#alexander freed the man that you are

[deepseamuse]

of all the oc dynamics i expected to enjoy, Vivian, Alexander, and (only recently started traveling with Mathilda) Takeo was not one of them

Bonding over not really feeling human or understanding how to be one

Vivian finds out a bit about Alexander's family situation and immediately decides he wants to kill his parents, because that seems like something his would have done if they could

Takeo still doesn't know much about humans at this point and Vivian is naturally a terrible influence (but in a fun way) also there are probably so many people who think they're brothers

Takeo noticing the emptiness in Alexander (it is sort of his thing) and feeling oddly comfortable around him because he's the first mortal that's felt like him in some way

When Alexander is finally freed from his parents' control that leaves Vivian as the only one who has any clue of how to socialize with people and i think that's funny

My bi and very in love son and his two aroace friends

[eunoiaastralwings]

Fragments of Blue

featuring Bucky x reader

fandom mcu- pre catcw

a/n based on my idea here - here part one (can be read alone too - I think LMAO).

warnings running away ? - idk if there was anything else tell me otherwise

You were simply lying on the on the couch bored when he came in again – with presuming a packet of bread in his hands.

You momentarily looked over the man that was once the deadly assassin – the one who had been assigned to bring you back to your father and his Hydra, every time you tried to escape or occasionally protect you.

He was always so anxious and nervous now �� now you saw the real man being the Winter Soldier, trapped underneath Hydra’s torture who was finally free.

But the world didn’t see it like that however – the world still saw him as a murder and a true weapon of evil and you could almost see he saw himself like that too now.

Like he was signing the picture the outside world painted him as.

You always wondered why he came back for you – you were Alexander Pierce’s daughter after all. You were once even called as Hydra’s daughter by your father’s men.

But unlike your father you didn't want to be part of Hydra – but you were forced to know Hydra, including the Winter Soldier.

Little did you know, the blue-eyed man before you remembered as the Winter Soldier, he told to watch over you and made sure you didn't escape from Hydra like you tried countless times.

It was like you were something constant – something different than the usual assassinations he was tasked with.

You father was dead – yet you weren’t sure how to feel about that, he was your only family after all – though he did put Hydra above you.

Once the man was freed from the mind control and for whatever reason he had broken into your father’s house helped her escape and went on the run together.

You had known the moment he stepped in – he wasn’t Blue anymore.

He was the man behind those blue eyes again – still he seemed to be refusing to tell you his real name.

“So. . . you going to tell me your real name or do I keep calling you, Blue?” She asked – as he places the packet of bread on the small table in tiny rundown apartment you were sharing.

You had hated always calling him Soldat or the Winter Soldier, like your father and Hydra did - so you always stuck with calling him Blue, because of his blue eyes. He didn’t remember his own name - and no one would tell him or you either. . .and you wanted to make him feel just a little human. . .

He looked up giving you a once over – as if still debating inside him whether to trust you or not.

To be honest the only reason you were was because of him anyways.

You were almost certain he was going to brush you off again.

But then you heard a small mutter.

“Bucky. . .”

************************************************************************

You disguised yourself the best you could, wearing one of Bucky’s baseball caps – as you looked around the market stalls, trying to follow him.

You were always annoying him – that’s for sure. He had specifically instructed you to stay at the apartment but you clearly hadn't.

“Y/N you shouldn't be here. You’re not supposed to be out without my permission.”

He sounds annoyed.

“I deserve to at least see the sun, Bucky!”

You scowled at his behavior.

“I get it. . . But we can't let anyone find the either of us!”

He sighs.

“The only reason you’re not in the base is because it's me babysitting you.”

He mutters.

“You’re not babysi-“

You tripped over something because of your vintage heeled boots as you tried to follow – needing to hold onto Bucky in case you fell face flat on the ground.

You sighed – knowing he was gonna be mad.

“I told you not to wear those heels!”

He glared – now mad with you.

“Oh, I’m sorry – I didn’t exactly get to stop by at home to grab shoes before going on the run!”

You answered sarcastically.

“Don’t talk back to me. I’m only looking out for you. You really need to take more precautions!”

He warned.

You knew he was mad.

“I cannot go bare feet!”

You still stubbornly scowled –  knowing what he was picking at how you failed to escape multiple times during their time in Hydra and how he as the Winter Soldier always dragged her back kicking and screaming.

“Well, at the light’s still there, princess!

He grumbles and grabs you by the wrist. He pulls her along with a grumpy looking glare.

“We don’t have time for this. I have to keep you safe!”

He mutters, that was something he always said – but Bucky himself didn’t know why he was keeping you safe.

He didn’t know he came running to you – when he was freed from the mind control.

But here you were now.

You simply rolled your eyes and followed him to a farmers’ market.

He glances over at you.

“Why can’t you just listen to me for a change!”

Bucky sounded exhausted and anxious – he walks fast with you still holding your hand and you were trying to keep up with his pace.

Once again – stubborn as ever you didn't answer. The farmers’ market was large, with lots of stands and stalls, some selling fruit, spices/herbs, meat, or vegetables, others selling handmade crafts.

You easily got distracted with handmade crafts and toys.

Bucky looked – noticing how you got easily distracted, he just sighs an tries to not get annoyed.

He notices as your eyes were filled wonder, even glancing at your hair too.

You seem to have a soft, sweet face with the eyes of an angel.

“Why cant you just stay focused for once Y/N. . .”

He said – being a hypocrite as he found himself, getting distracted by you.

Before his eyes dart around nervously as they search for any threats. He seems on edge – always looking around as he looks for Hydra members or even agents.

He then went over to the fruit vendors – still keeping a close eye on you while spoke in Romanian trying buy a few plums for you and him.

You then picked up a little wooden carved wolf smiling at it as Bucky looks at the fruits.

Bucky glares at you – you smile and your beauty makes him stop and stare for a few moments.

“Y/N, put that down. We don't have time for that.”

He said – now coming back over to you.

“I told you we're on the run and we can’t risk letting the enemy find either of us.”

He whispers – now close enough only you could hear him.

You sighed, a small pout on your lips as you put back the carved wolf.

Then spots a grumpy unhappy looking plushie bear.

“Oh look! It's you!”

You said – picking up the blue grumpy looking plushie bear.

“Put that down you brat! We don’t have time for this!”

He looks at you – there was a look of annoyance and frustration.

Bucky was also nervous as he looks for any signs of a threat – and he glances at the plushie.

He thinks of it as a waste of time.

“I’m buying it!”

You said to Bucky.

“No, you aren't. Put it down. It’s a waste of good money!”

He tries to reach for the plushie to take it from you.

“It’s not wasting if I love it!”

You said – cradling it protectively close.

“It is also wasting since we’re on the run and it’s not the time for toys!”

He seems annoyed as he tries and snatch the plushie bear away from her.

 “Ooo, ok blue bear, I’m gonna call you Bucky!"

You hugged the plushie bear.

“Stop it you brat! You are so annoying!”

Bucky said annoyed – but he thinks you looked adorable.

Though it made him roll his eyes – when she insisted call a plushie by his name.

You just held it protectively close.

“Give it to me!”

Bucky tried to forcefully take it from you.

You held it protectively – “no!”

You scowled.

Bucky tried to take the plushie away, he grabs the plushie’s arm as he tries to force it away from you as you tried to protect it.

 “Give it here kid!”

“I’m 25, not a kid!”

You argued – though it seemed hilarious right now.

“You are acting like one.”

He glares at you – still holding onto the plushie’s arm as he refuses to give it to you.

“No!”

You said again.

It was then Bucky spots a few familiar looking agents up ahead behind her.

Bucky seems to pause – then glances again over at the agents, who are still unaware of their presence.

He looks back at you.

“We need to get out of here!”

He tries to move you in a direction, but you were still holding onto the stupid plushie.

You frowned looking behind yourself – your eyes widened and she froze seeing the familiar Hydra general blending in with the crowd in casual clothes as he and his men were seemingly looking for them.

Bucky grabs the plushie, tossing it aside – then grabs your hand and pulls you in a different direction.

He is now trying to act fast as he leads you away from the general and agents. He seems to be on edge as he eyes dart back and forth quickly trying to find a safe place.

"Just..."

You looked around then at Bucky – if the acted casual too blending in with the crowd, they wouldn’t be spotted.

"Blue, put your arm around me and pretend to laugh at something I said!"

You say seeing more agents – the former nickname you had for him slipping out in the mist of the situation.

Bucky has an annoyed look on his face – but he still decides to follow your plan for the moment – seeing how it made sense.

So he puts his arm around you and pretend to laugh at something you said.

“Heh. . .Heh, Heh heheh. . . Very funny. . .”

He said – and you almost had to stop from laughing out loudly yourself at how horrible that sounded.

So you simply rolled her eyes amused – seemingly their role-playing worked as the agents paid them no attention and walked past without noticing either of them.

“You need to work for on your acting skills though!”

You said – once they passed.

“I’m not an actor. I'm a super soldier, princess. . .”

He mutters – annoyed by your comment as he seems to be on edge – always looking around nervously.

“We’re still not safe. . .”

You rolled your eyes again at his former words – “anyways let’s go!”

Bucky was still seemingly on edge as he follows you.

He keeps looking behind him to see if they are still being followed.

His blue eyes were darting around nervously.

You had almost tripped onto the escalators – again because of your heeled boots.

Bucky scowling seeing almost trip again – but he still tries not to yell at you as he glares and sighs, shaking his head.

“You really need to get some new shoes, doll. . .”

He keeps his eyes darting around as he follows you.

You were going to answer – but her eyes widened as you saw a few agents taking the opposite side of the escalator – but you were crowded in you and couldn't move.

Bucky stops and freezes as he spots them too.

“Crap. . . We have to go.”

He tries pull you away in a different direction – his eyes dart around nervously as he looks for any escape routes.

The escalators were too close – you’d be spotted.

You looked around then suddenly said to Bucky – “kiss me!”

Bucky pauses and his eyes dart to you as he looks at you in disbelief.

He blinks in surprise.

 “What?”

He says confused – nervous, an unsure of what to do.

“Why?”

He says, seeming a bit skeptical of your plan.

“Physical displays of affection make people uncomfortable!”

You said blurt out – knowing the agents will look away seeing a couple kiss.

Bucky still seems unsure of it but he looks at you with the most serious expression.

He sighs and thinks about it for a second as he makes a hard decision.

“. . . Okay. . .”

He says as he slowly leans towards you to kiss you – he still has a annoyed look on his face but tries to relax.

He kisses you softly and he sighs.

He still feels annoyed about your plan – but he seems a bit relieved that they didn't get caught by the agents as he looks at you.

He’s still not sure if he likes you or not– j but he still seems to really enjoy the kiss.

You both then slowly pull away the moment the agents were out of sight.

But stops kissing you – the look of annoyance reappearing.

“You’re crazy.”

He sighs and rubs his face – “. . .I can’t believe I kissed you. . .”

“Oh please, it’s not I like just kissed Richard Madden or something!”

You grumbled sarcastically – as you reached the floor.

He looked at you with the same serious expression – but it quickly changes into a pissed off expression.

“. . .What? Richard, who?”

Bucky sounds agitated as he looks at you.

He’s not only annoyed by what you said – but the kiss. He tries to put the kiss out of his mind.

“Richard Madden. . .? The British actor. . .?” You said “You know the guy who played in Bodyguard or even prince charming in the live action Cinderella!”

“I don't care about no British actor we just kissed!”

He scoffs as he glances away angrily.

“. . .And?”

You ask – raising an eyebrow.

Bucky was shocked by your response as he looks at you in disbelief.

“You’re. . . You’re not embarrassed?”

He asks.

“Well. . . yes. . . but hey, it got us out of there!”

You said.

“. . .Right.”

He grumbles looks away as is pissed. He rubs his face in annoyance again and he just tries to forget about it.

“What?”

You ask – seeing the annoyed grumpy expression on his face.

“Nothing. . . Nothing at all. Just shut up and stop talking about Ricker Maddened.”

He grumbles – getting you both back out into streets again.

“Richard Madden.”

You corrected him.

“And – I don’t care.”

He grumbles under his breath.

You just rolled your eyes as he quickly pulled you back into the apartment – that kiss continuously replaying his mind. . .

He’d be lying if he said – the warmth of your lips against his didn’t feel good or made his heart race. . .

Perhaps, there was a reason why he came for you. . .

tagging everyone who was interested in the first part ( One more part then the story will be finished ):

@kiekiekiki @ijustneedpopcorn @geminigengar @batsyforyou </3

PART 1 | PART 2

And yes - I used references from catws xD

[revolu]

Answering a question on Quora; did the characters own slaves?

Decided to post this here for my own sake lol.

I haven't done any deep digging to find this information, and hopefully it is as accurate as possible. Please correct me + give me the source/evidence if you must!!

Lafayette owned slaves, but he only purchased plantations in order to free them later on. He was very against slavery, and even tried convincing Washington to free his slaves. Unfortunately, Lafayette never managed to really free the slaves. A shame. It's ironic how he became a slave owner in order to execute his plan to abolish slavery.

Washington owned slaves, but he freed the majority of them. He's the only president in America who has enslaved people and freed them. He was a gentleman and a stud, kind and authoritative. Probably had some anger issues, but generally he was quite the man. (doesn't excuse owning slaves tho.)

Now... Did the man himself, Alexander Hamilton, own slaves? There is not enough evidence to support Hamilton owning slaves HIMSELF. He did purchase slaves for his in-laws, however his children and wife did not mention him owning slaves, nor does it say anything in his will about it. So that proves Hamilton not owning slaves >>near his death<<, at least. He was an abolitionist, that's for sure. But we do not know if he actually owned slaves HIMSELF. He surely had SERVANTS, but slaves and servants are different. He did see a fair lot of slavery in the Caribbean where he grew up, I believe, and I do not know if his father owned slaves, but it is not documented that he personally did. And even though his descendent Douglas claims he didn't, it is possible! But as said, he did in fact purchase slaves for his in-laws. (a.k.a. Eliza's family)

Madison owned slaves, yes. I haven't done too much research on him as a person, but he did own slaves.

Jefferson had two sides; either he was kind, socially awkward, a gentleman, or he was a cruel slaveowner. I personally believe, that based on his actions throughout the years, and the fact that he seemed to become more cruel with age, that his wife's death probably caused him to break. However, this does not excuse anything he did. He f*cking r*ped one of his slaves, who is believed to have been around 14 years of age (Sally Hemings, mentioned in the musical). There have been records of slaves being beaten in Monticello, however, there is nothing documented that Jefferson himself hurt his slaves. But when it comes to slavery, it is safe to say that he was rather cruel. Disgusting. Despite originally writing in the Declaration of Independence about slavery, Jefferson wrote that he "suspected black people to be inferior to white people" several years later.

Burr did own some slaves, not many though, at least from what I've read.

King George III, however, is NOT that tyrant that people claim he was. He never owned slaves, and he wasn't as bad as a human as people believe.

Laurens was one of the strongest abolitionist of the time, despite growing up in an environment where slavery was normal. He did not own any slaves himself, nothing recorded (I believe) at least.

Mulligan did own slaves. Haven't done any real research on him, but fairly sure it is true that he owned some slaves.

The Schuyler sisters were members of a wealthy slaveowning family. I am not sure, but I think Angelica owned slaves? I dont know about Peggy, and I dont think there is anything recorded that Eliza HERSELF owned slaves. Her family definitely did tho.

Charles Lee owned slaves, like most military generals.

Samuel Seabury also owned slaves.

Philip Hamilton, obviously, did not own any slaves.

It is important to note that although slavery was wrong and a sin, many people owned slaves or engaged in slavery. Not all slaveowners were cruel, some even treated their slaves as equals. (Which was rare). It was almost like a norm amongst wealthy people, especially people in the south. I think many were influenced by the normalcy, however it is not an excuse. John Laurens grew up in SC, and slavery was very common. Despite that, he was very against it.

Slavery is wrong and disgusting, but in many cases it does NOT define someone as a human. Maybe in Jefferson's case, but people need to remember that not everyone was cruel to their slaves! I do not excuse slavery in any way, and I know I do not have as much as a say in that because I am white. It will always be wrong to degrade someone just because of their race. I mean, slaves were seen as PROPERTY. Which is so incredibly disgusting... Slavery still exists today in some parts of the world, with basically any race being enslaved. White people, black people, asians, etc... Only about 8% of the population is white. (I think?) S3x slaves too. From children to adults. Absolutely disgusting.

But to sum this up, most of the people in the 18th century owned slaves. Not everyone was cruel to them though.

People who have been 'proven' to not have owned slaves:

Philip Hamilton (which speaks for itself)

King George III

John Laurens

(I hope I didn't forget someone)

I am unsure about Maria and James Reynolds. It is possible that James owned some slaves, but I haven't read about it at all, literally have done no research on Reynolds and slaves lmao.

Side note: A slave, James Armistead, later James Armistead Lafayette, who served as a spy under Marquis de Lafayette in the war, supposedly came to own slaves himself. (I am rather unsure if this is actually true or not, so don't take my word for granted lol)

[on-partiality]

Okay, so I'm absolutely curious:

I don't know if you've been asked this already, but how would you rank the Founding Fathers (from the ones you like the most to the ones you really don't)?

Sorry for taking forever I got sick and then I had school camp but here's how I'd rank them:

1, Alexander Hamilton: I've studied him the most out of the main founding fathers so I've grown rather attached to him. I still acknowlege his flaws like the fact that the trading charter he worked for when he was younger also sold slaves, the fact that he was sexist just like the typical 18th century man and that he did cheat on his wife. But even with all of those, he's my favourite of the bunch.

2. James Madison: when creating this tier list type thing I realised that I really don't know much about Madison that's why he's higher in the list (because I've studied him so little compared to the others, I don't know as much about his flaws and problematic actions as I do the rest of the bunch) I've read a lot about him doing silly things and supposedly being a good husband but the fact that he got along so well with Jefferson throws me off because I really don't like Jefferson. So yeah, I'd say I'm pretty neutral with Madison.

3. John Adams: I haven't studied him as much as the other founders (still more than Madison though) so I find it difficult to have too strong an opinion on him. I like his stance on slavery and the fact that he never owned any, however, I don't like his thoughts on women and men without property (and just generally the requirements he wanted to make on who should and shouldn't be allowed to vote) and I don't believe he was a very good father from what I've read about how he treated his oldest son, I also don't like his personality.

4. Benjamin Franklin: I know that no one is going to agree with me on this one but something about him just grosses me out, probably because I'm semi-sex-repulsed and hearing about the way he was with so many women makes me want to gag. Additionally, the comment he made about old women being the same in the dark grossed me out heaps. I get that he technically wasn't that bad and he freed his slaves and invented so many things but his personal life throws m

5. George Washington: Look, he did some HORRIBLE things, he owned many slaves, his treatment of Native Americans was terrible and I completely disagree with most of his political views... But I really like him as a military commander and a soldier and I like his personality a lot and that's why he ranks higher than the next person on this tier list, I don't agree with most of his actions. I don't support racism or genocide. But also I have far more fun studying Washington than I do the next founding father on this list.

6. Thomas Jefferson: child rapist, owned more slaves than any of the other people on this list (I think) and was really weird with his pets. He advocated for religious freedom and he was smart, I'll give him that but I don't like his personality, I don't like his political views and he was very hypocritical. Really, with his views, he wouldn't have even liked himself and he didn't do enough to make me like him. He's still interesting to study but I find it far harder to empathise with him than I do the men listed above because I really just can't see him as anything but vile.

Bonus!: I would put Aaron Burr between Adams and Madison because while I agree with most of his views and he's really fun to study, I like Hamilton a little bit too much to rank the man that killed him higher than 3rd.

(note: I wrote this on like an hour of sleep, this may be the worst amrev take ever)

Edited, 24th of February: Got reminded of this post's existence thanks to a comment by @c0ckmuncher pointing out how inaccurate one of these takes was and checked it again and safe to say I'm never posting anything late night ever again, the rankings have now been changed to better suit what I actually think of these men

[silkythewriter]

“I see her in you, you have those same eyes I fell in love with all those century’s ago”

Summary!: He knew he would find you again, he could recognize that soul from miles away. You were a lost lover of his you just didn’t know but he’ll make you fall for him all over again. And that’s a promise// Plot for this request: recreated S/O

Small warning!: Their will be mentions of abuse I understand if you feel uncomfortable please ignore this post and continue your day! Take care of yourself and there’s always someone out their to help you! Take care//sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes

Small note!: this was requested by anon in Messages <3/all ideas from anon!

Fandom!: Hellsing

Daily song suggestion!:

He knew it was you, the minute you came in eye range he knew it was you. You were all the same as he remembered all those centuries ago, those glowing eyes, and that beautiful face

You were at your house, hiding and holding a gun you barely know how to use. But you had to make do as a small group of ghouls destroyed your street And multiple have broken down your front door in order to get in. You didn’t know how much time you had left Considering how loud the groans and clawing at the bed room door.

You had hidden in the far Conor of a small closet you had. You desperately tried to steady your breath, it felt as if your heart was about to jump out of your chest and run away. You said a few prayers as you put your free hand over the neck less of the cross Alexander gave you that laid on your chest and shut your eye hopping for some mercy from whatever god was up there. But then you heard the old wooden door creek in agony as it burst open giving in to the ghouls that knocked it down. You cursed yourself for not replacing the old thing, you mumbled your last words before shutting your eyes waiting for something to burst into the closet. Yet nothing came

You listened intently waiting for a familiar groan or a creek of a floor board but the room stayed silent. You only softly open the door of the closet leaving a small crack for you to see in, you looked out and scanned around the room but seeing nothing. You took this as a time to run and burst out of the closet before bolting out of the room, but you suddenly got tackled to the ground making your head bang against it roughly making some blood trickle down you’d forehead. But you paid no mind to it and quickly shifted to get the ghoul off you, once freed you pointed the gun at it getting ready to pull the trigger but suddenly you felt someone behind you. You turned slowly as horror paired your face, a ghoul had been standing behind you jaw open getting ready to bite down on your skull but suddenly a gloved had shot through its chest making blood splatter on you, you stumbled back in shock as the other ghoul was shot straight through the head

Finally once the ghouls body fell to the floor you met face to face with a black haired man, his orange glasses covering his eyes. You only looked the other way to see where the shot was fired only to see a blond girl a bit younger then you wave awkwardly as she gave a small worried smile “I- what- who are you guys?!” You yelled in bewilderment as you kept shift your eyes to one and the other “wait it’s alright! We’re not here to hurt you!” The blonde girl said as she waved both her hands in defense. You only stared at them as your head began thumping and your eyes fell in and out of focus, the injury to your head finally caught up to you as your legs became unstable. You placed one of your hands on your head and the other on the cross before mumbling incoherent words and passing out

Once your eyes fluttered opened you looked around the small plain room you were in, you shifted a bit to get a better view before realizing you were in a bed with a Cotten sheet thrown over you “what the? Where am I?” You questioned yourself in confusion as to how you got here, only for a man to answer your question “you are at the Hellsing Manor, sorry for the rude intrusion M’lady” a Radom voice said making you jump slightly. You scanned the room before spotting an old man in the door way who you assumed to be some kind of servant due to his clothing. You only nodded even in more confusion as you never heard of it “I left you some fresh clothes right at the end of your bed, once done just call me over and I’ll take you to sir intigra, oh and you may call me Walter I apologize for my rudeness” he said giving a small bow before walking off leaving you alone once again

You quickly got out of the bed still confused and scared but deciding maybe following along for now would be a good idea (Plot convince ay?) you put on the clothes left for you before wondering out of the room and walking a bit trying to determine if there was any exist. But after a few minutes you quickly got lost in the big mansion, you could have sworn you passed the same picture frame multiple times. After a few more minutes you finally gave up and called for the black haired man as you awkwardly stood next to a random plot plant

Once he arrived he quickly escorted you to a big office with a big window in it, the moon being the only light source. “Sir Integra's, she has awoken would you like me to leave her with you?” Walter said as he made a sign to move forward which you did, you were waiting for a man to answer but got confused when a woman told him to pull you a seat while waving her hand to dismiss him. Once he pulled out a seat for you near her office desk he took his leave and left the two of you alone

Finally the woman looked up from her paper work and her eyes met yours, you only gulped as a pit formed in your throat. You were quick to look away as you scratched the back of your neck. She noticed your discomfort and only sighed explaining the situation, the best way to sum up the conversation is basically her dumping the information about you being the past lover of a vampire of hers and how you got here, when I say you where shocked,shook,confused,flabbergasted,and absolutely dumbfounded I mean it, I mean it not a normal occurrence that you find out you were a past partner to some 500+ year old demon. She didn’t pay any mind to your shock and simply explained that you’d be staying here while your head recovers and most likely working here if you want to keep a steady income. You didn’t take this to well as you can expect and tried arguing with her even trying to bribe her to let you out but she didn’t budge and only kept on explaining on what you’ll be working as for the organization

Needless to say you were confused angry and overall overwhelmed with the dump of information thrown on you, the only upside is that they let you roam around to get use to the large manor before lights out. You took this time to actually make sure you didn’t get loss and you also took notes of any exist points, finally you made your way back to your room exhausted from todays events but once you entered the room you groaned at the sight of a tall lanky man sitting at the edge of the bed. He only chuckled before standing up and walking over to you “and who are you the vampire?” You said tiredly but in a joking manner just wanting to refreshen your mood only to get totaled by reality as he laughed and answered yes

At this point you were fed up and somehow just pushed him outta your room so you could rest up cause you definitely needed it after these events

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Honestly if took some time Getting use to the new schedule you were shoved into but you made it work. But luckily you did befriend seras! She was very helpful in showing you around and some short cuts in the manor which helped you a lot! But there was also some downsides, like her helping alucard court you by “accidentally” leaving you with him, you knew damn well he made her but you most likely did have the energy to fight

This was almost a weekly to daily occurrence for you, until you finally gave in and let him talk to you and honestly it wasn’t as horrible as you would imagine you guys had a pleasant talk together as he drank what you hopped was whine of some sort but you knew better but still it’s better to imagine it as something it really isn’t. Either way Walter made you some tea to enjoy as you guys talked. It felt as if everyone was in on trying to get you with the vampire

Finally after many months ( 9 or 8 if your stubborn) you finally caved and gave it a chance but still reminded him that even if you were his past lover that doesn’t mean you owe him anything or have to be with him which he only waved off and understood

You were pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was going considering the rough start you guys had, it did take some time for the relationship to reach to reach somewhat normalcy but even then it was hard to reach that when your dating something you assumed was myth a of generations. But either way you made it work, and somehow you did end up falling for him again you can say

Once you guys got out of that awkward stage you started to warm up to calling him your partner but you did want to know more about his past life and some of yours which he gladly did but did leave out some traumatic events you probably wouldn’t like to hear, he didn’t enjoy lying to you but it was for the best

He was quick to try and get you to move your stuff to his room, like one day you walked into your room to see it completely stripped of any furniture you had. Seras just stood behind you laughing nervously and scratching her arm.” So uhm hehe funny thing- Alucard and Integra thought it would be a good idea for you to move in with alucard in his room cause of all the recent attacks, and sense your human you can’t really how do I put this lightly- uhm defend you self, NOTTOSAYYOUCANTYOUTOTALLYCANIJUSTMEAN-“ seras continued to say trying not to offend you, but you laughed off “yea I’d thought something like this would happen considering who I’m with” you said waving you hand side to side to blow it off “oh? So your not mad” she said chuckling in relief you only shrugged as already use to strange this such as this to happen, you were abit upset but if anything didn’t get broken or thrown away you didn’t really mind but you would have to be honest with yourself his room was a big off putting to say the least-

It was dimly lit and all you saw was his golden thrown, but off to the side you could make out a shape of a bed you assumed was meant to be yours, but it was a bit to big to be the old one you slept in, finally you’d decided to take another good look around. The basement was more revamped then you remember, it was more suited for a human which you happily liked but still needed some time getting use to, you also took a mental note to bring a few more candles or lights in here cause the setting was a bit off putting

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Alucard usually wants to sleep with you even if he has to sleep in a coffin, sometimes he just ditches it and lays down next to you , he doesn’t necessarily sleep but he does hold you in his arms to make sure your safe. After all those years he is hella protective now

He’s like your shadow, following you till the ends of the earth and raising when the moon is glowing as bright as those eyes he fell in love with, I won’t say he’s a hopeless romantic or anything but I will say he does know how to flatter you and compliment you

He’s more flirty then anything to be honest but on rare moments when you guys are alone he is sometimes just soft and relaxed, sometimes he just wants to be near you and hear your heart beat and breath. It’s a bit weird not gonna lie but it’s sweet to see how soft he gets around you when alone (๑˃////˂)

If you guys are alone he lets you play with his hair, it’s a bit messy at times but he always ends up cleaning it and brushing it out with your help, he just loves the feeling of your hands and nails softly drag along his scalp as you massage it with such care

You guys do have some bumps like in any relationships but your guys problems are bit more complicated, you see he wants to turn you into a vampire so he doesn’t have to see you go again, but you refuse to give up your humanity to be with him, you loved him of course but it was a no go for you, he tries convincing you hundreds upon hundreds of times but you would budge so he respected your dissuasion. He was a bit bitter but he understood why you most likely didn’t want to but he still has a small bit of hope one day you’ll agree but he knows it’s just foolish and hopeful thinking

Integra was like an aunt to you so whenever you came for comfort after anything serious like that she usually keeps you and alucard in separate rooms not for safety or anything but just for you guys to have time to yourselves and think before anything

Integra and Seras are your go to people for any help you need sense at this point after being with them and working in the manor so long you see them as more of a family then anything

Alucard may or may have not stolen some of your blood when you were bleeding form the first day you met him, Don’t worry though it’s not for anything bad, just a bit worrisome (〜￣▽￣)〜 you see he used it to mix with his blood so he knows how your feeling and such, it’s in the small heart bracelet he got you that he makes you wear 23/7 is it a bit weird? Yes- does he care? I think you guys know the answer

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Once alucard found out you were associated with Alexander himself, oh boy the tension in the air is thick

You see, Alexander is like a father figure to you, him and you go way back to your childhood, he saved you from your not so friendly guardian, he didn’t take lightly to their defense and quickly took you to the orphanage while leaving a very unholy scene for such a holy man

If you go back to the third bullet I made, you can see that he gifted you a necklace as a gift after all you are like a daughter to him

Anyway back to alucard, he didn’t find it a pleasant scene when he saw you outside the manor running over to Alexander and hugging him to death, jealousy is all that filled his thoughts but he kept his sinful smile as he waited for you to invite the man in

The fight that in sued was a very messy one, vases and other items where broken and things where thrown. seras had to step in along with Walter to pull them apart. Needless to say you were just standing In the middle watching from the side as they fought like dogs

You and alucard had a very serious talk that night 💀

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Extra<3

He loves when you sit in his lap while he sits on this thrown, it’s his favorite thing to do after getting back from fighting all day basically

Trains you to use a gun in case he’s not there on the rare chance!

Seras and you once forced him to wear makeup- how you got him to do it? She had no idea but he looked priceless

He picks you up randomly (no matter weight cmon yall his a vampire 💀) and just carries you to the room to talk about your day and chill out with him, seras finds it cute but annoying cause you two can be in the middle of a talk and you just get swiped away!

Needless to say you two are an interesting pare but he promises himself to follow you where ever you go, where ever your soul goes. He’ll follow you to the depths of hell if he needs to anything to be with you<3

[littlesparklight]

It's honestly really kind of fascinating in a way how, in the way we have it, Paris refusing to hand Helen back is enough to keep her in Troy.

By what authority, though?

He is not the king. He's not even the crown prince/oldest son!

At the very best he's a second son, but again, what authority is that? He's also not the best warrior, nor even the military leader.

He's a single man, even if he's a prince. He literally cannot keep Helen unless he's supported in this choice.

In the Iliad, what you see play out is Paris saying no, and Priam backing this up by saying "go tell the Achaeans Alexander's words". Which puts focus on Paris and his decision, but without the cooperation of his father, his brothers, literally everyone high enough to matter (and, to some degree, the rest of the city as well), his word means literally nothing.

(Of course, it doesn't matter, really; by the oath the Achaeans who were suitors are compelled to not just get Helen back, but punish the man who took her from Menelaos, regardless of personal feelings. Too, you have Zeus planning the war and either needing or wanting a certain amount of dead, for Gaia's sake, for the end of the heroic era/race of men, or for Helen's kleos.)

Not even the tradition gives us any good reason as to why Paris' say-so is enough for everyone to just fall in line aside from token protests (Antenor) and blame given; it just is so. Helen can't be going home before Troy falls, and Troy falls at the very end, after even Paris is dead, his refusal shown to not actually matter for Helen's presence or not in Troy.

Later adaptations become more curious in a way, too.

Playing to the romance angle, Menelaos is often made into a bad husband and Helen thus "freed". The Trojans then, no matter how angry at Paris, willing to sacrifice to save one woman from a bad marriage. (Troy 2004 for example, but hardly the only one.)

And then you have, like, Paris the Musical, where Paris' desire to keep Helen comes directly up against both Hektor and Priam's anger and desire for her to be sent back. And despite basically two songs - she gets to stay.

Paris says no, and despite firm demands of his father, Priam and Hektor in-between Hell and High Water and No Turning Back never went through on those. Decided, instead, to let Paris and Helen stay together.

And why? We don't know. No reason (quite literally!) given.

It just is, with some additional heaping of blame on Paris, regardless of the fact that he was going to be killed and was imprisoned and the Greeks were planning war no matter what, and that Helen had to break him out and rescue him. He might have fallen in love with her, but he didn't "take her with you" like Hektor so scornfully sings. He couldn't have taken anyone unless rescued!

It's this sort of insistent thread, woven through from the very beginning to now. Paris says no, and that's that - despite that he, in the version of tradition as we have it, has no authority to enforce his claim.

(Unless we should, perhaps, lean on the unsaid power of divine gifts, and that, once offered, they can neither be refused nor given up.)

[spectres-fulcrum]

Okay purely Hamilton musical verse but Meet Me Inside drives me insane because it's such an emotional song(but also lowkey is so borderline romantic confession). Like you can tell that they've been arguing over this for weeks-about Hamilton getting a command for a while. And Hamilton is being obtuse and doesn't realize. That Washington dies everytime he prattles on about a command. About glory and status.

About all the things Washington doesn't give a damn about because he. just. needs. Alexander. alive. And Hamilton doesn't realize cause he just wants. But it's not about wants.

And if you strip the song of all contexts and histories, there's a universe where this song is about George is in love and terrified to risk Alexander and Alexander is too glory obsessed to realize what he holds in his careless hands(Ooh, I love that line. Too glory obsessed to realize what he holds in his careless hands. I cooked there). Like I've thought for such a long while the tension building in that song should lead to a kiss

If not for historical context. For Eliza and John and Lafayette(EDIT: AND MARTHA OMG I did not forget Martha! To be fair I was very much thinking of the Hamilton musical squad and they left her out so it's not my fault. It's Lin's for leaving out our very wonderful very first First Lady so blame him :< ) and we obviously know they weren't historically but in the musical their dynamics are kinda sorta like.

It's such an emotional song that it'd be so easy to make it romantic.

And then you have everything else-Washington knowing Hamilton got Eliza pregnant, Alex having woken up fearing John would die that morning in the duel, the tension of Washington shrugging off Lee's disrespect and John and Alex taking it all personally.

Like no wonder weeks of arguments finally bubbled over and Hamilton was finally sent home that day.

Idk this has just been bouncing in my head for weeks and needed to be freed everytime I listen to that goddamn song cause I'm like "Hammie you're an idiot for not getting it when a man tells you he needs you alive in that voice. Like that's a very clear I'm deeply in love with you and I need you alive please stop asking this of me I cannot send you to die" Cause I would die for Christopher Jackson telling me he needed me in that voice.

[batrogers]

LINK, OF ORDON Twilight Princess

[From my Link's Meet AU, That Broken Promise]

GENDER: Male (amab) PRONOUNS: He/Him HEIGHT: 5'0" AGE: 29 HEALTH: Severe facial scars

WEAPONS: Sword ITEMS: Cursed pendant, Horse call, Hawkeye, Steel crampons SPELLS: None

Ordon was kidnapped when Zant overran the Kingdom of Hyrule and sealed in the Hyrule Castle jail as a transformed wolf. He was rescued by Midna and, with her help and Zelda’s, he broke the Light Spirits free of the Twilight and retrieved the Fused Shadow for her use. After a near miss, they destroyed Zant and freed Zelda of Ganondorf’s curse (at the cost of several scars to his face) and destroyed him.

Ordon is an agreeable young man who went home and tried to regain his normal life. He hasn’t done as well as he hoped, sleeping with both Ilia and Zelda while trying to ease feelings of discomfort he cannot pin down the cause for. He keeps the cursed shard in memory of Midna despite it’s effect on him. Ilia knows of his liaisons with Zelda, and her reaction was only to ask if he was okay. In much the same way, for the same reasons, she has slept with others herself.

Ordon speaks easily, is illiterate, and is functional with sign language. Glossed as ASL.

Ordon’s never wondered who all he’s into before besides the obvious, but is game for most anything and generally likes people and likes sex.

CURRENT MEDIA: In The Hand of Fate, rated E for gore A Drink of the Forbidden Cup, rated E for sex and consensual gore Not to Me, Not if its You, rated M for moderately graphic injury Unwise, Unknown, & Forbidden, rated E for graphic violence The Mortification of Ordon, rated T for flirting Don’t Be So Gentle, M to E-rated short fiction

Songs from the playlist for Ordon: Fairytale, by Alexander Rybak Honey, I’m Good, by Andy Grammer S & M, by Rihanna

[solarisrasa]

Heart's Balm, Soul's Harbor

At twelve years old, Alexander Lightwood received a gift he neither wanted nor asked for: The Warlock Magnus Bane and his daemon.

With his own daemon unsettled and Magus Bane's status as High Warlock and enemy of the Clave, Alec makes a choice to free the man, only to realize too late that his daemon cannot be freed with him.

Rating: M

Word Count: 19k

Warnings: metaphysical assault, kidnapping, minor descriptions of violence/blood

Ship: Malec

Huge thank you to my beta @forensicsisabelle who even jumped on this morning to edit the last bit, since I am perpetually running late <3 You've been a gem and kept my comma's straightened out!

Art by the absolutely amazing @cam-ryt who has been very lovely even though we're both very busy!

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2023: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Find it in the collection here

When Alexander Lightwood was twelve years old, he gained a terrible secret, he stole something sacred from another.

Well, not quite stole it, exactly. He kept it, without consent or permission, yes, but it was all to keep the other safe.

But that's the wrong place to start. To start, it was Alec's birthday, and he was turning twelve, and there were gifts...

The morning came crisp and clear and Alec was already dreading it. Birthdays were meant to be exciting, as Izzy always reminded him, time to celebrate and have cake. She was always thrilled for her birthday, but she was the younger of them, and their parent's didn't do the same things. 

Also, Izzy liked parties and people. Alec would prefer just his friends, Jace and Izzy and maybe a few of the boys he sometimes had lessons with, but that never worked out. His parents were determined to prove their eldest was growing into a strong Shadowhunter and someone who could one day lead the institute. Alec's birthday was as much about showing off their own abilities as leaders as Izzy's birthdays were about celebrating her. Jace's birthday was a quiet thing the last two years, though there was still a display of weapons, and his twelfth birthday would be just as big as Alec's, but he was allowed time to adjust to people. Not that he needed it, Jace would be the darling of the evening, and Alec much preferred that. Mostly.

This year he was old enough to take missions. His party, accordingly, was a political affair. Families with children in his age group or slightly older were invited, as he would patrol with their kids and someday, if his mother was right, lead them.

The dread only intensified when his daemon, Ranimirus, curled closer to him. A male daemon was rare for a male Shadowhunter, and Rani stayed quiet most of the time to keep their secret. Even his parent's didn't know. Izzy, with her curiosity, had guessed, though Alec had never confirmed it and was careful to keep Rani away from her daemon. Jace just knew, but that was okay. Jace had kept every one of Alec's secrets, and his own daemon, Kaie, was Rani's favored friend. Rani, a cozy puffball that was curled in against Alec's throat, made a face like he expected to be reprimanded and promptly changed into a sparrow.

Alec closed his eyes. "You didn't settle."

"No," came the little bird voice, sad and frustrated.

"It's alright. It's probably my fault," Alec said, holding his hands out for his daemon to land in, nuzzling against the little bird who chirped reproachfully at his self-deprecation.

"Lots us people's daemons don't settle until they’re a little older," Rani told him, even though they both knew that his parents were going to be disappointed. They said that a settled daemon by hunting age was a sign of a good, strong leader.

"We could pretend," Alec nearly whispered.

Rani fluttered into the air, changing to a magpie and croaking out a sound of distress. He was right, Alec was never good at holding his emotions fully in check on his birthday, though he did well enough that only Rani's unsettled form gave him away. It would hurt Rani to try and hold back the natural shifts that reflected Alec's changing moods, deep as they ran. 

"I suppose starting the day by disappointing them isn't that unusual," he said, watching Rani's form shrink until he was a tiny hummingbird, colors all muted brown.

"Do you remember, before?" Rani asked him, his tone gone strange. It was the same voice he used when he was asking Alec questions only a daemon could know to ask, one's that dug at Alec's heart and made him think.

He closed his eyes, recalling the feeling of his mother's hugs and laughter, his father's large hand steadying him instead of pushing him. It was warm and safe to be with them and there was a hazy recollection of a cake with candles, his mother singing. There were four candles on the cake.

"No," he lied. Rani dropped onto his shoulder, a moth now, barely bigger than his thumbnail.

-

Late into the evening, with Alec and Jace sitting on the back steps, both sweaty and tired after their weapons display for the party, a man drew near with his mother.

"Jace, go find some water for the two of you," Maryse commanded, with a slight smile for her adopted son. Jace's gaze darted between the three of them, Kaie shuffling uneasily on his shoulder. She was a gorgeous falcon who rarely changed anymore, and Alec felt the pang of knowing Jace would outstrip him in this too. 

"Jace," Maryse repeated, smile drying up.

"Going, going." Jace held up his hands and shot Alec an eye roll at their mother's antics before dashing inside.

Alec knew, as well as Jace did, that his mother wanted him alone. Her wolf daemon, Soledad, paced a neat perimeter behind him as soon as Jace left. 

She sat primly on the step beside him, tugging her skirt into place, and the man with her, half-familiar to Alec, came to stand looming over them. His daemon was a magpie with greedy black eyes that hopped along behind him as he walked. It looked much crueler than Rani's own magpie form that morning, and its beak was held open strangely.

"This is John, Alec. He's come from Idris to celebrate your birthday and he has a gift for you." 

The man, John (undoubtedly another Johnathan, for there were many among Shadowhunters), gave him a distasteful look but dipped his head in greeting just the same.

"Thank you for making the journey, your presence is gift enough," Alec recited, aware of what his mother expected of him. "Any further gift you bring is appreciated and welcomed."

John's distaste lightened some, an appraising light entering his eyes instead, and Alec hated that more. With a practiced motion, he drew his stele through the air just behind his daemon and a large cage shimmered into place, unglamoured now. The magpie daemon was holding a rope connected to the cage, clearly pulling it along. Now that it was visible the bird’s mouth hanging open didn’t seem so odd. Alec forced himself to look at the cage, pushing down the shocked flush of heat, anger and shame, that rose in his chest. 

Curled together in the bottom of the cage, limbs pressed uncomfortably against the bars, were a man and his daemon. They were both unconscious and the man was covered in an ill-fitting, thin plain brown shirt and pants. His daemon was some kind of large cat, its thick fur was marbled black and brown, and Alec thought it was almost as beautiful as the man. He immediately stopped looking at them, schooling his expression into something neutral as best he could. Rani was beside him, a small brown cat himself with fur tufted in a display of discomfort that Alec quickly stepped in front of to hide.

"Is that-?" Maryse started, and Alec watched his mother closely. She sounded shocked, and though her expression was one of mild interest, he thought there was some frightened thing in her eyes.

John grinned, a wide display of his teeth that drew a soft hiss from Rani. "It is. Magnus Bane, the High Warlock. My men caught him and his daemon two days ago, and I thought he was a fitting gift for your heir. After all, the Lightwoods have a long history with Bane."

Maryse leaned down, like she wanted a better look, but Alec didn't miss the strange, regretful look in her eyes. He didn't want to know. He wished John had never been invited, he wished he could have a quiet birthday again, with cake and candles and his family smiling. He wished-

Rani's claws caught his pant leg before the thought could fully form, his little cat body trembling and his eyes wide.

Alec would think it again, many times.

He wished he never had another birthday.

-

When everyone was asleep, the guests mostly gone except those close enough to his parents to have stayed late talking and eventually sleeping, Alec and Jace snuck to the room where his mother had bid John to put the caged warlock. The cage only held his daemon now, the cat was curled tightly, but when the door opened a pair of golden eyes flashed in the sliver of witchlight from Jace's cupped palms. The cat came to its feet all at once, mouth open and teeth showing with a hiss.

"Raziel," Jace swore as Alec stumbled back into him, Rani and Kaie as falcons quietly flapping in alarm overhead. The cat's teeth were huge.

"Hush Cahya," a rough voice said in the dark to the right of the cage, a hand coming into the witchlight with ruined nail polish glittering as it reached for the daemon, tugging to a stop just out of range. A manacle, silvery and hard to look at, gleamed in the light, and the daemon, Cahya, twisted so its long tail slid through the bars and touched the hand.

"Come to see the captured monster?" the voice continued as Jace let the witchlight fill the room.

It was the warlock, Magnus, who sat on a bare cot with his feet chained to the wall, allowing him enough motion to kneel or lay on the bed but not enough to properly stand. He had dark hair, and Alec was struck again by his pretty features, though he looked exhausted and bitter.

"Alec can come see you if he wants to, you're-" Jace started, with his usual heat. He was offended at something, though Alec had no idea what this captured man could've done.

"Jace," Alec said, voice soft. Behind them on the floor, Rani bumped Kaie gently. Both Jace and his daemon understood immediately. Alec needed a moment.

Jace handed him the witchlight and turned to guard the door, Kaie fluttering up to his shoulder as he went.

Magnus watched this with a small frown, and Alec noted his eyes were like his daemon's, yellow-gold with slit pupils that thinned in the light. He waited until he was sure Jace was outside before he spoke again. "This is Rani."

Rani changed into a small black and white monkey and waved one little hand. "Hello."

If Magnus thought the daemon's distinctly male voice was strange, he didn't show it, only looked suspiciously between them.

"Is it okay with the two of you, if Rani checks to see if, if your daemon is hurt?" Alec asked, hands held out from his body, the witchlight sitting in his open palm.

"I am not injured," a smoky female voice said. "I am only weak because the bars are filled with your angel metals, and I do not have the flesh of nephilim in my teeth."

Alec didn't flinch at that, though Rani backed away from the cage a little. He wouldn't blame them for being angry. He didn't understand how his parents could've accepted this in the first place, why they had allowed John to give him a person. Even if the downworld was nearly at war with the Clave, even if his mother and father had been a touch too close to Valentine before he died, this was...this was wrong.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, "Okay. Rani won't go near you. Are you alright, Magnus?"

Magnus gave him a long look, the bitter, wary twist to his mouth softening some. "Oh, grand, thanks, very nice cell here. Tell whoever set it up I hope they choke." He sounded very sweet at the end there and Alec's lip twitched a little, though his heart was still hammering. Cat eyes focused on him, "You know my name. Who are you?"

Alec sighed, "Alec. I'm-" He remembered John's words, the Lightwood's had a history with Magnus Bane. He remembered his mother's uncharacteristic regret, her fear. The feeling of something deeply wrong settled in deeper.

"I'm Alec Lightwood. A man gifted you to me for my twelfth birthday. I don't know why, but I-" There was a rapid knock, Jace signaling him they needed to go. Rani darted to him, running up his leg and settling on his shoulder as Magnus stared at him, mouth slightly open and something dark and angry in his eyes.

Alec hurried toward the door, looking back long enough to make a promise to Cahya and Magnus, "I will get you out."

-

"We can't," Jace hissed, back in his room. Alec was sitting on the end of Jace's bed, Rani curled around his shoulders as a mink.

"It's dangerous," Kaie added, her voice soft, pained. She hopped closer to Alec on the bed, never touching, but close. "We've seen those cuffs before. They're keeping his magic contained. It's almost impossible to remove them without the right key."

Alec bit his lip, he knew his eyes were already rimmed red. He was trying very hard not to snap at either of them, he knew they were just as frightened as he was, even if Jace was trying to hide it. They knew, more than anyone, what Shadowhunters might do to a captive warlock. Valentine had kept Jace, had taught him and raised him and tortured him. They knew.

"What if we find the key?" Rani's voice came, muffled against his throat, but clear enough.

"They won't stop hunting him," Jace pointed out.

Alec curled tighter in on himself where he sat, and Jace sighed, falling to sit beside him. They were kids, though only barely by Nephilim standards, and they didn't know what to do.

"What about..." Kaie started and then fluttered her wings, to whisper quietly between them, "What about Ragnor?"

The warlock who had been a teacher, who lived at the edge of Idris and who was known for killing Shadowhunters on the spot if they approached without warning. The Clave left him alone, partially because too many of their number remembered him as a teacher, a friendly face, and partially because it was said his friends could set Idris aflame.

Jace looked thoughtful, and Alec rubbed his hands together slowly, thinking over the suggestion. If they could see Ragnor, he could help and more than that, if the rumors were true he might even come get Magnus himself, and they wouldn't be in any trouble. Except, Alec didn't like the idea of putting someone else in danger. 

"Tomorrow," Jace started. "Tomorrow we can ask Maryse, tell her we want to go into Brocelin together, to work on our connection. Ragnor's is reachable if we follow the edge of the forest, and no one will bother sticking around to watch us out there."

Kaie clicked her beak. "The wolf packs have been forced deep into the forest, so there's barely any danger."

Alec let out a breath slowly, pressing his hands together harder even as Jace nudged him with his shoulder. Rani pressed his soft nose tight to Alec's throat in response to the dizzy feeling that was making Alec's extremities tingle. 

"If we ask tomorrow, hopefully she lets us go soon. I don't think it's a good idea to let Magnus stay here too long." Alec looked at Jace as he spoke and found his best friend looked as grim as he felt at the prospect.

-

Izzy woke them, her cloud of dark hair a messy tangle as she jumped on them both where they'd fallen asleep on Alec's bed. Chilo nearly blended in with the dark strands where he was laying over her shoulders. He made a displeased flicking motion with his forked tongue as her rambunctious bouncing dislodged him and he changed into a sparrow just in time to avoid smacking into Jace's face.

"Iz!" Jace said, rolling away from her as she laughed, ignoring Alec grumbling in annoyance.

"C'mon, c'mon! Mom wants everyone down for breakfast!" she said, poking repeatedly at Alec's arm until he was moving fast enough for her. Jace was spared the prodding because he rolled to his feet and quickly fled, Kaie soaring after him.

"I'm going, Iz," Alec said, swatting half-heartedly at his little sister's sharp fingered hands. 

"Dad wants to talk to you about your presents, he said. I don't know why, they were all boring. You got soooo many books, and not even ones about swords or anything!" She flopped back on his bed with a huff and Chilo landed on her chest as a ferret, wiggling everywhere.

"We need to comb our hair!" he told her, and Izzy giggled as Alec tried to keep the worry off his face. His father wanting to talk about gifts wasn't good. His stomach felt tight, and he had to swallow before he could speak to Izzy.

"See? You're in here annoying me, and you're not even ready for breakfast," he said, hoping she wouldn't notice how tight his voice sounded.

"You take longer," she said, sticking her tongue out at him for good measure and then running away.

Rani hummed in worry, still a furry scarf at Alec's throat.

"I know. We need to though, we can't be weird about it or it could be bad for helping Magnus." He raised a hand and brushed against Rani's copper fur, the same shade it was the night before. He felt a flare of hope, but then Rani was shifting under his hands. He turned into a lizard the length of Alec's palm and climbed into his hair, settling comfortably.

The hope Rani had settled crumbled again, and Alec tried to forget it as he dressed. There was more to worry about.

-

His father was waiting for him in the hallway where Magnus was being kept. He was staring off into the distance while his coyote daemon paced around his legs. Both of them seemed unsettled and Alec braced himself.

"Dad?" 

Robert blinked, and both he and Tristana turned toward Alec like he was unexpected, even though they'd asked for him.

"Alec. Good. There's something we need to do with your gift from John," his father said, like they weren't talking about a person. 

Alec gritted his teeth and felt Rani's little body twist in his hair, no doubt trying to hold himself in check. He managed to nod and his father reached for the door, only to hesitate with his fingers inches from the door.

"It won't hurt them," Robert assured him, and the sick feeling in Alec's stomach lessened a little.

"It's just a way to make sure they won't run away." Robert nodded once, not looking at Alec, and opened the door.

Magnus was sitting on the cot, his back against the wall. The circles under his eyes looked deeper and more like bruises in the overhead spill of diffused witchlight than they had the night before. In the cage, Cahya was only a pair of hateful eyes watching them over her paws, her long tail tucked close to her body.

"I don't know if John told you who-" his father started, not bothering to greet Magnus or his daemon in any way. Tristana stayed in the doorway behind Alec, blocking him in.

Alec swallowed his fear, forcing himself to meet Magnus' eyes.

"Magnus Bane. The High Warlock. He said he thought he was a fitting gift for the Lightwood heir." Alec's voice was flat, and he knew his expression was as empty as he could manage. The tiny light in Magnus' eyes dimmed, and Alec very, very carefully didn't look at his father as Rani turned into a miniscule snake and sunk little fangs into Alec's scalp, both of them working to stay grounded.

Robert stepped in front of Cahya's cage, and Magnus broke eye contact with Alec, staring at his father instead, his face cool.

"Robert. Good to know you're as pathetic as ever, other men giving your son gifts well above his worth." Magnus made a show of stretching. "Maryse was always the one of you with any real talents, sad that your heir-" He raked Alec with a look of disdain that Alec pointedly didn't react to, "-seems to have taken after you."

Alec loved his father. Once, when he was much smaller, he had dreamed of being like his father with his kind smile and his gentle hands. Then he had begun to grow and understand. His father was weak, the smile was empty, and what Alec had thought was gentle was Robert's inability to commit himself, a fluttering and uncertain way of touching everything. The only times his father showed strength was with Maryse beside him, and even that was more a muted support of her. Magnus couldn't know the way his words twisted in Alec's chest, and if he did, well...Alec supposed he might have earned them.

He could have tried harder to get Magnus out the night before. If he was really good the way he wanted to be, he would have taken Jace's original advice, before they'd snuck in to see Magnus, he would have gone in with a sword and damn anyone in the way. He swallowed against what had felt like smart caution in the dark but seemed more like cowardice in the light.

Robert didn't respond to Magnus, he was opening a small cupboard built into the wall just out of reach of Cahya's cage. 

"John was testing us. He's done quite well, politically, but your mother and I are in a better position with the new consul. The unrest in the Downworld and the tightening of Idris' borders means that those of us who can do what must be done are gaining value. I don't know how John caught Bane, though I plan to find out-" Alec had to swallow fear and he saw the way Cahya's lips pulled back at the threat, "-but I know that he didn't seriously believe we could hold him. Magnus Bane is the High Warlock for a reason. He's terribly dangerous, and giving him as a gift to you is ridiculous." 

Robert brought down a bowl and a bottle with thick grey something in it, holding it so Magnus couldn't see it.

"Giving him to Jace might've made some sense, but it's well known that you aren't as strong as your brother." He unstopped the bottle and poured it into the bowl. "Magnus would have you in his palm within a week. But, John has never understood that Lightwoods stick together. You might be too weak alone, but I can help." 

Alec's muscles were locked so tight he was surprised he hadn't fallen over. His father had always made it apparent he preferred Jace, but never had he so plainly called Alec weak and lesser. Doing it here, in front of a captured man, was probably his father's idea of making a point, of motivating Alec to work harder. Worse, whatever they were in there for was going to make it harder to free Magnus.

"Give me your hand." 

Alec did, unable to think around the hurt and confusion and fear.

Robert slashed his palm, adding his blood to the bowl. Alec watched it drip in and distantly remembered his lessons, the way that Nephilim saw blood magic. His father taking his blood like this was a terrible taboo and a worse violation. 

Rani fluttered in his hair, a swallow suddenly. 

"Perfect." Robert's hand closed around his daemon and Alec's vision went strange, he swore he heard Magnus crying out, but couldn't focus. It felt like someone had shoved something cold and awful down his throat and squeezed his heart. Then there was a tugging and some part of him twisted over itself and he was falling.

Alec landed on his side on the floor, and Rani fell next to him, both of them shuddering and gasping as Rani changed into the smallest moth he could and pressed against Alec's pulse. There was the sound of something growling and hissing and chains and yelling, but he couldn't make out words. He sucked in another breath and his stomach lurched and then he was rolling on instinct, vomiting on the floor. He stared at it, trying to get his breath back and understand what his father had just done to him.

He looked up, feeling the way that spit and vomit were on his face and tears were running messily down his cheeks.

His father wasn't looking at him. Instead he was working on whatever was in the bowl together. He looked toward Magnus and found the warlock already looking at him, his face twisted in disgust. It didn't seem like disgust at Alec, rather for him. 

"I'm sorry," his father said, and Alec's head snapped back to him. He was filling a large syringe, one of the types without a needle, from the bowl. The liquid was thick and pink, probably from the blood in it, and it was hard to reconcile it, the shuddery terror still coursing through Alec, the captive in the room, all of it, with one of his mother's plain white bowls, the same kind Alec ate cereal out of most mornings. 

Robert turned to the cage, and Magnus and Alec both moved. Alec tried to crawl forward, his head swimming, and Magnus lurched to the end of his chains. 

"Wait-" Alec moaned, dragging himself upright. He tried to get to his feet, but it was too much too fast and blackness rushed in over the sight of his father reaching for the caged daemon.

-

Ragnor had let them in only after a wall of flame that rolled over both him and Jace. It hadn't hurt them, only left a terrible taste in their mouths and left Alec feeling especially off balance, though that was easier to do since his father's hand had closed around Rani two days ago. Jace slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him toward the door a scowling green warlock was holding open impatiently.

"Well, neither of you are here to kill me, capture me, torture me, or bore me, so out with it," Ragnor, because that was the only person the green man with horns could possibly be, barked at them. He dropped into a chair, a cup of tea and saucer finding their way into his hands as part of the movement in a way that Alec honestly couldn't say was magic. His daemon was nowhere to be seen.

"We're here about Magnus Bane," Jace said.

The teacup clicked harshly against the saucer, and Ragnor set both aside, magic misting visibly over his hands. "What's the Clave want with the High Warlock?"

Jace opened his mouth to reply, hand still resting on the hilt of his blade, and Alec decided now was the time to step in.

"We're not here because the Clave sent us. No one else knows we've come to see you." Ragnor's eyebrows raised, and there was a spark of meanness in his eyes that Alec didn't acknowledge. "A man captured Magnus Bane and his daemon-"

"Ridiculous." Ragnor cut him off, relaxing back in his chair. "Magnus? Maybe. Magnus and Cahya? No. Cahya's got every bit of sense between them, and she would never allow it." 

Alec and Jace shared a look, uncomfortable with correcting Ragnor, but aware they needed to make him believe them.

"I don't know much about them, but a few days ago was my birthday, and another Shadowhunter I'd never met brought me a gift. He said it was because of my family's history with Magnus Bane. He gave Magnus and Cahya to me. I've seen them. We spoke to Magnus, we snuck into the room my mother put them in to check on them that night." Alec swallowed. He didn't want to explain what had happened with his father, he hadn't even told Jace about it yet.

Ragnor's green skin went very pale as he sat forward again, his eyes sharp. "You're absolutely certain Magnus wasn't casting an illusion? Warlocks and their daemons can travel very far from each other. He could be pretending that Cahya is with him."

Alec shook his head slowly, and Kaie spoke up from where she was perched on Jace's shoulder. "There was definitely a daemon in that room."

"She spoke to Rani," Alec said, gesturing to his sleeve where Rani clung as a sugar-glider. "Magnus was also wearing magic-sealing shackles, so he wouldn't be able to cast any spell, he can't even hide his mark. Please." Alec licked his lips and took a step closer to Ragnor.

"Please. We have to get him out."

Ragnor looked at him for a long moment, then to Jace. His expression was grave when he nodded. "Of course we do. He's a major leader of the downworld...and my best friend, fool that I am."

Jace cleared his throat, his hand no longer on the hilt of his weapon. "If we free him, Maryse and Robert aren't going to just write it off. They're going to want to get him back, preferably before anyone realizes he's gone, and if they can't do that..."

Alec swallowed hard. "It would be a huge embarrassment to them. They wouldn't stop hunting him, to prove themselves again. My father is convinced Magnus was given to me as a test. He did something with my blood and...more, to keep them bound."

He didn't know what the potion, because that's what it had to be, his father had made actually did, but he figured it was worth mentioning, if they were going to succeed in freeing Magnus. Ragnor didn't seem so concerned about it though, as he gestured for them to sit, finally.

"We'll have to plan to get Magnus out of his chains. You'll need his help. The best way to ensure that he isn't forced to spend the next decade running from the Clave, and the most helpful thing for the Downworld as well, is to fake his death. You understand, of course, that if we do this neither of you can breathe a word, not under duress, not ever?" He stared at each of them in turn.

Kaie made a soft sound, shuffling, and Jace nodded. Alec pressed a fist to his heart, a Shadowhunter gesture of promise. "Not even with a hand on the sword." 

Ragnor sat back again, watching them without a word for long enough that Jace started to fidget.

"I'm trusting you with much. If your intentions were anything less than pure, the flames you crossed would've killed you. You will have to pass through them again when you leave."

Alec didn't have any doubt as he nodded, and beside him he felt Jace do the same. They had agreed, ages ago, that they wanted to help. They were supposed to hold the line against the darkness, not kill anyone who didn't fit their worldview, not police the Downworld. Jace, especially, wanted to earn redemption that Alec didn't think he needed, after being raised by Valentine. The man was dead, but his ideology was rampant in the Clave, re-skinned and made palatable as "for the greater good" and "for their own good."

Maybe, Alec thought, as the three of them began to plan, this was the first step for Jace and him toward something bigger.

Cahya was limp at the foot of his bed. Her breathing was labored, her body curled tight and trembling, and Alec was pressed against his headboard, watching her as he tried to get himself under control before someone came looking for them.

His hands were shaking. Pressed close to his heart, Rani was a tiny moth, wings fluttering lightly against him and their bond thrumming with worry. 

Magnus was free. Enough blood, a man literally burst into pieces and strewn around the room, another glamoured to look like the warlock and locked into one of the shackles, and it was a believable failed escape attempt. They—Magnus, Alec, and Jace—had agreed that Jace was the more believable option. Even now he was reporting to Robert and Maryse what had happened, how he'd been passing by with Alec and heard a commotion, how they had watched Magnus obliterate his guards, and how Jace had managed to slip in fast enough to stab Cahya, how the daemon had burst into golden sparks and the warlock had died instantly.

The real complication was explaining why Alec's daemon was a clouded leopard. 

It was the part that had failed.

Magnus had agreed to go only after Cahya had whispered with him frantically when they discovered she couldn't leave the boundary of the Lightwood estate. His dark eyes had been murderous, and Alec had easily promised to keep her safe. 

The door burst open, pulling him out of his reverie, and Cahya came to her feet, long teeth exposed in threat.

His mother stared, Soledad growling from her side, but Cahya was not Rani, who had learned to yield to the older daemon, and she didn't back down. Maryse's eyes darted from the daemon to Alec, and he couldn't read her at all. She was a stranger to him, more than ever before.

"What. is. that?" she asked, each word a blade.

Alec forced himself to set a hand on Cahya's back and hush her the same way he would've calmed Rani. His tongue felt too big in his mouth, and his fingers clenched in her fur against the wrongness of doing it. He forced down the feeling. He had to keep her safe.

"It's-"

Jace's angry voice came from behind her. "Alec!" Then his brother was pushing past her and Soledad, Kaie pointedly landing next to Cahya and pushing her beak through the fur of Cahya's face, a gesture she'd done to Rani a hundred times when Alec was stressed. It was bizarre to see it and not feel the comfort of it. Against his chest, Rani struggled to hold the smaller form.

"I told her you were in shock, that Rani had taken on the form because you've never seen a daemon die," Jace whispered to him quickly, hugging him tightly, and Alec was glad. He knew that his parents would never respect him, with the way they were painting this: Jace a hero and Alec a disappointment who couldn't control his emotions. Again.

"Sorry mother." Alec didn't dare make eye contact, speaking to Maryse's chin so she might not see the lie. "Rani won't change."

Maryse made a sound, not the disappointed or disgusted one he expected, but not pleased either. Soledad calmed and spoke softly, "Are you alright, Ranimirus?"

Alec felt dizzy with gratitude for his past self. Rani had hardly spoken, even to other daemons except Kaie, had barely tolerated touches from others, and that meant the Cahya's single nod wasn't strange, that Soledad did not try to touch her the way Kaie was. He knew that many parents and children, even among Shadowhunters, allowed their daemons to show some affection. Chilo was often carried by the scruff by Soledad or Tristana when Izzy was called to dinner or her bath, but Rani and Kaie had never allowed that approach. 

Jace and Kaie had been too scarred by their time with Valentine, who would hurt Kaie to punish Jace, and Alec...well. He and Rani were naturally withdrawn and they had secrets. 

"Alec?" his mother asked, her voice even.

"We'll be fine, Mother. I'm sorry about my present," he said. He carefully stroked his hand over Cahya's spine to hide the way her fur was raised.

"It is...regretful. Magnus Bane was-" She cut herself off, and Alec looked at her face, finally. She did not look at all as he expected. There was genuine regret in the twist of her mouth, and he'd swear it looked like there was moisture in her eyes, but still she smoothed a hand over her skirt.

"It was not your fault," she said. "No one could've held Magnus Bane for long, if he didn't want them too. I have informed the Clave, and they are calling a session. John never told them he captured Bane, and I'm sure that they'll be looking to your father and I for explanations now."

"What do you think will happen?" Alec asked, trying to keep to some sort of normalcy. He always asked after these things, his parent's talking to him after Clave meetings, preparing him for leadership. Jace groaned and slumped against him carefully, uncertain where Rani was hiding.

"I can't say, but I believe this may be the match that will ignite the Downworld. Magnus was much loved, and the Clave needs to come down hard on them. I expect that Idris will be fully sealed off and the Institutes called to war. If that's the case, your father and I will be needed to command, but you children will stay here to finish training." She smoothed her skirt again. "I will make what case I can if that's what it comes to, since Max is so young."

Alec's ears were ringing as he nodded. Maryse spared another look at Cahya and left them, Soledad following closely.

When they were gone, Alec snatched his hand away from Cahya, who turned to him as Kaie squalled and hopped away from her.

"I'm sorry. I-" Alec curled his hand against his chest, where Rani was.

"Peace, little Nephilim," Cahya said in her warm voice. "I am not angry with you. I know that you have both done what you can. If Idris is sealed, Magnus will not be able to come for me."

Alec slowly shook his head. "We may have started the war."

Jace sighed heavily, "Guess that means we'll have to end it too."

There was silence between them as the words hung in the air.

-

Part II: Eleven years later

Izzy spun a blade casually, her careful eye watching the way it moved through the air. Chilo was a glitter of danger curled close to her throat, his eyes half lidded despite the slow flickers of his tongue that told Alec he was paying perfect attention.

Beside her Jace was methodically sharpening his arming sword, his main blade already gleaming and deadly on the table in front of him. Kaie, a tiny glittering coat of adamas links catching the light as she moved, was sitting on the rafter over his head. 

Around them the New York Institute turned. 

Alec's Institute. 

The Clave had declared full scale war with the Downworld on the eve of his thirteenth birthday, though Idris' borders had been sealed since the day Magnus Bane was reported dead. His parent's had been sent to New York and Los Angeles, a Lightwood on either coast to coordinate as was fitting their status. Their children were confined to Idris until they were eighteen, even though most Shadowhunters took missions much sooner than that. It was all presented as some great reward for killing Magnus, but Alec knew it for what it was. 

They were being punished for pushing the Clave into all out war before they were ready, for inciting the Downworld. His family separated. He and Jace had to prove themselves time and again to earn the right to take the parabatai oath, and Izzy outclassed all the others in their age group in science and weapon smithing and still didn't have an official rank. 

And Max.

Aldertree had sworn that Max was an accident, that no one could have known the Brocelin wolves were so close to the boundary line. That Max was only separated from his class for a moment. Aldertree had come to them with bloody clothes and Max's pendant with the flames of the Lightwood crest and spun the story.

A message had reached Alec through hidden means, meant for the rebel leader known only as "The Raven" which Alec had chosen in quiet conference with Rani and Cahya in the early days. Naturally it had created a small issue for any Nephilim with a Raven daemon when the name had come to light, but that had been resolved easily. The message had told Alec, who had told Jace and Izzy, that Max was fine. He had been purposely dragged into Brocelin and the wolves there had stopped the adult Shadowhunter from hurting him, but in the fighting Max had been scratched. He was settled with a pack in New York and was safe. The letter asked that his family be informed, if the Raven believed they were trustworthy. It was signed with a cat eye symbol.

That was six years ago.

Now Alec was officially in control of the New York Institute. His parent's marriage hadn't survived Max's alleged death. 

At his side, Cahya matched his pace as he left his siblings to make another circuit of the ops room, checking in with his people and ensuring Underhill had nothing new to report. He was in charge of both normal security and the person through which Alec's spymaster reported, though Marna had little cause to check in recently. His daemon was a great Pyrenees named Fergal with a glowing white coat that Alec had watched snap a man's spine the first time Underhill had been in the field with him. 

Underhill nodded at him and Cahya as they passed but didn't signal that they needed to speak, and Alec decided to take a detour into his office. They were as ready as they could be, just waiting for more reports to come in before they made their stance official. Alec had been working toward this moment for years, his siblings, his daemon, and Cahya with him every step of the way. 

By the end of the week, the New York Institute was going to defect, and they wouldn't be alone. His staff was at least two-thirds members of the rebellion or sympathizers, and he was ready.

He was just nervous. 

As soon as they were clear of the Clave's eyes, as soon as they officially declared for the downworld and cut their core off from Idris' reach, they were going to invite the leaders of the downworld in. Most didn't know who, exactly, had filled the High Warlock position, but Alec was certain that if he personally sent the invite, Magnus would be the one to come, not his figurehead. 

After all, one of the reasons Magnus had played dead for so long was making herself comfortable on Alec's office rug. 

Alec scrawled a locking and silencing rune on the door to his office and turned on the device Izzy had gifted him to sweep for electronic surveillance outside of the Institute camera's. His office was personally warded against magical ones, and Cahya was able to sense those anyway. 

Once he was certain no one would be able to disturb them or see them, he sank to the floor beside Cahya, and Rani came out of her fur, a tiny moth that shifted into a cat as soon as he touched Alec, purring and rubbing against him. They could rarely do this, unable to risk being caught or Rani accidentally settling. They had managed thus far to hold off the settling, which Izzy teased was why Alec was single, he'd just never really grown up. Still, they could both feel the pressure of it when they touched, the way that Rani's body wanted to become what he was meant to be, and Alec's soul ached with it.

"Soon," Rani said, kneading Alec's arm with his paws, and Alec cuddled him close to his chest.

Cahya set her big head on Alec's knee, a comfort now instead of the twisting wrongness it would've been for anyone else. They had to touch often to sell the lie, and in battle it was important to communicate with quick touches since they didn't actually have any bond to tell them where the other was. In the first years, they had nearly been caught because one of them would start running and the other wouldn't notice right away. Now they moved together as naturally as Alec ever had with Rani. 

Alec loved Cahya. Rani did too. They would miss her like a limb, but she wasn't theirs.

Rani pressed his tiny nose into Alec's body, hiding his face against him and speaking, "What are we going to do after? I don't think I'm a leopard, and we can't never settle. How do we figure it out? How do we make plans without you, Cahya?"

Cahya laughed, her honey warm laugh rumbling against Alec's knee.

"No, I don't believe you are a leopard, little Rani. You and Alec will have to see what you become. I'm looking forward to knowing, though I have my guesses." 

Alec rolled his eyes at her, burying his fingers in Rani's fur to pet him with a shaking hand.

"We'll miss you," he told her softly.

She shuffled closer to him, her eyes warm. "I won't go forever. You and Jace would be hopeless without me."

Rani laughed. "Izzy can handle them awhile."

"Yes," she acquiesced, "A while. Then Magnus and I will come help."

Once she'd hardly spoken to them, hardly said Magnus' name. She used to sit at Alec's window and watch the gate, her long tail swaying in a slow sweep. Then Alec had nearly been killed, a training incident covering a clear attempt on his life. He'd been bleeding badly, clinging to consciousness with Jace frantically healing him. He'd tried to stop them, certain in his delirious bloodloss that if he died Cahya would be free. After all, she could go anywhere with him and nowhere alone, it made sense. 

She'd laid pressed close to him to hide Rani for days afterward, not letting anyone but Jace, Izzy, and Max close to him. She'd told him stories about Magnus then, about getting banned from Peru, about starting cults as a joke, about makeup and traveling and magic. 

When he'd healed, she spoke more, and once, after the world was quiet in the very early morning, told him she would rather live captive as she was than let him die.

"Do you think he'll like Alec?" Rani asked her, while Alec was thinking about the past.

Cahya made a pleased sound. "Oh yes. He'll have to learn, granted. He doesn't yet know how Alec has kept me safe, how much you've sacrificed, but yes. He'll learn fast how mushy you are."

Alec said, "Hey!" even as Rani nearly rolled out of his lap laughing. 

"Face it, you're a sap. Ask Jace if you don't believe me!" Cahya told him, and Alec groaned, accepting the blow to his dignity.

-

Eleven years ago

Magnus portalled to Catarina’s, not trusting the safety of his own home after his capture. Cat was on her feet in a second, a scatter of papers falling around her as she moved toward him, no magic in her hands; she recognized his magic anywhere.

Her hands were on him, grasping his shoulders and pulling him into a tight, quick hug. As soon as she released him, she was slapping at his arm with a frown that did nothing to hide her relief.

“Where the hell have you been, you little troublemaking idiot?”

Magnus tried for his usual devil-may-care flare; it hadn’t failed him, even when manacled in the Lightwood’s home. He could feel the way the grin pulled wrong though, undoubtedly an obvious tell for Catarina.

“Oh you know, out causing trouble for Shadowhunters.”

Catarina gave him a long look, “And, how, tell me, did you cause problems for them?”

Magnus shrugged, heading for her tan couch, “I made a daring escape from Idris with a trail of bodies in my wake, naturally.”

Catarina settled on the couch beside him, giving him a pointed look, “Magnus.”

He sighed heavily and decided to let her in. He always needed her, especially when he’d gotten himself into situations like this one. Especially when there was an ache where Cahya was supposed to be, his very soul still bound in Idris.

“I was put into a cage and made into a rather distasteful birthday gift for the Lightwood heir.”

Catarina gave a single slow nod, her eyes glittering with anger despite the measured way she moved and spoke, a nurse too used to dire proclamations for outburst. It settled Magnus, prone to dramatics as he so often was, to see her patiently waiting for him to continue.

“The party seemed dreadful too, poor thing. He was the one, well him and his brother, who orchestrated my escape. Sad to think they might grow into the sort of men who would’ve captured me in the first place.” Magnus tipped his head back, the weight of her gaze still on him. “Maybe I can see if they want to come away when I go back.”

The couch sunk under him slightly as Catarina leaned fully into his space, her blue face coming into his line of sight. 

“Why would you go back?” 

He could see in the tightness around her eyes and the downturn of her mouth that she had guessed why, but didn’t want to believe it.

“Cahya is still their unfortunate guest. Some magic Robert Lightwood used, some terrible binding spell that used the feathers of his son’s daemon, taken by force, kept her there. I couldn’t bring her further than the edge of the Lightwood’s’ manor grounds.” Magnus could remember perfectly the desperation in Cahya’s voice when he’d sprinted past her at the boundary line. The anger he was keeping banked at the thought of her still trapped with the nephilim flared at the memory and he forced himself to breathe through it. It wasn’t time yet for fire and ruin.

“You can’t go back,” Catarina told him, drawing him back to the moment with her as she sat back. 

“Without you, you mean?” It was a familiar tease, her and Ragnor refusing to let him run into trouble alone. 

“No. At all.” Catarina summoned a piece of heavy paper, Ragnor’s stationary, and held it out to him.

“Ragnor sent it just before you arrived. Idris has sealed their borders, it’s impossible to get in without a full scale assault.” She watched him reading carefully. “If you say go, I’ll be there with you, of course, and more the fool for it. The Downworld isn’t ready though. Idris is too well protected, the stolen magic they made the wards from is strong.”

Magnus read the damning message and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to center himself. Ragnor was on the very edge of the ward when it was activated and had since relocated to his home in England, but he’d seen enough. If Magnus wanted to march in and get Cahya back, it would be suicide.

They had to have sealed the place just after he cleared Idris’ portal tracking range, so barely a day after he left.

“Cahya’s on her own, for now,” Catarina said, squeezing his arm gently.

“No.” Magnus thought of the nephilim, of the Lightwood boy laying on the floor after his father’s assault, of his brother murdering Magnus’ captors without hesitation, of being in a cage with Maryse Lightwood’s troubled face looking in. “She’s not.”

-

The first time it happened was nearly a year later. 

Magnus was listening to three pack alpha’s try to civilly divvy up a safe house after being forced to relocate due to an uptick in Shadowhunter activity in New Jersey when he felt it. Like someone had poured ice water straight into his chest, at first. A hand closing around his throat even as an ache started deep within him, some barely known place inside suddenly exposed to harsh light.

He’d gasped, slumping in his chair, his hips twisting as he went limp despite the sprawled position not supporting his body well. The wolves had all frozen, eyes flashing in worry and the sharp sense of a predator in danger.

Someone was touching his daemon. 

Were they hurting her? Was she being used for something awful? Were they trying to-

It ended and he could breathe properly again. He wanted to sit and gather himself, but edgy, uncertain werewolves made poor company, so he straightened up and offered them a serene smile, ready to redirect their attention.

-

Eventually Magnus got used to it. Enjoyed it, sometimes, even. 

After the first few times it stopped feeling so terrible and strange, the initial rush of cold still came but less like ice water and more like a cool balm, the ache had calmed and was now only a sad reminder of how much he missed Cahya. Strangest of all, the feeling of a hand around his throat had morphed into a sensation like someone was gently touching him, a light and welcome feeling.

 It happened with more frequency as time went on, sometimes he’d pass entire days with the feeling, like someone was keeping a hand on Cahya constantly. 

-

Present day

Magnus could feel a nervous energy thrumming through New York. If The Raven was to be believed, it was because of the coming change. 

He sat, glamored as always, watching over his club as the day faded, hyper aware of the waning hour. Ten minutes to midnight. Ten minutes to rebellion. The Shadowhunters were declaring themselves at the turning of the day, what would be shortly after sunrise in Idris, when any active fighters would be ending their night. 

Magnus reached for the leylines around the city. He could feel the burning thrum of them as his warlocks tangled their magic with the power of the Earth. The Raven had sent him the notice of the New York Institute’s planned rebellion as a warning and courtesy. They had asked nothing of the Downworld, but Magnus believed in action and he had sent out both the warning of coming turmoil and a request. The warlocks knew only that Clave action was expected, and Magnus had asked them to be ready to raise a ward over the entire city if necessary. 

He wondered, as he often did, where in the mess Alec Lightwood would be. He knew that the man who had once been a boy helping Magnus run was head of the Institute, that he would know Cahya’s whereabouts. Magnus could only hope Alec was not going to be one of the Shadowhunters killed in tonight's upheaval. In his heart he dared to hope that maybe he would even be one of the rebels, but he had no way of knowing. Shadowhunter’s stayed well clear of Downworlders, except to kill them and the Institute Head was practically a ghost, even among Magnus’ clever watchers.  

The pulse of Pandemonium's music around him and the ebb and flow of the wards settled him. He waited.

At precisely midnight he felt the telling rush of coolness and comfort that meant hands were on his daemon. In the same breath a bright wash of angelic power flared in his awareness, the leylines rippling despite having no direct connection to it.

The core was severed from Idris. It was beginning.

He settled further back in his seat, magical awareness flaring out from him as he prepared to keep the watch for the night. Max Lightwood nodded at him across the dancefloor, his wolves would be prowling the night, keeping the mundanes safe from demons while the Shadowhunter’s worked. The vampires at their backs to help and to carry news with their speed.

Tonight, Magnus thought, New York was taking back its power. 

-

Sunrise came with a messenger.

Pandemonium had closed to mundanes in the wee hours, but Magnus had the doors open for his people and the news they carried.

The wards had been raised when Clave special forces were engaged. According to The Raven, the Institute was able to close their standing portals but couldn’t stop them from trying to come in from outside. Magnus had sent back the assertion that none of Idris’ forces would set foot in New York. 

Raphael had arrived with word that vampires could smell Nephilim blood for half a mile around the institute, and when he went to see, the front steps were wet with the stuff.

Now, a blonde man with a great white dog at his side and runes scrawled over his visible skin was standing just inside the entrance. He brought his hands up in front of his chest, wrists crossed, thumbs touching, the sign of The Raven.

Magnus waved him nearer, watching those who remained in Pandemonium as they tracked him across the floor. Max Lightwood melted out of the shadows nearest Magnus, his Jack Russell daemon, Amada, sitting calmly at his feet. Magnus did not send him away, even as he waved others back. Max had a right to know.

The blonde man stopped a respectable distance from the raised part of the floor where Magnus sat, patient. He stood calm, settled and ready to report, and Magnus got the impression he was a man used to following orders and waiting for instruction.

“Closer,” Magnus told him, watching as his eyes flicked over Magnus and to Max. There was no recognition there, so not someone who’d known Max as a child. 

He climbed the stairs, his daemon keeping stride.

“I greet you, High Warlock.” He dipped his head, and when Magnus said nothing, continued. “Commander Lightwood requests the presence of the leaders of New York to coordinate our next actions and swears to uphold truce within the city.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow, aware of Max practically vibrating beside him at the mention of his family.

“Commander Lightwood is not the person who I would speak to.” 

The blonde’s lips curled a bit before he schooled his expression, but the flash of a smile made Magnus curious.

“The Raven, then, asks you to come. In one hour. He also asks that a message be carried to-” Here he glanced again at Max, and Magnus made an impatient gesture. Still uncertain, the man leaned closer, his words a whisper, “Magnus Bane, he’s asked to come as soon as he can.”

Magnus felt the breath rush out of him. To know that he lived, The Raven could only be one of two people, and with the way his messenger spoke, it was clear who it must be. The invite to him specifically… He swallowed the hope that burned bright.

“Very well. Tell your commander I will come. As for the other, no promises.”

With a relieved nod, the man went to leave, only for Max to come forward.

“Please. Can I come back with you? Only me.” 

Magnus watched as the two looked at each other, the blonde deeply suspicious and Max desperate. He spoke up.

“This is Max Lightwood. He only wants to see his brother.”

A spark of recognition, and the blonde smiled, relaxing some, though Magnus noted his daemon didn’t loosen at all. “They’ll be happy to see you. I’m Andrew and you can come with me.”

Max gave Magnus a quick smile and then the two were leaving.

Magnus closed his eyes, he had a meeting to get ready for. 

-

The Morning After

Alec watched the infirmary staff moving smoothly between beds, looking over those who were hurt badly enough in the fighting to still be bedridden. Most were well on the mend, runic healing and rest working double time. The dead numbered too many, though fewer than Alec had expected and mostly from the Claves forces. 

The front steps would need to be replaced from the amount of blood that had coated them as his people had fought to keep their home safe. 

It was worth it. The Downworld had come together outside, the warlocks’ wards kept Idris from sending more reinforcements, and Alec had checked this morning to see the night demon activity had all been more or less handled while they’d been out of commission. 

He pushed off the wall where he was leaning, ignoring the glare one of the medics gave him as they moved past him. Helen and her little fox daemon could give him looks all they liked, he wasn’t going to spend anymore time in a bed of his own. There was too much for him to do. 

He’d no sooner had the thought than a familiar shadow swooped over him. Kaie landed on Cahya’s head, ignoring her growl. Jace’s hand landed on Alec’s shoulder a moment later.

“If you’re going to stand around in here, you might as well let them treat you. I can tell you’re still hurting.” 

Alec grunted and shrugged his hand off. “I was only stopping by to check how we’re doing. I’m fine, nothing my iratze isn’t already taking care of. Obviously.”

Jace gave him a long look, assessing. They both knew if he was truly hurt badly enough to need care that Rani would be in danger of revealing them. The few times it had happened, including when Alec had tried to die to free Cahya, Rani had lost control of their form, shifting too fast to stay hidden. A side effect, they all assumed, of Alec’s iron will resisting the settling. Still, Jace was twice as bad about accepting care, and Alec wasn’t about to listen to him.

Before he could say anything else, Underhill stuck his head in and upon seeing them both nodded sharply.

“Commander Lightwood. My message was delivered and a commitment from the High Warlock returned. She’ll be here for a meeting.” 

Alec kept his expression carefully controlled at the pronoun, uncertain who he’d be dealing with if Magnus didn’t show.

“There’s someone else that accompanied me who wants to meet with you. Both of you, and Isabelle, in a non-official capacity. I have him waiting in your office.” Underhill looked like he was biting back a smile this time and Alec raised an eyebrow. 

“Who?” Jace cut in, his wariness clear as Kaie fluttered to his shoulder. 

Underhill did smile this time. “A young Alpha, Max Lightwood.”

Alec felt his heart leap into his throat at the thought of his little brother and he could see his own eagerness mirrored in Jace, feel it in the way their heartbeats fell into sync again. 

“I’ll go find Isabelle and send her along,” Underhill reassured them, clearly reading their impatience to see Max. 

-

Jace followed so close he was practically stepping on Alec’s heels when he let them into his office. Cahya hung back and gave a small nod to the door, letting Alec know she would stand guard for them. It relaxed him enough to focus on the room, knowing only Izzy and Chilo would be allowed to pass.

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back in a familiar pose, sandy brown hair long enough to curl at the nape of his neck, and taller than Alec expected, was Max. He turned to face them at Jace’s wordless exclamation and looked shocked as Jace closed the distance between them to pull him into a tight hug, Kaie excitedly hopping around Amada who let out a happy bark. 

As soon as Jace let him go, Alec stepped in, less abrupt but no less intense in how he hugged Max. They’d all missed him and the years in between did little to stop the wetness that gathered in Alec’s eyes as he embraced his little brother.

“I thought you weren’t going to be a tree like this asshole.” Jace said, grinning at Max.

He shrugged but his eyes weren’t dry either and his own smile looked almost painfully wide. “Werewolf thing, maybe?” He looked at them both, like he couldn’t believe it. At his feet Amada and were whispering quickly to each other, catching up faster than their people.

“Where’s Rani?” Max asked, when the silence had dragged on, and Alec realized he hadn’t said a word yet.

“In the hallway.” It was the truth, Rani was buried in Cahya’s fur, as always. “Angel, but we’ve missed you, Max. You’re safe?”

Max rolled his eyes in tandem with Jace’s slight huff. “Yes, Alec, I’m old enough to take care of myself, and besides, Downworlders look out for each other, doubly so the wolves. I have my own pack now! It’s small but we’re happy. We live together in Brooklyn.”

Alec sighed and smiled again. “I’m glad. You’ll have to tell us about-”

Izzy burst through the door, cutting him off as she flew across the room to wrap Max in her arms, Chilo rising from her shoulders to taste the air around their little brother.

“Max! You’re all grown up!” Izzy stepped back with a teary laugh. “How’s life on the other side?”

“He’s an Alpha now, Iz,” Jace said, watching Max glare at him for stealing his thunder.

“And a bartender,” he hurried to say. “I work for the High Warlock, and normally I’d be too young still, but Mag is cool about it since I don’t try to drink and I let myself be glamored to look a little older.”

“A bartender?” Alec asked, remembering the limited times he’d even seen the outside of a club, mundane or otherwise. It didn’t seem like the safest profession, but then again, Max was a werewolf.

“Oh! If you’re friends with the High Warlock, you can say hi. She’s waiting for Alec right now,” Izzy said, not looking away from Max. It was something Alec could relate to. He felt like leaving  Max now, he might never see him again, but duty was calling him.

“She…is?” Max sounded a little uncertain but then he nodded. “You’ll like her, even if she is a little…dramatic.” 

Alec resisted the urge to sigh, the ache of his shoulders and his ribs was a enough reminder how done with anything dramatic he was. 

“I’m sorry, I should meet her. You can stay though, please.” Alec gestured to the space, giving up his office for his siblings was easy. He wanted the Downworld leaders to see a little of his Institute anyway, and he had a table set in the multi-purpose room that had once been the worship hall. 

Max grinned, “Try not to drool. She’s probably still dressed for holding court.”

Jace whistled and Alec made a face, answering without thought as he was comfortable with just his siblings. “She won’t distract me that way.”

Max opened his mouth in surprise, and Alec could feel the way Izzy tensed, even if Chilo hadn’t hissed in alarm. Jace was still grinning, but Kaie had gone very still. Max just laughed and Amada’s bright laughter joined his.

“She’ll be disappointed.”

The tension between them evaporated, and Jace reached to pull Max closer, laughing as Izzy teased Max about his clear appreciation for the High Warlock’s looks. Alec wanted to stay with them a little longer, but this was important for so many reasons.

He called a quick, “I’ll be back when I can,” and stepped back into the hallway. Cahya was waiting for him, though she seemed agitated.

They started down a hall to the ops floor where Underhill most likely had the High Warlock waiting in an atrium.

“The High Warlock is here. Max seems to know her.” 

Cahya just nodded and Alec took a deep breath. “I promise, I will do what I can to have her arrange a meeting with Magnus.”

Cahya paused and Alec looked at her. “If she knows Magnus, she’ll know immediately that I’m his. His magic is part of me too.”

“I can’t leave you behind,” Alec said, throat tightening at the idea that their secret might be out. He was only barely ready to accept that Cahya would be leaving with Magnus, let alone a stranger who might think it necessary to try and take her. If they could even bypass the binding spell.

“Of course not. Have her meet us in your room instead, it’s private and might give us a chance to explain.” Cahya nudged him lightly with her soft nose.

“You want me to invite her to my bedroom?” 

“You were the one who gave up your office.”

Alec could almost hear Rani laughing from his hiding spot and gave in with a groan. “Fine. I’ll send a message to Aline. She’ll make fun of me, but she’s not going to make as many assumptions as some of the others.”

Cahya looked pleased as she led him toward his room, her tail flicking in the air behind her.

-

The High Warlock looked amused when Aline let her in. She had tanned skin and hair that curled softly around her face in a red a few shades deeper than the long dress she wore. It was silky, high slitted, and caught the light when she moved, and Alec could agree with Max, though the effort was wasted on him.

“Thank you for accepting my invite. I apologize for the odd choice of space, but my office is occupied and there were some… concerns about the content of our conversation. In regards to that, I must express my gratitude for your early arrival, since it will give us time to discuss a somewhat delicate issue.” Alec put every ounce of diplomacy into his words, leaving a respectful distance between them and pointedly gesturing toward the pair of chairs that would keep the bed out of their sight lines.

She smiled at him and inclined her head gracefully, sitting with a flare of her dress that revealed more of her leg. Alec wondered if he should tell her it was lost on him. 

“Thank you for having me in what I’m assuming is your bedroom? I am happy with the direction you have taken this Institute and appreciate that there is something you need to speak with me, personally, about. So, what is it?” She leaned back, with a casual twist of her wrist a drink appeared, shimmering and gold in the glass.

Cahya chose that moment to make herself known, padding around the chairs and purposely brushing along Alec’s legs, only to freeze completely at the sight of the woman.

“Wha-” Alec started, unnerved by the stillness that held Cahya in place.

“Cahya,” the woman breathed, and then her glamour melted away.

Magnus Bane, still in the dress which was suddenly much more interesting to Alec, slid out of the chair, his drink falling to the floor as he nearly crawled toward his daemon. 

Alec swallowed hard, nudging Cahya lightly with his knee when she didn’t move to close the small distance between them. She started to tremble, her whole self vibrating, her fur bristling, and Alec made a sound of worry that was mirrored by Magnus.

“Rani,” he called, hoping it would help if his daemon wasn’t in danger of being crushed when the two did come together.

Rani fluttered out of Cahya’s fur, pressing himself against Alec’s cheek and watching just as tense as Alec.

Finally, Cahya lunged forward with a soft mewling sound, knocking Magnus back and pressing her full weight against him. They both were making sounds, quietly speaking in a language that Alec didn’t understand, and Cahya was rubbing her face against Magnus’ chest and chin, heedless of how she was pulling the dress off his shoulders. 

Alec decided to give them a moment and retreated to sit on his bed instead, where he could only see parts of them. 

Rani changed into a large rabbit that Alec gratefully cuddled against his chest, stroking through Rani’s fur in a calming pattern. They stayed, enjoying the feeling of being close to one another, until Cahya’s low voice called to them.

Alec reluctantly set Rani down, watching him flicker between forms too fast to identify all of them. It made his stomach clench, and the ache that lived in him pulsed. He’d long thought of that tender spot as the consequence for not allowing his daemon to settle and every time his emotions overwhelmed Rani’s form like this, he only became more certain of that.

Magnus�� golden cat eyes tracked him as he stepped back around the chairs, keeping his movements deliberate and slow. It was probably a rush of disorienting feelings to be reunited with Cahya after so many years apart, and Alec might have been the leader of a rebellious Institute, but he was still a Shadowhunter. Magnus’ long history with his family was something Alec was intimately familiar with and something he was terribly ashamed of. It wasn’t just the birthday gift incident. His parents had personally hunted Magnus, killed his friends, helped torture the Whitlaws and those they tried to protect. He was hyperaware, as he slowly sat back down in the chair he had first occupied, of the gulf of blood and stolen souls between them.

Rani, panting with the effort of holding one form, slowly crawled closer as a long-eared mouse. Cahya made a low chuffing sound and Rani flinched like he never had from her before, his form flickering again until it stopped, leaving a small skunk pressed shakily against Alec’s ankle.

“Rani-” Cahya started, her voice low and pained. Alec hated to see her hurt for them, but he couldn’t stop the wave of guilt nor could he fully look away from Magnus.

Tears streaked golden makeup down Magnus’ cheeks. His expression was torn open, and his fingers were curled tight enough in Cahya’s fur it looked painful. In return Cahya’s claws had clearly drawn blood from his bare shoulder in her need to be closer, his dress sluggishly darkened where it was soaking in. He was still staring at Alec, an unhappy twist to his lips.

“You kept her,” Magnus said, his voice raw and scraped thin. Alec wanted to close his eyes against the words, the accusation in them. He didn’t. Magnus deserved more than that.

“I had too.” He swallowed hard, holding himself still as Rani shoved his little body into the leg of Alec’s pants with violent trembles. “I didn’t know how to free her, and it wasn’t safe to ask.”

Magnus’ expression twisted into one of anger. “You had my daemon, you touched her and kept her against her will for more than a decade because you were afraid to ask for help? Because only a warlock could help you, and you knew any of my people would have killed you for the slight so you just… did nothing? I thought you would grow into someone better from the child I met. I thought you were The Raven, but you’re only another disappointment with a pretty face, I see.”

Alec’s ears were ringing and he had to press his hands tightly together, his bones nearly creaking. Magnus was clearly overwhelmed. He was angry and twisted up from getting Cahya back, and he didn’t know Alec, not really. The hope that Alec had carefully tried to smother, that he would get to know Magnus, the man whose soul companion had been nearly as dear to Alec as his own daemon, that he might get to still see Cahya, guttered in his chest and went cold.

Another weight pressed against his legs, and he watched in shock as Cahya pressed her face against his shins, her body stretched between the two of them. Magnus’ breath audibly stuttered, and Alec looked to him to see a mirror of shock.

“You are angry, my abang. You’ve earned that anger, but Alec has not. He wasn’t afraid for his own safety, he was worried for ours.” Cahya’s long tail twitched as she spoke, nosing at Rani’s hidden form as she did. “If the Clave knew you lived, if breaking the binding between Alec and I failed, if the warlock who we tried to hire wasn’t capable, what then? We were confined to Alicante for so long. When we finally made it out of the city, when we took over New York, we agreed that we would wait for this moment.”

Rani, calmed by Cahya’s proximity and firm tone, slid out of his hiding place and changed into a snow leopard, larger than her, to rub their faces together. 

“You agreed?” Magnus asked, wiping at his tears and obviously trying to rein himself in. He sounded more confused now, less angry.

“Of course,” Cahya said, her words muffled in Rani’s fur. 

“If she thought it was safe sooner, I would have done anything to get her back to you. It took us ages to figure out how far away from me she could go, how to work together like she was mine, so no one would know. I-” Alec took a deep breath, knowing there was no real way to make up for any of it, but especially this. “I’m sorry I touched her. I had to. In battle we couldn’t feel each other, and we had to make it real in front of the Clave.”

“And I enjoyed it,” Cahya said, matter-of-fact.

Magnus tipped his head forward, frowning. “I came to enjoy it as well. It should have always felt like a violation, but it stopped being that a long time ago. I am…sorry I lashed out at you. This is…”

“A lot,” Alec said, nodding.

“So much,” Magnus agreed, beginning to smile.

“If I’m not banned for my outburst, could we possibly pick this up after the meetings we are both expected at in the next ten minutes?” Magnus nodded at the clock hanging over Alec’s dresser.

“Shit,” Alec said, pushing to his feet and looking between their daemons.

“You’re not going to be seated next to me. The others might already be here. How do you want to do this?” Alec asked, thinking how he would hate to be separated from his daemon in Magnus’ shoes, even by a few feet. 

“Over the years, I’ve convinced people, with a little glamor and the help of unsuspecting birds in the park, that ‘Maggie’s’ daemon is a magpie. I don’t want to announce who I really am yet. Things are already unstable enough and, although I am fabulous, I would like more time to understand what’s happened to Cahya since we parted.” Magnus ran a hand down Cahya’s spine, his expression broken open and wondering.

Alec felt Rani’s large, furry head nudge against him, and a moment later his daemon was a magpie instead. His feathers were blinding snow white against an oil-slick sheen of prismatic black. He preened a little under Alec’s attention and hopped a step closer to Magnus.  

“Fair’s fair,” Rani said in his soft voice, and Alec swallowed hard at the implication.

Cahya touched Rani constantly, but she was another daemon. It didn’t register to Alec’s senses, except that Rani felt comfortable with her. Magnus was altogether different. 

Rani took another hop and Magnus stared at him, eyes wide in surprise. Alec swallowed his worry. Rani would be perfectly safe, no one would know that he was Alec's during the meeting and Magnus wasn't going to hurt him. They might not know each other, but Alec had spent years with the literal representation of Magnus' innermost soul. He knew what he needed to; he could trust Magnus with this. 

Magnus' gaze darted between Rani and Alec, his fingers kneading into Cahya's fur loosening as Rani plucked at the hem of his dress delicately. 

"Are you certain?" Magnus asked, one hand slowly leaving Cahya to hover just in front of Rani.

Alec took a deep breath, steeling himself for the feeling of another's hand on his daemon as Rani stretched toward Magnus' hand, his wings trembling. He'd been a bird then too, when Robert had grabbed him and torn from him the final ingredient in the spell that bound Cahya.

"I am," Alec said.

Magnus' hand dropped to meet Rani, burgundy nails like tiny clawed points running between the fine feathers on the top of Rani's dark head. Alec couldn't make himself blink, staring at where golden brown skin met black feathers even as he swayed, breath leaving him in a rush. It felt warm. Nothing like the cold, unwelcome violation of his father's grasp, just a warm trickle through him, stealing his words and calming his thoughts. It was half-familiar, undoubtedly from his experience with Cahya. 

Rani hummed, pressing into the light touch, and Magnus relaxed, quietly petting him as Alec watched, breathing slow and trancelike, until Cahya's rolling laugh broke the spell.

"You're late," she informed them both, and Alec jerked, swearing as he realized she was right.

-

Alec was exhausted by the time the meeting was over. Meeting was a light way of phrasing the only barely non-hostile beginnings, as leaders of various groups from New York's Downworld had arrived at the Institute, upset by the lack of neutral ground in some cases and understanding of Alec's position in others. They'd just weathered a major offensive, he couldn't leave the reach of his people just yet, but with "Maggie" on his side and Max chiming in that this was the "big brother" he talked about, things had smoothed over well enough. Agreements had been made to formalize a peace treaty, with a new location decided on by the majority. That it was an event hall that had most recently hosted a senior prom seemed to delight and amuse Magnus a great deal. 

Still, it had taken him longer than he wanted to explain how he had come to be the Raven and what the plan for his people in New York was now that they had broken from the Clave. He had to table questions that had come flying from every group about what the next steps were, unable to fully commit a plan of action without coordinating his people and getting word from the spies still in Idris. 

When he'd revealed he was waiting on inside information, most had been content to let his lack of concrete plan go, happy enough with the long-term goal of dismantling the current Clave. 

Raphael Santiago had pressed him a little harder, but backed off quickly enough when he pointed out that they were not the only Institute that had gone rogue last night and he needed to have a full check-in with the other four.  That had served to remind the group that given the ability to wait until more pieces were in place, Alec wouldn't have called them together. It was a sign of his desire to build connection and ensure that everyone had a say in the next move, as well as the need of his people to have allies should the Clave retaliate further that he had requested a meeting so quickly.

After, he stood by the door, thanking those that had come and seeing them out, hoping his sincerity was showing through his weariness. When only Max, "Maggie", and Raphael remained, he let himself sag a little. At his feet Cahya was laying with her paws folded under her chin, feigning the same tiredness. 

Rani was quietly settled on "Maggie's" shoulder, looking for all the world like he belonged there perfectly. He'd spent most of the meeting perched on the arm of a chair, but as Alec grew more tired, had moved closer to Magnus. 

Jace and Izzy joined them as it became clear that no one else was leaving anytime soon. Izzy gave him a soft smile and headed for Max, while Jace leaned against the wall beside him. Kaie was on his shoulder, staring at Rani with slitted eyes.

"So. How did the pre-meeting meeting go?" Jace asked, voice low.

Alec wanted to laugh, especially as Kaie's feathers puffed up when Rani caw-ed in her direction. He had no idea how to explain, Jace would be the best to understand, his and Alec's linked souls the closest comparison there was to the relationship between Alec and Cahya's person. 

"Well. Very well. Maggie and I need to talk a bit more though." Alec couldn't stop the tired smirk from curling his lips and Jace caught on immediately.

"No." He swiveled to stare at the pretty woman who was currently scowling playfully at Raphael. "No way. That's him?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. He dropped the glamour when we spoke and he saw Cahya."

Jace started to grin, Kaie shuffling uneasily. Alec was tempted to nudge him hard enough to unseat her, if only to stop whatever Jace had to say. 

"Was he still in the dress?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Yes. Was a little too preoccupied with reuniting with his daemon after a decade to bother changing his clothes."

Jace sobered a bit, but he still waggled his eyebrows at Alec. Kaie's sharp eyes turned to Alec, "If Cahya is his, who-?"

She trailed off, her eyes widening at the same time Jace's mouth popped open. Alec sighed and nodded, holding up his hand to stop any more questions as he watched Raphael step away from Magnus.

"Later," Alec said firmly, and Jace nodded.

Raphael shook his hand with his usual formal grace. "Until next time, Lightwood."  

Alec offered him a smile that was a little warmer than the other leaders had gotten. Raphael had been one of the few who knew he was the Raven, since Alec had helped him remove Camille. Raphael left without another word.

"Maggie" approached him next, rocking on her heels as she stopped in front of him and Jace.

"Is there any way we could continue our earlier conversation?" she asked, smiling a little. 

Jace clapped Alec's shoulder. "Take him to the roof. Iz, Max and I can catch up and run interference. Anyone needs anything, we'll take care of it for a bit and get Max up to speed on all our drama."

Alec sighed in relief, nodding at them both. "The roof will work great. Just remember"—he caught Jace as he started to walk away—"Max is a leader too, there are areas he's not allowed to go anymore. He's got more responsibility than just our little brother."

Jace's face pinched, unhappy with the reminder, but he nodded once and Alec let him go.

-

Magnus let the glamour drop as soon as they were alone on the roof. Alec had led him through a series of quiet hallways in the residential wing of the Institute and up a secluded stairway until they were in the open air.

A couple of deck chairs and a large waterproof crate were set up in the flat open space. Alec easily opened the crate and pulled out a large cushion and pile of blankets. Cahya, clearly familiar with the space, started dragging the cushion into place. Rani, obviously exhausted as he had not left Magnus’ shoulder yet, swayed to press his head against Magnus’ cheek.

The flush of familiar comfort that rushed through Magnus brought his attention back to Alec, who was settling onto the cushion, his hand rubbing over Cahya’s head unconsciously as he did.

Magnus swallowed and came to join him, pausing to snap himself into a more comfortable outfit. He still chose a red dress of softer fabric that ruched comfortably at his thighs with a pair of creamy chocolate leggings so he could fold himself down next to Alec without issue.

When they were both comfortable, the silence stretched. Neither of them knew what to say, it seemed. 

When Cahya yawned, curling between them lazily and easily pressing against them both, Magnus realized he should give Rani back. It was strange, how comfortable he felt with another person's daemon settled close, touching him with every shift of the little bird body.

He reached toward Alec, making a bridge with his arm as he set his hand lightly on Alec's shoulder. Rani was tired and this would give him the excuse to go to his person. Alec looked at his hand, then at Rani, his face softening in understanding.

"Before you fall asleep on me, pretty bird," Magnus said, smiling as Rani bobbed his head and took a step. He almost started when he felt Rani change shape, his light magpie shifting to a ferret and quickly bounding over his arm to curl around Alec's shoulders. He blinked at Magnus slowly.

"I could use a nap," Rani said, his voice soft and slow. Magnus resisted the urge to coo at the  daemon, even as Cahya huffed, "You could both use a nap.” She looked at Magnus, fondly exasperated “They hardly slept before the battle, and they certainly haven't slept since."

Magnus gave Alec a playful chiding look. "That's not the most effective leadership decision."

Alec, however, tensed and Magnus wanted to take it back. "I'm only teasing, Alexander. You've done admirably."

He dipped his head and as they sat in silence again, slowly relaxing. His breathing slowed and Rani went loose around his shoulders until Magnus was certain that Alec was starting to drift off.

"Alec?"

"Sorry. I was just...thinking. It's been so crazy, I've hardly had time to look into the curse recently and there wasn't anything in Idris. I don't know how to let Cahya go with you. I swear I wouldn't stop her if I knew how it worked, I'm sorry. You can stay as long as you want, we'll figure something out. I would let you take Rani, to be sure that I was trying, but I'm not a warlock. He can't go far from me or I- We'll-" Alec swallowed, looking distraught as his thick brows pulled together, and he trailed off.

"I wouldn't be so dramatic, Alexander," Magnus said, lightly. "You've already let me borrow sweet Rani more than enough, more than I would have asked for. I'm very used to being away from Cahya. We spent plenty of time apart before any Lightwood shenanigans and we'll be just fine visiting each other until we solve this curse."

Alec frowned. "You're sure? I wouldn't keep her from you."

Magnus offered him a smile, running his fingers through the fur between Cahya's ears and listening to her purring in contentment. 

"I'm certain for that precise reason." Magnus laughed a little, leaning forward conspiratorially and delighting in the way Alec leaned toward him. "She's a perfect excuse to visit you."

Alec blinked in surprise, a pleased little smile starting to curl his lips. "Yeah?"

Magnus grinned outright then. "Yes. You're fascinating to me, you know. And I feel you've unlocked something in me, more than simply returning my daemon to me."

There was color growing in Alec's cheeks and he looked down, tipping his head to press a cheek into sleeping Rani's soft fur. Magnus took the moment to properly look at them. Alec was obviously tired, worn a bit thin from his endeavors as The Raven, but still so strong and so sweet. He was lovely, his hair a bit messy from the breeze on the roof, his lips soft looking and he looked more relaxed than Magnus had seen him today. Rani was a sleek grey and his ferret form was-

Magnus blinked. Right, he'd noticed before but been in too much of a haze finally being back in touch with Cahya.  Alec was twelve when Magnus had been his birthday present, nearly of the age when daemons settled. Now he was well into adulthood, twenty-three and a leader and yet, Rani still changed shape.

"Alexander." Magnus hesitated and Alec looked at him again, clearly reading the change in his tone.

"I know, you're only playing at flirting, Magnus, it's alright, I didn't expect-" Alec started, his chin tipping up and Magnus couldn't let that misconception go. He held a finger over Alec's lips, watching him quiet with a confused little expression.

"You see?" Cahya purred and, yes, Magnus did see. 

"I am absolutely offended you think I would do that. I am genuinely interested in you, you beautiful creature. Now let me be serious about something else for a moment, then I can go back to correcting your ridiculous assumption that you shouldn't expect me to be very invested in taking you out for a drink." Magnus gave him a pointed look, enjoying the way that Alec's cheeks flared with color at the direct words.

"I-I would...yes," Alec managed, starting to grin. "Yes to the drink. And letting you be serious."

Cahya chuffed at them both and resumed her low purr, undoubtedly helping them to stay relaxed as Magnus broached the topic that worried him most. 

"Rani still changes."

Alec made a soft sound of discontent. "He has to. What if he settled as something too big and I couldn't hide him? No one has two daemons, and saying he was a pet would mean letting people touch him, besides their daemons would know immediately. He never settled, we wouldn't let it happen."

"Alec, no one can stop their daemon from settling by sheer force of will. It's impossible." Magnus let his magic curl visible from his right palm and lifted it slightly, so Alec would see it. "I believe it might have to do with the curse that your father put on Cahya, may I?"

The wisps of blue magic were easily reaching toward Alec, recognizing him from his long acquaintance with Magnus' soul, and Magnus was gratified to see a kind of wonderment in Alec's gaze as he nodded, watching the magic as it washed over Rani. The daemon woke, blinking muzzily at the light of Magnus' powers and easily uncurling, nearly falling from Alec's shoulders as he obviously enjoyed the touch of it. 

Daemons were magic, in a way, the sort that was powerful and ancient and beyond understanding, no matter how hard the Spiral Labyrinth attempted to uncover their secrets. Still, Magnus had never seen one bask in magic the way Rani was, his little head tipped back and happy trills leaving him as Alec ended up having to cradle him. A tender look had taken over Alec's face as he watched, and it really set in for Magnus.

Here was a Shadowhunter who had spent years barely getting to see his own daemon, afraid of being caught or interacting with them too much, because he was keeping the daemon of a warlock safe. Here was a man who had done what so many said was impossible and ousted the Clave from Magnus' city, who had opened his doors and worked to bring  his people and the downworld together. 

Even if Magnus wasn't so drawn to him, even if Magnus hadn't found him immediately beautiful, he would want to help Alec and Rani.

He forced himself to re-focus on what his magic was telling him, the threads he could feel that wove between Cahya and Rani and on to Alec. The bond between daemon and person had been frayed and rewoven with a new thread among them.

With a push of his power, Magnus brought the visual to bear for Alec to see as well.

"Here." He lightly touched the glimmer of brilliant blue among the silver of Alec's bond to Rani. There were thin strands of gold from Alec's end as well, but Magnus knew a parabatai link when he saw one.

"What is this?" Alec asked, staring in awe, the light from the bond dancing in his eyes. Rani, too, was watching the threads with wide eyes, inherently aware of what he was seeing.

"It's us. That's the tie between us, the parts of you that reach out and become...me," Rani said, his voice small and filled with wonder.

"It is," Magnus confirmed. "The silver is all you,. The blue however, is the answer to why your daemon never settled." Magnus let the very tip of his finger touch the thread of his own soul, watching Alec shudder and feeling the echo in his bones. "This is me. This is a piece of my bond with Cahya, cut from me and wound into yours. It's more than enough to keep her tethered to you. You said yourself, you aren't a warlock, you cannot go far from your daemon."

"She's not mine," Alec choked, horrified.

"A piece of her is. This is what your father did, he tied her to you just enough that she cannot be far from you, though further than your true daemon. The magic that makes daemons what they are is so tangled here. This sort of spell should never have been made, nor used. It especially was not meant to be used on a child with an unsettled daemon. Cahya is hundreds of years old, Alexander, she has been settled for longer than mortals live." Magnus sighed heavily. "I can only assume that your father didn't know the risk of what he was doing. There was every chance this would have killed you, or broken the bond between you and your own daemon completely."

Cahya made a hissing sound, and Rani huddled close to Alec, looking alarmed. Alec tucked Rani closer still and nodded once, sharp. 

"He probably thought it was worth the risk," Alec said, simply and unaffected, moving on before Magnus could say anything to that. "Can it be fixed? Or do I need to make arrangements so you can be with her?"

"Arrangements? Alec, what are you-?"

"I can't live with you, full time, I have too much to do here, but Cahya and I know how far from me she can go, so maybe I could get an apartment closer to you so she can be with you, or-" Alec was staring off at the sky now, clearly ready to make plans and leave behind the strange vulnerability. 

Magnus let the visible bond fade as he tried to stop himself making faces at Alec. 

"I'm sure that we can find a way to undo the curse before it ever comes to that. I'm more concerned about helping your Rani settle. That's the first and most important thing. Once he's settled it will be much safer to try separating my bond from yours." 

"How do I do that?" Rani asked.

Magnus had no answer for that, nor, it seemed, did Cahya or Alec.

-

Leaving his daemon was harder than Magnus wanted to show. He re-glamoured himself, after pressing his face into Cahya's fur the way he hadn't since Camille left him in shreds, decades ago. Alec offered to walk him out, but he declined with a flippant excuse about not wanting to start rumors about Alec and Maggie, though in truth he was hoping Alec would take the opportunity to go to sleep. He also didn't want to have to try and casually tell them good-bye at the door again. 

Watching Rani turn back into a moth and disappear into Cahya's fur had bothered him more than he thought it would, but he'd still taken his leave.

The next day found Magnus restless. 

Nothing was distracting him, not Chairman Meow who he kept wondering how Cahya would react to, not his apothecary when he remembered her easily helping him with potions. He wanted to go back to her. He wanted to see Alexander again.

A treacherous thought cropped up.

Alec had already offered to live with him or near him. He could say they needed to be together until Rani settled and they could separate Cahya. He could be weak about this, beg Alec to make it a priority and delegate what he could of the budding rebellion. 

He could be selfish.

Magnus cleared his throat, snapping away the potion that was already a hopeless endeavor. He needed to think of something else. Anything else.

His phone rang and he snatched it, not looking at who was calling.

"You've reached the High Warlock. This will be very expensive if you're rude." Maggie’s voice, just a register above his own, came easily.

“I’ll try not to run up my bill,” Alec greeted him, his tone warm and teasing. “Hello, Magnus.”

Magnus grinned. “Alexander. Think of an Angel, after all. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. I know this isn’t easy for you and I’m sorry.” 

The same feeling that he’d always associated with Alec touching Cahya bloomed in his chest, warmer than ever, and he fell into his favorite chair with a dramatic little twirl, just because. “I’m just fine. I miss her, and I would love to spend more time in your darling company, but I can handle waiting.”

There was a long silence, and Magnus found himself tugging his earlobe, worried that he might have given Alec the wrong impression, somehow.

“What if you didn’t have to?”

“Have to what, Alec?” Magnus asked, hopeful.

“Honestly, without having to deal with Clave paperwork, the Institute can spare me for a couple hours this evening. We were well prepared and our losses were far from what I accounted for when we cut the core from Idris, so we’re in great shape, all things considered. The Clave isn’t going to move on us again so quickly, especially not with the Downworld supporting us.” He took an audible breath and Magnus pressed the phone tighter to his ear. “Were you serious about that drink?”

A giddy, bubbly feeling that was all too familiar welled up, and Magnus sighed happily. The first flush of interest returned was wonderful. “I was. Tonight, then? I know a few places we might go.”

“Actually…I was thinking I could come to yours? That way you can be with Cahya properly, too. Also-” Alec sounded a little embarrassed, and Magnus thought he could hear another voice that sounded suspiciously like Jace in the background, “- also, I want to see you not Maggie, or even the High Warlock.”

“That would be lovely, Alec. I will send you my address so we can both pretend it isn’t in a file somewhere. Does five work for you? We can have an early dinner and a drink, and I can even return you to your Shadowhunters before prime demon hours.” Magnus hoped that Alec could hear how much this meant to him.

“Can we say six?” Alec asked as Jace shouted, “He doesn’t have to be returned!” 

“Six. It’s a date,” Magnus promised and he could hear Alec smile. He could also hear Kaie squalling and the familiar sound of Cahya hissing. “Go, save your parabatai from our girl.”

“I’ll see you tonight. Bye, Magnus.”

The call ended and Magnus took a moment to lean back in his chair, head tipped back. They had a date tonight. He’d see Cahya again, and maybe get to see Alec and Rani relax again.

“Oh!” He popped back up, going to find Chairman Meow. “Come, Chairman, we need to look our best for our guests.”

-

After a dinner of food from his favorite Ethiopian place, that Alec had grinned over and fed bites of to Rani, they were relaxing in the living room. 

Magnus’ table was covered in cocktails that Alec was systematically sipping his way through and making faces that ranged from “disgusted” to “confused, but not bad” in an attempt to find one he liked best.

Rani and Cahya were curled at their feet, a pair of leopards, though Rani was a larger snow leopard still. It was such a picture of a good, calm evening that Magnus’ face hurt from smiling.

Alec picked up a tiny glass, barely the size of a thimble, and tipped it into his mouth before Magnus could warn him. The face he made was one of shock and then immediately after a tightly twisted mouth as the sour, astringent liquor hit. 

Magnus couldn’t help the way he started laughing, especially as Rani jumped to his feet, fur bristling in alarm as Alec coughed.

“That’s…wow,” Alec managed, setting the thimble glass down like it was a bomb.

“It’s really meant to be drunk with this.“ Magnus held up a shot glass of sweet liqueur. “I think we can certainly rule it out though.” 

He took a sip of the sticky sweet shot, turning to Alec to ask what he wanted to try next only to be surprised by how close Alec was suddenly, leaning into his space. 

“I want to try it.” 

Magnus swallowed and set the shot glass down, watching Alec’s eyes dart to his mouth, still wet from the drink. “Alright.”

A warm palm cupped his neck and Alec’s intent gaze searched his face. Magnus knew that he couldn’t have done this before, and decided to help him. He pushed into Alec’s touch, brushing their lips together lightly and then sighing softly against Alec as he deepened the kiss. 

Alec’s hands were burning as they cupped his chin, like he was precious, and Magnus let one of his own hands lift to tangle in Alec’s hair. With a light swipe of Alec’s tongue, Magnus opened to him, tasting a strange blend of their drinks, the lingering sour in Alec’s mouth. 

With a low sound, one of Alec’s hands dropped to Magnus' waist, pulling them closer together. He was twisted on the couch to face Magnus, but it didn’t matter as he tipped further toward Magnus. 

A pleased rumbling sound finally broke them apart, and Magnus turned to look at their daemons as Alec pressed his forehead to Magnus’ temple, gathering himself.

The sound was coming from Rani, who had his eyes closed, his fur was black with a pattern only visible where the light hit him and he had shifted from another leopard to a jaguar. With her head laying on his shoulder, Cahya slowly blinked up at Magnus, equally content though her own purr was much softer.

Magnus felt Alec pull back to look at their daemons as well and tore his own gaze from them to watch Alec. There was a tenderness in his expression, his lips parted and upturned as he gently reached down and very deliberately ran his fingers through Cahya’s fur before continuing to scratch Rani’s own large head. 

In hundreds of years, Magnus had only rarely let his long-term partners touch Cahya, and even then it was never with the casual ease that Alec did. None of them had ever felt right, but this did. It always had. 

Rani was pressing into Alec’s touch happily and Magnus swallowed before leaning forward as well, his shoulder pressed closed to Alec’s. He buried his fingers in Rani’s fur along his side, feeling the thick soft pelt and the way that Alec’s breathing hitched beside him. 

“See?” Cahya asked, though Magnus wasn’t sure who she was directing the questions to. 

“I said he’d learn how mushy you are,” she said, giving Alec an amused look as Magnus shifted to lay his hand in her fur instead.

“You also said he wouldn’t like me at first.” Alec told her, fondness heavy in his voice.

Magnus scoffed, “What’s not to like?”

-

The morning light woke Magnus, his face scrunching against the brightness as it slanted across his face. From the general direction of his hip came a grumble that did not sound at all like-

“ ‘at time ‘st?” a groggy Alexander Lightwood asked, blinking and struggling to sit up from where he was slumped against Magnus, his face having been obviously pillowed against Magnus’ hip.

Magnus smiled, a sleepy and delighted thing that he couldn’t stop if he’d wanted to. 

“It’s just about eight,” Cahya answered, and yawned immediately; her fangs on full display. Rani mimicked the action, still a jaguar with his own impressive set of incisors. It was much cuter than it should have been.

“Crap,” Alec said, drawing Magnus’ attention back.

“We stayed up later than I expected.” Magnus shifted around until he could stretch back, wincing at the feeling of his slept-in clothes and undoubtedly messy makeup. “You’re a fascinating person with very interesting opinions on important martial writings and I am a scintillating conversationalist, anyone you’re late getting back to will surely understand.”

Alec rolled his eyes, but there was fondness in the action, and Magnus considered it a win. He snapped himself into a fresh outfit, fitted jewel blue pants and a black shirt with a loose drape, nothing too dramatic this morning. His face felt better with a wave of his hand to clean up and adjust the coloring of his makeup, softening it to a more suitable day look.

When he was done, Alec was just looking at him, lips parted.

“What?” 

Alec blinked and Cahya made a chuffing noise in the back of her throat, nudging Rani’s shoulder as he grumbled back. 

“You’re amazing,” Alec said, no trace of flattery to it, and Magnus felt his cheeks flush with pleased color. With a crooked little grin, Alec continued, “Even if you’ve heard too many conspiracies about Sun Tzu.”

Magnus gasped in mock offense. “Just because I think that the intention of his writings was angling more toward sounding like a good advisor, à la Macheivelli, does not mean I believe in conspiracy.”

“Magnus,” Cahya said, patiently.

“Okay. Maybe a few ‘conspiracies,’ but I was right about the most recent one! Though, it’s only a conspiracy in the very original sense.” He finally pushed up from the couch, watching as Alec did the same, twisting this way and that to stretch.

“What was it?” 

“That you were the Raven.” 

Alec stilled, blinking at Magnus. “You mean when I sent Underhill with the message?”

Magnus turned away from him a moment, trying not to feel embarrassed about his assumption. He’d only met Alec once, a child who had said little to him, been horribly violated by his father, and then helped him plan an escape. 

“Not…exactly,” Magnus hedged.

“When?” Alec asked, curious.

“How long after you learned he was Commander in New York?” Cahya’s warm voice asked, making Magnus turn back around, tugging at his earlobe a bit.

“Oh, about a month, maybe? I’d been in touch with the Raven off and on and knew they must have been in Idris, but then they started to address problems more locally relevant, and I thought it was someone who’d been moved here. I found out you were here not much later and well…I don’t think anyone else would’ve realized, but I drew some lines.” 

Magnus could remember the immediate hope, when he learned Alec was so close. The hope that Cahya would be returned to him and that Alec had grown into as good a man as he had the potential to be.

“Magnus…” Alec shook his head, cheeks a little flushed. “Well. I’m glad you didn’t think I was an awful person, if you thought I might be the Raven that whole time.”

Magnus stepped closer to him, running a hand down his arm reassuringly. “I hoped. I wanted it to be you. Lucky me, that I usually get what I want.”

Alec’s smile went soft and wide, his heart so obviously on his sleeve that Magnus had to swallow against an answering surge of warmth. They barely knew each other, and yet-

Cahya leaned into Alec’s touches as naturally as his own. Rani felt just as comfortable when he was on Magnus’ shoulder as his own daemon might’ve. Alec’s siblings seemed supportive of them already, and Magnus couldn’t deny the feeling like something was unfurling in his chest. Some bloom he’d neglected for so long he was surprised to find the bulb of it even still existed, let alone had the potential to flourish under Alec’s sweet gaze.

“We should, uh-” Alec started, gesturing vaguely toward Magnus’ front door and tugging on his shirt with the other hand, clearly meaning to leave before he was any later to the Institute.

“Yes. Of course.” Magnus sighed. “I don’t suppose my company would be welcome?”

Alec frowned, his eyebrows drawing together until a determined glint entered his eye. He stepped fully into Magnus’ space, cupping his cheek and leaning close, before pausing just a moment, like he wanted to be sure. Magnus melted into the touch and was happy to find Alec’s lips pressed against his, soft and closed and just as lovely as their kisses traded during the night before.

When Alec pulled back he offered an apologetic smile. “I’m going to have a lot on my plate. Your company, and your counsel, would be very welcome, but not until this afternoon.”

“Ooh, we could have a lunch meeting. I’m just so charming I have to stick around after, of course.” Magnus could summon something for them, it would give him a perfect excuse to sit and chat with Alexander uninterrupted again and learn a little about what foods he liked.

“Of course.” Alec said, his tone lilting into nearly a tease, and Magnus was delighted. 

“You’d better be on your way. If we’re going to meet later, I need to look Maggie’s best.” He made a shooing motion and Alec laughed.

“Alright. Rani?”

Rani shook himself off, standing up and stretching his long body lazily before taking a breath and going perfectly still.

“You’ll need to hide again,” Alec said.

Rani took another breath, his face scrunching. “I can’t.” 

The words fell between them, and Magnus watched as realization dawned on Alec, Cahya’s tail wiggling the way it did when she was terribly pleased with herself.

“You’ve settled.” Alec breathed at the same moment Magnus pointed at Cahya and said, “You knew!”

Rani pressed his long body against Alec’s knees, twisting around them to glare at Cahya.

“I didn’t know,” she said, sounding smug. “I thought it was likely. Something in you, Rani, just seemed to slot into place. Good. This is much simpler.”

“How?” Alec sounded like he was used to her proclamations like this. 

“Magnus does not need an excuse to have breakfast and lunch with us. Also, Maggie has no reason to make an appearance.” She sniffed.

Magnus stared at her, and then at Alec as he started laughing, Rani’s soft laughter joining in.

“You don’t like Maggie?” 

“Chop, chop,” Rani choked out, still laughing.

Cahya only stood with a swish of her tail and headed toward the door. “You’ve a resurrection to plan. Chop, chop.”

Alec grinned at him and Magnus resigned himself to this being his life now. They still needed to release Cahya from the binding spell after all. Something he realized, he was very much fine with taking a while.

“So,” Alec said, taking Magnus’ hand in his after fondly flicking one of Cahya’s ears on his way. “Where should we get breakfast and draft your Magnus Bane returns from the dead speech?”

Magnus laughed, stumbling closer as Rani nudged behind his knees. “Anywhere you want, Alexander.”

[scotianostra]

On December 26th in the year 1251 Alexander III, the King of Scots, was married to Margaret, the daughter of Henry III, King of England, in York.

Alexander hogs the limelight in posts about Scotland, giving his unfortunate accident and plunging the country into events that put yhe country into crisis for decades afterwards, so let’s tell you a wee bit about Margaret , who was our Queen for over 20 years, yet was only 34 when she died.

The second of five children, the first few years of Margaret’s life were spent quietly in the care of her affectionate and close family. Her first appearance in historical record came when she was three years old and she took part in a royal event in London with her brother, the future Edward I, yep the guy who would go on to inflict those years of strife for us Scots.

Margaret’s paternal aunt, Joan, had been married to King Alexander II of Scotland before she died in 1238 and so, as former brothers-in-law, Henry III and Alexander II had a good relationship and were quite fond of one another. When Alexander II welcomed the birth of a son with his second wife, Marie of Coucy, in September 1241 it was only natural that the possibility of a marriage between the young heir to the Scottish throne and Henry III’s eldest daughter be discussed. Margaret and Alexander III were betrothed when she was just four years old.

Alexander became King of Scotland at the age of seven when his father died in 1249 and Margaret became Queen of Scots at the age of eleven on thios day 1251, when she was officially married Alexander II at York Minster. The marriage was the third youngest of monarchs in the history of the British Isles.

Removed to the harsh climate of Edinburgh and kept quite separate from her husband Margaret became lonely and homesick, writing often to her parents about her poor treatment. This created tension between England and Scotland and it was not until 1255 that this was eventually settled and the young Queen was given an opportunity to reunite with her parents at Wark. The visit vastly improved Margaret’s spirits and she returned to Edinburgh feeling much revived.

In 1257 Margaret and Alexander III were held captive by the powerful Comyn family and it was only through the intervention of Margaret’s father and the regency council that they were freed. They went on to have three children: Margaret and Alexander, died as infants, and David born, 20th March 1272, and died June 1281. David’s unexpected passing left the couple without an heir, which had ramifications that resounded through the years.

Though her life was quiet there is some scandal which remains unresolved to this day. Margaret had in her employ a young courtier – given to her by her brother – who claimed to have killed her uncle, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. One day, while walking with a group of ladies and courtiers along the River Tay Margaret is said to have become annoyed with the courtier and either pushed, or had him pushed, into the river. Playful laughter quickly turned to shock, however, when the man was swept to his death by the powerful current. Margaret was said to have been saddened by the event but we will never know exactly what part she played and how she truly felt.

Margaret died at the age of thirty-four on 26th February 1275 at Cupar Castle after falling ill while visiting Fife. She is buried at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife.

[harley-kwinn]

Cheater

word count: 1k

warnings: language, mentions of cheating, (poor) description of unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!)

pairing: alexander skarsgård x fem!reader

author's note: wrote this during work today so sorry for grammar & spelling mistakes, also english isn’t my first language <3 it was originally planned as part of a fanfic that’s why third person and in places description of the appearance was used…hope you enjoy it tho!

Lost in thought, she turned the ring studded with small diamonds between her slender fingers. The weight of it too heavy to bear.

Her amber eyes caught the soft sparkle as the first sunbeams of the day broke inside the stones.

The promise she had made 5 years ago was tied to it and yet it threatened to break more and more with every minute spent with him.

A wave of guilt crushed upon her as she grabbed onto the piece of jewellery. Her husband did not deserve to be betrayed by her like that. He had been nothing but faithful and loving towards her, yet she had lost her heart to this intoxicating man still asleep in the bedroom of the chic L.A. apartment they had spent the night in together.

The soft material of his Armani shirt he had worn last night, clung to her silhouette as she shifted on the toilet seat she was sitting on.

She buried her nose in the clean white fabric breathing in his familiar scent, feeling it blur her mind as the mix of his cologne and sweat filled her nostrils.

Turning her head back to the wall mirror opposite her, she looked at her reflection. Makeup smeared, swollen lips, hair undone and dark circles gave away the short night she's had. If she closed her eyes, she would be able to feel his slender fingers brush over her bare skin and his lips kissing her until she was breathless.

She wondered, if he was worth it all.

The woman did let her gaze linger a moment longer upon her reflection before laying her eyes upon the man on the bed. A soft smile broke from her lips at his sight. His short blonde hair, which had been neatly slicked back the night before, was now a mess while his scruff was almost too long to call it a designer stubble. Resting on his stomach gave her a perfect view on his defined back while his muscular arms rested under the pillow on his side of the bed.

She watched him a few more minutes before deciding to join him and quietly stood up making her way towards the chair her coat was placed on. Slipping the ring back into its pocket, she stepped over the cloth-littered floor and slipped back under the covers. Alex shifted softly, making the sheets fall dangerously low down his hips. He opened his eyes slowly before his baby blue orbs observed her.

"Good morning, beautiful.", his voice was still hoarse and full of sleep. Cracking a smile at her, she couldn't resist to let her hand brush over the side of his face. The soft stubble tickled on her palm.

"Good morning, sunshine.", she whispered before pressing a kiss against his tender lips.

All of the sudden he grabbed her by the hips and began tickling her. She squealed in shock before letting out a laugh.

"Alex, please. You're much stronger than me.", a giggled followed as she squirmed under his grip. The white linen sheet slipped from his body as he rolled on top of her, exposing him completely bare to her.

"Oh, am I?", he teased flashing his pearly whites before attacking her neck with featherlight kisses. It only resulted in her laughing breathlessly while still trying to wriggle out off his grip.

"Alex, please... I c-can't breathe...", she whined desperately gasping for air. Alex stopped his attack.

"Better?", he asked, the Swedish accent slipping through for a moment. After she reassured him that she was okay, he changed their position and made her sit on top of him. Starting to fumble impatiently on the buttons to remove his shirt off her body, she felt him harden between her legs. The familiar pull in her abdomen returned as she pushed his hands away and freed herself off the fabric. As soon as the expensive material had slid down her arms, she positioned herself above him and carefully sank down his length. The sensation of him entering her made both of them moan out loud.

"God, you're gorgeous.", Alex praised her as she was riding him. Her small, round breasts softly bouncing in the rhythm of the speed she had picked up. He sat up before cupping one of her breasts with his right hand and sucking on her light brown pointy nipple causing her head to fall back in ecstasy. His left hand brushed over her stomach down to the heat between her legs where he found the swollen knob between her folds and began stroking her just the way she liked.

"A-Alex, fuck. I'm close.", she moaned with closed eyes while holding onto him tightly. He supported her with his right hand around her waist as he picked up the pace and thrusted faster into her.

That's when she knew he was worth it all.

He was the high she was missing in her marriage and so desperately needed.

He pressed his forehead against her chest while digging his hand around her waist deeper into her soft skin, making sure he'd leave marks.

"B-babe...", she moaned out loud scratching her nails up his back. Shortly before her orgasm would crash upon her, his phone rang.

"Leave it.", he panted begging her to keep going. She kept holding tightly onto him as she let her gaze wander to the screen of the mobile phone. Like a threatening warning her name lit up on the screen. Alexa.

"Leave it...please.", Alex begged her once again before she pushed him off her.

The high she had been chasing was letting her fall heedlessly back to reality.

"Answer the call." She got up, immediately missing the sensation of him filling her out.

"I'm sorry.", Alex apologised quietly before reaching to pick up his phone.

She waved his apology off as she turned her back on him while quickly picking up the black lace thong and his shirt as she quickly dressed before leaving him some privacy.

Tears prickled in her eyes when she shut the bedroom door and made her way towards the kitchen. Slowly but surely she left the bubble she had been living in only mere moments ago.

He wasn't worth it all, was he?

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Dragontober: Circling Crow

Day 3: Queen

Summary: No sane Antivan wants to meet the Crows in a professional sense. Meeting the Crows that way means you have a trip to the Maker’s side soon. But people respected them, trusted them to keep Antiva safe.

For Alondra de Riva, she may have respected the Crows, but she never trusted them. Not after she became one.

Warnings: Murder. Mentioned/referenced forced miscarriages

9:49 Dragon

“Queen Anora has hired us,” the mission head annnounces. The group quiets from their snickering and mocking of Ferelden to fall quiet. They await the man’s orders. “To kill Arl Teagan and Chancellor Eamon.”

“Didn’t they hired us last year to try and kill Prince Duncan?” Mutters Alexander, the Crow muttering into Alondra’s ear.

“Yeah,” she hisses back.

“She figured it out. Can’t be the king aware. He’d hire his pet,” sneers Marcia, the elf sharpening a dagger.

Everyone shifted in their seat, thinking of it.

Prince Duncan lived because the Heor of Ferelden and her elven lover the former Crow Zevran had enabled it.

If it hadn’t annoyed the crows so much, Alondra would be impressed. She’s always admittedly been impressed by the former Crow. But this… after the beating a to frustrated teacher gave, it was hard to feel enjoyment.

“We kill them quick and clean,” orders the lead Crow. The group nods.

It doesn’t go as planned. Luckily Alondra is waiting in shadows just in case. Chancellor Eamon runs out of the door in the windmill, eyes wide in shock as he pauses, the smell of lamp oil thick in the air.

“The Antiva Crows send their regards,” Alondra lifts a hand of crackling magical fire.

“I paid you,” wheezes the old man. “We had and agreement-“

“There is no loyalty in the Crows except to themselves,” Alondra drops the fire and watches the man burn.

There is no loyalty among the recruits either. They will kill each other over everything.

(Alondra spots King Alistair in the shadows as she lurks awaiting for the lead to finish his report to the Queen. The man is holding his infant son, eyes impassive.

Queen Anora has had seven miscarriages. Prince Duncan is their only child.

Alondra thinks of a poison she knows that will abort a babe. She thinks of the shock in Eamon’s eyes and how Alexander mentioned having been in Ferelden when they were fifteen to poison the Queen. She thinks of this and wonders how long this murder was in the works for. And when the King gave up all fond memories of the man who raised him in the stables.)

Notes: I feel like I need to… not defend but explain: I don’t like Eamon and I’ve always been very suspicious about his reasonings behind hating Anora and pushing for Calian to marry Celene. Which is a whole OTHER conversation about how the whole thing to me stinks of either Calian being that fucking stupid to marry the woman who rules the country his FATHER freed them from or him trying to catch Eamon in treason.

Like seriously it has to be one or the other. No in between.

But okay so I’ve always held the headcanon Eamon was doing something to Anora to lessen her chances of having a baby to further his ends. Was Teagan actually part of it? I dunno but I also know he was probably complicate in Alistair’s abuse and he was completely fine with his brother pushing for this. So I can’t see him being squeaky clean.

And of course once he has a kid, Alistair‘s blinders get ripped off. More so when he is alerted to someone hiring the Crows, and the trail leading back to one person.

But anyway- yeah that’s my own views.

[shu-of-the-wind]

stories you have to read to understand my brain:

(this includes both fiction and nonfiction because people need to stop being wimpy about nonfiction tbqh)

i make no promises about the quality of each particular work or whether you will like them personally. some of them i have not reread in years. some of them i reread at least once a year. some of them are for children. some of them are definitely not. google the triggers for each and make your own judgments. this is not in any particular order either.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Natinoalism by Seyward Darby

The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial by Rabia Chaudry

Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement by Katheryn Joyce

The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow by Ono Fuyumi

Ghost Hunt by Ono Fuyumi

Zan'e, or The Inerasable by Ono Fuyumi

Fullmetal Alchemist by Arakawa Hiromu

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Umineko no Naku Koro Ni | うみねこのなく頃に by ryukishi07

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

Rogue One by Alexander Freed

I Couldn't Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us: An Oral History of the Attacks Against the Students of Ayotzinapa by John Gibler

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Being Lolita: A Memoir by Alisson Wood

The Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend

East by Edith Pattou

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton

On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Soul Full of Coal Dust: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia by Chris Hamby

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies

Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies, and Revolution by Laurie Penny

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

My Man, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

[behindthesemasks]

1

And now to introduce the main crew...

Nic slid a dossier to the middle of the table where the 8 men were gathered.  Flipping the top of the manila folder open, Mel’s picture came into view.  Nic's cousin and co-heir of the massive fortune belonging to the well established creole Meyers family, Mel was an archaeologist and professor at LSU in Baton Rouge, just up I-10 from where they were meeting in New Orleans. The previous year an excavation in Peru had gone south, Mel had ended up kidnapped, and once freed a price had been put on her head for a long time because she could identify who it was that had been behind the operation. That was the reason that this time had to be different, another repeat of last time and his grandfather just might kill him personally.

Nic cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “Now, let’s go over this one more time.  I’d hate to have to kill any of you personally.”  A wry smile formed on his lips as his gaze met each of the other 7 men’s in turn.   “Keep your sister alive,” Cade said with a sigh and raised eyebrows.  Nic thought of correcting Cade, but decided against it.  Maybe if they kept with the misunderstanding that Mel was his sister they’d have extra impetus to keep her alive.

“Don’t break her artifacts,” it was Alexander’s turn now.  He was also an archaeologist, so it was no surprise that he remembered this one.  He was also her best friend, and closer to her than even Nic was. Friend of the family since he and Mel had been in college, Alexander's past with MI6 would prove useful, Nic had a feeling.

“Kill any fucker who looks at her funny,” Gabriel piped in with a chuckle.

“And make it look like an accident,” added Donovon, also chuckling and shaking his head.

“Be ready to give our lives for your sister,” Case chimed in.

“Don’t let her know we’re her goddamned security detail,”  Dez sighed.

“And for god’s sakes, don’t fuck her.” Cam’s voice came out deadpan and flat, causing all heads to turn and look at him.  Half had a look of *are you fucking out of your mind* while the rest just seemed to stare blankly.  His shoulders raised in a shrug, as did his eyebrows, “what?  Was that not drilled into our heads like a thousand times this week?  I mean she’s hot, but I’m not keen on having a red dot from this mystery assassin on my forehead.”  Shrugging again, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

Nic closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  This was going to be a disaster, something deep inside told him that.  These were the 7 men whom he trusted far and above all others.  Trained assassins, hitmen, soldiers, and most importantly friends sat around this table.   They were going into Serbia, not known to be the bastion of peace and light.  There was only one other he would have liked to have on this team, but that man was out of pocket with no word on where he was or when he’d be back.

There was no doubt that the skill of the men sitting around the table was more than enough to combat any threat that came their way, any human threat that was.  Unlike some of the others, Nic was all too aware that while they were all human, some of the threats they might face would not be.  Melania’s mother was Marie LaVeau after all. It wasn’t like there wasn’t the possibility of something else showing up on scene.  

Running a hand down his face, he again turned his attention to the males before him.  “This is Serbia.  We’re going to Gradina, it’s on the peak of the Jelica Mountain and is just south-west of Carcak.  This is a huge open area, but it IS the high ground.  We won’t have to worry about death from above unless it is a paratrooper.”  His gaze alternated between Cam and Dez, brothers who had both served in organizations that the government still denied existed before going into private contracting and becoming much more deadly than the government had ever trained them to be. “Elevation is approximately half a mile above sea level, so there shouldn’t be too much of an effect on all of us.  Be prepared though, train for it.  If Mel can out pace you and outrun you, I’ll personally kick your ass if she doesn’t gut you first.”  Nic chuckled as did some of the other men.  “You should all have your wire transfers by now and verified them.  That sum should tell you how important it is to my grandfather and I that nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, happens to Mel while we’re over there.  We WILL NOT have a repeat of Peru.  AM.I.CLEAR gentlemen?”  Heads nodded around the table. 

All assembled had heard of what had transpired in the jungles of Peru and all had personally taken part in the eradication of all threats to Mel afterward.   There had been a little kidnapping, a little more torture, and a few that required a bullet to the brain to end the hunt for Mel’s life, but none there would have changed a thing.   Case, Donovan, Cade, and Gabriel had been the snipers responsible for watching over Mel 24/7 once she had been secured in the mansion in Gulfport, Mississippi.  While the petite and lithe brunette may not recognize them, there was little about the female that any of them wouldn’t recognize from hours of watching her through a scope.

As the meeting adjourned, the men each tucked a copy of the dossier into their jackets as they headed out.  While they had been over the plans for this trip repeatedly in the last week, none were about to let their guard down or not be fully prepared for what they were to face.  They might be getting to travel in private, first-class style, but they were still there to do a job. No, not just a job.  They were there as friends and ‘brothers’ to Nic, and they weren’t about to let a damn thing happen to Mel on their watch.  This might be a bit different from their normal covert and under-cover op, but the stakes were no less.

[lehdenlaulu]

Wake up, babe, new Force lore just dropped!

For context:

What is the Force of Others? To ask this, you must ask one question and a thousand.

To a cultist of the Huiyui-Tni, you must ask, "What is the exhalation of the true, amphibious god?" To a Jedi, you must ask, "What is it that binds and defines all life?" To a child of the Esoteric Pulsar, you must ask, "Show me the secret pages of the Book of Stars." To a faithless man, you must ask, "What power enables prophecy and sorcery in a world controlled by logic and law?"

These thousand questions will garner a thousand answers, all pointing toward the same truth.

Now ask, "Where is the Force of Others?" and one answer becomes inevitable: the kind and cold moon of Jedha. For a thousand faiths see truth in Jedha's mysteries, no matter that their stories differ; no matter that not one history of the Temple of the Kyber can explain each brick in its foundation, or that our legends entwine and part in paradox.

I ask you to believe that Jedha is a nexus for faith, life, and the Force of Others in all their forms. If the Force can be embodied in a vision or a living creature, why not a place? Or why not an idea? Why can pilgrimage not be Jedha, and Jedha not be the Force?

I ask you to believe this not because it is true, but because it is a beginning. -- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Alexander Freed

[theadventurerslog]

King’s Quest VI: Heir Today Gone Tomorrow | Part 6

The Adventurer’s Log

King’s Quest VI: Heir Today Gone Tomorrow Part 6

In which I return to the Isle of the Mists and go to the Land of the Dead...once I figured out how.

Last time I came to the Isle of Mists I got what I needed but had strayed too far and got captured and killed by the druids. This time, well, there was no chance to stray.

I appeared on the island, startling the two druids there. Alexander is captured again. The Arch Druid guesses he was the foreigner they were warned of and they're about to have a Rain Festival so he's the perfect sacrifice. Here we go again.

Alexander is locked into he wicker cage over the fire, but this time when the cage started to catch on fire he automatically uses the dress from Beauty to put it out, although the dress is reduced to smouldering ashes. It's still not but as the heat builds the lamp full of the water mix starts to boil!

My Make Rain spell activated and caused a thunderstorm, dousing the fire and making the druids think Alexander is a nature wizard.

Once Alexander was freed and the storm ended, the arch druid apologized. They've been inhospitable since the Winged Ones (from the Isle of the Sacred Mountain) stole their sacred miniature oak tree. Vizier Alhazred had also sent a message they were to watch out 'for a highly-dangerous foreign assassin."

Alexander explains what he's doing here and the Oracle told him to speak to the druids about the Realm of the Dead and two souls in unrest there who may be freed. The arch druids explains that legends say the Lord of the Dead was once a mortal man who became bound to the realm of the dead. He further explains that there is a legend that any human may challenge the Lord of the Dead for their or another's life, but the knowledge of how to do that has been lost. He'd heard of a knight who came long ago from a distant land and was determined to win back the soul of his dead lover. It was said he tamed the Lord of the Dead's black-winged beast named Night Mare. Night Mare is said to come to the human world to feed on certain noxious plants. Somehow the knight captured the Night Mare and rode off on her but never returned.

Well, we know where some noxious plants are and there's a spell to charm a creature of the night.

Charming a Creature of the Night Spell: 1 Skull full of hot Oak Embers A bit of sulphur (Brimstone) 1 strand of a pure-hearted maiden’s Hair

I had the skull. I was able to use it to collect some embers from the fire the druids tried to roast Alexander. I had the strand of hair from Cassima. I got stuck on the sulphur.

I went back to the druid's village where I found I'd either missed coal or it hadn't been available until now. Then I went back to town but didn't find much of use. I thought there might be something back at the catacombs to do with the fire pit, but no luck there either. Then after all my pointless wandering I discovered that the embers had grown cold.

So I reloaded.

But my last save was after I'd taken the embers so I had to go back to a previous save and go through the druid capture again.

Sidenote: I choose to blame the cruelty of previous King's Quests and not my own ridiculous oversight. Okay, this was a really silly mistake. So, it wasn't until after I already finished the game that I realized I could have just... gone back to get more embers. I went back to an earlier file I had still on that island, and yeah, if the embers go cold, you can just go back and get more. Shocking!

This time I avoided taking the embers until I could figure out where the heck to get sulphur.

I ultimately ended up back on the Isle of Wonder where this time I found another item at the flower area. A little bottle was left on the table with a label saying "DRINK ME".

Well, of course I had to obey that message and died. ...Except not! It causes Alexander to collapse and his heart seemingly stops then he comes back a moment later, so we now have a way to fake his death as Jollo hinted at.

I headed to Chessboard Land and I wish I could say it was because I knew what to do and not simply out of just trying places, but it wasn't until I saw the queens coming back that I remembered their argument over coal. This is why longish gaps in playing isn't so good.

I gave them my lump of coal so now they each had one and they gave me the rotten egg in return. Them being them however, they left while arguing over the new lump of coal.

But we have a stinky rotten spoiled egg! Sulphur at last!

Then I went back to get the embers and put all the ingredients together. The Night Mare is at the Isle of the Sacred Mountain munching on the nightshade berries. If you go to close or otherwise try to interact with her she flees, but if you leave and come back she'll have returned.

Sidenote: On that first screen of the cliffs of logic, you can fall off a lot of the steps safely with Alexander only seeming more offended than anything else. However by around the last couple steps on that screen it is high enough to kill him if he falls. Well, guess who got one more death by falling in for the road?

At the top of the cliffs, I had the spell and so was able to charm Night Mare.

I got my ride on the Night Mare and off they went...

And so we have come to the Land of the Dead.

I spoke with the ghostly couple who are none other than Queen Allaria and King Caliphim.

They were murdered in the night by the vizier and her husband hardly speaks a word now, lost in grief for Cassima. Alexander informs them Cassima was rescued from Mordack and is now at home. He's come to try take the pair back. Their people are still loyal to them and Cassima needs them.

Queen Allaria says only the Lord of the Dead could help but he has no such mercy. Still, Alexander is determined to try and she gives him her ticket to the underworld. For as long they go unavenged they're unable to rest and so are trapped in this place anyway.

There are some ghouls or zombies that crop up now and then and can kill you, but I avoided them.

I carried on to find another spirit separated from her son whose spirit remains lost in the living world.

Alexander offers to help her too and she gives him her handkerchief to pass onto her son and tell him she's waiting here.

Then I came to an entirely familiar place: the doors into the underworld.

Yep, it's the death screen! Which is cool to see it all come full circle like this.

The horse skull-ed skeleton up front gives tickets to pass through, but refuses to give one to Alexander as he's clearly not dead. But since we have Allaria's that's fine. However he also has a key and it's not like I can just let a key go unobtained.

Time for some music!

This is so silly, but cute. A very Monkey Island-ish sort of moment. I love all the little bits like this in the game.

I scooped up the tossed key and continued on my way.

I found a body that was probably the knight the arch druid spoke of and took his gauntlet which had this passage written on it:

I carried on to the banks of the River Styx, scooping some of the water into my teacup along the way--gonna need that for the magic paint spell--and found Charon.

Payment has to be given before he'll ferry you across. The coins over the eyes of the dead. I had the two coins, from the skeleton in the catacombs and was able to use those.

I was led to another area with a gate and when I tried to open the gate it morphed into a monstrous sort of face.

If you try to push your way through he eats you.

I convinced him into a riddle challenge and the riddle he gave me was this:

"My first is foremost legally. My second circles outwardly. My third leads all to victory. My fourth twice ends a nominee. My whole is this gate's only key"

And then you have to select letters to spell out the answer. That answer is...

Love.

I passed through and came to the Lord of the Dead's chamber.

And here is the Lord of Death himself.

He's very much ready for you to just die and offers the chance to kiss his hand to do so. However, you have the chance to do something, but if you take too long he'll reach out instead to touch you which results in immediate death but a new death screen!

If you use the gauntlet from the knight Alexander issues a challenge. The Lord scoffs at the idea of wanting to save two souls and get out alive but acquiesces.

He talks about the tragedies and miseries and deaths and torments and awful things he's seen in his all long existence and says he has never once cried. So the challenge is to make him cry.

The mirror is key. Holding it up to him shows his life and the things he's seen and what he once was and now has become.

The reminder, onslaught of memory, is enough to make him shed a single tear and so the challenge is won. He summons Allaria and Caliphim and hopes they'll be more ready for their rest in the future and reminds Alexander that he WILL see him again. Then we're all sent back with Night Mare.

Caliphim and Allaria decide to go gather their people and form a plan while requesting that Alexander look after Cassima.

The realm of the dead section isn't very long but it has some cool scenes. Though, it's also a place you could potentially get, heh, dead-ended or dead-end yourself a bit later if you miss the River Styx water.

But, I had and got everything I needed so it's time to head into the end game! Next time it'll be time at last to infiltrate the castle and rescue Princess Cassima.

–

Points: 172/231 Deaths: 26 Time: 7:18