a/n: hello there. I changed my mind. This chapter is gonna be in Ollie's POV after all. I'll do a little flashback format for Ia's POV, which will be the next chapter. Hey, this will actually have more than four chapters. Probably five or six chapters, maybe. We'll see. Thanks to all who reviewed, added to favorites, and added to story alerts. Thanks to snowsparklegems, and thanks a million times to TheNextAlice who has reviewed *gasp* every single chapter so far! You're the best! All of you!

I was wandering aimlessly around town, and then, I saw something. Hummel and his gang were picking on someone. Poor kid, I knew how he felt. Usually Hummel's crew just liked to pick on small kids, particularly lads who had girlish faces.

The panic rising in my blood, I ran towards the crime scene. Don't ask me how, I don't know. I was so scared I might have just died right there and then.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Leave him alone!"
"Stay out of this, Olly Olly Oxen Free. Or do you want another beating, hmm?" Hummel growled, his eyes piercing.
"You'll leave this poor lad alone, and even if you do try to give me another beating, I'll outsmart you again, the way I always do! Now bog off!"

Hummel and his cronies bogged off, just as they were told, glaring and shaking their fists at me, leaving the kid to cower. He didn't look familiar. It didn't feel like I'd seen him around here before.

I tried to get a closer look at him. It looked like Hummel hadn't hurt him physically. He must have figured out early on that verbal bullying was enough to tear this lad to pieces.

I laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," I whispered. "Are you all right?"
He looked up a little, showing only a pair of blue-grey eyes that were half-hidden under the brim of his cap. He shook his head, and mouthed, "no."

I reached out my hand, and tried for a smile. I was a little surprised when he took it. I helped him stand.

"You're not from around here, are you? I haven't noticed you around. And believe me, if you were from around here, I'd notice."
He gave a small smile, and I realized just how like a girl's his features were. "No, you're right. I'm not."
"What's your name?"
"A-Arion."
"Arion? Wasn't he a great musician of Greek mythology? Son of Poseidon, wasn't he?"
I saw his eyes widen. "Yes, he was. But I'm not. My brothers are better than me," he smiled.
"Would you like me to show you around, then? I'm Oliver. I'll keep those thugs away if they think of coming again."
"O-of course. That would be lovely."

As we walked, I showed him a lot of stuff. The normal things, anyway; I didn't want to scare him. Wouldn't you be scared if I showed you a hanged man's dead body still hanging by the rope? I took him around to the best spots in town. One personal favourite was the roof of Bill the blacksmith's workshop, where you could see as far out as to the Canary Wharf. That was where I'd always go when I wanted to see James. James was Bill's son, and my best friend. He had a pet canary called Jamie.

About halfway through the little tour I was giving Arion, he pulled me aside and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a tiny wooden box—barely bigger than my hands- with a little golden key at the back for you to wind up. My eyes widened. Had Arion nicked it? No, he was wearing good clothes; he must come from a family that was pretty well-off.

Arion opened the miniature box, and out popped a boy and a girl, frozen in a dancing position.

He smiled. "He looks like you, doesn't he, Oliver? Only his hair is black and his eyes green," he said, aiming for a laugh but failing horribly. His eyes were filled with pain.

"Hummel and his thugs. They were picking on you because of the box, weren't they?" I frowned. "I thought they were picking on you looks, but they weren't."

At that moment, Hummel and his cronies popped out of nowhere, and ambushed. Grabbing Arion's hand—which surprisingly wasn't as big as id thought it would be—and ran for our lives. It didn't take a genius to know that Arion wasn't an expert at running. But I was, and I only hoped I was expert enough for us both.

Soon, Hummel couldn't keep up with us anymore, but we kept running, simply because the exhilaration was the best feeling in the world. Arion kept holding onto his hat.

After a while, I could feel my legs getting heavier. We were tiring. We stopped.

I turned around, and gasped.

a/n: so, how was it? I decided to be fair to Ollie after all. Please review, and sorry for not updating for so long! Yes, i know, it's a cliffy, but you'll have to wait! :)