the storm inside | kitty (boyxboy)

32 | Germany

The LA Institute was bustling with activity. Dru had finally woken up and, as it turned out, they didn't need to track Ash down, all over again. She knew where Ash was—provided he hadn't changed location.

But... what were they doing in Germany? What business could they possibly have? How could they have gotten there? Those questions hung in the air as the Shadowhunters got ready to journey to Germany. Dru was stuck at the Institute, recovering under Christina's care.

They would start with the part where Dru and Ash had been—Berlin. From there, they would use the tracking spell, because it required less energy at a closer proximity and they didn't want to tire themselves out before they hadn't even gotten started.

Magnus ushered them into the Portal, their bags dragging after them. They figured they'd be spending some time in Berlin, so it'd be best to bring some of their belongings. Better than having Magnus thief the nearest Bed & Bath, anyway.

To avoid having any questions raised about why they were in Berlin, they decided to stay at an unnecessarily extravagant hotel instead of the Berlin Institute, because Magnus was tagging along and Magnus only accepted the best. That went without saying.

It was just like a mini-vacation for them. Fun! Excitement! Killing off evil! Maybe!

So, here they were, at the Berlin Marriott Hotel's capital suite, checking in and dumping their bags off in the hotel rooms. Magnus had booked three rooms; one for each pair. It was as perfect as it could possibly be.

Except, maybe not.

For starters, they were chasing down the son of the Fey Queen, and for another, Kit was tired. They all were. Tired of running around in circles and losing people just to obtain a couple of bound-together pages.

But it had to be done, so they all dragged their weary feet to Magnus and Alec's room and gathered around a single feather from Ash's wings. It was sleek, white, and pure—a beautiful, heavenly pure.

It lay gently in Magnus' palm, stark against his light brown skin. Magnus waved a hand over it, his familiar blue magic sweeping back and forth over it, until it began to float and point in an unmistakable direction—the door.

They followed after the feather, glamoured to hide from the prying eyes of the Mundanes, but apparently it was not needed, for here in Berlin, everyone was too caught up in their own business to mind other's.

It was better that way, anyway. No meddling Mundanes with the Sight, no annoying "The Law is hard, but it is the Law" crap. All the better to track down a book-stealing, Shadowhunter-kidnapping, annoying-magic-user warlock.

They were following the glowing feather when suddenly, a thud came from one of the side alleys, followed by a loud "Oof!" and lastly, a used seraph blade sliding out of the alley.

Curious, they peeked into the alley.

A teenage girl stood, surrounded by three unfamiliar demons, one lit seraph blade in her left hand and a dagger in her right. Clearly, she was no match for them, but she persisted, dodging a claw and leaping onto a recycling bin.

Alec notched his bow and shot all three demons down, unable to stand not interfering anymore. The girl, having suddenly noticed their presence, hopped down from the bin and tucked her blades into her gear.

"Hallo, ihr seid... Shadowhunters?" she said.

"Ja," said Magnus. "Ich bin ein Hexenmeister. Nun, wenn sie uns entschuldigen, wir haben etwas zu erledigen."

"You are not from here? Ah! You are Magnus and Alec. The others I do not know, but I recognise you. You are from the Mortal War, no?"

Alec smiled slightly. "We are. Did you come out on your own?"

The girl shook her head furiously, her expression shifting into annoyance. "Actually, I was here with my twin, but I lost him somewhere in the fight. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sabrina Jäger, but you can just call me Bri."

"Ah, that explains a lot. My German may be a tad rusty, but I do know that Jäger stands for Hunter." Magnus shrugged. "Been a bit since I've been to Germany."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but we really need to go," Julian cut in, gesturing at the flashing feather. "You should go back to your Institute too."

"I'm not from the Institute. When my parents died, my brother and I moved out. We've been living on the streets ever since," said Bri. "Currently, I have nowhere to go." She stressed on the word "nowhere", pleading silently with her eyes.

Ty seemed to take an instant liking to her, making Kit a bit jealous. The first time he and Ty met, Ty had held a knife to his neck. This was just plain unfair. "Can we take her along? Please?" asked Ty.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Julian crossed his arms.

Magnus slung his arm around her. "I like her. She's coming with us."

"What kind of reason is that?" protested Julian, but alas, Magnus was not to be swayed. Magnus whistled cheerfully and continued to walk down the street, following the feather.

Bri was stuck in a mixture of confusion and delight—which apparently was a horrible mixture, because she was repeatedly opening and closing her mouth, unsure of what to say. What could anyone say to that, anyway?

Meanwhile, Alec and Kit were eyeing Magnus and Ty with dissatisfaction.

With Alec, Kit and Julian's arms folded in unison, their group continued to march—well, most of them—after the feather, its glow a reassurance that, like a light, it would lead them down the path of darkness to where Ash lay waiting.

Yet, because of the darkness, what they wouldn't be able to see was also what would lead them right to their destruction. 

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WAIT!!! BEFORE YOU SKIP THIS, PLEASE READ. LIKE, REALLY. OR THIS WILL BE A FLOP AND I WILL DIE IN A DITCH OF EMBARRASSMENT. PWEEASEEEEE~

Ok, now that I've grabbed your attention, I would like to announce (if you haven't already read from my "conversations" board) that I will be having a Q&A SESSION next week (along with chapter 33, of course) filled with fun, randomness and bonus content for your enjoyment! However, I will need the help of the READER'S POWER. Aka, send in any burning questions you have for me, or about the story! You can send it in through various ways, including (shameless plug) my Instagram, @/auransworld, slide into my DMs or simply comment! You can send in an unlimited number of questions about ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING!! This is the first time I've done anything like this and it's to thank you all for your amazing support. THANK YOU, AND GO! SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS NOWWWW!!!!

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~𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭, 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓮~