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Part 2: Nightmare, chapter 8: The silver lining between truth and reality.


'' So, couldn't sleep?'' said Jace coming back in the living room. After letting Magnus go see Alec, he went to the kitchen to grab two apples that he was now peeling in one continuous motion.

The girl beside him simply shook her head. '' No, I couldn't stop thinking about Luke... I feel like I failed him.''

Somewhere inside, Jace felt like her. Not only they hadn't came in time to prevent all this, but the small glimpse of answers they had about Valentine and the dreams had been cut short.

'' Yeah, I am sorry.'' answered Jace, focusing on peeling the second apple.

'' Why are you sorry? It's not your fault.'' she softly said to him.

'' Well, you came to me for my help and we failed.'' he told her, looking at her bright green eyes. '' But, I have been thinking.'' he added before she could comment on what he just said. No soothing words she would come up with would appease his guilt anyway.

'' That sounds dangerous.'' she teased trying to lightened up the mood, but it wasn't all that successful. Still, Jace sent her an honest smile.

'' Maybe. I was thinking that maybe we should separate ourselves. Valentine is only one man, we are three.''

'' Yes! I could go for Luke, while you go for one on the list and Magnus for another.'' she said looking more like her energetic self than earlier.

'' Why am I not surprise that you actually like this plan?'' the blond scoffed, extending a piece of apple he just cut with his knife. '' Do you have any idea where to find Luke to begin with?''

Clary took the piece of apple and bit it with a sinister smile. '' Yeah, I know where Valentine would imprison him.''

Silence ensued and Jace knew that she didn't want to elaborate on that. They ate in silence the apples as Jace cut pieces. He even tried to give some to Jordan, but the wolf had simply looked at it with a miserable glance.

'' Can I ask you something? I believe you when you said you didn't kill the previous inquisitor, but... what exactly happened?'' Clary asked after a while.

Jace sighed before asking. '' You remember what was her name?''

'' Imogen Whitelaw.'' she answered, not sure where e was going with that.

'' Yeah, she is née Whitelaw, but when she married, she was known as Imogen Herondale.'' he explained.

'' Herondale? Just like... Well just like you.'' she realized.

Jace nodded in confirmation. '' I discovered not long ago that we were related. You see, I never knew my parents and she lost contacts with her son and hadn't known about me. So, I wanted to meet her. I thought if she knew her grand-son and knew what I was, she could position herself against the anti-magic movement. ''

'' And did you meet her?''

'' Twice. At first she thought I was joking, but when she realized I was telling the truth, she cried the whole time. The second time was as awkward, but she was family, we would had have more time, we might have actually hit off.''

'' And that was the moment you publicly revealed that you were a Dreamwalker?'' asked Clary.

Jace scoffed. '' Yeah, and thinking back, it was a stupid mistake. Now everyone is against what is slightly spiritual, Valentine is modernizing everything and I am accused of having killed my own grand-mother.'' He paused, passing a hand over his eyes. '' No one believes me when I say that she was already poisoned when I arrived at her house.''

The red-head placed a hand on his forearm. '' I believe you.'' she said with a small smile. He looked at her, his gaze softer.

'' Thanks. You know, she might have been harsh at first, but she was actually really loving. You just had to see the small attentions she had for everyone.'' he said. '' Okay, now your turn. Who was that Jocelyn Fairchild Valentine accused Luke of having murdered?''

There was a long silence as the tension in the atmosphere tensed. The girl's hand, still on his arm, tightened, but she was so small it hardly hurt him.

'' Jocelyn was my mother. And Luke is innocent, it was his fault, it was Valentine's fault...'' she whispered. '' I missed her. I missed Luke too.'' she quipped.

Her green eyes were bright as the small light of the room were reflected in the water that accumulated in them. Jace marvelled at them, how much sadness and determination they held. Their faces were close to one another, he could feel her breathing against his skin.

'' Alexander!''

The atmosphere was quickly broken as the two of them got startled by the desperate scream. Soon they heard footsteps and Jace barely had time to look in the direction of the sound before he got assaulted by a panicked Magnus. The man had jump on Jace lap and was now strongly holding his face between his hands, looking right in his eyes.

'' Alexander, please, tell me you're alright! Please, Alec!'' kept crying Magnus.

'' Calm down, Magnus. What the hell is going on?'' asked Jace, grabbing the others' shoulders. Something must have happened in the dream for him to be in that state. He tried to see if he felt different, but sensed nothing. 'If something was to happen to Alec, I would feel it, right?' he thought, keeping his calm.

'' Jace?'' asked Magnus, as if he just now noticed him. '' I... You have to go there. You have to sleep, see if he is alright. Alexander, he... he was with the abomination and I couldn't help. I-''

'' Magnus, you are stressing me, I can't sleep like this on command. And what abomination are you talking about? Calm down and-'' interrupted Jace before getting cut himself.

'' Calm down? Alexander might be in danger and you want me to calm down? I... Fine.'' he said breathing in and out. He got up from Jace and started to pace around. '' I don't know what it was, just that it was wrong. So, please, could you go back there and check on him. Or do you want me to knock you out so it goes faster?'' he said with irritation that was surely caused by the over-worrying.

Jace rose both his hands. '' No need to go there.'' he said before he got up and went to the wardrobe where he left his jacket. He grabbed his wallet and too out his lighter and from a pocket a small plastic bag.

Inside, a rainbow coloured powder and a translucent paper.

'' Is that what I think it is?'' asked Magnus with surprised.

'' Yeah, maybe I don't always wait until I don't have any to order some from you. It's just my favourite excuse for when Alec wants to see you.'' smirked Jace while he placed the drug on the paper that he then rolled. He lit it and before he smoke it, he turned to Clary.

'' Be sure to wake me in the morning, I might be passed out for a while otherwise.''

She nodded and he sat back on the couch, taking large breath of the prismachloric drug. It would go faster that way.

Soon, the room changed appearance for him, and he was now standing under an orange coloured sky.


The world was on fire. Blue flames everywhere one could look at.

And only then, Jace felt a cold wave in his gut. He couldn't identify the feeling, but he knew it wasn't a positive emotion and that it wasn't his. It was Alec's.

From the blazing fire, sparks flew. Those sparks then morphed and agglomerate to shape themselves into birds.

No, not simply birds...

'Ducks.' realized Jace just as the blue ember-made ducks started to fly in his direction.

The blond didn't lose time and fled as, even if one wasn't afraid of ducks, fiery birds were quite threatening alone. Yet, since Jace did loath those creatures, he knew that he had to quickly find Alec.

'If you can find Alec.' mused a petty voice in his mind. ' No, I can't think like that.' he thought back to himself.

He came to a stop, since running was uselessly tiring and not his thing. He bent down to grabbed some rocks, but doing so, some birds had time to burn his back forming scorching scratches.

Hissing, he swiftly straitened up and threw his stones at those he could see. But they were so many of them...

Other rocks, thrown from somewhere at Jace's left, joined his and all the fiery ducks were dissolved back in sparks.

Jace looked at his left and, unsurprisingly, he saw Alec, standing between black trees and blue flames. Still, something was different in his friend, his blues eyes were sad and he looked fidget. His markings were swirling quickly on his skin in clear sign of agitation. The cold feeling the blond felt upon arrival seemed to increase too.

And of course, there were also the blue flames that Jace knew Alec hated.

Something was wrong with Alec.

'' Well, that feels like quite the déjà vu. Hi, my name is Jace. And you, Alec, who might you be?'' joked Jace, but his words appeared like they had the opposite effect of what he had hoped.

'' What are you doing here?'' asked Alec in an unusually cold tone.

'' I am here every night, Alec. You can't possibly think you can avoid me.'' he smirked, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. '' Magnus woke up screaming your name and said you were with an abomination. We were worried.''

'' An abomination? That's what he said?'' whispered with heavy heart the other.

He looked so lost, Jace tried to step forward to get closer, but the blue-eyed immediately stepped back.

'' No! She is not an abomination! And she would've never hurt me, I am fine. You can go now.'' he said in sudden anger.

'' Hey, it's okay, she is not an abomination. Dully noted. But who is 'she', then?'' asked Jace, sensing that it was a sensible subject for Alec. Their eyes met, as if the latter was trying to see how honest the former was. Then he sighed, the anger fading and the sadness coming back full blown.

'' She... Her name is Isabelle.'' he slowly said, crossing his arms and holding his elbow in a protective manner. Jace tried to move forward again. This time he didn't recoil.

'' Isabelle?'' pressed on Jace, still slowly approaching.

''Yes... I-I... She is my sister, Jace.'' He said looking right at him, yet his eyes were so far away. '' I have a sister.''

And Jace heart tightened when he comprehended the feeling he had in his gut; the emotion Alec was under. It was the cold feeling you had when you lost someone close to your heart.

'' Where is she now?'' he asked his friend, passing an arm around his shoulder as he intuitively knew he would need the comfort.

'' I don't know. She just said that she had to go. I told her that I felt like I had to stay. She understood, but I don't know where she came from and where she is now. I just know that I have a sister. And now she is gone. Isabelle is gone.'' he said in low voice.

Just then Jace realized that he never saw Alec cry. And even now, when he had just reunited with his sister to lose her again, there were no tears in his eyes. But sometimes, the most destructive storm held no rain. And Jace knew – no, felt – how immense Alec's pain was.

'' You know, when she appeared, I was suffocating. I think it was what she was feeling though. I tried to help her, calm her, but I couldn't.'' he continued and Jace just squeezed his shoulders more. '' I have a sister. What kind of dream has siblings?''

As intriguing as it was, they would have to ponder on that later as the world became blurry, an artistic mess, while the dream rearranged itself.

Jace did take the prismachloric drug to come here after all.

No more under the orange lit sky, Alec and Jace founded themselves standing in a cavern. In the middle of the cavern, a small stagnant pond and around, thousands and thousands of object. It was a real treasure cave. The only light came in part from Alec and for the most part from a small fault on top of them. Moonlight was infiltrating through it and piercing the tick darkness.

With the silver light, Jace could distinguish four other silhouettes. 'The dream people.' he guessed.

'' There should be three of them not just two.'' said Sophia with a slight irritation.

'' Maybe something happened to it, I mean those are old-.'' began Lewis.

'' But it's our only chance. It has to be here.'' she brusquely interrupted.

'' And with how hard it was to get here, I don't think this is the most visited place. Time shouldn't have damaged them enough for them to just disappear. I agree with Sophia, the mirror should be somewhere around here.'' calmly said Jesse.

Jace remembered what Magnus had told him about the legend. A sword, a cup and a mirror bearing the Angel rune.

'So they are only missing the mirror.' thought Jace, glancing around. The mess of objects was irritating him. Finding a mirror in this would be like searching a needle in a stack of hay. Except that with the hay, Jace would have simply burnt it down and passed a magnet over the ashes to find the needle.

Now, he suspected he couldn't just burn down all the objects here to ease the search.

'' A mirror reflects light, maybe if we had more light we could spot more easily shiny object.'' whispered Alec to Jace.

'Yeah, well we don't have more light.' thought Jace, looking at the fissure on top of the cavern. Then he frowned. Was the fault in the shape of the Angel rune?

Looking down, he saw the stale water of the pond reflecting a light version of the Angel rune shaped by the fault.

'' Found it.'' declared Jace.

'' What?'' exclaimed Jia, as she was the nearest from him.

'' A mirror reflects light and our artifacts all bear the same symbol. Look at the pond. When the moon is high in the sky, I suppose it become the mirror.'' he answered and they all gathered around.

'' Gideon, you are a genius!'' said Jia.

'' Yes, and if he is right, we have to hurry before the moon change place and we have to wait for tomorrow. The Morning Star may already be on the move.'' stated Sophia in all seriousness, though she sent a grateful smile toward Jace.

She went in a corner and took a sword and a cup. She plunged the cup in the water and approached the group. Everyone extended one of their hands in front of them and, not missing a beat, Jace took out his right hand. He was secretly glad to be used to those kind of ritual now.

With the blade, she drew some blood from each of them, then her own, and collected the blood in the cup.

'' Oh, Angel, hear that prayer of ours. We are asking thine power to help us get rid of a greater evil. Each of us willing to pay the price, as we are together as one.'' she said before pouring the cup's content back in the pond, tainting it red from there blood.

'' Together as one.'' said Lewis.

'' Together as one.'' repeated Jia.

'' Together as one.'' followed Jesse.

'' Together as one.'' said Alec looking at Jace.

The blond smiled and was going to repeat the words when the light reflected by the pond grew. The shimmering was blood-red and the shadows on the ground drew tall.

'Were they not supposed to all say it? Technically, Gideon hasn't said anything yet.' frowned Jace. 'Unless they heard Alec? No, it's impossible.'

Then the surrounding shadows swirled around in the cave and flew to them, attaching themselves to their skins, like Alec's black markings, before they faded.

The bloody shimmering lowered and returned to normal.

There was a moment of silence, everyone assimilating what had just happened.

'' Did it work?'' asked Lewis in a low voice, as if to not disturbed the atmosphere.

'' We'll see on the battlefield I guess, but I feel like it did unite us.'' responded Sophia.

'' I feel it to.'' agreed Jia. '' And maybe we should find ourselves one name to unite us. One name the Morning Star shall fear.''

Sophia smiled and the others nodded their agreement.

'' What about the Super Angel Mojo?'' suggested Lewis. There was a somewhat long silence that followed his statement.

'' That's an awful name, I am sorry, but I'll have to decline.'' said Jia, trying to be polite. Lewis huffed, but didn't look hurt by the rejection at all.

'' Since we want to avenge all those he spirited away, maybe we could name ourselves after his first victim.'' mumbled Sophia.

'' Wasn't it your cousin?'' asked Jesse to Jia.

'' Yeah. And I think it would be great.'' she agreed.

'' What was his name again?'' asked Lewis looking embarrassed he didn't remember.

'' Sebastian.'' she answered with a smile.

'Sebastian?' thought in confusion Jace. Wasn't, in the legend, he the one who reaped hundreds of souls while he was endarkened by his own power?

'' Then 'Sebastian' we shall be.'' stated Sophia, looking fierce. '' And us five, together, we will rid the world of the Morning Star.''


'' Jace! Wake up!''