a rush of blood to the head | isabelle lightwood

SEPT

"I knew you once. When you were just a baby," Athena stated. Her lips curled into a faint smile as she thought of Clary's gurgling laughter and fiery red hair.

Clary furrowed her eyebrows and placed herself onto the bench next to Athena. Athena patted the girl's shoulder and walked away, as that was all she had to say. Little did Athena know, that if she told Clary how she knew her, it would help them to find Jocelyn.

-

ATHENA couldn't believe the news she had been told upon arriving back at Magnus's apartment. How could Isabelle have done such a thing? It was practically cheating, although the two were never together in the first place.

She had been sitting on Magnus's plush couch, ranting about how much she adored Isabelle. Magnus's face was drawn together with a look of confusion, and she couldn't figure out why. That was when Magnus told her that Isabelle was sleeping with Meliorn. She decided to deal with that problem in the morning, and headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep.

-

ATHENA awoke to the sound of her phone's shrill beeping, alerting her of a text message. She slid her finger across the glass screen and saw a text from Isabelle. She sighed, sending a text back and making her way to the Institute.

Upon arriving, Isabelle wrapped Athena into a warm embrace. Athena pushed the girl away and gave her a confused look. Isabelle grabbed her pale hand and led her to the group of Shadowhunters she had become familiar with in the past week. Hodge, Jace, Alec, and Clary sat crowded around a wooden table placed in front of a large computer on the wall. A picture of Magnus rested upon the monitor.

"Magnus Bane. He's over 300 years old. And, as you can see, he's not exactly shied away from the pleasures of every century. His tastes are both exquisite... and quite excessive," Hodge said. As he did this, various pictures of Magnus throughout his life appeared on the screen. Athena glanced at them in confusion, possible answers swirling around in her head.

Athena furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are we talking about Magnus Bane?"

"Clary believes he's the one who stole her memories," Jace stated.

Athena mashed her lips together and folded her arms across her chest. She knew the redheaded girl was right, but she was silently resigned. She didn't know whether or not Jocelyn would want Clary to know about the Shadow World.

"He looks like Downworld's David Guetta," Clary scoffed.

"Guetta's already a Downworlder. Vampire? Ever seen him in the daylight?" Isabelle said, eyebrows raised. She winked at the redhead.

"Can you two focus? This is not a joke," Alec demanded. He glared at his sister and turned back to the expansive screen on the wall. Athena giggled and placed herself atop the wooden table.

"Someone needs to get slayed," Isabelle laughed.

"Alec's right. Now, Magnus is one of the most powerful warlocks I've ever known. He's in deep mistrust of Shadowhunters," Hodge stated, flipping through more images of Magnus.

"Well then why did he help my mom remove my memories? Isn't she a Shadowhunter?" Clary asked.

"Maybe because he's a genuinely nice person. Does kindness ring a bell?" Athena asked the redhead. A smug smirk played on her lips as Clary scoffed.