Heyy lovelies Xo
I am really sorry about the late update, things have been crazy maisy with the move but it's calming down now, thank goodness! :))
I hope you enjoy tonights chapter!
PLEASE VOTE! it means the world to me and let me know what you think <3
Best wishes,
Emm
xxx
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Ebony's POV:
The smell of rubber and disinfectant greeted my nose as we descended the laminate halls. That section of the hospital was understandably quiet at 5am but we used our invisibility runes anyway. We approached an empty desk and without exchanging a word, both Alec and Jace slipped behind it and began fingering through files for her name, or at least her description.
'Here! Mysterious coma patient, room 216.' Jace informed us triumphantly and we made our way there...
One locater spell and a trip to a random hospital in Vancouver later, I was standing over the unconscious body of my biological mother. A bright green aura surrounded her pale white skin and I noticed that we looked much alike with our complexion, hair and eye colour, though she was noticeably beautiful and I just seemed plain.
Magnus' spell had revealed her body lying lifeless in a hospital bed in a suspected coma that ordinary doctor's couldn't possibly comprehend or cure, oblivious to the magic surrounding her and blind to the striking green aura. To them, she was just an unexplainable coma patient. The heart machine beeped rhythmically as if she were merely sleeping. There she was; my mother right in front of me...I couldn't believe it. It was really her!
Magnus believed she'd taken some backwater potion to knock herself out and protect the whereabouts of the cup within her thoughts. She sacrificed herself yet again for the Mortal Cup and had we not found her, she would remain in her sleep forever...wouldn't she? This was all too weird for me to really get my head around.
Magnus, Alec, Jace and I stood over the bed, leaving Raphael behind in Magnus' apartment to hide out from the sun after we finished the locater spell, leading us here. A shitty vampire side effect; I knew he wanted to help and would be worried about me but this mission was simple and safe.
After giving me a moment to take in the sight before me, the two Shadow hunters either side of me prepared to move my mom, Jace and Alec pulled the here-pointless IV out of her arm and unplugged the wires from her body and heart monitor from her finger. In one swift movement, Alec lifted her up bridal style and Magnus created a portal for us to escape through like body snatchers. I followed behind them into the spiralling purple matter and before I knew it, my feet hit the familiar stone floor of the Institute and we were headed for the infirmary, Mayress' orders.
Once placed there, the staff did some tests without Izzy's usual help; she had a knack for supernatural forensics. I wondered where she was as I watched them inspect my mother's body, taking her blood to test for answers. Someone tugged at my jeans and I looked behind me, surprised to see my little brother. He looked at the body curiously and then back to me.
'Eb?'
'Hey Mye!' I greeted excitedly.
'Who's that?' He asked innocently, 'never mind. Are you alright?' I crouched down to his height. 'Yes. Nori and I just had breakfast. But they have funny food here, they don't have cornflakes like at home.' He crinkled his nose sillily and I laughed, 'no they don't!' I agreed. His little smile momentarily distracted me from the stress of everything and I thanked the universe for that. I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, he had no idea, bless him, and I wanted to keep it that way.
'Hey you!' Nora's voice resonated by the door and just hearing it made me smile; the two's presences were a comfort to me, offering a refreshing semblance of reality. I didn't feel so silly for being afraid any more, I wasn't from this world or at least, I wasn't brought up in it. Nora's hair was tied in a messy bun right now and it reminded me of old times, she also wore her 'I love Harry Styles' T-shirt with a shameless smile and it made me want to burst out laughing, that was so Nora. Even during the stressful events of the last month, she was still her goofy self and I loved that about her. She loved Harry Styles and that was that.
'Hey Nor!' I stood up and she enveloped me in a hug by the time she reached me. The hug lasted a long time and evolved from that of a greeting into one of relief and support. I buried my nose deeper into the crook of her neck and she did the same. I needed that. Soon I felt two little arms circle our legs and I bought Myles into the hug. He didn't know why we were hugging but he probably wanted to join in, he always loved hugs.
'Ehem.' A sharp voice caused us to separate, a blonde girl stood tall and proud in the doorway. My eyes unconsciously scanned her, she was notably elegant but her smile was fake. 'You must be Ebony Morgenstern.' She acknowledged authoritatively, 'it's Ebony Fairchild, actually.' I corrected calmly, I didn't want to be associated with my father any more than anyone else wanted me to be.
The girl nodded curtly and stepped forward to shake my hand, 'Lydia Branwell, envoy of the Clave. The Institute is temporarily under my jurisdiction whilst the Lightwood's are under suspicion.' My attention peaked, 'under suspicion of what?'
'It's not your concern Miss Fairchild.' She snapped, 'are Alec and Isabelle okay?'
She ignored my question as her eyes trailed to my mother's sleeping body, 'we will be keeping Jocelyn Fairchild here for safety until she wakes. The Clave believe it is best this way because she's rendered unable to give up the cup to Valentine in exchange for her sister. She will remain asleep until we find Valentine and arrest him.' She barked out orders like a robot, it reminded me of Alec but at least he wasn't so abrasive. She rudely ignored the presence of both Myles and Nora and it made me angry. Myles clung onto my leg and I rubbed circles into his back to calm him.
'But-' I began to argue that we had to find Perle but I was cut off when Alec's voice interjected mine, 'Jocelyn wouldn't be that foolish. She's sacrificed everything for the safety of the cup. She has valuable knowledge that we could use.'
He walked to her side with an air of hostility, that is until he caught Nora's eye. The two shared an awkward smile before Alec diverted his eyes back to the blonde's.
'No. We can't let the cup fall into the wrong hands. I am here to enforce the Clave's orders.' She retorted with a scowl, impatience dripping from her words, that was until she took a good look at Alec. Her eyes widened a little, 'Lydia Branwell, I don't believe we've met...' she spoke with a sickeningly charming smile, 'ur...Alec Lightwood.' He shook her hand with a confused expression.
'Of course.' she nodded, 'now I can see why the girls in Idris are clamouring to meet you.' she batted her eyes and Nora stiffened up in my peripheral vision. Even I felt jealous for her. No one ever likes the girl that comes on to her best friends crush, especially when they seem rude and bitchy. Alec fell speechless and shot her a weird look but she stared back shamelessly.
I cleared my throat, 'where's Izzy?' I asked him to change the subject, 'I don't know.'
...
I spent the rest of the morning sleeping after running myself a soothing bath, since I had been up all night. 'Hey, sleepyhead!' Nora greeted as I entered the cafeteria mid afternoon, sat round one of the many metal tables that clustered the room with Izzy and Myles. 'Hey guys!' I greeted excitedly and Izzy groaned and slumped her head on the table aggravated, 'woaaah! Who pissed on your picnic?' I teased and she sighed, 'this Lydia chick is doing my head in.' Nora laughed, 'yours and mine both!' She retorted, pushing her sketchpad away so that she could lean her elbows on the table. I chuckled at the two and slumped down next to my little brother who's attention was elsewhere. He was playing with a little wooden toy and I narrowed my eyes to focus on it better; 'hey Mye, whatcha got there?' he looked up at me with a smile, 'it's an angel, Alec said I could play with it.' I looked at the girls to verify and they both nodded easily, 'he used to play with it as a child.' Izzy notified.
'I can't imagine a young Alec Lightwood.' I scoffed trying to picture it and Izzy laughed, 'he used to be fun.' I smirked at her. 'I bet he was really cute.' Nora gushed dreamily as she stared into nothing, probably dreaming about prince charming himself. 'What's that Juliette?' I teased, cupping my ear over dramatically as if I didn't hear her comment and she glared at me, Izzy chuckled. 'To be Juliette I would need to have a Romeo.' My best friend groaned. Izzy snorted, 'if I remember correctly, weren't you two were playing tonsil tennis yesterday?' Izzy smirked and Nora blushed a deep shade of red, 'she went in for the kill!' I teased, growling into the air, Izzy chuckled. Nora hid her face with her hands, groaning with embarrassment as I embarrassed her like the great bestie I am.
She had spilled the details of her kiss to me over text and I squealed outwardly at Magnus', if I remember correctly, earning some weird looks from the boys which I shrugged off. I ship Nalec along with Izzy and I'm proud of it. They are perfect, in a cute and awkward kind of way and I'm pretty certain he likes her.
Myles began flicking through Nora's sketchpad as Izzy and I experimented with ship names:
Alnora
Noralec
Nalec
Nalexander was my favourite because it annoyed Nora the most and sounded posh as it rolled off our tongues.
'Eb?' Myles piped up, sounded quite distressed. My head snapped to him, he had a curious expression on his face as he stared at Nora's sketchbook. 'what's wrong?' I asked filled with concern. 'The angel is in the paper.'
'What?!' I retorted as if I had heard him wrong, 'what do you mean it's in the paper?' I asked dumbfounded and he handed me the sketchbook and my jaw dropped...
The angel figure had appeared as if someone had drawn it and I brushed my hand over the page only to uncover that it was totally two dimensional. I raised my eyebrows and handed the sketchbook to the girls who stared at Myles and I curiously. 'What the- I never drew that; that drawing wasn't there before.' Nora spoke confusedly, 'Myles did you draw this?' My little brother shook his head but it was pretty obvious since the drawing was eerily lifelike and whilst Myles was advanced for his age at school, he could never have drawn that. 'Well it wouldn't just appear out of thin air!' Nora threw her hands up in the air, trying to make sense of it. Just then, Myles reached into the page, yes folks: Into the page, and pulled out the angel figure in its full three dimensional glory. What the-
'Oh my God.' Izzy said breathlessly and the three of us stared at Myles in awe as he examined the wooden toy. 'I've only ever seen one other person do that.' A deep voice sounded from behind us and a tall blonde man that I knew to be Hodge, approached the table with an intrigued smile. He was holding a half eaten granny's apple in his left hand. We all stared at him in silence, our eyes pleading him to go on, he sighed, 'you're Mom.' He gestured towards me and I shook my head incredulously and then it hit me...
It all made sense. I knew where the cup was, I just knew and I looked up at the four, 'I know where it is.'
'Where what is?' Nora questioned confusedly, 'the cup.' And with that everyones eyes widened further, we all probably looked like fish. I pulled back in my chair, 'I'm going to find Jace.' Suddenly I felt the weight of the responsibility on me; I knew the location of the cup which meant I was both in the know and in danger. Weirdly in that moment, Jace was the only person I felt I could trust and I excused myself from the table, grabbing Myles' hand and the book and darting out of the cafeteria. Dramatic, I know but I suddenly felt an urgency and paranoia. Could I trust that no one else in the canteen heard? Could I trust Hodge? Could I even trust Izzy?
Jace was the only one I felt certain of. I needed to find him.