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THE WAY BACK TO THE ARGO WAS A LOT FASTER THAN LUCIA EXPECTED. The fact she made Piper run as if their lives depended on it was probably why. If what Tiberinus said was true, they didn't have a lot of time to save Nico from the Giants.

She wasn't about to waste valuable time while his life was at risk.

Once they finally made it to the clearing where the Argo parked they made their way onto the deck. Piper relied on her to sum up the story of Annabeth. Which would have been fine if Lucia's anxiety wasn't skyrocketing.

"And then she got kidnapped by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn!" Lucia yelled. Slightly louder than she meant to.

Percy stepped forward. Her chest rose and fell sporadically, causing his hands to fall on her shoulders to try and steady her breathing "Luz, it's time to cut back on the caffeine"

"That's an evil thing to say." She growled, "Okay, So she wasn't kidnapped! But! Listen. She's gone—And, And. I should have made sure—"

"Princess, You did all you could." Percy reassured, "We can only wait now. Annabeth, she's tough, and she's smart. She can do this."

but can I? Can I go through this again...

"I know, it's just, she's Beth," Lucia said simply as if that one word carried the weight of all she felt towards the blonde girl.

She tried to get a grip of herself. She felt pathetic for all the mixed emotions that were now taking over her. She thought of Nico, and how desperately he needed someone right now. "Tiberinus said we had less time to rescue Nico than we thought... When should Hazel and the guys be back?"

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.

Lucia pointed to Piper's dagger. "Tiberinus said you could find
Nico's location with that thing."

"I've tried," Piper bit her lip. "The dagger doesn't show what I want to see. I'm fact, it hardly ever does."

"Please," Percy pleaded. "Try again."

He begged with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. Lucia knew she would lose the argument. She didn't have years of Kelpheaded memories to strengthen her resistance.

"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."

"You can check out the Yankees' score later." Lucia shushed as Piper studied the bronze blade.

The light shimmered. She 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 frowned.

"They're scouting the territory," Jason guessed. "Discussing invasion routes."

Light rippled across the blade. On it appeared 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," Lucia observed. "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 looked terrified. "We can't go there."

Lucia hissed, she tried to be empathetic. Especially because she knew how new Piper was to all of this. But her own feelings were clouding her reason. She didn't want to go underground any more than she did, but she would do what she had to... "Piper, Nico is dying. We have to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed."

Piper kept quiet. She picked up the knife again.

Lucia looked at the blade. She 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.

The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten.

Lucia choked on a suppressed sob, her hand pressed down on her chest to try and ease the intense ache. "No, Neeks..."

"We're too late," Jason said.

"No," Percy refused. "No, I can't believe that. Maybe he's gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry."

The blade's surface went dark. Piper slipped it back into its sheath, Lucia couldn't help but notice her hands were shaking. A part of her wanted to reach out and comfort her, but she couldn't even comfort herself at the moment.

All she could do was pray that Percy was right and Nico was still alive.

"We should wait for the others," Piper said. "Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon."

"We can't wait," Lucia insisted with a wild look in her eye. Her hands flickered with unintentional sparks. They had to leave now, before she convinced herself out of going below the surface... "We have to go...We have to start running now!"

Run, Lucia, run... That's all her mind kept saying.

Jason frowned, "Lucia maybe you should wait—"

She snapped her gaze to him, he flinched like the look itself could char him. "Excuse me—?!."

"Or not." He hummed.

Coach Hedge grunted. "It's just two giants. If you guys want, I can take them."

"Uh, Coach," Jason intervened, "that's a great offer, but we need you to man the ship—or goat the ship. Whatever."

Hedge scowled. "And let you four have all the fun?"

Percy gripped the satyr's arm. "Hazel and the others need you here. When they get back, they'll need your leadership. You're their rock."

"Yeah." Jason managed to keep a straight face. "Leo always says you're his rock. You can tell them where we've gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the Forum."

"And here." Piper unstrapped Katoptris and put it in Coach Hedge's hands.

The satyr's eyes widened.

"Keep an eye on us with the blade," She suggested. "And you can check the baseball scores."

That sealed the deal. Hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.

"All right," he said. "But if any giants come this way—"

"Blast them to your heart's content," Lucia offered.

He grinned at that, "What about annoying tourists?"

"No," they all said in unison.

"Bah. Fine. Just don't take too long, or I'm coming after you with ballistae blazing."

༄

LUCIA TOOK A PIT STOP TO HER ROOM BEFORE THEY LEFT. She collected her grandmother's scroll and her iPod, stuffing them into her pockets as she made sure she had every one of her weapons on her. Apart of her insisted that she should be prepared for anything.

Finding the place was easy. Lucia and Piper led them right to it, 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.

It was all...too easy...

"I'll go first," Jason said.

"No!" Piper yelped.

They all turned toward her.

"Piper, tell the truth." Lucia insisted. "That image in the blade.. you've seen it before."

"How did you—"

"You're acting like me every time I get a nasty premonition." Lucia hummed in a bleak tone.

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 four of us drowning."

Everyone's face twisted in dread.

"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."

"Prophecy—It's not working...At all at Camp." Lucia began "Maybe..." It won't happen? She knew better than that.

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

"No!" She yelled even louder than Piper did.

Before Lucia could stop him, he disappeared down the stairwell.

"Kelphead!" She grumbled in frustration. Jason held her back by the shoulders. Before letting go, he squeezed gently in an attempt to comfort her.

"He'll be okay, It's okay Lucia..."

She sighed, "mhm..."

She counted silently as they waited in anticipation for him to come back. Her hands fiddled, she wished she had a pack of gum on her.

Somewhere around thirty-five, she heard his footsteps, and he appeared at the top, looking 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.."

He looked at Lucia before continuing, "You sure... you're good with..." His sparkling green eyes signaled to the bottom of the steps, Lucia couldn't see much light down there...

She nodded, swallowing down her fear. She couldn't bring herself to say a word.

They descended cautiously.

Percy took the lead, with Riptide drawn. Lucia followed beside him as Piper and Jason walked behind them, 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,"
Lucia kept her eyes open for traps. With every turn of the stairs, she anticipated an ambush. Her knuckles were pale with how tight she gripped onto one of her daggers. She had sudden flashbacks that she tried to blink away.

"Daughter of the Spartan prince and Phoebus Apollo." Kronos whispered, "What a joy it is to have you with us."

As they wound their way underground, Lucia saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names, and phrases in Italian. That meant other people had been down here more recently

Finally, they reached the bottom.

Percy turned to her, addressing the group. "Watch this last step."

He jumped to the floor of the cylindrical room, which was five feet lower than the stairwell.  Lucia frowned but forced herself to jump down.

Why would someone design a set of stairs like that?

Annabeth would probably know.

Beth...

I hope she's okay...

Piper clambered down, and Jason followed.

The room was just like they'd seen it in Katoptris's blade, except there was no water. 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."

He stepped to the middle of the room.

Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls. Piper heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water.

There didn't seem to be any source of light except for Lucia, and Percy's and Jason's blades.

"Do you smell the ocean?" Percy asked.

Lucia pursed her lips, she looked at her boyfriend who stood next to her. She didn't think much of it, he always smelled like the sea. "I thought it was just you?"

He shook his head, "No, it's a stronger smell."

He was right. The scent of salt water and storm was getting intense, like a summer hurricane approaching.

"An illusion?" Piper asked.

"I don't know," Percy said. "I feel like there should be water here lots of water. But there isn't any. I've never been in a place like this."

Jason moved to the row of niches. He touched the bottom shelf of the nearest one, which was just at his eye level. "This stone. it's embedded with seashells. This is a nymphaeum."

Lucia felt her mouth getting dry. Suddenly she felt thirsty. "A what?"

"We have one at Camp Jupiter," Jason said, "on Temple Hill. It's a shrine to the nymphs."

Lucia ran her hand along the bottom of another niche. Jason was right. The alcove was studded with cowries, conches, and scallops. The seashells seemed to dance in the watery light. They were ice-cold to the touch.

"Well, It's really pretty," Lucia commented. Her other hand found itself playing with the pearl on her necklace.

Percy laughed slightly.

She smiled in response, but it quickly faded. The place felt too unnatural, hostile, and very dry. She had a bad feeling about it all. But then again, she's had a bad feeling ever since she landed in Rome...

Jason stepped back and examined the row of alcoves. "Shrines like this were all over the place in Ancient Rome. Rich people had them outside their villas to honor nymphs, and to make sure the local water was always fresh. Some shrines were built around natural springs, but most were man-made."

Lucia raised an eyebrow, "If it was meant for fresh water, then why does it smell like Percy?"

"Hey, why word it like that." He grumbled

She rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean you Kelphead."

"Wait...So no actual nymphs lived here?" Piper asked hopefully.

"Not sure," Jason said. "This place where we're standing would have been a pool with a fountain. A lot of times, if the nymphaeum belonged to a demigod, he or she would invite nymphs to live there. If the spirits took up residence, that was considered good luck."

"For the owner," Percy guessed. "But it would also bind the nymphs to the new water source, which would be great if the fountain was in a nice sunny park with fresh water pumped in through the aqueducts."

"But this place has been underground for centuries," Lucia continued. "Dry and buried..."

"What would happen to the nymphs?" Piper frowned

The sound of water changed to a chorus of hissing, like ghostly snakes. The rippling light shifted from sea blue and green to purple and sickly lime. Above them, the nine niches glowed. They were no longer empty.

"What the hell is that." Lucia's voice came out more hostile than she meant it to. She began to glow brighter. "Water cannibals?!"

Percy frowned, "Luz that's not a thing!"

Standing in each of the niches was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle it reminded Lucia of embalmed mummies.

Their eyes were dark purple, not bright and full of light like Lucia's. It was as if the clear blue water of their life source had condensed and thickened inside them.

Their fine silk dresses were now tattered and faded.

Their hair had once been piled in curls, arranged with jewels in the style of Roman noblewomen, but now their locks were disheveled and dry as straw. Desperately in need of some curl cream.

"What would happen to the nymphs?" said the creature in the center niche.

She was in even worse shape than the others. Her back was hunched. Her skeletal hands had only the thinnest papery layer of skin. On her head, a battered wreath of golden laurels glinted in her roadkill hair.

She fixed her purple eyes on Piper. "What an interesting question, my dear. Perhaps the nymphs would still be here, suffering, waiting for revenge."

Lucia flinched. waiting for Revenge

༄

LUCIA FOUND OUT THAT THE DOORWAY HAD DISAPPEARED. Nothing was there now but a blank wall.

Jason and Percy stood to either side of the girls, their swords ready.

"Who are you?" Lucia demanded, She twirled her dagger between her fingers. A habit she picked up...

The central nymph turned her head. "Ah...names. We once had names. I was Hagno, the first of the nine!"

Lucia's lip curled up slightly, that had to be a cruel joke. "Hag..no?"

"Lucia. Don't." Piper warned.

"The nine," Jason repeated. "The nymphs of this shrine. There were always nine niches."

"Of course." Hagno bared her teeth in a vicious smile. "But we are the original nine, Jason Grace, the ones who attended the birth of your father."

Jason's sword dipped. "You mean Jupiter? You were there when he was born?"

"No, not him. Zeus." Lucia remembered the myth, She recalled Annabeth telling her about it in one of their Ancient Greek history lessons. The thought of the blonde made her dim slightly in worry.

"Yes, Smart girl." Hagno seethed. "Such a squealing whelp. We attended Rhea in her labor. When the baby arrived, we hid him so that his father, Kronos, would not eat him. Ah, he had lungs, that baby! It was all we could do to drown out the noise so Kronos could not find him. When Zeus grew up, we were promised eternal honors. But that was in the old country, in Greece."

The other nymphs wailed and clawed at their niches. They seemed to be trapped in them, Lucia realized, as if their feet were glued to the stone along with the decorative seashells.

"When Rome rose to power, we were invited here," Hagno said. "A son of Jupiter tempted us with favors. A new home, he promised. Bigger and better! No down payment, an excellent neighborhood. Rome will last forever."

"Forever," the others hissed.

"We gave in to temptation," Hagno said. "We left our simple wells and springs on Mount Lycaeus and moved here. For centuries, our lives were wonderful! Parties, sacrifices in our honor, new dresses, and jewelry every week. All the demigods of Rome flirted with us and honored us."

The nymphs wailed and sighed.

"But Rome did not last," Hagno snarled. "The aqueducts were diverted. Our master's villa was abandoned and torn down. We were forgotten, buried under the earth, but we could not leave. Our life sources were bound to this place. Our old master never saw fit to release us. For centuries, we have withered here in the darkness, thirsty...so thirsty."

The others clawed at their mouths.

Lucia felt her own throat closing up.

'I'm sorry for you," Piper said, trying to use charmspeak. "That must have been terrible. But we are not your enemies. If we can help you—"

"Oh, such a sweet voice!" Hagno cried. She looked between the two girls. "Such beautiful features you two have. And those curls on you Sun child. I was once just as young and alluring as you. My voice was as soothing as a mountain stream too. But do you know what happens to a nymph's mind when she is trapped in the dark, with nothing to feed on but hatred, nothing to drink but thoughts of violence? Yes, my dear. You can help us."

Percy raised his hand. "Uh...I'm the son of Poseidon. Maybe I can summon a new water source."

"Ha!" Hagno cried, and the other eight echoed, "Ha! Ha!"

"Indeed, son of Poseidon," Hagno said. "I know your father well. Ephialtes and Otis promised you"

Lucia snarled, "The giants," she stated. "You're working for them."

"They are our neighbors." Hagno smiled. "Their chambers lie beyond this place, where the aqueduct's water was diverted for the games. Once we have dealt with you...once you have helped us...the twins have promised we will never suffer again."

Hagno turned to Jason. "You, child of Jupiter--for the horrible betrayal of your predecessor who brought us here, you shall pay. I know the sky god's powers. I raised him as a baby! Once, we nymphs controlled the rain above our wells and springs. When I am done with you, we will have that power again. And Percy Jackson, child of the sea god...from you, we will take water, an endless supply of."

"Endless?" Percy's eyes darted from one nymph to the other. "Uh...look, I don't know about endless. But maybe I could spare a few gallons."

"And you, Piper McLean, Lucia Verano." Hagno's purple eyes glistened. "So young, so lovely, so gifted with your sweet voices. From you, we will reclaim our beauty. We have saved our last life force for this day. We are very thirsty. From you four, we shall drink!"

All nine niches glowed. The nymphs disappeared, and water poured from their alcoves, sickly dark water, like oil.

Lucia turned to Percy, her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face. "Water Cannibals don't exist my butt!"