A little shorter this time. I had to finish it faster, but I hope you like it. Have fun!

Chapter 24

Magnus' POV

"Ezekiel... Can you hear me?... I could use some help..." I still sat at the floor, the bathroom door in my back, my head leaning against it. I made a decision, a heavy one for sure and maybe one I will regret some time, but right now it was the only thing that came to my mind to survive this with a little bit of a still healthy mind. "Hey... Are you alright? You look sad." I opened my eyes and looked into Ezekiel's small face. "Hey, you heard me." He sat down next to me and... I couldn't believe it... was silent and waited for my explanation. "Ezekiel, I know I'm asking a lot of you... do you know someone you really trust, who can cast a partial memory spell?" He thought about what I asked him without any sign of distrust. "Maybe Aleisha, she's a very good friend... the only friend of my Mom. She knows how to delete or change memories." "Will she say something to Asmodeus? And on the other side, is she the only warlock here, who could do this? I don't want anybody to get punished because of me." He looked at me and smiled a little. "No, she won't tell and no, she's not the only one, but the only one you could trust. My Mom told me that you've got a good heart after she first saw you, she was right. She's an empath, you know?"

"I met her? I'm sorry... I can't remember. What's her name?" "Vivienne. And you were unconscious when she saw you, it would be a little scary if you would remember her. I will talk to her and come back, is that okay?" I took his hand and patted it a little. "Thank you, Ezekiel." "It's okay. I know our father can be cruel, everyone tries to protect me from him, now you need protection." I smiled brightly as he patted my head as if I were the child here and then just vanished. I stretched my legs out in front of me and waited.

I nearly fell asleep from exhaustion, sitting there with my back at a door. Someone touched my shoulder and I jumped up, I stopped on all fours and hissed in the direction I sat before. "I'm sorry, it's just me, Magnus." I recognized Ezekiel and sat down, my expression softening. "Sorry, you scared me." A young looking woman stood beside Ezekiel, she had claws instead of hands and green hair that somehow matched her green eyes. "I suppose you are Aleisha?" She nodded and looked down at Ezekiel. "Is it okay for you to leave us alone, sweetie? You can visit him when we're done, you have to find out if I did a good job, then." She smiled brightly and everyone would have recognized how much she adored that boy. Ezekiel smiled in my direction and just left. Aleisha walked over to the bed and sat down, I did the same. "Okay, Ezekiel told me what you need me for. When I should erase special memories, I will see them..." "I know. I did that kind of spell very often myself, but here I'm not... in the condition to do it myself." "I see what he's doing to you and it hard to watch how cruel he can be with his children, we try to protect Ezekiel as much as possible... what brings me to the payment for that spell."

I watched her closely now, tried to read her expression. "Ezekiel's mother wants you to take him with you..." I got the feeling my face dropped to the floor and I couldn't get it back on my head. "What?!" Her eyes still looked soft... pleading, to be true. "You will negotiate with your father, right? To get out of here, you and the nephilim. We want to get Ezekiel out of his reach, he's such a great person and very talented, he learns so fast and is curious... He will destroy that. Look at your other siblings..." "Even if I were okay with that, he wouldn't come with me. He loves his Mom, even when he's afraid of our father. When he talks about her, his eyes say everything." "He will leave when Vivienne orders him to do it. Promise to try it, promise to save him and she will talk with him. He likes you and he likes your nephilim, maybe he wouldn't leave with someone else, but with you he will do it. We will tell him that we have to send him away." "You love her, right?" Her hair became red, like her eyes, instead of that her skin stayed white, that was her way of blushing. "Mmh... Yes... Yes, I love Vivienne. And Ezekiel is more like my son than Asmodeus'." "Aleisha... I can try it but..." "That's enough for me. When I delete your memories, I will also have to delete this conversation. I will let the thought of saving Ezekiel leave in your mind as if it had been your idea, okay? As if you already thought about it." This was so wrong and I knew it, but deep inside of me I felt that it would be good for the kid to get away from here. So I nodded but grabbed her wrists before she could lay her claws on my head. "You have to go to Alec and Jace too. I'm sure my father showed Alec what happened here after the games, if not, you don't have to do something. The more time passes, the more memories are built because of the actions from today..." She smiled up to me as if I was a child that has to be assured that everything was alright. "I know that. Alec will be the next one, than this Jace guy. What do you need to forget?" "Everything sexual after the games from today with the blond guy Jace, but I have to remember that we talked about some things." "What's with the sexual things at the games?" "No, that would be too much, the time gap would get difficult." "Good. Try to relax, I won't hurt you."

Alec's POV

"Alec?" I opened my eyes and saw a female warlock with green hair leaning over me. "You need medical care. I didn't want to touch you without permission, I heard your nephilim reflexes are very fast." My head felt as if it would explode any second. I remembered what happened and why I needed medical care and didn't really want it anymore. The dull feeling was better than living through that all with a clean head. I tried to shake my head, but didn't really move. "You hit your head pretty hard and your hands are in a really bad shape. Relax, I won't hurt you. I'm here to help." I felt her claws on my head in a gentle, cool touch and then the memories of today swirled in my head, a mixture of pictures, colors, voices and then... all went black again.

Jace's POV

I just sat on the bed, my thoughts ran through my mind without standing still for one second. What should I tell Clary? I knew it wasn't my decision, it was taking a drug, but I felt guilty none the less. The bad thing about it all was that the memory felt good, it wasn't that I was disgusted when I thought about it. I knew the sex was good, I liked it even if I'm not attracted to Magnus in my normal life, not attracted to men... I was just so confused. I knew everyone felt the need to touch him, since he was that neko thing and it was nearly impossible to resist that urge when he was aroused. But there has to be something to stop you... I thought of his scent, the feeling of the abs under my fingertips, the slight stubble in his face, all the things that made a difference to the body of a woman. I remembered kissing him, letting my hands glide over his skin... I liked the memory, but I wasn't aroused. The influence from that neko thing betrayed the mind and the body, made a straight person gay... I realized why his father wanted to have something from that, the lust he stood for, Magnus induced lust and forced you to live it out, no matter what. It was his nature now and he had the power to destroy lives with it... his own live, would be the first.

I heard a knock on my door and looked in that direction. "Come in." I was separated from the other candidates because they didn't want to give Alec and me the possibility to talk, so I didn't expect someone. "Hello Jace, right?" I just nodded and watched the young, or young looking warlock. "I'm here to examine you for the games tomorrow. It will only take a few minutes and doesn't hurt." "Okay. Do what you have to do. Can you tell me something about the other nephilim? Alec Lightwood, did you examine him, too?" "Yes, I have. I'll tell you later." The last thing I remembered were her cold claws on my head and a blackness swallowing me.

Alec's POV

I woke up slowly, feeling uncomfortable and when I moved my legs I knew why. I fell asleep in half of my clothes, my chest was bare but my pants were not very good for sleeping in them. I sat up and took a look around after rubbing my eyes. It was getting dark outside and... I have caused some damage in that room, didn't I? But everything was alright, as if nothing happened. But I remembered the games and that I destroyed some things after seeing Magnus with that Rosier guy and Jace. Was I still in the same room? There was something else, wasn't it? I have been so angry... I looked down on my hands, but they just looked like the room, totally normal and intact.

The door opened and a guard walked in. He had blonde, short hair and brown eyes, the suit he was wearing fitted him perfectly. "Mister Lightwood. I hope your rest was healthy." I stood up and went over to the wardrobe to pick out a shirt and pull it over my head. "Yes, thank you. Is this a new room?" He smirked as he answered: "Yes, for sure. You completely destroyed the other room." I thought about it and shrugged. "It wasn't that bad." "Nooo! It still had the quality of a barrack, wasn't that bad, your right. We healed your wounds and let you sleep with the help of a spell to bring you over here." I knew i looked confused, I just didn't know what he was talking about. It was just the bedroom interior and a few bruises on my hands. "If you say so. Why are you here?" "Asmodeus is waiting for you. Please follow me."

Asmodeus sat on a throne in a large room, absolutely alone and smiled when he saw me. "Mister Alexander Lightwood! How are you feeling?" I watched him, confused again. In front of the throne the guard left us and I just stood there answering: "I don't know what you mean. You're torturing your son, no matter if he will mentally survive your cruel games, you just want to absorb everything your son induces without even wanting it. I think that's the greatest part for you, he causes damage without being able to stop it." He looked at me a minute without saying a word. I had the feeling he was searching for something, I took a look over my shoulder, maybe there was someone standing behind me he was looking at? "What?" He leaned forward, his chin resting on his hand. "You don't remember... Why don't you remember what happened between Magnus and your precious parabatai?" "I remember very well. But both of them kissing wasn't their decision, they were influenced. It was just a stupid part of your game." I stood up and came over to me, walking around me like a lion.

"Who cured your wounds?" I followed his movements with my gaze, not trusting him one bit. "I don't know. When I woke up they were gone and I was in another room." Asmodeus stopped pacing and stood in front of me. I always tried to see something similar to Magnus, but only the look of his eyes matched those of his sons. Magnus may want to look intimidating, as if he's heartless and just interested in himself, but everybody who knows him better knows that it's just a facade. "It's a shame. The show was incredible, but maybe you will get the chance to see them again, without your memories being erased... Just let me be sure you're not lying about the knowledge of who disturbed my fun time..."

I tried to get away from his hand, but I couldn't move anymore. His hand touched my head and he closed his eyes. I got the feeling that he made it as painful as possible to search my memories for something. I heard myself screaming before he let go and I sank down to my knees, breathing heavy. "Mmh... You didn't lie. Such a loss, I enjoyed it very much." He went over to his throne and dat down again. "What I wanted to ask you is, what did you plan with your nephilim friend? I want to go on with my games and now I have to handle two nephilim and angry candidates because he got a place for winners he wasn't worthy of. Your getting in my way and I don't like that." I tried to stand up and succeeded, but my legs were shaking and I couldn't hide that fact. "I won't tell you something." Asmodeus rolled his eyes. "Is that the power of your holy parabatai bond? To give the same useless answers?" I smiled at that, for sure he had asked Jace the same question and got nothing for an answer. "You won't smile anymore, when I'm done with you. No one of you, at least my son."

He took a gulp from his whiskey, watching me over the rim of his glass. "What would you do to get him out of here? Let start the negotiation. What do you offer?" "What do you want? Is there something you really want? I think you're just bored, so what can I offer you to amuse you for a while?" He tried to look thoughtful. "Take his place. I know the candidates would fight for you like they did for Magnus." "Okay." "Okay?" He laughed loudly and it nearly reached his eyes, as if he really was amused. "You would do anything for him, right? Love... Such a crazy thing. And so damn useless! You will die, little stupid nephilim, you're human after all! Why give everything up for someone who will forget you five minutes after you took your last breath? And what do you think he will do with the physical needs? He won't share his bed with an old, wrinkly and maybe impotent man." I knew all this arguments and just tried to not listen to him and didn't answer. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "You're no fun." He snapped his fingers and my guard came back to bring me into my room. I just grinned as soon as I turned my back at him.

Magnus' POV

Someone crawled my ears... It felt good and... I didn't want to wake up... "Magnus?" Ezekiel. I opened one eye and saw the warlock child sitting next to me, one hand on my head and petting me softly. I snuggled deeper into the pillow for a minute before opening both eyes. "Ezekiel. What are you doing here?" I sat up beside him and grabbed a fruit bite from the tablet on the bedside table. "Did you bring it in, again?" Ezekiel nodded, but somehow he looked sad. "Is everything alright? You're never this... tight lipped." He looked down to the bed where his fingers played with the blanket. "I just wanted to warn you. Our father wants to talk to you and he is in a bad mood, because Alec didn't give him the right answers. But don't worry, he didn't hurt Alec too bad." My ears twitched to the side 'not too bad'? I was worried right away. "What's this about? What does he want?" Ezekiel's eyes met mine. "I don't know. He's angry since the blonde nephilim came here. He had stolen a place, one of the candidates should have received and he thinks you're planning something together."

I raised one eyebrow, answering: "He should ask you. You're the one who made it possible for Jace to sneak inside of here." I softly grabbed his chin and made him look at me. "I'm very thankful for your help, but you have to be very careful, Ezekiel. For him it doesn't matter that he's our father, when he catches you..." "I know. It's okay. I better go now. The keeper will be here in a few minutes." I tried to smile encouragingly, but I don't think it worked.