Malec Tales Series 2: Chapter Seven- Traveling Tribulations

Alec Pov- The trading post that Clary spoke of was very small. I almost walked passed it, thinking it was a shack, but she stopped me.

"Where are you going? Don' t you see the sign," she asked, pointing at a small plank of wood that had 'Santiago Trading Post' carved into it.

"This isn't a store, it's a freaking shack," Jace complained, making me nod in agreement. There was no way this place had what we needed.

Clary rolled her eyes, ignoring us and walking into the place. Jace and I glanced at each other before following her inside.

Weirdly enough, the building was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It had a few rows of food and a couple racks of clothes. There was even rope and a picking ax hanging on the wall.

"Is that what we need," I whispered to the others and they both shrugged, not really knowing about mountain climbing either.

I looked over to the front desk, seeing a young Hispanic boy who couldn't be older than fifteen standing there, reading a magazine and not even paying attention to us. Clary cleared her throat to get his attention and he glanced up looking at us before sighing and looking back down at his magazine.

"Hola, welcome to Santiago's Trading Post, we have a big summer blow out going on today. Half off, swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of our own invention."

He talked in a monotone voice, like he wanted to be anywhere else but here talking to us about summer blow outs.

"Raphael, stop being rude to our customers," an angry woman's voice came from the back room. A small Hispanic woman walked out, holding three boxes half her size. I moved forward to take them from her but the boy, Raphael, quickly went to her, taking them from her.

"Madre, how many times do I have to tell you to let me bring out the boxes?"

The woman, his mother as he said, put her hands on her hips, looking angry at him. "I can handle myself thank you very much? How many times do I have to tell you to be nice to the guests? You need to set a good example for your brothers."

He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but he wouldn't dare. She may be small, but it was apparent that she wasn't one to be messed with. She kind of reminded me of my mother.

The thought of my mom made a grief I haven't felt in a long time take over me. I've never really had the chance to grieve over the lose of my parents. Between taking care of Max and Isabelle and trying to get Magnus to talk to me again, I haven't really had time to focus on anything else.

Still, now was not the time for all those suppressed emotions to come bubbling up. Magnus needed me right now. I couldn't afford to let anything distract me from that.

"Excuse me miss, do you know who the king of Alicante is," I asked, hoping that she seen Magnus come by here. The best bet to where he is, is the top of the mountain, but maybe someone saw him on the way.

She nodded, waiting for her son to place the boxes down before opening them and pulling sunblock, and sun tan lotions out of it.

"It's Magnus Bane. I hear his coronation was today. We were going to go but figured it would be best to keep the store open incase out of kingdom customers came along."

So, she doesn't know about what happened with Magnus at the coronation.

"Well, has Magnus stopped by here at all today? Maybe one of your son's seen him?"

She shook her head no. "You are our first customers today. Is there anything else we could do for you?"

Clary nodded pointing to her crop top and shorts. "I was dressed for summer and it's not that outside anymore. Do you have any winter clothes for myself and this guy," she asked, pointing her thumb at me.

"That's in our winter stock, don't expect much" Raphael grumbled, pointing to the wall where the rope and the pick ax was. His mother flicked him on the head before smiling at us again.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to wear. Is that all you need?"

Jace shook his head no. "we need mountain climbing gear as well. Maybe some directions on how to climb a mountain as well. We don't know what we are doing."

Raphael gave Jace a face like he was stupid.

"Why would you try climbing a mountain when you don't even know how? That's idiotic."

His mother gave him another warning look before grabbing Clary's arm. "I might have some clothes for you in the back. Come with me and we will get you dressed. Raphael, show them all the equipment they will need and tell them how to use it."

She pulled Clary into the back room and I watched them go before looking back at Raphael. He sighed, rubbing his temples before directing us to the back of the store. Like I thought, the rope and pick ax were used for mountain climbing. He went step by step, taking things off the wall and explaining to us how to use it.

Jace obviously wasn't listening so I made sure to absorb all the information like a sponge. There was no way I was going to risk dying just from poor listening skills.

A few minutes later Clary walked out wearing blue jeans, a sweater and a cute olive green coat with false fur on the hood. She put a winter hat on her head to keep her ears warm and smiled.

"Much better," she sighed in relief.

Raphael's mother smiled at her before handing me some jeans and a sweater. "Sorry sir, there are the only clothes I could find that would fit you."

I shook my head, happily taking the outfit. "I love sweaters and jeans, thank you."

This is what I wore regularly during the winter time. There weren't any visitors ever at the castle, so there was no point in wearing a uniform. Michael wasn't really a stickler about things like that.

"Is there a room where I can get changed?"

She nodded, pointing to the back room. "We have dressing rooms back there, to the left."

I thanked her before making my way to the back room to get changed. Once I was in the dressing room, I started taking off my military jacket, but stopped, seeing my father's medal in the mirror. I had completely forgotten that I was wearing it. Thank god I didn't lose it when I fell down the hill.

Frowning, I pulled the medal off my coat, looking it over in my hands. This was the closest thing I thought I would get to a royal crown. I always thought it would be a servant until I died. Now all this stuff with Magnus is going on and I'm a king until he gets back.

I never wanted to be a king. That's Magnus's place, not mine.

Sighing, I changed out of the uniform and into the sweater and jeans I received. Once that was done I put the medal in my pocket and gathered my things before going back to everyone else.

Jace and Clary must have paid for everything already because they were standing by the front door, Jace's backpack looking a lot fuller than before.

"Do we have everything we need," I asked walking up.

Clary nodded. "We got all the climbing gear and some food incase we get hungry."

I nodded smiling at Raphael and his mother. "Thank you so much for your help."

Raphael just looked back down at his magazine, not answering me and his mother shook her head before giving us a bright smile. "Come back any time. I hope you find what you are looking for."

"Me too," I said softly before leaving with the others.

Once outside Jace stretched his arms smiling. "Okay, we can finally get this show on the road. Now we need to figure out where to go from here."

Clary pulled a map out of the backpack. "There is a forest we need to go through before we get to the mountain. There shouldn't be too far for us to go when we get to the forest."

"Great, we can get to Magnus by morning," I said, excited to see him and help him out with all of this.

"Maybe not by morning, but early afternoon sounds about right," Jace corrected, looking at his watch.

"Either way, I need to get to him and stop this winter. Come on, we are losing time just standing here."

With that, I turned away from them and headed left. The sound of Clary clearing her throat made me stop and look back at her. She pointed to the right, smiling sheepishly at me. "The forest is this way Alec."

"Right... I totally knew that. I was just making sure the two of you knew where you were going."

Jace snorted saying, "yeah, okay," before turning in the right direction and heading to the forest. Clary gave me an enduring smile before following him.

I sighed, wondering what I got myself into as I followed behind them. Why did Magnus have to run all the way up to the mountains? How did he even get there so fast? Maybe that weird void he went through took him up there. It sure took him somewhere.

We Traveled for an hour in silence before Jace and Clary started talking to each other, leaving me out of their conversations. Not that I wanted to be apart of them. I didn't know how to interact with people thanks to being locked away all my life. Besides that, Jace seemed to be complaining about how this mission was setting them back on their vacation together and I was enjoying watching Clary tell him to put a sock into it.

We stayed in that dynamic all night and by time the sun started to rise, we were half way through the forest. The map made it look small. In reality, it was humongous. I was surprised we hadn't got lost yet.

"So, Alec," Jace piped up, making me shocked that I was finally being brought into their conversation. Again, not that I really wanted to be. "You didn't know that your king is a warlock, so I'm going to assume you also didn't know about his abilities."

I sighed, hating how right he was. Magnus didn't trust me enough to tell me, I guess. The thought of that stung more than anything else ever could. I mean yeah, Magnus has ignored me for half our lives, but I thought there were no secrets between us. Okay, that's a lie. I knew there was one secret. The secret of why he stopped talking to me.

That secret ate at me, digging into my skin and seeping into my heart and soul like a tumor. The thought of Magnus not trusting me sent a mixer of blinding rage and confusion into me.

Subconsciously, I reached up and stroked my white strip of hair again. I always did this when I felt anxious or upset. Clary seemed to take notice.

"Did King Magnus give you that streak in your hair?"

I glanced up at my hair before looking at her frowning. "I... I don't know. My parents told me that I was born with it. They said that, yet the other servants stared at it a lot when I was younger, as if there was something unnatural about it."

"Let's take a break here really quick. My back and feet are killing me from walking all night," Jace sighed, putting his bookbag on the ground. Clary nodded, pulling a blanket out of the bag and laying it down before sitting on it. She pulled a thermos out next and offered us both hot chocolate. Jace accepted but I just looked at them like they were crazy.

"You want to take a break now? We're so close to being out of the forest. Why not keep going?"

Clary poured hot chocolate into a mug before holding it out to me. "We need all the energy we can get if we are going to climb that mountain. It's okay to take a tiny break Alec. Sit with us and have a warm drink."

A huge part of me wanted to decline and tell them to get off their asses. We were so close to Magnus! I couldn't waste time sitting and drink hot beverages. Magnus could be up on that mountain all alone, terrified. He needed me there to calm him down and talk him into changing the weather back.

Sadly, I knew she was right. That was a huge mountain and we would need all our energy to climb it. I don't even want to fathom what we will do if we can't manage to climb it. How would I get to Magnus then?

One step at a time Alec.

Sighing, I took the mug from her and sat on the blanket with them. Clary smiled satisfied before pouring a cup from Jace. He took it and thanked her with a charming smile, his eyes soft and full of love. At least... I assume it's love.

Magnus used to look at me with eyes like those. So caring and full of compassion. That's one of the things I missed most when Magnus closed himself off behind his bedroom door. I missed those eyes that looked at me like I was his entire world.

A part of me wondered if that was really eyes of love or just childish wonder. Jace surly reminded me of a child, so I wouldn't be too surprised if I miss interrupted what it all meant.

"Do you know what made the king do all of this," Jace asked, changing the subject.

I frowned, glancing away as I squeezed my mug.

"He got mad at me because I wanted to get married."

They both looked surprised by that. "Who do you want to marry," Clary asked.

I didn't feel right using Jonathan's name with strangers, so I left his name out of it.

"A prince from a neighboring kingdom. He was willing to give up his crown and be with me, but Magnus didn't want to accept it. He got mad at me and as a result I got mad at him in return. We yelled some things at each other until finally he snapped, and his powers took over."

"Why was he so mad about the engagement, how long have the two of you been dating?"

That question made my face turn tomato red. I really didn't want to answer that question. Still, I knew they wouldn't let it go and I don't want to lie to them.

"Um... well... we kind of met... this morning?"

It came out more like a question than a statement. They both were wide eyed with jaws on the floor. I was genially shocked that Jace could be stunned into silence.

He shook his head, setting his mug down so he could pinch the rim of his nose. "Let me get this straight. You want to get engaged to someone you just met this morning, and you wonder why the king didn't want to accept it?"

I frowned at that. "What's wrong with it? So, what if we just met this morning. It's true love."

That made Jace bust out laughing. "True love my ass! There is no way you could possibly love someone that quickly."

Clary looked at him. "You told me you loved me the moment you first saw me."

That gave me a shred of hope, but of course, it was dashed as soon as it came.

"Yeah, but I didn't propose to you that day. We have been dating for two years and are just now engaged. That is true love. That's a relationship."

He looked at me, his golden eyes losing the teasing amusement and now just looked angry.

"Maybe if you talked about this guy in the same way you talk about Magnus, I would believe you. You don't, so I won't believe a word of it."

That caused me to frown again. "What do you mean? How do I talk about Magnus?"

Jace seemed to be pondering how to explain it before looking over to Clary for help. She sipped at his coco thinking before lowering her mug.

"When you talk about the king... your eyes and voice get very gentle. It's like you're holding something precious with slight cracks in your hand and you're keeping it safe, so it can't be damaged any further."

Was that really how it looked when I talked about Magnus? I mean sure, Magnus was precious to me and he did have cracks. His parents died and he's always all alone. I want to protect him from that pain and isolation. I want to heal the frozen heart inside his chest.

Is that what love is?

"If you both are implying that I'm in love with Magnus, then you are mistaken. The only thing between Magnus and I is friendship. I don't know how many times I have to explain it to you."

"Until you are able to convince us otherwise, which in your case, is going to be never," Jace exclaimed, making me sigh irritably.

"Believe me, Magnus and I are far from a couple. He completely ignores my existence."

Clary frowned at that. "I don't think someone who cares so much about who you marry is ignoring your existence."

I let her words sink in for a little bit, really considering wither or not they could be true. Did Magnus care about me more than he let on? If so, why all the secrecy? Why close me off and make me stand outside his door every day for years, looking like a fool?

"I think Alec and Magnus are perfect for each other."

I rolled my eyes, glaring at Jace. "I get it, you think you know Magnus even though you've never seen him before. Just drop it."

Jace frowned, looking slightly uneasy. "Um... I didn't say that."

That caused me to frown. It was definitely a man's voice. If Jace didn't say it... then who did?

All three of us looked around suspiciously. I looked over my shoulder and blinked seeing a short snowman sitting behind me. It was super cute with little stick arms and rocks for buttons on it's body. It was missing a nose though. I smiled, always loving snowmen.

"Well aren't you cute?"

"Thanks, I was afraid I looked too round," He spoke, touching his middle body with his stick arms.

I sat in complete silence for a moment before all three of us sprang up to our feet, screaming.

"Demon snowman! It's a demon snowman! Clary kill it," Jace yelled hiding behind the redhead. I followed suit, hiding behind Jace, hiding behind her.

She looked back at us glaring. "Are you seriously using me as a shield right now? You are supposed to be the men?!"

The snowman got closer to us and we shuffled back, terrified by what it might do.

"Come on you two, it's a snowman," Clary griped at us.

"Then why are you backing up too," I snapped back.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot," the snowman said before looking down. "Actually, I don't have feet. Not real feet anyway, just two small round mounds of snow."

He looked back up smiling at us. "Let me try again. Hi, my name is Simon."

I stared at him skeptically before my shoulders started to relax. Simon... where had I heard that name before?

Slowly, it dawned on me. Magnus and I made a snowman named Simon a long time ago. We even talked about it last night at the party. How could I forget so fast?

I moved away from the huddle the three of us had formed and started moving closer to the snowman. Jace reached out to grab me but I moved out of his way before he could. Slowly, I sat in front of the snowman once again, looking him over.

He smiled at me seeming to be waiting for something, though I didn't know what. Finally, he said, "... and you are?"

Oh, that's right, he asked our names.

"Um, this is Jace and Clary and I'm Alec."

"Sure, give the demon snowman our names first," Jace hissed making me roll my eyes at him.

"He isn't a demon snowman. I think... I think Magnus made him."

Simon nodded but he didn't seem too focused on our conversation. Instead, he was looking up at me with awed eyes. It made me slightly uncomfortable.

Finally, I asked, "What?"

"You're Alec?"

I nodded. "I'm Alec."

He smiled excitedly. "You're the one who named me. You gave me the name Simon."

I guess I was the one who named him. Magnus asked me why I chose Simon and I said it just felt right. And it did. At the time he did look like a Simon.

Thinking about it, I reached into Jace's bookbag and started rummaging through the food.

"What do you think you are doing," Jace demanded, but I ignored him, pulling a carrot out.

I turned back to Simon and as gently as possible, stuck the carrot into his face to give him a nose. He gasped excitedly, touching the carrot with his little branch fingers.

"Thank you so much, now I can smell. I wish I could see."

I raised a questioning eyebrow at that. "You can't see?"

He shook his head no. "Slightly, but everything is kind of a blur. I don't have my glasses on. Magnus didn't have them when he made me. I had a lot of trouble getting off that mountain without them."

I gasped at that. "Simon, you saw Magnus? He was on the mountain?"

He nodded. "Well, I saw a blur of Magnus, but I know we were definitely on a mountain. I ended up falling over the edge."

Good thing he was a snowman or that might have killed him.

"Can you take us to see Magnus, Simon?"

He nodded, "Yeah! Why do we need to see him?!"

"He needs to bring back summer," Jace grumbled, finally getting the courage to stop hiding behind Clary.

Simon gasped at that. "Oh, I love summer!"

We all looked at him like he was crazy.

"But," Clary started. "You're a snowman..."

He nodded "Yeah. I've never seen summer before, but I've always wanted to. That's when all the best video game competitions are!"

I blinked in utter confusion.

"What?"

"Video game competitions!" He sighed happily. "It's always been my dream to go to one of those contests and beat everyone at video games. I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was!"

"Now you're just quoting Pokémon," Jace mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

I shook my head, not being able to wrap my mind around all of this. "So, let me get this straight, you are a walking, talking snowman who loves summer and dreams of winning a video game contest?"

He nodded smiling excitedly. "That's me!"

Jace smirked at me. "Nice snowman you made there Alec."

I glared at him. "That had to have been Magnus's idea. There is no way I would come up with something as ridiculous as a snowman who wanted to be the best at video games."

Clary shook her head at us. "Let's ignore the video game thing for now and just focus on the fact that he knows where the king is. He can show us the rest of the way."

Simon nodded, "I could... only if I could see. I don't really know where I'm going without my glasses on."

I frowned, thinking that would be a problem, when suddenly I remembered I had the old king's glasses in my pocket. I quickly pulled them out before kneeling in front of Simon and placing them on his face, right on top of his carrot nose.

He blinked a couple times, looking around before smiling at me.

"I can see again. It's a miracle!"

I smiled slightly, amused by his easy-going personality. It was obvious that Magnus and I created him back when things were simple for us, and we didn't have any worries.

"Simon, I really need you to take me to Magnus. He's in trouble, and I'm the one who has to help him. Do you understand?"

He nodded smiling at me. "Of course, we will save Magnus and bring back summer. Let's get to the mountain!"

He started walking away and the three of us quickly packed Jace's backpack.

"Do you think he knows that he's going to melt when summer is back," Clary whispered to us.

"I'm going to tell him," Jace said smugly, making us both glare at him.

"Don't you dare!"

A/N: Oh Alec, can't even believe that he would create a video game playing snowman, but he did XD!

It was hard writing Jace and Clary at first. I never use Clary for anything! (she's technically Sven lol)

On a side note, i'm thinking of changing my account avatar. I've always used my Malec Princess avatar that's supposed to be a mix of Alec and Magnus, but i think i want to make her look more like my real self. I'm getting my hair dyed pretty colors on Monday so i will have to make her after that. We will see.