JASON POV

Percy fell from the bench, laughing and slapping his knee. I took out my glasses to wipe my tears. " Your serious?" he asked me, gasping for breath. " Really, believe me" I grinned. Piper, Leo, calypso and I had just returned from camp Jupiter and Percy and I were sitting in the sword fighting arena, sharing stories. " Oh, and did I tell you when Leo blasted the kitchen and the wind spirits chased him all around camp and there were stones and mud in his food for a week" I said. Percy again dissolved into helpless laughter.

Suddenly Nico came running to us. " P...Percy, its Annabeth and Sam. Their near the pine tree. You better come. Something is wrong" Percy got up and started running, with Nico and me close behind. " What happened?" I asked him. " This morning they went on a quest with Stacey. They returned but..." he trailed of. " But what?" I asked.

" Stacey has not come" he gulped.

Before I could ask who Stacey was, we reached the pine tree. Percy was already there and Annabeth and Sam were talking to him feverishly. I noticed that their clothes were really dirty and they were looking very upset I reached in time to hear Annabeth say "...in Tartarus" I stopped. What in Tartarus? And who was Stacey?

" How?" Percy asked angrily. " We don't know. All we know is that somebody named Titania is behind this" Sam said. She was looking as though she was really heartbroken. " Who is Titania?" Nico asked. " Don't know. But it looked as though Stacey knew her" Annabeth replied.

" Who is Stacey?" I asked. " She's my sister" Percy replied. Another child of Poseidon? But before I could say anything, Chiron trotted over to us. " What happened?" he asked. " And where is Stacey? "

" Stacey...she...um...Tartarus " Annabeth said. " What? Child what are you telling" Chiron asked, completely shocked. But it didn't look as though Annabeth and Sam could continue. I myself couldn't believe it. I mean, how? Finally Chiron spoke. " You better come to the infirmary. Then we can talk" he said and went towards the Big House and we all followed.

---

" What actually happened?" Percy asked. Chiron had called a meeting of all the cabin counsellors. We all sat around the ping-pong table, waiting for Annabeth and Sam to speak. Piper sat next to next to me. Sam looked over and Annabeth and motioned for her to speak. Annabeth took a deep breath and began.

" We got down near the empire state building and started looking around. We had no idea where we were supposed to begin. Then after a long time, Stacey suddenly started talking about some Wisp" she said. But then Sam interrupted.
" You forgot about that man" she said. " You tell about it" Annabeth told her.

" We were near a coffee shop when an old man came out of there and smiled at her. I don't know why, but it freaked her out. Then later she was really distracted kept mumbling to herself. Then later she started talking about a Wisp and some Three Brothers and Merlin and stuff. That this Wisp was supposed to guide us. I thought it was nonsense. But then, there's this scar on her hand, it started glowing"

" A kind of thing came out of it and she said we should follow it. We followed the t and then we reached Tribeca. This Wisp, it stopped over a gutter poof!, vanished. We got into it and..." Sam looked over at Annabeth helplessly Annabeth took over from there.

" An old friend was waiting for us there" she said. " Who?" Percy asked. " Arachne " she replied, and shivered slightly. Percy took her hand. She continued.

" I fainted then and there. When I woke up, Arachne was there and said somebody wanted to meet usus. We followed her into a big chamber right into the middle of the pipeworks were this somebody was waiting for us. Somebody named Titania" she said.

" TITANIA!!" Calypso shrieked and abruptly stood up. Everybody looked at her. Chiron was looking deathly pale and for some strange reason, Clarisse too.

" Who is Titania?" Piper asked. And strangely, Clarisse replied in a slightly shakey voice. " Not somebody you want to mess with" . " But who is she?" Leo asked, clearly shocked that Calypso reacted to the name Titania.

" Let us not talk about her now" Chiron said. " Continue, Annabeth"

"She spoke to Stacey as though they knew each other. And then Arachne attacked at us. Stacey fought her off but it was not possible to kill her. Then, I don't know what happened, but kind of sparks came out of her hand and hit Arachne. Arachne did not respond to her and kept coming towards us when..." she faltered.

" When what?" Percy asked gently.

" Stacey opened a way to Tartarus. Arachne did fall into it, but I have no idea what happened next because there was water everywhere. When the water washed away, we searched everywhere. But she was not there" she finished.

Everyone was quiet for some time. Then Travis Stoll spoke up. " What I don't understand is that what is the Wisp? Who was that old man? What were those sparks which came from Stacey's hand and who is Titania? And how could Stacey open a way to freaking Tartarus?" he finished.

" And how do you say that this Titania and Stacey know each other? And.." Thalia asked, but Chiron interrupted her. " There are a lot of things we don't understand here. But we will soon know" he said. " And I hope I am wrong" I hear him whisper.

" But I am sure Calypso and Cecily know something. Don't you? " Thalia raised her eyebrows at them. Cecily was another Hunter of Artemis who had been in the hunt for almost 2000 years. She looked around nervously and said, "you would not want to hear it" she replied. " What is it, Calypso? You know, don't you" Leo asked her.

" What is done is done. We cannot do anything more about it." Chiron announced. " What about Stacey? We have to do something? She'll die there" Percy said, angrily.

" She won't die. Titania will not let go of her so easily. She'll take her close to death and bring her back again" Clarisse replied. " And how do you know about Titania? In arms with her or something?" Percy retorted. " You don't know anything, punk. If you knew what I know of Titania and your sister, you would shut your mouth" Clarisse replied. "AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT STACEY??" Percy got up to lunge at her but Annabeth and I quickly held him back. " Clarisse, enough. You will not talk about it anymore" Chiron intervened. " You all can go back to your cabins" he said and dispersed us." If only I would have been quick enough to see the signs" I hear Chiron whisper while going out.

" What signs, Chiron" I ask him. He turns back to me with sad eyes that tell me he has been through so much. I expect him not to tell me anything, but he says" A period darker than most" and with that he goes away, leaving me even more frightened.

---

PERCY POV

The idiot! I only told her to keep Annabeth safe, not go jump in Tartarus. Its only my fault that all this happened.

( FLASHBACK)

Percy and Stacey kept laughing even after Annabeth went back to her cabin. " What were you doing in the woods?" he asked her. " Went to get some fresh air and saw even Nico had the same ideas. Then caught by the harpies and came running back" she replied. " And you?"

" Pretty much the same. I was talking to Annabeth about your quest" he said. " Oh" was all she said . And she went over to her bed and lay down.

Percy too laid down on his bed and said" Stacey?" . " Hmm?" a sleepy voice replied.

" I want you to promise me something".

" What?"

"If I told Annabeth, she would kill me. I just want you to make sure that on tomorrows quest.."

"What?"

"Will you just make sure nothing happens to her?"

After a minute of silence, Stacey replied,

"She just went through Tartarus, defeated giants, got the Athena parthenos singlehandedly and our want to make sure I keep her safe?"

" Please?"

"Sure, why not. A 16 year old looking after a 19 year old? Why not"

Percy got up from the bed and looked at her." I am serious"

" Okay, okay" she mumbled sleepily .

Percy just went back to sleep.

(FLASHBACK OVER) (F

i thought she had gone to sleep and did not even take me seriously. Not did she take me seriously, but even jumped into Tartarus? She is an idiot.I threw the covers over my head and tried to go to sleep but could not get sleep. After what seemed like a long time, I fell into a dreamless slumber.

Notes

I'M BACK!! EXAMS ARE OVER AND I AM SO HAPPY. FROM NOW ON I WILL BE UPDATE ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK. THE ACTION IS JUST BEGINNING. :)