Lacie: I haven't talked about reviews in a while, have I?
Clary: Not since….hold up *searches fanfiction on her phone* chapter 24. Yo! Ten chapters ago!
Chris: Get your game together Lacie, damn. I know some people don't care about them but still
Clary: get some on here or something at least
Lacie: Actually there are a few I wanted to mention. First off, Rugent2569 holy cheezus. I was WATCHING your progress as you reviewed! Every time as you got farther and farther along the story I was like THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER D: OMG AHAHAH Now that's what I call an adamant reviewer! AWESOME I LOVE YA, SERIOUSLY buy yourself something nice you deserve it
Clary: Next one *points into no actual direction*
LucindaEveningLight! You have to barking enable your privating message thing so that I can frickin reply bc that was a MONSTER of a review (trust me it's huge) and the whole time I was reading it I was all "man I have to talk to this person, I need to say this this and that and this is gonna be so cool" and then when I clicked to reply PRIVATE MESSAGING POSTING DENIED and I was like NOOOOOO HOW DO I COMMUNICATE NOW?
Seriously you guys, go to the reviews, and just scroll down until you see a HUGE review. Read it. Read that masterpiece, not for what it's saying about the story, just the way she flowed and let her emotions out and just filled the review with LIFE. LucindaEveningLight can I pay you to write my essays? You have a knack for getting your point out there.
Chris: You put really put her on the spot. What if she hates you for this?
Lacie: I don't care! You can't send me a huge review like that, let me get all excited over it, and then just NOT LET ME REPLY.
Clary: You seem eager to talk to strangers, do you have a need for people complex?
Lacie: No. I just feel more comfortable to talk to strangers. If you need me to ask a random dude at the mall for directions, I'll do it. You want me to randomly ask a person a question and then just walk away? I'm your girl. But if I need to ask a friend that I talk to every day for a favor, who I know and the chances of them declining are low, I can't do it. I just can't.
Chris: The heck is wrong with you? Then what's the purpose of making friends if you'll get scared of them?
Lacie: I'm not like that with everyone! Just certain people, I'm just saying, if you guys PM me with a random as poop question, I will answer it. It may not be an answer that you expect, but it will be an answer. I will reply. Everyone who has ever PM'd me has received a reply, and you've done that, and I HAVEN'T, feel free to PM me again very angrily. I will reply then
Chris: *cough**cough* desperate *cough**cough*
Lacie: *sneezes* *sneezes**sneezes* *sneezes like ten times in a row*
Chris: Catching a cold?
Lacie: No, I'm allergic to stupid. Happens whenever anyone says anything idiotic or unintelligent
Clary: Like what sort sayings?
Lacie: Whenever stupid people say things
Chris: Only weaklings would have that sort allergy
Lacie: *sneezes three more times* *in an overly exaggerated surprised tone* Oh my gosh! Where is it coming from!?
Clary: Llamas! *Lacie doesn't sneeze* It's not me! :D
Chris: Oh come on! You're being immature!
Lacie: *sneezes five more times*
Clary: Lacie doesn't own the Mortal Instruments, but she does have an allergy to Chris.
Lacie: Oh! *exaggerated surprise* that's whats causing my allergies!
Chris: -_-
Enjoy!
Chris POV
Something was pressing into his back. He was still laying down, his hands at his side, like a corpse in a casket.
He was no longer floating, bobbing along some invisible force, and his body felt empty without the motions. It was strange, after such a long time (or how long had it been, really?) of intermittent periods of waking up to strange haziness, then falling back into unconsciousness.
He couldn't remember a lot from when he was awake, and whenever he did he felt like something unpleasant was about to reveal itself, telling him that he was about to see something bad before he actually saw it, so many times he just shoved the surfacing memories aside before they formed into something tangible.
Where am I?
It wasn't the first time he's asked himself that, and in fact it became something he asked himself so often that it came to mind out of habit rather that actual curiosity. A phrase that brought comfort rather than answers, because the question was never able to be answered. He never had the will to find out, or the ability, now that he thought about it. He never had the strength the move, or the motivation.
But in this case, as he thought, there was something different about where he was. He took in a breath, and felt the air cut into his lungs. It was cold, fresh, like tiny knives cutting into his lungs, exhaling into the air like steam. Has he always felt this aware of his surroundings?
His senses felt on high alert, and he suddenly no longer felt hazy, he was able to move. The area and place he was laying on felt cold, hard, completely unlike before.
In his sudden revelation, he excitedly opened his eyes.
Where am I?
He was so confused, so honestly perplexed.
Chris was staring at an intense, deep shade of blue, with occasional wisps of white dotting the scene.
That's weird, he thought, I've never seen this shade of blue in hell before…
Clary POV
"Isabelle!" Clary enunciated, her eyes as wide as plates, "I thought I was pretty straightforward when I said this: No disguises!"
The girl before her wearing a bright pink wig with blue dyed ends and an oversized black hoodie spun on her heel, letting her wigs curls bounce about, "But this way, if anyone were to see me, they wouldn't recognize me. No one will know me like this." She smiled a Cheshire cat grin.
"Yeah, and if anyone asks, neither do we." Maia cringed as she came down the stairs, wearing jean kami's and a white T-shirt. "That shade of pink hurts my eyes. It makes me want to vomit."
Jace was staring at Izzy with his lips pressed together, and Clary could practically see all the retorts and jokes that he was biting back about his sister's choice in hair color but thought it'd be best to hold the best of them back. He was leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen, a half peeled orange in his hand.
In fact, they were all in the midst of breakfast and getting ready to go out into the world, and even though none of them were saying it, there a was a certain electric feel amongst them, the feel of increasing excitement and fear and adrenaline.
This would the first time any of them stepped out of the house in days into the world since the whole vampire mansion thing, so of course there was a sort edgy feeling going on. Clary hadn't felt nervous at all last night, but –she gave Jace a quick glance and wiped and smacked down the smile that fought to creep onto her face- she felt like that was because she had never felt more at peace with herself in such a long time.
That peace however, was quickly eradicated when she woke up hours later, remembering what their goal was: To find Magnus, and hopefully be able to summon Chris.
Clary could feel her excited nerves gnawing at her, until she realized it was actually herself gnawing at her own nails. Dang it. She'd reduced her right hand's nails down to the nub.
Calm down Clary, nothing good will come from getting jittery
At least she'd gotten a good night's rest, judging from the looks of everyone else, some of them hadn't faired so well. Alec was making coffee, his hair still rumpled as if he had spent the night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, and he had circle beneath his beautifully blue eyes that contrasted to his pale skin. Clary noticed that he was using a fork to stir his coffee, and decided against telling him.
She'd forgotten how it felt like to have the Clave after you, she guessed that it was because she's been a fugitive so long you tend to forget you're being chased, but Alec was a mess. He no doubt was worried sick they'd get caught, and he sure didn't look like he was used to disobeying something this huge.
For a moment, Clary wondered who else was feeling nervous. Maia looked like she couldn't care less. She was still making faces at Izzy as she leaned against Jordan's legs as he sat in a stool. Jordan looked as calm as ever, though she didn't really know him that well to know how he carried his burdens. Simon was, well, Simon. He never really felt the authority of the Clave like everyone else did, he only saw them for who they were because of Clary, and now because of Isabelle, she guessed. He was laughing as Isabelle finally relented and pulled the wig off, her black hair cascading down her back. It was slightly disheveled, not because it was confined in the wig, but messed around in the way it can only be done when a girl runs her fingers through her hair too much. Was Izzy worried, perhaps not as concerned as Alec, but in the same way as him?
They were her friends, and she had a right to feel concerned about them, guilty about whatever she did to make them feel sad, and believe her, she was very contrite about the matter. But they said they'd come along. There was no backing out now.
"You guys are just jealous because my wig is so cute," Izzy frowned as she threw the wig onto the island.
"Sure," Jace said sarcastically, "Because I'm just going to die if I don't dye my luscious golden curls pink. I mean, what am I going to do? How will I live with myself knowing that I didn't put this completely not revolting color on my head? I hope the world will forgive!"
Clary rolled her eyes but couldn't resist the laugh that escaped her. Jace caught her eye and nudged her arm with his elbow, continuing his theatrics. She saw Simon raise his eyebrows at their brief exchange, asking her a mute question.
I'm guessing things are all good between the two of you? He seemed to ask.
Not like they were before, but they're better, she tried to convey.
Indeed, she much rather preferred Jace like this than the guy who treated her like a wallflower. Although she wasn't quite sure about how their relationship could be labeled as for now. She stuck with friends, she could work out the details later, honestly she didn't care if they dated or not, whether they were boyfriend and girlfriend or not, because at least now, Jace was talking to her. And that made all the difference. She just felt relieved that they could talk to each other without any awkwardness for now.
Peeling herself away from the conversation, she walked around the kitchen to Alec, silently tapping his forearm. He looked at her with a sort of startled expression first, but then he relaxed, "Sorry, I'm sort of, jumpy."
"That happens when you have too much caffeine. How much sugar are you planning on putting in there anyway?" she indicated to the almost empty bowl of sugar and the cup of coffee that no longer looked like there was any coffee amongst the large clumps of white powder.
"I, ugh," he groaned slightly, "I didn't realize, great now this is a huge waste. I didn't even notice."
"For someone who used a fork to pour in the sugar you worked remarkably fast too." She kindly took the cup of sugar from him as he jerked to look at the fork in his hand, emptying its contents into a wastebasket nearby. "You okay?"
He looked to the fork for another second before tossing it into the sink. "I'm fine, just…tired."
He didn't need to explain anymore, she understood just by looking into his eyes. "Well, I really just wanted to ask you if you've called Magnus yet."
Alec ran a hand through his hair, attempting to pat his bed head down. It didn't work much. "Oh yeah, called him a few minutes ago. You said we were in Orlando, Florida right?"
"That's the place."
"Then yeah, he said he'd text me a more exact location to meet him, though."
"That's fine with me," she agreed, "I'm surprised he actually agreed to help us though, you'd think he'd be done with wanting to work with us after what's happened."
"Actually, I was too," he acknowledged, "But then again, it's Magnus, so."
Clary chuckled, "Yeah, you're probably right."
Because the phrase, 'It's Magnus' explains everything completely when it comes to him.
"Clary, can we please go to Disney world," Maia pleaded, "This is my only chance! I don't have the money to be spending on the trip to go to Florida!"
"What is Disney World?" Isabelle asked, a confused expression on her face. "Sounds like codename for a drug or something."
"Disney World is a huge resort with rides and a whole lot of interesting stuff to do. It's like an amusement park." Clary explained, having never been there herself.
"It's not just an amusement park," Maia argued, "It's the happiest place on Earth!"
Jace raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh, is it now? Explain in more detail how happy this place would make me."
Simon opened up his mouth, "Disney World is pretty much a huge people trap run by a mouse."
"Which we are not going to go to," seeing Maia's crestfallen face, she added, "Oh come on, did you really want to go stand amongst a bunch of princesses anyway?"
She shrugged, "I guess not."
This time Alec was confused, "There are princesses there? Is this a whole other country of some sort?"
Clary fought back a reply and tugged at her shirt collar to hide it. She was wearing a gray Nirvana T-shirt, not that she was a big fan, sure she'd listened to a few of their songs but she wasn't exactly an enthusiast of their music, and a dark blue skinny jeans with red ankle boots. Her hair was up in a ponytail, though a few rebellious strands escaped and were now bouncing by her temples.
She looked around at everyone else. She was the only one wearing pants that completely covered her legs. Hearing that they were in Orlando, everyone was wearing shorts and light clothing. Simon's jean shorts reached past his knee, and both Jordan and Jace were wearing beige cargo shorts. Isabelle had removed her huge hoodie to reveal an airy long purple shirt that left her arms and shoulders bare, as well as short black shorts that hid her higher than mid-thigh. Only Alec remained in his dark jeans, though he did switch his usual black sweaters for a navy blue V-neck.
Not that it really mattered what they were wearing, but if they wanted to blend in with the crowd they had to look as teenagery as possible.
"Since we're in Orlando, this will give me the perfect opportunity to show off my abs," Jace bragged.
"I doubt it's that warm at this time of the year," Alec explained, "It's still considerably hotter than other places, but still."
"You can tell that to Jace, but God help the person who made whatever Magnus is probably wearing right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to show off a little more than abs right now." Isabelle joked.
Poor Alec was so red he looked beyond sun burned.
A few minutes later, off they went into the world.
Alec POV
Alec wanted to go back to New York right now.
He didn't like the hot weather in Orlando, didn't like the way his shirt was already sticking to his skin like a glove. They'd walked past several crowd filled streets already, and he could feel the stares of girls, and a guy or two, as they made their way through the city
There were plenty of people out and about on the streets, and he wasn't exactly sure, but he thought they were in the middle of January.
Clary was right, there were plenty of people to be able to hide amongst here. Teenagers and adults packed streets with people in window shops, in outdoor restaurants, emptying out of malls, you name it. So the seven of them walking down the sidewalk, chatting, laughing, as if they didn't have a care in the world, went mostly unnoticed.
Mostly.
They attracted attention, and Alec honestly couldn't see why. Well, maybe Jace and Isabelle were something worth looking at, they practically ate the attention up as people sometimes stared at them as they walked past. Jordan, Maia, Simon, Clary and he were a bit more modest, ignoring people's looks as they passed by.
At one point, a boy even ran up to Clary from behind, holding up a piece of white paper to her, telling her she'd dropped it.
"Wait, this isn't min—"she barely managed to get the words out before he had ran off again.
She'd been walking behind everyone, almost alongside Alec, so no one else had noticed except for him.
"What is it anyway?" he found himself asking.
She unfolded the paper, raised both eyebrows and threw the paper into a recycling bin as they walked past it. "His number." She answered as she looked completely bewildered and kept moving on.
Alec hadn't exactly liked Clary in the beginning, especially with the whole Jace thing, and even now, he felt like he should be holding a grudge against her for banging his head unconscious in Greece. But he wasn't. In a way he marveled at Clary. For such a small girl, she radiated strength and courage, and even Alec, who was gay, could see her for what Jace and that guy who shamelessly gave her his phone number saw: a beautiful girl.
In a way, she was just like Isabelle, strong, fierce, brave, but the difference was that Clary wasn't as aware of it as Izzy was.
So now, he found that even if he tried, he'd never be able to be mad at her, and the fact that he was then was almost ridiculous now. And he's tried to be mad at her, the idea that she wanted to bring back her brother when that monster killed his brother was ludicrous in his mind. His little brother was dead, so why should hers come back? He couldn't accept that he was no longer the murderer he knew he was, but then again, Alec never believes things until he sees them for himself. He never really believed he was gay until he saw himself have feelings for his own parabatai.
So despite how much he disagreed with her, he saw how good she would be for Jace, that is, if they were still going to be together.
Alec had seen his parabatai without her, and it tore at his nerves to see how unlike himself Jace could be. He was like a lost man, looking for where to go, but knowing where to go. It was almost pitying.
At the house, he could tell that Jace was still hurting, the way he always seemed to avoid Clary as if she would spit at him if he ever got close, and even though none of them ever noticed, Alec saw the sad look in Clary's eye whenever he would ignore her. As if Clary had just lost something and she knew she'd was never getting it back.
This morning though, was different. They were getting along as if the past three and half months had never happened, never existed, and he was really curious as to what went on with them.
But somehow, deep down inside, even though he would never, ever dare tell this to Jace, he just couldn't see them together anymore. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was his outsider's point of view, maybe it was his opinion, but he really felt that no matter what happened, they just wouldn't fit together the same way anymore.
Perhaps it was the look in Clary's eyes, the way it looked like she had grown out of her shell, out of her old ways, out of her old life, and she wasn't just about to go back. He hated himself for thinking this, but he couldn't help it. She may be Clary, but she wasn't the same anymore. She still had the same priorities, same stubbornness that made her want to help those he she felt needed it. The problem was, all of her stubbornness was focused on her brother, Sebastian, or as she now referred to him as, Chris. Chris was in the middle of them now, and even Alec could see that that would be too much for Jace.
Jace would kill him if he ever knew Alec thought this: Clary and he should just stay friends. He felt like they would be better in the sort of relationship that Clary and Simon now shared, and Alec really meant it. He was not being selfish and jealous, those days were long past, but he was being completely truthful. They could try it whatever way they wanted, but he felt that even Clary knew it. She could try to maintain as friendly as happy as she wanted, but when the time came to when Jace wanted to resume their previous relationship, he felt that she wouldn't be able to respond to him as she always had. She wouldn't feel the same.
He never knew when he came such a psychic that he now knew how his friends felt about their relationships, but he just knew.
But he would never say that truth. He'd rather bury it deep within himself and never take it out to light.
"Hey look! There's Magnus!" Jordan called him back into his senses, reacting to the word 'Magnus' the same way a dog reacts to the word 'outside.'
They had walked around to a less crowded street, one filled with three apartment buildings and the occasional person walking down the street. Magnus was leaning against the trunk of a tree that was planted on front of the house, just before the sidewalk met the street. He was wearing rolled up jeans that hit him below the knee, with a plaid shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing a skin tight camisole.
Alec felt his steps get lighter and bouncier without him making them do so. It was amazing how even though you spend about three months with a person, barely a couple of days without them felt like an eternity. The warlock saw them, but before he reacted to their presence he glanced around the street, scanning it for anyone who was watching, he guessed, but what real need did Magnus have to check around him? Perhaps he was being cautious, wary of not being seen by the Clave, which even though Alec agreed would be best to avoid them, it wasn't like Magnus to NOT want to be seen.
Either way, after he looked around, he spotted them, gave them a flashy grin, and then walked right into the house on their left. It was a simple two floor square house with egg yolk colored bricks, and what struck him was how un-Magnus it was. It looked too, ugly for his standards.
He didn't have enough time to pimp it up for his liking, Alec agreed with, ignoring the fact that Magnus was a warlock and didn't need time to simply flick wrist and paint an entire coliseum neon orange.
"When did he get this house?" Simon asked as they all walked down the short paved concrete path that led to the front door of the house, which was left ajar for them to enter.
"He's a warlock, Simon," Clary told him, her speech faster than usual. Was the possibility of getting Sebastian back exciting her? It probably was, because she wasn't really looking at Simon as they crossed over the threshold and into the house, "He can build you a rocket to the moon out of a plastic bag and a rubber chicken if he wanted to."
Once they were all inside, Alec noticed how bare the house was. Literally no furniture adorned the place, it was all empty walls and dusty floors. Was that rat droppings in the corner?
Did he just get here? This was so unlike him…
They walked through the main room, in what Alec guessed would have been a sitting room or a living room based off of its large size, into a narrow hallway that had doors leading off into what could be several bedrooms and a bathroom, into the kitchen, only the long counter running across the whole right wall distinguishing it as a kitchen. There wasn't even a stove or a refrigerator. However, there was a clock quietly ticking the time by above the sink.
Once everyone was in, they all spread across the room, and they heard footsteps coming from a staircase off on their right, and down came Magnus.
What he was doing upstairs, Alec had no clue, unless everything they needed to make the summons was up there and he was making sure they had it all or something.
"Ah, hello everyone," Magnus called out to them, "Fancy seeing my fellow fugitives here all together under one roof," his head turned towards Clary who was next to Simon by the sink and had been bouncing on her toes a second before, and Alec noticed her stiffen slightly and cease her movement, "Nice seeing you under control and not swinging a chain at everyone's heads this time." His tone wasn't exactly what Alec would call friendly. Magnus had never actually mentioned Clary after they left for Mexico, but he guessed the grudge was still there.
Clary cringed apologetically, "Yeah, listen Magnus I'm really sor—" but she didn't get to say her apology before Magnus snapped his fingers and a sound like a pot hitting a wooden drawer pierced the air.
Next thing anyone knew, Clary was sprawled across the floor, her arms protecting her head and a large cooking pot floating menacingly above her. Magnus had just made it appear out of who knows where and made it smack onto Clary's skull.
"Clary!" Simon dropped to his knees to see her.
Jordan almost lunged for Magnus but Isabelle and Jace held him back, though Jace looked like he only held him back so that he himself could get at Magnus first, while Maia spoke in a voice that sounded like a growl, "That was uncalled for!"
Alec moved right before Maia was about to throw herself at the warlock too, when Magnus snapped his fingers again, and Alec found that he couldn't move. His muscles had been frozen and all he could do was speak and look at where his eyes were looking.
"Magnus unfreeze us right now so that I can rip out your sparkly pair of—"Jace must have been muffled by another snap of Magnus's fingers because suddenly all he could hear from his parabatai was wrrrc vvrzz mnnmn as he struggled against the charm.
Magnus cleared his throat, "I apologize for my behavior, it's simply that if I didn't do that now it would have happened sooner or later."
"And you thought that now was the perfect of times?" Simon argued from somewhere on the ground, Alec was only able to look at the back of Maia's head as he had tried to stop her from maiming his boyfriend before Magnus froze them.
"I never said I was a man of timing," Magnus mused. "And besides, little red probably knew it coming."
Clary muttered something unintelligible as Alec heard her get back to her feet. "Oh my god," she groaned.
Magnus unfroze everyone then, and they all almost fell over in their positions. They would have gone right back to what they had been doing had Clary not muttered, "Hey, were you all always this fuzzy looking before?" she looked at Alec, her eyes cloudy and unfocused, "Hey, when did Ash Ketchum get here?"
Alec had no idea who Ash Ketchum was, but he didn't need to know to understand that Clary needed a timeout.
Simon grabbed Clary's elbow to keep her from falling over again. "Clary, where did you put your stele?" he asked gently.
"But I already caught my steel type Pokémon," Clary complained, "We need to catch the ghost type!"
Izzy helped Simon grab onto Clary's other elbow as the red headed girl, "Clary, we are here to catch the um, the ghost type, we're here to get your brother, remember?" Isabelle shot Magnus a dirty look, "What did you do to her?"
Magnus rolled his eyes, "Oh alright, the confusion was more for my entertainment. I'll fix her, but she'd keeping the lump on her head, that's what she gets for marring my face with a heavy chain."
Alec remembered Magnus whining about the scratch the chain had caused him, he'd cried about it for hours, yet it had only taken two seconds for Magnus to heal himself.
"Alright you little red head, playtimes over." Magnus placed his hands on both of Clary's temples, "You've been playing too much video games."
"But I need to help Ash Ketchum catch 'em all! There are over seven hundred as of now, and he only has like sixty eight of them, how is he possibly going to 'Catch 'em all when they keep making more stupid Pokemon!" Clary whined until Magnus's fingertips glowed bright blue, and suddenly Clary's eyes cleared.
Simon and Izzy let her go, stepping back as Magnus waved his hand in front of Clary's face.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" Magnus asked, waving his hand annoyingly under her nose.
Clary smacked it away. "You know, a simple 'I'm still mad at you' would have made things very clear!"
"But now we're even." Magnus grinned. "And since we are, welcome!" He slung his arm across her shoulders, and looked at Alec, "Alec! Darling, it's been much too long!"
"Magnus it's only been a few da—"Alec couldn't get the words out before Magnus bear hugged him, with Clary till under his arm, making the poor girl squished between them. Alec couldn't help it. He blushed from the contact with Magnus. Any contact with Magnus was enough to make him blush.
"Guys!" Maia interrupted their much too long hug, "I hate to be the one to disrupt this beautiful romance thing going on, but we've got things to do. You know, summoning people from hell and all that? Not exactly something to be taken lightly. Plus, I think Clary's suffered enough today. Seriously, is she breathing?"
"No!" Clary gasped as she broke her head out through under Alec's arms. "Someone help me!"
It took Simon and Jordan and Jace combined to pry Magnus off of him, which by then Alec was blushing profusely.
"Now," Clary spoke, looking a bit ruffled as she stood slightly behind Isabelle, "We need to get this done, you know, before the Clave pop in."
"Oh please," Magnus waved his arm casually, "You think I'm that stupid? I know how to conceal myself just fine."
There was a weird way that Magnus said that though, something that perhaps only Alec could make out. And when everyone had gone upstairs as Magnus gestured them to, Alec was the only one who saw Magnus quickly glance around the room again, towards the window that led outside. He didn't know why his boyfriend was acting so suspiciously, and Alec almost dismissed the thought, but Magnus stared a second too long at the clock above the sink.
He's just nervous about this as well… Alec naively persuaded himself as he went upstairs as well.
Upstairs was just as bare of furniture as the other part of the house, only the windows were covered with heavy curtains, causing the only source of light to come from the many candles that were all over the floor, reminding Alec very much of the time when they all helped Magnus to summon the demon Azazel. Salt and dried belladonna was in circle around the candles, a pentagram already drawn with all sorts of symbols around it.
"Alright, who's ready to summon a demon?" Magnus asked.
"He's only half demon," Clary said halfheartedly. It appeared she didn't find the idea of making Magnus angry again appealing.
"Isabelle, arrange those candles over there, there out of line." Magnus ordered his sister to do.
Izzy went to comply, but didn't move the candles much. They already looked pretty aligned to him.
"You, shaggy," Magnus pointed to Jordan when Jordan didn't know who he was talking about, "Don't look at me like that, I mean you. Take this bag of salt and some more around the circle."
He threw a bag of salt into Jordan's arms and Jordan commenced to poor more salt.
"Isn't that a little more salt than we used last time?" Alec asked. The setup already looked pretty much complete.
"God, I forget you guys have done this already." Maia said, looking a bit uncomfortable, "This feels so weird."
"Oh you get used to it after doing it about six thousand eight hundred thirty two times." Magnus waved his hand through the air, "Clary, here." She tossed Clary a rowan stick, "Fix those symbols over there." He gestured his hands towards an unspecific area on the pentagram.
"Um, which ones?" she asked him.
"You ask too many questions. Now you have to redo all of them." Magnus said in a stern voice.
Clary looked aghast at all the symbols on the ground, but made no further comment.
Jace asked Magnus, "Why don't you just wave your hand and fix everything by magic instead?"
"That would be a complete waste at the manual labor I have going on here."
Alec chuckled and went to stand by Magnus. "This setup does look a little different than before."
"Well, you can never be too careful, Alexander." Magnus explained, but Alec found the explanation to be rather plain. Too last minute for Magnus.
"But the last time we summoned a demon, it didn't require all this attention to detail. We're only summoning a half demon. And I think this one will be easier to summon."
"Alec in my defense my knowledge of this sort of thing is much wider than yours. I think I know what I'm doing." Magnus told him, looking behind him to make it look like he was adjusting the curtain, but Alec thought he caught him looking out through the crack to the window for a second.
He called him out on it, "Magnus why are you looking outside for?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Alec." Magnus's cat eyes wandered to the curtains.
"Magnus," Alec turned to thrust the curtain aside to look out the window, but Magnus turned him aside.
"Look Alec, the Daylighter doesn't want to light the candles."
"Magnus, let look out the window."
"Look, I think the boy is scared of the flames."
"Well vampires are vulnerable to flames, now move aside and let me look out the window."
"I don't think you should do that."
"Magnus get out of the—"Alec had moved the curtain aside, and for a brief second, all he saw was the Orlando neighborhood before him. But then in the corner of his eye, he saw several figures move. But before he could completely focus on them, Magnus pulled him away from the window.
"Alec maybe you should light the candles—"but Magnus's voice died away when he caught the look on Alec's eyes. Alec felt cold on the inside.
"Alec, what did you see?" The warlock's voice was gentle, wary, not sure how to speak to his boyfriend when he was like this.
"How long?" Alec's voice came out icier than he had intended, and Magnus's eyes widened at this side of him.
Magnus's eyes looked at him for a moment, searching Alec's face like he was trying to figure out which wire he should cut to disarm a bomb. "Since you sent me the text."
More ice filled his veins. His hands felt numb.
"Alec I—"
"Go."
"I—what?" Magnus looked confused at the sudden command.
"Go finish what we asked you to do Magnus." Alec fingered the blade that was in his jean pocket, his mind building a map of the house they were in. There was the front door, and he hadn't seen a back door when they were in the kitchen. One entrance. Unless they used the windows.
"Alec listen to me—"
"Guys Magnus says he's ready to start." Alec called out to the rest of them, walking away from the warlock before his coldness defrosted with the hurt look in Magnus's eyes.
Jordan piped up, "I'm not done with the salt!"
Magnus muttered something like, "It doesn't matter," and waved his hand. Blue sparks showed over the spot where the salt was, causing the lumpy looking circle to be perfect.
"Why didn't you do that in the beginning?" Jordan protested but Magnus had already whipped out a book out of nowhere and stood at a cardinal point, quickly telling three of them to do so as well. Clary, Simon, and Isabelle had to practically run to the circle, a perplexed look on their faces at the sudden rushed tone of the warlock, so that they could reach it before Magnus started reciting something for the summoning.
Alec meanwhile edged towards the stairs, peering down them, his heart beating against his chest with the same intensity of a jackhammer. How long did they have?
Jace stood nearby him, and noticing his parabatai's frantic look, Jace asked, "What's wrong?"
Alec only took two seconds to decide whether or not to tell him, "It's the Clave, they're right outside the house."
Jace's eyes widened so much the gold irises were engulfed by the white of his eyes, "That's impossible! How did they find us?!"
Alec hesitated, but he couldn't hide this. Not from his parabatai, "Magnus tipped them off."
The golden blonde boy's face contorted into a mass of anger, "Why that—"
Alec wrapped his hand around Jace's forearm before he could take a step towards Magnus.
"Leave it, there's no point," I'll deal with it, he left unsaid.
Jace nodded, in which Maia and Jordan had noticed something strange about their behavior, and came around to investigate.
Jace explained before they asked, "Our Shadowhunters friends are outside. Magnus told them we'd be here."
Maia stiffened. "We need to get out of here. Now."
"But how?" Jordan asked, "They're already outside by the sound of it, and there's only one way out."
"Clary can draw Portals," Jace suggested, but when Alec looked towards the salt circle, the flames from the candles had already gotten higher around the four of them. If Clary stepped out of it, they'd have to start all over.
The rest of them seemed to be thinking the same thing as Alec, for Maia said, "I'll take Clary's spot while she draws the Portal."
Jordan spoke, "I'll go downstairs to stop them from coming up here," and with that he disappeared down the stairs, Jace quickly following him down. As they opened the door to get to the kitchen, he heard the sound of glass shattering and door hinges being burst open. They were here.
Alec closed the door to the stairs, and managed to see Maia signal to Magnus to stop.
Immediately the flames died, and Magnus and Clary started speaking at the same time.
"Why did you stop?"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to stop a summoning once it's started?!"
Maia marched towards Clary, pulled her away by the elbow, took her spot and said, "My bad, I just wanted to really be part of the circle. Now hop to it and be quick about it. Your little friends are here." Maia added a nasty tone to the end of her sentence, and Magnus glanced at Alec quickly before restarting the chant.
Alec took Clary by the elbow, in which Clary demanded what was going on.
"Clave's here. We need you to open a Portal as near to the house as possible. Do you have a stele?" He said everything in such a rush it all came out in one breath.
Clary looked surprised but said nothing as she pulled a stele out of her jeans and commenced to draw on the wall in front of her.
"How'd they find us?" she asked as she started drawing the Portal.
"Magnus told them." He was really getting tired of hearing that, "Jace and Jordan are holding them back downstairs. I need to go join them."
He barely noticed Clary nod before he sprinted down the stairs to join the chaos going on in the empty house.
Chaos, chaos, chaos.
Lately they've been involved in a lot of chaos.
Even though it was hypocritical for a Shadowhunter to be thinking this, Alec wondered when their time in the light of this madness would end, and some other group of people could handle this instead. Another group of Shadowhunters or whoever it would be who could take care of the enemy instead of them.
Hopefully soon.
Clary POV
She was so tempted to keep looking over her shoulder to look at how the summoning was moving along, but she didn't dare move her eyes away from the Portal she was drawing. She may be good, but even Clary had to look at something to make sure she knew what was making.
Even so, she was worried.
Several times she's felt the floor beneath her boots shake as the fighting between Jace, Jordan and Alec against however many Shadowhunters the Clave sent raged on downstairs. She could feel her anger at Magnus, they were so close, so close she could almost feel it, as if it were a tangible substance. Could almost picture him coming out of the pentagram on the floor…
Stop it, she scolded herself as her stele almost went awry. She had to focus when she was drawing runes, feel the rune flow out of her hand like she was the one depositing its magic and not the stele.
Just as she readjusted her sweaty grip on her stele, a boom shook throughout the house, making the wall in front of her slightly tremor. What was that? Next thing she knew, Jace, Alec and Jordan came bounding up the stairs, their arms, faces, and clothes already riddled with cuts and bruises even though they'd only been down there for a few minutes.
"What happened?" Clary demanded without taking her eyes off the almost completed Portal, "What was that boom?"
"I set off a bomb," Jordan, whose left eye was swollen shut, answered, "And before you ask where I got it from, it was your cupboard. We were going out into the world and I figured we'd need something for a distraction or something. But I doubt it'll hold them off for long."
"You had the chance to get bombs and you only grabbed one!?" Clary demanded, ignoring the fact that the werewolf was carrying a bomb this whole way and had just set one off in a family neighborhood in Orlando.
"I'm not an idiot! I grabbed five." He pulled out the rest of them from out of his pockets.
"Then use them!" Clary finished the Portal and thought hard on the spot just five feet in front of the threshold of the house. They couldn't Portal directly into the house, so that would have to do. "The glamours should hide them from mundane eyes."
"I'll take them," Jace immediately offered, "Jordan almost blew up the side of the house with the last one," and with that he wrenched the door open again and jumped rather than step down the stairs.
The Portal was shimmering with the image of the blank house wall in front of her, the door only appearing when Clary was near. She inspected her work and finally let herself turn around to look at Magnus's progress. There was no difference whatsoever.
Alec seemed to notice too.
"It didn't take nearly this long when we summoned Azazel," he muttered, and then shouted, "Magnus! Hurry up! Finish the summoning!"
But instead of the candle flames getting wilder and crazier like Simon had once told her, they stopped. Just like someone had blown out a birthday candle. Izzy, Simon and Maia looked dizzy from having stood among the circle for so long without any release or progress, but they snapped to attention when they saw the Portal, immediately questioning its presence. Meanwhile, another shock went through the house. Jace set off another explosion.
Before Clary could explain though, Alec had approached Magnus and roughly asked him, "Why'd you stop?"
"Alec, listen to me, I only did this because I—"
"You summoned the Clave! The people who are holding a wanted poster over our heads! I thought you were more than just their warlock Magnus!"
Magnus looked hurt, but then that hurt was quickly erased by anger, "Of course I'm more than a mere slave to the Clave, I know that, but your friends seem to always forget that! Always summoning for me whenever they're in a crisis!"
"I don't see you denying helping us when we ask!" Alec argued. Clary felt like she was seeing something that she shouldn't be seeing, but at the same time she felt annoyed. Now was not the time for a couple's argument.
"You two, you can settle your relationship problems later—"Another bomb went off. They had two left.
"Oh no, they're going to be dealt with right now," Magnus steamed, "You want to know why I summoned the Clave? Because they contacted me as soon as you disappeared with Clary and your friends into that house of yours. They told me that if I didn't cooperate with them, they'd not only sentence Clary of treachery and give her worse a fate than Sebastian's, but they'd accuse all of you of them same. They said that if I didn't help them slightly, by calling you guys and letting them hear in on the other side to hear your plans, that they'd chase after me by sending the Silent Brothers after me, and I may be all powerful Alexander, but even the Silent Brothers possess powers that I have no knowledge of. So there, that's why I helped them, that's why I betrayed you, because I love yo—"
Alec punched Magnus in the jaw just as another explosion rocked the house walls. And while the fact that the warlock had just been punched shocked her, they only had one more bomb now, meaning they had to leave. Now.
Magnus grasped his jaw, and Alec stared at the warlock with eyes.
"Sorry, my anger had pent up and I really didn't expect you to say what you were going to," Alec stumbled on his words, "But that still wasn't necessary. That was a coward's move, Magnus."
Magnus stood and rubbed his jaw, which was now slightly purple. Clary's own head still throbbed a bit, so she felt no sympathy for the guy.
"Guys this is touching and all," Izzy spoke, her hand clutched firmly in Simon's hand, "But unless I heard wrong, the Clave is after us and there's a perfectly good Portal right over there."
"You guys go," Clary told them, "I made it, so I should be the last to go in, as long as you're within five feet of the house you're protected by its magical borders.
"Clary you can't possibly think we'll leave without—"Simon started to say but then the last explosion racked the house, she honestly didn't know how the place hadn't collapsed already, the walls were already riddled with cracks in the plaster.
Jace and Jordan came up again, shouting, "We should really leave, like right now. There a lot of them and I don't think they were happy when I set off a bomb right under the legs!"
"Jordan! Your eye!" Maia screeched as he came near.
"Into the Portal with all of you!" Clary ordered as everyone started jumping into the glowing image on the wall.
She turned away from where she saw Maia help Jordan get into to Portal to look at Magnus, who was still standing next to Alec.
"Magnus, come with us, you can finish the summoning at the house. Plus they won't find us there," she offered him, looking at the look on Alec's face.
The warlock shook his head, "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think I can. Besides, I think I'll stay here and teach these Shadowhunters what it means to mess with a warlock," he looked to Alec for a second, "I'm not a coward after all."
Alec blanched, "Magnus I—"
Magnus shook his head, "You don't have to explain dear. I know, besides, I work much better from the outside, I'm still with you." He grabbed Alec's chin, and Clary gave them some privacy by closing her eyes for three seconds, but that's all she gave them.
"Alec! Clary!" Jace shouted from the Portal, "Let's go!"
"Magnus?" she asked, but he didn't hear her.
Clary could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and she and Alec ran towards the Portal as Jace had already jumped into it.
Letting Alec go first, Clary was just about to brace herself before she turned at the last second, already picturing the Clave bursting through the door, but she had to know.
"Magnus! Why didn't you finish summoning Chris?"
Magnus was already positioned in front of the door, his hands emitting a dangerous glow of blue sparks. He didn't turn to look at her.
"Usually, summoning a demon only takes as long as it does to call their name. And I tried over and over again, but there was no response."
"What does that mean?" her heart was pounding like a stallion. They Clave would be just behind that door now.
Magnus glanced to look at her with an emotion she couldn't read.
"It either means that the demon is dead or no longer in hell."
At that second, the door had flung open, and Magnus had barely managed to yell, "Go!" before Clary had dived head first into the Portal, his words banging around her head like a gong. Her heart pounding like it was ready to burst through her chest and stop.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Clary feels numb again. She was very much in the same state as those first hours right after Chris had been set to hell.
It either means that the demon is dead or no longer in hell
The words ran through her mind like a mantra, as she hung onto the latter portion of the sentence tightly. Shortly after she'd jumped through the Portal, her mind so shocked she hadn't even felt the usual scramble of her body that usually comes with this sort of traveling, she barely registered opening the door for everyone, and walking into her room, ignoring the looks and questions coming from everyone, as she took the little mirror that she discovered so long ago which would tell her where the house was.
The mirror was slightly bigger than her whole hand, and when she retrieved from under her bed, she brought it to her face and for a second she saw her reflection, small, pale, freckles, green eyes and red haired as always, until she saw the house from a bird's eye view, little yellow letters spelling out at the top of the mirror:
Orlando, Florida.
"I don't want to be here anymore though," she grumbled, never able to understand how Chris could make the house hurry up its process in changing its location in the world. She shook the mirror frantically, as if she could scramble the contents of the mirror so that some other image could pop up, and to her surprise, the image on the mirror did scatter, until Clary could no longer see the house in a flurry of dancing dots.
Then the image came back, and she saw the house again, from a bird's eye view, but the yellow letters spelled out…
No, no that can't be right.
The mirror still in her hand, she zoomed out of her room, her mind full of cacophonous thoughts.
We can't really be here, no the mirror is lying, I can prove it…
All she had to do was open the door and see for herself. No biggie.
She walked down the stairs and across the room to see everyone where she left them. They were all acting frenetically, their brains still buzzing from the near capture.
Clary felt herself buzzing on the inside too. Like that feeling when you can feel your foot start to fall asleep.
"Clary what are you doing?" Izzy called out to her, but Clary either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. "What's that in your hand?"
Leaving the mirror on the couch as she went, she to put her hand on the wall.
Isabelle had already picked up the small mirror and was suddenly making sense of everything. Everyone else had surrounded it too.
"Clary where are you going?" Simon asked her, wearily.
"I just need to check something," she muttered, placing he hand on the wall and waiting as the door reappeared.
"Wait does this thing show where we are right now?" Alec demanded.
Clary made an incomprehensible noise that confirmed Alec's question as she opened the door.
Alec and Isabelle sounded frantic, "Clary you can't go out there! They're waiting for you, this is the most dangerous place you could possibly be in!"
"I need to make sure!" she growled as the door flung open, her eyes settling on what was before her, and the buzzing in her mind faded into an engulfing silence. She felt empty without it.
Without realizing what she was doing nor what the others were saying, Clary took a step past the threshold. And then another, and another.
Her old apartment stared her right in the face from across the street where she stood. Her original home, where she returned to find her house in shreds and her mother missing. Where she discovered her neighbor the weird physic voodoo lady was in possession of the mortal cup. Where all of her adventures began.
She was back.
She was back in New York.
The familiarity of it all almost made her black out. This is where she grew up, where she lived. She walked that sidewalk every day to get to school, she opened that door every day with her key. She sat on that fire hydrant all the time while she waited for Simon to show up in Eric's van, or Luke to show up in his truck.
It was all here.
Just as she left it.
The For Sale sign on the window was crooked, and she didn't like that. Somebody needed to buy it. Somebody else needed to know what a great home this is, they need to.
She walked another few steps, intending on fixing the sign, she only wanted to fix the sign, make it more noticeable, her ears not even listening to the warnings of everyone behind her.
What are they so worried about anyway?
Clary made a stupid mistake by not listening to them. She didn't even see the large group of forty or so Shadowhunters until one of them punched her in the gut.
She fought, she really did. She had flicked on her Sebastian switch and everything. She distantly remembered seeing the rest of the gang running out to save her, to help her, but they were no use.
She too, must've been too shaken, too unlike herself to have won. Because she could have won the fight, should have won it. But she couldn't. She couldn't hurt all these people in front of her old home.
In front of the only place that proved who she used to be.
It doesn't matter anymore anyway, she thought, as hands and faces, faces that she knew and didn't know, her friend's faces, her enemies faces, it didn't matter anymore, engulfed her vision, Chris is gone, gone, gone, and I don't know where he is…
There was nothing she could do now.
And she was tired, oh so tired.
She felt something sharp cut across her right shoulder from her collar bone to the upper arm. Hot blood poured down it and it was hard to move it.
Can I just stop?
The hands and faces surrounding her was the only thing she saw, only thing she could see. Her body felt tired, everything felt so pointless.
She felt like she could just give up on life itself. Could a person die by simply giving up on everything, by submitting themselves to this numbing, detachment?
A strike had landed on her breastbone, and she faintly remembered seeing the Shadowhunter in front of her smash the butt of a blade into it, knocking the wind out of her, tripping her off balance, and down she fell, backwards, onto her back, but she felt like she was falling in slow motion. Her vision slowly tilted upwards, letting herself see the outline of her old home one last time before all she could see was the bright blue sky.
Before her head hit the cement ground though, she heard a shout. No, a battle cry. It vaguely echoed through her mind, like a birdcall that she recognized but hadn't heard in a long time.
Who had shouted?
Someone had jumped over her falling form, and they had moved very quickly, for even as she fell, they moved in a blur of motion and managed to attack the people in front of her before they surrounded her.
Clary felt her head crack, like when you drop your phone and a small crack appears on the edge, as her skull smacked down onto the pavement.
Don't black out, don't black out yet…
She held on strong enough to see a blurred image zoom straight into a crowd of Shadowhunters.
She couldn't see much more than that. Just an image of someone moving extremely quickly. And yelling.
And white blonde.
Then all she saw was black nothingness.
Chris: You've got to be frickin kidding me. Really? Really?
Clary: this is not funny Lacie! Stop laughing at us and your readers! They're gonna be pissed that you left it off at that!
Chris: And I'm very confused on this sudden turn of events!
Chris & Clary: Lacie!
Lacie: *can't stop laughing as she doubles over and gasps for air* I'm sorry, *laughs between words* you guys look so funny when you team up against me like that now!
Chris: Well what do you think you're doing!
Lacie: I'm doing what I always do, writing a story!
Clary: No you're not! You're messing with the hearts and minds of readers everywhere!
Lacie: That's what a story does Clary!
Clary: Well they shouldn't D;
Chris: I hate to agree with Lacie, but she's right. Stories need ups and downs or else they won't be interesting. I mean, who wants to read stories that just have happiness throughout the whole thing?
Lacie: Sadly we humans are messed up creatures who like to read about tragedies and messed up worlds with messed up people with equally messed up lives and difficult situations. Man, we suck.
Clary: You suck for adding to the list of stories!
Lacie: I'm sorry okay! I just finished reading Allegiant like three hours ago, and MAMA'S NOT HAPPY IM NOT HAPPY AT ALL WHAT THE HECK NO
Chris: what happened?
Lacie: I can't tell you! I'll spoil it for everyone else. But even if I do say it, I doubt anyone will believe me. I wouldn't have believed them if they had told me.
Clary: Okay what about OUR story
Lacie: Ugh details about what the heck just happened will come next chapter
Chris: Why can't you explain it now?
Lacie: Because I'm the author and I say so :P
Clary: You're a barking piece of clart, you know that right?
Lacie: *sigh* clary get a book check. And yeah, I know I am
Clary: Alec punched Magnus! But then again Magnus dropped a pot on me wittle head so ahahahah *spins wildly in her chair*
Lacie: Oh gosh I'm so tired right now you guys, this ending makes no sense, im just, ugh. Sleepy. Night night. Sleep tight. Check under your beds for demons that bite.
Clary: She means you Chris
Chris: I've only hidden there once
Clary: wait what
Lacie: see you soon! I think, oh whatever