Hey guys. First of all I would like to say thanks to all the review, follows and favorites I've gotten, they've really encouraged me to continue the story :D You guys are all seriously awesome!

-TheartofMOAR

3. Diving into the Abyss

Tavvy was tearing up as Diana and Arthur stepped through the portal. The Warlock who portaled them was green skinned with small horns and spiky white hair. He grumbled at the amount he was paid but left without giving a name. Julien and the other Blackthorns watched beside her as the portal snapped shut. Jaime was with Christina and Silas was nowhere to be seen. Emma couldn't blame him for not coming; he had only known the people for less than a day.

A-R-E-Y-O-U-O-K-A-Y-? She traced onto Jules bicep. He grinned at her, the kind that made her stomach squirm. Behind him the sun was just starting to rise over the institute and colour his brown hair golden.

W-E-C-A-N-P-A-R-T-Y, he traced onto her shoulder blade. She had to fight back rolling her eyes and instead punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" He yelped. She started to walk down the beach back to the institute with the other Blackthorn siblings. Ty and Livvy were hunched closely together, Livvy nodded occasionally as he talked. She looked back at Emma and smiled, he long brown hair unbrushed from being woken up early to see Arthur and Diana off.

Dru was running along the beach with Tavvy laughing behind her. He slapped her hand and shouted "Tag!"

Emma had always liked the way the sand felt in between her toes especially on early mornings before the sand had become scolding hot and burnt her feet. Already beach-goers were setting up their umbrellas and putting towels over their deckchairs, ready to sunbathe.

A blue winged Ifrit with purple scales lay on the beach passed out. He was dressed in trousers with suspenders and no shirt. She could smell the alcohol on him as they passed. He moaned and rolled into the shade of a nearby umbrella, putting a pair of rainbow sunglasses on.

"What do you think? Warlock nightclub?" Julien asked. His skin was warm to the touch when he bumped her shoulder.

"Probably." Emma said "Either that or he got some moonshine from the werewolves at bitter creek."

Julien snorted. "Please, they don't sell moonshine, do they?"

Emma laughed. Julien wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked up the stairs to the institute. The double doors were made out of a dark wood and engraved with a pattern of crashing waves. They opened easily to Emma's familiar touch.

"I'm starving." Jules rubbed his stomach. Ty pushed past them and ran up the stairs to his room. Emma could hear a slammed door. Livvy looked at where Ty once was and sighed.

"He's working on something important apparently." She pointed upwards to the stairs. "I think I might head to the weapons room. Dru, you want to come?"

Dru looked up at her absentmindedly. Tavvy was in her arms once again. There were times when she thought that Drusilla and Tavvy were as inseparable as Ty and Livvy. "I don't know…"

"Jaime will be there." Livvy said. Dru straightened and started walking up the stairs in haste with Tavvy. She looked back at Livvy impatiently who was leaning on the wooden bannister.

"Aren't you coming?" She said restlessly. "Weapon training is an important part of Shadowhunter tradition especially when you have a hot tutor." Livvy smiled at her and rolled her eyes.

"Boys." She mumbled thoughtfully and followed Dru upstairs.

"Were you like that when you were twelve?" Julien asked. He then waved his hand in front of his ears. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

Emma saw an opportunity to annoy. "Are you sure because I used to have the biggest crush on-" Jules put his finger on her lips and shook his head.

"No."

"You're no fun."

"I'm plenty of fun, it's just your fun has a way of taking a sharp left into violence and gratuitous amounts of bloodshed. Sometimes I'd just like to go to the beach with you without having to worry that the world is going to end."

"We could go for a picnic?" It was out of Emma's mouth before she had realised. She scolded herself. Jules is my Parabatai. Jules is my Parabatai.

They walked through the institute into the kitchen. It was painted sea green with splatters of blue and red all over the walls. The wall mounted TV was on the news channel blaring something about tide a stool was Silas hunched over the white marble counter. Oscar the cat was licking the milk from his cereal bowl.

He's asleep she realised. His chest rose and fell shallowly like an animal on the brink of death.

"Oscar!" Jules shouted. Oscar looked up at Jules and narrowed his yellow eyes. He went back to drinking the milk from Silas's cereal. Emma strode over to Silas and shook his shoulder hard.

"Get up." She said. Silas opened his sickly yellow-green eyes sleepily and looked curiously at the cat that was eating his breakfast. A lock of his dirty blonde hair was covered in milk. He tried to pet the cat but Oscar hissed at him and Emma and Silas backed away.

"Did you not sleep well or something?" She asked. Silas rubbed his eyes and looked between her Julien. Emma was painfully aware of how close Jules was standing to her. Silas had his hands jammed into the pockets of his shadow hunter gear.

"Or something." he said softly. "So are they gone?" He asked. He hunched himself over as if he were trying to make himself less noticeable.

Emma felt Julien tense next to her. It was strange being Parabatai. She sometimes felt as if every movement Jules made was somehow sharpened, magnified, she could feel the way he moved when he wasn't close.

"I should go." He mumbled when Jules didn't give him an answer.

Julien pointed towards the door. "Go to the weapons room, third floor. We'll meet you there." Julien looked Silas up and down. Like Emma and Jules, he was covered in runes for strength and sight. Silas hastily moved out of the room.

When he was gone Jules moved closer to Emma so much so she could feel his breath. "There's something about him I don't like." He whispered. Gooseflesh covered Emma's neck when he talked. She deliberately straightened her posture.

"We'll watch him Jules. He's probably just shy, he's in a place he's never been before. I wouldn't blame him for not being talkative."

"Still..." Julien looked Emma into the eyes. His were like sapphires, a perfect mixture of green and blue. Rings of blue surrounded his iris and-

"Em, Jules." Christina glided into the room. She was dressed in her Shadowhunter gear. Her medallion hung loosely around her neck. Her hair was braided, the red streak in her black hair intertwined with the braid like a red river cutting through dark rock.

Christina looked curiously at her and Jules. Self-consciously she took a step back and leaned on the kitchen counter. She could here Beethoven's fifth echo into kitchen from Ty's room upstairs. Christina picked up a shiny green apple from the fruit bowl and took a bite.

She swallowed and looked over at Emma who had her hands in her pockets. "Jaime's got a job for us. A demon to slay and you won't want to miss this. It's a big one."

Emma watched as the midday sun rose over the aquarium. It was a small low slunk building with a flat roof and two pillars around a set of locked double doors. The front windows were tinted green with peeling pictures of cartoon fish that smiled creepily. She could smell the putrid stink of rotting fish from inside.

She looked over at the others. They were all applying their runes on their arms and legs. She looked down at her own stele. It was given to her by Jace Herondale. It was simple in design yet elegant with stars etched into the Adamas. Julien still held his stele like a paintbrush. His was green with a crown of silver thorns which decorated both ends.

Christina stood by Emma looking at the abandoned aquarium. A shadow passed over her face, Emma looked up but whatever was there was gone. It was probably a bird she thought.

Christina looked at Emma and smiled. In her hands was a surujin, it was a long thin chain with a knife on the end. It was used to tangle and then kill. She had seen Christina use it before, she had a deadly accuracy.

"Would it be so bad if for once a demon hid somewhere other than an abandoned warehouse?" She asked.

"Technically, it's an aquarium not a warehouse." Jules interrupted. He was holding a crossbow with a quiver of arrows slung around his back. "So you know there's a difference. Besides it's an aquarium, the worst we'll see is a couple of dead fish."

"Maybe we could check an ice cream shop for a demon." Silas said, the flicker of a smile on his lips. He rested his woodcutters axe on his shoulder.

They all looked at him. He shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone enjoys ice cream."

Emma took Cortana out of its sheath and cut the lock off the double doors. She pushed the doors open cautiously. The smell of fish caught her first, she had to hold back gagging. They were in a large square room, rows and rows of fish tanks lined the room casting it in an unearthly blue glow. The fish had all died and floated to the top, only a few remained. The carnivores Emma realised. They had survived by eating the others.

"Alright let's split up. Everyone take a row and we'll meet at the end of the room." She said. "We can flank whatever demon lives here and take it out." The others nodded. Julien loaded up his crossbow pulling the lever back and then forward with a clunk. The arrow rested on the end, pointed and ready to kill.

B-E-C-A-R-E-F-U-L. Jules traced down her wrist and onto her hand. She nodded.

They all walked down a corridor until they were in a long straight line, each with a different row to patrol. Christina, Silas, Julien, Emma. Emma made the forward motion and proceeded down her isle. The floor was wet and Emma was glad for one she had remembered to put a surefooted rune on her boots. The surviving fish swan around her in their tanks limply.

She looked ahead in one tank. Fish swam around, buzzing and full of energy. Emma had seen this before. A documentary had once called it a feeding frenzy. She tiptoed closer; they were eating a large pink object. No it wasn't pink. It was red hair. Emma pressed her nose the tank. A mans mutilated face bobbled up, barely recognisable. He was wearing a robe over the bright orange uniform of the aquarium.

I'M MARC, YOUR FISH LOOK LIKE THEY COD DO BETTER! ASK ME ANYTHING. His badge floated around the dirty fish tank, the occasional fish brushing past it.

Emma didn't know whether she should me more scared of the horrible pun or the body floating in the tank.

On the ground was a pentagram and a lot of candles. A thick black book was covered in blood and water. He must have been a mundane who tried his hand at summoning demons, Emma thought. The only problem was that he was good at it.

"Oni." She whispered. She remembered what Diana had taught her about Oni demons. They were Japanese in origin; they lacked teeth so they had to wait for their food to decompose before they could eat it. When the Mundane summoned them they must have decided he was their first meal. She looked at the tank again. The body had bobbled away. Julien was on the other side, his figure a dark blur.

Emma heard a crash. Glass shattering and Silas yelling. Julien's dark figure pointed behind Emma.

"EMMA!" he shouted. Emma span round. Above her was an Oni. It wore a mixture of seaweed and human clothing. As if it had washed up on Long beach. But there was nothing human about its face. It was reptilian with green skin, a wide thin mouth and cracked horns that curled around its head.

It sprung on Emma. She dodged and slashed out with Cortana. The Oni clutched his arm, the fabric of his shirt cutting away and falling to the floor.

"Cortana." It hissed. Emma stopped and stared at the Oni. It smiled showing its blood splattered gums. It ran a spade like hand over its bald, slippery reptilian head. The Oni's eyes were slit and yellow like a lizard. She heard more shouting from the others. They had walked into an Oni's lair, she should have realised it the moment they walked into an aquarium. All Oni have to stay near a source of water or they shrivel up.

Emma hacked at the Oni but it only dodged and laughed. Emma felt her vision go red. Anger boiled inside her like a volcano on the verge of an eruption.

"I have tasted Cortana's steel before." It hissed. "Your father made sure we left but they are dead now and we must feed."

At the mention of her Father, Emma slashed in anger but was clumsy; her hand wasn't as tight as it should have been. The Oni knocked Cortana out of Emma's hands. She felt a hot burning in her arm where her Parabatai rune was. It was bleeding.

"Emma!" Jules called out. The Oni sprang on her pinning her to the ground. She could almost reach Cortana. It's thin hilt only a hands width away. The Oni flicked its long reptilian tongue over Emma's nose. It was cold and rough. She wiggled her hand free and punched its flat nose. Black blood splattered around her burning through her clothes and into her skin. She recoiled at the pain but refused to scream.

"Yes, little Shadowhunter, Fight. Fight until you can fight no longer and fall into the abyss. The Lady Midnight calls for you. She has an appointment to keep."

The demon smiled at her and descended. Cortana was in her reach. She grabbed the sword and hacked the demons arm off in one swift movement. She used the weight of the blade to propel herself upwards and taking the demon down until she was above him. She stood up and pressed Cortana to the Oni's throat.

Black blood fell in a trickle down his seaweed shirt. His green skin was shiny from the battle and blood.

"Mercy." He begged. "Mercy little Carstairs."

"You said you had tasted Cortana's steel before. Now you get more than a taste." She pushed the blade down slowly into the Oni's throat. It reached upwards and screamed before folding itself up and disappearing back to its home dimension.

Emma raced round the corner to find Julien. He fired a bolt into the head of the Oni he was fighting. It folded like paper leaving nothing but a small puddle. She felt a trickle of panic down her chest when she saw his arm was bleeding. Around him the fish tanks were smashed, shards of glass covering the ground.

Emma saw him before he saw her. She leaped into his arms, he tensed for a moment before hugging her back with such fierceness that Emma started to lose her breath.

"I thought I lost you. My Parabatai rune started bleeding and…" His voice started to choke up. "I will never leave your side in a fight ever again."

He smelled of lemon mixed with metal. "How about you never leave my side full stop." She replied. She felt Jules laugh.

D-O-N-E, He traced onto her back. For a moment there was nothing but her and Jules wrapped around each other. She didn't want to let go, he was warm and inviting and Jules.

"We could do with a little help over here!" She heard Christina shout. Regrettably she let go of Jules. They ran to the end Isle. Christina and Silas were back to back, fighting off two Oni. The shy awkward boy she had seen before had disappeared. He swung the axe with absolute confidence, spinning it around his hands then knocking the Oni off its feet, Christina span around him as if she had done it hundreds of times before and whipped her surujin out. The dagger on the end cutting into the forehead of the Oni.

It folded up and vanished.

Julien raised his crossbow and fired. The Other Oni clutched its throat, screamed and folded into four before disappearing leaving only a puddle of water. The arrow clattered to the floor.

"Thanks for the help." Said Silas dryly. "Where were the dynamic duo twenty seconds ago?" He bent over his axe and took deep breaths. A sheen of sweat covering his face. "We're fine, thanks for asking."

Christina bent down her braid was undone, her long hair tumbling down her head. Silas watched her mesmerised as she did it up again. When he saw Emma looking at him he looked to the ground timidly. Emma thought it was amazing how quickly he had gone to being confident back to shy the moment the battle was over.

"Maybe next time we don't split up in the aquarium of death." Christina said catching her breath. Jules laughed and Emma found herself laughing soon after. Even Silas was smiling. Emma put Cortana back into her sheath and stood up straighter.

The Lady Midnight calls for you.

I have tasted Cortana's steel before.

Vague connections fired in Emma's mind. The demon had known Emma's parents. Who was the Lady Midnight and what was the appointment she had and why did she call for Emma?

Emma looked at the others. Christina was applying healing runes to Jules and Silas, they both sighed in relief after she was done. Jules' arm had healed and was now pink instead of bleeding.

"We should tell Jaime the jobs done." Christina said. She was braiding her long hair again so the red swatch was visible. Her brown eyes shone like a beacon in the harsh blue light of the aquarium.

"No." Emma said. They all looked at her in various states of confusion. "We have to see someone first. I have some questions that need answering."

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