Michael
_
I woke up in the back of some truck. The bed was covered in some type of wool, which was nice, but it didn't do much for the headache that fucked me now.
I sat up, holding my head. I could barely get my bearings, it was so bad.
"Here," said a voice. A small bit of something like a brownie was pushed into my hand. A hand helped guide it to my mouth and I ate it. It melted in my mouth.
Ambrosia tasted differently for everybody. For Percy, he said it was brownies. For Katie it was cotton candy. For me it was cookie dough. The type you'd buy in a tub at a grocery store. It reminded me of my sister, who would always scold me about eating it and then go grab a second spoon to share with me.
As I swallowed it, it began to work it's magic. The pain in my head slowly dimmed until it was a small throb in my frontal lobe, Whatever, it was damaged anyway.
My eyesight slowly returned. First was shapes. I saw the gate of the truck and a body. Then the details began to focus in. I saw hair blowing in the wind and eyes that were set beautifully on her face, watching me with concern. Color was the last thing. Her dark hair. Onyx eyes. Olive skin, marred by the pink tinge around a scar over her right eye. Right through her eyebrow.
"Bianca," I breathed.
Before she could speak I pulled her into a tight hug. Tears pricked my eyes.
"I'm so glad," I said through shuddering breaths, "that you're still alive. That was scary."
I felt her wrap an arm around me.
"You found me," she said. "You're the one who saved me. Well, most of me, anyways."
That's when I remembered. I pushed her back and looked to her left side. Her shoulder was wrapped in linen. Spots of blood poked through, but they looked dried.
She wrapped her hand around my arm. I glanced back up at her but she just smiled.
"I think I made it out much better than last time," she joked.
"Diffusing with humor. Are you sure you're alright?"
She nodded. "I was a rightie, anyway."
I looked back down at her missing arm.
"You should've let me go. You're more precious."
"To who?" she retorted. "I know Zoe, Thalia, and Nico love me, but who else-"
"Me."
We stared at each other, the wind whistling in our ears.
Her smile faltered. "You?"
I nodded. "You're...You're precious to me, Bianca. I never told you but...I've loved you since Las Vegas. All this time, I've thought about you. I never once stopped loving you."
Tears formed in her eyes. "Are you-Are you telling the truth?"
"I swear it."
She threw herself at me, knocking me onto my back. She wrapped her arm around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder. I just hugged her close.
We rode all the way until dusk. The smell of the air made me feel at home. The smell of the ocean breeze, the frigid air as it cooled the streets of San Francisco.
I was home.
Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.
The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.
Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais. I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.
The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.
I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.
"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.
"What?" Thalia asked.
"A big white ship," I said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."
Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"
"You mean Lace," I corrected her.
"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."
I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"
Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The silver Dodge spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.
"Out!" Thalia opened the door and jumped out. Bianca and I hopped from the bed of the ruck and onto the pavement. The next second: BOOOM!
Lightning flashed, and our truck erupted like a vehicular grenade. I threw up a quick ice wall to deflect the shrapnel. I heard a sound like a metal ram, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the Ram's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of corroded metal were strewn across the road.
I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "You saved our lives."
"One shall perish by a parent's hand," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"
It took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."
"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.
"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name. Maybe he—"
Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."
"Wait," Killian said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"
We both got up and ran around the blasted Ram. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her.
"Zoe!" I shouted.
Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"
"Oh, we're here!"
"Yes! Now come along! Keep thy minds clear."
She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and I followed.
When the fog cleared, I was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight.
If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.
"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."
"Eh, immortality can fuck itself," I said, putting my hand on Killian's chest as he impuslivley stepped forward. "Did you not see the giant dragon, Killian?"
The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.
Then the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Frost appeared on my fingertips, but Zoe raised her hand.
Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.
"Sisters," Zoe said.
"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see four half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."
"You girls are fun," I commented. I put my hand to my chin. "Let me guess. You're Erytheia, you're Aegle, you're Hesperia, and you're Arethusa. Or did I get you two mixed up?"
Their faces focused on me in interest.
"Michael Triest," the tallest one, Aegle, said. " Son of our cousin. Thy knows much pain."
"Always willing to give a lesson."
"Michael," Zoe hissed. She turned back toward her sisters. "We seek only to rescue my lady, Artemis."
"You cannot face Father without suffering the consequences," the youngest one hissed. "One of you will die."
Zoe's face tightened. "I am aware. If that is all you have for us, let us be on our way. I have no wish to remain here any more than you wish for me to be here."
The eldest simply nodded. They backed away before shimmering out of existence.
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" I joked. I grabbed Zoe's hand and pulled her away from the tree. "Come on. We have a Titan to deal with."
We made our way up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. The music didn't sound so beautiful to me now—more like the sound track for a funeral.
At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered.
"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."
"What's Mount Othrys?" Killian asked.
"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was blasted to pieces in the war against the Titans."
"But... how is it here?"
Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."
"Why?" "This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."
We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.
"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."
Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.
Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.
A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."
We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Lace and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. The girl I'd seen in my dreams stood at Lace's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Lace was holding the point of his sword to her throat. Her green eyes were pleading and there was a long gray streak in her hair.
"Lace," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."
Lace's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had in my dream. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."
Thalia spat at him. The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."
"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."
"Wait a second," I said. "You're Atlas?"
The General glanced at me. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."
"You're not going to hurt Zoe" I said. "I won't let you."
The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."
I frowned. "A family matter?"
"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."
I glanced at Zoe. I could see the resemblance, to be honest. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoe, the same cold proud look in his eyes that Zoe sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times more evil. He was all the things I'd originally disliked about Zoe, with none of the good I'd come to appreciate.
"Hm." I turned back toward him. "I guess that makes us family as well."
"You cannot be-" He stopped, as if really seeing me for the first time. His lip curled back. "My wayward cousin's child, I see. No matter. She will not protect you this time."
"She doesn't need to, cousin," Killian spat the word like it was the worst insult he could say. He came up to stand beside me. Fires blazed to life in his hands and smoke rose from his hair. His expression was dark, much darker than I'd seen before.
Atlas's sneer deepened. "So you've come to defend your nibling, child? My uncle would be infuriated to see you stand with our enemies."
"Your enemies," Killian snapped. "These are my friends."
"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.
Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."
Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoe! 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.
"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."
"I don't understand," I 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 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 us, studying Killian and I. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."
"Fight us," I said. "And let's see."
"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Lace crush you instead."
"So you're another coward," I said.
Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. "Do not speak which you do not know, mortal."
"Half mortal," I corrected him. Mist rose from my fingers as I grinned at him. "And I gave up that half long ago."
