The Morning Star (TMI City of Lost Souls AU)

Chapter 28 - The Final Battle

One of the creatures surged forward towards Izzy, her electrum whip coiling out with blinding speed, cutting through the demon. In a split second, there was a battle ensuing. Seraph blades lit up from every corner, names of angels being called up in a chorus. Alec was sending arrows flying, some lodging themselves into the ghastly forms while others were deflected. Clary was swinging her blade in wide arcs, slicing some of the demons shallowly while Jace leapt around and buried his weapon deep in their chests. After nearly 10 minutes of deafening screeches and clashing blades, only a few of the monsters had been dispatched. However, being in their home dimension, they did not disappear but rather disintegrated into ash. Jace, covered in blood and ash came beside Clary and grabbed her arm with what looked like fear in his eyes.

"Clary!" He yelled above the roar of battle, "You need to get out of here!"

"Absolutely not," She said with absolute certainty, "We came here. We are going to finish this." At that he whirled her around behind him and slashed out at a demon that had been advancing on them. The beast let out a cry as it crumpled, leaving a dusting of ash behind.

"JACE!" Izzy cried out as Jace whirled back around to see a demon reach for him, its claws scraping deep across his face. He let out a scream as the talons scraped from his temple down to the outside corner of his mouth, leaving blood pooling in the gashes. Alec let an arrow fly and bury itself in the demon's head causing it to rear back and turn to face Alec. And then they all froze. Every demon fell silent and turned to face the entrance to the destroyed Hall of Accords.

"Well, well. Welcome to Edom." A voice echoed like a cannon from around them. All the demons disappeared back into shadows on the ground. The voice was oddly familiar, while also not familiar at all. The Shadowhunters' eyes all darted towards it. At the top of the stairs stood a man who held a cold recognition.

"Sebastian." Jace said through clenched teeth. The man, or rather ethereal form of a man, stretched its mouth into a crooked smile. He still had the fair hair sweeping across his face, only now it was entirely white and his skin was nearly translucent, holding an eerie shimmering tone, showing veins with black liquid pulsing through them. Perhaps the most frightening feature, however, was his eyes. While partly human, Sebastian has black irises nearly melding into his pupils. Now the pupil and iris were swallowed up by the entire blackness of the eye. It was impossible to see where he was looking; his black gaze seemed to be focusing on everyone.

"If you still wish to call me that, so be it. But I am superior to him now. His blood was tainted with humanity, now I am whole. Entirely demonic in nature." He began walking soundlessly towards them, his fingers twitching at his sides, "And you're here in my home," His mouth opened into a wide grin, showing that his teeth were sharpened to points, "Welcome."

Clary's eyes caught something of a spark as she looked down at his hands, they were twitching still but the blackness in his veins began to darken and span up his arms leaving sparks in its wake. The blackness overtook his skin as it spread. Out of nowhere an arrow whizzed by Clary's head and buried itself directly in Sebastian's eye. But he didn't flinch. He simply pulled the arrow out and it dissolved in his hand, leaving no damage to his face. Ice flooded Clary's veins as she watched him continue to advance on them, flames sparking from his fingertips. She looked around at her companions; Jace was standing at the ready with his seraph blade blazing, Izzy fuming, Alec looking stunned, and Johnathon staring calmly with his black eyes. Black eyes? Clary blinked and looked again, and they had returned to their luminous green. 

"I told you. You are in my home. This is my dimension. I control what happens. And you will all be victims to my power." Suddenly the earth shook and fissures broke out in the ground, pulling it apart from beneath them. Clary leapt to the side with a scream and sprawled across the still shaking ground. She looked up and saw Jace lying on his stomach over the edge, grasping Isabelle as she dangled above the abyss. She could hear Alec screaming Izzy's name but it seemed distant. With a final effort, Jace hauled Izzy up and out of the dangerous chasm. They all scrambled to their feet and stood back to back as Sebastian moved closer and closer to them, casually walking over the chasms as if they were not there. The black had spread all up his arms and sparks were falling from the tips of his fingers. "What was your purpose of coming here?"

"We came to stop you," It was Izzy who spoke, anger coating her voice.

Sebastian laughed at her, "You fools. You came to my dimension with the hopes of defeating me? With nothing but your angel blades? The angel cannot help you here." He came to stop a few feet in front of them, his gaze resting on them. "This is no place for angels until they fall. And you all will fall before me."

With a wave of his arm, several boulders flew forward, hurling themselves toward the group. They all tried to duck out of the way, but two of them collided into Alec and Clary. She could feel her ribs crack and could hear it too. All of her breath was knocked out of her as she was thrown to the ground, gasping for air that wouldn't come. Her head cracked against the ground as she made impact. Izzy was immediately drawing iratzes on her brother and then Clary, the sharp pain slowly receding. Her vision was blurry, an ache pounding in her head as she sat up. With a roar of rage, Jace began sprinting toward Sebastian, flipping his seraph blade and digging it into his chest as he swung around him. The blade sunk deep and immediately dissolved, Sebastian digging his nails into Jace's arm and swinging him around like a rag doll. His body crashed into a column in front of the hall, bones snapping audibly. Clary tried to let out a scream but the sharp pain in her head increasing allowed nothing to come out. Izzy made an attempt to attack, her electrum whip coiling itself around Sebastian's wrist with enough force to sever it. It sank through his skin as if it were water, leaving no mark or pain. Izzy let out a breath of shock, fear obviously creeping into her head. They had expected this battle to be difficult, but not impossible. How could you destroy what couldn't be killed? Especially when you could be.

"Why so afraid, Lightwood? Did you not entertain the possibility that you would not win? You align yourself with the angels, but they gain their power when they fall." His grin was horrifying, Clary biting back her nausea. She chanced a glance to Jace's body, lying limply by the wall. Her stomach dropped, tears choking her throat and she tried to watch for any sign of breathing. She looked to the rest of their group; Izzy and Alec wearing matching expressions of warriors who would not go down without a fight, Simon who looked as if he expected that this could be the end, and Johnathon, eyes distinctly black as he watched Sebastian calmly. Clary grabbed his arm and whispered to him.

"Is this some kind of trap? Did you bring us here on purpose knowing we would fail?!" Her whisper was rising to a scream. He looked taken aback.

"What? Of course not! I will die here with you! What would make you think that?!" His voice was defensive and tinged with anger.

"Your eyes are black. You're not entirely human, are you? You're still part of him." She dropped her voice to a whisper again, Sebastian watching them intently. Something seemed to click in his head, the wheels turning. He looked down in horror at himself.

"I'm part of him still... He is tethered to me." He was whispering so quietly to himself that Clary could barely hear him. His words slowly sank in as she met his gaze. He had no scratches; Sebastian had made no move to attack him.

"Are you just going to stand here whispering?" Sebastian said distastefully, "I have better uses of my time. I can dispatch of you easily." His hands began glowing an eerie red, fire burning in his palms. What happened next happened so fast, Clary could not have stopped it if she tried. Her seraph blade was ripped from her hand, Johnathon taking it and plunging it deep into his chest.

"NO!" She could barely hear Sebastian's roar of anger and terror over her own scream as the blade shone bright and became coated in blood. Clary looked at Johnathon and his green eyes were bright and shimmering, he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out, only blood. He dropped to his knees as Sebastian blazed up; the black veins running through him burning bright with heavenly fire as his body became engulfed in the blaze. His body turned to ash and settled on the stone in front of their feet. Clary turned back to Johnathon, dropping to her knees and grabbing his shoulders to steady him as his body grew cold, the life draining from him. He looked at her with a faint smile across his lips despite the blood as he opened his mouth to choke out his final words.

"I hope you remember me."