"Welcome to the Seelie Glade, Clary and Camille Fairchild."

Meliorn's greeting echoes through the lushly light green forest, the pearly white dust motes floating softly through the air. The Seelie Realm was like a weird hybrid of a normal mundane forest and a fairy's playground, fitting considering Seelie's are faeries.

"How did we get here?" Clary ponders, her gaze lingering on the air. It was an artist's paradise, this place, the perfect muse

"There are entrances all through the mundane world" Jace explains

"You just have to know where to look" Meliorn adds

"How is coming here going to help us find our father, again?" I frown, stepping over a rather large, knotted tree root

"Because of your sister's necklace" Meliorn turns to gesture at the large purple crystal hanging from Clary's neck and my frown deepens, "It's a Portal shard."

"Tell us something we don't know" Jace scoffs, checking behind us anxiously. He'd been doing that for a while now, glancing behind us shiftily, almost like he was expecting some huge monster to burst from the glorious ferns

"How does it work?" Meliorn inquires, gesturing to the necklace again

"When I touch the crystal and I think of someone, I can see where they are" Clary describes

"I'm curios, Shadowhunter, who knows so much about portals" Meliorn taunts, looking at Jace pointedly, "Did you never wonder why this Portal shard doesn't behave the way normal Portals do?"

"Normal Portals can only take you to places you've been" Jace admits grudgingly, "I guess I never really thought about it."

"I see Isabelle is the smart one in the family" Meliorn comments and I snigger. Jace glares at me but I ignore him, "That Portal shard works the way it does because it's a piece of a Portal from another dimension"

"Another dimension?" I echo

"You're saying there's a Portal in some other universe that can take us to anyone if we just think of them?" Jace gapes

"If you can find the only Portal still standing in that dimension...it will take you to your father" Meliorn nods, his pace slowing as we near a clumped group of trees forming some kind of archway-like door, which he points to, "These trees are where the alternate dimensions intersect the Seelie realm."

"How is it possible that the Clave doesn't know about your dimensional doorways?" Jace interrogates and I resist the urge to growl. This stupid fucking Clave is getting on my nerves.

"They are our most guarded secret" Meliorn clarifies, "We are their protectors. Only Seelies know of their existence"

"Why are you telling us, then?" I wonder

"I owe you a life debt, Camille Fairchild" Meliorn deduces, "And I don't like being indebted to anyone."

"What would happen if-"

"If the Seelie Queen finds out I've shared this with you?" Meliorn finishes, "I could be executed."

"Then there is no reason for you to do this, don't risk your life for my sake Meliorn" I protest and I note the surprise in his features

"Another surprise" Meliorn breathes, "I've never known a Mundani to care so much for a mere Seelie...or anyone from the Shadow World, you're kind are usually quite hostile."

"You know what I am?" I gasp

"It is in your aura, yes. Rare though you may be, you're easily detectable through your aura" Meliorn considers, "Though I can detect something else, something that fluctuates your nature...what it is though, I can't be sure."

"Well...no matter what I am, of course I still care, you're a living being, you don't need to risk your life for me" I insist, still minutely bewildered by his knowledge of what I am, "Plus...Izzy cares about you. That's a factor."

"While that is very kind of you, Camille, as I said I do not like to be indebted to people. This..." he gestures again to the trees, "Is a life debt paid. Besides, if this potentially leads to the capture of Valentine Morgenstern, it's well worth the risk"

"In that case, we'll be extra careful then" Jace notes

"There is no 'we' in this scenario" Meliorn rebuts, "Only Camille goes through the Portal. My debt is to her and her alone."

"You've given us no reason to trust you, Seelie" Jace hisses

"Meliorn" I correct, a low hiss of warning in my tone, "His name is Meliorn, use it, Jace. Izzy trusts him...therefore I do, too."

"And he did bring us here" Clary points out but she looks insulted that she hasn't been offered to join me, though I'm astonished she's letting it go instead of fighting to come

Slowly, Meliorn starts to move his hands, energy pulsating loudly through the air as his hands and arms move in slow rotations and twists...it looks almost as if he were dancing. Bubbles of green emit from his hands and protrude from them, encroaching into the empty space of the adjoined trees, pushing loose branches and ferns from the overhang and clearing an open space.

"I knew the Seelies were one with nature, but..." Clary breathes, trailing off mid sentence

"This will establish a connection to the other dimension" Meliorn illustrates and I catch the slight glimmer of the air in the empty space of the tree door, as if there were a gas there, rippling the air

"What's it like? The other dimension?" Clary questions, worry seamlessly seeping into her voice, "Is it like this one?"

"It is..." Meliorn allows, "But it isn't"

"Could you be more vague?" Jace sasses and I shoot him another glare

"It is an alternate timeline, in a sense" Meliorn elaborates, "There, Shadowhunters and demons no longer exist-"

"What?!"

"-And Downworlders have conformed to the mundane way of life to avoid detection"

"What happened to the Shadowhunters?" I inquire

"Their services were no longer required, because they won the war against the demons centuries ago" Meliorn answers, "Once they sealed the rifts between their worlds...their culture faded away."

"Ha!" I guffaw, "Sounds like the Clave should take a couple chapters out of their book."

"Once you arrive in the alternate dimension, you will assume the body of the Camille in that world" Meliorn deduces, "You will think and feel just like her."

"I'll still know I'm me, though, right?" I caution, "Otherwise, this is kind of pointless, isn't it? I can't find the Portal if I don't know I'm looking for it."

"There's a catch" Jace huffs, "With Seelies, there's always a catch"

"Your alternate self could consume you if you let it" Meliorn admits

"Is there a way to not let it?" Clary questions, gripping my arm tightly

"Focus on the differences between that world and ours" Meliorn instructs, an ornate golden door forming in pieces through the rippling air, "Find something or someone to keep you grounded to this one."

"Easy enough" I smile down at Clary, knowing if there was anything I could rely on to seperate the differences, it would be Clary's connection to me...cursed or otherwise.

"It will be more difficult than you think" Meliorn warns, "If you don't hurry, you could cease to be this world's Camille Fairchild."

"And be stuck in that world forever" I finish, exhaling loudly, "Great"

***

Night had fallen and Meliorn was still working on the door, it now had a red gem-like stone in the centre of it, with carved markings all through the golden wood of the door. It was beautiful, just like everything else in the Seelie Glade.

"Just in case I don't make it back...keep the Cup safe, okay?" I utter, gripping Clary's hand tightly in mine

"You'll make it back" Clary demands

"What do either of us know about inter-dimensional travel, Clary?" I chuckle "I'm planning on making it back, trust me, but just in case-"

"Keep the Cup safe, I know" Clary sighs, taking off the Portal shard and giving it to me, "You'll need this"

I smile comfortingly and take the necklace from her, hooking it around my neck to keep it safe.

"It's time" Meliorn calls, his voice strained

"Meliorn, I appreciate the risk you're taking, but a life debt requires you ensure my sister's safety" Clary reminds him, all business and Meliorn raises an eyebrow skeptically but nods, "She's agreed to go alone...but if she finds the Portal, she can't face our father alone."

"She will need backup" Jace agrees

"If you find the Portal, you may come back for the both of them, Camille" Meliorn reluctantly agrees, "Shadowhunters need Seelie permission to go through. Only demons can pass through unaided."

Turning to the door, Meliorn whispers an incantation in a language I don't know and the ornate doors pull open, revealing some kind of Portal. It look as if fire and water were running in the same direction but on opposite sides, meeting in the middle a ways down the entrance.

Turning to me, Meliorn nod sin confirmation for me to go through and I turn to Clary, hugging her tightly before releasing her.

As I walk to the Portal, I can feel her eyes on me and somehow, I just know how hard it is for her to watch me go, alone, into some unknown world I might never come back from.