A/N: I decided to write a few chapters on things I'd imagine happening in some of the character's pasts when they were younger. So here's the result…

~~Caspian~~

As a coming of age ritual in the Unseelie Court, the young faeries were pitted against each other in a competition. It was vicious and ferocious and unforgiving, especially to those who failed. You could draw blood – as much as you wanted – and no one would stop you. Those who died were considered weak, feeble. Only the strongest would survive the Unseelie Court, after all.

Caspian had watched the matches nearly all his life, and he'd waited eagerly for his own turn to prove himself. It was that thought that kept him going during long days of training, when he'd push himself past his exhaustion. He had to make his family proud, and he longed to be recognised for his skills. Even the Unseelie King made an appearance to watch on some days, and that in itself was a great honour.

His chosen opponent that day was nicknamed Fox, and as they waited a few feet apart, they sized each other up silently. He took in his opponent's weapon of choice, a mace, and studied his grip and stance.

Caspian's features then settled into a sneer. His grip tightened on his staff, and his wings stretched out in excitement, just wanting to start already.

The crowd gathered around in a circle around them, boxing them in. Circling his opponent, Caspian faked a lunge, snickering under his breath when Fox flinched back. Looking embarrassed and annoyed when the crowd laughed, he ran at Caspian, his deadly mace raised and ready to cut into his skin. But Caspian merely blocked it with the top end of his staff, not breaking his stride, and Fox retreated again.

It went back and forth like that, until Caspian grew bored, managing to cut at Fox's hand with the blade on the end of his staff, causing Fox to swear and hold the mace in one hand. It was a good thing for his opponent that they were trained to be ambidextrous in fighting from a young age. Blood dripped onto the ground, running down his right hand as he clutched it to his chest. But he kept swinging the mace at him, one time managing to snag the side of Caspian's arm with it, causing a stinging sensation that he quickly ignored.

Fox was quick, and he managed to swing his mace up, blocking Caspian's staff, and simultaneously grabbing the staff with his injured hand. Caspian growled at the blood staining his staff, moving slightly closer so that he could kick at his kneecap, causing Fox to fall to the ground, although he dragged Caspian to the ground with him. Discarding their weapons – since they were useless at this close range - they tussled on the ground, Caspian pulling the dagger into his hand, from where it was concealed on his belt. Fox simultaneously clutched his own knife, and they rolled and stabbed at each other, grabbing and scratching with their free hands. A bloody hand pushed at his eye, red covering his vision for a moment, before he pushed it away, wiping the leftover blood off with the back of his hand. His own hand then went back to Fox's face, the nails digging in and leaving marks.

As they rolled to a stop, the idiot reached for his wing, and Caspian came up quickly with his dagger, pushing his hand down, and his dagger into it. It cut through muscle and tendons, effectively pinning it to the ground. Fox screamed, panting as he tried to pull the dagger out. Ignoring him, Caspian sat up, pulling himself to his feet triumphantly. Moving quickly as Fox swiped at his legs with his knife with his uninjured hand, Caspian jumped to the other side. He kicked out with his foot against Fox's temple, knocking him unconscious. Then he leaned down and calmly pulled the dagger out of Fox's hand, wiping it on his shirt, before returning it to the sheath at his side.

Looking down, Fox's shape was still, his breathing slow and even. As the adrenaline still pumped though his veins, singing out for another fight, Caspian bent down to pick up his staff, before straightening. The crowd roared to congratulate him, and he smiled slowly, surely.

He never doubted that he'd win the fight.

~~Steff~~

A chorus of loud boyish voices in the hallway alerted Steff to the fact that her brother had friends over.

Again.

Their parents never minded, turning a blind eye when he had the day off from his studies. As far as they were concerned, he could do what he liked. He was their prized child like that, and he could do no wrong. Apparently, it was just the process of him being a boy, doing such things. Or at least, that's what they told her. They said she shouldn't be jealous, just because she had no friends. It was hard to make friends though, when she wasn't allowed to go out much, and all the other children her age were far ahead of her in their Shadowhunter training.

Sighing, she started to the library, running a hand along the spine of the books, and looking up at the tops of the bookcases in wonder. She had her hiding places in the library, where they normally couldn't find her. Picking out a book – one of her favourites – she ducked under the table, leaning her back against the wall and opening it, her eyes being drawn to the pages as if they were a magnet.

A while passed like that peacefully, before the shouts in the halls grew closer, and she sat up straighter, her anxiety growing. If they found her there, they'd make her do things. They always did.

Swallowing, she sat very still as they looked around the library for her. Each time they yelled something out to each other, she jumped, startled, and she tried hard to keep her breathing quiet.

She only had to hold on a little longer until they gave up and-…

Then her hopes were dashed when hands reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her out from under the desk. Making sure she left her book beneath the desk so that they wouldn't hurt it, she stood up, taking in a quick breath as she watched them cautiously. The three friends had bright eyes, excited with their discovery, while Loki looked bored, standing to the side. She knew he hated it when she got all the attention, not that she wanted it.

"Steff," one of them, who's name she was sure was Michael, grinned. "We've been looking for you. Why didn't you answer?"

When she didn't answer his question, another one laughed. "She's scared. Poor Steff, hiding under the desk because she's scared of a few boys."

Not knowing what they'd order her to do this time, she tilted her head downwards, letting her hair fall in her face, to hide her embarrassment.

Some footsteps started towards her, and she froze. "Steff," Michael commanded, looking thoughtful, his grin widening. "Get that book out that you're trying to hide, and show it to us."

Her heart hammered in her chest in apprehension and dread, and she paused for a moment. Then the curse became harder to evade, and her foot took a step forward without her consent, and then the other followed, so that she was in front of the desk. Bending down slowly, she picked up the book and straightened, holding it out for a second for them to see, before clutching it to her chest, as if to shield it from them.

"Tell us what it's called," he demanded, watching her in amusement.

She muttered the title under her breath, biting her lip.

He rolled his eyes and they laughed. "Tell us louder."

"It's… Alice in Wonderland," she repeated louder this time, tightening her grip on it. "Not that you'd know it."

"That sounds like a silly book," one of the other friends stated. "Why would you read it? It's got nothing to do with Shadowhunting."

"Yeah," Michael agreed. "It's stupid."

Looking annoyed at his friend's antics, Loki stepped forward, folding his arms. "Steff," he said, in the tone that she dreaded, knowing it meant something bad. "Rip the pages out."

Horrified, she raised her head to look at him. "No, please take it back," she said, her hands growing sweaty as she tried to delay for as long as she could.

"Come on, it's not that hard, right?" Michael mocked, the boys' enthusiasm bouncing off each other. "You just go like this," he said, pretending to tear the pages of an imaginary book, in his demonstration.

Raising a hand to her mouth and trying to keep from being sick, she focused on pushing down the compulsion to obey. But it was no use, she could never avoid it. Her hand shook as she stared at him, and she quickly put it behind her back.

She had to do it, she couldn't stop it, and, and…-

Lowering her hand to her book, she opened it up, taking a few pages in her hand, and then ripping them out, as gently as she could.

"More. Rip out more," they all demanded, their voices raising in excitement as they watched.

Closing her eyes, she bit back a sob, reaching for more pages, tearing them out. But it was never enough for them, and they wanted more, and more. As she ripped them out, tears ran down her cheeks, falling on the pages. She felt like a part of her was dying with the book. It may have seemed stupid to them, but it was one of her favourite books, and she'd always treasured reading it again and again, the spine worn from all its use. And even though a new book would never replace the one she'd grown up with, she knew that her parents would never buy her a copy to replace the one missing in the library.

Finally all the pages were gone, and she stared at the remains of the book, her hands shaking and her throat closing up. Sinking to the floor, she held it in her arms, relieved when they started talking about lunch, and left her there. It wasn't a surprise to her, she'd known they'd lose interest in her eventually.

They always did.

The worst part though, was that sometimes her hands were traitors. Sometimes her body was a traitor.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

~~Connor and Cadyn~~

It was only a couple of weeks away until the Kodeki twins were meant to go and start their training at the Shadowhunter Academy.

While it had been exciting receiving the acceptance letter in the mail, they were more excited about travelling somewhere new, then the less appealing prospect of talking to other kids their age, and listening to teachers.

Since they'd been young they'd known that they wanted to be parabatai. Before they went to sleep, they'd chat about it excitedly, wondering what it would feel like to be bonded even closer – to be bound together by oath in front of the Council. Of course, they'd already happily lay down their lives for each other, but this seemed real and the possibility of being even closer than they already were was fascinating.

That day was the one they'd decided to inform their parents of this fact, and they started down to the Institute kitchen, their outfits and walk just as identical as they were. The funny thing was that they didn't even think their parents could tell them apart sometimes, they were that similar. Often Connor would be called Cadyn, and Cadyn would be called Connor. They didn't mind it though – they found it amusing, really.

Making it to the kitchen, they cleared their throats to get their parent's attention. "We'd like to become parabatai," they stated simultaneously, their parents glancing between them in surprise, and frowning, as if not sure what to make of it.

Not liking their hesitation, Connor continued with, "We're going to Idris for the Academy in a couple of weeks, so we could leave early and-

"-Get it done beforehand," Cadyn said, finishing his sentence like normal.

The silence dragged out, and they felt nervous and uneasy, glancing at the other in the corner of their eye.

"No," their father said, simply, sighing as if he didn't know how to talk to them.

"Why not?" they asked, looking annoyed. "It's not that hard-"

"We said no," their mother agreed. "You're close enough already. Glued at the hip all the time. We don't need you to be even closer."

"In fact," their father continued, "You're already practically the same person. You need to make some friends at the Academy, do you understand? You need to have your own friends and interests, and be your own person. I'm sorry, but we can't have you becoming anymore closer, you hardly need to be parabatai."

Hating the disappointment in his brother's eyes, which he was sure was mirrored in his own, Cadyn scowled. "That's not fair. We're allowed to make these decisions ourselves."

"I'm afraid we won't allow it. You're not leaving any earlier, and you're to go straight to the Academy, do you understand?"

Swallowing down his annoyance, Connor looked away, knowing they'd never agree. They'd always only seen things from their own perspective, not liking how much time they'd spent together. Maybe they were just jealous.

But over the years, their parents never changed their opinion. Never budged on their position, even a little.

And no matter how many times they asked and whinged and complained, the answer was always the same.

"No."

~~Aspen~~

Sometimes Nyx's anger seemed like a hurricane, blowing through and terrorising people, before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Aspen swore he could feel it sometimes, it was so strong.

As Nyx berated him for losing something – Aspen couldn't even remember what it was, although Nyx claimed it was very expensive – he lowered his head, feeling ashamed. The forest was quiet besides Nyx's scolding, the other faeries in their group knowing better than to get involved in his anger, lest they feel it themselves.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he said quickly, his hair falling in his eyes. "Please forgive me."

"Look at me." Grabbing his hair roughly, Nyx pulled his head up to look at him, and Aspen flinched, reluctantly looking at him. "That's not good enough," he hissed. "I need to make sure you never lose anything again."

"I won't do it again, I promise," he said, swallowing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, you can prove it to me, okay?" Nyx said, his voice lowering to a croon, as his eyes flickered to the campfire. "Then I'll forgive you. Just do what I say."

Nodding eagerly, Aspen's expression brightened slightly at the thought of forgiveness.

Nyx smiled slowly, patting his head, like one might pet a cat. "Now, see the fire over there? I want you to put your hand in it. Don't worry, it'll be real quick, I promise."

Aspen turned his head to look at it, horrified. His every instinct screamed at him to not go near it, but he also knew Nyx, and that he didn't have a choice. It was the only way he'd forgive him. Nervously, he started over to the campfire slowly, cautiously, glancing back at Nyx for a moment, who smiled and gestured for him to continue.

Standing in front of the flames, he stared at them, imagining a scene where people were dancing in them. A slow waltz, perhaps. That made it easier, but then he remembered that the flames were hot and dangerous and his mouth felt dry and he was scared.

Closing his eyes, so he could pretend it was all a dream, he reached his hand forward towards the flames, wincing in anticipation of the pain.

But then something caught his hand to stop him, and he opened his eyes, startled to find it was Nyx's hand. He closed it around Aspen's, pulling Aspen towards him, and raising it to his lips.

"That was good, sweetheart," he said, looking amused as he glanced over at the others in the group. "Isn't he just a gem? He does exactly what I say."

Some laughed while others rolled their eyes, but Aspen revelled in Nyx's pleased expression, and the way he ruffled his hair pleasantly.

"You've done well, and you've proven your loyalty to me," Nyx said, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. Aspen smiled, happy to be loved and adored. Then, Nyx passed Aspen something they'd cooked earlier, that he'd missed out on. "Now go and eat."

Feeling relieved, and happy that he was liked again, Aspen sat down on the log, starting to eat, as he realised just how hungry he'd been, having not been allowed to eat all day.

He knew that if he did the right things, he'd be praised and loved, and those were the things he really wanted. They'd tell him that he was pretty, and he was good, and he was smart.

And those were the words he'd always longed for.

A/N: So sorry if I got things wrong. There was lots of other characters I could have done, so maybe I'll do another chapter sometime. Let me know if there's any characters you want me to do. :)