Chapter 9: Faerie Prophecies...

2030
After the fiasco with the meeting at the vampire den, it was decided that the four teenagers would accompany their parents to any meeting with Downworlders, so that if there was an attack, the numbers would be more on the Shadowhunter's side. One particular evening, the four Herondales and the four Lovelaces were in the Seelie Court. In the decades after the Dark War, the Cold Peace had 'warmed' slightly, with the fair folk eventually being allowed to have trade deals with the Clave. This particular visit was about reparations and investigation, however. A faerie had been spotted amongst Mortmain's ranks when he attacked the Hotel Dumort. The Seelie Queen had 'graciously' agreed to transfer the guilty faerie over to the Shadowhunters and the Clave. In addition to bringing their children, the meeting coincided with the second visit of the Arcargents who also accompanied the Herondales and the Lovelaces. This wasn't the first time that Cecily and Will had visited the Seelie Court. Back when they were 10, the two eldest had snuck to the Seelie Court, following their parents.

2024
It was shortly after dusk that the Herondale and Lovelace parents headed out to the Seelie Court. After they had exited the entrance hall, Will and Cecily snuck into the entrance hall simultaneously. Both had dressed in more appropriate clothes for outside than pyjamas. As far as their parents were aware, they were both in their rooms for the night and were meant to be falling asleep. When they saw each other, both were shocked.
"What are you doing here?!" Both Will and Cecily asked simultaneously.
"I'm going to follow my mum and dad." Cecily informed Will.
"No, you're not." Will retorted. "That's what I'm doing."
"What do you mean I can't because you are?" Cecily asked, confused but angry. "Is it because I'm a girl?"
"No, it isn't because of that." Will remarked.
"We can go together, then." Cecily stated. Will went to protest but conceded. The two 10-year-olds quickly ran out of the house and tried to follow their parents. They were able to get a few streets behind their parents, where they were able to see the four heading into Central Park. The four quickly pursued their parents. However, they were briefly halted after Will tripped on a tree root and faceplanted into the dirt. Thankfully, the parents were too preoccupied to notice Will falling over. After Cecily had helped Will to his feet, they walked to where their parents had been. They had seemed to disappear through a cave opening. The elder Herondale and Lovelace stood around the entrance, trying to figure out where their parents had gone. At one point, Cecily attempted to lean on the wall. She subsequently slipped and stumbled into the cave. To Will, she seemed to disappear.
"Cecily!" Will shouted, shocked about what just happened. Whilst Will was trying to figure out what happened to Cecily, said Lovelace had fallen into the Seelie ballroom. She stood to see the four parents looking at her, alongside a large congregation of fair folk. The situation was made worse a few moments later when Will also stumbled through the entrance, falling onto his front and taking Cecily with him.
"Cecily!" Simon and Izzy exclaimed.
"William!" Clary and Jace exclaimed.
"Who are these two intruders?!" The Seelie Queen asked.
"It's alright, Seelie Queen. They're just our children." Simon explained. A few words were muttered between the parents then Clary and Simon approached their children. Both Cecily and Will prepared for the outburst that they felt was definitely coming. Instead, Simon and Clary took their respective children by the arm and led then out of the Seelie Court. The two 10-year-olds protested all the way back to the Institute, but their parents were having none of it. When they got to the Institute, the two children were sent straight to bed without any chance for explanation.

2030
Back to the present, and the three families had reached Central Park. As they had made their way across the city, Jace and Cecily had had a rather circular discussion about why Shadowhunters couldn't use cars to get places. It had ended up with neither party being the 'winner' or any more informed than they had before the discussion. When they reached the entrance to the Seelie Court, the five children were told to guard the entrance. The Herondales and Lovelaces agreed, remembering an encounter they had had with the fair folk, and particularly the Seelie Court a year after Cecily and Will had followed their parents to the Seelie Court.

2025
It was a warm night in August. The Institute was holding one of its now-regular Downworlder meetings, where the leaders of different Downworlder species were assembled to discuss recent activities, as well as any changes in the Accords. There was no real regularity to the meetings, so the last meeting had been when the four children had been too young to remember. The children had been allowed to watch the Downworlders as they came in. They were all under the watchful eye of Maryse (Robert, as Inquisitor, wanted to be present for the meeting). The representatives of the werewolf packs were the first to arrive, followed shortly after by the leader of the vampire clan. Magnus promptly arrived after the vampire leaders, using the excuse that he was in Macau. There was about 10 minutes between when Magnus arrived and when the delegation from the Seelie court arrived. As they entered, all the children huddled in slightly, all four slightly unnerved by the inhuman character of the fair folk. The delegation glided past the children and didn't seem to even notice that they were there. Despite the little interaction, all four children shivered. Maryse noticed this.
"Don't worry." Maryse assured her two genetic and two adopted grandchildren. "Everyone's like that when they first meet the fair folk."
This didn't particularly reassure the four children at the time. There had been no real moments for the four to see if Maryse was telling the truth.

2030
Back to the present, and the six parents entered the Seelie Court. They were greeted by a Seelie Knight, and were led to the courtroom. The Seelie Queen had the faerie criminal enchained in the centre of the main courtroom.
"The criminal, as requested." The Seelie Queen remarked as the Shadowhunters entered. Clary immediately approached the criminal. The New York Shadowhunters had adopted this technique of allowing the more experienced Shadowhunters (Jace and Izzy in this case) to deal with the leaders of the various species, whilst the 'less' experienced dealt with the Downworlder they had come to see. However, before Clary could grab the faerie by the arm, the Seelie Queen warned against it.

"I wouldn't do that, unless you want to see the grisly side of the future." The Seelie Queen warned Clary. "Anybody this criminal touches gets a glimpse of the events to come."
The six Shadowhunters paused for a moment, trying to process what they had just been told. The faerie took advantage of this and was able to push Clary away from him. Clary stumbled back. However, she started to see flashes that didn't seem to make sense at first. She saw Charlie and Will fending off Downworlders; she then saw a group dressed in white, standing around a flaming pyre though she couldn't see the faces of any of the group; she saw Charlie with what looked like wings, then the image changed to Cecily and Will, both dressed in white, holding each other for comfort. The final image of the prophecy was Mortmain laughing, holding a lifeless Shadowhunter in their hand; the image flashed so quickly that Clary was unable to recognise the Shadowhunter. At the time, the flashes didn't make sense. When Clary came back to the real world, she noticed that she had collapsed onto the floor and Jace was kneeling by her side. She unintentionally groaned when she regained consciousness.
"Oh, thank the angel!" Jace exclaimed. "I was worried that you were a goner."
"You can't get rid of me that easy." Clary retorted, making her husband smile. Jace helped Clary to her feet. Clary immediately noticed that the faerie was absent, as were both Simon and Izzy.
"How long have I been out?" Clary asked Jace, completely perplexed. To her, the vision lasted mere moments. "Where are Simon and Izzy?"
"They're fine." Jace assured his wife. "They just took the faerie out of the court so that he could be given to the Clave. As for your other question, it's been 10 minutes."
Clary nodded. The two Herondale parents thanked the Seelie Queen then exited the court as well. Charlie and Will were still waiting outside.
"You guys are still here?" Jace sounded mock-confused. "You could have gone home already."
"Well, Charlie was worried about you, so I had to stick with her." Will stated.
"That's not true. You were as worried as I was." Charlie defended herself. The bickering made Jace and Clary chuckle. After Charlie and Will had stopped bickering the four Herondales headed back to the Institute. Once they had got back to the Institute, and the children were out of earshot, Clary decided to talk to Jace about the prophecy/vision that she had been given. Just as she started, the couple was joined by Izzy and Simon. Clary retold what she had glimpsed, the 'snippets' of the future. Each event in the vision provoked a different response.
"It looks like we haven't seen the last of Mortmain." Jace remarked about the two Herondale children fending off Downworlders.
"What do you mean, wings?" Izzy asked, confused by the second event in the vision. The third event in the vision, Cecily and Will comforting each other while dressed in white was met with deathly silence. All four made similar deductions from the childrens' attire and obvious emotions.
"Someone's going to die." Simon deduced, his voice sounding mournful and resolute. The four parents stayed in a worried silence for a few minutes. However, a knock on the door frame broke the four out of their silent reverie. The parents turned to see Charlie and Ros standing there.

"Mum, Dad, Ros and I are going to go somewhere for dinner. Is that alright?" Charlie asked. Both Clary and Jace smiled, despite the worry they both still experienced in the back of their minds.
"Of course you can, Charlie." Clary assured her daughter. "Just stay safe and don't come home too late."
Charlie nodded, giving her parents a thankful smile. She and Ros then turned and exited the Institute.
"What are we going to do?" Clary asked the other parents,
"I don't think there's anything we can do." Simon remarked. "Most theories suggest that time is a fourth dimension."
"Excuse me?" Jace queried. "What do you mean?"
"Basically, the future is already set." Simon explained, seeming simultaneously enthusiastic and mournful. "No matter how much you try to change it, it will inevitably happen."
"You're saying that, no matter what we do, somebody is going to die?" Izzy sounded worried about Simon's explanation. Simon nodded sombrely. The parents returned to sombre silence. Later, Clary and Jace were lying in bed. Clary ran through the flashes in her head, trying to see if she could remember any further details. However, it was a fruitless search as no new details came to mind. Just as she nearly drifted off to sleep, Clary was struck by this revelation that the flashes hadn't shown but she seemed to subconsciously know. Whatever the flashes were showing, they would happen soon. Of course, after this revelation, sleep didn't come easy. However, there was the compensation that Charlie came home in an incredibly good mood. She and Ros were holding hands when they entered the Institute, so Clary assumed that their dinner had gone well. Whatever the prophecy was truly showing, Clary was happy that Charlie had been able to find love however brief it may be. She was happy that both of her children had someone to keep close to them, and who will care for them if and when needed, be it their parabatai, their siblings or their partners. However, it was a double-edged sword as if their close ones were to die, they would be inconsolable. Regardless of what happened in the future, the future would be a rough ride and the families would need to remain close to each other for the worst was definitely yet to come. Clary held her husband close, and was finally able to sleep.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Consider this my early Christmas (or Hanukkah, or any other holiday) present to all of you who have read this story. The next chapter will be what happened during Charlie and Ros' dinner together, as well as what the 5 teenagers got up to while their parents were busy in the Seelie Court. Please remember to review, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Have a very merry Christmas. And, as always,

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-ToAC