Charon found the experiment as she had escaped the facility in Edom where Asmodeus had been keeping her. She was lying on the ground, weakened from her first transformation into the first and only angelic demon.

After years of trying to awaken what they knew was inside her, finally, they'd figured out what had been missing. She just needed to be exposed to some pure angelic energy and she would be complete. Thankfully, Raziel had created beings in retaliation when the demons had 'accidentally' let information on her creation slip, and sent the first Shadowhunters to try and kill her.

But all they had done was complete her.

Now, all that was left to do was let her age, gain knowledge of all the worlds, the angels, the demons, the mundane world, Downworld. Grow her power and wisdom over the years, and build her up into the most powerful being in existence.

But she had to be watched over during that process, kept in line towards the demon side. She had the potential to be just as much of a threat to the demons as a savior. That was where Valak Mataecharonsan came into the picture.

She was awake, however, she couldn't move. Her limbs were lead, her breaths weak and jagged. She just wanted to rest, wanted it all to end.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She didn't even have the strength to move her eyes, nor the energy to care who was speaking to her. Unfortunately, the guy wasn't going to leave her alone, and he kneeled down to look to her face.

"Come on, I'll get you some help."

He hefted her up into his arms, taking her to a small house he lived in (by the orders of his master, to make him seem less intimidating) and set her on the bed.

Quickly, he began to process of healing her.

"Who are you?" She finally asked.

She had been quiet for weeks. To her, it felt as though talking would somehow make this real, force her to take this in as reality. She just wanted rest, to never get involved with anything ever again, but seeing this man rushing around to help her, not forcing her to speak, only asking that she eat and drink, though not forcing her into that either, she felt tempted to reach out once more.

There was something in her that trusted him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The wish for peace, to be left alone, was great, however the temptation eventually grew stronger as she began to recover, was able to stay awake for longer, and observe the world around her more carefully.

The man looked slightly surprised by hearing her voice, understandably, but he turned to her eagerly. "Me? Oh, my name's Valak. Valak Mataecharonsan."

"Mat…matae…what?"

Her voice was still weak, having not been used properly in ages, but the soup that he'd given her seemed to be helping tremendously. Her throat had never felt so nice, so soft and smooth.

He let out a chuckle. "Mataecharonsan. Matae. Charon. San."

"I'll call you Charon then."

"Huh?"

"Valak sounds too evil. Matae is too many syllables and is hard to say. San sounds like 'Son,' and you're not my son. Charon sounds nice."

He blinked. "Uh, sure. Okay. Charon. And do you know your name?"

She looked down in thought. "Shu, I think. Asu…shu…um…oh! Namir. Asushunamir."

"Last name?"

"Last name?"

"Yeah. I guess that means you don't have one, but for demons, we're born with our first names, but we can choose our surnames. It kinda feels like a personal thing for me. We don't get to chose our first names, but we can still make ourselves last names if we want, have some control over who we are identified as. My last name is Mataecharonsan."

"Where'd you come up with that?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was cool, so I decided to use it. A lot of Greater Demons don't care for last names, but I figured, why not?"

"I think it's cool."

"Thanks. What about you? Got a last name in mind?"

She looked to the ceiling and hummed in thought. "Hmm. Kandai. Yeah, I like that."

"Kandai? Where'd you get that?"

"I think it's an important name of someone I knew. It's been a while, but I remember that name's important. I know it."

"Well, nice to meet you, Asushunamir Kandai. I'm Valak Mataecharonsan, and I hope to get to know you better."

She hesitated for a moment, however, there was a gut feeling that made her muscles relax, made her trust this man with her life. She couldn't describe it, nor was she able to find it in her to care.

"Nice to meet you too, I suppose. And…I look forward to it."

"Please…please…guards…somebody…I am not Valentine…I am Magnus Bane…Valentine has escaped…please…somebody…"

"Shh, Shu," Charon muttered. "I'll go and handle Valentine and Magnus. After all, we can't have Magnus getting hurt while he's trapped in Valentine's body, or we risk breaking the soul bond. Since Valentine's body isn't adapted to magic, the bond is more vulnerable while Magnus is in his body. I've convinced Asmodeus to let me go and look after him while I let your memories be given to you through the gem I gave. Just promise not to hate me when you wake up, okay?"

"…Somebody…"

"I guess I'll have to leave it at that. Just hold on."

Charon adjusted his jacket in the mirror as he tested out his disguise as Shu. He had access to her memories, and so he was able to mimic her behavior and personality, as well as use her memories of events and actions, so this should be easy.

He - well, she now - walked out of her room, adjusting to the wedges he - she (AAHH, this was gonna be a pain, wasn't it?) had gotten from her closet. She totally knew how to walk in them, it wasn't as if she hadn't been disguised as a female before in her life and she was using Shu's knowledge as well, but it wasn't like he was a woman all the time.

Besides, it seemed as though Shu didn't wear these shoes often and had little experience. But Charon thought he/she looked good in the outfit he had chosen for her, so might as well rock it while she could.

She passed Magnus (Valentine) on the way out, who was shuffling around in a very un-Magnus-like way.

Hm, might as well have fun with this, Charon figured.

"Hey, Magnus!"

Magnus - or, as we shall refer to him, Not-Magnus - jumped at the sight of her coming out of her room. "…Hi…"

"What's up? You look startled. Considering we live together, I'd think you're used to my charms by now."

She went up and gave him a hug, and, just for kicks, kissed him on the cheek. "I'm heading out today to help with the Azazel hunt, but I'll see you later, hon."

"She must be his girlfriend," Valentine figured.

"Right," He said aloud. "I'll see you later…hon."

She smiled and ruffled his hair before walking out.

She then teleported to the Institute and took on Shu's Shadowhunter outfit (the runes obviously only a glamour this time) and headed in. Thankfully, Charon thought to bring Shu's necklace, her ring with the runes, which contained angelic power safe to use with demons, as she was part demon as well, and so he was able to slip past the wards undetected.

"Azazel's attacks go as far south as the meat-packing district," Alec was saying over a hologram of the city. "And then the trail goes cold."

"It's no use just tracking dead bodies," Jace pointed out. "With his ability to dematerialize, he could be anywhere."

"I think I might be able to help," Shu (Charon/Not-Shu) called.

"And us!" Izzy shouted, surging past the disguised demon with some other guy behind her.

"Izzy!" Clary called, giving her a quick and tight embrace. "We've been so worried about you. Where have you been?"

She looked nervously to Alec. "Looking for Azazel."

She smiled and turned to the blonde she'd brought in. "This is Sebastian Verlac, from the London Institute. When the demon came after me, Sebastian saved my life."

"Oh, I simply lent a hand."

"Sebastian's an expert on all things Azazel."

"When I studied abroad at the Paris Institute, I specialized in Greater Demons."

"Thanks for saving my sister," Alec said, offering his hand to shake. "I'm Alec."

"Yeah, thank you. I'm Jace," He agreed, shaking his hand as well.

"The great warrior in the flesh," Sebastian muttered. "Your reputation proceeds you."

Jace shuffled nervously and Sebastian turned to Clary and offered his hand once more. "As does yours. You must be Clary. Valentine's daughter."

She chuckled weakly. "Yeah, don't hold it against me."

"Well, we don't choose our parents."

"That's for sure," Not-Shu muttered.

"So, tell us about Azazel," Jace requested. "How to we take him down?"

"Hey, I am an expert on Greater Demons too!" Not-Shu protested. "The only way to banish him is to puncture his demonic core and send him back to the Void. In corporeal form, the core is located between the T8 and T9 vertebrae."

"But it's not that simple," Sebastian added. "The core is about the size of a pea."

"I was getting to that…"

"Oh, so the entry point's right below his sternum?" Jace confirmed, and the two of them nodded. "If I can get close enough, I can kill him."

"You wouldn't have enough velocity," Not-Shu said. "Trust me, I've banished this guy before."

"And even if you did, the defeat's only temporary," Sebastian added. "The nasty buggers always find a way to break out of their realm and come back."

"But, it's not an easy feat. At the very least, banishing him will be effective for a pretty decent period of time, if I do say so myself. Actually, Alexander, you might be of the most use here. If you're a pretty good archer, your arrow might be able to get the speed and accuracy we need."

"Thank you for the intel, Sebastian," Alec said. "We'll take it from here."

"If I can, I'd like to help," He offered.

"We appreciate that, but you don't have clearance to go on mission. Not at this Institute."

"Alec, you can't be serious," Izzy protested. "It's not like Shu has clearance to go on mission either, so having Sebastian can't be much worse."

"We know her better than we know him. We know we can trust her."

"Sebastian saved my life. I know we can trust him."

"Famous last words," Not-Shu muttered.

Now, Charon recognized the scent he (she) was getting from Sebastian. The Shadowhunter smelled funny, and now the demon realized it was because he was the one who summoned Azazel and made a bargain that released Azazel from Duduael in the first place. He was a Shadowhunter, but there was something off about him. Something demonic. Whatever he was doing here, it couldn't be a good thing, especially if he was infiltrating the Shadowhunters' trust. Maybe Azazel's 'attack' on Izzy and Sebastian's 'valiant rescue,' wasn't an accident.

Shu didn't like the Shadowhunters, but she wasn't exactly against them, either, and so Sebastian was not going to be her friend when she woke up. Charon decided to keep things on the DL, as if Sebastian knew about Greater Demons, he must've known about him. Valak was gone as far as the anyone outside of the Scooby-Doo club of Shadowhunters were concerned, so it was unlikely he'd come up in conversation, but better safe than sorry.

"Hey, Alec, look," Jace whispered. "We could use all the help we can get, and having another expert on Azazel might be useful."

"Now," Sebastian began. "As far as tracking is concerned, we should really think about-"

"We have a very capable Warlock for that," Alec interrupted.

There was a moment of silence as the others stared at him.

"You do what you want," Alec said. "I'm gonna work with Magnus."

"I'll come too," Not-Shu said. "If Sebastian is…half the expert on Azazel I am, well, they should be fine over here. Besides, I'd rather get out of this Institute while I can."

"You go on ahead, Shu," Clary agreed. "It's probably better you're back home with Magnus than here."

She nodded and followed after Alec, but Izzy stomped after them. "Alec, stop! Stop! What's your problem?"

"Sebastian Verlac shows up out of the blue and saves you?"

"What are you trying to say?"

Alec looked slightly taken back by his sister's disbelief in him and total belief in Sebastian.

"Alec, you did everything you could to help me. And I love you for that. But don't treat Sebastian like the enemy just because he was able to help me."

"And you shouldn't treat him like your best friend just because he bats his eyes, smiles, and does you a favor," Not-Shu said. "I've lived thousands upon thousands of years, Isabelle, and that's one of the oldest tricks in the book. The more useful they are, the more likely the deception. He did come out of the blue, and you can so far give me no proof of anything that's come out of that mouth. I get that you are looking for support after you just got over a bad period of your life, but that kind of gullibility leads to disaster in this life. You should know that by now."

She walked past and dragged Alec after her.

As they were walking, Not-Shu's phone alarm went off, and she pulled it out. "I gotta go," She sighed.

"Why?"

"I need to go check on things with Charon. He's looking into how Azazel escaped, but considering Azazel is above him in the demon hierarchy, he's walking on dangerous grounds."

"What did you have to trade him to do that for you, if it's so dangerous?"

"Not much. I just gave him the memory of the last time I ate spaghetti."

He chuckled. "That's it?"

"We're old friends. He gives me a discount."

"He's risking his life for you, or at least the wrath of the guys higher up than him. Sounds like he's giving you a discount for more than just being old friends."

"What? No~! Why would you think that?! He isn't…why do you say that?"

He laughed. "Just a little intuition. I could always be wrong."

"Well…we uh…kinda did date back in the day, but…uh…you know. Breakup. Dating a memory demon kinda makes trust hard."

"I hear ya. I'll call Magnus. We can handle things."

"I'll get back to you when I can."

"Take your time. We're fine."

"Right. See ya."

Charon teleported back to his room where Shu was, and felt her memory transfer coming to an end.

He tapped the gem at her chest that he'd given her, and refilled the memories inside to be transferred.

She continued muttering in her sleep, sometimes her own words and sometimes Magnus's. "Shu…can you…hear me…I'm trapped…Valentine's…stop me…I'm not…"

She settled down, as the memories began taking over again, and Charon headed back out.

Charon handed Shu a cup of tea, and she took it with a smile. "Thanks."

She had still been shy around Charon ever since they'd met, but her trust in him continued to grow as they spent more time together.

"I have nowhere to go," Shu admitted. "Once I'm fully healed…I don't really have a plan after that."

"You're welcome to stay with me," Charon said. "I can show you around the world."

"I don't like Edom. I grew up here. Too many memories. To much pain."

Shu had allowed Charon to look through her memories of what she knew, and he hadn't pried until given consent, of course. Over time, he'd unlocked her previous memories of her life that she'd lived so long ago when she was a child, before the demons took her.

Her mother had been brought to Edom to be nurtured and cared for by the demons, by Asmodeus in particular, but once Shu had been born, her mother was neglected, and Shu got the punishment for it. Not that the demons hadn't planned for that. They had. It was a part of their plan, in fact: to make sure Shu was tough from a young age, from the moment she was born.

"There is another place," Charon admitted. "One you might be able to access."

"Me? Why not you?"

"It's a special place, and I'm a demon, so I can't go without special circumstances. But you…well, you're not all demon. I'm sorry to remind you, it's just-"

"It's fine. I know you don't mean offense. What is this place you speak of?"

"It's not an advanced place, but it's the place where mundanes live, where your mother was initially from. It's away from all the demons. The children of demons do live there, mundanes with demon blood that makes them into a certain species, but overall, it's a lot less demonic than this place."

"Where my mother was from…? In a way, doesn't that mean it's where I'm from?"

"I guess you could say that."

"I'd rather live in the worst hellhole in existence than here. No offense, you've been so kind, but…Can we go for a visit?"

"Sure, if you can open a portal to get there."

"Can you teach me how?"

"I can certainly try. Not to push you, though, but it's gonna take some extensive training, some of which I may not fully understand."

"I'll take anything you can give. Just…I want to get away from this place for even just a moment. The smell of demons in the air, the aura, the…"

"Hey, I get it. We can start training whenever you want."

She set her tea down and stood. "Right now."

"Now?"

"When else? Do we have to wait until sunset or something? Or for the moon to be at a certain position? Come on! Let's do this thing!"

He chuckled. "Okay. We can start with a simple levitation spell, try and give your powers a warm up."

"Great! What's lev-it-ate-on?"

"Hey, Alec," Not-Magnus said.

"Hey. Look, I know you had a rough night, but um…I need your help tracking Azazel."

He paused. "I wish I could help…but I'm busy with a client."

"Are you okay? You sound strange."

"I had a rough night. Look, I need to get back to my client. If you need a Warlock, call Dorothea."

With that, he hung up, leaving Alec confused and suspicious as he ended the call.

Alec knocked on the door. "Magnus, you there?!"

Not-Magnus came to the door and opened it. "Hello."

"What's going on?"

Not-Magnus hesitated before shaking his head. "Nothing. Why?"

"Well, it's just…"

Alec walked into the room past Not-Magnus, surprising Not-Magnus, as he had no idea about the relationship between Alec and Real-Magnus.

"You were acting strange, on the phone just now. Terse."

Not-Magnus closed the door. "I told you, I'm busy."

Alec walked past in disbelief, while Not-Magnus stared at Alec in confusion. "Right. It's just, uh…you've never refused to help me when I need it, and I just…"

He looked over and saw Not-Magnus wasn't paying attention, looking around in concern.

"Magnus. What's wrong?"

Not-Magnus still looked to him in confusion.

"Hey…"

Alec put his hand to Magnus's face comfortingly, freaking Not-Magnus out, as that was once again a sign of intimacy that he had no knowledge about, especially from a person of the same gender. Now he was not only confused as to who Real-Magnus was dating, but how the hell he was supposed to get out of this situation.

"Talk to me."

Suddenly, Magnus was throw aside by telekinetic magic, and Alec saw Azazel had appeared. "Did I not tell you to get rid of him?"

Alec summoned his bow and pulled back a nocked arrow.

"Alec, don't!" Magnus shouted.

"I got this," He responded.

"Look out!"

Shu suddenly appeared out of a portal behind Azazel and wrapped her arms under his shoulders and pulled as hard as she could, keeping him in place with her magic so that he couldn't escape with the dissolving technique and causing the spell he had lined up for Alec to go flying into the wall.

"Alec, shoot!"

He took aim for where he'd been told was Azazel's demonic core just before Azazel used his foot to kick out a blast to send the Shadowhunter flying. But Alec kept his aim and release his arrow, hitting Azazel dead in the chest even as he landed on his back a good distance away.

Shu was tossed away and to the floor, but Azazel looked down to the shaft sticking out of his chest, before he began to roar, his form flickering as dark dust and lights began to swirl around him and he dissolved to ashes, even those disappearing a moment later.

Charon appeared out of his cloud of smoke, now back to himself, to run over to the weak Shu (yep, that's the real one) and pulled her into his arms.

"You idiot. Don't run off on me when you're in this state. You had me terrified."

She could say nothing and only pant, relaxing into his arms.

Not-Magnus scrambled over to the ashes Azazel had left on the floor. "No, no, no, no…"

Alec, seemingly unconcerned my Not-Magnus's concern about Azazel's defeat, rushed over to him, sheathing his bow.

"Are you okay?"

Not-Magnus took a few deep breaths. "Fine," He managed.

"Why'd you tell me to stop?"

Not-Magnus shook his head and thought about what to say. "I was afraid something terrible would happen. Something that couldn't be undone."

Alec wrapped him in a hug. "Hey, you're okay."

But Not-Magnus wasn't okay at all. Azazel might have been his only chance to get back to his original body, because despite being in a powerful Warlock's body, free from imprisonment, he was trapped in a filthy Downworlder, the very thing he hated most.

Plus, he didn't have control over his magic, and where was the fun in being trapped in a Warlock when you couldn't do any spells?

"I'm gonna take Shu and get her some medical attention," Charon announced.

"What's wrong with her?" Alec asked.

"She's weak. Azazel's not an easy customer, even for her. No doubt he did something while she was restraining him. I'll take care of her. I promise."

With that, they disappeared into his cloud of magic.

Charon set down Shu back into her bed, but she was still conscious.

"Chare…Magnus, he's…I can't…help me…where are you…I need to…"

She then tensed up and began to scream, holding her hands over her ears.

"Shu. Shu, stay with me!"

"He's…he's being tortured…! I have to…AHH!"

"Shh, you need rest. I'll handle him. Don't worry. Both you and he are going to be fine."

"But…"

"No. Relax. You're fine. I'll go get Magnus. I'll handle everything. Just sleep."

He put his hand on her forehead, and despite her protests, she began to calm, until she fell asleep once again.

Charon stood and transformed back into his Shu disguise, before remembering something.

"Sire!"

Asmodeus appeared out of his cloud of magic. "Yes?"

"As I'm sure you're aware, Azazel has been vanquished by the Shadowhunter without reversing the switching of your son and Valentine Morgenstern. What are we to do now?"

"You may go down once more and handle the affairs. My son should have a way to reverse Azazel's spell, but until he is able to do so, you must make sure he finds the opportunity and Valentine Morgenstern doesn't go too out of control until then."

"Yes, sir."

Shu concentrated before she stomped and all the rocks, big and small, that Charon had placed outside in the yard began to lift as though gravity had switched off.

"I did it! Without words! I did it!"

She tackled Charon in a hug, releasing her spell to have the rocks, everywhere from pebbles to bounders, fall to the ground, the latter causing a few big booms in the process.

"Of course you did it," Charon said. "You are a natural at this."

"I feel like I can do anything! I don't know, I just…I've never been so calm and relaxed when I've used my powers before. I've always been…forced into using them."

"Hey, you're here and you're free. And you are learning faster than I've ever seen someone learn their powers. At least in my experience."

"I have a great teacher."

"If by great, you mean winging it, then totally. I rock. No pun intended."

She laughed and wrapped him in another tight hug. "Thank you, Charon. For everything. For saving me, for helping me, for teaching me."

"It was my pleasure. Now, let's see if you're up to a little portal making."

"Right."

"Magnus!" Charon hissed.

"Who's there?!"

"Shh! Be quiet! You wanna get me caught?!"

"Who are you?" He asked quietly.

Charon allowed himself to be visible, still disguised as Shu, standing outside Valentine's cage.

"Shu!"

He pressed his hands against the clear wall of the cage.

"Shh! I've fooled the cameras to my presence, but they can still see everything that's going on in there."

Real-Magnus/Not-Valentine thought for a moment. "Give me a moment."

He then started pounding on the glass desperately. "Shu! Please! Anybody! Can you hear me?! I'm not Valentine, I'm Magnus Bane! Please!"

He began to sob, falling to sit against the glass, still facing Not-Shu, so that it looked like he was losing his energy.

"Wow, you're good."

"I can't feel our soul bond," He whispered without moving the rest of him and keeping his head down in despair.

"I know. It's me, Charon. I'm using Shu as a backup in case I get caught by someone coming in. Look, Shu is not in a good state right now. She can barely stay conscious with the soul bond so weak, but she can still feel your pain. I'm trying to find a way to fix this, but busting Valentine out isn't going to be an easy task."

"Please! I'm not Valentine!" He shouted for the cameras, before lowering his voice once more. "How did you get in here? I warded this place against all Downworlder power, and that should play to a certain extent to demon powers as well. Even if you can survive in here, you shouldn't be able to use you powers."

She pulled out Shu's necklace from under her shirt. "I borrowed a little something. Demon-safe angelic abilities. Comes in handy."

"Look, I have to convince them that it's me. Maybe you can get Shu to help confirm it, but-"

"She's in no position to be up and about, which is why I'm here. But Shu can at least pretend to be a Shadowhunter and fool sensors even when under close examination, but I, however, will be found out as a Greater Demon even with this thing. I'm sorry, but it's gonna take some time."

"Where's Alec? Please tell me Valentine's not-"

"He's done nothing to Alec except manage to convince him that he's just you having an off day. He doesn't seem hostile. He just wants to get out of your body."

He shouted for the cameras again. "Please! I'm Magnus Bane!"

Lowering his voice again, he continued. "Then we're in agreement. Can we convince him to agree to switch us back? I think I might have a way to reverse this, but-"

Suddenly Alec came stomping in and Charon disappeared. Alec flicked the lights on, slammed the door open, and stomped in, grabbing Not-Valentine and shoving him up against the wall.

"That's enough!"

Not-Valentine placed his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Alexander, thank god you're here. You have to listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me! This sick game of yours is over!"

"It's not a game. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not Valentine. I am Magnus. Azazel switched us with a curse. Unum ad Unum."

"You're insane."

"Alexander!" Not-Shu shouted, coming into the cell. "Let him try and prove it. Tell us something only Magnus could possibly know."

Not-Valentine gripped Alec's arm. "You gave me an Omamori charm that I carry with me every day. It was after our night in Tokyo."

He tried to take Alec's hands, but the Shadowhunter held him back.

"We were at the Palace Hotel. And we kissed on the terrace, and then you…"

"Stop."

"And then you took me in-"

"Stop!"

Not-Valentine was silenced, the two of them breathing hard.

"How do you know these things?" Alec demanded.

"Because…" Not-Valentine said, his voice breaking. "It's me, Alexander. The day of Valentine's massacre, you told me that you loved me. So if you love me, please. Please, you have to believe me."

Alec hesitated for a long moment, and Not-Valentine reached forward. "Alexander-"

But Alec shoved him back once more.

He held his hand out, his voice shaking. "J-J-Just…stop."

Alec turned to leave once more.

"Alexander!" Not-Valentine called, on the verge of tears.

Alec shoved Shu out of the cell and then slammed the door closed behind them.