Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
Finding the place Valeria had told them to go to so they could find Nico was easy. Thalia led them all right to it, on an abandoned stretch of hillside overlooking the ruined Forum.
Getting in was easy too. Leo easily broke through the padlock, and the metal gate creaked open. No mortals saw them. No alarms went off. Stone steps spiralled down into the gloom. It disturbed all of them, how simple it was. Simple + demigods = trap. Everybody knew that. As basic as 2+2=4
Still, they knew that they had no choice.
"I'll go first," Thalia declared, hefting her spear and wearing a grim expression. No one protested, but Luke was so close behind her that it barely classed as being behind her instead of beside.
They descended cautiously. Thalia and Luke took the lead, with their weapons raised cautiously. Lena and Leo followed, while Frank and Hazel walked behind them all, guarding their backs.
The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter and Lena kept her eyes open for traps. With every turn of the stairs, she anticipated an ambush. The cornucopia that had been on her bed when she woke that morning was hanging on a leather cord over her shoulder. It could only have come from the gods, likely her mother, but she didn't understand why. What was she supposed to do, shoot smoked hams at the giants?
As they wound their way underground, Lena saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names and phrases in Italian. Other people had been down here more recently than the Roman Empire.
Finally, they reached the bottom.
"Watch this last step," Thalia warned, having been using her spear to prod for any traps.
She 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? Lena wondered. She was no architect, nor did she particularly care about that sort of thing, but even she knew that made no sense. It was easy, but confusing, and she just knew that they had to be walking into an ambush. It was the only logical explanation. Her spine was rigid as she carefully clambered down after Leo, with Frank and Hazel following silently.
Upon entering the room, she immediately began to scan it for any signs of a trap set by the giants. The curved walls had once been painted with frescoes, which were now faded to eggshell white with only flecks of colour. The domed ceiling was about fifty feet above them, and seemed solid enough.
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. Worryingly, there were no other exits.
"All right." Thalia crossed her arms, frowning. "What do we do now?"
"I dunno," Luke admitted as he stepped to the middle of the room.
Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls. Lena heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water. There didn't seem to be any source of light except for the demigods' various blades.
"Do you smell the ocean?" Hazel asked uneasily.
Lena hadn't noticed at first. She had always had a horrendous sense of smell, a source of much teasing from her brother, who could identify all the ingredients of a dish just by smelling it. But, upon focusing, she realized that Hazel was right. The scent of salt water and storm was getting stronger, like a summer hurricane approaching. All the others muttered confirmation of the smell as well.
"An illusion?" she suggested, not sure if she would prefer an illusion or actual water at the moment. All of a sudden, she felt strangely thirsty.
"I don't know," Leo said warily. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"It feels like there should be water here—lots of water," Frank told them. "But there isn't any. I've never been in a place like this, but it seems strangely familiar."
For a second, Lena was confused as to how he would know that. Then she remembered that he was a (very) distant, but apparently favoured, legacy of Neptune. Considering Mars' status as traitor to the gods, Frank had been announcing himself as a descendant of Neptune instead of as the son of Mars. She didn't blame him. The mere thought of the god of war brought up memories of her brother's death.
Hazel moved to the row of niches, touching the bottom shelf of the nearest one, which was a little above her eye level. "This stone…it's embedded with seashells," she murmured, turning back to him. "You have been somewhere like this before, Frank. This is a nymphaeum."
Lena was sure of it now. Her mouth was definitely getting drier.
"A what?" she asked, having to swallow in order to speak. When had she last drunk something? Surely, she'd had no drink at all today, she was so thirsty.
"We have one at Camp Jupiter," Hazel explained, "on Temple Hill. It's a shrine to nymphs."
Lena ran her hand along the bottom of another niche, recalling the things she had read in order to prepare herself for meeting the Romans. Hazel was right. The alcove was studded with cowries, conches, and scallops. The seashells were ice-cold to the touch.
Lena had always liked the nymphs at Camp Half-Blood. They were friendly spirits—silly and flirtatious, generally harmless. They got along well with the children of Aphrodite and Akantha, who had done them many favours both before and after becoming a goddess. They loved to share gossip and beauty tips, and were always willing to lend a helping hand to a half-blood, as long as said demigod was polite in asking for whatever it was they wanted.
This place, though, didn't feel like the canoe lake back at Camp Half-Blood, or the streams in the woods where she normally met nymphs. This place felt unnatural, hostile, and very dry.
Hazel stepped back and examined the row of alcoves. "Shrines like this were all over the place in Ancient Rome," she told them. "Rich people had them outside their villas to honour 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?" Leo asked hopefully. He'd been terrified of all nature spirits since their encounter with the maenads. She didn't really blame him for it, either. Those girls were nuts.
"I'm not sure," Hazel admitted. "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," Luke 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," Lena pointed out, frowning at the thought of being stuck underground, which she hated. Lukas' body, limp and bloody, hovered at the back of her mind, and she felt bile climb her dry throat. "Dry and buried. What would happen to the nymphs?"
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.
Standing in each was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle they seemed like mummies—except mummies didn't move. Their eyes were dark purple, 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 dishevelled and dry as straw.
"What would happen to the nymphs?" the creature in the centre niche repeated.
She was in even worse shape than the others. Her back was hunched like the handle of a pitcher. Her skeletal hands had only the thinnest papery layer of skin. On her head, a battered wreath of limp golden laurels glinted in her wild hair.
She fixed her purple eyes on Lena. "What an interesting question, my dear. Perhaps the nymphs would still be here, suffering, waiting for revenge."
"Door's gone!" Leo warned urgently as the six half-bloods all gathered together, back-to-back. Leo lit his fingers.
"Watch it, ladies," he waved the flaming hand at them. "I'm hot!"
Lena groaned, thumping her forehead.
"Water doses fire, you idiot!" Thalia shrieked at him. "Now you've gone and pissed them off!"
Leo paused and winced. "Oops," he muttered. He tried to give a charming smile. "Hey, ladies, let's talk about this-"
"Quiet!" the centre nymph cried. "Do you know who I am? I am Hagno, the first of the nine!"
Lena elbowed Leo, silently warning him not to say anything about the nymph's name fitting her appearance. His jokes wouldn't help right now.
"The nine," Frank repeated. "The nymphs of this shrine. There were always nine niches in each shrine. Three by three. Three is a sacred number."
"Of course." Hagno bared her teeth in a vicious smile. "But we are the original nine, the ones who attended the birth of the King of Olympus."
Thalia's eyes went wide. "Zeus? You were there when he was born?"
"Such a squealing whelp," Hagno nodded. "We attended Rhea in her labour. When the baby arrived, we hid him with Amalthea 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 honours. 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, Lena realized, as if their feet were glued to the stone. If that was true, then maybe...
"When Rome rose to power, we were invited here," Hagno continued. "A son of Jupiter tempted us with favours. A new home, he promised. Bigger and better! No down payment, an excellent neighbourhood. Rome will last forever."
"Forever," the others hissed.
"We gave in to temptation," Hagno sighed. "We left our simple wells and springs on Mount Lycaeus and moved here. For centuries, our lives were wonderful! Parties, sacrifices in our honour, new dresses and jewellery every week. All the demigods of Rome flirted with us and honoured 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.
Lena felt her own throat closing up. She could see the others swallowing desperately, no doubt as desperate for a drink as she was.
"I'm sorry for you," she said carefully, voice hoarse. "That must have been terrible. But we are not your enemies. If we can help you—"
"Oh, such a sweet voice!" Hagno cried. "Such beautiful features. I was once young like you. My voice was as soothing as a mountain stream. 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 and revenge? Yes, my dear. You can help us."
"The giants are our neighbours." 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…Gaia has promised that we will never suffer again."
"She's lying," Frank pleaded. "She's using you-"
Hagno cut him off. "We have saved our last life force for this day. We are very thirsty. From you six, we shall drink!"
All nine niches glowed. The nymphs disappeared, and water poured from their alcoves—sickly dark water, like oil.
The basin filled with alarming speed. The six questers pounded on the walls, looking for an exit, but they found nothing. They climbed into the alcoves to gain some height, but with water pouring out of each niche, it was like trying to balance at the edge of a waterfall. Even as Lena stood in a niche, the water was soon up to her knees. From the floor, it was probably eight feet deep and rising.
"I could try lightning," Thalia suggested. "Maybe blast a hole in the roof?"
"That could bring down the whole room and crush us," Leo pointed out.
"Or electrocute us," Lena added.
"Not many choices," Thalia muttered.
"I'll try and see if there's a way out further down," Frank offered, before turning into a shark and diving down. He came moments later, already returned to human form, struggling to breathe and coughing. "It's no good," he muttered. "Water's too dark. Poisonous as well."
He was right. Even as the water rose around her, Lena could feel it weakening her. Her leg muscles trembled like she'd been running for miles. Her hands turned wrinkled and dry, despite being in the middle of a fountain.
The others moved sluggishly. Luke's face was pale. He seemed to be having trouble holding his sword. Leo was drenched and shivering. Hazel's hair and skin didn't look quite so dark, as if the colour was leaching out of them. Frank pressed a hand to the wall, using it for support.
"They're taking our power," Lena croaked. "Draining us."
"Thalia," Luke groaned, "do the lightning."
Thalia raised her spear. 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 Lena's skin.
"That wasn't what I wanted," Thalia said.
The water was up to their necks now. Lena could feel her strength fading. It felt like some sort of joke. After everything she had gone through, a bunch of nymphs upset over their broken nails were going to steal her life.
'The cornucopia' her mother whispered in her mind. 'Lena, use the cornucopia. You know what to do! Use it!'
And suddenly, Lena did know what she needed to do.
"We can't fight this," she said. "If we hold back, that just makes us weaker."
"What do you mean?" Luke shouted over the rain.
The water was up to their chins. Another few inches, and they'd have to swim. But the water wasn't halfway to the ceiling yet. Lena hoped that meant that they still had time.
"The horn of plenty," she explained as quickly as she could. "We have to overwhelm the nymphs with fresh water, give them more than they can use. If we can dilute this poisonous stuff—"
"Can your horn do that?" Leo struggled to keep his head above water. He looked scared out of his mind, and it broke her heart.
"Only with your help." Lena knew from Chiron how the horn worked. The good stuff it produced didn't come from nowhere. It came from the wielder's emotions. To create enough clean fresh water to fill this room, she needed to go deep, tap her emotions as much as she could. Unfortunately, she was losing her ability to focus from her weakness. It would take all of their combined strength to do this and succeed.
"I need you all to channel everything you've got left into the cornucopia," she said, coughing. "Think about the sea."
"Salt water?" Frank asked, crinkling his brow as the group all struggled to her.
"Doesn't matter! As long as it's clean. Thalia, think about rainstorms—much more rain. Everybody needs to hold the cornucopia."
They huddled together as the water lifted them off their ledges and held the cornucopia between them, everyone resting at least a finger on it.
Nothing happened. The rain came down in sheets, still dark and acidic.
Lena's legs felt like lead. The rising water swirled, threatening to pull her under. She could feel her strength fading.
"No good!" Thalia yelled, spitting water.
"We're getting nowhere," Luke agreed.
"We need to work together," Lena cried. "Everyone think of clean water—a storm of water. Don't hold anything back. Picture all your power, all your strength leaving you."
"That's not hard!" Leo said.
"But force it out!" she said. "Offer up everything, like—like you're already dead, and your only goal is to help the nymphs. It's got to be a gift…a sacrifice."
They all went quiet at that word.
"Let's try again," Thalia raised her chin. "Together."
"Together," they all echoed.
