And... CUT!

Congratulations to you all once more! We have reached eleven reviews, and you have been rewarded with an ALMOST Clace moment.

Smiley face!

Hello again!

Everything is crazy these days, with the midterms coming up and all. The updates might slow a bit, since the concept of midterm preparations has wormed itself into my already very busy schedule.

In any way, here is the new update. Hope it's OK. ;)

The Shadow World

Chapter Twelve

Simon continued to boggle at Jace, which was starting to get just a teeny bit annoying.

"Clary, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at Kingsley? Why are you hanging out with the dyed blond wannabe..."

"For your information, by hair is naturally blond," Jace added as he entered the Institute. Simon boggled at the size, the halls, and everything.

Clary padded into the kitchen. Fortunately, Isabelle had left, probably to put the disgusting green sludge into the dining room where all could be awed (disgustedly) by her (terrible) cooking skills. Shh, don't tell her I said that.

Clary set down the bags and passed around some food. Jace opened a can of tomato soup. Clary tore open a bag of chips and another diet coke. Simon shared the chips.

Clary inhaled and told the story.

(((())))

Half an hour later with no interruptions (apart from Church coming in for more tuna), Simon's eyes were wide with amazement. Clary took a gulp of coke to soothe her dry throat.

"Awesome! It's just like Dungeons & Dragons!" Simon said eagerly. "When do I get to be a shadowhunter?"

Jace's spoonful of tomato soup slopped noisily back into the can as he laughed. "Goodness sake, mundane! What do you think this is? A game? Of course you can't be a shadowhunter!"

Clary decided that mentioning Dungeons & Dragons is, in fact, a game to Jace might not be the best course of action.

Clary rapped her knuckles on the tabletop to get everyone's attention.

Just then, Isabelle came in. She changed into a white dress that hugged her curves and billowed around her legs, and had her hair into a high pony.

"Dinner's..."

Isabelle stopped, staring at Simon with shock.

Simon, on the other hand, started at Isabelle with... puppy dog eyes.

Clary wanted to puke.

"WHAT IS THIS MUNDANE DOING IN HERE?" Isabelle demanded.

"I'm not a mundane," Simon said sulkily, still staring at Isabelle.

"Jace Wayland, I demand to know..."

"Mundane saw us dispatch some Hydra Demons. Got messy. Had to tow him along." Jace explained.

"Huh," Isabelle just... looked at Simon, hands on her hips. Almost impossibly, Isabelle's expression softened. Clary's gut twisted.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Fine," Isabelle said curtly. "Send him to the Dining Room. Dinner, is, after all, served."

(((())))

Clary stood near the entrance as Hodge and Jocelyn entered. Jocelyn smiled at Clary and gave her a hug. Clary hugged back.

Isabelle walked in, holding the spoon with crusty green sludge on it.

Jocelyn frowned.

Hodge turned dramatically pale.

"Isabelle, dear, I'll be skipping dinner today. I had a big breakfast... no, no, of course, I meant that I had a massive brunch... a... a... a very, very, very filling lunch! Yes! That's what I meant! I had a big lunch..."

"You're a horrible liar," Isabelle snipped, already in a bad mood. "Jace refused to take a bite of my soup, and the silly little mundane practically ate the entire serving before barfing it all up on the carpet. I ordered Chinese food again, so..."

"THERE'S A MUNDANE IN THE INSTITUTE?" Jocelyn and Hodge yelled at the same time. Their faces turned into an almost ridiculous shade of purple, red and green. Hodge's face actually went a little blue.

"I'll explain it over dinner," Clary said quickly.

(((())))

Simon was snoring on the couch. Alec looked visibly pained as another mundane defiled the purity of the Institute. Isabelle wore massive rubber gloves as she rolled up the carpet, revealing dark cherrywood floor. Church was mewing in protest as Max dangled a can of tuna in the air, comic books forgotten as he played with Church. Jace tossed an apple in the air and sliced it neatly in half, and then quarters before cutting off the seedy parts and eating a slice and placing the rest on a plate.

The table was pretty much collapsing, filled with two of every available Chinese food on the menu, along with a plate of freshly sliced fruit (courtesy of Jace). Pushed far away from the main courses, Isabelle's sludge tureen teetered at the edge, away from view. Alec was drinking some sweet and sour soup. Church finally got his reward, nudging the can further away from Max and keeping a wary eye. Jace slurped some Mu Shu Pork up noisily.

Clary took her Sesame Noodles and ate while retelling the day's events.

Things got just a little bit chaotic when she mentioned the Hydra Demon part.

"WHAT?" Jocelyn shrieked.

"MOM!" Clary cried. "Please, relax. I'm fine. Jace took great care of me..."

Jace actually had the sense to blush and look modest... no, not really.

"I will..." Jocelyn looked too upset to continue.

Maia's POV

"You're Valentine," Maia croaked.

The creature smiled. He set down two bowls of food, one with dirty water and the other with soggy bread. What really insulted Maia was that the bowls were dog bowls, the type you would use for your pets.

"I do believe I am,"

The boy shrank away, practically burying himself into the wall.

"Why do you want me?" Maia rasped.

Valentine laughed. "For many reasons,"

Maia stood up, ignoring the pain in her hands. "Why?"

Valentine sighed, as if she was just a bothersome child. However, it did nothing but to reinforce Maia's rage.

"First of all, do you see this sword? It's the Mortal Sword. In order to use it, I need the blood of the Downworlders less than eighteen. See that pathetic little critter over there?"

Valentine gestured disdainfully to the boy shrinking into the wall.

"He's the warlock child. I will use him. You're the werewolf child. Soon, you will have to more friends to socialize with."

"You're... just going to take our blood." Maia said.

"Yes," Valentine said patiently.

"Why cut out his tongue?" Maia asked.

"Bothersome warlocks..." Valentine sniffed. "Always uttering spells and such. His chains are used to dampen his magic, and his tongue cut out so he cannot speak his spells."

Maia shriveled with repulsion.

"You're disgusting."

"I know," Valentine said, oh-so-calmly. "Right now, my feelings are not important. Your feelings are even less important. The world is at stake. I must remove the Downworld filth from this world before they swarm what's that is left of humanity,"

Maia's face must be twisted in disgust now.

"You're not even treating us like we have feelings!" Maia gestured towards the soggy food and stale water.

"You don't have feelings," Valentine said. "You're nothing but animals."

Maia shrieked in rage.

Instead of clawing at Valentine, she took off for the door. It was mostly closed, but there was still a crack. The door flew open, and...

A hand grabbed the back of the shirt, and Maia screamed again. Her back thudded against the wall, tilting the room violently. The boy screamed.

"Foolish creature!" Valentine roared furiously.

Maia rubbed her eyes. How did silver...

Maia glanced at the door. When she opened the door, it had triggered something to tip over a massive bucket of silver, iron, rowan and holy water, all mixed into a powdery mush. The amount of silver... it would be completely lethal to her. If it weren't for Valentine who had yanked her out of the way, Maia would be dissolved into a mixture of Maia Mush.

Valentine strode out the room, radiating rage.

Maia shivered in her corner. Suddenly, she just felt so scared.

I know there's not a lot of action in here, but I've hit a big, big, writer's block.

OK, so here's the deal.

5 Reviews: Action

8 Reviews: Simon & Clary

10 Reviews: Clary's First Fight (And POSSIBLY a retry for Clace)