Parabatai

*This article uses material from the "Parabatai" article on the Shadowhunters wiki at FANDOM and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.*

***Parabatai*** are a pair of Nephilim warriors who fight together as lifelong partners, bound together by oath, regardless of their gender. Their bond is not only reflected in their closeness and willingness to lay down their lives for one another, but also in oath - one sworn in front of the Council.

Not all Shadowhunters are required to have a *parabatai;* it is actually less common to have them. A Shadowhunter only has eighteen years to find and choose a *parabatai;* once older than that, the ritual is no longer open to the Shadowhunter.

## Ritual

Today, *parabatai* must be bonded in childhood; that is, before either has turned nineteen years old. They are not merely warriors who fight together; the oaths that newly made *parabatai* take in front of the Council include vows to lay down one's life for the other, to travel where the other travels, and indeed, to be buried in the same place.

In the actual ceremony held to bind the *parabatai*, there will be three rings of fire on the ground: two for the individuals, and a third one in the middle that will serve as the shared ring, seemingly symbolizing the union or joining of the pair as *parabatai*. The words of the *parabatai* oath are spoken, and *parabatai* runes are exchanged and placed on each other.

The first two male Shadowhunters Jonathan and David fought side by side as the first *parabatai*. Tradition tells that the ritual they performed was quite different from the current one: they took each other's blood, spoke the words of the oath, and inscribed the runes of binding upon each other.

### Trial of Water

Prospective *parabatai* must undergo some tests before their ceremony to make sure their bond is true; the trial of water is one of the tests performed. The test itself is kept secret and must be done without prior knowledge to it being taken - knowing ahead of time and preparing can tamper with the results.

The waters of the lake will cause them to hallucinate. The objective is to see if they go to the same place in their mind and, when put to the test in this hallucination, that they both risk their own lives to save the other, defying the point of where they should die in order to rescue one another. Passing the test proves the existing link between them before the bond makes it official.

### Trial of Fire

In the actual ceremony to bind the *parabatai -* referred to in name as "The Fiery Trial" - there will be three rings of fire on the ground: two for the individuals, and the third one in the middle that serves as the shared ring, seemingly symbolizing the union or joining of the pair as *parabatai.* The words of the *parabatai* oath are spoken, and the *parabatai* runes are exchanged and placed on each other.

### Oath

*"Entreat me not to leave thee,*

*Or return from following after thee -*

*For wither thou goest, I will go,*

*And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.*

*Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God.*

*Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.*

*The Angel do so to me, and more also,*

*If aught but death part thee and me."*

### Witnesses

Two witnesses are required for the ritual, though their presence is usually symbolic. Their responsibility is similar to that of *suggenes* and are typically two people of importance to those being bonded. During the ceremony, each stands on the wing of the angel depicted on the floor, near to ring of fire of the person who chose them.

**Known Witnesses:**

* Will Herondale and Henry Branwell for James Herondale and Matthew Fairchild, respectively.
* Clary Fairchild and Simon Lewis for Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn, respectively.
* Jace Herondale and Simon Lewis for Stevie Herondale and Eli Lightwood, respectively.
* Clary Fairchild and Jem Carstairs for Emmy Herondale and Mina Carstairs, respectively.
* Julian Blackthorn and Alec Lightwood for John Carstairs-Blackthorn and Cece Blackthorn-Penhallow, respectively.
* Emma Carstairs and Dru Blackthorn for Lyssa Carstairs-Blackthorn and Clarke Carstairs-Blackthorn, respectively.

### Bond

A Shadowhunter may choose only one *parabatai* in their lifetime and cannot perform the ritual more than once. Most Shadowhunters never have any *parabatai* at all; so, being fortunate enough to find someone worthy of becoming ones' *parabatai* is considered a blessing. This ritual bond enhances the natural feelings of love and friendship that already exist between the pair; however, this does not prevent rivalry or hate from forming between them.

The *parabatai* runes placed upon them enable them to draw on each other's strength in battle. They also maintain a strong connection between one another and are able to sense each other's life force; Shadowhunters who have lost their *parabatai* describe being able to feel the life leave their partner, and when something supernatural happens to the other. In addition, Marks made by one parabatai upon another are stronger than Marks drawn by others, and there are Marks that only parabatai can use, because they draw on the partners' doubled strength.

### Severance

Like the marriage bond, the *parabatai* bond is broken, normally, only by the death of one of the members of the partnership. However, the binding can also be cut, or may fade, in some rare circumstances: if one becomes a Downworlder, if one leaves their life as a Shadowhunter to be with a mundane, or if one is stripped of their Marks and becomes a mundane, and if one is exiled, its enchantments and formal ceremony lessening ones' Nephilim magic, gradually weakening the bond.

When one becomes a Silent Brother or an Iron Sister, the bond dissolves naturally as the Marks of transformation that new oblates take are among the most powerful that exist and overwhelm and dissolve the *parabatai* Marks of binding just as they overwhelm and dissolve more ordinary warrior's Marks.

Additionally, when the bond is severed or twisted in any way, when they are separated or if a great distance is placed between them, the partners would feel the connection break, or could feel constant or sudden painful sensations comparable to literal tugs to their hearts, or some other strange feeling easily associated with it.

### Curse

The only bond forbidden to the *parabatai* is the romantic bond, and it has become a rule upheld by the Clave, written into the Law and the Shadowhunter's Codex, and embedded into the beliefs of many generations of the Nephilim. The Shadowhunter-troubadours' in the late Middle Ages made several songs depicting the forbidden love of *parabatai* pairs and the inescapable tragedies, both of heartache and magical disaster, that befell them when they become romantically linked.

However, the real reason it was written into the Law, aside from the symbolic and practical reasons, is generally unknown to most Nephilim and is considered a long-hidden mystery. Very few people know the reason why love between *parabatai* is forbidden, and records of it have either been lost, destroyed or hidden deep in the archives of the Silent City and the Spiral Labyrinth, shrouding the truth in secrecy.

True love between *parabatai* will strengthen their power to the point of magic. The more the pair surrenders to their emotions and love for one another, the stronger the curse gets and affects them. At first, the pair will have increased power with runes they apply on one another, more so than typical *parabatai* that even fatal wounds are healed with their *iratze*, and they will have the ability to do things no other Nephilim could do, such as when Emma Carstairs destroyed the Mortal Sword with Cortana.

Eventually, their runes will begin to burn with heavenly fire, and black lines will spread on their skin until, finally, they turn into enormous beings—true Nephilim. The *parabatai* will have little control or conscious acts while in this form. Apparently, the power would eventually drive them mad and surround themselves with death and destruction until they die themselves, burned by their heavenly fire. When they somehow survive, however, they may awaken with their *parabatai* rune and bond broken.

## History

The idea of *parabatai* bonds came from an old tale, particularly the biblical tale of David and Jonathan, warriors who loved each other dearly and whose souls were knit together by Heaven after forming a covenant. Out of that story, Jonathan Shadowhunter and his companion David, who were coincidental namesakes of the biblical characters of the same name, took the idea of parabatai, created the rune and ritual for it, and encoded the ceremony into the Law.

Because Shadowhunters aren't meant to wield magic, and because the rune and ceremony was created by man and not by Heaven, the rune has a dangerous corruption: the aforementioned curse. It also has a weakness: The first *parabatai* rune ever inscribed by Jonathan and David with their blood on a stone tablet is kept in the room of the Speaking Stars in the Silent City. If it is destroyed with the Mortal Sword, all the *parabatai* runes and bonds in the world will break.

During the time of the rune's conception, giant demons still ravaged the earth, and in response, Shadowhunters transformed into true Nephilim, marking an ultimate sacrifice as most would die in a blaze of heavenly fire afterwards. Those with *parabatai*, however, often survived the transformation when their *parabatai* did not transform and kept them anchored.

There are at least two known incidents of a pair of *parabatai* lovers who both transformed, uncontrollably, into true Nephilim and wreaked havoc, murdering their families and anyone who got in their way, before being burned alive by their heavenly fire. In another, a pair of Shadowhunters became powerful magicians, comparable to warlocks, and razed a town to the ground. Because of these incidents, the Law against *parabatai* being in love was implemented. To prevent others from potentially taking advantage of the power, the reasons and history behind the Law were covered up and kept secret for generations since, but the practice was not ended as it was valued as one of the most powerful tools of Shadowhunters.

Eventually, giant demons stopped coming to earth, and Shadowhunters turning into true Nephilim, but *parabatai* who fell in love, despite the Law, risked turning into true Nephilim unnecessarily.

## Known *Parabatai*

* Jonathan Shadowhunter and David the Silent (split by David's Silent Brotherhood)
* Silas Pangborn and Eloisa Ravenscar (split by Silas' death)
* Jem Carstairs and Will Herondale (split by Jem's Silent Brotherhood and Will's death)
* Cordelia Carstairs and Lucie Herondale
* Michael Wayland and Robert Lightwood
* Valentine Morgenstern and Lucian Graymark (split by Luke's Downworlder transformation)
* Jace Herondale and Alec Lightwood
* Edward Longford and his unnamed parabatai (split by the latter's Turn into an Endarkened)
* Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs (split by heavenly fire when they turned into true Nephilim)
* Julie Beauvale and Beatriz Mendoza (split by Julie's death)
* Clary Herondale and Simon Lightwood
* Emmy Herondale and Mina Carstairs
* Eli Lightwood and Stevie Herondale
* John Carstairs-Blackthorn and Cece Blackthorn-Penhallow
* Clarke Carstairs-Blackthorn and Lyssa Carstairs-Blackthorn

## Trivia

* A demonic twinning spell that binds two people has been compared to and referred to as a darker form of the *parabatai* bond, wherein one individual is superior to the other and is capable of impressing upon the other member their thoughts and feelings. When one is injured, the other is as well, and when one dies, both die. Since this robs one member of the bond of their free will, it is considered the demonic equivalent of the bond.
* All *parabatai* bonds are different. Some may experience it on a physical level while others' are more emotional and intuitive.
* Witnessing the ceremony of another set of *parabatai* can cause a powerful reaction in true *parabatais.*