Fangs

Ebony Morgenstern

(If you want Raphael x Ebony or Nora x Alec romance you should skip ahead, this chapters all about Ebony's parents.)

This isn't happening, Ebony thought to herself as she processed her memories. She was Ebony Morgenstein, daughter of Valentine Morgenstein the mass murdering, downworld-hating, power-obsessed Shadowhunter lunatic who had all too recently returned only to create a Shadowhunting army and cause havoc in the supernatural world. 

 The five had returned to the institute where Alec predictably informed the Clave of what had been uncovered by the silent brothers. Ebony retreated to her room for some much needed privacy. She recalled the two memories that remained clear in her mind. The first was one of love and happiness, a brown haired lady danced with her, she was a small girl, perhaps only three.  The lady held Ebony's hands and swung her arms playfully as they galloped around a big room, giggling before the she stopped, lifting Ebony up, pulling her into a tight hug, 'I love you Ebony,' she spoke, her tone loving and genuine; she smelt like fresh linen and jasmine. Ebony had always loved the smell of jasmine. 'How did we create something so beautiful Jocelyn?' A kind voice resonated as a young, black haired man approached the two, 'I don't know.' She sighed as he hugged the two of them. Ebony felt protected, she felt a love that filled her heart and lifted her soul, these were her parents. Recalling this sweet memory was the only thing that made the pain of the reality of her 'adoption' easier to deal with, even if Valentine was a psycho maniac. 

The second memory was much more traumatic. Ebony was about four years old clinging onto Perle's hand as Jocelyn walked into a portal away from her, tears rolling down her face, 'take care of my daughter, sister!' She cried before stepping into the portal, 'mommy!' Ebony called through her cries, 'mommy don't go!' She screamed as Perle picked her up and turned her away from the portal, 'mommy.' She sniffed.  And Jocelyn was gone. 

Ebony felt the pain as if it had only just happened, as if her mother had just left her. Her eyes began to pool with tears and she freed them with a few blinks once she realised she was truly alone.  Tears cascaded down her olive cheeks and dripped onto the tiled floor she sat on. She felt alone. More alone than ever. Her real family was gone but at least she knew that Perle was her aunt. They now had a lead too, albeit it was Valentine but they also had Jocelyn, Perle's sister; perhaps Perle knew where her mother was and perhaps she knew about the Shadow world. Was she a Shadowhunter too?

There was a knock at the door, 'its Jace, ' he began,  'look I know talking about it is probably the last thing you want to do right now, Eb but I want you to know that I'm here for you.' He said softly. 'Hodge knew your mother,' he added from behind the door, 'Jocelyn was  close friend of his.' He paused, 'look I know this is alot to take in but we could talk to him and see what he knows?' He offered.  She pulled herself up off the floor and wiped her tears away with her hoodie sleeve. 

...

'Jocelyn was a close friend of mine, Perle was her younger sister, she trained with us for years until Valentine began experimenting with demon blood and she disappeared.' Hodge began, 'as far as I knew, Perle died in a tragic fire at the beginning of the uprising. Perhaps her death was staged by Jocelyn so that she would be safe from Valentine. That would make her the perfect guardian for you.' He thought aloud, trying to make sense of the events. 

'But why couldn't Jocelyn just fake her own death?' Ebony's tone was shaky, her eyes still red where she had obviously been crying. 'I don't know.' Hodge sighed. 'What was she like?' Ebony took in a deep breath, 'she was the strongest person I have ever met, brave, smart and uncommonly kind.' He spoke genuinely. 'I don't know for certain why Jocelyn did exactly what she did but she was a good person Ebony, like you. You are nothing like Valentine' he suddenly doubled over, letting out a cry of pain. 'Hodge!' She cried, 'whats happening?' He gritted his teeth, 'and will never be.' He reassured, finishing his sentence, 'agh! The circle runes are used to punish us.' He explained as Jace and Ebony ran to his side. 'How can I help you?' She cried, 'you can't.' he breathed, 'I'm so sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.' He sighed 'no! Thank you for explaining what you have.' She said softly, holding his hand. 

He stared intently at her, 'everything she did, she did for you, Ebony, she left you to protect you.' He explained. 'She probably wanted to hide you from Valentine, he bought only violence and devastation so Jocelyn wanted to hide you from his darkness. You would have been a poster child for his cause.'