TID short story ( Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

Among the pandemonium that was surrounding him like a poisonous cloud right now, Jem's head felt like it had been bashed repeatedly by a brick. Above him, the Angels had smashed through the glass ceiling of the room, causing glass to rain down on them. Ithuriel was the only thing that was holding them back, as he tried to deter them off the Shadowhunters by deftly intercepting each angel which tried to duck past him.

Jem was only dimly aware that his hand which held the sword was being scorched by its hilt. This whole moment seemed so surreal that he wasn't sure he could feel pain anymore. All that mattered was that he had the sword of heavenly fire-whatever it was-and that he could deliver it to Johnathan who stood right across the room, staring desperately at him.

Clary was still busy marking the New York Shadowhunters with her new rune, and Jem hasn't received his yet. But he knew that time was gradually slipping out of their fingertips like sand, and he did not have a moment left to waste.

He lifted his legs that seemed to weigh a ton, and sprinted.

Left and right, cracks were erupting and splintering across the floor, the walls-everywhere. Blue mist curled out of those cracks in thick clouds with low hisses. Soon the room was enveloped in a thick blanket of blue mist, and Jem could hardly see his surroundings anymore.

He kept running anyway, but then the voices and the ghosts came.

The voices of his parents he so dearly missed all his life called out to him, clear and melodious, begging him, pleading him to come home. He saw in the mist another world where his parents were never killed, and that he would grow up healthy without the need of yin fen. He saw himself and his parents together, embracing each other in a tight circle and exchanging radiant smiles. A world that never was.

Jem wiped away his tears with his sleeve as he felt his footsteps slow. The sword now seemed to weigh like lead in his burnt hand.

And then he saw another future where him and Tessa could grow old together. It was a world where he would never be touched by his sickness or his medicine, a world where he could be a normal boy. He saw Tessa and himself holding a hand each of a little girl who had Tessa's lovely grey eyes and his raven black hair. She was laughing, then, as Tessa and him hoisted her up into the air and brought her back down again. Even though Jem knew it was nothing more than a vision, he could hear the girl's pearly chuckles echoing as clear as crystal in his mind. The days that never came.

But afterwards something pulled him back into reality again.

He saw in the mist, the days of his childhood with Will. The times that they had went to Hyde park and fallen asleep under an apple tree after they had climbed right to the top for the juiciest apples. The times that they had went out demon hunting with Henry, only returning back to the Institude to fall asleep in front of the fireplace, sprawled next to each other like puppies. And Jem saw in the mist the one time when he tried to tackle Will from behind-hoping to get back at him for embarrassing him in front of a couple of girls-but doing so quite unsuccessfully. Will was still a young boy then. And he had laughed at Jem and blushed.

Jem knew at that exact moment that he could not live in his dreams anymore. He might not have his health, his parents or the love of his life, but he has Will, like he always had since the day they first met in the Institude.

He drew in a shuddering breath, raising the sword back from the ground. Not knowing how he managed to do it, he found Johnathan a few minutes after he stumbled blindly through the thick blue mist.

"You have my respect," Johnathan's green eyes were filled with amazement, as he took the sword from Jem's scorched hand. The blade of the sword lit up into an almost blinding gold instantly. "James Carstairs, this battle would be won in your name."