Invisible ― Jason Grace

xviii. sacrifice

FINDING THE PLACE was easy. Percy led them right to it, on an abandoned stretch of hillside overlooking the ruined Forum.

Getting in was easy too. Jason's gladius 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.

Camilla, Percy, and Jason turned toward her.

"Pipes, what is it?" Jason asked. "That image in the blade... you've seen it before, haven't you?"

She nodded, and her eyes glistened with tears. "I didn't know how to tell you. I saw the room down there filling with water. I saw the four of us drowning."

All three of Piper's companions frowned.

"We can't drown," Percy said, looking at Camilla, but it sounded like he was asking a question more than making a statement of fact.

"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 anyone could object, he disappeared down the stairwell.

Camilla counted the seconds as they waited for him to come back. Somewhere around thirty-five, she heard his footsteps. 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..."

They descended cautiously. Percy took the lead, with Riptide drawn. Camilla and Piper followed, Jason taking up the rear and 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," Camilla kept her eyes peeled. With every turn of the stairs, she feared an ambush. If that happened, their swords wouldn't do much good in such close quarters.

As they wound their way underground, Camilla 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, but that wasn't as reassuring as Camilla wished it was. If monsters were down below, they wouldn't bother with any mortals that came their way.

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.

Percy helped Camilla down, since the drop was only slightly shorter than she was tall. Why someone would build a room with a stairwell that high from the ground, Camilla would never understand. She wondered how many unfortunate mortals had dropped down here and injured themselves.

Piper and Jason climbed down to join the sea siblings.

Camilla took in the world, a little in awe. The walls were curved, with faded frescoes decorating the surface. The domed ceiling was about fifty feet above them.

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. Like Percy had said, there were no other visible exits.

"All right." Percy raised his eyebrows. "Here's the weird part. Watch."