(( Disclaimer: Don't own The Mortal Instruments universe, or any characters that belong to it. Cassandra Clare owns all of that, as she is the creator and writer of The Mortal Instruments series. I do, however, own the plot line, the writing itself, and any original characters I have added to The Mortal Instruments universe. If you like what you read, please review! :D It makes me ever so happy! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It was so much fun to write. ^.^ ))

"Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here."
- The Tempest ( I, ii, pg. 10)

Sebastian was blurred by the rain. Jace felt himself propelling forward, and in an unbelievably surreal act, reaching out to grab the silver-haired boy's shoulder. Isabelle was at Jace's heels, whip still uncoiled and dangling from her fingers. To Jace's surprise, Sebastian did not resist being grabbed, and he even stumbled, crumpling ever so slightly as soon as Jace made contact with his shirt.

"Tell me what happened to you," Jace repeated his question, tasting the acidity of the rain on his lips as he held them parted in anticipation of the answer. For some reason, he felt as though it had to do with Clary.

"I don't have Clary," was all Sebastian replied with, his hair now dripping over his eyes. It was the most vulnerable Jace had ever seen him, and for a moment he had to remind himself that the demon blood running through Sebastian prohibited him from experiencing real emotion. "Like I said, I didn't even know she was here."

Isabelle suddenly reached out and slapped Sebastian with her weapon free hand, yelping as she did so. Jace instinctively grabbed Sebastian's elbows and spun the boy around, facing him towards the balcony, and pinched his arms together behind the middle of his back. Isabelle was in front of them, her face pulled into bubbling rage. "I'm not in the mood for word play, or riddles, or liars, or any more crap. Answer our questions."

For a moment she saw the flicker of fight kindle across Sebastian's face, but it seemed to have been yanked out of him with great force by a thought that crossed his brow, knitting it in what Isabelle would have otherwise interpreted as fear, but they were dealing with someone who was part demon. Surely, Isabelle assured herself, evil did not feel fear. Certainly not Jonathan Morgenstern.

Other than holding Sebastian, who had not been making any attempts at escaping, Jace had been silent. Isabelle made note of this as she breathlessly waited for Sebastian to speak, her eyes darting between the two boys. She almost asked why Jace was behaving as though his emotions were sedated, but her Shadowhunter training beat the impulse down. In a fight, there was only one focus; overthrow. Isabelle suddenly shot out her hand, grabbing Sebastian's throat. He did not struggle but his body did jerk, surprised by the attack.

"Isabelle!" Jace, much to her surprise, reached out to grab her wrist. "Let go of him," he said, face unreadable.

This was too much to ignore. Isabelle found herself shouting, "what is wrong with you? Why are you being so sedated about this? Clary is missing!"

"Yeah, for maybe ten minutes," Jace muttered.

Sebastian, who had been frozen in Isabelle's grip, finally began to writhe in place. It was a pathetic and slovenly movement on such a smooth, tall frame. Jace did not move to stop the boy, and Isabelle was so absorbed in shouting that she even let go of Sebastian in order to free a hand to slap Jace across the face with.

"What is your problem?" She nearly growled.

There was no answer. Sebastian, free now, was rubbing his neck and aiming his gaze down at the forest below them. Though the scene before him would have normally held great interest, it meant close to nothing now. He was not concerned with any of the Shadowhunters, neither was he with The Clave. Turning to Jace, who had been lingering in contemplative silence, Sebastian coughed to clear his throat and then spoke. "I don't know what's going on, here. I'm sure it's interesting. I don't care."

"You wanted to marry her now you don't even care about her?." Jace interjected, voice acerbic.

"That's not-", Sebastian began, but then he quickly clamped his mouth shut, glancing back down at the forest. It was another foreign movement on him, seeming to perverse the unspoken beauty of his proud figure. Jace was not unaware of these little changes in behavior, these minute aberrations of character unfolding before he and Isabelle. He stepped towards Sebastian, now close enough to see the shifting colors of the boy's eyes. "That's not what? Not true? Hell is a place for liars, don't be shy now."

"Your battle is not with me." Sebastian replied, his voice muddled with the unmistakeable defeat of sadness.

Jace grabbed the front of the boy's shirt, bringing their chins to touch, and he let out a laugh. It seemed to catch Sebastian off-guard, which Isabelle noticed only because it shocked her the same. "Where is Clary?"

"You know just moments ago you and your sister were arguing over your apparent lack of enthusiasm over finding my sister. Your girlfriend. Whatever." Sebastian's voice was steady through the gust of wind that momentarily overtook the balcony.

Laughing again, this time louder, Jace shot back, "You know nothing."

Isabelle frowned. "Actually, he is right about that. You were being really weird. In fact, you have been from the moment we found the sketchpad. You said something about-."

"Sketchpad?" Sebastian's interest seemed to have suddenly peaked its agenda. "Was it a Portal?"

"What?" Jace and Isabelle echoed simultaneously.

Sebastian sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose between his fingers, the first act since they'd come across him that reminded Jace of the old Sebastian, the one he spent months traveling Europe with. "Was there a drawing in the sketchpad that was also a Portal? Is that how you ended up here?" The last questioned seemed to inflate him with something strangely resembling hope, to Jace's observation.

Neither Isabelle nor Jace felt safe to answer. Sebastian detected this, and hesitantly added, "That's how I ended up here. I'm looking for someone, actually." He cut himself off, clearly prepared to say more but thinking better of it. Jace could not help himself but comment. "Wow, you really have changed. It's almost like you're not part demon anymore." Then, he added thoughtfully. "Who am I kidding? You're a terrible person, demon blood or not."

Isabelle had been considering Sebastian's question. Part of her wanted to answer him, perhaps even demand cooperation from him if they did. If the Portal Clary disappeared through resembled the Portal Sebastian used to get to the exact same location, that could not be a coincidence. She smacked Sebastian's shoulder, to get his attention. "What if it was? If we help you find this-this person, will you help us find Clary?"

Sebastian's eyes seemed to momentarily slip back into the cruelty Jace was so used to them reflecting. He grabbed Sebastian's shoulder. "Swear to it, you pitiless recreant."

But Sebastian did not flinch at the fist on his chest, or at the words that might have provoked him just a week before. Instead, he drank from silence while distributing his gaze between Jace and Isabelle. He seemed to disappear from his own face, as though the skin and bones and muscle that held the place of his face had grown tired, yet now even without a soul to animate them they could not give up. It was all an exhausted, hanging mess.

Jace felt a flare of curiosity over this person Sebastian sought. What could shake a demon into behaving human?

Before Jace could contemplate an answer, Sebastian parted his lips just enough to whisper, "I swear to it."