ICraveYou - Yes, right in the feels xD Exactly where I wanted to get you lol
Blue Eyed Shadowhunter - I agree, he really shouldn't. But sometimes life isn't fair :(
RonaldGarcia91 - Thank you! You'll find out about Izzy in this chapter.
axes tridents and snares - Oh, but Clary wouldn't have made half as much sense as Magnus did. Yes I saw it last weekend (I live in germany and it's only out here since last thursday) but HELL THAT MOVIE IS AMAZING! There are a few things I would have made different but all in all it was just so wonderful.
ilyreid - I always try to hurry :)
Guest - Thank you!
musicrules1923 - lol you got me all figured out. I try to update at least every two weeks but this time I was actually a bit faster. And thank you so much!
SIZZYsizzles - Oh, poor thing... keep reading. Maybe one or two wounds might heal.

And now - are you ready for some answers? Because in this chapter you are finally getting them! (I've been holding on to them for so long it's weird to finally reveal them lol)

CITY OF CRYING ANGELS
chapter fourteen: The whole Story

Simon was thrilled to see Isabelle again. Here she was, looking as perfect as always, standing by his bedroom window and looking at him. Still, there was this little piece of doubt, Alec had planted inside his head, which grew bigger and bigger... was she really his Izzy, or just good in pretending?

"Hey... Iz..."

Yeah. One thing was for sure... Lilith might one hell of a good liar, but Simon definitely sucked at it. He felt uncomfortable being around someone he loved so much, not knowing whether or not it was really her – and he did not know how to conceal his feelings very good. "Judging by the look on your face you heard what happened?"

"Yes, I did. But I don't blame you... it was too late to save him from the start. Jace told them that Magnus had just come out of a portal, you couldn't have gotten him out of the house in time."

Simon didn't reply. He was too busy standing up and trying to find a way to stand in the room without looking like he was trying to look comfortable. Apparently Isabelle interpreted this in a very wrong way. She frowned and asked: "And I'm sure Alec doesn't blame you either. Does he?"

"Oh, no, he doesn't. It's just... you know. We were never friends or anything and now we're the only ones left." Was that one of the things he wasn't supposed to tell her? Simon was confused to no end. He wanted to talk to Izzy about this, Alec was her brother, she ought to have some kind of suggestion how to handle him. But he was also scared to reveal too much, just in case he was wrong about trusting her. "Things are... a bit tense."

Izzy sighed. "Of course. Magnus was the only one who ever managed to make Alec socially acceptable in a way. Don't me wrong, I love him and always have, it's just that sometimes he can be more than just tense. Now that he lost Magnus... I can't imagine what he must be like."

"Too bad. I was hoping you could give me some kind of manual to get along with him, now that I have no choice but to communicate with him."

"Oh, there's no such thing with my brother. He might not be the typical Lightwood, like Magnus used to say, but we still inhabit the same genes. And a Lightwood isn't tricked into liking someone. You have to deserve it."

"See, that's what I don't get. I mean you like me. Not that I want him to like me the same way, but..."

Isabelle smiled and walked over to him. Simon hat two urges at ones – grab and kiss her (which he couldn't do) and run away (which he didn't want to do). He decided to ditch both urges and went with doing nothing but listening to her. "Well, yes. But Alec and I don't have the same type. Thank the Angel for that... I would hate to fight over a guy with my own brother."

"For what it's worth, if it would have been me, I would have picked you over him." He pretended to think about this for a moment. "But than again, in that leather gear of his..."

"Hey" Isabelle took a short laughter. "I have that gear, too, you know. I could change... this is just a dream world after all."

"Oh... yeah, see, you may not want to do that." When she frowned he held his hands up. "I mean, you're the one who says I can't touch you or Lilith might find out what you're doing. And if you change, well... let's just say there's a chance I might have had one or two dreams about that gear, which are not suitable for children."

This time she laughed. It was nice... this was exactly what Simon needed right now; no life-and-death-talk, just a little nonsense and maybe some embarrassing revelations about his dreams. Since they technically were in a dream it only seemed appropriate. Unfortunately he knew that they wouldn't be able to keep this up. There was so much hovering about them and Simon still had his doubts about her. Even though she was so much Isabelle Lightwood. The Izzy, he had come to love so much and yet he couldn't bring himself to trust her? He felt like he was betraying her somehow. But Alec was right, there was simply no way to find out whether or not she was telling the truth...

"Simon?"

"Huh?" Damn. How long had he been silent? Too long, obviously, because Isabelle picked up on it.

"Something's bothering you."

"Well, yes, a lot of things are bothering me. You know that."

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "No, it's not that... it's something else. Spill it."

He sighed. There was just no hiding anything from Izzy... or Lilith... who ever she was. "It's nothing. Just, I talked to Alec about seeing you and-"

"Ah, let me guess: He got paranoid and told you that I was Lilith, who was simply getting better in playing me."

"No, come on, that's not-" Isabelle didn't even have to say anything. She simply shot him one of these looks and Simon said: "Yes. Yes, that's exactly what he said."

She looked at him with a steady face. "And you agree with him?" Someone who didn't know Iz as well as he did would probably say that there was absolutely no emotion showing in her face. But Simon knew that there was; he saw vulnerability, concern and fear. But there was also the tiniest bit of hope.

It took Simon a while to answer and when he did, he was honest with her. "No. I don't agree with him. This is actually one of the things we've been fighting about. But... he does have a point in saying there's no way to be sure."

Slowly she nodded. "You're right. There is no way. Everything I say could just be another trap, meant for you to fall in... I get it. I do. To be honest I don't even know if I would trust me if I were you." Her eyes got just a bit shiny but Isabelle managed to keep it at that and restrained her tears. "So, here's how this is going to work: I will tell you what I know. And you decide what to do with it." Not asking if this solution was okay with him – that was so Izzy.

"Sounds good." He wanted to trust Izzy so bad, it almost physically hurt him. But as much as he wanted this pain to stop, he also needed to know what she was going to tell him. If anything, she was right; he could decide what to do with the information she was giving him. He didn't need to believe it. It would be his choice.

He just needed to put all the feelings he had for her aside and try to look at this objectively. Yeah. Piece of cake...

"I don't know how much you've figured out by now on your own... so I will start at the beginning."

Simon could hear in Isabelle's voice that it was hard for her to talk about this. But he didn't stop her by saying that she didn't need to tell him anything if it was too hard for her. He cared about her feelings – but he also needed to hear this. This situation, they were in, was no time for blind trust and he was not going to be stupid. One false decision, one wrong turn, and Alec and himself could die as well and Isabelle would be lost forever.

"First things first... the Institute isn't burned down. Sebastian has lured the Seelie Queen to his side and she helped him to get where he is now. In fact, without her we wouldn't be in this much trouble... Anyway. The fire was just a very good Illusion which got to everyone... as soon as everyone left he moved his hiding place to the Institute."

He frowned. "Wait... Sebastian and Jace... Clary and you. All this time you've been in the Institute? Here, in New York? Right among our noses?"

Izzy nodded. "Sebastian thought it was very funny to trick you like that. And he's right, we've been so stupid... we didn't even think. Institutes are very important to Shadowhunters and despite everything that's happened, Sebastian is still a Shadowhunter. He wanted the Institute for himself. All the weapons, the books, everything... and Clary."

Simon swallowed. "Jace said something... after... I mean, right before he left. About Clary. That she might not care about me any more and that he needed to check on her."

"Well, first of all from all I know he didn't leave. You chased him away." A light smile was on her lips, as if she was proud of him. "Sebastian cares about Clary. He wants her to love him, and I'm not too sure he's looking for the brother-sister kind of love. But she despises him and that actually hurts him. I think every time she turns him down his personality disorder gets worse. He is so obsessed over getting her to love him... he's willing to erase her entire personality to do so. The Seelie Queen found a way to recreate the Mortal Cup. Although they call it the Infernal Cup... they didn't use the Angels blood of course. They used Lilith's. When they get a Shadowhunter to drink from it, he... he will obey Lilith, no matter what. And of course, Sebastian, because Lilith's blood also runs through his veins."

"And that... is that was happened to Clary? She drank from the Cup and is now their pet?"

"They made her drink from it, yes. But it didn't work. It may have worked if Sebastian hadn't tried to bring Lilith back to this world the way he has... but she is inside my body. There's some of her blood running through my veins, too, that's what you tasted, when you drank it. But it wasn't enough to make the Infernal Cup work. Sebastian was very upset about having to wait, because that was his plan all along. Creating Dark Shadowhunters. Bringing Lilith back like that, was really just a back-up plan."

As relieved as he was that the Cup hadn't worked on Clary there was something that still upset him. "That's great but I'm a little confused here... I thought obsession only happened on some spiritual level. How come Lilith's blood runs through your veins?"

"It does. I think that might be why Alec is so worried... when someone is obsessed his Soul slowly dies. It's not strong enough to even think about trying to tap into the Demon's powers. The thing is just... this isn't an obsession. It's like I said: He's trying to bring Lilith back. For real. That's why he..." he broke off. When she finally continued Simon sort of wished she hadn't.

"I'm pregnant. Kind of. The mark he drew on me... it was the Mark of Lilith. He drew it with his blood, that's why I felt it all felt so... weird... it was a ritual, designed to get me pregnant – with Lilith. Right now her new body is growing inside of me. And as soon as it was grown to a certain level... Lilith was able to take control over my body."

Silence.

It took Simon several moments to take in what he had just heard. "So... you're saying that... your baby – isn't a baby, but Lilith. Who is controlling you from inside your body... which means that eventually... Lilith is going to give birth... to herself?"

"Sort of. Yes. A birth which, by the way, my body won't be able to survive. And she is growing ridiculously fast. They say her body will be ready in nine weeks, instead of months. Also, she's going to be even more powerful. A Demon is always limited to it's powers but since she was... conceived in a natural way, she also has my blood inside of her – the blood of the Angel. Which means, once she's back she is going to be the most powerful being there ever was."

"But isn't Sebastian that way, too?"

"No. Sebastian is a Shadowhunter who also has Demon blood inside of him. Technically you could always create one of those... it's easy. Lilith on the other hand will be a greater Demon, who already is incredibly strong, with the Angel's blood inside of her. That's a Paradox. And there is nothing more powerful in the universe than a Paradox. No Demon would have been able to use the Angel's sword he stole from you. But she's going to be able to. And with this sword, she could pull down the gates between the dimensions. Dimensions, inhabited by demons... they would devour the earth. All Shadowhunters in the world would do no good in defending it."

By now Simon had sat down on the bed again. He simply couldn't stand any more. "It would be the end of the world as we know it."

Isabelle nodded and sat down next to him.

"But why would Sebastian want that? I get he's an evil mastermind and everything, but why go this far?"

"Well, that's the thing... Sebastian doesn't know what he's done. I don't even think he wants this kind of destruction. Only Lilith knows what she's going to bring upon the earth. Sebastian only wanted the one person back, he considers his mother. Despite his actions... he's craving for love and acceptance. And the only one who gives it to him... who pretends to give it to him – is Lilith. He believes in her. But she's using him. Always has. She even planned getting killed so that all of this could happen..."

Simon looked at her. "But – I killed her."

"Don't think like that. You didn't plan to kill her, it was the Mark of Cain. Which Clary drew on you... because you were in danger. Because of Valentine. Who also created the Sebastian we have to deal with now. This all goes back to him. No one else."

He took a deep breath. "So... what now?"

"Well..." Isabelle put her hand next to Simon's. Far enough not to touch his' but close enough for him to feel the warmth of her skin. "There is one thing we can try. All of us. I'd do it alone but I'm not strong enough to fight her off that long."

"What is it?"

Isabelle took a deep breath.

: : : : : :

"Sometimes Izzy is able to get the control over her body back. It's just for a very short period of time, but if we found her and she could manage... and we could give her the Angel's Sword..."

"Which Jace stole." Alec added.

Ever since Simon woke up he had told Alec everything Isabelle had said to him. Alec had started to believe it was the real Izzy as well. Lilith would have never told them any of this.

"Right. Yes. But if we manage to steal it back and give it to her, she... she could kill Lilith. Of course she'd have to stab herself or... one of us had to do it. Except that she hadn't suggested that." Simon was pretty sure she hadn't done that because she'd known that neither Alec nor Simon would ever be prepared to run a sword through her bod. "Anyway, I think she's right. I mean the Sword is designed to burn the evil out of someone. She thinks she'd probably even survive it."

Alec snorted. "Probably."

"Well, that's better odds than none, is it?" Simon tried not to sound too snappy. When he'd woken Alec the first name he was mumbling had been Magnus. Of course, it didn't take him long to tell the difference between the two of them and if anything, he was even more pissed about Simon since then.

Alec took a deep breath. "Let's say we find a way to do all of that – which is still a very big if... we might get Izzy back that way. But Jace would still be lost and Sebastian would still be out there. He'd find a way to contact Lilith again and have her pour her blood into the Infernal Cup with would get it to work. And then we have a real problem on our hands."

"We also have a real problem on our hands when Lilith crashes the gates between dimensions and the earth is overrun by demons? So I'm thinking, Lilith first, her evil spawn later."

"There will be no later, Simon. The Angel's Sword can only be used once, then it'll go back where it came from. And since we can't raise Raziel again... we have to make a decision."

Simon swallowed hard. "So you're saying... either we get rid of Lilith and Jace will continue to worship Sebastian. Or we get rid of Sebastian and Isabelle will die at a birth which will bring forth the end of the world?

Slowly Alec nodded. "I'm afraid that's exactly what I'm saying. And keep in mind, we still need to get the Sword first to do any of that."

They spend a couple of moments in silence before Simon said: "It still doesn't seem right. I mean we're in this really bad situation, I get it... but if there really were no way out... why did they kill Magnus?"

When Alec bit his lip Simon apologized. "I'm sorry, but we need to talk about this. I mean, there must have been some way he could have stopped her." Alec kept biting his lip and Simon kept talking. "But... I guess this is a dead end, huh? I mean, it's too late. Whatever he could have done... he can't any more."

Simon could almost see Alec's mind racing as he leaned back in his chair and when his face lit up Simon knew that he'd had what could have been a life saving idea. "Of course... Magnus! Why didn't I think of this sooner? He already told us everything we needed to know! You remember the story about the Tear of an Angel, don't you?"

Unfortunately Simon couldn't share Alec's positive attitude about this. "Yes. But I also remember us not knowing if it's even true and also the part where we don't have such a tear."

Alec took a deep breath. "Yeah, about that... I kind of do."

Do we love Alec or what? *cough* Sorry, I got a little carried away xD
Anyway... I hope you liked "The whole Story". I'm really nervous about this big reveal(s) so pleeaasse tell me what you think!

I am going to give you a little spoiler for next time... the next Chapter will be called "What to expect from a Lightwood (Part 2)". Remember, the last time was only the first Part :D But that's all you're getting until the next Chapter is ready.

Also I'd like to mention that we're closing in on the end of this Fanfic. I think there are about 2 chapters left. I haven't written them yet, so I don't know for sure, but it'll be something around that.