Shadowveil

The Clave

"Clearly, the best course of action is to immediately shore up the wards again. We can have experts dispatched to Wrangel Island as soon as--"

"The wards have already gone down once, you fool! They were thought to be infallible, but they have fallen! And these next wards will do the same. We should mobilize our Institutes--" 

"We don't have the troops to fight a global, multi-front war. You know that. We were a dying breed even before the wars with the Endarkened Ones, and now, with the latest attacks, we hardly have enough Nephilim to even defend our Institutes, let alone mobilize them--"

"We should summon our allies. The Downworlders--"

"Hate us because we did not repay them as promised after the Endarkened Wars. I wouldn't trust a fairy farther than I could throw them after what we put in their treaties! Give them a knife and they'd be sure to--"

"Mon dieu, enough arguing, we must evacuate! Several of our Institutes have only a handful of warriors left, and those are children or retired scholars at best. We can't go on--"

Clary rubbed her temples and sank deeper into her chair with a sigh. Her head throbbed from the Clave's shouting; across the table, her older self seemed as worn out as she did. To her left, Future Jace was beating down the Shanghai's Head's idea of a frontal attack, looking seconds away from snapping the idiotic man's neck just to be done with the argument. 

Her eyes drooped. After hours of being on call, all she really wanted was a hot meal, a long shower, and a nice nap. Instead, she got to join on the "updates," which was really sitting in a chair with bad back support and listening to terrified Shadowhunters beat up on each other's ideas. 

Jace lived for this sort of stuff, she thought, cracking an eye open to see her fiancé in a shouting match with a red-cheeked woman who thought having all Nephilim take shelter in the New York Institute was a good idea.

She didn't. Other Clary was proving her point by starting to gently bang her head against the table.

She was beyond grateful when the chimes sounded, signaling a break. The redhead staggered up on numb legs, rushing for the exit, along with a handful of other worn-out Shadowhunters and their future selves. The rest of the Clave, including her present-day Jace, remained in their seats and continued to shout. 

As usual, nothing had been decided or resolved. The Shadowhunters really needed to get a better government.

Even though all Institutes technically had the same layout, Clary had learned that going to a new one always screwed her sense of direction. She'd done typical Shadowhunter training by living in a couple different Institutes once she turned eighteen; she'd lived in Sofia, Nairobi, Seoul, Tel Aviv, and Montreal. It had taken at least a week in each one before she felt directionally confident.

With that in mind, Clary fumbled through the halls until she found the kitchen after about a dozen wrong turns. She somehow couldn't equate this Institute, with its muraled walls, arched ceilings, and gilded railings, with the Brooklyn base she lived in. 

Frustrated, she made herself a coffee and wandered around, fighting off her drowsiness. She passed through the library, several more meeting rooms, and what looked like an artifacts collection before finding the training room.

She paused at the door. It was a standard layout--weapons arranged on the wall, ropes dangling from high-beamed ceilings, torturous training equipment lining the perimeters of the padded floor. Future Jace and Lucian were sparring in the middle, their golden eyes narrowed in concentration, sunlight sparking off their pale hair and flashing blades.

Future Jace quick-stepped out of range, then lunged into a swift feint. Ian smashed his father's sword aside and whirled away, landing a solid kick to Jace's knee as he did so. "Good," his father praised. "Keep your eyes up. Elbow out." Clary leaned against the doorframe, smiling.

Lucian was very good. Clary could tell that by the easy way he handled his blade and the precision of his footwork, in the effortless defenses and the spare elegance of his attacks. Well, he must be good if Jace trained him, she thought dryly. She started to move away, not wanting to interrupt their father-son bonding time of trying to stab each other. 

Lucian made a quarter turn on the heel of his foot to avoid one of Jace's strikes and caught sight of her. "Clary!" he said cheerfully, using his free hand to wave at her. His father stopped a strike an inch from his neck and rapped him reproachfully on the head. "Focus," he said chidingly. "That would have gotten you killed."

Ian frowned up at him. "Practice what you preach first," he said. "When we were sparring in Marrakesh before the Solstice party and Mum showed up in her new dress, you tripped over your own foot and I almost cut off your ear." Clary snickered, and Future Jace sputtered. "That was a one-time mishap--"

His son ignored him and came bounding towards her, sword abandoned. "How was the meeting?" he asked brightly. "The Clave sure does shout a lot, don't you think? Sometimes Mum lets me sit in on the meetings back at home, and hardly anything ever gets done. We really should streamline the governing system."

Clary ruffled his bright hair fondly, wondering if this was what it felt like to be the 'cool aunt.' "Only ten, and already planning on toppling the government?" she asked teasingly. He gave a little shrug and trotted back to his sword, carefully hanging the blade up on the wall. "The strength of a people is measured by the strength of its ruling body. I just think we could do a little better, that's all."

"We could," Future Jace agreed. "And one day, maybe you'll help change that. While you plan your coup d' état, why don't you go get your sister so we can have an early lunch?" Ian disappeared through a side door, humming, and his father turned to Clary with a little smile. He didn't seem much older or changed than her Jace, but the way this version looked at her was markedly different. 

It reminded her of how she looked at Emma Carstairs, or even at Ellie; the kind of expression you reserved for cute younger children and siblings. Seen on an identical face to her fiancé's, she found it somewhat unsettling.

 He smiled, chipped tooth flashing, as if he could read her thoughts. "You and little Jace will join us, of course, and we'll bring Isabelle too. It's really hard to find food in any of the Institutes for some reason, so I bought some sandwiches on the way back from my last mission in Maine. Is little me still arguing with the Clave?"

Clary nodded. "I was a bit surprised that you weren't still arguing too," she commented. Future Jace snorted and stretched, his shirt riding over the Marks on his abdomen. "I've been arguing with the Clave for the last fourteen years. Asses, all of them, and if they weren't listening then, they won't be listening now. There's no need for me to waste my breath."

"Now we'd better find everybody and have a nice meal, because when that's over Clary--my wife-- was called to Wrangel Island, and she wants to take you with while little Jace and I go on call again." Clary coughed. She'd just landed in Rome, for God's sake! And now she had to go to Wrangel Island? Without Jace?

"I know, I know," he said, raising his hands when she glared at him. "I'm not happy about it either. But it's only for a couple of hours, not even a whole day."

That didn't make Clary any happier. In fact, it made her angrier. They were inconveniencing her just so they could make her examine wards for a couple hours? Not even giving her the chance to finally sleep?

She clenched her sword tightly and did her best to smile through gritted teeth. 

"Lovely. Wrangel Island, here I come."

Future Jace inched away from her expression. 

________________________________________________________

So, there's going to be both bonding time and Wrangel Island. Come to think of it, I don't know how the island's described, so if you do know please excuse my imaginary description.

Next chapter, should I go straight into the Clary and Clary bonding session, or would you like to see some interactions between the Jaces, from younger Jace's POV? Let me know!