The Weight of the World (29 page)

“I
was. Technically I was holding up the heavens. A little different.
But your champion, Perseus, encased me in stone to strengthen my
back, and then Harakles set up pillars-- those mountains-- around me
to bear the weight of the heavens. My brothers, Prometheus and
Epimetheus sent word that you were back. I'm sorry it took me a few
months to get here.” Adam did a little dance with his shoulders,
“It's kind of hard to wiggle your way out of a mountain top, but
not even stone could stop me from seeing the looks on your faces.
Good ol' Prometheus used to be on your side, but I've always said the
Olympians would bring the world to ruin. It's good to be back. I was
getting rather bored in Morocco.”

“I
trusted you,” Devon hissed.

“So
you planned this?” June asked, “Moving in next to Devon? Getting
rid of Zach and Lewis, pitting them against each other?”

“You
all made it a little too easy,” he said with a laugh. “I got
Hades to almost kill Dionysus and I did get Apollo to kill his
sister's boyfriend!”

“What?”
Diana said. She had hardly spoken since the funeral that afternoon.

“He
knew about the peanut butter,” Adam-- Atlas explained. “I was
there when one of your comrades brought it up over dinner. 'Ryan
Bear's that kid who’s allergic to peanuts. He's the reason we can't
have peanuts at school.' Who made you that PB&J, Artemis? Was it
your brother?”

Diana
stared at Astin, too hurt and surprised to speak. Tears welled up in
her eyes.

“Well,”
Atlas said, clapping his hands, “At least you can stop blaming
yourself!” He wiggled his fingers. “Now let's see, which one of
you should I kill first. Finish off Ares?”

“Wait,
Adam,” Devon said, standing up. “Atlas...”

He
cocked his head and looked at her curiously.

“I
thought you were my friend,” she said. “Those talks, those late
night snacks, did they mean nothing?”

“I'm
not here to make friends,” he said.

Devon
took a step closer. The air around her became heavy. Adam put his
hands down, listening to what she had to say.

“I
could join you,” she said quietly as she continued her approach.
“You could have what every man wants, the companionship of
Aphrodite. Finish them, take me with you.”

He
hesitated. Devon was close enough to touch him now. “I...”

“I
love you,” she whispered before touching his face and pulling him
down into a searing, steamy kiss. Adam wrapped his arms around Devon,
letting their tongues dance together. It was fortunate for Frank that
he wasn't awake to see it.

Devon
pulled back, breaking the kiss and leaving Adam dazed. “Now,
Atlas,” she commanded. “Send those beasts back into the sky.”

He
had no choice. The kiss of Aphrodite had him under her spell. He
waved his hand. Serpens and Leo twinkled and then shrank into
pinpoints of light before zipping out through the open doors and
windows.

“That's
better,” Devon said.

“You've
enchanted me,” Atlas said, his voice falling with disappointment.

Devon
smirked.

Adam
had to follow explicit orders. He didn't have any other restraints.
He struck Devon on the side of the head, knocking her to the ground
and out of consciousness. “If that's the best trick you have,” he
said, looking around the room, “It will be no time before the
Titans have risen again.”

Atlas
grabbed Devon by the hair and dragged her through the back door into
the garden. “Come out and fight me if you have the courage,” he
shouted. “You can face me and an army of stars.”

“Astin,”
Diana snapped, “Save Frank.”

“His
wounds are too big. It'll take me out.”

“Save
Frank,” she hissed. “For once in your life do the right thing.”

Astin
nodded. He rushed to kneel at Frank's side, placing one hand over his
shoulder and the other across his side.

“To
hell with that, I'll take him,” Nick said.

“No,”
Minnie put her hand out to stop Nick from leaving the house. “He's
got all of the heavens to call down. Fight another day.”

“We're
all going to die in a minute if we don't stop him.”

Astin's
hands glowed. The glow bloomed into a burst of sunlight that filled
the room and lit up the whole house. In less than a second it was
gone and Astin took a few breaths before falling back. Valerie knelt
behind him and lowered him gently to the ground.

Frank
opened his eyes. “Where's Devon?” he asked.

“Outside
with Atlas. It's Adam,” Minnie explained, “And he's about to
bring down more monsters than we can name in one breath. You better
get out there. You're all we've got.”

“I'll
go, too,” Evan said, gasping and clutching bruised ribs on the
floor. He had a small cut on his chest, but it wasn't nearly as bad
as the wounds that had nearly killed Frank.

“No,”
Frank said. “I've got this.”

Frank
stood up. He stepped out through the back door and marched into the
garden to face Atlas.

“Oh,
you're feeling better. Fantastic. I was getting bored,” Atlas
taunted. He left Devon lying in the street and raised his hands to
the sky. He curled his fingers and pulled his hands apart. Atlas
seemed to tear a hole in the clouds above them. His fingers curled
into tight fists and the stars above flashed in time like twinkling
christmas tree lights. With each flash, the lights swelled to greater
sizes. Something was coming.

Frank
looked up, full of dread at the thought of what might come next. He
didn't know much about the stars, but he knew that there were at
least a scorpion and a hydra up there and none of those sounded fun.

The
twinkling suddenly ceased at the sound of a dull thwack and Frank
looked back at Atlas to see him staggering forward. His hand gripped
the back of his head, and when he pulled it away, his palm was
smeared with bright red blood. Peter's form shimmered into visibility
behind him, clutching a brick.

Atlas
wasn't going to be taken down so easily. His eyes darted from his
bloody hand to Peter and anger flashed across his face. Atlas grabbed
Peter by the collar and lifted him off the ground. He might not have
been Pan, but he wasn't kidding about the strength.

Frank
took the distraction as his chance to rush in. He tackled Atlas,
sending all three immortals rolling across the brick walkway. Peter
scrambled to his feet and moved away as Frank and Atlas, in a
reenactment of the fight with the lion, tumbled and rolled, each
trying to gain control of the grapple.

Frank
manage to take position over Atlas. Atlas swung his fist, but Frank
caught it in his palm. He squeezed down as hard as he could, finding
a challenge in it as he slowly crushed the bones in Atlas' fingers.
Atlas' other hand grabbed at Frank's face. Frank grabbed Atlas' jaw
in turn. Atlas tried in vain to bite Frank's fingers. Frank pressed
his thumb into Atlas' jaw and turned his wrist, twisting hard until
Atlas' neck snapped and he fell still.

“
I
n
all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
”

-Aristotle

xxiv.

The
long winter in the underworld had passed.

Persephone
left her cold husband, Hades,

to
return to the warm arms of her mother.

The
first spring was here.

As
she stepped out onto the dead, frozen earth,

the
ground beneath her bare feet warmed to her touch.

Green
grass sprouted beneath every footprint

and
flowers followed.

Her
fingers danced on the tips of bare branches

of
every naked tree that she did pass,

and
from mere skeletons, new life burst forward,

ending
the winter.

“
When
you err, repent
.
”

-Delphic
Maxim

XXIV.

Celene
drove Devon, semi-conscious to the hospital. She concocted a cover
story with Frank before she had left.

It
was decided that the body of Atlas could not be found by the police.
Teddy had been involved in the death of the Alvarez brothers in
February. He couldn't be found with another corpse within a year.

Not
one of them had any experience disposing of a body, but Minnie had
some ideas. Frank carried the body out into the woods. In a remote,
wooded area well outside town, Penny knelt beside the body and held
her hands centimeters above it, fingers spread, palms down. Frank
kept silent to allow her to focus.

The
grass and plants below the body grew up and around it. Mushrooms and
lichen spread across the corpse, breaking it down in a high-speed
version of the natural decomposition cycle. It started off slow, but
as time went on, Penny's hands began to shake and the process began
to speed up. Roots crawled up around the body, twining around fingers
and pulling the remains down into the earth. Penny's hands were now
moving in a violent tremor as plants sprouted, seeded, flowered,
withered and sprouted anew in turn. In minutes the body melted away
to dirt, the remaining bones being pulled under the earth by roots.
On top of the site a tiny sprout thickened, grew into a sapling, and
kept on growing until a thin tree stood as the only marker for Atlas'
grave.

Penny
opened her eyes and stood up. Frank shook his head as he turned back
towards the house. As powerful as he was, even he knew to be
terrified of what Penny could do.

In
the house, Valerie knelt next to the puddle of blood on the tile
floor. “You know the police can find blood, no matter how well we
clean it,” Teddy said, “I saw it on CSI.”

“Most
real police labs can't afford the equipment from CSI,” Minnie said.

“They
can always send evidence out if the case is big enough,” Teddy
said. “I can't go to prison. I have soft hair.”

“It's
fine,” Valerie said. “I'll take care of it.” Nick shouted in
horror as she placed her hands directly into the puddle of blood. She
moved her palms in circles on the floor. As she scrubbed, the blood
seemed to vanish until the floor was spotless. She stood up and
flexed her likewise spotless fingers.

“How
did you do that?” Teddy asked.

“I
can clean things just by touching them... come on guys... I sent you
an email like, a week ago.”

They
all just stared at her.

“Did
any of you read my email?”

There
were mumbles around her. “I've been busy with work.” “I'm
applying for college.” “Musta gotten lost in the SPAM.”

“You
guys always ignore me,” Valerie scowled.

“Woah!”
Nick shouted, “Valerie. When did you get here?”

Teddy
snickered. Valerie kneed Nick in the balls. Teddy laughed
hysterically as Nick rolled on the floor.

Frank
and Penny returned from their trip to the woods. The laughter stopped
as everyone, except Nick, turned to look at them expectantly.

“The
body is gone,” Frank said, “Let's double check for other evidence
before we go.”