What is up my people? *Picture someone saying that in some weird voice* See, it's really nice, because if I ask my real life friends that question, I get super sarcastic answers, such as: gas prices, the sky, or, a personal favorite, Zeus' ego. So, it's nice that most of you don't take it so literally, or at least do not bother to share your responses. Aaaaannd I just rambled. Sorry. Either way, I've been looking at writing troupes a lot lately, so you should definitely begin to see some more of those in this chapter, or the next, but none of the credit goes to me. So, now that that's done, the story must go on! Enjoy!
Clary:
I rubbed my hands down my face, taking a deep breath. I used to not mind talking to Simon's father all that much, and now, it had become my least favorite thing. Because talking to Simon's dad means getting a mission, and missions mean bad news, bad weather, and/or, bad people.
Plus, with the threat of my parents breathing down our necks, it was hard to want to leave the loft, and by association, ourselves, undefended.
But, we had a job to do, and even Seb and I's deep, deep pockets couldn't keep this entire operation afloat alone. And either way, we were the Nerd Brigade. No one else could do what we could, and I was not going to hide in my loft like a scared little kindergartener and wait while people were hurt or killed by something that we could have stopped.
Someone padded up behind me, wrapping their arms around my waist. Someone that smelled a lot like Jace, soap and sunshine.
I melted into the arms encasing me, glad for the warmth he was offering. Seriously, he was like a human furnace.
"Rough call?" he asked, worry evident in his voice. I turned to face him, placing my hand on his chest, right over his beating heart, to remind myself that he was here, and he was real, and that this gorgeous man really cared about me.
"They always seem to be," I told him, the strain of leadership weighing down on me.
"So where are we going now, my Queen?" Jace questions me, his normal smirk replaced by a small smile, but a genuine one, as we stood there hugging and rocking around in the main room.
"We, get to go to the bottom of the ocean, my King," I reply, sighing again. He pulled away from me, looking me in the eyes.
"We get to go scuba diving?" he said, way too much joy in his eyes.
"No. We get to go try to tag a few Great White Sharks for the government. Big difference," I explain, rolling my eyes.
"Semantics," my boyfriend replies, waving me off. I chuckle.
"Go tell the team for me you big goof," I order him, reluctantly pulling out of his arms and going to find Magnus to make sure he has our underwater gear ready.
"Magnus! There you are!" I shout down the hall at the glitter bedecked man as he walks out of him and Alec's room. "I need you to help me run some last minute gear checks," I explain when he raises his eyebrows in question.
"Which gear?" he asks in response. So Jace hadn't gotten to him yet.
"The underwater ones," is my answer, and then we were off, down the halls of the loft until we got to the huge room where we had all of our gear set up.
"What's the mission?" he asked from where he was running his checks on the suits.
"Grunt work. We get the honor of tagging some great whites for the government. But the pays good," I tell him, relaying what I had told Jace.
"S-sharks?" He says, or more like squeaks, his voice rising a few octaves as the suit he was working on drops out of his hands.
"Yes? Is there a problem?" I question him, narrowing my eyes.
"No," he waves me off, his face twisting around. "Just that I am terrified of sharks," he finishes.
"Then you can stay here and deal with my parents alone if they come," I say sweetly, plastering a fake smile on my face as I tilt my head, the picture of innocence.
"You know what, I think I'll take my chances with the sharks," he says, his voice still a little higher than usual.
"Smart man," I smirk, walking out the door to make sure all of the others know about the mission, and give them all the details about it, leaving Magnus to finish checking the equipment, and to prep himself for the sharks.
As I rounded the corner of the hallway, I ran straight into a wall of muscle. Looking up, it wasn't Jace though. It was Alec.
"Have you seen Magnus?" He asks me, worry in his eyes.
I grimace. "So Jace told you?"
Alec nodded in response, and I jerked my head in the direction I had come from. "He's checking our gear for the mission."
"Thank you," Alec calls over his shoulder, already halfway down the hall.
I went to say no problem, but then he was gone. Shaking my head, a half smile on my face, I continued down to the main room, meeting up with Simon, Jace, Izzy, Seb, and Jordan.
"Alec just went to help Magnus after hearing about the sharks," Izzy told me as I walked in.
I nodded, "I know. I bumped into him on my way here," I told her. "So. Sharks. It's about as simple as it sounds. We go down with our suits, without a cage, and, using our abilities, we are to tag as many as we can. Senator Lewis gave me a location where they have noted many Great Whites passing through. That's where we're going to start. We get paid $300 for every shark we tag. Go suit up, wheels up in thirty minutes," I order them all, stalking to the room I shared with Seb.
I walked through the doorway, Seb right on my heels. "Where are you going? We need to suit up."
"To do one last thing," I tell him, trying to shoo him away.
He refused to leave, following me as I made for the farthest wall in the room. "Are you freaking kidding? You have another secret room? Am I going to have to find the Dark Web blueprints for this place?" Seb questions me as I push on a section of the wall and it slides away to reveal a simple wooden door.
"Oh hush. I'm entitled to my secrets. If you wont go, then be quiet and follow me," I command him, pushing the door open.
I expected him to follow me and still keep talking, as he usually did when I said things like that to him, but instead he shut up and walked in after me, closing the door behind us.
I pulled a matchbox out of my pocket, and struck a match, lighting up part of the small room that we were in.
I walked around, lighting each of the candles on the altar one by one. Then I lit the top of the incense burner, and blew it out, leaving the scented smoke to float around us.
"What is this place?" Seb whispered behind me.
"I haven't gotten this far on skill. I pray, and one of the Angels up there must listen," I tell him, kneeling on the small mat I had laid out and clasping my hands.
Getting the message, Seb knelt down beside me, mimicking my movements. I closed my eyes, breathing in the incense and sending up silent prayers to whichever Angels were listening, praying for success on this mission, and to give my team, especially Magnus, strength today and tomorrow to do what needs to be done.
And I prayed to the Angel himself for guidance on what to do when my parents wrath comes down upon us.
"Raziel, hear our prayers," I finish out loud, assuming that Seb had been praying as well.
Seb's eyes snapped open, and he fell over from where he was kneeling. "Raziel?" he asked in a strangled voice.
I gave him a strange look. "Yes. What?" I asked him when he continued making strange noises.
"In the army we had to take down a group of people that worshipped the Angel Raziel. They were… extremists, to say the least," he explained, regaining his composure.
"Well, that explains why our mother knew all about him," I muttered. It didn't change anything though, not in what I believed. The Angel had served me well, and he would continue to be the one I prayed to.
Then I blew out the candles, and covered the incense burners with the lids.
"Let's go tag some sharks," I say in a clipped tone, opening the door for him and closing it behind us.
"Lets."
I know this is a little short, but I'm trying to inch back towards Tuesday, my normal updating time, so I had to cut it a bit short. Please, drop a review, it means a lot. Till next time! Bye!