STORY BEHIND
Meeting Grover at Westover Hall
In December, six months after the Sea of Monsters adventure, Percy, Thalia and Annabeth go to Westover Hall to meet Grover, who had found two demigod siblings there, Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Thalia displays the ability to manipulate The Mist to convince a resident teacher there that the three belonged to the school and manages to not let the three get kicked out before they could find the satyr. Grover soon informs them that Dr. Thorn, the vice-principal of Westover hall, is a manticore (a half scorpion, lion, and human monster), and is suspicious of the two half-bloods' true identities. Thalia formulates a plan to distract Dr. Thorn; however the plan backfires on them. Percy, who was forced to dance with Annabeth to blend in with the crowd, sees Dr. Thorn attempting to sneak away with the two half-bloods. He couldn't see Thalia, Annabeth, or Grover, so he followed Dr. Thorn. When he got to Bianca and Nico, Dr. Thorn threw a thorn and it grazed his shoulder. Percy soon recognized the feeling of poison. Percy was too weak to fight and Percy heard him talk about The Great Stirring and wondered what could possibly be stirring. Percy got close to Bianca who was freaking out and Nico who was overjoyed and scared. Percy let Dr. Thorn bring them to a cliff and he called someone and said that 'the package was ready to be delivered'. Percy concentrated hard to send a message to Grover, through their empathy link, that he was in danger. It worked and soon Grover, Thalia and Annabeth show up and Dr. Thorn reveals his true form as a manticore. Some silver arrows pass Percy and hit the manticore. Then Thorn shoots a volley of thorns to the shooters and more silver arrows came out and split them in half perfectly. The shooters got out of the bushes they were all young girls wearing silver clothing. Their skin seemed to have a slight silvery glow. They were the Hunters of Artemis. They are about to shoot when Dr. Thorn lunged at Percy and Thalia, knowing they were weak and Annabeth climbed on Dr. Thorn with her knife, then the hunters shot and he fell from the cliff, taking Annabeth with him.
The Hunters set up camp and Percy was invited to come and have a talk with Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who appears in the form of a girl around the age of 12. She asks Percy to restate what Dr. Thorn mentioned and concludes that dangerous times were near. She decided to hunt a powerful monster, one that has the power to bring down the gods and Olympus. Before she goes alone to do so, Zoë is placed in charge of the Hunters and has to stay at Camp Half-Blood until Artemis returns while they're still at camp outside Bianca chooses to join the Hunters and attain immortality and a new family, along with forswearing romantic love forever, while leaving Nico in the trust of those at Camp Half-Blood.
Thalia Attempts to Drive
The group receives a ride from Artemis's brother Apollo who lets them use the sun chariot, with Thalia at the wheel. The combination results in a gut-wrenching experience for the group because Thalia is scared of heights and the sun chariot can fly. But at last, they arrive at Camp Half-Blood (in the canoe lake). Percy and Thalia lead Nico for a conversation with Mr. D and Chiron. The two are quickly forbidden to carry out any rescue plans they have for Annabeth, with Dionysus stating that there was a small chance that she would survive.
Percy's Latest Dreams
Chiron announces that a "friendly" game of Capture the Flag was going to be held against the hunters, as it is a tradition at Camp Half-Blood. Percy returns to his cabin to learn that his father has installed a fountain for him, filled with golden drachma within to remind to keep in touch with his family. Percy sends an Iris message to Tyson, only to learn that the Princess Andromeda is being protected by old spirits and that it was headed to the Panama Canal.
Percy soon has a dream in which Luke tricks Annabeth into holding up the sky, the former burden of Atlas. Percy tells Grover of his dream, only to learn of the possibility that Annabeth was considering joining the Hunters. Percy attempts to seek help from the Oracle, but the Oracle doesn't respond. Later, after a humiliating defeat in Capture the Flag by the Hunters, Percy and Thalia were about to come to arms when Percy sees the Oracle walking toward Zoë. It was astounding as, according to Chiron, the Oracle never left the attic of the Big House.
The Hunters, Demigods and a Satyr team up
A discussion is held about who is to go on the quest. It was decided that Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, Grover and Phoebe would go, leaving Percy protesting. When asked whether his determination was due to Annabeth, Percy hesitates. In the end, the decision was final and there was nothing he could do to change it. Chiron tries to comfort him. Percy then sends an Iris message to his mother, and finds her chatting with Paul Blofis, her new boyfriend. In the end, Sally encourages Percy to do what he thinks is right.
Later, Percy has another dream, in which Artemis takes Annabeth's place holding the sky to save her from likely death. In the dream, the General tells Luke to kill Annabeth, but Luke convinces the General to let him keep her alive until winter solstice, as further bait. Percy awakes to be called by Blackjack, a pegasus, to rescue a marine cow-like creature called the Ophiotaurus, whom Percy names Bessie, not knowing what it is, thinking it's a girl, and not knowing its true power.
Upon his return, Percy finds Nico eavesdropping on the Hunters. Using Annabeth's Yankees cap, he turned himself invisible and learns that Phoebe is bedridden due to a prank the Stoll brothers pulled. He quickly stops Nico, who was attempting to follow his sister on the quest (which Percy figures out after the conversation between the hunters). Percy promises Nico that he would try to protect Bianca, before taking off on Blackjack and following the group.
The Smithsonian
They stop at a museum after many hours and from a distance Percy sees Dr. Thorn confirming that Annabeth is alive and that his dream had been true. Dr. Thorn does not go into the museum with the rest of them, and instead goes somewhere else. Percy follows, and soon he sees the General and Luke. There the General creates kittens, and fires the foolish mortal who brought him cat teeth. He finally gets the right teeth, which are used to create skeletal warriors, which are almost impossible to destroy, by putting dinosaur teeth, which are really dragon teeth, into soil and casting a spell. Their original purpose was to kill Zoe and Bianca. The General was about to give them a cloth to get the Hunters' scent when Percy grabs it. However, the skeletons tear a chunk out of Percy's sleeve and inhale his scent, making him their target.
Percy quickly escapes using Annabeth's Yankee cap and notifies the others. Though the group (Zoë in particular) was rather surprised and angry to realize he had followed them, they are interrupted when the Nemean lion attacks. Nothing is able to pierce its armor, much to the displeasure of the group. However, Percy discovers a weakness and has an idea to expose it. He finds astronaut food in a gift shop and throws them into the Nemean lion's mouth. It causes the creature to expose his mouth long enough for Zoë to finish him off with an arrow.
Zoë then gives Percy the trophy of the lion pelt, saying that he was the one who defeated the lion fair and square, even though she was the one who shot the killing arrow. The skeleton warriors, disguised by The Mist as gray security men, are now following Percy, but Zoë refuses to leave him behind as she realizes that he is the fifth quest member. They soon reach an area called Sun West line after taking many trains to lose their followers. There, they meet a homeless person and share his fire, who little do they know is Apollo.
The Junkyard of the Gods
Percy soon encounters Apollo again when they get on a train headed west. Apollo advises him to seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Percy soon had a dream, in which he is given the sword Anaklusmos by a girl. Unbeknownst to him, he is in fact seeing through the eyes of Hercules and the girl he later realizes was Zoë Nightshade.
With help from Apollo, they reach a small town in New Mexico. There they are surrounded by the skeletal warriors and Grover faints as Pan's presence hits him. Following that, the skeletons surround them, using handguns. Though Percy deflects a bullet and cuts down a skeleton warrior, it immediately forms back together, reassembling itself. Somehow, though, Bianca defeats a warrior, stabbing it right in the chest, her knife blasting it to flames. However, this does not stop another from shooting at Percy. Miraculously, Percy survives and discovers that the Nemean Lion pelt he wears is bulletproof. Grover then senses Pan's presence again and a wild gift from him, the Erymanthian boar, a giant boar, comes and temporarily defeats the skeletal warriors and carries them further on to San Francisco. It takes them to the Junkyard of the Gods, and Percy meets Ares and talks to Aphrodite, at which point it is hinted that Annabeth and Percy will most likely have a romantic future. She also tells him that he will have a 'tragic love life'. Eventually, the group enters the junkyard (located near Gila Claw, Arizona), where Bianca tries to steal something, a MythoMagic action figure for her younger brother, but she awakens a defective Talos and enters via a maintenance hole in his left foot to destroy him. She succeeds in destroying the prototype Talos, but is electrocuted when Talos crashes into electric lines, causing him to short-circuit and crash to the ground. When failing to find her, Grover tearfully announces that the next stage in the prophecy has been fulfilled: Bianca di Angelo died in the desert, the land without rain. Its bad enough that one of them has been lost, but now they are in bigger trouble with the skeletal warriors- it was only because of Bianca that they are dealing with 11 skeletal warriors instead of 12.
The Hoover Dam
Finding a truck in the junkyard, Thalia drives until they reach a river. There, the group canoes to the Hoover Dam. They are attacked by the 11 remaining skeletal warriors (but not before making some 'dam' jokes) and Percy for one second thinks that one of the Skeletal soldiers is behind him and blindly slashes at a mortal girl who can see through the Mist, named Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Because she is mortal, the blade passes right through her, like it's an illusion. She saves Percy by confusing the skeletons, allowing Percy and his friends to escape. The group gets trapped on the dam but they fly off on giant angel statues built for Zeus by Athena.
Reaching San Francisco, Percy wrestles Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and learns Bessie the Ophiotaurus is the monster they seek, for burning its entrails will give them power to destroy Olympus. Grover takes Bessie back to camp after Thalia is enticed to wield the Ophiotaurus' power by Dr. Thorn, who attacks them on the pier. They manage to get an Iris message to Camp Half Blood and see Dionysus, the camp director. He saves them after Percy reluctantly asks for help.
Percy takes the Titan's Curse
They go to see Annabeth's father, Frederick Chase, to ask for help and he lends them his car, which cannot be returned to him as it explodes due to a lightning bolt that Kronos threw to make Thalia angry at her father. They climb to the Garden of the Hesperides, where Zoe meets her sisters and is poisoned by the dragon, Ladon. They continue to the place where Atlas used to hold up the sky, and they see Artemis taking on his burden. Annabeth is bound and gagged by Luke and Atlas. Realizing that the prophecy made by the Oracle involved him, Percy takes the burden of the Titan's curse from Artemis. In the ensuing fight, Atlas kills his daughter by throwing her against rocks; she is later turned into the constellation "The Huntress" by Artemis. Artemis kicks Atlas back under the weight of the sky as only a Titan can be forced to bear the sky, the impact pushes Percy backwards and the sky smashes Atlas' back before he struggles to his knees. In a battle between Thalia and Luke, Luke falls into a chasm; Percy assumes that Luke is dead, but it's confirmed by Poseidon that the traitorous demigod had survived. They go to Mount Olympus via pegasi, including Blackjack.
The Winter Solstice
When Percy, Thalia and Annabeth arrived, the gods had already started the meeting. Thalia chose to be in Zoë's place as the Hunters' lieutenant so that she will not turn to 16 and she will not be the child of the prophecy. Athena suggested that the gods should kill Percy because he will be the next child of the prophecy after 2 years. But fortunately, many of the gods voted not to kill him. Poseidon also vouched for Bessie, the Ophiotaurus. He will keep it in Mount Olympus. After partying with the gods, they go back to camp. Percy told Nico about Bianca's death and gave him the figurine of Hades, which Bianca found in the junkyard of Hephaestus . Nico tells Percy that he hates him for not saving his sister and starts to run away. Percy figures out that Nico's father was Hades after 4 skeletal warriors appear and Nico unintentionally splits the earth to swallow them up. The remaining 7 skeletons are never seen again in the rest of the series. While Percy discusses this with Annabeth, Grover arrives, claiming he heard Pan in his mind saying "I await you" while drinking coffee.
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