(( Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments universe, or any characters indigenous to it. Those all belong to their creator, Cassandra Clare. I do, however, own the plot line, the writing itself, and any original characters I insert into The Mortal Instruments universe. This was by far the most fun chapter to write. It's twice as long as previous chapters. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! If you like what you read, please review :D ! To my reviewers so far, thank you for your enthusiasm about this story and I hope I can hold your attention as it progresses! Enjoy. ^.^ ))
"We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly follow'd."
- Othello, ( I, i, 44 )
"We have to find a way back," Isabelle observed the two boys who stood across from each other, locked in unreadable expressions. Neither of them acknowledged her when she spoke. Jace had been acting extremely bizarre, Isabelle reflected, even before they traveled through the portrait. He had wanted them to keep their rescue mission a secret; she felt the frustration churning with her adrenaline.
"We have to find a way back," she repeated herself, louder. To her surprise, only Sebastian looked over.
"I was in the process of doing just that, when you two showed up. I have an idea, but you probably won't like it." Sebastian shrugged.
Isabelle was taciturn in response. Her eyes were surveying Jace for some inclination of what had been polluting his behavior. The rush of combat often distracted Izzy from any other emotion or stimulus during, but she was trained to reflect on every fight once it was over. 'Yeah, for maybe ten minutes'... Jace's voice rung in her ears. Without warning, she grabbed the front of Jace's shirt and pulled him away from Sebastian, until they were out of earshot.
Isabelle whispered harshly, "What is going on with you?"
Jace waggled his brows impishly. "I'm not my usual blistering, effervescent self?"
"You're deflecting. You're being the Jace I knew before Clary." She mollified her gaze, aware of Sebastian's curious eyes on them. Despite his peculiar behavior, she still believed it was in their best interest to neutralize Sebastian's knowledge into their inner workings.
No reply came. Isabelle pressed on, "We don't have time for this. We need to get Clary back."
This drew a tiny snort from Jace. "Isn't that always the state of things? No time? Need to save so-and-so? Demon-ichor everywhere, lots of hugging afterwards?"
"That's harsh, considering what we've been through for you." Isabelle leveled her voice to mask her true ire at his words. "You're being selfish. Save it for later."
With that, she turned and walked back over to Sebastian, leaving Jace with his lips ajar, an unspoken thought hinging on them even as they shut.
"Are you two done?" Sebastian's eyelashes had formed into long, curling clumps from the steady rainfall. Jace's had begun to do the same. Despite having no relation, Isabelle shivered at the brief, horrible thought of them as siblings. Clary is Sebastian's sibling, Izzy reminded herself. She hurriedly replied, "Yes. What's your idea? We don't have a lot of time."
"Time," Sebastian snorted, much reminiscent of Jace just moments earlier, "everyone is always so concerned with time."
"And you're not?" Jace, who had been gathering his scattered weapons, pocketed the last dagger as he spoke, flipping it into a holster.
Sebastian watched him, eerily still as he did so. "I have other concerns." He stepped away from them, reaching out to hold the railing with one hand. "The way out, from what I've gathered, is this way." Extending his arm, Sebastian gestured at the forest below them. Isabelle peered over the balcony, while Jace eyed Sebastian with suspicion. It was Jace who spoke first, his words catching a flurry of wind and rain. "Is it another Portal? Are we jumping, or climbing? Moreover, how do we know we can trust you?"
"I swore, didn't I?" Sebastian snapped. He seemed to be transforming into a more recognizable version of himself. In fact, it was not until that display of irritation that Jace realized he had never witnessed untethered patience from Sebastian. It always came with a price. For Sebastian to have sworn to cooperate with them in exchange for something meant that whatever he wanted in return was dangerous. For him to let Jace and Isabelle tussle without interruption meant something else entirely; Jace watched the silver haired boy silently as he tried to discern this last gesture.
Isabelle had been waiting for Jace to reply, but when he offered nothing except for a piercing stare she took it upon herself to address Sebastian. Her laconic reply made clear her teetering willingness to cooperate, with both Sebastian and Jace. "Answer."
Sebastian's mouth twisted into a caustic smile. It fit his features so well, highlighting the captivating quality that lived in every fierce muscle shifting along his jaw, weighing down his cheeks if only to reveal the cutting depth of their bones. Isabelle noticed then how little he had made eye contact with her. She tried to remember the color of his eyes, but was cut off by Sebastian's reply. "We jump." As though to prove his point, without missing the fact that it might make him more trustworthy, Sebastian hopped up onto the railing, balancing his slender frame by the soles of his feet. He rocked gently to counteract the wind.
Without thinking, Jace followed suit. The brevity of his movements suggested that he was preparing to spar, having turned to face Sebastian once he was standing on the railing, but he just watched the other boy wordlessly.
Isabelle pushed the hair out of her face, letting her ponytail fall between her shoulder blades, and shrugged. "Alright then. We jump." There was something uncouth in trusting someone who possessed evil in their blood, someone who was brought back from the brink of death by a Greater Demon, but Isabelle felt too distant from Jace at the moment to challenge the situation. Sebastian was currently their only link to Clary's whereabouts. Isabelle would save her doubts for later, when she could confront Sebastian without Jace around.
Sebastian took one last sweeping glance around the balcony, and sighed. "Bottoms up," he deadpanned, and let himself fall sideways. As he sailed downwards, Jace could not help but notice the boy crossing his arms over his chest, like a corpse lancing its way down from earth to hell. And then Sebastian was gone, vanishing from view as though he had only been a projection that short circuited. Jace took this as a signal to succeed the other boy's actions, and leapt off the railing, diving into the forest headfirst. Isabelle lingered until she saw Jace dematerialize in the same way, and then, putting one hand on the railing, she threw herself over feet first. As she plunged, Izzy felt her cheeks ripped apart by the rain fighting against her, and her ponytail dismembered by the wind. Just as she was certain the trees below would swallow her up, she felt herself getting sucked through a tunnel, and moments later she landed, still feet first, onto the cold stone floor of the Institute. She was exactly in the same place where they found the sketchpad.
"Took you long enough." Jace's voice drew her attention behind her. Turning, she saw Sebastian leaning lazily against the wall, and Jace twirling a small dagger across his knuckles.
"Is this your idea of helping us? How did returning here help us find Clary?" Isabelle's eyes turned a defiant shade.
"I didn't know we would end up at the Institute. I just knew we would end up wherever the last place was the Portal traveled to," Sebastian yawned as he spoke.
Jace interrupted them, appeased by this news. "Good, so she'll most likely be safe then."
"I wouldn't hold your breath." Sebastian pushed himself off the wall, lowering his gaze. "Unless Clary has an active death wish, or a working knowledge of Double-Port Portals, she'd have to have been pushed off the balcony, and anyone in the business of pushing people off balconies can't be invested in safety."
"When did you become so helpful? It's like you're nothing without me," Jace stepped into Sebastian's chest, causing the silver haired boy to stumble back.
"This is doing nothing for us," Isabelle announced loudly. She had been eying the dagger dancing along Jace's knuckles, and at that moment her hand shot out like a razor, grabbing the knife and tossing it in the air. Catching it with the swipe of her palm, Izzy slid the tip to meet her index finger. She tapped it impatiently. "What's next? Do we just look around the Institute? Seems a bit... underwhelming."
"Well, you two are supposed to be Lightwoods, and yet I seem to be the most capable Shadowhunter here, so don't count on the status quo. Disappointment is a theme around here." Pulling down on the front of his blazer, Sebastian curled his lips into the first smirk Isabelle had seen him wear since they had come across him on the balcony. Underneath the acidity, she detected the subtle aroma of fear. The more time they spent discussing, the more hostile he became.
"Are you running out of time or something?" She inquired.
Sebastian washed his face of any emotion. His lashes were still sodden, giving his eyes a soft quality that could have been mistaken for deep thought. Perhaps it was deep thought. Jace tailed her question with his own. "Do you have somewhere you need to be? You haven't been much help to us so far, perhaps we should just let you find the person you're looking for on your own."
Sebastian grimaced, "I see. You made me swear, but of course you did not. Now, you are not bound the same way I am."
"What do you know about being bound to something?" Jace found himself shouting, unaware until that exact moment how much fury he felt. "The only thing you know how to do is bind, you have no concept of what it's like to be bound." He was not shouting, but there was a sharpness in his voice that still filled the stone corridor.
"Jace? Isabelle?" Simon's voice caught all three of them off guard as it interrupted them. Isabelle was the first to spot him. He was running towards them, confusion marring his expression. "Is that-" As he neared, Simon stopped running to support himself against the wall with one hand. It seemed like the shock from the scene before him stayed his legs. "Is that Sebastian?" He echoed, voice cracking much to his chagrin.
"Yes, it's a long story. Clary is missing. He's helping us. We'll kill him later." Isabelle fired her replies. Sebastian rounded his gaze on her at the last thing she said, to which she replied with a smile and the quick flash of the dagger still clutched in her palm.
Simon let go of the wall, straightening. "She's not missing."
Jace sprung forward, seizing the front of Simon's shirt. "What do you know?" Simon, shocked by the rough handling, stuttered out an answer. "S-she's not, well, I mean, she is missing, but, b-but we know where she is! Sort of. I think. Can you please put me down?"
Jace reluctantly relaxed his fist, letting Simon wobble to his feet. He smoothed out the front of Simon's shirt, patting his chest three times. The last time produced a loud thud. "Explain yourself."
"Simon," a voice punctuated their conversation. It was Alec.
All four of them turned to face the blue-eyed boy. Alec repeated, "Simon, stop." Turning to Isabelle, he spoke. "Clary has been taken. We... we can get her back, but first we have to do a few things."
Jace tossed his hands in the air with a groan. "Oh, imagine that." Alec did not acknowledge him.
Having been watching her brother's face for some indication of his true meaning, Isabelle furrowed her brows as she noticed something curious about him. "Why is your face so flushed?" She raised a dubious brow.
"What?" Alec regarded her crossly. "It is not. It's hot in the Institute. I'm sensitive to high temperatures."
"Hah!" Jace grinned sardonically, "well then don't get near me."
Simon suddenly made a strangled noise. All eyes were on him. His eyes were on the spot behind Isabelle, where Sebastian had been standing when Simon had first spotted them all. Now, there was just empty air, crisp and lenient towards the wind from the small courtyard adjacent to them. As the wind licked at their faces, and terrifying realization crept through them, Alec broke the tension with a question that caused Jace to yelp and punch the stone wall.
"Was someone else with you?"