Bonjour mes amis! Just need to say that I do not own any characters all rights go to Rick Riordon!

"Lords and ladies, I welcome you to the opening of the 5th and biggest Knight's Mellay!" Annabeth's father introduced.

The elves in the stands erupted in applause and cheers. Around the arena were all the contestants, Annabeth could see Thalia's older brother, Heracles, standing amongst them. Thinking of Thalia, where was she? She thought that Thalia would have loved to witness the Mellay, her father, Duke Zeus, was watching with them in the royal box.

Annabeth was disappointed that Thalia wasn't here, since this meant she had to sit alone, under her father's glare – which was not her idea of 'fun'

Her father waved the contestants off the arena and then the first match had begun. Powers and magical abilities were allowed, the first to fall unconscious was the loser.

This was going to be a long day.

Annabeth looked down from the royal box and saw two elves circling each other guardedly. The tallest one lunged suddenly at his opponent, his black ponytail swinging.

The shorter elf blocked his sword with unexpected strength and blasted his opponent with a powerful stream of energy which hit the taller one directly in the chest.

The spectators cheered when the elf was sent sprawling on the arena floor. He recovered quickly and charged again at his opponent, he blocked another stream of energy with his sword and slashed across the elf's chest.

Annabeth quickly looked away at the gruesome sight of blood. Unlike Thalia, she couldn't bear the sight of someone else's blood. Seeing her blood was fine – but on someone else...it was just foul.

"Are you not enjoying it, Annabeth?" Her father asked.

"No, it's very interesting," she managed without vomiting over his feet.

"I'm glad," though he didn't sound very glad.

The horn blew to signal the end of the match. Annabeth looked down again to see the shorter elf being carried away by servants – the winner was bowing and taking in the applause and roar of the crowd.

"How many more is there to watch?" Annabeth asked looking back at her father, who was talking to the King of Atlantia.

He stopped talking and peered down at the scroll in his hands.

"49 more... for today," he said smugly. She could positively hear the words that lay underneath: 'It's so fun boring you to death'

She held back a groan and set her eyes back on the arena. She only hoped that Thalia turned up so she could have someone to talk to.


Thalia opened her eyes cautiously. The ground had stopped shaking and she still was in one piece. There was a massive crater all around her that was full to the brim with precious jewels and gems that had not been there a moment ago.

She was still tied to the stone block, but at least she was in the open air.

There was clanging of metal and Leo poked his head out of the jewels and starting wailing about his house being trashed and generally making a racket.

"Hazel?" Thalia called.

"What – what just happened?" She stammered. The aura of orange had disappeared. Thalia noticed in shock that Hazel was standing completely unscathed with not one gemstone touching her.

"Can you untie me and then we can figure that out?"

Hazel blinked. "Yeah, sorry..."

She started pulling on the knots that came off easier than Thalia expected. "Why are you so old? I mean...you look older than you were a few weeks ago."

Thalia wondered how to break the news nicely.

She sat up on the stone slab once the knots were all undone.

"Hazel, I haven't seen you in five years."

"Wait, what do you mean, I'm sure -"

"That mad creature over there - ," she pointed to Leo. "- has been keeping you prisoner. He trapped you in time and made you his slave for five years."

She let that sink it. Hazel took it surprisingly well. She breather deeply and exhaled. "What about my mother and my father – they must think I'm dead..." her eyes widened even more. "I have to get back!"

"What about your friend? He was here a moment ago," Thalia remembered.

"I don't know!" Hazel wailed. "What friend?"

"Erm...the guy with short black hair – you know, the person you have a crush on?"

Hazel looked dumbfounded. "You mean Frank? He's here too? Eeek! We need to find him."

Well, she didn't deny that she had a crush on him...

Hazel immediately started wading through giant crater of gems, desperately screaming Frank's name. Thalia saw her tumble over suddenly.

"I've found him!" she yelled. She pulled up a figure that definitely did not look like Frank.

"Put me down!" hollered the goblin, his feet dangled in air from Hazel's grip. Hazel screamed and dropped him right into a very spiky looking crystal.

"Oof."

"Try calling his full name," Thalia suggested helpfully.

"MY PRECIOUS HOUSE, YOU'VE MANSLAUGHTERED MY HOUSE," cried Leo, who was trying to find his broken pieces of furniture and the occasional lamp shade.

"Frank! Frank Zhang!" Hazel called.

A head burst out of the thick sea of precious stones. "Yes, yes! I'm coming mother! Wait what am I doing here?" his head promptly fell back heavily with a nasty thud. Thalia winced.

"Frank's alive!" Hazel said happily, rushing over toward him.

Together Thalia and Hazel dragged him out of the pit and laid him carefully on the ground. He started snoring heavily, so they knew he was alright.

"What are we going to do about him?" Hazel asked pointing down at the hyperventilating madman.

"Leave him there? He did kidnap us after all," Thalia said hardheartedly.

"But -"

"Let's go," Thalia interrupted. "You take his hands, I'll take his feet."

Hazel blushed when she had to hold his hands. Yep. Undeniably in love...at 7 years old.

"Poof, he weighs like a ton," Thalia groaned.

"It means that he is very muscular," Hazel defended, though Thalia could tell that she was struggling. They stumbled out of the clearing, not even considering taking any gems.

"So, what was your last memory before today?" Thalia said, changing the subject smoothly.

Hazel stared into the distance. Her brow creased as she tried to think. "Hmm...I think I was with Frank – we were locked in a box? I can't really remember that well, oh there was also someone called Percy!"

"Percy? I don't know any Percy's around here."

Hazel frowned; she looked as though she was trying to remember more. "He told me that he didn't have a proper name...can't think why." She got lost in thought again.

Before Thalia could respond Hazel screamed and dropped Frank's hands. His head clanged painfully on a rock. He murmured something unintelligible.

Thalia spun around and she met a familiar pair of dark crimson eyes. She jumped, startled.

"You!" she said.

He looked up at her soberly.

"You shouldn't judge my master too harshly," he told her seriously and quickly wiped a bit of snot from his nose. Thalia fought the urge to hand him a tissue.

"He turned you into a goblin, if you haven't realised that yet. I can't see why you're defending him," Thalia pointed out. "So stop wasting my time, we need to get going – Hazel let's go."

Hazel heaved Frank's arms up and they slowly started making their way back again. The goblin kept up with them on his short knobbly legs.

"He suffered a tragic heartbreak when he was younger – it turned him insane."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want my master to recover from his insanity so -"

"- he'll make you an elf again?" Thalia finished.

"Yeah, but for his own benefit as well," Thalia was taken aback to find that goblins could feel compassion.

Thalia looked back and saw Leo wandering through the woods alone, crying and muttering random words from his own made up language. She felt slightly sorry for him. Homeless and insane.

She sighed. "Ok, I'll help,"

She didn't know where this pity had come from, but seeing Leo looking so lost made her heart pang with remorse.

The goblin smiled gleefully.

"Wow, that sounds so unlike you," Hazel grinned warmly. "The cold fearless Thalia saying 'I'll help'"

"Shut up," she said playfully. She gently put down Frank's legs and weaved her way in through the trees to find Leo.

Luke the goblin hobbled along after her.

"My house...dim-witted...never should've...m – mer..."

"Leo?" Thalia said, trying to sound kind.

Leo looked up at her, his eyes were rimmed with red and his pupils looked abnormally large. He fiddled with something inside his apron pocket.

"You? You came back for me?" He sounded so happy.

Thalia nodded. "Come to Athane with me, I can find you a new place to live there..."

"No...No...Call -"

"Earth to Leo, are you coming or what?" Thalia said impatiently.

"I will join you," he said, breaking out of his trance. "This new place sounds nice."

"Good," Thalia ran her mind through the places he could stay. Either he stayed at an inn the rest of his life or she would have to use her money to buy him a house.

She wasn't sure if she had enough heart to do that.

"Leo – are you strong?"

"Me...Pfft...Yeah I'm strong – I've always been the strongest, not even the King can b -"

"Ok, I get it – can you carry Frank back to Athane for us? So you can show off that strength."

Leo nodded and muttered a few make believe words. Luke screamed excitedly and went off on a ramble about spinach and cabbage leaves. Apparently he liked cooking.

Hazel greeted her when they got back to Frank.

"You've changed, Thalia," she said. "The old Thalia would never have done something like that."

Thalia didn't know what to reply.


The waiting area stank horrifically of sweat, which was not Percy's idea of starting a new life. Especially when he was being forced to listen to the continuous boasting of a muscular guy called Heracles.

Apparently he had won every single Mellay event he had ever competed in. Right now he was having a heated argument with the Prince of Atlantia. Both of them were standing chest to chest, screaming into each other's faces. How conceited could they get?

No one had taken any notice of Percy, he hadn't expected it. Most of the knights here had competed in the Mellay before and they knew each other quite well. Percy sighed. This wasn't what he had thought the Mellay was going to be like. Since there were so many contestants, he had to wait extra long to fight.

He fiddled with his dagger. He still remembered the girl who had given it to him. He wondered where she was now – she could even be watching from the stands.

He sensed a presence approaching him. Heracles. Just his luck.

"Where did you get that?" he sneered, gesturing to the jewel encrusted dagger.

Percy ignored him and continued fiddling with his dagger.

"Answer me."

"How about 'no'?"

Instead of questioning him anymore, his eyes gleamed. A devious smirk appeared on his features.

"Only girls use daggers," then he walked away.

Percy clenched his jaw, trying to contain his resentment.

The next contestants went on; he could hear the roar of the crowd all the way from here. The fight lasted for approximately 5 minutes, ending in a flash of turquoise light that made the crowd go wild.

"Persues Jackson and Octavian Poall!"

Percy stood up; he could feel eyes on his back as he headed into the arena. He felt like a fly on a wall standing in the middle of the sea of faces.

"Octavian! Octavian!" he heard people chanting. His opponent stared at him through pale blue slits. His figure was tall, though gangly and resembled a scarecrow maybe just a little too realistically. He wore light armour, though Percy wore none. There was no point.

"Begin!" the king yelled from the royal box. Percy looked up and saw a beautiful princess with stormy grey eyes...

Slash.

A deep wound gouged into his arm.

Percy gritted his teeth. He cursed himself for getting distracted. Spinning round and taking the scarecrow by surprise he clanged the flat of his dagger on his head.

Octavian stumbled backwards, his face furious, which made him a very scary scarecrow. He shot a beam of fire right at Percy, who dodged by jumping unnaturally high over his head, somersaulted once and landed neatly behind him.

The crowd screamed in applause.

Octavian spun around and slashed with his sword. But Percy was only toying with him. The scarecrow couldn't make another mark.

Using a disarming technique he had taught himself years ago, he knocked Octavian's sword out of his hand and shot a bolt of blue energy at him. Octavian landed scraped up and bruised far away on the side of the arena.

Percy felt his energy diluting and fading. Seems like the scarecrow won't be able to scare anyone for the time being.

He turned around and looked at the royal box; the blonde haired princess stared down at him like she'd seen a ghost.

This certainly wasn't what Percy had pictured the Mellay to be.


"So what do you think?"

The room before them was a cosy vintage styled bedroom with a bed and dressing table. Large red curtains hung by the sides of the window that looked out over the market street.

Leo nodded but didn't say anything. It wasn't exactly reassuring.

"That's great," Thalia sighed, pushing Leo into the room. "Make yourself at home, go downstairs and have a pint of beer – or anything you usually do in your spare time-"

...he dissects teenagers in his spare time, she reminded herself.

"Actually no – you go and don't leave this room, ok?" Thalia told him. "I'll see you how you are getting on later."

Leo nodded again. "Can I have your ear?"

"No! Stop talking about dissecting ok? It's not civilized."

"Pleeeeese, Caly – I mean Thalia."

"No, no more experimenting, promise me that."

"I – I...um..."

Thalia glared at him.

Leo shrank back. "Can I have some time to think about that?" he asked tentatively.

She glared harder at him.

"Fine, I promise. Only for you." Thalia wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Good, I'll see you later!" Thalia shut his door behind her and made her way back down the wooden staircase. The inn owner waved cheerfully goodbye to her, which she half heartedly responded to.

She was late for the Mellay; Annabeth was going to kill her. Oops. Nah, it's alright elves can't die. The town clock said quarter past four – she'd missed most of the matches. That's disappointing.

Rushing down to the arena and climbing up the long narrow staircase up to the royal box, she swiftly sat down in her seat next to Annabeth.

"Hi!"

Annabeth gave her a shaky smile that completely and utterly failed.

"What's up," Thalia said, though her voice sounded more commanding than worried.

Annabeth laughed proper high pitched. Ooook that was unusual. Her hands were trembling and she was sweating buckets.

"Annabeth, seriously, what's the matter?" her patience was wearing very thin today. "Is it the blood or the fighting? Are you sick?"

Annabeth inhaled sharply. She muttered something about black hair and green eyes? Great, her best friend was turning into a Leo.

"Do you need a rest? Maybe it's the heat – have you been hallucinating?" she realised it was a stupid question since a person who was having hallucinations wouldn't know that they were having hallucinations.

"Saw a ghost..." Annabeth mumbled. She stood up suddenly.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?" King Frederic demanded angrily. "Sit down, immediately."

Slowly Annabeth sat down.

"Annabeth, talk to me – what's going on?" Thalia hissed in her ear, trying to grab her attention.

"I'm not sure – maybe I've got it wrong...I'll find out...tonight..."

Thalia made up her mind to follow her where ever she was going to go. She could stray off the path and get lost...again.

Then after that, Thalia would finally find out what secret Mr Brunner was hiding from them.

AN: Hi! do you want longer chapters or is this one ok? (Longer ones will take more time though) Thanks!