“I’m a sucker for a happy ending. Let Maza become a gargoyle and then take the eye.”
Watching the others slowly stir back awake and getting up from the ground Demona looked back to the detective and grinned, with a flourish of her hand Elisa gasped, forced up in the air and levitating off the ground and slowly being pulled towards the mad gargoyle woman. “Let us see what I can do with this newfound power.” Letting her eyes glow once again Demona began another incantation, her spells empowered by the eye in her hand. Clutching at her sides Elisa moaned and doubled over, her feet bursting out of her shoes into splayed out claws while her hands brandished clawed fingers. A tail had burst out the back of her jeans and her red jacket tore open from behind to give room to her massive black wings. Dropped unceremoniously to the floor Elisa caught her breath and felt over her body and face, surprised to feel pointed ears and stubby horns above her forehead.
Demona laughed maniacally, she could do anything, and spells too powerful or complicated for any mere mortal were but a gesture to her now. Looking over the edge of the roof overlooking the city she had one spell in mind. “With this I can finally be rid of the humans once and for all, all of them gone in an instant like a bad memory!” With her hand up in the air she conjured ethereal magic around herself, light and energy poured out from the jewelled eye in her claw, all it would take were a few more seconds and all of mankind would blink out of existence.
“YOINK!”
Snatching up the eye, unseen by all, Puck switched it with a banana. The instant it happened the stormy skies, the dark aura, the multi-colored lightning stopped with a ‘phhht!’
Wide eyed and confused Demona slowly lowered her hand to see the yellow skinned fruit she grasped with her fingers, staring out over the horizon of the city by night and turned around to look at the gargoyles get up from the ground. Angry and ready to start a fight. “Uhm… Huh.” Surrounded by her former clan Demona raised her hands up, a look of defeat in her eyes. “I give up.”
“You’re damn right you do!”
*
Back in Avalon…
Odin sat in front of the fire in one of the castle’s great halls, reading a book and sipping a mug of cider. Turning the page and lifting his drink to take another swig Puck teleported in front of him and… “BOOSH!” Slapped the golden eye back into his empty socket, and with enough force to make his chair roll back and spill his drink.
“Maybe next time you’ll keep that damn thing in your head!”
Snapping his fingers Puck disappeared just as quickly as he popped up, leaving the confused lord of Asgard to blink with both eyes and look around in surprise. “What in the name of frost bitten Fenris was that?”
*
Returning to New York with a flash of light Puck floated and danced over Xanatos like a balloon while he and the lords of Avalon stood at the roof of the Empire State Building, where this all came full circle.
“It is done then?” Asked the tall blue skinned fairy kind, his arms crossed and his finger tapping his arm in impatience.
“Oh yes, its done, the eye is back with Odin, Demona’s been contained and there is NO chance of a plague of dragons infesting and destroying the city over the next few days.”
“Good… If the matter is done, we shall be on our way.” Raising her hand Titannia conjured a bubble of light surrounding herself and her husband, ready to return to Avalon.
“NOT so fast, I’ve got one more condition I want you to carry out before the night ends.”
Dropping her arms and huffing in annoyance Titannia looked like she was going to fume, rolling her eyes at her time being wasted. “What? What is it now?”
*
Elisa squeezed her eyes shut. Despite what Goliath had said she found herself unable to face the rising sun, fear gripping her heart and making her tremble. She thought that, perhaps, it would be easier if she didn’t look. Better to pretend that this was all a dream and when she awoke she would be back to normal once more.
‘As much of a shame that would be,’ a small voice in the back of her head whispered. Elisa’s lip twitched in annoyance at that stray thought. This was not the first time she’d been a gargoyle; long ago, when she’d first met the Clan, Demona had used Puck’s mirror in an attempt to get rid of her. Puck, thankfully, had used the vagueness of Demona’s words to alter the wish so that rather than kill her, as Demona wanted, Elisa was merely turned into a gargoyle. It had been a confusing night, with her memories fuzzy and confusion running rampant, but she’d never forgotten what it felt like. The Clan had never asked her about it and Elisa was glad…
…because she didn’t like focusing on how wonderful it felt.
The strength that had flowed through her. The power that seemed to hum in her veins. The primal drive that let her feel so utterly free and wild. Days after that incident she had felt as if her natural form was utterly lacking. She still woke up from dreams of flying and hunting, panting and moaning, and looked down at her normal human form and, briefly, cursed her weak body.
But she did her best to hide those thoughts. To not focus on them. To not dwell on the strange feelings that such thoughts brought out. Mostly because she knew it would never be (‘Ha! Yeah, right!’) But also because she had the feeling that those thoughts, those dreams… were not quite what the Clan dreamed.
The rays of the sun struck her face, chasing away the thoughts. She braced herself, her face screwed up… but as the seconds ticked by she slowly opened one of her eyes, then the other. She looked out at the sun-bathed New York, burrow screwed up in confusion.
“Uh… am I doing something wrong?” she asked.
“You aren’t,” Goliath said, his voice startling her. She looked over and gasped, shocked to see him and the rest of the clan standing there with befuddled looks on their faces, the sun beating down on them.
“We’re… not stone,” Lexington said.
Brooklyn nodded, holding out his hand and watching the sun dance along his taloned hand. “How… how is this possible?”
“Witchcraft,” Hudson muttered to himself.
“The Eye,” Goliath stated. “It must have done more than simply transform Elisa. We have been altered as well.” He got a strange look on his face and stopped speaking.
“Goliath?”
“The sun… it is different than what I expected,” he stated. He flexed a bit, muscles bulging out as he rolled his shoulders. “It is… warmer than I expected.”
“Yes,” Angela said. “I thought it’d be like candlelight or like the light from a lightbulb…” Goliath’s daughter stretched like a cat, a smile blooming on her face. “But it is so… wonderful!”
Elisa looked at the sky, her eyes narrowing in thought. ‘Yeah…the sun does feel different.’ She’d been growing tired as the dawn had approached but now she felt oddly revitalized. The sun’s rays were making her feel like she’d just downed 10 cups of coffee and was buzzing on the mother of all caffeine highs. She looked down at her arms, flexing that and watching as the muscles danced under her skin.
“We should explore!” Broadway said. “I’ve never seen NewYork in the light!”
“And that is exactly why we shouldn’t!” Hudson stated gruffly. “We’ll be easier to spot.”
“And we don’t know how long this will last,” Goliath stated firmly. “If we suddenly turned to stone while flying-“The rest of the Clan shuddered at the thought. “Let us stay inside, for now, and search for answers.”
“I bet Demona has an idea or two,” Brooklyn said darkly. “I’ll go talk to her.”
The rest of the clan began to head back inside the castle but Elisa’s hand caught Goliath’s forearm, holding him back. He paused, watching as the rest of the group left, before turning to face her. “What is it?”
“I…” Elisa bit her lip, squirming a bit. “Could we just…stay out here a bit?” Goliath looked at her and she smiled weakly. “I hadn’t really thought about it, what with everything that happened… but yesterday could have been the last day I ever saw the sun.” “Elisa…” Goliath said, stepping closer to her. “Puck-“
“Is Puck,” Elisa said, her wings stretching out and catching more of the sun’s rays. “We have no idea when, if ever, he’ll undo this. Hell, this could all be part of a plan of his. The point is, big guy… can we just…stay out here a bit? Enjoy the sun?” Goliath took a deep breath before nodding, taking her hand and guiding her to the ledge. “Yes, I suppose so.”
*
“There! Are you happy now SON-IN-LAW?” Making a face of displeasure Titannia glared at Xanatos with his ever charming smirk.
“Yes, I think the clan deserved that after everything that’s happened, I’ll let you know if anything else comes up that I want changed or tweaked.”
Breathing a slow breath Titannia and Oberon made their leave when. “Oh and one last thing…” Glaring back at the human both fairies stared daggers, their eyes glowing red with indignation. “Don’t forget to call your daughter, she misses…” A fiery blast of energy announced the fairy folk’s departure, leaving scortch mark on the roof wherethey stood. “You… Hmm, Puck lets head back home, something tells me things are going to be interesting from now on.”
“Oh yes, I rather agree on you with that.”