“Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting --" Her eyes widened. "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?""Don't change the subject.""Percy! Did you or not?""Um . . .maybe a little.”

“So…these Pillars of Hercules. Are they dangerous?”Annabeth stayed focused on the cliffs. “For Greeks, the pillars marked the end of the known world. The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with a Latin warning—”“Non plus ultra,” Percy said. Annabeth looked stunned. “Yeah. Nothing Further Beyond. How did you know?”Percy pointed. “Because I’m looking at it.”

“Percy tried to remember. He really did. For some reason, Annabeth and he had visited a spa and decided to destroy it. He couldn't imagine why. Maybe they hadn't like the deep-tissue massage? Maybe they'd gotten bad manicures?”

“Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?""Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda.”

“Marvelous,” she said. “Tell me about this tapestry.”Arachne’s lips curled over her mandibles. “Why do you care? You're about to die.”“Well, yes,” Annabeth said. “But the way you captured the light is amazing. Did you use real gold thread for the sunbeams?”

“If you ever leave me again,’ she said, her eyes stinging, ‘I swear to all the gods-‘Percy had the nerve to laugh. Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth.‘Consider me warned,’ Percy said. ‘I missed you, too.”

“Hephaestus glowered up at us. “I didn’t make you, did I?”Uh,” Annabeth said, “no, sir.”Good,” the god grumbled. “Shoddy workmanship.”