Crowns ~ Alec Lightwood

The Legends Are True

"I thought that was just a legend."

"The legends are true."

Clary sighed as Rory stepped next to Alec, "If he raises Raziel, the Angel will grant him one wish...anything he wants."

"The end of the downworld as we know it."

The four stood in silence to process the news. Jace sighed and picked up the box, "We'll keep trying."

Alec nodded and watched as they left. As soon as they were out of sight, Rory immediately slumped towards him and fell into his side.

"Woah, what's happening?" he asked, catching her in his arms.

She weakly looked at his face, "It's getting worse...the burn is spreading."

She lifted up her shirt and they saw the sides of her stomach start to darken. Alec sat her down in a nearby chair and sighed, "I'll call Magnus. We need to get rid of this before it gets worse."

Rory unexpectedly winced and tears pricked her eyes, "We better do it fast. This thing isn't gonna just sit around and wait for me to die."

"Don't even joke about that," he mumbled.

She slightly laughed, "It's my injury, so I can joke about it as much as I want. Next time you're hurt, you go right ahead."

He rolled his eyes and was about to pull out his phone but Izzy stormed in. He quickly stepped in front of her long enough for her to pull her shirt back down.

"You are not sending our little brother into the field!" Izzy began.

Alec's eyes glanced at Rory as she lifted herself up to a normal sitting position.

"You know better than anyone how good Max is," Alec defended, "His simulation scores are off the chart."

"That's a simulation. I'm talking about the real world!"

"Max has had his rune ceremony. It's standard to get orders after that, just like we did."

Izzy scoffed, "It was different back then; we weren't fighting Valentine."

"Izzy-"

"You weren't there that night with Kaelie," she snapped, "He was too close to dying. Rory was there and if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have our little brother."

"Max is a soldier...it's time we start treating him like one."

-

Rory portaled to Magnus' loft to see what he had found out. Apparently, he was no closer to finding a cure.

"I'm terribly sorry to hear about this," he apologized, "I wish I knew how to help but I've never seen anything like this."

"I don't even know what it is."

He shrugged and started applying a paste to her arm, "It started when the Soul Sword's light hit you, right? Well, what if the warlock blood inside of you is strong enough to deflect it's killing properties but weak enough to let some side effects in."

"The side effects being a slow, agonizing burn to death...awesome."

They watched as the paste he had applied burned off almost instantly. Smoke wisps floated from her skin.

She laughed bitterly, "Typical."

"Aurora...we need to start thinking of more creative ways to get rid of this," Magnus sighed, "Your magic is strong but-"

"Speaking of," she interrupted, "Why is it so strong? I'm not even full warlock."

"You're spirit and soul has always been strong, darling," he smirked, "I guess you've just got an extra spark."