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Mayfair couldn't pretend to be an optimist anymore.
The basin was filling with alarming speed. May, Jason, and Percy pounded on the walls in search of any sort of exit, but they found nothing. The water was at her waist and only getting higher. The time for escape was running out.
"I could try lightning," Jason yelled over the rushing water. He waded around through the basin like a fisherman, sword held out like he could defend himself against anything. "Maybe blast a hole in the roof?"
"That could bring the entire room down," May pointed out.
"Or electrocute us," added Percy.
"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 Mayfair was glad for something to do.
Percy jumped in the water. Jason and May climbed from niche to niche, kicking and pounding, wiggling seashells embedded in the stone; but they had no luck.
Sooner than May 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."
For the first time, May understood what the nymphs had meant when they said they'd drain the life forces of the three demigods. Percy was moving sluggishly, his face pale. He was drenched and shivering. Jason's skin looked almost gray, like the color was draining out of him.
As the water rose around her, Mayfair felt it affecting her too. Her legs ached and strained as if she'd been running for miles. Her hands turned wrinkly and dry.
"They're taking our power," she said to the boys. Then her head was struck with something that felt like a lightning bolt, and she was overcome with the worst headache of her life. She put a hand to her forehead, vision going spotty.
"Jason," coughed Percy, "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 Mayfair's skin.
"Not what I wanted," Jason said.
The water was up to their necks now. May could feel her strength fading. Her head ached with a migraine so horrible it made her woozy. She could hear Percy sputtering as he bounced below and above the waterline, running out of energy.
