Unpetrified

"Boss,we found them"A guy said to Mario

"Excellent" Mario smirked. He would make those girls pay for what they did."Round up the boys; tell them we're gonna have a lot of fun tonight"

"Of course" The guy said with a smirk.

"Come on guys" Sryia called."This is the most basic of all moves. You have to get this right" Syria clapped.

"How long did it take you" Phoebe asked breathlessly.

"That's not the point. You haven't learnt the leg sweep ,and for those of you who want to further your knowledge in martial arts, y'all haven't even scratched the surface."

"Hah!" Mirai sneered,pointing at Jessica.

"That goes for you too,who wants to be a sharpshooter"

"Come on,who needs to learn how to fight when you have a gun?" Mirai frowned.

"Everyone! What'll you do when you get compromised?"

Mirai shrugged and folded her arms.

"Exactly" Sryia said."We need to perfect this move before the day ends"

In rheurym,Cesar logged in to meet Rita.

"Why are you here again?" Rita asked.

"Yeah,sure I'mma act like I didn't catch that smile on your face"

"Shut up" Rita said.

"You're leaving today,right?"

"Yep,in rheurym,two weeks feel like two months"

"Won't you miss them?" Cesar said, pointing at the fully grown gargoyles.

"A lot. I feel like they're part of me now" Rita said pensively.

"You can always see them" Cesar spoke.

"I know,but that's after I babysit those devils for a week"

"Oh,I forgot about that. It starts tomorrow,right?"

"Yeah" Rita sat. She would miss the rheurym setting sun and all the gargoyles.

"Well,what are you waiting for?" Cesar asked.

"That" Rita said, pointing to the petrified gargoyles.

"Huh?"

"I can't leave them alone. I have to wait for their parents to be unpetrified"

"And how is that supposed to happen?"

"You really don't know anything" Rita quipped." When their young are developed to a certain stage,then the stone breaks"

"How long will that take"

"Exactly two weeks" Rita smiled, pointing at Trewlla.

"What?"

"Shh"

The wind seemed to comply with Rita's wish as it stopped howling.

"Look" Rita whispered.

Immediately, a crack appeared on trewlla's stationary form and then another and another.

After some time,Rita saw her legs and wings move.

"Whoo! That felt like forever" Trewlla said after the stone broke. She flapped her wings and took to the skies to relieve the tension."I missed this so much"

"Hey" Rita smiled,waving from the ground.

"There she is" Trewlla whispered as she swooped in."How are you?"

"I'm alright,you?"

"I'm fantastic" Trewlla said,taking to the skies once more.

"She really missed flying,huh?" Cesar said, watching her fly in a loop.

"Yes" Rita chuckled.

Soon after,the remaining gargoyles broke out of their stone prisons and joined Trewlla in the sky.

"Reminds me of when we first got here" Cesar spoke reminiscingly.

"Yeah,there they are" Rita said, turning to the cubs."Look at your moms" She pointed.

The gargoyles didn't need to be issued a command as they left the ground without a second thought.

"Look at you,you've grown so much. You're already as big as I am" Trewlla murmured,cupping her cub's cheeks.

"Isn't that Cesar?" Rita pointed to trewlla's cub.

"I told you not to call him that but yes. I recognize that growl anywhere" Cesar said."Ready to go?"

"Yep" Rita replied,looking once more at the now complete family. "Oddly,I feel like I've learnt a lot about myself" She muttered,waving to the gargoyles.

"Thank you, Rita" They chorused.

"You're welcome" Rita smiled.

"Hey,what about me?" Cesar frowned.

"Shut up" Rita jabbed him."Well,it's about time, thankfully"

"I'll see you after a week,right?"

"No promises" Rita said before logging out.

"Damn,I wanna see that ass in real life,maybe it's even bigger" Cesar muttered as he logged out of the game.

"Thankfully" Sryia said as Eleanor got the move for the second time."That's it. We've all learnt the move. Next is the leg sweep"

"Ugh" They all groaned.

"Lazy!" Sryia said.

"Come on,my arm doesn't look attached to the socket properly. Gotta check that out" A girl said from the crowd

"Who said that?"

The girls pointed to seemingly innocent Mirai.

"Of course,it's you,Mirai" Sryia frowned.

"I think what Miria means is that were tired and exhausted. Can we learn the move tomorrow?"

"Uhm,I have to be at the bakery all day tomorrow" Phoebe said.

"Shit" Sryia said."well that's too bad. However harsh it seems, we're gonna start without you. You'll join after you've gotten off work"

"Alright" Phoebe muttered.

"Let's clean up so we can call it a day" Sofia said. She felt her phone vibrating. It was Droyle calling.

"Guys,this is bad. Scatter!" Droyle said.

"What? Why? What's wrong?"

"Those mafia guys know your location. They're on the way"

"How do you know that?"

"It's not important,get out of there. Go home and stay there" Droyle said,ending the call abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked, noticing the concern on Sofia's face.

"They know where we are"

"Who?"

"The mafia guys. Droyle said we should scatter and go home"

"Well,what are you waiting for?" Sryia said harshly."Let's go"

"Always stay on comms" Sofia said to them as they went their separate ways.

Her heart was beating three times its normal pace ,and she was trembling with fear.

"Oh shit. This is real. If we get caught,we can be killed or tortured or even sold to traffickers" Sofia thought as she walked briskly to the subway station.

The station was going to be busy at this time,so she doubted the gang would attack her there.

"Hey" Someone called behind her.

"Shit" Sofia stilled for a moment then continued walking,at a faster pace this time.

She could see the station about fifty metres,but before she took another step, someone moved into her line of sight.

"Hey,I called you earlier" A cop said.

"Ohh" Sofia sighed with relief. She originally thought the gang had caught up with her.