GARGOYLES: Re-Awakening

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Goliath watched Demona approaching from the distance, uncertain of how he should handle her. Tenderness felt right, but he doubted she was truly receptive any more. As she descended towards him, he found himself wishing they were still in the past, in their right time. He wished she was the Demona from then.

She landed with a whoosh in front of him.

"Xanatos is ready to speak with us?" She asked.

"We have already spoken," Goliath answered.

Demona looked surprised.

"You spoke without me?" There was a hint of anger in the question.

"There was very little to be said," Goliath answered. "He has the location of the Phoenix Gate and a way for us to enter and retrieve it. We will go tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow? Why do we delay!" Demona asked, aggressively.

"Because I chose to, and I lead our clan." Goliath answered firmly.

For a moment, an uncomfortable silence lingered between them. This was not how Goliath wanted this conversation to go, and yet the turn it was taking seemed impossible to avoid.

"And," Goliath said, much more mildly, "I must speak with you."

Goliath folded his wings around himself. He faced her squarely and set his eyes directly onto hers.

"I will not mince words," he said. "You have not told me the truth about how you have come to be here—about how you know that it was I who hid the Phoenix Gate for the Prince. You are withholding something, and if you wish me to follow your plan, you must tell me everything."

Demona narrowed her eyes, first in what looked like indignation, but then in what looked like pain. She turned suddenly, putting her back to Goliath and facing out over the city. Her wings folded down around her body and she hung her head. Goliath moved toward her, reached out and put both his hands on her shoulders.

"Demona," he said. "No more hiding. Tell me."

She began slowly, recounting the night that castle Wyvern was invaded and their clan destroyed.

"When I returned to the castle that night it had already fallen. Our brethren were still frozen in stone. I was confused, of course. I did not know how that could be. In the courtyard, I saw the invaders with the Prince and a few of the humans who were still alive. The women, some of the workers. Ailith..." Demona's voice caught in her throat.

"Your human friend," Goliath said.

"Not my friend!" Demona cried angrily. She reached over and placed a hand on the three scars on her shoulder. "Not then." Demona looked up at the moon. After a minute or so, she collected herself and then continued.

"I watched at first, waiting to see what would happen. It did not take long. The invaders were killing the humans in front of the Prince, one by one, trying to force his tongue. The Prince insisted that the Gate had been removed, that he did not know where it was, but this answer did not satisfy them. They slaughtered, and slaughtered. Finally, they came to Ailith." Demona pulled away from Goliath. "Because of my weakness—weakness for a worthless human our clan was destroyed!"

Demona's fists came down against the wall so forcefully that bits crumbled from the edges and dropped onto the ground. Goliath was startled by the sudden rage, but also concerned for her. He was reminded that he still loved her.

"What do you mean?" Goliath asked.

"When they came to Ailith, I didn't think. I attacked and knocked her free. I put up a strong fight, but there were too many."

Goliath knew to give her time to continue on her own. He did not want to push her too hard.

"The humans asked me about the Phoenix Gate, but I said I knew nothing. Their leader went wild with rage. He had come for the Gate and he would not leave without it. He knocked the Prince to the ground and held a red hot iron towards his face. The coward confessed that he had given it to you to hide away, but had instructed you not to tell him where. Since you were frozen in stone, there was no way of knowing."

Demona stopped again. Goliath decided this time to pick up the thread.

"So he discovered that it was I who had hidden it," Goliath said. "And that is how you came to know. What does that have to do with the destruction of our brothers and sisters?"

Demona's eyes were filled with tears, but they were tears of pure rage. They flashed red almost as quickly as they had watered and Demona let out her battle cry, like that of a feline hunter. Her wings burst around her and her talons curled in preparation to strike.

"The filthy humans believed that I must know the Gate's location! The Prince and his weakness made me the target of their inquiries!"

Goliath walked forward and grabbed her wrists. Holding them tight and her close. He was able to calm her and when stillness returned, he spoke.

"I see," he said to her. "So they destroyed the clan, one by one, to try to force you to speak, as the had with the Prince. To speak of something you did not know."

Demona's eyes came back and her face crumbled. "Oh, Goliath," she said, and fell into his arms.

They stayed this way for quite some time. Goliath at last felt close to her again. She had finally let her guard down, had finally let him in, but it was a bitter thing now.

"Demona," he said. "What happened is not your fault."

"If I had not tried to save that worthless Ailith..." Demona started, but was cut short by Goliath.

"The fault was mine," he said. "It was I who agreed to the Prince's plan. I knew that we were risking ourselves, night after night, for human greed—human corruption!" It was Goliaths turn to be flooded with emotions. "I should have told the Prince to hand it over! I should have told him we protected the castle, not his weapon!"

Demona sensed that the moment was right. She had Goliath where she needed him.

"Goliath, this is what I have been trying to tell you, but I didn't know how. We both made mistakes. We both were caught up in the human's treachery—in the human's pettiness. But we have a chance now. A chance to go back and stop it all. The rest does not matter. Xanatos, this time and place, my last thousand years—let them go, Goliath."

Goliath's emotions were high. He felt guilty about his role those thousand years ago. He felt guilty about not standing up to the Prince and refusing when he had ordered him to hide the Phoenix Gate. Had he done that, none of this would have happened. But it was more than just feelings of guilt, as potent as they were. He also wanted to take the path Demona laid out for him. He wanted to push aside whatever suspicions he had, whatever instincts he felt, and simply erase this horrible nightmare and return to the life he had known. Most of all, he wanted Demona back. He wanted all of that, and it was more important to him than anything else in the world. Demona sensed it too, and struck.

"Tomorrow night we seize the Gate. As soon as we are away with it we will use it to travel back and to put things right! That is the only plan that matters, Goliath!"

Demona had always been manipulative, but she had now had a millennium of opportunities to hone it to a knife's edge. Guilt and anger were a powerful combination she knew, and she had masterfully conjured both in her former lover. She could feel that Goliath was ready to go along, ready to overlook any outstanding details. The end of her suffering was within reach.