CHAPTER TWO

2 | Of Nephilim and Downworlders

"the one duty we owe history is to rewrite it"
oscar wilde

"What's a Romanov?" Clary inquired and Kassia jarringly noticed how out of place she was. She was in the midst of the shadow world yet she barely seemed to understand how it worked.

Kassia shrugged, "It's just my family... think Game of Thrones."

"But you're a Nephilim? Aren't you?" Clary frowned, looking more confused than before. Obviously, she didn't watch the show.

"Nephilim is the species. Shadowhunter is the title given to those who follow the Clave." Kassia explained. She pitied Clary, it must have been difficult to learn everything, that she herself had grown up with, in a couple of weeks. "I'm a Nephilim but I'm not a Shadowhunter. My family don't serve the Clave but as long as we abide by the Covenant the Clave leave us alone... and vice versa."

"What's the point of you then?"

"The point?" Kassia's annoyance bled into her tone as she held Clary in a cold stare, "You don't need a point to exist."

"How about we get down to business?" Magnus spoke up, placing a hand on Kassia's arm.

The touch was enough to stop her and she nodded silently to Magnus, anger filtering away. She was glad for the interruption, it allowed her to stop talking about her family — something she'd never enjoyed.

Jace glanced at Kassia, "It's private business."

Kassia got the message. Whatever they were here for they didn't want her, or maybe her family, to know about. Honestly, Kassia didn't care; she came to the party to enjoy herself not to get involved in politics.

"I don't want to be involved in any of this shit anyways. I'm going to go get drunk." With a mocking salute to the Shadowhunters and a wink at Magnus, she turned her back on them.

"This time keep your clothes on! We don't need a repeat of New Year!" Magnus exclaimed loudly.

Kassia was about to say something back — something sarcastic about her lack of clothing making the party more interesting — but was interrupted by Alec calling her: "Romanov."

"Blue eyes." sighed Kassia as she turned to face him. He had said her name like it was a cursed or tainted. "What do you want?"

Alec muttered something to an annoyed Jace that appeased him, and Kassia was instantly certain they were Parabatai. "If you know about Valentine— we'd like you to listen."

"Me?" A smirk graced her lips, "A Romanov? How scandalous of you."

"Obviously you can't relay any of this to your family." Stated Jace.

Kassia rolled her eyes and moved towards Magnus, "Obviously."

Before she could reach the warlock Jace's hand locked around her wrist and tugged, making her stumble back a few spaces. She tried to pull her hand away but it was held in an iron grip, his touch sending a scorching tingle up her nerves, "Kassia."

"Jace." She said, the name falling from her lips mockingly.

His jaw clenched as he stared down at her, even though she was in heels he was a head taller, "Swear that you won't tell your family anything."

"Do you really think so little of me?" Kassia said. If she wasn't so well bred her face would have twisted into an ugly snarl but instead a whisper of anger marred her features.

"Yes, I do," Jace said without any hesitation.

Kassia stared at him for a moment.

"Fine." She snapped. Her mind jumped into action, trying to organise the words into the most beneficial form. She had never been as talented as the rest of her family, they were the ones who knew what words to say to bend and break the rules. "I swear on the angel, that I won't share anything that happens during the meeting with my family."

Jace exchanged a look with Alec, who nodded curtly. He dropped her wrist and she instantly pushed past the group towards Magnus' bedroom.

The room used to hurt her eyes, with so many bright colours, but Kassia had started to love the blue and yellow toned room; even though she often preferred a darker palette.

"Nice place," Jace commented. "Guess it pays being the High Warlock of Brooklyn."

Kassia rolled her eyes and fell onto a chair in the corner. Her eyes instantly latched onto a golden makeup bottle on the table, she lifted it - it was heavy and cold to the touch - but the moment she tried to put some on her skin it was ripped from her hands.

"It pays," Magnus began, sending a glare at Kassia, "But it doesn't replace Lorette Patenaude makeup,"

"Holy shit," Kassia exclaimed, staring at the makeup bottle in shock, "Is that what that is? When did you meet the High Warlock of Paris and why wasn't I invited?"

"You weren't invited, Kassandra, because it was two centuries before you were born," He said, smacking her head in feigned anger, before adding, "She still sends me care packages."

Clary glanced impatiently between the two, "Is this really important right now?"

"That's Lorette Paternaude makeup," Kassia over pronounced every word, as though she were talking to a child, "Not only is she one of the oldest and most powerful warlocks but she also creates makeup with magic infused into it. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars." Her amazement was met by blank looks from the Shadowhunters and even a roll of the eyes from Alec.

Kassia glanced at Magnus, "At least I know why your makeup always looks so good."

"I hate to tell you, Kassandra, but there are some problems even makeup cannot fix," Magnus said.

Kassia scowled, and it grew when she heard Jace release a choked cough. She glared at him but he responded with a cocked eyebrow and smirk that made her want to punch someone, preferably him.

"Cheating," She said to Magnus, "That's what using magical makeup is: cheating."

"Keep telling yourself that Kassandra," He glanced back to the Shadowhunters, "What's on your devious little minds?"

"It's not them actually," Clary spoke up instantly, "I'm the one who wanted to talk to you."

Magnus stared at her, eyes flashing darker in what Kassia was certain was recognition. What was going on?

"You're not one of them," He said, "Not of the Clave, but you can see the Shadow world."

"My mother was one of the Clave," Clary said, "But she never told me. She kept it a secret. I don't know why."

"You came to Magnus for a secret your mother could have told you?" Kassia asked in complete confusion.

"I can't ask her." Clary bit out before her voice was filled with tremors, "She's— she's gone."

Kassia breathed in sharply but nodded, in understanding.

"And your father?" Magnus continued, not as remorseful as Kassia was. In fact, it seemed for once that Magnus, generally laid back and sarcastic was tense and worried. Kassia had noticed it quickly, through the darting glances and tapping of his fingers.

"He died before I was born."

Magnus opened his mouth but Kassia cut over him.

Kassia pointed a finger at him, "Quote Oscar Wilde and I will hurt you. We are not mentioning losing parents with your outdated pop culture references."

"Must you spoil my fun, Kassandra?" Magnus sighed but glanced back to Clary, "I still fail to see what any of this has to do with me. If you could tell me—"

"She can't tell you because she doesn't remember," said Jace. "Someone erased her memories. So we went to the Silent City to see what the Brothers could pull out of her head. They got two words. I think you can guess what they were."

Kassia's heart stopped. She had seen Clary before, seen Jocelyn Fairchild too. The red-haired family that had been leaving when she had first visited Magnus when she was 12 years old and in need of help.

"My signature," Magnus's lips curved into a grimace, "I knew it was folly when I did it. An act of hubris..."

"You signed my mind?" Clary said in disbelief.

Kassia couldn't blame her. It wasn't the most ethical of things that Magnus had ever done, in fact, it was bordering the line between help and hinder so much that she was struggling to meet Magnus' eyes.

Magnus made a gesture and letters burnt themselves into the air. Heat flooded from them but the sight of the two words made Kassia more uncomfortable: Magnus Bane.

"I was proud of my work on you," Magnus said, tone hinting at regret, "So clean. So perfect. What you saw you would forget, even as you saw it. No image of pixie or goblin or long-legged beastie would remain to trouble your sleep. It was the way she wanted it.

Clary hesitated, "The way who wanted to it?"

The fiery lettering burnt into nothing and Kassia was certain that everyone knew what would be said next.

"Your mother—" He began to tell the story, words carefully chosen.

Kassia listened about Jocelyn Fairchild, about how she had come asking for his help and how he had helped her. It wasn't against the controversial Covenant so he had every right to do it after all Clary had been a Shadowhunter. Jocelyn had done something wrong but Kassia couldn't find it in herself to hate the woman because she understood. Kassia's mother would have done the same and Kassia had only ever seen her mother as flawless.

Magnus began to conclude the story, "I've seen you every two years since that first time— I've watched you grow up. You're the only child I have ever watched grow up that way, except Kassandra here. I remember when she was a lanky twelve-year-old."

"You recognised Clary when we walked in then, you must have," Jace concluded.

"Of course I did and it was a shock. But what should I have done? She didn't know me, wasn't supposed to know me. Just the fact that she as here meant the spell had started to fade— in fact, we were due for another visit about a month ago." Magnus explained.

"That's why you cut your European and African trip short," Kassia said, "Because of her?" And here she was thinking he came back for her birthday. A sharp pain stung her chest and she had to take several moments to breathe, unaware of the conversation she had missed.

"What? Why not? The Clave requires you—" Jace's angry tone brought her back to reality.

"I do not like being told what to do, little Shadowhunter,"

Jace's golden eyes flashed but before he could open his mouth, Alec spoke up, "Don't you know how to reverse it? The spell, I mean?"

"It's a spell." Kassia said quietly, "Do you not know that spells are harder to reverse than they are to put there?" She had thought that was common information. "It's been put on over so many years that it's probably more dangerous to take away than it is to leave. But it is fading isn't it, I mean you're here, aren't you?"

Clary sent her a sharp look, "I'll get all my memories back then? Everything that was taken?"

"I'm not the warlock, here," Kassia said. They all glanced at Magnus.

"I don't know," Magnus let out an exasperated sigh, "They might come back all at once, or in stages. Or you might never remember what you've forgotten over the years. What your mother asked me to do was unique, in my experience, I've no idea what will happen."

"But I don't want to wait," Clary sounded like a child in distress, "All my life I've felt like there was something wrong with me. Something missing or damaged. Now I know—"

Magnus shook his head angrily, "I didn't damage you. Every teenager in the world feels like that, feels broken or out of place, different somehow, royalty mistakenly born into a family of peasants. The difference for you is that it's true. You are different. Maybe not better — but different. And it's not easy being different. You want to know what it's like when your parents are good churchgoing folk and you happen to be born with the devil's mark?" He gestured to his eyes, "When your father flinches at the sight of you and your mother hangs herself in the barn, driven mad by what she's done—"

"Magnus," Kassia said gently. She winced under his gaze but stood and moved towards him to push his hands away from his eyes. She glanced at Clary, "Everyone's damaged, don't think you're so different. My father abandoned me, my mother went mad and died and my family are neglectful. Everyone in this room — fucking hell, everyone at this party — has suffered."

Kassia broke off, words getting tangled in her throat, but she fought past it, "Don't try and place the blame on Magnus for something that your mother chose to do. If he hadn't agreed to do it some other warlock would of."

The room fell so quiet that Kassia's heartbeat sounded like thunder in her ears.

Alec shattered the silence, voice gentle, "It wasn't your fault," He had looked at Kassia before turning to Magnus, "You can't help how you're born."

"It was a long time ago. I think you get the point." Magnus' voice was tense but he had kept any shudders from his voice, "Difference isn't better, Clarissa. Your mother was trying to protect you. Don't throw it back in her face."

"I don't care if I'm different," Clary said, "I just want to be who I am."

Kassia wished the complete opposite. Normal for her was fighting demons and dying before reaching thirty, she didn't want that to be normal. She wanted to live, she wanted to travel and she didn't want a selfish, controlling family.

Magnus swore in Chthonian, an ugly phrase which was much more offensive in Chthonian than it's translation into English. (It roughly translated as "this is going to the crows" or as Kassia interpreted it: "everything is fucked up").

"All right, listen, I can't undo what I've done but I can give you something else. A piece of what would have been your if you'd been raised a true child of the Nephilim," He tugged a mossy green book from a shelf and flipped through it.

"Is that a copy of the Gray Book?" Jace asked through disbelief.

"There's one at the Institute," Alec said, "Hodge showed it to me once."

"It's not grey it's green," Clary pointed out.

Kassia cringed.

"If there was such a thing as terminal literalism you'd have died in childhood. Gray is short for Gramarye. It means magic and hidden wisdom. In it is every rune the Angel Raziel wrote in the original Book of the Covenant. There aren't many copies because each one has to be specifically made. Some of the runes are so powerful they'd burn regular pages." Jace said as he examined the windowsill beside Kassia.

Alec looked impressed, "I didn't know all of that."

"Not all of us sleep through history lessons," Jace replied, pushing himself onto the windowsill.

Kassia tensed as he rested his feet on the chair she had sat back on. She shoved his legs off, "I'm sure your ability to stay awake during lessons makes you a real scholar."

"You say that like it isn't true," Jace said, putting his feet back on and leaning forwards.

"Have you ever heard of this trait called modesty?" Kassia started, voice lowering as she watched Clary begin to turn the pages of the Gray Book. "It's an uncommon thing, I know."

Jace tilted his head, "Modesty is for the ugly — something I'm quite obviously not."

Kassia briefly surveyed him, "Obviously."

"Kassandra, there is a time and place for that." Magnus interrupted loudly, "And now, in my bedroom, is neither."

He had ripped the Gray Book from Clary's hands and sent an incriminating stare at Kassia before placing the book back onto its dusty shelf. He turned to Clary, "If you read all the runes at once you'll give yourself a headache."

"But—" Clary started to protest, ringing her hands together in a panicked distraction.

"Shadowhunters grow up learning one rune at a time, over a period of years," Jace explained, "The Gray Book contains runes even I don't know."

"Imagine that," Magnus said with a sideways glance at Kassia, his cat eyes twinkling in the light.

Jace didn't acknowledge him, "Magnus showed you the run for understanding and remembrance. It opens your mind up to reading and recognising the rest of the Marks."

"It may also serve as a trigger to activate dormant memories," Magnus added, "They could return to you quicker than they would otherwise. It's the best I can do."

Clary sighed, "I still don't remember anything about the Mortal Cup."

Kassia's head shot up, the mortal cup? She glanced at Alec; who avoided her eyesight, choosing to look at the floor, before moving her gaze to Jace. She met his eyes before he could avoid them and the worry in them sent Kassia reeling: they really were after a lost artefact.

"Is that what this is about?" Magnus was a shocked as Kassia felt, "You're after the Angel's Cup? Look, I've been through your memories. There was nothing in them about the Mortal Instruments."

"Mortal Instruments?" Clary repeated, "But I thought—"

"That there was only one?" Kassia said, eyes darting to the sky as though she could see the story written on the ceiling. "When the Angel Raziel came down he gifted three items to Jonathan Shadowhunter. A cup, a sword and a mirror. The Silent Brothers protect the Sword and the Cup and Mirror were kept in Idris... until Valentine."

"Nobody knows where the mirror is," Alec added, "Nobody's known for ages."

Jace turned to Magnus, "It's the Cup that concerns us. Valentine's looking for it."

"And you want to get it before he does?" Magnus' eyebrows rose, his head cocking to the side. "Only a fool would get between Valentine and his revenge."

The last statement was aimed at Kassia. His gaze drilled into her telling her to stay away from the battle but instead of nodding, in understanding, Kassia just looked away.

"Is that what he's after? Revenge?" Jace asked.

Magnus hesitated but agreed, "I would guess so. He suffered a grave defeat and he hardly seemed — seems — the type of man to suffer defeat gracefully."

Alec coughed, locking eyes with Magnus, "Were you at the Uprising?"

"I was, I killed a number of your folk." He said.

"Circle members," Jace corrected, "Not ours—"

"'The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it'." Kassia said lazily, "That is the Oscar Wilde quote that should be used today."

Magnus' lips twitched upwards but he tried to keep his face straight, "So you didn't fall asleep during that reading of the 'Critic as Artist'?"

"Which one? You've taken me to seven." She deadpanned.

"Well whether she fell asleep or not, Kassandra is right," Magnus stated, "If you insist on disavowing that with is ugly about what you do, you will never learn from your mistakes."

"You don't seem surprised to hear that Valentine's still alive," Alec stated.

"Are you?"

Jace opened his mouth but closed it baffled, and sent hesitant glances at his friends. They were no help. Clary just stood there, missing the context of the conversation, and Alec stared at the wall.

Eventually, Jace voiced his thoughts, "You won't help us find the cup?"

"I wouldn't if I could." Magnus said and folded his arms, "Which, by the way, I can't. I've no idea where it is and I don't care to know. Only a fool, as I said."

Jace fixed his gaze on Kassia. "And you?"

"I—" Her mouth went dry, both Jace and Magnus giving her an intense stare. "I don't know what I'd do but if it came to it... I'd help you over Valentine." She was doing what her family did best, toeing the line and choosing neither side but making promises to both.

Jace nodded, understandingly.

"For everyone else, the loss of the Mortal Cup isn't such a disaster. If I had to choose between the Clave and Valentine, I'd choose the Clave. At least they're not actually sworn to wipe out my kind. But nothing the Clave has done has earned my unswerving loyalty either. So no, we'll be sitting this one out. Now, if we're done here," Magnus said, stopping the conversation between her and Jace before it could go any further. "I'd like to get back to my party before any of the guests eat each other."

Jace tensed, gaze hardening and started to say something, his voice as bitter and furious as acid.

Alec stopped him. He stood up and caught Jace's shoulder, holding it tightly. Jace scowled, "Is that likely?"

"It's happened before."

Jace turned to Alec and muttered, "I know how to behave."

Magnus snapped his fingers impatiently, "Move along teenagers. The only person who gets to canoodle in my bedroom is my magnificent self."

"Canoodle?" Clary questioned.

"Magnificent?" Jace repeated, tone turning darker.

Magnus glared as the Shadowhunters pushed past but as Kassia went to leave he placed a hand in front of her, stopping her from passing.

"Magnus..." She sighed.

"Listen to me, Kassandra," He ordered, "Think about the consequences before you make a stupid decision. I'd rather you not get sent to the Silent City for causing trouble."

Kassia nodded, " I promise I won't actively look for trouble," She hesitated and a smirk formed on her lipsticked smile, "But I won't pass it by if a situation arises."

Magnus smacked her on the head but she ducked under his arm and darted after the Shadowhunters.

Magnus trailed after her and muttered, "I hate faerie bands."

Kassia opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a soft, sing-song, voice. "I dunno, it's kind of soothing don't you think?"

Hailee slipped through the crowd, a jacket around her shoulders that clashed awfully with her dress. Kassia didn't say anything about it; she, who too often left the house in pyjamas, was not one to comment.

"Is your hearing all right, Hails?" Kassia said with a roll of her eyes, "Because this band sounds like shit."

Hailee laughed, dark coiled hair shifting around her shoulders, "And your music taste is better? Everything you listen to sounds like it's been sung by a band of strangled cats."

"It's Fall Out Boy!" Kassia exclaimed, throwing her hands up in desperation, "You can't say that about them!"

"I just did, Kass, what are you gonna do?"

Kassia glared at her, "I don't want to be Parabatai anymore."

"Tough luck, bitch, you're stuck with me for life." Hailee bit her lip, barely able to conceal a smile.

"Till death part thee and me," Kassia recited.

Hailee laughed and their hands linked in a quick movement of fluid motions, a handshake: because when you're bound for life you tend to have a lot of time to waste.

"Who are you?" Clary asked; Kassia thought she sounded quite rude and abrupt.

"Hailee Evercross." She responded with a sarcastic bow, "And you lot?"

"I'm Clary. This is Jace Wayland and Alec Lightwood."

Hailee examined them with interest, "I haven't seen Shadowhunters in a long time."

"Are you a Romanov too?" Said Clary.

"Me a Romanov? By the angel, no!" Hailee spluttered, through laughter, "I'm just a Parabatai of one." She nudged Kassia obviously.

Alec glanced between the two of them, "How does one end up Parabatai of a Romanov?"

"I think the requirement tend to be that your life has been shit." Hailee shrugged. "Or is that just the requirements of living in the shadow world?"

I'm sorry for such a long time between updates but a combination of shitty mental health and lots of trial exams has sent me into a whirlwind of pain! I think this chapter has a very abrupt ending but I was struggling to finish this chapter cleanly, so I decided to introduce Kassia's Parabatai Hailee. She was in the first draft on this story (which is still on my account) but the way I wrote her made her quite dislikable - at least to me anyway.

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it even if isn't my best writing.