I don't own any of the characters etc. credit all goes to Rick Riordan. The only characters I own are Crystal and Aiden.

CRYSTAL

Crystal raced down the hallway; adrenaline soaring, heart pumping, footsteps clonking. A tall, masked man had snuck into her house, targeting her. His hair was braided with gold and silver coins that had a man's profile on the side. The man was tall, at least 9 feet, almost reaching the ceiling in Crystal's high-roofed house. He smelt of the earth and water, as though it had given birth to him itself. But Crystal had no time to notice this, for all she was concerned with was staying alive.

Finally, she reached her special drawer in the kitchen that housed a humble knife with a bronze color. She had found it, wrapped in a package the day before at her doorstep, saying "Use this to ward off intruders. -CHB" She had no idea who CHB was, or even how it worked. As soon as the masked man stepped into the light, Crystal held the flat side of the knife up above her eyes, as if shielding herself from the sun.

Then, Crystal saw something. The man's eyes filled with fear and cautiousness, as if Crystal was about to detonate a nuclear bomb over his head. He backed away slowly. In a muffled voice he said "Don't come any closer with that. Put it down, and die quietly." No way! Crystal thought. No way am I gonna let him kill me. Crystal didn't know if it was her ADHD or a sense of urgency, but she jumped onto him and stabbed him in the chest. The blood drained out of the injury and onto the floor. The man, half consciously, murmured something in a foreign language Crystal didn't recognize, then dissipated into smoke. In shock, Crystal slid to the floor, not knowing what had just happened. Right then, she heard clapping come out of the dark alcove in the hallway.

She sat up and took an alert form. "I..I have a.. a knife! D-d-don't come c-c-loser!" She called out, shaking with fatigue and fear. "I'm not gonna hurt you. In fact, I've come to save you and take you somewhere that you'll never see monsters like him again." The voice called. It sounded human, at least. "Come o-o-out!" Crystal demanded nervously. When the person came into the light, Crystal gasped. It was the same boy she saw earlier today, asking about her parents. "You." Was all Crystal could manage. "Come with me, and you'll be safe." The boy said, his words fluid and smooth. "I will. Whatever. You. Say." Crystal said slowly, before she blacked out into nothingness.

GROVER

Grover was once told that weight is speed, and speed is better. Yeah, like that was helping him bunches. Grover was in the Hephaestus cabin aiding the newcomer Aiden in his project. Aiden was assigned the job of constructing a distraction weapon for Capture the Flag later that week. Easy for a seasoned camper, but not for him. Heck, Aiden didn't even know what distraction they wanted! So naturally, Grover stepped in and said that the more weight the more speed he'd have, but all Aiden got was a broken down nothing. His contraption collapsed as soon as Aiden gave the final pat. Yup, Grover was on his normal schedule of helping all of the cabins.

"Just keep trying, Aiden. It'll come to you. You're a Hephaestus kid! You build stuff!" Grover said, trying to encourage the boy. He's never gonna get it right, is he.

"Um... Grover? I-I'm gonna take a break. Um... See you back soon?" Aiden said, ending with an open statement.

Something was on edge with Aiden. Grover didn't know if he was nervous, or... was hiding something? No. Aiden's only been here for one summer! What could he hide? Grover thought. Ever since the Titan War, and the Luke Castellan and Selena Beaureguard betrayal, Grover was getting pretty paranoid about all of the newcomers. Quit it! Nothing's wrong with Aiden! He's just nervous with me here, you know... the strong, intimidating type? Poor boy. Grover reasoned with himself. He glanced up at the sky. "Holy Hephaestus! It's dinner time! I almost didn't realize the time!" Grover yelped, out loud. He got a few strange looks from the nearby dryads, but besides that, no one noticed his outburst. Keep your cool, keep your cool. Grover made himself remember. He couldn't let his composure droop, being a member of the Cloven Elders and all. Sometimes, Grover was too stressed to think about his actions, but this time, he caught himself just in time.

He raced down the trail to the Big House for dinner. The sun is darker today. Winter weather I suppose! After talking himself out of his notion, he continued to the Big House. What Grover failed to notice, however, was that a new sunspot had appeared, as black as night. A cold breeze swept through the cabin area as the spot reached its full size, just enough to see with the naked eye.

AIDEN

He didn't feel like dinner. He hadn't felt like lunch or breakfast either. In fact, he hadn't felt like being a demigod also. It was too complicated with monsters, gods, history, and secrets. Basically, he wanted an out plan for all of this. A way to escape the Greek gods and monsters. That's when he talked to the goddess Nemesis, who had come to him to offer an alliance.

"You are important, Aiden. I need your alliance to help me." She had told him. He agreed, but wanted to know how to escape demigod-hood. "I'll help you with what you need, then I'll quit. I-I swear on the River Styx!" He swore, as thunder rumbled in the distance. "Good. Very good!" Nemesis purred. Aiden wasn't sure if that was good or not. Finally, Nemesis had told Aiden. "Tartarus. That is the place you must go. You will meet him and he will grant you mortality, for a price of course. Everything must be balanced. He understands that." Nemesis told Aiden. "Wait... You mean Tartarus is-" Aiden was cut off. "You will know soon enough, son of Hephaestus. Restore the balance." Nemesis answered him, before she disappeared into mist.

Aiden was too distracted to think about the weapon for capture the flag. That's why he took the walk, to set out things and make a plan. Go to Tartarus? How could someone do that? It was unheard of. Well, at least for him, because this was Aiden's first summer at Camp Half Blood. He decided to check out this Tartarus deal. With only a few seconds to think, Aiden changed trails and headed to the Hades cabin to visit Nico di Angelo.