The Mark of Athena

“And how exactly does a killer squid rend the flesh from its victims?” Hedge asked. “I love nature.”

“Oh, well—”

“Stop!” Phorcys demanded. “You’re ruining the show! Now, witness our Nereid gladiators fight to the death!”

A mirrored disco ball descended into the Nereid exhibit, making the water dance with multicolored light. Two swords fell to the bottom and plunked in the sand. The Nereids ignored them and kept playing Go Fish.

“Curse it!” Phorcys stomped his legs sideways.

Keto grimaced at Coach Hedge. “Don’t mind Porky. He’s such a windbag. Come with me, my fine satyr. I’ll show you full-color diagrams of the monsters’ hunting habits.”

“Excellent!”

Before Percy could object, Keto led Coach Hedge away through a maze of aquarium glass, leaving Frank and him alone with the crabby sea god.

A bead of sweat traced its way down Percy’s neck. He exchanged a nervous look with Frank. This felt like a divide-and-conquer strategy. He didn’t see any way the encounter was going to end well. Part of him wanted to attack Phorcys now—at least that might give them the element of surprise—but they hadn’t found out any useful information yet. Percy wasn’t sure he could find Coach Hedge again. He wasn’t even sure he could find the exit.

Phorcys must’ve read his expression.

“Oh, it’s fine!” the god assured him. “Keto might be a little boring, but she’ll take good care of your friend. And honestly, the best part of the tour is still to come!”

Percy tried to think, but he was starting to get a headache. He wasn’t sure if it was from yesterday’s head injury, Phorcys’s special effects, or his sister’s lectures on nauseating sea monster facts. “So…” he managed. “Dionysus sent us here.”

“Bacchus,” Frank corrected.

“Right.” Percy tried to keep his annoyance in check. He could barely remember one name for each god. Two was pushing it. “The wine god. Whatever.” He looked at Phorcys. “Bacchus said you might know what your mom Gaea is up to, and these twin giant brothers of yours—Ephialtes and Otis. And if you happen to know anything about this Mark of Athena—”

“Bacchus thought I would help you?” Phorcys asked.

“Well, yeah,” Percy said. “I mean, you’re Phorcys. Everybody talks about you.”

Phorcys tilted his head so that his mismatched eyes almost lined up. “They do?”

“Of course. Don’t they, Frank?”

“Oh…sure!” Frank said. “People talk about you all the time.”

“What do they say?” the god asked.

Frank looked uncomfortable. “Well, you have great pyrotechnics. And a good announcer’s voice. And, um, a disco ball—”

“It’s true!” Phorcys clacked his fingers and thumbs excitedly. “I also have the largest collection of captive sea monsters in the world!”

“And you know stuff,” Percy added. “Like about the twins and what they’re up to.”

“The twins!” Phorcys made his voice echo. Sparklers blazed to life in front of the sea serpent tank. “Yes, I know all about Ephialtes and Otis. Those wannabes! They never fit in with the other giants. Too puny—and those snakes for feet.”

“Snakes for feet?” Percy remembered the long, curly shoes the twins had been wearing in his dream.

“Yes, yes,” Phorcys said impatiently. “They knew they couldn’t get by on their strength, so they decided to go for drama—illusions, stage tricks, that sort of thing. You see, Gaea shaped her giant children with specific enemies in mind. Each giant was born to kill a certain god. Ephialtes and Otis…well, together they were sort of the anti-Dionysus.”

Percy tried to wrap his mind around that idea. “So…they want to replace all wine with cranberry juice or something?”

The sea god snorted. “Nothing like that! Ephialtes and Otis always wanted to do things better, flashier, more spectacular! Oh, of course they wanted to kill Dionysus. But first they wanted to humiliate him by making his revelries look tame!”

Frank glanced at the sparklers. “By using stuff like fireworks and disco balls?”

Phorcys’s mouth stretched into that wind tunnel smile. “Exactly! I taught the twins everything they know, or at least I tried to. They never listened. Their first big trick? They tried to reach Olympus by piling mountains on top of one another. It was just an illusion, of course. I told them it was ridiculous. ‘You should start small,’ I said. ‘Sawing each other in half, pulling gorgons out of a hat. That sort of thing. And matching sequined outfits. Twins need those!’”

“Good advice,” Percy agreed. “And now the twins are—”

“Oh, preparing for their doomsday show in Rome,” Phorcys sneered. “It’s one of Mother’s silly ideas. They’re keeping some prisoner in a large bronze jar.” He turned toward Frank. “You’re a child of Ares, aren’t you? You’ve got that smell. The twins imprisoned your father the same way, once.”

“Child of Mars,” Frank corrected. “Wait…these giants trapped my dad in a bronze jar?”

“Yes, another stupid stunt,” said the sea god. “How can you show off your prisoner if he’s in a bronze jar? No