“People will be wondering what we found outside the perimeter.”
“Oh god, you think?” Calliope couldn’t help but snap at the blonde as she brushed her fingers through her hair, devastated for the outcome of whatever happened to her friend. Clary’s cries echoed in the empty room, neither of them knew what happened, and Calliope was angry at herself that she didn’t even think of checking up on him.
“I’ll go,” Alec spoke up, feeling sorry for the girls and the mundane. “I’ll tell them we didn’t find anything. Nobody will come down here,” he says before getting back up the stairs.
“I might be a vampire, but I was raised a good catholic,” the vampire Raphael says, glancing at the Jesus Christ statues in the basement before doing the sign of the cross while he stared at Simon’s pale body.
“Well you vampires broke the accords, what are you going to do now, huh?” Calliope snapped only to be held back by Jace when he noticed her about to attack him.
“The vampires were not behind this,” Raphael hissed at her, “Just Camille, she attacked him on her own—”
“Now where is that bitch?” Calliope broke free from Jace but made no move to hit Raphael, yet every one knew that she was shaking in anger. And everyone in the room somehow knew that she would love nothing more but to attack the person who did this to her friend Simon.
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Jace asked him, just as upset for Clary who still wept on her best friend’s side.
“I could’ve gotten rid of him, but instead I brought him here,” Raphael says matter-of-factly which makes Calliope angrier even more. “I don’t want trouble with the shadowhunters.”
“Get rid of him? Like any of this isn’t your damn fault, if you didn’t kidnap him in the first place, New York city’s Draculaura wouldn't even have the chance to get her fangs on him!” Calliope scoffed, pacing forward to poke at Raphael’s chest. Each poke she felt like she wanted to jab her nail in him and claw at him just until she’s satisfied.
“Calliope!” Jace snapped at her, “Step out,” he ordered her.
Calliope glares at him, “You can’t tell me what to do, Wayland,” she sneered at him.
“Take a breath,” Jace softened his tone, motioning for her to look at Clary who stood still next to Simon who remained motionless. Letting Calliope realize that her outbursts was not helping Clary cope with whatever happened to Simon, but Calliope herself couldn’t cope.
“Fine,” she gritted through her teeth, stomping away back up the stairs, leaving the rest to deal with the Simon issue.
"Use your core to get a more accurate shot," Hodge instructed Calliope who sent a knife flying towards the far target. Plastered on different places in the training room, none of the targets had center shots, most of them had knives stuck on the sheets. "The knife is an extension of your body."
Calliope breathed in, letting out her breath slow and steadily, releasing the knife from her fingertips. She watches as the knife hits the target's center.
"That's my kind of woman," a small boyish voice spoke, causing both Hodge and Calliope to turn around to see a boy standing there with Alec who raised a brow at the boy.
"Hi," Calliope greeted, placing the last knife she had in her hand on the table side. "I'm Calliope, you are?" She asked the boy, briefly glancing at Alec for answers but he didn't really give her anything.
"I'm Max Lightwood," the boy replied, giving her a boyish wink, one that Calliope certainly sees Jace teaching the poor boy.
"Well, nice to meet you Max," Calliope chuckled, shaking the boy's extended hand. "What brings you both here?" She asked both Alec and Max.
"Just walking around, keeping Max busy," Alec answered, "apparently he's been messing up his runes, I wanted to help him study." Alec sighed, ruffling Max's hair. "Don't want to make another Mumbai incident here in New York."
"Why, what happened in Mumbai?" Calliope couldn't help but ask, silently thank Hodge who tossed her a tower from the bench she left her things on.
"I was hungry and tried to draw the nourishment rune," the boy frowned, looking down on his feet, "now mom and dad took my stele and won't give it back until I know the distinguishing rune."
"Really?" She asked, sending a glance at Alec for more information only for him to mouth 'later' when he noticed her stare.
"Can you get Alec to give me back my stele?" Max asked her, giving her the puppy dog eyes that Isabelle would use on her whenever she made something in the kitchen.
"I don't know Max, do you know all your runes now?" She asked him, slinging the towel on her shoulder.
"Of course I do," Max responded.
"Well then let's put away these equipment first and we'll check," Alec points out, handing Calliope's track jacket from where Hodge took her towel from.
"Give me two minutes and we'll get going," Calliope assures Max as she walks back to her station to grab the knives, leaving the siblings.
"I like her," Max spoke up, having Alec glance down at him once he realized that he had been staring at her. "Do you think she has a boyfriend?"
"What if she does?" Alec asked him.
"I think I'm better than him," Max grinned, causing Alec to chuckle, ruffling his brother's hair.
"Really? She's literally eight years older than you, Max."
"Age is just a number, Alec."
Before Alec could say anything else, Calliope came back with the knives she used strapped back onto a belt. "We'll take a short trip to the weapons room to drop these off for Hodge, is that okay with you, Max?"
"Anything for you hot stuff," Max winked, causing Calliope to laugh at the small boy's flirting, unknownst to her Alec's now half annoyed, half concerned look on his face. Something in his chest felt heavy when he saw Calliope look at someone so fondly.
"Well, let's go then," Calliope suggested, taking the hand that Max offered as the three of them went out to the ops center. Dropping off the knives in the weapons room where Hodge waited for her, she sees Alec talking to Max not too far from where she was.
She noticed a familiar purple portal glow from the double doors, revealing a bald man walking in. Something in her saw him as a threat, turning to Hodge who was pale at the sight of the man, the belt of knives in his hand. "Valentine," she hears him mumble in disbelief.
On impulse, Calliope takes a knife from the belt and throws it towards the bald men. Only then did she notice an arrow fly close to her knife but both objects were caught by Valentine. Calliope's breath hitched. Seeing the Valentine drop both objects onto the floor revealing a stele, activating a glamor rune. What made Calliope more confused was that Valentine turned into a blonde woman.
"Your reaction time was abysmal," the woman sighed as she approached the two of them. "Except for the both of you," she adds, eyeing Calliope who remained guarded, unsure if she could trust the blonde woman.
"Who are you?" Calliope frowned, not appreciating the use of a killer, her biological father's face as something to test the institute's adaption to intruders. It triggered her fight or flight especially with the recent knowledge she has regarding Valentine's sins. The list seems to keep piling up.
"I'm Lydia Branwell, envoy from the Clave," the blonde woman says, raising her hand for Alec to shake which he didn't take. He was as pissed off as Calliope was for the test the blonde had done.
"Maryse," Lydia called out, walking past both Calliope and Alec who remained stiff from the previous encounter.
"The clave has ordered me to take temporary control of this institute," the blonde woman says, a little too happy for Calliope's liking.
"Wait a minute," Maryse frowned as she walked into the ops center with Isabelle by her side, "nobody informed us."
"The clave doesn't need to," Lydia quickly says with this condescending look on her face, "and to repeat myself, it's temporary," she continued, taking out her stele onto the monitor, drawing a rune as if it was a clearance. "Nothing's been decided yet. But I do need full clearance in order to assess how this institute is running."
"She says that as if she's already the president of the United states," Calliope mumbled under her breath before Alec nudged her to shut up.
"Where is Calliope and Clary Fairchild?" Lydia asked, turning to Alec and Calliope who continued to glare at her.
"That would be me," Calliope answered, arms crossed over her chest.
"Huh," Lydia looks at her from head to toe, "you really do hold a resemblance to Valentine."
Calliope's jaw clenched, fist white and shaking, itching to throw another knife at the blonde—
"Where's your sister? I would hope that you know," Lydia asked again.
"She's out in the field, training," Alec answered, easing Calliope's clenched hand. This gesture continued to be unnoticed by everyone else in the room.
"You're telling me she's just out and about in the streets of New York?" Lydia spoke in disbelief, sending Calliope a brief stiff glance. "Valentine's daughter?"
"You say that as if we were alive when that lunatic attempted to commit downworld genocide," Calliope sarcastically remarks glaring back at Lydia who frowned back at her.
"Harsh of you to put it that way, considering that they're also your cousins," Isabelle frowned, failing to realize the confused look that appeared on Calliope's face. Her jaw agape as she looked at her best friend and the blonde woman in front of her.
"Distant cousins," Lydia looked back at Calliope stiffly.
"She's with Jace," Alec clarified, hoping that this woman backed off before Calliope rips her pretty blonde hair off her scalp. The initial shock of the family was wiped from Calliope's head and continued to dislike Lydia Branwell.
"The same Jace Wayland who led an unsanctioned raid against the vampires?" Lydia asked, with more sarcasm in her voice, "I've read reports."
"Good, I was afraid I was related to someone who didn't know how to read," Calliope commented, earning a glare from the blonde woman.
"Jace might be unconventional, but he's our best soldier," Maryse fought, following Lydia as the blonde toured herself around the ops center. "If he's with Clary, she's in good hands."
"And yet the other half out of the troublesome two is here where she should be, while the other is free doing who knows what," Lydia points at Calliope. "And for your sake, all of New York. All your jurisdiction should be well protected."
"She's a bitch," Calliope scoffed. After getting a well deserved shower and wearing her cargo pants and a thin long sleeve sweater. She sat beside Isabelle who chuckled at her rants as she monitored some leads in the system. "I can't believe I'm related to her."
"I don't know," Isabelle starts to tease, "she kind of reminds me of you."
"I am not condescending," Calliope frowned, handing Isabelle a stylus for the tablet she had. "Plus, I don't walk around all happy for taking over an institute because the Clave told me to. And do I look like I have a stick up my butt?"
Isabelle chuckled, handing Calliope the tablet and stylus, "of course you wouldn't relate to that, you didn't grow up in our environment," Isabelle explained.
"Big name shadowhunters like Lightwoods, Branwells, Herondales, even Fairchilds. They're big with running big institutes like New York," Isabelle continued to say.
"So it's politicking," Calliope sighed, sitting on a chair while Isabelle now shows her images on the tablet she was given. Showing pictures of people she never knew or met, not that she's been to anywhere else that is.
"Yes it's politicking, and every big shadowhunter name that operated an institute is basically a celebrity in the shadowhunter ranks," Isabelle says. "My parents operate New York. Blackthorns in LA, Penhallow in Beijing, Highsmiths in England," the raven haired continued on.
"So where does my 'cousin' fit in this?" Calliope asked, staring at the portraits on the tablet, stopping at a red haired man and a brown haired woman.
"This is Henry Branwell," Isabelle points out, "and beside him is Charlotte, his wife, formerly Fairchild and was the first female Consul of the enclave."
Calliope's brows shot up in surprise, "wow, first female consul?"
"She's pretty amazing," Isabelle grinned proudly at her friend, but then frowning when she saw the look on Calliope's face. "What's wrong?"
"Do you think I look like Valentine?" Calliope asked Isabelle.
"Why do you ask?"
Calliope pursed her lips together, unsure if she was being too sensitive, the whole thing was stupid anyways. "It's stupid."
"If it's bothering you this much, then it's not stupid," Isabelle tells her, sitting next to Calliope who avoided Isabelle's gaze. "Come on, tell me what it is."
Calliope takes a breath. "Lydia said I looked like Valentine, do you think that's true?" She asked Isabelle. Now voiced out Calliope wasn't sure how she was going to brush it off the raven haired girl's attention.
"No," Isabelle shakes her head. "If anything, you don't look like you have a receding hairline at 30," she joked, causing Calliope to scoff and bump shoulders. "But in all seriousness? I think you look more like Charlotte Fairchild than Valentine Morgenstern," Isabelle points out.
"You think so?"
"I know so," Isabelle grinned, standing up from Calliope's side. "Now come on, I asked someone to get us hot chocolate from your favorite cafe, they should be in the kitchen."
Calliope gasped, placing a hand on her chest in awe. "You are the love of my life."
"Anything for you, babes," Isabelle grinned, as both of them hooked arms and strutted away from the table. But before they had gotten far, both of them saw Alec alert both Maryse and Lydia about something.
"Isabelle, get ready for an autopsy, we'll be back from the Jade wolf and the corpse soon," Lydia ordered Isabelle who frowned.
"Why, what's wrong? What corpse?" Calliope couldn't help but ask, turning to the image on the screen, brows furrowed when she saw the graying skin on the corpse and a rune carved. "What is that?"
"We don't know," Alec replied, "we're going to have to find out."
"Can I come with at least?" Calliope asked, looking at Alec and ignored the stare Lydia had given her.
"You don't have any training, or clearance—"
"I've trained three weapons with Starkweather, four if you include the seraph blade. Though most of the missions I've been involved in are unsanctioned, I'm the one with a solid connection with wolves. If anything I'm more qualified in going to the Jade wolf than you do Miss Envoy," Calliope ranted, raising a brow at Lydia who frowned at her defiance. Not that there was anything wrong with wanting to come along.
"Plus, it's good field training." She added, smirking when she noticed Isabelle's grin and Maryse's impressed face. In the end Lydia allowed her to go.
"I can see why girls in Idris are clamoring to meet you," Lydia spoke after a lengthy amount of awkwardness since the three of them left the Institute.
"What do you mean?" Alec's brows furrowed in confusion. Minding that Calliope was trailing right behind them minding her own business, trying to make sure that she doesn't get abducted again in this maze of shipping boxes.
"Rumor has it that you're looking to settle down, get married," Lydia explains, causing Alec to groan, annoyed that his mother's wishes have already spread itself out to Idris.
"Damn it."
Lydia glances up at him, "let me guess, not your idea?"
"Not even close," Apec responded. Trying his best to keep an eye on Calliope who managed to keep herself out of their conversation and kept her attention to her phone. Guessing that she was probably contacting her sister and telling her about what was currently happening.
"My parents tried to set me up too," Lydia admits.
"And how'd that work out?"
"Not well for them, I made my own path," Lydia answered as her pace slowly came to a stop, her straightforward gaze turned into longing. "Married the love of my life. John Monteverde," she frowned, her voice turning quiet, a contrast to the confident tone she had before.
"Together we were going to run the Lisbon institute. And then John was killed," she paused. "Everything was ripped away. My love, my dream job," her voice trailed, as if she was reminiscing what could have been hers. Alec could see tears forming in her eyes, he could only imagine what losing the love of theirs would feel like. Unconsciously he turns to Calliope who stopped a couple feet away from them, talking animatedly on the phone.
Unconsciously he imagined his life without meeting Calliope, would he have felt as troubled? As drawn to someone else? Or will he remain the same man who wanted to keep his parents proud of him.
"Piece of advice," Lydia snaps him out of his thoughts, realizing that Calliope was looking at him curiously due to his stares. He turns back to Lydia who recovered from her own moment of grief. "In this line of work, the only thing worth falling in love with is the work itself."
"Lydia, I'm sorry," Alec apologized, not knowing how to take in the information the blonde has given him.
"You don't need to be sorry," Lydia lets out a stern breath. "Fairchild, let's go," the blonde says before entering the jade wolf first.
"Have the two of you clicked yet?" Calliope asked Alec as soon as she got closer to him. Spending the better part of the trip minding her own business and trying to call Clary to ask what they were going to do with Simon, trying her best to not crash and burn because Simon's sister called to ask where Simon was.
"No," Alec shortly answered, avoiding her gaze which she found confusing. Not too long ago he was creepily staring at her as if she was a runaway trying to escape. "Let's get inside," he tells her, going in before her whilst she quietly follows.
"It's got some characteristics of a Forsaken," Calliope hears Lydia say as soon as she walks in the restaurant. She looks around to find the tables either broken or onto the side, there were men nursing their friends, and yet her eyes stuck onto the graying figure on the floor.
"What is that?" She asked, keeping a safe distance away from the thing on the floor, unsure if it was alive, she wanted to be safe from it.
"A forsaken is a human who was runed, since it can't take the angelic energy they either die or turn insane," Alec explained, Looking around the area for anything specific that could've called the creature to attack.
"For sure that it was human," Lydia points out, turning the forsaken's head to the side showing a rune, "it was runed, so that checks all the boxes."
"Shouldn't either of you be wearing gloves before touching anything?" Calliope cringes back, patting her pockets for anything to give Alec in case he decides to touch the forsaken.
"I don't know," Luke spoke up, securing the bandage on his wrist, "it was more focused, more determined. It attacked like it had a plan."
"So you think it was still sane?" Calliope asked him, handing Lydia a tissue from one of the tables. Hoping that the blonde isn't dumb enough to touch anything else with her forsaken contaminated fingers.
"I doubt that," Luke replied, he was clearly troubled with the creature's appearance. "Plus, a normal forsaken wouldn't have been so hard to kill. It took five wolves to take that thing down. Never seen anything like it."
"We'll take the body back to the institute, do a full body autopsy," Lydia says, getting up and taking the tissues Calliope had tried to give her before turning to Luke who looked taken aback.
"Oh, hold up, I get that I called you," Luke's brows furrowed at the unknown blonde woman, "actually I called Alec. But what I didn't want is someone to come down here and take over."
"Yeah that's kind of her thing," Alec joins in, catching Lydia eye roll at his words. Calliope bites her lip, stopping herself from grinning.
"Look," Lydia sighed, "I know I can come off… abrasive," she says turning to Alec and Calliope, "but we're all on the same side here, can we agree on that?"
"The institute has the resources to find out what that thing is."
"We have an expert forensic pathologist. Highly trained in all the creatures of the shadow world," Alec adds, catching the relieved exhale Lydia made once he somehow took her side.
Luke turns to Calliope who didn't really want to add anything in the conversation, though he had hoped she would take his side. The look in her eyes says the opposite, "come on, Cal."
"I don't know, Luke," Calliope rubs her arm up, getting shivers as her gaze keeps going back to the body on the floor. "I doubt the precinct won't get suspicious with this body, you were already framed for the bodies last time," she points out, she genuinely didn't want him to feel like she wasn't taking his side. But she doubts that he could find answers on his own in the restaurant.
Luke sighed in defeat, "fine. You win. Just let me know what you find."
"You think Valentine is behind this?"
"Ew, Alec," Calliope scolds Alec for touching the body, showing her dirty and cracked fingernails. "You two seriously need to bring latex gloves in your jackets."
"It won't tamper with anything," Alec assured her, putting the hand down before turning back to Luke who merely scoffed.
"No question. It's definitely his work."
"What do you think he's after?" Alec asked again.
"Honestly? Me," Luke replied, glancing at Calliope who frowned at his answer.
"So you think Valentine is going after ex-circle members?" Lydia asked, crossing her arms together.
"I don't know," Luke shrugged, "it might be kind of personal. We had a complicated past," he explains before letting out a breath. "But of course he could be going after the old crew. I'm sure Valentine has a grudge against anybody who turned against him."
"So you mean, Hodge could be in danger?" Calliope asked, the feeling of worry filling her chest since she knew that Hodge was someone she grew close with in the past weeks she's been in the institute.
"We'll have a warlock put extra wards on the institute," Lydia responded.
"Hodge will be fine," Alec assured the brunette, patting her shoulder to try and ease her stiffness.
"And your parents," Lydia adds, causing both Calliope and Alec to turn towards her in shock. The shock on their faces confused the blonde. "Did they conceal that from you?" She asked Alec who looked more expressive now than he did the first time she met him.
After the revelation of both Maryse and Robert being involved in the circle, Calliope made it a point to put distance between herself and Alec who looked upset with the information. Sitting in the ops center, taking up some small work like checking surveillances around New York and Brooklyn. Keeping herself busy and not stuck with the fact that her psycho bio-dad hooked her best friend's parents into his insanity. It was a couple dozen levels of screwed up knowing that Maryse Lightwood detested down worlders, she shouldn't have been surprised by the revelation and yet she still was.
"Ardea, I'm surprised to see you here… alone at that." Calliope turns around to see Magnus and his sparkling self, best dressed whilst holding a parcel in his hand. "Where is your sister? I figured she would be here."
"It's good to see you too Magnus," Calliope gives him a smile, "and no, I don't know where Clary is. She's been running around with Jace, she hasn't been answering my calls."
"Shame, I came with gifts you see," he says, handing her a parcel, "figured now that you know your memory situation, it was time for me to hand you this."
"What is it?" She asked him, opening the parcel revealing a leather bound book.
"I borrowed it from a close friend, he says that it could help you," Magnus explained, opening the book now filled with dark scribbles on the pages. Calliope frowned when she noticed that the words and letters seemed to be written backwards.
"Magnus, why are these written backwards?"
Magnus's face contorted in confusion, "what do you mean? I can't see anything."
She looks up at him, even more confused, "can't you see these? They're all backwards—"
"Ardea, all I see is a blank book," Magnus tells her.
"Magnus, the body is ready to be examined now," Lydia's voice spoke, causing Calliope to slam the book closed, tucking it behind her back as the blonde approaches them.
"Oh, Calliope. I was just about to look for you," Lydia turned to Calliope, whose brow shot up in response.
"Well, I should go now. Better finish with this body before the wards," Magnus says as he gave Calliope a small smile before he strutted away.
"You were looking for me?"
Lydia straightened her posture before giving a scripted smile, "I was, I needed to talk to you about something," she says, motioning for Calliope to follow her
"Do I need Clary with me? It seems important," Calliope frowned as she followed. Into the halls towards the office that Alec frequently used before his parents came back.
"I can tell her once she gets here," Lydia answered, motioning for Calliope to sit, which she did. "The Clave wants you to transfer."
"Why?" She frowned, "I haven't been part of the shadow world for that long. I quite literally just found out about it on my 18th birthday, now you people want me to leave?" She argued, not wanting to leave the only place she's ever lived in her whole life. She has a life here, she had college, her friends, Luke…
Then Calliope paused. She doesn't have a life here, at least not anymore.
"As soon as possible, the Clave wants to transfer you and your sister to Idris for proper training. I have told them about your exceptional combat skill—"
"I've barely trained in combat."
"Not from what I saw," Lydia softly smiles. "Look. I know you probably see me as a bitch, and frankly I wouldn't blame you because as you said you only knew of this life not too long ago. But Idris will be good for you and your sister."
"Why can't we stay here? Hodge trains me enough, Clary is trained by Jace who is, by Maryse's words, the best soldier here," Calliope tried to rationalize, but it seemed like Lydia's mind was strung on convincing her to go. She doesn't want to go, not when her mom's still not found, not when she can never see Luke again, her father figure.
"The Clave has ordered the Branwells, our family, to house you and your sister until both of you are ready to enter the field," Lydia explained. "And with Valentine on the loose, who knows what he would do to either of you—"
"So that's what it is," Calliope gritted, "the Clave doesn't want Valentine to reunite with his daughters because we could be like him. So you're taking the opportunity of keeping a close eye on us disguised as training us, is that it?"
Lydia frowned, taken aback by Calliope's words. "No, not at all. We're family, Calliope—"
"Well, where was the 'family' when my mother fled Fairchild manor? Where were you all when my brother died in that fire?"
"Brother?" Lydia asked, confused. It was then that Calliope realized that she was being unfair, taking away how infuriating being asked to leave the place she's lived in her whole life, Calliope could see that Lydia cared. She cared enough to tell her and not surprise her by sending her away in that instant.
Calliope sat still, confused on what she should do. Would her mom have wanted them to leave?
"I'll give you time to think, okay?" Lydia tells her gently. "My office door is always open."
Without another word, Calliope walked out of Lydia's office.
Alec was bothered. Clearly he was when he decided to start punching the life out of the punching bag in the training room, each punch he gave was stronger than the last, anything to get his head to cool down, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The information of his parents being ex-circle members still fresh in his mind, he didn't know if he should confront them or not. But he was angry, rightfully so when his parents had pressured him to the point that his whole childhood was about becoming the next head of the institute.
He kept punching the back, dodging a few times as it swung, trying to keep his mind to focus on something else. He paused when he saw someone walk in. There stood Magnus looking at him.
"Magnus," he acknowledged, breathing heavily as he stopped the swinging bag. Noticing the distracted look Magnus had on his face as he seemed to be mesmerized by something. Alec noticed that it was because he was shirtless at the moment that he rolled his eyes.
"Okay, I'm back," Magnus snapped out when he realized that Alec started walking away towards the bench where his shirt was. "Oh you don't have to get dressed for me."
Alec gives him a pointed look whilst putting on his zip up, causing Magnus to sigh. "Fine… but I like what I saw."
"I have the preliminary autopsy findings," Magnus says, handing Alec the envelope which he took in confusion.
"Why are you giving it to me? It should go to the head of the institute," Alec scoffed, tossing the envelope to the side.
"And it is."
"I'm not," Alec frowned, "and I never will be." He lets out a deep breath, "it's like my whole life has been a lie. Everything I've ever known, all of it—"
"Is not what you thought," Magnus finishes, turning around when he starts hearing faint yet quick footsteps from the stairs. "Unfortunately, you're not the only one who feels that way," the warlock explained.
Alec followed his gaze to see Calliope stomping away in the hall to the green house's direction.
"Go on," Magnus encourages, "it's better to confide in someone who can see it from your lenses," he smiles at him, picking up the folder he had given Alec not too long ago. "And I'll see to it that this finds its appropriate recipient."
"No," Alec shakes his head. "I'll hand it over to Lydia," he says, taking back the folder, walking out the floor.
He finds himself following Calliope into the greenhouse, seeing her sit on one of the steps in the spiral staircases. Looking dazed while she looked at the sunset sky, he was unsure if it was right of him to stalk her.
"You can join me if you want," Calliope suddenly spoke before turning to him, his breath hitching when he noticed the unshed tears in her eyes. "Though I can't promise you that it's without any tears and quarter life crisis meltdown," she adds, wiping her face with her hand.
"I can relate to that," Alec responded, walking towards her, tucking the envelope beside him before he zipped up his shirt a little more.
"Good," Calliope chuckled, motioning to the lower stair, "come sit," she offered, which he took.
"So what's been bothering you?" She asked him. Hugging her knee which she leaned on, looking at Alec who couldn't look at her in the eyes without his face warming up. "Was it what Lydia said back at the Jade wolf?"
Alec nods, clenching his fist before sighing. He feels Calliope pat his shoulder, he looks up to see her offer a small smile. "I know what that feels like, at least something close to it," he hears her sigh.
"Can't really imagine what you went through when your world crashed down when you found out about the shadow world," Alec says, his hand finding its way to hers, holding onto it to ground him.
"To be honest? It was easier to deal with that than finding out that I was Valentine's daughter," she chuckles to herself before her lips formed into a thin line. "But I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, with what you found out and all," she tells him sympathetically.
Alec sighed again, "I've done everything for my parents. For the Clave, and…" he lets out a breath. Unsure if his life was still the way he wanted it to be. "I've done everything that they've asked, and it wasn't good enough, it was never good enough," he grumbled, squeezing Calliope's hand to calm him down, and yet Calliope squeezed his hand back in response.
"Maybe… you should start living for yourself?" Calliope suggested. "You've been living in your parents' expectations, you've never had the chance to actually live," she tells him. "Do what's in your heart."
Alec's lips formed a small smile, "I can't believe I'm saying this. I think you're right."
"I know I am," Calliope smiled at him, looking up which he copied, seeing the sunset sky now dark, with small stars twinkling down on them. Letting the comforting silence surround them, with their hands intertwined while their backs leaned against the stair's banister. Both ignoring the fact that their chests were spiraling out of control at that very moment.
"Simon is what?" Calliope snapped on the phone, after being in voicemail the whole day, she finally got a hold of Clary after the whole day of being off the grid. "Clarissa, what did you do?"
"Calliope I—"
"You let Simon turn into a vampire! Do you have any idea how devastated he would be once he finds out about what you did?!" Calliope exclaimed as she paced around the room, devastated and angry for the decision her sister made for her dead friend whom she lost not too long after he transitioned.
"I know, I—"
"No! I don't know, Clarissa. I will never know, how could you let him become that—"
"What would you have done?" Clary yelled through the phone, her voice distressed and broken that Calliope almost shed a tear once she heard her sister's sobs. "What would you have done if your best friend was roped into a world, died and turned into a vampire because you dragged him into it?" Clary continued to sob.
"I couldn't lose him, Calliope. I didn't want him to die, he's my best friend!"
Calliope found herself sitting on her bed, biting her lip as she listened to Clary's cries over the phone. "Clary…"
"I'm so sorry, Simon," she hears Clary whisper through her sobs. Send a shot of pain into Calliope's chest, feeling bad for yelling at her already distressed sister.
"Clary, give Jace the phone please," she tells her sister, hearing the faint okay she hears shuffles from the other end.
"Hello?" She hears Jace's voice at the other end.
"Where are you two?" She asked him, biting her nail anxiously.
"We're heading to the DuMort," Jace answered, hearing more shuffling from the other end.
"I can't be by Clary's side this time," Calliope tells him, "keep her safe for me, okay?"
"Of course I will," Jace replies.
"Good," Calliope nods, hearing more shuffles before she hears Clary's tearful voice.
"Calli?"
"I'm sorry I yelled," Calliope apologized, "and I'm sorry I wasn't there when you had to decide what to do for Simon."
"I-its okay," Clary sniffled, voice hoarse from crying.
"I know you'll get through this Claire, Simon will forgive you, okay?"
"Thanks Cal."
"I love you, Claire-bear. Remember that," she tells her sister, hoping that Clary knows that Calliope always has her back.
"I love you too, Calli-lily."
Ending the call there, she decides to walk out of her room, hoping to speak to Isabelle or Alec, maybe Magnus for an update on what happened with Simon. She stops in her tracks when she hears Isabelle gasp, running towards the source she found herself in the training room. Both Hodge and Alec are on the floor with a Forsaken beside them.
"What the hell happened?"