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chapter fourteen.
( the titan's curse )
❝ weight of the world! ❞
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"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded.
Her father walked closer to the chained goddess. You could see the resemblance between father and daughter. Zoë and Atlas had the same regal look about them; able to command a room by just their presence and voice. "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 the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers. The sight made me angry and sick to the stomach. "Hoo-hoo," he 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 centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."
Annabeth was trying to tell me something. She motioned her head towards Luke. I frowned at her, wondering what she could mean. It was then that I noticed something about her had changed: her blonde hair was now streaked with grey. Thalia seemed to notice as well. "From holding the sky," she muttered. "The weight should've killed her."
"I don't understand," Percy asked Thalia and I. "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," he smiled. "Unless someone else takes it from you."
Something hit me. I glanced back at Annabeth. The grey streak in her hair, and her motion towards Luke—he seemed so tired ... and then I saw a grey streak in his hair as well. I grew angry. He tricked her. He played with her. I clenched my fists. My anger turned cold.
Atlas approached us, studying Thalia, Percy and I. "So, these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."
"Fight us," Percy said. "And let's see."
"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is breath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."
"So three millennia holding up the sky hasn't taught you an ounce of humility either, has it?" I snapped. "You're just a coward."
I didn't know I had it in me, but he hurt Annabeth. I was ready to throw all the wrath I had. Annabeth was my family, my sister and my best friend. If I could, I would crash the sky right down on him. No one hurt my family.
Atlas's eyes glowed with anger, but I didn't stand down. 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 sounded weak, desperate. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"
He waved his hand, and a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble.
"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke pleaded. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."
"Luke ..." her voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"
"Don't you remember all those times we talked? 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 four of us together. You, Annabeth, Claire and I—we'll fight 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."
He sounded so scared, so desperate. I wondered what the other way was ... even I was scared. It seemed like his life depended on Thalia joining the cause. What had they done to him?
"Do not, Thalia," Zoë warned.
Luke waved his hand again, and a sacrificial fire, like the one at camp, appeared.
"Thalia," Percy said. "No."
Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, images in the mist circulated: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole ... a place made of fear, death 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 across the land and towards he ocean. There, marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where his boat was docked, was an army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonions, monsters and half-bloods, hellhounds, harpies ... and some monsters so ancient I never thought they would see the light again. I glanced at Jay. He was watching the army too. He met my gaze, and I tried to plead with him ... I saw the hesitance at the pier. He was still in there—he had to be.
"That 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. I was scared she would believe him, that she would do what he wanted. She gazed at him, her eyes watering. Then she levelled her spear. "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 for this. If that army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. I glanced at Percy, and then Annabeth. She nodded. I met Percy's sea-green gaze, as if he was waiting for my answer. I took a deep breath. Why not? If I was to die again, and go back to that horrible place, at least it was because I died fighting alongside my best friends. So I nodded.
Percy clenched his jaw. He spun Riptide in his hands. "Now."
And together, we charged.
° ° °
Thalia ran straight for Luke. He had to let Annabeth go, and she scurried behind a crumbled pillar, where she began work on getting her hands free from her binds. The power of Thalia's shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.
I went for Jay. Years of sparring together made the both of us able to know each others moves; how we fought, how we attacked, how we defended. But this time, it was different. It was a whole new circumstance. I was fighting Jay, but not as siblings, as enemies. Even with a dagger as my weapon, and he with a curved, jagged sword, we matched each other equally.
"Not fighting with a bow?" he asked me as I jumped back from a swing at my neck. "What's made you so soft, Claire?"
My necklace burned like fire on ice, as if it was begging for me to use it, but I didn't give in. What good was it? In a fight like this? With a clenched jaw, I replied, "Just because I don't have my bow doesn't mean I can't kick your ass, Jay." And with that, I sent a swift round-house kick to his jaw. He stumbled to the side. He held his hand to his jaw and spat blood from his mouth, but then something weird happened. Just like the golden shine of the Fleece, the bruise that was forming on Jay's cheek was tombed within a golden light. When the light disappeared, it was as if I had never kicked him.
He frowned at the look on my face. Then he smirked. "What? You think you were the only special one in cabin seven? I just didn't flounder my abilities around like you did. That way, I still have them."
At that, I let out a yell of anger and charged at him again.
Behind me, Percy had attacked the Titan Lord Atlas. He laughed as he approached, a huge javelin appearing in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armour. "Go on, then!"
"Percy!" Zoë shouted at him. "Beware!"
That didn't stop him. Percy swung his sword, and Atlas knocked him aside with the shaft of his javelin. Percy flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't Mist any more, the palace was rising around us, brick by brick, becoming real.
"Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoë's arrows. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"
Percy stood up, dazed, but he still fought. He looked to be having trouble, though, as if he couldn't lift his own sword. I wanted to help him. I would've ran over and kicked Atlas in the back of the knee, but I was too busy trying to keep myself from being sliced in half by Jay. He was a wild attacker, spinning and slicing. He was always on the offence, and never the defence, for he tended to tire out his opponents until they couldn't defend anymore. At this point, all I could do was step back and back, doge and doge, for I couldn't attack or do any damage without him healing.
In the end, he managed to kick me and I fell to the ground. My dagger fell from my hand and skidded across the old stone floor, covered with overgrown grass that was starting to disappear. It was night now. The sun had disappeared behind the mountain. Darkness had flooded over us, only lit up by Luke's sacrificial fire.
Jay loomed over me, with his sword held up. I held a hand out, as if that would stop him. I expected him to have no mercy, to just kill me then and there. But he didn't.
Jay stared at me. His dark eyes were clouded, hesitant. He knew he had to kill me, but it was as if he couldn't bring himself to do it. I lowered my hand, meeting his gaze with my own. I knew I had his utmost attention, and so I whispered, "Jay ... this isn't you... come back, come home..."
His stance weakened. Jay's arms looked like they were going to drop, and I saw tears in his eyes. "No one wants me, no one cares," he whimpered. "Not Dad, not my step-dad, not Mom, no one..."
"That's not true," I told him, sitting up. "Jay, we all love and care for you back home. Me, Lee, Michael, Will, Jenna and Kylie ... we just want you to come back home. Look, Jay, I know what happened, you're Mom—"
At the mention of his mother, Jay's stance strengthened, and he raised his sword again. "You don't know anything! You're Dad's favourite, all he cares about is you, no one else. He wasn't there for me ... no one was there for me!"
And he was about to bring down his sword, when Zoë shouted a, "NO!" Jay looked up, distracted by her shooting a dozen arrows at Atlas, who stepped away from Percy, shouting in anger. I took the chance, raising my boot and kicking Jay in the stomach. He doubled over. I then grabbed his sword that had dropped, and smacking the hilt hard against his head. He fell, unconscious.
Seeing him lying there made me feel sad and guilty. But I knew he would be okay. Jay was strong, he would get through it. One day.
I was about to drag him and prop him up behind a pillar so he wouldn't get hurt even more, when there was a shudder, as if the whole sky had jolted downwards. Immediately, I spun around to where Artemis was holding up the sky, only to see that it wasn't her anymore: it was Percy.
I shouted at Artemis, "What are you doing?!"
I ran towards Percy, falling to my knees in front of him. I was frantic. He couldn't hold that sky up—a god could barely do it. He'll die. Percy can't die. I won't let him. He can't!
Artemis stood there, watching, tired. But not as tired as Percy looked. His eyes were closed and his back hunched. He held the sky up by his shoulders and legs, where he only was able to keep up was with one knee.
"Take it back!" I shouted at Artemis. I felt selfish. We came all this way to free Artemis, not to put her back in chains, but I can't lose Percy. We fought, we annoyed each other, but ... but he ... I can't lose him.
Artemis looked pained. "I can't ... he took it upon himself."
"And you let him?!" I think I was crying. Zoë was fighting her father to the side, Annabeth had cut her binds free and was trying to keep the monsters brave enough to come closer away. Even with being as tired and drained as she was, she managed to kill the ones that dared come near her.
I've never felt so helpless and useless as I felt now. All those times where Percy looked after me and watched me as if I was a child didn't seem such a problem now. At least I could still do something. I still fought, I still could have his back if he needed it. I didn't realise that until now, but that was how we worked. Percy always had my back, and I always had his. He would risk his life for mine, and I would spend a million years in the Transition for him. There was no question to it. We were two sides of the same coin.
I shuffled forward on my knees and cupped his cheeks. He was clammy, and I could feel how much he shook under the weight. But despite that, my fingers burned with warmth. "Percy," I whispered. "Percy, listen to me."
I wiped away some of the sweat that fell from his brow. His eyes fluttered open and met mine. He was crying. I pursed my lips. "Shove over," I told him.
I wasn't going to let him do this by himself. No way.
He managed a weak, "No..."
"Percy," I told him. "Shuffle over or I will bring this sky down on you."
"What are you doing?" asked Artemis.
I gave her a look, "I'm taking the sky with him."
"You can't," she said.
I gritted my teeth, "Watch me."
And so I pushed in next to him. It was as if the sky was holding me back, saying no, you can't help him. I ignored it and went underneath, kneeling beside him. I held my hands up and I held the sky.
You can't explain it. If someone asked me what it was like to hold up the sky, I wouldn't know what to say, nothing explained the pain correctly. Except the fact that I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders—literally. I can't imagine what it was like for Percy to hold it by himself for that short while, because if I wasn't so driven by him beside me, I think I would've collapsed straight away. But I didn't. My limbs were on fire, my chest was screaming, but I held on, because I felt Percy's shoulder beside me. We were in this together, always. I wasn't going to leave him helpless, no matter what.
My vision went fuzzy, clouded with red. I caught glimpses of the battle, but whether I was seeing the real thing I still wonder. But I saw Atlas, in full battle armour, jabbing with his javelin, laughing maniacally as he fought. Artemis was a blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed widely at him, dodging and leaping with amazing grace. She changed form as she moved, shifting to a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Zoë shot arrows at her father, aiming for the clinks in his armour. He roared in pain each time one found its mark, but they affected him the same as a bee sting. He just got madder and madder, but kept fighting.
Annabeth had fallen back, leaning against the pillar in exhaustion. But—as if she had read my mind before—had dragged Jay away from the fight, and he was safely by her side. Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Luke back with the aura of her shield. Even he was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling and frustration.
"Yield!" Thalia yelled. "You never could beat me, Luke."
He bared his teeth. "We'll see, my old friend."
The battle raged on. I caught glimpses of what I could, but it was hard to keep my eyes open. Atlas pressed Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was well matched. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leapt over it and kept fighting. She was leading him back towards Percy and I.
Get ready, I heard her speak in my mind.
It was hard to think and move, but I managed to shift my position. I had one knee up, ready to run when I could. Beside me, Percy shuddered, and I pushed myself even more. We'll get out of this alive. Or we'll die. But at least it'll be together this time.
"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. Atlas's javelin swept around and knocked her legs off the ground. She fell and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.
"NO!" Zoë screamed. She leapt between her father and the goddess, and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead. Atlas bellowed and swept her aside with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.
I wanted to shout her name, to run after her, but I couldn't. I couldn't even see where she had landed. Atlas turned to Artemis with a look of triumph. She seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.
"The first blood in a new war," Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward.
Artemis had her own tricks up her sleeve. As fast as light, she grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backwards, using the javelin like a lever and kicked Atlas, sending him soaring over her. He was coming down on top of Percy and I. I realised what would happen. Percy knew as well, and together, we loosened our grip on the sky. Atlas slammed into him, and he slammed into me. We were pushed out of the way and rolled away from the titan.
The weight of the sky dropped on 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. He bellowed in anger, so loud it shook the mountain. "NOOOOO! NOT AGAIN!"
Percy tried to stand up, but he fell back down again. I was happy that we were close, for I could reached out for his hand, gripping onto it with all that I had left.
Thalia backed Luke to the edge the cliff, but still, they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes, and Luke had a bloody slash across his chest. He lunged at her, and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword fell from his hands, and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat.
For a moment, there was silence. My heart sped.
"Well?" Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but I knew him. He was scared.
Thalia trembled with fury.
Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "Don't kill him!"
"He's a traitor!" Thalia cried. "A traitor!"
I tried to move, but I couldn't. I couldn't even speak. My limbs trembled. I had to get to him. I had to stop her. She was going to kill him.
"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He ... he'll be useful."
"That's what you want, Thalia?" Luke seethed. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"
She hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear. "NO!" I managed to shout, but it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance. He met our eyes, terrified, before he fell.
"LUKE!"
It took everything in me to run to the edge. I reached my hand out, as if I could grab him, but I was far too late. Luke fell, all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. He landed on the sharp rocks, and I saw his body break. I stayed there for a while, just watching his broken body lie there. I lied on my stomach on the edge of the cliff, staring down. The army that were gathering below had halted, all looking at Luke's body in amazement.
There was no way he could have survived that. He was dead.
Luke was dead.
One of the giants looked up at us, and growled, "Kill them!"
Percy crouched down beside me with effort. "We got to go," he told me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Come on! We got to go!"
I let him pull me away as a cloud of javelins rained down over our heads. We ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as we passed. A sudden thought crossed my mind, "Jay!" I could only just say. I went to run back, but Percy just kept on dragging me.
"Come on!" he said.
We found Artemis grief-stricken on the ground. In her arms, was Zoë. She was breathing. Her eyes were open ... but ...
"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said, glancing up at us with a tear-strained face.
"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.
"No," she said. "Not Atlas."
She showed us the wound in Zoë's side. I had forgotten her scrape with Ladon. She pushed it away, as if it wasn't as bad. She fought, she ran into battle. It didn't seem like it was that bad. And yet, it had been.
"The stars," Zoë murmured. "I cannot see them."
"Nectar and ambrosia," Percy said. "Come on! We have to get her some."
None of us moved. Grief hung in the air like mist on a foggy day—a very foggy day. Kronos's army was just below the rise, but even Artemis was too shocked to stir. I think we were all ready to die. We were tired, we lost too much, we were just ready to accept our deaths and be done with it. There was no point anymore.
Something buzzed.
I frowned. The buzzing continued. I looked up, wondering where the hell it would be coming from. I turned back to where the army was advancing, and just as they came over the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky.
"Get away from my daughter!" Doctor Chase called down, and the guns from the aircraft burst to life. They peppered the ground with bullet holes and startled 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 turning around for another set of gunfire.
"A brave man," she said with grudging approval. "Come. We must get Zoë away from here." She raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its sound echoed all the way across San Francisco. Zoë's eyes were fluttering.
"Hang in there!" Percy told her. "It'll be all right."
Annabeth's father swooped down in his plane again. A few giants threw javelins, but the machine guns blazed. I stared in amazement as the snake women wailed as the bullets hit them, blowing them into yellow dust. He had celestial bronze bullets! How?!
"That's ... my dad!" Annabeth said in amazement.
There was no time to admire his flying, however. The monsters were already recovering form their surprise. Annabeth's father would be in trouble soon.
The moonlight brightened. A silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by silver, glittering deer. It landed right next to us.
"Get in," said Artemis.
Annabeth helped Percy get Thalia on board, who still hadn't torn her eyes from where Luke's body lied. We wrapped up Zoë in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins. The chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.
"Like Santa Claus's sleigh," Percy murmured.
Artemis glanced back at him. "Indeed, half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"
And we flew away. Doctor Chase spun his biplane around and the monsters screamed in anger after us.
*
a/n: this chapter is such a big moment for Percy and claire and I still feel (after so much writing and rewriting) that I still haven't given it justice. But oh well. If you didn't get the gist—Claire had a huge character development. Her loyalty for Percy, and her love (which at this point is more platonic than romantic—they are only 13), made her face her biggest fear just so they were by each other's side. Claire would go back to the Transition, plenty of times if it meant that Percy would stay alive.
also, Jay—yo, Jay. I have so many ideas for him, like, you guys haven't seen anything yet. He's a big part of this story, just you wait. Battle of Labyrinth y'all.
Also can we take a moment to appreciate Claire and Annabeth's friendship? That was the first time she saw her after she thought she had died. Like, I wish I could write her perspective cos it would have been a whirlwind. I love those two, and never feel like I represent it properly. And Annabeth's perspective is quite sad, because she likes someone she knows will never like her back, and yet she'll do anything for Claire. It's so sad. But Annabeth shall receive a happy ending, don't worry—it's Annabeth's story in this series that might make me continue into trials of apollo and finally push myself to read them despite of a certain characters death *sob*.
Anyway. This chapter. Ugh. I'm venting I know. I hate it but I love it at the same time. If y'all remember the prophecy: 'dead girl walks underneath a veil': the veil is Claire's fear that is undeniably stopping her from reaching her true potentials 'only to be revealed when all light fails'—her light fails when she realises that Percy could die, and so she pushes past her fear, and remembers (or more say 'reveals') how strong she really is. She held up the sky, and only the most powerful of demigods can do that. And she did that without her powers, without fully being alive.
Anyway, end of my rant. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter that I still don't know whether I love or hate. I shall end with a meme I made: