Perseus Jackson Monster Shifter

Chapter 12 ~ Threat Revealed and Battles of the Mind

Previously...

Completely spent and pushed to the max of my abilities, I slowly changing back to my original form. I looked at my left arm in despair as I saw that my hand didn't grow back. Looks like the essences in my body could regenerate, but the scars and wounds on my original body could not be healed in the same way. I looked down at my spoils of war: The Minotaur's horns and his Omega Ax.

Reaching down, I grabbed the Ax with my right hand and hefted it up into the air. The crowd went wild and many were screaming at the top of their lungs. I had won and this Ax was now mine. I felt the connection between me and the Ax form and it shrank down to a more manageable size.

I placed the Ax by my side, took to steps forward and promptly fell to the ground where I just laid there.

I saw Damasen and Bob rush through the crowd of monsters and jump into the Arena, dropping to my side. Damasen immediately began to heal my body and try to stop the bleeding coming from my stump. I was in a daze I looked into their concerned faces.

Utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, I gave them a weak smile to show I was okay, before I fell into unconsciousness.

Now...

Percy POV

After the fight with the Monster Quad Squad, I found myself in a very familiar place: The room within my mind where I first met Rip. I sighed and placed my hands on the back of my head. Or, one hand and a stump where my left one used to be..

I looked down at where my left hand used to be; even in my subconscious, my mind sensed the loss of my appendage. A barrage of emotions suddenly hit me: Anger, sadness, bitterness, and above all, a deep boiling rage flowing through my veins. I have suffered a lot in Tartarus. I've been in tortured, ridiculed, cursed, and beaten to within an inch of my life for years, but I was always mostly intact. Even the Monster Curse couldn't bring me down. Sure my personality may be darker and my fighting more brutal, but I have survived and preserved. But losing my hand was by far the worst.

I felt unbelievable rage at the Olympians. It was their fault I was down here and it was there fault this happened. The Minotaur did this to me, but he would have never had the chance if the paranoid gods had gotten it through their thick skulls that I would never betray them and cursed me with this suffering. I don't care what I have to do, this injustice will not stand and burn all who stand in my way.

Tearing my gaze from my stump, I gazed around the room to see that it had changed. The door leading to my monster forms still had the black, spidery lines coming from it, but they seemed to be integrated and flowing with the rest of the room. Almost as if it was adapting and truly becoming a part of my mind.

"That is true." I spun around to see the grinning faced of Rip. "You have done the impossible and managed to do what no other being could: you have merged with the monster curse." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

I just scowled. "Fat lot of good it has done for me. Look at what happened to my hand. " I growled, waving my stump around.

Rip looked saddened at my severed appendage. "I am sorry that happened to you Percy. If it makes you feel any better, I know what you are going through." He said.

"How could you possibly know what I'm going through? How could you possibly..." I trailed off as I saw him lift his left arm where his hand was missing.

"Whatever happens to you in the real world, backlashes in here. I may be a physical manifestation of your mind, but that doesn't mean I don't feel. I feel your pain. I feel every cut, every burn, and every injury you feel." He said, unknowingly stroking the stump.