Leah Ravenscar | Shadowhunter Fanfiction

The Carstairs Sisters

Emma and Leah set out of the Institute around noon, Leah all prim and properly dressed and loaded with weapons, while a 12-year old Emma jumping at her sleeve with excitement.

"Where-are-we-going?"she sang.

"To sell shortcakes." Leah piped sarcastically.

"Did you learnt that sarcasm from Jace Morgenstern?"

"You know him?"

"Of course I do. He's quite famous around."

"Oooh. Famous around, huh?" Leah teased.

"What is that supposed to mean, Leah? Also, speaking of shortcakes, can we get some?"

"Well, I thought we were going to get you a really feisty weapon."

"Yeah, but shortcakes are really good. We could have the weapons too, but shortcakes . . .? Please???"

"Gee, that cute toothy grin really works. Okay, Emma Carstairs, I'll buy you shortcakes."

"Thank you Leah! You know I love you, right?"

They drove till Old Town Pasadena, and stopped at Kendall Alley. "Okay, Emma. Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes?" Emma replied uncertainly.

"You won't tell anybody about it - including your parents and Julian."

"Not even Julian?"

"Well, it's pretty risky right now. No shadowhunter this young is supposed to know about the Shadow Market - and definitely not visit it. I'm sure when you grow older and responsible enough, though, you'd know who all you can tell and who all you can't. But for now, it's a secret between us."

"Fine. What is this Shadow Market?" Emma questioned.

"Just wait and watch!" Leah whispered slyly, and then led Emma behind the alley to the Shadow Market.

It looked pretty ordinary from a distance - streets with people sitting in their shops at the edges. Nothing special or beautiful; the sellers and buyers were mostly Downworlders or mundanes.

But as Emma observed closely, she realised just how awesome things were actually being sold. Love charms. Memory charms. Potions that would beautify you. Potions to give you supernatural strength. Potions that made you go crazy. Faerie products. There were fortune tellers. Magical gambling stalls. Cafes that served faerie food. And then, the weapons.

There weren't no ordinary weapons in the Shadow Market; they were full of special features - even better and prettier than the Clave-approved weapons Shadowhunters formally recommended. There were books on the dirty secrets of the Iron Sisters, spell books, illegal copies of the Book of White, newspapers where the headlines predicted a may-be future attack in Alicante by Valentine Morgenstern.

"Is it true?" Emma said, sounding almost scared, while she pondered upon a shelf of newspapers. A hobgoblin (who's baby horns and cabbage-coloured skin vaguely reminded Leah of Ragnor Fell) clumsily tried to remove the newspapers from the shadowhunters' reach.

"Downworlders and gifted mundanes think so."Leah replied.

"Can I take one?" Emma reached forward, but the hobgoblin blocked her path.

"No! No! Begone, naughty shadowhunter! This belon's to me! I shaln't permit you to touch 'em!" Cried the hobgoblin.

Emma questioningly looked at her companion, and Leah shrugged. "They are pretty discriminative to Shadowhunters like us." She said sadly. "You know, because many things that are traded in the Shadow Market, are technically illegal according to the Shadowhunter Law."

"Should we tell the Clave about it, then?"

"No. If we do so, it'll be impossible to befriend Downworlders. They already feel that we Shadowhunters overrate ourselves a lot and discriminate them, and we need to prove them wrong by not telling the Clave, so that we can gain their trust." Leah explained.

"Why do we need their trust?" Emma asked.

"Downworlders have a reputation for doing mischief and seeking vengeance using cruel mechanisms. If we can show them that we are kind, maybe they won't be cruel to us. You'll understand, Emma, when circumstances will force you to hate the Clave and to reach to Downworlders and gifted mundanes instead."

"'Kay."

Leah got Emma special blades that (according to the faerie who sold them) gave your opponents delusions, so you already have an upper hand in battle while fighting with them because your opponent can't truly see your actual moves.

Emma also insisted in getting Julian some magical paintbrushes or a big canvas for his upcoming birthday, but Leah decided to get those from somewhere outside the Shadow Market. While Emma lingered around and tried to climb a pole like a monkey, Leah quickly slipped some cash over at Johnny Rook and learnt about Ragnor Fell's death, a fraud Sebastian Verlac who was lingering in Idris, and the hot news of Simon Lewis - the Daylighter, who was currently suffering in the prisons of Idris.

After they had exited the Shadow Market (Leah a little tense by now after hearing all the bad news in the City of Glass), the girls went and bought themselves shortcakes. Julian's birthday gift was bought, and finally Emma and Leah returned back to the Institute.

"Thank you for sponsoring everything for today's afternoon. I'm sorry though, for draining your pockets." Emma said humorously, when she was perched on the windowsill of Leah's temporary bedroom.

"All for you, sister." Leah winked. "Now that you've got a better weapon, I presume it's natural to expect a higher standard of warfare skills." She added jokingly.

"I'll have to see if the blades even work as per the faerie woman had said. I know faeries can't lie, but if she's only part-faerie, then she can, and I am very sure she is part-faerie."

Leah only laughed. "Now, you're going to blame it on the faerie's lies?"

"You know me so well, Leah. Though I promise I'll try my best to be an awesome shadowhunter - and maintain good relationships with Downworlders. Damn, you've really inspired me!"

And as Leah pretended to bow like a ballerina, Emma threw a pillow at her.