"It don't make sense, but nevertheless, you gotta believe us. It's all for the best."
-James TW

!Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for City of Heavenly Fire!

Lisa was sure she'd heard of such a scepter before, so with growing suspicion, she walked down the stairs to Richard's office. She knocked softly on the big oak door, there was no answer.

"What are you doing?" Startled, she turned around, Jonathan was standing right in front of her, she hadn't heard him coming. He hardly ever looked her straight in the eye, his gaze now also passed her. "And whose dog is that in the garden?" She explained that Billy was now Olivia's dog and Marianne allowed him to stay. Jonathan looked surprised, but then laughed.

"I like dogs," he said dreamily. She was about to subtly walk away when he started talking again. "What were you doing here?"

"I wanted to look something up, but no one is there." She stared thoughtfully at the door when Jonathan angrily looked away.

"That's very likely. Dad has gone back to Idris again. He's more there than here, with his family.' The malicious look in his eyes disappeared again when he looked at her. "Mom has to go to Idris tomorrow too," he sighed. Lisa looked at him sadly, they had to leave so often lately. "You can go inside though. What do you even need so urgently?" She told the story she had read in the book and that she wanted to look up something about it. "Moira can probably translate the last text, she's the specialist." Lisa nodded enthusiastically, glad Jonathan didn't say she was crazy like Anna.

"Would you give her a call and see if she can come over?" Jonathan nodded and grabbed his phone. Without another word, she slipped into the office. She closed the door and was startled by a sound behind her. It was Marianne, who had fallen asleep with her head on the desk. She had clearly been working, there were papers all around her. Poor Marianne, Lisa thought. She's always so busy. She crept as quietly as possible to the cupboard next to the desk. She didn't want to wake the clearly sleep-deprived Marianne, but also because she would have to explain what she was doing. She went through the files in the top drawer of the cabinet. Finally, she found one with Dark War on it. Marianne snored as Lisa wished she'd drawn a noiseless rune. She snuck out of the room and bumped into Jonathan. 

He turned slowly and put his phone away. "Moira will come by tomorrow." 

She quickly closed the door and held the file in the air. He smiled and they walked to the library together.

*

As she had expected, Anna was sitting there reading a book. When she walked in with Jonathan, she looked up wearily.

"What are you two prattling about?" A crooked smile played on her lips. Lisa proudly showed the folder and threw it open on the large wooden table. Anna put her book away and turned to them. "What is that?" she said with renewed interest. Lisa sat down next to Anna and browsed through the folder, Jonathan also sat down next to his sister.

"Evidence," Lisa said, hoping she was right. The text contained a description of the entire Dark War, Lisa flipped to the back.

Clarissa Fairchild and her friends, her brother Sebastian Morgenstern, had eliminated the war, thereby ending the war. Sebastian wanted to destroy all of Idris in order to become the ruler of Edom. She had read about Edom, it is a demon dimension where everything is dead and barren and where only demons live. Lisa read aloud from the file that said Clarissa and her friends traveled to Edom to defeat Jonathan.

"I've heard of that too!" said Anna cheerfully. They had been too young then to remember much of it. Lisa was six at the time and she could still remember hiding in Alicante while the adults were fighting. There had been so many death, Alicante had burned, and she could still hear the icy shrieks of the shadowhunters. A chill ran down her spine as she continued reading. The text was written a few days after the war was won, and it contained testimonies from Clarissa Fairchild, Magnus Bane - the high warlock of Brooklyn - Jace Herondale, and many others. "Clarissa and Jace are now the leaders of the Institute in New York," Anna noted. Lisa knew they hadn't been invited to the Council meeting just after the war because they were too young.

"Edom was like a replica of Idris," she continued, "but an Idris that had fallen long ago, in another dimension. An Idris in which the generation of Jonathan Shadowhunter was the first and also the last generation of shadowhunters." In silence Anna and Jonathan listened to Lisa, she stopped and looked at them. Their faces mirrored the shock and frustration she felt herself.

"What's this got to do with that scepter thingy?" her friend asked in an impatient tone. Lisa held up her hand and continued reading.

"It says here that those shadowhunters had only one major weapon: the skeptron, they didn't use seraph blades. It had been a gift from Raziel. But the Jonathan Shadowhunter of Edom was a tyrannic ruler. Because of his pride, they are lost to the demons." All three were speechless.

"Jonathan was convinced that the skeptron would give him the power to rule the world," Anna continued in a hoarse voice. Lisa waited for a response, but they just stared straight into the nothingness.

Lisa's mother had told her about what had happened at that meeting. Lisa thought you were always old enough to know the truth. She had also told her about Edom and the scepter. Lisa had been scared to hear how the shadowhunters had been murdered in the other dimension. Anna turned to her.

"If this is really the truth, if that skeptron also exists in this dimension-" she began.

"Then we should let mom know," Jonathan continued. Anna nodded in agreement, but Lisa disagreed.

"Marianne is already so busy." Anna hesitated. "And besides, she would be obliged to let the Clave know." Jonathan and Anna realized that was indeed not such a good idea.

"The Clave won't believe this story anyway," Jonathan told his sister. "And they'll even forbid us to waste our time looking for the skeptron," he added.

Anna hesitated: "But if we really do find a skeptron, we'll take it to the Clave." She waited for them both to agree.

"Okay," they said at the same time.

"Do we tell Olivia and Arthur about this?" Anna looked at them in turn. Lisa wouldn't know why not, she looked at Jonathan and he shrugged. "That's settled then," said Anna, who could read them like volumes, "I still have something to do now." She got up and hurried out of the library.

"What's her deal today?" whispered Jonathan, she shrugged her shoulders and involuntarily thinking of Olivia.

*

After half an hour of searching, Anna found the girl in the training room. She had walked past it several times because the light was out and she thought no one was there. Olivia sat on the floor with earphones in, the only light in the room coming from the witchlight in the hallway. She didn't see her coming - or didn't care - because she didn't look up. Only when she came to sit next to her did she remove one earphone.

"Have you come to apologize for shadowing me?" Anna was confused for a moment, she hadn't prepared for that reaction.

"No." Olivia raised one eyebrow defiantly, her eyes pierced hers. "Sorry," she said quietly. Olivia closed her apple-blue sea-green eyes and leaned her back against the wall. Her pitch-black hair and clothes made her almost invisible in the dark room. "What are you listening to?" Anna had the feeling that Olivia didn't feel like talking to her, but she still offered her an earphone. When she put it in, she immediately recognized When you love someone by James TW. Immediately she smiled, she could play this song on the piano. Unfortunately, she could not sing well, Lisa often made a creditable effort.

Olivia still had her eyes closed when Anna began to sing softly along with the song. She knew it must be out of tune, but she didn't care. Olivia smiled and started to sing too, closing her eyes. She always had tears in her eyes when she heard this song. It was about a child whose parents were in a divorce. Sometimes moms and dads fall out of love. Sometimes the best intentions just ain't enough. Anna suspected that Olivia really meant what she sang, since her parents were divorced. Her face, as so often, was in a frown and she sang beautifully. When the song was over, Anna gave her back her earphone and Olivia took the second one from her ear.

"I actually wanted to give you something." Anna took the cold stone from her pocket and showed it to Olivia. "Happy birthday," she said quietly. Olivia smiled and took the stone, it immediately glowed up when her hands enfolded it.

"A witchlight," she looked touched, "thanks." Anna smiled as the girl, leaned over and gave her a hug. She hadn't expected Olivia to be so nice to her. She'd only known her for three days, and she hadn't been very friendly to them at first. Anna was glad she blossomed after all. She put her arms around the girl, Olivia leaning back a little. She could see in the faint light that she had tears in her eyes.

Before she could ask what was wrong, Oliva leaned back and pressed her lips hard against hers. For a second, Anna didn't realize what was happening, she pushed Olivia away and jumped up. Anna stared at the apologetic look that formed on her face. She couldn't say a word and for a moment she thought she had imagined it.

"Sorry," Olivia's voice broke, "I thought you-"

"How did you know that?" Anna interrupted her abruptly. For a split second, a smile played on Olivia's lips.

"I don't know," she said innocently. That girl has guts. Olivia's face was gloomy, making her want to walk outside. She turned to the door and was just about to hare away when Olivia grabbed her wrist. She didn't move a muscle. Until Olivia let ger go, apparently, she had changed her mind, causing her to turn back around. "Sorry," she began. Anna shook her head, all she could think about was Olivia's lips on hers. She wanted to say she shouldn't worry about it, but instead, she ran out of the room.

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