LOST AT SEA | jason grace

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙

"𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚑!" 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 called out into the hole.

"Here!" Annabeth sobbed.

The demigods leaned over the rail as the Argo II descended. Lorna waved her arms at Annabeth excitedly, almost hitting Jason in the face.

The Argo II hovered to a stop about forty feet from the floor. They lowered a rope ladder and the demigods descended with Percy going first.

Lorna watched as Percy took Annabeth's hand and turned her gently away from the large pit in the ground. He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

The demigods gathered around them.

"Your leg." Lorna knelt next to her and examined the Bubble Wrap cast around her ankle. "Oh, Annabeth, what happened?"

She started to explain. When she finished, her friends' faces were slack with amazement.

"Gods of Olympus," Jason said. "You did all that alone. With a broken ankle."

"Well...some of it with a broken ankle."

Percy grinned. "You made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, but Holy Hera— Annabeth, you did it. Generations of Athena kids tried and failed. You found the Athena Parthenos!"

Everyone gazed at the statue. "What do we do with her?" Frank asked. "It's huge."

"That's what she said- Ow!" Lorna winced as Percy pinched her. 

"We'll have to take her with us to Greece," Annabeth said, a smile appearing on her face. "The statue is powerful. Something about it will help us stop the giants."

"The giants' bane stands gold and pale," Hazel quoted. "Won with pain from a woven jail." She looked at Annabeth with admiration. "It was Arachne's jail. You tricked her into weaving it."

"Damn, Beth," Lorna said.

Leo raised his hands. He made a finger picture frame around the Athena Parthenos like he was taking measurements. "Well, it might take some rearranging, but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stable. If she sticks out the end, I might have to wrap a flag around her feet or something."

"What about you guys?" Annabeth asked. "What happened with the giants?"

Percy told her about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twins in the Colosseum. Percy explained what Nico had found out about the Doors of Death, and how they had to be closed on both sides. 

"So the mortal side is in Epirus," Annabeth said. "At least that's somewhere we can reach."

Nico grimaced. "But the other side is the problem. Tartarus."

The word seemed to echo through the chamber. The pit behind them exhaled a cold blast of air. Lorna stepped away from it, feel a strange sense of imminent danger coming from the pit. What's up with this pit? Lorna thought.

"Bacchus mentioned something about my voyage being harder than I expected," Percy said. "Not sure why—"

The chamber groaned. The Athena Parthenos tilted to one side. Its head caught on one of Arachne's support cables, but the marble foundation under the pedestal was crumbling.

"Secure it!" Annabeth cried in desperation.

Everyone understood immediately. "Zhang!" Leo cried. "Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone."