The Mark of Athena

The Mark of Athena is the third installment of The Heroes of Olympus series. It is set to be released on October 2, 2012. The book takes place where The Son of Neptune left off. The book will be told from the points-of-view of Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson, and Piper McLean.

Development
Rick Riordan has been working on The Mark of Athena since the completion of The Son of Neptune. While Amazon.com released information on the book, including page numbers, Rick mentioned that the book wasn't finished yet. So the information is deemed speculative.

During his tour to promote the last of The Kane Chronicles books, titled The Serpent's Shadow, Rick read part of the first chapter of The Mark of Athena. There, it is revealed that Annabeth Chase is one of the narrators. The cover and full first chapter were released on June 1st on the Disney Heroes of Olympus website.

On September 27th, Rick Riordan confirmed that there would be first US printing of 3.5 million copies.

Synopsis
"In The Son of Neptune, Percy, Hazel, and Frank met in Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood, and traveled to the land beyond the gods to complete a dangerous quest. The third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will unite them with Jason, Piper, and Leo. But they number only six--who will complete the Prophecy of Seven?

The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land--Rome itself--to find the Doors of Death. What exactly are the Doors of Death? Much of the prophecy remains a mystery...

With old friends and new friends joining forces, a marvelous ship, fearsome foes, and an exotic setting, The Mark of Athena promises to be another unforgettable adventure by master storyteller Rick Riordan."

“Told from the perspectives of four different demigods, including Annabeth from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Mark of Athena unites the Greek and Roman main characters from The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune. In a fantastical ship called the Argo II, seven demigods journey by air across the United States and by sea to Rome on their quest to defeat the earth mother, Gaea. Meanwhile, war is breaking out between the Roman and Greek demigods they left behind, and only Annabeth holds the key to restoring peace.”



"Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy, after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera, it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fanatical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood come in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods to find-and close- the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare..."

Plot
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 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.

Terminus instead tells them to "surrender, then leave," and 'slaps' Leo's face for asking what the options are. This interests Leo even more and he asks if he can take a look at Terminus' gears, thinking he is an Automaton. Terminus makes Leo drop the screwdriver, announcing "weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line," which includes the Argo II itself, as the whole ship is a weapon. Annabeth spots Percy walking with Frank and Hazel as if they were best friends, and Annabeth knows she had to reach him, as she was so close. She also notices that he is now a Praetor, as he is wearing a purple cape just like Jason's.

Annabeth orders Leo to stop the ship as she asks Terminus whether there is a rule against the ship hovering over New Rome, to which Terminus says there is not. Annabeth then tells Terminus that they will keep the Argo II up in the air over New Roman and use a rode ladder to reach the forum. She also promises Terminus that all the weapons will stay on the ship, as long as the legion reinforcements will honor the same rule, which Terminus agrees to as he cannot tolerate those who break the rules.

When questioned by Leo, who asks if this is a good idea, Annabeth clenches her fists to stop them from shaking. She feels the cold presence, which seems to be laughing at her and the bad choices she is making. But she knows that Percy is down there, and that she has to reach him. She replies that it will be fine and Terminus will make sure that both sides will obey the rules, if Terminus agrees. Terminus sniffs, but agrees "for now," and allows them to climb down the ladder to New Rome, but pleads them to not destroy his city.

The five demigods climb down a ladder and walk through the crowds of Romans to Reyna, the praetor, and Percy. Reyna starts to speak, but Percy and Annabeth run into each others' arms, and kiss each other. She then suddenly suddenly slams Percy into the stone pavement, sending the Romans into a fury, and tells him to never leave her again. Jason then introduces the rest of the demigods. After the introductions, Reyna calls forth the Centurions to discuss something and to tell the spirits in the kitchen to prepare a welcome feast. Octavian is flabbergasted that Reyna is letting the "intruders" into camp. Reyna dismisses him to go read his auguries and they go to the feast.

Reyna calls a toast for friendship ,and soon after all parties start to exchange stories about what they had been going through for the past year. Eventually, Octavian recites the Prophecy of Seven, but Annabeth interrupts him and finishes the sentence. They realize that the Prophecy of Seven is meant for Greeks and Romans to combine forces to close the Doors of Death. Tyson then calls for his brother, Percy, to tell him that Ella is scared. Ella starts mumbling about about different ships that have sunk and notices Annabeth. Once she does she starts reciting a prophecy. Because no one except for Percy, Hazel, and Frank knows that she had once read the Sibylline books, they attempt to make it sound like she is spouting nonsense. After having convinced Octavian it was not a prophecy, Tyson and Ella shadow travel with Ms. O'Leary to somewhere safe.

After the ordeal, Octavian still does not trust the Greeks. In order to prove to Octavian that the Argo II is not dangerous, Leo takes Octavian on board the ship and shows him around. Jason then asks Reyna if it is alright for him to show Piper around, oblivious to the tension between Reyna and him. Percy, also wanting to show Annabeth New Rome, attempts to leave, but Reyna stops Percy and tells him that she wants to talk to Annabeth privately.

While Reyna is walking with Annabeth through New Rome, she calls for her dogs, Aurum and Argentum. The girls discuss the differences between Minerva and Athena. Reyna denotes there are no children of Minerva at Camp Jupiter, and that if they were to come there, they would be artists -- not warriors or leaders on quests. Annabeth then realizes that she has met Reyna before at Circe's Island. They walk all the way to the Garden of Bacchus and appreciate the view. She explains that she had wanted to talk to Annabeth to learn the truth. Instead of Annabeth feeling bad about her not being able to trust anyone at Camp, she talks about her family, growing up, and adventures in Camp Half-Blood.

Throughout the conversation, Reyna mentions that while she was on Circe's Island, she had met a son of Athena, whom washed up on the shore and rambled about the Mark of Athena. Then, a sudden, large explosion makes a crater in the forum of New Rome. The Argo II then continues to attack the city. Reyna and Ananbeth rush down to the forum. Since Roman's are not allowed any weapons inside the Pomeranian Line, they start to throw food, rocks, and plates at the Greeks. Piper and Jason try to calm the angry mob by telling them they would never attack New Rome, but fail. Right outside the Pomerian Line the Roman's set up catapults to fire on the attacking Argo II.

Annabeth then sees Percy using water from a fountain to dose the angry mob of Romans. Octavian comes down the leader screaming that Leo has fired on everyone. Percy asks if Hazel and Frank are coming with them on the ship, to which the two say yes. Hazel calls for Arion and distracts the crowd by riding straight through it. Frank, in attempt to let Percy and Annabeth climb the rope, changes form into a dragon. Once Percy and Annabeth are up, Leo is tackled to the ground by Percy and falls on his head. Annabeth then takes charge of the ship and leaves Camp Jupiter as quickly as possible.

Aboard the Argo 2, the demigods divide themselves into groups to find the materials needed to fix the ship. Annabeth, Percy, and Frank leave to get tar, while Leo and Hazel leave to find Celestial Bronze.

While searching for the bronze, Hazel and Leo encounter Nemesis (The Goddess of Revenge) who gives Leo a fortune cookie, telling him when he really needs it to open it, but a price must be paid.

Hazel and Leo continue on, and the come across Echo. Echo is trying to save Narcissus, both of whom have been brought back from the underworld. Narcissus is being obsessed over by nymphs, while he stares at the reflection of himself through the lake, into a large sheet of Celestial Bronze.

Leo distracts Narcissus and the Nymphs, with the help of Echo, while Hazel retrieves the Celestial Bronze. Leo and Hazel are being pursued by the upset Narcissus and Nymphs, while they run back toward the Argo II.

Piper continues to take care of the unconscious Jason. Piper looks into Katoptris and sees many unsettling images, along with a vision of a man in purple next to a Topeka 32 road sign.

Jason finally wakes up, and the two groups return. The seven convene, and decide to head to Topeka to meet with Bacchus.

Chapter List
There are no chapter titles. Each chapter has a name of one of the main characters and is written in Roman Numerals. There are 77 chapters going alternately in the order of Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Percy. Each characters gets four chapters before it shifts to another character.

Prophecy
A prophecy by Ella the Harpy, while with Percy, Hazel, and Frank, refers to this as well. Translated from Latin to English it says:

Wisdom's daughter walks alone,

The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.

Twins snuff out the angels breathe,

Who holds the key to endless death,

Giants bane stands gold and pale,

Won through pain from a woven jail.

Unraveling of the Prophecy

 * Annabeth, daughter of the wisdom goddess, Athena walks alone through the underground of Rome.
 * The symbol of The Mark of Athena burns through several places in Rome.
 * The twin giants take away Nico di Angelo's (Italian for angel) air by putting him in a jar.
 * Nico holds the information to the Doors of Death.
 * The Athena Parthenos is gold and made from pale stones.
 * It was rescued by Annabeth Chase, despite her broken ankle.

Main Characters

 * Annabeth Chase
 * Percy Jackson
 * Piper McLean
 * Leo Valdez
 * Jason Grace
 * Hazel Levesque
 * Frank Zhang
 * Nico di Angelo
 * Gleeson Hedge

Villains

 * Arachne
 * Gaea
 * Otis and Ephialtes
 * Phorcys
 * Keto
 * Narcissus
 * Chrysaor
 * Golden Boy

Other Characters

 * Athena/Minerva
 * Ares/Mars
 * Dionysus/Bacchus
 * Aphrodite/Venus
 * Nemesis
 * Hercules
 * Reyna
 * Echo
 * Octavian
 * Ella
 * Tyson
 * Terminus
 * Dakota

Trivia

 * The Mark of Athena is the only book in The Heroes of Olympus series so far, where the character that narrated the first chapter did not narrate the last chapter.
 * The Mark of Athena shares some similarities to The Sea of Monsters:
 * A crew sail into the Sea of Monsters, the Bermuda Triangle in The Sea of Monsters and the original Sea of Monsters in the Mediterranean Sea in The Mark of Athena.
 * While Blackjack first appeared in The Sea of Monsters, he made his first actual appearance in The Heroes of Olympus series during The Mark of Athena.
 * Both books have a pirate (Edward Teach and Chrysaor).
 * At one point when talking about the Doors of Death, it is described as being a whole in a dam. Percy makes a dam joke, which no one understands and he says it is an inside joke, referring to his trip to the Hoover Dam in The Titan's Curse.