“Since when did you come back?” Alec found himself asking as he stared at the brunette who was missing while stuff went down. Not that he was blaming her for Lydia locking her away until the very last second, he just couldn’t help but wonder.
Calliope on the other hand didn’t know what she was going to tell him, especially when she didn’t particularly know much about what happened to her herself. She looks down onto her hand than had not let go of Alec since Aldertree swooped in and arrested Jace just as Alec was waking up. Come to find out, channeling her energy to him somewhat helped with his soul recovering.
“Cal,” Alec asked again, only this time Calliope looked right at him, having him look straight into her now gold colored eyes. “What happened?” he asked her, mesmerized by the gold that seemed to swirl under Magnus’s dim lighting.
“The city of bones happened,” Calliope shrugged, not hinting that she knew more than she did. Her condition was so cryptic that she asked Magnus for help from his friend who gave him the book he gave her a while ago. “I don’t really have an explanation,” she pursed her lips, letting go of Alec’s hand. “Are you better now?”
“How did you do that?” Alec asked her when he felt the warm energy from his hand disappear. He had felt that while he was still in a comatose state, it was what helped him come back to his body. Was that her?
“I genuinely don’t know,” Calliope shrugged, giving him a concerned look, “Why? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to get Magnus or Isabelle?”
“No,” Alec shakes his head, reaching for her hand, feeling that warm energy again. “Since when were you able to do this?” he asked her, this time he subconsciously held her hand to his cheek. As if the energy flowing in him made him want more of it. Unaware of the bright red face that Calliope now had as she stared at Alec who was now cuddling her hand.
“Just today,” she answered, not having the heart to tell him to let her go. Trying to find the point to not mind his affection for her hand. And as if Alec had gained back his common sense, he separates his face from her palm, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Calliope shakes her head, tucking her hand over her lap. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” he answered, now missing the warm energy. “You?” he asked her back.
“I’m okay,” she replied, pursing her lips, the image of what she did to him not too long ago was now haunting her mind, biting her lip unsure how to open the topic of her kissing his unconscious self.
“I want to apologize to you,” Alec opened first, having Calliope look at him confused. “I apologized for it before, and it's stupid of me to apologize for it again. But I really am sorry for all the words I said to you and your sister.”
She pressed her lips to a thin line. “There's nothing to apologize for,” she simply tells him. “At least now we’re somehow okay, right?”
“Yeah,” Alec nodded, though he wasn't convinced that they were okay now.
“Anyway, I should go,” Calliope stands up from her seat, “I told Clary that we were going back to the institute once I know you're okay.”
“What if I’m not?” Alec raised his brow at her with a little hope that she would stay beside him.
“You are,” Calliope smiled a little, already at the door, ready to leave.
“Are you sure?”
Calliope lets out a small grin, shaking her head at Alec's attempts on being sick still. “I’m sure,” she smiled at him. “See you around, Alec.”
Calliope sat in the garden after they got back from Magnus’s apartment, after Jace was arrested, after Alec was returned to the institute for check up. The events that happened at Magnus’s remained unspoken of, nor talked about which she definitely preferred. She was tempted to lock herself in her room again until Lydia decided that now was the time for her to leave New York. Only this time it didn’t look likely in such short notice after the damage Jace had made when he left with Valentine. Unless Valentine was caught, she wouldn’t leave just yet.
“Thought I’d find you here.” Calliope looks up from her stele to see Isabelle standing across from her, her hands behind her back with a certain look on her face that made her curious on what her friend was hiding from her. “Clary has been looking everywhere for you,” she tells her.
“What is that?,” Calliope quickly stands up, trying to catch a glimpse of what Isabelle had behind her. “Isabelle,” she pointedly looks at the raven haired friend of hers.
“Be patient, young one,” Isabelle grinned, pulling out the object from behind her revealing a small box. “I thought I’d want to give you this,” she tells her.
Opening the box, Calliope stared in awe. Inside was a white snake bracelet, much like Isabelle’s whip. “Oh Izzy,” Calliope gasped, turning to her friend who had a large grin on her face.
“Don't get too excited, it's a short weapon. It's not as long as a staff or a swallow, but it packs a punch and is stylish,” Isabelle explained, taking out the bracelet, putting it on Calliope's wrist. “I heard from Lydia that you're waiting for a reinstatement in Idris with little possibility of you returning to New York.”
Calliope chuckles, “If this is a parting gift, I’d like to return it,” she tells Isabelle.
“It's not, just something to have you remember me,” Isabelle explained, shaking her head with a fond smile on her bold red lips.
“Who could forget the only shadowhunter I know who's been kicking demon ass in New York on 5 inch heels?” Calliope grinned, causing Isabelle to laugh at her words.
“I’m so going to miss you,” Isabelle frowned, eyes now glassy. “You’ve done so much for our family, for Alec,” Isabelle paused, quickly wiping a stray tear from her face.
“I’m not leaving just yet, Iz,” Calliope assured her. “And I’m sure I’ll be back soon.”
“Hopefully,” Isabelle nods. “And by then, I hope Alec comes to his senses and finally asks you out on a date.”
“That won't happen,” Calliope shakes her head, making Isabelle frown.
“And why not?” Isabelle asked, now following Calliope out the garden who seemed to want nothing more but to escape Isabelle’s questions. “I know Alec is an idiot when it comes to these things, but why the hesitation? You both clearly care about each other.”
“Even if he doesn't trust me?” Calliope turns to Isabelle who frowned at the brunette's question.
“Alec trusts you, Calli.”
Calliope falls silent, “if you say so, Iz.”
“I know so,” Isabelle grinned wider, hooking her arms around Calliope's, “now let's get you some hot chocolate.”
Calliope let's out a wide smile, “you know what? Why don't I date you instead?” She joked, as she secured Izzy’s arm around hers.
“If Alec doesn't start dating you soon, sure,” Isabelle winks, causing Calliope to laugh as they both made their wah towards the kitchen.
“I heard from Lydia,” Calliope says, walking up to her mom who was packing up the few things she had in the institute. “Are you sure you want to leave New York?” She asked her mother as she approached her mom who paused her packing.
“There's nothing for me here, Calli,” Jocelyn shakes her head.
“The Clave wants to test my loyalty, and I’m done running,” Jocelyn says, reaching for Calliope’s hands giving her a small reassuring smile. “But at least now we can start fresh. I can finally show you and Clary our home, our family’s legacy.”
“But you’ll be leaving Luke behind,” Calliope frowned, sad that her mother was talking about moving on when they would be leaving the only man who stepped up for them. The man who would always bring her to school, help her with homework, and teach her how to defend herself when she got into college claiming that there were dangerous people in college. The man who always made time for her whenever she needed someone to vent her frustrations to.
“Luke understands our situation,” her mom explains to her, “and it's for the best.”
Calliope frowned, not liking her mother’s answers, “And you’re just going to leave him after everything he did for us? For you?”
Jocelyn cups her cheeks, “And it's because of me that we’re even in this situation,” she says, rubbing her brunette daughter’s cheeks with her thumbs. “This is our chance to start fresh, to move past this.”
“I understand why you did it,” Calliope says as she looks her mom in the eye. “I just wish you didn't.”
“I know, baby,” her mom guiltily says, letting go of her, now looking at Calliope's golden eyes still shimmering under the light. “Hopefully we’ll find answers in Idris. Okay?”
“I hope so too.”
“Talk about ripping someone's heart out, literally,” Calliope winced as she walked beside Lydia and Isabelle who were wheeling in a dead body from a recent crime scene. “Was it a demon?” She asked, turning to Isabelle who was at the scene herself.
“It shows the basic signs of a demon attack. Alec and Clary are out looking for it right now,” the raven head said.
“Are you sure Clary’s going to be okay?” Calliope frowned in worry.
“She will be, Alec won't let anything happen to her,” Isabelle smiled at her reassuringly before turning to Lydia looking very upset at Raj who awkwardly scratched the back of his head as the blonde scolded him.
“How do you want to proceed with this Lydia?” Isabelle asked the blonde who finally turned to her and Calliope who was busy staring at the body.
“Check any unknown marks, signs, anything to identify the demon,” Lydia orders. “Take Calliope with you, this could be a good learning opportunity for you, might as well look into a specialty before we get to Idris,” Lydia nods at the brunette who looked very pleased.
“I want that report back to me first, okay?”
“Aye aye, boss,” Calliope grinned, immediately frowning when she felt a dreadful energy breeze up from behind her, causing her to turn her head towards the body to see it still untouched.
“Hey, what's wrong?” Isabelle asked her, patting Calliope's shoulder.
Calliope frowns as she stares at the body, she doesn't know what that was, and hopefully it's not that bad… hopefully.
“You know I majored in Psychology, but I never knew Forensic pathology could be this fun,” Calliope says, looking into the microscope that Isabelle was using, at awe with what she was seeing.
“It's not a pretty job, but it's great,” Isabelle chuckled, replacing the glass slides with another, frowning. “There's nothing out of the ordinary. No demonic residue, no demon marks, nothing.”
“Could the attacker be possessed and carry it in the institute? I mean, horror movies have done that, at least there should be some truth in it.”
Isabelle shakes her head. “Rule one in Forensics, never create fiction,” she tells the brunette. “And as plausible as that sounds, demons aren't that powerful to enter the institute grounds without being affected by the runes, this one is advanced somehow.”
“I have a wild guess,” Calliope says, pulling herself away from the microscope. Turning to Isabelle who was now typing some things on the computer, a report to give to Lydia most likely.
“Fortunately for us, your wild guesses lead us straight to the answers,” Isabelle says, writing on the clipboard on the other side of the desk whilst checking the computer she typed on. “But unfortunately for you, your wild guesses don't apply to your love life.”
Calliope frowned, “what does my love life have anything to do with this?” She asked, though on the inside she was anxious for her friend to find out what happened at Magnus’s lair. Did she know? Who told her? Magnus wouldn't have known, would he?
“Well,” Isabelle trailed, leaning against the table, arms crossed over her chest with a smug expression. “For one, since you got back, Alec hadn't stopped looking at you.”
“It could be because my eyes aren't my normal eyes anymore,” Calliope pointed out, the people in the institute, at least the ones who knew her were shocked at her new eyes. Both creeped out and at awe, though no one really gawked at her, she could still feel their gazes unfortunately.
“Well, that and the fact you two were alone. Did you kiss?” Calliope snapped her gaze towards Isabelle who had a wide grin on her face.
“Who told you?”
As if Isabelle's grin couldn't get any wider, Calliope realized her mistake and groaned in embarrassment. “So you did kiss?”
Calliope huffed, “I was trying to save his life, okay?”
“And I will be forever grateful,” Isabelle says with sincerity before it was washed away with a teasing look on her face. “But tell me, how was it? Does he know? What did you feel?”
“Are you always this pressed who your brother kisses?”
“Considering that you're probably his first kiss, then yes,” Isabelle smiled, causing Calliope to blush. She didn't know she was Alec’s first kiss. Technically he was hers too, but that was the other dimension Alec. This Alec’s first kiss was her.
“You two are going to be so cute together,” Isabelle squealed. But the joy was short lived when the alarm started to blare.
“Oh my god, Welkie!” Clary gasped, jogging towards the body that laid on the ground, a large gaping hole on his chest. Right behind her was her sister and the Lightwood siblings, checking to see what it was about.
“What happened?” A confused shadowhunter asked, looking around when he realized the people starting to crowd him.
“Classic demon possession hang over,” Lydia informed them as she glanced at the dead body of the deceased shadowhunter.
Calliope grimaces at the scene, all too similar to what they just examined in the morgue. “He has a hole punched right through his chest, like the body in the morgue.”
“The demon is in the institute,” Alec simply says, crouched down beside the deceased. “Ops center, now.”
And with that, most of the shadowhunters followed, leaving a few to deal with the dead a and the confused.
The scene is still too disturbing that it was a bad day to have an eidetic memory, shaking away her thoughts as best as she could, she turns to her wrist where Isabelle's gift was clasped on. “Activate all surveillance, Victor is unreachable,” Calliope heards Lydia say. “I’ve ordered this institute to quarantine until we kill this thing.”
“But I don't get it. How did it get into the institute without setting off the wards?” Clary asked as she put on a weapons belt with her stele and seraph blade attached.
“The same way it got in without setting this off,” Isabelle says, holding onto the necklace Magnus gifted her a while back. “It must have an advanced cloaking ability.”
“And we only know one person who's capable of creating creatures like this,” Calliope says, handing Alec a quiver of runed arrows before handing Clary another seraph blade.
“Valentine,” Clary grumbled. “Mom said that he was obsessed with creating a creature that could take down the Clave, like what he was trying to do with Jace.”
“The victims both had a sign of damage in their prefrontal cortex, the demon is feeding off of negative emotions. Anger, hate, rage. Causing the host to react into those violent urges,” Isabelle informs them. Looking at everyone around the table.
“So we continue to scan for demon venom and heat signatures, try to narrow down the host before it strikes again,” Alec says, glancing at Calliope who was focusing on the situation at hand.
Lydia holds out her hand on the table, pulling up the digital blueprints of the institute, pursing her lips in concentration. “Alec, Calliope, you two take the living quarters,” Lydia orders, showing the areas they needed to check.
“You two, the basement,” the blonde says to Clary and Isabelle, watching the four of them walk away. “That leaves me with you?” Raj who stood beside her grinned, causing Lydia to roll her eyes at him.
“This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“Draw this rune,” Alec tells Calliope, showing her his rune, “it can help you see the demon heat signatures better,” he tells her before her readies himself for any unexpected encounter.
Drawing the rune, Calliope was suddenly overwhelmed with many things. The lights, the appliances on the walls, all flashing shades of color as if she had put on heat signature goggles. “Woah.”
“Try to focus on one thing,” Alec tells her, and she does try, blinking until she could focus on Alec’s heat signature. “It's overwhelming the first time, you just need a little practice,” he says.
“Yeah, I got it,” Calliope says, having her senses calmed. “So how did Clary do when she first had this rune drawn on?” She asked Alec, trying to put some life in the stagnant air around them.
“She did fine,” Alec responded, slightly relaxing as they checked every crevace of the living quarters. “She was overwhelmed the first time too, but she did get to calm the victim down before she had a full meltdown,” he added.
“Was the victim okay?” She asked him, turning to Alec who kept on looking ahead as they walked. “She is now, the infirmary said she’ll be fine,” he says stopping in his tracks before turning to her.
“What?” She gave him a confused look.
“Are you really leaving for Idris with your mother?” He asked her, a frown slowly etching to his lips.
“Yes, why?” She asked him. “It's not like I have anything left here,” she tells him. “I dropped out of school, my mom is back, and the best for me and Clary is to leave New York and start fresh,” she simply says. It's not like she’d be gone forever, she was going to go to Idris and train to bevome stronger, better. She also needed answers that she can't have access to from New York.
Alec quietly nods, finding sense in her words even if it did bother him, calling himself hypocrite for assuring Clary that she’d like Idris and yet he thought otherwise when it came to Calliope. Shaking his head, turning his head from side to side, trying to distract himself by finding any clues on the demon in the institute, stepping ahead of Calliope as he does, “I think you're going to like Idris.”
Calliope nods, looking around as well, “I think so too,” she agrees, yet deep inside her she wished he’d tell her to stay. But what would constitute that? Alec didn't trust her, she's sure he was resenting her still for being Valentine's daughter and all that.
“Actually, Alec—” she was cut off by a crash. Both Alec and Calliope turned to each other and ran to the source of the crash.
“Lydia!” Calliope gasped to see the blonde woman on the floor with Raj pinning her against the ground. His fingers digging into Lydia’s chest, his eyes black as he turned his attention to Alec and Calliope who had just arrived.
Quickening their movements, Alec pulled Raj away from Lydia, giving Calliope time to help her. The holes around Lydia’s chest were deep, and if they were too late she would've had a hole on her chest too.
“Is she okay?” Alec asked, approaching them as Calliope was trying to activate Lydia’s Iratze, healing just a portion of the punctured wounds on her chest. Alec witnessing the process, eyes gazing on the unknown rune on Calliope’s arm as it lets out a soft glow. “Calli—”
“We need to move her to the infirmary.”
Calliope sat beside Lydia’s bed in the infirmary in worry. Bringing Lydia here while she was conscious and writhing in pain, it made it difficult for the medical team to mend her which made them decide that she needed to be sedated. Good call, but it worried Calliope still when she realized that healing here would be dangerous for her.
“Calliope.” She turns to wards the door to see Raj limping into the room before stopping at the foot of the bed. “I’m so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing, everything went black and—”
“The demon feeds off of negative emotions,” Calliope simply says before turning to him. “As you said when we brought the body into the morgue, you had a rough weekend. The demon knew to target you,” Calliope says. Her gaze held no anger towards him, causing Raj’s chest to tighten in guilt.
“But I—”
“Are you still angry?” She asked him, getting up from her chair.
“No,” Raj shakes his head.
“Good, stay here,” she tells him before walking out the room, activating her snake bracelet, turning it into a thin blade. Similar to her swallow in length when it was detached from it's twin, the familiarity of its weight gave her a bit of confidence.
Trudging around the living quarters hall, focusing on heat signatures. She was too focused on shutting her anger and not risk herself being a victim to the demon’s next host.
“Calliope!”
“Mom!” Calliope's defenses dropped, relieved to see her mom unhurt. “What are you doing here? There's a demon in the institute.”
“I know.”
Calliope froze, her mother's voice was not her own. Distorted and mixed with another voice, she stared at her mother, her vibrant green eyes were black with anger in her eyes.
“Mom?”
“I should've let Valentine take you to Edom.”
Alec was worried when he heard from Raj that Calliope left Lydia's side. Worried that Calliope could either be a host or the one with the puncture wounds. With his bow and quiver secured around his body, looking for Calliope, he walked the same trail they were patrolling before Lydia’s attack. And that was where he heard a crash and a scream. A familiar scream, one his heart clenched, putting him in a state of panic as he ran towards the source. Praying to the angels that she was okay.
“Calliope!” He bursted from the curve. He could see Calliope back against the wall, feet hovered, her own mother's hands wrapped around her neck creating a bruise that he could see from where he stood.
“Hey!” He yelled, pulling back his string, arrow attached, releasing it as it went straight to Jocelyn Fairchild’s shoulder. Her cry of pain caused her to release Calliope’s neck, having her drop onto the floor, unconscious. A dark smoke revealed itself, only it didn't leave the scene like Alec expected to after each kill. Only now, he didn't realize it was his anger the demon was ready to feed off of next.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.” Calliope opened her eyes, everything around her was white. No floor, doors, ceilings, and windows. Nothing but white blinding light except her mom, her mom was there and she had tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry baby,” her mom cried, standing a couple feet away from her.
“Mom, why are you crying? What's going on?” She asked, taking a step towards her mother.
“Don't!” Her mom warned her that she stopped that step.
“Mom, I—”
“The angel only gave me a few minutes to say goodbye,” Jocelyn says, her voice breaking into a sob. “I’m so sorry for all the things I did to you sweetheart.”
“Mom, I forgive you. You know this,” Calliope assured her, her heart breaking as she watched her mother crumble in front of her, wanting to comfort her own mother but something in her mom’s warning made her hesitate. “Tell me what's wrong, I’ll try to fix it, please.”
Jocelyn wipes her face, “You can't fix what I’ve done, Calliope.”
“Mom—”
“Just remember that I love you,” Jocelyn says, “remember that all I have done, the decisions I made were for you and your sister.”
“Mommy, please—”
“And tell Alec that it wasn't his fault.”
“Mom!”
“Mom! Don't leave! Please!” Calliope thrashed, feeling someone hold her by the shoulders to hold her still. But she couldn't think, she didn't know what was going on.
Clary on the other hand was heartbroken. The thought of her sister not knowing that their mother whom they just got back was now gone, this time they will never get back. Gently shaking her sister awake, trying her best to not hurt her any further, the hand shaped bruise on her neck reminded the red head of what happened. “Calli, it's me. It's okay, you're safe,” Clary says, shaking her sister awake.
“Clare?” Calliope finally woke up, her voice hoarse as she looked around the room, recognizing that it was the infirmary. “What happened—” she winced when her throat prevented her from saying another word.
“Here,” Clary offered her a glass of water with a straw. Taking a sip from it, her mind still fogged from when she was unconscious.
“What happened?” She asked again, this time her throat didn't bother her as much and though it still felt difficult.
Clary hesitated as she stared at her own sister, she didn't want her sister to know her mom attacked her, nor did she want to tell her sister that their mom was gone. Taking a deep breath, Clary held onto Calliope's hands, hers was sweating and trembling which she knew for a fact that Calliope could pick up on.
“Clary. What happened?” Calliope asked again.
“Mom’s gone, Cal,” Clary says, her voice breaking at the end. “Mom was the demon’s next host and she attacked you.”
In disbelief, Calliope shakes her head, “where is she? Is she okay? You said she was gone, did the Clave take her?”
Clary shakes her head, “She's gone, Cal. And she's never coming back.”
Calliope's heart sank. “What do you mean she's not—” and then it truly sank in, “oh god,” she muttered under her breath, tears started to well in her eyes. “When I found you, you were on the floor, Alec was beside you unconscious too, and mom, she…” Clary takes a deep breath. “She's gone , Cal.”
“And the demon?”
“Gone,” Clary answered. “I killed it when it possessed Izzy, she was trying to kill Alec.”
“Is Izzy okay?”
Clary nods. “She's in the other room, I stabbed her back to get the demon out of her,” she explained, guilty for hurting their friend whose hand has been trembling due to the damage she causes on her.
“And Alec?” Calliope finally asked, worried that Alec would blame himself.
‘Tell Alec that it wasn't his fault.’
“I haven't seen him,” Clary admits.
“Then I should go,” Calliope says, pulling away the blanket that covered her legs.
“You're not getting up from this bed,” Clary scolds her, gently pushing her back on the bed.
“He needs to know that it's not his fault.”
“You need rest!” Clary snapped. “I lost mom, and I almost lost you. Now stay!”
“It's not his fault, Clary,” Calliope tells her sister, almost begging to leave the bed and find Alec, telling him that it wasn't his fault.
“I know it wasn't, and I never blamed him,” Clary told her, wiping her tears away. “I just… for once, Cal. Stay here and rest.”
Calliope nods, her sister barely holding herself together, pulling her into an embrace. Trying their best to be strong, for each other and for themselves.
Arrow. Tug. Aim. Let go.
Aim. Let go.
Let. Go.
The wooshing sounds ran past Alec’s ear with ear arrow he launched, hitting the invisible wards that surrounded the institute. Focusing on his aim towards nothing, burying what he's done, burying the fact that he failed. He failed Jace, Izzy, Clary, and Calliope.
Pulling back his bow’s string, he aims somewhere before shooting again, the image of how he shoved his hand in Jocelyn Fairchild's chest, ripping her heart out replaying in his mind that he momentarily closed his eyes in anger before launching the arrow.
“Alec.”
Alec turns to the side, his bow still in position, arrow ready for launch. Jace standing before him with a worried look on his face. Alec couldn't even be happy to have his parabatai back, especially after he killed his mother, especially when he failed him in the city of bones.
“Move,” Alec coldly tells Jace, aim still pointed at the blond.
“How long have you been up here?”
“I’m glamoured, no one can see me. Now move,” Alec tell him, impatient that his parabatai won't even move, not when he's ready to launch.
“You can't beat yourself up,” Jace tells him, slowly walking towards Alec, hoping to calm him down and get him inside where he knew his parabatai needed.
“I’m not,” Alec stiffly replied. Lying to himself, he definitely was beating himself up for what happened. He doesn't even know if he could face everyone inside with feeling like a complete failure.
“Alec, it's me. Your parabatai, I know exactly how you feel,” Jace tries to reason, “what happened to Jocelyn was not you, it was the demon.”
“Get out of the way!” Alec warned.
“Hey,” Jace raised his hands, “same side, remember?”
“Come on man, get back inside,” Jace breathed out as Alec finally puts down his aim. He could see the slouch on his parabatai’s back, how he knew he was beating himself up for something he couldn't control.
“That's the place I want to be in,” Alec tells him, turning away from Jace.
“Alec. Valentine has the soul sword, he slaughtered the silent brothers. We need our best soldiers—”
“Stop pretending this never happened!” Alec snapped, glaring at Jace who was caught off guard by his reaction. “I couldn't save you from Valentine. I couldn't save you from the city of bones. I…” he stops for a second, looking down in shame. “She’s Calliope's mother. Your mother,” he says in shame not seeing the sadness in Jace’s eyes when he says so.
“Nobody blames you, Alec. Not me, nor Calliope,” Jace tells him.
“They should,” Alec says, activating his rune and jumping off from the roof. It took Jace a couple seconds to realize what his parabatai did, but at the moment he looked down from the roof, Alec had already began running.