A/N: AHHH, I'm so sorry, I hadn't realised it had been so long since I updated. With everything that is going on in the world at the moment, I hope you are all staying safe and coping with quarantine as best you can. So this is a long awaited chapter, hopefully with some more answers.
Also if anyone has read my other fanfiction The First, I am currently writing the 3rd part so look out for that coming soon!
Chapter 20
Idris was exactly as I pictured it. Surrounded by high mountains, it felt like a little slice of paradise. I felt the warm sun hit me as soon as we arrived. We were met on the other side of the portal by 15 to 20 men, dressed in full battle armour. I'm not sure what they were expecting but I swear they looked slightly confused, possibly even a little disappointed when they saw me. This soon changed to one of total apprehension as their gaze landed on Magnus. I guess being the High Warlock of Brooklyn does make him a tad recognisable. A small lady in a long blue robe walked up to us, dazzling us with a radiant smile.
"Right this way please," she motioned for us to follow her and we did. She led us through many long corridors until we reached a small room, decorated with cushy armchairs and a fireplace. "Please, make yourself comfortable. The Council is just gathering." We gave her a smile and she left us alone. Magnus turned to me.
"You okay?" I nodded, and for the first time in a while, I wasn't lying. I actually did feel okay. I was more focused on what I wanted to say and how to get my points across that I wasn't nervous at all.
"You?" He nodded but I could tell he was nervous. The small lady came back in.
"Okay, so this is how it is going to go, The Consul will make a small speech welcoming everyone and detailing why they are all there. He will introduce himself and the Inquisitor and then will turn to you. You will state your case and they will listen. They will then ask if there is anything else you would like to say on record and then will go off to deliberate. Now remember the Clave as a whole will hear you case but it's the Council, The Consul and the Inquisitor that make the difference." We nodded taking it all before a loud clang rang through the halls. The woman turned to us with a smile. "They're ready for you." She beckoned us to follow her and we did as instructed. She led us through some big double doors and into what looked like a large meeting room. A massive rectangular table seated 30 or so Council members who all looked up when we entered. We were sat at the very end facing them all. We didn't speak. Once the small lady had shut the doors, a tall, thin, quite scary looking man stood.
"Welcome all to today's meeting of the Council and the Clave. We are here to hear the case of Charlotte Danvers and Magnus Bane. Now this isn't any ordinary case. What we are seeing here today, is a world first. A child born of both Shadowhunter and Downworlder blood. Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, conspired with Geoff and Amara Danvers to bring about the illegal birth of Miss Danvers. We will hear from them momentarily but first I would like to welcome you both to the Council." We nodded mutely. "I am Malachi Dieudonné, Consul of the Clave and to my left is Imogen Herondale, Inquisitor of the Clave." We nodded at the scary looking pair. The Consul sat and took a breath, "State your case." Magnus and I glanced at each other, neither sure what to say. Magnus started,
"Ladies and Gentleman of the Council. We sit here before you today, to implore you to see from the perspective of the late Geoff and Amara Danvers. They were good people. Everything they did was to help Shadowhunter and Downworlder alike. They were, and to this day still are, the greatest people I have ever met, and I have been alive for centuries. If anyone deserved to parents, it was them. I admit that I helped them conceive but not by magic, but by a… donation." I winced slightly at the term. It was a little weird thinking about it now. "It was a last ditch attempt as they had tried everything else, and to our amazement, it worked. We decided to hide, not from the Clave but from everyone. The three of us were the only three who knew, and we did that to protect her. We knew that if anyone found out, she would be put at serious risk. That is why we hid it. Not from distrust of the Clave but of distrust of humanity." Magnus stopped speaking and clasped his hands together. I took a breath knowing it was my turn to speak.
"I don't know why I'm here today." I stated in a strong, loud voice. Audible gasps and mutters flitted around the table. I continued, "That's not true. I know why I'm here. I'm here because my parents wanted the opportunity to have a family. An opportunity given freely to most. They had worked their entire lives for the Clave and for their Institute. They saved countless mundanes from demons and all kinds of evil. They wanted something for themselves. They wanted a child. Who would really tell someone they should stop trying? If anyone knew my parents, they would know that the reason they were so good, and the reason that they were so successful is because they were stubborn as mules. They would never give up. Never. And that's why I'm here. Because they never gave up… on me." I could see my words having an effect on the people surrounding us. "I'm a lot like my parents. Stubborn, Headstrong and I know the difference between right and wrong. Now yeah, I am half warlock, which means I have angel, demon and mundane inside of me, and yet it seems to the demon part that everyone focuses on. The word demon instils so much fear in us. We automatically assume that it means bad. But you all know that The Downworld, isn't a bad place. That's why we were able to write up the Accords, so that we can live in peace with them. My parents spent their whole lives trying to improve Shadowhunter/Downworld relations. If I'm not a token of that then what is?" I joked motioning to Magnus, who tittered slightly along with some others in the room. "But there will always be that separation between us all. Until now. Now I don't know how the Downworld will view me, they might hate me as much as some of you do but we all know that the Accords are failing. Every day that Valentine gets stronger, the Downworlders become more scared and less likely to trust us to protect them from him. I know that you have tried to improve relations but maybe we need to try something different. I know that I came here today to beg for you to spare my life, to prove I'm not a danger, but I came here for something else. Let me help. A half Shadowhunter, half Downworlder and the High Warlock of Brooklyn; who better to champion improving relations between us and them." I sat back in my chair knowing I had done all I could. A small cough came from the end of the table. The Inquisitor, Imogen Herondale stood.
"If I may…" she started, "you say that you are not a danger to us. How can you prove this? If the rumours are true you possess magical capabilities. Is this true?" I nod gently.
"I have only ever used them to help people." I say softly.
"Would you swear that?" She demanded. I nodded fervently.
"Of course." She turned to the Consul.
"I would suggest use of the Soul Sword. Just to make sure." The Consul nodded. He motioned to me,
"Stand." I did as I was told. I stood and watched as they brought in a familiar looking sword. The inquisitor came to stand in front of me.
"Place it in her hands." They did so. It was heavy, really heavy. "Place it against your head." Again, I did as I was told. I felt its power instantly. "Do you have any wishes to harm the Clave?"
"No." I answered honestly. She nodded.
"Do you consider yourself to be a danger to us?"
"No."
"What were your intentions when you came here?"
"To get you to not kill me, and to offer my aid in repairing Shadowhunter/Downworld relations."
"Have you ever used your magic to hurt anyone?"
"No."
"How long have you known of your parentage?"
"3 days."
"What was your first thought when you found out?"
"I'm like Harry Potter." Again some titters enveloped the room including the Inquisitor herself. She nodded to the guards and they took the Sword from me.
"Thank you," she smiled and walked round to take her seat. The Consul stood and spoke.
"Is there anything else you would like to say on record?" I cleared my throat.
"Mrs Herondale, Inquisitor Ma'am…" I stuttered, I had no idea what was possessing me to talk. "I like your robe." She nodded in thanks as the small lady came back in to escort us out. We were led back to our original room and I flopped into a chair.
"I like your robe!" I chastised myself, "What the hell was I thinking!" Magnus laughed.
"It was probably left over from the Sword." I rolled my eyes.
"At least she knows I was honest." Magnus chuckled again. I sighed. "How do you think we did?" He shrugged.
"I don't know. They're pretty hard to read." I nodded.
"I really hope they don't vote to kill us." Magnus dropped a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so young. I've got so much to look forward to. Being able to legally drink, hanging out with Clary and Izzy, finding Mum, stopping Valentine, apologising to Simon," I realised this was turning into a to-do list but it didn't stop me. "Learn more about my powers, finish what my parents started and help repair relations between the Shadowhunters and the Downworld, watch the Harry Potter Movie Marathon with Alec and teach him about all things mundane…" I paused again, thinking about Alec. I had promised him I would fight, and I had. I had done everything I could. I had also promised I wouldn't leave him, and I wouldn't. Even if they killed me I would haunt his ass until the end of time. I sighed and opened my eyes to find Magnus staring at me. "What?"
"You really like him, don't you?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Who?" He rolled his eyes.
"Alexander." I gaped at him and open and closed my mouth to say something so many times I looked like a confused goldfish.
"What? We're…" I couldn't even get the word 'friends' out. We were more than that. He knew, I knew, Magnus knew, hell everybody who had come to say goodbye probably knew. "It's complicated."
"Matters of the heart, always are my darling," he muttered wistfully. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by Magnus. The room was lit by the moons glow.
"They have decided." I jumped up and grabbed his hand. We were led back into the meeting room and sat back in our chairs. One by one the Council members filed in and returned to their seats. When the Consul and The Inquisitor arrived they remained standing.
"I apologise about the long wait. We had much to discuss." The Consul said and several member of the Council nodded their heads in agreement. "I hope you didn't get bored." I raised an eyebrow at his oddly jovial tone. "We have come to a decision. We accept that in the current climate having a spokesperson between the Clave and the Downworld, would be a very good idea. If this person was to be you, you would need training and experience. We have come to the decision that you are not ready for that kind of responsibility." My heart sank. "You have only just re-joined this world, and we forget that you are young. We would like you to go back to the Institute, join missions, and be a Shadowhunter for a while, before we train you up to have the life of a diplomat." I was confused. They just wanted me to go back to what I was doing? "Mr Bane. I would like you teach Charlotte, to help her develop her magic to become more useful of missions." I snapped my eyes to Magnus and grinned at him. "That is all we require. We wish you both to know, that Amara and Geoff Danvers were very well known to us and that they would have been proud by the way you spoke Charlotte." I smiled gently as the small lady escorted us out once more. As soon as we got out, I breathed a loud, and low sigh of relief. I jumped on Magnus who spun me around in joy. She led us back to the portal and with a smile bid us farewell. I expected us to return to the Institute but instead I landed in a graveyard. I swivelled around expecting Magnus to be behind me but the portal had shut. My phone bleeped as a text came through from him.
Must have charged the Portal to take us where we were needed. I'm back at the Institute. Isabelle needed my help. You okay? X
I sent him the okay emoji and shivered. Why was it always graveyards and why did I need to be here? As I walked forward the ground started to rumble. I ran towards the noise and saw Clary and Jace standing next to a grave.
"What the hell is going on?" I shouted. They snapped their heads up to look at me but I was distracted by Raphael walking past them holding a bag.
"It's happening." He said causing Clary and Jace to stare at the grave. I jumped back in surprise when a hand pushed its way through the soil and a body followed it. A very familiar body. Simon. My best friend. My nerdy best friend had pulled himself from the soil and bared his fangs at me. I couldn't speak.
"Simon. Simon, it's me. It's, it's Clary." Clary tried to get him to recognise her, but he didn't. What had she done? What the hell was going on? I continued to stare at him writing around on the floor hissing in hunger. Clary got a bit close and Simon tried to pounce but he was too weak.
"Once reborn, you emerge hungry." Raphael threw a blood bag, which Simon proceeded to rip open with his teeth and guzzle down like a new-born with its mother's milk. "Very hungry. Drink up." Simon panted as he guzzled down two more packs. He slowed and breathed heavily.
"Clary, Charlie, what's happening?" I couldn't speak. I didn't know! I didn't know what was happening.
"You, um you died." Clary spluttered out. I stared at her. Oh my god, she didn't.
"I what? What's this?" Simon picked up one of the bags before throwing it down to the ground in horror. "That's blood! Oh, my…" He stuttered, not being able to form the word. "Oh, my…" He tried again with the same result. He spit angrily on the floor. "Why can't I say…"
"God." Raphael interrupted. "It'll take time to regain the ability. There's a lot you will need to learn."
"Oh, my… Damn it!" Simon yelled. "Am I… Am I a vampire?"
Clary nodded, tears filling her eyes. "Yeah."
"Clary, tell me tell me this isn't real. Tell me this is not really happening!" I felt tears drip down my face as I stared at him helplessly.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Clary cried.
"I'm, I'm, I'm repulsive!"
"No, please, please don't say that, okay?" Clary stuttered. He took in a shaky breath. "You're still the same, Simon. You're the same Simon I've known my whole life. The same guy who loves sci-fi. And who can recite every line from… from every Nicolas Cage movie." I choked out a sob and I stared at him in disbelief. "The same Simon who carried me over the Brooklyn Bridge when I lost my shoe, okay? Listen."
"No, Clary, I'm not!" He screamed.
"Yes, you are, Simon! You are the same Simon! You are my best friend!"
"I'm not. I'm nothing more than a monster." He yelled, pulling himself to his feet.
"No, Simon," she called after him.
"Stay away! Please just stay away." He used his newly gained super speed and disappeared. I stared after him in shock, horror and disbelief.
"Simon!" she screamed after him.
"I'll look after Simon. You have my word," Raphael disappeared after him.
I turned to stare at Clary who was being held close by Jace. She was crying.
"What the fuck did you do?"
Jace gave me a 'stop talking' look but I was seeing red.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" I bellowed causing Clary to cry more. "How could you?" I looked at her in disgust before running off after Simon and Raphael. I heard Clary and Jace following but I didn't look back.
"I swear, if that kid ruins one more jacket," Raphael complained.
"Where is he?" The other two caught up fast and echoed my question.
"He'll be back." He didn't even seem to care.
"You just let him go? You said you'd look after him." Clary cried.
"I can't do that until he's ready." I rolled my eyes.
"What does that even mean?"
"It means he's where everybody goes when this happens. His own personal hell." I closed my eyes. Good, sweet Simon reduced to this.
"I did this. I put him there." Clary whispered under her breath.
"If it helps, he doesn't even remember it was you. Those first minutes a complete blank." Raphael said unhelpfully.
"But I have to tell him the truth." She cried again.
"Once you rein him in, he'll be walking, talking proof to the Clave that Camille broke the Accords. In fact, as a new leader…" I shoved my hand over his mouth and watched as he held back.
"Shut it." I pulled my hand away but he kept his eyes glued to me.
"Okay, just stop it! I don't care about your vampire politics! We have to find Simon."
"We will." Jace tried to sooth an increasingly upset Clary.
"He's out there, he's alone, scared, he's hungry." I hated picturing him like that.
"Give me a call when he turns up. He'll need my help." I scowled as he waltzed away.
"I think we've had just about enough of your help." Jace muttered as he passed. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Clary asked.
"Getting reinforcements." The phone for a moment before Jace said, "Alec, I need you." Jace's brow furrowed.
"There's been an attack at the Institute." I gasped.
"An attack?" I asked as Jace put her on speaker.
"Is that you, Charlie?" Izzy sounded so relieved.
"Yeah it's me. What happened?"
"Valentine created a Forsaken that went through the wards." I stared at Jace.
"That's not possible, Izzy. Nothing can get through the wards. There is warlock spells to defend against all Downworlders." Jace called as we wracked our brains for an answer.
"Not this one. It had Seelie blood with angel properties. Jace, it went after Hodge and Alec." I felt a hot wave of panic fill me. Not Alec too. Please not Alec.
"Are they okay? Is Alec…?" Jace asked, seeing my face.
"They're banged up, but they'll live." We let out a joint sigh of relief. "Hodge killed it. It was after the…"
"The Cup." Clary finished.
"Izzy, I'll be there as soon as I can." I held a hand up to stop Jace.
"We'll be there." I flicked my eyes to Clary and grabbed my own phone. I called Luke.
"Hey," his voice rang clear. "What's going on?"
"We need your help. I don't really know what happened. I was in Idris and when I got back Simon was a vamp and a demon attacked the Institute and I don't know what to do!" I burbled out all at once. Luke, who over the years had gotten pretty good at speaking Charlie, told me to take a breath. I released a shaky breath.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"Will you help Clary track Simon? He's alone and he's scared."
"Of course. Tell her to meet me at the Jade Wolf." I sighed.
"Thank you."
"Hey, deep breaths, okay?" I nodded even though he couldn't see me and hung up. When I turned to talk to Clary and Jace they were deep in each other's personal bubbles. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. They broke apart but continued to stare at each other.
"Excellent talk." Clary whispered.
"If you're done…" They turned to look at me. "Luke's gonna help you find Simon. Meet him at the Jade Wolf." I pushed through to head back towards the Institute.
"Are you not coming with me?" I whirled round to look at her.
"I don't know what's been going on, but it seems like something you need to deal with on your own." Before she could say anything else, Jace and I left, heading back to the Institute as fast as we could.
We raced into the Op's room and ran straight into Robert and Maryse. I caught Maryse's eye and she gave me a small smile.
"I heard. Congratulations." She said quietly.
"Thank you, I can't thank you enough."
"That will have to do I am afraid, for we are being sent back to Idris." Robert told Jace sternly. We gaped at them.
"What? Why?" They shrugged and pushed past us gently. We saw Izzy and Alec in the training room and ran over to them.
"You all right?" Jace asked Alec, who was staring at me.
"I'm fine." He said finally. "Are you?" I nodded.
"Was told to get back to work." I said simply. Izzy smiled and hugged me tightly. Alec made no move towards me so Jace spoke,
"We just spoke to Robert and Maryse. They're being sent back to Idris." I nodded in agreement.
"What?" Izzy gasped.
"Yeah." Jace nodded
"Another "order" from Lydia?" Izzy spat at Alec. Lydia?
"Who's Lydia?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"She's in charge of the Institute." Izzy hissed.
"She's what?" We looked at Alec stunned.
"Temporarily." He added, as if that helped.
"And now she's convinced the Clave that Mom and Dad aren't doing their job?" Izzy was fuming. I could tell.
"Well, maybe they aren't." Again we all looked at Alec in shock. "The Institute was under their control when the Forsaken got in."
"What are you talking about?" Izzy questioned.
"Mom and Dad were members of the Circle." Well shit. That was not where I saw this going. I kept quiet.
"What? They don't have Circle runes."
"That's because they made a deal with the Clave prior to the Uprising. In exchange for their cooperation, they were pardoned." Maryse never told me that bit. I sighed in frustration.
"You're questioning their loyalty?" Jace was angry now.
"Valentine is back. The Circle is rising. They're under suspicion." I stared at Alec. I didn't even recognise him. He wasn't acting like himself.
"No way. Robert and Maryse took me in. They raised me as one of their own. I know what kind of people they are." Jace seethed.
"Are you sure? They lied to us. For years, they've been telling us how to act. That we have to uphold the Lightwood name. Well, they're the ones who tarnished it. They're hypocrites." I breathed slowly. There was enough anger in this room already, no need for me to add to it.
A clicking of heels caused me to look at the blond, woman entering the room. "You must be Jace Wayland. Lydia Branwell. You're quite the legend back in Idris." She reached out a hand to shake but Jace ignored it.
"Don't believe everything you hear." He muttered. Lydia then turned her sights to me.
"Charlie Danvers. I heard. Congratulations." I nodded my thanks. "I heard your speech was quite moving."
"What can I say?" I asked with mock happiness, "I spoke from the heart." She smiled at me and looked up at Alec.
"Did you tell them?" I looked at Alec in confusion.
"Tell us what?" I asked him. He looked slightly uncomfortable but spoke anyway,
"Lydia and I are engaged."
"We're getting married." She added lightly. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear anything. It all came back quickly as I continued to stare at Alec in shock.
"You're not serious." Jace mocked.
"You were supposed to tell them no." Izzy spat. "It's your life to ruin." She sent a sympathetic look my way before stalking out.
"Not sure what to say." Jace muttered. I could feel his eyes on me.
"How about, "None of this matters"? We have to stop Valentine." Alec was refusing to look at me.
"Finally. Something we agree on." Jace said and stalked after Izzy. I coughed out a chuckle and plastered a smile on my face. I'm not sure what it looked like but neither Alec nor Lydia looked convinced.
"Congratulations." This time Alec looked at me directly. "I hope that the two of you will be very happy together."
"I'm sure we will." Lydia answered before leaving us alone. The silence hurt. Where before we were able to have comfortable silences now it felt battered and bruised.
"A lot can happen in a day, huh." I looked at Alec trying not to show him how hurt I was.
"It makes sense. It's a solid partnership. For both of us." I raised an eyebrow.
"Solid partnership. The baseline of Shadowhunter marriages." I sighed. "I just hope you know what you're doing." I couldn't stay any longer. I couldn't look at his face. Typical as soon as I realise that I have feelings for him he goes off and gets engaged to someone else. It took me a minute before I realised I was headed for Izzy's room. I needed to talk. I passed by the Op's room and saw her stood by a screen. Approaching her I watched as she traced the man on the screens face.
"Izzy?" She whirled around, saw it was me and turned back to the screen. "Are you okay?" She chuckled bitterly.
"I was going to ask you the same question?" I sighed.
"You mean because the guy I sort of like is getting married to someone else because it 'made sense'." Izzy nodded to the screen.
"The guy I sort of like is getting interrogated by my brothers stupid fiancé because she thinks he is working for Valentine."
"Meliorn?" I asked carefully. She nodded and stroked his face again. I chuckled. "I was right?" She cocked a brow. "He is a hunk." She broke into a small grin as I gave her a sideways hug. "We'll figure it out."
There we have it ladies and gentlemen. I would love to hear what you guys think. In this time of exclusion from our friends i think it's really nice that we have a platform like this on which to communicate.
Ketsueko: That's the power of reviews my friend! XD I have tried to add more spaces into this, but as i'm writing on a laptop I have no idea how it appears on a phone screen, so let me know please! I think the fun thing about fanfictions is you can change how certain characters come across, if you think they deserved more in the show. I always thought that Maryse deserved extra room to develop her character and i enjoy writing her in mine. As i have a sister myself, i like to base Charlie and Clary's relationship of my own with my sister so im so pleased it comes across the way i wanted it too.
AspiringWriterGirl: I hope you have reached here now. Welcome!
Have a good week,
Stay safe,
Wash your hands,
And clap for the NHS on Thursdays!
Lots of Love,
Zoe xx
