Shadowveil

The Discovery

Please put your opinion on my question below if you have time:)

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Simon turned, blinking. 

Clary felt the world tilt under her feet. This was Simon, her Simon; who still had an awkward, nerdy cowlick even after becoming a Shadowhunter; the only signs of his new persona were the Voyance rune on his right hand and the parabatai rune showing above his collar. 

The man in front of her was her best friend, but not. His hair was longer now, falling into his eyes not fashionably like Jace's, but like he hadn't had a haircut in a while. His obscure rock band t-shirt had been replaced by a scruffy blue button-down and a pair of faded jeans, with a typical Shadowhunter cloak fastened hastily on top and the arch of a bow and quiver visible behind his head. 

Also, he was holding the arm of a small screaming boy who had his coffee-colored eyes.

Clary exchanged a look with Jace. The kind of look Simon had complained about before meeting Isabelle, who had proceeded to lash him up in her whip and then drag him with her wherever she went so they could have their own conversational glances. 

Now, though, this version of Simon just looked frazzled. He hardly glanced at them, more focused on wrangling the angry child at his feet. "Clary, Jace," he greeted absently, trying and failing to drag the boy back towards the fountain. "I thought you couldn't come. Where's Ian?" 

Clary blinked. Didn't he notice that they were only just into their twenties, not thirties? Jace shifted next to her. "Ian?" he questioned, a kind of studied blankness to his voice. It was the same careless tone he had used when she first met him; the apathetic inflection he used when he felt most uncertain.

"Come on!" Simon said, forcibly dragging the boy--surely his son--behind him. "Yes," he said over his shoulder as he made a little headway towards the crowd. "Ian." He took on a joking tone. "You know--your only son? About yea high, looks like a tiny version of Jace but with a much better personality because he takes after Clary?"

Jace and Clary had started to follow him. Now they paused. "Our only son?" Clary muttered at the same time that Jace said "Better personality? Surely there is no such thing to be found on Earth. I am a paragon of--" and then paused as he absorbed the first half of the sentence. 

Simon finally turned all the way around. "Why are you acting like you've never heard of the kid?" he asked. "Normally Jace can't shut up about him. It's all 'Ian learned a new sword pattern today. Ian passed his Arabic language certification. Ian killed his first demon last week. Ian helped an old lady cross the street today'--wait a second." 

Simon paused. "Holy s---" he squinted at the two of them and rubbed his eyes. "Is the sleep deprivation catching up with me? I could swear that you both look about thirteen years old. Did you get a couples facial or something?" 

Although rattled from all the revelations in the last two minutes, Jace still managed a supremely disdainful look. "A facial?" he repeated. "You think my glowing perfection could be achieved by something as mundane as a skin treatment?" He tossed his hair. "If my looks could be copied just through a face mask alone, I wouldn't be nearly such a desirable specimen--"

Clary stomped on his foot, wishing she was wearing a pair of heels. "You know, Jace, people who praise themselves excessively are usually trying to compensate for something."

Jace smirked sleepily at her. "Do you really want to go there, woman? I believe I've clearly demonstrated to you, even as recently as last night--"

Clary turned a shade of brick red. "I wasn't talking about that!" she snapped, itching to pinch him. "I was implying a character flaw." Jace grinned. "Well, you're out of luck there too, sweetheart, because I have none." Clary gave a tremendous and unladylike snort and got ready to start listing them: arrogance, entitlement, recklessness, suicidal tendencies, overprotectiveness, rudeness--oh, where to begin? Jace saw the look on her face and quickly amended, "Well, I might have one or two, but they are all clearly outshadowed by my magnificent looks."

Clary gave him her best dark look. "Nobody could be that handsome. You definitely aren't." Jace clutched his heart and pretended to faint dramatically. 

"Excuse me," Simon interrupted. "I'm still here, if you haven't remembered. And by the way, now I know something's up. You both look way, way too young." His eyes widened. "Wait, are you demons? Or skinwalkers? I watched a show like this once on Netflix, where two evil spirits pretended to be the kid's parents and then they grew claws and started--"

Jace rolled his eyes better than a teenage girl being lectured by her well-meaning parents. "In case you've forgotten, Simon, Alicante is warded against evil spirits and the like." Simon reached surreptitiously towards his cloak, and probably a knife he had hidden there. "You definitely sound like Jace," Simon said suspiciously. "But Sebastian got in once." 

Clary winced internally, knowing the reaction to what she was going to say. "Simon, we're not demons," she mumbled, wishing she didn't have to say the next couple of sentences. She took a deep breath. "Just. . .don't freak out, okay? Actually, we're from the future. I drew this new rune that-"

Simon let out a shriek that rivaled his kid's earlier wails. "Time travel?" he bellowed. Jace plugged his ears in preparation."Howdidyoudoitit'sscientificallyproventhattimetravelisn't possibleeventhewarlocksagreeohmyGodthisissoawesome!" Clary winced as Simon's monologue proceeded to get more and more high-pitched. By now, probably only bats could hear him. 

Simon was a huge nerd for time travel and all things sci-fi. Apparently, that hadn't changed, even fourteen years into the future. Jace snorted as Simon started flapping his arms like a bird, too excited to form words. 

"Simon," she tried. "Hey, are you listening? I need you to calm do--" A voice interrupted her. 

"Hey! You can't just squirm out of this and leave me with all the kids. Do you know how hard it is to keep a watch on all four of them--wait, where's Hannah? Has anyone seen her?" The speaker looked around wildly and caught sight of Simon, who was still bobbing up and down. 

"What the hell are you doing? Why are you impersonating a stork?"

Clary slowly peeked out from around Jace and Simon to look at the new addition to the group. 

"Hi, Isabelle."

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Sorry this chapter is kind of weird. It's surprisingly hard to try and figure out how to break the news that the character's from the future. If you have a better idea, let me know and I'll edit. 

Next chapter, we will be introduced to 2026 Isabelle, and her and Simon's five children! Also, do you feel like we haven't really seen enough of Jace in the last chapters? Should I make a chapter dedicated to just present-time Jace and Clary? Let me know, please! Thanks!