I already told you. I'm not entirely sure how it works. If it's a fugue state, one part of our minds being lost here. I've heard it a lot of ways. One person said that the moment we wake up here our normal waking life is held in limbo.

[Magnus sighs, it all made sense and none of it made sense. Part of the charm of a place like this, with enough power to destroy them. Instead, it kept them trapped, pacing a cage. Magnus has never looked kindly on anything that threatens him, the people he cares about, and now he has Alec to worry about.

He knows all too well how these things start, the doubt, the panic, and then the dull and distant acceptance. It's not anything he'd wish for any of them, but it was happening all the same.]

I wish I could answer your questions. Unfortunately, I'm just as skeptical as you are and not within my means where my magic is concerned. I can't portal out, and the energy it takes to portal ... [Magnus shifts uncomforably] I'm sick for days after the fact.