LOST AT SEA | jason grace

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑠

𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈 𝙻𝙴𝙳 them right to the old Forum, on an abandoned stretch of hillside. Getting in was easy. 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.

"Have you not seen any horror movies? Those who go down the creepy stairs alone usually don't come back. We're not splitting up." Lorna said.

No one argued with her, together, they disappeared down the stairwell. 

With every turn of the stairs, Lorna anticipated an ambush. Finally, they reached the bottom. Percy turned. "Careful of the 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? Lorna had no idea. Maybe the room and the stairwell had been built during different time periods. She wanted to turn and exit, but she couldn't do that with Jason behind her, and she couldn't just leave Percy down there.

Piper and Lorna clambered down, and Jason followed. The room had curved walls that 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.

Percy took a step forward to the middle of the room. Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls. Lorna heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water. 

"Creepy," Lorna shivered. "But cool."

"Do you smell the ocean?" Percy asked.

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

"An illusion?" Piper asked.

All of a sudden, Lorna felt strangely thirsty.

"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." Lorna said.

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."

Lorna's mouth was definitely getting drier. "A what?"

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

Lorna 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. Lorna had always thought of nymphs as friendly spirits—silly and flirtatious, generally harmless. They got along well with the children of Aphrodite. They loved to share gossip and beauty tips. This place, though, didn't feel like the canoe lake back at Camp Half-Blood, or the streams in the woods where Lorna normally met nymphs. This place felt unnatural, hostile, and very dry.

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, to make sure the local water was always fresh. Some shrines were built around natural springs, but most were man-made."

"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."