Perseus Jackson Monster Shifter

Chapter 5 ~ The Tests and The Coliseum.

Previously...

Every night after I was done training with Mrs. O'Leary, I practiced with my new form and weapons. After each night, my accuracy, speed, and precision with the cannon balls got better and better. I could now stand 100 feet out and shoot of three cannon balls hitting dead center of the targets, all in less than three seconds. I had a total of 30 cannon balls and they were like my sword, returning to me after I fired them off. They even shrunk down to the size of marbles and a little leather pouch that I could carry around my waistband.

Pretty soon, I was able to shift from human to hellhound to Laestrygonian to Ultra Laestrygonian and back with no trouble at all. I still had trouble with the instincts at times but things were the best they have ever been since I was cast down here.

If only I knew that soon in the future my 'good luck' would run out.

Now...

Percy POV

It's been a year since I acquired my monster forms and found Mrs. O'Leary and things have never been better since I was banished here. I now had complete control over my two forms of the hellhound and the laestrygonian giant. I was able to shift between forms at will and was able to enhance the laestrygonian form by combing the essences of the three giants I killed together.

I practiced and practiced until I was able to shift a single part of my body at will. If I wanted, I could access the strength of a laestrygonian or the speed of the hellhound, the toughened skin of the giant or the sharp claws of teeth of the hellhound. I still haven't figured out to access both forms at the same time, but I figured that maybe the curse wouldn't allow that.

Shifting was tiring work and I usually had to rest after a really big shift like when I shifted into the huge laestrygonian giant, but the changes were becoming more and more natural with practice. Pretty soon, becoming a monster would require no energy at all.

Mrs. O'Leary still forces me to practice on my fighting techniques and shadow traveling, but I am so grateful that she is down here with me. While I wish she wasn't killed the way she was, having a companion down here that doesn't want to kill has been a blessing. I don't know how long I could have lasted down here and not go insane. She really helped deal with the loneliness.

I woke up and stretched my sore muscles. I had gotten really muscular from my constant training but it was all lean muscle. I wasn't overly bulked like those guys at the gym; I couldn't get overly bulked, there's not enough food down here for that. Mrs. O'Leary stirred as she sleepily looked at me, blinking her eyes trying to focus.

"Morning girl, how'd you sleep?" I greeted her, walking over to the fire pit and began cooking our daily meal of rat. I have to say, I really acquired a taste for the little critter, but that may be the monster in me.

She shook her head and looked at me irritated. "How do you think I slept? You can hardly get a good night's sleep down here!" She snapped. Oh yeah, she is not a morning person, which I found out the hard way.

I just chuckled and shook my head. "Well I slept GREAT!" I stressed the word great, knowing it would irritate her even more. I smiled as she got that doggy frown on her face.

"Well we all can't sleep like the dead." She replied back sarcastically as I laughed. "I'm serious Percy, if I didn't know any better I would say you a rock or were dead. Only you could be able to sleep down here!"

"Maybe, but that doesn't stop the nightmares." I said a little bitterly. I had nightmares all the time about my torture sessions with Kronos. I'm shocked I haven't completely lost it yet.

I shook of the somber mood before grinning. "Well come and get your breakfast before I eat it all again."

"Breakfast?" She said eagerly, as her foul mood evaporated and she rushed over to the got her attention. I once ate all the meat and soup one morning when she was completely passed out from a particularly hard training session and she chased me around the cave several times before pinning me to the ground. Learned to always leave food for her after that little prank.