City of War

Chapter 2: Clave Emergency

"Clary, clary, claaaaarrrryyyyyy," she heard her name whispered over and over, and when she finally had the strength and will to open her eyes, she was glad she had done so. Jace was positioned over her, smiling as her eyes opened.
Glancing at the clock, she saw it was only 7:30 in the morning.
"Jace, how dare you wake me up out of my beauty sleep at 7 am?" She demanded in a sarcastic tone.
"Why, dear spoiled, sleepy princess, while I'm sorry to have to disturb your majesty's rest, the clave has called a mandatory meeting."
"Now?" She questioned.
"Now." Jace confirmed.
"Or at least, at 8, but I wanted to give you time to get ready, your royal highness," he joked.
"Fiiiinnnneeeee," Clary said, stretching out underneath Jace as he rolled off of the bed and landed in a perfect stance with the grace of a cat.
"Now get out." Clary said firmly. "I must change."
"I feel offended! How dare you not undress in front of me?" Jace joked, leaving the room. Clary heard the door click shut behind him. She walked over and locked it.
"30 minutes," she heard Jace say from down the hall.

Clary walked into the bathroom, flicking on the lights as she stumbled sleepily over to the counter. Grabbing her stele from her dresser, she traced an "awake" rune on her forearm. The stinging itself would have awoken her, but she was so tired, she was sure two cups of coffee pumped full of sugar and nine "awake" runes wouldn't even be able to keep her awake this morning.
She tore her hairbrush through her curls, as they fought back with a mind of their own, knotting themselves up and getting in her way. Finally convinced her hair was decent, she took a fast, five-minute shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth, and put on lotion. Burning runes into the skin was incredibly itchy.
Walking over to the closet, she faced a new dilemma, much harder then brushing her hair. What to wear, what to wear...
After about another ten wasted minutes thinking about possible outfits, she finally decided on a tight-fitted but formal black top with silver buttons going up to the collar, paired with small silver earrings-a gift from Jace-and black leggings with black lace up boots. Being fashionably blind was incredibly time-consuming, especially when the signature Shadowhunter-color was black.
Checking the time, she saw she only had five minutes. Some quick makeup-nothing too serious- mascara, blush, and eyeshadow, and she was ready.
She walked out into the foyer, where Alec, Isabelle, and Jace were waiting for her.
"Maryse portaled to Idris this morning," Alec told her, stern as always, although she sensed he was getting more used to the thought of her being around, and therefore becoming more comfortable with her.
"You look far too stunning for just a clave meeting. How about we go to the Pandemonium later?" Jace suggested.
"Well, if this whole clave thing is serious, I doubt we should be partying if a war is about to begin." Clary joked, her eyes shining.
"You never know," Jace teased her, "we could still go in the middle of a war," he laughed.
"Jace Herondale, you have incredibly terrible timing." Clary said to him.
"That is offensive! I've been told I have excellent timing, especially when I was saving some little short redheads butt from demons a few times." Jace brought up the times he saved her life.
"Oh ha-ha, sure bring up the times you saved me," Clary laughed.
"Hey, that's always a great "get out of jail" free card!" He told her.

It was just at that precise moment that Magnus walked in, eyeing up Alec for just a moment, then it was all business, when the other Shadowhunters of the New York Institute arrived.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, please do form and orderly group, no pushing and shoving, and stand behind the yellow line, as I am about to bend the fabric of the universe here, to get you to Idris.
"What yellow line?" One of the Shadowhunters asked.
Magnus snapped his fingers and one appeared on the floor, as bright as fresh paint, but already dry. Magic was a strange thing. It assumes things without precise instruction, and that can be dangerous. Like the time it "assumed" Magnus wanted the camel to be aggressive when he summoned it. Probably best to not drink and cast.
With everyone behind the line and in order, Magnus twirled his fingers, and blue sparks flew everywhere. Then a portal opened, with a lovely view of Alicanté, the Shadowhunter capitol city of Idris.
"After you," Jace said to Clary.
Clary walked in first, feeling the familiar whirl of weightlessness and numbness, followed by intense tumbling and spinning, and for the grand finally, her landing on her butt in front of all of the other Shadowhunters waiting to greet them. She flushed, embarrassed. Jace quickly and efficiently helped her up.

Once they were in the accords hall, they were all abruptly seated. The entire feeling was anxiety and nervousness. It helped that Clary sat right beside Jace, as he would have it no other way.
"Shadowhunters, I have no doubt that you are wondering why we have called you all here today," the Inquisitor addressed them all. "It is because we face what will be our next war. For this new enemy, we cannot fight alone. We must ally ourselves with the Downworlders." Murmurs of unrest whispered through the hall.
"Now now, no complaints," she told them. We face a great threat. Another prince of hell, who goes by the name Orldkan. He has been portaling all over the world, targeting institutes and capturing Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike. He has his ways with a few of the females, before stealing our runes from us, or taking pieces of the Downworlders for his "collection," which consists of fangs, wings, eyes, and claws or fur samples. We must stop him before everything is thrown out of balance, or before everyone else is dead. It can't be long before he starts to target humans, too. And they mustn't know what they truly face, or their hasty governments could throw everything out of balance."
No one could speak for at least five minutes.
When Clary looked over at Jace, he looked momentarily stunned, then stern, ever a soldier. But he did wrap his arms over Clary, as if he could shield her from the impending war.