Distractions - Chapter 57: Chapter 57

Everest, dressed in jeans and a dark green tank top, leaned against the stone wall of Magnus's balcony that came up to her waist. She watched the traffic go by with a blank expression. A group of teenagers shoving each other as they walked down the street caught her eye. Once that had been her and her friends. Once that had been her, Clary, and Simon. Once she had been that happy and carefree, that relaxed. But here she was, not even six months later, dealing with an awful family situation and the impending doom of the Downworld.
Her peripheral vision filled with Alec and Magnus's forms on either side of her and she couldn't help but add something a little more positive to her previous thought. She also had two boyfriends that she adored greatly.
"How many Downworlders do you think live in New York?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know, but they're not all your responsibility," Magnus said as if he thought she was going to pull a Clary and try to save everyone. Which, considering she and Clary had similar tendencies at times, wasn't necessarily unreasonable.
"But you are," she said, tilting her head at him.
Magnus faced the city in an attempt to hide his smile, but she still saw it. "I can take care of myself."
"Maybe, but this is different," Alec said. He was watching her and Magnus but looked out at the city when she looked at him.
"You may have lived through the fall of Rome, but even the Dark Ages couldn't have been like this," Everest said. Her voice took on a lilt that she couldn't stop, one that almost always appeared when she was trying to take whatever bad thing was happening to her and generalize the experience. She hated that lilt. It always gave her away.
Trigger Warning: Discussions of self harm and suicidal actions
"Everest...I know things may seem bleak—" Alec moved so that he was next to Magnus and set a hand on his elbow. Everest turned her head to look at them. "—but nothing was as devastating as seeing you on that ledge."
"It was the magic," she said, trying to push away the thoughts of hospital beds and everyone she loved crying when she opened her eyes.
"I know. We know," Alec said.
"Magic can't create fears, only bring them out," Magnus added.
Everest shifted and her fingers began tapping on the pad of her thumb. "I—" She sighed and moved so that she was leaning back against the balcony, facing the apartment. They kept watching her. For the first time in a while, she didn't mind having people watching her so intently. "I want to explain, I do. I just—"
"It's hard, I get it." Magnus smiled gently at her, as if assuring her of something she didn't know. "I've been there, I get it. Just take your time."
She smiled faintly at him gratefully, though a pang of regret and pain ran through her upon learning that Magnus had similar experiences. "I've known Raphael since I was seven," she said, deciding to start at the less painful part of the story. "I was taking out the trash when I saw him in the alley. I ignored every single stranger danger lesson I was ever given and walked up to him. I said hi and kind of forced the conversation onto him. I kept seeing him and somehow we became friends and eventually he became like my brother. My nocturnal, weirdly never aging brother."
Everest sat down against the wall and Magnus and Alec gracefully followed suit. "When I was fourteen, on my birthday actually, he was...taken from me. Uhm, Camille threatened him and said she'd kill me if he ever saw me again, basically. Then he left to keep me safe and she broke my leg and tied me to a chair."
"That's why you refuse to sit in chairs," Alec said, rubbing her knee gently since her hands were preoccupied spinning her rings around her fingers.
She nodded. "Yeah. Uhm. Life got really shitty for a while after that and I got really depressed. I got a lot of panic attacks at school because I saw someone who looked even vaguely like Camille or because I was forced to sit in a chair. It got to the point where I couldn't even think of going to school without breaking down. Then I was mugged on the way home from school on the first day I managed to go to school in two weeks. It was also the year I dated Steve Evans—" Alec scoffed. "—and so that probably didn't help anything. Then things got worse. I was put in self defense classes and I was active which sometimes helped, but when I wasn't in those classes or active in general, my thoughts spiraled really far. Far enough that I did things that left scars and was later hospitalized for."
Her eyes burned slightly and she swallowed back tears.
"The scars on your stomach..." Magnus trailed off as Everest nodded.
"Yeah," was all she managed to say before she was being embraced by Alec and Magnus.
She froze for a moment, having not expected the hug, but then she relaxed and let herself soak up the warmth that radiated from them. She wrapped her arms around them as well, burying her face in the crook that formed in the space where their shoulders met. Alec's black zip up—which had a collar for some reason—was soft on her cheek and Magnus's silk button up was cool against her arms. The sensations soothed her like being wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket would.
"Promise us you'll tell us if things ever get that bad again," Alec said quietly. She could feel Magnus nodding on her shoulder. "Or bad at all."
"Please." Everest hated how tight Magnus's voice sounded. "We can't lose you."
Everest swallowed before answering. "I promise. You won't lose me. Just...promise me the same?"
"I promise," they both said softly.
Trigger Warning for discussions of self harm and suicidal actions over
Trigger Warning: On/off page death continued
The front door opening ruined the moment and had all three of them sighing and rolling their eyes, but standing nonetheless. Clary and Jace were running into the apartment and briefly Everest wondered why the door hadn't been locked.
"Don't you people have phones?" Magnus huffed, but Everest's gaze locked on the way Clary was clutching her hand, which was slowly turning burnt and black starting at the tips of her fingers. That wasn't right. Worry tugged at her sides with an ache similar to the one she got after doing crunches.
"We need your help," Jace said with an edge to his words.
Everest knew the exact moment Magnus saw Clary's hand because his entire body tensed and he went into professional mode. He made Clary sit on the small couch and grabbed Clary's hand as Jace sat next to her. Alec and Everest hovered worriedly. Magnus ran what Everest assumed was a scan of some sort over Clary's hand. Nothing changed.
"La Chair Brulee."
"I'm guessing that's not a dessert?" Clary mused, not without bitterness.
"It means 'the burnt flesh.' It's an old blood oath spell," Magnus explained.
"Then it must be Iris. She said you owed her a favor," Alec said, hands clasped behind his back.
"That must have been what that contract she had you sign back at her apartment," Everest added.
Jace's brows dipped down closer to his eyes and his lips pursed. It was an odd expression, an expression full of parental disappointment, one she had seen her mom wear countless times. She hadn't expected Jace to wear it too.
"At Max's party, she said I had to find Madzie," Clary said, with an awful sort of horrified realization on her face.
"Then we better start looking," Magnus said. "I can get rid of the pain, but that's about it. I'm afraid once the magic reaches your heart..." He shook his head.
"So find Madzie or Ritz dies." Everest scoffed. "Hell no. Not happening. Not on my watch, not ever."
Clary looked minorly startled at her forceful words.
"No, no. Magnus, there has to be a cure." Jace stood up quickly, voice rising slightly with his urgency. "There has to be something we can do to stop this."
Even Alec looked alarmed by the realizations being made.
"Can't we force Iris to undo it?" Alec asked.
"I wish it were that easy," Magnus said, looking at Clary and not at the three standing up, who were all more alarmed by the news than Clary seemed to be. "But blood oath spells are completely binding. Even Iris herself can't reverse it now."
Everest forced herself to take deep breaths to calm down at least somewhat. Angel, why did Clary have to make a stupid oath that could kill her just to have the slightest chance at bringing their mom back to life? Why did Clary have to be so good? Why did Clary have to care so much? Why, why why? Her fists clenched and she all but slammed her fists against her thighs to keep them there and so as not to hit something or someone, likely Clary, for her impulsiveness.
"Fucking hell," she bit out eventually.
"Pretty fucking much," Jace muttered beside her.
...
Everest was lying down in a booth, her exposed skin sticking to the familiar red material of the Jade Wolf booths. Clary and Luke were talking about Clary's hand and Jace was calling Magnus for updates. Everest, meanwhile, was entertaining herself by gently tapping the beat of Clary and Luke's words on the table.
"Magnus find anything?"
Everest sat up at Luke's question. Jace quirked an eyebrow at her undoubtedly messy hair.
"No. Iris's brownstone was wiped clean, but Alec just got a report from the Clave. According to Iris, Madzie was abducted from Brady Park."
Luke's face turned determined. "Alright, we'll start there. I'll round up some wolves and see if we can get a scent."
"Great," Jace said. Then, like the impulsive person who sometimes thought people could read her mind that Clary was, she started walking away. "Where are you going?"
"To get Simon." Everest's lips quirked at the thought of her friend. "If we're gonna be searching all night, we can use his skills."
Jace chuckled. "What skills?"
Clary stumbled over her words. "I don't know...night vision."
"There's a rune for that," Jace reminded her.
Luke and Everest shot her nearly identical looks that practically screamed 'he's right and you know it so you better have a better answer'.
"I don't care. He's coming." Clary's voice cracked slightly as she said, "I need him." but she didn't let it change the determination in her gaze.
Jace rolled his eyes as he followed the power-walking Clary. Everest fistbumped Luke on her way out the door.
Jace stopped Everest by the door. She led him to a more secluded area where people were less likely to hear them. Whatever he had to say was probably important since he pulled her away to say it.
"What? Spit it out already," she said when he just kept looking at her with sad eyes.
Trigger Warning: Discussions of self harm and suicidal actions
"Are—what happened when you were fourteen? Why were Clary, Izzy, and Simon whispering in a corner about how to make sure that what happened at the party wouldn't lead to them 'losing you' again?" He hesitated and the dread in Everest's stomach grew. "Have you tried to—you know—to—"
"To unalive myself?" He nodded weakly. Everest had to look away for a moment because his gaze was so broken. She shrugged. "Not intentionally. But when I was fourteen Raphael was threatened into staying away from me by Camille. After that everything went downhill, I spiraled nearly every day, and I did things I regret. I still have the scars on my stomach. Then one day I go to take a shower and I don't even remember what triggered me. But something did and the next thing I know I'm in the hospital and everyone I care about is sitting around my bed. All of them but Clary were crying. Clary was the first one to hug me and then she started crying when I told her I was okay."
Jace had to take a few moments to compose himself and Everest let him. She wasn't expecting to be pulled into a hug. A demand for more details or a request for a promise to never do that again, maybe. But not a hug. Yet, she found that she didn't mind it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him squeeze her tightly.
"Please tell me if you ever think those things again, Everest. Please. If your head ever gets that bad again, tell me. I want to be able to help you, but I can only do that if you tell me."
"I'll tell you," she whispered back, hating how his voice cracked when he was speaking.
Trigger Warning for discussions of self harm and suicidal actions over
Trigger Warning: On/off page death continued, fighting, weapons
"Thank you. Good talk. Now let's go find Clary, yeah?"
Everest nodded and they released each other, only for the sounds of growling and fighting to reach them. They shared a quick look before they bolted for Simon's container. Clary was holding a canoe paddle like a bat as a brown wolf got ready to pounce.
"Back off," Clary said, like a badass, before swinging the paddle. The wolf went flying into a line of bins just as Everest and Jace reached Clary. Simon was anxiously waiting inside his container to avoid the sunlight.
"Nice form," Jace complimented.
"Five summers at Camp Winnipesaukee," Clary retorted.
The sound of bones cracking as the werewolf transformed into a human made Everest's skin crawl.
"Show yourself!" Jace shouted, holding up a seraph blade Everest didn't realize he'd drawn. Clary held up the paddle once more and Everest, not wanting to feel left out, grabbed a knife from the pocket of the leather jacket she'd grabbed on the way out of Magnus's.
Trigger Warning for fighting and weapons over
Trigger Warning: on/off page death
A head of short curly hair emerged from behind the bins, followed by a Black girl standing just enough so that her head, neck, and bare shoulders were visible.
Simon gasped and Everest's eyes narrowed. Why was this girl so familiar?
Within minutes, Luke was outside and throwing the girl—who Simon told Everest was named Maia—a set of clothes so that she wasn't naked before handcuffing her to an old ship machine board inside Simon's container.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Luke demanded.
Simon and Luke stood next to each other, arms crossed as they stared down at Maia. Jace and Clary were by the entrance to the container while Everest leaned against a pillar between the two groups. Maia's eyes kept darting to Everest like she knew her, but that shouldn't be possible.
"I know about the Soul Sword. I was there at the party." Wasn't she the bartender? Was that where Everest knew her from? She hoped so. She wasn't sure she could handle finding out anyone else she knew was part of the ShadowWorld. "I heard everything. If Clary or Everest touch it, we're all dead!"
"So that gave you the right to try and kill Clary?" Luke demanded, eyes like deadly infernos. "I bet you would have attacked Everest too if she was there with Clary, wouldn't you?"
"You think this is easy?" Maia shouted. "You know me. You know I don't want to hurt  anyone!"
"That's not what it looked like to me," Simon snapped back viciously.
"Two lives versus millions," Maia said with the same sort of tone that every morally grey  character had when trying to justify their actions. "If killing Clary and Everest is the price of saving the entire Downworld, then I'm willing to pay it. They have to die."
"That's not your decision to make," Luke said as Clary, Everest, and Jace filed out of the container. They left the door open behind them, knowing that since the sun had set they didn't need to worry about accidentally vaporizing Simon.
"You two okay?" Jace asked, giving Everest a meaningful look and she instantly knew that he was referencing their previous conversation. She nodded.
"I can feel it spreading." Clary looked up at Jace and Everest, who stood side by side. "What if Maia's right?"
"She's not," Luke said harshly as he left the container. "You need to find Madzie."
"No problem. We'll take the van," Simon said as he joined them.
Simon and Jace started walking towards the van, but the twins lingered when Luke didn't go with them.
"Luke?"
"I have to stay here. If Maia told the other wolves about the Soul Sword, you're both in serious danger."
"But Luke—"
"No time to argue. I'll catch up after I stop the Downworld from coming after you."
Clary and Everest smiled softly and as one, they pulled him into a hug just like they used to when he was at the apartment after school.
"I'll see you soon Kiddos," Luke said before waving them towards the van.
Clary and Everest made their way to the van and Jace and Simon went to follow them, but Luke called them back. Everest gently pushed Clary forward when she tried to listen in.
"Not your conversation, Clary," she said gently as they got in the van, as if she wasn't the one who eavesdropped more.
Clary sighed as she turned to face Everest. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Everest's head tilted and her brows knit together.
"For making you think I hate you and that I was mad at you. I wasn't, I was just mad at life." Clary continued to elaborate when Everest's expression did not clear. "I know you didn't believe me the other day and I thought I needed to apologize again."
"You didn't have to," Everest said, as if it was obvious. "I  don't blame you, Ritz. And even if you were mad at me, you'd have had every right to be."
"But still."
Everest sighed when she realized Clary wasn't going to stop pushing to apologize unless Everest made her stop. "Clary, just stop. You're forgiven." She opened up her arms to offer a hug to her twin sister for the first time in too long. "Hug?"
Clary dove into her arms and they stayed like that until Simon and Jace got in the van as well.
"Looks like you two made up," Simon said in a teasing tone, but both he and Jace looked incredibly relieved to see the two of them hugging.
"Shut up and drive, Rat Boy."
Simon laughed loudly, genuinely, as he drove out of the Jade Wolf parking lot.
...
Everest stood with Clary and Jace by an old swing set that probably wasn't safe for children while Simon used his vampire speed to check  the park for any signs of Madzie.
"And we're sure this is the park?" Everest asked, digging the toe of her boots into the soft ground.
"Positive," Jace said. "See the scorched grass? Someone opened a Portal."
Simon appeared before either of the twins could say anything, stumbling slightly at the drastic difference between vampire speed and standing still. "Nothing over there. And without the wolves to pick up a scent, this is gonna take forever."
Everest groaned. Clary sighed.
"We don't have forever," Jace said like the male lead in a superhero movie. "Everyone keep looking."
"Maybe he can help."
Everest turned around to look at Simon, who was running towards a homeless man on a bench. Her hands made frantic motions but he didn't see them. Just because they were nocturnal, or practically nocturnal at least, didn't mean they had to make random strangers nocturnal as well.
"Excuse me, uhm...a little girl might have gotten kidnapped a few days ago," he said, voice gentle, kind, and not at all condescending. "I was wondering if you've seen her."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the man said gruffly.
"Are you sure? She's about this tall—" Clary held up her hands about waist height. "—pigtails, always wears a scarf..."
Everest's eyes zeroed in on the colorful patterned fabric in the man's jacket. The fabric that matched Madzie's scarf perfectly.
"Hey, where'd you get that scarf?" Simon asked, as if he were asking about where to find the best coffee in the area.
"Nowhere. I found it. It's mine." The man clutched the scarf in his hands.
Simon and Everest shared a look, smiles growing on both their faces. Everest glanced at Jace, whose eyes had narrowed suspiciously at the two of them, as she raised her eyebrows and Simon nodded. This was what they were good at: scheming and enacting schemes worthy of the movies and books that they so dearly loved.
"Do you want to make a trade?" Everest asked, resting one hip on the back of the bench, smiling gently.
The man smiled back, nodding slightly. Simon, clearly holding back a shit eating grin and rambunctious laughter, patted Jace on the chest in a way that he did back in school when one of his friends had no choice but to do something Simon wanted because they had lost a bet. Everest had learned early on not to bet against Simon unless she was more than two hundred percent sure she would win the bet.
"What?" Jace demanded, affronted.
In minutes, the four were back in the van, down one leather jacket and plus one scarf.  Clary and Jace sat in the back, Simon drove, and Everest was in the passenger seat.
"Keep heading north. The signal's faint, but we can still track her," Jace said quietly.
"Don't sound too excited," Everest said. She reached into the glove compartment and began digging through the mess inside.
"It's too easy."
Simon scoffed. "It wasn't easy. That jacket's at least two sizes too small for that guy. Everest and I are just great salespeople."
"Valentine's too smart to have not thought about blocking the signal. If we can track Madzie, it's because he wants us to. We're walking into a trap."
"What are you suggesting? That we don't find Madzie?" Simon asked.
"That's not what I'm saying." Jace sighed.
"Simon's right. Trap or no trap, the scarf is our only option." On instinct, Everest turned around, still elbow deep in the glove box, to look at Clary. She sighed, knowing what her twin was thinking. On one hand, she wasn't wrong. But on the other, she was so far off from being right about it being the only solution that it hurt. They could just hop on a plane or through a Portal and hide across the world until Valentine was taken care of. Granted, she knew Clary wouldn't let their friends and family face him on their own (Everest wouldn't either), but there had to be other options than that. Especially after  the numerous speeches Everest had endured about not dying. "I can't let Valentine activate the Soul Sword either. So whatever happens, you can't let him take me or Everest alive."
Simon's wide eyed gaze darted to Everest but she just looked away, blindly feeling for the plastic packaging she was searching for. "Clary, Everest...you're kinda freaking me out."
"Trust me, I've thought about it and...Maia's right."
"What are—what are you talking about?" Simon stuttered.
"She—we would both rather die than let Valentine destroy the Downworld, rather die than let him kill our loved ones. Promise us—" Everest looked at Jace intently as she pulled out the package of Skittles. Despite their earlier conversation, she knew that he would do what it was necessary to stop Valentine. Even if it meant killing her and Clary. "—if Valentine ever gets to us..."
"No. Absolutely not." Simon shook his head, eyes glistening.
Jace looked Everest in the eye as he said, "I promise." Clary and Simon looked at Jace as well, even though Simon was driving and he really didn't need the extra distraction of looking away from the road to be even more likely to crash than he already was. She wasn't even sure why he was the one driving when he was so incredibly likely to crash. "If it ever comes to that, I won't let him take either of you alive."
...
Simon parked along a pier that he and Everest used to go to when they wanted to get away from Brooklyn and just exist. Everest scowled at the irony.
As they all got out of the van, Jace turned to Clary. "Stay here. We'll be right back," he said, then motioned for Simon and Everest to follow him.
"We're close, we're very close. This still feels way too easy," Jace told them in a hushed tone.
"And yet we've encountered no traps," Simon muttered, though he was beginning to look worried too. "Although if we did, all that stuff you said about Clary and Everest, you were just talking right? You wouldn't actually kill your own sisters would you?"
Why did he feel the need to mention that detail about them being related just then? Everest shot him a look full of barely disguised questions that he ignored.
"No."
"Okay," Everest said, scoffing and shaking her head. Well then. That was a thing.
"But that's why I need to do this next part on my own."
Everest's head shot up towards Jace, jaw dropping. "No?"
"What do you mean?"
Everest was clearly better at asking questions.
"Clary's too weak to move, and Everest, you can activate the Soul Sword too. You two would only be in danger of getting captured." Simon and Everest adopted twin looks of disapproval that made Jace blink a few times. "Hey, I'll use the scarf to track Madzie. I'll bring her back here. But I need you two to protect Clary while I'm gone."
"Easy for you to say." Simon scoffed. "You're the guy with the sword. What am I supposed to protect her with? My teeth? Yeah, Everest has her guns and probably a few blades, but I can't use those since they're runed. We need your help here."
Jace looked away and his shoulders slumped. "Okay. All right. I'll stay."
Everest didn't believe him for one moment. His voice didn't have enough reluctance in it and his mouth was tight at the corners like he was doing his best not to smirk smugly. But, when Simon's phone rang, she half turned her head away from his to let him walk a few steps away before following. About a block away from the van, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her, an annoyed look on his face.
"Go back to the van," he said tensely. "I'm not putting you in danger."
"Too bad you're not letting me do anything," she retorted. "You can't stop me from going with you. You know I'll just track you if you try to take me back to the van to third wheel for the most awkward pair in history.."
"Since when do you know how to track?" Jace asked, though it was with a more shocked than condescending tone.
"Since Izzy taught me. Now let's go."
Jace sighed in defeat but kept walking anyway. Everest smirked and fell into step with him. They arrived at a small cafe that Everest hadn't heard of before within a few moments. They walked in side by side, shoulders back and heads held high.
Valentine and Madzie were sitting at a table across from each other. Valentine chuckled as Madzie used her magic to turn what looked like hot chocolate into a mug shaped fudge pop. If Everest hadn't known better, she would have thought they were a normal family at a cafe in the middle of the night.
"How fatherly," Jace mused as the two sat down on either side of Madzie. "I didn't know you had it in you."
He made a vague motion in Everest's direction behind his back and Everest looked at Madzie with a smile. She ignored Valentine and Jace's conversation with an ease that startled her. Apparently it had been long enough since she took her meds that she had forgotten how much easier it was to tune out background noises. Maybe she should take her meds more often.
"Hey Madzie, remember me?" The girl nodded and licked her now solid hot chocolate.  "How would you feel about getting something to eat and maybe even some paper to draw on?"
Madzie nodded and hopped off her seat, following Everest to the counter. Everest briefly turned around when Valentine made a noise of protest, stuck her tongue out, flipped him off, and turned back to Madzie with a smile.
"What do you want for a treat?" Madzie pointed at a brownie shaped like a star and Everest smiled. "Good choice. I'm getting a blueberry muffin and coffee myself. You can try a bit of it if you'd like?"
Madzie nodded eagerly. Everest chuckled.
Once Everest had paid for the order (and dodged the questions from the barista who used to be in her math class back in school about why she walked in with a 'hot blonde boy' and was now getting a kid a brownie), she led Madzie to a table across the room from Valentine and Jace. She sat down across from the young girl and pulled out a small collection of pens as well as a thin pocket sketchbook she had shoved in her jacket pocket earlier that day before going to Magnus's. She tore out a page for Madzie to draw on and set the pens in the middle of the table between them. Madzie grabbed a pink pen and started to draw as Everest tore off a piece of her muffin and set it on the plate Madzie's brownie was on.
"How's your brownie?" she asked after a few minutes of watching Madzie draw and munch on her brownie while Everest made a dent in her large coffee and muffin.
Madzie stuck her thumb up without looking up from her drawing. Everest peered closer at it and nearly gasped out loud. It was absolutely stunning.
Madzie had drawn Clary and Everest standing back to back like they were the main characters on a fantasy novel cover. Clary was drawn in pink and red with her hair flying around her face like a halo. She was in dark jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a green bomber jacket, a stele in one hand, seraph blade in the other. Everest was drawn in blues and purples, purple hair braided and pinned around her head like a crown. She was holding a runed gun in one hand and a purple pen in the other, the deep raspberry jacket that covered her white t-shirt, which was tucked into dark jeans, riding up to expose rune-covered wrists. For the first time since entering the ShadowWorld, Clary and Everest truly looked like twins.
"That's amazing," Everest said, mostly on an exhale.
Madzie grinned and just kept shading Everest's hair.
"Hey." Everest jumped at the sound of Jace's voice near her ear. "Let's get Madzie back to Clary, alright?"
Everest nodded and stood up. "Hey, Kiddo?" Madzie looked up. "It's time to head out, alright."
Madzie nodded and passed Everest the pens, which she put in the pocket with the notebook, and paper.
"I can keep it? Really?"
The girl pressed the paper into her hands more forcefully and Everest carefully put it between pages of the pocket sketchbook to keep it safe before putting it in her jacket next to her phone and wallet. Jace and Everest flanked Madzie as they left the cafe and all the way back to the van, her glittery black skirt sparkling in the street lamp like the obsidian pen that the love interest in her half-developed fantasy work-in-progress gave the main character. Everest needed to work on that project more, at least once she had any free time at all; it was fun to write.
"Clary!" Everest called out as they reached the yellow van.
"Everest!" Simon called back.
Simon hopped off the roof of the van with Clary in his arms and carried her over to them. Jace and Everest both kept a light hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Madzie," Clary gasped out as Simon gently set her on the ground so that she was kneeling. "Madzie, you're okay."
Clary hugged Madzie and even Everest couldn't protest her hugging Madzie without asking first (consent was necessary, especially with young children since kids learn by example) when Madzie put her  hands on Clary's back and faint orange magic pulsed out from her hands. As Everest watched, Clary's skin softened and returned to its usual, not burnt state. A soft breath of relief escaped Everest and some of the tension flooded out of her shoulders.
"I told you, didn't I?" Jace said to Simon, who had joined the siblings a little ways away from Clary and Madzie. "We couldn't have saved her without you."
"Obviously." Simon rolled his eyes, then turned to Jace with a more serious expression. "Thank you, you know, for everything."
Jace just nodded and Everest nudged Simon gently. His lips twitched.
A streak of orange had all three of them looking at Clary and Madzie again, only to see a Portal forming and Madzie's hand glowing orange.
"Madzie, what are you doing?" Clary asked slowly, cautiously.
Madzie didn't answer in any way, instead pulling the Portal towards her and Clary. It surrounded the two of them and the three jerked forward.
"Clary!"
"No!"
"Ritz!"
But they were gone.
Everest threw her hands up and let out a quiet scream. "Really? Really now? Because why would it go our way?"
"Okay, this isn't good," Simon said, stating the obvious. "Clary could be anywhere."
"Not anywhere. Valentine still needs a bolt of lightning." Jace was far too calm for it to make sense in Everest's head.
"Great, so what's the plan? You want me to check the forecast to see if there's any lightning storms with a side of finding kidnapped redheads?" Everest huffed out a bitter laugh.
"You were right. Finding Madzie was too easy," Simon said, panicking just as much as Everest, which made her feel less insane.
"As much as I love to hear you say that, now is really not the time," Jace said.
Simon's phone beeped and he fumbled to get it out of his pocket. "Okay, Luke just texted me. Maybe he can do something."
A loud, guttural scream filled the previously too quiet air. Jace took off in the direction of the scream immediately, Everest just a step behind him.
"What the hell?" Simon exclaimed as he followed them.
Trigger Warning: Fighting, violence, on page death
In the middle of an alleyway, a man was lying limp on the ground while what Everest assumed to be a vampire was latched onto his neck and someone who looked vaguely like a Seelie watched. The vampire snarled as they ran towards them.
"Don't move!" Jace shouted.
Of course, like any vaguely self respecting person, the two ran off when they saw three people, two of which were very clearly Shadowhunters, running towards them.
Everest knelt down by the man and checked his pulse, shuddering slightly. "He's dead," she announced.
Trigger Warning for fighting and violence over
Trigger Warning: On/off page death
"Dude, that's not normal. Even the worst of Camille's people wouldn't risk attacking a mundane on the street," Simon said.
"Especially not with a Seelie," Jace muttered.
"That was a Seelie? Do you think that's what Luke was talking about? A Downworld revolt?"
"No," Everest muttered as she stood up. She knew the vampire, to  a degree at least. She had seen him on Valentine's ship when she was dragged to the weird lab room to  get her blood  taken. "I recognize the vampire. He was in Valentine's zoo, wasn't he Jace?"
The blonde nodded.
"Why would Valentine have Downworlders attack mundanes?" Simon asked. "That makes no sense."
"None of this makes sense Rat Boy," she muttered.
"It must have something to do with the Sword," Jace said, pulling out his phone. He clicked on Alec's contact and put the call on speaker as Simon wandered a bit away.
"Jace? Are you okay?" Alec asked, immediately worried.
"No. Something weird's going on Alec."
"Yeah, tell me about it. We have reports of violent Downworlders all over Manhattan."
"We think it's Valentine," Everest spoke up. "We can explain later, but right now we need your help."
"Are you—is Clary—"
Jace answered both unfinished questions with a quick, "It's complicated."
"Yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means we fulfilled the blood oath, but now Valentine has her. We think he's trying to activate the Soul Sword," Everest explained.
"I need everyone you have to be looking for her right now," Jace added.
Alec sighed. "Yeah, not that easy. Aldertree dispatched every Shadowhunter we have to stop the attacks."
"Well undispatch them," Jace said forcefully before hanging up when someone started to speak to Alec.
"Hey, I think I know how to find Clary," Simon said and hurried back to Jace and Everest from where he had been examining the corpse.
...
Trigger Warning: Fighting, guns/shooting, violence, on page death
Everest stood beside Simon in the corner of the apartment complex's alleyway as they waited for the vampire and Seelie to attack the young woman.
Jace dropped down from the roof as the two started to get a little too enthusiastic in their approach towards the young woman.
"Remember me?" he asked, then hit the Seelie hard enough for him to fall to the ground unconscious.
The vampire snarled and tried to get away, but Simon tackled him to the ground. Everest raised her arms, gun in hand, just in case the Seelie or vampire got to be too much for the boys. But she didn't shoot, not yet. The Seelie was on the ground and Simon was continuously punching the vampire as Jace approached him.
Everest's aim turned to the Seelie as the body twitched. Then the Seelie woke up, already snarling. He stood up too quick to be normal even for a Seelie and as soon as he started approaching Jace and Simon, Everest fired off several rounds that buried themselves into vital organs. Apparently she wasn't the only one with the idea, though, because another gun was being fired not too far away from her.
As the Seelie dropped to the ground, actually dead this time, Everest stepped out of the shadows.
Trigger Warning for fighting, guns/shooting, violence over
Trigger Warning: On/off page death
"Are you kidding me? I thought he was dead?" Simon exclaimed, pausing in his attack on the vampire.
"He definitely is now," Everest said, catching sight of Luke. She waved at him.
He nodded at her. "Good shot."
She just smiled.
Luke grimaced. "Valentine's been experimenting again," Luke said, sounding more tired than anything else. "I bet there's more where  that came from."
"Which means," Jace said, pointing his blade at the vampire's throat, "you're gonna tell us where he is, or you're gonna end up just like your friend."
...
Within ten minutes, the four arrived at the warehouse where Valentine was supposed to be.
"Okay, I know this is an abandoned building, but it's starting to seem extra abandoned,"  Simon said nervously.
"Are we too late?" Everest asked, kicking a rusty pipe out of her way. She didn't like this place. It was decorated like a carnival and even had old merry go rounds inside. Everest hated carnivals.
"No. Scent's still fresh. Someone's here. We gotta move fast." Luke's shoulders set.
"Fan out.  Cover as much ground as you can," Jace said, twirling his blade in his hand.
Jace was just a few steps behind Everest as she followed the sound of rattling chains. A flash of familiar red hair had her running.
"Clary!" she called out.
"Everest?"
"Where's Valentine?" Jace demanded as Everest examined the lock on the chains.
She pulled a few bobby pins from the base of her neck—she always had at least two bobby pins on her person even if her hair didn't need them; it was a trick her mom had taught her years ago—and started to work on picking the lock, a skill born from boredom.
"I don't know. All the Circle members just left in a hurry," Clary said.
"Okay. Don't move."
Jace sliced through the chains like a hot knife through butter and Everest gaped up at him. He smirked with an easy shrug.
"What? Picking the lock was moving a little slow for me."
"Show off," she muttered, standing.
"Okay, we have to get out of here before—"
Clary was cut off by Valentine and Madzie approached.
"Going someplace?" Valentine asked conversationally. A blur of orange magic rushed towards Jace and Everest and then Everest couldn't move. She twisted and tried to force her limbs to move, but she couldn't. "I didn't think so. She's strong for her age, isn't she?"
Everest wasn't quite sure if Valentine understood that age didn't equal power or ability.
"Madzie. Hey, please." Clary knelt down with pleading eyes. "Please let them go."
"Now why would she do that?" Valentine asked as if he was asking about why he should pick a certain dessert over another.
"Because you want to hurt people. People like Iris."
Valentine didn't look fazed as he knelt down beside Madzie with that stupid gleam in his eyes that made Everest want to punch him. "Don't forget, this is the mean person that got your nana in trouble in the first place." Madzie nodded and Everest's heart broke. She was so young and still so impressionable that she had no idea of who to trust. "Now, if you wanna see Iris, you have to be a good little girl and do exactly as I say, okay?"
Then, like an absolute badass, Simon ran into the room, spun Valentine around, and punched him in the face. Madzie whirled to see what was happening and her focus on Jace and Everest wavered, allowing them to move again.
"Clary, run!" Simon shouted.
Valentine punched Simon twice—which Everest thought was unfair since Simon had only hit him once—and then pulled him into a choke hold.
"Brave and stupid," he said condescendingly. "Sweetheart—" Everest hated that he was calling anyone, especially a young child, that. "—save your magic for what's to come. It's time to go."
Madzie opened a Portal without hesitation.
"I'll see you soon Clarissa."
"Simon! Simon no!"
"Don't you dare take him you asshole!"
And then he and Madzie were gone, taking Simon along with him.