"You haven't had anything to eat or drink all day," Magnus sighed. "Do I need to force-feed you?"
Magnus handed Alec a cup, but Alec held his hand up. "No…" He hesitated and then sighed. "Look, Jace…he's my parabatai. So I should be able to help him. But this, I just…I don't know how."
Alec turned to look out the balcony doors again. Magnus sighed and set the cups he'd brought down. He took Alec by the arm and turned him around.
"I know you're scared. But we don't know for sure if Jace is going down as Céline." He placed his hands on Alec's shoulders comforting. "Don't lose hope."
Alec took a deep breath and put his hand to Magnus's arm. "Thank you."
With that, Alec moved to grab a book from a pile on the table, opening it and sighing as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"What's all this?" Magnus asked, grabbing his own book from the pile and flipping it open.
"I need to stop these mundane murders. But we have no idea who or what the Owl is. And…we hit a…dead end on testing on Morgan." Magnus gave him a questioning look. "Digging for clues," Alec summarized.
Magnus nodded. "Not to be an overeager warlock boyfriend, but…need a hand?"
Alec looked up before shaking his head. "You help me all the time. If I came to you every time I had a problem-"
"We'll spend more time together. Ugh, the torture."
Alec shifted in his seat but a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Magnus set his book aside. "Look, after I get some food in you, I'll come down to the Institute and examine Morgan. See if my magic can shed some light on things."
Alec set his book on the pile and stood to face the balcony again. "Thank you. But with this…I just…"
He shook his head, blinking back tears. Magnus moved behind hi and put his hands on the Shadowhunter's shoulders. "We'll make it through this."
Alec leaned into the touch and turned with a sigh as he tried to release he tension in his shoulders.
"Okay? One step at a time."
"Yeah," Alec said, but it came out only a whisper. "Yeah, I know." He smiled at Magnus. "Thank you."
Magnus caressed his cheek before patting him on the shoulder and leaving to get some food as promised. Alec's head fell once more.
Shu looked around as she walked down the streets.
She heard a humming from each of them, whispers of thoughts in their conscious minds as well as their sub-conscious. Shu tried to block it out, but even if she ignored the voices, she still felt the pain. Each person's pain, she felt it overwhelming her. There was so much pain in this world - hate, anger, loneliness, desperation, helplessness.
Shu saw a man who lived on the street, a small cup beside him requesting money. On a piece of cardboard, it read in broken handwriting that he was blind. She kneeled in front of him and put her hand on his forehead. He reached out to touch her hand, to memorize it, his way of seeing and identifying her, and she let her power seep through to help him, to take away his sorrow.
A moment later, his milky eyes cleared.
"I know it is bright, it is full of color, it is overwhelming. But let your mind relax, allow it to process sight once more."
She took the small can filled with about seven dollars' worth of money accumulated over many days.
"You will have the money you require to live once more, to start a new life. Of course, you must find a job, but you will find your passion within sound, music, a world without sight needed, left to the imagination."
She transformed the can in her hand into a simple, brown, leather wallet.
"Everything you require shall appear here. The world around you shall conform to your new life. You are blessed by an angel, but none you can see with your own eyes. It is simply a miracle. Nothing is wrong, nothing will ever be wrong for you again."
With that, she stood and walked down the street, a small weight lifted off her shoulders. She tapped the next person she passed on the forehead, sending her power through him. Argument with his wife, divorce, custody battles. The next time he saw her, both of them would make up. She tapped a woman on the shoulder, the small glow of her power activating. Carrier is falling apart, can't find a job that pays enough for the rent, is talented in writing but can't use that as a carrier until she find the money to begin. She would find a stable job, write a story, find a publisher that would help her, and become a famous author.
Shu smiled as she continued walking. Giving miracles, it brought joy to her heart, real joy that she hadn't felt for days ever since her demonic half had burned away. It was like a drug, and with all the pain she was feeling around her, she needed this reprieve, as much as she could possibly get.
"Whoa, angel, slow your roll."
Shu snapped out of her daze and blinked at a girl in front of her - a woman, rather. She looked to be in her twenties, dark black locks flowing down to her waist, blood red eyes staring at the angel. To Shu's angelic eyes, the woman looked mundane, but Shu also sensed a power from her, hidden but strong, as though there was a black hole hidden behind her that Shu felt tugging at her senses.
"Who might you be?" Shu asked warmly.
"I'm…Val. What's an angel like you down here? In the flesh?"
"I…I was here before, then suddenly there was this bright light and I was an angel."
Val raised an eyebrow. "A human possessed by an angel? But the human still has control? Or are you an angel with amnesia?"
"I remember everything. I've been here for many, many, many, many years. But to cleanse the lines of ley, an orb of light exploded and I was…cleansed as well."
Val's brown scrunched in confusion. "Some friends of mine cleansed the ley lines recently. Are you…were you a Shadowhunter? That somehow got the mundane burnt out of you by accident?"
"No. At least, I don't believe so. Once, yes, I might've been called a Shadowhunter. But Shadowhunters are flawed. The dears must change should they hope to survive."
Val sighed. "Okay, you must be new at this one way or another, but you have to know that helping so many people can disrupt the balance. Only demons ever disrupt the balance, and even they make deals of equal trade - every boon has a cost. What you're doing is dangerous. For every person you help, another person is felled with the opposite luck, a curse that's been placed upon them without their knowledge, consent, and not of their own actions - something they didn't deserve."
"But…helping people makes the pain go away."
"I know. The pain is scary, it hurts, but you can't just make the pain go away without giving it to someone else."
Shu stared at the mysterious woman. "Have I aided you?"
"Not with your powers, no."
"Then why has the pain lessened? Why…can I breathe again?"
Val smiled. "I feel nothing but the pain, just like you. It's overwhelming, it's lonely, it's painful at times. But it's my nature. The only difference being that you're compelled to fix the pain you sense from others, while I must remedy my own pain by myself - resort to dealing with others, bargaining for happy memories that ease the pain just a bit. I look for joy in any place I can, even if it means I watch another's sorrow so that I might feel better about myself."
"Yet as I look to you now, I feel the pain you hold as I fix it. I am giving you my power with just our proximity, evoking my feeling of…satisfaction, euphoria. But I've done no dangerous act of aiding your situation."
She smiled. "My aura must counter yours in a healthy way. Because you're doing it right, angel. You're making the pain go away. I can…breathe again too."
Shu smiled. "I…I was told to…clear my head. A restaurant, or a bar. Some place for relaxation."
Val chuckled. "Well, a bar's usually the place to go when stressed. Seeing as neither of us can most likely get drunk, I'm not sure how well that'll pan out."
"Well, we can certainly try."
Val smiled. "I like your enthusiasm. Come on, I'll buy you a drink."
Shu nodded. "Yes, I…I'd like that."
"What's happening?" Clary demanded.
"We're not sure," Magnus admitted.
"How long has the system been down?" Alec asked.
"Less than two minutes," One of the Shadowhunters men - Underhill - reported.
"Hopefully it was just a glitch," A girl - Lindsay - added.
Alec and Clary shared a worried glance before the three of them instantly knew where to go. They entered the elevator and went downstairs to the prison cells where they found the mundane-turned-demon girl, Morgan, lying still at the back of the cell. Considering the girl had gotten no rest since she'd been brought in, there was no way that she could just be sleeping for no reason.
"No…" Alec muttered.
They went to the door and into the cell. Alec flipped her over while Magnus snapped for his magic to start examining her. Suddenly, she gasped to life and sat up, pressing herself against the wall as she saw the three people standing over her. She looked around panting, confused and terrified and certainly not possessed.
"What's going on?" Clary asked.
"She's free of all demonic possession," Magnus confirmed.
Magnus let his magic fade while Clary looked back to Morgan in disbelief.
"Where am I?" Morgan demanded.
"Hey, you're okay," Alec said gently. "You're okay."
Shu snapped. "You were drugged at the party you went to, attacked in an alley before you were rescued by these nice woman. Unfortunately, you were suffering from symptoms of withdrawal. Not knowing what to do, they took you to the authorities and you were locked within a cell until you had ridden out the withdrawal and passed out. There are no holes in the story, nothing to question, nothing more to worry about."
Morgan's pupils dilated as her memories were altered.
"Any who come into contact with her shall have their memories altered to believe the same story from any perspective necessary. It need not be physical contact. Anyone of relevance within the same building with a 20 meter radius shall be affected."
"I didn't know you had a power like that, Shu," Clary commented.
"I did not before. I never knew, I never dared to know. I know how to help her, to fix her life, to make this fear go away from her.
Magnus was doing inventory alone, writing down anything that he was running low on. It was weird. Shu rarely ever left his side, and even when she did, Magnus felt her, alive and safe. Now, he suddenly felt a small bit of paranoia about where she was. Though his soul bond was still intact, he couldn't tell where Shu was.
They always took inventory together, it was twice as fast that way. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done it alone.
A moment later, he suddenly felt his sister was close. But that was impossible, her angelic half didn't have the soul bond anymore. Unless it was fixed. Or it could be her demonic half had come to wreak havoc.
But Magnus felt a burst of relief that he couldn't simply ignore with reason. He wanted to feel his sister again, he wanted to know that everything was okay. This could be a trap, but he wanted his sister back. It was almost overwhelming, he didn't know what to do.
He was startled out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He went over and opened the door to find Shu, looking back to her normal self with black hair and brown eyes. His Shu, his soul-bonded sister from back when he hadn't even fully grown into his warlock ageless state. Magnus couldn't help but feel a burst of relief. She was here. It was okay.
Beside his sister was another person - a woman.
"So you're Magnus Bane," The stranger woman asked.
"Shu, who's this?" Magnus asked.
"Don't worry, Mags," Shu said firmly. "Everything's okay. This is a client who desperately needs help. You'll help, won't you?"
"Of course," Magnus smiled. "How can I help you?"
"I have a rather…complicated problem, and I hear if anyone can help me…it's you."
Magnus nodded. "Come on in."
He opened the door for them and the two women walked through as Magnus closed the door behind them.
"I would've sworn I knew every warlock in this city," Magnus commented as the three of them sat at the table over tea.
"Oh, I'm not from around here," The woman said, sipping her tea.
"And how is it that you met dear Shu and heard about my services?"
She set her tea cup and saucer down gently. "A friend spoke of you both: the late Ragnor Fell?"
Magnus looked up from his drink, setting it down as well.
"I'm no slouch," The woman continued. "But…what I do need is beyond my level of expertise."
Magnus smiled. "Well, for a friend of Ragnor's…I would do just about anything." The woman smiled as Magnus stood. "So…what exactly do you need?"
The woman turned to the shelf of potions with a deep sigh and stood. "Well…I'm looking for something that could make a person…fall out of love."
Magnus looked up with surprise in his eyes.
"Is that something you could do?"
"I can…" Magnus began hesitantly. "…but I don't recommend it. You see, heartache, in all of its bittersweet torture, is almost always preferable to the alternative. My elixir would erase everything you've ever felt for the other person. It would be almost as if you've…never loved at all."
"Well…it's actually not for me," The woman clarified. "It's for a former lover. A soldier. I've tried to get him to move on, but he's still madly in love, and his obsession is starting to distract him from his duties. And…well, I worry…what could happen if he can't focus on the task at hand?"
"In the rare case, I suppose…erasing love is actually an act of compassion," Shu stated firmly. "Don't you agree, Magnus?"
He smiled. "Of course."
He grabbed a couple ingredients and began mixing them together.
"An hour before he drinks this…you must add one last ingredient," Magnus began, adding some liquid from a dropper and a pinch of grain while the woman held her hands up, itching with anticipation. "A tiny sliver…of your soul."
The woman froze. "My soul? Why?"
"Well, you are the object of his affection. In order for the elixir to work, it must contain a trace of you." She considered this information with a pensive face. "You do know how to perform an extraction, don't you?"
She smiled. "Of course."
Magnus held up a small bottle of light, sky blue liquid, sealed with a cork. He snapped and infused it with his magic before it turned a darker ocean blue. He handed it over and she took it with a smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Bane. You really are a true lifesaver."
"You did well, Magnus," Shu said gently.
She nodded for the woman to leave and she smiled and did so, walking out the front door and closing it behind her. Shu sighed and took Magnus's hands.
"I miss you, brother, I truly do. But the time is not right for us to be together. Not yet."
"What are you-?"
Shu flickered for just a moment, and she was gone. Magnus suddenly felt the emptiness of her absence, a small jolt in his chest as though he'd just woken from a dream. Had she even been there in the first place? Had that other woman? No, he definitely made her the potion - his ingredients were still out of place, used up.
Had he just imagined his sister in his desperate attempt to want to feel their bond again? He missed her, he wanted to feel his sister beside him again. Though the soul bond hadn't been broken, there was still this insidious fear when he saw her yet didn't feel her, a pain. He wanted her back, barging in on his life, making fun of him, finishing his sentences, revealing stuff about him to others to Magnus's dismay. He wanted her cooking, her taking over and having clients even back when he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn because 'I'm the High Warlock of Brooklyn's sister. There's nothing in the precious Shadowhunter law that says I can't have clients.'
Maybe he was hallucinating, maybe she had been a mirage he'd created unconsciously with magic. In any case, his sister was gone again, and there was nothing to be done.
Magnus smiled and grabbed a box, setting it on dresser. With a small sigh, he opened it, looking at the myriad of contents inside and placing his hand gently on them. He picked up a small trinket, wrapped with a leather cord and some beads with a dark blue feather attached at the end. He ran his fingers along the feathers gently, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips that he swallowed down.
Alec came up behind him, buttoning his shirt. "Everything okay?"
Magnus quickly dropped the trinket and closed the box lid. "Yeah! Everything is…great. Just tidying up a bit."
He moved to the shelf and set the box under a pile of books.
"Tidying up? Why don't you just…snap your fingers?"
"Well, I find it relaxing." He chuckled lightly. "I suppose I'm odd that way."
Alec chuckled. "You're odd in a lot of ways."
Magnus noticed Alec buttoning the cuffs on his shirt. "Is that…one of my shirts?"
Alec looked down at himself. "Yeah…is it…" He held his arms out to show off the patterned blue shirt. "…not my style?"
"Or your sleeve length."
Alec flipped his hands to see that the sleeves were a couple inches too short. Magnus snapped and his magic whooshed across Alec's extended hands as the sleeves extended to the proper length.
"Better."
Alec flexed his arms with a smile and adjusted the cuff links again. "Fits perfectly. But still, I think it would be nicer…" He took a deep breath. "If I…had one of my own shirts."
"Oh, okay. I think I can manage that."
Magnus snapped and waved his hands, thinking up Alec's wardrobe, but Alec quickly interrupted. "No it's okay. I-It's fine!" Magnus came to a stop and Alec held his hand out. "It's just I was thinking…that it wouldn't be an issue if I didn't have to go back and forth…so much. I mean I…spend almost every night here. So…what if I…moved in?"
Magnus's face, rather than the encouraging smile Alec was expecting, stayed in his 'I think that's a bad idea but I don't want to tell you' state.
"Bad idea?"
"No! It's…a wonderful idea." Alec waited for Magnus to give him the catch. "For the future."
Alec was speechless as he shook his head and blinked. "Okay, um…you know, I just thought…"
"We've been seeing each other for less than two months," Magnus explained. "Alexander, once we move in together, our relationship will change."
"Yeah, we'll be even closer."
"There's no such thing."
Alec couldn't tell if Magnus was saying moving in would only detriment to their relationship or if he was trying to say they were already as close as they'd ever get and Magnus couldn't imagine being happier than he already was. Alec still shifted in frustration either way.
Magnus stepped forward and took Alec's hand. "If there's one thing I've learned in the…course of my long life…it's to take your time," He stressed. "Okay?"
Alec nodded, if hesitantly, and accepted Magnus's kiss.
"Speaking of time, I…gotta go. I'm already late for a housecall. Talk to you tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah!" Magnus turned and grabbed his bag and a book. "See you then."
"See you."
As Magnus left his view, Alec's eyes were drawn to the box that Magnus had set on the bookshelf.
Magnus quickly rushed off, but passed Shu as he left. "And where have you been all night, young lady? Nevermind, I don't have time right now. But we will talk about this when I get back."
She watched as Magnus rushed away and entered the apartment with a deep sigh.
"Hey, you feeling better?" Alec asked.
"Yes. I took your advise and…cleared my mind. I feel much better. Thank you Alexander. I suppose I didn't realize how much I was changing, but…I'm all good."
Alec nodded. "Good. Ugh…look, we need to try and figure out what happened to Morgan, how it's possible that she went from more than just possessed - to being completely demonic - to being just herself again. Do you have any idea?"
Shu sighed. "Well, it's possible that the break in and Morgan's revert was an act of trying to hide whoever did this to her. The demonic energy signature, with the right person it could've been traced if Magnus had gotten to her in time, definitely. Now that Morgan's okay…"
"We've lost our only lead as to who's doing this. But why leave her alive? Why not kill her?"
"Maybe they want to pick her up again later once she's free, maybe they were more worried about the demonic energy that could be traced and were in a hurry…" Shu let out a deep sigh. "But even more people have been taken ever since Morgan. We're nearly up to 30 victims, so maybe the loss of Morgan wasn't one that they were too concerned about, just as long as she couldn't be traced while within Shadowhunter custody. Like it or not, we can't just guard every person in New York all at once. We are losing this battle. But I can say that whatever happened to Morgan had to have been an ancient spell that reacted to the specific demonic signature. If we can figure out what that spell is, we'll be prepared for when we meet her maker."
Alec nodded and looked to the bookshelves. "So, where do you wanna start?"
Shu waved and all of the books came flying out of the shelf, opening up to be read. She flicked a couple of them to return to the shelf and filtered out ones on depossession and exorcism.
"The real question is, where do you wanna start?"
"Izzy, I looked through everything Magnus has on depossession. Nothing matches Morgan's symptoms. I'm, uh…" Alec's eyes were drawn to the bookcase where the box Magnus had been looking at was placed. "I'm leaving now."
"Shall we go, Alexander?" Shu called from the front door.
"Yeah, just…you go on ahead, I wanna take another look around," Alec called.
"Okay, just make sure to put things back where you found them."
When Alec heard the door close behind her, he looked around cautiously and then leaned down to extract the box from beneath the books. He set the box down and looked around again before opening it and finding a bunch of items that he didn't recognize. What drew his attention was a photo with a note attached to it. Alec flipped to see the photo was old, with an image of Magnus standing beside another man - both looking to be dressed as soldiers from some war.
Alec flipped the picture and read the note attached, written in a fancy old-fashioned cursive. "If anything will keep me safe, it's this picture, close to my heart. All my love, George."
Alec's lip twitched in irritation.
"Hey."
Alec jumped and dropped the photo into the box. He didn't close it for fear of looking even more suspicious, and turned as calmly as he could.
"Charon, hey, you're…awake."
"Charon…right," The demon nodded. "Ugh…listen, I've been out for a while, but…do you know where Su…I mean Shu's ring is? Th-The one with the, uh, th-the angelic power to demon power ability? I-I just mean…if she's turned full angel and all…I might need it to…you know, survive her presence."
Alec nodded. "Right, right. Ugh…I'd assume the ring would be in her room or just on her person. She just…she just left for the Institute. I was about to go too. I was just finishing up here. We can go now, if you'd like. I can…get you access to the Institute."
Charon looked nervous, but seeing as Alec was trying desperately not to get caught as well, he wasn't able to notice. "No…no I'd rather stay here. I can wait for her to come back. I'm still recovering so…I might just stay and relax, take it easy. You go."
Alec nodded. "Right. I'll see you later."
Charon nodded and headed back to the room he was sharing with Shu. Alec quickly closed the box and rushed to put it back into place under the books on the shelf. Then, he hurried to the Institute.
Alec was staring out the balcony doors - something that he seemed to be fond of when he was thinking too hard - while Shu swung her legs over the arm of the couch in his office, sitting on it sideways. She was still in her angel white dress with no shoes on and no jewelry. If one didn't know any better, they might've assumed she was in her nightgown.
One of the Shadowhunters, a nice guy called Underhill, came walking into Alec's office, clearing his throat and seeing Alec's mood. "Is now not a good time, sir?"
Alec turned, composing himself. "No, it's fine. What is it?"
"I wanted to report that the main systems have been updated and rebooted."
"Great, thank you."
Alec walked over to his desk, but Underhill stayed and took a few steps nervously to convey that he had more to say.
"Is there something else?" Alec asked.
"I, uh…actually just wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"For paving the way for Shadowhunters like me." Alec gave a questioning look and Underhill sighed. "I've been on the front lines for over 10 years. But…I've always had to keep my private life separate." He hesitated as a Shadowhunter walked past the door in the hall, stepping deeper into the room and closer to Alec's desk to speak quietly. "If it wasn't for you, I don't know if I ever would've been able to come out at the Institute."
Alec shifted in realization. "Oh."
"Your…your courage…sir, it's inspiring." Alec nodded, flattered and a bit embarrassed. "I mean, here you are, in this…committed relationship - with a warlock no less. It's loving and it's trusting. It's amazing."
Alec nodded with a smile, though it seemed slightly forced. "Yeah, it is."
"Ithuriel?"
"Yes, I need your help," Clary said. "I just need to talk to the angel. It's about Jace. He's been stressed out about this mental illness that his mom had that might be hereditary. He's worried that he's going crazy. It's just…if we go to the Silent Brothers and they can't fix him, they might deem him unfit for duty."
Shu shifted. "Listen, Clary. I…I'm not really on the good side of the angels. I may be pretty angelic right now, but the angels are extremely complex and strict. They don't make housecalls. They only talk to you when they want to talk to you - and trust me, that's not very often. You could end up angering them, and while Ithuriel is nice to you because of your blood, even he has his limits. From his perspective, you're the child that he was imprisoned and tortured for. At the same time, you and Jace could connect to him so he needed your help to escape. Pushing your luck is how you get smited."
Clary sighed. "This is really serious, Shu, please. I can't tell you all the details, but…there has to be a way."
"When you pray to an angel, when you think their name and direct your thoughts and/or voice to them, if they're on Earth, they will hear you. When Raziel came down before, when he was summoned, it was a special case that he could only hear the ones who summoned him. People talk about Razz, say his name, think about him in all his glory, whatever, and it can get overwhelming to the angelic mind. The only people who can have stable conversations with the angels are probably the Iron Sisters - they have ways to personally talk to certain angels and certain angels alone. I can probably call out for Ithuriel, but there's little chance that he'll come down here to talk to me, and I'm not allowed in Heaven anymore. Angels telepathically communicating with other angels - just me and Ithuriel from up there to down here, we might only cause trouble for each other. Go to the Iron Sisters for help if you must, but I can't help you, I'm sorry. I wish I could, I really do, but if you want, I can take a look at Jace rather than let you go through all that trouble?"
Clary shook her head. "No, I don't want to ask you of that. You're still adjusting to this new development, you don't need this pressuring you into figuring out things too fast. You take your time. I'll…I'll talk to the Iron Sisters."
"Dumb, useless demon," Lilith hissed.
"Little crawler didn't cut it?" Namir asked. "Those ones can't process a person's scent from someone wearing their clothes. For all you know the thing took on the wrong Shadowhunter and they're in a gang of them."
Lilith stomped out to the balcony.
"Where are you going?" Namir demanded.
"It appears I'll have to get my hands dirty after all."
"Lilith, that's not a-"
Lilith jumped off the balcony and transformed into a dragon Edomei and flew off.
"-good idea," Namir sighed. "Dammit. Give me the staff!"
One of Lilith's disciples walked up and handed her a faerie staff, freshly stolen from the Seelie Queen. Such a thing hadn't been seen for many centuries, not until a Daylighter had appeared and it had served a purpose again.
"Time to see if you still have it within you, Ren'ai."
"You're saying you nearly blew up your entire elementary school?" Shu laughed.
"Yes, and turned my classmates' brains to mush," Val admitted. "It's what happens when you get ticked off with demonic powers."
"So you're a new warlock to New York?"
"Yup. Been living in rural areas, you know, peace and quiet? Trying to keep myself in control, but with everything that happened during the war with Valentine…my attention was drawn."
Shu set down her beer (she couldn't taste it very well, which was completely fine with her). "This is a bit of a personal question, but…do you know your demonic parent? I've met a few demons in my time, and…your energy signature, it's…familiar."
Val shifted in her seat. "A memory demon. I summoned him once, long ago. He taught me how to be a warlock. Gave me some of his servants to protect me despite my protesting."
"Do you know his name?"
"Actually, he's the one that apparently named me. Val - Valak Jr."
Shu blinked. "Valak? You're Charon's daughter?"
"He did like being called Charon. Like that boat guy from Greek mythology. Mataecharonsan. Said it was a cool last name. I would've got with 'Mat,' but…he said someone special called him 'Charon' and it stuck."
"I called him that. But…I never knew he had a daughter. I've known him since before humans were walking on two feet - my mother was the first one that the demons colonized, taught how to walk, how to dress, how to speak, how to eat, how to grow food, how to bathe that one was important-" Val giggled. "-how to write, how to work, how to think, process information at a higher level of thinking…everything, basically. She thought she had been blessed by the gods, but in reality they had simply wanted her at her peak before I was born so that I'd inherit as many good traits as possible. Sorry, tangent. What I mean to say is that I've known Charon for so long that there no way I wouldn't know if he had a daughter."
"Well, Dad said that he'd gone and gotten his heart broken after he nearly hurt someone really badly and had to leave them for their own good. After that, he went about his demon-y business doing demon-y stuff, but he was crushed. So, he had a few flings before he met a guy that he liked and blessed with a child since the man was…you know, not gonna have children any time soon."
Shu scoffed and shook her head. "Should've known. He took some memories away from me a while back when I'd tried to commit suicide. He gave them back recently, but we'd parted ways for a long time. I summoned him here and there for memory deals, we were friends just like I was friends with any other demon I made deals with, but only recently did we get back together. Oh my gosh, you even look like him, I should've known that's what I was sensing. By the way, I'm currently dating him, so this is awkward, isn't it?"
Val chuckled. "Not at all. It's good to meet someone who knows my dad and learn about this famous girl that he's had…a complicated relationship with. So, where is my famous dad?"
"He's back at my apartment, passed out from this thing that happened with the ley lines."
"I…see. Well, when he wakes up, would it be too much to ask to come and visit?"
"Not at all. He's…your dad. I think it's only fair." Shu drank her drink. "So, what's it like? Being a memory demon's daughter? What's up with those servants you talked about?"
Val too a drink from her beer. "Those creepy things follow me everywhere. They're here right now. And as for being a memory demon's warlock kid, it's so much fun sometimes. You see things that other people don't see, you can choose what people remember and what they don't."
"Hopefully not in a bad way."
"Of course not. I only do what people want me to do. I take away memories of heartbreak or scary memories of the Shadow World that mundanes have sadly been witness to." Val leaned in close. "I also run a haunted house for Halloween, do magical spectacles for parties, celebrations like Christmas and New Year's, April fool's, Easter, Valentine's day, etc. I run a pretty good business for both the mundane world and the Shadow World."
"That must be fun. Me and my brother help out all kinds of people with small problems to big ones."
Val nodded to the left. "Look, you can see one of my minions. I'll show you how."
Shu looked in the direction she was referring to, but saw nothing but mundanes, certainly nothing creepy.
"Look closer, right where your vision refuses to focus, right where you don't want to look, and when you do you forget what you saw, your mind filling in the blanks because you don't feel it's very important."
Val touched Shu's shoulder and directed her attention once more. Shu focused on that blind spot, where her brain tried filling in the pieces for her, a spot so unimportant that she was almost completed averse to staring in that direction, and her perception started to shift. She now saw a creature that stood like a human, wearing a formal black suit, but it was definitely a demon. It had no eyes, a mouth like a bug's that opened to reveal rows of teeth when it hissed. Its arms and head were the only things revealed beyond its outfit, nearly blending with its black skin and hands made of three vine-like fingers that wiggled like worms. Shu heard light hissing and clicking like a growl as the creature stared at her, contemplating whether it should attack or not.
When Shu looked back to Val, the creature was gone out of her peripheral, and when she turned back, it was gone from her normal sight too.
"What…was that real?"
Val nodded. "Only those with memory demon blood can properly see them and memorize them. I could give you a temporary glimpse and allow you to keep that one memory, but beyond that, I'd need to be giving you constant interference for you to see them properly. They're some of the oldest and wisest creatures, as the moment that you look away, you forget they were there, cut out of your memory to the exact detail, and your brain fills in the rest."
"That's brilliant. And they're all around?"
"The entire world, every building, every street, every house. It's a bit creepy, but from their perspective they've been doing this for a while. Humans came after them. Besides, it not like they're doing any creeping, they help humans. If humans remembered every little thing, their poor little heads would explode. The memory demons keep the Shadow World hidden, they're the source of glamours and the key to breaking through glamours. They're a bit ugly, but they're useful."
"Charon never showed them to me, but I guess that's how he gets information around. He always talked about servants, but I guess I imagined Shax demons or something smaller like that."
"He's got smaller servants, obviously, but these are just my bodyguards. Come on, there are so many things you need to know about the glamourous world of memory loss."
Val led Shu out onto the streets.
"Okay, so this is gonna sound weird, but I want you to start counting your steps aloud. One, two, three, four, etc."
"Why?"
"To see where you forget."
Shu sighed and nodded, counting her steps down the pavement (still barefoot and getting odd looks).
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…"
"47, 48, 49, 50, 56, 57, 58-"
"There!" Val exclaimed. "Back up ten steps."
Shu did so.
"Now start counting from scratch again."
"One, two, eight - whoa."
"Yup. Now, let's see…right here. This alley."
Shu got that odd intuition that she didn't really want to look in the direction Val was pointing, but she forced herself out of her comfort zone and suddenly the feeling went away as she looked down the alley.
"This is…"
"A hide out for werewolves. Down there, some werewolves take meat from a butchers and sell them around."
"Cool."
"Yup. So many times, we loose our concentration, we just assume that we did something correctly, that we followed a pattern and just don't have the memory space for every little detail. That's how memory demons are fed, we take all those memories for you so that your brains do explode. Now, there are some people who remember every detail of their life, and those ones need to be watched closely, but otherwise, we have a symbiotic relationship with mundanes, and even other creatures of the Shadow World."
"That so awesome. And you can see past all these veils."
"Yeah? I actually call it 'Mist.' Makes you blind, gives you just a little glimpse of the truth, but far from all of it."
Shu chuckled. "That's a great name."
Val smiled. "Thanks. You wanna meet up again?"
"Sure. Uh, here, you should have my contact info."
They exchanged phone numbers.
"See you when I see you," Val waved.
"Yeah," Shu agreed. "Right, see you."
Shu stared at Val as she left. At least now she knew what her odd feeling around Val was. But this certainly did complicate things. She'd have to speak to Charon about this when he woke up.
But one way or another, Shu knew that she was going to become good friends with Val.
Magnus sighed and wrapped a rubber band around some papers, tossing them aside, while documenting things in his notebook.
Alec walked in. "I tried calling."
"I've been busy."
Alec hesitated and sighed. "Magnus, I did something I'm not proud of."
"You're referring to going through that box?" Magnus said calmly, setting his pen down and standing.
Alec shifted in confusion while Magnus calmly continued, grabbing something from the shelf and moving to his table where he worked.
"I'm a warlock. I know when things are out of order."
Alec's head dropped in defeat. "I had no right. It was an invasion of your privacy, and I'm sorry."
Magnus nodded. "Apology accepted."
Alec nodded and pursed his lips. "George…he…he must be special."
"He was. A brave solider…like someone else I know."
Magnus smiled sadly up to Alec, who gave a returning embarrassed smile and nod.
"Shall I whip us up some cocktails? Martini Mondays. Gin or Vodka?"
"Gin," Alec said quickly.
Magnus nodded and walked past, but stopped a few steps out of the room. "You're not jealous, are you?"
Alec kept his back turned to Magnus. "You were weird before, when I asked about moving in." Alec turned reluctantly. "Is he still-?"
"The man's been dead over a century."
Alec shook his head lightly. "Well, why do you keep so much of his stuff?"
"Alexander, the contents in that box, they're not George's. I only have that single photograph."
"Then what is all that?"
Magnus sighed. "Each of those belonged to someone I loved and outlived. A different committed relationship for each one."
Alec's face showed as he processed the information. "Why do you keep it?"
"I may be magical, but…my memory's far from it. I keep those mementos to remember them by. Look, Alec, you know my history. I've always…been honest with you about that."
"Well…now that I've seen some of that history with my own eyes, I can't help but think if I'm lucky, maybe one of my arrowheads ends up in that box."
"Look, I don't even wanna think about you being gone."
"But one day I will be. And you'll just…move on."
"I'm immortal!" Magnus snapped. "It's not as if I have a choice! I can't change what I am, and neither can you!" Magnus took a deep breath. "Look…can we just…stay in the here and now? Hmm? Look, I wanna cherish…this moment, with the one I love."
Magnus took Alec's hand and Alec sighed, relaxing into a smile. He rested his hand on Magnus's shoulder before kissing him. "You're right. I love you, too."
Magnus smiled and fiddled with his hand before patting Alec on the shoulder. "Good. Now, don't you go anywhere, I'll be right back with those martinis."
Magnus smiled and turned to head into the other room while Alec turned again and frowned.
Namir burst into the room, louder than she normally did, and its occupant jumped and fell out of his chair. In her hands was a powerful Seelie weapon, one that he knew held a power of very ancient and very deadly proportions.
"Change of plans. This isn't how I wanted this, but we have no choice."
"What?" He began to crawl back as she approached, but reached a limit thanks to the chains. She held the staff up and stepped down on his shoulder to hold him still. She lowered the end of the staff to his forehead. "W-What are you doing?!"
The mark on the staff glowed hot with energy as she pressed it firmly to his forehead. He screamed, expecting the mark to do much more damage to the point of killing him in his weakened state, but instead he found himself lying on the floor of his prison, alive and recovering.
Namir reached down and pulled the chains off his wrists and ankles. "You must go save Ithuriel."
"Ithuriel? He's here? On Earth?"
"Not for very long. Clary Morgenstern summoned him for a chat, but Clary is the person that Lilith needs - specifically, a piece of her soul. Ithuriel will be caught defenseless, always has had a soft spot for children."
"So what are-?"
"I need a distraction. Besides, if Lily kills Ithuriel, what'll you do? Remember darling, the only person who gets to kill Ithuriel is you."
She pulled him to his feet and dragged him out of the room. He stumbled, his legs giving out from under him from lack of use, and she pulled him up the stairs to the roof of the church.
"What…?"
"You can't fly, right? Little bird's wings are clipped? Well, I'll just have to throw you."
"But you-!"
"I will make good on my promise. No harm will come to you should your boyfriend do what I ask. Now go, Ren'ai!"
She grabbed him by his shirt and chuckled him through the sky. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he screamed. She was right, he couldn't fly. That made him terrified of the sky, of heights, of falling. He was resilient though, he would hit the ground and survive, but that was possibly the scariest part: knowing he'd hit the ground and being powerless to do anything about it.
When Ren landed, he had the wind knocked out of him, but he found that he hadn't actually hit the ground - he was hovering gently before he was dropped the final meter or so. He stood and looked around, seeing a light passing across the sky and then diving down to land a small distance away through the trees.
Ren wanted to stay still and do nothing. He wanted to run back the way he'd come, look for Kan. He wanted to take a deep breath and enjoy his moments of freedom upon Earth once more. But for some reason he found himself standing and walking towards where the angel had landed.
"…the Owl has a master. Its name is-"
"Ithuriel!"
Ren tackled the angel, but instead of following Ithuriel to the ground, Ren suddenly felt himself being shoved back by a pulse of energy, throwing him in a different direction as the mark on his forehead glowed. Behind where Ithuriel had been standing, a large Edomei demon loomed. It had large wings to fly, two sets of arms with three clawed fingers each, and a large, long tail which it balanced on like a snake. The faeryl creature had two main horns curling inwards behind its head and a demonic smile filled with sharp teeth.
It hissed loudly at Ren's interference while the fallen angel screamed, "Go, you fool!"
The demon lashed out at Ithuriel as he spread his wings and turned to light, disappearing in a small explosion of energy. The large demon swiped its claws at Ren, but was fended off by a booming blast that sent it screeching back. Ren breathed hard and realized that it had worked. Not only had he survived, but the mark was now protecting him.
He then proceeded to pass out.