MΛЯK ӨF ΛƬΉΣПΛ

COACH USED THE BALLISTAE to blast a hole straight through the ground of the parking lot.

Chunks of asphalt as big as garage doors tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars.

Lucia looked down from the ship as they descended. One of the cars almost crashed down on a huge statue before bouncing away like there was an invisible force field.

Lucia felt her chest erupt with admiration, she realized the statue was the Athena Parthenos, Which meant that Annabeth had done it. She had really done it!

That admiration had shifted to terror as the car fell straight toward a blonde figure.

Luckily, Annabeth had jumped to one side, she flipped on her back. Lucia saw a bright red Fiat 500 slam into a silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with what looked like—Chinese Spidercuffs?

Wow, Annabeth's brain truly amazed her.

As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around Annabeth, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.

The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, though the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures.

Annabeth was covered in cobwebs. She trailed strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow, amazingly, none of the debris had hit her.

As daylight flooded the cavern, Tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, Lucia saw that they strangely looked familiar, showing different moments in their demigod lives...Except as the last few crumbled away, she realized how much more obscure they got... She had a strange feeling that there was a connection between that and Oracles not being able to see into the future.

Lucia shook her head, not caring enough at the moment to overthink it. She called out for the Person they all came for. "Annabeth!"

"Here!" she sobbed.

As the Argo II descended, Lucia and Piper stood over the rail.

The room kept shaking, but Annabeth managed to stand. The floor at her feet seemed stable for the moment. Her backpack was missing, along with Daedalus's laptop. Her bronze knife, which she'd had since she was seven, was also gone—probably fallen into the pit. But...She was alive.

She edged closer to the gaping hole made by the Fiat 500. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness.

The Argo II hovered to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder

"Hey! Don't go near there!" Lucia screamed, Before anyone could stop her, she jumped off the moving ship and clambered down the rope ladder. Her body was pumped up with adrenaline, not realizing that her iPod was peeking out from the shallow uniform pockets.

Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. When Lucia was next to her, she turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped her arms around her. She buried her face in Lucia's chest and broke down in tears.

"It's okay Beth," She rubbed her back. "It's over, I promise. We're here. You did it."

Their friends gathered around them.

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

Lucia told her she'd tend to her on the ship, squeezing her shoulder in comfort.

The blonde started to explain. Talking seemed difficult for her, but as she went along, her words came more easily.

When Annabeth 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 Shit—

"Beth, you did it. Generations of Athena kids tried and failed. You found the Athena Parthenos!"  Lucia beamed.

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."

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."

Lucia raised an eyebrow. 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 boy looked like he'd been wandering through a wasteland for six weeks.

Percy also 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 darker than it was...

"So the mortal side is in Epirus," The blonde restated. "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. That's when Lucia knew with certainty. The chasm did go straight to the Underworld.

She swiftly guided Annabeth a little farther from the edge. The blonde's arms and legs trailed spider silk like a bridal train. Lucia immediately got on her knees, cutting off every single piece with one of her daggers.

"Gods, Lucy have I told you how much I love you." She smiled gratefully.

Lucia grinned up towards her, "Yup, but I'm like Tinkerbell the reassurance is vital to my survival."

Percy laughed, then his face changed like he started to think of something less amusing. "Hey, Luz...Bacchus mentioned something about your voyage being harder than you expected. What do you think that—"

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.

Her friends 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!" Lucia demanded, "Take Annabeth and Piper with you! Beth can't climb the ladder with a broken ankle! Take her now!"

Jason wrapped his arms around both girls. He turned to Lucia. "Back for you guys in a second." 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 trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap.

Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder, she gestured for Nico to follow, but Nico was in no condition to sprint.

Lucia took a sharp breath in. "It'll be fine," she muttered. For a moment she had wholeheartedly believed that. Annabeth was already safe. Her vision couldn't have come true. She had made sure to save her best friend. They were all going to make it back to the ship...Safe and sound.

Looking up, 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.

Nico had just reached the ladder when Lucia felt something fall out of her pockets. She gasped and stumbled. Her iPod hit the ground with a loud thud. It became tangled into the cobwebs that she previously cut off Annabeth.

A gift from those who love you the most.

She cried. "My dads!"

"It's okay, I got it!" Percy promised. He was quick to grab the device. Knowing how much it meant to her, but that meant that the cobwebs had now gotten stuck around his own hand

She tried to reach for a dagger to cut off the webbing as fast as possible. But her terrible luck was faster than her. Percy's hand got pulled back, and he stumbled farther, getting his legs caught in the heavily adhesive webbing. "What the hell." His legs swept out from under him and he fell on his face.

It was like he was purposely being yanked backward and dragged toward the pit.

"Percy, No!" Lucia lunged. She grabbed his arm, but the momentum carried her along as well.

"Help them!" Hazel yelled.

Lucia glimpsed at Nico hobbling in their direction, Hazel tried to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Their other friends were still focused on the statue, and Hazel's cry was lost in the general shouting and the rumbling of the cavern.

Lucia sobbed as Percy hit the edge of the pit. Her heart already knew before her brain did. His legs went over the side. Too late, she realized what was happening.

The webs that she cut off Annabeth had gotten tangled all around Percy.

She should have been faster, she shouldn't have brought her stupid iPod.

She shouldn't have cared about it so much.

If she would have been normal! If she could just let go of her stupid attachment, Percy wouldn't have tried to pick it up for her.

He wouldn't have gotten tangled in the webs.

It was all her fault.

All her stupid fault!

She should have been

Smarter!

Faster!

Luckier!

The entire floor was covered in cobwebs, why didn't she think about how easily somebody else could get caught up in them?

Why didn't she think?

Why didn't she tell them that they had to get out of there as fast as humanly possible?

Stupid!

Stupid!

Stupid!

It was pointless, Lucia's iPod still slipped away from Percy's fingertips and was swallowed up by the abyss.

But she couldn't bring herself to think about the object as the love of her life was being pulled by something heavy down into the darkness.

Lucia held her breath as Percy reached for Riptide. He tried to slice off the webs, but it seemed like luck wasn't on his side either.

The sword slipped from Percy's grip as he swung downward, the pull of the crater was too powerful. It wanted to take every part of them.

Lucia cried, She knew he could get riptide back. But she also knew that by the time it reappeared in his pocket, the whirlpool of darkness could easily swallow them.

"Luz it's okay! It's okay!" He tried to calm her down, "I'm sorry I let it go—"

"I don't care!" She screamed, "I care about you! I care only about you!" She couldn't control her tears. "My dagger, Perce, Mi Amor, Please, I can pass you my dagger..."

But she couldn't reach for her weapon without letting go of Percy's arm, and Percy's strength was already drained from getting hit by Ephialtes spear and the fight in the Colosseum.

He slipped over the edge. Lucia fell with him.

His body slammed into something. He must have blacked out briefly from the pain. When he could see again, he realized that he'd fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void.

Lucia felt burning bile rise in her throat. This was all too familiar. Way too familiar. Gods she hated how fucking familiar this was.

Lucia only barely managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. She was holding on with one hand, gripping Percy's wrist with the other, but the pull on him was much too strong.

"Why!" She screamed in frustration, her voice breaking. "I did everything! I-I made sure!"

No escape, A voice rang from the darkness below. It has been written into stone and buried deep within the earth. A malison written just for you, Lucia Verano...

The pit shook.

Lucia was the only thing keeping Percy from falling. She was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf.

Nico leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help. Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they'd never make it in time.

The force of the Underworld tugged at Percy like dark gravity. He didn't have the strength to fight. He knew he was too far down to be saved.

"Luz, let me go," he croaked. "You can't pull me up."

Her face was pale with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.

"Never," She asserted, but there was a tremble in her throat. A growing terror that made the hairs behind her neck rise. "I'm not doing that Percy! I'm never letting you go! That's not an option for me!"

"Luz! You have to!" He yelled. "You have to okay? Let me go, Princess." His voice softened, he tried loosening his grip on her but Lucia only held on tighter.

"No—Stop it! Stop it! Percy Please, I love you!" She sobbed, "I love you. I can't..I can't do it. I won't let go of you."

"Luz!" He yelled angrily, "Save yourself."

"You said together! You said you wouldn't let us be separated ever again!" She countered, her sobs wracking her chest, "Remember? I'm not leaving you alone Percy Jackson! So please don't ask that of me, I just want to be with you!"

Her heart couldn't take it. She couldn't take it. She would fall into the darkness with Percy. She would take Annabeth's place in Tartarus. She would take whatever came at her. Even if she knew it was going to eat her from the inside out.

She looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"

Nico's eyes widened. "But—Lucia you can't! You're—"

"Lead them there!" Lucia shouted. "Promise me! P-Please Nico, Do this for me..."

"I—I will." His face softened. "I promise Lu..."

Below them, another voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.

Lucia tightened her grip on Percy's wrist. She was holding on so tight she swore she would turn his arm purple. His face was gaunt, scraped, and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome.

"We're staying together," She promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Only then did she accept what was about to happen...

"As long as we're together, Sunlight,"

She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help.

She saw the sunshine far, far above—maybe the last glance at the sun she would ever have.

"Somethings wrong! There's a golden light coming from the pit!" She heard Annabeth cry from the Argo II.

"Lucy!"

Then Lucia let go of the tiny ledge, and together, holding hands with the boy she loved, she fell.

And just like that, The daughter of light plummeted into an endless darkness.

A/N: and just like that, Mark of Athena is done!!! I'm so excited to dive deep into what I have planned...Like how Lucia and Percy are diving deep into the underworld! Lol, sorry hehe. Anywayssss Once again I wanted to thank everyone for 100k reads on Heliophilia and 10k on Greek Tragedy <33 So grateful for all the love and support. I hope you guys continue to enjoy, read, vote, and comment. Stay tuned for what I have next, and all I have to say is um...prepare and trust the process... 🤭

—V