***Alec's POV***

The wind whips with harsh intensity as the sounds of battle fill his ears. Magnus stands beside him as they leap out of the Portal, followed behind closely by their family. The sky is almost pitch black, the few stars visible in the sky are mostly blotted out by demons with their gnarled claws and tattered wings. It doesn't take him long to find Daniel in the center of it all. His eldest son is grappling with another winged man high up in the sky, right in front of the glowing white moon. The metal of swords flash between them as they parry and thrust. Neither of them seem to be giving an inch.

"The Dark Order," Harry said with his mouth gaping open, presumably in horror. "they've returned. Daniel. . .he was right."

Pippa says nothing to this, though Alec can tell she's thinking the same thing. Below Daniel Armando seems to be dealing with a coral of more fallen angels and demons. The large orange force field the warlock projects is keeping him safe for now, but he has no clue for how much longer it will hold up.

"That doesn't matter. Right now we need to help Daniel and Armando." Magnus says firmly.

"But how? I don't think there's a way for us to get through all these demons?" Simon clenches his seraph blade tightly, scanning for an opening in the writhing mass of demons.

"No you don't!" Armando calls out to them.

Sweat lines the warlock's brow, his trench coat flapping in the wind. At first the flaps appear to be abnormal in size, but upon further inspection he realizes those flaps are not actually flaps at all. They are wings. The coloration of them is mostly black with red and orange splotches in the center. Furthermore, he also notices how the wings are bent at awkward angles. The bone structure was unsettling to gaze upon. Alec doesn't think this to be the original nature of the man's warlock mark. Being married to Magnus, he has seen several warlock marks in the past several years, but none of them had ever been like this.

"What do you mean we don't?" Clary asks, raising her voice over the wind.

Armando doesn't respond this time, Daniel does. "We can handle this! Just stop the Portal from opening!"

"The Portal?" Jace questions.

"Look there!"

Izzy points at something across the battle field. Alec follows her manicured finger over to where two intertwined trees stand. They form a gaping circle at the bottom. A sparkling blue light rests at the core. What should be the beginnings of a normal Portal is twisted into something dark. An evil energy surges from it, a flare of red light overtaking the blue gleam. Suddenly Alec feels a heavy weight in his gut.

Something bad is coming.

"That. . .is it just me or does that Portal not look right." Simon squints at the shimmering mirage of light. Alec has to remind himself that normal sight for Shadowhunters -without the applied advanced vision runes- wasn't anywhere near as good as his own now.

"It's not just you Sharkboy. That Portal is full of demonic energy." Magnus shakes his head worriedly. Like his husband, he too recognizes the severity of the situation. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Well then it must be horrible." Jace nods along.

Alec knows his parabatai is thinking about what can be done; he tightens the grip on the bow in his hand. Despite being an Archangel, keeping himself heavily armed just made him feel more reassured. The quiver against his back offers a metallic sort of cool as if brushes against his powerful wings. Said appendages are flexing thoughtfully, getting ready for battle. His eyes begin to turn a steady blue.

"It's much worse than that." Harry tells them. His voice trembles slightly as he speaks. "It's a Portal to another world."

"A world you told us to never go to. The land of Thule." Pippa adds on.

"Simon, Izzy, Jace, Harry, help out Armando and Daniel."

"What about us?" Clary gestures to herself, Magnus and Pippa.

"I'll come with you guys and we'll get this Portal sealed up."

With that being said, the group breaks into action. Harry leads Jace, Izzy and Simon into the throng of demons with his flapping wings which shimmer with a dark gold. Alec takes to the air with Pippa as they cut a path through the flying demons and those on the ground while Magnus and Clary blast back the rest. The Portal is on the other side of the Clearing of catastrophic fighting, but they still manage to inch towards it step by step.

***Daniel's POV***

Blood stains his shirt a dark red as sweat clings to his forehead in salty droplets. He swings the seraph blade in hand with care, his opponent snaking vicious blows with a demonic red blade whenever Daniel leaves even the slightest opening.

"Is that all you're capable Daniel. You've grown soft in the past few years."

Daniel snarls, eyes glowing a manic blue. "Says the murderer whose been in hiding for what, six years now?" His side may ache but the adrenaline rush flowing through him pushes those feelings away.

"Ah well. If it wasn't for your stupid sister the world would already be condemned. But I will say it was nice to hear her scream for you. The memory was so delightful. I recall it each day." The fallen angel's smile darkens. "I also remember this." The arrow he lifts up has yet to be stained with fresh blood. Daniel knows exactly who the fallen leader would like to stab with it. And it's not going to happen. He'll be dead before he gets the chance.

"You'll pay for what you did to her. You're going down."

"Oh, we'll see about that." The leader does a grand sweeping gesture of the land. "Soon enough I'll be reunited with my brethren. And the first sight they'll see is your death from this arrow sticking out of your chest."

"That's where you're wrong. I'll be taking that back and killing you with it like I should have years ago." He snarled.

Rage clustered around his heart like a deadly vice. The screeches of demons were background noise as bloodlust spotted the corners of his vision. Daniel lunged at the fallen angel, slamming into him sword first. The fallen moved to the side just barely, his right wing cut open. Black blood poured from the wound. It had been a long time since this angel was pure. And that status would never return.

***Alec's POV***

Alec slices through the many demons as they charge at him with outstretched claws and talons. Ichor spurts out in rivers of black, the second any of it touches his wings it sizzles before dissipating into nothingness. Pippa gives him a gesture for them to touch down on the ground.

Like him, she too has been cutting through the throng of monsters. Her red hair tumbled behind her head in waves of fire. It had been pinned up before the fight, but a quick snag of a demon's claw had seen to the ripping of the band which had kept it up. Thankfully none of her hair had been lost in the process.

At some point the fallen began to focus their attention on the other winged combatants in the sky. Pippa and Harry began teaming up against most of them. Alec found himself affronted by a droll man with a shock of red hair and dull eyes. The wings that flanked him had faded hints of flaming coloration at their tips, though the majority of his wings were a tired gray.

A blankness was set about his features. Ragged clothes clung to his frail and narrow frame, concealing the ribs which likely would poke out from underneath. He brandished a few daggers at his hips, like old claws which had yet to be pulled out. And judging from the way the fallen hunched over, Alec had the horrific suspicion he had been whipped several times. Overall, the fallen was a pitiful, yet strangely familiar thing.

"You shouldn't be here Remiel," the man said in a somber whisper.

"I. . ." Something about this fallen seemed so familiar. A name rested on the tip of his tongue as a faint memory was pulled from the recesses of his brain. It was so fuzzy, he couldn't quite be sure if this really was the angel he was thinking of. "Do I know you?"

The fallen angel shrugged. "You did. Once." There was a certain finality in that tone which sent a shudder down his spine.

"How do I know you?" Both of them were just flapping in the air, not moving an inch. For whatever reason, none of the demons attacked them.

"You don't know? I guess you really did lose your memories?"

Alec shrugs. "I wouldn't say lost. They're all coming back, slowly but surely." It was something he kept telling himself. There was the underlying fear in him not everything would come back. And if it did. . .Would remembering change who I am? Would it make me different?

This was one thing Alec did not want consider. Not even once. So he focuses on the fallen angel. Spots of color dance across his vision, like his mind was trying to fill in the gaps. In his vision, the figure before him was renewed: his wings were a fire red like Pippa's own, his eyes glowing like all angels' could, his hair a luscious red, his frame lanky but still filled out properly. There was a woman beside him, a claw mark visible on her skin. The two were laughing together, smiling together. And then the vision was gone.

He hears the clang of a sword against his side before he feels a slight pain. The fallen angel is staring at him with an expression Alec can only describe as absolute anger. "You shouldn't have done it Remiel. Don't try getting in my head."

Alec stares at the fallen's free hand which was rubbing at his temple as if pained. Then he looks down at the sword the fallen struck him with. It had only caused a slight discomfort, bounding off his gear jacket with ease. If he had went for Alec's wings, he suspected the same thing would've occurred.

"I didn't realize I was." He admitted. "Who was the woman. The werewolf woman? You seemed close to her."

The fallen nods, a certain bitterness welling up in his eyes. Alec's eyes widen slightly at the moisture gathering in those dull orbs. Last he'd heard, fallen angels couldn't cry; they were meant to be emotionless husks of their former self. He's different than the rest, but why? What made him this way? And why is he so familiar?

"I was. Until they took her from me." The fallen angel's somber mood darkens again. "You. . .you did nothing for me. You didn't save her. You didn't bring her back." Black energy begins to swirl at the the other angel's palms. Alec has a sinking feeling discussion isn't about to end.

"I don't know what your talking about."

"Of course not. You were able to forget." The shadows dissipate. "But I will always remember. Goodbye Remiel. If I were you, I'd get out of here while you still can. Before everything goes sideways."

The fallen angel took off, leaving Alec to deal with more demons who resumed their attack as soon as the gray winged angel left.

***Pippa's POV***

Her wings ached by the time she finally reached the Portal. Magnus and Clary were situated side by side. The warlock had red magic sparking at his fingertips, while the Shadowhunter was busy drawing runes in the air. Penelope has created several runes back in the day, but the ones Clary was drawing were unrecognizable to her. They must be new.

"How's the progress going?"

Magnus grunts. Sweat trickles down the sides of his face as he frowned. "Unfortunately not well. No matter what we do it doesn't seem like it wants to close."

"Yeah. I don't know why but, it's almost like it's fighting back too." Clary's brows furrowed in confusion at her own words. "It's like. . .something on the other side is trying to get out."

"Like a demon and a demonic rift." Magnus adds in.

"Well that's just great." Alec says with a huff. Her father lands on the ground with ease, his wings curling up for the time being. "What are we supposed to do if we can't close it then?"

"Uh, I'm not sure that's entirely correct."

"What do you mean?" Clary asked.

"We might be able to close it."

"How?" Magnus asked. "This Portal has rejected everything we've tried so far. I'm beginning to think it might not even be a Portal at all."

She shakes her head miserably. If only he was right. But she knew, just like Harry and Daniel did. This is a Portal. Our sister made it many years ago, but it's alive and real again for some unknown reason. And come to think of it, this was the very anniversary of the day everything went wrong. The day Sara disappeared into a realm of mayhem and destruction upon which there was no return.

"How can I help?"

"If you draw upon you're angelic powers you may be able to close the Portal." Pippa tells him, straight to the point as per usual.

Alec tilted his head to the side in confusion. "But, I've never done Portal magic before. I-I don't know if I'll be able to do it."

The confession makes Clary frown worriedly. Magnus pats his husband's arm. It was a reassuring touch. Alec leaned into it, pressing a kiss to Magnus's head in thanks. The pair really was just too adorable, even now when a battle raged on around them.

"I'm sure you will Darling. Just try."

"Alec, will you?"

"Yes. But you'll have to show me how." He tells her.

Pippa nods. "No problem at all. Magnus, Clary, can you cover for us?"

"You don't even have to ask." Clary replies. Her stele is promptly stuffed in her jacket, quickly replaced by her kindjals which gleam silver in the darkness.

Magnus gives Alec one last look. "Stay safe."

"Of course," Alec said.

With that out of the way, Magnus turns with Clary to face the onslaught of demons pouring in. Thankfully, there were much less of them then there had been a few short hours before. The whole group had failed seemingly well against the attack, except for Daniel, who seemed to be dripping with blood from his abdomen for no apparent reason. She has yet to pinpoint the source of the injury, and is frankly boggled at how the eldest has managed to keep fighting despite what likely was tremendous blood loss. But that's how he's always been. Always fighting against the odds even when it seems like he should have nothing left.

***Armando's POV***

He panted for air as another demon made a lunge at him. Several snapping teeth embedded themselves in his shield. Small cracks were beginning to form in each orange encasement, the kind which signaled his strength beginning to wane. Even he had his limits, and after several hours of consecutive fighting he was close to reaching it. The cavalry may have come but he was unsure whether or not it was too late.

"Armando hold on! We're coming to you!" Jace called out to him. The blonde nephilim was slicing through the throng of demons with relative ease with Isabelle Lightwood and Simon Lovelace. Harry was right beside him, taking out the aerial threats.

"Thanks. I could use some help."

The second they reached him Armando pulled the two men within his shields immediately. Harry gave him a nod of thanks. It would be much easier to fight together than split apart.

"You're looking low on energy. Do you need our strength?"

Jace extended a hand towards him. Armando can see Daniel fighting up in the sky still. Like Armando he had been engaged in battle for several hours, though his opponent was likely far more dangerous than the demons on the ground. He'll need me, I'm sure of it.

"Yes. I'd appreciate it."

***Pippa's POV***

Pippa was certain she'd never fully understand how Daniel worked. She led Alec to stand right in front of the Portal, a mere five feet away. Here she could see a pure red gleam had overtaken almost all the blue light. They were running out of time.

Alec flexed his arms, the muscles coiling underneath his skin like a cobra preparing to strike. "So how do I do this."

Knowing she didn't have much time, Pippa gave him the shortest version of Portal teachings she could, hopeful the archangel could piece together the intricate details in the implied words and draw in what the mechanics left unsaid . Pippa was faithful her Father could manage to master control over Portals in a few months time, but this really would put his skills to the test.

"You have to gather the energy within you. Pull it around you and point directly at the Portal. Let it all out until it closes shut."

"I don't know if I can do that."

A small spark of blue energy leaps into Alec's open palm out of thin air. The flame of light curls around his fingers like spiraling tendrils, a putty look to it which made it look even more pliant than she suspected it actually was.

"Just try."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Leave that worry to me. You just focus on building up your energy." She tells him firmly. Alec nods, a doubtful look still on his face.

Pippa watched with bated breath as Alec got into position. Legs spread dual distance apart, back straight, eyes staring right into the void of a Portal. Light began to spark at his fingertips. It curtailed out in wondrous ribbons, the kind of light which almost looked like you could reach out and grab it if you tried hard enough.

The light slammed into the gaping hole. The reaction was almost instantaneous, the Portal rippled like a lake would, with deep red fountaining out with its excess evil energy. He's doing it. He's actually doing it. This is actually going to work! I can't believe it! The Portal was continuing to shrink on itself as it was dissipating. Pippa was confident now that it would be successfully closed.

Unfortunately, life had other plans.

As soon as the hole reached coin size, it made the horrendous decision to bounce back with its own force. Dark energy made the gusts of wind flooding the Clearing a violent gray-black. It pushed into everyone. Pippa was thrown backwards along with likely everyone else. Demons let out roars of agony as they dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind only the few sparse fallen angels, the Shadowhunters, warlocks, and of course, the winged nephilim.

Alec would've went crashing to the ground like everyone else. . .except he was stopped by Daniel. Her older brother must've gotten away from the fallen angel he was fighting. Pippa looks at them from her spot on the ground, noting the blood stain coating his abdomen. It was dried up luckily, but a strange glow of red light came from underneath. Is that what I think it is?

She didn't have time to look into it closer. Not when the Portal took up all her focus. And it took up everyone else's too, as the a loud sound ripped through the battle savaged area.

WWHHHHHHHIIISIHHHHHH.

It was an odd, wailing sort of noise. Pippa covered her ears because of its intensity. She could feel her ear drums frantically pulsing in protest. Ichor sprayed into the air with the already dark winds. It sizzled like grease would in a frying pan, the it took on a much more oily appearance.

And then the Portal opened wide under the light of the full moon.

It was a gaping mouth, a black hole at first until a picture began to form. The image was just as horrible as she remembered. A blood red sky with streaks of what could've been clouds but was likely just smog from terrible pollution. Blood stained the ground, and what wasn't blood appeared to be frosty white ground. It was not snow to her knowledge. Remiel had described it once as signs if the planet's decay, of a darkness taking over which could only be cured by a purifying force. But this wasn't the most shocking sight inside of the Portal. No, it was who came out.

Two figures flew out of the Portal, both with ragged gray-black wings. They were adorned with hoods stitched with a deep burgundy embroidery. They were practically ghostly shadows. Well, that was until they pulled off the hoods.

"No way." Harry breathed out in shock.

"It can't be."

Pippa's own heart dropped in her chest. She felt like she was on a ride at the carnival, the one with the elevator dropping down to the Earth only to surge back up a few moments later. Green eyes blinked once, then twice in disbelief. But the image was still there. She was still there.

And then of course there was Daniel, watching the same shocking sight too. He voiced what they were all thinking simply. The eldest of the winged nephilim was always good at summing things up in a few words.

"Sara," Daniel said.