Homeworld:
Jace marched down the hall to the Fae Queen's throne room. He was furious and if he was being honest with himself, he was also terrified. Magnus and Alec had been gone for well over 12 hours, and the Fae Queen had been pushing back against speaking with them. Izzy had finally gotten them an audience, and Jace had thrown a full on tantrum when she'd tried to tell him he couldn't go. Clary had pushed between them, and now they were two steps away from either starting a war or finding his brother. In Jace's mind there would be no other outcome. Clary and Izzy might see it differently, but Jace wasn't even remotely playing.
Clary was on his left and Izzy was on his right when they finally stepped into the throne room. To Jace's surprise, the queen stood from her throne and quickly met them in the middle of the room. "Shadowhunters, please follow me?"
Jace quirked his brow. "What's going on?"
The queen looked over her shoulder, "honestly I have no idea, but I'm hoping we can figure it out."
Jace paused and turned to Izzy a clear question in his gaze. Izzy frowned but shrugged and motioned for him to follow. Jace felt his anger slow down to a slow simmer as he took off after the little Fae woman. The queen led them through hallway after hallway, then outside down several paths through gardens that were shifting through the seasons. A summer garden, a winter garden, a spring garden, and after half an hour of walking Jace was beginning to get annoyed. Trudging through the gardens wasn't getting his brother back. "Where the hell are we going?"
The queen didn't pause her steps, "there's a tree at the heart of our realm. It's been dead since well before the oldest Fae here even remembers." She stepped through an archway and Jace jogged to keep up with her. "The reason it took me so long to get back with you about Magnus and Alec is because the tree came alive not long after you reported them missing."
"What does that mean? What's so significant about the tree?" Clary asked.
The queen didn't even pause, "We have absolutely no idea. There are no documents, no recorded histories, nothing in our libraries about the tree. I've reached out to every warlock I know, the spiral labyrinth, everyone I could imagine that might have an inkling." She lifted her skirts and walked up a small hill. Jace kept close and as they made it to the top he had to hold in a gasp.
In the center of the garden was the biggest tree he'd ever seen in his life. Ten people could stand around it holding hands it was so large. The bark was so dark it was almost black, leaves of gold, silver, and copper hung from the heavy branches. But the thing that Jace couldn't look away from was the blue lights swirling around the trunk into the ground. "You're telling me that thing just came back to life?"
The queen shook her head. "I can't explain it. The tree was a twig, it was a dead twig, it has always been here. In fact I think one of my predecessors attempted to remove it, but the magic in our land forbade it. This morning the druids came to tend the flowers and it was here. Like this."
"Did you ask the silent brothers? Have you contacted Alicante? Shadowhunters may have lore on the tree." Izzy walked closer to the tree, but Jace grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
She jerked herself out of his grasp, but he turned on her. "Izzy we don't know what the hell that magic is, so we should maybe hold off. None of this gets us closer to Alec and Magnus. While I appreciate that this is weird, what the hell happened to my brother and his husband?"
The queen nodded. "Magnus and Alec were here about the visions from the angels, but we couldn't determine exactly which realities Magnus was seeing. I gave them a dimension crystal that Magnus could use to view different realities in hopes of finding what he was looking for, and then they went home."
Jace put his hands on his hips and glowered, "That can't be everything."
Clary put her hand on Jace's arm, "Jace she's telling the truth, and she's being about as direct as a fae can be."
Jace jerked out of Clary's arm and turned away from them, he ran a hand over his steele and tried to calm down. He heard Izzy gasp and he turned around. The tree didn't have little blue floaties anymore, it was lit up like a damn beacon. Jace leaned toward it instinctively, tension in every line of his body. Something was up, he could feel it.
Clary stepped toward the tree and Jace followed her. "Do you feel it?" She asked softly.
Jace nodded as he stood shoulder to shoulder with her, "Your majesty?"
The queen didn't answer his unspoken WTH question, she moved closer to the tree. "I think it's responding to your angel blood. We need to get you all out of here? Something has woken up in my realm, and until I know exactly what this is I'm quarantining the area." She swung around and pushed the shadowhunters out of the garden.
Jace looked back over his shoulder and watched the blue lights drift toward them as they left. What the hell had Magnus and Alec stepped into? What had they woken up?
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8Demon Infested World:
Alec had known Magnus for a day. A single day. In that time he'd been pulled through multiple portals with no idea what was on the other side, but never in his wildest thoughts would he have imagined that he would see himself, another him, desperately wrapped around Magnus. It dawned on him as he shouted at them, that the husband Magnus had spoken so fondly of was….him. Alec glared and stomped closer to the hugging couple. He should have damn well said something. "This isn't something you think you should have mentioned?" Alec all but snarled at the warlock.
The man wearing his face went very still and lifted his head slowly from Magnus' shoulder. Alec recognized that look, he wore it when he was killing things, so it was no coincidence that his hand dropped to his weapon. Before he could say something Magnus leaned up and kissed the other guys cheek with no hesitation. "Darling let it go, we're both exhausted. We have not had an easy time of it." Magnus said soothingly. His husband raised a dark brow his expression clearly indicating he wasn't going to entirely let it go, but turned a gentle look toward Magnus and removed his hand from his weapon.
"That's no excuse for rudeness, he shouldn't speak to you that way." Alec wondered about the man's tone. It was almost like he thought Alec was abusing Magnus in some way rather than just being furious that Magnus hadn't told him everything.
"Perhaps not." Magnus ran a soothing hand down his husband's arm. Other Alec pulled Magnus into a hug and if Alec wasn't mistaken he sniffed the warlock's hair, then kissed his forehead. This was so bizarre, they were unlike anything he'd ever seen. He could honestly say he'd never seen a Shadowhunter with that look before, he was entirely besotted; and Alec was damn sure he'd never had that look on his own face. But then other Alec seemed to be able to shift between his two selves like a chameleon, because one minute he was soft looking at Magnus and the next his expression had hardened into that of a general.
"So what happened?" He said it commandingly, like he was some sort of authority figure and Alec's immediate gut reaction was to answer the command in his tone, but he shook off the reflex. Alec had spent the past 8 years pushing back against his knee jerk reaction to command.
Alec noticed that Magnus' husband might bark out commands like he expected everyone to fall in line, but he was worried about his husband more than he cared about the actual response. Even as he asked, the other Alec was carefully looking over Magnus for any injuries, ignoring Magnus' earlier assertion that he was fine, and making hurt noises as he came across bruises.
Alec pondered that closely. Here was a Shadowhunter that appeared far more interested in the well being of his husband than he did in something that potentially affected the Clave. And speaking of that, he had a fucking husband. Alec couldn't believe it had taken him this long to realize that this Shadowhunter had somehow married a god damned warlock. Zoning out on the colorful explanation of their "adventure" as Magnus was recounting it, Alec felt his world shift and his foundation slip out from under him, wrapping his arms around himself he rocked back on his heels. Exhaustion had made him slow, but now he couldn't push it aside.
This other Alec had his runes. They were stark against his pale skin, but he also wore a wedding band the same as Magnus. He was assertive, commanding, and comfortable as hell in the arms of a warlock. This wasn't possible. It was beyond….he was dead and in some sort of lala land because that's the only thing that made sense. The Clave would never sanction this, not in a million years.
He looked up and found the other Alec staring at him, even as he hummed and responded to Magnus' waving hands and dramatics. Dark eyes filled with compassion because this Alec knew he was spiraling. Knew he was so caught up in his head he could hardly focus on the world around him. They were different people, but the other him had a knowing look on his face that Alec wanted to slap off of it.
As Magnus wound down he could see the other him taking it all in, trying to sort out the information, but what he asked had Alec rolling his eyes. "The Shadowhunter's in his world didn't give you any trouble did they?"
Magnus sighed with fond exasperation, and Alec felt a twinge in his gut. "My honor is completely intact darling. We all just need some sleep. Not that it will put that one in a better mood, but I may be less inclined to zap him in the light of a new day." They were now standing wrapped around one another, Magnus had his back resting against his husband's chest, and the man had his chin on Magnus' shoulder. They were looking at him with the same sad look, and they were so soft that Alec couldn't fathom how they survived in the Shadowworld, because compassion like that did nothing but get you killed.
Alec looked down at the floor so he didn't have to look at them, and finally took in his surroundings. Avoiding the disgustingly cutesy way the two men in front of him were behaving, he finally realized he was standing in the institute. Electronically it wasn't on the same scale as the one at home, but they were definitely standing in the institute. He ran a hand across his tattoo's reflexively and turned away from the happy couple, breath stuttering as he felt the walls closing in on him. Unable to catch a breath he needed to get out of here. He needed to think.
Stalking toward the entrance, he ignored both Alec and Magnus' shouts for him to stop, he just continued out the door and down the steps. He'd barely made it off the steps of the institute when a demon shot out of the dark and barreled toward him. Shocked out of his own thoughts, Alec ducked and rolled to the side. He hadn't brought a weapon like the level 100 dumb ass he was, so he kited the thing to the left so he could back himself into the institute. As the demon lunged toward him, a ball of blue magic exploded before him disintegrating the thing on the steps of the church. You had to appreciate the lack of ichor that came with Warlock magic.
Alec felt Magnus behind him, and was two seconds from stomping away into the darkness despite the danger, when his exasperation at his own angst got the best of him. He turned around and felt his stomach drop and butterflies burst inside of him. Breath stuttering at the sight.
"Alexander, are you alright?"
The sound of his name made time slow and the noise of the world fade away. Cold air brushed across him. Alec blinked at the moonlight illuminating the warlock, shrouding him in a soft glow. Two steps above him stood the Magnus of this world, and Alec couldn't look away from the golden green cat eyes gazing down at him.
Heat poured through him; he knew his face flushed the longer he stared, and Alec had to stop himself from reaching out. Instead he pressed his palm to his chest where his tattoos' were on fire, pulsing in time with the frantic beating of his heart. The world rushed back in and all he could see was the look of judgement on the angel's faces when he..., Alec shook his head forcibly to remove the memory, and stumbled "Angel...no." He said in anguish as he fell to his knees.
Magnus. Another Magnus. Alec took a deep breath trying to calm the anxiety ripping through him. Magnus rushed forward to catch him as he fell, but Alec flinched away in horror. This wasn't possible, this couldn't be, he'd thought when he'd first heard Magnus say his name that it was possible, it just hadn't been quite right and he'd been relieved, but this was the man from his dream and it was too much. Alec fell backwards onto the pavement and gazed up at the night sky. Stars illuminated the inky darkness and Alec was adrift amongst them. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real.
He'd thought the angels were through punishing him. They'd said that he could keep his runes but….Alec's train of thought was cut off as Magnus' face filled his vision. This Magnus had the eyes, the beautiful eyes he'd had tattoo'd on his chest. His hair was combed down rather than up, and he wore a dark t-shirt with black combat pants. He looked more like a soldier, or a hiker than he did the extravagant version of himself hanging off of the other Alec. Even though he still wore eyeliner. Alec pondered if any version of Magnus went without it as he tried to reconcile himself to the hell he'd inadvertently walked into.
Magnus reached down and put his fingers on Alec's forehead. "Alexander Lightwood I presume." He said it in a quiet assured way that Alec wanted to curl up into, but he held himself back. He wanted to cry out in agony, this wasn't fair.
All he could say was "Magnus Bane."
Magnus let out a quiet chuckle, "Introductions are quite unnecessary it seems I'm well known by you in every realm. And I must say, blue eyes certainly suit you." A cheeky grin flashed across the warlock's face, accompanied by the soft stroke of Magnus' fingers across his cheek, and Alec wanted to scream. Magnus could evidently make out the sour expression on his face because he gave him a questioning look, but didn't remove his fingers from Alec's face.
Alec turned away and sat up brushing his hands over his pants. "We should get back to the others."
Magnus shifted his hand to Alec's shoulder, and Alec saw him staring at his shirt. Right where his tattoo was. Could he feel it? Magnus seemed to shake himself, and asked gently "Are you alright?"
"Yes of course." Alec said full of a bravado he certainly didn't feel. Magnus' voice was a soothing oasis, calm and so patient that Alec was a little bit mesmerized. Clenching his hands into fists in an effort to get a measure of control, he pushed himself to his feet and started up the steps not waiting to see if Magnus would follow.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8Demon Infested World:
Magnus blinked at himself coming out of the institute giving him a once over with a raise of his brow. The hair alone was worth a comment or two, but he refrained as a horrid memory of 1855 came back to haunt him. No judgment. To be fair, if his reality wasn't a war torn apocalyptic wasteland he might try his hand with a bit more color. Under the circumstances, he feels like his other self really shouldn't be looking at him like that. Practicality won out when conservation of magic was a priority. He smiled at himself, but it quickly dropped off of his face when he felt a surge in demonic activity. They were about to test this institutes defenses.
He didn't need to alert the two Alexander's because his other self was already shouting. It seems the demon he'd dispatched wasn't alone, and the Inquisitor had been smart enough to snag his counterpart's weapons. Tossing him a bow and an angel blade they all rushed down the stairs to stand beside Magnus. Which he was ultimately grateful for because it took his mind off of the man beside him.
He'd been startled when he first saw the Shadowhunter's eyes. He had not expected the blue to have such a profound effect upon him. It had been like falling into an ocean. The dark eyed Shadowhunter was attractive, and he could certainly see why his other self had latched onto him, but this one was exquisite. Something had shifted inside Magnus the minute Alec had opened his eyes and looked up at him with such pain and longing. Whatever had happened to this Shadowhunter had deeply scarred him, and Magnus had never so badly wanted to know every single thing about another person. Could fate have a hand in this? It seemed strange to be so drawn to someone he knew nothing about.
Darkness fell around them as the stars and the moon were completely blacked out. His other self let out a string of curse words in 10 of the innumerable languages he knew. And Magnus couldn't fault him, what was coming at them was worthy of every single curse. Emerging from the artificial darkness, the largest tentacled creature he had ever seen in his life. "What the hell is that?" yelled one of the Shadowhunters.
The Magnus beside him started to draw in Magic, and it was surreal to hear the fear in his own voice as he said, "It's the beginning of Edom."
It dawned on Magnus that he was right. Demons had swallowed the earth and that invasion had created Edom. It was happening again. This was a demon of legend, the Kraken. He brought with him the darkness. He and Alec must have just barely escaped the thing at the apothecary. Now it was attempting to destroy the institute. Magnus pulled the grumpy Shadowhunter with him to the right and flung his magic at the smaller demons flooding the street. The other Magnus didn't even pause as he pulled his husband in the other direction. If they could surround it they might be able to burn a hole through it with their magic.
Magnus jumped over the fence surrounding the institute. Without even asking, Alec shifted his stance and back to back they fought the smaller demons surrounding them. Magnus conjured a set of swords and with no hesitancy he began to dance around the dark creatures trying to kill him. "On your left." He heard Alec shout, and turned quickly to pierce the gut of what looked like a spider demon.
"What the hell is wrong with these demons?" Alec asked as he beheaded two demons Magnus didn't recognize.
"What do you mean?" the other Alec had made a similar remark and Magnus was beginning to wonder. He sidestepped a set of claws and almost walked right into a demon's grasp, but Alec was there beside him chopping off limbs. From above, a black lump came flying at them, Alec didn't say anything he just notched an arrow turned and let it lose. His instincts were incredible thought Magnus, there was barely a pause between his movements as he plowed through the demons around them ichor splashing on both of their clothes. Barely winded he herded Magnus back out of the way. Magnus was shocked. In all of his centuries he had met very few Shadowhunters who's first instinct was to protect. By default warlocks were on their own, a threat or not of note, they were never the object of worry. This Alec and the other one were quite unique.
Taking a pause after the rush, Magnus caught his breath and listened to Alec explain. "They're warped. Eyes and claws are wrong, some of them are faster than they should be. The ichor isn't the right consistency, almost as if they're not the right species." Alec said while his eyes were tracking the demon movement in the shadows. The Kraken was bringing the darkness with him, his tentacles crawling over the modern buildings and pulling him ever closer.
"We can talk about it later, we need to kill that thing before it destroys the institute."
Alec nodded and moved them further down the street. Magnus shivered with the feel of energy rolling off the giant thing, he needed to find a somewhat defensible position so he pushed open the door of one of the taller brick buildings and started running up the stairs. Alec close on his heels. He stepped wrong on the landing and fell backwards into Alec's arms. The Shadowhunter wrapped his arms around him, and Magnus felt a full body shiver wash over him. Time stilled, much like it had when he'd first saw the beautiful blue eyes, and he turned to look up. Alec was staring down at him, confused and if Magnus wasn't mistaken betrayed. Like Magnus' very presence was tearing him apart. They both snapped out of their intense gaze and Alec gently put Magnus back on his feet. This man was a wealth of contradictions and he'd known him all of an hour.
Magnus shook himself and focused on moving forward. Getting to the roof took him longer than he had anticipated, but when he blasted the door back he could see his other self on the building opposite the demon. They nodded to one another in the darkness, their eyes allowing them to see in the dark, and Magnus wasted no time funneling his magic into the demon slinking its way toward the Institute.
Sweat dripped off of him, and he could feel his reserves failing. Magic was so unstable but he really shouldn't be draining this quickly; it was like the Demon was eating his magic. Across the way he could see Alec drop to his knees beside his husband. They held hands, and Magnus could see the energy flowing between them. Focused as he was, he barely noticed the demon shift course to their side of the building. Alec had been standing on the side of the building shooting the occasional arrow, but he rushed back to Magnus' side as the thing picked up speed and soon they were surrounded by tentacles.
"Move Magnus." Alec grabbed his arm and jerked him away from the demon's grasp.
"I have to keep trying." Magnus said desperately.
"No, you need to stay alive." Alec wasn't going to listen to anything he said, so Magnus ran with him across the roof.
Neither one of them realized that the demon's tentacles were so long they had already wrapped around the building. When they jumped across to the next building, the dark Kraken caught them in his grasp. Magnus immediately used his magic to try and burn the thing off, but he just absorbed it. Alec was hacking at the tentacles, but it was doing no good.
The tentacled monster jerked them up and then under his body, darkness surrounded Magnus on all sides. He could no longer see Alec. A suffocating weight of emptiness overwhelmed him and it built and built and built until Magnus wanted to explode out of his body. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, choking on nothing he felt a burn in his eyes and knife like pins tearing through him.
This wasn't death.
Magic engulfed him and just when he was on the edge of exploding, the pressure popped.
Opening his eyes and gasping for breath he saw Alec on the ground beside him staring up at what was above them. Magnus turned over and looked, surprised to see a sky with stars.
They're alive. Hurt but breathing. Magnus couldn't ask for a whole lot more.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Alec said as he sat up. Magnus couldn't help but be somewhat confused.
"What?"
"Another portal to the middle of nowhere." Alec stood up and took stock of his belongings, so Magnus did the same but as he rose to his feet Alec stumbled. Then he dropped to his knees and let out a keening wail. Magnus was at his side in an instant.
"What's wrong Alexander?" Running his hands over the Shadowhunter, his magic coming easily to his finger tips.
Alec managed to get out through his clenched teeth, "Blood is on fire." A blinding flash of light and Alec let out a gasp, his body settling down.
"What the hell?" Said Magnus bewildered he conjured his swords again to be on the safe side and watched Alec very carefully raise his own sword. Something was out there. They were on some sort of island of dark shale rock. It cracked under Magnus' feet. He couldn't see any sign of life for miles, no trees, no plants, just an endless landscape of dark rock. The sky was equally as dark, but the stars twinkled above the blinding flash of light that had startled him before, it had been lightning. It sparked along the landscape, thunder rumbling right along behind it. The cloudy sky was a thunderstorm without the rain, they were on some sort of lightning plane.
"Your magic solid?" Alec asked as he too looked around.
"Yeah, your runes?" Magnus watched Alec carefully as he seemed to be testing his stability.
"Good. I don't understand what just happened." Alec was shoulder to shoulder with Magnus.
"Perhaps I can explain." Came a disembodied voice behind them. Magnus barely had a minute to absorb the words before Alec had shifted their positions and pushed Magnus down behind him. Magnus could damn well take care of himself, he didn't need an overgrown Shadowhunter treating him like a helpless child. Pushing back against the man's grip was nearly impossible. Alec was fiercely determined to keep Magnus behind him.
Magnus quit struggling with a sigh and finally looked at the voice that spoke to them. Tall, woman was tall, was the first thing Magnus took note of, with the darkest skin he'd ever seen. Her hair was short and spiky, slender and willowy, Magnus was immediately reminded of the monks he'd met as a child. Eyes, filled with the rolling sparks of lightning, looked at them in an appraising way. "Who are you?" He heard Alec ask through the ringing in his ears, but Magnus didn't need the woman to speak to know who she was.
"Archangel Uriel, the keeper of the keys to the pit, the guardian of hell." Magnus intoned wonderingly.
"Very good Magnus, I see your centuries have served you well. " Her voice was no less ghostly, but Magnus could hear the power in it now. She was quite possibly the most powerful being he'd ever been in the presence of, his father and Lilith included. Before him Alec cringed backwards in a harsh flinch at both her words and Magnus' explanation of who she was.
She took a step forward. "Alec, I have no quarrel with you. I have been asked by my brothers to send the pair of you to Limbo and so I will."
Magnus looked between them, and at her words Alec relaxed though he still felt the need to place his hand on Alec's arm in support. What the hell had the angels done to him that his response was very near terror in the presence of one? "Your brothers?" Magnus asked redirecting the conversation.
She shook her head, "Not relevant. I was told to give you passage, and that on the other side you would find connections you'd thought were lost." Alec looked at him but Magnus had no more idea what was going on than he did.
"Why us and not the other two?"
Uriel's eyes lit up at that. "Because your home realms share a Limbo. In other words think of Limbo like a vase, and inside the vase each flower represents a realm. In the multiverse there are many vases with many flowers. The connections that you need to find are in this Limbo, now enough you need to go." Magnus looked at her questioningly but her gaze was already far away. A mist surrounded them light and damp. He took hold of Alec's hand just in case and the Shadowhunter gripped him tightly. Alec even went so far as to pull him closer into an embrace, and Magnus was once again struck by just how protective this man was of him after only having just met him. Was he also married to a Magnus in his world? He didn't have a ring. His reaction had definitely seemed like a big no on that front. Horror wasn't generally how one looked at one's husband when they saved your life. Lost in his thoughts about the man who's arms were wrapped around him, he barely felt the shifting of magic around them.
The trip to Limbo was much easier than the trip to wherever the hell they first landed. The mist cleared and Magnus blinked to try and take it all in.
"Alec?" They heard a bewildered voice to their right. The Shadowhunter in his arms turned to the sound of the voice, and Magnus felt Alec's whole body spasm under his fingers.
"Jace?"