A/N: I dedicate this chapter to…
SweetSouthernSass … gabriellaarteaga1
fivesecondsoffun … Vexella
WideAwake94 …
Sakurablossom125 … nights angels 96
Meshikuto … livyboo
Alicia Vivian Graymark
I was stood in the Ops centre with Alec, Lydia and Raj, watching silently as they talked in front of me.
I wonder if Meliorn escaped to the Seelie Court? I hope he's okay. Did Clary and Ja- DON'T think about them. They aren't a part of your life anymore. You're here. They're there. They don't matter anymore. Now stay calm. BREATHE.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Ou-
"Then they put Jace in, and that can't be, you know…" Alec paused his monotone chatter as Izzy walked passed us.
Dang it! He interrupted my calming thoughts! I can feel my stress levels rising. It doesn't help that Raj is here! I can't be calm near Raj… he's weird. Plus Alec's being bossy. I don't like bossy people!
I immediately walked after Izzy, not bothering to acknowledge the other two.
What? I know it's rude and unbecoming ofa princess but I was bored of Alec's report. I was there too so I didn't need to hear about this. Plus, I'm a princess - theprincess apparently so I can do whatever I want. So to speak anyway…
"…Just, hold on one second." Alec murmured behind me, before he followed after me and his sister, "Where the hell have you been?" he immediately interrogated his sister as we reached her side, away from everyone else.
"Where I needed to be. Away from you and your fiancé." Izzy said angrily.
"Jace and Clary are on the run. I can't protect you if you don't tell me the truth." Alec told his little sister.
" I don't need protecting. Meliorn's alive. That's all that matters." she said dismissively.
"And he's alive because of us…" I finally spoke up as Alec tried to interrupt her from beside me, "Just… Hey, just…"
"…tell me this. Is there any way that Raj could have seen anything incriminating?" Alec asked.
"I don't think so…" Izzy said in contemplation before a thought seemed to reach her, "What did you mean he's alive because of you? We saved him…"
"After we did…" I said.
She gave us a confused look, causing me to ask, "You don't know?" She shook her head. Why didn't Clary and Jace explain to her what Alec and I did for them? I shook my head in annoyance before explaining, "Jace and Clary were with us. We were releasing him when they came for him…" she looked even more confused, "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" What the hell are the two of them doing?
She shook her head in denial, causing me to turn to Alec, "I'll explain to her what happened, go talk to Lydia. Stall her or something. We don't want her knowing what we did…" He nodded in acceptance and left.
"Let's go." I said to Izzy before leading her to my bedroom. When we arrived, we sat on my bed and I spelled the room so no one could overhear us. I feel like I'm gonna be using this spell a lot...
"What Clary and Jace forgot to mention to you was that I had a vision of Lydia's 'orders'" I carried on before she could interrupt, "because of that Alec and I hatched a plan to help Meliorn escape. We didn't include you because we knew of how impulsive you are when it concerns him and we didn't inform the other two because…"
"Because you're in love with Jace and you don't want to see him because it hurts you…" Why is that everyone's assumption! I don't want tobloody see Jace because I can't. If he's near me, he's in danger. Same with Clary and vice versa. If I'm near Clary and Jace, I'm in danger of being captured by Valentine. There's no winning. It's best if I just stay away so I'll just go along with this idea.
"How did you-?"
"Know? It was pretty obvious… I honestly thought he liked you too but he surprises me every day…" Oh Izzy. Don't give me hope. I know he loves Clary.
"It doesn't matter, the point is, don't be mad at Alec. We both helped him, I even gave him a portal to escape through and I was gonna go through it with him but Clary punched me before we could leave…"
"She punched you?" she said incredulously. I nodded, causing her to repeat her words in disbelief, "Your sister punched you…"
She's no longer my sister. She stopped being my sister when deemed me a traitor.
"NO! She's no longer my sister. After what she did…" I shook my head in pain at the reminder of their actions, "I no longer trust her or Jace…"
"What?" She screamed shrilly, "Even Jace?" I nodded, clenching my teeth at the sound of his name, "He's your parabatai!"
"He may be my parabatai but he always puts Clary before me." I spat out, revealing my innermost thoughts. "No good parabatai is like that. And no one deserves that kind of treatment... so right now my parabatai bond is on hiatus…" I don't really think I can do that but I can do my best to try.
"I don't think you could do that…" Thanks for the support Iz.
"Well…" How do I justify muself. I know she's right. I just want it to be right. "I'm saying you can now!" I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, "It doesn't matter. Anyway…" I said, beginning the tale from the start.
After I told her the story, we walked back into the Ops room and began conversing with Alec in a less tense manner.
"…I don't…" Izzy's words were cut off as Lydia arrived.
She turned to Alec and softly murmured, "I'm sorry." What has she done wrongthat she's now in a repentant mood?
"For what?" Alec immediately questioned.
He soon got his answer with Lydia's next words, "Isabelle Lightwood, by order of the Clave, you are under arrest for high treason."
I jerked upwards, straightening my posture at the news, "What? On what grounds?" I angrily rebuked.
"Only a handful of people knew about the Meliorn op." she explained hesitantly. She trailed off, knowing that we knew what she was talking about.
"And everyone knows she's sleeping with him." Raj explained. Raj, you mother fucker. What is wrong with you?! Do you not have a filter?
Isabelle chuckled sarcastically. Izzy, this isn't the time to mock them. As if hearing my thoughts, she turned and glared at Lydia before remarking, "You know what, Lydia? You're no better than Valentine." Okay, she's not listening to my internal advise. If only I had the power of telepathy. That way I could tell her to "shut up" without seeming unprincess-like. "But at least he had the guts to tell Downworlders to their faces he wanted them all dead. You… hide behind the Law." Your blunt words are one of the things I love about you Iz and you're right about her but please shut up.
"I don't hide behind it, Isabelle. I simply follow it. Because it guards against one very important thing: Shadowhunters fighting other Shadowhunters." Lydia argued.
"If she is convicted, she'll be stripped of her runes and banished." Alec said as Izzy handed over her stele to Raj. "I can't let that…" Yeah well, I can't let Raj hold her stele. He's too Raj-like. I also really need to figure out what I don't like about Raj. This dislike must have come from somewhere.
I held my hand out to Raj and he looked at me confused so I elaborated, "Give me her stele. I'll guard it. Hand. It. Over!" he hastily gave me the stele as Izzy stopped Alec's plea.
"Don't. It's not your fight."
Raj then took Izzy out the room as I shook my head at Lydia in disappointment and headed towards my old room.
An hour or two later after procrastinating on leaving for Magnus' place, I received a call from the eldest Lightwood child.
"Alec? What did you need?" I said as I answered the phone.
"I need you to open the vault with me, I'm gonna trade the cup for Izzy's freedom."
I nodded my head absentmindedly as my thoughts crashed in on me.
If the Clave get the cup, will they force me back to Idris? Will they accept the trade? What will Clary- Wait. Don't think about her…
Realising that he couldn't see my nod, I replied, "Sure. Be there in a sec…"
Not really wanting to see Lydia, I delayed seeing her by slowly walking towards the training room. As I walked (glided, in other people's opinion) to my new destination, I felt a feeling of dread rise in me. I shook my head, emptying the thoughts from my mind. However, as soon as I did that, I felt a sting of betrayal strike my heart.
What the angel is going on?
I ignored the feeling and entered the room, instantly walking over to the floor vault and drawing the unlocking rune, already knowing that Alec had drawn the rune himself seconds before I entered the room.
The vault slowly rose from the ground and revealed…
…an empty vault.
Where is it? Where's the cup? Well the fake cup acting as the real cup... Either way, it needs to be here so we can keep pretenses.
Alec's voice broke my thoughts, "Jace…" he said menacingly before walking away and dragging me along with him.
He couldn't have! Jace wouldn't steal the cup… Despite everything, we're childhood friends. We grew up together! He knows how important this cup is to me! He wouldn't steal this stupid FAKE cup unless it was in danger. He wouldn't! He wouldn't… Unless it was for her. That little… Thank the angel that that cup was fake or I'd be using my shadowhunting skills to hunt them down!
Alec dragged me to the room Izzy was being kept in and stated the truth that had just been revealed to us, "Jace stole the Cup."
Izzy stared at us for a few moments before looked away in shame, showing us she already knew.
"Izzy, did you know about this?" She looked down in shame so I changed my question, "My God, did you help him?"
Her silence told me her answer.
I shut my mouth and watched impassively as Alec carried on the argument for the two of us.
I can't believe she did this. She, he - the lot of them endangered our stupid world… our bloody species! Why the hell would they do this? I wish everything was back to the way things were. I wish I had never rediscovered this world and Jocelyn was still at home with us and Clary was still my sister. This world is just…
…too much.
Isabelle looked back up at us as Alec said, "The Cup is the only thing that can get you out of this."
"Jace is doing what he thinks is right." Izzy replied calmly before turning away from us.
We walked around her so she was looking at us again before Alec said, "What's right? He put the whole Shadow World in danger. He put you in danger." he said as he vigorously shook his sister, attempting to shake the truth into her thick skull, "We have to get him back here. With the Cup. It's the only thing that can help you."
"They've taken Meliorn back to the Seelie realm. You can't track him there."
I wonder if my powers can help us out…
I was shaken from my reverie as Alec spoke, "Not by any of the normal ways." he said before looking down at me.
I gave them a confused look, "What?"
Alec gave me a sad look as he explained, "We can use your bond as parabatai."
Just with him saying those words, I felt as if I had just been put to death. There's a chance the bond may not take the strain I'm going to put on it. Could I really use the bond that way? The bond we finally re-established after so many years.
I broke away from his gaze as Izzy said, "No, absolutely not. You cannot track Jace through their parabatai bond. It will weaken both of them. Or break their bond."
Did Jace even care about what his actions has done to our 'bond'. I chuckled darkly. Bond. What bond? He betrayed me… He left me for Clary. My parabati. My best friend left me. I can'tever forgive him for this…
"Jace already weakened it." I pointed out. At the reminder of his betrayal once more, my anger began to mount again, "You think I can ever trust him again after what he did?" I spat out angrily. "After betraying my trust like he did!" I began to pace, "I can never trust him again!"
"Don't say that." Izzy said, stopping my pacing as she stood in front of me, holding me still by grabbing my shoulders, "Please, Lily. Think about what you're doing." She warned me, shaking me slightly to emphasise her point.
I looked away, contemplating my choices before deciding what to do.
I'm sorry Iz. Ihaveto do this. For you.
"Hodge, you ready?" I called out, walking into the med bay as Alec and Lydia followed behind me. I swear they've become my permanent bodyguards! I'm gonna have to learn the escape routes of the institutes if they're gonna keep doing this.
"Alicia, don't do this out of anger. Jace is still your parabatai." I heard Lydia warn me from behind.
"Lydia's right." Hodge spoke with that irritating wise voice of his.
"I'm not letting Jace sacrifice Izzy for his girlfriend's pointless crusade." I angrily shouted. "We're doing this." I said resolutely, "And if you don't want to help, get out." I said pointing towards the closed door, "You know as well as I do that I can do this by myself!"
"I'll help… but on one condition." Hodge said.
"What?" I asked.
He pointed at me before saying, "You don't let it go too far." I looked away, avoiding his eyes, "Now your bond with Jace can withstand a certain amount of strain. But you have to promise me that you won't let it break."
I returned my hardened gaze to his, scoffed and spoke in the most monotone voice that I could manage, "Jace is dead to me."
"Lissa?" Hodge gasped out in shock.
I flinched at the nickname Jace had given me, shaking my head violently, "Don't call me that name!"
"You don't know how dependent you are on the bond, or how dependent you are on each other." Lydia warned me.
I chose to ignore her and began to remove my leather jacket revealing my arms and upper chest due to the revealing dress. Mom would so disapprove of this dress.
"I have to do this. For Izzy." I told them. Alec, who was standing impassively beside me nodded and looked at me thankfully as I laid down on the medical bed. You can do this Lissa. Just breathe.
"Prepare yourself. This will be very, very painful." Hodge warned me. Do I really wanna do this?
I steeled myself before telling him, "Do it." Okay then. I can't back out now.
Hodge began drawing a rune on my chest, beside my heart, where the parabatai rune rested. I groaned at the burning sensation, "Concentrate." Easier for you to say. You're not in crippling pain. "Reach out with your mind… and your heart. Use every strand, every fiber of your being that is connected to him."
Images of Jace began to flash in my head, of him fighting some kind of demon. Jace? What in the angel is going on? "It's working. I can see him."
The rune started to sear even more, causing me to groan in pain.
I watched as Jace fought a demon. One that looked similar to the one that infiltrated the institute. Where's Clary and Meliorn? That thing punched him in the stomach. As if I was the one being punched, I was immediately winded. I clenched my eyes shut, gasping out in pain as I hoped more air would fill my lungs.
When my lungs were refilled with oxygen, I opened my eyes to look at the scene in front of me. I gasped in surprise, "Jace?" I asked in a daze as I saw his blue eyes stare back at me.
"Lissa?" he murmured in response.
Suddenly it was all gone and a searing pain travelled to my heart.
"Jace!" I gasped out as a white light blocked everything. I writhed in pain on the medical bed and my spine arched as a new wave of pain stabbed my heart. "Ahhhhh!" I screamed as the final wave of pain struck my heart.
The white light faded and blackness filled my vision.
I don't know how long I was out for, all I remember was when my senses slowly returned to me.
I felt the hard bed under me. I heard the distant murmur of the people beside me. I smelt the always-present smell of 'hospital'. My eyes were moving underneath my shut eyelids as I fought to open them. I tasted the bitter truth.
My bond with my parabatai was almost broken.
With a final effort, I grunted with exhaustion as I forced my eyes open, waking up to the others staring at me in concern.
"Leave us." I commanded weakly, turning to Hodge and Lydia.
Lydia immediately left but Hodge lingered until I gave him a pointed stare. He left soon after. I patted the spot beside me on the bed, indicating for Alec to sit.
"What happened?" he immediately queried when he settled down beside me.
"The bond. It's almost broken…" I commented sadly as I stared at the foot of the bed.
Tears filled my eyes at the realisation that Jace was almost gone from me for good. It's not just our bond that could be gone. He could be dead by now…
"Hey. Hey…" Alec spoke softly as he put his finger under my chin and lifted it so I was looking at his blue eyes.
Huh. They're quite beautiful… I thought distractedly before paying attention to his next words.
"It's gonna be okay. We're all gonna be together soon. I promise…" he murmured softly.
At his words, I couldn't help the tears that cascaded down from my eyes. When he saw my tears, he pulled me towards him and into a hug, comforting me in my time of need.
"Hey. Hey, Alec!" Raj complained as Alec barged into the room Izzy was being kept in.
I followed after Alec and glared at the irritating shadowhunter. "Just… Just wait." I said to the guard and shut the door behind me and headed to Alec's side.
After my crying session, I fixed myself so I looked presentable and we headed straight to Izzy.
"What happened? Are you and Jace okay?" Izzy immediately asked me as she saw me leaning on Alec slightly.
"No." I shook my head weakly, "Our parabatai bond, it's just… so weak. It's almost as if he's a ghost."
"Lily, what did you do?"
"Lydia and I thought we could stop the trial if we gave the Cup to the Clave." Alec started to explain.
"Lydia helped you?" Izzy asked incredulously.
"It doesn't matter." Alec said as he sat down on the couch sighing. "She has no choice but to go through with the trial now."
"I'm sorry that we couldn't do anything Izzy. I'm so sorry..." I said tearfully as I sat down beside Alec.
Izzy sat in between the two of us before saying to Alec, "It's okay, big brother." and then she turned to me saying, "I know you tried."
She hugged the both of us as Alec continued his string of apologies, "I'm sorry."
A/N: Hey guys!
Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far or if you've come back for the edits, I hope you're enjoying re-reading this story…
Please comment and tell me what you guys think so far.