The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3)(48)

“So, Kate,” he said, “we’re looking for a guy…I mean a god, named Phorcys. Would you happen to know him?”

Kate snorted. “Know him? He’s my brother. That’s where we’re going, sillies. The real exhibits are right through here.”

She gestured at the far wall. The solid black surface rippled, and another tunnel appeared, leading through a luminous purple tank.

Kate strolled inside. The last thing Percy wanted to do was follow, but if Phorcys was really on the other side, and if he had information that would help their quest…Percy took a deep breath and followed his friends into the tunnel.

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.

Percy had to read the sign twice because of his dyslexia, and then twice more to let the message sink in. “Monster Donut?”

“Oh, yes,” Kate said. “One of our corporate sponsors.”

Percy gulped. His last experience with Monster Donut hadn’t been pleasant. It had involved acid-spitting serpent heads, much screaming, and a cannon.

In one aquarium, a dozen hippocampi—horses with the tails of fish—drifted aimlessly. Percy had seen many hippocampi in the wild. He’d even ridden a few; but he had never seen any in an aquarium. He tried to speak with them, but they just floated around, occasionally bonking against the glass. Their minds seemed addled.

“This isn’t right,” Percy muttered.

He turned and saw something even worse. At the bottom of a smaller tank, two Nereids—female sea spirits—sat cross-legged, facing each other, playing a game of Go Fish. They looked incredibly bored. Their long green hair floated listlessly around their faces. Their eyes were half closed.

Percy felt so angry, he could hardly breathe. 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!” cried Coach Hedge. “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 of an eighteen-wheeler, with a beak like a giant bolt cutter.

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 the creatures seemed just as dazed as the Nereids.

“Are those—?” Percy struggled to form the question.

“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?”

Kate appeared not to have heard. She kept walking, pointing out other exhibits. Percy looked back at the telkhines. One was obviously a youngster. He was trying to make a sword out of Legos, but he seemed too groggy to put the pieces together. Percy had never liked sea demons, but now he felt sorry for them.

“And these sea monsters,” Kate narrated up ahead, “can grow five hundred feet long in the deep ocean. They have over a thousand teeth. And these? Their favorite food is demigod—”

“Demigod?” Frank yelped.

“But they will eat whales or small boats, too.” Kate turned to Percy and blushed. “Sorry…I’m such a monster nerd! I’m sure you know all this, being the son of Poseidon, and all.”

Percy’s ears were ringing like alarm bells. He didn’t like how much Kate knew about him. He didn’t like the way she casually tossed out information about drugging captive creatures or which of her babies liked to devour demigods.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “Does Kate stand for something?”

“Kate?” She looked momentarily confused. Then she glanced at her name tag. “Oh…” She laughed. “No, it’s—”

“Hello!” said a new voice, booming through the aquarium.

A small man scuttled out of the darkness. He walked sideways on bowed legs like a crab, his back hunched, his arms raised on either side like he was holding invisible plates.

He wore a wet suit that was several horrible shades of green. Glittery silver words printed down the side read: PORKY’S FOLLIES. A headset microphone was clamped over his greasy wiry hair. His eyes were milky blue, one higher than the other, and though he smiled, he didn’t look friendly—more like his face was being peeled back in a wind tunnel.