❪ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴇɢᴇɴᴅ ❫

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹: 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰
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𝙢𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚.

Hope stands in her room that she now has in the institute dressed in a pair of sweats and a green off-the-shoulder long sleeve shirt.

Her room was between Alec's and Izzy's which something told Hope Izzy had something to do with also the fact that when she got the room Izzy informed her they were sound proof.

But know Hope was just painting.

She didn't even know if she could at first but after threatening some shadowhunters they went and got her what she needed not that either would admit they were terrified of the small girl.

Hope hasn't left her room since she got to the institute and locked the door so no one can get in. Many have tried to Izzy came and so did Clary.

Jace banged on the door for five minutes trying to get her out threatening to never get her coffee again but Hope just ignored him she knew he would or he would end up tortured.

Staring at the painting trying to figure out what was missing Hope pauses hearing a noise making her look towards the door.

Shaking her head at Jace's tenth attempt Hope looks back at her painting. The painting of the memory she almost lost.

Baby Hope was in her apparently parents arms as they looked down at her but something was off and she knew it.

"Beautiful painting," a voice says behind her making Hope tense up as she sigh.

"There's a door for a reason," Hope tells Alec not even looking toward him.

"Needed to make sure you were still alive. Haven't heard anything from you and people were worried," Alec tells her walking to directly stand behind Hope who dips the paintbrush into some more paint.

"You mean Izzy was?" Hope asks Alec still not turning towards him as Alec looks down at her worriedly.

"Not just her," Alec tells Hope sincerely making Hope look towards him over her shoulder and the second they lock eyes Hope turns towards the painting again. 

"Somethings wrong. It's missing something," Hope states making Alec look at the painting seeing the memory they all saw.

"Hope," Alec calls out but she ignores him.

"Maybe it's the eyes but I wouldn't know since I have never met them before. Or maybe it's the whole painting just like my whole life," Hope states as Alec stares at her.

"Hope," Alec says again turning Hope towards him worriedly as she shakes her head stepping back from him.

"Stop Alec. Stop being you and trying to fix things or find a reason behind things because this doesn't have a reason," Hope tells him shaking her head as she throws her paintbrush down.

"Because you don't get it! No one gets it! My entire life has been a lie! I don't even know who I am! Is my name actually Hope? What's my last name? Who are my parents?! I don't know anything!" Hope says as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Alec tries to pull her into a tight hug as Hope pushes him back shaking her head.

"Just stop Alec. Please I know you want to help but this...this you can't. No one can," Hope whispers as she walks out of her room and towards the kitchen needing something sweet.

After getting a cinnamon on the counter in the kitchen Hope heads back to her room hoping not to run into anymore.

But she should have known hope was for suckers.

"Hope," a voice calls making her look to see Izzy with Clary, Jace, and Alec hugging some older woman who looks familiar to Izzy and Alec.

Eating her cinnamon roll Hope walks towards them ignoring the look from Clary. She couldn't deal with her right now.

"Who are you?" Maryse asks Hope who looks at her shrugging.

"Believe me I'm trying to find that out myself," Hope tells her biting into her cinnamon roll as everyone looks at her.

"Mom this is Hope," Izzy introduces her as Maryse looks at her.

"Hope Fairchild," Maryse states making Hope snort as she shakes her head.

"Nope, apparently dear old mom kidnapped me when I was a baby. No wonder she hated me my entire life I wasn't her daughter," Hope says as everyone just stares at her not knowing what to say.

"So I don't know my actual name or who my parents are or anything. But it was sort of nice to meet you I guess," Hope says muttering the last bit as she turns around to head back towards her room while everyone watches her go.

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"Hope come on," Alec says walking into her room making Hope look towards him annoyed but doesn't move from her spot on her bed.

"Hope," Alec says once again but she doesn't move.

"I warned you," Alec tells Hope making her confused as Alec walks towards her and picks Hope up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"What the hell?! Alec put me down!" Hope screams as she hits his back but Alec just begins to walk.

"You annoying tree! Why are you so tall?!" Hope screams but Alec just smirks.

"You're just short," Alec tells her making Hope pinch him as Alec laughs at her.

Alec then puts her down as Hope looks to see there in the training room making her confused.

"You wanted to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow and I'm stuck here today," Alec tells her as he grabs everything making Hope roll her eyes.

"Such a heartfelt statement. It should win an award," Hope tells him annoyed as Alec smirks walking towards her.

"Alright here," Alec hands her the bow and arrow and then stands behind her to make sure she holds the bow correctly.

"You're going to use your mouth as an anchor," Alec tells Hope who nods at that looking at the bow and arrow.

"Have it touch your mouth," Alec tells her as Hope holds it like he instructs.

"That's what she said," Hope mutters as Alec sighs at her shaking his head.

"Pay attention I could have left you to rot," Alec tells Hope who glares at him over the shoulder.

"Relax this hand," Alec tells her holding her hand on the bow and the other on her shoulder.

"And breathe in," Alec tells her making Hope breathe in.

"Release," Alec instructs making Hope do exactly that as the arrow glides through the air and lands right in the middle of the target. Hope looks at it in disbelief and a small smile on her face as she sees it.

"How did that feel?" Alec asks Hope who turns to him slightly.

"Freeing," Hope tells Alec who smiles at her.

"Let's do it again!" Hope cheers excitedly with a smile on her face as Alec chuckles at her shaking his head as Hope grabs another arrow neither realizing the eyes watching them closely and carefully.

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After the archery lesson from Alec Hope felt calmer with that she decided to finally take a hot shower needing the feeling to continue.

Hope now stood in her room as she pulls down the safe green top she just as her door was thrown open.

"Alec!" Hope yells at Alec who looks wide-eyed turning around Hope shakes her head fixing the shirt.

"You can turn around now and probably explain why you just barged into my room without knocking. Again," Hope demands turning towards Alec who know had slightly red checks.

"Clary. She left the institute without telling anyone. She is heading towards your old apartment even after I told her not to with Valentine and everyone else looking for her," Alec tells Hope who groans.

"Let's go. I know the path she is going and...," Hope says as she begins to walk out of her room with Alec following her as she taps on her phone.

"Just like I thought. She is outside Brooklyn Academy of Art," Hope tells him as they walk out of the institute.

"Why is she there?" Alec asks confused as Hope hails a taxi not walking all the way to Brooklyn even if it wasn't that far.

"Because that was the plan before we found out everything we thought was the truth was a lie," Hope tells him sliding into the taxi as Alec shakes his head at her but gets in.

"Clary was going to become a student at Brooklyn Academy of Art while I planned to travel wherever I wanted to go. It's always been my dream to see the world, the best paintings. There's a landscape painting hanging in the Hermitage. It's beautiful and I have dreamed of seeing it," Hope tells Alec with a small smile on her face looking out the window.

"I hope one day I will be able to paint something that beautiful," Hope says softly as Alec stares at her.

"I've seen your paintings, Hope. It seems lifelike they are so beautiful and you can literally feel the emotion in them. You should be the one to go to art school," Alec tells Hope who sends him a sheepish smile.

"If I tell you something you can't tell anyone deal," Hope says with her pinky out making Alec confused as Hope chuckles grabbing his head.

"It is a sacred promise. If you break it, you break my heart Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Hope tells him as Alec just shakes his head at her but interlocks his pinky with hers.

"I actually got in. I didn't even have to do an interview. They saw my work and wanted me and so did the Royal College of Art in London. It's literally the top art school in the world. My art teacher sent them my portfolio and I got an acceptance letter in the mail the day of Clary's birthday," Hope tells him Alec just looks at her in disbelief as Hope shrugs.

"No one knows though I didn't tell them. It's not like anyone would care. Jocelyn never came to one of my art shows ever. The only person who came to all of them was Luke. He basically raised me. He did raise me and never missed anything. Award shows. Art shows. Career day. He was there for it all," Hope says as she plays with her necklace as Alec stares at her.

"Hope-," Alec begins to say but Hope interrupts him.
"Oh right here," Hope tells the cab driver seeing Clary staring at the school.

"Thank you," Hope says handing the cab driver some money before Alec helps her out of the cab, and the two walk towards Clary whose phone begins to ring at that exact moment as Alec and Hope turn themselves invisible.

"Why'd you run out? And what's the point of an Invisibility rune if you don't silence your phone? That was childish, sneaking out like that...," Alec says as Hope just watches annoyed with this whole situation and Clary ignores him trying to find her phone in her bag. Once she does she answers it as Alec looks at Hope in disbelief.

"Hey don't blame me. I can't control her actions," Hope tells him raising her hands in surrender as Alec turns to Clary.

"Hang up. That's it, we have to go. Right now," Alec tells Clary sternly as he looks around where they are but Clary keeps talking on the phone to Simon.

Annoyed with all of this Hope grabs the phone from Clary's hands and begins talking to Simon as Alec starts getting onto Clary for leaving the institute.

"She's fine Simon we are heading to the apartment and leaving quickly because I need to get something. Meet us at our old shortcut," Hope says hanging up the phone as she walks towards the two who were glaring at each other.

"Both of stop acting like children," Hope says making the two look towards her to see her glaring at them.

"It'll be fifteen minutes top Alec. We will get the box and I can't grab some clothes maybe my pillow and then we head back to the institute. Once we get back you can give us a lecture. Deal?" Hope asks Alec who stares at her for a moment.

"This better be quick," Alec tells Hope who smiles patting his cheek.

"You have my word," Hope says turning around as Clary and Alec stare at her.

"I think I entered a parallel universe where Hope is the voice of reason and has the good ideas," Clary says confused before following after the girl as Alec sighs.

"And somehow in charge," Alec grumbles annoyed before following the two girls looking around to make sure no one was following them.

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Clary and Alec follow Hope to an alley where arms immediately wrap around Hope who smiles relishing in the hug from her best friend.

"Are you okay?" Simon asks Hope who hugs him back tightly.

"Not at all," Hope whispers to him softly before pulling away from him as Clary walks up to Simon hugging him.

"Hey, you. Thanks for being here," Clary tells Simon who smiles at her.

"You don't need to do this alone. It's not who we are," Simon tells Clary who pulls back from Simon looking at him worriedly.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to this?" Clary asks him.

"Yeah because you look like death Si," Hope tells him noticing his pale sicky looking skin.

"Yeah, it's just a cold. Not the end of the world," Simon tells her shrugging his shoulders.

"The world's been ending for a thousand years," Alec says before he shrugs cutting himself off.

"Ah, you get used to it. Now, we need to move," Alec says making Hope chuckle at him and shake her head.

"Yeah, the loft is just across the alley," Clary says correcting herself quickly as Hope glares at nothing in particular.

"All right, well, we have to be careful. There are eyes all over this place and everybody in the Shadow World's looking for you," Alec says before looking at Hope.

"Both of you," Alec tells her making Hope sigh but nod her head.

" I mean, I guarantee you, no one's gonna find this shortcut. I used to take it back in middle school to see Clary and Hope. You might know the Shadow World, but trust me... I know Brooklyn. Come on," Simon tells Alec before Simon jumps over a wall Clary looks surprised and Hope just looks in disbelief.

Clary then follows him and then Hope and Alec.
Alec helps Hope get over the wall before climbing up himself.

Once they finished, they follow Simon. Simon jumps and climbs a ladder. Hope just looks at him confuse before sharing a confuse look with Alec. Something was wrong.

"Have you been doing parkour or something?" Clary asks as she begins to the ladder and then Hope with Alec behind her to make sure she doesn't fall.

"You've gotten a lot better at this Clary although Hope has always been good. Just would race us to see who could there first and always won," Simon says making Hope chuckle at that.

"I was just gonna say the same thing about you," Clary tells Simon as Alec rolls his eyes.

"Climbing a fire escape excites mundanes. I'll never understand these people," Alec says making Hope slap his chest before chuckling slightly as they reach the top. Clary and Hope look confused seeing all the runes on the brick walls.

"Whoa. I don't remember it like this," Clary says as she and Hope touch the runes.

"These are runes and wards of protection cast by a warlock," Alec says looking at the runes.

"Dot," Hope says sadly as she runs her hands over the runes.

"Some of these have been here for years," Alec informs the two looking at the runes.

"The only difference is now I can actually see them," Clary says as she runs her hands over a few of the runes.

"Yo, Clary Hope. What are all these tags?" Simon questions making the three look toward him.

"You can see the runes?" Alec asks Simon looking at him closely as Simon crosses his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, kinda hard to miss," Simon tells Alec who tilts his head slightly to the side.

"For a Shadowhunter. They should be invisible to most mundanes. When did you get the Sight?" Alec questions making Hope worried as she looks at her best friend.

"I don't know," Simon says chuckling although sort of nervously.

"But whoever drew these should take some lessons from Hope and Clary. Their, uh, work is pretty sloppy," Simon says as Clary points to a heart with an arrow through it.

"This is from when Simon and I were engaged to be married," Clary says running her fingers over the SL+CF as Alec raises his eyebrows.

"You were engaged? I'm almost certain I don't wanna hear this story—," Alec begins to say annoyed as Hope laughs loudly at him.

"We were eight years old," Simon tells the older boys justifying their actions.

"That was a whole other world ago," Clary says sadly as she looks at Simon and Hope.

"Yep when I didn't know I was kidnapped," Hope says walking towards the door to open it. Feeling it locked Hope pulls out the bobby pin in her hair using it to pick the lock.

"And there we go," Hope says opening the door and walking through as the three watch her in disbelief.

"What? It's not that hard to pick a lock. Luke taught me years ago," Hope tells them shrugging as she heads towards her room. Walking into it Hope freezes seeing her entire room torched.

"No," Hope whispers heartbroken as she steps into her room looking around. It seemed the fire started on the bed and then spread everywhere.

"Hope," a voice calls as she shakes her head.
"It's all gone. My entire childhood. My pictures. My clothes. My everything is gone," Hope says as she picks up a brunt picture frame that once held a picture of Clary and Hope on their sixteen birthday.

"Jocelyn was trying to erase any trace that you existed. So that you couldn't be tracked. She was protecting you," Alec tells Hope who shakes her head at him.

"If she was trying to protect me she would have told me the truth about everything. She never really cared about me. It probably wasn't even Jocelyn who burned it," Hope says shaking her head.

"Hope! Alec! We found it!" Clary's voice calls making Hope and Alec walk towards Clary's room which was completely torched just like Hope's.

"Is this the box you remember?" Alec asks Clary seeing the box in her hands making her nod.

"Yeah. She used to wait till she thought I was asleep and then take it out," Clary tells him looking down at the box.

"Well, let's open it," Simon says shrugging his shoulders as Clary opens the box which inside lays a baby shoe along with some other memorable.

"I don't know what this is," Clary says confused when suddenly they hear something shatter someplace in the loft.

"There's someone here," Alec informs the group before turning to them.

"Get what you need. Do not move until I get back. We've been here too long," Alec says as he walks out the door as Hope watches worriedly playing with her necklace.

Hope turns to look at Simon and Clary biting her lip worriedly.

"Hope!" The two scream with horrified looks on their face making Hope turn around at the same exactly time someone hits her across the head making her fall down with blood dripping down the side of her head.

"Alaric," Hope whispers seeing Luke's partner and her honorary uncle before everything goes black.

❀ ༄ ❀ 𝔸𝕌𝕋ℍ𝕆ℝ ℕ𝕆𝕋𝔼 ❀ ༄ ❀
And we are getting close to the truth!!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I love you all!
<333