Elliot's shop was a small corner shop with the street not having much public around. Tris, Jace and Clary had arrived and found the store's front window shattered. They quickly entered the store, Tris feeling unsettled at the amount of destruction in the shop and Elliot laying on the floor, some shards stuck to his skin. Clary felt like throwing up, seeing someone she knew as a kid dead on the floor.
Clary knelt down by Elliot while Jace looked around, and noticed splatters on the floor. He pointed to them. "See these marks? A demon was here."
Clary sighed, closing Elliot's eyes. Tris looked at the blood from his eyes, noticing the incantation from something that Magnus had showed her. "He killed himself, right?" Tris questioned, looking at Jace, who nodded.
"He was tortured, but this isn't murder. He killed himself."
Clary's brows furrowed. "What? How can you tell?"
"The blood from his eyes. I've seen it before. It's a warlock incantation. It's basically their version of a cyanide capsule."
Jace's ears perked at the sound of glass crunching despite none of the three moving and quickly turned his head, his eyes widening a little upon finding out it was Sebastian. The boy waved awkwardly upon seeing the trio. "Hi."
"Hey," Jace curtly nodded, looking to Tris who was just as confused as him.
Clary arched a brow, standing up from her crouch. "Sebastian? What are you doing here?"
"I, uh...I saw the alert at the Institute," he stammered in response, taking a step towards them. "Is everything under control?"
Jace hesitated before letting his shoulders slightly drop. "We're still not 100% sure what happened. There was a demon presence here, but something doesn't add up."
Clary muttered a curse, making the rest of them follow her gaze. Dead flowers. She looked up as though she had made a realization. "It's Jonathan." Noticing the confusion on the others' faces, she elaborated. "The flowers. My mom shared a memory from when Jonathan was a baby. He'd done the exact same thing. And the gray demon ichor, that's how Valentine described the aftermath of Jonathan's childhood kills. Jonathan was here."
Sebastian cleared his throat, stammering. "Uh, sorry, who's...who's Jonathan?"
"My brother," Clary responded, earning a nod from him.
"He must be after the Mortal Mirror," Jace concluded. "If he comes after it again, I'm gonna have to deal with him."
Tris slowly grew concerned as she noticed the all too familiar look on his face. "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm gonna do anything in my power to protect the Mirror."
Tris scoffed. "You'll kill him?"
Jace ignored her tone and simply nodded. "If that's what it takes, yeah."
"We don't even know if Jonathan's doing this on his own," Clary mentioned, going along with Tris' line of thought. "He could be under Valentine's influence."
Sebastian agreed as well, posing the outcome of Valentine forcing him to do his dirty work. Jace laughed mockingly. "Yeah, okay, look...I know exactly what it's like to be manipulated by Valentine, probably better than anyone." He looked to the redhead. "Now, Clary, you read those journals. Jonathan Morgenstern is a demon-blooded monster who is responsible for the death of your friend, an innocent warlock."
Clary furrowed her brows, sighing in frustration. While Jace's point was correct, it was too risky. They didn't even know the full story. "Remember what Valentine made you do?"
Jace grew slightly uncomfortable before speaking in a tight voice. He spoke in a defensive way, almost trying to prove the truth even though they knew it. "I don't have demon blood." While it was a touchy topic for him still, he knew he had to be more open to it. It was the cause of many issues and he was well aware it brought a war where he had put his own people in danger. He looked to Tris, who nodded at him with a small smile.
"Just think about it, Jace," Clary urged. "Valentine has manipulated us both. What if Jonathan is just his latest victim? We don't have any facts, and until we do, no one is getting killed."
Sebastian nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I suppose the, uh...the priority right now should be finding that mirror."
"I guess," Tris shrugged. "It just doesn't make sense. Why kill Elliot Nourse in the first place? I can't tell if this Jonathan guy is dumb or smart! It would've been easy to just use an incantation that would knock out Nourse and then he could've just left. Why make such a mess? He could've taken his memory, too." Tris exhaled before mumbling, "I'm sure Valentine would have taught him all that. C'mon, he has demon blood."
Jace couldn't answer her, so he suggested leaving to get to the Institute, where Alec and Dot were looking over the ley lines. Alec looked relieved to see the trio but he immediately frowned when seeing Sebastian with them. He sighed internally and waited for them to talk.
Clary spoke up, "It's Jonathan, my brother. He's the one who came after Elliot."
"He's after the Mirror," Jace added with a nod.
Alec nodded in acknowledgement and his gaze shifted over to Sebastian, who was looking at the ley lines that Dot was going over. The dark haired boy raised his hand towards Sebastian, waving it in a casual manner. As casual Alec Lightwood could be. "Sebastian, thanks, but, uh, we're good here."
Sebastian pursed his lips, stepping back. "Uh, if I can be of any assistance, I'd be happy to help."
"Thank you," Alec quickly dropped the casual act and spoke in a more authoritative manner. His shoulders raised up a bit as his chin was also up. "We've got it covered."
Sebastian sighed softly before nodding. "Sure."
Alec exhaled a little and gestured for the trio to stand near them so Dot could point out the locations she found. "So you've narrowed it down to these three locations?" Jace inquired, looking at the map.
"Yes," Dot nodded before pointing to three locations with her finger. "Here, here, and here."
"Wait a minute," Clary's eyes widened a little as she realized something. She frantically pointed her finger to one of the locations in an excited manner. "That's the park we used to go to when I was little! Mom and I used to go there when I was a kid. She'd pack a picnic, watch me sketch for hours. It was our place. She hid it somewhere I'd remember, just in case. It's gotta be there."
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Travelling through a portal—even though she had done it a few times—still felt dizzying. Tris blinked owlishly as she got her eyes to focus on what was in front of her. She shoved her hands in her pockets as she stood beside Jace, Clary and Dot in the park that was somewhat special to the redhead. The sigil on Dot's wrist had lit up, which meant that she could see the ley lines.
As the group began walking, Jace and Clary conjured up a conversation on Jonathan while Tris followed Dot, who was looking for the precise position of the ley line. "So...do you just happen to have sigil? Is it 'cause you're a warlock?" Tris inquired, her head slightly tilted in curiosity.
Dot smiled a little. "No, you aren't born with a sigil. You either give it to yourself or someone gives it to you. It can only be done by warlocks. Obviously, talking of symbols, Shadowhunters can create those, too." She glanced at Tris before looking ahead with a small nod. "A sigil is more used by warlocks."
"Could a human get one?"
"Tristen, don't tell me..." Dot's full attention was on the brunette now, her eyes full of concern. She shook her head. "It's not for humans."
Before Tris could ask anything more, Dot turned to the redhead. "Clary, the ley line intersection's close."
The group walked to a pagoda with a statue resting in the middle. Tris frowned as she wanted to ask more questions. Maybe I should ask Magnus?
"It's here," Dot stated.
Clary's brows furrowed a little. "Do you see something?"
Dot got closer to the statue, creating a ball of energy with her magic and began chanting in Latin. Her hand reached inside the ball. She then took out her hand, an object sitting on her palm. Tris' shoulders drooped then, a sigh escaping her mouth. "Please tell me that's what it is. It's the Mirror, right?"
Jace nodded, quick to turn on his feet to leave. "Okay, let's go."
However, Tris' shoulders tensed up again, her eyes widening at the sight of what was in front of her. She scowled in disgust, taking a step back. Was that Jonathan? His skin was all burnt, eyes red and anger pouring from him. He had a strange way about him that seemed familiar but Tris didn't have time to think about it, as he flung Jace into the grass. Dot gave Clary the mirror before attacking Jonathan with her magic.
It does almost nothing. Jonathan pushed Dot, resulting in her falling onto the ground. Tris wanted to use her powers on him, but would it work? She grew nervous as her mind raced. He's already burnt, can I burn him more? Would it affect him?
"Tris, Clary, run!"
Tris turned to see Jace as he tried getting up on his feet. She instantly went towards him, but Jonathan was faster, holding a blade against his throat.
Clary stood at a distance before thinking quick as she spoke up. "You're Jonathan, aren't you? You're my brother. You don't wanna hurt me. If you hurt Jace, that's exactly what you'll be doing." She held up the Mirror. "This is what you came for, isn't it? You can take this and go. Or... you can come with us. We can help you. Whatever Valentine's told you, it's lies. Whatever happened in the past, whatever you've done, it doesn't matter. You're my family."
Dot took notice of Jonathan slipping the blade away from Jace, before blasting her magic at him. She then opened a portal and turned to the redhead, who looked horrified. "Take the Mirror and go, Clary!"
She remained stubborn. "No, not without you."
Dot sighed. "It's the only way to protect the Mirror. Go!"
Maybe I could try, Tris thought as she fixated her gaze on Jonathan who had begun choking a little. The brunette grinned but it was quickly faded as she felt an arm around her waist and then the dizziness started. Her knees hit the cold marble floor she recognized. She was a little surprised to find a drop of blood splattering onto the clear floor. Tris brought her hand to her nose, only to see the red on her hands as well.
Jace crouched down to her quickly, a hand on her back as he held her chin, tilting it upwards. Tris glanced to him, looking down. He could tell she was upset with the way her eyes were glossed over and her lips were slightly trembling. "Why did you do that? I could've done something."
Jace then knew she was upset with herself. Why didn't I do something? She looked away, tears falling from her eyes. Jace couldn't do anything. He found it strange that the girl who was always composed was crippling down right in front of him. He brought his fingers up to her eyes, using his thumbs to wipe her tears away. "Hey, you know what could happen to you if you used your powers against a demon like him, right?"
Clary also got down beside him, handing the girl a few tissues. "Tris, we'd rather not have you harmed. You could work more on your powers before you defeat him. And you will, we know that."
Tris only nodded, unable to speak. She still let the guilt eat her up but forced a small smile to the worried duo. After confirming she was okay, they began walking down towards their rooms.
"If I had known Dot was gonna do that, I would've never left without her," Clary mumbled, looking down.
Jace exhaled quietly. "She knew what she was doing. Because of her, Valentine can't raise the Angel. We are finally one step ahead of him. Hey, she survived Valentine. She'll survive this."
Clary's face twisted to one of anger, her brows furrowed and her chest slightly puffed up. "All this fighting and bloodshed, but...God, for what?"
Clary opened the hand mirror as if she was ready to break it down to pieces. Her face then goes blank before she blinked in surprise. Tris glanced at Jace before looking at the redhead again. "You okay?"
She sighed. "Yeah, it was like in my dream. I was back at the lake, drowning, and there were these two swords coming at me." Her eyes that were confused, had turned wide as she realized something. "These aren't dreams, they're visions. I think it's some kind of message."
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im so so so sorry for not updating 😭😭
ive got a few exams coming up so its difficult finding time to write, but i'll try my best to write !!
see u in like 4 months 💀 /hj