AS SOON AS they entered, Coach Hedge whistled. "Now that's interesting."
Gliding above them were multicolored jellyfish the size of trash cans, each with hundreds of tentacles that looked like silky barbed wire. One jellyfish had a paralyzed ten-foot-long swordfish tangled in its grasp. The jellyfish slowly wrapped its tendrils tighter and tighter around its prey.
Kate beamed at Coach Hedge. "You see? Forget the whale sharks! And there's much more."
Kate led them into an even larger chamber, lined with more aquariums. On one wall, a glowing red sign proclaimed: DEATH IN THE DEEP SEAS! Sponsored by Monster Donut.
"Monster Donut?" Percy questioned.
"Oh, yes," Kate said. "One of our corporate sponsors."
Camilla frowned. She didn't like the sound of that.
In one aquarium, a dozen horses with the tails of fish drifted aimlessly. They looked lost, trapped. Percy had told Camilla that they could speak with aquatic creatures in their minds, but when she tried, she got nothing. Maybe she wasn't doing it right, but their minds seemed fuzzy, addled. The horse-fish just floated around, occasionally bonking against the glass.
"This isn't right," Percy muttered.
He turned, and Camilla followed his gaze. At the bottom of a smaller tank, two Nereids sat cross-legged, facing each other and playing a game of Go Fish. They looked incredibly bored, their long green hair floating listlessly around their faces. Their eyes were half closed.
Percy's face contorted in anger. He glared at Kate. "How can you keep them here?"
"I know." Kate sighed. "They aren't very interesting. We tried to teach them some tricks, but with no luck, I'm afraid. I think you'll like this tank over here much better."
Percy started to protest, but Kate had already moved on.
"Holy mother of goats!" Hedge cried. "Look at these beauties!"
He was gawking at two sea serpents—thirty-foot-long monsters with glowing blue scales and jaws that could have bitten a whale shark in half. In another tank, peeking out from its cement cave, was a squid the size the size of an eighteen-wheeler.
A third tank held a dozen humanoid creatures with sleek seal bodies, doglike faces, and human hands. They sat on the sand at the bottom of the tank, building things out of Legos, though they looked just as dazed as the Nereids.
"Are those—?" Percy started.
"Telkhines?" Kate said. "Yes! The only ones in captivity."
"But they fought for Kronos in the last war!" Percy said. "They're dangerous!"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, we couldn't call it 'Death in the Deep Seas' if these exhibits weren't dangerous. Don't worry. We keep them well sedated."
"Sedated?" Frank asked. "Is that legal?"
Camilla shook her head. "I don't know. It shouldn't be."
Kate kept walking, pointing out other exhibits. "And these sea monsters," she narrated, "can grow five hundred feet long in the deep ocean. They have over a thousand teeth. And these? Their favorite food is demigod—"
"Demigod?" Camilla squeaked.
"But they will eat whales and small boats, too." Kate turned to Percy and blushed. "Sorry... I'm such a monster nerd! I'm sure you know all this, being a son of Poseidon and all."
"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "Does Kate stand for something?"
"Kate?" She frowned in confusion, then glanced at her name tag. "Oh..." She laughed. "No, it's—"
"Hello!" came a new voice, booming through the aquarium.
A small man scuttled out of the darkness—literally scuttled. He walked sideways on bowed legs like a crab, his back hunched, his arms raised on either side like he was holding invisible plates.
"Visitors!" he said, the word thundering through the headset microphone clamped over his greasy hair. He had a voice like a DJ, deep and resonant, which did not match his outward appearance. "Welcome to Phorcys's Follies!"
He swept his arms in one direction, as if directing their attention to an explosion. Nothing happened.
"Curse it," the man grumbled. "Telkhines, that's your cue! I wave my hands, and you leap energetically in your tank, do a synchronized double spin, and land in pyramid formation. We practiced this!"
The telkhines paid him no attention.
Coach Hedge leaned toward the crab man and sniffed his glittery wetsuit. "Nice outfit," he complimented, entirely sincere.
"Thank you!" The man beamed. "I am Phorcys."
Frank shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Why does your suit say Porky?"
Phorcys snarled. "Stupid uniform company! They can't get anything right."
Kate tapped her name tag. "I told them my name was Keto. They misspelled it as Kate. My brother... well, now he's Porky."
"I am not!" the man snapped. "I'm not even a little porky. The name doesn't work with Follies, either. What kind of show is called Porky's Follies? But you folks don't want to hear us complain. Behold, the wondrous majesty of the giant killer squid!"
He gestured dramatically toward the squid tank. This time, fireworks shot off in front of the glass right on cue, sending up geysers of golden sparkles. Music swelled from the loudspeakers. The lights brightened and revealed the wondrous majesty of an empty tank.
It seemed the squid had skulked back into its cave.
"Curse it!" Phorcys yelled again. He wheeled on his sister. "Keto, training the squid was your job. Juggling, I said. Maybe a bit of flesh-rending for the finale. Is that too much to ask?"
"He's shy," Keto said defensively. "Besides, each of his tentacles has sixty-two razor-like barbs that have to be sharpened daily." She turned toward Frank and Camilla. "Did you know the monstrous squid is the only beast known to eat demigods whole, armor and all, without getting indigestion? It's true!"
Frank stumbled away from her, hugging himself as if to reassure himself he was still in one piece.
"T-thanks, for that... information," Camilla choked out.
"Keto!" Porky snapped—literally, since he clicked his fingers to his thumbs like crab claws. "You'll bore our guests with so much information. Less education, more entertainment! We've discussed this."
"But—"
"No buts! We're here to present 'Death in the Deep Seas!' Sponsored by Monster Donut!"
The last words reverberated through the room with extra echo. Lights flashed and smoke clouds billowed from the floor, forming donut-shaped rings that smelled like real donuts.
"Available at the concession stand," Phorcys advised. "But you've spent your hard-earned denarii to get the VIP tour, and so you shall! Come with me!"
"Um, hold it," Percy said.
Phorcys's smile melted in an ugly way. "Yes?"
"You're a sea god, aren't you?" Percy asked. "Son of Gaea?"
The crab man sighed. "Five thousand years, and I'm still known as Gaea's little boy. Never mind that I'm one of the oldest sea gods in existence. Older than your upstart father, by the way. I'm god of the hidden depths! Lord of watery terrors! Father of a thousand monsters! But, no... nobody even knows me. I make one little mistake, supporting the Titans in their war, and I'm exiled from the ocean—to Atlanta, of all places."
"We thought the Olympians said Atlantis," Keto explained. "Their idea of a joke, I guess, sending us here instead."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "And you're a goddess?"
"Keto, yes!" She smiled happily. "Goddess of sea monsters, naturally! Whales, sharks, squids, and other giant sea life, but my heart always belonged to monsters. Did you know that young sea serpents can regurgitate the flesh of their victims and keep themselves fed for up to six years on the same meal? It's true!"
Camilla tried not to gag. Gods, that was disgusting.
Coach Hedge whistled. "Six years? That's fascinating."
"I know!" Keto beamed.
"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!"
And just like that, the three demigods were left alone with a crabby sea god.
Camilla exchanged a nervous look with Percy and Frank. She had a sinking feeling their encounter with Phorcys wasn't going to end well. The last thing she wanted was to have a straight-up fight with an ancient sea god.
Phorcys must have noticed their nervous expressions.
"Oh, it's fine!" he assured them. "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!"
"So..." Percy said. His brow was furrowed like he was getting a headache. "Dionysus sent us."
"Bacchus," Camilla corrected.
"Right," Percy said. "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."
The god tilted his head so that his mismatched eyes almost lined up. "They do?"
"Of course. Don't they, guys?"
"Oh... sure!" Frank said. "People talk about you all the time."
"Yeah, all the time," Camilla agreed enthusiastically.
"What do they say?"
Camilla blanched.
Frank jumped in. "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 questioned.
"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 blinked. "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."
Camilla glanced at the sparklers. "By using stuff like fireworks and disco balls?"
Phorcys beamed. "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 these 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," the god said. "How can you show off your prisoner if he's in a bronze jar? No entertainment value. Not like my lovely specimens!" He waved a hand toward the horse-fish creatures, who were bonking their heads apathetically against the glass.
Percy frowned. "You said this—this doomsday show was Gaea's idea?"
"Well... Mother's plans always have lots of layers." He laughed. "The earth has layers! I suppose that makes sense!"
"Uh-huh," Percy said. "And her plan..."
"Oh, she's put out a general bounty on some group of demigods," Phorcys said. "She doesn't really care who kills them, as long as they're killed. Well... I take that back. She was very specific that two must be spared. One boy and one girl. Tartarus only knows why. At any rate, the twins have their little show planned, hoping it will lure these demigods to Rome. I suppose the prisoner in the jar is a friend of theirs or some such. That, or perhaps they think this group of demigods will be foolish enough to come into their territory searching for the Mark of Athena." Phorcys elbowed Frank in the ribs. "Ha! Good luck with that, eh?"
Frank laughed nervously. "Yeah. Ha-ha. That would be really dumb because, uh..."
Phorcys narrowed his eyes.
Camilla watched nervously, twisting her ring around her finger with her thumb.
But Phorcys grinned and elbowed Frank again. "Ha! Good one, child of Mars. I suppose you're right. No point about it. Even if the demigods found that map in Charleston, they'd never make it to Rome alive!"
"Yes, the map in Charleston," Frank said loudly, giving Percy and Camilla a wide-eyed look to make sure they hadn't missed the information.
"But enough boring education stuff!" Phorcys said. "You've paid for the VIP treatment. Won't you please let me finish the tour? The three denarii entrance fee is nonrefundable, you know."
Percy looked at Camilla and Frank. "Afterwards," he said to Phorcys, "can we ask questions?"
"Of course! I'll tell you everything you need to know." Phorcys clapped his hands twice. On the wall under the glowing red sign, a new tunnel appeared, leading into another tank.
"Walk this way!" Phorcys scuttled sideways through the tunnel.
Frank scratched his head. "Do we have to—?" He turned sideways.
"It's just a figure of speech, man," Percy said. "Come on."
◈
The tunnel ran along the floor of a gymnasium-sized tank. Except for water and some cheap decorations, it seemed majestically empty. There was probably about fifty thousand gallons of water over their heads. Not a big deal, since all three demigods had Poseidon/Neptune blood. Frank could turn into a fish, and Camilla and Percy could breathe underwater.
Phorcys stopped in the middle of the tunnel and spread his arms proudly. "Beautiful exhibit, isn't it?"
In one corner of the tank, snuggled in a forest of artificial kelp, was a life-sized plastic gingerbread cottage with bubbles coming out of the chimney. In the opposite corner, a plastic sculpture of a guy in an old-fashioned diving suit knelt beside a treasure chest, which popped open every few seconds, spewed bubbles, and closed again. Littered across the white sand floor were glass marbles the size of bowling balls, and a strange assortment of weapons like tridents and spearguns. Outside the tank's display wall was an amphitheater with seating for several hundred.
"What do you keep in here?" Frank asked. "Giant killer goldfish?"
Phorcys raised his eyebrows. "Oh, that would be good! But no, Frank Zhang, descendant of Poseidon. This tank is not for goldfish."
At descendant of Poseidon, Frank flinched. He stepped back, gripping his backpack like a mace he was prepared to swing.
Camilla tensed.
"How do you know Frank's last name?" Percy demanded. "How do you know he's descended from Poseidon?"
"Well..." Phorcys shrugged. "It was probably in the descriptions Gaea provided. You know, for the bounty, Percy Jackson."
Percy uncapped his pen, summoning his sword. "Don't double-cross me, Phorcys. You promised me answers."
Camilla summoned Hurricane, watching Phorcys warily.
"After the VIP treatment, yes," Phorcys agreed. "I promised to tell you everything you need to know. The thing is, however, you don't really need to know anything." His grotesque smile stretched wide. "You see, even if you made it to Rome, which is quite unlikely, you'd never defeat my giant brothers without a god fighting at your side. And what god would help you? So I have a better plan. You're not leaving. You're VIPs—Very Important Prisoners!"
Percy lunged. Frank hurled his backpack at the sea god's head. Phorcys simply disappeared.
The god's voice reverberated through the aquarium's sound system. "Yes, good! Fighting is good! You see, Mother never trusted me with big assignments, but she did agree that I could keep anything I caught. You three will make an excellent exhibit—the only demigod spawn of Poseidon in captivity. 'Demigod Terrors'—yes, I like that! We already have a sponsorship lined up with Bargain Mart. You can fight each other every day at eleven AM and one PM, with an evening show at seven PM."
"You can't do this!" Camilla yelled. "You're crazy!"
"Don't sell yourself short, Camilla Alvarez!" Phorcys said. "I'm excited to see what Neptune's secret weapon is truly made of!"
Frank ran for the exit, only to slam into a glass wall. Percy ran the other way and found it blocked as well. Their tunnel had become a bubble.
Camilla put her hand against the glass and realized it was softening, melting like ice. Soon the water would come crashing in.
It's fine, Camilla reminded herself. It's water. That's not a problem.
But she was still scared.
"We won't cooperate, Phorcys!" Percy shouted, his voice tinged with panic. Camilla wondered if he was thinking of the muskeg in Alaska, just like she was.
"Oh, I'm optimistic," the sea god's voice boomed. "If you won't fight each other at first, no problem! I can send in fresh sea monsters every day. After you get used to the food here, you'll be properly sedated and will follow directions. Believe me, you'll come to love your new home."
Over their heads, the glass dome cracked and began to leak.
"I'm the son of Poseidon!" Percy yelled. "You can't imprison me in water. This is where I'm strongest."
Phorcys's laugh seemed to come from all around them. "What a coincidence! It's also where I'm strongest. This tank is specially designed to contain demigods. Now, have fun, you three. I'll see you at feeding time!"
The glass dome shattered, and the water crashed in.
◈