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CHAPTER TEN:
❝ The Memory Of Whiteness ❞
Fortunately, they did find water. Unfortunately, it did nothing to help Esme's rose-colored vision get back to normal. And even more unfortunately, Nico was stuck with her holding her giggling form up. She pointed at a Seelie's horns and burst out laughing before cutting herself with a hiccup. Her eyes widened as if she were fascinated by this phenomenon of hiccups before she saw the Seelie again, and sputtered a laugh. Nico rubbed his temple and sighed.
As he tugged her along with him, searching for his brothers and sister, he came across a room that looked like it might solve their problem. It was a riot of colors - canary-yellow sheets and bedspread draped over a mattress on the floor, electric-blue vanity table strewn with more pots of paint and makeup than Isabelle's. Rainbow velvet curtains hid the floor to - ceiling windows, and a tangled wool rug covered the floor.
And in the middle were Jace, Clary, and Alec, talking to Magnus. Nico almost gave a relieved sigh. "Guys - " he began, but they seemed to be deep in conversation. Soundlessly, he joined them. Not so soundlessly, so did Esme.
"You were there, that day," Clary said. "I saw you coming out of Dorothea's apartment. I remember your eyes."
Magnus looked as if he might purr. "I'm memorable, it's true," he gloated. Then he shook his head. "You shouldn't remember me," he said. "I threw up a glamour as hard as a wall as soon as I saw you. You should have run right into it face-first - psychically speaking."
Clary said, "If you take the spell off me, will I be able to remember all the things I've forgotten? All the memories you stole?"
"I can't take it off you." Magnus looked uncomfortable.
"What?" Jace sounded furious. "Why not? The Clave requires you - "
Magnus looked at him coldly. "I don't like being told what to do, little Shadowhunter."
Nico could see how much Jace disliked being referred to as "little," but before he could snap out a reply, Alec spoke. His voice was soft, thoughtful. "Don't you know how to reverse it?" he asked. "The spell, I mean."
Magnus sighed. "Undoing a spell is a great deal more difficult than creating it in the first place. The intricacy of this one, the care I put into weaving it - if I made even the smallest mistake in unraveling it, her mind could be damaged forever. Besides," he added, "it's already begun to fade. The effects will vanish overtime on their own."
Clary looked at him sharply. "Will I get all my memories back then? Whatever was taken out of my head?"
"I don't know. They might come back all at once, or in stages. Or you might never remember what you've forgotten over the years. What your mother asked me to do was unique, in my experience. I've no idea what will happen."
