Synopsis: The Battle of the Labyrinth

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Percy Jackson's summer before ninth grade began with orientation at a new school, Goode High School, where his mother's new friend, Paul Blofis, taught English. At the orientation, Percy met Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the girl whom he met the previous year at Hoover Dam with the ability to see through the Mist. Rachel detected that two of the cheerleaders at the orientation, Tammi and Kelli, were monsters, and she and Percy hid in the band room. The cheerleaders, in reality empousa (vampire servants of Hecate), found them. Percy slayed Tammi, but Kelli disappeared, setting the school on fire and blaming it on Percy. Outside the school, Annabeth met Percy for a movie date but cancelled after seeing Rachel and what happened to the school.

Percy and Annabeth took a taxi to Camp Half-Blood. At camp, Percy met the new sword instructor, Quintus, and his giant pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. Chiron interrupted their conversation to take Percy to Grover's hearing, where he met Grover's girlfriend Juniper, a tree nymph. The Council of Cloven Elders didn't believe that Grover heard Pan during his travels the year before, but they gave him one more week to find proof of his claim or he would lose his searcher's license.

Returning to his cabin, Percy found his half-brother Tyson there. The two spent the remainder of the uneventful day together. That night, Percy received a collect-call Iris message through his saltwater fountain. He didn't know who called him, but he saw Nico sitting at the shore of the River Styx. Nico tried to resurrect his sister from the Underworld, but a ghostly figure told him that the only way to save her was to exchange her soul for another that had cheated death. Percy knew that meant Nico would come for him.

The next morning, Grover and Annabeth joined Percy during breakfast. Annabeth informed Percy that Luke's army had been probing the Labyrinth, the maze where the Minotaur resided, because traversing through the Labyrinth would allow someone to journey between locations quickly and undetected. Chiron sent Clarisse on a secret mission to explore the Labyrinth a few months before, but she discovered little about it. Annabeth also believed that the Labyrinth was Grover's best chance to find Pan.

In the evening, Quintus sent the campers on a war game. Paired together, each team had to find gold laurels, which were tied to monsters they had to slay. Percy and Annabeth formed one team, and during the game, Percy and Annabeth were ambushed by three giant scorpions. They found a crack in a boulder to escape and fell into a hole, which they later realized as an entrance to the Labyrinth. If Luke found the entrance, his army would be able to circumvent the camp's defenses and attack them from inside the camp. Annabeth further conjectured that Luke sought Daedalus (whom Percy dreamed about the night before) in his workshop within the Labyrinth, hoping to convince Daedalus to help Luke's side. As the architect of the Labyrinth, Daedalus knew its secrets. Therefore, the heroes fighting for Mount Olympus needed to find Daedalus's workshop before Luke did. Chiron sanctioned a quest to find the workshop and placed Annabeth in charge.

While Annabeth went to the Oracle to receive further insight regarding the quest, Juniper told Percy that she had seen both Luke and Quintus near the Labyrinth during her time at Camp Half-Blood. Percy didn't know whether or not to trust the sword instructor. However, Quintus seemingly displayed concern for the quest by giving Percy a special dog whistle to summon Mrs. O'Leary, but it could be used only once.

When Annabeth returned from her visit to the Oracle, she was visibly shaken and wouldn't divulge the full prophecy given to her. She requested that Percy, Grover, and Tyson accompany her on the quest, which was unusual because tradition dictated that only parties of three went on quests. Chiron relented to the request nonetheless.
The night before the quest, Percy had a dream about Luke aboard the Princess Andromeda. In the dream, Kronos told Luke he was ready to lead his army. Kelli also appeared in the dream, and she sensed that Percy could see them, but the dream ended before Kelli could strike.

Percy told Chiron about his dream of Luke, and Chiron surmised that Kronos sought Daedalus not only to learn how to navigate through the Labyrinth, but also to force Daedalus into making a new body for him.
The four heroes were finally ready to begin their quest. They entered the labyrinth through the same crack in the boulders that Percy and Annabeth had stumbled through and quickly got lost. After walking through several ever-changing sections of the maze, the quartet met Janus, the two-faced god of doorways. He asked Annabeth to choose between two doors, one leading to where they wanted to go and the other to their doom. Before they had to choose, Hera appeared and told Janus Annabeth's time to make a decision hadn't arrived yet. Hera was sympathetic to the quest and granted Annabeth one wish. She wished to know how to navigate the Labyrinth, but Hera told her that was already in her means because Percy knew the answer. Of course, Percy had no idea what she meant.

They somehow found an exit onto Alcatraz. There they found a Hundred-Handed One (brethren of the cyclopes) named Briares imprisoned by Kampe, a half-human, half-dragon creature who used to keep the cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones imprisoned for the Titans. Tyson broke Briares out of his cell, but Kampe found them and chased them around Alcatraz until the heroes and Briares escaped back into the Labyrinth. Briares ran away instead of joining the quest because he had become a scared shell of his former self.

That night in the Labyrinth, Percy dreamed about Daedalus again. Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned by king Minos, but Daedalus made wings so that they could escape. Father and son flew out of their prison, but because Icarus didn't heed his father's warnings, the wax holding his wings together melted, and Icarus plunged into the sea.

The next day, the heroes found another exit from the Labyrinth, this time on a Texas ranch. They met the ranch manager, Geryon (a man with one head and three bodies), his helper, Eurytion, and Eurytion's two-headed hound, Orthus. The ranch housed many sacred animals that the gods didn't want to take care of themselves. Unfortunately, Geryon sold the animals to Kronos to supply the Titan's army.

Nico had also wandered onto the ranch before the quartet did. He thought Geryon could help him find a soul in exchange for his sister's (but not Percy's soul because Nico didn't think his was worth as much), but Geryon actually meant to sell Nico to Kronos. Percy made a deal with Geryon: if he could clean the Aegean stables by sunset, Nico would go free, but otherwise, Geryon could enslave all of them. Percy handled his end of the bargain by summoning sea water from shells buried in the dirt around the stable, but Geryon refused to uphold his end. Percy and Geryon fought, and Percy defeated him by shooting an arrow through all three of Geryon's hearts.

Percy freed his friends and tried to convince Nico not to kill someone in exchange for Bianca's soul. When Nico refused to listen, Percy suggested summoning Bianca's spirit to ask her. The first spirit to arrive at the summoning ritual was king Minos, the spirit that Percy saw advising Nico. They learned the Minos's spirit was responsible for driving people crazy within the Labyrinth. Later, Bianca's spirit arrived. She also asked Nico not to raise her from the dead. She told him that he shouldn't blame Percy for her death, and that she was sorry for leaving him alone. Then she and the other spirits departed, leaving Nico angry that Bianca defended Percy instead of her brother.

The group spent the night at the ranch. Percy had two dreams that night. In the first dream, he saw Luke and Kelli readying to invade Camp Half-Blood. Kampe joined them, and Luke offered her the honorable position of carrying Ariadne's string, a magic string that helps people through the Labyrinth. In Percy's second dream, he saw Daedalus with his nephew, Perdix. Perdix possessed Daedalus's intelligence and created blueprints to capture a person's spirit in a man-made form, allowing them to live forever. Daedalus feared and envied Perdix's intelligence, so he murdered his nephew.

When the heroes were ready to resume their quest, Nico declined to join them. Eurytion gave Annabeth a necklace to help her find Hephaestus, whom Hera mentioned could help in finding Daedalus. The necklace turned into a mechanical spider that scurried into the Labyrinth, with the quartet chasing after it. The spider led them to Hephaestus's workshop. The god told them that he would help them find Daedalus if they first found out who was using his forge under Mount St. Helens.

The heroes agreed and went on their way, led by the mechanical spider. Along the way, they came across another tunnel from whence the scent of Pan emanated. Grover decided to follow the other tunnel in pursuit of Pan, with Tyson accompanying him, while Percy and Annabeth continued to Mount St. Helens. When the two arrived under the mountain, they discovered that the forge was being used by telekhines, seas demons who sought revenge against the gods because Zeus cast them into Tartarus. The telekhines were working on a weapon for Kronos. Annabeth put on her invisibility cap and escaped while Percy provided distraction. The telekhines threw lava at him, but Percy used the power of water within himself to summon water, and the resulting volatile combination of water and lava propelled him out of the volcano.

Percy ended up on the island of Ogygia, where his wounds were tended by Calypso, a girl who Percy thought was the most beautiful he'd ever seen. Calypso told Percy about her curse. Because she sided with her father Atlas against the gods, she was imprisoned on the island, and her only companions were heroes who washed ashore. She was destined to fall in love with them, but they could never stay, just as in Percy's case. Despite a great desire to remain with Calypso, Percy knew he couldn't if he wanted to help his friends, especially after Hephaestus visited and revealed to Percy the secret to navigating the Labyrinth. Reluctantly, Percy left Ogygia on a magical raft and sailed back to Camp Half-Blood.

The campers were in the midst of holding a funeral for Percy when he arrived. Chiron told him that Quintus had disappeared into the Labyrinth, and Percy revealed his plan to tame the maze. Percy dreamed of Daedalus and Minos again that night. Daedalus had sought refuge in king Cocalus's kingdom, and Minos found him there. However, Cocalus's daughter had grown fond of Daedalus and killed Minos to protect Daedalus. With more blood on his hands, Daedalus escaped into the Labyrinth. Percy had another dream about Luke's army in the Labyrinth. They found another half-blood wandering in the maze. Annabeth confirmed Percy's fears when she revealed that Euryption told her Nico left the ranch and entered the Labyrinth.

Percy and Annabeth went into New York to recruit Rachel Dare to be their guide in the Labyrinth. Percy believed that only a human who could see through the Mist could find passage through the maze. Rachel seemed to be able to do so, but they were captured by Kelli. The empousa led them to an arena. Luke sought Antaeus' permission to pass through his territory, and in return, Luke would provide entertainment in Antaeus's arena. Percy was Luke's latest choice to do battle.

In his first battle, Percy easily dispatched of a dracaena. Then he had to face another boy named Ethan Nakamura. Percy defeated him but refused to kill him. When Antaeus grew angry, Percy challenged him battle instead. He slew Antaeus with his sword Riptide, but Luke then assumed command of the arena. Trapped, Percy summoned Mrs. O'Leary on the dog whistle Quintus had given him. The hellhold quickly arrived and threw the arena in disarray.

Percy and his friends escaped, followed by Mrs. O'Leary and Ethan. Sometime during their run from the arena, they lost Mrs. O'Leary, and when they stopped to rest, Ethan declared that he too was leaving to go join Kronos. Percy realized that the half-blood Luke's army found in the maze was Ethan, not Nico.

Rachel led them to Daedalus's workshop, which temporarily resided in Colorado Springs. While looking around at Daedalus's inventions, they were confronted by Quintus and Mrs. O'Leary. Quintus revealed that he was really Daedalus, and Quintus was his fifth reincarnation in a man-made body. Daedalus had cheated death for two thousand years by hiding inside the Labyrinth. Although he didn't work for Kronos, regretfully, Daedalus had already given Ariadne's string to Luke.

At that moment, Minos, Kelli, and other monsters from Luke's army burst into the workshop with Nico as hostage. Minos tricked Nicos into exchanging Daedalus's spirit for another, but for Minos's rather than Bianca's. Percy, Annabeth, and Daedalus fought the enemies while Rachel retrieved the metal wings that Daedalus created. Nico created a fissure that swallowed Minos, and Annabeth stabbed Kelli. The half-bloods and Rachel escaped the workshop on Daedalus's wings, but Daedalus and Mrs. O'Leary were still engaged in fighting the other members of Luke's minions.

The heroes had to return to Camp Half-Blood to warn their friends, and the fastest way was back through the Labyrinth. They found another entrance outside Colorado Springs. On their way back to New York, they encountered a tunnel leading to Kronos's headquarters on Mount Tam. Percy chose to investigate alone, hiding under Annabeth's invisibility cap. He came upon Ethan and two telekhines, who had re-forged Kronos's scythe. Percy then sneaked to the coffin where Kronos's reforming body lay, but inside the coffin, he saw Luke's body with a hole in his chest.
Percy heard Ethan and the telekhines approaching and hid. When Ethan pledged his allegiance to Kronos, the hole in Luke's body mended and Kronos awakened, having taken over Luke's body. Percy tried to fight Kronos, but Riptide was ineffective. Annabeth, Nico, and Rachel then arrived to save Percy. Nico summoned an earthquake that toppled Kronos's stronghold while the four heroes escaped back into the Labyrinth.

When they came to a stop, they found Grover's and Tyson's footprints on the ground. They followed the footprints into an underground cavern. There, they reunited with Grover and Tyson. They all sensed that Pan was close by and found him inside a cave. Pan was dying, and the only thing preventing him from doing so was the satyrs' quests to find him. Pan asked Grover to tell everyone that Pan was dead, although Pan's spirit would live on in each of them. Grover reluctantly agreed, and Pan finally faded.

The party returned to New York, where they bid farewell to Rachel before returning to Camp Half-Blood. The camp readied itself for war.

Kronos's army soon began emerging from the Labyrinth. The campers held back the first wave of attackers, but when Kampe appeared, the tide turned in favor of Kronos's army. Percy and Annabeth tried to fight Kampe, but they were no match. Mrs. O'Leary then appeared out of the Labyrinth and knocked Kampe aside. Daedalus and Briares followed, and Briares buried Kampe with a barrage of boulders. When Chiron was struck by an arrow, Grover let out a fearsome yell, which caused a stampede by the enemies back into the Labyrinth.

With the first battle over, Daedalus decided that the only way to stop Kronos from entering the camp through the Labyrinth was if he died. He gave Annabeth a laptop with his notes. Then he offered his soul to Nico in exchange for Bianca, but Nico declined, realizing that Bianca was better off where she was. With that, Nico released Daedalus spirit, and the Labyrinth collapsed.

The next day, the Council of Cloven Elders convened to discuss Grover's claim that Pan was dead. The three members of the council voted to exile Grover, but Chiron voted against it, as did Dionysus, whose voted counted double. With the vote tied, Dionysus dissolved the council. Later on, Percy said good-bye Nico. The son of Hades didn't feel like he belonged at the camp, and there were some questions about his past that he wanted to answer.
At the end of summer, Percy parted ways with his friends at Camp Half-Blood. He said an awkward farewell to Annabeth, who was still distraught over Luke's fate. Hera appeared to both of them, claiming credit for helping them on their quest. However, neither Percy nor Annabeth were very happy about it because Hera was petty and didn't care about people like Nice and Hephaestus.

On Percy's fifteenth birthday, at his party back at his mother's home, Paul confided to Percy that he planned to propose to Percy's mother. Percy gave him his blessing. Surprisingly, Poseidon also showed up at Percy's birthday party. He gave Percy a sand dollar for his birthday. He also had more unsettling news, such as growing battles under the ocean and the imminent awakening of the monster Typhon under Mount St. Helens. After Poseidon left, Percy planted a moonlace in his mother's planter as a promise to Calypso. Nico suddenly appeared, updating Percy on Daedalus's fate to build overpasses and exit ramps in the underworld. Nice offered Percy information about defeating Luke, and Percy invited him in for birthday cake.