AN: MASSIVE AN AHEAD! Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! Shout out to ifyouknew and RitzaHerondale. Thanks so much to LondonGirl for your amazing review. I'm planning to slow everything down a bit and plunge into details, once I've sketched out the plot. LondonGirl, do you have an account? I'd love to personally reply to your review.
As for to all the followers and favoriters, I swear I usually send a thank you PM for follows and favorites, but I've been sort of drowning from exams lately. I'll get around to thanking everyone later (hopefully). And you may have noticed I changed the title and category - I found that the current ones fit much bettter.
And I still need a beta! Preferably someone who's been on for at least a year, familiar with both TMI and TID, loves to give reviews and concrit. I'm also willing to beta that person's stories, since I love betaing. And, oh, I'm considering writing another fanfic. A Shadowhunters-in-high school story. I'll post the summary with the next chapter.
It was decided by Jace that Clary would do the explaining, seeing as it was her fault they were there anyway. "I wasn't the one who decided to have a chat with an angel," she shot at him, leading to looks of confusion from the Londoners.
"You talked with an angel?" Charlotte asked in disbelief. She looked confused. "It's-" Jace began, but Will cut him off. "Don't you dare say it's complicated. Don't you dare." Jace shot him an annoyed glare.
"Actually, I was going to say it's a long story. Nice to know you find me interesting enough to try predicting my speech patterns, though." Tessa choked on her tea, while Will glared back at Jace.
Charlotte cut him off before he could speak. "Explain," she ordered Jace sternly. Jace frowned. "Hey, it's not my fault we're here. That goes to Clary." Clary shrunk in her seat. "It was an accident!" she protested.
Jem frowned. "Exactly what was an accident?" he asked. Clary muttered something under her breath, pale cheeks flaming. "You'll have to speak up," Charlotte told her gently. "I... accidentally portaled us here?" she offered weakly. Jem's brow furrowed. "How do you accidentally portal anyone?" he questioned.
Clary ducked her head sheepishly. "There was a manor falling on us. I meant to portal us only a few miles southeast," she defended. "Except… well, I may have misjudged the distance and we ended up on a different continent. And, um…" Her voice trailed off. Jace rolled his golden eyes. "What she means to say is that she somehow found a gap in the time-space continuum, and wrenched us out of our own time, and now, according to the calendar, we're more than a century in the past."
Jaws gaped at them from around the table. "Let me get this straight," Tessa began slowly. "You accidentally portaled Jace and yourself a century in the past - to a different continent, no less?" Clary looked sheepish.
"...yes?" Henry shot up in his seat. "That's amazing! What rune did you use? How did it work? If we could channel that magic into a device, then-" Charlotte cut him off. "I'm sorry, dear, but the important matter at hand is the fact that we've got two time-travellers at hand." She frowned at the two from the future. "Actually, I didn't know time-travelling was even possible.
Jace laughed darkly. "All stories are true," he pointed out. "Mummies don't exist," Clary pointed out. Jem's brow furrowed. "Are you sure? I think I saw some mummies a few weeks ago at a party." Will's eyebrow shot up. "Whoa, seriously?" he asked.
Charlotte cleared her throat. "We're straying off subject," she reminded. "Now, how are we going to get these two back?" Jace smiled at her - a dark, morbid smile.
"Magnus Bane, remember?"
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
"I thought," Clary said, "that Magnus Bane was the High Warlock of Brooklyn." Jace shrugged. "More like the High Warlock of New York. He's all over the place." Jace frowned thoughtfully. "But then again, High Warlock of Brooklyn does have a nice ring to it." Will looked curious.
"So Magnus moves to Brooklyn?" he asked. Clary nodded. "Yeah." The three of them were standing in front of Magnus's door. Jace took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing." He knocked sharply on the door. It swung open. "Who are you?" Magnus asked, sounding slightly bored. Clary couldn't help but stare at Magnus. He looked less… Magnus. Not as hippy-like, with a few less sparkles.
Apparently, Magnus realized Clary was staring at him. "Why the stare?" the tan man questioned. "I…" Clary's voice trailed off. "We need your help," Will cut in briskly. "These two - well, they're time travellers from New York."
To say Magnus looked shocked would be an understatement. It would be more accurate to say that looked like an elephant-lion hybrid had romped into his house, eaten all his furniture then destroyed the London Bridge. Actually, he looked more surprised than that, Clary thought.
"Time travellers?" Magnus's voice was weak. "That's impossible." Magnus stood a bit to the side, holding the door open wider. "Come in, and we'll talk." The three Shadowhunters walked into Magnus's house. "Careful," he added, "don't get Camille's carpet dirty." Clary frowned. "Camille?" she asked. "Magnus's girlfriend," Will clarified.
Clary cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Magnus has a girlfriend?" she asked. Magnus sighed. "You're really behind on news, aren't you?" A flush spread over Clary's cheeks. "I come from a hundred thirty years in the future," she defended. Jace overtook her with a few long strides. Sighing, Clary took her phone from her pocket. She waved it around hopefully. No reception. She should've known - Clary doubted cellphone satellites even existed at this time.
Will gave her phone a look of interest. "What's that?" he asked. "It's a phone," she explained. Will looked impressed. "A portable one?" Clary nodded. "Nice," he commented approvingly as they followed Jace and Magnus into a living room.
Clary had to admit the room was nice. There was a sort of elegant grace to it. Magnus gestured at the empty sofa. "Take a seat," he ordered them. The three Shadowhunters did just that - Jace somehow ending up between Will and Clary.
Magnus settled himself into an armchair across them. "So," he began, "exactly what happened?" Clary repeated the story about Ithuriel, the mansion and the portal. She left out the part where they found out Jace had demon blood, and that Valentine had injected innocent babies with blood.
The warlock whistled when Clary finished the tale. Jace had gotten up and was examining items on shelves and tables. He picked up a tooth, flipping it between his hands. "Careful," Magnus warned, "that thing is poisonous." Not missing a beat, Jace slammed it back onto the table.
"So you want me to send you back into the future?" Magnus asked. Clary nodded. "More or less." Magnus frowned. "That's hard," he stated. Clary nodded again. "If I show you the rune I used, would you be able to… well, adjust it? Edit it? Turn it into a rune that can do what we want it to?"
Magnus frowned. "No one can create new runes," he warned. "Clary can," Jace piped up. Both Magnus and Will stared at Clary. "How?" Will demanded. "It's-" Will's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare say it's complicated."
Clary's lips curved into a small smile. "It is complicated," she admitted. "But, well, long story short, my mother was fed angel blood by my father when she was pregnant." Magnus and Will stared at her, mouths hanging open. "That's…" Magnus groped for the right words. "Immoral? Insane? Evil?" Jace suggested. "Cause our dad is all of that."
"I was about to say terrible," Magnus offered lightly, "but those adjectives work fine as well." He turned to Clary. "I can try, but it won't be easy," he warned. "And I expect payment." Clary had been expecting this part. Magnus never did anything for free. "What do you want?" she asked.
Cat-like eyes stared at her. "Information," he decided at last. "I'm a warlock, Clary, and we're curious people. Tell me what the future's like, and I'll help you get home." Clary's brow furrowed. "But you're a warlock!" she exclaimed. "You're immortal. You'll see anyway."
A laugh escaped Magnus's lips. "I'm curious. Just a few facts you think I'll find interesting." Jace frowned slightly as he sat at a piano. "They say curiosity killed the cat." Magnus smiled, cat-eyes sparkling. "I'm not a cat, am I?"
Clary sighed. "Fine," she agreed. "Well, you put a block in my mind." Magnus looked confused. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "My mother asked you to. To protect me from the Shadow World," Clary explained. "Why would she want to protect you?" Will questioned.
"It's-" Will sighed. "It's complicated, it's a long story, I know." Magnus smiled grimly. "What else?" he asked. "You babysat Jace," Clary offered. Jace glared at her. "He did not babysit me, I was simply his houseguest while evading the Inquisitor," he argued. Magnus laughed.
"And…" Clary trailed off, thinking of facts that might interest the warlock. "You told my parabatai to call you," Jace offered helpfully. Clary choked. She had almost forgotten about that.
"How old is your parabatai?" Magnus asked curiously. "Eighteen," Jace answered. Will looked torn between amusement and disgust. "Let me get this straight - a seven-hundred-year-old warlock asked out an eighteen-year-old Shadowhunter?"
Clary frowned. "It sounds wrong when you put it that way," she grumbled. "And for the record," Jace added, "Magnus didn't exactly ask Alec out. Not yet, anyway." He grinned at Will's expression. Will stuck his tongue out at the golden boy.