Demon Infested Realm:
Alec leaned against the wall of the warehouse office, and observed the people he knew so well in another world arguing over his presence. Raphael was the loudest detractor even if he spoke in one of the quietest voices. Luke didn't even bother to stand, just sat in his chair calmly watching, more than a few glances at Alec but not even trying to keep the peace. When Raph and Magnus got going the what if game became all too real. Magnus' eyes flashed in the light and it dawned on Alec that his eyes hadn't been glamoured since he'd arrived here. This Magnus wasn't afraid he marveled. Had he been raised differently, had he still experienced the trauma of his parents deaths? Alec paused, or had the disappearance of the Shadowhunters and the thin veil removed his reservations. Alec rubbed his forehead. He really wanted his husband.
He missed Magnus like hell even though he was standing right in front of him, he missed the look in his eyes and the feel of him right beside him. He didn't know if Magnus was okay, and that made his hands shake as he tried to keep his anxiety under control. Magnus had said the vision he had was from the angels, but dammit he was about tired of being used as a pawn in their schemes. Magnus was everything to him, and not knowing was driving Alec mad. He could be dying, he could be...Alec cut himself off, it would do him no good to speculate. Magnus was a survivor and very resourceful.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do, but it was in his best interest to get whatever was wrong here solved so he could focus on going home. So Alec focused. Assessing their situation was difficult as they wouldn't stop arguing long enough for Alec to question them, but he'd picked up a few things. 20 years without Shadowhunters hadn't taught them anything about the war against demons. He was quietly judging the hell out of them.
They'd made it to the base with no trouble, but the minute Alec had crossed the boundary into their haven he'd been a little horrified. This place was nothing but a demon attracting beacon. It was actually kind of interesting, academically anyway. Warlocks, wolves, vampires, and fae were used to keeping themselves safe from each other or Shadow hunters, not demons. Not really. They knew the Shadowhunters would take care of it, so they didn't really bother to learn the nuances. Could they blow one up, shoot one, banish one, destroy one, yup they could do all of that; but the long term sustained war required strategy and dedication. Especially when the playing field had become a free for all. Not that they couldn't learn, but they'd just never bothered.
The little base they'd set up in a warehouse had at least 200 people in it. Why they weren't in the spiral Labyrinth he didn't know, or some other defensible location, or what made this place special, he didn't know. They'd created a communal area on the first floor, and it was a mix of warlocks, wolves and vampires. He hadn't spotted a seelie yet. He'd seen warlocks tapping out on ward updates, and a makeshift training area in the back of the building.
He'd already tracked more than a few scouting demons, they either needed to secure this place or move somewhere more appropriate. Alec finally had enough from the arguing group, and stepped forward out of the shadows."As much as I appreciate the defense of my character Magnus, I think I can take it from here." Alec said firmly stepping up the table. Boy did this bring back memories. They were just missing Meliorn and the Queen.
Raphael turned sharply and sneered at him. "What could you possibly have to say?"
Alec didn't let Raphael's attitude bother him, he'd dealt with worse from his counterpart. "Well to begin with, I have some concerns about just how safe this place is. You do know that you're surrounded on each side by demons scouting you right?" In his best serious business voice and giving them a look that he used on Jace regularly, Alec knew he had their attention.
Raphael's eyes went wide and Luke finally decided to stand and join them. "And how do you know that, Shadowhunter?"
Alec shifted until he stood in parade rest, arms folded behind his back. "We walked through the barrier, you have 3 layers of wards that have overlapping energy signatures of at least 10 warlocks. The wards themselves are generic protection with a few slightly modified personalizations. They are all set up to protect what is in the barrier, not to discover what's beyond it. They require constant attention because you don't have Angelic protections against the demons throwing themselves at your wards day and night."
Magnus raised a brow, and Alec knew he was slightly impressed. "And how may I ask do you know so much of wards? Shadowhunters do not traditionally study ward magic."
Alec relaxed his stance and sent a cheeky grin and a wink to his not husband, "you taught me." He decided he'd get far less push back if they knew he knew them, and he would slip up eventually and out himself anyway, so it was better to get this out.
Magnus laughed, and shook his head a little bemused while Raphael glowered. "When were you going to tell us you knew Magnus?" He all but growled at Alec.
"Now, now seemed like a really good time." Alec said with a shrug.
Magnus leaned his hip against the table. "So you're familiar with me, and on good enough terms that I was willing to teach you a thing or two. What exactly are you doing here? I think it's about time you told us?"
Alec ran a hand through his messy hair. What to tell them? Full open honest truth, or hold back. Technically he didn't really know these people, but the part of him that considered them family wouldn't really allow him to hold back too much. And lying to his husbands face was pretty damn difficult, even if he wasn't really his husband. "I don't know." At Raphael's outraged look he waved his hand to head him off. "Magnus was having visions, I guess is the best way to say it. He said they were Angelic in nature." Alec saw all of their eyes pop open.
"What were they, is Magnus okay, did the Angels take him in your world?" Luke asked with a worried glance at Magnus.
"Honestly we didn't have enough time to figure it out before I wound up here." Alec said regretfully.
"I still don't trust you." Raphael grouched, and Alec smiled at him. Raph looked bewildered.
"I'd honestly be concerned if you did." Alec looked around. "So I have a question, what happened to the Shadowhunters?"
"What do you mean what happened?" Luke asked.
"Well did they all die, did they go poof? Did they turn into puddles of goo?" he used his hands to mime an explosion.
Magnus shook his head, "They vanished, one morning we woke up and the institutes were empty and the portals to Idris failed." Alec put his hands on the table and leaned forward, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Magnus staring at him. Like he was waiting for something.
"What denoted a Shadowhunter?"
Luke and Raphael looked confused, but Magnus seemed to be picking it up, because he looked guilty as hell. Luke asked "What do you mean?"
"Well it clearly wasn't all of the angel blooded because Magnus is here, and…" The room erupted into shouts. Luke yelling at Magnus, and Raphael shouting at Luke, and all three of them speaking over the other. Had they not known? "Hey," He shouted commandingly above them all. "Settle down!" They all quieted down.
"You're pretty good at that Alec." Magnus said with an appraising look.
Alec rolled his eyes, "I'm more than a little used to managing the lot of you. Now, I apologize if I outed that you were the son of a greater demon. It wasn't intentional."
"It's alright, though I wonder exactly how it came to be that a Shadowhunter knows who my father is." Magnus was looking at him speculatively, and Alec twisted his wedding ring on his finger to keep himself steady. It wouldn't really hurt anything for Magnus to know, but something was holding him back and he decided to trust his gut.
"It's a long story. Anyway, if Magnus is here, what about the half bloods?"
"What half-bloods?" Raphael asked.
Alec stared hard, "the half warlock half shadowhunters, the shadowhunters born without the sight, the humans born with sight. What was the line of demarcation that said this person disappears but this one doesn't? Was it just the Nephilim that went through the runeing ceremony? Are the silent brothers still here? Who exactly disappeared?" Alec watched all of them look between each other in horror.
Luke winced. "We don't actually know."
"Why not?" Alec demanded.
"To be honest, the world rejoiced when the Circle was destroyed. A lot of people came out of hiding. It was perhaps six months before the demons got out of control, and years before the situation became what it is now."
Alec growled and put his hands on his neck in an attempt to control his temper. "So the Circle beat the Clave. Well shit. That's just great. Okay, we can work with this. Our top priority right now is keeping all of you safe, and then I'll worry about how the hell I'm going to fix this and get home." He silently wondered if there were some greater power at work here. The Magnus of his time would not have simply accepted the disappearance of Shadowhunters without researching it. Someone had to know what happened.
"Who says we want you to fix it, maybe we don't want it fixed." Raphael said petulantly, while the other two glared at him. But Alec was exhausted, and just the tiniest bit over it. It was well past midday and he was going to bed tonight without his husband, and with no idea when the hell he was going to see him again, and he was still cleaning up Clave-Circle bullshit. He had enough to do in his own world.
"Fair enough, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here, but I can protect you, I can make sure your people are safe, and so until further notice that is what I will be doing."
"And what do you suggest Shadowhunter. I presume your earlier evaluation of our lack of defenses had a purpose." Magnus pulled a glass from the middle of the table and filled it with water. Alec understood that things were bad when the warlocks weren't conjuring drinks for themselves. They were taking the conservation of their magic seriously.
"First order of business is to keep your people safe. We need to make sure you're in the most defensible position possible, and that you're not draining yourselves constantly. It's dangerous and ineffective."
"No shit genius, if we had a better place don't you think we would have already gone there? You can't just waltz in here with your shiny angel powers and expect us to…"
Alec cut him off. "The institute, it has generations of demonic protections. The wards are tailored to demon protection. It's the safest place for you. And while we go scout it out, you can tell me what the hell is wrong with the Spiral Labyrinth."
A look of pure pain tightened Magnus' face. Raphael still grumpy as ever just had to respond with his ever positive up beat charm, "and just how the hell are we supposed to get in?"
"Raphael, charming as ever." Alec said with a sigh and dropped into one of the chairs. "Obviously me, I can get you in."
"You think you can just waltz right up to the doors and figure out how to open them?" Raphael wasn't letting it go, and Alec knew he was going to have to give them probably wouldn't hurt anything to tell them who he was, but he was still keeping his marriage to Magnus a secret. That niggling little feeling in his stomach wouldn't go away. He didn't want to share just how much being separated from him hurt, and if they pushed and prodded he wasn't sure how he'd hold it together. 50/50 shot he'd probably break down in the middle of the room and bawl.
Alec raised his brow and looked down his nose, sarcasm dripping from his tone, "Well yeah. I'd hope so. I'm the Inquisitor. I was also the head of that institute for years. I can get us in." He sipped his drink and watched Raphael glower. Luke and Magnus both laughed and Alec twisted his ring, hoping like hell his Magnus was okay.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8Somewhere out there:
Michael dropped onto the couch next to his brother, sprawled out as he was he had to shove his legs over. "That went better than I expected."
Gabriel grunted. "You figure out the target yet?"
Michael swore. Trust his brother to not mince words and strike where it hurt. He wasn't going to like this, "I think it's me."
Gabriel sat up slowly and turned his fierce glower on his brother, Michael couldn't help but shiver. He might lead God's armies as his right hand, but Gabriel was his left hand for a reason. The look on his face promised murder. "Explain," he said menacingly.
Michael settled back into the couch and pulled his brother back with him. "I went to the fates. They are as concerned as we are with the power vacuum. When prodded, they admitted they were experiencing voids in their visions."
Gabriel sprawled out again with a curse and folded his arms across his chest. "How does that equate to you?"
Michael leaned closer to his brother and ran a hand across the back of his head, squeezing his neck for comfort, and conjured two glasses of whiskey. Gabriel perked up at the alcohol and sat up to take the glass. Knee to knee they both knocked back their drinks.
"I think Adam is making his move, and for him to get what he wants, I have to be out of his way." Michael refilled their glasses and shifted back so he was as sprawled as Gabriel was earlier. "I think he's the one that fucked with Valentine's wish, and the one that killed Magnus."
Gabriel bit his lip and looked at his brother under his lashes, "I could take care of this."
Michael kicked his leg. "You know damn well God forbade you from killing him, and with reason. His death unmakes mankind. We just have to be smarter than him, and speaking of, how're the boys?"
"Magnus is currently stomping through sand, he's close to the altar though so things are going about like I expected. Alexander is busy trying to save everyone, per usual." Gabriel said with a self deprecating laugh. "Why this convoluted mess Michael? Why can't we just…."
"Kill Adam?" Michael hung his head. "Yeah this shit would be a hell of a lot simpler if I could just put him down, but you know we can't. It's not an option so let it go."
Gabriel stood up and walked to the window. They were in a tower in a world that the divines had destroyed in the first Millennia. No one knew this place existed any longer and Michael wanted to keep it that way, it was their refuge. They used it frequently to get away from the bullshit. "Why bring the other two in, Lilith and Asmodeus, they clearly have no idea what's going on."
Michael nodded, "Yeah but they're just ambitious enough to want to be involved. They'll ruffle feathers and someone will make a mistake. And Lilith hates Adam, probably as much if not more than you do. He was a son of a bitch, then and he's gotten no better as time has gone on. His efforts with you do interest me though, you'd think after all this time he'd give up on your affections."
Gabriel nodded without turning back to Michael, he just gazed out at the ruined landscape of this world; and Michael couldn't help but think he was the picture of dark grace. He'd never loved another soul as he loved his brother, and he'd be damned if he let the sniveling little brat that God created tear him apart. Gabriel suffered, he suffered at the hand of God carrying out his demands. Michael knew if Adam succeeded, the minute Michael drew his last breath, his brother would become the destroyer of worlds. He wondered silently if that was Adam's goal all along.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8The Desert:
"I am not dressed for this." Magnus complained his voice muffled through the head wrap, as he shimmied to get the sand out of his shirt which he knew would do no good with the storm, but damn it was uncomfortable. Alec stumbled in the sand, but didn't lose his grip on Magnus' arm. Visibility was low, so they held onto one another to make sure they didn't get separated in the sand. Alec whirled around at his comment and glared, shaking Magnus in admonishment.
"Could you be serious, we are actually fucked right now." Alec growled.
Magnus stopped dead in the sand and jerked his arm out of Alec's grip. "Enough." He shouted. They'd been trudging through the desert for hours. They were both exhausted, thirsty, hungry and very nearly at the end of their ropes. Magnus had lost all patience for this Shadowhunter. He might have his husbands face, but he certainly didn't have his compassion. "I am beyond tired of your anger, I've done nothing to deserve it."
Alec straightened himself until he towered over Magnus, but Magnus was far from intimidated. This man didn't know how to carry the weight of command, not like his husband did. This was like meeting Alec before he'd become head of the institute, when he was a baby in Maryse's arms. "We are stuck in the middle of the damned desert."
"You think I'm not aware of that. You think I don't know just how screwed we are." Magnus shouted in return.
"Well we're following whatever sense of magic you have, but we have no way of knowing if you're useless feeling is even going to help us." Alec leaned down until he was directly in Magnus' face, and Magnus wasn't proud of himself, but he lost his temper.
"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, I have had about enough of you." Magnus felt the power well inside of himself, it wasn't his power, it was the power he was following. Unable to control it, the power erupted from him and he felt the earth shake. Alec's eyes went wide, and Magnus felt a moment of horror at what he'd done when the ground below them shifted and they fell. His body slammed into rocks, and then slid into darkness. He couldn't see Alec, he couldn't really see anything. Sand coated his mouth, his clothes, and his skin was on fire from scraping against the rocks.
Magnus lay on the ground with his hands over his head waiting for the debris to settle and bemoaning this horrid experience. He ached everywhere, he was never going to get the sand out of places it very clearly didn't need to be and he was dying of thirst. Feeling very sorry for himself he lay there far longer than he needed to. When he finally felt up to it, he lifted his head to look for Alec. Above him the midday sun was illuminating the dark cavern they'd fallen in, and before him Alec lay crumpled on the floor a few feet away. Magnus scrambled over to him, and was relieved to see his chest moving. Breath was a good sign. Alec didn't wait for him to check him over, he rose from the ground in a battle ready crouch, looking around frantically sword held before him.
Magnus sighed, "I'm sorry." Alec ignored him with a pointed glare, and stood fully turning his back, and Magnus wanted to smack him. Hello childish Alec, welcome to the party he thought. In fact it was very reminiscent of something Jace would do. That made Magnus roll his eyes. "Hey."
Alec swung around until he faced Magnus. They were in some sort of cavern, so the sand was no longer whirling around them and they didn't have to shout to be heard. Alec jerked a pointed finger in his direction, "You know me." His voice carried his anger and in his eyes Magnus could see the hurt. They weren't connected, not in the way that he and his Alec were, but he still felt some responsibility to this man that shared his husband's face. Magnus sighed.
"What of it?" Magnus knew his husband, and as much as this man wasn't him, he was. And he knew that telling him that they were married in another reality would send him into a tailspin of denial. Honesty was best achieved slowly in this case, or just waiting until he figured it out.
"Why didn't you tell me!" Alec shouted. "What else aren't you telling me?"
Magnus huffed out a breath waved his arm in the air nonchalantly. "There is a great deal I'm not telling you, to be honest we've barely had the time." He crossed his arms over his chest and began walking. It was better for both of them if they kept moving. Alec slumped his posture resigned and almost defeated, and followed along behind Magnus.
"We have time now, tell me, please." Alec asked softly.
Magnus was defeated, he couldn't deny him, not when he said please so softly and beseechingly, so he begrudgingly revealed, "I was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and you were the head of the New York Institute. Of course I know you." There, that was more than enough to satisfy.
"You say my name like," Alec rubbed his chest again and Magnus again wondered what the hell that was, "like you know me….really well." Alec hesitated and Magnus wanted to cry. Alec was baffled that someone could know him so well, that someone would want to. That tone of voice, he'd heard it before when Alec felt like he was worthless and hated himself. This was the man his husband had become without Jace, without him, and without his families full support. It broke his fucking heart. Magnus looked up and cursed the angels, he'd be damned if he'd let this man go on like this. If that other Magnus was without an Alexander he was by god going to bring the two of them together. There couldn't be a universe were the two of them weren't compatible, and he'd make damn sure this Alec's suffering was short lived. Priorities. Get back to his husband. Fix his husbands doppelganger.
He nodded to Alec and smiled as gently as he was able, "I do know you really well. In my world, between all of us, downworlders and Shadowhunters we brought down Valentine without sacrificing anyone. It wasn't smooth or perfect, but we managed." He glanced to the side and saw a look of confusion on Alec's face, followed by disbelief and then wonder.
"That's amazing." He said amazed.
Magnus winced, he probably shouldn't ask, but he really wanted to know. "What happened to Jace?"
Alec shut down. His face went blank, and his eyes went hard. "He's dead."
Magnus kicked some rocks out of the way and said matter of factly, "I gathered, your parabatai rune is gone."
That startled Alec, "You've seen my parabatai rune?"
Magnus laughed, "Darling you do like to run around the institute without a shirt, yes of course I've seen it." He watched the Shadowhunter try to make sense of a world where his parabatai was alive.
"Jace is alive." He said with such fierce heartache and a squeeze to his side where his rune used to be, that Magnus desperately wanted to stop and hug him, but he didn't. Alec wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to control his feelings, he shared that trait with his husband.
They walked along in silence for a bit, both of them absorbed in their thoughts when Magnus paused, the feeling of magic became deafening. And really, he should have recognized it before, but it was definitely angelic in nature. Sort of. Mostly. There was something else there he couldn't quite put his finger on. He held his hand up and to stop Alec. "here." He looked around and could vaguely see a light coming from a cave to their right. He led Alec through the opening, and they both gasped upon seeing what was before them.
12 large marble columns flanked a glowing altar in the back of the room. The floor itself was marble, but a pathway led toward the altar and Magnus was wonderstruck. Angelic and demonic runes lined each side of the path. Every other column had a brazier for fire, and the steps up to the altar were flanked by two Griffins.
"What is this place?" Alec whispered reverently.
Weapons of every kind were stacked against the walls covered in dust, but what Magnus couldn't look away from what held his attention so raptly that he barely heard Alec's question, was a statue behind the altar. It was an angel, carved in stone, beautiful wings spread wide holding a sword planted in the earth and armor unlike anything Magnus had ever seen on his body. It was a beautiful marble sculpture, barely touched by age, and Magnus wanted to scream. On top of the angels head nestled in curls, sat a pair of horns. Magnus had never seen an angel with horns, not that he'd seen a great many of them, but it went against every image that had ever been depicted of angels. Once they fell yes, but a winged angel with horns was absolutely unheard of. "I have no idea." He finally tuned back in.
"Does that angel have…."
"Yes, yes it does." Magnus walked forward.
"Can you read the?" Magnus waved his hands to shut him up. This was, he could feel something in here, something calling to him. The magic was pulling him forward toward the altar. Magnus walked down the path and felt the presence of time, he felt the history of this place wrap around him.
When he reached the steps he was almost afraid to put his foot on them, was it blasphemous for a warlock to tread upon angel relics? He tentatively placed his foot on the first step, and watched Alec do the same. Each step closer to the altar brought more and more magic, Magnus could feel it gushing down the steps over and around him. The altar was glowing, lighting up the room, but not so well that they had been able to see what was behind the horned angel. Behind him and to the left was another angel. This one had wings like a bat and claw like fingers with a fucking halo over his head, and Magnus wanted to drop to his knees. The clawed hand was resting on the shoulder of the horned Angel. Who in the hell were these two and why had Magnus never heard of them.
The altar pulsed with power and Magnus took another step closer, but Alec quickly stepped in front of him. "We don't know if this is safe."
Magnus shoved him to the side, "No but we don't really have a choice. And I'll be damned if I don't try to get back to my husband, so get out of my way." Magnus wasted no time in placing his hands on the altar. He heard a mysterious laugh in his mind, and the words "the two of them really are ridiculous." Then his eyes were consumed by the vision before him.
A circle was drawn, and inside of it lay a scroll, a lily, a lantern and a series of runes, some he recognized and some he didn't. On one side of the circle a Shadowhunter stood holding the hand of a white skinned white haired warlock the words spoken drifted through Magnus' mind. "I summon Gabriel, God's messenger and left hand." More words were spoken and Magnus knew he was meant to memorize the passage. The vision faded and he did fall to his knees, Alec grabbed him before he fell backwards down the stairs.
"What the hell was that?" he asked looking around.
Magnus gasped, magic flowing through him once again not his own but he knew its purpose. Throwing his hand out he manifested a portal and almost broke into giddy tears. On the other side, through the purple murk he could just make out Alexander. How he knew this one was his, he had no idea, but he knew if he walked through that he'd be in his husbands arms and this hellacious separation would be over. Wasting no time he grabbed Alec's jacket and began to tug him toward the portal. Alec sighed in clear frustration, but dutifully followed him through.
Magnus ran at full tilt "Alexander!" He shouted and watched his husband's eyes go wide. He dropped his bow and let Magnus' slam into him. His arms came around Magnus and something in him shifted. The world was right again. His magic was thrumming through him and his husband was in his arms, it was like balance had been restored to the universe. Alec lifted him off of his feet and Magnus wasted no time wrapping his legs around his husbands waist.
"Missed you." Alec said into his neck where he'd been taking deep breaths. "Missed you so much."
Magnus had his arms wrapped around Alec's neck but he kissed his husbands cheek, his eyebrows, his eye lids and laughed "Oh Angel I missed you more, I promise." Then he kissed him. It had only been a day but damn did it feel like he hadn't seen him in years. The distance that had separated them had felt like time and worlds. It was hell.
Alec pulled back from the kiss. "You're okay, you're not hurt are you. Magnus I was so worried." Alec breathed into him and started running his hands over Magnus' back looking for injuries.
"I'm fine darling, I promise. What about you? You've dropped your bow are…"
"EXCUSE ME!" Came a shout from behind them and Magnus rolled his eyes.
Alec's eyes went wide as he looked over Magnus' shoulder. Magnus laid his head down on Alec's shoulder, "I declare him your problem now. Do you have any idea how obnoxious you are? I love you Angel, but damn."