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All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

Clary did not at first realize what it was. It felt as if tiny streams of warm current were trickling towards her, folding in on themselves and swelling and expanding, and finally enveloping her in their delight and their magnificence. Then she realized with a shock that these were sounds. Or to be more specific, voices.

The mermaids who were in the Court and who had hitherto been listening in silently on their negotiations with the Queen, now had opened their mouths in unison, and music streamed out. It was like listening to a choir, with sopranos like the twinkling of otherworldly bells or stars, the altos slow-moving waters of a still lake, and a multitude of tones in between like the burst of colours of the Northern Lights. It was utterly unsettling and utterly beautiful, and gave Clary the feeling that she was going to be sick.

Mermaid music is lethal. Clary hastily covered her ears, but sounds still seeped into her consciousness, carried by the water of the sea which permeated all defenses. Already she felt herself getting dizzy, the contents of her stomach threatening to tumble out. She thought despairingly that it was too late.

And realized, with wonder, that she could still think.

It was true. Rapidly Clary willed herself to remember details about her birth, her family, the death date of Queen Victoria, the number of atoms in a mole. Whatever her stomach was feeling, her faculties of thought were as lucid as ever.

They make you lose your senses. Well, as far as she was concerned that was not happening. She was at a loss as to why, until out of a corner of her eye she saw Sebastian moving slowly, as if in a trance, towards the mermaids. Her heart caught in her throat. She could not see his face, but his hands were hanging limply and his head was drooping.

Clary's heart started hammering in her chest. She was not affected by the mermaid music because she was not the target; maybe no female has been. But Sebastian –

'SEBASTIAN!' screamed Clary, pushing water out of her lungs with as much force as she could, hoping against hope that her voice would bring him back to consciousness. 'SEBASTIAN! JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER MORGENSTERN!' She took off running towards his retreating figure, but somehow lost her balance and the next thing she knew her face was in the mud.

Nerissa had trapped her ankle with a thin band of seaweed-like substance and was now proceeding nimbly to tie her hands and feet together with the same material. 'Make sure she's secure,' the lazy, magnetic voice of the Queen ordered. Clary turned around to glare at her.

'Let go of me,' she said through gritted teeth. 'And my brother.'

'I am afraid I would not be able to do either,' said Queen Muirgen, smiling; Clary noticed for the first time that her teeth were not human, but sharp and spiky like carnivorous fish. 'Now, if you are a good sister, surely you will not begrudge your dear brother a little fun.'

Clary whipped her head around to see Sebastian moving further and further away from her, towards the mermaids who were singing, singing their venomous song. She saw the greed and the delight in their eyes as they watched the boy walking towards them, completely entranced, his mouth slightly opened as if awed. Tears welled up unbidden in Clary's eyes. She had never seen Sebastian so powerless. Mentally she kicked him; what was he thinking to put himself – to put the both of them – in such danger?

She could scream, but what was the use? He would not be able to hear her. With effort Clary blinked her tears away and let them melt away unseen into the salty sea water. Time was running out. Her only chance was with the Queen.

'Queen Muirgen,' she said, with a measured haughtiness that she did not feel. I am a Morgenstern. I am a Morgenstern. 'You do not want to thus ill-treat your guest. Indeed, I cannot care less what it pleases you to do to my brother. Untie me.'

The Queen turned her attention towards Clary; it was as if she was looking at her for the first time. 'Not quite the little girl you seem to be, huh?' she said, bemused. 'For a moment I was wondering why a fine young man like your brother would let you tag along with him. Forgive me, you seemed quite useless.'

'I do not tend to speak when my brother is speaking,' said Clary deliberately. 'I make myself useful only when necessary.'

The Queen's coal-black eyes observed her coolly for a moment, her ageless face emotionless. 'Let her go,' she said to Nerissa, who silently and obediently loosened Clary's tie. Clary stood up and smoothed her robes, looking directly into the mermaid queen's eyes the whole time.

'You have heard what we are here to offer,' she said.

Muirgen laughed. 'Children's play,' she said. 'Do you really think we would take you seriously? The hold of the Clave has been for thousands of years, and would always be. Your brother there has a glib tongue, but I have seen and heard many a smooth talker in my time. He is not enough to persuade me.'

'You would not come with us, then let us go alone,' said Clary with a forced nonchalance. 'We are sorry that we disturbed your peace. Why are you taking Sebastian?'

'You do not think I could deny my sisters a little fun,' said Muirgen, a gleam in her eyes. 'You heard Sebastian. Because of our folly in the early days of the world, we are never to see our male counterparts ever again. The ban has forced an unspoken law on our part: any visitor to our court, for whatever purpose, will be taken. The males for ourselves, the females to feed our pet fish.' She shrugged. 'We only inflict onto the world a small portion of the misery it has inflicted on us.'

'Even the visitors which hold the key to releasing you from your own misery,' said Clary, hiding her horror.

Muirgen narrowed her eyes. 'Do not bore me with the same topic, Shadowhunter. You can do nothing for us.'

'Do not call me a Shadowhunter,' said Clary in a low voice. 'Because I am more than one. So is Sebastian. I know you would not listen, so I will show you.'

Swiftly Clary whipped around. Sebastian is now walking towards the far corner of the court, in the company of a dozen colourful mermaids who had arranged themselves around him, their singing still holding him spellbound. Clary took hold of her stele and drew, as hard as she could, in the water in front of her the Rune that had been burning itself at the back of her eyes in the past few minutes, ever since the mermaids' singing had made her head pulse and her stomach churn –

Silence.

The completed Rune drawn with all her force seemed to etch into the water itself. It burned brightly for a moment and, vibrating violently, it melted away, gold dispersing in the dark seawater. As the Rune faded, so did the music. A blessed silence fell over the Mermaid Court as completely as a blanket of snow.

Clary turned around to see Queen Muirgen mouth opened in horror, and eyes black with rage. 'What did you do?' she hissed, and venom seemed to spread to Clary through her voice. 'How dare you. How dare –'

'How dare you,' replied a voice carelessly, its tone dark and dangerous. It was the voice that Clary had wanted to hear the most in the world. Well, at that moment, anyway. Without turning she knew that Sebastian was himself again, and what's more, he was furious.

His light footsteps approached Clary and halted at her back. 'Sebastian,' she said, hiding her immense relief and relishing the priceless look on Muirgen's face. 'We missed you.'

Sebastian chortled shortly. 'Did we?' he said softly, looking at Muirgen, and Clary could tell by her involuntary recoil that Muirgen saw the devil through his eyes. All pretense of courtesy was dropped now. In a flash Sebastian had his blade in hand.

'You do not want to kill me, Sebastian Morgenstern,' Muirgen said. 'You forget you are in my territory.'

'No,' he agreed. 'But I can, and I will, make you go through hell unless you sign your agreement to help us. You are strong, but you have seen my sister. We can make you suffer yet.'

Muirgen looked at him. 'You planned to do this all along, didn't you, if I hadn't been persuaded by you? Do you gain all your allies this way, young man?'

'Most of them prefer to be persuaded,' Sebastian grinned, quietly advancing on Muirgen. 'Make the right choice, queen.'

She stared at him a moment, and then turned her gaze to Clary, and then laughed. It was not the twinkling sound of amusement that had made Clary's head ache like the previous times. This laugh was one of self-mock, and defeat, and acquiescence.

'You are mere children, the two of you,' she said. 'Yet you have given me more hope for the survival of my people, than any other had in my lifetime. I do not think even you realize your own full potential. In you there might yet be the power to move heaven and hell.' She laughed again. 'I never thought I would see myself going to war again in all my days,' she said. 'You'd think a two-thousand-and-thirty-one year-old is too old to fight. But fate seems to plot against me.'

'Not too old, my queen,' said Clary. 'Two thousand years is still rather young in the scope of eternity.'

'You have lived your two thousand years in misery,' said Sebastian. 'Clary is right; you have an eternity ahead of you. Make it worthwhile.'

Muirgen turned to the other mermaids in the court, who was once again as silent as they had been before. Clary was not sure if the effect of the Rune was still on them, or if they were just used to keeping quiet when they could not use their voices as a weapon. 'My court,' she addressed the court at large. 'You agree with me. I pray to Lord Poseidon, God of all Ocean, that this war will bring us more happiness than suffering.' She turned to Nerissa. 'Bring me the dagger.'

It was brought: glinting silver as if coated with fish scales, curiously shaped and curved at the sharp end. Queen Muirgen extended her hand and unflinchingly brought down the dagger on her palm. Silvery-blue liquid trickled out that shimmered in the underwater light.

'I give you the Oath of Blood,' she said, handing the dagger to Sebastian, who accordingly brought it down across his palm as well. Blood so dark it was almost black gushed out, his unique blood of the demon mixed with that of the Shadowhunter. They brought their hands together.

'That is done, then,' smiled Sebastian, 'Queen Muirgen, if you could, I would need you to gather all merpeople around the world for the incoming war. They will all follow you, am I right?'

'Yes,' she answered simply. 'I have been their ruler in the previous war. I will lead them again.'

'If all is well, I will contact you in time.' He inclined his head. 'We take our leave, then.'


When the two emerged out of water the moon was shining bright, its reflection shimmering in the pitch dark waters that concealed another world. Clary shivered; the pearl had not stopped her from getting soaked, and it was cold out. She did not realize they had gone for so long.

'Let's go,' said Sebastian, tugging on her arm. His tone was cool, yet when she turned to him his eyes were warm. 'If we're quick, we'll make it home in time for supper.'

They walked a while in silence. 'And also,' said Sebastian, a little stiffly, 'I suppose I should thank you. For today. You saved me from some hell lot of humiliation.'

'Humiliation?' said Clary incredulously. 'You mean I saved your ass. You would have been made some sort of male concubine for the rest of your life.'

He grinned. He had been holding her wrist still and now he grasped it a little more firmly. 'That would never happen. I'd get myself out some way or another.'

'Oh, really? Have you even seen yourself when you've been enchanted? Your mouth was hanging open, like this-' she gave a crude imitation '- You looked so stupid I was surprised you didn't trip over yourself.'

'I looked that on purpose,' he confided with a smirk. 'I didn't want to impress the mermaids too much.'

Clary had to laugh. 'But what were you thinking, honestly,' she said. 'You knew the amount of risk we were running, right? And still you went straight into the Mermaid Court like it's nobody's business. And dragged me along without even telling me anything, I might add.'

'I knew it was dangerous for me,' Sebastian shrugged. 'I didn't know they had resorted to turning female non-mermaids into fish food; didn't come across that in my research. Still. It was a risk worth taking, for the greater cause.' He glanced at her. 'Anyway, I took you as a precaution, and it worked, didn't it? You didn't let anything happen to me.'

'Right,' muttered Clary. 'And I nearly got turned into fish food –'

They trudged through the jungle bordering the beach, silent at this time of the night except for the hum of insects and the occasional hoot of an owl. The house was a little inland from the coast. The two walked side by side, Sebastian holding Clary's wrist, talking in undertones, laughing softly. Neither noticed a pair of ice-blue eyes following them in the dark depths of the jungle.

As Clary entered the house, she saw that it was full moon.

In the distance, a wolf howled.