[Brielle]
"Dad?" Jace asked in disbelief.
"Son, I can't believe it. Son, you're hurt. How did you find me?" The man asked as he stood up and hugged Jace.
"You're dead. Valentine killed you. Valentine's... Valentine's here." Jace mumbled. The man shook his head slightly.
"No, Jace. It's me." The man said while he grabbed Jace's arms in a gesture of reassurance, then he turned to look at us. "I'm Michael Wayland, Jace's father. Look, I know what Jace told you two, but I've been here for ten years. Valentine took off and left me." He explained and I furrowed my eyebrows. As much as I wanted to believe him, something was not quite right.
"What about Jocelyn Fairchild?" I asked him as I crossed my arms.
"He took her with him. You two are?" He asked as he flickered his gaze between me and Clary.
"I'm Clary and this is my sister Brielle, we're her daughters. Meliorn the seelie told us that he was here with her." Clary said with disappointment. In that moment, Jace fell to the floor but Michael managed to held him up.
"It's Ravener venom. He kept telling us he was alright." Clary said nervously as she panted. I walked over to help Michael held Jace up.
"We have to find your father, not mine. Valentine's-" Jace began saying but stopped as he started to grunt.
"His stele... where is it?" Michael asked us. He started to search in the pockets of Jace's jacket, and while he was doing it he found the card of the cup. I immediately snatched it away from his hand making him look at me confused.
"Back pocket." I simply stated as I handed Clary the card for her to keep it in her bag. He then found Jace's stele and pulled up his shirt to run it over the iratze. Nothing happened and Jace kept groaning in pain.
"What's wrong?!" Clary asked with worry.
"The rune is weak." Michael explained.
"The venom must be spreading. We have to get him help. We closed the portal..." Clary said breathing heavily. She looked like she was gonna have a breakdown in any minute.
"Valentine's got a standing portal, let's go." Michael said and we both carried Jace as we started walking.
"Jace, stay with me. Hey. Do you remember our first demon fight? We were way past the institute, in our way to Kinshasa. You were only eight, but you were so brave." He said to jace as he put one of his hand in Jace's heart. "Do you remember what you said?
"I'm ready to die." Jace said barely in a whisper as he breathed heavily.
"And then I said, sometimes it's brave to live, as it is to die. Do you remember?" He asked him slowly.
"I do. It's true, it's you." Jace whispered and he and his father rested their foreheads together as they smiled.
"Let's go."
We walked into the portal and ended up outside the Jade wolf restaurant and we went straight through the door.
"We need help!" Clary yelled as we entered the restaurant. Simon and Luke were seated on a table but immediately stood up.
"What happened?" Simon asked.
"We thought we found the psychopath, but he was already gone." I informed as we sat Jace on a chair.
"Michael Wayland?" Luke asked in disbelief.
"Valentine took our mother with him, but we found Jace's father." Clary replied.
"What? I thought Valentine killed Jace's father." Simon said from behind.
"He tried." Michael replied as he looked at Simon. Luke then approached us and bent down in front of us as Michael turned to look at him. "Hello Lucian."
"This can't be. I thought I'd never see you again." Luke said still is disbelief.
"I never thought I'd never see anyone again." Michael whispered.
"What happened?" Luke asked as he looked at Jace, who's condition seemed to worsen with every minute.
"Demon got him. He can't fight the poison. His runes are too weak and he needs blood but we can't go back to the institute." Clary said and then she stood up and walked over to Simon. "Simon, there's gotta be some kind of blood at Hotel Dumort. Can you call Raphael and ask him?!"
"Calling won't work. We have to do this in person. My van is in the garage. You or Brielle drive, I'll hide under a blanket to stay out of the sun and there's underground parking at the hotel." Simon said and Clary nodded.
She walked over to Jace. "Listen to me, we're coming back. Please just, hang on." Clary pleaded as he caressed his face. "I don't wanna leave you." She whispered. I sighed.
"I'll stay with him. Go." I said and Clary turned to look at me.
"Please don't let him die." Clary begged. I gave her a small nod before she and Simon walked out.
I approached Jace and bent down to wipe off some sweat from his forehead. "We need to lie him down."
"There's a sofa on the back. Help me carry him." Luke said and I nodded.
We quickly grabbed Jace and carried him to the back of the restaurant. We walked over to the sofa and carefully layed him down. Luke walked out to bring some water, leaving me, Jace and Michael alone. I bent down, grabbed a piece of cloth again, and wiped more sweat off his forehead. He seemed barely conscious.
"You'll be alright, I promise." I whispered. He gave me one last look before closing his eyes. I sighed as I realized he passed out.
"Thank you, for staying behind to take care of my son." Michael said to me from behind. I stood up slowly and turned around to look at him.
"Jace has been by our side the whole time since we were shoved into this world, unconditionally. I'm not gonna let him die." I replied bluntly. "Besides, Clary seemed uneasy about leaving him alone."
"So... Clary and him are... together?" Michael asked me.
"Yeah, something like that." I said as I nodded slightly. He gave me a small smile.
"I feel as if I know you and your sister. You two are so much like your mother. You are fearless, and loving, and you got a mind on your own. A little stubborn, perhaps?" He asked as he smiled again.
"Yeah... but I won't change who I am." I replied.
"And you shouldn't. It served Jocelyn well. She hid you two from Valentine long enough for you to grow up without him poisoning your minds." He said.
"And she did right. Even though I was pissed at her at the beginning, I understand why she did it. She loved us whatever else, and he was and still is a total psychopath." I replied with venom lacing through my voice. I despised that psychopath with a passion.
"There was no whatever else for her. I knew she was carrying you two when she fled away from him. But I never told him, no matter how much he tormented me." Michael said as he turned to stare at the nothing, as he was remembering something.
In that moment, I got that feeling again that told me something didn't add up. How was it possible that he knew our mom was pregnant and that the psycho asked about her?
"The psycho thought our mom was dead. Why would he ask about her?" I asked suspiciously as I raised and eyebrow.
"Because he never gave up hope. Would it help if you know how much he loved her? And he would have loved you and Clary. He's fierce in his love." He said and I scoffed.
So, this man is held captive and tortured for ten years by a psychotic bitch, but the first thing he does when he has the chance to talk about him, is trying to convince me that he loved our mom and would've loved us? Instead of talking about him with full hate and resentment? Nop. That was shady as hell. Something was definitely wrong.
"Yeah, right. He would've been as loving and caring as a care bear." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. "He's a monster that wants to kill us all and is using our mother as a bait to get the stupid cup. He isn't my father, and will never be."
"Brielle, I swear to you, I'll help you find your mother. I heard a lot of things when I was a prisoner. It'll help." He said as he looked at me straight in the eyes. Something about his stare made me uneasy, so I looked away.
"Yeah, hopefully. I'll um... I'll go and see what's taking Luke so long." I said and immediately walked out of the room.
I entered the kitchen to find Luke cooking some chao-mein. I raised my eyebrows as he turned to look at me.
"For when he wakes up. He'll need to eat something to recover his strenght." Luke explained. I turned around to check nobody was coming.
"Something's wrong. Am I the only one that finds this unusual?" I blurted out in a whisper. Luke furrowed his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" He asked confused.
"Something doesn't add up. I mean come on, why would the psycho keep him prisoner and torture him for ten years? With what purpose? And how come, he suddenly disappears into thin air and takes our mother with him but leaves Michael behind? Why? Not to mention, he just tried to convince me that the psycho loved our mother and would've love us, instead of reminding me how much of a monster he is. Doesn't it all seem oddly suspicious and fishy to you? I swear to god Luke, something's very very wrong." I stated in a low voice, to make sure Michael didn't hear anything. Luke had a shocked expression on his face.
"I know, it all seemed weird to me. But what if you're wrong and it's actually him?" Luke asked. I was about to tell him something when my phone began to vibrate on my pocket.
I took it out and saw that it was an unknown number calling. I hesitated for a moment and walked a few feet away before answering.
"Hello?" I asked with hesitation.
-"Brie?! Thank god you actually answered. Alec was so sure that you Jace and Clary disappeared into some portal and that you were gone forever but I kept insisting that we should just try and call you just in case-" Izzy rambled but I cut her off.
"We're fine, Izzy. Is something wrong?" I asked and I heard her sigh from the other side of the line.
-"Everything's wrong. I can't talk for long, but you three need to get back with the cup, right now."
"What? Why? What happened?" I asked with worry.
-"Lydia is prosecuting me for carrying out Meliorn's rescue. The Clave considers it high treason. The only way they will let me free is if we give them the Mortal Cup. If they carry on with the trial and they find me guilty, I will be stripped out of my runes and be exiled from the shadowhunter's society. Alec will try to delay the trial to give you some time to get here. Please." Izzy begged and my heart sank as I heard how her voice cracked. I squeezed the phone on my hand tightly as anger ran through my veins.
"I can't believe that peroxide blonde bitch is prosecuting you. Look, Jace was attacked in the other dimension. Clary and Simon went to the Hotel Dumort to get fresh blood and she took the cup with her. As soon as she gets back, I'll return to the institute with the cup. Tell Alec to delay the trial at all costs." I said and she sighed.
-"I'll tell him. Brielle, I'm scared." Izzy said in barely a whisper and I wanted to kill Lydia and all the nembers of the Clave so bad. How dared they do that to Izzy for doing the right thing?
"I promise you, Izzy, I will not let them prosecute you. I'll do whatever it takes." I reassured her.
-" Thank you. I gotta go, someone's coming. See you soon." Izzy said and hung up. I put my phone back in my pocket and ran my hands through my hair, desperately.
"Damn it!" I cursed as I kicked the oven that was in front of me, hard.
"Hey, what's going on?" Luke asked with concern.
"That stupid bitch Lydia is prosecuting Izzy for Meliorn's rescue. The only way they'll set her free is if we give them the cup. Clary has it and she's out and time's running out. What if we can't get to Izzy on time?" I asked hysterically and Luke walked over to where I was standing to give me a hug.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine. She has to hurry because if she doesn't, Jace dies too. She'll be on time don't worry." Luke tried to calm me down as he hugged me with one and caressed my hair with another.
Twenty minutes later, Clary finally arrived with the blood. Both she and Luke entered the room where Jace was to give it to him. I stayed out because well, I hated blood. I remained seated on one of the tables of the restaurant for half an hour before Clary and Jace finally walked out of the room. I sighed in relief.
"You're better." I said as I gave him a small smile.
"The blood worked." He replied.
"I'm glad you're okay, but we can't stay here. We have to go back to the institute with the cup right now." I stated and they both looked at me with surprise.
"What? Why?" Clary asked confused.
"In summary, Lydia is prosecuting Izzy for Meliorn's rescue. They'll set her free if we give them the cup. I don't know if Alec managed to delay the trial for long so we have to go, now." I explained. I turned around and started to walk away but stopped on my tracks when I noticed they weren't following me. "Clary what the hell, why aren't you moving?"
"Brielle... we can't..." Clary began to say with hesitation. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"We can't what, exactly?" I asked as I crossed my arms.
"We can't go back and give them the cup. Jace's father can help us find our mother and we'll only get her back if we use the cup as a bait. We can't go back, at least not now." Clary said as she turned to look at the ground and I scoffed.
"You can't be fucking serious. Are you even listening to what's going on? Izzy can be stripped off her runes and be exiled forever and you're just standing here caring only about our mother? What is wrong with you?" I yelled in disbelief. I understood that Clary wanted to save our mother, so did I. But she wasn't the priority anymore, and she had to understand that.
"I know what's going on! But this might be our only chance-" I cut her off.
"So Izzy's future doesn't matter to you?" I asked hysterically.
"Of course it matters! But I'm worried about our mom too!" She shouted.
"Oh my god Clary, our mom is fine! If the monster wanted to hurt her, he would've done it by now. And he won't because he knows she's the only way he can get the cup. It'll take a little bit more time to find her again, but we will!" I yelled.
"I can't believe you don't give a damn about our mother and you're willing to leave her with Valentine." Clary said in disbelief and I let out a bitter laugh.
"And I can't believe you're so stupid and selfish to only care about her and not realize that her life is not the only one at stake anymore! Mom would've understood and she would've saved her friend." I hissed as tears of anger started to fill my eyes. I can't believe Clary is acting like this, so selfish and stupid.
"No, mom would've saved us because she has her priorities straight. Maybe you should set yours." Clary said while glaring at me. I harshly wiped the tears from my eyes as I looked at her with anger.
"I already have, and right now, my priority is Izzy. Unlike you, I do care about her and won't let her lose everything because of your selfishness. I'll do whatever it's necessary to save her." I said, anger running through my voice, as I glared at my sister who I barely recognized. In that moment, Luke and Michael walked into the room because they heard the commotion. Shock was all over their faces and I turned to look specifically at Luke. Even though I was pissed as hell with Clary, I had this strong feeling that I was right and something was wrong with Michael. I wasn't going to risk it. "Tell them what I told you." I said and without another word, I walked out of the restaurant.
~~~
Everyone looked at me with shock on their faces as I walked angrily through the heart of the institute, looking for Lydia. I clenched my fists as I spotted her looking at one of the monitors. I walked over to her and harshly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, making her face me.
"Withdraw the charges against Isabelle Lightwood, now." I demanded. She stared at me for a moment before letting out a sarcastic laugh.
"It's funny how you thing you can just show up here and give me orders. I'm sorry, but I can't do that." She replied. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down to prevent me from killing her right there.
"Yes you can, and you will. She wasn't the one to carry out Meliorn's rescue, it was me. Just because she has a personal connection to Meliorn doesn't automatically mean she did it." I muttered with anger and she tilted her head slightly to look at me with caution.
"Isabelle has confessed that she carried out the operation all on her own." She replied. I cursed internally.
"She lied, and she did it to protect me." I said slowly and once again, she laughed.
"And why would she do that if you were safe out there?" She asked with a little bit of sarcasm. That bitch was getting me on my neves.
"Because she knew that I would come back eventually, and they would've prosecute me anyways. I'm confessing it to you now, I'm responsible for the rescue. She had nothing to do with it." I said as I looked at her straight in the eyes. She sighed.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do now." She replied. She turned around to walk away but I grabbed her arm harshly to stop her.
"If you're not gonna prosecute me for Meliorn's rescue, prosecute me for keeping valuable information from the Clave. Since we all know what this whole thing is really about." I said with anger. She looked at me for a moment before yanking her arm away.
"I'll have to talk to the inquisitor-" I cut her off.
"Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't miss the opportunity to put one of Valentine's daughters on trial for the world, would she?" I asked her sarcastically and she just kept quiet. I scoffed. "Thats's what I thought. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go tell Izzy she still has a future." I said and turned around to walk away from her.
"At the cost of yours?" She asked from behind making me to stop on my tracks. "I might warn you, if we prosecute you, you have literally just 1% chance of winning the trial." I let out a deep breath.
"Whatever it takes." I whispered softly without turning to look at her, and just walked away.