The Tyrant's Tomb

Tyson’s bare chest is heavily tattooed with lines of prophecy. Frank warns Apollo not to react to the sight. Tyson leads them to a back room that is set up as a tattoo parlor. They also meet the resident cat, Aristophanes.

Ella is pacing on her bird legs and distractedly muttering prophetic fragments. Apollo understands that Tyson and Ella are preserving the lost Sibylline Books and must tattoo them on Tyson’s back because Ella needs living skin as a medium to keep the text in order. When asked for news, Ella announces that she has located the tomb and ominously repeats the word “death.”

Ella recites a new prophecy about the tomb of Tarquin (the last king of ancient Rome). The wording of the prophecy is cryptic, featuring mentions of a wildcat, spinning lights, and the number 254. Ella recommends that Frank and Apollo seek out the king’s tomb in order to find more information that will help her to further clarify the relevant prophecies. A prophetic fragment about firewood makes Frank suddenly tense up, and he quickly leads Apollo away. Apollo recalls that Jupiter’s wife “Hera had inexplicably tied [Frank’s] life force to a small piece of wood, which […] Frank now carried around with him at all times.