Disclaimer: Gargoyles and the Timedancer Saga do not belong
   to me. Neither does the character of Sata. They are the
  property of Disney, Buena Vista Television and the series
  creators.

   Cuzco, Peru 1533
 
   The sun, newly risen dominated the mountain skyline like the
  eye of a vengeful god. It hung above the heads of a group of
   farm laborers, as they milled about reaping maize planted a
  season earlier. Gathering up the maize, squash, beans, they
  stuffed these into large floppy sacks they'd brought with the.
  Sometimes, some of the women would make scoops of their skirts
 and make extra carriers.

 The overseer, Cinceros by name, a small, bony man, his brown
 skin wrinkled from exposure to the sun, smiled in genial good
 humor, his farm prospered. He then went back into his hut for
 a cup of tea.

 __

  Elsewhere

 Along the bony spine of the mountainside, rising and falling in
 steep dips, centuries of erosion had carved out caves. In one
 these, a black-haired woman had made her home. It was spacious
 as caves went; cool in the summer and warm in the winter. She
 had lined the floor with rugs and added wall hangings sectioning
 off the living space, that clinked when brushed against due to
 the bells and beads woven into them. A pallet in the corner with
 a pile of blankets served as her bed. Niches naturally embedded
 into the walls held her living necessities: a bronze plate for
 cooking her meals stored on a projecting shelf of rock, a pile
 of neatly folded clothes, and a wooden bucket for carrying water
 from the stream outside her cave.

 Diamante had been a priestess of Malentha, goddess of the Moon,
 many years ago, but had broken her vows... no one knew why, or
 none could say for certain. Then she left the Order to live
 by herself. She had a reputation as a madwoman, but she was also
 known for true-telling and dream-reading. In various niches around
 the chamber stood the shiny tools of the scryer's craft:
 Mirrors varying in size from a serving tray, to a thumbnail, to
 a full-length one, made of polished metal or costly glass, some
 round, some square, some oval as a cat's eye._
___

 Sparkling with its iridescednt glow, a sphere of fire appeared
 almost vertically even with the entrance to the scryer's cave.
 It expanded to about ten feet in diameter, burnt itself out,
 and disappeared. It left Brooklyn and Sata once more in an
  unfamilar place.

 "Now where are we?" Sata asked.

 "I don't know, but judging from the position of the sun..
  I think maybe we'd better..." he trailed off.

 Before they had a chance to get their questions answered,
 or to complete a thought, or use the sun amulet, they turned
 to stone.

 __
 Emerging from her home to gather water for her morning cup
 of tea, Diamante discovered two new statues outside. Not in the
 least taken aback, the dark-haired woman continued with her
 orginal errand. Having filled her water bucket, she returned
 to her cave, stopping on the way to give the pair of stautes
 a clam inspection. Drawing a set of carved, stone rings, one
 red and one green, she slipped them on the fingers of their
 left hands.

 "There. Right on time," she remarked. "Now, I'll just have to
 keep myself occupied until sunset. Maybe I can find them some
 new clothes to wear, or have a meal waiting," she laughed.
 "I shouldn't have given them the rings, it's a human custom.
 Now they're handfasted a year and a day."
__
 The sun sank below the horizon, tinging the mountain peaks
 a pastel pink, shading towards the silvery gray of evening, then
 to a deep black as the stars came out. Touching the stone
 figures with prismatic lights, long cracks began running down
 in widening lines. Emerging from their stone shells, Brooklyn
 and Sata broke the silence with yawning roars. Stretching their
 wings and took stock of their situation.

 Diamante, coming out of her home, held a platter of food,
 annouced herself, "I am Diamante, I've been expecting you.
 Please come inside."
 ___
  "What did you mean, you've been expecting us?" Sata asked.

  "Please sit anywhere, make yourseleves at home, I've 
  prepared a little of everything since I didn't know what
  you might like. Please, help yourselves."

 "Thank you. I do not mean to disrespect your hospitality,
  Diamante, but you don't even know who we are," Sata protested.

  "You'd be surprised," Diamante said engimatically.

 "Oh Yeah?" Brooklyn asked.

 "Well then, You're Brooklyn, and you're Sata. You're 
  time-travelers and you're strangers far from home."

 "Does everyone know that phrase?" Brooklyn grumbled.

  "But how did you know when we'd arrive, or even who we were,
 Or that we'd come here?" Sata wondered.

 Pulling out one of the mirrors from her shelves, Diamante
 held up a mirror whose frame was intricately carved with
 spiralling dragon shapes.

 "What is it? A mirror?"

 "It's called a worm-glass. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe
 it had something to do with what it was carved to resemble.
 One of the gods perhaps. No one ever told me exactly what, only
 that it was. Every scryer down through the generations has had
 one," Dimante explained.

 "And this is how you knew we'd be coming?" Brooklyn asked.

 "Yes. It's used for scrying, to see other times and places,
 both near and far."
  
 "How? Do you just tell it what you want to see?" Sata asked.

  "No. I can't tell the mirror what to do. Sometimes it acts on
 its own, like when I saw you two. At other times, it's nothing
 more than an ordinary glass that men use to shave with. Sometimes
 it shows nothing but my own reflection, staring back at me."

 "What did you see about us?" Sata asked curiously.

 "I think I'll save that one until later. Don't worry, it's
 nothing bad. In fact, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised,"
  Diamante laughed. "See, not all of my predictions are going to
 end in disaster."

  "Disaster?" Is that why the worm-glass summoned us here?"
  Brooklyn questioned.

   "The mirror showed you something about us?" Sata added.

 "The images that I see aren't always exact, and the ones I do
  see clearly only last a few seconds before shifting into
  another scene altogether. They're more representations of
  people, places, and events. Sort of what ifs. Symbols. It's
 up to scryers to interpret those symbols," Diamante explained.

  "Can you see the future?" Brooklyn asked.

  "No. It's just hinted at, like walking through a forest where
  you can see everything for miles around, then this giant bank
  of fog rolls in; and you can't see even your hand in front of
  your face. Even though, you've walked through that forest
  hundreds of times before," Diamante sighed.

  "How do you manage?" Sata said, concerned.

  "Well enough. I saw you coming in one of my mirrors. I also
   saw the reason why you're here. The days of the Inca people
  are numbered. Strangers have come like none we've ever seen
  before from a far country. Here I'll show you.

  Holding up one of her mirrors, Diamante leaned it up against
 one wall, making minute adjustments in its placement. She
 exhaled and inhaled softly for a while, before wiping its
 surface with a cloth, and breathing on it.
 Nothing happened, then a sea-scape appared, misty at first,
 then coming clearer. Ships appeared, drawing closer, men and
 horses docked from it, in  shiny plate armor like crabs, even
 their horses wore armor. They disembarked from the ships. The
 image shimmered then vanished.

 "They talk to each other in a language that I can't make out."
 Diamante said, "But from what I can make out, they are
 preparing for a war, or at least a battle. And from all the
 signs, they are coming here."

 "Does anyone else know about this, I mean besides you?"
 Brooklyn aksed.

 "No. Yes. They will not believe me. And those that do, think
 I am drunk," she sighed.

 "We have to tell someone, and they will not listen, we shall
 find a way to make them listen," Sata declared.

  "We should tell King Autahalpa about this, even if he
 refuses to listen to me alone, perhaps he will relent this
 once, and listen to all three of us,..."

  "We shall accompany you," Sata answered.

  "When do we leave?" Brooklyn asked.

  "As soon as possible. Please finish the meal. I'll have
 suitable clothes ready for you both," Diamante said, as she
 bustled about the cave.
  ___

  The throne room, Palace of the Sun

  "The Scryer, Diamante and party!" the door steward annouced.

  The day Diamante entered the palace throne room, Authalpa
 was in conference with his Majordomo doing his accounts.
 
  Reduced to the status of wandering, but completely lucid
 angel, Diamante was in full possession of her indomitable
 spiritual energy. Authalpa had not seen her since she broke
 her vows and was sent into self-imposed exile, but he
 recognized her, the raven black hair was banded with a streak
 of white at her temples, but she still sounded the same.

 "What does she want?" muttered Xandu, the majordomo.
 "It has been almost ten years since that woman has darkened
 the doorway to the palace," he finished.

  "Diamante, I told you, I did not want to be disturbed with
 your foolish maundering," he said. Authalpa felt uneasy in
 her presence, and she had interupted him with her otherwordly
 rantings.

 "I've come a long way to bring you some bad news."

  "I've had enough of that kind of news! Your taste in companiosn
 hasn't improved any, Diamante," he yelled.

 "I've heard that in some tribes, they kill the bearer of bad
 news, my lady," Xandu snickered. He made no secret of how he
 felt about the woman, especially since that before her exile
 his king had avidily listened to her advice.

 "If you will not listen to me, then perhaps you will listen
 to them," she calmly said. "They are strangers far from home,
 and if they are able to find our distant, secluded empire,
 what chance do you think others will have?"

 "Do these strangers have names?" Or are they deaf and dumb?"

 "They are quite capable of speaking for themselves, Majordomo.
  
 "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Sata." she said, giving
 those assembled on the dais an elegant bow.

  "And my name is Brooklyn. Like Diamante said, we've come
 a long way to warn you about this," he said.

  "Curse you, woman. Speak plainly,!" the king yelled.

  She then started to tell him about what she had discovered
 through divination and the scryer's art. She had to explain
 the scientific method she had used in order to overcome the
 emperor's pragmatic resistance. She told him she had spent
 the past ten months studying the astrological charts and reading
 images in the mirror, and the signs in the sky. "When I compared
 them, they showed a terrible sequence of events, bringing blood,
 pain, and death," she finished.

  Sata could no longer restrain herself.

  "Why will you not listen? She is trying to warn you! She is
  trying to save as many lives as possible, including yours,
 Your Majesty! If you care nothing for your own life, what of
 those of your subjects! She is a true-teller! She has seen
 the enemy in her worm-glass! They are legion and they are coming
 here, they have weapons and armor like none you have ever seen
 before!" 
 
 "I do not know where you come from, Sata, is it? But you
 are new here and do not know our ways. We know Diamante,
 and you may not know her as well as we do. Pay no attention to
 her.But here, have a gold bracelet," the king said, tossing
 a bracelet to Sata, "You are obviously getting agitated over
 nothing. Women always like pretty jewelry, perhaps this will
 soothe you," he finished.

 "Come on! You can't expect us to just go away! Okay, we were
 heard, Now go away? Yeah right?," Brooklyn yelled.
 "Haven't you listened to a word we've said? Disaster is 
 coming in the form of soldiers, hundreds of them!"

 "Soldiers, bah. This disaster of hers probably just another
 raid from the neighboring tribes, or maybe its my rebellious
 brother, you know, Majordomo, he's always wanted to wrest
 the throne and the crown from me," Autahalpa said.

 "Yes, Your Majesty, Huscar has coveted your title and your
 throne for many years."

 "I came to tell you to be careful, oh Majesty. Death is
 at your heels. The spirits of the otherworld are doing all
 they can to preserve the empire, but I forsee that our time
 is wearing thin, the end of all that has been, all that is,
 and all that might yet be, is near. Our spiritual protectors
 are powerless when it comes to major cataclysms. Foreigners
 are coming like none we have ever seen before, sweeping fire
 and death before them."

 "Bah, we have had war before, it's nothing new. Have a gold
 bracelet, you liked them before," the king muttered.

  "Hah! If your companions are these foreginers you claim
 are so threatening to the empire, then we have little to
 fear from them," Xandu laughed. "Even if there were more than
 two of them, the empire will be safe."

 "And what is your final word on the matter, oh Majesty<"
 Diamante asked formally, ignoring the glittering, golden
 object lying at her feet. "Do not think to buy me off like one
 of your court girls. I will not be gotten rid off so eaisly."
 
 "Stubborn as a mule, Diamante, dear." My final word on
 the matter, it's closed. I have been duly warned of this
 disaster you say is coming. I need know nothing more.
 You have fulfilled your obligations as court scryer. You and
 your companions may go," he dismissed them.

 "By the way, where did you dig those two up? In some effort
 to get back into the good graces of the priestesses you left
 when you broke your vows?" Xandu asked.

 "Hardly. I came to fulfill an obligation to the empire," she
 said, then turned and left the palace with Brooklyn and Sata
 following her.
 ___

 Later

 Diamante, in a determined fury stalked around her neat room,
 tearing down wall hangings, while Sata, in some alarm that
 she might hurt herself, took them from her, leaving the jade
 green gargoyle with an armful of the woven stuff.
 
 "That fool! That stubborn fool! Can't see a thing unless its
 out right under his nose!"

 "Diamante, please. Calm down. You are doing no one and yourself
 no good like this," Sata said soothingly.

 "Who's this Huscar fellow they were all hot and bothered about?
  Brooklyn asked.
   
  "The king's younger brother. He is scheming for the throne.
 The death of their father, Huyana Cupac a few years back, after
 he failed to declare a successor, divided the empire. Two sons,
 both mighty princes, Huscar and Autahalpa, each desired the
 throne' thus ensuing a bitter struggle between them has
 seriously weakened the empire."

 "So, that means that these invadeers will choose this moment
 to come," Sata said grimly.

 "Yes, and I fear not so much for the army, or that the life
 of my Emperor will be endangered, as I fear for my people.
 They will take entirely the wrong impression of these strangers.
 They have never seen anything like these strangers, nor the
 creatures they ride. They will believe that these are messengers
 sent by our gods,." Diamante exclaimed.

 "Which means they won't fight them?" Sata asked. "I can't
 understand that. Why won't they oppose them?"

 "Because they will have never seen anyone with white skin or
 four-legged animal that carries an armored man on its back."

 "But that doesn't make any sense! Brooklyn aruged. "What will
 they take these people to be? Just becuase they're different
 from you, or have something you don't?"

 "I'm afriad the people will believe that these 'Spaniards" are
 returning Incan demi-gods who have come back to us during
 our time our need and will aid us."

 "Won't they be able to see that these people are just humans,
 mortals?"
 
 "This is one time I wish I wasn't able to see the future,"
 Diamante cried softly, "And no one will believe me."

 "Hey, Diamante, relax. Were I come from, I heard about this
 story where a seer, her name was Cassandra, you see, she also
 had this gift of foresight. She saw that her city was about
 to be invaded, so she tried to tell this King, Priam, that
 the Greeks were coming," Brooklyn tried to explain.

 "Did it work? DId the king listen to her?" Diamante asked,
 distracted.

 "Yes, he listened to her in the small, day-to-day stuff,
 but when it came to the big things, like an invasion, no one
 would believe her, even if they wanted to," Brooklyn said.

 "What is this story called? What do you mean? They wanted to
 believe but they couldn't?" Sata asked.

 "It's called the Illiad. It was written by this really old
 guy named Homer, a long, long, time ago. You see, one of the
 gods had fallen in love with her, except he sided with the
 Greek army, the enemy, and since she supported her city; the
 god cursed her with true-telling but no one believed her,"
 Brooklyn sighed, "Okay, so maybe that wasn't such an inspirational
 story. I'm sorry, Diamante, but for what it's worth, we believe
 you," Brooklyn shrugged.

 "Yes, but what else can we do?" Sata asked.

 "Nothing until the Spaniards arrive. The only thing we can do
 now is wait."

 ____
 That same day, a gathering is declared in the city of Cuzco to
 celebrate the feast of the Sun. The ceremony is stopped short
 part-way through, an eagle, symbol of the Sun God, plummeted
 out of the sky, and fell next to the people's feet. It had been
 pecked to death. It was a terrible omen. Women screamed, people
 fainted, or just fell the ground sobbing with tears, and shaking
 with fear.

 "It's just an unlucky accident," Xandu annouced, "Be thankful
 that old woman is not here. She would no doubt make much of it!"
 he reassured the people. "The King orders that the ceremony
 and the festival continue!" he shouted. The celebrations 
 continued but with a notable lack of enthusiam than there had been
 before.
  ____

  Outside Cuzco

  A solid wall of armored and mounted men made a slow crawl up
 the steep mountain roads; emerging out the narrow neck of the
 pass they stopped upon reaching a campsite, and settled down
 to wait the day. The Spainards arrival was swift and sudden.
 Under the command of an adventurer by the name of Fransisco
  Pizzaro, they began conquering small villages on the outskirts
 of the empire. Killing the messengers that travelled back and
 forth on the imperial roads, before they reached thier
 destinations, which prevented them from telling anyone of
 the army's whereabouts.

 Pizzaro got lucky that day, they army stumbled into a meeting
 with Authalpa. On the day they captured him, Pizzaro drew
 his sword and rode his horse over the tops of his crowds of
 followers, killing them. Riding in triumph into the city of
 Cuzco, the Spainards exhibited the Incan king in chains.

  Riding into the city, Pizzaro and his small band of about
  180 men and firearms, encountered surprisingly little ressistance
 from the Incas. Believing the fair-skinned strangers were
 returning Incan demi-gods, Pizzarod and his tiny band gained
 control of the vast, highly-centralized Incan state simply
 by making Autahalpa, its head, a prisoner in his own house,
 just as Diamante had predicted.

  Meanwhile, Authalpa, fearful that Pizzaro would depose him
 in favor of his brother, ordered his former rival
 execueted. Next he offered the conquerers a roomful of gold
 as the price of his ransom. Even as the huge treasure was
 being gathered, Pizzaro still ordered him killed.

 From the fringes of the festival grounds, Diamante and the
 two gargoyles watch the omens mount, while those around them
 seeemed to ignore them. A comet flashes across the night
 sky, the moon appeared fringed by three concentric rings;
 one red, the second greenish black, the third ring,
 resembled smoke, and meant the most fearful predicition.
"All that you have done, all and that your ancestors have done
 will vanish as though it had never been, as though in smoke."

 The pepople cried: "Why weren't we warned! The seer, this is her
  fault!"

 "Come on, I want to get a good look at these invaders,"
 Diamante said, bringing Brooklyn and Sata along with her, to
 where the city opened up onto the moutain pass.

 "But what can we do to help?" Sata shouted to be heard.

 "I'll know when we get there," Diamante replied.
  The three of them rushed off, and followed the scryer's lead.
  __
 The Arrangement

 Meanwhile, Mano Tupac went to the Spainards occupation camp:
 while his mean camped out in the streets. Pizzaro laid claim
 to the Sun Palace, whose walls had glittered golden, but soon
 became reduced to bare stucco as he stripped it of all its
 valuables.

 Having taken a position just outside the throne room, Brooklyn,
 Sata, and Diamnte wear leaning up against the adding room wall,
 peering through some spyholes. They saw Pizzaro, with his long
 white hair and beard, perched on the golden throne with its
 stylized sun with one arm wrapped around a local girl, and the
 other holdinga cup of wine.

 Mano Tupac went to Pizzaro to lay claim to the throne, with
 their support. He'd had previously been a fugitive hiding
 from Authalpa's campaign of murdering potential rivals. Since
 neither could understand the other's language, they had a
 Jesuit priest interpret.

 "Aren't you at all upset with the fact that I killed your king?"
 Pizzaro asked.
  
 "Not at all. In fact, I am delighted you got rid of the
 murdering bastard." Not that his brother would have been
 much better either before or after his death, he thought."

 "You are a man of political aspirations, no doubt. What are
  you called?" Pizzaro asked.

 "I am Mano Tupac. Bow that my chief rival has been elliminated,
 I am able to come forth and claim the empire myself, with your
 help, of course."

"Ah, but what can you offer us?"

 "My support, troops, supplies, knowledge of the terrain, gold,
 more gold than you have ever seen."

 "All right, my silver-tongued, friend, you have yourself a deal."
 Pizzro said, having the Jesuit priest come forward and sign a 
 contract agreement on a piece of paper, then sealing it with a 
  wax mold and his gold signet ring. Mano Tupac signed his
  name with an ink blotter and the priest with a quill pen. 
  The two men shook hands to finalize the deal they had just made.

  __

  "Aren't you all concerned that this guy is selling your people
 out!" Brooklyn exclaimed.

 "Yes, traitors would get short shrift where I come from,"
  Sata added.

 "Manco will eventually become disillusioned with the outsider's
 greed and brutality. His alliance with the Spaniards will not
 last, and eventually lead to his death. But his aims are ones
 that will cause the invaders much grief before his death."
 Diamante intoned.

 "You're seeing the future agian?" Sata asked.

 "Yes, now you know why I broke my vows and left the order.
 I just couldn't take it any more." Diamante sighed.

 ___

  FAREWELLS

  "I think it's time we left," Sata said.

  "I'll never forget either of you. And I supposed you've
 figured out that good news I've been saving up from when
 we first met," she said, smiling.

  "We could use some," Sata said.

  "I think I'll tell you one at a time."

  Pulling the jade green gargoyle closer to her, Diamante
 whispered into her ear. "Two of them. Twins. Boy and Girl.
 Name them Graeme and Ariana," she whispered.

  Sata pulled back and looked askance at the scryer.

  "Are you certain?" Sata whispered.

  "Yes. All right, mister, your turn."

  Giving Brooklyn the same treatment as she had Sata a second
  eariler, the scyrer whsipered the same information.

  "Oh Boy!" he whispered, looking at Diamante.

  "Well, it's time for farewells, I can not let you go on 
  without souviners. It's as good a map to wherever yogu go on'
  your next journey."
 
  "We could not take one of your mirrors." Sata protested.

  "Sata's right, we couldn't take your mirror."
   
   "Use it or not. Save it when you get home."
  
   "Won't the magic of the glass cancel out that of the Gate?"

   "I can't be sure, since I'm not familar with itm but I just
   have one these feelings that you might need where you're 
   going," Diamante replied.

  "Thank you, Diamnte, we would be honored."
 
   "Thank you, Diamante."

   "You're quite welcome," she smiled. "Good luck," she added.

    "Good luck to you, too." Brooklyn and Saa said together.

   "We'll always remember you," they added.

   "Oh, you're just saying that." I'll remember you, too."

   The by-now familar sphere of fire and light that heradled
   the apperance of the Phoenix Gate, swept up Brooklyn and
   Sata, as they vanished.