For Your Own Good
Jace was use to being in charge of evening training, he always is unless Robert is in town, and even then a lot of times he just observes to make sure Jace is doing his job. Occasionally he will decide what drill he wants to see, to check everyone for improvement. Jace hurried to get dressed and ran down to the training room to get everything set up for today's lesson. When he got down to the training room he was surprised to see Robert waiting, and he didn't seem like he was in a good mood.
"Jace!" Robert's voice boomed "Where are the others?!"
"They should be here in second Robert, they are never late." Jace said hoping they wouldn't prove him wrong.
Just then Alec, and Izzy came in laughing and joking among themselves until they see Robert then they fell silent. Clary walked in pretty much right behind Alec and Izzy. She has only dealt with Robert's training a few times but it makes her nervous, and she had no doubt she was going to be sore in the morning.
Robert begins, "Jace will still be leading training today, but I will be observing very closely, and you just better hope I like what I see." Robert went and sat in his normal spot and began to observe. Before Jace starts training he glances at Clary trying to reassure her with his eyes, as she looks at him nervously. Training begins like it does every day with normal warm ups. They spend about 20 minutes stretching and warming up their muscles. Today their main focus will be on their blades. Everyone goes and gets their blade, and stands ready. They will be going through about 10 different drills today. The first half of drills Clary and Izzy are paired up, and then the second half the girls alternate between being paired with Jace and being paired with Alec.
Clary for some reason was still very nervous with Robert watching. She knew she wasn't doing as well as she usually does. It wasn't that Robert was a bad teacher, he was in fact a good teacher, but he was very very hard on them. He did it because he loved them and wanted them to be ready for anything, but it was still enough to make her nervous. When the first drill ends with Clary dropping her blade and Izzy standing over her. Izzy helps her up, and they begin again, and it doesn't take long before Clary drops her blade again. The next drill begins, and once again Clary drops her blade. A loud voice echoes through the training room, "I better not see you drop that blade again Clarissa!" Clary flinched, at his voice. Izzy looked up at Clary and whispered, "Please Clary for your own good focus, you're lucky you got a warning." Clary nods begins to focus more, and makes it through the first half of the drills.
Jace then pairs himself with Clary, and Izzy with Alec to start the second half of drills. They make it through 3 more drills seamlessly everyone seems to be on their game now, and into the flow of things. Clary was trying really hard to remain focused, but then Jace caught her by surprise and ended up knocking her to the ground and her blade went flying out of her hand. Robert flew out of his chair, "That's it Clarissa! You unfortunately need to be taught what can happen if you drop your blade while fighting a demon…..Jace get the wooden swords! NOW!" Alec and Izzy immediately stop fighting and flinched at the mention of the wooden swords. Jace's eyes grew really wide and he began to plead, "Robert she hasn't been training that long...you don't have to do this...please..."
Clary didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't good. The way everyone acted when these wooden swords were mentioned meant something bad was about to happen. Robert said again, "Someone better get me those damn swords NOW, or I'll be forced to remind everyone who's in charge" Alec couldn't help but to do as his father ask. Alec came back with a wooden box which he opened to reveal two wooden blades that were a basic copy of the blades they were using earlier just made from wood. Robert gets up and begins to take his jacket off, and Jace begins to panic. He knows he can't fully protect Clary, but he can try struggling to get the words out he looks at Robert, "No...Robert please….I'll do it..." Clary glances up at Jace, as Alec and Izzy attempt to leave the training room. Robert glances down at Jace then to his other two children. "No, you two stay you, need to remember what happens when you drop weapons." Robert turns his attention back to to Jace, "I'll let you do it this time, but if I see you going easy on her I will take over do you understand." Jace nodded..taking a deep breath he takes both of the wooden swords from Robert and walks over to Clary.
While Jace is walking towards Clary Robert begins to speak, "Clarissa, I know you are probably going to find me to be cruel and unfair, but this is how it has to be. You cannot drop your weapon in a fight. If you drop your weapon during a fight you will most certainly be killed. It appears that you'll need a little tough love in order for you to understand." Then his attention turns to Jace and give him a go ahead nod.
Jace looks down at Clary, and in that moment she looks so small and so fragile, he hopes she will understand he is doing this out of love, and to protect her. When he looks in her eyes he can tell she's afraid, and what hurts the most is he knows that she is afraid of him. Jace readies his sword as does Clary. Jace lunges at Clary with his sword. Clary is putting up quite a good fight, and Jace knows it's probably mostly out of fear. Jace takes a deep breath as he gets ready to do the combination he knows is going to disarm Clary. Just as he planned Clary's falls to the ground and her sword leaves her hand. Jace is standing over Clary, and she looks terrified. Jace brings his sword back, and he hesitates. Robert voice booms, "Do it Jace or I will!" Tears form in his eyes, as he whispers "I love you Clary..." and he swings. Alec and Izzy flinch at the sound of the wooden sword making contact with Clary's ribs. They keep their eyes glued to the floor not wanting to watch. Clary tries not to scream out as the sword makes contact with her ribs. She tried to remind herself Shadowhunters don't show pain, Shadowhunters don't cry, but it was useless. Jace hits her again and again. He makes sure to avoid major organs, and where he thinks will hurt her the least. After about the 3rd hit Jace watches tears roll down her face as she curls into a ball to protecting herself the best she can. The 4th swing that connects with Clary's hip causes her to cry out. The 8th hit even though it wasn't to her head made the pain more than her body could stand and she passes out.
Jace was about to swing again when he saw that she was no longer conscience, he dropped the sword and falls to his knees. Seconds later he feels a strong hand on his shoulder, "Son now you know the meaning of this will is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." Tears began to streak down Jace's face as he makes his way to Clary. He can already see the bruises starting to form on her arms and legs. He looks over at Alec, "Please Alec...carry her to the infirmary for me?...I don't think she'll want me touching her..."
Alec nods sadly walks over and gently lifts Clary into his arms. Izzy runs over to Jace, and kneels down in front of him "I know right now you feel like a monster, but I promise you...I completely understand why you did it." Jace doesn't look up but whispers, "Yeah, will she though?"