Zach rolled around on the ground for a minute, but his fighting spirit was not lost. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and reached out, shouting with fury and launching a bolt of lightning at Lewis.
Lewis saw the lighting as it crackled at his fingertips. He tried to dodge it, but lightning moves at 90,000 miles per second. The electricity surged around the wet surface of Lewis' skin and clothing, and the force threw him to the ground. As the last sparks discharged, Lewis lay on the wet grass, gasping and twitching.
The throbbing in Zach's face surged to a peak. The sky seemed to be flashing, though the lightning was gone, and everything through his right eye looked fuzzy. Zach opened and closed his mouth a few times. Things felt cottony. He looked at Lewis as he lay shaking on the ground and wondered why he was acting funny, then Zach's head flopped down and slipped into a dream.
The rain stopped.
“As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser.”
-Plato
xxii.
As thanks to Atlas for food and warm shelter
on his journey home from slaying Medusa,
Perseus bid Atlas to make a request
within his power.
Atlas was tasked with holding up the heavens
and though he was the strongest of the Titans,
the charge had worn on his back and made him tired.
He asked for a rest.
So Perseus took the head of the Gorgon
from the leather sack with which he carried it
and turned the petrifying eyes to Atlas
and froze him on sight.
The limestone of the mountain beneath his feet
climbed skywards and grew up around his ankles.
The mountain encased the whole of the Titan
leaving just a peak.
“It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters.”
-Aesop
XXII.
Thirteen members of The Pantheon and Jason Livingstone sat around Celene Davis' living room. Zach was laying in the hospital with a concussion and a fractured cheekbone. Lewis was in much more serious condition. He was awake and responsive, but he had memory problems that ranged from missing the occasional name or phone number in his long-term memory to remembering absolutely nothing of the day before the fight.
The rest of the kids sat on couches and office chairs, wondering why Celene had called them here without serving the usual soda and cookies. Celene stood over them, her fists balled tight and her eyes scanning each face for signs of guilt.
“What the hell have you all been doing this summer?” she finally snapped.
Everyone just blinked at her. They had never heard Dr. Davis swear, even for a minor curse like “hell.”
“Zach and Lewis are hospitalized for fighting each other. They are best friends! Teddy and Peter were arrested for fighting; Astin had to use his powers in public. Devon is pregnant. Then I find out you're all fighting over a gossip blog that claims that Evan tried to fight Frank, June verbally assaulted Minnie in a book store and I don't even want to start on what it's saying about Nick. What is wrong with you?”
Silence.
“Anyone?” She folded her arms and took turns staring each one down. Jason slipped to the back of the room to avoid having to say anything.
“Nick is going around seducing the members of my abstinence club just to mess with me,” Valerie said. “So you should be glad I haven't attacked him yet.”
“Go ahead. You know you want to,” Nick said.
“Nick!” Minnie snapped.
“I wasn't fighting in public,” Teddy said. “I was attacked. Big difference.”
Nick shrugged, “I'm just saying I have a right to my own romantic life, whether it morally offends Valerie or not.”
“You are targeting and manipulating them just to make me mad,” Valerie said.
June chimed in. “Nick, you're disgusting.”
“Oh, don't act holier than thou, June,” Devon said. “We all saw those photos of you pouncing on Lewis.”
“Really now, coming from the next teen mom? Are you just sleeping with Evan and Frank or should I be inviting someone else to this meeting?”
“Back off,” Frank snapped at June.
“I wouldn't have had to use my powers if Teddy hadn't gotten his head cracked open by Peter,” Astin added.
“I wouldn't have had to crack his head open if his mother had taught him to speak respectfully about women,” Peter snapped back, rising to his feet.
“Really, Peter?” Astin asked, “Where is your mother?”
“I don't need anyone defending me!” Penny hissed.
“ALRIGHT! SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!” Jason barked. His voice rang off the walls. Everyone stopped moving. Peter plunked down in his spot on the couch. His form shimmered, threatening to turn invisible for a moment.
Jason took a deep breath and shook his head. “Let's see, where do we start? You,” he pointed at Peter. “Sticks and stones, right? If a woman's honor can be taken away by something as flimsy as a few words, your fists aren't going to win it back.”
“You,” he said, turning to June, “Devon's pregnant. She's going to be suffering the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life. You don't need to add to that. You've got your own problems. Your ex-boyfriend just beat up his best friend over you. Fix your own crap and leave her alone.”
June opened her mouth and closed it.
“Nick. Keep it in your pants.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I know, you're hormonal, you're a teenager. You'll survive. I haven't had sex in almost four years and somehow I'm still standing here. You want to end up like Frank and Devon, expecting a baby before they have a diploma?”
“No...”
“Then keep it in your pants. You're going to ruin your own life as well as some poor, insecure girl's and you're going to ruin our lives if some girl you don't even care about pops out a mer-baby or something. Keep. It. In. Your. Pants.”
Jason shook his head, “We're all letting ourselves get stirred up by some third-rate gossip queen. We're fueling it by fighting like this. At the end of the day we only have each other to turn to for the bigger picture. A week and a half ago you were all worried about the possibility of a new Titan, but we can't focus on that possible threat because we're all too busy trying to kill each other. Do you really want to introduce Adam to our group when we're all at each other's throats?”
“I'm just tired of being pushed aside,” Evan said, quietly. “I meant to have a quiet summer, work on my Night Prowler, sleep in...”
“Evan,” Devon whispered, “I'm sorry.”
“Devon,” Jason said, “You're going to have to grow up real fast these next few months. No more head games. You have to be honest about what you want, even with yourself.”
“Dr. Livingstone, I know what I want, but it's not that easy.”
“Really? What's getting in your way?”
“My parents don't like Frank.”
“Well, like it or not, Frank has a legal right to be that child's father. You're eighteen in February, so by the time that baby is here, they have absolutely no say in how you raise it. They might cut you off, and I reckon that'll suck because you're used to a pretty high level of comfort, but families get by without help from Mommy and Daddy every day and you've got a family here.”
Devon nodded.
“So if you really want to raise that child with Frank instead of just working out a custody agreement that's going to be miserable for you all, I suggest you tell your parents that it's not their choice and live with the consequences of that. Dragging Evan in as a distraction was never going to fix your problems.”
“I am really sorry Evan,” Devon said, louder this time.
“I know. Just please, don't talk to me. You're not going to fix it by apologizing, alright? Just let me hate you for a while.�
��
“Is this episode of Maury over?” Nick asked, rising to his feet.
Jason nodded. “Yeah. I suppose it is. I think every single one of you ought to go home and think about what I said here.”
One by one they stood up and filed out of Celene's front door. Nick shook his head as he walked down the front steps. “Four years. Man. No wonder he's so uptight.”
Frank followed Devon home. Her parents weren't in, so he came upstairs to help her pack a bag and load it in her car in case their planned discussion ended with her being thrown out of the house.
When Mr. Valentine arrived to find Frank in his home, he was furious. Devon spoke her piece and Frank stood strong and silent behind her, breathing deeply and keeping his anger in check.
Fifteen minutes later, Frank was carrying the last of Devon's bags down the front walk as Mr. Valentine hollered behind him.
“You don't get to keep that car if you leave this house, young lady,” he shouted.
“It's a gift,” she said, feeling empowered and terrified at the same time. “My name's on the title. You can sure-as-hell bet I'm keeping it.”
Frank opened the trunk and threw the bag inside. He stared back at Mr. Valentine, as if daring him to stop them.
“Crap,” Devon hissed as she got to the driver's side door. “I left the car keys inside. I think I left them in the office when I grabbed my laptop.” Devon supposed she would be selling the laptop and the car in the next few months to buy diapers.
“I'll get them,” Frank said. Was he smiling?
“You are not setting foot in my house,” Mr. Valentine barked. Frank picked Mr. Valentine up under his arms and placed him on the flower bed, off the walkway. Frank marched inside, leaving Devon's father speechless behind him.
He looked around the dark office before spotting Devon's massive key-ring sitting on the desk. He reached out and grabbed them, accidentally bumping the mouse of the family computer in the process. The enormous screen flickered to life as the computer woke up. Discordia sat open on the desktop. Frank was about to leave, but he glanced back when he realized that something was off. The latest entry on the blog wasn't the standard photo, header, and block paragraphs. It was brief and to the point with no images to accompany it.
To The Pantheon.
The throne is empty. Olympus is mine. I'm coming for you.
-Atlas
“Devon,” he called as he returned to the front yard. Mrs. Valentine was sobbing and Mr. Valentine was dragging her into the house. “She's made her choice,” he was saying, “We have to stand firm.”
Frank marched down the walk, “Your computer... Discordia. It's been updated.”
“What?”
“Discordia. There's a new entry.”
“I really don't care who is calling me a whore right now. Let's go.”
“It's a Titan,” Frank said.
“What?”
Frank looked back at Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. There was no way he trusted them, now. Frank waved to her car. “Get in the car. Follow me. We'll talk later.”
Frank climbed onto his motorcycle and secured his helmet. He was super-strong, not super-durable. He pulled onto the street ahead of Devon and her red BMW followed. Devon glanced back in the rearview mirror. Her mother watched her leave. Her father was already turned around to head inside.
They stopped at a rundown gas station on the way out towards his house. Frank wanted to wait until they were away from prying ears to talk to Devon, and he was running in empty. The station would have looked abandoned if not for the lights at the pump. The adjacent convenience store was locked up for the night, only allowing for credit and debit purchases on the pump. Devon stuck close to Frank as he filled the tank on his motorcycle.
“A Titan?” she whispered, glancing around to double-check that they really were alone.
Frank nodded. “Discordia had a message for us. 'The throne is empty. Olympus is mine. I'm coming for you. Atlas.'”
“Atlas?”
“You tell me that could be an innocent coincidence.”
“Nothing about that blog is innocent.”
“So who is he?” Devon asked. “Who is Atlas?”
The ground shook. Devon and Frank turned.
A giant king crab was standing between Devon's car and the street. The monster's legs and claws spanned sixteen feet. Its purple body was covered in spines. It reared up on its hind legs, revealing an off-white underbelly and snapping its claws. Buggy eyes looked down on Frank and Devon.
“Get in the car,” Frank said. He turned to face the beast, ready for a fight.
One of its long legs swung at Frank. He saw the swift motion as if it was slowed down and stepped to the side, watching as the tip slammed into the concrete and cracked the pavement. Frank swung his shoulders back and threw himself in the opposite direction as a second tip slammed down, missing his body.
The crab reared back again, clicking its boiler claws and taking several swipes at Frank. Rows of legs passed over each other as it gracefully moved around him in a wide arc. Frank ducked each blow with honed reflexes, taking the time to calmly watch and adjust to each movement the monster made.
There was a yellow cement post bolted to the ground next to the pump to prevent cars from crashing into it. Frank wrapped his arms around the base and pulled. The bolts stripped from the concrete and left Frank wielding a cement club.
The crab's attacks became more frustrated and frantic. It advanced on Frank, aiming the sharp tips on its middle legs at Frank's chest in quick, alternating swipes. Frank stumbled as one leg came too close for comfort.
He regained his footing directly beneath the body of the goliath. Frank crouched down and sprang up, swinging the post towards the sky. It caught the white underbelly of the crab. Knock-back was an understatement. The force of Frank's blow sent the creature flying into the air. It came down hard in the middle of the street, leaving a crater in the road.
The shell of the monster was cracked. It writhed on its back, claws swinging blindly at the night sky. Then it fell still. Slowly, the surface of the shell began to glow. The glow collected into thousands of white lights that grew until the creature was a blinding spectacle. Then the lights shot into the sky and the body of the beast was gone.
“What was that?” Devon shouted out the window of her car.
Frank looked around for traffic cameras. There were none in this run-down neighborhood. Good.
“I think that was a message from Atlas,” Frank said. “Our Titan has been playing Divide and Conquer.” He picked up his motorcycle helmet. “We're not going to my house, we're going to Teddy's. Call him on the way and let him know we're coming.”
“Kindness begets kindness.”
-Greek Proverb
xxiii.
The heavens' weight at the top of the mountain
was causing the limestone peak to start to crack.
So when Hercules came to fetch the apples
he made a fair trade.
Rather than steal the golden fruit from Atlas,
Hercules erected pillars at the pole
to raise up the heavens and pay the Titan
for fruit from his trees.
“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.”
-Plato
XXIII.
“A pair of bears, a giant ladle, and now a crab. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Big Dipper... or God forbid that was the Little Dipper, and Cancer. He's dropping constellations on us,” Minnie explained to the group. Devon and Frank sat on Teddy's sofa. They had just recounted the events of the last hour to The Pantheon.
As usual, Senator Wexler was out of town at a speaking engagement and Mrs. Wexler was with him to keep an eye on him. Frank had chosen Teddy's place as their fortress instead of Dr. Davis' house because of the large wooden doors and the extra space. The sturdy mansion was isolated and easy to secure. Even better, it was big enough that they could al
l spend the night if they needed to. Best of all, if it came to blows, mortals wouldn't see the fight out here on the edge of town.
“What did I miss?” Astin asked as he and Diana came through the front door.
“The Titan we've been looking for is Atlas,” Nick explained, “He's been running Discordia to turn us against each other.”
“A few minutes after I saw the message,” Frank said, “a giant crab appeared to try and take me out.”
“Giant crab?” Diana asked. “Where is it now?”
“Frank punched it into stars,” Devon replied. “I stayed in the car.”
“Atlas,” Diana repeated. “And he knows who we are.”
Astin hesitated. “Someone at Ryan's funeral, he said something to me.”
Diana looked up at her brother.
“He said something like, 'pity you couldn't save him'.”
“He might have meant CPR, Astin,” Diana said.
“Or he might have meant my powers.”
“Earlier this summer,” June started, “This guy at the fair was showing me his Kindle. He was reading about Hera. I hoped I was just being paranoid.”
“Short guy? Big ears?” Astin asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Starting to bald.”
The group exchanged worried glances. “So that's Atlas?” Devon asked.
“Maybe,” grunted Frank.
“Well, we're all here now. There's strength in unity,” Celene said.
“There's strength in Frank's fists,” Evan added.
Valerie and June helped Celene make tea for their companions. Minnie gathered the Olympians with more physical powers and grilled them about their tactics for fighting off any further attacks.
The Weight of the World Page 16
