Chapter 1

The day had come, Magnus had learned all he could at the Jakarta Institute. It was time for him to spend the next two years living and training at another institute. He didn't know where his new assignment was going to be, but he knew where he hoped to go. For the last 15 years he had heard all about the New York Institute and the shadowhunters who lived and worked there. He knew that New York was where the best shadowhunters trained and the current inquisitor had been the last head of the New York Institute. Besides providing the best shadowhunters, it was a center of the fashion world and that was where he wanted to be.

His parents had trained him from an early age and were instrumental in make the Jakarta Institute one of the better ones. Magnus knew all this and knew that when he left all eyes would be on him and what he could do. He wanted to make his parents proud and continue to be the best shadowhunter he could be.

Magnus was currently in the training room working with his best friend and parabatai Ragnor Fell. The two had grown up together and were inseparable. They were the two best fighters in the Jakarta Institute and everyone knew that where one went the other would follow. Magnus stood facing Ragnor waiting for the other to make a move. The two had fought together so often that they could anticipate the moves of the other. They were so in sync with each other and that is what made them an unstoppable force in the field.

"Magnus, you know this is only go to end one way, right?" asked Ragnor circling his parabatai and looking for an opening.

"Yes, the same way it always does. With me as the victor," replied Magnus moving forward a few steps.

"You don't always win and this time I will be the victor," Ragnor stated as he moved back all the while keeping his eyes on his opponent.

Magnus scoffed and moved forward while his right had moved as though to strike Ragnor. Ragnor moved to block Magnus' attack and instigate one of his own. Magnus backed up and circled his friend, preventing Ragnor from completing his attack. The two kept up the cat and mouse game for quite some time until both had to admit, at least this time, that it was a draw. Magnus wiped his brow and looked at Ragnor, he knew his friend was tired and this would be the end of their training session for the day. They needed to get cleaned up and prepared for their shifts in the operation center in 30 minutes. Magnus gathered up his stuff and prepared to leave the training room.

"Magnus, Ragnor you are both wanted in Asmodeus' office immediately," stated another shadowhunter walking into the training room.

"Do you know what it is for?" Magnus inquired as he started to leave the room.

"He just said that he needed to speak with the two of you immediately. Didn't give me any other information than that," replied the same shadowhunter.

Magnus and Ragnor nodded at the other shadowhunter and left the training room. The two looked at each other as they walked down the hall to Asmodeus' office. Neither was completely sure what the man wanted from them, but knew they would find out soon enough. They quickly arrived at his office and Magnus knocked to alert Asmodeus of their presence. They received permission to enter and quickly opened the door.

"Ah Magnus, Ragnor how good of you to come so quickly," stated Asmodeus standing up to greet the two.

"Well we were told to that you needed to see us immediately and so figured we shouldn't keep you waiting," remarked Ragnor, as he and Magnus took a seat in front of the desk.

Asmodeus took a look at the parabatai before continuing.

"I wanted to see you to talk about your placement for the next two years. As you know part of serving in other institutes is to meet fellow shadowhunters but it is also to learn how they work and how they institute they work out runs. Every head of an institute has a different way of running their perspective institute.

"A lot of thought has gone into where to place the two of you. The Clave know that the two of you work well together and that is part of what makes placing you so hard. It has been decided that you will be split up for the next six months, this is to see how you work without having your parabatai by your side constantly. After six months you will be evaluated and then a decision will be made about the remainder of your placement. It is very likely that if you do well without the other that you can finish the rest of your placement together, but I cannot say for certain how that will work out."

Asmodeus gave them a moment to think about this and what it would mean for them. Sure the two had spent time a part since becoming parabatai but never the six months they were being asked to do now. Asmodeus picked up a couple of files off his desk and handed one to each of the boys, in it was their placement for the next six months.

Asmodeus gave them another moment before he started talking again, "Ragnor as you can see you will be spending the next six months at the London Institute. It was decided that this would be a good fit for you. You will work closely with Lydia Branwell, she is the head of security, but also next in line to take over as the head of the London Institute. I know your strengths lie in strategy and security and Lydia is the best out there. You will learn a lot from her.

"As for you Magnus, you will be serving at the New York Institute. Your interests and desires in improving our relationship with the downworlders is what made this decision easy as to where to put you. You will work closely with Isabelle Lightwood, chief medical examiner and weapons master; as well as Jace Herondale the current head of the institute. The two have been instrumental in creating many new councils to improve downworld relations in New York. They are young but they are good at what they do. My hope is that you both will learn a lot at each of the institutes you have been assigned to.

"Please read the information in the files and familiarize yourself with who you will be working with. You will each have just two days to get ready before you leave for your new institutes. Do either of you have any questions?"

Magnus was shocked, ye he had hoped to go to New York, but he didn't think he would be separated from Ragnor. It was a lot to take in and he only had two days to prepare to leave. He looked over at Ragnor who just sat there in shock. The two regarded each other and knew that even if they were separated they would always be there for the other.

"I just have one question," stated Magnus looking up from the file in front of him, "Will I still be able to talk to Ragnor even though we will be at different institutes?"

"Yes you can still talk to one another and send each other fire messages, but it is likely that you won't see each other for the next six months," replied Asmodeus looking at the two boys fondly.

He was going to miss them. They worked hard, but they were also always getting themselves into one scrape or another. He knew this would be good for them, but he also worried as to how this would out since they were so close.

"If you don't have any other questions then Ragnor you are free to go. Magnus there are still a few things I wish to discuss with you," Asmodeus stated.

"I don't have any other questions and I'm sure if I do that I should be able to find the answers," Ragnor said standing up to leave the room.

Magnus was unsure of what else Asmodeus needed to talk to him about. He remained seated and hoped that he hadn't done anything to get himself into trouble yet again.

"Magnus, I just wanted to say how proud of you your mother and I are. I know you really wanted to go to New York and I think you can make a difference there. What I need to talk to you about is something that Isabelle and Jace asked me to bring up. There are a lot of downworlders who come in and out of the institute there, more so than any other institute in the world. The two have done a lot to improve relations there with the downworld since their parents move to Idris full-time. They want to make sure that you aren't going to do anything to destroy those relationships. I know you, but to Jace and Isabelle you are an unknown coming in and they can't know that your interest in downworlders has to do with working to continue to improve on what they have done. Please keep that in mind over the next little bit and do everything you can to put them at ease after you arrive," Asmodeus explained.

"I understand Father and I will continue to do all I can to make you and mother proud of me. I cannot wat to get to New York and learn from those I will be working with and to also hopefully do what I can to make a difference," Magnus stated looking up at his father.

"That's all I can ask of you. You are free to go, but remember your mother and I expect you for dinner tonight so please don't forget."

Magnus assured his father that he wouldn't forget about dinner and would be there on time. He hadn't made it the last few times because he had been out on patrol, but he understood that this would be one of the last times he could spend any time with his parents. He wanted to sit and talk with them about the mundane things going on in their lives and just spend some time with them before he left. Magnus had a good relationship with his parents and he was going to miss them when he left, but he was also looking forward to leaving and seeing what else was out there in the world. He had only ever left Jakarta to go to Idris, and while Idris was beautiful, he wanted to see what else was in the world.

He heard the door open for the final time that day. He knew they were bringing him his dinner. He had to eat it quickly or else he wouldn't get it all. There was only 20 minutes allotted for his mealtimes and he used them wisely. When he had first been imprisoned, he hadn't realized the importance of eating quickly and would just take his time eating. He quickly learned that if he wanted to eat all his food then he needed to do so quickly. He also couldn't save any of his food. His guards would check him after mealtime to make sure that there wasn't any food hidden in his room or on his person. He had also learned that lesson the hard way.

If you asked him, he had learned a lot of his lessons the hard way. He didn't understand why he was imprisoned but at least he was fed regularly and allowed to move around. He was kept under lock and key and meals were pushed through a slot in the bottom of the door. He was chained up as he was taking to and from his training sessions. The measures had been put in place after his numerous attempts to escape. He had been discouraged to try it again after his last attempt, but that didn't stop him from formulating another plan and hoping he would have the chance to make another attempt at escape.

The one thing he was not allowed to do in all that he had been granted was make use of his magic. The room where he was kept had dampening runes written on the walls and he had ankle cuffs and wrist cuffs he would wear when not in his room that would dampen his magic. He had received only a single rune in his life and that is when it was discovered that he was different from the others around him. The rune itself didn't harm him, but it reacted differently on him they it had on the others who had received this rune at the same time as him. He could vaguely remember the ceremony, but he couldn't remember everything and that is what bothered him. He wanted to remember more details and he wanted to be able to live outside the two rooms that he spent all his time in.