Chapter Twenty-Four

Clary held Max in her arms as she sat against a tree and patiently waited for him to wake up. His face looked so peaceful and content as his small chest rose and fell and though he had made Clary feel her strongest, she felt helpless and weak knowing that all her attempts to wake him up had failed. Where she sat was to the left of the portal and Magnus, but it seemed that he was too far away to hear her shout his name and ask whether to take Max to the Institute. As she watched Max, she thought about the children she'd have in a mere nine months. She wondered if they'd be like Max and Rafael, in which case, Jace would have a whole lot more running to do and would they have Jace's golden hair or Clary's red hair? Would they have her eyes or his? She imagined holding her children the way she was holding Max- her left arm cradling him and her right stroking his hair. There was a hint of excitement as she thought of how she and Jace were meant to agree on their children's names.

"Is he okay?" Jace asked as he sat next to her.

He put his seraph blade by his side, wiped blood off of his hand and then stroked Max's cheek, becoming disappointed when it didn't wake him up. Clary gazed at him and smiled at how his face glowed whenever he was with Max and Rafael, a face that she was excited to see the moment he held their children for the first time. Not telling Jace had now become impossible.

"Do you think our children will be this adorable?" she said softly,

"I don't know, but they better not turn out blue or you'll have some questions to answer," Jace laughed as he leant back against the tree,

"Well, you'll find out in nine months what they'll look like."

There was a silence as Jace chuckled to himself and Clary stared at him, wondering how someone as smart as him couldn't catch on. When she looked back at Max, she heard a loud gasp leave Jace's mouth and his hand gently fell onto her shoulder.

"Clary…" his voice trembled, "...are you say that that we will…?"

The only thing she could do was nod vigorously as beads of joy started to trickle down her cheeks and the shock in Jace's face turned into ecstasy. Before he could pull her into his chest, Clary held up two fingers and mouthed the words that were too unbelievable to leave her mouth.

"Only you could make me this happy," he chimed with his voice being muffled in Clary's shoulder as he held her tight.

She couldn't believe that she was terrified of this moment. She was terrified of telling her husband the greatest news she could possibly have. The elation and euphoria that stampeded through her as she kissed Jace, almost made her forget about Max and it was when he groaned that Jace let her out of his arms. Max's eyes flickered open, when he saw Jace, his eyes glistened and he merrily climbed into his lap and snuggled into him. It was obvious that Jace was attempting to keep his tears in, however Clary had let hers fall freely and when she whenever she wiped them away, more would follow.

"What's wrong aunty Clary?" Max sweetly asked,

"Nothing at all, sweetie."

Max suddenly bolted upright and looked in the direction of Alec with confusion and horror covering his face. Slowly, Clary followed his gaze and froze in fright. It was more than a certain fact that it was Max that she was sat next to, which made what she witnessed force her heart to pound and fear to consume her. Max pushed Jace's arm off from around him and ran towards Alec as fast as possible while screaming his name. Whatever was about to happen, Clary feared that it would not end well.

The portal slowly grew in size and the cracks in the ground became larger the longer Magnus allowed it to remain. The void had been calling for Magnus with a voice Alec recognized, but it seemed like Magnus was having no trouble blanking it out as he forced all the demons into the portal. Ember had disappeared while everyone else took a well-earned rest on the benches, but Alec stood with his bow loaded in the ready position by his partner's side. The plan was almost complete, they just needed Ember.

"She's just vanished," Alec stated.

Be with your people; come with us

"You've said that quite a lot, but the answer shall never change," sighed Magnus,

You would prefer to stay with the pitiful mortal?

"Just 'mortal' would've been good enough," Alec commented.

A stray forsaken scrambled towards Magnus, but was quickly dispatched of by a swift arrow to its head. As a crack between him and Magnus formed, Alec looked around, hoping to see that Max was okay, but instead anxiety took hold of him when he couldn't spot him. The protective walls and the Eiffel Tower had become a much more vivid red and the air became so thick that it slowed Alec down as he moved next to Magnus.

"I need you to stay here and guard the portal; I'll find that bloody bitch," Magnus said before kissing Alec's cheek,

"Find Max as well," Alec begged.

With a stern nod, Magnus left Alec with the portal. Guarding the literal entrance to hell wasn't something Alec was used to doing, but he was very much glad to be on the outside of the portal, rather than the inside again. Any demon that hadn't gone into the portal, he shot down with his arrow and occasionally, he'd let them come closer to him and use his blades- just for a challenge.

I know of you, Lightwood

Alec turned around sharply and stared at the glowing slab of glass, "How's that?"

Strangely, there was no reply for the hissing voice.

In the corner of his eye, Alec noticed something running towards him from the right. He swiftly turned in its direction while loading his bow, but then stopped when he saw Max running towards him. Just to know that Max was alive and okay put one of the biggest smiles on Alec's face as he put his bow and arrow away, knelt down and opened his arms as wide as he could.

"Papa!" Max cried.

Alec's eyes narrowed. Max only ever called Magnus 'Papa' which was his idea to stop himself from getting confused as to what to called his new parents. But he was so elated that he didn't care what Max had called him and simply yelled his name.

"NO, DAD!" a voice yelled from behind.

When he quickly looked over his shoulder, Alec saw Max sprinting towards him with Jace and Clary waving their arms behind him. There were two Max's running towards him. But which one was the real Max? Alec whipped his head frantically from side to side, analysing the joyous Max that came from the right and the worried one that came from the left. It was rare to see Max anything other than happy, but he did tend to worry about his parents whenever they went on missions or if they were away for more than a day. Both of them had identical blue skin, hair, eyes, dark grey horns and they even ran in the exact same way. They were almost on him, and he had to make a choice.

"I made wig and beard out of bubbles and you kept laughing!" Max from the left shouted.

As Alec slid a dagger from his belt and faced the fake Max to the right, a ball of fire was thrown at him and he fell onto one of the large burning cracks in the ground. The immense heat burned through his top and scorched his back while he extinguished the flames on his jeans. Before he could get up, the fake Max stood over him with a dagger in his hand, his hair turning an unnatural bright yellow and his skin becoming a lighter blue. The agony of his burns forced Alec to move slower and when he kicked at whatever stood in front of him, it sinisterly smiled as it twisted its hand, breaking his leg and cackling hysterically at his painful shriek. It raised its dagger, aiming directly for his chest. This was not how Alec wished to die; his vision was to be old, with Magnus sitting next to him, showing him photos of their grown children and as the picturesque sky morphed into a gorgeous concoction of pink and orange and a soothing breeze graced his face, he'd close his eyes for the last time with Magnus whispering 'I love you'. He prayed that his family would move on and be happy as he stared death in the eyes.

The dragger struck down towards him.

A swift blue blur blocked him.

Grief took hold of him.

He couldn't be thankful for his second chance at life as Max stumbled back with the dagger deep in his stomach. The physical pain was outweighed by the emotional torture as a mournful cry left his chest and he sat up to catch his dying son. Max's eyes glowed like they always did, there was confusion in his face as he gazed up at his father and hearing him struggle for breath slowly shattered Alec's heart. He shook as he cradled Max and begged him to heal, but blood continued to pour from his wound and his fight for breath was beginning to end.

"MAGNUS! PLEASE!"

Magnus came in an instant with tears already cascading down his now pale face, as he took Max in his arms and formed glowing magic around him. The pain increased as well as the tears, while Alec could only helplessly watch Magnus desperately try to heal their first son. The world slowed down. The world began to become meaningless and worthless when he imagined his life without the blueberry that had blessed him with a family and joy that he once could only dream of. Izzy and Clary stood behind him as Jace drew an iratze on his leg, but he didn't want to be healed- not when there was a chance that he could lose a part of his soul. Through his tears, he saw the fake Max turn into Ember who shook her head when she looked down at Max and moved to stand behind the Void portal so she couldn't be seen. Rage, repulsion and anguish created the strength for Alec to stagger to his feet, he loaded his bow and aimed for Ember. It didn't matter that his arrows wouldn't kill her; he needed her to feel pain, to be consumed by torment and to be rendered weak with agony. Though she stood behind the glass slab, her arms and legs were exposed and he fired arrow after arrow into her limbs, only stopping when she fell to the ground. Despite seeing her face riddled with pain and the blood leak from his incisions, there was no satisfaction that could replace the hurricane of hurt manifesting inside him. When Ember attempted to get to her feet, she began to create a large sphere of flames, yet she didn't get to impale it on Alec. A circular streak of silver light fell and tightened around Ember's body, yanked her back and then released her, granting her her wish to witness the power of the Void. Theo looked on proudly but with remorse in his face when he looked at Alec and the green light of the portal pulsated as it devoured Ember and the ground began to shake. Alec looked at a weak Magnus who drew the dagger from Max's body, before letting his magic fade as he whispered to Max.

"Y-y-you need to wake up now. Rafe is waiting to play monopoly with you and you-you promised that you'd make me blue cookies," Magnus broke down, "Max p-p-please! Just open your eyes, please!"

Though Max was breathing and his deep wound had healed, he showed no sign of waking up and when Alec knelt by him, his tears dripped onto Max's cheek.

"I've done everything," Magnus whimpered as he looked hopelessly at Alec with tear filled eyes,

"He saved me, Magnus. This is my fault."