CHAPTER ONE

Jason was falling.

Falling down and down and down. He lost track of time. All he was aware of was blood rushing by his ears and someone clinging to him for dear life. He looked toward the person and saw a head of choppy brown hair.

Piper.

He tried to look down, to see where they were falling to, but could only see a faint red glow far below them. Where were they? What was happening? Above him, a small dot of daylight hung as steady as a sniper's target. How long had they been falling? Then it hit him.

Tartarus. They were falling to Tartarus.

He desperately held Piper close, trying to not let her go despite the wind trying to tear her away. That was it, the wind! He shut his eyes and thought the word, UP.

Nothing happened.

Jason bit his lip and repeated the word. Again, nothing. He opened his eyes to find that he could see the ground coming towards them now. There was only something black and shiny below them, and it was flying toward them at an alarming rate.

"I love you!" he yelled over the wind. Then, she started to slip from his arms. He clutched her desperately, but she slipped from his grasp and disappeared.

He was alone.

He seemed to fall faster. He looked to the ground behind him. He was only 50 yards away…35…20…5...

Jason abruptly sat up in his bed, tears streaming down his face. His heart beat hammered against his chest. He tried to catch his breath, breathing in and out fairly fast at first before slowing. He buried his head in his hands, not really noticing how his face felt slightly different in his hands.

It was just a dream, he told himself. It wasn't real.

He gripped his short hair, trying to convince himself that he was fine…when he noticed his hair was longer than usual. Okay, WAY longer.

The first thought that went through his head was: STOLLS! He released his hair and gazed curiously at his hands. They weren't gnarled or calloused, but instead, his hands were slender and graceful. His nails were painted electric blue with a single, yellow lightning bolt on his thumbs.

He leapt out of bed, sending the covers flying, and raced to the bathroom. He fumbled around with the light switch, trying to illuminate the small room. When he finally flipped the switch, he immediately switched it off. For a few moments, he stood panting in the dark.

I'm still dreaming. It's not real. I'm going to wake up and it will all be over.

He took a deep breath and flipped on the light.

"AH!" Jason screeched, his voice higher than usual. He looked into the mirror to find a teenage girl with just-below shoulder length blonde hair and electric blue eyes staring back at him. She wore a purple sports bra with black shorts. She was about five inches shorter. Her legs were thin and her hips were round. The features on her face were more defined and feminine. Her muscles were still developed, though. That she was thankful for.

A knock came from his door. She cursed and threw on a white bath robe (that was too big for her now) and walked to the cabin door. She opened it to reveal a teenage boy with chocolate brown skin, messy brown hair, and kaleidoscope eyes. He wore a green muscle-shirt and knee-length cream shorts. He was a few inches taller than Jason, but they recognized each other all the same.

Jason gasped. "Piper?"

"Jason?" he returned. Piper's voice was deeper than it usually was. Jason gestured for Piper to enter the cabin and closed the door behind them. Piper walked over to her boyfriend/girlfriend's messy bunk and sat down shakily. Jason stood across from him and kneeled down. She took Piper's hands in hers, noticing that his hands were bigger and slightly rough to the touch. He trembled slightly.

"What's happening?" Piper asked her.

"I don't know," Jason said, "but we'll figure it out." She checked her alarm clock. "It's five o'clock in the morning. Chiron should be up. Should we go see him?"

Piper nodded shakily. Jason had to admit, as a boy, Piper was hot. She shook the thoughts out of her head, but realized that Piper might've been thinking the same thoughts about him.

Piper looked at Jason concernedly. "Jason? Are you alright?"

Jason looked up at him. "Yeah, I just…" She paused, uncertain of whether or not to continue. Piper nodded encouragement. "I had this dream. In it, we were falling to…to Tartarus. And then you disappeared and I didn't know…" She didn't notice, but she'd been gradually speeding up her talking speed. "I didn't know if you were okay or where you had disappeared to…" She buried her face in her hands again as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

Piper bent down and kneeled beside his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm down Jason.

"It's alright," he soothed. "I'm here now, and we're together. You don't have to let go if you don't want to." Jason sobbed into Piper's shirt. Why was he so emotional all of a sudden? What the hell was going on?!

Jason wiped her face and stood. Piper started to let go, but Jason grabbed his hand. Piper looked at their intertwined fingers and smiled warmly at her. Jason smiled back at him and walked over to her wardrobe. When she opened the doors, she found that all of her clothes had been replaced. Piper chuckled and pulled out a yellow spaghetti-strap tank top and some jean shorts. Jason shrugged. "You're the boss."

Ten minutes later, Piper and Jason walked out of Cabin One. Piper had found some of Jason's flip flops that had somehow escaped the transformation and was now wearing them to the Big House. Jason wore the yellow tank top and jean shorts with white sandals. She'd left her hair down, but she had brushed it out. Jason could see the lights on in the living room of the "Camp Headquarters."

They quickened their stride. They were both wearing sleeveless tops and the cold bit at their skin. They ran up the wood stairs, but paused before they knocked on the door. Jason listened intently. She could hear low voices inside. She looked up at Piper quizzically and knocked on the door.

The voices stopped. Jason waited anxiously in silence, rocking back and forth on her toes.

Then, the door opened to reveal an already wide-awake and anxious Chiron. When he saw them, he face palmed himself and slowly dragged his hand down his face. "You two, too?" he asked reluctantly.

"Wait," Piper said. "Too? As in, 'as well?'" Chiron nodded distractedly. Jason had never seen him like this before. Usually, Chiron was calm and collected. What had made him this anxious?

"Come inside," he said, ushering them in. Jason and Piper walked into the house and turned right, heading toward the living room, but they froze when they saw that the room was already occupied with six other people. They all stood, also taking in the newcomers. There were two boys and four girls. One of the girls had long black hair and sea green eyes. Another had long black hair, brown eyes, sickly pale skin, and eye bags. Still another had short, curly hair and slightly pointed ears accompanied by a goofy grin. The last looked Chinese. Her hair was neat and short and her eyes were brown. Jason awkwardly noticed how he was the tallest of the five girls.

And then there were the two boys. One had curly blonde hair that brushed the top of his ears and steel grey eyes. The other was African American, had short, very curly hair, and gold eyes.

The third girl smirked. "About time you two showed up."

I have no explanation for this. I haven't seen that many genderbend fanfics out there, and frankly, (hehe, FRANKly) I like them. A lot.

Yes, for your information, I will include Solangelo, but I'm turning it into a straight relationship just because I don't know much about homosexual relationships and how they work.

Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated!