The Morning Star (TMI City of Lost Souls AU)

Chapter 27 - Return to Edom

Another portal later they were back in New York, rain pelting down on the concrete; a sheen of grey coating the entire atmosphere. The group made their way down the street, Alec pushing buttons away at his phone as they rang the buzzer for Magnus' apartment complex.

Bzz. Bzz.

"Yessss?" His voice came out of the speakers cooly.

"Magnus, we need to speak with you-" Alec started timidly, but Jace was too impatient and rang the buzzer erratically before it finally clicked unlocked. They made their way inside out of the rain and up the small staircase where Magnus was standing tersely, arms crossed across his chest.

"Why do I ever expect anything other than the entire lot of you-" His voice had a bit of an amused edge to it until his eyes scanned the crowd and saw both Johnathon and the Commander. At that, he stopped midsentence and his eyes went wide as the moon.

"We need your help," Clary spoke, hoping to prevent Magnus from shutting the door on them, "We need you to portal us to Edom. Johnathon told us about the demon raising an army and we need to stop him."

"Hmm, I see," He seemed to be contemplating an entirely different thought, his mind not completely on the situation at hand which irritated Clary. She scrunched her face in frustration and opened her mouth to reprimand him for not being attentive in such a serious situation but he waved her off passively as if he knew what she was going to say, "I know, I know. Jace, control your little firecracker, I know how grave this situation is. However, even if I wanted I could not simply portal you into Edom with the hope of getting you back unless I have a tether back here."

"Well didn't you portal Johnathon there and back? And he is fine." Clary snapped back.

His cat eyes flicked toward Johnathon and the Commander, "So it seems. But it was only for a very short amount of time. He was more or less an apparition in that dimension rather than fully there. In order to stop this demon I'd need to fully portal you all there. However, in a demonic dimension such as Edom, the portal must remain open and we must have a tether on each side to ensure no one else enters or exits and it does not close. Plus, it will take an extreme amount of energy so I will not be able to keep it open for more than several hours. It is near impossible." He continued.

"Well what about the faerie realm and the Seelie court, is there not an entrance there?" Izzy questioned, since she was very accustomed to the Seelie courts.

A smirk played across Magnus' lips as he entertained her question, "Why yes there is, but without a faerie escort or a wish to wage war on the Children of the Fae, we cannot travel there."

"Well what would you need to tether this portal between the two dimensions?" Clary pushed forward finally into his apartment, the rest following on her heels. He mumbled something along the lines of by all means, come in very sarcastically but she paid no attention to it, "You said you could do it for a few hours, if you got us close enough that could be enough right?"

"Well in theory, yes, but I don't think you understand the weight of this situation, biscuit." He said, closing the door and turning to face the group of Shadowhunters.

"No, I don't think YOU understand it! If we don't do something now, everyone in this dimension could be dead! We are Shadowhunters, it is our job to protect this world from the demon world and I intend to do just that." Clary shot back, green eyes blazing.

"That is the first time I think I have heard you sound like a Shadowhunter." Magnus regarded her and she swear she could see Izzy and Jace smile out of the corner of her eyes. But she said nothing, just continued to stare into Magnus' gaze challengingly. After a few moments of tension, a grin broke out across his face, "Very well. If you all are prepared to die for your cause as you Nephilim so readily proclaim, I will help you."