Curse of Achilles

The Curse of Achilles is a power and a curse that a person can acquire when they bathe in the @River Styx.

The curse is named after @Achilles, the Ancient Greek hero, who was famous for his invulnerability. When one bathes in the River Styx, they will be granted the power to remain uninjured by any means. However, they will always have one weak spot and if this weak spot is injured even in the slightest, the person will die. For @Percy Jackson, it was on the back. For Achilles, it was on his heel and for @Luke Castellan, it was on his armpit. For a person to successfully receive this curse, he must earn his parent's blessing before bathing in the river or it would kill whoever enters its shores. When one bathes in it, the person must envision one thing that ties them to the living. They also must imagine a single spot on their body that will be vulnerable and a rope tying them to the mortal plane. If they do not do this they will turn into ash and be forever lost in the River Styx. Though not proven, the thing a person usually envisions is often someone close. An example of this is when Percy bathes in the Styx, he envisioned @Annabeth Chase, the girl he loves.

Exposure to the water of the Little Tiber negates the curse permanently, because it is a Greek blessing/curse that could not be retained in territory belonging to the Romans (i.e. @Camp Jupiter), the enemies of the Greeks, according to @Hera.

Abilities

Anyone who bears the Curse of Achilles is nearly invulnerable, except in one weak point. They also get highly increased strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and fighting skills, also linking to their abilities, making it less tiresome to use immense powers. One such example of this is Percy, who was powerful enough to defeat @Hades, @Hyperion, a hundred skeletal warriors created by Hades, and a large fraction of the @Titan Army equivalent to hundreds of monsters after taking on the curse. The curse also allowed Achilles to slay a large amount of Trojans and @Amazons during the Trojan War.

Hazel's Curse

Hazel's Curse is a curse that was placed on @Hazel Levesque at birth. It causes the precious gems that Hazel summons to cause the buyers to suffer.

Using a spell that @Hecate found for her, Marie Levesque summoned the god @Hades and they fell in love. When Pluto offered Marie one wish, she wished for all of the riches of the @Mortal Plane due to being tired of being poor despite the god's warning that the greediest wishes cause the greatest sorrows. As a result, Pluto and Marie's demigod daughter Hazel was born with the power to summon precious gems, but the gems were cursed and would cause the buyers to suffer. Marie refused to accept responsibility and blamed Pluto who told his daughter that one day a descendant of @Poseidon would wash away her curse and give her peace.

Under the influence of @Gaea, Marie moved herself and Hazel to Alaska where Gaea forced Hazel to raise her oldest Gigantes son @Alcyoneus by calling forth precious metals that were beneath the earth on a phantom island. Once Hazel had almost finished the job, she discovered that Gaea also needed a human sacrifice in order for her son to rise up and Hazel's mother offered to be the sacrifice to save Hazel as Gaea promised her Hazel would not be harmed if she sacrificed herself. Once Hazel discovered the treachery, she called up all the riches below her, causing an eruption that broke the cavern walls and ultimately destroyed the island. Hazel made a deal with the judges of the @Underworld and went to the @Fields of Asphodel in order to save her mother from the @Fields of Punishment.

When Hazel was resurrected by her half-brother @Nico di Angelo through the @Doors of Death, her curse returned with her.

Titan's Curse

The Titan's Curse is the burden of holding up the sky to prevent its weight from crashing down upon the earth. The curse can only be forced upon a @Titan, though a pure-hearted hero can willingly take on the burden if they choose to, as can gods. It can give excruciating pain.

Background

After the @Olympians' assault on @Mount Othrys, @Zeus confined his four Titan uncles to @Tartarus as punishment. Laughing at the gods' ignorance, @Atlas reveals that the presence of the four Titan Lords is the only thing keeping the sky in place. As a solution to this problem, Zeus had the Elder Cyclopes chain Atlas to a mountain and cause the sky to form a central support pillar, which they then forced upon his shoulders to bear as punishment.

As his tenth labor, @Hercules had to obtain the golden apples of immortality from the Garden of the Hesperides. Unable to bypass @Ladon, Hercules was instructed by Atlas' daughter, Zoë Nightshade, to trick her father into stealing the apples for him. Hercules did so by taking on the Titan's Curse while Atlas obtained the apples for him, but upon returning, Hercules once again tricked the Titan into taking on his burden once again.

Second Titan War

@Luke Castellan takes on the Titan's Curse to free Atlas from his punishment. While on a mission to retrieve two half-bloods from @Westover Hall, @Annabeth Chase is kidnapped by the @Manticore and tricked by Luke into taking the burden of the sky from him. When @Artemis herself is captured by Atlas while hunting the @Ophiotaurus, she willingly takes the burden from Annabeth, who was on the brink of dying from holding up the sky too long.

The Oracle issues a quest to Zoë so they can free Artemis. She takes @Thalia Grace, @Grover Underwood, and Bianca di Angelo as companions, with @Percy Jackson later joining them. Bianca dies during the quest but the others reach their destination, the ruins of Mount Othrys. A battle ensues, in which Percy frees Artemis and convinces her to let him bear the Titan's Curse, thus fulfilling the Oracle's prophecy in doing so. In the midst of battling Atlas, Artemis once again forces the burden of the sky onto the Titan General, relieving Percy of it at the same time. @Poseidon later confirms that no one from the Titan Army would be willing to hold up the sky for Atlas. However, Percy realizes that Luke decided to take on the burden, albeit only to trick Annabeth.

A year later, in a dream, Percy sees Atlas still trapped under his burden. He demands that @Krios and @Hyperion let him out, as he is the Titans' greatest warrior. Hyperion reminds Atlas that he failed when he was freed from his burden, and that he is better suited to remain where is, holding up the sky.