It was one am Thursday
morning for those who lived on the East Coast. Most people were asleep, or
falling asleep. The images of the semi quiet city appeared in the viewing
mirror. Closed signs hung in the doorways of several establishments. Cars were
parked along the street. Only a few crawled along the streets and not many
people walked along the sidewalks as they did during the day.
“I thought this was the
city that never sleeps,” Azurite said as he continued to watch the several
different images flicker across the polished surface of the mirror. The small
black stones set in the frame did not glow except for the very bottom
ones. If there were something with an
abundant amount of energy then several stones would have lit up from the
reading.
“Are you not tired?”
Feldspar approached him with two steaming cups. He handed one to Azurite.
“Not too tired,” Azurite
said as he accepted one of the cups. It was copper brown in color with the
images of various jewels painted along the sides. The aroma from the cup was
from a strong tealeaf. “Thank you.”
“I’ve been patrolling
along the outer perimeter,” Feldspar explained before he took a sip from his
mug. “I can barely keep my eyes open.”
Azurite shrugged. Time
ran differently in the subspace that has trapped them, but there were hours
when he and the other generals wished to.
“Finding a new target?”
Feldspar raised his eyebrows.
“I’m looking,” Azurite
frowned. There was nothing new and no special events coming up save for a
holiday and he has staked a claim on that day. Borice cannot wait for that day
and wants more targets, more energy to be harvested. “Are you certain you
wanted to switch with me?”
“I wasn’t expecting we
would be hunting as much as we have been,” Feldspar explained. “I have been
training my youmas, expecting that we would be harvesting energy once a week.
Now Borice wants us to go out twice and maybe three times a week?”
“He feels that little bit
of Metallia does not have much time left,” Azurite says as he took a long sip
from the tea. Feldspar had brewed it even stronger than usual. “He wants to
restore her as soon as possible.”
“We are not going to get
the energy from just two or three people. We need crowds.”
“If I could find a crowd,
or possibly the sign of an event I will go to it,” Azurite said, hoping to hide
the frustration from his voice. “A few
more minutes and I’m going to bed.”
“Maybe you will have
better luck by donning a disguise and walking around,” Feldspar suggested. “You
have done that in the past.”
“I should,” Azurite
yawned.
The scene on the mirror
changed again, this time to the city skyline. Azurite raised his eyebrow at the
scene and wondered why the mirror would have shown that.
A large lavender creature
glided across the scene. The beast was huge, rugged and appeared to have been
made out mostly rock hard muscle, save for his long hair, what little clothing
it wore and the large bat like wings that held it aloft.
“What was that?” Feldspar asked in astonishment. The tops of
his gloves were wet and there was less tea in his cup than before. He had to
have spilled some in an attempt to not drop it.
“I’m
not sure.” Azurite turned back to the mirror. Several stones were glowing.
“Whatever it was it was full of energy. Twice as much as a human."
Laurine braved the ride
in the aisle side of the seat that morning, although half of the students were
asleep and the other half were in zombie mode. They also had a substitute bus
driver who claimed to have eyes in the back of her head and will take names of
any who act up. Laurine knew that won’t deter half of the kids who wish to
engage in their paper fights but it might prove someway effective.
Laurine was too busy to
be watching out for spit wads, paper balls, paper planes and anything else that
is made up of folded paper including an origami menagerie. She had gotten out
last year’s yearbook and browsed through the pictures along with Celeste.
Through process of elimination the came down to ten girls who might be the
possible third lady and while on the bus she stared at the list. She only knew
half of them, including her friend, Sadie.
“Are you finishing
homework on the bus?” Gina asked.
“Not really,” Laurine did
not remove her eyes from the list. How was she going to figure out who on the
list was the one? Six if them shared her lunch period. She could arrange for
Celeste to come to school around lunch. No, that would not be good. Maybe she
could lie and say it is something for a school assignment to interview them.
That could work.
“What is it?”
“Extra credit
assignment,” Laurine made up on the spot. “I interview ten people. I ask them a
few questions.”
“Why them?” Gina asked as
she glanced at the list.
“Names I chose by
random.” Laurine answered.
“Even Sadie?”
“Yeah. I wrote their
names on paper and put them in a box and drew ten out.”
“Oh, do they know they
are going to be interviewed?”
“Not yet. I hope to speak
with them to set up a schedule so that we can interview them.” Hopefully that
will put and end to Gina and her questions. Laurine loves her as a friend, but
sometimes she can be a bit too nosy.
_____________________________________________________________________
Azurite waited until
after had had finished breakfast before he decided to walk the streets and find
out more about his query. He had worn a suit, bluish gray jacket and slacks.
Slick black shoes, blue button down shirt and light blue tie. He slicked back
his hair with a handful of gel and using a bit of magic he disguised his
clarinet as a briefcase.
“You are looking sharp,”
Chrystia commented. “I now see the appeal of disguising yourself.”
“There are the extra
perks,” Azurite chuckled.
“I would probably have
trouble deciding what to wear,” Chrystia said and adjusted one of the many
rings on her fingers.
“You just have to first
decide who you want to be,” Azurite explained and pointed at himself. “I happen to be a businessman from out of
town. Once you have picked your role you can go from there.”
“I should try that,”
Chrystia nodded. “Good luck on your assignment.”
“Thank you. I just need
to do a little research and then set the trap.”
“Oh Azurite, could you
ask Feldspar to wear your suit for me? He will look even more dashing than
usual. Although it would be hard for him to be even more handsome since he is already
the epitome of handsome.”
“I will tell him once I
return.” Azurite said. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his
teleportation. He wanted to appear in an area where it would not cause any
shock and he would be able to move freely about.
When he had opened his
eyes he was staring at a long green door, which matched the walls to his side.
He spun around and saw a toilet. He had teleported into a bathroom stall,
hopefully to that of the men’s room.
Azurite stepped outside
of the restroom and saw that he was in a subway. He walked up the stairs and
searched around for a sign of the creatures he saw last night. He kept his ears
attuned for any possibility he might pass someone who might talk about said
creatures. He read every flyer that has been pinned to a pole, checked every TV
screen while he researched.
He walked up to a
newsstand. He glanced at all the titles and found what he was looking for. One paper had a grainy distorted picture of
the same kind of winged beast he was seeking
"Another Gargoyle
sighting," Azurite read the title " A gargoyle? What is this
about?"
“You new in town or
something?” The vendor asked. He had a heavy New York accent.
“Well actually I am,”
Azurite said
"They're winged
monsters who terrorize the city." The vendor answered. “They are all over
the news. There has been news footage of them.
"My children can't
sleep at night because of them." A woman next to them said. She was
average height and build with short blond hair and glasses. “They believe the
gargoyles are going to come in and steal them away.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell
them lies,” A young man said. "The gargoyles fight criminals. They’re the
solution, not the problem."
“They are monsters,” the
woman continued.
“Because of how they
look?” The same young man continued? “Maybe they have to look scary to frighten
away the real evil.”
“That is what I have
read,” another woman approached them. “They were put on churches and statues to
scare away evil.”
“That may be good for the
statues,” the first woman said. “The real living ones are the evil. They want
people to think that they are heroes. They will reveal their true colors when
most of the city is fooled and then it would be too late.”
“Lady where do you get
your bullcrap from?” The young man asked.
“Sounds like quarrymen
propaganda,” the second woman said.
The first woman blushed.
“It is not propaganda it is truth. They need to be hunted down and destroyed.”
“They are sentient
beings,” the young man said.
“Even if they are not
they still need to be protected,” the second woman said. “ They are an
endangered species.”
“You don’t understand,”
the first woman said. “I have seen them deliberately scare away my children.”
“What were your children
doing?” The young man asked.
“That is none of your
business.”
It went downhill from
there. The three people continued to argue. Some people paused in their tracks
to see and hear what was going on, a few even lent their voices.
“Ouch,” Azurite smacked
the side of his face. “I’m sorry that I have asked.”
“Don’t worry about it,”
the vendor said. “The city is pretty divided on what they feel. These arguments
spring up all the time.”
“You must have seen
many,” Azurite said.
“I’ve seen one in line at
the pizza place and this is the first that broke out in front of my shop,” the
vendor explained. “I have heard a lot more happened in other places.”
“A lot of people think
these gargoyles are heroes.”
“There have been reports
of burglars and other criminals wetting their pants in fear because of these
guys.”
“I
see,” Azurite smiled. “Thank you. You have been most helpful.” He had gathered
the amount of research that he needed.
"Sorry it's a little
bulky" Laurine apologized for the fifth time as she and Riley carried
Laurine's sculpture from Riley's car. Laurine would have asked Gina or Leslie
or even one of the guys to help, but with the presences of the star pendant has
prompted Celeste to tell her that it was Lady business.
That had lead Laurine
down another train of thought. How was she going to get her pendant from Mr.
Xanatos? She wasn’t going to go right up and ask him if she could have it.
There would have been no way she could afford it, even if the billionaire would
want to sell it, and from the display Celeste had described his want to sell it
seemed least likely. There was also no way her sculpture would be that much
even if she could offer it as a trade. What was Celeste going to do? Hop out of
her backpack and ask Mr. Xanatos for the pendant?
“How many times do I have
to say no problem?” Riley asked.
“Sorry,” Laurine
said. She decided to change the
subject. “I wonder what kind of Lady business we are conducting.”
“We are going to ask Mr.
Xanatos to see the pendant,” Celste poked her head through the top of Laurine’s
backpack.
“And then what?” Laurine
asked. “Hey there Mr. Xanaos did you know we happen to be the Galactic Ladies
and we just happen to need that star shaped pendant you have in order to stop
the evil?”
“Now don’t get smart,”
Celeste said.
“She has a point,” Riley
said. “How are we going to get the pendant?”
“I will—uh oh,” Celeste
slid back down into the pack.
Laurine looked up to see
a tall and overweight security guard head their way.
“Can I help you ladies?”
The guard asked. He grabbed onto his belt and jutted his gut and chest forward.
It reminded Laurine of a puffer fish inflating itself to scare away predators.
"Hello,” Laurine
greeted with the most sugary smile she had plastered across her face. “My name is Laurine Chancerdd. Mr. Xanatos
wants to see me about my sculpture.”
“Uh-huh,” the guard said.
His voice was full of doubt. “And you are saying he is expecting you?”
“I talked to one of his
employees,” Laurine said. “Owen something.”
“You talked to him?” The
guard asked.
“You can let them
through, Chuck,” another guard said. He was sitting behind the desk and held
the receiver to his ear. “Mr. Burnett says they got clearance.”
“Oh,” Chuck took a step
back. “You want the third elevator. It will take you to the castle.”
Laurine inhaled deeply as
they rode the elevator. “Okay Celeste what is the plan?”
“We are going to get that
pendant,” Celeste said. “You need to speak with him about it, ask where he got
it and if he knows about the four others.”
“We can’t just take it
like that,” Riley said. “I know our mission to take down this dark kingdom is
important but we can’t turn to thievery.”
“We are the champions of
justice after all,” Laurine said.
“We will not steal it,”
Celeste assured. “We will do as I say. We will talk with Mr. Xanatos. You will
ask him everything he knows about the Silver Star pendant. You will ask him if
he knows of any stories or legends.”
“So we are doing
research?” Riley asked.
The rabbit shrugged.
“Hopefully we can convince him to give it to you.”
“Yeah that will happen,”
Laurine rolled her eyes
The elevator ride was
several a minutes long. When the doors opened a tall blond man wearing glasses
and a suit was waiting for them.
"Good afternoon. My
name is Owen Burnett. We spoke on the phone."
"Hi I'm Laurine and
my friend Riley is helping carry it."
"Follow me."
Owen lead the girls to a room full of fine carved sculptures out of various
stone and wood, some were not chiseled but sculpted out of clay and hammered
pieces of metal. There were paintings in various mediums era’s and styles.
Elaborate woven tapestries also draped the walls. There were glass displays set
up around the room.
Celeste leaned towards
Laurine. "The star pendant is in this room," she whispered.
Laurine took note and
followed Owen to a sharp looking man in a suit with a goatee. Everything about him was slick and sleek.
His slacks and matching jacket were probably Armani. The gold watch on his
wrist had to have been a Rolex. There was no touch of silver in either his hair
or beard and Laurine wondered if he dyed. He also didn’t seem to have any
wrinkles either.
“Mr. Xanatos,” Mr.
Burnett addressed his boss. “Miss Chancerdd is here with her sculpture.”
“Thank you Owen,” Mr.
Xanatos turned around and frowned slightly. "Owen where are your
manners?" He pointed at them with his hand. "You should have offered
these ladies a hand." He and Owen took the sculpture from the girls and
carried it over it to what appeared to have been a short and wide pedestal.
“You don’t really have to do that,” Laurine
said. She glanced back over to where the pendant was. She just had to wait
until the right opportune moment.
“I insist,” Mr. Xanatos
said as he and Mr. Burnett set the sculpture down. “Now where are my manners?
I'm David Xanatos." He held out a hand.
"I'm Laurine
Chancerdd." Laurine shook Xanatos's hand
"And you are?"
Xanatos asked Riley as he held out his hand to her.
"Riley
Dipoesia." Riley also shook his hand.
“Beautiful last name,”
Xanatos complimented. “Italian?”
“On my father’s side,”
Riley nodded.
“I wonder what Chancerdd
is,” Xanatos said as he stroked his chin. “I believe it might be Welsh.”
“It is,” Laurine smiled.
“I am very flattered but I want to know why me. Why do you want to buy my
sculpture?”
“I like to pride myself
as a man with excellent taste and an eye for fine art,” Xanatos explained.
“Your work of art caught my eye at the festival and drew me in. I was a bit
surprised when I found out it was made by a high school student.”
“Well,” Laurine felt her
face get hot from the developing blush. “I guess it is kind of good and all,
but not that good. It only one third place.”
“I think it should have won first,” Riley
said.
“I agree with Miss
Dipoesia,” Xanatos nodded. “I see great potential in Miss Chancerdd’s art. She
will become a big name someday, and I want to get in at the ground floor.”
“Really?” Laurine
scratched the top of her head.
“I admire a talented
artist who remains humble,” Xanatos smiled and pointed to one of his paintings.
It was a watercolor painting of a whale in space. “I spent a lot of money to
purchase this from a gallery in Tokyo. It is done by an artist named Michiru
Keioh and she is about your age, Miss Chancerdd. You both have a great amount
of potential.”
“Thank you,” Laurine felt
like her blush was starting to blush. “But you can call me Laurine.”
“And you can just call me
Riley.”
“Very well,” Xanatos
nodded. “Riley, are you interested in art?”
“Well I like to write
poetry and I like to sing,” Riley answered.
“Do you plan on becoming
a singer and or a songwriter?” Xanatos asked her.
“Either that or maybe get
into politics,” Riley shrugged. “I still haven’t fully decided. Maybe I will
figure it out once I’m in college.”
Laurine felt a small kick
in her backpack. “I really hope to live up to your expectations one day.
Especially after seeing all the beautiful works of art you have collected.” She
approached the display case containing the pendant. “I already feel honored
that my own sculpture will be in the same room as these classic works of art
and these beautiful pieces of jewelry.” She leaned forward and studied the star
pendant. “Wow this necklace has a star shaped pendant. Is this made of real
silver?”
“The purest,” Mr. Burnett
answered. Laurine had forgotten he was there. “That gemstone is a real
tourmaline.”
“Did you buy it for your
wife, Mr. Xanatos?”
“Actually no,” Mr.
Xanatos asked. He and his assistant cast long side glances toward each other
before turning back to them. “It is part of my collection. Although if my wife
wishes she may wear it.”
“I wonder how old it is,”
Laurine kept staring at it.
“And who made it,” Riley
added.
“Possibly the Scottish,”
Mr. Burnett answered. “That was where Mr. Xanatos bought it.”
“Ordered it,” Xanatos
said. “I ordered it off of a website.”
“I wonder if it was a
gift for a knight’s wife,” Laurine said in a dreamy tone.
“Or for a princess,”
Riley added.
“They were actually used
by five goddesses,” Mr. Xanatos said. “Or five princess’s, or five warriors.
Parts of the legend tend to vary from storyteller to storyteller.”
“They are part of a
legend?” Laurine asked.
Mr.
Xanatos nodded. "Lets go to my office. I’ll tell you about the legend and
discuss the payment for Laurine’s sculpture.”
Laurine was the first to
enter Xanatos’s office. It was large as she had expected with a great view of
the outside. There was one large leather chair seated behind a desk and two
smaller red chairs in front of it.
“Please have a seat,” Mr.
Xanatos offered.
Laurine sank into one and
felt like she would drown in the softness. She looked over to Riley who also
seemed to be surprised by the softness of the chairs
"Its a rare item," Xanatos said as he slid into his large chair.
" Depending on the version it was either five goddesses, princesses,
warriors, or angels. They were beautiful women who had to fight against evil
spirits of their lands or kingdoms.” He flipped open his laptop and turned it
on. “They were brave as they were beautiful, but one demon was too difficult
for them. This demon plagued their land, caused many to suffer and die.” He
typed on his keypad.
While he typed Laurine
felt Celeste shift around in her backpack.
“The five heroines prayed
to the goddess of the moon to help them,” Xanatos continued in his telling of
the legend. “The goddess gave them five special pendants to assist in the
battle with the demon. Four of the pendants were shaped like stars. The silver
pendant had a stone of tourmaline, the bronze star had a stone of amber, the
one with blue metal had a stone of jade, the one with rose colored metal had a
stone of tanzanite. Their leader wore the sun pendant, made of gold with a ruby
stone. “
‘Leader?’ Laurine
thought. ‘Celeste hadn’t mentioned anything about a leader. I guess that is the
next lesson.’
“With the power from the
pendants the five warriors were able to seal the demon away.”
“I wonder how many
pendants were made because of the legend?” Riley asked.
“Several,” Xanatos
answered. “Although there are only four star pendants that are a thousand years
old and one sun pendant that is also as old." He continued to type. “I
have learned about the legend from this fantasy site. I had thought that with the
chat rooms, message boards online shopping. That the legend of the pendants was
something recently made up, but Owen assured me it was authentic."
“Sir you there is a
rabbit by your feet,” Owen said.
“Celeste?” Laurine asked.
Celeste jumped into
Xanatos’s lap and stared at the screen.
"I seem to have a
third yet unexpected guest, "Xanatos said.
"Celeste bad
bunny," Laurine scolded and grabbed her pet.
"Nothing has been
damaged," Xanatos said and gently pet Celeste around the ears. “That is
quite an unique rabbit. I have never seen a mark like that on her head before.”
“She’s special all
right,” Laurine said as she sat down.
“Where did this story
origin?” Riley asked. “Was it from medieval Scotland or from ancient Greece or
what?”
“I have been trying to
guess that myself,” Xanatos frowned. “You both seem to be very curious about my
latest acquisition. Now I would like to ask you what you know of the pendants.”
“What?” Laurine blinked.
She did not expect Mr. Xanatos to ask her about the pendants. She felt Celeste
wiggle in arms. She held onto her guardian even tighter.
“I may have heard some
story,” Riley tugged on the collar of her jacket. “I think it was about how
they-“
Laurine felt teeth
sinking into her arm. "Owww! Celeste what is with you today?"
Celeste jumped down and
ran out of the room.
"Come back here." Laurine started
after her rabbit. Why was she acting all strange? She did what the rabbit
asked. She was certain Celeste had no idea that Mr. Xanatos was going to ask
her some questions about the star pendant.
"Miss Chancerdd
wait," Owen called after her. “Your arm needs looking after.”
Laurine cast a fleeting
glance at her arm. Celeste hadn’t bit hard enough to break the skin. She would
treat it later, after she had caught her rabbit.
Celeste led her out onto
one of the towers. To Laurine’s horror she jumped up on the edge, squeezed two
of the stone gargoyles and disappeared.
“Celeste!” Laurine lunged
for her pet, but it was too late. No. She closed her eyes to squeeze back the
tears. Why did Celeste do that? She had shown no signs of being suicidal. She
fell to her knees.
“Miss Chancerdd,” Mr.
Burnett had caught up with her. “We need to go back inside.”
“Celeste,” Laurine
croaked out the name. “She’s dead.”
“What?” Riley asked. She
came along with Mr. Xanatos.
“She jumped of the
ledge.” She let her tears flow. “She just jumped off the ledge.”
“No,” Riley said. “I
refuse to believe that.”
“There is a possibility
she climbed down the side and into one of the lower windows,” Xanatos said.
“I’ll go look for her
inside.” Riley said.
“I will assist you,”
Xanatos offered. “Owen bring Miss, I mean Laurine some ice for her arm.”
“I will sir, hopefully
you both won’t be out so long,” Mr. Burnett said.
Laurine continued to sob.
She had hoped that Mr. Xanatos was right about Celeste climbing down the side.
She didn’t want to think of her rabbit and her guardian being dead. Of course
Celeste can’t be dead. She has so much to teach them.
“I’ll be okay,” Laurine
blinked her eyes and stood up as the sun was slipping beneath the skyline. They
should have finished their business and be back in Riley’s car by now. Her
parents are going to wonder what took them so long.
“I’m sure your pet is
safe,” Xanatos put a reassuring hand on her shoulders as they walked back
inside.
Laurine paused when she
heard the sound of stone cracking behind her. She felt Xanatos’s arm tense up.
She looked up at him and could have sworn she saw his eyes widen for a split
second before he smiled at her.
The cracking grew louder
and was accompanied by various sounds of stone pieces striking the stone
floors.
“What in the world?”
Laurine slipped from Xanatos and spun around.
The nine statues were
moving. They were shaking off pieces of stone while their eyes glowed. Their
roars caused Laurine’s jaw to hang open. She wanted to scream, but she did not
have the strength. She couldn’t even move her arm to pull her transformation
pen from out of her pocket.
They were real.
The roaring died down and
the creatures stared at her. Some looked as surprised as she felt, some seemed
confused and some were looking at Xanatos for answers.
“They are real,” Laurine
whispered.
“Of course we are real,”
the largest of the group said. He was aqua in color and the largest by girth as
well as height. He had a large lower jaw and a gumdrop like nose. There was a
row of knobby spikes on his head and he had fan shaped ears.
“I thought you were a
hoax,” Laurine said. “I thought that video was fake.”
“Not a hoax,” the small
green one said. He had a smooth round head and large eyes. His wings were
connected to his wrist and ankles, making Laurine wonder how he was able to
wear his loincloth. “Although I wish more people were as skeptical as you
were.”
Laurine smiled weakly as
she continued to study their expressions. Four of them no longer seemed
confused and were smiling her. The golden dog like creature was even wagging
his tail.
“It’s her,” the youngest
gargoyle said. He was the same shade of turquoise as the female with Asian
facial features and dressed in a sleeveless kimono. He had a beak like the red
one and also had wings like him.
“Nashville,” the
turquoise female frowned at him.
“Oh,” the child blinked.
“Sorry.”
“I think we should speak
about this later,” Xanatos said. “I need to treat her arm and try to keep her
from going into shock.”
“Aye,”
the elderly tan one nodded his head. “That would be best.”
"Contact Central
Control it is Celeste," Celeste mumbled the words as she typed them out.
She hated to bite Laurine like that but she had to get out of her arms and lead
her and everyone else out of the room. Riley was about to tell Xanatos
everything and well they couldn’t allow any citizen to know who they are. She
had found the message she read before when she had jumped into Xanatos’s lap.
“Apollo has found his Sun, seeking Celeste.”
"Greetings Celeste.
Please report,” the reply message appeared on the screen.
"I have found two ladies, One weapon,
and one star pendant. I may also know the location of another
pendant." She had searched for the
sun pendant and found it was in Paris France.
"Good work any news
from Apollo?"
"He may have found
another Lady.” She heard someone entering the room. “I must go now." She
shut off the computer as Riley entered.
"This is where
you've been!" Riley said angrily. "What on Earth is wrong with
you?"
"Helping you with
our mission." Celeste said.
"Oh the
mission?" Riley had placed her
hands on her hips. “Laurine thought you jumped off the side of the castle. She
is bawling out her eyes over you.”
"She is?"
Celeste did not think that her actions might have caused Laurine such grief.
“I’m sorry. I had to get everyone out. You were about to reveal too much.”
“We had to say
something,” Riley said as she picked up Celeste. "How does Mr. Xanatos
know that we know about the pendants?"
“I have to admit that was
something that I didn’t expect,” Celeste said. “There might be a slim
possibility that he knows who we are.”
They entered a small
dining room. Laurine was sitting at the table and sipping from a teacup. She
had her arm bandaged up.
“I didn’t mean to bite
you that hard,” Celeste apologized.
“Celeste,” Laurine sat
the cup down and ran over to them. “I was so worried.” She took Celeste into
her own arms. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“I promise.”
“You are not going to
believe what I had just seen,” Laurine said as she sat back down. “The
gargoyles are real. They live here and I saw them wake up. They were statues
but they came alive and everything.”
“What?” Riley just
blinked.
“I’m not kidding, and
four of them seemed to have recognized me.”
Celeste tilted her head.
Stone gargoyles coming to life seemed quite familiar to her.
“Would Miss Dipoesia like
a cup of tea also?” Mr. Burnett stepped out of the kitchen carrying a steaming
bowl. “As well as something to eat?” There was something off about him, but the
strange energy did not seem familiar at all.
“I guess I am a little
hungry,” Riley said. “I would love some, thank you.”
“Lad get back in here,” a
gruff elderly voice with a Scottish accent was heard before a strange creature
ran into the room.
“I want to see how many
are here,” the creature said. He was only about four and half feet tall. He had
aqua colored skin and wings like a pteranodon as well as a beak. He had long
dark hair and slender horns that curved up.
“Nashville,” another
voice echo followed by an older creature. He was crimson in color with long
wild white hair. He had the same beak and wings as the child but his horns
swept back over his head. He had placed his hands on his hips. “What have
Katana and I said to you?”
“Not to bother them?” The
child said in a sigh.
“Wow,” Riley gasped.
“They do seem familiar,”
Celeste whispered to Laurine. “Not these gargoyles in particular, but their
species seem familiar.”
“What seems to be the
commotion?” An elderly tan gargoyle with silvery white hair and beard came
walking into the room, followed by young lavender female and a lumbering blue
dog like beast.
“I just wanted to meet
the ladies,” Nashville said.
“Nashville,” the red
gargoyle narrowed his eyes at him. He had to have been Nashville’s father.
“Where are the others?”
Laurine asked as she stirred the spoon into her soup.
“They are going on
patrol,” the lavender female said. She was pretty with vestigial horns and
graceful looking wings with the grasping claws on each limb. She continued to
stare at them with a wary expression as if she didn’t trust them or didn’t know
what to think of them.
The elderly gargoyle also
stared at them in the same matter. He had the appearance that he had been
through several battles. He was stout but not fat with tattered edges on his
wings and a scar across his eye, like the red one. Except his eye was also was
covered in a golden yellow cataract.
“Okay,” Riley said as a
steaming cup was slid before her.
“They went to help with a
hostage situation,” Nashville explained.
“Laddie ye best not be
telling everything to strangers.” The elderly gargoyle said.
“They might not be
strangers to them, Hudson,” the female said.
Celeste had noticed the
glint in Laurine’s eyes when Nashville had mentioned the hostage situation.
There was no doubt Laurine was thinking about transforming and helping out.
The loud sniffing sounds
made Celeste look underneath the table. The big blue beast was sniffing around
their ankles. He looked up Celeste and it almost seemed like he had smiled.
“I had an interesting
discussion with Detective Maza before she left,” Xanatos entered the room. “She
noticed Laurine as she headed towards the dining area.”
“Oh?” Laurine asked
before she ate some more of her soup.
Xanatos nodded. “She said
you were the one who called the cops when there was a monster attack at the
Neon Lizard.”
“I was working opening
night,” Laurine shrugged.
“Your ere also at the art
festival,” Xanatos said.
“What are ye trying to
get at lad?” Hudson asked.
“Goliath told me that he
had a vision of an angel,” Xanatos said. “An angel who told him to tell me that
there will be some special people seeking the new star pendant that I had
purchased. Not long after he told me that these odd monsters show up and a girl
who super powers arrived to fight them.”
Celeste’s eyes widened.
How did he know?
“And now there are two
ladies,” Xanatos said.
The female gargoyle
looked at Xanatos and then at the girls. “Are you saying they are Lady
Andromeda and, and-“
“Lady Comet,” Riley
answered.
The elderly gargoyle and
the female’s eyes widened.
“The
cat is out of the bag,” Laurine sighed. She took a few last spoonfuls of her
soup and stood up. “Where is this
hostage situation located?”
There was nothing special about the building
Azurite had chosen. It was by sheer random. He had put up a map in his room and
asked Feldspar to throw one of his knives. Wherever the knife had landed he
would attack.
Azurite had wondered why
the fantastic creatures had never attacked them before when they harvested
energy. Granted he and Chrystia had a done their work during the day, the same
with Sylvite at the health food shop, and he had heard the gargoyles were only
seen at night. Feldspar had started to drain his target at night and their
first attack was also during the evening. Maybe they didn’t have the time to
attack. Lady Andromeda had shown up rather fast.
"What do you want
with us?" A woman asked. She was one of the few people who were working
late in the building when Azurite and his servant had arrived; both dressed in
black street clothes.
“You are not what I
need,” Azurite said as he walked to one of the windows. “You are just the
cheese.” He left his hostages to ponder what he had just said and moved closer
to the windows, but not too close. He did not want to become a clear shot for a
police sniper.
“They keep asking about
our demands,” Azurite’s servant said. “What do we tell them?”
“Make up something,”
Azurite said and turned to stare out again. He did not have to wait long before
several winged shapes were gliding straight for the building. He moved aside
when they crashed through the glass. The hostages started to scream. Azurite’s
assailant just kicked one of the hostage's, draining his energy.
Azurite stared at his
hand where some of the silvery energy had gathered and then looked up at the
creatures. The largest one was standing before him and had to be nearly eight
feet tall in height. The lavender beast glared at him with glowing white eyes.
The other four were also growling and had their eyes glowing. Seeing them up
close reminded Azurite of similar creatures from the past.
"Careful you may cut
your selves on the glass" Azurite said smugly.
"What do you want
with these people?" the lavender behemoth growled at him. They were
capable of speech. Now they seemed even more familiar.
"As I have told
these Terrans before," Azurite started and played a note on his clarinet.
Ribbons of blue light surrounded him. His clothing melted, shifted around and
rearranged itself till it became his usual clothing. “They are the cheese and
you are the rats.”
“Rats?” The fat one
rubbed the top of his head. “What does he mean?”
“I think this is a trap,”
the small one said.
Azurite nodded. "Now!" He yelled to his servant.
The youma grew in size
until his head nearly touched the ceiling his skin turned grey and he sprouted
four arms more arms. The monster grabbed the small one and changed for the
large one. It grabbed the lavender one by the shoulders and leapt out of the
building as it continually grew and changed.
“What did you do?” The
female asked as she pulled a sword out.
“I did
nothing to him,” Azurite explained. “He just changed back into his true form.”
He played a few more notes on his clarinet. Dark blue light gathered around his
shoes and took on wing like shapes. The wings flapped and Azurite flew out of
the window.
Lady Andromeda had
several thoughts rushing through her head as she was being carried by Brooklyn
to the business tower where the hostage situation took place. Some entity knew
about her and Riley becoming the Galactic Ladies and had informed the gargoyle
clan leader who only told Xanatos about them and the star pendant. Four of the
other gargoyles also seemed to know who she was even when she was not
transformed.
“Remember girls just use
your physical attacks,” Celeste said. She was being carried by Hudson who
seemed as surprised as Angela and the dog like Bronx when she spoke. “None of
your magical attacks.”
“I won’t,” Andromeda
said. After she had transformed Mr. Xanatos had handed her the Silver Star
pendant.
As they neared the
building they noticed something unusual in front of it. Andromeda had thought
it was a large tree at first, until it had moved. The monster had to have been at least fifty feet tall and had six
muscular arms. It also had eight eyes and pointed spike all over the top of
it’s head. It held the other five gargoyles in it’s large hands.
“Father,” Angela gasped.
“Broadway.”
“Katana!” Brooklyn nearly
shouted into Andromeda’s ear.
“Get me closer,” Comet
said and Angela glided closer to the monster. “Comet interstellar explosion.”
The pink fireworks struck the monster in one of its eyes, causing it to roar
and shrink several feet.
"Lady Andromeda try
your ax!" Celeste shouted.
Andromeda held up her ax.
“Star Pendant Power-up!” Good lord did that sound hokey.
Her ax glowed with a
silver light. The tarnish faded away, the edge of the blade grew sharper, the
handled turned silver and fuchsia colored gemstones appeared in the base.
“Get me near the side and
let me go,” Andromeda said.
“What?” Brooklyn asked.
“Get me near the side and
let go,” Andromeda commanded. “Then you can try and rescue some of your clan
members.”
She waited until Brooklyn
got close enough and she jumped from his arms. She rammed her ax into the
beast's lower side. Her weight and the strength of the blade was enough to cut
through the flesh of the monster and she rode down his hip toward his knee like
a pirate slicing down through a sail in a movie.
The monster smacked with
its free hand and sent her toppling toward the ground.
She kept her eyes closed
as she fell and only opened them when she felt herself in a pair of strong
arms. She stared in shock at the one
who rescued her. It wasn’t Brooklyn. It was Azurite. She glanced down and saw
that he was kept in the air by winged shoes.
"You idiot!"
Azurite shouted at the monster "I want you to stop them, not hurt
them." His winged shoes flew them
closer to the ground.
The other gargoyles and
Lady Comet were still attacking the monster. Hudson and Brooklyn used their swords.
Lady Comet kept firing her attack at it. Little by little the monster was
shrinking in size. It was less than twenty feet tall. Brooklyn had the light
blue female in his arms and Hudson was carrying the chubby gargoyle to safety.
“You,” Lady Andromeda
slipped out of his arms and ran up to the beast. “Andromeda Sound Wave
Shatter.” Her attack struck the beast and shrank it down to ten feet. She sent
the attack again, shrinking it down to seven feet. The monster dropped
remaining gargoyles it had held.
Lady Comet held out her
arms "Comet Interstellar
explosion!" Her fireworks shrank the monster till it was five feet.
“Andromeda Sound Wave
Shatter!" the guitar sound destroyed the beast.
"Are you hurt?
Azurite asked her.
"Why do you
care?" Andromeda asked. She remembered Macduff’s words to not let her
guard down around him.
“You remind me of her,”
Azurite said. “Of my princess. She is the one who I composed the song for.” He
brought his clarinet to his lips and begun to play.
“All right hands in the
air,” the red headed detective, Matt Bluestone had ran up to them. His partner
and several cops joined him.
"Ok buddy, that’s enough for
tonight," Bluestone’s partner aimed her gun at him. The man in blue played
a few odd notes and disappeared.
“Did I just see that?”
Bluestone asked.
“Yeah,” Andromeda nodded.
“These guys just disappear. She wanted to get angry at Bluestone again, but she
had no idea why. It wasn’t just because he disrupted the music again.
“Lady Andromeda?” Comet
placed her hand on her shoulder.
“Nothing,”
Andromeda said. “Lets go back.”
“I hope my parents aren’t
going to be angry,” Laurine said once she, Riley were back at the castle and
had changed back to normal.
“You both don’t have to
worry,” Mr. Burnett said. “I have given both of your parents a call.” He held
up two-vinyl clip on badges. “Here are your passes.”
“Passes?" Riley
asked. She had her keys in her hands.
“So you can return,” Mr.
Burnett told them. “Mr. Xanatos asked me to have them made.”
“Yes,” Nashville raced
into the room. “You are coming back.”
“It does seem we have
been invited,” Riley smiled at the young gargoyle.
"How are the
others?” Laurine asked.
“We are fine,” the
lavender giant named Goliath entered. “We are just feeling a little tired.”
“A lot of people do after
getting drained by the Dark Kingdom monsters,” Laurine explained. “I’m sorry I
didn’t believe you existed.”
“You do not have to
apologize for that,” Goliath said “My clan has hoped we would meet with you
sooner, especially young Nashville here.” He smiled at the enthusiastic youth.
“Looks like we are going
to meet up again and again,” Riley said and held up her pass.
“I have been told to
offer any kind of help you may need against your enemies,” Goliath said.
“We are a looking for all
the help we can get,” Laurine said.
“Mr. Xanatos believes you
should come to the castle for your special meetings,” Mr. Burnett said.
“Sounds better than
meeting at the park,” Riley said.
“I agree,” Celeste
nodded. “Now you girls need to get home. I believe Laurine has homework and
some studying to do.”
“Oh yeah,” Laurine
sighed. She may be a heroine, but she also has to live the life of a normal
school girl.