Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

17. This World Inverted

Morning dawn, bright and colorful, less than three hours later.

In those three hours, Jace, Clary, Meliorn, and I had discussed what our next move would be. Clary, naturally, wanted to immediately take the Seelie up on his offer to help her find Valentine. But Jace and I were a little skeptical. We both knew better than to blindly trust a Seelie, even if you had just saved said Seelie's life.

But after a long discussion, Jace and I decided to see what Meliorn could do in terms of aiding the search for Valentine.
Meliorn led the three of us Shadowhunters through the slowly lightening streets of Brooklyn before I realized where he was taking us. The Seelie Court had many different entrances all over the city but only a Seelie or one a Seelie trusts, knows where to find them.

And so Meliorn let the three of us step through the nearly invisible gate that brought us into the Seelie domain.
None of us had been in the Seelie Court before. I was amazed to feel the warm, humid air against my skin and hear birds chirping cheerily above us. I wasn't expecting anything dark and dreary, but I wasn't expecting this. The sun was out as well, something I didn't complain about.

Meliorn walked slowly ahead of the three of us. We were crunching quietly through a thick, green forest, and found myself hoping that Meliorn knew where he was going because the forest looked like it went on forever.
The walk was silent and borderline peaceful. But the quietness was soon interrupted when Clary asked, "Why did we come here to find my father?"
Meliorn smiled and turned around to face her, still walking.
"Because of your necklace," he replied. "How do it work?"
"When I touch the crystal and think of someone, I can see where they are," Clary said.
"I'm curious, Shadowhunter, did you ever wonder why this Portal shard never behaved the way normal Portals do?" Meliorn asked the three of us. I noticed he liked to emphasize all his words with graceful hand gestures.
"I only know Portal can only take you places you have been," Jace told Meliorn. "I guess I never really thought about it." Jace ducked under a low hanging branch, his hand coming up to push it away.

"I guess Isabelle is the smart one in the family," Meliorn said dryly. I smiled up at Jace, who didn't laugh at the Seelie's joke.
"Tell us, then," I said, still smiling. "Why does it work the way it does?"
"It only work that way because it's a shard of a Portal from a different dimension."

Stunned silence followed Meliorn's words. A quiet bird chirped in the tree above us, making the silence almost humorous.
"A-another dimension?" Clary asked finally.
"You're saying there's an alternate universe where this Portal shard is from?" I clarified. I looped a finger though a belt loop on my pants and rocked back on my heels. We had stopped out walking to face each other. "How is that possible?"
"How are demons possible, Shadowhunter?" Meliorn asked me smoothly. His blue-black hair shimmered in the sunlight. I sighed and looked down at the leafy ground.
"So what are you saying?" I asked. "Clary has to find this universe?"
"If she can find the only Portal left standing in that universe, it will take her to her father," Meliorn told us.

"Well, where is it?" Clary asked excitedly. "Where's the Portal?"
Meliorn smiled again and turned to continue walking through the forest. The three of us followed him silently, Clary's question going unanswered for the time being.
Jace shot me a look from behind Clary's shoulders and I simply shrugged. Our hands were tied here. Out only option was to follow Meliorn and hope he wasn't leading us into some kind of trap.

Thankfully, he wasn't.
He brought us into a tiny clearing and pointed to two thin trees that were growing only a few feet apart.
"These trees are where that alternate universe collides with the Seelie realm," he told us.
"How is it that the Clave doesn't know about your dimensional doorways?" Jace asked suddenly. The question never occurred to me and now that someone had asked it, I realized the point.
"They are our most guarded secrets," Meliorn explained. "We are their protectors. Only the Seelies know of their existence."
"So why are you telling us?" I asked. I stepped over a fallen log and fell back in step next to Jace.
"I owe the Shadowhunters a life debt. And I don't like being in debt," Meliorn said. Clary frowned from besides me.
"What would happen if-"
"If the Seelie Queen finds out I've shared this with you?" Meliorn interrupted Clary. The redhead nodded.
"I could be executed."
"Well, we'll be careful, then," Jace said. Meliorn turned from the trees to frown at the blond Shadowhunter in front of him.