The following morning hadn't gone as smoothly as Clary had hoped. She intended to be able to have a few more lovey dovey moments with her man before they parted ways for the day, but as usual nothing ever goes as planned in her chaotic life. Instead they were both awoken by the sounds of someone banging on the bedroom door.
That certain someone turned out to be Jocelyn whom was now informing her daughter through the closed door that their meeting had been rescheduled last minute, which caused the couple to jump out of bed in order to get themselves dressed and prepared to leave the house.
And let's just say that Jocelyn's reaction in response to witnessing a boy exiting her daughter's bedroom wasn't pretty. It looked like Jace wasn't going to be on her good side any time soon, but of course Clary tried to make it all better by blocking him from her mother's line of vision throughout their entire walk towards the Gard in response to Jace not taking no for answer when they told him that it wasn't a good idea if he came along, but of course he was just as stubborn as her. And to be honest she found it rather amusing that he actually had the balls to stand his ground in front of her mother. He definitely earned himself some brownie points from that stunt.
But as soon as they arrived at the Gard, Clary's amusement faded gradually until all she felt was a rush of uneasiness that flowed through her entire core as if she somehow knew that the people waiting in the room were about to deliver some terrible news, and her instincts had turned out to be correct. To say that she was shocked would've been an understatement.
She didn't want to believe the Consul when he had informed them all that Jonathan was behind the recent deaths of four Downworlders. That revelation alone let her know that as soon as this news spread that it would have been useless for her to even attempt to bring Jonathan back to the their side because she knew that no one would be able to forgive him after this little stunt. It only proved his hatred for Downworlders even more.
And just when she thought that this discussion couldn't get any worse, she reluctantly had to turn her attention towards the person that had suddenly cleared their throat in order to grab everyone's attention, watching as the one known as Magnus Bane arose from his seat with a grim expression upon his face, which didn't help settle how anxious she was slowly becoming with each passing second, making her grateful that she had her family and Jace here with her to help her stay as grounded as possible.
"When I heard of the recent killings, I took it upon myself to do some research since I had a sudden hunch on why each of these victims were chosen, along with the particular way that they each were killed. But I have to warn you all that what I found out will shock you all as much as it managed to shock even myself." Magnus paused to pass his fingers through his hair as he tried to take in a calming breath as he was about to tell them the unimaginable.
Clary wasn't in the mood for his theatrical pause, causing her to slam her hand down onto the table, which made everyone jump in alarm. "Just spit it out already." She spoke through clenched teeth as she prepared herself for the worst.
Magnus waved a dismissive hand in her direction, seeming unfazed by her sudden outburst, but that didn't stop the corner of his mouth from quirking up into a half-hearted smirk as his gaze settled upon Clary for a brief moment. "I like you, biscuit. You're such a little spitfire." He winked at her in a playful manner when he saw her reaction to his words before addressing the other people in the room. "Now as I was about to say before I was rudely interrupted... It seems that Jonathan has managed to complete the Ritual of Infernal Conversion."
Everyone looked at Magnus as if he was speaking some unknown language to them all, making him release an exasperated sigh before he made a swift motion with his hand, making a withered looking book appear out of thin air. He proceeded to open it to a certain page before pointing to a diagram. "The ritual is done by seething the Mortal Sword until it is red-hot before it is then cooled down four times with the aid of the blood from each Downworlder child, which it seems he has managed to do. From what I gathered from the information from this text is that the Sword's angelic alignment is reversed, which turns it darker in nature, and is equally powerful as its once angelic purpose."
Clary felt the early signs of a dizzy spell about to hit her as she took in all the information that Magnus was saying. She felt even worse when she caught a glimpse of some rather gruesome images that were displayed on one of the pages of the book that was currently angled closer towards her line of vision. She cleared her throat as she averted her gaze back onto Magnus whilst willing herself to stay strong, and managed to speak in a resolute manner. "What will he be able to do now that the ritual is complete?"
Magnus elicited another sigh as he met Clary's gaze. "As the owner of the Sword he will be able to control demons, and even have the ability to summon hordes of demons that will have no choice, but to abide by his every command, whether they want to or not."
Everyone in the room went completely still as they now fully understood how severe their current predicament was.
"There is no need for anyone to get riled up. The wards will protect us." The Consul replied immediately as soon as he saw everyone starting to get worked up over what Magnus had disclosed to them.
Jocelyn removed her hand from her mouth, shaking her head as she tried her best to keep her composure intact. "You're wrong, Consul. The wards won't be enough to protect anyone from Jonathan's wrath. He is a patient hunter, and he will find a way to break the wards down. I know it."
The Consul scoffed as he looked over at Jocelyn before he scowled. "Enough with that nonsense. The wards have protected us for ages, and always will. There is no way anyone can break them down."
Clary inhaled sharply as she realized that there was an actual way for Jonathan to be able to interfere with the wards. "You need to warn everyone before it's too late! He could be on his way now with hoards of demons. Every elderly person and child need to be brought here immediately whilst everyone else who is able to fight gets themselves prepared for battle."
Luke stepped around Jocelyn in order to wrap his arm around Clary. "The Consul is right, Clary. The wards will protect us. There is no way that Jonathan can bring them down, and no reason to cause such panic when we don't know what he's actually going to do now." He said in a soothing tone as he rubbed her arm gently in order to calm her.
Clary pulled away from Luke as she shook her head in defiant manner. "He's not normal like us. He will be able to break down the wards from right under our noses. He will always have the right to enter Idris because he is a Shadowhunter, but it's what lies within him that will let him bring those demons here. Now stop wasting time with arguing over who is right because we need to get everyone prepared for the worst." By the end of her speech, Clary was all but seething in response to no one listening to her.
Magnus arched a brow in a curious manner as he looked over at Clary whilst he drummed his fingers against the table in response to his sudden interest on one particular thing that she had mentioned. "How is he different from your kind?"
"Clary, don't you dare answer that question." Jocelyn voiced in an anxious tone.
Clary chewed on her lip as she witnessed the look upon her mother's face, knowing that she was worried if she disclosed this certain information that they would find out about what her father did to her as well, but deep down she knew that this needed to be said. "My father experimented on Jonathan when he was an infant by exposing him to blood of a greater demon, which has given him certain abilities that none of our own kind has. That information alone is how I know that he will do whatever he can with his greater abilities to find a way to break the wards in order to allow his army to enter our city."
The Consul turned his attention onto Jocelyn with a look of horror flashing across his face. "Is this true?"
"Yes, it is." Jocelyn voiced in a pained tone.
"And what about your other child? Did your husband do anything to her?" The Consul snapped as he pointed a finger in the direction of Clary.
That had been the final straw for Jace, making him step closer to Clary as he prepared himself to defend her if needed be. "Clary is just like the rest of us. Don't even dare try to compare her to Jonathan. When all she has been doing since the very beginning is try to help us. It would be wise to listen to her since she knows him better than any of us in this room." He replied curtly to the Consul, feeling angered that he was assuming the worst about Clary.
Clary reached out to squeeze Jace's hand to let him know that she appreciated that he was trying to defend her honor, but that didn't stop her from replying in a haughty-like manner in response to the Consul speaking of her as if she wasn't in the room. "I'm right here you know. And to answer your question—" She didn't get to finish her reply when all of the sudden the entrance door of the hall was thrown open, revealing people that were now trying to run into the room all at once, but what caused Clary to become alarmed was how frightened they all appeared. It was then that she knew that her earlier worries were now coming true.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Consul retorted in a furious tone.
Clary felt her throat constrict when she witnessed a mother trying to comfort her children when they seemed to be so grief stricken, which made her look over her shoulder to glare at the Consul. "I warned you that this would happen, but now it's too late to prepare people. And I hope you're satisfied that you put lives at risk instead of taking my word, and giving everyone a fighting chance." She said through clenched teeth before she brushed past everyone in her path as she stalked off towards the exit.
Jace was right at her heels, reaching out in time to grasp her arm in order to pull her to an abrupt stop. "Clary wait! You can't just go out there without a plan. You'll get yourself killed."
Clary tried to break out of his hold as she felt her breathing accelerating in response to the distant cries she was now aware of. "I have a plan. Kill everything in sight. Now will you please let go of me?"
Jace withheld a sigh as he reluctantly pulled out a weapon before he released his hold on her. "Fine. I'll go along with this reckless plan of yours, but if I should die because of this, I promise I will come back and haunt you forever. Especially if there are any new male suitors in your life."
Even through this horrid ordeal, she found herself almost smiling. "The same goes for you if this doesn't go as planned. Now let's do this together." She held out her hand for him to take hold of, lacing their fingers together before they broke out into a run to face the unknown.
~~
Clary cursed under her breath as she watched her last dagger being destroyed after being embedded within a demon. She didn't have time to mourn its lost because she barely had the chance to pull out her seraph blade in time to strike a demon that was in the process of attacking an elderly man. What she wasn't expecting was for it to cower away from her as soon as it saw her, but that didn't stop her from killing it. She then knelt down to place her fingers against the man's throat, trying not to grimace when she found that he hadn't made it.
Jace had just finished disposing of two other demons before he raced back to Clary, helping her to her feet whilst scanning the area for any other possible threats. "Are you alright?"
Clary nodded as she leaned against Jace, trying to catch her breath. "He was just an old man."
Jace placed a kiss against the top of her head to attempt to comfort her. "I think it's time that we head back. I don't see anyone else."
Clary nodded in agreement with him, trying to make herself feel better with knowing that they had succeeded by rescuing as many people as they could as well as ridding of every demon in their sight. It wasn't until they rounded a corner that she suddenly felt anxious, but soon she saw the reason why. She managed to push Jace out of the way just as a demon collided on top of her.
"Clary!" Jace yelled as he regained his balance as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. He watched in horror as the demon was about to make its killing blow, but what happened next shocked him.
Clary knew that she was screwed since she didn't have a weapon on her to defend herself since her last seraph blade had skidded along the floor when she had pushed Jace out of the way in such a hasty manner, so instead she did the only thing she could do in this moment when it became clear that there was literally no way for her to escape this situation, she closed her eyes after she saw the demon get into its striking pose, not wanting its face to be the last thing she witnessed.
But when a moment had passed without anything happening to her, she opened her eyes warily in time to see the demon jump off of her before it hissed so loudly as if she had struck it. It was then that she noticed that it was reacting the same way that the other demon had just acted towards her, causing her to be momentarily confused as to why that was suddenly happening until it dawned on her that the other demons she had disposed of weren't ones that you would consider very intelligent, but the last demon she had encountered and this current one in front of her were some of the rare ones that were able to comprehend things much better. Could Jonathan have commanded the demons not to attack her? She didn't have another moment to contemplate over that thought because Jace had pulled her up to her feet before he went on to put himself in front of her, watching as he raised his blade as he was preparing to attack, making her tug his arm at the very last second to stop him from making his next move. "Jace, wait!" She cried out to him before she managed to step around him in order to face the demon and proceeded to take a hesitant step towards it, watching as it recoiled from her again with another hiss, making it clear that her earlier hunch was correct, but she knew that she needed to be sure. "Why aren't you attacking me?"
"Cannot kill you." The demon stammered as it continued to back away when it saw Clary taking another step towards it.
"Because of Jonathan right?" Clary motioned for Jace to back down when she saw him readying himself to attack within a moments notice.
"Yesss. Massster!" The demon cried out.
"I think I've heard enough." Jace retorted before he brushed past Clary, taking the demon by surprise since its attention had been solely upon her.
Clary was beyond bewildered that this demon had been given orders to not kill her, causing her to wonder why Jonathan would even bother to protect her anymore after she had refused to side with him so many times.
Jace placed his blade back in its place before he grasped Clary's arm, pulling her out of her thoughts in the process. "It's really time to go before others come."
Clary didn't bother to argue with him, and instead she kept pace with him as they walked in a brisk manner back towards the Gard.
~~
It didn't surprise Clary that people immediately started to murmur things about her as soon as she entered the room, making her hold her head up high as she peered around the room until her gaze landed on Jocelyn and Luke. She was just about to make her way there when she heard her name being said. "Hmm?"
"I need to check on my family real quick, but I promise that I'll come find you afterwards." Jace said before he leaned down to place a kiss against her cheek before flashing her a subtle grin.
Clary found herself feeling completely better in response to Jace's subtle gesture. "Take your time." She murmured before she waited until she saw that he had made it to his family before she made her way over to Jocelyn and Luke. But soon she began to regret making that decision in the first place because she was now having to try her best not to scowl when her mother was fretting over her wellbeing too much, but soon that was the least of her worries when she heard a chorus of gasps, causing her to turn her attention towards the center of the room. She was at a loss for words as she witnessed Jonathan standing in the midst of all of these people. It wasn't until she really focused on him that she could now see that it was a mere projection of him, but before she knew what she was doing she had already brushed past people in order to get closer to him. "Jonathan?"
He turned around in time to see Clary push her way through the crowd, but as soon as he realized what a mess she looked he knew that his pets hadn't followed his command, causing him to clench his jaw momentarily out of anger. He then had to push his protective emotions aside since he couldn't allow himself to worry about her wellbeing at the moment, so instead he forced himself to look away from her in order to look around his current audience. "What just occurred was a little taste at what I can do. Can you see now that those ridiculous wards that you all desperately rely on cannot save you as you all thought they could?"
"Have you come here just to gloat over what you have done? Does it please you to kill your own kind?" Inquisitor Herondale retorted with a venomous lilt to her words as she went to stand in front of Jonathan.
He simply inclined his head to the side as a malignant smirk descended upon his lips. "I have no desire to gloat over the deaths of my fellow Shadowhunters. I simply did what I thought needed to be done in order to grab the attention of the entire Clave."
Iquisitor Herondale scoffed as she narrowed her eyes into slits. "Enough with your lies. What is it that you truly want?"
Jonathan spread his arms wide as his voice carried out through the entire room. "What I want is to show you exactly what my father had warned you all about so many years ago. You ignored his predicament about those vile creatures being able to invade your precious city of Alicante as they just have, so now what makes you think that those degenerate races that you have allied yourselves with won't be able to do the same at any given moment? I am solely here to give you all one chance at proving to me that you are willing to change your ways before it is too late."
Clary had been silent for so long, but she soon found herself walking closer to Jonathan, ignoring the stares from everyone as she did so. "What choice are you graciously going to give us?"
Jonathan looked over at Clary as the corner of his mouth quirked up in a malefic way. "Why, it's very simple, Clarissa. I have the Mortal Cup in my possession as you all know. If you all do not change your ways soon then I will be forced to create a new world of Shadowhunters that would be solely taught by me. But I am willing to give you all one chance to change my mind by having the Clave willingly sign over all powers of the Council to me, accept me as your rightful sovereign after swearing an oath of obedience, and last but certainly not least would be the acceptance of a loyalty rune that would bind you all to me. After that is all done, I will allow you all to continue living here. Those are my terms. I will give you until tomorrow at this exact time to give your final answer. If I do not receive an answer by then, I will really show you all what I am truly capable of."
Clary was so caught up in what he was saying that she didn't have time to prepare herself when a dagger was suddenly pressed against her neck, making her stand still as she tried not to make any sudden movements.
"How dare you stand there and have the audacity to make such demands. I will not listen to this nonsense any longer. Come surrender yourself or I will make sure that your precious sister will pay the consequences of your actions." The Inquisitor retorted with a threatening lilt to her words.
Clary watched as a look of such hatred passed over Jonathan's features as his gaze was intently set upon the Inquisitor, which sent shivers down her spine in response to his deathly stance. She tried to remain calm as she thought of how she could get out of this predicament, but she stopped her useless attempts when the dagger bit into her skin, making her grit her teeth to muffle a hiss.
"I presume that you are the one responsible for what happened to my sister the other day, and here you are again harming her. It would be such a shame for me to kill you before you even had the chance to get to know your grandchild that you actually so happened to come into contact with so recently." He sneered in response to the Inquisitor's shocked expression, which made her slip-up by loosening her hold on his sister. He watched as Clary moved away, but once he noticed that she was bleeding he clenched his jaw as he retrieved a weapon from his side.
The Inquisitor shook her head as her hands were now shaking with how angry she was in this moment after Jonathan reminded her of the painful loss of her family, and for making her believe his words for just a brief moment before she regained her composure. "My grandchild died along with their parents because of your father! His influence on any innocent person always ended horribly." Her gaze flicked down to the gleaming item in his hand, making the corner of her mouth twitch as she fought back a smirk. "It's too bad you aren't really here to go through with your threat." She taunted as she motioned towards his weapon.
Clary's eyes widened as she inhaled sharply when she heard how the Inquisitor was speaking towards Jonathan. "Don't jab at him like that."
Jonathan shrugged his shoulder in a nonchalant manner as he twirled the knife in his hand as the same malefic smirk played at his lips. "Oh, I get it now. You are taking your anger out on my poor little sister because you blame our father for the death of your son and his beloved family. When in reality you should be thanking him for saving your grandchild, and raising him for a short time until he noticed that, that poor excuse of a warrior was much too soft for his lessons, so he sent him off to live the rest of his pathetic life elsewhere. But enough with this rather dull conversation. I never really liked to drag out my killings, and I won't be starting that habit today."
Everything seemed to play out in slow motion after Jonathan's last words, giving no one the chance to process what he just revealed. Clary watched in horror as the knife he was just holding was suddenly flung through air, but she couldn't warn the Inquisitor fast enough.
One moment the Inquisitor was standing upright with a look of distraught upon her face in response to Jonathan's words, and then the knife had found its intended mark, causing her to collapse onto her knees as her hand reflexively reached down to where she had been hit. She looked down at her hand that was now covered in blood before she crumbled to the ground.
A/N: I apologize for the long wait. I was busy with preparing for the start of school. But on a brighter note... The next chapter has already been started, and should be done soon.
