The horrible thing was, you 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 Y/N disliked about Zoë.
"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded.
Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps 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 she 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."
Y/N glanced at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to speak despite the gag. She motioned her head toward Luke. But he didn't really notice it; something about her had changed. Her blond hair was now streaked with gray.
"From holding the sky," Ethan muttered, as if he'd read Y/N's mind. "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 Gaea 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 Y/N, Percy, and Thalia. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."
"Fight us," Percy said. "And let's see."
Signing their own death warrant: Check.
"Have the gods taught you nothing?" Atlas said. "An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."
"Y/N beat Ares," Ethan slipped in. "Being an immortal and hearing that . . . must scare you stiff, right?"
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. You would almost have felt sorry for him. Almost. Y/N would rather have punched him in the face. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"
Luke waved his hand, and next to them a pool of water appeared—a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for Bessie. Y/N could imagine her in that pool. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure he could hear Bessie mooing.
"Don't think about her," Ethan whispered. "If you do, she'll come. Block the thoughts."
Y/N tried not to think. Easier said than done. He tried to think about basketball players, candies, donuts. Anything but the cow-serpent he had to not think about.
"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."
"Luke. . . ." Thalia's voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"
"Don't you remember all those times we talked?" Luke said. "All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"
Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."
"If you join me," Luke promised, "it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree . . ."
His voice faltered. "It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."
The fear in his voice was obvious. He would not survive if he didn't manage to convince Thalia to join him. He was in danger. At least, that was what Y/N was afraid Thalia believed.
"Don't," he told her. "He lies. He never did anything else."
Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.
"Thalia," Y/N said. "No."
Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, images formed in the mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around them, made of fear and shadow.
"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."
He pointed toward the ocean, and Y/N felt a lump in his throat. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things he couldn't even name. The whole ship must've been emptied, because they were hundreds, many more than he'd seen on board last summer. And they were marching toward them. In a few minutes, they would be there.
"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."
For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of sadness, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Then she leveled her eyes. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."
"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded. "Please. Don't make me. . . . Don't make him destroy you."
There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, they would be overwhelmed. Y/N met Annabeth's eyes again. She nodded.
He looked at Ethan, Percy, Thalia, and Zoë. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with them.
"If someone's going to get destroyed," he said, "it's you, Luke."
"Now," Percy said.
Together, they charged.
Y/N rushed at Luke, raising his sword, Thalia next to him. Instantly, the dragon-women bodyguards dropped the golden coffin and hurried forward against them. Thalia raised her shield, and its power was so great the monsters almost fled. Thalia waved her spear, and she lunged at the dragon-women.
Y/N went straight for Luke, jumping forward and pointing the tip of his sword right at Luke's scar. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal, pushed Annabeth away, and counterattacked. When his sword, Backbiter, met Y/N's, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.
Out of the corner of his eye, Y/N saw Percy attacking Atlas. The Titan laughed as Percy approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands; his silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor.
Luke swung his sword, nearly cutting Y/N's head off his neck. He didn't stop, aiming at Y/N's hand, stepping forward with each move.
Y/N pulled himself together. Each time his life was in danger, his senses worked double to keep him alive—and this was no exception. He parried; a spray of sparks left an afterimage in his eyes.
Luke changed his stance, readied another move. He had the upper hand; Backbiter was a blur in front of Y/N, who only managed to stop it at the last moment each time it closed on him.
What had to happen, happened: Luke managed to hit him. But it didn't hurt as much as it should have. No blood soaked his clothes, he didn't lose his arm or anything. Backbiter slid along the lion coat as it would have along a rock.
Luke's eyes went wide with shock. He lost his balance, took one step too many.
Y/N didn't hesitate. Holding his sword low with its point up, he thrust it upward for a killing stroke. His blade drew a red line along Luke's arm. A little more, just a little more and it would go right through Luke's face. Just a little—
Like a gong echoing forever in the middle of mountains, Ares's warning rang in his ears: Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse.
Not again! he pleaded. But it was no good. His sword was about to touch Luke, to kill Luke on the spot—when something crashed against him and sent him flying like a rag doll. He slammed into the ground, his head spinning. He looked up and found what had caught him: Percy, thrown at Artemis's feet by Atlas.
Atlas raised his javelin to impale Percy. "Die, little hero."
"Oh no, you don't!" Y/N thrust his sword into the armpit chink in Atlas's armor.
"ARGH!" Atlas bellowed and turned toward him.
Right this moment, Y/N wanted to yell from terror. Chiron had told him long ago: Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve. He wasn't sure he had the nerve to face a Titan, who was now free to attack back directly, with all his might.
He whirled his sword, and Atlas knocked him aside with the shaft of his javelin. He flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. His nightmare became real.
"Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"
The javelin's point slashed toward Y/N like a scythe. Once again, his lion coat saved his life. But this time, the blow hit much harder than Luke's. He flew through the air and landed heavily on the marble floor—already, it wasn't rock anymore.
Luke was right there, above him. Backbiter gleamed wickedly in his hand. He raised it, point down, ready to deal a fatal blow.
Then a staff struck Luke's chin, throwing him to the ground. Ethan grabbed Y/N's hand and lifted him up to his feet.
Y/N's vision swayed, as if he were back on the deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge. His ears rang with the booming of the bolts of lightning that came down from the sky and rebounded on Thalia's spear toward the dragon-women. His sword weighed a ton.
Ethan leaped to Thalia's help, smashing his staff against the monsters' heads before they could see him.
Luke scrambled up on his feet already—how could someone so weak-looking stand back up so quickly? He jumped at Y/N, but Thalia stepped in—she had left Ethan to deal with the dragon-women. She raised her shield. Even Luke was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling in frustration.
"Yield!" Thalia yelled. "You never could beat me, Luke."
He bared his teeth. "We'll see, my old friend."
Y/N heard a thud behind him. He moved before even thinking. He jumped and transformed into an eagled, making a wide arc in the air before taking back his human form and landing right behind Atlas. The Titan stood with his javelin raised high up. If he hadn't moved, Altals would've impaled him by now.
But he was still alive, and he didn't care about anything else. He had to save Annabeth, and for that, he needed to live as long as he could.
He lunged forward and thrust his sword into Atlas's calf. Atlas roared and whirled around, slapping him. Literally. Getting slapped is never pleasant. Getting slapped by a Titan, you don't want to know how it is.
He felt as though his head was a bullet hit by the hammer of a pistol, and he collapsed.
Atlas raised his javelin. . . .
"No!" Zoë yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the back of Atlas's knee.
The Titan's eyes went from contained anger to flaming rage.
Percy appeared at Zoë's side and deflected Atlas's javelin with Riptide. Atlas, with his free hand, grabbed him by the collar and rose him in the air.
Percy kicked him, but that only made him laugh.
Y/N tried to use his sword as a walking stick to stand up. He had to try and save Percy. But he couldn't stand up to Atlas—the little time he had faced the Titan had proved that at least.
He looked around him, desperately seeking something. Ethan knocked his staff in a dragon-woman's gut; Thalia was face to face with Luke, and they both tried to maim each other; Zoë drew her bow; Percy was about to get run through by a javelin; Artemis held up the sky.
A chill went down his back. He couldn't hope to beat Atlas. But there was someone else who might stand a chance.
He crawled toward the goddess.
"The sky," he said. "Give it to me."
"No, boy," Artemis said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. "You don't know what you're asking. It will crush you!"
"Annabeth took it."
"She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress."
"I don't care," he said. "I've got better than that. Give me the weight of the sky! I'll hold it higher than you!"
He didn't wait for her answer. He took his sword and slashed through her chains. Then he stepped next to her and braced himself on one kneed—his head spinning as he did; no, he would not waver now! With his free hand, he touched the cold, heavy clouds. It was a storm that he would never unleash himself, mightier than anything else in the world. He remembered his dreams: He was about to get crushed. He shook his head and suppressed the thought. He dropped his sword, and with his now-free hand, he pushed Artemis away.
For a second, he really felt as though he had died; he could almost see the Underworld. A second only.
He held up his second hand against the sky. This bare moment when he had held the sky with only one hand had seemed to be an eternity.
The clouds brushed his hair, and he could feel their cold spreading to his skull. Every muscle in his body turned to fire. His bones felt like they were melting. He wanted to scream, but he didn't have the strength to open his mouth. He began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky weight crushing him. Was it his bones cracking he had just heard above this all-mighty buzz in his ears?
He needed to breathe. But how could he when his lungs seemed to be curling up on themselves? He couldn't feel his hands, and he was sure his feet had sunk a few inches in the earth.
He had to be hallucinating. He had the impression that his mother, Hera, was standing behind him, helping him to stay up under the sky. It was so real, he could have touched her. He would've liked to touch her. Or just to look over his shoulder and see her. He would've liked to see he was not alone.
He stood a little straighter. His vision turned fuzzy. His fingers, which he could no longer feel, strengthened. He pushed harder against the sky, thinking his arms would break. Everything was tinged with red. Over the drumming that rang in his ears, he heard someone moaning in pain, a complaint of endless, terrible agony—his complaint.
He caught glimpses of the battle, but he wasn't sure he was seeing clearly. There was Atlas in full battle armor, jabbing with his javelin, laughing insanely as he fought. And Artemis, a blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed wildly at the Titan, dodging and leaping with unbelievable grace. She seemed to change form as she maneuvered. She was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Or perhaps pain made him imagine things. Zoë shot arrows at her father, aiming for the chinks in his armor. Atlas roared in pain each time one found its mark, but they affected him like bee stings. He just got madder and kept fighting.
Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them.
Ethan was kneeling next to Percy, who lay listless against a rock that changed to a chunk of wall.
Sweat poured down into Y/N's eyes, and he couldn't blink it away. His hands slipped more and more against the sky. His shoulders were ready to dislocate, and his spine screamed as it tried to tear itself away from his back.
Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back toward Y/N.
Deep down in his mind, he heard a voice—he thought it was his mother's, but the world was too fuzzy to be sure. Get ready.
He was losing the ability to think through the pain. His answer was only a scream of pain, a plea to end it all. Aaaarrrggghhh!
"You fight well for a girl," Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."
He feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. Instantly his javelin swept around and knocked Artemis's legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.
"No!" Zoë screamed. She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.
Y/N couldn't speak or move. He was afraid his teeth might burst with the pressure. He couldn't see where Zoë had landed.
Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph on his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.
"The first blood in a new war!" Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward.
As fast as thought, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her. Y/N saw Atlas coming down on top of him and realized what would happen. He pushed against the sky again, straining his toes, his feet, his legs, his chest, his arms, his hands, his fingers. His muscles were about to break; his bones were about to burst. The space between the sky and the earth became big enough for a Titan, and as Atlas slammed into him he didn't try to hold on. He let himself be pushed out of the way and rolled for all he was worth.
The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas's back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late.
"Noooooo!" Atlas bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "Not again!"
Atlas was trapped under his old burden.
In the pulp that had become his brain, a thought urged Y/N to stand up. When he tried and ordered his muscles to comply, none of them listened to him—he couldn't do anything. Even closing his eyes was too much to ask for. His whole body felt like it was burning up.
Thalia backed Luke to the edge of a cliff, but still they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody slash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat.
He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Well?" Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but you could hear fear in his voice.
Thalia trembled. Y/N couldn't tell if it was with fury, sadness, or anything else. He couldn't tell anything, actually.
Behind Thalia, Annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "Don't kill him!"
Thalia spoke the words Y/N could no longer think: "He's a traitor. A traitor!"
In his daze, Y/N realized that Artemis was no longer with him. She had run off toward the black rocks where Zoë had fallen.
"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He—he'll be useful."
"Is that what you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"
Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear.
"No!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell.
"Luke!" Annabeth screamed.
She rushed to the cliff's edge with Thalia, Ethan, and Percy. Below them, Y/N saw that the army from the Princess Andromeda had stopped in amazement. They were staring at rocks he couldn't see. Despite how much he wanted to believe Luke was dead, he couldn't resolve to do it. He would not believe it until he saw Luke's corpse. No. He wasn't sure he would believe it if he saw Luke's soul in the Fields of Punishment.
One of the giants of Kronos's army looked up and growled, "Kill them!"
Thalia was stiff with grief. Percy pulled her back as a wave of javelins sailed over their heads. They ran for the rocks, seeking some cover.
Between curses and threats, Atlas found a way to snicker. He looked down on Y/N, who still couldn't move. "It seems your friends forgot you, fool. You can't hold up the weight of the sky without facing the consequences."
Y/N didn't listen to him. Artemis had joined the others. Her face was as grief-stricken as Thalia's. Zoë lay in her arms. Her eyes were open, and her chest heaved up and down. But still. . . .
"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.
"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.
"No," the goddess said. "Not Atlas."
Artemis showed the wound in Zoë's side. Her scrape with Ladon the dragon. Even from where he was, Y/N could see that the bite was much worse than Zoë had let on. He wished he had the strength to look away. She had charged into battle against her father, a Titan, with a horrible cut already sapping her strength.
"The stars," Zoë murmured. "I cannot see them."
"Nectar and ambrosia," Ethan said. "Come on! We have to get her some."
No one moved. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir. Y/N wanted to yell they'd meet their doom right there if they didn't do anything, but then he heard a strange buzzing noise.
Just as the army of monsters came over the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky.
"Get away from my daughter!" Dr. Chase called down, and his machine guns burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering.
"Dad?" Annabeth yelled in disbelief.
"Run!" he called back, his voice growing fainter as the biplane swooped by.
This shook Artemis out of her grief. She stared up at the antique plane, which was now banking around for another strafe.
"A brave man," Artemis said with grudging approval. "Come. We must get Zoë away from here."
She raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin.
Ethan came and grabbed Y/N by the armpits, pulling him toward the others.
"You won't get away from here alive," Atlas said. "This plane won't slow them down for long."
"Yeah, yeah, we know the score," Ethan said. "By the way, when you'll have found somebody to take your place, you'll let us know, right? So we can know when we actually have to freak out."
The Sopwith Camel swooped down again. A few giants threw their javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. Y/N realized with amazement that somehow Dr. Chase must've gotten hold of celestial bronze to fashion his bullets. The first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun's volley blew them into sulfurous yellow powder.
"That's . . . my dad!" Annabeth said in amazement.
They didn't have time to admire his flying, though. The giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise. Dr. Chase would be in trouble soon.
Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by deer so beautiful they couldn't be real. It landed right next to them.
"Get in," Artemis said.
Annabeth helped Ethan get Y/N on board while Percy got Thalia and Artemis held up Zoë. They wrapped Zoë in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight in the air.
"Like Santa Claus's sleigh," Y/N murmured. With how much he felt like his tongue was made of sandpaper, he must've sounded like a drunkard.
Artemis took time to look back at him. "Indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"
Seeing them safely away, Dr. Chase turned his biplane and followed them like an honor guard. It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, even for the Bay Area: a silver flying chariot pulled by deer, escorted by a Sopwith Camel.
Behind them, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.