Percy Jackson Fanfiction: Lord of Monsters

[4]

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened

Dr. Seuss

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As soon as Percy heard those words, he knew he was done for. Erebus was going to get what he wanted, and nothing was going to change that. Percy blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was falling.

Flashes of red and black streaked the peripherals of his vision; screams tore open his eardrums. It took him a minute more of the wind ripping his clothes to shreds for him to realize the screams were coming from him.

He gasped for air and stopped his cries of horror. Twisting his body in the air, he turned to face the pulsing ground that was Tartarus's body. Mildly concerned for his physical wellbeing, he gave in to his instincts.

Pain jolted through his entire body in his arms, legs, face, mouth, and places that he didn't even know existed. A shock of pain raced up his arms and legs, and once he felt solid ground under him, he opened his closed eyes.

Everything was tinted slightly red, and as he breathed in, he could smell everything in sight and beyond. His ears perked up and flattened as various sounds flooded his mind. As his senses overloaded his mind, Percy whined and put his paws - where did those come from? - over his face and laid down.

After adjusting to the onslaught of information, Percy stood up slowly and took a look around. Standing on four paws felt strange at first, but because his muscles and bones had changed, it felt normal after a few minutes.

The blood red sky contrasted with the dark figures that flew above him. The ground was as revolting as it had been when he was down here last time. Glass shards pierced the ground and sliced open anything that touched them.

Tartarus hadn't changed at all. Yet, Percy felt that everything was different.

This wasn't hell, punishment, or a prison.

Oddly enough, it felt like camp. A place to train, thrive, and get stronger.

For every monster he killed, Percy realized, he would gain their form and abilities. When Zeus sent him to Tartarus, he probably hadn't realized that this was the one place that Percy could become stronger fastest.

Wait, why do I need to get stronger? Percy suddenly thought to himself. Where did that come from? Olympus isn't my enemy – Erebus is!

You keep telling yourself that, Jackson. You keep telling yourself that.

Ignoring the dark thoughts echoing in his head, Percy growled and coiled his much stronger muscles in his new body and took off running, hunting his prey.

~*~

Gods, last time I saw something as ugly as you, I was barely a teenager, and wow, you haven't gotten prettier.

Percy's thoughts were sarcastic as ever even as he narrowly avoided death as a venomous spine flew past him, seconds away from killing him. Still in the form of a hellhound, he battled the manticore, attempting to kill it and take its body and abilities.

Its face and torso were that of a rowan-furred lion, its scorpion tail flicking back and forth with barbs ready to shoot and kill, and its bat-like wings folded behind it. How the thing managed to get off the ground was a mystery to Percy.