Trapped in History

9

Not to be mistaken. It was not as though Jace and Jonathon were different people. They were not. He did not have some sort of weird second identity. Jonathan and Jace were the same, barring one thing. Survival. Jonathon was far more ruthless and cruel, in some ways. Alec liked to seperate the two because they seemed like totally different people, but they really were not. Jonathan was Jace, and Jace was Jonathan, it was just that one side was Jace when he was rife on instinct and in complete survival mode, unable or unwilling to think. When they first landed in whatever alternate place that they were in, Jonathan had not been entirely in control, but a lot of the actions were heavily influenced by what Alec would call Jonathan over Jace. Jace was more...emotional, more understanding even if at times it did not really seem like it. 

When Jace was no longer considered Jace, but Jonathan, mercy was rarely granted because Jonathan was literally everything Jace had been forced to become to survive, and it had only happened once before. They had been fighting a Greater Demon, and the Demon had commented and thrashed Jace to the core, ripping into him in a verbal manner that had Alec cringing just from the memory of it, and on top of that he had stated the one thing that would definitely tip Jace off the edge...mentioned Valentine. Of course, they had not known it was Valentine at the time, but he had said that Jace's father was alive, and was coming. Alec could remember the utter terror in his eyes before not a moment after the Greater Demon had lunged for him and Jace in Jace's lapse of judgment had his eyes turned a solid gold and Jace had ruthlessly slaughtered him. Afterwards, Jace and Alec and Isabelle had agreed to keep this...thing a secret. Jonathon was the epitome of all that was an angel facing a war. It was It was the more angelic half of Jace. The two were the same, but Jonathon had less humanity then Jace, despite the two being the same person and the same being, Jonathan only came out when Jace was highly vulnerable and in a vulnerable state. It was unnerving to see, and the only other time that Alec had ever faced this the other had slaughtered a Greater Demon alone, by himself, whilst injured. 

This did not spell well for him, or for Will behind him, or likely the rest of the Institute. Alec needed to figure out a way to get Jace back to him. He was not really sure how he could do that, though, given the fact that the last time they had help from the Seelie, and seeking help from them was sort of...out of the question at this moment. 

"Jace," Alec said gently, his hand over his side, Alec pleaded that he would see something, something, but there was no sliver of the blue eyes he was used to, and with a sharp inhale, he tackled Jace down, and, knowing he had maybe seconds at most, he used his Stele to trace the rune on Jace's neck. Jace screamed, pain flooding every part of his being. Alec hated it, he hated using such a cursed mark. 

Jace had taught it to them. Said that his father had used it on him a few times when he had gone too far and Jonathon had resurfaced. It was one of the reasons Jace hated to be called Jonathon, it was the only distinction that he had from the merciless side of himself, the one more connected to cruelty. Jace saw Jonathon as Valentine and himself as the only distinction. Either way, he had warned them that, though it was unlikely, should they need to the rune would force his Angelic side under surface again. One of the cons of having too much Angel blood coursing through you, for though Angels were kind and merciful, they were the exact opposite in danger. that is where Nephilim differ. they understand the emotions of humanity, they feel them, Angels are merciful in the more logical way, yet, they are more then dangerous. Jace had said that they should only ever use it if there was no other options, and had warned them not to ever show it to any of their elders. He had also said that should they use it, make sure that they got a Warlock, or a Seelie, or a Vampire to oversee. For what reason, Alec had no idea, but he was not about to question it.

One thing that Jace had conveniently left out, it would seem, is that the way the Rune worked to force Jace's full angelic side under control was by causing vast amounts of pain to flood his body. Alec was horrified, but even still he finished the Rune, and Jaces' eyes closed.  His eyes filled with tears, but he refused to let them fall. Pulling Jace into his arms, he turned to Jem and Will. 

"You know a warlock I presume." Alec said, getting straight to the point. The two nodded, silent. Alec supposed that was a good reaction given what they had just seen. They did not know anything, and it would stay that way if he could do anything about it. "Take us to him." It was the second best option. 

Alec knew that Magnus was around at this time, and as much as Jace would likely have preferred them to go to Meliorn, he was not entirely sure that was the best idea at the moment. These Shadowhunters had a somewhat amicable relationship with Magnus, but Alec was not entirely sure how their relations with the Seelie had been, and he would rather not risk being sucked into eternal slavery. He also trusted Magnus, forget everything else, and while he did not know this times' Magnus, he knew that the other was less likely to go spelling rumors around, which was important. Though...he was not entirely sure what Jace would feel. While the other accepted Magnus, because Alec liked him, and Magnus had helped them, Alec had always felt that there was some sort of...barrier between the two, and he was not entirely sure why. 

Not that it mattered now, he needed to get Jace out of the institute, and someone to oversee this rune thing. he was not sure what the Rune was. Alec had searched it up after Jace had shown him, but he had not found anything like this rune, which likely meant that it was a forbidden rune, or a demonic rune. The thought made his head spin. Either way, Valentine had willingly used this on a child...a child. The fact that it needed supervision...Jace probably could have died, and Jace had refused to elaborate on anything else. 

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Alec swallowed, Magnus was before them...and he had a feeling he had vastly underestimated his ability.