Hehe...please do not come after me with pitchforks or anything! I feel terrible for not updating but i had this huge case of writers block and I know only like one of you guys reading this, cookies are great things to munch on while writing, and basically I'm sorry for not updating this story!
To reviewer: KyKat, you are one hundred percent correct. The parabati link. It will definitely come into play in this chapter.
Thanks to those who reviewed favourited and followed. I'm surprised all the time when I refresh my mail like a month after updating and it says So And So Favourited The Morgenstern Tale. Anyways enjoy,
Clary stumbled back as Jace thrashed out, his hand smacking against her cheek. In a flash of blinding light and familiar pain she rolled onto the ground and cradled her jaw absentmindedly- focused more on Jace's squirming body. His head arced back and Clary saw the immense pain contorting his face into unrecognizable features. His eyebrows drawn into points, mouth agape with a heart-wrenching sob. Jace reared back and slammed into a nearby tree trunk falling to the ground while gasping for air. He looked up and when his eyes met hers Clary let out a startled gasp. Not only were they so wide that you could see white rimming his irises but he didn't...see... her. He was looking but his eyes were blank- dead.
What in the 9 circles of hell was happening?
His chest was contracting into itself with uneven breaths, his lips dry and cracked as he let out a scream. Clary hesitantly moved to stand but reared once again when she saw him fling back. His hands grasped onto his shirt and not unexpectedly it tore, his fingers leaving little red marks against his skin. Clary felt tears spring to her eyes when she saw the sight before her.
The parabati rune that was scrawled just under Jace's heart was turning a milky silver, fading, dying.
Alec.
Clary didn't know how she knew but she knew it was him. It was Alec. His parabati. And Alec was dead. "No," She could only whisper as Jace ripped into his ruby blood was dark in the night and his finger tore at the spot of pain, right over his heart. Jace screamed again, screwing his eyes shut and scrunching his nose. Blatantly Clary realized he was trying not to cry, but of course a few tears seeped out.
The pressure in her chest was back, choking her. She didn't want him to cry, he couldn't cry. He didn't cry, not once in all the times he'd been faced with sadness in the past few weeks. He was strong. Jace was strong.
And now Jace was broken.
He convulsed and a mixture of spittle and vomit dribbled from his lips, almost string-like. But Clary wasn't disgusted. She felt her heart squeeze. The parabati rune looked as if all the black was fading, like a greyscale painting. As if it was draining along with Jace's happiness. That thought was what broke her reslove. She couldn't jut watch him hurt himself anymore, the blood from the marks he'd created already welling on his chest.
And she didn't care if she got hit again.
Which was a surprise.
Clary slowly crawled onto her knees and hesitantly advanced where Jace was withering on the dirt. It had smudged and stained his clothing beyond belief. When she was within touching distance of his body she held out her arm, palm out, as if he were some rabid dog. And she waited.
He didn't respond to it, his eyes were glassed over like a blind man's.
he can't see anything.. there's too much pain...
With that Clary did something extremely bold, and placed that palm on his arm. Jace tensed and was still for just a few mere seconds before lashing out with his hand. Clary braced herself for the smack, but it never came. When she popped one eye open his hand had dug itself into the flesh of her forearm. Despite the pain she sighed in relief and moved a little closer. Clary reached over with her free hand and trapped his other wrist, tugging gently to release it from the death grip it had on his hair. She managed to pry his fingers from their stiff positions and pull it to her chest, hugging it as he tried to pull back and claw again at his heart.
It must have hurt so much.
It was hours, days, years before his weeping subsided. He stopped throwing up, his moans now just echoes in the night, and Clary realized for the first time that she not only had a splitting headache, but her face was wet with tears. Her own tears. When Jace opened his eyes once again they were swollen- so swollen- and bloodshot to a new degree. But he saw her.
"Clary," he whispered and lurched over towards her, closing the small distance between them. He laid his head on her lap and she felt his eyelashes flutter against the material of her jeans, doing regrettable things to Clary's subconscious. With guilt she pushed the fantasies away and released his hands, to which he instantly curled close to his body. She pulled him into a more comfortable position and stroked her hand through his hair, lulling him to sleep until all the noise he made was this adorable light snore.
But the memory of his screams kept her awake through the night.
"Dead!" Sebastian roared. "He's dead!"
Aline squeaked and flinched at his voice.
"You let him die!"
Isabelle felt the roar of panic and rage cut through the painful haze that had dusted over her. It was so much pain. Too much pain. An emotional kind of rip and tear that left you breathless and choking on the contractions of your heart.
"You were supposed to keep him alive!" Sebastian continued, still advancing on the cowering form that was Aline. "Oh, God..." Isabelle watched as Sebastian straightened with realization. "What is Jonathon going to do. That was Jace's parabati!" Another thought hit him and he glared at Aline. "What if he decides he doesn't need to come back! What if he just leaves with her!" Sebastian's eyes were as wild as some of the demons Isabelle had killed. A fever had taken over their black depths and made them even darker- if that could happen. His hands were shoved forcefully into his hair. "What if he doesn't find a need to come back! He was supposed to be able to save you! Save him! And now-" he shuddered and his voice lowered a couple octaves. "Now he know's he's dead. Now he won't come back."
Isabelle had to admit that it hurt. Even though this was an evil man going on and on about how his plan's were destroyed- Isabelle felt more pain engulf her chest at the thought Jace wouldn't come and save her.
It hurt that this maniacal man didn't think Jace would care.
Aline suddenly shot up to match his stance. "No!" she shouted. "You were supposed to keep him alive! I wasn't the one to stab him in the chest!" her shrieking made Isabelle proud, before a pit of dread settled in her stomach.
Sebastian stalked towards the girl and loomed above her, intimidating. "I don't know what you think," his speech was slow. "gives you the right the talk back to me...but," he chuckled darkly and smirked un-amused. Leaning down Isabelle could barely hear the whisper. "You're going to regret it."
Sebastian reared back and Isabelle tried to look away, but she couldn't. She suddenly felt the guilt run over her and instantly took back and bad things she'd thought about Aline. She was finally standing up for herself, the poor girl, and now she was going to get killed because of it.
But what Isabelle witnessed next made her extremely proud to have known Aline. She looked towards Izzy, a small, infinitesimal smile on her lips. "I'm sorry for not saving him." she said before smacking Sebastian hard across the cheek. His head whipped to the side and Aline grinned fiercely before her eyes widened as Sebastian straightened out. His neck popped as he stretched his head and with one big swing sent Aline flying across the room.
She fetched up against the wall and Isabelle gaped as she lay limp on the floor. A small trickle of blood dribbled from her nose and Isabelle knew she was dead.
Dead.
If Clary left Jace, and Jace tried to save them all, that's what they'd all be.
Dead.
Like Alec, like Aline.
Clary woke Jace early in the morning. They were close to Magnus' cabin and he needed a real bed to sleep on, and a shower. And some disinfectant. Cuts and bruises layered his back and chest, his shirts so ripped and mutilated that he didn't even bother to wear it.
Then again he didn't really bother with anything.
His face was blank, if it wasn't contorting with pain, and every once in a while when Clary would glance over at him, Jace's golden eyes would be leaking tears. But they didn't hold sadness within them. He just look...glassy. Dead. If he wasn't walking and breathing Clary would have been convinced she needed to dig a grave.
"Jace..." surprisingly her voice was slightly raspy. She'd been doing a fair share of crying herself. But unsurprisingly Jace just kept walking without acknowledging her. And Clary didn't think he was ignoring her. She thought he actually didn't hear her.
Which was insurmountably worse.
"Jace...come on..." her lip was raw from where she had bit it so often- a nervous habit. He voice was laced with desperation and tears. "Jace...talk to me, Jace."
She stopped but he didn't see her, didn't even look her way. He just roughly brushed past her and as his footsteps carried on she felt each one pierce her like dagger through her heart. As if every anguished heartbeat of his was echoing in her own chest and then ricocheting tenfold in his. She could feel his pain. With that one touch an electric shot bolted through her body, an overwhelming urge to throw herself off a cliff or curl up into a ball and let the resounding sorrow pound her into oblivion. She suddenly wanted to reach for a knife and plunge it into her chest just get away from it, just to be relived of the breathless choking, just to see him again. She just wanted him back.
She snapped back to reality as Jace's skin left contact with hers, the sadness just echoes in her mind- a memory. She no longer craved suicide, and though she did want him back, it didn't feel like the same him. She wanted Jace. But before...
"Jace," she shouted his name and as it bounced off the trees she grabbed his forearm. Within a heartbeat the same pain was back, suffocating her. She felt like she was dying, like a piece of her heart had been ripped from her chest and she had to watch as it was eaten up in hell. She felt the tears dribble down her cheeks as she watched them fall from Jace's thick eyelashes. She could feel something. But this time the shock of pain was less paralyzing and she could analyze it.
It was disconnection, but understanding.
Like she was her but at the same time her heart wasn't in her chest. It wasn't her mind or thoughts or feelings or...
Jace ripped away his arm before she could think anymore, and the feeling was lost. But it was replaced with another when his golden eyes bored into hers, finding the first emotion she'd seen him portray the whole day.
Betrayal.
And so much pain.
Clary kept her distance from Jace for the rest of the day but as soon as she saw a light smoke she jumped up and down, a grin flitting towards her lips as she reached for Jace's arm. She thought better of it and retracted the gesture. Her feet felt as if she had stepped on only twigs and sharp rocks, her calves aching and drained. Her heart was in as much of a disaster as her hair was. But she was so, so, so happy to see that smoke.
Because within moments they were nearing a cottage, more of a luxurious shack. Inside though, as Clary well knew, it expanded to the size of a mansion. This was their destination. This was their goal. This was Magnus' cottage. Somehow though, when Jace just stared unseeing towards what should have very well have made him smile with joy her own happiness burned out.
The shack was in a dark clearing, the trees having grown in a sort of dome over the sky, completing the net that was the forest. Clary admitted that she missed this. The way the plants and vines twisted to create darkness. She missed the beauty that came with catastrophe. The shack itself was magical- adorned with many foggy windows and built with logs. Clary felt the ghost of a smile on her lips as she remembered the last time she was here- the shack had been a castle of stone- it was always changing.
With a flourish every window of the cabin was lit with golden light, various sizes of numerous question marks being drawn onto each window. Then happy faces and hearts.
Clary's ghosting smile turned into a full blown grin.
She ran towards the cabin door as it swung open to reveal a very familiar face.
"Darling," Magnus cooed, eyes slanted and even smaller than their usual almond shape as his smile matched the same cat's that infested his pupils. He held out his arms and Clary swung gratefully into their warmth. His black hair was spiked per usual, and he wore a long dark cape over what Clary knew was quite embellished attire. Magnus liked to dress as if her were in the Medieval Times. "Clarissa..." he pulled her away slightly and held her face between his delicate hands, looking deep into her eyes with an understanding sadness.
He knew.
Everything.
"What have you run and gotten yourself into..." Clary didn't know what happened when her eyebrows suddenly arced in pain and her face was wet with salty liquid.
Were they tears?
A noise like that of a dying animal erupted in the night and Clary found when she shut her jaw it stopped. She couldn't keep it shut for much longer though, as another moan was released.
Was she crying?
"No love," Magnus said as he let her go. "you're sobbing..."
Had she said that aloud?
Why hadn't she stopped yet?
She felt the festering in her stomach that was so common before she threw up and she curled over trying to stop it. Why? Why was this happening? Why was her heart being overtaken by-
Comfort?
A warm heat that settled the quaking in her stomach instantly. A blanket of reassurance and not wanting her to cry. Hating the tears, the look of heart-wrenching sadness. Hating the fetal position and the way it looked as if she couldn't stop. Loathing the way it looked as if she couldn't stop. Clary stood up and felt the hand on her arm, eyebrows narrowing in confusion. She gazed at the hand- it was the left one, a voyance rune etched onto the skin. The forearm was tanned and sturdy, biceps muscular and strong, shoulders very capable. But it was the golden eyes that made her melt and brew.
What was going on between them?
What was happening when she and Jace touched?
"Jace." she whispered and placed a hand to his face. He closed his eyes and leaned towards her palm. He breathed a sigh and choked out the words. "Strange."
She nodded as more tears welled behind her eyes. "Yes. Very strange."
His eyelids opened and the stare he gave her was so intense, the surge of loving it and loving this, whatever it and this was, and not caring what it was because it made the pain disappear.
"Oh my." Clary heard Magnus' voice from a distance and reluctantly let it drag her back to reality. Jace drew his hand from her arm and they both slumped with the lack of support. emotional support that is. The feeling of comfort was long gone, as was the pain, making Clary feel hollow.
But she was able to focus on Magnus.
"By the demon Lilith..." he gasped. "You're the lost experiment."
"What?" she asked curiosity filling her emptiness, Jace not having the strength to ask.
Magnus turned his cat gaze onto Clary.
"He's the Angel Boy. You two are connected."
Ok, so I know the last few chapters haven't really been up to par with the action and everything but please hold in there and let me know what you think.
The Angel Boy bit was expected but did the connection surprise you? Magnus will explain a lot in the next chapter and I'm thinking the one after that will be the end. Gear up for the big finale.
I will try with all my might to finish the next chapter soon. Let me know what you thought, or just keep reading.
Question: Who is in cardiac arrest right now because of the City of Heavenly Fire release in like, freaking, 2 DAYS! I can't breathe right now!1
Lovestory112.