Magnus magicked up some coffee- he seemed to know exactly what Adele drank- and showed her a purple velvet chair to sit on.
"What questions do you have for me?" Magnus asked. Adele set her mug of coffee down on the glass side table.
"What are you?" Adele asked slowly. Magnus furrowed his brows and steepled his fingers, but relaxed.
"I used to be the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but when your parents moved here, Alec dragged me along. Your father and Alec are parabati- almost like blood brothers but much more secure and loving. They can't be apart from each other. So now, I'm a father. There's already a High Warlock of Los Angeles, so there's no spot for me to fill" Magnus finished. Adele sipped her coffee.
"So you're a... warlock?" Adele asked, hesitating. She still didn't understand any of this at all. It made her mind twist like it never had before.
"Yes. And you're a Shadowhunter. All of my children are Shadowhunters- well, except Blueberry- but he's a warlock" Magnus said. Adele leaned back in her chair.
"But there's warlocks and demons, but what else? My grandpa..." Adele drifted off. Magnus smiled and refilled his cup of coffee.
"Which one? Your moms real father is is a werewolf" Magnus said, almost casually. Adele choked on her coffee.
"I thought Luke was my moms real father. He's the only one she's ever told me about" Adele mumbled. Magnus shook his head.
"So your moms real father was Valentine Morgenstern. He injected himself with demon blood, and did the same to his wife- your grandma. Jocelyn. Sebastian was to much a warrior, and Jace not enough. What he wanted was a warrior, but he couldn't get it. Your mom has demon blood in her. It gives her rune powers" Magnus finished. Adele looked at him, completely shell shocked.
"But Sebastian is dead?" Adele asked, setting her finished cup of coffee on the table and looked at Magnus. He opened his mouth to speak, but there was a distant sound of the door opening.
"I'll be right back" Magnus said quickly, standing up from his chair and sliding out of the study. He took the coffee cups with him. Adele struggled to listen.
"You don't need to bring two cups of coffee with you everywhere you go, Magnus." That was Uncle Alec.
"They weren't both for me" Magnus said. The sound of him putting the cups on a table was audible from the room Adele sat in.
"Don't tell me you're giving the Chairman coffee again" Uncle Alec sighed. There was a laugh from someone who Adele assumed was Max.
"No, of course not. I'm not insane, Alec. We have a visitor" Magnus said. Adele stiffened in her chair. She didn't think Uncle Alec would be informed she was talking to Magnus. He had told her that Magnus would like to tell her about only himself, but she was about to ask him questions she was afraid to ask her parents.
"Catarina?" Uncle Alec asked. Who was Catarina? She sounded like some girl in her early twenties who loved to wear corsets and live like it was 1816 instead of 2016.
"No. Catarina's still in New York. Adele" Magnus said. Adele fell back farther into her chair. That was it. Uncle Alec was here, and he knew she was sitting somewhere in the house asking Magnus questions he didn't answer.
"Oh. You go finish that" Uncle Alec said, and footsteps neared the room. Magnus entered soon and took his seat across from Adele.
"Sorry about that" he apologized. Adele smiled at him. Magnus was nice, and he seemed like the kind of person who you could easily be friends with.
"It's okay. So like I said, Sebastian is dead, right?" Adele asked. Magnus looked at her, quizzically, his eyebrow raised.
"He was. Your mom and her group of friends killed him in the demon realm" Magnus said. Adele shook her head.
"I'm sorry, the demon realm?" she asked. Magnus nodded and ran his hand along the velvet of his chair.
"Yes. I was there, your dad was there, grandpa, grandma, uncles and aunts. It was like a party in Sebastian's evil lair" Magnus told Adele. She pulled her legs onto the chair.
"But he's back now" she said. It was more of a statement to convince herself. Magnus nodded, his pupils flashing, switching into a cat-like shape then back to normal eyes.
"Yes. My father, some very important demon, brought him back. Some word of revenge against me because I gave your uncle Simon another chance with his memories" Magnus said, swatting at the air as he said so.
"What happened to my uncle?" Adele asked. Magnus brought his hand down, back onto the chair.
"You see, your mom sat on the throne next to her brother to save her friends, but it broke the portal back to Idris when she did so. We were forced to summon my father, who opened a portal to Idris. But he wouldn't do it for free. He wanted my immortality, but if I had given it to him, I would have withered and died right there. I've been alive for so long now" Magnus finished.
"But how did you get back?" Adele asked. Magnus rolled his eyes.
"My goodness, you ask more questions than your mom, but I told you I'd answer them," Magnus started. "Your Uncle Simon was a vampire when your mom was your age. He'd been turned by a vampire who I knew very well, but vampires are immortal. He would have been stuck at sixteen for eternity. So, he offered himself, or more so his own immortality. Both your Aunt Isabelle and your mom were in hysterics. Even I tried to stop him. But he didn't want to be a vampire anyways. With his immortality, my father also took his memories of the Shadow World, and the ones of him and your mom" Magnus finished.
"But you gave him the memories back, and now your dad is angry?" Adele guessed. Magnus nodded.
"Something like that. I didn't necessarily give him back his memories, but I re-introduced him to the Shadow World and told him he could be a Shadowhunter if he wanted. I gave him a few memories, but when he Ascended and became a real Shadowhunter, he regained his memories" Magnus explained. Adele nodded.
"I think that's all the questions I have..." Adele said awkwardly. Magnus nodded and stood up, opening the door.
"I'm sure there's things that Emma can tell you that I can't. She loves your mom, so don't feel to awkward around her, okay. She takes these things personally" Magnus told Adele, then lead her out of the room and into the hall.
…
Emma's apartment in the Institute was much more put together than Magnus's. There were framed photos lining the walls. A few of Emma and Adele's mother, some of Emma and a boy who towered over her. Some of Drusilla and another group of kids, all of them taller and thinner than Drusilla. All of them looked the same.
"Those are the Blackthorns. They're practically my second family. I grew up with them, and the oldest boy is my parabati" Emma explained.
"Why didn't you grow up with your family?" Adele asked. Emma froze for a second, but continued.
"Killed by faeries in Idris. I love Helen and Mark, but I don't think I'll ever look at full blooded faeries the same again" Emma mumbled. They ended up in her kitchen. A man with dark hair was sitting on the kitchen counter on the phone, mumbling something. Adele could pick out the word 'mom'.
The man hung up and looked at Emma. "It was Helen" he told her. Emma shook her head.
"As usual" she said, rolling her eyes. The man hopped off of the kitchen counter and placed his hand on Emma's shoulder.
"Never. Who is this?" he asked, looking directly at Adele. Adele smiled and waved at the man, who she assumed was Emma's husband.
"This is Adele Herondale. Adele, this is Julian Blackthorn, my parabatai" Emma said, changing Adele's thoughts.
"Ah, a Herondale. I've never had the exact pleasure of meeting a Herondale who's nice; with past Herondales, I wouldn't call it a pleasure" Jonathan said, extending his hand for Adele to shake. Adele took his hand, wondering what past Herondales were like. Her father was always a bit cocky, but he knew it.
"We're going to talk, but yell if Julie needs anything" Emma said, and led Adele back to a room. It had a desk, but it wasn't as nice as Magnus's apartment, and there wasn't anything to drink either.
"So, Adele, I understand you've come for answers" Emma started, sitting herself down on the couch next to Adele. It was much less professional than talking to Magnus, but it felt more like a real conversation than a therapy session.
"Yes. And I understand that I may need to ask someone else for the answers, but I don't think I can go to anyone else- not yet" Adele started. Emma nodded, placing her hand on her stomach. It bulged out a little ways, and Emma was so thin that Adele just assumed it was another baby.
"I understand that. When I was just becoming a teen, I would only talk to your mother and Jules-I mean, Julian" Emma began. Adele nodded.
"Yeah. And it's not like I can't talk to my parents, but it's that's not the way I want to find out about things, you know?" Adele told Emma. Emma nodded.
"So what questions do you have?" Emma asked. Adele looked straight at her.
"I want to know how I can become a Shadowhunter. There's no way I'm going to sit back and continue with my normal life after everything I know" Adele said, her back straight. There was no way she was going to do anything other than this, even if she hated it.
"Go to Tiberius Blackthorn. He's in the institute somewhere, I'll get Jules to take you to him. He's one of the best Shadowhunters. He'll help you start your training and find your weapon" Emma said.
"Really? It was that easy to get an answer for that?" Adele exclaimed, shocked. If she had asked Uncle Alec or Magnus, she'd've been turned down and been told to ask her parents.
"Yes. Look, I'm all for Shadowhunting, and your mom was raised a mundane and was one of the best Shadowhunters. There's absolutely no way I would deny you any chance to become what you really are" Emma said, and with that, she stood up and led Adele out of the room and into the kitchen.
"Jules. Where's Ty?" Emma asked. Julian looked up from whatever he was doing and walked over to Emma and Adele.
"In the weapons room with Tavvy. Why?" Julian asked, leaning against the wall. Emma smiled up at Adele, who towered over her.
"Take her to him, tell him she's going to need Shadowhunter training" Emma said, and Julian smiled as big and bright as Emma.