The Mortal Instrument Series belongs to Cassandra Clare. As are all characters mentioned here.

Chapter 1- Unfair

'Days were numbered'- yeah, he knew that.

'To love was to destroy' -he may have heard Jace mutter it under his breath once or twice.

'Life isn't fair'- wasn't that a euphemism all children have at one point or another? In his nine years of existence, it certainly applied to Max; his life was certainly unfair.

Being the youngest of the Lightwood family, Max was excluded from a lot of activities. He wasn't allowed to train with his elder siblings, Alec, Jace, and Isabelle. He wasn't allowed to accompany them on their demon-slaying adventures. Instead, he was stuck at home, in the Institute; with his parents, Hodge, his beloved manga books, and that damnable cat, Church.

The fact that he was left out was the very thing that he hated the most---loathed, abhorred, abominated, despised; not knowing what was happening just because he was too young. But he wasn't ignorant; Max would get feelings that something wasn't right.

They'd barely returned from the ancient city of Idris, Alicante. But soon, they would return to the Shadowhunter city where the Clave ha recently signed the new Accords. Max believed the Downworlders to be uncivilized, conspiring against the Nephilim until an all out war was among them. A battle between Angels and Demons, it seemed.

The moment Max returned with his mother from Idris, he knew something was wrong. Heck, he knew things were bad at the airport when Maryse had let him get that Naruto book. She kept silent for the whole trip, only curtly answering his questions with a 'yes' or 'no'. Once he received a 'you'll get grape juice on your seat' to a totally unrelated question -which had actually been 'are we landing soon?' -all while glaring at the bag of peanuts handed to him by the flight attendant.

The bad vibe he had just turned to worse when he arrived home, leading to some sort of quarrel between Jace and Maryse; Jace left home shortly. A creepy gray-haired woman, Inquisitor Herondale, showed up and every moment she wasn't screaming at his mother, she was glaring at him and his siblings as if their very existence was an inconvenience to the world. Then everyone disappeared for a whole night to take out some demon cruise ship. His father was injured pretty badly and others were too. Some Shadowhunters hadn't even returned: Malik, creepy -gray-and-really-mean -old-hag Lady--- Max didn't think her death that unfortunate--- and countless others. Max didn't need to be told what had become of them, he already knew. They died just as everyone did at some point. And a week later, his mother announced that they would be traveling back to Alicante.

The day of their departure date, Max sat in one of the red seats in the library, trying to pass the time waiting for his siblings. Maryse was foraging in Hodge's old desk, looking for notes, records, and "official grown-up business"; he hated that term.

"Max"

"Yes, mother?" Max inclined his head toward his mother, who had clearly found the papers she needed and was in the process of placing them in a folder.

"Please call your siblings to the library"

"'Kay." He rose from the comfortable, over-stuffed chair and walked to the double wooden doors. One hand on the handle and the other holding on to his Naruto book, he yanked the door back and looked back at his mother before stepping into the hallway and began his search for the elder children.

Finding the others wasn't hard, even considering the vastness of the Institute. His siblings had their habits and were quite easy to find. Isabelle, of course, would be in her room contemplating what to wear with multiple of outfits thrown in disarray manner around her room. Or she would be in the kitchen, attempting to unintentionally murder an unfortunate someone with her dastardly meals. Max shuddered at the thought and wondered why no one had grabbed Maryse and shook her while screaming why she hadn't taught of teaching her daughter how to cook.

Alec, the oldest Lightwood child, would without a doubt be wherever Jace was. Either that or locked up in his room, doing whatever the hell it was he did.

Jace. Now, there were a multitude of places in the almost empty household that Max could imagine Jace's location to be. His adoptive brother was more active than his siblings and didn't stay in the same place for a very long period of time. But as Max was just in the library, he could eliminate the possibility that Jace was there.

Now only about 120 rooms left to check. If Jace is even at home….

The Weapon's room, the greenhouse, his own room, the kitchen, or the big room with the grand piano and harp, Max could check all these places but Jace would have already gone to another room by the time he'd arrived. He could go with the more favorable option: let Alec run after Jace; his brother seemed very apt at finding Jace wherever he went.

Vowing to himself that he wouldn't take forever tracking down his siblings, he made the decision to check Isabelle's room first. He silently thanked the Angel when he found his sister pacing in her room, fuming about something that coincidentally rhymed with truck.

"Isabelle?"

Snapping out of her reverie, Isabelle lifted her head and met Max's eyes with her dark ones. Being the only girl in the family, Isabelle was eerily a near carbon copy of her mother, minus the eyes. While Maryse's eyes were an icy blue, Isabelle's was near black. "Yes?"

"Mom wants you in the library."

"For?"

"I don't know; she didn't say."

"Alright" Isabelle said with a sigh, reaching over to her suitcase to hastily zip it close and stalked out of the room with Max trailing behind. They reached the end of the corridor and set off in different directions, Isabelle to the library and Max to find his brothers.

And find Alec, he did. Or more correctly ----Alec ran him over.

"Whoa, Max!" Alec exclaimed and moved to steady his younger brother before he fell on his rear. "You have to watch yourself, okay?"

"I was looking for you. Mom wants to see you in the library. Where's Jace?"

"Jace is…he is…" Alec broke off; he sighed in exasperation and finally said, "I'll get Jace." With that, the older boy turned on his heels and walked in the opposite direction of where he was originally headed.

Having found all his siblings and delivered his mother's message, Max decided to head to the library. He paused when he arrived just outside; the door was slightly ajar and the soft mutters of tense sounding conversation spilled into the hallway. Church was sleeping at the corner of the door. He looked up and gave a soft meow.

Seeing that as his cue to enter the room, Max walked in. Standing in the immense room were five people. His mother was standing next to Madeleine, the two of them locked in a heated discussion. Isabelle was sitting in his abandoned seat looking at the two women with rapt attention. Jace was staring out the window, his gaze lost in the streets of New York. Alec was also present, but he seemed only interested in the leather of Isabelle's seat. Someone cleared their throat, causing everyone- who had all been oblivious to Max's presence in the room-turn to the young boy.

Only when the person cleared their throat did Max notice his father leaning on the wall in the dark shadows. Robert Lightwood was recently recovering from a wound laced with demon poison, and Max assumed that his father was still in the infirmary. The fact that Max hadn't noticed a big six foot five man in the room irritated him beyond measure.

"Thank you for bringing your siblings," Maryse told Max, giving him a firm look. "You are excused now."

You're excused now…

.The words burned echoed into Max's mind. He hated being excused from the adults like he was some sort of puissant, unable to handle the stress or responsibility. He understood how his parents wanted to keep him young as long as possible, but Max could feel things stirring in the atmosphere, almost as if an unknown was just looming just outside the Institute walls, and he was powerless to do anything about it because he was out of the loop: too young to know.

"What's going on?" Max asked, looking between each member in the room.

"We're having a discussion," his mother answered "You're dismissed."

"What's going on? What's really going on? Why are we going back to Alicante? We've only returned two weeks ago---" he began, but was cut off again.

"This is official Clave business; we've been called back. That's all you need to know. If you don't mind, we're having an adult discussion and we would like some privacy."

Max made no move to leave the library; his blood was boiling with anger. Something was wrong; he could feel it deep in his gut, and yet they brushed him away because he was 'too young'. All eyes were fixated on him, but their expressions were guarded, too afraid to give something away.

"Why won't you tell me what's going on? Why is Hodge gone? Has he really gone to London? Does this have anything to do with Valentine?! I want to know what's going on!"

For a minute, there was nothing but silence. Jace had fully turned from his position by the window. Isabelle looked surprised at her younger brother's outburst, while Alec turned to stare at a book. Maryse and Robert glanced at each other before turning back to their youngest child. Madeleine--- God knows what she was thinking about--- met Max's eyes with her hazel ones. The gaze wasn't unfriendly, but was rather intrigued with a hint of admiration.

His father was the one who broke the silence, "There's an emergency Clave meeting for everyone to attend; that's why we're headed back. And as you're too young to participate in this conversation, please wait in the foyer until we've finished."

"That's unfair!!" Max screamed, stomping his foot in frustration.

"Maxwell, please," his mother begged, but he continued to stare at his father defiantly. When no one answered him or indulged his outburst, Max narrowed his eyes in indignation.

"Fine" he growled and with Naruto still clamped in his left hand, Max stormed out of the library, everyone watching his retreating back with a slight hint of sympathy.

Max sank into the wooden bench in the entryway and hugged the paperback book, to his chest. All he could think was that it was unfair for his family to dismiss him from his conversation. He only wanted to know so he could be prepared, was it too wrong to be forewarned?

Whenever his family talking about Clave business, they would decide that he was too young to engage in the topic, and he was sent from the room. He hadn't cared much when he was younger, two or three years back.

But he was older now and knew more than they thought he did. He could tell that everyone was on the edge, and from what he gathered from the whispered conversations, he'd deciphered that these matters were extremely hazardous, as if it were a war that could ravage the Earth and destroy all humanity and mankind was brewing. His kind were Nephilim: the hunters of demon-kind. They were the only stop-gate between the demons and their goal to destroy everything in their paths; their lives were spent fighting that eternal battle. But his family had never before treated their obligations as if it were a lost cause or incredibly dire…never.

All Max knew was that Valentine, a very bad Shadowhunter, had allied himself with demons and wanted to destroy the Clave using two out of the three Mortal Instruments.

He wanted to know more about Valentine. Why was he fighting with demons? Why did he want to destroy the Clave? Why did he want the Mortal Instruments? His parents acted as if they knew Valentine personally. What were their connections to him? Every time Valentine was brought up, Max was sent to another room. Or whenever he asked, the person he was asking would flinch and then respond with 'You're too young to be concerned with stuff like that' or 'This is hardly the time' or 'You're a bit too young to know.'

He was always brushed away, and he hated it. It was unfair. They underestimated him too much.

A thud reverberated throughout the empty foyer. With a sudden, violent movement, Max had struck the wood with his small fist. He repeated that three more times to vent his frustrations before looking down at his now bruised hand.

He'd be like Naruto, he thought. Always brushed off, ignored, and underestimated. But like Naruto, he would get stronger and prove himself. He decided that he'd become strong enough for his age not to matter anymore. He'd be stronger than Jace, Alec, Isabelle, and his parents all together. And then everyone would regret keeping information from him. He would be relentless I his quest to become powerful.

Chatter resounded down the corridor, signifying the ending to the family meeting, sans the 'young one'. Max stood up, his family had finally finished and now they would wait for the warlock to open a Portal to Alicante. Everyone crowded the elevator with their baggage and went down.

They passed the pews and bid their father farewell; he was staying for another day to recover from his injury and then would be joining them, and went to the back of the old cathedral just as Robert went back up the elevator.

Max, standing next to Isabelle, took the time to observe the group. Isabelle was playing with her braided hair, Alec was shifting his weight and looked as if he was about to get sick, Jace looked like he was waiting for someone or something, and Madeleine was talking to Maryse, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

The iron gate creaked open, causing Max to look up.

A very tall man strode through it. He was unusually dressed. He had to be the warlock, Max assumed. As the tall Downworlder neared, Max could see his features quite clearer. He had almond shaped eyes that were a gold-green with silted pupils. He had a slight tan, and his black hair was gelled into spikes. He wore a white splatter-paint shirt, and rainbow trousers that were too tight. And to top that off, he looked as if he had bathed in glitter.

Seeing Alec, the warlock gave a sparkling smile before turning to Maryse, who gave a curt nod. Alec flushed red and drifted even more away from his family looking obscenely ill. Max looked to Isabelle, who was smirking at her brother's embarrassment.

"Isabelle?"

"Mhmm?"

"Who's that?"

"That's Magnus Bane. The warlock who's going to open the Portal"

Max furrowed his brow. He recalled his siblings talking about that certain warlock. "'The sexy, sexy warlock?'" He asked, quoting his sister exactly.

Isabelle shifted and turned to her mother, to see if she'd heard, but to Isabelle's luck, Maryse was too busy arguing with the warlock on expensive prices. "Yeah. Yeah, that's the one"

"Isabelle?"

"Yeah?"

"What's sexy?"

Isabelle flushed red. As red as Alec had. "Uh…."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence; she was interrupted by a horrible, blood-curdling scream. He heard his mother cry out, "Madeleine!"

Both he and Isabelle whirled around to the sound of clashing metal. There was a thick mist engulfing them and obscuring their vision. A big, dark shadow loomed above them, clutching a heavy-looking ax. It smelled foul and of death. Max gagged. Isabelle gasped, "Forsaken Warriors."

A black shadow cut across its path and dismantled it, Alec had thrown a seraph blade, which had pierced its chest and followed up with another seraph blade, slashing and hacking at the creature. The movement gave Isabelle time to recover and she lashed out with her golden electrum whip.

"Move to the Portal!" Alec commanded.

Max couldn't see. He was overwhelmed with the ambush, and paralyzed with fear. He backed up against the wall and fell to his knees, helpless and frozen. Where was Jace? His mother? Magnus and Madeleine? He couldn't see his siblings anymore through the Hell Mist, but he could hear them fending the monsters off.

Suddenly, a dark figure grabbed him. Max yelled, and started to squirm until he saw that it was his mother. He was safe in her embrace.

Holding her son, Maryse dashed through the Mist, and stopped at the Portal. She called over her shoulder, Max couldn't hear as her voice was lost over the harsh scrapping of metal, probably calling for the rest of her children to get to the Portal. For a fleeting moment Max saw Alec and Isabelle run towards him with Jace at their tail, then his mother jumped through the Portal carrying both of them into oblivion.

Max squeezed his eyes shut, and buried his head into his mother's shoulder; he hated Portal travel. When he felt his feet planted on solid ground, he opened his eyes. Alec and Isabelle tumbled out of the Portal after them looking disheveled.

The few Clave members that were awaiting them, the Consul, the newly appointed Inquisitor, Jia and Patrick Penhallow, and a few others looked on in confusion. Patrick was the first to speak, "By the Angel Maryse, what happened?"

"An ambush, Patrick. We were ambushed by Forsaken," Maryse answered before turning to her children with concern and noticed one notably absent. "Where's Jace?"

"He was right behind me," Isabelle answered.

Not shortly after that being said, Jace stepped through the Portal. He was carrying a dark-haired bleeding someone on his shoulder. The warlock Max thought, but then noticed that he wasn't dressed in flamboyant attire and his hair wasn't gelled. Nor was he sparkly.

Jace had come carrying a dying Downworlder. A Downworlder in Alicante. The Clave was going to go nuts.

And Max's assessment was correct. The room had broken into a hysteric confusion. Everyone was speaking at once.

As usual, Patrick broke the awkward silence, "Is that a vampire---"

"Simon!?" Isabelle ran towards Jace and the fallen Downworlder, who Max concluded to be the bleeding vampire.

"Jace---" Alec cried, joining his sister quickly. The person of his concern didn't seem to be the injured one on the ground, but was the one standing.

"A vampire?" Jia seemed to be just as exasperated as her husband.

The Inquisitor, a short plump man, was flailing his arms and ranting profusely about his title and that this was his city.

Consul Malachi was snapping at Maryse, "Lightwood! What is the meaning of this? A Downworlder in the Gard? What are you playing at?"

Maryse looked as if she wanted to smack someone, namely the Consul.

As the room silenced, Jace looked to the Consul. "We were attacked by Forsaken. I was talking to Simon at the moment, and he saved my life. But he was injured and I couldn't leave him to die, I owed him as much"

"And so you saw fit to bring him here?" the Consul interrogated.

"If I left him, he would've died."

A hooded Clave member spoke, "He did save the life of a Nephilim. I say we let him here only until he recovers and then set him free."

From across the room, Max saw Isabelle flinch as the vampire, Simon, was compared to an animal.

Malachi sighed and spoke with irritation and disgust, "It's decided, but where do we store the Downworlder?"

Patrick gave his wife a glance, "We'll be happy to keep him in our house. Only until he recovers enough to go home."

"You may use the Portal to your house, so that you won't be seen." Patrick nodded.

"Come on" He mumbled, gesturing for the Lightwoods to step into the Portal and to his home. Alec helped Jace carry Simon and they both through, vanishing into the Portal. Isabelle followed, and Max grabbed onto his mother's hand as they plunged into the Portal once again.

They arrived in the Penhallow's house. Max, having just stayed there weeks before, recognized the room as their kitchen. He turned around as Jia and Patrick Portaled into their home. Jia left to arrange the rooms, and alert Aline and Sebastian, their cousin who was visiting from Paris.

"Okay," Patrick announced "The vampire---Simon-is that his name?--- He can have the guest bedroom; the curtains are dark in that room, so he should be safe. Isabelle, you're going to be in Aline's room. Alec and Jace can have the attic room. And Max--- sorry bud--- you'll share with your parents. "

The Lightwoods nodded and thanked Patrick for his welcome.

Jia came into the kitchen, smiling "Come into the living room, it seems we have a lot of catching up to do. We can speak there where everyone is comfortable. Our nephew, Sebastian, is visiting from Paris; we'll introduce you."

The Lightwood party complied. Jia and Patrick Penhallow led them to a spacious and nicely decorated sitting room. Two dark-haired teenagers, one boy and the other a girl, were sitting on one of the four couches. They looked up when noticing their audience.

AN:

I now have a Beta reader, so the first two chapters have been reposted after being edited.

Reviews are kindness, now make me smile!