Clary Fairchild was to be protected by Mayla Stonehart. Years of hiding her true identity made Mayla live in fear every day and look over her shoulder at every turn. To avoid being found by the Circle.
The young redhead gets thrown back into the Sha...
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THE FLOWERS AND WEEDS WERE DELICATE to the brush of her hand, tickling her palms. The fresh scent of the flowers and dirt was overwhelming. Angel Uriel's Garden was just on the outskirts of the Chicago Institute property. A beautiful field that was given to Shadowhunters by the Archangel of the North and Earth as a gift for their sacrifice and subservience to a bigger cause.
She knew that if she was to do this anywhere it would be here. When the garden was in bloom. When its magic was the strongest.
For so long she didn't know who she was. What she could do and that all could be answered with the simple incantation. She looked down at the card in her hand that felt too light for all that it held. The acrylic portrait of an angel, or a bigger being that she now knew was her.
The High Priestess was a card that symbolized wisdom, divine knowledge, and a connection to the subconscious. A perfect symbol for a card that held all her answers. A card that will change her life.
She looked to the sky to see the moon rise to the center of the sky between the trees that lined Uriel's garden. The illuminated flowers started to glow bright blues, purples, and pinks as the clock struck midnight and the Earth's magic ascended from the ground. She knew that it was now or never.
She got onto her knees comfortably, letting her white dress get stained at the knees with dirt. She laid the card in the palm of her right hand. She let the picture face the moon and she spoke with purpose and determination. She needed to be heard.
"Cum simplici ex corde invicem expectantes animam meam, et ego rogabo angelus Raziel opus pro responsa! Et dabit homo commutationem pro anima mea fortitudinem et imperium ad eum qui me scientia!"
The white wings on her card came to life, letting out a bright glow that stabbed her eyes. She looked away. The heat of the magic burned her skin as a light shot up towards the moon and plagued the night sky. It surrounded her, sweeping away the flowers from under her knees and sending her into a pit of nothing. Into an infinite pool of pure light.
The magic subsided, the calm coming down on her like an aura that brought peace. When she opened her eyes again she found herself sitting in cool water. A small pool of water that acted as a mirror. It was so clear she looked down into the white abyss and saw herself staring back at her.
All her features glowed in contrast to the white around her. Her amber hair, her dark eyes, her pale skin. She looked like an illustrated character from one of the many comics she used to read with Simon when they were young.
Over her reflection, she saw a dark, charcoal-black aura floating. She finally looked away from herself to see that in front of her there was a small storm of black brewing. Pitch black darkness that was so hollow inside she couldn't see a sliver of light inside it. Like black ink on a wet parchment. A deep void.
She got to her feet, ignoring the heaviness of the water-soaked gown that pulled her down. She took a step towards it, the calm that kept her sheltered started to buzz as she got closer. A void, the embodiment of chaos. The embodiment of the Shadow World.
She heard the voice of if hummed to her. Calling her forward. "Come to me." A husk, deep voice pulled her closer.
She dropped the card that she had tightly in her grasp and reached out to touch it. With a hand of its own, the darkness crept to her, meeting her halfway.
The second her slim fingers touched the darkness it vanished. The calm, the peace, the sheltered, home-like feeling diminished into nothing as a fire started within her.
It crawled into her veins, anchoring itself inside and eating away at her flesh. She screamed out in pain, dropping to her knees once more. The darkness overcame her, reaching into her hunched back and carving into her skin. Into the angelic runes that stained her pale flesh.
It was a part of her. The corruption, the void. As she clawed at her back, screaming for it to stop she couldn't register the familiarity of it. The darkness that was now eating at her, fusing with her DNA wasn't foreign. It wasn't out of body. It was her. The other side of her that was ripped away at a young age as a way to protect her, keep her from who she was.
The bones in her back shifted. Breaking and mending back into something else... into a new part of her.
Into wings.
Her wailing subsided. The black matter had completely consumed her and she laid on the floor, crying into her hands as the pain slowly started to mellow. She shook, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes, and she let out one deep breath.
She pressed her hands to the floor shakingly as she slowly tried to get to her feet. She stumbled a little but she got her footing she noticed her dress had changed. The soft white cotton of her dress was now black, as dark as her blood.
She hefted the attachment to her back. She looked over her shoulder and was meet with feathers. As soft as silk but strong like steel, her wings towered around her.
"They suit you, my dear." A voice spoke.
She spun around and found a figure standing there. A woman with hair as bright as hers and eyes deep with ocean blue.
"Mom?" May asked in awe.
Her rose lips pulled into a smile as the woman took a step closer to her. May stumbled back with a quiet gasp, not desiring to get close.
"They kept this from you? All your power... they disarmed you, made you weak." The woman spat, seeing as her daughter seemed lost with new parts of her body. "They took it all?!" She snapped.
"Mom, what are you talking about?" May said, bringing the large wing to loom over her, giving herself the chance to brush it softly.
Her expression melted "My Little Fox," she hummed lovingly, taking another cautious step forward. Holding her hand to caress her daughter's face. "This is who you are. What you've always been."
May sunk into her touch. Though in the back of her mind she told herself to turn away, to keep her distance --the second she heard her mom call her by her sweet nickname she wouldn't dare. She looked up at her mom. "Mom... what am I?" She asked.
The woman smiled proudly, bring her other hand up to cup her face. "A prophecy come to life." She said. "You are the symbol of Justice. The hell on earth, the fallen heaven..."
May closed her eyes. "W-what does that mean?" She asked her.
Her mother tipped her head to the side, her hair brushing off her shoulders. "You, my dear, are Exodia."
Her mother's soft voice echoed as her touch faded. The bright abyss they were surrounded by faded back into the dark of night light.
The moon shimmered in the sky above her. The luminescent flowers started to fade as midnight past and May found herself standing in Uriel's Garden once again, alone. Her dress dry, white, and soft. The bugs chirped and buzzed but she didn't listen.
She already understood who she was. What was written in books and told for centuries as children's bedtime stories were really her story. She was the embodiment of peace and war. The symbolism of good and bad. She was Exodia and she was the key to winning the war.
