2004,
Los Angeles Shadowmarket, Cont'd….
Kit walked off with a self satisfied grin on his face. That old Faerie had been a real pain lately, always watching the two of them with her judgmental apple face. It was no surprise when Johnny finally came up with an idea to get her off them. Kit was almost relieved when his dad told him, he didn't like the way she looked at him, like she pitied him or something. It was really irritating when she looked at all the kids like they were precious diamonds or treasures, and Kit a bug that was squashed under her foot before his time. Well, she was about to realize he was the last person who needed her sympathy. Kit ducked out of the market, taking one last agonizing look at the dancing fey, the Warlocks showing off their magic conjuring rabbits made of light, and a Vampire by the name of Afumati calling out prices for his newest "elixir" at passing visitors.
It was with a practiced effort that he turned his head away, allowing the glamour slip back into place to project an empty lot rather than a black market of creatures that didn't exist. He pushed the ache back down and locked it away, preparing to return their latest temporary home until his dad decided he needed him again. It was like swallowing fire that scorched his throat and threatened to burn him from within, some days he really thought it might consume him. But he learned pretty young that tantrums and fits didn't work on Johnny, unless he wanted to stay isolated in the house.
Finally, Kit walked the several blocks to find the car and Johnny leaning on the hood waiting for him. His father always parked somewhere different so Kit had to remember to pay attention each time or he could easily end up wandering the city for hours looking for it.
Johnny grinned wide when he saw him. Kit fought from doing the same and looked instead at the dark shades he always wore and the light from the street lamp bouncing off them.
"How are your pockets?" Johnny asked.
Kit pulled out the inside of his pockets for him to see. "Absolutely nothing," and Johnny grinned. It was the only time in his memory that Johnny had been pleased to hear that.
"Good kid. I take it the hag didn't ask any questions?"
Kit shook his head, tossing his hair from his face. It was getting long, he wished he could get a real haircut but he knew if he mentioned it to his father he would be the one cutting his hair.
"Did I give you enough time to meet your guy?"
Johnny pulled down his shades and winked, popping open the truck for Kit to look inside.
Lying in the trunk was a beautiful gem encrusted casing for a scroll.
"This is the Red Scroll of magic, huh?" Kit touched the casing, lifting it in his hand when he noticed something. It was heavy, and didn't feel like a scroll was inside either. Kit easily found the small latch and popped it open but what he found only confused him more. There was no parchment inside at all, just a long black instrument like a flute.
The lid slammed shut, almost catching his fingers.
Kit looked up at his father in alarm. "What is that?"
"Insurance, and definitely not something for kids."
Heat rose to his face. The only reason he had whatever it was to begin with was thanks to him, and didn't he say he did a good job? "I'm not a kid! Could a kid trick one of the fey into taking a cursed bracelet? What about getting a bunch of hopped up werewolves to cut a deal on a stash of yinfin and convince them we paid for it while you lifted it from the warehouse!"
Johnny patted his shoulder like he was a crying toddler that needed to be soothed. "You're a very talented kid, I'll give you that."
"Right," Kit snapped, shutting the trunk himself. His anger fizzed away as he realized there was another question Johnny never answered.
His hand hovered above the door handle to the passenger seat.
"What is it?" His dad asked, catching his hesitation.
"I know the bracelet isn't really a charm bracelet, but what kind of curse was put on it?" He asked, remembering Mother Hawthorne taking it from him after Kit made it look like he had pickpocketed it from another kid.
Johnny laughed. "Let's just say we won't be running into her anymore." He climbed into the car and shut the door. Kit didn't move even as the car turned on, thinking about the old woman who always told the kids stories, even him.
And he never did see her again.
2015...
Ash stumbled into the boat, he struggled to keep his vision from slipping into the dark recesses of his mind that tried to take him. His breathing was harsh, as if he had run out of breath but he could not remember what he had done. The only clue was the blood dripping from his hands. His pale white palms were stained pink as the excess dripped onto the wood. The elderwood absorbed it hungirly, leaving behind a violent red stain. He tried to grab the sides of the boat to steady himself as the darkness in his head clouded his thoughts.
Worriedly, he looked at the silver branch in his hand. Pure silver with crystal leaves that shook at the slightest of touch, alive with magic. The blood on his hands slid from the branch and fell away instead of mareing it's perfection.
Shards of memories pricked at his brain like fragments of shattered glass. Blood, black veins and bracing winds against his back teased the edges of his mind, but each vision was seeing through a dirty glass. The last thing he could recall was speaking with Clary, and after that retrieving the branch from the throne room where it sat in a black glass case untouched from the time he had received it.
It was a declaration of proof of his claim to the throne. It arrived the day after his mother's death. Ironically, he only knew what the arrival of the talisman meant from old stories his mother used to tell him when he was little, and on her passing it was his birthright to receive it. He never thought he would so much as touch it, nonetheless accept the invitation it represented.
He settled into the boat and gave one last look back at the archway and the symbol of the tree before letting go of the rope that bound the boat in place. As soon he let go the boat propelled itself, drifting effortlessly across the strange current. It didn't stop at the dungeons, Ash's will commanded it to go further, further then anyone had taken it before. To the land none return from.
He remembered he used to wonder what was beyond the sea, what strange worlds connected to Faerie he had never seen. Now he would find out for himself as he headed straight for the shores of the dead. The current picked up, waves began to ripple in the water as he drifted further from the palace. The cave he had entered in disappeared as darkness surrounded him completely. He sailed on a river suspended in a black sky, glittering stars shined above and below him. He lost all sense of direction. A bead of sweat dripped from his temple as he strained ahead. He kept his mind bound tight, afraid to succumb to the slowly rising fear. Even though the branch he held should allow him to cross into Annwn alive, he knew these invitations were for him to answer the call, but never to leave. The black thoughts ebbed away for now as the mortal distraction took all of his attention. There were rumours of Princes who had returned from the call but no inquiry he had found told those tales with any certainty. If there was one who voyaged beyond and back, no one had heard of his name.
Right now Nealon was watching over the Court in his absence, making sure no one suspected where the Prince had gone. Uncertainty gripped him as a wave picked his boat up and tossed it to the other side. Was he being vain to think he could really return? Or was he that desperate? Ash steeled himself as the water turned to white foam behind him. No, he couldn't fail, and if he did then it would be better if he never returned to the living. He had promised himself that of all else he wouldn't be Sammael's puppet to toy with, and he was determined to keep that promise, no matter the cost. The river roared behind him, Ash whirled around and saw figures rising from the growing wave. Shaped from the water were horses struggling to gallop across the water to him, and behind them was a riderless chariot.
Ash tried to will his boat to go faster but it refused to be coaxed from it's pace even as the chariot advanced on them. It was on top of him, the white eyes of the horses stared down at him as their hooves rose to trample him. Not even a scream escaped him, not even when a single severed eyeball rose from the water to watch him as the river came crashing down ontop of him. He closed his eyes as the spray of water hit him, and in the back of his eyelids he saw her. Dru's arms tightly clinging around him. The only light in the cottage lighting up her hair like a halo as it pressed against his cheek. And on the back of his tongue were the words he couldn't trust himself to say.
I want you to stay. Please, don't leave. Stay with me, stay with me always.
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The ground changed under their feet from wood floors to cold stone. The first breath of air told Dru they had made it before the light even faded away. The brisk mist of water, and the smell of moss and dirt filled her lungs. She had returned to the Seelie Palace dungeons. When she opened her eyes it was just as she remembered it, save for one detail that left her unsettled.
"It's strange isn't it? That the dungeons would be empty in a time of war," Ty voiced her thoughts out loud.
"It wasn't like this before. When I was here last the cells were full," she said, unnerved by how abandoned everything looked. She was starting to worry that far too much time had passed since she last saw Ash, if he was alright or what was upstairs waiting for the others. Dru almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Ty wandering close to the edge of the stone dock that dipped into the waters that could easily sweep Ty away forever.
"Ty!" She ran over to him before he could get any closer to the edge. "It's dangerous!"
Ty stared at her, perplexed. "What is dangerous exactly?"
"The water," she pointed out. "Elsif said it connects and flows to the land of the dead. If you fall in you won't come up again."
Ty's eyes lit up with intrigue as he found the branches of the archway curved and bent into an emblem of a tree. Dru still shuddered to look at it. Her bones were steeped in the feeling and they plagued her dreams like bad omens she would rather not see. And the look Ty had now as he examined the river told her she wasn't the only one haunted by that cave and the places that made bargains for death.
"Let's keep going, there's one last place we haven't looked."
Ty turned his back on the river, his expression darker than the black waters running underneath them.
Dru showed him to the back wall and placed her hand on the curtain glamoured to look like stone and pushed it out of the way. She noted the table in the back and the clatter of empty plates, everything seemed normal. Her eyes fixated on the floor as soon as they stepped inside, hopefully searching for any traces of the beads from Mia's bracelet she left behind, but they were gone.
"This is where they kept Mark and Cristina, I'm betting they would put Clary here too.." She trailed off, her eyes still scanning the floor until she bumped into Ty standing completely still.
"Why are you-?"
"Dru," he strained to say. His body was taut and his eyes were pinned right in front of them, in the direction of the only cell in the room.
She turned her head and stifled a gasp. Sitting in the cell with blood stained gear was Jace Herondale, his eyes watching them like a cat watching a mouse that skittered out in front of him.
"I was betting the same thing. Looks like we both lost."
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Ash's eyes opened seeing nothing but dark clouds. Projected in the dark hues, the memory playing in the back of his head became real. There he saw her again, pulling away from him as she stood alight from the moon beaming down on her. Even though her skin shimmered with silver light, her eyes looked unusually dark. The openness she had shown him that he had grown to love was hidden away from him. Though he didn't know what, something he had said had frightened her. It broke something inside of him he didn't know he had to watch her leave. It wasn't like her to turn away, no matter the danger, she was never afraid to show her vulnerabilities, unlike him. He hid under masks and grasped at fragments of power to defend himself. She did none of those things she challenged things head on, unafraid of how her heart may be damaged. Of course, he had ruined that too. She turned away, afraid of what she saw just as Ash always feared she would.
It took everything he had not to reach out and call her name, and say the words he knew would make her stay.
Slowly his eyes adjusted, and with that Dru disappeared from the fog. But the clouds that looked like dark smoke never left, neither did it get any brighter in the strange woods he was beginning to see. He was on some sort of forest path, the boat he had traveled in was nowhere to be seen. The trees along the embankment of the path were petrified, completely bare. The dark branches land over the path kitting themselves together forming a steel cage ceiling. Everything past the barrier of trees was a backdrop of black sky, making Ash ask himself if he had ever left that voyage through the stars or even the cavern.
Once he had his bearings he rocketed to his feet. He looked around him and to his relief, and found the silver branch just an arm's length away from where he had been lying. He snatched it up and held it in front of him like a torch. He had no way of telling where he was. The only certainty he had was the invitation and promise of a safe voyage to Anwnn, and even that he was starting to doubt as held out the branch as if it could defend him from the unsettling dark. He braced himself and took a step when a jolt of electricity shot through him. His blood vibrated from within his veins, rooting him to the spot.
Dark impulses latched onto his heart like an abscess determined to spread. That darkness within himself was fighting to be free, feeding off the energy of the dead. Ash lowered the branch and examined the small mounds of earth that faced him on either side lining the path. There were doors on every single one, plain ordinary wood, except for the glowing blue runes inscribed into them.
They were here.
Ash looked hard at each door and the empty darkness between the trees. The dead were there somewhere just beyond where he could see. The necromantic power flooding his heart could feel their nearby presence. If he was here much longer he wouldn't be able to keep himself restrained. But the question gnawing at him now was if they could sense him too.
"Alas, a prince has accepted my dowry gift." A woman spoke out, not so much breaking the silence than adding her voice to the strange hymn this place hummed. She stood at the far end of the path, only visible by the white skin of her arms and face. The rest of her was draped in a gown, or at least that's what Ash assumed was what wrapped her body instead of the night sky itself. She raised a hand to beckon him closer. Stars shined as the nightly gown moved, some shined with an intensity of the sun while others looked like a farway cosmos. The more he looked the more he was convinced it was not in fact cloth at all.
Ash resolutely stood his ground. "I haven't accepted any such thing yet."
The woman pouted, her face frowning in confusion. "I am afraid, Prince of the Seelies, that you don't understand the custom you have thrown yourself in..."
"I am well aware of it my lady, however I have no intentions of honoring it. I'm sorry," he added seeing how crestfallen she looked, and meant it.
Remembering her dignity, she gathered herself up and closed the distance between the two. "If you understand then you should know those talismans are not just invitations to Annwn, but a promise to wed one of the Tir Innambeo. No one returns to the land of the living, especially not a prince." She held her head high but to Ash she still looked as if she was pouting.
It was ridiculous to him that this figure of myth, mysterious even to Fair Folk was sulking that he had to struggle not to chuckle. Now that he looked at her she appeared to be the same age as him, at least in body. She stood a little taller but not quite taller than him. Her long black hair ran down her face in waves. Her eyes were large and just as dark as her dress, even down to the stars that danced in night cloaked around her form.
"Anwnn," he whispered with childlike wonder. He crossed the sea of Faerie where all stories ended, despite the danger he was in he couldn't help the excitement that blossomed in his chest. He was far past that small cottage and his palace with no sky. Here he truly was free. "Is that really where I am?"
She tucked a lock of her hair self consciously behind one ear. "Don't you think you should ask the woman you will wed her name first?"
Ash tried to be more gentle. "Of course. Please lady, what should I call you?"
Her eyes sparkled like bursting stars, particles of star dust swam in her dark eyes. The reaction surprised him from just a little flattery.
"I am Lady Ailbe of the Tir Innambeo. And by right of the Calling I claim you, Ash Morgenstern, as my husband." She announced with only a tremor of falseness.
The declaration might have been alarming; it could have even been endearing, but Ash recognized the determination to force herself from uncertainty and claim what he believed was yours. So, instead he felt pity for her, or was it pity for himself he was feeling?
"Ailbe," he said with a sigh. "I will not be wed, and trust me when I say you would not want me if he knew me." He had no idea what he expected to encounter when he crossed the final border, but he was not prepared for her.
She shook her head, dark hair spilled over her impossibly pale shoulders. She might have been considered attractive if it wasn't for the unsettling complexion of a corpse. Even her lips were a shade of blue instead red of the living still breathing.
"But I do know you," she insisted almost desperately, her eyes widening in a plea taking Ash aback. "I waited here in the space between for your arrival when I sensed you accepted my token. So I waited and watched you, and in that time I sought out to know you!" She drew closer to him, and something inside of him panicked and shut down at the words he never thought he would hear. Her hand brushed his collar bone firmly keeping him in place with such a small touch. "You're wrong, I do know you, your secrets and the person you really are when you're alone in that dark."
He caught her hand but something wouldn't let him let go of her. Was he so depraved that just the promise of affection left him stunned?
"If you knew then you wouldn't even think of having me-" he uttered in shock at what he saw in her eyes. She clutched his hand tighter, her large eyes beseeching him to understand. This was no enchantment, this was beyond what he knew. She believed what she was saying.
"I know the things even you have forgotten," she whispered as if for his sake she would not speak it outloud for the world to hear.
He didn't want to know what she was talking about, but part of him desperately wanted to believe that she, this complete stranger, had accepted him. Weakly, he tried to pull away, but there was hope in her face he couldn't just avoid. It was vulnerability he realized that drew him in. The way she was looking at him unabashedly, just like she had before he had lost her. He could never risk seeing her again, even if she didn't know that. For a long moment he just stared into Ailbe eyes just to feel the way Dru had made him feel again.
"I know how much happier you would be if you came with me. No one could burden you again with expectations! No more evil could touch you beyond death, and I would love you like no one else would!"
He saw her bottom lip tremble, and the way she clung to him made her feel even more real to him. Maybe they weren't so strange to each other after all, looking at her now he could tell they were the same. He didn't know what her struggles were, or what she even was, but he knew she just wanted him to say the words he longed to hear too.
He was overcome with a desire to say it, and believe in the world she promised. That future may be shrouded in mystery, if even a life awaited him beyond this point but he could leave behind this path of broken glass he forced himself to stay on. He looked down at their hands twined together like the tree's above them. His stained hands held desperately and willingly by a small fragile hand. But the blood he wore began to paint her white skin like a canvas displaying all the wrong he had done, and all he would do.
Finally he wrenched himself free, knocking her hand away from him, shocking them both.
"I-I won't be married Ailbe, not know, not ever."
She withdrew from him, looking smaller than ever. A princess in a land of death hugged her arms to herself, rejected by a boy who had only known rejection. Her dark dress, it's edges indiscernible from where it ended and where the night began, swallowed up her shrinking form. He couldn't imagine how long she waited for someone to accept the offer of herself only to be let down by someone like him.
"I see," she said. "Am I the only one exempted from you, or do you vow it as your truth?"
He brushed all fantasies of Dru away. She would not accept him, he wouldn't let it.
"I swear it lady Ailbe, it is the truth." It was a solemn vow that fell heavily from his mouth. Maybe in part because he truly believed those words, or because the regret he felt seeing the despairing look on Ailbe's face. A girl he had only just met but felt a spark of kinship between them.
Sullenly she asked. "Why then would you come to such a place at the peril of never returning if not to accept my offer?"
"I thought you knew everything about me?" He tried to lightly tease her.
She stood deathly still, making Ash fear he had said the wrong thing till she gave him a sideways smile. "One has to allow their partner some secrets, it's part of the attraction."
He smiled back at her only to feel like he was doing something wrong. That vulnerability again he could not express, like a piece of armour falling away.
He redirected his attention back on his goal."I came for the fire that burns only for the dead. The Cold Fire of Annwn."
Her eyes lowered until she was staring at the ground.
"I didn't mean to deceive you," he wanted to tell her, even if it wasn't true. In actuality the consequences of doing whatever it took to get what he had come here for never even crossed his mind, it had been a necessity in the face of what he was trying to accomplish. He expected to be met by a woman looking to claim him, but not one just as lonely as he was.
"This is not so easily undone, the magic of the Tir Innambeo bound us together as soon as you accepted my talisman."
Instinctively his lips parted to utter a command, then stopped himself. He wouldn't resort to that this time, not until he had to. "Ailbe," he said quietly. "If you know everything about me then you know the darkness threatening me." He didn't meet her eyes at first. "If I leave without it, then it will take me when I return. And I cannot stay here until I finish what I promised."
No muscle in her face reacted, and Ash was finally hit by the otherworldliness of her. Even to a Faerie she was unique. She came to him with no title, none of them ever did. He may even be the first to learn the name of her clan, but exactly what that meant he had a feeling she wouldn't tell even if he asked.
She brought her finger to her lip as if to bite it while she thought. "Every angel thinks what they have to leave behind in a world made up of fleeting moments is important. Even the fallen ones like you." She said sadly. "Then we must make some other vow, instead."
"Then you will give me the Cold Fire?" He asked.
She nodded. "If you say you will not be wed now or ever then I will only ask for your heart, if there is no one you intended to give it to." She racked her fingers through her hair and twisted the locks in her hand, as she anxiously waited for his answer."
"Just my heart? Is that really it?" It was such a simple thing to ask for and yet more then he knew he could give her.
She nodded. "And mine will be yours as well," she offered so readily. The stars in her eyes shined again with hope.
Ash swallowed hard, and tried to remember his previous convictions for coming here. There was more at stake than his pride; a world Ash knew he had never learned to care about, but there were people who died for him and a girl he would have wanted to die for. He had given up on her but now faced with someone asking for something he never thought he would give away she came back to mind. It didn't help the guilt he was already feeling watching Ailbe as the night crushed her small body.
"I promise you then Ailbe, my heart is yours, even if we will always be parted," he said the words she wanted to hear.
Her pale face shined with even more light like she was the moon itself, he might have even imagined a little red in her cheeks.
"Then it is settled!" She reached for his hands, and he forced himself to let her take them. "Our hearts will belong to one another no matter the distance," she touched his chest where his heart was. He stopped breathing, wondering when she would finally notice. But she withdrew herself just as quickly.
"I'll return for you," then just like that the black smoke descended around her and her dress expanded into a black sky, vanishing all traces of her.
Immediately his blood began to churn as the strange pressure was back. Without Alibe the black magic roiled in agitation of the deathly magic around him. Somehow she had either alleviated the symptoms for him or her presence had chased something away. He started hearing whispers at the edge of the forest in a strange chant behind the doors around him. They grew louder and louder until they were in his head. Meaningless words and sounds bashed against his skull until he was gripping his head in pain. He couldn't know what they were saying to him but he could feel the meaning clearly.
Death cannot be outrun or deceived.
The chanting was cut off when a black vortex appeared on the path. Stars burst into existence as her pale arms and neck filled out the rest until Ailbe was whole again, her hands cupping blue fire. Her white fingers worked in a pattern as if coaxing the fire to float just above her palm and held it out for him.
Ash watched the flames greedily like someone who expected release in death as they stepped close to the gallows.
"They're calling to you," Alibe acknowledged. "It's a dangerous place for you, there are many other things that lurk in the Inbetween that wait for mortals to claim."
"The Inbetween? So this isn't Annwnn?" He hastily straightened up.
She nodded. "We are in between, nowhere or maybe even everywhere. But I can travel here to the Isle's of Annwn with ease," She held up the fire even higher for him to see.
He was a little disappointed he didn't make it that far after all before chastising himself for being foolish. It may be less impressive but his odds of ever returning home dwindled to almost nothing if he had made it all the way to the land of the dead. Here he only had Ailbe to handle, but who knows what things would wait even further past the veil.
"This is a precious sample, usually it is not so easily granted, or taken." She cocked her head to the side. "But it is not something mortals can handle, so what use could have for this?"Ash unsheathed Heosphoros, a sword that had once carried the fire of heaven, and stepped forward.
"Someone once told me you cried for my father when he died, is that true?" He asked Clary.
She looked up in surprise, her back leaning on the cold stone wall. Their little talks weren't exactly warm with familial feelings, she probably wasn't expecting a real question like this one. She, like him, was probably wondering what the purpose of these talks were. They didn't see eye to eye, and more often than not Ash grew frustrated in her he was curious to see if she would answer him at all.
After a long moment she finally answered. "Sebastian wasn't Jonathan." She started to explain. "When the heavenly fire burned away the demon blood he was human again for the first time since he was born. For the first time he looked like he could feel remorse, he could have been my brother. I never trusted Sebastian, but there were times when it felt like his last shred of humanity bled through, but it was like he couldn't understand what that sliver of himself wanted. I cried for the person he should have been that never got a chance to live. For the brother I should have had and the son my mother was robbed of."
Ash pretended not to notice the tears she blinked away. He didn't think it made a difference what he might have been like. That could be said about a lot of people. The only thing that mattered was who they became. And from Ash's memory there was nothing to be pitted about Sebastian Morgernstern. So, why did her answer have such an effect on him all these years.
"How did you bind the Heavenly Fire to Heosporos?" He changed the subject.
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
He touched her blade he had confiscated hanging from his weapons belt. "What are you afraid of? Heavenly Fire only burns the wicked, isn't that right?"
She didn't answer him with suspicion like he expected. "You don't have to do this," she said.
Ash ignored her. "You used a rune, didn't you? One that you made."
She put her hands on her hips, and disapprovingly said, "you're just like Jace sometimes."
Ash hoped she couldn't see the pleased look he tried to hide.
He pulled out his stele and held the tip against the sword. "Don't worry, I'm prepared."
Alibe stared disconcertedly at the stele. "But what do you expect to do with this?"
Ash brought the blade into the fire. Cold flames wrapped around the sword, the pattern of stars turned a beautiful blue. There was no warmth as he held the sword still against his hands, instead he felt a growing cold.
"To cut myself free."
He could feel her eyes on him as she watched. "Very well, then I will ensure you return safely so that when you are free you might return to me." The core of the silver branch began to shimmer with a bright light, and when she handed it to him he could feel the pulse of a heartbeat.
"Alibe, I can't keep this, it's yours to give away to someone else now," he tried to give it back to her.
She merely shook her head and smiled happily. "But I have already pledged my heart to you, so it will guide you home, and one day I hope it will guide you back to me."
He nodded, his mouth clamped shut as he accepted it, not saying a word on his false vow. Because little did she know, he had no heart to give, soon he would make sure of that.
When he turned to leave and found himself alone on a journey home he had stolen he asked himself how long this guilt would ask. When he looked down at the branch in his hand alive with a heartbeat he knew was Alibe's he knew the answer would be into someone was sent to recede his invitation. Until then he could only keep it safe and honor the vow he would break. Despite himself, but think back to her words and wonder if it was possible that she could have meant what she said when she promised she could love him.
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Kit was almost hurled off the terrace. Quickly, he grabbed one of the drapes and wrapped it around his arm to keep from falling over. He back peddled and swung himself back into the room.
"Nice landing, ten out of ten," Jaime grinned, tangled up in the bizarre chains acting like a curtain around the four poster bed. "If your teleporting was any worse one of these chains would have hung me." His hand shot up to massage his neck.
"Next time you can use your powers to teleport us, oh wait." Kit looked around the room. It was definitely a room fit for a royal. The ornate dressers and the partisans that looked like living wood. Not to mention the killer view. Even with the drapes veiling the night sky from the archways he could still see the stars burning through the material.
"Hey, you're not the only one with fancy faerie enchantments."
Kit almost snorted, making his way to where Jaime was untangling himself. "Your only power is bleeding to death."
"It could make for one hell of a whip," Jaime suggested.
"I absolutely support the idea of you trying to pull out thorns from your body in the middle of battle and fashion it into a whip." Kit kept one eye trained on the room, looking for any sign of a trap and listening to even the most distant echo of a foot step. Dru had told him that there would be no guards stationed outside the room, but that didn't mean Ash couldn't come back at any time.
"We need to find the Black Volume and meet up with the others." He glanced over at Jaime. "And definitely not destroy it."
Jaime shrugged. "It was just a suggestion. Besides, I know why you picked me to be on your team instead of going with Dru. I know why you and Ty need the Black Volume."
Kit shot him a look. He really wished Jaime could just forget everything Kit had told him, but if he said that out loud Jaime would probably start leaving him annoying voice messages like 'I know what you did last summer'.
"So you know what I'm going to do to you if you set it on fire."
"Relax, I'm not going to sabotage you and Ty's star crossed lovers routine. Also can we talk about that for a second? You were really freaking me out with all that 'hot teacher' crap."
"No we can't! We're on a mission, remember?" Kit snapped, pretending to be fixated on the chain curtain. "Who sleeps like this, anyways?"
Jaime rolled his eyes. " 'anyways, real smooth segway." He picked up one of the thin chains and looked around the room. "It's iron, cold iron. It's all over this room."
"Doesn't that still affect half bloods if they're constantly exposed to it?"
"I don't know, you're the one with faerie blood here."
"I have a drop of faerie blood." Kit clarified, looking around the room for any kind of secret bookcases full of cursed books, the most likely hiding place.
Jaime stood up, and walked over to the opposite end of the room. "And that single drop is what makes you related to this psycho," Jaime gestured around the room.
Kit opened up what looked like a small cupboard door to find an entire room almost barren save for the lush pillows and actual t.v. and PlayStation. But still no black books with evil handwriting. "Honestly, I probably share the same amount of blood with him as I do Jace, even if we do have the same last name, or you and Cristina."
"Or like Cristina and Diego?" Jaime sniggered, shoving ornaments and sculptures alike out of his way to investigate a shelf. "In that case why not date Jace instead? I'm sure he would love to date someone that looks like an eerie carbon copy of himself."
Kit threw a pillow at him, accepting the fact that this place was going to look ransacked when someone did return. Missions with Jaime couldn't be expected to go as planned.
"Obviously he is too intimidated by me. So his extra angel blood makes him fight better, big deal I can teleport and end the world."
This was supposed to be an intense life risking mission and here he was cracking jokes and throwing pillows like they weren't here to jail break one of the most famous (or infamous) Shadowhunters, and were instead acting like they were here to teepee the palace as a prank. It was actually pretty irritating that he couldn't stay as angry as he wanted to be at Jaime. Once it was almost impossible to imagine a time when he wouldn't be pissed off at him. He still felt like locking him in a choke hold until he apologized to Ty for backing out on them in Devon. He knew it was asking too much to expect Jaime to say it himself, but he had heard about Durnedal leaving him and had seen the look on his face when he saw Ty again.
Besides all of that, when they were all together in that attic it felt like a weight had been lifted, or rather everyone had helped lift it off of them.
"There are steps over here," Jaime lifted a curtain out of the way revealing white marble steps winding around the building. "I'm going to go check it out."
Kit nodded turning his head to look down at the contents laid out on the desk as the curtain fell back in place, hiding away Jaime and the stairs he ascended.
He glanced at the title of the book sitting on the desk when a sharp edge was pressed against his neck. Cold metal sent alarm bells down his spine, but it was too late. A body encircled him as a hand clenched his shoulder.
"I've been wondering when I would be seeing you here."
That voice could only belong to one person. Kit looked down at the blade being held to his throat. It took him a second to recognize the blade, the dark silver blade with a pattern of stars striking the image of Phaesporos before realizing the blade was too short.
Heosphoros, Clary's sword.
"Now the question is, which one are you?"
Kit turned his head to see wild green eyes looking back at him.
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"Janus," Dru inhaled sharply. It wasn't out of fear, but a vemonance she could hardly utter. To her surprise his eyes focused on her. Light broke through his face when he smiled and for some reason she was reminded of Kit instead of Jace, until that smile ran cold.
"And I know you too, Drusilla Blackthorn."
Ty moved a hand protectively in front of her as if to stop her even though she hadn't moved. "How do you know my sister?"
Janus' eyes flickered over him with the briefest of interest. "The girl from the picture, of course I know who you are. I've seen Ash try to hide that picture out of sight a hundred times. I asked your brother once, you know. I had my suspicions he would know." He saw the confused look on their face and laughed. "I mean Sebastian's Julian Blackthorn."
Ty's face twisted beside her.
"Did Ash lock you in here?" She questioned.
"I'm sure you already guessed that yourself, and I'm sure I have you to thank for him turning on me."
Dru fought a smile herself now.
He leaned forward in his cell, his golden eyes shimmering like fire. "Do you realize without me there is nothing in between him and Sammael?"
She faltered, she didn't trust him and she hoped Ash didn't either anymore. But that didn't mean he wasn't right. When Sammael finally comes back he would have no reason not to use Ash to summon the Wicked Powers.
"There is us," Ty announced boldly.
She looked up at her brother with admiration and hope in his conviction. Ty was always so sure of himself, and he was so smart that in the past Dru believed in him without question. She found herself wanting to do the same now.
"You think I will just accept that and leave him to you? He's too important to me for that. The only thing that's important," Janus said.
"Clary is what's important to you." Dru's voice shook. "You can't lie to me, you will use Ash if that's what it takes. Don't blame us if he finally realized that."
Janus rested his head back against the stone wall, his face falling in shadow save for his eyes that turned an uncanny color in the dark. "It would never have come to that if he had just stuck to our plan. But instead he lied for you, and he'll be the one to pay for it."
"Don't listen to him Dru-"
"It wasn't his plan!" She yelled, her words echoing off the stone walls into the silent cave. Her words bounced around the corridor and into the waves and around the stalagmites until everything was quiet once again but her own breathing. "They were yours."
Janus didn't flinch, all he said instead was. "It sounds like I'm not the only one guilty of that."
"That's not.." but her voice lost its strength, petering from her mouth like a whimper.
"How long ago was it that you were locked up down here?" Ty's voice trampled her pitiful retort.
"It's Faerie isn't it? Your guess is as good as mine down here," Janus answered probably his last question, Dru thought.
Ty carried on as if he hadn't answered. "Was anyone in the cells when you got here or were they removed later?"
"You have come looking for Clary, right? Why would I hand you a roadmap to her?" He asked the question Dru was waiting for.
But this didn't deter her brother. "Because you don't have a road map. You have no better idea of where she is than we do, and you can't go looking for her yourself."
"You're assuming I have a way of escaping to follow you to her, or at least you think that I think I do." He shook his head.
It was a convoluted sentence, she expected him to crack a smile at saying it but he didn't. She had noticed before the hollowness in his eyes, but now she noticed how much of himself and his personality had been drained.
"But why hasn't Clary been returned to us if Janus doesn't have her? Why would Ash keep her here if he was on our side," Ty pondered out loud.
Dru thought about this. "He resents her I think. Like how he resented Kit, everyone always wanted him to be either Clary or Kit in a way…" She trailed off, biting her lip as a dark thought entered her train of thought. "I hate to say this, but when I last saw him he acted like it would be the last time because the dark magic running through him was starting to change him." She looked up at Ty, and for the first time Janus reacted to what was being said. He leaned closer to the bars to listen, his face fixated on her.
"If-If that's what's happening he might not want to let her go."
"They were moved shortly after I was thrown in here," Janus suddenly said.
"Is there another prison here?" Ty asked, his voice as composed as if he was asking her the question.
"If there is then those prisoners are likely dead since I'm positive neither myself or Ash know of it."
"Then it has to be somewhere else," Dru concluded, thinking hard.
Ty's eyes widened as he turned around and walked out the hidden cellar and back to the main dungeon, Dru following after him.
"What's wrong?" He stopped a few feet by the river's edge, letting her catch up to him.
"There are prison cells in the Unseelie Tower." Ty considered. "But when we were there last the place had been laid with traps for Ash."
"Not anymore," Dru cut through his thoughts. "He went back before I left to make sure the place was safe for.. Safe."
Ty stared in confusion, Dru knew better than to expect him to take the hint and drop it. "He probably wanted to return at some point."
"Then that's where we have to go next." He looked down at the entinendad wrapped in cloth in her hand.
"But first," He looked back at the wall that concealed the secret prison cell. "Should we do something about Janus?"
Dru was taken aback. "You mean like, kill him?"
"We can't account for his actions if he escapes, and I don't know if we would be successful attempting to take him back with us." Ty began to fidget uncomfortably as he considered their next move. "He seems secure in the cell, but I.." he stumbled over his words. It concerned her that he was hiding things too. "I know from meeting Christopher that I may not make the right judgment." His hands fumbled around his pocket until he pulled out a knot of twisty ties.
It took Dru a second to realize he was talking about: Thule Kit. Her thoughts turned over to Janus. Her fingers twitched at her side, imagining Phaesporos in her hand, and snuffing out the man who had helped hurt Ash. She could make sure he would never be complicit in the evil tearing at him now. Her fingers relaxed as she finally accepted the truth. She didn't want to kill him. What she was was afraid. Afraid that whatever was done to Ash could never be reversed, that she could never be enough. Somewhere in her heart she knew that was always what she had been afraid of. If he had followed her blindly looking for salvation and she became the reason he suffered, she couldn't face that.
"No," she said at last. "It would kill Ash if something happened to him," it extinguished her to admit it.
Ty was still giving her that look, like he could see everything she was trying to hide, and she knew in some ways he was. It was impossible to know what he noticed, but Dru was at least glad Kit wasn't here to help him out, even though she was pretty sure he already knew what it was she was trying to hide.
"I understand," he said, sounding uncharacteristically sympathetic. He reached out his hand for her. "Let's go, grab a hold of my hand." And she did.
He held onto her tight, adding pressure to her palm. It was exactly like she had seen him do with Livvy countless times, they seemed almost linked together by the hands, squeezing each other's hands when either of them was upset. It was the first time he had done this with her, and she knew it wasn't for his sake.
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The Seelie Prince had the upper hand, easily throwing Kit to the ground before he could even blink. Something was pulled from his pocket and casted to the ground around him. Ash had only snapped his fingers for a circle of translucent orbs to form around him.
Ash took a step back examining his work. He didn't need to, Kit could tell him from his sudden weakness that however he had rigged this trap it was effective.
He tried to stand up and immediately fell back on one knee. Sudden weakness had taken over him, but stranger still was when he looked at Ash for a second he disappeared and instead of the royal chambers, Kit could see a build up of snow at his feet, a stretch of grey sky and a dead forest. It felt so real, he could even feel the wind chill. Then the chamber was back but in less detail. He focused on Ash standing over him, his figure had turned hazy and almost transparent.
"Quite an amazing enchantment don't you think?" His eyes languidly brushed over the orbs at his feet that Kit realized was actually some kind of mushroom. They too grew indistinct as the world shifted on its head again, showing Kit a sheet of falling snow.
"That's definitely what I'm thinking about right now, if I should give this a trap a four star or five star rating. " Kit managed to say. Despite the shifting of his reality he never let his eyes leave him. No matter how much Ash wanted to look imposing, and judging by his open stance and his carved smile as he stood over him, that was exactly what he wanted, he was still no older than he was. Before Ash was only a blurry image surrounded by shadow figures surrounding a cottage. Up close he really could see the resemblance to Clary, and even though he had never seen Sebastian Morgenstern he could only imagine with his white hair that he invoked his image as well.
"Judging by the marks on your skin, Kit Herondale, I presume." His face was made of ice and expertly cut was a smile. There was anger frozen on his face that made no sense for someone he had never met. Kit's only expertise was making enemies but usually he had to at least do something to them first, with Ash it was apparently enough just to exist.
He had been a figure in the back of his head since this all began, since he knew that he was something else, something other than a Shadowhunter or faerie. Maybe that was why he was feeling completely calm as he waited to decide if the Prince of Faerie was friend of foe, and why the Prince felt comfortable was his enemy. Ash turned around to gently place a silver branch crystal leaves on his desk. Kit caught a glimpse of blood stained on his hands before he turned back towards him, hiding away his hands.
Looking at each other was like looking into a mirror that had been held too far away to see until now. Familiar but still a stranger, they were both bound by the same dark curse and led by a necklace of rope to the same fate.
Ash watched his eyes brush over him, bristling just slightly. "I don't look much like you for a copy do I?"
"You're not nearly blonde enough," Kit said dryly, the whiplash of sudden freezing temperatures was making him sick. He tried to blink away the snow flakes falling through the Prince's incorporeal body.
"You don't seem very exceptional,or is that just another joke?" Ash jabbed, a smile starting at the corner of his mouth.
He had a smug face, Kit thought. It reminded him of his first impression of Ty. A pretty rich boy who thought he had the world in his pocket.
"If you want to volunteer to be Sammael's vessel then go ahead if you think it's such a privilege." A shadow of black ink passed through his left eye as if something was swimming in the back of his head.
Ash reached out with startling speed, almost crossing the threshold before stopping himself. The spike of malice simmered down, and again Kit's eyes were drawn to the blood on his hands. "This was made specifically for me, you see." He reigned in his anger, forcing the stone mask back in place. "My mother had it commissioned when she learned of the spells the Unseelie King had used to change me. She planned to use this to smuggle me free, one way or the other if it came down to it, no matter the risk."
Kit had wondered about Ash, and the strange ways their lives had become chained together in a way it never should be. But he never expected him to be so eager to spill his story. He knew from past experience that was just what loneliness did to you. Kit himself was eager to spill his guts when he met Ty, but it twisted in his stomach until he felt sick from the pain and the fear that no one would listen at all, or at worst that he would hear him too clearly. Except the look he gave him now was too familiar, too similar to his own very real copy he had faced down in a burning world.
"She never got the chance to use it, but when I returned back to the court I found it and had it hidden in my room, in case of this very event."
Too bad for Ash Kit could hardly care about his story right now, seeing as how he was trapped in some kind of faerie enchantment."So what are you going to do? Turn me into Sammael?" He didn't finish the sentence before almost choking. Behind Ash, Jaime had stuck his head out from behind the corner. Even worse, Jaime didn't exactly look like he was taking this seriously as he dramatically raised the back of his hand to his forehead and mimed a feinting motion like a carachtectier of a damsel.
Ash winced at being ignored and began to mull over his revenge."It would be easy, wouldn't it?" The quiet way he spoke snapped Kit's attention back to him. Ash stared him down waiting for a reaction Kit wouldn't give him. But it was getting harder to keep himself from looking away as Jaime silently crept into the room, to Kit's alarm, collecting another person into the snowy landscape he viewed.
"Answer me this first, why are you in my palace? It's hard to believe that the First Heir of legend would be so asinine as to deliver himself to his enemy, and judging by the looks of you, you are no Trojan horse, are you?" He mocked.
Jaime looked up from the contents on the desk he was examining and winked, his mouth twitching from the effort of keeping himself from laughing.
Once again he irritatedly asked himself why missions always went like this when he and Jaime were a team. The murderous anxiety he felt towards him was cut short when Jaime went suddenly still, watching him with an odd look. Kit began to sweat, there was something wrong, this trap was doing something to him and there was no way he could ask.
"The answer to your predicament isn't hidden in my room." Ash's lip curled in contempt. They were lucky the Prince was giving all of his attention to him, but Ash clearly wasn't stupid and if he didn't come up with something he would start to get suspicious.
"Look, I didn't come here for you, I'm looking for someone. Ty Blackthorn, Dru's brother, he's- I don't know where he is," his words poured out in a rush, urging him to believe him.
Ash flickered transparently, struck at the mention of Dru's name. His careful face fell away looking much younger than Kit thought he could. Hope bursted through him like a light, it was a startling change, not even Kit could look away from. At least Kit knew for sure his feelings for her were real. It stung him to wonder if he had ever looked like that.
"Why would you think he would be here? Dru couldn't be.." He stammered, breaking the flat tone he has been previously using.
Behind him Jaime had stiffened, his hand clenching and unclenching into a fist. Kit could have sighed with relief if Jaime hadn't unfrozen and continued sifting through any papers and ornaments he could find. Kit watched him out of his peripheral with growing confusion and frustration. Obviously the Black Volume wasn't there, so what was he wasting his time doing?
Kit bit his tongue and continued covering for him. "He and Christopher- the me from Thule-" he explained, "disappeared. I've been looking but I don't know what happened ..but then Christopher's body was found in Faerie. He was run through with a seraph blade." He lied off the cuff, weaving a narrative he hoped would benefit them.
"Where's the body?" He demanded sharply.
Reminding Kit that Ash was the one who lied to Sammael about being dead, buying him more time when he knew nothing about the bounty on his head. He was probably remembering that himself right now, and what would happen if his lie was discovered. Again he could almost see his control crumbling in his hands, like a lie unraveling too fast to recover.
"It's been taken to the Silent City. They think it's me." There. He planted the information they hoped Ash would tell Sammael. Watching him now, Kit couldn't help doubting Dru. He didn't want to, but how could they really expect Ash to deliver false information that would get himself killed. He instinctively almost looked back at Jaime. If they couldn't find the Black Volume then all they were doing was ensuring Sammael opens the veil between their world and Void using Ash as the vessel for the Wicked Powers.
"That's right, I heard you almost cracked the seal in battle," He added darkly. "And that killed one of my advisors, Villalobos."
Blood drained from his face. The accusation spoken out loud was thunder shaking his core. His tongue twisted to deny it, but for once the lie wouldn't come out. Somewhere out of eye sight was Jaime's reaction, his mind screaming at him, Don't look, don't look, don't look. Black and white took away his vision, and for a second that lasted hours he found himself alone as the snow piled high to his knees. His mind was too numb to wonder if it would bury him if he didn't return. Days he sat there in his mind, and he found that he couldn't handle it any better when he was alone the he could right now. Part of him wanted to pray he could lose himself here. When he finally came back all he could say was, "he had the cup."
"So you killed him for it." Ash stated simply..
"No! I thought he had killed the Counsel! He still might die!" He snapped, hoping his voice could deflect guilt and hate that was crashing over him again. He could feel Jaime's eyes on him like a caving wall. Kit glared at Ash with a thin attempt at control."He's Jace's parabatai.. don't you care about that? Does Janus know about that?"
Anger curled Ash's lip. "No, I don't think he does." He brushed back his hair. "That idiot wasn't supposed to kill him? Jace wanted to, but, Janus was going to.." He cut himself off. Kit took some pleasure watching his composure slip. He could see now that Ash was grasping at control by trying to throw him off.
Ash snapped back. "But now without Manuel's cooperation the Cohort will fall into Sammael's hand!"
Even knowing what he was doing, Kit couldn't help but flinch. "Don't blame me because you had no idea what you were doing!" He called him out.
Ash's chest swelled from heavy breathing, his fair hair ruffled on end from aggravation.
"I don't know what I'm doing?" He shot him with a piercing look as he drew himself up. "You're the one trapped at my disposal and begging for my help. Not what I would call a foolproof plan." His green eyes flashed eerily. Kit could almost see the ways he was considering how could get rid of him. Even if Dru was right and Ash was their ally against Sammael that didn't mean Kit wasn't a rival for a crown Kit couldn't give up to him.
"There are some things that are worth risking your life for, but I guess you wouldn't know that," said Kit with cutting acidity.
Ash's mouth hung open, his throat swallowing convulsively. But when he regained his composure darkness fell over his face like gathering shadows. He flinched, gripping his head in pain, and when he peered through his bloody fingers at Kit there was no green in his eyes at all, black flat eyes stared back at him. His hand shook, gathering tangles in his hair, dying the ends red, his lips convulsed in a snarl.
"I wouldn't be insulting the only who can help you."
Kit took a deep breath, and started his pitch, meeting his black stare. Instinctively he took a step back, his hand grasping Caliburn's hilt, and just as quickly tore his hand away. Just as he touched his sword black tendrils more solid then Ash's form extended from his body, wrapping around him like a straight jacket. Deja vu hit him like a canon as the feeling of dread sent him back to the edge of Lake Lynn. Jaime was busy concentrating on the silver branch Ash had brought back with him, and when he let go of his sword the dark aura disappeared.
"What's wrong lost Prince?" He sneered, unaware of what he had just seen.
"The Black Volume." Kit started without thinking. Behind them Jaime made a motion that made it pretty clear he thought Kit had gone insane. "I need it."
Ash stared blankly before laughing without humor. "Is that so? So that's what you're really after?"
Kit shook his head, coming back to his senses. "No, but that might be why Ty is here. There's a spell he needs to undo."
Jaime crouched down and covered his face.
"That's unfortunate," Ash began without a hint of laughter now. "Because that's impossible, believe me I have searched. There is no way to undo what is done in spellcraft that ancient. Not even if you destroyed," an edge of humanity crept into his voice as he spoke.
Kit didn't want to believe that, and he knew Ty wouldn't either. He tried not to let the dismay show and changed subjects again.
"Then I guess we won't be making any deals on that," he emphasized for Jaime hoping he would give up, but instead it inspired some sort of fever in him as he started looking through books frantically until he found the Codex. Whatever was wrong with Ash must have edged everything out from his mind but Kit to still not have noticed Jaime at all yet. All of his attention was fixated with deadly focus on him.
"What are you talking about?"
Kit had to sell the finishing touches on the lie, and to do that he had to stop thinking about everything, even Ty.
"This is the part where we bargain, isn't it? After all, like you said you hold all the cards. You know what I want, now what's your price?"
The green of his eyes returned as confusion sweeped his face. He let Kit's words sink in before he finally gave him an answer. Ash might run with demons and royalty but apparently he didn't run with the underbelly of society like Kit had. For all their similarities this was a stark difference from the careful lies hidden in promises Ash learned to speak. This was shameless, and cold, and to the point.
He was cutting straight to the heart, no pretty illusions for what this was, even if it sounded callous, he was done indulging Ash's curiosity.
"That depends how much he means to you. If you're offering to make a deal would you do anything?" Ash asked in a deathly hush. A strange calmness swirled around him like it's own dark entity.
Kit felt a growing unease as the atmosphere started to change around them.
Seeing right through him, Kit's lips twitched a fraction. "Drop the hypotheticals. You don't care what I would give you, what you want to ask is what Dru would give up."
It was like something broke free for just a second before it was smothered like the turning of a switch. There was an internal battle that Kit could almost witness. It was different from the blank look he had when this all started, without shutting down completely Kit didn't think he had much experience hiding what he was feeling. When he allowed himself to feel.
"I'm right aren't I?" Kit whispered. "I'll tell you the answer, anything you wanted. But I will also warn you, if you make her give up anything to save her brother she will kill you, and if she doesn't I'll happily kill you for her."
"So," Ash said, his voice shaking in anger. "Your idea of bargaining is to use your leverage to force me into giving you what you want?"
Kit grinned. "I thought you said you knew who I was? Or did someone forget to mention the extensive criminal history with a speciality in blackmail?" The look on his face now was almost childish. Bewildered and irritated he looked just like a pampered kid being hustled for his lunch money on his first day of public school.
"Do we have a deal or not?" Kit wished he could turn his head to see if Jaime had finally found what he was looking for, but as far he was still flipping through the pages of the Codex with an intense look on his face.
Kit saw a flash of the Codex's cover as Jaime shoved it in his bag and ducked for cover just as
Ash spun away from Kit and started marching angrily to the door. A sudden sound pierced the air, a far away melody Kit had heard before. The haunting sound of a flute carried through the walls. The music pulled at him, and for one fascinating second he was pulled away from the trap, Ash, and even Jaime. He caught himself staring away,dragged back to the Prince's chamber only to see his gaze had also wandered. Slowly they looked back at each other.
"You heard it too, didn't you?"
For some reason, Kit found himself holding back his answer.
Ash didn't wait for his confirmation, "It makes sense since you would be able to hear it too." His expression darkened. "But that means it's definitely him."
Kit's annoyance got the better of him. "I'm sorry, who? And what is it you think I heard?"
Ash shot him a contemptuous glare. "We can hear it because the two of us have blood from the Princes of Hell. It's a summons, for whom I don't know."
"The blood of a Prince of Hell," Kit muttered. "I don't know anything about that, my dad was a magician sure, but a mundane one. He couldn't do real magic, if he could then he wouldn't have-" He didn't know what he would have said next, but suffocating fear rose to the surface as a magic circle soaking in blood and the white of a ribcage stood out on the heap on the floor that his memory blurred out the rest.
"Are you so sure, did your father tell you all of his secrets?"
Kit almost rounded on him when he saw the curious look on his face and remembered who his father was. "Look, I might have been raised as a mundane but I know what magic looks like, the real deal, not the crap witches try to pass off."
Ash shrugged, his mind already made up regardless of what he had to say. "It's also possible he had no idea, I've heard of a warlock woman who had no mark and could even bear children."
"Tessa."
Ash raised an eyebrow.
"Her name is Tessa." He didn't like the way he was talking about her, like she was a curious oddity for the history books, but he did have a point.
"No one knew if a Shadowhunter who had never bared runes could concieve the child of a demon. As far as anyone knew it had never happened." Tessa had explained to him once. His father had the sight, it was possible he had some Shadowhunter blood, Tessa had even said as much once.
Kit was losing his patience. "Maybe I should just start putting up missing ads on milk cartons for my missing identity since everyone else seems to know more about me then I do."
Ash gave him a weird look, probably because he had no idea what he was talking about. "Why a milk carton..?" He shook his head. "Nevermind, apparently no one knows you as well as you think seeing, as how the Riders are still looking for you."
"Thanks to you," Kit pointed out begrudgingly. The Ash he had heard of didn't match up with the person talking with him now. So far he had yet to see what motivated him to protect Kit's identity, if it was just Dru or if there was more to him beneath the bundle of black spells."They're still looking for the wrong person, a dead person now."
Ash looked suddenly uncomfortable at even an off hand suggestion of gratitude. "I didn't do it for you."
"Obviously," Kit gestured to the strange trap keeping him separated by a thin layer of a different reality.
Ash's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Instead of joking about the situation why don't you take the opportunity to do something? You're the one the world was waiting for, not me, if it's anyone's responsibility stop Sammael, it's you."
That made him pause. His responsibility, Kit had never thought of it that way. Sammael had to be stopped, it was a matter of survival, but did he ever think it was his job to do it just because some joke of an angel or god out there chose him to be special?
Ash scoffed when he didn't answer right away. "It's clear now that I will have to be the one to do it. Say what you want about me, I don't run away." Ash turned away and headed for the door.
Kit's heart jumped in his throat. "Where are you going?" Ash didn't even turn his head until….
"Don't just leave me here! Let me out of here first!" His voice shouted out, and in his imagination, it left a ripple of vibration behind him.
Ash didn't just stop, it was like he froze mid step, as if something yanked him backward. His hand shot up in the air so fast that when he snapped his finger, Kit automatically jumped back expecting retaliation.
Mechanically, Ash said in one rushed breath, "I cut off the other side of the portal so you will stop shifting between worlds. The rest is all up to timing, I cannot help you." His hand flew up to cover his mouth, both of them stood still as the realization of what just happened settled in.
"Did I just..?"
Ash turned his head slowly, a dull look was replaced with horror. His whole face almost hidden underneath his hand except his eyes. His green iris was the size of a pin prick.
They stared at each other as Kit grew more solid again. He really did undo his trap, all because he said...
Then before either of them could exhale a breath he vanished in a flash of light.
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The instrument disappeared from his lips, black ink sunk into his skin again leaving the strange mark that sealed it. The music hung in the air before finally dissipating by some infernal forces will, leaving in its wake an eerie silence. Before he even rested his head back on the stone wall a shadow appeared in the corner of the room. The figure walked closer to his cell, dispelling his cloak of shadows.
A boy no older than fourteen looked down at him with a mischievous smile, and dark eyes that glinted in a circle of bronze. Dark skin and curly brown hair, he wore a hat with a feather cap and a tunic that wouldn't look uncommon in one of the villages. His smile widened and he laughed. The sound was like windchimes. Janus was hit with the sudden desire to want to protect this child, familiar to the feeling he used to get around Ash in Thule. Something about this boy pulled him in.
The boy grabbed the bars and pressed his face against them. "I see your little prodigy finally tried to get rid of you!" His body trembled as he laughed again. "Still, for your sake I hope you called me for something more important than that." The bronze in his eyes heated like a forge, tempering his gaze with fire.
Janus knew then with certainty that it was Sammael, and one of his many forms standing in front of him now.
"It's more than just me here, Clary Fairchild is also somewhere in the palace." He started.
Sammael cheeks looked cherubic as his face lit up whimsically before it came crashing down in twisted anger. "Do not waste my time with your obsessions about this insignificant woman!"
Janus reeled back, biting his tongue. Clary was anything but insignificant. All Sammael had to do was look around this world to know how significant she was.
"Don't forget she is the only bargaining chip you have," Janus warned.
Sammael's anger lifted as he looked back at him with amusement. "Not the boy?"
Janus stayed silent, contemplating if it was even possible to save Ash now that the girl was here. An image of Ash practicing with Phaesporos on the bluffs overlooking the sea surface, before he released it. At least he knew he could avenge him by taking the girl's life too.
"It's not just her, but two Blackthorns as well."
Sammael stroked his chin in consideration. In this form it made him look like a child playing adult. "What was it that Manuel said? Where the Heir was Blackthorns grow."
Janus pulled something out of his jacket and handed it to him through the bars. "Ash had been trying to keep this particular Blackthorn a secret. With her here he may give us some trouble."
Sammael examined the picture, letting a long nail trace the figure of the girl. "Pretty girl, I'm sure he just. Could. Not. Resist." Each pause was punctuated as the tip of his finger ignited in black flames setting fire to the picture.
Janus watched as the flames ate away at the old crumpled paper, lined with creases from years of tucking it away when Ash tried to hide it away. That picture he stared at just as lovingly as he did Clary's codex. In a brief flash of regret, Janus understood that the girl's picture was sacred to him in the way Clary's words had been to him.
The delicate strokes of penmanship that had brought the girl to life on paper shriveled away. But the determined look on her face never changed even as the flames surrounded her. Fire consumed Sammael's hands as he watched with a wide grin. Soon the girl with a murder of crows above her head would be no more.
"What does a star need with a weed, to begin with?"
I know I'm not getting chapters out as promptly as I used to, but for those who have stuck around, I'm very grateful for your patience. I've been writing this monster of a fic for a long time, and for the longest time, I worked every day on it for hours. But lately, it's been hard to do that, and I've been trying to get back to where I was. But things like my tendonitis laying me up for a while and most recently my mother's death has been setting me back. I hope I'm not oversharing, but I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing in the latter's case, and the result is me mentioning it when I probably shouldn't. Long story short what I've been trying to say is that I'm definitely not quitting even if it goes a little more between chapters than normally.
