by Rick Riordan
‘A son of Ares stood here!’ Hedge cried indignantly.
‘I’m Roman … so Mars, actually.’
‘Whatever! Famous spot in the American Civil War!’
‘I’m Canadian, actually.’
‘Whatever! General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta burn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging – now there was a demigod!’
Frank inched away from the satyr. ‘Uh, okay.’
Percy didn’t care much about history, but he wondered whether landing here was a bad omen. He’d heard that most human civil wars started as fights between Greek and Roman demigods. Now they were standing on the site of one such battle. The entire city below them had been levelled on orders of a child of Ares.
Percy could imagine some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood giving such a command. Clarisse La Rue, for instance, wouldn’t hesitate. But he couldn’t imagine Frank being so harsh.
‘Anyway,’ Percy said, ‘let’s try not to burn down the city this time.’
The coach looked disappointed. ‘All right. But where to?’
Percy pointed towards downtown. ‘When in doubt, start in the middle.’
Catching a ride there was easier than they thought. The three of them headed to the presidential library – which turned out to be the Carter Center – and asked the staff if they could call a taxi or give them directions to the nearest bus stop. Percy could have summoned Blackjack, but he was reluctant to ask the pegasus for help so soon after their last disaster. Frank didn’t want to polymorph into anything. And, besides, Percy was kind of hoping to travel like a regular mortal for a change.
One of the librarians, whose name was Esther, insisted on driving them personally. She was so nice about it that Percy thought she must be a monster in disguise, but Hedge pulled him aside and assured him that Esther smelled like a normal human.
‘With a hint of potpourri,’ he said. ‘Cloves. Rose petals. Tasty!’
They piled into Esther’s big black Cadillac and drove towards downtown. Esther was so tiny she could barely see over the steering wheel, but that didn’t seem to bother her. She muscled her car through traffic while regaling them with stories about the crazy families of Atlanta – the old plantation owners, the founders of Coca-Cola, the sports stars and the CNN news people. She sounded so knowledgeable that Percy decided to try his luck.
‘Uh, so, Esther,’ he said, ‘here’s a hard question for you. Salt water in Atlanta. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?’
The old lady chuckled. ‘Oh, sugar. That’s easy. Whale sharks!’
Frank and Percy exchanged looks.
‘Whale sharks?’ Frank asked nervously. ‘You have those in Atlanta?’
‘At the aquarium, sugar,’ Esther said. ‘Very famous! Right downtown. Is that where you wanted to go?’
An aquarium. Percy considered that. He didn’t know what an Ancient Greek sea god would be doing at a Georgia aquarium, but he didn’t have any better ideas.
‘Yes,’ Percy said. ‘That’s where we’re going.’
Esther dropped them at the main entrance, where a queue was already forming. She insisted on giving them her cell phone number for emergencies, money for a taxi ride back to the Carter Center and a jar of homemade peach preserves, which for some reason she kept in a box in her trunk. Frank stuck the jar in his backpack and thanked Esther, who had already switched from calling him sugar to son.
As she drove away, Frank said, ‘Are all people in Atlanta that nice?’
Hedge grunted. ‘Hope not. I can’t fight them if they’re nice. Let’s go beat up some whale sharks. They sound dangerous!’
It hadn’t occurred to Percy that they might have to pay admission, or stand in line behind a bunch of families and kids from summer camps.
Looking at the elementary schoolers in their colourful T-shirts from various day camps, Percy felt a twinge of sadness. He should be at Camp Half-Blood right now, settling into his cabin for the summer, teaching sword-fighting lessons in the arena, planning pranks on the other counsellors. These kids had no idea just how crazy a summer camp could be.
He sighed. ‘Well, I guess we wait in line. Anybody have money?’
Frank checked his pockets. ‘Three denarii from Camp Jupiter. Five dollars Canadian.’
Hedge patted his gym shorts and pulled out what he found. ‘Three quarters, two dimes, a rubber band and – 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 trainers, 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 towards 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 wonderful exhibit. You won’t be disappointed. So rare we get VIPs.’
‘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.
This is dumb, he told himself. I’ve been underwater a million times. And I’m not even in the water.
The real threa
t 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 trousers 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.
‘Peaceful sharks?’ the coach said with disgust. ‘What’s the point of that?’
Frank read the plaque next to the tank. ‘The only whale sharks in captivity in the world,’ he mused. ‘That’s kind of amazing.’
‘Yes, and these are small,’ Kate said. ‘You should see some of my other babies out in the wild.’
‘Your babies?’ Frank asked.
Judging from the wicked glint in Kate’s eyes, Percy was pretty sure he didn’t want to meet Kate’s babies. He decided it was time to get to the point. He didn’t want to go any further into this aquarium than he had to.
‘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 multicoloured 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 Doughnut.
Percy had to read the sign twice because of his dyslexia and then twice more to let the message sink in. ‘Monster Doughnut?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Kate said. ‘One of our corporate sponsors.’
Percy gulped. His last experience with Monster Doughnut 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 bumping 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 Lego, 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 Lego, 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 favourite 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.
‘Visitors!’ the man said, the word thundering through the microphone. He had a DJ’s voice, deep and resonant, which did not match his appearance at all. ‘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 practised this!’
The sea demons paid him no attention.
Coach Hedge leaned towards the crab man and sniffed his glittery wet suit. ‘Nice outfit.’
He didn’t sound like he was kidding. Of course, the satyr wore gym uniforms for fun.
‘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! T
hey 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 towards 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.
The squid had apparently 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 razorlike barbs that have to be sharpened daily.’ She turned towards Frank. ‘Did you know the monstrous squid is the only beast known to eat demigods whole, armour and all, without getting indigestion? It’s true!’
Frank stumbled away from her, hugging his gut as if making sure he was still in one piece.
‘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 Doughnut!’
The last words reverberated through the room with extra echo. Lights flashed. Smoke clouds billowed from the floor, making doughnut-shaped rings that smelled like real doughnuts.
‘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 Gaia?’
The crab man sighed. ‘Five thousand years, and I’m still known as Gaia’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.’