Tall buildings encased them down the roads of New York City. The sky was a clear blue, a few white clouds passing over head, and the sun shone through the windows of the carriage, showing flecks of dust that glittered different shades of blue.
Tessa peered out of the window, London had become her home, and to be back here filled her with bittersweet memories that filled her with a strange mix of happiness and guilt. She pushed the thoughts away looking to Will and Jem who sat across from her. Jem was happily looking out of the window too, looking like a young boy in a toy store at the city.
Will, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable. He was looking at the floor with great intent, clutching some books resting on his lap. He flicked the pages with his thumb and forefinger.
"Is everything ok Will?" Jem asked, noticing Tessa's concern.
"Splendid."He replied, he looked at Tessa as she raised her eyebrows. "Are these buildings safe, they're so tall. Surely they have some sort of magic to keep them up."
"No, in fact that one there," Tessa pointed at a grey building, dull against the bright colours of the city. "I watched it being built; every day when my Aunt and I went to the store, it grew taller."
"Surely it's the work of a warlock" Jem shook his head, grinning at the trivial phobia of his parabatai. Tessa laughed.
"Anyway, we're not here for a little holiday. It's official clave business; we've been trusted by Charlotte to visit them and then leave, quick and easy."
"Yes William. You have declared your intentions several times this morning."
"Yes." He agreed, "Just making sure."
The carriage stopped abruptly outside a church, one which she had never noticed here before, it had a look of grandeur and a more mature look than the rest of the block. Its spires were tall and circled towards the sky, steps led up to a heavy door engraved with markings. The door clicked open and they stepped out of the carriage slowly, still slightly tired from the time difference and the long journey overseas. Jem held out his hand for Tessa, helping her down.
"It's beautiful." She said, Will mumbled something that sounded much like an insult under his breath. Jem led her forward and Will followed obediently.
Will over take them almost stumbling forward, starting at a run to the door, he ran up the steps all at once. Jem followed him, running as fast as he could with the lack of his drug that he had taken this morning.
"Will, what is it?"
"The door. It's open. That's against the law, something's not right."
Jem entered first as Tessa caught up with them, she stepped in after them, skidding slightly on the hem of her dress. The church inside was like any other church, pews lined the sides, an altar a red carpet running down the middle, that looked worn with age and had faded to a light crimson shade. Much like the colour of her dress.
But ahead was a swirling blue mist that shot sparks out towards them like a fire spitting at them. It swirled into a circle, like a portal she had seen conjured by Magnus long ago. But ten times the size.
"Will!" Jem pushed him out of the way as a spark shot at him, it scraped the corner of his jacket and he brushed himself of nonchalantly.
"What is it?" She asked.
"I have no idea." Jem said, looking around the rest of the room for other signs of anything.
She moved forwards toward it tentatively, running her hands along the pews as she walked, it made her feel safer. Something pulled her forward, compelling her to move closer. Like someone had tied a rope around her waist and was pulling her forward, she had no other choice but to go with it and move forward.
"TESS." Will shouted, "What in the angel's name are you doing?" He moved towards her slowly, as if he was scared of what she was doing.
"I-I" She stammered and let go of the pews. She placed her ankle into the blue first, there was no pain. Just a slight tingling sensation, as she was pulled forward and suddenly she pushed her whole body through. She shivered. Someone, either Will or Jem, grabbed her wrist tightly but she did not recoil and pulled them through as well. The blue engulfed them and they were back where they started and they were not alone.
New York 2008
Clary sat on a stool in the institute kitchen, her sketch book in front of her on the counter, the page covered in doodles and runes. She had been sat there for over an hour trying to draw something that was actually good whilst Isabelle made lunch. Jace came and sat next to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. She blushed.
"Iz, that's not how you cook pasta." Jace said, pointing a finger at the saucepan filled with uncooked pasta and no water. She had never intended on eating Isabelle's food, she was hoping she could escape before she served it. Usually her and Jace went off and kept themselves busy. She felt her face flush red now, Jace smirked at her.
"Alright smartass, you cook it." She said exasperatedly, stomping away from the stove.
"You know I don't cook, that's a wom-"
"If you say that it's a woman's job, I will murder you in your sleep."
"And I'll help." Clary added. "Why don't we just go to Taki's?"
"Yes let's go."
Clary packed her sketch book in her bag and grabbed her coat, which Church had been using as a blanket, the cat hissed and ran off down the hall. Jace hissed back.
"I'll ring Simon; tell him to meet us there." Isabelle said pulling out her phone, not before pouring the pasta in the bin.
Jace scoffed, "Really?"
"You have saved each other's lives on multiple occasions, and you still don't want to eat lunch with your girlfriend's best friend, what the hell do you want from him?" Clary asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"A good dress sense would be a start."
"I second that!" Isabelle added.
The three of them stood huddled together in the small elevator, Jace pressing ridiculously close to Clary, causing Isabelle to shake her head.
"You're almost as bad as Alec and Magnus." She said, opening the rickety door, that led out into the entrance, she struggled with the door and Jace huffed, pulling it open.
"No, we're not." Clary protested. The couple was a big fan of PDA, well Magnus was a fan of PDA, Alec not so much, she thought to herself as they stepped out of the tight space.
"Yes we are." Jace said. "Just without all of the glitter."
Clary laughed, wherever Magnus went, a trail of glitter followed, and usually behind that a self conscious Alec watching people's shocked faces as they watched the brightly dressed warlock pass by.
Jace grabbed Clary by the waist pulling her closer to him and Isabelle made a disgusted noise under her breath, she picked up her pace, walking ahead of them. She stopped. Jace and Clary bumped into her, Jace's hand on her forearm keeping her from falling over. She smiled at him gratefully, gaining a proud smirk in return.
It was Clary's turn to be shocked now. In the midst of the pews stood three people all dressed in old Victorian costumes or something similar. The girl, Clary recognised her from the battle, she had seen her talking to Magnus. She was the girl in the white dress with the cloud of brown hair. But now it was pulled back into a loose chignon and she looked slightly flustered, the ruffles of her dress crumpled.
The boy next to her was beautiful, someone she would like to draw, she thought, he had a shock of dark hair that curled slightly at the crook of his neck, he had deep blue eyes that looked at them with a look of scrutiny, and a full bottom lip that hung open in shock.
The other boy was the complete opposite, he had silver hair that caught the light and slightly slanted eyes that revealed his heritage, and he was all silver and light. Even his eyes matched.
"You're supposed to ring the summoning bell if you called for a meeting; the owners of the institute aren't here right now." Isabelle said, noticing the black runes that were drawn freshly onto the skin of the two boys, but the girl was free of the faded scars and black marks.
"You know your stuff." The boy with the dark hair said, nodding his head slightly, the girl hit him on the arm, scolding him. He laughed, it rung like chimes through the empty room.
"Pardon him, where are we exactly?" The other boy asked politely, looking over to the other two for help.
"The New Your Institute." Jace said, folding his arms in front of him, eyeing them up and down.
"Then we're at the right place," She paused, throwing a worried glance at the other two, "May I ask what the date is?"
"18th March 2008." Jace said frankly. A look of terror passed across the girls face and the boy with the silver hair, held her arm in comfort. She raised her hand to an unusual angel necklace that hung just below her collarbone. Clary noticed that the two boys spoke with British accents; she had always wanted to visit London, Jace as well, since that was where his ancestors came from.
"Quite a problem we have here." The dark haired one mumbled.
"Who are you?" Jace asked, "Where have you come from?"
"I'm James Carstairs." The silver-haired on said, he held out his hand for Jace to shake. "Everyone calls me Jem though."
He looked down at it quizzically, his eyebrows furrowed together. He shook it looking quite taken aback by the gesture. It seemed strange for Jace to shake anyone's hand; he usually just made a sarcastic remark and occasionally pats them on the arm if he was feeling affectionate.
He took Isabelle's hand and then Clary's, planting a kiss just behind their knuckles, Clary felt her face flush. Jace rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.
"I'm Tessa Gray." The girl said, her accent familiar, "This, this is Will." She gestured towards Will, who was looking around the seats for something.
He looked at them, now, his striking blue eyes resting on Isabelle.
"William Herondale, lovely to have your acquaintance." He didn't make a welcoming gesture, but he nodded at them, his hair falling in his eyes.
Jace looked slightly awestruck, a look of shock across his face. He was related to Will, the thought passed through Clary's mind, the only other blood-relative he had met apart from Imogen.
His mouth was hung open, with all of his drama with the past this was not what he needed. He had let go of Clary's hand and ran it through his hair nervously. Isabelle stared at Jace and Will, her gaze passing back and forth, Clary did the same. She could not see the resemblance but so far their personalities seemed pretty similar. Their mannerisms too, they were so similar but so very different at the same time it made her head hurt. She grabbed Jace's hand again. He squeezed it tightly in return.
"I'm Isabelle Lightwood, my parents, Robert and Marsye own the institute, this is Clary Fair-"
"Fray. Clary Fray." She said cutting Isabelle off.
"It's nice to meet you all, but do you have any idea how we got here?" Tessa said eagerly, a warm smile on her face.
"Wait, Tess you forgot this one." He pointed at Jace.
"He is a person Will, not an object it wouldn't hurt to be polite occasionally." Jem said.
"You are?" Will asked him.
Jace had composed himself, a small smile crept at the corner of his mouth, he held out his hand for Will to shake. Clary's raised her eyebrows at him and Isabelle sighed loudly as if trying to tell him something.
"Jace Herondale, it's a pleasure."
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, please let me know what you think :)