Melody gasped, her eyes widening. "Th-Thalia! It's me, Melody!" she attempted, but Thalia just pushed the sword closer to Melody's neck. "We're f-friends, remember?" In desperation, she reached out an arm and yanked at one of Thalia's short curls. "THALIA!" The redhead screamed and released her, and Melody rubbed her neck without moving from the tree her back was pressed against. Thalia glared at her and, in a single fluid motion, sent her sword flying at Melody's head. Yelping, she ducked the instant before the blade would have decapitated her. Clearly, Thalia was not going listen to reason. So, Melody bounced back onto her feet and charged, the fierce red curls acting as a target for her to capture. From seemingly out of nowhere, a bow appeared in her friend's hands. Whatever. It was Thalia's mind, she supposed, so she could do what she wanted.

An arrow zipped past her, nicking her right arm. Blood seeped out from the cut, and in that moment, Melody remembered where she was. Her arm did not sting with pain, because she was in Thalia's mind. Recalling what Peter had told her before crossing into her mind, Mel took deep breaths, focusing on her speed. She hardly noticed when an arrow went straight through her abdomen. This is not real. Another arrow, this time through her head. This is not real. She concentrated hard, imagining the blood flowing from the cut stretching into long, red ropes. They wrapped around Thalia's resisting body, and the bow dropped to the ground. Melody tackled her to the ground and landed on top of her with a thud, her breathing heavy. "I'm Melody! Look at me!"

"Mel's my friend. I dunno who ye are, but yer not her." To Melody's pleading eyes, she gave a sneer. "Fine, then. What's the first present I gave ye, Mel?" She said it with such disgust, Mel wondered how Thalia could be so sure that she wasn't herself. It was baffling to her that, even after all they'd been through together, Thalia could not recognize her.

"A dolphin carved from ash wood!" After blinking a few times, realization dawned on Thalia's face. Melody just scowled at her failure to recognize her supposed 'best friend'. "Now, will you please listen to me? There's a lot of stuff I need to explain."

Gladice stood in the hallway just outside the door to the observatory. The room itself was fairly large, but with everyone crowded in there at once, she needed some space to breathe. Dim lamps lined the walls, casting an eery glow over the dark wooden walls. Her eyelids drooped from exhaustion, something she was not aware had been affecting her for quite some time. A dry laugh escaped her lips. "I guess the shock hasn't worn off, yet..." she murmured softly.

"Maybe not." Gasping, Gladice made a swift turn to see who had joined her. Lance had his arms crossed over his chest, the thin fabric of his black t-shirt showing off the muscles of his biceps. She couldn't look at him for very long before a blush crept onto her cheeks. Quickly, her head swiveled to look at the ground, and she scolded herself for still harboring feelings toward him. He was only a friend. Yet, when she had the nerve to look back up at him, she was sure his purple eyes were fixated on her in the same way hers had been so many times prior. His head turned away before she had the time to process the look. "Are you scared?"

A delirious laugh echoed through the hall. "Am I scared? Am I scared?" Waving her hands in wide gestures, Gladice swiftly listed, "Why would I be scared? My parents are gone to who-knows-where. I was tricked by Ursula and nearly mauled by a lion, after which we spent forever walking in a desert, all without food. Then, Angelica and Genevieve nearly die, and now Thalia's missing. And we still don't know how to fix this." By the end of her hysterical rant, the information had sunk in for Gladice just as much as Lance, and her laughs turned to sobs. She was almost content to just stand there and be miserable, possibly die of dehydration. Nice and peaceful, like ice melting, she would become a part of her surroundings and not be missed.

Warmth surrounded her, but she did not open her eyes. She could not face Lance, not as a friend. Being a friend wasn't enough; she wanted more than that. Gladice finally had the courage to look up at him and saw that his eyes were brimming with tears as well. It occurred to her that she could probably kiss him, with how close their faces were. The act would have been so easy. Instead, she closed her eyes again and gently pushed him back. His arms dropped from around her surprisingly easily.

"I'm s-" Hands gripped her face, and Lance was kissing her before she could even open her eyes. A thousand thought flooded her brain, none of them saying that she should pull away. Was this a dream? Then, when it clearly was not a dream, what was he thinking? She pushed him back, but kept ahold of his shirt collar to keep him close. "Lance..."

Lance looked at her like he was guilty. Which he was, but she wished he wouldn't look at her like that. He didn't pull away, though. "Gladice, I don't know what I'm doing. All those times when you flirted with me, and I was secretly dating Brook, I was so sure that I wasn't interested in you as anything more than a good friend." The words stung Gladice's heart, but she let him continue. "But then you found out. Maybe it was the heartbreak on your face, maybe it was the loss of everything you'd given me that Brook just didn't know how to replace. Whatever it was, something clicked, and I wasn't so sure anymore." His lips brushed hers, just slightly, as he whispered the words.

"Why did you follow me out here?" she asked, the question nullifying the burning sensation in her chest.

"To do that," he sighed. Gladice pursed her lips.

"You're still dating Brook," she whispered. Running a hand through her hair, she stepped farther away from him. "This will kill her if she finds out. We both know how sensitive she is. And she'll hate me. I'm not even sure if she's fully forgiven me from before!"

"But I want to be with you," said Lance, a determined edge to his voice.

Gladice shook her head. "I'm sorry. Maybe, if we all get out of this in one piece, but right now I'm pretty sure Brook needs you more than you know. So please..." She placed a hand over his heart. "...please, be with her." And with that, she reentered the observatory.

Rei scowled, as he sulked in the corner he had claimed as his own, watching Genevieve ask Iso so many fascinating questions about the Underworld. The way she smiled and seemed so captivated by every little thing he said made him want to gag. He rolled his eyes, forcing himself to stop looking at them. If Gen wanted to abandon him, then fine. It wasn't like he was the one who had waited there next to her dying body for hours, agonizing over whether or not he would ever speak to his best friend again. How could she just ignore him like that?

But he knew that wasn't fair. It was not her fault that she loved gaining knowledge, especially from a primary source, such as Isokrates. Rei wondered why he even gave Iso a second thought. A guy like that could never take away Gen. Then again, he had never had to worry about it before. Ever since they had first met, it had just been the two of them. No one else interested them besides each other. Now, suddenly, there was this new guy, a god, who surely had exciting tales and could provide a sense of adventure to Gen's life. That was real competition, it was.

"Hey," greeted Genevieve's voice. Rei merely grunted in response, refusing to look at her. He heard her groan. "Oh, come on. You aren't seriously jealous of him, are you?" Still refusing to look at her, he was surprised when his usually reserved friend grabbed his arm and spun him around, glaring at him. "I am NOT in the mood for this, Rei. What's your problem?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe you should go ask your new best friend," Rei spat, suddenly angry as well. "It's not like you even care what I think, anyways." Genevieve's expression turned into something he could not recognize. Pity? Not likely. Perhaps sorrow, but he'd seen her upset before, and it didn't look like this. Sighing in defeat, Gen released his arm.

"Fine, just..." She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to change her mind in the process. Instead, she just closed her mouth and walked away. As he watched her go, Rei felt a twinge of sadness creep up through his resentment, but quickly shoved it back down and turned his back to her. If she wanted to do this, then fine. He would let her toss him and their friendship aside.

Thalia was sitting cross-legged in the forest, Melody across from her. And, apparently, also in her mind. Well, this was going to be fun.

And that's it for this chapter! I'm sorry for the shorter updates; I know it feels like things are moving slow. But things are going to actually happen next chapter, I promise! Oh, and I've got a deviantart account. You can find art and stuff for this story here: gallery/53357521/Children-of-Disney

~Peace out-Icee~