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seveninches) wrote2017-01-08 06:00 pm
seveninches) wrote2017-01-08 06:00 pm
Entry tags:
Dated January 10, 2017
It had seemed like a good enough way to kick off the new year. The flying monkey bat things at Kagura on New Years Eve had been fun, had given Isabelle cause to get her whip out again, but it wasn't quite the same. It was a relatively easy fight, nothing like the kind of high she gets when fighting demons. Which is why it hadn't taken long for her to ask Alec to go out, and he had readily agreed. Isabelle knows she can always count on Alec to be behind her in a fight, and she knows that on some level, even he gets restless in this city.
The night starts off normally enough. They both armed themselves, dressed in their gear and headed out. Demons were starting to appear less frequently in Darrow but they still cropped up on the odd occasion, and Isabelle was glad that tonight appears to be one of them. Her necklace hummed at her throat and together they followed it to the edge of the city, their footsteps silent on the street.
The demon, once they found it, was particularly horrible. Every time she sees a new one Isabelle thinks they can't possibly get any grosser, but they always seem to find a way to surpass her expectations. It looked like a giant slug, its body covered in rows upon rows of suckers that Isabelle had no intention of finding out the purpose of. It was faceless, or eyeless at the least, but on both ends was a gaping mouth with rimmed with what looked like shark's teeth. Its back was lined with sharp, dagger-looking wings, more of them than Isabelle could count. Isabelle cast a quick glance towards Alec, but he was stony-faced, an arrow already nocked.
The demon lunged at them quickly, and Isabelle was surprised with the speed at which it moved, considering its lumbering size. She dodged and it missed her narrowly enough that she felt its breath hot and disgusting, saw yellow drool dripping from its mouth. Isabelle flung her whip out but Alec was faster, embedding an arrow in the demon's mouth. It reared back and Alec shot again at the same time as Isabelle brought her whip down, feeling it cut through layers of demon flesh. Demon ichor sprayed out and Isabelle almost gagged at the smell. She'd need a hardcore rune to get the smell and stains out of her gear later, but for now that hardly mattered.
"Alec, move!" she shouted as the demon went for him, obviously in pain but not about to give up yet. Alec backed up a little, arrow after arrow flying from his bow and thudding into the demon's flesh, but it kept moving. Gritting her teeth, Isabelle raced forward and brought her whip down in a flash with all her strength. The demon sliced in half, shuddering and twitching and hissing in pain. Isabelle grimaced and glanced toward Alec to make sure it hadn't touched him. She was only distracted for half a second but the demon writhed and gave one last lunge, sinking sharp teeth into her leg. Isabelle screamed, bringing her whip down hard and forcing it to release her, but she could feel herself collapsing at the same time. She fell back, dimly hearing Alec shout her name but she was already drifting, her breathing coming in sharp bursts, her eyes slipping closed.
And she remembered. There had been a time almost exactly like this, she knew. Not in Darrow but home, in Hell, of all places. She remembers the stink of the air, how hard it was to breathe under the suffocating weight of it. She remembers Alec, heartbroken and so determined to find Magnus. She remembers the desperation in Clary's eyes, the fierceness in Jace's. She remembers them all marching in to Hell to save their friends, knowing that there was a good chance none of them would come back.
Isabelle convulses on the ground and she knows Alec is there, calling to her, but she's stuck, watching flashes of thoughts and memories that she doesn't remember having racing through her mind. She remembers Sebastian, his disguise gone and his hair as silver as Valentine's, his eyes cruel. And she remembers Max, remembers the way he looked at her the last time she saw him, remembers going to his funeral and feeling like a part of her soul had been torn out. She might die here, she thinks idly, but that seems suddenly to matter far less in the shadow of the knowledge that Max died first, that it was her who was supposed to protect him and she failed.
Slowly she comes to, fuelled back to consciousness by the pain in her leg. It doesn't make any sense but she knows that the memories are real, knows that it's the piece of the puzzle she's been missing this whole time, the piece that Magnus had so carefully kept hidden from them.
ooc: Isabelle has been canon updated to near the end of the TMI series: this comes with the knowledge that her baby brother died, among other things. Trace if you want to play from here I'm down with it, otherwise anyone can feel free to come upon the scene or find her at any time later, where she'll more than likely have locked herself in her room. I'm open to whatever is convenient for your pups, though. Twitter me if any questions <3
The night starts off normally enough. They both armed themselves, dressed in their gear and headed out. Demons were starting to appear less frequently in Darrow but they still cropped up on the odd occasion, and Isabelle was glad that tonight appears to be one of them. Her necklace hummed at her throat and together they followed it to the edge of the city, their footsteps silent on the street.
The demon, once they found it, was particularly horrible. Every time she sees a new one Isabelle thinks they can't possibly get any grosser, but they always seem to find a way to surpass her expectations. It looked like a giant slug, its body covered in rows upon rows of suckers that Isabelle had no intention of finding out the purpose of. It was faceless, or eyeless at the least, but on both ends was a gaping mouth with rimmed with what looked like shark's teeth. Its back was lined with sharp, dagger-looking wings, more of them than Isabelle could count. Isabelle cast a quick glance towards Alec, but he was stony-faced, an arrow already nocked.
The demon lunged at them quickly, and Isabelle was surprised with the speed at which it moved, considering its lumbering size. She dodged and it missed her narrowly enough that she felt its breath hot and disgusting, saw yellow drool dripping from its mouth. Isabelle flung her whip out but Alec was faster, embedding an arrow in the demon's mouth. It reared back and Alec shot again at the same time as Isabelle brought her whip down, feeling it cut through layers of demon flesh. Demon ichor sprayed out and Isabelle almost gagged at the smell. She'd need a hardcore rune to get the smell and stains out of her gear later, but for now that hardly mattered.
"Alec, move!" she shouted as the demon went for him, obviously in pain but not about to give up yet. Alec backed up a little, arrow after arrow flying from his bow and thudding into the demon's flesh, but it kept moving. Gritting her teeth, Isabelle raced forward and brought her whip down in a flash with all her strength. The demon sliced in half, shuddering and twitching and hissing in pain. Isabelle grimaced and glanced toward Alec to make sure it hadn't touched him. She was only distracted for half a second but the demon writhed and gave one last lunge, sinking sharp teeth into her leg. Isabelle screamed, bringing her whip down hard and forcing it to release her, but she could feel herself collapsing at the same time. She fell back, dimly hearing Alec shout her name but she was already drifting, her breathing coming in sharp bursts, her eyes slipping closed.
And she remembered. There had been a time almost exactly like this, she knew. Not in Darrow but home, in Hell, of all places. She remembers the stink of the air, how hard it was to breathe under the suffocating weight of it. She remembers Alec, heartbroken and so determined to find Magnus. She remembers the desperation in Clary's eyes, the fierceness in Jace's. She remembers them all marching in to Hell to save their friends, knowing that there was a good chance none of them would come back.
Isabelle convulses on the ground and she knows Alec is there, calling to her, but she's stuck, watching flashes of thoughts and memories that she doesn't remember having racing through her mind. She remembers Sebastian, his disguise gone and his hair as silver as Valentine's, his eyes cruel. And she remembers Max, remembers the way he looked at her the last time she saw him, remembers going to his funeral and feeling like a part of her soul had been torn out. She might die here, she thinks idly, but that seems suddenly to matter far less in the shadow of the knowledge that Max died first, that it was her who was supposed to protect him and she failed.
Slowly she comes to, fuelled back to consciousness by the pain in her leg. It doesn't make any sense but she knows that the memories are real, knows that it's the piece of the puzzle she's been missing this whole time, the piece that Magnus had so carefully kept hidden from them.
ooc: Isabelle has been canon updated to near the end of the TMI series: this comes with the knowledge that her baby brother died, among other things. Trace if you want to play from here I'm down with it, otherwise anyone can feel free to come upon the scene or find her at any time later, where she'll more than likely have locked herself in her room. I'm open to whatever is convenient for your pups, though. Twitter me if any questions <3
no subject
She's been laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling for hours. Sometimes the ceiling is just that, other times is dissolves into things she remembers seeing, images flashing before her eyes. She loses herself in them, in reliving a life she was taken from. A life in which she lost Max, the boy who meant everything to her.
Someones knocks at her door and Isabelle blinks but refuses to answer. Alec never bothers to knock and she can't bear the idea of seeing anyone else.
no subject
"Izzy?" he called out, stepping back and looking at the door. He could smash it down, probably as Billy and definitely as Shazam, but he didn't want to. He didn't want that to be necessary. Billy would rather she suddenly hated him and wanted nothing to do with him for some reason than to have her hurt or worse.
"Izzy it's Billy. Are you in there? Please, just let me know if you're- if you're alive," he said, thudding his head against the door as he tried not hold off all the black thoughts that were ready to consume him. "Please? Please be alive..."
no subject
She's kept from seeing anyone else, locked herself in her room and ignored all calls and messages, even to the extent of breaking her phone, but this is different. Isabelle had been determined to ride this out on her own but it would be cruel to Billy to push him away now. She remembers how this had happened back home, how she'd refused to see anyone until Simon had pushed his way into her room and her life, and she has to shove that memory away, too. It's confusing and it's the last thing she needs right now.
Instead, she forces herself to get up out of bed and go to the door. She knows she must look a mess but she doesn't have time to fix herself up first. "I'm alive," she says, unlocking the door and pulling it open. He looks like he was considering breaking the thing down, and for a moment she wants nothing more than to fall against him and let him hold her, but she forces herself to stay on her own two feet.
no subject
"Izzy, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked, confused. A bazillion thoughts ran through his head. Something was wrong with Alec or Magnus or Baz or Luke. Maybe someone really bad from home had come here and she was worried? But that would probably only make her angry and not- not whatever she was right now.
no subject
"Max died," she says, because that's the most important thing, even with everything else that happened after. Magnus and Luke were dragged to Hell and Alec's heart was broken and Sebastian turned almost all of the people she knew into Dark Shadowhunters but Max is still the only thing that matters.
Isabelle glances up at him, forcing herself not to cry, at the very least. "I went back home, like you did, only everything was terrible."
no subject
Billy didn't know what to expect from Izzy when he stepped into her apartment but it wasn't to have her hug him tight and curl up into him. He was so surprised that he was pretty sure his arms wrapped around her waist at first just out of habit than anything else. Once she explained about what happened, about Max, it all sort of hit him like a sudden illness. He felt sort of dizzy and lightheaded and he didn't even know Max.
His arms tightened around her, holding her closer as he tried to think of something to say. But there wasn't. He couldn't even understand how awful it was because he didn't have any siblings, not like Izzy had Max.
"I'm sorry," he finally whispered after a moment, able to do nothing but hold her tight. "I'm so sorry."
no subject
He doesn't tell her it's alright or question whether she really saw anything, for which she's grateful. She knows he went through this himself, but it's still nice not to have to explain it, to just let him accept what she's saying for what it is.
"I was supposed to protect him," she says, her voice muffled in his shirt. She was supposed to make sure he was safe, that was her only job, the only reason Alec left her behind to go and fight, and she still didn't do it right.
no subject
"I'm so sorry," he repeated, feeling totally stupid saying it but it was the only thing that he could think of to say. Because he was sorry, even if that didn't help anything. Losing her brother was awful but it had to be 100 times worse if she felt like it was her fault. It probably wasn't her fault, but didn't everyone always blame themselves? "What happened?"
no subject
Magnus could have, she knows. But he didn't, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to forgive him, now.
"Sebastian knocked me out and then he killed Max," she says, forcing the words out. She should have been stronger than him, should have been able to fight back at least long enough to get Max out of the house, but he'd taken her by surprise. She trusted him and he turned out to be worse than any demon she's ever fought.
no subject
Billy absolutely did not understand all of that but got enough of the basics to understand what had happened. She'd been spared when someone had killed her little brother. Billy couldn't understand, not really. He didn't have any real siblings and as much as he cared about people in Darrow it wasn't the same. Billy hugged her tighter, afraid that if he let go of her might...
He wasn't sure what she might do but it probably wouldn't be good. But he didn't know if Izzy would really appreciate that forced comfort so he kinda relaxed a bit so if she wanted to pull away she could. He totally understood why she didn't want to see or talk to anyone. A selfish part of him was glad for that too because he didn't know how to help someone in a situation like this. All his magic and his power and he couldn't do anything to help her.
"How- how is Alec taking it?" Billy asked because he was sure that Izzy would have told him.
no subject
He asks about Alec and Isabelle almost flinches, but refrains. Alec is taking it exactly the way Isabelle expected. He'd shut down almost immediately after she told him, and she knows he'll throw himself into his work now, play the Shadowhunter soldier and bury all of his feelings as deep as he can. She knows he's been sitting watch outside her room each night, but he hasn't said a word, and she hasn't tried to make him. She's watched Alec grieve before but nothing like this.
"About as well as he always does," she replies, shaking her head. "He won't talk about it."
no subject
He would check on Alex later. Billy totally wouldn't say anything to him because Alex didn't talk about stuff like that but maybe he'd like someone around who knew about it and DIDN'T bring it up. But he'd do that later, right now he wanted to be here for Izzy.
no subject
Still, she appreciates that he offers, that he wants to be there for her. It doesn't fix things but it's a comfort in and of itself.
"Do you want tea or coffee or anything?" she asks him, realising that this is her apartment. She should make some effort to play host. At the very least, it will give her something to do with her hands, something to keep her focused.
no subject
"Sure, tea is fine. I'll get the mugs?" he said, not sure what else to do. Normally he would make himself more at home, it wasn't like he didn't come here a bunch, but that didn't seem right. Billy didn't even know if she wanted him around but he figured she wouldn't have any problem kicking him out if that's what she wanted.