Summary:
Amelia Aleka had grown up on stories about the world beyond Idris' Wards, but like so many people her age she had never been outside of them. Her parents, uncle, and aunt never spoke of anything that happened before they moved behind the Wards, no one spoke of what was happening beyond the safety they gave.
Amelia had always wondered what lay passed the Wards and what had driven the Nephilim to flee to cower behind Wards and Warlock protection. None of their books had any information and their teachers said nothing about the cause for their fear and cowardice.
Even her grandparents said nothing but every time Amelia had asked she'd become said and Amelia could hear her weep later after she'd been sent to bed.
And now she'd had let her cousins convince her to slip through an opening in the Wards instead of telling the Council about it.
"What do you think we'll find?" Joyce Wayland-Fray asked excitedly.
Her twin brother glared at her, "I can't believe you are excited. We could get into serious trouble doing this."
"Oh, boo, don't be such a scaredy-cat, Jacen." Amelia's little brother said.
"I'm not scared, worried more like." Jacen shrugged.
"Everyone have their weapons?" Amelia asked.
"Yes, Double A." Joyce said with a sigh, Amelia had asked several times so she understood the exasperation.
"Bane, do you have your jacket?" Amelia asked, ignoring Joyce's use of her father's nickname for her.
Bane rolled his eyes, "Let's just go before we get caught by Papa Luke or Uncle Raph."
"I still say this is a bad idea." Jacen said.
"Noted." Avanye said as she opened a Portal to the Mundane world.
Avanye had been one of the last Warlocks ever born, she, like the others had never been outside the Wards, having been born within them and shoved at Aunt Clary when her mother had seen her pale purple skin and deep blue hair. Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace had raised her like their own and when Avanye had been two the Twins had been born with Bane being born shortly after.
"Here it goes."
"Where does it lead?" Amelia asked.
"The the Ruins." Avanye said, "I heard mom talking about it once and it was the only place I could think of."
"Let's go, then." Jacen said and stepped through.
"Wait, I wanted to go first!" Joyce shouted, racing after him.
Bane followed quickly as did Amelia and Avanye.
They reappeared in a crumbling building, shadows crept up the walls and they all shivered but not from cold, in fact it was almost blazing hot.
"Weapons out." Amelia said and they all nodded.
Lilac colored magic curled up Avanye's arms in readiness as Bane notched an arrow on his bow, though he did not draw the string back, and Jacen and Joyce lit their angel blades.
"Do you think Demons still exist here?" Jacen asked.
"I don't know." Amelia said, "Do you think any thing alive exists here?"
"Come on." Bane said as he moved forward.
They exited the building and they all gasped.
They had expected to find the remnats of a devistating war; crumbling buldings and scortched earth, but what they found couldn't have been further form that.
As far as their eyes could see were flowers and green grass, sapling trees grew from the steps of the Ruins and led away in pairs, a well walked path between sets of trees.
"Wow." Avanye breathed, "It's beautiful."
"Thank you." An unfamiliar voice said from behind them.
They spun around to stare, weapons at the ready, at the man that stood before them.
Amelia frowned, he looked young and he wore the color of mourning, his hair streaked with artificial white and he looked so young. his shirt was embroidered, a red rose and a cream colored lily over his heart.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"Me?" The man inquired, "No one of much importance, not any more, at least." He shrugged as he knelt next to a wilting rose bush and poured a stream of blue magic into it as he caressed a red rose bud, the bud blooming beautifully at his touch.
"Is there any one else here?" Jacen asked, curiously.
The man looked at him, his gaze unnerving and Jacen shifted under the watch.
"Just me." The man said, "Just me for Twenty-two years."
"What happened?" Bane asked.
The man's gaze left Jacen, who breathed a sigh of relief, and fell on Bane.
"A monster took my love from me." He said softly.
Avanye caught Amelia's eyes and she wondered how the man had survived the loss, she could freely admit to herself that she'd die without Avanye by her side and she knew Avanye felt the same.
"Now, what brings four Shadowhunters and a Warlock here?" The man asked.
"What is a Shadowhunter?" Joyce asked, confused.
The man looked over all of them and laughed, loudly and almost forced.
When they didn't laugh the man stopped and stared at them, "You're serious. Well, that is interesting, I wonder what made the Clave change the name."
"Clave?" Jacen asked, looking at Amelia, who shrugged.
"Even more interesting, who is your leading body?" The man asked.
"The Council." Bane said, without thinking.
"Bane!" Amelia said sharply, noticing the startled look the man gained.
"What?" Bane shrugged.
"Honestly, he could be..."
"Evil?" The man supplied when Amelia hesitated.
"Well, yes, I suppose."
"Relax, Child, if I wanted you dead you would be."
"Oh, that's reassuring." Jacen said, sarcastically.
"Isn't it?" The man asked, as he trailed his hand along the bark of one of the saplings while walking away from them.
"Wait!" Joyce called, "Can you tell us why every body fled to Alicante and Idris twenty-four years ago?"
The man stilled, his magic shifting from gentle blue to a deep red for a moment before fading back to blue.
"Why not ask your Council?"
"Well, it makes my mom sad to talk about it." Amelia said, "And Uncle Raph just ignores our questions."
The man smiled briefly at Uncle Raph's name before it was gone.
"Come, we can talk at the Gazebo." The man said and led the way.
"Well?" Jacen asked impatiently as they sat in the white painted Gazebo.
"Twenty-four years ago a monster took my love from me, he was a Shadowhunter and I thought I knew the risks he faced, I thought I would be ready to help him if he needed it, but I wasn't ready and I lost him." The man began.
Amelia frowned, "What happened next?"
"I lost control, Warlock, as you must know are half Demon, it makes us,... vulnerable... to weaknesses." The man said, "I couldn't bear to lose my lover, we'd had such a short time together, although, even had we had a hundred years it still would not have been enough for me.
"I lost control and began a War against the monster that killed my Shadowhunter, it took me two years to find and kill him and his son and then I destroyed every demon that had crawled out of their holes and all of the monster's followers after. I burned the world to the ground because my lover was gone."
"Why did every one flee?" Joyce asked.
"Why does any one run?" The man asked, "They were afraid. And they had good reason to fear, I barely knew friend from foe, I broke Shadowhunters when they tried to stop me."
The man shook his head, "You should head home, your parents must be worried."
They all stood up to leave and began following the path back.
Amelia stopped, "You never told us who you were."
"Neither did you." The man told her.
"Amelia Aleka Lightwood-Lewis, Bane is my brother. Joyce and Jacen Wayland-Fray are my cousins and Avanye is my best friend and lover, my aunt and uncle adopted her."
"Then your mother must be Isabelle." The man said softly.
"Yes." Amelia said, surprised, "How did you know?"
The man smiled emptily, "Dear Isabelle was my lover's sister, and Jace, his brother and Parabatai, I was there the day you were born Amelia Aleka, because I promise my love the day he learned of you that I'd let no harm come to you, and there were so many Demons around where they were hiding that I knew if I left them there you would never draw your first breath."
"I don't understand."
"Do you still have the cat your mother gave you that day?" The man asked suddenly.
"Yes, why?"
"Keep it safe, your uncle picked it out for you, the one you are named for." The man told her.
"I'm not named for any one." Amelia said.
"Oh?" The man asked, "Amelia means Defender and Aleka is a form of Alexander, do you know what your uncle's name was?"
"I didn't know I had an uncle other than Max and Jace."
"Well, you can't tell me I'm wrong then." The man said, "Off you go, dear, go home."
"You still never told me your name."
The man smiled, "Magnus Bane." And she watched his red-orange eyes pulse with power as he turned and pressed his hand to an ivy leaf, helping the vine grow and twist around the Gazebo structure, before he helped a rose bush burst from the ground and forced it to bloom.
"Double A!" Joyce called, "Hurry up!"
Amelia stared at the man as he turned away from her, his white clothing in stark contrast to the vibrant colors that surrounded him as he walked among the flowers, pausing now and then to push blue tendrals of magic in to some to help them grow, and she wondered how deep a love had to be in order to bring a man to destroy a world and watch it burn and how strong a love was that would keep even after that and help regrow what was destroyed because Amelia had no doubts that Magnus Bane was thinking of his lover when he poured his magic into the growth around them, he had to be because every one knew that Magnus Bane's magic was red not blue.
Amelia turned away from his and caught up with her family wondering how much trouble they were going to be in when they got back.
Author's note: I needed Amelia to meet Magnus so, here it is, Poor Magnus all along growing Red Roses and other plants after destroying everything/everyone that was left behind when people fled to Idris and Alicante and Mourning Alec forevermore.