Jace couldn't believe he was actually getting away from his father and out of that awful house. It was making him nearly giddy. He landed easily on his feet after dropping nearly five feet out his bedroom window, and started running, still not sure if he was completely out of danger. He paused at the edge of an immense forest, and started drawing runes on himself, preparing for battle, and for the long journey ahead of him. Hesitantly, he entered the forest. His eyes widened in fear as he saw how dark it was, then mentally scolded himself for being a scaredy cat. Nothing in this forest would be nearly as horrible or as scary as his father, he reminded himself, and the thoughts was like a knife made of ice piercing him through the heart. He heard footsteps behind him, and froze, all thoughts disappearing and his training kicking in. In one solid movement, he whipped a dagger out of his boot and spun around, holding the dagger to the poor soul's throat. Jace realized that it was only a boy around his age. The only boy that he knew around his age was Jonathan, so he was slightly unsure of what to do, besides to remove the dagger. When he did, the boy gasped, and held his hand to his throat. "Sorry about that, you started me." Jace said gruffly and sheepishly at the same time, as a girl slightly younger approached them. "Alec! I've been looking everywhere! Where on Earth-" she broke off as she saw Jace. She narrowed her large, dark eyes, "Who're you?" It was obvious that they were siblings; they were both thin, had the same thick, dark hair, and the only difference was their eyes; Alec's were a bright, almost electric, blue while his sister's were deep and dark (very unlike Valentine's, thankfully, his were cold, more of a dark gray while her's were a warm, chocolate-y dark brown). He decided it couldn't hurt to introduce himself, perhaps they could help him. "The name's Jace." He stuck out his hand. She eyed it, then shook it. Alec did the same. "My name is Isabelle, and this is Alec," when she smiled, Jace saw that she had braces. He had read about them before in the fiction books he liked to read sometimes. "Nice to meet you," Alec and Jace said at the same time, and Alex let out an uneasy grin.

"So, Jace, what brings you out here?" Isabelle asked as they continued walking again. He didn't know why, but he liked these two, and trusted them almost immediately. "Can you keep a secret?" He asked. They nodded, their eyes getting wide. He let out a breath, then continued softly still, "I'm running away." "From who, or where?" Alec asked quizzically. "From my father," he answered honestly. Thankfully they asked no questions, except, "Do you know about Alicante?" This time, it was his turn for his eyes to widen. The famous city of glass! He'd heard his father talk about it from time to time, but it was strictly forbidden for them to even think about entering it, but he had broken several of his father's rules already anyways. "Well, I've uh heard stories, but I've never..." He trailed off as Isabelle's face lit up and she said, "Oh Jace you absolutely have to see it!" Jace could help but smile at how excited she looked. "Is that where you guys live?" "Well... Sometimes," Alec interjected, and blushed sheepishly when his sister shot him a glare that could wilt roses. Jace didn't say anything else, he didn't want them to dislike him, after all. He realized that he was already enjoying their company immensely, much more so than he had ever enjoyed his brother's or his father's company.

Jace was broken out of his thoughts when Isabelle said, "Do you know about portals?" He nodded, "I just haven't figured out how to make them." "That's ok, I know how." Alec said plainly, not bragging in the slightest, as if just stating a fact. That was quite a feat; most Shadowhunters Alec's age didn't even know what a portal was. It didn't take him long to complete it, and Jace was taken aback, he'd only seen pictures, never the real thing. "You'll have to teach me how to that sometime, Alec." Jace said evenly, a ghost of a smile on his lips. The ghost of a smile he hadn't felt in ages. "Sure." Alec said quietly. "Well, what are waiting for? Come on!" Isabelle announced, and stepped into the swirling, purple-ish hole where the wide front of an oak tree had once stood. Jace took a deep breath, and followed the two children, bracing himself for whatever came next, as he usually did, and was sucked into the swirling purple portal. It was disorienting; all of the colors swirling around in he opposite direction as he felt his body spin, but it would all be worth it.