Hi all! Sorry again that it's been so long since I've updated!
This week, I've been experimenting with the kind of time that I have, and I've been trying to see if I can begin to schedule time to write or not. At the moment, I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to do so, but I am certainly going to try to start writing at least a little every night. What this means for the three stories that I currently have going is that I'm going to try my hardest to post a new chapter on at least one of them every weekend. BUT if/when that doesn't happen, please understand that my schedule is fluid and some weeks I have much more time than others.
Anyways...let me know what you think of this story so far! I'm really excited about this because this story is certainly going to be only the beginning for these kids. I've got a lot of plans for them, and I already love them with all my heart, so I cannot wait to share what I have in store for them!
Please, please let me know your thoughts! That would help tremendously in helping me get my motivation for writing back! Thanks tons for being so understanding and so loyal!
Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did! (PS Max and James are my babies and I'm a bit biased when it comes to them at the moment).
Max tried to calm his breathing as he forced himself to step through the Portal. Under normal circumstances, he would have been very proud of himself, but right now, all he could think about was how nervous he was. With his papa gone, Max had jumped at the chance to make the Portal by himself for the first time. But the only reason he'd been given the chance to make the Portal was because the Clave had "politely arrested" his papa, or so his dad had phrased it. So their only options had been to either wait for Catarina to come make the Portal or to let Max do it himself.
But none of that really mattered to Max as he stepped through to Idris. The only thing that really mattered was taking care of the situation at hand, but Max's chest tightened as he realized that he was almost powerless to help his papa. Max felt himself involuntarily relax when he felt James's hand on his shoulder. "This accusation is completely outrageous," James said, obviously trying to make it seem as though he was calm himself, but Max could sense just how tense James really was. Yet Max couldn't help but smile ever so slightly, knowing that James was trying his hardest to comfort him.
"I keep telling myself that," Max replied, glancing over at Rafael to try to gauge how his brother was feeling as well. "But I'm not exactly the one who needs to be convinced; that would be the Clave." Max didn't need to say what else he was thinking, that the Clave would be hard-pressed to believe that Magnus was innocent in the matter, that the Clave rarely let the Downworlders they had arrested go. Max shoved his thoughts aside as best as possible, following James into the Accords Hall. He couldn't keep from thinking that he certainly didn't know everything there was to know about his papa, but as soon as he saw Magnus, all of those doubts were swept away.
Max saw his papa in the center of the room, tied to a chair with a rope made of electrum, and suddenly Max felt his chest tighten once more. Max moved to the side as his dad rushed past him and to Magnus's side. The only thing Max knew to do was to take a seat. He knew that the last thing he could possibly bring himself to do would be to go talk to his papa. Plus, he'd already heard everything he needed to know from James, and letting his papa see just how nervous and upset he was would only be counterproductive for all of them.
Max relaxed into James's silence, terribly relieved that no one had come to sit with them. James was often the only one who seemed to understand him, the only one who knew when to remain silent or knew exactly what to say to help him. James had been his best friend for as long as Max could remember, and he'd often heard James say that if Max had been a Shadowhunter, they would have been parabatai in a heartbeat. And Max knew he would be the last person on earth to ever disagree with that statement. So Max was almost heartbreakingly relieved to have James by his side now, knowing that he could count on James when he really needed to.
Looking around the room, Max tried to suppress the anger that was slowly welling up within him. The meeting was meant to be a "routine questioning" since his papa was the primary witness, and that meant that the meeting was not meant to be public. But from the amount of people in the room, Max could tell that it certainly hadn't been kept quiet. Max also knew that Shadowhunters were never chained to their chairs when brought in for questioning. The Clave had made many concessions for Magnus over the years, and even Max was able to tell that a lot of the members were simply looking for a reason to stop making those concessions.
Max turned to give James a very subtle glance when he felt the other start shaking with laughter that he was clearly trying to repress. James tilted his head slightly to the side, and Max's eyes flicked to the pair of young boys sitting just a few seats down from them. "One is trying to convince the other that warlocks have x-ray vision, but the other is insisting that this is false and that he's entirely certain warlocks can read minds." Max couldn't help but laugh despite the fact that laughing was the last thing he wanted to do. The boys had quite obviously been raised in Idris since they seemed to know very little about Downworlders in general.
Smiling and laughing were two things that seemed absolutely impossible at the moment, but they were exactly what James helped him to do, and Max was willing to bet that James was the only person on Earth who would be able to. Yet Max still took a deep breath as the Clave officially convened to question his papa, knowing that there would be no going back from the decision that would be made in just a few short minutes. Max tried to keep from registering the conversation that was taking place, highly aware of the fact that if he overthought things that he would likely break down.
So instead, Max focused on those around him; he focused on the room and the people instead of what was being said, instead of what was happening to his papa. The first person his eyes landed on was naturally Rafael. He could very easily see just how nervous Rafe was as well, even though he knew that Rafe would look completely calm to most people. Yet Max automatically picked up on the fact that his brother was continuously turning the ring on his finger over and over again. It was a habit that Rafael had picked up long ago since he'd worn the Lightwood ring every day since he'd gotten it. Max knew that playing with the ring was wholly comforting to Rafael and that it was the only nervous habit he'd ever picked up, the only thing that had ever tarnished his perfect composure.
Max's eyes shifted to George next, thankful that his brother had someone by his side as well, also becoming thankful that their sister was not there, knowing that she would likely be unable to deal with the situation. George was visibly relaxed, but Max could tell by the way he was sitting that he was focused on Rafe and anything he might be able to do to help his parabatai. Max almost smiled when he realized that Uncle Jace was sitting the same exact way that George was, his focus on Alec and what he might be able to do for the situation at hand. Max felt a momentary twinge of pain and jealousy at the thought that he would never be able to share that sort of parabatai bond as well.
But then Max's focus shifted to James once more and he immediately felt that jealously go away. Realizing that James seemed to be just as focused on helping him as Uncle Jace was with his father or George was with Rafael helped Max automatically relax. He and James might not have a parabatai bond, but it didn't take much to realize that they might as well have one. It was that realization that allowed Max to actually focus on the conversation at hand, to focus on his parents and the Clave.
"So let me get this straight," Magnus was saying, his eyes fixed on the Clave members who had been interrogating him. "The Clave believes that I would work with Asmodeus on whatever absolutely ridiculous plan he's currently forming. But, as though the mere notion that I would work with him on anything at all wasn't absurd enough, the Clave believes that I would help Asmodeus to murder an innocent girl." Magnus paused for a moment and shook his head, almost as though he was amused by the thought of it all.
"For me, working with Asmodeus would be like Alec or any of the rest of the Lightwoods deciding that they would willingly conspire with Jonathan Morgenstern." This time, Magnus's pause was heavy, the accusation he was making all too evident. Max all but winced at what his father had just said. He knew very little about what Asmodeus had done in the past, but he did know enough to understand the weight of what his father was saying. "You should very easily be able to realize that I have not once called him 'my father.' That's because I've distanced myself from him at all costs; that's because he is not a father to me. And if the Clave cannot see how much I truly despise that demon, then nothing I ever say will convince you that I had nothing to do with this."
Max swallowed the lump in his throat and watched as they asked Magnus a few more clarifying questions. But when it came time for them to deliver their verdict, Max got up from his seat and immediately made his way into the hallway. He'd decided before it had ever begun that he wanted to hear the Clave's decision from his parents first. Max had somewhat expected that if anyone followed him out of the room that it would be James. But when he turned around to see that Rafael had followed him out, Max tried and failed to figure out exactly why his brother had done so.
Rafael simply moved to place a hand on Max's shoulder as they waited for everyone else to exit the room. Either their papa would be allowed to leave with the rest of the family or he wouldn't, but either way, they would know what the Clave had decided. When the door opened again, Max felt Rafael's hand tighten on his shoulder, but Max had already flung himself into his papa's arms before Rafael could so much as move. He didn't really know how they'd gotten themselves out of the situation, but at the moment, he wasn't going to question it.
Max woke up in a sweat, and he immediately realized that he wasn't alone. He tried to push away the thought of the nightmare he'd just had as he sat up, smiling weakly as he realized who was in his room. "I'm sorry if I woke you, Papa," he said, hoping that his nightmare hadn't caused him to be too loud. Max moved over to let Magnus sit down beside of him, throwing the sheets off of himself in the hopes that he might cool down a bit. Max finally felt his heart rate begin to steady, finally felt comfortable for the first time all night, finally felt as though he and everyone around him was safe.
"You didn't wake me, Max," Magnus said, keeping his voice low as though he didn't want to wake up anyone else. "I was passing your room and realized you were having a nightmare." There was a very long pause in which Max began to wonder what his papa was doing up in the middle of the night. "What's wrong, Max?" Magnus asked, his voice much gentler than it normally was. "You and I both know that you never have nightmares, not like this." Max hated to admit that his papa was right. Rafael was the one who always had nightmares, not him; and even when he had nightmares, they weren't the kind that usually made him wake up in a sweat.
Max momentarily considered lying to his papa, but he knew that Magnus was just as intuitive as Rafael, that his papa would very easily see through any lie Max tried to feed him. "Why did Jonathan Morgenstern kill Uncle Max?" he suddenly asked, his question only slightly relating to his nightmare. He felt his papa freeze ever so slightly, but Max wasn't surprised by that, knowing that his question was unexpected to say the least.
Magnus took a deep breath, as if the question was making him relive something that he certainly did not want to relive. "Personally, I've always believed that it was because he was threatened by Max. Max knew too much; he was so bright that he probably already assumed a lot about Jonathan that we didn't find out for another few days." Max couldn't help but look up at his papa in confusion when Magnus chuckled ever so slightly. "It's interesting that someone so powerful could ever feel threatened by a child. But what's this really about?" he finally asked, which was not at all surprising to Max.
"The nightmare," Max said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "I was just wondering if Jonathan did the things he did for the same reasons that Asmodeus does what he does. I can't help but wonder if it was really the demon blood that made Jonathan into what he was just like it does with Asmodeus." When Magnus moved to slip his arm around Max, Max understood that his papa was very easily picking up on exactly what he was implying. It made Max feel terribly vulnerable, but he also knew that his papa would be the one person to truly understand what he was feeling.
Magnus seemed to consider what had been said for several seconds, almost as though he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. "Demon blood doesn't make a person a demon anymore than angel blood makes someone an angel, Max. Who you are doesn't come from what you're born as; it comes from what you do with your life; it comes from who you decide to become. Where you're born and what you're born as only decides where you start your life. You're the one who decides where you end up." Max knew that what his papa was saying made sense, that it was completely and utterly logical. But that didn't help him in believing it.
"Asmodeus is a demon simply because that's what he is, because that's what nature dictates he be. I won't try to argue with you on that one," Magnus continued, and Max couldn't help but notice how Magnus's voice became almost bitter on his father's name. "But that's the difference between them and us, son. We have a choice every single minute of our lives. We absolutely always have a choice in what we do and who we become. Never lose sight of that, Max. No matter where life takes you, never forget that you always have a choice."
Max closed his eyes for several seconds, trying to absorb what his papa was saying, trying to refocus all of his energy on Magnus's words instead of the words continually running through his own mind. "Papa? What did Asmodeus do to you exactly?" Max finally asked, his voice weaker than he wanted it to be. As Max waited for his papa to answer the question, he felt himself slipping back into sleep, comforted by the presence of his papa.
He tried his hardest to keep his eyes open, but his papa seemed to notice the change in his demeanor, the relaxation that had overwhelmed him. "We'll talk about that later, son," Magnus said, slipping his arm out from around Max. "Get some rest, and don't you dare worry about me. We'll have plenty of time to figure this out later." Max tried to say "thank you," as he heard the door to his room close, but he wasn't quite sure that the words made it out of his mouth before the darkness of sleep consumed him once more.