Stronger Than Heaven

Chapter 11

So sorry for not updating for so long! Summer is proving to be a busy one. Promise I will update more. I love writing this story and reading your enthusiastic comments!

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Aline paced back and forth between Alec's desk and the large window across the room, one hand placed against her chin and the other gripping the pamphlet with white knuckles.

"I honestly never would have found this had it not fallen out of a completely irrelevant book that I wasn't even searching for!" she exclaimed, the excitement building in her eyes. "It was like a sign from the angels."

"Umm.., the same merciless angels that left us in this situation in the first place?" Jace replied in his usual neutral, almost sarcastic tone. "What possible solution could they offer for their own doing..."

Clace shot him a look. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's closer to an answer than what we have now."

Alec raised his eyebrows at Aline, silently wishing she would stop pacing so manicly. "Are you going to tell us what it is or..."

Finally, Aline stopped in the space halfway between his desk and the window. "Clary and Jace are not the only star crossed lovers that this happened to. In the 1800's, an English Shadowhunter by the name of Harold lost the love of his life after she was banished from the Shadow World forever, stripped of her runes, and her memories after disobeying orders from the angels. He searched the ends of the Earth for answers, never leaving a stone unturned. And you'll never believe this... he was a Herondale."

Jace sat up at this, suddenly alert, but his response nothing short of... Jace-like. "Leave it to the Herondales to have such luck."

"So... what does it say?" Clary asked excitedly. "How do I get my memories of the Shadow world back?"

"Well um, that's the thing. It doesn't say, But it does still offer a solution... it's just... not the solution we quite expected."

"Spit it out, Aline," said Alec, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"From fear of the angels' retaliating again, Harold couldn't document exactly what he did. But he was a scientist and so he created a device... a-a device that will allow us to find out from him first-hand exactly what the solution to all of this is. It's a device that lets us... that lets us time travel."

"Time travel?" Jace laughed incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me. Does this device let us time travel and erase everything that Clary did so the angels wouldn't have had a reason to erase her of her memories?"

"Not exactly..." Aline sighed. "It only lets us time travel to Harold, approximately on the date of August 14, 1889. The day he created the device, after he was able to retrieve the love of his life's memory back."

Jace clapped and stood up. "Let's do it then. What are we waiting for?"

"There's only one little issue," Aline continued. "The device doesn't guarantee that we end up in the same room or even the same country as him. The only way we can get back to the present is to use the device that he'll have with him. And we only have a total of 5 hours within that time frame to look for him, otherwise we're stuck in that 1889 forever."

Jace and Clary glanced at each other, a look of hesitance on Clary's face. Jace raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "What could go wrong?"

Before anyone had a chance to reply, the door to Alec's office burst open to reveal a frantic and panicked Isabelle. "I may or may not have let it slip to Simon that Clary is here," she said quickly before urgent footsteps could be heard echoing down the hallway.

Alec took a deep breath, a look of irritation passing across his face. "Isabellle-"

In that moment, Simon appeared in the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes searching the room until they landed on Clary. The look on his face was unfathomable. "Simon, we're not sure if she remembers you so-" Jace started but was interrupted by Clary who immediately stood up and engulfed Simon in a hug.

"Simon!" she breathed, an overwhelming flood of emotions suddenly flowing over her. Relief, sadness, joy, familiarity... as if she was coming home for the first time in a long time. Tears flooded her eyes and she caught Jace's look of surprise as they cascaded down her cheeks.

"You're really - you're really here!" Simon exclaimed, pulling back to take her face into his hands. "Oh, don't cry." Tears welled up in his eyes then. This was the first time that he had seen her in over a year. She looked like the same old Clary he always knew since they were kids. "You remember me?"

She nodded and took a step back to look him over. She frowned. "Except not... not like this."

"Not... like this." A sense of sadness settled in Simon's unbeating heart. She didn't remember what had happened to him. His voice quiet, he asked hesitantly, "What do you remember me as?"

"Your.. your glasses. I remember your glasses. I don't remember you being so pale and... " She cocked her head to one side. She couldn't quite make out what it was about him that she couldn't recognize. She shook her head. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him in so long. "I remember happy memories," she sniffled. "High school outings and staying up late to watch your band play."

Simon let out a small, sad laugh. "I'm glad that's how you remember me," he said softly, hugging her once again. A few seconds of silence passed and suddenly, as if he remembered the others in the room, he stood alert. He glared first at Alec and then at Jace. "Does someone want to inform me of exactly why I was the last to find out?" he asked, his eyes going dark.

Jace looked away, closing his eyes momentarily. "Because we don't know yet Simon..."

"Know what?"

"If she'll ever get her memories back," Isabelle finished. Out of everyone in the room, she felt the most guilt. She had lied to the person she loved. "Or if we're breaking the angels' rules and more repercussions happen."

"We don't know what's going to happen," Jace interjected, the look in his eyes intensifying. "She-she could be taken away from us-"

"That still doesn't answer my question," Simon interrupted, clearly still upset.

"We just wanted to protect you Simon," Isabelle replied. "We know how much Clary means to you and we didn't want you to get disappointed and hurt again."

"That's not up to you to decide!" Simon exclaimed. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Regardless, here we are." He paused. "Now what's the plan?"

Jace shook his head. "We don't have one yet."

Aline spoke up then. "All we know is that Clary is not the only one who's been through this. There's a similar story back in the 1800s with a man named Harold who found a solution. We have to search for a device that he invented and is somewhere in Idris. It will allow us to travel back to him to get answers."

"So what are we waiting for?" Clary asked and all eyes shot to her.

"We're not travelling back in time, Clary," Jace said softly. "There are too many risks involved."

"So we'd all rather risk me not getting my memories back, or me disappearing forever?" The room went silent. "I'll do whatever it takes." Her voice softened and she stared at Jace. "I can't go back to just seeing you in my dreams again."

Jace's shoulders relaxed. "Then I'm with you."

"Me too," Isabelle piped up, her eyes lighting up and dancing with excitement. She always loved a new adventure.

"Count me in," Simon nodded, squeezing Clary's hand.

Alec cleared his throat, his eyes shooting up to the ceiling at their cheesy interaction. "So, I'm guessing no matter what I say, you're all doing this any way," he said in his usual disapproving tone. He looked from Jace to Isabelle and then turned to face Aline. "Fine. Where do we start?"