Riordan Wiki:Featured Articles/The Mark of Athena



The Mark of Athena is the third installment of The Heroes of Olympus series. It was released on October 2, 2012. The book continues where The Son of Neptune left off, beginning shortly before The Son of Neptune ended, and is told from the points-of-view of Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, and Percy Jackson.

While getting ready to land at Camp Jupiter, Annabeth Chase prepares by making sure the back-up plans are ready in case something goes wrong, as well as the back-ups to the back-up plans. While Leo Valdez is flying the Argo II with a control system that involved Wii remotes, a dubstep sound board, a keyboard, and a monitor, Annabeth tries to keep Gleeson Hedge from attacking the first thing he sees by making him watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships in his cabin. Jason Grace prepares by putting on a purple toga over his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and Piper McLean practices her lines for the landing. As Annabeth watches Jason, she wonders if this could all be a trap, as she was still a bit distrusting of Jason because he seems too perfect. She is also reminded of how much she misses Percy Jackson (her boyfriend) every time she looks at Jason.

Annabeth also mentions feeling a mysterious chill, as if "an evil snowman had crept up behind her and was peering over her neck." Annabeth wishes she could pray to her mother, but this would be impossible, as Athena had appeared to her about a month earlier—an encounter Annabeth describes as horrible. Athena also had given Annabeth the worst present of her life during this meeting. Soon, the horns from Camp Jupiter blew from below as the campers had spotted the Argo II.

Annabeth Chase is amazed by the size of Camp Jupiter, which is twice the size of Camp Half-Blood, and notices the landmarks that Jason had told her about. She sees evidence of the Romans' recent battle, including the cracked dome of the Senate House.

An explosion nearly knocks Annabeth overboard, and Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries, appears on the Argo II. He shrieks that he will not allow any weapons inside the Pomerian Line, and grumbles at Jason for consorting with the enemies of Rome, referring to the Greek demigods. Piper tries to charmspeak Terminus, but he slaps her dagger out of her hand with magic for her impertinence. Since New Rome is still recovering from the recent battle, Terminus announces that if he was at his full strength, he would have already blasted the "flying monstrosity" out of the sky, to which Leo takes offense to. Annabeth tries to regain control of the situation and calm everyone down by introducing herself to Terminus, but the god finds Annabeth being the daughter of Athena, the Greek form of Minerva, to be "scandalous." However, before Annabeth can question Terminus on what he means, Jason interrupts and asks for permission to land inside the Pomerian Line.

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