For Cha, who less guessed and more gave me the idea that made this story possible. (Thank you my dear!)
To those who might have read the previous fic, and especially the notes regarding the final installment of the series, I gotta say, this isn't it. After much consideration I realized that the two parts of that story were very different, so I might as well split them into two separate stories. This is the first of those stories. It's a bit of an interlude, though that doesn't mean the story isn't important. There's a time-jump, and a little info-dump, also, worldbuilding (but on that front, what else is new?). It's all meant to allow our characters to get exactly where we need them for the next (and last) part of the series.
Now, to those who, for whatever the reason, did not read the previous story, a little catch up: The story focuses on Chris, starting on the night the original time-traveling Clary rescues him from Lilith's burning tower, with the story about that event. There's a bit of a summary regarding his years growing up with Magnus, and to an extent with Clary. His relationship with Meliorn, which comes to an abrupt end, and then with a seelie-girl called Ava. It's discovered after the second relationship ends that Chris was essentially drugged for the entire duration of it. He analyzes things and reaches the conclusion that he'd have still dated, even slept with Ava, even without the potions, though he probably wouldn't have stayed with her for long, which ends up being the point. He befriends Roux, the High Warlock living in Eastern Europe, who helps him move on, and also introduces him to a tattoo artist, which leads to Chris's interest in tattooing. The events of "The Exiled Protector" and "Between Heaven and Hell" are touched very briefly, seen from Chris's perspective, as well as a bit of an analysis on what it truly means for him to have demon blood. Finally his reunion with Meliorn, the revelation that Ava was in fact the Seelie Queen, and that she gave birth to a daughter (Chris's daughter); she was also the reason Meliorn and Chris's relationship failed, because she wanted Chris (in order for him to give her a child, and not for Chris himself). Also, Meliorn is the Seelie King, and still very much in love with Chris (and he with Meliorn).
This story follows a theme I've only seen once in a Shadowhunters fic, and even then it was handled very loosely. The reveal of the Shadow World to the mundanes. I also decided to handle it by focusing on an OC, consider Skye as an Outsider looking in. While the fic might not be written strictly in her POV, it does follow her (just like the first two pieces each follow one of the Clarys, the third one follows Alec, etc).
If you're interested to know, the OC in this piece, like many of my other OCs, is based on a character from a different fandom, though I promise that fandom was nothing to do with this verse. This isn't actually a crossover. Though I will admit that three characters that are mentioned in passing (just background characters) are from yet another fandom, you don't have to know it, they're just there to flesh out my OC a bit. (Though I'd be curious if anyone recognizes what fandom they're from; if anyone recognizes where not just the new OCs here, but those from previous pieces come from).
Dreamcast: Chloe Bennet as Skye.
A World Full of Wonders
Skye is a perfectly normal young woman, except for the part where her parents died when she was very, very young, in a car accident, leaving her to grow up in a series of group homes and foster homes, no one ever interested in keeping her for long; her anxiety, fear of the darkness and frequent (at first) night terrors, might have contributed to all that. As she grew up those issues lessened, not because she got 'cured' exactly, but rather because she learned to hide things better. Learned ways of keeping her bad reactions to a minimum. Even then, no family ever adopted her, and by the time she was sixteen Skye decided she'd had enough of it all and ran away. She made a point of avoiding shelters, clinics, or any other place that may have people who were liable to try and send her back to her last foster parents 'for her own good'.
It was then that she discovered the whole other world that existed alongside the normal one, the one that most people knew. When she learned that the monsters everyone always claimed she imagined to have caused her parents' accident, that they were nothing more than a child making something up to make herself feel better (though how believing that a monster killed her parents was supposed to make her feel better she has no idea!), they were very real! In the following years she'd learned that quite a lot of things that she always believed to be mere stories, were in fact very, very real: angels and demons, heroes and monsters…
Of course, finding out that the supernatural existed means that, Skye being Skye, she needed to find out all she could, about everything. It's… it was all so huge, the world was too big for it to be truly a secret, right? If those monsters could up anywhere, at any time, and not just them, but also all the others she'd seen: the werewolves, the vampires, the elves, the world had to know, right? At least on some level! It was one of the reasons she became a hacker, learned everything she could about getting into systems, in ways both good and bad, she just needed to know… Except that, no matter how many people and organizations (even alphabet soup agencies!) she hacked, none of them seemed to know anything! It was absolutely ridiculous! Impossible! Or at least it should have been, right?
Eventually she did realize something though, and it was how few people actually could see the things she did. Aside from those who appeared to be supernatural in some way or another. She once saw a blonde woman dressed in black from head to toe, with strange black tattoos all over her body, wielding a glowing sword, which she used to stab one of those monsters. It happened but a couple of yards away from her, in the middle of a thankfully otherwise empty street, one Tuesday morning; it was a shocking enough sight for her to stop dead right where she was standing, on the street herself, a couple of steps from the sidewalk (she was crossing the street when both swordswoman and monster suddenly seemed seemed to burst out of what looked like an uninhabited house). The thing is, she was the only one who stopped, people passed her by; some guy in a motorcycle yelled at her as he rode almost dangerously close to where she was standing, and almost close enough to clip the monster, which he clearly couldn't see! A woman even commenting on how odd she was, standing there, staring at nothing…
She realized it then, the fact that those people, most people even, truly couldn't see what she could. And not just that. Even when she tried to take pictures, or video of such things, it never seemed to work… or at least, the monsters, the tattooed warriors, the magicians and the elves never showed up, the others though (the werewolves and the vampires, and some others she didn't have actual named for)… they did show up. It was like, like the first groups had some sort of magic that hid them from being found out, from even being noticed by most people, but the others didn't. She couldn't help but think it was unfair, in a way. She also believed it to be very, very dangerous.
Eventually Skye moved on… mostly. She still had some programs running permanently in the background, which allowed her to keep an eye on things regarding the supernatural, just in case. But for the most part, she made a life for herself. With a job and everything. She worked as a 'hacker for hire'. People would look her up, request her services. Most of the times it was some big-name company wanting her to check on their cyber-security or, if they'd already had issues, wanting her to track whoever was causing them problems. A number of PIs, Bounty Hunters and even people in the government had at times hired her to 'follow the money' or some other trail the people they were after left. She was also known to be good at if proving pictures, videos and the like were fake or not.
On that last one… she has lied, more than once. It was during one of her first such jobs that she learned that werewolves, vampires and some other supernatural beings did show up in pictures, because they appeared in the ones brought to her. Her client (as she found out when she hacked him) was a racist psycho with plans to hunt down all who were in any way 'inhuman', believing in human supremacy, or something like that (he had a manifesto and everything, though it was much too insane even for her). Skye managed to convince him that the pictures were fake, then created an algorithm to ensure that any possible copies, anywhere, would be deleted. Then she also ensured that the FBI became 'interested' in the psycho, for everyone's safety (Because, what was going to happen when he couldn't find a conveniently non-human target? He'd make one up, and what characteristic would he choose to declare inhuman? Dark skin? Red hair? Gray eyes? It was ridiculous and for everyone's safety he needed to be stopped).
Skye's not stupid. She knows Murphy's law: "Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong". It was only ever a matter of time. It starts with one of her clients calling to tell her what a fraud she is. There's so much cussing and derogatory language she's not entirely certain what he's accusing her of, exactly. Then she gets an e-mail from one of her 'rivals' in her line of business, demanding to know who's been paying Skye to keep things quiet, and how much they're willing to pay him to keep the secret. Skye has no idea what Miles even means, until it's much too late and the video hits the mainstream media: there's a boy, no more than six years old, with darkly tanned skin, black hair and chocolate eyes, in worn clothes, running; though what's truly attention grabbing about the video, is the creature pursuing him. Skye has seen their like before, more times than she'd like. It's one of the monsters, demons, according to what she's overheard from some of the other supernaturals, in a local bar.
"Well shit." Skye mutters, mostly to herself.
And what else can she say? It'd seem like the cat (or the demon?) is well and truly out of the bag.
xXx
Things have taken a turn for the insane, to a degree that Skye can hardly believe it. In a matter of days one video became two, then three, then half a dozen. There's no stopping it, not anymore. Even with all her hacking expertise, Skye knows that much. The thing is, it didn't end there. The world seems to be going insane, with people accosting others, accusing them of being 'others', of being not-human, monsters. Thus far it's gotten nowhere, but Skye fears that, sooner or later, they will get it right, and what then? How far are those people willing to go? Will they beat up the supernaturals? Kick them out of their businesses, their homes? Kill them? Skye cannot even think about it and yet… well, it wouldn't be the first time crazy people kill others for being different, would it? And most of the time the people in question are other humans!
Also, apparently the fact that she's at least indirectly complicit with whoever's been trying to keep the supernatural a secret is out now. She got more than her fair share of insults and threats both through e-mail, in social media, even to her phone, before she decided to shut it all down, for her own peace of mind if nothing else. She's even been seriously considering moving… which a part of her is really hoping she won't have to, the last time was bad enough… And while at least this time she won't be running away from a vampire tribe and the legion of psycho killers after them… she likes NY, more than she did San Francisco, which isn't something she ever thought she'd say. She doesn't regret her actions, though still she'd rather not end up with people trying to kill her because she at least understood humanity enough to realize they weren't ready to learn that the supernatural exists!
She does what she can to help, because it's not in her to do anything less. She hacks systems, and archives and security cameras anywhere and everywhere, finding videos of those people turning on others, whether supernaturals, or humans they claim to be 'others', posting them online with voice-overs condemning their actions. She knows that with the 'line in the sand' that has been drawn she's managed to place herself right on the opposite side from where most humans would expect her to be; moreover, that given that she's not, in fact, one of them, there's a very good chance that if she's ever in trouble the supernaturals won't do anything to help her. And still, that doesn't make her stop.
Her studio apartment is absolutely tiny, but it's hers, something she knows is a huge achievement for someone her age, who's freelance (who doesn't even exist legally! As she hasn't since fleeing San Fran), and especially in a place like New York! Granted, she's not exactly in Manhattan, or one of the nicer boroughs; but it's still a decent place, recently renovated, and in a neighborhood with a crime rate that isn't so bad she's afraid if she has to walk home alone after sunset. Though she does think that the current situation with the supernatural reveal might be making things a bit worse than usual… case in point is when she hears noises coming from the back alley.
It's the middle of the afternoon, not early exactly, but not late either; most people, she knows, will still be at their jobs, at school, and such. Working from home as she does (and with how the current situation has affected her reputation, and thus her job offers), she's obviously home. The noises bring her to the window. Her unit doesn't have a balcony (those are on higher floors, with better view, they're also more expensive), but with the fire-escape right outside her window… She pokes her head out, seeing three figures running down the main street the apartment building is on. Her apartment window leads to the small side-alley that leads to a dead-end, and which is only ever used by the trucks supplying the various businesses on the block, and the restaurant on the Avenue (the one on the other side of the wall marking the dead-end; the restaurant's service door happens to be on their side of that wall).
The three turn around the corner, and she has no doubt that they're not running just because, they're trying to get away from something (she's done it herself enough times to know the difference…). She can also tell the moment when they realize the alley they went into is a dead-end. The way they look at each other, and at the mouth of the alley. In the end Skye might be human, she might have nothing to do with the supernatural, but she's not heartless…
"Psst!" She calls, trying to modulate her voice, loud enough for those three to hear them, but not whoever might be on the main street, pursuing them. "Hey! Up here!"
The youngest of the three, a girl, is the one to look up first, quickly calling the attention of the other two, two boys, one in his late teens and the other probably in his early to mid ones.
"Can you get up here?" She asks them.
She knows that the ladder doesn't actually reach all the way down, but if they're supernatural they must have a way to reach it, right? Also, trying to lower it would probably end up causing a racket, which they do not want…
In the end the oldest boy tosses the two younger ones high enough for them to reach the fire-escape ladder, before jumping himself. Skye pulls away from the window to allow them inside. It's when they're all inside that the eldest boy looks her up and down, nostrils flaring.
"You're not one of us…" He mutters between clenched teeth.
"No…" Skye begins, hands raised, palms open for them to see she's unarmed, while a part of her starts wondering if she might have made a mistake.
"You're mundane?!" The girl asks in a high-pitched voice.
"I prefer the term human." Skye corrects calmly. "And I swear to you… well, I don't know if you can listen to my heartbeat or something else but, I swear I'm not lying."
"You do know we don't live in a superhero movie, right?" The younger boy scoffs.
"Well, how am I supposed to know what's real and what isn't?" Skye asks in turn.
"Why did you help us?" The older boy asks, warily.
"Because no one deserves to be persecuted for something like being born different." She tells them honestly. "I might not be able to do much. But still, I will do what I can. Now, are any of you hungry? Or thirsty?"
The older boy never relaxes fully, but that's okay, she wasn't expecting him to. She supposes the other two must be his siblings, or something, so obviously he's worried about keeping them safe.
Skye's not entirely surprised when people start going through the buildings, looking for the young wolves (they never tell her, but she realizes it, it's in their mannerisms; even being human herself, she's been around the supernatural enough); she still doesn't expect them to take it as far as they end up doing so. Going as far as forcing their way into several units. She can see the three getting increasingly tense, even terrified, in the little girl's case as the men approach. So she decides on a rather insane plan. She convinces the two younger children to hide in the bed that's on a small loft-like area above the bathroom and entry (which means it's out of sight), the older she convinces to slip inside the bathroom, where she opens the shower, leaving the door open just a sliver (both so he can hear what's going on, doesn't feel like she's trying to trap him, and for ease of movement in case her plan doesn't work). She doesn't actually tell them what the plan is, not having the time (and fearing they won't go along with it). She's just making sure the three are as hidden as they're going to get, when the first knock comes at her door, the second following immediately, and many more, until it's less knocking and more pounding on the door with a clearly heavy fist.
"One moment!" She calls, pitching her voice just right as she undresses as fast as she possibly can, not caring at all where her clothes land, until she's standing just in her panties. "I said one moment damn it!" She calls again as she hears someone actually trying to force the door open, barely managing to pull on her robe and tie it loosely around her waist.
She makes it to the door and opens it just before one of the men throws himself bodily against it. And even if that hadn't been enough to break down the door, it'd have certainly damaged it.
"I sah' ah nee'ed a moment, Godammit!" She purposefully speaks with an accent different than her usual one.
"Why didn't you open the door?" One of the men demands.
"Why do ya think?" She demands, waving a hand vaguely at herself.
The robe is loose enough on her that it slips off one of her shoulders, drawing the men's attention to her bare skin. She gives them a moment before pulling her robe close with exaggerate motions.
"Perverts!" She snaps at them.
"Miss, we need to go inside…" One of the men starts.
"What?!" She shrieks, loudly. "Of course not! What kind of girl do you take me for! I'm gonna call the police if you don't get out of here right now! Security! Someone call security!"
She keeps yelling and shrieking, sounding much more affected than she actually is. It works. It's obvious that as crazy and full of bravado as the men might be, they don't actually want to have the authorities called on them. So after a couple of minutes, and a speech about beasts and how she should make sure not to open her door and risk animals getting in, they leave. Even then, Skye keeps yelling imprecations at them until they're on the stairs, and a minute or so longer.
When she finally stops yelling the first thing she notices is Mrs. Hubert, the widow living in the unit at the end of the hallway, who's actually smiling at her and giving her a thumbs-up.
"Good for you not giving in, deary." The woman tells her.
She mutters something about men being the animals in the world, and other things Skye doesn't really pay attention to as the old woman steps back into her apartment. The hacker says nothing as she turns around and slips back into the apartment. Vaguely noticing that there's something different, though she doesn't realize what it is exactly until she makes it to the living area of the apartment and finds all three young werewolves, looking at her with very wide eyes, like they cannot quite believe what just happened.
"Thank you." The eldest of them says, voice rough, after what seems like forever.
There's such force behind those two words, like they're heavy, like he hasn't had to (or been able to) say them in a long, long while; a part of her wonders when the last time was someone, anyone at all helped him, helped any of them. It pains her, to think of the children being forced to deal with such a dark, unforgiving world, alone…
xXx
It's the middle of the night when the sound of something, or someone, landing on the fire-escape, wakes up Skye abruptly. A look around tells her that while the two younger children are still asleep in her little loft-bed, the eldest (Josh, as he finally revealed his name was, shortly before they all went to sleep, he still hasn't told her the name of the other two, and she respects that), while still laying on her sofa, is wide-awake. She's curled up on the window-seat which, while not exactly big, is quite fluffy and comfortable… it's also not the first time she falls asleep on it.
Skye presses a finger to her lips as the boy gets off the couch and approaches her. She drew the black-out blinds earlier (meant usually for when she ends up working the whole night and doesn't want the sun to wake her when she's finally asleep).
"How do we know if they're one of yours or… theirs?" Skye asks Josh as softly as she possibly can, as soon as the teenager gets to her side.
"Can you see their eyes?" He asks her.
She's peering through the edge of the blinds, face pressed to the edge between the window and the wall, not wanting to move the blind and risk revealing them if they're with the 'hunter' rather than the wolves.
"Not yet…" She begins.
She inhales sharply when one of the figures (she can only see top of their head, they're on the fire-escape, but not yet on her floor), raises their head abruptly in her direction. That's followed by the low metallic clank as someone else presumably jumps and lands on the ladder.
"I think they heard me." Skye admits quietly.
She waits where she is until the first of the newcomers, a woman, reveals herself, moving slowly, almost predatory, up the stairs.
"They're green." She reports to Josh. "And like, a bit glow-y…?"
"It's them." Josh confirms.
Skye lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, at that. Taking one more deep breath after that she checks herself over. She's still wearing the loose top and lounge pants she chose to dress in after the mess with the crazy men who were after the children. Skye sits up straighter and tugs on the blind, letting it roll up; the woman still climbing the fire escape turning in the direction of Skye's window automatically, coming face to face with the young woman standing at the window, staring at her.
"You know, I have a perfectly serviceable door." Skye deadpans, because she cannot help but be a little shit even at the best of times. "It might not be in mint condition after the awful treatment it got from the cavemen earlier today, but it's still a pretty good door…"
"Who are you?" The woman outside demands, eyes flashing green.
"Seeing how this is my apartment, and you're the one coming here, shouldn't you be the one to introduce yourself, woman?" Skye snaps.
The woman growls, low but still audible. In a couple of seconds Skye finds herself standing a few feet from where she was at first, the three children she saved crowded before her, or rather, Josh and the girl, the other boy is no longer there, a tawny-brown wolf in his place, scraps of clothing under him. Also, the woman is inside the apartment, crouched on the window-seat, the man still outside, but pretty close, hands on the window-frame.
"Easy, easy, she's a friend." Joshua tells the two newcomers.
"She's mundane…" The woman snaps.
"Human!" The little girl calls loudly, then more quietly she adds: "She prefers human…"
"Yes, I do, thank you sweetie…" Skye says kindly before turning to the rest. "Can we keep it down? I think it might be preferable if we don't wake up the whole building…"
Josh explains the situation in as few words as he can: picking up his younger siblings from school, noticing that they were being followed, trying to lose them in a nearby park, only to have the plan fail. Running, trying to find a place where the others wouldn't be able to follow them, rounding a corner, only to find a dead-end. Then, right when everything seemed lost, there was Skye, calling to them from the window of her apartment, inviting them inside… When he gets to the part of what Skye did when the men were going through the building, looking for them, the two older werewolves turn to look at her in shock.
"What…?" She demands, defensive. "I was short on time and on ideas. I did the best I could."
"And you saved their lives." The man finishes for her. "You saved the lives of three of our children. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss. I am Alaric Rodriguez, Alpha of the New York Pack."
"Skye, just Skye." She tells him simply.
Things seem to be okay after that. The woman introduces herself as Gretel Monroe. Josh finally reveals the names of his siblings: Kyle and Emma Lawson. The issue comes when Alaric announces they're leaving, and the siblings refuse to leave without Skye.
At first Skye refuses, a part of her feeling like going with them, leaving her apartment, means giving up. Alaric's pretty frank with her, seeing her door and telling her how easy it'd be for pretty much anyone to break in, when Emma then wraps her body around Skye, letting out several lupine whines in between begging Skye to go with them, the young woman relents. She requests five minutes to be ready, pulling some clothes out of her small closet and heading straight for the bathroom. She's out in less than two minutes, dressed in dark-washed jeans, a short-sleeved white top, and a dark-denim jackets; she'd gone to sleep wearing black cotton socks so she just has to slip her feet into the pair of black-leather boots by her door. Then she pulls her closet open again, pulling out a duffel bag from the bottom and throwing everything inside; a quick trip back to the bathroom and she adds her toiletries to the top of the bag before zipping it close. Finally she heads to the window, pushing the cushions to the floor and pulling up the seat to reveal storage space inside; empty except for the leather backpack inside, she pulls it out, hoisting it upon one of her shoulders before turning back to the others.
"Ready." She announces.
Gretel glances at her clock, they're still a few seconds from the five minutes. They all look at her with at least a little shock.
"What?" She asks defensively. "It's not like it's the first time I've had to leave in a hurry…"
They all nod and at Alaric's signal, start leaving the apartment, through the window, to try and avoid possible witnesses, particularly since most of them shouldn't even be in that apartment.
They make it to the apartment complex in Brooklyn where a number of the pack members live (like Alaric, and all those who don't have their own places, or the money to pay for them; it also houses the newly turned, to help them until they're more used to being werewolves).
"Is it truly okay, for me to be here I mean?" Skye asks quietly as they walk inside.
She cannot help but notice the way most of those present turn to look at her, the mix of curiosity, nervousness and distrust.
"You protected three of our own, of our children." Gretel reminds her, loud enough for those around to hear. "You might not be a wolf, but you're pretty decent for a mundane…"
"Why can't you just say human?" Skye asks.
"Why are you so fixated on that?" Gretel asks in turn.
"Do you know what mundane means?" Skye retorts. "Monotonous, tiresome, boring, dull… not words I like to have define me. Why is it so hard to just say human?"
"You think we aren't human then?" Gretel asks, an edge to her tone, her question.
"Gretel…" Alaric begins, recognizing the danger.
"No!" Gretel snaps, her eyes flashing green briefly. "I want to hear her answer."
"What is it you expect me to say, exactly?" Skye says, head tilted to a side, though she doesn't actually expect an answer. "I'm not trying to insult you. You're more than just human, have other words that describe you: werewolves, lycanthropes, whichever you prefer. I'm not saying you're not human, but you're more than just that. Me? I'm Only Human, so why's it so wrong that I'd rather you refer to me as that, instead of mundane?"
Gretel's mouth snaps closed rather abruptly, clearly not having expected any of that. She just stares at Skye for several seconds before spinning around and essentially stalking in the direction of her apartment.
"Is that…?" Skye turns to Alaric. "Is she alright?"
"Gretel's just fine," Alaric assures her. "I believe you just surprised her."
She had indeed surprised and not just Gretel, but every single wolf who heard her little speech. The way she spoke about them, said they were 'more', rather than 'less'. It wasn't what they were used to, especially not with the current situation with mun… humans. While it was their idea to take the young woman with them, feeling there was a debt, since she did protect the three young wolves, Alaric never intended for her to stay long. Maybe a few days, have her lay low until it was safe for her to return home, or to move somewhere else, if she preferred. He's still wrapping his head around so many things: her choices, to keep the children, to protect them from those trying to hunt them down, the ease and the speed with which she packed everything and… the bag under her window-seat, Alaric doesn't think he's wrong in believing that it's her emergency bag. Placed there precisely for her to be able to just grab it and escape through the window, if it ever became necessary. What kind of life must she lead, or have lead, to be prepared in such a way? And her name, Skye, just Skye… who is she really?
xXx
Two days later, it's the middle of the night when the quiet howls of a young wolf are heard. Clary, Magnus, Alec and Silbhé, there to help reinforce the wards, cannot help but react to the mournful noises. Especially when Luke tells them it's one of their youngest residents: Emma Lawson. She's been having pretty vivid nightmares since being pursued, along with her older brothers, by wannabe mundane hunters several days earlier.
"But she's safe now?" Alec asks, his paternal instincts there for all to see.
"As safe as any of us can be with the current situation." Luke shrugs somewhat.
With Alaric still on shift, and him being the Alpha's second, he's the one tagging along with the Banes as they work on the wards. A mix of warlock and angelic magic, just like what was used to make Pandemonium into a Sanctuary, and a few new things. They're still experimenting a bit. Ever since learning about Xochiquetzal, and about the Choloakoyan down in Mexico, they've been trying to replicate it, to some degree. It's not possible to do exactly what was done back then. Choloakoyan is a full-out city, one that exists between the mountains, close to a huge lake that's half underground. The place has existed since ancient times, when a group of warlocks, said to be older than most of humanity, having become tired of life, chose to give everything they had to ward and seal the city in such a way that only those who belonged to the Shadow World would ever be able to reach it. Xochiquetzal and her match were the only ones not to give their lives to set up the sanctuary, chosen instead to be its leaders and wardens. And now only Xochiquetzal remains…
When Alec told Xochiquetzal what he wanted to do, she was very honest with him in that she thought his intentions were good, but even she wasn't sure such a thing was possible. It'd taken warlocks so powerful they were seen as gods to create Choloakoyan, who'd lived for so long, even millennia prior, to already be tired of the world, of living. And it wasn't just about the power, but their blood and very life-forces had done into making the sanctuary what it was. Magnus might be incredibly power, one of the strongest among the current High Warlocks, but he alone would never be enough (also, Alec would never agree with his beloved giving up his life). So instead they've been trying to do the best they can. Improving on the spells, wards and runes used to protect Pandemonium, the Bane building, and the Institute. Still the current situation with the mundanes being what it is isn't helping…
By either coincidence or design, the group get pretty close enough to the Lawson's quarters, shortly after Emma's howls quiet. Unlike normal apartment complexes, the one the pack lives in doesn't have entirely separate units. Each wolf has a bedroom, either a single, or a bigger one for those who prefer to share; with bathrooms and a small sitting area near the stairs on each floor, while the common areas: kitchen, dinning rooms, living rooms, and the like, are all on the ground floor. In many ways the place looks more like a college dorm than an apartment building.
When they get close enough they find several wolves already crowded by the door to the Lawson's room. It's one of the biggest rooms in the building, with one double bed and a couple of bunk-beds.
The visitors get close enough to see a brunette woman in a thin-strapped top and short-shorts, obviously sleeping clothes, sitting on the big bed, back against the headboard, and two dirty-blonde children curled up against her, the boy in full-wolf form, head just above her knee, while the girl is on her lap, head on the woman's chest. The older brother is sitting on the lower bunk-bed watching all three of them in silent.
"I thought the Lawson siblings were only three?" Clary murmurs to her girlfriend quietly.
She's heard about the Lawsons of course, and the tragedy that preceded their arrival to NY; or at least, as much as they've been willing to tell. There are no parents in the picture, though whether that's because they're dead, or were abandoned by them, they've no way of knowing. Alaric, and everyone else in the pack have done their best to help them, but aside from giving them a roof, clothes and food, and protecting them as best they can, there's not much any of them can do. Most of the adults in the pack have jobs, and if they're lucky even families, and little time to dedicate to the siblings.
"That's Skye," Luke tells Clary. "The Lawsons brought her a few days ago, after she saved them from some of those wannabe hunters. She's mundane."
"Mundie?" Alec parrots, disbelieving.
"She prefers human." It takes them all by surprise when it's none other than Gretel that speaks up in defense of the young human woman.
It's all made clear when Gretel tells them the story, which has become well-known in the pack since the arrival of Skye. And it's not just about what happened in the woman's old apartment. It'd seem that, wanting to be useful somehow, Skye joined Gretel and Riley as they went to get some things from the market. On their way back they were harassed by a group of mundanes looking for downworlders to hurt, using silver pieces of jewelry to try and make out who might be a werewolf. The two wolves had been ready to fight, when Skye stepped forth, babbling a mile a minute, when the men approached her she let them press the silver pendants they carried against the bare skin of her arms, while at the same time being careful to ensure they wouldn't be able to do the same with the other two, going as far as making sure they thought they got Riley at one point, with obviously no results. In the end the men left, believing them to be 'just human'.
"That… is the girl crazy?" Clary cannot help but blurt out.
"Or very brave." Luke suggests in turn.
Clary turns to him, brow arched, to which Luke eventually lets out a breath and nods, admitting that yes, he'd think the same if it were Clary in Skye's place. It's… the two's relationship isn't perfect, not at all, but at least it's better than what it was when they first came face to face, the day Magnus was captured by the old NYI. A lot has changed since. Jocelyn's dead now, died in a perfectly mundane car accident, down in Florida, from what they were able to find out. She never got in touch with either of them, not even with Clary which… it hurt the redhead some, even though she admitted to herself a long time prior that Magnus was the only true parent she had. There was still a part of her (the little girl she once was) that wanted to believe the two of them might be able to reconnect some time. It's probably ridiculous, it's not like Clary would have ever been able to truly forget Jocelyn, not for her lies, for her choices that left that same young Clary ignorant and vulnerable for years (and would have kept her that way potentially for the rest of her life) for her abandonment of both Clary herself, and Chris… In the end, she supposes the schism was way too great, long before Jocelyn died.
"Are any of you listening to the story she's telling?" Alec asks unexpectedly.
They weren't, though at Alec's comment they start doing exactly that. It's the story of a girl whose best friend is in love with a vampire. Out of loyalty to her friend (Beth), the girl sticks around, accepting the vampires and their quirks. Until she, entirely by accident, finds out about a group (the Legion) who's hunting down the vampires, they're setting up a trap for them, and many will die if they succeed. The girl races against time to get the warning out, and to intercept the list of vampires some of the Legion have managed to make. She's found out by the Legion, who try and almost succeeds in killing her, though in a providential move, their attempt on her life ends up costing them theirs. In the end the girl chooses to fake her own death, believing that with how powerful some of those in the Legion are, it's the only way she'll be safe. She managed to get the list, and is fairly sure there are no copies, so she destroys it before leaving the city, leaving her whole life behind…
"Why does the story sound familiar?" Magnus asks, thoughtful.
"Josef Kostan's Clan in San Francisco." Alec points out seriously. "There was a serious threat against them a few years back. There were rumors that a list of vampires had been made, and that a group was planning on moving against the Clan. Then, it suddenly all seemed to fall apart. It was right after that huge storm, remember? Several men and women, some of them big names, were found drowned in the bay, officially it was declared a boating accident, idiots going out in the middle of a storm or something. Unofficially… well, there were quite a few versions going around, from assassination attempts, to crazy cults, to military experiments gone wrong. It was hushed pretty quickly, I think one of those involved was an ADA or something, and another the daughter of a big estate tycoon." He shakes his head. "I only know about it because Josef reached out to Aline and Helen down in LA, and they in turn got in touch with all Institutes in the Alliance. They're still looking for her, the girl who saved them. Many believed her to have died, but not them, not Kostan, his brother, or his sister-in-law."
The story comes to and end, and they can all hear the Lawson children sleeping. Most of the wolves watching from the door take their leave; their little group does too, realizing that staying when they're all trying to sleep would be disrespectful, doesn't mean that there aren't at least some of them who wouldn't love to have a word with Miss Skye…
"There's something else none of you seem to have noticed." Silbhé points out.
"What is it?" Alec asks, knowing it must be something important, if she's speaking up.
"As you might or might not know, I have a very good ear." Silbhé prefaces.
"Musical ear…" Alec murmurs.
He knows his parabatai can play at least two instruments, and also sing, and while she might have given up on the idea of doing it publicly, that doesn't lessen her gift for all things musical.
"Yeah," Silbhé smiles at him. "Her voice? It's the same as the voice from the voice-overs in the pro-Shadow World videos."
'Pro-Shadow World' videos, it's what they've taken to calling the videos that seem to be dropped into the internet every week or so, of the crimes being committed against Downworlders, condemning the humans' actions. If it truly is that young woman speaking in those videos…
xXx
Skye's more than a little nervous when she enters the meeting room the Alpha called her to. While she's still not a werewolf (though at least Gretel and Josh have expressed interest in her becoming one), most of the pack seems to see her as one of them, something she's so grateful for. It's… it's like she has a family, something she's never had before. It trumps even her time in San Francisco, Beth was a wonderful friend, but in the end that's all she ever was, a friend. Dear enough Skye was willing to risk her own life for her, and for Mick and Josef; but not enough for her to choose to stay…
She's even more surprised by what she finds when she steps into the room. Alaric's there alright, and Gretel, but it's not just them. There's a redhead in jeans and a dark-green top with some serious tattoos on her arms, by her collarbones, as well as on the back of her neck and following under her shirt; a man with Asian features, and a mix of youth and agelessness that Skye's starting to associate with immortals, his hair is dark and spiky with blue tips (and probably more makeup than Skye herself wears in a regular basis! Not that he doesn't look really good in it!), clothes are a bit on the tight side and quite sparkly; beside him is a man who doesn't look quite as ageless as the other one (yet there's still something in his eyes… like they show more age than the rest of his body), his hair is black and messy, though what Skye notices most are the black marks on his skin. She's seen people like him before, and thanks to the wolves she now knows what they mean: shadowhunter… or, according to the Josh, the ones in NY are just nephilim. Skye didn't fully understand everything, and she's quite sure that even Josh only knows parts of the story, but apparently shadowhunters are supposed to be these angelic warriors who should protect everyone, but while they do fight the demons, they're also absolutely racist against any and all who aren't their own kind; nephilim, supposedly, are those who chose to quit the shadowhunters and do their duty separate from their corrupt government (Clay? Clane? Clabe? Something like that?). She's also pretty sure, comparing the descriptions several of the wolves have used, that the man in front her, with the mark that looks almost like a letter 'Z' on his neck, is their leader, at least locally.
"Please, come in, sit." Alaric gestures to the couch opposite from the group, and in diagonal from the armchair he's sitting on.
Alaric handles introduction. Gretel she already knows, the redhead is apparently called Clary Bane, she's a nephilim (her extensive tattoos apparently hiding the runes characteristic of her kind), her adopted father is Magnus Trueblood-Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and the man beside him is his husband: Alec Trueblood-Bane, the Head of the New York Institute (as well as being considered by most of the Shadow World as the leader of the Alliance). Skye cannot help but feel a bit intimidated, being faced with so many people. And then it happens, the last thing she could have expected; when Alec Trueblood-Bane opens his mouth, and the words to come out are some she'd have never expected to hear:
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Skye. Or do you prefer Miss Johnson?"
Skye comes close to bolting.
"Alexander, darling, can we not give the woman a heart-attack, please?" Magnus's voice, his deadpan tone, manages to break Skye out of her spiraling thoughts.
"Apologies, I guess that did not come out right." Alec admits with an exhale. "I promise you miss, no threat was meant."
Skye takes a moment to look at him, then at the other wolves in the room, she nods. It might be insane, but she's willing to trust them, for now.
Alec's hesitates to say what needs to be said, not wanting to say the wrong thing, or to say them the wrong way, again. Clary notices this, and tries to make things better as best she can:
"The name is relevant in one way, your credentials." Clary explains with a small smile. "If we're correct, you know some things about hacking?"
"I do." Is all Skye says, not willing to offer more, not yet.
"Silbhé… she was here last night, we heard some of the story you were telling the Lawsons." Clary explains. "It's what leads us to make the connection. But more than that. Silbhé said she recognized your voice, as the one in the voice-overs of the videos condemning the attacks against the Shadow World."
Skye opens her mouth, then closes it again, not seeing the point in trying to deny things, yet not willing to admit to anything either.
"Since the mess with that demon in Argentina, we've been in contact with a great many mu… human leaders." Clary explains. "While in the past we dealt with religious leadership alone, times have changed. We have the situation handled, as much as we can, on that front. But that your governments are willing to treat with us, to accept the fact that we exist and have existed for over a thousand years, doesn't mean all of humanity's as willing to accept us. As has become obvious. We don't know how to reach other people, the average people, to make them understand that while monsters, demons, might exist, we're not all such. We just want to help protect… everyone. But it gets harder to do our job when we have to watch out for an attack from people who, aren't necessarily bad, just ignorant."
"Don't kid yourself." Skye speaks up before she can quite stop herself.
It takes everyone by surprise, as they're all left staring at him with at least some shock. Even Skye seems surprised.
"Don't kid yourself." She repeats, in a softer tone after a moment. "While some of them might truly be nothing more than ignorant sheep following someone else… not all humans are good. Some in fact can be very, very bad. I don't know how up to date you might be with human news, but people, humans, do steal, hurt and kill others, many times with no reason other than they can. You seem to know who I… was. The people who hurt me, who tried to kill me, who made me decide to take my life in my own hands and jump off a bridge, because the chance of dying in that fall was better than the certainty of it at their hands… they were entirely human, and entirely evil. Some of them died, not all of them, not all who ought to have died; I know those deaths are on me, and I don't regret it. Because they wanted to hurt my friends… I might just be human, but by heaven and hell I will always protect my friends!" She inhales deeply. "I haven't known Josh, Kyle and Emma for long, but they deserve so much better than this world will give them, as it stands now. So if I can do something to help, tell me what it is."
Truth is even they don't know what she might be able to do. But at present she's the only human who, without having been born as part of the Shadow World in some way, has chosen to stand with them, to defend them, even from humans. So they invite Skye to see more of the Shadow World. To have lunch at Taki's, dinner at the Hunter's Moon, some drinks and dancing at Pandemonium, to visit the Hotel Dumort, the Shadow Market, even the Seelie Court and the New York Institute. She's given a special bangle with angelic runes, as well as warlock and seelie magic so all who met her will know she's under the protection of the Shadow World, that she's a part of them, even if she's entirely human.
Skye learns a lot about the Shadow World, and about those who are considered, in many ways, its biggest names, its leaders. Each faction has its leaders, of course; the werewolves, vampires and nephilim have each local leaders; while warlocks, with lesser numbers in comparison to the other factions, have a council of leaders: the High Warlocks; finally, the Seelies and Unseelies, most live in a different realm, Faerieland, though a good number of them do visit the human world fairly often, each court has a King. And yet, the leadership in NY is seen as especially important, especially those connected to the Institute. Some say it's because it was in New York that everything started, their separating from the corrupt government that was the Clave (that's what it's called!), others that it's because they're truly the strongest, each in their own way. Skye makes a point to learn as much of their stories as she can:
Like Clary Bane, the last descendant of one of the oldest nephilim bloodlines, and while she no longer bears the name she bears the power; probably the most powerful of that faction, she has several gifts, including the ability to create new runes. Chris Bane is Clary's brother, a nephilim with demon blood and magic; he's Clary's parabatai (it takes Skye forever to understand what that even means, and she still doesn't think she gets it fully); he's also Prince Consort of the Seelies, married to their King, Meliorn, and with a daughter: Kiara (who is a seelie, though not in line for the throne). Magnus Trueblood-Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, considered as one of the most powerful of his faction; almost everyone Skye talks to lists him as one of the leaders of what many refer to as the Shadow Alliance, or simply, the Alliance. The other leader being his husband: Alexander Trueblood-Bane, nephilim, the Head of the Trueblood family, and of the New York Institute. There were so many stories told about him, that he was the son of two Circle members (or was it former members, it was hard to tell for sure): that he was one of the first shadowhunters to treat the Downworld with respect, to see them as people and not just demons, and he made sure his people did the same; that he got himself exiled from shadowhunter society for rescuing a warlock girl (the same who became his daughter: Madzie Trueblood-Bane); that it was he who pulled all the leaders of the different factions together (back then solely for NY) to move against the Shadowhunter Institute when they had Magnus imprisoned, earned enough respect from those leaders for all of them to stand behind him, to be willing to have him speak for them (and not just the leaders of the local Downworld, but all nine remaining High Warlocks as well!); that it was he who ordered the shadowhunters to leave NY (a move that, directly or indirectly, lead to the shadowhunters leaving many other of their Institutes across the globe as well); that he earned the respect and the loyalty of other shadowhunters, who chose to stay behind, to forsake the Clave and their old life to follow Alec and join the Alliance instead.
Because she cannot help but feel intrigued by the leaders, especially all the Banes, she seeks as many stories about them as she can. There are so many! Some going as far back as Clary and Chris's time in the Academy, some boarding school in Upstate New York which's entire student body's formed by children of the shadow world. She also hears the stories of several of the other High Warlocks and cannot help but wish for the chance to meet at least some of them at some point. Those warlocks… it's not just about how powerful they are, but they're old, they've been present for those of the biggest events in history. Like Roux, who helped the allies during WWII, especially in the rescue of Romani and Jews from the camps. Mulan fought in wars to protect the Chinese Empire! Xochiquetzal is in human history books as a goddess!
She even gets the chance to meet the youngest Banes eventually. Kiara is the five-year-old daughter of Chris, and a long-dead seelie-girl who served the old Seelie-Queen, and died when the girl was a baby. While Meliorn treats her as his own child, he needs an heir of his own blood, to secure his throne, which is why Kiara is princess, but will never be queen. Rafe is the boy from the video that kick-started the absolute mayhem they're currently living; a nephilim boy from Argentina, apparently all the local shadowhunters either died, or abandoned the place, abandoned him, some of the local downworlders managed to save him from the demon, kept him safe until Alec and a contingent of his own nephilim portalled to Argentina to deal with the matter, they brought Rafe back with him. He's living at the Institute now, and while he's getting along quite well with several of the nephilim there, his closest connection seems to be with a man called Carlos Angelborn, who many of the others hope will eventually adopt Rafe.
Then there's Magnus and Alec's children: Starting with Madzie who, for a nine-year-old child (almost ten! As she points out to Skye, her birthday coming in just a couple of weeks) is already incredibly gifted, she clearly loves her dad and papa very, very much; she's also incredibly protective of her little brother: Harry Bane is a precious little boy, all of three years old, so bright, and seemingly always laughing… and his skin is blue, same as his hair, and his eyes, and the tiny horns protruding from his forehead. And when looking at him Skye cannot help but think what some of those psychos wannabe hunters would say, what they would do, if they saw him, and she cannot stand it! Cannot stand the thought of what they might try to do to that sweet little boy! He deserves so much better than what the world would give them at present, and Skye knows that if she can do anything to help secure his future, to keep him safe, she'll do it, anything at all. Because that little boy, all those children, deserve so much better…
Alec shows her a letter one day 'off-the-record'… like she's some kind of reporter! Is that what she is? Is that she's doing? Investigating? Preparing a story? She cannot know, she's supposed to be a hacker, not a reporter. And yet she does know this is a story that needs to be told, and if she doesn't do it, who will? Harry, Alec tells her, was found as a three-month old baby, on the steps of the NYI, wrapped in a light-green baby blanket, with runes for family, grief, love and hope carefully embroidered in light-gray thread. 'Green will mend our broken-hearts', 'Gray for knowledge best untold', Alec quotes to her, as he explains the details in the blanket, both regarding the colors and the runes used, before handing her the letter he explains was pinned to that same blanket:
To Alexander Trueblood, Nephilim, Leader of the NY Shadow World:
I write this letter with hope that you're truly the kind of man the Downworld whispers you are, that you may have enough compassion in your heart to care for one who cannot care for himself. May the angel forgive me, as I never will. I leave with you my son, my little Henry, hoping you'll be able to give him what I cannot: the warmth of a good family, the safety of a home, all the things he deserves, that all children deserve, that I cannot give him; the love… the love I feel for him and yet… it's not enough.
'Who could ever not love him?' It's the question that comes to mind, and yet I know the world we live in, as I'm sure, so do you. This world isn't kind to those who are like my son, and as much as I might love him, as I might want to keep him by mi side. I cannot give him the life he deserves, but I believe you can, so I will give him up, I will tear out my own heart, in order to give him his best chance. Please, Grand Master, please care for him, protect him, and above all, love him. And if it pleases you, perhaps some day you might tell him that his mother loved him as best she knew how, and did the best she could for him.
The letter isn't signed, but that's not exactly surprising, if the mother was truly trying to keep her identify a secret. Skye cannot help the shock as she reads the contents once, twice, thrice.
"Grand Master?" Is the first thing she asks.
It's not all she wants to know, it's not even the biggest question inside her head, but it's probably the safest one, so Skye decides to start there, while she thinks things over.
"It's…" Alec takes a moment to gather his thoughts before explaining. "While in the current day and age shadowhunters favor more civilian titles. Like Head of Security, of Operations, of the Institute… our truest titles, the ones that aren't commonly used, yet can still be found in the official archives, they come from the time when shadowhunters, when the Clave, first came to be. They're the same titles that were used by catholic military orders, like the Knights Templar. My proper title from there, is Grand Master of New York, Alexander Trueblood."
"Just Trueblood?" Skye asks, curious.
"While I consider myself very much married to Magnus, and the Shadow World does recognize our marriage, the Clave never would." Alec explains. "That's just one, of the many, many reasons so many of us have chosen to split from the Clave."
Skye nods, considering that. She runs her fingers over the letter a bit, her eyes going to the spots where the ink is smudged, where clear signs of hesitation, of grief, can be seen; even some stains that she's sure were caused by tears.
"She knew your name." she points out after an extended silence. "I mean, not just your title. The letter wasn't address to 'whoever it may concern', but specifically to you."
"What do you think that means?" He asks her in turn.
"Well, clearly she knew you, at least by reputation but…" Skye hesitates.
"But…?" Alec pushes, just a bit.
"I… if it were my child, I wouldn't leave him with a stranger, no matter how good his reputation might be." Skye says quietly. "It would have to be someone I knew, doesn't matter for how long exactly, but enough to be sure he's truly the kind of person my child deserves."
"Yeah…" He murmurs in a low tone.
It's the same thing he's thought, he'll admit, though that hasn't helped him be sure who exactly the mother might be. Who could he have possibly made such an impression on, that at the same time wouldn't have him to know their name? (Alec will never admit that there's at least one woman, or two, that he can think of, yet doesn't want to, not in those circumstances).
"I think she'd be happy." Skye murmurs thoughtfully after a longer silence. "If she could see her son now, could see you with him, see how much you love him. And not just you, but Magnus, Madzie, Clary and everyone else around you. You've given that little boy the kind of life his birth-mother probably could only ever dream of…" She smiles. "And who knows? Maybe one day she'll be able to see him again, see how happy he is now."
"Thank you Skye." Alec bows his head slightly at her.
She's about to leave when Alec calls her back.
"I don't want you to take this as me trying to give you an order, or pressuring you or anything." Alec prefaces. "But if your friends, your chosen family, is like mine… well, they'd probably appreciate knowing you're alive and, hopefully happy. I… I don't know any of them personally, though I've talked with Josef Kostan before, he's one of few vampires I can say I truly respect." He pulls a small card out of a drawer and offers it to him. "In case you don't have his current numbers or something…"
Though they both know, even if she doesn't have it, she'd have no problem getting it.
"It… it's been years since I had to leave." Skye admits quietly, even as she takes the card. "Chances are they've all forgotten me."
"Last time I heard from him they were still looking for you, hadn't lost hope that you might be alive." Alec admits quietly. "That was a couple of months ago."
"I…" Skye swallows hard past the knot in her throat, fighting to keep the tears gathering on her lashes from falling. "Thank you."
"Like I said, I'm sure your family would love to hear from you." He says with a small shrug.
"I… yeah." She makes to leave, is standing at the door, when she looks back. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to see your family again too Alec."
Alec says nothing, he just nods at her. The feelings almost enough to make him feel like he's drowning. He just… he loves his current family, Magnus and their kids, his parabatai, Uncle Max, all of them, but he also miss his other family: Izzy, Jace, his little brother, he still loves them and misses them so much! He can only hope Skye's right and he'll get to see them again some day. Angels willing, he will.
xXx
When it's all said and done, the call to San Francisco ends up being both easier and harder than Skye ever expected. Alec was right, of course, they were still looking for her, still believing she survived and they'd find her someday… When they're done crying and yelling at her Josef offers to send a private plane for her, get her home. Skye… declines. As insane it might seem to some, as impossible as she herself might have thought it to be just a few weeks prior, she's found her home already. Has found it in three children whom she loves, and who love her, in a pack who accepts her in all her humanity, who see her as one of their own, even if her race might be entirely different. In a Shadow World that has opened their doors to her, despite how complicated their current situation with humans is… And she'll do her very best to help them in turn. She might be just human, but then, that might be what makes her the best person for this job…
Even with the crazy rivalries, and the recent hits to her reputation, the moment Skye's new video hits the internet, everyone react. The hits reach the thousands in less than three hours, its first million before the end of the day; the reposts too come hard and fast. It takes just three days for the video to reach the mainstream media, and by the end of the week it's being shown and talked about on at least half of the better known news outlets.
The video is both huge, and very simple. With a collection of picture and small video clips that show just enough of the Shadow World, while still concealing faces and telling marks (to ensure no one will be able to track those in the video). Skye focused on showing the factions, not just in all the ways they're more than human, but also all the ways they're just like everyone else (people with jobs, with friends, with family…). Skye's words in the background are powerful as well, serving to drive the point home in many, many ways:
"The secret is out. For centuries they stayed in the shadows, hiding the truth, for both our safety and theirs. Like secret protectors, like the world's truest guardian angels, protecting us from threats most could have never imagined to exist. But now we know, they're among us. Heroes... and monsters. The world is full of wonders…"
So, what do you think?
Several things that I think need to be said, and I didn't say them before because SPOILERS! (So if you're reading this before the fic itself, you might want to stop, I promise it's nothing regarding any warnings. Regarding the children, specifically Harry and Rafe. As some people might imagine, they're meant to be Max and Rafe Lightwood-Bane. As for why the different names and stories... keep in mind that at this point the world our characters leave in is entirely different from canon. Rafe for example, his Institute was never attacked by Jonathan (because he isn't evil here!), but rather, the shadowhunters either left or died, leaving him alone. It wasn't Alec who found and rescue him, to there was no attachment formed between them. Also, this Alec is immortal, and at this point with two children already, so he wouldn't easily take in yet another child, especially one who could easily end up being the only mortal member of their family...
Regarding Max... I have a bit of a headcanon regarding his origins, specifically, his mother. It's never explicitly stated in canon who she is exactly, but I find it very curious that he's found on the steps of the Shadowhunter Academy. Not an Institute, the Academy, in Idris, a country that's sealed from the mundane world. That tells me that his mother had to be a citizen there. Either a member of a household, a nephilim who couldn't take runes (I know those are supposed to have their memories erased and sent to live as mundanes, but I bet not all do that, either because they don't want to lose their children, or hoping that a future generation will prove to be better), or a girl who wasn't trained as a shadowhunter (in the books it's at one point at least implied that before Maryse's generation girls weren't always trained as a shadowhunters; I've always imagined she was talking about in the old families, perhaps to ensure that the girls would live longer, in order to give birth to the next generation). What I'm trying to get to is that, it's my headcanon that Max's mother was a nephilim. Some girl from Idris who got pregnant by a demon (perhaps one of those that got into Alicante when Jonathan brought down the demon towers?). Obviously the circumstances aren't exactly the same in this verse, but I have all that planned. You'll see more about that in the next piece (though if you wanna make your guesses, go right ahead! Fanart prize if anyone guesses right).
Anyone wanna guess what the next part is about? The offer for the prize I've mentioned in previous stories still stands. Also, even if it's not guessing. If you have ideas, things you'd like to see, let me know, I'll see what I can do.
Also, a bit of a warning, while I'm relatively certain I'll be posting the finale next week, I cannot promise when exactly. I haven't written a word about it, and as you can see, already this part I've ended posting a day later than usual. It might take me a bit longer, but I hope you'll find it to be worth it.
Thank you for reading, please don't forget to comment, and if you like it, kudo and perhaps even bookmark! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, and like I mentioned before, what you might yet like to see. I live for your comments people!
As always, blanket permission for anyone who wants to make fanarts, remixes, sequels, prequels, AUs, podfics, etc. Just remember to give credit where it's due and to let me know!
See ya around!
