²𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘✸ percy jackson

XXV.

MΛЯK ӨF ΛƬΉΣПΛ

COACH USED THE BALLISTAE to blast a hole straight through the ground of the parking lot.

Chunks of asphalt as big as garage doors tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars.

Lucia looked down from the ship as they descended. One of the cars almost crashed down on a huge statue before bouncing away like there was an invisible force field.

Lucia felt her chest erupt with admiration, she realized the statue was the Athena Parthenos, Which meant that Annabeth had done it. She had really done it!

That admiration had shifted to terror as the car fell straight toward a blonde figure.

Luckily, Annabeth had jumped to one side, she flipped on her back. Lucia saw a bright red Fiat 500 slam into a silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with what looked like—Chinese Spidercuffs?

Wow, Annabeth's brain truly amazed her.

As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around Annabeth, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.

The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, though the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures.

Annabeth was covered in cobwebs. She trailed strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow, amazingly, none of the debris had hit her.

As daylight flooded the cavern, Tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, Lucia saw that they strangely looked familiar, showing different moments in their demigod lives...Except as the last few crumbled away, she realized how much more obscure they got... She had a strange feeling that there was a connection between that and Oracles not being able to see into the future.

Lucia shook her head, not caring enough at the moment to overthink it. She called out for the Person they all came for. "Annabeth!"

"Here!" she sobbed.

As the Argo II descended, Lucia and Piper stood over the rail.

The room kept shaking, but Annabeth managed to stand. The floor at her feet seemed stable for the moment. Her backpack was missing, along with Daedalus's laptop. Her bronze knife, which she'd had since she was seven, was also gone—probably fallen into the pit. But...She was alive.

She edged closer to the gaping hole made by the Fiat 500. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness.

The Argo II hovered to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder

"Hey! Don't go near there!" Lucia screamed, Before anyone could stop her, she jumped off the moving ship and clambered down the rope ladder. Her body was pumped up with adrenaline, not realizing that her iPod was peeking out from the shallow uniform pockets.

Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. When Lucia was next to her, she turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped her arms around her. She buried her face in Lucia's chest and broke down in tears.

"It's okay Beth," She rubbed her back. "It's over, I promise. We're here. You did it."

Their friends gathered around them.

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

Lucia told her she'd tend to her on the ship, squeezing her shoulder in comfort.