"The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present."

― Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams

Alec's Perspective

Alec was the last person to enter the dining room. He could see that everyone had already come down and was seated at the table. He awkwardly shuffled in and seated himself next to Jace.

"Good evening Alec," said the woman who was sitting on the end of the table, "My name is Charlotte and I am head of the institute."

"Hello," said Alec.

The servants began to bring in platters of food and everyone began to feast. Charlotte direction herself towards the new shadowhunters "I understand that you aided in the kill of two drevak demons."

"Yes, we were in the area and we stumbled upon them," said Jace.

"They were in desperate need of our assistance," said Will, with a smirk, "Where are you from anyways?"

"New York," responded Izzy.

"New York!" gasped Tessa "That's where I'm from. I didn't know there was an institute there."

"There are institutes all over the world, dear," said Jem addressing Tessa. He had his hand over hers at the table, it was obvious that they were a couple. There was a ring on Tessa's finger, could it be possible that they were engaged, this must have been who she was talking about. The shadowhunter. But they're so young, they must really love each other. Though it is a bit odd, this place seems so old, they seem to dress the old way too. The only time I have ever dressed this way is when we go to Idris. But we're not in idris.

"Excuse me, could I see the paper," asked Alec hoping to find out more about their location without actually bringing up the question. Will passed him the paper and he eagerly searched for the date. These papers were definitely formatted differently from what they were used to. Then at the top he found it. The year was 1878. His heart stopped. He nudged Clary and passed her the paper. She returned a questioning look. "The date," he whispered. He saw her eyes widen. She placed the paper on the table gesturing to Izzy and Jace. They both gasped. They were all looking at her.

"What is so intriguing about that paper?" said Will.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," said Clary. "I need a breath of fresh air," she hastily got up and ran off.

Jace started to get up but I nudged his arm and mouthed "no". She didn't need this right now.

"I guess…dinner is over," said Charlotte. She stood and left and everyone else began to depart.

Isabelle's Perpective

We all started to leave, I watched as Alec left with Jace, Tessa Followed, Will left alone, and it left just her and James. She had never noticed how beautiful he was, his eyes were stunningly silver and the lines of his cheekbones onto his thin lips. His silver hair made a swoop as it fell over his face, a common style for many Victorian Englishman. She could tell he was part Asian by the looks of him, but he also appeared to be weak. She saw he had a walking stick and it was not just for show. He took every step lightly leaning on it. Perhaps he was recovering from a recent injury. He walked up to her and looked into her eyes. "Isabelle, How have you enjoyed your stay in London?"

"It's nothing like New York, it's almost like a completely different era," how could she have let that slip off of her tongue, "and it's just Izzy."

"Izzy…..a very unusual name," he paused, "but beautiful all the same."

"I see I'm not the only American, Tessa seems really nice."

"Yes, she is my bride to be," he said with a smile.

"You're so young, is it ordinary to get married this early in England?"

"Often yes, but I am ailing with a disease that I have possessed ever since I was a child and a demon killed my parents, I have dreamed of feeling such love for my entire life. I wish to act upon it before my time runs out."

"Oh my, I'm so sorry….."

"Please don't, you need not feel sorry for me, I am happy I have a beautiful fiancée, an amazing parabati, and I have a caring family here in the London institute."

"I wish I could say the same."

"Are you not happy?"

"There was a time when I had a beautiful relationship, but it's never been the same."

"What happened?"

"He died, there's not a day that goes by that is filled with guilt, grief, and regret. Sometimes I wish…."She choked but to her surprise she was in a calm embrace.

"It's alright….Isabelle." The name rolled off of his tongue. "Come, let me give you a tour of London."

Tessa's Perspective

I was following Alec, hoping to talk to him more about what we had begun to talk about earlier, but then something hit me. A sound that I have never heard before at the institute. It was the gentle lull of a piano. The vibration of the chords, the gently strokes in the melody, the strong supporting notes played that filled the air. Who was playing?

I walked down the corridor into the music hall where the dusty piano usually sat, but this time it was open and the room was filled with light. I could see Jace was sitting at the piano. His eyes closed in passion as his fingers graced the piano's keys. The music sounded heavenly, I couldn't help saying, "That's beautiful," he stopped and turned to face me "What's it called?"

"It's just something I threw together, a long time ago."

"What's it called?"

He exhaled, "Clary's Serenade."

Ismiled, "You love her,"

"With all of my heart."

"Then why have you not made clear your intentions?"

"My intentions were clear and my love was requited, but now she is grieving, grieving the loss of her best friend. I tried to comfort her, I tried but she kept on pushing me away and now were stuck in some….." he stopped "Why am I even telling you this?"

"Because you don't know who else to talk to. I understand completely."

"You don't."

"I do, I know what it's like to love someone who pushes you away."

"James doesn't seem to be pushing."

Tessa gasped

"I'm not blind. I can see your wedding ring, and I can also see that "Will" guy who always seems to be looking at you, like there was something there before. It's the same look I give Clary every day, but she doesn't look back at me."

"Please, do not tell James or anyone. We are to be wed and…"

"I completely understand. Just promise me one thing."

"Yes."

"You will look back at him, just once. It is a true pain to never see the eyes of those you love."

I nodded, and then he walked back to the piano seat when he saw a figure walking off in the distance. It was Clary then another figure followed.

"Clary!" Jace exclaimed.

"What?"

"She's being followed, come on!"

Isabelle's Perspective

We were standing atop Blackfriars bridge looking into the stars. It was just him and me. His eyes like silver pools reflected in the moonlight. My eyes, like flames, rejected the moonlight. I was surprised that he would not mention my attachment to the iron sisters. This entire trip he had been kind, courteous, and respectful. It's hard to find a man like that in modern day America.

There was a certain gentleness about him that reminded me of Simon. I would look at his kind eyes and grieve a little but then would grow more attached as I gazed into them. It was almost as if the wounds left by Simon's death were healing with every second I spent with him. I knew it was wrong to think this way but it felt so right. James was to be married soon and all I could think about was him. This whole night they spent together he had kept on calling me beautiful. Could it be possible that I was falling for him? Could it be possible that he was falling for me? We had only known each other for a day, it was too soon, too rash.

"I've always loved this spot," James said, interrupting me thoughts.

"I can see why, It's seems so…"

"Magical," he finished, his eyes sparkled "I always felt like if I stood on the edge, I could catch flight in the wind and fly…fly back in time." He spread his arms like wings and breathed.

He was not like this back at the institute, so calm and collected, here he almost seemed free. I giggled, "It's not as fun as it sounds."

"What would you know? Have you ever flown on the wings of time?"

"Sometimes….It feels like I am," I couldn't believe I was saying this "Whenever I look at you I feel like I'm flying back in time, back to when I was happy….. with Simon." I looked down feeling a twinge of guilt.

"and Whenever I look at you I feel like I'm looking at something I've never seen before, something original, something unique, something beautiful. Like a heavenly painting, I can feel the burn of the artist's passion. With every stroke he painted something beautiful, someone beautiful." He cupped my face with his hand pulling my eyes to meet his.

My breath hitched and all of a sudden his lips were on mine. I could then feel the passion, the passion that I so longed for in a relationship. I could feel the attachment growing between us. It was a long smooth kiss till he broke away. "No."

"I'm so sorry, James, I…"

"No, I'm engaged, This….this must be forgotten," he began to walk down the street.

"James," I said as I scurried after him but then he began to cough and gasp for air. "James," I screamed again as I ran to meet him he had already fallen to the ground.

Clary's Perspective

My sketchbook is gone, totally completely gone! Where could it have gone? It's the key to getting us back home and I lost it! I don't even know how we got here! What on earth possessed me to make such a rune?! The anger and frustration was unbearable. I hurried down the alleyway where we had woken up and began to search. Digging through the piles on the street. Everything, I had to check everything. But it was nowhere in sight.

I fell to the ground in frustration. Silence. I sat in silence. Then came a tick. It was a ticking sound as steady as a heartbeat. Then came the whirring sound. Like the sound of a machine. Then came the sound of footsteps. Hard, heavy, and fast. Before I knew it she was not alone. I was being cornered by a large metal machine. It looked and moved just like a man but it was not. I could see it was shaped by large chunks of sheet metal and the ticking of its heart was not its heart at all. It was all clockwork.

My shadowhunter senses kicked in. It was telling me that this was a demon. I could feel the demon energies. But it was metal, it wasn't alive. Then its voice rang out "Ruin to all nephilim!" He began to charge at me, I was unarmed. I let out a scream and began to duck until I heard a familiar voice.

"Clary!" it was Jace. My heart began to beat fast. He was here. Behind him was Tessa. Her eyes were wide she mouthed something that she couldn't hear. This definitely was not the first she encountered.

Jace drew a seraph blade and charged it in the back, but then something unexpected happened. The seraph blade disintegrated. Jace stepped backwards appalled at this strange beast. He did the only thing he could do, He jumped. Over the beast and landed beside me. He helped me to my feet, but then the beast brought down his arms between us and we rolled to opposite sides. He cornered me and I put my hand out as it brought down it's arm.

Then came a burning sensation. Heavenly fire expulsed from my arm and onto the beast while his demon energies mixed with it. The result was an intense blast that seared my hand and burnt the beasts arm. I screamed and fell; Consciousness began to slip from my mind.

I turned to Jace as the same thing happened with him. Tessa hurried to my side trying to wake me up. But then the beast lifted her up. It didn't burn her at all. She struggled in its arms and I saw her face screaming out to us. I couldn't move, the pain was terrorizing me. I watched as Tessa struggled then something happened. Tessa wasn't Tessa anymore.

Tessa was…..Changing.