"Thank you, all, for journeying here tonight; I have important news to bestow". The figure stayed in the shadows, as they always did now, addressing the crowd with a voice of confidence and arrogance. "I have received intelligence from this man, here", at this point someone is ushered through the crowd and placed in front of the dais, the speaker's long finger pointed right at him.
"What's his kind doing here?" someone bellows incredulously.
"Do not interrupt me! He is here because I asked him to be. This man may not be welcome here usually, but he is clever and has kept track of our Shadowhunter associates, as well as the mundane ones
"He has told me that a group of young Nephilim have left their sacred city and are travelling here, to America, as well speak. They search the truth, the truth I have so far kept well hidden"
"What do they hope to achieve?" asks another member of the crowd
"It is not known. Without knowing of us, and me in particular, they have no way of reversing what we have done even if they do learn the truth. They will probably attempt to track down some of the eight, and so we must stop them".
"How?"
"They have only just left Alicante; we need them to leave Idris before we can truly strike. Travel to our underground dungeons, as many as you can reach in time, and dispatch our vampire prisoners to follow their path". Those in the crowd begin to talk amongst themselves, but their leader is satisfied that they will do as they have been commanded. The man starts to move closer to the dais, hesitant at first but at the same time steely as usual.
"You may have changed them, but deep down they're the same people that they were before and those people? Their job every day was to put a stop to the likes of you".
"After all this time, have you finally gone soft on them?"
"You don't realise how human you had become until the thing that made you that way is taken from you"
"You can't help them, you know."
"You promised that-"
"It looks like that newfound humanity made you forget something; that my promises are worth less than your kind. They may have relied on you before I changed this world, but in this reality you're worthless. That's why they call you Bane; you're a hindrance to even those you wish to help. Take him to the dungeons". The man, or prisoners, flashes his unique eyes angrily at the villain on the dais before being dragged away and locked into eternal darkness.
"This is an absolute outrage. That Morgenstern worm and his band of scantily clad provocateurs and armed hooligans have kidnapped my poor grandson and whisked him off to the dangers that lie beyond this city!" screamed the Inquisitor, who had barged in on the impromptu meeting uninvited and at the melancholy of all the others in attendance. The meeting consisted of Jia Penhallow (leading the discussion as a representative of the Clave), Valentine and Jocelyn, Stephen and Amatis, the Blackthorns, the Truebloods, the Greenshades and Robert and Maryse Lightwood, whose presence had gotten the meeting off to an uncomfortable start. Sebastian's aunt had already been informed, and would make her way to the city in the morning, and outside the door with their conspiratorial ears pressed against it were Clary, Jace, Luke and Aline.
"Imogen, thank you for joining us. If you'd like there's a selection of tea or coffee on the table over there" said Jia calmly.
"We were actually just discussing how this escape plan wasn't entirely concocted by Jonathan" interjected Jocelyn, eyes turned furiously towards the Inquisitor, "in fact, given Jace Herondale's rebellious nature and disregard and wouldn't be surprised if his brother was behind all this!"
"Don't blame this on William!" Amatis contributed, "your husband himself said that it was that insolent fae child of the Blackthorns who they were all following"
"My Horace would never do anything like this of his own accord"
"Oh please I caught him trying to grope my Jocasta TWICE last week!"
"Helen is a good child-"
"Jonathan would never go anywhere without his sister-"
"These cheese-tipped breadsticks are marvellous Jia! Did you make them yourse-"
"No one's blaming the Lightwoods-"
"No one's blaming Verlac-"
"Enough!" all eyes turned towards Stephen Herondale, who was stood rigid and glaring at each of them in turn. "It doesn't matter who orchestrated this; it matters that we return them home safely"
"He's right" there was a collective gasp as one of the Lightwoods, Maryse, spoke for the first time. "We shouldn't be placing blame, but maybe we shouldn't go after them either. There's obviously a reason why they've done this; you're all quick to defend your childrens' honour and loyalty to the Clave, so surely if they've left it means there's a problem that they need to sort out, something that might be saving lives?"
"Don't be so ridiculous" argued Imogen, "they're all practically children-"
"But aren't they also Nephilim? Because of your idiotic belief system and world record at holding grudges we, and our children, were never given a chance to prove themselves. All a Shadowhunter ever wants to do is prove to their superiors that the Angel chose wisely when he bestowed this duty on them. I'm not just saying this for my own children, but for all of those who've gone missing today; let them save the world, and maybe then they can be accepted in the society that is their birthright to be apart of".
Everyone looked at the Lightwoods in silence; some glared with disgust but the majority had a newfound respect and admiration in their eyes; they worshipped their children and yet were too protective to let them show they truly belonged. Didn't they al have to do something heroic in order to gain favour with the Clave? Now it was their childrens' turn.
"All agreed?" asked Jia quietly.
Everyone nodded.
Except the Inquisitor.
"Well then you can all welcome them into your society gladly when their corpses are brought back to be interred by the Silent Brothers".
"Can we please stop running for a few minutes?" Horace panted.
"We're just about to cross into Switzerland; once we're in the mundane world we can find somewhere to rest until morning" was Jocasta's logical solution. They had been running for a long time, only ever taking power breaks to make sure none of them collapsed but also so that they didn't dwell in one place long enough for someone to find them.
"How are we going to get to New York?" asked Sebastian, acting deeply serious for the first time all day.
"And how are we going to find this person we're supposed to be looking for?" added Will.
"I don't know about getting to America"; Helen, "but I have a feeling that the number eight is somehow going to help us find our New York friend. Don't ask; it's just a hunch". They walked the rest of the way in silence, each of them taking a huge sigh of relief when finally stepping across the border and leaving Idris behind.
"Now" a voice hissed from the trees, and before any of them knew what was happening they were being ambushed by shadowed figures moving through the forest at lightning speed.
"What's going on?" asked Will.
"Who are you?" asked Jon.
"Poor baby Shadowhunters who haven't been outside their precious city before. We are called vampires" the leader sneered sarcastically, "my name is Raphael, and now you will die".