Who am I? *A Mortal Instruments Fanfic*

The Secret Past

I walk out and Alec's scowl deepens. Jace guides me away. "How'd it go?" I recall Hodge's questions. "Fine I guess."

"What happened?" He asks.

"Well, he first asked for my name."

"Did you tell him?"

"No, I told him my middle name. I flat out lied about know what I saw, the Rising."

"Your arm?"

"Nope, he saw nothing." He looks relived. "Why do you care?" I ask. "Listen, Hodge thinks you're a mundane,"

"Ugh!" I throw my hands up. "What the hell is a mundane? It makes me sound awful."

"A mundane is a human. Someone who's normal. If you put a rune on a mundane, the thing on your arm, it's too powerful for their systems so they die. Hodge forbade us from putting runes on mundane. I knew you were in trouble so I guessed. I put that rune on you. That's why I don't want Hodge to see it. I want him to think you're a mundane."

"Why? Why hide I'm not a mundane? If I'm not then what am I?"

"First, he'll kill me for putting a rune on you in the first place. Second, he'll know you're not a mundane. That's the last thing Hodge wants." He ignores my second statement

"Jace, why? If I'm not a mundane, then what am I?" I repeat.

"You're a Shadowhunter. Like me. Like Alec. Like Hodge, for what he used to be."

"What? That makes less sense than a mundane."

"I've already told you too much, but you deserve to know." He leads me over to a music room. I glance around at the piano in the center of the room. I plop down on a chair with Jace across from me. "There was an angel, named Raziel; he wanted people who could see the demon world. So, he poured some of his blood and mortal blood into a cup, which we now call the Mortal Cup, and had people, mundanes, drink from it. Those people become half angel, half mortal, called Nephilim, or Shadowhunters. We are the few who protect mundanes from demons. We kill them and send them back to their hellish dimensions. We fight a war that must always be fought but never won. We train as early as possible. We start with weapons, and then later we move onto the stele." He pulls out a pen like thing with a rounded tip at the end. His is silver, with small delicate runes carved into the sides.

"This is a stele. I can write runes with it. Most people get their first Marks around age 12. You're 14. You're an exception." A thought seems to occur to him. "Let me see your dominate hand." I put my right hand out. He gently turns it so the outside of the wrist so it is facing him. He lets out a small gasp. "You really are a Shadowhunter." I see a symbol. The same one the was carved around the I of the Institute name "This is the Shadowhunter symbol, one you always have and can never be drawn. It appears on your dominate hand. I don't know why I didn't look here before I put the rune on you."

"So your saying, I'm not a mundane, I'm a Shadowhunter?" He nods, as if words would make things more confusing, and that it all makes sense, even though it really doesn't. "I've seen you around. You move with such a grace only we can. You're constantly aware of where you are and who you're around. You take in all details. The one boy, I knew you didn't trust, your instincts told you not to, you were right to. That was a demon. They disguise themselves as anything, even people. You may act like you trust someone, but you don't just in case. That's your Shadowhunter side. You've been listening to it all along, and never knew."

"You're right. I never knew. So where exactly am I?" I ask. "You're in the Institute. A safe haven for Nephilim. You collapsed last might because you're unused to this. It was too much." He finishes, as if I should be surprised about all of this. "At this point. I'm not surprised at all."

"Come on, I'll give you a tour." He says with the ghost of a smile. Something tells me he doesn't smile often.

"This is the weapons room." He states with a sweep of his hand. I walk in and see pretty much everything I've wanted for Hanukkah since I was eight. Lining the walls were whips, daggers, swords, and weird shaped looking daggers. I walk over to the section of a wall lined with them. "These are seraph blades. You say an angel's name to activate it." He picks up one and whispers to it, "Ithuriel." The seraph blade blazes to life. Blinding white light emits from it. He walks over and attacks a target. It seems to work like a dagger, yet it is different. Otherworldly, almost.

I pick up a dagger, walk over to a different target and size it up. “Ari, you don’t know how to use one!” He warns. I draw my arm back and began to spar with an imaginary opponent. I make cuts parries and blows like a dance. Jace stops walking toward me and just stares. I stop and look over. “Are you sure you’ve never one? You used it like you’ve been them all your life.” He breathes in surprise. “I-I just… instinct.” I mumble, unsure what to say. “Come this way.” We walk over to a panel where there were dozens of pen like things. “These are more steles."

Once he says the word. I recognize them. There are a wide array of colors, sizes, and designs. “Every Shadowhunter has a stele. These are made by the best stele makers in Idris. They are handmade and none are the same. You can choose yours.” He finishes, looking over at me. I look at stele after stele when I see the one I want. It is white at the top, fading to a dark grey near the tip. Surrounding the top is a lioness and on the very top was a small rune.

Running across the length of the stele were lions and wolves. One wolf has its snout turn into the tip you write with. I pluck it off the shelf. It curves to my hand. It fits you.” Jace’s voice snaps me out of reverie. “Most choose theirs at 7-8. You’re an exception. I can teach you how to be Shadowhunter. How to fight how to use a stele, how to write runes, everything.” His voice softens. “What about Hodge? He’ll know I’m not a mundane if you’re teaching me. Isn’t that the opposite of what you want?”

“Yes. But I’ve got it all worked out.” Alec storms in, an angry look on his face. That never seems to leave his face. “Jace! Hodge wants to see you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” The mundie has to go home.” Just before Alec walked in, Jace had taken my stele into his hand. Now, he slips it back into my pocket, and walks away, brushing my shoulder as he did so. “Bye, Chloe.” He calls. I can hear the teasing in his voice because he knows my real name. Alec just glares at me. “Stay away from Jace. You’re not welcome back here. Let’s go, mundane.” He spits the last word.

“What do you want Hodge?” Jace asks, leaning against a wall that doesn't have a stack of books.

“I just want to ask you a couple questions. To start, how did you come across Chloe?”

“I was checking for demons in the graveyard when I saw her. Now, because I’m me, I couldn’t let her die.” Jace seems almost bored talking with Hodge. He moves over the desk with the crude angel statues and sits on it. He begins to play with a small, trinket that was on the desk. He throws it up into the air and catches it with ease.

“She seemed to heal quickly, faster than most mundanes. Do you think she’s one of us? If she is, I need to see her.” He fumbles with the trinket for a moment.

“No, she’s not, I’ve checked. She could just be one those mundanes that heal quickly.” Jace suggests,wanting to leave. “Ok, you can go.” Hodge sighs. Jace walks out of the study and sees Alec and Ari round a corner. He follows behind, stealthy as a fox.