Hello darlings! I am EXTREMELY sorry for not posting a chapter last week, but I was busy with mid-semester projects before sping break and I also had a mild case of writers block u_u. Hopefully the fact that this is the longest chapter ever written for this story makes up for my little delay. Let me know if this chapter was no good, I'm not too confident with it. Read you soon!

Chapter 9: Empty Hopes.

This verse we wrote on our road home

For you, all this for you

All this for you

-Our decades in the sun by Nightwish.

As Magnus walked down long, wide corridors of The Institute, he kept replaying his conversation with Alexander. He berated himself, knowing that he had been unfair and judgmental because of his anger. He was familiar with demons and their mind games, he should have known better than to accuse Alec of being a liar, but as he was well aware of, words were powerful, and he couldn't take them back now. Even though he had apologized, he could blame his blue-eyed shadowhunter if he was still angry with him.

He heard voices as he descended the staircase. It was probably Jace, Isabelle and Simon, who had finally found out about the situation and had come to support the Lightwood girl. Clary, of course, never left Jace's side and that made him envious. Envious of their certainty in each other and the obvious love and trust in their eyes. He had had that with Alexander, but his pride and anger had robbed him of it.

Finally aware of his approaching presence, four sets of eyes turned in his direction. Clary and Simon looked clearly worried, though perhaps it was just for the sake of their significant others –Perhaps just in Simon's case, since Clary looked glassy eyed and upset all the time- But Jace and Izzy seemed to be sick with fear for their brother. With dark bags under their eyes and ashen faces. Though a recent encounter with a mirror told Magnus that he was not in any better condition than the shadowhunters.

Isabelle was the first to react, walking toward him with a stern expression in her dark eyes.

"How is he?" She demanded, before the warlock could even get a word out.

"He's awake now, though still very weak, he barely managed to sit up in his bed" Magnus hoped he was able to keep the guilt he felt from showing in his face, but as Isabelle's eyes narrowed and Jace drew closer to him, he realized that he had failed.

"Something happened, didn't it?" It was Jace who addressed him, though Isabelle remained beside him, tall and dark and imposing. And clearly annoyed that Jace had beat her to the question she had been about to ask.

Magnus straightened his back and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the shadowhunters' reaction "We had an argument. I upset him and now his fever is acting up again, he had some trouble breathing too, he probably doesn't want you to see him in his current state, but he really needs your help".

Magnus had expected the shadowhunters to glare and scream at him, call him some stupid names like angry children usually did. He had not expected, however, an infuriated Isabelle Lightwood to charge at him (hands curled into fists) and punch him in the gut.

Simon rushed to the girls side and hugged her close, restricting her movements with his vampire strength "Izzy, you need to calm down, beating the hell out of Magnus will not accomplish anything".

"Maybe not" she said between clenched teeth "But at least it will help me cool down" she snapped her head up, looking into the High Warlock of Brooklyn's eyes.

"You know how sick Alec has been and you still upset him. Don't expect an apology from me"

"I wouldn't dream of it" Magnus replied, getting his breath back after the blow. He was glad to find that, at least he had not been punched with Isabelle's full strength. That would have left his abdomen in a far worse state than the tingling numbness he felt at the moment.

He turned to Jace, who regarded the scene calmly, a mocking smile plastered on his face.

"You should go to Alec. He needs to receive some iratzes from you, now that he's awake"

Jace merely nodded and started to walk towards Alec's room. Clary had hoped to follow but stopped once Magnus gave her his best "we-need-to-talk" she gulped loudly and stopped dead in her tracks, making Jace look back towards them.

"Aren't you coming, Clary?"

"In a moment" She said, giving her boyfriend a small smile "Like Magnus said, Alec probably wants as few people as possible to look at him right now. You should go and heal him, talk to him for a little while. I'll catch up"

Jace smiled warmly at her "You're right, that's probably the best" The blond shadowhunter turned towards Magnus "And what about you Bane? Are you staying behind as well?"

"That's probably the best" The warlock replied, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably "Alexander is most likely still upset about our argument. I should give him time to calm down"

Jace shrugged and turned towards Alec's room again, motioning for Isabelle to follow, she looked back at Simon with a calm expression, a question in her face. The vampire made as if to follow her, but was stopped by Clary's arm closing around his arm.

"I think it would be best for just the two of you to go right now, otherwise Alec could feel uncomfortable. The rest of us will wait here" The redhead gave her boyfriend a meaningful look and then turned to give Isabelle a small, reassuring smile.

The siblings nodded and walked away at a brisk pace, clearly concerned for Alec's well-being. Once they were out of sight Magnus turned to Clary, who was in turn looking at the floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the whole world.

"Alexander already told me that you know" The warlock said calmly "So why didn't you say anything?"

Clary sighed. It was a short, tired little sound "I wanted to, believe me. I did. But it was not my secret to tell. I couldn't betray Alec's trust like that"

Magnus just stood there, giving the tiny shadowhunter girl an unbelieving look. Beside her, the vampire boy remained motionless, looking back and forth between them with a look of utter confusion that clearly said "I have no freaking idea what's going on".

"Am I missing something?" He said aloud, proving Magnus had been right in his assumptions.

"Alec is sick" Clary said simply

"I noticed THAT much" The vampire boy said with an exasperated huff "Magnus just said you KNOW something Clary and I know you would never spill someone else's secret. I would never ask it of you, but I'm worried about Izzy's reaction"

"Indeed biscuit. I think we are owed some information here" Magnus crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed into slits. His whole being exuded coiled energy. All of it centered in getting the answers he so badly needed.

"How much did Alec tell you?" Clary's tone was guarded and low. Uncertain. She still wasn't sure about sharing what she knew. Which unnerved Magnus to no end, making him loose his patience.

"He said Sonneillon marked him with a death curse. He also said that he can't give me any details about how to break his curse" The warlock's voice came out a bit more sharp than he had anticipated, but he hoped that he had managed to control his temper by the end. He didn't want to upset anyone around here anymore than they already were.

"Then you know about as much as I do"

Clary seemed unhappy with her words. The warlock assumed that she probably thought Alec had withheld information from her or that he had figure something out by himself, which he hadn't.

"There must be something more" Magnus said, desperation tainting his voice. Clary had been his last hope in deciphering the curse, but apparently he had been the same for her. Nothing but an empty hope.

Both he and Clary were stunned when Simon broke their silence.

"Isn't there some sort of escape route with demon curses?"

"Huh?" Magnus had no time for mundane vagueness "Please do enlighten me Syrus, what do you mean?"

"It's Simon" The vampire corrected out of habit, though by this point he had given up on the warlock's interest towards learning his name.

Simon took a deep breath and continued his explanation.

"In many stories and games when the villain has this evil master plan the heroes lose a lot of time trying to figure it out before realizing that everything could be solved by destroying the evil machine or killing the villain before their plan is put in action. Isn't there something similar that happens with demons?"

Magnus had been about to flick his hand in a dismissive motion and say something about Simon's nerdy tendencies when the vampire's words open a new path amidst his jumbled thought. An alternative came crashing to the front of his mind. It would be extremely difficult, dangerous and would need some time, but at least it gave him back some hope. And he would do anything.

For you. Anything for you. He turned towards the two teens, who were now regarding him with worried faces. He shot them both a wolfish grin and for a moment he thought that they surely believed him to be losing his mind. He didn't care.

When Clary asked what was up with him he simply started walking up the corridor towards Alexander's room, only turning briefly to make sure Simon and Clarissa were following him.

"You might have just hit a mark Simeon, we need to talk to Alexander and the others. I'll need all the help I can get"

"My name is Simon" Simon said, though without much conviction. He could see that the warlock's mind was running a mile a minute and had no care for anything other than Alec.

While the conversation between Clary, Simon and Magnus took place, another important talk was being held by three siblings in a sick shadowhunter's room.

Alec had never meant to shut his siblings out like he had. That was just the way his instincts worked. He was not important, they were and he should never make them worry. Especially not about things that couldn't be changed.

Nonetheless, the sound of footsteps approaching and the subsequent pounding on his door made his heart beat faster –if that was even possible in his current condition.

He called softly for them to come in, bracing himself for whatever was coming. He wasn't sure exactly how Izzy and Jace would react to the news, but it wasn't going to be pretty. That much he knew.

His door was thrown open with a crash and for the briefest moment Alec worried about his siblings unhinging his bedroom's door in their haste. That thought vanished from his mind when he saw his siblings.

A single tear was rolling down Izzy's left cheek, her lips were set in a thin line and she looked at him as if he were some sort of gift from the angel that she had never expected to receive. She leaped ungracefully to his bed and hugged him tight, making Alec's aches pains come back in full force, but he said nothing. Knowing his sister needed the reassurance of Alec's presence before she could calm down.

He glanced behind his sister and saw that Jace was standing at the foot of his bed. His face unreadable. One of his hands was massaging a spot on his neck, and then it downed on Alec.

Jace was touching his parabatai rune.

Panic seized him. What could Jace feel through their bond? How much did he know already? Please, please don't let them find out like this. Don't make him feel what I'm feeling.

Inside his mind Sonneillon chuckled darkly. Be not afraid, dearest Alexander. He knows something is amiss, he is just incapable of figuring out what.

For once Alec was glad to have been cursed by such a powerful demon. At least it would spare Jace the pain of experiencing his second-hand pain.

So preoccupied he was with his relief, that it took him a moment to notice that his brother had started talking.

"Sleeping beauty awakens at last" Not the first thing Alec would have expected to hear from his brother after three days of illness-induced slumber. But that was just so…Jace.

The blue-eyed shadowhunter wanted to flip his brother a rude gesture playfully, like they often did to get at each other, but he didn't think he could manage the strength that the motion would require.

"Straight people, why can't they come up with better jokes? Or perhaps it's just a blonde think? Yellow isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box"

Izzy made a strange sound between a sob and a snort. Jace smiled approvingly.

"So you are fully conscious now. And feeling better too"

"I could be a vegetable and still have enough brain cells to find comebacks for your silly jokes Jace"

Isabelle stood from the bed and gave them both a disapproving look.

"Cut it out both of you" she said indignantly, placing a hand in Alec's forehead and clicking her tongue.

"Your fever hasn't gone down"

"I'm fine" Alec replied, it was a conditioned response now, and clearly what his siblings had been expecting him to say, since the look in their faces let Alec know that they didn't believe him even a bit.

"That's not for you to say, big bro" Jace replied, confirming his thoughts.

Isabelle just rolled her eyes "Sure you are. Jace, give him some iratzes. I'll go fetch some clean cloths and some more water, be right back"

"Aye, aye Captain" The blonde boy took his stele out of his pocket as their dark-haired sister exited the room. In one swift movement Jace was sitting with Alec on the bed one hand placed gently in the sick shadowhunter's brow, the other closed around his stele, resting in his thigh.

"You know the drill with iratzes increasing our body temperatures during the healing process, so I'm afraid your fever will get a lot worse before it gets any better bro, sorry"

Alec just sighed "I would say that I'm fine and you don't need to do any of this, but you will most likely ignore me, so I won't"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Jace teased, pulling up Alec's sleeves. He started to trace several iratzes with the elegant twirl of his hand. He looked up at his adoptive brother and smiled, lifting the instrument from the boy's moonlight pale skin when he was done.

Neither of them was prepared for what happened next. Alec winced, feeling as if scalding water was poured in his arm, looking down at the injured extremity they both gasped in shock. The runes in his arms had turned an angry red color, shifting inn his skin before dissolving, like a drop of ink in a bowl of water.

"W-What the hell…" Jace was staring at Alec's arms, his face a mask of confusion and panic.

Alec didn't understand either. His runes had dissolved, vanished into his skin. Why?

What is happening to me? He wondered, fearing that the curse was destroying the shadowhunter within him.

"I-I…" Alec stuttered, stunned beyond any coherent thought "W-We need t-to… talk"

He saw the change in Jace's expression. His brother shut down, sensing that something was coming his way and preparing to keep his emotions in check.

"We should wait for Izzy" Alec said. He didn't think he could repeat the same story one more time. Keeping himself from having another fit of coughs was taxing enough, he needed to get this over and done with before he talked himself out of it.

As if on cue, their sister opened the door. In one hand she balanced a silver colored metal bowl, filled to the brim with water, while the hand that was placed on the doorknob also held multiple clumsily folded pieces of cloth. Alec felt his heart clench, moved by the gesture, Izzy truly must be worried sick.

"Here's the water, let me put a compress in your forehead Alec, that should help"

Izzy placed the water bowl in Alec's nightstand and proceeded to soak a cloth with water and place it in her sick brother's forehead.

Alec felt a chill roll down his spine, but at least he didn't feel quite so hot now. He saw that Izzy was drawing away from him and caught her wrist before she could move any farther. He took a deep breath, looking for courage to give his siblings the news he so desperately had been trying to hide for the past days.

"I have something to tell you" He choked out at last. He really didn't want to do this, but he felt weaker and he could sense another fit of coughs coming. He needed to tell them everything before he scared them by choking on his own blood.

So he did. He sat them down at the foot of his bed and struggled with his aching body to hold one of their hands. He told them about the attack in Central Park and what little he could about the curse. He talked about the demon attack and the dark emotions he had been fighting ever since. There wasn't much to say about Sonneillon's recent ambush, except the reason why they had passed out. He even told them the reason behind his most recent argument with Magnus, but like always, he found that he couldn't tell them the specifications of the curse or the way to break it. Jace took on from there, telling her about their recent discovery about Alec's reaction to runes.

Both Izzy and Jace remained there. Sited and motionless like marble statues. They even had the right coloring since their complexions had turned whiter than milk.

"Why?" Izzy asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question, she didn't think anyone could answer her.

None of them cried. Alec wouldn't have been able to manage it even if he had felt like it. Jace and Izzy were too deeply submerged in their shock and grief. They looked as stunned as a deer in headlights. Alec fought his pain and sat up, moving slowly towards his siblings he let Izzy embrace him tightly while Jace hugged them both. Alec felt the room closing in on him. He hadn't realized he was this tired. He hoped he could sleep now

He was no longer awake to hear their moment being cut short by a hesitant knock on the door.

Magnus could feel the heavy atmosphere that would greet them when they entered the room. Clary had knocked on the door and now they stood there, waiting for an answer.

"Come in" came the muffled answer, but it was such a tiny, choked little sound that it was almost impossible to tell who had said it, though by the way Simon's face contorted it most likely had been Izzy.

They walked into the room and Magnus felt a pang of heartache at the scene that welcomed them.

The three siblings were sitting on the bed entangled together. Jace and Izzy were sitting side by side with their shoulders and thighs brushing, while Alec was sprawled horizontally his head in Izzy's lap, his legs in Jace's. They were hugging him awkwardly in his sleep.

"Did you know about this?" Izzy's voice cracked, but what little of her eyes Magnus could see were hollow with despair.

"If you are talking about the curse, then yes. I saw the demon mark on his chest when I was treating him, that's the reason we argued"

"He didn't show that to us" Jace said, though there was no bitterness or anger to his tone, he looked as if someone had pushed the air out of his lungs, which somehow made Magnus feel worse rather than better.

"It's probably for the best" Izzy put in "I think it was hard enough for him to tell us what he did" Her hands were brushing Alec's dark hair absently and it seems to Magnus like physical contact with her brother was the only thing keeping the girl from snapping.

"He can't bear any runes now" she said, shocking them all, except Jace who already knew about it "Please" she begged "There must be something we can do. I can't lose another brother. I CAN'T!"

And you won't. Thought Magnus. I won't let it happen

The commotion made Alec stir, but the siblings quickly assured him that everything was fine and put him back to bed, motioning to everyone that they should go outside.

"He should rest as much as he can" Clary agreed, turning to Jace she added "There's something we need to discuss, together. Magnus thinks we might still be able to save Alec from Sonneillon"

"You knew about this?" Exclaimed both Isabelle and Jace in unison, in one of those rare moments were siblings share the same thoughts.

The redhead looked down at the floor "I'm sorry" she said crestfallen "He didn't want me to say anything"

"We'll talk about that later" Izzy said, standing close to Simon "Right now I want to hear about this idea Magnus has to save my brother"

Magnus cleared his throat. Glad to finally breech the subject he so anxiously wanted to work on. Alec's condition made it obvious that they didn't have much time.

"It's not an idea, not even a real plan. But your boyfriend over there helped me remember something"

"And that is?" Jace prompted. His no-nonsense attitude finally making an appearance.

"I could use my magic and Alec's demon mark to track down Sonneillon. Then when we find him we destroy him. Killing a demon nullifies all the magic they have cast, like spells and curses. Since this particular demon doesn't have a real body he will be a lot harder to track. But it should be possible"

"Of course it's possible" Izzy said, a sinister smile on her face "It is our duty as shadowhunters to kill demons, even Dukes of hell. Besides, we have your support now, I always knew Alec made the right choice in trusting his heart to you"

They all nodded. Magnus felt a lump in his throat. They all trusted him as a friend and ally. They knew he would try anything to help Alexander, the loving shadowhunter that kept them all together as a family.

So what do you think? Will they find Sonneillon or will this just be a wild goose chase...Also, they don't know that Alec only has four days left...so there's that. Please review and tell me your thoughts!