Simon could only be now thankful for superhuman speed because had he actually been a mundane, it would have killed him to reach the New York Institute, which was the other side of Manhattan from where they had been attacked. Simon was still slowly processing what had happened. That, someone, had attacked them and taken his best friends, and there was nothing he could do about it. Their attackers had left no clues for him to follow. He could only hope that Jace and Issy knew what to do because Simon knew that tracking them wouldn't be an option.
Simon threw opened the doors to the institute open and ran inside. He could only hope he could find Jace and Izzy fast. Much to his relief, they were both in the ops part of the institute talking to someone else who Simon couldn't make out.
"Jace, Izzy… Magnus oh thank god you're here too" Simon said. He thought about going straight to Magnus' apartment but decided against considering that perhaps the shadowhunters had better equipment to locate his friends. So, he could only be glad that Magnus was here, so he didn't have to run all the way to Brooklyn to tell him about Alec's kidnapping.
"I was strengthening the institute's wards," Magnus said, "Is something wrong, Sherman?".
"It's Alec and Clary, someone has kidnapped them," Simon said. Panic appeared on Magnus' face and in Jace's eyes.
"Do you know who could have taken them?" Isabelle said both shadowhunters and downworlders alike believed that somehow Clary and Alec could lead them to the Mortal Cup which meant that anyone could have taken them.
"I don't know they knocked me out first and by the time I came to, Clary and Alec were gone and there wasn't any trance on who took them," Simon said.
"It has to be The Circle," Jace said, "The vampires have already tried to get the Mortal Cup and failed, they wouldn't try again so soon. This isn't the werewolves nor Warlocks style, and I doubt they would go after one of their own. Had it been the Seelies we would have found out by word of mouth by now, the only other people after Clary and I suppose Alec would be Valentine. And a downworlder would have taken you to use as leverage over Alec and Clary, however, Valentine doesn't care for mundanes, which is why he left you,".
"Yeah… um… about that, I'm not what you think I am,".
Something was wrong. Alec could feel it deep in his soul. An unknown power was building up and raging war inside his body. It was getting stronger and stronger, the more it hurt, the strong this power became. Alec could feel it fighting the block inside of him, and it scared him what would happen when it finally won. Would he die? Would he live? Would something entirely else happen?
60%
Valentine didn't let up on his attack, he had heard this monster scream twice before; he wanted more. He wanted it to beg for its life; he wanted it to scream and cry. He wanted it to break, make it loyal to his cause, and then it would force Clarissa to reconsider his offer if she wanted to stay at this monster's side.
70%
Slash, Stab, Zap repeat. Slash, Stab, Zap repeat. It was an endless cycle, yet still, Alec somehow stopped himself from screaming.
80%
"Dot, I know it's dangerous, but please, it's the only way to protect Alec. If Valentine or the Clave found out what he is, then they would kill him, they wouldn't care that he is only three," Jocelyn said looking down at a three-year-old Alec who was quietly playing with his wooden blocks, "Please seal it away,".
"Okay, Jocelyn, but I'm not strong enough to seal away all of it. Only someone like Magnus would be capable of something like that and we both know no matter how much money you offer him, he still won't do it," Dot said as she knelt down beside Alec, "This will also seal his warlock mark away,".
"Just do it, Dot, for Alec and Clary's sake,".
Huh? What was that? What did his mother ask Dot to do? Seal what away?
90%
Then the pain halted, Alec forced his eyes open to see Valentine moving away from him. Had he given up? Or was he preparing for something worse?
"Pangborn, Blackwell, take over" Valentine snapped sheathing his seraph blade whilst he chucked the probe onto the table beside him, "I'm going to see whether my daughter has changed her mind".
The two men from earlier stepped inside the room, both wearing identical grins as they made their way over to Alec whilst Valentine walked out of the room. Alec watched as they both grabbed their own seraph blade and start striking his body in any space Valentine hadn't already cut, but it didn't matter anymore. Alec felt the block break and power flooded throughout his body.
100%
Tears streamed down Clary's face, she could hear everything Valentine was doing to her brother, she heard Alec's painful screams and all Clary wanted to do was escape and make her brother's pain stop but there was nothing she could do, the only way she could protect her brother would be to work with Valentine. But she couldn't do that! That would mean willingly helping him to find the mortal cup, and then everything her mother sacrificed would have been for nothing. If Valentine got his hands on the mortal cup, then he could create hundreds of new and loyal shadowhunters and the demons he could control with it. She shouldn't do that, but her brother, her best friend, was suffering at the hands of Valentine and she couldn't do anything. Maybe she could figure out a way to go behind his back and save her brother, her mother and keep the mortal cup far away from him.
"STOP IT!" Clary screamed, "YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! FINE! I'LL HELP YOU JUST PLEASE! PLEASE LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE,".
Valentine smirked as he walked into the main area of his base where he kept Clarissa and Jocelyn together. He knew his plan would mostly work; Clarissa cared too much about that abomination so if anything convinced Clarissa to help him it would be hurting that monster. And he had been right. It still irritated him that he hadn't gotten that monster to beg, but once he had his hands on the mortal cup, that creature would be no longer service to require and he could do everything he wanted to it before ending its life.
Valentine opened his mouth to agree to Clarissa's terms when from deep inside his base there was a loud explosion.
