Revenge.

32. Atlas

Percy

I shadow-travelled to the location of Mount Othrys, my body solidifying once more. I looked up and saw that I was standing in front of the Garden of the Hesperides. The sun was slowly sinking behind the horizon, casting pink and orange rays across the darkening sky. I walked over to the Garden before pausing, my mind flashing back to my quest to rescue Annabeth. 

Zoe had held off Ladon while the rest of us escaped to the other side of the garden. I smiled wistfully at the memory. My girlfriend was extremely courageous. She still fought Atlas even after Ladon had bit her. 

My smile dropped from my face. Atlas. That titan was a pain in the ass, but not as much compared to Kronos. I strode forwards, following the winding path up to Mount Othrys. On the way there, I passed the tree with the golden apples, Hera's wedding gift to her unfaithful husband, Zeus. 

Ladon was lying down at the foot of the tree, whimpering in pain. Half of his heads had been cut off, blood pouring from the multiple stumps. Four ghostly figures of girls with long, black hair similar to Zoe's knelt beside the dragon. The Hesperides, Zoe's former sisters. 

Dam, I really hate those cold-hearted bitches.

I stalked over to the Hesperides and they turned, their eyes narrowing. Their features were, once again, strikingly similar to my girlfriends. They all had the slightly upturned nose and dark, volcanic eyes. When the four girls saw me, their eyes widened in shock and horror. 

"Perseus." The eldest Hesperide said with fear evident in her voice. The other Hesperides shifted uncomfortably while Ladon continued to whimper in pain behind them. I smiled coldly at the daughters of Atlas, my scythe appearing in my hand. They stepped back, their faces paling with fear. 

"What business do you have here that could possibly concern you? Another demigod went by, dragging the King of the Gods with him! He nearly killed Ladon!" The youngest Hesperide shouted. 

I cast my gaze to the dark clouds hovering over the ruins of Mount Othrys before turning my attention back to the four girls. "That demigod is someone who is part of my loyal army." I said coldly. "And do not refer to Zeus as the "King." I am the King now. I destroyed his throne and slaughtered more than half of the Olympians. Zeus is going to get the punishment he deserves." 

All four of the Hesperides inhaled sharply at the same exact time. I grinned as they realized why I had come. "Our father." The second youngest Hesperide said in a quivering voice. "You want to kill him and let Zeus take his place by holding the sky." 

"Indeed." I twirled my scythe between my fingers with ease. "You're quite smart. Yes, I came to kill Atlas and shove Zeus's ass in his place." 

"You can't kill our father!" The eldest Hesperide yelled. "We won't let you!" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Keep in mind that I had murdered almost all of the Olympians except for Ares, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hestia. Do you really think you, the Hesperides, can stop me?" 

The four sisters paused, their expressions full of pain and distrust. I waited patiently until the eldest Hesperide spoke once more. "We will not fight you, Perseus Jackson. We understand that you will kill us if we try to attack you. But for the sake of us.....Give our father a swift, painless death." 

It was my turn to falter. In all honesty, I wanted to give Atlas the most painful death possible for causing me so much trouble during my third quest to rescue Annabitch. But since the Hesperides decided to let me pass without much trouble, I would do as they asked. 

"Yes. I will grant your wish." I said to them. The girls exchanged anxious looks before they nodded and stepped back closer to Ladon. I was left with a free path straight to Mount Othrys. "Thank you." I inclined my head towards the four distraught sisters before making my way, once more, to the top of Mount Othrys. 

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I reached the top of the mountain and saw the familiar twisting vortex of dark clouds pressing down on a muscular man. The man was on his knees, his hands raised above his head to prevent the dark clouds from crushing him. Sweat dripped down his face and his expression was full of pain and suffering. 

Off to the side of the man stood Octavian with a chained up former King of the Gods. Zeus's clothes were in tatters, and he had given up on trying to get out of the chains binding him. 

I smirked as I approached the struggling man, kneeling down beside him and using my scythe to push his chin up. I looked into the dark eyes of Atlas, the former general of Kronos's army. 

Atlas recoiled when he saw me, his face transforming into shock and terror. "W-What!? Perseus? Why are you still alive? And......that scythe. Wings." I chuckled quietly and whispered "It is nice to see you again, Atlas. I'm the new King of the Gods. I destroyed Zeus's throne, killed almost all of the other Olympians. And now, I'm here to kill you." 

"What!? Why would you want to kill me? I've been stuck holding this fucking sky for years!" Atlas roared. I gestured over to Zeus, who bared his teeth at me. "Well, I've issued a punishment to the Gods I kept alive. Zeus's punishment is to hold the sky in your place." 

"You're going to kill me just so that Zeus gets the punishment." Atlas said in disbelief. I rolled my eyes and nodded before using my scythe to push Atlas out from under the sky. The titan rolled and the sky nearly collapsed but I shoved the butt of my scythe underneath it. My weapon trembled with the strain but Octavian acted quickly. 

He grabbed the chains holding Zeus and threw the God forward. Zeus slammed into my scythe, knocking it aside just as the sky fell down onto his shoulders. Zeus bellowed in pain before I stepped forwards with Riptide, cutting through the chains trapping Zeus. The God was then able to raise his hands, pushing the sky off of his shoulders. 

Zeus's muscles bulged with the strain and he groaned as the sky threatened to crush him. "Perseus, once I get free, I will kill you!" I laughed and turned to Atlas. The titan was slowly getting to his feet, having not been able to move due to holding the sky for several years. 

I strode over to him, my scythe reappearing in my hand. Atlas heard me approaching and he whirled, his hands out ready to defend himself. "I promised your daughters to give you a swift and painless death." I said, looking with amusement at the poor display of defence Atlas was showing. "So I'm going to at least give them that." 

Atlas opened his mouth but I struck, lunging forwards and stabbing my scythe straight into his heart. Atlas immediately disappeared, joining the other fallen titans in Tartarus. 

Footsteps came closer to me and I turned to see Octavian walking towards me, his eyes glinting with joy at my success. "Nice job, Octavian. Since Zeus's punishment is completed, and Ares and Hestia are busy with my army, I'll go check up on Poseidon next." I told him. 

Octavian nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would be the most suitable thing to do. I'll meet you back on Olympus......Sir?" I gritted my teeth at the formality once more. Back when I was my old, happy, carefree self, I hated how the Gods demanded respect from the demigods and other minor Gods just because they craved attention and power. Since I'm now King, I wouldn't demand the same respect from my army. 

"Shut up and don't call me that again. But yes, I'll meet you back at Olympus. I'm going to see how Ethan is doing with my ex-father." My wings unfurled from behind my back and I shot into the air, leaving Octavian grumbling about how far he had to walk. 

Word count: 1369

My graduation is tomorrow, whoop. School's almost out as well, and yes, many of you people already have summer break. WELL GUESS WHAT I START SCHOOL LATER THAN Y'ALL. :)