Percy Jackson and the Olympians 4
Rick Riordan
The day before going to camp, Percy’s mom drops him off at the school her boyfriend (Paul Blofis) works at for orientation. When he sees a redheaded girl he recognizes, he sneaks around to the side entrance. There are two cheerleaders, Tammi and Kelli, waiting there to great him. They get overly interested in him when he says his name is Percy and already know his last name. Paul comes over to show Percy to the auditorium. Percy is glad to escape the cheerleaders and finds a seat. The deadheaded girl ends up sitting near him and she gets his attention. Rachel Elizabeth Dare asks for an explanation. Suddenly, her attitude changes and she tells him they need to get out of there and hide. Percy ends up following her and they find a spot in the band room behind the drums. She tells him the two cheerleaders are not what they seem. He tells her that he is only half human and that most people can’t see through the mist. He admits that the monsters and gods from Greek mythology are all real. Then Tammi and Kelli come in to find them. They talk about camp going up in flames. Tammi moves in to bite Percy, but he is distracted by her disguise. Finally he can see that they are both empoursai (Hecate’s vampire like mix of ghost, animal, and bronze). Percy is able to kill Tammi, but this just infuriates Kelli. She goes running to the door and just before Percy is about to cut her with his sword, the door opens and Paul is on the other side. Kelli bursts into flames. Rachel pulls Percy away and they get out through the window. Percy runs into Annabeth and introduces her to Rachel. Rachel tells him she will make something up to tell the school, but writes her number on his hand so he can explain what is going on later. Annabeth says they need to get to camp immediately.
The cab ride to camp is quiet after Percy uses Annabeth’s cell phone to call his mom and leave a voicemail. When they arrive, they pass the dragon guarding the golden fleece on Thalia’s pine tree and go into camp. Annabeth immediately leaves Percy to go work with Clarisse on a project. Percy decides to practice with his sword, but when he gets to the practice arena, there is the largest hellhound he has ever seen. He gets ready to attack, but Quintus, the new sword teacher, stops him. The hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary is his pet. He throws a practice dummy for her to play with. Quintus, an adult demigod, has come to help teach while Mr. D is away helping out the other gods. Chiron comes to get Percy so he can attend Grover’s hearing. On the way, Percy explains what happened with the empousai and Rachel. They go deep into the woods where Grover stands before the Council of Satyrs. They are ready to take his searchers license away because they don’t believe he actually heard Pan as he claims. Annabeth and Clarisse work together to hold back Grover’s girlfriend, Juniper. The council gives him another week to bring them proof. Grover is crestfallen when he approaches Percy, who is really confused about what is going on. A conch horn sound and they all have to return to their cabins for inspection. Percy rushes to his cabin to clean up as quickly as possible. Tyson is already there and has the place spotless. They spend the afternoon together. Percy takes him to see Annabeth, but she is distracted by Grover’s problem. She says Clarisse found something, but it would be extremely dangerous, especially for Grover. Next, they visit Quintus and he teaches Percy about different techniques. Percy asks about some mark on his neck, but Quintus is cryptic and presses his swordplay harder to keep Percy occupied. Tyson sees the crack in the ground and Percy tells him about Nico and how they need to keep his parentage a secret to keep him safe. That night, Percy lies awake in bed not wanting to have any prophetic dreams. The fountain in his cabin starts glowing and he goes over to find a collect Iris message. He drops a drachma into the image and is connected. He sees Nico talking to a ghost about how to get his sister back. The ghost tells him he has to offer a soul that has already escaped death to get his sister’s back. Nico doesn’t want to murder anyone, but he agrees to do it. Percy knows he is coming for him.
At breakfast, Chiron brings Grover to sit with Percy. He asks Percy to convince Grover, but Percy doesn’t know what he is talking about. Chiron takes off and Annabeth joins them at the Poseidon table (even though it is against the rules to sit at other tables). She explains Clarisse found a former camper, Chris Rodriguez (joined Luke’s side), near her mom’s house. He was wondering the dessert and mumbling about string. Clarissa took him to her mom’s house to recover, but they don’t know if he will ever be sane again. Annabeth explains Luke has possibly been trying to figure out how to use Daedalus’ labyrinth and is looking for Ariadne’s string to guide them through. They think Pan might be in there as well. Annabeth leaves the table and says they will talk later. Grover says he is too much of a coward to go underground and leaves to go see Juniper. Percy takes some sugar cubes to Blackjack, who is ready to help until Percy mentions the maze. He tells Percy to whistle if he needs to fly anywhere. After dinner, Quintus explains his new war game. There are golden laurels in a silk package tied to one of six monsters. Each pair is trying to get the laurels first. Percy is paired with Annabeth and Tyson with Grover. As Percy and Annabeth follow one of the monster’s trails through the woods, he tells her about the Iris message he got the night before. As they make their way further into the woods, Juniper finds them and begs them not to let Grover go into the maze. Before they can really discuss it, three giant scorpions appear, one with a red silk bag tied to its tail. Percy finds a spot between two boulders that they go to hide in. Annabeth grabs him as she falls and they land in a stone corridor. Percy uses his sword for light and Annabeth stops him from wondering forward. She tells him to search the wall for the mark of Daedalus (Greek Delta). Once she finds it, she uses it to open the hole they fell into. They emerge to find everyone looking for them because they have been missing for over an hour. Clarissa asks if they found it and Annabeth confirms they found the place Luke’s army could enter through the maze.
That night Percy dreams about Daedalus being dragged into his workshop by guards. His son and the king are waiting for him. HIs son is worried about him, but the king is upset Daedalus helped kill his Minotaur and turned his daughter against him. The king warns him that if he refuses to obey him, he will take it out on his son. The next morning, everyone meets in the arena to discuss what to do next. Juniper confirms that Luke knows about the labyrinth entrance in the camp. Clarisse tried to cover the entrance they found in Arizona with a demolished building, but the entrance just moved a few feet to uncover itself. Annabeth says they need to go into the labyrinth and find Daedalus’ workshop. If he is there as some suspect, they need to convince him to side with them instead of Luke. They also need to find Ariadne’s string. It is unanimously agreed that Annabeth will lead the quest, so she goes to see the oracle. While waiting for Annabeth to come out of the attack, Juniper comes to tell Percy that she saw Quintus by the labyrinth entrance shortly after he arrived. She warns him not to trust him. Percy makes his way to the Big House, but when he gets inside, he hears crying coming from beneath him. He opens a door to the basement and sees Chris Rodriguez crying and Clarisse trying to comfort him and help him remember what is real. When Percy hears someone coming, he goes back outside. Annabeth comes back to the arena to tell everyone the prophecy she received. She talks about the rise of the dead, the traitor, and the lost. She also mentions the ghost king and a child of Athena’s last stand. She is reluctant to tell them about destroying with a hero’s final breath. She asks Percy, Grover, and Tyson to go with her. Chiron warns her that three is a sacred number and that she is breaking the rules. She tells him to trust her that she needs all of them. Quints pulls Percy aside to give him a whistle made of Stygian ice (from the River Styx) that will call Mrs. O’Leary no matter the distance and then shatter. Percy remembers Luke’s gift before his first quest that was meant to kill him and promises himself not to use it. Percy goes to see Annabeth in her cabin. She is worried that breaking the rules and taking three people with her own her quest will get one of them killed, but she feels like it is the right thing to do. She starts crying and Percy hugs her. Her half brother, Malcolm comes in to tell her about Archery. She tells Percy she will be fine. He asks if the last line of the prophecy ending with breath rhymes with the previous line ending in death. Annabeth doesn’t answer and leaves for Archery practice. Percy feels one of them won’t come back from the quest.
That night, Percy dreams about Luke meeting with Kronos. The Titan already knew a few heroes would be sent out on a quest and is determined to lead the invasion of Camp Half Blood himself. Kelli, the empousa, is escorted in by snake women. She starts to give Luke her update, but she can sense that someone is watching them. She looks at Percy and darts towards him. Percy wakes up to see the fountain glowing. He goes over to it and asks to see Nico. He watch as Nico has skeletons dig a grave and talk to the same ghost as before. He pours Coke and Happy Meals into the grave and calls on spirits. Theseus arrives and thinks he recognizes the voice of the other ghost. He says Nico should not go into the labyrinth. He was only able to navigate because of the love of a mortal girl leading him. Nico doesn’t get an answer about if it is possible to revive his sister. Percy’s cabin starts to shake and he ends up having to split the fountain in half with his sword. The next morning, everyone meets at the rock formation, Zeus’ Fist to see off the questers. Percy pull Chiron aside to tell him about his dream, the Iris message about Nico, and what Juniper said about Quintus. Annabeth comes to get Percy and they all prepare themselves to go into the labyrinth.
As soon as they get into the maze, Percy realizes it already looks different than the last time him and Annabeth were in there. Annabeth comes up with a plan to keep their left hands on the wall, but the maze suddenly changes to put them in a circular room with eight tunnels. They try to go back, but everyone ends up facing a different tunnel. Annabeth picks a tunnel and random and they start moving. They find a room from the Roman Empire with mosaics of the gods. She thinks they are going the right way because the older the path gets, the more likely they are to finding Daedalus’ workshop. They find a dead milkman and continue on. They end up back in the room with the mosaics where there are two doors and a two faced god named Janus tries to get Annabeth to make a choice between them. A woman appears and tells Janus it isn’t his time to make Annabeth choose yet. After Janis is gone, she introduces herself as Hera and provides food and drink. She explains that she wants to keep her family together and the best way to do that is to help them on their quest. She advises them to talk to Hephaestus about the fate of Daedalus. She gives Annabeth one wish. Annabeth wishes for a way to navigate the labyrinth, but Hera says Percy already has that. She warns Annabeth that her decision has only been postponed before she disappears. Grover and Tyson suddenly agree that they should take the left door because there is something coming from the right one.
They quickly find their way blocked by a boulder and Tyson pushes it into a room and then back into place to trap whatever was after them. In the room, they notice their are bars. Annabeth recognizes Alcatraz from a recent field trip. Tyson hears something and bends the bars to get them out and lead them to the courtyard. There, he relays what he hears between Kampe (jailer during Kronos rule, bottom half is a dragon) and Briares (one of the Hundred Handed Ones). He doesn’t want to listen to the master and Kampe is trying to convince him. She leaves him to think about it. Tyson is excited to meet Briares when they approach the cell. He tells him to break the bars and come with them, but he is afraid of being punished by Kampe. Percy challenges him to a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” and cheats to win so he will join them. Kampe sees them from the lower level and gets ready to attack. They start running and think they are safe when they go through a door that is too big for her to follow. She busts through the wall and scares the tourists inside. Tyson says her swords are poisonous, but will not kill a Cyclops, so he distracts her to let the others get away. They find the door back into the maze and get in as quickly as possible. As Tyson runs to join them, Percy sees that Kampe is gaining on him. He throws his shield at her to give his brother enough time to get in the maze and then follows. The door closes in time, but they get away from it as quickly as possible to be safe.
Tyson asks Briares about his brothers, but he explains that they have faded. Percy is confused, so Grover explains that monsters disappear all together if they are forgotten. Percy tries to get Briares to help them, but the Hundred-Handed One runs off into the maze. They decide to get some rest for the night. Percy apologizes to Tyson for loosing the shield he made him. Tyson thanks him for saving him. Percy goes to talk to Annabeth. She is having trouble with the lack of logic in the maze. She asks if he knows what Hera was talking about, but he says he doesn’t. He asks her for the last line of the prophecy, but she doesn’t want to say it in the dark. Later that night, when Percy takes his turn sleeping, he dreams about Daedalus and his son, Icarus. Daedalus has just finished making metal wings for them both. Icarus puts Daedalus’ on first and then Daedalus struggles to put Icarus’ on. King Minos arrives, but Daedalus and Icarus open the grate and escape the maze. Icarus is drunk on the freedom and flies too high and too low over the sea as his father warned him several times not to. His wings start to come apart. Daedalus tries to advise him to stay still and drift, but Icarus panics and starts to fall as all of his bronze feathers fall off. When they all wake up, they continue through the maze. They find a pit with half a hamburger in it that Nico used for summoning. Percy thinks he is close and runs until he finds a cattle guard on the ceiling. Tyson helps them through and they meet Eurytion (son of Ares), a demigod. He warns them to get back in the maze, but Annabeth insists on seeing the other heroes. Eurytion leads them to Geryon, who has three bodies, who welcomes them to his ranch. Nico comes out onto the porch from inside the house to join them. He draws his sword and plans to kill Percy, but Geryon tells him they will all get along while there. He takes them on a small sightseeing train to show them the animals he breeds. The heroes realize he is selling to Kronos, and Geryon confirms he sells to anyone with gold. He stops the train when they get near the feces filled stables of the flesh eating horses. Geryon reveals his plan to sell Nico to Luke, but he has been paid to let the questers pass through. Percy makes a deal with him. He offers him, his friends, and Nico if he can’t clean the stables by sunset. Geryon agrees and takes leaves Percy while taking the others back to the house.
Percy looks around for a way to clean the stable quickly, but knows he will need a river to wash it out. He makes his way to the river, but the Naiad is waiting form him. She is scared of him and yet still tells him no because it will kill her ecosystem and make her sick. She tells him to pick up a handful of dirt and he does. She points out the sea shell in the dirt and that the land used to be under the sea. Percy returns to the stable and throws the piece of shell into them. Water starts to trickle up from the ground. He throws in more shells and the forces the water up to form geysers to clean the stables. The flesh eating horses beg him to stop and he does once they are clean. He stops the salt water from running into the river and tells the horses to only eat what they are fed or else he will come back to bathe them again. When he gets back to the house, Geryon doesn’t want to make good on his end of the deal saying it wasn’t binding because they didn’t swear on the River Styx. Percy’s companions are bound and gagged. Eurytion refuses to fight Percy as Geryon commands, so Geryon fights himself. Percy stabs him in one of his chests with a pair of hot tongs, but Geryon points out he has three hearts and can’t be killed by stabbing just one of them. Percy runs inside and finds a bow and arrow. He prays to Artemis and Apollo before taking the shot. It goes through Geryon’s side and all three of his hearts to kill him. Eurytion doesn’t have any plans to stop them from leaving. He was offered immortality by his father and regrets taking it now that he is tied to Geryon. Annabeth suggests he starts to turn the place around and treat the animals of the gods correctly so that they will be impressed with him and allow him to stay in charge when Geryon returns. Percy doesn’t know what to do about Nico, so he asks him if he wants to stay safe at the ranch. Nico insists he is going after the soul that will bring his sister back. Percy suggests they call on Bianca to ask her what she wants.
Nico performs the ritual to summon Bianca while Percy and Annabeth try to keep other spirits away from the offering. Minos is able to get some of it and appears before them. He tries to convince Nico not to listen to Percy and his friends and offers to make them insane like he did Christopher Rodriguez. Nico sends him away. Bianca appears and tells Nico what really happened. She said she made her own choices and that he is mad at her, not Percy. She warns him that the spirits are drawing the attention of Kronos. She leaves them to keep them safe. That night, the group stays at the ranch. Percy first dreams about Luke talking with Kampe. She is upset the heroes got away from her and wants to go after them. Luke says she can keep hold of Ariadne’s string as they navigate through the maze. Luke tells Kelli he is worried Kampe has too much power and should’ve been left in Tartarus. Kelli says she let their enemy see their conversation to intimidate him. Percy then dreams of Daedalus dealing with his nephew, Perdix. They boy has come up with a way to put a soul into an automaton. Daedalus is jealous that the boy is smarter than him. Janus appears to give him a choice. Daedalus tosses Perdix a bug automaton over his head and Perdix falls off a cliff. He tells his nephew to make better wings quickly. Athena comes down to make Daedalus pay, since they both had her blessing. Percy wakes up and Grover is watching TV. He is depressed because they have been in the maze where time moves differently. His deadline to find Pan is past and he can’t return to camp empty handed. Percy tries to reassure him they will find Pan. In the morning, Nico decides to stay at the ranch and think things through. Eurytion gives them a disk that will lead them to Hephaestus’ forges. Annabeth presses the button on top and it turns into a spider that scurries away. They get into the maze to follow. Eventually, they come to a Sphinx and Annabeth goes to answer the riddle. When she starts asking questions about random historical facts, Annabeth points out they are not riddles. The Sphinx says everyone knew the riddle she was asking, so changed it to a test of twenty questions. Annabeth says the questions are an insult to her intelligence and refuses to answer. The Sphinx attacks. Tyson jumps to save Annabeth. Percy tells her to use her hat to go invisible while they take care of it. Grover uses the pencils and his reed pipes to bind the Sphinx to the ground and they get away.
The follow the spider to a door with the mark of Hephaestus on it. Tyson is excited to meet him and opens the door. Hephaestus isn't impressed with the heroes, but seems to like the Cyclops. Annabeth tells him they are looking for Daedalus, but Hephaestus says the old man will not help him. Annabeth insists. Hephaestus says he needs a favor first and sends them to Mount Saint Helena (where Typhon is captured) and see who is invading on his territory and report back. He reprograms the Spider to lead them to Mount Saint Helena and they all take off after it. On the way, Grover finds a tunnel that smells like Pan. He knows he has to go down it. Tyson offers to go with him. Percy tells them to go and that they will meet up someone. Grover reminds him of their empathy link. Annabeth is not comfortable with them splitting up, but she and Percy take off after the spider. As they race after the spider, Percy asks Annabeth how she was born from a maiden goddess. She explains that she was born from intellectual thought like her mother. When they reach the forges, Annabeth puts on her cap to go investigate. Percy starts creeping along the edges to get a better view. When he hears something approaching, he jumps into a mining cart and covers himself with a tarp. He is wheeled over to where young telekhines (sea demons with dog faces) are watching old videos about growing up and eating people. Afterwards, a teacher like authority figure asks them why they are there. The group responds that they want revenge for being thrown into Tartarus after making several of the god’s weapons (such as Poseidon’s trident) because they used magic. The tarp is pulled off Percy’s cart to give the young ones time to practice with celestial bronze. Percy jumps out and draws his sword. They back off and he makes a run for it. He flies through a door and seals himself in the main cavern. He calls for Annabeth and she reveals she is right next to him. She shows him how the grown telekhines are making a weapon for Kronos. Percy sends Annabeth back to Hephaestus to report what is going on. She dons her cap and goes. Percy doesn’t have a plan and is found out a few seconds later. The Sea demons are not happy to see the son of one of the gods that betrayed them. One takes some of the lava from the forges and sets Percy on fire. The burn is slow to reach him, but it eventually does. Percy calls on water and is able to get a powerful stream in the volcano. It lifts him and the fire out in one big wave high into the sky. Percy passes out.
Percy wakes up in a cave wearing clothes that aren’t his, but Riptide and the whistle are still in his pocket. He goes outside to see his rescuer, Calypso talking with someone. By the time he gets to her, the other person is gone. She tells Percy he is in Ogygia, her island that doesn’t really have a location. Percy tells her he needs to get back to his friends because they are in danger. Calypso tells him to rest and heal first, and Percy falls asleep where he is. When Percy wakes up again, it is night and he finds Calypso planting moonlace in her garden. She explains she cannot leave the island because she is being punished for her father, Atlas’ actions. Percy tells her about Zoe. Calypso asks if Percy will be ready to leave soon. He is surprised and she tells him to rest until morning. Percy watches Calypso and eventually calls her out on pulling away from him. She tells him she is a prisoner because she supported her father during the first war. He asks her why and she points out that she supports her family just as Percy supports his by siding with the Olympians. Hephaestus comes to visit and shows Percy what he did when he made the volcano erupt. Typhon stirred and they are carefully watching to make sure he doesn’t get free. Percy has to make a choice wether he is staying with Calypso or leaving to finish the quest. He tells Percy the best way to navigate the maze is with a mortal that can really see. Percy realizes they need Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Hephaestus admits he doesn’t know if Daedalus will help him. He tanks Percy for destroying most of the telekhines and takes off. Percy walks around thinking all night. When he gets back to Calypso, she tells them her punishment is every so often the gods send her someone she can’t help but fall in love with, but that can never chose to stay with her. She offers Percy to stay, but he says he has to leave and help his friends. He offers to visit later, but she says no one ever returns. She sends him off on a raft that will take him anywhere and he choses to go to Camp Half Blood.
Percy arrives back and camp and finds it deserted until he get to the pavilion where they are about to burn his shroud, assuming he is dead. Annabeth spots him and everyone crowds around. Annabeth is furious and starts yelling at him for being gone for two weeks. Chiron takes them both on his back to the Big House. When Percy tells Annabeth they need Rachel, she only becomes more furious and storms away. Chiron has guessed where Percy was marooned and suggests he visit his mother. After that, he has bad news. Chris Rodriguez has been getting worse and Quintus has disappeared leaving Mrs. O’Leary in the arena. Percy asks about Grover and Tyson, but no one has heard from them. Percy goes to the arena and Mrs. O’Leary tackles and licks him. She starts to growl when Clarisse comes around, but Percy keeps her calm. She asks Percy to kill Daedalus if he finds him because anyone that can create something like the maze is pure evil. That night, Percy dreams about King Cocalus and his daughters hosting Minos, who has offered a large reward for anyone that can solve his riddle. Cocalus says his daughter’s tutor has solved how to string a sea shell and explains he used an ant with a silk thread tied to it drawn to honey on the other side. Minos says only Daedalus would know the answer. He explains he has been searching for the traitor for a decade. Cocalus is weary about giving up a man he promised protection to, but Minos points out it is worse to protect a criminal and make an enemy of Crete. The daughters offer to draw a bath for Minos and he accepts. The girls drop something in the water and Minos soon becomes a bronze mummy as he promises to hound Daedalus even in death. Daedalus enters and tells them he must leave. He plans to return to the maze and work on escaping death using his nephew’s notes. He leaves using an entrance to the maze. The dream fades away to Luke in the maze with another half blood. He promises the other boy that Quintus will come through. Another boy comes running up to say he found another half blood alone in the maze. They go to see if he will be useful. The next morning, Argus drives Percy and Annabeth. She tells Percy she got an Iris message from Eurytion that Nico went back into the maze. Percy tells her about Luke finding an alone half blood in the maze in his dream. They go to visit Percy’s mom and fill her in on what has been going on. She can tell that Percy and Annabeth are fighting, but doesn’t push. She tells Percy to use the phone to call Rachel. He has the number memorized from when she wrote it on his hand. They go to Time Square and find Rachel painted in gold and acting like a statue to raise money for children’s art programs. When she is relieved by another person, she suggests they go to a coffee shop. Percy explains their situations between Rachel’s and Annabeth’s barbs at each other. She agrees to go and says there is an entrance to the maze in the basement of the Marriott where they keep their costumes.
Rachel shows them the door and explains that it is rusted shut. Annabeth says it needs to be touched by a half blood and it opens for her. Rachel starts leading the way. When they come to a crossroads, Rachel explains why they need to keep going straight, which has a slight glow to it. There are traps down the tunnels going either left or right. Percy and Annabeth follow Rachel and are surprised at how easily they are advancing, but they soon run into Kelli and two dracanae. Percy pulls out his sword, but Kelli grabs Rachel before he can do anything. A Laistrygonian giant appears behind them and wants to eat them, but Kelli says the master will want them alive. The monsters lead them to an arena where Percy will fight his brother. They arrive and Percy watches a giant fight a centaur. Percy wants to help the centaur, but is held back. The centaur is killed and only a hoof is left as a trophy. Percy is shoved out and starts out fighting a dracanae. He quickly dispatches of her and then another half blood, Ethan, is sent out. The other boy has obviously been trained, but his armor slows him down and makes him tired. Percy waits for an opening and knocks him down. He puts his sword to his chest. Antaeus, the arena’s owner, is disappointed that Percy keeps winning. When Percy refuses to kill Ethan, Antaeus plans to kill them both. Percy challenges Antaeus, the self proclaimed favorite of Poseidon. Annabeth tries to tell him something about Antaeus being not only the son of Poseidon, but also the son of Gaea. The giant covers her mouth. Luke agrees to judge the match. Percy starts fighting Antaeus, but every time Percy gets a hit in, he is healed by the earth. Percy realizes he needs to get Antaeus off the ground and uses him as a springboard to grab onto the chains dangling skulls from the ceiling. When Antaeus comes after him, Percy uses the chains to suspend him in the air. Percy then kills him. Luke is ready to have the entire stadium full of monsters attack, so Percy uses the dog whistle. Mrs. O’Leary comes and gives them a chance to escape. Rachel points them in the right direction.
When they are finally able to stop, Percy realizes Mrs. O’Leary is gone. They offer Ethan to join them, but he refuses to participate in the pointless act of finding Daedalus. He takes off going back the way they came. Annabeth is jealous of Percy paying attention to Rachel and takes off to get more wood for the fire. Percy tries to talk to Rachel, but when he asks about why her family wouldn’t notice that she was gone, she clams up. Annabeth comes back and says she will take first watch. While Percy sleeps, Kronos contacts him to thank him for helping his plan along. He shows him Tyson and Grover being chased by a giant snake. It starts squeezing Tyson. Annabeth wakes him up and tells him there is an earthquake. Percy wakes up Rachel and they grab their things and start running. Rachel gets them to Daedalus’ workshop and they go in. They start looking around, but Daedalus isn’t there. Quintus appears and tells them they are in Colorado Springs. He tells them the workshop changes locations daily, but keeps coming back to the garden of the gods for some reason. Annabeth demands answers. Quintus tells them he is Daedalus. Percy looks into his eyes and knows he used his nephew’s plans to make himself a new body (quintus means he is on his fifth). After Minos was killed, Daedalus went back into the maze and has been hiding from death since. He shows them he has been marked for the murder of Perdix by Athena. He went to Camp Half Blood to see if it was worth saving and apologizes to Annabeth because her quest was doomed to fail from the start. He tells them he already gave Luke the string, but Rachel is a much more accurate navigator. Kelli comes in with Nico in shackles, her minions, and Minos. Luke is double crossing Daedalus. Mrs. O’Leary arrives to help. They start fighting while Rachel goes to the wall and fits herself with a pair of wings. She helps Nico, Percy and Annabeth with their own pairs as well. Percy tries to get Daedalus to go with them, but he doesn’t want to leave Mrs. O’Leary behind. The four kids jump out the window.
They sore through the air and get used to the wings, but Annabeth tells them they need to land as quickly as possible. They end up near a visitor center and throw the wings in the trash. Annabeth and Nico go inside while Percy follows Rachel to get a ride. Rachel talks to the chauffeur of a car and he immediately ditches his client to drive them. From the highway, Rachel sees an entrance to the maze at a mining museum. They make their way there and get back into the labyrinth. As Rachel leads the way, she and Annabeth start to talk about architecture. Percy talks to Nico about returning to camp, but Nico thinks he will only fit in with the dead. They come to a fork in the road and Rachel stops. Percy decides he has to go down the mysterious tunnel alone to see if Kronos or Luke is there. Annabeth gives him her hat. Percy emerges on Mount Tam and sees telekhines with Ethan unwrapping Kronos’ scythe. Percy goes up to the huge black mausoleum and to Kronos’ golden sarcophagus. He opens it up and finds Luke’s body with a small hole where the heart should be. The telekhines tell Ethan that his pledge of loyalty will awaken Kronos. Percy takes off the hat and tries to convince Ethan, son of Nemesis (goddess of revenge), not to do it. Ethan is furious with the gods and pledges himself to Kronos. Luke’s body wakes up and Kronos is inside it. He is given his scythe. Percy knows he cannot beat him, so he runs. Rachel, Annabeth, and Nico were coming to help him, but he gets them running with him. Rachel throws her blue brush into Kronos’ eye. They get back into the labyrinth and Nico makes the ground rise to block the way behind them.
They stop to rest for a little while. Annabeth doesn’t believe that Kronos has completely taken over Luke’s body yet and they can still save him. Percy is upset that she doesn’t get that Luke has given himself to Kronos. Rachel tries to pitch in, but Annabeth snaps at her. They start moving again and soon find hoof tracks and large footprints. They follow them and find Tyson holding Grover, who has passed out from being near Pan’s power. Grover wakes up and Percy introduces everyone. They continue towards Pan’s power and find the dying god in satyr form with extinct animals. Pan tells Grover the Wild has been disappearing for two thousand years. He had Ephesos tell everyone that he was dead so that he could fade, but the satyr’s belief that he was alive kept him painfully around for two centuries. He asks Grover to let him go so what is left of him can be spread among everyone to revive the Wild. Grover accepts this. Pan and his animals disappear.
Rachel leads them all back to New York City. When they arrive, Percy calls for Blackjack and four other pegasus. He says goodbye to Rachel knowing she can’t come to camp with them and they promise to keep in touch. Percy and the rest of his friends get back to camp to see Chiron has everyone ready for war. He tells them about Luke and Kronos, and Chiron hopes it will restrict Kronos’ power to be bound to a human body. The ground starts to rumble and they get ready for the attack. Monsters start pouring out of the labyrinth and Percy waits to see where he is needed most. When a hellhound comes out, he goes to fight it. The forest starts to catch on fire and Juniper’s tree is close to the flames. Percy calls on the water from the creek to put it out. Kampe appears. Percy and Annabeth go to fight her together, but cannot defeat her. Mrs. O’Leary appears and tackles Kampe. Daedalus is with her and starts cutting down monsters. Briares shows up and throws rocks at Kampe until she is buried. Grover lets out a terrible scream and the monsters all run back into the labyrinth. Everyone is worried about Chiron’s injuries, but Tyson calls out to Percy about Nico. Percy rushes to his side and gives him nectar. Nico explains he has never summoned so many dead warriors before, but he will be fine. Daedalus says that he found Briares in the labyrinth and they both came to help. He knows that Kronos will be able to use the maze anytime he wants as long as it exists. He tells Nico that he is ready to face his punishment in the underworld for his evils. Nico helps release Daedalus’ soul. The body turns to ash and an earthquake suggests the end of the labyrinth as well.
The council gets together and listens to Grover’s story about Pan. Percy and Annabeth try to assure the elder satyrs that Grover is telling the truth. They don’t believe him. Dionysus returns and tells Grover to tell the story again. He thinks it sounds exactly like Pan. The sound Grover made was also similar to the sound Pan made to induce panic in the Titan’s army in the first war between the Titans and the Olympians. The satyrs on the council decide they don’t believe any of Grover’s words and find him guilty of lies. Dionysus says his vote is worth two because he is a god. Chiron's vote brings them to a tie. The satyrs don’t want a tie, so Dionysus dissolves the council. Grover tells the remaining satyrs that they can find their own way to protect and slowly rebuild the Wild and starts handing out assignments. After dinner, Percy follows Nico out into the woods. Nico says his final goodbyes to Bianca. Percy tries to get him to stay at camp, but Nico knows he isn’t wanted there. He takes off in hopes of finding out about his past. He promises to let Percy know if he learns anything useful. Dionysus comes to talk to Percy. He points out that he started off as a mortal wine maker. Small things can become big. Percy sees Chris Rodriguez sitting by Clarisse at the campfire. Dionysus restored his sanity.
The summer continues on and seems oddly normal for camp. However, Percy notices a distance between him and Annabeth. He finally gets her to tell him the last line of the prophecy, that she would loose a love to something worse than death. Hera appears expecting a “thank you” for her efforts. Neither of them are grateful for her help after she says their friends all got what they deserved. Percy wants to talk to Annabeth, but his ride arrives to take him into Manhattan. A few days later, his mom throws him a small party for his fifteenth birthday. Paul pulls him aside to ask Percy if he is alright with Paul proposing to Sally. Percy likes that Paul makes his mom happy, so he tells him to go for it. Poseidon arrives and asks to talk to Percy in private. Percy tells him the whole story. Poseidon is impressed with his son and gives him a sand dollar for his birthday. He warns Percy that Typhon is stirring and will probably rise soon. Percy asks about Antaeus hanging skulls in his name. Poseidon explains what a demigod does in the name of their parent is usually more a reflection of the person than the god. He tells Percy he is his favorite son and then takes off. Later that night, Percy goes to his room and finds the moonlace Calypso gave him. He plants it in a flower box and pours some nectar over it. Nico shows up and says he has some information. Percy invites him in for cake and ice cream.