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She edged closer to the gaping hole ed into the darkness as far as Annabeth could see A few ses jutted out here and there, but Annabeth saw nothing on the over the sides like Christmas tinsel

Annabeth wondered if Arachne had told the truth about the chasm Had the spider fallen all the way to Tartarus? She tried to feel satisfied with that idea, but it s She’d already suffered for eons Now her last tapestries had cru into Tartarus seemed like too harsh an end

Annabeth was di to a stop about forty feet from the floor It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness Then suddenly Percy was next to her, lacing his fingers in hers

He turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her She buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears

"It’s okay," he said "We’re together"

He didn’t say you’re okay, or we’re alive After all they’d been through over the last year, he knew the ether She loved hiathered around thehts were so fuzzy, this didn’t seeht that he would be with the" Piper knelt next to her and examined the Bubble Wrap cast "Oh, Annabeth, what happened?"

She started to explain Talking was difficult, but as she went along, her words cao of her hand, which also made her feel more confident 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…sorinned "You ood, 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 Soiants"

"The giants’ bane stands gold and pale," Hazel quoted "Won with pain from a woven jail" She looked at Annabeth with ad it"

With a lot of pain, Annabeth thought

Leo raised his hands He er picture fra , but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stable If she sticks out the end, I "

Annabeth shuddered She i fron 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?" she asked "What happened with the giants?"

Percy told her about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twins in the Colosseuuy 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 streaain

"So the mortal side is in Epirus," she said "At least that’s sorimaced "But the other side is the probleh the chamber The pit behind them exhaled a cold blast of air That’s when Annabeth kneith certainty The chasht to the Underworld

Percy uided her a little farther fros trailed spider silk like a bridal train She wished she had her dagger to cut that junk off She almost asked Percy to do the honors with Riptide, but before she could, he said, "Bacchusharder than I expected Not sure why--"

The charoaned The Athena Parthenos tilted to one side Its head caught on one of Arachne’s support cables, but the

Nausea swelled in Annabeth’s chest If the statue fell into the chas Their quest would fail

"Secure it!" Annabeth cried

Her friends understood i!" Leo cried "Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone"

Frank transforle, and the two of them soared toward the ship

Jason wrapped his aruys in a sec" He summoned the wind and shot into the air

"This floor won’t last!" Hazel warned "The rest of us should get to the ladder"

Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from holes in the floor The spider’s silk support cables trean to snap Hazel lunged for the bottoestured for Nico to follow, but Nico was in no condition to sprint

Percy gripped Annabeth’s hand tighter "It’ll be fine," helines shoot froo 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 fro to secure them

Nico had just reached the ladder when a sharp pain shot up Annabeth’s bad leg She gasped and stumbled