Poetic Sacrilege
"Izzy, no!" Alec yells from across the corridor, already sprinting towards her.
"Alec, it's fine, I'm okay," Izzy mumbles as Alec goes to see if she's hurt.
"Why on earth would you try to do that?" Alec asks, brushing dust out of her hair.
Izzy just shrugs and sniffs a little, flicking her hair over one shoulder and stretching her legs. "Why not?"
"Iz…"
Alec doesn't get to express his concern because Izzy springs away and turns the corner before he can even blink. Sighing, he goes back to where he was before, picking up his bow and sliding the arrows back into their quiver.
He knows Izzy won't talk when she's still in pain, but nor will she accept any help with her injury. Even if it's not a major injury, Alec can't help feeling protective, only wanting to see her happy and triumphant, rather than in a sulk.
He'd ask Jace to talk to her but if she won't talk to Alec, she won't talk to anyone. He can't help but wonder why she'd try to do something she hadn't been asked to, or why she felt the need to practice it without anyone with her. It's not like Izzy to unnecessarily risk breaking something, especially when she has a party at the weekend.
And because he's thinking about Izzy all afternoon, he misses a few shots. Well, they hit the target and they're close enough to the centre ring, but to Alec, it's practically a failure. Or it would be, if he was paying attention.
"Dude." Jace elbows him. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, it's Izzy," Alec replies absently.
"Alec, you're not her mother. Wait, father. Oh, whatever, man."
Alec just raises his eyebrows. "And?"
Jace sighs. "Give her some space. She IS a teenage girl, after all."
"Teenage girl or a middle-aged woman, she's still our sister."
"I have, and I have a plan," Jace admits, winking.
Alec groans. "You almost blew up the weapons room last time you said that!"
"This is a better plan!"
"You always say that!"
"That's because it's true!"
As Jace pouts and his eyes widen in a clear attempt to be somewhere between persuasive and manipulative, Alec sighs and gives in, nodding his approval.
"Yes!" Jace grins, literally bounding up and down.
"Okay, what is it?" Alec asks, and Jace's grin stretches alarmingly.
Alec opens his mouth to complain but Jace shakes his head, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along to the training room next to the one Izzy had run into, according to Jace and his 'trusty sources'.
Luckily, there's no-one else in there so they can close the door – with a lot of effort because for some reason the door is insanely heavy – and Jace can play his pre-prepared really strange music. Even for them, who've gone through a dozen different musical phases, it's really weird. It's a mixture of heavy beats and romantic melodies that was probably designed to drive someone mad.
Which, fortunately, is exactly what they're trying to do.
"Oh, Juliet, I truly love thee!" Jace shouts, stifling his laugh immediately afterwards.
Alec rolls his eyes at how obviously Jace doesn't really know what he's doing. It's a good thing they're parabatai or else every one of his plans would end with a concussion and sheepish grins.
"Romeo, O Romeo!" Alec bellows, having to pause as Jace laughs. "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"
"Juliet, my lover, my soulmate, will you join me and we can be late?" Jace yells, clearly trying to rap but failing hilariously.
"Romeo, oh my love, could you send me a… dove?" Alec continues, purely for the sake of Izzy.
"Juliet, Juliet, how I adore thee! I feel like going on a shopping spree!"
Before either of them can say anything else, there's a knife in the speaker, and the music crackles until it fades out totally.
Alec and Jace try to suppress their victorious smiles as Izzy saunters through the door and glares at them, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. They fail, obviously, but only because they see the small smile on Izzy's face.
"Okay, what is going on?" she demands, coughing to hold back her laughter.
"Isn't it obvious?" Jace asks, slinging an arm around Alec's shoulder, "We're re-enacting the spear dude."
"Shakespeare," Alec mutters.
"Shakespeare," Jace echoes without missing a beat.
Izzy giggles before clearing her throat. "Is this about earlier?"
"Earlier?"
"What injury?"
"Of course not!"
"How could you say that?"
"Why would we care about our sister?"
"We totally do this all the time."
"You're getting this all wrong."
"What time is it?"
"Who are you?"
"Alright, I get it!" Izzy explodes, laughing too hard to be even a little bit annoyed.
Alec and Jace high five before running and enveloping Izzy in an embrace full of victory, concern, and laughter. They only pull away when Izzy shakes her head in surrender, throwing her hands up.
"Okay, fine, ask away."
"What were you thinking?" Alec asks immediately.
As Jace chuckles, Izzy shrugs. "I just… wanted to be better, you know? I don't get to do the stuff you do."
"That's because we don't get to do the stuff you do," Alec says, "Do you think they'd trust us with a whip?"
"They don't?" Izzy asks, surprised.
"Of course not." Jace makes a face. "Then again, they barely trust me with anything."
"Definitely not one of those knives you just threw…" Alec gestures to the deceased speaker, now intermittently showing sparks on the floor.
"So, they don't think I'm weaker?" Izzy asks in a voice so small she barely sounds like herself.
"Isabelle Lightwood. You can run in those stupid heels we have to buy for you. You are very obviously strong!" Jace assures her.
"That could have been worded better, but I agree," Alec says.
Izzy smiles, then swears.
"Language!" Alec chides.
"The speaker!" Izzy exclaims, her face pale.
Jace swears.
"Guys!" Alec throws his arms up in exasperation, then bites his lip as he sees the state of the speaker. "Okay, fair point."
"How do we plan to hide that?" Jace asks.
"Same way we hid your broken window for a year," Izzy declares, a mischievous spark in her eyes.
"Why do I agree to these plans?" Alec asks rather dramatically, to no-one in particular.
"Because you're Alexander!" Jace manages to deepen his voice an entire octave.
"Stop calling me that!" Alec groans.
"It's a nice name!" Izzy argues, giggling.
"For a marble statue," Jace adds, yelling when Alec pretends to kick him.
"I am surrounded by fools!" Izzy mutters, then shrieks when both Alec and Jace tackle her, the three of them ending up in a heap on the floor.
"Wait, is that the sound of-" Alec doesn't even need to finish his sentence because all three of them hear their parents walking down the floor.
Deciding that they can probably run and make it to the table in time, the three of them choose to stay in a pile on the floor for a little longer. After all, there's nothing better than a touch of Lightwood love to boost your self-esteem.
Alec smiles to himself as he sees Izzy grinning at them and the broken speaker, his heart wishing that the three of them always stay as happy as they are now, and hoping that they'll always be there for each other, even if it does mean badly remixing Shakespeare.
Poetic sacrilege is worth the Lightwood sibling trio.
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