Return ↠ Jace Wayland

XIV. ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS

MALIA HAD ALWAYS LOVED FORESTS; EVEN AFTER SPENDING HALF HER LIFE IN ONE, SHE STILL LOVED THEM.

This is why she had absolutely no problem with walking through one with clary, jace and Meliorn. "Toto, were not in Kansas anymore" clary mussed "welcome to the seelie glade, clary Fairchild and malia hale" Meliorn said "the remotest edges of it" "how did we get here?" malia asked

"There are entrances all through the mundane world" jace explained "you just have to know where to look" Meliorn added and clary asked "why did we have to come here to find my father?" "Because of your necklace" Meliorn pointed to the purple portal shard hanging around clary's neck

"how does it work" Meliorn asked as the group continued through the forest "when I touch the crystal and I think of someone, I can see where they are" clary told the seelie "in curious, shadow hunter, who knows so much about portals, did you never wonder why this portal shard doesn't behave the way normal portals do?" Meliorn asked and jace replied "normal portals can only take you to places you've been. I guess I never really thought about it"

"I see Isabelle is the smart one in the family" Meliorn said and clary and malia broke out in smiles. Malia continued to look at her surroundings as Meliorn continued to speak "your portal shard works the way it does because it's a piece of portal from another dimension" "another dimension?"Clary asked

"so your saying there's a portal in some other universe that can take us to anyone if we just think of them?" jace questioned "if you can find the only portal still standing in that dimension... it will take you to your father" Meliorn said

"These trees are where the alternate dimensions intersect the seelie realm" Meliorn said as they walked deeper into the forest "how is it possible the clave doesn't know about your dimensional doorways?" jace asked "they are our most guarded secret. We are their protectors, only seelies know of their existence" the seelie explained "then why are you telling us?" malia asked

"I owe you a life debt" Meliorns eyes flickered between clary and malia "and I don't like being indebted to anyone" Meliorn stopped walking when they reached an archway made of two trees "what would happen if"- Meliorn cut clary off "if the seelie queen finds out I shared this with you? I could be executed" Meliorn explained

"Well, we'll be extra careful then" jace said whilst looking at the archway "you are not part of the 'we' in this scenario. Only clary and malia go in to find the portal. My debt is to them" Meliorn explained "you've given us no reason to trust you, seelie" jace grabbed Malia's hand as he spoke, pulling her close to him, being careful in case her rib wasn't fully healed

"He brought us here" malia argued softly. Meliorn then summoned the portal, it appeared in the archway. Malia watched in amazement as little flecks of green pulsed from Meliorns hands. The flecks smelt of leaves and trees, it was a welcoming scent. She guessed it smelt like that as the seelies were close with nature

"This will establish a connection to the other dimension" Meliorn said "what's it like? The other dimension. Is it like this one?" clary asked "it is an alternate timeline in a sense" Meliorn began

"There, shadow hunters and demons no longer exist"Meliorn said "what happened to the shadow hunters?" clary asked "their services were no longer required because they won the war against demons centuries ago. Once they sealed the rifts between their worlds" Meliorn inhaled deeply "their culture faded away"