Piper's POV
Piper tried to make the best of the situation. Once she and Jason had gotten tired of pacing the deck, listening to Coach Hedge sing "Old MacDonald" (with weapons instead of animals), they decided to have a picnic in the park.
Hedge grudgingly agreed. "Stay where I can see you." "What are we, kids?" Jason asked. Hedge snorted. "Kids are baby goats. They're cute, and they have redeeming social value. You are definitely not kids."
They spread their blanket under a willow tree next to a pond. Piper raided the cooler and the food supplies. All they could find was stuff in the fridge. Pre made meals mostly, neatly wrapped sandwiches, canned drinks, fresh fruit, and (for some reason) a birthday cake with purple icing and candles.
She frowned. "Is it someone's birthday?" Jason winced. "I wasn't going to say anything." "Jason!" "There's too much going on," he said. "And honestly...before last month, I didn't even know when my birthday was. Thalia told me the last time she was at camp."
"If nobody knew than how did this get here?" She first thought, but then something else knocked her train of thought off course. Piper wondered what that would be like—not even knowing the day you were born.
Jason had been given to Lupa the wolf when he was only two years old. He'd never really known his mortal mom. He'd only been reunited with his sister last winter. "July First," Piper said. "The Kalends of July."
"Yeah." Jason smirked. "The Romans would find that auspicious—the first day of the month named for Julius Caesar. Juno's sacred day. Yippee." Piper didn't want to push it, or make a celebration if he didn't feel like celebrating.
"Sixteen?" she asked. He nodded. "Oh, boy. I can get my driver's license." Piper laughed. Jason had killed so many monsters and saved the world so many times that the idea of him sweating a driving test seemed ridiculous.
She pictured him behind the wheel of some old Lincoln with a STUDENT DRIVER sign on top and a grumpy teacher in the passenger seat with an emergency brake pedal. "Well?" she urged, using what little magic she had to light the candles.
"Blow out the candles." Jason did. Piper wondered if he'd made a wish—hopefully that he and Piper would survive this quest and stay together forever. She decided not to ask him. She didn't want to jinx that wish, and she definitely didn't want to find out that he'd wished for something different.
"Where'd that come from?" He aske, pointing at her fingers. Piper blushed a little "Oh, that, it's nothing." But when he kept staring at her, she relented. "I asked (Y/N) to teach me. He's been trying, but It hasn't come far."
"It is pretty cool. Why did you ask him?" Jason asked sweetly, a lump formed in Piper's throat, part of her wanted to say 'Because you and Leo can summon fire and electricity.' but the real reason, the reason (Y/N) had sat her down and had a long and difficult talk with her was not something she wanted to discuss.
Instead she just shrugged. Since they'd left the Pillars of Hercules yesterday evening, Jason had seemed distracted. Piper couldn't blame him. Hercules had been a pretty huge disappointment as a big brother, and the old river god Achelous had said some unflattering things about the sons of Jupiter.
Jason plucked an extinguished candle from his cake. "I've been thinking." That snapped Piper back to the present. Coming from your boyfriend, I've been thinking was kind of a scary line. "About?" she asked.
"Camp Jupiter," he said. "All the years I trained there. We were always pushing teamwork, working as a unit. I thought I understood what that meant. But honestly? I was always the leader. Even when I was younger—"
"The son of Jupiter," Piper said. "Most powerful kid in the legion. You were the star." Jason looked uncomfortable, but he didn't deny it. "Being in this crew of seven...I'm not sure what to do. I'm not used to being one of so many, well, equals. I feel like I'm failing."
Piper took his hand. "You're not failing." "It sure felt that way when Chrysaor attacked," Jason said. "I've spent most of this trip knocked out and helpless." "Come on," she chided. "Being a hero doesn't mean you're invincible. It just means that you're brave enough to stand up and do what's needed."
"And if I don't know what's needed?" "That's what your friends are for. We've all got different strengths. Together, we'll figure it out." Jason studied her. Piper wasn't sure that he bought what she was saying, but she was glad he could confide in her. She liked that he had a little self-doubt.
He didn't succeed all the time. He didn't think the universe owed him an apology whenever something went wrong—unlike another son of the sky god she'd recently met. "I don't deserve you." He said gently.
"You're not allowed to say that." "Why not?" "It's a breakup line. Unless you're breaking up—" Jason leaned over and kissed her. The colors of the Roman afternoon suddenly seemed sharper, as if the world had switched to high definition.
"No breakups," he promised. "I may have busted my head a few times, but I'm not that stupid." "Good," she said. "Now, about that cake—" Her voice faltered. Percy Jackson was running toward them, and Piper could tell from his expression that he brought bad news.
They gathered on deck so that Coach Hedge could hear the story. When Percy was done, Piper still couldn't believe it. "So Annabeth was kidnapped on a motor scooter," she summed up, "by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn."
"Not kidnapped, exactly," Percy said. "But I've got this bad feeling...." He took a deep breath, like he was trying hard not to freak out. "Anyway, she's—she's gone but—" "You had to," Piper said. "You knew she had to go alone. Besides, Annabeth is tough and smart. She'll be fine."
"I know that, but then Melampus attacked the pizza, and then we had to commandeer a water fountain, and then (Y/N) fell in a hole and I left Zoe behind so she could search while I came here and-
Piper put some charmspeak in her voice, which maybe wasn't cool, but Percy needed to be able to focus. "What do you mean (Y/N) fell in a hole?" "Exactly that, Zoe and I were chatting, he said something, and when we turned, poof. He was gone, like a magic trick."
"Calm down. Are you sure he didn't just shadow travel somewhere, maybe to Hazel or Nico?" "No, he fell though a hatch, it was nuts." His shoulders relaxed a little. "Maybe you're right. Anyway, Gregory—I mean Tiberinus—said we had less time to rescue Nico than we thought. Hazel and the guys aren't back yet?"
Piper checked the time on the helm control. She hadn't realized how late it was getting. "It's two in the afternoon. We said three o'clock for a rendezvous." "At the latest," Jason said. Percy pointed at Piper's dagger. "Tiberinus said you could find Nico's location...you know, with that."
Piper bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was check Katoptris for more terrifying images. "I've tried," she said. "The dagger doesn't always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does."
"Please," Percy said. "Try again." He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. Piper wondered how Zoe ever won an argument with this guy. "Fine," she sighed, and drew her dagger.
"While you're at it," said Coach Hedge, "see if you can get the latest baseball scores. Italians don't cover baseball worth beans." "Shh." Piper studied the bronze blade. The light shimmered. She saw a loft apartment filled with Roman demigods.
A dozen of them stood around a dining table as Octavian talked and pointed to a big map. Reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at Central Park. "That's not good," Jason muttered. "They've already set up a forward base in Manhattan."
"And that map shows Long Island," Percy said. "They're scouting the territory," Jason guessed. "Discussing invasion routes." Piper did not want to see that. She concentrated harder. Light rippled across the blade.
They saw (Y/N), wandering round in the dark, slamming his hands against the doors of a room, and slowly, the image got darker and darker. Before cutting off completely. "We have to help him!" Percy said.
"Calm down, it hasn't shown us where he is yet, let me keep trying." She tried to focus on (Y/N), hoping to find hm, but something stopped her, as if it were interference. She couldn't focus, and the blade moved on.
She saw ruins—a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines—all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees. "I was just there," Percy said. "That's in the old Forum."
The view zoomed in. On one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. The blade's image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.
Piper dropped the blade. "What's wrong?" Jason asked. "It was showing us something." Piper felt like the boat was back on the ocean, rocking under her feet. "We can't go there." Percy frowned.
"Piper, Nico is dying. We've got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed." Her voice wouldn't work. She'd kept that vision of the circular room to herself for so long, now she found it impossible to talk about.
She had a horrible feeling that explaining it to Percy and Jason wouldn't change anything. She couldn't stop what was about to happen. She picked up the knife again. Its hilt seemed colder than usual.
She forced herself to look at the blade. She saw two giants in gladiator armor sitting on oversized praetors' chairs. The giants toasted each other with golden goblets as if they'd just won an important fight. Between them stood a large bronze jar.
The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten. "We're too late," Jason said. "No," Percy said. "No, I can't believe that. Maybe he's gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry."
The blade's surface went dark. Piper slipped it back into its sheath, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She hoped that Percy was right and Nico was still alive. On the other hand, she didn't see how that image connected with the vision of the drowning room.
Maybe the giants were toasting each other because she and Percy and Jason were dead. "We should wait for the others," she said. "Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon." "We can't wait," Percy insisted.
Coach Hedge grunted. "It's just two giants. If you guys want, I can take them." "Uh, Coach," Jason said, "that's a great offer, but we need you to man the ship—or goat the ship. Whatever." Hedge scowled. "And let you three have all the fun?"
Percy gripped the satyr's arm. "Hazel and the others need you here. When they get back, they'll need your leadership. You're their rock." "Yeah." Jason managed to keep a straight face. "Leo always says you're his rock. You can tell them where we've gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the Forum."
"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 her weapon behind, but Piper was fed up with evil visions. She'd rather face her death without any more previews.
"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—"
"Feel free to blast them," Jason said. "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."
(Y/N)'s POV
He didn't feel much pain at first, it was weird. Though in the back of his mind he knew what had happened, though he could feel the thick matting of blood on his scalp, and the laboured breaths that shook from his lungs, he didn't feel the pain.
It was as if his body was too afraid to register it, to acknowledge where he was, even as his eyes stung with pain and his throat constricted, he would barely even consider himself conscious at this point.
He knew where he was, but he faded in and out, only really waking to the sound of a shift in the rubble, it was only in those moments that his fear became his friend, because every gasp of fear at the sound would keep him awake a few seconds longer.
Every breath he took made him cough, the mixture of disturbed earth and destroyed stone filled the air. He couldn't open his eyes; he imagined what he would see too many times not to be fearful of it.
He had barely managed to react, a shield of shadow wrapping over him, but even still it was too late, shadow couldn't solve everything, it hadn't protected him for long, only a second.
See, nothing ever really went the way (Y/N) expected, in fact that was the one thing he expected. But this one seemed like an extra kick in the teeth, no doubt courtesy of his aunt.
In some horrid twist of fate, despite protecting himself with magic, the spell failed after a mere second. Not by any fault of his own though. As it turned out.
The shield failed because of the magical symbols that he would soon see lining the backs of the walls, carved into the rock, the same symbols that stopped him from shadow travelling earlier.
Those same symbols, now in pieces, still infused the stone, now pinning him, meaning he was unable to shadow travel away, or as seen earlier, shield himself. So now all he could feel was the pressure crushing down on him.
That was enough to understand the situation he was in, and what was happening to him, but not enough time to stop it from happening. There was little he could have done against that much force anyhow.
Right now, he sat in the rubble, eyes slammed shut and refusing to open as he suffered through the aftermath of the collapse. With the thrums of pain emanating from his chest and legs, he knew he had been pinned.
He had imagined his crushed body, pinned under tons of rubble, he had imagined twisted limbs and missing appendages, all the worst cases that could pass through his mind.
In fact, he even imagined the darkness, that he would have been buried so deeply and so quickly that he would not be able to see the world around him.
All of those possibilities made his heart race wildly, each of them almost warning him to keep his eyes closed forever, knowing that if one of them came to pass, and he saw it, he would go into shock. He almost gave up, almost went to sleep. Giving in to the voice in his head.
He might have listened if he wasn't so spiteful. He may have sat in the earth's embrace without a fight, but he remembered the smile that had graced Nemesis lips, and decided that after a day like today, she didn't get that smile without a fight.
It still took him nearly a minute. A whole minute of going 'ok...now' and refusing to open his eyes, 'ok for real this time...now!" Still nothing, as if his body were in revolt.
Accepting your fate after knowing you had been injured was easier said than done. When he did open his eyes, it wasn't voluntarily, it was because his stupid body had decided 'ok...now' meant to move, and that caused pain to shoot up through him, forcing his eyes open.
He couldn't say he liked what he saw, but he would say it was a far sight better than what he had conjured up in his mind, he was expecting to see himself squeezed out like a half-used roll of toothpaste, or with pieces of him scattered about.
What he saw was his legs and lower torso pinned under what looked like a bed of rubble. He had somehow protected himself enough that he had a small area around him that he was able to manoeuvre in.
He was laying prone to the floor, belly up, from what little he could see he had about two feet of room where his head and shoulders were, likely from rubble bouncing off his shield. He could still move both his arms.
He got to work, gently moving stone and rock from his chest, almost exposing enough of himself that he could sit up, thanking the gods his abilities were helpful.
It was much easier to be assured of your choices when sifting through unstable rick, if your body literally told you, 'Hey dingus, you move this stone, you're dead. Move this one, it's fine.'
"Tyche, I still owe you big." He thought about how lucky he had been that his torso wasn't buried too, but deep in his mind, he knew she wasn't the one to be thankful for, that it was in fact one of his most hated enemies that had protected him this time.
He had the fear confirmed when the floor began to tremor. The weird thing was, none of the rubble moved, only the floor beneath him as a voice spoke. "Do you see. Hero. Only darkness awaits you." Gaea's voice rattled off.
If (Y/N) had the capacity to, he would have rolled his eyes. Of course, of course another god had come to gloat. (Y/N) had met so many gods, from Olympians to Protogenoi, and everything in between them. The one constant between them all is, they never knew how to just shut up.
He closed his eyes once more and focused, trying to drown out the voice as he had succeeded to in the past. But this time wasn't that simple, "You are in my domain now (Y/N) (L/N), you cannot evade me any longer."
Piper's POV
Finding the place was easy. Percy 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 spiraled down into the gloom. "I'll go first," Jason said. "No!" Piper yelped. 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 three of us drowning. (Y/N) too I think." Jason and Percy both frowned. "I can't drown," Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question.
"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."
Before Piper could object, he disappeared down the stairwell. She counted silently as they waited for him to come back. Somewhere around thirty-five, she heard his footsteps, and he appeared at the top, looking more baffled than relieved.
"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. Piper followed, and Jason walked behind her, guarding their backs.
The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter. Even though Percy had given the "all clear," Piper kept her eyes open for traps. With every turn of the stairs, she anticipated an ambush.
She had no weapon just a few sparks from her hand, if worse came to worst, the boys' swords wouldn't do much good in such close quarters. As they wound their way underground, Piper saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names and phrases in Italian.
That meant other people had been down here more recently than the Roman Empire, but Piper wasn't reassured. If monsters were below, they'd ignore mortals, waiting for some nice juicy demigods to come along.
Finally, they reached the bottom. Percy turned. "Watch this last step." He jumped to the floor of the cylindrical room, which was five feet lower than the stairwell. Why would someone design a set of stairs like that? Piper had no idea.
Maybe the room and the stairwell had been built during different time periods. She wanted to turn and exit, but she couldn't do that with Jason behind her, and she couldn't just leave Percy down there.
She clambered down, and Jason followed. The room was just like she'd seen it in Katoptris's blade, except there was no water. The curved walls had once been painted with frescoes, which were now faded to eggshell white with only flecks of color.
The domed ceiling was about fifty feet above. Around the back side of the room, opposite the stairwell, nine alcoves were carved into the wall. Each niche was about five feet off the floor and big enough for a human-sized statue, but each was empty.
The air felt cold and dry. As Percy had said, there were no other exits. "All right." Percy raised his eyebrows. "Here's the weird part. Watch." He stepped to the middle of the room. Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls.
Piper heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water. There didn't seem to be any source of light except for Percy's and Jason's blades. "Do you smell the ocean?" Percy asked. Piper hadn't noticed at first.
She was standing next to Percy, and he always smelled like the sea. But he was right. The scent of salt water and storm was getting stronger, like a summer hurricane approaching. "An illusion?" she asked. All of a sudden, she felt strangely thirsty.
"I don't know," Percy said. "I feel like there should be water here—lots of water. But there isn't any. I've never been in a place like this." Jason moved to the row of niches. He touched the bottom shelf of the nearest one, which was just at his eye level.
"This stone...it's embedded with seashells. This is a nymphaeum." Piper's mouth was definitely getting drier. "A what?" "We have one at Camp Jupiter," Jason said, "on Temple Hill. It's a shrine to the nymphs."
Piper ran her hand along the bottom of another niche. Jason was right. The alcove was studded with cowries, conches, and scallops. The seashells seemed to dance in the watery light. They were ice-cold to the touch.
Piper had always thought of nymphs as friendly spirits—silly and flirtatious, generally harmless. They got along well with the children of Aphrodite. They loved to share gossip and beauty tips. This place, though, didn't feel like the canoe lake back at Camp Half-Blood, or the streams in the woods where Piper normallymet nymphs.
This place felt unnatural, hostile, and very dry. Jason stepped back and examined the row of alcoves. "Shrines like this were all over the place in Ancient Rome. Rich people had them outside their villas to honor nymphs, to make sure the local water was always fresh."
"Some shrines were built around natural springs, but most were man-made." "So...no actual nymphs lived here?" Piper asked hopefully. "Not sure," Jason said. "This place where we're standing would have been a pool with a fountain."
"A lot of times, if the nymphaeum belonged to a demigod, he or she would invite nymphs to live there. If the spirits took up residence, that was considered good luck." "For the owner," Percy guessed.
"But it would also bind the nymphs to the new water source, which would be great if the fountain was in a nice sunny park with fresh water pumped in through the aqueducts—" "But this place has been underground for centuries," Piper guessed.
"Dry and buried. What would happen to the nymphs?" The sound of water changed to a chorus of hissing, like ghostly snakes. The rippling light shifted from sea blue and green to purple and sickly lime.
Above them, the nine niches glowed. They were no longer empty. Standing in each was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle they reminded Piper of mummies—except mummies didn't normally move.
Their eyes were dark purple, as if the clear blue water of their life source had condensed and thickened inside them. Their fine silk dresses were now tattered and faded. Their hair had once been piled in curls, arranged with jewels in the style of Roman noblewomen, but now their locks were disheveled and dry as straw.
If water cannibals actually existed, Piper thought, this is what they looked like. "What would happen to the nymphs?" said the creature in the center niche. She was in even worse shape than the others.
Her back was hunched like the handle of a pitcher. Her skeletal hands had only the thinnest papery layer of skin. On her head, a battered wreath of golden laurels glinted in her roadkill hair. She fixed her purple eyes on Piper. "What an interesting question, my dear. Perhaps the nymphs would still be here, suffering, waiting for revenge."
(Y/N)'s POV
He didn't speak back exactly. More like thought back, as they spoke, he found himself in a weird vision sort of thing, an out of body experience maybe, where all he could hear was her voice. Everything else, from his vision to his hearing, was blurred.
"Who said I was trying to evade you dirt-face? I'm not running from anything. Me and the seven are going to put you down for a permanent dirt nap. You're the one who should be running."
Pain shot through his torso as stone shifted and crushed him further. Bringing him back to his reality. "Brave words little hero, brave, and empty." Her voice now bounced off the walls, and all of a sudden, she was there beside him, looking down at him.
He weas confused about this. He looked down at the stone pinning his legs and realized something that could help him, he tried not to make it obvious as he looked at Gaea.
"You betrayed me, young one." She said, almost sweetly. Like a doting but disappointed mother would. "As you once betrayed my sister. This insolence shall not stand."
"This room, this earth, may be your tomb. Or you submit to me, and receive the punishment that you have been evading since the day I birthed you-" "Excuse me? Hell no, don't make it weird lady. You didn't birth me. You are not my mother." He interjected.
"I am the mother of all." She spoke. "Yeah, no, only one woman can ever claim to be my mother, and you, are far too ugly, and far too weird to be her." He said.
Gaea frowned, he wasn't sure if it was the ugly comment, or something else, but a very uncomfortably sharp pebble was now jammed up against his junk. That, of all things, made (Y/N) shut up for a moment.
"Still, you follow after a ghost, the memory of a woman that left you abandoned in the world. Leave her behind. Join me or know my embrace." She warned, he looked up at her with a defiant face.
"It was the Olympians who took her from you. Yet still, you defend them and their kingdom. They are not as deserving as I." She bent down to be face to face with him. "You know what abyss waits you if you do not comply."
She reached out a hand, "Join me, and vengeance will be brought on Olympus, join me, and you will spare yourself that fate. This is your last opportunity. The last possible chance to deviate from your path." She reached out a hand.
"Why? He asked. "Why does every god I meet wanting to change things, always single me out, and give me this offer? I don't understand." He said, faking interest in order to gain more insight.
"Every god seems to have a plan for me, every god enjoys toying with me. Since the day I was born. WHY!" "Because you, are their hope." She said simply. "That is your part to play."
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, vaguely recalling hearing something similar before. Gaea smiled at him, kindness in her eyes as she reached for him.
"The daughter of the wise one is their leader, the son of the sea, he is their sprit, the child of the sky is their idol, the child of war, their kindness, the son of flame, their mind, the daughter of love, their voice, and the child of the damned is their heart, the daughter of the daughterless, she is their strength."
"All of these things can be beaten. All of these things can be lost. But you? It isa no simple thing to destroy hope. That is why the gods watch over you, that is why they torment you. For hope cannot shine through without strife."
"Join me, and we will end that struggle, join me, and you can be free of that burden." She urged, again reaching out her hand, this time, he took it. Holding onto her hand for all it was worth.
He hoped that she would pull him free of the rubble, but the earth mother was no fool. She knew a false smile when she saw one, even when they clasped hands, she made no motion to pull him free.
In that single second, a glance flashed between them, hers of rage, his of joy, he wasn't free unfortunately, but he knew the jig was up, so instead of a clever ruse, he did something cathartic instead.
Using all the strength his arms had left, he pulled her closer to him, so he could glare at her, and with his other free arm, he open palm slapped her across the side of the face. It took a few precious seconds for Gaea to register this and pull away.
There was another glance between them. He wondered if the earth mother had ever been so heavily disrespected, if anyone had ever dared to give her a firm slap across the face. It didn't look like it.
She froze, looking at him, as if she had to take a moment to comprehend who would ever be stupid enough to slap a protogenos. The answer rattled of her lips as she seethed in rage.
"(Y/N) (L/N)! You will suffer for that." She said quietly as she faded, the rock around her trembling as it all began to fall, "We will take their hope AND CAST IT INTO THE ABYSS!" As the rocks began to fall on him, and threatened to crush him, he had a single thought. "Worth it."
Piper's POV
The next time that she got a chance, Piper swore she would melt down Katoptris and sell it for scrap metal. The stupid knife never showed her the whole story. Sure, she'd seen herself drowning. But if she'd realized that nine desiccated zombie nymphs would be waiting for her, she never would've come down here.
She considered bolting for the stairs, but when she turned, the doorway had disappeared. Naturally. Nothing was there now but a blank wall. Piper suspected it wasn't just an illusion. Besides, she would never make it to the opposite side of the room before the zombie nymphs could jump on them.
Jason and Percy stood to either side of her, their swords ready. Piper was glad to have them close, but she suspected their weapons wouldn't do any good. She'd seen what would happen in this room.
Somehow, these things were going to defeat them. "Who are you?" Percy demanded. The central nymph turned her head. "Ah...names. We once had names. I was Hagno, the first of the nine!"
Piper thought it was a cruel joke that a hag like her would be named Hagno, but she decided not to say that. "The nine," Jason repeated. "The nymphs of this shrine. There were always nine niches."
"Of course." Hagno bared her teeth in a vicious smile. "But we are the original nine, Jason Grace, the ones who attended the birth of your father." Jason's sword dipped. "You mean Jupiter? You were there when he was born?"
"Zeus, we called him then," Hagno said. "Such a squealing whelp. We attended Rhea in her labor. When the baby arrived, we hid him so that his father, Kronos, would not eat him. Ah, he had lungs, that baby!"
"It was all we could do to drown out the noise so Kronos could not find him. When Zeus grew up, we were promised eternal honors. But that was in the old country, in Greece." The other nymphs wailed and clawed at their niches.
They seemed to be trapped in them, Piper realized, as if their feet were glued to the stone along with the decorative seashells. "When Rome rose to power, we were invited here," Hagno said. "A son of Jupiter tempted us with favors."
"A new home, he promised. Bigger and better! No down payment, an excellent neighborhood. Rome will last forever." "Forever," the others hissed. "We gave in to temptation," Hagno said. "We left our simple wells and springs on Mount Lycaeus and moved here. For centuries, our lives were wonderful!"
"Parties, sacrifices in our honor, new dresses and jewelry every week. All the demi- gods of Rome flirted with us and honored us." The nymphs wailed and sighed. "But Rome did not last," Hagno snarled.
"The aqueducts were diverted. Our master's villa was abandoned and torn down. We were forgotten, buried under the earth, but we could not leave. Our life sources were bound to this place."
"Our old master never saw fit to release us. For centuries, we have withered here in the darkness, thirsty...so thirsty." The others clawed at their mouths. Piper felt her own throat closing up.
"I'm sorry for you," she said, trying to use charmspeak. "That must have been terrible. But we are not your enemies. If we can help you—" "Oh, such a sweet voice!" Hagno cried. "Such beautiful features. I was once young like you. My voice was as soothing as a mountain stream."
"But do you know what happens to a nymph's mind when she is trapped in the dark, with nothing to feed on but hatred, nothing to drink but thoughts of violence? Yes, my dear. You can help us."
Percy raised his hand. "Uh...I'm the son of Poseidon. Maybe I can summon a new water source." "Ha!" Hagno cried, and the other eight echoed, "Ha! Ha!" "Indeed, son of Poseidon," Hagno said. "I know your father well. Ephialtes and Otis promised you would come."
Piper put her hand on Jason's arm for balance. "The giants," she said. "You're working for them?" "They are our neighbors." Hagno smiled. "Their chambers lie beyond this place, where the aqueduct's water was diverted for the games."
"Once we have dealt with you...once you have helped us...the twins have promised we will never suffer again." Hagno turned to Jason. "You, child of Jupiter—for the horrible betrayal of your predecessor who brought us here, you shall pay."
"I know the sky god's powers. I raised him as a baby! Once, we nymphs controlled the rain above our wells and springs. When I am done with you, we will have that power again. And Percy Jackson, child of the sea god...from you, we will take water, an endless supply of water."
"Endless?" Percy's eyes darted from one nymph to the other. "Uh...look, I don't know about endless. But maybe I could spare a few gallons." "And you, Piper McLean." Hagno's purple eyes glistened.
"So young, so lovely, so gifted with your sweet voice. From you, we will reclaim our beauty. We have saved our last life force for this day. We are very thirsty. From you three, we shall drink!" All nine niches glowed. The nymphs disappeared, and water poured from their alcoves—sickly dark water, like oil.
(Y/N)'s POV
"Thank the gods I'm good at thinking on my feet." He said as Zoe wrapped her hand around him, "I think you mean 'thank the gods you're so good at tracking Zoe' " She teased, wrapping her arm around him to support his weight.
They hobbled to the ship. Well, he hobbled, she sort of dragged him. "Coach!" Zoe yelled, and soon the horned menace was pulling them both aboard, demanding answers and who he had to go kill.
(Y/N) explained briefly, then wondered, "Where are Piper and Jason?" "And I thought Percy came back to the ship for help too." The coach explained where they had gone, before shoving a sports drink into (Y/N)'s hand.
"We have to go after them." (Y/N) said, "Nico needs us, you said it yourself, if the knife is right, he might...he no. No, Nico's fine, but we don't have time for this, we have to find him. Now." Forgetting his wounds he turned to exit the ship.
"(Y/N), do not injure yourself further!" Zoe shouted as injuries (Y/N) didn't knew her had flared up, and his legs became numb. "Yep, there it is." Hedge said, "The stone was keeping your legs in place, now, not so much."
"I DON'T CARE! I have to find Nico-" Surprisingly, it was the satyr that was sensible this time, pulling him aside, "In that condition, you aren't going anywhere until I'm sure none of your bones have been turned to Jello."
"Besides, even if you got to your buddy. You can't fight two giants like that anyway. Me? Different story, I'd just 'HI-YAH' and they'd be toast, but we need to patch you up first. Can't have you crippled, it'd make me look bad." "Then I shall go in your stead-" Zoe began.
"No you won't we need you here to guard the ship while I'm administering treatment." He said to Zoe, who seemed to have the same concerns as (Y/N), after a few seconds of the goat man's glare, they relented.
(Y/N) was half walked and half carried to the infirmary. As Zoe kept a lookout, the coach set to work helping him, "Y'know you get hurt more than any demigod I've ever seen." He said, throwing (Y/N) onto a bed.
"I know." (Y/N) lamented as he slumped over. "You keep going like this and something's going to give kid." "I know, I think it's already about to." (Y/N) said, remembering Hades' warning and Nemesis' taunts.
"Alright kid, I heard your story, but what I don't get is, how are you not paste right now? How did Zoe find you? Last I heard was from Percy, he said you fell in a hole and hadn't been seen since."
"Now you're telling me you got close enough to slap the earth mother, she dropped a building on your head and yet somehow, here you are. Something doesn't add up if you ask me cupcake. How'd you get out?"
(Y/N) smirked as the coach administered ointment of his own making on his scrapes. He also began humming a tune that was either 'the final countdown' or 'eye of the tiger' he couldn't tell which, regardless, it made (Y/N) relax a little.
"Well, I figured if Gaea considered me her child, she owed me nearly two decades of birthday presents. So, I essentially used her credit card." Hedge pressed his finger into (Y/N)'s ankle. which made him roar in pain.
"Oops, sorry, I was trying to decipher what you just said, got a little distracted. Tell you what, why don't you just give it to me straight kid. Because you stink of the earth mother, and if I get distracted again, one of us might get hurt."
(Y/N) had to admire the protectiveness of coach Hedge, as he explained, "Well, when I grabbed her hand, I started draining her of power." He explained. "She was my only real ticket out of there after all."
"See, I noticed that she could get herself in and out of the barrier, whereas even when it was broken, I couldn't. Probably something to do with the enchantment ignoring protogenoi. I mean, why would it include them? Why would any be there in the first place?"
"It was probably specifically built for gods and demigods, like the Labyrinth, Nyx could pull me free of it, but I couldn't do it alone. This time was the same." As the coach caught on, he grinned.
"The slap was just a distraction. A way to keep hold of her just a little bit longer. I was pretty close to dying, that helped a lot, plus, I've been fighting all day, I didn't have much of my own energy left."
"The barrier in the room next to me was still pretty strong, being intact, whereas the ones around me were broken, so I didn't risk trying to go through the strong barrier, I simply latched on to the next closest demigod soul I could find."
"Luckily that happened to be Zoe, and not some other random demigod walking around Rome. The next thing I knew I was face down on some roman steps with Zoe shouting curses at me." Coach Hedge studied his face, scanning for a lie, "So that's why you smell of dirt."
He looked sad about that. "Sorry, does it smell bad?" "No, it just makes me hungry, it's just, if you had turned traitor, I would have loved to have bashed your head in." He said, almost pouting, (Y/N) tried to take it as a compliment.
As Hedge left him alone in that room to go and verify his story with Zoe, (Y/N) looked down at his hands, remembering the feeling of the goddess looking down at him, offering him peace. The sad part was, she wasn't wrong, after all this time her offer was almost tempting.
He remembered the feeling of using her power, as he sank into the floor to avoid the falling debris, the constantly shifting nature of it. In a way, it was powerful, freeing. He felt as if he had control over everything.
It was as if he could have moved the earth as he saw fit, it was sort of liberating in a way, to be able to, after all, he had essentially just invented shadow travelling's lamer cousin 'mud travelling.'
As Gaea's will began to fade however, and he still felt that power at his fingertips, even from such a small touch, he had to wonder just how powerful the earth mother was, and more importantly, right now, he wondered if he could steal some more of that power to help Nico.