IXV

The Pantheon War

Jace walked back to the Institute with his head hung low. One of his best friend's was in grave danger, and his girlfriend was probably in danger just by helping his friend out.

He hoped Percy would heed his warning, and stay out of the city, but once the Clave started exterminating any half-bloods in the proximity, Jace knew that Percy wouldn't just sit tight and let that happen.

Jace went straight to the kitchen in the Institute, and began rummaging through the fridge. Nothing helps you feel better than food and lots of it. He was in the midst of turning the kitchen into a disaster zone when Izzy walked in, looking irritated.

"Where's Clary? She promised to help me clean out my closet today." She said angrily hands on her hips.

"She's off with her parents doing whatever, besides I'd think you would need a whole army to clean out that black hole of a closet." He teased in between bites of a triple-decker sandwich. Izzy sneered and sat at the bar, and started eating out of a bag of chips Jace pulled out.

"What do you think about this new bounty hunting gig the Clave dished out this morning." She asked casually. Jace just took another bite of his sandwich as he wondered how to answer this without giving himself away. Maybe this was a chance to get some people on his side without them knowing the truth.

"They want us to fight children of Gods. I mean sure we have the blood of angels, but isn't this like going against Jesus himself?!" Jace asked sarcastically. Of course he knew the truth, but Izzy didn't. Izzy laughed, but then a thoughtful look took over her face.

"Yeah I suppose being the children of Gods does make them pretty powerful. However, you heard what Irene said, they're irresponsible and as protectors of humanity we can't let them just get away with causing chaos. I thought you of all people would like the idea of being on the hunt again." She said slyly. Jace just shrugged and popped open a can of soda, and took a long swig before answering.

"I find it debatable that all those stories about Greek, and Roman heroes that Valentine and Hodge used to tell me as a kid were all a sham. I mean I used to look up to heroes like Achilles, and Theseus all those. They can't really be all that bad if they did some heroic deeds they don't deserve to die." Jace muttered thoughtfully then he began laughing. "Also we're fighting kids, you know people our own age it's like the freaking Hunger Games."

Izzy gave a humorless smile, and frowned staring off into space. "Maybe you're right, maybe they're just misunderstood. I can relate to that." Izzy said dryly. Jace raised his eyebrow at her response. It was unusual to see Izzy so down. He wondered what was up, but that was for Alec to deal with not him.

"Whatever, see ya around Iz." Jace said leaving the kitchen.

'You're not really going to leave this mess behind are you?" she asked giving him a hard look.

"That's what ladies are for right? To pick up after us." He said with a shrug of his shoulders and a sly grin.

"JACE!" Izzy yelled after him as he continued to walk away.

Early the next morning Jace sat up on the roof. He couldn't sleep with all the emotions flooding his mind, and the fact that Clary was still off at Camp Half-blood. Jace tried doing that Iris-messaging thing that Percy was talking about, but he didn't understand what he meant by "make a rainbow." He snuck into Clary's room and drew a rainbow with her art supplies, and felt stupid when he dropped a drachma on it, said that incantation and nothing happened.

"Percy said something about mist…" he was currently musing about what he was doing wrong with this Grecian communication when he noticed a black speck speeding towards him with the rising sun behind it. The speck soon materialized into a black Pegasus with a flaming, red haired girl on its back.

"You know I always imagined Pegasus as bigger, and white." Jace called out to the duo as they landed on the roof.

"This is Blackjack not Pegasus, he's Percy's ride." Clary said with a smirk as she strolled up to him. Jace put his arms around her.

"I guess it's only fitting Perseus would ride a flying horse." Jace mused as he leaned in for a kiss.

"They didn't hurt you right?" Jace asked checking her over for injuries.

'No, I'm fine they didn't hurt me although they weren't very friendly either, but I wasn't expecting them to after I basically just declared war on them." Clary said sarcastically.

"So what's going to happen now?" Jace asked.

"Well they believed everything I had to say and now they're mobilizing. Percy sent a warning out to all known half-bloods across the country, and a cry for aid from the Romans and the hunters of Artemis. They'll be a formidable force once assembled. This war will definitely not be an easy one for us." Clary said wearily.

'Any more news from the Clave?" she asked him.

"The Clave has Percy's apartment, school, and even the subway tunnels staked out. I've also been briefed over some half-blood that lives in queens. Alec and I were assigned to that search and destroy mission. We're still waiting for recruits to arrive before the clave will even begin discussing a plan to attack Camp Half-blood.' Jace informed gravelly. Clary nodded slowly before she remembered something and her eyes brightened.

"Yeah about that attack on Camp. It'll be a lot harder than the Clave imagined, with those magical borders it has." She proceeded to tell him about the difficulty she had just trying to get into the camp much less seeing it.

"Their camp has a dragon security system? Seriously?" Jace asked.

'Yeah I know his name is Peleus." Clary said with a smile. Jace nodded, but still looked thoughtful.

"That's so medieval. Anyway, I still think that the Clave might come up with some way to get passed that." Jace said skeptically.

"Yeah I guess." Clary lowering her head. She barely saw, or socialized with Percy's friends but she saw kids that weren't all that different from her. She even saw kids that weren't even teenagers yet they were like Max, young kids that grew up in a world at war. How could she fight these people? How could any of the shadowhunters want to go to war with a bunch of kids?

"Did you say that you and Alec are going to hunt some half-blood tomorrow?" Clary asked.

"Yeah, maybe I'll pretend I'm sick to get out of it. I don't know.' Jace said with a cough and a groan. "Am I convincing?' he asked hoarsely swaying his body and leaning heavily on her pretending to be sick. Clary laughed and just shoved him away.

"Sure, and since your sick that means no kisses." She said with a smirk walking away.

"What, hey do you know how many girls would kill to get my germs? You should feel lucky that you get them for free." he said with his signature smirk on.

"You're an ass." Clary said annoyed but couldn't stop the grin spreading across her face. Jace closed the gap between them and pulled her close.

He'd tried to play sick, but Alec could see right through him and made him go on this hunt. They were targeting a supposed daughter of Aphrodite in Queens. How a daughter of the Goddess of love and beauty could be considered a threat, Jace had no idea. Percy said his friend Piper was really the only dangerous child that goddess ever had. Jace supposed the only reason they were hunting this girl down was to make an example of her, and get the Gods attention or make the demigods so scared they'd retreat back to their camp and stop causing trouble. Of course Jace knew this was all a bunch of bull shit, it would take more than one half-blood to scare the demigods. Their used to having their brethren die of monster attacks or whatever all the time. They're practically always fighting just as shadowhunters are, one little assassination would just ruffle their feathers.

Jace had also decided to come just to see what would happen, maybe he could find out something useful that he could leak to Percy.

They cornered the demigod in an alley. She was beautiful Asian girl with long sleek black hair, high cheek bones, a pointed chin, and a small mouth. Her eyes seemed to change color as her demeanor changed from surprise, to battle instinct, to fear as she realized she was hopelessly out numbered. She pushed her purse behind her back, and unsheathed a bronze dagger from a sheath on her designer jeans.

"What do you want? What kind of monsters are you!?" she asked putting on a brave face, but her voice quavered at the end.

"We are the Nephilim protectors of humanity. You and your demigod kin's days of interfering with the lives of mundane's are over. Starting with you!" one of Jace's group Gavin snarled as he lunged to attack the girl with his sword outstretched. Jace felt sick as he rushed forward with the rest of his party to attack the half-blood. She didn't go down without a fight. The girl slashed her dagger across Gavin's face as she jumped back to avoid his sword. Gavin screamed in rage, and pain as blood flew from his face. The girl held her own fairly well, however just as Jace expected a child of the love goddess was no real challenge and she soon went down under a flurry of seraph blades. Jace hung back not wanting any part of this. His face was set in a hard mask keeping his outrage, and guilt bottled up inside.

The men backed away to reveal a pale body with several stab wounds along her chest and stomach. The dagger had been kicked away from her grasp. The oldest member of their group Adam went down to the body and ripped a leather necklace off her neck. Jace recognized it as the same one Percy always wore. The camp necklace where each bead was like a souvenir/story of all his adventures.

"This'll be proof of the deed." He said quietly. Was that remorse in his voice? Jace heard somewhere that Adam and his bride recently had a baby girl. He noticed the faces of the other shadowhunters they all seemed to have conflicted looks on their faces. It wasn't like killing demons who once they shed their mortal disguises their revealed to be the hideous, evil monsters they truly were. These demigods were human, and there was no denying the truth that they all just murdered a teenage girl in cold blood.

Gavin spat on the ground by the girls face, and turned away. The half-blood's strike started from his right temple and stretched across his face before stopping down his left jaw line. The rest of the group suffered similar lacerations, and some had stab wounds. Alec walked up to him he had escaped the girls dying frenzy, and turned to look down at her bleeding out body.

"I half expected its blood to be a different color or something, not so normal. It's kind of creepy." He admitted slightly uncomfortable.

"The girl.." Jace emphasized she wasn't an it. "…is half human and not so different form us when you think about it." He said skeptically. Alec looked at him strangely.

"What are you talking about?" Alec asked confused. Jace just shrugged looking nonchalant.

"I mean we have the blood of angels they have the blood of Gods. There can't be a huge difference between the two." Jace answered with a raised eyebrow toward the murder scene. Alec just shook his head like Jace was crazy and walked off to join the group as they walked away back to the Institute.

Jace hung back for a second gazing at the girl's lifeless face once beautiful now pitiful.

"If they weren't so bigoted, and close-minded they would see that we have more in common than anyone ever realized." Jace whispered to himself before turning around catching up with the others.