The Titan's Curse

The group arrives in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Percy tells Grover about his talk with Apollo. The group splits up, with Zoë and Grover going for coffee, and Thalia, Percy, and Bianca going to the grocery store.

Thalia leaves Percy with Bianca, and he asks what it’s like to be a Hunter. As they chat, she reveals that she’s been raising Nico for a long time and had stayed at a hotel between schools. He then asks about her conversation with Zoë, and she realizes that he was eavesdropping.

They’re cut off when Zoë and Grover return with pastries. Suddenly, Grover freezes and faints. Just then, zombies appear.

Grover comes to, saying, “It’s coming.” Percy tells him that “it’s here,” meaning the zombies, but Grover is talking about “a gift of the Wild” (168). Unsure of what the satyr means, Percy starts fighting the zombies, who are dressed like police and carrying guns. He cuts one in half, but it reassembles itself. As they fire at him, he learns that the lion’s coat is bulletproof. Bianca stabs one in the chest; it bursts into fire and disappears.

As more zombies close in, the Erymanthian boar suddenly appears, which Grover calls “a blessing,” meaning it is a gift of the Wild (170). It bowls over the zombies but then chases Thalia and Percy, who end up using Thalia’s shield as a sled to get down the mountain. Percy sees her hesitate and understands that she is afraid of heights, which is ironic given that her father is the god of the skies.

When the rest of the group meets them, Grover suggests using the boar as a ride, and he uses his flute to cast a spell and help steer the pig. Percy asks if anyone knows why Grover is talking about the blessing so much, and Zoë tells him that she briefly felt the presence of Pan, the god of the Wild, for whom all satyrs are searching.

The group makes camp for the night in a junkyard. Zoë suggests that their next destination should be Las Vegas, since it is the nearest city, but Bianca emphatically says no, saying that she and Nico stayed there. Percy then realizes that she stayed at Lotus Hotel and Casino, where time passes differently and you never want to leave. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth had accidently stayed there for five days in The Lightning Thief. When asked who the most recent president before the current one was, Bianca says “F.D.R.,” and they realize she and Nico had stayed in the hotel for nearly 70 years.

Before she reveals who got them out of the hotel, a white limo pulls up. A sword appears at Percy’s throat, and Percy sees Ares exit the limo. Ares hates Percy because he fought him once. The god of war says that there’s someone who wants to talk to him alone.

In the car, Aphrodite waits for him. She thinks it’s more important that he find Annabeth than Artemis, revealing that she was the one who poisoned the shirt that injured Phoebe and sent Blackjack for him. She is interested in his and Annabeth’s love story, though Percy protests that he never said anything about loving her. Before kicking him out of the car, she warns him to be careful in Hephaestus’s territory and to not take anything.

The others are suspicious of why Aphrodite came to see Percy, but he doesn’t want to admit that they talked about Annabeth, so he repeats her advice about not taking things from the junkyard. They are each tempted, and as they leave, a giant machine man named Talos stands. Hiding with Bianca, Percy gets her to admit that she took something, a figurine for Nico to go in his collection. Even though she drops it, Talos keeps coming. He points out a hole in its heel, and she volunteers to go and destroy it from within. Once she’s inside, Talos starts to fall apart, and they can’t find Bianca among the ruins, fulfilling the prophecy that “[o]ne shall be lost in the land without rain” (198).

They find a tow truck at the edge of the junkyard, and Thalia starts driving. Percy blames himself for what happens, saying that he should’ve been the one to go into Talos’s foot, but Grover stops him, saying, “Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?” (200).

Percy thinks that Grover is especially sensitive after their close encounter with the god of the Wild and uses it as a reason for him to be strong.

They run out of gas near a cliff overlooking a river. Though Grover suggests following the goat path down, Percy sees Thalia get nervous because of the heights and suggests heading upstream. There, they take two canoes from a rental shack, and Thalia privately thanks Percy for stepping in. He rides with Zoë, eventually getting her to admit that she feels responsible for Bianca’s death because she pushed her to go on the next quest. She thought that perhaps Bianca would be Artemis’s next lieutenant since Zoë failed to protect the goddess.

Percy reminds her that any monster that could defeat Artemis would likely be able to kill Zoë. He then asks her about Riptide, telling her about his dream. She won’t say the name of the hero she gave it to originally, but she tells him that she was once one of the Hesperides, the sisters who lived near the golden apple tree guarded by a dragon named Ladon. Because she told the hero how to get to the tree, she was exiled.

As she tells him this, their canoes, pushed by water spirits, come to a stop because the river is blocked. They have reached the Hoover Dam.

Thalia, Percy, and Grover each recite a fact about the dam, and Zoë looks on with wonder until they explain that Annabeth loves the Hoover Dam and often talks about it. Percy feels that it isn’t fair that she isn’t with them to see it and suggests going up to get a better look. Zoë only agrees because that’s where the road is.

In the visitor center, Zoë, Thalia, and Grover go to the snack bar while Percy follows the sound of a cow to inexplicably find Bessie in the water. He moos at him, trying to get his attention, when he realizes that two zombies have arrived wearing camouflage outfits. He runs back into the visitor center to find his friends but ends up taking an elevator down further into the dam. Uncapping Riptide, he flinches when he thinks the zombies are approaching, only to find a mortal who can see his sword despite the Mist, which is usually what prevents them from seeing monsters and magic. Her name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she quickly gets Percy to hide in the bathroom, redirecting the zombies. He thanks her, tells her his name, and runs off.

He finds his friends in the cafeteria and warns them too late about the skeletal zombies. They’re getting close, and Percy pulls out his sword. Grover starts a food fight as a distraction, and they run until they’re cornered. Earlier, Thalia mentioned that the guardian statues of the dam were gifts from Athena to Zeus, and tourists rubbed their toes for good luck. Percy thinks of a woman he saw in the elevator, who told him, “There is always a way for those clever enough to find it,” and realizes it was Athena (218). He tells Thalia to pray to her dad. Then, the winged guardians start to move, appearing like angels and carrying them away from both the Hoover Dam and the skeletons.

As they fly to San Francisco, Percy tells Thalia about Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she says that some mortals can see through the Mist. Percy realizes that his mother can do it, likely having been able to see monsters before he even did. Thalia also comments that it “[m]ust be nice to be a regular mortal” as if she has given it a lot of thought (200).

Once the angels drop them off, they decide to go find Nereus. Zoë has met him before and says she knows how to find him. Percy disguises himself and soon finds Nereus in human form and looking like Santa in a bathrobe. He smells like the ocean. Percy grabs him, but Nereus fights back until Percy tricks him into the water, knowing that he will have extra strength. Nereus shapeshifts into a seal, an orca, and eel, cursing the fact that Percy won’t drown. Eventually, Percy wrangles him back onto the dock where the others wait. Nereus implies that he is not the first hero to tackle him, and each capture gets him one question. Once Nereus answers it, Percy must let him go.

Percy wants to ask about Annabeth and knows that Zoë would inquire about Artemis. However, Chiron said that the monster was the biggest concern, so Percy asks what the monster that Artemis was chasing is. Nereus quickly says that “Oh, that’s too easy […] He’s right there,” pointing at Bessie, who has just appeared in the water (229).

Bessie moos, and Grover can understand him. Bessie is an Ophiotaurus, which means “serpent bull” in Greek (229). Sacrificing Bessie and burning his body gives someone the power to overthrow the gods. During the War of the Titans, when Zeus originally imprisoned Kronos, the Titans killed the Ophiotaurus, but Zeus sent an eagle to steal its body and keep it safe. Three thousand years later, the Ophiotaurus was reborn. Bessie says that Percy is now his protector.

Just then, Dr. Thorn, the manticore, appears. He says that he was banished by the gods to the ends of the earth and wants his revenge. He also wants the General to respect him, so that’s why he came after Percy and his friends without the zombies and only with mortal help.

Dr. Thorn says that it’s time for “Thalia’s great victory” (233), explaining that she will be the one to sacrifice the Ophiotaurus, referencing the prophecy in which one of the children of the Big Three will either save the gods or destroy them on their 16th birthday, which is only two days away for Thalia. Percy isn’t sure if he should feel relieved about the prophecy not being about him.

When Thalia doesn’t immediately rebuke Dr. Thorn, he continues, saying,

You know it is the right choice […] Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. You father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him (234).

Thalia remains dazed by what Dr. Thorn is saying, so Percy, Grover, and Zoë attack. Percy considers leaving with Bessie, but he doesn’t want to leave his friends. Through Grover, he tells the Ophiotaurus to dive as deep into the sea as he can. They still need to get word to Camp Half-Blood, so Percy uses a rainbow to start an Iris message, a form of video-calling done by summoning the goddess Iris.

Mr. D answers, and Percy explains what is happening. Mr. D doesn’t appear to care, and Percy yells that they will die without his help. Dionysius tells him that he could ask nicely, and, seeing that they are surrounded by both the manticore and his minions with weapons, Percy does. Mr. D immediately causes the antagonists to go temporarily “mad” and destroys the manticore. Grover thanks him, to which Dionysius responds, “Mmm. Don’t make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I’ve bought you a few hours at most” (238). Percy is stunned that Mr. D called him by his correct name, as he usually does not. Mr. D denies having done so and tells Zoë that she knows where they must go next: her home.