I don't know why I ran away from Nico so quickly, everything just suddenly caught up with me. I panicked and leapt for it. But now that he was gone I was worried he thought that I regretted it. Because I didn't. I didn't regret it at all.

Oh gods, what was I doing?

Why did I get this dumb idea to come here? Mum always said I made impulsive and irrational choices. But mum wasn't here...I sighed. If she was here, I know she would know what to do. If she was here...Maybe I would've never left. Maybe we'd be sitting at home together right now. But she wasn't, she never would be again.

I silently cried, the tears disappearing into the water. Why her?

Please mum,

Please come back to me.

What was I doing here? I'm so stupid. Falling in love with a Prince...

This was meant be fun! A fun trip away, to distract me, to help that Frank guy, and seduce a Prince. This was not turning out how I thought it would. What was Nico doing to me? I knew I couldn't be with him. A prince and a lowly Thief? Ha, I wish.

I knew how Nico felt about keeping the creature in the tank, but something about it reminded me of somebody I used to know, and somehow I wanted to keep it close. Out of morbid curiosity or perhaps something entirely different, I often found myself heading back to the tank to watch it swim around.

Why did it seem so familiar? It's hair, the way it moved, I'd seen it all. And it's eyes, piercingly bright green...just like him. It couldn't be...

Percy was so confusing. I didn't understand what is going on, but I couldn't stop it from happening.

AGH!

I banged my head against the wall and groaned in frustration. Thinking about it, replaying every tiny detail of every moment spent with him, wasn't helping. I needed to clear my head.

Making my mind up, I quickly headed out of my room to find Hazel. When I knocked she let me in immediately and I came to sit on her bed.

"Oh Hazel. I don't know what I'm doing. What is he doing to me Hazel?" I asked

"Who?" She questioned

"No one. It doesn't matter anyway. Can you cover for me with father? He'll be super mad if he finds out I bailed on my duties for a day," I requested dully.

"Fine. I'll cover for you. I'll say you went out with me to shop or something. But you owe me one, and I expect you to tell me who this guy is." She said.

"Whatever," I agreed indifferently.

"Bye Nico," She said softly as I closed her door.

"Bye." I whispered back.

Then I ran out of the castle and into freedom. The markets were bustling with activity, and I looked around in wonder. They were always so warm and lively, full of busy people. Even though I had to hide who I actually was, it felt nice to watch everyone, just doing basic things. It was so intriguing to see what they were doing.

Their lives were so different than mine, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would be like as one of them.

I sighed with frustration. I guess now was a good time to utilise that 'escape tunnel' Frank's buddy made.

Quickly checking no one was around, I then searched for any small differences in the tank, a latch or lever, or button. I was patting down one of the glass walls when something clicked, and I was suddenly wooshed out of the tank by a blast of water.

It was pitch black dark and I was being rushed down some sort of long tube or pipe. It wasn't too long before I was spat out into a small tub of warm water.

Disoriented, I tried to stand up, then realised I still had a tail and kind of flopped down.

All of a sudden a face came into view. He has curly dark black hair, golden skin, warm brown eyes and was wearing a mischievous smile. He kind of reminded me of a Latino elf...

"Hey!" He yelled

"You okay there?" He continued to scream

"I'm fine, other than my sore ears from your yelling. I'm not deaf you know," I told him pointedly.

"Whoops. Sorry. You looked a little dazed." He apologised looking a bit sheepish

"Yes, one would look dazed if they were randomly spat out into someone's hot tub," I grumbled, channeling my inner Nico-gloom.

"Anyway, I'm Leo. Wasn't my contraption amazing? All the way from the middle of the castle to my own house. It was hard, but I did it." He said proudly

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," I admitted

"I'm Percy by the way." I told him.

"Cool. I love your tail, it's so shimmery," He said, entranced.

"Uhm. Thanks," I replied, awkwardly trying to hide my tail.

I shapeshifted back into human form, and stepped out of the tub.

"Have any spare clothes I can borrow?" I asked him, as I was still wearing the servants clothes from the castle.

"Uh, sure." He said.

"Here," He said out of breath, after coming back with some clothes. They were covered in grease stains, presumably being a mechanic. I mean, I wasn't judging, they were probably in better condition than my clothes.

Once I had got changed, he offered me some food. Never one to turn down food, I took a sandwich.

"Mm, this is good. Thanks Leo," I said, waving goodbye.

"See you Percy," He said.

I went to walk out of the door when I heard someone knock at his front door.

I turned to Leo and mouthed 'Who is it?'.

He shrugged. 'Maybe Princess Hazel?' He mouthed back.

I groaned internally. I could just leave, but if it was Hazel, then it's possible she could recognise, me, even with my neat 'disguise'

I motioned for Leo to go open the door, then turned around to find somewhere to hide in the room. If I was going to stay, then I was at least going to spy on them, get the gossip. (If she was even coming)