AN: Hullo all. I've got another story in my head and it's going to be a doozy. I do hope I actually follow through with this one, seeing as I rarely finish multi-chaptered stories of my own. This has been in my head for a while now and I'm just glad I can finally put it up. Now, this is set immediately after the end of Clockwork Prince. Call it my version of Clockwork Princess for the moment because I am an impatient little mundane.

Disclaimer: I could say I own these characters and the general plotline if I was Cassandra Clare but I'm not so I can't. I'm just a teenage girl with a blog. Also, title credit goes to a lovely little band called The Icarus Account.

Enjoy! I live for reviews and if you could be so kind so as to indulge me - that would be wonderful.

Prologue

Five Years Ago

Hurricanes were uncommon in Wales.

The sky outside of the Herondale home was booming; the trees thrashing against the violent gusts of wind. In replacement of the usual stars in the night sky, slashes of white lightning painted the black velvet canvass up above, accompanied by the unforgiving rain and the resonating roll of thunder.

Wales was pleasant enough when there were no storms.

The trees were lush, tall, and green. Ponds were scattered along the village where little children would often dirty up their skirts and trousers, to the dismay of their mothers. The Herondale home was not far from the village but it was secluded deep within the greenery. Edmund Herondale preferred the solitude or, as he would say, security. Leaving the Shadow World did not necessarily mean that the Shadow World would let you.

Not that his children particularly minded. Ella, the oldest, was motherly enough. The child was practically born forty years old. In his three children, it was only she who inherited her mother's warm brown eyes. The other two – William and Cecily – could not be contained in an iron cage. They'd rip it apart with their bare hands if they could. And they probably would. The three were content with each other's company. They were a package.

The hurricane blew on and it was the only sound that could be heard in that little patch of mundane Wales.

Well…

That.

And the incessant knocking on a wooden door.

Will woke not at the sound of the hurricane outside his window or of the knocking on his door. In fact, the constant rustle outside his room lulled him right into a deep sleep where he dreamt of brave knights on horses and princesses slaying dragons with their fingernails. That would have made for an interesting novel. No. The twelve year old boy woke to the sound of a shrill familiar voice at the other side of the door.

"Willy!" said the voice. "Willy, please wake up! Will! Willy! Open the door, please!"

He threw his sheets off from him post haste and practically leapt off his bed. He opened the door only to be attacked by a little thing with thick black hair in a pale green nightgown. Cecily.

She embraced him tightly; he could feel her sobs on his chest. Brave, uncontrollable little Cecily who never, ever cried – not even when Ella had to set her leg when she fell from a tree and broke her leg in three places when she was six – was practically hysterical in his arms.

They dropped to the floor, his younger sister holding on to him for dear life. His arms were around her, melding her to him as though they were one being. And they were – they were practically twins. They even looked alike that when Will had long hair and Cecily cut hers, their own mother would mix up their names.

It was all he could do – brush her long, thick black hair, shush her in the softest voice he could muster, and tell her everything would be alright (though he himself didn't know what was wrong with her). Thunder roared again outside and he felt her wince against him and despite it all, he felt himself smile. He kissed her forehead and held her in his arms, his chin on top of her head, and began to sing.

"My dear little Cecy

Was being so silly

And outside there was a storm

This dear little Silly

Cried out for her Willy

To hold her and to keep her warm"

"Shut it, you're terrible!" she said, pushing him playfully but still clutching on to his shirt. Even with her crying, he could feel her smile in her tone.

"No, I'm not! My singing is absolutely fantastic!"

"That song gives me more nightmares than the bloody storm!"

"Language, my girl!" he teased, mimicking their older sister's tone.

"Shut it, Willy!" She was already laughing.

"When you stop being so silly, Silly," he murmured against her hair. Thunder rolled again and she drew closer to her brother. "Come now, would you like to sleep in Ella's room tonight?" His sister nodded and he helped her to her feet. He almost carried her in his arms but she wrestled away from him.

"I can walk," she said coolly. Will chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders. "Besides, with your scrawny arms, I bet you couldn't even lift a sack of flour."

Will laughed and would have retorted had it not been for another round of lightning and thunder, wherein she whimpered and drew closer to him.

"There, there, now. We're almost there," he whispered to her, squeezing her little shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He at twelve and she at nine, he was still a good head taller than her.

He led her through the dark house. The candles were not lit and the only light came from the strokes of lightning out the windows. The curtains had been drawn but the rain still prevailed to seep through the cracks of the aged manor. Ella's room was beside the library, on the other side of hall. Edmund was away on business and their mother had to care for a sick relative and would not return for another fortnight.

He knocked twice and the sound of hurried footsteps came from inside the room. Out came Ella in a similar nightgown to Cecily's, brushing the obvious drowsiness from her eyes.

"What's all this then?"

Thunder boomed and Cecily let out a shriek. Ella nodded in understanding, ushering her siblings inside her room. Will set his little sister to Ella's bed and set her head on his shoulder, his arm still around her. Ella then lit a candle next to her bedside table and joined them at the opposite side of Cecily and put her arms around both of them. She tucked both of them under her blanket and wiped Cecily's tears away with the cloth.

"Now, now, little bird. You mean to tell me that brave Cecily Herondale, the girl who singlehandedly knocked out four of David Jones's teeth out," Ella started.

"And called Miss Halvasham "a slimy old spinster who should mind her own bloody business" to her face," added Will.

"And withstood Will singing in the bath."

"Hey!" Ella and Cecily giggled. "Why is it that degrading me is the only thing that can make you laugh?"

"Because you're so degradable?"

"That's not a word!"

"Yes it is!"

"It's not a real one, Silly."

"Well I made it one, Willy!"

"You can't just make a word!"

"I can too!"

"No, you can't!"

"Shut up, you git!"

"Language, my girl!" said Ella, hushing them both while they shared concealed secret smiles. "The point is, Cess, you mean to tell me that you're frightened by a wee bit of lightning?"

As if by magic, another roll of thunder came from the heavens and Cecily sunk lower on the bed, practically covering her face with the blanket. Ella shook her head, a bemused smile on her face. She looked down on her younger sister, the girl's blue eyes huge and round in fear. Her little brother only looked to Cecily and with every wince from the younger girl, he would squeeze her shoulder and remind her that he was still there. And he looked down on Cecily with those same blue eyes.

Ella blew out the candle and started singing them both a lullaby. Her voice was soft but strong, loud enough that it resonated across the room. Her voice was lovely and round, enunciating each vowel with gusto. It was a lullaby that their mother sang to her and now she sang to them. Neither Will nor Cecily understood the foreign sounding words like Ella did but the melody held them in place. The thunder roaring outside the house was forgotten and the only sound they heard was the voice of Ella Herondale.

"Will you both still be there when I wake up?" little Cecily asked softly, her eyes already succumbing to lethargy.

"Always," replied Ella. "We will never leave you."

"We promise," said Will.

It was quiet in Wales after that. The hurricane blew away eventually and the sky was blue again.

Little did they know that in two weeks, Cecily and their mother would go into the town for supplies and to fit new dresses. Little did they know that in two weeks and two days time, the Clave would come to visit and offer the Herondale siblings a place in the Shadow World.

Little did they know that in two weeks time, Will Herondale would visit the library and find a small box…

A/N: By the Angel, this was painful to write. I was sobbing through most of it, honestly. I'm working on the first chapter now and it should be up once I get the structure right. You can visit me on Tumblr at sisypheandreams or wearegravity to hurry me up or just read about the goings on in my life. Reviews are the greatest thing ever so please, do indulge me if you will. Will. Will. WILL. TEARS.

Cheerio, loves.

xx, Jonnah