"Louisa, open the door!" Poseidon smacked his hand against the door, getting annoyed now. He had reached the guest room at the Olympian Council Hall just as she slid a heavy dresser against the door. It had now been fifteen minutes hitting the door and trying to gain entry, but his daughter was hidden in the room and quiet. That was never good.

Sally returned with Percy, who looked amused at his sister's antics.

"Lou?" He called. "Stop being stubborn and come and try the cake I found. It's really nice!" He waited a few seconds, but he didn't get a response either. His smile faltered eventually and he placed his palm against the door, his frown deepening. "She's not in there." He said, looking his father in the eye. Poseidon opened his mouth to ask how Percy knew, but then recalled that his twins had a bizarre connection of sorts, enabling them to understand each other without little or no words.

He drew his sword.

"Percy!" Sally protested, her eyes widening in horror. Percy gave a reassuring smile and jammed the sword into the door, dragging it down with slight difficulty.

He did this for five minutes until the door splintered. A large chest of drawers blocked his way in, but he just dropped his sword and clambered over it.

"Lou?" He said softly. Obviously, he didn't get a reply, he just wanted to check.

The window was open and behind a partition were the tattered remains of the dress. She had clearly ripped it off. Next to that was a shoulder bag with the Atlantean logo stitched into the flap. "She bought her own stuff." Percy told his parents. Poseidon hefted himself over and Percy hurried to his aid, moving the drawers aside for Sally to enter. How on earth Louisa moved this on her own, they weren't sure, but maybe her anger at her father had fuelled her with the extra energy.

Louisa was five miles from her hometown by this time. She had Connor, one of her best friends, sneak in with a bag of her regular clothes and her horse, Storm. The Atlantean kingdom was well-known for its cavalry and Percy and Louisa had a horse each.

She felt much more comfortable out of the dress, wearing her normal durable black trousers that were slightly baggy, warm, soft and easy to move in. She wore a white long sleeved material shirt and a dark blue, hooded and sleeveless jacket over that. Her hair had been fashioned into a messy braid- she wasn't the best stylist- and the tiara had been replaced with a flat cap tugged low over her eyes. Unless people knew her as the princess, she would just be another traveller.

She urged Storm forward at a faster rate. Her horse was a bit like her- tempermental and ambitious- stubborn, very stubborn. At least she didn't have to wear a dress…

Storm knew the path Louisa planned to take without any prompts from her owner. They visited this part of the village so often; it was like a sixth sense to the mare.

It was the working class district, the slightly poorer citizens. Louisa pitched in whenever she could by handing over regular-sized pouches of money from her father's endless funds. He didn't notice and she had warned the finance guy not to mention anything or he would be hurting badly.

Louisa dismounted as Storm slowed to a trot.

One of her other best friends, Michael, looked up as she entered the small living room and grinned, jumping to his feet.

"Lou! I thought you were at that party?"

"I was at that party."

"How did it go?"

"Badly."

"You ran, didn't you?" Louisa tried for an offended look, but Michael knew her best. "Oh, Lou! What about your dad?" She just shrugged. Michael sighed, but there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Does Storm want something to eat and drink?"

"If ya don't mind." Michael nodded and trailed off to the small kitchen. Louisa tethered Storm to the front of the house, telling her to stay for extra measure, and then followed her friend.

Michael's mother, Angelica, was still getting used to seeing Louisa in her home. Even though Michael and Louisa had been friends since childhood, Angelica was forever nervous about the princess.

Angelica was making dinner, carrying the board of freshly chopped vegetables over to the water boiling on the stove. She gave a squeak of surprise at spotting Louisa and the board clattered to the floor, vegetables bouncing in all directions. The flustered woman hastily bowed. Louisa rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have ta tell ya not ta bow?" Louisa gently grabbed the older woman by the shoulders and firmly, but kindly made her stand up straight. "Yes, very flattered that you do that, but honestly…" Louisa laughed. She stooped to help Michael pick up the fallen vegetables, chucking them into a large pot Michael had set out. This was a common routine and Storm, if present, would get the vegetables. If not, Louisa took them back to the castle and fed them to the foals there.

"Oh, I'm so clumsy, forgive me."

"You're forgiven." Louisa smiled, but Angelica was too flustered to notice, tucking her hair behind her ears and waving her hands about, fussing and muttering to herself. Louisa waited until her friend had left to fed Storm before slipping a pouch of gold and silver drachma out from her pocket and setting it on the counter.

"I can't-" Angelica started.

"Keep the money 'n' stop bowin' whenever ya see me. That's an order from your princess 'n' blah blah blah." Angelica's eyes pricked with tears and she gave Louisa a grateful hug.

"Thank you."

"Get yourself somethin' nice." Louisa replied, patting her friend's mother awkwardly on the back. "You deserve it."

"If only all princesses were as kind as you." Angelica said, drawing back. She patted Louisa's cheek, giving a motherly smile and set about peeling and chopping fresh vegetables. Louisa watched her work until Michael returned. She had tried peeling vegetables before- that had not ended well.

"Lou?" Michael frowned, looking concerned.

"Mm?"

"If you ran away from the party, wouldn't your father send out a search party?"

"Probably. Why?"

"Storm's right out in the open."

"Oh… did not think of that one…" Louisa puzzled over this new turn of events. "Well, when she's eaten, I'll take her round back 'n' we'll wait there until she's OK ta go again."

"OK."


Leo had seen her escape and then her father hurrying after her. He was one of the few princes that hadn't been deterred by her descriptive speech. He wondered what was going on. She hadn't looked at all comfortable in that dress or in front of all these people, but he couldn't blame her. This whole gathering was daunting and loaded immense amounts of pressure onto the heirs' shoulders.

He was intrigued. His father wasn't. He thought Leo could do with a calm, sensible girl that didn't cause too much stress and trouble and would be around for Leo whenever he needed. Like Pluto's daughter, Hazel. She was a nice girl, but the son of Mars had also spotted her and Leo didn't fancy going up against that muscular gargantuan.

Besides, she was too nice for Leo's liking. And he didn't want a calm and sensible wife who was there when he needed or wanted something- that was like a personal servant and he had plenty of those. He wanted someone who could match his wit and offer constructive criticism. He wanted someone who outright defied whatever she didn't agree with.

He wanted someone like Poseidon's daughter.

Maybe he could go after her and see how things were…

"Son, you better not be thinking about the wayward daughter of Poseidon…" His father, Hephaestus growled.

"No, Father." Leo lied easily. His father wasn't the most observant of people, more concerned for his inventions and thingamabobs. Leo was a bit like him, just with more patience for people. He could thank his mother, Esperanza, for that. Speaking of his mother, where was she?

Leo wondered what his mother would think of Louisa. "I'm going to find Mother." He told his father. Hephaestus just grunted in reply and turned towards the buffet table. Leo slipped into the crowds, messing his hair back into its usual curly state. He had to have his hair tamed and it wasn't something that sat well with him.

His mother was talking to some of the other queens. She beamed when she saw him and put her arms about his shoulders.

"My mijo." She smiled. "How are things?" Leo told her about Poseidon's daughter and she appeared just as intrigued as he was. "What does your father say?"

"No."

"Oh." Esperanza glanced over her son's shoulder, frowning at Hephaestus's back. "Are you sure?" Leo nodded slowly. Esperanza shot him a knowing look all mothers get. "Go around and talk to the other princesses and then see what you think. I don't want my mijo making the wrong choice."

"Yes, madre." He kissed her cheek and left to follow her orders. He would do anything for his mother, having nearly lost her in a fire when he was eight years old. Besides, she was a lot better than his father- a mostly unsociable and somewhat non-reliant grump.

He did strike up conversations with the other princesses, making them laugh and smile. Aphrodite's daughter, Piper, seemed to like him, but he could tell she had his eye on Jupiter's son. Leo, knowing Jason fairly well, offered her his arm and took her over to his best friend and made introductions.

At least that was one less princess to choose from.

He had also seen Poseidon's son dancing with Athena's daughter earlier, curious as to what their parents would say about that. There was the old rivalry between Poseidon and Athena, a series of unexplained events. Lots of rumours circulated, obviously, but there was little or no truth behind them.

But Percy reminded Leo of Jason a little bit and it was probably best he didn't pry on his possible future wife.

So, two down. Three if you included Pluto's daughter.

That left him a few others, but they were a bit too high and mighty for his taste. Friendly enough, yes, but not to his standards. He returned to his mother within the hour and told her that he wanted to visit the Atlantean kingdom later.

That was going to go down like a lead balloon with his father.


Look! See how nice I am? LEO'S MADRE IS ALIVE!

And I just watched the trailers to Divergent and City of Bones and I WANT THEM!