CHAPTER 11: WINDOW INTO THE WEIRD
[S1E5 Moo Shu to Go (Part I)]
Margo hadn't talked to anyone since they returned to the Institute.
She hadn't spoken to Alec or Jace or even her own parabatai.
She had gone straight to her room, shutting the door softly before locking it.
It was clear to the other four Shadowhunters that Margo had felt guilty for letting the demon free. But, none of them blamed her. It was obviously a remarkably unique situation she was in.
As they all gathered in the den, each taking a seat on the couch, one by one. Though they never realized it, they had all been thinking the same thing - what would they have done if they were in Margo's position?
Each of them had the same exact answer. None would've done anything different. If they hadn't known their parents and suddenly saw a memory of them, they would all fly off the handle.
That was when the four realized how completely rational Margo's response was.
And they all looked between themselves, silently contemplating whether someone should go up and console the Devereaux girl.
"I'll do it," Jace sighed as he stood up.
Alec shook his head. "I'm practically her boyfriend. I'll go."
Isabelle huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm her parabatai. No one knows her better than me. I should do it."
They all quietly argued among themselves until Clary stood up, nearing the door. "I'll do it," she announced.
"You?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, unless any of you have erased memories locked away somewhere about your mysterious parents, too?"
They were all left speechless as Clary, the last person they expected to go after Margo, did just that.
She made it up to Margo's room, eyeing the wooden pattern on her door before taking a deep breath and going to knock.
From the inside of the room, Margo was curled up in her bed. Her dress had creases and wrinkles in it. Her shoes were messily taken off on the floor by her bed.
Upon hearing the knock, Margo used the back of her hand to wipe the small amount of tears that had gathered in her eyes. "Go, it's Clary. You mind opening up?"
She wasn't sure why she did it but she did it. She slipped out of bed, walking over and unlocking the door. It opened to reveal a worried-looking Clary, who immediately made her way in, closed the door and turned back to hug Margo, who stood an inch or two shorter.
At first, the brunette was frozen, shocked of what had just happened. Then, slowly, she hugged Clary back, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered out an apology. "I'm sorry I let the demon go. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have had to kill it and we could've still recovered your memories."
"It's okay," Clary reassured, rubbing her new friend's back before they pulled away. "Listen, Margo, you have nothing to feel guilty about. It my choice to kill the demon and Jace's to try and protect Alec by getting in the way."
Margo sighed, feeling a tear escape her eye as she made her way back to her bed. "I'm still sorry. God, they must all hate me." Her thoughts wandered to the three Shadowhunters she had failed.
"They do not hate you. They love you very much, every single one of them. If we were put in your shoes, none of us would've made a different decision. Your memory came as a surprise to all of us, Margo - no one blames you."
Margo nodded, feeling Clary sit next to her. She shut her eyes, dozing off quickly after. The redhead looked beside her, contemplating whether to stay with her friend to leave her be. She decided on the former, taking her shoes off as she climbed into bed next to Margo, pulling the covers up.
When Margo woke up the next morning, Clary was gone. But, when she returned from the shower, wearing a pair of flowy shorts under an oversized sweater belonging to Alec Lightwood, Clary was sat on her bed.
"Come on," she urged. "I'll make you breakfast."
The brunette nodded wordlessly and captured the redhead's hand in hers as they walked down the stairs.
Clary did make Margo breakfast, as promised. She used the waffle iron to create some chocolate chip waffles for her emotional friend.
When Isabelle passed by them, she stopped, did a double take and made her way over to the two girls. "There you two are."
Margo's head snapped up. She hadn't talked to her parabatai since last night, since she had just wreaked havoc all over Magnus's lair.
She gulped, allowing Isabelle to pull her off her chair and towards the exit, but not before Margo grabbed another waffle in her hand to go. "I think we need some fresh air. Are you okay?"
Isabelle took Margo's hand, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. Margo shrugged, answering Isabelle's question perfectly.
The three girls made their way to through the Institute, somehow landing a few feet away from the front door. By now, the topic of interest had changed to Clary and her necklace. Apparently, she had used it as a portal to see Valentine and her unconscious mother. It seems that Alec had taken the necklace and stored it in a safe place, away from Clary.
"So, Alec blew right by you and did what he wanted. I'd be angry, too," Isabelle commented, rolling her eyes.
Her and her parabatai could read the frustration on Clary's face. "He took the only way I had to see my mother. Plus, he kept asking what Valentine's room looked like."
"He was interested in Valentine's style?" Izzy joked, nudging her best friend. "Fascinating."
Margo chuckled. "I'm sure he thought Clary could've seen something that could help us find him." Clary nodded. "And did you?"
"I think I might know another way..."
Before Clary could expand on her thought, the door in front of the three girls opened, revealing none other than Maryse Lightwood, Alec and Izzy's mother.
Isabelle's eyes widened, glancing Margo's way. Her parabatai seemed to have the same speechless reaction.
"Isabelle. Margo." She eyed the two young girls, and their wardrobes. "Dressed to impress, I see." She eyed the ruby necklace Magnus had given Isabelle. "And you've been playing with the family heirlooms."
She turned to Margo. "And apparently, you've been playing with my son." Margo coughed uncomfortably, tugging Alec's sweatshirt down a bit.
Clary took notice of the two girls in a crisis and decided to intervene. "Hi, I'm Clary Fray." She held a hand out.
"Clary Fairchild," Maryse corrected. "You look just like your mother." Clary took in a sharp inhale as Maryse continued. "We know all about you in Idris."
"Idris?"
Margo turned to her redheaded friend. "The Shadowhunter homeland. If you think the Institute is well-hidden, wait till you see that place."
Isabelle turned to her mother. "Where's Max?" An instant smile was brought into Margo's face at the mention of the youngest Lightwood. "We all miss him."
Margo turned to their new friend, who had no idea who Max was. "Little brother. Cute but clingy. Kinda Simon-ish."
"Robert's picking him up at the Mumbai Institute. Where's Jace? We have a situation that has to be handled now." She walked off then, in search of Jace, leaving only the echoing sounds of her heels clicking behind her.
The three girls turned to each other. "Well, that's my mom," Isabelle notified Clary as the three girls followed behind Maryse.
"Is your mom always like that? She didn't even hug you."
Isabelle chuckled. "Shadowhunters aren't big huggers." Margo grinned, pulling Izzy into a hug. "With the he exception of this one," she revised her sentence, laughing as her best friend's arms tightened around her.
The three girls followed behind Maryse as she strolled up to Jace.
When Jace stopped training, he took notice of Isabelle's mother, standing on the sidelines smiling. "Maryse," he greeted, hugging her. "Hey, it's good to see you. How's everyone in Idris? Where's, uh... Where's Max?"
Isabelle walked the three girls up to Jace and Maryse. "No Max. Just Mom with her hair on fire."
"I love how Shadowhunters share. A hidden brother, a secret country, and a private portal," Clary playfully spoke, eyeing Jace.
Alec walked up to the group then, turning to Maryse. "Mother. Welcome back. We didn't expect to see you."
"You should be prepared, whether you expect me or not."
Margo growled, crossing her arms and leaning against Isabelle, letting her parabatai throw an arm over her shoulder. "I am," Alec responded, glancing Margo's way. "We are."
Maryse looked between Alec and Jace, ignoring the two girls as she spoke to the golden children. "We'll talk about the Institute later. Right now, we have a bigger problem. The Seelies have stopped communicating with the Clave and won't explain why. My guess is, they're still upset we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine, but no one in their realm will talk."
Isabelle perked up, trying to be helpful. She spoke up before Margo could stop her. "I have Seelie friends."
Maryse turned to her daughter, clicking her tongue and making her way in front of Isabelle and Margo. The latter of the two girls was pulled away by Alec as his mother spoke directly to Isabelle. "Yes, I know about your friends. Isabelle, we stay separate from the Downworld for good reasons.
"The wrong move, the wrong word... Do you think there is such a thing as harmless rebellion? Who knows what offends these creatures? Maybe you told him... them... something they shouldn't know. Maybe you trod on one of their ridiculous customs without knowing it."
Margo frowned, going to take a step forward until her waist was caught by Alec, who pulled her back, silently shaking his head at her. But, he couldn't stop Jace. "Wait, wait," the blonde protested. "I don't understand. You're laying all this on Izzy for having a friend in the Downworld?"
Maryse then turned to Jace, all evidence of their joyous reunion gone from her face. "When someone upsets the natural order, everything falls apart."
Margo couldn't help herself. "Natural order?" she scoffed. "What are you saying?"
"I can help," Isabelle firmly stated. "I know how to talk to Seelies."
Alec jumped in, defending his sister. "She's right. She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows. I could go with her if you want."
Maryse eyed her son before turning to his blonde parabatai and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'd rather Jace goes along this time. Alec, Margo, you two stay with the Fairchild girl. I want her under control. She's caused enough trouble already."
Margo snickered at the comment, playfully turning to Clary. As compared to the redhead, the brunette was used to such claims from Maryse Lightwood and knew better than to think twice about them.
Clary, however, was not amused at the older woman's words. "Maybe that's because I wasn't even a Shadowhunter until a few days ago!"
"And what an exciting few days it has been," came Maryse's snarky reply. She turned to Alec. "The Clave counts on us Lightwoods to maintain order here."
His facial expressions matched hers. He was definitely not feeling entertained right now, Margo could tell. "You don't need to tell me that. If the mission is important to the Clave, I would prefer to be the one who goes with Isabelle," he replied from directly behind Margo.
Maryse chuckled. "You're all so eager to do what you would prefer. It's time to face the truth. Life is not about what you want to do, it's about what must be done. I have given you your assignments, now carry them out." She pointed to Jace and Isabelle. "You and you, with me, now."
The two followed after Maryse as she walked away from Alec, Margo and Clary. The redhead walked over to the couple, eyeing Maryse as she left, crossing her arms. "Well, that was a window into the weird. What did you do to piss off your mom?"
"I'd guess, for a start... all the unsanctioned missions on your behalf didn't go over that big with the Clave." He groaned, eyeing the two girls. "Now, you stay here," he ordered Clary. "Margo and I are going to have a talk." He grabbed Margo's hand, pulling her away from Clary, up the stairs to his room.
She slowly sat down on his bed as he sat in front of her, placing his hands comfortingly on her thighs. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, watching as she pulled at the sleeves of his sweatshirt that currently adorned her body.
"Fine."
"Margo."
She glanced up, catching his eye and spilling everything. "I just-I just feel guilty, Alec. And I know you and Jace and the girls don't blame me, but I do. And I'm not ready to forgive myself, okay? That's it."
He paused a moment. "Okay," he agreed. "But you've gotta stop acting so down all the time. I get you need time but I just miss the old Margo. Tell her to come back."
Margo smiled, leaning over and hugging the life out of the raven-haired boy across from her. "I love you so much." Maybe she meant it as a friend or maybe as something more.
However Alec took it, he replied to her comment the way she hoped he would. "I love you, too."
As they pulled apart, Alec's phone rang. Margo nodded her head, allowing him to take the call. "Hello? Who is this?"
It was Magnus, Margo could hear, and he wanted to go out for a drink some time with Alec.
Alec hung up soon after denying his invitation to hang out right now. At the moment, he was with his girl and nothing was going to take him away.
Alec offered to grab some snacks to eat from downstairs while Margo prepared a movie-watching session. As she was scrolling through the movies, Clary knocked her door, entering soon after. She was dressed to go out.
"I need your help," she simply told her brunette friend. "We can't tell Alec."
Without a second thought, Margo grabbed her jacket, following Clary out the door.
An hour later, Margo was stood beside Clary, watching as the mundanes walked the streets. Suddenly, Clary's phone started ringing. Margo's eyes widened, hurrying her friend, telling her to silence it.
She took a step, her back hitting someone's chest. Margo didn't have to turn around to know whose chest it was. She closed her eyes, sighing as she let out a curse. "Oh, fuck."