The Maxes took their starting positions cross each other, their weapons ready. Alec, as the referee, stepped between the two boys and said, 'Once again, I expect a fair fight. No dirty tricks, don't continue when the other falls or surrenders, and no hard feelings after the fight, no matter the outcome. Are we clear?' He looked both boys in the eye.

'Yes.' The boys answered in unison.

'Good. May the best shado-' Alec seemed to forget that Max wasn't a shadowhunter for a second. He corrected himself quickly- 'uh, no. May the best fighter win.' He stepped away. The fight had started.

'Go Max!' Isabelle cheered from the side.

'Which one?' Max heard Rafael ask.

'Both of them, of course.'

Max returned his focus onto his opponent. He wasn't worried about losing to the younger kid, he knew that he was stronger. But, as his father taught him: one should never underestimate the opponent, pride is what makes you lose the fight. So no matter how weak or small the opponent seemed, Max would always keep his guard up for the unexpected. He did, however, like to taunt his opponent a bit. It was a bad habit he'd picked up from his uncle and brother. He flashed the smaller boy a grin and winked, an invitation for the boy to show him what he got. The younger Lightwood growled, mistaking the gesture for underestimation instead of playful taunting. As Max expected, the younger Lightwood charged instead of waiting for him to attack. Max deflected the blows easily. It was clear that he wasn't planning on attacking, he kept defending without striking. Though he did occasionally point out the places Maxwell left open with his sword, but only in a way so the younger boy could easily deflect his blows. They went on for a while: attack, block, attack, block.

It was a good thing that Max always kept his guard up because Maxwell seemed to realize that the usual tactics wouldn't help him win the fight. Halfway through the fight, Maxwell pulled a faint: he slashed the sword to Max' left side, waited for Max to lift his sword to block, leaving his right side open, and flicked his wrist at the last moment to change the course of his sword. He then pulled the sword up, aiming for Max' open right side. Max could see the younger boy ssmile, assuming that he'd already won the fight. But Max was fast and always shifting his feet when fighting, and he managed to block the blow. Maxwell's smile fell and growled in frustration. The cycle continued: attack, block, attack, block. Eventually, Rafael, who had been standing on the side-lines, was getting sick of the endless and boring cycle. 'Just finish it already!' He yelled. 'You could've ended it the first ten seconds. I want to train too!'

Upon his brother's request, Max flashed the younger boy a grin and said: 'Well, you heard him. This is fun, but I'm going to end this now.' And within ten seconds, Max had the younger boy sitting flat on his derriere and his swords halfway across the room. Maxwell pouted and adverted his eyes, clearly displeased with the outcome of the fight. Max held out a hand to help the younger boy up and gave him an encouraging smile. 'You fought well', Max told Maxwell. 'And I totally didn't see the faint coming, it's was a smart move.' Maxwell looked up, a smile forming on his lips. He took Max' hand. 'But it was a bit reckless', Max continued. 'You could've hurt your wrist, the sword is pretty heavy.'

Maxwell sighed. 'I know, but I really wanted to win', he admitted.

Max chuckled. 'Better luck next time.'

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.

Max fought better than Alec expected. His movements were fluid and his steps were graceful. He made the fight seem like the easiest thing in the world. Max had talent, a whole lot of talent, and the kid was only ten! It wasn't hard to imagine that Max would probably grow up surpassing the best shadowhunters. There was also something very familiar about Max' way of fighting, but Alec couldn't quite place his finger on it. Because of it, Alec kept his focus almost solely on Max, even though he was supposed to keep an eye on both boys as the referee. Suddenly it happened: Maxwell went for a head blow, and the way Max blocked it, the position of the blade, and the twist of his upper body. It was something Alec had only seen Jace do. He saw it again when Max went in for an attack several blocks later, but this time it reminded Alec of his sister instead of his brother. Another couple of blocks later, Max used a technic that he himself used often. Who trained this kid? Alec wondered.

It was near the end of the duel when Maxwell pulled the faint, and even Alec didn't see it coming. For a second, he too, thought that his younger brother was going to win the battle. But Max, with his incredible reflexes, managed to block the blow, once again surprising Alec with his skills.

'That's my brother!' Rafael huffed proudly beside Alec. And for some reason, Alec too, felt a flare of pride rush through him. As the fight went on, Alec could see that the younger of the two was starting to tire: his movements became slower, a bit sluggish, his blows landed softer, and he started misplacing his footing, resulting in a loss of balance. The older Max, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by the length of the fight. Eventually, Rafael seemed to have had enough of the duel and yelled: 'Just finish it already! You could've ended it in the first ten seconds!' Though it seemed unrealistic and unlikely to Alec, Max surprised Alec once again by doing just that. Within ten seconds, his brother was down, and his weapon was far out of his reach. At the end of the fight, Alec walked up to the two boys, who were having a friendly conversation. Alec congratulated Max on his victory, complimented his extraordinary performance (Max beamed upon hearing this), and ruffled the boys head. Alec then turned to his brother. He told him that he'd put up a good fight (to which Max huffed in disbelieve), and complimented on his advancement in his sword fighting skills. He also teased Max by saying that his time Mumbai had indeed been educational, though there was something lacking in the field of Rune studies, which made everyone laugh. Max's cheeks reddened but soon joined in with the laughter. The laughter soon subdued, and Rafael took the change to suggest another round of training. Only this time, it would be a fight between his brother and him. Alec found this an interesting idea. He wanted to see the way Rafael fought too, and whether it contained aspects of his and his siblings' fighting styles as well. He wasn't the only one, his siblings seemed eager to see the two spar as well. Rafael grinned. 'Just so you know, our training is a bit… unusual', he warned, his grin turning into something mischievous. Alec frowned, not sure what to think or expect.

'Now where's my…' Rafael mumbled, patting his pockets in search of something. 'Ah!' He pulled out his stele from his back pocket and handed it to Max, who started to trace an unknown faded rune on the inside of Rafael's upper arm. It was an odd place to draw a rune, in Alec's opinion. When Max finished tracing the rune, he handed the stele back to his brother and lifted his shirt, revealing the same faded rune on his stomach. Alec gasped in surprise. And before he could stop it, Rafael placed the stele onto his brother's stomach and traced the rune. Alec stared at it in horror, expecting Max to cry out in pain at any moment. But it didn't happen. On the contrary, Max seemed to be more lively than before.

'What- How?' Alec seemed to be incapable of uttering words other than single syllabled interrogative words.

'What kind of rune in that?!' Max asked in awe. Apparently, his own brother was better in these kinds of situations than he was.

'It's just an Alliance Rune,' Rafael said, rolling his shoulders and warming up. 'Oh, wait! It hasn't been created yet here, has it?'

'You can't create a rune', Isabelle stated. Alec nodded, but kept his mouth shut, not trusting himself being able to say anything intelligent.

'It's possible, just not for everybody.' Rafael answered. 'Now if you excuse me, I really want to do this so…' He turned around and pulled Max with him.

'Wait!' Isabelle called out in frustration. 'You can't just say that and walk away dammit!'

'Language!' Rafael mocked from the centre of the training room.

'Uuh!' Isabelle huffed. Alec wanted to protest too and demand answers from the boys, but the second they started, Alec found himself unable to look away. The unspoken words forgotten.

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Alec woke up with Magnus in his arms. Not remembering the events of the past days due to his hazy state of mind, Alec snuggled closer to his boyfriend, trying to enjoy the peace and quiet before the boys woke up and making it impossible to stay in bed. Alec tried to fall asleep again, but the sun shining on his face was making it quite hard. That's odd, Alec thought, his mind still drowsy from sleep, the sun's supposed to shine in my back, not my face. Alec's thoughts trailed off. It took him a moment before he picked up his train of thoughts again. Unless we're at the Institute… Institute… What are we doing at the Institute? …..the boys must've wanted to stay over again… the boys…

Alec sat up abruptly. 'The boys!' He exclaimed. Magnus opened his eyes, awoken by Alec's sudden cry. Alec turned to look at Magnus, a red crystal necklace around Magnus' collar caught his eye. He also felt a weight hanging from his own. Alec looked down and saw a similar crystal hanging from his neck, only his was blue. Alec shook his head, the necklaces were the least of his worries now. 'Alexander! What's going on? It's six in the morning!' When Magnus sat up and saw the look of distress on Alec's face, his alarmed expression turned softer. Magnus gently took Alec's hands into his own and started rubbing circles on the back of Alec's hands.

'You're back from the Spiral Labyrinth!' Alec started, his racing mind was filled with questions. 'Did- ' But Magnus cut him off. 'Alexander,' Magnus said, his voice soft yet steady. 'I'm going to stop you before you start firing questions at me that'll just worsen your worries.' Alec wanted to object, but Magnus stopped him with a soft kiss before he could speak. 'Don't argue with me on this, Alexander. We've been together for quite a while now, don't think that I don't know your habits through and through.' Just hearing Magnus say that made Alec's insides flutter. It was as if he was a teenager with a crush again. Magnus gave Alec's hand before continuing. 'I came back to the Institute yesterday after Tessa and Cat kicked me out of the Labyrinth to get some rest-' Alec mentally thanked them for that. 'And do you know what I heard when I came back?' Magnus gave Alec a stern look. 'I was told that you passed out from exhaustion and that Jace had to carry you back to your room.' Alec blushed. 'And you were the one to tell me to take care of myself, so hypocritical of you.'

'I'm sorry,' Alec mumbled.

'You'd better be', Magnus huffed. His look then softened and he kissed Alec again. 'I'm just glad that you're all right.'

'I'm glad that you're all right too.'

'Now that's out of the way, I can continue with the important stuff', Magnus declared. 'I came back yesterday night, but not before we found a way to create a portal that could travel between dimensions. But don't get too excited, my dear. I have yet to tell you the bad news. See, we might've managed to create the portal, but we still haven't located the boys yet. There are infinite universes out there, Alexander, we can't just go barging into every single one of them in an attempt to find Rafael and Max. And before you start arguing with me, I will not allow you to travel to every dimension like a certain hot headed Herondale would.' Alec snorted. 'You laugh, but I know that the thought must've crossed your mind once or twice.' He did consider doing that. And even though he knew that it'd just be a waste of time and energy, he'd do it for his sons. Alec leaned forward to place a kiss on Magnus' forehead. 'You know me too well,' he mumbled as he buried his head in the crook of Magnus' neck. 'Of course I do', Magnus scoffed. 'And I even put up with your shadowhunter shenanigans. I must be a saint!' Alec chuckled. 'And here I was, thinking that I fell in love with a powerful warlock that preforms satanic rituals for money.'

'If enduring those ignorant mortals so I can support my family doesn't make me a saint, then I don't know what will. '

'Okay, okay,' Alec agreed laughing, 'I'm sure that rest of our family will agree with you on that.'

'Of course they do!' Magnus scoffed. 'I'll be having a serious conversation with those who disagree!'

Alec's cheeks hurt from smiling, and he loved Magnus for making him feel this joy in their darkest moments. The two of them cuddled in silence, just enjoying each other's presence.

After a while, Alec broke the silence. 'Do you-' he was cut off by Magnus. 'We're doing our best trying to find a way to locate them', Magnus said softly, knowing exactly what was troubling Alec. 'It's hard, and it has never been done before, not to our knowledge. But as long as there's a way, a chance to find them, then I won't stop until I do. It doesn't matter if it seems impossible. Isn't that what the New York institute is famous for? Doing the impossible and the unimaginable? Now if you'd just let me enjoy this moment with you for a little while longer before I have to go back to spending the day with those boring scholars.' Instead of answering, Alec laid the two of them down onto the bed and snuggled close to Magnus. Just a few minutes, Alec thought as he closed his eyes. Just a couple more before they had returning to face reality.

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Rafael wasn't lying when he said that their training was unusual. Alec almost had a heart attack when Rafael summoned a blue ball of fire in his hand and threw it at his brother as if it were a dodgeball.

'Cool!' Max breathed next to Alec.

Max somehow managed to catch the fireball and distinguish it. 'Raf! It's not fireproof here!' He called out.

'Oh shit! Sorry!'

The way they trained was unlike anything Alec had ever seen before: One moment they were fighting with the swords, then they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and then they were suddenly flinging each other across the room with magic or throwing balls of ice and water. Their techniques were almost flawless, very advanced for children their age. What they did, didn't look like fighting. It's like a dance, Alec thought. Like a performance of some sorts. Whatever it was, it was mesmerizing. Alec found himself unable to look away. It didn't take long for other shadowhunters to stop and watch. The fight was intense, and no doubt taxing. Beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads and their backs were soaked with sweat and water. But it was clear to see that they were having fun. Huge smiles were plastered onto their faces, and they were joking around like they were the only ones in the room. Eventually, the boys started to tire. Their movements slowed, their aims were off, and they were panting. The fight came to an end, and Rafael threw his last ball of ice. But he tripped just as he was about to throw it. The ice ball missed Max completely and headed straight towards a group of shadowhunters. The shadowhunters dove out of the way, revealing a certain warlock climbing up the stairs behind them.

'Magnus!' Alec called out in alarm, rushing forwards. The ball of ice was flying straight towards Magnus' head. Magnus' eyes widened in surprise but managed to stop the ice ball with a snap of his fingers. It hovered an inch in front of his nose. Alec stopped in his track, and let out a breath of relief. With another snap, Magnus made the ball of ice disappear. For a moment, it was completely silent.

'Ah, Yes. I always get such warm welcomes when I come here', Magnus said sarcastically.

And without missing a beat, Rafael replied, 'I don't know, I think that most people would consider ice cold instead of warm.'