Revisions: A Vampire Academy and Shadowhunter Chronicles Crossover

Chapter Five: Simon

Simon was surprised Magnus wasn't the one to leave a dramatic silence in the room. It was so silent he could hear Izzy's breathing next to him. What surprised him even more was who finally broke the silence.

"Why do you say that?" Rose Hathaway said walking toward them. Simon wasn't sure if she was supposed to do that, though it wasn't completely out of character. When Simon had heard she was a part of the royal guard he'd figured Lissa must have gone through a lot of pains hiring her. She was a bit reckless and was always the one to say things people couldn't.

Lissa acted like she had expected this, but when Simon shifted his gaze to Dimitri it was lined with traces of disapproval. It made Simon smile. Some things never change.

"Glad for you to join us, Rose." Jace said like they were catching up over coffee. Typical.

"You didn't answer the question." She said through her teeth. Jace and Rose had butted heads at the cruise. Their strong personalities tended to clash. Whenever they were in the same room it was like two stars trying to outshine the other. Simon never would have guessed they would ever find such a person, but that was Rose.

Jace ignored her and directed his attention to the queen. "We can't do that, your Majesty. It would be choosing sides and the Clave is in no position to do that. We need the vampires now more than ever."

It had only been a year since the Dark War and Idris, the shadowhunter homeland, was not left unscathed. Like the Mortal War reconstruction had been slow and the Accords were hanging by a thread. A lot of Downworlders had run wild during the war. To keep order Simon and his friends had had meetings with the New York heads every week. He was glad that these formalities had gotten in the way of them.

Becoming a shadowhunter had been surreal for Simon once the memories had returned. He quickly learned that without vampire strength and reflexes hunting demons wasn't as easy as his friends made it look. It was a miracle when he eventually picked it up and could actually be pretty decent with a bow and arrow.

The difference in abilities wasn't the only scar of his time as a vampire: a memory would surface every once in a while, the taste of blood, the sharpness of his vision, and -the worst of all- the look on people's faces when they'd discover what he was. Lissa and Rose's were the ones that haunted him the most. They were the first to find out and Rose had tried to kill him. After hours of fighting and yelling (Dimitri and Christian had joined by then), Lissa finally realized his innocence and called them off. Rose and Dimitri kept their distance throughout the rest of the trip, but Lissa and Christian had accepted him. He thought that them seeing him human would make them less tense but every once in a while he would catch Dimitri looking at him curiously.

"You would choose Strigoi over us? Why can't you see how dangerous they are?!" Rose exclaimed.

"Rose, you know that's not true! We were there too, you can't deny it!" Rose hesitated. Simon knew she didn't do that very often. Simon took this as an opportunity to speak.

"I know it's hard for you all to understand and I get that, but not all vamp- Strigoi go after you. In my, um, experience most of the Strigoi that I have come across fit your stereotypes of hostility and in some cases evilness..." Simon paused, "But they don't care enough to go on the vendettas Moroi turned Strigoi go on. They're usually more interested in themselves."

"So you admit you're an exception?!" Rose only seemed interested in being proven right. And Simon couldn't be right, he realized. Her denial was feeding off of something ingrained since birth.

"Rose," Lissa chastised, "I know its hard to understand, believe me it is for me too, but we have to take them on their word. We both saw him."

"He said it himself humans turned Strigoi are just as twisted as the Moroi turned! Trusting a misunderstood race is one thing, but trusting human-Strigoi that have the capacity to do just as bad as Moroi-Strigoi? They can't be serious!"

Jace stood up making sure he was looking down at Rose. Now that was just cruel... "Every race has the capacity to do bad. The vampires may be more likely, but its not our right to treat them as murderers. If we do it could instigate war. Do you want that? We have the Accords for a reason and it would be great for you to join us, but not in the expense of what we already have."

Before Rose could respond another gaurdian stepped forward: Dimitri. Looks like everybody was breaking the rules today... In one motion he put himself between Rose and Jace. Never keeping his eyes off of Jace he muttered something directed to Rose. She nodded, but her face was twisted in frustration. Still looking at Jace, he said,"Your Majesty I would advise you give them an oppurtunity to... think about your offer." Leave it to Belikov to keep the peace.

Lissa smiled unfazed by the drama,"I agree, we're running out of time as it is. How about this time tomorrow?"

Magnus, who apparently was the speaker for them now, returned the smile and replied, "Thank you that would be favorable, Your Majesty." He and the others took that as a cue to stand. Jace finally tore his gaze from Dimitri and moved to stand back with his friends. Dimitri smiled at his victory. Something Simon knew was a rare occurance.

The group was about to turn to leave when Lissa called out: "Wait! Rose, Dimitri, will you show them around? I would myself, but..." Dimitri nodded immediately and touched Rose lightly on the shoulder and it seemed to innitiate her nodding as well.

Outside Rose and Dimitri half-heartedly led them through the Courts grounds. Relizing they weren't going to get much of a tour with all this tension, Clary suggested they sit at one of the tables outside to catch up. Simon highly doubted that would fix anything, but everyone agreed.

He sat next to Dimitri when they found a spot. Simon made sure no one was looking when he asked,"Can we talk alone? I have a question I need to ask you."

Dimitri look alarmed, but nodded in response and muttered something to Rose (had he always been so quiet?). The two men stood up and Dimitri led him to an oak tree out of earshot. He looked at Simon with the same curiousity as before.

"What is your question?" he asked.

"You're dying to know aren't you? How I survived?" Simon said suddenly wanting to ask everything but his question.

"Yes, but we both know that's not your question." Simon sighed. He really didn't want to ask this. He did not like sensitive conversation.

"A few months ago I got a letter from Rose asking if it was possible for a loved one to help give a v-Strigoi back their personality... She was talking about you wasn't she?" Simon had been shocked to recieve the letter, but as politely as he could told her that it didn't work like that. Either the vampire was completely evil or not, from what he had seen it didn't change.

"She must have been truly desperate," Dimitri murmered. He spoke louder, "Yes I was that Strigoi."

"Then you're just like me. You can see the dead."