Disclaimer: As much as I wish I could, I do not own the Mortal Instruments or any of that which is affiliated with it.


It had been 3 months since what is now commonly being referred to as The Dark War.

And Clarissa Morgenstern's life had never been better. Even though it had been drastically changed in the last 12 months, she would not wish for it to be any other way. She had made friends with those she never would have thought possible (including a very sparkly Warlock), she had Jace - calling him her boyfriend would be like saying that her passion for art was just a hobby - who she had been through so much with, she had Simon, her best and oldest friend, with (most) of his memories intact, but most importantly, she had the ability to call these people her family. Before she was introduced to the Shadow World, her family was limited to Simon, her mother and Luke. She was so grateful to the boy (who she later learn't was a demon) with the blue hair who helped her gain access to the club known as Pandemonium, as if it were not for him, she may never have learnt of her true self.

And although her life had changed for the better, Clary was trying to do all that was possible to try and maintain what she could from her 'ordinary mundane life' as her friends like to say, or her 'life pre-Jace', as Jace liked to say. She begged her mother to let her re-enroll to St Francis Xavier, so she could continue to attend ordinary mundane high school with Simon. This she was allowed, given the circumstances that she still trained and learned the Shadowhunter ways. Clary began to draw more than ever, occupying a second room at the Institute just for her drawings. These included numerous landscapes and portraits of Alicante, the Glass City, things she had seen in Edom, her brother, Jonathan, with his beautiful emerald eyes, not his demonic black ones, other friends and family members, but what she drew the most of was Jace - although this may have just fueled his already humongous-sized ego. Even on weekends, whatever little spare time she had, Luke allowed her to work part-time in his book shop.

Clary had also managed to find herself a parabatai in Isabelle Lightwood. Just as Jace had Alec, Clary had Isabelle. After what they had been through over the few months that they had known each other, they had grown close, closer than sisters they believed. They trusted each other with their lives, and could tell each other anything. Clary had thought that nothing could feel better than being with Jace - and nothing could - but knowing that Isabelle and herself were bonded in a way that she and Jace could never be, came quite close.

Although, what Clary believed to be the best part was that her mother had finally agreed (with some persuasion on Luke's part) to let her move it to the Institute. But it came with one very clear rule - under no circumstances were both Jace and Clary allowed to be in the other one's room, otherwise they were to have someone in the room with them and the door wide open. There was also an unspoken rule that this extended further from the bedrooms, but to every room in the institute as well.

Some may have described Clary's life as one that they would never wish upon themselves, but if she were to describe it herself in one word, it would be magical. Or unpredictable. As she never knew what was going to happen. It was a life that was anything but ordinary.