PJO/HoO Chapters in Annabeth's POV

The Mark of Athena - Falling into Tartarus

Scene from: The Mark of Athena - Arachne's Cavern

[Percy's POV]

Quoted from, The Mark of Athena:

"Percy thought his stomach was sinking. Then he realized the ship was descending towards a big building like a palace.

Annabeth... Nico's news was so horrible, Percy had momentarily forgotten she was still in danger, which made him feel incredibly guilty.

'We'll figure out the Tartarus problem later,' he said. 'Is that the Emmanuel Building?'

Leo nodded. "Bacchus said something about the parking lot in back? Well, there it is. What now?"

Percy remembered his dream of the dark chamber, the evil buzzing voice of the monster called Her Ladyship. He remembered how shaken Annabeth had looked when she'd returned back from Fort Sumter after her encounter with the spiders. Percy had begun to suspect what might be down in that shrine... literally, the mother of all spiders. If he was right, and Annabeth had been trapped down there alone with that creature for hours, her leg broken... At this point, he didn't care if her quest was supposed to be solo or not.

'We have to get her out,' he said.

'Well, yeah,' Leo agreed. 'But, uh...'

He looked like he wanted to say, What if we're too late?

Wisely, he changed track. 'There's a parking lot in the way.'

Percy looked at Coach Hedge. 'Bacchus said something about breaking through. Coach, you still have ammo for those ballistae?'

The satyr grinned like a wild goat. 'I thought you'd never ask.'"

[End of quote]

He turned without another glance and went clip-clopping down the stairs to the lower deck.

"Leo, bring us into a hover," Percy instructed. "Put us about a hundred above the parking lot,"

"Got it," Leo said, running to the controls.

Jason gripped the railing of the ship, looking over the side at the approaching building. He raised his head and called to the rest of the crew. "Alright guys, when Hedge gets back, be prepared to face the worst!"

"What do you mean by 'the worst'?" Frank asked, nervously.

Percy looked at him. "Imagine a giant spider-human-gorilla hybrid. Big enough to steal a god's statue from Greece and bring it all the way here. And uh... it's already killed hundreds of Athena kids who've tried to complete Annabeth's quest."

Frank nodded apprehensively, swallowing once, the fear in his eyes clearly evident. He unslung his bow and knocked an arrow. "Yeah, that... that would probably be 'worst'."

Hazel and Piper joined Jason at the ship's port rail and looked over the side as Leo steadied the ship in a slow descent over the parking lot. Percy glanced up to see him pull his Wii remotes from his pocket and flick them upward, eventually bringing the Argo II to a halt in mid-air. Percy saw Piper stroking the feather in her braid, her lips muttering silent words.

At that moment, Coach Hedge came lumbering up the stairs from the cargo hold, with an arm full of steel ballista bolts, each with a flammable head.

"Make sure your aim is precise," Percy warned. "You better not kill my girlfriend."

Hedge snorted as he passed by, heading for the port ballistae. "Oh please, Jackson, like I would ever be careless when handling such an easily-irritated weapon..."