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"Of course you do But we should hurry"

"Why?"

"Well…so we can introduce your work to the world!"

"Han to weave It was sloork, turning silk strands into long strips of cloth The chamber rumbled The cracks at Annabeth’s feet became wider

If Arachne noticed, she didn’t see to push the spider into the pit soh hole, and besides, if the floor gave way, Arachne could probably hang from her silk and escape, while Annabeth and the ancient statue would tumble into Tartarus

Slowly, Arachne finished the long strips of silk and braided theether Her skill was flawless Annabeth couldn’t help being impressed She felt another flicker of doubt about her own mother What if Arachne was a better weaver than Athena?

But Arachne’s skill wasn’t the point She had been punished for being prideful and rude Nothe gods The Olympians were a reminder that there was always so head Still…being turned into a monstrous iing

Arachne worked ether Soon, the structure was done At the feet of the statue lay a braided cylinder of silk strips, five feet in dialistened like abalone shell, but it didn’t seem beautiful to Annabeth It was just functional: a trap It would only be beautiful if it worked

Arachne turned to her with a hungry smile "Done! Now, my reward! Prove to me that you can deliver on your promises"

Annabeth studied the trap She frowned and walked around it, inspecting the weaving froot down on hands and knees and crawled inside She’d done the , her plan was dooh the silken tunnel without touching the sides The webbing was sticky, but not impossibly so She crawled out the other end and shook her head

"There’s a flaw," she said

"What?!" Arachne cried "Impossible! I followed your instructions--"

"Inside," Annabeth said "Crawl in and see for yourself It’s right in the "

Arachne foamed at the mouth Annabeth was afraid she’d pushed too hard, and the spider would snap her up She’d be just another set of bones in the cobwebs

Instead, Arachne stas petulantly "I do not make mistakes"

"Oh, it’s small," Annabeth said "You can probably fix it But I don’t want to show the gods anything but your best work Look, go inside and check If you can fix it, then we’ll show it to the Olympians You’ll be the most famous artist of all time They’ll probably fire the Nine Muses and hire you to oversee all the arts The goddess Arachne…yes, I wouldn’t be surprised"

"The goddess…" Arachne’s breathing turned shallow "Yes, yes I will fix this flaw"

She poked her head into the tunnel "Where is it?"

"Right in thefor you"

"I’led in

As Annabeth had hoped, the spider’s abdomen fit, but only barely As she pushed her way in, the braided strips of silk expanded to accoot all the way up to her spinnerets

"I see no flaw!" she announced

"Really?" Annabeth asked "Well, that’s odd Come out and I’ll take another look"

Mo to back up The woven tunnel contracted around her and held her fast She tried to wriggle forward, but the trap was already stuck to her abdoh that way either Annabeth had been afraid the spider’s barbed legs s were pressed so tightly against her body she could barely move them

"What--what is this?" she called "I aot to tell you This piece of art is called Chinese Handcuffs At least, it’s a larger variation on that idea I call it Chinese Spidercuffs"

"Treachery!" Arachne thrashed and rolled and squirht

"It was ato kill me either hether I helped you or not, yes?"

"Well, of course! You’re a child of Athena" The trap went still "I mean…no, of course not! I respect my promises"

"Uh-huh" Annabeth stepped back as the braided cylinder began to thrash again "Normally these traps are made from woven bamboo, but spider silk is even better It will hold you fast, and it’sto break--even for you"