Summary: Phai is fading, but a surprise reunion may be just what he needs to drag him from the brink of Hades' embrace.
Sequel to 'The Hunter's Teacher'. Read it first.
Song: Even In Death- Evanescence
Hephaestion.
The moon that lit the darkness of his nights and illuminated the paths he needed to take to be the man that his lover knew he could be. The great man his people believed he could be.
He was the shadows that protected him at his most vulnerable. Loved him, even while acknowledging (and forcing him to acknowledge) his faults and the fact that for all that his mother claimed him divine, he was as much a man as any of the other men he served with.
The man had been his first love, and had held his heart, his soul, even when he lay with others. He'd been his confidant in the cloak and dagger movements of his father's court then in his own. The one person he trusted above all others to protect his best interests.
And he had.
He doubted he'd ever know the true extent that his beloved had gone to while ensuring the empire they'd built but he knew enough.
He'd seen the fear and distrust in the eyes of some of his generals as they beheld his lover, the way they dared not to truly raise his ire.
Dared not threaten him to his face.
Even when he had found his way into Bagoas bed, and later his wives', they didn't dare to piss off his Hephaestion beyond scathing remarks that he normally ignored.
He'd seen the darkness in those piercing eyes, that spoke of a man who had killed and wouldn't hesitate to do so many times over if it protected those that he cared about.
He'd seen the pain.
His Phai had suffered so many hurts in his life, some he knew his lover hadn't so much as breathed aloud. Hurts that had roughened him in a way his beauty kept hidden, the sharpened edges carefully concealed until the moment his dagger sank into flesh.
He remembered the pain he'd seen when he'd first married Roxanna, then again when he'd taken Bagoas to his bed.
The pain when the other men jeered at him and sneered that he'd only earned his accomplishments by lying on his back for his king.
The anger.
And… the resignation.
His moon was resigned to the mistreatment, to the poor judgment and worse?
He hadn't noticed it until his lover's body was already growing cold in death.
Until he'd heard his commanders grumbling about the grandeur of his pyre, and had seen Hephaestion's men glaring at the others in a way so unlike their normally friendly expressions.
Until he'd seen the tiny gleam of satisfaction and jealousy in the eyes of Roxanna and Bagoas because the only person that could steal his attention from them was gone forever.
Had he not been shattering completely on the inside he'd have laughed at the irony.
So infatuated with him and many so envious of his power that they failed to see the truth.
There was no Alexander with Hephaestion.
There was no empire without Hephaestion.
His heart only beat as long as Phai's did, his lungs only drawing air if his beloved's continued to expand.
When he'd found his moon lying still in the bed behind him, vibrant blue eyes dulled to an empty listless grey color, he'd known that was the end of it all.
His heart had gone cold in his chest as his love's body cooled, his breath shuttering in his lungs even as he screamed his agony to the world. His companions had gathered around him, seemingly stunned but ultimately he knew the truth.
They were relieved.
The shadow that haunted their steps was gone. Their bane was dead...but they didn't seem to realize that it was the beginning of the end.
The days after his beloved's death were a blurred haze, a unforgiving fog of anger and grief. He remembered almost killing Roxanna, sure she'd have poisoned his Phai, only stopping when he learned that she was with child. Remembered being dragged away from his love's long cold corpse even as he fought to hold on to it.
He remembered lighting the pyre, and feeling a part of himself turning to ash as it burned.
Moreso, he remembered, only eight moon cycles later, discovering poison in his drink.
Remembered drinking it anyway, because anything was better than having to live with only half of his remembered his regrets. Regretting that he'd broken his chiliarch's heart as often as he had. Regretting the way he'd coldly shoved the man to the side as the riches of Persia went to his head and watching his beloved dive further and further into his work to escape the pain.
He'd been prepared to die alone, his commanders busy with their own assignments and none as loyal as his dearest Phai. He'd suffered his illness, idly amused that Bagoas, who had gone missing a month previous, was probably the only other person he'd known that would care for him in the throes of death.
Then he'd awakened to the beautiful blue eyes that had haunted his dreams. To warmth, and a gaze so sad and broken that he'd wanted to do anything to make it better. Wanted to apologize for the pain he had caused their owner. The pain that his love seemed to disregard, instead staring at him with awe and devotion in his eyes.
"My Sun," His chiliarch breathed, taking a seat beside him. His body, once warmer than anything he'd ever felt, was cool and he felt himself flinch. Hurt flashed in Phai's eyes, and the King smiled sweetly to ease him.
"My Phai," He replied, coughing harshly as the fever wreaked havoc on his body. "You came for me as I knew you would."
"Always, my Xander. Always."
Hephaestion's eyes watered, lips curling into a tumultuous smile even as a single dark red tear left his eye.
Blood.
His dearest one was crying tears of blood and he flinched away from the sight, horrified that he'd hurt the fierce man so much. Even more so, he hated the pure fear and self-disgust that gleamed in those piercing blue eyes, and he could see that the beauty wanted to pull away from him. He refused to allow him to do so, opening his mouth to assure him that he didn't think any different of him.
Instead he began to speak the apology that his lover had deserved. One he had thought he'd only get to speak when they met again in the shadows of Hades.
"Don't cry for me, my love. I do not deserve your tears." A wave of pain shot through him and he coughed harshly, tasting the copper tang of blood coat the back of his throat. "I-before you died, I treated you horribly."
Memories of the hurt expression Hephaestion had worn when he kissed Bagoas flashed in his mind, as did the pain he remembered seeing when his love happened upon them in his bed. Worse, he remembered how the love in those blue eyes never faltered, even as he strayed from their owner.
"Many a time, I took the love you gave so freely and offered so little of myself in return. I- I have oft wondered if your death were a punishment, a reminder from the gods."
It must've been. For, none more so than the gods knew just how tightly intertwined his soul was with his love's. How much he relied on the man beside him to be his pillar in the turmoil, his confidant.
His heart.
A whimper of pain left his chiliarch's throat, a sound so out of the norm for the normally strong man, and he felt his chest clench when those incandescent hues began to water.
"Do not say such things," The brunette argued, shakily. "You, you are my world. I-"
He cut his lover off with a sweet coo, unable to bear listening to the man defend the way he'd hurt him, when he'd seen in his eyes just how much pain he'd caused him.
"I do not say this for you to argue them in my favor. I have had many a day to ponder my actions." His chest tightened and he could feel it becoming harder to breath but he fought to keep it hidden from the gorgeous man beside him. "My Moonlight, I am so sorry, for everything. My heart had always been yours even when my body has strayed."
His heartbeat began to slow and he could feel the cold fingers of oblivion slowly creep over his being.
"Please Alexander," Hephaestion begged sofly, his voice wet and he knew that if his vision hadn't been blurring with fever, he'd see his beloved crying. He found himself mildly grateful he'd been spared the sight."You must rest. You are stronger than this."
It warmed his heart to hear the encouragement, to hear the comfort. His love hadn't lied to tell him he would be okay, just reminded him that he was stronger than this.
He wanted to be.
A soft huff left him and he felt his eyes falling shut. His body slowly giving out on him as the poison took its toll.
"Even now, you do as you can to comfort me, but you do not lie to me." His breath stuttered. "I love you, My Hephaestion."
He felt himself falling into Hades' embrace. "Thank you, for ensuring I do not fall alone."
Distantly he heard his lover reply, felt his soft lips brush his and with warmth in his heart, he let go, Phai's words of love curling around his heart.
"I love you just as much, My Alexander."
*/*
Her son was fading.
Oceanic blue eyes softened as they gazed down into the world of humans, locking on the trembling form of the world's oldest vampire, their owner's heart aching for the pain in the man's eyes, the agony his soul was screaming to those who could hear it.
For so long, her Hephaestion had suffered for so long, his heart longing for its other half. Likewise, Hades had reported that Alexander's soul was much the same, lurking near the river Styx as if awaiting the arrival of the one who could complete him.
Both were withering away, lost without the other and she wanted so much to help them, wanted to save her beloved child from the pain of fading into the darkness.
Strong arms curled around her waist, and she leaned back into her husband's embrace, allowing it to comfort her, in the way she ached to comfort her child.
"What ails you, my love?" He rumbled softly and she looked away from the vampire.
"Hephaestion and Alexander, they are dying and I cannot stop it. Even with his love for his child slowing the Fading, his soul yearns to join Alexander's."
Her husband sighed and pulled away. "I know. Lord Hades has said the same. He says Alexander's soul cries for Hephaestion's presence… and Lady Persephone has set in motion a plan to reunite them. None of us want to see our oldest, most beloved follower fall."
The goddess turned to him, gaze hardening into a determined glare.
"Tell me."
The other deity smirked and lowered his lips to her ear. As he spoke, her eyes widened, a wide, hopeful grin crossing her lips.
"Just a little longer," She whispered, turning the warmth of her stare back to the suffering man she'd been viewing through the human world. "Just hold on a little bit longer."
*/*
"Does it hurt, Papa?"
He turned away from the garden bed he'd been tending, turning his gaze to the fledgling sitting beside him. Almost twelve years had passed since he'd changed the child and despite his best efforts, he'd grown exceedingly attached to the boy. Slowly, it felt as if his tattered heart was mending and he couldn't help but love the fledgling all the more for it.
Beside him, his childe watches, green eyes full of curiosity and warmth, his wild blonde hair pulled back into a tail that nearly mimicked his own.
"Does what hurt, little one?"
The boy bit his lip. "Yesterday, while you were at the lake...you were crying. I just- does it hurt to use your water?"
He chuckled softly, heart warm in his chest at the fledgling's concern. "No. no, dear one. I was...remembering."
Julian tilted his head. "Bad memories?"
He shook his head. "No. Good ones, from a time long ago...they hurt but I can't- I can't-"
"Can't forget?" The knowing smile made his chest clench as he remembered finding the boy in that clearing over a decade ago. Remembered only months later the child telling him of the family he'd lost. A mother, a father and a baby sister, all killed in the attack that had left him near death.
"Yes."
That knowing smile softened into a warm expression, green eyes full of laughter and reassurance. "Then we'll make new memories, Papa. And these ones won't hurt because we'll always have each other. It will make the old good memories hurt less."
He smiled, eyes burning with tears that he wouldn't dare to shed and doubt clinging on the edges of his consciousness. "I'd like that, childe."
"I'd like that alot."
*/*
Stone.
He awakened surrounded by cold, unforgiving stone, his body trembling as a gentle but callous hand ran its fingers through his hair.
"My son," Boomed a voice, low like the rumbling of thunder, and familiar although he'd never heard anything like it before. "Divine of mind, but not of body. Like myself, you've strayed far from your heart, betrayed him. You've broken the keeper of your heart many times over and yet, like my dearest Hera, your heart remains loyal to you, love unwavering."
Guilt welled in his chest as he remembered apologizing to his Phai as his breath left him, yet treating him coldly when the man's cheeks were still pink with health. It worsened as he remembered the man defending his actions, even against himself.
The voice paused, then heaved a low sigh. "You have been away from each other too long, Alexander. Your heart is fading."
His heart froze in his chest, breath stilling in his lungs.
No.
No!
The voice grew solemn. "He is dying, so long lived in his grief that his body is giving in to his souls cries even as he fights to remain and protect the child he has claimed as his own."
A low sob ripped free from his dry lips, and the hand in his hair soothed him. "Calm, my son. Your general is strong. And with you at his side, he will be even stronger."
Something warm began to spread through him, beginning where the fingers were stroking his hair and moving throughout his body.
"Go to him, Alexander. He will not live much longer without you."
A bright light flashed behind his eyelids, before he fell back into oblivion. What seemed like moments later, he awakened to find himself staring into worried grey eyes, their owner's hand resting gently on his shoulder. The woman was tall, with a head full of silver plaits, her skin smooth and darker than that of the persian women of his court.
"Hey, are you alright? What is your name?"
He stared at her, heart racing in his chest. Hephaestion. He had to save Hephaestion.
"Alexander. My name is Alexander."
*/*
Catarina Loss was not a woman that was easily surprised.
As one of Magnus Bane's oldest friends, it was generally difficult for her to come across things that truly stunned her. The older warlock had a bad habit of finding himself in the strangest situations, more often than not dragging her or Ragnor (or both) into the situations with him. Therefore, she could count on one hand the number of times she'd been truly stunned in the past century, most, if not all of them being Magnus' fault.
Three times.
The day Magnus told her that he'd fallen in lust with a shadowhunter, and a Lightwood, at that.
The day that Magnus had come to her loft wearing what had to be the goofiest smile she'd ever seen on his lips, and told her that his shadowhunter had kissed him in front of the entire Clave.
And then this.
A blonde man appearing unconscious in her front yard, clad in battle armour that seemed to predate the roman empire if her history was correct. Long golden locks fell in disarray around his face, tanned skin stretched across a tall muscular frame. When he awakened, she found herself face with a pair of bewildered two toned eyes, one hazel and the other hazel blue.
Somehow, she just knew that this was Magnus' fault.
Kneeling beside the man, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, fighting not to let her own bewilderment show.
"Hey, are you alright? What's your name?"
He looked up at her, breath quick as if he were close to hyperventilating.
"Alexander. My name is Alexander." He responded and she jolted at the heavy accent she could hear on his words, a mixture of greek and something else. His voice while not extremely deep, was a nice mid-baritone, and she fought not to blush.
Taking a deep breath she kneeled beside him. "Hello. My name is Catarina Loss. Do you know where you are?"
He shook his head, slowly calming. "I was- I was dead, then I was here. The Gods, they have granted me a second life."
Somehow, seeing the chifton cladding his lower half, and the honesty in his gaze, she found herself unable to doubt him. Or rather doubt that he believed what he was saying.
"Alright," she said nodding, a soft exhale leaving her lips. "What is the year, Alexander? When you died?"
He frowned. "Why does it matter?"
Scowling at the slightly petulant expression he wore, she nodded. "Yes. Judging by your state of dress, I'm going to wager a guess that you were an important political figure in your time. Perhaps if we find out what year you died in, we can discover how long it had been since your death. Then perhaps why you were granted a second life, and help you assimilate to this time period."
She stood, offering him a hand. "Come, let's get you inside."
Alexander stared at her, then accepted the offered hand with a cautious expression. "It is the year 323, my lady."
Catarina froze, a dark suspicion building in her gut. "Where are you from?"
He blinked. "I am of Macedon, Lady Catarina."
Suspicions confirmed, she let out a sharp gasp, her eyes widening. Her companion paused, frowning.
"Lady Catarina?"
Taking a shuddering breath, she look up at him, and his chest clenched in dread. "Oh, Alexander," she whispered, voice pained. "You've- you've been dead for over two thousand years."
*/*
Two thousand years.
Solemn two-tones hues stared up at the ceiling of the guest chambers Lady Catarina (Call me Cat) had gifted him upon the revelation they'd come to about his death.
More than two thousand years he'd been dead, and if what he remembered of his resurrection, his moon had been alone nearly the entire time. Had began to yearn for Hades' embrace, even as he fought against it.
It was a fate he would never have wished on even his worst enemy. One he knew his Hephaestion had feared for years before their separation.
Loneliness.
For all that his Chiliarch was a solitary creature, he flourished with companionship, the ice around his heart softening, his tempestral temper calming. His lover, so gentle with his hands and his words, was a scholar more than a soldier, though his battle prowess was no laughing matter wither. He wondered just how many of his generals remembered that Hephaestion was the only one who could best in battle. Who he had yet to beat in their mock battles, even by the time of the other's death.
He remembered when they'd been talking that night on the palace balcony, the pain and sadness tempered by love that softened his gaze as he spoke.
"...by the sweet breath of Aphrodite I'm so jealous of losing you to this world you want so badly."
He'd promised him. Promised he'd never leave him, that they would be together until the end of days and yet…
He hadn't honored his word.
Even long before he'd held Hephaestion's cooling corpse in his arms, long before he'd lay dying in sheets soaked by his own cold sweat, he'd broken his word.
He'd pushed his chiliarch to the edges of their relationship and he'd often wondered in his darkest days after Hephaestion's death if the man had knowingly drank poison to escape the pain of seeing him. To escape the heartbreak.
Then that warm smile would flash behind his eyelids, those blue eyes full of love and comfort even as their owner struggled to breath his last breath and he'd know it wasn't so.
His Hephaestion was too selfless for that.
Turning onto his side, he felt his eyes burn as his thoughts circled back to their original line of thinking.
Hephaestion had been alone for over two thousand years in a world Alexander knew absolutely nothing about.
Had experienced things that Alexander knew nothing about.
And he had no clue where to begin looking for his beloved.
Cat, wonderful woman that she was, had offered to help him search and to help him to get caught up with the going ons of this time period and he was forever grateful for it. Perhaps, with her help, he would find a place to start looking.
Allowing a tiny smile to cross his lips, he curled under the blanket his hostess had gifted him, imagining a warm body lying curled in his arms rather than the poor substitute that was his pillow.
"Soon, love." He promised, allowing the darkness to drag him under. "We'll be together soon."
*/*
Music.
Even as a child learning under Aristotle he'd loved music. He'd loved singing hymns to the gods, yet had been too shy to do in front of his peers. Instead he'd sing in his chambers, softly as everyone slept. Most often it was hymns for the gods and goddesses but then as he grew older, it became his own thoughts and feelings. It became everything he couldn't bare to say out loud, his soul's pains and triumphs, the loneliness and fear.
Only Aristotle had known of his art and the man had taken the secret to his grave, telling not even Alexander. In turn, he'd hidden it from his lover as well, something that had amused his teacher as his king was muse for nearly the entirety of his collection.
Strumming the guitar in his lap, he thought back to the early years of Alexander's death when his grief had driven him into near insanity. When the agony of losing half of his soul had become unending.
There was no one to know that he'd locked himself inside Alexander's tomb for nearly thirty years after the library burned, convinced that he'd starve to death and join his beloved in Hades' embrace.
It hadn't been so.
His body would begin to cannibalize itself then vandals would try to desecrate Alexander's resting place, driving his grief ridden instincts into a feeding frenzy.
He'd kill them each time, sating the hunger he'd tried so hard to make his end.
Then he'd be forced to begin again, starving himself to near death before vandals ruined his plans by breaking into his beloved's final resting place once more.
It had been in those thirty years that he'd realized that it would be hard to kill himself thanks to whatever Bagoas and Roxanna had done to him. It had been in those thirty years that he'd written his darkest songs, his saddest.
One of which, had been wreaking havoc on his thoughts as of late, especially as he continued not to feed as he should.
Taking a bolstering sip of the amber liquid sitting beside him, he allowed himself to sing, thinking back to that day so long ago. That day he'd sat at his beloved's bedside and watched the light leave his eyes.
Give me a reason to believe that you're gone
He thought about the aching in his chest that had never quite gone away. The fervent denial that had encompassed him when he realized his immortality would forever keep him from joining his Alexander in death.
I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong
Moonlight on a soft brown earth, it leads me to where you lay
They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home
Sad part was, he knew exactly who had poisoned Alexander. It had been one of their closest friends and the one person amongst them that they'd never expected to do such a thing.
Ptolemy.
He hadn't discovered the truth until the man was dead. Until he'd found a letter the man had written addressing him in the tomb of his King.
Hephaestion,
My friend, I am sorry. I know your spirit shall rage at me for what I have done to our Alexander, but I'm afraid that it was needed. Without you, Alexander is no longer and oft I have happened upon him in your chambers crying and screaming his grief where none can witness it. As our teacher once claimed, you are two halves of a whole and without you, Alexander is adrift. It is my hope that you find one another in the afterlife. And that one day you forgive me for what I have done to our oldest friend.
Ptolemy
The letter had infuriated him, had hurt him. It had awakened a torrent of emotions to pile onto the volatile tempest raging within him and in the end, he'd been…
Empty.
There had been nothing left for him to feel. Ptolemy, no matter his intentions had betrayed Alexander, had benefited greatly for it. And for all that he'd been dead, he was furious with himself for missing it. For not being there to protect his Sun. Furious at Alexander, for daring to hasten his way into Hades' embrace.
He'd left Alexander's tomb the next day.
He'd yet to return, couldn't bare the evidence of his own failure.
Still, it didn't stop the betrayal from haunting his footsteps.
Nor, did it stop his Alexander from haunting his every breath, as if death had never separated them. It was only when he awakened countless mornings cold and alone that he knew the truth.
Alexander was gone.
I will stay forever here with you
My love
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
Some say I'm crazy for my love, oh my love
But no bonds can hold me from your side, oh my love
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me
It made his heart ache.
He missed him, more than he'd missed anything in his whole life. Missed the warmth of his smile. The touch of his lips.
His voice.
Gods, above all he missed his lover's voice. So long had passed since he'd heard it beyond his dreams and he knew that he'd long since forgotten how it had sounded. All he knew was the pale imitation of his mind and the low dulcet tones his beloved had sang in the morning after he'd first taken him into his bed. A voice that hadn't sang since the death of King Philip, and the beginning of their owner's first marriage.
A tear escaped his eyes as his eyes clenched shut, trying to remember the way that voice had said his name. The way it had whispered it's owner's love into the crisp night air as they made love beneath the stars.
He couldn't.
I will stay forever here with you
My love
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
And I can't love you anymore than I do
I will stay forever here with you
My love
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
And I can't love you anymore than I do
His voice tapered off, a shattered sob escaping him as he realized he could no longer remember all of the details of his Alexander's face. He could remember the warmth of his smile, yet not way the man's lips would tilt up when he said something mildly sarcastic. Could remember the color of his eyes and the sunshine gold of his hair, but not the way that hair felt against his skin as they moved together under the covers of night.
He was forgetting.
And he was fucking terrified.
He could only pray that he Fade into Hades' embrace before all that he knew of his beloved, was completely gone.
*/*
The future was so strange.
Blinking at the beautiful shade of blue had replaced the normally coffee colored skin of his hostess, Alexander decided that this was a fact.
In his time, there had been no such thing as warlocks (or demons), nor had there been vampires, fae, or shadowhunters. In fact, had he not seen each in Cat's books, or seen the woman with skin the color of the eyes that lurked behind his eyelids as he slept, he doubted he'd have believe it.
Cat had explained the creatures to him, as well as the state of affairs and he'd been appalled by the one's calling themselves shadowhunters. To think that they thought it better to ignore the pains the downworlders had been put through by one of their own gone rogue, ignore the crimes he committed until they affected them, made him sick. It was only her insistence that there were a few good ones that kept him from disliking the nephilim as a group.
"There are good ones, Lex." She'd told him when he'd expressed his outrage and he'd scowled.
"Then why aren't they-"
"They're trying. Alec, Magnus' boyfriend is a shadowhunter. He went against the entire clave to be with Magnus and had been our most fervent advocate since. In the year he and Magnus have been together, relations between the New York Institute and downworlders have been at an all time high. He and his siblings have done more for us than even some of the downworlder leaders."
Alexander hummed. "He sounds like my Phai. He was one of the most honorable men I'd ever known, and once I appointed him as my Chiliarch the relations between my kingdoms became greater than I'd ever managed on my own."
Cat smiled warmly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Tell me about him?"
He returned the expression with a similar one, his gaze softening as he thought of his beloved.
A tiny smirk crossed his lips as he thought back to the day they'd met all those years. "He hated me at first. Gods, I was so spoiled and he, he was the only person other than my mother that didn't automatically do as I wanted. In fact, he was the only on in our sparring class that could beat me, and he was irate that I got upset at my loss." He chukled, remembering the offended look in the other's eyes that day.
"Asked me if I would rather he let me win." A surprised laugh left his hostess.
"Really?"
He nodded. "I fell in love that day, but he- he wouldn't give me the time of day. Not until months later when I finally told him that it was my goal to defeat him one day. He became my friend, and the only person to tell me the truth, no matter the consequences. The only person to point out when I was wrong."
His breath caught in his throat. "We- when we were-" he frowned, trying to remember the modern numbers that she'd taught him. "Fifteen, we went to Troy. We listened to the tales of Achilles and Patroclus, and-" his lips curved up, remembering breathy gasps, and the clumsy fumbling that had been their first time together. "We made love for the first time beneath the stars...I told him I loved him. Oh, I have never seen anything as beautiful as the smile he bestowed upon me when those words left me."
His friend's smile softened, a knowing gleam lurking in her grey eyes. "It feels like you have been given all the riches you can imagine. Like your every dream has been fulfilled." She whispered and he nodded.
"Hephaestion...I was not always kind to him. Many a time, I broke his heart, yet he remained steadfast to me, even as I married and took lovers. I- I married him to one of my wives' sisters, so that he could be of the royal lineage he deserved and even then, he did not stray. He lay with her on the wedding night, yet not a single night after. I-" He looked away. "I never knew. Not until his wife, Drypetis, told me as such. Worse she did not fault him for it as several of my own lovers did."
Turning his gaze back to her, he heaved a soft sigh. "I saw him. The night I died, he sat at my bedside, crying tears of blood, Cat. He shied away from my touch as if I meant him harm and I could see in his eyes that he hated whatever it was he'd become. But I don't. I cannot. Not when every single part of him is as beautiful as the next sunrise and just as breathtaking. Not when he is everything I care for in this world."
For a moment neither of them spoke, then something seemed to spark in Cat's eyes. "Lex?"
"Yes?"
"You said he was crying tears of blood? The night you died?"
Alexander scowled. "Yes."
A slow grin crossed her lips. "I think I know where to begin looking for your Phai."
His eyes widened, heart racing at the thought of being closer to his beloved. "Truly?"
She nodded, pulling the strange communication device she normally used from her pocket and dialing a number he'd seen her dial several times in the days he'd been living with her, although he'd never met the owner.
"Ragnor, how soon can you get here?"
A slow smile crossed her lips. "Excellent! Bring Magnus and Alec too. It's important."
With a few more pleasantries, she hung up the device, turning just in time for a portal to open in her living room. He lunged to his feet, hand resting idly on the hilt of his blade, keen gaze narrowed.
The three men that came through the portal froze as well, blue flames sparking one's hands while another reached towards his quiver. Only the third man remained calm, rolling his eyes in a move similar to the one Hephaestion often gave him when he was being particularly mule-headed.
"Oh for heaven's sake. Magnus, Alec, if he were a threat Cat would've taken care of him already," the two men nodded, the blue sparks disappearing as the other relaxed. "And you," the warlock (because how else would the man explain his green skin and horns) said, turning to him, "there is no need for that. Cat called us to help."
He glanced at Cat, whose lips twitched into an amused smile, and scowled. "Really, Cat?" He drawled and she giggled.
"Sorry, Lex. They're here to help. Magnus and Alec," she gestured to the man who'd had the blue flames and the archer, "have connections with the vampire clan in New York. They may be able to find him, or at least gather a lead on him."
His brow furrowed. "You think he's a vampire?"
The one named Magnus stepped forward. "Cat, who exactly are we looking for?"
He sighed. "My beloved. We were separated long ago, and I fear that he is in danger."
Alec nodded, a reassuring expression crossing his features. "Don't worry we'll help you find him. What's his name?"
"Hephaestion. His name is Hephaestion."
Alec froze, as did Magnus while Ragnor glanced between the two curiously. The king felt his heart clench. They knew something.
"What do you know?" He growled and the young archer glared at him, the expression entirely opposite of the warm one he'd given him only moments before.
"Who are you?"
He found himself eerily reminded of the day Cat had found him. "My name is Alexander."
Magnus cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should sit. Alec," His nose twitched as if he weren't used to calling the other man such. "Call Phai, he'll be able to confirm if this is truly his Alexander."
His heart stopped. "You know Hephaestion?" They must. For only those closest to his beloved were allowed to call him by the name Alexander had gifted him.
Alec scowled, ignoring him, but there was a quiet fear in his gaze. "If it isn't...it will break him." He whispered and Magnus nodded. "Yes, but he has us to help put him back together again."
After a moment, the young archer nodded and slipped a device similar to Cat's from his pocket. Dialing a number, he waited.
When he spoke, his voice was full of warmth, but reluctance all the same.
"Are you still shadowing me?"
He paused, listening then nodded. "Magnus' friend portaled us to the home of Catarina Loss. If Magnus opens a portal in his flat, how soon can you get here? I- Its important."
The person he was speaking to said something and he nodded at Magnus, who waved a hand, opening a portal similar to the one they'd arrived in, and he could feel his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. Could feel his soul sing in excitement in anticipation of being reunited with it other half, and his gaze locked on the portal with an almost feverish intensity.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then.
Then.
His soul cried out in relief, his breath stilling in his lungs as he locked eyes with the iridescent blue hues he'd dreamed of since waking in Cat's yard.
Blue hues that went wide, as their owner's pale skin, went sheet white.
"A-Alexander?" His beloved breathed, and there was so much longing and pain in his voice that he felt his own heart ache in response.
"Hephaestion."
*/*
How was this possible?
Trembling fingers traced the features they'd began to forget, their owner's eyes wide and wet with tears even as his soul sang at being reunited with its other half. Alexander smiled at him, a calloused hand catching his own cold one and he jerked back as he registered the warmth of it.
How was this possible?
And why did it hurt so much?
Why?
His chest tightened, lungs struggling for air they no longer needed and unbidden he felt a whimper leave his throat. A whimper that tapered into a sob as he lunged forward and pulled his Alexander into a warm embrace, taking care to heed his strength lest he crush him.
"How?" He whispered and he could almost see the smile that crossed his lover's lips.
"Remember? Patroclus died first. You needed me, the Gods gave me back to you."
Pulling away, he turned to Alec, Magnus and the two unfamiliar warlocks. "Thank you. Thank you"
Alec smiled, sniffling, though he knew the Childe would later deny it.
"We just want you to be happy, Phai. You deserve it."
Alexander wrapped his arms around the slender waist of his beloved, who shuddered as if unused to the feeling and his heart ached.
He turned the man in his arms, kissing him chastely, ignoring the way Cat cooed at the action. "I missed you, Phai."
Hephaestion smiled back, a wet, tumultuous expression, as an age-old agony flashed through his eyes. "I missed you too, Achilles."
"Come, let's get you home. You're barely standing, Love."
Something indulgent crossed his Phai's lips while their audience snickered, reminding him that they weren't alone.
"Uh-"
Cat giggled while Ragnor rolled his eyes, creating a portal. "I would like an explanation but that will not happen until you have taken care of your vampire. We shall reconvene on tomorrow."
Alexander nodded, holding his Chiliarch's hand as he stepped through the portal, knowing that once they were away from prying eyes, his love would shatter. However, this time, this time he was there to help him put himself back together.
Forever.
Fin~
A/N: I am conflicted about the ending, but it is much better than the original one so…yeah…