seveninches (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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
"Max is fine," he said, trying to ignore the nausea that her words were causing. Max was fine. Max was in New York, safe and sound. Isabelle had been bitten and she wasn't fine and she was seeing things or dreaming things. "You're not. You need to hold still, okay? Don't move so much."
no subject
"He's not," she insists, the words coming out choked. He's far from being fine, and there's nothing Isabelle can do about it from Darrow. "Alec, I went back, I saw it."
She sits dutifully still, even if its just so that he might start to listen to her. She remembers suddenly the way Billy had woken up after she punched him, suddenly convinced that he'd lived an entire life back home in the time he'd been knocked out. She's not crazy - this has happened to other people, too. "It's like when Billy went back," she tries to explain, but in reality it's an explanation that is probably better told by someone not in her state.
no subject
He held her leg gently, fingers prodding at the wound, checking to see if his runes are doing anything to heal it. There's no black staining her veins, no sign of infection oozing from the wound but Alec knew that didn't mean a damn thing when it came to demons.
"What did you see?" he asked, trying to stay calm, to listen, to hear. Even if a part of him was bracing for her to tell him something horrible, he had to hear it. Once he heard, he could prioritize, strategize. He could fix it.
no subject
The wound is still open on her leg which means it's going to need more than Alec's stele to fix, but she needs him to hear this before he goes and gets Magnus. Which she knows he will, because even though Isabelle can't remember the last time they paid Magnus for his efforts, he always helps.
"It's like I have all the memories that I didn't before," she tries to explain. "All the things you and I were missing, the stuff that Magnus must know." That last part hurts a little to say as she realises that Magnus has known this whole time. Magnus knew her baby brother was dead and he's kept it quiet for over a year. She'd be furious if the grief wasn't so overwhelming.
no subject
Max is dead.
That couldn't be true. Alec remembered him and he was alive. He was alive. His parents, for all their faults, did keep him safe and no one could get into Idris with the wards as strong as they were.
"What?" he asked, low and pained. "You -- you remember things? You remember Max being dead? That's -- he's alive, though. He's in Idris. No one touch him in Idris."
no subject
"I'm sorry, Alec," she says, reaching out to touch his shoulder. The memories are tearing her apart and she hates that she's the one who has to break this news to him, but it's better coming from her. "The wards fell and Sebastian wasn't who we thought he was."
The hardest part is knowing it all happened moments after she woke up here. She knows now that there was some version of her still there, and she has all of that Isabelle's memories now, but she can't help feeling like maybe she could have stopped it if she was there.
no subject
That's what they'd been told since they were children. No one could get into Idris unless the Shadowhunters allowed it. No one could make those wards fall. No, Idris was their sanctuary, their country.
Despite the words, Alec knew she wasn't lying. He just didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think about Max's broken body, lifeless and still.
He swallowed and ignored the burning in his eyes. "I have to go get Magnus. There's venom that needs to come out. I'll get him."
no subject
"Alec," she starts, but she doesn't know what else to say. She knows him well enough to know he'll retreat into himself, knows that she'll probably do the same. Lightwoods don't collapse and so the easiest thing to do is to hide out until the worst of the pain has glossed over, until they feel like they can look at someone without cracking.
But it's never been like this before. They've never lost Max before. He was never supposed to die first.
no subject
"I'm going to get Magnus and get him to come to you," he said, standing up. He wanted to run, run fast and far away. He wanted to scream and he, to his own disbelief, wanted to cry.
"I'll bring him back," Alec said and gave Isabelle one last look before he turned and took off, running as fast as his body and his Marks would take him to get Magnus.