The sun was setting over the horizon in Scotland. In an abandoned castle, a stone gargoyle started to move and the stone cracked. The gargoyle yawned and stretched. The stone spilt and flew everywhere. Introducing the gargoyle, Esmeralda, born in Scotland in 1974.
It was April fourth, 1996 and Esmeralda was tired of being alone with no one to talk to. She decided to go to the European mainland and make friends with some humans. Esmeralda spread her long, thin wings and glided eastward.
In five hours, Esmeralda arrived at the mainland. First, she glided over Spain and she was not interested. Next, she glided into France. As she looked down at the city of Paris, she bumped into someone. Esmeralda lost balance for a moment, then regained it. When she looked at what she bumped into, she looked into the face of a handsome male gargoyle.
Esmeralda glided back a little. The other gargoyle did the same.
"Who are you?" asked Esmeralda.
"My name is Michel," the gargoyle answered. He had a thick French accent when h spoke.
"I'm Esmeralda," replied the female, sticking out her hand to shake. Michel reached out and clasped hands with her.
"I have a couple of friends I would like you to meet," Michel said. "Follow me."
Michel led Esmeralda to the Notre Dame cathedral. Standing at the entrance were two humans, a girl and a boy. Michel landed in front of them.
"Mary, Brian. I would like you to meet a new friend of mine. Esmeralda," Michel announced.
Esmeralda shyly stood in front of Mary and Brian, thinking of what they thought of her.
Brian went up to her and said, "Welcome to Paris, Esmeralda."
Esmeralda was surprised. "Aren't you afraid of me?'" she asked.
Mary replied, "No, we're Michel's friends and gargoyles don't frighten us." Esmeralda was relieved.
Michel turned to her. "Where are you from anyway?" he asked.
"Scotland," she answered. Finally, Esmeralda had some friends and was not lonely anymore.
Unknown to Esmeralda and her new-found friends was someone watching them and vowing to destroy the gargoyles. This person was Jean-Pierre, an evil scientist. He watched Michel every evening and hating him with each passing night.
Now would be a good time to tell you about the characters that have been introduced to you. First, Esmeralda. She has long, thin wings with claws at the top, raven black hair, blue eyes, golden skin, six feet tall, and a beautiful figure.
Michel has long, wide wings with hooks on the top, black hair, brown eyes, six and a half feet tall, blue-gray skin, and a muscular figure.
Mary, who's eighteen, has midnight black hair, and brown eyes, has a few things in common with Brian, who's fourteen with brown hair and blue eyes. They both protect gargoyles. They've done so for three years since they first discovered Michel, who was born in Paris in 1972.
Jean-Pierre has black hair and dark black eyes. He is thirty-five years old. He often wears a white lab coat, and devotes his career to capturing animals and experimenting with them or mostly destroying species he doesn't like. Now, let's get back to that spring night.
Michel, Mary, and Brian showed Esmeralda around the cathedral, which was Michel's home. When they stepped outside, Esmeralda asked if she could be shown around the city. All three of them agreed.
So, with Mary and Brian in Michel and Esmeralda's arms, they gave her the tour of Paris. They showed her the shops, cafes, houses, and even the Eiffel Tower. When it was over, they returned to the cathedral.
"Your city is very remarkable," Esmeralda commented.
"It's been this way ever since I first saw it," Michel told her.
"How long ago was that?" Esmeralda asked, curiously.
"About nineteen years when I was five," was Michel's response.
About four hours later, dawn came. Michel and Esmeralda were poised on pedestals on the cathedral. Mary and Brian wondered toward the city to find a cafe that was opened at that hour.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre hired mercenaries to kidnap Michel and his new friend. He even paid them half of the money he was going to pay them for this job.
So the mercenaries went to the Notre Dame cathedral, and carefully lowered Michel and Esmeralda into an armored truck. They drove to a sewer manhole, lowered the gargoyles down it and brought them to Jean-Pierre, who placed them in an electrified cage. Then, Pierre paid the mercenaries the rest of the money.
Soon sunset came. As the sun sank below the horizon, Michel and Esmeralda awoke from their stone slumber. They were surprised to find that they were not at the cathedral. Just then, Jean-Pierre appeared before them.
Back at the cathedral, Mary and Brian couldn't find their friends. They searched the cathedral from the highest tower to the lowest store cellar, but no sign of them. As they stepped outside, Brian spotted tire tracks leaving the cathedral.
He pointed them out to Mary who said, "Let's follow them. I hope we're not too late!"
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre was standing in front of Michel and Esmeralda, trying to figure out the best way to destroy them.
Esmeralda demanded, "Why are you doing this?”
"I hate gargoyles, so I decided to destroy you and Michel," Jean-Pierre replied menacingly. Pierre then went to his lab desk and observed his lab notes he made during the last two weeks.
Mary and Brian, however, found the manhole where their friends had been taken. They descended down into the tunnel and raced toward the lab. When they got there, they saw Michel and Esmeralda in a cage with Jean-Pierre bent over his lab notes.
Brian called out, "Let them go you creep!" Pierre turned around, surprised to see Mary and Brian standing there.
Pierre lost no time in grabbing a lab gun. He aimed it at the tow humans and fired twice. He missed Brian, but he got Mary. Brian tackled Pierre and got the gun out of his reach. Mary pulled the dart out of her arm and released their friends. Michel, Esmeralda, Mary, and Brian then escaped up to the streets of Pairs.
When they were inside the cathedral, Mary fell to her knees and groaned aloud. Her friends looked on in horror and shock as Mary sprouted wings, a tail, and claws. Soon, she was no longer human, she was a gargoyle!
Brian realized the darts Pierre shot at them was a gargoyle formula. He planned to turn them into gargoyles and destroy them as well. But he missed Brian. Brian decided to go back to Pierre's lab and force a cure out of him. So, Brian reached Pierre's lab and found him hunched over his desk.
Brian said, "All right, doctor, I want you to cure Mary now. And no tricks!"
Pierre turned around and said in a very calm voice, "I don't think so, boy. Because you see I didn't invent a cure, so you're friend is a gargoyle forever. Now get out or you'll be one, too."
Brian sadly returned to the cathedral and told them that Pierre didn't have a cure. Mary was very sad. Michel and Esmeralda tried to cheer her up, but she wouldn't listen. Michel then decided to talk to Mary alone.
He led Mary to a corner of the cathedral and told her some benefits of being a gargoyle. About twenty minutes later, Mary was feeling better about her predicament. And besides, the sun was rising, so Michel, Esmeralda, and Mary went out to the cathedral's front pedestals and poised. The sun rose and Brian watched his friends turn to stone.
