Here is another chapter to my story! Yay, another chapter! Alright, probably only a handful of you guys will be happy, but I am stoked about this. For those who are looking for lemons, this story will have a lot of them but they will all be further into the story. I am a little iffy about the ending, therefore, message me if you want to be my beta and together we can turn this into an awesome story!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments.

Jian and Maryse whipped their heads around to stare at Clary. The name meant nothing to her, but gave her accusing stares. Scared, Clary backed away from Maryse's leg and tried returning to her mother's limp body. A hand shot out and seized her wrist. Clary glanced up and squirmed under the man's harsh gaze. Surveying the room, Clary saw that all of the adults were staring at her with disbelief or blatant hatred, and she didn't know why. She never met her father and she met these people less than an hour ago, most of which she had spent mourning her mother. The man who saved her and who was now chained to a wall merely stared at her in amusement; she didn't know why, but that look felt even less comforting than the hostile stares from the rest of the room.

The man holding her, Jian, dragged her back to the one who was chained. Clary tried dragging her feet and pulling her wrist away, but he was too strong. It was like an iron manacle gripping her wrist, so Clary used a trick Luke taught her when some kids started picking on her at the playground. She made her body go completely limp and the extra weight caught Jian by surprise. His grip loosened just enough for her to yank her arm away and she ran to the woman, Maryse.

She wrapped her small arms around the woman's muscled leg and screamed for her Uncle Luke. This was the first time he didn't come save her; it was impossible to expect that Luke would magically show up and save the day, like they do in the movies.

Smaller, calloused hands wrapped around Clary's back and Maryse gently wrapped her in her arms. Sniffling, Clary wrapped her arms around Maryse's neck and buried her face in the crook of it, ignoring the flash of gold from the corner of her eyes. The soothing motion of Maryse rubbing her back and the exhaustion from being exposed to dozens of strange sights quickly quieted Clary. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but forced her ears to listen to the adults speak.

"Valentine? That's impossible. If he had a daughter, the Clave would have discovered it when they searched his mansion." Clary felt Maryse's hands tense.

"You're right. It shouldn't be possible." Jian's boots scuffled the ground as he turned to face the chained man. "How do you know that Valentine had a daughter and that it is her?"

"Easy. I was chained in Valentine's dungeon for four months before that girl's mother freed me. I suppose she did it right after she killed him, but it was definitely before she alerted you guys. As for the girl, I could see that the woman was pregnant and she looks exactly like her mother." His voice dropped into a deep, humorless chuckle. "It looks like a blessing that she doesn't resemble Valentine at all, but who's to say the girl doesn't share his personality?"

"Valentine was murdered almost a decade ago. How can you possibly remember that woman's face after one encounter and in a dark dungeon?" Jian's voice seemed to tighten and got louder as he spoke.

There was a tense silence before the man spoke. "It's not easy to forget the face of the woman who saved your life. Her scars and scent merely helped me remember. Now, may I leave? I must attend to my coven."

Someone snapped his fingers, Jian perhaps, and Clary heard the chains hit the ground. His feet barely made a sound as he walked and Clary twisted around to look at him. "Wait! What's your name?" He turned around and stared at her for a few seconds. Clary felt his eyes scanning her face, her body, searching for something, but she didn't know what he wanted. She conducted her own and was surprised to see how young he looked.

He looked like he was still in high school, but acted older. Dark brown hair was brushed away from his tan, yet ethereal, face and he moved with too much grace. Something about him wasn't right and it didn't help with the way everyone referred to him. Dimly, she recalled someone calling him a bloodsucker and he just said that he had to return to his coven. The only times she heard someone use those words was in reference to vampires. Before today, she would have brushed that thought off, but she had too many surprises today. If monsters were possible, then vampires were possible too. Maybe this was just a nightmare.

He slowly walked back to her. Maryse made no move to stop him, but Clary could feel her muscles tense and saw the man's eyes narrow as if he caught the motion. Right before he reached her, he undid a simple silver chain from his neck. "Raphael little one. If you are in danger, show this to anyone in my coven and they will help you. Use it wisely. You can only use it once." Clary held out hand to take it, but he chose to place it around her neck. The cold touch of his skin made Clary shiver and confirmed her belief that he was a vampire.

When the gates banged shut behind him, Clary slid out of Maryse's arms and walked to her mother's body. The exhaustion was finally too much for her to bare and Clary grabbed her mother's cooling hand before she felt her eyes shut.

~o.O.o~

Jace was in the middle of sparring with Alec when he heard the alarm. Robert was supervising them and he yelled at them to stay put while he ran out the door. Jace scoffed. Does he honestly think he could make me stay? I am Jace Wayland and nobody my age can defeat me. In a few more years, I will be unstoppable and even Robert and Maryse won't be able to control me.

While Alec was busy dealing with one of Isabelle's little fits, Jace snuck out of the training room and into a cleaning closet. It was situated next to the sanctuary and with all of the commotion inside, nobody would notice him. He withdrew a steele from his pocket and drew a box like structure on the adjacent wall. Like magic, the box became clear and he eagerly peeked at the scene.

It appeared that Maryse and the visiting Clave members had just arrived at the scene. They used blessed chains to bind the vampire, but what caught his attention was the forgotten girl in the corner. She buried her face into her knees and wrapped thin, pale arms around herself. Jace listened to the conversation but he found himself transfixed on the girl throughout the entire encounter. There were moments where he reeled in shock, like when the girl proclaimed herself one of the nephilim or when the vampire said that her father was Valentine. Jace knew that something bad happened ten years ago and that it involved Valentine Morgenstern, but none of the adults seemed willing to talk about it.

Jace had to clench his fists as he continued listening. The senior member of the Clave was acting especially cruel to the girl, and right after she just lost her mother. It didn't matter that she was the daughter of some monster; she was still a little girl who needed time to mourn her mother, not spend it being interrogated. Fed up with the scene, Jace closed the screen and snuck closer; he had to get a better look at the girl. The vampire was the only one who spotted him, but the man did not acknowledge him.

Once the girl fell asleep, Maryse kneeled beside her. "Jian, what are we going to do with her? Can she live here in the Institute? Robert?"

"I do not know. I will need to confer with the Clave and Inquisitor before I make a decision. At the very least, I want a Silent Brother to come down and determine what she knows about our kind. For now, put her in one of the spare rooms and we will speak tomorrow. Officially, the Clave will have to suspend our inspection, but I honestly see no need to continue. Maryse, you and Robert are obviously keeping this place in order." Pausing to catch his breath, the man glanced over the dead woman's body.

"I can't believe it. How did Jocelyn Fairchild evade us for so many years? She must have used a warlock to hide herself and the girl during the Valentine fiasco. What a shame. There are still some things I would have wanted her to clear up, especially the depth of her knowledge about the experiments. I will also send word to the Silent Brothers about her body and have them arrange the funeral."

"Jian, can we schedule the interrogation after the funeral? This girl is going through so much and I doubt she will be able to handle a visit from the Silent Brothers on the same day as her mother's funeral." Once again, Jace felt surprised. Maryse always made sure everyone was healthy and well fed, but she wasn't exactly the most maternal character. In the year that he had known her, he only saw her act like a mother a handful of times.

After a pause, Jian nodded and turned towards the door. Jace silently scuttled away and ran back to the closet before anyone could see him. He pressed his ear against the door and waited for everyone to leave. Tense, he heard Robert and Maryse walking away, but their footsteps seemed louder than normal. Perhaps, it was because they were carrying the girl away? It didn't matter; the steps were going in the other direction and that meant he was safe.

Just as Jace breathed in relief, the door swung open and he fell onto his backside. Ignoring the urge to rub it, Jace tried to appear as innocent as possible to Maryse. She had her hands on her hips and was giving him one of her signature glares. "Jonathan Christopher Wayland, what do you think you are doing here? I thought Robert told you to stay put in the training room. There is a reason why there is an alarm and that is so downworlders could come to us if they need help. What if it was a ploy to lure us onto unhallowed ground? You could have gotten hurt young man and need to be taught a lesson."

Maryse continued on for a while, but Jace eventually tuned her out. He made his face appear as though he was listening and feeling repentant to appease her. All he could think about was that girl. With a start, he realized that he didn't even know the girl's name. The adults didn't bother to ask her and they simply chose to refer to her as Valentine's daughter; everything she did would now be under scrutiny and in a few days, she would have to go through an interrogation with the Silent Brothers.

If there was a god, why would he keep doing this? He already orphaned a girl and was going to make her life a whole lot worse because of her lineage. He already dealt Jace a bad hand; all of his suffering should have been enough. There should be some mystical suffering quota for the world and it was already pretty high for the nephilim. That girl was just another victim of this eternal war, but making her deal with all of this felt cruel. God was not supposed to be cruel; he is supposed to be a kind deity who cares about humans. Maybe there is no god.

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