Tumgik
#rupert blackthorn
Text
Magnus to Alec
Dear delectable muffin of love,
I hope this perfumed letter finds you well, and that you and R and M are having an excellent time in your exotic journey to…well, I believe the term you used was “upstate.” I have heard legends of this Upstate, but never did I know that my family would see for themselves its mountains, its twee farm markets, its River of the Son of Hud.
More to the point, I hope the kids are enjoying their visit with Grandma, and I hope you are referring to Maryse as “Grandma” as often as possible because I enjoy the face she makes when we do. On a less pleasant but more urgent note, I hope you’ve had a chance to talk with Luke about the Cohort/Idris stuff.
But do not tire your beautiful hands with a written reply. I will be heading to this “Upstate” myself to join you later this afternoon, as I am relieved to report that the business with the Blackthorn kids’ cursed house is more or less resolved. Although it was touch and go, let me tell you.
I don’t think I even showed you the note Jem sent, which said, “Emma and Julian are trying not to bother you about their house, and that is very nice of them, but unlike them, I feel absolutely no compunction about bothering you, and so this is me, now, in this note, bothering you. We are in need of a warlock and you are the best one I know for this. We would all really appreciate your help.”
As is often the case, I was both mildly annoyed and mildly impressed with Jem, who managed to be both very kind and also to remind me that I am a sucker when it comes to him and Tessa and will rush to their aid when I can. Because I am a sucker when it comes to him and Tessa, I wrote back quickly saying I would come.
I know what you’re thinking: “How could Tessa need a warlock when she is a warlock?” But different warlocks have different expertises, as you know, and while Jem was flattering me that I was the best choice, the reality is that I have dealt with a lot more curses than Tessa. That’s what comes of spending the past decades hiring your services out to any miscreants who come by, instead of more intelligently living a calm life as a magic researcher in the Spiral Labyrinth. Tessa always was the smartest of us.
Anyway, I must give Emma and Julian credit. I expected to arrive and find them banging the cursed objects against one another or something, but they had set up a decent enough protective circle and even found a spell. It was an old, kind of generic spell that I have found to rarely be of much use with actual curses in the modern day, but still.
Rather stupidly I set up a basic workaday curse-breaking circle of my own, and gave it a try. “Stupidly” because I had forgotten who did the curse in the first place. Your worst ancestor, Benedict Lightwood, all-around demon enthusiast and dilettante necromancer. How in bed with demons was Benedict? He literally died of demon pox — which if you do not know, because you are beautifully pure, my Alec — is a sexually transmitted demon disease.
But I forgot that in the moment, so I was surprised when the curse put up an impressive resistance. It writhed and thrashed and struck out, like Max being lowered into a bath. The cursed objects were all glowing, kind of neon green, where they were tied to the magic, and eventually I realized I was going to have to carefully unknot each object from the curse, one at a time.
I managed the flask, the dagger, and one of the candlesticks (don’t ask me to explain how THAT happens), but after that I was stuck.
It’s not a great look for a warlock to strike a big magic pose and then nothing happens. I am sure I looked ridiculous, like a mundane magician who couldn’t understand why the rabbit wasn’t coming out of the hat. Julian and Emma are very polite and only waited patiently but I felt quite silly.
And then I lost all my focus temporarily because the door opened and Kit walked in. He sort of looked around at the scene and finally said, “Professor Plum in the library with the candlestick, I see.”
“Purple is always an appropriate color for a warlock,” I said. “It is the decorative color of magic.”
Emma, of course, said, “Your magic is blue,” because she is an inveterate smartass.
“Maybe he meant me,” said Julian. “I’m wearing a purple hoodie. Also because it is the decorative color of magic,” he added with a nod in my direction, which I appreciated.
“Maybe you could put the objects on a purple tablecloth instead of a white one,” Kit said, and while he was talking he walked out to get a closer look.
And when he got close to the circle, Alec, I felt the strangest sensation. A feeling of…power, I suppose, kind of humming in Kit. You know the way your body kind of vibrates when there’s a really really low sound? That rumbling feeling? It was like that, but silent. I’ve never had that experience any of the times I’ve seen Kit before. I could also tell that Kit didn’t feel anything unusual. Or if he did, he was surprisingly casual about it.
So I suggested he come join us around the circle and add his focus to the magic. “Especially since Jem and Tessa have snuck off somewhere rather than helping out with this round.”
“They’re out in the garden with Mina,” Kit said, a little defensively.
I redirected everyone’s attention to the objects and established a somewhat souped-up version of my go-to curse breaker. I went for the other candlestick and BANG. No resistance anymore! There was a big burst of blue and all the knots of magic tying the objects to the curse broke into pieces.
Everyone blinked a bunch. Eventually I said something like, “Well, that was more what I was hoping for. I guess four people made the difference.”
I checked. The curse seemed…gone. I was actually a little shaken. I haven’t mentioned it to Tessa and Jem, because I don’t want to make a big deal of it, but I think it worked because of Kit. Not because we needed a fourth person. Something is going on with him, some magic that is totally outside his awareness. I assume it has something to do with being a descendant of the First Heir, but I’ve never been an expert on that kind of faerie enchantment. (And do burn this letter, after you get it — very few of us know about Kit being the First Heir, and it’s best if we keep it that way.)
It makes me sad to think of it. Kit is a good kid who deserves a good, ordinary life. I know that’s what Jem and Tessa want for him, more than anything, after the chaos that was his growing up. But I am not sure he will have a choice in the matter. Fae may not let him choose.
Julian reached out and took hold of the flask. He held it for a moment, frowning.
“What?” said Emma.
“Nothing,” Julian said. He looked up at me. “Is that it? No more curse?”
“No more curse,” I said. “I hope.”
And then down from the ceiling drifted Rupert the Ghost. I never met Rupert Blackthorn when he was alive. I don’t know what to think of him. On the one hand, he seems to have been an innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a spirit trapped in a house he never lived in because of evil he never knew about while he lived. On the other hand, he met Tatiana Lightwood and thought that lady seems like marriage material, so there must have been something weird going on with him.
Rupert had been hovering and he descended until he was right above the table. He was staring at something on it.
“What is it, Rupert?” said Emma. “What are you looking at?”
Kit followed his gaze and started pushing the objects out of the way. “It’s the ring,” he said.
Emma said, “What ring?”
Indeed, what ring? There wasn’t a ring among the cursed objects. But there was a ring on the table now. Kit picked it up. It was a silver ring, etched with a design of thorns and set with a black stone.
“Blackthorn family ring?” Kit said.
“It’s not how family rings usually look,” Emma said.
“Wedding band?” said Kit.
“Shadowhunters don’t use wedding rings,” said Emma, but Julian had that thoughtful look he gets.
“I am bound here by a silver band,” he said softly.
“Shadowhunters can exchange wedding rings,” I said. “They just aren’t expected to. But they can if they want.”
Whatever it was, it was Rupert’s. He had followed Kit’s hand as it picked up the ring, and now he was reaching out for it with a thin ghostly hand. He wrapped it around the ring, which did absolutely nothing since he’s a ghost – Kit just kind of held it there for him. Then his eyes closed (Rupert’s, I mean) and he got this expression on his face of relief and gratitude and peace, and he just…faded out, right there. Just slowly vanished and was gone. No more Rupert. On to hopefully not being reunited with his wife, since she was also his jailer for over a hundred years.
“He didn’t even say goodbye,” Emma said quietly.
“That’s for the best,” I said. “He was never supposed to be here at all.”
“Well, Rupert, if you can hear me,” said Emma, “it was nice being haunted by you.”
“Five stars,” said Kit solemnly, putting the ring back on the table. “Would be haunted again.”
And all the candles went out in the room at once. Which, if it was Rupert, was a nice touch. Though it may have just been a draft.
We all filed out of the room quietly. “It’s different,” Julian said. He was looking around at the hallway. “I can feel it already.”
I could feel it as well. There was a lightness that had not been there. A kind of pleasant hominess that a good house conveys and that had always been absent from Blackthorn Hall in the time I’ve known it. It’s hard to describe, but all at once it felt like Julian and Emma’s home, in a way it hadn’t before. I’ve always known it as a forbidding place, and then as a hideous ruin, but for the first time I thought, this was a place the Blackthorns could fill with joy.
And I’m certain they will.
See you very soon, my love. I shall kiss you until a toddler forces us apart to pay attention to him. So plan for a kiss of about 30-60 seconds, based on previous experience. But I wish, as always, that it could be endless.
Love,
Magnus
4K notes · View notes
cassandraclare · 11 months
Text
Q&A Chain of Thorns — continues!
starlightblackstairs asked: I was wondering; why did no one ever free rupert if they knew ....
of him being trapped at chiswick? 🥹 it seemed like jesse knew that tatiana trapped his father there during that whole showdown scene but no one ever went back to help free rupert until julian and emma centuries later.
Because none of them did know he was trapped at Chiswick. Reread the scene — Chiswick is never mentioned.
What Lucie learned when she summoned Rupert was that he was not in the ordinary place ghosts go—
…she was all that was holding Rupert Blackthorn here on this earth. She could feel the starry void trying to pull him back, trying to fling him out of this world and into the other. It was taking every bit of her will to hang on… What had happened to Rupert? What binding was there on him, that was not present with other ghosts? Was it that binding that now tried to pull him away from the courtyard?
And this was confirmed by Tatiana herself— “You have been bound, bound for so long, bound in the shadows where even the other dead cannot see you. Belial promised that as long as he kept you there, he could bring you back.”
Rupert was also aware that he was in an unusual situation, we see this in his conversation with Jesse—
“If you’re a spirit—how was I a ghost for so many years and I never saw you?” 
Rupert raised a hand as if he could touch his son’s face. “Your mother made sure of that,” he said. “But Jesse—we have little time.” He was right, Lucie knew. He was slipping away from her, already growing more indistinct around the edges. His fingers were turning pale, translucent, the edges like smoke. “I was asleep,” Rupert said, “and have been awakened, but only for this moment. I died before you were ever born, my child. Yet after death, I have seen you.” 
“My mother said—you were bound in the shadows—” Jesse said haltingly. 
“I could not return as a ghost on this earth,” said Rupert gently.
He was fading faster now. Lucie could see entirely through him, see the stones of the Institute, see Jesse’s stricken face. “Yet I dreamed of you, even in my endless sleep…”
Rupert knew he had a resting place of sorts (he says to Tatiana— “I was drawn from my resting place by the cry of a Shadowhunter in battle. One who needed my help.”) But Rupert did not understand—or was unable to express—that he was specifically bound to Chiswick House.  In fact, he says he is not a ghost on this earth at all.
Lucie and Jesse’s understanding was that Tatiana—with Belial—had done something strange to keep Rupert from fully passing over into death. In the Shadowhunter world, typically the death of a magic user would cause all their charms and spells to unravel as a natural process. (We saw this happen when Malcolm was killed in TDA, and Johnny Rook, too.) If it had been just Tatiana binding Rupert, they might have thought that would have happened, but Belial was named, too. However, once both Belial and Tatiana had been killed, there was no reason for Lucie or Jesse to think that any spell would remain to bind Rupert. They would assume that Rupert was freed by the destruction of those who had bound him. They certainly didn’t know that his binding was woven in with Benedict’s complicated and equally unique house-protection spell—that was a special case, and highly unusual—so unusual that it evaded detection for decades even when the house was searched multiple times.
Sadly, once Lucie lost her special ability to command ghosts, they lost the one remaining avenue they would have had to reach Rupert, who could not appear as a ghost voluntarily until many years later, when the binding spell was beginning to deteriorate. And remember, Lucie, Jesse and James can all see ghosts, they've all been to Chiswick, and they've never seen Rupert. They've no reason to believe that even if he was a ghost, he'd be there.
It is indeed tragic that they were not able to help Rupert sooner. They just didn’t have all the information they would have needed to make that happen.
433 notes · View notes
rhiannons-bird · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
I made some ChoT memes
822 notes · View notes
kaitcreates · 10 months
Text
We all talk about how in every series a Lightwood dies but I don’t think we talk about how in every series there’s a dead Blackthorn.
In TMI there was Andrew Blackthorn, TID had Rupert Blackthorn, TDA had Livvy Blackthorn, and in TLH there was Jesse Blackthorn.
231 notes · View notes
thestarkster1465 · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media
Sorry, I couldn’t resist
539 notes · View notes
belle-keys · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Shadowhunter Families: The Blackthorns
“And if my heart was a canvas, every square inch of it would be painted over with you.”
- Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
131 notes · View notes
daydreamxr17 · 2 years
Text
Kit 🤝🏻 Rupert
Not saying goodbye:-)
250 notes · View notes
Text
Magnus a Alec
Querido deliciosisimo muffin de amor,
Espero que esta carta perfumada te encuentre bien, y que tú y R y M lo esten pasando de maravilla en tu exótico viaje a... bueno, creo que el término que usaste fue "upstate". He escuchado leyendas de este upstate[JL1], pero nunca supe que mi familia vería por sí misma sus montañas, sus mercados agrícolas, su río del Hijo de Hud.
Más concretamente, espero que los niños estén disfrutando de su visita con la abuela, y espero que se refieran a Maryse como "abuela" tan a menudo como sea posible porque disfruto de la cara que hace cuando lo hacemos. En una nota menos agradable pero más urgente, espero que hayas tenido la oportunidad de hablar con Luke sobre las cosas de Cohorte / Idris.
Pero no canses tus hermosas manos con una respuesta escrita. Me dirigiré a este "upstate" para unirme a ustedes más tarde esta tarde, ya que me siento aliviado de informar que el negocio con la casa maldita de los niños Blackthorn está más o menos resuelto. Aunque fue tocar y listo, déjame decirte.
Tumblr media
Creo que ni siquiera te mostré la nota que Jem envió, que decía: "Emma y Julian están tratando de no molestarte con su casa, y eso es muy bueno de ellos, pero a diferencia de ellos, no siento absolutamente ningún reparo en molestarte, así que este soy yo, ahora, en esta nota, molestándote. Necesitamos un brujo y tú eres el mejor que conozco para esto. Todos agradeceríamos mucho su ayuda".
Como suele ser el caso, estaba ligeramente molesto y ligeramente impresionado con Jem, quien logró ser muy amable y también recordarme que soy un imbécil cuando se trata de él y Tessa y correré en su ayuda cuando pueda. Debido a que soy un imbécil cuando se trata de él y Tessa, le respondí rápidamente diciendo que vendría.
Sé lo que estás pensando: "¿Cómo podría Tessa necesitar un brujo cuando es un brujo?" Pero diferentes brujos tienen diferentes habilidades, como sabes, y aunque Jem me estaba halagando de que yo era la mejor opción, la realidad es que he lidiado con muchas más maldiciones que Tessa. Eso es lo que viene de pasar las últimas décadas ofreciendo tus servicios a cualquier malhechor que venga, en lugar de vivir más inteligentemente una vida tranquila como un investigador mágico en el Laberinto Espiral. Tessa siempre fue la más inteligente de nosotros.
De todos modos, les debo dar crédito a Emma y Julian. Esperaba llegar y encontrarlos golpeando los objetos malditos entre sí o algo así, pero habían establecido un círculo protector lo suficientemente decente e incluso encontraron un hechizo. Era un viejo hechizo genérico que he encontrado que rara vez es de mucha utilidad con maldiciones reales en la actualidad, pero aún así.
De manera bastante estúpida establecí un círculo básico de trabajo propio para romper maldiciones, y lo intenté. "Estúpidamente" porque había olvidado quién hizo la maldición en primer lugar. Tu peor antepasado, Benedict Lightwood, entusiasta de los demonios y nigromante diletante. ¿Cómo estaba Benedict en la cama con demonios? Literalmente murió de viruela demoníaca, que si no lo sabes, porque eres bellamente puro, mi Alec, es una enfermedad demoníaca de transmisión sexual.
Pero lo olvidé en ese momento, así que me sorprendí cuando la maldición puso una resistencia impresionante. Se retorcía, golpeaba y ponchaba, como Max siendo bajado a un baño. Los objetos malditos eran todos brillantes, una especie de verde neón, donde estaban atados a la magia, y finalmente me di cuenta de que iba a tener que desenredar cuidadosamente cada objeto de la maldición, uno a la vez.
Manejé el matraz, la daga y uno de los candelabros (no me pidan que explique cómo sucede ESO), pero después de eso me quedé atascado.
No es una gran apariencia para un brujo hacer una gran pose mágica y luego no pasa nada. Estoy seguro de que me veía ridículo, como un mago mundano que no podía entender por qué el conejo no salía del sombrero. Julian y Emma son muy educados y solo esperaron pacientemente, pero me sentí bastante tonto.
Y luego perdí todo mi enfoque temporalmente porque la puerta se abrió y Kit entró. Miró a su alrededor la escena y finalmente dijo: "Profesor Plum en la biblioteca con el candelabro, ya veo".
"El púrpura siempre es un color apropiado para un brujo", dije. "Es el color decorativo de la magia".
Emma, por supuesto, dijo: "Tu magia es azul", porque es una inteligente empedernida.
"Tal vez se refería a mí", dijo Julian. "Llevo una sudadera con capucha púrpura. También porque es el color decorativo de la magia", agregó con un guiño en mi dirección, lo cual agradecí.
"Tal vez podrías poner los objetos en un mantel púrpura en lugar de uno blanco", dijo Kit, y mientras hablaba, salió para ver más de cerca.
Y cuando se acercó al círculo, Alec, sentí la sensación más extraña. Una sensación de... poder, supongo, una especie de zumbido en Kit. ¿Conoces la forma en que tu cuerpo vibra cuando hay un sonido realmente bajo? ¿Esa sensación retumbante? Era así, pero silencioso. Nunca he tenido esa experiencia ninguna de las veces que he visto a Kit antes. También pude decir que Kit no sintió nada inusual. O si lo hizo, fue sorprendentemente casual al respecto.
Así que le sugerí que se uniera a nosotros alrededor del círculo y agregara su enfoque a la magia. "Especialmente porque Jem y Tessa se han escabullido en algún lugar en lugar de ayudar con esta ronda".
"Están en el jardín con Mina", dijo Kit, un poco a la defensiva.
Redirigí la atención de todos a los objetos y establecí una versión algo mejorada de mi rompedor de maldiciones. Fui por el otro candelabro y BANG. ¡Ya no hubo resistencia! Hubo una gran explosión de azul y todos los nudos de magia que ataban los objetos a la maldición se rompieron en pedazos.
Todos parpadearon un montón. Finalmente dije algo como: "Bueno, eso era más lo que esperaba. Supongo que cuatro personas marcaron la diferencia".
Lo comprobé. La maldición parecía... apagada. En realidad estaba un poco conmocionado. No se lo he mencionado a Tessa y Jem, porque no quiero hacer un gran negocio, pero creo que funcionó gracias a Kit. No porque necesitáramos una cuarta persona. Algo está pasando con él, algo de magia que está totalmente fuera de su conciencia. Supongo que tiene algo que ver con ser descendiente del Primer Heredero, pero nunca he sido un experto en ese tipo de encantamiento de hadas. (Y quema esta carta, después de que la recibas, muy pocos de nosotros sabemos que Kit es el Primer Heredero, y es mejor si la mantenemos así).
Me entristece pensar en ello. Kit es un buen niño que merece una vida buena y ordinaria. Sé que eso es lo que Jem y Tessa quieren para él, más que nada, después del caos que fue su crecimiento. Pero no estoy seguro de que tenga una opción en el asunto. Fae puede no dejarlo elegir.
Julian extendió la mano y agarró el matraz. Lo sostuvo por un momento, frunciendo el ceño.
"¿Qué?", Dijo Emma.
"Nada", dijo Julian. Me miró. "¿Es eso? ¿No más maldición?"
"No más maldición", le dije. "Espero."
Y luego bajó del techo Rupert el Fantasma. Nunca conocí a Rupert Blackthorn cuando estaba vivo. No sé qué pensar de él. Por un lado, parece haber sido un inocente que estaba en el lugar equivocado en el momento equivocado, un espíritu atrapado en una casa en la que nunca vivió debido al mal que nunca conoció mientras vivió. Por otro lado, conoció a Tatiana Lightwood y pensó la dama parece material para el matrimonio, por lo que debió haber algo extraño sucediendo con él.
Rupert había estado flotando y descendió hasta que estuvo justo encima de la mesa. Estaba mirando algo en él.
"¿Qué es, Rupert?", Dijo Emma. "¿Qué estás mirando?"
Kit siguió su mirada y comenzó a empujar los objetos fuera del camino. "Es el anillo", dijo.
Emma dijo: "¿Qué anillo?"
De hecho, ¿qué anillo? No había un anillo entre los objetos malditos. Pero ahora había un anillo sobre la mesa. Kit lo recogió. Era un anillo de oro, grabado con un diseño de espinas y engastado con una piedra negra.
"¿Anillo de la familia Blackthorn?" Kit dijo.
"No es como suelen verse los anillos familiares", dijo Emma.
"¿Alianza de bodas?", Dijo Kit.
"Los cazadores de sombras no usan anillos de boda", dijo Emma, pero Julian tenía esa mirada pensativa que tiene.
"Estoy atado aquí por una banda de plata", dijo en voz baja.
"Los cazadores de sombras pueden intercambiar anillos de boda", dije. "Simplemente no se espera que lo hagan. Pero pueden si quieren".
Sea lo que fuere, era de Rupert. Había seguido la mano de Kit mientras recogía el anillo, y ahora lo estaba alcanzando con una delgada mano fantasmal. Lo envolvió alrededor del anillo, lo que no hizo absolutamente nada ya que es un fantasma: Kit simplemente lo sostuvo allí para él. Entonces sus ojos se cerraron (los de Rupert, quiero decir) y obtuvo esta expresión en su rostro de alivio, gratitud y paz, y simplemente... se desvaneció, ahí mismo. Simplemente desapareció lentamente y se fue. No más Rupert. Con la esperanza de no reunirse con su esposa, ya que ella también fue su carcelero durante más de cien años.
“Él ni siquiera dijo adios,” dijo Emma en voz baja.
Eso es lo mejor", le dije. "Nunca se suponía que estuviera aquí en absoluto".
"Bueno, Rupert, si puedes oírme", dijo Emma, "fue agradable ser perseguida por ti".
"Cinco estrellas", dijo Kit solemnemente, poniendo el anillo de nuevo sobre la mesa. "Estaría embrujado de nuevo".
Y todas las velas se apagaron en la habitación a la vez. Lo cual, si era Rupert, era un buen toque. Aunque puede haber sido solo una rafaga.
Todos salimos de la habitación en silencio. "Es diferente", dijo Julian. Estaba mirando a su alrededor en el pasillo. "Ya puedo sentirlo".
Yo también podía sentirlo. Había una ligereza que no había estado allí. Una especie de agradable sensación que transmite una buena casa y que siempre había estado ausente de Blackthorn Hall en el tiempo que la conozco. Es difícil de describir, pero de repente se sintió como la casa de Julian y Emma, de una manera que no lo había hecho antes. Siempre lo he conocido como un lugar prohibido, y luego como una ruina horrible, pero por primera vez pensé, este era un lugar que los Blackthorn podían llenar de alegría.
Y estoy seguro de que lo harán.
Nos vemos muy pronto, mi amor. Te besaré hasta que un niño pequeño nos obligue a separarnos para prestarle atención. Así que planifique un beso de unos 30-60 segundos, basado en la experiencia previa. Pero deseo, como siempre, que pueda ser interminable.
Amor
Magnus
Texto original de @cassandraclare ©
Traducción del texto e imagen @carstairsa ©
@secretsofblackthornhall
181 notes · View notes
julescarstairs · 1 year
Text
CHAIN OF THORNS SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT
Okay but can we all agree that one of the best parts of Chain of Thorns was Rupert Blackthorn’s appearance? Him being so protective of his son although they never actually properly met? And absolutely demolishing Tatiana and throwing all of her ‘hard work’ back in her face? Making sure to tell Jesse that he’s proud of him before he fades?
He was an icon, a legend, the moment. You go Rupert.
96 notes · View notes
jaxlightstairs · 1 year
Text
In memory of Secrets of Blackthorn Hall 🌠
Tumblr media
96 notes · View notes
luciehercndale · 7 months
Text
Five - Chain of Thorns What If? Fic
This is my what if? scenario of what would have happened in Chain of Thorns chapter 26 if somebody else had chased after Tatiana. Can't say much here in case somebody hasn't read the book. This one shot is told from three POVs (Lucie, Grace, Jesse). Warning: Light descriptions of wounds/blood. Thanks to @stabbydragon because your post inspired this fic :) Words: 1,419
Read on A03 ✨
Lucie didn’t know how much she could still hold on. Her legs already gave out, the hard stone of the stairs behind her the only thing keeping her back upright. 
“You are nothing to me,” Rupert’s ghost said, and Tatiana screamed in despair. That urged the Watchers to leave the scene, leaving the woman all by herself. 
Tatiana looked behind her with displeasure and Lucie realized she wanted to flee. “Close the gate,” she said to Rupert’s ghost, and he obliged, moving in front of the gate as if he were a statue and not a ghost. She didn’t know if it would work, but she tried. “Sorry,” she told him, but he didn’t answer. 
“You won’t keep me here, girl,” Tatiana hissed at Lucie. “You will pay today. You and your friends. You ruined my revenge plan!” she cried, and tried to open the gates, but Rupert didn’t move an inch. “You ruined my relationship with my husband and with my son, you ruined me!”
“No one ruined you but yourself,” Rupert said solemnly. Tatiana turned to him, and Lucie could only see her back now. Grace was at the end of the stairs, looking awestruck to do anything. “You began ruining yourself when you chose revenge, Tatiana.”
“I chose revenge for you!” Tatiana raised her voice. Jesse had advanced until the Blackthorn sword was grazing her neck, but she didn’t seem to mind. Didn’t seem to believe her son could ever hurt her. She offered him a glance laced with scorn. “I chose revenge for our family! So that we could be together again.”
“You didn’t just use and ruin my son, you also manipulated an innocent girl to do your bidding. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, Tatiana?” Rupert asked coldly. Lucie felt her grip on him weaken, but tried to hold on. It wasn’t over yet. “You claim you did it for our sake, but you did it because you are selfish.”
Lucie was too focused on Rupert to catch Grace, her light dress billowing behind her, getting close to the three of them by the gate. She brandished a knife, her hand unsteady and trembling even from her position on the stairs, until just a few steps separated the weapon from her face. Lucie didn’t know if it was because of the bitter cold or because she was scared or both. She wasn’t sure where she found the weapon. She wanted to say something, to call her back where she was safe, but she couldn’t. She felt too strained, too weak. 
“Grace,” she said in a sob, “Jesse,” and then her world went black. 
*
Tatiana opened her mouth to protest, but a bitter laugh came out of it. “I can’t believe this is how you are thanking me, Grace,” the woman said. “This is what I get for giving you all. Money, clothes, jewelry,” she laughed deviously, mocking her. “You would have been a beggar if it wasn’t for me, silly girl. You shouldn’t threaten me with a knife, you should bow at my feet.” Tatiana also glanced at her son when she said that, but he ignored her, his sword still pointing at her chest.
Grace tried not to tremble too much, the cold biting at her cheeks and her bare feet. She was stronger than this. She was stronger than the cold. She was stronger than her mother. “Better a beggar than a puppet,” she said firmly. “I should threaten you with more than a knife, I should threaten you with the sword you said was yours by right.”
“It doesn’t matter what you threaten me with, Grace,” she said her name as if it was a curse.  “If the blow doesn’t land.”
Tatiana’s laugh filled the air and chilled Grace to the bone. She would not be afraid, not again. 
Not – One. “This is for Jesse.”. 
Two. “This is for me.” 
Three. “This is for the Lightwood family.” 
Four. “This is for the Herondale family.”
Five. “This is for –”
“Grace,” Jesse said, alarmed, finding his voice amidst the shock, unable to move a hand to stop his sister. Unwilling to stop his sister. He glanced at the ghost who used to be his father, who was still his father, somehow, but Rupert stayed silent, his eyes trained on Tatiana, his mouth a thin line. If he had spoken, he would’ve probably said she deserved it. And she did. Even Jesse knew.
Grace looked at her left hand, the hand where her voyance rune stood out on her pale skin, and where her shaking fingers still held the knife. The knife she had twisted into Tatiana’s chest the same way that woman had fed poison in her heart for all those years. This time, she wouldn’t be the one bleeding as that woman watched her writhe in pain because of the things she forced her to do. She would be the one watching her suffer.
She blinked and tried to register what she had done. She tried to cover the sound of her heart hammering in her chest and ears. She felt as if somebody had cracked an egg open on her head, or worse. She couldn’t describe it. She just blinked at her hand. Her hand now glittered with blood. Tatiana’s blood. A monster’s blood. The knife clattered to the ground, but it didn’t make much noise, the sound muffled by Grace’s heartbeats thundering in her ears.
“A dagger to my heart,” Tatiana coughed, bringing Grace’s attention back to her. She was clutching her chest, her body slumped to the floor, Jesse still keeping the Blackthorn sword close to his mother’s throat. “I never thought you would do it,” she was finding it hard to breathe. “My –” she hissed. Another cough. More blood. “You will have to live with this,” she said lastly, her eyes moving from Grace to Jesse, astonishment making her look even older than she was. 
Until she wasn’t anymore. Dead. Gone.
Grace exhaled a sigh of relief, and let her tears wash away the blood from her dirty hands.
*
When Jesse realized that Grace aimed to strike, he didn’t think. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to stop. The knife was already in Tatiana’s chest when he registered that Rupert was gone, and disappeared in front of the gate. Didn’t see when Grace twisted it in the flesh as if trying to make a hole where Tatiana’s heart was supposed to be. Didn’t witness when Tatiana’s blood stained her old and worn dress a second time, a third, a fourth, a fifth. Didn’t see her face was pale. 
Tatiana met his eyes before she exhaled her dying breath, and it reminded him of the night he died. He had tossed in his bed, as Grace held his hand and dried the sweat from his forehead. Perhaps it was childish to want his mother by his bed at his age, but he felt helpless. As he felt life abandoning his limbs, not once did his mother cross the threshold of his room to check on him. To tell him words of comfort. To say goodbye. After he returned, he thought maybe Tatiana had felt too broken to witness another person she loved dying before her eyes, but when he understood it was all meant to be a plan, that they were all pawns she was moving on the board for the sake of revenge, he saw the situation from what it was. 
His mother did not care about him, nor Grace. She only cared about them as a means to her stupid revenge. 
And now she was dead. 
Jesse didn’t know how to feel. He didn’t know what he should feel. He wasn’t sure he would feel anything aside from rage. Displeasure. Hatred. Relief.
He put his hands gently around Grace’s shoulders as life went out of Tatiana’s eyes and her head lolled forward and her body sank to the ground. Lifeless, like a puppet. 
Grace’s hands shook along with her frame. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was still in shock. She let Jesse engulf her in an embrace, and buried her head and her hands in his chest, marking his white shirt with blood. “It’s over,” she muttered quietly, almost as if she didn’t want to say out loud, as if she wasn’t sure it was real.
Her brother caressed the back of her head, but he didn’t weep. “Yes,” he answered, even though he knew it wasn’t really. “Yes,” he echoed, still unable to believe it. 
*
Footnotes: When I decided to write this quick fic, I debated about this and I honestly thought about different options (in reverse lmao).
Option 4 was Rupert asking Lucie to command him to kill Tatiana, even though this would've ensued tough conversations between Lucie and Jesse because after Rupert disappears, she even wonders if she did right calling him there because she is afraid Jesse might be upset. If Rupert had killed Tati, it would've been satisfying but Lucie giving the command would've been unsettling, maybe? And I didn't want to delve into that but who knows, I may also do that someday. After all, it's fan fiction and not canon. XD
Option 3 was Lucie herself, but ofc Rupert had to disappear because we know that Lucie stayed rooted to the spot where she was because keeping Rupert there drained her energy, thus she couldn't go after Tatiana after she fled. Still a worth option, though, it would've also opened a lot of conversations with Jesse but anyway --
Before CoT came out, I thought that the only people who HAD to kill Tatiana were Grace or Jesse. I quickly brushed off Jesse (Option 2) because, as I already wrote in my other fic "For the ghost that I used to be", I believe he would want Tatiana to rot in jail until the rest of her days. Grace was my Option 1. She seemed the best option and I would've loved to see this, that's why I ended up choosing her. It makes more sense and it satisfies me more seeing her kill her manipulator and abuser.
Last, but not last: I decided to have Lucie faint at the end of her POV because I suppose that's what would've happened if Rupert didn't disappear. She is fine, don't you worry! I was planning to write a bonus scene to insert later, after Jesse and Grace realize Lucie collapsed (because my ghostwriter heart begs me to write it lol). Tell me if you would be interested in reading :)
13 notes · View notes
Text
Ty to Dru
Hello Dru,
I’m back from London, and Julian and Emma told me to tell you “hello” and also “they send their love.” But that is not the important part of the letter, which is later. But you shouldn’t skip to that part, I will explain why soon.
Blackthorn Hall is actually pretty cool. It’s big and it’s old, and lots of parts don’t work properly yet, but Emma and Jules have done a lot to make it nice. There’s lots of bedrooms. I picked out one for me, which they called the “gray bedroom,” but honestly all the bedrooms are kind of gray. They said it’s so we can paint them if we want, they’ll be our rooms and we can decorate them how we like.
You’ll have to pick out the one you want when you visit, but I found one that I bet will be your favorite. It overlooks the gardens which I think will be the last thing to get fixed up, and so will continue to look creepy for a while. There are all these broken statues with plants grown over them, like they were trying to kill the statues. Like they succeeded in killing the statues. It looks like if you went walking down there the vines would wrap around you and pull you underground. You’ll love it. 
I didn’t sleep well before we traveled to London and now I think it was because I was worried. Anush says our bodies often tell us how we are feeling even when our minds aren’t conscious of it. Like feeling nauseated before an important test. You probably know what I mean.
But it was good. Especially to see Jules and Emma. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them until I saw them. I think I felt it like Anush says, like a weird pressure in my chest that went away when Jules hugged me. Maybe it’s the same for you. Or maybe you already know how much you miss them. Anyway I thought it was important to say I also miss you and it’ll be nice when we can all be in the same house together again. I think Irene will like it there too.
Ragnor’s map did actually help, so it was good he came. He found a couple of places in London to check for more of those cursed objects, so that’s one step closer to un-cursing the house. I know, it would be cool to live in a cursed house. But it wouldn’t be fair to Rupert the Ghost, since he’s trapped there because of the curse. And anyway there’s all this renovation work that the builders won’t do until the curse is lifted. And it would be good if the house’s roof didn’t leak. That might be a little too gloomy even for you.
Now we’ve talked about the bedrooms, the house, and Ragnor, so if anyone asks you can tell them those are the things we discussed. We are now at the part of the letter where I have to tell you important things but I wanted you to have information you could share in case someone asked you if you had heard from me. I mean, if someone important asks you. If someone we don’t know asks you, Anush says you can say “Make like a tree and leave,” which I don’t understand but he says will definitely work.
So, the important part. Rupert the Ghost. I wasn’t really thinking when I wrote up above that it will be nice for us to all be together. I mean, it will be, but it’s not quite that simple, at least for me. See…Rupert saw Livvy. She wasn’t hiding or anything, and she didn’t act surprised that he saw her. But I’ve spent so much time worried about other, you know, living people finding out about her. It hadn’t even occurred to me that of course there are ghosts everywhere, all over the world, and they’ll all know she’s there. The ghosts here at the Scholomance know about her, of course, but Edvard and Prudence keep to themselves and nobody really pays attention to either of them. Prudence is always in the library pretending to shelve books (or actually shelving ghost books, I can’t tell) and Edvard paces slowly through the halls and barely ever talks. Sometimes he moans, but that’s just him complaining.
Rupert and Livvy had a couple of conversations with just the two of them, I guess about ghost stuff. She says she made him promise that he wouldn’t say anything about seeing her, but ghosts can lie. So what if he says something to Emma or Julian? What if he can tell that something is weird with the way Livvy is a ghost and he mentions that?
The thing is, it’s not just Rupert. Even if he stays quiet, I already almost made Emma suspicious by talking to Livvy myself. I had to tell her I was talking to you on the phone. I know about Rupert and I know about Edvard and Prudence, but there could be ghosts anyplace I go, and if someone else is there and they start interacting with Livvy I’m going to have to explain. I got used to Edvard and Prudence ignoring her but Rupert drifted right into the bedroom and asked her who she was.
Livvy says I shouldn’t worry. She reminds me that any Shadowhunter can see ghosts who want to be seen, like Edvard and Prudence, but that it’s much harder to see a ghost who doesn’t want to be seen, and that’s most ghosts. She says Rupert wanted to be seen — first by Emma and Jules and then by Livvy and me, though only Livvy's seen him really clearly— but if he didn’t, I’d never have known he was there. She says she’s able to hide herself from almost all people (even Jace, and he has latent ghost-seeing powers), and even able to hide herself from a lot of ghosts. And that even if they do see her, they won’t necessarily know who she is, it’s not like ghosts can just identify each other. And she says if she has to, she’ll just lie to them.
She said a lot of reassuring things. But it still gave me a cold feeling, which I think is my body telling my brain that I’m afraid. If Julian and Emma found out about Livvy, they wouldn’t just be angry. They’d feel like they had to do something, like lay her to rest. People don’t think ghosts can be happy, but Livvy is happy. She helps me with work and she tells me advice for Anush (he has a crush on Rayan’s sister Nasha) and when we’re alone we play games or I read to her. She can’t do everything but why would being all the way dead be better? Everyone calls it “rest” but no one really knows, do they?
Maybe you have ideas. Tell me if you have ideas.
Love,
Tiberius
3K notes · View notes
emmablackstairs13 · 1 year
Text
Let’s not forget about this…
Tumblr media
101 notes · View notes
Text
De Julian à Magnus
Cher Magnus,
C’est un jour mémorable ! Pour une fois, je t’apporte des réponses au lieu de te poser des questions. Je me doute que tu as dû être saisi d’angoisse en voyant que cette lettre venait de moi, et que tu as songé à intégrer le Programme de Protection des Témoins (Programme de Protection des Sorciers ?). Mais en réalité, je t’écris simplement pour te faire part des dernières avancées. Et la bonne nouvelle est que nous avons appris beaucoup plus de choses depuis la dernière fois que je t’ai écrit.
Premièrement, le fantôme de Blackthorn Hall est Rupert Blackthorn, le mari de Tatiana. Il est retenu dans la maison à cause de la malédiction. Pour autant que nous sachions, son esprit errait déjà aux alentours du manoir, puisqu’il est mort ici (selon Tessa et Jem, dans des circonstances assez brutales). Mais la malédiction s’affaiblissait après la mort du père de Tatiana, puisqu’elle était liée à lui, et Tatiana a dû commencer à l’entretenir régulièrement par la suite pour qu’elle continue de fonctionner. Je ne sais pas du tout si Tatiana avait conscience dès le début de la présence du fantôme de Rupert, ni si elle avait compris que la malédiction le maintenait ici – mais ça a bien eu cet effet-là, jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Je pense qu’il a vu pas mal de choses pendant tout ce temps.
Selon nous, pour que la malédiction fonctionne, il faut ensorceler des objets qui sont ensuite placés sur les lignes de ley qui interagissent avec Blackthorn Hall. (C’était très malin de la part de Benedict, puisque ces objets ne sont pas dans la maison même, et donc les Chasseurs d’Ombres qui la fouillaient ne pouvaient pas détecter la malédiction. Il n’a pas pris de dispositions quant aux entrepreneurs elfes, heureusement pour nous.) De plus, comme Tatiana devait entretenir la malédiction, elle échangeait fréquemment ces objets avec d’autres qu’elle avait pris elle-même. Et elle a dérobé des biens qui appartenaient aux Herondales, aux Carstairs, aux Lightwoods… les personnes qu’elle haïssait et leurs enfants. Peut-être qu’elle se disait que sa haine renforcerait la malédiction, peut-être qu’elle aimait simplement voler ces gens et utiliser leurs biens à ses propres fins. Difficile à dire, mais ce n’est pas vraiment la question. Trouver les objets (restants), briser la malédiction, libérer Rupert, et nous remettre à rénover la maison pour que nous puissions vivre ici libres de toute malédiction.
ADDENDA : C’est le lendemain matin et j’ai de bonnes nouvelles : Rupert sait où se trouve l’un des objets ! Ou du moins il veut que nous allions quelque part. Pour communiquer avec Rupert, il y a encore une bonne part d’interprétation. Dans ce cas précis, en allant prendre le petit déjeuner ce matin, nous avons découvert sur le sol de la cuisine une très vieille enveloppe que nous n’avions encore jamais vue. La correspondance qu’elle contenait a depuis longtemps disparu, et l’adresse était écrite avec des bavures, mais nous pouvions voir qu’il s’agissait d’une maison à Curzon Street, dans le centre de Londres. Après quelques rapides messages de feu, nous avons appris que le fils de Tessa, James, avait habité dans Curzon Street il y a plus de cent ans. La maison appartient toujours aux Herondale d’ailleurs, mais il y a des années, bien avant Jace, certainement bien avant le père de Jace, elle a été donnée au National Trust[1]. C’est donc un monument historique ouvert au public, mais je pense que Jace en est toujours propriétaire, techniquement. Alors nous voilà partis, de simples touristes qui veulent visiter une maison historique, en espérant y trouver quelque chose. Tessa nous a dit que, pour autant qu’elle sache, aucun Chasseur d’Ombres n’y a résidé depuis longtemps, et si Tatiana y avait déposé un vieil objet, il a très bien pu être vendu ou rangé ailleurs, ou que sais-je encore. Rupert n’en saurait rien. Il faut aussi se demander quelles parties sont ouvertes au public et comment nous pouvons aller fouiller celles qui ne le sont pas. Emma a suggéré d’appeler Kit pour qu’il leur dise qu’en tant qu’Herondale, il nous donne sa permission, mais je ne suis pas sûr que ça fonctionne comme ça.
Donc le problème est loin d’être réglé, mais au moins, nous avons fait quelques progrès. Et Emma aime me faire remarquer que ça pourrait être bien pire. Rupert pourrait être un poltergeist revanchard qui casse toujours tout pour essayer de nous faire partir, mais il semble être plutôt d’avis que le moyen d’obtenir ce qu’il veut est de nous aider. Je ne crois pas que nous puissions compter sur lui pour trouver un vieux déchet du siècle dernier qui nous indiquerait où sont tous les objets, mais nous avons un nouvel endroit à aller explorer, et nous avons encore le journal de Tatiana et le Détecteur de fantôme de Ty. Et puis ça me rassure beaucoup d’avoir un but concret.
Là, tu te dis peut-être, bon, d’accord, mais qu’est-ce que tu me veux ? Et la réponse est : rien du tout !
Encore merci, embrasse Alec et tout le monde de notre part.
Julian.
Texte original de Cassandra Clare ©
Traduction d’Eurydice Bluenight ©
Le texte original est à lire ici : https://secretsofblackthornhall.tumblr.com/post/681252171490131968/julian-to-magnus
[1] Association britannique pour la conservation des monuments historiques et sites d’intérêt
10 notes · View notes
clockworkbee · 1 year
Text
Does anyone need it or is it just me?
Tumblr media
73 notes · View notes
bookishjules · 2 years
Text
IS RUPERT MAKING AN APPEARANCE IN CHOT????
Tumblr media
99 notes · View notes