A/N: If you're a little confused about what's going on here, head over to chapter 20 the very important author's note and read the whole thing. This is the first of my attempt to revise this story in the bid the finally finish it. Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter as I'm still a little hesitant to edit this fanfiction because I don't want you guys to suddenly hate it. Let me know what you think...

Alxe.1

Clary Morgenstern was not a morning person. She despised everyone and everything if woken before 9:00 and let me tell you; an angry short ginger was not the type of thing any normal person wanted to deal with at this time in the morning. However, Jonathan Morgenstern was not a normal person and therefore he found it completely acceptable to burst into his sister's room at the god-awful hour of 7:00, disturbing the slumbering beast to declare that Clary, being his responsibility since the Morgenstern seniors had decided to take an impromptu holiday to the Bahamas, should assist him in his endeavours for the day. Due to the rude awakening she had received and the fact that Clary was legally considered an adult at the ripe old age of 19 (defiantly old enough to keep herself out of trouble; something her older brother seemed incapable of), this confrontation resulted in Jonathan darting from the room to avoid the clumpy sketch book that was hurled his way. Nothing, not even Clary's art, survived her mighty wrath in the mornings.

Unfortunately for her, Jonathan, who was stupid enough to make this mistake many-a-time and still not know better, had ran into the only bathroom in the upstairs of the house, and by doing so, had ruined any chance of Clary's vicious mood repairing itself, for any normal person knew that when confronted by an angry short ginger one had rudely awakened in the morning, your safest bet at leaving with your balls intact was to shove her in the bathroom immediately and hope the steam of a nice warm shower would quell her bloodthirstiness.

"JONATHAN!" The beast screeched. Angry little fists pounded on the door in rage as Clary heard the sound of the shower being turned on.

"YOU BETTER GET YOUR LITTLE ASS OUT OF THAT BATHROOM IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU" Clary's screeching was met with no reply but the sniggering of her older brother as he basked in the steam of the nice warm shower that was meant for her. 'We'll see who's laughing when I finally get my hands on you, you little shit' thought Clary as she wordlessly made her way downstairs in search of the instant coffee.

Gleefully, the little redhead planned her attack on the bane of her morning as she used the last two slices of bread and milk so Jonathan would be forced to eat the crusted ends of the loaf without his usual morning latte ('boohoo, what ever shall the poor princess do?' Clary thought with an eye roll).

Overly cheerful whistling alerted the scheming redhead to the presence of her brother as he strolled into the kitchen merrily, covered only by the fluffy white towel wrapped round his toned-in waist. Clary smirked into her coffee as she heard the fridge door open and her brother's whistling halt suddenly as he took in the lack of milk inside. The scowl Clary was rewarded with as he pulled the crusted loaf ends from the plastic bread bag was very much worth the missed shower and bad mood she had endured this morning.

"Something the matter, Jon?" Her malicious smile sang of sweet revenge at his responding grunt. She cackled into her coffee.

However, her glee was short lived as she caught sight of the black inscription curling her brother's forearm as he angrily shoved his loaf ends into the toaster a little too aggressively.

"What the fuck is that!" Clary shouted, pointing to his arm. Toast crumbs spluttered across the kitchen counter she was perched behind. Jonathan jumped and turned around, startled, before looking to see what she was screeching about. "It's just a tattoo!" He proclaimed.

Clary stared unbelievingly at the ink inscription that read "The decent into hell is easy" in a stark black curving font. "Just a tattoo" Clary mimicked, making a face. "'Died of just a tattoo' is what I'm going to have written on your gravestone after Dad whoops your ass. You know how much he hates shit like tattoos and body piercings!" Clary had once got a navel piercing on a whim after listening to her best friend Simon's band play Crazy Town's Butterfly on repeat during one of their band practices (thankfully it was a Crazy Town's version and not the band actually playing or Clary would have had corks inserted into her ears instead). The shade of red her father Valentine Morgenstern's face had turned at the site his daughter's offending piercing was so inhuman it could not be recreated through the mixing of paint. Clary had tried. That level of rage deserved to be showcase for it's shear ferocity, preserved forever thought the stokes of a painted brush against the canvas. Jocelyn, Valentine's more accepting wife merely congratulated Clary on her choice of stud (a silver bar with a forest green jewell at each end) and told her husband to stop being so "over-dramatic".

"Firstly,I don't care if Dad hates them; it's my body not his, and secondly, Dad can't order me not to get a tattoo when he already has one" Jonathan smirked.

"Dad doesn't have a tattoo" Clary scoffed indignantly, raising her coffee to her lips before catching sight of Jonathan's grinning face over the rim of her cup. "No way! What? Where?!" She screeched, slamming the cup back down in disbelief. Jonathan's smirk widened.

"Our so overly pretentious father happens to having none other that the Foster's Logo inked onto his backside"

Clary's jaw dropped as she gapped at her bother in shock. "No fucking way" she shook her head before laughter began to bubble up her throat. "Are you kidding me? That's priceless; a beer company's logo printed on our Dad's backside! When did you find this out?" Clary didn't make a habit of staring at Valentine's bare backside but she wasn't quite sure about Jonathan's tendencies.

"We were at the pool one time when I was around eleven. He did a dive of the edge of the pool but when he resurfaced his trunks didn't come all the way up with him and there it was; the Foster's logo, winking me in the face"

"Jesus Christ" Clary laughed, her body bending forwards towards the counter. "No wonder you're not right in the head; seeing shit like that must have scarred your mind from childhood" Clary laughed again, dodging out of the way as Jon flung part of his toasted loaf end at her. "Okay okay okay…." She held her hands palm up in surrender as Jon readied himself to fling another piece of the toast.

"So have you got anymore yet?" Clary asked, pointing to the tattoo adorning her brother's forearm. "Yep, I've got this one … and I'm in the process of getting this one done" He showed her his hipbone first which bore the words "If I cannot move heaven, I shall raise hell" in the same script as the tattoo decorating his forearm. Then he turned over his other arm to show her the beginnings of a smaller scale dark mark tattoo that sat directly in the middle of his forearm, the skull and snake's glinting eyes glaring at her. "What is the meaning behind that one?" Clary motioned to the writing on his forearm.

"It's a sort of check yourself before you wreak yourself message" Jon told her as he ran a finger along the loops and dips of the writing."They're all very well done" Clary admired as she traced the snake of his dark mark lightly, staring in awe as the detail and precision put into the image. Jon smirked proudly at the dark mark. "Thanks. I'm going to get it finished off today if you wanted to come?" He offered "you might see something you like in the shop and want to get inked yourself". Clary had always wanted a tattoo; something small and personal. Plus, the redhead had nothing better to do today. "Okay" she agreed, watching her bothers face light up.

"Great" he beamed "You'll get to meet Jace. He runs the parlour and is the guy that does all the tattooing. He's like better than the guys on Miami ink" Jon told her, eyebrows raised exaggeratedly. "Go get dressed then we can stop of at Taki's so I can get my latte before we head there" he ordered, shooing her up the stairs as she rolled her eyes. Princess Jonathan was on the move.