« 26—SURPRISES »
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"Day 12 without Lucky Charms."
Talia groaned in annoyance as she found herself, once again, sat in the centre of one of Valentines cages. Moving herself to sit up, she winced as a sharp pain in her wrist caught her attention. Talia furrowed her brows as she saw a long needle penetrating her skin and was struck into one of her veins.
Curiously, the blonde followed the tube attached to the needle to a medium sized tank outside the cage with tendrils of blood swirling around the liquid. The needle had cut a long gash from her wrist to her elbow crease with dark blood leaking out and around her arm. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and almost gipped at the sight.
"Why am I always the bloody invalid?" Talia huffed, throwing her head back against the bars. Her eye caught ahold of Clary's fiery head in a cage a fair distance away as she spoke to Dot, a thoughtful expression on the formers face.
Suddenly, Dot opened Clary's cage, allowing her to step out and embrace the woman. Talia raised an eyebrow at the pair before they turned to her and Clary dashed over, glancing warily at the machine beside her. She turned to Dot, "What is this?"
"Phase Two," Dot said, turning to look at the dishevelled girl inside the cage, "Valentine is extracting your blood so that he can identify the percentage of Downworlder, angel and demon blood he used so that he can make replicas of you in his army."
Clary shook her head, "Why would he want that, I thought he despised Downworlders."
"Their species, yes. But their abilities...he wants to harness them within a Shadowhunter, his only successful attempt was Talia which was almost twenty years ago."
"We can't let him do it again then," Talia gritted out as she began pulling the needle out of her arm.
Clary widened her eyes, "Wait, Talia, what are you-"
She was cut off by the breath the taller girl let out as she dropped the metal to the ground with a loud clang, "Well that sucked."
The red-head clicked her tongue, "Right, okay. Dot could you get her out?"
Dot nodded, unlocking the cage with the flick of her fingers. Clary dashed in and put Talia's arm over her shoulder and helped her stand.
"So, what are we doing now?" The dark blonde questioned them, watching as Clary dropped her arm so that she could stand on her own and turned to her.
"We're getting out of here."
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Talia stayed behind some of the machinery as Clary walked towards where Jace and Valentine were stood with a white haired girl chained to the side of the boat as Dot walked into position at the side of the ship.
Clary had told her that Dot had been forced to put a spell on Clary to try and get Jace to join Valentine's side more easily. Which from what she could see of the blonde, seemed to be working.
They spoke in quiet tones until she heard Clary tell Jace to run. She heard their feet clanging on the metal and then suddenly stop. Talia tilted her head in confusion until she saw the two Circle members with seraph blades approaching.
"Jonathan!" Valentine shouted, "There's no way out."
The tall woman grinned, already knowing that she could prove the man wrong. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her blade, spinning it between the fingers of her uninjured left arm and ran towards them, blocking the first man's strike that was aimed at Jace, forming an x. She smirked at his surprised and slightly alarmed face.
Talia spun her blade and pulled him round with her, kicking him in the chest as the other approached. Jace jumped in front of her and swiped the others' legs from beneath him as Talia quickly swiped his blade and tossed it back to Clary.
Jace struck the man in the chest before doing the same with one Talia had knocked over. They ran forward before Jace pulled back, his eye wandering and unsure before he started coughing, blood running down his nose.
Talia's eyes widened as Clary asked if he was okay. The dark blonde turned to Dot who nodded to her as Clary held Jace to prevent him from collapsing, as Talia quickly shoved her blade into her back pocket.
Valentine called after them as Dot opened her palm and formed a portal that would stop them from disintegrating when touching the barrier.
She quickly grabbed Jace's other side, being a lot stronger than Clary, and heaved him across the deck as they jumped through the portal, disappearing beneath the depths.
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M A G N U S
3 hours later
"Isabelle? Clary's back."
Magnus opened the door to the room he was tending to Alec in. Izzy had called him in after Jocelyn had given him a crystal to track Jace and therefore Clary. But he had become unresponsive ever since.
"Oh, great. Clary's safe," Magnus snarked, "We can all go home now."
The warlock moved to slam the door in her face before Jocelyn held up her hands, "Whoa. Wait, Magnus. How's Alec? Is he gonna be okay?"
Magnus stepped slowly out of the room and towards her, his eyes partially narrowed, "Do you remember the first thing I said to you when you brought a three year old girl to my door?"
Jocelyn sighed, "You didn't want to get involved in Shadowhunter business."
"And I should've stuck to my guns," Magnus said, "But no, I let you convince me. How many years of appearance alternations to Talia? And then again with Clary, how many years of memory wipes was it?"
"Seventeen and twelve," Jocelyn said, guiltily, "Look, I owe you, let me help with Alec."
Magnus raised a hand, "I think you've done enough."
"I was only trying to find-"
"You were only trying to do what you always do," Magnus interrupted, "Manipulate people into helping fix problems that you created, and now Alec is paying the price for it and so will Talia, once again."
"That's not true, and Talia, how's she involved in this?"
Magnus scoffed, "She found a place where she belonged here, with people who actually care and love her. Her boyfriend is currently suffering from something that you caused and you shot her. She could be dead right now and you wouldn't care. Talia Herondale found the home that you could never give her and you've taken it away."
He glared her down as he walked away from her shocked expression, clicking his fingers behind him to close the door in her face.
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C L A R Y
"I can't believe you lied to Aldertree."
Clary and Izzy stood in a secluded area of the Institute making sure no one could hear their conversation. When Clary had found herself on the beach, she had searched endlessly for Jace and Talia before deciding that it would be easier to find them with the help of Izzy and Alec, the latter of which she had found was not going to be able to help in his current state.
The red-head had withheld information about Jace, knowing that he was wanted by Aldertree, the new head of Institute. Talia was not seen as a criminal due to her not showing any prior involvements with Valentine and that her going with him was deemed as a sacrifice to save her friends. But knowing that they might have found one another, Clary did not want to risk either of them getting caught and imprisoned.
"I couldn't let him go after Jace, or even Talia, like he did before," Clary responded, looking carefully at a passing Shadowhunter.
Izzy eyed him before turning back to the shorter girl, "So Dot took down the wards and you three jumped off the ship together?"
"Yeah, but as soon as we hit the water, the tide was so strong, we lost each other...I looked everywhere, I couldn't find them."
Clary furrowed her brows before realising something, "Wait, if Jace and Alec are going through the same thing, he wouldn't be able to swim. And Talia's neck piece drains her energy, there's no telling what could've happened to them. They could be-"
"No, they're alive," Izzy told her, a small smile on her face, "If Jace were dead, Alec's parabatai rune would have faded. And I doubt anything could keep Talia from getting to where she wants to be."
Clary looked at her hopefully, "So that's good news, right?"
"Yeah."
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J A C E
"Izzy, it's me."
"Jace? Are you okay?"
"I'm a little soggy, but I'll live," He stammered, catching his breath slightly as he looked out of the window of the bar, the phone pressed tightly against his ear, "Look, is Clary...?"
"She's here. She's safe."
"Is Talia there too?" His voice raised slightly, hopeful that she was with someone, hoping that her wounds were being tended to.
"No, she's not," Izzy sighed sadly on the other end of the phone before passing it over to Clary.
Jace sighed, resting his head harshly against the wooden beam beside him, "I'll look for her."
"No, you can't. We need to get you to Alec."
"What do you mean? Why?" His face contorted in confusion.
"He tried tracking you with his parabatai rune, but now, it's like he's stuck in some kind of nightmare and can't wake up. He was looking for you, so you're the only one who can help him."
"Okay, I'll get there. But someone needs to look for Talia, she must've lost a lot of blood."
"I know, but you can't, the Clave still wants you dead."
"Yeah, well, who doesn't? They can get in line."
"Meet us at Magnus'. We'll figure out how to get Alec there."
"Okay, I'll get there as soon as I can."
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T A L I A
4 hours earlier
Talia coughed and spluttered as she tried to empty the water from her lungs. The waves rolled at her sides as she lay on the deserted beach. She leant on her elbows as she raised her body slowly from the water, wincing as the sea water stung her injuries. Rolling onto her back, Talia grimaced as she tasted the salt on her tongue and tried to wipe it urgently away with her fingers to little avail.
The sun was low in the sky, telling Talia that it was dusk, and she had been unconscious on the beach for most of the day. She was quite surprised that no one had passed by and seen her body, but as she looked around, the blonde realised that she had landed in a fairly remote area, of which she could she the lights of New York beginning to glow over the small body of water in front of her.
She reached up to her face, pulling her fingers away to see they were covered in small drops of blood as she ran her other hand over it to feel the scratches from hitting small rocks as the sea had rolled her onto the beach.
Dark, wet hair stuck to her face but Talia was in no mood to move it as she slowly raised herself from the ground and looked over the dry blood that still resided on her clothes and skin. The brace around her neck was still intact; the water hadn't disrupted anything on it as when she tried to create a spark between her fingers, nothing happened. She patted the back pocket of her jeans and sighed when she felt the familiar feeling of her seraph blade.
Swivelling her body round, she scanned the beach thoroughly to see if she could spot any signs of Jace or Clary. Talia furrowed her brows before moving slowly over the small mounds of sand and towards the mass of trees and greenery that she assumed would lead to a path or road on the other side. She clutched her stomach wound tightly as the evening air whipped her bare arms, the thin grey t-shirt she was wearing, doing her no favours.
Without a stele to activate her Marks, she felt vulnerable out in the open and decided to pull the blade from its sheath using her left hand. Talia had found out that being ambidextrous was quite useful from a young age, being able to flip her daggers to each hand and strike with the same force as the other had given her strength few others had.
A few minutes, or maybe hours, Talia didn't know, she reached a small road that seemed to lead to the city centre. Her bright eyes scanned the area, searching the undergrowth for any lurking demons before she moved forwards and down the road, to where the brighter lights of the city seemed to dance in front of her.
Her mind began to wander, thinking about all the things that had happened on Valentines ship, how he had told her that she had werewolf blood in her veins too, how Jace had been manipulated, where Jace and Clary were now. She hoped that they were with each other, at least.
The blonde's eyes flicked up as she reached the end of the strangely quiet road and onto the back alleys of the city. Talia tilted her head as she stopped in front of one of the buildings, reading the sign which indicated it was the hospital. Her mind must have subconsciously brought her here as her mind recalled the time that Luke had to rush her there five years earlier.
She had been trying to figure out how to use her crossbow that Luke had recently bought her, but she didn't realise how much danger she had put herself in by not being prepared and found that out only when the arrow was sticking out of her hand.
The arrow had been pretty blunt due to Luke not trusting her with the sharp arrows, the ones she had now seen Alec use properly, so she had only required a few stitches as Luke held her hand and told her she would be alright. A small scar circled just below her thumb, barely visible if someone didn't know what they were looking for, due to the incident.
Talia shook her head with a small smile as she looked at it before turning down the alleyway, knowing that no mundane doctor would be able to help her condition. She stumbled against a wall, the cold brick pricking her fingers roughly as she slid down to the ground.
Looking down, she realised the wound to her stomach was bleeding once again and she huffed in annoyance. Talia had never felt so useless in her, and she hated it. She hated that she couldn't locate Jace and Clary because of the magical brace on her neck, she hated that she couldn't stand up and fight without blood already oozing from one part of her body.
She was growing more frustrated as she thought, until she decided that thinking wasn't going to help anyone. Talia knew she had to do something as she focused on her anger and let it build into something.
She felt an unusual tingling through her veins as she saw in a broken piece of glass across from her that her eyes were glowing bright blue as she began to shift.
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J A C E
The blonde Shadowhunter turned another corner hurriedly, trying to get as far away from what he knew was behind him before spotting that same thing in front of him and stopping in his tracks.
The wolves growled as they stood either side of a dark skinned girl with curly black hair who smiled wickedly at him, "End of the line."
"So close," Jace sighed, leaning his body weight across one foot and then the other, turning to look behind him and only seeing another werewolf, "And yet, so far."
"Gretel was our pack member, and she was my friend," The girl said, her voice raising, "You need to pay for what you did to her."
"I didn't kill her," He moved forward, his breath coming out in pants, "Valentine used me, just like he's using you right now, us fighting with each other is only giving him what he wants."
"Really? Give me one good reason why I should believe you."
"Because I know what it's like to lose someone you love," Jace started, his face a desperate plea, "My brother is counting on me, just... You can kill me, just please let me get to him first."
The girl looked at him thoughtfully for a minute before her eyes turned dark, "Well, I wish I could, but it's them you'll have to convince."
The wolf beside her snarled up at him, making a step before before a voice shouted, "Stop!"
Clary and Luke rushed forward, scaring away the wolf that stood behind Jace, "Stand down!"
"Keep out of this, Luke," The girl warned.
"Jace didn't kill Gretel," Clary stated, "It was Valentine."
The girl hesitated before Clary began insisting it was the truth. The wolf to the girls' left growled viciously before running at Jace as he tucked himself down protectively.
Suddenly, a wolf appeared from behind the crates to Jace's side and launched itself at the smaller wolf, pinning it to the ground as it yelped from the impact.
The wolf was over half a size bigger than the other. It had white fur, tipped with blonde edges and matted with blood on its underside and by it's neck. It snarled loudly at the brown wolf, it's teeth sharply pointed and centimetres from the others face as it whimpered.
The girl along with the Shadowhunters looked in astonishment at the white wolf as Izzy stepped through a portal and saw the scene to which she had come to aid in. Her eyes widened when she saw another werewolf protecting Jace.
"By order of the Clave, Jace Wayland is coming with me," Izzy stated cautiously watching as the white wolf removed it's claws and backed up so that it was stood directly in front of Jace, set in a defensive stance.
"Maia," Luke called to the girl as he shone his eyes green, "I said stand down."
She bowed her head in shame as the other wolf still beside her laid itself on the ground. The larger wolf made no move to do the same.
"Thanks, Izzy. I owe you one," Jace said quietly. Izzy stared ahead, a blank look on her face as she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the werewolf in front of Jace.
It's eyes suddenly glowed a bright blue, a colour that was not of werewolf origin as the wolf began to transform back into human form. The Shdowhunters could hear bones crack back into place as the shift turned the wolf into a young woman with back length dark blonde hair and glowing blue eyes.
She turned away from the werewolves who looked at her in astonishment as they studied the black swirling runes along her arms and those that were visible from the top that barely held together across her stomach. A red mark lay around her neck as Jace's jaw dropped.
"Talia?"
She gave him a small smile, "I found a way to get that stupid brace off."
And then she collapsed.
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