Magnus Bane sat alone in his dark living room, an old sweater in his arms. Usually, the glamorous warlock wouldn't be caught dead with an article of clothing that drab, not to mention without glitter, but today was different. Today was the day that his blue-eyed shadowhunter had left him forever. Today was the day Alexander Lightwood had died.

Magnus curled up, and tried desperately to pull himself together. He was over 400 years old, for god's sake. It shouldn't hurt so much.

But it did. Magnus squeezed his eyes shut.

Running running dark tunnels turn demons run

He tried painfully hard to will the unbidden memory away.

Alec Jace Izzy Clary Simon run run dead end no stop turn run too late

The pack of demons had cornered them deep underground. Jace hadn't wanted to run, but even he had seen that this horde was too big. And they had run, and run, through the endless dirt tunnels, until they were trapped.

Demons slashing blades claws darkness pressing fight fire claws demons Alec

As if from a distance, Magnus saw the fight and saw his own hands blaze up to defend himself. The shadowhunters ducked and weaved around him, their glowing Adamas knives cutting trails in the oppressive darkness. He saw Jace and Alec fighting back to back, and was reminded of another pair of parabatai, in a different country, long ago. Izzy slashed with her whip, unstoppable as she destroyed the demons around her. Clary and Simon were backed up against the wall, but they were holding their own with runed swords and knives.

For a second, Magnus had thought, We can do this. We're winning. But everything had gone terribly wrong. A spike from a nearby demon had pierced Clary's shoulder, and she cried out in pain. Momentarily distracted, Jace was almost knocked over by the Ravener he was fighting. Suddenly, another demon appeared out of the tunnel, and Isabelle and Alec rushed forward to engage it. Isabelle wrapped her whip around one of its many spiked tails as Alec shot arrows into its scaly skin.

The smaller demons were all dead now, and the others joined the fight. Then, without warning, the demon lashed forwards with one of its towering spikes, aiming for Jace's heart. Alec, noticing the deadly action, sprang in between the demon and his parabatai, taking the fatal blow to his stomach.

As Alec fell to the dusty floor, the tunnel exploded into even more frenzied chaos. Cries of fury rose from the other shadowhunters, echoing in the confining space. Magnus shot twin beams of white-hot flame at the monster. He could not remember ever being this angry, this frantic, this desperate to put an end to a demon. It had wounded Alec, perhaps even - No. No, he would not dwell on the other possibility. It would only distract him. The cutthroat battle seemed to slow around him for a moment. He saw Jace's eyes, full of a pain that wasn't his. He saw Izzy's terrified glances at her brother while she lashed at the demon's foaming mouth. Even Simon and Clary were fiercely attempting to get close enough to Alec to heal him. Finally, Jace threw a knife into the thing's ugly eye, finally sending its evil soul back to whatever dimension it came from.

But none of the warriors even payed attention to the fact that they had probably just killed a greater demon. Instead, they clustered around the still figure on the ground, fear, desperation, and despair apparent in every face.

Jace knelt over his parabatai, begging for him to be alright, for him to, please, please, stay awake, even though he must have known it was useless. Magnus placed his hands on Alec's chest, trying to heal him, willing the magic to come, and it did, but the sparks fell uselessly to the ground. Even warlocks who were centuries old could not push back the cold, cruel hands of death. With a sort of dull shock, Magnus noted that Isabelle was crying. Brave, strong, Isabelle, who hardly ever shed a single tear in front of anyone else, was crying.

Magnus leaned over his beautiful shadowhunter.

"Don't forget me."

The words were faint, but they were there.

"I love you."

Magnus knew that those words were not meant solely for him. They were for Clary and Simon and Izzy and Jace, but as Alec met his eyes for the last time, the rest of the world vanished.

Izzy was clutching her brother's body, sobbing into the hair that was so much like her own. Simon hugged both her and Clary, who was mumbling under her breath, seemingly in shock. Magnus stared into nothing. I couldn't save him, why couldn't I have saved him?! His powers had deserted him when he needed them the most. 

Jace's back went rigid and he clawed at his shirt, hands finding their way to his shoulder. They came away stained with blood. He seemed to collapse in on himself, crumpling as he felt the bond break, the death of his sworn brother taking some part of his own soul with him. 

Magnus knew he should help, provide some minuscule measure of comfort to their pain, but all he could do was touch Alec's cheek and whisper, I won't forget you. I could never forget you, Alexander.

Then he left. He went back to his apartment, now empty and dark. He pulled out one of Alec's dreadful old sweaters and curled up on his couch, unmoving and without purpose. What could he do? Alec was gone. The person who had brought meaning into his life once more was dead, and nothing in the world could possibly be right again.

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This one was definitely better. Or worse, depending how you see it. 

I honestly don't know what else to write at this point, so drop me any prompts for this series (The Curse of Immortality), or just another fanfic.

You guys rock! Thanks for reading!