THE IMMORTALS (✓)

27. Challenge accepted.

"That's where this other information comes in. The sword of forgiveness." Alec bit his lip as his heart raced. "We need to turn him back into an angel!" Alec slumped on the couch as everyone's stare aimed at him, the pin-drop silence making the hair on his back rise. He cleared the throat but that didn't seem to bother them a bit. "Umm, stop staring please!"

"Are you kidding!?" Jace broke the silence, not so pleasantly. "Turn him back into an angel! How will we achieve that!?"

"Were you even listening?" Alec narrowed his eyes at his parabatai.

"What is the plan, darling?" Magnus asked calmly. "You know Kasper isn't someone who'll break so easily. Like I told you all, he had killed Angel Ithuriel, he's... an unstoppable evil."

"And so are we." Alec fixed his position, kept the books wide open on the table, and turned a few pages. "See here, the sword of forgiveness works on evilest of evil. The only catch is, the greater the evil, the short is the time. They turn back to good but for a limited time. It could be maybe hours, minutes or, in Kasper's case, barely three to five minutes. In that limited time, we need to make sure to crush him under all the baggage of guilt he carries so that he can say those words."

"But how are we gonna do that in that small amount of time?" Izzy asked. "Just two minutes to break the greatest of the evil we've ever encountered. What if he turns back into the fallen before saying the words?"

"Then we need to make sure it doesn't happen. I'm sorry for saying this but, if someone here can make him shed the tears of guilt, it's Clary. We may not be able to affect him as much but Clary can, he's the first-ever Morgenstern after all, her ancestor."

Every eye turned towards the woman who was sitting on the armrest of the small couch beside Jace, listening intently.

"No!" Jace snapped, "She's not going to be the bait! I don't care if we need to find some other way but-"

"Jace," Clary interfered, resting her hand gently over his and giving it a light squeeze. "Calm down. Alec's right, Kasper won't be provoked easily by someone else. This whole time, he wanted me, his greatest granddaughter. If I'd be in front of him when he'd be an angel, it'd make a difference. I'll be able to talk to the real Kasper Windermere Morgenstern and not Kasper the fallen. Maybe, just maybe if we get enough time, we'll be able to understand the real person before things take a dark turn for him."

With a sigh, Jace leaned back on the couch. "And what if it doesn't work? What if we fail and he captures Clary again?"

"We can put a barrier between them when he turns," Magnus suggested, "he'll be weak at that moment I presume so we warlocks can put up a barrier so if something happens, we can safeguard Clary and others and try to stab him again."

"That's a good option," Daniel nodded.

"We have a problem though," Alec bit his lip, "it says the sword only works once then vanishes back into the forgotten land and can be used again after a decade. We have only one chance to do this."

"Just great!" Jace said in an exasperated tone.

"I'll do it!" Clary said in a stern voice, leaving no room for argument, especially for Jace who gawked at her but she didn't move an inch.

"How are we going to get the sword, though?" Stefan crossed his arms over his chest, "We know nothing about the land."

"Leave that to me." Alec reassured, "I know how to find it."

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*Midnight*

*Lake Lynn*