#[ It's All Wrong ] : Ithuriel* | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ladyhindsight · 2 years

Text

A big battle is coming up. It doesn’t feel like it. Jace is catching up but doesn’t really catch up on anything. A lot of dumb stuff is being said and done.

This chapter is here to punch you in the face with the fact that Jace, indeed, is left-handed. Hope you didn’t forget that fun tidbit! Also I’m pretty sure every “--and” could be replaced with something better.

→ “Eventually, cursing, he opened his eyes and then, in a fit of desperate anger, his fist. The wind picked up the threat and carried it away...”

This doesn’t really need to be a parenthetical clause. It’s not essential to the sentence and could be removed, sure, but it could be integrated just as well.

No comma, same subject. No filtering, this realization is irrelevant.

There’s four em dashes in four consecutive sentences. How about mixing it up without constantly pausing?

“Jace’s stomach tightened; the runes looked like the ones that had been carved around Ithuriel’s feet. Could Valentine have done this? Could these be his things? Was this his hideaway Jace had never visited or known about?

Jace slid off the sill, landing in a dry patch of grass just as a shadow passed across the face of the moon.”

Hugo didn’t make appearance in City of Ashes, but the three time he was mentioned, it was like this:

“Clary heard a voice exclaim in surprise. For a moment her heart contracted as she thought of Hodge, who had all but lived in this room. Hodge, with his gravelly voice, and Hugin, the raven who was his almost constant companion—and who had, at Hodge’s orders, nearly ripped out her eyes.” (chp. 3 “The Inquisitor”)

and

“He glanced up—he still half-expected to see Hugo flying among the wooden rafters in his slow, thoughtful circles. The raven had always liked it up there between the rafters and the arched stone ceiling. At the time Jace had thought the bird liked to dig his claws into the soft wood; no he realized the rafters had lent him an excellent vantage point for spying.” (chp. 15 “The Serpent’s Tooth”)

and

“She glared at him, reminding him for a moment of nothing more than Hugo, Hodge’s black raven.” (chp. 16 “A Stone of the Heart”)

If it wasn’t that important to remind of Hugo’s backstory then, why would this exposition (highlighted part) be necessary now?

Then we jump back to Clary and Friends.

It’s entirely nonsense that Clary’s repulsion at the idea that she has indeed kissed her brother is completely based on the fact that Jace felt right and Sebastian felt wrong. Otherwise it wouldn’t have mattered.

IT’S PATRICK PENHALLOW’S STELE! Interesting that there is no comma after a nonessential clause...

Last time Meliorn’s eyes were both [vine or moss green] and [jade green]. It’s not surprising Clary doesn’t immediately recognize him because last time she barely remembered his name [x] & [x]. Meliorn’s hair was also previously described as falling “in blue-black sheets” around his face. His eye color is changes but his hair stays as sheets. Cool.

What the hell does it matter whether Magnus smiles at Clary or not, it’s such an odd thing to focus on. And somewhat egoistic. How come he doesn’t smile at me? His face could be completely neutral or confused or mesmerized for all we know. Tell me something he does instead of what he doesn’t do.

When a preposition links two things together within a sentence, there’s no comma.

→ “when she turned back, Magnus was looking at her, his mouth set in a crooked line. “It’s fine,” he said, answering whatever question Luke had just asked him.”

oBvIoUsLy. If it’s obvious, you don’t need to say it’s obvious.

This sentence is completely out of place here. I’d remove it altogether.

→ “At first he thought he’d somehow found his way outside again and that the stars were visible overhead in all their glittering glory. The witchlight had picked out dozens of sparkling deposits of mica...”

There’s absolutely nothing complicated here. You can have friends that are girls. You don’t have to modify your behavior on Isabelle’s moods. The only complicated thing here is my inability to understand why none of the girls like each other.

The standard set in the narrative is that the only way Alec can make Magnus take him seriously is to admit to their relationship to Maryse and Robert. Similarly before Magnus complained how Alec hadn’t even told his parents about him. What does Isabelle know anything about this?

In order for Magnus to take Alec seriously (according to Isabelle), Alec needs to come out to their parents and tell them about the relationship. How fucked up is that? How is this not the narrative pushing Alec to come out in order to be taken seriously??

What does Isabelle have against Maia? Is she jealous of Maia because Maia and Simon are friends and like each other as people?

This girl on girl hate is baseless and ridiculous. No wonder doesn’t know how to write male/female friendships when all of them are apparently expected to have some romantic aspect to them.

Simon and Clary → tried dating Kit and Livvy → kissed Simon and Maia → casually dated Emma and Julian → best friends but really in love

We’ve been over this scene for many times over but it has to be said. This should’ve been the point of view of Alec or Magnus. This shouldn’t have been played for laughs. It’s just exhausting how little thought went into this.

The arguments presented in this series are always completely backwards. The core issue here being choice. It is completely different to choose to fight the good fight than offer someone to be hurt without their own volition. If Raphael wanted Simon to have the same opportunity to choose, he should have gone straight to Simon instead of demanding it from the people close to Simon. This is just pompous posturing with ethics.

And since when does Raphael speak for all the vampires in the world? Surely there are clans all over the world who don’t give two shits about what Raphael Santiago from New York thinks.

Then back to Jace.

The same problem here with Jace like previously Isabelle. It is so overstated that Clary looks exactly like Jocelyn and Isabelle doesn’t get the resemblance. The rest of the story likes to tell how Sebastian looks exactly like Valentine. Why doesn’t Jace see the resemblance?

It’s also funny that Jace considers Sebastian’s looks, how this coloring is better and how he looks less pale, instead of focusing on what they are talking about.

I don’t knooow. Jonathan is supposedly very popular name among the Nephilim. Jace knows that this isn’t the real Sebastian Verlac, obviously Sebastian’s real name is not Sebastian. What is there to be confused about? Jace, the intelligent boy he is, should be wondering why they share the same name.

If Sebastian’s final act before revealing his true nature was to kidnap Clary, why didn’t he just forcibly take her in the Accords Hall despite the witnesses? When Sebastian follows Clary and co. to Hodge, he then kills Hodge and reveals himself as a traitor.

He levels the other Nephilim down, so why didn’t he try to take Clary then? Simon injures him but Sebastian punches him in the ribs. Jace has gotten up from the ground and then threatens Sebastian with a blade. What does the biggest baddest baddie Sebastian do? Run away.

For the third (or fourth?) time, this makes no sense! Hodge should’ve been able to tell! It’s also incredibly dull waiting for Jace to catch up. He is just asking questions and not getting any closer to the truth before Sebastian eventually reveals it straight to him.

It’s as though Jace is on the verge of realizing something, and I’m rooting so hard for him to get it, and he still gets it wrong. Even now, as he has been revealed that Valentine had a son he knew nothing about, he doesn’t question whether anything he knows about his parentage is actually true.

→ “Clary glanced down and saw...” (filtering) → “Clary glanced down. There was the spidering black rune that crossed...”

The em dash before ‘but’ isolates the idea following the main clause, a trick that Clare uses as a pause a lot in her writing. However, the idea here is directly related to the main clause. Why isolate it?

Period.

It’s dumb that Raphael’s nonsense makes Simon step up for his people. Raphael’s nonsense is nonsense because the only reason he wants to kill Simon is because Simon is not a natural vampire, being able to walk in daylight. That’s it. He’s going to be danger to them. How exactly? Wouldn’t know because Raphael doesn’t do much to justify his ill omens.

And again, since when does Raphael speak for all the vampires in the world? Are you really saying that there isn’t any other clan anywhere else in the world that wouldn’t go, fuck this, we want that Council seat, fuck off Raphael, we will fight with the Nephilim.

#Clary Fray #Jace Herondale #Simon Lewis #Raphael Santiago #Magnus Bane #Meliorn #City of Glass #CoG Chapter 18

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lovemalecforever · 3 years

Text

Chapter 12

Family isn't always blood

Alec looked at his Parabatai then to his sister then to him again and sighed heavily before speaking. "Because there is something I want to talk about which needs all of your presence."

"Excuse me!?" Jace exclaimed, "Alec, I can feel your nervousness, what is going on? You're making me scared buddy, we almost lost yo-"

"Jace, calm down. I'll tell you when everyone will be here, and it's nothing bad, okay?"

Even after the reassurance, Jace was still not convinced. He could feel how scared and nervous Alec was through their bond. There were so many probabilities running through his mind, minding that Magnus wasn't there with him when that man never leaves his brother alone.

"Jace, stop. I can literally feel you getting stressed up, I told you, Jace, it's nothing, just... wait for a while."

Jace sighed and nodded. He had met his Parabatai, his brother after a long time, and making him upset or angry was the last thing he wanted. "Sorry Alec, but really, you told Izzy that you're coming but not me? Seriously? Am I not important to you anymore?" he dramatically put his hand over his chest. "You have hurt me, dude."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Stop being overdramatic, Jace. Besides, the look on your face told me that it was worth it."

"Boyzzz!" Izzy interrupted, shaking her head at her brothers for their silliness. "So, big brother, whom do you want to meet first, Clary or Simon?" Out of everyone, Izzy knew really well that Alec considers them family now, remembering the fact that he admitted it when she and Simon visited him.

"It's been long I've seen nugget in training mode. I would like to see her training and meanwhile, tell Simon to come here, I want to talk to you both privately before talking to everyone else."

"What the hell!? Alec, First, stop giving my girlfriend these stupid nicknames, and second what are you guys are up to?"

"Jace, stop." Izzy spoke firmly, "Don't bombard our brother with questions, he just arrived. And, besides, I want to see how Clary's doing so can we move now?"

"Fine, let's go." Jace sighed, and they left for the training room.

While heading towards the training room, Alec didn't miss the changes that had been made at the Institute, especially the weapons room. He knew he made the right decision to make his sister the Head of the Institute when he accepted the post of Inquisitor at Alicante, and she's doing a brilliant job. He couldn't help but feel proud of his sister.

It's been around an hour since Clary started her training, her hair was tied up in a ponytail, she was wearing a perfectly fitted navy blue sports bra with red stripes on it, the back having cross straps with blue-grey yoga pants and red and blue colored sports shoes. Her hands were wrapped in boxing bandages, blowing punches and kicks to the punching bag, which had now started to tear.

"Slow down Parabatai, looks like you're having a bad day, or did you not get it last night, huh?" Izzy teased as she walked towards her soon-to-be Parabatai, a smirk playing on her face, and Jace's face flushed.

"Izzy, Hey!" Clary greeted then held the towel that Izzy offered her. "And to answer your question, both. Bad day because Jace was being an idiot last night, and this morning too." She said, making Izzy burst into laughter.

"Really Clary, discussing our sex life with my sister!? Not appreciated!" Jace said as he walked in.

"She's my best friend, Herondale. I can discuss whatever I want." Clary shrugged and snatched the water bottle that he offered her.

"Oops! Looks like someone screwed up badly." Izzy said while suppressing her laugh, earning a glare from Jace.

Clary almost choked on the water she was drinking and dropped the bottle on the floor in the process when her eyes fell on the third person present in that room, standing by the door frame.

"ALEC!"

"Hello, Carrot!" Alec walked in and laughed when she literally jumped on him. "Get down, carrot, you're drenched in sweat."

"Really! Carrot, Carrot!? Seriously, Alec, I told you to stop giving her names, don't you-"

"I find it cute," Clary said, interrupting her boyfriend and making him dumbfounded. "Alec, when did you come? And where's Magnus?" She asked when her excitement died down and was back on her feet.

"Just now, and Magnus didn't come, I had some work."

"Okay, now I'm jealous, what had Simon done, big brother? Jace? Why do you both treat him like that?" Izzy pouted.

"I like him, but that vampire gets under my skin sometimes. No offense, Izzy." Jace said flatly.

"Izzy, Simon had done nothing, you know I like him, I just don't feel like being like that around him. There's nothing else." Alec reassured, making her sigh.

Izzy's phone buzzed, breaking their chain of conversation. She picked it up to check the message. "It's Si, he'll be here in some time. Your room or my office?" She asked.

"In my room," Alec answered while Jace and Clary kept glancing between the siblings. "I'll tell you both later."

Clary nodded. "I'm going to get a shower, see you later, Alec." With that, she picked up her stuff and left the hall.

"Wait, Clary! Excuse me!" Jace said hurried after his girlfriend leaving the other two laughing at their situation.

"It's good to have her back, you know," Izzy said when they both left the room. "Jace is a different person now, and happier too."

"I know. I can feel it. I'm happy for him, he deserves this. Looking back at how broken he was 3 years ago, I'm really happy that Clary got her memories back. They didn't deserve what happened 5 years ago."

"What's wrong!?" She asked when she noticed an unknown expression clouding her brother's face.

"Izzy, promise me you won't tell Jace what I'm about to say, else I won't hear the end of it."

Izzy raised her brow but eventually nodded.

"You know how much I used to hate Clary when she first came into our lives, she's still annoying, but looking at her now, at them, they are meant for each other, they complete each other. And I'm really happy that they found each other, all over again." He said, having a bright smile on his face.

"You're right, big brother. Jace will never stop teasing you if he'll hear what you just said. And, I agree, they are meant for each other."

Clary came back to their lives almost two and a half years ago. It took her almost a year and a half after meeting Jace at her painting exhibition to regain her memories of the shadow world. When she remembered Jace at the alley of the building where her exhibition was held, Jace frequented their meetings in the hope that she'd remember everything but hid it from everyone else. That was until Simon found out and confronted him, in the process bumping into her becoming the second person she remembered.

Clary always had an empty space in her heart, a void, which kept telling her that something was missing. That was until she met Jace, and she knew that she knew him from somewhere. There were bits and pieces in her mind of a club, bike riding, or some similar events, but they were never complete.

When both boys told everyone about Clary, it was Magnus who advised them to take things slow and not rush her memories. She met everyone, remembered them one by one, Luke being the third one, then Jocelyn, followed by the incomplete memory of her death, which resulted in regaining her memories at a great pace.

What broke the floodgates of her memories was when Jace and Clary were returning from their date, and they were attacked by a shapeshifting demon, which Clary killed with complete ease, shocked at first, but the sudden appearance and disappearance of her runes made her remember that she's a Shadowhunter.

The most beautiful thing which happened between all this was Clary fell in love with Jace all over again, oblivious about their past and Jace's feelings, making him the happiest person in the universe.

When she remembered everything, and stepped into the institute once again, and got all her runes back, she was visited by her mother's soul once again telling her that the Angels had forgiven her, she still has her extra share of powers, but she needs to be careful this time and not repeat the mistakes she made in the past. From that time on she became a completely new person. Better than before, more fierce, stronger, but still stubborn, annoying, and irritating at times.

The most epic thing to happen was Alec and Clary's relationship. From hating each other to frenemies to friends to a weird brother-sister relationship, they came a long way. The bitter comments Alec used to make about her were now more of teasing and mocking in a good way. They had started understanding each other, making everyone around them shocked with their bonding.

***************************

Simon was already pacing in Alec's room when Izzy and Alec entered, making Alec sigh out of frustration. "Stop digging holes in my carpet, Lewis," Alec commented.

"Really!?"

"Boys!" Izzy shook her head. "I can't with you people!" She mumbled, then turned towards her brother. "So, what did you find Alec?"

"Everything!" He answered and explained to them the complete process of becoming immortal. When he was done both of their faces were filled with shock and astonishment.

"So, you have to drink Fray's blood and ask her to talk to Angel Ithuriel on your behalf, that's... interesting. Do you think she'll agree?" Simon asked curiously.

"That we'll see. Are you both okay with this?" Alec asked hesitantly.

Simon and Izzy exchanged a look. "Of course we are, big brother. I'm really happy for you." She hugged her brother tightly. Alec looked at Simon who nodded and smiled at him, he smiled back and mouthed thank you to him.

They broke their hug and Alec sighed with relief. "I'm glad to have your support, but, Izzy, I need advice, I'm confused."

"What is it?"

"Should I wait for everyone to arrive and talk to them tonight altogether, or I'll talk to everyone privately? I don't know how everyone's gonna react, especially Jace and Clary."

Izzy didn't know what to say to that. She looked at Simon than at her brother, trying to form words when Simon broke the silence.

"Um... I don't know what you think, Iz, but I think you should talk to everyone privately, talking to everyone at the same time would mean too many emotions in one place when you don't know how will everyone react which can become uneasy for you. But it's completely up to you." He said carefully.

"I think you're right Simon, thank you. It might take time, but I'll get a fair amount of time with everyone. And I think I'm going to make Jace and Clary wait for the last." He said with a chuckle.

"Now, Izzy, till the time mom and Luke arrive, why don't you and Clary show me what I've asked for!?" He asked with a wide smile.

Simon had a confused expression from his question, making Alec chuckle with the realization that neither of the women had told anyone about the gifts he had asked them to help him make for Magnus.

"Come on then, big brother. It's in Clary's room." She wrapped her arm around her brother's, dropped the silencing rune, and walked towards Jace and Clary's shared room. When they were near their room they heard loud arguments coming from their room making them exchange looks.

"Can we come in Fray? Or are you both going to continue with whatever you were arguing about?" Simon asked while suppressing his laugh, earning a flying pillow from Clary, which he dodged successfully, making Alec and Izzy burst with laughter, and Jace completely embarrassed.

"Are you people done?" Alec asked.

Clary cleared her throat and steadied herself. "Yeah, come in."

"Are you still working on it, or is it completed? Alec wants to see it." Izzy said the excitement was clearly visible in her voice.

"Oh, are you sure Alec? It's not completed yet."

"Completed or not, I want to see both of your's!"

"Okay, it's in my art room."

"Art room?" "What the hell is going on!?" Alec and Jace said at the same time.

Jace was carefully listening to their conversation, making a frown appear on his forehead. He looked at Simon who was mirroring his confused expressions, but no one else, making his nerves rise.

Alec sighed. "Izzy and Clary, may I know why you both kept it hidden from them?" He waved towards Simon and Jace.

"We thought it would be nice to surprise them too, we want to see their expressions when it's done," Izzy said.

Jace and Simon exchanged a look, Jace was about to say something when Alec raised his hand to shut him up. He shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't get my answer, Art room?"

"Oh, my old room, now that I share the room with Jace, I converted that to my personal Art room. Are you really sure, Alec?"

"Yes, and anyways I want it completed before I leave for Alicante."

"Are you sure, big brother? Will you be able to hide from Magnus for that long?" Izzy raised her brow at him.

"Alec, if this makes you relieved, I got permission from Angels to use the portal rune as a permanent rune for me, and anyways I and Izzy are gonna portal to the lakeside to complete all the decorations you've asked for. You can meet us there and take the gifts from us." Clary said.

Alec looked at Clary in disbelief. "You got permission? That's something. Okay then, take your time, but it should be completed by Wednesday."

"We're almost done, big brother. Don't worry!"

*************

They all walked towards Clary's Art room, Alec was way too excited to see what they've done. Clary opens the door, which was filled with the scent of fresh colors, different shapes of brushes were spread in the whole room and a bunch of them were kept in a pen stand with several watercolor bottles and charcoal pencils on a wooden table in the corner of the room. There were different shapes of canvases filled in the whole room.

Clary went forward and removed a red-colored cloth that was covering a medium-sized canvas, only to reveal 3 frame-sized paintings pinned on the canvas, the 4th one was ongoing and one was empty. Alec's jaw fell on the ground seeing them.

"You... you're painting them!?"

"You like it?" Clary asked nervously, biting her nails, and looked at Izzy.

Alec went forward and traced his fingers over the painting of their wedding, both in tuxedos, holding hands, a look of pure happiness on their faces. "Put this in the center, and frame them properly. Magnus is going to love it. And I do too. Thank you, redhead!"

Clary sighed with relief and nodded with a warm smile.

"What the he-"

"Wow, these are beautiful Fray, so that's not the only surprise you're planning for Magnus? It's so lovely!"

"Yes, there's more Simon. I told you and Izzy alre-"

"What is going on!? And why am I the only one who doesn't know anything!?" Jace yelled.

Alec sighed for the billionth time that day. "Jace, are you really not getting it, or are you seriously not remembering!?"

Every eyes were on Jace now. "Remember wha... oh shit!" He gulped when he realized the paintings were from Alec's wedding to all of their following anniversaries. And it's his brother's anniversary next week.

"Sorry, Alec. I forgot about your anniversary. So, that's why Magnus is not here, you're planning a surprise, huh?" He said teasingly knowing that his brother is bad with surprises.

Alec rolled his eyes and smacked Jace on the back of his head, earning a whiney 'Ow' from him while others burst into laughter. "So, Izzy!?"

"It's in the weapons room, come on!"

*********************

They were all in the weapons room, Izzy had vacated the room for some time, and they were the only five present there. She went towards the right side rack, opened the second last drawer and took out a black-colored box, and walked towards the center table where everyone was standing.

"Big brother, it's yet to be completed. The whole engraving is remaining, you sure!?"

"Engraving?" Others said in unison.

"Yes, Izzy! Just show me whatever is done!"

Izzy opened the box to reveal a set of 3 diamond rings, sitting on fake fingers, two on the base and one in the middle of the finger, each connected with silver chains having tiny emeralds covering the whole chain. It was a really beautiful ring. There was a bundle of diamond cuts sitting on the base of the box.

Everyone's jaws were dropped on the floor. The ring was shining brightly in the dullness of the room.

"Why extra diamonds?" Clary asked curiously.

"These are going to be fixed on the engraving. Alec, thoughts?" She asked, her voice filled with nervousness and excitement.

"Wow! I... I'm speechless. You did a great job, Izzy. Magnus is definitely going to fall in love with it."

"I already am," Clary confessed. Her eyes were shining with the lights the diamond ring was emitting.

"I didn't know my girlfriend was this talented!" Simon said. He and Jace were completely dumbfounded.

They all got out of their trance with a loud squeal Izzy made, way too excited and proud of her work. They all exchanged a look and shook their heads at her.

Before Izzy could say, her phone buzzed and her expressions went from excited to soft.

"What?" Alec asked.

"Mom and Luke are here, you're ready, Alec?"

Alec sighed. "Let's get this over with!"

#asaab #angst with a happy ending #angst #fanfic authors #alec lightwood #fantasy #fanfiction #fanfic #lightwood bane family #malec forever #malec fic #happily married #magnus bane #malec

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khaleesiofalicante · 2 years

Note

IT'S SELENA'S CHAPTER OH MY GOD

wait im gonna go watch encanto with my aunt then im gonna read this

oh nvm she's gonna take a nap so imma read till then

For so long, sleep had been something she was excited about – or something that made her nervous.

But she had come to learn that sleep is not supposed to make you feel things. It’s supposed to make you stop feeling things.

You stop feeling and you rest.

She hadn’t had the opportunity to rest for a long time.

But now she did.

i just started and this has already made me so-

i sleep to get the day over with

ok im gonna go prepare for tomorrow we're going to the beach and we need to prepare the food

ILL BE BACL

nope i ran away let's read

what is up with ithuriel anyway?

bitch had to get himself captured by valentine

They hadn’t been able to fix the guilt and the terror inside her.

They had told her that those wounds will heal with time – slow and steady.

They had told her she would be strong again one day.

But Selena didn’t want to heal or be strong again.

She just wanted to forget.

this!

the moment where you dont want to be strong, you just want to forget it all

even if a small part of you knows you will be okay

LEXI

“Can your alarm clock do this?” Lexi asked and started moonwalking in the air.

Selena shook her head fondly.

“And can it do this?” Lexi asked and then jumped into the bed, hugging Selena very, very tightly.

where can i get a lexi

“I love sleeping now. Shit is sexy.”

so true omg

oh it's the trial today

OH MY GOD IT'S RAFAEL'S FIRST THING AS THE CONSUL

ok ok calm

“I’m not worried about them,” Selena said. “I’m worried about me. You don’t think I deserve whatever punishment I am going to receive?”

Lexi looked surprised. “Selena, you don’t deserve to be punished. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I didn’t mean to do anything wrong, but I still did,” Selena said quietly. “There is a difference, Lexi.”

none of this was your fault

god i wanna hug her

selena when...when people or prince of hell pull this shit, when they manipulate us and gaslight us into doing stuff we don't want to or never would want to...it's not our fault

and you were possessed.

this shit never leaves and comes back to haunt us, makes us think it was our fault but it isn't

you didn't do anything wrong. you're the victim here, love.

don't make yourself the villain

“You said I’m not the villain. You said I was the victim,” Lexi said softly. “So, remember that. You are not the villain. You are the victim.”

Then she hugged Selena tightly again.

“Victims don’t deserve to be punished, Selena,” Lexi said. “So, don’t ever think that.”

YES!!!!

the world isn't kind on us but we need to remind ourselves to be kind to ourselves

AYY RAFAEL

it's going to be ok...

and yeah anjali is cool

“Let’s take one step at a time, okay?” Lexi smiled and jumped off the bed. “The first step is to brush your teeth.”

Yes. Baby steps.

“I like long hair,” Selena smiled.

“Wannabe Rapunzel,” Lexi giggled.

LMAO-

“If anyone tries to ruin our trip to Disneyland, I will drop them from the sky.”

DO IT

hi random person we dont know yet

AMIRA

YESSS

But now they had time.

It meant she had to talk.

With everyone.

It was hard to talk when all you wanted to do was forget.

relieving that shit is hard.

dont

but also do

god it sucks. when all you wanna do is forget but talking about it, letting yourself grieve in a way helps but then it gets way too repetitive

“I came here to see how you were doing,” Amira said. “And to remind you that you still have friends who care about you.”

Amira...I love her

“Selena,” Amira said incredulously. “Fuck the investigation.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I supposed that’s what I did,” Selena pointed out dryly.

I forgot the part about the investigation-

but yeah-

“I gathered everyone might ask you that question. They might want to know what happened and all that,” Amira explained. “I can’t be easy for you to repeat it over and over again. I know you might not have a choice with others. But you don’t have to repeat it to me. I don’t need to know.”

im so glad selena has amira

She was done living it.

She just wanted to forget.

yeah. shit sucks

Finally, whoever would present her in the trial would be going against Anjali – the Inquisitor and the prosecutor of the Clave.

Selena wasn’t sure they had a chance.

no they do not

wait lemme put on the song rec

holy shit the song-

“I only did it so I can be close to Michael,” Selena said, feeling stupid now. “Michael told me it’s a good idea and I just…I didn’t think much. I just wanted to make Michael happy.”

She had done so many things like that.

Little things that came back to her.

The way she started to wear dresses because Michael didn’t like her in jeans and crop tops.

The way she had stopped swearing because Michael didn’t like it.

The way she would smile even when she was sad because she didn’t want Michael to know.

The way she didn’t speak to many others and didn’t make friends because Michael didn’t like it when she spoke to other people.

The way she never cut her hair short like Lexi because Michael had told her pretty girls have long hair.

All those things.

For Michael.

honey that's not stupid

shit this sucks but i hope you find the strength to heal.

and remember to be kind to yourself because you'll have days where you'll fall back into old habits, where you'll cry, when it will hit you but you thought you had healed

so be kind to yourself

fuck becoming a centurion is a permeant thing???

“I don’t want you to,” Amira sighed. “I don’t ever want you to do something you don’t want to do.”

Im sure there is a way right??

even if she's the first one to resign

“So, after you were, uh, gone, I was like moping around in Scholomance, and guess who else was moping around?” Amira wagged her eyebrows. “So, Gabriel and I decided to mope together.”

YESSSS

Selena honey-

“I just told you Gabriel was moping around when you were gone, and you ask me if they are dating me?” Amira laughed.

exactly. bestie they like you

AWW AMIRA AND GABRIEL MADE HER A SCRAPBOOK

"hoping" KHSHJDCKUHFV SELENA-

See you in Idris.

That’s just a thing they told each other now.

Selena kind of liked it – a lot.

This was her dream...

She was wearing a plain mint green dress.

Some things needed time to change.

Yes, they do.

you'll be fine even if right now it seems impossible

shadowhunters always interrupting magnus' vacations istg

selena...you cant avoid him forever

or any of the people belial made you hurt

talking is a step forward

“Give yourself a chance too.”

!!!!!!

One look at him and she didn’t want him to go.

How could anyone look at Magnus and think that?

so true omg

“I’m not really good at this,” Magnus pointed out. "Talking to people."

“Then why did you agree to talk to me?” Selena asked.

“Because I have never been able to refuse your mother my help,” Magnus said.

“I think you have never been able to refuse anyone your help,” Selena wondered out loud.

first of all, same

second of all, selena's so right

He didn't tell her it was okay, or it didn’t matter.

Because it wasn’t okay, and it did matter.

Magnus didn’t disregard his pain to make her feel better. She liked that about him.

Yeah. me too

Magnus deserved that.

A home.

A safe one.

Amen sis

“I know he was a toxic piece of shit,” Selena said. “But he was still your father.”

YES

no matter how shitty he was his father

And suddenly, she didn’t hate that word anymore.

It was the way he said, with so much love and tenderness.

Maybe she didn’t have to forget.

Maybe she could simply make new memories.

and you will!

because you have people who will help you make those memories

“I need you to trust me when I say this,” Magnus said, taking her hands in his. “But you are going to be just fine.”

yes.

Powers or not, we are all capable of hurting other people. At the end of the day, it’s a choice.”

He reached out and pushed back a wet strand of her hair behind her ear.

“It’s not what not what you have, but what you do with it,” Magnus told her. “So, do good. No matter what people think of you, keep making good choices.”

THIS

abusing your power is a choice.

“There are no bad powers,” Magnus said. “Only bad people.”

YES YES YES

The first thing that came to her mind was – oh, their voice still sounds like syrup. How?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“He can’t find the pins for Rafael’s robes,” Izzy chuckled. “He is freaking out.”

OH MY GOD I AM GONNA SCREAM

But Aunt Izzy had just walked and demanded to see Selena. The silent brothers had let her of course.

No one dared to stop Isabelle Lightwood.

exactly!

OH MY GOD ISABELLE'S PREGNANT

“I will protect this baby with my life,” Selena said. “I promise.”

Aunt Izzy looked up at that and smiled. “Then it’s already the luckiest baby in the world.”

yes...yes they are

Under Rafael’s Clave, people were changing. Idris was slowly changing with them too.

this makes me so emotional

“I will kick their ass,” David simply replied.

It was not a David thing to say at all. But the way he said, she couldn’t help but believe him.

DJSJKFDJU PROTECTIVE DAVID

“You are worthy of being loved regardless of how you feel about yourself.”

this reminds me of this poem i read

i'll have to look for it

but omg yes! this is so important

nothing thrives in isolation

Whatever happens today, she knew she would be okay. Because she was loved unconditionally.

Yes. Yes you will be okay

It was a little odd to see Uncle Alec sitting with the rest of the crowd. But he seemed happy to be there – by Magnus’ side.

SCREEAMING-

shit it's almost ten i need to wake up early tomorrow

it wouldnt take this much time if i didnt stop and analyze every line

She looked up at the dais. At Rafael.

Her Rafael.

With his Anjali.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

THEM!!!!

i am freaking out

“Every time I look at them, I become a little more pansexual.”

girl same

He looked breathtakingly gorgeous in his red Consul robes. He looked so much like his father that it almost made her tear up.

She waved at him. He gave her a small smile.

She knew that smile.

He was nervous.

oh my god my boy...I am so proud of him.

But then she realized, she hadn’t done this.

This had been done to her.

YES

YES YES YES

When the time came, Rafael stood up. He no longer looked nervous.

He looked like the Consul.

Like a Lightwood-Bane.

I am so proud of him

MAX AHUSDASOIDENKDC

“I didn’t get a say in what happened to me in the past. My voice went unheard,” Selena said, swallowing her fear. “I would like to use it now.”

selena...i love you and good luck

KYLE SHUT THE FUCK UP

ooo she changed the color of the robes to black

anjali that is so cool

Selena took a deep breath and looked at Rafael. “I’m aware I’m not the only one who broke the law for the sake of love.”

oh damn

“No,” Selena said. “I cannot take responsibility for something that was beyond my control.”

“You killed them!” someone yelled.

“I was possessed,” Selena said calmly. “You cannot hold me accountable for it.”

im going to cry. im so proud of her

selena YES

“What are you, an only child?” Lexi asked incredulously. “She choked me to death, and I set her on fire. It’s just sibling things, ya know?”

ikr???

like that's just something we do

chill out only child

she also called isabela a bully to mirabel when she watched encanto didn't she?

smh

istg kingsley need to shut up

oh. oh yeah i guess that makes sense

GUYS COME ON SERIOUSLY??

FUCK OFF

rafael oh my god im so-

Uncle Alec looked so emotional then.

same dude same

“You stood here and exiled Helen Blackthorn twenty years ago for something she didn’t do,” Rafael said. “The rest of you stood by and watched. I will not let that happen again.”

He looked at Selena and looked at the Council.

“Selena was manipulated into losing her own family. She was kidnapped from the people she loved and cared for. She was alone and afraid,” Rafael pointed out. “Your judgment is to strip off her runes and exile her into a world she knows nothing about. Your judgment is to deprive her of love and safety? How are you different from that demon who possessed her?”

The Clave shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Selena wanted to cry.

“Most importantly, Selena is a child,” Rafael said, his voice angry. “I will not be the Consul who hurts children.”

dude i got chills.

literal chills

he...he's perfect for this position

ew who made kingsley the centurion?

OH MY GOD ANJALI KNEW SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A CENTURION AND-

YES YES YES

“This is awesome!” Lexi yelled in glee.

“Shh!” Selena said.

“I mean,” Lexi cleared her throat loudly. “Injustice! Unacceptable! I will be complaining to Raziel about this.”

I LOVE THIS FAMILY SO MUCH

There was so much pain.

So many things to forget.

But not this.

She will remember this forever.

god i love her so much

oof what's going on with gabriel??

She knew of the stars. She knew how they were the brightest in Idris since there was no pollution here.

bring me with you

the lake...

YES BESTIE MIDNIGHT SWIMS

is her ithuriel power that she can swim in lake lyn without any consequences?

AHHH THESE TWO

omg omg omg cuddling for warmth

Okay so. This was her superpower then.

Saying dumb shit.

SCREAMING

“Because you are recovering from a toxic relationship, Selena!” Gabriel said incredulously. “I didn’t want to be a fucking pendejo and jump at you the first chance I got. I was giving you space!”

selena we can keep this one

“I wanted to punch those assholes in the face,” Gabriel growled. “Fawning all over you like you were some sort of prize.”

“I didn’t like it,” Selena confessed quietly. “They were making it sound like being possessed was something cool.”

“They were romanticizing your trauma,” Gabriel rolled their eyes furiously. “Don’t mind them. You are better off without them.”

fucking shits

it's not something cool, not something you can have a "i can fix her" attitude with

ooo he has a tattoo

oof the rumors again

people need to chill out seriously

oh fuck the shadowhunters wrote down the wrong thing on their profile because it made the shadowhunters feel more comfortable that's fucked up

“I don’t know,” Gabriel shrugged. “Probably because they are more comfortable with people who kill for a living than people who fuck for a living.”

yeah well...they all kill for a living so-

“That you became a shadowhunter for the money,” Selena said carefully.

I mean- you guys do get paid well so why not?

“That’s why I came here,” Gabriel smiled. “Because for some people, a world full of demons is still safer than their own home.”

yeah.

im glad they are safe here

well...you know aside from the demons and shit

im so glad their mother is okay now

“I don’t know why people were uncomfortable with it,” Gabriel said then. “Sex work was just her job. Being a sex worker, it was what she did, not who she is. Just as hunting shadows is what I do, not who I am.”

Selena looked up at that.

“My mother is neither is a mercenary nor a sex worker. She is a survivor. And that’s who I am too,” Gabriel said. “And you, Selena. You are a survivor too.”

I feel like i say YES a lot

this though. this is so so true

OMG THEY WANTED TO BE A FLORIST???

THAT'S SO AMAZING

they want to name their kids after flowers...dude that's so...

rue...

it's beautiful

not like this selena. they are right

But she didn’t want to say the name.

It didn’t mean she wasn’t brave.

She just had wanted to feel safe again and this was how she could do it.

This was Selena’s journey to recovery. This was her healing.

She had to make her own rules.

So, fuck Voldemort. Fuck J.K Rowling.

Im so proud of her

you'll get there, love

also yes fuck jk rowling

“My mama once said some people come into our lives to teach us what love shouldn’t look like,” Gabriel said quietly. “Maybe Michael is yours.”

Yeah...

“It hurts me. Not the past that was a lie. But the future I lost. The future I dreamed about every night.”

Gabriel looked at her with sad eyes. Selena didn’t want them to look at her like that. She didn’t want anyone to look at her like that.

“There were so many things I wanted to do with Michael. We even made a list,” she said, her eyes welling up now. “I just…What happens to all those dreams?”

it hurts like a bitch, thinking of the future you could've had

because suddenly you're on your own holding pieces of your dreams

“Because sometimes good people think the worst things about themselves,” Gabriel said. “And you are a good person. Maybe even the good-est person I know.”

yeah...

agree on both points

“I would very much like to kiss you, Selena,” Gabriel smiled. “But right now, you want to kiss because you want to forget. And I promise you, no amount of kissing is going to help you forget all that pain.”

Selena looked down in disappointment.

“Only love can do that,” Gabriel said gently. “Love from your family. Love from your friends. And love from yourself – that’s the most important one.”

Gabriel reached out and raised her chin. Selena looked at them and bit her lip.

“I will kiss you one day,” Gabriel smiled, this one incredibly soft. “And when we kiss, it won’t be to forget. It will be a kiss to remember. Okay?”

OMG THEM

THESE TWO SUHDHFJDF

they are so right

omg it means "kissing you is like seeing the stars"

that's so romantic

shit werewolves

they are angry at selena

fuck

They were children. Teenagers.

The oldest was probably eighteen. The girl looked like her age. The youngest seemed no more than thirteen.

They had lost their family.

They had lost their parents.

Selena thought of the parents then. How the two of them must have done everything to protect their children.

How they must have lost their lives to save their kids.

oh...oh my

god im going to cry

She had been ordered to kill Rafael.

But she hadn’t.

She wasn’t a killer.

No matter what these people said, she wasn’t a killer.

She didn’t kill those parents.

She didn’t kill this family.

BABY IM SO PROUD OF YOU

FUCK THEY ARE HURT

YOU ARE NOT DYING

OH MY GOD SHE CAN HEAL???

HOLY SHIT YES

YES YES YES

im so.. i dont even have words. i love her so much and i am so proud of her.

what i do know is that i have to be up at 7 tomorrow and it is 10 57 pm also i have not eaten much today and i am very hungry.

ok bye ily <3

loved, loved, loved this - as always.

ilysm. happy new year.

ps - one of my fave things about your liveblogs is that you always directly interact with the characters (like some people do when they read you know).

It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing these beautiful (and chaotic) thoughts with me. Good night x.

#lbaf #evie boo thang

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sophi-s · 3 years

Text

Cost of Kindness

Chapter II: Fear me not

By: sophi-s

Fandom: Darksiders video games

Words: 6373

Characters: Raphael, Original Character (OC)

Warnings: Blood and injury, suffocating, violence, Raphael is sad :(

Summary:

Nicola is quick to find trust in herself and quick to lose it. She doesn't realise however, that the man she fears sees something in her others cannot. And this something is what made him save her life again.

--------------------------------------------------

Through the few short weeks, the apocalypse has taught the dying Humanity many different things. Resourcefulness, cunning, true strength of unity… and among other things, the cruel life had taught them, was bravery in its purest form. Bravery that isn't simply an absence of fear but the power to overcome it. Stay cool-headed even in the most extreme scenarios, allowing them to face down even the most horrifying demons and either get away mostly unscathed or sometimes even beat them if they were lucky. Without those traits, survival was nigh impossible these days.

This last very important lesson however, Nicola seemed to have quite spectacularly failed to learn. Even as lucky as she was - considering that she lived thus far - she never was the bravest creature in this God-forsaken world. Smart? Sometimes. Ingenious? Sure. But brave? Not really, no. Especially now, as she was staring up at the angel who she decided to trust not even a minute before and who has just ruthlessly murdered a demon with little to no remorse in a very, very sickening way. Her muscles refused to move as though Raphael had already used the spell of paralysis against her as she watched the corners of his mouth, previously quirked upwards in a small smile, slowly descend. His expression in the matter of seconds morphed into confusion when a quiet sob escaped her. This horrifying, agonized screeching was still ringing in Nicola's ears, the demon kept writhing before her eyes and she couldn't help but wonder.. what did it feel like? To have one's life drained like that. Because judging by the sounds the Goreclaw produced, it must've been truly torturous.

"Human…?"

The soft voice of Raphael snapped her out of this strange haze and the sight of his hand extended towards her once again made her heart jump and begin to race. Her mind was telling her that if Raphael wanted to harm her, he would've done it already. Besides, moments before the demon came, he healed the cut on her forehead demanding nothing in return. Only because he could and - for some reason - wanted. But the chilling claws of panic gripping her throat and the fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, screaming inside her head made the voice of reason merely an inaudible whisper drowning in the sea of primal fear of the possible approaching danger. And right now, her body definitely settled on "flight".

"No! "

She yelped and tried to get away but her heels met the corpse behind her and it caused her to trip over the husk of the once frightening demon. With an expression of shock, Raphael retracted his hand as her rear painfully met the tough and damp floor. There was utter horror gleaming in her emerald green eyes, matched by lack of comprehension in his.

"Why are you frightened?"

And he has the audacity to ask why. Nicola thought bitterly as she started to scramble away. At the first glance, Raphael seemed so kind, he was such a gentle soul. Even his face, despite the collapsed cheeks, has the most trustworthy look to it Nicola had ever seen. This kind is the worst. Makes you trust them, lower your guard.. It seems she'd conveniently forgotten about one fact she noticed moments after she found Raphael. He's completely, absolutely and utterly insane. Unpredictable. At first he couldn't even remember his own name or how he got here. Who can guarantee her that he won't have an abrupt change of heart and lash out at her? She wasn't going to take chances. Leaping up to her feet, Nicola blindly runs off into the dark pathway she initially emerged from, her shotgun left forgotten on the floor just as she heard an almost frantic-sounding call echoing from the haphazard hide-out alongside the sound of rustling feathers and cloth.

" NICOLAAA! "

To her, this shout may have as well been a roar of a Fallen that not so long ago nearly succeeded in ending her life. A golden hue on the walls glistening with wetness trembled and started to move. No one had to say that out loud for her to realise that the angel was actually chasing after her. And to think that merely seconds ago Raphael was struggling with standing up properly… The pain of her overworked legs was gone, forgotten. They carried Nicola like a completely different entity, moving on their own, tireless and strong with only one purpose. Get away. Survive. Escape.

How Nicola managed to get to the point where she started her sightseeing tour of the sewers without any source of light and without tripping over all those bodies she found before was a mystery even to her. Even the slickness of the ladder didn't phase her as she pushed the lid off and quite literally pounced out of the hole in the sidewalk like a puma. She only hoped she'd managed to lose her pursuit in the winding corridors. Placing the lid back where it belonged, Nicola immediately booked it for the nearest alley just to be sure.

Once she was more or less hidden, she leaned against a crumbling wall, breathed out silently and covered her mouth to muffle the uncontrollable sobs. She thought that for once she found something that wasn't about to end her where she stood but it seems that the Universe has taken it as a matter of some twisted honor to slaughter every single member of the human race. This is just unfair. Sure, there was a lot of people who deserved to be smited into oblivion by the God himself for what they'd done but if the apocalypse was supposed to be some kind of punishment, then for fuck's sake why does the entire race has to suffer for it?! How is this even fair ?!

It's not. That's how.

Nicola looked up at the night sky glittering with numerous stars, winking at her like thousands of watching eyes as tears spilled down her cheeks, leaving clean trails in the dust and grime. Eventually, her heartbeat started slowing down, her breath evening out and the adrenaline gradually receding from her system. Now she had a moment to clear her head and think. She had no doubts she can be forgiven for running away. Every person in their right mind would do the same in her situation. Nicola refused to die like this.. But on the other hand… This panic in Raphael's voice, the almost childishly innocent smile as he closed the cut on her skin and the gentleness to his every move as he tried to heal a defenseless kitten… God, this is so… so… Nicola couldn't even find the right word. Despite what the angel did to that Goreclaw, no one said he meant to hurt her too. He may be crazy but that doesn't mean he's a psychotic murderer. This was a demon and angels rightfully hate demons! In his mind there was most likely nothing wrong with that. Besides, she gave Raphael no reason to think of her as a target. All of the sudden, Nicola felt unbelievably foolish for running off like that. Raphael saved her life after all. And she acted nothing if not horribly ungrateful. Should I go back? She'll have to anyway. In a hurry, she left her weapon back down there and Haven was short on those… Dang it…

She sighed. It honestly made her feel like a moron. Damned survival instincts… Sure, they were keeping her alive all the time but sometimes they were just so incredibly annoying. Why would they make her run away from someone who protected her even though he had no reason to do so and nothing to gain from it? From the first angel who seemed to care what fate befalls her? Goodness me, this is so stupid… Nicola shook her head and was about to walk back to the entrance to the sewer when she noticed something in an adjacent alley. Seeing a pair of hungry yellow lights slowly moving closer to her, just above the ground made her heart drop. Her sight has long got used to darkness and so it took her only a fraction of a second to notice curved, black horns above them, long and spindly arms on either side of a slender body ending in a long, scaly lube. A snake-like tail…

With a pounding heart, Raphael quickly moved through the sewer that has long ago turned into his hide-out. Tracking down the strange little human who unexpectedly visited him in his "lair" was harder than it seemed. She was way faster than he would have given her credit for. By all means, in her short legs she shouldn't be that quick. Fear does strange things to people.. But why was she afraid? This short meeting was inarguably the most wonderful thing that happened to him ever since he left the White City. He couldn't quite remember how long ago it was but definitely too long for his taste. All he recalled was the horrible, sharp bite every time he repeated the ritual to finish his greatest creation, followed by a short-lived feeling of elation soon to be replaced by deathly cold within the centre of his being. Each time getting worse and worse until he couldn't stand it anymore. Quickly descending into madness caused by never-ending pain and the chill of his damaged soul, the invisible wound in his chest as cold as a forgotten grave, he knew he can't keep doing this. And so, after having lost his purpose, there was no reason for him to stay anymore. He refused to disappoint his brethren.

You've fulfilled your task. They don't need you anymore.

Raphael halted for a moment, blinking to try and chase away the taunting whisper in the back of his head. It is not true.

"You're wrong. They do. More than ever…"

In the premature Endwar, Heaven's Legions probably wished he was with them. But that doesn't change a thing. He's not going back. Not after he failed to save Ithuriel as an unexplainable surge of panic paralyzed both his hands and his magic. It still sometimes haunts his damaged memories… The young warrior slowly languished from a poisoned wound, grew weaker and weaker with every moment and the archangel couldn't move, couldn't even speak to call for help. Just.. stood there and watched unable to act. Until… A painful twinge through his chest made him wince. No. He can never allow something like this to happen again. He cannot fail them.. He refused to let anyone down like that. Ever.

Frankly speaking, Raphael started to wonder when he'd taken to talking to himself. Solitude clearly wasn't serving him… It's been so long since he had anyone to speak to and even longer since his mind felt this clear. This woman, Nicola, told him she is a human. Considering what has happened to the Third Kingdom, Raphael found it hard to believe. But the spark of life in her soul… it really did feel human. She wasn't a fiend from the Black Depths, nor was she of his own kin. Earth was where she belonged. But there was something in her… something so oddly familiar.. soothing. A flame like those burning in hearts of Heaven's people, just somehow fainter. Only a small fraction of it. Maybe her soul belonged to an angel before it was purged by the Well? Who knows?

But that aside, she was still human. And so, it might as well make her the last survivor of her race and the first creature to show him a lick of sympathy ever since he chose the path of a hermit. The Balance was in danger and this human was imperative for its preservation. For the first time in decades, Raphael felt needed. He had a purpose again. No one was forcing him to do this but the words in a caring tone leaving Nicola's mouth and clear concern for his well being even though she barely knew him for a couple of minutes were something he has been so… so dreadfully missing. As confused as he was by her attitude, he couldn't deny that it was… nice. How long has it been since someone expressed clear worry for him? Too long… The archangel wished this odd mortal near even if for just a short moment because strangely enough, her kindness directed specifically to him somehow eased the never-ending suffering and helped him focus his thoughts that kept running rampant without control whenever he couldn't busy himself with something other than the hole in his chest. And now they were focused on one goal. Find the human.

Raphael waved his bandaged hand through the air before him to invoke a spell and frowned when he detected the familiar presence he was searching for somewhere over his head. She must've left for the city above him. Right where she's out in the open for demons to pick out. Why did she run?

She knows what you are. And she is just a human. Of course she would run like a coward.

No. Raphael brushed this poisonous voice off. Believing in a single word it says will mean his failure. If he does, he will be doomed. Forever lost in the depths of insanity. No matter.. Channeling his magic, Raphael warped and reappeared amidst the sorrowful ruins of the city once inhabited by hundreds of humans. A wave of fresh air hit him in the face and for a moment made his head feel like it was spinning. His eyes opened wide when he took a huge gulp of oxygen. He never realised how sweet it can taste. After such a long time in the damp darkness… The stars peered down at him from the moonless sky, shining like shattered diamonds woven into black velvet. Enchanting and stunningly beautiful. If it wasn't so dangerous out here, Raphael would've surely been more eager to leave the dark pit he was stuck in to marvel at the Earth's still present beauty but such as it was… The moment he let his eyes wander across the vast expanse of the Earthen sky, his feathers bristled at the sound of a shrill cry of fear that tore the silence asunder. A cry of a female voice. Familiar voice. It could only mean one thing. His heart skipped.

Rushing towards the source of the scream, Raphael soon discovered the reason right behind a corner. The same human that indulged him in a much needed interaction, that calmed his restless spirit, was now struggling against the tightening coils of a serpentine body of a demon sorcerer which apparently has picked her as its midnight snack. Already feeling a mist of rage fall over his mind, Raphael shook his head to shrug it off for a little longer. Keeping his head as cool as he could, he performed a gesture with his hands as a string of words in his mother tongue slipped past his lips and his vision zeroed on the Shadowcaster.

Nicola was absolutely sure these were her final moments on this horrible, horrible world when the Shadowcaster jumped at her from a nook and wrapped its tail around her to try and strangle the life out of her like a gigantic, twisted constrictor snake, and watch her perish in suffering. What an awful way to die. Seeing the wicked grin of this malformed face as the last thing before her consciousness leaves her for good. Nicola hoped that if she had to die, then at least she would be sent off by a friendly face… But it seems that God denied her even this last, small comfort.. She fought ferociously against the crushing pressure that was successfully preventing her from catching another breath but to no avail. Her lungs felt as though they had been set on fire and her desperate wriggling only made the demon laugh excitedly as it whispered something she couldn't understand. She didn't have to though. Something told her it was nothing nice.. Dark spots started to gather in the corners of her vision and slowly encase her mind in darkness and she has already come to terms with the fact that this time she isn't getting out of this one alive when… the hold the Shadowcaster had on her loosened.

Taking a wheezing breath, Nicola fell over, still trapped in the coils of the scaly body. What? Once her vision cleared out a little, she saw her attacker lying stiff like a statue with its nasty eyes, previously burning with malice, now opened wide in shock and a web of golden lights crawling across its skin spoke for itself. Before any coherent thought could form in her head she was suddenly yanked free from the demon's grasp by an invisible force. A small cry escaped her when she felt a sharp sting on her thigh where the monster held her with its claws and soon she was gently deposited on the ground. Looking up into a pair of big, white eyes blinking down at her upside down from underneath a green, ragged hood.

"Raph-... phael…?"

She gasped to let her crushed lungs expand properly, though she needed no answer. It was him. He did follow her. And he saved her bacon. Again. Nicola truly wanted to laugh. If there were any doubts still left in her mind that Raphael is a friend before, they disappeared at this very moment. You bloody idiot, you ran from a dude who was trying to protect you and almost got yourself killed in the process. Nicola scolded herself inwardly as she struggled to breathe properly. No running again. Although she was most glad to see Raphael, she immediately noticed something was wrong. He was looking at her but without this soft smile. His eyebrows were knitted together in an expression of worry and… guilt? Why the…? And that's when she noticed that his eyes were flicking between her face and the spot on her leg which was quickly starting to grow warm and wet. Craning her neck to see, Nicola nearly choked once she caught the sight of three deep gashes torn into her flesh. And they were spurting about a lot of blood… Like.. a lot.

"You're bleeding… Hurt…"

His hesitant words only confirmed that it wasn't a hallucination caused by oxygen deprivation. Nicola bit her lip and tried to find that healing shard in her pocket but between being nearly choked to death, her empty stomach, sharp pain and seeing that amount of blood leaving her injured appendage she felt too dizzy to keep her head up and laid back down on the ground with a miserable mewl.

"In the eyes of our blessed Father, your days are numbered, foul beast.."

She heard Raphael hiss through his teeth once he looked up towards the place where the Shadowcaster was surely still face planting under the influence of the spell and his troubled frown turned into a scowl. There was this weird sound once more. Oh my God, he's doing it again… Nicola gulped, already preparing for the round two. Even though she was certain now that she had nothing to fear from him, it still doesn't mean she liked what she saw back then when the Goreclaw jumped her. She was already hearing the screeches of the demon even before they could come to be but this time no such thing happened. Something was different. The light that coalesced around Raphael's hand was not green but golden as the magic vibrated through the air once again. Everything lasted but a second. And instead of a series of pained shrieks, Nicola heard a single, sickening crunch. And then silence. Nothing more. Whatever happened, it was quick and mostly quiet. Probably because they were outside and more demons undoubtedly prowled nearby, and Raphael was definitely smart enough to realise that. Thank goodness… Nicola breathed before she saw the shimmering stars swimming before her eyes quickly starting to disappear along with her hearing. Soon, she slipped her eyelids closed in spite of the pain in her leg and found herself sliding into the dark. Hold on. Just a little longer.. Just… a little…

… longer…

If anything could be said about Shadowcasters, was that their skeletons, as flexible as they are, characterize with astonishing brittleness. One flick of Raphael's wrist was more than enough to snap its neck and give it a far quicker and more merciful death than it deserved. He couldn't allow himself for another drain as it would bring half of the Horde bearing down on both him and the wounded human at his feet. Besides, he didn't feel in need of its energy. The human…

Looking down at her, Raphael felt his heart cease for a second. She was lying there on her back, pale and motionless, her intricate green eyes shut. Alive, the blaze in her soul flickering, but clearly unconscious. Blood was still oozing from the wound he himself had made because of the spontaneous decision to wrench her free from the fiend's hold. He wasn't careful enough and failed to notice that the demon dug its talons into her skin. The archangel had seen a fair share of pain. He used to be the head healer back in the White City after all. The number of warriors he'd pulled out of the cold clutches of death was impossible to count. But somehow this was different. The poor woman was defenseless, weak and delicate. She couldn't even fight the demon that tackled her.

Azrael was right. Humans are very, very fragile.. Compared to other races, they were frighteningly easy to crush. Anything could kill them. From eating something wrong, through illnesses, to even falling into the water. Truth be told, Nicola was the first human Raphael had met in person and he didn't want her to be his last. Just stay calm. Don't panic… Not now… Kneeling down next to her, so small in comparison to him, Raphael gingerly peeled the torn trouser leg off the wound and placed his quivering hand over it, concealing the whole thing with his palm. His magic began to flow into the human once again to seal the torn flesh but there was very little time he had.

He barely managed to lessen the bleeding when a sound of a distant roar and a crash of a car being tossed aside, reached his ears. His head snapped up as his eyes darted around, searching for the owner of this cry. He would recognise it even in his sleep, even if the last scraps of his sanity left him. A Trauma was somewhere nearby. No doubt heading in this direction, attracted by the commotion and possibly the smell of blood as well. And a Trauma he couldn't afford to fight right now. Those things are hearty enough to break through his magic and get to him before he is able to put them down. Scooping up Nicola into his arms, Raphael wrapped his dusted wings around both her and himself and with a single arcane word they both vanished, leaving only a trace of quickly dissipating golden glow in their wake.

How long had she been out, Nicola couldn't tell. All she knew that she felt as though someone ran into her with a car. Her breaths were shallow and her heart was beating way too fast for comfort. Groaning quietly, she laid her arm over her face before opening her eyes. To see a dark, damp ceiling gently illuminated by a warm light. Where the Hell-...? The last second before the blackout came back to her like a punch to the gut. The Shadowcaster. Raphael.. With a startled gasp, she shot up, looking about, promptly regretting her decision when the world started to spin again. And to her utter astonishment, she was once again in the small section of the sewers where she met Raphael, settled on some ratty blankets and covered with another one that fell from her chest the moment she stirred.

"Keep still.."

She heard and nearly jumped when she felt a hand fall onto her shoulder and gently coax her into lying down again. And honestly, with how nauseous and weak she felt, Nicola wasn't about to resist and let herself be lowered to the ground. Unsurprisingly now, she saw the familiar scrawny angel sitting cross-legged next to her and staring intensely at her with those big, disturbingly hollow eyes. He brought her back into his hidey-hole? It looks like it.. Why exactly however, Nicola couldn't tell. And there wasn't much she could read from those eyes. A couple of seconds passed. A minute. Two. Five. And he still kept staring. The awkward silence continued until Nicola decided to break it by clearing her throat.

"Uh… what's up, buddy?"

If she wasn't feeling like shit, Nicola would've burst out laughing when she saw Raphael look up at the ceiling confused but she really didn't have strength to explain that this was just an expression. Chucking to herself quietly, she rubbed her eyes with pads of her fingers to clear her blurry sight a little when again her stomach loudly demanded nutrition. And the poor angel who was still looking at the ceiling quite literally jumped away and glared at her abdomen distrustfully when it "growled at him". Seems like angels know as little about humans as humans about them…

"What… was that.?"

Carefully pulling herself up to a sitting position, miserably failing to stop a fit of giggles - even though it pulled her sore muscles over her ribs - Nicola waved her hand dismissively. Any fear she once felt in the presence of Raphael was gone now. Not only did he rescue her twice but the way he was getting confused or spooked by literally anything Nicola did - purposefully or not - was just somewhat endearing.

"I'm just hungry.. I haven't eaten for a whole day.."

"Oh… hungry… hmmmm… Yes.."

Raphael murmured, seemingly a little embarrassed by the whole situation and twisted his body around to reach for something. Furrowing her eyebrows, Nicola tried to shift to see what exactly he was doing back there but she didn't see a lot. At least not until he turned to face her again and very slowly - like he was afraid he would frighten her again - extended his hand to her. And in his palm sat a paper bag where undoubtedly Nicola's sandwich was. Hesitantly, she reached for the packet that rustled encouragingly and a faint, pleasant smell of cheese, ham and pickled cucumbers emerged from within. A nice change from the stench around. It wasn't much but made her mouth water nonetheless.

"Thanks.. though I'd be glad if you didn't go through my things. Okay?"

"Okay…"

He replied with a nod and sat down again, watching Nicola devour - not eat - devour half of her sandwich in a few bites. Goodness, she was so hungry she could eat a horse.. However, halfway through something beside Raphael's thigh caught her attention. There, next to his knee sat a small cat. The same back and white kitten the angel was taking care of before. Looking at her with those blasted big, green eyes with pupils expanded almost to the point where its irises weren't visible and hungrily licking the sides of its mouth. At first she tried to ignore it. But the cursed look cats, especially the little ones, can give! The longer it stared at her, the more sure she was that she doesn't have the appetite anymore.. Goddamnit. Pulling a slice of ham out of her sandwich - the only part that would be of interest to it - Nicola clicked her tongue and offered the food to the kitten.

"Here, little buddy.. Come here."

I'm too soft for my own good. One day, some cat will be the death of her… Carefully and slowly, the kitten approached her, sniffing the piece of meat before snatching it out of her hand and retreating into the safe place behind Raphael to consume the gift. Cats can smell good people from a mile. Looks like she was wrong to ever doubt Raphael had anything but good intentions. Smiling slightly, the angel reached out to the cat and brushed his knuckles against the black fur around a new scar on its back. The loud and comforting purr interrupted only by an occasional swallow rung out and made even Nicola smile as she finished her own food. Even with how meager her snack was, hopefully it was going to last her at least until she finds her way back to Haven. One day of poor eating wasn't going to kill her after all.

When she was done, she peeled back the blanket to examine her injured leg. Nicola pulled a face at the three - even if mostly closed - claw marks on her thigh and the bloodied trouser leg. It didn't look that bad anymore but she could imagine that it would definitely slow her down. The slightest move was causing her mild discomfort. Running and walking anywhere is definitely off the table for now. Still, Nicola much preferred the dull ache that was now in place of excruciating throbbing.

There was no doubt in her mind that this is all once again thanks to the kind, even if a bit unhinged, angel who was now sitting beside her with a quietly purring kitten nested on his lap as he kept stroking its head and back and murmuring something to himself in a strange, melodic language Nicola couldn't understand but found beautiful and enchanting nonetheless. She watched Raphael for a few moments, listening to his deep, soothing voice that made her feel a bit sleepy. After the apocalypse Nicola rarely slept well because of nightmares. And it showed. But before she inevitably dozed off, she felt she had to say something.

"So uh…"

She started, successfully getting his attention, judging by how his eyes shifted to look at her.

"Um… Thanks. For… for everything I guess.."

For a whole minute Raphael didn't answer, simply watched her with his head tilted to the right, a silent question in his eyes. Nicola scratched the back of her neck awkwardly and decided to clarify.

"You know.. for saving my butt two times now, treating me.. And sorry I ran away. I was scared, you got pretty spooky with that Goreclaw back then…"

"Oh…"

He replied with raised eyebrows.

"Forgive me then… I did not mean to frighten you…"

"Oh, no no no, you don't have to be sorry, it's okay! I'm not scared anymore.."

Nicola assured him quickly. Making him feel bad for it wasn't her intention at all.

"Seriously though. Thank you.."

She repeated with a grimace when she tried to shift to a more comfortable position but the ache in her leg made it significantly more difficult. With an empathetic look to his face, Raphael steadied her by returning his hand to her shoulder and moving the other - already radiant with his Heavenly magic - to her wound. The prickly sensation came back, bringing relief in pain as he sighed tiredly.

"This is.. my duty…"

As surprising as it was, Nicola couldn't deny that Raphael seemed to have changed in some way since she found him absolutely deranged. Now he seemed a little more… collected. Focused. Calmer. But simultaneously even sadder and very jumpy. Still, he remained as mysterious as he did before. But maybe if he retains this composure, Nicola could pry something from him about his background. Why is he here alone? What happened to him? How did he get here? There were way too many questions to ask at once but she had to start with something.

"Your duty? You're some sort of a… uh, what shoudma' call it? Doctor, medic, something like that?"

Despite the question being seemingly innocent and harmless, Raphael reacted by turning his eyes down to look at his hands as he flexed his fingers a couple times with a barely noticeable wince twisting his lips. His answer was so quiet that Nicola barely caught it.

"... was… I left.."

"Huh? Wh- why?"

At that, Raphael looked up at her, again with this tortured gleam in his eyes that made her heart squeeze painfully and shyly pointed at Nicola's side.

"It hurts.."

He chimed as she stared at her own hip in confusion. Again, the angel was making no sense. Her side didn't hurt for one, and two, it can't have been the reason why he left… whatever he left to abandon his previous life. A little startled that maybe he knew something she didn't, Nicola probed the place he pointed out but all she could feel was the healing shard in her… in her pocket… All of the sudden she recalled what Raphael told her before.

Hesitantly, she dug the glowing crystal out of her vest and lifted it for Raphael to see better and asked a wordless question which he answered almost immediately.

"The shards… they hurt me.."

This was probably the lowest Nicola's eyebrows have ever descended, making the look of confusion on her face even more blatant. I thought they were supposed to be healing shards? Why would something made to heal one person hurt another?

"How?"

With an expression of anguish, Raphael placed his hand over his chest and took a small gasp of air as if to make his point.

"I created them.. and some of them hurt…"

The revelation made Nicola's jaw fall slack. She'd been suspecting this before when Raphael referred to the crystal as "his" shard but hearing the confirmation almost had her gag. How many times a healing shard has saved either her or someone else from the Tree, she couldn't count on both of her hands. After Ulthane snatched her from the Fallen's talons it took the large one to heal her and make sure she survives afterwards and still it shattered after it served its purpose. At this very moment, no one could ever convince her that the sad, mad angel before her is evil in any way. With a huff of disbelief she shook her head, shifting her gaze between Raphael and the shard.

"Wait, hold up, you made those?! Oh.. my God, I could kiss you, my dude."

A very undignified snort almost escaped Nicola when she saw the face Raphael made. Something between astonishment, horror and curiosity. She remained oblivious to how improper it sounded in his ears. He cocked his head again. Goddamnit. Every time he does that, Nicola just… can't. It constantly reminds her of a puppy looking at some bizarre wonder of nature.

"But.. why would you want to do this..?"

"It's an expression. In other words, I wanted to say I can't thank you enough. How did someone like you ever end up in… like- like this?"

Nicola said "like this" in the last moment before she could say "in such a shitty situation" because she realised just in time how inappropriately awful this sounds, considering they're in the damned sewers. I'll have to learn to stop accidentally making jokes.. For some reason Jones absolutely adored her for it, unlike most of her friends who kept either groaning or facepalming every time and begging her to stop before they kicked a bucket from the sheer badness of her jests. The kitten in Raphael's lap meowed in annoyance when it lost the touch of the angel, coaxing him to keep smoothing out its fur still stained with dried blood. He did, and Nicola didn't miss that he was deliberately avoiding her gaze.

"Long story.. very long.."

"That's alright, we have time!"

The words left her mouth before she could stop them. Her curiosity was just too strong. Besides, Nicola wasn't going anywhere anytime soon with how her leg was fairing (just thinking about how worried Ulthane and the rest have to be made her a little sick) and she honestly doubted Raphael is going anywhere either. But the way it came out made her sound like she was prying to get to something the angel clearly wished to keep to himself. Whether because it was something to be ashamed of or something very unpleasant to speak of. In honesty, Nicola was sure he would scowl at her for this but he simply looked away with a grim look on his face. And it was even worse because it made her feel awful.

"Oh… sorry, if you don't wanna talk about it then it's alright! You don't have to tell me."

"Another time.. rest now."

He hummed and extended one finger towards Nicola's forehead. Before she had time to ask him what he was doing, he lightly poked her right between her eyebrows and all of the sudden she felt unbelievably drowsy. She blinked a couple of times but everything was starting to double before her eyes which were closing all by themselves. With a wide yawn Nicola soon fell into the embrace of magical slumber Raphael called upon her.

He caught her before she could fall down and lowered her onto the blankets to let her sleep in peace. The poor human needed her rest to make up for the amount of blood she lost merely an hour before. Sitting back, Raphael settled for keeping a silent vigil over her until magic wore off. What am I going to do with you? He wondered. For some reason he felt so inexplicably drawn to her and couldn't help it. Something about her was just easing in the pain and warming up the empty void in his tormented soul, even if only a little. The small animal he rescued before rubbed its fuzzy head against his hand and started to knead the fabric of his trousers with its laughably tiny claws that compared to demons' talons were nothing. Still, it stung a tiny little bit. Despite this, Raphael let it curl up in his lap again and fall asleep as well while he watched the human woman and the strange spark dancing within her like a candlelight.

--------------------------------------------------

Chapter II is done! Getting angsty. And say hi to Raphael's kitty. Isn't it cute? :3

Also, here's part 1 if you haven't seen it yet.

#darksiders #darksiders 2 #darksiders 3 #fan art #my art #my fic #fan fiction #raphael #darksiders raphael #darksiders oc #nicola #kitten <3 #Cost of Kindness #CoK #I'm still thinking of a name #for the cat I mean

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celias-archieve · 4 years

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Hold My Hand / Wessa, Herondales, CoI

chapter 1 / chapter 2

Tessa woke drenched in sweat, she sat up breathing heavily.

“Tess?” Will stirred next to her, blinking, as he glanced over at her, his blue eyes filled with worry. “Are you alright?”

Tessa burried her head in her hands. For the past 4 months, Tessa didn’t sleep well at all. She kept having same dream — no, not a dream, seemed more like vision, but she didn’t have any vision, for the past 25 years. Ever since the last battle against Mortmain, on Cadair Idris, she wasn’t sure if the vision was anything good, but she thought she knew for sure who is sending the vision to her.

At the beginning she brushed it off, not wanting to worry much about it. But visions didn’t stop, it kept her pacing her the floor at night. Every night.

The vision was about:

Man with large black wings, white hair, and eyes same as her own. And it didn’t take her long to figure it out, that man was her demonic father.

Suddenly she found herself standing in the ballroom, in London institute, her children, the Lightwoods, Fairchilds and Carstairs were there as well.

She looked up as someone took her hand, and relaxed as she realised it was her beautiful Will.

He was smiling down at her, Tessa found herself unable to smile back. She felt something was wrong.

Moments later his beautiful black hair changed into white hair, his clear blue eyes changed into grey, much similar to her own eye color, and similar cheekbones like her own. It was like she was looking at mirror.

She tried to take a step back, but was unable to. He was grabbing her close to himself, in an iron grip. The ballroom was suddenly filled with bright golden light, and nearly right away as soon as light came, no one else, apart from her, was in ballroom anymore.

“Tessa Gray,” a very familiar voice echoed, now throught the empty ballroom.

Tessa looked up, and to her astonishment, she saw the Angel Ithuriel, in all his angelic glory.

Before Tessa could even blink, he was suddenly in front of her, in human size.

“Someone needs your help. You are the only one who can destroy him, with your power.”

“Help who? Destroy who? I cannot use my shapeshifting ability anymore -“ Tessa was cut off by Ithuriel, who shook his golden head.

“I never mentioned for you to use shapeshifting ability, I know how painful it is for you to use it. I meant your other powers,” Ithuriel explained. “All those past months, I’ve sent you vision about Belial. I know you’ve figured it out what you need to do. Like you did first time.”

“But I don’t know who I have to help.”Tessa whispered.

“Of course you know, that person is really close to you, when you look at that person, you’ll know and understand everything.” And with that, Ithuriel was gone, but visions did not stop, they were more often, than before.

“Tessa!” Will exclaimed, snapping Tessa of her thoughts.

Tessa swallowed thickly, leaning towards her husband, who rubbed calming circles on her back, whispering words of comfort. “Again same vision?” Will murmured, bringing her closer to himself. Tessa nodded, wordlessly.

“We’ll find a killer soon. And hopefully you won’t have these visions anymore.”

There were 3 Shadowhunters who had been killed. First was Inquisitor Bridgestock, soon followed by Elias Carstairs and Rosamund Wentworth.

“Hopefully,” Tessa nodded in agreement. She stood up, without another word.

“Where are you going?” Will asked, confused. “It’s really late.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Tessa said, once she was dressed in her evening gown. “I just need some fresh air.” She kissed him, but before Will could open his mouth, Tessa slipped out of their bedroom.

She wandered hallways, thinking about what the Angel told her. Of course you know, that person is really close to you, when you look at that person, you’ll know and understand everything.

The only person Belial wanted to posses was—

She jumped startled, when loud crash from the library, snapped out of her thoughts.

Once she was in front library, she hesitated slightly, before opening the doors quitely.

She looked around the library, and relaxed once she saw James sitting in armchair.

James had a dagger twirling in his hand carelessly.

His golden eyes were dark, they were nearly black, there was no light in them, no kindness, no warmth in them. The eyes of sunlight Tessa loves so much, now looked nothing but nearly a darkness. There wasn’t any emotion at all, behind his eyes.

James glanced up at her, and smiled. But it wasn’t a warm smile, she once loved, in that smile there was nothing but wickedness.

Tessa shivered, when James stood up.

She pushed down the feeling of uneasiness.

“Jamie,” She took a hesitant step towards him. “Are you alright?”

James said nothing, only walked towards her, his footsteps were heavy and echoing in the library.

He stopped in front of her, and raised the other side of dagger.

Tessa drew in sharp breath, the other side of dagger was completely covered in dried blood.

“What have you done?” Tessa whispered.

James merely shrugged, and then grinned. “What I promised 4 months ago. To make sure all Nephilim from London suffer.” His voice didn’t sound like James’s.

Moments later, his beautiful golden eyes turned pitch black.

“You are not James.” Tessa said, realization hitting her.

“No, I am not.” He grinned. “But I think you can guess who I am.”

Tessa’s eyes widdened in disbelief, “Belial.”

“Correct,” He whispered. He turned away from her, and paced around the library. “For over the years, I tried to posses you, but was never being able to. All that because Ithuriel protected you. Even when you were weak because of heavenly fire after the last battle with that human Axel Mortmain and his Clockwork army, Ithuriel still protected you, without hesitation. Because you freed him. After that, even years later he still protected you.” He frowned, and then shrugged. “Shall we see if he can protect you from this?”

And then he lunged at her, before she could even blink.

She ducked gracefully, narrowly avoiding him.

I know how painful it is for you to use it. I meant your other powers.

And Tessa realized about what power was Ithuriel talking about.

It was a heavenly fire.

She had learned to control it years ago. But never thought if there would be a need for her to use it.

But now she had to, to help her son, and to destroy Belial.

She closed her eyes, and focused. She opened them again, she saw golden fire in her hands. Her skin was pale now, near-translucent, showing the mapping of veins beneath her skin.

It was like the first time, when she was affected by heavenly fire, when she shapeshifted into Ithuriel.

She glanced at James/Belial, who’s face whitened. There was nothing on his face, apart from horror, fear and rage.

She raised her hands and threw a small amount of heavenly fire at James/Belial.

She knew James would be fine, but Belial wouldn’t be. Just when Belial threw dagger at Tessa, which had hit her at chest.

She fell on the ground, a thin line of blood trailed out of Tessa’s mouth.

James/Belial screamed in agony, black eyes turned into their normal beautiful golden, and screaming stopped, just when he dropped to his knees.

He was breathing heavily, his hands curled into fists. James glanced at his mother, and froze, realizing what Belial did.

Without any word, he ran towards her, dropping to his knees next to her, just when the doors swung opened, Tessa’s vision became blurry, when she breathed heavily.

“Tessa! James!” Two different footsteps ran towards her and James, but Tessa knew instantly it was Will and Lucie.

Lucie gasped in horror, “What happened?”

“I—I was possesed,” James whispered, his golden eyes filling with tears. “By Belial. He attacked mum, and —“ James was shaking his head, tears streaming down his face.

Will dropped to his knees, and took Tessa in his arms, and started crying.

She wasn’t dead yet, but any moment she would be. Tessa opened her mouth to say something, but she only coughed blood, and Will cried more. As did James and Lucie.

Tessa reached out, and took Will’s hand, who squezed it tightly, afraid to let go of her.

“P — Please no,” Will’s voice creaked, and he began sobbing. “Don’t leave us. Please.”

“I lo—“ Tessa coughed more blood. “I love you so much.” She whispered, her eyes closing, and her hand fell slack in Will’s lap.

Tagging: @zafirafox4636 @brotherlipsmackariahs

@themostawesomehuman Thank you for helping me 🤗❤️🥺

#james herondale #lucie herondale #the last hours #the infernal devices #tid #tlh #will x tessa #will herondale #wessa #tessa herondale #tessa gray #belial #my fic #tlh fic

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rhodochrosite-love · 3 years

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I'm just super curious! I keep seeing your pretty Beetlejuice OC floating around my activity, and I'm absolutely in love with her design and the small snippets of backstory I've read---but have you posted her entire backstory anywhere yet? I would LOVE to read it! <3

NO ONES ASKED DTXCFVYGBHJNKML,;

ur super nice ;; tysm ill post it right here

okay! Adellum Ithuriel Thrones. She’s what they call a ‘Halo-Born’, or basically an angel fvghbjn. Her mom is Adelphi and her dad is Zarall and she has a bunch of brothers and sisters cuz angels have kids in litters cuz i said so :)

Fun fact, Adellum is the runt of the group (3 big sisters and her) and she’s always fighting for scraps at the dinner table. More so when Dad has more kids (Zarall was the one that gave birth, Adelphi never wanted to and it was one of their relationship problems) (also angels have both parts so jot that down)

Adelphi was always a very strict, very ‘no fun allowed’ but could lighten up with her kids and her husband (moreso husband) and Zarall was very laid back, fun loving parent who would chaperone all the field trips if he were human.

Fast forward some years and little Adellum encounters a little feral boy about her age and they have a lot of fun together. He’s bigger than her but he’s scared of everything, he steals and hits and it’s not very nice. Adellum shows him what being nice is and he discovers both how to be rewarded for good behavior and they promise each other they’ll be friends forever.

That boy was Beetlejuice.

Juno punted him to Saturn to get eaten by sandworms (unsuccessfully) and he never saw his angel friend again.

fast forward a little more and she’s entering her Trizero age (in her early 1000s) and she’s being taught about the human world, now knowing the basics of herself and the history of angelkind.

One of those things is how they ‘defeated’ demons, ‘sending them back to hell where they belonged’ in a ‘very proud and dutiful way’ (they fuckin genocided them and they’re all dead, actually)

Adellum is being taught about humans in a church in the 400s and meets a dead monk apprentice named Cecil, a ghost who is haunting the church and his father, the pastor. Cecil and Adellum are forbidden to speak to each other but they do in secret, exchanging curious kisses and affectionate things. It’s when Cecil gets exorcised that Adellum and the angels have to flee. Adellum was Cecil’s first love but it wasn’t so vice versa. She still misses him and thinks of him fondly and with sorrow.

fast forward and Adellum is in her 2300s, a ripe young woman ready for ahem... breeding. her sisters and brothers have recieved suitors and have kept them, but she does not find any angels suitable. her mother and father are distressed. Adellum is work focused and ends up being assigned a job to collect lost angels-- husks of what an angel used to be, and she’s supposed to bring them to her superiors.

this is when she meets this ghost peasant girl, Lorelai, and she is unlike anyone she’s seen before. she’s reckless, she’s stubborn, she’s kind of a lunatic-- Adellum fell head over heels in no time. She was stubborn too, bc Lorelai found out how much these dead angels were worth and was using them. Cut to some years later and Adellum and Lorelai have gone from enemies lovers to enemies again, bc Lorelai cheats on her and neglects her once she becomes a demon...

Adellum is upset beyond belief bc Lorelai was everything to her and what with her job in danger from how much time she had spent with her, she was in jeopardy. it was only working before bc she was collecting the angel husks as she was asked...

cut some time later and she meets this guy. this disgusting, dripping, clown asshole grossman (surprisingly not beetlejuice, i’m rooting for @tesazombie‘s Guts here but idk) and she begins to corrupt herself, what’s the point anyway? she rebels from heaven to continue on this path and destroys everything. she knows how to be scary, bc she begins to get terrified of herself and she scares to cope. she’s dressing up like some sexydoll clown bc of the crowds she hangs with and it’s one of the only things that make her feel like she’s a part of something.

This goes on for *years* and then she pisses off an angel. The wrong angel you want to anger and he goes to one of the archangels, Anahel, and yknow what he does?

He saves her. Anahel sees a lot of promise in Adellum now that she’s learned so much and he takes her under his wing and redeems her... but uh. he has a lot of ulterior motives. and he’s not a good person. when he and adellum are alone he makes that very apparent (no sexual assault, he’s a megadick and he’s ‘purifying’ her with torture methods to have a perfect attendant. he’s a maniac like that)

ya wanna know how she remeets beetlejuice? if this post gets 30 notes ill post a pt 2! tysm for reading this far omg <3

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youredreamingofroo · 2 months

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Babe There's something wretched about this Something so precious about this Where to begin?

Babe There's something broken about this But I might be hoping about this Oh, what a sin

Happy international Women's day :) <3

~ inspo/ref pics under the cut ~

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tortured-swiftie · 4 years

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@revouries sorry it took so long but here is my full list of song recs! Ps - it is loooooong

So I’m still very surprised anyone is even interested in this but its a really cool thing to share! This playlist has taken me close to a decade to create and I’ve been asked to share it with you all! Fair warning - heavy spoilers, and a lot is based on ship angst, don’t come for me. Also I have only read TDA twice and its been maybe a year since I did so I don’t remember everything perfectly. I had a lot more time with TMI because I read them for years and years. TID & TLH don’t really have soundtracks for me, because of the time period these modern songs really feel wrong when I read those series.

TMI :

Battle in Hotel Dumort in CoB -

- I’m So Sorry - Imagine Dragons

The pace of this song, the sinister notes, the danger it invokes just brings this scene alive. But also, this is the first time Clary feels like a Shadowhunter. She fights and its not terrible. She feels powerful instead of like a liability. Shes able to hold her own while talking to a clan of vampires. Its badass and fits the song.

Seelie Court kiss scene in CoA -

- The Violet Hour - The Civil Wars

Its such a beautifully haunting song, its sweet on the one hand but something wrong lies underneath it. It is so so perfect, because Clace is getting what they’ve wanted, but by hurting those around them. They get to give in for once, without the guilt attached, they have someone to blame for all this. But it ends on this very uneasy note, because it isnt right. So much of it is not right and Clace are not satisfied because it wasn’t a real kiss or real declaration of love

Jace and Clary after the meeting with the Seelie Queen in the Institute in CoA -

- Black Flies - Ben Howard

This is a very Jace song for me. Its quiet, peaceful, but the words are hurtful and honest. “No man is an island” fits him so perfectly at this time in his life where he feels abandoned by Valentine, abandoned by Mayrse, abandoned by literally everyone so he wants to make it worse by committing to Clary. She is so unsure of him because of the repercussions it would cause and he wants her in this moment because of the repercussions. He wants to isolate himself so he cant be hurt by those he loves.

Jace meets Valentine on the boat CoA -

- Silence Worth Breaking - Brooke Annibale

This is where Valentine really shows off how manipulative he is, and as a reader you start to believe how easy it would be to get around to his way of thinking. imo this is the best villain CC has written, because you find yourself agreeing with him sometimes and he makes it difficult to argue from a different perspective. The first time I read this scene I was convinced he was going to go with Valentine. The song is foreboding, it is anxious, and makes you think something bad is around the corner, which at this point in the book you feel like something bad is bound to happen

Simon is about to die on the back of Luke’s truck end of CoA-

- Wait - M83

This just perfectly conveys the grief and fear and guilt Clary feels when she thinks Simon is about to die. She brought him into this life, he turned into a vampire because of her, he was tortured by Valentine because of her and just as they saved him he is going to die. Its the loss of innocence and childhood for Clary. Simon is the last piece of it stripped away from her. First her mum, then her belief system in her whole world, then Luke, and now Simon. She is stripped all the way down to the bone of her identity and this scene is quick, but intense for this reason for me.

Clary and Jace meet up for lunch at the end of CoA -

- Distance - Christina Perri

This is such a sad song, and the sweetness of Christina Perri’s voice pairs beautifully in this scene with a feeling of a bittersweet kind of resigned acceptance. Clary had wanted so bad for Jace to let her go, she had convinced herself that her feelings weren’t that strong. And now here she is accepting her true feelings and ready to kind of wrap Jace around herself like a security blanket and he tells her exactly what she wanted to hear earlier. Except now she has to be a big girl and face her life without anyone holding her hand. She has to grow up and thats what makes this scene so sad, this is Clary realising its time to grow up.

Clary and Jace find Ithuriel in CoG -

- Goodbye Godric - Nathan Barr

This song was always ethereal and otherworldly, the notes are awe inspiring and convey this grief that is so abstract and not individualistic, it is beyond the human experience. Clary and Jace’s complete altruism and empathy in this scene matches with the grieving tones, how helpless they feel at this beautiful creatures pain, and how much they want to do something but they don’t know what. Then Ithuriel shows them visions and its even worse than they imagined. The misery that exists in these walls caused by Valentine, the waste of energy and life and soul is amplified by the music. The music soars as Ithuriel is set free, and the manor home crumbles.

Clary and Jace make out session outside the newly ruined Wayland Manor CoG -

- Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics

This wild abandon kissing perfectly matches the mood and pace of this song. Its all over the place, its messy, its confusing. Its giving into pure passion. Its abandoning any pretences they have built up and watching reality crash back down on them.

Isabelle wants Simon to distract her after Max dies in CoG -

- Not Everything Was Better In The Past - Fink

This is such a tenderly played song, and is easy on the ears, but there is a rawness there. Isabelle is completely stripped away, raw grief and anger and guilt eating away at her. When she lets Simon in she is ferocious and wants to show him her toughness. But Simon sees through it all to a scared young girl who is lost in this sea of grief. Its a sweet Sizzy moment

Jace telling Clary he loves her for the first time in CoG -

- Leave a Light On (ACOUSTIC) - Tom Walker

Jace shouldering the responsibility of finding Valentine by himself, essentially sacrificing himself to the cause, hes grief stricken, and yet feels barred from that grief. I know we experienced this scene from Clary’s POV but this song works so well from his POV. He wants to tell the girl he loves how he feels, he wants one night with her to feel normal and feel loved, and to pretend just for a little while that there is nothing wrong with that. This very stripped version of the song is much much much more raw, and that’s what Jace feels like in this scene, all the walls are down and he wants to show his real face to this one girl

Clary showing off her rune skills in the council chamber in CoG -

- I Found - Amber Run

This was the first scene I imagined from a filmmaking perspective, how to best present this scene. I imagined this entire scene from Jocelyn’s POV, frame by frame, as she walks into the council room very quietly and watches her baby walk up and address everyone in desperation, voice shaking but standing her ground. Grown, bigoted, adults judging her and are fearful but she is still showing them what she’s worth. I imagined Jocelyn’s entire world view shifting because she is in awe of this powerful girl Clary has become. She watches her daughter no longer as a little girl but as a formidable Shadowhunter that could handle the cards she had been dealt in life. Just a very transformative moment and pivotal in how we see Clary in the TSC universe

Lilith takes over Jace’s mind and disappears with Sebastian at the end of CoFA-

- I’ll Keep Coming - Low Roar

This song starts out so uneasy, it cant settle down, and that’s exactly how I feel when Jace sends Clary downstairs. I want to scream at her to stay, but knowing Lilith would always take over no matter what. Its a very dark moment, because no one wants to lose control of themselves and it must have been pretty scary at first. Its an anxious scene, paired with an anxious song

Magnus takes happy memories away in CoLS -

- Howl - Jake Houlsby

Magnus is looking very sad when he does this, especially what he says to Simon. Its such a knowing look, Magnus is no stranger to this kind of sorrow, but still to be witness to it over and over must take its toll. It just makes me think of the endless road stretching out ahead of him and how lonely and terrifying that must feel for him. Just a beautiful song to go with a sad moment in this scene

Clary at the Faerie club with Jace and Sebastian CoLS -

- Faded - Alan Walker

- Darkside - Alan Walker

At this point in the story you feel a lot like Clary is getting too comfortable and is maybe losing sight of the mission she’s on. These two songs are very club sounding to me, and tonally fits the mood of the chapter. Clary is quite literally lost in that moment with the Faerie drugs and the dancing and the atmosphere

Clary dancing with Sebastian CoLS -

- Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood

First of all lyrically….it cannot get more perfect. “Go ahead and cry little girl nobody does it like you do, I know that you got daddy issues. And if you were my little girl, Id do whatever I could do…” it just conveys the creepiness of Sebastians interactions with Clary and how weird she felt when he was dancing with her and how wrong it felt. This is a very short moment in this chapter but it really creeped me out. And this song conveys perfectly this feeling of haziness of the Faerie drugs and this uneasiness that surrounds Sebastian

Simon drinks from Isabelle CoLS -

- Harvest Love - Tash Sultana

This is a pretty soulful, sensual song. And when Simon drinks from Isabelle and he describes the euphoria that comes with that, the description of how his nerves react to the fresh blood just remind me of the part in this song where the drums and music soars the highest (start around 3:32, and it reaches its peak around 4:48) its honestly one of the sexiest scenes CC has written, even including all the Jemma scenes

Magnus and Alec break up in CoLS -

- Evergreen - Ben Howard

First time reading this I was so so angry at Alec, and felt the sorrow and anger coming off Magnus. This song is very dark, and very sinister. Magnus completely misunderstood what Alec was trying to do, and applied the most sinister meaning to his actions. It is their perfect breakup song imo full of angst

Clary traps the Heavenly Fire into her sword in CoHF -

- Outro - M83

This is another scene I imagined cinematically. The first half of the song is where Clary slowly makes her way over to Jace and she suddenly has faith in herself that she can do this. Then we watch her take Jace’s hands as the radioactive wind sounds start and the flames are swirling around them but not touching them. Cut to Magnus and Luke seeing the colour on the horizon, and the flash that shows its over. Cut back to Clary drawing the Heavenly Fire into the sword as the music swells around her. The words are so so powerful, and they always felt very ethereal to me “I’m the King of my own land” This is Clary fully embracing her power and fully utilising it. Its no longer something separate from her, but she IS her power.

Clary killing Sebastian, pretty much a lot of the scenes before the time jump CoHF-

- Saturn (both acoustic and original version) - Sleeping At Last

This song is definitely an end of film/book / end of heroes journey material. Simon sacrificing himself so they can get back, Clary killing Sebastian and forgiving him, Clary scattering the ashes of Sebastian and finally grieving the past years trauma (all of the TMI journey), the Faeries being condemned by the Clave and Helen getting exiled. Its beautiful, its sad, its momentous, its not a regular song.

Alec finds Magnus in Edom in CoHF -

- I Of The Storm - Of Monsters and Men

The steady drum beat adds a sense of steadiness and calmness in this song. Its not a joyful getting back together but they’re both glad the other is alive and are both forgiving each other. For me, this is when I truly started shipping Malec. The growth, the strength of character begins from this moment. This is when they become a couple I love because this is when they commit to each other flaws and all

Isabelle introduces herself to Simon at the end of CoHF -

- Golden Dandelions - Barns Courtney

Isabelle has always felt like a full punch character, no half measures and all that. The feeling Simon describes when he first spots this beautiful girl walking directly up to him is how this song starts, for me at least. The drums, the barely contained excitement, the curiosity, and faint recognition. This song is a full punch song right from the get go and it felt like such a remarkable Isabelle moment

After Jocelyn & Luke’s wedding in COHF -

- From Gold - Novo Amor

It is such a bittersweet, and peaceful song. There are so many endings in this scene, and so many new beginnings. They are all grieving, one way or another, and are all allowing themselves to evolve. Their journey is over, and at the end of this book I had this sense of saying goodbye to these characters (retiring them so to speak) because I wasn’t sure how much they would be involved with the future of the TSC world. Im glad they are still a big part of it, but they will never be the main focus again.

TDA:

Julian and Emma dance in LM -

- Give Me Love - Ed Sheeran

The sexual tension, and the dread they both feel because of their feelings just makes this scene so dramatic to me, and this song softens it a little. Especially if you are re-reading the series you feel this tenderness because they so badly wanted to avoid falling in love

Mark and Kieran in the Hunt -

- Dance Me To The End of Love - The Civil Wars

This is a pretty offbeat quirky song, a little sad, a little wistful, a little mournful, sensual, but tones of wildly abandoning all you know and giving into baser desires. Whenever Mark thinks of his time with Kieran in the Hunt, his memories sound like this song. They experienced very high highs, and very low lows. They were degraded, the lowest you could possibly feel as a living creature. Yet they were riding into the night, sleeping under the stars in places only known to Faeries. There was no one watching them, and no one to stop them from being together. There is tenderness in their relationship, but also knowledge that they are only together because they have no one else. Its happiness without truly feeling like you have a choice about it. You have to be happy together because you cant find this happiness elsewhere. They are forced into being in love a little bit, because the alternative is so much worse. This is one of the reasons why I couldn’t ship them at first, because they hadnt really chosen each other. Only when they were presented with other options and they till chose each other did I start seeing their potential.

Julian and Emma on the beach LM -

- Next To You - Of Rust & Bone

This scene completely took me by surprise, and is very unlike CC because love scenes normally take place quite late into any series she has. This one was filled with anxiety, and tension because the characters quite literally fell into their feelings. There was no forethought, no sense of taking stock of what they were doing. And they ended up feeling such different things about it afterwards. So for me this songs darker moods perfectly pairs with this scene

Kieran and Mark argue/break up LM & LoS -

- Fade Away - Tom Walker

This song has such raw power, such dark emotion and anger and a sense of betrayal that it perfectly captures their emotionally charged scenes. Mark can never be the same Mark that belonged to Kieran when he had no one, because now he has his family. And Kieran is still the same man who has no one but Mark. I hated him the first time I read LM and most of LoS but their chemistry is hard to resist. Especially as they evolve as characters as well as a couple. They are wild and unmoored sometimes and there’s something exciting about characters you just cant pin down.

Emma & Jules’ strained relationship LM & LoS -

- 9 Crimes - Damian Rice

When Emma is “with” Mark there is this strange chemistry between her and Julian. Both have hurt each other at different times, but this was really like a stalemate. Neither could really move on, and both were angry at eachother. As more and more people found out/realised about the feelings they had were more than parabatai this tension grew. Because they’re not just falling in love, they are also actively choosing to hurt one another. They are certainly not an example of a healthy relationship but I felt in some way they were the realest. Because sometimes relationships hurt and sometimes you do things you have to do even if that isnt what’s best for your relationship. This song perfectly captures this push and pull they have, and how falling in love wasn’t blissful happiness for them. It was pain and secrets and hurting.

Annabel rising, killing Malcolm LoS -

- As It Was - Hozier

Since we’re watching this scene from above, a very unnatural and cinematic perspective, the scene feels unreal. Like it was a dream and didn’t happen. I felt genuine fear and uneasiness when Annabel is slowly brought back to life, skin growing over old bones. This song has notes that aren’t usually arranged together, instruments that are usually a bigger part of a quartet, and somehow that arrangement feels just a little wrong. It feels different, sinister, and uneasy. It feels like its missing several instruments, or some notes have been played incorrectly. Hozier’s voice is his best in this song, very strained, but so controlled, bringing forth very intense emotions

Christina and Mark at the revel LoS (I couldn’t remember if this was in LoS or QOAAD) -

- Now You’re Gone - Tom Walker & Zara Larsson

Christina really let herself go during this scene, and we see a completely different side to her. She is adventurous, risky, and she would make anyone say “fuck it lets do this” I always liked Christina but I always felt she was very predictable until this point. We see how intensely she is interested in Faeries, and how personally invested she is in their culture. She allows herself to be swept up, and embraces it rather than fears it. She honestly seems fearless here, and is the definition of temptation. She is quite literally tempting Mark, and its sexy a f

Jules & Emma burn down the church LoS -

- Esmeralda - Ben Howard

This was the first time their relationship excited me, because during this scene I fully expected they would go into full thirst mode but they didn’t. They were still very sensual and sexual and intense, but in a very very different way. There is something attractive about someone who’s willing to burn the world down, who has a little bit of an anarchist side. Its human nature to feel some attraction to these traits, and this scene definitely stirred feelings in me

Emma fights Fal LoS -

- Put It On Me - Matt Maeson

This song both tonally and in its pacing elevates this scene to new levels. Its not a typical battle song, it has a steady pace. But Emma’s description of how the battle is stripped down because of the rain, how she prefers this kind of fight where its her, her weapon and the elements. Its pure, and we get to see Emma in full fighter mode. She is an extension of Cortana, and they belong together. This is without a doubt my favourite fight scene to date. It just brings alive the visuals in such a dynamic way. Very storyboard-able.

Julian holding Livvy as she dies LoS -

- Losing Your Memory - Ryan Star

This song is harrowing, and its just pure pain, raw grief balled into one intense song. The lyrics just pull you into Julian’s mental state “wake up, its time, little girl, wake up” just kills me. As the music intensifies and the singer is practically screaming the lyrics it just feels like that’s what it must have been like inside of Julian’s mind. He wasn’t screaming out loud but his mind must have been very loud

Julian and Emma shower together QOAAD -

- Promise - Ben Howard

Julian dry heaving because he doesnt know how to cry. Fucking heartbreaking in a very quiet way. After the noise of loss, the quiet moments where you have to face grief is devastating. Emma being an anchor, holding him in place and trying to keep the world away from him so he doesnt hurt anymore is just harrowing. They’re just kids but the grief they feel is so adult. And when you lose someone like that, and someone is there for you that solidifies so much in that relationship. They become a part of something you can never let go of. Even if that relationship doesnt last, they will always be apart of that memory. And Emma sticking by him, despite the danger and promises they have made themselves is proof that she is the one for him

Kieran and Christina dance QOAAD -

- Senorita - Shawn Mendes & Camilla Cabello

This song is sensual, its sexual, its got hooks that quite literally sound like orgasms its such a playful song. When I read this scene this song popped in my head right away. When Christina is dancing with Mark its the same kind of feeling I got from her at the revel, except this time there is no supernatural influence, its just her and her feelings. It was a sexy scene, and when Kieran walks in we all expected something very different. What followed is what elevates this scene, Christina has no clue how to react to Kieran, and yet she is mesmerised by him. She dances with him in a way we would never have imagined her doing this in LM. It shows evolution of character, for all three of them. And the fact that Mark is watching, and he’s not angry just makes this scene even sexier. You can practically feel the sexual tension in the air coming off the pages of the book.

Malec wedding QOAAD -

- That Girl Is You - Dave Matthews Band

This song brings me so much peace, the kind of peace that comes with knowing someone for years, and relying on them, knowing they are a permanent fixture in your life. Its exciting, but in a quiet way. Its a very atypical wedding song, because of the unusual style of singing. But I think it represents Malec really well at this point in their journey, they have gotten over many obstacles, often themselves, in this relationship. Their entire world is changing, and they are taking massive steps and making some pretty big sacrifices as people for this cause. Being Consul isnt going to be a smooth life for Alec with Magnus as a husband and a warlock for a child. But this is what he wants, and this is what he wants Shadowhunters to reflect and be going forward. This song is a very peaceful time in the entirety of TSC, and gave me a similar feeling to the end of TMI

#tsc #song recs #tmi #the mortal instruments #tda #the dark artifices #cc #cassie clare #cassandra clare #the shadowhunter chronicles

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siderealxmelody · 3 years

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Sweet Like Honey

A/N: A day in the life of Noma's family before everything went terribly wrong.

@waywardlightbearer

@silentwcrds

@blxsscd-x-fxrsakcn

@candy-addicted-angel

Gabriel and Noma usually walked home together from work.

It helped they weren't far from each other. After Zephon had been born Asmodel had stepped down and Michael had given his position on the Seraphim Council to Noma.

She worked with Ierimiel and Omniel most days. It was a delight to see Ierimiel again every day. She was still surprised how far they'd both come from the lower rings.

Asmodel had thrived away from court, he enjoyed playing with their sons. Noma privately thought it was because he had finally been "allowed" to be a kid again.

The idea that Yehudiah had had to buy Asmodel from his father to give a modicum of stability and comfort still broke her heart.

Asmodel's ex-father was lucky she had never found a way to be alone with him. A small vial of belladonna and he'd never be bother to anyone again.

Gabriel and Noma usually took the hour walk home to decompress and vent out their frustrations to each other.

Apparently being the right hand, and unofficial co-leader of Olapireta came with more paperwork than anything else.

Noma privately guessed Michael was trying to pass his paperwork to Gabriel but she had no proof.

They took their shoes off and slipped inside. Ithuriel at a year old was probably napping upstairs.

Zephon at 6 was probably doing some homework in his room. They'd gotten lucky with Zephon, Father had been generous to give them such a perfect son.

Asmodel was humming to himself as he cooked soup for them. He grinned as he saw them both.

"Gabe! Noma!"

"Ozzy!"

They hugged him tightly, Gabriel clinging as usual. Noma looked over the recipe taped to the table. Asmodel of course had carefully made a checklist for this.

She finished cutting the parsley and stirred it. Asmodel gave her a lazy smile and pulled her into a hug.

"You didn't need to do that, thanks Springtail."

She scrunched her nose up like a bunny, making him laugh as usual.

"I like to, Gabe you gonna be down here? I'm gonna check on the boys and then take a shower."

He nodded and kissed her on the forehead. Noma went up first checking on Zephon's room. He was in his room coloring something.

"What are you doing Sunshine?"

"Mama you're home!"

She laughed leaning down to pick him up in her arms.

"I'm coloring Mundus!"

"Oh? What colors have you decided for the sky?"

Zephon pointed to the worksheet on the new planet that Father had formed.

"Miss Akriel says that Mundus is for us right Mama? So I thought about what we like, so I made the sky yellow! The sky is made of honey!"

She grinned and kissed his forehead.

"Oh? I love that! Does that mean I can eat the sky?"

Zephon wrinkled his nose and shook his head.

"No Mama, you eat the rain that falls from the honeycomb clouds!"

"Oh! Oh well I'm so glad you're here to tell how to live properly on Mundus. What about the ground? What's it made of?"

She had sat down letting Zephon run around the room. He was always excited when she and Gabe got home.

"It's made of candy cuz Dada likes candy! But - but the trees are made of vegetables because I didn't want Papa to feel left out."

Noma nodded, listening to him prattle on. It was true, Ozzy truly liked eating vegetables - he was an odd one.

Gabriel stepped in the door and grinned as Zephon tackled his legs.

"Dada! Dada I made a sky of honey!"

"Oh really? Can I eat it?"

Zephon sighed and began to explain why you can't eat the sky. Noma slipped out and went to check on Ithuriel.

Of course they all knew he was alright, the baby feathers on their claimants gave her and her mates a surface level feeling of their children's moods.

Ithuriel was calm and content. She smiled as she looked in the crib. He was happily flapping his wings standing in his crib.

"Hey Bumblebee! Com'ere."

She picked him up and smiled soflty, he was such a happy child - they'd both been pretty easy.

Though from what Irin had told her, that only meant adolescence was going to be a pain. Apparently Azrael had been a moody, sullen youth.

Noma could see it, he still wore mostly black - all that was missing was the eyeliner and the piercings she's sure he had - and hid from his father.

She hummed bouncing Ithuriel on her hip as she moved around the room to her closet. She set him down as she looked for some evening wear.

She had always thought the Higher angels were cold and emotionless to their children, and while a lot were. The ones that counted - that would be around her family hadn't been.

The Furiad adored his mate Irin and was a calming presence to her and her peers. Nothing seemed to phase him - he had been around since Yehudiah had been a fledgling. They'd grown up and fallen in love together.

Their mates had been best friends. Noma sometimes wondered what Gabriel's mothers would have thought of her.

She hoped they would have approved of her - would have loved her like their own.

Irin had assured her they'd have been proud of the mates Gabriel had chosen. They would have been thrilled at the angel he had become.

She chose some comfortier clothes and ticked Ithuriel's tail feathers making him laugh.

They'd fall out when his flight feathers came in, right now he needed them for balance. as he walked they flared out around him, helping keep himself upright.

She walked him over to Gabriel who beamed pulling him into his arms.

"Ithoo! How are you my little bumblee? Zephy you want show your brother what you colored?"

"Okay!"

Noma went to shower and then took the boys down for dinner. She made they ate while Gabe went to shower.

Zephon took Ithuriel to the family room and played blocks with him while the three of them ate and talked about their day.

Once everyone was finished and dishes were done. Gabriel picked a movie from them to watch.

He lounged with the boys in his lap, giving commentary and refereeing any squabbles that broke out.

Asmodel and she cuddled on the other side of the couch, their legs touching Gabriel's in a silent show of affection.

Noma sent a silent prayer to Father hoping nothing changed, hoping her children were this innocent and happy for all their days.

Pictured Below: Zephon and Ithuriel when the family went away for Ithuriel's first birthday.

#this hurts because zeph dies at 15 fighting to stop the rebels trying to overthrow the monarchy #ithoo stopped being a happy carefree child at 10 when that happened #he adored zephy #my writing #get ready for dad feelsss

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sinistercall · 5 months

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『 "𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓" 』

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘯-𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

Such a thing graced Ithuriel's eyes as she cut back into reality once more, finding herself laying down within her tent atop her bedroll - it smells sweet, like cinnamon ; how had she gotten here? Cinnamon ... Kettle ... Tea - Her gaze flicked over to spy that fluttering imp, right, she remembers now. The group had settled down for the evening after finishing up various chores, and she had thought it better for the night to read that 𝐆𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐘 romance novel Astarion had lent her. Something to clear her " 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 " and hopefully lead to ... " 𝘦𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 ". The comment racked a shudder across her being. Fel ( 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦? ) had arrived shortly after, happy enough in her presence to speak with her plainly; his voice - despite all of the horrid vocabulary - somehow was a comfort. She'd managed to convince him to settle down in his chatter beside her, but ever diligent to work he kept twitching - so she had given him laundry to fold while she ‘studied up on runic symbols’. A lie, but one he didn't seem displeased by despite her confidence that he knew what she was actually up to.

"Ahh you always were 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐘 for knowledge Master! You should really rest though, my Lady, you must be tired from all of the sorocide from today. However, if you insist, I will stay here to watch over you and make sure you complete your studies."

Like a parent guiding their child. Had it always been that way? Had there been a point where the Scleritas held her 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞 hand? Much to her chagrin, it brings a soft grin to her lips - a fleeting one as she peeks over to her gentlegoblin. She had no memory of being a child, no memory before waking up on the Nautiloid ... Surely she was 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓, once? He had mentioned being a " 𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘢𝘭 '' himself, something made to aid and protect Bhaal's most beloved child - Perhaps if there was any good within the 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑, he had placed it into Fel to keep her company and guide her along the way ... If not just to puppet her back into the Dread Lord's sticky and crimson embrace. The Butler began to hum as her cerise gaze trailed downward to her - well, 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍'𝐒 - book once more.

"𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘌𝘰𝘸𝘺𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦?’

Surely he'd given her the wrong novel, this was far from some cheap romantic smut fest she had expected to open into, and she was unsure if she was disappointed or not. It was a fabulous book, one she had almost instantly bonded with; a traveler on a long journey fighting against his own corruption. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 - 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. Instinctually her stare lifts to the rest of camp, alone in her tent but never truly lonely; someone was always out and about. The Sharran and Blade of Frontiers seemed locked in wicked debate, though their voices were soft their bodies told a new tale. Yes ... That was it, she concludes - the book she was so fond of; it reminded her of 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓. Introduced crudely but swiftly found to be resourceful and, well, a joy. She should speak to her soon ... maybe the two could step aside from their differences. Although the woman’s piercing expression did little to ease any doubts dancing about Ithuriel’s mind.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘰𝘸𝘺𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Ithuriel observes over the camp once more before white moon-kissed locks greet her, eyes angling lower to watch Astarion mumble and pace about while holding a book that seemed much too heavy for his nimble statue. Her lips part with a tilt of her head, her own wintry hair spilling over her shoulder as she finds fuzzy moss growing in her. It's warm and fluffy and invades every part of her form, the garden inside of her chest feels like it's going to sprout from her mouth - and her ears flutter as though she were a butterfly prancing about from petal to petal. A blushing flush ran across her cheeks, she is safe in her small den ; and Astarion is far too preoccupied. She tries to further indulge in those 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘 feelings, and in the selenic glow, soft rays of silver and blue - he's as beautiful as glistening dew and the call of bird song. To her own reluctance, Ithuriel's mind begins to twist herself into the visage before her, next to him and listening to his murmurs of frustration and amusement. Her steady intelligent gaze studied him closely, noting the strength in his forearms that bore every inch of his determination and longing for freedom.

Insurrection. Spite. 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ... 𝘠𝘦𝘴 ... 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.

That is when those sanguineous eyes meet hers and lock in, her tadpole twitches - longing to reach out - but the shuddering of her skin gives her the strength to break the look between them. Ithuriel had never been looked at so 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘, within a moment he had undressed her soul - even buried under blanketed layers of wool she'd never felt so naked. The tiefling dares to look back at him; her veins turning to ice at the stark realization that he has not broken away yet. Not once. Those eyes are full of a deep understanding and calm indifference. It is a crimson sea she wishes she could pour herself in to become the foam atop each wave of his iris. She is a person and he, as another person acknowledges that.

... 𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 ...

How long ... How 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 had it been since she had felt like one? Not a monster, not a 𝐆𝐨𝐝, not a 𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐇𝐀𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐍 -

" - Master, I have finished! -- Ohhh! Oh my Lady, did I startle you? It still pains me so to see my little liege in distress." The Sceleritas comforted quickly, soothing Ithuriel back from her skittish yip. "You appear to be on the same page as before! Are you troubled, Master?"

" ... No. I - Thank you, Fel. I - I," her hand fidgets forward to free the clasp of her tent, closing off herself from the outside world. From Warmth. From Friends. From Love. She doesn't dare look at any of their companions. Not now. "I think I will be turning in for the night, I ... Will you stay? I ... I think even with my loss of memory I have missed you."

"Ah ... Master, you make a butler 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐇! I'll carve that compliment into my heart! Worry not, my demiurge, these feelings of distraction will wane soon enough and you will be back on your feet by the next moon! A person of your fine 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 is never down for long, I know the unholy guarantee of your Father's legacy will spur you on. It is woven into you."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

✧ ── 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 ۞ 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 ɪᴛʜᴜʀɪᴇʟ ʟɪꜰ - ʙᴀʟᴅᴜʀ'ꜱ ɢᴀᴛᴇ 3: ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴜʀɢᴇ - @burntscars

#── 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐋 ...【 ᴏɴᴇ ʜᴇʟʟ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ʙᴜᴛʟᴇʀ 】#── 𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐅 ...【 ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙʜᴀᴀʟ ʙᴀʙᴇ 】#── 𝐎' 𝐒𝐔𝐍 ; 𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇! ... 【 ɪᴄ 】#── 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 ... 【 ᴅʀᴀʙʙʟᴇ 】#── 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 #moonmaidened #sanguisstella #burntscars #hi albedo!!!#mwah #enjoy!#i kinda got carried away -#yes i do be quoting tolkien #love me some lotr

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cristinablackthornkingson · 5 years

Text

Shadowhunters Short Story #47, Herongraystairs. What if Jem had never been addicted to Yin Fen?

It is a cool October morning in 1887 and Tessa Herondale-Carstairs has found herself wide awake again due to the feeling of little feet kicking inside of her. She is currently 7 months pregnant with her, Will and Jem’s second child, a daughter they plan to name Lucie Ella. They have a 1 year old son named James William, after both of his fathers.

Tessa had fallen in love with both Jem and Will the moment she met them and they had fallen in love with her, though little did she know they already loved each other too. During the battle with Mortmain, after Tessa transformed into Ithuriel, Jem had run to her side to aid her, but the Heavenly Fire was still burning through her, when he touched her, it burned him too and burned off his parabatia rune as well as Will’s, breaking their bond. Tessa had expected them to be devastated, until a few weeks later she walked into the music room and found them kissing. After that the three of them sat down together and talked about how they all felt about each other, in the end they realized no one had to choose anyone and that all three of them could be together.

In early 1886, much to everyone’s surprise, Tessa found out she was pregnant. She, Jem and Will were thrilled beyond words but also extremely nervous that something would go wrong. Throughout the pregnancy Will and Jem were extremely protective of Tessa, hardly letting her lift a finger and they were constantly at her beck and call. Throughout the pregnancy they did not know if the baby was Will or Jem’s, but they did not care because any baby born to the three of them would have two fathers, no matter their DNA.

After a rough pregnancy filled with pain and sickness, Tessa gave birth to a healthy baby boy. It was almost immediately clear that Will is his biological father, even at moments old he looked just like him, with a few wisps of thick, curling black hair, Will’s bone structure, mouth and eye shape along with Tessa’s pallor and nose shape. Tessa was afraid at first, that Jem would be disappointed that they baby was not his, but he has always loved James just as Will does, he loves snuggling him and playing his violin for him, while Will loves to read him stories and tell him about everything he and Jem had gotten up to when they were younger.

Approximately 9 months ago, Tessa began to feel ill and achy and felt a lot of the symptoms she had felt while pregnant with James. She didn’t dare get her hopes at first, for the last year she had convinced herself that James was a miracle baby and that Tessa would not be able to fall pregnant again. However after a check up from The Silent Brothers, it was confirmed that Tessa was pregnant with a healthy baby girl. Once again all three of them were utterly thrilled and James was so excited to be a big brother, he loves feeling his sister kick and is forever asking Cecily to tell him stories about his daddy as a big brother, and vowing to be just as good as his daddy.

Right now, Tessa is just weeks from her due date and having a lot of trouble sleeping due to the baby constantly kicking. She has been awake the past 2 hours and knows it is worthless trying to get back to sleep. With a sigh Tessa grabs her book off the bedside table and heaves herself from the bed, quietly padding across the hall to Will’s office where she can sit and read for a few hours without waking Will and Jem by switching on the lamp. It is odd to have light at the flick of a switch, but much better than trying to fumble around in the dark for a witchight or a match to light a candle with.

After Tessa has been reading for approximately half an hour, she hears rapid footsteps approaching the office and seconds later the door swings open to reveal Jamie, his golden eyes wide with excitement for the new day, his thick black hair tangled and one of the legs of his pajama bottoms has rolled half way up his leg.

“Good morning my baby.” Tessa brightly says, setting her book down and holding her arms out for her son. Jamie dashes across the room to his mama and flings himself into her arms. His favorite way to start the day is by cuddling with his mama for an hour or two, he loves the way she holds him, strokes his hair, kisses his cheek and tells him how much she loves him.

“Ucie.” Jamie softly says, placing a hand on Tessa’s bump and beaming up at her in delight. Having only turned 1 recently, James cannot pronounce his sister’s full name yet, so he calls her ‘Ucie’ which Tessa, Will and Jem find extremely sweet and endearing. Jamie is so excited to meet his sister and be a big brother, he’s always been so jealous that his cousin Anna has a little brother and his cousin Thomas has two big sisters, now he’s finally getting a sister and he could not be more happy.

“Lucie’s been awake all night, I think she missed you.” Tessa softly tells her son, pushing his tangled hair back from his eyes.

“Ove oo Ucie!” Jamie says, resting his head on his mother’s bump, pouting when he doesn’t feel her kick.

“Oh don’t be sad Jamie, she must have fallen asleep at last, shall we see if we can wake her up?” Tessa gently asks her son, pushing her top up and resting one hand on the side of her swollen stomach. “Come on now little one, you’ve been awake all night and now your brother wants to say hello.” She coos. Jamie furrows his brow at his mother when Lucie still doesn’t kick, then leans forward and pokes her stomach which immediately gets a reaction from Lucie. James’ face lights up and he laughs in delight.

“Mama she kick!” Jamie exclaims in a tone of delight. Tessa laughs lightly and says

“So she did, you must have woken her up.”

“What a beautiful sight to wake up to.” comes a familiar voice, from the doorway. Tessa turns to see Will standing in the doorway, his hair ruffled from sleep, a smile playing on his lips.

“Jem still asleep?” Tessa asks.

“Of course, you know him he could sleep through the apocalypse.” Will says in an amused tone, catching Jamie up in his arms when he runs at him. “Good morning Caraid, how are you this morning?” Will softly asks.

“Good! I wake Ucie up!” James happily exclaims.

“Did you now? Speaking of your sister, how is Miss Lucie doing in there?” Will softly asks, making his way to Tessa’s side and placing his hand on her bump.

“Energetic as usual, even more so now she’s heard you and Jamie, this little girl is going to be an amazing Shadowhunter one day, if these kicks are anything to go by.” Tessa lightly says, holding Will’s hand over the spot where Lucie is kicking.

“I guarantee the minute she hears Jem she’ll calm down, the man is so calm he can even relax an unborn baby.” Will says in an amused tone. Lucie always kicks up a fuss every time she hears Will and Jamie, but when Jem speaks to her she is totally calm and relaxed. When Jamie was a baby he had been the same, he was always hyper and wide awake around Will, but with Jem he was so relaxed and calm, it was amazing.

“I’ll have to get him to have words with her, she’s not letting me sleep very much.” Tessa lightly says, rubbing at her heavy eyes.

“Is she only this active at night?” Will asks, lifting his eyes from the bump to look at Tessa, who nods.

“Yes, during the day she’s quiet calm.”

“Then you should get some sleep during the day when she isn’t so active, Jem and I can easily handle Jamie, you need your rest.” Will softly says. Tessa smiles at him and says

“I suppose but I like being up and spending time with my three boys.”

“We love spending time with you too but you know how important it is for you to get enough rest.” Will says in a tone of concern. It worries him greatly that Tessa isn’t getting much sleep at night, Brother Enoch made it very clear that it is essential for Tessa to get as much rest as possible, especially in these last few weeks.

“I do but I feel guilty when I go back to bed during the day.”

“You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty, you are carrying and growing our child, that is hard work and bound to wear you out, feeling guilty over needing to rest is as silly as feeling guilty over needing to eat.” Tessa hears Jem say. She turns to see him walking into the room with Church in his arms and a look of concern on his face.

“Papa!” Jamie squeals, wriggling in Will’s grip until he lets him down. He darts over to Jem, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist.

“Good morning sweet boy, I missed you so much.” Jem says in a tone of joy, scooping Jamie into his arms and kissing his cheek.

''Miss Oo too, love Oo papa.'' Jamie sofly says, snuggling into Jem. Jem beams and kisses his son's forehead.

''I love you too Jamie, shall we go have breakfast?'' Jem says. Jamie nods enthuastically and says

''Mama and daddy come too?'' Will and Tessa smile at their son and Tessa says

''Of course, I think Lucie is hungry too, judging by these kicks.''

When the three of them arrive downstairs they find they are the only ones up for breakfast, there is no sign of Charlotte, Henry, Charles and Matthew or Gabriel, Cecily, Anna and Christopher.

Halfway through breakfast Tessa begins to feel a famillar aching cramping pain in her lower stomach, she immediately knows that the pains are contractions but doenst want to say anything to Jem or Will incase she frightens Jamie.

When Ruby -The Institue Maid- arrives to clean up after breakfast she notices Tessa wincing and clutching her stomach.

''M'am are you alright?'' Ruby asks in a tone of concern, which immediately catches Jem and Will's attention.

''Tess are you alright, is it time?'' Jem calmly asks. Tessa winces as another pain hits her and weakly nods.

''Yes, yes I think so.'' she weakly says.

''I will take Jamie to my sister, Jem you help Tessa up to the infirmary.'' Will orders. Jem nods and begins to help Tessa out of her chair, while WIll takes Jamie to find Ceciily and Gabriel.

Tessa's labor is long and painful, she wishes more than anything that she could have Jem and Will by her side, they were there when this baby was concieved they should be here when she is born. But Tessa feels far too weak and tired to fight with the midwife and settles for having, Cecily, Charlotte and Sophie by her side. while Jem, Will, Gideon, Henry and Gabriel wait outside along with Jamie.

After six long and painful hours, Tessa gives birth to a healthy baby girl.

''Oh, Sophie can you bring Will and Jem in now?" Tessa asks in a breathless tone, wanting her husbands to meet their daughter immediately.

''Of course, Gideon and I will keep an eye on Jamie until we leave and Cecily and Gabriel and Charotte and Herny are practically fighting over who gets to look after him tonight, so you dont need to worry about that.'' Sophie lightly says, rising from her seat and making her way out of the infirmary.

A few minutes later, just as the midwife places Lucie in Tessa's arms, Will and Jem walk into the infirmary, immediately making their way to their wife's side.

All three of them gaze down at their daughter in awe, she is absolutely perfect, she looks so much like Tessa it would be almost impossible to tell who her father is, if it weren't for her blue eyes, identical to Will's.

''Lucie, sweet girl you look just like your mama and daddy you lucky little thing, you are so perfect.'' Jem queitly says, softly running his hand over Lucie's chestnut brown hair.

''I cannot believe she's finally here.'' Will queitly says.

''I cannot believe we have two children under two, I still cannot believe I was pregnant again when Jamie was only eight months old.'' Tessa lightly says, rembering how shocked she had been when at Jamie's eight month check up, Brother Enoch had told her she was pregnant again.

''At least we know we can concieve and quite easily, unlike poor Charlotte and Henry who tried for Mathew for years.'' Jem quietly says. He feels awful that he, Tessa and Will seem to have absoluetley no trouble concieving and had two children in 18 months while Charlotte and Henry struggled greatly to have a second child.

''Right as usual James.'' Will says, leaning in to kiss Jem on the cheek.

Just then, Lucie begins to fuss annd whine in Tessa's arms, her little fists clenched and her face turning bright red.

''And so it begins.'' Will jokingly says.

''Let me try and settle her, she always calmed down for me when you were pregnant.'' Jem says, holding his arms out for the baby.

The instant Lucie is placed in Jem's arm she calms down, her cries die down to whimpers before ceasing altogether and she snuggles closely into Jem, reaching a hand out of her blankets and grabbing onto Jem's shirt. Jem's heart swells with love and joy, just as it did when he held Jamie for the first time. He can still hardly believe he has two beauitful and healthy children.

''I think you're showing a bit of favouritism Miss Lucie, but I cannot blame you, your papa is rather wonderful.'' Will coos, leaning over to stroke his daughter's cheek softly.

Jem chuckles and kisses his daughter's forehead. He then looks between Lucie, Will and Tessa, his beautiful family.

''I love all four of you so much, I could not possibly ask for a more perfect family.'' Jem says in a tight tone, trying to hold back his tears of joy.

_________________________________________

It has now been two weeks since Lucie was born, and James is absoltuely in love with his sister, he loves cuddling her and showing her his favouriet books, though he's not too happy that his sister mostly sleeps all day and is too small to play with him just yet.

Right now Lucie is having her afteronon nap in the living room in her bassinet where Tessa, Jem or Will can hear her better if she starts to cry.

Just as Tessa sits down next door to read her book, she hears Lucie begin to fuss and whine. With a sigh Tessa closes her book and makes her way into the living room. When she arrives in the living room she doesn't know wheather to be anry or amused at the sight in front of her. Jamie is standing over his sister's bassinet, lightly poking her.

''James what are you doing?'' Tessa asks in a stern tone, making her way over to the bassinet and lifting Lucie into her arms and holding her against her shoulder.

''Want play wif her mama, but she not wake up so I poke her, when she in your tummy I poke her and she wake up!'' James explains, looking up at his mother with innocent golden eyes.

''Sweetheart when she was in my tummy she was protected by a sack of water, so when you poked my tummy it didnt hurt her, but it will hurt her now, you need to let her sleep okay?'' Tessa softly explains.

''Okay, oove oo mama.'' James softly says, leaning into her. Tessa places one hand on Jamie's back and softly says

''I love you too baby.''

That evening, a few hours before James' bedtime, Tessa, Jem, Will, Jamie and Lucie all head up to Tessa, Will and Jem's room and get into bed. For the first whiile Jem plays his violon for them, which soothes and relaxes both Jamie and Lucie. Right now, Jamie is curled up in Will's lap listening to him read, Tessa is nursing Lucie and Jem is simply watching his family with a huge smile on his face.

''Our family is just perfect now Lucie is here, dont you agree?'' Jem queitly says to Tessa, putting an arm around her and their daughter.

''Yes absolutely, it feels complete, I do not want anymore children, these two are more than enough.'' Tessa quietly says, looking from Jamie to Lucie.

''Me neither and neither does Will, we were talking about it earlier today, everything is perfect as it is.'' Jem softly says. Tessa smiles and nods in agreement.

''I love you.'' She softly says, tilting her head up to look Jem in the eyes. He grins and leans his forehad agaisnt hers.

''I love you too, you and Will and our babies have given me the perfect life and I could not love you all more.'' he says, before leaning down to kiss her. Tessa closes her eyes and while she enjoys the kiss she also revels in the delight of the weight of her beautiful new baby in her arms, the heat of Will next to her, the sound of her baby boy's giggles and the feeling of Jem's kiss. When she got off the boat from America all those years ago, she could never have imagined a life like this, but it is perfect and she could not be happier.

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