＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Dead Man's Party

THE CITY OF BONES HAD ARYA RATTLED. Even though Clary had now experienced first-hand one of the scariest aspects of the shadow world—she still didn't understand the concept that selfish actions and emotions interfered with keeping everybody safe. Even after Simon had been taken and dangled over the edge of a building, narrowly avoiding death, she continued to ignore the fact that it was their fault if Simon got hurt—all because they carelessly let him join them on a risky mission.

Alec of course had been fuming the entire ride back to the institute. By the vampires taking Simon, they had directly put a mundane in a life or death situation when their job was to protect everyone who couldn't protect themselves. The Clave would be equally as angry--if not more so--and they would all face some kind of sanction if anybody found out.

Izzy felt the most responsible since she was the one who had left him alone in the car—yet Arya had reminded her a dozen times that if they hadn't have brought Simon along in the first place then he wouldn't have had the chance to be taken. Even though, Clary still felt the need to place all of the blame upon the raven-haired girl—not even considering how her actions played a part in his kidnapping also.

Jace however felt the same as he always did. The rebellious acts giving him an adrenaline rush, even if said reactions had been the cause of Simon disappearing. The mundane was the last thought swimming around in his head with far less important ones taking control of his actions. It was strange to see how two parabatai could share such a brotherly bond yet be so opposite.

So, as they entered the institute the same thought was at the front of everyone's minds—except Jace's maybe. They needed to get Simon back. Without the Clave knowing what had happened and where they had been as well as what they had done.

"I still don't understand. How can shadow hunters be better than...than what you people call 'mundanes'?" Clary tried to fathom while they made their way into the main floor of the institute—hoping nobody noticed the missing mundane they had been with previously, and if so they assumed he had left—not that he had been abducted by vampires.

"Because we protect humans." Izzy justified and everybody agreed. "Your right." Clary huffed and Arya was already prepared for the rant she was about to give about the fact they had lost Simon—completely ignoring the fact that she played a part in the blame too. "Humans. You protect humans. You left Simon all alone in the van." She stressed and Arya muttered an annoyed 'for god sake' under her breath. "Great job, guys. You rock." She snapped at the end.

"There is some truth to the idea that human beings should have a modicum of common sense." Alec snapped back but Izzy interjected before he could argue any further while Clary simply scoffed. "Alec, not now." The raven-haired girl snapped at her older brother.

"No, he's right. You can't put all the blame on us when it was your selfish idea in the first place to involve the mundane. If you wanted to ensure his safety one hundred per cent then you should have thought about the risks before you dragged him into this and then placed all of the blame on us." Arya argued with a scowl and Clary looked slightly taken back by the girls' quick remarks.

Alec bit his cheek to conceal the chuckle that would have escaped his lips if he had not—especially after noticing how Clary was now lost for words to defend herself. While Izzy who was stood beside her Parabatai gently squeezed her hand in agreement.

"Look, they won't do anything to Simon. They just wanted to draw you out. They want the cup and they think you have it." Jace mediated, looking between the two girls. He gave Arya a stern look but she just rolled her eyes and ignored it.

"But why do they think that? Why does anyone think that?" She rambled quickly. "What, my mom lies to me my entire life except, 'Oh, by the way, there's this magic cup, I hid on, like the planet Bongo, but don't tell anyone." She rambled and it took them all a few seconds to finally get a gage on what she had just said. "What am I supposed to do now?" The redhead sighed.

"We have to report to the Clave," Alec told them as he made his way into the main area of the institute to file out the report. "Great," Arya mumbled—knowing that the second any report was made the Clave would be right on their asses every step of the way. "They have to know what we've learned about valentine." He justified once he saw the annoyance present on everyone's faces.

"what, that he's my father?" Clary asked defensively. "Great. Fine. Tell them." She snapped once she took his silence as an answer. "What good does that so Simon?" She argued.

"Clary, it's all connected. The vamps want the Cup." Jace explained, defending the Raven haired boy. "Why? It makes new shadow hunters." She sighed.

"Nobody wants Valentine forming an army loyal to himself," Alec explained. His hair was ruffled and hung messily over his forehead now and Arya loved it like that. She broke out of her stare when she saw him turn to look at her, sensing he was being looked at—and smirking once he realised it was Arya.

"Plus, it controls Demons," Arya added hastily—trying to make it look like she had been paying attention and not daydreaming about Alec and his perfect hair. Izzy quietly snorted at her pathetic attempt causing Arya to subtly flick the back of her head.

"They'll propose a trade. Simon for the Cup." Jace told her, bringing everyone's attention back to what their next course of action should be. "So, vampires will trade Simon for the Cup and Valentine will trade my mother for the Cup. Either way, I lose someone I love." She sighed.

"Yeah, but one way the vamps get it and keep it hidden and the other way Valentine creates an army to take control of the whole shadow world—essentially killing hundreds of people," Arya added bluntly and Clary glared at her.

It wasn't that Arya didn't understand that Clary was either going to lose Simon or her mom, it was the fact that the girl was willing to wipe out the whole shadow world which would include hundreds of family's in return for hers. It was selfish.

"I wish I could just throw it up in the air and let them fight it out for themselves," Clary grumbled and Alec looked from her to the brown-haired girl—wondering whether Clary had even listened to what she said or whether she was just that selfish. "Did you not hear what Arya just said? Does this not matter to you?" He asked astonished. "Yes, of course, it matters." She snapped harshly.

"Listen...when you saved my life...I put my trust in you. Now, I need you to put your trust in me." She tried to reason with them. "I can't turn into what you are overnight." She told them honestly and she wasn't lying.

"It's true." Izzy agreed. "She was raised as a mundane." She added. "What are you? Her spokesman now?" Alec complained and Arya groaned—the whole situation giving her a headache. On one side, Alec was right and the Clave needed to be informed. But on the other side, they couldn't get the cup without Clary's help and the predicament made her head spin.

"I don't need a spokesman, I need a plan." She contradicted, storming into the institute from their place at the entrance where they had been arguing. But while they were discussing it—Simon was still being held captive.

✧

Clary stormed her way around the institute, looking at all the people who sat at tables and in front of screens—some of which held cryptic code, others files and some maps. "Uh, look at all this stuff, these screens. I mean, can any of this help me find Simon?" She asked hopefully before residing back to the table where the other four shadow hunters were sat. Arya and Izzy on the end with Alec on the side besides Arya and Jace on the side besides Izzy. "Where is he anyway? Some kind of crypt in Transylvania?" She asked and Arya chuckled slightly—along with Izzy.

"Actually, no. That was Camille's outfit." Arya informed them certainly. "They're locals." She added—recognising Raphael. "They'll be at the Hotel DuMort, down in Gansevoort Street." She said down to the address. "Yeah." Jace agreed, curious about how she knew so much.

"And we came back here? Why? We have to go there." Clary stressed but they had no preparation to deal with the issue, yet. "Let's go, now. Come on."

"We need a Clave resolution for that." Alec stopped her and they all agreed. "The four of us can't declare war on the vamps all by ourselves." Izzy justified and Arya nodded. "And we can't react without considering our options," Alec added. "Downworlders are slaves to their impulses. We're not." He informed her.

"Alec, you can't stomp on all the Downworlders." Izzy scolded.

"Oh, that's right. Seelie's have their charms, apparently." Alec smirked at his sister—all of them knew about how 'close' Izzy was to the specific Downworlder Meliorn. "Right." Jace agreed and Arya laughed along with them.

"Seelies?" Clary asked with no knowledge about them. "Like fairies. The Fair Folk. Add pixies, nixies, elves...anybody half-angel, half-demon." Jace defined. "It's pretty much a catch-all term.

"Izzy can tell you all about them. She's got a thing." Alec teased and Arya nudged the raven-haired parabatai with a smirk. "We've all got our things, don't we? Arya?" She smirked nudging the other girl in revenge.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't got anything with the seelies." She smirked, tilting her head to the side. "I wasn't talking about the Seelies, Ari." Izzy teased and Arya looked at her with a warning stare. "The vamps tho?" Isabel added before Arya had a chance to change the subject.

The girl's eyes went wide and she coughed to cover up the awkwardness she was feeling. "Yeah, well, how is Meliorn?" Arya asked with a vengeful grin. "He's good. How's Raphael?" Izzy asked with a wide smile once Arya slapped her arm to make her shut up.

The brown-haired girl glanced up at Alec to see that he was no longer grinning. "Jealous, brother?" Isabel asked bluntly and Alec glared at her. "You've got your thing too." She added, glancing at Arya once she did it and Alec clenched his jaw.

"Okay, I can't listen to this. Simons has been kidnapped by the Vampires." Clary stressed, momentarily glancing at Arya—curious what she had with one of them. "I guess I'll just take care of it myself."

"Clary you're gonna get urself killed," Jace warned her as she walked towards the exit completely ignoring what he was saying behind her while Arya and Izzy were glaring and then smirking at each other. "Clary. Simon too." The blonde added once she wouldn't stop and then she did.

"Then help me. While we consider other options, my best friend is suffering. Is that something Shadow-hunters understand or am I just being mundane?" She argued and everyone at the table shared looks—Alec's still being a jealous one. "Clary's right." Jace finally agreed. "They made the first move. We're gonna take care of this ourselves, right now." Jace ordered and they all nodded apart from Alec.

"This is a bad idea. I—" The boy tried to warn. "What, have you got a better one?" Jace snapped and Alec fell silent knowing that he didn't. "Look, the Vamps broke the Accords. They kidnapped a Mundie. That's a big no-no. The Clave will give us a lecture and then they'll be glad we did it. Come on." Jace tried to persuade.

"Hard to argue with that." Arya agreed and smiled at Clary, feeling slightly guilty about how hostile she had been all night. The girl returned the smile. She understood that this was Arya's family too and she would act the same in her position.

"Well, you would say that if it meant we go see the Vamps." Alec glared at the girl and Izzy and her parabatai shared a frown each. "Even if we went ahead, I don't see how we get out of here without having to explain where we're going," Alec told them in a heated discussion. "We need weapons and we can't let anyone see us get them." He told them sternly and Arya loved it when he looked serious and his voice lowered. It was a turn on—even if he had just snapped at her.

"I know where to get what we need," Jace told them confidently before they all dissembled away from the table.

✧

They arrived at the graveyard intended a few moments later. Arya stumbled out first—desperate to get out of the sweaty back seats of the van they were still using. "Whose grave is it?" Alec asked bitterly, after all, he had multiple things to think about and none of them put him in a specifically happy mood.

"Mary Milligan, born January 10th, 1802. Died, January 10th 1878." Izzy read off of her phone. "How sad. She died on her birthday." Arya sighed as she turned to Izzy who playfully rolled her eyes at her parabatai.

"All right, Alec, let's go." Jace beckoned them all to start searching. "Wait, what are we looking for?" Clary asked before anybody got too far. "Cache of weapons," Arya mumbled, looking around the few graves which were closest to her. "Stashed here with Mrs Milligan." Jace's added doing the same.

"Why are there shadow hunter weapons in a churchyard?" Clary asked curiously. "Because all of the ancient religions recognise demons. Or at least they used to." Izzy explained.

"They forgot about the threat because we've been here to protect them," Alec added. "Typical mundane failure of imagination." Ha shaded and Arya rolled her eyes at the mood he was having. "Are you saying we did too good a job?" Izzy asked with a scoff. "You just can't let up can you?" Izzy snapped at him—also sick of him being angry over nothing.

"You know what? Alec, why don't you go check out by the angel?" Jace suggested getting him away from the girls he was arguing with so they could get the job done faster. Jace wasn't stupid—he also knew of the way the raven-haired boy felt about Arya and it was obvious that he was pushing all of his jealousy to the side and replacing it with anger instead.

"He's got a mard on," Arya mumbled while she walked alongside her parabatai while they searched for the headstone. "Yeah, well, he's just jealous that you've been with a Vampire and still not him," Izzy smirked. "Well, I have you to thank for him knowing that," Arya said with a sarcastic smile and Izzy laughed checking her phone for a message from Meliorn. "Excellent." She grinned. "He's home. I'm outta here." Izzy smiled and Arya frowned at her. "You know I already know the way in?" She told her. Arya had been through the tunnels to get into the Hotel DuMort on a few occasions so she already knew the way.

"I know." The other girl shrugged—wanting to see the Seelie anyway.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Clary frowned. "Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world, but I gotta find out how to get into the vampires' lair." She covered and Clary frowned again. "I thought Arya already knew." She said confused. "I'm just checking." Izzy shrugged and Arya laughed at her as she sauntered away.

"Jace...over here," Alec called and Jace turned away from Clary and to his parabatai who was leant against the angel statue. "Yeah, coming," he assured and walked over to him, leaving Clary with Arya.

"Yeah?" He asked, checking on the girls quickly—only to see them following along a line of graves and checking the name on each one. "We're crossing a line into vamp territory," Alec warned cautiously. "That's the point," Jace told him bluntly. "Come on, Alec, cheer up. It's gonna be fun." Jace encouraged but Alec crossed his arms and stood taller.

"Damn it, Jace, Just...think this through." Alec persuaded him and the blonde frowned. "You don't even like this guy." He told him referring to Simon. "This isn't about the mundane, this is about Clary." He recognised. "What, are you so desperate to get laid that you'll risk killing us." Alec provoked and Jace frowned at him.

"Wow, um, there's so much wrong in that which was wrong. I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear it." Jace smirked, trying to walk away. "That's the problem. You're not listening. Not to this or anything else I've said tonight. You don't even know this girl. Why do you trust her?" Alec asked sternly.

"Is this about her being Valentine's daughter?"Jace asked sceptically. "Haven't we been through this? Alec looks at me. You can trust her, or not. I don't care. That's not my business. But if you don't trust me—" Jace grumbled and Alec sighed.

"Jace! Alec! I think we've found it!" Clary called them over while Arya bent down to read the gravestone better with her witch light. "Mary Milligan!" She added.

"Coming," Jace called over before turning to Alec one last time. "Stop being an ass to Arya. If you are so jealous she was with a vamp—maybe you should do something about how you feel instead of bottling it up. You need to stop letting your emotions cloud your judgement. Just because your jealous doesn't mean you all of a sudden have to have a problem with the plan." Jace snapped finally, before he headed over to the two girls--Alec shortly in tow after taking a second to think about what Jace had said.

"Beloved servant?" Clary asked them once she read the side of the grave. "Who wants that on a headstone?" She asked.

"Someone who is in service to a cause greater than themselves." He told her, helping Arya and Jace remove the leaves from the top of the stone. "Well, she is now. Abracadabra." He joked and Clary frowned at him—thinking he was serious. "Wait, you people actually say that?" She asked seriously.

"No, Clary. We don't." Arya laughed, rubbing her stele over the top of the rune which was on top of the box. It glowed a faded amber before Jace and Alec—being the strongest—lifted it off. "That was hot," Arya mumbled, glancing at Alec. Clary was the only person who heard her and smirked. She knew they liked each other.

Jace blew the dust off the top of the casket and then lifted the lid and revealed the stash of weapons. It appeared to be four seraph blades, three steles, a dagger and a hammer type weapon. "Woah, where's Ms Milligan?" Clary wondered out loud grabbing a seraph blade for herself.

"Don't touch that. You don't know how to use it." Alec grumbled. "What, like at Pandemonium when I killed that demon." She defended. "Oh, you also mean when you nearly killed Arya too." He snapped, pointing to the brunette beside him.

"Alec." Jace snapped harshly. "I'm gonna show her the right way to use it." He assured. "Do you see what you need in here?" He asked.

"No, there isn't a bow. I already checked." Arya told both the blonde-haired boy and the raven-haired boy. "There's not a naginata either." She evaluated and Alec couldn't help but smirk at the fact she checked for him too.

"I have to rune some arrows. That's back at the institute." Alec added. "I gotta go." He decided. "Same. I need to grab mine too." She told them. "I'll go with you." She said and