New York was as peaceful as such a bustling city could possibly be. The mundanes lived on their busy lives, blissfully unaware of the recent terrible events and the might-have-beens. Jace watched as a boy scurried after a ball and managed a small smile.
"You've murdered my closest acquaintance and now you're smiling. No wonder I despise you Shadowhunter scum." Jace turned to greet the scowling green warlock.
"I didn't kill Magnus," he replied. The warlock appraised the boy with his dark, humourless eyes. "besides, I'm here to discuss how to save him."
"Which is the only reason I bothered to answer your message." Ragnor raked his fingers through his white hair. "How is Clary?"
"It would be better if you saw for yourself," he said with a grimace. Jace heaved himself from the wall he was leaning on and put a hand on the gates to the Institute. It swung open at his touch. The pair entered the cathedral and waited in silence for the gilded elevator to arrive. Jace wasn't surprised to see that it was already occupied by the redhead when its doors opened.
"Clary, I told you to stay in your room. You're not well enough," Jace admonished, but it was hard to keep the affection out of his voice.
"I had to come. I saw Peapod out the window. Plus, I'm perfectly healthy. You're just being overprotective." Clary stuck a tongue out at him and beamed at Ragnor. "What brings you here, Ragnor? You never had patience with the Nephilim."
"If I knew better, I'd steal you away from them, too," the warlock admitted. "I came here to discuss the rescue of a certain warlock."
"A warlock? Is it Catarina? What's wrong?" She completely overlooked the fact that she had witnessed Magnus's abduction, just as she had done ever since she recovered from their battle with Valentine.
"No, it's Magnus."
At his words, Clary's worried face turned abruptly blank, erased of any sign of recognition. It was like the trick parents showed babies to make them laugh—as if someone had waved a hand in her face to alter her expression. Except this wasn't a stupid game for infants but real magic at work. Then a flicker of emotion glimmered in her eyes as her lips curved into a delighted smile.
"Oh, right, Alec ordered pizza. Izzy was trying to make spaghetti." She turned to Jace and put her hands on her hips triumphantly. "And he ordered Hawaiian pizza."
"Dear Lord, I'll be miserably picking pineapples out of my dinner," he said glumly. He ushered Clary into the elevator, shooting Ragnor a meaningful glance. Ragnor looked thoughtful as he followed them in.
"By the way, Izzy wants me to back her in a mission tonight. Minor demonic activity, nothing too dangerous," she added when she saw Jace's disapproving frown.
"Isabelle is crazy, and has a twisted definition on nothing too dangerous. You should know better."
"Well, then, it's a shame I've already agreed to go." Clary flashed a mischievous smile that resembled Magnus's grin so much that it gave Jace a pang of guilt. She echoed Magnus's behaviour in ways that made him wonder whether she inherited any trait from Valentine at all. "I'll be in the training room if you need me!" She waved at Ragnor before stepping out of the elevator and disappearing into the corridors of the Institute.
"That's what happens when anyone mentions Magnus," Jace said. He led the warlock to the strategy room. "Can you lift the spell?"
"No. Memory magic is too delicate. One wrong move and it may damage her beyond repair." Jace bit back the urge to snap at the warlock's indifference. Ragnor sat on a chair and clapped once. A pile of paper materialized on the desk. "I've been looking for information on Edom. Those are everything I've found."
"Have you found anything that might help us?" Jace slumped on a chair opposite of the warlock, warily eyeing the pile.
"Only if you're willing to risk your life," he replied in a flat voice. A single map pulled itself from the heap. It drifted into the air, hovering at eye level in front of Jace. He plucked it gingerly, observing the sketch of an unfamiliar world.
"What's this? A map of Edom?"
"No, it's the closest thing to a map of Faerie. The thing is, according to the map, there is a path to Edom in the Land under the Hill." Ragnor folded his arms and leaned back, observing the Shadowhunter with his chin held up. "But are you willing to put your life at stake for a warlock, Nephilim?"
"That, and more." His forehead creased as his grip on the map tightened, crumpling the paper. It wasn't the first time he had thought of charging into Hell. The only difference was that he actually had a way in now. "I need to meet the Seelie Queen."
"I know a faerie of the Court," Ragnor said. "I can relay the message for you."
"Thank you, Ragnor." Jace paused, looking up to study the warlock. He was making an odd expression, as though he did not know whether to smile or scowl. "Were you at the battle in Alicante that night?"
"Yes, I was. They do say that it takes a Downworlder to clean a Shadowhunter mess." His chair scraped against the wooden boards as he got up.
"Yes, they do," Jace said with a mirthless laugh. He remembered Clary saying the same thing in the Accords Hall, her lips curled despite the chaotic situation. Even though he had been terrified for their lives at the moment, thinking of it gave him an odd sense of peace. The peril had been thrust onto them back then; now, he was about to prance into one of the most dangerous dimensions in existence. "How should I arrange your payment?"
"You've already paid," the warlock said, peering over his shoulder before he opened the door. "You're the first Shadowhunter to thank me for my help in decades."
Jace froze as the words sank in. He moved to stop the warlock, but he had already disappeared through the door. He sank back into his chair and drew the pile of paper closer. All the information was neatly organized in the warlock's careful script, with even sketches and diagrams to assist comprehension. Then it struck him that Ragnor had been a teacher at the Shadowhunter Academy for years before it was shut down, and how some of the older Shadowhunters described him as a grumpy but excellent teacher.
Jace was studying the map when a flicker of light caught his eyes. With a wisp of smoke, a parchment fluttered to the desk. Take the path of the moon and wait. Meliorn will guide you from there. Jace heaved a sigh and folded the parchment. Maybe some people didn't deserve the help they took for granted.
The reflection of the moon was eerily bright, as though the moon itself was trapped in the waters of Turtle Pond. Jace trudged through the mud and stopped at the edge of the water, examining its rippling surface. Water licked the tips of his boots, which were already caked with mud. Then he took a step into the water, shivering slightly at the cold.
He waded through the water until his ears caught the sound of someone else in the water. He whirled, a seraph blade ready in his hand, but instead of invoking the name of an angel, he called a different name.
"Clary," he heaved a sigh. "For the love of the Angel, what are you doing here?"
Clary shrugged. "We were on our way to the Institute, but we saw you in the water."
"We?" Jace cast his eyes to the wooden gazebo, where Isabelle waved at him. Jace grit his teeth and turned to Clary. "This is a personal mission. I don't want anyone with me. Even you, Clary."
"Too bad, you're stuck with us." Isabelle dived into the pond, spraying Jace with water.
He stared at the two, aghast. "Nothing's going to stop you from following me, is it?"
"Nope," the girls said in unison. Then Isabelle grinned. "Nothing at all."
Jace shook his head, giving them the evil eye before wading closer to the reflection of the moon. He wanted to wrestle them to the ground to stop them, but keeping the Seelie Queen waiting seemed like an even worse idea. He stepped backwards into the silver circle gleaming in the water, and shut his eyes as he let his body fall. He opened them when his feet landed on the leafy carpet of the road to the Seelie Court.
"Wow, I've missed this place," Clary said as she landed beside him with a thump. She was dripping wet, and the tips of her red hair was damp. Jace took a lock in his fingers and twirled it around his finger absentmindedly. "Are we meeting the Seelie Queen?"
"I am. You're not." Jace fixed them with a glare.
"Yes, we are," Isabelle insisted as she wrung the water from her shirt. "I haven't had this much fun since Valentine."
"I'm afraid the Queen has strictly requested the audience of the boy only." A voice like the sound of a running stream came from behind them. A faerie knight with a leaf tattooed on each side of his cheeks watched them from a branch of a gnarled tree. "But you are welcome to visit the training grounds with your friend, Clary."
"Meliorn!" Clary beamed at the faerie. He fell gracefully to the ground, letting the redhead pull him into a fierce hug. Jace felt a flare of jealousy in his chest, but he merely watched with his arms around himself. She broke away from the embrace and winked at Jace. "Holler when you need me!"
Jace watched as the redhead took Isabelle by the hand and sauntered into the depths of Faerie. "Are you the knight who trained her?"
The faerie regarded him with impassive eyes. "That I am, among others, too. Come along, Nephilim. The Queen does not like to wait."
The leaves crackled under their feet as the two treaded through the corridor lined with closely packed trees that formed a tunnel. From the corner of his eyes, the trees appeared to move their twigs like limbs, but when he turned, they stood still. Lamps holding will-o'-the-wisps hung on their branches, illuminating the path with an uncanny glow.
They finally reached a veil of fluttering, live butterflies held in silver gossamer strings. Feeling queasy, Jace ducked under them to enter the Queen's chambers. It was a room made of knotted vines, knitted tightly together so not a trickle of light could enter. Luminous butterflies flitted around a tree that was twisted and contorted into the shape of a throne.
In the throne sat the Queen, her fiery hair billowing around her as though she were in the centre of a tempest. Her blue eyes held the iciness of glaciers as she glanced down at Jace from her seat. Her countenance held both the ageless beauty of angels and the cold cruelty of demons. The sight of her sent a chill down his spine.
"Child of the Nephilim, you are brave to have come here, after the slaughter of my people by one of your own kind." The Queen's voice rang through the chamber. Jace did not flinch, despite the accusation in her tone; instead, he met her frigid gaze with steady eyes.
"I give my deepest condolences and gratitude for those who have fought with us and fell in the battle, my lady," he said, every word cautious. "For them, I have fought hard to slay the man behind the crime."
"But you failed."
"Most regrettably, I have. A warlock succeeded in where I had failed, and for him I have come asking for your aid." The Queen did not move, clearly waiting for him to go on. Jace inhaled deeply before he spoke. "The warlock Magnus Bane was taken to the depths of Edom by the demon who rules there. As I understand, a path leading to the dimension exists in Faerie. I dare ask for your permission to take the path."
"A Nephilim going to Edom for the son of a Prince of Hell," the Queen mused. "a great surprise indeed. However, it is not my permission you must seek."
Jace's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he kept himself composed. "Whose permission would that be, my lady?"
"You are rescuing the warlock for the girl, are you not? It will only be fit that you ask her opinion first." There was a dark humour glimmering in her eyes.
"Do you mean Clary? But she is—"
"I am aware of the state of her memories," she said coolly. "it is your task to heal the gaps." She stood up from her throne. Though her stature was small, her presence was towering. "The child calls herself Bane, those of the Nephilim call her Morgenstern, but we of the Fair Folk call her by the name of Fairchild, one she inherits from her mother. Is it not an apt name?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "She is as much a child of the Fair Folk as she is of the warlock, for we have trained her and taken care of her as one of our own. I will not grant you what she may not want."
She was asking the impossible. Hiding his rigid expression with a quick bow, he excused himself from the chamber and exited through the veil of fluttering butterflies. His hands were clenched into fists as he stalked through the corridor. He followed the map he had memorized, hoping it was accurate enough. Then someone ran straight into him from behind, holding him in the circle of her arms.
"Clary?" Jace twisted his neck to see the girl. She giggled and buried her face into his back. Her gear was still soggy, but her caress was warm.
"Meliorn told me you left the Queen's chamber. You probably don't know the way, so I came here." He gently detached her and fondly ruffled her hair. "Meliorn took Izzy back to New York. I know this hill in Faerie that has the best view. It's perfect for the most romantic date in Shadowhunter history." Clary looked up from her curling lashes, ridiculously mimicking his voice.
Jace laughed. The clench in his heart relaxed as he drank in the sight of her with his eyes. "That sounds great. Let's go."
For the moment, Jace let his worries melt away. All that existed in the pocket of his own universe was the small redhead beside him, who was looking up at him as if he was the only star to brighten the darkness around them. He entwined his fingers with hers, holding her hand firmly in his. She was the anchor to his world, and he vowed to do anything to make her happy.
Author's Note:
Wow, thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter :) I loved reading them as much as reading Cassie's stories :D All your compliments keep me going. Thank you so much! I love you all :3