!W! Mention of blood, violence, and use of strong language.
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Reddish black clouds gathered above their heads, covering the portal to hell but demons kept passing by, setting the buildings on fire. Downworlders overpowered the army of shadowhunters, creating a pool of dead bodies beneath their feet. Kasper's smirk grew into wicked laughter as his army slaughtered every being in its way, be it an adult or child.
As the night slowly dawned, changing the reddish clouds into pure black, faint light splitting through them, the few alliances left on Alec's side either left or were killed by the people that were supposed to be their own. What was left of their army was their own group, Blackthorns, and very few shadowhunters, while Kasper sat on a throne in the center of it all, enjoying their misery. Because of pregnancy, Aline and Helen left the battlefield and went to Stormshire Mansion to accompany Luke, Maryse, and their daughter.
Every time Alec tried to corner the man, to get under his skin, have a one-on-one with him, the bastard shielded himself with a group of downworlders, knowing Alec wouldn't dare hurt any of them. And it fucking worked. Every single time, but Alec wasn't going to let it cloud his mind. If Kasper was smart, he was smarter.
"Is that all you got, Kasper? Hiding behind a dark force you call your army?" Alec spat, dodging the claws of a scorpio demon and aiming his arrow right on its heart, shattering it into flames. "Man up and fight you fucking coward!" The maniacal laughter roared around them, sending shivers down their spine.
"He's trying to get under your skin, big brother," Izzy said while wrapping her whip around a vampire and throwing her over a group of warlocks approaching Magnus and Rosette. "Please don't let it affect you."
"I know, Izzy," Alec grunted when a demon claw hit his shoulder but Jace stabbed it on time. "That's why I'm doing this. Trust me here." Sweat dripped on his face and he could taste the saltiness and metallic in his mouth but giving up wasn't in his plans, no matter how long this battle lasts. "Fight up, you bastard!" Collecting a ball of energy around his palm, Alec shot it at Kasper but the man disappeared along with his throne, only to reappear in mid-air, smirking maliciously. "Fight up, coward!"
"Tut, tut, Silver Angel, why so worked up?" A peel of laughter left his mouth and Alec gritted his teeth. "Are you being a sore loser now? Did you think you'd win? Over my great army?"
"Sitting and watching is a sign of cowardice, Kasper. And that definitely doesn't suit you! If you wanna win then fight me, Kasper, show me the man you claim to be are!"
"Oh Silver Angel, so eager to die." Fire ignited his wings as another roar of laughter left his mouth and he stood up, stopping the army with one flick of a wrist. "You lost anyway so why not fulfill your wish." Before Alec could watch his movements, the man was behind his husband, sneakily tackling him on the ground and holding a sword right over his stomach.
"Magnus!" Alec's breath was caught in his lungs when Kasper pressed the tip causing Magnus to wince. That bastard was trying his best to pique his anger, to make him weak but he was far from that.
"Now, now, Silver Angel, will you say the words if I kill these disgusting beings here?"
Alec locked eyes with his husband and the rage was stronger than fear in those cat eyes. Magnus knew what he was doing, knew that to beat Kasper, you needed to feed his confidence. So following their plan, Magnus made a pleading noise, stopping everyone from attacking for his child's sake.
"How wonderful, isn't it?" Kasper dug the sword slightly over the grown belly. "Listening to these pleas, this chaos."
"You're disgusting, Kasper." Alec spat.
"Not what I wanted to hear!" He pierced the sword and Magnus let out a cry of pain.
"The hell is wrong with you, Alec!? Say it! I thought you cared for us, for your child! We can live without you but I won't be able to live if I lose my child because of you. I'll never forgive you, you hear me!"
Gasps filled the surroundings along with an amusing chuckle from Kasper. Even though those words hurt him to the core, Alec knew what his husband was doing. They had enough of their own people being a pawn in Kasper's game. He won't build an empire out of their people, they won't let him. The man needed to battle up front.
Tilting his head, Kasper locked eyes with Alec and dug the sword further.
"No, stop!" Alec's heart raced but from the corner of his eyes, he could notice Magnus's wings emerging from the scars as angry waves danced over his fingertips. "Stop, I'll say it!"
"Alec, no!" "What!?"
The look on his family and friends' faces stung like a million needles. Clearly fighting with their own people and the uncontrolled demons were getting into their heads. They all were standing there, frozen on their spot, witnessing the chaotic disaster Kasper had been causing. The wards that took days to build had been destroyed, buildings were merely ashes and dust. Black smoke emerging from it had consumed their nostrils, blurring their visions, yet nobody gave up.
"Then say it, Silver Angel. I've been craving to hear it!"
"I..." Alec's gaze fell on his husband who had been successfully able to gather enough energy to attack the devil.
"Say the words and accept your loss!"
"I... I'm willing to..."
"Alec, no!" Izzy's pained expression made his heart drop. Has she actually believed that he would?
"Say it, Silver Angel," Kasper's tone was dipped in fury and hatred, "SAY IT!"
"I'm... willing to.." Locking eyes with Kasper, Alec fisted his palms, "I'm willing to give you a brutal, merciless, and painful death, Kasper Windermere Morgenstern!"
Just as the words left his mouth, Magnus's wings came to life, knocking Kasper as he stood up, shooting a ball of energy right over his chest, sending him flying back on the blood-soaked ground.
"You scared the hell out of us, big brother!" Izzy breathed with relief.
Rushing by his husband's side, Alec wrapped his arms over the belly, locking their lips in a needful kiss. "Don't you dare do this to me ever again."
Magnus planted a quick peck on his forehead, an adorable pout forming on his lips. "Love you too."
"How dare you deceive Kasper!"
Exchanging a look with Magnus, they combined their powers and shot a humongous ball of energy at Kasper before he could stand, and a spine-chilling cry echoed in the surrounding.
"You're not the only one with the art of manipulation, Kasper!" Alec shot back just when the dark army restarted the brutal attacks. Moonlight shone through the gloomy sky making Alec lookup. As his eyes fixed on the magnificent orb, a new powerful wave kindled in his veins, rushing throughout his body and in the faraway, silhouettes of angels overlooking their battle flickered, and at that moment, he knew what needed to be done.
"Magnus, Jace, you all keep the army busy, I'm taking this battle to the sky."
"But-"
"No argument, Jace. Do what I'm saying!"
Snapping his wings into life, he darted towards Kasper, dodging the sword at the right moment as the man stood without the glamor of Kai, red flesh dripping from the dismorphed face and hollow eyes crying lava. Alec's gut almost spilled at the sight but he composed himself on time, dispersing the black energy with a shot of his spelled arrow.
"You think your stupid arrows would be enough to put me down, how impractical, Silver Angel!" Creating a ball of humongous energy, Kasper aimed at Alec's silhouette but shoving his hands forward, Alec produced a glowing ball of silver and sucked in the energy, hitting Kasper with his own darkness. Silver magic tingled throughout his body as a tornado danced over his palm but before he could aim, Kasper descended up in the glittering vastness, just as he wanted.
Taking the stance, Alec flew right behind Kasper, hitting the man on his back at the right moment. With a few strong flaps, Kasper turned and slapped his wing in his direction that he ducked successfully, kicking him in the stomach in the following momentum. As the man aimed the sword, instead of taking out an arrow, he closed his eyes and chanted a spell and before the sword could hit his body, the sword of forgiveness lay on his palm, ready to take down the evil with it.
The swords clanked as Alec dodged the blow, again and again, trying to aim for his heart but it was difficult since Kasper had laced black fire on it and the wind currents were not in his favor. Clenching his teeth as his jaw ached, Alec gripped the sword so tight that his knuckles turned white. A surge of power rushed through his veins and the next thing he knew, a silver fire was dancing on his wings and the sword, weakening Kasper's hold over him.
"No! You are NOT that powerful! Kasper is the ultimate power!"
"In your dreams, Kasper!" Knocking the sword out of Kasper's hand, Alec slapped his fire-laced wing over Kasper until he was where he wanted him to be, then taking the stance, he stabbed the sword right through his heart and watched as the sword slowly scattered into silver flames.
Time seemed to slow down as Alec's heart raced, watching the stupefied expressions on Kasper's face change into a wince then a loud cry of pain. The fire in his dull black wings subsided and tardily, the feathers cracked and molted, replacing the pure whites. White like fresh milk.
Beneath his feet on the ground, black smoke rose from the bodies of downworlders, disappearing into thin air, making them collapse one by one. As the darkness left Kasper's body, he freefell onto the ground, his old, real face replacing the devil one's.
"It worked!" Brittney gasped when Kasper fell right between them. Landing right beside his husband, he signaled Clary who had been awestruck by the beauty of her greatest grandfather.
"It actually worked..." Izzy repeated and exchanged worried gazes with everyone. "But... for how long?"
Every pair of eyes were fixated on Kasper who's tall yet small frame was crying out in pain. The dull black wings were completely replaced by pure milky white, with each feather having an intricate pattern of immortality rune dusted with the lightest tint of gold. His emerald eyes were reflecting the moon like a deep blue sea, hiding the mysteries of his life, as they darted in every direction with guilt brimming in them until they finally landed on Clary.
Wiping his tears as the wings fluttered beside Kasper, he slowly stood up, staring at her frame with a longing gaze. "Sam... Clarissa?" His voice was low and soft, unlike the deep and harsh they were used to hearing.
"Clary..." Alec gently nudged her forward.
"G... grandfather?"
"You... you're the current... Morgenstern?" Clary slowly nodded, keeping a safe distance from the man in case the darkness takes over again. "You... you look exactly like Samantha. Your greatest grandmother, but she had long blonde hair. They always bounced when she ran through the fields and her laugh..." He trailed off and silence fell in the surrounding.
"If... if you loved her then why killed her?" She dared to take a step forward as tears shined in her eyes, threatening to fall. "Why this bloodbath? What took over you?"
Kasper lifted his head and looked at his surroundings and the expression on his face spoke of horror and disgust, of himself. His knees trembled and he fell to the ground, staring into nothingness. "I did this? I... I killed Samantha. Her... her blood is in my hands..." Tears fell on his face as he stared at his shaky hands and Clary rushed beside him, gently holding his hand.
"Cla-"
"Jace no," Alec whispered and dragged his brother back. As much as he feared for her safety, Clary was smart enough to know what she was doing. With visible turmoil on his face, Jace stepped back.
"Grandfather..." Tears fell on her face when Kasper cupped her face and she softly cradled it. "Why? Do you know what you have done? Do you realize how many innocent lives you took? You manipulated me, my friends, murdered our... our family. The people we loved. Your eyes are longing for grandmother, so you're clearly not alien to the topic."
"Love is the strongest emotion, Clarissa." Kasper said in a low, soft voice, "It is capable of turning saint into evil and evil into a saint. The difference lies in the leman you admire."
"Are you saying love turned you evil? But grandmother-"
"It wasn't her."
The group exchanged looks before turning back to Kasper and Clary, taking an alert stance the whole time.
"You fell for someone else?" Clary scanned Kasper's eyes, slowly lifting her hand to rest it on Kasper's cheek. "But... then... your hunger for power, your... beliefs and thought process. I don't understand, you seem wise, and your aura..." She trailed off and Alec's belly tingled. He understood what she meant. From the time the sword of forgiveness went through Kasper's heart, the aura around them curtailed to heavenly, positive, like a father's protective touch. The exact opposite of the evil Kasper.
"You become what society makes you, Clarissa. And sometimes you get lost in the pretense. I'm sure the angels haven't told you of Kasper they blessed."
"We've pretty much established that the Angels are assholes." Stefan said through gritted teeth.
"Then what's the truth, grandfather? I want to know you, the real you. What made you desire to be the most powerful? Is having extraordinary powers a bad thing?"
"It depends on the possessor, Clarissa. Angels and that stupid book I wrote may have told you of Kasper the great warrior, but beneath that brave shadowhunter was a man with a fragile heart. A man whom society looked down at. Who was only a weapon in battles because apparently, the man had the skills. But apart from those times, the man was a sinner who sinned to love a man.
But loving a man is disgusting, it's frowned upon. It's wrong in the books of society and Angels. I grew up with that belief. I always thought I was disgusting. I tried to correct myself, but that never changed the way I was looked down upon wherever I went. That was until I met Samantha. She was different, she never belittled me or looked me like a sinner I was, I am, yet... yet I still killed her..."
'Internalized homophobia.' Alec thought and exchanged a look with Magnus.
"So you're bisexual? That's why you... you hate us so much?" Magnus asked.
"I don't know the term, all I was made to believe was that it's a sin to love anyone other than a woman. I loved Samantha, but it was never enough. I always craved for something more. So when I was chosen to become the winged shadowhunter to take down the first daughter of Lucifer, it got the better of me. I loved the way people looked up at me, feared me, my powers. I wasn't the sinner shadowhunter any longer. I was free to be with whomever I wanted, behind Samantha's back, but she never complained.
It wasn't looked up in the eyes of the Angels, though. The more they threatened to take what they had given, the more it consumed me. I remember when I first made an innocent bleed, the fear and forced respect in the eyes of the witnesses was everything I ever wanted. It gave me a sense of fulfillment I never had before. But when that pride and satisfaction became evil, even I have no idea. All I wanted was to live a life of respect and equality."
"I remember the time when different sexualities weren't accepted as normalcy. It used to be a struggle for people like us. I understand where you're coming from, Kasper." Magnus said in a soft tone as he leaned against Alec's frame and the man carefully wrapped his arms around Magnus's waist.
"Grandfather..." Clary's voice cracked as she hugged the man in a tight embrace, letting her tears fall on his shoulder and Alec had to withhold his parabatai into doing something stupid. "I'm so sorry for what you've been through. Nobody should go through the pain that made them lose a sense of right and wrong. You weren't wrong in choosing the one that gained you respect."
Carefully, the man placed his hand over Clary's head and stroked it protectively. "No, Clarissa I was wrong. I became the evil I once destroyed. I did so much in these centuries, killed your family. I enslaved you too, didn't I?"
"Grandfather.. no, don't... you weren't-"
"I'm no longer Kasper the light bringer. It was wrong of me to do whatever I did in all these centuries. My powers..." The rest of his sentence faded in the background when Alec's eyes fell on his wings slowly turning back into the dull black ones but clearly, he wasn't the only one to notice that.
"Oh no! Alec-"
A gasp left Clary's throat when her eyes fell on it as well, breaking Kasper mid-sentence and he dipped his wing to notice what everyone's already looking at. "No, no! The effect of that silver sword is fading isn't it?"
Emerald eyes locked with Alec's and the amount of pain and guilt in them broke Alec's heart. Was he the same Kasper he battled for so long?
"No, I won't let you all go through my evil ass again. I know what I've done. It isn't the society I lived in any longer. It's better. People like me, correction, old me are accepted in your world. I won't change any of it, even if it means... dying. I'm willing to die to give you a better world, your presence is a necessity in today's world, Silver Angel. I want to die, it'll be better if I don't see tomorrow's sun rather than you. I should die. I need to die, I will to die. Is that enough or should I keep saying?" The man finished his sentence with a soft chuckle, tears brimming in his emerald green eyes.
"Grandfather..." Clary sobbed into Kasper's chest when his wings retraced back into pure white then slowly disintegrated into dust, followed by his hands, legs, and his whole body as they all watched in a transfixed state. "No... no... don't..."
"It's for the best, Clarissa. And it had been nice knowing my granddaughter, even for a few minutes. Always be the strong woman you are." With that, the whole of Kasper's body turned to dust, leaving behind a sobbing Clary, trying to hold onto the dust merged with the blood.
"Grandfather..."
"Clary!" Jace rushed to her fiance's side and cradled her in a tight hug as she sobbed into his chest.
"He... wasn't... bad... *sniff* he... he wasn't like Valentine..."
"I know... I know Clary... shh..."
"So this is finally over," Simon said after a long silence and everyone let out a long sigh in unison.
"It's hard to believe that the Kasper we fought for centuries was a victim of society's negligence." Daniel ran his fingers through his hair, eyes fixed on the dust on the ground.
"Clary..." Alec walked towards the pair and kneeled beside them, "do you want to collect the dust and pay proper homage to your grandfather?"
Wiping her tears, she slowly nodded. Waving his fingers over the area where Kasper disintegrated, Alec collected the dust in a vial and handed it over to Clary.
"Let's just go back and let others know the situation here," Stefan suggested and Rosette created a portal. Alec, though, had some other plans in mind.
"You all go, me and Magnus will be there later."
"Is there something we still need to do?" Magnus dipped his head to one side as a crease formed between his brows. Without saying a word, Alec walked towards his husband, pecked over that crease then without any warning, picked him up bridal style.
"No, we're just taking a different route." Alec smiled when Magnus looked up at him with adorable puppy eyes. With tired grins, others vanished into the portal.
"Let's fly back home." Alec gently kissed his husband on his closed eyelids, built the momentum, and cascaded up in the sky. The tunes of gentle flaps were the only music in the otherwise silent night. Moonlight shone on their silhouettes and Magnus nuzzled his head in Alec's chest, seeking the warmth that gave a flutter in Alec's chest. As the man slowly went jelly in Alec's arms, he swore that whatever may come next, he'll protect his growing family with everything he has.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
A/N
I hope y'all liked the chapter. I know the battle mustn't be up to your expectations but honestly, I just want to complete this story so I can focus on other new and existing projects. It wasn't the best and I know it, but I hope y'all liked the little backstory of Kasper.
So, it's the end, but not really, two more chapters are left so I hope y'all gonna love the upcoming twists I'm about to make. 😉😉 Happy twists though. Nothing brutal.
Love y'all.
- Piadreamer ❤️