The End of All Things (The Mortal Instruments - Magnus Bane)

Once Again

The funeral had been short and to the point - very much the Lightwood way. However, the sorrow among the guests was never ending. The sadness of all the Shadowhunters and Downworlders present seemed to mass into one singular, dense weight that Magnus could feel upon his shoulders. His sons had tried to help their papa but the sadness radiated off of him and with their own burdens to bear, they let him be.

Alec's death had been quick. He did not die in battle as every Shadowhunter wished, nor was Magnus even present to say goodbye to his soulmate. Alec had left the institute to get a present for Rafe's baby shower. Their son had met a girl with the Sight in a small town outside Sevilla. Smitten with her, they eventually married and now lived in Spain, busking together to pay their rent. It was hardly the luxurious life that Rafael had been brought up with as his papa was the High Warlock of Brooklyn , but he was happy and that was all that mattered.

With the baby due in several months, the young couple had held a party in celebration - one of the only times of the year where the family would have been reunited. But they never were. Alec did not return that night nor the morning after. Magnus scoured the city for his love until he no longer could. Izzy took up the responsibility of finding her brother while Simon had lead the exhausted Warlock back to the institute. That night they had received a phone call from Izzy. She was in hysterics and Simon was startled - Izzy never cried. Simon tried to console his wife, his heart aching with her every cry. Magnus felt nothing. Izzy told Simon the address and they went along with Jace and Clary after they had left their eldest daughter, Celine, to take care of their young twin boys.
"Will Uncy Alec be okay, Dad?" William had asked.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Jace had replied with a stiff smile before kissing his son's forehead and leaving the room. But Jace knew it wasn't okay. He could no longer feel the bond that connected him to his parabatai. And as he entered the hospital it didn't matter that Clary was holding his hand, for Jace was alone.

A mundane hospital. That is where Izzy had lead them. 3rd floor, 4th door on the right had been her instructions. They walked past the mundanes that shuffled silently down the corridors. Magnus hated every moment - the place reeked of death. The group reached the room only for the door to be flung open by Izzy who then flung herself into the arms of an awaiting Simon. Magnus walked through the door and collapsed before he could even reach the bed.

In the end, Alec had died of a heart attack. Witnesses said that he had been walking down the street and suddenly fallen to the floor. The mundy doctors had swiftly arrived but their basic medicine could do nothing to save the eldest Lightwood. Magnus never knew if he had been there, whether or not he could've saved his husband but it was one thought of many that haunted him even to this day.

Robert and Maryse never blamed Magnus, how could they? But with the loss of a second son the pair grew distant from the Warlock. They had intended to meet several times a year but seeing Magnus only pained the couple and vice versa. Of course, it was only natural that the rift would eventually be so wide that neither party could cross it but Magnus still missed the days when he could discuss weapons with Robert and Downworlder affairs with Maryse. They were two of the only elder Shadowhunters that had cared to listen to what Magnus had to say. Even after all he had done for the Clave, his ideas were never considered.

Izzy and Simon had children now along with Clary and Jace. Both families were growing and Magnus loved to see them. The little ones reminded him so much of their parents. He came to see them a lot after... He especially liked Izzy's youngest son. Full of joy and life, the little one never ceased to bring a smile to the Warlock's face. That was until the day the boy grew thick black hair and his eyes changed to the colour of sapphires and Magnus could no longer look the child in the eye. After a while, he moved out of the institute all together. He was no Shadowhunter, he didn't belong. Or that was what he told himself when he remembered the blue eyes of the Lightwood boy and how similar they were to the ones he so dearly missed.

Max had moved away too. He had met a cute Seelie girl in the the back streets of Manhattan and was off travelling the world with her. Magnus thought that his son might be visiting his brother, Rafe, at the moment but he couldn't be sure. They didn't really keep in touch.

Magnus had moved back into his apartment. Chairman Meow kept him company but even he was nothing compared to the warmth and familiarity that he had once been surrounded by. The Lightwood-Bane family were ever so bad at keeping in contact and Magnus had never even seen his sons since the funeral. He had briefly heard through a chain of Downworlders that Max had a child on the way but you could never pay too much attention to rumours.

Magnus knew that Rafe now had another child too, a little girl who couldn't be more than three months old. Magnus had yet to meet his grandchildren but the thought that Alec would never get to meet them managed to drive the Warlock away from the phone every time he came close to calling. 

Life was quiet now. New York had changed a lot since the first time Magnus had arrived here and so had he. From his apartment window, he watched the cars drive by and the city lights glitter against the surface of the water like Faerie dust. So many memories had been made here yet every time he saw the sight Magnus felt repulsed. He knew he could not stay in this city for very long. Eventually, he would move on from this place as others had moved on from him. Magnus could see the institute from where he stood. He opened the window and peered at it. It was not the shining bright white it had once been. When he saw it, he saw what the mundanes must see when they passed; an old, decrepit ruin. Even the buzzing atmosphere of a city like New York could not vanquish the feeling of abandonment he felt when he saw the abandoned church. Chairman Meow jumped onto the window sill that his master's arms rested upon. Magnus thought for a second that the cat had felt his grief and had come to comfort him but the Chairman ignored his open palm and hopped out the window and into the night. The Warlock watched him dart across the rooftops and disappear. He sighed and closed the window and once again, Magnus was alone.