-by Arlee

The immortal looked down at the small being in front of her.  Curving her lips into smile, she rested her ageless hand on her shoulder.  "Rise, young one, and walk with me."

The girl stretched her legs in an effort to keep up with the queen’s strides, but soon gave up and kept herself back a bit, as was proper.

"Why am I here?"

Titania glanced down at her.  "Because you amuse me.  Your questions are insightful, and unlike most mortals, I think that maybe one day you could grow to be a great soul."

She puzzled this for a moment.  "You are a great soul?"

"Aye."

"Will I ever be as great at you?"

"I doubt that," The Queen answered.   "But in a few lifetimes you may come close."

They had come to Titnia’s destination, coincidentally hers and Oberon’s rooms. The Fey gestured grandly to the outside, where sunlight filtered down onto the always green meadows and woods of Avalon.  "Go play."

She grew there, going from the age of four, to the age of seven, while centuries passed in the mortal world, playing with the gathered Fairies of Avalon by day, and dreaming of Castles rising above the clouds at night.  One day, early in the morning, she was breakfasting with the Queen.

"Were the Fey first?"

"First what?"

"The first to be."

Titania settled the tea cup to its proper place and cocked her head.  "Who put these notions into your head?"

"The three sisters, they were singing amidst themselves of the three races, so I wanted to know, were the Fey the first?"

"Yes, we were."  To this planet, anyway.

The mortal frowned at this.  "And you were the fist Fey... Were you ever lonely?"

Titania drew a deep breath gazing at the child sharply.   "Loneliness... The word cannot even begin to describe... But I am not lonely anymore."

The girl nodded.  "You have ever so many children, and Oberon.  Why doesn’t he like me?"

Titania smiled indulgently.  "I suppose because you remind him of someone he’d rather forget, someone he knew a very long time ago."

The girl scratched a wing, looking out at a fairy catching the sunlight on his wings... Dryads laughed from the branches of their ancient tress... A flute played its notes to the wind... "Will I ever have children?"

She watched as the immortal shook her head.   "Look at yourself, tell me what you see."

The girl did.  "I see... Brown skin, black hair in a braid to my waist.  I see my hands, my feet, and my wings, and the special dress you gave me.  I see my stone."

Titania took the girls hands in her own.  "These hands are the hands of human, your feet and wings those of a gargoyle.  Child, you are a half breed.  No one in the mortal world would want you, made as you are of magic.  The only thing that is keeping you on the living plane is the same stone you wear about your neck."  The immortal leaned comfortably back in her chair.   "Count yourself lucky that I find you amusing, and wish to keep you at my side."

That night the girl lay in her spacious bed, and realized what it ment to be alone. Tears, which never before had she let loose, fell from her cheeks and soaked the pillow as she lay on it.  "I am alone," she whispered.  "It is my destiny."

So the girl grew, learning all that the Fairy Queen would teach her.  She watched, fascinated, the changes that took place in the mortal world.   Humans, though very smart, and incredibly advanced in their ‘technology’, had no idea that Avalon even existed.  Gargoyles, whose wings made her throat tight the first time she viewed them, were very few, and, at first, feared by humans. Often, they were destroyed as they slept in their stone sleep by those who dreaded them most.

She learned of war.

It wasn’t until she as at the age of sixteen, that she saw the relationships between the two races improve.  Cities were built with both humans and gargoyles in mind, and a pact was made between them.  Each would protect the other and respect and love blossomed.

Then everything changed.

She was beautiful, the first time the girl saw her.   Blue skin, about the color of a mountain lake at dusk, and hair that seethed with the life of the flame it copied. At day, she actually turned into a human, with pale skin and green eyes...Those eyes... The first time the girl saw them, she shuddered.  They held the pain and anger of untold bitter loneliness.  She knew many emotions, but the only one she chose to feel anymore was Hate.

She Hated.

Because of the peace treaty, humans and gargoyles walked together, lived together, loved together.  And the Hateful one seethed.  She planned.  Nights and days, the Hateful one planned the destruction of humanity, the death of every human on Earth, the Moon, and Mars, as well as the stations that orbited the 3rd Planet like tiny gardens of color and Life.

At last, centuries later, she succeeded.  A spell that had been buried in the mists of Time had landed in her hands, and she used it.

Death raped the world, and the Hateful one laughed.

She, too, had died, for the spell she had unleashed had killed the human she’d been linked to, but the damage had been done.

That was when the girl made her decision.

She was eighteen.  Finally, the day had come when she’d learned to view the past through Titania’s mirror.  The Queen herself was out viewing the kingdom for the day, with her Lord and Husband at her side.

Trembling, the girl glanced around the room one last time, and ‘looked’ with her mind to see if anyone was nearing her position.  No one was.  She took a deep breath and concentrated on the mirror.  History flew past her eyes, backwards. Finally she arrived at the moment she needed.  Clutching the small ring which was her way home, the girl stepped through.

A cry split the air, and Elisa collapsed back onto the bed, exhausted.  A giant talon gently smoothed the sweaty hair from her forehead.

"Elisa, my love..."  his voice, the voice of the only one who had ever known her heart, came softly to her ears.  She looked up into Goliath’s awe-stricken face. "Elisa, we have a daughter."

Something was placed into her arms, and she looked down into the most beautiful face she had ever seen.  Her daughter.  Tears spilled down her cheeks as she watched the new life in her arms screaming.

"Elisa, honey, I think you should feed her."   Her mother gently broke in.

Diane and Goliath watched silently, as mother fed child for the first time, and they looked at each other.  "What will you call her, Elisa?"

The new mother looked up.  "Actually, mom, I wanted you to name her.  It’s a Maza family tradition, right?  Dad would have wanted it."

Diane bowed her head gratefully, and caught sight of the bag of sacred earth under the table.  It was soil, half taken from her native village in Nigeria, and half taken from Peter’s in Arizona.  Holy Earth.

Smiling from ear to ear, Diane leaned over her newest grand-child.  "I will name her Oni.  It means ‘born on holy ground’".

The baby detached herself after a while, closing her eyes sleepily.  She flapped a wing lazily.  Goliath placed his talon gently in the infant’s tiny hand, which squeezed closed around it.  Overwhelming love filled his soul, and he swore, then and there, to protect her at the cost of his own life, if need be.

Elisa’s slender hand rested on his wrist, and he looked up to her face.  She smiled tiredly.  "I am still in love with you."

He kissed her forehead.  "My heart will always be yours."

The girl stumbled when she landed, and put out a hand to stop herself from running into the wall.  Then she stood up straight and looked around.

She was in a castle.  The girl blinked.  Had she stepped through the Mirror only to end up back on Avalon?  A bald, cute, green, web-winged gargoyle she had never seen before walked around the corner.  They froze.

Definitely not Avalon.

He, it was certainly a he, dropped his jaw at the sight of her. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled.  "One is always oneself."

Another gargoyle rounded the corner, running into the first one.  This one, another male, was brick-red, and had a long beak, to go with the long horns, and a shock of white hair running half-way down his back.  He was well over six feet tall.  "Who is she?"

The girl cocked her head, unconsciously imitating Titania.   "Didn’t I just answer that?"

The red one’s eyes began to glow.  "How did you get here?!"

She backed up a step.  "I don’t... "   She could see that they were about to pounce.  "Umm, just where is ‘here’, anyway?"

That took them aback.  The smaller green one blinked his large eyes.  "You don’t know where you are?"  She shook her head.  "Well, what’s your name?"

The girl frowned.  "Name?  I don’t think I have one."  She unfurled her wings and scratched one idly.   "No, I’m sure I would remember if I had a name."

The red one inhaled sharply just as the green one gasped.   "You have wings!" The smaller cried, pointing.

"So do you."

The taller shook his head.  "Okay, time out.   A strange girl with wings suddenly arrives out of nowhere.  She doesn’t know who she is, or where she is, or why she’s here."  He looked down at the green one.  "Let’s take her to Goliath.

The girl shook her head.  "I do too know _why_ I’m here."

The web-winged male raised a brow-ridge.  "Then why?"

She smiled.  "To save the future, of course."

Goliath stood in front of her, seven feet of lavender wings and muscle.  Lots of muscle.  His arms were crossed, and he studied the small girl in front of him. "You say you are here to save the future?"

"Yes."

"And where do you come from?"

"Avalon."

The beings in the room tensed up at the mention of that.

A female, of Goliath’s coloring, shook her head.   "I’ve never seen you, and I grew up on Avalon."

The girl nodded.  "I know.  That’s okay, though, I came from the future, I told you.  When I’d been brought there, by Avalon’s reckoning, it had been, uh, 36 years since you left.  And that would mean that it was sixty years since you left that I left.  Avalon time."

Lexington swallowed loudly.  "That’s 1,290 years.  Earth time."

The girl nodded.  "More or less."  She smiled at them.  "I wish I could tell you all the wonderful things I have seen.   But it would take too long.  All I can tell you is that I need your help, and badly."

Goliath thought of Elisa, sleeping in a room far from here, thier new baby daughter in a cradle near to her.  "What is so urgent that you sought us out?"

She looked at him.  "There is a gargoyle, a female.  She is evil.  I have seen what she will do to your future, and you must stop her.  I cannot alone, for I have taken a vow never to harm a living being.   None of you have taken such a vow. I need you to hunt her down, and one other, and let the other kill her.  If this fails, then she will succeed in killing every human in this solar system.  I need to take you to the future, where you may be able to stop her, or the other can kill her.  It’s the only way."

Lexington was getting a suspicion.  "Why does this other person that you’re talking about have to kill her?"

"He’s the only one who truly can."   The girl shrugged.

Now Goliath had his fears, too.  "What exactly does this evil one look like?"

"Tall,"  the girl began.  "Blue skin, very red hair, and purple wings.  She wears gold about her brow and on her ears and ankles.  During the day she turns into a human with green eyes and pale skin."

"DEMONA!!"   Brooklyn roared.

"NO!!!"  Angela shrieked.  "Not my mother!"

The girl looked again at Angela.  "She is your mother?  Oh, I am so sorry." Then she looked at Goliath, making the genetic connection. " But, he’s your father.  How can this be?  I thought that gargoyles mated for life?"

Hudson fixed his eye on her.  "Lass, how did ye know that they weren’t mated any longer?"

She blinked.  "His smells of a female human and a new-born halfling child of his own blood.  It wasn’t that hard to figure out." She shrugged.

Lexington grinned at the newcomer.  She was incredibly smart, from what he could tell, and she was drop dead gorgeous.  "I think we should help her."

The clan turned to look at him.   Goliath sighed. "Very well.  We will speak of it, ut not tonight.  Tonight I must be with my wife and newest child."  He swept out of the room.

Broadway, Hudson, and Angela followed, she argueing with her father that they couldn’t kill Demona.  Brooklyn plopped himself down on the now-empty couch and turned on the television.

Lex and the girl looked at each other.

"So," he said.  "How come you don’t have a name?"

She wandered over to the far end of the room, looking at the bookshelves, he following.  "I don’t know.  On Avalon, I never needed one.  The Queen always called me ‘child’, and no one else bothered me.  Well, some of them called me ‘mortal’."

Lex stood to his full height, suprised to see that she was shorter than he.  Barely.  "Well, you should probably pick a name, it will get kind of awkward just saying ‘Hey you’ all the time."

She smiled a bit, running her hand over the bindings.   A title caught her eye. ‘Medieval Poems.’  She took the book down, and held it, not opening it yet.

"Through the darkness Dream took her hand
And taught her to fly on silvered wings.
She Dreamed of seeing Fairy-Land
Which abounded in wounderus things.

But most beautiful of all, was the man.
He placed apon her hand a nothing ring.
Then could she understand
Loneliness was her destiny."

Lexington looked at the book, and then to her face.   "That’s very sad."

The girl looked up at him with a start, as if just realizing that he was there.  "Yes, yes it is."  she agreed.   "It was written a very long time ago, by a Lady who has been dead for many centuries.  Lady Gabriella of Wyrmwood"  she said sadly. "In some ways, that poem is my life."

Lex looked at her again, really seeing her.  She was lonely.  Like him.  He reached out a hand, and placed it gently on her shoulder. " I think I know how you feel."

"Je suis seul.  C’est mon destine, je sais."  She gently took his hand from her shoulder.  "Mais merci."

He shook his head.  "I don’t speak French."

"That’s okay."  The girl placed the book back on the shelf and walked away.

Owen peered through the video cameras, the green lights from the screens casting an eerie glow to his face.  His hand slowly reached up to take his glasses off.  It was shaking so badly it took him awhile to clean them and put them back on.  He whispered to Lexington’s image. " She said she is alone. I t is her destiny. She knows."

He looked over at boy seated next to him.  "What do you say to changing destinies, eh, Alex?"

The red-headed seven-year-old nodded his head vigorously.   "Sure!  Then can I make myself some ice-cream?"

Elisa couldn’t get over how beautiful her child was.   She was a miracle, the most wonderful thing in the world...Goliath sat near to her, on a stool.  He was staring at his newest daughter with huge, awe-stricken eyes.   Elisa giggled, and he looked up.

"What is it, love?"

She shook her head.  "Nothing, you just looked so overwhelmed.  I’ve never seen you look that way before."

Goliath reached a hand across the cradle to grasp her hand gently in his own.  "I have never seen the birth of my own child before.   You have given me the most wonderful gift..."  His thumb traced a circle on the back of her hand and they smiled at each other.

Hudson cleared his throat, reminding them that they were not alone, and Elisa took her hand back regretfully.  "Lass," he addressed her.  "May I hold th’ wee thing?"  She nodded and the old warrior picked up the newborn as if handling fine china.  "Goliath, she looks a might like our new friend, don’t ye think?"

"I do not think that she has a tail, as does Oni.   And the other has five fingers on each hand, remember?"  Goliath said.

"Yeah,"  Broadway chimed in.   "And Oni has gray eyes, almost green.  The girl has blue eyes."

Hudson continued to study the newest addition to the clan.   She had lighter skin than either Elisa or himself, but it was brown, none the less.   Her hair, short, and softer than kitten-fur, lay in ebony black swirls on her head.   Her hands had only four fingers, like a gargoyles, but there were finger-nails instead of continuing claws.  The babe had a tail, short and stubby, and at the moment twitching as she dreamed baby-dreams.  Her feet were very small for a gargoyle, but still the three-toed, clawed things common to most.  She would most likely walk upright, with out the bent knees so many of his kind had.  Her wings were a pale lavender on the insides, a darker brown on the out.  She had one "hook", and two "fingers".  They would not grow big enough for her to glide on for some years, yet.

"She takes after both parents, very much."   Hudson said. "She’ll grow to be a fine addition to the clan, a good warrior maybe."

Angela looked at her new sister dubiously.   "She’s so small."

Broadway wrapped a wing around her, smiling.   "We all were, at that age."  He said.  "She’ll grow."

Angela leaned her head against him, sighing in contentment.  "I can’t wait until we have our own.  Can you?"

Broadway’s eyes got bigger by the second, contemplating fatherhood.  "Our own?"  he squeaked.

"Someday."

Then, after much more cooing at the baby, the gargoyles had to leave, for the sun was due to rise any minute.  Before he could leave, though, Elisa caught Goliath’s hand.  He turned to look at her.

"Dream of us, Goliath.  We’ll be here waiting for you."

He ran a hand through her silken hair, a gentle look in his eyes.  Then he turned and left.

The girl watched wistfully as the gargoyles turned to stone for the day.  Most of them were in fearful poses, wings flared wide, and mouths gaping in terrifying snarls.  But Goliath, the leader, stood facing East, a wide smile gracing his craggy face.  The girl smiled in response to seeing him.   Happiness was rare, and she was glad he had found it.

Turning, she walked back into the Castle.  A Man stood before her.  He was tall and had fair skin and yellow hair. His square glasses, perched before eyes like ice, and just as blue, gave him an intelligent look.  His left fist was stone, and he reeked of magic.

Likewise, Owen had been studying her.  She was very short, maybe five four, and wore a dress that fell to her ankles.  She had very rich brown skin, and black hair that fell to her waist in a thick braid.  Her hands had five fingers, in complete defiance to the wings folded cloak-like about her shoulders, and the small gargoyle feet peeking from beneath her skirt.  She wore about her neck, on a silver chain, a blue crystal formed as a perfect sphere.  The color matched her eyes exactly.  Owen peered closer, and drew in his breath.  It was a magical talism...in fact, it was the only thing that was keeping her alive.

The girl stepped up to him, placing a hand on his chest.   "I thought all of the Children were on Avalon."

Owen stepped back, breaking contact.  "How did you know I am Fey?"

She wrinkled her nose delicately.  "You smell very strongly of Fairy magic.  Then again," she said, gesturing to the Castle.   "This entire place does.  Odd."

He didn’t know what to say.  What could you say to a gargoyle-human hybrid who could sense Fairy magic?

She began to walk, and he fell in place beside her.   "What is your name?"

"Owen Burnett.  You may call me Owen."

"Very well," she nodded.  "Owen, will you show me around this castle?"

"Of course.  But first, I think you should meet the man who owns it."

They arrived at Xanatos’s private office, and he knocked on the oak door three times.  There was a pause, and then--

"Come in, Owen."

He opened the door, gesturing inside, and the girl proceeded him.  "Mr. Xanatos, Mrs. Xanatos, we have a guest."

They stared at her, both taking in her appearance in one glance.  The girl had the feeling that they were assessing her, judging her strengths, and weaknesses. She unfolded her wings in irritation.  The male Man blinked. The female Man’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

The female was the first to recover.  "Uhh, what is your name?"

"One is always oneself.  I don’t have a name."

The Men glanced at each other.  "What shall we call you?"  the male asked.

She remembered the poem she had recited to Lexington just that morning.  "I guess you may call me Gabriella."

"Sounds like a name to me.  So, Gabriella, why aren’t you stone?"

She grinned at them, glad to realize that neither Human wasted time, but then Gabriella shrugged.  "I’ve never turned to stone.   I’ve always been like this, as flesh and blood." She studied her hands.   "That’s why the Queen kept me from the others."

The female asked "Queen?" just as the male said "What others?"

"Your mother," Gabriella answered.   "And the other gargoyles on Avalon."

The female drew in a deep breath, very slowly, as Gabriella saw the male’s hand ease under the table. "You come from Avalon?"   The female asked tensely.

The girl looked back at Owen, who was shaking his head very slightly at the Men. "So does he," she said pointing.  "Why are you afraid of me?  I mean you no harm."

"Owen?"

"I believe she speaks the truth, sir.  She means no harm."  He adjusted his glasses.

The girl saw the male stand, and come around to the front of the desk.  "You are a very unusual young woman.  Owen?"

"Yes sir?"

"Go fetch Alexander."

"Yes sir."

He turned back to her.  "Why are you here?"

"I’ve come from your future to save my own."

"Explain."

Sighing, Gabriella sat down in the chair he offered her.   The male and female Men settled themselves in front of her, giving her their complete attention.  By the time she was through, the Men had agreed to help her in whatever ways they could.

She told them the same story she told Goliath and his clan the next night...

"I grew up on Avalon.  By its Time, Angela had been gone for 36 years, when I was brought, at the age of four, to live there.  I was kept from the gargoyles on the Isle, and had the Fey as my only company.  Titania herself was training me in the magical Arts.  I was not too old when I accidentally discovered how to look through her mirror to see the World outside.  There was a full-scale war between gargoyles and humans, until finally, after a very long time fighting, a peace-treaty was made.  Every thing went beautifully for a while, until a female gargoyle, I think that she was called Demona, unleashed a virus that decimated the entire human population of Earth, Mars, the Moon, and even the stations orbiting them.

"She died too, because of the link she carried with the silver-haired human male, but the destruction was done."

The clan leaned forward breathlessly, and she continued.   "I saw the destruction, and I knew that Oberon’s children would never give help.  The rule stood, even then.  So it was up to me.  I searched the mirror, looking back in time, trying desperately to find heroes that would be champion to my cause.  I found you."

Gabriella unfolded her wings, looking at them beseechingly.  "Please.  I need your help, desperately.  I need you to come with me to the future and defeat her."

Goliath looked around at the clan, who gazed back with approving eyes.  He thought again of Elisa, and their new-born child, Oni.  He knew the girl’s plea was real and heartfelt, but to leave them so soon... He looked into the wide blue eyes of Gabriella.

"I...I don’t know."  he said.

The clan watched as their leader swept out of the room.

Goliath found his way to Elisa’s room, where she and the baby were to stay, for as long as they wished, a gift from Xanatos.  Quietly, he opened the door.  He heard her making noises in the bathroom, so he let himself in, never making a sound.  The room was dark, and Oni lay sleeping in her crib an ancient and hand carved heirloom from long ago, from her mother’s side of the family.

He picked his daughter up, careful not to jostle her, marveling again at how wonderful she was.  A tear rolled down his cheek as he realized that this tiny person was of his creation...

"Goliath?"

He’d been so caught up in Oni he hadn’t noticed Elisa coming up from behind him.  "You’re crying?" she half-asked, as her hand caught the tear.  She sat on the bed next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.  "Are you okay?"

"Elisa, the girl who appeared yesterday...Gabriella...she wants us to come with her to defeat Demona, in the future, no less."

She looked up at him, placing her slender brown hand on his bicep.  "Goliath," she said slowly, forcing herself tobreath deeply, "If you went, would you be able to come back?"

"She mentioned that, yes.  According to her we would come back only moments after we had left. But..."

"But what if you never do come back?"

"I do not wish to leave you, my love, not so soon after Oni’s birth."

"Goliath, you know I love you with all of my heart..."

He breath caught, as it always did apon hearing those words from her.

"...and I will stand behind you no matter what you decide.  But I know, deep in your heart, that you want to go.  Gargoyles protect, it’s your nature."  She placed a hand on his chest, over his heart, before dropping it to touch Oni’s cheek.  "If you go, promise me one thing."

"Anything, you have but to ask it."

"Come back.  In one piece, preferably."

He ran his talons through her hair, feeling the silken strands run over them like water.  Her eyes, such a deep brown that he could happily throw himself in and drown, looked up at him.  The trust, and complete love that shone through made him feel as if Time itself stood still.  "I promise."

Lexington looked over at the girl who now called hersef Gabriella.  She was clutching a sheet of parchment, studying it intensely.  She, Goliath, Brooklyn, Lex, Angela, Broadway, and Xanatos were standing in a circle made of runes and cryptic looking symbols.  She had warned them earlier not to step out of the circle once they had stepped in.

Gabriella looked up, meeting his gaze briefly before passing on to the others. Taking a deep breath she began to chant.

"Dieu, si il vous plait,
Donnez les gens dans l’energie de cette bague
L’heure et le place
Que je sais." (02)

Translation(02)-God, if it pleases you,
Give to the people in the energy of this ring
The Time and the place
which I know.

A green energy began to rise from the runes and symbols on the floor.  Like mist, it undulated and curved, drifting with the slightest currents of air, but unlike mist, it stayed within its defined perimeters.  The figures were obscured to all who looked on, until, with a brilliant flash of emerald light, they were gone.

Goliath looked out at the expanse of waste in front of him.  A city, peppered with pockets of destruction and burned areas, lay silent before him.  There were no sounds of cars or sirens, no alarms or venders selling their wares.  The wind whistled in loneliness, and the stars shone brightly, with no artificial light to interfere.

He turned, looking at Gabriella in shock.   "Where are we?"

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind a delicately pointed ear.  "This is your future, Goliath.  Welcome to Manhattan."

Okay, Howdy folks!! This is the author, and I’d like feedback for this story. Really, I love E-mail. Any constructive criticisms, compliments (especially those) and flames are very welcome. Anywho, if you would like to see more, write to me and urge me on. I like stuff like that.  Here's my (temporary) E-mail link: