𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑮 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬 || 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

the sky gains a new star

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.

"You will let them go," Zoë demanded.

"Oh, this girl made her own foolish decision to take the sky," Atlas said. "But be my guest, if anyone cares to take it from her now, go ahead."

Atlas walked closer to Maisie and touched her face. Percy squeezed the hilt of Riptide so hard that his knuckles turned white. Thalia tentatively grabbed the back of his shirt to prevent him from charging. Maisie just focused on her breathing as the man tried to provoke her. But when Atlas brought his hand under her chin to lift it up, she managed to bite his finger.

"Bah!" Atlas yelled, ripping his finger back and shaking it. Then he chuckled. "You see, daughter? The girl likes her new job. I think I will have all the children of 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 towards Annabeth. She was desperately trying to tell him something. She motioned her head toward Luke. A few of her black to blonde braids were streaked with gray.

"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered. "The weight should've killed her. It should be killing Maisie too."

Percy looked back at Maisie. Her sweater sleeves had fallen down and he could see the veins in her forearms bulging. "But I don't understand!" Percy said. "Why can't she 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, and let's see" Percy threatened. He was ready to rip this guy apart. Or try to at least.

"Have the gods taught you nothing? A being such as myself does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke and the manticore crush you instead."

"So you're another coward," Percy countered.

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 might've felt sorry for him. "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. Percy could imagine Bessie in that pool. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure he could hear Bessie mooing.