The Other World (A Shadowhunters Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Die For You

Cordelia was amazed at the fortitude of the people of the underground Shadow Market in Cornwall.

Because that was where the Market had been rebuilt, after its predecessor had been demolished by an army of automatons under Belial's control years before. The denizens of the underground market had eventually taken to living there, their caverns lit by cleverly placed holes in the roof of the structure, which cast light into the caverns, and then mirrors reflected that light to multiply the quantity of light in any given cavern. The rest was lit by a clever combination of witchlights and warlock enchantments which caused the light from certain mirrors to go on reflecting hours after the sun set.

The inhabitants were very little like their counterparts from Cordelia's world. She recognized many of them, even the vampires and werewolves and faeries, from the Hell Ruelle and from the London Shadow Market. There, they'd regarded her with much the same suspicion they regarded other Nephilim; here, though, they were casual with all the Shadowhunters present. There were a few Shadowhunters Cordelia didn't recognize, but most of them were familiar, if much changed from the versions of them that Cordelia knew.

It was James who felt most unfamiliar, though.

There was an intensity in the way he looked at her, in each casual touch between them, an intensity that spoke volumes about the way this James had loved and then grieved the version of Cordelia he knew. He seemed to be trying to hide it, but this James didn't have the same Mask that hers did—or maybe it was just her that unsettled him so. Cordelia found herself feeling jealous of this world's Cordelia, that even in death James' heart was hers. She did not have that kind of power over the James of her own world.

That night, the same night as the day Cordelia had fallen into this world to began with, she found herself seated in a hall that seemed to be a hybrid kitchen and dining room. The room was bustling with people, people of all kinds—Shadowhunters, Downworlders, even mundanes. Cordelia saw a girl who was clearly a mundane in a Shadowhunter girl's arms, looking like they had just been reunited.

Lucie, who was sitting on the floor next to Cordelia, saw her looking. "That's Elizabeth and Maea," she said. "They were in love before Belial took over, but..." she shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you know they couldn't be together. Elizabeth was a sickly mundane; the odds were low that she would be able to bear marks, or survive the ceremony. So they kept their relationship and secret until... until everything changed."

Cordelia held Lucie's gaze, looked back at the couple. Were these same girls alive in her world, still trying to hide from the Clave? Or had they been found out and punished, in her own version of the universe?

Food was arranged along a table on one side of the room, sort of like a buffet, except that the food available was so meager. James had gone to get a portion for himself and Cordelia, and came back bearing assorted candied fruit and dried meat, as well as bread.

"How can they afford to bake here?" she asked, looking up at James with a smile.

He smiled shyly back at her, then looked away. "Maea," he said, nodding to the Shadowhunter woman standing to the side of the room, her arms around that small human girl, Elizabeth. "I have no clue how she does it, but she has Brother Zachariah working around the clock on a bunch of spells to keep the grains growing in the fields and keep our food fresh in the storehouses. You'd be surprised what you can do with a little extra stocked up, if you can keep it from going back."

As the three of them ate, James and Lucie answered Cordelia's questions—about how Shadowhunters got along with Downworlders, how they managed to get the resources to survive in these caves. Then Cordelia asked a question about a topic they'd been skirting—where they had lived before they came to this Shadow Market.