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It was a routine meeting, he honestly didn't think much of it. He was an adult now and the Clave wanted him to come along with his parents to Alicante for a counselor meeting, not like it was the first time. He was even excited and gladly endured the endless teasing from his parabatai about it. Being an adult shadowhunter was a big deal, even if he was barely of age at his 18 years, he was allowed to be excited.
He had met with Magnus the night before, spending the night at his place and giving him an extra long, deep kiss before going back to the Institute in the early hours of the morning. He didn't know how long it would take or how long he would be gone for so he wanted to give the warlock a proper goodbye.. and it was indeed a proper goodbye. A smile played at his lips as he recalled their night, making his way up the stairs to his room.
"Alec. Where have you been?" It was his father and he stopped mid step, whipping around to stare at the man. "I was just out.. Don't worry." He sighed, meeting his father's eyes and seeing the deep scowl. Alec felt confused by the hostility but tried to shake it off, his parents didn't usually keep such close tabs on him. "Well go get ready, we're leaving in a couple of hours." His father huffed and Alec smiled slightly. "I know.. I'll be ready." He turned back around and rushed into his room.
He had already packed so he jumped in the shower, washing away all the clues of last night with a smile and then got dressed in his hunting gear. He hesitated for a moment, considering packing his bow but it was just a meeting.. in Alicante. No, a seraph blade would be just fine. He was officially ready to go and went to meet his parents in the library. They had insisted Clary do the portal which made Alec a bit sad but he wasn't in the mood for arguing and it was too late now anyways, only seconds later they arrived at the Gard.
"Maryse, Robert. Lovely to see you." They were greeted happily by the Inquisiter and Alec frowned at being ignored. He was feeling confused at the lack of greeting and even more when his parents didn't correct the Inquisiter or said anything about it. He followed his parents, feeling very unwelcome at the counsel. They were guided to a large room and Alec figured they would sit down but his father held him in place roughly, the young shadowhunter's confusion growing. He felt a familiar tug of fear in his gut and tried to ignore it, something just felt very off.
Alec spotted the Inquisitor Aldertree move to sit behind a massive table across the room, looking awefully important as he stood up and cleared his throat. "We are now ready to start the sentencing of Alexander Gideon Lightwood." He spoke up and every bad feeling Alec had ever felt rushed over him at once. The crowd in the room started to whisper and mumble to each other, his mother sobbed lightly and his own eyes went blank as he stared at Aldertree in shock.
His parents were lead away to sit on the side and that's when his mind started working, turning to look at them. "Mom! What's happening.. Dad!" He called for them but they said nothing, only took the seats they were given as his mother wiped at her eyes with a hankerchief. "Mom!" Terror was gripping his heart as he stared at his parents, then Aldertree banged on the table and called for order, making him whip around. Was the Inquisitor also a judge now? Alec didn't understand anything.
"Master Lightwood, please have a seat." He said kindly, making Alec frown and only then did he see the arm chair in the middle of the room, clearly intended for him. He glanced at his parents again, swallowing, before walking over and sitting down in the chair, keeping his back straight. "What did I do?" He asked but Aldertree only glared at him menacingly.
"You are not to speak unless asked questions, Alexander." He said and Alec thought it best to keep his cool and keep quiet, his mind racing with ideas to get out of here, somehow get out of this. "Alexander Lightwood, son of Maryse and Robert Lightwood. We have called you here for sentencing on the grounds of maintaining a relationship with a downworlder of the male gender." Aldertree explained and for a while Alec could only gape at him. "I.. what? I thought.. What about the alliance? They're not our enemies.." He was trying to make a defense through his confusion and the Inquisitor banged on the table again with a club. "Enough! This is not up for discussion Master Lightwood. The counsel has decided to strip you off your marks and memories, making you a mundane for all intense and purposes." The head of the counsel explained and Alec felt terror grip his throat again. "Noo. You can't do that! Please... Mom! You can't let them do this." He pleaded with his mother, turning to look at her with tears stinging his eyes.
It was too late, his parents already being ushered out of the room and his mother struggling, seemingly just now reacting to what was happening. He heard her yelling, "You said he could come back home! You can't take our son away!" But none of it mattered now as the doors shut heavily and left the room dead silent. Alec bit his tongue, forcing the tears back and squaring his shoulders as guards grabbed him roughly and lead him away like a criminal.
"You're not getting away with this!" He spat before a guard knocked him over the head with something hard and darkness swallowed him up, he felt the guards drag him along before losing conciousness all together. This was bad.. this was really bad.
Alec was surprised when he woke up next, finding it hard to believe he was actually alive. He had been so sure they would kill him despite the sentencing. As he grew more aware he felt the intense pain from his wrists and realized he was tied up, his feet about an inch above the ground. His shoulders were aching from holding his weight and his neck was sore as he lifted his head to look around. He was in a dark, dank room with no windows, lit only by a few dull witchlights on high pillars against the stone walls. Alec guessed basement, most likely in the Gard still. The ropes holding him up ached badly and he felt weak and disoriented. Alec wasn't stupid, he understood the ropes must be keeping his unhuman powers at bay and it also felt like the powers he had been given when sharing that rune with Magnus were missing. He felt oddly.. mundane.
"Oh good, you're awake. We worried we had gone a bit overboard." A cheery voice spoke and a figure walked up to him from the shadows. The Inquisitor.. he should have known this was mostly his doing.. his idea. A small stool was shoved under him and he groaned out in pain as he stood up and relaxed his shoulders. "Yes, sorry about that." The Inquisitor smiled and Alec wanted to spit out some snarky remark but it would only make things worse so he bit his tongue. His head was sore, he felt dizzy and his entire body ached horribly, making him groan in pain again, closing his eyes.
"Not now, young Lightwood. We're just about to start." He was told and his eyes flew open again. The shock of being here and being in so much pain had him forget what they had been planning to do. "Did you wait for me to wake up?" He asked roughly, his voice gravely and weak and the Inquisitor chuckled lightly. "Why of course, Alexander. You have to be awake for it all so you can think about your sins and make peace with your sentence." Inquisitor Aldertree told Alec seriously and Alec laughed darkly. "I don't regret a single second." He said and the Inquisitor looked at him grimly for a moment, before nodding to his side and Alec realized they weren't alone. He heard sizzling and then his back was tortured by the worst pain Alec had ever felt in his life and the basement filled with his scream and the unsettling smell of burned flesh. Then they pulled back when they were satisfied and Alec gritted his teeth, breathing hard. He refused to cry but the tears stung his eyes anyways, his entire back aching from the burn as the person doing it seemed to move to his side.
"You definitely won't be needing this anymore." A dark voice spoke besides him and then the burn returned to the top of his hand and he screamed out again, tugging at his binds but they didn't budge an inch. He knew exactly which rune they meant and it hurt in every cell in his entire body at the realization. He could have sworn the pain in his heart outweighed the pain searing his hand.
"Magnus." He whispered softly, earning him a violent kick in the side that made him groan and slump over in his binds, his legs no longer able to hold him up. "You will not speak his name in this city." The large man's voice boomed loudly. Alec swallowed the cry, keeping quiet and shutting off his conciousness as much as he could, his eyes going blank as he let the large man do his so-called job. He wasn't going to let them break him, wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. The next burn was seared into his shoulderblade and he gritted his teeth, breathing hard through the white hot pain. He knew exactly which rune they removed with every burn and he was feeling the effects of not having them immediately.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was looking at the rune at that exact moment he wouldn't have felt anything, but as he was looking at the rune on his hand with a stupid smile on his face he felt it.. He felt it really strongly and a gasp ripped from his throat, scaring his cat so badly he skidded across the floor and hid under the kitchen table. Magnus rose to his feet quickly, closing his eyes as blue light started shimmering around his hands and head.
It didn't take long to figure out that the connection was severed, the realization making it difficult to breathe for the warlock. He tried not to worry too much about it. Maybe the Clave had done something.. maybe it had faded like it had done for everyone else only moments after the battle had been over.. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. Of course Magnus had never believed in coincidences and the fact that Alec was in Idris right now only made him worry more.
Sleep wouldn't come at all that night, the warlock only laying awake in bed and drifting off some time in the early morning hours. Everytime he closed his eyes he kept seeing Alec, blood everywhere and those beautiful blue eyes empty and dull. He would scream for the higher powers to bring him back but nothing worked and he had lost Alec forever. Then Magnus woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air and opted for never sleeping again.
He should have been relieved when the call came, thinking it was Alec, but when the melody of his cell phone echoed through the quiet apartment late at night he felt a deep, icey dread in the pit of his stomach. Magnus had always been able to trust his gut and this was no exception, on the other side of the phone was a frantic, scared Jace telling him they all needed to go to Idris to find Alec.
A deep anger settled over Magnus at the news, he told Jace he would be there in mere seconds, before he flashed into proper battle gear. He shrugged on Alec's jacket that he had left behind only days ago, maybe on the last night they would ever spend together.. No, he couldn't think like that! He refused to think like that.. The jacket gave him comfort and strength as he left the loft, almost forgetting to close the door, and flashed over to the Institute. He was getting his angel back.
After what felt like hours, probably was hours, the man stopped and put the glowing poker away. "That's enough for tonight, kid." He spoke, oddly calm and almost comforting before kicking the stool out from under him and he cried out when the ropes was all that kept him up. The huge, scary man left the dark, cold room finally, slamming the heavy, wooden door behind him. Was this really necessary? The second the shadowhunter heard the steps fading away he broke down crying from pain as well as fear and disbelief. His parents had just left him.. left him here in the hands of the Clave to be tortured like this. The thought made him cry more as he was left hanging from his ropes, sobs shaking his body.
He must have been fading in and out all that night and day because before he could even try to figure out what to do or how to get help, the heavy wooden door was slammed open and he was joined in the room again by the huge man who immediately picked up the iron stick and lit the fire. "Please.." Alec whispered, his voice hoarse, but the plea soon turned into a scream as the large man burned his forearm roughly. Alec immediately realized which rune it was when his vision became worse and he realized how dark the room actually was.
"We have plenty of work to do tonight, kid." The booming voice told him and he wanted to cry.. he wanted to cry more than he had ever wanted to before in his entire life. He couldn't think of anything to get out of here and if he didn't die from the pain before then he would be a regular mundane within mere days. Alec had never been quite as scared as he was at that exact moment. Then he felt the searing hot burn on his chest, over his heart and through the pain he actually managed to think.. He realized which rune it was and the big man burning his runes off was a fool to not remove that one last.
He was trying to read at his desk, trying being the key word. Izzy and Clary was coped up in her room doing 'girly things' which left him on his own and he tried to keep himself busy and not just sit there like a lost puppy without Clary.. He was not that dependant on her, right? Okay so maybe he was but none of that mattered now, all thoughts of Clary and reading vanished as he felt something he had only ever read about before. Jace gasped and grabbed his chest, his entire body growing ice cold as he almost fell off his chair at the shock. "No.." Jace ran over to Izzy's room, trying to hold himself together, not bothering with knocking as he barged inside. Izzy was about to yell until she saw his pale face and shiny eyes.
"Jace.. what happened?" She asked, alarmed, as Clary wasted no time in rushed over to him and laid her soft hands against his cheeks, looking into his eyes with warmth, in a way only Clary could and he had to bite his tongue to not break down completely. Instead he shook his head frantically and pulled back from Clary, looking at Izzy and then back at Clary.
"Something's wrong.. with Alec. I felt that.. that thing we've read about. We have to go to Idris.. Now!" He told them both in a rushed voice, already backing out of the room and heading down the hallway. Izzy was quick to follow and Clary joined her in running even though she wasn't sure what was happening. She hadn't spent her entire life reading about shadowhunter history but Izzy seemed upset and rushed so she didn't ask any questions, knowing it was something bad.
Jace ran to the library, knowing it was the easiest to portal from there, and as he opened the big doors he was met by the sight of Maryse and Robert discussing something in hushed voices. There was so mistake that both of them were angry about something, Maryse even wiping tears from her face. They know..
"What happened!?" Jace screamed as he ran down the stairs, still holding his hand over the parabatai rune that ached, missing it's other half. The blond was unable to hold back the tears any longer, fearing the worst as he saw the look on Maryse's face, the woman who he had never seen cry before.
"Jace.. it's okay, he's.. alive." Maryse explained meekly which only made the blond shadowhunter even madder as he growled and pushed passed them to get to the portal that had been on the wall.
"I felt it.. and if he's alive.. something is wrong and we're going after him." He growled, trying to focus on being mad instead of the strong urge to curl into a ball and cry out of fear. He didn't even have to call for her before Clary was by his side, squeezing his hand comfortingly and making the portal again, the way she had done only 2 nights ago. Izzy had joined them, own tears threatening to spill over, and ignoring her parents as they called for them all to stop.. to not do anything stupid.
"He's your son! I'm getting my Parabatai back." The blond scream angrily before his face went blank. Jace stopped with a gasp, holding them all back.
"Magnus.." He mumbled sadly. He should have called the warlock the first thing he did when he felt the band snap but he hadn't been thinking clearly.
"We can tell Magnus later.. come on." Isabelle insisted but Clary had stopped drawing the rune, watching Jace with sad eyes, waiting for the blond's decision.
"No.. We might need him and.. we don't know what we're walking into. It's Alec, Iz.. Magnus needs to go with us. I'm not in the mood to be slowly killed by a furious warlock." It was meant as a joke but none of the three even cracked a smile as Jace fished his phone up and dialed Magnus. Oddly, the warlock answered after just one ring. Jace could tell right away that Magnus knew.. that he knew something was wrong and had been waiting for the call.
"He'll be here in a flash.. literally." Jace said, his voice tired as he pocketed the phone again. Of course he didn't want to wait but.. if it was bad, really bad, they needed Magnus and Alec might need Magnus as well.. and maybe not just for comfort. Jace shook the bad thoughts away, shuddering slightly and trying not to think of the worst case scenario. His best friend.. his parabatai was not dead.. no. No..
Mere seconds must have passed when a whirlwind of glitter and blue barged through the doors and joined them infront of the half prepared portal. Jace had never seen Magnus in full battle gear like this. With his hair down Magnus had almost the same length as Alec and with black clothes and weapons strapped to his waist and arms the blond must admit that Magnus actually looked dangerous for the first time ever. Clary finished drawing the rune, no words needed to be spoken as they all had a common mission.. Find Alec.
Magnus and Isabelle went through the portal first and then Jace joined them before the portal closed, Izzy wanted to ask but they didn't have time on their side as it was. Jace did what needed to be done and he'd rather deal with a pissed off Clary than a wounded Clary when this was all over. The blond looked up and realized they were in the halls of the Gard. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath as he shared a look with Magnus and Izzy. They were in Clave headquarters and the portal had taken them to where Alec was.. this could not be good, not one bit.
He must have dosed off at some point because the next thing he knew, the door was opened violently and several voices were filling the dark room. Alec looked up with blurry eyes, his body quivering as he saw 3 people walking towards him. It can't be time again, didn't the huge man with the burner just leave.. had he passed out for that long or was he simply back for more?
"Please.. don't hurt me anymore.. please. Not tonight.." He mumbled with a broken voice, blinking rapidly to see through the pain and tears. The fact that he could no longer see in the dark room only made him even more scared. Someone rushed over to him quickly, gentle hands on his face, stroking his cheeks softly and he knew.. he knew right away who it was and it made him completely break down, crying harder, tugging at the ropes frantically. He barely caught the sight of a fast figure climbing up the wall and the next thing he knew he slumped down, his hands free at last and strong, loving arms holding him up.
"They left me.. they set me up and then they left me." He cried into the shoulder of the taller man who was holding him close. He felt the strong arms lift him up so very gently and he didn't waste a second before wrapping his aching arms tightly around the taller man's neck, feeling the soft hair with his fingers.
"I know, darling.. I know. It's okay.. They won't hurt you anymore." He heard the familiar voice cooing in his ear, making the young shadowhunter grip the man tighter, never wanting to let go of him again.
"They took our rune, Magnus.. They burned it off and told me I wouldn't need that anymore. That was the most painful." He whispered sadly as Magnus cradled him in his arms, walking out of the cold, dank basement carefully. Jace and Izzy was following behind, ready to fight off any guards but the Clave seemed very secure with their choice of prison and didn't think anyone could rescue him.. maybe they didn't think anyone would want to.
He must have passed out for a while again, the pain definitely making it difficult to think clearly, because the next time he opened his eyes he was in a bed in the infirmary, a place he had spent far too much time in over the past year. He felt a soft hand in his that he squeezed back, turning his head slowly to look at his sparkly warlock. Magnus quickly noticed and moved closer with a weak smile.
"Hey.. How are you feeling, Alexander?" He asked softly, running a hand through Alec's messy, dirty, damp hair so very gently and comfortingly.
"I'm not sure.. It hurts and burns but I feel cold too.." Alec sighed softly, his voice rough and his head foggy, still holding onto Magnus' hand tightly. "They can't heal me right? The burns.. they were not normal burns, they were seared off my skin. It.. it felt more permenent." He spoke softly, looking up to meet the warlock's worried eyes finally. The warm hand kept stroking his hair back from his eyes gently as Magnus moved closer and took the shadowhunter's hand in his free hand.
"Clary said you can get the runes back once you heal.. but it will take time, they made it so you heal like a mundane and.." Magnus drifted off and looked away for a second, Alec saw him struggle with his words and he sat up slowly. "No.. Alec, rest." Magnus pushed him back on the bed, making the young shadowhunter groan softly. Magnus sighed and leaned down to kiss his forehead gently. "Jace said that if they had removed them all then you would have been a mundane and runes would never work again.. But they didn't finish, okay?" Magnus finished explaining quickly when he saw Alec's blue eyes fill with dread and then soften at the reassurance. Alec nodded slowly and struggled to sit up again; This time Magnus let him and moved to sit on the bed next to the wounded boy he loved so much. Magnus moved to sit slightly behind him, nudging him back so Alec leaned back against Magnus' chest gently. Alec hissed slightly from the pain but soon settled into the embrace, leaning his head back against the warlock's shoulder and letting his eyes drift close again.
"Am I hurting you?" Magnus asked softly, trailing a finger down Alec's cheekbone gently. All the shadowhunter could do was shake his head lightly in answer and twining their fingers together across his stomach.
"Never." He whispered, already drifting off to sleep again in the safe embrace of his boyfriend. He felt a light kiss to his temple before exhaustion took him and he was sound asleep within seconds. He hadn't slept in almost 3 days now because passing out from pain was hardly the same thing. His entire body ached from the burns, his shoulders were almost numb from hanging in the ropes and he didn't even want to know how his wrists looked.. but he was in Magnus' arms now and he felt safer than ever.. more loved than ever before. He would be okay.