A 1

They would drown, just like in the visions she’d seen.
Percy started pushing the water away with the back of his hand, like he was shooing a bad dog.
“Can’t—can’t control it!”
You will need to sacrifice me, the skeleton dog had said in the story. You must throw me into the water.
Piper felt like someone had grabbed the scruff of her neck and exposed the bones. She clutched
her cornucopia.
“We can’t fight this,” she said. “If we hold back, that just makes us weaker.”
“What do you mean?” Jason 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. Piper hoped that meant that they still had time.
“The horn of plenty,” she said. “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?” Percy struggled to keep his head above water, which was obviously a new
experience for him. He looked scared out of his mind.
“Only with your help.” Piper was beginning to understand how the horn worked. The good stuff it
produced didn’t come from nowhere. She’d only been able to bury Hercules in groceries when she had
concentrated on all her positive experiences with Jason.
To create enough clean fresh water to fill this room, she needed to go even deeper, tap her
emotions even more. Unfortunately, she was losing her ability to focus.
“I need you both to channel everything you’ve got into the cornucopia,” she said. “Percy, think
about the sea.”
“Salt water?”