OHMAHGAWD

Two chapters in two days? I might actually be getting back into the swing of things!

It probably has something with taking my laptop to school and typing when the teacher is being boring XP.

Also, I HAVE FOUND A CURE FOR WRITERS BLOCK!

Yes, well, it works for me, but I only got inspired again once I re-read CoLS, I feel stupid not noticing this, but, the cure for writer`s block is to look over your inspiration a few times.

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Well, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 18

Simon stood on the balcony of one of the trees that held his room and watched the sun set. In that brief time that he could not stand the sun's rays, he had gained an appreciation for it, but even now, watching it go down, he felt a cold wash of despair come over him, and wondered where it had come from.

"Simon?" a voice called from the entrance to his room. Simon turned to see Isabelle at the entrance.

"Hey Izzy," Simon said as way of greeting, it was unusual for her to come see him, and a small part of him wondered why. Perhaps it was the look on her face, or the way she seemed to glance around like a small child looking for her mother, that made Simon automatically know what was wrong.

"Have you seen Alec? He disappeared, and he's been acting weird lately." Isabelle said, her dark eyes were worried. Simon paused, he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary with Alec, but then, Alec wasn't his brother.

"No, why don't you check Magnus's room?" Simon suggested, it was the only place that popped into mind.

"That's the thing; Alec said he and Magnus broke up a while ago." Isabelle growled, coming over to the balcony edge with Simon. The balcony was made of a jutting branch for the floor that had been smoothed out; the railings of the balcony were vines and smaller branches that had small orchids interwoven in them, which looked like faerie work. The view looked out over the canopy of odd-colored trees and off into the sunset which cast shadows and orange fiery light, the same color as Jace, Lerial, and Drakiel's eyes.

Simon could just barely see the beach with vampire sight and the waves rolling peacefully in and out with a steady rhythm. To the right there was a large mountain a few kilometers away Simon guessed, it rose up like the paintings that depicted Olympus.

The waterfall and cliff where the Spirit River started was directly behind them, and Simon could hear the water rushing and crashing down to the pool below, so peaceful, but based on everything they knew, and everything they had found out, this was a peaceful cover which held a magnitude of chaos.

Isabelle laid her hands on one of the branches making up the railing and sighed, she leaned into Simon's arm. Not that Simon minded,

"They've been acting normal though, Alec and Magnus I mean." Simon said finally, turning his head to look at Isabelle. She sighed and closed her eyes, still leaning against him.

"I know, Alec broke down and told me that it was all a pretense, that Magnus didn't want anyone to know, but then, I guess there's a lot of things Magnus doesn't want us to know. He knew Jacob and seemed familiar with this place." Isabelle said, her voice hardening slightly as if she realized the accusation in her own voice.

"I know, but the guy's who-knows-how-old, I should think he'd get around." Simon pointed out, resting his hand on Isabelle's head tentatively. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, making Simon's hand fall.

"Simon, there's some-" Isabelle was cut off by a fiery bird landing behind them on the balcony, as soon as it touched the wood, the fire seemed to be sucked into the bird, revealing Chloe.

"Hi! We're all heading to Icaria Volcano! Ya'know, that big mountain thing over there." Chloe beamed, pointing the mountain Simon had noticed earlier.

Isabelle looked a mixture between annoyed and relieved, and Simon wondered what she had been about to say.

"Wait, did you say volcano?" Simon asked, Chloe nodded and grinned.

"It's a tropical island with a huge mountain. No shit it's going to be a volcano!" Chloe grinned, "Plus we're on the southern Atlantic Ridge, plenty of opportunity for a huge eruption." She added, and moved so she jumped off the balcony and onto the ground.

Simon glanced back at Isabelle who had turned away and was starting to walk towards the stairs that were carved into the inside of the tree's trunk.

Simon shrugged to himself, girls, he thought. He took one last glance at the colorful landscape and followed Isabelle's path down the stairs.

Magnus waited near the Spirit River, Jacob was practicing a fire-spell he had learned at Azazel's reunion. Magnus didn't care for demon's reunions much, and he wasn't on good terms with his father so he saw no need, but he remembered a time when his father's approval had meant everything to him.

"Hey, what's up? You've been acting weird." Jacob said after he finished the spell. There was now a bunch of colorful glowing flames that shifted from shape to shape, once a cube, then a sphere, then in the shape of a cat and so on in a random order that had no pattern whatsoever.

"How was the reunion?" Magnus asked instead, he crouched down and trailed his hand through the edge of the river. Jacob paused,

"It was good, he was asking about you though." Jacob said with a raised eyebrow. It was Magnus's turn to pause and frown came over his face, they both knew what 'he' meant. It meant only one thing to a warlock, the unspeakable being who had fathered them.

"Really," Magnus murmured almost to himself. Jacob rolled his eyes.

"We're off topic, seriously, although I think emotional shit is annoying, there's something wrong, and even I can see it." Jacob said; his voice a bit harder than before. Magnus sighed.

"It's Alec; he lied to me and…" Magnus trailed off at the expression on Jacob's face, he knew Jacob didn't exactly understand Magnus's lifestyle, but he wouldn't say anything out of respect for his friend.

"Well, I'm probably not the best person to offer advice, but it all depends on what you both feel, if you still love him and you're just trying to get the point across, well…ah shit, you should probably ask Roxy or Chloe, they're better at this sort of thing." Jacob said, trailing off and looking at Magnus.

"Yeah, I guess so."