One minute, Alec was standing in Edom, watching Magnus's back and wishing he could be the one to sacrifice himself. The next, he found himself back in the Accords Hall, a hole slowly starting to form in his chest. There was no way this was happening, there was no way Magnus was being taken from him.
Alec turned in a full circle, only halfway registering the looks of concern and pity he saw on Isabelle and Jace's faces as he did so. He kept expecting to find Magnus, standing as strong as he always had, smiling with the knowledge that it had all been a test, that there had never been any real danger.
What he was met with, however, was the complete opposite. What he saw forced him on his knees from the pain it put him in. Alec was almost done with his circle, he was almost flooded with relief, until he noticed Magnus's body on the floor just a few feet from him. Magnus's body. The mere thought of it brought the tears back in earnest.
Staggering slightly, Alec found himself moving to sink to his knees beside of Magnus, immediately reaching for him and moving to hold him. He was vaguely aware of the fact that his parents were already there, he was extremely aware of the fact that everyone in the room was silent, even the people who knew next to nothing about them.
As Jace moved toward them, Alec found himself flinching away from his parabatai's touch, something he had never done before. He saw the hurt on Jace's face, but he couldn't find it in himself to try to mend it. He couldn't help but think that the hurt Jace was feeling was only a fraction of the misery that was currently in his heart.
To Alec's surprise, Jace did not move away, he simply laid a hand as gently as possible on Alec's shoulder. "I'm here, Alec. I know that doesn't help, but I'm not going anywhere." Jace's voice was so gentle that it made Alec even angrier. He didn't want pity, he didn't want sympathy; he wanted Magnus back.
He thought about shaking Jace's hand off of his shoulder, of just shutting down completely, of not letting anyone in. But then he saw his parents moving toward them and knew that he needed Jace by his side. Alec knew he was being ever so slightly irrational, that his parents had really begun trying in the end, but the closer they got, the angrier he became.
"Don't come any closer to us," he said through his teeth. Alec knew his voice must have been full of either anger or pain because his parents stopped in unison, identical expressions of surprise dawning their faces. Alec chuckled at this, only growing angrier. "You hated him. You were disgusted by the mere thought of me being with Magnus. Do not come near him. You never showed him any kindness, not once, so stay away." Alec clinched his fist as he felt Jace's hand tighten on his shoulder.
That was when Alec remembered the ring that was still in his hand. He looked down, over Magnus's shoulder, to stare at the ring he had been given, tears stinging at his eyes once more. He dimly heard Jace's voice behind him, but he didn't really register it. Alec was too busy reliving the last moments of Magnus's life, too busy thinking about all the things he could have done differently. He hadn't protected Max, and now it seemed as though he couldn't protect anyone he loved, seeing as Magnus was now gone, too.
Alec felt Jace gently take Magnus from him, placing Magnus back on the ground. Then Jace was in front of him, helping him up and leading him out of the Accords Hall. Jace didn't say a single word until they were safely alone in the Lightwood house. As he sat Alec down on the couch, all Alec heard him say was, "I'm so sorry," before he finally allowed himself to fall into Jace's arms, breaking down completely.
Magnus blinked several times, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. When he had completely assessed himself, realizing that he was, indeed, physically fine, he cautiously sat up. Scanning the room, he realized he was still in Edom, in one of the houses left in ruins by the Shadowhunter-type people who had once lived there. Magnus was utterly confused as to why his father would keep him in Edom in this way, as to why he was still technically alive.
He got up and began exploring the house, trying to figure out what was going on. It seemed to be fully stocked, which was strange considering it had been centuries since any human-like-beings had lived there. It seemed like his father was doing something on purpose, which scared him more than death itself.
As Magnus was nearing the point of taking a break, he heard a chilling voice behind him. "Would you like to see your darling Alexander?" Magnus whirled to face his father, anger immediately flooding every fiber of his being. "He's dealing with this quite well, I would say." Asmodeus's smile was eerie, and Magnus wanted to smack it off of him.
Before he could say anything, Asmodeus waved his hand, a mirror immediately appearing on the wall opposite the bed that Magnus had woken up in. Magnus had prepared to argue with his father, he had prepared to interrogate him, he had prepared to do a number of things out of anger, but all of that ceased as soon as he saw Alec.
"I gave him a body to bury," Asmodeus said smugly, explaining the sight that Magnus was seeing in the mirror. Alec was kneeling in front of what looked to be Magnus's headstone, Jace and Isabelle were standing a few feet away, obviously not knowing what to do. "Isn't that wonderful?"
Magnus wanted to scream, but he could hardly even turn around to face his father at all. All Magnus could register at the moment was the expression on Alec's face, the desperation and grief widely apparent on his face. The walls and guards Alec usually had in place were in pieces. It was all Magnus could do to keep from launching himself at his father in anger. He refrained, however, knowing that it would do nothing helpful, especially considering the fact that he couldn't use his magic here.
"You're tricking him," Magnus said. It wasn't a question; his mind was already working overtime, quickly figuring out exactly what his father had done. "I'm not actually dead, you're just going to keep me here with you for eternity. That's why this house is stocked." Magnus peeled his eyes away from Alec just in time to see a sickening grin appear on Asmodeus's face. That was all the response Magnus needed in order to know that his assumptions were correct.
True to form, Asmodeus completely ignored what Magnus had just said, his eyes remaining on the mirror before them. "I'm honestly surprised he's handing things this well; I figured he'd be much more pathetic than he actually is." At that, something inside of Magnus snapped. He simply couldn't stand there and watch, he couldn't stand there and listen to his father any longer.
"Why the hell are you doing this?" he asked, all of his anger pouring into his words. Magnus tried, and failed, to keep his eyes off of the mirror. He was fairly certain that he had never seen Alec like this, his posture so slumped that it seemed like his entire body was full of grief. Magnus clenched his fists, forcing his emotions to stay down, knowing what sort of satisfaction his father would take in seeing him break.
Magnus flinched slightly when Asmodeus chuckled before he responded. "Come on, son; I'm a demon." Asmodeus's smile was so nauseating that Magnus had to look back at Alec to keep his disgust at bay. "I don't really need a reason to do this, do I?" When Magnus didn't respond, Asmodeus continued, knowing Magnus far better than Magnus would have liked to admit. "You and I both know I've been wanting to get you down here for centuries. You're the most powerful child I have ever had, and let's just say that your powers are looking very good on me at the moment."
Sitting down on the bed, Magnus put his head in his hands, trying to keep from thinking of what his father could do with his powers. He had been so, so careful for centuries, knowing that his father could easily use his powers for the worst things imaginable as soon as he set foot in Edom. And now, here he was, absolutely powerless, trapped as far away from Alec as he could possibly be.
"Listen very carefully, son." Magnus didn't look up as Asmodeus began speaking once more. "You are here with me for eternity; there is no getting out of that. You have free reign as long as you stay inside this ruined village. Step outside of it, and you will no longer be under my protection." Magnus was entirely too relieved as his father turned to leave.
Just as Asmodeus crossed through the door, he turned around in one fluid movement, throwing up one finger as he did so, a gesture that painfully reminded Magnus of the way he himself moved. "Oh, and one more thing," he said, his grin slowly widening. "This house is your house; this room is your bedroom. Don't even think about changing that. After all, the mirror wouldn't be painful if you were able to walk away from it, would it?"
With that, Asmodeus strode out of the door. Magnus only relaxed as he saw Asmodeus out of the window, walking away to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. After a few moments, Magnus looked away, his eyes naturally going back to the mirror, back to Alec. He had the terrible feeling that he would be spending much of his time watching Alec.
Magnus sat in silence for minutes, simply watching Alec as he sat beside the grave. For a moment, Magnus fleetingly thought of trying to break the mirror. The longer he looked at it, the angrier he became. He was angry because he couldn't do anything, he couldn't wrap his arms around Alec, he couldn't even speak to Alec, couldn't let him know that he was okay. But Magnus knew that his father was smarter than the average bear; Asmodeus would have made the mirror unbreakable.
Just as Magnus was about to get up and explore the rest of the village he was apparently in, he heard Alec's strained voice coming from the mirror, a sound that almost immediately broke his heart into even tinier pieces than those it was already in. "It's my fault," Alec said, his voice cracking out of pain. "I'm so sorry, Magnus; I should have protected you." It seemed like Alec was done, but he began speaking after several more seconds of heartbroken silence. "I love you," he finished, getting up and moving away from the grave as quickly as he could. Jace and Isabelle followed him without a word, knowing he didn't want to be bothered.
As Magnus watched, Alec lead the way to the apartment. He stopped at the front door, obviously not knowing how to get in since Magnus had taken away his key when they had broken up. Jace walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder and reaching past him to draw a rune on the door. As soon as the door sprung open, Alec shoved his way into the apartment.
It was that moment that Magnus finally allowed himself to completely break down. Watching Chairman Meow all but spring into Alec's arms, watching as Alec's tears left the Chairman's fur wet and matter, Magnus couldn't contain his own grief any longer. "He's not coming back," Alec said, obviously directing this to the cat in his arms. "He's gone, and he's not coming back."
When Alec said this, it felt as though a switch had been flipped inside of Magnus. He immediately became hard, angry once more. I will be coming back to you, Alexander, he thought, shoving all other possibilities to the side. I don't know when or how, but I will be coming back, you and the Chairman just wait and see.
