A/N: Right so I found the picture above and oh my goodness it had me in stitches! Anyone else?
And a surprise for you when you get to Will's POV. For those of you who read my other fanfic 'Cursed'...well...all I can say is brace yourself ;)
Enjoy!
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-*-*-*-*- Jem -*-*-*-*-
"Hold him down!" Magnus shouted at Jem, trying to pin down Will's thrashing body on the living room table.
"I'm trying!" Jem yelled back, grabbing Will's arms and gripping them tightly. He saw that blood was leaking through the bandages around his wrists again. The gash on in his head had also reopened, the blood trickling down his face.
"What's happening to him!?" Jem cried.
"The demon in his head is fighting against my magic," Magnus muttered, placing his hands against Will's temples. Jem's heart skipped a beat, his blood running cold.
"A demon?" He said slowly. "In his head?"
"Yes, I established that," Magnus said. "Keep him still!" Jem tightened his grip on his parabatai, pinning down his shoulders. Magnus murmured a few words and Will went still, his chest moving up and down rapidly. Both Magnus and Jem released Will, backing away.
"You have to tell me everything," Jem said to the warlock. "You have to tell me everything right now." Magnus looked at Jem and ran a hand through his glittery hair.
"I had a suspicion when Will first explained his memory loss to me," Magnus said slowly. "But I dismissed it. I didn't think it was possible. It was such an old technique."
"What technique?" Jem demanded.
"Before the accords, some faeries would kidnap Shadowhunters and remove a few memories just for a joke," Magnus explained. "It wasn't anything too serious, nothing that the Clave couldn't handle. But then a warlock called Arthur Bates got involved." He hesitated, taking a breath.
"Bates had never really liked Shadowhunters. When he heard of what the faeries were doing, he jumped on the idea, developing it."
"How did he develop it?" Jem asked.
"By wiping a Shadowhunter's entire memory," Magnus said. "He created a demon of his own, a qui furabatur memoriae demon."
Jem took a sharp intake of breath. He remembered studying that particular demon a few years ago. They were rare; one would appear once every century, but when they did appear, they caused a lot of damage.
"The qui furabatur memoriae can invade a person's mind. Their thoughts, their dreams, their memories are all under it's control. Will's memories are being oppressed by the demon."
Jem swallowed hard, looking at Will worriedly.
"So you're telling me that this warlock, Bates, put a demon in my parabatai's head?" He asked. "Is it Bates that we're looking for?"
"Bates was killed years ago," Magnus said, shaking his head. "But it seems that his technique of torturing Shadowhunter's hasn't. So yes, there is a demon in Will's head."
"That's why whenever we tried to access his memories, it always seemed to cause him pain," Jem whispered, brushing the bandages that were wrapped around Will's wrists. "The headaches, the dizziness, the brands and the gash on his head....they're all connected to that demon doing everything it can to block his memories."
Everything seemed to click into place for Jem.
That first night when Cecily had exploded in front of Will and he had run out, throwing up on the steps.
When the Silent Brothers had shifted through Will's mind, making him collapse when it became too much. Didn't the Brothers say that something was fighting them?
And just now when they tried to find out what happened to Will by going into his mind. The brands and the gash reopened. Everything just suddenly made sense.
The only thing that was missing was the identity of Will's kidnapper.
"What do we do?" Jem asked. "How do we get it out?"
"Painfully," Magnus answered gravely. "Very painfully." Jem ran his hands through his hair, noticing that they were shaking slightly. Magnus watched him carefully as Jem stared at his trembling hands.
"It seems that Will's condition is having an effect on you as well," he said. "The parabatai bond can sometimes be too strong." Jem looked up at him, his eyes wide.
"What's happening to us?" He whispered.
"That's what I'm here to figure out," Magnus replied. He gently took Jem's arm and guided him to a high backed chair, sitting him down. "You need rest. You've already been strained enough. I will do what I can to bring Will back." Jem gripped his arm.
"I need to tell you what we saw," he said. "We saw the bronze masked man again. He was asking Will about a book. He wanted it for some reason."
"There are many powerful books in the Shadow world," Magnus said.
"He didn't say which," Jem replied. "But, Magnus, the bars of Will's cell, the shackles, they burned him the moment Will touched them. They weren't even heated." Magnus looked up sharply, moving to hold Jem's shoulders.
"Jem, you have to be clear with me," he said seriously. "Were the bars and shackles made of a black, iron-like metal?" Jem nodded.
"Yes," he said. "How did you know?"
"Because I know what it is," Magnus replied, standing up and looking at Will's sleeping figure.
"Demon metal."
-*-*-*-*- Tessa -*-*-*-*-
As soon as Tessa arrived back at the Institute, she instantly asked Cyril to summon Charlotte and the others to the drawing room. She hurried down the corridor, not even bothering to take off her hat and gloves.
"Tessa?" It was Charlotte running up behind her. "Tessa, what on Earth is the matter? Is it Jem and Will? Are they alright?"
"Jem was ill but he is fine now," Tessa replied, walking quickly with Charlotte to the drawing room. "Magnus had an idea to try and help Will find his memories. Jem asked me to come back here and talk to Gideon about what his brother told him." Charlotte stopped short, standing in the middle of the corridor and staring at Tessa.
"I-I didn't get the chance to tell you," she stammered. "You left to go to Jem so quickly that there wasn't time..." Tessa's mouth parted slightly.
"What...what's happened?" she asked. Charlotte had a few tears in her eyes.
"Gideon...Gideon didn't come back from his meeting with Gabriel," she whispered. "He's missing. He disappeared just like Will did."
-*-*-*-*- Will -*-*-*-*-
Floating about in one's memory wasn't a pleasant experience. Will thought that he might have been able to grasp onto a few, to really remember them as he had lived them. But they just floated past him, slipping through his fingers like everything else.
"Will," a voice called out. It was a female voice, soft and gentle. He didn't recognise it, but for some reason it comforted him. "Focus, Will. Focus on my voice." So he did as he was told, pushing his way through the blackness towards that voice.
A light blossomed just ahead of him. It was small at first like a distant star, but it soon grew in size and strength, blinding Will. He raised his arm to shield himself from the light-
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in his bedroom in the Institute. He recognised all his books that were piled up on the floor. His clothes were bursting from the wardrobe to his right. The top window was open like he had left it.
But what wasn't in his place was the dark haired girl standing with her back to him.
"It took me a little while to find you, Will," she said, not turning to face him. "You had to make it difficult for me, didn't you? But I found you, like I always have."
"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Will asked. "I-I've been having some trouble with my memory recently so you'll have to remind me."
"That's fine," she replied. "You wouldn't know me anyway. I'm not from this timeline so there would be no reason for you to know me. But allow me to introduce myself." She finally turned around, holding out her hand for Will to shake.
"Grace Emma Carstairs," she said. Will tentatively took her hand.
"Did you say Carstairs?" he asked. "Like-like Jem Carstairs?" Grace smiled softly.
"Yes," she said. "In another world, another timeline, I am his twin sister. But that's not for you to worry about. It's not something that you need to know." Will was still trying to wrap his head around the whole timeline thing, but let it slide just for the moment.
"So, if you are Grace Carstairs from a different world," he said slowly. "Then what on Earth are you doing here?" She laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Even here you are still right to the point," she chuckled. "The answer to that question, Will, is you." He raised an eyebrow, hoping for her to explain.
"I made a promise many years ago that I would always look out for and protect the Herondale line," she said. "And that meant in other worlds too. So, here I am, trying to figure out how to get you out of this mess." Will blinked at her.
"I take it that I get into trouble often then," he said slowly. Grace laughed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"You could say that," she said. "But back to my point, I have a way to help you. However it does require some work on your part."
"I'll do it," Will replied. "Anything."
"You know of Mortmain, right?" she asked. Will nodded in reply. "Well, his parents were good friends with the warlock Bates. There may be something in the Silent Brother's archives about their friendship. The Shades worked with Bates to perfect his technique of memory stealing. It all comes back to Mortmain in the end."
"So if we can work out what the Shades told Bates, then we may be able to figure out the rest," Will finished. Grace smiled, her eyes sparkling.
"Exactly," she said. She turned away from Will, walking to the window. "I have to go now. I've said what I came to say; it's up to you now."
"Wait," Will said. "There's one more thing I need to ask you." She hesitated, waiting for Will to speak. "In your world, are Jem and I as close as he says we are here? Was I brave enough to do anything for him?"
"Of course," Grace said softly. "There never was a parabatai pair closer than you two were. You were willing to die for each other. You still are." Will let out a breath that he didn't even realise he was holding.
"Thank you," he said. "I know that I'm not the Will you know, but thank you." She smiled and rolled her eyes.
"William Herondale saying thank you," she joked. "I thought I'd never see the day." Grace raised her hand and clicked her fingers. With a flash of light, she was gone.
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Hello my lovelies!
So a bit of a shorter chapter today but a lot in it so I hope you enjoyed it!
Grace made a return everyone! I just felt like Will needed a push from someone other than Tessa and Jem and the only thing that came to my mind was, what if Grace helped him? So there you are ;) To be honest that will probably be the last time we see Grace; just wanted to add her in for a little bit ;)
So vote and comment and let me know what you think!
Love y'all!
CricketCat