Chapter 13: Important Announcements...
September, 2032:
It was months later, and another birthday. It was Jordan's birthday. However, the youngest Lovelace had pleaded with his family members not to make a big deal of his birthday. He was still given a few presents, but it was more of a family affair than the two Herondale's birthdays (Charlie's in January and Will's in March). This was also the matter as Jordan's birthday coincided with a visit by the Arcargents. At that particular moment in time, the parents were sitting in an upstairs study, discussing some formal matter, whilst the five children were in the main downstairs sitting room. The two couples sat together, and Jordan sat next to his sister and Will. Will had his arm around Cecily's shoulders, and the Lovelace had her head on his shoulder. They were also holding hands. At the moment, four of the five were listening to Jordan's account of his and Amatis' last date, a fortnight before.
August, 2032:
Amatis and Jordan had decided to go to Central park for a picnic. Everything was set to be perfect. Jordan had even organised it with the other Shadowhunters in the Institute that he could take the night off, even though he was meant to be on patrol with Will that evening (Cecily had thankfully agreed to take his place). In addition, it was one of the only nights that Amatis was available to go on a date in the entire month, due to the Garroways travelling to Canada, as well as the full moon and other werewolf pack events. Jordan met with his girlfriend at the entrance to the park. Then, together, they walked to the edge of the reflecting pool, near the entrance to the Seelie Court. The night went well, with there being no major distraction. What Jordan didn't tell his friends was that as they were alone in the park, he and Amatis may have gotten a bit 'frisky', until both felt the chill of the night air.
September, 2032:
Jordan kept a few details of what he and Amatis got up to during the date secret, and as far as he was aware, the other four were fine with this. After their brief conversation on Will's birthday about being careful, Amatis and Jordan had tried to keep the time that they were away from others to a minimum or to have some excuse for their absence. After Jordan had finished his account, the five lulled into silence. This silence was broken by Ros. She faced Will and Cecily.
"So, Charlie told me about you two." Ros stated. "Well done on your engagement, of sorts."
Both Cecily and Will smiled.
"Thank you. I was scared about what Cecily would say." Will confessed. "But her answer showed me I had nothing to fear."
"That was rather poetic. I was shocked he even asked. To be honest, I never thought Will to be a marriage type of person." Cecily also confessed.
"Neither did I, until I realised how I felt about you." Will stated, making Cecily blush slightly, and all three other teenagers to 'aww' at the cuteness of the situation. This, in turn, made both Will and Cecily blush even more.
Meanwhile, with the parents, they were finishing up their discussion about current Clave matters that required international discussion, including potential immigration treaties for Downworlders. Clary and Jace, as co-heads of the Institute, had received a detailed document a few days prior, outlining the American Conclave's position on the matters, and had discussed them with the Arcargents, who represented the European Shadowhunter community. They also had Miko Sekaikipa, from the Tokyo institute, representing an opinion from the Asian Shadowhunters. Whilst this matter would be discussed in more detail in a proper Clave meeting, it was good to get an idea of how the various communities felt about new Clave legislation. Clary was dealing with the final few formalities of the discussion, so Jace had no need to say anything. Instead he looked at his wife with adoration at how she excelled in her role, and remembered the first large-scale meeting the two had had to lead, all the way back before the pair were even married, in 2013.
January, 2013:
It was a mild evening in the New York Institute, and newly appointed head Clary Fairchild was pacing in the dining room/main meeting room. Unlike Jace, her boyfriend at the time, who was incredibly calm and collected about what was about to happen, Clary's stress levels were through the roof. Today would be the first meeting of the different Downworlder species with the Institute heads. Whilst Clary knew most of the representatives who would be attending the meeting, this did nothing to allay her nerves. She kept fiddling with her formal suit which she had decided on to portray a professional image she hoped would last in the minds of the different species' representatives. Noticing Clary's fiddling, Jace walked over to his girlfriend and put a comforting arm on her shoulder. Whilst this stopped Clary from pacing and fiddling, the redhead still looked intensely nervous, which Jace felt she had no reason to. The meeting was primarily for appearance's sake, to show that Clary and Jace, the new heads of the Institute, were capable of what their job required. Alec arrived alongside Magnus, who represented himself and the few other Warlocks who lived within the Institute's jurisdiction. The relationship between the Institute and the local vampire clan had been rather on edge recently, so Alec was there as a trusted ally of Lily, the leader, as well as support for his parabatai and Clary. The werewolves, represented by Maia and one of her betas, arrived next. The vampires, or rather Lily on her own, were the last to arrive after the sun had fully set.
"Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of New York's Downworld," Jace greeted the assembled leaders. "Welcome to the Institute. For those of you who don't know me or my colleague, I am Jace Herondale, and my colleague is Clarissa Fairchild."
Clary nervously stepped forward at the mention of her name.
"It's a pleasure to see all of you," Clary told the Downworlder representatives. "And I am sure it will also be a pleasure to work with you in the present and future."
The meeting proceeded after this, with the point of discussion being how to deal with some recent suspicious murders where mundanes were found with both claw marks and bite marks, indicating that the murderers were a vampire and a werewolf. It ended up being decided that the leadership of the vampire clan and the werewolf pack would investigate the matter themselves, but defer to the Institute and the Clave for any judicial matters, even though the punishment for murdering a mundane was well-known throughout the Downworld. As the meeting progressed, Clary's nerves settled slightly. However, she was still intensely relieved when the meeting concluded and the Downworlder representatives left the Institute. Clary walked through to the sofa and collapsed onto the sofa. Jace walked into the lounge and saw his girlfriend collapsed on the sofa. Jace sat by Clary, who was lying down, and stroked her hair. This did calm the female Shadowhunter, at least slightly.
"You did great, Clary." Jace told Clary as both an observation and a compliment. Clary smiled appreciatively. The two stayed in silence, both appreciating the calm. Later that evening, Simon and Isabelle walked into the lounge to see the two curled up together, both fast asleep. Simon and Isabelle then turned and left the sitting room, leaving the sleeping couple in peace. Both knew that the job scared both Jace and Clary, and that Jace was just better at hiding it, whilst Clary was obviously more worried about her responsibilities as Institute head.
September, 2032:
There was a sound from the entrance hall as the parents concluded whatever their formal business was. Charlie and Ros exchanged a look, silently checking whether they were ready for what they planned to do. The expression that the two looked at each other with told each other that they were. So, they stood and exited the lounge. Intrigued, the three other Shadowhunters followed the couple to the entrance hall. The entry of the five teenagers into the entrance hall drew the attention of the six parents.
"What's going on?" Clary asked Charlie.
"Well, Ros and I have something to announce." Charlie stated. The parents all looked even more curious.
"Could we talk about this in the sitting room?" Ros queried. The parents nodded, and followed the teenagers back to the sitting room. Charlie and Ros stood in view of everyone else. The Lovelaces sat on one sofa, whilst the other three Herondales and two Arcargents sat on the other sofa.
"So, what's this announcement?" Jace asked, sounding slightly worried about Charlie. Charlie and Ros held hands and both took a deep breath. The two turned to each other.
"Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" Charlie asked her fiancé.
"Together?" Ros suggested. Charlie nodded.
"On 3, then;" Ros commented. "1, 2, 3-"
"We're getting married!" Charlie and Ros stated perfectly simultaneously. There were a few moments of silence as the couple's audience let the declaration sink in. The first to react to the declaration were the Lovelace parents.
"Mazel tov!" Simon congratulated, breaking some others in the audience out of their stupor. Cecily jumped up and hugged her parabatai tightly. Charlie appreciatively hugged Cecily back. Will also stood and walked over, congratulating the couple and hugging his sister. These congratulations were repeated by Jordan and Isabelle, as well as Ros' parents. However, both Jace and Clary seemed to be frozen in shock. Charlie noticed this.
"Mum? Dad? Are you OK?" Charlie asked which seemed to shake the two Herondale parents out of their trance.
"Yes, Charlie." Jace assured his daughter. "It's just a lot to take in, is all."
"I agree with that." Clary commented. "It feels like only yesterday you were getting your first runes."
Charlie blushed slightly. Slightly faded memories of that day flashed through the minds of all the American Shadowhunters, especially the Herondales.
January, 2027:
It was week after Charlie's 12th birthday, and today was the day that she would be receiving her Voyance rune, the first of many as she became a more responsible Shadowhunter. She was the youngest child in the Institute, so had watched the effects of the runes on her brother and friends as they went through their own rites of passage. She's even watched her brother and Jordan's parabatai ceremony only a few months before. However, Charlie was a bit conflicted about the runes. Whilst she was excited for the opportunities that would open to her, and the maturity she felt she'd gain with runes, she was still worried that something could go wrong. At that point in time, the worry was greater than the excitement. She was sitting on the floor in her bedroom, with her back and head against the wall. She was hyperventilating, and freaking out about the possibilities of the ceremony going wrong. Her parents were downstairs, waiting for the arrival of one of the Silent Brothers, whilst the Lovelace children were out with their parents, though they promised to be back before the runing took place. So, when there was a knock on Charlie's bedroom door, she was quickly able to deduce who it was.
"What is it, Will?" Charlie asked, her worry unintentionally sounding like annoyance.
"I heard you hyperventilating from the stairs." Will remarked. "I came to check you were alright."
Charlie felt her cheeks heat up. She stood from her slumped position and opened the door, revealing her elder brother. Will was attempting to replicate Jace's hairstyle at the time, but had seemed to have failed rather spectacularly. His hair was a mess, but unlike Jace's which seemed to suit him, the mess didn't suit Will, at least not yet. When Charlie opened the door, Will gave a comforting smile.
"It's alright to feel nervous." Will assured the younger Herondale. "Today's a big day for you."
"Will it hurt?" Charlie asked, both curious and worried. The 13-year-old thought for a moment about how to word his answer.
"It doesn't hurt that much, It's more of an odd feeling, a bit discomforting is all." Will assured his younger sister. The pair sat, leaning against the wall and facing each other.
"What if something goes wrong?" Charlie queried, her worry clear to hear and see.
"Mum, Dad, and I will all be there to make sure nothing does," Will assured Charlie. "so will a Silent Brother. Plus, both of our parent's families have ancient Shadowhunter bloodlines. You'll be fine."
Will didn't mention the potential side effects in fear of increasing Charlie's worry. Will had suffered from a few side effects, hallucinating slightly and struggling to stay awake. Will answered the remainder of Charlie's questions, reducing Charlie's worry as he did. Soon enough, the two Herondales walked downstairs to join their parents, just as the Shadowhunter, Brother Shadrach, arrived to run the ceremony. The Lovelaces arrived just before the rune was drawn. Later, after the runing, Charlie was drowsy, one of the most common side effects. However, the side effects wore off in the next few days and she was back to her usual self.
September, 2032
"We can't be happier for you." Jace continued to assure Charlie, after Clary's comment about how grown up Charlie had become. Both Clary and Jace then stood and walked over. They hugged their daughter and future daughter-in-law. With the congratulations over, the assembled Shadowhunters sat on the sofas.
"So, have you made any plans yet for the wedding?" Clary asked Charlie and Ros.
"Only some basic details, like where the actual ceremony will be." Charlie responded. "We're holding it in Idris."
There were a few remarks of agreement from the captivated Shadowhunters.
"We've also made a few decisions about bridesmaids and some... brides' men?" Ros stated, querying whether the word actually was in the English language. Cecily, Will, and Jordan, all leaned forward to hear whether they had a role during the wedding. All three did have roles to play, as did Amatis. There were also a few pairs from Ros' group of friends in France. The group continued to listen to Charlie and Ros outline the wedding details they had confirmed so far. However, the discussion was interrupted by Will's phone buzzing. He checked it and looked at Charlie with purpose. Charlie nodded. Both Herondale children stood.
"We just have a quick errand to run." Charlie remarked, before the other Shadowhunters tried to protest.
"Don't worry. I can give them the rest of the details." Ros assured her fiancé. Both Herondales kissed their respective girlfriends then hurried out of the Institute. Their destination was a few blocks away from the Institute, at a mundane bookshop. Jordan had borrowed a copy of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' from Simon, and as a birthday present, Cecily and Will had been able to find original copies of the rest of the Middle-Earth series, and had them delivered to a local bookshop to collect. The collection was easy enough, and the pair began to walk back towards the Institute. However, they were only a block away when a figure stepped out in front of them, stopping the two siblings in their tracks.
"Hello, Herondales." Mortmain greeted coldly but smirking. Whilst Mortmain was completely calm, and seemingly unthreatening, both Herondales were frozen in fear. Behind his back, Will took his phone out of a pocket and speed dialled his mum. Still in the lounge in the Institute, Clary took out her phone as it was ringing and saw it was Will calling her. She answered and before she could say anything, she heard Charlie's voice in the background of the phone call.
"What do you want, Mortmain?" Clary heard Charlie ask. The mention of 'Mortmain' worried Clary. Before she could even hear Mortmain's response, Clary had hung up and advised the others of what was happening. The Shadowhunters sprang into action. Meanwhile with Charlie and Will, an army of rogue Downworlders assembled behind Mortmain. As they were Shadowhunters, both Will and Charlie had small weaponry, namely both held daggers and a couple knives. They braced themselves for the obviously impending attack and hoped that backup would arrive soon.
In the Institute, everything was geared up and armed. They were also taking more weapons than they would usually take, so that they could arm the two Herondale children when they reached them. Every single inhabitant of the Institute had a similar thought: 'Please let them be alright until we get there'. Nobody mentioned it, but every Shadowhunter felt that something bad was going to happen, and that no matter how hard any of them tried, there was nothing they could do about it.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. The next chapter is going to be a bit of a doozy to write, so it may take some time. However, most of my chaps are prepared ahead of time, alongside author notes, so who knows, I could already have it written when you read this. Quick preview, though: Mortmain is back, and out for blood. He's cornered Will and Cecily, a fair distance from help. The New York Shadowhunters have to fight to keep their family safe, and for one, they sacrifice more than just blood. So, next week is the major climax. However, it won't be the end. To be honest, I'm not even sure where this story should end. Look for a poll on my profile in the coming weeks, about the continuance of this story. Anyway, please remember to review, as I love to hear what you guys have to say. And, of course, as always,
Keep on Reading
-ToAC
