I am feeling really good about this chapter! Took me WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long to write, but hey! Means it's better, right! Best not to rush throught and make everything sound like a 2 grader wrote it, like my other one. Anyway, Read, Review, yada yada, yada. Who knows when the next chapter will be up! But, the more reviews I get, the more I;ll want to get it done, so...

Breakfast was less than comfortable. I glanced from the corner of my eye from time to time, only to see Anabeth and Thalia chattering away like nothing else mattered. I couldn't help but feel the fire in my chest grow to new heights. She doesn't even realize you're not there. My mind beat wildly against all thoughts of Anabeth; against all thoughts of Grover. It was like all my good memories couldn't come to the surface. It was like there was nothing between us except for the way they ignored me, disregarded me.

It seemed nowadays that my vision always had a tint of red at the edges.

After breakfast, I followed the crowd out. I saw Grover, but he seemed shifty and nervous. Then I saw him dart over to Anabeth and Thalia, and grabbed their arms. He didn't say anything, but he looked over his shoulder, spotted me -not realizing I was watching him-, and tugged the girls the opposite direction.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I would do neither. Instead, I walked away. They don't want to be near me? Then I don't want to be near them! It was going to be a long day…

That night, Kronos was back. But I wasn't disturbed or nervous about it.

"How did today go?" He asked, in a way I always pictured a parent would.

Sighing audibly, I flopped on the ground. "Like any normal day at Camp Half-Blood." I mumbled.

"Would that include your friends treatment?"

At that, I couldn't hold back the anger that had been festering all day. "They HATE me! WHY? Why do they hate me? They keep going off away from me! This morning, Grover literally looked to find me, just so he could keep Anabeth and Thalia away!"

"Hmm...That does sound quite mean. Are you sure they were really your friends t o start with?"

"I-I thought they were. But now I'm not so sure." I admitted, burying my face in his hands.

"I can help you impress new people. I can help you make better friends."

Sighing to release the stress in my body, I looked to the dark pit as though I were looking at Kronos. I felt like a kicked puppy when I answered, "I'd like that..."

"You're sure, Perseus?"

"Yes."

"Then, to help you control that anger, I shall give you fire." Kronos explained.

"How can you do that?" I asked curiously.

"I am not just any Titan, Perseus. I am the Father of the Gods! How would they gain there abilities if not through me? Zeus has to have someone to drag it from."

"I... I guess that makes sense." I mused. "But how will it help me control my anger? I don't understand."

"Fire burns, and for it to burn, it needs a fuel. Fire tends to be depicted as anger and rage, turning all in it's path to ash. But in reality, fire is not the anger, but is fueled by anger. After being angry for a time, do humans not feel remorse? Do they not feel sorry, or upset? It's because the fire has burned away the anger, and left only the coals."

"I... I've never thought about it that way..." I said thoughtfully.

"I'll teach you to control the fire. It wont take long as you are already rather intelligent!"

"Really?" I felt something swell in his chest. Never had I gained a compliment from a father figure before, at least, not that I can remember. Perhaps Kronos really was a father figure and Zeus was just a spoiled brat.

"Of course! The reason I'm interested in you and what you want is because you have the natural talent and ability to be great!" Kronos explained kindly. "I want to be able to help you become what the Gods could never make of you!"

"The gods don't care. They keep themselves locked away from us. Are we a disappointment? Or were we simply never good enough?" I wondered.

"The gods believe themselves to be higher beings. High enough to think that interaction with mortals would mean belittling themselves. Every so often, yes, they do fall to temptation, but for a child; they refuse to "fall" to that level." Kronos explained, making sure to add quite a bit of sarcasm to "fall". "But I, on the other hand, see you as a strength, not a weakness, nor a burden. You are strong, Perseus, stronger than you know."

I felt like I was glowing with pride. "You-you really think so?" I inquired.

"I KNOW so." Kronos replied. "Now, are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath to calm my electrified nerves, he answered, "Yes."

A deep chucked echoed through the cave, but it sounded more like how a father would should his child show too much enthusiasm about something so small. "Watch this."

A speck of light drift out of the black pit, and it hovered gently in front of me. As I watched it, it slowly grew, and it looked to have fire on it's surface, and maybe inside of it. Was it all just fire held in a spherical form?

"Touch it." Kronos invited me. It was so entranced by it's ethereal light that yeah, I was going to touch it. When my hand came close to the little light, tendrils of orange, yellow, and red wrap around my fingers like mist, almost in a guiding way. As I grew closer to the center of the little light, more it it wrapped around my hand, engulfing it in cool flames. The tendrils began to cross up my arm, and it felt warm. Not like a burning heat, but a comforting warmth, like the sun. It curled and swirled, and then it began to fade. But the feeling of warmth never left.

"How does it feel?" Kronos asked.

"It-it feels, amazing!" I whispered, I felt so elated that I could hardly speak. It was something I'd never felt before.

"Want to try it?"

"What? How?" I snapped out of my euphoric stupor and looked to the black.

"With anger." Kronos replied simply. A black, smoke-like tendril swirled out of the black and shot out into the shadows of the cave around me. It came back holding a struggling satyr, and not just any satyr. It was Grover.

I had a mix of feelings about his being here. Fear that he saw what had happened. Embarrassment that I didn't realize he was here. Awkward because he and I haven't talked in what felt like eternity; and anger that he would be spying on me. All too quickly all those different emotions were pored into simple anger. I could feel the warmth begin to burn, but I didn't mind, the heat matched the anger that boiled in my chest, and I embarrassed it.

"How DARE you!" I yelled at him, letting my anger supply me. "How DARE you come here! Were you spying on me? I bet Thalia would be glad to have dirt on me! No more competition for Zeus' daughter!" I spat.

"W-what? N-no! Percy, that's not it! I-I came – well, not CAME came, not of my own free-will-" Grover rambled fearfully, but was silenced when the black smoke covered his mouth, like a hand, to shut him up.

"You see Percy? He didn't come of his 'own free-will'." Kronos emphasized.

My vision was burning with red, my mind was consumed by it, and I could think of nothing more than that Grover was never truly my friend.

"What, was I the most powerful person at Camp Half-Blood, and so you stayed near me? Is Thalia really more powerful than me? Not any more!" I felt the fire in me grow to the point of where I couldn't hold it back. I felt it's pressure, I felt it burn, and I felt it leave. It was like a solar explosion. All around me, fire erupted, encircling me, but never hurting me. I saw Grover's fur catch fire, and only feel remorse for a single moment, before I smirked, satisfied with how this was turning out. "I am more powerful than Thalia could EVER be! But I will not longer accept fakes like you!" I declared.

The fear in Grover's eyes made me feel a dark success. That's what I wanted, right? I wanted him to KNOW I was strong, and that his little charade as my "best friend" was over. Slowly, he faded out of the realm, and it was only me and Kronos.

"Well done, Perseus! I do believe he got the message!" Kronos congratulated.

"Feel success, but I also feel like it isn't enough. I feel like I have to do more." I said.

"Do not worry. I have everything in control and a plan for any mishaps. You are in safe hands." Kronos assured me. "But for now, try and keep Camp Half-Blood on it's feet. Make it stumble all you like, but don't burn it all to the ground. That would be immature, which I know you aren't. I don't even know why I'm giving this warning!"

"Thank you." I smiled. It was small, and hardly noticeable, but I felt better, better than I have sense Thalia had come back.

"Now, have a better day a camp, my boy." Kronos said, and I was wooshed out of the cave.

What do you think? Better than the original, right? I like it better so far! Although, I'm starting to wonder if I should even put Luke in this rewrite. And maybe Percy DOESN'T go back. What do you think?