EDITED 5/30/2020
Poll at the end of the chapter. Make sure to go check out the one shot that was requested: I'm Still Here
Clary walked into the shop without hesitation, stepping carefully around the broken glass as Jace followed behind her. She walked further into the shop before she stopped. She looked, horrified at the body of her old friend.
"Oh, Elliot." She gasped before rushing forward. She kneeled down beside him and gazed at his battered body.
"See these marks?" Jace asked from behind her. "A demon was here."
At the moment, Clary didn't particularly care that a demon had been in the shop. She wouldn't have cared if a demon had been standing behind her. She was grieving. She reached out and closed his still-open eyes.
"He was tortured." Jace continued, insensitively. "But this isn't murder. He killed himself."
"What?" Clary whirled around to look at him. "How can you tell?"
"The blood from his eyes." Jace answered. "I've seen it before. It's a warlock incantation. It's basically their version of a cyanide capsule."
Clary opened her mouth to reply when they heard someone enter the shop.
"Hey." Jace said as Sebastian rushed in.
"Sebastian?" Clary managed to say. "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, saw the alert at the Institute." Sebastian said. "Is everything under control?"
"We're still not one hundred percent sure what happened." Jace replied. "But there was a demon presence here, but something doesn't add up."
"Oh my God!" Clary exclaimed, looking just past Sebastian at a potted plant. "It's Jonathan."
"How do you know that?" Jace asked her, shaking his head a little.
"The flowers." She said. "My mom shared a memory from when Jonathan was a baby. He'd done the exact same thing. And that gray demon Ichor, that's how Valentine described the aftermath of Jonathan's childhood kills."
She turned fully around to face Jace. "Jonathan was here." She told him.
"Sorry, uh," Sebastian started to ask. "Who's, uh... who's Jonathan?"
"He was my brother back when I was still a Morgenstern." Clary replied, looking over at Sebastian.
"He must have been looking for the mortal mirror." Jace sighed. "If he comes after it again, I'm gonna have to deal with him."
"What does that mean?" Clary asked incredulously.
"It means I'm gonna do anything in my power to protect the mirror."
"You'll kill him?" Clary asked her brother.
"If that's what it takes." Jace said. "Yeah."
"You don't even know if Jonathan's doing this on his own." Clary argued. "He could be under Valentine's influence."
"Yeah," Sebastian interjected. "Clary's got a point."
When his two companions turned to look at him he continued, albeit uncomfortably.
"I mean, what if Valentine's forcing him to do his bidding?"
"Yeah, OK, look," Jace said irritably. "I know exactly what it's like to be manipulated by Valentine. Probably better than anyone. You know, Clary. I gave you the journals Izzy, Magnus and I found. Jonathan Morgenstern is a demon-blooded monster who is responsible for the death of your friend. An innocent warlock."
"Remember what Valentine made you do." Clary said.
"I don't have demon blood." Jace spat.
"Just think about it, Jace." Clary insisted. "Valentine has manipulated us both. What if Jonathan is just his latest victim? We don't have any facts. And until we do, no one is getting killed!"
"Well, I suppose the priority right now should be finding that mirror." Sebastian sighed.
Neither Jace nor Clary replied as they looked back towards the dead warlock.
"Any luck?" Alec crossed the room towards Dot, completely on-guard in case she tried anything else.
"I'm getting closer to narrowing down the location." She replied, not looking up from the tablet he'd given her.
"You understand that once you retrieve the mirror, it becomes property of the Clave?" Alec confirmed.
Dot looked up at him, exasperated. "You think I want anything to do with this? The only thing I care about is stopping Valentine."
"No, I . . .I didn't mean to -"
"I'm sorry, but I've lost whatever faith in the Clave I had left. So, when I retrieve the mirror, it becomes property of Clary Fairchild."
"Lightwood. Clary Lightwood."
"Whatever. She's the only one that I trust. She can do whatever she wants with it."
"Fair enough." Alec nodded. He looked up and lifted an eyebrow when Magnus swept into the room.
Magnus peered over at Dot and glided over to his boyfriend, cupping the back of his neck and pulling him down into a searing kiss. Magnus held him there for a moment, moving his lips against Alec's and moving his free hand to grasp Alec's waist. Alec placed a hand on the side of Magnus' face and the other at the small of his back.
Magnus pulled back and smiled up at Alec, taking his hand off of the back of Alec's neck and stroking his cheek with the back of his hand.
"Aku Cinta Kamu." Magnus whispered. "I love you, Alexander Gideon Lightwood."
"I love you, too, Magnus Bane." Alec whispered back.
"It's Jonathan." Clary said as she ran into the office, out of breath, Sebastian and Jace behind her. "My... brother from before. He's the one who came after Elliot."
"He's after the mirror." Jace added.
Alec nodded as Magnus stepped aside, holding his arms out to Clary who gladly stepped into them, giving him a hug.
"Sebastian." Alec called. "Thanks, but we're good here."
"If I can be of any assistance, I'd be happy to help." Sebastian offered.
"Thank you." Alec acknowledged. "But we've got it covered."
"Sure." Sebastian backed out of the room and left.
"What do you have?" Jace asked as he shut the door behind the other Shadowhunter.
"We've narrowed it down to three locations." Dot answered. "Here, Here and Here." She pointed to three red dots on the tablet screen.
Jace and Clary moved in closer to look at the map.
"Wait," Clary said, glancing up at Alec before looking at Dot. "That's the park we used to go to when I was little. Jocelyn and I used to go there when I was a kid. She'd pack a picnic, watch me sketch for hours. It was our place."
Magnus moved to stand next to her and he too, looked down at the screen and hummed in agreement. "I used to take you there all the time, not your mother. I modified those memories, but that is the one she told me to use. It's possible she hid the mirror there."
"She hid it somewhere I'd remember. Just in case." Clary nodded.
Clary was getting ready to leave with Jace, Dot and Wesley, who'd shown up and offered his help, when someone knocked on her old room door. She opened up and found Sebastian standing there fist still raised.
"Hi," He managed.
"Hey, Sebastian." Clary said. "Um . . . I'm sorry. I'm just heading out on a mission." She turned around and walked back into the almost empty room to grab her jacket.
"oh, sure, yeah." Sebastian agreed. "I actually . . . I just wanted to . . . make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine." Clary shrugged her jacket on.
"Look, I saw how upset you were today. I'm really sorry about your friend."
"I keep losing the people that I care about." Clary admitted. "One after the other, it has to stop."
"And you're worried now Jonathan's back, that it... that it's not going to."
Clary shrugged. "I don't know." she stepped a little closer to him. "I mean Jace thinks he's a lost cause, so . . ." she sighed.
"What do you think?"
"I mean, I understand he has demon blood, I know what he's capable of, but... but he used to be my family. God, that's stupid, right?"
"oh, no. No!" Sebastian assured her. "God, it's not stupid at all!"
"And if there's any humanity left in him, shouldn't we at least try to save him?"
"I think so." Sebastian nodded.
Clary sighed and Sebastian moved in, cupping her face and pressed his lips to hers just as Wesley walked into the room.
"Sebastian!" Clary exclaimed as she pushed him away from her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. That was stupid." Sebastian apologized.
"Yeah," Wesley agreed. "It was. Kiss my girlfriend again and you'll be sorry."
"Wes," Clary sighed.
"Leave." He demanded, Glaring down at the blonde Shadowhunter.
Sebastian glanced warily at Clary before ducking out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
"You didn't have to be that rude." Clary turned towards the tall, muscular, over-all very attractive warlock, crossing her arms.
"He kissed you, you clearly didn't want it. I had every right to be rude."
"You called me your girlfriend."
Wesley shrugged. "He'll leave you alone, now."
"What happens when you and your soulmate get together?" Clary asked.
"Let's worry about that when it becomes a problem." Wesley replied, not making eye contact. "I believe we have a mission to go on?" He opened the door and swept an arm out in front of him, gesturing for her to exit the room.
Clary, Dot, Wesley and Jace stepped out of the portal and into the empty park, looking around. Dot led them up the walkway towards the gazebo.
"Clary, what I said earlier, about Jonathan..."
"No it's okay, you don't have to apologize." Clary said.
"I'm not apologizing."
"If it weren't for Alec, Jonathan would be the only family I have left right now."
Jace sighed. "You may not consider me family, but I care about you." The pair stopped walking as Jace turned to his adoptive sister. "Look, if you're ever in any danger, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep you safe. If that means Jonathan has to die, then so be it."
"Clary." Dot called. "The Ley Line intersection's close."
Jace and Clary followed Dot and Wesley the rest of the way to the Gazebo.
"It's here." Dot said when she reached the top of the stairs.
"Do you see something?" Wesley asked from his spot next to Clary.
Dot approached the statue towards the back of the Gazebo and reached out with her right hand. The air rippled gold in front of her fingers as she started speaking in a foreign language. She reached into the gold and pulled a tiny hand mirror out.
"That's it, isn't it?" Clary grinned. "That's the mortal mirror."
"Okay, let's go." Wesley said, and not a second later, Jace was thrown backwards by what appeared to be a demon.
With Jace out of the way, the demon approached the other three with a hand outstretched. He wanted the mirror. Wesley immediately placed himself in front of Clary, pushing her backwards a little as he reached backwards, holding on to her waist with one hand, the other poised in front of him, ready to protect them.
"Clary," Dot reached out and handed her the mirror before blasting the demon with magic. The magic had no effect and the demon tackled Dot, pushing her down to the ground, unconscious.
Jace was struggling to stand as the demon turned on Wesley and Clary.
"Wes! Take her and run!" Jace shouted.
Wesley nodded in agreement and prepared to make a portal as the demon sprinted to Jace and held a blade to his throat.
Clary pushed away from Wesley and ran towards Jace and the demon. "No don't!" She shouted. She stopped at the bottom of the Gazebo steps, not daring to come any closer lest the demon decide to hurt her brother. Wesley was behind her, a hand on her elbow, holding her in place. "You're Jonathan, aren't you?" She asked. "You used to be my brother."
Jonathan took in a ragged breath as he gazed longingly at Clary.
"You don't want to hurt me." Clary continued. "If you hurt Jace that's exactly what you'll be doing."
Jonathan turned back to look at Jace as Clary held the mirror out. "This is what you came for, isn't it? You can take this and go, or . . . you can come with us. We can help you. Whatever Valentine's told you, it's lies! Whatever happened in the past, whatever you've done, it doesn't matter. You're my family."
Jonathan turned to look at Clary just as Dot shot a blast of magic at him, blasting him backwards. In the same second, Wesley pulled Clary back up the stairs as Dot formed a portal in the Gazebo.
"Take the mirror and go!" Dot shouted.
"We can't leave Dot." Clary told Wes.
"She's right behind us." Wesley told her.
Jace heaved himself up off the ground and ran after the two of them pushing them through the portal.
Clary and Wesley shouted together in dismay as it closed without Dot.
Clary fell into Wesley's arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. "We can't leave her!" she cried as the warlock held her up and against his chest.
"Clary, I'm so sorry." Jace told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Clary pulled the mirror out of her pocket, still leaning against Wes and looked into it. It was almost like she was dreaming. She was drowning in Lake Lyn when two swords came hurtling towards her from either side.
She quickly shut the mirror and put more of her weight onto Wesley who in turn decided to just pick her up. He cradled her in his arms, bridal style as she shook her head in confusion.
"You okay?" Jace asked.
"Yeah, it was like my dream. I was back at the lake, drowning, and there were these two swords coming at me."
"Dream?" Jace asked.
Clary nodded. "Yeah, Alec woke me up from a nightmare last night. It was almost exactly like this." She paused. "These aren't dreams. They're visions. I think it's some kind of message."
"You wanted to see me boss man?" Clary asked as she met Alec outside the Institute the next morning.
"I have a special mission for just the two of us. But it's top secret, okay?"
"Got it." Clary agreed. "Lead the way."
Clary was starting to regret agreeing forty five minutes later when Alec was still leading her through town. Finally, he stopped outside a jewelry store, he opened the door and held it while Clary entered ahead of him, sending him a questioning gaze as she did.
"Why are we here?" She whispered as they approached the counter.
"I want your help picking a ring for Magnus." Alec told her.
"What?" Clary gasped as she followed Alec along the counter as he gazed down into the display cases. "You're going to propose?" She squealed.
"That's the plan." Alec confirmed.
"Hi, can I help you find anything today?" An employee asked them.
"Yeah, I'm looking for an engagement ring for my boyfriend."
A half hour later, Alec had picked a relatively simple silver band inlaid with rose quartz and agate, for unconditional love and protection. He'd just finished paying for the ring when Clary's phone rang.
"Alec. We have to go. It's Max."
Short Chapter!
Poll:
If Jace weren't the Owl, who should it be?