The Battle of the Labyrinth

During the taxi ride to camp, Annabeth gives Percy the silent treatment and refuses to talk with him about Luke’s plans, upset at Percy for telling a mortal about half-blood secrets. When they arrive at camp, Annabeth runs off to talk to Clarisse (daughter of Ares). Percy finds an enormous hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary, playing in the amphitheater where he wants to practice his sword fighting. Before Percy can attack, Quintus, the new sword instructor, stops him from striking his pet. Quintus is volunteering at the camp while Mr. D (Dionysus, god of wine) is away, and hints at a dangerous training activity he has been preparing.

Chiron (a centaur), the activities director and Percy’s mentor, brings Percy to a hidden part of the woods where Grover stands trial before the Council of Cloven Elders. The Council wants to revoke Grover’s searcher’s license because he hasn’t given proof that the god Pan spoke to him in New Mexico. They give Grover one final week to find Pan, or he will be exiled. Percy returns to his cabin where his half-brother Tyson tidies their room. Later, Annabeth tells Percy there is a way for Grover to find Pan, but it is very dangerous.

Percy ponders an ominous prophecy about a child of the Big Three gods, which could be either about him or Nico (son of Hades). Percy and Tyson agree to keep Nico’s identity secret from everyone, especially Kronos. That night, Percy receives a collect call Iris message from an unknown source. The message shows Nico in the Underworld asking the ghost of King Minos for advice about resurrecting his sister Bianca. Minos gives Nico details about a soul exchange, but the message cuts out. Percy believes that Nico plans to find him and trade his soul for Bianca.

Annabeth breaks the rules to sit with Percy, Tyson, and Grover at the Poseidon table so she can tell them about the secret Labyrinth scouting mission she has been working on with Clarisse. Daedalus’s Labyrinth moved from Crete to the US and exists under the entire country. Clarisse and Annabeth believe Luke’s army is exploring the Labyrinth. Annabeth suspects Luke wants to find Ariadne’s String to lead the Titan army towards Camp Half-Blood. She tries to convince Grover that Pan might be in the Labyrinth, but Grover is hesitant.

The campers gather to play Quintus’s new war game, which involves fighting monster scorpions. Quintus pairs Percy with Annabeth and Tyson with Grover. Percy and Annabeth walk into the woods towards Zeus’s Fist, a huge rock formation. Percy tells Annabeth his fears that Nico might use the Labyrinth to find and kill him. The information solidifies Annabeth’s resolve to go into the Labyrinth and find Ariadne’s String before anyone else can. The pair runs into Grover’s girlfriend Juniper, who begs them to not let Grover go into the underground maze.

The scorpions surround the pair and trap them on Zeus’s Fist. When they try to escape into an opening in the rocks, Percy and Annabeth fall into a hidden pit. The pit’s entrance closes above them, revealing a long corridor with no exit in sight. When they press the mark of Daedalus, the Greek letter Delta, the corridor opens back up to the outside world. An hour has passed at camp, but Percy and Annabeth feel like they’ve only been gone a few minutes. Chiron, Clarisse, and Annabeth realize this is the entrance into the Labyrinth that Luke is searching for.