Pandemonium: Chapter 21
Like all other times I would like to give credit to Cassandra Clare for her wonderful characters. Also thanks to the other creators whose work I sortof steal to make mine better because mine sucks in reality.

Enjoyed the cliff hanger did you? I thought it was a nice way to end that chapter. Muahahahahahahaha! Anyway, I just wanted to point out that last chapter had a song associated with it. I didn't notice it, but I basically took a good part of that song and made it the plot for that chapter. If you can guess that song and its artist correctly in the reviews I will give you a sneak peak of a future chapter! So review away, children! Hint: the first reference to this is early-ish in the chapter and is a lyric from the song.

Magnus just stared at Camille with wide eyes and hanging jaw.

In utter disbelief he said, "What?!"

Camille rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner and retorted, "You heard me Maggie dear. We have a son. His name is Benedict and he lives with me just outside of the city."

Magnus, who had been standing up to that point, nearly collapsed onto the couch that was just luckily placed behind him. His head fell in between his legs and he sat there motionless and soundless for a good five minutes. Eventually, he was able to bring his head up to face Camille; his face had paled considerably and it seemed as if he was going to hurl. He then timidly asked, "How?"

Camille let out a full, extensive, and thorough laugh. She pursed her lips suggestively and said, "I think you Magnus, of all people, know how exactly this came to be. I'd rather not have to explain the physics to you, but shall we say certain actions of ours were the cause of this."

Magnus' lips formed a thing angry line and his eyes became tiny slits of rage. "If I recall correctly, at the time of your departure I was not the only person with whom you were engaging in those certain actions. You have no proof that the boy is mine."

Camille's thin smile quickly turned into a deep scowl, rather coldly she said, "That may be true, but I think it's rather undeniable where the parentage lies. He has your eyes."

Magnus scoffed at this; he looked at her with pity and said, "And how many of the other men you were going around with have heard this story? What have you tried to extort from them in return for keeping this little secret silent. In fact, I wonder if this boy even exists at all, or it's all a ruse to make you rich. It wouldn't be beneath a creature like you to do such an audacious thing."

Camille turned scarlet with rage. Irately she said, "Well then, I'll just tramp him around the city then and people will make their own judgements about his parentage. Especially that delicious Prince Alexander of yours. Oh Maggie dear, you always had an inclination towards pretty boys. It's a pity you broke this one's heart too, just like you broke-"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Magnus shouted. "Bring the boy here to me, and then I will judge whether or not he is mine. Then we'll discuss what you want out of all of this. Now leave and go back to the abyss from whence you came."

Haughtily, Camille released Chairman Meow and marched out of his house, saying, "Well then Maggie-poo, I'll bring your son to you, but don't forget our unfinished business."

Magnus buried his head in his hands again. Everything he had tried to build with Alec was done, over with, destroyed. Alec didn't want to hear anything; he didn't want to see him or talk to him. Alec was going to use him to the ends that he needed and then dispose of him thereafter; Magnus may have been worried about the boy's inability to be a ruthless prince, but Alec was proving to be plenty Machiavellian. It was as if him kissing Camille was the excuse Alec needed to end the relationship that he was too disgusted to come to terms with.

Magnus shook his head and banished those thoughts from his head. Alec wasn't some Machiavellian prince; he was nothing like the rest of them; they were in love, and he had betrayed his trust by not telling him about his past-about Camille and the others.

Getting up from his seat on the couch, Magnus walked over to the bookshelf where he hid the bottle of cognac and the glasses. After pouring himself a more than sufficient amount, he sat down on his chair and gently patted Chairman Meow's head. The Chairman simply purred and nuzzled Magnus. At that, Magnus felt the warm salty tears run down his face. Sniffling he said, "Well Chairman, at least you're still here."

Clearly understanding Magnus' emotions, Chairman purred more and curled up on his lap, nestling his soft body to Magnus' stomach. Still crying and sipping the cognac slowly, Magnus simply sat with Chairman Meow and contemplated his mistakes.

He didn't know how many hours had past, the sun had long set and he was thoroughly inebriated, muttering inconsistently to Chairman Meow about apologizing to some blue eyes beauty or disappearing elsewhere. At one point he even mentioned cutting his wrists to change Chairman's white fur into a "delicious red." Of course he could barely get up in his stupor, so that didn't come to pass.

It was in this state that Clary found him. He hadn't notice her enter the room at all. Upon noticing the red haired girl in his room, he let out a throaty laugh and said, "Ah Lady Morgenstern! Spy to the Baron and Scourge of Goldie-Locks! To what do I owe this imponderable pleasure?"

Clary rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that Magnus was entirely drunk. Looking at him with a combination of pity and disgust she said, "It might help you to know that he still loves you. He hates you right now and doesn't want to see or speak to you, but he still loves you. It might help if you wrote him a letter, gave him some space, and offered to tell him the truth; the whole truth."

Magnus chuckled at the suggestion. He said, "If he ever learned the entire truth he would be so disgusted I'd be thrown out of Alicante. I'm 19 years old, Clary and some of the things I've done do not make me a good person. That's the sacrifice one makes for living alone my entire life."

Clary stared at him inquisitively, expecting further explanation. She didn't get anything. At that point, Chairman Meow jumped off Magnus' lap and went away. Magnus, far too drunk to do anything, got up and collapsed immediately back into his chair. Then Clary, the only other person currently in the large house was forced to drag his large and heavy body up to his bed. As she was undressing him for bed she said, "Well I can see what Alec sees in you physically..."

To that Magnus gave a light chuckle. Unfortunately that light chuckle turned into a cough and that cough became Magnus vomiting everything all over the silk carpet. A further disgusted Clary handed him a glass of water and set about getting rid of the vomit. By the time it was done Magnus was softly snoring on his back. Knowing that this was a dangerous position to sleep in, she shifted his body so that he was on his side. She left a glass of water on the table and a note that read, "Don't bother coming to the palace for a few days. Carstairs will tell you when it is acceptable for you to return."

With that she secretly returned to the palace where she was immediately attacked by both Jace and Izzy. Izzy, taking control of this situation, asked, "And where were you just now at such a late hour?" Clary lied and said that she had gone for a walk. Jace looked at her with disappointment and said, "That was a very long walk, and you smell of cognac and vomit."

Neither in the mood to argue nor in the mood to come up with further lies, Clary callously retorted, "I went to see Magnus to tell him not to show up tomorrow or until Carstairs talked to him. He was drunk so I put him to bed with a glass of water. He threw up all over his carpet so I cleaned it up. Next time I'll let you know, okay Vati and Mutti?" She then stormed off angrily to her rooms.

By the time Magnus woke up the next morning, the sunlight was streaming through his windows; it was mid-afternoon. The light was extremely bothersome; in fact everything was extremely bothersome. He only wanted to crawl into a dark cool space and hide away from the world until his head ended the ceaseless pain that it was in. Unfortunately, the dark crevices that he normally used for the occasion were currently filled to the brim with various paraphernalia that dealt with pre-Alec aspects of his life. It took him fifteen minutes to realize that there was a glass of water next to him on the bed (and he realized at that point that he desperately needed it) and a note. The note was from Clary. It was terse and rude.

At first, Magnus had no idea why the note was even there. Then everything from the day before came rushing back to his head. The kiss, the child, Camille, and worst of all Alec. The look in those blue eyes as his heart broke was too much for Magnus. Perhaps it was the pain of his head or the pain of having ruined the first good relationship of his life, but Magnus began to bawl uncontrollably. For the remainder of the day and the night Magnus stayed in a disheveled state in bed. He rarely got up to do anything but eat a little and take care of bodily functions.

Alec it turns out was much better at dealing with heartbreak than Magnus was. Or at least he was much better at concealing it. That evening Alec had rushed to bed and slept somewhat soundly. At least this time there were no nightmares. In the morning he woke up feeling neither refreshed nor tired. Everything bland and empty. The food didn't taste that good; the sounds were glossed over in the background as uneventful and useless; even the colors around him seemed muted and dull. Rather than dwell on his feelings of emptiness, Alec did the only other logical thing: fill the emptiness with work.

And work he did. Extensively in fact.

Everyone, except Carstairs who seemed somewhat unperturbed by the entire situation, was extremely surprised by Alec's amazing change in work ethic. He worked silently and diligently for the entirety of the day. He barely spoke to anyone beyond that which was required. He ate his meals alone. He slept soundly and quietly at the appropriate hour-not a minute earlier nor a minute later. All the regimen, the robotic insistency on work, progress, and efficiency, was for one sole purpose: forgetting Magnus.

Alec surprised himself with how effective his method truly was. By the second day after the breakup he was so driven in his work that he met with more important people in one day than he had in a week previously; he had also done an excellent job organizing and engaging in the planning for his ascension ball. The best part of not having Magnus around was the clarity in his thoughts; he was utterly devoid of distractions. The world around him didn't exist.

That all changed the morning of the third day after the breakup.

In the morning at their normal meeting Carstairs finally asked the question that was burning on everyone else's mind: "Is it appropriate to have Mr. Bane return?"

Alec, who was in the middle of a sip of water, took a moment to swallow. Then he quietly but monotonously said, "I suppose he has to return eventually. I would not like to engage with him directly though. Perhaps you could act as our intermediary?"

Carstairs nodded with a soft smile, acknowledging that this was the best option.

"Well you ought to go let him know then." Alec told Carstairs. And with that Carstairs left to bring Magnus to the palace.

Magnus had, in the past two days done nothing different from the previous day. He had remained in a depressed state in bed for the duration of the day, crying whenever he felt like it and barely eating. The only thing that he did besides that and take care of various bodily functions was to make sure that Chariman Meow was fed. At some point in the two days it had occurred to him that Camille had never come back with the boy that was supposed to be his. Not that it mattered. Everything was ruined now.

Well of course that wasn't true; if there's one adage that Magnus should have subscribed to it was the idea that "Things can always get worse." Because in this case they did. They got much worse.

On the morning of the third day, Magnus was actually feeling somewhat better about living. He figured that at some point Carstairs would come to collect him and bring him back to the palace to get work done, so it was probably best to have a semblance of sanity around him. That day he washed and prepared himself for that eventuality.

Then he heard a knock on the door. With some excitement in his gait, Magnus walked over to the door and swung it open.

Unfortunately, the kind face of Carstairs was not that which awaited him there.

He was met with the cold stare of a green-eyed Camille, and from behind her poked the head of a little two-year old boy.