Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Mary and some other characters I made up. Besides them, all the other characters belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.
Clary and Jace studied the man as he stared at Clary with shock. Behind him, one by one, the wolves turned into humans. They all looked at their leader with a bewildered expression. It was clear to Clary that this didn't happen often. A sudden curiosity burned into her stomach as to who Jocelyn was.
"Jocelyn," said the man, again. One of his men came beside him and put his hand one his shoulder.
"Lucian?" he whispered, unsure of what to do. He shook his leader's shoulder a little, hoping to bring him out of his hallucination.
"Jocelyn," Lucian said, again.
"I am not Jocelyn," Clary finally said.
"You are a ghost! What did he do to you?" Lucian rambled on. Clary and Jace looked at each other in confusion.
"I am not a ghost," said Clary, taking a step closer. "And I am not Jocelyn." Lucian stared at Clary as he registered what she said.
"Who are you?" he asked, as he looked at Clary with a new light in his eyes.
"My name is Clary," she said. Lucian studied Clary's face: her red, orange hair and green eyes. She put her dagger cautiously back into her belt and held her hand up to Lucian to prove she was real. Lucian looked at her hand, mesmerized by it. He tentatively touched his fingers on Clary's smooth hand. He gently brought her hand closer to his face to study it, as if looking for something.
"You are not Jocelyn," he stated. Clary nodded.
"No, I am not," agreed Clary. He then turned to look at Jace for the first time.
"Who are you both? And what business do you have here?" Lucian asked with authority. His pervious dumbfounded expression cleared away from his face. Clary looked at Jace; he nodded, allowing her to speak. He still had his sword in his hands.
"I am Clary, as I said before, and this my companion, Jace. We looking for a warlock who lives in the Forest of Eve in hope of finding a cure to my mother's coughing sickness." At the word 'mother,' Clary saw Lucian's change in structure. He almost looked …worried.
"Pray tell me," said Lucian, his eyes growing with fear. "Who is your mother?"
"My mother's name is Mary," answered Clary. Lucian seemed to clam a bit.
"And is she your birth mother?" asked Lucian, anxiously.
"No." Tears appeared in Lucian's eyes as he started to laugh and... cry. Clary watched him with curiosity, and replayed the words that she told him in her mind. What did I say to make him react this way?
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"How do you know we can trust them?" Jace whispered, as they followed behind the werewolves. Clary listened to Jace as she watched her shadow grow longer and longer as the sun began to set.
"I just… have a feeling." The werewolves, who were back in their wolf-form, stopped at a rock wall. It didn't look any different from the other parts of the mountain's walls, but one by one they disappeared as they walked through the wall. Clary and Jace watched them vanish, amazed. They tried hard to focus their eyes, but they couldn't see past the glamour.
"It has a special kind of glamour over it that humans rarely can see through," explained Lucian, who was still in human-form. "Most humans just keep following the trial on the side of the mountain and are never heard again." Clary shivered a little, knowing how close to her death she was if she hadn't found Lucian. "Your turn." Lucian gestured his hand to the wall. Before Clary walked through the rock wall, Jace grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.
"Maybe I should go first," whispered Jace. "I do not know why he is so intrigued with you, but I do not trust him."
"Well, I do," said Clary, stubbornly, and walked through the wall. In a flash, she was in a well-lit cave. The cave was huge. Werewolves both in human and wolf-form walked around the cave, barking and talking. It almost looked like a little marketplace. Some of the werewolves turned to look at her, but no more than a glance. They were not surprised with her being there at all. Jace, Lucian, and Temple came into the cave behind her, making a whooshing sound as they entered.
"Why aren't the other werewolves surprised by my presence?" asked Clary, turning her head to Lucian.
"We do not let anyone into the cave without my better judgment," answered Lucian.
"But aren't they even the littlest bit curious?"
"They can be, but most usually aren't. You'd be surprised how many humans go up the mountain everyday," said Lucian. He started to walk around the werewolves. Clary and Jace silently followed him.
"But we did not see anyone in our way here," said Clary, intrigued. Lucian turned to her and smiled.
"There are many secrets about the mountain." Clary took a moment to thoughtfully wonder what these secrets were. She suddenly felt a burst of excitement rush through her to the tips of her fingers and to the bottom of her toes. Lucian stopped at a cave room with hay. "You can put your horse here for the night." Jace nodded, he even though his face showed he was still not convinced in trusting Lucian, but he brought Temple into the room and unsaddled him.
"Lucian, will you tell why you acted so strange, and about who this Jocelyn woman is?" asked Clary as she watched Jace rub Temple's face, while giving him a carrot treat to eat.
"Later, I promise," said Lucian. Jace came back to join them with Temple's heavy saddle with their belongings in hand. Lucian led them to another cave room for them to sleep in. "You can put your belongings here. I'll come back in a few minutes when it is time for supper."
"Thank you," said Clary. Jace acknowledged him with a nod. Once Lucian was out of sight, Jace spoke.
"Clary, you have to be more careful. These werewolves may be kind and helpful. And for some reason you trust them, but you have to understand that there is nearly a full moon tonight and these werewolves will not be able to control their wolf-selves, especially the younger werewolves. If they bite you, you may turn into one of them," said Jace in a serious manner. Clary looked at him thoughtfully. He truly is worried.
"Don't worry, I will."
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Lucian came back to their room a few minutes later and announced that it was suppertime. He led them through a wide hallway to a larger cave room. In it werewolves sat around on the ground eating bowls of some kind of green soup. In the center of the room a large pot was hanging by the fire. Some of the werewolves in the corner of the room were still in wolf-form and drank their soup by licking it bit by bit.
"Stay away from the ones in wolf-form, the moon is strong tonight," said Lucian. Clary immediately remembered what Jace had warned her. Clary turned her head to look at Jace. He was looking at Lucian with some respect. Lucian then poured some of the soup into two bowls and handed it to Jace and Clary. He then went back to get his own bowl and returned. "How about we sit over there?" he said pointing to the opposite corner of the wolves. Jace and Clary nodded in agreement.
Clary looked at her green soup, wondering what it is. She sniffed it, but it didn't have a smell. Lucian laughed.
"I promise you it tastes better than it looks," he said. Clary took a tiny sip of it. It tasted creamy and salty. Jace took a sip as well.
"What is it?" asked Clary, as she took larger sips of the soup.
"Different vegetables and herbs that grow on the mountain and milk."
"So that is why it is green," commented Clary. Lucian laughed, again.
"Yes, that is why." As the chatted, two human-form werewolves joined them. One was female with caramel hair and skin, and the other was male with pale skin and bright hazel eyes. "This is Maia and Jordan. They are your age and they are the two werewolves I trust the most. They will help you get to the Forest of Eve tomorrow."
"You will not come?" asked Clary.
"No, I have to stay here, where I am needed," said Lucian, regretfully. There was a brief pause.
"What are your names?" asked the one named Maia.
"I am Clary and this is Jace." Maia looked at Jace and smirked. She looked at the boy Jordan next to her, and they both burst out laughing.
"Is pretty-boy afraid of wolves or mute?" asked Maia playfully.
"I just choose to stay quiet," replied Jace.
"Alright," said Maia, and she and Jordan got up to leave. "We will see you tomorrow. Goodnight." Clary watched as Maia and Jordan left. Jordan held her in his arms as they walked and Maia leaned her head to his shoulder as if she was whispering something to him.
"Clary?" said Lucian, getting Clary's attention. She turned her head away from the couple and to Lucian's blue eyes.
"Yes?"
"I promised to give you an explanation. We can go to my room to talk. It is more private there," said Lucian. Jace looked at Clary and Lucian in confusion as to what they were talking about. Clary and Lucian stood up.
"Where are you going?" asked Jace to Clary, looking up her firelight face.
"Lucian is going to tell about Jocelyn," she told him, gently. Jace looked at Lucian with suspicious eyes. He got up and put his arms around Clary's waist, and put his face near ear. To anyone else, Clary imagined, they looked like they were passionate embrace.
"Use it-" Jace whispered in a low voice, patting the dagger on her lower back, "-if he does anything." Clary half consciously nodded in response. She was still too stunned by Jace's hand on her lower back. She almost fell when removed his arms.
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"You look almost exactly like my dear friend did at your age. Her name was-"
"Jocelyn," said Clary.
"Yes, her name was Jocelyn," said Lucian, nodding
"Was?" asked Clary. Lucian grimaced, as if thinking about an unpleasant memory.
"I tried to find her and get her back, but I never did," he said, vaguely.
"This Jocelyn woman was kidnapped?" Lucian shrugged.
"No one knows, so my town pronounced her dead," he said. Lucian took a deep breath and started his story.
"I had known Jocelyn since I was twelve years old. I was an awkward child, and only Jocelyn had the courage to speak to me. We lived in a town near the Capital in the west. She was from a wealthy family and became to be a great beauty. But most people did not know that she was reckless and brave: a dangerous combination. And even though she was a woman, she bested almost every man, with their swords and shields, with her wit." Lucian laughed memory. Clary watch his face attentively, fascinated by the strong emotions that held in his face. It was obvious to Clary that he loved her, the Jocelyn woman, but was the love returned, Clary wondered. She would never know.
"One day when she was nearly eighteen summers, we were walking to the market when she tripped over a ditch in the road and nearly fell. A man in a dark cloak caught her before she hit the ground. He asked if she was alright then left before I could see his face. Jocelyn was fine, but had a dazed look on her face from her encounter with the man. She changed that day. Everyday she walked around town, turning her head left and right as if hoping to find him. I never saw him after that first time but Jocelyn, a month later, came to me and told me she saw him again.
"I told her that she had to be careful and that it was better to never see him again. But she did not listen to me. Soon, she spoke to me less and less, and would not inform me about her meetings with this man. I still to this day do not his name. Then one day she came to me crying, I thought that the man had done something to her. She hugged me and said she missed me, and we talked for rest of the day. A few days later, she was missing.
"I tried to look for her. I left home with my horse and searched around the kingdom, sometimes with no food or money. One day, while I was hunting, I got bitten by a werewolf and in the next full moon turned into one. I kept searching for her even as a wolf. I went to the Mountain of Adam and join the group of wolves who protect it. I killed leader and here we are now."
Clary took a few minutes to comprehend what this man told her. When Lucian saw her today, he thought she was Jocelyn, the girl he had loved as a human boy; the girl he searched for, for years and years. Clary couldn't imagine how disappointed Lucian must of felt to fail to find this woman, yet again. She looked at Lucian's face and tried to see the disappointment in his face, but she couldn't find any. Why? And she still didn't understand what his story had to do with her mother Mary. Clary cleared her voice to speak.
"I am awestruck by your story. But I still do not understand what it has to do with my mother Mary," said Clary gently, hoping to not offend him.
"Your adopted mother, Mary," said Lucian.
"Yes," said Clary, a little confused with his emphases. "My adopted mother, Mary."
"I believe," he paused and looked at her with almost a fatherly look, "that Jocelyn is your birth mother. And I'm not upset to find you, instead of her, because I have more hope now that she is still alive somewhere."
Clary felt strange. Just few minutes ago when Lucian was telling his story about Jocelyn, she was a stranger to her, a character from a tale. But this stranger now was her birth mother? And what felt even stranger was that Lucian knew more about her mother than she did.
"I know it seems unbelievable," said Lucian. "But I believe it to be true. You look exactly like her and act like her, too. How did your adopted mother find you? Were you set on her doorstep?" Clary shook her head.
"No. My adoptive brother, Simon, found me by the Skylack River."
"She sent you down the river?" asked Lucian. Clary nodded.
"I was sent down the river."
"Away from him," added Lucian. Clary didn't know what to say.
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Clary walked back to her and Jace's room. Lucian offered to bring her back, but she wanted to go alone and have some quiet time as she tried to find her room in the different paths of the cave.
As she walked through the hallways of caves, trying to find her room, Clary thought about what Lucian told her. She had wondered all her life who her birth family was and why they sent her down the river. She never in her life thought that she might one day find the answer to her question. After going up and down the halls of the cave a few times, she finally found the room. She quietly entered the room, not wanting to wake up Jace, but when she entered the room Jace was pacing back and forth by the fire, worried.
"Why are you not asleep, yet?" asked Clary. Jace stopped his pacing and suddenly appeared in front of her, taking her face with his hands.
"I had half the mind to go murder Lucian. What were you doing all this time?" asked Jace. Clary placed her hand over Jace's and brought his hands down from her face.
"Lucian told something…unsettling. So after I spoke with him, I walked through different halls of caves, thinking," said Clary.
"What did he tell you?" asked Jace. Clary went to sit by the fire and Jace did the same. She started to tell him about what Lucian said. Jace listened to her without interrupting. When she was done talking, they sat there without saying anything. Clary felt tired, but her mind was still racing with thoughts. A few minutes later, Jace spoke.
"I am going to bed," said Jace. Clary didn't move. "Are you going to sleep, yet?"
"No," replied Clary. "If I sleep now, I will be restless for the rest of the night." Jace nodded, understanding. He unrolled one of their longer blankets and placed it on the ground of the cave, then took another blanket and pulled it over himself. Clary watched him as he fall asleep until the fire died down.
A/N: I am so sorry! I am a horrible updater, and I was supposed to be done with this last month since I finally got out of school, but I got busy with my summer job and also I am certainty sick, so writing makes my head fuzz and I keep taking breaks.
**Thank you to everyone who reviewed over the months and also favorited and followed my story, even when I was not updating. I promise you, I will ALWAYS finish my stories, but it might take a long time. That is if I don't die from some uncalled for death, but until then I will keep going. I will update by sometime next week to make up for the absence.
If you see a mistake, don't be afraid to tell me!
Review! :)