Agony

As soon as he felt his feet hitting the floor once again, Jace turned, seraph blade in hand, ready to defend or attack. The room was in smoky darkness, a darkness interrupted only by the last of the electric sparkles still erupting from the panel on the wall. Dust and the last remnants of whatever spell Magnus had performed made the air feel dry, stifling and electrified. As the room gave a last shutter and settled in unexpected silence, Jace squinted as he scanned the scene before him. His eyes found Magnus' barely visible figure, standing beside Alec's bed, his arms in the air, the last traces of fiery red magic still sputtering from the end of his fingers.

"What happened?" he asked, but Magnus did not reply. Instead, he turned towards Alec, checking, Jace suspected, that Alec was still breathing. Without a word, Magnus snapped his fingers and began to wave his arms in the air, blue and purple magic flowing from his fingertips, fusing electric cables together and reconnecting the monitors to the energy sources they needed to do the job of keeping Alec alive. Once he ascertained that all the equipment was back on line, he snapped his fingers one last time and the lights came on in the room and a set of French doors flew open sucking the dust from the air, making it possible for Jace to breath and see clearly once again.

"We are safe for now," Magnus stated curtly, and with a last wave of his arms, lifted wards around the place before collapsing on one knee, his energy almost completely depleted by the effort it had taken to transport a whole hospital room through Idris' heavy wards and across who knows how long a distance.

"Magnus!" Jace exclaimed as he came to crouch beside the warlocks and placed his hand in his arm, the gesture meant to stop Magnus from completely collapsing to the floor. Jace could see just how pale Magnus was, as if the spell had drained not only his powers but also all the blood from his body.

"I am fine," Magnus said through shallow breaths, "I just need a minute."

Jace helped Magnus to an armchair and once the warlock was settled, scanned the room once again, slower this time, trying to take stock of the situation and get his bearings. What he saw surprised him. It was as if Alec's hospital room had suddenly merged with another to make something completely new: a hybrid in which the sterile functionality of a hospital merged with the stylish features of a summer home. Alec's hospital bed and the monitors that kept him alive were still there, as were sections of the wall containing the panels with the valves, tubes and cables needed to operate the medical equipment his brother needed. Parts of the hospital's sterile tile floor had fused with warm hardwood floors, sections of which were covered in Persian rugs in warm tones of red and orange. The walls that until just minutes ago had been bare and white now sported yellow and blue sections, and pieces of artwork and paintings sprouting here and there as if they were plants breaking through soil. An institutional looking light fixture competed with an intricate crystal chandelier for the privilege of illuminating the room from a ceiling that was a patchwork of white tiles and intricate wooden beans. In the place where Jace had last seen his adoptive family's worried faces, French doors now led out to an unfamiliar terrace. It was as if one room had been superimposed over another and the resulting effect was a confusing mixture of styles and fixtures that were never meant to coexist in the same place and at the same time.

The scene outside the doors was even more disorientating. Less than five minutes ago, Jace had been gazing out a small window in Alec's room, looking out towards an Idris' central plaza bathed in morning light. Now, the French doors framed a dark moonless night. He was sure he could hear the sound of the ocean nearby, and when he turned to his right, he could see the faint electric lights of a small town barely discernible in the distance. The air smelled of salt and seaweed, and the occasional call of seagulls were the only sounds piercing the silence of the night.

"Where are we Magnus?" he asked turning to the warlock who still sat in a butter yellow armchair that, Jace knew, had not been there before Magnus brought them to this strange place.

"We are as far from Idris as I could possibly take us without leaving the planet," Magnus replied. He pinched his nose with his thumb and index finger as if trying to stave off a headache. "We are in Australia, in a beach house I bought from a friend back in the 80s."

"Australia?" Jace asked more to himself than to Magnus. Now that the adrenaline was subsiding, he not only felt disoriented, but his head was also beginning to spin, and his stomach was waging a battle against nausea. He felt as if he had been picked up by tornado, turned about and dropped in an unfamiliar place.

"What you are feeling are the effects of the spell I just used," Magnus stated, answering one of the many questions rattling inside Jace's skull. "Transporting a whole room, including the people in it, to the other side of the world takes powerful magic and can have nasty side effects. My powers were diminished to begin with from portaling into Idris. I am sorry; the ride was not as smooth as it would have been, had I been stronger. You will feel better after a drink." Magnus snapped his fingers and two glasses appeared on the side table. After offering one to Jace, he took a long swing from the other, before resting his head back and closing his eyes.

"You are exhausted," Jace observed. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I will feel better after I rest for a minute," Magnus replied. "Food would be good too, but I doubt there is anything in the kitchen. My housekeeper maintains the place, but I doubt she keeps the kitchen stocked. We will have to wait until morning to get provisions. We should both get some rest; you are looking a little pale, Jace."

"Not as pale as you, I am sure," Jace replied, trying to sound nonchalant but barely concealing his concern and discomfort. "How is Alec?" Jace gazed towards the inert figure of his brother lying still on the bed, apparently oblivious to their most recent ordeal or change of scenery.

"His condition is unchanged for now," Magnus replied, following Jace's gaze. The only sounds coming from where Alec laid were the beeping of heart monitor and the mechanical sound of the respirator, blowing air and life into his lungs with detached steadiness. "I could not let him die, Jace," Magnus added, sadness, desperation and perhaps even a little hopelessness coloring his voice. "I could not let him go without a fight."

"Does that mean that you have a plan to cure my brother?"

"I will have one soon, I promise. For now, we are safe here. No one knows about this house, not even Catarina, and as long as we remain as far away from the Clave as possible, Alec will be safe."

"He was safe in Idris," Jace refuted. "He was being looked after by our best physicians. Couldn't you have healed him there?"

"Didn't you hear? They were getting ready to disconnect him."

"But they wouldn't have if they knew you would find a cure," Jace replied, his voice questioning as he tried to understand Magnus' sudden and rather unexplainable actions. "They would have waited; my parents would not have let Alec go if there was a chance that you could heal him."

"I could not take the chance. Alec was not safe in the Clave's hands. Trust me."

"What do you mean he was not safe? What are you afraid of?" Jace asked, the apprehension in Magnus' voice feeding his own.

"Of all possible ailments that demons can inflict on the Nephilim, Eidolon poisoning is the one that terrifies the Clave the most," Magnus replied. "Believe me when I tell you that that doctor was not just acting out of concern for Alec when he recommended to disconnect him. The Clave is afraid of the infection and of its effects on the Nephilim. We better not alert anyone of our location, so, for now no communications with your family, okay? We need to fly under the radar while I look for a cure."

"You are afraid of what the Clave may do, aren't you?" Jace asked, more to confirm than to find out. Magnus' words and expression already betrayed fear.

"Did they explain what Eidolon poison does to the Nephilim?" Magnus asked by way of an answer.

"Not really," Jace stated. "I wasn't there when the doctor spoke to our parents."

"Have you heard of demon pox?"

"Yes," Jace replied, "but most people think that it is just a myth; stories told to frighten children."

"It is not a myth," Magnus said and Jace could see the warlock's effort to keep all panic from his voice. "It is just very rare, and cases are usually kept secret due to fear, shame and embarrassment. Eidolons are one kind of demon species capable of infecting the Nephilim with demon pox, a very nasty form of it, as a matter of fact. Demon pox attacks the angelic part of the Nephilim, mutating it, and transforming the body and the soul into something menstruous and evil. In its last stages, victims become mindless and rabid beasts, incapable of controlling the urge to attack. The disease is not contagious in its early stages but before the poison kills them in the most horrible way imaginable, it gives its victims the urge of passing on the illness. That is why, and in order to protect whatever is left of the angelic soul, many Nephilim in the past have chosen death before the disease runs its course. And, since there is no known cure yet, the Clave prefers not to let the infection progress."

Jace noticed the mixture of hesitation, doubt and stubbornness in Magnus voice, the way he had emphasize the word 'yet' when speaking of a cure, as well as the grim expression in his eyes when describing the course of the illness. It was clear to Jace that a battle was waging inside Magnus: hopelessness and stubbornness fighting for control. "Do you have a plan?" he asked hesitantly, fearing the answer but unable to let go of hope.

"I have a couple of ideas," Magnus tentatively replied.

"That does not sound very promising Magnus. For what you describe, this illness is horrendous, and attacks the part of us that makes us Nephilim. I understand why my parents would consider disconnecting Alec. Our Nephilim nature is the most important part of ourselves, one that we must protect. So, I hope you have more than a couple of ideas."

"I will save Alexander, Jace; I will." Magnus' expression was now the expression of a drowning man grasping at straws.

"And if you can't?" Jace interjected. "Will you sacrifice Alec's soul in the hope of a cure?" Jace would have never considered the possibility of Alec dying. In fact, he could not fathom a world empty of his brother's steady and stable presence. He knew that Alec's death would feel like the loss of a limp or half his heart, that he would forever limp along without Alec. But he also knew that Alec would never agree to sacrifice his own soul.

"It will not come to that," Magnus replied.

"But what if it does?" Jace argued. "What if the poison begins to destroy Alec's soul? We cannot let that happen Magnus. Alec would never forgive us if we let him become a monster."

"I will make you a solemn promise, a vow," Magnus stated somberly, "if it comes down to it, if I cannot find a cure in time, I will end Alec's life myself." Magnus' eyes were shinning with unshed tears, and Jace thought he had never seen him this sad or resolute.

"Let's both swear," Jace replied, "not you to me or me to you, Magnus, but to Alec. Let's both vow to him that we will protect his angelic soul at all cost." Jace extended his hand and Magnus took it firmly and at that moment, brother and lover were of one mind. They would make every effort to save Alec, even if saving him meant losing him forever to a death that would leave them both empty and broken.

Magnus set out to work then, gathering books and all the materials needed to mix the potions and cast the spells he hoped would safe Alec. As soon as the sun came out, Jace ventured out in search of food, returning a while later with bagels, coffee, and an assortment of cheeses. They ate in silence in the kitchen before Magnus, feeling a bit stronger, went back to work.

Jace resigned himself to keep watch by the window, standing in the posture of a soldier guarding a precious treasure, his hands interlaced behind him, his back straight, his eyes fixed on the scene before him. His phone kept vibrating in his pocket, an increasing number of missed calls and panicky text messages glaring at him from the screen every time he looked at it, until it eventually run out of batteries and finally fell silent.

Every so often, Jace turned from the terribly desperate scene unfolding in the room to look out the window, the view outside a striking contrast to the battle Magnus waged inside against the inexorable advance of the poison cursing through Alec's veins. From his vantage point, Jace could see men and women of all ages in summer dresses, jogging outfits, or surfing suits. Many of them carried boards under their arms and with easy steps strode on warm sand towards an ocean that was bluer that any Jace had ever seen, its surface disturbed every so often by magnificent waves. As hours passed without any sign of hope, Jace's mind began to wonder. He thought about those people outside who went about their normal lives without suspecting the terrible dangers that lurked in the shadows, dangers against which he had dedicated his life to fight. Could he ever be an effective warrior if Alec was no there to stand beside him? He asked himself. Would the fight be even worthwhile if his brother was no longer there? Would him and Magnus ever be the same if Alec was no more? Could he ever face his family again if Alec died far away from those that loved him and whom he loved?

As he watched Magnus mix potions and cast spells that made the air in the room feel dry and full of unfamiliar smells, the sinking feeling in Jace's chest grew stronger. He did not need Magnus to say anything; the increasingly despondent expression on his face told Jace that this was a battle that Magnus was slowly but inexorably losing. As the clock in the table beside Alec's bed marked the hours, Jace became even more aware that they were running out of time.

Eventually, the many hours of vigil, the fight against exhaustion and the drastic time difference began to make themselves known in the increasing ache in Jace's muscles. As the sun began to set somewhere behind the house, the last of his stamina runes finally burned out, and Jace could no longer keep his eyes open. Seeing him sway from side to side, Magnus finally insisted that he take a break and giving up any attempt to protest, Jace finally fell asleep on the armchair in which hours before Magnus had rested.

A couple of hours later when the day had grown old, and sunlight had given way to an orange twilight, Magnus found himself sitting once again beside Alec's bed, his lover's hand in his own, the steady pumping of the respirator the only evidence that Alec still drew breath. Spell books, herbs and potions of all kinds littered the floor and every possible surface, and the air smelled of magic, healing potions and hopelessness.

"Would it be too much to ask that you open your eyes, Alexander, even if to yell at me for being so reckless in bringing you here?" Magnus asked. He then brought Alec's hand to his lips and turning it kissed the inside of his wrist, the scent of the man he loved stronger there than anywhere else. Since their arrival last night, Alec's complexion had grown even paler if that was possible, his cheeks seemed even more sunken, and the shadows under his eyes had acquired a dark purple tone. Otherwise, Alec remained still and unresponsive. The respirator's maddening rhythm, and the beeping of the heart monitor the only signs that Alec still had life coursing through him.

"Please Alexander," Magnus added, his tone both a plea and a prayer. "I have tried everything I can think of. Please open your eyes, please don't leave me, I need you. You are my life and my soul, please come back to me." Each word seemed to weaken the dam that had been holding Magnus' tears and the last word came out in a sob that originated in the deepest part of Magnus' heart.

In the centuries of his life, he had never felt so hopeless and helpless. He had never felt like his powers were so useless. He, who knew more about magic than most warlocks, who had performed more spells than most magic makers get to perform in a lifetime, could not find the cure he so desperately was searching for. For hours, he had mixed potions of strength and endurance which he had administered to Alec at the same time that he cast spells to fortify Alec's heart and ward his soul. He had also consulted every book of spells and healing he had, even those that contained the darkest of magic, but nothing had worked. With each hour and with each new failure, he had grown more desperate and more powerless. He was losing this battle; he knew it even if he could not bring himself to admit it, and Alec's paler complexion, his sunken cheeks, the deepening purple under his eyes told him that he was running out of time.

Magnus closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of Alec once again and the scent and the feel of Alec's long fingers in his evoked the image of Alec's smiling face and gentle touch. Alec had the hands of a warrior, rough and calloused in those places in which his hands had gotten used to holding the bow string, nocking an arrow, and wielding a blade. Yet, in the time they had been together, he had never touched Magnus with anything else but gentleness and softness. Even when in the grip of the most burning passion, Alec had always touched Magnus with loving care, always asking if he was okay, if he has hurt him. Gentleness and softness had been Alec's most powerful weapons against Magnus' defences, and with them, he had managed to make Magnus surrender over and over again. Magnus had loved others before, but he was now sure that he had never truly been in love until this young inexperienced man walked into his life and so easily made a home for himself in it. But now, he was losing Alec, and Magnus could not bear the thought of an eternity without him.

Magnus run his nose up and down the inside of Alec's wrist, committing to memory the unmistakable scent of his lover, evoking with all his mind and heart the loving memories of Alec, tears running down his face and into the sheets. For a long while and with all his might, Magnus silently called out to Alec, beckoning him to open his eyes, calling him with all his heart and all the love that seemed to overflow from deep inside him.

"Look at me," he eventually said with a deep sigh as he tried to keep hold of his emotions. "What would you say if you saw me, the all-powerful warlock, in this state of despair." He reached in his vest pocket for a tissue with which to dry his tears but instead his fingers touched the edge of the message that Jace had sent him all those hours ago, the message he had hastily stuck in his pocket as he got ready to portal to Idris determined to get to Alec.

Taking out the message, he saw that it was unusually heavy, an envelope instead of the regular one-sheet. He opened it and when he unfolded the sheet of paper, a ring felt onto the bedsheets beside Alec's hand, silver and sturdy, the Lightwood sigil clearly visible under the lights. Magnus took the ring in his hand and examined it for a second before turning to the page that accompanied it. He did not have to read more than the first few words – "Magnus, my love, by the time you read this, I will be gone" – to know that these were the last words Alec had intended to say to him.

As his eyes scanned the words written in Alec's neat script, his heart swelled and filled with even more love for the Shadowhunter, the man who had poured his heart and his love on the page in the hope that one day Magnus would read those words and understand. "It is your name I carry on my lips as I walk towards the void," Alec had written, "…if there is a life after this one, I will continue loving you in it as I have loved you in this life… I broke both our hearts…It was the price Asmodeus exacted in exchange for what you need to be whole again." With each word, Magnus squeezed the ring in his hand with even more force, wishing the ring to melt into his skin, to become an unremovable part of him. His eyes filled with even more tears and with each word, Alec's love for him became even more tangible, more unquestionable and more certain. At that moment, Magnus felt that he was both the luckiest and the unluckiest human to have ever lived, for he was loved by this remarkable soul, a soul whose life force was now slowly fading right in front of his eyes.

"Alexander," he whispered once he finished reading the letter, fighting against the sobs that threatened to scape his throat, "you cannot leave me like this, you must not leave me. I forbid you from leaving me."

Suddenly and without warning, Alec gasped violently and pulled his hand away with surprising strength. Startled, Magnus looked up just in time to see Alec's eyes open. What he saw in those eyes filled him with even more dread. The honey brown of his lover's eyes was gone, replaced by black pupils so big that they seemed to have swallow all the white. The only remaining white part of Alec's eyes was marked by thickening red lines.

"Alexander!" he called. "It's me, Alexander." But Alec did not respond or show any sign of recognition. Instead, he began to violently thrash and turn in the bed, pulling against the respirator and the IV tube. The heart monitor began to beep at an increasing speed as Alec's movement became even more violent. For a split second, Magnus thought that Alec was having a seizure, but when he looked into those black pupils, he realized that something else, a strange and malevolent force, was causing Alec's sudden reaction. That force seemed to have imbued Alec's body with extraordinary strength.

"Jace, wake up! I need you!" Magnus called as he tried to stop Alec from pulling the respirator's tube. Alec resisted with a strength that was inhuman even for a Nephilim. "Jace!" He yelled once again a split second before he felt Jace beside him.

Jace climbed onto the bed and tried to restrain Alec with the weight of his own body. Meanwhile, Magnus cast spells to conjure magic shackles around Alec's feet and wrists in order to immobilize him.

"What that heck Magnus?!" Jace exclaimed, his voice strained from the effort of restraining Alec while avoiding getting head but by him. Alec' strength surprised even him, and the jerkiness of his movements gave him the impression that a foreign force was the cause of Alec's unexpected reaction. The strangeness of Alec's movements and the sinister black and red in his eyes suggested to Jace that his brother was not really aware of his surroundings or in control of his actions.

After a last jerky movement which Magnus corresponded with another restraining spell, Alec settled once again back on the bed, his eyes closing. However, he did not go back to the placid immobility in which he had been for the last several hours. His breathing now appeared more laborious, and his skin, which had been already very pale, was now ashen and almost blue. Even more concerning were the veins in Alec's neck and arms which were rapidly turning bluish black, the color reaching for his face and chest with inexorable steadiness. A rasping noise originated from Alec's chest, the sound that Magnus had learned to associate with the inevitability of death. Alec's hands and feet continued to tremble slightly, as if a mysterious force was trying to take control of his muscles.

"What is going on?" Jace asked, his tone a mixture of concern and panic.

"We are almost out of time," Magnus replied through shallow breaths. He was having difficulty seeing because his eyes were still overflowing with tears. He thought it was no possible that his heart could still beat that fast considering that it was in pieces. Alec was dying in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do. He was losing his own reason for living and his mind could not conjure up a solution, not thread of hope, not a coherent idea. The panic that with superhuman effort he had been keeping at bay was now overtaking him and his mind was suddenly unable to formulate a clear thought.

"Keep it together," Magnus murmured to himself, as he took a step back from the bed and turned away from Alec's tormented face. He needed to get a grip, he needed to gather his wits and think. There must be something he could still do, for he was no ready to give up; he simply could not.

"What do we do Magnus?" Jace asked from where he now stood beside Alec's bed, his voice full of anguish and what Magnus could only describe as terror. Magnus knew that Jace had trusted him, that when they had sworn to protect Alec's angelic soul all those hours ago, Jace had trusted that Magnus would not let it come to that, that Magnus would not let it come to the point when they would have to let Alec die in order to safe him.

"Let me think," Magnus replied. "There must still be something to do."

At that moment, Alec's body shook once again, and his arms and feet feebly pulled against the magic restrains Magnus had conjured up. Magnus understood then that Alec was reaching the last stages of Eidolon poisoning, and that soon the disease would reach Alec's heart and soul and destroy all that make him Alec, all that made him beautiful and good. They were almost out of time and if they were going to safe any part of Alec's soul, they needed to act now.

"You are out of ideas, aren't you?" Jace asked. "Aren't you?!" he repeated, more forcefully when Magnus failed to reply and continued to turn away from him.

"It was the price Asmodeus exacted in exchange for what you need to be whole again." Alec's neatly written words suddenly materialized in Magnus' mind. "It was the price Asmodeus exacted," Magnus whispered to himself as a farfetched began to take form, an idea he would never consider if this was not already a hopeless situation, an idea that was likely to cost him dearly.

After several moments in which Magnus remained with his back to Jace, the stoop posture of someone who carried hundreds of years on his shoulders, Magnus took a deep breath, straightened and run the back of his hand across his face, drying his tears. Even without seeing the change in his expression, Jace could tell that something had changed, that an idea had sprung into Magnus' mind, that there was still one small sliver of hope fueling the warlock's determination.

"I have one more card to play," Magnus stated turning towards Jace, his face a mixture of fear, sadness and determination. "You are not going to like it though," he added.

"What is it?"

"I am going to summon my father and force him to cure Alec," Magnus stated, the words full of resolve and stubbornness. "If you have any objections, or qualms about this, you can leave. Otherwise, please stay with Alec while I go get the stuff I need for the summoning. We are almost out of time."

"Do what you need to do" Jace stated, not a thread of hesitation in his voice. "We have come this far, what is a little more?" he added.

I am sorry it took me this long. I have been travelling. Leave a comment to let me know what you think.