N/A: Here's a rather long chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it :)
After overhearing the conversation between Clary, her mother, and this Simon Downworlder, Ethel decided to continue walking around. She soon found herself in what she suspected to be the training room. At that moment, she only saw one person there- the raven boy from earlier. He was beating a punching bag with a lot of anger, releasing all of his frustrations. Before she could stop herself, she spoke from behind him. "Are you okay?"
His back tensed at her voice, and quickly turned around. Realizing who she was, Alec relaxed. "Oh, hey. You finished with all that testing they were doing?" Once he received a small, silent nod, he let out a breath to try to restore a normal oxygen flow into his lungs. "Did I hear wrong, or did they say you were a half-Seelie before your Ascension?"
"You heart right. And I'm still part-Seelie. Just, also a Shadowhunter now, I guess." She muttered over a shrug, before tucking her hands into her pockets. Honestly, she was just trying to look away from him. It had just occurred to her that he was shirtless, and sweating all over. It exposed all the runes in his body, which somehow made him even more attractive. In the past, she hadn't really thought much about tattoos, but now, seeing markings of a similar tone or design, Ethel struggled to not look away. She knew each represented a different angelic ability. And yes, Ethel truly had no doubt in her mind that the man before her was part angel. He sure looked the part. Not that she had ever seen a real angel before.
"That is... So weird." He admitted before chuckling slightly. The irony could not be ignored. After all, the very same man that hated Downworlders had turned one into a Nephilim. "Hah, if only Valentine knew what he had done." But his amusement fell, as he recalled that Jace was still with that monster. "Jace was out of the ship for a little while today. But he didn't get the chance escape like you did. Joselyn tried to kill him with a bloody crossbow."
She took in the information, and made her deductions. "The redhead's mother. Clary." That's why Alec was so mad. His friend had almost been murderer, and was still Valentine's prisoner.
"Yeah."
"But, she failed, right?" Ethel tried to bring comfort to him, but but her limited knowledge on the subject made it difficult.
He nodded slowly, very much confused by the events of the day. "Yeah... Because Valentine took the hit for him. Like, he was protecting him. Who would have thought he's a better parent than Jocelyn?"
Ethel continued to reassure him about Jace's safety and current state. "So, maybe he's safe- just not where he wants to be. Not free to leave."
"I hope so. If only I could get my hands on Valentine..."
She knew exactly what he was feeling. Ethel wanted nothing more than to kill Valentine, for what he had done to Amanda. Specially now that she could see her death had been meaningless. There were truly more Shadowhunters out there than he had claimed to be. No one had needed to be forced into drinking from the Mortal Cup. All those dead people and the survivors could still be living out their normal lives, had Valentine not been greedy. "If it helps, I spat on his face. And 'betrayed him' or whatever."
His head whipped around at her revelation. "Hold on. Back up a second, mundane. You spat on Valentine's face? You mean figuratively, right?"
"First of all, we already acknowledged I was never fully a mundane." Using that term instead of human seemed alien to her. Hell, referring to herself as anything other than human was far too weird. But she'd have to get used to it. "But no. I mean literally. It was after he killed my best friend- after he forced me to drink from the Cup. I spat on his face. It got me locked up for a few hours, and I thought he'd kill me, but I really don't regret it."
Alec looked up for a moment, trying to contain a smile at the picture that had formed in his head. He didn't want to smile at the mention of her best friend being dead, but hearing that Valentine had been spat upon did help. "I'm sorry about your friend. But I am happy about how you reacted." Then he paused, thinking about the grief she had to be feeling. "How are you doing, by the way?"
"Trying not to crumble. But I'll live." She surprisingly admitted. It wasn't often she was this open to strangers. "Probably how you're feeling yourself, right? I mean, I have no one to worry about but myself. That's not the case with you."
He let out a breath and nodded. "I want Jace back. I want my parabatai back."
With furrowed eyebrows, she questioned this new term that had come up. "A paraba-what?"
Alec chuckled once more, this time with genuine humour. With each time his chest vibrated, he could feel the anger slowly leaving his body. "Parabatai. That's this rune." He pointed at it. The rune was located left to his belly button, just beside his iratze. "He and I are both parabatai. It's kind of like- a bond someone times people can make, if they choose. It has to be between two Shadowhunters. It connects our souls. Runes drawn by a parabatai on the other are stronger. And we can also feel each others emotions, when the other dies, and stuff."
"So, like a platonic soulmate, or something?" She translated, trying to understand what was going on. "Or romantic?"
"Platonic." He regrettably corrected slowly. "Parabatai's aren't allowed to love each other like that. Its supposed to drive them insane, or something."
"Oh."
"And Jace is also my brother." Seeing her confusion, and deducing it to be connected to Clary, Alec explained further. "Adopted. My parents adopted him when he was ten."
She nodded, taking in all the information. That sounded quite deep to her. But, if Angels, Demons, Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and things in between were real, why not soulmates via angelic runes? "Sounds like you two are pretty close. I'm sorry that he's not here. But I'm sure you'll get him back. If there's anything I can do, just say the world." Ethel didn't know why she was just offering her help. However, somehow, she couldn't help but want to help him. Seeing the genuine worry in his eyes hurt her. That, or she was just a sucker for a pretty face like his. Likely the latter, right?
And, to her surprise, he took the offer. "Well, actually, there might be."
"What?"
"Aldertree is leaving me out of anything Jace related. They want to kill him, because they think is a traitor."
"Yes, I heard." Ethel admitted, before realizing just how she could help. "In fact, I've been doing a lot of that lately... My Seelie blood makes my hearing very strong, you know?"
Alec knew that, which is why he was going to ask for a favour. Since she had lived out as a mundane all her life, she wouldn't be able to fight, and join the searches. He was aware of that. But eavesdrop, now that was another story. "If you hear anything- like anything at all, can you tell me?"
She was quick to agree. Since Luke had been able to bring back her things from evidence (when he had come to have her sign her fake statement on not getting kidnapped), Ethel no longer had to rely on the burner phone. Instead, she pulled out her own from her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to him. "Give me your number. I keep getting lost in this place, but, I could text you whatever I hear instantly." Well, that was one way to get a cute guy's number.
"Good idea." He responded before putting down his information, and calling his phone through hers. "There. Now I got yours too."
At that moment, someone else came into the training room. It was the redhead, whom Ethel recognized despite not being formally introduced. "Alec, can we talk?"
"Bold of you to show your face here."
She rose her hands up in defence. Her mother's actions weren't on her. This wasn't Clary's fault. Yet, Alec blamed her for it all. "I can explain."
But he denied all excuses she could give him. What could she possibly say to make things better? Now, his anger, which had previously subsided thanks to Ethel, was returning strong. He wanted Clary to leave, and he wanted Jace returned to his side. "Unless your explanation can bring Jace back, save it."
Then, the redhead said the worst thing he could hear from her. "Alec, Jace is my brother, too."
Quickly turning around, he pointed an accusing finger at her. All the while, Ethel watched the exchange, feeling invisible despite her close proximity to the pair. Clearly, this conversation did not concern her, but she didn't know if leaving was the right choice. No one asked for her to walk away. "You barely know him. I grew up with him. I fought by his side. He's my brother. He's my best friend."
"Alec..." She tried to reach him, maybe hug him, but Alec stepped away. He didn't want her comfort. Not hers. "Alec, I want Jace back as much as you do. I... I am not my mother."
"How well do I even know you?" He questioned rhetorically. They had only met a few weeks back, and the redhead had made his life chaos since. "I mean, you show up out of nowhere, you convince my brother, you convince me to search for you mother. And the next thing I know, Jace is gone. And your mother is the one trying to kill him."
Clary shook her head, trying to convince him that she wasn't in on it. In fact, had she known of her mother's plan, she would have put a stop to it. Even now, knowing her mother's excuses and reasoning, Clary could still not fathom the idea of hurting the blonde. "I had nothing to do with that, Alec. I would never hurt Jace."
However, he still didn't want to hear anything else that came from her mouth. "Since you've arrived, you've caused nothing but problems. My family lost their birthright. Izzy was almost deruned. And now Valentine has my parabatai. And it's all because of you."
Ethel wondered if she should interfere. Things were getting pretty heated, and she knew that Clary hadn't done anything wrong to Jace. She didn't know about the rest of the things Alec was commenting, but- yeah. Ethel really didn't know much about what she was dealing with. And that made her freeze, unsure of who to defend, or how to proceed. Fortunately, another woman their age walked in, and put in her effort to diffuse the situation. "Alec."
"I'm sorry." Clary finally apologized, even though she wasn't really to blame.
This woman seemed to agree with Clary. "Alec, this isn't her fault."
Nevertheless, the woman's words went unheard, as Alec turned to Clary one last time before leaving. His words were harsh and with full intent on hurting the redhead. "When are you gonna realize you don't belong here? You never have."
"Alec." The woman called out before going after him.
This left Ethel and Clary alone, by themselves, on the training room. Finally, the Fairchild girl spoke. "I'm sorry, but, who are you?"
"Ethel... Walters." She replied hesitantly, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "I'm... Kinda new here, I guess."
Her revelation made Clary's eyes widen like plates. She recognized the name. Not only had she read books written by Ethel's mother during her childhood, but Luke and others in the Institute had told her about her. "You're the mundane- human that was kidnapped by Valentine and escaped!"
Not willing to explain her whole story that one moment again, Ethel sighed and nodded. "Sort of. Yeah, I guess. You're Clary, right?"
"Yeah." The redhead admitted before expressing her condolences. Both for Amanda's death, the kidnapping, and everything else that had happened to her in the past day. "I'm... So sorry you had to go through that."
She shook her head at Clary's apology. Seeing the guilt behind her eyes, Ethel knew once more that Clary had to be a good person. So, she placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder, and smiled slightly. "Don't worry. I don't like going around blaming people for their parents' actions. And I'm sure Alec will change his mind about you. He just seems very worried about Jace, since they're paraba-something."
"Parabatai." She corrected with a small chuckle. It then occurred to Clary that this young woman was her, a few weeks ago. New to the Shadow World, and completely confused and overwhelmed about everything that had been happening. "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of things around here. And if you need help with anything, let me know. I haven't know that all of this is real for very long, but I know enough to manage."
"I'm glad at least someone understands. Thanks." Her lip curled slightly, grateful for yet another new friendship that she was beginning to form. Although Ethel didn't know it, she would soon grow very close with some of the people in this Institute, Alec, Clary, and the other woman included. Speaking of... "By the way, who was that chick? I haven't met too many people yet."
"Her name is Isabelle Lightwood- or Izzy. She's Alec's sister."
She hummed in response, nodding at the information. "Right. Yeah. They do look alive."
"You mean the dark hair?"
"And they're both really hot." Ethel admitted without missing a beat.
Clary snorted out a laugh. "Yeah. Yeah they are."