𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 - jason grace

18. FIELD TRIP WITH THE BFFS

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.

The three remaining demigods turned toward her.

"Piper..?" Maia questioned.

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

She nodded. "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.

"I can't drown," Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question. He was probably still shaken up from Alaska, Maia realized.

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

Piper remained quiet.

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

Before Piper could object, he disappeared down the stairwell.

"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. Maia and Piper followed, and Jason walked behind them, guarding their backs. The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter.

As they wound their way underground, Maia noticed 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. To be honest, that scared Maia a little. If monsters were below, they'd ignore mortals, waiting for some nice juicy demigods to come along.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, 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? It seemed kind of pointless to Maia.

She shrugged and jumped down, Jason and Piper close behind.

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. Maia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and her head immediately shot up.

"Something feels... wrong." She said–the air felt cold and dry, and, 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. Maia 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.

"Guys." Maia said, feeling like she was being watched. "We need to leave."

"It's fine, Maia. Just give us a minute." Percy said, trying to figure out what was going on.

"An illusion?" Piper asked.