Percy wasn't quite sure when he first noticed the girl sitting by the pond, but he knew that there was something… different about her. Her jet black hair was the polar opposite of the pure white snow that covered the ground, which seemed thicker near her than elsewhere. She was dressed nowhere near as much as the others around her, but didn't seem bothered by the cold.

Every morning for a week, she was there, looking at the frozen surface of the pond, unmoving apart from the odd sigh. One day, the first day that school was out, Percy decided he would go down and talk to her, see why she came every day, yet did nothing.

Giving his mother a quick "goodbye", he put on his coat and took to the stairs, bracing himself for the bitter cold that would surely come when he exited the door. The cold was worse than it was the before, but Percy was well prepared. Crossing the road, he looked around for the girl again, but didn't need to for long. There she was again, in the exact same spot, staring at the exact same pond. The snow, once again, seemed thicker around her. Looking closely, she seemed about 17, but the expression on her face made her seem far more experienced. He pondered for a moment whether to go up to her after all, but, having gone to all the effort of coming out anyway, thought it would be worth a try.

"Hi," he said, about 2 feet from the girl. She seemed surprised.

"Hi," she replied, somewhat shocked. She turned to face Percy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" He looked away for a bit, then back.

"Well, you seem to be here every morning, but just look at the pond, not talking to anyone, or really doing anything else. Is something wrong?" She smiled a sad smile, and made eye contact. Percy was shocked by what he saw. She had icy blue eyes, with irises paler than any he had seen before.

"Quite a curious kid, aren't you?" Percy looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have –"

"– don't worry about it," she added, gesturing to the ground next to her, "come sit for a bit."

Percy did, though when he came closer, he felt that the air around her seemed colder, although not uncomfortably so.

"I was actually wondering when someone would notice me," she continued, "Nobody did except you. Quite telling, actually."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, curiously.

"Well, I know it's probably weird to open up to a complete stranger like this, but it's been so long since I've been able to just talk to anyone. Do you know what it's like to be alone?" Percy thought about it for a moment, considering everything that had happened to him so far.

"I guess not. I mean, when I'm not with my mom or at school with the bullies, I'm with him."

"What do you mean?" She turned to face him, speaking somewhat quizzically/

"Well, my mom's one of the nicest people I know, but when she's not around, everyone around me seems to just hate my guts. I'm the weird kid who nobody likes, even though he did nothing wrong." The girl seemed to understand.

"I know what it feels like… what's your name?" Percy considered whether to tell this stranger her name, but something about her made her seem trustworthy.

"Percy." He said.

"I know what it feels like, Percy. My mom can't stand to look at me, my dad doesn't care about me, nobody even wants to talk to me, all because of what I am." She had turned away, and the air dropped another few degrees.

"It can't be that bad –"

"– it can, Percy," she interrupted, "but you coming here showed me something. It can change." He was a bit confused now.

"Huh?"

"The fact that you just came and talked to me is proof of that. You didn't know who I was, what I've done or what I might do, but thought I was lonely. Thanks, Percy." She smiled again, but seemed to do so genuinely out of happiness, this time.

"I… I guess, but are you sure you should be telling a 12 year old that he should trust complete strangers?" Percy asked, chuckling slightly.

"Maybe not, but at least you talked to me. Nobody's done that for a long time." Percy remembered that he never asked her name.

"Khione." Percy had never heard a name like that before.

"Nice name. Better than Perseus, at least." Khione chuckled a bit.

"And why's that?"

"Nobody's laughed at you just for having a weird name. At least yours is… cool, in a way. Mine just sounds old." Khione laughed at that.

"If only you knew what's behind that name."

"The fact I know just makes it worse, 'cause it makes me feel that I'm not living up to those expectations." Khione felt somewhat awkward now, having had the roles reversed, but decided that she could at least try to help.

"Just because you haven't done anything now doesn't mean you won't do great things in future, Percy." He was now smiling too.

"Thanks, Khione. I think we both needed this little talk."

"I guess we did." She stood up, helping Percy to his feet. "If it's snowing out, I'll be right here. Don't forget about me."

"I won't", responded Percy, and when he looked at her eyes again, they had somehow turned from their icy colour to a brilliant cyan.