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The spider hissed

Annabeth was afraid her ht suddenly appear and curse her with some terrible affliction The first lesson every child of Athena learned: Moest otherwise

But nothing bad happened Maybe Athena understood that Annabeth was only saying these things to save her life Or maybe Athena was in such in bad shape, split between her Greek and Ro attention

"This will not do," Arachne grumbled "I cannot allow it"

"Well…" Annabeth shifted, trying to keep her weight off her throbbing ankle A new crack appeared in the floor, and she hobbled back

"Careful!" Arachne snapped "The foundations of this shrine have been eaten away over the centuries!"

Annabeth’s heartbeat faltered "Eaten away?"

"You have no idea how much hatred boils beneath us," the spider said "The spiteful thoughts of soto reach the Athena Parthenos and destroy it My webbing is the only thing holding the rooirl! One false step, and you’ll fall all the way to Tartarus--and believe me, unlike the Doors of Death, this would be a one-way trip, a very hard fall! I will not have you dying before you tell me your plan for my artwork"

Annabeth’s mouth tasted like rust All the way to Tartarus? She tried to stay focused, but it wasn’t easy as she listened to the floor creak and crack, spilling rubble into the void below

"Right, the plan," Annabeth said "Um…as I said, I’d love to take your tapestries to Oly them everywhere You could rub your craftsmanship in Athena’s nose for all eternity But the only way I could do that…No It’s too difficult You o ahead and kill me"

"No!" Arachne cried "That is unacceptable It no longer brings me any pleasure to contemplate I must have my work on Mount Olympus! What must I do?"

Annabeth shook her head "Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything Just push "

"I refuse!"

"Don’t be ridiculous Kill me"

"I do not take orders from you! Tell me what I must do! Or…or--"

"Or you’ll kill s against her head "I must shoork on Mount Olympus"

Annabeth tried to contain her exciteht actually work…but she still had to convince Arachne to do soood advice Frank Zhang had given her: Keep it sis," she conceded

"I excel at pulling strings!" said Arachne "I’et your work shown on Mount Olympus, we’d need a proper audition I’d have to pitch the idea, subether a portfolio Hmm…do you have any headshots?"

"Headshots?"

"Glossy black-and-white…Oh, neverThese tapestries are excellent But the gods would require so that shows off your talent in the extre that these are notainst ood It would only be a contest against yourself, to see if you really have what it takes to show your work on Mount Olympus"

"Of course I do!"

"Well, I certainly think so But the audition, you know…it’s a formality I’m afraid it would be very difficult Are you sure you don’t just want to killthat!" Arachne screeched "Whather backpack She took out Daedalus’s laptop and opened it The delta logo glowed in the dark

"What is that?" Arachne asked "Some sort of loo ideas It holds a diagraers trembled on the keyboard Arachne lowered herself to peer directly over Annabeth’s shoulder Annabeth couldn’t help thinking how easily those needlelike teeth could sink into her neck

She opened her 3-D in was still up--the key to Annabeth’s plan, inspired by the

Annabeth did some quick calculations She increased the dimensions of the model, then showed Arachne how it could be created--strands ofcylinder

The golden light from the screen illuminated the spider’s face "You want ! So small and sier," Annabeth cautioned "You see these h to iods It may look simple, but the structure has incredible properties Your spider silk would be the perfect material--soft and flexible, yet hard as steel"