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They were someplace that few mortals had ever seen. It seemed that the eight of them were not suspended by anything. It was a space of infinite darkness, save for a band of light that wrapped and spiraled around them. It seemed to flow like a river, and yet was constant. It coiled and writhed as though it were a living thing. The coils constantly moved, some even came to overlap. The center was like a long corridor, its ends far beyond the reach of any eye. It was in this corridor that these gargoyles, Brooklyn, Casha, Lilah, Shaunsha, Mikaia, Demonita, Lucifess, and Banshea, stood, or floated. It was hard to tell exactly which it was. The place was beyond comprehension.
It may have been moments or millennia, here it didn’t much matter, before someone finally broke the silence.
"What is this place?" Brooklyn asked. Banshea sneered at him, but didn’t get a chance to answer.
"It’s the Axis of Time," Lilah whispered. "Auntie Banny brought me here once. She told me that she got old sometimes when she was time traveling, and in here she could manipelate time an make herself young again. She said that she didn’t want to get old before her time." Casha chuckled at the joke that had been lost on her daughter.
"Smart kid," Banshea said with a wicked smirk. "From where we now stand, all of time revolves around us in its eternal flow. The band you see is not true time, but a simplified way of seeing it. In actuality, it is as wide as the universe, and then some." She smiled, but it was not friendly, not in the slightest. "Few have ever seen this place, for it is not accessible to most mortals, and even many immortals. You would not have seen it, except that you two," she pointed to Mikaia and Brooklyn, "happened to hit me at just the right moment to break my concentration and leave us here instead of passing through completely. No matter. Here, I am in my element. There is no way I can lose with the Axis as my battleground!" Mikaia growled at this, and moved into a stance, prepared to attack or be attacked.
Casha shook her head in disbelief. This was so unlike the gargoyle she had guarded, watched over, and observed from afar for so long. What was it exactly that has made her this way? She didn’t know. There was the bolt of lightning, but that shouldn’t have been enough to do all this. Not any normal lightning, anyway. Had the circumstances been different, she might have laughed at her next thought. Maybe they should open an X-Files case on this.
Even long afterward nobody was really certain what happened next. Who made the first move, who was fighting who, how long it went on. Everybody had a different idea of what was going on. In any case, it was terrible. It was a huge fight, and because of the battleground time had no meaning. Everything was happening so quickly at some points and other times seemed to stand still. Everybody was giving it their all, with the exception of Lilah, who had been pushed aside for safety reasons, Casha, who was slow to come out of her thoughts, and Banshea, who stood in the mist of the fighting with an air of amusement. Banshea observed the fight with a certain arrogance that made it seem like she was enjoying the injuries and pain caused because of her. In actuallity, she was. Casha watched, too, horrified. How could this be happening? She felt a tug at her caftan, and, looking down, saw Lilah hugging her leg through the soft fabric. Instinctively she put her arm and a wing around the child, both as comfort and as protection.
Though they were not on the earth, or at least not in a place that had the resources for Lucifess to draw on, a large, flaming ball flew through the fray. Mikaia dodged out of the way barely in time, and one of her braids was singed, nearly burnt off. Banshea didn’t see it. She was busy gloating as Demonita knocked Brooklyn and Shaunsha’s heads together. Casha saw it, though. And she could see that it was headed towards Banshea.
Casha pushed Lilah aside. She ran past Lucifess, past Brooklyn and Demonita, past Shaunsha. She knew what she had to do. She dove, pushing Banshea out of the way, though it was too late to prevent Casha from taking the brunt of the flaming ball. She toppled over onto Banshea, who had just realized what had happened, scorched, dazed, and numb from pain. Banshea was shocked, as well as everyone else. The fight stopped almost instantly.
"You, you saved me!" she said to Casha, dumbfounded. "You pushed me out of the way, just to be hit yourself. Why did you do it? You risked your own life so many times to help me. Why? Why do you do it? Why do you care?" She was nearly shrieking by the time she had finished.
"Because," Casha said weakly, "you are my sister."
Banshea looked into Casha’s brown eyes. For a moment, Casha could see something flicker in Banshea’s eyes. A recognition, of Casha’s identity, of what she herself had done. But it was only a flicker, and as soon at it came, it was gone.
"No," was Banshea’s low moan as she stood up. She clutched her head, swung herself wildly, shouting, "Lies! Lies! All of it, LIES!!!"
Casha tried to lift her arm, touch her sister, make her see the truth, but Banshea suddenly reeled around. Her arm shot out, fire reaching out to destroy this one who had tried to deceive her.
Casha flinched as the fire came into contact with her, but it was pure instinct. The fire didn’t seem to touch her. She was not vulnerable to her sisters’ inborn magic as most were. If it weren’t for this protection, she would surely have perished.
Banshea knew this too. She was stunned. She looked at her hands, at Casha, at herself, at Casha again.
"Then it is true," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and looked away. "But that still will not help you!" was the sudden shout. "If I cannot kill you with magic, then I will kill you some other way!"
Banshea leapt upon Casha, but before she could touch her, Mikaia had tackled her, knocking both of them away from Casha, and pinning Banshea. Banshea growled and shrieked in fury, utilizing all her strength to get free, but Mikaia was stronger.
"Lucifess! Demonita!" she ordered. "Help me!" The two did try to go to Banshea’s aid, but Shaunsha held them back with a thought. Seeing this, Banshea was enraged. You zarking idiots!" she screamed at them. "You can’t do anything properly. You wouldn’t even be able to eat right if it weren’t for me!" With her anger, Banshea could do far more than scream. As she said, she was in her element in this place. Banshea and the Axis of Time were one in the same, more or less.
The glowing band of time rippled, swayed off course, whipped about wildly, even into the midst of the gargoyles, standing in the Axis and not quite sure what to do. Lucifess screamed as one of the bands hit her, tore her away, and took her to an unknown place and time.
"My sister!" Demonita shouted as she saw Lucifess disappear. However, they were not apart for long. The strand of time and space whipped into her, and she too disappeared; they were reunited in that place. Mikaia was forced to release Banshea in order to escape a similar fate, and with her freedom, Banshea calmed somewhat, as did the tempest.
"Shit," Mikaia muttered under her breath as she prepared to attack her sister and hopefully knock her out.
"No!" Brooklyn suddenly said. "Don’t hurt her."
"What?"
"Don’t hurt her," he said, "not unless you really have to."
Banshea laughed as she stood up and walked up to him. "Brooklyn, are you really trying to prevent them from stopping me? You surely must realize that I would kill you and your clan without hesitation if I thought it would be beneficial to me. And yet you tell them to stop. I am curious. Why?"
"Banshea," Brooklyn looked at her, his eyes expressing something that words did not quite express, "I love you."
It was a revelation that jolted Banshea’s system. She collapsed, caught by Brooklyn before she hit the ground.
"Oh Brooklyn," she whispered before she slipped into unconsciousness.
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