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Alec leaned out of the warehouse door and took a quick look down the alley. They'd been clear five minutes ago, but in the time it took him to ask Magnus a question, more demons had appeared. "Where are they coming from?"
"There are a couple of nexus portals in the area. It was damn dangerous for me to be out this way in the first place, but Cat thought we might be able to salvage some materials from an old apothecary in the area." Magnus tried to brush the dust off of his clothing, but it was a losing battle. Magnus, and Alec could hardly believe it, was dressed in a scuffed up Northface jacket and jeans that he'd further accessorized with a backpack. He basically looked like he'd just come from hiking in the mountains.
Alec was barely keeping it together. Magnus' clothes only reinforced just how far from home he was. Thank the Angel he wasn't currently inhabiting another Shadow Hunter's consciousness, he didn't really want to think about what that meant. He missed his Magnus like hell. He missed his family. Angel only knew how the hell he'd even wound up here, and at the moment there was nothing he could do about getting back home. So he prioritized. Get this Magnus to safety and then ask for a favor.
Alec hummed as he shifted his body just slightly out the door and drew his bow. "I'm Alec by the way. If you were wondering." Magnus had taken the news of him coming from another reality easily enough, but he'd never got around to telling him his name. Alec shifted so his quiver was a little easier to access. "So what were you looking for?"
"Don't you need to concentrate?" Magnus said with a huff.
Alec flashed him a cheeky grin. "I'm good. It's just a pack of Kuri. Not very smart even if they are mobile, as long as I stay here I should be able to get them all before they even figure out my position." As Alec spoke, he fired four arrows. There were 8 in total, and the four dead caused the others to skitter back looking for the threat.
"Can I do anything?"
"Tell me what you need in the apothecary. Is it far?"
Alec felt Magnus tense beside him. "It's not very far, about two blocks down from the way you're facing. We really should head back though." Magnus dropped down to his knees and peeked out the doorway as Alec fired two more arrows. Two left, and Alec was tracking the demons until they were closer. He wanted to have a look at something.
"Magnus, between the two of us, we can get what you need. You wouldn't have come out here if it wasn't important." Alec said reassuringly while examining the light that was bouncing off of the Kuri demons. They should not be reflecting any light. So weird, he thought.
"We needed some basilisk bone and mandrake root." Alec crouched down as the two remaining demons skittered into range. He quickly took them out and stepped out into the Alley.
"Good for blood clotting, inflammation, and cell growth for skin. You have some wounded warlocks to look after?" Alec asked casually as he dropped down next to the Kuri. Yeah weird he thought. Their legs were silver. Usually demon skin was red, black or something like it, and any insect husks were more of the same. Their outer limbs were tipped in silver. What the hell? He thought. So lost in his observations of the dead Kuri demon, he completely missed Magnus' look of utter bafflement.
"You know what the potion ingredients properties are?"
"Yeah I mean you…." Alec caught himself. This Magnus had no idea who he was, and while he loved his husband and there wasn't anything in the world he wouldn't do for him, there was 0 way of knowing how this version of him would react to knowledge of their relationship. So Alec hedged. "I like to read. Anyway, apothecary." He waved Magnus onward. "On the way you can tell me what the hell is going on with the demons."
Magnus moved closer to the wall of the Warehouse and kept to the shadows. "Nothing's going on with them." He said with an arched brow, and some confusion. Alec frowned, there was absolutely something going on with the demons. But, Magnus wasn't lying to him, he genuinely didn't see what the problem was. "Why don't you tell me how you...a Shadowhunter….survived the destruction of the mortal instruments. Even in another reality, it seems strange that you could survive that."
Alec stopped in his tracks. "The what now?"
Magnus looked over his shoulder. "We haven't seen a Shadowhuter, anywhere, for the last 20 years. One of your former brethren, Valentine, used the mortal instruments and called for your Angel. After that, you were all gone. No one knows what happened." He turned and began walking again.
Alec was in a daze. Every Shadowhunter in this realm was gone. How was that even possible? Valentine wanted to destroy the Downworld, not the Nephilim? "How are you keeping the demons under control?" He asked incredulously.
Magnus walked faster in front of him, his body visibly tense and said, "we're not." Alec had never heard that kind of anger in Magnus. Demonic activity was probably through the roof, even the Nephilim had trouble containing the threat sometimes, and that was their full time job. Then it dawned on him. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. If you wiped out the Shadowhunters, the Downworld would eventually be destroyed by demons. The Angel had granted Valentine's wish. Fuck. He needed to think. He needed to…..he needed to protect this Magnus. He could figure out the rest later.
"But how are you…"
Magnus interrupted him. "Warlocks can only fight for so long. Our magic depletes. We have to conserve it for the higher demon waves. We can't use angelic weapons, so that's out, and at the end of the day Downworlder's were never a united society. So to answer your question, we're alive, but that's about all I can say."
Alec could tell Magnus was exhausted, and he could see the hopelessness on his face. It broke his heart. He hadn't seen him look that lost since, well hell since he'd lost his magic. This was bad. He knew this Magnus wasn't his, but he'd be damned if there wasn't something he could do to help him. "Alright so this is clearly bigger than a simple conversation in what I now assume is enemy territory. Let's get you to the apothecary and back to whatever base you have."
Magnus let out a relieved sigh, and Alec felt his own anger rise up. Damn Valentine. Damn him to hell. Magnus pointed to the apothecary and Alec nodded his acknowledgement. "I'll keep watch, you go in and get what you need. Can we portal back?"
Magnus rolled his eyes at him. "If I could have portaled I would have. Magic is unstable. It has been since the Mortal Instruments were destroyed. Portals are unpredictable. We can't make use of them during a wave." Magnus startled at something and swung around.
"More demons?" Alec asked.
Magnus nodded. "More demons."
From above them, winged demons dropped from the clouds making screeching noises. Alec saw a woman further down the alley look up, cringe and turn around to run. What the hell? She was a mundane, wasn't she?
Magnus saw the look on his face. "The barrier between the mundane and the Shadow World has fallen. They can see the demons." Was all Magnus could get out before their attackers made the first pass. Alec felt one of the wings cut his cheek before he could side step. Damn he needed to get Magnus out of here.
"I'll take care of it. Get what you need." He shouted.
Magnus looked at him like he was stupid. "I'm not taking any chances." Alec sighed. Okay the hard way it was.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8Three warlocks lay on Alec's floor and Magnus felt horrible about it. They weren't dead, but it had been a near thing. He glared at Alec. "Want to tell me why Warlock's are out for your blood?" He waved his hand and banished them to the Sahara. They'd wake up in plenty of time to portal themselves to safety.
Alec rolled his eyes and wiped off his blade, Magnus had pulled it from his room for him when the warlocks had attacked. He grabbed his drink and downed it. "They've been pissy since you died. I mean you chose to sacrifice yourself, but to hear your people talk about it, the Shadowhunters forced your hand. They're using your death as a…."He shook his head.
"As an excuse to start a war." Well shit thought Magnus. Was there no reality where politics weren't complete bullshit. Magnus sighed. "We need to get to the Seelie Queen."
" We , don't need to do anything." Alec pointed at Magnus, clearly indicating that was "a you thing, not a we thing" with his gesture. He put his glass in the sink and turned to head back into his bedroom. "I think it's cool that you're alive Bane, but I have actual work to do." Alec stripped off his shirt, heedless of Magnus' presence. He hadn't really given Cat the whole story about this Alec.
Scars (Magnus was almost positive some of them were self inflicted), burns, tattoos, and runes marked almost every inch of the man in front of him. His hair, instead of the glorious thick soft hair Magnus was accustomed to, was all gone. He'd cut it ridiculously short. His head wasn't shaved, he had about half an inch of hair, it was a tragedy. This was an Alec that had been on the front lines without Jace. One that didn't care if he lived or died, and Magnus could feel his heart break while also desperately wanting to wrap Alec in the softest blanket he could conjure.
"Oh we're definitely going to see the Queen Alexander…"Magnus stopped speaking when Alec whirled around. His eyes wide and horrified.
"What did you call me?" His tone had dropped into menacing territory, like he was two seconds from pressing his blade against Magnus' throat again.
Magnus' brow wrinkled. "Alexander. That is your name?" He supposed Maryse might have named him something else, no reason to get all offended though.
"Say it again." He said brokenly, as he brought his hand up to rub across the pair of cat eyes over his heart.
"Alexander."
"Fuck." Alec said as he dropped to his knees, Magnus could see his hands shaking. "It's you. I don't... How can it be you…"
Magnus was beyond confused, but regardless of what reality he found himself in, a hurting Alec was not something he could endure. "Angel, what's wrong?" Magnus had wondered how he got the tattoos if he'd never met this world's Magnus, and he was rubbing them now like they were causing him pain. He'd rubbed them before, but Magnus hadn't realized that was what he was doing. Desperately wanting to reach out, but sure he would be unwelcome, Magnus wrapped his arms around himself.
Alec looked up at him, his pain had quickly turned to anger, it heated his eyes and his response. "Nothing. It's nothing. I'm not going with you." Getting up he stomped to his dresser and jerked out a shirt yanking it over his head. Every move was deliberate, but filled with fury. He dropped his pants next and Magnus had to appreciate that this Alec had 0 shyness, but he was polite and turned his head away contemplatively.
What the hell had that been about? Magnus rubbed a hand across his face, heedless of his make-up. He wanted his husband. He wanted to know where he was, what he was doing, and more than anything if he was okay. The Seelie Queen was his best shot of figuring that out, but he couldn't just abandon this Alec. The angels had deposited his ass here for a reason. With a sigh, he dug his heels in. "You're going."
"I don't think you understand warlock. I'm not going anywhere…"
Magnus cut him off. "It's cute that you think you have a choice. Some angel or other felt I needed to be here with your shitty attitude instead of in bed with my very own loving husband. I need to figure out what's happening and the Seelie are the best option for that. You are going. Period." Magnus snapped his finger and felt his magic drift out to make a portal. He double checked that Alec was dressed, and then shoved him through the portal, walking at a sedate pace behind him.
"This is kidnapping you actual psycho." Alec shouted at him from the Seelie throne room floor.
"Yes well, I'm not actually from this shitty reality, so therefore I feel certain the charges won't stick. Dead people are a difficult thing to pin down, vampires not withstanding." Magnus said with a bite in Alec's direction. Alec flipped him off. Oh boy this one was a little anger ball wasn't he, thought Magnus.
"News of your death was greatly exaggerated I take it." Came the childlike voice of the queen behind him.
Magnus turned. "Well shit." He couldn't help but say. It was the former queen of the Fae. Not the reasonable one. "Your Majesty, apologies." He started out.
"Oh no need for that Magnus. I can see something has gone horribly wrong. You are not my Magnus."
"Your Magnus?" he said a little incredulously. Her tinkling laughter caught him off guard. He'd never heard the viper laugh in his life, not a real laugh anyway.
"Oh dear, the Alice of your world must be something of a terror for that look to be on your face." She folded her hands in front of her and Magnus blinked at what she was wearing. A pair of green hemp drawstring pants, an acorn brown crop top, and her hair was in an honest to god ponytail. It was official, he was in hell. This place was an actual hell dimension, and he must be under some kind of spell.
"So if I asked you for help, you'd say…." Magnus raised a brow and swiftly put a binding spell on the struggling Nephilim behind him.
"I'd say, it's in everyone's best interest to make sure that you are out of this world as swiftly as possible." She mirrored his brow raising and held up a hand. "Lina darling, will you please see to summoning the sages and a water mirror for our guest." A smallish fae girl ran out of the room and Magnus was about to thank the queen when she put her hands on her hips. "I must insist that you release the Shadowhunter. They're a little vindictive when pushed, and that one is practically royalty."
Magnus rolled his eyes. "If you insist." He released the binding spell and Alec was up in a snap with his blade to Magnus' throat.
"Only morons forget to disarm their hostages." Alec said furiously in his face.
Magnus kept his face without expression. "Yes well if I had really considered you a hostage, I would have acted accordingly. There is more going on than meets the eye Nephilim, and I'm going to need you to get on board. If I have to drag you along behind me I will do so, but it would be far better for this reality if you just fell in line. Move the sword and let me figure out what the hell is going on." Magnus stared Alec down. He actively hated using this tone on that face, but priorities as his husband was so fond of saying. Alec didn't give an inch, nothing about him softened, but he cursed and removed the sword. Glaring the entire time. The sages walked into the room a moment later and Alec stepped back.
Another servant came in with a small table and a bowl with water in it. The sages motioned for Magnus to come stand beside the bowl. "You wish to see your realm? Or another?"
"I want to look at mine to see what's happened in my absence. I may need to look at another realm, but I'm not sure yet. After I'd like to talk to you about Angel visions."
The two sages nodded and had him place his hands on the rim of the bowl. They poured a few bottles of liquid into the water, and told him to focus on his home. He smiled and brought Alexander to the forefront of his mind. Then he felt the wash of magic pour over him, and the smile fell off of his face as pure agony shot through his body.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8Jace pounded on the door harder. Neither Magnus or Alec were answering their phones and Izzy had sent him to the apartment to flush them out. He still had a key for emergencies, and he was going to beat Alec to within an inch of his life if he walked in on anything he didn't want to see. They really weren't going to answer he thought, what the hell? A small niggling worry began to build in his stomach. He could feel Alec, his parabatai rune wasn't strained and he couldn't sense pain.
Using the key and walking into the apartment, he was still a little surprised to find it empty. He did a walk-through, and nothing looked obviously out of place. The bed wasn't made which was a little bit odd, but nothing to freak out over. He pulled out his phone and called Izzy. "They're not here."
She cursed over the line. "Where the hell are they?" She muttered more rhetorically than anything, so Jace didn't answer. He went back to the kitchen to check the coffee pot, but it was clean. Either they had coffee and Magnus cleaned the kitchen but not the bedroom, or they never made it this far before they left. Unusual.
"Where did they go yesterday?" He asked as he made his way to the coat closet to see if Alec's gear was stored.
"The Seelie Queen. Magnus needed to talk to her about his dreams after he finished with Cat. Alec sent me a text and asked me to do a search and see if a warlock had ever reported visions from the angels." He could hear Izzy typing through the phone.
"Well Alec's gear is here, the kitchen is spotless, but the bedroom hasn't been made up. Magnus and Alec are both sticklers for that sort of thing. So either they got dressed and left, or someone took them out of the bed." Jace looked at the door. There were no obvious signs of a physical break in, he checked the balcony windows just in case.
"I'll call Lorenzo and Cat. They need to check the place out to see if something magical happened. Sit tight brother." She hung up before he could even agree, and he shoved his phone in his pocket. He was taking pictures of the plants on the balcony to compare them later, when Cat and Lorenzo portaled into the living room.
"Thanks for getting here so fast.." He said.
Lorenzo scoffed. "The Inquisitor and the High Warlock of Alicante go missing, you had better be quick." He didn't need to repeat the details he'd given Izzy knowing she would have relayed them. Cat walked to the kitchen and Lorenzo hit the bedroom.
"Ah" he said the minute he crossed the threshold. Cat was behind him in a moment.
"What?" Jace said behind the both of them.
"Angelic power signatures. Catarina did you feel the traces on him when you talked yesterday?" Lorenzo asked as he walked closer to the bed and waved his hands.
"No, he had no traces. Whatever this is, it didn't happen before he went to the Seelie." Cat waved her hands in time with Lorenzo. When they were done, magic covered the bed.
"What are you doing?" Jace asked with a huff. Magnus would have just bloody explained what he was doing without him having to ask.
"There it is!" Lorenzo said a little excitedly. He pointed his finger to something on the pillow.
Cat gasped.
"What?" Jace finally shouted.
Lorenzo turned slowly to him. "The Seelie Queen gave Magnus something, it's that thing sitting on pillow." Lorenzo and Cat's magic had uncovered what looked like a small tied herb satchel.
"Are you telling me the Seelie Queen is responsible for them disappearing." Jace said menacingly.
Cat put a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him, "We don't know the whole story Jace. We'll send an envoy."
"We'll do a little bit more than that if she doesn't tell me where the hell they are." Jace said furiously as he whipped his phone out to call Luke. Lorenzo created a portal and the three of them were in Izzy's office looks of worry, determination, and anger greeting the head of the institute through her open office door.