Chapter 11

Later at Castle Wyvern:

"Norman Mathews here, for WVRN news at the site of what has been described by police officials as a trap set by the radical group called The Quarrymen, for the elusive Gargoyles. A trap that went horribly wrong and resulted in the deaths of at least ten individuals. Police Captain Chavez had this statement about what happened."

"From what we know, earlier tonight a group of Quarrymen were reported to be in a pitched battle with a group of Gargoyles at the construction site behind us, in which at least ten Quarrymen were killed. Upon further investigation no evidence of Gargoyle activity could be found, but the body of an unknown creature was found. Evidence found that this creature was brought the site by the Quarrymen, and that it was this very same creature that was responsible for their deaths. We can only conclude that the Quarrymen intended to use this creature in either capturing or killing a Gargoyle but instead it turned on them and killed them. In the course of the battle the use of explosives and other firearms damaged the building under construction to the point where it collapsed."

"Sources informed this reporter that the body of the creature will be taken to the Coroner's office where it will be studied to find out just what it was that caused such considerable damage. The city has asked for help from Xanatos Industries in the examination of this creature due to their experience in advanced bio-genetic research. Testing should be complete within the next few days. This is Norman Mathews reporting for WVRN news."

"It seems that Detective Maza and Bluestone's story must have been very convincing," Fox Xanatos said as she turned the television off.

"The both of them can be very persuasive," Davis Xanatos remarked.

"What the did, they did for the good of the whole clan," Goliath said as he crossed the room.

"Of course," Xanatos said. "Besides, the explanation was partialy true. The Quarrymen involved were responsible for their own destruction, they weren't aware of it until it was too late."

"Father! Father!" Angela came running into Xanatos' office. "Come quickly!"

"What is it Angela?" He asked.

"It's Argent! Delilah thinks he might be starting to remember!"

When they entered the main hall they saw the rest of the group gathered around Argent, who was trying to explain what happened to him while fighting with Bloodwulf while Delilah was trying to clean some of his more serious wounds.

"Ow, that stings!" Argent grimaced. "Dee, I'll heal up by morning you know."

"Stop being such a baby," she scolded as she continued to clean his wounds. "Just finishing telling the story."

Argent sighed. "OK, so where was is?"

"Bloodwulf threatened Delilah," Broadway offered.

Angela pulled a little closer to Broadway, and Argent could fell Delilah shiver against him for a moment. "Right. So I was on the ground, and he was threatening Dee, then suddenly everything seemed to change and I was looking at a man with red hair and a long beard. He was laughing at me while holding a knife against the throat of a woman with white hair. He killed her then threw that body to the ground. The next thing a remember is being face to face with Bloodwulf and pushing a pice of rebar thru his chest!"

"Sounds like it could have been somehting ye saw before lad, an old memory coming to the surface perhaps?" Hudson remarked.

"That would be so great!" Lex said with a grin. "That would mean that you might start to get some of your memory back!"

"I would have preferred a happier memory to start of with," Argent comented.

"It must have been a powerful event to have surfaced at the moment it did," Goliath said. "Was there anything else that might give you any insight?"

"He said something," Delilah said while stroking Argent's shoulder.

"I did? I don't remember saying anything." he said looking puzzled.

"Yes, you did. It was three words. Oh I wish I could remember what they were!" She looked thought ful for a moment. "It sounded like Spin... Spen Suc." Her brow furrowed in concentration, then her eyes popped open. "That's what it was "Spem Successes Alit!", that's what you said right after he said you had no hope in defeating him!"

The Gragoyles gave each other surprised looks at Delilah's statement.

"Are ya sure that's what he said lass?" Hudson asked her.

"Very sure."

Argent noticed the looks that the Gargoyles were exchanging. "Will someone clue me in as to what's going on? What does Spem Successes Alit mean?"

Hudson looked at Goliath, who then spoke. "It's old Latin. It means Success Nourishes Hope."

Argent considered for a moment. "I like the sound of that." He looked around at the gathered group. "So I guess this means I must have learned Latin at some point in my life... right?"

"It would seem so lad," Hudson said. "Ye must have learned it somewhere."

Lex spoke up. "Do you think that would help Elisa narrow down the field of missing persons, to find out who Argent is?"

Goliath considered for a moment. 'It might prove useful. Schools and colleges keep records. If a student vanished they would have to notify the authorities. I will give her this new clue when she arrives tomorrow night."

"I'll tell Owen to put this new tidbit of information in the search database, so he can check with institutions around the country," Xanatos offered. "With luck we might narrow the field to one or two candidates."

"I'll attend to it right away sir," Owen said as he walked into the hall. "Young master Alexander has finally gone to sleep. And you will be happy to know that all security upgrades have been completed sir."

"Exellent!" Xanatos beamed.

Owen removed several slips of paper from an inner pocket. "I also thought you would want these as soon as posible." He handed them to Xanatos. "I also learned moments ago that the city fire department responded to an alarm given at the Bio-Med Labs facility. It seems that the entire facility has been destroyed in what is being called a labratory accident."

Argent snorted. "Sevarius trying to cover his tracks again."

"That might help him hide from the authrities," Goliath said. "But I doubt that will help him with Demona."

"Argent smiled. "She must be really pissed off about losing her warrior."

"Do you think she'll have Sevarius make another one?" Angela asked.

"I don't know," Argent said. But if she tries any funny business again she'll think twice before grabbing Dee again!" He smiled at her as she put away the first-aid kit. "My girl's got one hell of a right hook!"

Delilah gasped and turned towards Argent. "You're... you're girl?"

Argent looked up at her and stood up. "Of course!" He went over and took her hands in his. "You are the best thing that has happened to me. If anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do." He looked deep into her eyes as they shone with tears of joy. "I love you Delilah, I love you with all my heart and soul."

"Hey, what's everyone looking at?" Tamy asked as she breezed into the room in time for her to see Delilah and Argent embrace and kiss, much to the delight of those assembled who began to hoot and clap in honor of their newfound love. "About time you two!" she grinned.

Suddenly remembering where they were, Delilah blushed While Argent just smiled.

"They do make a cute couple," Fox commented to her husband who was still engrossed in reading the pages Owen had given him.

"I hate to put a damper on this, but I think that Argnet should see these," Xanatos said while handing the papers to Argent.

"What are they?" he asked while keeping an arm around Delilah's waist.

"They are reports on the tissue samples taken from Bloodwulf that the police sent to our labratory facilities," he explained as Argent leafed through them. "Normally tests like this would take a few days, but since they already had your DNA on file they used yours as a baseline for comparison. As you can see, they are a perfect match."

"So? This just proves that Sevarius duplicated what he did to me and used someone else's brain to put into the new body."

Xanatos shook his head. "No, you don't understand. I said they were a Perfect match. Sevarius's records showed that in order to give you a humaniod form he used some of your original DNA."

"But that would mean..."

"That he still has your original body in stasis in order to get a fresh genetic sample," Xantos finshed Argent's train of thought.

"That must be the main reason behind the fire at Bio-Med Labs," Brooklyn commented. "He couldn't take a chance of the police tracing Bloodwulf back to him."

"Damn it!" Argent snarled. "If I'd have known that it was still there I'd have tore that lab apart with my bar hands!"

"Which is why he lied to you my friend," Goliath said while putting a comforting hand on Argent's shoulder. "He knew that if you thought you had no chance of regaining either your own body or you identity, then you would have know reason to return to him. And knowing your attitude towards him, that suited his perposes perfectly."