The Heroes of Olympus, #3
The Mark of Athena
by Rick Riordan
Contents
XL
Overview
Using Nemesis’s code, Leo commandeers Archimedes’s systems, destroys the eidolons, and rescues Hazel and Frank. He secures Archimedes’s scrolls but discovers Nico’s sword was a planted decoy—this was a trap. Gaea seals them in, reveals the others are in mortal peril, and forces Leo to devise a desperate counterplan.
Summary
Leo uses Nemesis’s “lucky numbers” to unlock Archimedes’s control sphere and channels power through the workshop. He animates surviving orbs, sending one to carve apart the Taser-ball automaton and another to snatch Archimedes’s scrolls. Gaining confidence, Leo seizes the armored Wolf Head and Lion Head, forcing them to attack each other.
As energy overloads the ancient system, Leo warns Hazel and Frank to take cover, then detonates the constructs. The workshop erupts in showers of bronze, the orbs pop, and the eidolons’ circuits melt. Hazel and Frank recover; Leo confirms he trapped and destroyed the possessing spirits and salvaged the scrolls.
Searching for Nico, Hazel realizes she had been tracking his sword. In the control room, they find the black blade—proof the giants planted it as a decoy and lured them here. Gaea manifests in a bronze mirror, gloating that the trio is trapped, Annabeth is wounded and alone against her mother’s ancient foe, and Jason, Piper, and Percy are descending toward deaths triggered by their own powers.
Refusing to watch, Leo melts the mirror, cutting off Gaea. With the doors sealed and time against them, he asserts leadership and outlines a plan requiring all three of them to escape and aid their friends.
Who Appears
- Leo ValdezUnlocks Archimedes’s control sphere, destroys the eidolons, saves Hazel and Frank, secures scrolls, and devises a rescue plan.
- Hazel LevesqueRevives after shock; realizes she tracked Nico by his sword; learns it was a decoy; prepares to follow Leo’s plan.
- Frank ZhangShields Hazel during the explosion; confirms the eidolons’ defeat; supports Leo’s escape plan.
- GaeaAppears via mirror, reveals the trap, claims the others face imminent death, and seals the trio inside.
- Wolf Head (automaton)Possessed armor; threatens the demigods but is forced by Leo’s control to fight and is destroyed.
- Lion Head (automaton)Possessed armor; turned against Wolf Head by Leo; destroyed in the system overload.
- Taser ball (automaton)Guardian orb disabled when Leo’s sphere carves open its mechanisms.
- ArchimedesAbsent inventor; his machines and scrolls enable Leo’s counterattack and may guide future inventions.
- Annabeth ChaseSeen in Gaea’s vision, injured and alone in a cavern, facing a deadly foe.
- Percy JacksonShown descending with Jason and Piper; Gaea claims their powers will doom them.
- Jason GracePart of the descending trio; targeted by Gaea’s prophecy of imminent death.
- Piper McLeanAccompanies Percy and Jason downward; also threatened by Gaea’s looming trap.