Chapter 7: Transformation
Philip woke with a jolt, his heart pounding like a drumbeat in his ears.
The room was dim, early morning light filtering through the hotel curtains. At first, everything seemed normal—until he shifted and felt something crackle beneath him. He sat up slowly, only to recoil in disgust. The bed was stained with thick streaks of black sludge, like oil mixed with soot. It clung to his skin, his sheets, and even the pillow where his head had rested. A sharp, pungent scent—acrid and metallic—filled the air.
"What the hell…" he muttered, stumbling toward the bathroom.
His reflection stopped him cold.
He was someone else entirely. The belly had vanished, replaced by defined abs and lean muscle, like his body had been sculpted by forgotten gods. His skin had taken on a subtle glow under certain lights, especially near the red gem now embedded in his forehead. His glasses? Gone. His eyesight was sharper than ever—he could read numbers on a speeding license plate from across the street.
He barely recognized himself.
Gone were the soft edges, the subtle slouch. His chest had broadened, muscles defined as if sculpted. His skin had a healthy glow, not the pale fatigue he'd worn since the conference. But it was the gem that terrified him most—a tiny red crystal, no larger than a fingernail, embedded right in the center of his forehead.
He poked at it. It didn't hurt. It didn't budge. It felt like part of him now.
Philip backed away from the mirror, breath shaky. "No. No no no…"
His mind raced—images of the pyramid, the fight over the crystal crown, the way it seemed to reject everyone...except maybe him. And the wooden crown with the red gem. The one he'd taken.
Grabbing his phone with trembling hands, he called Frank.
"Bro," he said the second Frank picked up, "Something's wrong. I woke up and—I don't even know how to explain it. I think the crown did something to me."
"You too?" Frank's voice sounded distant, but not surprised. "I've been feeling… different. Stronger. Like I can control that energy we saw back there. I accidentally shorted out the lamp in my room just by looking at it too hard."
Philip sat down on the edge of the tub. "There's this gem… in my forehead."
A pause.
"…That's new."
They exchanged experiences, trying to piece together what was happening. While Frank seemed excited—almost giddy—with his new abilities, Philip couldn't shake the unease crawling under his skin.
"What if we're not just stronger?" he asked. "What if we're… changing?"
Frank hesitated. "Well, whatever this is… we're in it together, yeah?"
"Yeah," Philip said, but the word felt hollow. Because even though they had shared the same path into the strange realm beneath Athena's house, Philip had a growing suspicion:
Frank had powers.
But he? He was becoming something else.
And he wasn't sure if it was good—or terrifying.