REDAMANCY | jason grace²

31

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31. Tartarus

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"Annabeth!" Percy called out into the hole.

"Here!" Annabeth sobbed.

The demigods leaned over the rail as the Argo II descended. Lorna saw Annabeth edged closer to the gaping hole in the ground. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness as far as Lorna could see. A few small ledges jutted out here and there, but Lorna saw nothing on them—just strands of silk dripping over the sides like Christmas tinsel.

The Argo II hovering to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder and the demigods descended with Percy going first.

Lorna watched as Percy took Annabeth's hand and turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her.

The demigods gathered around them.

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

She started to explain. When she finished, her friends' faces were slack with 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."

"Damn, Beth," Lorna said.

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."

Lorna shuddered. She imagined the Athena Parthenos jutting from their trireme with a sign across her pedestal that read: WIDE LOAD. Then she thought about the other lines of the prophecy: The twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the keys to endless death.

"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. Lorna stepped away from it. The pit was a direct fall to Tartarus.

"Bacchus mentioned something about my voyage being harder than I expected," Percy said. "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.

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

Frank transformed into a giant eagle, and the two of them soared toward the ship. Jason wrapped his arm around Lorna. He turned to Percy. "Back for you guys in a sec." He summoned the wind and shot into the air.

Lorna caught a glimpse of Piper climbing up the ladder and the children of Hades talking with Annabeth. Jason made sure Lorna was safe aboard the Argo before flying off to help Frank and Leo. She saw grappling lines shoot from the Argo II and wrap around the statue. One lassoed Athena's neck like a noose. Leo shouted orders from the helm as Jason and Frank flew frantically from line to line, trying to secure them. Piper came aboard and stood beside Lorna, the two girls were shivering with nervousness.

"Lorna, your ring," Piper said. A bright light ignited from Lorna's hand and she looked at it in confusion.

It was glowing brightly, vibrating like crazy. She knew that when her ring glowed, it meant that Percy was in danger. But it had never vibrated before. Furthermore, ever since Lorna found Percy again, it didn't glow at all. "What? But they're down—"

Lorna immediately looked down as Nico had just reached the ladder when Annabeth stumbled. She tried to stagger toward the ladder. But she moved backward instead. Her legs swept out from under her and she fell on her face.

Then something yanked Annabeth backward and dragged her toward the pit. Percy lunged. He grabbed her arm, but the momentum carried him along as well.

"NO!" Lorna covered her mouth and sobbed. She raced to the ladder but she couldn't descend. Hazel was still on the rope ladder.

Nico hobbled in Percy and Annabeth's direction, Hazel trying to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Leo, Frank and Jason were still focused on the statue. Annabeth hit the edge of the pit. Her legs went over the side. She was tangled in the spider silk.

Annabeth slipped over the edge. Percy fell with her.

Lorna couldn't see them now. But she could see Nico and Hazel looking down into the dark pit.

Lorna let out a strangled scream and was about to go down the rope ladder when Piper held her back. "Let go," Lorna sobbed. "No. Piper, let me go!"

Lorna wriggled in Piper's grasp.

"I can't," Piper said. "You need to calm down."

Lorna watched in horror as Hazel sobbed into Nico shoulder.

"No," Lorna gasped. It felt hard to breathe. "No, no, NO!"

They were gone.

Into the depths of Tartarus.

Percy and Annabeth were gone.