NEVER BE THE SAME . . . percy jackson

eighty one: the weird room.

AFTER SPRINTING BACK to the ship at full speed ( Percy and Brooklyn had raced; she won, no matter what Percy said, remember that ), they told the story of how Annabeth was kidnapped by two 50's actors to J Money, Piper, and Coach Hedge.

"So Annabeth was kidnapped on a motor scooter," Piper summed up, "by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn."

Brooklyn chewed on her new piece of gum obnoxiously, because she's obnoxious. "Pretty much," she said.

Percy glared at her. "She wasn't kidnapped, exactly," he corrected. "But I've got this bad feeling . . ." He took a deep breath, taking Brooklyn's hand, and she could feel how shaky his hand was. "Anyway, she's — she's gone. Maybe we shouldn't have let her, but—"

"You had to," Piper said. "You knew she had to go alone. Besides, Annabeth is tough and smart. She'll be fine."

Percy's shoulders relaxed a little. Brooklyn narrowed her eyes at that. "Maybe you're right," she said half-heartedly. "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. "It's two in the afternoon. We said three o'clock for a rendezvous."

"At the latest," Jason said.

Brooklyn pointed at Piper's dagger. "Gregory said you could find Nico's location . . . you know, with that."

"I've tried," she said, totally not into it. "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 his sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. Brooklyn was immune to them, but clearly Piper wasn't judging by the way she crumbled.

"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 shushed him. The light shimmered on the blade. Brooklyn 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."

Light rippled across the blade. Brooklyn saw familiar 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.

"We were 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's face turned paler. "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."

Piper picked up the knife again. Brooklyn 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.