Chapter 8: … And Second Encounters
A/N: Welcome to part two of the latest couplet. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and thank you for sticking with this story. Please remember to review, and as always,
Keep on Reading
-ToAC
The four teenagers, all armed to the teeth, ran across the city towards the Hotel Dumort. Meanwhile, the parents were fending off a large congregation of various Downworlders: rogue vampires and werewolves who seemingly had allied to attack the Shadowhunters.
"Why are they attacking us?" Clary asked Jace.
"I don't know. I haven't asked!" Jace exclaimed sarcastically. This would have made Clary roll her eyes if it weren't for the impending potential death or injury. Simon and Izzy thought by the Herondales' side, each adult trying to keep themselves and the other three alive.
Outside the Hotel, the four teenagers arrived, and immediately saw that the front entrance of the vampire den had been smashed in. It was being guarded by a group of strong looking Downworlders, who immediately turned to the four young Shadowhunters and charged towards them. By the time that the four teenagers had drawn their seraph blades to try and deal with the incoming Downworlders, the hostiles were already at them. All 4 Shadowhunters were disarmed by a swift blow to the arm. This sent them slightly backwards. Without saying a word, the four teenagers agreed to retreat. They all stopped a few blocks from the hotel, after the Downworlders had stopped chasing them. The four assembled in an alleyway.
"We need to get in there, somehow." Jordan stated.
"We know we have to!" Cecily exclaimed. Both Herondales places their hands on their respective parabatai's chests, trying to prevent a further argument.
"Working together is crucial at the moment." Charlie scolded the two Lovelace siblings. "We can't be arguing!"
Both Jordan and Cecily fell silent, and the two Herondales dropped their hands.
"So, what are we going to do?" Will asked, trying to sound calm.
"I don't know." Cecily answered, obviously worried.
"I know who might." Jordan stated, digging his phone out of his back pocket.
The four parents had been able to escape the battle in the ballroom. They were hunkered down in a small hotel room, alongside Lily and a few other vampires. They were crouching behind a table, ready for when the hostiles would smash their way through the door. Suddenly, Simon's phone began to ring. This made the surrounding Shadowhunters and vampires jump. Simon dug out the phone and saw it was Jordan calling him. He quickly answered.
"Jordan! This really isn't the time for a phone call." Simon scolded his son.
"Well, we need your help to help you." Jordan stated. On Jordan's side of phone, the other three teenagers looked at him with confusion. He just gestured at them to trust him.
"What is that meant to mean?" Simon asked loudly, making Izzy, Clary and Jace turn to him.
"Dad, we need a way into the hotel. Whoever is attacking you, they have two Downworlders defending the front entrance." Jordan briefed Simon.
"Fire escape, it's accessible from the building behind the hotel." Simon replied quickly as the hostiles were nearly through the door. Simon quickly hung up. Just as he did, the hostiles were able to smash through the door. Every Shadowhunter and vampire prepared to defend themselves against the oncoming enemies. Meanwhile, with the teenagers, Jordan quickly told the other teenagers about what Simon had told him. Jordan took the lead towards where his dad had told them to head. When they got there, Cecily spotted a way up onto the roof. When they reached the first door on the outside of the hotel, Will quickly jump-kicked it open. After he had landed, Charlie, Jordan and Will drew their second seraph blades, while Cecily armed her bow. Battle ready, the four stormed into the hotel. They ran into the corridor and were immediately attacked. They were able to fend off the multiple hostiles and made their way further through the corridors. They approached a rom where the hostile Downworlders appeared to be trying to get into the room. There were shouts from familiar voices within the room. They were able to slice through the various attacking Downworlders until they had a clear pathway to the room. The four ran into the room and were nearly attacked by another vampire, if it weren't for someone shouting.
"Stop! Those are our children!" Clary shouted at the vampire who nearly attacked the four teenagers, who promptly apologised and stepped away from the four teenage Shadowhunters. The parents ran up and hugged their children.
"Thank the angel, you're alive." Izzy exclaimed to Jordan and Cecily. "I was so worried."
"Are you alright?" Will asked his parents. Both Clary and Jace nodded.
"Now, if you're done with your family reunion, we have a slightly more important matter at hand at the moment." Lily interjected, gesturing to the door where the hostile forces were reassembling. The Shadowhunters prepared themselves for the next wave of hostiles. However, the hostiles seemed to step away from the door, allowing someone through. A figure stepped into the room, and all of the Shadowhunters inhaled sharply. It was Mortmain, smiling cruelly and almost laughing.
"It's nice to see you again, Shadowhunters." Mortmain stated coolly, though he seemed to spit the last word.
"What do you want, Mortmain?" Clary asked, standing defensively in front of Will and Charlie. Jace stood by her side.
"Oh, long term? Revenge for my father, and the destruction of your petty Clave. Tonight, I'll settle for your deaths." Mortmain remarked with a smile like a snarl. "You see, after our last encounter, I realised that it wasn't just the Herondales that I wanted to punish. It was every single Shadowhunter who believed in their silly Clave and Consul. So, I decided to start with their representatives in this city, and fulfill my original goal of getting vengeance on the Herondale family.
"Oh, yeah. Guess what? The Lovelaces are here too." Simon quipped at Mortmain. During his distraction when he was talking about his intentions, Mortmain hadn't noticed both Cecily and Simon load their bows and draw back the strings. Now with Mortmain's attention turned to them, the two Lovelace's let the arrows fly. Mortmain caught both with ease, throwing them aside.
"Nice try;" Mortmain commented, still snarling, before turning to the Downworlders that had assembled behind him. "Kill them."
Mortmain then walked out of the room as the Downworlders stormed past him into the room. The 8 Shadowhunters worked in unison. The different pairs of parabatai fought back to back, as well as Jace defending Izzy and vice versa. They were able to fend off any Downworlder that attempted to attack them. At one point, one of the attackers was able to knock Jordan's blade out of his hand. However, before the Downworlder could attack the younger Lovelace again, an arrow and a knife simultaneously thudded into the attacker's chest and they fell backwards. Jordan turned to see Will and Cecily momentarily facing where the attacker had once stood, before turning back to the battle. After a significant number of hostiles had been dealt with, the other Downworlders stopped their attack and began to retreat. Instead of following the retreating attackers, the eight Shadowhunters checked on the casualties from their side of the battle. There were no fatalities, thankfully, but some of the vampires had lacerated abdomens from werewolves and other vampires. The vampires were bandaged up. After there were some formalities completed, with Clary and Jace formally apologising to Lily about being the cause of the attack, the eight Shadowhunters headed back to the Institute. Later that night, the Institute's phone rang twice. The first call was from Luke and Jocelyn, saying that they had heard about the attack and checking whether everyone was OK. The second call was from Maryse and Robert, and essentially repeated the same message. Both times, the parents and grandparents were told that everything was alright and that everyone was safe.
Cecily was sitting in her room, reading the book that she had gotten back on her 12th birthday, when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She looked up to see Will leaning on the doorframe.
"Hey." Cecily greeted.
"Hey;" Will responded. "I just wanted to say sorry about tonight."
Cecily looked at Will with confusion.
"None of tonight was your fault, Will." Cecily assured the Herondale.
"I know, but I just hoped we'd get one uninterrupted date." Will confessed. Cecily smiled at her boyfriend.
"We're Shadowhunters. I don't think that will ever happen." Cecily commented. This seemed to reassure Will slightly.
"Thanks, Cec." Will responded, smiling at the Lovelace.
"Any time, Will." Cecily stated, smiling back with equal happiness. Before Will left the room, Cecily stood, walked across her bedroom and hugged the Herondale boy. Will was startled for a moment but hugged back. After they separated, Cecily yawned loudly. Will smirked.
"It looks like you need some sleep." Will commented. "Good night."
"Good night. Just so you know; I really did enjoy dinner with you." Cecily assured Will before he walked away from the door and towards his own room. Meanwhile, downstairs, the four parents had overheard snippets of that conversation. Putting that with the small pieces of information that Jordan and Charlie had accidentally let slip on the way home, they realised what had happened.
"Will and Cecily went on a date." Clary deduced.
"They didn't tell us, though." Jace commented.
"It's probably because they felt we would have some limits or disagreements." Simon suggested. Most of this was seemingly ignored by Izzy.
"Weren't Will's and Cecily's namesakes' brother and sister?" Izzy asked.
"Let's not go there." All 3 other parents stated simultaneously. This caused them to chuckle. After a few moments, Simon did exactly what he had told Izzy not to do.
"Well, that does mean that their cousins, but it's a really long distance before you get to any mutual immediate family." Simon observed.
"That doesn't seem like not going there." Clary commented, slightly scolding of her parabatai.
"All I'm saying is: isn't that the same with most Shadowhunter families?" Simon commented, making the other three think in silence for a few moments.
"Technically," Jace responded to Simon's point. "if you go back far enough, that's the case for all Shadowhunter families."
This was a valid comment that was accepted by the three other adult Shadowhunters, and the conversation turned to different subjects. So, life returned to its (not really) normal at the Institute, at least for the time being.
