Chapter Text
The four set out on a warm August evening for a demon hunting. Céline and Jace appeared all casual about it, as if demon hunting was something they could've done under a blindfold.
Which they probably could. Jace had slain more demons by the time he was sixteen than most adults who were decades older had.
Céline had also slain more demons than their elders.
Some would say she'd killed more than her younger brother Jace Herondale, others said that it was an even tie. That did not help any of their egos and it had become a competition on who killed more.
The two of them were reckless, but they got even worse when they were out alone.
But they loved each other endlessly, despite that.
At least with Izzy and Alec or their siblings or their parents, they had at least one reason to not get themselves killed.
She had two older siblings - James and Lucie - and two younger - Jace and Ella. She was close to all of them, her cousins included.
Nobody knew why or how Robert, the father of her cousins (technically by marriage), had been sucked into being a member of the Circle; especially when on had to consider that his own mother had gotten a rare disease called Demon Pox - which came from sexual contact with a demon over the course of years - that had been given to her by their father, who had later turned into a literal worm and killed Tatiana's husband.
Nobody talked about Tatiana Blackthorn either, who had resorted to necromancy a few years back.
She'd managed to bring her dead child back.
Currently Céline was standing in the corner near an exit of Pandemonium Club.
People were dressed up in glitzy outfits danced and jerked under the pulsing lights, like they were hypnotized by the beat of the music.
Céline sighed, leaning against the wall. "Do you see it anywhere?"
Jace glanced at his older sister with raised eyebrow. "Look, there is Isabelle. The demon will come out anytime now."
Céline glanced at him curiously, before moving her gaze towards the dance floor, where Isabelle indeed was there.
She wore a long white dress, that covered her runes on her arms, and her ruby neklace that could sense demons was pulsing red, as if with the beat with the song.
Céline's necklace was pulsing as well, as it sensed demon near by.
Her necklace was gifted to her when she was young, it was a gift from her aunt, and it could be sense a demons too.
Isabelle seemed to glide along to dance floor, never touching anyone, until she was right in front of the blue-skinned demon.
Céline grinned.
She gave him a charming smile and took demon's hand in hers and started leading him towards a door labelled 'No admittance'.
The demon looked behind him, grinning, as if he'd just scored the biggest prize on earth.
They both disappeared into black shadow behind the door, and moment later door swung closed.
Within seconds, Jace, Alec and Céline were all standing in front of door, with hands on their weapons.
"You ready, Cél?" Jace raised his eyebrows.
Céline rolled her eyes, "Of course I am ready. I am fighting demons all my life. And besides it's four against one."
Jace grinned and pushed the door open, stepping inside, with Alec close behind him.
Céline started moving forward but paused, feeling a tingling sensation, as if the hair on the back of my neck were standing up.
Céline turned around and saw a mundane redhead girl staring at her, she looked a bit familiar.
Right at her, which was impossible, seeing as Céline is glamoured.
Maybe she was drunk or simply wanted to use doors behind Céline, or maybe even had seen Isabelle and blue-skinned demon enter, and was wondering what they were up to.
Céline felt a little rattled as she turned her back on mundane girl and slipped through the doors.
Alec and Jace were waiting for the right moment to strike, as Isabelle was still luring the demon into a false sense of security.
"What's your name?" The demon asked, as if actually cared for her name.
Isabelle looked up at him, thought her long eyelashes, with a playful, secretive smile on her face. "Isabelle,"
"That's a nice name," the demon seemed thoughtful for a moment, and then he said, "I haven't seen you here before."
Isabelle let out a girlish giggle and raised her hand to cover her mouth. "Are you asking if I am coming here often?"
The demon stiffened.
Isabelle's long white sleeve hand, fallen down, revealing a dark, inky Rune on the inside of her wrist.
"You--" the demon didn't have a time to finish his sentence, before Isabelle stepped forward and hit him in the chest, her hand open. The blow forced the demon back and before he could steady himself, her whip was in her hand. She pulled him off balance and he landed with a loud thud .
Isabelle laughed and stepped towards the demon. "Did you actually think I was a silly mundane?" She flicked a lock of her black hair behind her in annoyance. "He's all yours guys."
Céline rolled her eyes. "We're going to have unwanted company in a few moments. I'd hold off killing him for a moment."
She glanced towards the door she, Jace, and Alec had just come through.
Sure enough, the door opened again and a redhead that reminded her of Charles stepped through.
The analogy didn't make sense, she realized after she'd already made it. Any cousin of Charles and Matthew Fairchild died sixteen years ago. If she remembered her geology right, there had never been a female cousin.
Jonathan Morgenstern had been the only nephew of their current Consul, Charlotte Fairchild. She felt a little sick just thinking about what pain the little boy must have gone through. Burned to death, in Fairchild Manor. Along with his father, the leader of The Circle - a stain in their history - Valentine Morgenstern, and his grandparents.
No one dared or wanted to take the land around the Fairchild manor, or build anything on it as they think the place is cursed, given the horror Valentine has unleashed there.
And because they didn't want to do anything, Charlotte had no choice, than to move somewhere else.
And eventually the similar Fairchild manor was built in a different location in Alicante, far away from where the original Fairchild manor had been.
The redhead looked confused for a moment, like she couldn't understand how she'd seen someone go into this room. Eventually the others turned away from her. Jace's attention going back to the demon.
"Are there more with you?"
The demon feigned innocence. "Any other what?"
"Don't play dumb. You know what we are." Her brother raised his hand and his sleeve fell down his arm.
The demon hissed.
Isabelle laughed. "For a creature of Hell you are dumb."
Alec shook his head at his sister, sharing as exasperated glance with Céline.
The girl, a Mundane (whom she still thought looked a lot like the Fairchilds), suddenly had a look of shock on her face.
Céline could almost imagine what the girl saw - four people with weapons and one blue haired kid bound up. The demon's face morphed into one of fear and pain, trying to get the Mundane to feel sorry for him.
Céline sighed as she watched the girl duck behind a pillar.
"So," Jace's voice pulled her back to the task at hand. "You still haven't told me if there are any other of your kind here."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The
demon sounded convincing to the untrained ear.
"He means other demons." Alec sounded bored; like they always got the stupid demons.
"Demons," Jace drawled, sounding mildly annoyed.
He was about to make a sarcastic remark when Céline cut in. "We still have a guest to worry about." Her eyes shot to the Mundane girl, who looked surprised to see that someone knew where she was.
Jace continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Defined, at least religiously, as the servants of Satan. But understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be-"
"Jace." She cut in again, finally getting his attention. "Stop talking."
Isabelle snorted. "Your older sister has been trying to get your attention for half of your monologue."
"And nobody here needs a lesson on demonology." Alec added.
"I beg to differ." Jace said offhandedly, jerking a thumb at the Mundane. "At least one person here does."
So he had heard her. Good to know her brother still listened, even if he completely ignored her words if they didn't suit him in the moment.
"They think, I talk too much," Jace looked back at demon, his face thoughtful. "Do you think I talk too much?"
The demon seemed to be struggling with something, and it wasn't his wire handcuffs. "I could give you an information. About Valentine. I know where he is."
Céline scoffed, "And so do we. He's dead and has been for sixteen years."
"Give our regards to him when you meet him in Hell." Jace added, his eyes cold. His blade shone as he raised it.
"Stop!" Came the Mundanes voice, despite them having known she was there, Jace was still startled (not an easy feat, mind you) and spun on her.
"What is this?" Alec said, annoyed that some new comer would have the audacity to scream 'stop what you're doing!'
"It's clearly a girl, Alec." Jace replied, polishing his blade. "Surely you've seen one before. Yours sister and mine sister are girls." His tone was bemused.
"I know." Alec snapped. "Why is she here and why is she talking."
"Probably to stop us from killing, what she assumes to be, a human." Céline shrugged.
"Of course, he's a human!" Mundane girl cried. "What else would he be?" Redhead girl's eyes were wide.
"Were you not listening?" Jace asked in amusement. "This is a demon - a servant of Satan. We, as Nephilim, have been tasked to cleanse our world of them."
Céline took a several steps towards mundane girl, "If you know what's good for you, you'd leave."
Mundane girl crossed her her chest, "I am not going anywhere," she pointed towards demon. "If I leave, you'll kill him."
"Yes." Céline replied in a bored tone. "We'll kill him even if you stay."
"You can't just kill people!" The girl shrieked.
"Correct," Jace replied. "You can't kill people . This guy, like I've said twice, is a demon ."
"Demons don't e-!"
She was cut off by the demon finally getting lose and attacking Jace.
Céline glanced down at her watch. "That took the demon ten minutes to get loose. They're getting lazy." She commented, getting into an offensive position.
She mainly used her daggers, one with engraved with a Heron and the other with Flames, but she could use any weapon if she wanted.
When she'd become parabatai with Christopher, they'd traded one dagger. Her Parabatai didn't use them as his main weapon, instead kept them on display in his room at his parents' house.
Céline shook her head to clear her thought and focus on demon.
At that moment the demon, with a high, yowling cry, tore free of the restraints binding him to the pillar, and flung himself on Jace.
They fell to the ground and rolled together, the demon tearing at Jace with hands that glittered as if tipped with metal.
Céline cursed, as Isabelle turned to capture demon with her whip, and Céline squabble to an end by stabbing demon with seraph blade, at demon's chest, in lethal grace and agility.
Céline helped Jace to his feet, after the demon vanished.
She turned angrily to the redhead mundane girl, who had tripped over a coil of wire, and was laying sprawled on the ground, looking terrified.
Céline took a few steps towards her, the ichor covered her glowing daggers, "You stupid, little girl! You could have gotten my brother killed!" Céline snapped.
She stood up, and moved like she wanted to run, but Isabelle's whip snapped out and caught her, around her wrist.
The girl's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes were filled with terror.
"He is crazy, you are all crazy!" She screamed, looking from her wrist to where Céline,Alec,Jace and Isabelle were standing, all with varying degrees of murderous glares. "And when the police gets here, they're going to arrest you all!"
"Little girl, the police are not coming," Céline rolled her eyes. "And even if they were,they aren't usually interested, unless you can produce a body."
Her eyes fell back, to where the body had been, which was now a little more than a pile of demon dust.
"They return to their home dimension, when they die," Jace explained to mundane girl, as if this statement would explain everything to her.
"Jace," Alec sighed, exasperated.
"And I," Céline scowled, warningly. "Think you should keep your mouth shut, Jace."
"She can see us already, Cél," Jace shook his head. "She already knows too much."
"That doesn't mean you should tell her more." Céline snapped.
Isabelle tightened her whip, making mundane girl wince, "So," Isabelle said. "What do we do with her?"
After a moment, Jace shrugged. "Let her go."
Isabelle shot Jace a look of distate, but let the whip fall from the girl's arm.
"We should probably bring her to institute," Alec said. "Hodge will want to speak with her."
"No way," Céline said. "We are not bringing a mundane to institute."
"But is she a mundane?" Jace mused, more to himself, than Céline,Alec and Isabelle. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with warlocks, talked to Night Children? Have you--"
"My name is not a little girl!" She snapped, obviously having enough.
Céline,Alec,Jace and Isabelle heard doors creak open behind mundane girl, and a look of relief crossed over her features.
"Clary?" A male voice said. A second later appeared a boy who looked a year younger than Céline, he had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He appeared along with bouncer as they came into view. "Why are you back here, all by yourself? What happened to those people, the ones with knives?"
The girl--Clary, looked stunned that her friend and bouncer can't see Céline,Alec,Jace and Isabelle.
Céline flashed Clary a grin as Isabelle giggled, and Clary's shoulders fell. "I thought they came in here, but they didn't. It was a mistake."
The boy looked embarrassed, and bouncer was irritated, as the the three of them headed out.
"Our job here is finished." Céline said in her sing-song voice, before the four Shadowhunters left.