score! A piece of celery.”
He started munching on the celery, eyeing the change and the rubber band like they might be next.
“Great,” Percy said. His own pockets were empty except for his pen/sword, Riptide. He was pondering whether or not they could sneak in somehow, when a woman in a blue-and-green Georgia Aquarium shirt came up to them, smiling brightly.
“Ah, VIP visitors!” She had perky dimpled cheeks, thick-framed glasses, braces, and frizzy black hair pulled to the sides in pigtails, so that even though she was probably in her late twenties, she looked like a schoolgirl nerd— sort of cute, but sort of odd. Along with her Georgia Aquarium polo shirt, she wore dark slacks and black sneakers, and she bounced on the balls of her feet like she simply couldn’t contain her energy. Her name tag read KATE.
“You have your payment, I see,” she said. “Excellent!”
“What?” Percy asked.
Kate scooped the three denarii out of Frank’s hand. “Yes, that’s fine. Right this way!”
She spun and trotted off toward the main entrance.
Percy looked at Coach Hedge and Frank. “A trap?”
“Probably,” Frank said.
“She’s not mortal,” Hedge said, sniffing the air. “Probably some sort of goat-eating, demigod-destroying fiend from Tartarus.”
“No doubt,” Percy agreed.
“Awesome.” Hedge grinned. “Let’s go.”
Kate got them past the ticket queue and into the aquarium with no problem.
“Right this way.” Kate grinned at Percy. “It’s a
“Uh, you mean demigods?” Frank asked.
Kate winked at him impishly and put a finger to her mouth. “So over here is the cold-water experience, with your penguins and beluga whales and whatnot. And over there…well, those are some fish, obviously.”
For an aquarium worker, she didn’t seem to know much or care much about the smaller fish. They passed one huge tank full of tropical species, and when Frank pointed to a particular fish and asked what it was, Kate said, “Oh, those are the yellow ones.”
They passed the gift shop. Frank slowed down to check out a clearance table with clothes and toys.
“Take what you want,” Kate told him.
Frank blinked. “Really?”
“Of course! You’re a VIP!”
Frank hesitated. Then he stuffed some T-shirts in his backpack.
“Dude,” Percy said, “what are you doing?”
“She said I could,” Frank whispered. “Besides, I need more clothes. I didn’t pack for a long trip!”
He added a snow globe to his stash, which didn’t seem like clothing to Percy. Then Frank picked up a braided cylinder about the size of a candy bar.
He squinted at it. “What is—?”
“Chinese handcuffs,” Percy said.
Frank, who was Chinese Canadian, looked offended. “How is this Chinese?”
“I don’t know,” Percy said. “That’s just what it’s called. It’s like a gag gift.”
“Come along, boys!” Kate called from across the hall.
“I’ll show you later,” Percy promised.
Frank stuffed the handcuffs in his backpack, and they kept walking.
They passed through an acrylic tunnel. Fish swam over their heads, and Percy felt irrational panic building in his throat.
The real threat was Kate, he reminded himself. Hedge had already detected that she wasn’t human. Any minute she might turn into some horrible creature and attack them. Unfortunately, Percy didn’t see much choice but to play along with her VIP tour until they could find the sea god Phorcys, even if they were walking deeper into a trap.
They emerged in a viewing room awash with blue light. On the other side of a glass wall was the biggest aquarium tank Percy had ever seen. Cruising in circles were dozens of huge fish, including two spotted sharks, each twice Percy’s size. They were fat and slow, with open mouths and no teeth.
“Whale sharks,” Coach Hedge growled. “Now we shall battle to the death!”
Kate giggled. “Silly satyr. Whale sharks are peaceful. They only eat plankton.”
Percy scowled. He wondered how Kate knew the coach was a satyr. Hedge was wearing pants and specially fitted shoes over his hooves, like satyrs usually did to blend in with mortals. His baseball cap covered his horns. The more Kate giggled and acted friendly, the more Percy didn’t like her; but Coach Hedge didn’t seem fazed.
