The battle crashed to a halt at the arrival of Lord Oberon and Lady Titania, who looked upon the scene with anger and disgust. The green flames disappeared and Luach rolled to a stop in the sand, groaning in relief from the pain. The gargoyles who were still armed, lowered their spears respectfully at Lord Oberon's gesture and the Weird Sisters bowed before their master and mistress. Two of the young gargoyles ran to Goliath's side and helped him to remove the spear's head from his ribs. It bled and pained him greatly, but it had not pierced his heart or lungs. Gingerly, he rose to his feet. The only one who didn't respond or move at all, was Demona, who remained still and lifeless, under the Weird Sisters' control.
"What is the meaning of this?" Oberon demanded furiously.
"My Lord," the first sister began, looking disdainfully at the beach full of mortals, "We sensed that our servant had returned to Avalon and we came here to collect her. These intruders sought to interfere."
"She's not your servant, and you've no right to make her so!" Linnet yelled angrily.
"Silence," Oberon commanded in a voice that was not loud, but no less domineering.
"My Lord," the second sister claimed, "This mortal is indentured to us. We have given her the gifts of youth and immortality, and she now owes us her service. Under your own law, we were permitted to make such a bargain."
"That's a lie!" Luach shouted, forgetting his pain and running forward to bow before the Lord of Avalon, "If I may speak, my Lord?" Oberon studied the man carefully.
"Should we allow this mortal to give testimony, my wife?" he asked Lady Titania, who smiled at Luach warmly.
"I believe he is a truthful man. Hear him, my Lord."
"Speak, then, mortal. Who are you, and what do you know of this?" Oberon commanded.
"Thank you, my Lord," Luach replied, "I am Luach, son of Macbeth. My father entered into a pact with Demona and traded his youth for her alliance. He paid for her youth to be restored with his own. Neither of them asked to be made immortal, nor agreed to serve these three. She is not indentured to them, nor has she ever been. If she owes a debt to anyone, t'is my father."
"He speaks the truth!" chorused the trio of young gargoyles, "She never agreed to such conditions!"
"Very well," the third sister retorted in a cold and callous tone. She raised her hands and Demona sighed and brought both her claws to touch her head as if it ached. Her crimson tresses fluttered as she shook the fogginess from her head and looked up, enraged to find the Weird Sisters still standing before her.
"If you will not pay the forfeit, then we will revoke our gift of immortality. You shall be relieved of this life here and now."
"No!" cried the whole group of mortals in chorus, approaching as if they hoped to stop them.
"Well, which is it?" the second sister asked them mockingly, "You can't have it both ways." Demona glanced sadly at Goliath, Luach, and the small crowd of the gargoyles who pleaded on her behalf.
"Let me live," Demona begged softly, turning back to the Weird Sisters "There's a curse on me that won't end with my death. I must return to New York and break it."
"What concern is that of ours?" the first sister demanded coldly.
"If you let me go now, I'll return when the curse is broken."
All three laughed cruelly at this suggestion.
"And we should believe you, who has broken every vow she's ever made?"
"Even if we did believe her, if she returns to the mortal world, what is to stop this new rival from claiming her and never allowing her to return?"
"Please?" Demona cried in desperation, trying to think of some solution that would satisfy them.
"My Lord," Lady Titania interceded, "If you find that it is true that this creature has a debt against her, perhaps it can be paid another way?"
"Certainly, my Lady," Oberon agreed, "But what has she that is of any value to us?"
"Come, my dear," Titania addressed her, "Have you anything that might pay the debt against you?"
Slowly and reluctantly, Demona opened the bag at her side and removed the healing stone she had won from Old Felix.
"This is the most valuable thing I possess," she told the fairy queen, "You know that I came a long way and went through a great deal to gain it. I need it to break the spell that threatens my clan, but I can't break the spell with it if I am dead."
Reluctantly, she held it up to offer it to Lord Oberon who rejected it immediately.
"I'm afraid that is only valuable to the one it was given to," he explained, "It isn't a power that can be traded."
Hopelessly, she opened the bag, and carefully placed it back inside. She looked at Goliath, who still clutched the wound at his shoulder, and the others who looked outraged and were still prepared to do battle and possibly risk their lives for her.
"What am I to do then?" she asked Lady Titania, "I've nothing else to offer them."
"What is that flash of red I see there in your bag?" Lady Titania asked in a gentle voice. Demona looked inside and tugged out the envelope that Xanantos' servant had sent her in the hotel. The corner of the red silk was hanging out of the opening, and she carefully slid the contents out into her claw.
"It's nothing but a passport, your Majesty," she replied morosely, "And a credit card that was sent to me."
"A credit card?" Titania repeated thoughtfully.
"It's a way that humans promise to pay a debt," she explained, "But I don't think the Weird Sisters will accept plastic."
"And the silk?" Titania asked. Demona pulled it from the envelope and opened it to show her the strange, silver medallion Owen had sent to her. Titania gasped in surprise.
"Where did you get this?" she asked in a tone that was almost agitated. Surprised by her change in demeanor, Demona was suddenly unsure if she should tell the truth.
"It was sent to me," she explained vaguely, still uncertain if she could trust Titania.
"Tell me the truth, child," Titania demanded, "These are only traded among our race. Who gave this to you?"
"Owen Burnett," Demona confessed, "A servant of the man who holds me captive."
Lady Titania gestured for her to hand the coin to her, and Demona offered it hopefully. The fairy queen carefully lifted the red silk, as if she were reluctant to touch the coin itself. Lord Oberon was beginning to look quite furious and Demona became even more confused and suspicious,wondering exactly what manner of magical object she was dealing with and how Xanatos had managed to get it.
Lady Titania asked her urgently, "You are certain it was he that sent it to you?"
"Fairly certain," she said hesitantly, "He said that he sent me all these things on behalf of Xanatos." Demona glanced into the envelope again and discovered a slip of stationary. Pulling it out, she discovered that the fine, white paper glistened with several lines of silver, fairy writing.
"This was with it, your Highness," Demona explained in surprise, handing it to the queen, "I didn't notice it until just now. I can't read it myself." Lady Titania took it understandingly and read it. Her eyes widened in surprise and she called to Oberon in amazement,
"My Lord, he sends this on behalf of 'Mr. Xanantos'," she explained, speaking the name with the same hint of disdain that typically accompanied it when mortals spoke it, "It is meant to pay any debt against her." Disbelieving, Lord Oberon hurried to her side to read the note for himself, then gave his wife a scowl, while she smiled at him knowingly.
"Have you forgotten the foolish whims of mortals, my love?" she asked teasingly.
"The trade is fair," he declared in an annoyed tone, "So this one shall have his way once more." He took the silk with the coin wrapped inside and flung it at the Weird Sisters. The first of them caught it and opened it hastily, staring in avaricious surprise at the contents.
"The debt is paid," Lord Oberon declared in a thunderous voice, "Begone from here, and torment this creature no more!" The two other sisters had quickly gathered to see the payment for themselves, and the three of them bowed quickly, clutching their prize, and disappeared without as much as a second glance at Demona.
"I don't understand, Your Majesty," Demona told Lady Titania, after enough moments had passed to convince her that the three cruel enchantresses were gone for good, "Does this mean that I am free?"
"Free from the Weird Sisters, my dear," Titania explained just as pleasantly, as if she was explaining the contents of a dessert menu, "Only to be purchased by another. Though, I highly doubt this one has any idea what an unruly possession he has obtained for himself."
"Oh, I think he might have some idea, your Majesty," she argued, quite dismayed to learn that she was now officially a possession of David Xanatos, though she supposed it made little difference as she'd already been his prisoner for three years. Suddenly, she gasped in realization.
"The curse that they placed on Macbeth and myself! Is that broken as well? Am I no longer bound to live forever?"
"The curse remains," Lord Oberon informed her coldly, "You will continue to be bound to Macbeth until one of you destroys the other, or until another mortal takes his place in the pact."
"Another mortal?" Demona asked in exasperation, wondering exactly how much more fine print this ancient pact could possibly contain, "What does that mean? Who would take his pace and how?"
Lady Titania smiled at her.
"Be not anxious, my child," she scolded, as her slender hands began to form a glowing ball of light, which grew brighter until Demona could just make out the silhouette of a decorative jar within it, "You are only borrowing trouble from tomorrow. For now, enjoy your freedom, and remember those who were willing to risk their own selves to defend it."
The great ball of light suddenly burst with a flash and Lady Titania handed Demona an ornately decorated clay jar and a clean, white cloth. Understanding what she was meant to do, Demona toward the others, and found Goliath kneeling and grimacing from the pain of his wound. He clutched at it tightly with his claw, but still, a concerning amount of blood poured from between his talons.
"You are wounded," she lamented as she hurried to kneel beside him and remove his claw. His blood had already soaked the entire right side of his breast and traveled down his hip and thigh to stain the white sand where he stood.
"The sun will heal it," he insisted, though his labored breathing betrayed his pain and weakness from the loss of blood.
Demona removed the seal on the jar that Lady Titania had given her, poured a glistening, pinkish liquid out onto the soft cloth, and then laid it firmly on the hole from where the spearhead had been removed. Goliath gasped in response, and began to stumble, but she caught him under his shoulders and helped him to lower himself to the sand. The other gargoyles closed in, but did not interfere as she held him from behind, one claw holding the cloth with the magical balm in place. Many silent moments passed as Goliath's breathing became peaceful. Demoma felt the magical energy moving between them and knew the balm was doing its work. She lay her head on his shoulder, just below the back of his neck, where she could hear his heartbeat. Though no words were spoken, tears flowed from her eyes and dripped down his shoulder to mix with the spilled blood on his chest. No one asked what was wrong, and that was for the best as she couldn't properly say why she wept, only that they were tears of relief and not of pain.
She didn't know how much time passed before the spell was finished, but when she opened her eyes and removed the cloth, the wound was closed. The others all sighed in relief and Demona turned to thank the fairy queen, but she and Lord Oberon had both already taken their leave. Gently, Demona wiped away the rest of the blood from Goliath's skin, while he watched her in amazement. The cloth was not stained at all by the blood, but remained a pure white, even as it absorbed it. When, at last, Goliath was clean, the cloth suddenly turned into sand and passed through Demona's talons, where it joined the rest of the sand on the beach.
She looked up from where the sand had fallen and met Goliath's gaze. Slowly he stepped toward her, almost tenderly placing his claws on her shoulders. He looked at her in complete bewilderment, and for a moment her heart raced as she wondered what he would say. At last he said,
"Come. Let us leave this place and try to find home, before anything else befalls us."
Demona nodded her agreement, and the rest of their party, still stunned from the battle they had just witnessed, solemnly joined them on the boats. They said a quick farewell and thanks to the Avalonian clan and quickly cast off into the sea. Once the outline of Lord Oberon's palace had faded into the mist, Linnet said to Lexington,
"So that was Avalon?"
"Yes," Lexington replied.
"T'was a bonnie island, to be sure, but a wee bit less safe and happy than I expected," commented Blaze and Thorn snorted in response.
"True though," Linnet replied agreeably, as she attempted to clear away some of the sand that was still in her hair, "If we're going to be doing battle like that, we might as well be in this Manhattan place!"
Lexington said nothing, as he was too tired to face any sort of argument, but he thought there was a good chance she was right.