This one is for Patatesfrites, thank you! I wish I could PM you but I can't so here. Thanks for reviewing! :)

Third Person's POV

Thalia Grace has been spotted! was splashed across the headlines. She has been seen booking a hotel room in Paris at the Hotel Ritz, where Coco Chanel has stayed for several years. But enough about famous designers- though the socialite has also been noticed at several events in Paris, wearing a Coco Chanel gown in purple.

Annabeth's POV

She tore open the envelope as frantically as a doctor during surgery, not bothering to use the silver letter opener lying on the oak writing desk.

"Why are you so excited to hear from my cousin anyways?" Percy joked, his breath tickling the shell of her ear and sending a tingle down her spine.

"Oh, stop it," she snapped playfully swatting at him to go away. The envelope was thick, the handwriting familiar despite the unrecognizable Paris return address. Wait a minute... that envelope read Thalia di Angelo.

"What in the bloody world..." Percy whispered, sounding shocked, and she knew that despite all his jabs he cared for his cousin like a sister.

But her friend had to have an explanation; she always did. And surely enough, the then she noticed the asterisk beside it, and pulled out the embossed hotel stationery to read the letter. There was a footnote, which read: The hotel clerk is mailing this letter for me, and seeing as I cannot risk revealing my identity due to the bloodhounds that are the society pages, this is quite obviously a false surname. Then she read the entire letter.

Dear Annabeth,

I am writing to you for several reasons: first of all, to inform you of my whereabouts, second of all to request that you please ride and groom Nightshade* or at the very least visit her. (You know she hates to be neglected).-

Annabeth smiled to herself. Thalia's horse did enjoy social interaction.

-and finally, please do not write back. I will be back in London within a sennight.

But these are all trivial things. I require your assistance in a very important matter which I believe you brought to my attention several weeks ago: Marriage. Annabeth, I've known you for years. You have the most logical mind of anyone I've ever met, you can easily forge a lawyer's contract (oh, don't give me that look)-

The blonde touched the space between her eyebrows- sure enough, they were furrowed at the mention of anything contraband.

-and reading eight books in a week. Please, as your oldest, dearest friend (Percy doesn't count; he's a male) I request that you do this one favour for me. Trick Luke into signing a contract that says he has to break my engagement. Please.

Love,

Thalia

Bianca's POV

Sighing, she rubbed her temples. It had been a week since she'd seen the note taped to a half-burned tree, but time had done nothing to make her less worried about her brother, and in fact had given her even more stress.

As she dug into her scrambled eggs, a man approached her with a letter. She recognized him from the reception desk, but more importantly she recognized the handwriting as her brother's. Quickly swallowing the mouthful of food, she practically snatched the envelope from him, barely remembering to thank him as she tore open the envelope with her butter knife.

Dear sister,

I am to be married. I do believe you know the name of the unlucky lady-

She laughed at his dry sense of humour.

I shall be back in London in a few days, so do not worry.

Oh, how well he knew her. She touched the lines between her eyebrows from being furrowed so much.

Love,

Nico

-page break-

Annabeth POV

Seeing as Thalia had asked her to, and Percy had left yesterday with his father Poisedon and half-brother Tyson on a biannual trip to the coast, Annabeth felt lonely and decided to go riding with Katie, Piper, and Reyna as an attempt to get to know the new girl better. (Tyson lived with his mother in Wales and saw Percy every summer when he visited London.)

Which was why she was currently winding a thick grey cashmere scarf around her neck and over her face in an attempt to stay warm in the bitter, couldn't-feel-her-toes cold.

"I barely know you, but I do believe I speak for all of us when I say this was a bad idea," proclaimed Reyna, shifting her reins to one gloved hand in order to adjust her thick plait of hair beneath her fur-lined hood.

Piper nodded, her curled hair bouncing. She hadn't worn it in her usual braid today, and Annabeth would make a ballpark guess that she couldn't possibly wear it in the same style as Reyna, still harbouring ill will towards the Latino girl. "I agree. Aren't you usually the logical one? Everything about this is illogical." The kaleidoscope-eyed girl winked at Annabeth, an inside joke to the fact that every time she and the blonde worked together, Piper made decisions by impulse and Annabeth by logic.

"Alright," Annabeth sighed, succumbing to peer pressure and the numbing, eye-smarting wind blowing in her face.

"I forgot, I have an... errand I have to... run," Reyna lied weakly, getting up a mere ten minutes after perching herself on the chenille-upholstered sofa in the drawing room of the Chase manor.

"Why do you hate me?" Piper blurted out, causing Reyna to pause in picking up her gloves.

"I don't hate you."

"Then why is it that every time I wind up in your vicinity, you flee?"

"Perhaps I don't like your perfume,"

"I don't wear perfume, and I don't know what happened, but I do hope we can at least be civil to one another-"

"To what end? Friends? We can never be friends, let alone civil!" The usually composed Reyna was clearly seething, her flashing eyes and angry stature reminiscent of Boadicea.

By now, Piper's tone was just as scathing as Reyna's, and the room's inhabitants turned to watch, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as the typically reserved Reyna and normally mellow Piper fought.

"Why?"

"Because of Jason! I had him, and you took him from me!"

"I took him from you? You never had him! He loves me, and I feel the same about him. I didn't even know you existed until you got here. And when you did, Jason told me to the two of you were friends. So you never had him."

Reyna and Piper were speechless. Both of the girls were breathing as if they'd run miles without stopping.

"I'm sorry." Piper said quietly."That was rude of me."

"I feel terrible for all the hard feelings I've harbored towards you. You're a lovely girl, and I do hope we can be friends. "

"We'll see how it progresses from here."

*Zoe Nightshade. Do you think she'd name a horse after that?