A 1

Percy jumped in the water. Jason and Piper climbed from niche to niche, kicking and pounding,
wiggling seashells embedded in the stone; but they had no luck.
Sooner than Piper 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.”
The life force of the nymphs, Piper thought. It was so poisoned and malicious, even a son of the
sea god couldn’t control it.
As the water rose around her, Piper felt it affecting her too. 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 boys moved sluggishly. Jason’s face was pale. He seemed to be having trouble holding his
sword. Percy was drenched and shivering. His hair didn’t look quite so dark, as if the color was
leaching out.
“They’re taking our power,” Piper said. “Draining us.”
“Jason,” Percy coughed, “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 Piper’s skin.
“Not what I wanted,” Jason said.
The water was up to their necks now. Piper could feel her strength fading. Grandpa Tom’s story
about the water cannibals was true. Bad nymphs would steal her life.
“We’ll survive,” she murmured to herself, but she couldn’t charmspeak her way out of this. Soon
the poisonous water would be over their heads. They’d have to swim, and this stuff was already
paralyzing them.