Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 41

"And here." Piper unstrapped Katoptris and put it in Coach Hedge's hands. The satyr's eyes widened. A demigod was never supposed to leave their weapon behind, but Piper was fed up with evil visions. "Keep an eye on us with the blade," she suggested. "And you can check the baseball scores."

That sealed the deal. Hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.

"All right," he said. "But if any giants come this way—"

"Then you have full permission to blast them back to Tartarus," Cressida promised.

"What about annoying tourists?"

"No," they all said in unison.

"Bah. Fine. Just don't take too long, or I'm coming after you with ballistae blazing."

Cressida kissed his cheek. "We're counting on it. Now let's go!"

Grabbing Percy's hand, they went running for the gangplank.

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Finding the place was easy. Percy and Cressida led them right to it, on an abandoned stretch of hillside overlooking the ruined Forum. Getting in was easy too. Jason's gold sword cut through the padlock, and the metal gate creaked open. No mortals saw them. No alarms went off. Stone steps spiralled down into the gloom.

"I'll go first," Jason said.

"No!" Piper yelped.

Cressida and both boys turned toward her.

"Pipes, what is it?" Jason asked. "That image in the blade...you've seen it before, haven't you?"

She nodded, her eyes stinging. "I didn't know how to tell you. I saw the room down there filling with water. I saw the four of us drowning."

Jason and Percy both frowned while Cressida just groaned.

"Not again," she moaned as Percy's grip on her tightened.

"I can't drown," Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question. "And I didn't let you drown before, I'm not going to let you drown again," he promised to Cressida, sounding a bit more certain this time.

"Maybe the future has changed," Jason speculated. "In the image you showed us just now, there wasn't any water."

Piper wished he was right, but she suspected they wouldn't be so lucky.

"Look," Percy said. "I'll check it out first. It's fine. Be right back."

"Percy-"

"Promise," he said as he kissed his girlfriend quiet and disappeared down the stairwell before anyone else could object and Cressida looked as if she was about to panic before Jason put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine," he assured her, and she took a deep breath.

"I know. It's just...a conversation we had after the sea centaurs," she said as if it explained everything. And while she counted her breaths, Piper counted seconds until he came back, looking more baffled than relieved as Cressida was instantly throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"I'm alright," he promised her, closing his eyes and taking the embrace in for a second before turning to the other couple. "Good news: no water," he said. "Bad news: I don't see any exits down there. And, uh, weird news: well, you should see this...."

They descended cautiously.

Percy took the lead, with Riptide drawn, Cressida at his back with her spear in hand. Piper followed after them, and Jason walked behind her, guarding their backs.