The Change

Chapter Four

The rest of the seven decided to rendezvous at Zeus's fist and decide what they should do about the new "Perseus." Chiron's test did not reassure them about Perseus's state of mind. Why was he acting like that then? Did he trick the test? Did he control Chiron's mind with Loki's magic scepter?

Annabeth was the first to speak once they were all there, "Should we confront him, cause I don't know how he will react."

Thalia snorted despite the tense atmosphere, "That's a first."

A harsh glare quieted her down. "He used to be attached to me so I should be the one to ask him about his powers," Annabeth paused and gulped. "He won't attack me." She sounded like she was shoving the words out of her mouth before a coughing fit.

Jason nodded vigorously in encouragement, but inside he was just glad that she had volunteered.

"I should probably not come on too strong, so I'll make small talk with him, lead up to the question, and ask, 'Hey, dude, how'd you get the powers to control people and boil their blood. You know, just for laughs. HA HA HA."

Annabeth's ramblings And forced laughter showed her nervousness. Piper stared at Annabeth wondering what was going on.

"Now, let's do this before I lose my nerve."

They all exited the words glad that the meeting was over quickly and they didn't have to dwell on the topic.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Meanwhile...

The ground felt rough and squishy beneath his feet. Like walking on a mound of shredded, wet cardboard. He could smell something similar to rotten eggs- no - sulfur. He opened his eyes, but it was too dark to see. Scalding heat washed over him. Sounds of multiple people talking over each other filled his ears.

He started walking with his arms out in front of him to feel for any walls. After about 20 steps he found something hard and flat. It was covered in something sticky and wet like school glue before it dries. A strange thought entered his mind, I wonder why they changed the animal.

He didn't have time to dwell on where that thought came from. He took his hand away and harsh light filled the place he was in. He grinned. Ah, that's why. Another thought had just slipped into his head. He could now see that what he had placed his hand on was a snake as big as the basalisk in Harry Potter.

He turned around slowly, confidently, like this wasn't completely strange. "Is this where you are wasting away?" He asked. The person who appeared in front of him was large. As large as a basketball player, but not quite as thin.

"I wouldn't call it wasting away. I mean, I can get everything I wish for. That is more than you could ever dream of, boy." The man gave a carefree smile, before sitting on a chair that wasn't there just a moment before.

"Now," he continued. "do you have what I asked for? Or do I need to wait for you to give another excuse?"

He gave a feral grin, "Nope, I've done it. Do you need an excuse for not having what I asked for?"

The other man frowned. Obviously not expecting this. He shook his head slowly with over eyebrow raised. The man seemed to be wondering if there other boy was lying.

He rolled his eyes, although he had expected the other man to question his reliability. A flash appeared around him. Right at his feet there lay a body. Its long, curly hair was soaked with blood. There seemed to be large scratches along its legs and arms. They were infected from the dirt that was layered upon its pale skin.

A choking sob came from around where the body was, however it didn't give the slightest movement. Where the sob came from was questionable.

"Ah, there she is!" The other man exclaimed through a grin with insane excitement. "I must thank you for bringing Perseus into this world. Chaos knows he came to us at the perfect time."

The other man stood up from the chair gracefully and walked over to the body, before crouching down to examine it. "I must applaud your obedience. I really didn't think you would actually bring her to us." He laughed maliciously. "Dear me, Perseus, you brought us your own mother."

Sally Jackson looked up at the other man's eyes, and Nico woke up from his dream with a start to find he was the one sobbing.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Annabeth stalked towards the Poseidon cabin. She stopped before the stairs, pondering if she should go up. She took a deep breath clasped her hands together and walked up the three steps, before stopping again.

Annabeth raised her fisted hand and took a deep breath. She knocked slowly three times. Nobody answered for a while. She let out a relieved breath and was about to walk away when the door was yanked open, by none other than Perseus.

"What do you want?" He asked obviously annoyed at her intrusion. "Can a guy get sleep at this camp or do people always bother you like this?"

Annabeth took a deep breath and started to speak. Her words got caught in her throat. Perseus smirked and leaned casually against the door frame. Annabeth glared as if she wasn't scared of him and started over.

"So, is there anything you need?" Her voice cracked on need. His smirk grew like the Grinch's heart.

"Actually, there is something you can do for me." Annabeth looked up perplexed. "Stop bothering me. You are just going to hurt yourself. Your body can't stand being so nice after that long break period."

Annabeth chose to ignore the comment after what happened to Nico earlier. This time no one would be able to see it happen. It was almost curfew and the stars weren't giving off much light.

"I'll cut to the chase." He chuckled at the end of her sentence. "We were wondering how you were able to do those things to Nico. Any new powers we should know about? Take a magic potion that makes you able to control people's bodies? Unlock your mutant gene in Tartarus?"

He didn't seem startled by her questions. "I knew there was something good about you. Your sense of humor!" He stood up from leaning on the doorway. "Here I'll tell you, as long as you tell me something in return. Me first." He smiled and his red eyes stared straight through her's and into her soul. "What drove you to become such a bitch? Was it the painful loss of your sanity? Or the fact that you couldn't handle that there are other people," he waved down his body with both hands, "who are more interesting, smarter, and more powerful than you!"

Annabeth couldn't bring herself to respond, but she knew in her heart it was the latter, and that seemed to be answer enough for him.

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll answer your question." He leaned towards Annabeth's ear and cupped his hands around his mouth like he was an elementary girl telling a secret.
"The glass ball broke completely this time."

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AN: In The House of Hades when Percy controls Akhlys' poison and unlocked his power over poison he said it felt like a glass ball broke. He later said that it was mending and smoothing around the edges. This is saying that he unlocked his new powers in Tartarus because the glass ball broke and didn't mend back together unlike the last time. Sorry for the confusion.