Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments series. Everything recognisable belongs to Cassandra Clare.
So, again I guess I'm really sorry. You've been amazing, and you've commented and asked for me, and I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. I've had literally not time, finals and all that have taken up most of my time. But it's Christmas again, and I'll try to update a lot from now on! I love you all, and I hope you like the chapter.
I just want to say that it's kind of a filler chapter for the two/three upcoming chapters.
Five more minutes, and Clary didn't know if she would be able to resist her father's requests. The only thing still keeping her sane was her knowing there was nothing Valentine Morgenstern wanted more than to get the Mortal Cup.
If it involved killing his only daughter in the proses, it seemed that too was acceptable at this point.
Clary had managed to pull her broken body up against the wall, resting in a sitting position. Her breathing was rapid, and she'd stopped pretending like she was okay the second the Circle members left her alone. Clary had no idea how long they would be gone, or if they would even come back. Maybe they had left her to die, knowing she wouldn't give in to their ridiculous torture and beating. Maybe they simply had found another way of getting the cup out. What if they had found a way to use magic?
Deep down, Clary knew it would be impossible to retrieve the cup from the card without the right rune, a rune only Clary's mother knew. Even Clary had no idea how to get the cup; at least not yet.
She heard footsteps outside, someone was coming. Clary saw the white hair sleeked back, looking as formidable as always in his usual black suit. Clary flinched as he started to walk towards her. She couldn't be sure, but his black eyes seemed for a second, to show some concern for her.
"Oh sweetheart." His words calm, but Clary knew there was sarcasm lying behind them, "don't you wish we could just erase your memory again, pretend like nothing of this ever happened?" he asked, standing before her.
Valentine sat down on one knee, one arm resting on his other bent knee. Clary watched as his free hand moved up to remove a piece of sweaty and dirty red hair from Clary's cheek. She avoided his gaze, not letting him see just how badly wounded she was.
It might've been stupid, he could smell the blood, he could see the gashes on her back, but Clary did not allow him to see the tears in her eyes. If
there was one thing the man sitting before her had thought her the past fifteen years; it was that you never show any weakness.
Valentine smiled again, he looked down on his jacket, pulling out a small card from his inner pocket. "Here." He said, giving her the card. Clary didn't take it.
"Take it," He laughed, "it is yours after all. You found it, Clarissa." He closed his fingers hard around Clary's broken wrist, causing Clary to gasp out loud. She felt the card containing the Mortal Cup press against her open palm. She waited, watching her father, watching the emotions roll over his face like a hurricane.
"I've told you already, father." Clary managed to say without her voice breaking, "I will never help you again." Clary took a deep breath, feeling his grip around her wrist tighten with anger, "And there's nothing you can do to change that."
Valentine let go of Clary, her fingers automatically holding on to the card that was about to fall to the floor. "We'll see about that, Clarissa, darling." Valentine smiled warmly at her, like he'd just given her a compliment or was simply chatting about family business.
"Yeah, I guess we will." Clary answered, throwing the card at the door closing behind him.
xxxx
They'd argued for too long now, Jace started to show his irritation clearer on his face.
"By the angel, shut up!" he yelled. It worked.
Jace looked around, meeting Alec's gaze. His parabatai nodded, they both wanted the same thing; for all of them to come with the rest of the adults to fight. Alec and Jon were eighteen, and would be allowed to fight, whereas Jace and Isabelle were not. Sixteen was by the book, too young.
A few demon hunts were nothing, that was training, now, possibly fighting Valentine Morgenstern and the Circle; that was something none of them would be prepared for.
"We've done it before," Jace stated loudly, meeting his father's stern gaze.
"No, Jace, you've not, Valentine-" Stephen didn't get to finish, because Jace cut him short, "Let me finish talking before you tell me what to do," he said, "We've fought Valentine before, and his Circle members, we have no idea how many they are, nor exactly where they are! Are you going to tell me that you do not need everyone you can get, that you think you'll win this fight when you're leaving skilled fighters behind," he pointed at Izzy when he spoke, "We lost people last time, people who've been doing this for years, just like you. Can you honestly tell me, dad, were you better than those who died?" Jace looked straight at his father while speaking, Stephen's blue eyes showing the conflicted situation Jace had put him in.
"I don't know," Jace could see in his father's gaze, that he'd almost won the argument, "No, probably not." Stephen continued.
"Besides," Jace looked at Alec while speaking, "We fight better when we're not alone." He grinned, showing just how much he actually wanted to participate in the rescuing.
"I think you should come." To everybody's surprise it was Celine who answered, "I would feel safer knowing you're there already, rather than knowing you'll come barging in in the middle of a bloody fight." She smiled carefully.
Jace nodded, smiling at his mother's sarcastic remark, "You know me so well, mom." He added.
"But I don't want you to engage in any unnecessary fights, you, Isabelle, Jon and Alec should try to find Clary, while we take care of the fights, if that should occur." Jocelyn said, followed by a few nods from the others.
"But-" Jace began, but Stephen stopped him, "Don't push your luck, young man. Take what you can get." His father said, resulting in a heavy eye-roll from Jace.
They'd started preparing the portal for Idris when Jace heard the door click shut. Iwan was standing in the door. His face showed a great concern, "Are you going already?" he asked, looking at his brother.
Jace walked over to him, his bright grin stretched across his face, "Yeah, we think looking for Clary in Idris will be easier, Valentine probably don't live in New York, you know." He laughed.
"Are you worried?" Iwan asked.
Jace met his younger brother's blue eyes, "What?" he asked, even though he'd heard what Iwan said.
"Are you worried you'll not make it, or make it, but not with Clary?" Iwan asked again.
"No." Jace smiled, sitting down next to his brother. Iwan sat down too, his legs pushed against his chest. Jace noticed how much he's brother had aged within the span of just a few months. What was it? Six months since they'd captured Clary? Iwan looked much older; he looked like he could actually take someone in a fight.
But then again, he'd been through things in the last six months that should turn even the purest of heart cold. Still, Iwan held his childishness, while still appearing stronger, wiser and more mature.
"Yes." Jace said after a while, looking down at his brother, "I am."
xxxx
Clary's body started to shake; a loud groan escaped her lips as the pain from the flesh wounds on her back continued to send out the same stinging pain from her back to her neck. Her head had started aching too, she'd probably hit her head on the stone floor while falling, but it didn't make the agony in the rest of her body feel lighter.
Clary looked at the door, a small shadow brushed through the crack under it. Clary braced herself for someone to open the door and continue the torture. It wasn't exactly Valentine's character to just leave a prisoner to rot in their own blood, at least not while the information he wanted was still in the prisoners hands.
Clary drew a deep breath as she tried to move closer to the door, it might be stupid, she didn't know if she would make it to the door without passing out, but she'd done something stupid, and had to fix it.
Clary's legs would not support her, but she tried to crawl across the floor in small motions. Her back and head felt like it was about to explode as she moved, her eyes danced on the edge of unconsciousness. Black dots started forming in the corner of her green eyes, making her vision blurry and unclear.
xxxx
"Don't worry, Valentine, she'll give into your request soon." Maggie told the white-haired man standing beside her. His black eyes reflected the red flames from the fireplace, flickering rhythmically.
"I am no longer so sure about that, dear Magdalena." Valentine replied softly, his words showing a great displeased tone.
"She's still your daughter, she's still loyal at heart." She explained, her voice more hoping than knowing.
"What will you do?" Maggie looked down, avoiding his gaze, "if she, in worst case scenario, does not cooperate?" she finished.
An abhorrent laughter escaped Valentine's lips, "What I will do?" he asked, a sneer across his lips, "Let's just hope it doesn't go as far as worst case scenario." He told the former Iron Sister with fiery eyes.
"Now, if you could check on her for me, Maggie." go Valentine's voice changed quickly, turning softer, more like the voice he used to talk to with Clary.
"Yes, Valentine." Maggie left, her heart beating fast. She'd still not really seen Clary since what had happened the day before. Her footsteps echoed through the corridors as she walked down the hall, she felt her stomach tighten into a small knot.
The chamber's door was locked, Maggie wasn't surprised, but there had been a tiny little spark of hope building up inside her stomach as she walked down the mediaeval looking corridors.
Maggie placed her ear against the door, listening closely for a sound. A reassuring Clary was still alive.
When she placed the key in the keyhole, the door opened with a click.
She saw the girl, her back exposed like a horror show. Large, straight gashes danced across the red-headed girl's back. Her crimson blood was still oozing from the wounds like it was the blood pumping through the arteria.
Clary had fallen unconscious, probably to let her body and mind escape the gruesome agony the consciousness brought with it.
Maggie stepped inside the room, she noticed the small card under her shoe and picked it up carefully. The cup looked just as beautiful on the painted tarot card as it had in the pictures Maggie had seen.
Maggie sat down on her knees next to Clary, the girl was breathing rapidly. Her breath forced through almost closed nostrils.
She wanted to help her, wanted to make sure the young girl would be okay. Not that she would be able to do that, if Valentine found out, it was safe to say, he wouldn't be very happy with her.
Maggie moved Clary from her position on the cold stone floor, her body felt like ice against her own fingers, her hair was sticking together like someone had smeared a bottle of glue in her hair, except the glue was crimson red and smelled of iron.
When she'd managed to place the girl in a sitting position against the wall, she tucked the card in the young girl's pocket. There was nothing more Maggie could do without Valentine finding out. It was risky enough already.
xxxx
They landed silently on a snowy ground. Jace looked around; he could see the great castle-like manor in the dark December night. He saw in the corner of his eyes that Alec and Jon stepped beside him.
"Do you think we're ready for this?" Alec asked, he didn't sound scared or even remotely nervous, but still, Jace knew they all were.
"It doesn't matter, right now, we'll just have to be." Jon answered for him, moving a little bit closer to the manor.
Their plan was to let Jon, Alec, Isabelle and Jace try to find Clary using the compass, while the older Shadowhunter would keep any Circle members that might try to stop them out of the way. At the same time they had to find the Mortal Cup, but everyone had silently agreed that would be the second task on their list.
Jocelyn and Celine had started walking towards the house, with the others covering their backs.
The manor was even larger up-close. Stephen stepped up the three steps before he stood before the large front door, in the Shadow world there was little point in trying to lock doors, like the Institute would let anyone with Shadowhunter blood inside, most manors in Idris were open.
Stephen opened the door carefully, stepping inside the manor. He didn't even turn around when he motioned for the others to follow, his eyes focused on the corridor before him.
Jace followed his father with light steps. They'd all placed multiple runes on their bodies, soundless runes, deflect runes, fortis and so on. Every possible way they could make themselves ready to fight Valentine and the rest of his circle members.
After a few minutes, Jace and the teens left the others, following the compass.
"I can't believe Clary lived here, it's like we're walking through the house of Everything-Is-Creepy-And-Scary-We-Might-As-Well-Be-Dead-Already.." Isabelle said, walking past a torch lit with a yellow flame flickering in the dark corridor.
Nobody answered, leaving the words hanging in the air.
Jace held the compass in his hands, clutching the golden metal as hard as he could without breaking it. As he walked, he heard a sound, like someone running.
"Did you hear that?" he asked the others.
The other Shadowhunters nodded carefully, weapons already drawn.
They'd already pressed their bodies against the walls, hiding to keep whoever it might be from seeing them. There was a gleam of ginger hair sweeping across Jace's eyes, and he was about to step out from their hiding spot when Alec stopped him, clutching his shirt hard in his fist.
"It's not her." He said, pointing to the place where the woman was walking. Alec was right, it wasn't Clary, this woman had more orange hair, and her skin was darker than the girl they were trying to find.
Jace leaned against the wall again, waiting for the woman to leave. His back hit the wall too hard, making the painting near where they were standing fall from the nail holding it up.
The woman turned around, meeting Jace's eyes as she did. She let out a surprised breath. She didn't scream for anyone else, nor engage in a fight, she simply stood there watching the four teens.
Jace was the first to step away from the wall, his sword held high, as a warning.
"Don't try anything." He said, his voice echoing through the corridor.
"Jace Herondale." The woman announced.
Jace looked around, he wasn't exactly surprised the woman knew his name, more startled by the way she said it. There was no anger in her voice, only a calm pleading for help.
"If you are looking for Clarissa, walk past the next four doors, there's a door at the end of the corridor. She's there." The woman said in a steady voice, her eyes burning with some sort of flame. "If you continue down there," she pointed in the direction Jace and the others were heading, "You'll walk right into at least ten Circle members."
Jace nodded carefully before asking, "Why would you help us?"
"I never wanted this to happen, Clarissa is too stubborn, she'll never give in to Valentine's requests." The woman told them, "She told me earlier that she would rather die than give her father what he wanted, and I am afraid she is about to do exactly that."
They heard metal rattle and the woman threw something towards them. Jace, without thinking, his reflexes acting for him, caught the flying metal in his hands.
It was a key.
Jace met the woman's eyes again, orange flames flickering behind the black pupil. "If this is a trick, I swear to Raziel, I will not hesitate to kill you if we ever meet again." His voice was so calm it even scared him as he heard the words leave his lips.
"It is not, young Shadowhunter, you will see I am only giving you an easier way out of the mess you've all created." The woman turned on her heels, disappearing behind the darkness of the corridors.
"I said it was creepy." Isabelle whispered after a minute of silence.
"Should we trust her?" Jon asked, looked at Jace when he spoke.
"I don't think we've got any other choice." Jace replied, looking in the direction the woman had told them to go.
xxxx
Stephen and the others moved silently thought the corridors; there hadn't been much noise or movement in the manor yet. They were all ready to attack if something was to occur.
Suddenly something moved in the end of the alley, a knife flew through the air like a bird. Someone let out a loud groan, but Stephen didn't have the time to find out whom.
He was ready in the matter of a second, catching the first opponent by surprise. He'd relied on them not seeing him, but when Stephen's sword caught the man's own long blade, he staggered backwards.
Stephen heard someone shout, it might've been Luke, "Get him out of here! Jocelyn, just do as I say, we'll find her."
Stephen's weapon managed to hit the Circle member in the head with the flat side, the man falling hard against the floor.
"Come on, let's go before others come after him." Celine told her husband, pulling at his sleeve.
xxxx
The key fit and Jace turned the handle with shaky hands. He heard Isabelle and Alec on either side of him draw their weapons in case of an attack.
The door was one of those old, wooden doors, squeaking as he opened it.
He could swear they all gasped in unison when they saw her, sitting against the wall with her head falling forward.
"Oh my god." It was Isabelle who reacted first, she leaped forward. Everyone else too shocked to do anything, they watched as Isabelle sat down next to Clary.
"Clary, c-c-can you hear me?" she asked, but the girl didn't move.
"Iz…" It was Jon who spoke, "Is she alive?" he asked, his voice deep, and raspy.
Isabelle placed two fingers against Clary's neck, checking for a pulse, before nodding. "Yes, but- but I don't know for how long.."
The three boys moved forward too. Jace could smell the blood, and he saw a path of smeared out blood going all the way from the door to the place where Clary sat.
"Oh god." Jon's whisper met his ears. The brother of the girl sounded heartbroken as he placed his hand on his sister's cheek. "Clary, oh, please just hold on a little longer." He whispered. He placed one hand on Clary's back and the other behind her legs. Jon was about to lift Clary when the girl's eyes suddenly flew open, rolled back in her head as she gasped excruciatingly. Jon stepped back in shock.
As he looked down on his own hands, one was soaked in blood. "Shit." He muttered scared. "Shit."
"Clary.." Isabelle tried again, but the girl was out cold.
"Jace.." Jon said, "Can you please look at her back, but be really, really careful. I don't think I can do it.." He told the other blond boy in the room.
Jace noticed the blood on Jonathan's hands, he met the girl's brother's eyes and sat down next to Isabelle.
He moved Clary's back softly away from the wall, blood was smeared across the stone walls, and he closed his eyes for a second. Clary's back was slashed open, deep cuts ran across her back like she'd been whipped.
"Oh, Clary.." He felt his voice break as he looked at her. He didn't feel like crying, he was angry. Angry with the Clave, with Valentine, with the Circle, with himself, and almost most of all, with Clary. Why did she do these thing, why would she let someone do this to her. She should've given in.
He knew what he was thinking was stupid, Clary would never let Valentine get what he wanted, not after fifteen years of doing exactly what he wanted. Being fooled and manipulated for fifteen years, to do the things a man with no compassion wanted of her.
"Please don't wake up, okay. Just stay this way a few more minutes okay? Come on darling, you're tougher than anyone I know, just fight it a few more minutes." He whispered in her ear, a small, sad smile playing on his lips.
He lifted Clary, avoiding the deep gashes as he carried her out of the room.
"Cover me, okay?" He asked the others, not that it was really necessary, they already were.
xxxx
Jocelyn was leading the wounded Robert out of the hallway when a thundering crash was detected at the end of the hall.
"Can you stand on your own?" she asked Robert, and he nodded. He'd been hit in the stomach, blood seeping through his shirt.
"Maryse, try to get him out of here alone, I'll distract them." Jocelyn announced as she moved towards the sounds.
Maryse started to protest, but Jocelyn cut her off. "Do you want your husband to live?" she asked angry.
Maryse looked as Jocelyn with a careful gaze, before exiting the room.
Jocelyn felt something hit her in the side, and she gasped loudly. Someone stepped out of the shadows, "You shouldn't have come her, Fairchild." The voice sounded familiar, like she'd heard it once, a long time ago.
Another flying object darted towards Jocelyn, but she managed to get away. She saw the chakram hit the wall behind her, and she recognised the person instantly. "Hodge?"
"Nice to see you after all these years, Jocelyn." Hodge told her.
"I can't say the same." Jocelyn replied, swinging her sword hard towards the man.
Jocelyn dodged three more sharp chakrams, her reflexes taking over as she fought her old friend.
Hodge was a skilled fighter, his weapon of choice giving him the advantage of distance from his opponent. He fought her gracefully as Jocelyn noticed someone moving in the dark behind them. Blond curls was the first thing she noticed, Jace was carrying something in his hands. Someone.
In the moment of distraction, Jocelyn had lost him; Hodge threw another chakram, catching Jocelyn in the leg. She moaned in pain as the sharp blades cut through the flesh of her upper leg.
Hodge was closer now, and Jocelyn used this as her final chance to take him out. She swung her sword on him, hitting him in the head like Stephen had done earlier. Hodge fell to the floor on his knees, then face.
Jocelyn's leg didn't stop her, she started running. Following the teens she'd seen a few minutes ago.
She found Luke, Stephen and Celine after a few minutes.
"You're hurt." Luke said as he noticed the blood on Jocelyn's leg.
"It's nothing; Hodge just took me by surprise." Jocelyn admitted.
"Hodge?" It was Celine, her voice shocked. "Is he still alive?"
"Yeah, I didn't kill him, if that's what you're implying." Jocelyn told her parabatai.
"No." Celine replied, "I just meant… after all these years, I thought he'd died."
"No, he's still alive." Jocelyn answered.
They could see through the door, a shimmering portal had opened again.
"I can't see anyone else!" Celine stated.
"They have probably gone through it already!" Luke answered, helping Jocelyn running on her wounded leg.
"What if they're still in there?" Celine protested.
"I saw them about ten minutes ago, I think they got out." Jocelyn answered, her voice showing just how unsure she was.
They didn't have any more time to think about it, because three more Circle members were coming after them, heading for the portal. If they were the last four, the portal would close behind them. They had no choice but to jump.
please leave a review, and I'll see you soon. And I mean soon this time! :)