The Mark Of Athena

Sitting with a still unconscious Jason, Piper reluctantly draws her bronze dagger, Katoptris (meaning “looking glass”), which once belonged to Helen of Troy and shows prophetic images. It shows her Octavian is addressing the Roman demigods in the forum at Camp Jupiter, urging them to war. Piper feels guilty for not having wanted to befriend the Romans, scared of “losing Jason to his old life” (79). The blade shows a series of other images whose meaning Piper does not understand, including one of herself, Jason, and Percy standing in what resembles a well, up to their waists in black water. Jason and Percy both get pulled under. Piper asks the blade to show her “something helpful” (79, italics in original). She sees a man on the side of an empty highway in Kansas, offering her a silver goblet containing some sort of cure. At that moment, Jason wakes up.

Hazel and Leo arrive, holding a bronze sheet. Leo rushes to the engine room to get to work. Annabeth, Percy, and Frank arrive. When the ship begins listing, Hazel notes that the lake’s nymphs may be angry at them. Percy heads out to “hold off the water spirits” and sends Frank and Annabeth to help Leo (81).