Falling Forest | pjo

the one who holds the sky

The only thing Charlie Wang felt was the cold, hard ground beneath his head. He could hear distant rumbling as if there was an army marching close by, but he attributed the sound to the dark waters that he thought took ahold of him. Charlie honestly thought he had died. That death, the very thing he desperately fought to keep away, finally had him in his clutches. The last thing he remembered was falling off the cliff and into the claws of the manticore, after all.

Charlie Wang didn't fear death. Not as much as a fourteen year-old is supposed to anyway. He had long passed that moment. If he died, his father would be left alone and he didn't think that his father could take it. He made a mental note to help find his father a wife after he got out of whatever mess he got himself into.

Grunting, he managed to pull himself up into a sitting position. His head pulsed at the sudden movement and his wrists ached from the rope that bound his hands. His eyes were blurry and his face caked with dirt from where he laid prior.

"Seems our guest is awake." Charlie's head snapped up towards the voice.

The man in front of him stood tall with dark slick-backed hair and grey, stone eyes that held a mad gleam. He was wearing what looked like an expensive suit that complimented his large shoulders, his muscular build being hidden behind the brown fabric. His face was brutal and the air around him was nothing like Dr. Thorn's. This man.... no.. this being was intimidating and evil. His neck seemed stiff and the amused smirk on his face was never-changing. Despite the pure darkness he felt from the man, he tried his best to keep a calm façade, hands trembling slightly.

"Where's the girl?" Charlie demanded, eyes shifting around. 

He was in a place covered with rubble and dust, in which he assumed was a ruins of an ancient castle and above him, red clouds swirled menacingly. He could hear the faint, feminine sounds of pain close by.

"In a... secure place." The man chuckled, grin becoming more malicious as he spat out the word. "It matters not. My lord has an eye on you, boy. You're valuable. Though I do not know why."

"Who are you and what have you done with Annabeth?" Charlie growled out. The man merely grinned at him as if he was an interesting, but insignificant ant beneath his boot.

"Me? Why, I am Atlas! General of the armies of Kronos and terror of the Olympians!" Atlas' voice seemed to boom as the ground shook beneath them. "That girl is playing a great role in the fall of Olympus."

"Argh!" As soon as he heard the shout of pain, Charlie quickly rushed to the sound, ignoring the amused titan behind him.

He knew it wasn't a good idea to turn your back on your opponent, especially a titan who could snap his neck in a flash but he had a feeling the man wouldn't hurt him. Atlas said he was valuable to Kronos for whatever reason, after all.

Charlie arrived to see Annabeth painfully crumpled on the floor with a swirling fog of blackness atop her back. It seemed as if it was crushing her. The blonde's body was slowly lowering at every second and her sweaty face was contorted in pain.

"Terrible, isn't it?" The boy jumped at the sudden voice behind him and his neck almost got a whiplash trying to face the man. "Ever since the beginning of time, the sky still yearns to embrace the earth. After my brother was defeated, Zeus punished me by forcing me to hold the sky for the rest of eternity, lest the world was to be crushed. The gods are cruel, you see."

"Let her go." Charlie spoke through gritted teeth. Atlas raised an eyebrow.

"Now, why would I do that? I need the girl to lure in that troublesome goddess."

"I... I'll take her place. Kronos wants me, doesn't he? You can keep me here until I am of use. So please... Just let her go." The titan looked amused at his sheer desperation. The boy seemed just about ready to take the burden from the blonde, regardless of what Atlas' answer would be.