orenda [leo valdez]

xxxi. Jason Hates Wonder Bread

❝do not go gentle into that dying night

rage, rage against the dying of the light❞

⤷ dylan thomas

△△△

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 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.

"No!" Piper yelped.

Both boys and Kira turned toward her.

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

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

They all frowned.

"I can't drown," Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question.

"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."

He disappeared down the stairwell.

Kira heard his footsteps after half a minute from holding her breath, and 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. The three followed him, Kira on guard with her sword drawn as well.

She had a cold sweat.

The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter. As they wound their way underground, Kira saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names and phrases in Italian.

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.

Kira followed him down first.

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. As Percy had said, there were no other exits.

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