𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐄𝐋. pj & ac

XI.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖋

PHOENIX TOOK OUT HER POLE AXE ALMOST INSTANTLY, "You two stay behind me!"

"Stop it Khaotikomi! Don't do anything reckless yet!" Annabeth lowered her right hand.

Up on the rim, the Eros statues were drawing their bows into firing position.

"Fine." Phoenix mumbled monotonously, "Get pierced by the arrows. See if I care."

"You can't just say stuff like that!" She huffed

"Maybe if you would stop being a buzzkill." She crossed her arms over each other and played with a braid.

"Guys!"

"I am not a buzzkill! I am strategic! And you're insane!"  Annabeth glared

"Thanks."  Phoenix shrugged, "At least I'm not a wiseass." 

"Hey!" Annabeth glared daggers at her, "Luke totally told you to say that!"

"Annabeth! Phoenix!"

"What!" They both turned to him at the same time, taking their eyes off each other for the first time since they started arguing.

"Look!"

Percy signaled just as the cherubs shot, but not at them. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

"We have to get out," Percy said.

"Duh!" Annabeth said.

"Try to keep up."  Phoenix rolled her eyes.

The two girls moved forward in sync leaving Percy to throw up his hand in frustration before following after them.

Phoenix grabbed the shield and they ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.

"Come on!" Annabeth shouted.

She was trying to hold open a section of the net for them, but wherever she touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around her hands.

The Eros' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose all around the pool, blinding them with an illuminating white light, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute. Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight—"

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid! Eta is 'H.' He made this trap to catch Aphrodite and Ares in bed together. Now we're going to be broadcasted live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

They had almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic automatons poured out.

Annabeth screamed and jumped back in fear.

It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward them in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.

"Spiders!" Annabeth said. "Sp—sp—aaaah!"

"I think she's going to faint." Percy fanned her

"She can't knock out yet. she's the smart one!" Phoenix exclaimed, almost as if she were actually concerned.

They had never seen her so disheveled before. Annabeth was usually a walking embodiment of calm collected and calculating. But there she was turning red and screaming in horror over a horde of mechanic spiders.