ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

66

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. As Jason raised his sword, Kat stared at the lock and it immediately fell off, and the metal gate creaked open. No mortals saw them. No alarms went off. Stone steps spiraled down into the gloom.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Can't beat the daughter of thieves at her own craft."

He gave her a look. "You could've told me."

"And lose the dramatic tension? Please," she snorted. "Well, ladies first, since I opened the door."

"No!" Piper yelped.

Jason, Percy, and Kat turned toward her.

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

Kat knew that reaction had been sus. She was so intelligent.

Piper 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. They looked absolutely ridiculous.

"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."

"Look," Kat said. "I'll check it out first, you babies. Back in a flash!"

She sped down the stairwell, and luckily nothing appeared behind her back and tried to kill her. Unfortunately, she fell on her face when she got to the bottom.

"What the fuck?" she muttered, lying there for a second as pain flared across her face before lifting her face from the probably disgusting ( ugh ) ground and glancing around.

Green and blue light rippled across the walls. Kat heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water, minus the liquid running down her nose — nope, that was blood.

She groaned and put a hand over her nose as if that would help in any way. There was no other light besides for that, but she could still see the blood staining her hand. With her other hand, she unsheathed Cortana from its sheath as she stood up.

Despite the blood, she could smell the ocean, which made her feel nostalgic. She wanted to go to the ocean. Too bad she was down here, the furthest thing away from the beach.

Looking around, she noticed 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.

In front of her, 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. Behind her, the staircase ascended above her, the first step five feet above the ground. Why was it like that? Who designed stairs like that? That's a fucking safety hazard.

The air felt cold and dry. There were no sign of exits.

"Cool," muttered Kat under her breath. "Cool, cool, cool."

She turned and took a step to get back to sweet, sweet fresh air, but then the lights disappeared. She frowned, turned back and stepped forward to the center of the room again. The lights came back.

"O . . . kay," said Kat. "I'm leaving now. Cool. We vibin'."

She finally walked away toward the stairs, ignoring the darkness as she hoisted herself up to the stairs and used her super speed powers to speed back up the stairs.