I Was Expecting More
It was as if the entire battlefield froze at once.
Thalia and Luke lowered their spear and sword respectively. Zoë, who was still holding an arrow drawn, didn't release it, her bow still aimed at her father. Atlas turned his head to look at the newcomer.
And Percy and his clone were wearing the exact same expression.
The same one Percy always had whenever he got himself into trouble by annoying his master a little too much.
Even Percy's Spectral Clone vanished, as though it were running away so the original could deal with his own mess.
The entire mountain fell into a strange silence as the only figure still standing on the deck of the drakkar continued looking at no one except Percy.
Percy's master.
Miraak.
His eyes were calm and cold, as though absolutely nothing happening before him was worthy of changing his expression.
But there had always been one person capable of doing exactly that.
His own disciple.
His aura was overwhelming, as though a dragon as ancient as—or perhaps even older than—Ladon himself was watching all of them, despite not sparing them a single glance. His mere presence sent a chill down everyone's spine.
The first to break that deathly silence was none other than Percy, who calmly raised a hand.
Or at least, he tried to.
Because the smile on his face looked more than a little forced.
And more than a little nervous.
"H-Hi, Master. How did your mission go?" Percy asked as simply as if nothing unusual had happened.
Everyone present couldn't help glancing at him.
Hearing his disciple's foolish words, Miraak couldn't help letting out a sigh.
But then his gaze shifted to someone else, someone whose aura was beginning to grow just as heavy, as though trying to assert its own existence and prove it wouldn't be overshadowed.
Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly.
His entire attention settled on the motionless figure standing atop the ship.
He couldn't even help letting a smile slowly spread across his face the longer he looked at him.
The aura pouring from Atlas's body was one that normally made anyone standing before him fall to their knees, as though proclaiming why he stood above every living creature in existence.
But Miraak merely gave him a flat glance before continuing to survey the surroundings, his eyes finding Artemis, who was carrying the great vault of the sky.
Artemis returned his gaze.
For a brief moment, her expression remained completely calm.
But her eyes...
They held deep caution.
Miraak's gaze then swept over everyone else present—Grover, Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, Zoë, and Bianca.
It lingered on Bianca for a second longer before shifting toward the edge of the mountain, as though he could hear the monsters approaching like an army prepared to wipe them all out.
Then he looked back at his disciple.
As though that one glance alone had already told him more or less everything that had happened while he'd been in the Sea of Monsters.
And yet...
He didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Miraak took a single step.
His figure disappeared from the deck of the drakkar.
And appeared on solid ground.
As though he had always been standing there.
Right in front of Percy.
Now with his arms crossed, looking down at his disciple, who still wore that same foolish smile, though now he seemed to be regretting it a little while trying to act calm, looking more like an innocent child about to be scolded by his father.
"Your arrogance keeps growing. Is it because you've gained a little more strength? A couple of blessings... perhaps?"
Percy smiled rather stiffly.
"Master, I..."
"...Should I increase your training? Or should I simply beat you until you understand just how wide the gap between you and the world really is?" Miraak said, looking at his disciple with clear annoyance.
"Ah, well... I..."
Hearing his master's words, Percy seemed to shrink a little.
"Ah, well... the huge golden dragon said I was part of his family now. So I figured... well... that makes me something like your son now. It kind of made sense."
"My son... wouldn't be so weak," Miraak said mockingly.
Percy opened his mouth, unable to tell whether that had been a rejection or an acceptance.
"M-Master...?"
Without answering, Miraak simply grabbed Percy by the back of his jacket with one hand.
He didn't say another word.
He merely turned slightly...
And threw Percy down the mountain.
"AAAAAAAH!!" his voice echoed farther and farther away as everyone present stood frozen in place, utterly bewildered.
Annabeth's eyes went wide.
"PERCY?!" she shouted as she watched him fly—
Or, more accurately...
Fall.
"Don't come back until you've finished dealing with them," Miraak said without adding anything else. "Maybe then you'll stop looking so weak."
"THIS COUNTS AS CHILD ABUSE!!" Percy managed to shout before, a few moments later, a loud THUD echoed up from wherever he'd landed.
After throwing his disciple away as though he were nothing more than a summoned creature sent to fight, Miraak looked back at those gathered before him.
The Huntress was still standing in front of Artemis, her bow drawn and ready to fire at any moment.
Thalia felt Miraak's gaze fall on her once again and couldn't help swallowing for a moment as she tightened her grip on her crackling spear. Even Luke tensed, but almost immediately seemed to regain his confidence, knowing Miraak couldn't touch him thanks to the Trial's protection.
But Miraak didn't spare either of them another glance.
He knew settling this battle was their responsibility.
Instead...
His gaze came to rest on Bianca, Annabeth, and Grover.
Bianca was the first to react. After the shock of Miraak's arrival, she was instantly happy to finally see her savior again. But before she could say anything, just like Percy before her, she suddenly felt her feet leave the ground and something grab hold of her jacket.
Only to see Miraak raising one hand from a distance while Bianca, Grover, and Annabeth all floated into the air as though invisible hands were holding them.
"They're in the way," Miraak said flatly.
Bianca barely had time to blink.
Then, the very next instant...
Her body was sent flying through the air together with the others.
"Huh?!"
"AAAAAH!!" Grover and Annabeth screamed.
Clarisse, who was still standing on the drakkar, completely soaked, stared with her mouth hanging open as three people came flying straight toward her.
"What the hell...?!" was all she managed to say.
Miraak didn't even bother looking back when something crashed into the ship, the water rocking from the impact and, quite possibly, cries of pain coming from his own crew.
Annabeth's last scream faded into the distance.
Only then did Miraak slowly turn his head, and his gaze finally settled on Atlas.
Atlas tightened his grip on the shaft of his spear as a savage smile spread across his face.
"So you've finally decided to stop ignoring me," he said as his aura expanded once more, making the air around his body tremble.
Artemis, too, had all of her attention fixed on Miraak.
Miraak watched Atlas for several seconds, as though evaluating him.
Then he merely raised an eyebrow in disdain.
Not the same kind of disdain Percy showed, which somehow always carried a strange sense of familiarity.
No.
This was pure disdain.
Cold.
Arrogant.
"The brat is always trying to get my attention whenever he runs into something he can't defeat."
Miraak fell silent for a few more seconds as he looked at Atlas.
"I was expecting more."
The savage smile on Atlas's face faltered for an instant.
Then it spread again.
Only this time, there was something much colder behind it.
"You were expecting more...?" he repeated with a deep laugh. "How arrogant. Truly arrogant for nothing more than a wandering vagabond like you. Do you think you're superior just because you managed to stand against Zeus? I'm beginning to see where your disciple got it from."
Miraak didn't answer.
He simply looked at him calmly.
"I have defeated gods. I have subdued kings. I carried the sky upon my shoulders for millennia. And yet... you dare look down on me?" Atlas roared, his fury boiling over.
"Is that all?" Miraak asked simply. "And yet... here you are."
The moment Atlas heard those words, the smile vanished from his face entirely, replaced by a cold, merciless stare.
Then Atlas disappeared.
The rock beneath his feet exploded as the Titan crossed the distance between them in an instant. His spear came crashing straight toward Miraak's chest with enough force to split a mountain apart.
"BOOOOOOOOM!!"
Miraak raised one hand.
The tip of the spear stopped barely a few centimeters from his chest.
But the shockwave it unleashed tore trees out by their roots and ripped open enormous cracks beneath both of them.
Neither of them moved.
They simply stood there, staring at each other.
Then...
Tap.
A single drop of crimson blood fell from Miraak's palm and struck the ground.
Silence swallowed everything.
Thalia's gaze trembled.
Zoë's eyes widened slightly.
Even Artemis fixed her full attention on that tiny drop with a solemn expression.
Miraak lowered his eyes toward the small drop of blood on the ground and watched it for a second.
Then he looked back up at Atlas, who was smiling once more after seeing him bleed.
And then Miraak, whose expression had remained cold and unreadable until that moment, smiled.
A smile that could only be described as thrilled by battle.
"Much better."
The words had barely left his mouth before an overwhelming thirst for battle flooded the entire mountain like a tidal wave, completely drowning out even the divine auras radiating from every godly being present.
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, opened her eyes wide as she felt that tidal wave wash over her.
It was like standing before a beast.
Not just any beast.
The supreme beast.
A creature greater than any she had ever faced.
It was the presence of a being that stood above every predator she had ever known.
It was as though a dragon had finally stopped restraining its presence.