A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews, they mean the world to me! 3

PS - I am posting this again because I forgot to add the some questions ;)!

Soooo, let me know what you thought about this chapter and what POV would you like next. Do you prefer Clary's or Jace's? Or Both? Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadowhunters or The Mortal Instruments. I am just borrowing the characters.

Chapter 3 - Facing the Morning Star

Jace's POV

It's was only 11 a.m and I had already done more than most mundanes would do in a whole day.

First, I had gotten up really early, which meant only the second shift people were up. Honestly they weren't exactly my favourite, always thinking that they take the higher risks and have the most fun. As if demons only worked at night... And hey, who has their back while day sleep during the sunrise? Us!

Yeah, I know I am hard to please. But they do are annoying. And I do like a bunch of people, these were just not lucky.

There is also the fact up that I grew up the way I did, with the mantra "To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be destroyed", plus with this new horrible discovery that Valentine was the one who raised me, I guess it's reasonable to accept that bonding for real, isn't exactly easy for me.

It's true. Most people like me. You can't judge them, I am very likable... Not to be cocky but I do have qualities that help in that area. However I just don't have the same easiness on liking or trusting people, in the real sense of the word. Sure, if I go out on a misson I trust that my partner as my back, and I have his, but that's only because he is a Shadowhunter, it's his job. And yes, I do like having fun with people, in a casual, bondless way. Now, when it comes to having feelings involved, that's the hard part. I guess it's right what people say. We do wear a mask on our daily life. And when you're a Shadowhunters, this is even more commun.

Luckily for me, I found the Lightwoods. They are my family. All of them. Not only partners, superiors or "roomates". Real family: my parabatai, my sister, my little brother, my parents. As a matter of fact, I didn't only grow next to them. I grew with them and their help. I am the Shadowhunter I am today thanks to them. And unfortunately thanks to Valentine.

And here is where the reasons for being keeping really busy, trying to clear up my mind, began.

When Valentine dropped those words, it really felt like the whole world was collapsing on top of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, I couldn't act by the Angel! From everything that can happen to someone without getting hurt physically, I have to guess this is one of the worse. Because it's a thing to find out Valentine it's your father, that's already really bad. It's another thing to find out your childhood was lie. And it's yet something even more horrible to find out that the person you developed feeling for is, is in fact your sister. All of that combined, can destroy you for sure.

That's why this was hurting so bad. I opened myself to Clary. Allowed myself to really feel something more than just simple attraction. It's like she said, I had never been in love. I didn't even know what love, besides the one you feel for your family, was like. Until then. Though it was hard to admit, even to myself. And all for what? To end up finding out she is my sister... I felt terrible, disappointed even. How could I ever get so vulnerable to the point where I fell for her? If only I hadn't, I wouldn't feel the way I felt at the moment.

Because dealing with the fact that Valentine was my father was "easy". I felt angry, I felt betrayed, I felt the need for justice, for revenge. Even though I couldn't find the courage to really show him all of these. But facing the fact that the girl you cared, dreamed about, and even kissed was your sister and, make matter worse, you felt jealous of given to the way she way raised, that could mess with you head. Especially if she didn't want to accept her new truth.

Then there was also the fact that I failed to get Valentine. And why? Because I let my feelings get in a way. What's ironic? The girl who was raised as a mundane, the girl who grew up thinking that love makes you better, that girl, even though she knew that man was her father, she was ready to whatever it took to stop him. And I call myself a Shadowhunter? I was only a failure. But I would get Valentine. I would do whatever it took to find him, to stop and this time no feeling would distract me. Especially the ones towards Clary.

And that was where the real problem lived... Having had a big fight with your best friend, meaning that you couldn't confide with him, well, that didn't help much either. I had to face this fight alone.

So, as a way to clear some thoughts and calm some feelings, I decided it would be a great idea to start the day in the training room.

I had been there alone for some good 30 minutes, doing all sorts of things when this guy Jeremy showed up. He had this annoying smirk in his face, obviously too full of himself which only made it even more enjoyable. I beat him up 7 times. Felt pitty for him so I didn't do it again, he was already pretty shaken up, I hadn't felt like holding myself. Plus he deserved it. Would have some bruises for days. But he would live.

Sick of doing the same thing, and after an awesomely relaxing shower, I decided to do some paperwork. I hated it. It was boring, worthless and time-consuming, and that's exactly why it was perfect.

I had been on that for a while when there was an orange alert. Nothing too bad, just a bunch of disgusting Shax Demons trying to atack when the clubs closed. They asked for my help and I gladly joined. It was kind of fun, but mostly invigorating.

A couple hours later, I was back and ready for some more action.

Decided it would be a good idea to continue my research for Warlocks that could have cast that Spell on Jocelyn. My mother... Shook my head, that word had no meaning to me... Went to the research zone and was glad to find out I would be in peace. Times between shifts were the best.

I stayed there for a while, using the information about the warlocks and the little we had on Jocelyn's life to eliminate some option but still it was a long list. Would need at least an extra pair of hand for this, and probably Magnus help. This brought my attention to the fact that I would have to face people eventually, especially Clary. Wasn't really looking forward to that.

But hunger was starting to kick in and there was no avoiding the inevitable. I had to face her. Might as well do it sooner.

I headed to the meals area and saw Alec and Lydia talking and eating next to each other. By the looks of it, they were wedding planning. The guilty one for that emerged a few seconds later from under the table, cleaning a weird combination of foods while discussing the better colorscheme. However, no sign of Clary. She should still be in bed. I couldn't blame her, and was glad for it actually.

The soon to be married couple got up. As they passed next to me, heading to the exit, Lydia gave me a sympathetic smile. Alec and I exchanged looks. Our prides holding us from talking, making emends. I looked away and kept walking.

Grabbed a plate, filled it with radom food and sat. As I eat, my eyes focused on what was in from of me but my mind working at a thousand miles per hour, I felt a pair of insistent eyes on me.

"What, Izzy?"

"Just checking if it was save to come near you..."

"As if you didn't do everything you wanted..."

"Someone is in a bad mood... You know keeping it to yourself is the worse." She said sitting next to me.

"I don't need to talk. What I need is to find and stop Valentine!"

"Look, Jace, I get you. I mean, I am not in the same situation, I can't imagine what it's like to find out that you aren't who you think you are. Or that people aren't what you thought they were to you." She began, obviously talking about Clary. "But I know what it's like to be human. Even if we are Shadowhunters, even with our angel blood, we are still humans, and that means we have emotions. Fighting them won't help. No matter what, you are my brother, you can count on me. But I know you won't talk to me, that's not really who we are. What you need is Alec. It's getting stupid what you two are doing. Just talk to each other and make things right. It will only help you both ways. Admit it or not, you need him. And well, he is marrying Lydia. I won't say anything because I owe him that. However, you are his parabatai... Just promise me you will think about it. Okay?" Izzy said, giving me no chance to reply. She was right after all. There was no denying it. But it everything was easier said than done.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Izzy gave a smirk.

"That means what I just said entered that stubborn blond head of yours. Now, since we can agree we won't talk about any of this, how do you feel about a training session? I could the stress relieve as well. You know, after the trail and everything". She proposed, now standing with her hand on her hip.

"Fine. But then don't start crying when I kick your ass." I accept, my humor a bit better.

Training with Izzy was different from doing it with anyone else. She was with no doubt one of the best Shadowhunters our age. She was fierce, fast and unpredictable. No matter how many times we had done this, she could still surprise me with some badass move. I guess it helps when you have a shapeshifting whip. But in the end I did kick her ass.

"Another round? Or are you tired already?" I asked provoking her.

She shook her head, her ponytail following the movement of her hair.

"I am never tired, okay! But unfortunately for you, I have other plans..."

"Iz..." I reprimanded her.

"It's not that. I am the official planner for the wedding. And even though I don't agree with it, plus am hoping for one of them to call it off, I can still have some fun in the meanwhile." She admitted and winked. As if Izzy would refuse any party, even if she in fact didn't agree with.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Fine, go have some fun then. I have work to do!" I said as we put away our weapons.

"Oh I will. And you... talk with Alec please. See you guys later!"

After that I went back to the main area and wasn't surprised to find out that Hodge was already there.

"Hey, Jace there you are. Was checking the work you did here. Pretty impressive. But unfortunately we can't do much with a list of 15 warlocks. I already cut down two more because they lost power several years ago. I think we are going to need Magnus help here. He knows the community better. And probably also Luke, he is the only one who know can help witg some further intel on Jocelyn life because Clary can't remember even if she saw or heard anything."

"I had already thought about that. Magnus knows the warlocks way better than we ever will but that's as fair as he can help. We need to find out who had access to Jocelyn. If we had Dot it would also help, she probably would be a big help there... Not being the case, I guess you are right. But will they approve it?"

"It's in everyone's interest that we wake up Jocelyn and find out what are Valentine's plans. The Clave might not trust you too much right now, it's not like they trust me more, but I will see what I can do about it. Why don't you call Magnus in the meanwhile?"

I nodded and headed to my room. First I thought I couls simply send him a fire message but that way he could simply ignore it. It would be a better idea to call him.

I grabbed my phone and searched for his name, calling him afterwards.

"Well, hello there golden boy. Tell me how can I serve you? Please tell me you aren't calling to try to convince me to persue with biscuit's crazy idea about the other dimension... Talking about her... How did she sleep? Okay? It was in fact a strong spell but she did need the sleep..."

"Wait stop for a minute there, Magnus! What are you talking about? And don't start rambling, please. I am not in the mood for that..."

"Fineeee... you are not fun too... Before I left yesterday, dear Clary wanted me to tell her more about other dimensions. The poor thing was so desperate after finding you two were siblings she probably wanted a solution, even as crazy as that. It's not that big of deal, I did meet a lot of couples during my many years of life that were brother in sister, it's much more common then what you think. It's all about keeping an open..."

"MAGNUS!"

"Okayyyy... Anyways... Since I knew her red head of herself wouldn't keep quiet the whole night, I decided to give her a little help there and casted her a sleeping spell. Nothing too serious..." He admitted with the biggest of the casualties.

"By the Angel, Magnus... You know what, we will talk abou this later. You are need here so get you sparkly ass here fast. I am going to check on Clary now. Be here in 10 minutes!" I yelled before ending the call, sprinting to Clary's room right away.

So here I was at the moment in front of Clary's room. It was 11 a.m and she would usually be up by now but given Magnus "little help"... The door was shut so I knocked. No answer. I knocked two more times, still only silence. Not really thinking, I opened the door in a flash and was surprised to find out and empty room.

Her bed was undone, only her pajamas standing on top of the sheets.

I saw a pile of paper on her desk that wasn't there the day and decided to inspect it.

It's was drawings. No shock there, she did love that, but they weren't mere drawings. They looked like a sequence.

Curiosity hit me so I sat down and grabbed the first one.

Frowning, I took a closer look at the details of what looked like, no, of what was a reproduction of a meal between Jocelyn and Valentine. They laughed at something, holding cups in their hands.

The next one was even more strange. Sitting at a table were Izzy, Alec and the mundane. Well, Simon. But they were nothing like themselves. Almost like opposites.

Still confused at why Clary at done these, I continue going through them. The third one was a portrait of myself. So far this was the most worn paper, almost as if she had spent a lot of time trying to get everything perfect. Which was probably what she did. It was like a picture, I did look exactly like myself there. My eyes, my nose, only my hair was a bit different. Plus I had no runes, nor did anyone in the previous or next drawings.

Magnus at his house, Clary and Izzy looking at each other in the mirror, a party, me and Valentine, Valentine and her mom hugging, us dancing, me and Simon, Simon and Izzy, me again - these were the subjects of her following drawings.

The last one was my waking call. Magnus was opening up a portal. Even though there was nothing more black and white, I could almost really see the bright purple that emerged from the stone that Clary gave him. The stone that was the key to Valentine and belonged to the other dimension.

I spread the sheets all over her desk as realization hit me. Theses drawings, they weren't imagines, they were memories of the other dimension. Magnus was right, she was holding to that idea. But not in the way he thought. Not even I knew exactly what she wanted there, but it wouldn't help either way.

I picked up the drawing that had us dancing and smiled. What did she say when she visited me at Jade Wold?

When we were on our journey, I found something I didn't even know I was looking for...

Do you remember the other dimension? I... We said things... Felt things... Was that me? Was it... was it you? Was it... Was it even real?

I think I now understand what she meant. We were fine there. Great apparently. No demons to fight. No Valentine to hunt. Just two young adults that felt things for one another. And that's probably what she is holding to now, and why she wants so desperately to find things about other dimensions. She wants the answers to her questions to be "Yes", she wants this dimension to be like that one. I wish it could be too, but this is out reality, she has to face it.

I get up quickly and try to arrange the drawings back to their initial position. She wasn't here. Had to go look for her. There was no pointing in getting absorbed by her fantasy as well.

Just as I leaving, I find Alec walking down the corridor. First I think about ignoring him but then remember Isabelle's words, making me swallow my pride.

"Hey, Alec!" I call him, making him turn on his heels, surprised printed on his face.

"Uhm... yes?" He asked cautiously.

"Have you seen, Clary?"

The tension on his shoulders slowly starts to fade away as he takes a few steps closer.

"Izzy told me a few minutes ago that there dress shopping." His tone was calm and steady, almost as if he was talking to someone he barely knew. It's like Izzy said, this was getting stupid.

When he attempted to pursue his way, I decided enough was enough.

"Alec, we can't go on like this. It makes no sense. It's bad for both of us. I mean, we are parabatai... What good is that for us if we don't even talk, let alone worj together..."

He nodded and sighed. "You're right... We need to make emends... But can it be in a while? Lydia really needs me to talk to these important people." His tone was warmer now, not fuzzy or anything, that wasn't even Alec's thing, but I could sense he was more comfortable.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. I just figured someone had to take the first. I have to Hodge and Magnus in a few minutes anyways..."

"Wait, Magnus is here? Like here at the Institute?"

"Yes exactly... You can't run from him you know?"

"Well, at least I can try..." He let out, clearly more nervous again. Again Izzy knew what she was saying. Her brother, our brother, was making a big mistake. He needed someone to put some sense into his hand. I was stolen my chance of being happy, I wouldn't let Alec throw his away!

To be Continued