The Demon Towers: Secrets and Lies

Chapter One

August 8, 2014. Sydney, Australia.

Phoebe didn’t wake up to the smell of breakfast or the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway. But she woke up because of Veronica’s screaming.

She gets out of bed sleepily. By the Angel, what is Veronica Ravenwood shouting about this time?  

She opens her bedroom door and she could hear Veronica clearer now. “I swear I left my boots here yesterday! Where are they?! By the Angel –,”

Phoebe sighs and heads downstairs. They’re going on a demon hunting mission without me. Again, she thought bitterly.

She goes inside the dining room and there was a definite smell of toast, butter, and the burn of freshly applied Marks.

“We’re going out.” Felicity tells her and Phoebe could only nod. Ever since she has been nearly killed by demons not once but three times, her obnoxious older brother Austin suggested to let her stay at the Institute while they demon hunt and their oldest brother Xander agreed to it immediately.

“She can’t even kill a Minor demon,” argued Austin. “How much more if she were to fight a Greater demon?” Apparently, their oldest brother Xander took on Austin’s side, much to Phoebe’s dismay. This must have something to do with his Gift of charmspeak and illusion and she wishes for a Gift like his or her other siblings’. All Phoebe could do was copy the appearance of someone. She wonders constantly why only the Nightshades – and for some other reason the Ravenwoods as well, though they aren’t related – have the abilities ordinary Shadowhunters doesn’t possess. Why couldn’t she have the Gift of fire like Veronica Ravenwood? Or telepathy like Xander?

“Watch them, alright?” Xander says, meaning Jace and Alexis. Phoebe nods. “Okay.” She watches her siblings – Xander, Austin, and Felicity – and the four Ravenwood quadruplets – Veronica, Valerie, Victoria, and Vanessa - exit the front door and Phoebe stands there for three minutes. Once she’s sure they were gone, Phoebe hastily left the room and ran to the Weapons Room, on the third floor.

There are numerous weapons inside even when her siblings have taken a lot of them for their mission. Phoebe passes by different varieties of weapons: maces (Veronica’s weapon of choice), glittering steles and seraph blades, bows and leather bags of arrows on the side (Felicity’s choice), spears, swords, and sets of throwing knives which Phoebe knows immediately as Austin’s weapon of choice. She took one set and hurried to the Training Room which was the room across.

Phoebe takes one knife and holds it in her right hand. It was true what Austin had said before that she couldn’t fight. But that never stopped her from training. In fact, she thanks Austin for pushing her to train hard to become a better Shadowhunter. She has been practicing ever since her last failed mission with her siblings.

She remembers her first demon hunting mission clearly. It was just two days after they have set foot in Sydney and Xander invited all of them to come (save for Jace and Alexis) to a demon hunting mission to get a feel of being a real Shadowhunter (and to let fighting and injuries make them forget about the death of their parents). They were fighting Oni demons and quite humiliatingly, she tripped on a broken branch in the middle of a fight and her seraph blade skittered away from her. Thankfully, Veronica shot the demon a blast of fire before the demon could eat her.

Xander said it was just a minor setback for Phoebe because it was just her first time on a mission; so, they let her come with them once more a week later. They traveled at night to a dark alley downtown and Shax demons sprung at them. Phoebe managed to kill one but another demon knocked her out at the back of the head when she was too busy celebrating killing her first demon. She woke up in the Infirmary three days later, finding out that Bella, hre older sister who was currently in Miami, Florida, USA, had wrapped the demon in thorns just in time before it drags her to lay eggs on the inside of her skin. Xander scolds her for not being careful and being distracted. And worst of all, Phoebe has been teased by Austin for two weeks straight.

The third demon hunting mission happened a month after Austin’s two week teasing. Xander, Isabelle (her other sister who is currently in Canberra with her parabatai) and Austin thinks it’s a bad idea for Phoebe to come along but thanks to Bella’s and Felicity’s arguments, Xander finally agreed.

They went to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town and Phoebe was too absorbed in fighting with the Raum demon that when it ran away, Phoebe ran after it despite Xander’s shouts for her to stop chasing it. She didn’t listen and to her embarrassment, she slipped on a puddle (which she was certain hadn’t been there before) and her head hit the concrete hard. Austin and Valerie found her sprawled on the ground, the demon on top of Phoebe, ready to eat her. Using his Gift of charmspeak, Austin ordered the demon to stay still and Valerie froze the demon. Phoebe found herself in the Infirmary once again and Xander made a stringent rule for Phoebe not to come with them to missions anymore, which was supported by most of her siblings even Bella and Felicity.

“But I’m a Shadowhunter!” Phoebe had protested. “It’s in my blood to fight demons and rogue Downworlders -,”

“When you start behaving a real Shadowhunter must,” said Austin sternly, “you’ll get to do what a real Shadowhunter does.”

The words still stung Phoebe even when Austin told her that two years ago. And Phoebe is truly amazed at the power of words. It could either make or break a person and with Austin’s Gift, she was sure Austin could hurt or influence anybody with words and she envied his Gift for as long as she could remember.

Xander gave her more homework that consists of research and training more than everyone else every day, but not the actual thing. Phoebe throws the knife she’s holding and through months of rigorous training in secret, the knife hits the center of the target. She throws another knife and it struck the center of the target on the right side of the room and in blinding speed, she flicked her knife to the direction on the left and even without looking, Phoebe was sure it hit the target.