The statue, made of gold and ivory and forty feet tall, must weigh thousands of pounds. Annabeth had no idea how she could move the statue, but, deciding to simplify her problems into smaller steps, she decided to search around for anything that might seem like an exit.
The statue was massive. There was no way it could fit back through the door she came in from.
If it had been brought in, there had to be another way out; maybe she could use that exit to not only move the statue but also seek help from the rest of the group.
She circled the chamber, keeping her hands up to push through the thick webs hanging everywhere. She was no longer worried about Arachne, so she explored, cutting webs when needed with her dagger. Annabeth also made sure to keep an eye on her footing. Arachne had mentioned Tartarus was below; she didn't want to come all this way and survive Arachne just to fall at the end, so she made sure to step tentatively, always ready to move back.
After searching along the two walls and finding nothing, the third produced results. In the far corner, something hard met her palm. She tore the silk away until bronze gears came into view, each one interlocking with the next, built into the stone wall. They were old and dusty, but there were no visible signs of rust, filling her with confidence that the contraption might still work. The line of gears led to a single lever on the wall, and with no other option left, Annabeth took the chance that the system might be what she was looking for, so without much choice, she grabbed the lever and pulled it down.
The chamber rumbled and Gears groaned, straining to work after centuries of idleness. Dust and webs fell from the ceiling as the system started gaining momentum. Above, the thick webbing split apart as the roof itself began to open, revealing the sky and bringing fresh air and blinding light, but after so long in the underground, it was a welcome sight.
...
Outside the Senate Room, Lucas, Ethan, Clarisse, and Selena waited for Annabeth.
Selena paced, glancing toward the doors every few seconds, anxious; she had already lost one teammate for this quest, and she didn't want to lose another. Annabeth's being alone only added to her worry.
Clarisse leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, muttering about the three ambushers not showing their faces a second time, calling them cowards and cursing them. She had expected to be attacked a second time, so she had been on guard since arriving in Rome, but there hadn't been any sign. How was she going to get revenge if they didn't dare appear before her?
Lucas and Ethan sat atop a crumbling wall, enjoying a sandwich and some tea. Their lack of care for the situation had originally caused Selena and Clarisse to confront them, believing them to not care for Annabeth, but when Lucas showed his divination abilities, disguised as magic, to explain that it wasn't that he didn't care, but he had already known the outcome, they wanted to know his results.
Learning that the three ambushers wouldn't attack again, Clarisse started cursing them, which led to her current situation of leaning against the wall and muttering to herself. Although he had told Selena that Annabeth would be alright, her worry didn't decrease. Ethan was also worried about Annabeth, but after hearing the results from Lucas' divination, he decided to relax and wait for her return. He didn't doubt Lucas's abilities or his care for Annabeth, so he took his word for it.
Half an hour later, after enjoying lunch, the ground shook. A section of stone flooring in the nearby courtyard split in two, opening the ground. Clarisse was on her feet instantly, spear in hand. Ethan readied his sword. Lucas also readied his magic, daggers in hand, while Selena stood beside Clarisse, with her dagger ready. Seeing nothing come out from the ground they went to investigate, seeing the confusion on the locals and tourists, and realising it shouldn't be a normal thing, Lucas tapped into the mist, using his demigod abilities to blind the situation to the mortals, convincing them the shaking and sound came from a collapsing pillar, and sending them away to avoid any complications that may arise.
Due to this, he was the last one to reach the opening, so when he caught up with everyone, they were already lowering their weapons. Lucas heard some coughing coming from below, so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Clarisse and peered over the edge, seeing a chamber filled with webbing and Annabeth below them, waving away some falling dust.
"Annabeth!" Selena called down, relieved to see her.
Hearing the familiar voice, Annabeth used a hand to cover her eyes from the glaring sun and squinted towards the edge of the opening, seeing her friends.
Annabeth gave a quick peace sign, accompanied by a confident smile, telling them she was okay. Thinking of something, she lowered her hand to cup her mouth, shouting up, telling them she got the statue, but not knowing how to move it out.
The group started talking about it, after all, they weren't strong enough to lift it out, but they didn't notice Lucas not joining the conversation; he was in deep thought, looking at the statue and his current surroundings.
Ignoring the reactions of the rest, Lucas jumped down into the chamber, landing in a crouch that shook his bones.
"Lucas?! Are you okay? Wait, what are you doing?"
Lucas brushed off Annabeth's attempt to check on him. He stood up, wiping the dust and loose web from his legs, and offered a small smile to Annabeth.
"Don't worry, I'm alright. You focus on getting out of here; leave the statue to me."
He walked to the statue, ignoring the webs that seemed to stick to him. He pressed his palm to the statue's base and closed his eyes. The Mist gathered around him and the statue until they vanished from sight in a swirling twister. A moment later, the Mist coalesced in the courtyard above, revealing Lucas and the statue, while the mist below gradually faded, revealing nothing.
He staggered back a step. Ethan was there to help him sit against the statue's base.
"You okay?" he asked.
"The jump took more out of me than I expected," he said. He glanced at the statue, activating his veil sight and seeing the massive amount of divine energy pulsing within the statue. No wonder, he thought, moving through the mist to travel some distance is usually doable, but taking something with such power is highly demanding of his magic, resulting in such exhaustion for a small leap.
Meanwhile, Clarisse and Selena threw a rope down to Annabeth, hauling her up After Clarisse and Selena pulled her up, Annabeth brushed the dust off her arms, and everyone gathered around her, giving her hugs, except Clarisse, who reluctantly, under Selena's stern gaze, gave a nod of acknowledgment.
With everyone here, Annabeth told them what happened after they allowed her to go alone. The statue, the puzzles, the webs, Arachne. She didn't linger on details, but the picture was clear enough. Clarisse muttered something about the lack of battle while Selena's expression shifted between relief and disbelief. Lucas just listened, eyes narrowing at the mention of the name Arachne, but happy she was not harmed, even if he knew everything would end well for her.
But it wasn't the time to enjoy the moment. After recounting, Annabeth brought up the topic of transporting the statue, but they had no idea how they were going to accomplish it. However, this problem was solved by Clarisse, who reached into her pocket and pulled out a bloody badge.
Seeing the confusion on Lucas, Ethan, and Annabeth's faces, she didn't explain; instead, she threw the badge onto the ground. They watched it sink before a skeletal hand broke the surface, causing Ethan and Annabeth to flinch. Soon, more hands broke the surface, clawing their way to the surface. Not just humans, but skeletal horses too, rising from the ground and dragging a bone cart with them, too.
With the skeletons raised, Clarisse ordered them to put the statue on the cart. As they did, Clarisse turned to the group, smirking, answering their doubts.
"Don't look so shocked. Ares' kids can work the dead too - not like Hades' brats, but enough to carry a statue. The dead will bring the statue through the city to the docks, where the boat we came here on is waiting; it should be able to bring the statue back to camp."
Looking at the skeletons struggling to load the statue onto the cart, Ethan turned to Clarisse.
"You sure these things won't drop it halfway to the docks?"
...
Far away, in a darkened chamber, the three ambushers knelt before a shadow.
"You return empty-handed," the shadow said. The voice was calm, but it still caused the three who knelt to shiver in fear. "Why?"
One of the ambushers, the brute, spoke first. "We were outmatched. A demigod, the child of Hecate. If we pushed further, we may have killed most of them, but he would kill us."
Another answered quickly, the one who fought Lucas. "We chose to protect our identities. You did tell us that was of the most importance. We believed it was better to retreat than risk our identities being discovered."
The shadow was silent for a long time. The tone shifted slightly, and a trace of curiosity had slipped in. "Lucas Thorne made you retreat?"
"Leave me," the shadow said at last.
They bowed and left without another word. The door closed, leaving the shadow alone. For a long time, they didn't move, only thinking of the next plan.