Synopsis: The Lightning Thief

[H S]

Percy (Perseus) Jackson was a twelve-year-old student at Yancy Academy in New York, whose penchant for causing trouble resulted in his bouncing from one boarding school to another. One day, Percy's wheelchair-bound Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, took the class to the art museum. Accompanying the students on the trip were Percy's best friend, a scrawny kid named Grover, and Mrs. Dodd, a math teacher who had a thing against Percy.

On the trip, Mrs. Dodd led Percy to an empty part of the museum, turned into a monster with wings and talons, and attacked him. Mr. Brunner then appeared and threw a pen to Percy. The pen magically turned into a sword, which Percy used to slay Mrs. Dodd. However, after Mrs. Dodd disappeared, Percy found everything back to normal -- the sword was a pen again, Mr. Brunner was sitting outside the museum in his wheelchair, and, thanks to a force called the Mist that hid supernatural phenomenon from mortals, no one could remember a Mrs. Dodd ever working at the school.

For the remainder of the school year, Percy wondered if he had imagined Mrs. Dodd and his experience in the museum. Even Grover denied Mrs. Dodd's existence, although Percy suspected that his friend was lying.

Percy's poor grades and disruptive behavior resulted in Yancy Academy refusing to accept him back for the following school year. Disappointed at getting kicked out of yet another school, Percy headed home to live with his mother for the summer. Coincidentally, Grover left school on the same bus as Percy. On the bus, Grover told Percy that he was responsible for protecting Percy and handed him a card with the address of where he would be during the summer. Annoyed by Grover's continued concern for his safety, Percy ditched Grover when they reach the bus terminal and headed home to his mother.

When Percy reached home, however, he found that his mother Sally was still at work. Instead, his stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, whom Percy referred to as Smelly Gabe, was in the midst of a poker game. A short while later, Sally Jackson returned home with good news that she and Percy would take a trip to Montauk beach.

After Percy and his mother spent a pleasant day at their beach cabin, it began to storm in the evening. Awakened from a disturbing dream about a horse and eagle attacking each other, Percy found Grover at their cabin door warning them about an approaching danger. Sally herded Percy and Grover into the car and they drove to a summer camp that Sally said Percy's father wanted him to go to. In the car, Percy discovered that his friend Grover was in fact a satyr, with the legs and hooves of a goat.

During their flight, the car became stranded and the three set out on foot. Percy saw that what was chasing them was a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull -- a minotaur. As they neared the borders of the summer camp, the minotaur caught up with them and injured Grover. Sally tried to lead the minotaur away from the children, but the minotaur grabbed and destroyed her. Driven by anger over the loss of his mother, Percy broke off one of the minotaur's horns and stabbed him with it, causing the minotaur to disintegrate. Exhausted, Percy dragged Grover to the camp and collapsed into unconsciousness.

After being nursed back to health by another camper, Annabeth, Percy met Mr. Brunner again. Not only did Mr. Brunner reveal himself to be Chiron, centaur teacher of mythological heroes, rather than a wheelchair-bound old man, but he also told Percy that the gods of Greek mythology are still alive and residing in the United States. Furthermore, Percy learned that the summer camp where he found himself was called Camp Half-Blood, a refuge for offspring of the gods with mortals. Overseeing the camp was Dionysus, also known as Mr. D, who reluctantly did so only as punishment. The others in the camp knew that Percy was the son of a god, but they didn't know which god. As a result, Percy initially stayed in the house of Hermes, the god of travelers. There, Luke, one of Hermes' sons, became his counselor, tutor, and friend.

A few days later, during a game of capture the flag, Percy fought off bullies from the opposing team and survived an attack from a hellhound by stepping into a creek. It was then that Poseidon, god of the sea, revealed that Percy was in fact his son.

To Percy's dismay, Chiron moved him to cabin three, home of Poseidon's offsprings, where Percy lived alone. Chiron explained to Percy that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades formed a pact after World War II that none of the three would father children with mortal women anymore because it was those children who caused the war. Furthermore, turmoil brewed on Mount Olympus because someone had stolen Zeus' master lightning bolt, and Zeus suspected Poseidon. The revelation that Poseidon had a son against his oath only made matters worse.

Chiron recommended that Percy speak with the Oracle of Delphi, which resided in the upstairs attic of the farmhouse that served as Camp Half-Blood's headquarters. The Oracle told Percy:

You shall go west, and face the god who has turned. You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

Chiron believed that Hades stole the master bolt because he had the most to gain from a war between Zeus and Poseidon. He also thought that Hades was the god in the west spoken of in the Oracle's prophecy because Hades resided in Los Angeles. Thus, Chiron asked Percy to go on a quest to retrieve the master bolt from Hades in the Underworld. Accompanying him on the quest were Grover, who was given another chance to protect him, and Annabeth, who longed to go on a quest.

Before departing, Chiron gave Percy the pen/sword that he used at the museum to defend himself from Mrs. Dodd. The sword was named Anaklusmos, or Riptide, a gift that Poseidon had entrusted Chiron to give Percy one day. Luke also presented Percy with a gift of flying shoes from Hermes. However, because Zeus ruled the air, it wasn't safe for Percy to fly, so he gave the shoes to Grover.

The trio encountered danger immediately after leaving Camp Half-Blood. On the bus out of New York, three Furies, including a reincarnated Mrs. Dodd, attacked them, but with the help of Riptide, they managed to escape. Unfortunately, the bus was destroyed, along with their provisions onboard.

Looking for a place to eat, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover stumbled upon Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, where they smelled hamburgers cooking. Aunty Em invited them inside and fed them, but Annabeth soon realized that Aunty Em was actually Medusa, and the sculptures scattered around her shop were people she turned into stone. With Annabeth cloaking herself under her invisibility Yankees cap and Grover flying around trying to swat Medusa with a stick, Medusa was distracted enough for Percy to finish her off with Riptide.

The trio headed west again aboard a Denver-bound train. They stopped in St. Louis for a layover, where they decided to sightsee at the Gateway Arch. Trouble again followed. Left alone at the top of the arch waiting for an elevator, Percy battled Echidna and the Chimera, disguised as a woman and her chihuahua. During the battle, Percy fell from the Arch into the Mississippi River below. He saw a vision of a woman underwater telling him to go to the beach in Santa Monica. Restored by its water, Percy emerged from the Mississippi to rejoin his friends on their journey westward.

In Denver, while Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were at a diner, a large man on a motorcycle pulled up. It was Ares, the god of war. Ares asked them to do a favor for him, retrieving his shield from the Tunnel of Love ride at a local water park. In exchange, Ares would help them on their journey west and provide some information about Percy's mother. Reluctantly, the trio agreed.

They discovered the reason why Ares asked them to retrieve the shield was because Hephaestus had booby-trapped the ride. Hephaestus knew that his wife Aphrodite was having an affair with Ares and wanted to catch them together. Instead, his trap almost ensnared Percy and Annabeth, but they escaped. As a reward, Ares gave Percy a backpack with clothes, money, and some cookies inside. He also pointed them to a truck hauling zoo animals, telling them the truck was heading to Los Angeles. Ares also told Percy that his mother wasn't dead but rather was kept hostage, confirming Percy's hope that his mother was still alive.

Traveling toward Los Angeles in the truck, the trio learned from the animals that the truck drivers were really animal smugglers. The smugglers kept the animals under poor conditions, so Percy and his friends freed them when the truck reached Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas, the three friends spent a few days inside the Lotus Hotel and Casino, unaware of the passing time. The Lotus spoiled its visitors with entertainment and luxury in such a way that they didn't want to leave and lost track of time. After meeting people who had been at the hotel for years, the urgency of the quest snapped Percy back to reality, and he convinced his friends to leave as well.

Paying with a debit card from the Lotus, they took a taxi to Los Angeles. They stopped at the Santa Monica beach as Percy had been instructed to by the woman in the Mississippi. Percy went into the water where he met the woman again, a Nereid. She gave him three pearls, telling him to smash one at his feet if he was ever in a time of need.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover then wandered around Los Angeles in search of DOA Recording Studios, a place that Percy saw listed in Aunty Em's account book. That night, while walking down the streets of LA, a gang of bullies accosted the trio. They ran and hid inside Crusty's Water Bed Palace. To their dismay, they learned that Crusty was really Procrustes, and he tried to "stretch" each of them to make them fit his beds. Percy tricked Crusty into laying on one of his own beds and vanquished him with Riptide. Fortuitously, there was a flier for DOA Studios in Crusty's Water Bed Palace indicating the location was only a block away.

Entering DOA, Percy sweet-talked Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx, into taking them to the Underworld, and Annabeth's knowledge of dogs helped them get past the three-headed guardian dog of the Underworld, Cerberus.

As they walked through the Underworld in search of Hades, Grover's flying shoes suddenly sprouted wings and carried him into a cave. Percy recognized the cave as the one in the recurring nightmares he had been having on the trip. Percy and Annabeth ran after Grover and caught him before he could fall into a pit inside the cave, the entrance to Tartarus, but the only way to save Grover was to take off his shoes. Once freed, the shoes continued to fly into the pit, where an unknown evil force lived and was unhappy that the shoes did not carry anything with it.

Undaunted, the trio continued on into Hades' palace. They confronted Hades about the theft of the master bolt, but to their surprise, Hades denied taking it and accused Percy of the deed. As proof, Hades asked Percy to open his backpack. Astonishingly, Percy found the master bolt inside! Hades also believed that Percy had stolen his helm of darkness and demanded he return it as well, but Percy denied having anything to do with either theft.

Thinking that Percy had entered the Underworld to trade for his mother, Hades brought forth Sally Jackson. He offered Percy's mother in exchange for his helm. However, Percy didn't have Hades' helm, and he now knew that he was set up with the master bolt. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the three pearls given to him by the Nereid. Only three of them could escape with the pearls if he tried to rescue his mother, but who would be left behind? Grover and Annabeth both volunteered to remain behind, but Percy decided to use the pearls for himself and his friends, vowing to return to save his mother.

The three emerged from the Underworld near Santa Monica beach where they found Ares waiting for them. It was Ares, through the help of another hero, who stole the master bolt and helm of darkness and subsequently framed Percy for the thefts in order to create a war. However, Percy determined that Ares wasn't really the mastermind behind the plot. The entity that lived in the pit of Tartarus and tortured Percy in his nightmares was the one who gave the orders.

Now that Percy had served his purpose, Ares tried to kill him. The two engaged in battle. After Percy struck Ares in the heel with Riptide, other forces intervened to end the fight. Ares cursed Percy and left.

The Furies, who had been watching the events on the beach, realized that Percy was not the one who stole the items. Percy handed them the helm to return to Hades and thus avert the war.

Returning back to New York, Percy went to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, the new home of Olympus and the gods. There, he faced Zeus and his father, Poseidon. Percy returned the master bolt to Zeus and explained what had happened. He also told Zeus of the evil residing in Tartarus, but Zeus dismissed the talk. After Zeus left, Poseidon confided that it was Kronos, king of the Titans, who lived in the pit. Percy believed that Kronos planned to return, but Poseidon did not believe it.

Poseidon also told Percy that a package would be waiting for him when he returned home. Finally, he praised his son for his accomplishments.

Arriving back at his apartment, Percy was shocked to see his mother there, unharmed and unaware of anything that happened after the minotaur attack. He found the package that Poseidon referred to, a box containing Medusa's head. Percy gave the package to his mother and told her she could use it to get rid of Smelly Gabe. Percy then bid his mother farewell to return to Camp Half-Blood, knowing that she could now defend herself from Gabe.

The success of their quest helped Grover achieve what he most wanted, permission to seek the god Pan. It was what satyrs aspired to do.

The rest of the summer passed uneventfully at Camp Half-Blood. Percy learned that his mother used the package to create a "sculpture" of Gabe, which sold for a high price, allowing her to move into a better apartment and return to school.

At the end of summer camp, Luke revealed that he was the friend in Percy's prophecy who would betray him. Luke served Kronos, and it was he who committed the actual thefts. He tried to kill Percy with a deadly scorpion, and, leaving Percy for dead, left to join his new master.

Chiron rescued Percy from the scorpion sting and nursed him back to health. Percy told Chiron and Annabeth everything that happened, and Chiron was more receptive to the idea that Kronos plotted a return to power. Vowing to return to Camp Half-Blood next summer to continue his hero training, Percy left to stay with his mother for another year.