to a JPEG file! Finally, a picture! He clicked on it, and finally found what he was looking for. There in front of his eyes was the exact same artifact that they had in their possession. The picture looked like it was taken in a jungle environment. There was a whole mystery behind this artifact! He had to get a closer look at that artifact!

Lexington logged off the computer and headed back into the main room.

Goliath set the artifact on a pillow located in the center of a table. "What could it possibly be?"

Brooklyn looked it over. "Well it certainly isn’t English."

Angela put her finger to her mouth, thinking. "It’s nothing I have ever seen, nor is it of Avalon origin. I remember seeing the thing as a child, and this is not from it."

Broadway was munching on a sandwich. "Mmph mmph mmph."

Angela looked over. "Talk when your mouth is not full Broadway!" Angela smiled, then resumed looking at the artifact.

"Sorry," said Broadway, this time with a clear mouth.

"So what do we do with it?" asked Brooklyn, picking it up and turning it over in his hand.

"I don’t know lad, but we must hold on to it in case something happens to it," Hudson said, then heading back to his chair and watching TV.

"Either way, I’m hungry. Let’s go get something to eat!" exclaimed Broadway, almost rushing to the kitchen.

"I am hungry," said Goliath, pausing for a moment. "We may as well."

"Aye lad, I could go for a bit myself." Hudson stood up and walked after Broadway. Goliath, Brooklyn, and Angela followed. Bronx was sleeping peacefully on the couch.

That’s when Lexington walked in. He looked around, surprised that no one was around. He hopped over to the table, where he saw the artifact laying. "Now if that thing was right, unlocking the power should show me what it does. Maybe that might give me a clue on solving this mystery."

Lexington picked up the artifact. "Now how did this go?" He put his hand on the blue symbol, and said a small phrase in Latin. He looked at the artifact and saw nothing happen. "Huh. Oh wait, got to do this with my eyes closed!"

Lexington then closed his eyes and said the same phrase, hand still on the blue symbol. When he opened his eyes, he thought he saw a faint glimmer coming from the artifact, but it could have been his imagination. Nothing had happened yet.

Lexington didn’t know what to do next. He looked at the symbol, and took a guess, putting his hand on the blue symbol. He uttered the phrase, hoping that this would be the final time he would have to do this, and possibly find out just what the heck was the purpose of this thing!

A faint glimmer, and nothing more.

Lexington was starting to get mad, so he put his hand on the pink symbol and uttered the phrase with his eyes closed. If this didn’t do it, he didn’t know what else he could do.

Before doubt filled his head, before anything filled his head, a large, bright blast from the artifact engulfed the room. Lexington saw the flash for only a second before he felt himself knocked into unconsciousness. The bright blasted lasted only a second before the artifact dimmed and grew quiet in Lexington’s limp hand.

Dominique Destine looked at the Nightstone website. Who the HELL had posted information on the expedition to Peru? She had to find out, but for now, she had to delete this critical information. Who knows who might have downloaded this stuff? This was highly confidential! With a click of the mouse, all information on the expedition, including the information on a missing artifact that she had lost, was deleted.

Angela was the first to arrive. She had seen the blast’s flicker from the open library door, and rushed to the main room to see what was going on. She knew Broadway and Brooklyn were on patrol, as well as Goliath keeping watch over Eliza, regardless of what she said about leaving her alone. Hudson and Bronx were sleeping too, leaving her the only gargoyle to check it out. She had half-expected Demona or some other villain to show up in the middle of the room, but was quite surprised when all she saw was an unconscious gargoyle. It was small, had long brown hair, and looked a lot like…

Lexington?

Angela quickly rushed over to the gargoyle, and turned it over. No, this couldn’t be Lexington. It was a she, as she had all the telltale signs of being female. Yet it had yellow skin, like Lex, wings under the arms, like Lex, and was about the right height, like Lex! Where the heck did she come from?

The female gargoyle stirred in Angela’s arms. She opened her eyes, which were clearly out of focus. Angela waited for her to get a look at her surroundings, letting her go and backing up. The gargoyle shook her head, getting up to one knee. A voice that sounded like Lexington’s, except feminine, said, "Ugh, where am I?"

Angela didn’t answer as the gargoyle got onto both her feet, then staggered and landed on the couch. She rubbed her heads and started to adjust to the room. Then, she looked at Angela in focus. "Hello! Who are you?"

Angela wasn’t all that surprised, but she sounded like it as she said, "I’m Angela. Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The female gargoyle’s face squinted, then looked to be thinking. "Where I came from? I don’t know about that. As for who I am, you can call me…Alexa!"

Brooklyn and Broadway sat on a building’s edge in the middle of New York. They had just watched two suspicious characters enter a bank from the rear entrance, looking a lot like robbers. No alarm had gone off, so they had hoped to get away when they came out into the alley. Again, they had HOPED.

As it was, no alarm did go off, and the two persons came out and ran down the alley, two bags of what was obviously cash in their hands. Brooklyn and Broadway nodded at each other, and began their descent, spreading their wings and gliding towards the couple.

The didn’t see them until the last minute, but when they turned around, they were immediately greeted with two talons each grabbing them and lifting them off the ground. Both of them screamed as they dropped the cash. Brooklyn deposited his crook on a fire escape ledge, hanging him from there. Broadway went higher, putting his on a flagpole jutting out from the building opposite the bank. Both gargoyles landed on the ground, grabbed the moneybags, and deposited them just inside the bank’s back door.

"Hey, got a quarter?" asked Broadway.

"I’m sure the bank won’t mind giving a quarter to get several thousand back," uttered Brooklyn, taking a misplaced quarter from one of the bags and going to a phone booth near the alley. Broadway kept watch as he dialed 911.

"Yeah, hello police? Yeah, we got a robbery down here on 3^rd National Bank. Think you could come down and get a couple crooks? Our names? Oh, that isn’t important. Just so you know, you have a couple crooks hanging around in the alley. Bye!"

Brooklyn put the phone back in the booth, and quickly dashed into the alley. Then, both gargoyles grabbed onto the wall and began climbing, ready to head home as patrol time was over for the night.

Goliath perched on the New York City building, watching Eliza’s apartment. She had left hours ago, disguised as Salli, telling him that she was going to be alright, and that he didn’t have to watch her apartment, but he didn’t care. Gargoyles protect, as Hudson said, and he was doing just that. He was protecting the place that his loved one called home. Of course, their relationship had still not developed into the kind he and Demona had had. They just went on dates and kissed. Demona and he had gone much farther. He believed he made a "home run" as Brooklyn once said. That home run turned into his lovely daughter Angela, who he cherished greatly and protected to the best of his ability, while teaching her about the dangers of this world. Of course, Demona was trying to win her daughter back, to make her seem like she was the good guy and that he was the bad guy. She had failed, miserably, turning her own daughter against her as she had him. Now he was sitting here, waiting, thinking, and brooding.

A creaking was heard outside the apartment. Goliath shook his head as if snapped out of a trance. He looked up, and saw someone had opened the door to the very skylight he was watching. He stood up to his full height, getting ready to send this person to the police for violating Eliza’s space. He leaped across the great expanse of air to the building where Eliza’s apartment was, and waited outside of the skylight, in the darkness.

The robber wasn’t going to find anything. He knew that they were looking for the artifact that was at the clock tower. He would wait until the robber came back outside, then he would grab him. He didn’t want to break anything of Eliza’s in the impending struggle.

The robber did come out, empty-handed. Goliath could see that he had touched nothing, leaving the apartment as clean as it was when his vile presence came in. The only sign was the skylight, which he left open and headed towards Goliath. Now was his chance. When the robber passed, he quickly stepped in front of him, his body towering over the punk by several feet. "Going somewhere?" asked Goliath in his deep voice.

Goliath knew what the reaction was, and was ready for it. The punk screamed in fright, turned around, and began to run. Goliath leaped high into the air, and landed hard right in front of him again as the crook stopped immediately. He tried to punch Goliath, but Goliath was quicker, grabbing his fist and lifting him into the air. "You are trespassing," quoted Goliath of himself 1000 and 3 years ago.

The crook, probably not used to this kind of thing happening to him, fainted. Probably wasn’t strong of heart either. Goliath headed towards the ledge, crook still in hand, and leapt off, spreading his wings at the last minute and landing softly on the ground. He looked at the unconscious person he held, wondering whether to hold him for questioning or to give him to the police. If he gave them to police, which was the right thing to do, he would get off, as Goliath had no evidence of what he was doing. Eliza would also not be responsible, as she was off somewhere undercover. If he kept him for questioning, he might try to run and cause trouble in the Eyrie Building. Goliath sighed. He hated decisions sometimes.

Goliath then thought of something. If he called the police to Eliza’s apartment with a note on the crook suggesting to get Eliza for questioning, then that would work. Goliath set the crook in front of the apartment and tied him up with some rope he found in a dumpster. Then, he grabbed onto the side of the building and started climbing, headed for the top of the building. He leaped up into Eliza’s apartment and wrote a quick note.

To: Eliza Maza
From: A Friend

Caught this person trying to break into your apartment, for you-know-what reason. Try this guy for questioning about the matter.

He hoped that would be enough, although a bit small. He headed out of the apartment and proceeded to head back down into the alley. When he reached the front of the building, he found the criminal gone, with a set of ripped ropes. Goliath nearly snapped there, as one of his leads on this was gone. Crumbling the note and tossing it into the dumpster along with the rope, he climbed back up onto the building and began to glide home.

"Alexa?"

"Yup, that’s my name."

Angela couldn’t believe it. In front of her eyes was this gargoyle that looked, talked, and almost sounded like Lexington, and was calling herself a name that was a variation of Lex. This was almost like a con-artist, if she was right on what Broadway called it. Still, how could you fake a gargoyle identity? This gargoyle before her was too real to be Lexington in disguise. It would be too weird too. Halloween was a month away! But she could tell, from the way her muscles looked and the fact that she was perhaps an inch shorter than Lexington, that this was NOT Lexington. But how did she get here?

Angela gave Alexa a weird look, buying herself a little time to look around. She noticed that Eliza’s artifact was on the floor next to where Alexa was lying unconscious. "Alexa, is that yours?" asked Angela, motioning her talon over to the artifact.

Alexa looked down. "Huh? That? What’s that?" Alexa picked it up and examined it. Angela noticed that, from the look on Alexa’s face, that she had not seen this before. Or was she hiding knowledge?

"Yeah, it’s an ancient artifact we are currently holding for a friend. Do you know Eliza Maza?"

"Eliza? Sounds familiar, but not really."

Odd.

"How about Goliath, Broadway, Brooklyn?"

"Who?"
Either a good act by Lexington or this was somebody new!

"Don’t you remember Castle Wyvern?"

"Not really. Should I?"

This was getting to strange for Angela’s own good. "Alexa, if you don’t remember that, then what do you remember?"

Alexa frowned, then bowed her head while rubbing her chin with her hand. She paced several times, muttering "What do I remember?" once. Finally, she turned to face Angela. "Well, I do remember a few things regarding my personality. Basically, what I like and dislike. But other than that, I don’t really remember anything!"

Angela took the artifact from Alexa and looked it over. There was no way of telling if this was involved in this mystery. She looked up from the artifact to look at Alexa. "Well, we certainly have a problem."

It wasn’t the best time to be out. The subway, midnight, wearing clothes that could like really nice in some pervert’s eyes. But Eliza knew she had to get across town fast to make a meeting with her brother Talon, who had requested her presence. She fidgeted in her spot as the train finally came to the station. She was glad she didn’t have any problems with the subway this time, considering the last time she went, a few days before the Hunter’s Moon incident, she had been mugged and nearly killed. As an added bonus, there were no gargoyles watching over her in case she got in trouble. Swell.

She stepped into the train and sat down at the closest seat, as the small crowd left and entered the subway with her. So far, she didn’t have any real good lead on the situation. It seemed like no one was interested in the artifact. Perhaps she was checking in the wrong places, but all the underground contacts she had used said nothing about it. They just didn’t know. Yet who would know about this artifact, and who would send it her? Most importantly, who was willing to kill her to get it?

The train set off as she continued to think. If it had mysterious powers of some sort, then it could be valuable. It was possible since she had seen weirder things that were supernatural. Heck, she was living with what was once assumed to be fantasy creatures. Now they were flesh, bone, and stone at times, taking care of her and adventuring with her. So maybe that artifact had something special.

She sighed, waiting for the subway to reach its final destination before heading back on it’s loop. She saw two figures flying in the distance, barely discernable. It had to be Brooklyn and Broadway. She knew they were headed home, as they usually were after a good break-up or an emergency. Else they would be sitting around somewhere. From this distance, it did look like they were headed towards the Eyrie Building. She wondered if it was an emergency, then would she be needed? Perhaps it was information on the artifact? Maybe Lexington uncovered something and called the gargoyles to the Eyrie Building?

Eliza shook her head again. What was she thinking? She did feel a little weird but she assumed it must be a stray thought, nothing else. She looked forward and rested her hands on her laps, waiting for the train to drop her off. She had been up only a few hours and yet it felt like a long night. Maybe she just needed a little more sleep.

Broadway and Brooklyn met Goliath on castle wall. Brooklyn watched was Goliath stormed past and leapt down, heading towards the main room. "What’s with him?" asked Brooklyn, motioning towards the hurried Goliath.

Broadway shook his head. "Maybe he did something wrong, or screwed up? Whatever it was, he sure isn’t happy about it."

Brooklyn nodded. "We might want to avoid him for now. In the meantime, let us-"

Brooklyn was interrupted as Goliath called their names from the entrance to the main room. Both looked, seeing Goliath motioning them to come to him. Both looked at each other, then leapt off the wall themselves. Both caped their wings as they reached the entrance. "What is it Goliath?" questioned Brooklyn.

Goliath turned to the inside of the building, and watched. Both gargoyles moved closer and looked, then saw two gargoyles talking.

"Why, it’s Angela and Lex-" started Broadway, then paused. "That doesn’t look like Lex."

"From what I can tell, that looks like Lex but it isn’t him! He’s got long hair!" asserted Brooklyn.

"Let’s pursue this matter. Come," ordered Goliath, stepping into the room. Brooklyn and Broadway trailed behind the tall gargoyle.

All three gargoyles stopped just inside the entrance turned around to see them. Angela gasped, then stepped away, revealing fully the mysterious gargoyle to the trio.

"It would seem you were wrong as to the gender of our guest Brooklyn," whispered Goliath.

"Guys, meet Alexa," Angela stated, looking between the Alexa and the group. She had a look in her eyes that suggested to Goliath that she had no idea what was going on.

"Alexa, where did you come from?" asked Goliath, moving closer.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Angela here. It is Angela, right?"

Angela nodded.

"I told her that I had no idea. It's like my memory had been wiped. I know I got interests and tastes and all that, and certain preferences, but anything part of my memory that might clear up this mystery just isn't there!" Alexa looked sad for a moment.

"You have no idea of where you were born, what clan you belonged to, how you got here?" said Brooklyn, stepping forward besides Goliath.

"No."

"Alexa, you don't mind if my friends and I talk in private for a minute, do you?"

"Oh not at all. If it has something to do with this mystery, then be my guest, figure it out!" said Alexa, smiling and bounding over to the couch, taking a seat and twiddling her talons.

The 4 clan-related gargoyles bunched together. "Angela, when did you first she her? And did anyone else see her?" asked Goliath.

"I don’t know if anyone else saw her, but I found her here, unconscious. It had looked like someone knocked her out or something. When I went to check her over, I noticed the artifact sitting on the ground, lightly sitting in her hand."

"Why does she look a lot like Lexington? Could he be masquerading as her?" asked Broadway. He looked back to notice Alexa looking intently at him, but as soon as he looked, Alexa looked away, whistling. He turned back to the group confused.

"I don’t know. It looks too real thought for him to be in some sort of costume," whispered Angela.

"For now, let us let her stay for awhile. We’ll try to solve this mystery," murmured Goliath. Each gargoyle nodded, then turned to face Alexa. "Alexa, would you like to stay awhile and figure this out?" questioned Goliath.

"Stay here? Sure, I guess. I don’t really have a choice though, since I don’t know where I am."

Goliath nodded. "Would you like something to eat?"

Alexa thought for a moment, putting a finger to her mouth. Then, she smiled, snapped her fingers, and yelled "Pizza!"

1 hour later, the pizza had gone around and everyone ate. Goliath thought about the situation intently as he had a slice of one of the meatier ones. How did she know about pizza anyway? The artifact and her presence must be related. However, it would take awhile to figure this out. In the meantime, he and the clan would have to bear with Alexa, who seemed just like Lexington in all respects.

Alexa, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She absolutely LOVED pizza, and had as much as her stomach would allow. She was noticing Broadway from time to time. Sure he was fat, but if you put that out of the way, he was a tall, dark, and handsome gargoyle! Perhaps I’ll ask him on a date, thought Alexa. Her short attention span shifted her back to the pizza, then over to the computer located close by a minute later. "Hey, a computer! I didn’t know you had one!" said Alexa, bounding over to the computer and sitting down, hiding the pizza and a drink she brought from view from the others. Sure, you should have no food next to a computer, but she would be careful. She opened up Windows 95 and proceeded to inspect all the files, noticing how advanced this computer seemed.

She did a lot of clicking, checking this and that. She stumbled onto the recent documents and inspected them, noticing a file marked "Artifact1.jpg" and "Artifact.txt". She opened the picture, and looked in surprise as a picture copy of the artifact she looked at earlier was there! She looked at the other file, a text file that someone might have copied with information relating to the artifact! She got excited, and reached for the mouse. On accident, her talon brushed against the power button, and the computer suddenly shut off. She let out a yelp, then booted up the computer. She hoped nothing went wrong with the file as the Windows 95 start-up screen came on.

"Alexa?"

She let out another yelp, this time startling her. She literally jumped as her knees hit the table and knocked the drink over. Almost immediately, it flowed into the computer and disrupted operation, as some small sparks could be seen and a small bit of smoke came out of it. She stood there, jaw agape, turning around to see who had surprised her. It was Broadway!

"Oops! Oh man, I’m sorry! I didn’t know I would surprise you!" exclaimed Broadway. He walked over and looked at the computer. "Geez, it looks wasted."

Alexa seemed to lose sense of reality as she looked at Broadway. He was so…so…CUTE! She shook her head and looked back to the computer. "Yeah, it probably won’t boot up if I try to. I could salvage the hard drive though. She turned back to look at Broadway as he stood to his full height and looked down at Alexa. Alexa felt her heart flutter.

"Yeah, I guess. Get on that, could you? Lexington would get mad when he gets back."

Alexa let her heart stop fluttering for a moment. "Lexington? Who’s that?"

Broadway frowned. He suddenly realized he had made a blunder. Angela warned him not to mention Lexington around Alexa! "Lexington? Oh that’s a place somewhere around here in New York. I think Brooklyn is out at Lexington and when he gets back, he’ll be mad."

Alexa smiled. "Yeah, sure. Alright, I’ll get right on it!"

Broadway let out a sigh of relief as he left the room. Well, he had saved himself there.

Alexa grabbed a screwdriver and began to work. She’d get the hard drive and investigate that file for herself, then possibly get herself a bit of Broadway!

To: Tim Daniels

From: Dominique Destine, Nightstone Unlimited

Mr. Daniels, your services are required at the Nightstone building in New York. If you could please comply and take the next plane out from the Miami airport. This is a Priority 1 situation and your skills are needed immediately.

Having sent the e-mail, Demona looked at the company website again. Thanks to her little delete of the files, someone had launched a virus that had systematically tore apart the Nightstone website. All the files were inaccessible and only the virus protection program that Nightstone had invested in was allowing it to view the files in the directory. Obviously, someone who was not with this company had hacked into the server and placed the file there as if trying to get information out to someone. Then, it got pissed and sent in a virus. Now she had to summon Tim to actually come down to the server in New York and take care of it. The server was REALLY screwed.

Looking towards the night sky, she stretched her wings. Perhaps it would do her good to take a flight across the city. As long as someone from Goliath’s clan doesn’t fly by, she could have a peaceful evening. At least, she hoped she would have one this time. Opening the window leading into her office, she closed it behind her and stepped off the ledge.

Alexa sighed. Long work had promoted boredom, and she wanted to do something instead of trying to fix a really messed up hard drive. She had managed to clean the drive but she needed to do some hard work that could take hours just to get it working again. She put a screwdriver she had in one hand and placed the hard drive she had in the other back onto desk, taking care not to damage the hard drive. Then, she walked out of the computer room and headed out to one of the castle’s ledges.

After leaping off and taking a dive towards the city streets, she leveled off and glided around the town, observing sights that seemed familiar for no particular reason. She glided past Times Square, flew by the Statue of Liberty, and spent 2 hours just gliding. The rushing air always felt good under her wings. It was a good day too, a little murky and cloudy. She sighed, noticing the time from one of those electronic signs that populated New York. It was an hour until dawn, and she would need to head back. She bid good bye to New York and made her way back.

About half way to the Eyrie Building, she passed a corner to a building close, then suddenly rammed into something. Gravity took hold as she plummeted to the ground, dizzy from the collision. She landed in a dumpster before she could get her wings open, as another sound of a person landing on the ground hard echoed through the alley. Alexa shook her head, still a little muddled from the landing. She stood up shakily and made her way out of the dumpster. Then, she turned towards the alley, and gasped.

Lying in the middle of the alley was a limp gargoyle body.

Alexa quickly rushed over and examined the body. A blue-skinned female gargoyle with voluminous red hair was it’s physical characteristics, but she knew that she would never know what it’s mental ones were as it’s head was at such an angle as to suggest it was broken in many different places. She didn’t recognize the body, although it did seem familiar. She took the gargoyle’s body upon her shoulder and started to make her way back to the Eyrie Building.

Before she could even get out of the alley, the gargoyle’s body stirred. She stopped immediately, gasped, and looked at the body she was holding.

The tail was twitching.

She nearly dropped the body from shock, but instead laid it down gently and stepped back. She watch in amazement as the body lifted itself on it’s own accord and shook it’s head. Alexa almost fainted when the gargoyle opened her eyes, and looked at Alexa. She was speechless as the gargoyle asked, "Who are you?"

Alexa stuttered, unable to talk for a second. "What..How..You are alive!"

The gargoyle frowned. "Who are you?" she asked again, in a fiercer tone.

"I’m Alexa," she finally managed, still surprised but calmer than before.

"Alexa?" the gargoyle returned, sounding like she was surprised as Alexa at the moment. "Do you belong to Goliath’s clan?"

"Well, not really. I’m friends with them though!"

The gargoyle raised an eyeridge, then put her talon to her lip. A smirk played across her face. "I’m Demona. The reason why I’m still alive is that I’m protected by magic, so do not be so surprised."

Alexa’s eyes brightened up. "Wow! Magic! Cool! Say you know magic is keeping me from remembering my past!"

"It is? How?" Demona said, looking intrigued.

"Some little artifact, had a pink and blue symbol on it. Do you know of it?"

Demona grinned at Alexa. "You do! Did you know that it was mine?"

Alexa looked confused. "It is?"

"Yes! I lost it a long time ago and now I found it! Could you bring it back to me?"

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess. Where should I bring it?"

"Do you see that large building over there?" Demona pointed towards where she knew the Nightstone Unlimited Building was.

"Yeah."

"Bring it to the top window tomorrow evening. I’ll be waiting."

"Ok. Can’t wait to tell the guys about this!"

"NO!" Demona said, rather quickly. She composed herself, and quickly spoke again as to not act suspicious. "They already know about me and wouldn’t really care about this meeting. Besides, couldn’t we keep this between us? I’m planning something for Goliath and you meeting me could be simply disastrous to my plans!"

Alexa nodded. "Ok, our little secret. See you tomorrow night!"

Demona watched the little gargoyle bound off and head towards the Eyrie Building. Oh this was grand! See would get her artifact back and persuade one of Goliath’s own to join her side!

Alexa barely made it back on time. As it was, the sun was just rising as she took a spot on the top of Castle Wyvern. The other gargoyles were in position, gave her a nod of acknowledgement, and fell to sleep.

Tim Daniels was having a perfect day. First, he gets a call from Dominique Destine to head up to New York to fix the servers. Apparently someone messed with the servers up there and he was needed to fix them. Then, his plane was delayed due to rain, causing him to sit in the airport for hours on end, just waiting for the torrential rainstorms to finish. Next, the stewardess accidentally spilled coffee all over him. To add insult to injury, the coffee wasn’t even for him, having ordered it about 10 minutes earlier. After a quick dance from the hot coffee right where it hurts, he settled down and slept the rest of the trip. Now he was standing outside, morning, in the rain, with no umbrella, because the forecast called for a sunny day.

Hell of a way to start a trip to New York.

The Nightstone limo pulled up, parking by the side. At least he was getting quick transportation. Tim quickly stepped into the limo and half-slept his way to the Nightstone building.

Within 15 minutes, albeit heavy traffic, Tim arrived at the Nightstone building. The rain had stopped momentarily, so he took his time in going in, while carefully avoiding puddles in arranging his things. He pulled open the doors to the building and made his way to the elevator. He had seen a 3d model of this building and thus knew where he was going. After reaching the elevator, a guard stepped up and took out a small card. As Tim stepped into the elevator, the card swished the card through a slot in the elevator number pad. A red beep appeared above the panel, as the elevator closed. "You’ve been expected," said the guard, smirking and staring forward.

The elevator opened to a long hallway. Well, it looks like I’m going straight to the labs, thought Tim. Apparently Miss Destine was out or busy. The guard led the way down the hall to a series of doors, where upon reaching the second to last, he opened the door up and headed inside. Tim followed, stepping into a simple server room. Two large computers were against the side of the wall, with a computer terminal by each. The guard led him to the left computer, then pointed. "This server station is the infected one. Miss Destine says that you need to fix this as soon as possible. She also said that you could spend a day in New York at her expense for fixing the server. Generous if you ask me."

Tim nodded, set down his bags (He had packed light), and logged onto the server. "If you need anything, just call. You can take a break whenever you like, but Miss Destine hopes you can have this problem solved by nightfall," the guard said in passing, pointing to a phone against the wall and exiting the room.

Tim sighed. He begun whistling the tune to "All Alone Again" and begun fighting the virus.

Another painful transformation, another day in a human form. Dominique knew this was to be her existence, unless Puck took off the curse, but she also had to embrace it for the freedom it did grant her. Still, she didn’t like it. She headed to her closet and slipped out of her leathers, putting on something more suitable. Mainly, her red suit. Funny how she wore a variation of this suit everyday. Then again, the color did match her attitude. She headed over to a computer console she had in her secret room behind her office, and logged in. Server 10A was still down. Tim should have arrived by now. She checked camera logs, fast-forwarding quickly, and finally noticed the somewhat large figure of Tim stepping into the doorway. Boy, he looked grumpy. Dominique closed the camera footage, loaded a report, and began typing. Work. Ugh.

The day passed without problem. Tim quickly finished off the virus and restored the server. It was only five in the afternoon too, so he should have the whole night and afternoon of tomorrow to go and explore New York. He inserted a writeable CD into the drive and downloaded the files that caused the virus. Taking his time, he removed the virus subroutine from the files and completely cleared all files from the laptop and network of any trace of the virus. He was about to close his laptop when he got curious. What kind of file launched this virus? Looking through the files that were infected, not including the executable that set off the virus, he checked for files that might have caused this. The only thing that seemed suspicious was a picture and document of the same name. Looking around, he opened the files. The picture showed a small, ancient looking artifact on it. The document detailed information about the artifact. This would have been interesting reading if he had cared at the moment, but for right now, he deleted all files save those two. Maybe he would go to a museum and see it sometime, if he could find it. Tim packed up his stuff and headed for the door. Time to explore a little bit of New York.

She was ready for it this time, and did not lose 300 dollars of company money on a new suit and pumps. She was already in her leathers as the change took her, wrangling her body into the form of her blue gargoyle form. After the pain had subsided, she considered what plans she should do for tonight. Then she remembered Alexa. If things went well, she would be here at any moment.

Tim stopped at the door to the building. Damn, he would need to tell Dominique that he was done. Turning around, he headed back towards the elevator.

Alexa woke, than bound into the main room before anyone else could follow. She swiped up the artifact and was about to leave when everyone walked into, blocking her exit.

"Alexa, sit down," Goliath muttered.

Alexa paused. Was she in trouble? She had hoped not. She quietly sat down in a nearby chair as Goliath, Hudson, and Brooklyn stood in front of her. "Alexa, we came to a decision last night. You are not really who you are. From what we can tell, that artifact has morphed our friend Lexington into a female version of him, making him lose his memory and become you. We are going to try and use the artifact to bring him back. You understand, don’t you?"

It was a blow if she every heard one. She…wasn’t real? How could that be? She had memories of what she liked and disliked…but she did not know or remember anything else. Perhaps he was right, but she had a right to be who she wanted to be. "So you’re asking me to sit quietly and let you take my life just so you can have your friend back?"

"Alexa, we…"

"No, don’t worry. Just let me do something before you kill me."

Goliath frowned, and turned away, as Alexa stood up and ambled over to Broadway. Angela watched head on as Alexa passionately kissed Broadway, taking him completely by surprise. Then, she hit him in the chest, knocking him into the crowd of gargoyles blocking her exit. She quickly dashed away, then leaped out of the window. It took a moment for the group to recover, but one thing was clear.

"She’s got the artifact!" yelled Brooklyn, running after her and following her in the air.

"Wait! Brooklyn!" said Angela, leaping off the edge as well.

It soon became apparent that a chase would ensue, as the entire clan followed Alexa, towards a large, square, mirrored building.

Demona accessed the files, quickly learning all about the artifact. Coupled with her own knowledge of ancient history, she suddenly realized what the device was all about. This artifact was a form of punishment. Back in those times, a form of punishment was to serve a man as a woman slave. This device caused the transformation. It would cause a completely personality rearrangement and wipe their memory of their former existence. After a time, the device could be used to change them back to their normal sex. Now she had Alexa bringing it right to him! And if she knew anything about logical assumptions, Alexa would be Lexington affected by this artifact.

A tapping came from the window. Demona turned around to see Alexa standing at the window. Quickly, she opened the window, allowing her access. Alexa was breathing heavily for some reason. "Do you have the artifact?"

"Yeah…huff…"

"Let me have it!"

"Sure, here you go."

Alexa handed her the artifact. Demona smiled as she rubbed the artifact intently.

"By the way, why do you look so tired?"

"I was chased."

"CHASED?!?!"

A new voice spoke. "By us."

Demona gasped, recognizing the voice of Goliath at the window’s entrance. She knew what she had to do. She started muttering the magic words and aimed the device at Goliath’s group.

"Watch out!" yelled Goliath, as a ray of magic came from the artifact, straight at the group. Goliath, Hudson, Bronx, Broadway, and Angela were in the room, and had dodged. Unfortunately, Brooklyn, who was just entering, was struck head on by the beam, and fell.

2 seconds later, a new figure rose…a female Brooklyn!

Demona quickly turned the device onto Alexa and fired. She was struck as well, but did not change sex. Instead, she rubbed her head, looking at Demona intently.

"Alexa, Brooke, attack them!"

Both of them turned toward the group and, to the surprise of the Goliath and the others, began to attack them!

"They are not themselves, fight them as if they were our enemy!" Goliath ordered, trying to punch Alexa head on.

Demona smiled, and began a second chant, as the Goliath’s clan fought her two slaves. There was a slave option on this device that allowed her to make them obey her, regardless of what anyone else said. A sudden opening of the door broke her concentration for a second blast. Turning around, she was surprised to see Tim! She growled, and took to the shadows, while Tim saw the commotion. Amazed, he dropped his stuff, and took off his jacket. Tim was JOINING the fight? She had to stop this. She started another chant when she was interrupted. Brooke had taken a massive blow and was thrown into where she was standing. She yelled, the artifact being launched from her hand and into the air.

"No!" yelled Angela, who started after the artifact.

"Get it!" exclaimed Broadway, who dove after it.

Both missed, but one person did catch it.

Tim was now staring at a perfect representation of that picture he just saw. He had actually caught it.

Alexa was soon knocked out as Goliath managed a blow. Tim looked at the other gargoyles, a bit amazed by the situation, even though he had already seen gargoyles. "Uh…hi?"

A roar from the shadows showed the encounter was not yet done, but all that issued forth was the limp body of Brooke, thrown from the depths of the room’s night. The elevator’s lights began to show that it was moving, coming towards this floor.

"In about 10 seconds, an armored security group will break in here and shoot anything that it sees moving. You WILL leave now."

"Let’s get out of here," muttered Goliath, grabbing Alexa’s body. Broadway took Brooke, Hudson took Bronx, and Tim got an exclusive ride with Angela. "Hang on, we’re not going far."

"Wait, my bags!"

"We don’t have time!"

"We need them!" Tim broke free and quickly grabbed the bags, as he and Angela were the last one left in the room. The elevator door began to open as Tim was suddenly grabbed by Angela, who immediately launched into the air and into the night.

The guards entered. "You called Miss Destine?"

A sigh came from the shadows. The group leader tried to identify who it was, but couldn’t tell. "No need anymore, the threat has passed. Resume your posts," came Dominique’s voice.

"Yes Miss Destine." The soldiers saluted and left.

Demona stepped out of the shadows once the guard had left. She looked over into the night as she saw the flying figures making their way to Castle Wyvern. "You may have won this round Goliath, but I WILL beat you yet!"

A quick landing on Castle Wyvern occurred as everyone moved to inside the building. Brooke and Alexa were laid onto the ground, both covered, as everybody looked them over.

"We have the artifact, but how do we change them back?" asked Alexa, looking sad.

"If I may?" Tim said.

Everyone looked at Tim as he stepped forward. He placed his laptop on the table and opened the file that contained the text document for the artifact. He quickly scanned through it, until he came to a small section labeled "Activation Words". After a quick search, he began to rub the blue symbol.

Everyone watched as Tim uttered some words. Then, the artifact glowed brightly, as Tim brought the device onto the two limp bodies. A sudden blast came from the artifact and struck both at once. A bright flash filled the room, blinding everyone for several seconds.

When the eyes were cleared, the definite forms of Lexington and Brooklyn were on the ground, unconscious.

Epilogue

"No WAY!"

Lexington’s obvious response to the situation when he was told was muttered over and over again throughout the castle for days. After the restoration of the two gargoyles, things slowly returned to normal. Elisa had come back from her undercover empty. But, the apparent burglaries and assassination attempts had stopped. She had resumed her life normally as well, now that the artifact was sitting in some unmarked box in some museum, according to Elisa. She really didn’t care for it anymore. She was just glad she had some time to rest her nerves, frayed as they were through this whole ordeal.

Meanwhile, Tim had met with the gargoyles and exchanged with information. He learned about them and told them about himself, and was soon back on his way to Miami to get back to his life as well. Overall, this trip was a learning experience for him, as he met face to face with the clan of gargoyles that he had heard so much about.

Brooklyn has yet to learn about his short trip as a woman, but for all sakes and purposes, the clan wasn’t going to tell him.

Finally, Lexington was recovering from what he had done. He didn’t remember a thing, yet everything they told him seemed to have a small hint of familiarity. He sat on the balcony of the highest tower and looked into the stars. This was almost like a small, insane trip into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Lexington looked down on the city, wondering if that female person was still inside of him. He hoped not, but still, it was amazing how magic could make you a whole new person.

THE

END

Author’s Note: DAMN this was a long one. Sorry that it took so long folks, and there might have been a few plot loopholes, if any, but I just HAD to finish this thing after so long. Coming, soon, youth cream never had such a new meaning as ages collide in "To Be Young Again". Also, we talked a little about a famous shrinking blue-suited blond-haired woman. Her chronicles are yet to come in "The Incredible Shrinking Secretary of Nightstone". Finally, things get hairy in New York as a werewolf starts to terrorize the public in "Night of the Garou". I hope you enjoyed this, and send all comments to nigera@hotmail.com!