𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

45

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲. Jason just used his honing skills. Even though it had been more than a decade since he'd seen Lupa the wolf goddess, her teachings had stayed with him. He led them right to the place, 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."

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."

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

Before Piper could object, he disappeared down the stairwell.

Piper looked anxious as they waited for him to come back. When he appeared at the top, he looked 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," Jason kept his eyes open for traps. Something had clearly freaked Piper out. And she had no weapon, just the cornucopia on a leather cord over her shoulder. It was up to Jason and Percy if it came down to a fight and even their swords wouldn't do much in such close quarters. Maybe Piper could shoot their enemies with high-velocity smoked hams.

As they wound their way underground, Jason 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.

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? Jason had no idea. Maybe the room and the stairwell had been built during different time periods.

Piper clambered down, and Jason followed.

The room was just like they'd seen in Piper's blade. 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."