Clary smiled as yet another sailor was pulled into the depths of the ocean. It wasn't a pleasant smile, but a satisfactory one of a job well done. As a siren, it was Clary's job to lure sailors to her island, only to have their ships crash on the jagged rocks of the shore. Each sailor's death brought a certain thrill and delight to Clary. It was one of her only joys in life.
After clearing the rocky shore of the ship's remains, Clary returned to her favorite spot on the cliff, overlooking the waves. While she enjoyed luring in sailors and watching their demise, she also liked these peaceful times, when the ocean was just waves. It brought on a sense of calm that was necessary to balance the excitement of a shipwreck.
Far on the horizon, Clary spotted a ship. It bore no country's flags, but was clearly not a pirate vessel. It must be a sort of merchant ship. Clary liked those best, as merchant ships were the least likely to have anyone important aboard. She would hate to drown a queen. Clary started to sing her song to lure the ship closer to her island, but the ship appeared to be just out of range. Clary realized she'd have to either leave her perch on the cliff to chase after the ship or just let it go. Clary smirked. She hadn't let a ship go free in years.
She dove into the waves and swam quickly over to the ship, which took mere seconds. Clary could swim faster than any human, ship, or animal. She reached the ship and started to sing her luring song as she approached a section of the ship where she'd be able to see the sailors.
When she finally approached the ship, she was curious to find that there was not a bustling of crew members around the ship, beginning to feel the power of her lure. Instead, there was only one man aboard the ship. He was staring directly at Clary.
Clary was shocked into silence. He was the most handsome she had ever encountered, and that was saying a lot, considering she'd seen and lured many men to their deaths. This man had golden hair that appeared almost as a halo around his beautiful face. His eyes were golden, and almost seemed like they were shining as he gazed at Clary. He started walking closer to Clary and she realized that she had stopped singing, though he still appeared to be in a daze.
"Who are you?" He asked softly, as though he were worried he would scare her off. He sounded in awe, as if he couldn't believe he'd come to find such a beautiful creature.
Clary opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. She had never spoken to a human; the only sound she had ever made was her song, which wasn't in any sort of human language.
The man was only a few feet from Clary now and he bent down to be more at eye level with her, since she was hanging on to the side of his ship.
"Can you speak?" He asked.
Clary didn't know how to respond. She seemed incapable of speech, but she had picked up on a few human gestures. She shook her head, hoping she was correct that it would confirm that she could not speak.
"Were you the one singing just now?"
Clary nodded. She was also confused. This man should have been completely under her spell after hearing her song, but he only seemed the slightest bit dazed. And she was happy about that. She didn't want this man to be just another death on her hands. There was something special about him. Not only was he the only man who had not fallen under her spell, he was the only man who had ever talked to her, or seemed kind. Clary didn't want to risk singing for him again, in case there was some temporary reason for his immunity. There was something about this man that had her wanting to protect him, not lead him to his death, as she had done for so many before him.
"Can you come aboard the ship? I'm sure it's much more comfortable than hanging on like that."
Clary shook her head again. She had never set foot anywhere other than her island, and she wasn't sure what would happen to her if she tried. She didn't like being out of the water for too long anyway.
The man stood up and walked away from Clary for a moment, and she felt a strange emptiness at his absence. He returned quickly, though, before Clary could wonder too much at the feeling.
"How about that island over there? Can you go onto the beach?"
Clary nodded and found that she was smiling. She was actually smiling about something other than the death of unfortunate sailors. What was happening to her?
Clary swam back to the shore, but made sure to stay close to the ship this time. She helped guide the man to a safe part of shore, and again Clary felt a sense of absurdity at this situation, and how backwards it was to everything else she'd ever done.
When the ship had docked and the man had come onto the island, Clary found her way to her favorite spot on the cliff, and the man joined her.
"So, I don't think I mentioned my name before. I'm Jace. It's nice to meet you." He held his hand out toward Clary, and she didn't know what to do, so she just stared at it, and then back at him. Jace gave her a confused look, but then grabbed her hand and started shaking it with his. "It's called a hand shake. It's how you say hello."
Clary shook his hand earnestly, hoping she was doing it correctly.
"What's your name? Do you have one?" Jace looked at her seriously.
Clary thought about it. She knew her name, but she didn't know how to communicate it to Jace.
Jace moved away from Clary a few inches. "Here. Can you write it in the sand?"
Clary stared at the ground before moving her finger to carve the letters into the sand. She spelled out C, then L, then the rest of the letters in her name.
"Clary?" Jace asked.
Clary's breath caught in her throat at the sound of her name on Jace's lips. She'd never heard her name said aloud. She'd never really thought about her name before, nor how she'd gotten it. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how she was named, she only knew that she was and always had been Clary.
"Clary," he said again. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."
Clary smiled again, surprised to find that she was doing it so often now. As she looked at Jace, she realized she no longer felt the urge to sing, to lure innocent sailors to their deaths. She only wanted to stay here with Jace for as long as she could. Clary looked out at the ocean, and the rocky shore. She had brought so much death here, but no more. She saw the waves and was happy to know that there would never be another shipwreck there again, at least not because of her. There were, and only ever would be, just waves.