𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 | shadowhunters [ EDITING ]

•46.•

•power and powerless•

HER FINGERNAILS WERE bloody, but Blythe couldn't stop chewing on them. She was sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair on one side of Magnus' lifeless body, her gaze casted on the floor. On the opposite side of the bed was Alec, his hands folded in his lap.

"I was selfish," Alec starts. Blythe looks up to look at Alec. She sees the sad glance in his dark eyes and feels her own heart fall. He looked so miserable. "Alec, no-" She continues to stare at him, observing his every feature while he continues to speak as if she were not there.

"When you first lost your powers and you said you were okay with it, I.. I didn't think twice. I guess I was just so happy that maybe we could.. grow old together. I guess I didn't realize, deep down, how much you were suffering."

Blythe reaches out to him without thinking. Her hand reaches across Magnus to hold his in his lap. Her action drew Alec's attention to her and their eyes meet. "Alec, don't blame yourself. Magic is a part of Magnus. He would want it back, regardless of what you would have done or said," she tells.

It was so painful to read the endless guilt and anxiety in his eyes. Though their start may have been rocky at best, over time she started to like Alec more. She understood him now. In fact, she held his opinion in high regard, same as Magnus. Perhaps she would even consider them to be similar to brother and sister.

She wanted to fix this. Fix his pain and make the suffering go away. To wake Magnus up with a simple word and live a peaceful life (as far as possible, considering that there are demons around). Unfortunately she does not have that power, even with the Book of the White.

Alec's eyes look so filled with self-loathing that she would rather look away. However, she did not. Alec stiffened up, but he did not shrug off her hand. "But if I never had entered his life he still would have had it."

"What? You think Magnus would rather you've never met? You would rather stay closeted, ending up in a tragically hopeless marriage because your parents wanted it? Alec, you are the love of his life much like he is to you."

He didn't say anything afterwards. He just grabbed Magnus' hands and murmurs soft apologies to him. Both of them perk up when hearing the door open. They stand up and approach Catarina, who had taken it upon herself to nurse Magnus.

The Shadowhunter crosses his arms. "Did you manage to make contact with the people at the Spiral Labyrinth?" Catarina explains that she shared his test results and what that means. Magnus' body is rejecting Lorenzo's magic.

Alec frowns. "Rejecting? What do you mean?" Blythe cuts in, frowning as well. "Like an.. organ transplant?" She nods. "Exactly. Each time Magnus performs a spell, it puts tremendous strain on his body. He got lucky this time. He will regain consciousness. But if he uses magic again, even for something small, he might not survive."

Alec asks why she could not just take the magic out and fix it, to which Catarina explains that only the person who put the magic in is able to take it out. Alec starts to become angry. Lorenzo had never liked Magnus. He despised him, in fact, and he is certain that the warlock did this on purpose.

Catarina talks him out of that accusation, explaining that there is no way that Lorenzo could have planned this all. Alec didn't want to listen and exclaims he will not let this slide.

The warlock blocks his exit, pushing him against his chest back into the room. "You need to settle down. You lose your temper with Lorenzo, he'll have less incentive to help. He might even revoke his promise of protecting Blythe. Considering what just happened with Jonathan, I guess you do not want a repeat situation at hands."