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-This interlude can be read between Chapters 6 and 7 of From Darkness to Light-
Magnus blinked his eyes open to the familiar sight of his bedroom ceiling. He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there, or why his head had the lingering effects of a massive migraine slipping away from his consciousness. When he heard Catarina’s voice, he turned his head to look at her.
“You know,” started Catarina from the chair next to Magnu’s bed, “I keep thinking to myself, ‘Magnus has gone and done an extremely dramatic and idiotic thing. Surely he can’t top that with something even crazier or even stupider.’ But I keep getting proven wrong.”
Magnus sighed, turning his head back to look at the ceiling from where he was still laying on the bed, “you realize that by saying that Cat, you’ve jinxed it. The universe will definitely find a way to top this mess. Magic knows how though.”
“Oh believe me,” said Cat as she absently ran a diagnostic scan over Magnus, “I’m well aware of that fact. I have been since Peru. You know, since getting banned from an entire country was not nearly dramatic and stupid enough for you.”
Magnus covered a wince as he sat up and leaned against his headboard, “what happened?”
“What do you remember?” Cat snarked back.
Magnus sighed again and thought back to the last time he was awake, “I was in Alicante… the demon wards were down… I could see…Edom? There was a rift.”
There was a pause as Magnus tried to gather his thoughts, “...we closed the rift?”
A pair of distraught Hazel eyes flashed in Magnus’ mind, “Alexander was there… We shared our magic to close the rift. He didn’t want me to have to go to Edom…”
Cat nodded, “you’ve been in a coma for three days Magnus. Whatever you and Alec did to close the rift left you comatose for. Three. Days.”
Memories, not his own, started to flash through Magnus’ mind, “Alexander… he opened the bond between us so we could share our magic and close the rift to Edom. When we were finished I was overwhelmed with his memories. He pulled away and disappeared from Alicante… and closed the bond again. Like it was before.”
“If he forced you into this, then I will kill him myself.” Catarina was pretty upset with what Magnus was telling her.
Magnus shook his head, his mind working to better piece together what happened in Alicante, “No. He offered to help me. Said I could always go to Edom to close it myself… Cat. I don’t think I was ever a ‘Get Out of Edom,’ card for him. I think he genuinely wanted to help me.”
“A Greater Demon wanting to help Downworlders. I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes,” said Cat in wonder.
Magnus bit back his rebuttal that Alec wasn’t a Greater Demon. Or well, not just a Greater Demon. If Alec wanted Cat to know what he was, he would tell her. It wasn’t Magnus’ place to spill his secrets.
“Well,” said Catarina when the silence stretched for a moment between them, “Madzye wants to see you. And I don’t think you should go trying to track Alec down. He’s been unresponsive to any kind of communication and tracking, from me and Madzye. The only thing we haven’t tried at this point was a summoning.”
Magnus nodded and started to get out of bed, “where is Sweet Pea?” He asked as he snapped new clothes on and freshened himself up.
“She’s making you a get well card in the living room,” said Cat as she also got up from the chair next to Magnus’ bed.
“Sweet Pea!,” called Magnus as he strode out of his bedroom and snapped up a coffee to drink, “I hear you are making me a card. I can’t wait to see it.”
“Magnus!” exclaimed Madzye when she saw Magnus up and about, “I just finished your card! Look, I made it move.” She jumped up from the floor and ran over to Magnus, waving the card around in the air in her excitement.
Magnus carefully took the card from Madzye and opened it up. It was a picture of Magnus laying in bed with Alec flying in and landing next to the bed and sitting on it. It also read, “get well soon!” in rainbow crayons.
“Wow Sweet Pea,” said Magnus as he knelt down, “this is great, did you do the magic yourself?”
Madzye nodded, “I did. Catarina watched though, in case it caught fire.”
“Madz does love her pyrotechnics,” said Cat jokingly from next to the pair.
“Alec’s eyes have fire,” whispered Madzye to Magnus like he didn’t know this fact about Alec, and like it explained her love of fire. Which, in a way it did.
“They do, don’t they,” said Magnus as he flashed his golden cat eyes at Madzye, making her giggle.
“He always liked your eyes,” said Madzye when she was done giggling. There was a hint of anxiety in her voice though. Magnus knew it was because she couldn’t get in touch with Alec.
“I know,” said Magnus, “Madzye, he’ll be back sooner than you think. I promise. Maybe you can make him a card as well. An ‘I missed you,’ card. I’m sure he’ll love to see it and will be excited that you animated it. My card, however, is going right here over the fireplace, where I’ll be able to see it every day.” He waved his arm and the card settled over the fireplace so the animation was visible out into the room.
“Come on Madz,” said Catarina, “Magnus needs some more time to recover from his world saving efforts, let’s head home and you can start working on a card for Alec as well.”
Madzye hugged Magnus tight, “I’m glad you're awake again Magnus. Alec will be too.”
“Thanks Sweet Pea.” Magnus watched the pair as they left, closing the door behind them, before he collapsed on his couch with a sigh.
He took a moment to snap up a steak- medium rare, and a margarita from his favorite restaurant. As he ate he thought back over the interactions with Alec and how they evolved throughout their friendship.
Their first meeting in Edom, where Alec was acting like a demon, but not really acting like a demon. How Alec would tease and flirt, but never do anything more than what Magnus was comfortable with physically.
How Alec had protected Madzye and the other warlock children. How Alec was trying to make the Downworlders safe from threats from the Shadowhunters and the Circle.
How Alec was willing to share his magic with Magnus to close the rift to Edom. He didn’t even hesitate with his offer. Just held out his hand and let Magnus choose to either accept or go to Edom himself.
And how Magnus himself didn’t even hesitate to reach out to share magic and close the rift, even though he’d been hesitating about committing to a more physical relationship.
That was the crux of the matter for Magnus. The falling for a demon, but hesitating to move forward physically, yet still not hesitating to share magic.
For Warlocks, magic sharing was something more intimate than a physical relationship. It required a deeper connection with another warlock. Warlocks that were friends with each other for centuries could/would do it. Warlock twins- something that happened one in a million times could/would do it.
Alexander wasn’t a full Greater Demon, Magnus knew that now, but at the time he didn’t. He thought the other was just a demon. And he hadn’t hesitated to share his magic to close the rift.
With his thoughts circling with no resolution in sight, Magnus called it a night and went to bed. When he finally fell asleep, it was with Alec’s memories trickling into his dreams.
8888888888 Day 4 8888888888
The next day Magnus tried fire messages, texting, and calling Alec. But there was no response from the other. The texts went unread, and the calls went directly to voicemail.
Knowing Alexander wasn’t a full Greater Demon helped Magnus overcome his insecurities about taking their physical relationship to the next level. It helped Magnus understand why Alec was trying to help the downworld, even though everyone thought he was a Greater Demon.
Yes, Alexander had a darker side, everyone did. That didn’t bother Magnus.
It was the knowledge that demons- Greater or otherwise, always had some kind of hidden agenda. For a while, Magnus believed Ragnor’s theory that Alexander was using him to stay out of Edom, getting closer to Magnus so the warlock wouldn’t try to find a way to permanently banish him back to Edom.
There was also the thought of having his forever with someone else- not just a fleeting half a century or so with a mortal lover, but an actual chance at something longer, was very tempting for Magnus.
He was hesitant, because of what happened with Camille, but Magnus knew deep down that it wouldn’t be the same. Because Alexander wasn’t the same as Camille and would never be. It was there in his memories. In how he interacted with Madzye and Catarina, and helped the Downworlders against the circle.
With how he treated Magnus.
That evening, after going around in more circles with his thoughts, Magnus attempted to track Alexander. He didn’t get anywhere, meaning Alec was near or on the water.
Magnus took some time before bed to wrap his magic around their bond- not enough to force a summoning, but enough to figure out what Alexander was feeling.
Self loathing, resignation, and guilt all from Alexander overwhelmed Magnus’ senses before he released the bond less than a minute later.
When Magnus went to bed that night, Alexander’s memories of his Fall were again trickling into his dreams. Over and over again.
8888888888888 Day 5 8888888888
Magnus woke with a sense of determination. He’d made a decision. Alexander’s past didn’t matter. His status as a Demon- partial, Greater- it didn’t matter.
Alexander had a heart of gold and he deserved to be happy. And he made Magnus happy.
Magnus had closed his heart for over a century, yet Alexander had managed to tease and slide his way past all of his carefully constructed walls. He never pushed past what Magnus was comfortable with, never asked for more than what Magnus was willing to give.
He always put Magnus’ comfort first. Something Magnus hadn’t had before in his long life.
Magnus took his time getting ready that morning, then made his way over to Catarina’s to chat with the pair and let them know he was going to bring Alexander back today. The trio spent the morning together, Magnus helped Madzye with some trickier animations on her card for Alec, then they went to lunch.
After lunch, Magnus went back to his loft and settled onto his couch. He centered his magic, and dove into the bond- not to summon Alec to him, he didn’t pull on the bond. No this time he pushed gently at the bond, trying to figure out if it would help him find Alexander. The other had found him in Paris, so Magnus knew he could track Alex this way. Probably.
It took a minute, Magnus had no idea what he was doing, but he finally got a sense of where Alec was. Magnus knew the small island where Alec was hiding. He released his hold on the bond again and stood up.
It was time to bring Alexander home. He opened a portal and stepped through.