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Alex let out a curse. “These mummies just won’t let up!” he yelled, his garrote slicing through another one and sending a spray of mummy goop into the air.
Magnus grunted as he ran Jack through an undead ribcage. “Where are Annabeth’s weird pharaoh friends when you need them?”
They tackled a few more, both of them getting tired as the circle of undead closed in on them. The cavern was completely closed up now, Magnus’s glowing was the only source of light, and there didn’t seem to be any way out other than killing them all. Stupid ancient temples and their death traps.
Then Magnus heard a metallic bang and the solid thunk of something hitting the floor. He turned to see Alex unconscious on the ground behind him, a mummy with a large bronze pan in its hands standing above him. Being undead didn’t keep the creature from smiling like an imp, and something about that smile broke Magnus.
How dare that thing smile at hurting his partner. How dare that thing smile at all.
Almost subconsciously, he called on the power of Frey. It may have been called “the peace of Frey” but all he felt in that moment was fury. A halo of light made the mummies howl as their weapons were all ripped from their decaying hands, scattering them on the floor. Rage covered his face as he slashed through one’s neck, decapitating it in one swipe. He did it again, and again, and again, screaming at all of them to get out, leave them alone, die. Of course, they didn’t listen.
But he would make them listen.
He looked up at the cavern ceiling and the walls, searching for anything that could help. Then he spotted it. It was hard to see in the dark, but there were a few tree roots slithering from a few cracks. Which meant the surface was nearby. And Frey could help with that.
The circle was closing in again, seemingly more upset at how many of their comrades Magnus had managed to kill ( good , he thought). He stood over Alex to protect him, then released Jack.
“Señor, I can see your plan, but are you sure about this? You’ve been using your powers nonstop since we got here, you’re already pretty low–”
“Jack, just do it. I’ll deal with it later.”
“But–”
“Jack!”
“Fine, fine. Don’t blame me when you get stuck sleeping for a week!”
As Jack hacked away at the army, Magnus concentrated on the roots above him. He called on his father’s presence again. It was harder this time, he could feel a tug in his gut resisting his command, but he ignored it and pushed until something inside him snapped. A harsh heat flooded the area. The tree roots above shook, cracks formed in the stone, until the top of the cavern exploded open, revealing trees and grass and a night sky.
A sheen of sweat coated his entire body. He could barely breathe, almost like his stupid asthma had come back, and he was shaking like a leaf, but he had to get Alex out of there. He gathered Alex in his arms and summoned one of the thicker tree roots down towards them, screaming with the effort it took. He grabbed onto it and somehow managed to half climb and half magically pull his way up.
They got to the top. He laid on his back panting in exhaustion for a few seconds. They had made it out alive. Jack was still down in the hole, but he would fly back out once all the mummies were dead. Again.
He turned his attention to Alex. He couldn’t see any obvious injuries other than the blow to the head, which was good. He knew Alex didn’t love his whole seeing-inside-people’s-minds-when-healing thing, but it was necessary.
He placed his hands around Alex’s head and tried to activate his powers again. Nothing. He kept concentrating, kept trying, but it was like drawing out of an empty well. He felt his heart race as he started to panic. No, no, no, he had to do this! Alex needed him, it didn’t matter how tired he was, Alex might die without this.
Finally, he reached deep inside and found one last drop of Frey powers in him. Alex gasped as he woke up, staring at the hole in awe. “Damn. You did that, Chase?”
But Magnus was too distracted to respond. The memory feedback from Alex was nothing new this time, but the world was tilting around him and everything felt too hot and suddenly he couldn’t concentrate on anything.
“Magnus? Magnus!”
He was on the ground. He could feel the cool grass under his cheek and part of him wanted to sink down into it forever.
A glint of gold metal was floating near him. Ah. Jack was back. He reached out and grabbed for him.
“Magnus, don’t!”
He didn’t hear whoever it was though, and as soon as Jack was in his hand everything went black.
He woke up in his room at the hotel. Normally after they resurrected, einherjar felt mostly rejuvenated, but he still felt like his limbs were made of rubber and his body felt strangely and disgustingly damp, like he’d just had a fever. He was trying to figure out how to get up and ask his friends what had happened when TJ came into the room holding a tray of food.
“Magnus! My man, glad you’re awake. Hey guys! He’s alive!”
He groaned in response. TJ put the tray down and put a hand on his forehead. “How are you feeling? Do you remember everything?”
Magnus tried to respond (“awful” and “no, please tell me what year it is”) but then Alex and the others burst into the room.
Alex was being held back on either side by Blitz and Hearth, a string of Spanish curses flying from his mouth. Magnus only caught a handful of what he said, but he thought recognized “Beantown”, “stupid”, and the equivalent to “steamed rice cake”. In his left hand was a sandal, poised to be thrown at Magnus’s head. Magnus held his hands up to defend his face, but luckily Sam pushed her way through and smacked it out of Alex’s hand.
“Enough!” she shouted. “Alex, let the boy have some peace and an explanation before you go throwing footwear at him.”
Still muttering angrily in Spanish, Alex stomped over to his bed. All he could say was “hey” before Alex wrapped his arms around his torso and clung to him. He looked at everyone for an answer.
Sam took a deep breath then sighed. “Magnus. How are you feeling?”
This time he managed to get coherent words out. “Exhausted. Like I just got thrown off a bridge again. But mostly confused. What happened? Why is Alex suddenly a koala bear?”
(Alex apparently thought that sounded like a good idea and literally turned into a koala bear.)
Blitz shook his head and let out a nervous laugh. He signed too for Hearth’s benefit. “You’ve been in and out of the world for about five days now. You had us worried for a while. You and Alex were off on some adventure, but when you came back Alex was holding your unconscious body and even after you technically resurrected here in the hotel, you seemed sick. Einherjar aren’t supposed to get sick, kid.”
“We did some digging, and apparently children of Frey have been known to have a sort of emergencies-only power call, where they can use all the powers of Frey at once– but it’s dangerously tiring, and afterwards they got nearly deathly ill. You’re lucky Alex was able to get you back here,” Sam helped explain.
Oh. Well that explained a lot. Except…
“So, I got us out of the mummy cave, accidentally depleted myself of energy, and now Alex is throwing shoes at me?” he asked, also signing.
Alex watched you pass out and had to carry you back here. Then she had to watch as you slipped in and out of consciousness for days. Don’t pretend you don’t know she’s worried, Hearth said, staring into his soul.
Magnus looked down at Alex in his lap. He tentatively put his hand in her hair and ran his fingers through it. “Sorry I worried you. I’m okay, really.”
She grunted but relaxed at his hand. “You still deserve la chancla for this.”