IridescentxPetals: This story will definitely be continuing! I think that longer chapters less regularly is what I'm going to with.
Bob The Dam Burrito: Thanks!
Clary tapped her foot impatiently. It echoed in the Institute's entrance, now lit with the dozens of candles that she had lit with Fire runes. She never wanted to draw one again, but it occupied her mind while she waited for Magnus to get Alec into New York.
She'd had a fairly easy time getting away, never mind that she still didn't know exactly who the demon was impersonating in her dream. All she'd had to do was let Jace know she was going to spend the day riding, and he'd told everyone else. At least she knew that the demon wasn't him- Magnus said something about the heavenly fire preventing an imposter, though Raziel knew why that had anything to do with it. Clary had just about had enough of the heavenly fire, but if it kept Jace from demonic influence…
She shifted her weight onto her other foot. It was tempting to take the elevator and go up into the Institute for something to do, but Magnus could get back any second. He'd had to leave completely so he could contribute his energy into Alec's escape as he'd done for her, but she was wishing he would hurry up and come back. Foot tapping, checking she had everything she wanted in her backpack, lighting candles… it all got old pretty quickly.
A shower of sparks erupted in front of her, raining down around Magnus. She scowled. It was probably all for show- and surely he didn't have to land right in front of her.
He grinned, noticing her expression. "Biscuit, you have to let me have my fun. Otherwise I'd be terribly dull."
"I'm not sure that a little less excitement would be a bad thing, but-"
Magnus interrupted her. "As exciting as this conversation is, I'm sure you want to get on with it. Everyone's at my place now, so we'd better get moving."
Clary huffed. "Right." She picked up her bag and looked at Magnus expectantly.
He looked right back.
"Aren't you going to make a Portal?" asked Clary, impatient.
"I don't want to exhaust my magic. It's going to take a lot to get you all out of here in one piece."
She grabbed her stele out of her bag, looking for the best surface to mark. "Okay, so I'll just make-"
Magnus grabbed her arm and confiscated her stele, holding it out of arm's reach. "Portal activity could alert the demon that we're here."
"You used a Portal to get me here!" Clary cried in exasperation. "And in Alec's hallucination, you used another one!"
"That was necessary. And I created about seven different Portals as a diversion both times. You need to get over it, Clary, because a subway ride across the city is hardly going to kill you- and if the demon gets ahold of you, it might just do that."
She felt the words like a shove. Her mind stumbled backwards, processing the words. She's never really considered that she might be in just as much danger here as she was back in the real world. More even, because if the demon got close enough, it could influence her to such an extent that she may not even remember the last few days. And she still didn't know who it was.
Magnus sighed. "Come on. Let's go."
Clary tried to let the rhythmic rocking of the train soothe her. She focused on the lights flashing by periodically. Anything to make all of this tension drain out of her. Her fingers itched for her sketchbook and pencils, even though she had nothing to draw. All she could think about was Jace, alone and quite possibly disillusioned with his world, even if it was a good one. She half sighed, half groaned, not caring when the other passengers turned to look at her. They weren't real anyway. "Clary." Magnus' hand still her tapping fingers. "Jace will be okay until you get there."
She didn't look at him. Leave it to Magnus to pinpoint exactly what she was worried about. She pulled her hand out from under his and resumed her movement. "You don't know that."
"So you're not going to trust me and my hundreds of years of experience?"
She knew that if she turned now, there would be a fake pout on his face. "Actually, no."
Clary felt bad for being so snarky when all he was trying to do was help her, but she couldn't take all these false reassurances. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't talk right now."
They subsided into silence, only the sounds of the subway filling the uneasy quiet.
Clary stood on the spot Magnus had directed her to in the lounge room, not moving an inch. Her time as a Shadowhunter had ensured that when things were tense, all she wanted was to be moving, slashing and feeling the burn of exertion. The warlock moved around the room, setting various objects down and gathering others. The furniture had pushed itself against the walls at a click of his fingers, and candles lit the space, rather than electrical lighting. She wished the lights were on. Maybe it would bring some normalcy to this whole situation. She was going off into a world that wasn't real; leaving the world she was in, which also wasn't real, to save her half-angel boyfriend from his own deepest wishes.
She imagined Magnus doing this in three other universes, each of them standing and watching him quietly.
Actually, Isabelle would be unlikely to watch him quietly. Her demands would probably fill the room, building its almost palpable tension.
"Ready?" Magnus asked, glancing at her.
Clary took a deep breath, letting the action calm her. She was gearing up for a fight. "Yeah."
Magnus stood across from her, mumbling words in a language that teased the edges of her mind, like if she just concentrated a little harder, she would understand the meaning. She was too edgy to grasp semi-familiar language though, so she just shifted impatiently.
The words poured out of Magnus' mouth, a torrent of unintelligible gibberish that gave her shivers. They traced themselves up and down her spine in an entirely unpleasant way.
The world began to blur and twist around her. Clary caught flashes of this and that- a child's hysterical laughter, an image off the subway stop near here and the demon towers in Alicante. She felt insubstantial and far too light for gravity to hold her down. She floated in between anything real, in a place where nothing was solid and all she could see was the constellations spread out above her, dizzyingly close. She drifted towards Earth, back down into the atmosphere. Perching on a cloud, she peered down, wondering if this was where Jace was. Bright, glittering pillars stuck out of the land and pointed towards her, as if they knew where she was. She almost giggled, but controlled herself. This was serious. She knew she was trying to find Jace, but… it just didn't seem so urgent now. She knew she didn't consciously make the decision to glide back into the stars, but somehow the velvety blackness surrounded her again.
Clary felt as if she could reach out and touch a star, so she did, and it wrapped around her, burying her in a blaze of heat and light. Hanging in the air, she twisted and turned, worried as she caught sight of a huge silver orb surrounded by stars. The moon moved towards her- or maybe she was hovering towards it. It didn't matter, anyhow, because it was getting closer.
Clary slammed back down into a place just as hot as her star had been, and immediately banished her stupid thoughts. There were familiar figures close to her, and everything else flew out of her head.
"Simon!" She flew at him, hugging him tightly. "Isabelle, Alec." She grinned. It was a relief not to watch her words, worried that the wrong thing was going to come out. They returned her eagerness, although they all held the same underlying worry that she did.
"I thought I was a star, hovering in space." Isabelle offered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I wasn't worried at all. I just hung there, looking at all the constellations."
Clary nodded. Alec laughed unexpectedly. "Magnus didn't tell you? That scenario was bound to happen."
The ground was scorching beneath her boots and everything seemed dimmer. The sun was weak, as if it had been leached of all its energy, and what few plants there were struggled.
"Where are we?" Simon was the first one to ask, screwing his face up as he looked around.
"If I had to guess, one of the demon realms. What Jace would be doing here, I don't know." Alec replied uneasily. "Guess we'll just have to find him."
"Let's get going then. Which direction?" Clary said, trying not to let it faze her.
Simon pointed. "Let's head towards the caves. Maybe there'll be shelter."
Alec snorted. "Yeah, or maybe there'll be some creepy crawly demon that wants some nice vampire to eat."
"Or maybe," Clary interrupted, sick of it already, "we could just pick a way to go and try to find Jace."
They set off at a brisk walk towards the bleak sun. She attempted to keep her mind away from the question she kept returning to.
What's Jace doing here?
JACE'S p.o.v is NEXT CHAPTER!
Who's excited? I am psyched to share it with you guys- it's already mostly written. Share your theories and queries! Please let me know what you think.