Fear

Oh, Brother

Chapter 31- Oh, Brother

Clary POV

As soon as I say the words, my friends erupt into a chorus of protest, Simon included. Izzy, however, just stands there in a stunned silence. I know how she feels: she's torn between her love for Simon and her responsibility over the whole world, playing out different scenarios in her head. I catch her eye again and wink very briefly at her, so that it goes undetected by Sebastian. She smirks slightly at me and nods before adding her voice to the symphony created by everyone else.

"Good choice, Clarissa." Sebastian praises. He hands Simon over to one of the endarkened and I feel like my heart is able to beat again and breathing comes easier. Holding a hand out towards me, he says, "Our Father would be proud of the shadowhunter you have become."

Hesitantly, I slide my hand into his and force myself not to flinch when he presses his lips up against my cheek. Moments ago, a rune slipped into my mind; a rune so powerful that just the sight of it behind my eyes was beginning to give me a headache. The delicate swirls of the rune would allow me to kill Sebastian for good, just by placing my hand on him.

The strength of the angelic power is like that of another world. When my angel blood and Sebastian's angel blood is connected by the rune, the angel blood will burn away Sebastian's demon blood, hopefully killing him altogether.

"Clary." Jace warns me. "Think about what you're doing. You're condemning not just us, but the rest of the world."

"I know what I'm doing, Jace," I say sharply, confidence laced through my tone. I try to give Jace a look that says, trust me- I have a plan, and he suddenly understands, his eyes filling with fear and his fists clenching at his side. He goes to talk me out of whatever I'm about to do, but I turn to Sebastian before he can say anything and before my confidence begins to crumble.

"Sebastian... brother," I say. "If I draw this rune for you, you have to let them all go."

"Very well," Sebastian nods his consent.

Ash steps forward, passing me his steele. His eyes lock on mine and he seems to be trying to figure out what I'm planning on doing. I nod over to Jace and thankfully Ash understands, moving over to stand by him, ready to hold him back if necessary.

I gently tug on Sebastian's hand so that we're closer to the ruins (and further away from my friends), "I need to draw a rune on each of us, so hold still," I tell him and gently tip his head to the side, brushing a couple of startlingly white curls of hair away from his face. I take the cold steele in my hand and take a deep breath before drawing the magnificent spiral of curls that stretch from his left eyebrow to the bottom of his jaw. He grunts slightly in pain and I mutter a quick, "Sorry, brother," before continuing on.

I release Sebastian and begin to imitate the rune I drew on him on a smaller scale in the palm of my right hand, flinching slightly at the burning sensation that travels up my arm. Because of the strength of the rune, it is painful to put on, but the pain of this is nothing in comparison to the pain that will overtake my body once the rune is in action- killing Sebastian for good may also kill me too.

When I'm done, I tuck the steele into my back pocket and take one glance back at my friends: Alec looks mad at what I chose to do, glaring daggers in my direction and yelling profanities; Magnus' face is the picture of pain and disappointment, but he remains silent, for which I'm thankful; Simon is yelling my name, begging me to change my mind; Isabelle knows that I don't intend to take Sebastian back in time and is straining against her endarkened shadowhunters, warning me not to do something stupid.

And Jace. Jace is struggling with all his might against Ash, who was struggling to keep Jace from breaking away and running after me. Both of them know me enough to understand that I am going to do something that they would consider stupid, but I consider necessary and whereas Ash understands that whatever I'll do will be for the greater good, Jace just sees me trying to get myself killed.

This family, however small and broken it is, is the legacy I leave behind, the great adventures we've shared stored in their memories, that'll hopefully be restored when Sebastian and I are dead. I feel my eyes begin to well with tears as Jace shouts my name, his scream a cry of pure agony as he realises what I'm about to do.

Sebastian flicks the few tears off my face with a quick sweep of this thumb and holds my face in his hands, "It's okay, little sister. When we get to the other world, we'll be a new family. Sebastian and Clarissa Morgenstern. We'll rule the world and you'll forget all about your friends. You'll have everything you'll ever need; you'll have me."

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer to him. What a terrible way to die: wrapped in the arms of your enemy, your brother, the reaper of thousands of lives.

"I love you, Clarissa," he whispers into my ear.

"Sebastian?" I pull out of the embrace to look at him. He smiles sweetly and cocks his head to the side, listening to me. "I'm sorry."

"For what, little sister?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't stop you sooner, big brother." I place my right hand against his left cheek so that our runes are aligned and the burning begins instantly.

All I feel is the white hot pain that engulfs me, spreading through my limbs like wild fire, setting alight every inch of my soul and body. All I can see is the light that surrounds us, turning the world's beautiful pastel colours of green and blue into column of angels' glory. All I can hear is my brother's roar of pain as the angel's might in the rune burns away his demon soul and with it, his human soul.

He stands before me and, as we scream through the pain of our bodies being torn apart, I see the blackness evaporate from his eyes, leaving sparkling green eyes that match mine, looking longingly at me. In this look, I don't see the lust that I have always seen in Sebastian's eyes, but the despair and sadness of somebody who has missed out on something in life. I don't see Sebastian looking back at me, but Jonathan- the brother I should have had.

Blinking away the black spots that have begun to cloud my vision, I watch as Sebastian's – Jonathan's- skin rips apart and disappears into the column of light and I yank my hand away from his face.

The pain feels like somebody is trying to rip apart my body, atom by atom, through a mighty flame that eats through my soul. I feel a hand wrap around my arm and the black spots completely cloud my vision. I welcome the darkness.

A/N

I know right guys, I actually have began updating again. I really do suck. Anyway, I am alternating posting chapters for each of my fanfictions (side note: go check out my Percy Jackson fanfiction called 'Almost Home'.) And I hope to have this story completed by the end of the summer.

Remember to like, vote, comment. Thank you for reading and for now, I'm signing out!