New York 2024

Mr. and Mrs. Jem Carstairs were frolicking in bed in their hotel room. It was their fifteenth wedding anniversary trip. They had selected this particular hotel for its view and its exceptional restaurant. Now, they were enjoying the view while doing what people tend to do on their second honeymoon. Room service was on its way, as they had ordered it earlier. Jem gazed at his beautiful wife, who of course had not aged a day since their wedding (being a warlock). In fact, she had not aged a day in the one hundred and forty six years he had known her.

During that time, Tessa had been many things. Went he met Miss Tessa Gray, she was a beautiful young lady. Her soft brown hair framed her face in a lovely way and her grey eyes always sparkled with determination. After several adventures together, Jem had proposed to her and she had accepted, becoming his fiancé. Unbeknownst to Jem, his Parabatai, William Herondale had also been in love with her and her own love had been split between the two boys. They had concealed the fact for Jem's sake, however because he was dying. Jem's dependence on a demon drug called Yin Fen would surely have killed him. Instead he had chosen to become a Silent Brother, taking the vows and leaving his old life behind.

So, with Jem (Who had come to be known as Brother Zachariah upon donning the parchment robes of the Brotherhood.) tucked away in the Silent City and unable to take a bride, Tessa had instead married Will. Jem bore no hard feelings and was always able to keep tabs on the couple throughout their life together and their many adventures. And thanks to the Brotherhood, Jem himself did not age. He watched from afar as Tessa became a mother and eventually a grandmother. Still, she always looked nineteen. Will however, being a Shadowhunter had aged. He became an old man and whenever he and Tessa had gone out into the world she made herself to look more her age, casting a glamour to appear as an old woman.

Eventually in June of 1937, sad to say, Will died. It was a day of immense sadness for both Jem and Tessa and their lives were rocked by the tragedy, although he had lived a good long life. Tessa distanced herself then from their loved ones, knowing she would eventually outlive them all. The only person she allowed to remain in her life after Will was Jem. Once a year on Blackfriars Bridge, they had always met up again and discussed what was new in each other's lives and reminisced of days gone by.

And so, many long decades after Will's death, when one of his and Tessa's own descendants, accidentally by chance, touched Jem with the heavenly fire; it purged not only the Silent Brotherhood but also the drug Yin Fen from Jem's system. The heavenly fire returned him to the boy he would have been had he been able to live out a normal life. His hair had gone back to the black of his youth and his eyes were at once dark again. No longer the silver they had been under the influence of the drug.

After Jem was freed of the Brotherhood he went back to courting Tessa, as he began to do over a century prior. Soon enough, they had been able to wed as they always wanted. They married at Blackfriars Bridge and both of them had felt Will's presence on that day. They had said goodbye to him then, hoping that seeing them both happy would give him the peace he needed to finally move on. It has been fifteen years of wedded bliss for Jem and Tessa since that day. They have seen the world together, with Tessa showing Jem all of her favourite places, as by this point, she fancies herself quite well traveled.

They've come to New York for their fifteenth anniversary to see the sights and maybe visit some friends who reside in the city. And as I've said, they chose this hotel for the view and the food. Which brings us back to present at which time, it would seem room service has finally arrived. So Jem reluctantly pulls himself away from Tessa's luxurious kisses which have left him feeling quite breathless, and throws on robe to answer the door.

"Come in, come in." He says, ushering the server inside. He doesn't pay much mind to the fellow at first, until handing him the tip. And when their hands connect, both are blow back by surprise. Jem catches his balance and regains himself. He looks the boy in the eye and nearly faints of shock with what he sees. Or, more precisely, who he sees.

"Good God, Tessa, come quickly!" He says to his bride. And throwing a robe over herself she complies, rushing to Jem's side wondering if the tray has spilled or some other such folly. Yet nothing could prepare her for what her eyes would see, or as I've said, whom.

"Will!?" The pair exclaim in unison.

"That's my name yes, Willem Rendell at your service. The two of you look as if you've seen a ghost." He grins.

"I believe in fact we have." Jem says, regaining a morsel of composure. "Would you care to sit for a moment, I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you."

And so, thinking this might be something about the hotel, the fifteen year old mundane, Willem Rendell sat in the living room of the honeymoon suite with this oddly familiar couple who acted like they knew him, though surely they had never met before. At any rate, it was his job to pacify the guests and make their stay a pleasant one. And as the son of a single mother, he needed this job. So he always made a point to go the extra mile, even when it meant entertaining wild ideas presented to him by even wilder sorts of people.

"What can I help you with?" He smiled.

"You can humor me for a couple of minutes, even if it seems odd. Do you believe in reincarnation?" Jem asked.

"Why, I, yes I think it's possible. What's this all about?" Willem was trying his hardest to be patient, though at this moment he felt as if he were teetering on the brink of some life changing event. Even though, he couldn't put his finger on it at the moment.

"I want the honest truth now. If you had experienced a past life but had no recollection of it, and there was a way to restore your memories of it, would you want to? Keeping in mind that they may not all be pleasant and that some would be downright painful and that the knowledge of it would change your life forever." Jem pressed, sitting on the edge of his seat, buzzing with a nervous excitement.

"Sort of the red pill or blue pill conundrum I suspect? I've always been a fan of the straight up truth regardless of the consequences, so I suppose I would take the red pill." He smirked.

"That's a good lad. Tessa, ring up Magnus!"