Tris decided that she would probably hang around the bar for the entire party. It was Max, the youngest Lightwood's rune ceremony party that Alec wanted Magnus. So of course, there was booze and there was a specific theme: Spain. Apparently it's where Robert proposed to Maryse and since he wasn't able to come, Magnus thought to celebrate the joyous memory.
Nick was busy mingling with everyone, being the open person he is. As she was looking around, she found Tyler talking to Max, smiling at the young boy. Tris turned to look at her side, where Jace found a seat for himself, ordering a beer and then turning to Tris. "You want anything?"
She cleared her throat. "Beer's fine, thanks."
"Uh, two beers," Jace ordered, and the werewolf girl with the curly hair smiled.
"I thought I smelled cocky," the curly haired girl told him.
Jace rose his brows. "Magnus must be really scraping the bottom of the bartender barrel."
"Aw, you still bitter about getting your ass kicked by a werewolf?"
At this, Tris smiled. "Oh, you're Maia," she exclaimed. The werewolf girl smiled right back and the two girls shook each other's hands. "I'm Tris. It's so nice to finally meet you."
"Wow, really?" Maia grinned. "Why?"
"Well, I always like to meet someone who can beat blondie's little ass," Tris smirked and rose a brow at Jace, who was glaring at her. He knew he shouldn't have told her. She would tease him about it for the rest of his life. "Don't I, blondie?"
"In case you forgot, that was a three-against-one fight," Jace argued, lightly shoving her shoulder. Tris laughed at how childish he was being.
"Well, I'm actually happy I didn't maul you to death," Maia sighed.
"Why? So you can slowly annoy me to death instead?"
"No," Maia told him. "Because now I know you didn't kill Gretel."
"I asked for two beers," Jace reminded her bluntly.
"Beer's boring. Have some sangria. Apparently Magnus has a thing for Spain."
Tris shook her head, grabbing the drink. "No, it's for Maryse and Robert. Apparently they got engaged in Barcelona."
Tris looked at the entrance and found Clary and Simon. She thought of it as normal, but when her gaze lowered, she was startled to see them holding hands. It's about damn time, she thought. She glanced at Jace who looked away from the pair and looked at the Lewis girl, shrugging. "Didn't think he had it in him."
"Guess your date didn't go so well, huh?" Tris chuckled sadly.
"No, it went great," he sighed, forcing a smile before he sipped his drink. "I, uh, told him to make a move, and that's exactly what he did."
"You know, you're not good at hiding your emotions as well as you think you are," Tris told him matter-of-factly.
He scoffed, smiling bitterly. "Thanks, Tristen."
Tris ignored his response. "You are. She," Tris nodded at Clary, "is just gullible. And that's why she thinks that you are good at hiding emotions."
"Oh, yeah?" He looked as if he was being challenged. He stood up, and made Tris stand up, too. He interlocked their arms. "Let's see how good I really am."
"What are you-"
But they were already walking towards the new couple, their arms interlocked. "This is childishness, Jace," Tris hissed in his ear, and he smirked and just brought her closer to him.
Jace smiled properly now, standing in front if Clary and Simon. "Hey."
Clary, quite obviously, noticed Jace and Tris' arms interlocked. "Hey."
"Well, you two look cute together," Jace told them, and Simon looked at his sister confused. To his surprise, she looked confused herself, but she smiled at her brother as she winked at him, motioning to Clary without saying a word. Simon grinned, shaking his head.
"Thanks. So do you two," Simon replied, smirking at his sister, who's eyes widened.
"What? No-"
"Thanks," Jace smiled. Tris glared at him, which he could see from the corner of his eye.
"We were just heading to the bar to see what kinds of blood-types Magnus has on tap," Simon informed. "Do you want anything?"
Jace chuckled. "I'm good."
Once the couple left, Tris smacked Jace on the back of his head, brows furrowed in anger and her hands placed on her hips. "Ow!" Jace winced, rubbing the back of his head, looking at the girl, annoyed.
"And what exactly did you think you were doing?" She exclaimed.
"Having fun! Do you know what that is?" Jace retorted. "Maybe I should buy you a dictionary for your birthday, I'm not sure you know what the term 'fun' means."
Tris smacked his head again, this time more playfully, laughing a little. "Narcissistic bastard!"
Jace laughed, and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Oh, you know you love me."
They both walked into the balcony, where Alec, Max, Tyler and Maryse were. "Hey, Max," Tris greeted the young shadowhunter with a smile. "Congratulations."
Max just smiled back at the girl. Tris remembered something and rummaged through her dress pocket and pulled out a small gift. It was a ring box, and she handed it to Max. "I didn't know whether I should buy a gift, or not. I'm not really familiar with shadowhunter traditions, so...I just got something small."
"Can I open it?" Max questioned her, looking up.
"Of course," she nodded. He opened the ring box, and there was a ring that would fit his tiny fingers, and it was silver, engraved with the words 'Little Lightwood'.
He smiled and put it on his finger, seeing as it fit perfectly. "Thank you, Tris."
Alec smiled at her, patting her shoulder, but he only ended up patting Jace's hand. Tris just chuckled and both Alec and her shook their heads.
"Congratulations, young shadowhunter," Magnus walked in and told Max.
"What do you say, Max?" Maryse told her child.
"Thank you," Max said. "Where's your warlock mark?"
"Max..." Alec began, only to be interrupted by Magnus.
"You were just as curious at his age," Magnus said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's okay. I only share with my closest friends." He showed Max his cat eyes, and Max looked fascinated.
"How much of you is a demon?"
"Max, enough. That's not how we treat our friends," Jace warned him. "Apologize to Magnus."
"You can't tell me what to do," Max retorted.
"Hey, just because you're getting your first rune doesn't mean you can talk to your brother like that," Alec exclaimed.
"Jace isn't my brother."
"Max!" Maryse scolded.
"Mom says you're not even part of our family," Max told Jace.
"Jace, I..." Maryse trailed off before watching Jace storm away.
"This is your fault," Alec angrily told her.
"I've tried to keep Max out of it," Maryse replied.
"The hell you have. He learned this behavior from you. If you ever want to make things right with me, you better make them right with Jace," Alec pointed to where Jace left. Maryse sighed before following Jace.
Magnus, Tris and Tyler just slowly glanced at each other, eyes slightly wide because of the family drama that just folded out in front of them. Alec sighed. "I'll be back," he said, grabbing Max's hand and walking away.
"I'll go, too," Magnus informed them before leaving.
Tris and Tyler glanced at each other before laughing a little at the same time. "Let's go," Tyler told his best friend, grabbing her hand and walking near the entrance where they found Izzy and Clary.
The redhead turned to the pair of best friends, mainly towards Tris. "I just wanted to apologize about the rune. I should've told you guys, since you are really close to me."
"It's okay, Carrot Top," Tris grinned.
"Hey!" Tyler glared at her. "That's my nickname!"
"That's your nickname?"
"Oh, you know what I mean!"
Clary laughed. "I wanted to talk to you and Izzy about something."
"Actually, Clary," Izzy spoke up. "I really need to find my mother and Max." Clary just nodded, frowning. The Lightwood girl grabbed Tris' hand, pulling Tyler along, too. They ended up in a room, where Jace was towering over Maryse, who was on the floor, unconscious.
"Oh, my God," the trio said at the same time, Izzy leaving Tris' hand. Tyler's still stayed over Tris', something that didn't go unnoticed by Jace.
"Jace, what did you do?" Izzy questioned, checking over Maryse.
"I told you, Izzy, I didn't have a choice."
Magnus walked in, eyes wide. "Okay, the sangria may have been too strong."
"She just tried to kill me, Magnus," Jace exclaimed. "She just threw an axe at my head. Okay, it's stuck in the shelf, right there. See for yourself."
But there was nothing. "Jace, there's nothing there," Tris told him warily.
"It's right there." Jace pointed at the wall. "Why can't you see that?"
Gasping, Maryse gut up, and Jace stepped away from her. "Mom, are you okay?" Izzy questioned.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't let her up," Jace said. "She's out of her mind."
"Jace, I came up here to apologize to you," Maryse told him.
"Then, why would you..." As Jace stared at Maryse, he trailed off, his eyes filled with confusion. "She just said it. Don't you hear her?"
"Listen to me." Tris placed a hand on his shoulder carefully, making him look at her. "Nobody is trying to kill you. You have to believe me."
"Someone's playing with our minds," Magnus told them. "Feeding into our insecurities..."
The next moment was all a blur. Everyone found themselves in the balcony, Magnus saving a hallucinating Alec from killing himself.
"What happened?" Maryse questioned, worry evident in her voice.
"All of a sudden, he started talking about how I hated him for killing my mom," Clary explained.
"I sedated him when I pulled him from the ledge," Magnus informed, turning to walk inside.
"You know what, you stay away from him," Maryse looked at him accusingly. "You can't be trusted."
"I can't be trusted?" Magnus repeated incredulously.
"Now you see why I was wary of having a party at a warlock's house," Maryse sighed.
"W-Wow. What's going on here?" Simon walked in, looking at Alec, who was on the ground, his back against the balcony railing.
"Oh, what do you care?" Clary spat. "Maia is at the bar."
Confused, Simon replied, "Yes, and Alec is on the ground. Is he gonna be okay?"
"You're all gonna be okay," Magnus told everyone. "Everyone just stay here. I'll be right back."
A few seconds later, it was almost like a spell had been lifted off them. Jace and Maryse began conversing, the blonde apologizing to his mother-figure. Clary was apologizing to Simon for thinking that he kissed Maia.
"What happened here?" Tyler asked Magnus, as the warlock was rummaging through his bookshelves.
Magnus, not looking away from the shelves, hummed. "It seems a warlock has been having a little fun at our expense." Suddenly, he stood up straight, eyes wide. He looked almost comical as his face twisted into one of anger and confusion. "Someone has taken my spell book."
Magnus, with a wave of his hands, put his wards up, looking at the crowd menacingly. "Nobody leaves until I get it back."
After a few minutes of Magnus making sure that no one else in the party was a warlock, checking each one by one, doing double takes, he sighed heavily. "It appears I'm the only warlock here."
"Mags," Tris began, a spark of curiosity in her. "What happens if we don't find your spell book? "
"That's not an option you want to explore," Magnus told the girl. "That book can undo every spell I've ever cast. From the elementary to the complex. In new and old languages..." he trailed off, as if he remembered something. "Champenois. It's an old French dialect." The warlock began speaking in said dialect, before murmuring, "the red-haired cat."
"Magnus, what cat?" Clary questioned.
Magnus' eyes fell on the tabby cat that wasn't his own. His hands flew up, palms out and shot the cat with his magic. The cat yowled. "Duratus!" Magnus shouted. "I hate party crashers."
The cat turned out to be a woman who had red hair that was beginning to grey, and there were wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. Magnus had her under his spell, as she panted and gasped while he inflicted pain on her. Tris came to know that her name was Iris. "You haven't changed one bit since the last time I saw you crawling from the ruins of la Bastille," Magnus sneered. "Old French spells. Your favorite. Where are my counterspells?"
When she didn't respond, Magnus hurt her more. "Valentine!" She yelled, whimpering. "He has Madzie, too. If I don't go back, I don't know what he'll do to her."
"What does Valentine want with my counterspells?"
"I don't know," she replied, but yelled louder as Magnus hurt her again. "I don't know! All...All he said was that I had to get them for him. And I wasn't to harm Clary, or he'd make Madzie suffer. Magnus, please. I'm all Madzie has. Have mercy."
Magnus scoffed. "After everything you've done?"
"Clary Fairchild...You made a blood oath. Find Madzie." Magnus immediately opened a portal and pushed her through it before closing it up.
"She's the Clave's problem now," the spikey haired warlock announced.
"Okay, what is Valentine up to anyway?" Tris questioned, confused. She looked at everyone in the room. Clary whispered something to Jace, who shook his head before his eyes met Tris' and it looked as if he sighed before muttering something to Clary.
"I don't know," Magnus replied, frowning.
"The angel Ithuriel," Clary spoke up. "Valentine was going to use him to activate the Soul-Sword. He needs someone with pure angel blood to activate it."
"Well, that doesn't sound good," Simon decided after a moment of silence.
Jace shook his head, running a hand through his blonde hair and looked at Tris briefly before looking at the rest of the group. "It's not. With the Soul-Sword activated, Valentine could decimate the entire Downworld. The angel showed us a vision of a demon who could destroy the Sword. If we could find that demon, we could stop Valentine."
"How did you two save the angel?" Magnus questioned, sounding curious now.
"With runes the angel gave to me," Clary replied.
"New runes, Magnus," Jace told the warlock. "Ones no one's ever seen before. "
"Why did he choose you?"
Clary shook her head and shruged slightly. "I have no idea."
Magnus nodded to himself, stroking his chin, before pointing at the redheaded shadowhunter. "I might. Years ago, a Silent Brother told me about a special connection the original Shadowhunters had with the Angel Raziel. That they could communicate from afar through visions. Because they were created from his blood."
"Are you saying that...Clary may have a blood connection to that angel," Tris spoke up, finishind his thought. "And that must mean she has pure angel blood."
"That's why Valentine wants Clary unharmed," Simon also nodded slowly to himself.
"Clary can activate the Soul-Sword," Tyler stated, as everyone realized it.
"'Soul-Sword'," Tris snorted. "Strange name for a weapon of mass destruction."
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"To the Angel I entrust my life...And vow to uphold the laws of heaven. I take this mark to honor Him...To bring His light into me...And vow to uphold the laws of heaven. So I may join the ranks of the Shadowhunters the guardians of peace." Everyone watched as Max got marked with his first rune, the mark searing onto his skin.
Clary leaned a little towards Jace. "Hey, you should know...Valentine's coming for me, isn't he?"
"Which means I'm never letting you out of my sight," he replied, determined.
Tris, who was standing between them, just a step above, snorted. "I just hope that you allow her to use the washroom by herself."
Jace grinned, trying not to laugh, while Clary grew red, making Tris chuckle because of the shadowhunter's red hair blending with her skin.
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i sincerely apologize for the late update! <3