Full Moon Rising: The New Version

Rewritten by Isabelle Saucier

Based on the original Full Moon Rising

by Scott S. Mercure

Finished on January 7, 1999

All Gargoyles and characters are copywritten 1994 by Disney and Buena Vista Television. Venus Mercure, a.k.a. the Rebel Flower, belongs to myself, Isabelle Saucier. Professor Scott Mercure and Jacob Forelle belong to Scott S. Mercure. All brand names or copywritten material mentioned in this story belong to their respective owners.

I wish to thank everyone who made this rewriting possible, especially my friend Julie Descôteaux, who proofread a good part of the story and helped me with some ideas for the new version.

People used to the Mercure universe will find their favorite characters in a story they know, with a different twist. New readers will enjoy a classic in the fan fiction universe that is now linked to a wide selection of other excellent stories. Since the new version is very different (yet somewhat the same) as the original, there are some scenes I have changed, added or deleted. As much I as I tried to make this story fit with the sequels (Old Surprises New Friends, Demona's Love Reborn and Rising Over Venus), people who have read them will find that some items are not corresponding anymore. I apologize for it, but as other writers know, characters do not always do what we want them to do.

It took a lot of work and time to rewrite this story, but I was happy to do it. I hope you will all have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Now, enough with the rambling and on with the show.

It was early in the morning. Still far in the eastern horizon, the sun was casting long shadows about the area. At the end of an old runway in Oban, Scotland, a man was waiting. Seeing a plane there was very rare. The landing strip had been used in the past, mostly during World War II; now almost everyone had forgotten about it. Yet, Jonathan Dunbar was waiting there. Soon, the plane would arrive, he thought. It had to arrive.

He gave a short sigh of relief when he saw lights in the sky and patiently waited for the Citation IV to land. As the private jet rolled on the runway and came to a full stop, Dunbar noticed a company logo on its side that said:

MERCURE ENTERPRISES INC.

The plane's engines winded down and Dunbar approached. A door opened on the side of the plane, and a small set of steps was lowered. He watched and smiled as a man of medium height and build stepped to the ground. Scott Mercure. With his brown hair, matching beard, and long jet-black coat, the collector/archeologist had the look of a man with a shady past. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and stood there, silent, looking at Dunbar. "Mister Mercure," Dunbar said, holding a hand out in friendship. "Ye don't know how glad I am ta see ye."

The collector looked at the Scotsman's outstretched hand and did not return the favor. "I am only here because of your letter. If you would be so kind as to show me this gargoyle statue of yours, maybe we could get this over with."

Jonathan looked at the cold man and frowned. "Are ye always this unfriendly with people, Mister Mercure?"

"Mister Dunbar, I am a collector of ancient artifacts; when dealing with a customer I must keep my guard up because some of the calls I get are hoaxes. I am here for business purposes only, so just show me the statue."

"Very well, Mister Mercure," the Scotsman sighed. "A man like ye mustn't have too many friends," he added to himself.

Dunbar motioned toward his old pick-up truck and started walking toward it. The collector followed him without a word. They both took place in the truck and the Scotsman said: "It will take aboot two hours ta git there. Do ye wish to stop and eat before we go to me spread?"

"No."

The Scotsman shook his head. He had met many Americans before, but this one was different. He seemed distant, out of touch with reality. He did nothing but stare out the windshield, as if waiting for something supernatural to happen. Dunbar started the old pick-up and they left the private runway. "What aboot yer crew? Are they going to just wait in the plane for ye to return?"

The millionaire simply nodded and continued looking at the grassy flatland. They drove through several towns and stopped only once for gas. As Dunbar had said, it took nearly two hours to reach his family homestead. He pulled in the driveway and shut the motor off. The collector frowned. "Why are we stopping here? I thought the statue was hidden in a cave?"

"It is," Dunbar replied, pointing to the distant mountains in the horizon.

"Then I fail to see why we have stopped here. I have no time for such things. Please, take me to the cave."

"Mister Mercure, I don't care for yer attitude much," the Scotsman commented, speaking his mind. "But I don't think that even ye can see in the dark. Ye can stay here if ye wish, but I'm going ta git some lanterns."

Dunbar exited the truck and started toward an old barn a short distance from the house. When he turned around, he saw that the collector had remained in the truck. Shaking his head, he pulled the barn door open and stepped inside. Stalls were lining on both sides of the barn. Draught horses occupied four of them, some others were used for storage, but most of them were empty. At the far end, just below a hay lift, was another wooden door. He approached it and entered. Inside the room was a large selection of farming tools, including kerosene lanterns. He took five of them and made sure they were all full. Satisfied, he exited the tool shed and went back to the truck. Scott watched as he carefully placed the lanterns in the truck so that they would not break. Dunbar then climbed back into the driver's seat and sped off in the direction of the mountains.

His large spread of land was located in Kilmonivaia, not far from the western side of the Grampian Mountain Range. His clan had owned the land for over a thousand years. But throughout its residence on the land, clan Dunbar had kept a dark secret: the land was cursed. According to the family history, a winged temptress lived in a cave at the base of the mountains. The temptress was said to kill anybody who entered her hidden lair. Out of fear, no one had ever gone looking for the beast; thus it had remained a legend. Bolder than the others, finding the legend intriguing, Jonathan Dunbar had decided to search the land and put the old legend to rest.

About three weeks before, as he was exploring the base of the mountains, he had come across a cave, its opening almost hidden by overgrown bushes and vines. He had hacked the growth away and, using a lantern, entered the cave. He had not walked more than twenty paces when he had found himself standing in a small cavern. At the very end, resting on a small pedestal, was a statue of a female gargoyle. His heart had leapt into his throat at the sight of it, and he had held the lantern closer to have a better look at it.

The statue was quite fascinating, not to mention very well carved. It was covered with dust and cobwebs; despite that fact, Dunbar could see its face. It was delicate, yet strong, feminine and beautiful, yet quite upset. Whoever had carved her was—rather had been—a very talented artist. Dunbar had walked around the statue to get all of her features. She had bat-like wings and a long, muscular tail curled around her feet. For a gargoyle, she was a very stunning woman to look at. Smiling to himself, the Scotsman had started wondering what she would have looked as a flesh and blood creature. But his thinking had reminded him of the legend and he had decided it was better not to wonder about such things.

Backing away from the statue, he had left the cave and done his best to conceal its opening. Nobody was venturing there because of the curse, but he was not about to take any chances. Having no further desire to explore the cavern, he had decided to contact someone who was specialized in ancient artifacts. After many phone calls and unanswered letters, he had found professor Mercure. Dunbar had done some background checking on the man and found out that he was quite wealthy and owned a private business. The man bought and sold ancient artifacts for museums around the world. A deeper check had also revealed that his business had been once funded by a David Xanatos, of Xanacorp International, hence, he was not just anybody.

Now, the man who had answered his letter was sitting next to him. The Scotsman hoped the rich collector would agree to buy the statue and put an end to the supposed curse.

The back roads were seldom used and the ride to the mountains was more than a little bumpy. Dunbar drove past old fields that were no longer used and dilapidated buildings that once housed workers. Back a few hundred years, the entire area was thriving; now only the threat of losing the farm remained. His family did not have the money to maintain its upkeep; hiring workers had been out of the question a long time ago. Scott Mercure was his last hope of bringing his family's ancestral land back.

When they finally reached the area where the cave was, they exited the truck and stood for a moment in front of the opening. Dunbar retrieved the lanterns from the truck and lit one. To his amazement, Scott picked one up as well. Pushing the foliage aside, they made their way inside the cave. Dunbar stopped at the end of the passageway and raised his arm to shed some light around. Scott stopped for another reason. He had seen the statue.

The collector walked past the Scotsman up to the statue. "She is magnificent!" he thought.

He blew some of the dust from her face and wings, and with his hand, stroked the smooth face and neck. "She's... she's..." he stammered. "She's beautiful!"

Dunbar arranged the lanterns and lit them as the collector examined the statue some more. Soon, the entire cavern was lit up. Scott looked at the other man. "I've never seen a statue so perfectly preserved in this way. Not a single mark of age on it, no cracks, no loss of limbs... It's like it has been carved only yesterday!"

His whole attitude had changed. He was smiling. "I'll give you one million for it," he added.

"Laddie..." the old Scotsman murmured in astonishment. "Why so much?"

"She is worth it," he paused. "So, what do you say?"

Dunbar had not to think twice. He needed a lot of money to get the land working again. One million was more, much more than he needed, but he was not about to spit on such a fortune. "Yer a very generous man..." he started.

Then he extended his hand and added: "Mister Mercure, ye got yerself a gargoyle statue."

Still smiling, Scott shook the other man's hand. The Scotsman felt relieved. At last, nobody would fear the curse anymore. The temptress would be gone. And his land could be saved and brought back to life. "When will ye take it outta here?" he asked.

"As soon as my crew can get here. I just have to call them," the collector replied, taking a portable phone from his coat pocket.

He went outside to call, the walls of the cave cutting the waves off, then came back in to wait for the crew to arrive. He saw the Scotsman looking at the base of the statue and walked up to him. "What is it?" he asked.

"This," Dunbar replied, motioning toward strange writing on the pedestal. "What do ye think it is, lad?"

Scott frowned, then knelt down to see better. He blew the dust and dirt away, but the symbols were very faint and hard to read. "From what I can see, it's a Latin text, about tenth century."

He took a little time to try and translate it. "I'll need to research some of it, but it talks about some castle and revenge. There's also something about a magic spell and a full moon... I can't read the rest without my textbooks."

"The curse, without a doubt."

"Whatever it is. In a few hours, you won't have to worry about it anymore."

The Scotsman nodded. "Aye. All I care aboot is getting me family's land working again. The workers won't fear the temptress anymore."

Scott nodded and decided to look around the cavern some more while he waited for his men to arrive. He knew it would take some time, so he asked Dunbar to go and get some supplies. He wanted to remain with the statue until the team arrived to remove it. The Scotsman agreed, although he had a hard time understanding why he absolutely wanted to remain there. The statue had been in the cave for hundreds of years; it could last a few hours more. But since Mercure was paying him so generously, he did not argue and complied.

"Mister Xanatos?"

The billionaire looked up from the computer screen as his aid entered the room. "Owen?"

"There is something on television you might be interested in."

The blond man walked to the wall and turned the large television on. "I don't care much about this news show, Owen. Their credibility is..."

The words remained in his throat as he saw the broadcast. "When did this happen?"

"It is happening right now, sir. Scott Mercure is in an area only about twenty miles southeast of Mallaig, the area where Castle Wyvern once stood on the cliffs of Firth of Lorne Bay."

Xanatos could not take his eyes from the television, where he could see both Mercure and the statue. "Do you think she's a member of Goliath's clan?"

"I could not confirm that, sir. It can also be a normal statue."

"She looks too perfectly carved, Owen," Xanatos took the remote to turn the television off. "I think we'll have to pay a little visit to that dear Mercure..."

"Shall I keep notice of his whereabouts from now on?"

"Hmmm, no. I just want to know when he comes back to Manhattan and where he's taking the statue."

"I will inform you as soon as I know, sir."

"As always, Owen, I know I can trust you."

The other man nodded and stepped out of the room. Xanatos returned to his computer and called up the personal file on Scott Mercure. The picture of the man appeared on the left and his statistics on the right. According to the file, Mercure had amassed a sizable fortune buying and selling ancient artifacts. Xanatos was impressed with the man's ability to deal in such matters legally. "My, my, Scott... You've decided to play in the big league... if this statue is as authentic as I suspect, you're in for quite a surprise..." Xanatos said, crossing his fingers in front of his face, a strange smile appearing on his thin lips.

Brooklyn hated the rain. And he hated even more going on patrol in it. "Who is stupid enough to commit crimes when it's raining anyway?" he thought.

Nevertheless, there he was, soaring above the buildings with Goliath, Lexington and Broadway. "Nothing happens. Why don't we just go home?" he said out loud.

He felt tired, bored, and he was soaking wet. "This really stinks, you know," he continued. "Must we do this in the rain as well, Goliath?"

The gargoyle leader looked at his young warrior and glided in closer to him. "We are the guardians of this city. It is our duty to keep a watch out for evil."

"I know all that, but I don't necessarily have to enjoy it," he mumbled.

"Aw, c'mon, Brooklyn, you're not made of chocolate; it's not like you're gonna melt or something," Lex commented.

"Chocolate... yeah, that's a good idea! I'll fix you all some hot chocolate when we get back to the clock tower," Broadway happily said, hoping to cheer his friend up a little.

Brooklyn mumbled something no one understood and resumed his watching, visibly not very happy. Goliath decided to wait until they were back to the tower to have a serious talk with him. Their patrol took them about two hours; when it was finished, the gargoyles hurried back to the clock tower. Brooklyn entered first, shaking the rain off his skin and hair. The others did the same and stepped down to the main floor. Hudson was sitting in his old recliner, watching television. When he heard them enter, he turned his head and smiled. "How did the patrol go tonight, lads?" he asked.

"Wet and uneventful," Goliath replied.

Brooklyn snorted. "Criminals are wise enough not to go out in this weather."

Lexington gave him a slightly annoyed look as Broadway walked toward the kitchen area. "Tomorrow is gonna be a brand new night and your patrol is done, Brooklyn. Stop thinking about it," the green gargoyle said.

"Surely there is something more to this," Goliath thought.

He walked to Brooklyn and asked: "Do you want to go to the library with me?"

Brooklyn's beaked face seemed to lighten up a little bit. Having Goliath's attention all to himself, for once! The young gargoyle nodded and walked towards the trapdoor that led to the library. "I wonder what's with him?" Lex said.

"Laddie, sometimes one simply needs to be with an understanding ear," Hudson commented, looking at him.

"What a wise thing to say," a voice said, coming from the trapdoor.

The three gargoyles turned their heads towards the voice and saw Elisa Maza. "It is the gift of age, lassie. A good evening to ye."

Elisa smiled at the old gargoyle. "Hi guys."

Broadway walked to the trapdoor. "Here, let me help you with these," he offered, and the young detective handed him a box she was carrying. "What's in this?"

"Open it."

"A cake! What's the occasion?" he exclaimed.

Elisa shrugged. "I dunno. Can it be because it tastes good?"

Broadway smiled and started setting the table. "You must have some," he gently ordered.

"Don't worry," she assured him, smiling as well. "Hudson?" she then called.

The old warrior looked at her. "Aye, lassie?"

"I got something for you. You're always saying that all you'd need with your recliner is a warm patchwork blanket... I know it might sound a little tacky, but I just felt like buying you one."

Hudson blinked, then slowly got up from the recliner. Completely forgetting about his favorite news broadcast that was coming on right then, he walked to the young detective. "A most generous present, lass," he said, moved.

Elisa simply smiled and handed him the blanket. The old warrior nodded as he took it. It was more than the blanket, the young woman realized. Hudson was almost always taken for granted; little gestures such as this one showed him that he was still appreciated. Impulsively, Elisa hugged Hudson, who looked a little surprised but briefly hugged her back.

On television, unnoticed by anyone, a woman reporter was talking about some amazing discovery made in Scotland.

"Why do not we all settle down to have some of this cake?" Hudson asked, his hand still on the young detective's waist.

"I'll go get the two others in the library," Lexington offered, then walked to the trapdoor.

The others sat down and waited for the little gargoyle to come back. Brooklyn looked a little better than before; his talk with Goliath had obviously helped. Everybody found a place at the table and Elisa began cutting the cake.

On television, professor Scott Mercure was yelling at the reporter. Annoyed by that background noise nobody was listening to anyway, Elisa went to shut it off without even looking at it. "Good, we'll hear each other now," she sighed, coming back.

She gave the first piece to Hudson, then to everyone else, and sat down. "So, Elisa, what's the occasion?" Brooklyn asked.

"Well, nothing much. I'm on a new case... maybe I need the extra energy."

"What kind of case?" Broadway asked.

"Some guy who steals ancient coins. I don't quite know yet what makes him choose one place or another, but it shouldn't take too long to get him. He's a slick one though," Elisa replied.

"Well, if you ever need some help..." Broadway began.

"Don't worry. I know I can count on you." she ate some cake. "Maybe captain Chavez will have some news for me tonight."

"You should have kept her some cake," Brooklyn said, a little smile on his face.

Elisa gave a short laugh. "Yeah, maybe, with all these days off she gives me."

They spent some more time at the table, talking about this and that. Broadway was telling the others about a movie they were shooting in South Street Seaport when the trapdoor opened and Matt Bluestone arrived. "There you are!" he exclaimed.

"Hey Matt! Want some cake?" Lexington asked.

"No thanks. Shift begins in five minutes, Elisa."

"Party pooper," the young woman grumbled.

"I got the reports on our friend's last strike. I have the feeling he's gonna try for the Met soon."

Elisa rolled her eyes. "So original…" but she stood from her chair. "I guess I should go."

"Don't sound too convinced," Matt commented.

The young woman could not help but laugh. She walked toward the trapdoor, saying goodbye to her friends. "Many thanks fer yer present, lassie," Hudson said again.

"I'm glad you like it."

She smiled at him, then followed Matt down the ladder to the police station.

Instead of being comfortably installed in the Citation's passenger cabin, Scott Mercure decided to remain in the space he had had built for the transport of the artifacts he bought. He wanted to stay with the statue, almost as if to protect it. He did not even get out when they stopped in Glasgow to fuel the plane for the trip back home. "Those rich people, I'm telling you..." one of the employees had commented to another one.

The flight was a calm one, there were only a few spots of turbulence. The statue, covered with quilted blankets and solidly tied to the plane's floor, stood there like a lone guardian in the dark cabin. Sitting on a pile of blankets and pieces of foam, Scott was simply looking at his new acquisition, trying to remember what he had read on the statue's pedestal. "Serves me right for not studying Ancient Latin some more. Because of this I have to wait," he grumbled. "Be patient, my lovely. We'll be home soon," he added in a louder tone of voice.

Oddly enough, he did not feel stupid talking to the statue. He almost had the feeling that it was listening. "You know, statue, never before have I felt so much the... that need. As soon as I saw you, I knew I had to buy you. At any price."

Scott felt his eyes getting heavier. He was tired. "I'm definitely not made for jet lag, statue," he said, leaning against the wall of the plane.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at the statue. He could not see her under all these blankets, but clearly remembered her beautiful face. "Temptress... yeah, right. Sure you are... more like a goddess or something. I wonder if you have a name? I forgot to ask Dunbar," he had a sleepy smile. "If I keep talking to you, I'll have to find you a name."

He closed his eyes. "Would you mind if I slept, statue? I'll need some energy when we are in New York."

He dozed off, the plane's movements gently rocking him. He did not wake up until a few hours later, when a member of the crew came up to him and shook him. "Excuse me, Professor..."

"What is it?" the other asked, straightening himself against the plane's wall.

"We will be landing shortly, sir. You'll have to leave your, err. Venus or whatever she's called for a few minutes in order for the landing to be safe."

Scott looked at the crewman, then at the statue. "What time is it?"

"Almost 9:00, Eastern Time. We have avoided the evening traffic."

The collector hesitated. "Must I?"

The crewman insisted. "I have to insist, sir."

The professor sighed, then stood up. "I don't like this," he commented.

"It will be just for a few minutes," the man replied. "It's only a statue, for God's sake!" he thought.

They both walked back to the front cabin. Scott sat near a porthole and fastened his seat belt. "Venus, heh, shows how much he knows," he grumbled.

He looked out the porthole to see the New York harbor below them. The Statue of Liberty and the Cyberbiotics building stood out from the outline of the city like welcoming beacons. "He has a point, though. She *is* a Venus even if she's not Italian..." he thought. "Beautiful, graceful, and said to be a temptress... yes, the name suits her well..."

He smiled as the plane started to go down. "I hope you'll like your new home, Venus," he said out loud.

The plane landed without any problems in La Guardia and went along the runway to a FBO. Once the plane stopped, Scott took his cellular phone out and dialed a number. A customs agent answered and Scott gave him his personal access code. He declared the statue and told the agent to send him all the paperwork at the manor. That new customs system was quite practical; he saved a lot of time that way.

He waited for the pilot to get back in the plane and they opened the loading ramp. Some of Scott's men were waiting outside, and a large covered truck was already on the runway. With the help of a fork truck, the statue, still carefully wrapped in blankets, was placed inside the covered truck. The professor was guarding her like a mother cat protecting her babies, yelling at anyone who would dare being careless. He rode with her in the back of the truck all the way to his estate on Wards Island. Since he enjoyed his privacy, his entire property was closed off with electrified fences. He was a man who disliked intruders to make off with his artifacts. Once the statue was placed in the center of his workshop, he sent all of the men away, except for Jacob, his faithful butler. "You must be hungry, sir," the old man commented.

Scott looked at him. "Now that you mention it, a little snack does sound nice."

"I'll be right back, then."

The old man walked out of the room. Scott started taking the quilted blankets off. "Happy to breathe again?" he asked as he uncovered her face. "This is your new home, Venus. Hope you like it."

He was inspecting the statue to see if it had suffered any damage when Jacob came back. "I took the liberty of making something light. It *is* late sir"

"Thank you, Jacob. Just put it on my desk," the professor replied, smiling at him.

The old butler walked to the statue and looked at it. Scott, who was eating a piece of roast-beef grinder, asked: "So, what do you think?"

"She is most... interesting, to say the least. Does she have a name?"

"An official one? Not that I know of. I call her Venus."

Jacob smiled. "You always were a romantic one, sir."

"Can you blame me? She *is* beautiful."

"In her own way, I suppose."

Scott drank some coffee and stood up from the desk he was sitting on. "Well, she's gonna be our new and permanent guest here. You're dismissed for tonight; I probably won't do much either. I have a lot of research to do and I need to get some rest first."

"It would be wise, sir. I shall go, then," the butler said.

"Okay. Good night, Jacob."

"Good night, sir."

The old butler left the workshop and closed the door behind him. "Now that you're safely here I can breathe a little. You know, I almost didn't go to Scotland. I thought Dunbar was telling a joke," Scott gently stroked the statue's cheek. "But you are very real; maybe you called me and that's what made me go so far..." Scott yawned. "I guess I should go..." he said, his tone of voice telling that he did not really want to. "It's not like you're gonna turn to life and fly away during the night..."

He smiled at the thought of it. That would be interesting, arriving in the workshop the following morning and seeing that she was not there anymore. "Mercure, you definitely need some sleep. First you talk to her, then you think she's going to step down from that pedestal and fly off!" he thought.

He shook his head and walked toward the workshop door. He turned all the lights off except for a nightlight that made the statue look even more mysterious. "I'll see you tomorrow, my lovely," he told her before closing the door and going to his room upstairs.

Scott was surprised when he woke up and realized that it was already late in the morning. He put a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater on and went to the sunroom to have breakfast. However, he did not eat a lot and was on his way soon after to the workshop, a piece of toast in his hand. He stopped in front of the door, thinking for a few seconds about what he had said the night before. "What if she *isn't* there anymore?" he wondered, but scolded himself right away: "Don't be stupid. She'll be there, where she was cause it's a statue and statues stay where you put them! Besides, for the price you've paid, she better be there!"

He opened the door and could not hold back the sigh of relief that came out of his mouth when he saw the statue where it was supposed to be. "Hello Venus," he said out loud. "How are you today?"

He walked to her and looked at her face once more. Whoever had made this statue was a very talented person. "Let's see what that pedestal of yours has to say," the collector said, backing away from her and getting his Latin textbooks from a nearby bookcase.

He then sat down next to the statue and started translating the symbols. After a long while, a couple of Tylenols and a lot of coffee, he came up with what looked like a poem, or maybe a spell:

"Of Ancient Times, of Long Ago,

Of Past Events That Have Yet to Go,

My Revenge Will Be, Unleashed at Last,

As the Rebel Flower and her Clan Show Their Wrath."

"The Winged Fury of my Army Will Arise,

On the Day the Light of the Full Moon Shines on Their Eyes.

When That Time Comes, my Revenge Will be Complete,

The Destruction of Castle Wyvern Will be Sweet."

"Castle Wyvern? Where have I heard that name before?" the collector said to himself.

Below the poem there was another inscription, written in smaller characters:

"Now Sleep in Stone Until my Voice Commands

Or the Full Moon Shines in Your Eyes."

"No wonder those Scotsmen were scared if they really believed what's written here... but I still think I've seen that Castle Wyvern before."

He stood up and went to his computer. He did a search on the castle and kept whatever the machine could find. He printed all out, starting to read as soon as it came out of the printer. He learned that Castle Wyvern had been purchased by David Xanatos himself. The entire structure had been dismantled and shipped to Manhattan, and was now resting atop his building. This was not such a big surprise to Scott. Since he had once worked for Xanatos, he knew the billionaire's love for precious, and sometimes unusual items.

As far as history was concerned, there was very little information, only stories about old hauntings and some stone gargoyles that were on the castle. "Stone gargoyles..." he said thoughtfully. "Hey Venus, according to this, Wyvern was only about twenty miles northwest of where I found you. Maybe they're relatives or something," he looked at the paper again and bit his lip. "I wonder if my old colleague bought the statues as well? I guess there's only one way to find out."

He looked in his private directory and dialed Xanatos' number. It rang a few times before someone picked it up. "Xanacorp building, Owen Burnett speaking," a monotone voice said.

"Gee, don't sound too overjoyed," Scott thought. "Mister Burnett, this is Scott Mercure. I would like to speak with your employer, that is if he's not busy."

"Of course, sir. I shall inform mister Xanatos right away."

The collector heard soft music for some moment, then somebody picked up the line. It was impossible to be mistaken on who it was. "Greetings, Scott," Xanatos said warmly. "It's been a long time since we spoke. What's up?"

"It has been indeed, mister Xanatos. If I might have a moment of your time, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"*Mister* Xanatos? Now, now, Scott, let's not be so formal. You know you can call me David."

Scott shook his head. Smooth and well mannered, that was Xanatos. "As I understand, Castle Wyvern now rests atop the Eyrie building?"

"Yes."

"After doing some background checking, I found that there were six statues on the castle. Did you purchase the statues as well?" Scott asked, looking at his printouts.

"Yes, I did buy the statues, but during the trip over here they all met with an unfortunate accident," the billionaire replied in an upset tone of voice. "The transport I hired did not fasten the statues down well enough and they arrived here in pieces."

Scott looked at Venus and felt somewhat downhearted. Those statues could have aided him in his research. "Nothing at all could be salvaged?" he asked.

"Unfortunately not. You can imagine how upset I was when I learned about it."

"Yes I do. Do you have anything at all left from the statues? Pieces?"

"No. I sold whatever was left to various collectors. I don't really know what they did with them, but then again, it's not my business anymore," he made a short pause. "I hear you bought yourself a statue, though..."

Scott remained silent for a moment, wondering how he knew. Xanatos laughed. "I am a busy man, Scott, but I still have time to watch the news. You seem to enjoy the press as much as I do," the other man let out a short laugh and Xanatos talked again: "Would you mind if I took a look at that statue of yours, Scott? Perhaps I can help you from what I remember."

"Perhaps. We just have to find a time when we're both available. The statue will keep me quite busy and I do have some other deadlines I must meet."

"My, you're a busy man... when then?"

"Hmmm, I dunno. How about next Tuesday? We could have lunch."

"Yes, that sounds great. I'll see you in a little more than a week, then. It was good speaking to you again, Scott."

"Likewise," he replied before hanging up the phone. "He's hiding something from me, Venus. I have that feeling," he said to the statue. "But what?"

He sighed. "I guess I'll be visiting the library a lot in the next few days. Maybe I'll get lucky, who knows?"

Perhaps it was a play of light, perhaps Scott was still tired from his trip in Scotland, but for a short moment, he thought he saw Venus smile.

Scotland - 985 AD (East of Castle Wyvern)

The young female gargoyle was flying around like a child who had just learned how. She was making circles, dives, playing with the air currents, happy just to be there. She looked behind her, at her mate. She was amused by his concern about her safety. "He will never get used to it, will he not?" she thought with a smile.

She saw that he was still a short distance behind her, but did not slow down. "Come on! Let us go near Loch Guali before we continue on. It is only behind this hill!" she exclaimed, hovering for a moment.

"Have you fallen on your head?" her mate asked, catching up with her. "If you roam just about anywhere and don't pay attention to the time, the Master will punish you."

The female gargoyle opened her eyes wide. "The Master?" her tone of voice became harder. "So now you are calling him that as well? We are not his personal servants!"

Her mate waved her onward, towards the mountains far to the east of Castle Wyvern. "He has given us great powers; no other of our kind has ever had such opportunities. You know he can control-"

"He can control nothing! Not me anyway," she spat, angry.

"He *can* control what we say and do. Accept him and his reward will be grand."

She sighed and seemed sad to see he felt that way. "I am not to be anybody's servant, especially a human wizard. We still do not know what he wants with us."

She gave a graceful flap of her wings to catch the next thermal current and he followed her. "You know the Archmage was banished from the castle last year," he replied. "He wants his revenge, and if we help him he will give us the castle as our reward!"

"What!" she slowed her flight speed, falling behind him. "And what of the humans there? I have several friends among them. And the others of our clan will not approve of this. My brother will not allow it."

The female gargoyle slowed down even more and set down in a small clearing. She landed near a small rain puddle and watched as her mate touched down next to her. She folded her wings together like a cape and gave him a disapproving glance. "I knew I should have gone with Dorcas instead. We were supposed to go pick some more medicinal plants," she looked at her mate. "Yes, a *human*."

The young male swallowed noisily. He put a hand on her shoulder and stroked her jet-black hair with the other. "I care about us, my love. With the humans out of our way, we can live in peace again."

"But I do not want the humans destroyed," she frowned, stepping away from his embrace. "I like them."

The young male seemed thoughtful for a moment, then said: "Well, if we go and know what the Archmage's intentions are, maybe we can do something about those friends of yours."

His mate smiled, and hugged him tenderly. She nuzzled against his long white hair and sighed. "Thank you. I know you would not let me down."

He stepped away and walked toward a large tree. "Come now, before we both get punished."

She looked into the puddle, at her reflection in the smooth surface, as if she was asking herself a question. Her raven hair cascaded down her shoulder, making her look more beautiful–even with that concerned look on her face. She sighed. "Let us do that now so it ends sooner," she thought.

She followed him to the tree and scaled its girth. Once she was high enough, she leapt into the air, following her mate. The Archmage's cavern hideaway was located at the base of the mountains and the young female gargoyle saw a look of relief on her mate's face when they reached it.

They landed near the opening and hurried down the long, dark passageway until they emerged into the main cavern. The human's hideaway was carved right out of the stone. The walls were adorned with strange symbols and pictures. There was a light inside and they knew the others were already present.

There were eight other gargoyles there, four males and four females. All were young adults, eager for power and a chance to claim their ancestral home. Standing a short distance away was the Archmage himself. From the look on his face, he was not happy. His long robes and hair seemed to be electrified with energy. "You two are late," he said in a dangerously calm tone, not even looking at them.

The young male gargoyle fearfully went down on his knees. "Your Excellency!" he exclaimed.

The human looked at him, then at his mate. "You do not bow before me, my lovely Flower?" he asked in a sugary tone of voice.

"I shall do so when I find a reason to," she replied, still looking at him.

The Archmage smiled. He walked toward her and took a lock of her silky raven hair between his fingers. "Ah... the Rebel Flower..." his expression became harsher. "I have warned you, I told you not to be late before. But alas, alas! You did not pay heed to my warning. This warrants grave punishment."

The young male's head jerked back as the Archmage walked to his books. "Mercy!" he cried out. "I have brought you the Rebel Flower! It is because of her that we are so late!"

Flower's eyes opened wide. "What?" she uttered, looking at her mate.

Mixed emotions flooded her. Shocked, hurt, feeling betrayed, she opened her mouth to speak again, but no sounds came out. Why was he doing this? Was he not her mate, her love? Was he not supposed to stand by her side? Then, suddenly it struck her: it all had been a trick. A farce. "Your Excellency, I am your most devoted follower! I have done as you requested. It is she who did wrong, it is she who should be blamed. Punish *her*!" the white-haired gargoyle pleaded.

The Rebel Flower fought back the tears as they came up to her eyes. The young male had never really been interested in her, he was obeying orders! "And me, the blinded fool, I fell in love with him!" she thought. "All this time... I have given my heart to him, my trust... and what he was thinking about was how to make a good impression on the Archmage!"

A tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. She balled her fists and said in a whimper: "How… how could you?"

Then her eyes became red, her powerful tail twitched, and she repeated her question in a steadier, stronger tone. "I want nothing to do with you anymore! Do you hear me? I hate you! You and your evil-minded wizard..."

"Enough!" the Archmage snapped.

"You see my Lord how she shows hatred for our cause? She even said earlier that she would save the humans from your wrath! I beg for mercy, your Excellency; she deserves a punishment!"

"You failed in your mission. You keep arriving late. Therefore you too deserve a punishment," the Archmage said, taking a book from one of the shelves.

"Master, please! It will never happen again!"

The human did not look impressed. "I have no need for the weak. I must remedy to that," he saw the Rebel Flower backing off toward the entrance of the cavern and being stopped by a magical force field. "As for you, female, I have other plans," he finished with a smile that meant anything but good things.

He glanced down at the book he was holding—the Grimorum Arcanorum—and began chanting, his voice covering the male gargoyle's supplications. An eerie mist began forming around the young gargoyle as the wizard recited the ancient spell: "Dormiatis, Dormiatis..."

The white-haired gargoyle screamed in panic as the strange mist engulfed his body. The others backed away from the spectacle as one final yell escaped his pointed beak. Flower had remained where she was and watched, scared and fascinated at the same time.

When the mist vanished, they all saw that he had been turned to stone. His terrified expression was still on his face, frozen in an unnatural sleep. Flower did not know what to think; her broken heart hurt her, the feeling of betrayal and hatred welled up inside her. Even if she knew her so-called mate had toyed with her, even if she knew she could never trust nor have strong feelings for him ever again, her heart was not ready for it. A few more tears rolled down her cheeks as she saw the Archmage walk to the petrified gargoyle. He looked into his terrified eyes and placed a finger on his chest. "Let you be an example to others. I do not have time to waste with the weak, nor the one who makes me wait, and more than once at that."

Closing his eyes, the wizard mumbled something under his breath and stepped back several feet. A soft cracking sound emanated from the statue as tiny jagged lines formed in the area he had touched. All the gargoyles looked upon the statue in horror as it exploded into hundreds of pieces. Walking back to his books, he said, as he passed in front of Flower: "He was not worthy of you anyway," then to the others: "May you all learn from this. Do as you are told and you will not share his fate."

He smiled at the sight of their horrified expressions. Then a single voice rose: "You shall destroy me right now then, because I will never serve you, human!"

The Archmage looked at the Rebel Flower, and smiled suavely. "Oh, but death is not for you, my dear Flower. Yes, you have to be punished, but your sentence will be temporary."

He extended his arm toward her. In a single chant, the world around her shimmered in a bright blue glow. Her insides felt twisted about as she wondered if this was what it felt like to die. A few moments later, the light subsided and she found herself in a dark, damp cave. She looked around and saw the Archmage standing a few paces away. He was holding the magic tome. There were some lit torches on the walls and a single stone pedestal was in the farthest part of the cave. The wizard turned around to face her and said: "Now my dear, I will ask you to stand on this pedestal."

The Rebel Flower growled angrily. "I will do nothing you ask of me!"

The human's smile faded away. "I grow tired of this."

He stepped forward and grabbed the young gargoyle by her arm. When she tried to pull away from him, she discovered that his grip was like steel chains. She gasped in horror as he physically dragged her onto the pedestal. When he released her, she simply looked down and wore a saddened but angered expression on her face. The Archmage stepped back and took another look at her. "Not a very stunning posture," he sighed. "But it does not matter. You will be flesh again soon enough."

He opened the book once more and flipped through the pages until he found the spell he wanted. Waving his hand in the air, he began chanting: "Nunc In Saxo Dormies..." his voice was a thundering bellow. "Dum Vox Mea Iubeat..." she felt a sudden coldness form around her body. "Aut Tuos In Oculos..." the light that flashed before her was blinding. "Plena Luna Fulgeat!"

She noticed a mist similar to the one that had engulfed her mate form around her and the human's words became more echoed. Closing her eyes to avoid seeing what was happening, she waited for silence. "If I am lucky, he is lying and he will kill me, just like he did to my so-called mate. I would rather die than betray my kind and my friends," she thought.

As the Archmage finished his spell, the world around the young gargoyle seemed to become very quiet. Her body felt very relaxed and the familiar sensation of sleep began to overwhelm her. Just before she lost contact with what was around her, he whispered into her ear: "I have given you a very special power, my dear Flower. When you awake, you will thank me..."

He awoke in a cold sweat, scared to death by the awful dream he had just had. He could still remember the strange winged creatures and the odd spell caster. But he remembered the serious yet beautiful face of the Rebel Flower even better. During the whole dream, it had been like he was connected to her, seeing it all through her eyes, feeling whatever she felt, living whatever she lived. Catching his breath, he wiped the sweat from his brow and lay back down. Lulled by the waves he had created in his waterbed when he lay back on it, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the face in his dream. Then a new vision flashed before him, as if merging with Flower's face: the statue in his workshop.

Throwing the covers from his body, he grabbed his pajama pants and donned them over his gray boxer-briefs. He raced from his room, down the large wooden stairway and then to the rear of the house, up to a steel door with a key card mechanism next to it. It was the only access from within the house.

Fishing into his pocket, he realized that the card was still in the safe in his room. He rested his head on the door and tried to calm down. When he felt somewhat relaxed, he returned to his room where he took the key card. As he entered his workshop, he turned the overhead lights on and the room flickered to life. The statue was standing there, where it had been for the last five days. This time, however, he felt something strange well up inside him, something like a static charge.

He felt odd as he approached the statue, almost afraid to look at her face. As he gazed into her lifeless eyes, the sudden flash of images soaring through his mind made him stagger. He felt like he was going to collapse when somebody steadied him from behind. "Sir?" he heard Jacob's nervous voice ask. "Are you all right? Should I call your doctor?"

Scott straightened himself up and shook his head. "I don't think that will be necessary, Jacob, thank you. Would you go and get me some hot coffee, please?"

"Are you sure you're all right, sir? Maybe you should sit down for a while."

The younger man nodded and sat down at his desk. Jacob turned around and hurried out the door. The collector looked at the statue again. "After only five days here you're already controlling everything, even my dreams!" he said out loud.

Jacob came back a short while after with some hot coffee in a pitcher. "I doubt this will help you go back to sleep, sir," the old man commented.

"After the dream I just had, I'm not sure I want to," Scott said, adding sugar in his mug. Thanks a lot, Jacob. Sorry for waking you up."

"No problem, sir. I would wish you a good night, but there is not much left of it."

The collector smiled. "That's okay."

The old butler smiled back and left the room. Scott took a sip of coffee, then stood up. He walked to the statue, knelt before the pedestal and sighed. "Every detail was in my dream, up to this inscription on your pedestal, Venus. What is happening to me? Is this the curse the Dunbar Clan feared so much?" he stood back up and spoke again: "In my dream you had the name of 'Rebel Flower', just like what it says on the pedestal..." he shook his head. "This is too crazy, you looked so real, so..." he went to get some more coffee. "The Rebel Flower? Where does this name come from anyway? I mean, sure, you are beautiful and you are a rebel—according to my dream—but a flower? A flower is not strong, it lasts only for a short time..." he smiled. "Carbon 14 readings told me you are at least a thousand years old, quite a long life for a flower... and you sure look strong to me," he made a short pause. "You know, Venus, that dream I had was almost physically painful to me. I don't even think I can call you Rebel Flower; it reminds me too much of it. I hope you won't mind?" he asked, touching the statue's shoulder.

But he backed off right away. The statue was burning hot. "What the..." he uttered, looking at it.

Feeling uneasy, almost scared, he talked to himself: "That's it! No more roast-beef grinders before going to bed! The statue was *not* hot when I touched it. It can't be hot, it's a statue! See, I'm gonna touch it again and it won't be hot anymore."

He put his hand forward and touched the statue's shoulder once more. He sighed in relief as he felt the stone as cold as usual under his fingers. "I'm getting too old for this," he mumbled. "I have to be honest with you, my little goddess, all this is really starting to make me nervous."

The sad expression on her face could have meant that she was sorry for all that was happening to him. "That's okay, I guess you can't control what the others think when they see you. Statues usually don't."

He went to sit at his desk and took a notepad out. He started putting his dream on paper. "Xanatos won't be there until a few more days—and that doesn't mean he'll have answers to my weird questions... Might as well keep researching things, things that were in my dream—gargoyles for instance. I'm not gonna find anything, but you never know."

He wrote something down. "You know Venus, I'm doing a lot of things since I got you... talking to statues, having weird dreams... I'm warning you, though, if you ever walk down from that pedestal and talk back to me, I want a refund, dammit!" he said.

If he had touched her again at that moment, he would have burned his hand.

His research on gargoyles proved to be quite useless. He had data mostly about myths and superstitions. He had also found some articles on the computer that pertained to something strange. They were news scripts about winged creatures sighted in New York city. "Oh great, Venus, you're playing with other people's minds now?" he had commented.

He was reading a newsprint when Jacob entered the workshop. "Sir, your guests have arrived."

Scott looked up, frowning. "What guests?" he asked.

"Mister Xanatos and his aid. As I recall well, you have invited them for lunch today."

"What? What day is it today?"

"Tuesday, sir."

"Already? Man does time fly when you read about joggers seeing strange statues appear and disappear... Take them in here; it's quite impolite to leave them on the porch... although... nah, never mind, Jacob."

"I'll be back, sir."

"You do that."

The old butler left and the collector swiftly rose up from his chair. He walked to the statue and grabbed a shallow wooden box lying nearby. He put the box upside down over the front of the pedestal to hide the engravings. He then picked some bottles of acid cleaner for stone and placed them next to the statue. "It's our secret for now, Venus. We don't want no snooping billionaires in this business of ours."

He just had the time to stand up and turn around before Jacob came back with the two guests. Xanatos and Scott exchanged a handshake and the billionaire looked past the other man's shoulder. "She's fabulous, Scott!" he exclaimed, smiling.

He walked over to the statue and continued: "I congratulate you on finding such a prize!"

Scott had a little smile. "Thank you. I was lucky. Awful lucky. As you can see, she's flawless in every detail. No cracks, no sign of decomposition..."

He watched silently as Xanatos walked around Venus and touched her arm. He obviously did not feel anything unusual because he had no reaction as his fingers moved to her outstretched wing. "Doesn't look like the kind of guy who would get burned by statues anyway," he bitterly thought.

Xanatos walked back to his assistant who also seemed interested in the statue, but who had remained where he was. "It *is* a very stunning statue you have there, Scott," the billionaire said. "You... you wouldn't be interested in selling her, would you?"

Scott shook his head. "Sorry. She's not for sale. At any price," he added quickly before Xanatos could talk.

"I see," the other man had a half-smile. "Well, you can't blame me for trying. Where did you find her?"

"In a small cavern on a farmland in Kilmonivaia, Scotland."

"Was she the only one there?"

"Yes, the only one," he made a short pause. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Scott walked toward the statue and placed himself between her and the billionaire, as if to protect her. "Before your statues were destroyed, did you have the chance to find how old they were?"

"According to carbon dating, they were around a thousand years old," Xanatos answered, placing both hands in his pockets.

"The same as Venus," Scott thought. "Well, either the fact that she was in a cave protected her so much that she doesn't look it, or she is not that old; I mean look at her..." he said out loud.

"You should have some readings done yourself," the other man commented. "My statues were in good condition as well, until their unfortunate demise," he looked at the statue, then at its base. "What's this?" he asked, walking toward it.

He reached down to take the box away, but Scott stopped him. "I would recommend not lifting that. I just put some solvent on it to help clean up an old inscription that's there. If you expose it to too much light, it will create a chemical reaction too strong for it and may destroy it altogether."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Xanatos said, respecting his wishes and backing away. "Did you get to translate any of it?"

"Some. It was pretty bad, but I managed to get something about Castle Wyvern," he put his hands in his pockets. "It's the reason why I had called you in the first place. I won't know more until the solvent finishes its work."

Xanatos shook his head. "I wish the ones I bought were intact. I knew I should have overseen their transport personally."

Scott nodded approvingly. "That's what I did. I stayed with her the entire trip to make sure nothing would happen."

"That was wise."

The younger man smiled. Then, he became more serious. "What a poor host I am, I did not even show you around yet!" he walked toward the door. "I'll tell my butler to prepare us lunch and in the meantime I'll take you on a little tour," he smiled. "Maybe you'll find something else you want to buy."

"I have heard your butler is a very good cook," Xanatos commented, following Scott and motioning to Owen to follow them. "As for your offer, well, we never know."

The collector led the two other men around his manor. Is house was big, yet simple. Most of the decorations were artifacts he had found, displayed in a sober yet tasteful way. Xanatos was impressed with what the collector had become. He looked at the artifacts with a certain interest, but his mind started wandering as he saw through French doors a good part of Scott's large estate. The gargoyle statue was still in his mind. He knew she originally came from Castle Wyvern simply by looking at her. The likeness to Goliath and his clan was uncanny. As soon as he had seen the statue, he had known he wanted her. Somehow, he knew Scott was keeping something from him, something that was under the wooden box, or that had to do with it. That made him want the statue even more. It was a pity he could not have taken a look at the inscription; Owen could have memorized it and translated it later, allowing them to work on the statue's mystery without Scott even knowing about it.

He looked away from the window when the collector called him and followed his to the sunroom to have lunch. "I just have to be patient. Maybe I'll even have the chance to get her–and sooner than..." he smiled in his self-confident-Xanatos way. "... he thinks."

The room was dark and silent. A small, gray cat was sleeping on an armchair, its tail curled around its body.

Its ears twitched and it yawned. Stretching, it looked around and purred. It jumped from the armchair and walked to the kitchen area. There, it sat in front of the refrigerator, whose door was open. "There you are!A voice said.

A head with long silvery hair appeared from behind the refrigerator door. "I simply cannot resist a good tuna salad," he said to explain his presence there.

The cat did not seem afraid or even impressed with this newcomer. Even if he was sitting there, in front of the refrigerator... about two feet above the ground. The newcomer sighed, then said: "Well, I guess I should go back to my duties... time to earn that tuna salad I just had."

He closed the refrigerator door and literally floated to the living room. The gray cat followed, meowing gently. "You see, kitty, I have seen something earlier this week, and to be frank with you, I have to admit that it broke my heart," he started, floating upside down. "I have seen a family, a family that has been taken apart... sad but true... they are so close, yet so far away at the same time. Isn't it ironic, kitty?"

He started looking around in the room. "Lucky for them, I am here. And you know that the Puck never misses the chance to help out," the Fay took a thinker's pose. "Let's see... how could I do that... It's not only a personal matter you know. It has to happen; history will not continue as it is supposed to if I don't intervene. People just don't realize just how important the work of Fay people really is," he added, just like he was making a confidence to the cat. "Anywho, I cannot stay here for long—a Fay never gets a moment of rest—so might as well do my work right now."

Puck flew to the window, then turned around to face the inside of the apartment. He smiled, stretched his arms out to his sides and began chanting:

"From her clan, she should not be apart,

For she too, is missing from their hearts.

Let other's eyes let them see,

Where, oh where she could be!"

Out of nowhere, a small object appeared and fell on the couch. The gray cat went to it and sniffed it. "Oh, the wonders modern technology can do..." Puck sighed. "You'll have to make sure your mistress gets it, kitty-cat. I know I can count on you," he stroked the cat. "Don't forget to tell her I send my best!"

And the elf disappeared in a flash of green light. The cat sniffed the videotape once more, the lay down next to it on the couch. Mistress would be home soon; she would know what to do with it.

"Oh... my... God..."

Elisa was sitting on the edge of her couch, her eyes glued to the television set. "It can't be!"

She rewound the tape and watched it again. She even hit the 'pause' button more than once to take a better look. "The guys have to see this," she thought, rewinding the tape once more.

She took it out of her VCR and grabbed her jacket to done it. "Cadney, I don't know who put this tape here, but he or she obviously knows a lot about the Clan..."

She left her apartment, being careful to lock the door, and headed for the clock tower. When she arrived there, Bronx, who almost knocked her down by putting his front paws on her shoulders, greeted her. "Help!" she exclaimed, laughing.

Lexington held the dog back until he calmed down. Elisa looked around; Hudson and Brooklyn had stopped playing chess to see what was happening. "Lass!" the old warrior said with a grin. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"I hope so... where are Goliath and Broadway?"

"Outside. I think they're still star watching. Ever since Broadway has found that book about astronomy and constellations, he hasn't stopped looking for them in the sky. Maybe they're back already," Lexington explained.

Hmmm, I hope they are. I'll go check," she said, walking toward the clock face.

"Why? What is wrong?" Hudson asked.

"You'll see."

She remained outside for a few moments, then came back with the two other gargoyles. "Someone dropped a special package at my place. I think you'll be quite interested in it," Elisa began.

"What is it?" Goliath asked in his low, deep voice.

"A videotape. Let me play it for you."

The young detective turned the television on and all the gargoyles gathered around Hudson's recliner. The screen remained blue for a moment then a news broadcast began. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of Strange Universe," the female announcer began. "Today on our show, we will learn more about some mysterious circles discovered in a field in Oregon, a house haunted by a ghost dog named Hubu, and a strange little wooden doll found in Africa."

"Why are we watching this?" Brooklyn asked.

"Wait," Elisa hushed him.

The image changed and they saw the male announcer. "But first, let's go live in Scotland where our special reporter is there to tell us about some amazing news. Rachel?"

The image changed again, as another female reporter was shown. "Thank you Jack. We are here in Kilmonivaia to witness a strange discovery," she announced, motioning toward the mountainous region behind her. "Just a few hours ago, collector Scott Mercure of Mercure Enterprises entered this cave behind me and is coming out with what he has found. I cannot make it out exactly, but it looks like some kind of statue."

The camera shifted from her and zoomed in on the stone statue suspended from a small crane. The gargoyles gasped when they saw it was a female of their kind. "By the rookery!" Goliath bellowed. "She is from Clan Wyvern! Where was she found, is she intact?"

Hudson waved his hand at Goliath for him to be quiet. "Listen and we might find out, lad."

Goliath made a fist and obeyed his mentor, staring grimly at the television screen. "Professor Mercure is presently standing on the truck you see behind me to direct the crane's movements," the reporter continued, as they saw the statue being lowered onto the flatbed truck.

They could hear him yelling to be very careful with it. As the statue touched the truck bed, the reporter motioned to the cameraman to follow her. She moved closer to the truck; Scott watched them approach. He stopped undoing the cable from the harness and put his hands on his hips. From the look on his face, he was not very happy about the news team being there. "Professor Mercure, Rachel Morris for Strange Universe. Could you tell us more about this statue?" the reporter asked.

"Who informed the press about this?" he shouted. "Will you all please leave so I can get this over with?"

He motioned to some of his men to finish securing the statue and then jumped down the truck bed. Rachel Morris smiled and walked up to him, shoving the microphone in his face. "It's an old statue I just bought," the collector growled, pushing the microphone away. "Now, get outta here before I have you all removed!"

His acts and words did not seem to dissuade her from questioning him further. "It is rumored that the statue is linked to an old legend concerning a curse on this land. Is there any truth to it?"

"No!" he yelled back, a look of anger and annoyance on his face. "It's all just old superstitions. You said it yourself: legend. It's a statue. I bought it. If you had done your researching right, you would know I have a habit of collecting such things. It's my business, lady."

"Your business? What *is* your business, mister Mercure?" she asked boldly. "Some background checking reveals that you have dealt with some old and rare artifacts in the past. Are the rumors of them being illegal true?"

The man literally changed color. He became white and looked as if he wanted to stick the microphone down her throat. "How dare you insult me in such a way! There has never been anything illegal done in my corporation! I buy and sell items of antiquity, legally and officially! Just ask my clients if you have doubts!" he bellowed, waving his hands. "Now, get outta here!"

She was about to ask him another question when he shoved the corner of his long coat aside. He grabbed a long leather whip from his belt. Snapping it to life, he looked at the reporter. She stepped back as he flipped it behind him and sent it sailing towards the camera. A second later the television screen was filled with snow.

Everybody stood silent for a while. Then Broadway scratched his head. "Guess he doesn't like reporters," he commented as the newsroom came back on.

Goliath was still staring at the television screen without really seeing it. "Goliath, you said she was from Clan Wyvern..." Elisa began.

"Aye. She, along with nine other young ones mysteriously disappeared in 984, the year prince Malcolm banished the Archmage from the castle," Hudson said. "A fine lassie, always eager to help and learn. And a very good warrior as well, aye she was. Able to top her rookery brothers and sisters any night of the week," he smiled and looked at Goliath.

"Do you think she is still alive?" he asked, pretending not to have heard the older gargoyle's comment.

"I cannot say like that, lad. If yer rookery sister shared the same fate as ours, then perhaps we can hope. She might be under the same sleeping spell we have been."

The gargoyle leader looked at the young detective. "Let me guess," she said. "You want me to find out more about that Mercure guy. What he does, where he lives, what happened to the statue. Right?"

Goliath nodded and put his huge hand on her shoulder. "It would mean a lot to me. To all of us,"

"Hey, it's just what a friend would do for another. Besides, I'm a detective, it's my job," she said with a smile. "It shouldn't be difficult; he's not supposed to have anything to hide," she looked at her watch. "Speaking of hide, the captain will have mine if I don't show up soon... I'll see what I can do, Goliath."

"Thank you."

Everyone bid her farewell as she disappeared down the stairs. "If I only could find more of our kind..." Goliath murmured.

"We all hope she is alive," Hudson said.

Both knew what the other thought. To have another member of the clan was a good thing. But to have a female one, a young and strong one at that, was even better. Her being alive could change the whole future of the clan. "She *has* to be alive," Goliath said softly, looking once more at the television set.

Scott was humming absently as he was typing some more of his notes in. He had to put his archaeology reports on the computer—it was easier to work with them afterwards—but most importantly, very few people could even read his handwriting. Not that it was bad, it was rather small. Very small. So small he had more typed pages then written ones when he was done copying them.

He was almost done on this project. It was about time; the deadline was in two days. Of course, he could have asked his client to wait longer for his report, but it was not his way of working. He was always on time.

He had enjoyed working on this project. Sanskrit was a nice change after spending weeks in Latin texts, and with no success at that. He had been asked to revise a translation, and even if it was no easy work, he was at least going somewhere with it. "Unlike with you, you little hemorrhoid of a statue you," he had said to Venus. "It would be too much asking of you to tell me where I can find some information about you."

He had just activated the automatic spelling checker on his computer when the phone rang. He frowned and picked up before Jacob did. "Hello?"

"Scott! You answer your own phone?" a cheerful masculine voice asked.

"Oh great, just what I needed," the collector thought. "It's a reflex, I guess," he said out loud. "What can I do for you, David?"

"Well, it has been almost a week since I have been at your estate. I must admit that story of yours about the statue is still on my mind," Scott looked at Venus, waiting for the billionaire to continue. "Have you found any more information about it?"

"Unfortunately not," the other man replied.

He was not very happy about this call, but he tried not to let it show. No one knew when being in good terms with him would be useful. "Have you given up on researching the matter?" he heard him ask.

"Sometimes I feel like it. But I have some other assignments to work on as well. They take my mind off it, so perhaps I'll find the courage to work on it again later."

"I see," Scott could almost see the smile on Xanatos' face. "If you ever grow tired of researching it..."

"Searching is what I do for a living. If I tire of it, I'm doomed!"

"Surely some projects are too much, even for you Scott."

The collector sighed. "Why don't you get to the point, David?"

"Of course, you are taken by time as much as I am," Scott rolled his eyes. "I simply want to say that in the event that you do want to part from..."

"I *do not* want to part from the statue! It is *not* for sale!" Scott exclaimed.

"Even if I offer you what you want for it?"

"No!"

"I'll pay twice what you paid for it."

"I said no!"

"Won't you even consider it?"

"What part of 'no' don't you understand? I bought the statue for myself, I do not intend, now or in the future, to sell it. And it's certainly not by hassling me that you will obtain her! She is not, I repeat, *not* for sale! Period! Good bye!"

He hung up brutally and looked up. Venus was staring at him with her lifeless eyes. "What!" he said in an annoyed voice.

Standing up from his chair, he walked to her. "What is it that makes him want you so much?" he asked her, putting his hands to his hips.

He let his head rest on the statue. "What does he know I don't? Why don't you tell me, Venus?"

He could feel the smooth stone against his forehead. "And most important, what makes me stick to you like a bug on fly paper?" he thought.

He tapped his head against her, then he walked away.

He did not see the shadow of a smile pass on the stone gargoyle's face.

Elisa lowered the ladder leading to the gargoyles' home and climbed up the steps. She poked her head through the trapdoor and looked around. The place was deserted; even Bronx was gone. Frowning, she stepped all the way up and walked toward the clock face to the outside of the tower. A sharp bark greeted her and the huge gargoyle dog trotted up to her. "What's the matter, boy? They left you all alone?" she asked him, scratching his neck behind his ears.

Goliath was sitting a little farther away and she did not notice his presence until he talked. "A good evening to you, Elisa," he said in a calm tone.

Startled, she looked up, but smiled as he jumped off the cornice he was sitting on. "That's unusual... you, here, alone?" she commented, raising an eyebrow.

"The others are on patrol."

"... I can see that... even Hudson?"

"He cannot stay in here forever."

"True."

She looked at him. "Why is he lying to me?" she wondered. "I can tell it by the way he acts, but what is it?"

"Did you want to see one of them?" the gargoyle asked.

"No, not really, it's just that... Goliath... what's this?"

"What is what?" he asked, as she pointed towards his side with an odd look on her face. "Oh. That. I, ahem, I had a slight accident earlier this evening."

"An accident?" Elisa gasped. "What happened? How..."

"I was in the library, looking for a book," he began, looking somewhat ashamed. "I was using one of the old stepladders to get it and it broke under my weight. I prefer using the ladder rather than leaving marks in the walls and bookcases," he felt he had to justify his actions. "I landed on the corner of a table. It is but a scratch, but it bled a lot."

"Are you in any pain?" she asked, worried.

"It pains me, yes, but I am more embarrassed that I fell than anything," he answered, putting his hand on the bandage covering his side.

Elisa could not help but smile. "People have accidents, Goliath, it's okay."

"It is nothing a day of sleep cannot cure. What were you here for in the first place?" he asked.

She leant on the cornice. "I found some information about our friend the good professor."

"Did you?" he sat back on the cornice.

She nodded. "Actually, he's a pretty good person. No past criminal records, never had a ticket in his life. He donates money to many organizations on a regular basis, lives up to his reputation of an honest business man."

"Sounds like a good person. One we could trust," Goliath commented. "Do you know where he lives?"

"Everything I looked for was easy to find. As he said in the broadcast, he has nothing to hide. He has an estate on Wards Island, not too far from Manhattan State Hospital."

"I see," he hesitated. "Elisa, I would have yet another favor to ask of you..."

"Anything for a friend, Goliath," she said with a smile.

"I would like to meet this Mercure person. If you could see if it is possible..."

"Somehow, I knew you'd say that. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

They remained silent for some time. Then Elisa chuckled. "What is it?" the gargoyle asked.

"I can imagine what the others thought when they saw you coming back from the library..."

He smiled. "It looked more serious than it really was. Broadway thought I was going to die."

"Of course, he's never exaggerating," the young detective commented, raising her eyebrows.

Then she looked down and frowned. "I don't think I could have lived with the news."

Goliath lost his smile and ran down his fingers in her hair. "You honestly think I would do this to you?"

She shook her head, looking at the city. She sighed and said: "You don't know how much I wish we could be together..."

"I know you do. I understand your feelings," she felt his hand moving away from her hair. "But I fear that it is not possible. At least not right now."

"Why?" she asked, turning around to look at him. "Are we so different we can't admit it, we can't show that we care for each other?"

He closed his eyes. "I am sorry, Elisa, but ever since I lost Demona, I no longer..."

"Demona!" Elisa cried out, quite angry. "Always you talk about Demona! Demona here... Demona there... Why can't you let go of the past and think about the future?"

She stepped away from the cornice to face him. "Demona does not love you anymore! Can't you understand that? Why can't you think about us instead?"

"I do. I do think about us," he said softly. "It is why I am afraid to become too attached to another," he paused. "I do not want to lose you as I did her."

"So now I am to be compared to a psychotic gargoyle? That makes me feel so much better, Goliath, thanks a lot!"

She backed off toward the door. She wanted to say something, but knew it would make things worse. Shaking her head, she turned and walked back inside, then out of the gargoyles' home.

Goliath almost went after her, but did not want to upset her more than he already had. He growled softly and looked at the fist he had made. Leaning against the railing, he peered over the edge and looked down at the street below. Nothing unusual there, just cars, trucks and people milling about. He sighed heavily. He did not want to be there, alone in the tower. He did not want to be in this time; it was so complicated now...

Looking up, he noticed the moon. It was three quarters full and hung silently in the sky. He remembered an old movie Broadway had watched one time. It was about a man who said he would lasso the moon and pull it down to prove his love.

He wished he could do that for Elisa, to show her that he really loved her. But he would have been lying if he said he did not care for Demona anymore. "If there was a way, Elisa... If there was a way to make you understand how I feel, to make you see what I am living..."

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists on the railing. A few stone chips gave out and fell to the street below. "Please forgive me, Elisa... I simply need more time..." he said softly.

Then he let out a roar of frustration, throwing his wings out wide. In times like this he almost wished to be changed back to stone and sleep for centuries more.

"I can't believe this!"

Matt slammed a stack of files on his desk and repeated: "I can't believe he got away! Again!" he hit his thigh with his hand.

Elisa was rubbing the sides of her head, trying unsuccessfully to fight a headache. "Who would think about the Jewish Museum? It's a poor, little, innocent one," she commented.

"It's insulting!"

"We couldn't guess he was gonna go to the Jewish Museum."

"Yes, but I should have remembered that there were some precious coins there!"

"He has no precise pattern, Matt. Besides, it's not because I am of American Indian descent that I remember every single thing that's in the Museum of the American Indian."

She got up from her chair and walked over to him. "Don't take it so personally," she said, putting her hand on his arm.

"Sometimes I feel like he's doing this just to aggravate us!"

He was really upset by it; she could see it by just by the redness in his face. "There must be another reason," she said in a soft voice, trying to calm him down.

"Just the coins in the Jewish Museum were worth several millions! Not to mention the sentimental and historical values..."

Elisa closed her eyes, feeling her headache intensifying. She took his arm and led him outside, saying they both needed a break. They walked up to a small coffee shop on the corner of the street and sat down in one of the booths before a waitress came to take their orders. "Maybe he's starting a coin collection," Elisa said as the waitress walked away.

Matt gave her a dark look. "We are able to solve more important crimes than this! It's not like we are rookies or something!"

"Yet we are not able to catch him. Besides, we can't always have the cases of the century," she patted his hand. "Hey, don't get upset like that. We'll get him soon."

He looked out the window. "Matt? How come I have the feeling that there is more to this than you're telling me?" she asked, looking at him.

The young man sighed and closed his eyes. "My mother's parents are Jewish."

"Yeah, I know."

He ran his hand in his thick red hair and looked at her. "My grandfather, he had some coins and other objects. He... he went and gave all of it to the museum."

"Oh... Matt..."

"He said it would allow more people to see them. And now..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," she said softly, taking his hand in hers again.

He shook his head. "If only we could find him!"

Elisa bit her lip. "He steals coins, only coins, only Asian ones..."

"We went through that before. And ended up watching the wrong museum!"

He took his hand away from hers and started eating the piece of cherry pie he had in front of him. He was not really hungry; it was more out of nervousness that he did it. Elisa raised her mug of coffee to her lips, but stopped and said: "Synagogues."

Matt looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Everywhere he stole something, it was near synagogues. At least one. And he stole Hebrew coins..."

"Synagogues are not exactly rare in New York City," Matt grumbled.

"Be positive, Matt! It narrows down our search! We just have to find museums and places near synagogues where there are ancient Asian coins—or even better, Hebrew ones. Surely that doesn't leave us a lot of possibilities."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Hmmm, don't sound too convinced! I'm telling you, we're gonna get him next time, I have that feeling."

He gave her a half smile. "Thanks."

She smiled back and said: "No problem," before taking his fork to eat some pie. "Besides, it helps me keep my mind off Goliath," she thought grimly.

She felt weird when she pressed on the gate's button. "Mercure residence," a calm voice said in the speaker.

"Excuse me. Detective Elisa Maza, NYPD. I would like to speak to professor Mercure please."

Being polite with people like that helped, she had learned. "One moment, madam," the voice said, and she heard a small click in the speaker.

She leant on the side of her car and waited. She knew she should have come earlier in the week, but it had taken some time not to be angry with Goliath anymore and even if she knew it was childish, she had waited to see the professor. It was her little personal revenge on him. "The professor will see you now, Detective," the voice suddenly said.

She thanked him and climbed back in her car. When the gates opened, she drove past them and headed toward the manor. She stopped right in front of the stairs leading to the house and stepped out of her car. An old man was standing at the top of the stairs, probably the owner of the voice she had heard in the speaker. "If you will follow me, madam," he said when she arrived next to him.

She walked behind him in a hallway, feeling out of place in this very large house. The old man stopped in front of a door and knocked on it. Then he opened it and stepped away. Apparently, she was to enter the room alone. She nodded politely to the old man and walked in. The professor was at his desk, typing something. He turned to face the young woman and asked: "What can I do for you, detective?"

He looked tired, Elisa noticed. Somehow, that made her feel a little more at ease with him. "Elisa Maza, NYPD," she began.

"I know. Jacob told me. Why don't you sit down?" she did what he told her and folded her hands in her lap. "I do not recall breaking the law in any way. To what do I owe your visit?" he continued.

Elisa did not know where to start. She sighed and looked at him. "I did not come here as a police officer."

"You didn't?"

She shook her head and saw the statue by doing so. She acted as if it did not do anything to her, but she knew an authentic gargoyle when she saw one. "I have to admit I'm puzzled," the man continued.

"Well, maybe I am here as a police officer. Sometimes telling the two apart is difficult. I'm here to warn you."

He raised his eyebrows. "Warn me?"

"I'm working on a case right now. The guy I'm after seems to have a habit of stealing Asian, especially Hebrew coins. I know you have a wide collection of artifacts, maybe among them some of those coins; I hope you have security systems and insurance for them."

She stood up and nonchalantly walked toward the statue. "I guess I should thank you for this piece of advice, but I can't help thinking there's another reason why you are here," he said.

Elisa looked at him, her hand resting on the statue's arm. "I'm not good at telling stories, is that what you are saying to me?" she smiled. "You're right. Although it's true that this man I'm tracking steals coins and that it is my duty to warn you, it's not why I'm here," she paused. "I'm here," she continued, gently patting the statue's arm. "because of her."

The professor frowned. "Because of Venus?"

"Venus?"

"Well, it's better than calling her 'statue' all the time."

"True," she smiled again and brought a lock of her black hair back behind her ear. "I saw the news broadcast..." she began.

"Not that again!" he whined, taking his head in his hands. "It's the whip, right?"

She chuckled. "No. It's not that," she became more serious. "Do you know anything about this statue's past?"

He seemed to hesitate. "I have... searched the matter and asked people about it, but I've learned very little," he frowned. "Why?"

She bit her lip. "Maybe you didn't ask everybody."

"You are truly starting to intrigue me, miss Maza," he said, standing up and sitting back down, but on the front part of his desk.

Elisa looked at Venus. She was a very beautiful gargoyle. What if she *did* turn to life? The young detective felt a twinge of jealousy going through her, but scolded herself and thought of the clan. "*Venus*, as you call her, is from Clan Wyvern."

Scott's mouth gaped open. "You know?"

Elisa nodded. "Not a lot, but I know where she's from," she looked at the collector. "What if I told you that I know somebody who is even more informed than I am, and that I can arrange for the two of you to meet?"

She had hesitated before saying the last part, but something had told her she could bring Goliath to the professor's house. She would have laughed in another situation; the expression of surprise and incredulity on the man's face was very funny. But she had other matters on her mind. "What? Are you serious about this?" he finally uttered.

"Quite serious. I have but one condition though."

"Anything! Please tell me."

"You must promise that you won't talk about this to anybody. About this or about him."

"You're getting more and more mysterious. Why that condition?"

"Let's just say he's not the type of person who enjoys making himself known."

The collector put a hand to his forehead. "Then again, why am I not surprised?" he mumbled.

"If you do want to meet him..."

"I do!"

"... I will arrange it so that you meet him in three days, right here at the manor."

The man frowned. "Why not right now? I can pay him for his time and information!"

She smiled. "He has no need for money, Professor Mercure. So I understand that you will keep all this to yourself? I can count on you?"

"Yes, yes! I don't care who he is. If he can provide some insight on this statue, I'll be forever grateful."

She held back another chuckle. "We'll see, professor," taking one last look at the gargoyle statue, she added: "I guess I should be going. My mission here is done."

The man stood up and went to shake her hand. "Thank you for that visitor you'll bring me. It's very nice of you," he said.

"Don't forget to be on the lookout for the coin stealer," she added.

She left the room, telling him she knew the way, and he did not follow her. He knew Jacob was not far anyway. He closed the door behind her and walked up to the statue. "AH-HA!" he exclaimed. "Looks like your luck is running out! I'll know everything about you in just a couple of days!" he cupped her chin in his hand. "All it took was a little patience."

He let go of her and walked back to his desk, whistling.

Elisa scratched an imaginary itch on her chin. She was bored. She had been in this truck for centuries and sitting next to her was Matt, who did not stop moving around. "He knows we're here!" he complained.

"Yeah right, we're on Union Street. He couldn't see us from the museum."

"Who told you he was gonna pick the Brooklyn Museum anyway?"

"I know."

"You know? You called the psychic hotline or what?"

"Call it instinct. Besides, it can't be anywhere else. There's a synagogue almost at the museum's doors and there's another one on 8th Avenue. And there's one on Church Avenue as well."

"That's at the other end of the park. Besides, there are five synagogues around the American Museum of Natural History. I didn't see him there."

"There are no Hebrew coins there."

"So you say."

Elisa sighed and rolled her eyes. "There's an exhibit on the Middle East here. It's more likely that he's... wait!" she looked closely at the monitors. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"I saw someone in the 5th monitor... There!" A lone figure stood in one of the exposition halls. "We got him!" Elisa exclaimed, smiling.

She looked at Matt, but he was already telling the driver to go up to the museum. The unmarked truck, blending into the circulation, rolled in Washington Avenue, and turned in the alley leading to the parking. They were still some distance away from the building, so the thief could not hear them. The two detectives got out of the truck and quickly yet silently made it to the museum. The exhibit was on the second floor, so they took the stairs up. Matt looked very tense, Elisa noticed. She hoped it would not interfere with their current mission.

They walked in the deserted hallway, being as silent as possible. They could hear the thief in the main room. He was picking up things from a display.

When Matt moved forward to catch him, Elisa did not try to stop him. She understood how he felt and did not think it would matter much at that point anyway. She saw her partner walk in the room and draw his gun. She took hers out as well and prepared herself as he said: "Freeze, pal. The game is over."

The other man turned around, obviously surprised to see him there. He started toward the other end of the room, then turned around to run away. Matt raised his gun to aim at him, but did not pull the trigger. The risk of hitting artifacts made him run rather than fire. He yelled at the thief and heard Elisa follow him as he ran down the corridor. She caught up with him as they went back downstairs to the first floor. The thief had managed to stay ahead of them; he was turning a corner farther away when Matt arrived in the room. "Damn, damn!" he exclaimed, trying not to slip too much on the polished floor. As he yelled again for the other man to stop, he heard the museum's alarm go off. "Oh great, he's outside!" he thought and ran faster toward the door the other man had just opened.

"At least we're going to have backups," Elisa thought in a more positive way.

The thief ran out in the sculpture garden, weaving his way between the statues. Once he arrived at the end of the garden, he found himself in the deserted parking lot. He ran a few steps, then whirled around to face Matt. Pulling a gun out from his belt, he fired three times, then started running again as he saw Matt stumble and fall flat on his stomach.

Elisa, who was right behind Matt, almost tripped on him. She aimed at the thief, but her partner got up and blocked her sight. He started running again, limping heavily. Anger was keeping him running.

He fell again in the middle of the parking lot, cursing and holding his injured leg. Elisa stopped next to him to help him, but he started protesting. "Go get him! I'll be fine! Go, I say!"

She looked up and saw some of the other policemen arriving. She glanced once more at her partner, but he pushed her away. "Go, dammit!"

She nodded, stood up and ran towards the crabapple trees, where she had seen the thief go. "So much trouble for some coins," she thought.

Elisa turned right on the pathway, and shouted to the other man to stop. He spun around to use his gun again but never had the chance. A dark shadow appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by his arm. The thief yelped out of surprise and pain, and looked at his captor. "When a lady asks you to do something, you do it! Where are your manners?" an angry voice exclaimed.

The thief became white at the sight of Broadway and did nothing but stare dumbly at him. Elisa walked to him and said: "Just in time, as always."

"I'm happy to help, Elisa," he put the man back on the ground, still holding him as the young detective handcuffed him. "But I heard gunshots, what..."

"He got Matt in the leg. Twice."

Broadway winced. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Yeah. I'll go to the hospital with him."

The gargoyle nodded. "Can you handle him back to the parking lot?"

Elisa looked at the prisoner and smiled. "I think he's stunned enough to lead me there!"

"I'll go back to the tower, then."

"Okay. See you later. And thanks."

Broadway smiled, then walked away. Elisa took the thief by his arm and took him back to the parking lot. She read him his rights at the same time, even if she doubted he even noticed. When she arrived there, an officer took care of him in her stead and she climbed aboard the ambulance with Matt. His right leg was bandaged and he was sitting on the stretcher. "Your grandparents will be happy now," she commented with an encouraging smile.

"So will I," he said.

He closed his eyes to get some rest and Elisa looked out the window as the ambulance left the museum for the hospital. "What time is it?"

She looked at Matt, who had opened his eyes again, then at her watch. "About twelve thirty—you're abandoning me at the beginning of the shift."

He smiled. "Maybe you'll have the rest of the night off."

"Maybe,"

He closed his eyes again. Elisa's mind started to wander, but suddenly she had to hold back a cry of surprise. Professor Mercure! She had forgotten all about her meeting with him and Goliath! "It was today!" she said softly. "How could I forget about it! And now it's too late..."

She bit her lip. What was she going to do? Goliath did not even know about her wanting him to meet the collector. She would have to call the professor later in the day to excuse herself for not being there. The stakeout had been sudden and she had concentrated on it, completely forgetting about the meeting.

She sighed and saw they were arriving at the hospital. "Well, there's nothing much I can do right now, so might as well take care of what's going on at the moment," she thought.

She got out of he ambulance first, then went along as they took her partner in. As he was treated for his wounds, she called captain Chavez to tell her what was going on. They were going to keep Matt for at least the rest of the night, so she decided to stay with him for some time. After all, what were partners for?

"Do you want some more coffee, sir?"

Scott sighed. "No thank you, Jacob," he frowned. "I didn't know you were still up," the old butler shrugged and said nothing. "You can go if you want. I should myself," he added.

"Surely the detective will not come at this hour of the night."

"I know. I've waited for nothing. Just go to bed."

The old man nodded. "Good night then."

"'Night Jacob."

The butler left and the collector put his coffee mug on his desk to rub his temples. "I won't even be able to sleep right, I drank about ten gallons of coffee!" he said out loud. "What have I done to deserve this?" he then asked the statue.

He started pacing about the room. "Every time I think I have or will have some information about you, it backfires on me! First, no records in libraries and information banks, Xanatos was no help–but then again I'm not surprised–and this detective what's-her-name... Maza didn't even show up. She said we'd meet today," he stopped in front of the statue. "Did you see her? I sure didn't!" he poked her chest with his finger. "Well, I'm telling you, Venus, I'm growing tired of that little game of yours–giving me false hopes and sending me people who are baloney–and know that I can put an end to it. I'll just stop searching, that's it. I have other things to do then shoveling clouds for your own personal enjoyment. So as of now, you're not cursed anymore, you don't smile, you don't mess with people's minds, you don't burn my hands, you don't do nothing. You're a statue, I bought you as an ornament for my workshop, and that's it. If you cooperate in this, it will be easier for everyone. Now, it's almost one in the morning, I will go to bed, have a good night's sleep with no nightmares about winged creatures or spells or whatever," the statue stood there, perfectly still. "I see you've understood," he commented. "Good. Never forget who's the boss in here."

He left the room, leaving the mug and coffee on his desk.

He also failed to see the spark of life that was in Venus' eyes for about half a second.

Professor Mercure was true to his words. He began working on other projects, taking new contracts from museums. He even managed to sell a Celtic shield to one of his clients. That, along with his other contracts, somewhat made him forget about his unsuccessful search on the gargoyle statue. She was still in his workshop, like a silent guardian angel protecting the room. Scott made efforts not to talk to her–after all, she was a normal statue now–but kept her there anyway. She seemed to inspire him... and the way she looked when the moonlight coming from the opened skylights fell on her was simply fascinating.

It was still too early that evening to see the magnificent, mysterious sight. The moon's soft light was barely touching the pedestal right now. The collector put the final touch to yet another report and shut the computer off. It was time to take a break.

He stood up and walked to one of his bookcases. He did not often have the opportunity to read just to read; he was buying books every now and then, but they kept stacking up in the bookcase, unread, waiting.

He selected one he had already started reading some time ago, "The Ashes of Eden", by William Shatner. He went back to his desk and sat in his chair. Leaning back, he opened the book to the page where he had left a Schmoo bookmark—the little character had always made him laugh—and started reading.

Silent, unnoticed, the moonlight kept moving, now touching the statue's clawed feet.

The collector read a few pages, then looked up as Jacob entered the room. The old butler was bringing the professor's usual evening snack in. "What would I do without you, Jacob?" the collector commented with a smile.

The butler smiled back, putting the small tray he was holding on the desk. "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"No thank you. Just go and do whatever you want to do."

"I shall, then," the butler replied.

Scott smiled at him as he left the room. Then, he looked at Venus. The moonlight had crept up her powerful legs. "Just a few more minutes," he thought, and started reading again.

He read a chapter, and then another one. He was in the middle of the following one when he heard them. Faint cracking sounds. He looked up, frowning. All was silent again. He concentrated to hear better and there it was again. Crack... He squinted. "This house is getting older and older every day..." he commented out loud.

He was going to return to his reading when he heard the sounds again. "What is going on here?" he asked, getting up from his chair.

He turned his head and looked at the statue. She was bathed in moonlight and seemed to be irradiating from inside. She was more beautiful than ever. He smiled while looking at her, but his smile faded away when he heard the cracking sounds again.

They were coming from Venus.

With a look of utter shock on his face, he walked over to her. Another cracking sound startled him, and he watched as a tiny hairline crack appeared on the statue's arm. Now that he looked closer, he saw many other ones all over her body.

One particular crack appeared on her leg and ran all the way down to her foot. He grew even more worried as he saw the pedestal.

The inscription on it had disappeared. The stone surface was smooth and even now. With a strange feeling that seemed to creep into her very soul, he looked up in the skylight. The moon was there, full, big, and bright. He heard a small snapping sound and looked down.

A little shard of stone flew toward him and hit him on his cheek. He blinked, ignoring the stinging sensation on the side of his face; he was too awe-struck by what he was seeing.

He could not hold back an exclamation of surprise when the statue seemed to explode. He lifted his arm to shield his eyes from the tiny stone projectiles and stepped away as a small dust formed in the workshop.

The room became silent again and he lowered his arm. He looked where the dust was clearing out, and to his amazement he saw a flesh and blood version of the statue standing in front of him.

She was of a soft lavender color, her hair of a silky raven black. Her eyes were closed and she stood motionless on the pedestal; only her chest moving with her breathing and the small movements in the tips of her wings showed she was alive–and stretching. With her eyes still closed, she said in a soft, yet deep voice: "You have finally found a reason to wake me up, wizard."

From her tone of voice, it was obvious she was rather sad about it. She opened her eyes and started back, confused. Surely, this was another of the Archmage's evil doings—she was not in the cave anymore, but in some strange room with strange objects in it. Even the Archmage had transformed himself into a younger, different-looking man to confuse her more...

Her tail twitched and she hissed. Her warrior instincts were taking over. She had to escape this nightmare. She quickly looked around, trying to find a way out. There, in the ceiling! A hole! Some sort of chimney, without a doubt, but it did not matter. It was a way out.

She leaped toward one of the bookcases to climb on it. Scott, who had just been able to stare at her with his mouth open, suddenly seemed to regain at least his voice because he exclaimed a "No wait!" as she went up the shelves.

She stood for a moment on one of the higher shelves to see how she would have to jump to go directly through the rectangular opening, then gathered herself and leaped, obviously not wanting to obey the man and wait.

She did not know there was glass in the rectangular opening—and she did not see it either. Her head hit the window with a thud and she fell back to the floor, her wings barely slowing her down. She landed on her side, her leg absorbing most of the impact. She remained there for an instant, half sitting, half lying, stunned.

Scott approached, a little scared but worried at the same time. "Are you all right?" he asked gently.

She let out a growl and looked at him. Her eyes had become of a flashy red. "So it was another of your tricks, wizard. You enjoy toying with me, letting me hope I can escape and putting a magical force field where I am going!" she cried.

"Wha... what? No, you don't under..." he began.

But she was not listening to him. She got back on her feet surprisingly fast and was on him on a blink of an eye. She wanted to get it over with the wizard. It was him or her. Growling, she grabbed Scott by the collar of his shirt and brought her other hand back to strike him. "There will be no more suffering because of you, I shall see to that!" she hissed.

He understood everything in a flash. She thought he was the Archmage from the dream, as crazy as it sounded! "No! Wait! I'm not him! I'm not the Archmage! Stop!" he shrieked, trying to escape her grasp.

Her taloned hand stopped in mid-air and her eyes lost a little of that wild look they had. She had heard his words. His voice was different from the Archmage's—but then again the wizard could have changed it. What had made her stop was his fear. It was most genuine, she could feel it. The Archmage was not scared of her, she knew that. This man was. She was even able to see his life pulse throbbing quickly on his neck. Her eyes lost their red glow completely. "You are right," she said in a softer voice. "You are not him."

Her head was hurting where she had hit it and she was becoming confused again. Confused and scared. She let go of the man and backed off a few steps. "What happened then? Where am I? Who are you?" she asked.

Then she became suspicious again. "It is true that you are not the Archmage, but you could be his acolyte! You could be here to lure me into a trap!" she exclaimed.

"Venus, I assure you, it's nothing like that. Please believe me. I don't want to harm you in any way whatsoever," he pleaded.

Her tail swayed and she frowned. Then she looked behind herself, and then at the man again. "Who is Venus?" she asked. "Who are you talking to? If this is another trick…"

"I'm talking to you. I didn't know your name when I found you in the cave, so I took the liberty of giving you one."

"My kind have no names," she replied. "The only person that gave me one was the Archmage, and the rest of Clan Wyvern does not know about it."

"The Rebel Flower, right?"

Her eyes widened. "Only one such as he would know; you *are* his assistant! Where are the others, what have you done with them?"

"I found only you in the cave! There were no others!" he hurried to answer. "I am not his assistant, I don't know this Archmage person, and, if I might add, I'd have to say he's been dead for centuries now."

"WHAT!" she yelped. "Impossible! You are lying! He cast the spell only yesterday…" her tone of voice was almost shaky.

"From what I could determine, you have been under the spell for over a thousand years."

She mouthed the last words, then exclaimed: "No. NO! It cannot be! That would mean the rest of my clan is dead as well! It cannot be true!"

"I'm sorry, Venus…"

"Quit calling me that!"

He looked down. The gargoyle folded her wings around her like a cape. "I said I didn't find them. If they were turned to stone like you were, maybe…" the man said in a soft voice.

She looked at him with her soft dark brown eyes and sighed. "Maybe," she looked around again. "Where am I? Just tell me so I can take my leave of you. I will go and find them, and not bother you anymore."

"That could be quite difficult, I'm afraid. Unless you can fly over the ocean."

"What ocean?"

"The Atlantic. You are thousands of miles away from Scotland…"

"Liar!" she took a step forward. "Stop talking nonsense! All you want is to hurt me more!"

At the very same instant, the door opened and Jacob entered the room. Both gargoyle and collector looked at him. The butler looked at Scott and asked: "I've heard a commotion, sir. Is everything all right?"

A movement on his right caught his attention and he turned his head. He saw the gargoyle and made a choking sound. He then clasped at his chest, leaning on the doorframe for support. The professor leaped forward, calling the old man's name, and lead him to his chair so he could rest a little. "It's okay, Jacob, it's okay," he kept repeating.

The young gargoyle remained where she was, but had a concerned look on her face. She wanted to go forward and help, but she knew it could make things worse rather than improve them. She could not help but smile in relief when the butler spoke. She had always been taught to have respect for the elders, and even if she did not know this one, he was an elder and her habits took over. "Professor…" Jacob began. "I saw… I saw someone! It was a woman and she…"

"I know, Jacob. Calm down. Everything will be fine…" Scott replied in a soothing voice. He looked up at the gargoyle and added: "Maybe a little water would help you. Do you want some?"

"Yes, please," the old man said in a weak voice.

Flower/Venus nodded, as if she approved of his gesture. "I'll be right back. Just close your eyes and try to rest," he said as he stood back. "And don't look at her yet," he added to himself.

He left the room, glancing one more time at Flower/Venus. Somehow, he knew she was not going to try and run away. The gargoyle watched him leave and stood motionless where she was. She did not want to startle the old man.

After a few moments, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling a little better. He mumbled something, then looked up. And saw her again. He let out a cry, obviously panicked, and tried to get up. His legs were too shaky and he fell back in the chair. "Don't hurt me," he said weakly.

She gently shook her head. "Jacob, is it?"

His eyes grew wide. She could talk! He nodded to answer her question, somewhat confused by her soft tone of voice. "Am I that scary looking?" she then asked.

He looked at her for some time and seemed to calm down. "A most… unusual sight, I would say," he finally replied.

Jacob's eyes traveled from her to the place where the statue used to be, then to her again. "Surely there is an interesting story that goes with all this…" he began.

"Aye," she walked toward him, but stopped when she saw he did not seem to enjoy it. "I do not mean to harm you, nor did I mean to scare you like that," she commented. "I am confused and afraid myself, perhaps…"

She stopped talking as the collector opened the door and came back in. "I brought you some aspirins, Jacob. You might want to take them," he said.

He gave the glass of water and the medicine to his butler, then noticed he was not as panicky anymore. He glanced at the gargoyle; she was hugging herself, watching what was happening with genuine interest. Her attitude was absolutely non-threatening; she seemed like a totally different person. "Jacob," he began, still looking at her. "Something… something has happened to the statue…" he hesitated, not sure of what to say.

"Yes. I know. And she can talk, too," the old man said.

"Oh. So you've… err… met."

"I am quite hard to miss," the young gargoyle commented.

They all remained silent for a while, uneasy. Then, Flower/Venus spoke again. "Perhaps Jacob would find it more comfortable to go back to his quarters."

"His quarters? Oh, you mean his room," Scott said.

The old man looked at the two of them and nodded. "Yes, I think I will go. This is a little more than I can handle right now…"

The gargoyle smoothed out her wings and looked down. "It is too much for everybody," she thought.

She watched as the old man slowly got up, helped by the professor. They walked toward the door and the young gargoyle said in a soft tone: "May your rest be a peaceful one."

The two men looked at her then left. When the professor came back, he stopped for a moment before entering the workshop again. "Hey, the worse she can do is kill me, right?" he said out loud before opening the door.

She was gone.

He looked left, then right: the room was deserted. Mumbling a curse, he stepped in. A glance towards the loading door told him that she either did not go that way or she took the time to close it behind herself… he heard tapping sounds coming from above him and looked up.

The young gargoyle had not left the room at all. Apparently, she had climbed on the shelves again and then scaled the wall—leaving holes in it—up to one of the skylights to inspect it further. She tapped on the glass, a frown on her face, and pushed on it. "It seems to be solid matter…" she said to herself. "… yet I cannot see it. What sorcery is this?"

She started when she heard a voice say: "Please Venus, if you want to escape, at least use the door."

The young gargoyle looked down and saw the collector standing next to his desk. "You really are obsessed with this name, are you not?" she commented.

She looked around to see how she would go down without hurting her leg even more and realized she could only go back the way she had come up there. She climbed down carefully, putting her feet exactly where she had put them to go up, and heard the man's voice as he spoke again: "Some time ago, when I had just brought you here, I had a dream. You were in it, exactly as you are now, alive and all, I mean."

Flower/Venus stepped down from the bookcase and remained standing there, listening.

"I saw what happened to you. I saw the Archmage. I saw the other gargoyle. And is seemed so real! I felt your emotions, I lived what you lived. I was so scared when I woke up that I ran down here, trying to find answers to all the questions I had… Even the name Rebel Flower scared me—I still have a very hard time calling you that—so I decided to keep the name I had already found you."

"Venus," she said, looking down.

"Yes."

The young gargoyle's tail swayed, then she put one hand to her eyes. She wiped a tear from her cheek and said in a low, soft tone of voice: "I was not trying to escape," her gaze shifted to the pedestal and she went to sit on it. "If what you have told me is true, I would be a fool to try and escape now. I am far from my home; I know nothing of this place here. I would at least have to take some time to inspect, plan. Any good warrior knows that."

She frowned, feeling her headache coming back. Her leg hurt less now that she was sitting down, but she had to do as if she were ready to stand up and fight if she had to. "What to do now?" she asked herself. "This man does not look threatening, but he took me so far from my home… Obviously he is as confused as I am; he did not plan this to happen…"

"Venus?"

She looked up. If that was how he wanted to call her… "If you weren't trying to escape, what were you doing on the ceiling, tapping on my windows?"

She looked at the skylight, then at him. "I was studying this force field you have. Not once have I seen a wizard use it."

"Force field? What, the glass?" he let out a short laugh. "That's just a window, like any other normal window. You can see outside, but rain and snow can't come in. That's all it does."

She blinked, confused. The collector walked toward her and crouched near her. "I didn't expect you to, err. wake up like this. I had no force field, I still don't. I didn't want to capture you, I still don't. I mean you no harm, Venus. You can leave if you want to, but you're welcome to stay here."

"Why?"

He seemed taken aback by her sudden question. "Why not?" he asked, uncertain of what to say.

She looked away, feeling like crying. "I know what you've been through, I understand how you feel, Venus. I understand why you are so careful," he said in a soft tone. "What happened tonight is… is affecting both of us. I just want to be a friend."

He saw a tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away without thinking about it and sighed. Then, she said: "I do not even know your name, human."

"My name?" he stammered.

He stared at her. She seemed to have this ability to surprise him all the time. That and she did have beautiful eyes… "Scott," he let out, almost hypnotized by her unyielding gaze.

"What about the Scots?" she asked.

"What about them?" he shook his head. "No! My name is Scott."

"Oh," she frowned. "Why would someone name their child after a group of people?"

Scott's gray eyes opened so wide she thought they would pop out of his head. He took his glasses off, put his hand to his face and let it slide down to his chin. "What? Did I say something wrong?" the young gargoyle asked, a genuine look of innocence on her face.

The man got up and walked away from her. "There is nothing wrong with being named after them, you know," she continued. "My people are proud and brave. You should consider it an honor to be named after them."

"How should I know who I got named after?" he exclaimed, turning around.

Seeing that his words made her frown, he quickly added: "Not that I have anything against Scotsmen. Who knows, maybe I do have a drop or two of their blood in me."

She shook her head, obviously not impressed, and stood up. "I would like to go outside, please."

"… Outside?" he scratched his head. "You don't have to ask me that; you do whatever you want," he continued. "Like I could stop you anyway…" he thought.

He backed toward the loading door and pressed on the switch to open it. From where she was, it was possible to see outside. She could see the stars and some trees a little farther away. She walked slowly up to the door–her wings floating behind her like a velvety cape–and peered outside. The night was warm and a gentle breeze was coming from the nearby ocean.

She stepped into the soft grass and looked at the trees. They were quite big and solid, and formed an irregular line through which she could see… an odd whitish glow. Intrigued, she glanced at Scott behind her, and at the trees again. "What is that?" she asked.

"What is what?"

He saw her making a wide arm gesture in front of her. He scratched his head and said: "It's a bunch of trees, Venus. There are some of those in Scotland too."

Venus turned around and glared at him. She walked to him and he thought she was going to attack him again. She crouched low when she was near him and leaped gracefully to grip the wall next to the door. Remaining there a few seconds, she said: "I know what trees are," in a slightly annoyed tone, then started climbing up the wall.

"Wait! What are you doing?" the collector exclaimed.

Dumbfounded, he watched as the young gargoyle quickly climbed all the way up to the roof. He grabbed a vine that was growing on the wall to climb and follow her, but knew he would not make it and stayed on the ground. "Venus!" he called. "Come back!" then, he added: "Please!"

She looked down at him and replied: "I must find out where this glow comes from! It may be a danger to the trees…"

She looked past the trees and then saw… it.

The city.

Her jaw dropped open and she stood there, motionless, for some time. This was bigger than anything else she had ever seen. All those magical fires, all those buildings! And now that she was more attentive, she could hear odd noises as well… She looked down at the human. "Come back down," she heard him say.

Her vision blurred and she felt warm tears run down her cheeks. Where had he taken her? What was all this? "What am I doing here?" she asked herself.

She suddenly unfolded her wings and let out a powerful yell that ended up in a sob. Then, her wings drooped and she was motionless once more.

Scott felt bad for her. He watched in silence, unsure of what to do. He waited for what seemed an eternity to him–but had only been minutes for real–and said: "You know you can go, Venus, I'm not holding you back…"

The young gargoyle sighed. She then jumped up, spread her wings out, and left the manor's roof. The collector thought she was indeed leaving until she turned gracefully and started flapping her wings to slow herself down. She landed near him and folded her wings to their cape-like form. "To go where?" Was her reply.

"Anywhere you want."

"To be slain in this land of fires and dragons?" she asked, her arm moving back to show the city behind the trees.

Scott mouthed the word 'dragon', not understanding, but had no time to ask about them for she spoke again: "You have awaken me, human. I do not know if this is a good thing or not, but these are the facts. I sense that you are not of the Archmage's minions, therefore you are not a threat to me..." she made a short pause. "… in this way. I could go, flee to find myself at the mercy of some other wizard. That would be but foolishness, even you know that."

Scott almost felt insulted, but did not say anything. She let out a soft sigh. "You have awaken me," she repeated. "And if I believe your words, I am far from my home and my people."

"I'm sorry, Venus…"

"If I have outlived them, I think it has little matter. At least not until I gain enough strength to leave and find my way back to them."

The man winced slightly. Somehow he did not want her to go away. "You know you can consider this house yours," he said, trying to be helpful.

She seemed to hesitate, then nodded in a thank you gesture. "I shall protect it for as long as I am here," she then looked at him and asked: "What about your servant? I forgot to ask. How is he now?"

"Jacob will be fine," he smiled. "I didn't know you cared."

"Elders are very important people," she commented. "Even servants."

"He's not my servant. I pay him for his good services," the gargoyle frowned, seeming confused, but remained silent. "Jacob is a very dear friend of mine. I'll make sure he gets all that he needs," she only nodded. "And I am honored you decided to guard my house. Thank you," he felt he had to add.

He saw the gargoyle's lips move up slightly for a second. Apparently, she had been pleased by those words. If "protecting" the house was so important to her… then so be it. She was fit for the job anyway. "I'll just have to give you one of the guest rooms," he concluded.

She seemed to study him for a moment, then nodded. "Please," she said in her soft, low voice.

"Not that you'd be tired right away…"

He let out a chuckle; she looked up at the sky. It was of a lighter color already—the sun would come up soon. "This night has been quite…demanding," she commented.

She knew she was going to turn to stone soon; maybe this guestroom would keep her from prying eyes. She was not ready to let that human know that she was vulnerable during the day. Hopefully, the door to the room would have a latch. "I would be interested in taking a nap, if you do not mind that is," she continued. "You must be needing rest as well, human."

Now that he thought about it, the collector realized he was tired indeed. But this fascinating creature was worth staying up that long for. He nodded and said: "I'll take you to your room then," he paused, then added: "But please, don't call me human. I have a name, you know."

Again, she had that almost-smile of hers. "I shall try from now on."

"Good."

He turned away from her and went back in the house, followed by the young gargoyle. He walked past the pedestal and the little pieces of rock on the floor, and opened the other door to go back into the manor. While going upstairs to the bedrooms, he explained the different rooms they came across to the young gargoyle. Scott was happy that Jacob kept the best room ready for visitors at all times because he did not need to prepare anything when he lead Venus to it. He walked inside and stopped in the middle of the room. The young gargoyle was looking around, but directed her attention toward him when he spoke: "This will be your room from now on–unless you don't like it of course."

"I like it."

"You do? Good! Then the bathroom is over there," he pointed a door in a corner of the room. "The bed is ready and this," he added, showing a little switch near the bed. "is to call Jacob when you need him."

"I will let him rest."

"I mean if you ever need him."

"Oh. Then he *is* your servant."

"He is my employee. It's not the same."

Venus thought there was not much difference, but did not insist. The sun was rising. She looked at him when he spoke again: "And if you ever need me, my room is down the hallway, on the other side."

She nodded, not that she intended to go there in the near future, but it could be a useful thing to know. The collector shifted his weight from one leg to the other, uneasy, and finally decided to leave. "I'll let you take your nap now," he said, backing towards the door. "Good night, err, day, err... well, you know what I mean..."

This time, her smile was a little wider. "May you get some rest as well."

Scott smiled back and left, closing the door behind him. The young gargoyle bit her lip. "He is scared of me," she thought. "Maybe it will keep him away from this room."

She looked out the window–it was almost time–and then at the door. She could not see any bolt on it. She walked to it and inspected the handle. She turned a small knob on it and felt something move inside the door. She tried opening it and found out that she was locked in. "Perfect," she said to herself.

She walked to the window and looked outside. It was time to take position. She crouched low and took a fearful pose. Slowly, progressively, the sky grew brighter, becoming of a soft orange color. She waited for the familiar sensation of sleep to wash over her, but started having doubts when she saw with her own eyes that the sky was becoming blue.

Venus blinked and her arms fell back down. She approached the window to look outside. From this part of the house, she could see the sun. And it was up. Still very low in the sky, but up. She looked at herself and sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" she thought bitterly. "Surely this is another curse the Archmage has put on me. I was to thank him, he said. Thank him for what, not sleeping?" Oblivious to the beautiful new sights outside, she stepped away from the window. "What will happen to me now? Especially if I cannot sleep..."

She saw the bed in a corner of the room and walked toward it. Maybe doing like the humans and sleep like a flesh and blood creature would help a little. Her head and leg would not heal as quickly, but it was better than nothing. She put her wings as a cape and lay down on the bed. It felt very strange for her to be like that, but she decided to remain that way. She shifted on the bed and closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would come to her. "I swear, the Archmage's descendants shall remember my name if I ever find them!" she mumbled in an angry tone of voice.

When she opened her eyes, she saw by the shadows in the room that it was a lot later in the day than when she had gone to bed. "I must have slept," she thought.

She propped herself on her elbows and looked around. The room was a lot brighter now, and seemed larger than when she had gotten there. She sat in the bed and rubbed her eyes. "What now?" she wondered.

Venus slid out of the bed and went to the window. The day was nice and bright, and everything outside looked a lot clearer than what she was used to see. She looked outside a little longer, really interested in what she was seeing, and then went to what the human had called the bathroom.

It was a strange, dark room. She could not see any torches or lanterns inside and wondered what human would want to stay in such darkness. She took a step forward into the room and leant on the wall to peer inside. By doing so, she accidentally hit the light switch and the room suddenly brightened up. Startled, she backed off and let out a short hiss. So, this human had the magic fires as well... She blinked and looked at the switch. She pressed on it and the lights went off. After pressing on the switch a few times—to make sure she was controlling the fires—she left them on and entered the room. It was a lot smaller than the first one and had strange furniture in it. Venus recognized the bath, although it was very different from the wooden tub of Castle Wyvern, but was intrigued by what else was there. The human had said it was the place for when you had to go. Go where, she did not know; she had not asked at the time. She approached a strange device with water in it. What was that for? It had some sort of knob on it and she reached out to push on it. Frowning (that obviously did not work), she tried to pull it, but it turned instead and the water in the device started spinning before disappearing in a hole at the bottom. Surprised, she looked under the device and saw that no water was coming out. She pondered the phenomenon for a moment, then something clicked in her mind. "When you have to go... What a cleaver idea!" she said aloud.

A knock on the room's door made her turn around. "Yes? Who is this?" she asked, walking back into the bedroom.

"May I come in?" the professor's voice asked from the other side of the door.

The young gargoyle did not answer, but unlocked the door and opened it. "I wasn't sure if you were awake," he said, as if apologizing.

"I was," she replied, a small smile on her lips.

She grew serious again and asked: "What do you want with me?"

"Please! You make it sound like I'm going to torture you!"

She could not help but smile again. "Are you?"

"No!" he exclaimed in an almost desperate way.

"What is it then?"

"I stopped by to ask if you were interested in having breakfast with me."

Now that she thought about it, she was hungry indeed. "If you leave me a few moments to have a quick wash, I shall join you."

"Do you want me to wait here?"

She shrugged. "If you want."

Venus walked back to the bathroom and stayed there for a few moments. Then, she appeared on the doorstep. "Might you be kind enough to tell me where you keep the pitcher?" she asked.

"Pitcher?"

"I have found the basin; it is attached to a wall, but I have no pitcher to take water."

He shrugged. "Use the faucets," seeing her frown, he added: "The knobs on top of the 'basin'."

"Oh."

She went back in as he spoke again: "There is one faucet for cold water and one..."

He heard a short yelp followed by a low growling sound and winced. Apparently, she had discovered the hot water faucet by herself. "You have to play with the two to get the right temperature," he added.

He paused, listening to the sound of the running water. "Have you found out where everything was, Venus?" he asked. "Towels, soap...?"

"We had soap in Scotland as well, mind you," she said.

She came out of the bathroom, gently patting her face with a blue towel. "I myself have made some with various herbs and saponin."

"I don't doubt anything you say. I just don't know what you know and what you don't."

She blinked, folding the towel neatly in front of her. "I guess we have much to talk about then."

Scott smiled. He had nothing against that. "We'll go to the kitchen. I let Jacob rest."

The young gargoyle nodded in agreement and put the towel back where she had taken it. She carefully 'put the magic fires out' before following the man out of the room.

They went downstairs to the kitchen; Venus was looking around to try and remember which rooms were where. "I don't know what gargoyles normally eat, though," the man said, walking about in the room, looking in the refrigerator and cupboards.

"We normally hunt. Either alone or with the humans. We eat the same things you do, except that we eat more."

Scott did not have a hard time believing it; she was about six feet tall, he estimated, and quite muscular. He wondered if all gargoyles were like she was, but did not dare asking. "So, this is what a kitchen has become in all those years..." he heard her say. "It is very different from what I am used to."

"A lot of things have changed. But you'll see, you'll get used to all of this quickly," he said to reassure her.

He started cooking several things, thinking she would simply pick what she wanted. Venus walked to the window, still impressed with all this light outside. Things looked happier that way, she thought. The flowers were open, the trees were of a beautiful light green, and the sun felt warm on her skin. She closed her eyes to feel it better, but opened them as the professor spoke. "Is there anything in particular you don't like, Venus?" he asked.

She turned around to face him and replied: "In my time, one ate what he or she had, not liked."

He let out a chuckle. "You sound like a grandmother!" he exclaimed. "But now you have the choice. I'm asking you."

The young gargoyle seemed to think, then answered by only one word: "Eggs."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

"He must be quite rich and powerful if he chooses what he eats like that," she thought.

She started looking around in the room. The kitchen was not very large, at least not as large as Castle Wyvern's. There were cupboards and a table there, and some other things she was not sure of what they were. She could not help but think all this looked a little flimsy, like this table—small skinny legs, wood that was obviously not solid oak... she would probably break those chairs if she sat on them. That and her tail would be in the way. Could he not have stools like everyone else? "Venus!"The sudden call made her look up. "Catch!" the man said, throwing a small orange-colored ball at her.

She caught it instinctively; the ball was cold in her taloned hands. She looked at it, frowned, then put it to her nose to smell it. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's called an orange. It's a fruit. You peel it, then eat it. It's very good."

She doubtfully looked back at the orange ball. Leaving the stove for a moment, he walked to her and took the fruit from her hands. "Look," he said, taking a small piece of the peel away. "You take all of this stuff off, and you eat the rest," he heard a noise coming from the stove and muttered a curse as he hurried back to it.

Venus smiled and turned her attention to the orange. She carefully used her talon to take some of the peel off and clumsily freed the fruit from its skin. "What now?" she asked.

"Try to separate it in smaller parts, along those little lines you see?" the human replied, bringing some plates on the kitchen table.

The gargoyle did as he said, squashing a little of the fruit in the process because she was pressing too hard on it. Then she took a smaller piece and put it in her mouth. She had an uncertain look in her face as she chewed, and the professor almost burst out laughing as he watched. "So?" he asked as she swallowed.

She seemed thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I think I will like this… orange," she said.

The man smiled. "They make juice out of them, too. But for now, let's sit down and eat."

She looked at the chairs and said: "Might you have a stool of some sort then? I am afraid my tail will not fit on these more delicate chairs."

"Oh," he scratched his head. "I'm sorry. Err… no I don't. I'll have to take care of that. In the meantime, you can try sitting on it anyway. It's very solid, don't worry."

She carefully sat on the chair and visibly felt relieved to see it did not collapse under her weight. If she sat a little more on the edge of it, she had room for her tail. It was not of a perfect comfort, but it was better than nothing. She looked at the plate in front of her, at this strange food (although it did smell good), at those delicate utensils next to the plate. Seeing that she was not eating, Scott asked: "Is there something wrong?"

The young gargoyle looked at him and shook her head. "No," she made a short pause, then added: "Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome. There's some more if you're still hungry after."

She nodded and picked her utensils up. Gargoyles had no use for them; they would usually take their food directly from whatever was cooking over the fire with their hands. But Venus had some knowledge on how to use such tools because she had seen humans do it. Being careful not to bend the fork and knife she was holding, she started cutting a sausage in smaller pieces.

They ate without talking for a moment. The collector had hundreds of questions to ask, but did not want to upset her. He was surprised when she was the one who talked: "I wonder why you have had that dream… You said you were not of the Archmage's followers, yet you know what happened."

The man stood up, picking up his plate. "I'll be honest with you, Venus, I think it's a dream I could have done without," he motioned towards the young gargoyle's plate. "You want some more?"

She seemed to think, then answered: "Yes, please."

He walked to the stove to fill her plate again. "That dream I had about you scared me to death. Actually living it must have been horrible."

She looked away. "I did not have the time to be scared."

He knew by her tone of voice that he had said something wrong. "I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," he apologized.

She gently shook her head as he put her plate down in front of her. She noticed he did not have one for himself and asked: "What about you?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. You want anything to drink? Juice? Coffee?"

The young gargoyle frowned. "I do not know what coffee is."

"No? What did you drink in Scotland?"

"Ale, wine, herbal teas, but most of the time it was water."

"Water? No, no. You deserve better than that."

The collector walked to the refrigerator and took a pitcher out. He poured her a glass of apple juice and sat back down next to her. He had had the time to calm down, Venus noticed. He did not seem scared anymore. Not as much anyway. She turned her attention back to her meal, but looked up when she heard the man chuckle. "Some host I am! I didn't even show you around the house!" he said.

"We had other matters on our minds, human–"

"Scott, please," he interrupted her.

He thought he saw tears well up in her eyes, but she held them back. Surprising him, she suddenly put her hand on his arm. Not that she had hurt him, but the gesture in itself seemed unusual. "You are right, though. I shall have to know what I protect. It would not be appropriate if I became lost trying to save you or Jacob."

The man smiled, wondering why he would really need her protection with all the alarm systems he had had installed around the house. Nevertheless, he did not say anything about it; he did not want to offend her. "If you let me finish this meal, I shall follow you around the manor. Is that something you find to your liking?" she continued.

"Take your time, Venus. We're in no hurry," he went to pour himself a cup of coffee and came back to the table. "Do you mind if I go check on Jacob while you finish?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Go see to him. I will not move from here," she answered.

The man smiled and left. Venus looked at him go, then at the mug he had left on the table. The liquid in it had a strong smell unknown to her. She touched the mug and removed her fingers almost immediately; the mug was burning hot. Trying another tactic, she took it by its handle (although only one of her fingers fitted in it) and brought it to her nose. The smell was not unpleasant, even to her nose, which was more sensitive than a human's, but it was still alien to her. She cautiously brought the mug to her lips and took a sip, but put it back on the table, grimacing. This drink was very strong—too strong to her liking. "I shall leave the human drink it," she thought, taking some apple juice to try and cover the taste of the coffee.

By the time the collector came back, she was done eating and had put her plate and utensils next to Scott's in the sink. "How is your serv… worker doing?" she asked.

"Much better, actually. I asked him if he wanted anything to eat, but he said no. He's probably gonna be back on his feet and cooking tonight's dinner before we know it. He's tougher than he looks, don't you worry about him," he went to get his mug of coffee and added: "If it can make you feel better, we can go and see him after I've shown you around. I can't guarantee he's still gonna be there, though."

Venus smiled softly. Even if Jacob's first reaction to her had been one of fear, she had liked him right away. She wanted nothing bad to happen to him. The collector led her around the manor, telling her what the rooms were and what purpose they served. Venus noticed several other bathrooms (quite useful to remember if she ever needed to use the "swirling waters"), two dining rooms—one more formal than the other—and, in almost any room, books. "I know of someone who would be happy here…" she said to herself, thinking of one of her brothers back in Scotland.

The last room they visited was the professor's workshop. "I believe you already know which room that is. I spend most of my time here, either working on projects or dealing with people who buy and sell things to me."

"You are a merchant, then?" she asked, settling down on the stone pedestal.

She really looked interested, Scott noticed. She also looked a lot different from the day before. In this calm state she was in, she looked like she did as a statue, as when she was seeing herself in the puddle of water in his dream. She almost looked… human. Surely she was at least as intelligent as humans were; he could see that by the way she was reacting to things or asking questions. "A merchant? Sorta, I guess. I go around the world and search for ancient artifacts. Then I either sell them to private collectors or museums, depending on who wants them."

"What is a museum?"

"A museum? It's a place where precious or rare things are displayed so that people can see them. They would not be able to otherwise."

"Oh," she frowned. "Would that mean you intend to sell me then?" she said in a low, dangerously calm tone of voice.

"Of course not! What kind of question is that?"

"I have been betrayed before."

She saw in his eyes that the comment had hurt his feelings. "I told you that you could leave if you wanted to," he said. "When will you believe that I mean you no harm!"

The young gargoyle stood up and absently rubbed her backside. "May I ask a favor of you then?"

"Of course."

"You say that you do not wish to sell me, is that correct?"

"It is correct."

She nodded. "Then you will have no objections if I ask of you to destroy this accursed pedestal I have been on for over a millennium."

"It *is* an ancient artifact…" the collector began.

Then, he looked at the pedestal. It had a very old inscription on it—had had an old inscription, on second thought. It was just a piece of stone now, blank and gray. Whoever had not seen Venus' extraordinary transformation could not understand why the pedestal had any value. Yet, something inside him made him hesitate. The pedestal was a reminder of what had happened. And it was something he did not want to forget.

But then again, how could he forget about it when Venus was there and very much alive in front of him? He sighed, looked at the pedestal one last time and said: "Be my guest."

Venus seemed to hesitate. "I thank you for your hospitality, but I fail to see how this has to do with the pedestal…"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Oh no. I means I agree."

"You do?"

"Yes. There are some tools and masonry hammers in the groundskeeper's shed."

Surprising him once more, she smiled. But it was a different smile. There was assurance in this smile, and even a little mischief. "I have no need for such things. Thank you for offering them."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to destroy the pedestal," she replied.

She turned around, bent over, and lifted the stone pedestal without so much as a grunt. He looked at her blankly, gaping as she took a few steps forward. The thing must have weighed nearly a ton, and she did not seem to be bothered by it at all. "Might you be kind enough to open this door behind you?" she asked. "I will take care of this outside, so as not to make a mess."

He backed toward the loading door and hit the switch without even looking at it. Watching her going through the doorway, he followed her. The young gargoyle carried the stone into the yard and looked around for a second. There was a large formation of boulders nearby; it had been there since the professor bought the manor. He kept forgetting to have it removed, so they were still there after all this time. "May I?" she asked.

The man swept his hand in front of him in a "go right ahead" gesture. Smiling with satisfaction, she hurled the heavy object at the boulders and it shattered loudly in a crumbly heap of stone and dust.

Scott could only look at the mess and stare dumbly. Venus noticed it and bit her lip in an effort not to laugh. "My kind is stronger than yours," she finally said.

"No kidding!" he breathed. "No wonder you're protectors."

She nodded. "Now that I have taken care of this matter, I believe it is time to go and see how Jacob is doing," she said, heading back towards the house.

Staying behind her a few moments, the collector looked one last time at the pile of rocks. He bent down, picked up a few pieces of the pedestal, then went back into the manor. They were going to be his only link to her when she would be gone.

"Hah!" Brooklyn shouted as Lexington tried to shoot him out of the air in the computer flight simulation game they were playing. "C'mon slow poke, your jet is faster than mine and you still stink!"

Without a word, Lex pulled back on the joystick and hit the fire button several times. Brooklyn's fighter jet exploded in a blaze of orange death. The red gargoyle winced, his shoulders sagging. "Aw nuts," he grumbled under his breath.

"Come on you two!" Broadway said, tugging at his 'Kiss the Cook' apron. "Get over here and eat before it gets cold!"

"You're lucky," Brooklyn said to Lexington as they both set their joysticks down and the smaller gargoyle turned the computer off.

Broadway brought a plate full of pork chops on the table and looked up to where Hudson and Goliath were standing. Apparently, they were having some kind of discussion and the green gargoyle decided not to bother them. He knew better. Lexington helped himself to some meat. He passed down the plate to Brooklyn and asked: "Where's Elisa anyway? We haven't seen her in ages!"

He had not aimed his question at anyone in particular, but Goliath halted whatever he was talking to Hudson about and retorted: "Elisa is a grown woman. She does not have to make a report of her whereabouts to you!"

With that, he walked towards the clock face and vanished out of the door. Lexington looked at the others, obviously confused by Goliath's mood swing. "What was *that* about?" Brooklyn asked, sharing Lex's confusion.

Hudson looked at the huge clock face and frowned. "The lassie was here a few days ago. They had a fight, or so I believe."

"A fight? What about?" Broadway asked, taking a seat at the table.

"I don't know, lad. I tried to find out, but he's keeping it to himself. Whatever it was, the lad is quite upset about it," the old warrior answered.

"Lovers' quarrel," Brooklyn said without thinking.

"Hold yer tongue, lad!" Hudson growled. "It is but Goliath's and Elisa's business!"

Brooklyn snapped to attention and knew he had talked aloud. He apologized and started eating so he would not say other things he might regret. Hudson joined them and they all started to eat when Bronx got up from his place near the table and walked to the trap door, wagging his stubby tail. The gargoyles all looked up to see Elisa open the door. "Hey, just in time, Elisa!" Broadway exclaimed.

"Hi guys," she said, closing the door behind herself.

"Want some chops?" the green gargoyle asked.

"I'm sure they're excellent, but no, thank you. I had dinner with Matt a little earlier."

"How is he?" Brooklyn asked.

"Bored. He'll get out of the hospital in a couple of days."

"We'll have to go and visit him soon."

"He'd like that a lot guys," she tucked her hair back behind her ear and sighed. "I can't stay for too long, I have to file reports from yesterday's shift."

She looked at Hudson, biting her lip. The old warrior gave her half a smile and his good eye moved slightly towards the clock face, telling her all she wanted to know. She smiled back at him and murmured: "Be right back," before going to the clock exit. The young trio were about to get up and follow, but a quick growl from Hudson told them it was better not to. "We are not at the movie theater," he commented as they settled back at the table.

Elisa stepped out of the tower and looked for Goliath. He was perched on the stone railing enclosing the balcony, gazing out at the city, a stern expression on his face.

He heard the young detective walking behind him, but did not turn to greet her. He was not sure of what to do, so instead of taking the risk of doing the wrong thing, he chose not to talk. Elisa came up to him, but remained a couple of steps behind. "Okay, so I kinda overreacted the other day," she began.

She made a short pause, then continued: "I want to apologize, Goliath."

The gargoyle sighed heavily. He unwrapped his wings from his shoulders, but did not spread them out. "Goliath, I'm sorry I spoke to you like that. Can we just have a normal discussion now?"

He spread his wings as if he was going to fly away, then seemed to change his mind. He settled his wings back to their cape-like form and closed his eyes. "Talk then," he let out, more as a grunt than words.

The young detective put her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Fine, don't forgive me. It's not like I care anyway…" she paused. "I have talked to professor Mercure."

Goliath's attitude changed completely. He whirled around and asked: "Have you? You have seen the statue?"

"Oh! So now, all of a sudden I'm important to you again! Yes, I have seen the statue. I talked with the professor. We had set an appointment—"

"Had?" he interrupted her.

"Things happened in the meantime."

"Things happened?"

"Have you gone deaf or something? We had set an appointment, but it was on the same night that I was on the stakeout. As you know, Matt got shot and I went to the hospital with him. By the time I remembered about the appointment, it was too late."

"You forgot?"

"I believe I had a good reason, Goliath."

"You *forgot*?"

"Matt got shot! I couldn't just leave him there and say: 'Well, I'm sorry Matt, I have an appointment to go to. You just try not to bleed too much, okay?'!"

Goliath growled and looked away. "I suppose you have set another appointment, then?"

"Not yet. I had a lot of things to do."

"No? But Elisa…"

"I will eventually. He seemed really interested in meeting you, though."

"At least you took the time to talk with him," he ignored the young woman's frown. "What does the statue look like up close? Was she damaged in any way?"

"Is this all you care about? Finding out if that female gargoyle is really alive?"

"Can you not understand how important she is to me?" he asked, grabbing Elisa by her arms.

It struck her suddenly when she heard Goliath say: "how important she is to me". *She* was important to *him*! She was a female gargoyle, and a very attractive one at that… all of a sudden, Elisa felt betrayed. She had to fight Demona already; would she have to fight this new gargoyle as well to win Goliath's heart? "So if I understand well…" she began slowly. "… you can't get Demona back, so you're hoping to get the next best thing… And you want me to play messenger between the two of you!"

She freed herself from his grasp and continued: "Well, I don't think so! I have more pride than that. If you want to go see that Mercure guy, just don't count on me anymore!"

She stormed back inside and the gargoyle followed her. "What would you have me do, Elisa? Say it? Say what I think? What is it going to bring us? Pain!" he let out.

"What would you know about pain? You're not the one who's being dumped for a statue! You seem so interested—"

"I am interested in her for one simple reason, Elisa. Do not ever doubt the feelings I have for you."

The young detective's expression changed. "That's even worse! How can you think like that?" she exclaimed in an outraged tone of voice.

"Elisa, listen to me…"

He was interrupted by Hudson, who said in a calm voice: "Lassie, the statue is Goliath's blood sister."

The room grew silent. Elisa looked at Hudson, then at Goliath, then at Hudson again. "She's… your sister?" Elisa asked, turning around to face the gargoyle leader.

Goliath sighed heavily, looking down. Then, growling in frustration, he scooped Elisa in his powerful arms and ran back outside.

The others scrambled from the kitchen table and dashed outside to see what was happening. When they reached the balcony, all they saw was Goliath's winged form gliding away. Elisa was in his arms and they seemed to be heading towards the Upper New York Bay. When Hudson saw that Brooklyn intended to follow them, he grabbed him by his belt and shook his head. "Nay. 'Tis not our business lad. It's up to them to resolve this matter; we cannot interfere," he said.

The old warrior took them back inside. He knew Goliath and Elisa would not be back for a while.

Elisa felt safe in his arms as they soared over the city. Goliath held her close as he glided toward the bay, to a place where they would be alone. When Liberty Island came into view, he knew where he wanted to go. With the moon still very bright on this beautiful night, they would have a wonderful view of the city from the statue's torch. The gargoyle swooped upwards and landed on the balcony surrounding the torch. Elisa slid from his arms and stayed there, silent for a while. "Why didn't you tell me she was your sister, Goliath?" she asked, turning around to face him. "This changes everything. You have no idea of how left out I felt. You were asking me to clear the way for… for…"

Goliath put one talon to her lips, stopping her from talking. Then, he opened his arms to her. She placed her head on his chest and he closed his arms around her. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly.

He shook his head. "No," he said in a low voice, running his talons through her hair.

He had hurt Elisa a lot, he realized it now. If he kept denying his feelings and pushing the young detective away, he would lose her for good. "Never think I would leave you out, northat I would abandon you. It is I who should apologize to you."

He let his fingers run down the side of her face and she caught his hand before he could take it away. As she kept the huge hand against her cheek, he continued: "It was unfair not to tell you what this was really about…"

It was Elisa's turn to silence him with her finger on his lips. "Why don't we call it even, okay?" she asked.

Giving her half a smile, he nodded in agreement. "So, she is your sister?" the young detective asked.

He nodded again. "Aye. My blood sister."

Elisa took the gargoyle by his arm. "I'll call the professor back as soon as I can. Don't you worry, we'll get her back. The next thing you know, you'll have to try and keep the trio away from her."

Goliath let out a chuckle. "I would not worry about my sister," he commented with a smile. "Well, not as far as that is concerned…" his voice trailed off.

"Hey, hey! Don't think like that! I can tell you for sure that she's in good hands for now. This Mercure guy won't let anything happen to her. He'd marry her if he could," Goliath looked at her strangely and she quickly added: "Figure of speech. Anyway, you just relax and I'll call him as soon as I can."

The gargoyle leader was about to say something but the young detective raised a hand to silence him and moved behind him. "What are you doing?" he asked in a soft voice.

She hushed him again and put her hands on his back. "You just relax…" she murmured. "Here, let me take all that stress out…"

"But… Elisa…"

The young detective had apparently decided to ignore him because she started rubbing his back despite his protestations. He could feel Elisa's small fingers on his skin; he knew he had to stop her, but a part inside of him did not want to. It felt good and bad at the same time, like if it had a certain forbidden side to it. He closed his eyes to try and not think about the young woman's affections—she seemed to insist on wanting to relax him—but he ended up feeling Elisa's hands even more. She was humming softly, obviously enjoying herself, standing on the tip of her toes to reach the gargoyle's broad back. She let out a short laugh when she lost her footing and nearly fell, but caught herself on time and leant on him for support. "Sorry," she giggled. "Guess I'm aiming too high."

She started rubbing his back again, only this time she concentrated on his lower back, which she could reach without performing perilous acrobatics. She was surprised to feel him shiver under her touch. "He really likes this!" she thought.

At that moment, without a warning, Goliath suddenly fell to his knees, growling softly. Elisa was not sure if it was to make it easier for her or simply because of what she was doing; she was surprised he did not try to stop her anymore. "He must really be relaxed," the young detective said to herself, making small circles with her thumbs between his shoulder blades.

She started tracing the outlines of his wings. They seemed so thin, almost weak, but he was able to glide with them and carry her without any problem. Goliath's breathing was becoming heavier as she came back to his shoulder blades. "What is happening to him?" Elisa wondered, seeing the gargoyle's broad shoulders tremble with every breath he took.

She looked at her hands, still on his back and bit her lower lip. "No… that can't be it… I'm just rubbing his back," she held back a nervous laugh and moved her fingers slightly to see what would happen. He shivered again. The young detective hesitated. Should she continue? He seemed to enjoy it so much… An odd feeling swept through her and her hands started moving again. "We'll see what happens, I guess," she thought, welcoming the warm sensation in her own stomach and not being too surprised about it.

Goliath's mind started to wander as Elisa began to rub his back again; he was not sure if it was because of her or because it brought back memories he thought he had forgotten. Memories of when he was younger, before Hudson had given him the rank of leader for Clan Wyvern…

Scotland - 964 AD (Castle Wyvern)

A young Goliath was walking on the stone parapets of Castle Wyvern. He was performing his nightly patrol along with his mentor—the Wise One—as he usually did every other night. They were on the east wall of the castle, and from there, they could see the dark sea meeting with the starry sky. It was a beautiful night, a calm one. Nothing had disturbed them during their patrol and now it was almost time for the relief of the guard. "A mug o' bock beer sounds pretty good aboot now," the old warrior commented as he was staring far away in the horizon.

The younger gargoyle smiled. He did not care much for bock beer himself, but he knew that when his mentor said something like that, it meant that he was happy with his patrol—with his pupil's work as well—and it was enough to make him feel good. He thought a moment of what he would do after the patrol. Undoubtedly, he would go to the castle's library and finish the book he was reading. He was among the few who could read, humans and gargoyles alike, and he was trying to find interesting books so he could teach some of the younger ones of his clan. He saw a group of gargoyles gliding in from the southeast. It was the hunting party. From the way some were grouped, they had been successful, too. They glided over the parapet, past Goliath and his mentor and landed in the inner courtyard of the castle. One of the hunters remained behind and landed near Goliath. "My Angel!" the young gargoyle exclaimed, hugging the newcomer. "How was the hunt?"

The female gargoyle backed off a little to hold Goliath at arm's length. She was smiling and there was a spark of joy in her dark eyes. "Your twin was right about the deer. She led us right to them. We have enough to feed the whole clan, and we'll have some left! We even caught a bear!"

Goliath nodded. "Aye, my blood sister is an excellent huntress. Where is she now?"

"I left her in charge of the hunting party."

The Wise One was looking at the hunters with interest (or maybe was it to be polite in front of the two young lovebirds). "Deer meat and bock beer, that sounds even better," he said. "Goliath, we have completed our duties for the night. Ye are free ta go now. I myself am gonna go see what they caught."

Angel smiled at him. "May you have a good meal, then."

The old gargoyle smiled back and then glided off. The young couple watched him go, then Angel hugged his love again. "At last, we're together again," she whispered against his chest.

Goliath ran his talons through her red hair. The moon was reflecting in it, giving it the look of a wild fire. She looked up to him and smiled. There was something special to her tonight, Goliath thought. Something that made him feel very strange. "I saw something else while we were hunting," she said in a soft, purring voice.

"Did you now?"

"Yes. Since your duties are over, why not come with me and I'll show you? It's the perfect place if you want to be alone in peace to read… it's very romantic as well…"

Goliath took her chin in his hand. "You know I will follow you anywhere, my Angel."

The young female's smile broadened. She freed herself from his embrace, climbed on a crenellation, and flew off. He followed her closely, looking back at the castle for a moment. "It is time for a little adventure, I suppose," he thought, half a smile playing on his lips.

The area she had found was quite a distance from the castle, he noticed. He was not worried, but it felt unusual to him to go that far. He flew almost side to side with his Angel, letting her move forward so he saw where she was going. They went over the sprawling flatland, onward to the forest. Looking back once more, Goliath noticed they could not see the castle anymore. Angel smiled. He would calm down when they landed. The dark trees almost looked ominous from the air, but the area she had discovered a little earlier was perfect. She knew he would agree with her.

The female gargoyle started to spiral down, closely followed by her mate. They both landed in a small clearing. A brook was running nearby, its sound playing a gentle and soothing melody. "You were right, my Angel. This is a very beautiful place indeed," Goliath said, looking around the area.

Angel was kneeling down next to the brook, drinking a little water. "Isn't it?" she asked with a smile.

She stood up and slowly walked to him. Every step she took exuded beauty and seduction. He swallowed noisily. Somehow, her attitude made him nervous. He looked around him, as if he expected somebody else to be there. Then he looked back at her. She was only a few paces away, smiling. He frowned, uncertain. "My Angel?" she walked the remaining steps and gently took his face in her hands. "What do you have in mind?" he asked again.

She stood on the tip of her clawed feet and kissed him softly on he lips. Of course, it was not the first time she did that, but this time, it felt different. She was more… passionate, yes, that was it, passionate. "We are alone, Goliath," she purred.

"Yes, I know that…" his eyes grew wider as he understood. "My Angel, it is not time yet. We are too young," he held her back at an arm's length to have a better look at her. "We have not yet reached our thirtieth year…"

"The Wise One always say that practice makes perfect. We'll know what to do when the time comes if we experiment," she kissed him again. "Can't we have fun experimenting?"

"But, my Angel…"

"Hush now, Goliath," her voice was deep and soft at the same time, almost hypnotizing him.

"This is not right, not now…" he said in a slightly trembling voice. "I am not ready for this."

"A brave warrior like you?" she teased him. "Surely there is a way to change the way you are thinking…"

He tilted his head in an almost warning way, but she paid no attention to it. With a smile that bared her white fangs, she leaped to his side and soon was behind him. He tried to turn around to face her, but she kept him from it by holding on to his waist. She let go of him with one arm and started rubbing and pressing on his back. An odd sensation filled Goliath's senses, and closing his eyes, he found himself falling to his knees. He let out a soft growl when she began using her two hands. She had never done this to him before, and he wondered for a moment where she had learned it. Surely his rebel twin had something to do with this…

He would have been lying if he had said he did not enjoy it. The sensation of Angel's strong fingers going up and down his shoulder blades was very pleasing. She let her hands slide to his lower back and made small circles with her thumbs just under his wings. "Have I changed your mind already?" she asked in a whisper, her lips brushing against his pointed ear.

He could only gasp and growl again, unable to say anything. Angel smiled and moved her hands upwards again, staying between his shoulder blades for a moment before rubbing and kissing his neck. "I think I did," she thought, feeling him shiver under her lips.

When he turned around to face her, she smiled happily and did not try to stop him as he held her tight.

"Wow, I heard of people going nuts over back rubs, but this is really…"

Goliath's eyes opened suddenly and he started back, interrupting Elisa. Realizing where he was and what was happening, he jumped to his feet and moved away from her. He knew the young detective was about to reach the point of no return and he also knew what was going to happen if she did. She would not be unable to stop him either.

Leaving his confused friend there, he grabbed the torch's railing and climbed over it, spreading his wings at the same time. He closed them back almost right away, and dove into the water, making a big splash as he hit it.

The water was cold, like millions of needles stinging him all over his body. Only a few seconds were necessary to calm him down and he swam back to the surface. Once there, he shook his hair from his face and looked up. Elisa was still on the torch, leaning on the railing, searching for him. He swam to the edge of the island, climbed on the base of it and caught a hot air current that brought him back to the torch. The young detective looked at him for a moment, without talking, her eyes wide with fright and worry. Then she exclaimed: "You want me to die of a heart attack or what! What was that for?"

"I needed to do that, Elisa."

"You needed to scare me out of my mind?"

"I needed to get away from you."

She frowned. "Why?Did I do something wrong?"

He smiled in a strange way. "No. You were doing it very right; that is why I had to go away."

Her voice was hesitant. "What do you mean?"

He winced. Now he had to explain all this to her… "You were doing something that I… we…" he sighed in frustration.

"Something that you, we, what?"

She was almost certain of what he was going to say; the way he had reacted to her earlier was becoming more and more obvious to her now that she thought about it. She bit her lip, waiting for him to talk. "Our kind do something similar… when it is the time…"

"I was turning you on?" she offered, smiling softly.

There was no sarcasm in her voice and he felt it. He closed his eyes and nodded slightly. He was obviously uncomfortable with the situation. Elisa held a nervous laugh back, knowing it would not be appreciated at the moment. She was a little scared, now. She did not know why. "It would have been quite unpleasant for you," he commented.

She remained silent for a while. "I could have just said 'no'."

He looked at her. "You would have been unable to stop me, most possibly. But I do not want to chance it. Ever."

Elisa swallowed noisily, trying to chase unwanted pictures from her mind. "But… Why didn't you tell me about that before?" she finally asked.

He shrugged. An odd thought went through Elisa's mind and told her it was the first time she saw him do that. He turned slightly away from her, looking at the dark water farther away. "I wanted to. Something kept me from it. I do not know what it was. It is difficult to explain. I…" his eyes shifted from the water to her, then to the water again. "I enjoyed it," she could not help but smile; somehow, she knew that. "My mind began to wander, and in a way, I forgot to tell you," he paused. "I am truly sorry about all this…"

She shrugged. "Hey, who knew this was gonna happen? I just wanted to relax you, and I did what I thought was right. There was no way for you to know that I was gonna do that," she smiled at him. "Next time I'll know, that's all."

"Forgive me, Elisa."

"Don't worry about it!" she exclaimed in an exasperated tone of voice.

He shook his head again, quite embarrassed. An uncomfortable silence set between them, both trying to find something to change the subject. The gargoyle leader suddenly turned around, looked at Elisa, and asked: "How is Matt doing? I completely forgot to ask about him."

The young detective smiled. "He'll be out in a couple of days. He stayed longer cause he lost a lot of blood. Poor Matt. These kinds of things always seem to happen to him. I think the trio's gonna go visit with him tonight. Maybe you could join them."

He nodded. "That would be a good idea," he paused. "You have caught the criminal, have you not?"

She could not help but laugh. "Yep. With the help of Broadway. He scared the guy so much I did not have any trouble with him after."

He had a thin smile. Elisa was not certain it was because the criminal was arrested, or because Broadway had scared him. "Have you had the time to interrogate him?"

"Yeah, he wasn't too cooperative, but I got some information out of him. He's lucky I interrogated him, cause Matt would not have been so nice. It had become a personal case for him."

"It had?" Goliath asked, looking interested.

She nodded. "Among the things the guy stole were coins and other things his grandparents once owned. They had given it to the museum so other people could see."

"Oh. I understand how he feels, then. It is a good thing you interrogated the suspect. Did you learn anything interesting?"

"You're starting to sound like Broadway, asking me questions like that about my cases!"

"Matt is a friend"

She smiled again. "He calls himself 'The Eliminator'. From what I could understand, he thought that by stealing those coins, he would keep the Jew people from spending money, and would slowly eliminate them because they could not buy anything anymore. I had to take Morgan out of the room because he had a hard time trying not to laugh," she shrugged. "Anyway, he was on his way to Bellevue a little later that day. They have to run some tests on him. We recovered most of the things he stole already."

"Sounds like a minor incident that went for the worse."

"That's what usually happens in cases like this. Strangely enough, he kept babbling about some woman he had seemingly fallen in love with in the past and who loved another. It's most likely that it's linked to this Jew madness he has. He kept calling her Grete-something, it wasn't too clear. He apparently wanted to take his revenge on that poor guy who took her away from him. They're probably both dead by now; the thief wasn't all that young himself. Then again Hudson isn't either, and see how unstoppable he is," she shrugged the idea off. "Oh well, Matt's gonna have a few days of paid vacation."

"I am sure he would rather work than have a bandage on his leg."

"Especially since he'll be doing paperwork for a while after that. Chavez won't want to risk him being injured again soon."

"She hates loosing good officers."

"No. Costs too much money," she answered in a bitter tone. "Anyway, I should go back to work. As long as Matt is in the hospital, I file the reports. I wasn't supposed to get on an escapade like this."

He knew she was not angry with him for that. He smiled and extended his hand to her. "Then I shall take you back to the tower. If the three young ones are not gone yet, I will go with them."

"Good idea," she replied, taking his hand and letting him take her in his arms.

The gargoyle leader, after making sure she was safe, climbed the railing once more and in a few seconds, they were airborne. As he turned around to head back towards the city, he took one last glance at the statue's torch. He knew he would never be able to look at it the same way ever again, and even long after the incident, did not land on it again. And only Elisa knew why, as the secret was kept between the two of them.

Jacob was walking in the manor's hallway on the second floor. He was doing his usual weekly cleanup of the rooms. He had done the guestrooms and the professor's already and was walking towards Venus' room. The old man was not used yet to having a 'woman' in the house and felt a little out of place when going to her room. Not that she was messy; on the contrary, she kept everything in its place, and did whatever she could to help Jacob. In the few days she had been there, she had done everything in her power so as not to be a nuisance.

She spent most of her time in the library, reading books for hours and hours. That was probably where she was now; when the old butler knocked on the room's door, he did not get an answer. He called her name, and, not hearing her reply, slowly opened the door.

As he thought, the room was deserted. The bed was neatly made, there was nothing on the floor and the curtains were drawn to let the outside light come in. This was surely a big difference from the professor, Jacob thought as he walked back to the hallway to pick up the vacuum cleaner. The house was equipped with a central system and all he did was plug the vacuum tube in the wall. He cleaned the room, then moved to Venus' bathroom. He vacuumed the floor and went to put the tube away. Then he came back to the bathroom to clean the rest of it and happened to look at the bathtub. It was a big tub with carved feet to support it and a showerhead had been added to it so that it was complete. A pole with a curtain had been installed in front of the whole thing to prevent any accidental splashes. Right at the moment, the blue curtain was pulled back. Venus probably did not even use it, the butler thought, since in her time all they took were baths.

By looking at the curtain, he saw something else that made him stop whatever he was doing. A short, tan dress was hanging on the pole, along with two other pieces of soft cloth. The old man frowned and stepped forward, toward the clothes. He reached out and touched the dress. It was damp. "But where is she?" he asked himself. She was not in the room, he was sure of that… even the walk-in closet was empty.

The old butler took the three pieces of clothes in his hands and went out of the room. Obviously, she had washed her clothes in the bathtub—and it was probably how they did it in her time… he would have to tell her that they had a machine for that now. The old butler smiled to himself as he walked down the hallway. She would most likely ask him to see it and how it worked. She was a very curious creature, always wanting to know more. Jacob hoped she would not get into too much trouble that way.

He went down the stairs and walked toward the laundry room—if she wanted to clean her clothes, let them at least be really clean—but changed his mind and walked to the professor's workshop. The poor creature would need new clothes; these were the only ones she had. "No wonder she is nowhere to be found, she doesn't want anyone to see her in her present state," he thought.

He knocked on the door and waited for the professor to tell him to come in. He opened the door and stepped in, the clothes still in his hand. Scott was reading in one of his manuals. He looked up from it. "What can I do for you, Jacob?" he asked.

"For me, nothing, sir. I am rather thinking about our new guest."

"Venus?"

The butler nodded. "I was cleaning the rooms as I usually do and found these in madam Venus' bathroom," he said, showing the other man the clothes.

Scott blinked, not expecting this at all, then felt an uncontrollable laugh swell inside of him. He tried to fight it for a moment, but it was stronger than him. He was laughing so much that a few tears ran down his cheeks. After a while, he was able to control himself and looked at his butler, still standing there with the clothes in his hands. "You know what? That doesn't surprise me at all," he let out a chuckle. "So, where's our little naked gargoyle now?"

"I don't know, sir. I didn't see her. But I would like to bring something to your attention. She has no other clothes than these. Maybe it's time to do something about it."

"Oh yeah, I really see myself going in a store and order clothes for her… 'Do you have something with holes in the back for a six-foot tall woman?'"

"I'm sure you will come up with a solution, sir. Alterations can always be made."

The other man smiled. "I guess you're right. I'll try to come up with something."

"I'll go wash these now," the old butler said.

"Okay."

Jacob turned around to leave, but looked at the professor as he saw him stand up. "Yes?" he asked.

"Oh nothing. I'm just wondering where she is."

The old man smiled and left. Scott followed him, but headed for the library as soon as he walked out of the workshop. That was where the young gargoyle usually spent her time. He felt a little guilty; business had kept him away from her the last few days and he was not as often with her as he wanted. She had not complained yet, though. He wondered how long she would go without saying anything.

He opened the door to the library and peered inside. The room was silent and dark—no lights were on. The man frowned, seeing that Venus was not there. She could have gone exploring the house further; everything was possible. Apparently the fact that she had nothing to wear did not trouble her since she was not in her room. Maybe she was out. The man walked to the library's window and looked outside. From there, he could see most of the young gargoyle was not there either.

He scratched his beard. The only thing left to do was to go and look around in all the other rooms. Maybe she was at the kitchen. She was quite fond of oranges now and it was not uncommon to see her getting some in the refrigerator several times a day. Scott made a mental note of asking Jacob to go and buy some more soon as he walked out the library. He closed the door behind him and went to the kitchen.

As he passed the living room door, he heard the young gargoyle's voice exclaiming: "No, please, do not do that!"

The man frowned. Who was she talking to? Jacob? He was in the laundry room so it could not be him... She sounded worried, or even afraid of something. Had the Archmage come back to haunt her?

Scott looked inside and saw Venus kneeling in front of the television set. She was holding it, looking at the screen and apparently talking to it. Rather to the people on the screen, as far as he could see.

It was some sort of disaster movie, the kind where people are caught in a giant storm or a major earthquake. Scott was impressed by the special effects they used in those movies. Funny how they could recreate such dangerous situations on a small set... But this time, it seemed to be even more realistic—to Venus anyway since she seemed to think this was actually happening! Scott smiled. He found the whole thing cute in a way. An all-powerful gargoyle, worried and desperate in front of a simple television...

Suddenly, Venus jerked back and exclaimed: "Wait! I will help you! I shall break the window and you can come out and be safe!"

Scott realized in horror that she intended to break the television screen and, as she brought her fist back to hit it, he screamed: "Venus! No!"

She looked at him and stopped her motion. "But there are *people* in there! They are going to die!"

"No they're not, it's only a movie," he said.

"A movie?"

She looked confused. The man could not help but smile again. "People are acting this out. It's not for real," he explained, crouching next to her.

He took a better look at her. She had taken a sheet and draped it around herself, like some sort of dress. It actually looked nice, but it still meant she needed clothes. "It is not? Why are they doing that then?" she asked.

Scott scratched his head. "Hmmm, well, some people want to tell stories and they try to make it as real as possible so all the other people enjoy it."

"Oh."

She made a head movement that meant 'Makes sense'. "We had storytellers as well—bards, we called them—but they only told us about things. They did not use such means as this magic box."

"It's called a television."

"Television," she said slowly, as if she wanted to make sure she did not forget it. "Are there any other things like that I should know about?"

The man laughed softly. "If you ever have any doubts or questions, just ask me. Or even Jacob," he sat down on the carpet, tired of being in a crouched position. "Speaking of which, there is something he brought to my attention."

"What is that?" she asked, still looking now and then at the television screen.

"Jacob found your dress..."

"He did?" she sounded either worried or offended, the man was not sure.

"Yes."

"So no one can wash one's clothes anymore?"

"I didn't say that Venus. I just mean that you don't have any other clothes than these."

She frowned. "We gargoyles have but a few belongings. Everything is everyone's. Even the Clan's children. We do not need much, you know."

"But wouldn't you feel better knowing you have more than one set of clothes? That you can change when you want? I thought women enjoyed that kind of thing."

She looked at him for a moment. "I am a gargoyle," she simply said.

"Yeah, so?"

"I do not think it would be appropriate for me to roam around in public."

He nodded. "I know. That's the problem. I wish there was a way to do this with you there. Unless you really don't want me to find you clothes, that is."

"I do not want to be trouble, that is all," she said, looking down.

"You are not trouble, Venus. I'm happy to do things for you. Now I just have to find a way to do it."

She shrugged. "Simply go to the market and buy fabric. I will use it and sew clothes."

The man waved his hand in front of him as a sign of protestation. "No no, I can buy you clothes. We'll only have to modify them a little so they fit you."

The young gargoyle looked away, but Scott took her chin between his fingers to make her look at him again. Strangely enough, she did not move, she only stared at him, unblinking. "Venus, believe me when I say I enjoy doing that. Besides, now that you're not a statue anymore..." he stopped talking as a crazy idea hit him. "Yes... that could work... I'd have to make a few calls, but I think we could do that tonight. Will you wait for me a couple of minutes? After that, we'll go eat and I'll tell you all about it."

At loss for words, she nodded and watched as he left the room, obviously proud of his idea. "Tonight," she murmured, wondering what he was going to do.

Xanatos scratched his beard and sighed. This sale was not going as he planned. Now they wanted all kinds of extras for the same price. "Give an inch, they'll take a mile," he grumbled, pressing a few keys on his keyboard.

Unnoticed, Owen stepped into the office. He stood there, silent, until his boss looked up. "Owen, why don't you just say it when you're here?" the other man said, startled to see him there.

Owen straightened his glasses with his finger, but did not seem surprised nor upset by his boss' words. "Did you find any more things about her?" the billionaire asked.

The blond man nodded almost unnoticeably. "I have read the Grimorum Arcanorum."

"Again? You must know it by heart by now," Xanatos said with a smile.

"Not quite. There are still a few parts I cannot memorize. But this is irrelevant. I think I have found interesting details about the statue."

"I knew that making a copy of that thing would prove to be useful someday. So, what did you find?"

"There is a legend about a small group of gargoyles that followed the Archmage in hope of reclaiming Castle Wyvern."

"The Archmage tried to poison Prince Malcolm, but failed, right?"

"Yes. He was banned from the castle. Then he tried to take his revenge and he succeeded into takinga dozen or so of younger gargoyles with him. They all met regularly in the Archmage's lair, which was in the general southeast region on Wyvern's territory."

"It's well concealed; we didn't find it."

Owen nodded. "It is also near the area where the statue was found. It is not the Archmage's cave, it's too small, but it could be a connecting one to the actual lair."

"It is interesting, you're right. So this legend has some true bases, right? What else?"

"One particular gargoyle, a female, was not too much in favor of the Archmage's plans, hence she was called 'the Rebel Flower'."

"How appropriate."

"Indeed. She tried to escape, but the Archmage didn't let her. We are not sure of how the story ends. The Grimorum says she either was 'punished' or she simply died. There were no survivors, so it's more likely that the last hypothesis is the right one. But then again, it *is* the Archmage we're talking about. Who knows if he wrote the truth or what he wanted people to think as the truth."

"Clever old man... any details on this punishment of his?"

"He cast a spell on the Rebel Flower, or so the Grimorum says."

"Well, he's a wizard. You can expect that from him. What kind of spell?"

"Nunc In Saxo Dormies / Dum Vox Mea Iubeat / Aut Tuos In Oculos / Plena Luna Fulgeat."

Xanatos raised his eyebrows. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"That was the spell," Owen sighed. "Translated, it would read like this: 'Now sleep in stone until my voice commands or the full moon shines in your eyes'."

Xanatos' eyes opened wide as he heard Owen's words. "Are you sure?"

"That was the spell," the blond man repeated, as monotone as ever.

The billionaire looked on his desk, where he had a small calendar with the Xanacorp logo on it. "But the full moon was some days ago, so it means that if this spell is real, she is already awake! And that damn Mercure is the only person she will be in contact with! I had Clan Wyvern and they escaped my control, I can't lose *her* as well!"

"I would advise thinking about all this before doing anything harsh, sir."

"Owen, I want her! She could even bring Goliath's clan to me!"

Before Owen could reply anything, Xanatos rose from his chair and stormed out of the office. The blond man watched him leave, sighed, shook his head and followed him out the door. That poor Flower did not know what was going to hit her...

Scott Mercure hated driving with a passion. Especially in New York City. But Jacob was gone grocery shopping, so he could not drive him to the American Museum of Natural History. And this could not have waited either. They had almost lost the mummy this time. And it was not even the students' fault. Professor Mercure always tried to help students in archaeology by giving them some of his minor projects. A good way to have grants and, more importantly, more contracts. He had found out with the years that students were usually more careful in fear of doing something wrong. And they had been careful this time too. It was the supervisor who had exposed the mummy to too much air. Stupid guy. As if Scott did not pay him enough for the simple tasks he had to do... well not anymore since he was fired. Scott had made sure of that before leaving.

The man shook his head, still angry even if all was taken care of now. "I'll need a warm bath when I get home," he thought.

He turned at the Triborough bridge exit. The museum's security guard at the parking entrance had been all surprised to see him driving the car himself. It was not even a fancy car—a simple Saturn—but it worked. And a thief would steal more a Mercedes than a Saturn, so why bother with an expensive luxurious car?

Scott felt a little better now that he was back on Wards Island. Home was not far now. He wondered what Venus had been up to while he was gone. He knew she was exploring around. She had been with Jacob in the morning and they had cooked together. She had learned at the same time that even if there is no fire on the stove, it could burn, and she was now proudly wearing a Band-Aid on one of her fingers. She was just like a child, looking at everything, inspecting and asking the way of things. With a little time, she would be fully at ease with the 'modern world', as she called it.

He arrived at the mansion's front gates and punched in his identification code. The gate slowly opened and he drove up to the garage, on the side of the house. He parked next to his limousine—Jacob had taken his own car—and walked back to the front door. He climbed the stairs and unlocked the door before opening it.

He stepped in and, before he knew what was happening, was blinded by a sudden light. "What the hell... ?" he exclaimed, putting a hand to his eyes under his glasses to rub them.

He heard a gentle, happy laugh and looked up. He saw Venus standing there, holding an instant camera. "I found this incredible device! A little spirit inside makes a painting of what you are looking at! He is good, too, it looks exactly like the real thing! Look!"

The young gargoyle walked up to him and handed him some pictures she had taken earlier. There was one of the big chandelier in the main hall, one of the backyard, and one of her foot, among other things. Scott could not remain angry at anything as he saw how excited and impressed she was by the picture developing right before her eyes. The picture itself was not very good, but her reaction was worth millions.

She was wearing some of her brand new, altered clothes, a pair of black knickers and a red shirt. He had to admit that he had had fun going out to get them with her. He had called the manager at Macy's and rented the store for the night. In exchange, along with paying for the merchandise of course, he had agreed to loan some minor artifacts the store used as decoration free of charge for six months.

He had had to make up some story so that they agreed—something about his girlfriend wanting to shop in peace—but amazingly enough, they *had* accepted. Apparently, rich people were allowed to have stupid needs like that.

Putting Venus in that store had been like putting her in some sort of enchanted place. Not at ease in the ladies' department, the professor had remained near the register, trying to pile up as best as he could all the clothes Venus and Jacob were bringing back to the counter. He was not sure of how they knew all this fitted her; they probably took a size that looked a little too big to modify the clothes after. Or maybe they looked at clothes that fitted already, like skirts and took the same sizes with pants. Scott did not really care, as long as she found something she liked. At some point, she had ran back to him, holding a small box in her hand. "What a great idea!" she exclaimed. "They finally understood! And it is just my size, it says so on the box!"

She had shoved the small box right in front of his face; it was showing some woman wearing a lacy white bra on it. And it did say 'Just my Size' on it. Scott had to try and explain that there actually were different sizes and she had to find her own. "Oh," she had replied. "That is even better; everyone can benefit from it then! How can I know it is the right size?"

The poor man had blushed so much he had become almost as purple as she was. "Eh... Oh... Go ask Jacob," he had blurted out.

She had nodded. "Yes, he is a Wise One. I shall go ask him."

She had left, half walking, half running. What scared Scott the most was that Jacob probably knew about these things. And indeed, Venus had come back with a small pile of lacy and satiny undergarments. And a wide smile.

The whole shopping process had lasted a part of the night, and literally exhausted everyone. It had not been until later the following day that Jacob and Venus started working on the clothes. They were not all done yet, but the young gargoyle already had more things to wear. "A person talked in the magic word device while you were not here," Venus commented, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he asked. "You saw it on the answering machine?"

"No, I talked into the device."

Scott opened his eyes wide. "You did?"

She nodded. "I have observed you doing it a few times. It is not complicated."

"Whoever called is gonna wonder what a woman is doing at my place..." the man thought. "What did this person want?" he asked out loud.

"He said to call him back. He said a name and some numbers after. Some magical code, without a doubt. I even took a... a pen to write it."

She smiled, happy to see the man was impressed with her. "I left the message on your desk," she added, before looking at the picture which was fully developed.

She grinned, seeing the surprised expression on the professor's face in the picture, and started to walk away, looking for new things to take pictures of.

The man shook his head, then walked to his workshop. As the gargoyle had said, there was a message on the desk. He picked it up and read it. Venus' handwriting was clumsy, uneven, but he could understand it. She only needed a little more practice, but he knew she was probably above average in her own time. He called his client back and talked with him for a little while about a future contract. Then, he exited his workshop and went to the kitchen. There he found Venus. She was helping Jacob with the groceries. "Madam Venus told me you had to go to the museum?" the butler asked.

Scott rolled his eyes. "That supervisor was a moron."

"Let me guess. You fired him?"

"You know me too well, Jacob," the younger man said, smiling. "If it weren't for one of the students, we would have lost everything."

"You fired something at someone?" Venus exclaimed, alarmed. "What was it, an arrow, a rock?"

"None of these, Venus. It means he doesn't work for me anymore."

"Oh," she frowned. "You modern people have so many strange expressions. Just like 'pizza', what an unusual word," she commented.

"What about pizza?"

"That is what we shall eat tonight," she smiled. "I enjoy trying new things."

"Dinner should be ready in about half an hour," Jacob added.

The professor nodded. "Okay, I'll leave you two to whatever you were doing," he said before leaving the room.

"I'll call when it's ready," the butler said.

Venus took some groceries in a bag and put them in a cupboard. "How come there is no Lady Mercure?" she asked suddenly.

Jacob, now more used to her unexpected questions, continued working as he answered: "The professor is a very solitary man. He basically lives for his work."

"That is surprising. He is a rich man, and for a human, he is not so bad looking..."

"Oh he had girlfriends in the past. A few. None stayed. They probably thought rich persons all had exciting lives."

"From what I understand, he has seen the world... that is something quite interesting. If I were a human, I would most certainly enjoy visiting that many places."

"Madam Venus, I have known the professor for more than ten years. I know that if you ask him to see the world, he will do anything he can to grant your wish."

She stared at him, holding a box of Hamburger Helper in her hands. "Why?" she asked.

The old man smiled knowingly. "You have changed his life."

"Is that good?"

"He is grateful."

The young gargoyle looked thoughtfully at the box she was holding. "I do not see why," she said. "Maybe I shall find him a lady so he is not so lonely anymore. As a thank you for freeing me from the spell."

As she closed the cupboard, she did not hear Jacob murmur: "How close will you have to look, young one?"

Scott had just selected a compact disk to put in the sunroom's player when he heard Venus come in. She was wearing a green dress instead of her black pants and red shirt. "I dropped pizza sauce on myself," she explained, seeing he seemed to wonder what had happened.

"Oh. You look very nice in this too," he answered. "I hope you like music," he then said, more as a question than a statement.

"Oh yes. I do. I do not know this modern musician, but it sounds nice," she said.

What was playing was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Scott approached a polished wooden table and motioned her to sit on one of the chairs. He even pulled the chair out for her, then pushed it back in. "I think I can get to enjoy this treatment. It is much better than at Castle Wyvern," the young gargoyle said as the man sat across her.

Scott looked up when he heard her mention the castle's name. He was going to say something as Jacob entered the room with a tray in his hands. The old butler served them, then left the room. He had all his evenings to himself, so he was probably going to go out somewhere after cleaning the kitchen.

Scott waited until they were alone once more to say: "You mentioned Castle Wyvern..."

"Yes. You know of it? Of course you do. You would have not found me otherwise," she replied before he could answer. "Wyvern was some distance away from the Archmage's lair," Scott nodded, hoping she would say more. "Have you seen it?" she asked.

"Yes," he did not need to specify *where* he had seen it, not now anyway.

"Is it as beautiful as it was... in my time?"

"Looks like a new one."

She smiled, happy to hear that. "Castle Wyvern was the home of my Clan. It would be a shame to see it all destroyed," she paused. "Were there any other gargoyles on it? Stone ones?"

"No," he replied, feeling almost guilty without knowing why. "No gargoyles at all. Sorry."

Venus seemed saddened rather than angered by what he had said. "It has been a thousand years; it is long even for us gargoyles," she conceded.

"How old do gargoyles live?" he asked.

Venus took a slice of pizza in her hands, bit in it and struggled with the cheese for a moment because it would not break. She chewed her bite, swallowed, then talked: "As far as I know, gargoyles rarely go over two hundred years of age, unless they are under some sort of sleep spell, as I was. Gargoyles grow at half the rate of humans because of the way they sleep."

"The way you sleep?"

She nodded. "During the day, gargoyles turn to stone. That way they rest and heal from wounds they could have had during the night. As I said before, we are defenders, so we have to fight now and then."

"So, if someone cuts your arm off, it grows back during the next day?"

"No. The healing process does not go that far. But if a clan member gets cut by a sword, or bitten by a wolf, the following night will find him or her intact."

"Wow... That's incredible... but wait! You don't turn to stone during the day..."

"That is indeed a mystery to me as well. I have stopped turning to stone after you awoke me."

"I wonder why. In my dream, the Archmage told you you'd thank him for something..."

"Yes, I remember hearing it myself."

"Do you think that could be it?"

"I do not know. I did not thank him the first day I woke up; my leg still hurt," she commented, taking another bite. "But this is the past. There is not much I can do about it for now. Maybe I will have the luck and joy to see Castle Wyvern again someday."

"I'm sure you'll see it again, Venus," Scott said."Unless you're blind that is," he then thought to himself.

At the same time, he remembered that Xanatos *did* have stone gargoyles when he first acquired Castle Wyvern, but they were damaged on their way to New York City... Could have they been distant cousins? Siblings? Parents? "Was your clan big?" he asked.

"I do not know what you call big. We were around 50 or 60; that included the Elders, males, females and hatchlings. We also had a few eggs. Those were more precious than gold since females cannot lay often. Once every twenty years."

"That's not a lot."

"No."

"Did you have any eggs?"

She smiled. "Not yet, even if I am 50 years old. I thought I had found the right mate, but it turned out in a bad way, as you know," she shrugged. "My blood brother's mate had just laid her first egg some days before I was put to sleep. I wonder if they had a son or a daughter? It does not really matter, though, every child is everyone's. They are all brothers and sisters."

She was holding back a tear or two, Scott noticed. But at the same time, she seemed to want to talk about it. "But you said 'blood brother'... What was different with him? Was he your favorite?"

"He was my twin brother."

"You mean there was a lavender guy, as big and brawny as you?"

She let out a small laugh. "Oh no. Goliath was much bigger and stronger than I. He was the new clan leader. We were as different as we were alike. We looked a lot alike, but we often acted in an opposite way," she laughed again. "I was the bold, disobedient twin. But you are right. I did like my blood brother a little more than my other rookery siblings. Just do not tell anyone," she added with a mischievous smile.

He watched her as she took another bite out of her pizza. "Do you like it?" he asked, motioning toward the plate.

"Yes. This is very interesting food. And I can eat it with my hands."

"You seem to do well with utensils, though."

"Yes, but I fear I will break them," she explained.

"Don't worry about that. I'll try and get more solid ones."

She shook her head. "Oh no. It is not necessary. I shall manage with those. I know how to use them."

"Whatever you want, Venus."

They ate in silence for a little while. Then the professor spoke again. "You commented this was much better than at the castle. Should I understand in this that you're starting to like it here?"

"Clan Wyvern and the humans of the castle were not always in the best of terms. Princess Katharine feared us, the Magus did not like us a lot. The captain of the guards tolerated us because we were such good guardians."

"You had no human friends?"

"Oh yes. At least I did. Some gargoyles were more solitary. But my friends were not amongst the high-ranked people of the castle. Some of the hunters, some of the healers... I never refused my friendship to anyone who wanted and gargoyles alike. But humans in general feared us; it is one of the reasons why we were so efficient in driving the enemies away from our humans' castle, which was our home as well."

"And the humans didn't thank you in any way?"

"We were not paid in gold, if that is what you are wondering about. We were not even paid in gratitude, or so little. We could stay at the castle, which was a lot already. We also had our share during the hunts. I often was at the head of the hunting party, so I could see that everyone had their share."

"So you were an important gargoyle."

"I was the clan leader's twin sister. I had specific duties and honors."

Scott smiled. "Wow. I couldn't have learned all this even if I wanted to and searched for years. Thank you for sharing it with me, Venus."

"If the humans had understood gargoyles better, it would have prevented a lot of trouble in my time."

"I'm telling you, I'm not sure it changed a lot over the years."

The young gargoyle looked at him, then smiled her mischievous smile. "Yet you claim you want to be my friend... What must I see in that?"

Scott took a menacing look, but Venus could see he was joking. "Are you trying to trap me young lady? Is that what you're trying to do?"

She laughed as he got up and started picking up plates. Jacob was probably gone by then, and it was a habit of Scott to pick up after he ate. He held the plates in front of himself for a moment, paused, and then said, quite seriously: "Maybe it's up to us to change all that, Venus. Maybe that's what you should see. You ever thought of that?"

He left the sunroom with plates in his hands. Venus watched him go, thoughtful. "Why is he so upset? What did I say?" she asked herself as the classical music filled the suddenly silent room.

"You won't believe who is at the front gate, sir," Scott heard in the telephone intercom.

The professor suddenly raised his head as he heard the intercom and hit his head on the Saturn's hood. He grumbled a couple of curses, put the bottle of oil he was holding on the ground, and went near the phone. "Who?" he asked.

"Detective Elisa Maza."

Scott remained silent for so long the butler almost became worried. "Sir? What should I tell her?" he asked.

Scott sighed. "Take her to my office. Let's see what she wants," he said in an annoyed tone, moving away to close the car's hood.

He moved from the garage to the house, walking in the backyard instead of the front of the house. He did not want to see the woman right away. "She better have a good reason," he muttered to himself as he went past the pool.

Venus, who was swimming, watched the man storm past her and frowned. She knew by then that the man was quick-tempered, but it looked more serious this time. She leant on the edge of the pool and lifted herself out of it in a single, graceful movement. The young gargoyle shook water off her body like a young pup, then reached out for a fluffy yellow towel lying by the side of the pool. Wrapping the towel around her waist, she walked toward the house; she was too curious to stay there and not know what was going on.

She was about to open the glass door when she saw Jacob walk in the hallway, followed by a woman she did not know. Venus backed off to where she could not be seen and watched them as they apparently went to the professor's workshop. When she was sure they were both out of seeing and hearing range, the young gargoyle slowly opened the glass door and entered the house. She remained there for a few seconds, silent, to make sure they were not coming back, then headed toward the workshop. Staying around the corner to make sure the strange woman would not see her, she listened as Jacob let the detective in, then left. As soon as Venus saw him walk by, she called him.

The old man started back, surprised. "Madam Venus, you'll give me a heart attack someday!" he said, putting a hand on his heart in an attempt to calm it down. "What can I do for you?"

Venus put her finger to her mouth to tell the old butler to be silent. "Who is this lady you led to the professor's workshop?" she asked in a soft, covered voice.

The butler smiled. "This is called indiscretion, madam."

She bit her lip, a guilty look on her face. "I know, but..."

"But you cannot resist."

"She could be this Lady I was looking for, Jacob!"

The old man started to laugh. "I doubt that, madam. Really. Miss Maza is a detective from the New York police department. That's all I know," he replied before leaving.

"Whatever that means," the gargoyle thought, scratching her head, as she watched him go away.

"You must be wondering what I'm doing here," Elisa said as she entered the room.

The professor was sitting at his desk, looking back at her. "Yes I am. After what happened..."

"I had a good reason not to come here, professor Mercure. I know it was very impolite not to notify you, but by the time I could have done so, it was very late."

"There's this thing called the next day, detective."

"I know, but when Matt got shot...I'm sorry, this is not relevant."

The man shook his head in a way that meant 'that's okay'. "Who was this, a fellow officer?"

"My own partner."

"Oh, I'm sorry," And he really was. "Please, have a seat," he then said.

She sat down on a chair in front of the desk. "But Matt is okay now, so that's why I'm coming back."

"I'm happy to hear that. Why did you come here?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want to hear me out, though."

Scott began showing signs of impatience. "You came all this way already, detective, why not continue 'till the end?" he said in a voice he tried to make calm.

"I told you before I had a friend who knew about that statue of yours..." she looked around. "... which I don't see in here. Did you move it outside the workshop?"

"Not really."

The professor turned around and picked something out of the shelf behind him. Whatever it was he threw to the detective, who almost dropped it on the ground. "What is that?" she asked.

"The statue."

Elisa's eyes opened wide and she looked at the chunk of rock she was holding. "You... you mean..."

"That's what's left of it."

In a way, he was not lying to her. This was one of the remaining pieces. She had not specified if she wanted to see the statue or the pedestal. "But... what happened?" the young detective asked, trying to hide the trouble that was filling her.

"It was a piece of junk, that's what happened!" the man ran his hand through his thick, brown hair. "Let's see how good you can act, Mercure," he thought to himself. "Well, I shouldn't say that. I guess doing these things all the time makes you forget about the routine... I'm quite upset about this cause I liked the statue very much," he then said aloud.

"But what happened? You dropped something on it?"

Scott shook his head. "No. It's even stupider than that. I used acid cleaner on it and didn't cover it enough. This type of cleaner is very fussy; you do one thing wrong and... you're holding the results in your hands."

Elisa looked at the man, then at the piece of stone she was holding. "How am I gonna tell the guys about that?" she wondered, running her fingers on the rough surface.

The rock was of a dull gray color and quite friable. The simple fact of touching the rock was leaving a fine powder on her fingers. "This is not the kind of rock gargoyles are made of," she realized as she examined it further. "And the whole statue was destroyed?" she asked aloud.

"You can see how friable it is. The statue just... eventually collapsed. I still kick myself for not putting a thick enough blanket on it."

Elisa almost felt like crying. The guys had wanted her so much to be one of theirs. Even she had wanted it, especially now that she knew that gargoyle was not a threat to her. She put the piece of rock on the desk as Scott spoke. "I had the time to find out things about it, though. Was that friend of yours interested into acquiring the statue?"

"You could say that."

"Well it wasn't for sale anyway, so he's not the one who lost much," he paused. "I found out that the statue was used as an ornament in a Scottish Castle."

"Inside?"

"I couldn't say. It's possible, seeing how good it was preserved. But as you know, I found it in a cave, so maybe there were some elements that protected it there. We have actually found several of such places, you just have to think about pharaohs and their pyramids to see what I mean."

The young detective nodded. "This is the biggest chunk?"

"One of them."

"Why do you keep pieces of the statue?"

"To remind me I mustn't take anything for granted."

Elisa took the rock back in her hands. This was obviously not a piece of gargoyle. Even if it had remained solid in her hand, it did not even look like it. "Where's the rest of it?" she asked.

"I got rid f it. Rather cleaned the room. It's about the same thing. The rest is outside. It was useless after I got all the information I could on it."

"Can I see what remains of it?"

"I don't see why, but sure," the man said, looking somewhat surprised.

He stood up and motioned to the young detective to follow him. Elisa stood up as well and walked toward the loading door, which the professor opened. She was almost convinced this was not an authentic gargoyle, but she had to make sure. What troubled her the most was that Goliath and Hudson had actually recognized the gargoyle. Then again, from what Elisa knew, this particular gargoyle and some others had disappeared from Castle Wyvern, and no one had an idea on where they had ended. This was so complicated, she thought. Who knew what the Archmage had done to those gargoyles, maybe he had teleported them somewhere far from their homes. Was this statue a simple reminder of Goliath's sister? Someone, who had thought her either beautiful or a symbol of protection, had made a copy of her? Everything was possible, she supposed. But maybe this man in front of her was hiding the truth. That was why she wanted to see the other pieces. Her detective instincts were taking over even in her personal matters.

From the other side of the door, Venus heard the loading door open. She frowned and moved closer as quietly as possible. The young gargoyle had very keen hearing, but even she could not understand what Scott and his guest were talking about now. She slowly turned the door handle and pushed on the panel. Taking the risk of being caught, she peered inside. The room was empty, and the loading door open. She pricked up her ears, still trying to hear the professor and the young woman, but it was no use. "Are you still eavesdropping, Madam?" she suddenly heard from behind her in the hallway.

She whirled around, startled, and looked at the old butler standing there. "Jacob!" she breathed.

"I came to see if the professor and his guest wanted any refreshments. Are they still here?"

"No, they left by the loading door."

Jacob nodded. "I see. I know this is not my business, Madam Venus, but I don't think the professor would appreciate you spying on him like that."

Venus closed the door behind her, looking sheepish. "I could not help it. I am so intrigued by this woman and what she is doing here."She moved closer to the old man and added, as if telling him a secret: "Professor Mercure is lying to her."

She seemed concerned by this last detail, Jacob could see it in her face. "He must have his own reasons, Madam. If he wants to tell you about it, he will eventually. In the meantime, I don't think you should stay here. They may come back at any moment."

Venus nodded, touching her chest in a graceful movement. The old butler started walking away and the young gargoyle followed him. "But why do you think he would do that?" she asked him.

"There can be different reasons, Madam. Usually, the professor doesn't do things without a good reason. But I couldn't tell you precisely, since unlike you I didn't hear what they said."

"I know it was wrong, Jacob. You do not have to remind me over and over," she mumbled.

The old man smiled. He walked to the library, where he was working before going to ask if the professor and his guest needed anything. Noticing that Venus was behind him, he looked at her and said: "Madam, may I let you notice you're leaving water on the floor everywhere you walk."

Venus looked at the wooden floor and gasped. "You are right! A thousand apologies. I shall clean it up as soon as I change."

"It's my job, madam. I'll handle it. But it's a nice idea to go change."

The young gargoyle hurried to her room as Jacob watched her. He could not help smiling again. He knew Scott had lied to protect her; it was about the only reason he could think of. He did not give much more thought to it; he knew the professor was able to handle this matter himself. With a short sigh, he went to get the mop to erase Venus' 'tracks'. Water everywhere would undoubtedly raise some questions; he did not need detective Maza to start another investigation.

It did not really take him long to wipe the mess off. He was back in the library in no time. Venus was also back there. She was wearing dark blue Bermuda shorts and a white shirt. She had adapted to different—human—clothes very well. This time, she heard him come into the room and she turned around. She was holding something in her talons, a picture. "I found this on the floor, Jacob," she said. "Do you know who she is?"

Jacob looked at the picture and his expression changed, as if he was worried about something. "Where did you find this?" he asked.

"On the floor, next to the big armchair."

"Can you give it back to me please?"

"Of course, Jacob. Here you go," she handed the picture to him. "I would still like to know who she is," she added.

The man smiled in a strange way. "This is Gretchen," the young gargoyle smiled, not understanding, and the old man added: "My wife."

"Oh. Where is she then? I never saw her anywhere."

"She's dead."

Venus put her hand in front of her mouth, whispering: "Oh no..."

"She has been for years now, madam. For more than 25 years I might add."

The young gargoyle looked very sorry. "I am certain she was a wonderful woman. She looks so lovely on the picture."

She sat down on a couch, watching Jacob as he took a book on one of the higher shelves to put the picture back in it. "She was very courageous," the man commented.

Venus smiled, seeming to either approve or understand why he said that. "How did the two of you meet?" she asked.

Seeing he was hesitant to answer her, she added: "You do not have to answer this, it was indiscreet of me to ask."

The old man shook his head. "I don't mind," he remained near the bookcase with the book in his hand as he spoke again: "Grete and I met when we were very young. I was nine years old, and she was eight. When you're a child, you don't really ask questions to other kids. My family and hers were not very rich, and most of the time, my siblings, my friends and I would end up playing in the streets. That's how I met her. We were simple kids playing together. Marbles, if I recall the game well."

The man moved around the room as he talked and ended sitting down in an armchair. Venus wondered for a moment what kind of game marbles was, but she did not want to interrupt Jacob's story so she kept silent and listened. "She was very good at this game. And she was also a very pretty little girl," he added with a wink.

"So you knew you loved her at that moment?"

"Oh no. I was too young—we were too young for that. We were friends and that's all there was to it," he leant back into the chair and his expression darkened. "We had known each other for almost a year when the soldiers came."

"Soldiers? What soldiers? Why?"

"There has been wars in your time; it hasn't changed that much in the present time. Two of the more important wars have been named 'World Wars' because it implied many countries around the world," the young gargoyle shook her head, somewhat sorry to hear that, and the old man continued: "The Second World War happened 50 years ago, and it's also the war I'm talking about."

"Is this also the time when you met Gret... Gretchen?"

"We met a little before the war. But then, as I told you, the soldiers came. I don't know much about your... err. kind, Madam Venus, but it was the sort of war you would know well. One man had decided some other—kinds I could say—were not worthy of being here. It was a question of race, color, religion—any reason was good to him."

"Humans are not fast learners when it comes to wars," she commented, looking annoyed. "This was a source of constant conflict between my kind and Wyvern's humans. But I interrupted you. Please continue."

"To make a long story short, Grete and I were captured, along with many others. We were kept as prisoners in camps."

"You were hostages then?"

"You can say that. But the evil man's purpose was rather to get rid of us."

The young gargoyle lowered her head, feeling like crying. "And they say Middle Age was barbaric," she said softly.

"We were prisoners for four years. We did not see each other very often at that time, for they had separated men from women. But when the remaining prisoners were freed, I found her and we decided to stick together for a while. We worked hard to earn a living and managed to survive and then have a somewhat good life together. And we both grew up. Grete became a lovely young woman, and I, well, I had more hair on my head than I do now," Venus smiled."When Gretchen turned eighteen, I asked her to marry me. We had been through a lot together, and I knew she was the one I wanted to share the rest of my life with."

"This is a story of courage indeed. Even better since it has a good ending."

"It had. We lived in a town called Rosenheim, and stayed there the whole 20 years we were married."

Venus frowned. "That is when she died?" she asked in a soft voice.

The old man nodded. "Yes."

"Surely you had a lot of support from your children," she commented.

"We had no children. That stay in the camp probably affected us more than we thought. We were not able to have any. And we did try. The only child we had did not survive," Venus felt tears swell up inside of her. "And it's also what killed her. She was too weak, too old."

The old man stopped talking, obviously moved by what he was saying. Venus stood up from the couch and went to kneel down on the floor, next to him. She took his hand in her talons in a comforting gesture, but could not hold back her tears as she said: "It is a tragic way to go, but she was happy to finally carry this babe."

"Yes, I know. She died happy. She thought the kid was all right, and she said she needed some rest... only some rest... the midwife and I knew it was too late already, so we didn't say anything."

"It was the right thing to do, Jacob."

The butler nodded and they remained silent for a while. Then, he continued: "I was never able to find someone else. She was one of a kind. So I concentrated on work, that's what I could do best. If there's something Grete taught me, it's to always go ahead, and be happy with what you have, not what you will never get."

"A wise woman she was."

"Yes. Much older and wiser than her real age. So I worked a little everywhere, doing my best to keep busy. Then, about 10 years ago, I was employed by a team of archaeologists who were digging up holes in southern Germany. I could barely speak English, but I was a good worker and I knew my way around. Most of the older archaeologists did not pay much attention to me, but one of the younger ones, still following his apprenticeship, did. He talked to me a lot, trying to know more about the area, even about me. This curious mind of his has gotten him in trouble sometimes, but mostly, it made him a famous researcher today."

"Professor Mercure?"

"Exactly. At some point during his stay, he went on an expedition by himself; I was the only one with him to show him the way," the old man let out a short laugh. "He almost left his legs down that damned hole, but he came back all right, with enough artifacts to get him rich right away."

"What happened?"

"We were inspecting one of the many caves we were searching in. He went a little farther to investigate and discovered the second cave... by falling into it. He's lucky he didn't break his legs, but he was even luckier he found all those ancient helmets and armor and other assorted trinkets. We have had a hard time bringing them back to the main encampment."

"Oh. So he became famous right away? And because of you?"

"He got scolded, that's what happened. Then he was famous."

"That sounds like him indeed," Venus commented with a smile.

"Once all those details were set, and the artifacts safely back to the laboratories, the professor came back to me. He thanked me for the help, then did something I didn't really expect."

"What was that?"

"He asked me to come back to the United States with him, as his employee. With the money those artifacts generated, he could ensure his own future, and mine as well."

"And obviously you accepted."

"I asked to think about it first. Then I remembered my dear wife. She would have wanted me to go. So I took the offer and I have been living here ever since."

The old man looked at Venus. "You know, Madam Venus, and I think you noticed it yourself, that Professor Mercure doesn't ask many questions when he meets someone, in the way that he accepts anyone—unless they harm him in some way that is. It's one of the things that made me like him right away. We could barely understand each other at first since I spoke very little English. But that didn't stop him."

"It did not stop you either, as I can see. Hence, you were an efficient team from the very beginning."

"But what I'm trying to make you understand is that you have nothing to fear from him. As he did for me, he will stand by your side without asking anything from you."

"I am the protector for this house now. If anyone in it needs my help, I will give it."

"I'm sure he appreciates that, Madam. It also makes you understand my point."

She smiled. "Oh I see. We are back at the workshop's door, are we not?"

"How perspicacious, Madam. But I didn't tell you about Grete because of this."

"I know," she simply replied. "I am honored that you shared these memories with me. It is a good thing I found the picture, otherwise it might have been lost forever under a couch or something else. But it seems like you still want to scold me for eavesdropping. So be it, I shall listen," she added with a somewhat mischievous smile.

"I just want you to be careful, Madam. The professor is trying to protect you. As it was in your time, there are people who would not appreciate your presence in this city. Ignorance is often the deadliest weapon you can find. I'm just asking you not to judge him that quickly when he's lying to people. It could save your life."

"Are you not exaggerating a bit there?"

"Am I?"

They stared at each other in silence for a while. Then, the young gargoyle squeezed Jacob's hand in a friendly gesture. "I understand what you are saying."

"He's not a bad man, just give him a chance and a little of your trust. Remember that he welcomed you in his house without asking questions. He won't let you down. As for Miss Maza, I don't think she's the right choice for him."

"No?"

He shook his head. "No. You have to find someone more special than that."

"Right," she frowned. "Who?"

Jacob smiled. "That would be taking the fun out of the quest, Madam."

Venus laughed softly. "Jacob, you are getting to be as bad as I am," she suddenly perked her head up, apparently hearing something. "The woman is leaving," she said.

She stood up and exited the library to go into the room across the hallway. She stayed there for a moment, and came back to where Jacob was. "I think I shall go and be nosy," she declared, smiling to the old man.

"Someday it will get you in trouble Mädchen," Jacob warned her.

"Or maybe save your life," she gently argued.

She quickly bent down and kissed him on his balding head before leaving the room, in search for the professor. The old butler opened the book once more and looked at the picture of his wife in it. "Knowing you, Gretchen, I'd say you fell on the floor on purpose. You too see what's going to happen. And by God you want it to happen!" he put the picture near his heart and held it there for a little while. "My only wish is that they are as happy as we were,"

Elisa stared up at the clock tower. She was trying to postpone the moment she would have to go up there as much as she could. She did not have good news for the guys. The gargoyle statue was a fake. She had seen the pile of rocks in professor Mercure's backyard. None of those were parts of an authentic gargoyle. She had even seen a piece or two on which it was possible to recognize parts of the statue. A talon here, an ear there... They were all made of the same friable substance. She had asked the professor if she could keep one of the pieces and he had agreed. If he had had a secret to hide from her, he would have tried to convince her otherwise. Such was not the case; she had even managed to pick a piece of rock she was almost certain had been part of the statue's face. It looked a lot like a cheek and a part of nose. "Well, it's not my fault," she thought. "It was in a crappy news show anyway. I wonder if Xanatos even looked Mercure's way because of that fake statue?"

She exited her car and looked up toward the tower once more. Too bad Matt was still away from work, she would have sent him to talk to them about all this. "Oh well, I guess the more I wait the worse it'll be," she said to herself, shrugging.

She entered the police station and went to her office to see if she had any messages. There was one from Matt telling her he needed her to stop by later, and another one from Bellevue. Those were probably the test results for that guy they had caught. She put Matt's message in her coat pocket and opened the report envelope. She read a few lines, then decided her partner would be the one working on it. He would have plenty of time for paperwork in the next few weeks. She took the report envelope and put it on Matt's desk before leaving the office and walked for a moment towards the restroom, not to make anyone suspicious, then went to the stairways, to the tower.

She opened the trapdoor slowly, hoping no one would be there so she could prepare something to say, but luck was not with her; Bronx saw her right away and barked a sharp, loud welcome bark. Brooklyn, not too far away, greeted her with a cheerful "Hi Elisa!"

"Hello. Where's everyone?" she asked after a short hesitant pause.

"Goliath and Broadway are gone checking out on Staten Island's side. Hudson and Lex are down Harlem. Me and Bronx, well, we're the watchdogs."

"Sounds exciting," Elisa commented.

The red gargoyle eyed her with an annoyed look on his face. "What brings you up here?" he asked.

Elisa went to sit down into Hudson's recliner. "Not so good news."

"About Goliath's sister, I'll bet."

"Bingo. You remember her from when she was still with the clan?"

"A little. The three of us weren't very old. She was okay I guess. She was always wandering around, more or less far away. And one night, she didn't come back, neither did some of the others that were with her. No one knows where they went."

The young detective nodded. "Hence, anything may have happened at that time," she thought.

"Maybe some humans attacked them. Everything is possible I guess. She looked real nice for a gargoyle, and sometimes..." he hesitated, as if he thought he had said something bad. "Things happened."

"Oh. I didn't know that. I thought gargoyles were stronger than humans."

"Not against several at the same time. Anyway, what's that thing you have to tell them?"

"Wouldn't you prefer to wait for the others?"

"Not really, but I guess I'll have to," he replied with half a smile.

She smiled back at him, then made herself more comfortable in the recliner. Brooklyn turned the television on and started playing some sort of video game. Matt had gotten them this one, because she did not remember buying it. She opened her eyes and watched him play for a while, then her mind began to wander. "I'll have to stay away from Goliath or he'll tear my arms off!" she thought.

"I kinda thought she wasn't for real. The statue I mean," the gargoyle suddenly said.

"Wh-what?"

"You think too loud," he commented with a smile. "But it was too good to be true. At least we know no stupid or dangerous people awoke her. Between Xanatos' hands, she could have been dangerous."

"You don't seem too sad about it."

"Oh I am. Believe me. But I said to myself from the beginning that I would only believe it when I saw her in the flesh. Besides, it's the kind of news show Hudson watches. I mean there's some to take and some to leave out. As I said, she wasn't alone when she disappeared. They would have found others, not just her."

The young detective nodded. "True enough."

"And remember, whatever happened is not your fault, so you shouldn't fear Goliath like that."

"Wasn't during in Medieval times that they beheaded bearers of bad news?"

"I think I'll block you the access to the library," the gargoyle commented with a smile.

Elisa pulled her tongue at him and they both turned around as they heard noises coming from the outside part of the tower. "It's showtime, Elisa," Brooklyn said, rising up from his place in front of the television set.

She sighed and got up herself to meet her friends. The two younger ones entered the living quarters first, seemingly arguing about some movie they had both seen, then Goliath and Hudson followed, happy the patrol was uneventful. As soon as he saw the young detective, the gargoyle leader smiled and welcomed her to their home. Elisa smiled uneasily and muttered: "Yeah, wait until I talked to say that."

Hudson noticed her state of mind. "Is there something wrong, lass?" he asked, climbing down the stairs in a slow, calm way.

She shrugged and walked to the two gargoyles. "Just that," she commented, handing the piece of rock to the old gargoyle.

Hudson took it, making some of the substance powder into his hand, and looked at it. "It looks like... "

"Yep. The statue. Or should I say the fake."

Goliath's eyes grew wider and he exclaimed: "What!"

"It's, as I said, a fake."

Elisa walked up to the clock face, then went outside. She remained there for a moment, then came back in with something in her hand. "This is gargoyle stone, the one you lose when you awake every night," she explained, handing a second piece of rock to Hudson. "What I gave you at first was what I took from Mercure's place. As you can see, the two are completely different. So, unless you tell me that female gargoyle rock is different from male gargoyle rock, I think we have ourselves a fake."

Goliath was looking at her, his mouth open. That was all he could do, apparently. Lexington hopped closer and, looking at the stones, exclaimed: "But she looked so much like..."

Hudson, obviously surprised as well, yet more in control of his emotions, shook his hand in front of him, as to silence Lex and erase what Elisa had just said. "Lass, why don't you start from the beginning?" he asked.

She nodded. "I went to the professor's house this afternoon. I'm telling you, soon enough the guy will think I'm after him or something, I'm always there. Anyway, I went there to set up an appointment so that Goliath could see the statue. We talked a little, then I noticed the statue wasn't there anymore. I asked him what happened, and he became upset. He threw a piece of stone at me, one like I gave you, and told me about it. Apparently, he used some sort of cleaner on it, and it was exposed to too much light, I think. And it crumbled to pieces. He only had a few in his office, the rest was outside. I asked to see it, and he agreed."

"All the pieces were like that?"

"Yes. I tried to find something different, something like 'your' stone, but I wasn't able to. According to what he found out, the statue was used as an ornament in a castle."

"In?"

"He's not sure. He said it's possible, considering how good it had been preserved. He seemed quite angry with himself for doing that. I had the opportunity to watch him. He was not lying to me. He would not have damaged the statue willingly. And if there had been a live gargoyle in the house, well, it would have been a statue at that time, and most probably outside the house. I didn't see any. So, I came to the conclusion that this was a simple statue, nothing else. Brooklyn told me that she had disappeared some time before you were put under the spell. Maybe someone saw her, or she found another castle and was renown for her good services. They wanted to keep a souvenir. Or even the Archmage. He could have put her under an irreversible spell, unlike the one you were all under," she shook her head as to chase the idea away.

Hudson made a little of the friable rock turn to powder between his fingers and murmured: "This is definitely not a part of one of the Clan. Even when one of ours died it did not look like that."

Goliath sighed heavily and walked away slowly. All the others looked at him as he apparently went to the library. The young detective felt like crying. This was not fair for them. She leant her head on the old warrior's shoulder and whispered: "I'm so sorry, Hudson."

He patted her softly on her shoulder, and Brooklyn hugged her briefly. "It's not your fault, lass. You went to see the man more often then you had to, to make sure we knew what this was all really aboot. Now we know. 'Tis bad news indeed, yet there is nothing much we can do aboot it."

They all heard a loud cracking noise coming from the library. Broadway winced. "There goes another reading ladder," he commented.

"He's really upset," Lexington added.

"Don't remind me," Elisa sighed.

She started walking towards the library herself, wondering if she should wait a little longer before doing so. She had to do it anyway; none of the other gargoyles would dare approach him when he was in that state.

"What are you reading?"

Scott looked up from his book and tilted his head in the direction the soft whispering voice had come from. Venus was looking over his shoulder, one of her hands on the back of the couch. "It's a novel," he said.

"Oh," she moved away from the couch to walk around it. "And what is it about?"

With a mischievous smile, she took the man's glasses away from his face in a quick gesture. He protested a bit, but did not get up to retrieve them. "Venus..." he started, not feeling like playing with her.

The day had not been good. He had lost a client and now that he was finally trying to relax with a good book, she was running away with his glasses when he was getting to an interesting part. "It's about Egyptian tombs and people looking for them. Now give me my glasses back. Please," he replied in a voice he wanted calm, but was not really.

The young gargoyle put the glasses in front of her eyes and crossed her eyes for a moment. "How can you see with these?" she asked in a joyous tone.

"They're set for my eyes," he put his hand out for her to give them back.

Venus pulled her tongue out at him, annoyed, and walked to the couch. She put the glasses in the man's hand, and sat down next to him. She had just taken a bath, and her hair was still pulled up on her head with pins. She also had kept her habit of 'wearing' a sheet after taking a bath and it was draped elegantly around her like a gown. She was close enough for him to smell the lotion she used; it was discreet and soft, and it was almost surprising to see such a strong woman wearing it. But he could not say it did not go well with her. He thought she was becoming more beautiful each and every day.

And it annoyed him, particularly tonight. She was sitting there, smelling good, looking great, unaware of the effect she had on him. It had taken a little time for himself to realize he was slowly beginning to be interested in her. He had started to see 'Venus', not 'the gargoyle', and she was a wonderful, interesting (and surprising) person. Now, after weeks of being with her, he was not denying it to himself anymore. He loved her. Sweet, innocent Venus. It was stupid and impossible, but those were the facts. Oh sure, he was careful not to let it show. She would have pushed him away, or laughed at him, or even worse, left. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen. "Are you still trying to see if they write false things about Egyptians?" she asked, still smiling.

"Usually, this author's research is quite thorough," he replied before opening the book again and starting to read.

The young gargoyle looked away from him, stifling a sigh. He surely was in a good mood tonight... She straightened a fold on her improvised dress, then asked: "Was that client so important to you that you still look this gloomy on such a fine evening?"

She heard the book close and looked back at him. Their eyes met. "How do you know about the client?" his tone of voice was almost impatient.

"I read minds," his eyes opened wide as she smiled again. "It was a joke. I have heard you yell at him on the telephone."

"Are you eavesdropping on me?"

She looked offended. "Of course not!" she added to herself that she had stopped doing that a long time ago, just after Elisa Maza had come over. "When people yell, it is not difficult to hear."

"He was one of my main clients," he grumbled.

"You sound as if it is the end of the world. It should not be so hard to find some other clients. You are a successful businessman. You can do it I am sure."

"Everything is so easy for you. I have to deal with the real thing. It's not done just by clicking my fingers," he commented.

This time, she really looked insulted. "Well, excuse me for trying to be cheerful," she stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves. "Why, for a moment I thought you considered me like some sort of simple-minded creature who does not understand anything."

The man rolled his eyes, becoming even more impatient. "Venus..."

"Yes?"

"If you came here to lecture me about the client..."

"I did not."

"Well it sounds like it. And I don't appreciate it. Do you realize how many contracts I'll lose because of that?"

"You could live off what you already have without any problem. If he is not happy, then let him go see elsewhere."

"You just can't understand the passion and commitment archaeology deserves."

She raised the heavy bone ridges that were where her eyebrows should have been. "I can see my presence is not appreciated here. Truly, how can I compete with this old rat you call a client and your brilliant intelligence that know how to appreciate what you are doing? Once again, I apologize for trying to be a source of comfort to you. I shall leave you to your thoughts and moping; surely you will see then that you are behaving like a child and that there is no reason for you to do so. I shall see you again when you are in better dispositions toward me."

She instinctively took one side of her 'dress' and lifted it up to walk away. It looked more distinguished and she would not trip on the side of the sheet as she had done before (luckily, no one had been there to see her that time). She left the room without a word, ignoring Scott who was calling her back. She was not even angry with him. She was getting used to his little mood swings. He usually became like that when he had nothing to do, and this customer would have been a chance to go out and do something different. Unfortunately, that chance had just blown up on his pretty little human nose and he did not appreciate it.

She climbed up the stairs and went to her room. Let him cool down a little and then he would be more pleasant to talk to. She was certain he would appear on her doorstep in less than five minutes anyway.

Scott called her a couple of times more, but, seeing she was not coming back, he stopped. He had offended her and did not want to. She was just trying to be friendly. He looked at the book he was reading; it did not look interesting anymore. He needed change to his routine. Not that Venus had not been 'a change'. She had changed his whole life. But the traveling bug was after him once more. "I guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands and not count on contracts," he told himself.

An idea was starting to form in his mind. He could go out and show Venus around. He did not have to specify around what, he thought with a smile. Maybe Egypt, or India, or Japan... or Scotland. That could be interesting. He began smiling again, enthusiastic about his new project. All he had to do is to go and see what she thought of it. Then he would have to have the plane prepared and perhaps bring Jacob along... yes, this was a great idea! Why had he not thought about it before? It could even have avoided that argument with Jeremy Warrens... He shook his head; what was done was done and this client was out and gone. "Hey, I won't get myself down again!" he scolded himself.

Now he had to find Venus to ask her what she thought of his idea. He mentally told himself to be prepared for hundred of thousands of questions, namely some about how she would remain anonymous and still visit, and others like that. She was good at finding the one detail everyone had missed. "I'll see what happens," he said to himself and walked to the door.

As he put his foot on the first step in the stairs, he suddenly wondered, perplex, how she knew that Jeremy Warrens actually looked like a rat without ever seeing him.

Venus tied her hair with a ribbon so it would not get in her face during the night. She did not trust those new devices called elastic bands. They looked dangerous. She had traded her sheet for a nightgown. It looked more or less like a jumper, except it was made in a lighter, softer material. The straps made it easy to put on, and with wings as big as she had, she appreciated anything that made life easier.

She walked to her favorite window in the room, the kind of window with a big ledge you could sit on. She had put pillows on it and turned it into a comfortable couch. She sat down on the ledge and peered outside. It was dark now, but with the lights on the house, you could still see part of the backyard and the side of the house. And if you strained a little and leant a lot near the window, you could see some of the city's lights. The young gargoyle sighed softly. In a way she would have wanted the professor to go on some trip, whether it was for that man or some other one. He was becoming restless and, she had to admit it, getting on her nerves by being like that. And most of all, it would have allowed her to do something she had never allowed herself ever since she had been awakened: get off Wards Island. She wanted to see around, take a closer look at the city. All those magic fires, all this noise; it was intriguing to her. She knew he did not want her to go out as far, he feared she would be discovered, or in some kind of trouble, and so far, she had been quite obedient, staying on the property in whatever she was doing. But the city was calling to her and she could not do much the way it was now. Somehow she knew he would find out if he were there. Jacob would not tell him if he knew, but Scott would find out she had been missing for a long time. Him leaving would allow her to be freer in her movements. Not that she did not appreciate what he was doing for her; he was a gentleman in any way he could. And more understanding than any other humans she knew, along with Jacob. It was the reason she was not disobeying right under his nose. He was nice to her and she respected him. And it would disappoint him if he learned she had left the property. But him being away would change everything. He could not know at all. She could even make it so that Jacob did not know either. She put her cheek against the cold glass and looked at the city lights. "Someday I shall see them up close," she sighed.

Her eye caught something closer to her in the backyard. It was the old butler. He was taking the rubbish out on Tuesdays, she remembered. Although she had insisted in helping him do some of the chores, among them taking care of the rubbish, the old butler had refused. She was the 'Madam' of the house. 'Madams' did not take the trash out. She had replied she was not just any 'Madam', but had let him do as he pleased. She opened her window, pushing it toward the outside of the house to see him better. He was walking calmly, two green bags in his hands, when one of them broke open, spilling rubbish on the ground. Venus could not help but laugh a little, even if she knew he did not find it funny at all. She heard him let out some words in German. She did not know the language, but presumed she was better off not knowing what the words meant. "Might as well go and help him," she thought.

She stood up on the ledge and jumped off the window, her wings slowing her down as she landed near the house. She was about to call the old man so he would know she was there and not be scared when she heard something else. The sound was coming from where Jacob was heading, the side of the electric fence he was opening to take the rubbish out. Jacob had not noticed it, as busy as he was cleaning up his mess, and maybe because the sounds were not audible to human ears. The young gargoyle walked silently towards the man, trying to figure out if the noise was intensifying or not. It could be a raccoon; the little critters were numerous in the woods. But it was a big one then because it was noisier than usual. Then she smelled it. It was not a raccoon. It was a human. A human she did not know. And, most of all, a human she did not *like*. She continued her progression toward Jacob, as silent as ever, ready for action.

Scott hesitated once in front of Venus' door. He was not sure of what to tell her. He tried to make some sentence up, to gather his ideas, but knew at the same time all his good intentions would disappear as soon as she saw her. She was so... so... He hoped more than once that she acted as spontaneously with him than as with Jacob. He could see how natural and happy she was with him. He could also see she was much more at ease now than weeks ago, when she had just transformed, but there was still something... missing.

He tried to chase the thoughts from his mind and lifted his arm to knock on the door. Before he touched the wood with his knuckle, he heard a terrifying sound he had never heard before: Venus' battle cry. It made the hairs on his arms raise and he remained there for a few seconds, petrified. Then, without hesitating, he opened the door and bolted inside the room. He saw the open window and ran to it. Kneeling on the ledge and leaning on the side of the window, he looked outside. What he saw made him yell her name in a mix of panic and surprise. From what he could see, she was on top of someone, and Jacob was near her, telling her to stop. "God no... Venus!" he exclaimed, not believing what he was seeing.

He ran out of the room and headed for the stairway, then dashed outside the house. Running as fast as he could, he arrived on the side of the house as Jacob stopped the gargoyle from hitting whoever was lying on the ground under her. "What in the name...?" he yelped, not too sure of what to do.

The man on the ground (he could see it was a man now) was absolutely terrified. The young gargoyle was growling at him; her eyes had that red glow he had seen before when she had awaken. Jacob looked up at the professor and said: "This man tried to attack me, when Madam Venus, coming out of nowhere, pounced him."

"But who... why..."

The 'prisoner' was all dressed in black, most likely so he could be unseen in the dark. He was also wearing a ski mask, obviously for the same reason. Venus made the man stand up (helping him by pulling on his shirt). "You have heard him, you lout! Answer!" she growled.

She reached out to pull the ski mask off, but the man began screaming like a madman, waving his arms about. "Be still, you!" she said, annoyed, and took the mask off.

The man shrieked and grew suddenly limp. The young gargoyle shook her head, thinking humans were very frail creatures, but looked suddenly up as she heard both Jacob and Scott utter: "Kurt Brainert!"

She looked at the old butler, then at the younger man. Scott sighed and said: "I'll go call the police," before leaving towards the house.

The old man gently touched Venus' arm and made her put her prisoner on the ground. "You know this person?" she asked, not too certain on how to react anymore.

The old butler nodded. He reached down to check on the man's pulse, to make sure he was simply unconscious. "I didn't think he would go that far..." he mumbled. "Do you remember when I told you about my late wife, Madam?"

"Yes, of course. A wonderful tale of love it was."

"As I told you, she was a very beautiful woman, and I have to say even if she was with me as a girlfriend, and then a wife, she was courted by other men."

"A rejected wooer then?"

"You can say that. He was quite annoying to my wife and I had to take care of him more than once."

"How come you did not call upon the police for help?"

"It was the end of the war, and Jewish people were still afraid to come out and make waves. I knew I could take care of him. Once I married Grete, he became worse than ever. He thought I had stolen her from him and started hassling us even more. And eventually, we did call the police, but he did not spend a whole lot of time behind bars. A few years. Then we lost track of him. He reappeared a few times, and then again when Grete died. He accused me of killing her..." he moved his hand in front of him, as to erase the memory. "I didn't think he would follow me all the way to America."

The professor came back to where they were standing and pulled out his whip. "You think we have to tie him up, Jacob?" he asked.

"This is not a western, sir. I don't think he'll go very far," the older man replied with half a smile.

Scott looked somewhat disappointed. "I called the police. They should be here soon," he then looked at the young gargoyle. "Venus..." he began.

"I know, I have to disappear," she commented, sighing softly. "I always miss the interesting part," she complained before slowly walking away.

"I'll give you a full report!" the man told her, watching her leave. "You told her who he was?" he then asked Jacob.

"Yes."

"What a putz. He really should be in an asylum," the old man shrugged in a 'what can we do about it?' way. "Did he hurt you?" the professor asked.

"No. He did not have the time to. Madam Venus was on him even before he or I could do anything. Did you hear that cry of hers?"

"Don't remind me. That was terrifying!"

"You were not next to her. I'm surprised he didn't die right there."

"No kidding."

Scott looked towards the house and saw that Venus had climbed on the roof. He could see her because he was specifically looking for her, but otherwise, she was not very visible. "She's something else," he thought, smiling.

Jacob looked at his employer and had to force a somewhat victorious smile off his face. He waited a few moments, then said: "I will go open the gates for the police, sir."

"You do that. I'm all set here."

The butler left for the front door, where the interrupter for the gate was, taking big steps so he would go faster. Soon enough, Scott saw the police car's headlights reflect on the house's wall, then the actual car stopping in front of the stairway to the house. Jacob came out of the house and walked to it. By then, Scott had recognized detective Maza's old red car. She came out of the driver's side, and a man stepped out from the passenger was taller than Jacob and had a slight limp in his gait as the three approached him. This probably was Elisa Maza's partner who had been shot, Scott thought. "Good evening," he simply said.

"They're gonna start thinking something's going on between the two of us, Professor. This is Matt," Elisa said with a slight smile, motioning towards the young man standing next to her.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," the professor said, shaking Matt's hand.

The detective smiled. "Thanks. So what happened here? You told the dispatcher you caught Kurt Brainert?"

"That's a way to put it. We didn't do anything, really. Jacob here was the one outside."

The butler looked at his employer with a 'Oh thank you' look on his face and began: "Yes. I was taking out the trash, and since I usually have more than one bag to take out, I go and unlock the gate, leaving it closed though," he added. "I supposed that's how he got in."

The red-haired man nodded, jotting down a few notes on his pad. "I suppose you'll be more careful from now on," he commented with half a smile as he saw the older man nod.

At the same moment, Brainert came about and opened his eyes. "NO! Please!" he yelped, making everyone start back. "The demons are after me again!"

"Demons?" Elisa asked, frowning.

"This guy is nuts," Scott commented.

Matt smiled at him, then said: "Elisa, why don't you take him in the car? I'll ask a few questions to mister, err. What's your name, sir?"

"Jacob Forelle"

The detective nodded and continued asking him questions as the young woman escorted the prisoner to the car. The man was still babbling about demons and it made her look up at the manor in a reflex gesture. As sure as there was a moon in the sky, she was able to make out a silhouette on the roof. He was well hidden, but she was specifically looking for him, so she could make him out. From what she could see, it was Brooklyn; the gargoyle on the roof had a smaller and slender build than Goliath and long hair. "As always, my guardian angels, you're there. What would I do without you?" she thought with half a smile.

Venus moved back slightly when she saw the woman looking in her direction. This man talking about demons would make it obvious that she was there! Trying to remain as motionless as possible, she continued looking on. Venus frowned as the detective smiled: she was smiling *at* her, there was no doubt about it! She nevertheless remained there, without moving, telling herself she should mention it to the professor when she would eventually get down from the roof.

Oblivious to the humans and the gargoyle, a small insect was innocently flying about. Its eyes were recording everything it saw: the yard, the detectives... as it zipped by the manor's chimney, it moved toward the skylights... and glanced off one of them. Swaying, it flew away from it and gained some altitude. "Dammit, Owen can't you make that thing fly straight?" Xanatos protested, feeling somewhat sick looking at the television screen.

"I am doing my best, sir," came the monotonous reply.

The blonde man directed the electronic insect and made it land on the ledge of the manor's roof. He then made it look around, recording yet more data. When it had almost completed itsrotation, the electronic eyes fell upon Venus' leg, a few feet away. "Owen!" the billionaire exclaimed.

"I know, sir," the other man commented, controlling the insect so it would put the gargoyle in a better view.

"What's Goliath doing there?" Xanatos wondered.

"I would not know, sir. It is not rare to see him around detective Maza," Owen replied.

"Yeah, but this just seems like a normal break-in case."

"You will remember, sir, that they caught this man some time ago because he had robbed several museums and injured detective Matt Bluestone."

"Again? This guy always gets beaten up. But this isn't important," he looked back at the screen, sighing. "What are you doing? I thought you were gonna give us a better view?"

"I am trying to, sir."

The image on the screen cleared up a little and it was now possible to see the whole gargoyle. Owen fiddled with a few buttons and the image became crystal clear. Xanatos' eyes opened wide. "What the hell is that, Owen?" he exclaimed.

The blonde man did not react, at least not apparently. He remained silent for a few seconds and calmly said: "My best guest would be that this is the Rebel Flower."

"What! You mean we actually found her?"

"It would appear so."

The billionaire's face brightened up with a smile of glee. "She finally came out from where she was hiding!"

He moved from his desk to the screen in order to have a better view. "What did you tell me before, Owen, she's related to Goliath? What is she, her cousin?"

"You know as I do sir that every gargoyles of the same age are considered siblings. But she is Goliath's actual blood sister."

"She doesn't look as old as he is."

"Goliath was put under a spell after she was. He lived while she was turned to stone."

"True. But... look at her, Owen! She's gorgeous!"

The blonde man only pressed a few buttons on the remote control, remaining silent. The image on the screen shifted to Venus' face. "How was Mercure able to hide her from us that long?" Xanatos asked.

"It is hard to say, but I would think he did not want her to wander off the property. So even if we sent 'eyes' there several evenings, we did not see her."

"He probably hid the statue during the day, too. Clever man..." Xanatos looked at his aid. "What do you suggest we do next, Owen?"

"We know she is alive and well. I suggest being careful and taking our time," As he saw his last remark did not please his employer, he added: "We don't want Professor Mercure or the Rebel Flower to know what is happening."

The billionaire nodded silently. Owen, as always, made a lot of sense. "I take it you have ideas already?"

"I might."

"Good. I want a full report on my desk tomorrow morning," Xanatos said before leaving the room, looking at Venus one last time.

The blonde man watched his employer leave and looked down, letting out a little sigh (the closest reaction he had to expressing an emotion in a long time). "Not exactly the kind of family reunion I was thinking about, but we'll have to make do," he said aloud, glancing at the screen.

Venus made sure the detectives were far away before getting off the manor's roof. She stood up, spread her wings and as she jumped off the ledge of the roof to land where Scott and Jacob were waiting for her. "I suppose you heard everything?" the younger man asked.

It was more a statement than a question, and the gargoyle nodded. "Aye. The two of you shall go to the police station tomorrow to make a dep... dep..."

"Deposition."

"Correct. Do you think they will keep this madman away now?" she asked.

"I think they'll do their best. Detective Bluestone didn't seem all too happy to run after him again," Jacob commented.

"He's dangerously obsessed with you, Jacob. I think we'll sue him this time. This has lasted long enough."

"Will they allow it? It's obvious he doesn't have all his head."

The younger man shrugged. Jacob took the garbage bag he had taken in the house as he had opened the gate and proceeded into putting the torn bag in it. Scott helped him out, and then the old man said he would take the bags to the curb. He left, one bag in each hand, praying for them not to tear again. Venus and Scott watched him go, then the man looked at the young gargoyle. She was smiling broadly; he returned her smile before asking: "What are we smiling about?"

"I am happy no one was hurt tonight."

"True. Looks like you were there just in time."

Her smile widened, and before he could do anything, she hopped forward and hugged him, putting her arms around his neck. Scott waved his arms in a reflex gesture, so as not to fall back, but steadied himself and hugged her back, feeling her warm body against his. "What are we hugging about?" he asked, almost in a whisper.

"It is sad to say this in a way, but the main purpose of a gargoyle is to protect his or her home. And at last, I had the opportunity since you undid the spell, to aid my new clan. You have no idea of how good it feels to finally seem useful. Now I know I did the right choice by remaining here."

Scott was not sure of how to react. He understood what she meant; it must have been terrible for her in a way. She was obviously a woman of action and he had confined her to this propriety in a way. As he remained there, holding her slim waist, he promised himself he would try and find ways to involve her in his work. He knew she would not have to 'protect her clan' all that often, so he had to find other things to make her feel needed and valued in her work.

The young gargoyle heard Jacob coming back and freed herself from Scott's embrace. She hopped the old butler's way and hugged him as well. Scott felt a twinge of jealousy go through him, for it meant she did not hug him specifically because of him, rather because she was happy. He took some consolation in seeing that she did not seem to hug Jacob for as long as she did he. The old man proceeded towards the house, soon followed by his employer. Venus remained where she was "One thing puzzles me though..." she began in a soft voice.

Both men turned around, listening. "Yes Venus?" Scott asked.

"It is about detective Maza. As she was leading the man to her car, she did a strange thing."

"And that is?"

"She smiled at me."

Both men looked at each other. "She what?" Scott asked.

"She smiled at me. She was specifically looking at me."

Scott shook his head, then threw his arms up in the airs, exclaiming: "I knew it! She'll be back!"

Jacob and Venus watched him leave towards the house. "Was I wrong in telling him?" the young gargoyle asked.

"I don't think so. This way he will expect detective Maza's visit."

"When do you think this is going to happen?"

"I would say it's a matter of days, Madam."

Elisa and Matt were coming back from Bellevue hospital. They were still at the beginning of their shift. "I have to stop at the grocery store to pick a few things for the guys."

"During the shift?" he made a disapproving sound, half smiling.

"We have to go back to the precinct anyway."

"Oh, I know. I might get stuff myself."

"Heh, I started something."

The grocery store was a short walk from the police station, so she did not bother to find a special parking space and used her own. The two detectives entered the store and Matt took one of the little baskets sitting by the doors. As they walked in the aisles, Elisa was putting different things into the basket. "This is scary. We look like we're together," he commented.

"Am I that ugly?" she asked, smiling at him.

"You know that's not what I meant. Hey! I thought you said a *few* things! You want to pull my arm off?"

Elisa took the two big cans of V8 back and held them. "Stop whining. I'm almost done."

He pulled his tongue out at her as she walked further down the aisle. They remained in the store for a few moments more, then paid their respective buys and left. Walking back to the police station, Matt wondered why he was still stuck with the cans of V8, but did not comment. They arrived at their office and Elisa put her bags on her desk for a moment to take care of a few details about Bellevue. "I can't wait for this to be over," she commented.

Matt laughed softly. "Grandpa says they put the things back the wrong way in the Jewish Museum."

"He does?"

"He went to see as soon as the collection was put up again."

"I can imagine. Some of the stuff used to be his."

Matt nodded and followed her as she left the office for the upper levels of the building to the clock tower. The young woman put her bags on the floor so she could open the trap door, then popped her head into the opening. "It's munchies time, guys!" she said before heading back down to retrieve her groceries. Broadway's cheerful face appeared in the door frame. "Hi Elisa! Hi Matt! Come on up!"

The two humans climbed up the stairs and Matt pulled them up as the green gargoyle helped Elisa with the groceries. "Hey cool, she got V8! Want some, Hudson?" Broadway asked, looking up at the old gargoyle.

"Better say yes, Hudson, I worked hard to get those cans here," Matt commented. "Now that I think of it, I think I'll have a glass myself."

"Sure Matt," the green gargoyle complied, taking a second glass from the cupboard.

At that moment, the rest of the clan came in from the door in the clock face. They all greeted the two detectives, happy to see them. "What's up guys?" Lexington asked.

"We're back from Bellevue," Matt said.

"Again?"

"Yeah well, I think we have a subscription to the place."

"I just hope Brainert doesn't escape again," Elisa added.

"Did he get to steal anything from the Mercure home?" Brooklyn asked.

"No."

"Why did he go there in the first place?" Goliath asked.

"It's a long story," Matt began. "He was after only one person all along, but since he's not thinking too rationally, he was doing weird things to get to what he wanted."

"Which was Mercure's butler," Elisa added.

"Why?" Brooklyn asked in a doubtful, surprised tone.

"Apparently, both knew each other from a long time ago. They both were taken prisoners in concentration camps during World War II; Brainert got more affected by it than the other guy did."

"This was a traumatizing situation in human history. One could understand why this happened," Goliath commented. "But please, Matt, continue."

"From what Jacob Forelle told me, that's Mercure's butler, Brainert always behaved strangely, and when he started hassling Forelle's wife, it triggered a chain of events that seemingly got to an end a few nights ago, when we arrested him again. To Brainert, this was now some sort of vendetta."

"What does all of this have to do with the robberies he was committing?" Broadway asked, coming from the kitchen area.

"I think he tried to use it as a diversion, so we wouldn't suspect he was going to the Mercure mansion right away. He figured that getting attention elsewhere would give him time to find Jacob Forelle and figure how to get to him," Elisa explained, resting against the table.

"Mercure told me that this time, he will sue Brainert for all the trouble he has caused. Chances are it won't do much, though. He said they tried before, but seeing how nuts he is, it doesn't get to court," Matt added.

"Shows you that money can't always get you what you want," Elisa shrugged. "By the way, Brooklyn, thanks for the help on this one. You got to Brainert just in time."

The red gargoyle blinked, looking at her. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, I saw you too. You were on the house's roof. Nice work. Neither the Professor or Jacob Forelle saw you. Some trick you pulled off there!" Matt added, smiling.

Brooklyn looked at them, confused. "But... I wasn't at the Mercure house that evening."

"Of course it was you. We both saw you."

"Elisa, I think I know what I do and what I don't. I wasn't at the Mercure house on that evening."

Elisa looked at the other gargoyles. "If Brooklyn wasn't there, who was?"

"Brainert was even babbling about demons. He was talking about you guys," Matt added.

"Well it wasn't us. We learned about all this in the newspaper, like most people."

"So, who was on the roof?" Matt asked.

Everyone remained silent for a while. "Demona?" Lexington offered, uncertain.

"She hates humans. Why would she bother?" Brooklyn commented.

From his recliner, Hudson began laughing. It was a soft, quiet laugh. They all looked at him, somewhat confused. Then, Elisa looked at Goliath, and he looked back at her; Elisa's face slowly turned into a frown. "A clever lad he is; he managed to hide her from you or the rest of us..." Hudson said.

The young woman shook her head, exclaiming: "I've been had! I've been HAD! I can't believe this!"

She stormed out of the tower to the building below, almost knocking Matt down in the process. Confused, he looked at the old gargoyle who was still smiling. Suddenly, Goliath emitted a low growl. His eyes began glowing and he was about to jump forward when Hudson, anticipating his reaction, caught up with him and held him back. "Let the lass talk to him first. He was wise to hide her. Elisa has done the same thing when we arrived here."

Goliath closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "You are right. But if I do not hear from her in a few days, I will go to this man myself."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on? I seem to have missed on something important here," Matt asked, looking at Hudson, then at Goliath.

"You might want to sit down, this could be long," Brooklyn warned him.

The man nodded and sat on one of the kitchen area's chairs as Hudson began telling him about the Goliath's blood sister.

Scott was walking along the electrified fence, looking for anything unusual. He was always performing those routine rounds once in a while; perhaps the "Brainert incident" that had happened almost two weeks before made him over-suspicious. In any way, he felt like he had to walk the fence, simply to make sure everything was all right. It was not dark yet, the sun was setting slowly and he could still walk about without tripping on anything.

The evening was calm and quiet, if you did not stop and listen to the traffic and planes; it was rare to be able to forget them so easily. Jacob was probably gone shopping or something; Scott knew the old man was not at the house. Venus had most likely sent him on a weird food chase. Her last find was a mix of French fries, cheese and gravy. Not very appealing at first sight, but the taste was not too bad, he thought... he looked behind him as he heard footsteps coming his way.

It was Venus. She was calmly walking toward him. Last time he had seen her, she was in the workshop, filling lines of a notebook with letters and words. She was trying very hard to write and even though the man had said he could get her bigger or longer pens and pencils, she had insisted on using normal ones, as she had done with utensils. She was probably taking a break now. The evening was very nice, not too cold; she had every reason not to stay inside. "Hello," he gently said as she arrived next to him.

She smiled, then asked: "What might you be doing here?"

"Just checking around. Been in the house for too long anyway."

The young gargoyle nodded, thinking the same thing about her and Wards Island, but remained silent. The man continued walking further down the fence and Venus followed him. "I hope you do not mind the company," she commented.

"Of course not. Might not be all that interesting for you, but you can tag along if you want."

She shrugged and followed him around. They walked in silence for a while, Scott looking at the fence and around it, Venus half watching, half trying to see the city through the trees and fence. "How's the writing going?" the man suddenly asked, for lack of things to say.

"I do not think I will succeed in writing as small as you do, but it is beginning to look somewhat normal."

"Somewhat normal?"

"Regular."

"Well you're doing great considering it was so rare in your time to know how to read and write. I'm impressed, you're a very fast learner. Soon enough I'll put you on my projects so you can help me out."

She smiled. "I think I would like that. Thank you."

They remained there for a moment, looking at each other. Then, Scott did something that even surprised himself. He rubbed his hand against his pants, as if to clean it, then held it out in her direction.

Venus looked at him, then at his outstretched hand, and reached out herself to hold it. As her fingers touched his, she felt as if a strange warm energy go through her arm into her stomach, then irradiate everywhere inside of her. It was the feeling of something good, yet forbidden, she thought. The man turned away and walked, still holding her hand. His grip was not strong, she could have broken free anytime she wanted, but she did not. "Do not be a fool, Flower, he is a human," she told herself, following him anyway. "Humans grow tired of our kind after a while, you know that. You have seen it happen at Castle Wyvern."

As they walked toward a small gate in the fence, she continued pondering her situation and the new feelings this man was creating in her. "But even you have to admit that it is not always the case. You have seen Robert MacGregor and Goliath's Angel. This human really cared for her. He died for her."

The man deactivated the electric fence, opened the gate and held it open so that she could walk through it. He gave her a shy smile, unsure if he should say something or not. He felt that it would break the magic of the moment and, after closing the gate and reactivating the electricity, continued walking towards Hell's Gate, giving the young gargoyle's hand a light squeeze. "Think about it from your perspective now," she continued. "Does your human have as much respect for you as Robert MagGregor had for Angel? Did he not protect you from the hostile outside world? Has he not tried to make you feel welcome in his home? Your clan is dead, Flower; he, along with Jacob, are your new clan. You have protected them. You are now part of their lives, as they are of yours."

She looked at the city on the other side of the shore, stopping before she hit the man who had stopped himself in front of her. Noticing a tree nearby, she went to sit under it, letting go of the man's hand. He remained where he was, putting his hands in his jean pockets. He realized that this was one of the few moments when he felt at peace with himself; he felt happy. Hopefully these moments would increase in number now that she was there. He looked at her, silent. She was wearing a short white dress, and she was probably unaware of how good she looked in it. From what he could see, she was not the kind of woman to use her charms to get what she wanted. She was happy with what she had, she had no real need for money; she was exactly the opposite from some women he had met in the past. "They didn't realize that by being so interested in my money, I'd be less than likely to make them benefit from it," he thought.

The young gargoyle leant her chin on her knees, sighing softly. Not certain if it was because she could not exit the island safely or the way she felt, she said softly: "It would be much easier if I were human..."

Scott turned around. "Don't you ever say that!" he walked to her and put his hands to his hips. "Do you hear me? Don't think that! I l..." he stopped, realizing that he was going to say that he loved her just the way she was. "Don't think that, Venus," he repeated in a much softer voice.

The young gargoyle motioned for him to sit down next to her. Scott complied and began playing with blades of grass close to his leg, for lack of things to say or do. "Why do you find me so attractive?" she suddenly asked, not even looking at him.

Scott turned his head and stared at her until she looked back. "Why didn't you leave the house yet?" he asked in return.

She seemed a little surprised by his reply, but her lips parted in a thin smile that soon broadened. "Okay, so we make an odd pair," he shrugged. "I've seen worse though."

Venus let out a short laugh, shaking her head. Something inside of her told her this couldnot be so bad after all. With a little luck and some quick thinking, she could even convince him to take her out of the island. He *had* said she would see Castle Wyvern again... and now that she knew she had a purpose in this modern world—her helping to arrest Brainert had proven it—she felt better. Professor Mercure was a searcher, an archaeologist, as he called it; maybe he could help her find out what had become of her clan. Perhaps some great-grandchildren of Wyvern werestill there; perhaps if those from the Clan had kept good relationships with their humans, they could bring this knowledge back to New York city. She suddenly realized that she had a lot of dreams and hopes blooming inside of her. "Maybe I was made to be a modern gargoyle, who knows?" she thought, smiling.

Scott had stopped playing with the blades of grass and was still looking at her. She could have almost sworn that he was sitting closer than he had been earlier. Nevertheless, she did not try to get away from him. "You know," he began. "You're the first woman to be at the house in years. Then again, you are the first woman to live at the house period,"

He did not know why, but he felt he could open up to her that much. Maybe the somewhat romantic setting was for a lot in it. "I've always been a loner. And, as you were able to see for the time you've been here, I don't do much. Not rich people stuff anyway."

Venus thought of what "rich people stuff" was to her. For the people at Castle Wyvern, it meant big dinners with a lot of guests and food, dances and sometimes some sort of fair. Or traveling to other's castles and do the same things over there. If rich people still did that, then he was right, he was not one of them. "It's weird, though, sometimes it seems as if you have been there for years and years. The only thing is I'm not all that used to having a woman by my side; sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it right or wrong."

She smiled sweetly. "I think you are doing fine so far."

"You do?" he asked, sounding almost hopeful.

She nodded and got up. "I simply need time to absorb all of this," she said quietly. "Do you understand what I mean?"

He stood up himself and replied: "Yes I do". Then to himself: "And for that I can wait,"

Xanatos shifted his bodyweight in the suit to help it turn as it flew slightly downwards. He was used to the suit now; controlling it was more of a second nature to him than it used to be. "I told you to send another bug, Owen. It would have been easier to locate her," he muttered in the suit's microphone.

The blonde man was sitting in his employer's office, in front of a screen. He could see several dials and gauges, as well as what Xanatos could see through the eyes of the suit. "You know I disapprove of this. Violence is not the right way to go to her."

"I'm tired of waiting, Owen. It's time I take matters into my own hands."

Owen sighed, shaking his head. "It won't work, sir. Remember, she is Goliath's sister. You know this method would not work with him."

"Owen, just..." he was going to tell the blonde man to shut up, but changed the subject. "Did you prepare our future new guest's quarters yet?"

"You know as well as I do that as soon as she learns about Goliath and his clan, she will leave the Eyrie Building to follow them."

"It doesn't mean we have to be impolite, Owen. Besides," he smiled to himself. "It doesn't mean she has to know that right away either."

"How do you plan to make her follow you then? Other than that, you have no good reason."

"Then I'll just have to rely on my charm and wonderful personality."

"In that case it would have been wiser to go as yourself, not that suit, which will remind her of her brother."

"I know what I'm doing," Xanatos stated in an angry voice.

He reached out for a button in the hand of the suit and shut the radio controls off so he would not be annoyed by his aide anymore. All the blonde man could do was watch in the monitor and hear his employer mutter, but he could not speak to him. As the Mercure house came into view, Owen watched, helplessly, and wondered who would teach whom a lesson in all this.

Venus and Scott were walking back from the waterside. They had just passed the fence again and the man had put his remote control back in his pocket. They were both silent once more; Scott was amazed in a way of how close he had become to her in such a short time, Venus was thinking of how to get him to go to Scotland. They were not holding hands anymore, which had somewhat disappointed the professor, but he did not want to force her.

They were about halfway to the house when they came upon a patch of weeds and dandelions next to the path. Venus stopped at the sight of it and bent down next to it. "What do you call these?" she asked, pointing at the yellow flowers.

"Dandelions. They're a nuisance. No matter how often you cut them off, they come back by the thousand.

She smiled. "A rebel flower, then," she commented, approaching her hand from some of the flowers.

Since it was dark, the flowers were closed, but when the young gargoyle touched them, they bloomed as if it were bright and sunny. Scott gaped, although he had to admit he was not too surprised of what was happening. "How did you do that?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I do not know. I simply touched them and they opened. Does it not do that when you touch them?"

"Well I don't especially go around touching flowers to see if they open, but I'd say no. It wouldn't work for me."

"Perhaps that amongst rebel flowers we have affinities, then," she said with a strange smile.

Scott reached out and gently pulled a strand of hair away from the young gargoyle's face. She was not startled, but turned head toward him to look at him. "I can have the gardeners arrange a small patch of them nearer the house if you want," he said, shrugging. "They know I'm weird, they won't ask questions," he added in an almost shy voice.

"What are you getting yourself into, human?" Venus asked herself, smiling even more at the man's attempts to express his feelings. "It is a very nice thought, thank you," she then said aloud.

She made a few flowers open by touching them with her hand; bending down, she smelled them, closing her eyes. "You say those are weeds?" she asked.

"Call them more a pain."

She smiled. "They surely have a pleasant smell for a... hem pain."

"They do? I always thought they didn't..."

He leant forward to smell the flowers himself; at the same time, Venus did the same thing to make sure of what she was saying. Their heads hit with a dull thud and the man moved back, holding his forehead and moaning in pain. Worried, yet trying not to laugh, Venus reached out to his forehead, saying: "I am so sorry. Are you all right?"

"That's okay. I didn't need my head anymore," he groaned.

She allowed herself to laugh a little and touched his head. "Let me have a look at it. It cannot be that bad."

He winced as her fingers brushed against a more sensitive area on his head. "Are you hurt?" he asked her. "I didn't mean to hit you like that."

He realized how stupid his last remark had probably sounded and preferred not to add anything as he reached for her forehead with his right hand. "I will be fine," she assured him with a smile. "My head is a lot stronger than a human's."

He smiled a little, and let his hand run down along the side of her face. Venus closed her eyes and reopened them, looking away. She knew exactly what would happen next and was not sure of how to react to it. Should she let him do what he wanted or push him back? He seemed to think she should not get away from him; his hand on her chin was gentle but firm and clearly indicated he wanted her to look at him.

Scott was not as sure of himself as he seemed. In fact, he was a little scared of being slapped for touching and holding her back so much. A more daring part of his brain told him that she would have gotten away already if she minded what he was doing and it reassured him a little. Without really realizing it, he approached his face from hers, wondering when the blow would come and how it would feel to kiss her at the same time.

She let him approach, half amused, half serious, not so surprised to feel the warm sensation in her stomach again. She closed her eyes, feeling the man's warm breath against her cheek and lips, but her attention was quickly drawn elsewhere as her keen hearing picked up upon an unusual sound coming from the house's general direction. Sitting up, she moved away from the man. "What was that?" she asked in a somewhat concerned voice.

The man almost whined in protest as she parted from him, but tried to concentrate on the night's sounds to pick up what she had. "I don't hear anything, Venus. It must be the city," he commented, his mind trying to find a way to make the romantic setting come back.

"There it is again!" she exclaimed before starting to run using her hands and feet to go faster.

Scott told her to come back, quite uselessly, and started after her. At first he had thought she had used some sort of diversion not to kiss him, but he could see now that it was serious, in her opinion anyway. It could be a raccoon or a stray dog, but the last time she had followed her instincts like that the culprit had ended up in jail.

As they moved toward the house, the professor trying not to loose Venus, the sounds the young gargoyle had been able to make out became audible to the human. Yet, even he could not say for sure what was making the noises.

Venus approached the clearing where the house was. She stopped behind some bushes, unsure if she should show herself or not, and the man was able to catch up with her. They both looked on in the house's side yard, but saw nothing. The noise was stronger and constant here; to Scott, it sounded like a low whine, not unlike a jet engine. Probably those police choppers again. They were patrolling around once in a while. Of course, Venus was not used to them; it was normal for her to think it could be a threat to her new home. The man looked up at the same time the gargoyle did and let out a surprised: "Oh!" as he saw what the source of the noise was.

Venus gasped in surprise before lunging forward, crying out: "My brother!"

In a reflex gesture, the man held her back by her arm. "No! Wait!"

She looked at him, but did not force his hand away because she did not want to hurt him. "Look carefully at him," he added.

Scott took a better look himself at Venus' "brother". He had the shape a male gargoyle would have, he thought, and he was bigger than Venus. Scott remembered her telling him that Goliath was broader and taller than she was. But that was where the resemblance stopped, he told himself. A moon ray fell on the "male gargoyle's" arm and sent back a silvery metallic glow. This was not her brother; it was not even alive. It was a robot. "It looks like it's some kind of machine," he whispered to her, although if it was any "quality robot", he was sure it would be able to hear him talk even if he whispered.

"But he resembles my brother so much..." she began protesting before straightening out and moving forward out of the forest's cover. "Venus!" he whispered a little louder, knowing in advance she would not listen to him.

He watched helplessly as the young gargoyle ran out in clear view of the robot. She stopped right in the middle of the yard, staring up at it, silent. She was still unsure of what to do.

The robot hovered a little closer. It had Goliath's body, although she could see now that it was red and gray, not lavender as she and her blood brother were. "What sorcery is this?" she wondered. "Could this be one of the Archmage's new tricks to deceive me?"

"There you are!" the robot exclaimed (assuming a robot could exclaim something, especially since its mouth did not move when it talked). "I was wondering when you'd show up," It landed a few feet away from her. "I have to say you look even more stunning in person."

Venus' eyes began glowing red. "What do you want from me, you... you..."

"Now, now... what is this foul language?"

"... Impostor!"

"How colorful. I'm sure Goliath condoned this type of behavior a thousand years ago..."

She started, her eyes losing their dangerous glow. Back behind his bush, Scott gasped as he heard the robot talk. What kind of sick joke was this? "Nevertheless, I am happy to finally meet you... Flower, is it? Do you mind if I call you that?" the robot asked in a somewhat conversational tone of voice.

Venus' eyes turned back to their fiery red color. Growling, she crouched and leaped toward the robot. Xanatos' reflexes, enhanced by the exosuit, allowed him to avoid her easily. He laughed, a little surprised, yet expecting such behavior from one of Goliath's clan. "My my... you're even more quick-witted than he-"

"I shall not let you soil the good memory of my brother!" she shouted, furious, pained by his comment and the thoughts and feelings it brought back to her. "Leave him be where he rests and begone!"

"She's so innocent, she's perfect!" Xanatos thought, smiling under his helmet. "Mercure, you old secretive dirt digger you! You didn't even have the decency to tell her about the sightings... it's a regular thing in the newspapers, though..." he said aloud, knowing the other man was somewhere near.

He looked at Venus again; she had calmed down a little and was listening. "Taking from the dead is not one of my favorite things, if I can I do it while they live. It's funnier to see their reactions anyway," he added as the information sank in the gargoyle's mind and she realized what he meant.

Scott, still behind the bush, bit his lip. He had read the articles, but paid no attention to them. After Venus had transformed, he had seen some others articles, and thought she might have left the house, thinking he would not notice. He had thought it would have been useless to scowl her; after all, she did what she wanted. But he would have liked her to be frank with him about her outings. Now, as the robot mentioned them, he thought about it and something in his mind clicked as he realized it could have been others. It would also explain detective Maza's strange visits and interest for the statue...

With tears in her eyes, Venus asked in a nevertheless commanding voice: "What have you done to him?"

Xanatos knew she meant Goliath, but decided to play dumb. "Who?" he asked back.

At that moment, the professor thought it good to get into action himself. He popped out from behind his bush, exclaiming: "Hey! Why don't you try..."

He regretted his move almost right away "Why don't I try to shut up," he thought to himself, as he realized the robot had now its attention on him. It slightly turned toward him and spoke again: "That's where you were; you couldn't be that far. I was just urgh-"

His sentence was quickly cut off as he fell to the ground, Venus on top of him. She had taken advantage of the robot's unawareness to attack. Growling, she took a swipe at her opponent, slicing off a small chunk of wing. The robot let out a short laugh. "Strong and bold, I like that in a woman," he commented.

She hissed again and was going to hit him some more when the Xanatos caught her wrist and held it so she could not harm him. "I thought you would have taught her some manners by now," he told the other man.

"My goal was not to control her," the professor muttered

"Then what was it?"

Xanatos felt the gargoyle struggle to free herself and increased his hold on her. He was still talking as if nothing was wrong or different from a normal conversation. "Do you know how much she's worth?"

"I take that as an insult," Scott could not believe he was actually conversing with a robot. "Release her," he ordered in a harsh voice.

The robot turned its head toward Venus. "Do you want to go?" she looked as if she wanted to bite his head off. "Some of your clan are still alive and well. They are here in New York City. Wouldn't you want to join them instead?"

Venus felt tears well up in her eyes and sobbed. The robot got up, still holding her and making her standing as well. Despite her distress, she had the instinct of swinging her tail at Xanatos. She grabbed the robot's leg and tugged violently on it. Although Xanatos did not fall to the ground, he did release his hold on her arm and she moved away. "If there are some others, I will find them by myself and not trust the likes of you!" she exclaimed.

Xanatos grimaced behind his mask. This was not going as he had planned. A little voice in the back of his mind told him Owen had been right all along, but he decided to ignore it. Mercure had not helped things either. Venus was naive enough to be lured out of the estate by herself, but the archaeologist made her doubt. "That's it, I'm calling the police," he heard the other man say.

He stretched out his hand at the young gargoyle, hoping in a way that the professor would not really do what he said, not right away anyway. "Are you sure you won't reconsider it?"

Venus looked steadily back at him with angry eyes and spat in his direction. Her answer was obvious. "You make it an honor to complicate things, don't you?" Xanatos sighed in what sounded like a disappointed tone of voice. "Fine."

He extended his right arm, from which a small gun-like structure came was never in the man's intention to kill her; he had set the ray to its lowest setting, which would only stun her. Of course, none of the two others knew that and Scott ran forward, in a somewhat stupid, yet unselfish way, yelling "NO!" at the top of his lungs.

He hit the robot on the arm, feeling as if he had hit a wall, and fell backwards with a grunt. His action was however rewarded as he saw the ray hit the ground to the gargoyle's side instead of her. Nervous and annoyed, Xanatos made the mistake of looking away from her again, exclaiming: "You are *so* irritating!"

It took him only a second or two to turn away from Venus and then back at her, but she was already nowhere in sight. Xanatos looked around, then decided to use his jetpack to lift himself up and have a better view, as well as avoiding any further disturbances coming from Mercure. He looked around a little, using the helmet's infrared features to locate her faster, when the suit's sensors picked up her presence. Apparently, she had found a way to be airborne as well, since she came gliding from his side.

Xanatos turned around to try and avoid her, but the swipe she had taken to his wing earlier hampered his action and he was not fast enough. With an ear-piercing battle-cry, she lunged at him, grabbing his helmet and trying to tear it away from the robot's body. Off-balance, Xanatos struggled a moment to remain stable as he saw in the helmet's visor that several little indicators had started blinking. Grunting, he tried to shake her off his back, but ended up helping her instead. A gust of air burst from the side of the suit's neck and a little alarm buzzer went off. In a reflex gesture as much as in a last attempt to get rid of her, he made the gun come out of his arm once again. He felt the muzzle hit the gargoyle's side and did his best to maintain it there. Not really knowing what it would do at such a close distance, he activated the ray and felt his opponent jolt in pain and surprise as she was hit.

Xanatos' suit protected him from the shock, but Venus fully felt the pain in her side. With a cry, she tried to keep her hold onto the robot, but failed as she became weaker and weaker. The last thing she felt before plummeting to the ground was her fingers taking another chunk out of the robot and then meeting nothing but air.

Xanatos watched, slightly worried, but knowing gargoyles enough to figure she would glide off at any moment. He knew he could not attempt anything else that evening; far from giving up on her, he decided to wait and perhaps try to get to her as his human self, or at least listen to what Owen would have to say on the matter. Annoyed by the alarm in his suit still bleeping, he let out a last: "This is not over yet!" before flying away, hearing the jetpack making strange noises as he gained speed.

Scott watched, horrified and helpless, as Venus fell toward the ground for what seemed an eternity. Her wings were slightly open and slowed her somewhat, but she still fell to the ground in a heap without so much as a whimper. The man rushed over to her side, calling her name, but she would not answer. He put his hand on her shoulder and sighed in relief when he felt it move with her breathing. Then, he gently rolled her onto her back. She let out an involuntary moan of pain but remained unconscious. "It's gonna be okay. You'll see," he kept telling her, trying to convince himself at the same time it was true.

A soft glow coming from the house caught his attention. A car's headlights. It was Jacob coming back from his errands. Yelling as loud as he could, Scott called the old man and soon actually saw the old man half-walking, half-running toward him. "By God, what happened to her?" Jacob asked, crouching next to them.

"She fell down, but never mind that now. Help me get her inside the house, I'll explain later."

"Have you checked for broken bones? You know we can't just move her like that without knowing if she's all right…"

Scott looked at the other man, feeling a little stupid for not thinking about it himself. Both men examined the gargoyle as much as they could, considering they did not know much about gargoyle bone structure, and found nothing that could look like a fracture. Then, they took her and carried her to the house, up to her room where they put her on her bed as best as they could. Now that they could see better with the light they turned on next to the bed, Scott noticed a dark spot on her dress. "Oh no," he whispered, getting the older man's attention.

Jacob frowned. "That's a burn mark," he commented with a grim expression on his face.

He gave instructions to the professor, overlooking his "inferior" position as a butler. When Scott came back with what Jacob had asked for, the latter said: "Now, can you tell me what happened?"

As the old man proceeded to cutting the white fabric around the burn, the professor began telling him about them walking around and their encounter with the robot, standing next to the young gargoyle's head and gently stroking her hair. "You should call detective Maza. Both for police matters concerning this robot and regarding madam Venus. My feeling is she knows a *lot* more about all this than we do."

Scott nodded. "You're right," he paused. "You know, when Venus came out from her stone sleep, she told me that she was going to protect the house for as long as she was here. I found it amusing since I was sure she would not have to protect us against anything. But this is not the first time now. She's so unselfish, I mean…"

"Is that why you love her so much?"

In an attempt to deny it, Scott tried to look shocked, but without success. Then he smiled, as he knew he could not fool his butler and long-time friend. "That obvious, uh?"

The old man smiled back, busy putting a bandage on Venus' side. "There," he said. "It is going to hurt her, but I don't think it's that bad. Her skin is a lot tougher than ours and it didn't take as much damage. We'll still have to keep en eye on it to see what happens, but other than that, right now, all she needs is rest."

He stood up from his kneeling position next to the bed. Scott chose to remain where he was, close to Venus' head. "Is there anything *you* need, sir?"

"No thanks, Jacob. I think I'll stick around here for a while," the younger man commented.

"What about detective Maza?"

"I'll take care of that too."

The butler nodded, then left, closing the door behind him. Scott turned his attention once more toward the young gargoyle. She looked like she was sleeping, and by the regular movement of her chest and the rather peaceful look on her face, she probably was. The man looked on the night table, where Jacob had left aspirin and other assorted first aid items. He thanked the old butler once more for thinking about everything. She might want the pain killers when she wake up.

Settling next to her, sitting on the floor, he gently ran his hand on her arm, then took her hand in his. Then, without really knowing why, he began talking to her, not really telling her much, but rather to let her know he was there for her if she needed him. After a while though, sleep gained on him as well, and he dozed off, his head resting on the bed next to her arm.

"What happened to my dress?"

Scott stirred and his grasp tightened on the gargoyle's finger. Looking up, he met Venus' groggy and slightly confused gaze. "Hi," he said, smiling. "Slept well?"

Venus pulled her arm away as she tried to sit up, but changed her mind with a grunt of pain as the burn on her side started hurting her. "Wh… What…" she stammered, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"The robot?"

Scott nodded. "You went after it."

"Yes, I remember that. And then there was this pain…"

"You were shot at. Then you fell down. Jacob and I picked you up and carried you in here. You were burned where it shot you," the man explained.

They remained silent for a little while, then Venus opened her eyes and said in a soft voice: "That gives you a reason to cut my dress off?"

It took Scott a few seconds to realize what she had said, and he started laughing. "You are something else, you know that? You are attacked by a robot, almost die fighting it and all you care about is your dress?"

"But I like this dress," she argued, a smile appearing on her lips.

"I'll get you another one. I'll get you all the dresses you want. With what you did…"

"I only did what I had to do."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if..."

With a wince, she moved her hand to his mouth, silencing him. "You were brave yourself, I would say. How long have I… we been here?"

"Oh I don't know. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Venus smiled at him and extended her hand to him. "Would you help me sit up please."

The man stood up and supported her as she propped herself on pillows. He then sat on the edge of the bed to be closer to her. Running his hand in his hair, out of not really knowing what to say or do, he quickly glanced at her and then away again before saying: "Uhm, you told me once you'd protect this house until you could go and find your clan again…"

"There are others, are there not?"

"I think so. You have to believe me when I say that I would've taken you to them had I known about them."

The young gargoyle smiled. "I know."

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "I'll help you find them as best as I can, you know I will. The thing is though…" he looked up at her and smiled awkwardly. "I'd be lying if I said I'll let you go happily if you ever decide to join them. I mean I'll be happy if you find other gargoyles, but, you know…" he shook the idea away with a gesture of his hand and stood up. "Never mind that now. Jacob left some aspirin on the table to ease the pain. Do you want to take them? I'll get you some water for it."

Before she could answer, he went into the bathroom and came back a moment later with a glass full of water. "Here. Too bad you don't turn to stone anymore, you'd be healed by tomorrow. According to Jacob, though, all you need is a little rest."

Venus took the glass in her hand and drank out of it, but ignored the pills. She did not trust them. The pain was bearable when she did not move, and if it got worse, she could always tell him which herbs she needed to fight it.

Scott was still standing next to the bed, unsure of what to do. When the gargoyle finished drinking, he took the glass and went to fill it up again in case she wanted to drink some more later on. He also made a mental note to either bring a pitcher up or have Jacob do it, along with assorted treats or anything else she would want. "Do you want me to help you lie back down? Do you need anything else? More blankets? A book?"

Venus tried not to laugh too much, as it woke up the pain on her side. "No thank you. I will fare well on my own."

"Well, you know you can call Jacob anytime you want with the buzzer next to your bed."

Venus nodded, smiling. "I know all that. Again I thank you for your concern and the fact that you remained by my side as you did."

"Hey, anything for you, you know that," the man replied just before biting his lip as he realized what he had just said implied. "Well, I'll, uh, go now and let you rest now. I think I'll go catch on some sleep myself. So if you ever need anything, you just have to yell. I'm not that far away down the hall."

The gargoyle's smile broadened, making the man feel even worse. He nodded to her, then walked to the room's door. "Scott," he heard her say as his hand was going to turn the handle.

He turned around without a word. She had *never* called him by his name before. He took a step forward, to show she had his whole attention, but darted forward when he saw she was trying to get up. "Hey, what are you doing? Get back in there! You'll hurt yourself. Venus…"

Ignoring the pain and his words, she managed to stand up by herself and took a few slow steps toward him. Then, she raised her hand on the side she was not burnt and put it on the man's cheek before leaning forward and kissing him gently on the lips.

Completely taken aback, the man let out a grunt of surprise as he felt Venus' lips touch his, but soon went along with it. "How could you think I was going to slap you, you silly human?" she asked as she moved away from him.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering how she knew about what he had been thinking, then smiled. "Does that mean what I think it means?" he asked.

"Perhaps," she replied with that mischievous smile of hers.

"But doesn't it seem… weird?"

She shrugged. "If you give it a little time… I have seen it work before."

His smile and whole attitude reminding her somewhat of a young pup, he reached out and planted a quick kiss on her lips before saying: "I think I'm gonna call detective Maza right now."

With that, he exited the room, leaving Venus where she was between the bed and her "couch window". She slowly walked to it, holding her side, and sat on the ledge, propping herself against pillows. "Jacob *did* say we would see detective Maza soon," she told herself as she rested her forehead against the window to look out.

She sighed. She felt nervous. Did she really want this to happen? Did she really want it to be that way? Her and a human?

Outside, the sun was rising, announcing a new day. Or was it a new beginning? "Well, they did not call me the Rebel Flower for nothing," she thought with a smile.

** THE END **