Leah Carstairs (Book #2)

Ithuriel

A/N: Alright. I'll attempt to make an excuse. I had exams! And writer's block. So.... I couldn't post any chapters. Like, at all. For the past 2 months. But here you go! I'm back....putting before you more myriad questions and confusing you up. *evil laugh* Enjoy!

2012

3 years had passed since Oskino's first big break. As readers might've guessed, he lived a pretty decent life nowadays: still in fear that one day he might have to face Magnus, Tessa, Jem or any of the New York Institute children, and relive his nightmarish past; but he was presently quite happy.

He had a sweet little studio apartment - where he met his private clients and often invited Catarina for a casual lunch or something. Now he not only had 1, but 2 jobs - an official one at Beth Israel, and an unofficial one, which he conducted by himself.

It wouldn't be right to say he was handsomely rich, but Oskino had enough money to cover up all his expenses. And what was even better, he had a delightful friend - Catarina Loss - to cherish and share his happy moments with.

He devoted most of his time helping the infernally sick and injured, but when he had free time to himself, Oskino also enjoyed doing simple, rather silly, mundane things like ice-skating, going to parties, watching fireworks or visiting a popular tourist destination in New York.

His life could be, to an extent, called nearly perfect. But he wasn't completely satisfied - did not feel free of guilt or suspense.

He wondered what was happening in Edom. He wondered who he was even anymore - what he had become. He wondered if he deserved to live such a contended life in New York - after what he had done to Leah. He wondered what punishments he would have to go through, once Leah's friends and family found him. And most of all, he wondered what would be Catarina's reaction when she came to know the truth about him.

***

Two teenagers were walking up to a vast, towering mansion. One of them was a short, petite girl with ginger hair and freckles - and the other was a handsome, well-toned Shadowhunter boy with eyes the colour of molten gold and hair of nearly the same hue.

The mansion before them had evidently been unused for a long time; the paint was peeling from the walls, the doors creaking unpleasantly in their hinges. Everything inside was buried under a fine layer of dust.

The girl and the boy quietly entered the library of the mansion. They paced silently around the shelves for some time, before the red-haired girl discovered someplace more exciting to visit.

Very soon, she and her companion were climbing down the stairs to a dark, mysterious cellar - gazing around at the assortments of old spellbooks, manuscripts, weapons and ceramic containers. The walls and the floors were stained with unfamiliar runes and pentagrams.

And, further ahead lay the most vivid, most enthralling sight the teenage Shadowhunters could've ever witnessed: a golden nude man sitting with his back bent, head bowed and brilliant wings folded around his ears. It was perhaps the most beautiful - but the most poignant - thing one could have ever seen.

The Angel Ithuriel opened its mouth to sing a splendid, melodious song. Very slowly, he raised his head to meet the eyes of the 2 Shadowhunters before him - only for them to realise that he didn't have any eyes at all.

Oskino knew what happened next. Jace Herondale had whispered Ithuriel's name into his seraph blade, and stabbed the Angel, intending to free him from his imprisonment in Valentine Morgenstern's cellar. And next, the whole house had collapsed down.

He was quite right; that was precisely what happened, except the Angel didn't die immediately.

As the seraph blade impaled his beautiful nude body, beams of heavenly sunshine poured out from the wound. The Angel opened its mouth to emit a soft song of enlightenment and freedom - but that was not all it said. At that precise moment, it looked straight into Oskino's eyes and spoke: "You are the one. Our fate relies on you. Claim yourself."

And then it was gone! It had disappeared along with the golden sunshine and the heavenly melody.

Oskino next found himself on the ledge of a window in Sebastian's Morgenstern's infernal fortress. It was the worst night of his existence.

The fortress was silent and empty now. Everyone here had either died or escaped. The entire city outside was on fire. A pool of dried-up blood lay on the floor. Leah Carstairs's blood. Blood that would've never been spilt, had it not been for him.

At that moment, Oskino went through all the terrible emotions of that night again. The grief. The anger. The self-blaming. The guilt. The fear. The emptiness. The desire for revenge . . .on himself. The hopelessness.

There remained nothing else tying him to his existence. He didn't deserve to live.

With this thought in his head, he jumped - outside, into the heavenly fire, hoping to die a painful death as revenge for what he had done to Leah.

Yet, unexpectedly, mysteriously, he had survived. He had been deprived of his money, his powers, his house, his identity - yet he still bore his eternal immortality, his sins, his past, his guilt, his fear, his existence. Oskino was maddened by the unfairness of the world - until he realised that it was just what he deserved for killing Leah Carstairs.

An eternal life of guilt, fear, helplessness and hopelessness.

***

Oskino sat up on his bed, his eyes wide open with fear, his lungs heavy and beads of perspiration trickling down his temples. His apartment, under the moon's dim illumination, greeted him.

It was just a dream; another nightmare, he comforted himself. But deep inside, he too knew just how real it had felt.

The first nightmare had felt like a glimpse of both the past and the future - because, although Ithuriel's 'suicide' had already occurred nearly 5 years ago, the part where the Angel told Oskino that he was the one and that their fate relied on him, seemed like a piece of the future.

The 2nd nightmare was merely his own soul and his worst fears barren to him.

Whatever he had just witnessed was far too real for him to not be true. And it was then that he realised that he may get a job, buy an apartment and make new friends in the world - but none of them will ever change his past sins.

He recalled Ithuriel's words: Claim yourself. Well, that was exactly what he was going to do. He was going to solve the mystery to his own existence - find out what he had become, since the day he had landed in New York.