Being branded the daughter of a madman was not something one strived for in life.

Clary Fray was born after her father's time was up. She never met the man, only heard the stories.

Had he been allowed to succeed in bringing down the Clave, the world would have looked much more different. Clary, for one, would probably be a princess in some freak Nephilim court as the world burned outside the walls of their bloody castle. Or at least, that's how her brother described it. 

She thought about that a lot, mostly because her mother wouldn't talk about it. It made her curious. How could you fall in love with such a violent soul? And was such a soul capable of loving someone back?

Her brother, Sebastian, was probably a prime example of that. Clary was quite certain the only person he loved was her. He held some animosity towards their mother, for some reason. Clary never asked about it and no one mentioned it. It was becoming a reoccurring theme in her life.

Sebastian was her rock though. She told him everything, not that there was much to tell.

When they arrived at the Academy for the first day of school, he was right at her side, standing tall and unfazable, not revealing any signs of weakness. But Clary knew he was nervous.

All eyes would be on them. They were a special case. Their mother was officially banned from Idris and they themselves had just gotten permission to enter the Shadowhunter home country. And it was beyond anything that the stories had described.

They were to continue the training their mother had started.

But now they'd be able to have friends. They'd be able to stay in one spot for longer than a month.

Their mother wasn't with them anymore. They were on their own.

A team of two against the world.

..........

"Your favorite--" Isabelle tossed the schedule onto her brother's bed, the paper fluttering onto the blue bedspread, "--first thing in the morning."

"'Downworlder History,'" Alec read. He sat with a massive sigh on the edge of his bed. The stiff mattress made him miss his one at home immediately. "This day cannot get any worse."

"I could make it worse," Isabelle challenged. She leaned in, and Alec braced himself for a slap, or a flick at the minimum.

There was a knock at the door. Isabelle jumped back before she could place the blow.

"Come in," Alec called.

"Actually, I really need you to open the door," an unfamiliar voice called.

"$5 says your day's about to get worse," Isabelle said, softly as Alec rose to open the door.

A boy with four vintage suitcases under his arms stood in the hallway.

"Johnathan Herondale," Alec said, a smiling stretching across his face. "This is a surprise."

"They didn't tell you I was coming?" Jonathan asked. "What a shame. I was hoping I'd get a surprise party."

"Johnathan?" Isabelle asked, jumping up off the bed that would soon be the other boy's.

"It's Jace now," he said. "But that's me."

Alec stepped back against the wall to let Jace through.

"Which one is mine?" he asked.

"One on the right, I guess," Alec said.

"I'll go then," Isabelle said. "I'd hate to get suspension before the semester even starts."

The door slammed shut.

"What would she get a suspension for?" Jace asked as his stuff collapsed onto the bed.

"With the exception of siblings, different genders really can't be in each other's dorms," Alec said.

"Huh," Jace said. He began unlatching a case, opening it. "I'll keep that in mind."

The Jace Alec thought he knew would probably have to.

"I didn't realize you were coming here this year," Alec said.

"Me either," Jace said, speaking while he quickly worked. "We decided two nights ago. I left the Institute this morning and arrived in Alicante. Then I had to ride here, of course."

Alec sat awkwardly on the edge of his bed, his schedule half-underneath him, and the course "History of Downworlders" seemed to pop off the page.

..........

Isabelle had rushed back to her room, avoiding social interaction, seeing as she still had quite a bit of unpacking to do.

The door to her dorm was unlocked and as she was trying to remember whether or not she had locked it, she stumbled upon a girl with fiery red hair standing in her room.

"Hi," Isabelle said, awkwardly. "Can I help you?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"Apparently not," Isabelle said. "Who are you?"

The girl glanced down at her feet.

"Clary Fray," she said.

"That's not a Shadowhunter name," Isabelle challenged. She stepped farther into the room, crossing her arms.

"Not technically--"

"Who are you really?"

"Clarissa Morgenstern," she mumbled, just loud enough for Isabelle to hear.

That name was cursed.

"Oh," Isabelle breathed. "How old are you?"

"17," Clary said.

"They must be desperate." Isabelle tried to relax a little. But this girl's father... "They don't usually pair roommates together from different years."

"So you're--"

"16," Isabelle finished. "But my brother and his roommate are both 17, so you'll know someone."

"Not technically," Clary said. Her suitcases were still unpacked. She must have just arrived. The Lightwoods had a tradition of being the first ones back at the Academy. Alec just had his own tradition of slowly unpacking.

"Yes, technically," Isabelle said. "They're both nice guys. You'll meet them tonight at dinner."

"Dinner--"

"Yeah," Isabelle said. "Unless you have someone else to eat with?"

"My brother--"

"Brother?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well, he could join us. I also have a younger brother, Max. I'm sure he'll just stop by but siblings are welcome," Isabelle said. She tried to smile as naturally as she could. But there was history between the Lightwoods and the Morgensterns and it wasn't pleasant.

"I don't know," she said, running a hand through her curly mess of hair. "Sebastian's not one for socializing."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Isabelle said. "No one bites here."

She smiled.

"Well, except for the demons."