Are you fucking kidding me?
Jace, disbelieving, stared as he saw a tall silhouette come out of Clary's bedroom door, it couldn't be Alec, could it?
The gleaming witchlight held aloft by the hallway torches shined brightly on the top half of his face. Deep, black hair and crystal blue eyes. Yup, it was Alec.
What the hell was he doing in Clary's room?
Jace strode towards him purposely, just as Alec looked up and witnessed the hard transition of Jace's brows and eyes. Jace stopped in front of Alec's face and whispered so Clary wouldn't hear them.
"What was that about?"
"I can't go into her room to ask her something now?" Alec whispered, putting on the best poker face he could muster. He was never as good at them as Jace was.
"What did you ask her?" Jace interrogated.
"That's none of your business."
"Well, I think it is now considering I have reason to suspect you of your treachery and how do I know you two weren't having a romantic rendezvous of some sort?." Jace whispered in his exasperatingly snarky tone.
"Get over yourself Jace."
"What did you ask her?" Jace persisted.
"I…I asked her out."
"WHAT!" Jace yelled. Alec threw his hand over Jace's mouth, and whispered loudly and urgently.
"SHUT UP!"
Jace swatted Alec's arm out of the way. "Well, what did she say?"
"She said yes." Alec replied smugly, an uncharacteristic conceit lifting the corners of his mouth.
"Bullshit."
"See for yourself you pretentious jerk"
"Backstabbing Judas."
"Conceited bastard"
"I don't know who you're kidding Alec, its painfully obvious, if it comes down to me and you, you know who she'd choose. You're just setting yourself up for heartbreak." Said Jace, relentlessly. He was sure Alec didn't mean to show it, but there it was nonetheless, that tiny gleam of insecurity and doubt buried deep into Alec's being shining through his eyes without volition, it lasted only a second, but Jace saw it, and he couldn't find it in himself to care.
"You're so full of shit Jace and if you're so sure she likes you why the hell are you so afraid to tell her?" Alec spat, before charging down the hallway away from sight.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Salty, bitter drops of sweat traveled down Sebastian's face and slipped through his lips onto the tip of his parched tongue. His brows knitted together, the creases on his forehead carved deep into the skin. Unbearable heat traveled out of the pores on his head, cheeks, chest, and abdomen….he felt like he had a chronic fever.
His kinesthetic system was drifting, he would feel himself planted in one spot, and then lose awareness of where his limbs were located, constantly in a limbo.
A little more. He thought.
He continued to concentrate, to court with his demon blood and gain access to its properties; the things it allowed him to do. He has never gone this deep into his being; his father had tried to keep him leaning towards the human part of his nature, only utilizing his demonic qualities for advantages in combat. He's never seen the reason to tap into his true nature completely.
Until now.
There was a sudden burn in his chest that lasted only a second and then he was standing, looking down at his own body. He smiled for the first time in what seemed like weeks.
He didn't feel the solid mass of the iron bars press against his chest as he slipped through them, he didn't feel the pressure of his feet against the ground, and he drifted down the corridor seemingly invisible by the rest of his inmates. He caught sight of one of the standing guards; it was his turn to be on duty apparently, as the rest of them were in the common room surrounding a small table with food and drink.
He contemplated how he was to go about the next step in his plan. He's never possessed someone, so he wasn't sure what to do.
Do I just glide into them? Do I have to clutch something inside them?
He floated in front of the guard, sensing his unease.
He can feel me.
My phantasmal spirit trespassed into the man's torso, it was an odd sensation, it took on the properties of liquid, filling the volume of the man's it entered the guard's body it flowed over the expanse of his insides. I was sucked in immediately.
I felt the liquid move over the muscles and adhere to the tendons, I began to feel like I had a steady placement again in space, only it was different, this wasn't my height, skeleton, or size. I took the form of the guard and immediately my point of view changed. I saw the guards in the common room chatting away and heard the soft laughter coming from within. I moved my arm experimentally to test the control I had over the man. The arm obliged, a bit jerky, but not once I get used to it. There's no time to become familiar with the body though, I have to free my own flesh and inhabit it once again.
I traveled down the corridor receiving rude and vulgar vociferations on all four sides of me; I felt around for the man's stele, and found it within one of the pockets of the heavy belt surrounding his hip. I looked into the cell holding up the man's witchlight and looked down at my withered body.
I look like I'm about to die. He had lost a significant amount of weight during his time here and had deep, dark, purple bags under his jaundiced eyes. His hair looked like a shit on patch of hay.
He drew an opening rune hastily to unhinge the lock from the bars; it melted off the door and the guard stepped in. Suddenly, Sebastian realized he had no clue how to get out of the body.
DAMMIT!
Wouldn't the guard regain consciousness once he was out of the body? Wouldn't he attempt to kill me in the flesh?
Well, this is just unnecessarily complicated. Thought Sebastian.
Oh well, I'll just have to murder him before that.
He grabbed the dagger from his belt and quickly slashed the guard across the throat, a sharp, stinging pain assaulting him from the open wound. Blood began pumping furiously. He gagged and fell to the floor, Sebastian's demonic soul quickly making its exit and entering his old self. Finding his limbs again, Sebastian drew a rune over his manacles, heard them clank open, and walked swiftly out of the bone city.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Valentine had a clean dish towel in his hand, wiping down the last of the coffee mugs that had been washed. The coffeehouse became a desolate chamber on weeknights. Valentine sat away at one of the tables farthest down in the shop, next to the windows that gave away a glorious view of the gleaming Towers of Idris. He wondered how strange it must have looked to see them with their brilliant lights dulled and dim after he had told Sebastian to take them down. He didn't think he could imagine his new place in the world without the towers being where they are. Everything seemed better when things were as they should be.
A bell rang at the end of the shop indicating the entrance of a customer. He got up quickly and walked up to the register.
"Hello, id like a regular black coffee and….Valentine?" she said.
It was Amatis.
She looked different than he remembered. She still had the same thick, brown hair, light blue eyes that resembled shattered glass, and creamy white complexion…but she looked infinitely tired. Almost eternally.
"Amatis…it's been a long time." He answered quietly.
"Yes, it has. I heard that the Clave had been very lenient. I was expecting them to sentence you to death, but they never cease to surprise us all, do they?" she answered shamelessly.
"Well, I didn't expect anything less; it came as a surprise to me as well. Although I'm well aware that many do still wish for my head to be cut off." She chuckled.
"Yes, many still do, but I daresay I can't find a better punishment than taking away that which fueled your sense of superiority. How is it by the way?" she asked. To Valentine, she seemed to be enjoying the conversation too much and at his expense.
"To be quite honest, I thought it would be the worst transformation to ever endure, but I can't seem to complain."
"Oh dear." Amatis replied. "Then I must inform the Clave at once before you become too comfortable and happy." She said with mock seriousness.
"Now we wouldn't want that would we." He answered, showing off a small grin.
"You want to know something, Valentine?" Amatis began, "You wronged all of us, and I'm not saying your original intentions were not insane and ludicrous, but you did succeed In something for the good, albeit unintentionally. You exposed the Clave to its weaknesses and stupidity, and for that Valentine, I will thank you. And you also exposed something else to me."
A bit shocked by her words, Valentine couldn't imagine what she was going to say next.
"Which is what?" he asked.
"Stephen would have never have left me the way he did if he truly loved me. I would have never done it. I refused to see it at first when it happened, but when I was done grieving his loss I was able to see him for what he truly was: a pitiful coward. Although you were cruel for separating us, he didn't deserve me nonetheless."
Now, completely shocked by her speech, Valentine could barely make out any legitimate reply.
"Uh…well…I guess that's all very well." He said uncertainly, refusing to look at her face.
"So I'll have the black coffee if you don't mind."
"Oh! Yes, of course." said Valentine. He scurried around the café making her coffee and putting in her order.
"Here's your coffee."
"Thank you"
"Will I see you around here?" he asked suddenly, not knowing what possessed him to ask her that. His cheeks showcased his embarrassment. She smiled at him.
"I'll come by tomorrow. Goodnight." She said.
"Goodnight."
She turned and walked out of the café leaving behind a dumbfounded man that watched her curiously and a bit puzzled until she turned around the corner and made her way deeper into idris.
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