AN: Hello everyone! I am very pleased to bring to you She Was My Parabatai the sequel to She's My Parabatai! I hope you all enjoy this story with a cryptic title ^.^
Light filtered through the training room windows as I raised my sword and swung at the dummy. After the impact I did it again and again until my arms got tired, forcing me to stop. Training kept my mind at ease; mainly so because I didn't have to think about everything that was going on while I was training.
I didn't have to think about Jace, about how he had betrayed us all. I didn't have to think of the hundreds of shadowhunters and mundanes who had lost their lives in the past week. I didn't have to think about Sebastian, about how he was a shell of who he once was. I didn't have to think about the fragile bond between Izzy and I, a bond so fragile I was afraid one wrong word said would break it.
As I stared at the sword in my hands I realized it didn't feel right. It was too long, too heavy. It didn't gleam in the light like Heosphoros did. But I couldn't even stand to look at my former blade any longer. Every time I looked at it I remembered Jonathan stabbing my mother with it. His words rang true in my heart: it was almost as if I had killed my own mother.
"Clary," a voice from the doorway said. I turned to notice it was Ashton.
"Ash," I said in surprise. "I didn't realize you were back." Due to the recent murdering spree his fellow Ascended class had gone on, Ashton had been questioned for the past week. He had even gone to Idris to be put on trial before the Mortal Sword. I suppose him standing here now meant he knew nothing of the others' plans.
"I got in last night," he said. "Maryse wants us in her office."
"Yeah, okay." I put the sword away and followed Ashton down the hall. "I'm glad to see you weren't incarcerated."
Ash let out a small laugh. "Me too."
As we reached the office I realized that Izzy and Alec were waiting inside along with their parents.
"Great," Maryse said as the two of us entered. "We can begin."
"I want no quarrel over what we are about to say," Robert started. "The four of you will be going to Alicante." He looked at Ashton. "I'm sorry, Ashton, had we known we would have had you stay there, but the order just came in this morning."
"We need you four to escort the newly Ascended back to the Institute," Maryse continued.
"Why do four of us need to escort them through a portal?" Alec asked.
"You won't be using a portal," his mother answered. "You'll be flying to Germany and then a shadowhunter will pick you up at the airport."
"Why aren't we using a portal?" I questioned. It was a far easier way of travel.
Maryse and Robert looked at each other for a moment before they sighed. "The Clave has come to the decision that we will have no contact with downworlders from this point forward, in light of recent evidence that downworlders are working with Jonathan Wayland."
"What?!" Izzy exclaimed. Simon, of course, she wouldn't be able to see Simon anymore, not that her parents knew about him. "Not all downworlders are working with Jonathan."
"Even so," Robert said. "We cannot disobey the law."
"Sed lex dura lex," Alec spoke in Latin. "My ass."
"Alexander!" Maryse exclaimed.
"Mag- Many downworlders have worked with Nephilim for years and never caused so much as a problem! Alicante wouldn't even be protected if it wasn't for warlock wards." Alec ignored his mother. "All downworlders shouldn't be put in the same category as Jonathan's!"
"We don't want to hear any more of this," Robert said sternly. "We're leaving for the airport in an hour. You all better be packed."
"But first," Maryse said. "Isabelle, Alec, give me your phones. The law says no communication with downworders. That means with mundane technology as well."
"Mom!" Izzy complained.
Maryse slammed her hand down on the table hard enough to cause me to jump. "I've had enough of you two arguing! We are facing a crisis, do you understand? Half of us have been murdered. We failed in our jobs as Nephilim and let another hundred mundanes be killed. If never before, now is the time to obey the Clave."
Izzy grumbled and fished her phone out of her pocket placing it in her mother's palm. Maryse then looked at Alec who reluctantly handed his device to her.
"Good, now go pack."
"Sebastian?" I knocked on the door to my brother's room. There was no answer but I let myself in anyway. The room was pitch black but when I turned on the lights I wasn't surprised to see my brother sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed staring at the wall. It was a state I often found him in.
I knelt on the floor next to him. "Sebastian?"
"Jonathan said I'm not supposed to talk to anyone. I'm being punished. No food or water, he said." He wasn't even looking at me, just staring into space.
I sighed. He had been in this state since he had woken up after we rescued him. Brother Zachariah said Jonathan and Damian had messed too much with his mind. Even he couldn't fix it without killing him.
I softly touched Sebastian's shoulder. He made no indication that he felt it. Some days were better than others. Sometimes he was back to his old self and sometimes he was like this.
"I have to go, Seb," I told him.
He finally looked at me and my heart broke when I saw tears in his eyes. "Clary, please don't leave me. The nightmares are constant when you're gone." There was nothing I wanted more than to bring him with us, perhaps even seeing Idris would bring him back to himself. But if Jonathan happened to show up...I didn't know how Sebastian would react.
I wiped a tear from his face. "I'll be back in a few days. Max is going to look after you. He said he'd read you books." Max was the only other person who could get a response out of Sebastian other than me.
"Max?" Sebastian questioned and I nodded.
"Clary!" I heard someone in the hallway shout. My hour was up but I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Sebastian. The door crept open to reveal Izzy. "Sorry, but it's time to go."
When I looked back at Sebastian he was already staring at the wall again. I sighed and followed Izzy out the door.
"Is he going to be alright without you?" She asked me.
"Max is going to look after him," I told her.
"That's not what I meant. What if he has one of his outbursts? You're the only one who can calm him down." The first time Sebastian had an outburst I was scared out of my mind. He was fine one minute and the next screaming and crying about Jonathan killing our family, it was to the point where he even thought that he had killed me. I had to show him that I was fine before he calmed down.
"Robert will have to sedate him-" the words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. Izzy and I hadn't formally talked about what I had done to her but I knew there was a void between us because of it. Each of us had been dancing on the edges ever since. "Izzy-"
"Oh look, Alec." My Parabatai ignored me as we entered the entry hall where Alec was waiting. The eldest Lightwood looked between us and sighed sensing the tension.
"You all ready?" Robert questioned as he and Ashton appeared down another hallway. "Then let's get going. You've got a long journey ahead of you."