Shadows in the Snow (A Shadowhunters Fanfic)

Chapter 1

Three Years Later

Magnus was sitting with Krystal at the vanity in her room he had magiced into the apartment when they brought her home from Devon. Magnus, naturally, had gone all out for his daughter so the room always fit her, for he always changed it when she asked him to. Krystal was in a princess phase, and her bedroom very much reflected that.

Krystal's snow-white hair was already shoulder length at three years old and Magnus loved to play with and style it to both their heart's content. Krystal had grown fond of playing dress-up with Magnus, finding gear from Alec's childhood, and putting it on.

"I love being a princess, but a heroic princess like auntie Emma." when she told Magnus that, he swore his heart grew three times as big.

Naturally, Magnus never told Alec that he let Krystal try on the gear, even though it was a gift from Jace. Max and Rafe warmed up to their sister quickly. Rafe became the protective older brother like Alec suggested the day they met her. Staying close to her whenever they'd go out or when people would come to the apartment or staying in Krystal's room with her when Magnus had warlock business to attend to.

"Alright, what do you think of this one? I ATTEMPTED to curl it." Magnus put emphasis on the word attempted as he spun Krystal around so she could see her reflection in the mirror of her vanity. Krystal giggled and ran a small chubby hand through her white hair, "It's good, daddy." Magnus, taking the hint, sighed and snapped his fingers, the imperfect curls instantly turning perfect, "You have as high of standards as me. I've taught you well, my little snowflake." with that he bent down and kissed her cheek. Krystal squirmed in her chair, "Ew, daddy! Max and Rafe said cooties!" he sighed, "Oh boy. Here we go. The dreaded cooties phase."

Later that night, Magnus found Max giving Krystal another lecture on cooties. He sighed and continued down the hallway to the master bedroom. Alec was laying in the bed, reading a book, "It's your job to convince our daughter that cooties aren't real. After going through that twice, I can't do it again, especially not with a girl." Alec slowly lowered his book, "Which one was it?" Magnus plopped faced down on the bed, "The resident troublemaker Max, naturally." Alec sighed, "I'll talk to him tomorrow when Jace ISN'T near him, so it probably won't be until later in the day." Magnus groaned. "This makes her 'terrible twos' phase seem like nothing."

All the sudden, the door to the bedroom bursts open and Krystal bursts into the room, her arms tightly wrapped around Chairman Meow, "Daddy! Help, I'm trying to save Chairman Meow from Max and Cooties!" hopping onto the bed, she hopped behind Alec, who closed his eyes and sighed as Max came running into the room. Magnus, finally having had enough, peeled himself off the bed and sat up, "Alright, Max stop terrifying your poor sister and Chairman Meow and go to bed, you have to be back at the Institute tomorrow." Max, holding up a small blue finger, makes his iconic pouty face, "But cooties. And why does Krystal get to stay up but I don't!?" Alec cocked an eyebrow, "Don't you want to keep up with Uncle Jace?" his eyes instantly brightened and he fled from the room and into his, slamming the door behind him. Magnus turned and scooped Krystal up, "It is getting late, little snowflake. Time to get you to bed." Alec kissed Krystal goodnight and Magnus carried her down the hallway, Chairman Meow following behind them in a quick trot.

The next morning, Alec left for the Institute early with Rafe and Max as the two boys ended up waking both Alec and Magnus. Magnus made breakfast and saw the trio off to their destination safely via portal. He quickly went to check on his daughter, who he found was already awake and had made a mess of clothes. It was obvious to him that she was trying to pick out her own outfit, "Why has my little snowflake made a mess?" Krystal turned to look at her dad with a shy pout, "I was trying to get ready like a big girl." She explained before Magnus used his magic to clean the mess.

"Okay, let's get you in a nice cute outfit to go see daddy at work." Magnus slipped Krystal's pajama dress off over her head and opened the walk-in closet that he gave her, "So what are we feeling? Dress, skirt, leggings, jeans?" Krystal, never really being picky about clothes, shrugged, "WE wore dresses yesterday, so anything but dresses please." cringing at the memory, Magnus picked out a pastel pink high low skirt, a white floral blouse, and some tan sandals. Once she was dressed, Magnus magiced her hair into a braided bun before feeding her breakfast.

The portal opened just outside the Institute and Magnus and Krystal were greeted by Clary. "Auntie Clary!" releasing Magnus's hand, Krystal ran over to Clary who scooped her up, "There's my little prodigy!" Magnus beamed at the sight, "Thanks for meeting us, biscuit." Clary shrugged casually, "Oh, what would you do without me, Magnus." straight-faced, Magnus sighed, "Living a peaceful life and having a full night's sleep." Clary laughed and turned towards the Institute to let them in.

Clary, still carrying Krystal, led Magnus into the Institute, "We can go wait in the training room with Max and Rafe. Jace and Alec are meeting with Kieran right now so it might be a bit before we see them." Magnus. His curiosity peaked, straightened up, "Kieran is here? What did he make the trip for?" she shrugged, "Something about the Courts. You know, the usual." fair enough.

Max and Rafe were training with Izzy and Simon when they entered the training room, Rafe with throwing knives, Max with a bow and arrow. Almost in unison, everybody looked up as the door opened and the trio walked in. Max and Rafe perked up and ran over to greet their sister and father, completely forgetting about their training. Izzy, sighing, spun a knife in her hand, "Magnus, what brings you here? As much as I love little Krys, you know the training room is no place for her." Clary put Krystal down and almost immediately Max held up a finger and yelled, "Cooties!" pinching the bridge of his nose, Magnus groaned and the three shadowhunters laughed, "This again, Magnus?" he looked at Clary and held up his hands, "Alec is handling it this time." Izzy nodded approvingly, "Good, it's about time." Clary waved, "I'm going to go let the boys know you're here." Magnus nodded and Clary left the training room.

After about a half-hour of Max chasing Krystal around yelling cooties, with Simon watching approvingly, the doors to the training finally opened and Jace, Alec, Clary, and Kieran came in. Upon Alec walking into the room, Max stopped dead in his tracks and hid his finger behind his back. Krystal, who was cowering in fear behind Rafe, poked her head out from behind her brother before running to Alec, "Daddy, Max is trying to chase me with cooties again!" Alec sighed, and Jace nodded approvingly, "I've taught him well." Alec shot him a glare and behind them, Kieran had confusion plastered on his face. "Max, for the millionth time, stop tormenting your sister." Max looked away and hid behind Magnus.

Krystal, still hiding behind Alec, looked up at Kieran, her eyes widening and pointed at him saying, "You're the person I see in my dreams." the room went so silent you could hear a pin drop as everybody looked from Kieran to Krystal. Jace, breaking the silence, which he's good at, asks, "Is there something I missed?" Magnus stepped forward, "I'm wondering the same thing." Alec looked at him, "Do you not remember her telling us about the blue-haired man in her dreams?" Jace, slapping his forehead, sighs, "And you didn't mention this before because? In case you haven't noticed SHE'S PART FAERIE." Jace glared at his parabatai and Kieran gave him a warning glare before kneeling to Krystal's height and gently placed a hand on her head, "You've grown since I've last seen you, little one." Krystal's eyes grew massive and she looked up at Magnus, "Kieran was the one who brought you to uncle Jem and aunt Tessa when you were a baby, Krystal. He found you in the Unseelie Court." Kieran stood up and leaned in towards Alec and Magnus, "I need to speak with the two of you in private."

Alec led Kieran and Magnus to his office where he closed and locked the door behind them. "So what do you need to talk to us about, Kieran?" Magnus plopped down in the chair behind Alec's desk and propped his feet on the desk. Alec gave him a look asking why he was doing that. Kieran crossed his arms and sighed, "As you know, I can't be away from my court for long, so I'll keep this short. It's nothing concrete, but I may have found a lead on at least her mother." Magnus almost fell out of the chair, "Wait what!?" Kieran just gave him a dirty look, "I came across some information that led me to believe that at least her mother was a member of my court. As for her father, I haven't found anything, but saying as she's part shadowhunter." Kieran gestures at Alec, "You might have your work cut out for you." Magnus and Alec look at each other and Alec speaks up, "Alright, thank you, your highness. We'll do research on the Icethorn family and the sooner we can find what her parents were running from, the better, because that much is obvious." nodding in agreement, Kieran waved his hand and he disappeared, returning to the Unseelie Court without another word.