A.N. This chapters is one of my favourite chapters I've ever written. I had so much fun with the alternate dimesion and I hope you love it to!
Chapter 22
We didn't have to walk for very long before Meliorn stopped us. We were stood by a bridge. I furrowed my brow.
"What are we waiting for? Is a troll gonna come out and give us a riddle?" Meliorn smiled knowingly.
"Follow me." He said whimsically and walked under the bridge. I shot Jace a look and followed him. The next second we were in a forest. It was beautiful. Tall trees towered above us and leaves littered the floor.
"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Clary murmured and I gave her a subtle high-five at the reference.
"Welcome to the Seelie Glade, Charlotte Danvers and Clary Fairchild." I smiled at him. "The remotest edges of it."
"It's beautiful." Meliorn smiled again.
"Thank you, not many see its beauty for what it is." I could tell why Izzy like him.
"How did we get here?" Clary asked, confused.
"There are entrances all through the mundane world." Jace offered up as an explanation.
"You just have to know where to look." Meliorn agreed.
"Why did we have to come here to find my father?"
"Because of your necklace. It's a Portal shard." He pointed out. Jace rolled his eyes.
"Tell us something we don't know." I smacked his chest before saying,
"It's weird though isn't it? Portals take you places you have been before, but when Clary uses the necklace she can see where someone is regardless of whether she has been there before." It had bugged me ever since she first used it. It never made any sense.
"Exactly. I see Isabelle isn't the only smart Shadowhunter. You wouldn't know it from the rest." He eyed Jace up and down. I choked back a laugh. "Your Portal shard works the way it does because it's a piece of a Portal from another dimension." My eyes widened. Another dimension. Simon would love this. We would spend hours talking about the possibility of other dimensions and what we would be like in them.
"Another dimension?" Clary clarified.
"You're saying there's a Portal in some other universe that can take us to anyone if we just think of them?" Jace was starting see why we were here.
"If you can find the only Portal still standing in that dimension it will take you to your father." I grinned. This was going to be fun!
We reached an archway made of two large trees covered in leaves all the way down to the stump. I smiled. Again, it was beautiful.
"These trees are where the alternate dimensions intersect the Seelie realm." Meliorn motioned to them. It reminded me of the tree portal in the second Chronicles of Narnia film. Right at the end when they are returning home. That's kinda what it looked like.
"How is it possible that the Clave doesn't know about your dimensional doorways?" Jace sounded unconvinced.
"They are our most guarded secret. We are their protectors. Only Seelies know of their existence." I frowned.
"Then why are you telling us?" I asked.
"I owe you a life debt and I don't like being indebted to anyone." He answered. "Even a sister of magic such as yourself." I stared at him dumbfounded. "Magic is our whole being. You really think we can't sense others."
"What would happen if…" Clary interrupted.
"If the Seelie Queen finds out I've shared this with you? I could be executed." Meliorn confessed.
"You didn't have to do this. You shouldn't be putting yourself at this kind of risk for us." I worried that he would pay for his actions.
"Well, we'll be extra careful then." Jace said, unsympathetically. I slapped him again, this time a little harder. He didn't react.
"There is no "we" in this scenario. Charlotte and Clary go in to find the Portal. My debt is to them."
I shook my head. "Jace helped as much as we did. He sacrificed a lot to get you out." Meliorn gazed at me and then at Jace.
"You may go in, but not yet. Only as a last resort." Jace nodded reluctantly, realising that that was the best he was going to get.
Meliorn turned and a massive wave of warm air brushed over my body, filling me with chills.
"You can feel it, can't you?" He asked, turning from the door. I nodded but was too breathless to speak.
"I knew the Seelies were one with nature, but..." Clary watched in amazement as Meliorn brushed his hands through the air causing the space between the trees to become textured, and a door to start forming.
"This will establish a connection to the other dimension."
"What's it like? The other dimension. Is it like this one?" Clary asked.
"It is but it isn't." I smiled at the vagueness. He was doing that to piss of Jace and it was actually quite funny.
"Could you be more vague?" Meliorn grinned.
"It is an alternate timeline, in a sense. There, Shadowhunters and demons no longer exist." I gasped. A world without Shadowhunters. Would I be born? Would my parents still be alive? My heart thrummed in excitement. I might be able to see them again.
"What?"
"And Downworlders have conformed to the mundane way of life to avoid detection." I thought of Magnus acting like a mundane. I shuddered at the thought.
"What happened to the Shadowhunters?" Clary questioned.
"Their services were no longer required, because they won the war against the demons, centuries ago. Once they sealed the rifts between their worlds their culture faded away. Once you arrive in the alternate dimension, you will assume the body of the you in that world. You will think and feel just like them." I frowned.
"But we'll still know we're us, right? We'll know we have to find the Portal?" Clary frowned, as did I. That was a slight spanner in the works.
"There's a catch. With Seelies, there's always a catch." Jace gritted his teeth.
"Your alternate self could consume you if you let it." I sighed.
"Is there a way to not let it?" I asked.
"Focus on the differences between that world and ours. Find something or someone to keep you grounded to this one." I thought about all the people I could use. Clary, my parents, maybe even Alec.
"Easy enough." Clary smiled, flicking her eyes towards me.
"It will be more difficult than you think. If you don't hurry, you could cease to belong to this world." I let out a deep breath.
"And be stuck in that world forever." Clary and I glanced at each other.
"It'll be okay. We just have to find each other. We can use us to keep ourselves grounded." Clary nodded agreeing with my plan.
"What do you mean find each other? Surely you'll be in the flat?" I shook my head.
"Not necessarily. Is Shadowhunters don't exist then there could be a chance my parents are still alive." Clary gripped me tight.
"You okay?"
I nodded. "Apart from having a mini heart attack, sure." She grinned.
Clary and Jace moved away to 'talk'. I stayed where I was watching Meliorn work. He turned and grinned at me.
"Sorry, its fascinating." He nodded.
"It's no bother. You are something special Charlie." I nodded.
"My class reports said the same thing." I quipped, feeling a little awkward.
"It's time." Meliorn turned to Clary and they approached.
"Meliorn, I appreciate the risk you're taking, but a life debt requires you ensure my safety. I'll agree to go alone but if I find this alternate Portal, I won't be able to face Valentine on my own." I tried not to look offended. Clary didn't miss it. "I mean apart from you. I know you can kick some serious ass but you've been out of the game a long time." I huffed a little bit but let it go.
"She'll need backup," Jace concluded I rolled my eyes.
"He already said you can go in, just not yet. We'll come back for you." I snapped, getting agitated by the drawing out of this. If we were going, let's go. The others all nodded and Meliorn turned and opened the door. Inside was what looked like rushing water, just waiting for someone to drown.
"Well, that's not intimidating!" Meliorn nodded. I took Clary's hand and we walked into the water.
My eyes snapped open and I looked around. I didn't recognise the apartment. I ran to the window and saw a familiar view.
"Okay still in Brooklyn, great." I looked around and found a photo. Tears pricked my eyes. They were alive. It was a photo of the three of us. I looked around 16 and they looked so… alive. I stroked the frame before putting it down and glancing at the next one. Clary and Simon. I breathed a sigh of relief. We knew each other in this dimension as well. That made things easier. A bang of the door closing caused me to jump.
"I'm home!" I turned slowly to see Alec dumping some keys on the side and looking at something on a clipboard. I stared, not really knowing what to say. He looked up when I didn't respond. "You okay?" I nodded mutely and continued to stare. "You're unusually quiet. You're never this quiet, not even when you sleep." A laugh bubbled up from my chest. He grinned. "You're laughing, I wake up with earache." This time I can't stop it. It bubbles up like a euphoric wave casing me to leak tears. He walked up to me and wrapped his arms round my waist. I felt myself put my arms around his neck and smile. He leant down to kiss me, and for some reason that's when I decided to freak out and pull away. I cursed myself and hurried to come up with an excuse. Luckily, he didn't seem bothered and dropped a kiss on my cheek instead. "We've all been working flat out to make this perfect." I made a noise to prove I was listening. "I think we're just about done though. Talk about leaving it to the last minute. Still sorting out music the morning of." He rabbited on and on and I swore it was the most I had ever heard him talk. Everything about him was relaxed. The relaxed posture, down to the relaxed, dopey grin on his face. It was wonderful. When I came back to reality, he was watching me with concern. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. I just like watching you talk." He smirked. I stopped for a minute. Was I American? Holy shit! I was American. The words felt weird coming from my mouth, like I was speaking French or something.
"Makes a change, huh?" I laughed. Still fucking cheeky. I grinned at him before he checked his watch.
"Weren't we supposed to be meeting Clary, Simon and Iz for coffee?" I jumped up because of course we were.
"Shit, I completely forgot. I needed to talk to Iz about tonight and go through some wedding stuff. She thinks the bridesmaid dresses are wrong so now I have to go and sort that out, and I am so mad that you wouldn't just let us elope." He grinned at me again.
"It's not my fault. As soon as we came back there would be an angry mob of Izzy, my mom, your mom, Jocelyn, Elaine. They would kill us. Starting with me." I smacked my head on the table.
"I know, but I hate planning. Why are you not planning this? You're the events planner." He chuckled.
"We're late," he reminded me. I realised that I needed to talk to Clary first.
"Is it okay if I meet you there? There is something I have to do first." He nodded.
"Sure, just make it quick, okay." I nodded, jump up once again, grab my bag, give Alec a quick kiss and run out the door. It's not til I was walking down the street, that the real me came back and I'm pretty sure I had a seizure. My breathing became so fast that I couldn't catch it and I crouched down until it slowed down. It had been years since I'd had a panic attack, so it came as a bit of a surprise. As I rubbed my hands over my face the cold metal of the ring on my finger alerted me to its presence. I stared at it and my eyes welled up. It was perfect. Blue sapphires (my favourite stone) encircled a small but beautiful diamond which rested upon a simple silver band. A flicker of a memory rushed through my brain but didn't stay long enough for me to get the details. My phone bleeped in my pocket.
Please tell me your you. C xx
I chuckled at the text. This was my Clary alright. No-one else would expect me to understand something so cryptic. I responded back,
I'm me. We need to talk. Xx
Another text came through instantly.
You in Brooklyn. C xx
Yeah. We're supposed to be meeting Simon and Izzy at the coffee truck, now. I sent Alec ahead. Xx
Alec? C xx
I'll explain when I see you. Outside your apartment. 2 mins. Xx
Okay. C xx
Luckily, I didn't live far away from the old flat, so it didn't take me long to get there. I saw her stood tapping her foot on the pavement impatiently.
"Clary," I called. She turned and ran towards me.
"Valentine is here. He's married to my mum. I'm in art school. My mum still paints. We just had breakfast." She reeled off.
"My parents are still alive, haven't seen them though. I live with Alec, my fiancé." I show her my ring as evidence. "This me took over and I kissed him and now I'm having a heart attack!" She gripped my shoulders.
"Breathe." She told me and I did as I was told. I took some deep breaths and calmed down. "You're engaged to Alec?" I nodded. "How's that." I sighed.
"It hurts. It's not me he's engaged to. He's not my Alec. My Alec is getting married to Lydia Branwell. I just have to play along whilst I'm here." Clary nodded, but paused. "You're American?" I nodded.
"Yep."
"Weird," and we headed towards the coffee truck.
We walk to the truck not seeing our friends.
"Hey." A familiar set of arms through themselves round our shoulders. "Where have you two been? We've been texting you for, like, 20 minutes. When Alec showed up without you, Iz and I got worried." Clary gasped and pushed Simon away and into the shade.
"Simon, get out of the sun." She cried and I grabbed her hand.
"Hey, what the hell?" Simon laughed before looking at Clary seriously. "I know that look. Caffeine deprivation. Come on, Tweek." He grabbed our hands and pulled us over to the table. Iz and Alec smiled at us when we joined. I smiled back before realising I would normally probably sit with Alec so rounded the table and stood by him.
"Simon, I do not have time for coffee today." Clary was determined to act out of character, wasn't she.
"No, no, no. I know that look in your eye. And when you get that look, I either have to caffeinate you immediately or accept full responsibility for you killing someone. And you know how I am with blood." Simon grimaced and left us at the table.
"Is that new?" Izzy squinted at the necklace from behind a massive pair of black square glasses. I felt Alec wrap his arms round me so I settled between his legs.
"Yes, I got it a couple days ago." Clary muttered distractedly.
"Oh, it goes with your dress? Because you're getting ready at my place tonight, right? You too Char." I grinned and nodded.
"Ready for what?" Clary questioned.
"That is not even a little bit funny." Alec muttered from behind me. "I have poured my blood, sweat and tears into planning this anniversary party for the Institute. And the theme is amazing." He grinned at me. "Thank you for that by the way." He kissed my forehead sweetly causing me to say 'see' with my eyes at Clary.
"But, seriously, what is with this guy and the Mad Hatter?" Alec asked resting his head on my shoulder.
"Visionaries are quirky crazy. You don't get 4D Internet tech thinking inside the box." I raised my eyebrow and grinned.
"I'm beginning to wonder if you don't have a thing for your boss." I teased. Izzy just sighed and rested her cheek on her palm.
"Like, if Clary's dad would ever go for me." My eyes widened and I stared at Clary. Izzy worked for Valentine and had a crush on him, and Alec was planning some sort of Mad Hatter themed event for them? What kind of batshit crazy world was this?
"Wait, my dad?" I stared at Izzy in a mixture of confusion, and amusement.
"Uh, No, I'm totally kidding." Iz covered. She was totally not. "I mean, I'm not crushing on your dad, right?"
"Right, of course not. That'd be totally weird." Clary muttered, still staring at her.
"Yeah." Izzy finished and put in some earphones.
"Order's up." Simon came back with a cup of tea and passed it to me. I took a sip – perfect.
"We're setting up at 6:00, right?" Simon asked Alec. Was his band playing? Alec nodded. "Yeah, okay. I need your help tonight loading. This gig could be huge for me." He looked between Clary and me. We nodded as well. I hid a smile when Jace came up behind Clary, rocking the coffee truck owner look, floppy hair and all.
"Hey." He whispered taking her hand.
"Hey." Clary gaped. I grinned at her breathlessness.
"You wanna get out of here?" He smirked at her. I raised an eyebrow.
Clary flicked her eyes to me, and I gave her an encouraging nod. She may as well stay in character whilst she's here. "Sure." Jace pulled her behind the truck and I turned my head and cocked an eyebrow at Alec.
"Young love," he mused.
"Oh yeah, I wonder what that's like?" I teased back. He grinned and started attacking my neck with kisses. I laughed and wiggled away from him, turning myself round so I could see him. Everything in me was telling me to kiss him, but I couldn't. He wasn't mine to kiss. I covered my reluctance with a grin and hugged him. I rested my head on his shoulder and held him tight. Weirdly, he still smelled the same, an indescribable smell that was just… him. He pulled back.
"Seriously Charlie, are you okay. You've been acting weird today." I nodded and kissed his cheek.
"I'm good. Promise." Before I can say anything else, Clary comes running out from behind the truck grabs my hand and pulls me away.
"See you later?" Alec calls after me.
"Promise." I shout back.
Clary dragged us to Magnus' loft. We walked the stairs to his apartment, but the door was already open when we got there.
"Mag saw you coming Charlie, he's putting the kettle on." The voice was so familiar it took me a minute to start breathing again. Clary clutched my arm and the tears started to stream down my cheeks. We walked into the penthouse and there he was. Just how I remembered him. Tall, strong and yet still looked like a massive nerd. His glasses balanced on the end of his nose, just how he always had them. I had seen him in the picture, but he was stood right there. My dad. My father who I hadn't seen in 10 years was stood in front of me, smiling. I squeezed Clary's hand harder and harder as we got closer. "What's wrong?" he asked, referring to the tears falling down my cheeks.
"It's really you?" I walked forward and touched his cheek gently. It was warm and slightly prickly. He looked concerned.
"Charlie, what going on? Clary do you know?" Clary must have shaken her head because he turned back to me. "Mag, somethings wrong with Charlie!" He held my shoulders tightly and sat me down on the sofa. I couldn't stop staring. I wanted his features burned in my brain so that I would remember them forever. Magnus came running out and knelt down beside my dad. He touched my cheek gently before pulling back.
"That's interesting." Dad looked at him.
"What is interesting about this Mag. Our daughter is crying and acting like she has never seen me before." I gripped his arms, trying to stop my hands shaking.
"Her magic is all confused." Both my dad and I quirked an eyebrow at him. He shivered. "Ooo, creepy. Charlotte's magic is very familiar to me. It has a unique signature that I can recognise. With you…" he turned to me, "it's there but there's something about it. Something different. Like you're you, but you're not."
"I'm not," I whispered. "We're from an alternate dimension." Both Magnus and my dad sat back.
"You should be assimilating." Magnus stated.
"Believe me, we are trying to fight it." Clary joined in. "Which is part of why we need your help." I nodded.
"We're Shadowhunters." Magnus shook his head in disbelief.
"There hasn't been Shadowhunters for hundreds of years."
"Not here, but where we come from, Shadowhunters still battle demons. And now there is something so much worse." I grabbed Magnus' hands. "Please believe me." He looks over at my dad. My dad looks at me and smiles gently.
"We believe you." I breathed a massive sigh of relief.
"We need your magic to help us stop it." Clary said to him. Magnus sighed.
"It's been a while since I've used it. It might take me a minute to wake it up again." We nodded eagerly. "How about I get you that tea." I nodded weakly and went back to memorising every detail of my dad's face.
"I'm guessing I'm not around in your world?" He asked quietly. I shook my head.
"You died. Mom too." He pondered that for a second.
"How?" I frowned.
"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you. I don't know the parallel dimension rules, but I figure if I use the time travel rules not much can go wrong." He smirked.
"How long?" I figured telling him that couldn't hurt.
"10 years." He stroked my face gently.
"All alone at 10 years old." I sniffed. "Oh Wendy." That almost broke me again. It had been so long since anyone had called me that. Dad brushed his fingers over my cheeks wiping away the tears whilst Magnus brought out the tea and Clary played mom.
"This better work." Magnus said after a few minutes. We all walked over to the table he was situated at. He'd made some sort of potion; it smelt vile.
"What does that do?" I asked. Magnus sniffed it and grimaced.
"Hopefully kick-start my magic." He sipped at the cup and we stared at him.
"And?" He shrugged when nothing happened.
"Give it a minute?" We sighed. I sat cross-legged on the sofa and leant my head back. Dad came and sat next to me.
"Can I ask you something?" I looked at him. He nodded.
"What am I like? In this world?" He chuckled.
"The same as you always were. Chatty, sarcastic, hilarious. I think it's your humour that attracted Alec in the first place." I looked at him sharply. "Is he there? In your world?" I nodded and started playing with my fingers. "Are you too…"
"No." I was going to leave it there, but my mouth kept talking. "I thought we might be, but he got engaged to someone else."
"Why?" I sighed.
"Because in our world… In the world of Shadowhunters, name is everything. Reputation is everything. His family was… dishonoured and he thought that marrying well would be the only way to make it right."
"So, he doesn't want to marry her?" I shook my head.
"No, I don't think he does. And I want to be there for him, I do, but it breaks my heart every time I see him. Especially the last time. We did something, something we believed was right. He was on the opposite side. He looked so betrayed. So, when I came here and saw him, smiling and chatting and engaged to me... I just… it's a bit of a…"
"Head-fuck?" Dad supplied causing me to guffaw loudly.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a head-fuck. Part of me wants this life. You're here, and mums here and Alec's here and there's no danger and nothing that wants to kill me but…"
"But your life is back there." I nod.
"I can't leave them."
"You're extremely brave, you know that?" I laughed.
"Me? I'm scared of a lot of things." Dad smirked.
"Aren't we all, but the rest of us brush it under the carpet. You face it, head on."
"Charlie. We need to go." Clary said quietly. I looked at Dad.
"Are you going to the party?" he nodded.
"We wouldn't miss it." I smiled and stood up. I gave him a long tight hug, praying this wouldn't be the last time I saw him. I gave Magnus one as well.
"See you later." They said and we left. Walking out Clary grabbed my hand.
"You okay?" I smile at her.
"I got to see him again. No-one ever gets that chance, but I did. I spoke to him, hugged him. I'm good." She smiled and filled me in with what had happened with Magnus. He had been able to sense the portal using the shard we brought with us and it was in the basement of the Institute, so all we had to do was go to the party as planned and sneak off to the basement. Easy.
"But right now, Izzy needs us." I sighed amused and we headed to her rooms at the Institute.
We arrived and ran through.
"What's the emergency?" Clary yelled. Izzy turned around and we gasped at the black bruise forming round her eye.
"Oh, my God. What happened?" I cried walking over to her and checking it out.
"Kickboxing class. I thought, Why not? Quick class after work. And, boom! Home in time to see you guys." She paced, panicking.
"Well, you got the "boom" part right." Clary supplied, unhelpfully. I sat Izzy down and rooted through her drawers trying to find something to cover it.
"Andrea's foot right into my face. She has to pick today to finally land her roundhouse?" Izzy was gabbling at top speeds.
"It's, it's okay. We'll fix it." I muttered, trying to find something with extra coverage. We were gonna need as much as we could get.
"Oh, my God. What are people gonna think? And then Alec worked so hard to plan this. I just cannot not go to the party. And what am I supposed to do?" Gosh she didn't stop, did she? Was our Izzy like this in secret?
"Hey."
"I worked so hard."
"Hey, we're gonna fix it."
"Okay." She took a breath, and I finally found what I was looking for. "But then we have to fix you and Jace, Clary because the two of you not talking really messes with my chi." I smirked at her shocked expression. Izzy looked at me. "Are you sure those are the colours?" I nodded confidently.
"We will make it work." She smiled a little bit but winced as I started to apply the concealer to her bruise. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Beauty is pain." Iz gritted her teeth. I smiled. "This has to work okay, because if I don't show up to the party, Clary's dad and Simon are so gonna kill me."
"Stop moving." I glare at her playfully.
"Sorry." Clary sat next to Izzy on the other side.
"So, um do you think you could get my dad on the guest list for tonight?" I pondered gently.
"Huh?" Izzy questioned. "I thought both your dads were already on the guest list?" I smiled lightly. Both my dad's. I love that.
"Oh right, yeah. Sorry totally forgot. Never mind." I smile at Clary. That was easy. I finished Izzy's eye and she went to look in the mirror.
"Oh my gosh, it's gone. You can't even see it." I smirked
"I thought that was what we were going for?" She grabbed me in a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She bounced from foot to foot. "Okay, let's get ready!" One think that I was Izzy's sense of style had completely changed. Now instead of sexy, badass warrior she went for cute, little, bunny rabbit. Amazingly it still suited her. I was thrilled to find that my style was still the same. A black dress that went in at the waist and then flared out sat in her wardrobe. I put it on, and Izzy helped sort my hair and makeup.
Izzy left us as soon as we got to the party in favour of standing by Valentines side helping him schmooze investors. Clary soon got taken too by Jace, so I leant against the bar watching it all play out. Magnus nor my parents were here yet, so I waited. I felt a presence behind me but smiled when I recognised the hands encircling my waist. I leant back into his touch.
"Dance with me?" He whispered into my ear. I took his awaiting hand and we walked onto the dancefloor. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I checked out his outfit. He looked really good. He was dressed in my favourite blue shirt and a dark suit jacket. I brushed my fingers over the blue fabric.
"You're favourite." He mused. I grinned up at him and the feeling was back, the gnawing feeling in my stomach. 'Kiss him, kiss him' the annoying voice was on repeat. I couldn't. As much as I wanted too, I just couldn't. I looked away and rested my head on his chest. We swayed slowly. "Charlie."
"Hmmm," I didn't look up at him.
"You know I love you, right?" My heart skipped a beat and without control I looked up at him. Before I could catch them the words, "I love you too," tumbled out of my mouth. Alec beamed and kissed the top of my head. I cursed the here me before realising that I knew everything I was doing. I knew why I was here and that hadn't gone away when I said it. I jumped back from Alec.
"I'll be right back." He smiled.
"I'll be here." I forced a smile and ran outside. I breathed deeply. It wasn't the other me who had said it. It was the real me, actually me. I huffed loudly. I couldn't be in love with Alec. He was getting married to someone else! I had only known him for 2 weeks for Christ sake. You can't fall in love in 2 weeks. I rolled my eyes. What was I saying, you could fall in love in 5 seconds. A tap on the shoulder brought me back to reality. Magnus stood behind me in a suit. It was the most mundane thing I and ever seen him in and it made me smile.
"You ready to do this?" I nodded.
"Hell yes." And I was. I needed to get back to my world quick, or I would never leave this one. I took him in, and we went to find Clary. I grabbed her from the dancefloor.
"Hey," she smiled at me, "Where's Alec?" I rolled my eyes. This was not my Clary. I clicked my finger and a ball of white light erupted from it. She blinked rapidly and came back to me. "That was close."
"Mhmm," I agreed, and we ran down to the basement.
"How will we know where it is?" I asked Magnus.
"I'll know it, when I see it." I prayed he was right.
"What if this doesn't work?" Clary whispered.
"It will, biscuit. I can feel it." I moved round the corner to see if I could find it but came back when I heard Jace's voice.
"You know, if you were having second thoughts about us, you could have told me, instead of coming down here and hooking up with Charlie's dad!" I held back a giggle at the thought. My sister and my dad. Ew!
"Jace, this isn't exactly a good time." Clary tried to get him to leave.
"Really? You know when would be a good time for me, Clary? Never. Never call me again." He sounded close to tears. I felt sorry for him. However, as he turned to leave a demon jumped from the stairs. I grabbed a broom and vaulted over Jace and Clary, pushing Jace back and smacking the demon in the head.
"What the hell is that thing?" Jace panicked and we pulled him away. Luckily it was a bit of a maze down here, so I was able to draw it away whilst Clary dealt with Jace. I crept round the basement listening to the demon growl and groan. I took my eye of the ball for two seconds and it was in front of me. I couldn't overpower it on my own.
"Clary!" Clary came running with a magically un-trembling Jace. I rolled my eyes. "About fucking time."
"Sorry it took me so long!" Jace grinned and snapped a broom. We circled the demon and hit it from all sides. It flicked out its tail and caught Jace in the next causing him to go down. I grabbed my stick like a spear and drove it through the demon's head. It crashed to the floor with a loud thud.
"Oh, my God! Jace, it's okay, it's okay." He didn't look good. He pulled off his jacket and I pulled his shirt away from his neck.
"Shit, that's not good."
"Where's my stele?" I shook my head.
"It didn't come through with you." He groaned. Magnus found us and examined the wound.
"You're gonna need more than a stele for that."
"Will Portaling him back to his own body cure him?" Clary begged.
"No. Blood travels with you. It's why your angelic powers still work here. The demon venom is in his blood." Magnus stood and ran off to find the portal.
"Then we have to get him back to the Institute in our dimension." I nodded.
"No, we've gotta find Valentine." Jace grunted.
"Screw Valentine, we're not gonna be able to fight him if you're dead. We need all the manpower we've got." I argued
"Besides, you're in no condition to fight." Clary agreed.
"We might not get another chance, Clary. This is too important." I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness.
"I found it! Come on." We hauled Jace up and took an arm each. He was really freakin' heavy. We rounded the corner and Clary gave him the shard of the Portal. He placed it in, and it opened.
"Magnus," Jace groaned, "you'll have to destroy the Portal after we go through." I nodded.
"Why?" he asked.
"To secure your dimension from all sides. Otherwise, if it stays open, you'll be vulnerable to demon attacks again." He nodded.
"I'll take care of it and the malodorous monstrosity on that table." I smiled at him. "Thank you." I grinned.
"Well, we should be thanking you." Clary answered.
"No, you gave me back a life. I won't forget it. Now, go." Clary went to move.
"Magnus." He stared at me, "Take care of my parents, yourself included." He nodded and kissed me on the head.
"Go."
"Think of your father." Jace panted and we walked through the Portal.
As soon as we exited the Portal, I pulled out my seraph blade and flicked my eyes around. Jace frowned and fell to the floor. Clary knelt down beside him whispering words of soothing. He grabbed his stele from his pocket and ran it over his Iratze rune. Nothing happened.
"Magnus was right. It's not working." Clary cried.
"It's enough." Jace grunted and Clary helped him to his feet. I ran my eyes over a table. It was covered in what looked like chemicals and chemistry equipment.
"What is all this?" Clary wondered.
"The makings of an army." Jace answered
"There's no one here." I said, dropping my blade to my side.
"Did Meliorn lie to us? He said that that Portal would take us to my father." Clary spun round, trying to find a clue, something. Behind us a bang caused us to raise our blades and stare at the locker it emerged from. It banged again. Jace and I looked at each other.
"Get behind me." Jace groaned. I rolled my eyes.
"Your injured, get behind me." We crept forward towards the locker. Once in front of it, I counted down and threw off the bar locking it. We stepped back; blades raised as the doors creaked open. Inside was a whimpering man. He looked older and malnourished. He stared up at us with fear.
"It can't be. It can't be." Jace was muttering to himself. I flicked my eyes between him and the man in the locker.
"You died. I saw it." It couldn't be? Could it?
"Jace?" Clary touched him arm lightly. The man stared up in realisation.
"Jace is it really you?" He whispered; his voice harsh from disuse.
"Jace, how do you know this man?" Clary asked.
"He's my father." He whispered, tears filling his eyes.
As always please let me know what you think. At the moment, reviews from you lovely people is what is getting me through the days.
Have an amazing week,
Keep busy,
Stay safe,
Zoe xx