The Morning Star (TMI City of Lost Souls AU)

Chapter 18 - The Law is Hard

The Nephilim were walking Jace and Clary through the streets of Alicante, one on each side of them holding their arms as if they were criminals. The woman who called herself the Commander was walking ahead of them with an air of pride as passersby looked with wide eyes at the two of them in their red and gold gear. They neared the Hall of Accords and saw four shadowy figures at the top of the stairs, and when they got close enough for their identity to be revealed, Clary's heart stopped. Jocelyn and Luke were arguing with Robert Lightwood along with Jia Penhallow trying to calm them down. Jocelyn ignored her and turned her argument back to Robert who looked incredibly defensive and uncomfortable. Jia looked as if she was about to continue when she saw the Commander and Jace and Clary approach, her mouth dropping open.

"Commander Verlac, what is this?" Jia was looking at the woman in front of them and Clary felt dizzy. Verlac. She knew that name. That was the name of the boy Sebastian had killed and stolen the identity of. That must mean this woman was related to him, and most likely had a personal vendetta against him.

"These are the traitors who helped Sebastian create those Endarkened soldiers," She spat out his name as if it were poison in her mouth, "They are to be put on trial but until then they are to be held in the cells here." Her voice stated it very matter-of-factly, as if she was telling them and not asking. Robert looked furious as he responded, his voice booming.

"That is ridiculous, they are children-" Commander Verlac cut him off harshly.

"It does not matter the age! Sebastian Morgenstern is only, what, 18 or 19? And look at all the destruction he has caused. And I have reason to believe he is not dead and these children you speak of," She glared behind her at Jace and Clary who were still being held tightly by the guards, "know where he is. And as you know, dear Inquisitor, the Clave has deemed you unfit for the ruling of this seeing as your personal relationships with the conspirators are too close. One being your son and the other, well, being whatever she is to you." She rolled her eyes and gave a flippant wave of her hand, Jocelyn brimming with rage.

"And of your personal relationship with Sebastian Morgenstern? Is that not in the Clave's interest?" Robert was fuming, his gaze never wavering from the Commanders as he spoke. But her calm disposition did not falter.

"That is neither here nor there, it is not affecting the jurisdiction given to these two young Nephilim and that is why the Clave has turned the power of this trial over to me."

For the first time since she had been standing there Jocelyn spoke, her voice full of bitterness, "Èlodie, if you do not think you are blinded by your own personal matter regarding this trial you are mistaken. Do not think for one second I will let you have any more power than should be granted to you." Èlodie simply nodded stiffly with a fake smile and waved the guards to follow her in with their prisoners in hand.

"Mom! Mom, I need to talk to you," Clary tried to pull away to her mother to no avail. She needed to tell her mom about Johnathon, why they couldn't lead the Clave to him. But Jocelyn smiled sadly and stroked a curl behind her ears as tears threatened to spill out of her green eyes.

"Clary, it is going to be okay. I promise." And then the door slammed shut behind them. Her eyes frantically searched for Jace, who was being led down a staircase ahead of her.

"Jace!" She could feel panic welling up inside her body and, as much as she wanted to stay strong, she could feel the sting of sobs building in her throat. A slight relief filled her veins as they took her down the same staircase as they had led Jace down.

They made their way down a few more flights of stairs until it opened up into a large circular room. The walls and floors were all a sandy colored stone, with bars of adamas lining each cell. Jace was thrown into one while they shoved Clary into the one adjacent to it. Èlodie shut both gates and locked them in, standing there with her arms crossed as they both stared at her.

"Do not blame me for this. This is purely the consequence of your actions. I am not a bad person, I am purely doing my job. You young shadowhunters think that you can do as you please without facing the consequences and I am here to tell you that is not true." She said calmly with a patronizing tone.

"Are you sure you're not just upset you can't punish Sebastian for the actions he committed against your nephew and this is your next best choice?" Jace was leaning casually against the bars now, his wrists hanging outside of the cell, her composed expression finally breaking for a moment as she stared at him incredulously, "Because I'm telling you now, it won't be nearly as satisfying. You cannot blame the pawns for the moves the chess master has made." Her blue eyes began to burn with rage and, for the first time since Clary had met her, she was speechless. She fumbled with words to say before storming out of the cellar and slamming the door shut behind her.

Clary closed her eyes and slid down on the wall, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching her fists so tightly that her nails drew blood into her palms. She could hear Jace moving about his cell as well but couldn't see him at all. After a few moments of silence, Clary spoke up.

"You said her nephew. Èlodie Verlac, is that the real Sebastian's aunt?" Clary spoke quietly in the dim lighting, exhaustion flooding through her.

"Yes. Sebastian Verlac's parents died when he was younger and so he was sent to the Paris Institute to live with his aunt Èlodie. She ran the Institute there and he became like a child to her since she had none of her own. Aline told me that she was reluctant to let Sebastian come back to Idris, but he wanted to see his cousins whom he hadn't seen in over 10 years. Èlodie didn't know he was murdered until we all found out that the Sebastian Verlac we met was not the real one. And they never found his body. She was so distressed by it that she left the Institute in someone else's care to come to Idris and has tried to find out what exactly happened." He stopped, but Clary pressed him on further.

"Did she ever find out?"

"From what I've heard? No. But I also don't speak to Aline much, and I don't think anyone knows exactly what happened. But she must have gotten to a point in her life where she turned to working with the Clave. I think she's using this trial as her own personal form of revenge. And-" He broke off, as if not wanting to finish the sentence for Clary's sake, "I think we are the ones she is going to use for her vendetta."

"Do- Do you think we should have just turned in Seb- Johnathon?" She corrected herself, not wanting to associate Sebastian with her real brother.

Jace pondered it for a moment before responding, "Honestly? I don't know. For the first time, I don't have a gut feeling about it. I looked at him and saw someone entirely different, not the same person who did all of those horrible things. But at the same time, I know Sebastian has fooled us before and-" He trailed off, not finishing his thought but she didn't press on any further this time. She didn't want to think about that, because it was already a fear that was present in her mind. "Clary?" His voice sounded distant and she could feel the apprehension of it, "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry? Jace, this isn't your fault."

"Well, if you think about it, it kind of is. The only reason you were there was to save me from him. You would never have been under his influence with that ring if it wasn't for me being there." She could hear how unguarded he was and she wanted nothing more than to wrap him in her arms. But she couldn't.

"The only reason you were with him in the first place was because I left you alone on the roof with his body and Lilith possessed you. So really it's just as much my fault as it is yours."

"Simon was there too, can we just blame this on him? It was Simon's fault." She couldn't help but smile, a quiet giggle escaping her mouth.

"You know you can't blame everything on Simon." You could still hear the amusement in her voice.

"I think you underestimate me, Fray." Clary could hear his voice closer now and heard him slide down the wall on the other side of her. He stretched his hand out from under the bars closer to her cell and she did the same, their fingers barely interlocking. But it was enough. This faint touch from Jace was more comforting that any embrace she could get from someone else. Feeling the warmth of his calloused hands sent a soothing heat through her body, relaxing her. Her breathing slowed and her eyes started fluttering closed as the exhaustion from the past 24 hours washed over her body. She welcomed the sleep, anything to get away from the reality of the situation. As the comforting darkness blanketed her, she let the one final thing from Jace remain in her mind.

"I love you, Clary."