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A cold pair of hands did the itsy-bitsy spider down Percy’s back
A black hole An inescapable part of the Underworld where even Nico di Angelo couldn’t go Why hadn’t Percy thought of this before? He’d been to the very edge of that place He still had nightuessed "The deepest part of the Underworld"
Nico nodded "They pulled s I san there…" His voice broke
Hazel pursed her lips "No mortal has ever been to Tartarus," she explained "At least, no one has ever gone in and returned alive It’s the maximum-security prison of Hades, where the old Titans and the other eneo when they die on the earth It’s…well, no one knows exactly what it’s like"
Her eyes drifted to her brother The rest of her thought didn’t need to be spoken: No one except Nico
Hazel handed him his black sword
Nico leaned on it like it was an old man’s cane "Now I understand why Hades hasn’t been able to close the doors," he said "Even the gods don’t go into Tartarus Even the god of death, Thanatos hilanced over froo there"
Nico shook his head "It’s impossible I’m the son of Hades, and even I barely survived Gaea’s forces overwhelod would stand a chance I almost went insane"
Nico’s eyes looked like shattered glass Percy wondered sadly if so inside him had broken permanently
"Then we’ll sail for Epirus," Percy said "We’ll just close the gates on this side"
"I wish it were that easy," Nico said "The doors would have to be controlled on both sides to be closed It’s like a double seal Maybe, just ether could defeat Gaea’s forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades But unless you had a tea sih to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory--"
"There has to be a way," Jason said
Nobody volunteered any brilliant ideas
Percy thought his sto Then he realized the entire ship was descending toward a big building like a palace
Annabeth Nico’s neas so horrible Percy had er, which ure out the Tartarus proble?"
Leo nodded "Bacchus said so lot in back? Well, there it is What now?"
Percy re voice of the monster called Her Ladyship He remembered how shaken Annabeth had looked when she’d come back from Fort Suun to suspect what ht be down in that shrine…literally, the ht, 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 tack "There’s a parking lot in the way"
Percy looked at Coach Hedge "Bacchus said soh Coach, you still have arinned like a wild goat "I thought you’d never ask"
Chapter 49
Annabeth had reached her terror lihosts She’d broken her ankle She’d been chased across a chasm by an army of spiders Now, in severe pain, with her ankle wrapped in boards and Bubble Wrap, and carrying no weapon except her dagger, she faced Arachne--a monstrous half-spider anted to kill her and make a commemorative tapestry about it
In the last few hours, Annabeth had shivered, sweated, whiave up on being scared Herlike, Okay, sorry I can’t be any more terrified than I already am
So instead, Annabeth started to think
The monstrous creature picked her way down from the top of the web-covered statue Shewith pleasure, her four eyes glittering in the dark Either she was not in a hurry, or she was slow
Annabeth hoped she was slow
Not that it mattered Annabeth was in no condition to run, and she didn’t like her chances in cohed several hundred pounds Those barbed legs were perfect for capturing and killing prey Besides, Arachne probably had other horrible powers--a poisonous bite, or web-slinging abilities like an Ancient Greek Spider-Man