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

by Rick Riordan

Then he gasped and pointed to the spot where Frank was hiding. “Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!” Nothing happened. “I said,” Percy repeated, “Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!” Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat. “Oh, no,” he said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. “I am turning into a crazy dolphin.”

But Percy didn’t feel powerful. The more heroic stuff he did, the more he realized how limited he was. He felt like a fraud. I’m not as great as you think, he wanted to warn his friends. His failures, like tonight, seemed to prove it. Maybe that’s why he had started to fear suffocation. It wasn’t so much drowning in the earth or the sea, but the feeling that he was sinking into too many expectations, literally getting in over his head.

How could loyalty be a bad thing? Besides, things worked out okay against the Titans. He’d saved his friends and beaten Kronos. Now, though, he started to wonder. He would gladly throw himself at any monster, god, or giant to keep his friends from being hurt. But what if he wasn’t up to the task? What if someone else had to do it? That was very hard for him to admit. He even had trouble with simple things like letting Jason take a turn at watch. He didn’t want to rely on someone else to protect him, someone who could get hurt on his account.

Percy wasn’t a kid anymore. He didn’t want anybody he loved taking a risk for him. He had to be strong enough to be the protector himself. But now he was supposed to let Annabeth go off on her own to follow the Mark of Athena, knowing she might die. If it came to a choice—save Annabeth or let the quest succeed—could Percy really choose the quest?

“You’re right. Annabeth…did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?” Her gray eyes turned extra thunderstorm dark, which Percy could interpret just fine: Remember what I said, buddy. Keep that dream to yourself. “Yes,” she said carefully. “It’s on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should—” “Take me along,” Percy finished. “Yeah, you’re right.” Annabeth glared daggers at him. “That’s not—” “Safe,” he supplied. “One demigod walking through Rome alone. I’ll go with you as far as the Tiber.

They had a silent staring contest, but Percy didn’t back down. When he and Annabeth started dating, his mother had drummed it into his head: It’s good manners to walk your date to the door. If that was true, it had to be good manners to walk her to the start of her epic solo death quest.

Percy, Annabeth…I don’t like you two going off on your own. Just remember: behave. If I hear about any funny business, I will ground you until the Styx freezes over.” The idea of getting grounded when they were about to risk their lives was so ridiculous, Percy couldn’t help smiling.

By then it was almost noon, getting really hot, and Percy was starting to wish he had a trireme filled with Diet Coke. Annabeth solved the problem. She dug around in her backpack, brought out Daedalus’s laptop, and typed in a few commands. A plastic card ejected from a slot in the side. Annabeth waved it triumphantly. “International credit card. For emergencies.” Percy stared at her in amazement. “How did you—? No. Never mind. I don’t want to know. Just keep being awesome.”

“This is it.” Annabeth pointed at the old stone bridge. “I recognize that from the map. But what do we do now?” Percy was glad she had said we. He didn’t want to leave her yet. In fact, he wasn’t sure he could make himself do it when the time came. Gaea’s words came back to him: Will you fall alone?

He gestured to a nearby café with tables overlooking the water. “It’s about lunchtime. How about we try your credit card again?”

this is so s2e3 when pdercy wNts to pool w luke looming

“I wouldn’t say that in front of the waiter.” They held hands across the table. Percy was content just to look at Annabeth in the sunlight. It always made her hair so bright and warm. Her eyes took on the colors of the sky and the cobblestones, alternately brown or blue.

Percy knew it was a horrible wish, but he almost regretted that they hadn’t been captured at sea. At least Annabeth and he would’ve been together. “You shouldn’t feel ashamed,” Annabeth said. “You’re thinking about Chrysaor, aren’t you? Swords can’t solve every problem. You saved us in the end.” In spite of himself, Percy smiled. “How do you do that? You always know what I’m thinking.” “I know you,” she said. And you like me anyway? Percy wanted to ask, but he held it back. “Percy,” she said, “you can’t carry the weight of this whole quest. It’s impossible. That’s why there are seven of us. And you’ll have to let me search for the Athena Parthenos on my own.” “I missed you,” he confessed. “For months. A huge chunk of our lives was taken away. If I lost you again—” Lunch arrived. The

“You’ll have to trust me,” Annabeth said. Percy almost thought she was talking to her sandwich, because she didn’t meet his eyes. “You’ve got to believe I’ll come back.” He swallowed another bite. “I believe in you. That’s not the problem. But come back from where?”

“Uh…” Annabeth handed him the letter and the disk of bronze. She was staring at the river god so intently Percy started to feel jealous.

Annabeth kissed Percy. She hesitated, like she was wondering what else to say. Then she shouldered her backpack and climbed on the back of the scooter. Percy hated it. He would’ve preferred to fight any monster in the world. He would’ve preferred a rematch with Chrysaor. But he forced himself to stay in his chair and watch as Annabeth motored off through the streets of Rome with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

“Mithras was born from rock,” Annabeth said, hoping she was right. “He emerged fully grown from the stone, holding his dagger and torch.” The screaming and wailing told her she had guessed correctly. “The big mother knows all!” a ghost cried. “That is our most closely guarded secret!” Then maybe you shouldn’t put a statue of it on your altar, Annabeth thought. But she was thankful for stupid male ghosts. If they’d let women warriors into their cult, they might have learned some common sense.

Annabeth wanted to sob. She wanted someone, anyone, to be here for her. She wanted Leo with his fire skills, or Jason with his lightning, or Hazel to collapse the tunnel. Most of all she wanted Percy. She always felt braver when Percy was with her. I am not going to die here, she told herself. I’m going to see Percy again.

Her eyes wandered over the tapestries, which were heart-wrenchingly beautiful. One showed a pastoral scene so three-dimensional, it could’ve been a window. Another tapestry showed the gods battling the giants. Annabeth saw a landscape of the Underworld. Next to it was the skyline of modern Rome. And in the tapestry to her left… She caught her breath. It was a portrait of two demigods kissing underwater: Annabeth and Percy, the day their friends had thrown them into the canoe lake at camp. It was so lifelike that she wondered if the weaver had been there, lurking in the lake with a waterproof camera.

He doubted they would care, but if Annabeth were here, she would’ve spent the whole day talking about it. Thinking about that made Leo wonder how she was doing on her Mark of Athena expedition. Leo never thought he’d feel this way, but he was worried about that scary blond girl.

Once he’d even reprogrammed the electronic billboards in Times Square to read: ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO…accidentally, of course.

“This is foolish,” said Lion Head. “You only delay your death.” “Delaying death is one of my favorite hobbies.” Leo scanned his new home.

He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. Piper wondered how Annabeth ever won an argument with this guy.

Percy remembered what Luke Castellan had told him years ago, when Percy had come back from his very first quest: Didn’t you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics—being pawns of the Olympians? Percy was almost the same age now as Luke had been then. He could understand how Luke became so spiteful. In the past five years, Percy had been a pawn too many times. The Olympians seemed to take turns using him for their schemes.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much choice. If he was going to save his friends, he had to beat these giants. He had to survive and find Annabeth.

As daylight flooded the cavern, Arachne’s tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, which Annabeth could hardly bear to watch—especially the tapestry depicting her and Percy. But none of that mattered when she heard Percy’s voice from above: “Annabeth!” “Here!” she sobbed. All the terror seemed to leave her in one massive yelp. As the Argo II descended, she saw Percy leaning over the rail. His smile was better than any tapestry she’d ever seen.

Annabeth was dimly aware of the Argo II hovering to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. Then suddenly Percy was next to her, lacing his fingers in hers. He turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears. “It’s okay,” he said. “We’re together.” He didn’t say you’re okay, or we’re alive. After all they’d been through over the last year, he knew the most important thing was that they were together. She loved him for saying that.

“Percy, let me go,” she croaked. “You can’t pull me up.” His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless. “Never,” he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. “The other side, Nico! We’ll see you there. Understand?” Nico’s eyes widened. “But—” “Lead them there!” Percy shouted. “Promise me!” “I—I will.” Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess. Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth’s wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome. “We’re staying together,” he promised. “You’re not getting away from me. Never again.” Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall. “As long as we’re together,” she said.

Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.

It’s impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance.” Frank sniffled. “Then Percy and Annabeth don’t stand a chance either?” Nico twisted his silver skull ring. “Percy is the most powerful demigod I’ve ever met. No offense to you guys, but it’s true. If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he’s got Annabeth at his side. They’re going to find a way through Tartarus.”