The characters in this story belongs to Cassandra Claire. Unfortunately I'm not rich so I can't buy them and make my own Malec movie, so I'm doing this instead.

Chapter 1

Growing up in the Kingdom of Edom had been hell for Magnus. Almost literally. His mother died when he was only eight, and not knowing who his father was, or having any other family, he was sent to live in an orphanage. He had spent seven years in the orphanage before finally running away with his friends, Ragnor Fell, Caterina Loss and Raphael Santiago.

Since then, he has been surviving on his own alongside his friends, who to him, were really more like family. And after years of dreaming and planning, they were finally ready to leave Edom. The king of Edom ruled with an iron fist, and everyone needed his permission to leave the country. Only a few were granted this privilege, and unfortunately for Magnus, he wasn't one of those lucky few. He was neither rich, nor was he amongst the ruling class.

No, to leave Edom, Magnus and his friends would need to hire the services of a very expensive smuggler. After five years of working odd and dangerous jobs, they had finally managed to save up enough money. The only question now was: where should they go?

"I say we should go to the Netherlands. Amsterdam to be more specific. I've heard that it's great there. The people there live a pretty free and good life. Even same sex couples have the same rights as everyone else," Magnus stated. He was sitting in the living room of the small apartment that he shared with his friends.

The place only had two bedrooms, a small living room with a joint kitchen, and one bathroom. It wasn't the safest neighbourhood, but then again, the whole country was one bad neighbourhood, and the building itself was pratically falling apart. But, they made the best of it. It was their home. At least for the time being.

Ragnor turned to face Magnus, "Who told you all of that about the Netherlands?"

"Nobody," said Magnus. They were all sitting on a bright purple couch that Magnus just had to have. For some reason, that none of them could quite remember now, they had allowed Magnus to decorate their apartment; something about being a future fashion design god. Their apartment basically looked like a rainbow bomb had gone off in there.

"I overheard two customers at the club talking." Magnus worked at Club 96. It was one of the few underground clubs in Edom's capital City of Tartarus. "Apparently one of the assholes took his family there on vacation. He kept bragging about ditching his family and sneaking off to the redlight district."

"The red light district?" Caterina asked, perking up curiously, now more interested in the conversation.

"Yes," said Magnus, practically bouncing in his seat with excitment. "Apparently prostitution is also legal there. He said that there was this place in Amsterdam where girls, and even guys, stand in front of glass windows with red lights hanging overhead, shining down on them." Magnus stood up gesturing to his own body. "To, you know...advertise the goods."

"You are not becoming a prostitute," said Raphael immediately, his stern eyes trained on Magnus.

"What? When did I say I was becoming a prostitute?" Magnus asked, feigning hurt, his hands resting firmly on his hips.

"Oh come on, we all know how crazy your ideas can get sometimes," Ragnor laughed, looking to Cat and Raphael for support.

"Look!" Magnus exclaimed. "Just because I'm a 'free spirit', doesn't mean I would whore myself out." He paused for a moment, fingers drumming against his chin as if he was thinking seriously on the matter. "At least I don't think I would."

They all looked at each other silently for a moment, only to then simultaneously explode in a fit of laughter. It was crazy how a conversation about where to live could turn into one about prostituion, Magnus thought. But, that was just how things were with his friends; his family. And he wouldn't change it for anything. He flopped back down on the couch as they continued.

"Ok, now where was I? Ah yes, Amsterdam. It seems like a very nice place to live," said Magnus. "It could be a great option for us. What do you guys think?"

"I don't know," said Cat. "I was more thinking about America. New York to be more specific. I've always heard about this place; 'the city that never sleeps'. It sounds like there could be a lot of opportunities for us to make a life there."

And...that was the cue for everyone to start talking at once. They all had their own idea of where would be the best place for them to go. After about ten minutes of getting absolutely no where, Ragnor finally stood up, clapping his hands together to get their attention. Being the oldest in the group, the others had always tried to give him at least a little bit of respect.

"From everything I've heard thus far, I say it's either between New York, or Amsterdam. But first, we need to talk to the smugglers. We need to see how far our money can take us first. Plus, we don't know where they have contacts or not. You know we'll be needing papers as well."

They all agreed with Ragnor. They definitely needed to meet with the smugglers first before any concrete decisions could be made. Magnus couldn't wait to start his new life. Preferably in a country as far away from Edom as possible.

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