Praise bounteous / providence if you will / that grants even an ogre / a tiny glow-worm / tenderness encapsulated / in icy caverns of a cruel / heart or else despair / for in the very germ / of that kindred love is / lodged the perpetuity / of evil. - Vultures by Chinua Achebe

Wow. I had not expected such a response to this story. My other story took two weeks to reach the amount of followers this reached in two days. It's a little daunting. But thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favoured.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Here is chapter two...


Eight years later

Chapter song:

The Start of Something New by the High School Musical Cast

The knife embedded itself in the varnished wood of the table.

"Are you joking?!" Jace exclaimed with excessive volume. He saw the smallest of winces cross Alec's face and his mind briefly digressed enough to wonder what he was wincing at: the knife or the tone. Alec was a quiet person who disliked loud noises. He also hated it whenever Jace or Isabelle scarred the furniture. Usually Jace - being the OCD perfectionist he was - would agree with him. They would often subject Isabelle to long lectures on the matter. Later on, Jace knew that the ugly gash in the table would annoy him to no end, but he didn't particularly care right now. He stared at Alec, mouth open in horror like a fish out of water.

Alec sighed, his patience wearing thin. "Jace, you don't have a choice-"

"I am not, standing in that accursed manor just to eavesdrop on idle chit chat for another month!" Jace fumed. Whenever Alec fumed, he did it silently, but Jace had a tendency to do no such thing.

"Jace!" Alec snapped, his breath coming out in an exasperated huff. "Stop throwing a tantrum. The manor may seem deserted, even... haunted," he spat the word out; Alec was a rationalist, "but the Clave believes that the Circle makes it its base of operations, rather than the residents just being paranoid and employing armed guards for no reason. If it really is the place, then the leader is sure to be there. We might finally understand who is at the centre of this spiders web!"

Jace fingered the handle of the stationary knife, feeling his fingertips brush the engraved crest. "My parents knew."

"And that's why he - or she - killed them." Alec's hand was on Jace's wrist, restraining him from seizing the knife and doing even more damage. His blue eyes were wide and earnest. "Don't you want to avenge them?"

Jace did. More than anything.

The Circle of Raziel was one of the most secretive organisation in existence. The Clave was an almost-as-secretive organisation created in secret to battle it. As far as they knew, not even the Circle was aware of their existence.

The Circle was a group of lethal assassins. They had a signature and very individual method of killing, so their slaughter's were easy to track. What was less easy, was trying to spot a pattern. Each was done at a seemingly random time, in a secluded area. The victims varied in age, race, stature, height, gender, and sexuality. There were no family links between them. It was a mystery; one the Clave was struggling to solve.

"What would you want to find out about the leader? What would you be able to find out about them? Their favourite type of food?" Jace was irritated that he couldn't come up with an argument against this assignment and his tone showed it.

Alec ignored the sarcasm. "Maybe. Or maybe if they have any family members we can threaten, or-"

Jace snorted. "Threaten? That seems a bit inhumane, doesn't it?" Alec looked pained for a moment.

"I suppose... And it's not as if they would have kids. Not only is that impractical in their line of work, but they would be driven mad by the solitude? Who would they have to talk to, imaginary friends?" He scoffed.

"I had an imaginary friend." Jace filled in quietly. Alec looked caught off guard.

"What?"

"You heard me." Jace turned to the window. "I had an imaginary friend whilst I was imprisoned." He didn't see the pity in Alec's eyes, or his shudder, but he didn't need to. He knew it was there. "She was a little younger than us, with bright red hair, really frizzy so it covered a lot of her face, pale skin covered in freckles, and big green eyes. She was short - very - but it made her look delicate, like a little fairy, and she had one of those faces that you just knew would make her a great beauty when she was older. She was outgoing, and friendly, and used to always have an apple on her, which she would give me. She had an older brother too, but I didn't see him as often."

Alec had been silent for a while. When Jace turned back to look him in the eye, he saw his face was open, full of soft astonishment. "That's not what I would expect a person you - even if this was you eight years ago - would create in your mind to be like." Jace shrugged. "What was her name?"

"Clary." His voice was low and heartbroken.

"And her brother?"

"Jonathan. She had another as well, but I never spoke to him. Sebastian." Alec's mouth was positioned in an awkward half-smile.

"Wow."

"She used to tell me stories about her life. She rarely saw her father, her mother always claiming he was busy with 'business'. Her brothers would often have to join him, but whilst Jonathan - she called him Jon - would put effort into still interacting with her when she was free, she would sometimes go months without ever speaking to Sebastian."

Alec had raised an eyebrow. "Minus the brothers, Clary's life sounds a lot like how you described yours to once be." He was quiet for a moment before realising that Jace wasn't going to respond. His voice came out gruff. "You put a lot of detail into this story."

"It gave me faith. Kept me alive." He shook himself out of his reminiscence. "Fine; I'll do the guard duty."

Alec only nodded, something seemingly on his mind. Without warning he blurted it out: "Do you think the manor is the place you were imprisoned?"

It was Jace's turn to raise an eyebrow. "No, Alec. I think I recall only having to walk for a few hours after I escaped before I reached your doorstep. And you, Isabelle, Maryse and Robert lived on the other side of the country then compared to the manor now. I'm flattered by you thinking I can walk that far, but alas, I am only human."

A grunt was the only response, other than Alec's reddened cheeks.

Really, it was practically a miracle that of all places, he had turned up on the Lightwoods doorstep. They had been honorary members of the Clave, just like his parents, and had recognised his anxious aureate eyes immediately. He had told them what had transpired, and they had adopted him not long after. He had been given the chance to grow up around the Clave.

He had been given the chance for vengeance.

It was an awful feeling, what might have happened to him. He still remembered the windy night clear as day.

The streetlights glowed above him, washing out the stars in a blur of neon yellow. They reflected off the few remaining puddles to illuminate the dank road in front of him.

He stood in the outskirts of an unfamiliar town. Warehouses rose on either side of him as he eyed the fork in the path ahead of him. He was out of his depth. He had no idea where to go.

He was lost.

Then he saw the flurry of snowy seeds. Dandelion seeds. His mother had been a great believer in fate, and signs. From a young age, she had recited the same thing about dandelions to Jace.

"Dandelions are tough, able to grow through anything, even cracking concrete. They ride the wind and will grow no matter where it takes them. They are survivors. Follow the dandelions, and you'll be alright."

The words echoed through his mind as he stared at the seeds, which hovered in the air like silver butterflies. A recklessness seized him.

He followed the dandelion seeds.

And he was alright.

"Jace! Jace?"

He blinked, to see Alec waving a hand in front of his face. He lowered it, eyeing him with intense cobalt eyes.

"Are you okay? You sort of zoned out a bit there." Jace nodded.

"Well... I'll inform the Clave you threw a hissy fit, then was forced to concede to their plan." He laughed at the ticked off look in Jace's narrowed eyes, then strode out of the room.

Jace leaned forward and yanked the knife out of the table, scrunching his nose up at the sight of the mark it had left. He let out a short bark of laughter as he flipped it in his hand.

If the assignment didn't kill him, Maryse certainly would.


Aaaand there's the backstory. Well, some of it. These chapters won't be the longest, and the length's may change dramatically. Just a heads up.

I'll update soon, say, once I receive three reviews because otherwise I'll probably think I've lost all my followers with this chapter.

:)