IMOGENE

"WHAT'S all this for?" I heard Clary asked us as I began mixing ingredients together for the antidote.

"The base for the potion. Stir. We need to have it ready before your boy toys get back," Magnus answered her which made her question; "What if they don't get back in time?"

"You can't think like that, biscuit," Magnus told her, walking away to grab more ingredients.

"That's all I can think about. Magnus, I don't know if I can do this anymore. Okay, I'm an art student. All my adventures are supposed to be two-dimensional," Clary said to us making me ask; "Who says?"

"Me. Look, it is one thing to draw monsters and demons, but it is completely different to see them up close and personal. I don't know what I'm doing," she informed us, sounding that she was almost about to cry.

"Don't sell yourself short. You forget I've seen you in action, Clary Fairchild," Magnus told her which Clary was about to continue talking but was interrupted by Luke begging someone; "Jocelyn! No, don't... don't... Wait, don't touch her."

We all ran over to him as Clary tried to comfort him by saying she was here.

"Let me take your pain away," I told him and when I was about to take his pain, he grabbed my wrist tightly.

"No. No," he begged me but I informed him that; "Agitation only makes the venom work faster."

"I need to tell Clary," Luke told us, removing his hand from my wrist.

"Save your strength," Clary said to him and Luke continued to talk; "No, you need to know. No, please."

"Imogene, do it," Clary ordered me and I looked down at Luke.

"You need to tell her, all of it. Promise me," Luke said to Magnus and I which I nodded before snapping my fingers causing red mist to glow from my hand.

"The poison is spreading. Your suitors need to hurry," I told Clary, moving my hands around Luke to take away the pain.

Luke fell unconscious again. As Clary and I stood by the potion, Magnus grabbed himself a drink. "Really Mags?" I questioned him; raising an eyebrow at him drinking at a time like this.

Magnus didn't get to answer me as Clary asked us; "Tell me what? What's so important that Luke risked his life?"

"Everything Jocelyn hoped to hide from you," Magnus replied before clicking his fingers, making a notepad and pencil appear.

"Why?" Clary questioned why he summoned those objects for her.

"When you were younger, I'd watch you sketching. It was your bliss. You're gonna need some bliss now," Magnus told as I wrapped my hands around his arm.

"Back then, there wasn't a day I didn't draw. It was like breathing. Now, I look at this blank page and I barely even know what to do. Sometimes I feel like my art, my memories... My life, it... it all vanished with that Memory Demon," Clary told us and I weakly smiled at her.

"Your art, everything you are... they're all still here. You're the woman your mother always knew you could be," I told her, moving closer to her and placing a hand on top of hers which was flipping through the notepad.

"But tried to keep me from being," Clary said, her eyes showing sadness for Jocelyn.

"That's why you need to know how you got here," Magnus said, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Will it help me find my mother?" Clary asked, looking off into the distance.

"That's the only reason I can think of why Luke would be so adamant," Magnus sighed before returning to the potion and stirring it again.

"I'm ready. Bring it, warlocks," Clary challenged, making Magnus look at her in almost fear.

As Clary sat down on a chair and began to draw, Magnus paced back and forth in front of her while I remained standing near the potion, stirring it occasionally.

"When I first heard about your father, around the time he and Jocelyn first got together, long before the Uprising and the Circle, Valentine elevated the Morgenstern name to be synonymous with virtue. And your mother was at his side. But by the time my people came to know him, barely two years later... his name had become synonymous with devastation. Your mother told me it was when she first saw the signs. They never found all the bodies. We'd all stood with the Clave for centuries. How could that not matter to him? He was obsessed with ensuring purity of blood. Convinced that the impurities were a threat to peace. He was the threat to peace. Madmen rarely make sense. Mostly, they just hate. And he hated the Downworlders, for the gifts that we possess that he could not have. He hated us enough to kill us all," Magnus spoke with both sadness and anger towards Valentine which all Downworlders felt towards the crazed Shadowhunter.

When Clary has finished her drawing, she stood up while Magnus took her spot and looked at the drawing. "Ever since my mother was kidnapped, and the Shadow World invaded my life, so many Downworlders have helped me, not even thinking about what it might cost them. How could Valentine not see good in any of them?" Clary questioned which made Magnus respond with; "He was blinded by his ambition."

"Why didn't the Clave stop him?" Clary asked and I was getting a little bit annoyed with her constant questions.

"He was clever. He and his followers, they managed to convince the Clave that the Downworlders they killed on their special missions had violated the Accords in some way. Complete fabrications," I told her, anger lacing my words as I leaned against the table while Magnus stood up from the chair.

"How could the Clave not see?" Clary again questioned and I almost rolled my eyes at her naïvetés about Shadowhunters.

"Shadowhunters believe in the Law as absolute. They could never conceive of one of their own going astray," Magnus told her which made her laugh mockingly before saying; "My father didn't go astray, Magnus. He went insane."

"What happened back then is happening again. The Clave refuses to believe that Valentine's a threat. Nineteen years ago, their lack of vision allowed the Circle to almost decimate the entire Shadow World," Magnus spoke with anger.

"That was the Uprising?" Clary asked which made me think does she always ask questions.

"Yes. Valentine wanted to create a new Shadowhunter army. And for that, he needed the Mortal Cup. He knew it would be on display at the signing of the Accords as a show of the Clave's power. He seized the opportunity to accomplish everything he ever wanted. Destroy the Accords, murder Downworlders, and secure the Cup," Magnus recalled.

Clary was now pacing in front of Luke when she asked us in disbelief; "How could my mom and Luke be a part of something like this?"

"Jocelyn and Luke tried to prevent the Uprising. They tried to change Valentine's mind about Downworlders," I told her, walking over to her when she basically spat out; "Obviously, they didn't."

"Clary, if it wasn't for your mother and Luke, the Circle would have won," I informed her, trying to not make those that raised her to appear to be the bad guys.

"Ever since I found out Valentine was my father, I wondered how my mother could be married to someone like that... and why she stayed. She had to stop him," Clary said from her spot on a chair across from Luke as she drew again.

Magnus stopped up from seating on the back of the couch while I stayed in my spot on the armrest by Luke's feet. "And safeguard the Cup. Everything Jocelyn did, she did to save the people she'd sworn to protect. She took her oath as a Shadowhunter seriously," I told her, making her look at me before moving her eyes to Magnus who was now standing in front of her.

"I understand, but how does that help me find the Cup?" Clary asked us and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe Luke thinks if you know your mother better, you'll know where she hid it," I suggested to her which then made Clary say; "Then, tell me why she gave up being a Shadowhunter."

"Because the one thing in the world she loved more is you. She had to protect you," I told her, looking over at Luke as I started getting a funny feeling something was going to happen.

"From my father, the lunatic," she spoke but then Luke started groaning in pain

"The magic's wearing off," I told them, rushing to Luke's side as he began to shout out; "It was our fault. It was our fault!"

"Luke! It's worse," Clary said, pulling the bandage away from his wound.

I quickly snapped my fingers, using both mine and Magnus' magic to try and help Luke. "I'm running out of magic," I announced as Magnus began leaning against me as his magic drained from him and into me.

The apartment began to shake like we were in an earthquake when I heard Clary ask me what she should do.

"I can't leave him, but the potion stock still needs Komodo scale. Find it, add the rest when they get here. You'll have to feed it to Luke," I told her, feeling my eyes glowing red as I continued using my magic.

"What about you?" she asked which I finally got frustrated with her and shouted; "I'll hold on as long as I can. Go!"

I saw out of the corner of my eye Clary run off before I felt my eyes beginning to drop a little. Magnus still rested against me which with him resting on me and me becoming weaker, I began to fall back but before I reached the floor, I felt someone grab me and pull me back up. I looked over at the person to see it was Alec and I weakly smiled at him. "Help me. I need your strength," I told him, reaching my hand out for him to grab.

"Take what you need," he said to me, reaching out a hand for me to grab.

I held onto it tightly as I pushed myself back up, now having enough strength to hold myself up. When Clary finally came over and made Luke drink the antidote, the red mist disappeared as I collapsed against Alec and fell unconscious to regain back the strength that I had lost.