𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 - jason grace

10. MAIA'S SPIDEY SENSES ARE TINGLING

MAIA HAD A REALLY BAD feeling about this. She couldn't explain it, but something felt off. Kind of like it did on the ship–something was about to happen, and that made her nervous. She felt like she was at the top of a roller coaster, waiting for the drop. She knew it was coming, but it was only a matter of time until something happened.

As soon as they entered, Coach Hedge whistled. "Now that's interesting."

Gliding above them were multicolored jellyfish the size of trash cans, each with hundreds of tentacles that looked like silky barbed wire. One jellyfish had a paralyzed ten-foot-long swordfish tangled in its grasp. The jellyfish slowly wrapped its tendrils tighter and tighter around its prey.

Kate beamed at Coach Hedge. "You see? Forget the whale sharks! And there's much more."

Kate led them into an even larger chamber, lined with more aquariums. On one wall, a glowing red sign proclaimed: DEATH IN THE DEEP SEAS! Sponsored by Monster Donut.

"Monster Donut?" Percy asked.

"Oh, yes," Kate said. "One of our corporate sponsors."

In one aquarium, a dozen hippocampi—horses with the tails of fish—drifted aimlessly. They just floated around, occasionally bonking against the glass.

"This isn't right," Percy muttered.

Maia followed his line of sight, and noticed how at the bottom of a smaller tank, two Nereids—female sea spirits—sat cross-legged, facing each other, playing a game of Go Fish. They looked incredibly bored. Their long green hair floated listlessly around their faces. Their eyes were half closed.

Percy glared at Kate. "How can you keep them here?"

"I know." Kate sighed. "They aren't very interesting. We tried to teach them some tricks, but with no luck, I'm afraid. I think you'll like this tank over here much better."

Percy started to protest, but Kate had already moved on.

"Holy mother of goats!" cried Coach Hedge. "Look at these beauties!"

He was gawking at two sea serpents—thirty-foot-long monsters with glowing blue scales and jaws that could have bitten a whale shark in half. In another tank, peeking out from its cement cave, was a squid the size of an eighteen-wheeler, with a beak like a giant bolt cutter.

A third tank held a dozen humanoid creatures with sleek seal bodies, doglike faces, and human hands. They sat on the sand at the bottom of the tank, building things out of Legos, though the creatures seemed just as dazed as the Nereids.

It was sad. Maia could only imagine how upsetting it could be for them, to just be up on display like that.

"Are those—?" Percy struggled to form the question.

"Telkhines?" Kate said. "Yes! The only ones in captivity."

"But they fought for Kronos in the last war!" Percy said. "They're dangerous!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, we couldn't call it 'Death in the Deep Seas' if these exhibits weren't dangerous. Don't worry. We keep them well sedated."

"Sedated?" Frank asked. "Is that legal?"

Maia bit the inside of her cheek. She did not like this at all. Not one bit.

Kate appeared not to have heard. She kept walking, pointing out other exhibits.

"And these sea monsters," Kate narrated up ahead, "can grow five hundred feet long in the deep ocean. They have over a thousand teeth. And these? Their favorite food is demigod—"