A/N: Eeek! I am SO sorry for not updating in so long! I will do my best to update sooner! I promise-no matter how slow the updates are-I will finish this story!
Disclaimer: I only own the plot, the rest is Cassie Clare's.
"Up and at 'em, Sunshine!"
Clary twisted her pillow over her head, attempting to fend away morning and whoever was trying to wake her. As the foggy ness of sleep recided,Clary remembered what had happened late last night. Blushing, At the memory, Clary brought her hands to her lips. Was that a dream? Clary's thoughts were interrupted when her pillow was ripped away.
"No, go away." Clary groaned half-heartedly, groping air. A low chuckle lead Clary to pry open her eyelids, finding Jace standing over her grinning. "I was sleeping!" She protested, glare spoiled by her memory of last night.
Jace shrugged, grinning. " Training today. Unless you'd rather miss it."
Clary bolted up, careful to keep her sheets wrapped around herself. "I'll be out in five. Now shoo."
"I don't get to stay?" Jace smirked as Clary's face pinkened. He sauntered out, pointing to a pile of clothes on a nearby chair. "These are for you."
Clary waited a few seconds, clearing the fog of sleep from her mind before standing. After closer inspection, she realized the clothes were simply standard gym clothes: Spandex shorts, leggings, a few muscle tees and sports bras. After changing from her nightgown, Clary pulled her hair into a ponytail; skipping the makeup today.
Leaving the dim room, Clary wondered again why there were no windows. Hunger rumbled in her stomach, turning her to the kitchen. After she turned the corner, the smell of food filled her nose, drawing another groan from her stomach. Sebastian was bent over a pan, frying eggs and bacon. Jace sat by a counter, twirling a glass of orange juice in lazy circles. Neither of them seemed to notice Clary until she cleared her throat.
"Hey, Shorty." Jace smirked, patting the bar stool beside him.
"Hi." Clary replied flatly. She wanted to still be mad at him, and really she was, but it was draining her energy. If she stayed mad whilst residing here, all of her strength would be siphoned away. And that was not in Clary's plan. Her plan was to take full advantage of the two boys' skills as Shadowhunters and learn. She sat next to Jace.
"How'd you sleep?" Sebastian slid pates, piled with steaming food, in front of Jace and Clary; proceeding to sit himself across from them with his own plate.
"Fine."
Sebastian nodded, forking into his eggs. The three ate in silence, tension and awkwardness thick. Finally, Clary decided that if she was ever to learn all the boys' tricks, she would need to act nice. Standing up, she cleared all the plates away.
"So. I thought we were training today."
Sebastian nodded. "Let's go then." The three ascended the glass stairs, Sebastian explaining the day to CLary. "Most mornings, except Saturdays, we train from seven until noon-then break for lunch. Afternoons are free and we like to hunt most nights. Kaelie will probably pop around sometime."
Clary nodded. "So what do you do for five hours?" It seemed like an incredible amount of time to train each day.
"Well, Jace said you are not very experienced and your technique is sloppy; so we'll start with basics. Then, as you get better, you don't have to train every morning. But you've got a lot of catching up to do little sis." Clary threw a sideways glare at Jace, who simply shrugged and winked. She rolled her eyes.
"Here is the training room." Sebastian drew a key from under his black t-shirt. Lifting the chain from his neck, he unlocked a dark wood door. The one Clary had failed to check yesterday.
The door opened to reveal a large room, resembling a dance studio sans barres and mirrors. One wall was lined with weapons of all kinds, reflecting the harsh lights as Sebastian flicked on a switch.
Unlike all of the other rooms, this one had very bright lights, with a dimmer switch Clary noticed. Maybe all of the lights were this bright, just dimmed all the time. What was the same was the lack of windows.
"Jace, why are there no windows?" Clary turned to see that Jace and Sebastian had walked to the middle of the room whilst Clary had be lost in her thoughts. Apparently no one had heard her.
"Birdy?" Sebastian turned towards the redhead. "You ready?"
"Yes." Clary said firmly, then walked towards them.
Sebastian nodded. "For today, Jace is going to train you for the first four hours. Then I will take over."
"Wait, aren't you guys training?"
Sebastian nodded. "Of course, but we would like you to join us; and you can't do that if you're clueless now can you?"
Clary shook her head, clenching her fists. She must be really far behind, the realization struck Clary her. These people had years of hard-core, proper training. Her mother and Luke had done their best, but Clary realized that she would have to work harder that she was able to in order to come close to catching up.
Sweating, with bloody knuckles, Clary aimed her crossbow with shaking hands. An arrow whistled through the air, striking her target. She breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken 30 minutes to hit that damn target.
"Now do that nineteen more times, in a row." Jace stood, arms crossed.
"What? You're kidding me." Jace shook his head and Clary resumed shooting.
The first hour had been spent with conditioning and cardio; then an hour of punching and kicking a dummy. For the past hour and a half, Jace had given Clary multiple weapons, explaining that he wanted to see what she had an aptitude for.
Exhausted, Clary hoped that this was just a hard initiation. As she aimed and shot again and again, Clary hit the target twenty more times. But only three of them had been consecutive. Frustrated, Clary raised the crossbow again. Then a hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up.
"That's enough for today." Jace took the crossbow from Clary's hands. "We'll start your weapon training tomorrow."
"What weapon did I have an aptitude for?" Clary was curious to see what she would be training with.
Jace just shrugged. "You'll see tomorrow." Clary glared at his back as he replaced the crossbow. Then Jace walked slowly up to her, an odd expression on his face. She knew, just from the short time she had known him for, that Jace had carefully built walls; like a suit of armor that only those closest to his could chip to his true feelings.
"Clary, there is something I want you to know. But you may not tell a soul." Shivers crawled down Clary's spine as Jace leaned in to whisper into her ear. She gulped and nodded. "I can't tell you here. Dinner?"
Suspicious, Clary backed away. Was this some kind of test, to see if she was really 'loyal' to Jace and Sebastian. Warily, she agreed, maybe they would fully accept her if she participated. Hopefully it meant she could leave this place and send a quick text to Simon. Jace smiled, then pulled back
as the door opened. He placed a slender finger on his lips and winked, just before Sebastian entered the room.
"Hey, how was your first day?" Sebastian grinned at Clary.
She managed to smile back. "Tough."
Sebastian slapped Jace on the back in a bromance-style way. "Ah, well this one he's one of the best Shadowhunter's around. Trained just like me."
'Trained just like him'? Was Sebastian part of the New York Institute at one point? If so, why did he leave? Sebastian seemed to notice the confusion on Clary's face.
"Bedtime story, Birdy. Remind me later." Clary nodded before he started again. "You look pretty drained, go get some water so you don't faint. Then it's my turn."
Clary exited the room gratefully, then raced down towards the kitchen where she chugged one glass of water, then sipped another. Of course she had a water bottle, but it had run out fast and Jace said that demons would not let her stop for a water break so why should he.
Padding slowly back up the stairs, Clary readied herself for what would surely be another grueling hour of training with Sebastian. I wonder what he's going to teach me?
Turns out, How To Fight Like Sebastian 101 was how to fight dirty. When Clary had frowned, her brother had explained that with demons, sometimes you had to fight with less-than-moral techniques. Would you rather fight dirty, or die? Clary had mumbled that she really would not want to die, which seemed to satisfy Sebastian.
The hour was spent with Sebastian explaining to Clary different fighting techniques from around the world. You must know how they fight, their style, in order to form a quick strategy. Diligently, Clary had listened, soaking up the information like a sponge.
Finally, Sebastian announced lunch. The two of them proceeded to the dining room, where Thai food was steaming, Jace waiting for them.
"Took you guys long enough." He picked at a little baby corn with chopsticks.
Clary sat, blushing as her stomach rumbled at the smell of food. The two boys grinned at her, and they all ate, talking about random things like weapons and what they would do for the rest of the afternoon.
"Hm. Where are we right now?" Jace questioned, Clary and Sebastian answering at the same time.
Clary: "New York, duh."
Sebastian: "Tofino BC, I believe."
Clary stared at Sebastian. "Guys, we are in New York. USA, not Canada."
Jace shook his head. "Remember when you asked why there are no windows?" So you heard me? "Well, this house travels all around the world. It's...not really your average house." Clary stared.
"This house is in a sort of dimensional pocket." Sebastian smiled. "Cool, isn't it?"
Slightly stunned, Clary managed to nod and smile faintly. The two boys went on to talk about what they wanted to do in Tofino. Clary tuned out, thoughts blocking outwards sound. How am I supposed to get back to New York?
"Clary?" Sebastian was waving his hand around.
"Hm?"
"You were off in la-la land." Jace smirked. "We were wondering if you wanted to come surfing."
"Sure. I've never surfed before, though."
Sebastian shrugged. "Neither have I. Apparently Jace has though."
"Once. I think I was about twelve." Jace stood up and started to clear the plates away.
Three thoughts occurred to Clary: 1) She would hopefully be able to get reception. 2) She was being let out of this prison! 3) She had no bathing suit.
"Clary, we can shop for a bathing suit." Sebastian suggested, seeming to guess her dilemma. She nodded.
"Give me one minute, I'm going to take a quick shower." She hurried up the stairs and into her dim room. Peeling off her sticky clothes, Clary mourned not savoring the hot shower. Leaving the water running, she dried off and dressed quickly, before stopping the scalding water.
After she exited the steamy bathroom and into her bedroom, Clary grabbed her phone -which she had where she hoped neither Sebastian nor Jace would ever find it- and shoved it in the folds of a beach towel she had found.
Still, it was strange to her that Jace was allied with Sebastian. He had seemed so… steady in his belief that Shadowhunters were warriors to protect the earth from demons and people like Sebastian. I guess I'm not very good at judging people. Clary thought glumly, before leaving her room.
After descending the clear stairs, Clary found the two boys laughing at something, dressed in swim shorts and muscle tanks. Jace noticed her arrival and grinned wider.
"Hey, shorty, you ready?" Clary's response was overlapped with the sound of a phone ringing. Sebastian pulled his cell out and answered, smile fading onto a cold expression before he hung up with a short, 'I'll be there.'
Jace frowned "Everything alright?" Sebastian shook his head.
"Just some business I have to take care of. Clary, do you mind if you shop without me? I'll meet you at the beach."
"No problem, Jace?" Clary tried to ignore the glee in her heat, this would be the perfect time to text Simon.
"Sounds fine." Jace shrugged.
"Then it's settled." Sebastian gave a tight smile before exiting the house. As he left, Clary caught a glance of what his hand was wrapped tightly around: A little box, wrapped in leather.
A/N: Thanks for reading! don't forget to review:)
-Elle