In a Field of Wildflowers
The field was filled with wildflowers, small grassy hills, and at the edge, a beautiful sparkling lake.
Surrounding the field and lake were miles of trees, hiding this perfect little piece of paradise away from the rest of the world.
The sun was shining and everyone felt at home in the soft light.
Raphael, who had not felt the sun’s warmth in a long time, closed his eyes, let his head fall back, and for a moment, just allowed himself to fade away with no worries or concerns.
Lydia sat down on one of the hills and felt the tension she carried on her back like armor slide off her shoulders, the sudden weightlessness coming with a slight concern for floating away.
Clary and Simon had ganged up on Luke, tackling him to the ground, their laughter filling up the empty air.
Izzy and Jace were playing tag with Max.
Jocelyn, Maryse, and Robert all stood apart from each other and the others, not seeming to know what to do with themselves.
Magnus decided to venture to the lake.
Sitting by the edge was a young snickering Alec and a young laughing-so-hard-tears-were- rolling-down-her-cheeks Annemette. They appeared to be around 12 years old.
He walked up to them slowly as to not startle them and sat down a foot away from them.
They grinned at him mischievously, before bending their heads together and whispering in a language he couldn’t identify and giggling.
Magnus felt too calm in this room (thought it was so open it hardly felt like one) to be concerned about their gossiping and truth be told, he was quite pleased to see Alec, and even Annemette so happy that he didn’t mind if he was the butt of the joke.
It didn’t register with him at the moment, but something felt a little off...
There were a handful of people, shadowhunters and downworlders, swimming in the lake.
A few of them ran out to join Alec and Annemette. One was a young Mabuz and the others were identical twins.
“Come on little sister!” The twins said in unison, “Join us!”
Annemette laughed and lifted her arms, “Carry me!”
And so they did, each grabbing an arm and a leg then running over to a wooden pier before tossing her into the lake.
Mabuz offered Alec a hand and he took it.
Together they joined the larger group playing Marco Polo. Magnus laughed as he watched Annemette and another girl played chicken fight on top of the twins shoulders and a girl dunk a boy’s head off to the side of the games.
A man, older than the rest of people enjoying the lake, stepped out and sat down next to Magnus.
“Hello.”
Startled, Magnus responded. “Hello?”
“Yes, I am talking to you,” The stranger grinned at him, “I’m Gerhardt, Annemette’s oldest brother.”
Magnus realized that was what had felt off, Alec and Annemette had seen and reacted to him, not just Alec.
Gerhardt offered Magnus his hand, Magnus was surprised to find that he could touch the other.
“You know, I’ve known Alec since he was 4 years old?”
“Oh?”
Gerhardt hummed in acknowledgment, “Sweet little thing, loved his sister more than anything. Claimed Annemette and Jolon as his best friends the day he met them… well, probably more like they claimed him. Beyond the whole shadow thing, he was a happy kid.”
“Shadow thing…? You mean the demon?”
“Yeah. That damn thing followed Annemette and Jolon too. We thought the three of them had come up with the ridiculous notion together, for attention. I should have listened to them, maybe things would have turned out differently if I had.”
“We all have things we wish we could change.”
“True,” Gerhardt replied, “But most people don’t have a couple of dead little brothers and an even younger brother missing and to blame for the others’ deaths.”
He looked over to the others, swimming and splashing and just having fun.
“He once told me, that he wished he had an older sibling because he saw how awesome I was. I wish I could have been worthy of that praise. But I got older, and I was young, and I didn’t want to take care of my little siblings. I wanted to go out with my friends, patrol, sneak out to the movies. I stopped paying attention and they stopped talking to me, they didn’t even tell me when they discovered-”
He sighed, dejectedly, “No.. Not my place to say. But I will say this, none of you know what he’s willing to do for those he loves. You have to be careful, Magnus, he will go to war with the world for his family. Take care to make sure he doesn’t go where he can’t return, unmarked. He’s already done it once… and mental scars never really fade. Don’t let him push himself until he breaks because I’ve already watched one brother go insane, I don’t want to lose another to madness.”
With that Gerhardt slapped him on the shoulder then ran across the wooden pier before diving into the water.
Magnus sat, staring at the water, and at Alec as if one might suddenly offer him answers to the questions roaming around his head.
The others in his group slowly joined him, one by one collapsing around him, done with their fun.
Over in the lake the twins, done with their chicken game, wandered over pushing each other all the while.
“Hi”, They greeted them in unison, arms thrown around each other.
“I’m Ashcroft!” said the one on the right.
“And I’m Ashford!” said the one on the left.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Jace looked at them incredulously, “Are you talking to us?”
“They can see and talk to us, in this room,” Magnus told the others.
The twins laughed, “Alec doesn’t want to ruin this room for himself by talking to you, so he sent us instead.”
“Clever little-” said Ashcroft.
“Cheeky little-” said Ashford.
“-brat.” They said together.
“But he’s always been that way,” They said, shrugging, the arm around their brother shaking as their brothers’ arm moved underneath.
“A brat?” Izzy asked, amused.
“Clever,” they responded like she had asked a very stupid question.
“He’s the one who figured it all out, you know?” One of the twins said.
“Oh yes! He’s quite proud of that accomplishment, and rightly so, none of us had any idea!” The other mentioned.
“Figure, what out exactly?”
“Not our place,” they grinned, “But we will tell you a story!”