Stacey Pendragon-daughter of the sea

PERCY POV

The first thought that came to my mind the minute I saw Stacey's house was,

She's a freaking princess!

Nico and I just stood there with our mouths hanging open, while Stacey touched the huge gates and they swung open under her touch. She walked inside, but I couldn't even move my feet, in awe. Stacey seemed to realize we were standing outside, and beckoned us in with her hand.

"In case you want frost bite, I suggest you come in. There's a storm coming", and I shook my head to clear it and followed her in the front garden. A front path lead to the huge mansion, which stood in ankle deep snow. On either side of the path, there were different colored flowers, and a few feet from there were different types of trees, covered in snow. The entire place reminded me of the palaces they show in illustrated books. It looked so beautiful, and at the same time sinister.

Suddenly, Stacey stopped abruptly, and was looking up. I followed her gaze and gaped at the sight before me. Standing in front of me was a huge castle, the type which were there in the Middle Ages. Made of huge blocks of black stones, it was surrounded by four towers and two smaller ones on the roof. The entire place looked at huge as Camp Half Blood. There was snow settling in top and around it. But how did no one ever notice such a huge place standing in the city?

"This is your house?" Nico asked her, in a whisper, "Yup", Stacey replied, nodding. " That is the understatement of the year".

"What?"

"This is not a house. Its a palace!" Nico exclaimed, his eyes wide. Stacey looked at him incredulously and said, "This is nothing compared to the family castle in Scotland", and pushed open the huge doors and strolled in like it was nothing. Shaking his head, Nico walked in after her and I followed.

" Huey, Duwey, Louis!" I heard Stacey exclaim in the foyer. Huey, Duwey, Louis? What's going on here? I walked in the foyer, and for the hundredth time that night, I found myself with my mouth hanging open. No, don't ask me to describe it. Just remember, it was huge, it was dark and it was... Well, you know what I'm trying to tell, right?

"Are we even allowed to even come here?" Nico whispered to me and I shook my head, perplexed. "Where are you guys? Come in!" We heard Stacey call out from a room in the corner. I slowly tiptoed to the door there, and thankfully, this room was not that huge. It had a fireplace in a corner, which was already lit and spreading warmth all over the room, warming my chilled out bones. I found myself walking to the fireplace and sank down in one of the sofas in front of it. Nico to followed suit, and in 5 minutes we found ourselves completely dried and toasty.

"Hope you guys are feeling fine", Stacey asked as she dropped thick quilts in our laps and settled in another sofa and closed her eyes, resting her head on the backrest. A butterfly was nestled in her hair, with a cat and mouse on her lap, the cat purring contentedly as it kneaded her lap, with the miss sitting on its back, which I found a little odd. Weren't cats and mice supposed to be enemies? Apparently, not in Stacey's house.

"So... This is your place?" I asked Stacey and she nodded her head, her eyes still closed. "It was my Mom's first, but now its mine". It noticed how her voice cracked when she mentioned her mother, so I changed the subject. " Who are Huey, Duwey and Louis? " and for the first time since entering the house, Stacey grinned.

"Well, they're sitting right in front of them", and the animals all around her looked attentive at their mention. The cat meowed at me and jumped into my lap, kneading the quilt. "They live here alone? 'Coz by the looks of it, no one lives here", I asked Stacey. I had noticed that despite the size if this place, there was no warmth in here, and it looked empty and forlorn.

" Yeah, but don't you worry, they don't look how they are", Stacey replied, stroking the mouse on her lap. "What do you mean by that?" Nico asked her and she snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, the animals vaporized into wisps of smoke and floated away. "What?" I yelped.

"They are actually wind spirits, serving this house and its residents, which is me. They look after it while I'm not here and also when I am. I named them Huey, Duwey and Louis when I small, so the name stuck".

"So you grew up here?" I asked her, and she nodded. "OK, enough of the sweet talk. So, who are you actually? What is your connection to Titania? The entire story, from the beginning", I demanded, my eyes narrowed towards her, and she finally opened her eyes and looked at me. In the firelight, her eyes looked gray and sad. Stacey took a deep breath and began,

" I was born here, in LA. And I've lived and grown up here till the age of 6. My mother was Scottish, and I grew up speaking Gaelic. English is my second language. I learn English after my Mom... After she died, when I came too New York, to live with my uncle and aunt".

"What about Titania?"

"My Mom was an archaeologist, always going for historic digs and stuff. On every birthday of mine, she would always grant me one of my most deepest request. On my 6th birthday, I requested her to take me on a dig with her. She was scheduled to go for one three days after my birthday. After lots of hesitation, she finally relented",

"Once we reached there, I pestered her to give me a few tools, so that even I could dig. While I was digging, I found a pot, I later learn it was an amphora. My Mom told me not to open it, but I still opened it. I disobeyed her",

"The minute I opened it, a huge gust of air shot out of it, surrounding me, covering me in darkness. For a while, I couldn't see anything, the world had gone dark and I couldn't feel or sense anything. Finally, it cleared and I saw my Mom standing there, her arms raised, working magic. After that, I blacked out",

"I woke up in my room, with Mom next to me, working spells on me. For the next few days, I kept on fainting a lot, and I was very crabby. I noticed Mom was very, very worried about me, and she spent nights together in the library, trying to find a cure for me",

"Why did you keep on fainting?" Nico asked, breaking the spell her voice and story had cast upon the room.

"It was Titania. When she had been trapped in the amphora, the amphora had been cursed. The person who opened the thing, his and Titania's soul would be together. They both would have to share souls. Like soul sisters. And their fates wouldn't be in the hands of the Fates. They would hold each others fates in their hands. Forever. A bit of Titania was in me, so my body and soul was trying to adapt to it. Hence the fainting".

"W... What about your Mom?"

Stacey suddenly let out a sob and buried her head in her arms, sobbing. I got up and out my arm around her, consoling her. "Its fine if you don't want to talk about it. I won't force you", I told her.

She looked up at me and said,

"I killed her".

Notes

Guys, there! I finally updated, after, what....... A month and half? I'm sorry, I was on vacation and there was no Internet anywhere, so I couldn't. Anyways, I'm back and I'll try to update every alternate day, since I have only one week of vacation left.

Yes, just a month of summer vacation. Will you believe it?

Oh, and don't try to kill me about Stacey's Mom. I have a reason for it. Can anyone guess why she did it? Next chapter's dedicated to them. K?

Keep COTEing!