𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 [pjo]

twenty-six; nightmare fuel

━━━nightmare fuel

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・．

The water was cold, and it stung. Callahan balanced on the edge of a niche, her fingers digging into the stone so hard they were white and sore. It was hard to balance on the edge of a waterfall. The water was rising fast, eight feet deep from the bottom already.

    "I could try lightning?" Jason offered, "blast a hole in the rood?"

    Callahan shook her head, "you could fry us alive."

    "We don't have a lot of options!" Jason snapped, and Callahan shook her head.

    "Let me search the bottom, see if there's a way out there," Percy said, stopping the two from going any farther. The girl sighed, nodding at him in agreement. Percy dove off his niche, disappearing under the thick black water. Not even a minute later, he was coming back up gasping for breath.

    Callahan almost fell in her scramble to catch him, shivering at his cold skin as she heaved him onto the niche next to her. He leaned into her, cold hands coming to cling onto the niche with her.

    "Couldn't breath...the water, it's not normal."

    Callahan was trembling, her legs weak, and her skin dry. The water, as much as there was, was sucking her dry, sucking them all dry.

    "Ok, try the lightning." She nodded at Jason, the blonde reaching up to call lightning. Nothing happened, except for a little thunder.

    "Well, that's not what I wanted."

    "They're taking our power," Piper muttered, "draining us."

    The cold was freezing, stinging at her. It was up to their necks now, sucking everything from them. Callahan could feel water rolling down her face, staining her cheeks with black liquid. Soon they'd all have to swim, and the water was paralyzing them. They weren't going to survive.

    Percy felt Callahan's fingers, shivering and cold under the water, wrapped around his. They threaded their hands together, Percy turning to open his mouth when Piper spoke,

    "We can't fight this."

    Callahan swallowed, "what?"

    "If we fight this, it'll just make us weaker."

    "So, what do we do?" Jason asked. All of them were struggling to stay afloat.

    "The horn of plenty!" Piper cried, "We have to try and overwhelm the nymphs with fresh, clean water. If we can dilute this poisonous stuff--"

"Can your horn even do that?" Callahan muttered, already beginning to doggy paddle. Percy beside her was struggling to stay afloat as well, his arm wrapped around her waist. He looked terrified, eyes dark, heavy green, and wide with fear. The whole experience must have been terrifying for him.

"Only if we all try."

Callahan nodded, wrapping an arm around Percy to reach Piper's horn, "How?"

"I need all of you to channel everything you have into the cornucopia." Piper swallowed, the water reaching higher and higher, "Percy, think of the sea."

"Saltwater?"

"It doesn't matter as long as you think of water."

They all huddled around the girl, hands clinging to the horn of plenty between all of them. Callahan tried her hardest to remember her best experiences, her father taking her to the cold New York beaches and chasing her through the sand, Percy and Annie laughing as her canoe capsized, the rush of cool water a welcoming comfort.