Eleutheromania

29)

THE BALLISTAE EXPLODED THE parking lot. Percy immediately ran to the railing.

      "Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

      "Here!" Annabeth sobbed.

      I followed Percy. I haven't seen Percy smile like that in a long time.

      Percy ran down to Annabeth and the rest followed behind. Percy hugged Annabeth gently turning her away from the pit.

      That was the same moment I saw the pit. I felt like throwing up and also backed away a little.

      We all gathered around them.

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

      She started to explain. I could tell that she went through a lot, and it was all on her own. When she finished, we all looked at her in 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. "She's huge."

     "We'll have to take her with us to Greece," Annabeth said. "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."

      Leo raised his hands. He made a finger picture frame around the Athena Parthenos like he was taking measurements. I smiled on how cute he looked. "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. Nico didn't say much. The poor guy looked like he'd been wandering through a wasteland for six weeks. Percy explained what Nico had found out about the Doors of Death, and how they had to be closed on both sides. Even with sunlight streaming in from above, Percy's news made the cavern seem dark again.

      "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. That's when I knew with certainty. The chasm did go straight to the Underworld.

      I grabbed Percy and Annabeth both pulling them farther away. Percy looked at me knowingly. He was the only one that knew about my dream.

      Percy nodded at me then looked at Annabeth. "Bacchus mentioned something about my voyage being harder than I expected. 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.

      We understood immediately.

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