Waves of Fire || Leo Valdez

XII - It's the Big F... Yay...

The basin filled with alarming speed. Piper, Jason, Percy, and I pounded on the walls, looking for an exit, but we found nothing. We climbed into the alcoves to gain some height, but with water pouring out of each niche, it was like trying to balance at the edge of a waterfall. Even as I stood in a niche, the water was soon up to my knees. From the floor, it was probably eight feet deep and rising fast.

"I could try lightning," Jason said. "Maybe blast a hole in the roof?"

"That could bring down the whole room and crush us," Piper said.

"Or electrocute us," Percy added.

"Water is an excellent conductor of electricity," I said, sounding ridiculously like a science textbook.

"Not many choices," Jason said.

"Let me search the bottom," Percy said. "If this place was built as a fountain, there has to be a way to drain the thing. You guys, check the niches for secret exits. Maybe the seashells are knobs, or something."

"I'll come with you," I offered. Percy nodded and jumped into the water. I followed him and almost immediately realized something was wrong.

I couldn't breathe.

Thoughts of drowning invaded my mind, but I tried to get rid of them and swim up to the surface. I hoped Percy had better luck, because he hadn't come up yet. I climbed back into the niche I'd been in and tried to help Piper look.

Percy broke the surface, gasping and flailing. I offered my hand, and he almost pulled me in before I could help him up.

"Couldn't breathe," he choked. "The water...not normal. Hardly made it back."

"The life force of the nymphs," I guessed. "It's so poisoned and malicious, even we can't control it."

As the water rose around me, I felt it affecting me. My leg muscles trembled like I'd been running for miles. My hands turned wrinkled and dry, despite being in the middle of a fountain. Piper looked like she was having the same problems.

The boys moved sluggishly. Jason's face was pale. He seemed to be having trouble holding his sword. Percy looked like he'd taken another turn holding up the sky. He was drenched and shivering. His hair didn't look quite so dark, as if the color was leaching out.

"They're taking our power," Piper said. "Draining us."

"Jason," Percy coughed, "do the lightning."

Jason raised his sword. The room rumbled, but no lightning appeared. The roof didn't break. Instead, a miniature rainstorm formed at the top of the chamber. Rain poured down, filling the fountain even faster, but it wasn't normal rain. The stuff was just as dark as the water in the pool. Every drop stung my skin.

"Not what I wanted," Jason said.

The water was up to our necks now. I could feel my strength fading. 

"We'll survive," Piper murmured to herself, but she couldn't charmspeak her way out of this. Soon the poisonous water would be over our heads. We'd have to swim, and this stuff was already paralyzing us.

Percy started pushing the water away with the back of his hand like he was shooing a bad dog. "Can't—can't control it!"

I tried, too. "It's no use." I started to panic. I was the daughter of the sea god, and I was going to drown. 

"We can't fight this," Piper said. "If we hold back, that just makes us weaker."

"What do you mean?" Jason shouted over the rain.

The water was up to our chins. Another few inches and we'd have to swim. But the water wasn't halfway to the ceiling yet. Hopefully, that meant we still had time.

"The horn of plenty," Piper said. "We have to overwhelm the nymphs with fresh water, give them more than they can use. If we can dilute this poisonous stuff—"

"Can your horn do that?" I asked as Percy and I struggled to keep his head above water, which was a new experience for us both. He looked as scared as I felt.

"Only with your help." 

"I need you three to channel everything you've got into the cornucopia," she said. "Percy, Alaia, think about the sea."

"Saltwater?" Percy asked.

"Doesn't matter! As long as it's clean. Jason, think about rainstorms—much more rain. Both of you hold the cornucopia."

We huddled together as the water lifted us off their ledges. Nothing happened. The rain came down in sheets, still dark and acidic.