The demon boy rested cold in Clary's arms. Except he wasn't demon anymore. Everything had happened so fast; Clary recalled her movements: how she was forced to sit beside her brother in the kingdoms of Hell, forced to rule beside her demonic brethren who desired her more than anything; how she manipulated him when he pushed her to the limits, and stabbed him in the back - literally - with the dagger on heavenly fire; how the fire seared through the darkness in him, destroying the demon within.
Clary stared down at her brother's sullen face. Before, his features were of a great white shark. He had sharp cheek bones, enough to cut through skin, pale hair and skin, which you could not differentiate from, and fathomless eyes. His eyes resembled the pools of hatred, anger, loneliness and lunacy a person could have - except, that was all Sebastian was made of. When Clary shattered this part of his soul, she saw his features soften. His cheek bones became more human, his skin and hair more darker, and his eyes, his emerald green eyes which broke Clary's heart. For in her arms was a broken blonde boy, with little to no soul left of him.
"C-clary..." Sebastian rasped. "I'm sorry. There is... nothing... I can do to make up for this, but... but I can say that I'm sorry. From the depths of my... non-demonic... soul. In fact..." he continued, "I swear by the Angel that I am sincerely apologet-apologet... apologetic... for everything. I hope you remember me as Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern, your... broth... br... bro..." Sebastian - no, Jonathan - didn't continue. He couldn't continue. He started hyperventilating and shifting uncomfortably in Clary's lap, the pain evident on his face. Clary drew in a sharp breath, tears forming in her eyes.
"Brother..." she whispered. She lay silent, her head bowed down, holding Jonathan's cold body. She felt her brother's heartbeat slow down, and it eventually came to a stop. The brother she had yearned for, the brother the demon had shown in her desires, the brother she had seen for less than a few minutes, was gone. Forever. A small puff of air left Jonathan's mouth, and Clary burst into tears.
"Clary... Clary..." Jace rushed up to her, and held her in his muscular arms. "Clary... he's gone... Clary..." he whispered, soothing her back, as she mourned over Jonathan. "Clary... There's nothing we can do... Clary... Clary listen... Clary-"
"SHUT UP! Just shut UP Jace!" Clary sobbed. "There has to be a way. You don't understand-"
"Clary," Isabelle called out, "I know it hurts to see your family like this, but both you and I know that Sebast-"
"His... name... is... JONATHAN..." she seethed through her tears. "Sebastian, the half demon, half shadowhunter boy may have deserved this. But what I... I saw just then was my brother. My real brother. The brother the demon showed me. Kind, protective, compassionate. Mom! He had green eyes mom! Green!" Clary desperately tried to reach her mother. She knew that Jocelyn had cried over the son she could have had, the one with green eyes and blonde hair.
Jocelyn took in a sharp breath. Silently, she walked up to Clary and Jonathan's body, and collapsed onto her knees. With a single, shaky finger, she lifted Jonathan's eyelid, and gasped. For under the eyelid was a sparkling, green iris. Jocelyn carefully closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her firm face.
"Jocelyn. Jocelyn..." Luke cried out, and ran up to join his family. Together, the three mourned over their long-lost brother and son, the one they could never have. Clary sobbed into Jonathan's shirt, while Jocelyn quietly cried into Luke's shoulder, Luke trying to embrace and comfort her. Together, they were the broken family, with lost relatives, and hearts than were once again shattered.
In the heat of the moment, Magnus cleared his throat in Alec's arms. Isabelle gave him a lethal look, which, obviously, Magnus ignored.
"There... is a way," Magnus said, his voice hoarse as he too, was suffering from the effects of Hell. Alec stared worryingly at his love.
"Magnus... how? He's already... gone... and besides, your too weak right now to do magic..." Alec said. Once again, Isabelle shot the pair a deadly stare.
"I know that if that was Max, I would do anything to save him, Alec," she said, putting pressure on the name Max, her lost brother. "I know he almost destroyed the whole world-"
"You could say that," Simon muttered. Isabelle nudged him.
"-he, in some odd way, was also under the influence. Under the influence of Valentine. Like Jace had been under the influence of Sebastian. When Clary killed Sebastian, all that was left was the small bit of Jonathan, but it wasn't enough to keep him alive. It was like when Clary seared Jace's soul free of Sebastian's influence, Jace only had Jace left, the good Jace, but it was enough to keep him breathing. The Jonathan who Clary wants back is the good Jonathan, the brother she never had but dreamt of. I think that's a fair thing to ask after all she's been through." Isabelle, fierce and strong, completed her speech with everyone staring at her, including Clary, Jocelyn and Luke.
"Thank you," Clary mouthed from a distance. Isabelle faintly smiled.
"Well then its settled. We return to our dimension, and I will do my utmost best to bring back the Jonathan we lost. Any objections?" The strength in Magnus's voice startled Alec, but also gave him a sense of pride.
"Alright then. But first thing's first. We get out of Hell - ironic, isn't it? My dear Alec, and everyone else, I'd like you to meet Asmodeus. One of the nine princes of hell and," Magnus continued bitterly as a wisp of darkness grew bigger and bigger, "my father."
