~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Fresh Water

{Piper}

The basin filled with alarming speed. Piper, Jason, and Percy pounded on the walls, looking for an exit, but they found nothing. They 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 Piper stood in a niche, the water was soon up to her 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.

   "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." It was a desperate idea, but Piper was glad for something to do.

   Percy jumped in the water. Jason and Piper climbed from niche to niche, kicking and pounding, wiggling seashells embedded in the stone; but they had no luck.

   Sooner than Piper expected, Percy broke the surface, gasping and flailing. She offered her hand, and he almost pulled her in before she could help him up.

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

   The life force of the nymphs, Piper thought. It was so poisoned and malicious, even a son of the sea god couldn't control it.

   As the water rose around her, Piper felt it affecting her too. Her leg muscles trembled like she'd been running for miles. Her hands turned wrinkled and dry, despite being in the middle of a fountain.

   The boys moved sluggishly. Jason's face was pale. He seemed to be having trouble holding his sword. Percy 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 Piper's skin.

   "Not what I wanted," Jason said.

   The water was up to their necks now. Piper could feel her strength fading. Grandpa Tom's story about the water cannibals was true. Bad nymphs would steal her life.

   "We'll survive," she murmured to herself, but she couldn't charmspeak her way out of this. Soon the poisonous water would be over their heads. They'd have to swim, and this stuff was already paralyzing them. They would drown, just like in the visions she'd seen.

   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!"

   You will need to sacrifice me, the skeleton dog had said in the story. You must throw me into the water. Piper felt like someone had grabbed the scruff of her neck and exposed the bones. She clutched her cornucopia.

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

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