Changing Hearts

Well, here I am again, though I think this'll be the last Xenomorphic chapter for a while, as I have other fics to attend to. Besides, I'm sure a great number of you want the other fics to be updated as well.

So, without further ado, let's tear the Sea of Monsters a new anus!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AVP

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Above the water, Charybdis looked like a bunch of teeth, and a whirlpool that lead straight to an opening in the water that looked suspiciously like a butthole. Under the water, however, Charybdis looked very different. Honestly, perhaps the best description was that she was a giant slug that was grounded to the sea floor. The bottom line here was that, under the water, she wasn't a threat.

Granted, with the ability to fly, any water-based creature wasn't much of a threat.

Asteria shot out of the water with her dorsal tubes fully extended, wings glowing brightly. The heads of Charybdis' sister, Scylla, emerged from her cave, snapping wildly at the airborne hybrid. Asteria weaved through the swarm of necks with expert skill and precision. Only one head got close enough, but Asteria slammed her fist into the underside of its jaws, and the head exploded into a bunch of little pieces.

Now past the entrance and the monsters that guarded said entrance, Asteria went tearing across the Sea of Monsters at Mach 1, staying low to the ocean. Behind her, a massive tail of water shot into the sky due to her extreme wake. In another life, there would have been an episode on CC's spa and resort, a tale involving the sirens and some rope, an encounter on a boat, all before reaching Polyphemus' Island.

All of that would have happened due to a lack of extreme power, but that was a problem Asteria did not have. As such, much of what would have been a harrowing tale was reduced to a breakneck flight across the Bermuda Triangle.

Meanwhile, on his island, Polyphemus was grazing his sheep, the Golden Fleece draped across his shoulder. The cyclopes heard something, something akin to a jet approaching, like airwaves being split by something moving too fast for them to split around. Looking out over the Sea, his poor eyesight prevented him from getting an accurate read on what he was seeing, but he was pretty sure the water was shooting up into the sky.

Then there were a pair of deadly serious green eyes about two feet away from him, and then there was nothing.

The only thing Asteria felt upon flying right through the cyclopes' head was the wetness of his blood all over her, blood that turned into golden dust just before she impacted the island with crater-inducing force, shaking the entire mass of land, and kicking up a large cloud of dirt.

Asteria recalled there being two breeds of sheep on this island, a normal herd to be eaten as Polyphemus decided, and a flesh-eating variety that was supposed to guard the Fleece. However, since the Fleece was with Polyphemus, and the flesh-eating sheep guarded the Fleece...Asteria stared down the horde with serious, narrowed eyes. What happened to the regular sheep was irrelevant, even the ones with the sharp teeth and dripping maws were irrelevant, because Asteria was here for only one thing.

Unfortunately (for the sheep), they were standing on top of it.

A sheep baa'd loudly, a clear indicator for attack, but Asteria was easily a hundred times faster than any of these things could move. She shot forward like a bullet from a gun, tearing a line right down the middle of the herd. Dozens of sheep went flying into the air, dissolving into golden dust, yet many dozens more remained. Not that they mattered, because Asteria now had the Fleece in hand.

Without missing a beat, she leapt clear off the island, a trail of dirt briefly following her foot. Midair, her tubes extended and her wings glowed to life. And then she was flying back across the Sea of Monsters, once more breaking the sound barrier.

It would have been smooth flying, if not for the harpoon that was shot at her from below, no doubt by a wayward daughter of Athena, from the bow of a cruise ship. Asteria, with annoyance on her face, easily dodged the projectile. Knowing that just a single shot was hardly the end of whatever they were planning down there on Luke's ship, Asteria accelerated to her maximum speed, somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 3, and shot straight up.

Good thing, too, because the harpoon she previously dodged exploded, releasing a chemical into the air, but Asteria was already too far out of its radius for it to affect her even in the slightest. Now gunning it at three times the speed of sound, Asteria cleared the Bermuda Triangle's airspace after less than five minutes of flying, and once she sensed the magic of the Sea disappear she dove right down into the ocean.

He felt the immediate shock of her father and step-family, all of them surprised at how quick and effective she was at getting in and out of the Sea of Monsters, but they nonetheless responded by doing the same thing they did less than twenty minutes ago. Three warm current enveloped Asteria, and when they faded away, the water around her felt inexplicably different. She shot out of the water and saw Camp directly below her.

With her superior vision, she saw every little bit of movement from the few field mice in the strawberry garden, to the hydras in the woods. She also saw Ariel and Amelia learning how to use knives in the arena, being tutored by Zoё, with McKayla keeping Annabeth entertained with some bubbles. On a happy note, Annabeth was wearing a Camp t-shirt instead of a straightjacket, but she wasn't wearing pants. But it was warm out so whatever.

Asteria descended into the arena at a slow pace, so she wouldn't destroy the Camp or flatten the arena, accidentally killing her girls.

Upon touchdown, Ariel and Amelia immediately saw her and squealed in tandem. "Mommy!"

They promptly dropped their knives and rushed the hybrid, and leapt into her open arms, laughing the whole time. Asteria hugged them to her, a fond smile on her own face. Zoё and McKayla watched this happen with their own smiles, the elder daughter of Athena holding to Annabeth because she wanted to go hug Asteria too (by jumping all the way from the stands to the floor which wasn't about to happen), but the girls' eyes popped out of their heads when they saw the golden ram hide in Asteria's hand.

McKayla put her little sister on her hip, and leapt down from the stands. She landed with supreme ease, her demigoddess physiology allowing her to near effortlessly support both her weight and Annabeth's. The damaged blonde squealed in delight the entire time. McKayla fell into step beside Zoё, and they reached Asteria and the girls at the same time.

"Is that the Golden Fleece?" they asked at once.

Annabeth was bouncing in her sister's arms, reaching out for Asteria.

'Yes, yes it is.'

Her tail snaked out and wrapped around Annabeth's waist, and brought the happily gurgling girl close to her, suspended off the ground, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Annabeth giggled happily.

"Mommy," Ariel said. "Zoё said she's our little sister, but she's so big."

'Yes, sweetie, she is big, but her mind's not big.'

"Her mind's not big?"

'Nope. Her mind is little, like a baby's.'

"She has a baby's mind?"

'Yes.'

Ariel made a face. "That's so weird!"

Asteria kissed her forehead. 'Just a little, but that's about to be fixed.'

"Huh? How?"

McKayla cut in. "That's the Golden Fleece, like the Golden Fleece, from the Sea of Monsters, on Polyphemus' island."

'I already covered that.'

Zoё spoke up. "Are thou saying that thou went to the Sea of Monsters, retrieved the Fleece from Polyphemus, and made it all the way back here," she looked at the sundial on her wrist, "in less than thirty minutes?"

'Yes.'

"...how?"

'Magic.'

"Oh," McKayla said. "That makes sense."

'False. Magic does not make sense.'

"Fair enough...why do you have the Fleece, anyway?"

'Its magic will remove the influence of Ares and allow me to heal her mind, and after I'm done with it, the Camp can have it...how have these three managed to fall asleep?'

Annabeth had draped her arms around Asteria's neck, and had fallen limp. A snot bubble continued to inflate and deflate as she breathed steadily. Amelia and Ariel were resting their little heads on the hybrid's chest, her A-cup breasts serving as pillows, but seeing as how they were made of the same super hard molecules as the rest of her skin, she didn't see how they managed to find comfort in any of that. Still, they were both sound asleep, and doing just the cutest thing.

Amelia inhaled a snore, and the Ariel exhaled a snore.

They were completing each other's snores.

"What are you going to do now?" McKayla asked.

'Put these two to bed, and use the Fleece on this one. Its magic will remove the foreign power affecting her, and then I'll be able to go in and fix her mind.'

"And if she remembers all this? The diapers, her behavior, the suicide attempts? What then?"

'I'll erase everyone's memories of those events, including Annabeth's. It'll be like it never happened.'

"Asteria…the child looks upon you as a daughter does their mother, and you look upon her as a mother does their daughter. Surely you are not about to throw that away?" Zoё asked.

The hybrid successfully kept the pained look off her face. 'Athena is her mother, not I. Besides, she was embarrassed enough as it was in the Underworld when a similar circumstance presented itself, and I will not put her back in the position. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a trio of children to put to bed.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And put them to bed she did. Asteria easily tucked Ariel and Amelia into a bunk within Cabin 8, and the two girls immediately clung to one another like true sisters. The hybrid gently set Annabeth down on a different bed, and, without preamble or hesitation, draped the Golden Fleece over the sleeping victim of Ares. The Fleece glowed brightly with magic, bright enough to where Asteria had to shut her eyes. The air thrummed with its power as its magic worked, and then it stopped.

Like someone had turned off its switch.

Reaching out with her mind, Asteria was relieved to feel that the magical barrier was indeed gone, but there was a much bigger problem on hand. Annabeth's memories…she didn't have any. Her head was as empty as it was the moments before she left Athena's brain, but her lack of any memory was but one of the problems. The second problem was that, where the Fleece once served as a decent-sized blanket, it now hid all of Annabeth's body.

Asteria grabbed the ram's hide and threw it to the side, and her entire body went white, her version of paling drastically. Annabeth was still there, and she was still wearing a Camp t-shirt and a diaper, but it had all…shrunk. The daughter of Athena had shrunk. Not shrunk as in she was simply reduced in size, but shrunk as in she was…younger.

Annabeth Chase, almost-fourteen year old daughter of Athena, now looked like she was almost four.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Not being an expert on magic in the slightest, Asteria's mental voice boomed over the whole of Camp Half-Blood as she called upon the 4,000 year old witch.

'LUCY! GET IN THIS CABIN RIGHT FUCKING NOW!'

There was a puff of smoke and the purple-eyed witch appeared, with a strangely excited look on her face. "Yes, Blood Goddess?"

'What?'

"Sorry, was reading a comic book and it was on mind. What's up, buttercup?"

'Don't call me that, ever.' Asteria pointed to the toddler that was Annabeth. 'Used the Fleece. That happened. Explain, please.'

Lucy cocked her head to the side, her white-and-black hair falling across her face. She approached Annabeth, and then started waving her hands around, palms, flat, chanting in a language Asteria didn't recognize. Which was quite a feat considering she knew words from every language on the planet.

Purple and white mist began to surround Annabeth, and then it was gone, fading away just as it came. Lucy looked at Asteria with a perturbed expression.

"We have a problem. Her time's been erased."

'What the hell does that mean?'

"In magical terms, time describes a person's life. Their seconds, their minutes, their hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades. If you take away or steal instances of a person's time, you can effectively erase their memories and experiences, and even de-age them, like so. It's been a favorite of magicians, sorcerers, and the otherwise spiritually inclined for centuries to prolong their lives. Of course, there's the little tidbit of losing parts of your life, but a couple of recording devices fixes that problem just fine."

'Fascinating, truly. How do we get Annabeth's time back?'

"We can't. It's been erased. As far as she goes, as far as everything goes, beyond everyone's memories of her, she's never been beyond the age of three. She won't know about anything that's ever happened past the current day, thirteen years ago. She won't remember Thalia, Luke, and Grover, the gods, Camp, what she said to you, the subsequent punishment, the quest, anything. In mind, body, and memory, she's about to be four years old in July. Granted, she doesn't remember anything right now because that magic damaged her brain, but since the magic was removed by the Fleece, it'll be child's play for either one of us to build her memory back up."

Asteria soaked all this up with textbook neutrality. 'None of that explains how this even happened.'

Lucy shrugged. "I'm not all-knowing. If I had to guess, whoever cursed Annabeth in the first place put in fail safes or such, to get the last laugh in the situation, maybe another magically based entity was waiting for the moment, or maybe the Fates decided this was necessary for some reason. I know a lot of spells that can do a lot of things, but I do not know of any piece of magic that gives me the answers to any conceivable question."

'You're experienced in magic. Is there any possible way to get back someone's time, even if it has been erased?'

"Oh, probably. Deities of time can most certainly do it, Kronos and Chronus are the first that come to mind. However, last I checked, the former is our mortal enemy seeking to destroy Olympus and control the prophecy, so I guess you could go to him and broker a deal of some kind, and as for the latter...well, Chronus isn't exactly a social deity, even for Primordials.

"My suggestion is to make the most out of the given situation. Annabeth had a rough childhood, now you can give her the best possible. Siblings, aunts, food on the table, clothes on her back, a bed to sleep in, even a mother."

'Athena is her mother.'

"Not anymore," Lucy said seriously. "Perhaps on a divine level, Athena is her mother, but you of all people should know that family goes beyond blood. As it stands, as far as Annabeth's perception goes, you are her mother. And unlike Athena, you have the ability to provide for her. Think on that before you decide on doing anything stupid, like going filling Annabeth's head with memories, or having a chat with your grandfather."

Lucy vanished in a puff of smoke.

Asteria bared her teeth in frustration at this new predicament. Amelia and Ariel were had snuggled together, and were still completing each other's snores, and Annabeth was still asleep, that same snot bubble in her nose. She looked peaceful, carefree, and released from the burdens of the half-blood lifestyle.

Giving her memories and body back would plop her right into the middle of everything, but repairing her mind and implanting memories of good times, raising her from her current age, would be a better life than Camp Half-Blood, especially with the threat of Kronos and Luke on the rise…

But there was more to it than that. Asteria was talking about another person's entire identity, what made them, them. Memories, experiences, quirks, kinks, preferences, personality, everything about them. What right did anyone have to deny Annabeth that? Not endeavoring to bring her back to normal seemed more of a crime than leaving her like this.

Hoo

A barn owl fluttered in from somewhere, and Asteria felt herself deadpanning. The owl lighted on Annabeth's head, and then glowed with storm grey energy. Unlike the Fleece, the glow did not become bright enough to cause Asteria to avert her eyes. The glow faded, the owl hooted one more time, and then it flew away into the ether.

It should be noted that Annabeth's mind was now different, filled with memories of events and things and sensations and lessons that Asteria did remember happening, but she knew that through the Mist, everything would become like fact. Further, Annabeth now had all the mental function of the above-average, almost-four year old daughter of the Wisdom Goddess.

Asteria felt herself continuing to deadpan. 'Athena, this is the equivalent of dumping a child on me.'

'Agreed, however, the child being 'dumped' is one you love dearly, and like Lucy said, will be able to provide for in a way that I never could. Asteria...Asteria, you'll never know how much we gods envy you demigods.'

Demigods could raise their children, gods could not.

'I know you'll do well as a mother. Your blood proves it.'

Asteria's face settled into one of calm acceptance. There was no point in arguing this anymore. Athena had already acted, a goddess had already acted, on her own child no less. Her mind was made up and her will was done. No point arguing anymore.

Still…

Searching Annabeth's mind, Asteria noticed a key missing subject.

'Could you have at least potty trained her?'

She could feel Athena's amusement through their mental link. 'Whoever said motherhood was easy? Besides, you are technically stealing my daughter from me. I feel it only appropriate that some modicum of a con is in play here.'

'Fine. Whatever.'

She had had Amelia fully potty trained, day and night time, in less than two full weeks, and did something almost the same with Angel, without having any physical contact. She had already potty trained two little girls, and she could do the same with Annabeth...right after she had her diaper changed and woke up from her nap.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Luke, can you explain to me just why, exactly, I am not feeling the restorative powers of the Golden Fleece right now?"

Luke, as soon as he fell asleep, had been pulled into a dream-audience with his great-grandfather. "I missed her, my lord. She was flying, just as you predicted, and I took aim. I missed. She was even able to dodge the chemical dispersal."

"I keep hearing you say that you missed. Was it not the daughter of Athena, Emily, that ran the numbers and fired the harpoon at Asteria?"

"…it was, my lord."

"I thought so. Now, why do you say it was you that missed?"

"It was my assignment, the mission given to me directly from you. Emily's failure is my failure, therefore I missed the shot."

"You impress me with your chivalry, Luke, and your loyalty to your cousins. However, I must apologize for accusing you, Luke. Had I known who the true culprit of this blunder was, I would not have interrupted your sleep. Pleasant dreams, great-grandson."

Luke did not immediately wake up, but neither did he dream of anything else. It was a peaceful sleep. When he did wake, those synapses firing on all cylinders, his eyes shot wide open, and be blurred through the Princess Andromeda's decks and hallways, all the way down from the captain's quarters to the berthing area, in less than ten seconds.

If there was one thing Luke did not despise about his father, it was all the powers he had inherited from the him.

While the ship was not coed, there were no rules that stated the boys and girls couldn't mix, which led to some entertaining stories of catching people in the act of things. Boys stealing panties and makeup, girls stealing boxers and deodorant, kissing, gay kissing, even full-blown fornication had been walked in on. To avoid something like that, which was embarrassing for everyone involved than anything, there had developed a thing of common courtesy, called knocking.

Luke forewent knocking for slamming his shoulder into the metal door, and blowing through it like was made of cardboard. He wasn't Superman, nor did he have anything providing him with extra durability beyond demigod physiology, so he did end up dislocating his shoulder, but the damage was soundly ignored in favor of fervently searching through the girls' room.

His violent entry had woken the sleeping females of Kronos' demigod army, and, while in any other situation they would've all been screaming about a pervert, the look on Luke's face and his panicked mannerisms kept them all silent.

He quickly found the bunk he was looking for, another power of being the son of the Messenger God, and he found Emily's bunk to be empty, aside from her belongings and toiletries. Luke threw the blankets aside, just to make sure she wasn't simply covered up by them; the only thing under those blankets was a dark spot that reeked of urine, and a couple of crusted areas that looked suspiciously like blood.

Luke felt his blood stop pumping, and his eyes just happened to look at the ground, where he saw a small trail of blood drops leading to what was probably the head. The Son of Hermes followed this trail, pulse increasing with each step. The sound of running water soon became heard, and Luke's pace increased.

He got to the door, and wasted no time in throwing it open, heedless of the possibility that there might have been a girl in there doing business.

Luke felt all color in his body drain away at what he saw.

The sink was set to on, and had long since overflowed. Floating in the sink was the severed head of Emily, eyes lifeless, skin colorless, hair a complete mess. It was just…bobbing there, staring blankly at Luke. On the ground was the rest of her body, and it looked like it had been chewed on, with massive bite marks here and there, and her entire front had been gnawed off, exposing her yellow ribcage, lungs, heart, and left her intestines to flop about the drowning floor. Those looked to have been gnawed on as well.

There was also her neck. Whatever had taken off her head had not done so cleanly. No, based on the way the skin was torn, her head looked to have been bitten off, bitten off by a rabid meat eater of a monster.

With trembling hands, Luke reached down and brought Emily's head to his face, and he touched foreheads with a strangled sob. He knew not what creature had did this, and launching an investigation aboard a ship of monsters would be pointless. However, he knew what this was, what this whole situation was.

This was Kronos punishing him. This was Kronos punishing Emily. This was Kronos punishing his followers, followers who had sworn loyalty to him on the River Styx in the hopes of a better future for themselves and their kin. This was Kronos punishing failure, by killing those who looked up to and depended on him for guidance and support.

Luke knew the Crooked One was not a forgiving Titan, but this, after just one mishap, was absurd, and the Lightning Thief knew it would only get worse. Much worse.

It was often that Luke found himself reflecting on his life choices, and it was often that he rationalized that he was doing was the best thing—the right thing. But there were those few times, those rare times, in which he felt that he was doing was wrong. Right here, right now, as he held the severed head of a dear friend of his, Luke found himself drowning in the latter thought process.

"Luke?" a small voice asked. "Why are you holding a bar of soap to your face?"

The Son of Hermes turned around, and saw Amy, his ten year old little sister.

"Soap…?" Luke said dazedly. She thought he holding soap? He was about to argue this, go on a tirade, scream, yell, maybe even attack, but it clicked for him just in time.

Mist.

Illusion.

Alteration.

"Amy, do you remember Emily? The daughter of Athena?"

The child cocked her head to the side. "Emily? I don't remember her…are you okay, Big Brother?"

Luke's smile was strained and false, not that Amy saw that. "I'm fine. Go back to bed if you want to."

"Okay," Amy yawned.

Luke turned back around, and in the reflection of the mirror, he saw his murderous face, and the rage in his eyes.

These were children; Emily was only fourteen; Amy only ten; and there were younger ones, ones picked up on the streets, ones picked up in worse places. They had sworn oaths to Kronos with the motivation of striking back at their neglectful parents, getting their pound of flesh from the people that had brought them into this world, only to be abandoned.

And death was how they were treated for a single mishap?

If that was the case, then Kronos was hardly a better tradeoff than the Olympians.

Snarling, Luke dropped Emily's head as he steadied himself on the edges of the ceramic sink. His lips curled back, his eyes burned, his muscles clenched, his teeth gnashed, and grip was like that of a vice, one which steadily grew tighter and tighter.

It wasn't fair!

Neglected by Hermes, the lapdog of Kronos. Forgotten by his father, threatened with death by his great-grandfather. Frowned upon by the Messenger God, used like a pawn by the King Cannibal.

All Luke wanted was a world in which all parents cared for all their children with equal love and care. All Luke wanted was peace and tranquility for himself and his fellows. All he wanted…all he wanted was for his father to recognize him as his son, say 'I love you.' Luke wanted that for all demigods on both sides of the line.

He was a revolutionary, not cold murderer that could stand to watch his friends and family be killed for a single failure.

He would not stand to watch that happen.

But he had sworn an oath—he had sworn fealty and loyalty. He had sworn never to betray Kronos in any way. His hands were tied by the River Styx, and there was nothing he could do.

The sink Luke was gripping shattered under his strength and fell from the wall, and the pipe erupted in a horizontal geyser that nailed Luke in the crotch. With a pained and annoyed grunt, the demigod stepped out of the way of the pressurized stream of water.

…

Water.

Oceans.

The sea.

Poseidon.

Asteria.

For as many times as Luke had thought what he was doing was wrong, this was the first in which he knew he was doing wrong…and he needed help. The kind of help that flew a futuristic jet; the kind of help that could start impossible and logic-defying wildfires; the kind of help that could command earthquakes, storms, the tides, and the minds of others.

Luke needed to get in touch with his confusing flame.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That is a wrap, and the end of Xenomorphic for an indefinite period of time. Most likely, anyway.

Lucy is setting up her plan to make Asteria revert to her old ways by making Annabeth young again, by stealing her time, and Athena's not helping the situation by making Annabeth's mind fit her young body, but hey.

Mommy!Asteria for the win!

And in other news, we have Luke questioning his role in the world, and why he's even doing what he's doing with who he's doing it with, and realizing that maybe he did not make the best choice in life. But he is starting to get it into his head that he needs help, so there's that.

There's also an Easter Egg from Alien: Covenant somewhere in the above chapter. Go see if you can find it, but after you…

Fav, Follow, and Review!