Story Title: Worlds Apart
Rated: T
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mortal Instruments; they are property of Cassandra Clare. This is simply a fanfiction written for fun, not for commercial reasons. The description of the Soulmate Principle in this story is an altered version of the one created by the author of Night World, L. J. Smith.
Summary: In the world we live in, people who fall in love can fall out of it. But that isn't the case with Alec and Magnus, because in the world they live in, a new magic is at work, finding for people their Soulmate: the one person they are destined for. What will Alec do when he finds out that his is a Downworlder, the very species he had always been told to hate?
Chapter One: Because Soulmates Are Connected
Chapter summary: Alec goes out to help his siblings fight some dangerous human-like demons but he meets the last person he ever thought he would find: his soulmate.
Intoxicated teens, abandoned alcohol bottles, pitch-black gloomy alleys; these are just some of the things that Alec Lightwood races past at midnight in the streets of Manhattan on a cold winter night, as he tries to reach his endangered siblings. The streets are semi-deserted with nothing in sight but the occasional hormonal teenagers sucking each other's faces off, or lonely old drunken men walking around aimlessly. But of course, they can't see Alec, not when he has on the Unseen rune that renders the user invisible to mundane eyes, for which he is immensely grateful for; attention isn't really his thing.
As he runs at an inhuman pace, courtesy of the Speed rune, he thinks that maybe he shouldn't have stayed at home after all. All week, there have been mass attacks on people of both the Downworlders and the Shadowhunters by unknown creatures of the dark. According to rumours and people who have been subjected to the said attacks, the creatures seem to have once been human, transformed into something mindless; thoughtless but still possessing unearthly strength and speed, making them exceedingly dangerous.
But of course, that hadn't stopped Alec's siblings from wanting to party.
They (Isabelle and Jace Lightwood) had left earlier that night to a party hosted by a warlock named Magnus Bane, and Alec, being the responsible sibling, volunteered to stay at home in case anyone was needed to fight in an emergency. Little did they know that said emergency would be happening at the very party that Jace and Izzy had stupidly gone to, taking Clary and Simon, a mere Mundie, with them.
Alec only volunteered to stay home because he knew that Bane was the representative of the Warlock Counsel in the Clave therefore he was to be trusted... well, as much as a Downworlder can be trusted, anyway.
Now, Alec is regretting his decision. All his life, he has been told that Downworlders are not to be reckoned with, that they are as vile and ruthless as the very demons Shadowhunters fight every day. He was also told that their existence is only accepted to stop further violence. He was told to hate them, and for whatever reason, he'd trusted this warlock enough to allow his siblings to go to him, without having even met him; only heard of him. And the fact the party is probably swarming with Downworlders isn't helping Alec's state of mind.
Shit, shit, SHIT! Alec thinks repeatedly as guilt for not being there for his siblings fills him up. He ignores the build up of lactic acid in his muscles, running faster and allowing adrenaline to his fuel his movements. Nearly there, he thinks as he reaches Brooklyn, the place of the demon attack. Brooklyn doesn't seem any different to Manhattan; only the difference in names separates them. He knows that if he doesn't get there soon, Jace and Izzy could be in serious trouble. They had called him moments ago, only telling him the address and nothing else. He knows that his siblings are strong fighters, so for them to willingly call for help could only mean bad things.
Skilfully, he climbs and jumps over the tall metal fence that he comes across and makes his way down a flight of stairs that will lead him into darkness. He braces himself, ready beyond wits to fight whatever demon was behind the grimy green gates that marked the end of the stairs. He tries to open it by its handle, but he finds that the gate is locked, so he uses force: confidently, he turns sideways and flexes his shoulder muscles to make them as hard as he possibly can, then he rams his body against the door. It opens.
Breathing heavily, he runs into the room head first, and then he thinks maybe that was a stupid thing to do because he is only greeted with the strong repugnant stench of both human and demon blood. The sight that welcomes him is not very pretty either, not that he expects any fighting zone to be pretty. Though the room is what he expects any party room to be: spotlights of different colours illuminates wooden the floor, the walls are painted in black to emphasise the colours of the light and blasting through the room is the usual techno music in any club or party. The effect of all this however, is clouded by the masses of what Alec can only describe as dead mutant mundane bodies.
Their features are distinctly human, yet they are double the average human. They have the same features of humans: eyes, noses, lips and mouths all where they should be, marking them as humans. However, their blood stained long pointy nails, each the length of a fifteen-centimetre ruler says otherwise. Stretch marks can be seen on their skin from where they had to expand during their transformation and their clothes are torn, whether from the transformation so the fight at hand, Alec had no clue. Their eyes are the colour of oxygenated blood and there are hints of pointy long teeth in the mouths of the ones lying there with their lips agape.
Alec is stunned. He feels that these mutated beings could have once been normal but he dismisses that thought as quickly as it comes: he can clearly see that they once were humans but the thought that humans could be turned into such horrifying monsters is nauseating. He tears his eyes away from the dead torn bodies, only to see much worse. The live mutants are much worse than the dead. Their eyes are cold, despite having the colour of fire, showing no emotion. They look soulless and somewhat lost, as if waiting for some god or the other to save them. They moved their hands mindlessly in front of them yet with such barbaric force that it could shred an average human into pieces.
Alec scans the room for the people who he is here for and he visibly relaxes when he sees them. He moves forwards when his eyes lock with a struggling Izzy, who has Simon by her side. They are pined against a corner of the wall by a group of mutants blocking their way. Alec doesn't hesitate to act. He takes and aligns his arrow with his bow and lets go. He doesn't miss his target.
Izzy doesn't even flinch when hot blood pours from the place Alec had hit the mutant, coating her otherwise flawless face with blood the colour of coal. She only moves away when Alec kills two more, Simon following her eagerly. Izzy gives Alec an appreciative smile and mouths "about time," before she moves on to kill more of the mutants, all the while shielding Simon with her lean body.
Alec smiles softly at them, happy that they are safe and have each other, just as soulmates should.
Satisfied, Alec fights on. He aligns an arrow and hits the mutants closest to him. He does so again and again, while thinking about the word "soulmates." Recently, a strong force of magic has been working its way into the lives of Shadowhunters and Downworlders, finding people who are meant for each other. Alec hasn't found his, but he is content knowing that his siblings have found theirs. He doesn't know how it feels to find "The One" and frankly, he doesn't want to. The thought of having only one person in your life that you are destined to be with, and so desperately dependent upon is unsettling to Alec, but according to his siblings, it is... nice.
Alec escapes his thoughts as he hears someone shout out in agony. He knows that voice. He moves in the direction of the noise and relaxes when he sees that Jace is okay; Clary had helped him kill the mutant that had struck at him. Alec lets out a breath he doesn't realise he'd been holding and moves on to fight, but something catches his attention.
Out of the corner of his eyes, a blinding blue light comes to life and he can do nothing but stare mindlessly at it; the sight he sees is beautiful. Alec curses himself for thinking so but it is truly beautiful. The light suddenly dims, revealing a man standing there with what could only be said to be blue fire radiating from his very being. He is clad in purple skinny jeans and a black tight tank top with the word 'greatness' embroidered on it, in purple, and for some reason, Alec agrees that yes, the man is indeed with greatness.
Alec is only slightly surprised to see purple and green glitter in the man's spiked raven black hair. On his eyelids, are twin dark thin lines of black eyeliner, which empathises the golden specks in his green eyes, that greatly resembles that of a snake, or perhaps a cat.
In a trance, Alec stares at the man, only then realising who the man is: Magnus Bane. For reasons unknown to him, Alec finds himself drawn to the taller man like, a moth to flame. He doesn't fight it, and he believes that indeed, the tall glowing man will be his destruction... his bane, just like a flame is to a moth.
He doesn't know why, but he thinks that the pictures he has seen of Magnus, when his father was showing him the Clave representatives, is nothing in comparison to the real life Magnus Bane. Alec just moves towards the man and when the man lifts his head an inch to the left, Alec freezes. Their eyes lock and the man seems drawn to Alec, just like Alec is drawn to him. To Alec, it is as if his entire life had been leading up to this moment.
Alec can see that the older man is still glowing with blue flames as he moves towards him, his legs moving without consent. Everything around Alec fades into an empty void as the man starts to move to Alec as well. Alec's heartbeat starts to increase exponentially and he starts to wonder how he is still conscious with his heart beating so fast. He feels like his blood is on fire and that his blood vessels are going to burst open any minute, but he pays no mind to it. He just keeps moving.
They were so close now and Alec can't even remember why he is here in the first place, all he wants is for the man in front of him to touch him.
Alec is brought back from his stupor when his senses danger not far away. He shakes his head to clear his clouded mind and immediately flies into action as he sees three of the godforsaken beings move towards the atrociously beautiful man in front of him. He sets an arrow on his bow and shoots it, then another, and another, hitting them all right between the eyes.
This seems to bring the tall glittery man back into the situation at hand as he too takes on a fighting stance. Once again, blue flame explodes from his long smooth fingers that Alec longs to touch. The warlock lifts his hand and the fire grows in intensity and for a moment, Alec fears that the man means to harm him. He perishes that thought as the man directs the flame behind Alec and Alec turns just in time to see four mutants burn to a crisp. No, Alec thinks, he doesn't mean to harm me. He means to save me.
Alec gives his savour a warm simile of gratitude and he returns it with a beautiful smile of his own. Alec's heart skips a beat. The man's smile is so full of honesty and happiness that Alec wants nothing but to press his lips firmly against that of the man's so he could swallow that smile and keep it in him forever. Alec inwardly slaps himself at the thought because this is a warlock that he is having this thought about. This is a Downworlder.
Blue fire erupts from the man's hands again and Alec feels this urgent need to kneel down, so he does. A moment later, he is glad he followed his instincts because the blue flame from the man's hands is flying straight ahead, passing where his head was only seconds ago. Alec doesn't understand what just happened but he doesn't question it, only stands up again and gives into the current need to protect the man standing in front of him.
There aren't many of the mutants left, so it doesn't take long for Alec to slay the ones he feels could harm the warlock. They stand back to back and fight off the creatures around them, each fighting of as many as the can. Alec is surprised at how in tune they were with each other: the man seems to sense Alec's slick movements before he makes them and Alec can feel the buzz of the warlock's magic every time before he lets it go. They fight together like they have fought many battles together; they fight like parabatai. And Alec wouldn't fathom a reason for this. He already has a parabatai and this man by his side is a Downworlder, so why they are so… connected, Alec doesn't know. He doesn't want to question it.
Once all the mutants are dead, Alec sees that the others are moving towards him. They all share a confused look and Alec doesn't know why. He seems to not know a lot of things, lately.
Jace keeps looking between him and the warlock with a quizzical look and Izzy simply looks scared, as if she knows something that Alec doesn't.
Alec ignores their looks and gives into the need to step slightly back. When he does, he collides with the very being he has been yearning to touch since he got into the room. It scares him that just the feel of the warlock behind him relaxes him but he decides not to question it, not yet. He sighs into the feel of the hard body behind him, his eyes in a haze and doesn't think about how weird this may look to his siblings. They are probably thinking Alec is crazy for being so close to a Downworlder, but he doesn't care.
"Alec, are you all right?" He hears a distant voice say, but he ignores it in favour of turning around. He is met with equally hazed eyes and he smiles at the magnificent man before him.
Said magnificent man moves his hand to cup Alec's face, which sends electric sparks down Alec's body and he tenses up momentarily because this feeling is so alien to him. But after a while, he starts to relax into the touch and then even lean into it, wanting more of the addictive warmth that only the warlock's touch seems to provide. They stay like that for a while, staring into each other's eyes, as if searching for something, and butterflies start to flutter in Alec's stomach, but he doesn't really mind because it feels good. Both boys vaguely register the light conversation going on around them as the move closer, both gasping audibly when their lips touch lightly. This simple contact sends Alec's heart erupting with happiness he never thought possible, which makes him feel like a greedy animal, because he can't help but want more.
Scared of this revelation, Alec pulls back, thoughts about Downworlders and Shadowhunters being enemies flooding into the fore of his mind. The hurt expression that appears on the warlock in front of him brings on an attack of guilt that Alec doesn't understand. He feels the need to make the man happy, so he vanquishes his inner battle about running away and kisses the warlock. It is a simple brush of lips against lips, yet to Alec, it was so much more. Alec closes his eyes so he can revel in the kiss as he loses himself in all that was the warlock.
Alec feels strong hands hugging his torso just before he is pulled flush against the warlock. Suddenly, a flood of clouded images overtakes Alec's mind: he can see the little boy around the age of five, sitting in a park with the sun bouncing off his smooth olive skin. The boy is sitting with a man and woman, who had to be his parents. The boy has beautiful green eyes, much like his mothers and they look somewhat happy, until the image distorts and another replaces it. The new image shows the same boy is standing at the entrance of a barn, looking a few years older, as he stares with shock and horror at the woman that was in the image before, only this time she is hanging in the middle of the barn by a thick blue rope. The boy's green eyes are wide open in fright, clearly showing the unmistakable resemblance it now has with a cat's eye. Again, the image distorts, and another appears: the man from the first image is holding the boy's head down a well, shouting at him and giving him a look, as if the young boy is the devil. Suddenly, a burst of blue flame erupts from the struggling boy, setting the man on fire.
Before Alec's mind can be further assaulted with more images, he reluctantly pulls away from the kiss. The look in the warlock's eyes tells Alec what he already knows: those images are the past memories of the beautiful warlock in his arms. A rush of sadness goes through him and Alec knows he is feeling this sadness for the man in front of him and the things he had gone through. The crest-fallen expression the warlock is now wearing tells Alec that the taller man had seen Alec's memories, just as Alec saw his.
Alec opens his mouth to say something but only closes it when he realises that he has nothing to say, so he moves towards the warlock again. Alec knows that the warlock is seeing his memories but somehow, he feels that he can trust the older man, so he continues to kiss him with all he has. Their lips are moving together in synchronisation and Alec can feels what the warlock is feeling, hear what the warlock is thinking and see what the warlock had been through. It is a very weird sensation but Alec finds himself feeling comfortable in it.
They pull away again when the need for air is too great, but still, they keep their hands around each other, mentally communicating. Deep inside, Alec knows why he is reacting this way around the tall warlock but he refuses to believe it; he simply can't be destined to be with a warlock for the rest of his mortal life. He hasn't heard of this happening anywhere: a Shadowhunter finding a soulmate in a Downworlder. He silently curses his luck, but he knows that he can't fight it, so he gives in.
The warlock reaches his arms out again to stroke Alec's pale face and instead of the electric sparks he had felt before, a violent shot of pain goes through his body and he pulls away from the older man. His body feels as if he has been set on fire and he doubles over in agonising pain: his stomach feels like a nuclear bomb has just exploded, his veins feel like they have been injected with demon blood and the runes on his now shaking body feel like they are being ripped from his overheating skin.
"Arrgg," Alec cries out in pain and suddenly, strong muscled arms are circling his torso. In this moment, a series of things happen at the same time: one, Jace takes out magic suppressant handcuffs and pulls the warlock from Alec, locking his hands behind his back. Two: Izzy punches the warlock so hard that he is knocked out and limp in Jace's arms and three: a shot of pain engulfs Alec's mind, pulling him into a world of welcoming darkness. Alec lets go and allows himself to be submerged into the empty void, leaving the world in favour of oblivion.
So guys, what did you think? My plan is to update every Friday, hopeful I can stick to it. I have the next three chapters written so I might post those early, if I get a huge amount of reviews, follows and favorites so get reviewing! Thanks for reading!
My friend, Angel, beta read this so kudos to him!
~Sherry.