Trapped in History

34

What did you need?" Gabriel whispered as they walked out of the sparring room. Gideon tried to shake himself from what he had seen earlier, but it was really difficult. The way the two had fought...it reminded him of something, but for whatever reason it was really difficult for him to put his finger on it. It niggled at the back of his mind, but it refused to come in more clearly. He sighed but decided to let it go. There was no point in continuing to fret about something he could not remember at the moment, and there was other things that needed to be discussed anyways.

"I wanted to ask if you recognize this rune?" Gideon pulled out the paper that Will had slammed down on the table before scoffing and giving attitude to him. "Will drew it, and I, as much as it hurts to admit, do not doubt his abilities. The fact remains we barely saw the rune in the first place, and as far as I am aware, the rune is not in the book of white. I said I would ask you, considering you have more knowledge on the book...do you recognize it?" Gabriel sighed, pulling the paper from his hands and studying it, brows furrowing slightly. His mouth twisted downwards in frustration, and a bit of concern. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he handed the paper back a bit roughly. Gideon gripped the edges and held it close to his chest. "Well?" He ventured, tilting his head slightly trying to assess what was making Gabriel so upset.

Gabriel was so much more...calm, when it came to the Lightwood brothers. Everybody knew about it too. To see Gabriel so upset, while Gideon was not...clearly the other had made some sort of connection that he did not make yet, and that made him rather nervous. Gabriel may not get angry often, but when he did it was not fun to be around. It just rarely ever happened, and he could not even remember the last time Gabriel had been angry in front of him. More often than not the elder twin would send him out of the room. He supposed that was clearly enough for anyone to grasp just how awful his brother could be when angry.

"I do not recognize it, though the fact that they went to a Downworlder means that it is likely of Downworlder origins." Gabriel's voice was dark, and misty. Gideon shuddered slightly. His slightly older brother saw it, and inhaled sharply, trying to force himself back down from his anger. It made him feel a little bit guilty. He had not meant to show Gabriel how discomforted that he felt. Then again, it was hard for him to hide anything from his brother. The other knew him far too well.

"How would a downworlder rune manifest itself on a Nephilim? Not to mention, Alec said that...that Jace said only to use it when necessary, and that his father used to use it on him." Gideon bit his lower lip as he now realized just how dark this had gotten. It had been dark already because of the fact that they were obviously fighters and too young to be that. Their sparring session had been absolutely brutal, and he was surprised Gabriel even offered to spar with them given how intense it had been. Not that he would not mind it, clearly they would be tested to the full extent of their capabilities.

"I am not really sure, but I sense some dark magic at play, and definitely one that the Clave would not approve of." Gideon muttered softly. Gabriel rolled his eyes at the statement.

"That much is obvious enough, especially since they went to a Downworlder to talk about the Rune. Alec clearly knew there was no way it was a regular rune. I would not doubt that he had scoured the Book of White too, as long as he was able to..though...I am not sure how that could have happened but you know just as well there are copies of just about every chapter scattered through the different institutes and libraries."

"You really think that Alec would do something like that? How would he even manage it?" Gabriel sighed and shook his head.

"It isn't about whether he has the connections to do it, there are always ways around these things. Alec, I give you, seems like a straight lance, but Jace seems to not give a wink if they break rules to get what needs to be gotten. As a result, I doubt Alec is as rule laced as he seems." Gideon nodded absently to his brothers words.

"You think a Nephilim experiemented with a demonic rune to somehow make sure they could use it on nephilim? That require immense experimentation." Gideon gasped out.

"I know, that is why I don't like to think what I am saying to be true. However, as I am sure you cannot refuse to admit, our father was meddling in demonic affairs as well...it is not too much of a shock to think that someone else is."

"True, but our father was only really experimenting on himself, what you are suggesting is far more sinister than that."

"It definitely would require the ultimate secrecy, but that is not something that is impossible, just difficult. Still, the consequences...it would not be surprising. also, you cannot deny the state that both Jace and Alec were in when we found them. It was awful." Gabriel shivered a bit at the memory, Gideon joining in the horror of it. It had been quite awful, and definitely not something they would want to ever see again, especially on Shadowhunters that were too young to even be fighting.

"I think we should take this to Charlotte." Gideon grumbled. "As much as I would hate to say it, she at least has a hint of an idea of what she is doing, and she should know."

"Lightwoods!" The call got them to turn to their right, staring at a shock of pale hair as the sickly shadowhunter limped towards them slowly and steadily. "Will wants to know what is taking you so long. He can be quite a bit impatient, that one." Jem's eyes sparkled with a look of something...Neither Lightwood twin liked it much.