¹𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 ! - percy jackson

-014

THE HORRIBLE THING WAS Stella could see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoë, the same cold proud look in his eyes that Zoë sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times more evil. He was all the things she had originally disliked about Zoë, with none of the good she had come to appreciate.

"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoë opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoë! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled sadistically. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

Stella's eyes darted towards Annabeth. The daughter of Athena was desperately trying to tell her something by motioning her head toward Luke. But all she could do was stare at her. Stella hadn't noticed before, but something about her had changed. Her blond hair was now streaked with gray.

"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered as if she had read Stella's mind. "The weight should've killed her."

"I don't understand," Percy said. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"

Atlas laughed. "How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled. "Unless someone else takes it from you."

He approached them, studying the three half-bloods. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us," Percy demanded defiantly. "And let's see."

A contemptuous laugh echoed from Atlas. "Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."

"So you're another coward," Stella said.

Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred at her. "Then what does that make you, daughter of Apollo?"

With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia. "As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke interjected, his voice strained and painful. Weakness clung to him like a relentless shadow. Stella would have almost felt sorry for him if she didn't hate him with every fiber of her being. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to them, a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Luke..." Thalia, her voice laced with pain, confronted the fallen hero before her. "What happened to you?"

Their shared history echoed in her words, memories of conversations and grievances against the gods resurfacing. Luke, now a distorted reflection of his past self, pressed on, his plea shrouded in desperation and a twisted sense of camaraderie.