Hello everyone I would like to clarify something , because I read some comments. Some people haven't read Cassandra Clare's books so they don't know what was invented by me and what belongs to CC's books. I know it might sound stupid that I am making this clarification but still it's important to me. The De Lapsis The Camphbilim, the royals, the Domus, the 5 Kingdoms, a big part of the warlocks were created by me. It's a very big work of researches, I even have a notebook dedicated to this fanfiction, it's one of the reasons why I take time to update, so many places are in fact real ones, the street names, the clothes jewelry names, the restaurant, the food they command is actually on the menu. Everything check out !
I am kind of sad because I feel like I've lost so many readers... I am so sorry for taking a lot of time to update, as I said I am student doing a double licence ( I have the double of hours work a simple student has). Sometimes it's hard to find the right words because I am FRENCH, another factor explaining the late updates.
The last but not the least, I am grateful for my beta lusifergirl45, she is fantastic, go check her out please, because she is very talented !!!
As always your comments are very welcome, the feedback is heartwarming, keeps me going sometimes
Don't be afraid I am not the kind of author who abandons their story so don't worry about that ! Stay with me cause I'll always be there.
"He's here for our next meeting destination." Chris said smiling. Within seconds, Lulach made a portal appear in front of them. They both unconsciously reached for the other's hand. Though jumped in the portal together, Clary still hated traveling through the portals as it made her feel dizzy.
Wherever they were it was a little far from Louisiana because the sun was just setting. The redhead felt some fresh wind touching her skin, the noise of waves hitting the shore surprised her happily, and she became aware of her heels sinking into the sand. A little farther from where they stood, a crowd of people eating and drinking were gathered inside and around a bar restaurant. Even from far away she could sense the great atmosphere.
"Before you ask love, we are in Honolulu in Hawaii and it's around 8 in the evening here."
"I've never travelled that much. You are setting the bar very high with this first date."
"Well I always say when you do something, just do it as if your life depends on it." Chris spoke with a cocky smile. "When I was planning this date, I remembered what you told me in the tapestry room. Your powers were blocked and you only recently learned about your Shadowhunter heritage. So I thought it would be good to eat something mundane."
"Ohh that's very nice of you Chris, thank you. Hum... I am actually pretty hungry…" "Lux ferre forgive me, come on follow me, let's go eat something!"
Clary was so relaxed she decided to take his arm. She realized how cute they were together as a couple even tho he was way more attractive than she was. When they reached the crowded restaurant, numerous pleasant smells of seafood, cooked fish and exotic fruits dominated the air, in capital golden letters "DUKE'S" could be read on the wooden arc that welcomed clients. It was the entry of the restaurant, Clary realized.
They went in the direction of a group of people gathered outside a wooden hut, there were a lot of people wearing summer clothes, all laughing together as if they were all best friends. Clary really liked the atmosphere of it all
"I've already eaten here a few times, the food is great. Trust me." After saying this, Chris asked Clary to wait a few seconds at the entry while he talked to one of the waitresses who called the owner. They seemed to know each other, Clary observed them and wished she could read their lips but she couldn't. It seemed like the owner was impressed by Chris and respected him like how a citizen would respect and admire a soldier in the airport. Clary noted in the back of her head that she needed to know more about who Chris was and what he did. They both joined Clary, then the owner smiled at her.
"You are truly beautiful." he said.
"Thanks but I must return the compliment, you are very handsome" Clary said while looking at the green eyes of the young muscular owner who had perfect matte skin.
"Well, well aren't you a sweetheart?" the owner replied, then turned to Chris and said "I hope she's the one". Chris made a weird face like the owner said something he wasn't supposed too. "Alright, you must be hungry let me lead you to your table." The owner said to change the subject. Clary found that little snippet of conversation very odd, what did he mean by the one? Perhaps, she wasn't the first girl Chris took to this restaurant, the thought of it made her stomach twist, she only met him a few days ago, but she was jealous of girls she didn't know. Once the two were seated at their table, the owner left and a waitress came. She had the same silhouette as Izzy; a very curvaceous body, blond hair, blue eyes, and perfect teeth.
"Hello, my name is Kahoni and I will be your server for the night." she said,smiling before giving them the menus. But once she noticed Chris, her smile changed. It wasn't just friendly and welcoming but something else appeared in her eyes. She shifted her body a little so she could show off her curves, she was trying to seduce him. Chris was actually focused on the menu, so he didn't even notice what was happening, but Clary did and she was a little pissed. It was obvious they were on a date, how could she even think about it? It was so disrespectful, she couldn't believe it but once she looked at Chris she understood a little. His beauty was out of this world, what could she do? People must hit on him all the time, what matters is that he asked Clary on a date and not another girl. Her. So it meant something right? Clary tried to reassure herself. "Kahoni actually means 'kiss' in Hawaiian." she said to Chris while touching her hair.
"Well it's a beautiful name." Chris answered smiling back friendly, "I'll have the coconut ginger braised seafood, what about you, my love?" Clary rejoiced hearing her new nickname, "My Love", leave his lips and the waitress understood the message. Chris made it clear that Clary was his date. She then took a quick look at the menu and said "I'll have the sautéed mac nut and herb crusted, thank you". The waitress wrote the order on her notepad.
"Anything else ?"
"Oh and please we'll have your oldest bottle of dom perignon, thank you." Chris added. The waitress wrote it, then took the menus and disappeared into the crowd of clients and workers. After that last order, Clary realized he just ordered a bottle of wine or champagne, she didn't exactly know but she was sure that it had alcohol in it. She was still a minor, and never had alcohol before. She wondered if she had to tell that to Chris or not.
After seconds of reflection she decided to tell him. She liked him and wanted to have a good relationship with him so lying wasn't part of her plan.
Chris simply said : "Well there's a first time for everything, dear." Clary blushed, so she decided to look elsewhere. Everyone here was wearing summer colorful clothes, after a few seconds of observation Clary realized she was the only teenager here as everyone else was an adult. Then it hit her she didn't even know how old Chris was. She took a glimpse at his body, his face, she thought he must older than she was but how old she didn't know.
"Chris, I never asked you, how old you are actually?"
"That's true we don't know a lot about each other, let's change that. I am 18 right now,I turned last month. What about you?"
Clary looked at her watch, today was the first of December what she thought was right. "In a week I believe i'll be 16 yo, the 8th December."
"Oh are you going to celebrate your birthday?"
"Hum usually what I do is spend the day with Simon. He always has something planned for me, like last year he brought me to the New York Comic Con. We had so much fun that day. And the night I celebrate it with my family, we usually eat dinner outside in a way too luxurious restaurant, I always say it's not necessary but my mom insists all the time like it's tradition or something. Then back home we cut a cake and they give me gifts, I always feel bad to receive things and not give back so I buy them gifts too and we exchange gifts like for Christmas. Then we…"
Clary stopped. She didn't know if what she was about to say would make her weird or something. She looked at Chris to see him waiting attentively. He needed to know her next words, so she gave in. "Then that day and only that day I sleep with my parents, my mom and my step dad, and again my mother insist every year, for my mom it's a cute peaceful tradition that remind us we are united as a family", Clary now stared at Chris, to see his reaction maybe he would be shocked, disgusted or creeped by that. But no he wasn't, he simply looked normal, it was obvious for Clary to understand that he didn't see any problems with what she said. She was so relieved because when she told Simon he reacted in a very different way and was a little concerned. "Okay then, now you tell me how you celebrate you birthday?"
"Well it's not very extraordinary, my father throws a party, family and friends come to celebrate, dance, eat. The night there's other forms of festivities you don't want to know about, it's not interesting." Clary was about to insist but was cut off by Chris asking her "You talked about someone called Simon, who is that?'
"He is just the best kind of friend you could ever ask for, I met him when I was very young and since then we became inseparable, I could take a bullet for him. He is the best. I didn't text him after the accident, he must be crazy worried." Clary felt guilty for not telling him about what happened in her life lately, he must be worried because of her actions. It just made her feel bad about herself. What kind of friend was she ? But with all the things that happened she hardly had the time to think about any of that. "I'll text him tonight." She added.
"Well that's pretty amazing what you have with him, I don't think I would be able to take a bullet for anyone or maybe I haven't met that person yet."
Clary furrowed her eyebrows "What about you father, won't you take a bullet for him?"
"I have a complicated relationship with my father. Sometimes everything is great then other times it can be very hard. As I said, it's complicated." Chris seemed sad but acted like he was ok. It made Clary's heart melt.
"Chris, I wanted to ask you why were you surprised that I didn't know your name? As if I was supposed to know it even know we never met."
"It's just that usually most of the Shadowhunters know me.. because of my job."
"Ohh I wanted to ask you what do you do exactly?" Clary immediately asked.
"What I do is hum… quite boring. I visit some institutes, then observe everything and make a report. I observe things like the education given to the Shadowhunters, the way the family in charge of the institutes organizes it, the monthly given food menu, the budget going into the clothes, weapons and the means of transport for the nephilims… I attend to meetings to find better ways to deal with the institute's managing."
"That's quite a lot for an 18 years old, don't you think ?"
"Well, I know at this age mundane go to class and sometimes get a part time job. But for nephilims it's pretty different, we are trained at a very young age and for us working hard is just… normal I guess."
"It must be hard, I don't know if I would have liked having that kind of childhood. God sorry I make it sound like you had an awful childhood, but I don't know if you had one…oh crap I am nervous that explains why I am saying all of this." Clary blushed uncontrollably from shame. They were so focused on each other they didn't notice the waitress that came back to give them their orders. Sweet-smelling odors appeared, Clary decided to guess where they came from to hide from her embarrassment because her last comment. She immediately noticed the smell of coconut and shrimp then something else was mixed to it, rice yes it was rice, the girl congratulated herself internally. Then decided to stop and to focus on what was actually happening, the date!
"Don't worry dear I'll confess to you the entirety of my childhood when time comes." Chris blinked at her with that sentence. Another reason for her to blush, she couldn't understand how she could be so confident in New Orleans, whereas now she was so nervous. Her stomach made some noise to remind her how hungry she was, she couldn't wait another minute. She devoured her plate completely forgetting she was on a date. When she realized what she had done it was to late. A small giggle escaped Chris' perfect lips, he looked at Clary's mouth, then reached for a small sauce stain near her bottom lip, erased it with his thumb and licked it clean with his tongue.
"Hum… let me guess, butter and lemon sauce right ? Absolutely delicious." Clary watched him in disbelief, then started laughing at the whole situation.
"I am sorry as I said before I was pretty hungry"
"Clary don't you ever apologize to me for being yourself, please. That's what I like about you. You are not acting or lying to please me unlike many peop-..." Chris cut himself off abruptly as if he had said too much. Clary noticed that and it hadn't been the first time he did that. She wrote a mental note in her head to discover why he did that, what was he hiding? Clary finished her plate slowly while Chris finished his own, using his knife and fork with grace and precision. As always Clary felt insecure next to these nephilims who did everything so perfectly. After about fifteen minutes, when they were totally done eating, Chris took the dom perignon which was buried in a pool of ice cubes within a silver bucket to keep it fresh. They were in Hawaii after all.
Clary realized they were many people dining around them. If the bottle was champaign, opening it will make it pop and everyone would be interrupted and would look at them. Clary wasn't the socially-awkward kind, but more than 50 people looking at her at the same time while she is dining with a guy who looks like a model would make her feel a little uncomfortable. She closed her eyes and waited for it to happen, but no sound could be heard, she opened her eyes to see Chris pouring the champagne into their flutes, she realised now that he had the professional's technique to open a bottle gently. She was simply more impressed by him, how the hell could he be so good at everything he does? Damn nephilims. Then Clary remembered about the surname he gave her on the phone. "Chris, why did you call me primus aurum, last time on the phone?" Clary couldn't say she knew where that surname was coming from because she promised to Izzy not to tell she was in the Domus. Chris coughed hearing that question as if he was surprised.
"Lux ferre, you have a great memory for someone who doesn't speak Latin, Primus Aurum means the first gold, Lilith's hair, a simple reference to your beautiful shiny ginger hair, dear." And with that the girl's face turned crimson. "Clary please take your flute and enjoy this liquid perfection".
She wasn't sure how she'd react to alcohol, she guessed there wasn't a lot in Champaign but still this was a new thing, so she was scared. Okay just do it, drink it's not a big deal. She took her first sip, she didn't quite expect this, it was very sweet and a little bubbly, it had a pleasing mouthfeel because of the aromas of anise and ginger gradually mixed with fleshier fruits, pear and mango. She immediately took another sip then another one and before she realizes it, her flute was empty but she craved for more and Chris knew it because it was exactly what he felt the first time he drank this ethereal beverage, he obliged and poured some more in her flute.
"Chris. This !" she said holding her flute, "Might be what the angels drink" she said laughing, "it's literally the best liquor I've ever tasted in my entire life."
"I am glad you relish it this much. You know what let's go outside to see the sunset." he stood up, "Oh, and take your flute with you." Clary did as said, then followed Chris to the way out, but was stopped by the waitress Kahoni. "Sir, I am afraid you can't leave right now."
