A/N: Sorry, I'm a bit of a write-when-I-feel-like-it person. If you've been waiting, I'm terribly sorry. I hope you like the chapter though.
"Oh, my! What on Earth happened?" Charlotte exclaimed as she saw Magnus, Jem, Will, and Grace carrying in four unconscious people with Tessa trailing behind and trying to get Jem to let her help him carry Jace.
"Charlotte! How lovely to see you again!" Magnus replied smoothly, choosing not to answer her question.
Grace, always being the more cooperative and compassionate one, explained to Charlotte how a device had transported them all back in time and the unconscious children were future Shadowhunters. As she was talking, Alec began stirring in her arms.
"Whaa- What's going on? Where are we, Gracie?" he asked recognizing that they were clearly not in Magnus' apartment and that Grace was carrying him. Instead of answering, Grace gestured around them and Alec took in their surroundings stoically; his eyes widened fractionally when he noticed Charlotte and the other inhabitants of the London Institute, but for the most part, his expression remained unchanged.
"Okay," he muttered while rubbing his forehead, "but who are they?"
Charlotte stepped forward and introduced herself as well as the others, "I am Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute. The young men carrying your friends are Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs and the young lady is Tessa Gray. My husband Henry is down in the crypt working on one his inventions, doubtlessly, though you should be able to meet him at dinner."
Alec tried to stand up straight to introduce them as he was the oldest Shadowhunter of their group and had taken it upon himself to stand as acting leader. However, he was still a little out of it and drained from their trip through the Portal so he ended up falling back on Grace who tightened her hold on her dark-haired friend. "I'm Alec Lightwood. The girl that he is carrying," he gestured ambiguously in Will's general direction, "is my sister Isabelle. The other girl is Clary Fairchild, or rather Fray- either works really, but she prefers Fray, and the blond boy is my parabatai Jace Herondale. He prefers to go by Jace Lightwood, though, because we're his family," Alec explained. His speech sounded disjointed and tired, but everyone understood clearly what he was saying.
"Well, welcome to the Institute. We'll get you situated in rooms; dinner won't be held for a couple of hours, so you can rest up," Charlotte replied kindly looking at the four children with concern. Sophie soon appeared and Charlotte asked her to show them to rooms near Tessa's and Jem's so that the two could lead them to the dining room in a few hours' time. Sophie then led the way- with Jem carrying Jace, Will carrying Isabelle, and Alec and Tessa supporting Clary's lighter frame- to the rooms for the Nephilim.
"What about you two, Magnus?" Charlotte questioned looking at him and Grace curiously. "Will you be needing rooms as well?"
"No, I think we're good Charlotte. Besides, it's clear that we need to talk and figure out how to get back to our own time," he replied succinctly, grabbing Grace's hand and heading towards the library as Will, Jem, Tessa, and Sophie were returning.
Charlotte gestured for them to follow and soon enough, they were all taking seat around the roaring fire in the library.
"So, Magnus, how exactly did you all get here? I mean, Ms. Lombard here said it was a device, but what kind?" Charlotte inquired with her head cocked to the side and her intelligent eyes clouded with confusion.
"Well, I suppose that we could blame it all on Henry, but that's not very fair to him," Magnus said briefly, closing his eyes and leaning back in the wing-backed chair he was seated in. A small, humorless smile danced across his features and was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. "The main question is: how do we get back?"
"By the Angel, what's Henry done this time?" Will inquired mockingly.
"The invention was one of his, but he hasn't created it yet and it seems to have been destroyed during the journey, so that is entirely irrelevant, William," Magnus answered a bit more sharply than intended.
Will lapsed into silence as Grace looked a Magnus with concern, wondering if that headache really had passed as he was not acting like his usual carefree, happy self. She knew the happy-go-lucky face was a façade, but he didn't ever give it up as far as she had seen.
"So how do you get back?" Tessa asked curiously breaking the silence that Magnus had created.
"I honestly don't know Tessa," Magnus said wearily.
"Actually," Grace started, "I'm curious as to why you never told Magnus or me that this happened. You would have remembered and could have at least told us it was going to occur at some point. I suppose if you figure out that we are missing from our time than you can probably help us; impossible magic is rather your specialty," Grace said confidingly.
"Gracie, you know she cannot interfere with the past and you cannot tell her about her future. This sort of thing never ends well," Magnus murmured.
"I guess, but maybe she can help us- the Tessa from our time that is," Grace said hopefully.
"You mean I really am immortal? I'm still around in the 21st century?" Tessa asked hesitantly her eyes big and round.
"Yes, dear," Grace said smiling at her kindly, "in fact, you've been involved in Clarissa's life already and Magnus talked to you at a celebration in Idris. I wasn't there because Magnus made me promise to keep away from Idris and Alicante altogether at the time, but he told me that he talked to you."
"That's who that was?" asked a small tired-sounding voice from the doorway to the library. Grace looked up to see Clary standing there looking more awake and energized by the minute; Clary walked over to the group seated around the blazing fireplace and took one of the empty seats.
"Clary, you should be resting," Magnus said concernedly inspecting the little red-head.
"Energy rune," she said pointing to her arm and giving a crooked grin. "It works way better than those stupid energy drinks that the mundanes have. Besides, you didn't answer my question."
"Yes, that was Tessa," Magnus said resignedly. "I didn't know that you had noticed."
"Of course you didn't, I probably wouldn't have, but I was still a little jittery from everything with Jonathan and Valentine," she replied candidly. The London Shadowhunters looked vaguely confused, but no one was ready to even begin to explain Valentine and Jonathan Morgenstern to them- there was just too much horror, and no one was allowed to know too much about the future. "Anyway, anything I can do to help us get home?"
"Why would you be able to help so much?" Will asked a bit rudely.
"Would you believe me if I said that I can create new runes?" Clary responded with another question and a mischievous smirk to rival her boyfriend's.
And end chapter! I love just cutting it off. So, do you guys think that I should have them tell the whole stroy and just screw revealing the future or just have them explain a bit about Clary and Jace?
Oh, and by the way, I really like reviews! It's really strange, but it makes me feel like a good writer when I get feedback! Weird, huh?