★ 𝒙𝒍𝒊𝒙. 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕

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The horrible thing was: Percy could see the family resemblance

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The horrible thing was: Percy 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 Percy had originally disliked about Zoë, with none of the good he'd come to appreciate.

"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded.

"Perhaps you'd like it if this girl would take it instead?" Atlas said, pointing over to Bronte, who recoiled at his words.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, earning a kick to her back from Mikey. She glared up at him, wanting to say so many things but essentially keeping her mouth shut.

Atlas stared at Zoë. "Or maybe 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. "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."

Percy looked at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to tell him something. She motioned her head toward Luke. A few of her braids were streaked with gray.

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

Percy looked back at Bronte, who was making progress with the cloth around her wrists. "I don't understand. 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 Thalia and Percy. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us," Percy said. "And let's see." He was ready to rip the guy's head off his shoulders. Or, you know, try to at least.

"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," Percy commented.

Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. 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 managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If Percy didn't hate his guts so much, he almost would've felt sorry for him. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

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