XVI

In the aquarium tunnel beneath a massive tank, Phorcys flatters Percy and Frank before revealing he knows their identities from Gaea’s bounty. He declares them VIPs—Very Important Prisoners—to headline a demigod exhibit, then seals the tunnel into a bubble as water begins to pour in.

The dome shatters, flooding the space. Percy can breathe underwater, but Frank cannot—until Frank panics and shapeshifts into a giant koi, then gets stuck. Attempts to cut the bronze mesh, smash the glass, or control the enchanted water all fail, deepening Percy’s fear of becoming a sedated showpiece like the other captive sea creatures.

Outside, Keto escorts Coach Hedge past the tank. Percy fails to signal vocally, but Hedge spots him and, after a feint, knocks Keto down with a goat-hoof kick. Percy signals a coordinated strike against the glass. With time running out as Keto rises, Percy counts them in.

Frank reverts to human and shoulder-slams the wall; Hedge delivers a roundhouse hoof kick; Percy hurls a marble and finally compels the trapped water to obey. Channeling his anger and need to protect friends, he unleashes the tank’s pressure, fracturing and bursting the glass. They tumble free as debris pins Keto.

Alarms, smoke, and chaotic effects erupt as Phorcys triggers the aquarium’s spectacle systems. Percy longs to free the drugged telkhines, Nereids, and hippocampi but cannot transport or rouse them and fears Phorcys’s and Keto’s return. Joining panicked mortals in the whale shark room, the trio runs for the exit.