The Mark Of Athena

When Percy wakes up, Frank is standing over him and Annabeth. Everyone feared they had been kidnapped. Back at the Mess Hall, Coach is furious. Percy turns everyone’s attention to the need to strategize, asking Hazel about Nico and his pomegranate seeds. She explains they are “last-resort food” that can keep children of Hades safe (126). One seed can keep him alive per day, assuming he can put himself in a “death trance” that can prevent him from using all his air (126). His situation explains one line of the prophecy: “Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the key to endless death” (126, italics in original). Nico’s last name is di Angelo. Piper realizes that he must have found the Doors of Death. Leo and Jason point out that Nico’s intentions and loyalties have not always been clear, angering Hazel, who storms out, which upsets Frank.

They arrive in Atlanta. Wanting to get Frank off the ship to cool off, Percy suggests a scouting mission with Coach Hedge.

They arrive on a hill overlooking Atlanta where General Sherman, a child of Ares, watched Atlanta burn. Percy wonders if this is a bad omen since conflict between Greek and Roman demigods has stoked civil wars. In search of saltwater and Phorcys, the trio heads to the aquarium. A woman called Kate ushers them in, calling them “VIP visitors” (132). Coach notes that she is not human. She leads them into a secret exhibit of mythical creatures, including dangerous monsters, claiming that she is bringing them to her brother, Phorcys. The creatures are sedated and dazed. Percy pities them. Phorcys appears with a headset, training the creatures for performance in “Phorcys’s Follies,” whose main event is giant, demigod-eating squid (138). Phorcys complains that he has been exiled to Atlanta for supporting the Titans in their war against the Olympians. Kate reveals herself to be Keto, goddess of sea monsters.

Keto leads Coach away, promising to show him a diagram of monster hunting habits. Percy tells a surprised Phorcys that Bacchus sent them to him, then flatters him and gets him talking about the giants and their plans to entrap and kill demigods and destroy Rome. Phorcys reveals that Gaea has put a bounty on a group of demigods, with an order to spare one male and one female. She has captured one demigod to lure the others to Rome, possibly also in search of the Mark of Athena. Phorcys lets slip that a map in Charleston provides the route to Rome, then leads them through a tunnel to another exhibit.

Percy realizes they are under a fifty-thousand-gallon tank but comforts himself that water is his “home court” (144). Phorcys reveals that he knows who they are because Gaea provided him with a description for the bounty. They are “VIPs—Very Important Prisoners” (145). He plans to make Percy and Frank part of his exhibit. He traps Percy and Frank in a tank. As a son of Poseidon, Percy can breathe underwater, but Frank transforms into a giant koi to survive.

On the other side of the glass, the boys see Keto leading Coach through the amphitheater. Percy stealthily gets his attention, and Coach knocks out Keto. Together, they break the tank and run. Percy promises to return to save the drugged sea creatures. Phorcys sets off the alarms, causing panic among the aquarium visitors. Percy, Frank, and Coach escape by blending in with the crowd rushing the exits.