Fictional Worlds | TMI/TID

i

"Aurora Wilson," William Herondale shouted out towards me. I almost gasped at how beautiful he looked in person. His black hair sprouted up wildly in some parts yet hung loosely from his head, not too long or messy, but not too short or neat. His eyes were a magnificent blue, sharp like sea glass yet gentle like the waves as the sun sets on a clam, sunny day. His cheekbones wet angular, leaving indents in the sides of his face that would look unappealing, had it been on someone else. He wore navy blue jeans and a low buttoned blue-and-white striped polo. "We've been waiting for you."
Before answering, I took a second to look around. I knew exactly where I was: Idris, home of the Shadow hunters. I recognized the beauty that was described in the book; the green valleys, the beautiful water in the background, the small path that led from place to place, yet big enough for horses to ride through, since they didn't have cars. I took a deep breath, and I knew then what they meant by the air didn't taste like anything; the slightly brisk air filled my lungs and felt like calm happiness, a tasteless thing I couldn't describe.
Other people dressed in black lined the area behind them, and I recognized them immediately; Clary Morgenstern; a girl with pale skin that was lined with black, only marks known as runes. Her hair was fiery red: not gingery, actually red. Jace Herondale; a slim, muscular figure with angular cheek bones, just like Will. His skin was white, but palely tinted gold. His hair was also golden, as were his eyes. They were a light, golden yellow with darker flecks around the iris. Isabelle and Alec Lightwood; Isabelle with her long, black hair that hung around her waist and her near-black eyes. She wore navy skinny jeans and a tight maroon top that looked fitted like a corset, making her stand different from the others. Unlike his sister, Alec had shaggy black hair and crystal blue eyes. He wore the black shadow hunter gear like Clary and Jace. There were a few that weren't dressed in black, such as Simon Lewis; a vampire, wearing a t-shirt with nerd-babe magnet written over its blue-grey fabric. His eyes were a dark brown, like his hair. And black rimmed And Luke Graymark; a werewolf, who much like Simon had dark brown hair and brown eyes, but his hair was streaked with grey. He wore glasses that rimmed his eyes, and ripped jeans and a plaid shirt that showed a white t-shirt underneath.
"Really?" I smiled at Will. "William Herondale, you're even lovelier looking in person." I curtsied a fake bow in his direction, and he laughed, but I saw the embarrassment written upon his face.
"Here, let us all introduce ourselves," Clary smiled, cutting Will's response off before he even got the chance to speak. "I'm Clary, and we're all super excited to meet you."
"I'm Aurora, apparently," I said, glancing from each of them, back and forth. I still couldn't believe it; I had always loved these characters. And now I was meeting them. I pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. I felt the pain, clear as day.
"Apparently?" Isabelle gasped, looking rapidly at Augustus and at her brothers. "She isn't supposed to remember her past."
"What?" I said, staring at Augustus. "You planned on making me forget everything I've ever known?"
"Just people and things that happened. Not your intelligence, or hobbies, or things you love," Augustus said simply.
"But what about people I love?" I asked, and at that I saw Will flinch and tense for some reason.
"What about them? We all forgot, and now we have each other. There's no going back," Isabelle said.
"I have a brother. He's only three years old. I have a mother and a father. They will all see me missing and put up posters and such. I had best friends and relatives and a dog and cats and a hamster and a boyfriend," I explained, eyes burning from tears that desired to pour.
"A boyfriend?" Will gasped. "She better get over him. Fast," I heard him as he whispered a few words to Jace.
"She needs the ritual," Jace said loudly, staring at me, but I knew he was talking about me.
"Ritual? What do you think you're going to do to me?" I said, barely containing my screams.
"Relax," Will hushed me as he stepped towards me until he was only a foot or two away from me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and leaned into whisper in my ear: "Do you really have a boyfriend? Because me and my book girlfriend didn't work out outside of the acting," he said quietly.
I stayed silent, so he took about a half a step towards me again, and said, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No," I whispered. "I just wanted them to think if I did. I didn't even have a brother, I've never met my relatives, no pets, no friends, really. And only a mother, no father. And she would throw a party if she saw I wasn't there," I said into his ear.
He wrapped his arms around me, but I tensed and pulled away. "I've barely been around human beings before," I said. "You as your book character was one of the people I listened to. I was homeschooled, kind of; I took school offline. If the power went out, no class for me," I explained. "Books were one of the only things I cared about. And yours," I paused, twisting his hair between my fingers quickly before releasing it, "We're always one of my favourites."
I broke away from him, realizing the others were staring. "Alright," I smiled. "Fine. I'm here. Where do I live?"
"You're a nightling," Augustus stated. "You live in the Nightworld. But we'll take this one step at a time; you'll stay here for a little while, with the Shadow hunters, until you get used to the place. When you do, you may roam here and thro, but you'll need to get used to your powers and world first."
"Okay," I agreed. "But with who?" I asked reluctantly.
"Any volunteers?" Gus smirked into the crowd of men and women dressed in black.
Clary raised her hand a second after Will, who had his hand raised the second before Gus was done speaking.
Clary slowly dropped her hand. "No," Jace said. "She can stay with Clary, Will and I."
Gus gestured towards them, insuring I go in that direction. I picked up my bags and hobble over to them, mostly staring at my feet.
I felt a warm hand go over the top of my back, around me shoulder blade and down my arm, picking the the suitcase handles. I turned and saw Will, his lips inches from mine. He smiled, and I turned away. "Take them if you must, pretty boy," I smirked at him, handing them off. He just stood, shell-shocked over the fact that I seemed to want to be nothing but friends with him. Even though I did.
Seeing this disappointed look, I said, "What? You couldn't possibly expect us to fall madly in love within the first five minutes of our meeting."
"I didn't," he shook his head. "I just wasn't expecting someone like Jace," he trailed off.
"Don't act like I'm such a bad person," Jace countered. "Anyways, I think she's all right," he winked at me, and I winked back.
Clary appeared jealous, so I put a soothing hand on her shoulder after I shook Will's off. "It's okay," I whispered in her ear. "Don't take this offensively, but I don't want Jace as anything more than a friend."
She let out a breath that I could tell by her expression that she hadn't known she was holding it. "Okay," she whispered back. "I only like Will as a friend, if you were wondering." I didn't even have to look at her to catch the smirk.
"What are you talking about?" I asked curiously, although I could tell that she was aware that I knew what she had implied.
"We'll talk later," she said, and at that I took my hand off her shoulder, and she walked up beside Jace. I didn't catch their conversation, but I heard Clary tell Jace 'I think I'm going to like her. It'll be nice to have another girl around besides Izzy and my mom.'
I felt my shoulder fill with warmth as I turned to see Will placing a hand upon my shoulder again.
"Is that like your signature spot to touch girls or something?" I asked, kind of sarcastic but a little out of curiosity; so far, my shoulder was the only place on me he'd touched. I mean, normally the first place he should touch would be my hand, right?
He laughed. It was a hearty, deep and happy sound that made me smile and fill with warmth. "No, I'm sorry," he said, outstretching a hand. Finally, I thought. "Allow me to introduce myself; my name is William Herondale, from the Malia Institute." I shook his hand, and he brought it up to his lips to which he pressed down upon it, staring into my eyes, and left his plump lips lingering for a few moments longer than what would e expected from a near-stranger.
"Nice to meet you, sir," I gestured, carefully pulling my arm back.
"Please, call me Will," he said as he wriggled his eyebrows, which made me laugh.
"As long as you call me Aurora," I smiled, cheeks strained from holding back laughter.
"It's a deal." Will smiled back at me before he reached out and shook my hand.
"Did you just make date plans?" Jace asked as he turned around, staring at us.
It took me a moment to realize that he was staring past our expressions and straight to our hands, where mine still lay in his from the deal we made. "What? No," I reddened, pulling my hand back from his grasp. "We of just lamely agreed to only call each other by our names," I explained.
"Lamely is right," Jace muttered, smirking in our direction.
I felt my cheeks burn as I looked away from both boys. "Hurry up," I said. "I want to get to know the fictional world before my book comes out."
Jace laughed, as did Clary. "Alright," she said, "I'll make him hurry up."
"Oh will you?" He smirked at her.
She leaned in and whispered something in his ear while his smirk grew and his eyes darkened.
"Okay," he said. "We'll take the portal from here."