WINGED ₁

41

THE HORRIBLE THING WAS, MADELEINE COULD SEE THE RESEMBLANCE. Atlas had the same cold brown eyes that Zoe had. He had a haughty, regal way of tilting his head. His hair was dark and shiny, his cheekbones high and impressive. 

But Zoe had always looked at Madeleine with such raw affection, and she was so different from her father that it made Madeleine a little sick.

"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.

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

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoe! 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.

Atlas made a crowing sound. "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."

Madeleine didn't know where to look, so she focused on Annabeth. The girl had injuries that Madeleine hadn't at first seen: there were fresh bruises on her face, and her lip was swollen. Her arms were littered with cuts, and her legs trembled with the effort of standing up. There was a streak of gray in her hair, going from light at her roots to dark in the splashes of bleach at the end. She was jerking her head toward Luke.

"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered, her eyes trained on Annabeth's hair. "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."

Madeleine laughed. There was nothing funny about it, and her humor was a raw, scraping sort, but she looked at Luke. His hair also had gray in it. 

"You took it willingly," she accused him. "You took it because you knew Annabeth would take it from you. You're a sick, sick bastard, Luke, you know that? I'm going to kill you."

Luke didn't respond. He turned away in the face of her anger, which wasn't like him. His face was morbidly pale. He looked twenty years older than he actually was.

Atlas laughed and turned to face Madeleine and her friends. "How little you understand, young ones. How easy you demigods are to predict. I knew you would come here." His eyes roved over Thalia and Percy. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge. And my daughter's prophecy girl... not much to look at, either. All you are is empty threats."

Madeleine slid her rings off of her hands and threw them into air. She caught her knives and bared her teeth at Atlas. "Try me. I, unlike your servant Luke, try to make good on my word."

Atlas just smiled. "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 said.

"Let Luke try," Madeleine spat. Her hands were trembling with anger.

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."