I get off school in two weeks, but for this week, I've got so much work to do. I haven't even started writing the next chapter (yikes). Hopefully, this is the last few days that I'll be too busy to write. After the holidays, there's a crazy term with exams and whatnot, so I'll try to do as much as I can over the break...
Thanks to the favouriters, followers and reviewers!
Alaa (Guest): I will, it's just a question of when!
IridescentxPetals: Thank you for reviewing so often! They're so nice.
liveandbreathediangelo: Another person that reviews so much- thank you! This review made me grin (evilly).
Anyway, hope you like this chapter!
Alec pushed his hair out of his face irritably. Idris was tiresomely hot at this time of year. He wandered idly from shop to shop along a canal, looking at weapons and specialty gear. There was nothing to do but wait, and it was wearing down his patience slowly but surely. Knowing that his family was in danger while he sat around, killing time?
He took some comfort in what Magnus had told him. He'd gotten to Izzy and told her the truth, and she was away from the demon posing as Simon. He couldn't even look at Robert now. Everything felt so real, but as soon as he looked into his father's dark eyes rather than seeing his usual icy blue ones- well, it was a reminder that he couldn't lose himself in this alternate reality, no matter how perfect it appeared to be.
He wondered where Jace was. Off in some manor house with Clary? Successfully taking on a ridiculous amount of demons and winning? Probably a combination of the two.
He picked up a bow made of a dark wood. The weight felt reassuring in his hands as he turned it over, examining the work while letting his mind drift. Magnus was looking more exhausted each day. It had only been three days, but splitting his energy while working on breaking into everyone's dreams, and perfecting the spell.
Alec put the bow back regretfully, moving to the next shop.
He could feel the drag of guilt in his step, the heavy weight pulling him down and down. It was almost like he could sink through the paved road. Magnus was wearing himself out for him. Magnus was sacrificing a lot to find the people he cared about, and he couldn't even help.
On top of that, he was avoiding everyone except Magnus. They wouldn't notice, and it would be too easy to tip over to not wanting to leave at all. Surrounded by the population of Idris who told him who amazing he was at every turn, he was beginning to understand how celebrities- how Jace got a big head.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the familiar loping towards him. Alec fell onto Magnus, careful of his depleted strength but needing some comfort. Magnus returned the embrace, although his arms weren't wrapped around him as tightly as usual.
"Are you okay?" He murmured.
Alec managed a laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" He stepped back, taking in his appearance.
"I've got some news, if you'll tear yourself away from your concerns about me long enough to listen."
He rolled his eyes, gesturing for Magnus to go ahead. If he had news, it was probably important. And Alec could really do with some fresh information.
"I have found out where Simon's phantasm is based, and almost spoke to him. Clary's is in Idris. I've encouraged some curiosity in her, so hopefully she'll take the bait to come and find me, which allows me to preserve my energy."
He needed to know about Jace and Isabelle. Clary and Simon were nice enough, but his siblings were, without a doubt, more important. Magnus could obviously see the question on his face.
"Nothing new's happening with Isabelle. But Jace…" he passed a hand over his face. "He obviously doesn't want to be found." A wave of numbness swept through Alec. "I've used all the methods I can think of, and he's nowhere to be seen."
"Would it help if I contributed some ideas of where he might be? Or you could ask Clary and Isabelle." He suggested, pushing away the uncertainty that had gripped him. They were Shadowhunters. Every time someone walked through the Institute door, there was a possibility they wouldn't come back, so Alec was used to the idea of losing people. But, in situations like these, they had been trained within an inch of their lives. It wasn't as if they were facing demons unprepared. Alec bit his tongue, hard, to distract himself. He'd long ago accepted that. But somehow, the fact that it was essentially a trick that was taking Jace away made it so different from the harsh reality that was already established.
"These trances are far more complicated than even the most practiced magic users have dealt with. I've no idea if there's even a limit to the amount of places and times that anyone could be. They seem to be very specific- tailored to you individually. Even with the extra information, it would take too long to search through all those possibilities." Magnus sighed. "I'm sorry, Alexander."
His mind was whirring. "But you can't be giving up?"
"No." Magnus reassured him. "It may take a little longer to find him, but I think I have a solution. I'll keep working on it, and then we can decide whether to enact it or not." He took a deep breath. "It'll be taxing."
Alec felt the now-familiar rush of remorse. "I'm sorry… I really appreciate that you're doing all of this."
Magnus shook his head. "Not for me." He said gently. "For you."
His father stopped Alec on his way to his room. "I think we may spend a bit of time at our manor house. It's nice out in the Idris countryside, and you probably want to escape from all the attention."
He panicked. Going to Lightwood Manor meant that he would be much further away from Magnus, and it would be difficult to make the long journey without attracting attention from his family. And Magnus couldn't come to him- he needed to expend as little energy as possible.
"Uh… I love it in Alicante, Dad." He tripped over the word, feeling the incredible wrongness of calling a demon Dad and standing in a room with it without waging war. He searched his surroundings desperately for inspiration. "We just moved in here, and it's such a nice house. It would be a pity to leave it so soon."
The demon disguised as Robert frowned, obviously not missing the anxiety in Alec's voice. "We have plenty of time, and our manor is just as beautiful as this house. Maybe even more so." He stepped a little closer to Alec, making him want to back away. "Is there any particular reason you want to stay here?"
YES! Alec wanted to shout.
Instead, he swallowed the rising words and tried to come up with a more diplomatic reply. "I- I ordered a new bow!" Before the demon could object, he switched tactics. It wouldn't work normally but… "Besides, I'm eighteen now. Officially an adult. I can stay here by myself if I want to."
'Robert' narrowed his eyes. "If it means that much to you, we can stay. I doubt your brothers and sister would leave in a hurry without you."
"Um, thanks." He mumbled before walking quickly from the room. He could feel the blush starting to stain his face from the suspicious attention. Running into anyone right now would be problematic.
As he saw the flash of dark hair, he groaned inwardly. "Hi, Alec." His sister said suspiciously, coming to a stop in front of him. Her dark eyes rested on his face. Where are you, Iz? He thought despairingly.
"I heard your conversation with Dad. Why is it that you want to stay here so badly?"
Who was here if she wasn't? Alec hadn't stopped to think about the intricacies of how the hallucinations actually worked. Did the demon control everyone? Or were they simply like computers, programmed to find out information and react in certain ways?
Magnus was probably the only one with any hope of answering those questions, and even he might be hard-pressed to reply. But he knew that he couldn't trust anyone that didn't have their own mind. Isabelle was waiting, her eyebrow arching inquisitively.
"I really want to stay with Magnus. I feel like I haven't seen him much." The truth was a good thing to base lies on. He'd learnt that from Isabelle and Jace, anyway, watching them get all three of them out of trouble with a few easy half-truths. Like faeries, Jace had almost perfected the art of creative truth telling.
Isabelle's face relaxed. It seemed as though his experience hadn't failed. "Yeah, alright. See you later, Alec."
He watched her as she sauntered down the hall. There was definitely something missing from her. An irreplaceable quality that made her Izzy. Maybe everyone had that, the one piece that was impossible to replicate, and without it, they were never quite themselves. Clary had spoken about it once, fleetingly, with Jace. While Sebastian was controlling him, he just wasn't all there. He wondered how well you had to know a person to recognize that an unmistakable fragment was absent. Surely the others could see the where the demon hadn't been able to capture the essential essence of the people around them, and use the inexactness to push themselves away and out of the dreams.
One could only hope.
It's so sad, making all of them realise that they're alone. Poor Izzy. Poor Alec.
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