Warriors || Leo Valdez [2]

34

As Coach Hedge armed the ballistae, Alex walked to Leo. She did what she had wanted to do for so long. She grabbed his face and connected their lips. He was so startled that he froze. 

Alex chuckled at his expression, but Leo recovered quickly. He slipped his hands around her waist, careful not to hurt her healing wound.

"I thought I was too late to save you... and Percy and Jason" He admitted. 

"Nope, you were right on time" Alex leaned her forehead against his. She had no idea what was going to happen, all she wanted was for this death quest to be over already and go back to Camp Half blood. But for the moment she didn't have to think about anything, Leo was her safe place. 

---

The ballistae blasted straight through the ground. The cars in the parking lot fell into the cavern. It was a strange sight to be honest. There was a giant version of Chinese handcuffs and standing next to it was Annabeth along with the Athena Parthenon. 

But the worst part was the hole in the middle. Alex suspected it led to a place she had no intention of visiting. 

The chinese handcuffs which had spiderlegs sprouting out of it, fell into the hole, wailing as it disappeared from view. 

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. As daylight flooded the cavern, Arachne's tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust. 

Alex really didn't care about any of it. They were there to rescue Annabeth and get the heck out of there. But none of them could've predicted what came to pass. 

"Annabeth" Percy yelled. 

"Here!" she sobbed.

As the Argo II descended, Annabeth saw Percy and Alex leaning over the rail.

The Argo II hovered to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. Whatever had happened to her must have spooked her pretty bad. 

Soon, Alex, Leo Percy, Nico, Violet, Hazel, Frank Jason and Piper were next to the blonde. Percy held Annabeth as she broke into tears. Alex smiled when she saw the two of them, she always thought of them as the epitome of romance. 

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

She started to explain. She told them about her journey to the cavern and Arachne. Although she wasn't really sure if the hole lead to Tartarus, but Alex didn't want to find out. When she finished, everyone's 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."

"You're awesome, one could argue... better than Percy" Alex chuckled. 

"Definitely better than Percy" Violet agreed, giving Annabeth a side hug.

Percy grinned. "You made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, 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. Something about it will help us stop the giants."