ANGEL WINGS - SHADOWHUNTERS

[23] old stories and dark magic

Rowena woke up to noise in the apartment. She stretched out her arms and yawned before taking in her surroundings. It was just after nine pm. She had been asleep all day because she had stayed up the night before comforting Magnus after he sent Camille to the Clave. He had been kind enough to let her sleep in his spare bedroom instead of her flying home, which after the amount she had to drink, was not a good idea. Even angel-demons can get tired and feel some effects of alcohol. She put on some normal clothes and left the bedroom to find Clary and Simon talking to Magnus.

"Have you ever done it before?" Simon asked Magnus.

Rowena's brows furrowed, "Done what before?" She asked. The group turned to face her.

"Ah, Sunshine. Sleep well?" He asked her. Rowena nodded but motioned for Magnus to answer her question, "Clary wants me to resurrect her mother."

"Resurrect..." Rowena stopped for a moment to process, "Clary, I'm so sorry." She said, immediately running to Clary and engulfing her in a hug.

Magnus looked to Simon, "And, no. I haven't done it before. Don't encourage this." He said, sternly. He turned to face Clary, who Rowena had just let out of her grip, "Biscuit, I'm sorry. I know how important she was to you."

"Rowena, can you do it?" Clary said, hopefully.

Rowena looked at Clary and then over to Magnus, "I... I've done it once before but I can never do it again. I'm sorry Clary." She said, moving to sit down on the sofa.

Clary thought it was better not to press Rowena so she looked back at Magnus, "She was my mom. If you were me, if we were talking about your mom–" Clary begged, trying to connect with Magnus but Rowena knew where that would go.

"I wouldn't bring her back." Magnus said quickly.

Clary looked at Magnus, "I don't understand." She said.

"I was nine years old when my mother realized what my cat eyes meant. She couldn't live with the fact that she bore the son of a demon. So she took her life." He explained. He pointed to the dagger on the coffee table, "With this very keris." Simon had a knowing look in his eyes, that was the dagger they had found at Camille's in India.

Clary's eyes filled with regret, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Magnus tried to change the subject, "It was a long time ago. And over time it... it got easier. Never easy, but easier. Your mother was a special woman. She only wanted to protect you at all costs. So much so that she had me remove your memories. Since we can't get those back..." He said, snapping his fingers making a picture appear in his hands of a young Clary and Jocelyn. "Take one of mine."

Clary slowly took the picture from Magnus' hands and studied it, "Oh, my God. When was this?"

"The day I met you. The first thing I notice is that you both share the same laugh. Losing your mom... it's not something you make better with magic. You just head straight into it and cry your eyes out." Magnus said. Clary nodded and turned to leave.

After she and Simon left, Magnus looked over at Rowena, he wasn't present when Rowena had resurrected someone but he had heard the tale, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Rowena said, quickly. "I'm gonna head home. I hope you feel better about Camille and your mom." She walked to the balcony, spread her wings and flew home. Rowena thought about Clary's request, about everything. She too had lost her mother, but hers wasn't dead. At least she wasn't dead four thousand years ago. Rowena had also tried to bring someone back from the dead a long time ago. It turned a few weeks of pain into months and years of pain and guilt. She wouldn't put Clary through that. She wouldn't put anyone through that.