I Am Ruined (TDA Lord of Shadows Sequel)

[ XXXXI ] The Return

Magnus was lying on the couch of their New York apartment, his eyes shut tightly against the lights in the room. It had been weeks since he had gotten sick and it was continuously getting worse. Tessa had brought him tonics to help but she was off in Idris and the latest pounding headache had returned in full force. Not to mention, the little boy sitting on their rug in the middle of the room was incessantly babbling. Magnus was forever baffled by seven year olds, how they could string together random words and form sentences. Repeatedly. Currently, Tavvy was talking about a painting he had done of a dog that his older brother put on the fridge. Alec walked in, Max on his hip, with a coy smile playing on his lips. Magnus opened on cat eye, looking up at Alec pleadingly.

"Hey, babe, how is it going?" You could hear the suppressed amusement in Alec's voice. Magnus simply groaned in response. Alec set down Max and kneeled down to talk to him and Tavvy. "How about you guys go find Rafe and play with him?"

Tavvy stood up shyly, "Mister Alec, when will my brother be home?"

He hesitated, "Very soon, they'll be back soon. I promise." He felt guilty as soon as the words left his mouth, knowing the growing likelihood that they very well may not return at all. Tavvy seemed to sense his doubt, but he nodded all the same and followed Max out of the room.

"Thank you." Magnus murmured, his voice muffled under the pillow over his face.

With a laugh Alec settled on the couch, lifting Magnus' feet and setting them on his lap, "How are you feeling? Any better?"

"Well, things are significantly better now that I don't have to listen to the ramblings of the littlest Blackthorn. It's all nonsense." Magnus pulled the pillow off his head and looked at Alec now, his cat eyes bright, "Someone just portaled here."

The front door to their loft opened, eight figures standing in the stariwell. Clary and Jace at the front of the group followed by Jem, Tessa, Ty, Dru, Helen, and Aline. Their expressions were all somber, but no one seemed hurt. Ty was looking pale but looked otherwise healthy. After they had gotten out of Idris, his wound had healed – a few more blood replacement runes and he should be fine. Even Jace, who always had some arrogant smirk was standing stoically with Clary's hand in his. When he saw Alec, he pulled him into a quick hug and pat on the back.

Magnus sat up now, "Is everything alright?"

"We had to leave Idris, the blight had spread there. We couldn't use any runes so we had to travel to Germany and have Clary portal us out from there." Helen spoke up, worrying the stone between her fingers.

Aline put her hand over hers, trying to calm her down, "Helen, it's okay."

"No it's not, I can't see anything anymore, I don't know what's going on." You could hear the frustration in her voice, but she plastered a smile on her face when Tavvy came running in the room.

"Helen!" He opened his arms and she picked him up in a hug. When she set him back down, he looked up at her with his blackthorn blue eyes, "Where's Jules?"

Her fake smile faltered, looking to Aline for help. "He'll be back soon, Tavs." Rafe called for him from the other room and Tavvy waved bye before sulking away, obviously disheartened by his brother's continued absence. As soon as he was gone, she turned back to Magnus with a determined look. "Look, you're a High Warlock, do you know what I can do to use the conveyance element still? Whenever I try I just see a bright light, like a migraine that blinds me."

Magnus shook his head, his elbows leaning on his legs and hands folded together, "I have never used an element like that; I have a tonic for headaches. It won't do much, but might allow you a quick look." He pointed to a cabinet on the wall filled with different colored liquids. The one he pointed to was a light green color, like pale grass. She took it and swallowed it in one gulp, bracing herself. With a final look at Ty and Dru, she closed her eyes and activated the element.