Chapter 5: Metamorphosis
The archangel Samael looked down at Alec with a very warm smile, clearly very proud with his bravery and conviction. He released his hold on Alec and Alec turned to face the angel, waiting. Jace got up quickly and stepped closer, fearful of what his Parabatai was about to go through and wanting to be nearer to him. Jace stepped as close as he dared to the barrier and spoke to Alec. "I'm right here beside you Alec. I will always be right here" At his words Magnus stepped forward until he was next to him. " As am I darling, we will be here to support you no matter what comes ahead for us." Both Magnus and Jace shared a comforting nod to each other and waited for what was to happen to Alec.
Alec smiled brightly at the two men who owned parts of his soul. He was terrified of what was to come but he knew he could shoulder whatever came next with his boys beside him. Alec looked back towards the angel and nodded for him to proceed. They all gasped as the angel's eyes turned like fire once more and his wings disappeared into his back entirely. They could all feel the power reaching out around them. The trees around them began to dance as if hit with an unknown wind. The leaves on the ground were beginning to rustle lightly.
The angel stepped closer to Alec facing him. One of his hands cradled the back of Alec's head as the other wound around his waist and rested on his back to hold him firm and steady him. The angel's hand moved from the back of his head for a moment to caress his cheek. He turned Alec's head to the side exposing his throat before he brought his hand back to rest against the back of his head. Samael leaned forward into Alec's throat until Alec could feel the angel's breath against his ear and throat. The angel spoke in a whisper. "You are braver than I could have hoped for my son. This will be an intense but pleasant experience. It is your Metamorphosis. You will become pure."
Without warning the angel's lips descended to Alec's throat and his breath caught as he waited in fearful anticipation. The angel's fangs grazed against his throat sending a wave like electricity throughout Alec's body. Alec grabbed onto the Angel's shoulders to steady himself and that's when the archangel Samael struck. His fangs sunk deep into Alec's throat in one swift and graceful movement. Alec let out a loud gasp as he squeezed the angel, gripping onto his shirt tightly. The angel pressed him closer, holding his back and head firmly. Alec's breath hitched as a moan escaped his lips. The pull of his blood throughout his body as it rushed across the angel's lips sent with it a current of ecstasy. Another loud moan escaped his lips as the angel drank deeper.
His knees began to buckle but the angel held him up. Blood began to trickle from around Samael's lips and down Alec's throat, creating a dark wet mark into the collar of his black T-shirt. Jace and Magnus reached out for one another to grab each other's hand in solidarity knowing that they would endure the pain of seeing Alec undone and reborn in front of them. They would not leave his side. Simon turned away, unable to watch something that had once destroyed his life. It was different from how he was turned but it hit too hard in his chest he turned into Clary's shoulder a tear sliding down his cheek. Izzy slumped to her knees tears also streaming down her face horrified at what her brother has to go through, has to become.
Alec was gasping now as he struggled to stay conscious while waves of pleasure filled his whole body. His head began to feel faint and he was losing strength. It seeped out of him across those lips. Those lips were everything to him now, nothing existed except for those lips and the pull they had over his life. He could hear a drumming sound growing louder in his ears as the pleasure crescendoed. He was becoming so weak his head went limp and fell to a resting position on Samael's shoulder. His hands that had been clutching to the angel's shoulders now loosened as he became tired and limp as they slowly fell to dangle by his sides.
Alec was completely powerless in Samael's arms limp like a sleeping child. Samael's hand against Alec's back quickly swept down to scoop under his legs lifting him up into his arms. Samael never broke away from Alec's throat as he did this. He continued to drain him as he held him like a babe in his arms. Jace and Magnus let out a collective whimper as they watched Alec become more and more lifeless, his arm dangling down. Jace leaned against Magnus as he felt the Parabatai mark spasm and grow weak making him weak as Alec was very close to death. Izzy let out a quiet sob. Magnus held up Jace but refused to look away from his love even for a second, he would stay with him through every moment. He would not look away.
The angel began to crouch and lower Alec's body to the ground still latched onto his throat. He laid Alec across the ground resting his hands on either side of Alec's shoulders as he crouched over him still draining him. Finally with a gasp the angel let go of his lock onto Alec's throat. He was on his knees next to Alec now, blood running down from his mouth over his chin and down his throat staining the white shirt the angel had on.
Samael leaned forward and scooped Alec up against him as he rested back on his knees. He cradled Alec against him with Alec's head laying lifeless against his shoulder. The angel reached into his pocket and pulled out a sharp bladed knife with intricate designs on the handle. He pulled the blade against his throat just above where Alec's head rested making a deep gash that immediately bled profusely.
A small river of blood was now beginning to seep from the angel's throat and down around his shoulder. He leaned down slightly and cradled Alec's head pulling his face up to the wound. Alec's lips were pressed against the wound. Blood trickled against his lips and made its way into his mouth. It was like a bolt of electricity went through his body. Alec's whole body twitched for a small second and then his mouth opened allowing for more blood to flow in. His body began to scream for the now powerful energy flowing into him and he locked himself to the wound. As he did so, Jace shouted out in some kind of pain and fell backwards against the ground and began to writhe on the dirt. The power coming through his Parabatai mark was too much; it was burning its way throughout his veins. It was like hot torture.
Clary, Simon, and Izzy all ran over to aid Jace but there was nothing they could do to help him; they simply had to wait for Alec's transformation to complete. Alec was regaining more and more strength by the second. His arms shot up around the angel's neck as he gripped tight to his lifeline, the angel's throat, his blood. The sheer ecstasy of the bite he had received was nothing compared to the feeling of the angel's blood filling his body and restoring lifelessness with pure carnal power. He could feel the angel growing weaker beneath him. Soon Alec was sitting up on his knees leaning into Samael drinking deeper. The angel was leaning back, his arms behind himself braced against the ground to keep himself upright as Alec stole his strength back and Samael's. A loud rapturous moan escaped Alec's lips against Samael's throat. The angel shot an arm up and gripped the fabric of Alec's shirt against his back. Something was changing: the pleasure of the blood was changing into a charge of power. Something was happening and it was becoming overwhelming to Alec. Jace was now convulsing on the ground incoherent, the power running through him just too great to be able to process. Clary and Simon were trying to hold him down, trying to keep him from hurting himself.
The power was becoming too much for Alec. He finally let go from the angel's throat in a violent gasp as he threw his head back, blood flying into the air and dripping down his chin and throat. He was soaked in blood and his chest was heaving with the power of his gasps. His whole body was vibrating with energy he could not comprehend or even be able to describe. He was no longer Alec the shadowhunting archer, he was something more now, something invincible, an Immortal Instrument of divine power.
Suddenly the power turned to pain deep in his belly. He flew back onto the ground, writhing against the dirt like Jace had done moments before as Clary and Simon are holding him down. Alec began to scream in pain as his body transformed with the power coursing through it. They all watched as Alec curled in on himself again and again in pain as his hair grew sleeker and darker if that was even possible. There became an almost unnatural shine to his hair. His muscles changed beneath his skin; they could see the shifting and changing shape of his body. He had always had a great physique but now his muscles matched his lean and tall shape perfectly and you could tell there was immeasurable strength within those muscles.
Alec suddenly shot up on his knees grabbing his mouth a quiet scream left his lips as he leaned forward blood dripping from his mouth but not from what he consumed. It was fresh blood, his blood. His canines were being forced out by new ones sharp and delicate. It was clear these would not retract like the vampires of the downworld. These were permanent within his mouth, ever a reminder of his deadly new appetite. He gasped as they settled into position in his mouth and all the pain seeped from his bones leaving him along with his consciousness. He fell back on the ground completely still, like death.
They looked at him in horror thinking he was dead as his skin began to turn very pale, taking on a very unnatural glow to it in the moonlight. There was a flash and they knew the barrier had disappeared. Magnus immediately rushed over to Alec's side. He feared the worst but he saw Alec's eyes moving underneath his eyelids like he was in a deep state of sleep. Magnus sighed in relief. Jace had stopped convulsing and now lay breathing heavily on the ground trying to control the power he felt rushing within him but it no longer held any pain. He slowly sat up and crawled over to Alec and held his hand. Simon and Clary stood up and walked over to Alec looking down at his sleeping form. He was their Alec still but at the same time he looked completely different, angelic. Izzy got up slowly stumbling over to Alec, tears still falling from her cheeks. She knelt down by his head lifting it into her lap. She cried softly as she stroked her brother's hair. She could feel the silky difference. It was too perfect to be human. He was her brother but he had been changed into something she couldn't relate to. She loved him dearly but she also grieved for his lost humanity. He would be forever this being.
The angel Samael finally stood up having recollected his strength after having given so much to Alec. He was soaked in blood. The angel truly looked like the Angel of Death now. Blood running down his chin and throat, his entire left shoulder drenched in blood, the gash having already healed on his throat. He walked over to the group surrounding Alec as he lay asleep on the ground. The angel knelt on one knee next to Alec and leaned down to give him the most gentle of kisses upon his forehead. He then whispered in his ear. "You are my most cherished in this world and I am proud of your bravery. You will show this world what it means to be of angel blood." With that, there was a bright blinding flash and the Angel of Death was gone leaving a stunned group of friends and lovers staring at a loved one changed forever. He was destined to save the world from an enemy they don't know and with powers he doesn't even understand. This was going to be a whole new world for all of them.