AN: So, I pushed canon out of the window in front of a waiting bus and laughed maniacally as it was crushed underneath its wheels. We´ve finally reached the events of the series *throws confetti*
I plan for the next parts to have at least 5k words and will probably group two or three episodes into each. The more we get away from the POD, though, the more pronounced the ripple effects on canon will be, until all you know and love will be lost MUHAHAHA :D
And don´t worry, I didn´t forget Raphael ;)
If there was one place Alec would rather not be then it would be the Pandemonium.
He liked it quiet. Reclusive. Without the constant stream of people that he didn't knew – didn't trust – and over which he had no control over. He didn't need many people – his sister, Jace, Hodge – so the dozens of unknown faces around him made him deeply uncomfortable.
Mundane or Downworlder; underneath the flashing lights, the artificial fog and with the heavy beat drumming, he couldn't tell the difference. Sweat soaked they rubbed their bodies together, heads thrown back, grinding, hands wandering as the alcohol kept pouring.
Alec could already feel the headache coming from the strange music they all danced to. Too shrill, too much beat that pierced through his skull, lyrics that made no sense. At least Izzy had her fun, coming to a stop every now and then and entertaining herself with some mundane before she let go off the hopelessly besotted sod. Alec would have liked to remind her that they weren't her for fun – and that she should put up her glamour again, dammit! – but the distance between them was too wide and the music too loud for her to hear him.
Jace, meanwhile, didn't let anything distract him. He never got distracted during missions, his Parabatai was reliable like that, and yet Alec could feel the confusion echoing through their bond. Something had unsettled his friend and it tasted like bitterness that Alec couldn't just put a hand on his shoulder and just ask.
The mission came first.
Alec made his way through the crowd as they followed the demon. The people parted around him like, even though they couldn't see him, they felt the urgency and determination he was projecting. Mundanes may not be able to see what was part of the Shadow World, but they could feel it. Where else would tales of haunted houses have come from?
They followed the demon into a part of the club that was separated from the main dance floor. Alec was glad for it; less chance of any bystander getting hurt when they dealt with the monster. He noticed with satisfaction that his sister had her glamour up again. He gestured to her and Jace, indicating that they should encircle the demon so that he had less of a chance to escape them.
Not that there was any real chance of that happening. They were the best, they had killed many demons already, most of them much more dangerous than the specimen they were currently in pursuit of.
Alec looked up. Izzy was in position with her whip put out and ready for use. Jace as well, his face frozen in a mask of determination, his muscles coiled underneath his clothes. Like a predator, wild and proud. A warm feeling spread through Alec´s chest and he squashed it with all of his might. No time for that now. Never.
Alec made the motion for them to start their attack. Izzy´s whip flashed forward, straight at demon and coiled itself around its right feet. She pulled back and with a surprised sound the demon fell to the ground. Jace was ready, jumping from his position, sword glowing in his hand and ready to bury it in the demon´s chest, but the demon manged to roll to the side, evading being skewered by Jace´s blade.
"Shadowhunters," it hissed. "What a pleasant surprise." It grinned, its smile full of inhumanly sharp teeth. With a jerk it rushed forward, causing Izzy to lose her balance as she hadn't expected it. The demon lunged at Jace and Alec let loose an arrow which missed its chest but nevertheless found its aim in the demon´s leg.
It screeched – an inhumane, ungodly sound – and fell to the ground where it writhed in pain.
"Curse you!" it hissed. "Valentine will get what he wants no matter what you do."
"Valentine´s dead," Jace spat at the monster. If there was anything that roused his rage, then it was the mention of the man who murdered his father. With one final move, Jace buried his sword in the demon´s chest. One last scream and then it shattered into thousand golden particles before they vanished as well. A demon´s death was much more beautiful to look at than the actual creature.
"Well, that was easy," Izzy commented, having recovered from being thrown to the ground. She was about to say something else when a panicked gasp directed all their attention to the room´s entrance.
There, standing with eyes widened in horror and shock, was a girl whose most striking feature was her flamboyant orange hair. One hand covered her mouth while the other hung at her side, shaking like a leaf. Her eyes were glued to the spot where Jace had struck down the demon.
"You killed him," the girl said, barely above a whisper, but yet they were all able to hear it, even over the muted sound of the music coming from the dancefloor. "You killed him!"
Impossible, Alec thought, we´re all glamoured. She shouldn't be able to see us.
Before anyone could react, though, the curtain was flung apart again and a boy entered the scene. He mustered the scene in front of him as if he could see them as well – impossible, not two at the same time, he was just a mundane – but then the girl flung herself at the boy and wrapped her arms around him.
"Simon," she exclaimed. "They…they killed that…thing!"
"He can´t see us," Jace spat out depreciatively. "He´s just a mundane."
"That´s not true!" the girl shot back. "You can see them, Simon, don´t you?" And to Alec´s horror the boy just nodded.
"Yes, Clary," he replied, barely above a whisper. "I can see them."
You could have heard a dust particle landing on the ground in the silence that ensued after that declaration. Alec´s mind was reeling. How could that be? Not only one mundane, but two who were able to see through their glamours. That was a catastrophe! How could he ensure that they wouldn't tell anyone about what they had seen? How could he preserve the secrecy of the Shadow World with those two security risks running free?
Alec could feel the burden of his responsibilities pressure down on him. Oh, how he wished for his parents to be here; to be able to ask them for guidance, to have his mother smile at him reassuringly (even though Maryse´s kind words were rare and her smiles even rarer) or to have his father lay his hand on his shoulder, conveying reassurance and trust without words with just one single gesture.
But his parents had raised him to be independent. They had taught him to think for himself. How disappointed would they be if he ran to them for every problem that presented itself to him? Besides, they were in Idris, far away from New York.
The silence was broken by the girl – Clary, the boy had called her – babbling into the boy´s (Simon, Alec´s mind supplied) shirt as she clung to him.
"Oh my God, they killed him," she muttered. "The blonde killed him with some glowing sword…and I´m not crazy, you can see them, can´t you? You said it…Simon, what´s going on?"
"I´ll explain later," Simon reassured her. He looked up, his gaze locking with Alecs'.
"There isn´t any chance of you just letting us go?" he asked. "Forget that this all happened?"
"Of course not," Jace huffed. "You´re coming with us."
"We certainly aren´t!" the red-head exclaimed. "You think we´re just gonna come with you after you just killed that…that thing?!"
"It´s not as if you have much of choice," Jace muttered and Alec was really thankful that his Parabatai was standing far away enough that the two mundanes couldn't hear him. Jace had many good qualities, but diplomacy was not one of them. That fell to Alec.
"Look," Alec turned to the two mundanes, though he directed his speech more towards the boy, seeing as he seemed to be the more composed out of the two of them. "We need you to come with us…just to sort this out, okay?"
"You think we´ll just go with some Shadowhunters," the boy spat at him and Alec instantly shut down. If there was one thing that he couldn't stand, then it was others looking down on his whole race as if it was something to be disgusted of. They risked their life on a daily basis, just so that the mundanes could continue living in ignorance; that werewolves could continue to hunt, vampires to drink blood and warlocks their petty games of magic. He would have no one insult the sacrifices they were willing to make.
"How do you know about Shadowhunters?" Izzy asked.
"I…I read it in a book?" the boy replied, more a question than a statement, probably because he recognized the mistake he had made.
"You know about Shadowhunters," Alec stated evenly. "That means you fall under the jurisdiction of the Accords as all beings aware of the Shadow World do. You will come with us."
"You want a law duel?" the boy shot back. "Well, I invoke the Ward Clause of the Accords. As long as my spokesperson isn´t here to represent my and my friend´s interests you have no right to take us anywhere. So go and spin on it!" Alec could sense Jace getting agitated through their bond and knowing his Parabatai he was about to something reckless or stupid. Probably both. So he just signalled for him and Izzy to come over to him and they stuck their heads together so that the two mundanes couldn't hear them.
"What is the Ward Clause?" Izzy asked puzzled.
"Something he invented to get us off of him," Jace sneered. "We should just take them to the Silent Brothers and have their memory whipped." Alec let out an exasperated sigh.
"Don´t you two every pay attention to what Hodge is teaching us?" he asked his siblings. "Or read up on anything he assigns us?" His gaze was met by twin looks of guilt on the other Shadowhunters' faces. Alec had to suppress the urge to facepalm.
"The Ward Clause states that any mundane is entitled to a member of the Shadow World representing him or her in official Accord business if he so demands," Alec explained. It wasn't a very well-known clause, either. He had stumbled upon it during one of his reading sessions. Just one single paragraph, a few sentences, nothing more. An obscure part of the Accords which – as far as Alec was aware – hadn't been in use for centuries. Interaction between the Shadow World and the mundanes was scarce.
"I still don´t see why we just can´t take them to the Institute and question them," Jace muttered.
"You know why," Izzy mutter back, "Munandes that know about the Shadow World are subjects under the Accords with the same rights as any Downworlder. It would have been different if they had been completely unaware before." Jace just rolled his eyes at Izzy. Seeing as their talk had come to an end they turned back around to face the two mundanes.
"Name your representative," Alec stated. The mundane boy just grinned at a dark sense of foreboding swept over Alec. That couldn't mean anything good.
"I name Magnus Bane as our representative," the boy smirked.
"You´re joking," Izzy exclaimed flatly, voicing exactly what Alec was thinking. Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn wouldn't lower himself to help anyone but himself and certainly not for some mundane boy. Because if the boy truly had Bane on his side, it would certainly make the proceeding from here on much more difficult.
They had been warned of him, of course. One of the most powerful warlocks of the last centuries with questionable taste in bed partners and even more questionable morals. The Clave would like nothing more than get the warlock under their control, but he was much too dangerous – too unpredictable. So they had just been told by their parents to try to avoid Bane and to never challenge him if they weren't completely sure that they could outmanoeuvre him.
Well, that certainly wasn't the case now. In no way were they capable to defeat Bane in a battle of either weapons or law. Bane had centuries of experience on them.
"Have you any way of contacting your representative?" Alec inquired with dry throat. The last chance to call the mundane´s bluff.
"Of course," the boy replied. "I´ll just give him a call." He pulled his cell phone out of pocket and began muttering something, too quiet for Alec or any of the Shadowhunters to hear.
"He´ll be here in a minute," the mundane told them and pocketed his phone. Awkward silence descended upon them. Like armies shortly before the real fight they stood apart from each other, observing and looking for any sign of betrayal. Or at least some of them did; Izzy was contemplating her nails while Jace looked bored to hell. The mundane girl on the other side just looked confused, biting her lip in an attempt to not just pop out the question she was probably dying to ask.
So, it was only Alec and the mundane boy that regarded each other with wariness and mistrust.
The stand-off was interrupted, though, by another mobile suddenly starting to ring. All heads immediately snapped to the red-head girl who looked like a deer caught in the headlight.
"`m sorry," she mumbled and hastily scrambled for her phone.
"Mom?" The person on the other side of the line was saying something.
"What´s happening?" Her voice took a more panicked tint as she clutched her phone tighter. "What did you do?"
"Followers?" the girl asked confused. "Why can´t you just call the police?...Mom? MOM!"
"Clary, what happened?" the mundane asked the girl with worry in his voice. The girl just shook her head.
"I need to go," she replied hurriedly and then she had already vanished through the closed curtains, making her way out of the club.
"Jace, follow her," Alec commanded through gritted teeth. Each time he thought that the mission couldn't get fucked up any worse something like that happened. Now he had to send his Parabatai after a mundane girl only because she may present a danger to the secrecy of the Shadow World. Thankfully Jace didn't complain – like he usually did when he thought Alec had given him orders that were stupid or useless – and just took off after the girl.
The mundane boy was about to go after his friend as well, but before he could leave the secluded area of the club they were in, Alec had already bridged the gap between them with a few fast strides and griped the boy´s arm.
"You aren´t going anywhere," he said.
"Fuck you!" the boy snarled at him. "I won´t let my best friend go unsupervised because archery boy said so." Why was everyone so damn emotional? Alec cursed inwardly. Why couldn't they just think their actions through?
"If you leave now," Alec began, his grip on the other´s arm not lessening, "you forfeit any legal protection for yourself and your friend. You probably know what that means in the long term, do you?" The glare he was met with was heated – full of rage and scorn – but the boy stopped trying to loosen Alec´s grip around his arm (not that he could have done anything, Alec had his Shadowhunter strength to rely on, after all).
"Well, well, well," an amused voice came from beside them. "When you asked me for legal representation I didn't think it´d be for a pre-nup." Alec turned around, hand on the hilt of the knife attached to his belt, ready to attack. Standing there was the most eccentric looking man he had ever seen, and he lived in New York for his whole life. Pink strands in his hair, smoky eyes, eyeliner, some glitter on his cheeks. Alec couldn't recognize it from where he was standing, but probably lip gloss as well to complete the ridiculous look.
Magnus Bane did look a lot less scary than the stories they had been told made him out to be.
"Well," the warlock said, clasping his hands together. "Let´s get started, shall we?"
Clary couldn't remember how she made her way out of Pandemonium and through New York until she stood in front of her home. Everything was blurred, like the one time she and Simon had sneaked out some vodka from Luke´s cabinet and got roaring drunk until they had to throw up. It was like someone had put an Instagram filter in front of her eyes that made everything look too brilliant, too vibrant and colourful to be real.
And hovering above it all was this dark cloud of confusion that penetrated every corner of her mind. She had seen things that couldn't – shouldn't – be real; boys turning into monsters, glowing swords, tattoos that seemed to move in front of her eyes and corpses combusting into glowing dust. It was all too much and it didn't make sense.
All the same, it felt to her like the world was finally like it should be. Like that one puzzle piece needed for the completion of the whole had been found and set into place, finally revealing the whole picture. The feeling that something was lacking in her life – that there was more – which had been a companion to her even before she had even been able to recognize and verbalize it had vanished. And Clary couldn't reconcile her rational mind that was thinking everything was wrong with that feeling of completeness that had settled over her.
And then there was Simon. Her best friend since they had been toddlers. Whom she had trusted with her deepest secrets, wishes and fantasies like he had done with her, who wasn´t unsettled in the least by what had happened, because he had already known! He knew what was going on and he had never bothered to tell her. If there had been any capacity left for emotions, Clary would have felt shock, rage and utter sorrow at this betrayal, but the worry she felt for her mother at the moment was superseding it all.
Simon had to wait.
Clary couldn't get her mother´s voice out of her head, panicked and afraid – not for herself but for her daughter – and how she had implored, no, begged, Clary to stay away from their home. Before the call had suddenly ended there had been the sound of glass shattering. And now she was standing in front of the brownstone, no light burning behind any of its windows like it usually did – like it should be.
Clary walked over the street, pushing the doors open, taking two steps at a time until she was in front of their door, staring at it in horror. The whole door had been unhinged and was lying in their hallway. Carefully, Clary stepped over it and entered their flat.
She nearly cried when she saw what it had been turned into.
Everything had been carelessly strewn across the floor. Their precious china that Dot had gifted them when they had moved in laid on the ground, shattered into thousand pieces. The art work, the pictures Clary and her mother had spent countless hours working on, ripped out of their frames and torn apart. Their furniture ripped apart and thrown over.
Their home had been utterly violated and Clary suddenly felt sick.
She made her way through the carcass that had once been their living room and went to her room.
When she saw what had happened to it, Clary sunk down on her knees and let out a desperate sob.
Her whole room had burned down! Everything – from her bed, her cupboard to her curtain – had turned into nothing more than ash and black sooth. And her pictures! – the work of hours, weeks even months, completely destroyed; completely annihilated like they had never existed.
Clinging to the doorframe, Clary lifted herself up and whipped away the tears with the sleeve of her blouse. There was no use in crying now. She needed to find her mother and everything would make sense again. Her mother would know. She always did.
When she entered the living area again there was someone standing there.
"Dot," Clary exclaimed, sudden relief surging through her at the sight of a familiar face.
"They took Jocelyn," Dot told Clary, her voice grave and serious.
"Who took her?" Clary demanded to know, her voice shrill. Her mother couldn't be kidnapped! She had no enemies, they had nothing of value, so why would anyone take her mother.
"Rogue Shadowhunters searching for the Mortal Cup," Dot replied, her eyes not directed at Clary but instead sweeping over the room.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Clary asked. Shadowhunters. Simon had called those people at Pandemonium that as well. Were they a cult or something? Clary gasped. Her mother couldn't be involved with a cult. Not her mother. Everything was so confusing and everyone knew more than she. Had she been the only one left out?
"Think Clary," Dot implored, her gaze boring into Clary´s. "Did your mother ever talk to you about a cup?" Her hands grasped Clary´s shoulders. "A very important cup. It´s gold, almost like a chalice."
"No!" Clary exclaimed, tearing herself away from Dot´s clutching hands. "No, I don´t know anything about a cup, Dot." She took a deep breath. "One of the antiquities downstairs?"
"No, no, not those," Dot shook her head. She inhaled deeply, then continued speaking. "Think Clary, this could save Jocelyn."
"I can´t think!" Clary shouted. "Someone kidnapped my mother!" Trying to remember something about a stupid, unimportant cup wasn't on Clary´s top priority list right now. How could Dot be so insensitive and not see that? She needed to find her mother, not some cup!
"You know more than you think you do, Clary Fray." And with horror Clary saw four tentacles spring out of Dot´s face. Her whole body was frozen and even though her mind was screaming at her to move aside, her legs wouldn't heed its command. So Clary just stood there as Do- no the thing! – threw itself at Clary.
Before it could reach Clary, though, someone crashed into it from the side mid-jump. Something fell down and rolled in front of her feet. Clary looked down and saw that what looked like the hilt of a sword with its blade missing.
Loud hissing pulled her attention back to the monster and whoever had just saved her. Clary recognized the boy who had been at Pandemonium, the blonde one. He was panting heavily as he blocked the monster's hits that were coming faster than Clary´s eyes could follow them.
"Lost your seraph blade, little Shadowhunter?" the thing taunted from behind his razor sharp teeth.
"Don´t need it to defeat the likes of you," the boy shot back, but his defensive posture spoke volumes on itself.
Maybe, Clary thought to herself and bend down to pick up the sword hilt. The moment she touched it a glowing blade sprung forth and Clary would have nearly let it fall again in surprise.
"Catch!" she shouted and threw the blade towards the boy. The monster´s eyes widened and with a loud roar it flung itself at Clary. Its claw sunk into Clary´s shoulder and she screamed at the stinging pain that shot through her body. She could feel the blood flowing down her arms. The monster stroke out again but suddenly the glowing blade protruded from its chest.
With a bone-shattering shriek it exploded in a shower of red sparks.
Clary just stared at the space where the monster had been just a split second before.
"What, no 'thank you' for saving your life?" the blonde teased cockily. Then he noticed the blood on Clary´s arm and his expression grew more worried. "Careful. That demon got a piece of you."
"Demon?" Clary asked confused. Somehow her mind was a little bit sluggish, because, seriously, the boy couldn't really have said that, could he?
"Yeah," the boy commented. "What do you think that miserable, disgusting thing was?"
"I uh…I thought it was Dot," Clary replied and, duh, was the boy stupid or what? It had looked like Dot after all!
"No, Ravener demon, shapeshifter," the blonde clarified, his voice echoing through her skull.
"You´re just saying words now," Clary complained. "Why…why is the room swirling?" She felt sick, somehow. It was definitely worse than the one time with the vodka.
"Demon venom," was the reply.
"Is that bad?" Clary asked, because venom definitely didn't sound nice.
"I got you." Then Clary succumbed to the darkness.
Alec looked from the warlock to the mundane and back. The two very totally at ease with each other, Bane even going so far as to stand a few inches protectively in front of the boy. Alec had expected more reluctance from the High Warlock, being torn away from one of his famous parties after all, and not this…understanding between the two of them. Alec cleared his throat.
"What is it that you want with Simon?" Bane demanded to know, every trace of gentleness gone from his expression. Alec really didn't want to do this here. Even though the bass was just a background, it nevertheless grated on his nerves. He was in unknown territory with someone whose motives he didn't know and who was more powerful than him.
He couldn't control the situation and for Alec that was the worst of circumstances.
"Maybe we could move the whole interrogation to the Institute?" Izzy suggested. "I want to get out of these –" she indicated towards her white mini-dress "– before it completely strangulates me." It was a lie, Izzy loved that dress, but Alec was thankful for her intervention.
"No," the mundane just stated. "We definitely won´t go with you to your home turf. How stupid do you think we are?"
"What she said," Bane commented and then the two were…bumping their fists?! Alec let out a frustrated huff.
"Your friend," he gritted out and pointed at the mundane, "interfered in a Clave mission. By invoking the Ward Clause you indirectly took responsibility for her actions. That gives us the right take you to the Institute and question you there."
"Oh my," Bane stage-whispered. "I do love it when someone goes all lawyer-y on me." He winked at Alec. The mundane elbowed the warlock into his stomach while Alec tried to keep a blush rising to his cheeks. As fast as his flirty mannerism had appeared they vanished again, leaving behind the serious warlock again.
"What guarantees does my ward have from you?" he wanted to know and it irked Alec how fast the other was to question his integrity.
"As current head of the New York institute I guarantee that no harm shall befall either your ward or you while under my supervision," Alec intoned.
"Wait!" the mundane exclaimed. "You´re the current head of the New York institute? Doesn´t the Clave have actual adults for that?" That stung.
"Shut up!" Izzy hissed at the boy. "Alec´s the best for this job! He´s twice the man you are!" Warm affection surged through his body at his sister´s words and again Alec thanked the Angels that he could count on Izzy no matter what circumstances they found themselves in.
The mundane boy, cowed by his sister´s rage, didn't comment any further.
"As much as it pains me to admit it, Simon" Bane broke the tense silence between them. "Blue eyes over here is right. We have to accompany them. But –" he held up his hands in a placating manner "- you have to see the positive side of it: You finally get to see a Shadowhunter institute. Who knows what books they´ll have?" The mundane made some undiscernible sound, but seemed to resign himself to his fate.
Satisfied with the results he had gotten, Alec shouldered his bow and made a sign for Izzy to follow him.
"Wait, where are you going?" Bane shouted after him.
"To the Institute?!" Alec replied and both his sister and the mundane sniggered.
"By foot?" Bane asked with raised eyebrows. "I could portal us there."
"No!" Ale shot him down quickly. "That´s a security breach I won´t risk."
"Well, and I won´t walk!" the warlock shot back and Alec was ready to just strangle the prick to death.
"Guys," the mundane interceded. "I have a car. We can take that."
"I won´t ride in that death trap!" Alec proclaimed as he looked at the van that belonged to the mundane. Coloured in too many garish colours it didn't make for a trustworthy first impression.
"I love it," his sister exclaimed as she walked around the thing. Traitor, Alec´s mind whispered.
"Don´t insult Sullivan!" the mundane shouted at him. "He´s got character!"
"You named your car?" Alec asked and, dear Angels, why did he have to get the insane mundane? "Wait, is that a Shadowhunter rune?" The Mundane looked at him sheepishly.
"It…may be?" he replied, more a question than a statement.
"Who draw it?" Alec demanded to know. He needed to make certain that there weren't any further dangers to the Shadow Worlds secrecy.
"Woah, you don´t get to ask questions after doubting Sullivan´s infallibility!" the mundane shot back. Then he bent down, let his hands run over the car´s hood and whispered: "Who is an awesome car? Yes, you are!" Alec couldn't believe that he had to endure this.
"Really," Bane tsked from where he was standing beside Alec. "You had to question Sullivan? I enchanted that car myself!" Alec contemplated if the Clave would pardon him if he was to just kill the mundane and the obnoxious warlock right here on the spot.
"Can you all just climb in?" Izzy interrupted them from where she was lounging on the backseat.
"Shotgun!" Bane exclaimed. Alec let out a long suffering sigh.
Apparently, the mundane could indeed drive.
"Who´re you writing?" the boy asked the warlock who was furiously typing on his phone as he manoeuvred the car through the dense New Yorker traffic.
"Our mutual catholic friend," Bane replied. "Just updating him on our situation."
"You told him?" the mundane hissed at the warlock. "Why would you?" The warlock just smirked at the boy.
"You know a priest?" Izzy asked from behind. The mundane and the warlock just looked at each other and then started laughing.
"Eyes on the street!" Alec snapped.
"And, for the Angel´s sake, put on your seat belt!" he hissed at Magnus.
They were all gonna die! Painfully!
They did not die.
Nevertheless, Alec was more than relieved when he could finally leave the van. When he saw Jace standing in front of the church´s portal doors, though, he knew that something was wrong.
"What happened?" he asked of his Parabatai.
"I followed the girl as you said," Jace began to retell. "A demon attacked her. I killed it but not before it could inject some of its poison into the girl. Hodge is treating her at the moment." A short pause. "He´s not sure if she´s gonna make it."
"And Alec," Jace continued. "That´s not all: She´s a Shadowhunter."