DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- thirteen

ROSE DIDN'T LIKE BEING AWAY FROM PERCY.

keto took them through all of the aquarium, but rose didn't pay much attention. she couldn't say she was interested in seeing a bunch of drugged sea creatures.

eventually, keto led them into an amphitheater. hedge pretended to be interested in the stadium seating as rose checked to see if there was any cell service.

she'd gotten one text, from mitchell: "you're on a quest that determines the fate of the world, and you decided to stop at an aquarium?"

little did she know, a few hundred feet away, percy and frank (in goldfish form) were being held captive in one of the aquarium tanks. they were trying to get the attention of rose and hedge, but neither of them could see or hear them banging on the glass.

in desperation, percy scooped up a giant marble and hurled it underhanded like a bowling ball.

it hit the glass with a thunk—not nearly loud enough to attract attention.

but hedge had the ears of a satyr, and the hearing in rose's right ear had enhanced after she went deaf in her left. she glanced over her shoulder. when she saw percy, her expression was so blank he wasn't sure if she could actually see them. she tugged on hedge's sleeve and whispered something to him.

before keto could notice, hedge pointed toward the top of the amphitheater.

"gods of olympus," he yelled. "what the hell is that?"

keto turned. hedge promptly took off his fake foot and ninja-kicked her in the back of the head with his goat hoof. keto crumpled to the floor.

rose had never been happier to have a chaperone who liked mixed martial arts cage matches. hedge high-fived her.

the two of them ran to the tank.

percy pounded his fist on the glass and mouthed: break it!

"where's frank?" hedge asked.

percy pointed at the giant koi.

frank waved his left dorsal fin. 'sup?

behind hedge, the sea goddess began to move. percy pointed frantically.

hedge shook his leg like he was warming up his kicking hoof, but percy waved his arms, no.

on three, percy mouthed, holding up three fingers and then gesturing at the glass.

percy had never been good at charades (like, ever), but he got the message across.

rose took of one of her rings. she must've grabbed the wrong one, because instead of a sword, she got a celestial bronze bat. she didn't even know that was an option.

percy looked at her with a confused expression. she shrugged.

percy hefted another giant marble. he counted on his fingers. one, two, three!

frank turned to human and shoved his shoulder against the glass. hedge did a chuck norris roundhouse kick with his hoof. rose swung her bat. percy threw his marble.

the glass wall cracked. fracture lines zigzagged from the point of impact, and suddenly the tank burst. percy was sucked out in a torrent of water. he tumbled across the amphitheater floor with frank, some large marbles, and a clump of plastic seaweed. keto was just getting to her feet when a diver statue slammed into her like it wanted a hug.

coach hedge spit salt water. "jesus, jackson! what were you doing in there?"

"phorcys!" percy spluttered. "trap! run!"

alarms blared as they fled the exhibits. they ran past the nereids' tank, then the telkhines.

over the sound system, phorcys's voice boomed: "percy jackson!"

flash pots and sparklers exploded randomly. donut-scented smoke filled the halls. dramatic music—five or six different tracks—blared simultaneously from the speakers. lights popped and caught fire as all the special effects in the building were triggered at once.

the four of them stumbled out of the glass tunnel and found themselves back in the whale shark room. the mortal section of the aquarium was filled with screaming crowds—families and day camp groups running in every direction while the staff raced around frantically, trying to assure everyone it was just a faulty alarm system.

rose knew better. she and her friends joined the mortals and ran for the exit.