The agonizing pain in her head still hadn't subsided, which was why Tris was at Magnus', trying to calm herself, which wasn't really working. Her breathing was coming in short, her hands jittery as she looked around the apartment. Magnus was rummaging through his bookshelves, trying to find information on people with Hellfire but seeing his furrowed brows and pursed lips, Tris knew he didn't find anything.
"Tristen? Has the pain subsided?" Magnus called out.
"No," she whimpered, bringing her knees to her chest, and pushing her hair out of her face with the sweaty palms.
"All right," Magnus returned, holding a drink in his hand, and holding her chin to open her mouth and feeding her the medicine. He was more than worried for the girl, and to see her like this...he felt as though he was in pain.
As Tris closed her eyes, the door flew open, Tyler, Jace, Clary, Luke and another woman which Tris recognized but believed to be dead, walked in. Magnus looked up and his brows immediately furrowed before looking down at Tris. "Oh, God," Magnus mumbled.
"Dot?" Tris squeaked out, and Jace looked at Magnus as Tyler rushed to his best friend, and the girl pulled him into a small embrace and Luke walked towards her.
"You okay, kid?" He asked, and Tris just shrugged.
"Magnus?" Jace called. "How is she?"
Magnus, glanced at the girl sideways as she hugged her best friend with her eyes closed before looking at Jace again. "Not so good..." he trailed off, sighing. "I don't know what to do, there seems to be nothing that can help. Apparently, she's supposed to sweat it out. I can't just sit here and watch her suffer while doing nothing I can to help."
Jace immediately frowned; the headaches, the ridiculous amount of drowsiness...was that all Hellfire? He glanced at her, and she was already looking at him, both of their eyes meeting. Jace rose a brow and held out a thumbs up sign, asking her if she was okay. The girl simply shook her head and put a thumbs down in response. She looked at the rest. "So, what's," she cleared her throat, "the plan?"
Magnus fed Dot a sort of a medicine, as all of them sat down around the couch where Tris was, Jace and Tyler right next to her. "There you go. You'll start feeling better in no time."
Dot gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."
"Dot, tell us everything you know."
She inhaled sharply. "I heard Valentine briefing his men. If Jace touches the sword, his grip would destroy it."
"Me?" Jace rose a brow. "Why should we believe a word she says? It's probably just another trap."
"Luke, Clary, Tristen, you know me," Dot defended, looking at the three.
"You've lied to me before."
"Because of the injections," Dot sighed. "But now that he has the warlock girl, he's cast me aside. I'm myself again."
Jace scoffed. "Good story, but I've heard better."
"Wait, in the vision from Ithuriel, the demon that destroyed the sword had a clawed hand," Tris spoke up, remembering what Clary had told her about the vision.
"Exactly," Dot said. "It has nothing to do with you. Perhaps I can lend some insight. Show me this vision."
After doing so, she looked at everyone warily. "Angels are higher beings. They communicate through metaphors. Morgenstern means 'Morning Star', as in, 'How are thou fallen from heaven, O, Lucifer, son of the morning.' The vision seems to be speaking of a...demonic Morgenstern."
"Me," Jace spoke up, looking down and connecting the dots. "That's why Valentine wanted me under his control. I can derail his plan. I can destroy the Soul-Sword."
"And destroy yourself in the process," Tris protested, shaking her head. She was not about to lose another friend. "No. T-That's a suicide mission. No way."
"Think about it, Tris-"
"She's right, Jace," Tyler told him. "It's too dangerous."
Jace sighed, looking at Tris and frowned upon seeing the worry in her eyes. "I'm not gonna touch the sword. I'll just get to it before it's activated, and bring the Mortal Instrument back to the Clave, where it belongs. Trust me."
Jace had called Alec to inform him about the plan. The Institute was under attack and there were major casualties since Valentine used Madzie to take down the wards and she suffocated everyone. However, there was one thing Jace kept on the low: Valentine had Simon. Well, he told everyone but Tris. She was too weak and her finding out that her brother was trapped would make her want to save him, but hurt herself while doing so.
And Jace was not about to let that happen.
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Unfortunately, Tris found out about Simon. And to say she was angry would be an understatement. Magnus, Clary, Tyler and Dot could see smoke coming out of her ears, her face twisted into a scowl. She looked almost comical, her breathing heavy and the only thing going on in her head was "why didn't Jace tell me?" Funnily enough, Clary was the one who had told her; the redhead thought that she deserved to know since it was her brother.
It had been one hour of her stomping around the apartment, before she fell to the floor, feeling her headache subsiding as she tried to breathe as much as possible. She was sitting on her knees, her vision blurry but she could see Magnus, Tyler, Clary and Dot's silhouettes. She looked away at a bookshelf and couldn't contain her surprise when it was set on fire.
All four of them looked at her, eyes wide. When she met their gaze, they were even more flabbergasted upon seeing her eyes that were the colour of fire itself. Magnus, who snapped out of it, got rid of the fire using his magic and fixed it up before conjuring up several sheets of paper. He carefully touched Tris' head and made her look at the floor. Her vision was clear as day now, as Magnus placed the papers on the floor, watching them turn into ash under the girl's gaze.
Tris closed her eyes, and after a good five minutes, when she opened them, they had returned back to normal and her headache was gone. She stood up and looked at Magnus, pointing at the shelf she had previously set on fire, a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry about the bookshelf, Mags."
He rolled his eyes, his lips stretching into a smile as he pat the girl's head. Clary and Tyler were smiling at her as well, while Dot remained confused. Tris looked at Clary, Tyler and Magnus. "We need to get to the Institute."
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Racing inside the Institute, Tris, Tyler, Magnus and Clary split up. Tyler decided to use the guns that Tris had bought previous to knowing her powers. Tris' main goal was to get her brother out of there. Clary had informed where he was and what Valentine was doing to him. Tris, who was running towards the Head of the Institute's office, found both Jace and Simon, trying to fight off Valentine.
Tris simply looked at Valentine, watching him crumple under her gaze. She stopped and looked at Jace, who's arm had bite marks and then Simon, who's lips were stained with what Tris assumed was Jace's blood. Simon grinned upon seeing his sister, while Jace rushed towards her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping my brother," Tris calmly told him. "I'm not gonna sit back and watch things unfold. Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"
"We have to destroy the sword," Jace said after a few seconds, glancing at Simon. "Come on." The trio raced down the hallway and hid behind a wall that was nearby to where the Soul Sword was, on a pedastal. "Nice moves back there," Jace complimented Simon.
"Thanks, I've been practicing," Simon nodded awkwardly. "Hey, about, you know, what happened back there...I've heard of blood thirst, even...felt it, but...never that badly. Once I started feeding, I couldn't stop. I'm really sorry."
Jace shook his head, waving a hand carelessly. "Don't apologize."
"I would have killed you."
"I would have let you."
"You, like, rescued me from actual death, so thanks," Simon stammered. "A lot."
Jace glanced at Simon. "Hey, you know how you can thank me? Shut up."
"Right," Simon pursed his lips. "Looks like they have the sword tapped into that power thing."
"Not for long," Jace said, handing Simon a sword. "Hey. You know how to use that?"
Simon nodded. "Yeah, just point and stab, right?"
"Use your vamp speed."
"Obviously."
"And what am I supposed to do?" Tris questioned. Both of them blinked at her before glancing at each other and replying with a, "nothing."
The girl scowled. "You know, if I tried, I could very easily traumatize your souls and have you both go insane before I burn you." Both the boys looked at her, Simon's eyes more afraid than Jace's. "So, tell me, boys. What do you want? Help or death?"
Jace sighed. "If Valentine comes around, do the same thing you did back there."
Tris nodded. But the girl was confused as Jace grabbed the sword from Simon and walked towards the sword, her eyes later widening as she realized what he was going to do. Clary had arrived to the scene and Simon rushed to her, asking her if she was okay.
Jace let the sword he was holding clatter to the floor and Tris watched him stare at the Soul Sword. She took a step towards him without hesitation, grabbing his arm. When he looked at her, he could see the fire dancing in her eyes that were brimming with unshed tears, her brows furrowed. "Tris," he started, his voice low. "Let go."
She immediately shook her head. "Jace, you meatball. Don't. If you touch the sword, it'll kill you." She tried using her power against him, her gaze fixed on him, but there was nothing except some coughing on his part, which made her furrow her brows.
He simply ignored her, yanking his hand away from her and before the girl could do anything else, he grabbed the Sword, raising it. Tris watched with wide eyes, his veins glowing as if he had fire in them, and the Sword lighting up, too. The Sword, however, clattered to the ground as did Jace, confusion written all over his face. "Why didn't that destroy the sword?"
"I don't know," Tris responded, glancing back to see Simon and Clary just as confused as her. The girl walked towards him. "Jace, are you okay?"
"You're nothing if not predictable, son," a voice said, and everyone knew it was Valentine. Tris was ready to hurt him and his soul—if he had one. But he immediately picked up the Soul Sword as all the Downworlders-Seelies, werewolves, Vampires, Warlocks, ran in. Tris could identify Raphael and Meliorn from them, but she immeditely covered her eyes as Valentine raised the Sword, the bright light reaching all corners of the place, the Downworlders, crumpling onto the floor, their deafening screams piercing through the roof.
But then it all stopped. The Sword was gone, as was Valentine. Almost every Downworlder was dead on the floor of the Institute, and Simon? He was somehow alive. Tris looked at her twin, and both of them put their arms around each other, Tris letting some tears fall. "Oh, my God. Simon, you're okay."
They pulled away and looked around. "How? Every other Downworlder in here, they...they're all dead."
"I don't know," Clary spoke up as she and Tris shared a small hug aswell. "I just pray the adamas in the walls contained the blast."
Jace coughed, and his eyes flew open as he stood up, glancing around the room of dead Downworlders with regret filling his eyes. "Where's Valentine?"
Tris sighed. "He's gone."
"I don't understand," Jace's voice cracked, and he shook his head, looking down. "How did I activate the sword?"
Tris walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Only someone with pure angel blood could have done it. You don't have demon blood, Jace."
Just to make matters worse, Alec ran in and his eyes showed deep sorrow as he looked around. He glanced at Clary. "You did this? You activated the sword?"
"No," Jace spoke up. "I did it. I thought I was destroying it, Alec, but..."
"Where's Magnus?" Alec's voice immediately edged with worry, and he looked to be biting back tears. "He wasn't here, was he?"
"I don't know," Tris spoke up on behalf of Jace since he didn't even know they were arriving. "We portaled in upstairs. We split up."
"Oh, God," Alec mumbled, immediately leaving to race up the stairs.
Tris glanced at Jace, who had tears in his eyes and he was looking down. The girl sighed, feeling the need to do something to comfort him. So, she placed her hand in his. Instead of pulling away as she had expected him to, he just held her hand tightly, nodding at her gratefully as he wiped away the tears in his eyes.
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Tris didn't really know what to feel after those events. Many Downworlders were dead. Luke, who was standing right at the entrance of the Institute during said events, was injured but alive. She wasn't allowed to know about Raphael, which upset her but then she decided that she would find out if he was dead or not later. Jace had just finished talking to Alec, who informed them that Magnus and Madzie were alive and not injured whatsoever.
The blonde boy then broke the news to Tris. Clary was not his sister. Valentine was not his real father and Jocelyn was not his real mother. Tris was happy for him and she proposed the idea of getting back with Clary, but Jace, to her surprise, declined. He claimed that he didn't like her in a romantic way anymore.
Tris simply asumed that he was kidding himself because of what happened, and she let it slide. She wasn't going to pressure him into dating her again; it was his choice, and she respected that.
So there the two stood, in silence. Tris, who thought of a joke, broke into a smile, Jace noticing that. He rose a brow. "What?"
She covered her mouth to stifle the laughter bubbling out of her mouth. "I know what we can get you for your birthday." Jace looked at her curious, expectant, watching her laugh at her own joke. "We can buy you one of those books they have for little kids 'Timmy Has Two Dads'. Except I don't think they have one called 'Timmy Has Two Dads and One of Them Was Evil'. That part you're just going to have to work through on your own."
The girl started laughing loudly, praising her own humour in her mind as she slapped her knee, proud of herself for that joke. When she glanced up, she found Jace looking down, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter as a big grin adorned his features. Tris pointed at him. "C'mon, that was funny, you know it was."
"Sure, sure," he said, laughing. Both of them were interrupted by Simon and Clary. Her brother looked at her, grinning. "Tris, c'mon, I gotta show you guys something."
Tris' brows furrowed. "Simon, it's day out—"
Simon just grabbed her hand and opened the doors to the Institute, and there he stood, the yellow sunrays reflecting on his face as a huge smile decorated his face. Tris gasped, her eyes lighting up with excitement as both of the siblings threw their arms around each other. "Oh, my God! How?" Tris squealed.
"Does it matter?" Simon laughed, motioning to everything around him.
"Oh, maybe you could get a tan," Tris joked, elbowing him lightly. He rolled his eyes at her before him and Clary climbed down the stairs and got to proper ground, Clary screaming with excitement as they shared a kiss before hugging each other, Simon laughing and lifting her to twirl her around.
Tris smiled at them but then remembered that Jace, who was yet to tell Clary that she wasn't his sister, was right next to her. Her smile dropped slightly as she looked at him, expecting him to look devastated, but no. Instead, he was looking at the brunette girl, different shades of blue clashing as they looked at one another. And what was even more surprising, was that Jace was grinning. Tris, who couldn't help herself, smiled even wider as he threw an arm around her shoulder, making her stumble a little. "I'm happy for them," Jace said, his voice soft.
Tris' eyes met his as she sighed in delight, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "That makes two of us, Goldilocks."
"...who?"
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