#WHAT A LINE LADY RAZIEL TOO TRUE

[x-nephophile-x]

War never changes but canon sure will!

“Fallout TV show retconned New Vegas-“

Stop. Listen to me. Look me in the eyes. “Canon” isn’t real. I’m completely serious. It’s whatever you want it to be. This franchise is rooted in games where you literally choose what ending you want based on your actions. Please, please for the love of god tell me that this whole time some of you have not been deciding that in games with multiple endings there is actually one “real” ending and all the others are “not canon.” If you really want my opinion half the fun of this whole series is that EVERY SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS EQUALLY “VALID.” It’s time to kill the Todd Howard in your head and realize that literally no one is stopping you from choosing what to believe is part of this series. Incorporate every game, including the ones that never got made and only exist as details on the wiki. Or don’t. Decide that only the first two games and New Vegas are real and pretend 3 & 4 don’t exist. Create a new timeline in your head where EVERYTHING happens BUT Fallout 3 and yet Fallout 4 still fucking happens. Incorporate the fan theories you like and disregard the ones you don’t. Add your headcanons. Just MAKE SHIT UP. It doesn’t fucking matter! And that’s beautiful!!!! War never changes but goddamn canon sure will, but only if you believe!!

[merry-thieves]

Possible meanings of Chain of Iron snippets

Yes, this is going to be a long post. 

I didn’t put all teasers here only those where I could actually come up with something.

Alastair looked amused. “Never before have I heard such a concise statement of the ludicrous philosophy with which you and your school friends go through the world.”

So, Alastair is definitely speaking to one of the Merry Thieves

probably James, since Al and Matthew aren’t on the best terms and conversations between Thomas and Al would go in another direction (either fighting or with way more feelings)

it seems like James and Alastair are on quite good terms here if Alastair isn’t snappish and shows his true (happy) emotions

Anna was fortress-surrounded by her friends: tall, handsome Thomas; Christopher, who shared his sister’s stern delicacy of feature, peacock Matthew, who always looked as if he’d just rolled out of an unmade bed piled with silks and velvet. And Eugenia Lightwood, who hadn’t bothered to take off her canary-yellow gloves or hat, as if she were ready to run out the door any moment.

They all eyed Ariadne suspiciously as she approached Anna. Anna didn’t seem to see her at all; she was leaning back with one booted foot braced on the wall behind her. She was all lean black and white lines, her close-fitting jacket following the outline of her slim curves, her head thrown back as she laughed. Her ruby pendant glimmered in the hollow of her throat.

Keep your head up, Ariadne, she told herself. You can do this.

“Hello, Anna,” Ariadne said.

First of all, Eugenia is in this group which is interesting regarding the main characters in Chain of Iron

Is Eugenia part of the main group? Has she an important role to play? (we are supposed to find out the reason why she is disgraced)

We have Ariadne’s pov here, so she might play a big role too in Choi, at least we will have more of her and Anna’s relationship

Also, she calls Matthew “peacock” which is so accurate and funny!

Alastair’s gaze flicked to Matthew. “Why,” he said, “are you not even wearing a hat?”

“And cover up this hair?” Matthew indicated his golden locks with a flourish. “Would you blot out the sun?”

Okay, Matthew and Alastair aren’t brawling which is a good sign

Also, where are they? There has to be a good reason if both of them are attending and standing next to each other

I’m guessing they’re outside since they’re supposed to wear hats 

The brave princess Lucretia raced through the marble halls of the palace. "I must find Cordelia," she gasped. "I must save her."

"I believe the Prince holds her even now, captive in his throne room!" Sir Jerrod exclaimed. "But Princess Lucretia, even though you are the most beautiful and wise lady that I have ever met, surely you cannot fight your way through a hundred of his stoutest palace guard!" The knight’s green eyes flashed. His straight black hair was disarranged, and his white shirt was entirely undone.

"But I must!" Lucretia cried.

So, the main thing I want to point out here is that Lucie is crushing so hard on Jesse!

and does she picture him with an open shirt or am I reading too much into this?

James spoke at last, and there was real kindness in his voice. “You must give people time, Alastair,” he said. “We are none of us perfect, and no one expects perfection. But when you have hurt people you must allow them their anger. Otherwise it will only become another thing you have tried to take away.”

Alastair seemed to hesitate. “James,” he said. “Does he think —“

Soooo, James and Alastair are friendly now? (please, please, please)

And who does Alastair have to give time? Matthew or more likely Thomas?

Also, James is one eloquent babe

“I know that you’ve been doing something — something you’re keeping secret. I’m not angry,” Cordelia hastened to add. “I  just wish you’d tell me what it is.”

Lucie tried to cover her surprise.

it was about time that those two speak about all their secrets! They want to become Parabatai for Raziel’s sake!

but I have the sneaking suspicion that Lucie is going to deflect the question or is going to make something up to avoid telling the truth

(please let me be wrong)

“Alastair! Cordelia!” A familiar voice bellowed up from downstairs.

Sona went white and laid a hand against the wall to steady herself. “Elias?”

I’m not sure about you guys but going white and bracing oneself against a wall doesn’t seem like someone is happy

So, I guess Sona isn’t really happy that Elias is back

is there another reason besides the drinking why she isn’t

and is Elias mad at his children? I mean he is bellowing

also why is Elias mad at all? All his charges were dropped and he is a free man once more

Cordelia shivered a little, though it was not cold in the room. “There is something weighing on you, Matthew,” she said gently. “A secret. Will you tell me what it is?”

She saw his hand go to his breast pocket, where he often kept his flask. Then he lowered it stiffly to his side and took a deep breath. “You do not know what you are asking.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “I am asking for the truth. Your truth. You know mine, and I do not even know what makes you so unhappy.”

Cordelia told Matthew everything about her father and maybe about her feelings for James

if we’re lucky Matthew tells Cordelia about the poisoning and someone can finally help him (I think CC said that Matthew would tell Cordelia everything in Chain of Iron, hopefully that’s true)

also, Matthew doesn’t want to drink after Cordelia told him the story about her father

Matthew also found out why Alastair had been so mean in school and that Matthew can't really partially blame him for what happened with Charlotte

Jesse glanced out the window. They were passing through Piccadilly Circus, nearly deserted at such a late hour. The statue of Eros in the center was lightly dusted with snow; a lone tramp slept upon the steps below it. “Don’t have too much hope, Lucie. Sometimes hope is dangerous.”

“Have you said that to Grace?”

Jesse shook his head. “She won’t listen.”

is there a possibility that Lucie won’t try to raise Jesse from the dead and instead tries to stop Grace from doing so? (the parallels between this and qoaad are uncanny)

I don’t think that there is anything that will stop grace from trying to perform necromancy other than force

“I’ve been trying to hate you,” Thomas said quietly, “for what you did to Matthew. You richly deserve to be hated for what you have done.”

Alastair’s dark eyes glittered. “It wasn’t just his mother I slandered. It was your father, too. You know it. So you don’t have to—to act all high-minded about this. Stop pretending you are only upset on behalf of Matthew. Hate me on your own behalf, Thomas.”

he is calling him Thomas!!! Ahhhh! (so they’re probably alone)

Thomas doesn’t really hate Alastair at this point but also hasn’t fully forgiven him

at least he hasn’t thrown Alastair into the themes 

maybe Thomas is trying to suppress the fact that Alastair also wronged Thomas’s own family and it’s easier for him to direct his attention to Matthew’s family?

His golden eyes were fixed on her, fierce as a hawk’s gaze. She said, "It doesn’t matter what I said. I wanted them to leave you alone —"

"I don’t believe you," he said. She could feel the slight tremors running through his body — tremors of stress, that meant he was holding himself very still. Holding himself back. "You don’t say things you don’t mean, Daisy —"

Okay now, what did she say? I’m guessing something quite flattering or that she loved him maybe?

also, who didn’t want to leave James alone? Some bigoted Enclave members?

is James trying to fight against the bracelet’s spell? Or is he breaking Cordelia’s heart yet again?

James closed his eyes. Against the back of his eyelids, he could see the city take shape—the minarets flung darkly against a blue sky, the silver river. Cordelia’s voice, low and familiar, rose above the clamor of his nightmare. He followed it out of the darkness, like Theseus following the length of thread out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth. And it was not the first time. Her voice had lifted him out of fever, once, had been his light in shadows. . . . A sharp pain spiked through his temples. He blinked his eyes open: he was firmly back in the present, his friends all looking at him worriedly. Cordelia had already moved away from him, leaving behind the lingering scent of jasmine. He could still feel where her fingers had rested against his shoulder.

JORDELIA! (Sorry; I just had to get that out)

What city is this? One in a demon dimension?

And does James have some kind of visions now? Interesting...

I love the connection between James and Cordelia

Apparently, the gracelet is trying to suppress James's feelings and memories of Cordelia...but please tell me he notices here that he is in love with her?

Also, Cordelia is trying to stay away from James :(

Hands caught his wrists; he was hauled up roughly, an arm around his back. he smelled brandy and cologne.

“Matthew,” he said, in a dry voice. “James needs water,” Christopher said. “Do we have any water?” “Never touch the stuff,” said Matthew, settling James onto the long sofa. He sat down next to him, staring so intently into James’s face that, despite everything, James had to stifle a laugh. “I’m fine, Matthew,” said James. “Also, I don’t know what you expect to discover by looking into my eyeball.”

Okay WHAT IS UP with James in the latest snippets?!? I NEED answers!

Is James follwing in his father's footsteps? Regarding drugs you know...

Also, Matthew has a tendency to stare into Jame's face (not that I blame him)

Christopher!

Okay, I'm devestated that James knows it's Matthew because he smells of alcohol. I'm NOT okay!

Also, what kind of stuff is this?

“You should have told us,” said Thomas. “We would have helped you move your things. I’m exceptionally good at carrying large objects.” “And think of all those hairbrushes you would have had to relocate,” Lucie said. “Haven’t you got six or seven?” Matthew glowered at her affectionately. “I try to be at least as stylish as our local ghosts.”

I think it's clear that Matthew just moved and didn't tell any of his friends of his plans...Why Matthew, why?

Also, Thomas and Lucie are just so wholesome how they try to brighten the situation with their comments

Sooooo, is Thomas also good at carrying people *cough*Alastair*cough*, just asking...?

How many Hairbrushes does one need? Seriously, what kind of purpose do seven hairbrushes serve?

Don't worry Matthew, only Magnus can beat your stylishness

That’s all for now! Should I add anything else in your opinion?

[sushisketching]

No sleep!

INTRODUCTION

1. Can you introduce yourself? “Serafin. Alchemist and combat healer. Lady of the House Druidphuse.”

2. What is your gender identity, orientation and relationship? “I am a woman, through and through. I like men, but my partner is a boy.” She looks at Raziel, her mouth a straight line. “Not married yet.”

3. Where and when were you born? “28 years ago, in Divinity’s Reach.”

4. What is your weapon of choice and fighting style? “I could go on for days and days about this. But I’ve opted to train myself in a variety of weapons, rather than in magicks. I learned healing magic for the sake of being an alchemist, but I adore my swords, my daggers, more than my bow and staff. They were a gift from a friend, long gone, now.”

5. Are you happy? “Many days I have asked myself if I was.” She looks at Raziel, smiling. “Even if my lover is as scarred as me… We’re trying our best to find some semblance of peace.”

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

1. What’s your family like? What is your relationship with them? She laughs nervously. “That feels intensely personal. But…” Looking upward, she answers, as if trying to hide her tears. “My mother was one of my best friends growing up. She was as sweet as a spring breeze, as lovely as the first dawn of time. My father was her opposite, brash and bold, yet loving to both of us. While she was alive.” She exhales. “I used to adore my father. Until he twisted my alchemy into his way with the White Mantle, trapping me in a laboratory to make enhancement potions using bloodstone. For 10 years I was his slave. He wanted to resurrect my mother using magic, but I knew it was impossible. I miss the memory of their good souls.”

2. Have you ever run away from home? “I never ran away from home with my mother alive. But in that laboratory… Running away was punished with lashes, verbal abuse. It was not a home.”

3. Would you consider marriage or having children? “I think Raziel said this for me, but all of that has to come later. If we live.”

4. Do you secretly hate one of your friends? “Some days I hate my fellow engineer, Solmira. Asura are extremely boastful, but I’d go to hell and back for all the people I know and love.”

5. Which friend knows everything about you? “Delta Moonbreaker. She’s too kind, too soft-spoken to even be related to other war-hungry charr. She was there when the Priory raided the laboratory, and was one of the people who saved me.”

ASKED BY FANS

1. Are you literate? Have you been to school? “Yes? I hope I can read. I schooled myself for the most part, but have attended a few Priory sessions. I like to read in silence most of the time.”

2. The eeriest prediction you made that later came true? “That my love for alchemy would be twisted against me somehow.”

3. What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize? “Similar to my lover, how much I loved them. We’d always bicker, but… after we got together, there was more bickering, more understanding. I don’t deserve him, he’s far kinder than he lets on.”

4. Do you have mental or physical health issues? “I can’t stand the color red. Bloodstone is awful. So many mental issues. Some nights I wake up from nightmares because they were real. I have some scars on my hands when I began taking care of my pet menagerie. A few scars on my legs from bad swordplay.”

5. What is your current main goal? “To sleep without those nightmares. It’s gotten better lately, but it still happens.”

CHOICES

1. Drink or food? “Food. My favorite hound, Asa, can transform into other animals sometimes. And she likes to eat all my bread.” She pats Asa, who sleeps at her foot.

2. Cats or dogs? “Dogs.”

3. Early bird or night owl? “I love the night. So many things to be done, so many things to see. I love stars. The nice breeze. The way my lover glows in the dark, and how he brightens whenever I say something.”

4. Optimist or pessimist? “I am… without a doubt, intensely pessimistic. There’s a downside to everything.”

5. Sassy or sarcastic? “Sarcasm. I love when people can’t get my dry humor.”

HAVE YOU EVER

1. Been caught sneaking out? “Yes.” Her eyes glow with fury, refusing to expand her answer.

2. Broke a bone? “The mantle were very cruel. They have broken my legs on many occasions. I am glad that they still work.”

3. Received flowers? “After the Salvation Pass raid… After I thought I had lost Raz, when everyone thought we lost him, I received many flowers. I used them for sleeping potions and fragrances instead, refusing to believe he was dead. It’s a good thing that he isn’t.” She smiles at Raz, his eyes blurred by tears.

4. Ghosted someone? “I was the person who Raz ghosted. It was funny for a day and a half, I won’t joke. It was very interesting to pass through walls and spook people by popping my head through the floor with some spatial magic.”

5. Pretended to laugh at a joke you didn’t get: “One time a friend said I was a botanist because I was raising plants. I laughed, but I didn’t get it, and told him I was an alchemist. We were both confused after that.”

[khaleesiofalicante]

Yeah, I'm back to get hurt again😎

As I have noticed I always start this with a short anecdote of my life I'm glad to tell you I finished all my assigments for this week! (I'm going to ignore the fact that I still have 5 more for the next one😂)

So, I will try my best to keep it as short as possible, but I dont promise anything ;)

"Uncle Magnus had given her an odd look then, as if he knew she was bullshitting them. But he hadn’t said anything." Magnus "I'm so done with nephilim" Lightwood-Bane 😂

"Daddy would probably use dark magic to travel into her dreams and grab her from falling. So, no. She couldn’t tell them." Jace being an incredible father is my sterotonine supply!!

"The meals at the Academy were to die for – quite literally. Last week two students from the warlock fraction had almost killed each other over a blueberry muffin." THIS. This is the best inprovement Simon has done to the academy and we all love him💙💙

"Dining halls, kitchens, food trucks, vending machines - if a place had food with it, Gigi loved it." Me too girl

"The kind of love that cheated death.

The kind of love that sustained memory spells put by princes of hell.

The kind of love that changed the world." (🥺🥺🥺 My babies!!)

"So, there was a lot of pressure. There was so much pressure for a shadowhunter to have an epic love story. Even more so for a Herondale." (that is so true tho)

"But not all love stories were epic. Some were sad. Some were heartbreaking. But no one ever spoke about those." (THIS)

"Mommy had once told her that Herondales fall hard. Although David had thought it was the most romantic thing, Lexi had been terrified. She didn’t like falling. So, she wasn’t going to let herself fall." WOW💙

It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was going to date someone right away. Lesbians in the shadow world were like dragon demons – they were both mostly extinct. " (I saw what you did here!!😂)

"Raziel, you’re really going to take credit for this huh, Lexi thought. Not cool, bro." YEAH DUDE, NOT FUCKING COOL!

"Daddy had taught her that the important thing was to give your best shot." Ahh, yess. I see parenting doing right 💙

"Goddamnit, Alexandra. Get your gay together!" I feel this on a personal level 😂😂

"Olivia Blackthorn-Carstairs" That-that explains a lot actually (Also THE NAME🙂🙂)

"Lexi was yet to find those asshats and shove a witch light down their throats." Hell yeah!! i'll come with you!! 🔪🔪

“Olly, is it true you were conceived at the beach?” “Georgia, you can’t just ask people where they were conceived!” David sounded horrified." THIS AND THE REST OF THIS CONVERSATION HAD ME LAUGHING TO HARD😂😂 (the worst part is that they are not wrong tho😂)

"They are nice. And they give each other pretty dresses and say they would like to see them in it. Right??" (I mean... I'm not an expert, but I doubt it honey)

"What in the world? People didn’t come and tell Lexi she was beautiful. They didn’t have to of course. She was fucking gorgeous, and she knew it." I love Lexi with my soul 💙💙💙

"She hadn’t come out to anyone because she didn’t think they needed to know. But when they didn’t know, people simply assumed. And they had assumed she was straight." Yup, people be like that sometimes

THAT SCENE. I cant quote anything cause it was all just... Wow. Ngl, I really cried cause it literally felt like it was taking to me... Like Alec was there giving advice and I was thinking the same as Lexi. The same doubts and thoughts. Just... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SCENE! It was all so beautiful and inspiring

“The Angel didn’t turn me gay, Conner,” Lexi pointed out. “Kristen Stewart did.” HONESTLY SAME

“Why don’t you ask your mom?” Selena snapped at the boy who winced and shut his mouth. (love her💙💙)

Clace is just *chef kiss * at parenting!!!! 🥺

“Alexandra, I have a fucking undercut and I have pink highlights and I cuff my jeans and I literally walk around with a sword and I can quote Lady Gaga to perfection! Why would you ever think I was straight??” (yeah, I mean... You need to work on your gaydar girl 😂)

But that was future Lexi’s problem. ( My inspiration every day I make a mistake or procastinate )

But it’s not like their parents hadn’t done some harmless lying in the name in love back in their day. (love how the kids play the "You guys caused so much more trouble when you were younger" card. I love it)

He took out a small notebook and a pen. “I did some research about some of the things you said.” (honestly I cried a little in this one cause he is just so sweet and supportive. It makes me feel so fucking happy💙)

“One of the ladies asked me how I am going to continue the Herondale line if I am gay.” Daddy opened the notebook again. “I need names.” (Once again Jace being a suprotive father is my reason to leave)

Liv and Lex are starting to give Jordelia vibes (fake dating/marriage and exited parents who cant possible know😂)

"Sang her the French lullaby he used to sing to them when they were little." 🥺🥺🥺

“To love is a privilege and to be loved is a blessing.” I just- I'm emo🥺🥺💙 i love the parallel and all the development we see in him. I'm soo proud of him (Also, I'm loving the "Alec and Jace being supportive and just incredible" to their children)

I loved it. Like... I have loved all the chapter cause they all have really important topics, but I think this one was one of them that touched me the most. It was amazing and thank you so much for it 💙💙💙

Aw that’s amazing! I’m so happy that you liked this one so much.

Here is a gay tiktok for you 🌈

[the-roanoke-society]

i’ve had numerous thoughts about the roanoke society in the context of the marvel universe.

succubus having a snark-off with tony stark. harry just watches over a glass of scotch and can’t stop smiling at the verbal sparring.

loki enthralled with houdini’s ability to change her appearance, almost just like he can. (jack can’t decide if he trusts him or not but refuses to let them be alone in the same room just in case.)

lycan and bruce having a quiet conversation over hot chocolate or tea, because sometimes their other selves feel like monsters, but it’s still them. and they are not monsters. eggsy approaches her after, overhearing them: “amy you--you know that no one sees you like that, don’t you?”

pepper potts losing her mind over how well the scribe keeps her records. all that information organized to perfection. vida just smiles. “i’ve... had a long time to practice.”

bucky barnes being very, very selective over who he lets tinkers with his arm--and saying yes without a pause when sprite asks to look at it. even tequila’s fascinated.

agent seance has seen a lot, heard a lot, walked through years and years and years. natasha romanoff hasn’t. but seance knows what that kind of weariness looks like. the black widow doesn’t like to talk about the red room. but she likes to talk to andi.

agent specter, watching both enamored and a little anxious as clint fires arrow after arrow at mothman. joe catches each one, and it vanishes. it’s all fun and games until: “joe? i’m gonna get my arrows back, right? ... joe. ... joe!”

agent ondine playing diplomat to a very, very enthusiastic phil coulson, who quietly confesses to her: “y’know, i always loved the little mermaid. i knew they were real, i knew it!”

agents arizona and phoenix, sitting and relaxing with gamora and peter quill, drinking strong beer and looking on as raziel and nereus try to teach drax, groot and rocket the fine, kentucky art of corn hole.

agents cherub and rougarou marveling at the machinery that lets james rhodes walk like he never almost fell to his death, taking notes as quickly as they can, because science this sophisticated is virtually indistinguishable from magic. he is a walking medical wonder.

at first, annabelle refuses to go near wanda maximoff. wanda understands. it’s only after annabelle sees her in the gardens, helping the flowers grow with a gentle touch, that she finally, very cautiously approaches her. wanda’s hand movements look like sign language, and in her way--annabelle teaches her to speak.

agent sentinel finding something he recognizes in sam wilson. “so... you were a soldier, too?”

agent thorn may or may not have managed to rig what he calls a trebuchet (it’s--something, yes, but ‘trebuchet’ might not be a strong enough descriptor). agent zed and roxy watch as agent hood loads up anything she can grab into her brother’s contraption. and thorn fires it off, but it’s all right. pietro maximoff never misses a catch, no matter the strength or distance.

scott lang thinks he’s a master magician. agent elfin isn’t sure he agrees, having been around the courts for so long, but... he humors him.

and i’d like for you to think about peter parker, excitedly asking agent nova and charlie over tacos, “what do you mean there are other universes? how many are there? wait, how--how many many have you been to?”

agents judas and exorcist aren’t--entirely sure, of stephen strange. but stephen, as it turns out, is not a stranger to internal religious struggles. especially after what he’s seen. they talk theology over tea and it’s easily the most bizarre conversation that agent poltergeist has ever eavesdropped on.

vision is fascinated with pru because of what she is; technical officer signal is fascinated by vision because of what he is (along with drake, longa, wyvern--vision has a fan club).

agent chimera meeting wade wilson and being positive that, somehow, they’re both related. the fact that their senses of humor are almost identical doesn’t help.

agent nightcrawler talking about north american cryptozoology with t’challa, who describes the twilit afterlife realm where his father now resides. then another story, and another, and another, and nightcrawler makes a mental note to check in with the crane circle, and see how far the influence of wakanda reaches in their organization.

and shuri? shuri’s amazed at some of the things that come out of iuniore’s mouth. “so it’s true. big things, small packages!” (and the white lady figures later that it’s probably shuri’s fault that tina can’t seem to stop quoting vines.)

carol, sitting on the porch, with cerberus next to her. she’s eating an apple. “so. a scientist in a dog’s body?” “essentially, fraulein.” carol thinks of goose, and wonders how many animals she’s seen that are much more than they appear to be. “... nice.”

mantis tries to get a handle on agent archivist and... can’t. but she’s not afraid, no. mostly just engrossed. “oh--oh! there’s so much in there, it’s like a big garden! ... a lot of black, but it’s very interesting!”

and i rather like the idea of heimdall trying midgard coffee for the first time with agent nephilim and agent ainsel, on a quiet sunday morning. he watches how nephilim looks at her. it reminds him of how odin and freya looked at each other, long ago.

lilith and nick fury sharing glasses of bourbon, talking about how much they love their very dangerous, and very powerful children.

merlin, standing in a doorway, watching seraphim carefully arming herself with  a very specific shield. the captain grins, although the exorcist’s expression is a bit more lined in awe. ”i know--it’s heavier than it looks.” (later he’d murmur softly by her ear, “leadership looks good on y’, dove.”)

but i think my favorite image of all is daisy unwin, dressed in a bright pink tutu and a blue sweater with a fox on it, picking up mjölnir like it’s nothing and politely handing it to thor.

[bamf-alec]

All Things By A Law Divine

Chapters 16-20

Artist: Lady Koalart (who did an absolutely incredible job)

Beta: @jeanboulet​

Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, various background pairings

Summary: Magnus had waited a long time for his soulmate to be born. Fate must have had a sick sense of humour, though, because after all these centuries, it had handed him a Shadowhunter. Magnus didn’t know who this Shadowhunter was, or how they could possibly be meant for each other, but he did know that this story wouldn't have a happy ending.

Alec also knew all about fate's sense of humour. He had known this his whole life. But the ground was coming up from under him and everything he knew was being turned on its head, systematically picked up and pulled apart and handed back to him looking nothing like it did before. Valentine was alive. His own parents had been members of the Circle. The Lightwoods’ grip on the Institute was slipping. And, through all this, his siblings had found their soulmates.

Alec had found Magnus. But that didn’t mean anything, did it?

Link to AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33515842/chapters/83272549

** I would really prefer you read it on AO3! **

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2021: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Chapter 16

For most of her childhood, Isabelle Lightwood had bought into every fairytale. Soulmates were a gift from the angel and soulmarks a guide to the right path. They were a little bit magical — this mystical tether between two people, a string they could follow until they found the person who would be perfect for them. A reward for everything the Nephilim did for them, for all of their hard work and the difficult, battle-driven lives they led.  For Downworlders, they were a consolation for which they should be grateful. For which they should feel honoured by. How merciful, how kind, how magnanimous the angels were to give this gift to the devil’s children too so that they might have some good, some light as well.

Now, Isabelle knew the fairytale was bullshit. Soulmates were as much a curse as they were a gift, and they were only magical by the most practical definition. The bond was made of magic, but they weren’t beautiful, mystical stories. Isabelle had spent too many years seeing how they hurt the people she loved to think otherwise.

To be fair, it had all worked out for Jace. Jace was as happy as she’d ever seen him, and Clary was almost a perfectly respectable young Shadowhunter woman like the Clave would approve of. Almost. If it wasn’t for her father, or her stealing the mortal cup, or her generally doing spectacularly risky things in the name of saving her mother.

“You’re doing what now?” Alec demanded.

Clary huffed. She’d been getting more impatient by the second for too many seconds. “This portal is the only way to get to Valentine.”

Alec was unfazed. Alec was rarely fazed by stubbornness or stupidity, unless it was so stupid that it couldn’t be expected, even from someone as impulsive as Jace. “This portal in some unknown alternate dimension that you could lose yourself in and be stuck forever?”

Clary nodded. “That’s the one.”

“It’s your funeral,” Alec sighed. He made the face he’d make when he was tired of dealing with people who couldn’t be reasoned with. Isabelle had seen it many, many times. 

“Actually,” Jace cut in, looking sheepish. “It’s our funeral. I’m going with her.”

Alec stared at him. “To the alternate timeline, where you’ll be put in alternate-you’s mundane body, who you might end up as forever or, if you don’t, then you find a portal that takes you to Valentine, whom you face alone because no one else is stupid enough to go into this alternate dimension with you?

Jace nodded. “That’s the one.”

Isabelle, who had been letting them hash this all out for a while now, finally stepped in. She put a hand on Alec’s arm. “We can trust Meliorn. If he thinks this will work, then I believe him. It’s worth the risk.”

Jace pointed a hand at her in agreement, raising his eyebrows at Alec. Alec shook his head. He held Izzy’s gaze until he found what he was looking for. Or until he caved, because Alec had always had a soft spot for Izzy’s pleading face. She knew that, and she wasn’t above putting it to use. Alec made a ‘go-ahead’ gesture with his hand, and then folded his arms and turned around to glare at the trees.

Meliorn opened the portal. It was rare that Isabelle saw seelie magic, and she was always taken aback by the beauty of it. It was an extension of the world around it, like a conversation between seelie and nature.

Meliorn made a face when Jace stepped through the portal. He hadn’t wanted him to go with Clary, but he, too, was not immune to Izzy’s pleading face. So off they went to find the portal and hopefully put a stop to Valentine.

Isabelle shivered. It was still unthinkable that he was back, and that his goals hadn’t changed from before he’d faked his death. She couldn’t imagine being so hateful of the Downworld, just as she couldn’t imagine committing such atrocities against innocent people, whether they had demon blood or not. Sometimes, Izzy preferred the Downworld to her own. They had their prejudices and their conflicts, but it was nothing like the swift and merciless hand of the Clave striking down anyone who stepped a toe out of line.

When she looked at Alec, she could see the tension in his shoulders. It had been getting worse and worse the past few weeks. She’d hoped that after the memory demon he might’ve relaxed a bit, let down his guard ever so slightly now that the secret was out and the world hadn’t ended. Instead, it’d had the opposite effect.

Isabelle had stopped wondering when her brother would let himself be happy some time ago, but she still held out hope that it would happen.

She approached him carefully and rested her hand on his back. “Alec,” she said softly, moving her head to try to get him to meet her eyes. He stared resolutely at the trees. She sighed. “They’ll be okay.”

Alec shook his head. “It’s not just them I’m worried about. You helped Meliorn escape Clave custody, and it’s only a matter of time before they figure that out. If they haven’t already. Actions have consequences.”

Actions have consequences. Alec had been saying that to her since she’d picked up her first training sword. When she skipped out on her rune lessons. When she and Jace played a prank on Hodge. When she snuck out of the Institute. When she started seeing Meliorn. He kept saying it, but most often it wasn’t true. Not for her. It was only now, as she was older and as this mess with her family name had opened her eyes to what it meant to be a Shadowhunter and a Lightwood, that she realized her actions did have consequences. It just usually wasn’t her that felt them.

“You didn’t have anything to do with that,” she reassured him.

Alec snorted. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

It never was. Alec spent all of his worry on his family, and all of his shame and anger on himself. She could see the leather bracelet she’d made for him years ago, though his wrist was tucked into the fold of his arms. She rested her hand on it, feeling the woven leather under her fingers.

Her voice was soft, still aware of Meliorn behind them, when she asked, “Did you see Magnus?”

Alec turned his head to look at her. His jaw was a tight line, right up until he moved his hand out of the fold of his arms and into hers. Then he just looked tired. “Isabelle, please.”

Isabelle felt guilty only for an instant. She knew that she was part of his constant exhaustion. She didn’t mean to be. She never wanted to be. It was just that Alec had always loved her so fiercely, had always done absolutely everything for her, that she kept thinking she could do the same thing for him. Only, she never seemed to get it right.

The bracelet, at least, she knew had been right. It was reassuring now, when she looked at him and saw the weight on his shoulders or the walls he’d put up while she looked for a window. This, at least, she knew had helped.

She squeezed his fingers. She gave him a smile, the best she could when all she felt was worry, and then let him go. She said her goodbyes to Meliorn while Alec waited, and they walked back to the Institute in silence.

.

Actions have consequences, Isabelle thought bitterly to herself. She folded her legs over each other, the leather couch tugging at her skin. She smoothed down the front of her dress. Alec slammed his hands on the desk, then leaned into them, his back a picture of tension from where she sat.

“The cup is your only way out of this,” he muttered. She wasn’t sure if it was directed at her, or if he was just thinking out loud and bemoaning their current predicament. “I knew I shouldn’t have let them go.”

“And if you hadn’t?” Izzy demanded. “What difference would it make? We can’t give the Clave the cup, Alec.”

Alec looked over his shoulder at her. “Why not?”

Izzy stood. She crossed the room in swift steps, heels clicking, until she leaned against the desk beside him. “The cup is the only way of getting to Valentine. That’s the priority. Saving the Downworld. If we give it to the Clave, who knows what they’ll do with it? They’ll probably lock it away in Idris and keep pretending they’re making every effort to find Valentine while doing everything but what will actually stop him. And by then how many more lives will he have taken?”

They held each other’s gaze until Alec looked away. He looked at the stained glass window behind the desk, Raziel with the mortal instruments, weaving the souls of two faceless Shadowhunters together. Alec’s voice was quiet when he said, “You’ll be deruned.”

Isabelle put her hand over his. He was wearing the family ring, as he had since their parents had given it to him at his runing ceremony. A bulky, victorian thing, passed from son to son through generations. For Izzy’s runing ceremony, Alec had given her the serpent-shaped whip she wore around her wrist.

She smiled sheepishly. “Know any good lawyers?”

It had the desired effect. The hopeless look on Alec’s face eased enough for him to breathe out a laugh. He turned around, folding his arms against his chest. It pulled his shirt taut, and there was no bulge where a bandage would have been. Magnus must have healed him after all.

Isabelle bit her lip. She played with her bracelet, the snake’s head twisting in and out of sight. It would be manipulative, she knew. It would be another push that Alec didn’t want. It would be the same as every other time she had tried to help and only ended up reminding him of his hurt.

But…

This was different, wasn’t it? Magnus was different.

Pushing him towards Alec when he’d come to fix the wards had been the same kind of thing, and that seemed to have worked out.

“Alec,” she began carefully. When she found herself under his scrutiny, she hesitated. Then she pushed her shoulders back and reminded herself that she was Isabelle Lightwood, social butterfly, smooth-talker extraordinaire, relationship expert. “Do you think Magnus would do it?”

Alec’s face immediately twisted. “Magnus? He’s not even… Lydia said she would help, if we could give her a way to do it.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “I doubt she can be both the prosecutor and my representative.”

Alec shook his head. He brought his thumb up to worry his bottom lip, searching for an answer in the floor. He muttered, “We need more time.”

“The Inquisitor’s already here. We don’t have more time. Magnus— ”

“Just,” Alec held up a hand. He gave her a hard look. “Just let me talk to Mom and Dad first. If they made it out of the Circle as the heads of this Institute, then… Let me talk to them.”

Izzy sighed, but relinquished. “Fine. But if they can’t help then will you please just consider—”

Alec clasped her shoulders, cutting her off. He kissed the top of her head. She put her arms around him, stealthily slipping one hand into his pocket. “I’ll go find them. You just stay here and keep playing solitaire.”

The door closed behind him. It echoed. Raziel stared down at her in judgement, the mortal cup in hand.

Isabelle threw herself back onto the couch, this time with much less poise. Petulantly, she muttered, “Maybe I’ll even try Mahjong.”

Chapter 17

“I have to say,” Magnus declared as he fixed the buttons of his suit jacket. He inspected the stained glass and stuffy, boring furniture. “I was surprised to get your fire message. Have we devolved from texting?”

“They took my phone,” Isabelle replied. She sat in the chair, her feet kicked up on the desk. She wore a stunning pair of thigh-high leather boots that could not have been comfortable to run around in. “And my stele. I stole Alec’s.”

Magnus abandoned his inspection of the pileup of dust on the fireplace to whirl around and raise his eyebrows at her. “Stole it? He doesn’t know you called me?”

Isabelle shrugged mysteriously. “I mentioned something about it.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes. It was an elaborate way of saying no. Magnus was a fan of all things elaborate, but he was not a fan of possibly sneaking around behind the back of someone whose feelings he cared about. Not to mention he’d done it once already, helping them smuggle out the cup. Though was that sneaking if Alec had been nowhere in sight and Isabelle had sworn to tell him right after? He hoped she had told him. He hoped the reason Alec wasn’t here, once again, was because he didn’t know what was going on, and not because he was so angry at his siblings for getting into this mess that he was leaving them to fix it themselves.

That didn’t sound like Alec, as far as Magnus knew. So there was that, at least.

Magnus sighed. He folded himself down on the stylish leather couch, clearly placed there by someone who was not involved with decorating the rest of the room. “I’m going to be honest, Isabelle. The Clave does not have a notable record of dropping cases, least of all when there’s an example to be made of someone. And you, my friend, would make quite the example indeed.”

Isabelle hummed. It was clearly nothing she didn’t already know. “Can you fight it?”

Magnus moved his hands around enigmatically. Coloured light from the stain-glass window bounced off his myriad of rings. “Will I try my absolute best? Of course. Will the Clave listen to a Downworlder and a traitor? Hard to say.”

Isabelle laughed. “I knew you were the right person to call. Alec didn’t—” She cut herself off abruptly, drawing her lips into her mouth. It was entirely unsubtle and, just to make sure of it, she looked completely away from Magnus, too.

Magnus wondered if he was being played, or if she genuinely hadn’t meant to mention Alec. Isabelle had a way of making everything she did seem intentional.

He took the chance. “Alec didn’t… What? Want me here?”

Isabelle gave him an apologetic look. “He wanted me to wait until he’d exhausted all other options. He went to talk to our parents. But it’s been an hour, so I don’t think it’s going well.”

Magnus contemplated. “If Alec doesn’t want my help, I’d hate to go against his wishes.”

“No, no, no,” Isabelle said urgently, pulling her feet off the desk. Her heels hit the floor and she rounded the desk to grab Magnus’s hands. “It’s not like that. He’ll be glad you’re here. And I need you. Help me, Magnus. You’re my only hope.”

“Have you actually seen Star Wars?” Magnus questioned dubiously.

Izzy shrugged. “My soulmark,” she said, like that explained it, which it mostly did.

Magnus sighed. He squeezed her hands before he dropped them. He could never turn away a friend in need, least of all one who had only been trying to help the Downworld. This generation of Shadowhunters was most definitely proving more trouble than they were worth, but it was a much better kind of trouble than the generation before them.

“Alright,” he relinquished. “Let’s work on your defense.”

Izzy gave him an uncertain look, but it was charming. “Do I even have a defense? I’m guilty. I helped Jace steal the cup, and I helped Meliorn escape, and I helped them all head off into the abyss after Valentine.”

Magnus shook his head. “We’re not arguing that you’re not guilty. We’re arguing intention. Everyone here has a common goal — hunting down that monster and putting an end to his reign of terror. Everything you did was in furtherance of that goal. We just have to hope that the Clave despises Valentine more than they do one misguided teenager who went about things a little bit wrong, but whose heart was ultimately in the right place.”

Izzy snorted. “I don’t think the Clave puts much weight on heart.”

“Then hopefully they’ll just see you as a nuisance who’s unlikely to evolve into anything worse, and not want to bother with all that sentencing and deruning and shunning.”

“But shunning is their favourite pastime,” Izzy said gravely.

Magnus laughed. Izzy did, too.

He thought about telling her that even if this went terribly, she would be okay. Magnus had experience acclimating exiled Shadowhunters to mundane life, and he wouldn’t mind a roommate for a while. It sounded comforting to him, but he also knew that Shadowhunters tended to like to remain Shadowhunters, and didn’t tend to like to think about the alternative.

So he didn’t. Instead, he focused on her case. He wasn’t entirely up to date on Clave law, but he was certain it hadn’t changed that much in the last few centuries. Few things among the Nephilim ever did. Even the window, Raziel bestowing upon his loyal soldiers the consolation prize of a soulbond, had been here since the Institute was built.

Magnus checked his cufflink, just to make sure his sleeve wasn’t going anywhere.

Sed lex dura lex, his mark read. The law is hard but it is the law. Unlike the usual tidy print the words that showed up on his wrist took, this one was written in more of an angry scrawl, like someone had been pressing the pen really hard into the paper, even when it kept piercing through.

Magnus understood. That was how he had always felt about the Shadowhunters’ little motto. Looking at Isabelle, he hated it even more now.

Chapter 18

It was like Alec’s parents knew their daughter was facing imminent doom and had purposely made themselves as difficult as possible to locate. He checked all their usual places, including their bedroom, and asked three different Shadowhunters, who gave him three different answers. Every room he didn’t find them in sent his heart rate skyrocketing, anxiety building as the time ticked down.

He finally found them in one of the ops rooms he’d checked on his first pass, but had circled back to out of lack of anywhere else to look. He worked really hard to calm himself before he entered. They weren’t the ones he was frustrated at. They were on the same side. They all loved Isabelle. They would help. Or, at least, they would want to.

“Mom,” Alec greeted. He was a little out of breath. “Dad. We need your help.”

Maryse and Robert Lightwood looked at each other. Then, Alec’s mother sat carefully in one of the chairs around the holographic table. Robert gestured for Alec to take one, too, and joined her. Alec didn’t.

“Isabelle,” Robert nodded. “We know. The Inquisitor went over all the charges with us.”

Alec’s voice was hurried. “Then you know how bad it is. She could be deruned. Please, tell me you have a plan to stop this. Are you going to represent her?”

Robert shook his head. “Alec, sit.”

“I don’t want to sit, I want to help my sister. Where the hell have you been? Did you even go to see her?”

“Alexander,” Robert said very sternly. He pinned his son with a dangerous look until Alec reluctantly took the chair across from them. Then, he huffed and leaned back in his seat. “We’ve been discussing the matter and we think we have found a solution that will work for all parties involved. When we faced trial after… those events, we received leniency for a number of reasons. The primary one being you, Alec.”

Robert scratched at his wrist, where Alec knew his soulmark was nothing but a grey line. Maryse caught the movement and folded her hands together on the table, leaning towards Alec to finish the story. “It wasn’t just that the Clave was reluctant to exile an infant Shadowhunter along with his parents. It was also the fact that we had you, that you were healthy and well-taken care of. It was proof of our values. That family was as important to us as it is to the Clave. Our marriage, as well. Duty, honour, commitment. That’s what a marriage signifies.”

Alec shook his head. His foot tapped, and he put a hand on his knee to stop it. “So, what? You’re saying Izzy should fake being pregnant? Engaged? Everyone knows she has a soulmark.”

Maryse glanced nervously at her husband, and Alec was reminded that he’d been avoiding her for over a week now. It seemed so petulant now, so ridiculous. Maybe if he’d gone to her sooner, as soon as he’d found out those idiots had taken the cup, then none of this would have escalated as it had.

“Right now our family doesn’t represent the Clave’s values. But if we did, if the Lightwood name were respectable again…”

Robert interrupted his wife, never one for dancing around the point. “Marry Lydia Branwell. The Inquisitor holds her in good standing, and her family is one of the most respectable there is.”

“Lydia?” Alec gasped. He looked back and forth between his parents, wondering if they were joking. They both looked sternly back, faces tight and serious. “You hate Lydia.”

Maryse glanced at her husband. “We disliked her taking over the Institute. But that would be a different story if she were our daughter-in-law. She’d be family. The Institute would belong to us again. Besides, we know she’s already expressed an interest.”

“So that’s what this is about?” Alec scoffed. Anger boiled hot inside him. “Do you care about Izzy or is this just an opportunity to further your agenda of having your children clean up your mistakes?”

Maryse rose from her chair, towering. A picture of the swift hand of discipline that had descended on all the Lightwood children exponentially more often than the hand of kindness or support. “Do not speak to us that way, Alexander,” she snapped, but she caught herself. She breathed, squared her shoulders, and tried to be as gentle as Maryse Lightwood ever could when she said, “Even if you find another way to protect Isabelle now, it’s only a matter of time before something else threatens this family. The Clave is unsatisfied and distrustful of us. They don’t want us here, in power. A good, respectable marriage would put all this to rest once and for all.”

“A good, respectable marriage,” Alec repeated, mockingly. He shook his head. His tone left no doubt that he didn’t mean it as a compliment when he said, “Like what you have?”

Maryse inhaled sharply, but Robert’s expression only narrowed. “Watch yourself, Alec.”

Alec stood. “No. Is this what you want for your children? What you have? That’s the kind of life you want to condemn us to? Or, no, sorry not us. Because unlike the Circle, the Clave thinks soulmate bonds are the holiest of bullshit. So Izzy and Jace are out, and Max is too young, which just leaves me to clean up the mess you’ve made of the Lightwood name because I don’t have a mark. How convenient.”

“Convenient?” Maryse shook her head in confusion. She looked to Robert, but his brow was furrowed too. “Alec, none of this is convenient. It’s just what needs to happen. I know you’re young and your siblings have filled your head with their love of Downworlders so you’ve forgotten how the Clave works, but for us duty must come before anything else. You have a duty to this family. And, yes, you are the one in the best position to fulfil it because you don’t have a soulmate. So think about your siblings. Jace can bond with Valentine’s daughter, and Isabelle with whoever she finds. They’ll be happy, and bonded, and they will still enjoy all of the privileges and affordances that come with leading the Institute. And all thanks to you.”

“A noble sacrifice,” Alec said flatly. He took his seat again. “It is convenient, though, isn’t it? That I don’t have a mark. I’m a blank slate you can match up with whoever serves this family best.”

“Alec,” Maryse sighed. It was sad, tired, as it always was when a young Alec used to ask about his wrist. She had very rarely humoured him, usually avoiding the subject. Alec was beginning to understand why, and it wasn’t for the reasons he’d always thought. “I’m sorry. I hope you know that I would’ve wanted that for you. You deserve a soulmate as much as anyone else. But this is the reality, and one day you’ll need to accept that.”

Alec stared at her. He realized he was playing with his sleeve, pushing it up enough to run his thumb across his skin. He took a breath, and then another, until he could speak without the anger or frustration that seemed so constant now. The numbness had passed, as had the war of countless emotions, and had settled into a cloud of acrimony. “I accepted that a long time ago, Mom, but I’m not sure it is the reality.”

Silence collapsed on the room. Maryse searched her son’s face, every one of her muscles frozen. It was quiet long enough for him to know that she knew what he wasn’t saying, long enough for him to know that she’d known already what he’d only just found out. That she had known for a long, long time. They stared at each other in a wordless communication.

Robert broke it. He pushed his chair back and stood, righting his jacket where it’d ridden up. His expression was as impassive as ever. “This is pointless. Alec, make a decision. I’m going to see how the trial is coming along.”

That got Alec’s attention. “The trial? It hasn’t started.”

Robert frowned at him. “It started ten minutes before you came in here.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

Robert looked at him like he was crazy. “I thought you knew. Besides, I didn’t think you’d need this much convincing to do the right thing,” he said. It was stern, disappointed. A familiar tone.

After a beat, he shook his head and left. His hand rested on his wife’s lower back when he passed her, and she gave him a small, grateful smile.

Alec watched with a clenched jaw. Then, he stood too. Whatever else was going on, Isabelle came first. If the trial had started, then he was too late, anyway. All that was left now was to show her his support by holding her hand while whatever happened played itself out. These things usually took at least an hour, with all the Clave’s fanfare, so maybe he still had time to make a phone call and get her an advocate. Not the option he’d hoped for, but the only one he seemed to have.

He didn’t make it to the door when his mother grabbed him by the arm.

“Alec,” she said imploringly, her voice barely a whisper. Her expression was pleading. It was unfamiliar. Alec had never seen his mother look anything but disappointed, proud, or carefully neutral. The hand she had grabbed him with was the one with her soulmark, covered with a tight band just as it had been his whole life.

He shouldn’t do this now. He couldn’t help it. He’d been pushing it down for over a week, every time he saw her, never knowing how to bring it up or if he even wanted to. But he couldn’t avoid it anymore. “Was it you? Or did you just help cover it up?”

Maryse’s eyes widened. He thought she looked a little panicked, but it was hard to tell when he’d never seen it on her before. “I don’t—”

“Don’t, Mother. For once, can we please not lie to each other?”

Alec heard her inhale, watched pain fill her eyes. She opened her mouth and closed it, gave him a hopeless look. It was clear she didn’t know what to say. Alec didn’t, either.

Maryse Lightwood had always been a pillar in the New York Institute. In Alec’s life. Unshakeable, strong. She handled every challenge with dignity and grace, had a firm command over everyone born out of respect, honour, duty. She was the perfect Shadowhunter. A leader, a soldier, a diplomat. She had married into a strong Shadowhunter name and passed it to three strong children. She had taken in another when he had nowhere else to go, and he, too, had made her proud. She had trained them, taught them, guided them on the right path, instilled in them good, Shadowhunter values.

Alec had only one memory of her as a mother that stood out to him. Before Jace or Max, when it was just him and Isabelle, and Robert spent more time in Idris than he did with his family. Alec hadn’t been able to sleep, and he’d snuck into the kitchen to steal some sweets where he knew the chef hid them. She’d caught him. He’d been terrified, certain he was about to be reprimanded and assigned double the training time for the next week. His arms were already sore from having double that week.

She hadn’t. Instead, she had leaned down and flicked his nose with a smile. “I won’t tell if you won’t,” she’d said. She had even kissed the top of his head, squeezing him tight for just a second.

Maryse had never been shy with her pride or with her praise when they performed admirably at their assigned tasks. But she had never been affectionate, either. Warmth was not something that came easily to Maryse. Unconditional love didn’t, either. Maryse had never been shy with the conditions that came with it.

Alec ripped his arm out of her grip. “I’m going to help Izzy.”

Chapter 19

The trial was already underway when Magnus finally saw Alec. He came in through the back and quietly took the seat behind him and Isabelle, his expression positively stormy. He could see their parents a few rows back, looking equal parts disapproving and distraught. Their talk must not have gone well, then.

Magnus frowned at Alec, who met his eyes. Alec pursed his lips, shaking his head to say either ‘it doesn’t matter’ or ‘my parents are assholes who can’t help and whom I’m feeling very inclined to murder right now’. Magnus offered a consolatory nod and turned his attention back to where everything was falling spectacularly apart.

Isabelle’s questioning had gone about as well as could be expected. Lydia had proven to be far more ruthless than Magnus had given her credit for. His opening argument hadn’t been a roaring success, either. It hadn’t been his best moment, but he’d been so overcome by his frustration with the Clave and their oppressive regime that seemed only to exist to hurt people, that he’d devolved to petulantly exclaiming, “It’s the cup’s fault. Put the cup on trial!”

And then he’d immediately gone back to his seat to question all of his life choices and come to terms with the fact that his friend was going to be deruned because he couldn’t contain his temper long enough to finish making a reasonable argument.

So here they were, the case pretty much closed in the eyes of the Clave. He could see it written all over the Inquisitor’s stony, wrinkled face. She had judged Isabelle and found her lacking. Isabelle’s outburst on the stand, condemning all of Shadowhunter culture and siding herself with the Downworld had only cemented her fate.

Still, Magnus couldn’t help but to be proud. He was right about these Lightwood children, though he hadn’t known just how right until now. They were good. They were the kinds of Shadowhunters they’d waited eons for. Maybe there was hope of bridging the abyss between them and the Downworld yet, with this generation in charge.

Probably not if they all got deruned before they had the chance to change anything, though.

In a last ditch effort banking mostly on Isabelle’s “She’s perfectly fine” and Alec’s, the night he’d come over unexpectedly, “I think she’s on our side”, Magnus called Lydia to the stand.

She took her seat with trepidation. Her eyes darted to the Inquisitor, who gave her a stony look back until Lydia straightened her posture and steeled her face. Magnus gave her a moment to simmer while he stood from his chair and rounded the table in front of him.

“I just have one question,” Magnus began, with grandeur. “Why are you prosecuting this case?”

Silence reigned for a long, uncomfortable moment during which Lydia grew both confused and concerned, the Inquisitor grew impatient, and Magnus grew hopeful.

Lydia was frowning when she said, lacking any conviction, “Because the law is hard, but it is the law.”

Magnus rolled his eyes. The Clave’s defense for everything, apparently. He was just starting to turn around and brace himself for the sentencing when Lydia spoke up again, more certain. “But that doesn’t make it right. We’re trying someone for being compassionate, thinking for herself. She saved a life that was being sacrificed for nothing.”

Surprised, Magnus raised one very pleased eyebrow. He could feel himself starting to smile, before the Inquisitor tried to interrupt. Lydia brushed her off and continued, “Looking out at the faces here… A brother and sister who disagree on everything except for how much they love one another and how loyal they are to each other. A man who took this case because he believes injustice towards his friends is intolerable, in spite of how horribly we treat him and people like him.”

Magnus blinked. He turned around to catch Isabelle’s eye, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. Behind her, he caught Alec’s, who for once made no attempt to mask how he was feeling. Magnus could see the concern, and the anger, the surprise and the hope that this was going somewhere that wouldn’t lead to him losing his sister.

If there was anything Magnus knew for certain about Alec, it was that there was absolutely nothing in the world that was more important to him than his siblings. He wouldn’t be the same without any of them, if he would even be anything at all.

Mostly, Magnus was here because Isabelle was his friends. But he was also here because he cared about Alec, and he couldn’t imagine letting him lose such a big part of himself if there was anything he could do to stop it. 

“Loyalty, decency, compassion, love,” she continued. “These are the concepts that we should consider to decide guilt or innocence in a case like this.”

The Inquisitor slammed an angry hand against her armrest. “Those are not the concepts of the law. Now enough of this nonsense.”

Lydia looked equally angry, gritting her teeth. “I agree. The case is nonsense. I withdraw the charges.”

The room erupted into applause, proving just how well-liked Isabelle was at the Institute, the social butterfly that she was. Magnus let himself breathe for the first time since the trial had started. He drew her into his arms, squeezing tightly. Isabelle pulled away to grin at him, looking absolutely radiant. She’d changed her outfit to something much more respectable but much less her, but she still pulled it off like she’d been born to wear it. Around her neck, his necklace was on full display.

The relief was all-encompassing. He’d been so certain it was over, that they’d lost.

He took a moment to look behind him and smile at Lydia to show his gratitude, but a touch on his arm made him turn back around. Immediately, arms wrapped loosely around him. He had only a moment to revel in the fact that Alec was hugging him before he pulled away with a pat on Magnus’s back and focused on his sister instead.

Only an instant, barely a real hug at all, and Magnus had felt safe, had felt comfortable, had felt wanted. If this was what having a soulmate was like, anything more might actually kill him. What would it feel like to kiss him?

Focus, Magnus hastily shook himself out of it. They were in a courtroom, surrounded by Clave envoys, celebrating Isabelle. Or, they had been.

The Inquisitor, who had made it her life’s mission to destroy every good feeling anyone had, banged her gavel until the room was silent. She waited until everyone’s attention was locked on her. “If you think refusing to prosecute exculpates the defendant, you are wrong,” she spat. “She is guilty.”

Dread filled Magnus.

The Inquisitor stood, towering over the room from her raised stand. She looked right at Magnus when she said, “The defense was correct. The Clave wants the mortal cup. If it is returned within twenty-four hours, this ruling will be vacated. If not, Isabelle Lightwood will be stripped of her runes and exiled from the society of the Shadowhunters forever.”

She banged her gavel to signify the trial was over, and left them all to their misery. Anger took over the dread in Magnus as he stared at the door she’d gone out of, the familiar rage he felt whenever he dealt in Nephilim politics. It was strange to be on this side of it, to be inside of it, defending a Shadowhunter, but it was just as awful as every discriminatory ruling or hateful rhetoric they’d spewed at him and his kind.

Alec and Isabelle were whispering together, too low and too overtaken by the other voices in the room for Magnus to hear. He looked between them, fixing the buttons of his suit jacket, before he interrupted. “So, where is the cup?”

Alec and Isabelle shared a panicked look, until Alec looked away. He scrubbed a hand down his face. His knuckles were split and bruised. He shook his head, and then he was gone, disappearing into the crowd of people in the room.

Isabelle looked after him with a pained expression. She did nothing to hide it when she turned back to Magnus and explained, glumly, “Jace and Clary took it through a seelie portal to another dimension.”

“Oh,” said Magnus intelligently. What he actually wanted to say was Fuck.

“They’ll be back,” Izzy reassured him. It was too convincing. It was clear it was meant for the both of them. “They will.”

Magnus rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they will,” he agreed. 

Isabelle wrung her hands. Her smile was weak and disingenuous. “Stay with me until then?”

Magnus smiled back. “Of course.”

Chapter 20

Alec stared at the floating redheaded woman, suspended in green magic in the middle of one of the private rooms in the infirmary. Clary, who hadn’t left her mother’s side since they’d arrived at the Institute, looked a lot like her. The parts that didn’t probably looked like Valentine, but that was a disturbing thought, so Alec tried to stop thinking it.

“How’s Izzy?” Jace said from beside him, watching his soulmate like a hawk. He hadn’t said much since they’d gotten back and Alec could feel through the parabatai bond that he was upset, but he was giving him space to talk when he was ready.

Alec sighed, unfolding his arms. “She’s good. Relieved. Dodged a bullet.”

It was a low blow, especially when he knew Jace was dealing with something already. Alec had never been in a worse mood in his life, though, and was having trouble controlling how that manifested. He’d left the trial immediately after everything went downhill with nothing he could do to stop it, pounded his fists into some punching bags. When he’d gone to deliver the news to Izzy (and Magnus, who was unexpectedly still here), he hadn’t stayed.

His skin itched. His knuckles had only just stopped bleeding and the pain pulsed through his hands. He was so restless he had to keep reminding himself to stay still.

He wasn’t angry with Jace. He was so happy and so relieved for Izzy. He was grateful for Magnus. He just couldn’t trust himself to be around any of them without saying something he’d regret, so caught up in all of this anger.

He was just about to leave Jace to keep staring at his soulmate, halfway out the door when Jace stopped him.

“Valentine raised me.”

Alec turned. He contained his surprise, every other thought or emotion vanishing while he reaffirmed that he’d heard him correctly. Jace wouldn’t look at him. He stood with his arms crossed, staring at nothing. Pain was written all over his face. It was so unlike Jace, who was so good at pretending that nothing ever got to him.

“He pretended to be Michael Wayland,” Jace continued. “After he murdered him. He took me in and pretended to be my father, all those years.”

Alec locked eyes with Clary, who had only looked up from her mother for a moment. She gave Alec a sad look, commiserating in Jace’s pain, and Alec hated her a little less for how much she cared about his brother.

“I’m sorry,” Alec said, when it was clear Jace had nothing else to add. He wasn’t sure what he should be sorry about. Jace was still Jace, the same Jace he’d been the day before. It didn’t matter if the asshole he’d spent his first ten years with was Michael Wayland or Valentine Morgenstern. Not to Alec, at least.

“I don’t even know…” Jace trailed off, lost. “I don’t even know who my parents are. If I am a Wayland, or if he took me from someone else. If he killed them, or if they’re alive somewhere, missing their son, with no idea that I’m here.”

Alec stepped closer to him. “It doesn’t change who you are, though. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Jace said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

Alec watched him for a second. Their bond was no less chaotic than it had been a moment ago, Jace’s side still in turmoil. “If it’s important to you, we can try to find out. Your parents. There have to be records or magic or something that can give you some answers.”

Jace glanced at him, nodding absently. “Yeah, right.” Then, with a quick glance at Clary, “And you?”

Alec frowned. “Me, what?”

“What’s going on with you?” Jace urged. He was meeting his eyes now, his eyebrow raised. He sounded both unimpressed and like he’d lost all the patience he’d ever had when he added, “Don’t think I can’t feel that you’re all fucked up, too. This bond isn’t just one way.”

Oh.

Alec swallowed. He didn’t even know where to start. He didn’t know which parts were most important, most distressing. It felt a bit like everything had piled on top of each other, one after another, until he was left with a stack of explosives that had detonated his life.

Jace was harder to talk to than Izzy, too. He wasn’t as intuitive and he was just as bad with feelings as Alec was. Jace was comforting because Alec didn’t talk to him, because Jace never expected him to and was always there when Alec needed him, willing to distract and just be in his presence without Alec feeling like he had to say or do things he wasn’t up to.  

Their deep, emotional talks were much, much rare than with Izzy. It gave them more weight. Weight that felt crushing now that Alec stood in front of him, no ground under his feet and feeling more lost than he’d ever been.

Alec waved his hand. “My soulmark thing,” he said. “You know.”

Jace looked at him for a very long moment. “Magnus?”

Alec inhaled shakily, then masked it with a shrug. “Maybe. Among other things. I got in a fight with mom and dad.”

Jace hummed. Jace was no stranger to getting into fights, but he was a stranger to getting into fights with Maryse and Robert. They adored him too much, ever the golden child who could do nothing wrong. Not even bonding with Valentine’s daughter, apparently.

Alec killed the bitterness as soon as it rose up. Whatever happened with his mark, whatever his parents felt about his soulmate, it was his and his alone. It had nothing to do with Jace, Izzy, and Max, and their soulmates.

As though summoned through sheer force of never wanting to speak to him again, Robert Lightwood appeared in the doorway. “Alec,” he called, hovering. “Can we talk?”

Jace offered a sympathetic look and waved him off to meet his demise. Alec grimaced back at him.

In the hallway, Robert spent a good minute staring at the wall behind his son instead of his son before he finally said, “Did you put any more thought into the marriage?”

Alec stared at him. He couldn’t process what he was hearing. He blinked twice, just to make sure that was really what his father had chosen to open with, and then took a very long time sorting through all of his feelings and all of the terrible things he could say.

“No,” he settled on finally. He had to bite it out through a clenched jaw. “No, sorry. I was too focused on making sure my sister wasn’t going to be banished for the rest of her life.”

Robert sighed, like he was tired of Alec’s antics. Like Alec had antics to be tired of, like he hadn’t spent two decades being the perfect, placating son. “What reason do you have not to? It doesn’t have to be Lydia. There are a few other girls who would do just fine, too. You can meet them all and decide which is the best fit for you.”

“Right, I’ll just have my pick of the litter,” Alec said, enraged. If anyone spoke about Isabelle or anyone he knew like that, like they were stock at an auction just waiting to be bid on, Alec would’ve destroyed them. Passive aggressively, by assigning them the shittiest stations for the rest of eternity and making sure all of their shifts coincided with anything fun that might be going on, so they would never enjoy another day in their life. If he were still the head of the Institute, that was.

Robert had the decency to finally look uncomfortable. “Stop being difficult, Alexander.”

“Okay,” Alec replied. “Then, if you need an answer right now, the answer is a very enthusiastic no.”

His father huffed, pursing his lips at him. He looked his son up and down, appraising him and not liking what he saw. Then, a terrible frown furrowed his brow as he peered at Alec’s face. “You’re seeing someone. That’s why.”

It wasn’t a question, so Alec didn’t treat it like one. Seeing someone was so far down the list of things Alec was doing or cared about doing right now, but Robert would always believe whatever he wanted to, and Alec wasn’t about to try to explain that the real reason he didn’t want to get married was because he was gay, and he had a soulmate, and he was starting to think the family name should just burn itself to the ground, and he couldn’t look at his parents without wanting to burn himself down with it.

“Don’t we have more important things to focus on? Like, I don’t know, Valentine.”

Sighing, Robert reluctantly let it go. Not without one final comment, though. “Whoever it is, they must not be appropriate or you would’ve told us already. This family can’t take anymore disgrace, Alec.”

Alec stared after him, his footsteps echoing down the hall.

In the doorway to the infirmary, Jace leaned out and said, emphatically, “He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. Hypocrite.”

“Yeah,” Alec muttered, but he was suddenly feeling less upset than he had been. “You’re right.”

[the-roanoke-society]

now presenting: more aus for the ship tags i’d love to see.

explore below the cut. ... because i’ve watched a lot of ouat today.

butterfly knife: cinderella au. it’s not often that a lowly, local tailor missing an eye snags entry into a local ball, courtesy of his fairy godmother complete with hazel eyes and a drawl. but he does know how often he’s seen in the princess in passing. he knows how much he loves her. and now is his chance to see what could happen, maybe, if he can convince her to just one dance...

body shots: lady & the tramp au. he was a scoundrel. she was... well, could at least pass for a lady. but the real plot twist was them finding out how much they had in common--and how much the other seemed like a breath of fresh air.

lies & lessons: sleeping beauty au. maleficent expected a lot of things out of the southern prince. she expected a sword. a shield. righteous anger. and while the rage showed up, something else did too, something that took her by surprise--a lasso.

anchored hearts: the rescuers au. because we really, really need to talk about joseph--big, huge, massive joseph--as the meek and mild janitorial staff member of the rescue aid society, following the optimistic, fearless louise to the bayou, to save a woman who is not all that she seems (i’ll give you a hint, her handle comes from a particularly cursed doll).

magic & mischief: the black cauldron au. kieran had a humble upbringing that got very, very complicated very, very quickly. and it got even more complicated when he found a woman in a tower: “i’m princess alessia!” sort of an inconvenient time to meet the love of your life.

rumcake: who framed roger rabbit au. toons and waking--well, our reality, enmeshed. a detective still mourning his brother in the shape of a bottle, much to the grief of the fiery redheaded bartender who loves him. and now--roger. “you crazy rabbit! i'm out there risking my neck for you, and what are you doing? singing and dancing!” “but I'm a toon. toons are supposed to make people laugh!”

starry eyes: the little mermaid au. his tail glittered like metal--like stars. two things she was very familiar with. and as she gasped back air, her heart jittering back into a normal rhythm--she blinked. the sun was behind his head, blinding her, as she laid on the sand, still sputtering water--but those eyes. those eyes she’d recognize anywhere.

on the rocks: the emperor’s new groove au. she was a queen who’d been turned into a llama. you abso-fucking-lutely read that right. and they were just a simple shepherd trying to carve out a peaceful existence in the hills. but... she needed their help. and thus began a very bizarre quest to take back the throne, and her humanity.

sleight of heart: atlantis: the lost empire au. no one had believed in him. not for years. and he was still young, by the academic standards. but whitman had given him his father’s journals for a reason. and that reason--well. his dad might’ve said something about research, knowledge. but every time he looked at the princess... well. he secretly hoped the reason was shaped more like her.

puppy love: lilo & stitch au. “eggsy--eggsy, babe, that’s not a dog!” “well, look, i couldn’t just leave him there at the shelter, all the other dogs were scared of him! and look, look, jb likes him, don’t you jb?” meanwhile jb had backed himself behind a bookshelf, staring at his new brother, who looked a bit blue for his taste, if he could speak.

from the ashes: treasure planet au. ... look i just really, really want to see a more romantic cut of the scene with silver and jim sailing next to/inside of the shooting star featuring arizona and phoenix and to be honest who can blame me? please consider a grizzled, german ship cook saddled with this poor young woman who was just--at the wrong place at the wrong place time.

devil bois: howl’s moving castle au. the real question is who’s sophie and who’s howl, because either way, this is probably one of the better ideas of i’ve had in like three days. 

holy hell: up au. the king of hell never thought, for once, in all his years, that he would lose his wife. his andrea. but... he did. however, unlike the pixar film we know and love, this au, to me, takes a hard left turn: it becomes a journey of a man, his earnest helper, and a dog, all on a journey to find the one sacred relic that can reunite him with his love. yeah, there’s also a weird bird.

out to sea: ponyo au. i know this is essentially the little mermaid but can we please just stop and think about younger!raziel carrying an even younger!nereus around in a goddamned plastic bucket and feeding him lunch meat.

ancient cares: a christmas carol au. i know this is a bit out of season considering i’m posting this in october, but... sentinel, crochety and made bitter by the loss of his true love, is visited by three spirits (all of whom sound strangely--southern). and while it culminates in a changed heart, and a renewed sense of generosity, good things happen to those who do good. and he is not quite prepared when a certain someone crashes back into his life, to the tune of church bells ringing out yuletide hymns.

safety nets: tangled au. he’d been locked in a tower for basically his entire life. granted, he sort of... didn’t always have the best use of his legs. metallic or otherwise. but when a pretty young thief breaks into his tower--well he naturally had to slam a rolling pin into her head, how else was he supposed to react?

grace & choice: strange magic au. she was just trying to rescue her sister. that was it. if she’d known--if she’d known how gentle, how kind, how patient, the bog queen could be, behind her thick walls of malice, violence and dark magic? ... well. if she was honest with herself, she knew damn well she would have gone anyway.

secret gardens: snow white au. “karen? ... karen. it’s okay. don’t cry. you have all seven of us to help you. it’s going to be okay. we’ll help you find the prince in the glass coffin. just--just bring the shears. something tells me there’s uh. gonna be a lot of thorns. the queen’s sense of humor is funny like that.”

royals & robots: big hero 6 au. featuring tilde’s deceased older sister that didn’t exist in canon. although, now that i think about it... some of these lines may actually be a part of their actual canon as a ship tag. “on a scale of one to ten, how would your rank your pain?” “zero!” because tilde got hurt. and she was so used to hiding it from humans, she didn’t understand that she’d failed to hide it from an entity like pru.

hymns & holograms: beauty and the beast au. once upon a time in scotland--a man let his temper get the best of him. before he knew better, before he was given a chance to grow. and one day, a young woman--a scholar, with a bag of mystical tomes slung over her shoulder--blows in through the snow. not completely understanding the curse. not completely knowing what the price is of the magic at hand. “my name is morgan. i’m here to help you.”