Three weeks passed in a blur of hammer blows, glowing runes, and sleepless nights. Harry barely left the Black Mansion workshop except to see Teddy, reassure Calyssa, or grab food Andromeda forced into his hands.
At last — after countless failures, dozens of near-explosions, and runes so complex even Athena would blink twice — the construct stood completed.
It wasn't perfect.
It wouldn't last forever.
But it would work.
Harry tested it again and again. The construct absorbed bursts of divine force, pressure, and punitive magic. It cracked after a few months worth of conceptual weight — but those months were enough.
Enough for Atlas to breathe.
Enough for Atlas to move.
Enough for a Titan to remember he was alive.
One cold morning, Harry and Calyssa returned to Mount Othrys. Atlas sensed them long before they arrived; his human-sized form appeared at the cliff edge, shoulders trembling under the unseen burden.
Harry held the construct — now reduced to a palm-sized cube filled with shimmering sigils and a swirling core of stardust.
"I finally finished it," Harry said.
Atlas grunted, skeptical. "Does it break before or after I thank you?"
Harry cracked a tired grin. "After a few months."
Atlas snorted. "I'll take it."
Calyssa stood beside him, eyes wide with nervous hope.
"Father… he really did it. You'll be free. Even if only for a while."
Atlas did not blink. But the hard edge in his eyes softened when he looked at her.
"A few hours of freedom would have been enough. Months is a gift the gods never intended me to touch."
Harry motioned for him to kneel — not out of dominance, but proximity. He needed to reach the binding runes across Atlas' shoulders.
Atlas obeyed.
Harry pressed his palms to the glowing chains.
Immediately the air trembled, vibrating with the bitter song of punishment. Runes spiraled across the mountain face, lighting every carved line with blinding white.
"Brace yourself," Harry warned. "This will hurt."
Atlas growled. "Pain is the only company I have."
Harry drew a deep breath and whispered:
"Transfero vinculum."
"Separationem conceptum."
"Anchor to the construct."
The cube in his other hand unfolded like a blooming flower. Celestial bronze arms extended outward, forming the shape of a miniature Atlas — invisible, but sharp and radiant in divine sight.
Light surged.
The enchantments screamed.
The sky shuddered.
And then—
SNAP.
The chains fell.
Not to the ground — but into the construct. The punitive magic spiraled into the anchor, binding to the miniature Atlas exactly as intended.
For the first time in thousands of years, Atlas' shoulders rose.
He staggered forward, suddenly too light, as if his body didn't know what freedom felt like.
He inhaled sharply.
The wind around him stilled.
"The weight… it's gone."
Calyssa broke into tears.
"Father—!"
Atlas caught her with both arms — no chains, no trembling, no cosmic burden. He held her tightly, burying his face in her hair.
Harry stepped back, quietly giving them space.
When Atlas finally pulled away, he turned to Harry with eyes shining brighter than starlight.
"I owe you more than my life."
Harry shook his head. "Just live. And don't get caught while you're out."
Atlas chuckled — a deep, ancient sound that shook the mountain.
"I will return before any Olympian checks the site. That much, I promise."
Harry gestured at the construct, now blending perfectly with the cliff, invisible yet humming with absorbed punishment.
"Just stand close enough that the Olympians still feel your aura when they check the mountain. The construct reflects your divine signature."
Atlas nodded.
"Enough deception to satisfy the gods. Enough freedom to satisfy me."
Calypso clung to his arm.
"I want to show you the world again, Father. When you are ready."
Atlas placed a gentle hand on her head.
"I am ready now."
Harry smiled.
"Just don't wander too far until I reinforce the construct. It cracks after a few months."
Atlas's grin widened.
"Months is more than I ever had. I will savor every hour."
The Titan took one step away from the cliff.
The air didn't tremble.
The sky didn't shift.
The earth didn't shake.
He was just… free.
Calyssa held his hand.
Harry watched with quiet satisfaction.
And for the first time in three thousand years, Atlas walked without the sky on his back.
Harry returned to the Black Mansion just before noon, dust still clinging to his cloak from Mount Othrys. When he stepped inside, the familiar smell of Andromeda's cooking reached him first — warm, comforting, grounding.
Andromeda was wiping down the kitchen counter when she spotted him.
She set the towel aside.
"Where is Calyssa?" she asked casually, as though she expected Calyssa to walk in behind him with her usual radiant smile.
Harry loosened his collar, tiredness catching up to him.
"She's with her father," he said simply. "They've gone to explore the world together. She'll be gone for a few months."
Andromeda raised an eyebrow.
"She just left? With her father?"
Harry nodded.
Andromeda shrugged, accepting it without fuss. She never pried into Harry's personal affairs unless he invited her to.
"Good for her then. She needed the freedom."
Harry smiled.
"Yes. And she'll come back. I'm sure of it."
He didn't offer more detail — and she didn't ask.
That was their unspoken understanding.
Some things Harry would reveal in time, and some things were better left unspoken for a while.
The sound of small footsteps echoed in the hallway. Teddy barreled into the room, his hair shifting colors with emotion — a deep blue of worry.
"Dad! Is it true? Percy's going to camp today?"
Harry knelt beside him.
"Yes, Teddy. He's joining Camp Half-Blood for training."
Teddy's lips trembled.
"But he promised we'd play sword-fight…"
Harry ruffled his hair.
"Then let's go visit him before he leaves. How about that?"
Teddy's eyes lit up instantly, shifting from blue to bright yellow.
"Yes! Yes! Let's go!"
Harry chuckled.
They left the mansion shortly after. Teddy held Harry's hand tightly as they walked through the lively streets of New Jersey, stopping only to buy Teddy a chocolate milkshake from a street vendor.
Percy and Sally's apartment was small but warm, plants lining the windowsill, and the smell of Sally's cookies drifting through the hallway. Sally opened the door with a bright smile.
"Harry! Teddy! Come in!"
Percy ran out of his room with a wide grin.
"Teddy! You made it!"
Teddy launched himself at Percy in a hug.
"I thought you forgot me," Teddy mumbled.
Percy rolled his eyes.
"As if! I'm going to camp for training, not leaving forever. You'll visit, won't you?"
Teddy nodded vigorously.
"I will! I pinky promise!"
Harry watched them with a small, warm smile. Percy had become like an older brother to Teddy — loyal, supportive, protective. The bond was genuine.
After an hour of chatter and play, Harry remembered he had another visit to make.
Hermione's apartment was just a few blocks away. When they arrived, Emma Granger was the one who opened the door, smiling warmly.
"Oh, Harry! Teddy! Come in, come in."
Inside, Hermione was sitting on the sofa, gently rocking a tiny bundle wrapped in a soft pink blanket.
"Harry," she whispered, smiling tiredly.
Harry's heart softened at the sight.
Little Rose — small, warm, and glowing gently with that unmistakable demigod aura — opened her tiny eyes and stared straight at him.
Teddy gasped.
"She's still so small!"
Hermione laughed softly.
"She's only a few months old, Teddy."
Teddy touched Rose's hand, and her tiny fingers curled around his.
Just like last time, he squealed in delight.
Harry swallowed hard.
He was Rose's godfather.
And yet in the last few chaotic weeks — divine weapons, Olympian threats, Atlas' curse — he had barely visited her.
"I'm sorry I haven't been here more," Harry admitted.
"I've been… busy."
Hermione shook her head.
"You're busy with Olympian business, Harry. I understand."
He sat beside her, touching the baby's cheek.
"I'll make up for it," he said softly. "I promise. I'm not going to be an absent godfather."
Rose gurgled, smiling toothlessly.
Hermione smirked.
"She forgives you."
Teddy beamed.
"So do I, Dad."
Harry laughed and ruffled Teddy's hair.
Later, as they stepped out into the evening air, Teddy holding his new toy from Sally, Harry felt something unusual:
Peace.
For now, that was enough.
Zeus sat alone in the dim corner of the grand hall, shadows dancing over his face as bolts of silent lightning crawled across his fingertips. He wasn't angry — not the kind of anger that split the world — but disturbed. Uneasy.
A Titan, free.
A Titan walking among mortals.
He didn't have to say a word aloud. The weight of that reality pressed on him constantly.
He could not touch Harry Potter openly.
Not because Harry was invincible — Zeus didn't believe that for a second.
But because half of Olympus stood behind the boy.
Hera.
Artemis.
Athena.
Hestia.
Aphrodite.
Apollo
Even Hephaestus remained silent after his humiliating encounter.
If Zeus struck Harry without a solid, undeniable reason…
He might lose everything — the throne, Olympus, the loyalty of the gods.
That kind of war would shatter the world.
But none of that changed the truth gnawing inside Zeus:
A Titan walking free is a danger.
A Titan gaining allies is a catastrophe.
A Titan with the loyalty of half the gods is doom.
He needed action.
He needed secrecy.
And he needed someone who understood what it meant to be outmatched.
Ares approached quietly, which was unnatural for him. He usually walked with thunder in his footsteps.
Tonight, he moved like a knife.
"Father," he greeted in a low voice.
Zeus nodded once, motioning Ares closer. In the shadows of an abandoned balcony overlooking Olympus, the two gods spoke in whispers — something that had never happened in thousands of years.
Ares' eyes glowed red, troubled.
"You asked me to come alone," he muttered. "What's wrong?"
Zeus folded his hands behind his back.
"It isn't the child anymore."
Ares stiffened.
"You mean the boy with the sword?"
Zeus shook his head.
"No. The child is dangerous but manageable. Any Olympian can kill him if needed… but he is no longer the focus."
Ares frowned.
"Then what is?"
Zeus' voice hardened into iron.
"Harry Potter."
A long silence followed.
Ares' fists tightened.
"You think he's a problem."
"I know he is," Zeus replied. "A Titan who forged weapons that could slay gods… who stood before us in his true form and did not bow."
Ares swallowed.
"And… half of Olympus supports him."
Zeus' jaw clenched.
"That is why we cannot strike him openly. If I act now, the rebellion will come from my own throne room."
"And if we don't act?" Ares asked.
Zeus looked out over the cloudy horizon — troubled, calculating, ancient.
"Then we allow a Titan to grow. To gather allies. To learn. To prepare."
His eyes flashed dangerously.
"We allow danger to sit at our doorstep."
Ares grimaced.
"So what do we do?"
Zeus lowered his voice until even the wind hesitated to carry it.
"We destroy Harry Potter… secretly. Quietly. In a way that none can trace back to Olympus."
Ares' pupils dilated, adrenaline stirring like a storm.
"This won't be easy," he warned. "He's protected. Watched. Surrounded."
Zeus nodded.
"That is why we must be patient… and careful."
A cold, heavy silence settled between them.
"From now on," Zeus finished softly, "we hunt a Titan.
Before he becomes something far worse."
Ares bowed his head, understanding exactly what kind of war they were starting.
"It will be done," he said. "I'll gather plans. Quiet ones."
Zeus nodded once, his expression carved in stone.
"This stays between us.
If even a whisper escapes… we will be the ones on the receiving end of our own destruction."
Ares smirked darkly.
"Father… I've waited centuries for a challenge worthy of me.
This might be the greatest one of all."
Zeus didn't smile.
He was no longer thinking about victory — he was thinking about survival.
And for the first time in millanium…
Zeus felt fear.
Author's Note:
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