You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 50: The Fall

The parking lot cracked under the fire of the ballistae. Laylana let Nico go for the moment as she overlooked the parking lot. Percy started crying out for his girlfriend. "Annabeth!"

"Here!" Annabeth sobbed from somewhere in the rubble.

As the Argo II descended, Laylana and Percy leaned over the rail, her brother's smile on his face showing his relief. Laylana watched as Leo stopped the boat about forty feet from the ground. She tossed the rope ladder over the side as Percy went down it, her following shortly after. Percy ran over next to her, lacing his fingers in his girlfriend's as she buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears.

"It's okay," he said. "We're together."

Their friends gathered around them. Laylana stood with Nico and Hazel, just thankful that Annabeth was alive. Then, she noticed the bubble wrap around Annabeth's leg and strode forward. 

"Your leg." she knelt down next to it, examining for an injury. "Oh, Annabeth, what happened?"

She started to explain her fight with Arachne, and how she tricked her. It was amazing how Annabeth's brain worked, and how she was able to come up with ideas no one else could. Laylana felt a sense of pride knowing that her friend was the one to finally do what many Athena kids before her failed to. The whole time she talked, Laylana noticed that Percy didn't let go of her hand. 

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

"Well...some of it with a broken ankle." Annabeth grimaced as Laylana touched a few places, trying to find out where the break was.

"I can get you a proper cast when we get back to the ship. But you should be okay." Laylana smiled at her. "For now, eat."

Annabeth accepted the piece of ambrosia that Laylana held out for her. 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. Won with pain from a woven jail." Hazel 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. "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?"

Laylana and Percy told her about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twins in the Colosseum. Nico didn't say much from behind Laylana. Laylana also 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, the 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. Laylana shivered at the cold, suddenly wishing she had that sweater of Leo's to wrap around her. She felt drawn to the pit, but knew deep down she couldn't go. Not alone at least.  Percy must have felt it too. He guided Annabeth a little farther from the edge. Her arms and legs trailed with spider silk.