When duty calls

Chapter 6

“What happened?!” Alexander’s eyes were fixed on his husband’s phone. “Why did you end it?” He asked not finding a different explanation for it.

“Oh, so now I’m the one to blame for it.” The warlock mumbled, he didn’t know what had happened either and now his husband was blaming him for it. He looked down at the phone and tried to call Rafael again, but all that could be heard was that the number didn’t exist. How could that be? They couldn’t have hallucinated all that, right? He was more confused now, he didn’t understand what the hell was happening.

“No. I didn’t say that it’s just…” Alec sighed and looked away, he could tell Magnus was still pissed at him for what had happened with Rafael. He couldn’t blame him though, he had pushed his kid away and now both of them were gone, it was clearly his fault. If he had just… He shook his head, trying to dismiss those thoughts knowing they wouldn’t help at all.
“Just… I don’t know how but I will find them.” Magnus added in a defeated tone, he knew he had read somewhere about time travel but he had never paid attention to it. He didn’t think it was true and he hadn’t been interested in it. But now he had to, he didn’t have a choice if he wanted the kids back.

Alexander walked out of the house a few minutes later, Magnus wasn’t even speaking to him so there was no point in trying now, he would ask someone else for help. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Catarina. He started to walk, he didn’t know who else would be willing to help him other than her. “Hey… Catarina…” A low sigh of relief left his lips when she answered the call. “Yeah… Of course. I’ll text you when I’m there.” They had only spoken for a few seconds, she had agreed to meet him.

He walked to the location she asked him to and texted her. A few seconds later a portal appeared and he stepped through it. “I’m sorry to bother you this late-”

“Hey, it 's fine. I wanna help find them. Anything for you and Magnus.” Catarina said with a soft smile. “So you said they’re most likely in the past, right?” She asked, she had a few books on the table already, most of them were in ancient languages.

“Yes. We… Magnus called Rafael. It- It was weird, it only worked that one time…”

“May I ask why you aren’t here with Magnus?” She then asked.

“Oh.. um… He’s not… He isn’t talking to me at the moment…” His voice was barely audible, he didn’t want to talk about it.

Catarina gave him a nod. “Sit down, we’ll revise a few books and see if we can find anything.” When he took a seat, he handed him the books that were in Latin, he knew Alec was fluent in it. There weren’t many books in English that they could revise so they had to focus on the old ones.

They took notes on everything they found about time travel, after hours and hours of reading Catarina had to force him to go back home and rest for a bit, she told him they would continue in the morning and that his brain needed some rest.

***

“Magnus, hey, I’ve heard you and Alec haven’t been talking to each other for a few days.” Raphael said and snatched the mug of coffee from him to get his attention.

“Raphael... ” He rubbed his temple, it had been a week since the call and they hadn’t found anything useful. “Don’t get involved in this…” He wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone.

“I worry about you. You don’t listen to Catarina or Ragnor or anyone who tries to help you.” The vampire said firmly, no one had been able to make Magnus listen and he hated to see him like that. Magnus had always been a father figure to him. “So what? You expect to find the kids on your own?” He questioned; arms crossed as he looked down at him. “You can’t do that on your own, you need help and you have to help others.”

Magnus looked at him with a frown, he didn’t want to listen to it, it was nonsense but he knew Rapahel could be stubborn, and now he was weak, so he couldn’t just kick him out. He hadn’t slept or eaten lately, he had used a lot of magic to the point of exhaustion.

Raphael helped him stand up and sighed. “You should take a shower. Sleep and then continue. But not on your own, you know you’ll get nowhere.” He spoke calmly as he guided him to the bathroom. “Catarina and Ragnor contacted other warlocks. You will find your kids but not in that state. Not if you keep being stubborn and push everyone away.”

“You don’t get it… You… You just don’t…”

“I’ll give you a few minutes. Once you shower we can talk about what you want.” He said and walked out, keeping an eye on the door as he waited. He was about to walk in again when he heard the sound of the water hitting the bath’s floor.

It took the warlock 15 minutes to shower. He walked out feeling a bit better and refreshed. He was still hesitant about joining the others but deep down he knew Raphael was right. He knew he needed a different plan when working on his own wasn’t viable.

***

“So you’re telling me the only source of information we have is from an ancient book that is in some demon language we don’t even master anymore?” Magnus asked, he thought that maybe for once they could get things done faster but of course the universe never made it easy.

“I’m afraid so…” Catarina replied and sat down, running a hand through his hair quietly. “It could take us a few weeks to figure it out… And we don’t even know if this will work unless…” She trailed off, hating that she even had to mention that option.

“Unless what?” He asked, eyes on his friend now. He then frowned at the expression she made and suddenly realised what she was trying to tell him. “If I want it done fast I have to ask a demon… And that demon is more likely my father.” He mumbled.

Catarina nodded and closed her eyes when Magnus threw all the books to the floor. Alexander rushed to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. They still weren’t speaking to each other but he would be by his side no matter what. “It’s… We’ll figure it out…” He whispered.

“You know how it works. You know making a deal with my father always has a price.” He shrugged Alec’s hand off of him, his thoughts were messy, he couldn’t focus on a single thing. He paced around in the room, murmuring things to himself.

“Magnus!” Alexander called out. He tried going after his husband but the portal had closed when he had tried to grab him. “No… Nonono…” His hands were shaking, he knew what he would do now, he knew he would make that stupid deal on his own and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.