Chapter One - Sibling Rivalry

Two households, both alike in dignity,
in fair Idris, where we lay our scene.
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Eighteen years ago, the world of the Nephilim broke out into a new diarchy, the sacred land of Idris being torn in two. The Uprising caused bloodshed and travesty to spread among the Shadowhunter world, friends turning against friends, new allies being made along the way. Those who were fortunate enough to survive were not without their scars, many going crazy from the sights they'd seen and some becoming recluses far away from anybody.

Nobody won. Nobody lost. The War lasted mere weeks, though only ended when either side realised there was no way for them to win. On January 19th 1991, a truce was made between Valentine Morgenstern and those that were left of the Clave. Alicante would remain in the Clave's domain, while Brocelind was given whole heartedly to Valentine and his followers - Shadowhunters and Demons alike. Neither side would bother the other, though Shadowhunters were free to travel between the two domains. Demons, however, were secluded to Brocelind under the power of the Morgenstern's, and Downworlder's were to remain in Alicante under the protection of the Clave.

Brocelind made up most of Idris, the Brocelind Plain being a large expanse of flat country terrain that lead to the Brocelind Forest at the perimeter of the country. In the centre of the plains, standing high and mighty, was the Morgenstern Castle. A grand structure that looked like something straight out of a fairytale, the Morgenstern Castle was built fully in the form of a fortress with a ship's bow-shaped layout and guarded wards around the perimeter. It served simultaneously as a royal palace, a state prison, and a Shadowhunter Academy for the few Nephilim that remained in the Morgenstern domain. It was a symbol of strength, and power, and most importantly, loyalty...

Clary rolled over in her semi-conscious state with a small noise of complaint, not wanting to get up just yet. She could feel the bright light hitting her eyelids from the window on the left side of her room, meaning it was anywhere between 5 and 7 in the morning. Way too early for her liking.

Her body curled into something warm and cushioned on the far side of the bed, and she hummed contently as she rested her head atop it and wrapped her arms around it. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist in return, and the hair by her forehead shifted as something soft pressed the skin there. She frowned for a moment in confusion, even half asleep sensing something wasn't completely right.

She opened her eyes and was greeted with a bare chest, which only added to her confusion. She followed the body up only to see her brother smirking egotistically down at her. With a start and a cry she slapped his chest and threw herself off him, sitting up on the other side of the bed. "Jonathan!" She shouted, grabbing one of her pillows and thwacking it down against his face. "How many times have I told you to stop that? It's creepy."

"Oh come on," he chuckled nonchalantly, shifting the pillow from his face to behind his head. He placed a hand behind his head and looked up at her, an eyebrow arched. "You know you love it. You wouldn't have made those humming noises if you found it that creepy."

"That's because I was half asleep." She hissed unkindly as she stood up from her bed, reaching for the navy blue silk dressing gown that hung at the end of of it. She pulled it on over her skimpy white sleep shirt and purple underwear while keeping her back to her brother, feeling suddenly self conscious. "I didn't exactly know what I was doing."

Clary glanced down at her leg as she smoothed the silk fabric down, her fingertips skirting over the bare skin where a certain rune should be... She walked over to the set of drawers beside the head of the bed, pulling the top most one open and taking out her Stele. She turned her back on the drawers to lean back against it and outstretched her leg, carefully redrawing the rune on the very top of her thigh. It was small, and looked a lot like the Swift rune.

"Why do you even use that stupid rune?" Jonathan said with clear disgust as he sat up on the bed, one leg to the side on the floor. "It's not like you even need it."

"Because I'm not a whore like my brother." She said with a sarcastic smile, waving her Stele in the air before making her way across the room to the door that lead to her ensuite. "I created it, and so Mom wants me to use it. Unlike some people, I actually listen to her."

"Of course you do." His voice followed her into the bathroom as she placed her Stele on the side, running a shower. "Mommy's little girl."

"Like you're not daddy's little bitch?" She returned to the bedroom with an arched eyebrow gestured towards her brother while she put her hair up in a high pony tail. She grabbed some clean training clothes as well as a towel. She went to walk back into bathroom, but paused, turning to face her brother. He was still lounging on her bed without a care in the world, and it seriously irked her. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

He pouted his lips as if in thought and that, pausing for a moment. She watched him expectantly, before a wicked grin crossed his face. "Nope." He winked, popping his lips on the 'p'. "My schedule's clear today. The only thing on it is to look after my baby sister."

Clary rolled her eyes, walking into the bathroom and placing her hand on the back of the door. "Yeah, well, she doesn't need to be looked after. Especially not by you." She stuck out her tongue childishly as she slammed the door shut, swiftly locking it so he couldn't disturb her.

By the time Clary made it down the stairs and to the family kitchen, it was a little before ten in the morning. She was dressed in a plain pair of black compression pants, a purple tank top with a criss-cross back and her favourite pair of black trainers with white laces.

Nobody was in the kitchen except for one of the family chefs, who smiled politely at her as she walked in. Clary grabbed an apple and a bottle of water from the fridge before heading back out again and down the hallway towards the training room. She was slightly earlier than usual, so she didn't expect anybody to be there just yet.

She'd barely made it through the ornate double oak doors when something came flying directly towards her face. In an instant she dropped the items in her hand and caught the stupid thing, seeing it was one of the bamboo sticks they used to train in combat. She looked up and around the room with an incredulous expression, seeing one of her tutors stood at the far end of the room with an amused smirk.

"Hodge," she huffed, throwing the bamboo stick to the floor besides her. "You could have knocked me out with that thing."

"But I didn't." He corrected with a finger pointed towards her. He pushed himself off from the wall he was leaning against and made his way over to her in just a few long strides. He scooped the water bottle off the floor at her feet just as she grabbed the apple, handing it to her as they both stood up. "Your reflexes are getting better - kudos on that."

"Thanks." She narrowed her eyes at him skeptically as she took the water bottle from him before walking to the far side of the room. She quickly ate most of the apple while Hodge set up the room for their session, before tossing it into the trashcan in the corner of the room.

Jonathan entered the room just as she placed her water bottle on a bench against the wall, and Clary rolled her eyes at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" She groaned, grabbing a bamboo stick from the wall. "You're not supposed to be training today."

"Hodge asked me to come in." He smirked, picking up the stick near the door that Hodge had thrown at Clary just minutes before. He spun it around effortlessly between his two hands, before resting it against his shoulder as he approached his little sister. "He thought you might benefit sparring against someone with a different fighting stance."

"I'd rather not," she swung the stick behind her and rested it across her shoulders, hooking her arms up to rest it in the crook of her elbows as she walked over to Hodge. She'd walked barely five feet when Jonathan attacked her from the side, swiping his bamboo stick across for her midsection. She caught him out of the corner of her eye before he'd moved, giving her just enough time to jump out of the way.

She unlinked her arms from her own weapon and jammed one end onto the floor, using it to push herself away from her brother so she had as much distance as possible. When she landed safely and twirled the stick so it was poised slightly behind her, she glared at Jonathan, who was still smirking at her. He walked nonchalantly across the room while swinging his weapon besides him, acting as if he hadn't just ruthlessly attacked his younger sister.

"You're lucky I don't scorch your ass right here right now." Clary teased as she and her brother began circling each other, the former much more poised and on edge while the latter was acting as if it was a casual Sunday.

"Then why don't you?" He pursed his lips, looking across the room at her as he rested the bamboo stick across his shoulders. "Like I always say, what's the point in dragging a fight out when you know you can win?"

"Because father has already said that I'm not to use that rune on you," she said bitterly, hoping he was distracted by her words as she attacked. She launched herself forwards and gripped the stick with both hands, spinning around to gain momentum before swinging directly for his throat in an attempt to wind him. He was much quicker, however, and had slid his own weapon into his hands and blocked her effectively. He grunted as he threw her away from him, and she stumbled to regain her balance for a moment. "It kills demons and you're part demon - who knows what it might do to you?"

"When do you ever listen to him?" Jonathan rolled his eyes and stepped forwards, swiping his bamboo stick diagonally down for the right side of her neck. She swiftly blocked him, as well as the second quick attack he launched for her other side. She pushed him away from her, like he had before, and spun around to gain momentum before thrusting the stick upwards towards his throat.

The butt of the wood landed full force on his Adam's apple, choking him momentarily as he stepped back. Clary grinned in success as she spun the stick expertly in her hands to swipe sidewards for his dominant side, managing to hit him on his torso. Jonathan groaned out in pain as he darted to the side, almost growling as he repositioned the stick in his hands.

He shouted out in a warrior-like cry as he leaped forwards for his sister, launching quick successive attacks in bursts of three. Clary was working overtime trying to block each attack, suffering several bad blows to her dominant arm and being winded by an attack to her stomach. The frustration was building up inside of her as she realised she was beginning to tire, while he appeared to be as right and rain.

She was beginning to realise how much of a better fighter Jonathan was compared to her, and it was becoming more noticeable that she wasn't going to be able to defeat him if they continued this combat. He dropped downwards in a crouching panther stance and swiped his bamboo stick for her knees, forcing her to jump high to avoid it. She groaned in pain as she landed, deciding to use that moment to get a one-up on Jonathan.

As he was standing, Clary stepped forwards and kicked sharply upwards, knocking the bamboo stick clean out of his hands. He looked at it's direction of travel in surprise, his concentration lacking. That gave her just enough time to thrust her weapon into his stomach to wind him like he had done her, before throwing her own stick directly in his face.

He stumbled blindly backwards, and Clary immediately began running in the other direction, knowing he wouldn't be caught off guard for more than just a few seconds. She ran straight for the wall and placed her foot up as high as she could onto it, kicking up and off from the ground. She reached up and hooked her hands onto the wooden beams stretching across the top of the room, before heaving herself up onto it.

She glanced down at her vantage point and could see Jonathan running across the room that followed her path up the wall. Clary scrambled to her feet and quickly ran across the beams to the furthest side, before turning to face the way she'd came. Jonathan was just climbing up onto the beams, glaring at her all the while. Clary grabbed her Stele from the back pocket of her pants and quickly traced a rune onto her left hand. It was a rune she'd only used once before, and it was on Hodge, so she had no idea what effect it would have on her brother.

She shoved the Stele back into her pants and looked up to see Jonathan getting closer and closer by the second. "It's now or never," she murmured to herself as she stepped towards him, outstretching her hand towards him. Immediately there was a loud quake-like noise, and Jonathan shouted in pain. The beams beneath the pair of them shook, before crumbling in an instant beneath their feet.

Clary screamed as she fell down, quickly covering her head so that nothing would hit her and knock her out. She coughed out the dust she inhaled from the collapsed wood around her, groaning at the impact from her back hitting the ground first. She squinted beyond the smoke and turned to look for Jonathan, seeing him beneath a long but skinny beam of wood. He was knocked out though didn't appear to have any outward injuries.

"Clarissa!" She heard a scolding voice from the far side of the room, and she looked up in terror as she recognised the voice. Hodge was stood besides the door with his arm across his mouth, coughing up dust like Clary had been.

Besides him, in front of the open door, stood a tall and willowy woman with her arms folded. Her deep red hair was bundled into a neat bun at the base of her neck, and her matching coppery eyebrows were knitted into a tight, angry line.

Clary looked up apologetically at the woman, glancing around at the destruction she'd caused, before back up at the figure in the door. "Hi, Mom."

A shorter than typical chapter, however that's because this is the pilot chapter for Forsaken, the newest installment to my TMI collection. Thank you so much to Ciera/Craider for helping me come up with the concept and idea for this fanfiction. They helped me so much in coming up with this idea, and so I owe that to them. Thank you so so much for your support! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to going on this journey with you all. Please leave reviews on what you think, and for any ideas you may have for this story! Any and all ideas are welcome, and I'd love for you to help form this story. Again, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed!