Demigod Cannonball Run

The Alexander Chronicles

Part Three

Chapter Eight: The General Becomes Part of the Scenery

We finally caught sight of our goal about half an hour later. Mount Tam was tiny especially when compared to, say, Olympus or even the original Othrys. "So that's the Mountain of Despair? Why do they call it that?"

Zoë was silent for nearly a mile before answering Percy. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced into pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos' right hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

Something about that story finally clicked in my mind. A Titan general, imprisoned at the summit of a mountain, beyond a garden. That same general carrying the sky as a burden. "Atlas! The General is Atlas! The Titan that was punished by carrying the sky!"

"Exactly. What took thee so long to figure that out?"

We'd nearly made it to the garden, when Percy mentioned that he'd seen a large, white cruise ship. The Princess Andromeda. Great, that meant Luke was here as well, two birds with one stone. We could take out Kronos' general and his number 1 demigod at the same time! The next thing I knew, everyone had jumped out of the car, and I was suddenly feeling a hundred times better than I'd felt since St. Louis. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about that part of the prophecy anymore," Thalia said.

"What part, sis?" I swear, Thalia jumped ten feet into the air when she heard my voice.

"Wha-Wha-How did you survive?"

"Thalia, Thalia, Thalia. I thought you knew me by know. Lightning charges me up like saltwater does Percy. One of Dad's bolts could only help me, never hurt."

We made it safely to the Garden of Hesperides, but we ran into Zoë's sisters. They threatened to kill us, until Zoë woke Ladon that is. She told us to go around, so we did; Thalia going left, Percy and I going right. We had almost made it when Ladon attacked Zoë, but fortunately, Zoë made good her escape. When we finally made it to the summit, we found that it was covered in ruins. "These were not here before. This is bad."

"I was expecting these to be here." When Zoë, Percy and Thalia looked at me like I was crazy, I decided to explain. "When you were talking to Nereus, I met a demigod who lives around here. He mentioned that Othrys was rising, and that his camp was keeping an eye on it."

"His camp? What are you talking about?"

"Simple, Seaweed Brain. There's another camp of demigods near here. I don't know where exactly, but Jason goes there." (I know, you're wondering how I could get away with calling Percy Seaweed Brain. While he hates the nickname in general, with me and Annabeth, it was just another nickname for him.)

We reached the summit a few minutes later, where we saw Artemis bearing the sky. For the first time since LA, I saw an Olympian in pain, the weight of the sky was too much for her! Artemis told us to stay away, but naturally Zoë disobeyed and attempted to free her. Then General Atlas welcomed us with a booming voice, saying "Ah, how touching." With him were Luke, some dracaena, and Annabeth in chains. Atlas decided that the first of us to feel his wrath would be Zoë, and when Percy objected, Atlas said "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

"A family matter?"

"Atlas is the father of the Hesperides, Percy. And thus, Zoë's father."

Zoë demanded that her father release Artemis, but Atlas revealed that she could only be freed if someone took her place "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."

"And why is it so necessary to hold the sky up? What could be so dangerous about air?"

"How little you understand, young one. This is where the sky and the earth first met. Where Ouranos and Gaea first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans." A voice in my head whispered something else. This is where Geb and Nut embraced and conceived their children: Set, Nephthys, Isis, Osiris, and Horus. "The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush this place, instantly flattening the mountain and anything within a hundred leagues of this place. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape. Unless someone takes it from you." I knew that one of the five children would replace me as Pharaoh of the gods, my son, so I decreed that they not have their children on any night or day then existing. For disobeying me, I punished them by keeping them apart for eternity. Fortunately, Zeus was accommodating, and put Atlas on the job.

Who are you? I asked.

You already know, my son. I sent you the dream, detailing how I became your ancestor.

Humor me.

I am Ra. Great, as if I didn't have enough problems already. Now I've got an Egyptian god talking to me in my head.

Why are you talking to me? And why now?

Because, my son. Only you can bring me back so I can reign over the Egyptian gods. You are the bridge between our worlds, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian. I have chosen now, because Ma'at, order, is weakening. And it is because of your Kronos. If he keeps rising, he will weaken Apophis' chains enough that he can escape and destroy the world. It has been prophesied, in both Egypt, and Israel that when he does escape, he will bring about the worst age the world has known from creation to now. An age of death, destruction, plagues, and the fall of the gods.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here. Once more it will be stronger and greater than Olympus."

"Not if I can help it, Luke." I pulled out Thuella in bow form, pulled out one of my mixed poison arrows, and shot Atlas in the shoulder. He yelled in pain, and the others charged the army. Thalia went after Luke, her shield scaring off the dracaena. Percy went after Atlas, then Ares' curse came into effect. Percy acted like Anaklusmos weighed thirty pounds, and was thrown to the feet of Artemis.

Then he did the craziest thing ever, he took the sky from Artemis. I could tell that Percy couldn't hold it long, so I created a funnel and used it to bring water from a pool to him, giving him the strength and endurance to hold it as long as necessary. When the water ran out, I extended the funnel to the sea, giving him even more strength. Then I noticed Atlas attempted to stab Artemis, but she threw him so he hit Percy, putting Atlas back in his prison. "NO! Not again!" Then Atlas turned to me. "You, son of Zeus! Help me! Relieve me of this burden and I will make you more powerful than even your father! The gods are dishonest, you can never trust them!"

"Don't . . . don't listen . . . don't listen to him, Alex." Percy looked like hell, I could tell he was in pain, but he was still more focused on our job.

"He's right, Percy. The gods are dishonest." Artemis looked at me in shock. I could tell she was thinking What? After all you've gone through, after all we've done for you, you're supporting him? "But," I continued, "a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest, honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for." I reached inside my shirt, and pulled out the one weapon I'd never used. "Because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly . . . stupid. Thalia, Annabeth, Artemis, Zoë, Percy, cover your eyes!" I hit the button and turned to face Atlas, with Stheno's head in my hands. Atlas was frozen in stone, never again to escape his prison. I looked over to Luke, just in time to see him dive over the cliff. Artemis was cradling Zoë, who was quickly fading. The army from the Princess Andromeda were nearly upon us, when Dr. Chase flew in, firing on the army from his Sopwith Camel. Artemis called her moon chariot, and we escaped the survivors on her chariot.

When we got back, we found out one of the reasons Athena had fallen for Chase, he had melted down some demigod weapons into bullets, a real mad scientist at heart. Artemis attempted to heal Zoë, but Zoë stopped her. She was choosing to let her life go. Thalia asked for forgiveness, saying that she was right about Luke, heroes, even men. Zoë looked at Percy and I and said, "Perhaps not all men, not all heroes." I think she approved of us. "I am honored that you carry this sword, Percy." Zoë breathed her last not two minutes later, and Artemis did something. Zoë's body turned into silver dust, and Artemis tossed it into the sky, turning her into a new constellation.

"Let the world honor you, my huntress. Live forever in the stars."

A/N: I know, quick, but I got inspired. I got the idea for Atlas' death from one version of the story of Perseus, where he passes by Atlas with Medusa's head, turning him to stone. As always Read and Review.