Out Of Time (TID and TMI)

Chapter 4

Jem and Will froze, paralyzed in shock.  The Infernal Devices couldn't be here.  Right?

    "Tess, what do you mean?  It's been 131 years since Mortmain."

    "Will.  I know what I saw.  There are only five people alive that know how to fight them.  We need you and Jem.  Now."  The last part Tessa said was a mixture of fear and sternness. 

    "What do you mean that there are five of us?  It's me, you, Jem, and Magnus.  Is someone else alive too or-"

    "Will.  We have to go!"  Jem said while grabbing his Parabatai's wrist and dragging him out of the room along with Tessa trailing behind, leaving the modern teens standing in confusion.

Right after the door shut, Jace grabbed a weapon belt and started to put on battle gear.  Clary put an arm on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"  She hissed in his ear.  "You can't go after them.  You don't know how to fight whatever the Infernal Devices are."

"Oh yah?  Watch me."  Jace left the room with Clary fuming behind him.

Jace pushed a strand of golden hair out of his eyes.  They needed all the help they could get.  Racing down the stairs and into the courtyard, he saw the battle unfold. 

Large metal beings surrounded Jem, Will, Tessa, Magnus, and Zachariah.  Gears could be seen under their cheap Victorian clothing.  Jace had to say- they did very well as a group.  Will, Jem, and Zachariah where on the front, fighting multiple creatures at once.  Magnus was using his magic to slow automatons down.  Tessa, on the other hand, was Changing into other Shadowhunters and using their strengths to her advantage.

Jace grabbed a seraph blade from his belt, ready to fight.  Magnus locked eyes with Jace, while yelling something- a call to go back perhaps- that was lost in the chaos. 

"Jem!"  Will yelled.  He was weaponless, and holding his hand.  Jem, not hearing his Parabatai's cry, kept on fighting a few yards away.  Zachariah looked up and saw Will with his hand out, waiting.  As an instinct, he threw his sword to Will. 

Blinking in surprise, Will fumbled but managed to grasp the sword.  He stabbed the automaton and it exploded in a shower of sparks.  Jace surged forwards seraph blade in hand.  Running towards the nearest automaton, he brought his blade down on its head- only to have it shatter in his hand. 

Years of practice paid off as Jace quickly grabbed another blade, this one made out of aegis.  He slammed it down on the head of his enemy and watched in satisfaction as the head earned a new hole.  The four shadowhunters continued the battle until all the automatons were left to rubble and debris.  

"Well, that was exciting."  WIll muttered as he wiped blood and sweat of his forehead.  He had a long gash across the top of his head, his hair sticking to his head.  Jem, holding a stele, quickly drew a rune on his Parabatai's arm, closing the wound to just a cut.  Will muttered a thanks and counted the remains of the automatons, while Tessa and Magnus talked a few yards away.

"There were forty one.  That's quite a bit."

"That's not as much as the battle we had back at the London Institute."  Zachariah said, in a calm voice.  The calmness annoyed Will.  It seemed like there was something familiar about it, but he couldn't place his thumb on it. 

"How do you know so much about the London Institute?"  Jem asked. 

Zachariah shrugged.  "I grew up there.  Lived there for about six years."

"Boys!  Stop chatting.  We need to get inside if more automatons come."  Magnus yelled, interrupting them from there seemingly causal argument.   Will decided that he would figure out who Zachariah was, no matter what. 

Silently, the four shadowhunters walked back to the institute.  As soon as Jace walked in Clary approached him.  There was a new fire in her brilliant green eyes, one of anger and fury. 

"Jace!  You bastard!  You could have died.  Again."  Her eyes flared again in anger.  Jace smirked and leaned down to kiss her, but Clary had other plans.  She raised her hand and slapped him across the face.  Jace stood there, his golden eyes wide in shock.

"Ow,"  He exclaimed, his face starting to get red from both embarrassment and the hit.  Will snickered.

"That escalated quickly, if I do say so myself."  Will said, the amusement clear on his face.  Jace, in return, glared daggers at his ancestor.  "You want to go train?"

Jem looked up.  "Nah.  I'm good.  I'm a little bit tired so I'll just go upstairs."  Will nodded and went off with Jace, Clary, Simon, Alec, and Izzy to the training room.

Sighing, Jem walked slowly up the stairs.  His thoughts were swirling around in his head like leaves in a hurricane.  As he reached the landing, voices could be heard from Tessa's room.

    ". . . and you don't remember anything of this?"  A soft voice said.  Tessa.

    "I'm telling you, I would know what to do if I remembered."  This was Zachariah's voice this time.

"And Will, it was good to see him after all this time. After-"  Tessa's voice stopped suddenly and Jem could hear muffled sobbing sounds.  What had happened to his Parabatai?  He heard a faint sigh.

"I'm trying to remember Tess, I really am.  It's just a blank slate." 

"Did you forget during brotherhood?"  Jem stepped closer.  He knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop, but this information could have something to do with why he and Will were here.

"Even though it was one hundred and thirty years, I still remember everything about my life befor brotherhood."  Zachariah said. 

"Jem,"  Jem's head snapped up.  Did Tessa know he was here?  "Someone is behind this.  I don't know who, but they are trying to mess up our lives.  Just when I was ready to move on with Will's death, he came back.  We need to figure out who this is."

"It's nice to hear my name again.  Zachariah is good and all, but I like the sound of it when you say it." 

Jem took a step back.  He was Zachariah?  How could he still be alive?  Unless. . . Tessa said something about brotherhood.  Silent Brothers?  If he did become one, how could he be back to normal?  Brotherhood was a permanent state.  It was irreversible. 

Footsteps came nearer.  The sound of a doorknob turning.  As quick as a flash. Jem was down the hall and into his room.  He looked down at his hands and realized he was shaking.  Walking over to his bedside table, he grabbed the box that held the drug he took to survive.  Taking a pinch of the silvery powder, he dropped it into a glass of water and watched it dissolve with sick pleasure.  Mixing it once with his finger, he downed it in one gulp.