Authoress Notes: Chapter Four as promised, all new edition.

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything except my OC Selene.

Chapter Four

A heavy sombre air gradually began settling over the small village of Alicante, while a fierce cold, quiet breeze floated over the many houses and local establishments. Meanwhile, the full, silver pallid moon, which had once glowed in bright sapphire sky full of luminous stars in the meantime had suddenly vanished. Above in its place were black, ominous looking storm clouds, as the distinct smell of possible rain permeated the air. Magnus's dark brown eyes narrowed in confirming suspicion, as he carefully observed the uneasy scene unfolding before him. The high warlock was never one to practice or dabble in the art of accurately predicting/glimpsing the foreseeable future or even as someone whom was an immortal like him, he clearly recognized a dangerous, ill omen when he saw one, whether it was up close and personal, or from very far away. For that reason an uneasy feeling as a result settled voluntarily into the pit of his stomach.

At the same moment, he felt a hand gently place itself on top of his. Magnus's glance shifted to see Alec smiling at him warmly. A bright twinkle in his gorgeous blue eyes. He returned the same lovely smile before the blue-eyed handsome man finally spoke.

"Um, Magnus, I was wondering if we would be able to see one another sometime soon. If you would like too." There was a slight nervousness in his voice.

He smiled sheepishly, therefore nodding in response, "Of course I would love to see you again. How about tomorrow? Let's meet at the beach let's say around noon?" he said.

As a result hearing those kind words made Alec's lovely face brighten up even more.

"Great. I look forward to it. I'll see you then," the shadowhunter replied.

Magnus let go of his hand before reluctantly deciding to make an extremely bold move. He leaned up on the wooden side before kissing the side of Alec's right cheek. Alec's gentle fingers gently caressed it, as a charming smile formed on his face. The touch of that gorgeous man's lips felt so spontaneous and sweet. Jace and Izzy had seen the whole entire thing and were merely grinning at him. He immediately felt his face flush furiously a brilliant shade of burning red.

Clary could see it as well for the once peaceful night sky now looked extremely threatening and dangerous. The luminous stars seemed to have vanished. Above them was no longer calm, but very unsettling. It looked like a major storm was about to surface. The distinctive sound of continuous thunder could be undoubtedly heard in the considerable distance as a few flashes of frequent lightning came from inside of the enveloping clouds. She knew precisely, it would be time to leave soon.

Jace gave Clary's hand, a gentle squeeze, the pleasant, gentle smile still on his face.

She squeezed it back before he spoke, "Clary I was wondering if you aren't busy tomorrow, we could hang out for a little while," he said.

A happy formed on her face, "Yes I'd love too. We can meet on the beach near those rocks."

He grinned, "Then I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late," before kissing her again, and letting her go.

Simon could instantly see the ominous clouds which had formed above them as well. These, in particular, looked extremely dangerous and threatening. Almost every hair on his head and body stood on end, while his fins twitched. His brown eyes grew wide with legitimate concern just like his friends had. This oncoming storm looked like it was inevitably going to be extremely dangerous and terrible. He looked back at Izzy, whose lovely eyes along with Alec's, Magnus's, Clary's, Simon's, and Jace's saw the incoming storm as well.

They all wanted desperately to willingly stay and talk with their new friends a tad bit longer. But hence until now because of the storm, it wasn't going to happen.

"Simon," Izzy's gentle voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts.

He quickly looked up to meet her gaze. Her long hair blew in the wind, cascading down her shoulders in waves of black silk.

"Yes Izzy?" he politely asked, sincerely hoping she would merely ask him to stay.

"I was wondering if we could see each other too again."

"Yes Izzy. I would love to see you too. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"No, I don't have plans as a matter of fact. We can meet by the docks around noon."

"Awesome. I'll see you then Iz. Be safe tonight."

"I promise you I will Simon. I'll see you tomorrow," she replied, as he kissed her hand and then disappeared. Izzy turned towards her brothers, as Alec spoke, "We'd better get back home now before this storm decides to hit."

"Clary, we best be getting back home now, that storm looks extremely dangerous," Magnus said.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to be caught in this," Simon added.

Clary bit her lip, she wanted to stay and talk to Jace just a little more, but was snapped out of her trance by Magnus shaking her arm.

"Come on Clary, we have to get of here. It's getting bad," he said.

She turned to look at him; the fear in his eyes was very real. She knew her father wouldn't approve but her friends didn't care about what Luke thought. Simon must've noticed the uncomfortable exchange, as he looked back up at the sky with wide, concerned eyes.

"Yeah, we should get of here," she agreed, knowing the storm was about to hit any minute.

Clary's eyes widened for now she understood what everyone was worried about.

"Let's get out of here before it's too late!" Selene said, before she dove off the ship's platform.

Jonathan, who had been swimming around, did the same, as did Magnus. His brown eyes gazed tenderly at Alec before disappearing below the waves. Clary and Simon stayed put where they were. She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and looked back at the sky. Dark, foreboding clouds were beginning to roll in shrouding the stars and bright, pale full moon in a dismal blanket of gray. A few flashes danced over the clouds, along with a couple of loud rumbles signaling the first signs of lightning and thunder.

She and Simon gave one last look at Jace and Izzy. They both weren't looking at them now. Izzy was apparently talking to someone, her brother said something and she laughed, causing her eyes to light up, melting Simon's heart. She went to make sure the mast and things on the deck were secure so that nothing wouldn't fall off. Jace quickly was helping some of the crew along with Alec, Hodge, and Axel get the sails hoisted up. Tying them down along with a few other loose things. They watched for a moment longer before finally diving back disappearing under the surface of the dark, crystal water.

Magnus, Jonathan, and Selene had vanished into the night, for they were nowhere to be found. "Well, that was fun and interesting," Simon said, as they circled the dark surface. Clary began swimming away back home, but she could feel inside something was horribly wrong.

"Simon, I know this sounds stupid, but something doesn't feel right," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The princess's emerald green eyes narrowed, "That storm looks really strong and dangerous. I'm going back up to see if they're going to be all right."

"Just be careful, I would go with you but my mom's expecting me home. You know how she is, she'll freak. If anything happens, use your stele to protect yourself."

"I will Simon, I promise," she said, before swimming back towards the surface and the chaos which was going on. As soon as she resurfaced, the sky roared with thunder, as rain began to fall from the threatening clouds, as she watched the sky turn into a monstrous sea of night. The wind blew, whipping against her red hair. The rain fell harder, with each passing second. It was becoming nearly almost impossible to see anything.

The rough waves threw the ship side to side, as if the sea had become angry. Clary knew the storm was strong as the lightning split the sky with a loud cry, that sounded as if the ocean was wallowing in pain. At that very moment the wind along with the rain smashed right into the left side of the ship with a violence she had never seen in her life. The once calm sea grew even more violent as the waves churned, growing taller and taller, and even stronger than walls of her parent's palace. Lightning lit the darkened sky, rain battering in its wake.

People on deck were running in fear for their lives, as the waves raged back and forth. Jace, Alec, Izzy, Max, Hodge, Axel, and the entire crew hastily hurried to make sure the ship wouldn't sink. A few were nearly almost swept overboard, as they hurried towards the lifeboats by the orders of their captain. Hodge knew the ship didn't stand a chance against this all-powerful storm, so he ordered everyone to get onto the lifeboats immediately. The ship only had a limited number of them, but in all it was more than enough to hold all of them and get everyone to safety. The ship was starting to break apart little by little into pieces.

"Hurry please, everyone get to a boat as fast as you can! We've got no time to waste!" Alec said, as he helped Helen and Aline into a boat along with a young mother and her child. Jace and Izzy were doing the same thing, as well as Jordan and Bat. Max got into the small boat too. Four of the crew members began cutting the ropes to the lifeboats, allowing them to get loose and drop into the water.

"Come on, move, move, move!" Jace said to a few guests, as he got into the same lifeboat as his siblings. He drew a knife from his pocket and began cutting the ropes, immediately once they were loose, the boat plunged into the water. They began rowing as fast as they could to get away. Clary smiled, he and his siblings and friends were safe, knowing this made her happy. As they were getting a safe distance away, the sound of meowing could be heard coming from the upper part of the deck.

Jace's eyes looked back up in horror, they grew wide at the sight of Church who was still trapped on the ship. He immediately took out his stele and knife slipping them back into his pockets before going towards the side of the boat and took off his leather jacket. He rolled up the sleeves to his grey t-shirt. Alec and Izzy both noticed what he was doing.

"Jace what are you doing?" Alec asked.

"Church is still trapped up there. I'm going to get him," he replied.

"Are you out of your mind? The ship is going to sink, and it'll take you down with it!"Axel said.

"I won't be long. I promise!" Jace said, before diving into the dark waters. He resurfaced a moment later and swam towards the ship. His golden eyes noticed a rope hanging from one of the cargo hold and grabbed onto it. Using his left foot, he hoisted himself up into the air and swung himself over, landing on the ships deck. Flames were nearly almost everywhere, as he ran searching for Church. The air around him was hot, and smoke filled nearly almost everything.

It was then he saw Church on the upper part of the deck, meowing very loudly in distress. He ran over towards the cat, and held out his arms. "Come on Church, jump!" he yelled. The blue cat's eyes were full of fear and anxiety, as he meowed unsure of what to do. "You've got to jump, come on buddy, I know you can do it!" Church hauled himself into the air and landed safely in Jace's arms. He ran back towards the side of the ship, before tossing the cat overboard, into Max's arms.

Just as one of the last boats was lowered to safety, a bolt of lightning hit the main mast, causing it to break out in flames. Alec and Izzy saw it.

"Jace, we have to go NOW!" Izzy called up to him, her brown eyes full of fear.

"Iz is right, the ship's going to explode!" Alec said.

"Come on, we don't have a moment to waste!" Hodge yelled.

"I just have to make sure everyone else is safe!" Jace said.

"Jace it's too dangerous, we have to go!" his sister said.

"I'm aware of that. I can't bear to see or watch anyone die while this storm tries to take away innocent lives. We have to protect our people!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, quickly making one last run around the entire ship to make sure no one else was on board. It was all clear and he went back to the side.

"All clear, everyone's safe!" Jace said, just as he was about to dive back into the water, his foot crashed through the wooden floor, getting caught between the boards. He managed to get himself free a second later but fate had a much crueler trick in mind. Just as Jace was about to take another step to throw himself right over the side and into the boat, the waves hurled a giant piece of the mast which had now broken right into his head. It shattered into a million tiny pieces, creating a large cut right on Jace's forehead. The pain blinded him, momentarily, as he struggled to focus. One of the pieces had fallen onto the deck, flames licking at the wood and was right by a box of fireworks.

All of a sudden, a loud explosion suddenly ripped through the air, as the ship was engulfed in a large ball of fiery chaos. Jace instantly fell into the water; a trickle of blood ran down the side of his face. He was knocked unconscious.

"JACE!" Alec and Izzy cried, they watched in horror as their brother fall into the deep dark ocean. Clary watched in complete utter disbelief, and terror as the handsome prince fell into an abyss of darkness. "JACE!" she cried, knowing a human couldn't survive in the underwater kingdom.

The ship had been torn into complete pieces and was now on the urge of sinking. Fire burned at some of the remaining pieces in the water. Many of the guests huddled together to keep themselves from freezing. Clary looked around for him, swimming between the debris and various things which now floated in the dark waters. She continued to search among the wreckage, but still didn't find Jace. It was then she turned around and saw Jace clinging to a piece of wood. His golden eyes were closed, but he was still breathing. She quickly swam to the spot, but he was losing the strength to hold on and the rough current made him go underwater.

With all of her sufficient strength, she dove back into the water. It was extremely difficult to see through the murkiness, for the ship above had crashed into a bunch of rocks and was promptly lost. She swam through many drowned objects and instantly saw him going deeper into the boundless ocean. He was still alive, but barely hanging on. She swam down towards Jace, clasping her arm around his chest, and hauled him to the surface.

As she gently broke through the water, the fierce storm was still surging, as she struggled fiercely through the rough waves, and to see through the storm. Clary could feel him grow fainter in her arms, as she carried him through the turbulent water. Her arms were instantly starting to ache, but she wouldn't give up.

"I have to get him to land before he dies," she said. His head rest against Clary's bare chest, as she carried Jace through the waves which were promptly starting to calm down. She held him close, as they floated gently along the current. Jace promptly began to cough up some of the seawater he promptly swallowed, his lips regaining a little color. She instantly saw his eyes slowly flutter open. They were slightly unfocused, and his eager lips positively trembled. He looked right up at Clary. "Clary?" he asked rhetorically. "Don't worry Jace, I'm going to get you to dry land, and to safety," she said. He opened his mouth to mutter something but drifted back into unconsciousness before he could reply.

His long eyelashes gently framed his eyelids, on his white colored cheeks. The wound on his forehead was still bleeding, undoubtedly causing some of the visible blood to run down his cheeks, like crimson tears. She quickly pressed her stele to the extensive wound, and it vanished instantly, causing the youthful skin miraculously heal itself. She subtly shifted his head so that it rested comfortably on her shoulder, so that she could prevent any more water from voluntarily entering his mouth or nose. His hair felt soft against her skin, as she swam towards the beach in the distance.

The storm had finally quieted down, as she intentionally let the continuous waves conveniently carry them to shore. They finally at last reached the shallow waters, just as the glorious sun was gently rising. Utilizing all of her strength, Clary pulled Jace from the water. The successful effort voluntarily left her nearly breathless. She collapsed on his chest, gasping before pulling her body out of the water and onto land. Clary breathed in huge amount of air, her small lithe body shivering from the frigid water. Sometimes the ocean a odd way of seriously freezing her to death. She turned to look at Jace, who wasn't moving at all. Gently pressing her head against his chest, she listened carefully for a erratic heartbeat but there wasn't one.

Clary swiftly shifted him over on his side, using the back of her hand, she pounded his back with her fist. Jace sputtered a little. Even trying on his own, he didn't seem to be capable of inhaling. She bent over and covered his mouth with hers. She breathed gently in air through his mouth and nose, as his chest rose twice. He suddenly heaved up a ton of water, and she gently rolled him back onto his side. "There hack it all up," she said earnestly, undoubtedly continuing to pound at his back, until he no longer was spewing any water or foam. The distinct color in his cheeks was naturally starting to return and looked better.

Those green eyes still refused to vanish out of his conscious mind, burnt behind his eyelids so he saw them every time he so much as blinked. Her voice was unlike anything he'd ever heard. His heart skipped a beat as he had gradually opened his eyes and breathed in the salty fresh air, enabling it fill his lungs. His vision had slowly came into focus, bringing hin face to face with her for the first time out of the darkness. His golden eyes had met a pair of green eyes. It was a beautiful melody, from which poured from her full pink lips as her emerald eyes stared down into his with a blush across her cheeks.

She didn't expect to him to stir. She almost certainly didn't expect him to awake so fast that he was now sitting up in the sand. "Clary? Y-You undoubtedly saved me," he finally managed to sputter, the mere ability to speak candidly for the first time seemed to escape him for a few meaningful minutes, given the genuine surprise and opening his eyes to see her more clearly.

"Yes, I did," she said, nodding her head in direct response, while biting the lower part of her lip in nervousness. "Jace, I want more than anything to stay, but I can't. It's positively forbidden."

"What do you mean forbidden? Jace asked, confused. She could hear the ocean's song calling to her to come home. Calling for her to return. She didn't say anything, and quickly made a dash for the shallow water, but accidentally banged their bruised foreheads together. Her head hit the wet sand and the cool water dreadfully shocked her after being out of the ocean so long. Dazed and confused, she wasn't able to recover fast enough. The impact of the blow caused her feel slightly disorientated.

As she regained her focus, she suddenly made a dash for the water moving as fast as her body could carry her. The shallow waters were dark and deep enough to hide her tail from Jace's view, as the waves moved, lapping gently around her skin when a hand reached out, halting her completely in her tracks. Glancing behind her, she saw that Jace was now sitting up on his own, his fingers gripped her arm.

He looked from her face, and then back down to her waist. His head throbbed with a huge headache, while his throat burned from being in the ocean for so long. But he honestly wasn't entirely sure at how what he was now seeing was even entirely real. His eyes drank her in; her long, dark red hair cascaded down her shoulders in ringlets, her eyes were hidden behind long dark lashes, her lips were full, and her body was slender and petite although with hour-glass curves. What surprised him most was that her body ended in that of a green fish tail.

"You...You're a mermaid..."Jace said in disbelief. She didn't say anything else to him before she slowly started to back away but he reached out and grabbed her by her wrist, tugging frantically her back to him. The moment their skin made contact it was like an electric current had suddenly passed through them.

Humans she now knew were very determined and resilient. Jace watched as Clary looked at him with wide, afraid eyes.

From the first moment he'd woken up, he only heard the sound of someone singing. The voice was so beautiful, unlike any that he'd ever heard before in his whole life. He'd heard singing while in town, at many of the festivals and balls, from the palace staff and his own siblings, and various entertainments. But none of it compared to what he heard in that moment on the beach.

Clary, nonetheless, hadn't uttered a word.

"You...you saved me. Last night, I remember meeting you and your friends on the ship. Right after the party. I'm terribly sorry to have frightened you."

"It's all right, you don't have to apologize. I really should be going. I'll be in serious trouble," she said, before moving towards the water. Jace's hands wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her back.

"Please, let me go," she said.

"Trouble? Why would you get in trouble?" he asked.

"Because I saved you," she said, stating the obvious.

"Why in the world would you get in trouble for doing something like that?" Jace said, kneeling beside her in the water. He didn't loosen his grip on her, mostly afraid that she would swim off again.

"Because it's forbidden. Letting humans even see us is forbidden. If my Father ever found out about this..."she stopped mid-sentence.

"My siblings and I didn't even know mermaids, or mermen were real. We always believed them to be just a myth."

"Honestly, that's how supposed to be. I really should be going."

"If it's forbidden like you said, then why did you save me?" he said.

Right at that moment, Clary was starting to panic. This was exactly what her father and everyone else had warned her about. She sighed, before finally deciding to answer him. His question took her by surprise.

"Because you would've died if I hadn't. You helped to save all of your family and friends. Jace, I couldn't just allow you to die. It wasn't the right thing to do, and because...I honestly couldn't bear to be without you."

Jace's hand which had been gripping her waist so tightly moved to cup her face. She instantly froze at his touch and couldn't believe that he was touching her in a such gentle and caring way. "Clary I feel the same way. You're too important for me to let go now. Thank you for saving me. Don't you see what I'm intentionally trying to say? You saved me from a watery death, and if it weren't you, I wouldn't be here right now, talking to you. And we never would have met."

"You're right about that. We never would have crossed paths at all or met," she replied thoughtfully. His golden eyes continued to stare into her green one's, becoming instantly lost in them. His eyes started to close as did hers, as they leaned earnestly towards each other, as his eager lips adequately met her's. Jace gently pulled her closer, as their lips met in a passionate kiss. Just like the last time it was gentle and sweet, as their arms wrapped around each other, her fingers quickly thrusting and embedding themselves in his blonde hair. Her arms flung themselves around his neck, while his gentle fingers carefully traced the lower part of her back. His hands ran up and down her sides, over her back and her tail, pausing for a moment for lift her up from the water and onto the dry land. His hands moved to either sides of her tail, his fingertips brushing over her smooth scales.

Jace's hands gripped her head so that she wouldn't move away, grinding into her, and then moved his hands so that they rested underneath her tail, pulling her into his lap, nearly almost accidentally slamming the mermaid right into his chest. Clary broke the kiss, throwing her head back while her eyes closed, letting out a gasp before his lips discovered her's again. He never wanted to let this woman go. As his tongue explored her mouth she moaned against his lips and the vibrations echoed throughout his chest and to his groin. They broke apart for air a few seconds later as Jace planted hot kisses along her neck, traveling down towards her collarbone. His warm breath came out in pants, fanning her once cold skin.

His fingers moved slowly up and down her body, the tips brushing over her backside, massaging her hips, and guiding up to rest themselves on her waist. She kissed him again, before moving her long red hair aside pushing it over her shoulder. It was now dry. She wore a pretty dark green brassiere, which had pearls attached to the front, along with clam-shells and various other small pearls decorating the top, while strands of pearls attached to the bottom, overlapping each other.

It felt so right. The two of the each truly felt as if they finally found the other's half, while they continued to kiss. Jace broke the kiss for some much needed air as the two of them panted, trying to catch their breath. He smiled at Clary, who stared up at him with a sweet smile on her face. He smiled back, totally convinced he'd finally at last found the one he was meant to be with and she felt the same exact way.

"Wow," Clary said, as the two of them regained their composure.

"Yeah wow," Jace replied, his voice echoing the same feelings as her.

"Jace?" she asked.

"Yes beautiful?" he said, gently placing his hand upon her cheek, cupping it in one hand.

"I think I'm really starting to fall for you," she said.

Jace smiled before leaning and kissing her again. "And I you."

"But we just met. Isn't this wrong?" she wondered.

"No. You ever heard of love at first sight Clary?" Jace said, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Yes, but I thought it only existed in fairy tales and not in real life."

He shrugged, "Apparently it does exist for some people. Listen I wanted to ask you something. Will you be my girlfriend? I know this sounds a little forward, but I really like you a lot, and I care about you so much."

She smiled, "Of course, I would love to be your girlfriend."

A huge smile formed on his face, before he kissed her again. "You just made me the happiest guy alive."

Clary laughed, "Good, I'm glad. Because I have no intention of letting you get away."

He grinned, "Right back at ya."