|
Discussions - Chapter 6
By Kudara
Disclaimer: All
the characters appearing in Gargoyles are copyright Buena Vista
Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these
copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction
work. All original characters are the property of the author.
Warning: Sexual content
Notes: Dominique
Destine’s home, and the character’s
Candice and Gregory are from ‘The Gargoyles Saga’ world and
adapted for use in this story.
Rating: Mature
Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep
writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike
about the story.
Revision History: 06/05/08
******************************************************************************
December 8th, 1997
6:45 pm Macbeth’s Castle – North of
Manhattan
Macbeth looked up from the paper he had
been grading as he heard the castle’s automatic defenses
activate; he suspected he knew who had triggered them. A grim
smile curved his lips as he set the half graded paper aside and
waited, he had set the targeting system to ignore gargoyles, if
the turrets didn’t activate then he was right about who was
arriving. When the turrets didn’t fire, he picked up the paper
and began grading it again, no reason to waste his time while
waiting for his uninvited guests to decide to come in.
It was several minutes before he heard the
sound of the door opening. “Usually guests call before they
drop by,” he said without looking up from the paper as he
corrected yet another grammatical error, the paper was starting
to look like someone had bled all over it, it was so covered
with red marks. Only a quiet, annoyed sounding rumble answered
him. Macbeth set the paper aside and looked up at the big
lavender male standing a few feet away, the other members of the
clan clustered behind him. He stared for a moment at the young
female with the long brown hair. He remembered her from Paris;
this was Demona’s daughter, Angela. His eyes shifted to
Goliath, “It’s a good thing for you that Demona predicted you
would drop by this evening, you would have gotten a rather warm
welcome if I hadn’t set the targeting system to ignore
gargoyles.”
Goliath’s head went up at that statement
and his eyes narrowed, but it was the brick-red male with the
beak whose eyes flared white at the mention of her name. “She
probably asked you to set them on high,” the younger male
growled sourly.
Macbeth eyed the beaked male coolly, “You
couldn’t be more wrong,” he replied, unaware of just how much
conviction his voice carried.
The listening gargoyles stirred
uncertainly, but before anyone else could speak, Goliath took a
small step forward, silently claiming his right as clan leader
to speak for them. “Elisa told us that you met with Demona
today and from the manner in which you greeted one another you
appear to no longer be enemies.”
“And you want to know why,” Macbeth said
rising from his chair, “there’s a simple answer,” his eyes
flared with his hatred, “We learned who our real enemies have
been all this time, and that it wasn’t each other. From the
very beginning it’s been the Weird Sisters. They were the ones
that schemed and manipulated events so that both of us were
desperate, her to protect what little remained of her clan, me
to protect my family from Duncan, that we would let them cast
that spell on us. Little did we realize then that it was all a
lie, they never intended to allow us to protect either, for they
had already determined that both would end up completely
destroyed.” He stared at the gargoyles that were looking back
at him wide-eyed at this. “They pretended to tell the future,
that I would be king after Duncan, that Luach would follow me
and then Canmore, and then they set about making sure that their
prediction would come true no matter what the cost to any
mortal, after all our lives meant nothing to them,” he snarled.
“In order for Canmore to end up king as they had said, Demona
had to betray me. It ended up being harder than they thought it
would be, for over the years she had become close to us.” He
turned and walked away from them, not wanting them to witness
his pain as he remembered Demona crying out his son’s name in
anguish as her memories were restored to her, “Even with what
she overheard, even with her fear that I would listen to Bodhe’s
suggestion, she wasn’t willing to put my family in danger. She
would have stayed with me so the Weird Sisters cast a spell on
her to take her memories of them from her and forced her to
betray us.”
“I do not understand,” Goliath’s confused
voice had the immortal king turning back toward him, the large
lavender colored gargoyle was sitting back on his haunches, his
face puzzled, worried, “Did they speak of these things while you
were with them on Avalon?”
Macbeth sighed, “Not exactly, though they
spoke of many things that caused us to suspect the true extent
of their perfidy and how little they valued any mortal life.”
He walked over to the sideboard and poured himself some scotch
from a crystal decanter there; he took a meditative sip of it
before turning back to the gargoyle clan. “This would probably
make more sense if I started at the beginning with Demona’s
kidnapping and her trip across Canada with Kendra Canmore.”
Macbeth started telling them the carefully edited version of the
truth that he and Demona had agreed that it was safe for them to
take back with them to the castle and Puck. “Somewhere in her
journey Demona caught the attention of a powerful wilderness
spirit, one with a great dislike of the fey, and one who for
reasons of his own had been watching the fey in general, and the
Weird Sisters specifically, for a very long time. Both Demona
and I began meeting with the spirit in our dreams, he returned
our memories of Avalon and then he showed us both what he had
observed as he watched the Weird Sisters. We started at the
very beginning, the confrontation between the three Sisters and
the Magus when he reflected the spell they were casting back
upon them and turned them into owls.”
Macbeth took another drink, his attention
focused on the young lavender female, “You weren’t even born
then, you were one of the eggs in the three boats they had with
them before the two women left in one with the Grimorium,” he
said to her.
Angela’s eye slid over toward her father,
but he appeared lost in thought, “I know this story, but can you
tell me more about what you saw?”
The former king smiled, “Want to see if
what I saw was the actual past and not just some dream do you?
Very well,” the young female looked embarrassed at being found
out so easily, but she also didn’t glance away from him.
Macbeth started once again, this time with the first appearance
of the three boats out of the mists. He told of the
confrontation, the flying away of the three fey, the decision by
the Magus to give up the book into the care of the two women and
then finally of the three humans with their cargo of gargoyle
eggs proceeding onward to Avalon’s shore.
“I’ll assume from your expression that what
I just told you agrees with what you heard?” Macbeth commented,
amused at Angela’s surprised look.
She nodded slowly, her expression troubled,
“the Magus, Princess Katherine and Guardian Tom told us the
exact same thing.”
Macbeth nodded, “Then let me tell you the
part you don’t know, what happened immediately after the two
boats landed on Avalon. The Archmage appeared,” at the sound of
the name Goliath straightened, focusing his attention on Macbeth
once again, “and reversed the spell upon the Weird Sisters
turning them into fey once again. The three of them were not at
all happy with being bested by the Magus, but they could not
pursue him because of Oberon’s decree that no fey were to step
foot on Avalon’s shores. When the Archmage offered an alliance
so they could get their revenge upon the Magus and the rest of
you, they were more than happy to accept.”
“I don’t understand,” Broadway spoke up,
“why were they angry with Princess Katherine, Guardian Tom and
the eggs, they hadn’t done anything to them,” he said
indignantly.
Macbeth smiled at him grimly, “Mortals
didn’t deserve to live on Avalon’s fair shores, especially when
Oberon was denying them entry.”
“Why were you and Demona chosen by the
Weird Sisters to fight for them?” rumbled Goliath.
The former king’s grey eyes shifted to the
clan leader, “They didn’t chose us, the Archmage picked us out
so that he could have his revenge upon Demona for betraying him,
and told them to guide us so that we would be there when he
required us in 975 years.”
“Revenge,” repeated Goliath startled.
“Because Demona gave the Phoenix Gate to
you instead of him, and because she helped you get the Grimorium
from him,” Macbeth clarified. “He wanted revenge for what he
saw as her betrayal of him, so the Archmage gave the Weird
Sisters a set of specific instructions for us. Would you like
to know what they were?” he growled. “Unfortunately neither of
us remembered them again until very recently, but now it’s hard
for me to forget because of how much he gloated in satisfaction
as he told her the last thousand years of her life were his
punishment for her betrayal!” He glared at Goliath.
Without waiting for the large lavender male
to respond, Macbeth continued, “The Weird Sisters were to make
sure that we remained powerful warriors, that our lives were to
be filled with bitterness and hatred so that we would be hard
and merciless when the time came for us to fight for them. They
were to make sure we did not become contented with their
immortality, or concerned with descendants or lovers that might
make us soft or compassionate. They were to make sure we
remained alone, that we had no ties to anyone but each other,
and that the ties that bound us together were ones of enmity.”
He stared hard at them, “For over nine hundred years if either
of us showed the least sign of being too content or god forbid
happy with our lives, they found us and ruined it,” he snarled.
In a fit of anger, he launched the thick crystal glass in his
hand at the fireplace, watching it explode as it hit the stones,
the flames flared high for a moment as the remaining scotch that
had been in the glass fed them.
He whirled back toward the clan, ignoring
their shocked looks he shook his fist at Goliath. “And then
you,” he growled furiously at the big lavender male, “you let
them take us, and then to add insult to injury when we could
have realized what they had been doing to us all this time, you
allowed them to take our memories away. You helped them keep us
ignorant to the fact that we’ve been nothing but their puppets
to play with and torment as they pleased for almost a thousand
years, a thousand years that were the Archmage’s vengeance upon
Demona for loving you more than she was obedient to him,” he
roared.
Goliath actually took a step back from the
enraged man, “I did not know,” he protested.
Macbeth clenched his fists and closed his
eyes for a moment, when he opened them they were clearer, though
no less angry, “And that and the fact that you killed the
Archmage is why I let you come in here tonight without attacking
you.” He stared into the clan leader’s eyes with cold
determination, “Make no mistake about this though, if you ever
agree to anything the Weird Sisters propose in regards to Demona
or I again, we will be enemies.”
Fifteen minutes later on the way back to
the Eyrie Building from Macbeth’s Castle
Angela was not very happy. Goliath had
decided they should leave immediately after Macbeth made his
threatening statement. Since they now knew why Macbeth and
Demona were no longer enemies, her father apparently had no
further questions for the former king. However, the questions
she wanted to ask Macbeth only kept multiplying inside her
head. What had he meant when he said the Weird Sisters had made
them desperate enough to accept that spell? She could guess
that the spell he was speaking of was the one that bound them
together and gave them immortality, but how had they had been
manipulated into letting it be cast upon them? Why exactly had
the Weird Sisters forced her mother into betraying Macbeth, and
what did it have to do with Canmore becoming king? What had
been her mother’s relationship with Macbeth’s family if it were
strong enough to keep her from betraying them, even when she
suspected Macbeth was about to betray her?
She didn’t know when or if she would ever
get these questions asked and some of the other things Macbeth
had said made her feel sick inside when she thought about them.
She couldn’t get Macbeths words out of her head, that he and
Demona been nothing but the Weird Sister’s puppets to play with
and torment for almost a thousand years. She had always thought
that her mother must have been exaggerating when she told Angela
that she had no idea what Demona had lived through while Angela
was safe on Avalon. The young female’s stomach did an uneasy
flip, now however she wasn’t so sure about that, not after what
Macbeth had said about the Weird Sisters making sure they never
found contentment, much less happiness for very long before they
destroyed it.
“Demona must have cast a spell on him,”
Brooklyn spoke up suddenly.
“No!” growled Angela, glaring at him.
“Angela,” chastised Goliath.
She looked up at her father gliding above
and in front of them, “Demona didn’t cast a spell on him, what
Macbeth told us about the battle between the Magus and the Weird
Sisters was how it happened.”
“You must have told her about it in the
Labyrinth that’s how she knew,” said Brooklyn staring at her
with a frown that said clearly to her that he had thought she
was over defending Demona.
“I didn’t tell her about that,” Angela
said, “I remember all of our conversations, and I never told her
that story.”
Goliath slowed, came down to glide beside
her, “You are certain Angela? This is very important,” he
rumbled.
She looked over at him, “I am certain
father. I never told her about it,” she frowned, “I don’t think
I’ve told anyone here about it.”
Goliath looked around the clan, everyone
was shaking their heads, they had never heard about the battle
either. He sighed deeply, rising and sweeping his wings to move
him out in front to the clan leader’s position once again, in
many ways he would have rather her answer been yes, it would
have made everything much simpler to understand. This tale of
an intervening spirit showing Demona and Macbeth scenes of the
past, showing them that Demona had been forced by the Weird
Sisters into betraying Macbeth sounded like a tale out of a
story to him. As for the other part of what Macbeth had told
them, that he and Demona’s immortality had actually been the
Archmage’s revenge upon Demona for giving Goliath half of the
Phoenix Gate and for helping Goliath and Hudson get the
Grimorium from the Archmage to save Prince Malcolm’s life.
Goliath didn’t know what to think of that, he still remembered
only too well the way Demona had deftly manipulated his emotions
and tricked him into giving her his half of the Phoenix Gate
during the wedding of Fox and David Xanatos.
He couldn’t blame Brooklyn for assuming
this was all another deception of Demona’s, the way everything
was falling into place to blame anyone else but her for what had
happened in the past had all the markings of yet another one of
her schemes. It was much easier to believe that Demona had cast
a spell on Macbeth to make him believe that these things were
true than to believe the tale that he had given them. However,
Angela was right, the fact that Macbeth knew what had happened
during the battle between the Magus and the three fey gave
credence to his tale. His head rose thoughtfully, that didn’t
mean though that she hadn’t found another source for the tale,
his ex mate seemed endlessly able to find out information that
she shouldn’t know, such as finding out Angela was her daughter
before setting herself up to be caught and imprisoned in the
Labyrinth.
“Angela I’m sorry, but even if everything
Macbeth told us was true, it doesn’t change the fact that
Demona’s been attacking us ever since we first woke up,”
Brooklyn said in a conciliatory tone. “And it doesn’t change
the fact that just a few weeks ago she deceived all of us and
hired someone to kill Goliath so she could try and take over the
clan.”
Goliath frowned, Brooklyn was right, but he
didn’t want this to be the start of their arguing over Demona
again. That had been the one good thing to come out of Demona’s
attempt to kill him; Angela had finally seen Demona for who she
was instead of who she wanted her mother to be.
Angela didn’t respond for a long moment,
and when she did the sorrow in his daughters voice tore at
Goliaths heart, “I know, but doesn’t it explain why she’s the
way she is? After a thousand years of being under the Weird
Sister’s control, of them following the Archmage’s orders to
make sure she experienced mostly bitterness and hate for that
entire time, is it surprising that she’s hateful and bitter?”
“She has a point,” Broadway commented to
Brooklyn, earning himself a smile from Angela in the process,
“if Macbeth is right wouldn’t you sort of expect Demona to be
exactly the way she is?”
“Enough,” Goliath ordered, “We will discuss
this more when we return to the castle and Elisa and Hudson can
join us.” The clan leader turned his attention back to watching
out for any threat to his clan, but he could not get out of his
mind his daughter’s words or Macbeth’s words that Demona had
been punished for loving him.
8:05 pm – Wyvern Castle atop the Eyrie
Building in Upper Manhattan
“Oh boy,” said Elisa, in the silence that
followed Goliath’s recital of what he had learned from Macbeth.
There were only three of them in the room, Goliath, Hudson and
Elisa, the big lavender male had sent the others out on patrol.
“What does that mean lass?” asked the
elderly Hudson.
She met his eyes solemnly, “That either
this is the cruelest thing she’s ever done to Macbeth or it’s
the truth.”
Goliath sighed loudly, “That was my thought
as well,” he admitted. “Angela believes Macbeth’s tale,
Brooklyn believes it is another of Demona’s schemes. I had
hoped one of you would see clearer what the truth might be, for
it cannot be both.”
“I’m sorry Goliath, but I just don’t know,”
Elisa admitted, “I don’t have enough information to make that
call.”
“Then perhaps that’s what we need more of,”
Hudson observed.
Elisa and Goliath stared at him for a
second, then Elisa nodded, “You’re right, we need more
information. There’s no way we can decide which of the two
possibilities is the right one with what we know.” She frowned,
“There’s just one thing that puzzles me…” her voice trailed off
as a crease formed between her brows.
“What Elisa?” asked Goliath after a few
seconds.
Her eyes focused on him, “Why she seemed to
be so calm this morning. We expected her to be furious over the
kidnapping and ready to taunt us with how we couldn’t stop her
from going after Jon Canmore. She wasn’t, if anything I think
she’s not even planning on going after him right now.” She told
them about the two cryptic answers Demona had given them this
morning. “If she guessed that we were going to ask if Jon
Canmore kidnapped her, then that was a yes he did, and then the
no was her answer to whether or not she was going after him.”
“You didn’t mention that earlier,” noted
Hudson before Goliath could say anything.
The dark haired woman grimaced, “I didn’t
want to bring up how she threatened to call the captain and
mention we were there asking questions in front of Xanatos. He
would have found it entirely too amusing.”
“But you are a detective; you are supposed
to question people when you suspect a crime has been committed,”
said Goliath.
Elisa gave him a wry smile, “Yes, but
unless we’re assigned to the case we don’t really have a right
to go around asking questions just because we feel like it.
Demona’s never pointed that out before today, though I’m sure
she’s been just as aware of it as we have. She’s always taken
the opportunity to glare at me and not so subtly gloat over us
not being able to stop her. This morning however, it was clear
that she wasn’t interested in doing either and that’s what
puzzles me. Now I don’t know whether to think it’s because
she’s in the middle of planning something big, or because she’s
still reeling from shock at learning about the past and neither
I nor Jon Canmore seems that important to her right now.”
“She has not been behaving as we expect
ever since the kidnapping,” Goliath observed darkly.
Hudson observed dryly, “If she’s in shock
that will stop soon enough.”
Elisa nodded, “And then she’ll be angry.
The question is will she be angrier with the Weird Sisters or
with Goliath and I?” She let that point hang in the air for a
moment before continuing, “Of course, that’s only something we
have to worry about if what Macbeth said is true and this isn’t
the start of some big scheme of hers, in which case we need to
figure out what she’s plotting.” She sighed, “And in the middle
of all this it’s time for me to go undercover and work on
infiltrating the Quarrymen, so it will be up to you guys to
figure out what’s going on with Demona. I won’t be able to
contact you for a week or so while I’m setting up my cover. At
least it seems like Demona won’t be in the middle of that trying
to attack the Quarrymen for her kidnapping,” she noted ruefully
remembering their concerns of just a few days ago.
“Be careful Elisa,” rumbled Goliath, more
concerned now about her safety than about whatever Demona was
planning.
Hudson added, “Aye lass, be very careful.”
“I will be,” she assured them, “now let’s
call the others in from patrol, we need to explain things so
Angela understands that we still need to be wary of what
Demona’s planning no matter which of the two possibilities are
true.”
8:15 pm Destine Manor – Forest Hills
Gardens Long Island
“Are you sure you’ll be comfortable with me
like this?” asked Demona, she was lying on the couch with her
head resting in Kendra’s lap.
“Oh yes,” replied the dark haired woman
with a smile as she stroked through the gargoyle’s thick red
tresses, “My computer’s right here and I have a drink, I’ll be
fine for the hour to ninety minutes that you’re going to spend
in the spirit realm.”
Kendra’s hand brushed lightly against
Demona’s ear, sending tingles down throughout her body, it was
all the gargoyle could do to resist the impulse to roll onto her
back and invite her lover’s touch on more than just her hair.
It had however, been days since she visited the Ancient One for
a magic lesson. With the clan aware that something had
happened, and very likely on their way to Macbeth tonight to
find out what, it made it even more urgent for her to learn as
much as she could, as quickly as she could, before the Weird
Sisters realized that their puppets had cut their strings and
came looking for them.
“The sooner you go the sooner you will be
back,” Kendra said softly, and with a knowing glint in her
eyes. Her hand settled on the gargoyle’s shoulder, and she
shifted her attention on the laptop sitting on the side table as
if to say that she wouldn’t offer any further distractions.
Demona stared up at her lover’s profile for
a moment longer, admiring the strong planes of her face, the
dark sweep of her brows over the sapphire blue eyes, the soft
fullness of her lips. She tore her eyes away from Kendra’s face
and focused on the fireplace instead, looking at her lover was
definitely not getting her any closer to the spirit realm.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused.
She felt the shift in realities and opened
her eyes looking around her in fascination at the shadowy
outline of her house. She could see her body lying upon the
couch with her head in Kendra’s lap; her lover was staring down
at her still form with a tender expression upon her face. Here
Demona could safely say what her heart had been telling her for
days, “I think I’ve already fallen in love with you,” she
whispered to herself. She watched for a moment longer until
Kendra turned back to her laptop, and then she turned around and
started with surprise as she saw the massive form of the Irish
Elk spirit.
“Chosen,” he greeted her.
Demona stared at him, wondering if he had
been there long enough to overhear her, “Ancient One,” she
responded.
His massive head turned as he surveyed
their surroundings, “This is your home?” The gargoyle nodded,
looking around and wondering what the spirit thought of it,
though she rather doubted he thought much about the show of
wealth and power it represented given his nature. “Let us go
outside,” the Ancient One said, “there is enough nature and life
magic there for us to have our lesson.” She frowned slightly
looking around the room once, he was right there was very little
life or nature energy inside her home, perhaps she should do
something to correct that, the possibility certainly existed
that she might need it someday.
The gargoyle watched in surprise as the
great stag strode though the shadowy wall of the house before
following. She turned back and looked at the wall thoughtfully
after she had passed through it; she hadn’t realized that such a
thing was possible.
“This is but an image of the living world;
the things you see here are only as solid as you believe them to
be,” the spirit commented drawing her attention.
Her green eyes narrowed on him, “So why did
we always walk around the trees?”
“It is easiest to treat the things we see
as solid,” he replied calmly, “unless there is a reason not
to.” The two of them stopped once they were out in the large
yard surrounding her home. The stag spirit turned his great
head and looked at her, “Has anything of note occurred since our
last meeting?”
Of note, Demona considered his question,
there had been many things that had happened since they last
spoke. “Many things,” she replied, “For one, the clan is
undoubtedly seeking out Macbeth tonight to ask him why we aren’t
enemies anymore.”
“Chosen,” the Ancient One interrupted,
staring into her eyes.
Of course, the gargoyle realized, there was
a much easier way to do this rather than relating everything
aloud. She met the Irish Elk’s brown eyes, and thought about
what she wanted to share with him. Demona wasn’t sure how many
minutes had passed when the connection between her and the
spirit ended, she was only certain that she had shared more with
the great stag spirit than she had originally intended.
“You are correct in thinking that your body
feels young again my chosen,” the Irish Elk said, confirming the
gargoyles thought, for she had certainly not intended to share
the difficulty she was having controlling herself around
Kendra. “If you will recall when I transfused some of my life
energy into you to attune you to the energies of life and nature
and to grant you immortality?”
Demona was embarrassed, but now she was
also curious, for it sounded as if the Ancient One knew of a
reason for what she had been feeling. She nodded in response to
his question; she didn’t think she would ever forget that moment
when she had shared awareness with so many creatures and even
with the planet itself.
“Your physical body was renewed as well in
that instant,” the great stag spirit stated.
“My body wasn’t being kept young by the fey
enchantments?” She asked with a frown.
The Irish Elk shook his antlered head, “Not
in the same manner. Your physical appearance did not change,
but I suspect you had been noticing for some time that wounds
hurt more than they had in the past, and perhaps took slightly
longer to heal. You very likely felt the many years of your
existence as well.” He looked over at her inquiringly.
Demona had noticed that the years seemed to
be weighing on her more heavily; knowing about her daughter had
helped the feeling, but had not caused it to disappear
entirely. “Yes, I did feel that way,” she paused, realizing
that the past tense of her statement was appropriate, she didn’t
feel that way any longer, “but not anymore,” she said feeling
slightly shocked. No wonder she was feeling as if she were a
young gargoyle, apparently she was one again.
“As for the other matter of which you are
concerned,” the Ancient One said, gazing directly at her, “your
conduct in, and feelings about, driving the human out of your
domain. I am satisfied that you never seriously considered
attacking him, the impulse was fleeting and arose more out of
your anger that he was scorning you and your chosen mate. The
fact that his words showed that he was not a suitable choice for
the position which he filled in your domain also angered you,
though I believe some of that anger was at yourself for not
noticing such an obvious failing in him earlier. If I
understand his…job in your company correctly, his responsibility
was to protect those in your domain from unfair judgments based
on their characteristics not on how they carried out their
duties?”
Demona nodded; relieved that the great stag
wasn’t displeased with the way she had acted. She had been
almost certain that he would be disappointed with the vengeful
way she had driven the human from her company. After all,
during the entire time she was finding the information needed to
fire the human and arranging for that process to take place, the
thought that Mr. Samuel Cleveland had any inherent worth had
hardly crossed her mind at all.
“Then clearly he was unfit for that
position, as he was one of the ones from which your employees
needed protection,” the Ancient One pointed out, “therefore you
were correct in driving him away from your domain. As for the
feelings you felt while doing so, and your concern that I would
disapprove of them, chosen I did not mislead you when I said
that seeing the inherent worth in others was something you
should strive toward. I could tell from your thoughts that part
of your difficulty in seeing the inherent worth in him was
because it became obvious to you that he did not respect or see
the worth of you, the young jaguar, or others, only himself and
those like him.”
“You’re right,” Demona agreed after a
moment of silent thought. “That was most of what was fueling my
anger toward him.” She paused and stared at him, a frown
forming upon her face, “How do you know so much about my company
and about business in general, it doesn’t seem like something
you would have spent time observing.”
He gave her what she thought was an amused
look, “Chosen you did invite me to be with you this morning, and
you shared your thoughts with me, between the two, I have
learned much about your domain from you today.”
The gargoyle opened her mouth as if to say
something and then closed it again, staring at him in rueful
embarrassment, “Of course, I should have realized that,” she
finally stated.
“We should begin your lesson,” the Ancient
One said after a few seconds, “what I have to teach you tonight
is very different from what you have learned so far. Tonight
you will learn how to shield yourself from the elements and from
magical attacks.”
An hour later, Demona took in a deep breath
and stirred on Kendra’s lap; she opened her eyes and blinked
against the brightness of the room. A hand appeared, blocking
the light, “Hey, welcome back,” her lover whispered softly.
Demona smiled, before she could say anything Kendra asked,
“Hungry love?”
The smile on Demona’s lips grew at her use
of the word, “I’m starving,” the gargoyle admitted, “We did a
lot of magical work tonight.” Learning how to shape the shields
out of the available nature energy had taken up most of her time
with the Ancient One, then he had started lobbing magical
spheres at her that she had to block with them.
“If you’ll let me up, I’ll start heating
water for your noodles,” Kendra offered.
The flame haired gargoyle sat up, and swung
her legs around and stood up, “That’s alright. I want to tell
you about what I learned tonight.” The two of them set off for
the kitchen with Demona explaining rather animatedly to her
lover how the Ancient One had taught her to pull together the
free nature energy in the air and earth to form a transparent
lattice like shield to block magical attacks.
Once Demona had eaten, and they had put the
dishes they had used into the dishwasher and started it, the
gargoyle turned toward Kendra, reluctantly she said, “I need to
work for about an hour and then I’ll be done for the night, I
can get most of the rest of it done on the way to Nightstone
tomorrow.”
Kendra looked at her in surprise, the
redhead had already worked some after they finished dinner. She
hadn’t realized that Demona had yet more she needed to get done
tonight. “I can use the time to work out,” she offered.
The flash of an image went through Demona’s
mind of the last time Kendra had worked out, her lover lying on
the free weight bench wearing just a white sports bra and very
low riding sweat pants, every muscle taunt and outlined as she
bench-pressed the weight bar. The gargoyle cleared her throat,
“That sounds good,” her tail twitched briefly as she realized
how much of her current thoughts her voice had given away.
Her lover’s blue eyes sharpened on her,
Kendra turned her head slightly to the side and stared at the
fiery haired gargoyle for a moment before a smug looking grin
curved her lips. “Good then, you know where to find me when
you’re done with your work,” the black haired woman’s voice was
a husky, sensual purr.
Demona stared after the black haired woman
as she turned and sauntered down the hallway. Somehow, she
didn’t doubt that Kendra was going to change into a similar
outfit to work out in as the one she had wore on Sunday.
Forty-five minutes later the gargoyle shut
down the computer in her study. The constant low level of
arousal she had felt the entire time from knowing that Kendra
was waiting for her upstairs didn’t trouble her so much tonight.
The information the Ancient One had shared with her, that her
physical body had been renewed as well in the moment the spirit
chose her, explained exactly why she had been feeling as if her
body were young again and slightly out of her control. She
paused in the doorway of her study as an odd thought ran though
her mind, just how old was her body she wondered, and was it
possible that she and Kendra were now physically close to the
same age? She shook her head bemused, she wasn’t even certain
it was relevant what her physical age was, after all she still
had the experiences of living for over a thousand years.
It only took Demona a few minutes to make
her way up the stairs and to the open door of the workout room.
Instead of a white bra and navy sweat pants, Kendra was wearing
a black bra and black sweat pants tonight. The gargoyle paused
in the doorway to watch her lover. She smirked, she had arrived
just in time, Kendra was doing bench presses. The fiery haired
gargoyle’s eyes drank in the sight before her, watching how the
muscles in her lover’s arms and shoulders bunched and strained
as Kendra lifted the heavy set of weights on the bar. The
muscles of her bare stomach were taunt and hard from the strain;
sweat caused the dusky olive skin to glisten slightly in the
light making their flexing with every repetition easier for the
watching gargoyle to observe. Finally, the black haired woman
set the weight bar back on its supports and locked it in place.
“No stay there,” ordered Demona softly as
she entered the room, forestalling Kendra’s movement to get up
from the bench.
“I’m sweaty,” Kendra warned her breathily
as the gargoyle approached the black haired woman.
“Yes, I can see that,” the gargoyle said as
she stood over her lover and carefully ran her hand over the
dusky skin of her bare stomach. She watched intently as the
muscles underneath her touch bunched and tightened and she heard
Kendra exhale in a long breath as her hand drew closer to the
waistband of the low riding sweatpants. Her tone almost
conversational except for a certain huskiness to it, she asked,
“Do you know what I wanted to do Sunday, but I couldn’t because
Gregory was coming by to pick us up?” She slipped her taloned
fingers just underneath the material of the sweatpants and
looked up to meet Kendra’s darkening blue eyes.
“Not exactly,” whispered Kendra, watching
her intently.
“This,” Demona said, slowly pulling down
the sweatpants, her eyes never leaving Kendra’s even as the
black haired woman lifted her hips slightly so that she could
remove them. Once they were down below Kendra’s hips, the
gargoyle looked down at the small strands of black lace and the
triangle of fabric that shielded her lover’s intimate softness
from her view. The gargoyle smirked, “Somehow I doubt this is
what you usually wear under these while lifting weights.”
Kendra grinned, her tone mischievous, she
teased, “I guess you’ll just have to keep checking to make that
determination.”
“Mmm,” Demona murmured with a soft chuckle
as she knelt at the end of the bench and pulled the sweatpants
the rest of the way off Kendra’s legs and dropped them on the
floor, “I’ll have to keep that in mind.” The gargoyle rose to
her taloned feet once again and ran her hands back up along her
lover’s powerful thighs to the thin black bands of lace. “Have
you been thinking of me?” Demona asked inhaling deeply of the
rich fragrance of her lover’s arousal as she lifted the thin
band and began running her finger slowly back and forth
underneath it along the dusky skin of Kendra’s hip. They both
knew that the slightest pressure of her talon would easily slice
the fabric in two.
“Can’t you tell?” whispered the black
haired woman.
Demona looked up, met Kendra’s eyes and
inhaled again, “Yes,” she ran her tongue teasingly over her
lips. The flicker of blue eyes downward briefly and an indrawn
breath rewarded her, her eyes wandered up her lover’s body,
coming to rest on the black bra. She left her play with the
strand of black lace, smirking at Kendra’s disappointed sounding
sigh and slid her hands up her lover’s side. She hooked her
fingers underneath the thick fabric of the sports bra and lifted
and pulled it upward, releasing the soft swells with their
stiffly budded tips from its confinement.
Demona continued sliding the bra upward and
over Kendra’s head, she stopped before pulling it all the way
off, pinning Kendra’s arms over her head with it instead. The
scarlet haired gargoyle stared silently for a long moment with
hungry eyes at the sight of her lover, her arms stretched out
over her head, her lithely muscular body with its feminine
curves bare to her gaze except for the small triangle of black
fabric. When Demona next moved it was to bend down and claim
Kendra’s full lips with hers in a passionate, hungry kiss. When
their lips parted, the gargoyle said in a low, intent tone,
“This isn’t going to be stable enough for what I want to do to
you tonight, let’s move to the bedroom.” She released the
fabric of the bra clenched in her fist and moved a step back
from the bench.
Kendra stared up at her for a moment before
sitting up and bringing her arms down, the sports bra still
around her wrists, “And what might that be?” she asked gazing at
the gargoyle with intrigued eyes.
Demona just smiled mysteriously and took a
step back toward the door.
The black haired woman cocked her head to
the side, she rose from the bench and held up her wrists, “Did
you want this left on?” she asked with a smirk, “I wasn’t sure
if you weren’t getting in touch with your inner dominatrix there
for a second or not.”
The comment caught the gargoyle by surprise
and she stared at Kendra for a moment before she smirked,
reached out and grabbed the proffered fabric once again, “What
an interesting suggestion,” she purred. The brief widening of
her lover’s sapphire blue eyes almost caused her to chuckle,
Kendra obviously hadn’t expected Demona to take her up on the
offer. “Come along,” she said tugging lightly on the impromptu
bonds.
Kendra studied her intently for a moment
before moving, they were almost to the bedroom door before she
tried again, “So not even a hint?”
“Patience,” Demona counseled her, leading
her over to the bed. She turned Kendra around so that she was
facing her and leaning back against the mattress. She pulled
the bra from around her lover’s wrists, dropped it on the floor,
and then knelt in front of the woman. She ignored Kendra’s
questioning utterance of her name as she started lightly biting
and kissing along the taunt muscular thigh in front of her,
tasting the sweat of Kendra’s exertions and testing the tautness
of the muscles with her teeth. Sunday night this had almost
been enough to make her come; she hoped her lover’s legs proved
to be as sensitive. “You are so beautiful,” she whispered
against the dusky skin, “so strong and powerful.” She drew her
teeth and lips back up along the line of muscle to her inner
thigh, close enough to easily smell how aroused Kendra was, “I
ache to claim you, to mark you as mine tonight,” she whispered.
It was close enough to what the black
haired woman had said to her Sunday night for Kendra to realize
what the gargoyle wanted to do tonight. “Oh yes,” Kendra
whispered she reached down and cupped the gargoyle’s head,
pressing her lips harder against the dusky skin, “Please.” The
sweet mixture pleasure and pain of the hard suckling of Demona’s
lips and teeth against her skin was almost like a small mating
bite. Kendra arched against it feeling it radiating into her
groin and dragging a loud groan from her lips, “Oh yes my love,
yes, yours.”
Demona shuddered at the words, after a
moment her hard suckling softened into gentle kisses across the
reddened skin, and with her hands, she urged Kendra to move onto
the bed. Demona felt almost hot and fevered with the desire to
lay claim to Kendra, and yet at the same time she felt an
overwhelming need to show her lover how much she loved and
cherished her. She followed Kendra down onto the bed grasping
and holding the woman still as she explored her stomach with her
mouth. She ignored the efforts of her lover to squirm away as
she hit ticklish spots, though she left those quickly, not
wanting to annoy Kendra instead of arouse her, and slowed over
the places that caused her lover to make sounds of pleasure.
Finally, she let Kendra turn over, but only
because it allowed her access to her lover’s backside. She had
noticed before that though Kendra did not have wings nor wing
joints, the black haired woman’s back was wonderfully sensitive,
especially when one gently bit along the muscular area on either
side of her spine…
December 9th, 1997
Morning Nightstone Unlimited HQ, Lower
East Side Manhattan
“Jean,” Kendra greeted the muscular
ebony-skinned man warmly as he rose from behind his desk, “how
are you doing these days.”
“I’m doing well,” he glanced meaningfully
at the open door behind her.
Casually, Kendra took a step backward and
closed it behind her, before going over and accepting his brief
hug.
“It’s been a few years since Andre and I
have seen you out,” he commented as he sat back down in his
chair. “He misses you,” his wide grin was very white.
Sinking down into the comfortable looking
chair on the other side of his desk, Kendra commented, “You may
see me out again sometime soon.” Though it wouldn’t be before
Dominique stopped working so hard, she thought to herself, they
hadn’t even time for dancing lessons right now.
“With Ms. Dominique Destine?” he asked
shrewdly.
Kendra raised an eyebrow, “Well that was
hardly a subtle fishing attempt.”
“Did I need to be subtle?” he inquired,
looking slightly amused.
She stared at him evenly, “I’m not
answering that question. Inside this building she’s both your
boss and mine.”
He gazed at her for a moment, then his lips
curved in a grin, “That could be taken for an answer in and of
itself,” he pointed out.
She shrugged, “Take it as you wish, but I
meant it,” her voice firmed noticeably as her sapphire blue eyes
met his.
He raised an eyebrow and held up his hands
as if surrendering, “Understood,” he replied in a purposefully
mollifying tone. The two of them stared at one another for a
moment before he settled back in his chair and asked, “So what’s
this about Nightstone investing in fuel cell technology?” he
inquired, changing the topic.
Early afternoon Nightstone Unlimited HQ,
Lower East Side Manhattan
“What do you think of some of these
proposed employee benefits?” Dominique slowed as she recognized
the voice of her secretary, Candice. Her green eyes narrowed as
she waited to see if she could identify who the woman was
talking to, Candice should know better than to gossip about this
matter, it was not supposed to be general company knowledge at
this time.
“Personally I’m hoping we can implement the
child and elder care benefits,” the redhead relaxed as she
recognized the voice of the Administrative Division manager,
Mrs. Merritt, “My mother had a stroke four months ago. She’s
living with my husband and I right now, and I’ve got a nurse
that comes in during the day to check on her while we’re at
work, but I’d like to get her into one of those nice adult day
care programs. Right now we’re too short of money to do it
because we’re paying two college tuitions, that’s the downside
they don’t mention when they tell you to have your kids within a
few years of each other,” she noted ruefully.
“Will the pre-tax fund make that much of a
difference?” Candice asked.
By now Dominique was standing motionless in
the hallway just out of sight of her secretary’s desk, she was
curious about Mrs. Merritt’s answer as well.
“Oh yes,” the older woman answered, “Even
with my cap for my salary I’ll still be able to put back enough
each month to pay for the day care program I want to put her in,
and the money I save in taxes will be just enough to allow us to
do it.”
Dominique was almost about to begin walking
again when Mrs. Merrill said, “What about yourself?”
When Candice answered, her voice had a shy,
diffident tone that the redhead had never heard from the woman
before, “Well my husband and I have been thinking about having a
baby, but we just haven’t been sure we were in a good enough
financial position to afford it with the cost of child care and
everything.”
“Good child care is expensive,” agreed Mrs.
Merrill in a knowledgeable voice.
“I know,” Candice responded, “and I don’t
want to hire someone who might go off and leave my child alone
during the day. Don and I were taking last night and if Ms.
Destine approves it, I think we’re going to go ahead and try.
I’d like to have my baby before I get much older, I’m already
twenty-seven and I’m starting to get worried I won’t be able to
keep up with a child if I wait too much longer.”
Dominique didn’t really want to hear any
more, the idea that her decision whether or not to implement an
employee benefit could have an effect on her secretary’s choice
of when to have a child unsettled her. She started walking
again only to stop abruptly when she heard Mrs. Merrill say,
“What do you think is going on with Ms. Destine?”
When Candice responded her voice was even
lower than it had been, and Dominique had to strain to hear her
words, “You mean the absence of the completely foul mood she
used to regularly arrive at work with?”
The redhead eavesdropping on the
conversation scowled at this.
Mrs. Merrill commented, “Doesn’t she seem
almost…happy to you these days?”
The scowl faded into almost a bemused look,
Dominique hadn’t realized her employees paid so much attention
to her moods that they had noticed.
“My guess is it’s that really distinguished
looking gentleman, Professor Lennox MacDuff, that came up to see
her the morning she came back to work,” Candice confided. “I
thought she was going to kiss him she looked so pleased to see
him.” Dominique’s green eyes widened at the completely
erroneous conclusion her secretary had drawn, while Candice
continued, “Though those two detectives looked as if they’d seen
a ghost when they saw Ms. Destine greet him, I can’t figure
that, or the strange things they said, out at all,” she added in
a puzzled tone.
“So you think she’s dating him?” Mrs.
Merrill asked her interest obvious.
“Weren’t you the one who just pointed out
that she looks happy these days?” pointed out Candice, “and I
haven’t seen anyone else visiting that she could be seeing.”
Mrs. Merrill chuckled, “There is that,
isn’t there.”
Sensing that the conversation was over
Dominique began walking up the hallway once again, gazing at the
reports in her hand as if she were reading them.
“Ms. Destine,” Mrs. Merrill said, the
redhead looked up from the papers in her hand and raised an
inquiring eyebrow at the chestnut haired woman standing by her
secretary’s desk. “I’ve got my Division’s report on instituting
flexible working hours completed,” the Administrative Division
manager held out a folder.
“Thank you, Mrs. Merrill,” Dominique
replied as she accepted it, she glanced at the papers inside
briefly before looking up again, “was there something else you
needed?” she inquired a touch of coolness entering her voice.
She might not be in a completely foul mood anymore as Candice
had put it, but that didn’t mean that she would suddenly put up
with people standing around gossiping while she paid them.
“No Ms. Destine,” the chestnut haired woman
promptly straightened, turned and headed toward the elevators.
The redhead looked after her for only a second before turning
and heading toward her office. Dominique put the report Mrs.
Merrill had just handed her on her desk as she passed it by, and
then she went to the window and stared out at the city for a
moment, thinking of what she had just overheard. She was still
surprised that Candice would think that she and Macbeth were
romantically involved; there hadn’t been anything lover-like, at
least to her mind, in their greeting at all. As for the first
part of the conversation, it reminded her of the name of the
Bison’s chosen Rachael had given her to call.
She walked over to her desk and pulled out
her purse, searching for the thin address book where she had
written down the information. Margaret Jackson, she found the
page with the name and a few numbers, she hesitated only for a
second longer before dialing the number, not really wanting to
examine too closely why being able to implement all the benefits
she had set her Human Resources Division investigating had
become more important to her. As she listened to the dial tone,
Dominique’s thoughts wandered to her daughter, and the redhead
wondered how the young gargoyle was doing. Despite the current
situation between them, Dominique was grateful that she even had
a daughter to worry about her relationship with, for it was a
strange turn of events that lead to Angela growing up on Avalon
with its much slower time so that the young female was alive in
this time instead of being dead centuries ago.
“Hello Margaret Jackson speaking,” the
pleasant alto voice on the other end of the phone jarred
Dominique out of her thoughts.
“This is Dominique Destine; Rachael gave me
your number,” the redhead responded.
“Dominique Destine?” the woman repeated
sounding confused, then there was an, “Ohh…” of realization
before Margaret continued, “sorry, yes, Rachael contacted me and
told me you might get in touch with me about increasing the
number of employee benefits you offer. I believe it’s
Nightstone Unlimited?”
“Yes,” Dominique replied, “Rachael
mentioned that you might be able to assist us with choosing
which benefits will offer the most gain within the limits of
Nightstone’s budget.”
Margaret responded somewhat hesitantly,
“She mentioned something to me about coming up and visiting the
same week she was going to stay with you?”
“She did say something about you wanting to
visit New York, but wasn’t certain whether…” Dominique paused
searching for the right words.
Margaret chuckled, “You weren’t sure if
Rachael was right, and I wanted to work for play tickets and a
place to stay?”
“I’m quite willing to pay your usual
consultancy fee,” the redhead assured her.
“That’s alright, I haven’t seen Rachael in
quite a few years, and I’d like to meet you and Kendra as well,
and even maybe young Robert if that’s at all possible. So a
working vacation in New York City doesn’t sound bad at all,” the
Bison’s chosen assured her. “What day is Rachael coming up?”
“The nineteenth,” Dominique replied, “we’re
going to spend solstice together,” she hesitated only for a
second to wonder if Kendra would mind and then decided that she
wouldn’t, “did you want to celebrate solstice with us as well?”
“That would be wonderful,” replied Margaret
warmly, “I could come up earlier in the week and get started on
looking over your information. It usually takes me about two
weeks or so to get my recommendations together.”
“I already have my Human Resources Division
doing a feasibility study, at least some of them should be
completed by that time,” Dominique said.
Margaret responded, “That will help me out
a lot, which benefits are you looking at?”
“Flexible working hours, telecommuting,
pre-tax elder and childcare accounts, and extending the health
care plan for spouses to domestic partners,” Dominique rattled
off the list she had sent to Human Resources.
There was a brief moment of silence before
the Bison’s chosen replied, “Well that’s certainly an excellent
mix of choices that benefit both you and your employees as well
as some that are very helpful to your employees. The only other
thing I would suggest would be seeing if you can arrange for
company discounts at a few of the nicer accredited care programs
in your area, but that can always be looked into later after
you’ve decided whether to implement the pre-tax care plan or
not.”
They had just finished arranging for
Margaret’s flight when a light knock on the door drew
Dominique’s attention. The redhead frowned, “Margaret, I need
just a moment, there’s someone at my office door.”
She was still frowning when she opened the
door only to see Kendra there, the frown turned into a smile as
she motioned the other woman in, “I’m talking to Margaret.
She’s going to be flying in early next week and we were just
discussing where she will stay while she’s here,” she said
closing the door behind the black haired woman.
“That’s easy; she can stay in my
apartment. It’s reasonably close to here and convenient to
everything in the city,” Kendra said as they walked over to
Dominique’s desk.
Dominique looked at her thoughtfully for a
second, “Are you sure?” she asked.
Kendra gave her a warm smile, “I’m sure.”
The redhead smiled at her in return as she
picked back up the phone, “Margaret, Kendra’s offering her
apartment for you to stay in. It’s on the 47th floor
of the Galleria.”
Once it became clear that Margaret would
accept the offer, Kendra asked, “Is she staying over solstice?”
Dominique nodded, staring at her
questioningly.
Kendra looked thoughtful, “Why don’t we try
and get tickets for all of us one night to something, hopefully
we can get permission for Robert to go with us as well.”
“Phantom of the Opera,” Margaret said on
the phone, obviously overhearing the suggestion, “Rachael’s been
saying she would like to see that sometime and it’s on my list
of plays that I want to see as well. Robert should like it too,
provided of course that we can manage to pry him away from his
Aunt and Uncle.”
“I didn’t know you knew Robert that well,”
commented Dominique, surprised.
Margaret chuckled, “You’re new, wait until
you’ve been around for another forty or fifty years. You’ll
know everyone and their business by then as well,” she assured
Dominique. “Usually we only get new people maybe once every
twenty or so years. That’s the reason… well in your specific
case one of the reasons,” Margaret sounded amused, “why everyone
knows so much about you already, new people are rare. You and
Robert coming in within five years of each other is the most
that’s been accepted in such a short time span that I’ve ever
heard of and I’ve been around for… oh it feels like a hundred or
so years.”
Dominique’s lips twitched in amusement at
the coded way Margaret was speaking, still it was probably a
good habit to get into just in case when one didn’t know who
might be listening. What the Bison’s chosen was saying did make
a lot of sense, plus it went a long way toward explaining why it
seemed like every chosen she met already knew so much about
her. It sounded to her that this was almost as bad as a
gargoyle clan accepting in a new member, and she knew in that
case any piece of gossip about the new gargoyle would make it
though the entire clan in less than half of a night, and more
likely only a quarter.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said lightly.
Having settled a few more details of
Margaret’s stay, Dominique hung up the phone ten minutes later.
She turned toward Kendra with a smirk, “Guess what I heard
Candice and Mrs. Merrill gossiping about this afternoon.”
“What?” asked Kendra curiously.
Dominique shook her head, “Between my
relatively better mood and the way I greeted Macbeth yesterday,
they think I’m dating him.”
Kendra looked at her incredulously, and
then she shook her head, “People really do see what they expect
don’t they,” she commented thoughtfully. “However, that could
prove useful if Macbeth doesn’t mind.”
The redhead recalled their conversation
over the weekend, she smirked, “At least he has a beard,” she
commented with a chuckle, “but I don’t know if he’s seeing
anyone, or if he would be willing.” Dominique hesitated a
moment before she continued in a softer tone, “Then there’s the
fact that I’m not really sure I want to do that. I don’t want
anyone getting the idea that I’m trying to hide our relationship
as if I’m ashamed of it, because I certainly am not.”
Kendra’s expression gentled, “Then you
certainly don’t have to.”
|
