＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚*•̩✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Morning Star

SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO FEEL HAPPY. When Arya woke up that next morning, she was supposed to feel radiant. She finally had what she had wanted for so long, but something was preventing her from relishing the ambience. She had a pit of impending doom residing in her gut, sending waves of nausea through her body in a way she couldn't explain. That combined with the fact she had arisen at three in the morning after the same series of traumatising nightmares haunted her dreams, the whole feeling made her sick.

The brunette drug her fatigued body to the kitchen in the early hours of the morning and placed herself on one of the counters, a coffee cup in hand. It was the only thing that would keep her awake long enough that she didn't have to experience any more trauma until the next evening, as well as being the only thing to soothe the cold tremors which continued to attack her body.

She felt that this was the worse it had ever been. But she also felt worse because she felt like a burden. She didn't want to have to press anyone else with her issues and decided to handle them on her own. She felt as if she didn't need to seek the comfort of anyone else and that she had to learn eventually how to calm herself down—although it seemed helpless at the current point in time.

In frustration she slammed her mug down—so hard it was on the verge of smashing—and instead decided to head to the training room—the one place that she felt in control. This must have been the reason she was such a good fighter. She used training as an escape route of feeling anything that she didn't want to. She used it to take her anger out and ignore her problems. She would train so hard that her muscles would ache and her knuckles would bruise and bleed.

The Legacy girls fists slammed rhythmically against the bag as hard as she could, not caring whether she split the skin because at least that would give her something else to focus her attention on. Anything to relieve the pit in the stomach.

She bit her lip in concentration, flexed her fingers out and corrected her stance before repeating the action over and over until beneath the bandages —she used to protect her hands—the skin was red and bloodied. Already knowing her routine proceedings as if by nature, she rinsed her hands under cold water and activated her healing rune to close some of the splits.

Why did it feel like as soon as she gained a positive, a negative was already prepared to slam her right back to where she began?

On her way back to her room, however, Isabel had other methods in mind. She understood how Arya got after her nightmares, as did everyone else. Nobody perceived it as a sign of weakness—as she did herself. Everyone had their fair share of trauma and that just happened to be hers. She knew how little Arya enjoyed talking about her problems and often found the only way to get through to her that she wasn't a burden was to show her that they wanted to help.

So, instead of allowing the brunette to continue to her room, Isabel grabbed a hold of the girl's arm and dragged her into her room. "What—" Arya was ready to dispute but Isabel completely ignored her, tossing her a fairly fluffy jumper from her drawls which hit her square in the face.

She didn't deny the item of clothing and slipped it over her tank top with ease. Isabel then climbed into her silk sheets and pulled back the cover on the other side so Arya could do the same. Isabel gave her a stern glare which told her she didn't have any other choice and so she climbed in beside her, facing Isabel's back as she did so.

It wasn't long however until her parabatai rolled over and they lay face to face. "You know that we all care about you, right?" The raven-haired girl mumbled quietly amidst the darkness causing Arya's eyes to also open, the only thing either could see was the fair shine in each other's iris.

"I do," Arya murmured, holding the jumper around her closely to stop her shivers—even beneath the thick quilt covers.

"Then stop being so god damn proud and let us help. You don't have to cope with this alone, me, Jace, Alec, we're all here if you just let us be." Isabel whispered, taking hold of Arya's hand beneath the sheets. "Love you, Ari." She said honestly—a rare moment of affection between the parabatai pair.

"Love you too, Iz." Arya smiled—not that Izzy could see it—before they both settled off to sleep. Arya didn't know what it was about the company which stopped the dreams. She guessed that people acted as an anchor to show her that what was happening in her mind was a thing of the past. But she only truthfully had ever felt so secure in the arms of Alec Lightwood.

Her concrete walls were slipping again.

✧

Once the morning finally arrived, everyone continued from the following day as no time had passed. Wedding decorations were being taken down and packed away as if nothing had ever happened and people continued with their work the same way. Although, after a rough night, Isabel had to drag Arya out of bed to get ready that next morning. She had missed multiple hours of much-needed sleep—simply because she was too proud to accept help from people.

Nevertheless, she got ready for the day and headed into the institute, her fluffy black jacket wrapped firmly around her—a substitute for her leather one since she desperately craved some warmth from her icy chills.

"Have you spoken with Lydia? No one's seen her since the wedding." Alec asked his mother—and truthfully, it wasn't the first that Arya had wished to hear that morning. After all, the events of yesterday were still fresh in everyone minds and she was sure she was the bad guy in most of them.

"She's probably packing for Idris in your fathers' office." His mother suggested neutrally. She too had time to think and although Alec's marriage could have enhanced the image of the Lightwood name, his relationship with Arya was something she had been secretly rooting for, for a while—along with everyone else—as well as that, the Legacy name that came along with Arya was one that also held the honour. Her parents had sacrificed half of their lives to take down Valentine and even if he had been to blame for the ending of their lives, it only increased their nobility in everyone's eyes. As she was pondering on the thought she noticed the girl passing—took one look at her and immediately knew that she had a rough night.

The girl withheld a strong image, but having known the girl's parents since she was young and having practically raised her after their deaths, she could sense it from a mile away. She was also tipped off by Izzy who had already clued her in.

"After you've spoken with Lydia, you may want to check on Arya. Isabel told me she had a rough night last night." Maryse smiled at her son and he smiled back, hiding his worry until he had spoken to the envoy from the Clave.

It was only moments later, however, that none other than Magnus Bane ran from the hallway calling for help about said the envoy. But that was only the beginning. Arya knew there was a reason she had a feeling of dread.

✧

"How's Lydia?" Arya asked Alec once he converged with herself, Isabel, Jace and Clary who were crowded around a computer screen reviewing footage of when Lydia's attack in the office could have occurred. The only clue that they had gotten from the woman was the murmur of the name 'Hodge' And upon further inspection, it appeared that he ceased to be in the institute any longer. He was gone—and so was the cup.

"Magnus is doing what he can to help her, but it's bad. And the cup is definitely missing." Alec explained and they all nodded, feeling slightly guilty that nobody had noticed sooner.

"So is Hodge," Jace added, his eyes transfixed on the screen before them while Isabel located the correct time in the footage.

"Maybe he was attacked too." The female lightwood suggested and while it was what they all wanted to believe, in this instance it didn't seem to be the most logical.

"Maybe he's the one who attacked her?" Clary countered as they saw only a few people

"Hodge? No way. We've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us." She denied and they watched as Isabel finally captured the moment where Lydia entered the office and was soon struck down by said man. She ate her words and quick.

"I lead him right to the cup." Jace sighed.

"We treated him like family," Alec said sadly.

"How could he do this to us?" Arya mumbled astonished.

Isabel then switched to another frame on the screen where they could see Hodge standing beside Clary's mother while she was still encased in the green cloud which kept her unconscious. He appeared to be twisting a ring on his finger and under further inspection, also appeared to be talking to someone also. "That's how. What is that ring?" Clary questioned.

"Looks like he's talking to someone," Isabel added, just as Hodge revealed the cup to said person who was yet to reveal themselves.

"And I can bet who it is," Jace growled when the man held the cup up proudly.

"Valentine." Arya sighed. Why didn't she just listen to her gut when it told her something bad was happening?

They then watched as he pulled his collar away and his circle punishment rune faded away. "Well, that explains how he deactivated the Punishment rune, but it doesn't explain where he got the ring." Alec noticed.

"You think someone smuggled it past the wards?" Clary suggested.

"Maybe." Jace frowned. "Hodge wasn't the only ex-Circle member around here." He added snakily, sharing a look with his parabatai.

"Look, I know I don't always see eye to eye with my parents, but I know they're not traitors," Isabel assured them.

"Really? Isn't that what you just said about Hodge?" The blonde questioned, stamping on her point completely. "It'd have to be someone we trusted, but if there was an intruder inside the institute, we would have found them by now." He added while Isabel looked down sadly.

"What about the forsaken attack?" Clary suddenly realised, glancing at Arya who was unusually quiet. But as she said it, all eyes turned to the brunette who was fiddling with the fluffy sleeves of her jacket but looked up when she realised everyone was looking at her.

"I mean, I didn't see a ring but I was a bit busy trying to not get killed so I could've easily missed it." She shrugged and Isabel smirked at her, loving how she was still sarcastic even when she was exhausted.

"He didn't have one during the autopsy but maybe there's something in the footage," Isabel suggested and they all waited while she located the recording, also passing through Arya's three am training session through which the brunette could feel Alec's concerned gaze on her.

But when she did, she noticed something off. "Go to the other camera," Alec ordered and Isabel switched them. From the opposing angle, they could clearly see Hodge remove a ring from the forsaken's finger and push it onto his own.

"So it wasn't a random attack." Clary scoffed while Arya thought back to the large gash she had on her shoulder.

"He was just the delivery boy." Jace also scoffed.

"If he gives that cup to Valentine, he'll create an army of Shadowhunters. With that kind of power behind him, he'll kill thousands." Alec predicted and there was no doubt that it ran shivers down all of their spines, just the thought of Valentine having an army. This could mean the end of all good.

"He'll kill thousands just creating the army." Isabel also added another bone-chilling factor. "Most mundanes won't survive that."

"We won't let that happen," Clary assured, but she had never seen Valentine at his full force of power. She had no clue what he was fully capable of.

"I'm gonna make sure of it," Jace said angrily, and Arya knew he was about to do something reckless, hell so would she if they couldn't stop Valentine. He had taken her family from her and everyone else once before, she wasn't even going to let him near her new one.

✧

The group dispersed to get ready for the mission—but not before Alec pulled Arya off to the side, away from the others.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked her concerned. "And don't just say yes because you think you're a burden because you're not." He called her out before she even had a chance to do so.

"I am, just didn't have the best night sleep." She told him vaguely but he still knew what she meant.

"Why didn't you come to me?" He asked. He wanted to be the person that she could come to when stuff happened—whether minor or major. He cared about her too much to let her go through things alone.

"For the exact reason, you just said." She sighed, knowing that he could read her like a book, he knew her better than the back of his hand, he may as well be her mind reader. "I'm a big girl, Alec. I should be able to deal with stuff like this on my own." She grumbled.

"You shouldn't have to. We all have our fair share of shit so why should you suffer alone. I'm here. Please." He said gently and Arya had almost forgotten how fast Alec could make her see his way. He was good at that. She had almost forgotten how good he looked, his dark brooding features but deep blue eyes contrasted perfectly.

"Okay." She smiled. "I'm gonna go get ready." She muttered, quickly kissing him on the cheek before walking away. She felt weird now that had become a natural thing to do. It was strange.

✧

"Guys, what are you doing?" Clary asked Arya, Jace and Alec, when she walked over to the table in one of the rooms of the institute and saw that the boys had all their weapons lined up, preparing themselves for the fight they were about to endure while Arya stood beside her "almost-ish-boyfriend".

"Every second we waste here, Hodge gets closer to Valentine," Jace told her firmly, sharpening blades as he did so to refrain from looking up at her while Alec and Arya made themselves busy to avoid being involved in their spat.

"Hey, we're a team, all right? I know you're mad right now, but Hodge could be dangerous." Carly tried to reason with the blonde, but that never ended well for any of them.

"Two of us, one of him." Jace shrugged, nodding towards Alec in the room. "Check the math, but I'm pretty sure he's outnumbered."

Although the truth is told, Alec wasn't so thrilled that Arya wasn't accompanying them. He loved having her around and spending time with her. And the concerned—almost boyfriendish—part of him wanted to stop any harm from even grazing her fingertips and with him going to help Jace and her going with Isabel and Clary to go and see Raphael, his slightly jealous instincts kicked in. But he knew that above all—she was a shadow hunter and that was something he couldn't protect her from—no matter how much he wanted to.

"What is with you? Would you just talk to me for a second?" Clary continued to force.

"Lydia, Hodge...All this is happening because I didn't stop Valentine. All this is happening because I stopped Arya from stopping Valentine." The blonde countered.

"Jace, you cannot let emotions cloud your judgement. Your words, remember?" She argued, missing the look that Alec sent her while he pulled his quiver full of arrows onto his back. "When I first wanted to find my mom, I didn't care about anyone else." She started.

"Clearly," Alec mumbled, still holding a tiny grudge for all the times that Arya had almost died because of Clary's ignorance.

"But you were the one that taught me that it's about a world that's bigger than us." She continued, ignoring Alec's mumbles and Aryas looks as she sharpened her blades.

"That's why you need to wake her up," Jace ordered and Clary frowned. "She was his prisoner and his wife. If anyone can stop him, she can."

"Jace, listen to me—"

"You can do this." He insisted.

"Maybe I can. But it's not about me, it's you I'm worried about. You cannot let Valentine evil poison you!" She snapped at him.

"He's my father."

"Actually...he's our father." Clary corrected.

"You don't get it," Jace grumbled.

"You know, if they weren't related and all, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife," Arya commented as she picked up all of her weapons and put them in her pockets and garters.

"That's disgusting," Alec commented, throwing an arm around her shoulders and leading them out with a grin on his face. How had he gotten so lucky? "Be careful?" He asked her—ordered her—and she nodded.

"Always am." She smiled.

"That couldn't be further from the truth." The lightwood scoffed with a smirk and Arya rolled her eyes knowing it was true. "Seriously tho." He stopped her, standing in front of her this time with a stern and caring expression.

"Promise I'll be careful." She assured and he smiled at her, softly catching her lips with his in a short but sweet kiss before he was being pulled away by Jace.

✧

"For Shadowhunters, you don't seem to do a lot of shadow hunting." Raphael greeted with a smirk once the three girls entered the hotel DuMort. "Evening, Arya." He said with a sultry glance which she would have once swooned at but now rolled her eyes instead.

"There is more to the job than killing demons." Isabel scoffed, eyeing the way he was looking at Arya defensively. She was basically with her brother now so she was just looking out for him.

"We need to talk to Camille," Arya told
him bluntly—getting to the point. "We know you have her here. We tracked her to the DuMort."

"It's true, but I'm afraid she's a bit tied up at the moment. Is there something I can help you with? Anything for you, Arya?" He smirked and the brunette scoffed.

"Just a second," Arya mumbled, pulling the vamp over to the side while Isabel gave her weary looks. "Look, I know this sounds crazy but you have to let us talk to Camille." She practically begged.

"And here I was thinking you wanted to talk about something much more worth my time." He smirked.

"Camille has a spellbook that could wake Jocelyn Fairchild." She tried to convince him and for the first time since they arrived, he looked serious. "Valentine might have the cup. The entire Downworld in is danger."

"She's far too dangerous." He denied for all their safety—especially hers. "Or did you already forget what happened last time Simon "talked" to her?"

"It's not like she can kill him again," Arya mumbled hopefully.

"You said it yourself, if Valentine has the Cup, the entire Downworld is at risk. Camille will only make things worse. I want no part in this." He insisted.

"We need something to go on Rafe." She pleaded and he looked sceptical. "Please." She almost begged and he gave in.

"I'll give you what's left of her things but speaking to her is out of the question." He denied and she groaned.

"This isn't something she would have just left lying around." The redhead added and the