Wow! It took you guys less than a week to reach my goal this time. That's incredible, and I have no idea how you did it so fast. As a reward for reaching that goal, as promised, here is the new chapter. And to make it extra special, it's really long.
The incredible @sereneur really proved their talents this time. Not only did they have to deal with my indecisiveness and made me four versions of the amazing typography below, but they did so within 48 hours of me sending them the quote! No idea how they do it, and I'll probably continue to wonder forever. I'm just thankful I found them and haven't scared them off yet. 😉
Izzy had planned for the bachelor party to be the last thing they did in preparation for the wedding that night. So after the girls managed to get the boys to the party, Izzy sent Celeste off to bed with promises that she wouldn't be far behind.
It had been almost an hour since she'd made this promise though, as she was waiting to hear how the bachelor party had gone.
The institute was getting quieter and quieter as the clock ticked on, and Izzy was starting to fall asleep in her chair after a long day of planning. But when footsteps rounded the corner, she shot up to see her brother coming straight for her.
He didn't let her get a word out before he was questioning her.
"Did you know that Jace broke up with Celeste?"
Izzy blinked a few times in surprise, unsure if she'd even heard that right.
"Jace broke up with Celeste?"
Alec nodded, running his hand through his hair. "Yesterday. Did you know about this?"
"No! I mean, she seemed a little off all day but I never would have guessed that was why."
Thoughts and ideas were spinning through their minds as they went back over the day, seeing everything in a new light.
Izzy had thought it was very strange that she only changed out of her pajamas around noon and it was only when she went to get alterations to the dress she'd be wearing for the wedding tomorrow. She had shrugged it off, assuming she was just too focused on everything they had to get done today.
As Alec thought through every time he'd seen either Celeste or Jace, he realized the only time he'd seen them together was at the meeting they'd had without him, and even then they seemed to have an awkward air around them. He hadn't noticed it at the time due to his preoccupation with Magnus's presence, but he now realized it had been a huge red flag he should have caught on to.
Izzy had noticed that Celeste had seemed a bit distracted today, but she hadn't given it a second thought as that was understandable with everything that had been going on lately.
Alec sighed, flopping down into a chair beside his sister as he realized the one blaring thing he'd overlooked today.
"Now I know why she came to me crying last night."
"She did?" Izzy asked, not having heard about this.
Alec nodded. "I thought it might have been another nightmare or something, but I should have known something was wrong. I haven't seen her like that since the first time she had the nightmare when we were kids. But when I saw her this morning she seemed better, so I didn't want to bring it up."
The two of them were silent for a few moments, thinking about how much pain their sister must be in. Celeste loved with her whole being, and that love was both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness.
In this case, it was a weakness.
The wind howled and Celeste found herself clutching her jacket tighter to herself as she tried to protect herself from the rain pelting every inch of her exposed skin.
Despite the fact that the only light available was from the moon and the stars overhead, she knew exactly where she was. The wrought iron fences, the statues of angels, and of course the many tombstones gave it away pretty quickly. This particular graveyard was one she'd been to many times and was only a mile or two from the institute.
Being alone in a graveyard at night would have been enough to make her wary, but there was something about this that just felt off. Maybe it was the shivers that racked her body, unsure of whether she was actually cold or if it was the cold she got from the presence of demons. Perhaps it was because she could hardly see ten feet in front of her due to the sheets of rain falling from the sky. Or maybe it was the full moon in the sky -- there tended to be more demon sightings than normal on a full moon.
Whatever it was, she could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as she tried to make her way to the exit.
As she walked through the maze of headstones, the graveyard seemed to rearrange itself, making it impossible for her to leave. She had to have been looking for the exit for at least ten minutes before she realized she was not alone anymore.
There was a lone figure, kneeling in front of a gravestone just a few yards away.
Unsure of whether the newcomer was friend or foe, she crouched behind a nearby stone to observe.
The pouring rain and the lack of light made it difficult for her to make out any specific features, but she could tell it was a man. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out a few more details, and eventually she was able to recognize the lanky teen.
"Simon?" She called, standing and making her way over to join him, but a perfectly timed roar of thunder drowned out her voice.
As she got closer, she was able to make out the name on the grave in front of him.
Simon Lewis
1998-2016
Beloved Son
For the very first time, when Celeste woke up from her nightmare, she didn't feel the terrifying sense of dread that she normally got.
This time, she was just confused.
Simon's gravestone had to mean that he died, and yet he had also been there very clearly still alive. The only explanation she could come up with here was a warning of him becoming a vampire.
Her nightmares were usually warnings about the future, but this had already happened.
She knew that there had to be some reason she was getting this nightmare, she just had to figure it out. Maybe someone else would be able to help decipher the meaning.
Jace wasn't an option, as the two of them were doing a fairly good job of avoiding each other. She didn't want to bother Alec on his wedding day, he had enough to deal with today as it was. Izzy was probably already running around like a mad woman trying to put the final touches on everything. But Clary would be able to help.
Not only would Clary have the time to discuss the possible meanings, but Clary was the only person in the institute who really knew Simon. If anyone could find a hidden meaning, it would be her.
It didn't take long for Celeste to track Clary down that morning. She kept their conversation brief, but instructed her to be warmed up and ready for a training session at ten o'clock that morning.
When Celeste walked into the training room exactly on time, she was pleased to find Clary stretching out with a thin sheen of sweat coating her body.
"Ready?" Celeste asked, tossing a pair of boxing gloves at her.
Clary nodded, catching them before they could hit her in the face. "Whenever you are."
As she put on her gloves, Clary couldn't help but notice the obvious anxiety radiating off of Celeste.
"Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but... Why are you training me instead of Alec or Izzy or Jace? Or even Hodge?"
It was a valid question. Throughout the entire time she'd been here at the institute, not once had she had a training session with Celeste. Even when Jace and the Lightwoods had been busy the last few days, Hodge had been the one to take over her training.
"Because I needed to talk to you. And I figured it would be better to kill two birds with one stone. We get the chance to talk, and you get some training in." Celeste explained. "We'll start with some shadow boxing. Start slow with each combo and gradually add power. Show me a right double jab left cross."
Clary did as she was told, and after about thirty seconds of Celeste correcting her form, she finally got the courage to begin.
"I still don't know what exactly triggered me to become an angel. I don't know if I was born an angel, or if maybe I was chosen to turn into one for some reason. There's still a lot of unknowns surrounding the whole thing. But it wasn't as sudden as I made it out to be when we were talking with Luke and Mi- I mean Valentine." She admitted.
Clary stopped her punches and turned to face her with confusion. "What do you mean?"
Celeste raised her eyebrows at Clary's lack of movement. "Well if you keep doing your combos I'll tell you. Go ahead and switch sides."
She waited until Clary had begun her combo on the other side before she started explaining.
"It started with the dizzy spells. Then I started seeing colors around people, which I still haven't figured out yet. After that came terrifyingly realistic nightmares, and even the time I sleepwalked in here." She paused for a moment, examining Clary's form. "Keep your elbows in tighter."
Clary sighed in exasperation, but once again she did as she was told. She was much more interested in the conversation than she was training right now. She didn't understand why they had to be training during this, but Celeste had a reason for it.
She had known Clary long enough to know that she was a bit rash, and she didn't want her running off to the Hotel Dumort to warn Simon about dying when they didn't actually know what it all meant. The training was to serve as a distraction while they thought through all of the possibilities and came to a rational conclusion.
"I didn't think much of these nightmares when they first started, but I kept having them. While the dizzy spells have stopped and I haven't done any sleepwalking since I grew my wings, I still see colors around people and I have continued to have nightmares almost every night. Like I said, I still don't know what the colors are about, but I think I've figured out the nightmares."
"And?" Clary urged.
"Switch to a right jab, left cross, duck left, left round." She instructed, not answering her question just yet.
Clary groaned in annoyance, but once again she did as Celeste instructed. She knew that Celeste wouldn't continue her explanation if she wasn't working, and complaining would only delay their conversation further.
"Well it turns out my nightmares might have been visions."
She'd tried to say it in a casual tone, but apparently she hadn't done a very good job, because Clary's eyes widened and she almost fell over trying to complete her roundhouse kick.
"What!" She exclaimed.
Celeste subtly glanced over toward the doorway to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Satisfied, she tried to calm Clary down by distracting her again.
"Make sure you're fully rotating your hips under you."
The critique only seemed to frustrate Clary further, so Celeste continued the conversation quickly.
"So far, three of my nightmares have come true. But there's a catch to these visions."
"Of course there is." Clary muttered. From what she'd seen so far in the Shadow World, nothing ever seemed to be straightforward.
"The visions aren't literal. They're representative of the events to come, but they don't really make sense until the event is happening. It's like the visions are supposed to warn me of something, but it's never clear enough for me to be able to stop it." She explained. "Switch to the other side. Same combo." She said suddenly, breaking up her explanation. "Anyway, like I said, three of my nightmares have come true."
"What were they about?" Clary asked, getting impatient again.
"I'm getting there." Celeste said, holding back a smile. "Make sure you're pivoting that back foot under you on the cross." She added.
Once she was satisfied with Clary's form, she began explaining.
"The first vision to come true was about Al. It was actually the nightmare I was having when I sleepwalked in here. Al and I were training, and suddenly he turned around like someone had called his name. Nothing I said or did could get his attention. And then a large group of cloaked figures appeared in the doorway and he walked toward them like he was in some kind of a trance. And the more I tried to get to him, the further he was engulfed in the group."
"So what did it mean?" Clary asked, still not getting it.
Celeste smiled, realizing her distraction technique was working. She was certain that had Clary not been concentrating on her form, she would have been able to figure it out in an instant.
"The important part was not the cloaked figures like I would have expected. It was the fact that he had to turn around to go to them. He quite literally turned his back on me in the dream. Just like he figuratively turned his back on us when it came to saving Meliorn from the Clave."
Clary nodded, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "And in the dream he couldn't hear you, just like he refused to hear reason."
"Exactly." She agreed, happy that Clary was getting it so quickly. "Let's do a right jab, left cross, right hook, left uppercut. Start with form and accuracy, then add speed and power."
Clary nodded and kept silent, focusing on the punches and keeping them in order.
"The second time a dream came true, the dream was short and there wasn't much to it. I was standing outside the institute as it was on fire. I had that one the night we found Mich- er... Valentine."
"That's why you left without telling us?"
"Keep your form Rissa. Keep the palm down on the jab and the cross, and keep the palm facing you on the hook and the uppercut." Celeste critiqued.
Once satisfied with her form, she continued her explanation.
"When I have these dreams, they never come true right away. In fact, the very first dream I had still hasn't come true. But that night, when I had that dream, I had this sense of urgency. I knew that I needed to get to the institute immediately. Jace convinced me to at least wait until morning."
If Clary hadn't been so busy trying to keep up with the quick tempo she'd set for herself, she would have noticed that once again Celeste hadn't called Jace by the nickname she'd given him. But instead, it flew right over her head and Celeste was grateful to avoid the questioning she was sure would be coming in the next few days.
"So what did it mean?"
"It meant that the institute was figuratively 'going up in flames.'" She said, using air quotes. "It was simply telling me that something was wrong, and I needed to get there to help before life as I knew it here was destroyed."
"What was the last one?"
"Switch sides. Left jab, right cross, left hook, right uppercut."
Clary immediately did as she was told without a second thought. She was lost in Celeste's story, hanging onto every word that came out of her mouth.
"The final dream that came true was about Belle. I found myself in a dark room, and when I finally made it to the light, I found her hanging above three giant spinning blades. There was a figure at a desk that was much too large for me to make out, but they suddenly slammed a gavel on the desk three times. As soon as it hit the desk for the third time, Belle screamed as she dropped from the ceiling toward the blades."
"The trial. That's why you showed the Clave your wings." Clary realized.
Celeste nodded. Clary was starting to get it now. "Right. That dream was telling me that Belle was going to be convicted at a trial and while she wasn't going to be hung over spinning blades, she probably would have died without her runes."
The two of them were quiet as Clary continued her rhythmic movements. Finally, Clary couldn't take the silence and asked the one question Celeste had been waiting for.
"So what made you decide to tell me all of this today?"
She walked over to grab a pair of focus mitts. She had considered having Clary use the bag during this portion of the conversation, but in the end she had decided this was the best way to keep her from freaking out and running away to tell Simon everything.
"Now that I know they're coming true, I'm hoping I might be able to start working out their meanings before they happen."
"And you think I can help with that?"
Celeste nodded, putting the focus mitts on. "Hit me with a right hook, left cross, duck left. Make sure you duck low enough or you'll get hit."
The two of them began the movements in silence, Celeste being sure not to put too much power into her punch in case Clary missed her timing. As they continued, Celeste thought through their conversation, trying to remember if she'd mentioned everything she'd intended to.
She'd talked about the fact that they didn't always turn out the way one would originally interpret. She'd told her that the dreams were often figurative. She'd remembered to mention that they usually took time before coming true. She'd even pointed out that sometimes the smallest detail is the most important part of decoding the meaning. She'd done everything she could to keep Clary from a massive freak out when she learned about Celeste's most recent dream.
The only thing left was to finally explain the reason they were even having this conversation in the first place.
"Last night my nightmare was about Simon."
Clary narrowly missed the jab Celeste sent her way that she was supposed to duck under, distracted by the latest revelation.
"Focus Rissa."
Clary narrowed her eyes as she added a little more power to her punches in anger. "How am I supposed to focus when you're going to tell me about some horrible thing that's going to happen to my best friend?"
"Think of it as practice. In the real world, your opponents will use any tactic they can to get the upper hand on you. They'll say anything if they think it might throw you off long enough to give the final blow. Do not let their words distract you."
"Fine." She snapped. "What was your dream about?"
"I was at the graveyard a few miles east of here. It was night, and it was raining so hard I could hardly see anything." Celeste began.
Clary groaned, wishing she'd get on with it. She didn't care about these tiny details, she wanted to know what happened to Simon. Everything else meant nothing to her.
Celeste ignored her, and continued explaining every last thing she could think of, not wanting to leave anything out in case it was the detail that solved the mystery.
"I walked through rows of gravestones for what seemed like forever. But it was like the graveyard was rearranging itself so that I couldn't leave. No matter what direction I walked in, I couldn't find the exit." She gritted her teeth against a particularly hard punch from Clary. "Eventually I found someone kneeling in front of a gravestone. I didn't recognize who it was at first, because of all the rain. But the longer I looked, the more details I made out. It was Simon. And the grave he was in front of was his own."
Clary's eyes widened. "Wait, so Simon's going to die?" She asked, once again narrowly missing Celete's blow as she forgot what she was doing.
Celeste shook her head. "I don't think so. Simon was very clearly still alive as he knelt in front of his grave. My initial thought was that it was about him turning into a vampire since vampires are often considered dead -- even if they're technically undead -- but that wouldn't make sense. Why would my dreams be warning me of something that already happened?" She shook her head, as though trying to clear it. "Switch sides. Left hook, right cross, duck right."
Clary did as she was asked without any argument, trying to think through Celeste's dream again. "Are you sure it was Simon's grave?"
"Yeah. Simon Lewis. 1998-2016. Beloved son." She quoted.
"That's it?"
For once in this conversation, it was Celeste that was shocked into dropping her stance and almost taking a hit to the face before her reflexes kicked in and she dodged it. Of all the responses Celeste had thought she might get, this was not one of them.
"What?"
"The gravestone. Is that all it said?"
Celeste blinked in confusion. "Yeah. Should it have said more?" She asked, getting back into position.
Clary nodded as she began the combo again. "Simon has a sister, Rebecca. Shouldn't it have mentioned that he was a brother as well as a son?"
Celeste frowned as she took in this new information. "Switch to a left round, right double jab, right hook. Aim high on the round."
The two girls continued training this combo in a thoughtful silence, Celeste so deep in thought that she didn't even correct Clary's form. Finally, Clary shared her own thought process.
"Do you think that her not being mentioned means that Rebecca is going to die?"
"Is someone dying the only explanation you can come up with?" Celeste asked, a little frustrated with the lack of ideas.
"You were in a graveyard. Simon was kneeling at a grave. What else could that mean?"
Celeste shook her head. "If I've learned anything about these dreams, it's that they're usually more figurative than literal. That's what makes them so difficult to understand. My dream about the institute being on fire had nothing to do with an actual fire. The important part about my dream with Al was him turning around and not listening to me, not the group of people he was joining. The dream with Belle was probably the most straightforward one I've had, but at the time I was more focused on the spinning blades than the gavel. Just because there's a grave doesn't mean there will be death. The meaning is probably in the details." She explained.
Clary grunted, putting a little more energy into her roundhouse kick out of frustration. "Well if all my ideas are wrong, then what do you think it means?"
Celeste pondered the question for another moment, trying to figure out how to put her thoughts into words.
"I don't know yet. And it's important that I don't jump to a false conclusion. However, I do think that you're onto something with the headstone. Whether it's the lack of mention of Rebecca, or the fact that his mother was singled out, I think it likely has something to do with one of them."
"We need to go warn him then!" Clary exclaimed, already taking her gloves off and starting to make her way to the exit.
"Rissa, wait!" She called after the girl, dropping the focus mitts and racing after her.
Clary just continued marching away like her life depended on it. Celeste knew that she had to say something to convince her, and she needed to say it now. If Clary stepped foot through that door, Celeste wasn't sure she'd be able to stop her at all.
"We can't warn him about something we don't know is going to happen. Like I said, it's important not to jump to a conclusion, otherwise we may cause a whole new problem."
Clary stopped a few yards from the doorway and spun around on her heels, a glare on her face that would rival Alec's. "So what do you suggest? While we try to decode your dreams, something could be happening to Simon's family. I can't just sit around and wait for it to happen."
She was on the edge of talking and shouting at Celeste by now, so caught up in her emotions that getting through to her would be a challenge. With this in mind, Celeste knew she had to think fast to calm her down again.
"I never said we would just sit around. But rushing off to warn him of something we don't even know is coming would only worry him unnecessarily, and could cause even bigger issues for us all." Celeste explained. "This is the first time I've tried to decode my dreams before they came true, and I don't know what that will do to the outcome. I need to tread carefully through this."
Clary wasn't happy with this, but everything Celeste said made complete sense.
"Promise me you'll let me talk to him about it." Celeste said, placing a hand on each of Clary's shoulders. "Promise me you won't try to intervene in this dream until we are certain we know what it means."
Clary was silent for a long time, considering her options.
As much as she hated to admit it, Celeste was right. They had no idea what the dream meant. Normally that wouldn't have stopped her, and had she been having this conversation with anyone else, she probably would have continued her march straight out that door down to the Hotel Dumort.
But this was Celeste. The girl who would risk everything to save someone innocent. Clary had seen this time and time again. More than anyone else at the institute, Celeste had been completely invested in the search for Jocelyn. She'd been the first to jump into action to save the little warlock girl at Magnus's when the Circle had attacked them. She was the one who brought the vampires and wolves together to save Meliorn. And just a couple days ago she had told the Clave about her angelic heritage to save Izzy.
Deep down she knew that Celeste was going to do the same with Simon and his family. It was in her nature.
"Fine." She relented, though still a bit hesitant to do so.
Celeste's serious and pleading expression melted into one of relief as she dropped her hands back to her sides. "I'll do my best to keep an eye on him. Okay?"
Clary nodded, giving Celeste a small smile. She still wasn't happy about the situation, but she trusted Celeste's judgement. If this is what she thought was best, she would go along with it.
For now at least.
Knowing that she had officially averted disaster, Celeste's smile widened and she walked back over to the center of the room where they had been training. She grabbed Clary's discarded gloves and tossed them at her.
"Alright, back to work. Our training session isn't over yet." She said with a wink.
Okay, so that ended up being way longer than I had expected. Actually, I'd planned on at least one, maybe two more scenes in this chapter, but the training scene ended up being really long. So you'll just have to wait until next chapter to see what I had in mind.
Idk about you guys, but I actually really loved that scene with Clary and Celeste. I love it when I get to write Celeste interacting with a character one on one, and I think the relationship between these two is really interesting. Plus, I got to use my very limited knowledge of kickboxing (from the three classes I've taken) to write the scene! Which leads me to my question of the chapter:
Have you ever taken a kickboxing class? If so, what did you think of it? If not, what is your favorite way to stay active?
Alright, so even though that was the official question of the chapter, I have one more for you guys. Did you like the reads and vote goal for early updates? I'd be willing to continue those if you like as incentive to share with friends and re-read and vote on all the chapters in order to get the next update early. Let me know in the comments what you think!
Next Planned Update: May 22nd, 2020