Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instrument series. Everything recognisable belongs to Cassandra Clare.
So I promised you guys a fast update, and here it is. I hope you like it, there's a lot of things happening. Thanks for all the amazing reviews you are all wonderful.
Warning: Minor violence. I don't think it's that bad, just warning you because the story is T-rated.
Clary blinked a few times trying desperately to clear her view. Her fatigued had begun playing tricks on her mind; she wasn't really seeing the people in front of her. They had to be illusions.
"So how do we get her out?" a girl's voice asked the three other Nephilim standing before her.
"No idea." replied the Fairchild kid quietly.
Clary tried to move, but her aching head and cold body refused to cooperate. She closed her eyes and let out a pained moan.
"Clary?" Jonathan's voice rang in her ears; it sounded so real, but she did not reply.
"I think she's passed out. I wouldn't be surprised, it's freezing cold here!" the Herondale boy she had fought back in the Institute said a bit louder than the rest had spoken.
"Clarissa?" another unfamiliar voice spoke gently.
Clary looked up at the sound of her full name. They couldn't be illusions; she wasn't that crazy, not yet.
"What are you doing here?" she spat at the Shadowhunters.
"Wow, so much for saving your ass." the blond Shadowhunter said with a bitter laughter in his voice.
"Jace, shut up." the girl replied and moved towards the metal bars.
"Alec, give me my stele." she commanded the black haired boy and he handed her a silver twig with a sharp end that she pointed at the iron-barred cell door. She drew something, but Clary couldn't see what.
"Dammit." the girl muttered, "It's not working." she explained to the others as she stepped back from the cell.
Clary rolled her eyes, how stupid were these people? Clary forced her legs to respond to her messages and soon she was standing on shaky legs. "Of course it's not working." Clary said in a belligerent voice.
She had figured out the girl must've tried to use an opening rune on the bars.
Clary pressured herself to walk a few steps towards the Shadowhunters, but the pain in her body was unbearable. She almost passed out before she reached the bars.
Clary could hear the voices speaking quietly as she neared them, but while the pain continued she was not able to hear exactly what was being said.
Every part of Clary hurt like small knives were being thrown at her, her breathing was uneven and it stung every time she inhaled. She was probably catching a cold from the icy air in the cell.
"Give me your stele." Clary muttered, she knew how to open the cell, but needed the girl's stele to do so.
"No way!" Herondale said loudly, followed by Jonathan and the black haired guy's hushes.
"Sorry." he excused himself, "But you didn't see her with that stele, she can conjure a goddamn portal." he explained as the others looked at him with irritated eyes.
"Yeah, and did you see what happened? I wasn't exactly successful, was I?" she snapped at him, causing her throat to burn fiercely.
The guy muttered something and Clary could see the stele went through the iron bars. A smug smile lifted one side of Clary's lips upwards as she took the stele.
"What are you going to do?" the black-haired boy asked cautiously.
Clary didn't bother answering him as she leaned against the bars and pointed the stele at the metal. She drew swiftly with her right hand; the rune looked like an amplified version of the opening rune, but this actually worked.
They heard the faint sound of the cell opening and Clary let go of the stele as she had to steady herself to keep from falling.
Jonathan pushed open the cell-door and waited for his sister to walk out, except, she didn't.
"What do you think you're doing?" She said with a raspy voice.
"As Jace so kindly told you a few minutes ago, we're saving you." Jonathan explained.
"Saving your ass." Jace corrected with a whisper, before looking away from the older Shadowhunter.
Jonathan ignored him and gripped Clary's arm to help her walk. His sister jerked away as he touched her and almost fell backwards, "Don't touch me!" she hissed.
All four of the Shadowhunters looked dumbfound at the redheaded girl as she backed away in an awkward movement. She looked hurt, and in the faint light from the corridor they could see her hands being smudged with red blood.
"Clary." Jonathan pleaded as he took another step towards her.
"Don't." that syllable alone could've stopped wars; replete of power.
They stood in silence for a long time before Isabelle sighed irritated. "Okay, I don't know what your deal is, but we just risked our lives to come here and get you out so I would appreciate if you could at least act like you want our help."
"That's the point. I do not want your help. I can fend for myself." Clary answered resentfully.
"Obviously." The Herondale boy replied sarcastically, making Clary glower back at him.
If Clary had been in better shape she would've walked away from them a long time ago, but truth was that she kind of needed their help. Not that she would ever admit it.
She took two steps toward the cell-door and pushed it open wider, supporting herself with the bars.
With every step she took her vision flashed white and she felt a stabbing pain in her body, she was unable to detect exactly where it came from, seeing as her whole body ached. She forced herself not to show the pain she was in, her father had always told her not to show weakness when in the presence of the enemy. Anything they picked up could be used against her.
The four Shadowhunters watched as Clary walked away from them, they all stood still for a few minutes before Izzy acted and moved towards her stele. She picked it up and motioned for the three others to follow.
They walked in silence, both because they had to make sure they weren't caught and because they didn't know what to say. Clary certainly wasn't in the mood for small talk.
They were walking up one of the marble stairs when they heard it. A gruesome slashing sound; like something cutting through human flesh. The only thing that missed was the scream, the sound that indicated pain was not there.
All five of the Nephilim stiffened. They listened closely as another gruesome sound escaped the other room.
Clary had heard that sound before, she knew what was happening. Someone was attacking, and she guessed it was the Silent Brothers who suffered.
She thought of the possibility that it might be her father, but that would be too reckless of him. He wouldn't do that.
It was complete silence after that. The attackers had moved on.
Clary walked further up the stairs, each step made her feel like she was on the verge of passing out.
Her breath was hard and she inhaled and exhaled loudly. Every breath burning her throat like someone pressed a hot iron rod down her gullet.
The others whispered something back and forth about helping the Silent Brothers, but they couldn't risk it. They had no idea what had happened, or if someone actually had attacked or if it was just some Silent Brother stuff that happened.
They kept walking; the large marble arches high above their heads as they walked. Nobody said anything for a long time as they stumbled through the corridors.
Clary moved her hand up to her neck, her fingers met with the cold metal of the ring. She wondered if he would've called out for her if he was here to help her. Yes, he definitely would. She thought as she walked.
Clary almost stopped walking as a thought occurred to her. The gold ring had not flared up in the same way it had in the institute. It hadn't left her skin tickling with heat or given away the calming sense of her father's presence. It was just cold. Ice-cold.
What if it was not working while she was in the Silent City, she couldn't know for sure what powers the City held. What if-
Her rambling thoughts were disturbed when she felt her legs slip under her. The Herondale boy, Jace, or whatever his name was, caught her before she hit the marble floor. He muttered something about balance before Clary pushed away from him.
She felt her feet glue to a viscous liquid smeared on the floor. Even if she hadn't seen the colour of the liquid, she would've recognised the smell. The metallic smell filled her nostrils and she looked down at her feet.
They were standing in blood. The whole archway was flooded with a thin layer of crimson blood. She heard the black-haired girl gasp in shock as she too stepped in the pool of blood.
The fallen body of a Silent Brother lay a few feet away from them, his hood had fallen from his shaved head and his eyeless face was pale and horrid. Clary looked at the large, deep cut in his throat indicating the attacker had slit his throat.
"It's Brother Jeremiah." Alec said plainly.
Nobody answered him, but the silence that lingered in the air was soon interrupted by a door closing in the end of the hall.
Clary's heart began racing wildly in her chest. If these attackers were able to kill Silent Brothers without problems they would have no problem killing her in the state she was in at the moment.
She heard one of the four other Shadowhunters whisper "Run." and even as much as she hated the whole group, she ran.
Her adrenaline kept the pain from taking over her body. She felt the stabbing pain, but still kept her legs running. They pushed up the last steps of the stairs as another loud sound escaped behind them.
Clary saw the opening to the graveyard ahead of her; the last few steps were the worst. She had never felt such excruciating pain before. She knew that even with her extra powers, she would pass out the moment she stopped running. She couldn't last longer on her feet.
They reached the top, the night sky shone black and silver down at them; illuminating the gravestones and ground in a ghostly resemblance.
Clary felt someone hand her something heavy. She could barely close her fingers around it.
It was the black-haired girl's stele.
She could hear instructions being thrown at her, and if Clary had not been in a semiconscious state already, she would definitely not cooperate with the other four. But now, she just wanted to get away from the Silent City.
Miraculously she managed to draw the strenuous rune.
She heard footsteps coming slowly up the staircase as the rune began forming the brilliant iridescent portal. She wanted to close her eyes as the conflagration of colours emitted bright light that stung her tired eyes.
Before she passed out she saw the acerbic face of Valentine Morgenstern. She knew she had yelled his name; she had tried to wrestle out of the Fairchild's tight grip as she saw her father standing before her. His face was stone-cold and blood –not his– was slashed down his cloths.
xxxx
As soon as the four Shadowhunters jumped through Clary's portal –Jonathan had carried Clary through it– they were ambushed by half a dozen people dressed in black.
They had all been lead to different interrogation rooms in the Institute. Clary had been taken to the infirmary, where both Jocelyn and Luke had made sure no one could take her away again. She was in extremely bad shape when they had brought her, and Luke had to physically hold Jocelyn away from the Inquisitor as she had entered the infirmary.
"You had no right to take my daughter away from the Institute Imogen." said Jocelyn angry.
"I am the Inquisitor Jocelyn; I had every right to do so. Clarissa was under the suspicion of working with Valentine Morgenstern, and seeing as we were completely right, I think I did the Clave a great favour."
"Your actions lead to five dead Silent Brothers, does that not mean anything to you?" Jocelyn almost screamed the words at her.
Imogen looked at the middle-aged woman with unreadable eyes. "Of course it means something. Valent-" Jocelyn interrupted the Inquisitor, "I don't care about Valentine, what I care about is you trying to kill my daughter!"
Jocelyn wished she had accepted when Luke asked to come with her, instead she had insisted he stayed with Clary. Jocelyn felt her temper rise every time the other woman spoke.
"We never had the intentions of killing her. She did that to herself Jocelyn." at hearing Imogen speak she inhaled deeply.
"You can't be serious Imogen." she said quietly before turning around angry, "Stay away from Clarissa!" She raised her voice and walked back into the infirmary.
xxxx
Jace sat leaned back in a hard, uncomfortable chair. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a table and another chair. The walls were grey and it looked nothing like the other rooms in the Institute.
These rooms were rarely used, but today, with four rebellious teenagers and one unconscious prisoner landing outside the Institute after a distress call from the Silent City; it put things on another level.
"Okay Herondale." The Shadowhunter called out for him as he walked through the door. As he sat down his eyes met Jace's.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions. Nothing to be afraid of as long as you answer truthfully." he told Jace. Jace glanced at him with an irritated look in his eyes.
"I'm not afraid, more offended by your rudeness and bad-mannered behaviour. I've been waiting an hour." he saw in the eyes of the Shadowhunter that his words provoked him.
"Okay." he simply replied before starting with the questions, "Can you answer a few questions without the usual level of Herondale sarcasm?"
"Depends, can you ask the questions without the usual level of imbecility." Jace replied with a smug smile.
The Shadowhunter ignored him and began asking, "When and why did you leave the Institute today, and can you tell me what happened when you entered the Silent City?"
"As I am sure the others have already told you, we left around ten PM to help Jonathan's sister, who was taken from the Institute to the Silent City a few hours earlier. When we came there, it was quiet and fairly easy to enter the prison."
The next part they had agreed on lying about, "We used a normal opening rune, which indicate you should obviously upgrade your security systems, to open her cell."
"At first nothing struck us as abnormal, but when we came to higher levels of the City we heard something, didn't think much about it, it lasted only for a few seconds."
"What did you hear?" he asked Jace.
"It was like a cutting sound, like someone cutting through paper." "When we got to the last staircase we found Brother Jeremiah lying with his throat slit on the floor." Jace said; shuddering as the sight crossed before his eyes.
"And what happened once you reached the cemetery?"
"Valentine Morgenstern and his men came and we barely got away." Jace explained shielding his emotions from the Shadowhunter.
It was a long silence before Jace spoke again, "Can I go now?"
"Just one more question. What did Clarissa Morgenstern do when this incident happened?"
"What incident? The one with Valentine?" Jace asked surprised.
The Shadowhunter nodded and looked at Jace's reaction.
"Eh- I don't know. She didn't do much, she was in a bad state, could barely stand on her own." Jace replied honestly.
"So she didn't.. she didn't.." the Shadowhunter seemed lost of words.
"Did she run to her father as soon as he showed up? No." Jace said irritated, he had assumed the question would appear. "She didn't." Jace didn't know exactly why he defended her; she would've probably run straight to Valentine if Jonathan hadn't forced her into the portal. But Jace didn't want them to know that. Maybe he felt guilty for stabbing her in the neck? He didn't know.
xxxx
Iwan sat with his friend in his room. Max was reading some cartoon Iwan couldn't care less about at the moment. He sat nervously on his bed and waited for the others to finish.
"Can you stop with that?" Iwan snapped at Max.
Max looked up from the manga and gave his friend a questioning look, "Stop with what?"
"Stop reading, you act like you don't care at all." he called back and got up from the bed.
"I care, but it's not like sitting quietly tapping my foot against the bed and sweating nervously is going to help anyone." he replied.
"I don't do that." Iwan argued.
"You do."
"Whatever. We should find out how things are going." Iwan walked toward the bedroom door and opened it carefully. He had gotten the clear message of staying in his room with Max while the others were questioned.
"We can't they said-" began Max. "I don't care what they said, if my brother is in trouble I want to know!" Iwan almost shouted at his best friend.
Max shrugged and with a loud sigh, he followed Iwan out the door.
"What do we do if they catch us?" Max asked nervously as they crept down the hall. They saw five unfamiliar Shadowhunters standing around the hall; it had never been so many strangers in the Institute at once before. There were at least two Shadowhunters in all the large rooms of the Institute.
They walked further down the hall and stopped when a familiar voice rang from a closed door.
Both boys pressed their ears against the door and listened.
"You can't do that." Stephen Herondale exclaimed loudly.
"Of course I can Stephen." Imogen told her son irritated.
"He's your grandson!" Celine shot at the Inquisitor and Iwan felt a lump form in his stomach as he heard the angry voices shout at one another.
"And my grandson broke the law." She said stiffly. "I am sorry Stephen, the Law is hard, but it is the Law."
"By the angel, bend it, you are the Inquisitor mother." Stephen's angry voice rang through the door.
"I am sorry." Imogen replied once again.
Iwan and Max shared confused glances mixed with fear. What was happening?
They listened closely as Iwan's grandmother spoke up again, and what Iwan heard shocked him. He backed away from the door and turned to the hallway as a voice called out for him.
"Iwan, what are you guys doing?" Jace asked as he walked towards them with a tired expression.
Iwan jumped at how exhausted his brother sounded, and without thinking his emotions reacted for him. He ran up to his brother and hugged him tightly.
"Okay? This is weird. I can't remember you ever hugging me before." Jace laughed as the boy crashed into his torso.
"They're expelling you!" Iwan said angry as he backed away awkwardly.
"What? Who?" his brother replied surprised.
"The Clave, they are expelling you and Izzy." he answered.
"Expelling us? They can't, we've explained ourselves. They can throw us out, what are they thinking?" Jace asked, fear showing in his voice.
Iwan shook his head, unable to answer.
"I don't wanna go alone." Iwan told him after a long silence.
Jace seemed lost as he looked at his brother. He looked like he was about to storm the room where their parents and grandmother had the meeting.
"Wait..What?" Jace asked quietly.
"To the Academy." Iwan replied confused.
"Am I getting expelled from the Academy?" Jace laughed.
"Yeah, what did you think I meant?" Iwan replied even more confused than earlier.
"God, you can't scare me like that Iwan, I thought you meant they threw us out of the goddamn Clave." Jace explained with a smile on his lips.
Jace patted his brother on the back and laughed and before the door opened and two angry parents walked out, they all rushed away from the hall into their rooms.
Please leave a review telling me what you thought. I'll try to update before City of Heavenly Fire, but I don't know how much time I'll get.