FIRST AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello, everyone! First three chapters are up and it makes me really happy that I've been getting positive feedback! This is my first story and your support means so much to me! I'll try my best to make this story live up to everyone's expectations. Please keep reviewing and giving feedback so that I'll know what you guys think! Hope you guys continue to join me, Tessa, Will, James, Jem and all the other amazing characters of TID on this journey!
Aaaaaand as a treat, this chapter is all about WILL! And his angst. Teehee!
"Will, look out!" screamed Gabriel Lightwood. "WILLIAM!"
Will Herondale spun around just in time to meet the Dahak demon head-on as it lunged for him, and with a flash of his seraph blade, neatly sliced the demon in half.
The demon fell to the ground, twitching, and finally disappeared.
With a self-satisfied smirk, Will turned to look at his companion to cast him an incredulous look.
"Goodness, Gabriel. I never knew it was humanly possible to reach a decibel that high. You may have a future at the opera house." He said, amusement evident in his voice.
Gabriel huffed and his green eyes flashed with irritation. "It is only you, William Herondale, who could afford to joke around in situations like this. That Dahak demon could have had you."
Will opened his arms wide and exclaimed, "But alas, fair maiden, the demon hadn't! Fear not, for Will Herondale shall live to see another day!"
Gabriel scoffed at him and shoved past him. "It is indeed a wonder that you have lived even this long, William. I had thought for sure you wouldn't live past nineteen."
"Oh, I believe the world isn't quite ready to send a specimen as beautiful as me to the after-life just yet. After all, who else could add a little bit of color to this drab city?" Will said, false distaste coloring his voice.
"You make it sound as if the rest of us were ugly toads."
"Heavens, no. I would never affiliate you with a toad. When kissed by a beautiful maiden, toads turn into dukes or counts. You, my dear Gabriel, are more of a salamander." Will proclaimed, obviously pleased with himself.
"First of all, only a princess can turn you into a prince. And secondly, the story is about frogs, not toads." Gabriel argued.
"Ah, but it does not change the fact that you are a salamander." Will countered. "Salamander Lightworm, excellent ring to it, eh?"
Gabriel cast him a glare. "If only you weren't the brother of my fiancee', I would tie you up, throw you in a sack—"
Will gasped dramatically. "-and take me to a brothel to have your way with me?"
Looking appalled and slightly disgusted, Gabriel continued, "then I will throw you into the duck pond at Hyde Park."
Will visibly paled.
The two Shadowhunters made their way back to the London Institute, both lost in their own thoughts as the carriage gently rocked along the cobblestones.
Will cast a glance at Gabriel, looking eagerly out the window, barely containing his excitement to get back to the Institute. Back to Cecily. Back to his sister.
It took all of Will's self-control to repress a shudder and a gag.
The carriage had finally come to a stop and Gabriel got out so fast you'd think he had another Dahak demon in his pants.
Both he and Cyril cast incredulous looks at each other and shrugged.
Once Will had made it up the steps to the Institute, the doors swung open to his touch and he was greeted with the most horrible sight.
"WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO DO THESE GHASTLY THINGS. MY EYES. "
Both Gabriel and Cecily jumped out of their passionate embrace to look at Will, looking guilty and embarrassed.
"H-hello, Will. I, uh, didn't see you there." Cecily started, clearly flustered.
"Well of course you wouldn't see me, Cecily. What with Gabriel here trying to make his way down your throat IN THE FOYER." Will cried, a half-crazed look in his eyes.
Gabriel flushed and Cecily bowed her dark head in embarrassment.
"I was not—" Gabriel started
"What is all this arguing about?" Charlottle Branwell, the Consul, had said upon arriving to investigate the root causes of the row, behind her was her husband Henry. "Will, Gabriel, is there anything to report?"
Will sighed and rubbed his eyes. "No, Charlotte. Other than an encounter with a Dahak demon, there was nothing to find on the East Side of the city."
Charlotte nodded. "Alright. Would you like me to have Bridget fix you some dinner then?"
This made Will smile. Charlotte, ever the hoverer despite her high positing in the Clave.
"No, thank you. I will retire to my chambers and perhaps try to get some sleep to forget the hideous things I have witnessed tonight."
Henry laughed, his warm brown eyes dancing. "My, was the demon that ugly?"
"Oh, no. I wouldn't mind facing the demon again. Gabriel defiling my sister in the foyer though…" he trailed off, shuddering.
"Will!" Cecily cried, smacking her brother.
Henry and Charlotte both looked shocked and turned to look at Gabriel and Cecily questioningly.
"Well, um, we, I, uh….you see…." Gabriel had stammered as Will went up the stairs, chuckling to himself.
He was walking towards his room when he had come across a certain corridor, a corridor he had avoided at all costs for the first few years since they had left the Institute. The pain was much too great for him then, losing his parabatai to the Silent City and her leaving so suddenly without leaving as much as a letter to explain her departure. He thought the pain would swallow him whole.
But he knew wallowing around in his own grief would lead to nowhere. So he had tried his best to move forward.
Ever since being promoted to the position of Consul, Charlotte had been training Will to take over the Institute. So his days consisted of Will memorizing names, and addresses and contact details of all the members of the Clave, as well as their relatives and their relatives' relatives.
Will thought his head was going to explode.
On top of that, he had taken it upon himself to personally train Cecily, who at the time, had very little experience in Shadowhunting.
And after years of daily knife-throwing, sword-fighting, seraph blade-wielding, wall-climbing, jumping from one great height to another, Cecily was almost as good a Shadowhunter as her brother. Almost.
Will had devoted his time and efforts to being the very best Shadowhunter he could be, from going out on late nights with Cecily, Gabriel, Gideon and Sophie to fight Shax demons, make peace with Downworlders, save a cat from a tree, stop a duck invasion.
"Ducks are every bit as evil as the Nine Princes of Hell," he once pointed out.
And all the while, he had also looked for Tessa. He scoured the London Downworld in hopes that he could find anyone who can lead him to her. But his efforts were fruitless. She was gone.
He had countless of sleepless nights, pouring over every book in the Institute's library hoping that he could clues of her whereabouts. He had thought that she would return to New York but he knew he could not simply leave the Institute just like that.
And on the nights that he did sleep, he had nightmares. Nightmares of the Infernal Devices, nightmares of Jem dying, nightmares of Tessa turning her back and choosing to leave him.
He often woke up screaming, and Cecily and Charlotte would rush to him. As Cecily gathered him into her arms she would murmur to him comfortingly in Welsh.
"Shhh. Mae'n iawn, dwi yma. Mae'n iawn." She whispered against his hair as she rocked them back and forth.
She and Charlotte shared looks of concern and helpless as Will's body racked with sobs while saying her name.
"Tessa."
Will had never ceased to look for her. But as the years passed by and he had exhausted every possible effort he could think of, even contacting the Silent Brothers, and therefore opening another wound in his heart.
He could still feel the sorrow of losing his parabatai to the Silent City, but Will knew this was what was best for Jem. He will live a long life, and that alone was enough for Will.
Jem, now known as Brother Zachariah, was completely distraught that there was nothing he could do to find Tessa because the Laws of the Brotherhood forbidden him from doing so. At least Will knew there was someone else who understood his pain.
The years had not been easy for Will but his duties were enough to keep him grounded. He slowly felt himself start to heal, or at least he could get at least a few hours of sleep every night.
"He just needs time," Charlotte said one day as she and Cecily were once again looking at him as he and Gabriel and Gideon were about to set out on another mission.
Cecily just gazed sadly at her brother as she was carrying little Matthew, Charlotte and Henry's second child, in her arms.
Will adored little Matthew, and his older brother Charles as well. If there was anyone who could bring back even a semblance of light into his eyes, it would be those two little boys.
Whenever he's with Charlotte and Henry's sons, Cecily could see her brother again. It gave her hope that maybe the man her brother was once was could come back.
Charlotte was right and it had indeed taken time for Will to recover. He still hoped that one day he could track Tessa down and bring her back. But right now, he had an Institute to run and demons to kill.
Slowly, he made his way into the corridor and briefly stopped in front of Jem's door, remembering the days when he would burst into his parabatai's bedroom to talk about his latest discoveries and adventures and the days when he had held Jem's hand when his parabatai was high with fever and coughing blood.
He closed his eyes and shook his head and turned to the door opposite Jem's. He hesitated for a moment before going in.
The room had been left unoccupied long enough for any traces of her scent to vanish, but he could still feel her presence within these walls.
It was too much.
He quickly turns on his heel and exits the room. He makes his way back to his own quarters and slams the door shut.
"Arrgh!" he growls in frustration while pulling at his hair.
He throws himself into his bed with such force that the bed rocks the wall and the nearby bookshelf from the impact. The bookshelves shook violently for a moment and quite a few had fallen to the floor.
Will rubs his eyes and gets up to pick up the fallen books to put them back on the shelf when one book in particular catches his eye.
Slowly, he bends down to pick it up and walks back to his bed and sits down. He holds the book with so much tension in his hands his knuckles turn white.
He slowly brushes his fingers along the title of the book, wiping away the dust that had collected there.
A Tale of Two Cities.
Taking a deep breath, he opens the book to read the dedication he had once written to Tessa, but had never had the courage to give her the book.
With a heavy heart, he read the words that speaks the truth up until this very day.
You are not the last dream of my soul.You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime's worth.
He slammed the book shut and bowed his head. He took deep, slow calming breaths as he tried to collect himself.
He looked up and saw himself in the mirror across from his bed, he saw the bruise-like shadows under his eyes, the paleness of his skin and the darkness of his unruly hair. But he held his gaze with his reflection, blue eyes burning with intensity.
"I will find you, Tessa. I swear it on the Angel. I am never giving up."