Chapter Two
Magnus stood by the side of the country house where the Lightwoods were staying, preparing to open the Portal, Clary figured. Maryse, Robert, Isabelle, and Alec Lightwood (Clary felt a pang of grief for not seeing Max, too) all stood watching Magnus. Maia was talking to Simon on the front porch, which got Isabelle's attention who was suddenly frowning. Luke and Jocelyn walked past Clary and joined the Lightwood's circle. Clary watched Simon and Maia before she followed her mom and decided to talk to Isabelle for Simon's sake.
"You're staying here?" Simon didn't know why Maia would have even come here without Luke, let alone why she would want to stay here.
"Well, not in Alicante, but yeah Idris. There's a pack here that's pretty interesting and this is my chance to get out of New York for once," Maia said casually, but she looked excited.
"Are you going to come back?"
"Yeah, I'll stay a few weeks probably, see what it's like, then chat up a warlock and come back."
"What about your old pack, there's not a rule against switching packs randomly?" Simon asked.
Maia laughed. "No, there's not. And besides I'm not switching, just hanging out with some new people."
"You mean werewolves."
"Werewolves, people, vampires, Santa Clause… What's the difference?" she shrugged.
"I'll miss you, no natural enemy to keep me company, especially now that Santa Clause is gone."
Maia smiled. "I'll be back, don't get too bored." She punched Simon's shoulder then waved to Clary—who tried to smile back—and ran off the porch in the general direction of the outskirts of Alicante. Once, she glanced back over her shoulder, and Simon waved. Don't get hurt, Simon added mentally but wouldn't have said that to Maia; she would've laughed at him.
Simon joined the group in the circle and Clary noticed his frown. What's wrong, Clary mouthed, but Simon just shook his head at her.
"Good, now that we've all finished our heart-felt goodbyes, I can finally start now," Magnus exclaimed. He was wearing tight, leather pants, sewed all over with electric-blue sequins under a black shirt with glittery sleeves. Magnus turned and faced the wall while blue sparks flew out from under his hands. After a couple of minutes of this, he stepped back and there was a Portal, dark and mysterious, on the side of the house. They all stood watching for a minute.
"Do you need a push?" Magnus inquired the group.
"Who wants to go first?" Alec asked.
Jace stepped forward. "I'll go."
Clary rolled her eyes. "Of course you will." Then she stepped forward and intertwined her fingers with his. "Let's go home."
They both crossed into the Portal. Clary was thinking of the Institute like they all would. There was a moment of dizzying darkness and then she was suddenly falling toward green grass. She hit the ground hard and heard a moan from beneath her. Clary rolled over on her side and saw what she landed on. Jace.
"You could be a little more graceful," Jace said rubbing his elbow.
"Well, you did land on me the first time." Clary thought back to when she had spontaneously jumped through the Portal at Madame Dorothea's apartment. That was just a few days after she had first found out about this new world. It had been so long since then it seemed. Really, that was a little less than a year ago.
Clary stood up and looked around her. There were few cars out, probably due to the early hour of the morning. The only person on the sidewalk was a young man in all black, and he was already rounding the corner now. She hadn't forgotten the bright, neon lights of New York, but they seemed to be glowing brighter since her absence.
A quiet gasp made Clary look up. Someone, it looked like Isabelle, was be hurled from the sky. Clary and Jace both backed up a few feet quickly to avoid being landed on. Isabelle landed with a thud where they had been standing. With a groan, Isabelle stood up and smoothed her long blue dress. "That's why we shouldn't use Portals. I know they're faster, but really, who likes to fall twenty feet, hit the hard ground, and then get grass stains on their clothes?"
Before Jace or Clary could reply, three smudges appeared in the sky. This time it was Alec and his parents. They managed not to land on each other, but Clary was pretty sure they had banged into one another. They stood up, while Jocelyn, Luke, and Simon made their way down to earth.
"Isabelle's right," Clary started, "It is pretty rough using the Portal." Everyone was on their feet now and looked like they agreed. Out of nowhere, Magnus appeared, standing. One minute there were nine people, the next there were ten.
"Especially, compared to that," Jace said, looking at Magnus.
"You could always take a plane, if you prefer," Magnus retorted, "I hear that there are complimentary peanuts and only 3 out of 10 crashes are fatal."
"At least you land straight up," Clary countered.
"Actually 45% of crashes happen during the landing," Simon said, making Clary glare at him.
"Then feel free to fly the next time you need transportation," Magnus smiled.
"Alright that's enough. Magnus, thank you for all your help," Maryse said, "Why don't we go inside now."
They all made their way down the Institute's hallway to the room that held the power box. When the electricity was running again, they all climbed into the elevator and rode up to the library. Church was waiting for them; he looked somewhere between mad and irritated. Clary guessed it was because he had been left alone for so long without food, though he wasn't showing any signs of starvation.
Everyone filed into the library. Maryse, Robert, and Alec sat on the couch, Isabelle and Simon were sitting in the huge chair by the fireplace, Clary and Jace were sitting in the chair across from it, and Magnus, Jocelyn, and Luke were standing.
"So Clary, are you going to be staying at the Institute tonight or at Luke's?" Alec asked.
"I guess here, if that's alright, Mom." Clary already knew this was alright; she and her mom had discussed it when they were in Idris. Clary would be staying at the Institute to train, while Jocelyn would move into Luke's house. Their old apartment had been fixed up, but it was too small and had been sold.
"That's fine," Jocelyn said.
Robert Lightwood cleared his throat and asked,"Do you two have any special plans for tonight?"
"No," Luke spoke up, "Just going to enjoy being home finally."
"It is nice," Robert sighed.
Everyone in the room nodded. Finally, they had a break from fighting and could stop to breathe. It had been a while since they could all just relax.
"What will you kids do tonight?" Jocelyn asked
"I'm going to cook," Isabelle said.
With that, each person's face looked alarmed. "Actually," Jace said, "our night will be more like holding Isabelle hostage while someone gets Chinese takeout."
Isabelle frowned. "This is all very interesting, and I would love to stay and chat," Magnus said, "but I simply have to go. Chairman Meow misses me." As quickly as he had appeared outside, he disappeared inside.
"I guess we should leave, too." Jocelyn and Luke waved and said goodnight to Clary. Maryse and Robert followed to show them out.
"And I should say hello to my mom. I wonder where she thinks I've been. Hodge said the Clave could make her think I was on a field trip or something. Maybe I visited the Eifel Tower." Simon hugged Isabelle and waved at Clary.
"And then there were four," Jace muttered.
"I think the rest of us are staying," Clary said, "unless we want to get takeout now."
"I'm not hungry yet," Isabelle said.
Alec shook his head, "Me either."
"Then let's just wait till tonight," Clary reasoned.
They waited until it was 9:30 before leaving and had decided to walk to the Chinese restaurant to eat instead of getting it delivered. Jace led the way down the sidewalk; it was only a few blocks from the Institute. The sky was dark tonight and the wind was blowing in cold air, making Clary shiver. She hugged her jacket closer to her and Jace wrapped his arm tightly around her. Isabelle and Alec's footsteps could be heard behind her.
The restaurant was on the right of the street and Jace opened the door for Clary. They walked in and took a booth near the back. The seats were cold even though the heat was turned on. A waitress with silky, black hair asked them what they wanted to drink and left. There seemed to be an argument between the cashier and someone in the kitchen.
"Do you know why they're yelling?" Isabelle asked.
Jace shook his head, "I don't know Chinese. Do you, Alec?"
"Some but not much," Alec looked at the cashier and listened, "They are talking about money and a guy… It sounds like he left without paying, and the cook own this place or something. "
"Why don't people pay? It couldn't cost that much to eat here," Clary said.
"I don't know it's weird, but there are all kinds of weird people out there," Alec commented.
Jace laughed, "Yeah, there's three of those weird people in here."
Clary raised her eyebrows. "Wow, I didn't know you could hit on your own self esteem; you are the weirdest one in here after all," she grinned.
The waitress came back with their drinks. She took out her pen and spoke in an accent, "You are ready to order?"
"Yeah, Mei Fun Noodles with Pork & Shrimp," Jace said.
"General Tso Chicken for me," Clary ordered next.
The waitress scribbled on her pad and looked at Alec. "I'll take Hot and Sour Soup, please."
Isabelle pointed to her menu, "I'll have the Orange Chicken with fried rice."
The waitress turned to leave, but Alec stopped her. "Did someone leave without paying?"
The lady nodded, "Young man in dark clothes ordered noodles, soup, and duckling. He ate and left. Now Father is mad at Cousin for not stopping him."
"Did you call the police or something?" Isabelle asked.
"Yes, but police can't do much now. He's gone."
"That's too bad," Clary sympathized for the family who owned the business.
The waitress nodded and walked back to the kitchen to place their order. The man, who must be the waitress's father, had calmed down now, but the cashier, who must be her cousin, still looked like he thought his uncle would start yelling at him again at any moment.
"So… Anyone know someone who likes to wear dark clothes?" Jace asked.
"Simon does," Isabelle said, "but he wouldn't leave without paying."
Clary shook her head in agreement. "No, he pays, and there wouldn't be a reason for him to come here in the first place."
Jace looked at Alec, "Anyone else?"
"Not that I can think of, unless you're talking about every Shadowhunter who owns fighting gear."
"It could have been a Shadow hunter," Isabelle began, "but why wouldn't they pay?"
"I don't think it was a Shadowhunter, this is more of a mundane thing," Jace said.
The sat in silence until the waitress came back with their food. Everyone ate quickly; they were all hungry as they hadn't eaten since they were in Idris.
Clary walked to her room to ready herself for bed while Jace walked beside her. When they reached her door, he bent down to kiss her good night. This was the same place Simon had seen them kissing during Clary's first week of finding the Institute and all the other magical places and people. Jace hugged her before he walked back down the hallway.
Clary walked into her room, sat down on her bed, and sighed. Finally things were normal in her life; no crisis breaking out at every second. It was just her life now as a Shadowhunter. Tomorrow she would be training just like the rest of them. Feeling relieved, she lied down under the covers.
Clary kept having the odd sensation that someone was watching her. She had felt that way walking home and she felt it now, too. Clary pulled the covers tighter around her and drifted off to sleep.
So what do you think? I know it's not much right now, but it's getting there. Just a heads up, Chapter Three will probably be out a little later than a week, but not more than two weeks. I have exams coming up so more time studying less time writing. Let me know what you think!