A/N: HI EVERYONE! THIS IS THE THIRD CHAPTER OF IN DREAMS! ENJOY!
Annika huffed and wiped chocolate cake from her face with the back her hand, while Cecily was still chucking cake balls at her older brother, who was doing likewise. Out of nowhere, a ball of chocolate appeared and was aiming straight for her face. She tried to duck, but was too slow. Opening her mouth, the only thing that came out was a strangled yelp that was immediately cut short but the edible projectile. Chocolate spattered into her mouth, and she closed her mouth with a snap.
Spitting the chocolate out, she proceeded to get the chocolate out of her mouth. "Ugh. Why did the cake have to be chocolate? Why couldn't it have been vanilla?!"
Will raised an eyebrow. "What do you have against chocolate?" Multitasking, unfortunately, was not one of her talents, but it apparently was one of Will's. Talking and lobbing cake balls came easily for him, like one might be able to walk and chew gum.
Shuddering, Annika answered him. "I hate chocolate flavored things. Actual chocolate is good, but I absolutely despise chocolate flavored foods. Chocolate cake included."
He dropped the cake projectile he had been preparing to throw at Cecily in surprise. "Excuse you!"
"He loves chocolate. Ignore him," Cecily said, chuckling. She also took the opportunity to hurl a huge orb of chocolatey dessert at him, resulting in Will being even more chocolate covered.
"Are you three satisfied now?" Agatha asked, not unkindly or accusing. "It'll be your fault when no one gets any dessert tonight."
"Even Jem?" Will inquired amusedly. Glancing at the cake—or the platter on which the cake had once sat, rather—Annika saw that there was nothing left of the once cylindrical cake but smeared globs of brown goo.
"Even Master Jem," Agatha sighed. "Mr. and Mrs. Branwell included as well. And Miss Jessamine."
"Jessamine," Will said, and his voice was full of loathing. "We needn't worry about her."
"Will. Don't be rude," Cecily admonished him.
He dismissed it with a wave of his hand, and his sister smacked him in the arm. But all this time, Annika's mind was swirling with complex thoughts, and it was driving her nuts. Jem was here? Here, in the Institute?
Shaking her head, Annika sighed. "This is incredibly confusing for my brain, so I'm going to go and brush up on my aim. It's never good enough." Just as she got up to leave, someone caught at her arm, but she pulled away easily.
"Annika. Wait. Don't go into the training room—" Cecily started, but Annika never heard the end of her sentence, for she had already left the room, complete with a stunned Cecy, a chortling Will, and an amused Agatha.
Stalking down the hall, she saw a young girl carrying a pail of water, but when she waved at her with a "Hello", the girl only bent her head down lower and walked faster. Sophie, Annika thought.
Passing the library, she recognised a few of the books lying on the tables. There was A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Little Women, and more classics. She was about to duck into the library, but remembered she was going to the training room.
After turning a few more corners, getting lost once, and wandering down the wrong corridor twice, Annika finally found her way to the training room. She carefully pulled open the heavy doors, then inched into the room.
Someone was inside, and she heard and recognised the swooshing sound of a blade being swiped through the air. Taking a peek, she saw a silvery figure gracefully moving about in the dim lighting of the room. A sword flashed in the light, and when the figure turned, she emitted a small gasp.
He had the chiseled good looks of a fairy tale prince, though his silvery hair and eyes were not commonly seen in fairy tale princes.
"Will? Is that you?" he asked, not bothering to look at exactly who was standing in the doorway gaping at him. A minute later, when Annika had not replied, he sighed. "No, it can't be you. If it were you, you would would have made some sort of comment—and a sarcastic one at that—by now."
Annika was still staring. His voice was low and melodic, and held a sort of lucidness that she greatly appreciated. His skin was pale, but she thought the look rather suited him. "I'm...not Cecily," she breathed. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at her.
"Who are you?" Normally if someone else had asked her that question, she would have punched their lights out, but this boy captivated her. His voice held no hostility, only a mere curiosity and a hint of thoughtfulness.
"Annika," she answered. "You?" The minute the words tumbled out of her mouth, she regretted them. She realized she must have sounded awfully improper, and amended, "What's your name?"
"James. James Carstairs, but everyone calls me Jem. You are not and should not be any exception," Jem said softly.
Annika knew that it was probably rude to attack a person a mere two minutes after meeting them, but she got the feeling Jem, being his kind self, wouldn't mind. And besides, she seriously needed to clear her mind, and there was just oh so conveniently someone for her to spar with. So she lunged forward, but before physically attacking him, she gave him a warning in advance. "Jem," she said quietly. He looked her way. "En garde!"
A surprised look appeared on his face, but was wiped away quickly. Her leg came up and gave him a solid kick in the thigh, and he stumbled a little, but quickly regained his balance. He thwacked her in her arm, but not enough to really hurt, only enough to mildly irritate her.
In the midst of the fighting, neither person noticed the door open behind them, and went on fighting. Jem was defending, and Annika was pummeling him. She yanked a broadsword from its place on the wall, and Jem used the sword he had been practicing with before to defend himself.
"So you have taken to fighting girls now, James? If you wanted a feminine opponent to spar with, you could have just asked Cecily, you know," a slow and drawling voice remarked. Both of them whirled around to see Will leaning lazily against the door frame, and Annika blushed furiously, mostly because of the position she and Jem were stuck in.
They had dropped the swords a minute ago and were now stuck in a wrestling position. Jem had his arm wrapped around her leg, and had her other leg thrown over his shoulder. Her arms were twisted around his waist, and they were stuck in a generally awkward position. Wrestling may be fun, but it can get one in a particularly uncomfortable position with one's opponent.
Will raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're actually fighting? You look rather like you two are...canoodling."
"Shut up!" Annika screeched, her face turning ten shades redder. She tried to get up, but since her limbs were all tangled up with Jem's—a rather disconcerting thought—she couldn't get up, not without making the current situation more problematic. And by problematic, discomfort and embarrassment were implied.
Jem, however, only appeared mildly exasperated. "Will, where were you? I came down here to spar with you an hour ago! And would you care to enlighten me with the explanation for why you and Miss Annika here are covered in chocolate cake and icing?" He also completely avoided any acknowledgement of their current position, for which Annika was grateful. She didn't want to be in any way reminded of her humiliation any more than she needed to be.
"Well, James, before Miss Annika came down here to...spar...with you, we were lobbing clumps of chocolate cake at each other, thus explaining why we are covered from head to toe in the stuff."
Just then Cecily walked in, probably curious about all the commotion, and froze the second her brain registered the scene before her.
"Cecily," Jem acknowledged her with a smile and a small nod. She didn't respond in similar fashion. Or at all, actually.
"Jem?!" Cecily's outburst didn't seem to faze Jem.
Annika was about to open her mouth to explain, but the door opened again and a small, almost petite woman with brown hair twisted up in a chignon walked inside, clearly looking for someone. She gave a start when she saw Annika on the floor of the training room with Jem, but didn't say anything.
"Charlotte," Jem acknowledged. "Were you looking for one of us?"
"My. Well, I was looking for you and Will, but I suppose the entire group is fine. Magnus is here to see you. My dear, what's your name?" Charlotte Branwell asked her kindly.
"Annika," she answered faintly.
"Miss Annika, have you met Magnus Bane before?" asked Charlotte.
"No, but I have heard of him," replied Annika.
"Heard of who?" A man swept into the training room just then, and focused his eyes on Annika's. Her own indigo eyes stared into...cat eyes. She stifled a gasp, and tried to school her features into bland amusement. Didn't work.
Magnus's hair was covered in glitter, glitter of all colors. His clothes looked as though a sparkly rainbow had exploded in his wardrobe. "I am Magnus Bane. Warlock. I know all of you are Shadowhunters, but who is the new girl?"
"For the fourth time, my name is Annika!" she burst out. Magnus raised his glittery eyebrows.
"Someone's crabby today. Did Agatha by any chance bake crab-apple dumplings and she ate a few?" Magnus inquired.
"No, but she did bake a chocolate cake and Miss Annika here got a bit...splattered...with it," Charlotte explained. At this, Will smirked, and Cecily grimaced.
"And why is she entangled as such with Jem?"
"Annika challenged me to a fight," Jem said calmly. "But she never specified what type of fighting would be used."
"I see," said Magnus.
Disentangling herself from Jem, Annika stood up and glared at Will. It was his fault her clothes were ruined. It was also his fault for being in her room. Ugh.
"I don't suppose we can go back to the kitchen to get something to eat?" Will remarked dryly.
Annika smacked his arm, hard. "If you're planning to take us all into the kitchen just to whack me with hams and smear jellies and jams on my clothes, don't even think about it!"
"But you would look absolutely stunning with glittery jam in your hair, would you not agree, Magnus?"
Magnus nodded cheerfully. Annika turned on him, glaring at him ferociously enough to make an angry tiger back away whimpering.
"And glittery jellies!"
"William Herondale!"
