Hey guys! So I'm just gonna take a second here to say thanks! to all of you who have followed and favorited this story! And to those of you who reviewed! I really enjoy hearing your feedback so feel free to do so!
Anyway, here's another update. I'm trying to get them all posted so I can get to actually writing some new stuff. I should have through ch. 7 posted by tomorrow sometime, which is what I had previously posted before removing the story the first time. And then we'll be all caught up! Alright? Cool. To the chapter:
"So? What d'ya think?" Simon asked, posing dramatically, "Pretty good, huh?"
"Yeah, Fantastic," Magnus replied quickly, waving his hand dismissively, "Now get out of my way, Shadowhunter. I'm not here to see you."
Normally, Simon probably would have had a sarcastic remark in response to Magnus' blowing him off so quickly, but the warlock had called him Shadowhunter. It was probably supposed to be insulting, but he couldn't bring himself to see it that way, not yet. He just grinned. Impatient, Magnus pushed past him, in search of Alec, no doubt.
It was the morning after Simon's Ascension, and the Shadowhunters of New York, which now included him, were just arriving back. They had spent the night in Idris. Simon had stayed with Clary and her parents in the house that had once belonged to Amatis. That had been really the only thing that had been other than happy that day. The aura of sadness that still seemed to surround the little house had gotten to everyone, breaking through Simon's euphoria. It was strange how becoming a Shadowhunter had made him so much more sensitive to the loss the Nephilim had suffered just months earlier. It was making him appreciate how much of a family they all really were, albeit a dysfunctional one.
Simon turned around to look at the Portal through which he had just come, lost in thought. Jocelyn and Luke had gone through first, followed by Clary, then Jace, and then Simon had followed. The others were still coming through; Isabelle and Alec had appeared together. The latter had immediately separated from his sister and gone to greet Magnus who, along with being there to close the portal, had been waiting for him alone. Maryse would follow soon behind her children; the last to come through, as Robert would be staying in Idris again, a fact Isabelle wasn't particularly pleased with, though she seemed to be slowly coming to terms with her parents' separation.
A hand gripping his broke him from his staring. Isabelle stood next to him, eyeing his expression. "You okay?" she asked.
He smiled at her, "Never better." She smiled back. Since the Ascension, Izzy had seemed lighter somehow, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders; one Simon hadn't noticed she'd been carrying until after it was gone. He supposed he was going to have to work on his perception skills, now that the two of them were together on a more permanent basis.
"So, you remember your way around the Institute, newbie, or do you want an official tour?" Jace asked, coming up from behind Simon, Clary in tow. Simon glanced up at the huge Institute, its dark spires stretching up above it. Truthfully, he wanted nothing more than to head inside and begin training again, this time with the added benefits of actually being a Shadowhunter, but he had other commitments that were, unfortunately, a bit more important than his own enjoyment. He pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked it on to check the time.
"I would," he answered, "but I'm kinda supposed to be back from my 'school trip' by nine." He made air quotes with his fingers. "My mom's already suspicious enough with all the time I spend away from home. Probably better not push it."
Isabelle squeezed Simon's hand lightly and Clary gave him a sympathetic look. Even Jace seemed lacking in sarcastic comebacks for the moment, which was probably a first. They knew Simon's situation at home was complicated. It had been complicated for a while. Eventually, his mom would probably have to know the truth. Simon knew this, but he was chicken enough to hope it wouldn't come to that for a while. He needed to get used to the idea of being a Shadowhunter first, before he could even think of explaining it to anyone else.
"Do you want a ride, Simon?" Luke asked, having overheard, "We can drop you off."
"Yeah, sure," Simon answered, "That would be great."
"Meet us by the truck," Luke said to both Simon and Clary, who still stood by them.
Simon nodded and turned to face Isabelle again as Luke and Jocelyn walked away. "I'll call you," he promised. Izzy nodded. He was acutely aware of Jace and Clary walking away from them, maybe to give them some privacy, though he doubted it.
"Will I see you later?" Isabelle asked.
"I'll-yeah. Yeah, probably." He didn't want to answer too quickly, but he couldn't say no. He'd been putting off a lot of things that had used to be priorities to him, like his band, for instance, but those things just didn't seem to matter so much anymore. He supposed he would just have to learn how to balance everything, and soon. Of course, he wasn't undead anymore; that had to count for something. It would be slightly easier to blend in for the long run now that he was aging again.
"Okay," Isabelle replied. Simon pecked her lips quickly before letting her hand go.
"See you later." She nodded and offered a small smile as he turned and walked away to catch up to Clary, who was also heading to Luke's truck, parked around the side of the Institute.
The ride home was a normal one, almost too normal after the events of the past twenty-four hours. Clary and Simon spoke about Manga, naturally. It was one of their favorite mundane topics. She spent most of the ride explaining the synopsis of the latest edition of Naruto, which he hadn't had a chance to read yet. Jocelyn and Luke were absorbed in their own quiet conversation, paying them little attention.
When she was finished, Simon looked at her with a dubious expression. "I thought you were just as behind as I was. After you became a Shadowhunter, wasn't all your time spent training?"
Clary shrugged, suddenly somber, "Things calmed down after the war. I had six months without my best friend to occupy my free time… I caught up." She looked up, trying for a smile, "Remember last year when you said I never drew anymore except with a stele? That's not true anymore either."
Simon looked at her, his joking expression back, "And I'm sure most of the drawings are of Jace."
Clary shrugged, smirking. "Some of them. Most of them… are of you though." Clary watched the expression on her best friend's face. Since he'd come back, they didn't speak much of those six months after the war, easily the worst six months of her life. At first, she'd tried to rid herself of things that had reminded her of Simon, figuring that if he couldn't remember her, she might as well try to forget him too. She'd quickly given up. There was just too much that reminded her of him.
After that, she'd set to getting back into the things the two of them had used to love. She'd begun drawing again, though most of the time, regardless of what her original inspiration had been, she'd found herself sketching out the familiar outlines of the face of her best friend. Remembering him had, for a while, been a sort of coping mechanism for her; the only one she'd really had aside from Jace's comforting arms wrapping around her.
Simon opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed unable to produce the words. "Don't say anything, Simon. You don't have to," Clary told him, "You're here now. That's what matters." He just nodded and reached over to intertwine his fingers with hers- another friendly gesture of his she'd missed so much. She squeezed his hand back, glancing down at the eye-shaped Voyance rune on his hand. That was something she'd have to get used to: Simon with runes; Simon as a Shadowhunter.
"So," Simon spoke again as Luke turned into his familiar Brooklyn neighborhood, "Eric keeps calling me. He wants to get the band together. I'm thinking maybe I'll call him back and we can get together tomorrow afternoon. Wanna come?"
Clary smiled, "Don't you think that might be weird? This best friend of yours that they've never met, or at least they don't remember meeting?"
He shrugged, "They'll be meeting you now. Better late than-" Simon cut off abruptly, staring out the window with a look of horrified shock written across his face. Clary followed his gaze, shifting into Shadowhunter mode…
And stared.
They'd arrived at Simon's house, only it didn't look quite the same way it had when she'd last been to it-about three days ago to walk with him to the Institute. No, it looked the way it had looked over six months ago, before the war with Sebastian, before Asmodeus had made Simon human again and stolen his memories.
The door was covered in painted-on signs: Stars of David and other Jewish holy symbols. Luke had stopped the truck, barely out of the middle of the road. The four of them stared in horror-struck silence.
No one said anything, but Clary's mind was moving a mile a minute. She knew what was going on. She didn't want to believe it.
Asmodeus knew. He'd found out what they'd done, what Magnus had done. His own son's protection spells had kept him from getting to Simon; or maybe he'd just figured it out too late and Simon had already become a Shadowhunter. Either way, he couldn't get to Simon anymore.
They'd all thought that was enough, that once Simon was safe, that would be the end of it. Or they'd hoped, at least. They'd been wrong. So wrong.
Simon wasn't the only one whose memories the Prince of Hell had taken. He'd taken the memories from everyone who'd known Simon was a vampire. And now, Asmodeus had given all those memories back. Simon's mother hated him again.
Clary still held Simon's hand in hers, as he now sat frozen, gaping openly in shock, all the color gone from his face. She squeezed it tightly, wondering what on earth he was supposed to do now.
Dun dun dunnnn!
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