The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices Crossover
ACT II
Chapter 22: Allies
Author's Note:
If you haven't read The Mortal Instruments (City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls) as well as The Infernal Devices Trilogy(Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess), all by Cassandra Clare, I advise you not to read this. Be spoilt at your own risk.
First of all, I'm already apologizing for a very short chapter (relatively).
I have the ideas for the next one down and I didn't feel like it would fit.
Of course, I'm still outlining it, and it would give you a 5000+ word chapter if I did.
I like it nice and slow guys.
Hope you like this one, loves!
Clary was training with Jace in the weapons room all day. Tessa had left in the middle of breakfast—right after Jocelyn had one of her moments where her mood could change instantly. She had felt bad for the way her mother had spoken to Tessa, but Jocelyn needed more understanding than it appears to be. She had still been coping in trying to accept that Jonathan, or rather Sebastian, had turned into the monster her father had created. Although he had done so many things in the past, he was still the son Jocelyn grieved for in years. This wasn't the time to blame her mother for any quarrels she created. "You think Tessa's fine about it?"
He looked at her. His golden eyes were shining beyond the harsh brightness of the sunlight that came from the window. "I think she is," he said as she jumped from the beam and flawlessly landing on the stone floor. "She's old enough to understand Magnus. For goodness sake, even Hodge couldn't begin to explain the guy. I'm sure your mom's the least that she has to worry about. Besides, she could focus on some other things, like the fact that demon activity had started to rise over the weeks."
"She's not equipped to fight yet," Clary said.
Jace only winked at her and said, "You're turn to jump, so you'll make a better soldier than you are."
She fidgeted, looking below the twenty-foot drop. She had been doing the same exercise every time, Jace had applauded her each time she jumped and landed, but he had to adjust the beam and increase the height every after fall. "You really think this isn't going to kill me?"
"C'mon, stop talking like I wouldn't catch you," he said, as he smiled up at her from below.
Clary took a deep breath. Concentrate. She has to focus on the jump like there's nothing else in the world to worry about. Don't think about how you'll fall. She could almost hear Jace's voice telling her to forget anything else—how high the beam is, how gracefully she had to land, how would she move and react as her body is released into the air. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped. The incredible energy of the fall sent the adrenaline down to every vein in her body. She could feel her body cut through the air, as she twisted, and soon her feet had landed. When she opened her eyes, Jace had been there in front of her, a proud and pleased smile playing around his lips. "I think the rope loosened," she said, pulling the harness from behind her.
He looked down for a moment, as if suddenly guilty. "I planned to it extend far enough for your feet to touch the ground. You can't always have the strings when you're jumping from the top of the Demon Towers, you know that?"
"Those towers are thrice the height of that thing," she pointed at the wooden beam above.
He walked towards her, brushing away the red strands plastered with sweat on her forehead. "You didn't need the harness after all." He stepped a little bit closer, and when their nose touched, she raised her hand in front of him. There had been a sudden confused look on his face, thinking that there could have been something wrong.
She raised her index finger and gestured him to step back a little. "You're on a professional contract, and I could say that relationships between a teacher and his student is a very frowned upon subject."
"But I just got back into teaching you," Jace whined a little. Using the swooning voice he usually does when he's sarcastic. "And besides, Tessa's may great grand something. Where's the fun in that?"
"All the more reason to be careful, instructor." She laughed as she reached for him gently by the temples and kissed him softly. She knew from the sudden twitch in his muscles that he had not expected her to do that. The smooth pair of lips had been familiar to her for so long already. There was something about him, his scent, his hair and the shape of his jaw that truly told her that it was him, despite the excruciating days of having him locked away in someone else's darkness.
He pulled away suddenly, and placed a finger on her lips. "I could be reported, you know that?" She giggled as he pulled her in a warm embrace, warmer than she remembers him to be, but still Jace—bold, beautiful and familiar.
"After all this is over, would do please embrace me the same way?" She said, as she held unto him tighter than she had ever been.
"I will work hard enough to stay alive then," he whispered softly in her hair, his touch electrifying her more and more each day.
The library usually looked majestic in the morning, for the natural lights take over and leaks into the room. That day, the Great Library was nothing but a blank room in the Institute, there's hardly anyone coming to read now. All the stress and worked had to be channeled into the battle, perhaps the biggest one in the years of history. Tessa spotted the only other person who seems to be in the room regularly and headed towards her direction.
Maryse Lightwood looked like she hadn't left her desk since the night before. There had been dark circles around her eyes, she must have spent most of the night contacting the Clave and fixing everything else for battle. She seemed like she had been handling the stress quite better than Jocelyn does, but Tessa couldn't help but be concerned of how much strength the head of the Institute pours into her work. "There was something you wanted to tell me?" Tessa asked, as she walked towards Maryse until she was a foot away from the desk.
"I have announced something after breakfast the other day," she said, as she set aside a pile of weapons freshly sharpened not too long ago. "We need to leave for Idris tomorrow. It's the safest place to go."
"We'll have to contact the Werewolves then, Luke's pack, they're great allies." She replied, quite hyped, but the look on Maryse's face gave out a clue on what her answer would be.
"The Clave has strengthened the Towers," Maryse replied, "In a way that any other being with demon blood in their systems cannot enter. It includes the Downworlders, all of them."
"We can't." Tessa doesn't usually make any remark that would have questioned someone's authority. As much as she didn't want to step on Maryse's toes, there had something to be done.
The other lady stared back at her. There was a calculated stance in how Maryse had been mentally choosing her words. It had taken her minutes to give her an answer. "It's for the best. The Consul had already ordered each and every head of the Institute to gather their wards."
"If Sebastian will have to destroy humanity," Tessa said, with the same calculated caution as Maryse. "Then he is most likely to attack Idris first. If he has to, he'll be glad that what's left of the Shadowhunters are there for the killing."
"He will have hundreds of demons at his back, Tessa." She replied, there had been a firmness there that had always spoke of Maryse's authority.
"Exactly," Tessa replied, she had to keep firm, no matter how intimidating Maryse Lightwood was. There was a command in her tone, the stillness of her face and the proud way she carries herself. "We cannot defend ourselves as Shadowhunters alone. We need to spend all the time we have left to gain allies."
"Jia Penhallow's commands cannot be questioned, the rest of the members had already agreed to it." she replied. "There will be more conflict within the Clave and you know it won't help us in the battle."
"You talk about the Clave like it's infallible," Tessa replied. There had been strength in those words, knowing that she had spent her life not trusting the politics within Idris. She had seen the members of the Institute keeping information away from them before, the cannot be trusted all the time. "If you can't tell Jia Penhallow what I just suggested, then hand me the phone while she rants about her war strategy."
Tessa had been prepared to walk away, but Maryse stopped her. She shook her head slowly, an equal amount of doubt in her voice. "The moment we're in bad terms with the Clave, they'll abandon us in this frenzy. It's the last thing we can manage right now, Tessa."
"Then let us be in bad terms with them," for a moment, Tessa felt bad for pushing the authority that wasn't hers to command. What made her go on was the fact that she knew it had been quite a selfish tactic of the Clave, and she didn't have the time for politics if it were held necessary in the argument. "We cannot stand alone without the help of the Downworlders, Maryse. Our numbers aren't enough."
"It's the only way to survive," Maryse said.
"We can never survive or live without the one and only oath we promised humanity. Even if we do, the world will have to die down eventually and we will be left hiding in Idris." She said, "If we cannot fulfill our duties as the nephilim, then we might as well cease to exist."
"Is this about Magnus, Tessa?" Maryse asked. It didn't sound harsh or personal, as Maryse's face had been blank and expressionless.
"Well yes, it is part of it if you wish me to be honest." Tessa replied, quite bravely. "You may all leave for Idris tomorrow, but I am not. If you want me to single-handedly look for allies and defend humanity for you, then I'll die trying if I have to."
Maryse sighed in defeat, as she stood up and picked up the phone. There had been a moment's pause, and a change in Maryse's expression. She had looked worried, and from what Tessa could hear, she had been talking to the Consul's daughter, Aline. There had been a confused thought in Tessa at first, as the Head of the Institute spoke to the Consul's young daughter instead of directly contacting the head of the Clave. There was a questioning look in her face at first, then a sigh. She placed the phone back and leaned on the table. Maryse had looked distraught, as she usually didn't do so much as slouch. The sight of her looking defeated as she had been leaning on the wooden table looked entirely foreign to Tessa. "You're right," Maryse suddenly said.
Tessa had been confused, she had not expected Jia to respond so quickly. "She's agreed to the plan?"
"No," Maryse replied, still looking into space. "Jia Penhallow along with other Shadowhunter families left for Idris yesterday, but left her daughter to wait for her father in Beijing."
"And?" Tessa asked, even more confused than ever.
"The whole of Idris has been sacked and burned down to ashes, Tessa. The towers had been taken down again. Nobody escaped Sebatian's army of demons then." Maryse said begrudgingly, "Our numbers have been cut down excessively."
There! We're nearing the action and killing stuff.
I suddenly had one of those out-of-the-blue ideas. :)))
I hope you liked this one, loves.
Review for more action and for suggestions and comments.
-Lianne