Quest to Rescue Artemis

The Quest to Rescue Artemis was a quest to rescue the goddess @Artemis, who had gone to search for the @Ophiotaurus, an ancient creature that could be the downfall of Olympus but was captured in an ambush instead.

Background

Six months after the Quest for the Golden Fleece, @Percy Jackson, @Thalia Grace, and @Annabeth Chase travel to @Westover Hall to meet @Grover Underwood, who has discovered two powerful demigods, Bianca and @Nico di Angelo. Thalia uses the Mist to disguise their presence at the school, but their cover is blown when the vice-principal, Dr. Thorn, is revealed to be a manticore. When Dr. Thorn tries to abduct the siblings, Percy follows him to a cliff, where he is poisoned during a brief fight and learns of a mysterious event called the Great Stirring. Thalia, Grover, and Annabeth arrive to help, but the battle takes a dire turn as Dr. Thorn summons his allies. Just as all seems lost, a volley of silver arrows saves them — the @Hunters of Artemis have arrived.

The Hunters engage Dr. Thorn, but in the chaos, Annabeth leaps onto him with her knife and falls off the cliff as the monster dies, leaving behind her @Yankee Cap of Invisibility. The goddess Artemis appears soon after, taking command of the Hunters and concluding from Percy’s account that dark times are coming. She sets out to hunt a monster powerful enough to threaten @Olympus, placing her lieutenant Zoë Nightshade in charge until her return. During their camp near Westover Hall, Bianca joins the Hunters, choosing immortality and leaving her brother Nico behind. The remaining group is later given a chaotic ride to @Camp Half-Blood by @Apollo in his sun chariot, with Thalia reluctantly at the wheel — nearly crashing into the @Canoe Lake upon arrival.

Camp Half-Blood Shenanigans

Percy and Thalia take Nico di Angelo to the @Big House, where @Dionysus and @Chiron forbid them from attempting to rescue Annabeth, whom Dionysus doubts will survive. Chiron announces a Capture the Flag game against the Hunters of Artemis, continuing an old camp tradition. Back at his cabin, Percy discovers a new fountain from his father, filled with golden drachmas to keep in touch with family. Through an Iris message, he contacts @Tyson and learns that the Princess Andromeda, @Luke Castellan’s ship, is still active and heading for the Panama Canal. That night, Percy dreams of Luke tricking Annabeth into taking on the burden of holding up the sky — a punishment originally belonging to the Titan @Atlas. Troubled, Percy tells Grover and tries to consult the Oracle, but it remains silent. During Capture the Flag, the Hunters easily defeat the campers, and tensions rise between Percy and Thalia until the Oracle unexpectedly appears before Zoë Nightshade — something no one at camp has ever seen.

A quest is quickly arranged following the prophecy the Oracle delivers. Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, Grover, and Phoebe are chosen to go, leaving Percy frustrated and excluded despite his determination to save Annabeth. Chiron tries to reassure him, but Percy can’t shake the feeling that Annabeth’s life depends on him. He contacts his mother, @Sally Jackson, who encourages him to follow his instincts, even if it means defying orders. That night, another dream reveals that Artemis has taken Annabeth’s place holding up the sky, while Luke keeps Annabeth alive as bait for an unknown plan. Percy wakes to find @Blackjack, the pegasus, urging him to rescue a strange sea creature called the Ophiotaurus. Percy affectionately names it Bessie, unaware of its immense power and importance.

Upon returning to camp, Percy finds Nico eavesdropping on the Hunters and uses Annabeth’s Yankees cap to turn invisible. He overhears that Phoebe has fallen ill from a Stoll brothers’ prank, meaning she can’t join the quest — reducing the number of quest members to four. Realizing the danger Bianca now faces, Percy stops Nico from trying to follow his sister and promises to protect her. Determined to help despite being forbidden, Percy mounts Blackjack and secretly flies off to shadow the quest group, beginning his own reckless rescue mission.

Fight at the Smithsonian

Percy and his pegasus Blackjack soar over @Manhattan and land atop the Chrysler Building, where Dionysus briefly appears to scold Percy for sneaking out of Camp Half-Blood — before sarcastically wishing him luck, hoping he dies on the quest. Following the Hunters’ van for hours, Percy spots them stopping at a museum and overhears Dr. Thorn confirming that Annabeth is still alive, validating his dreams. When Dr. Thorn splits off from the group, Percy secretly tails him and discovers the General and Luke working together. The General summons a group of nearly indestructible skeletal warriors by planting dragon teeth in the ground and watering them with blood, intending to use them to hunt down Zoë and Bianca. Percy intervenes, stealing the cloth meant to track the Hunters, but in the struggle, the skeletons catch his scent, marking him as their next target.

Using Annabeth’s Yankees Cap to escape, Percy warns the group of the danger. Though Zoë and the Hunters are furious that he disobeyed orders and followed them, the argument is cut short when the Nemean Lion attacks. Its impenetrable hide makes it unstoppable — until Percy tricks it into opening its mouth by throwing astronaut food at it, allowing Zoë to fire a killing arrow. Grateful, Zoë gives Percy the @Nemean Lion's Pelt, which transforms into a protective jacket when he puts it on. The skeletal warriors, still tracking Percy’s scent, force the group to flee across multiple trains before they finally stop to rest beside a fire. There, they share a quiet moment with a mysterious homeless man — unaware that he is actually the god Apollo watching over them.

Ambush at the Junkyard

While traveling west by train, Percy and his friends encounter Apollo again, who encourages Percy to find Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, for guidance. That night, Percy dreams he is seeing through Hercules’s eyes as a girl — later revealed to be Zoë Nightshade — hands him the sword Anaklusmos, hinting at her ancient past. With Apollo’s help, the group reaches a small town in New Mexico, where Grover senses Pan’s presence before they are ambushed by skeletal warriors armed with guns. Though the skeletons prove nearly indestructible, Bianca manages to destroy one by stabbing it in the chest with her knife, while Percy realizes that his Nemean Lion pelt makes him bulletproof. Just as they are surrounded, Grover’s connection to Pan summons the massive @Erymanthian Boar, which defeats the skeletons and carries the group all the way to San Francisco.

The boar drops them in the @Junkyard of the Gods, where Percy briefly meets Ares and speaks with Aphrodite, who hints at his growing connection with Annabeth and vows to make his love life “interesting.” Inside the junkyard, Bianca notices a Mythomagic figurine she wants to take for her brother Nico, despite Zoë’s warning not to touch anything. Her action awakens a defective automaton — Talos, a giant bronze warrior — forcing the group into battle. Determined to make things right, Bianca climbs inside the automaton through a maintenance hatch to destroy it from within. She succeeds, but when Talos crashes into power lines, the surge of electricity kills her. As the group searches in vain for her, Grover solemnly confirms that the prophecy has claimed its first life — Bianca di Angelo has fallen in the desert, the land without rain.

Arrival at Hoover Dam

After escaping the Junkyard of the Gods, Thalia drives the group in a truck until they reach a river, where Percy persuades a group of Naiads to ferry them by canoe to the @Hoover Dam — one of Annabeth’s favorite landmarks. The three share memories of her while making “dam” jokes to lighten the mood. However, Percy gets separated from the others when he hears the Ophiotaurus nearby. Soon, the eleven skeletal warriors attack, forcing him to flee into an elevator with a mortal tour group. When the group exits, he finds himself alone with Athena, who warns him in her cryptic way that there is always an escape for those clever enough to find it. Moments later, Percy encounters a mortal girl named @Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who can see through the Mist. Mistaking her for an enemy, he swings his sword, which passes harmlessly through her. Rachel then helps him evade the skeletons by confusing them, giving him the chance to reunite with his friends. Cornered at the top of the dam, they pray to @Zeus, and the giant metal angel statues gifted to him by Athena carry them to safety.

Once in San Francisco, Percy finds and wrestles Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, learning that the Ophiotaurus — whom he affectionately calls Bessie — is the monster Artemis seeks, as sacrificing it would grant anyone the power to destroy Olympus. Dr. Thorn soon appears with mortal reinforcements and attempts to persuade Thalia to claim that power, but Percy snaps her out of it just in time. Surrounded and desperate, Percy contacts Camp Half-Blood through an Iris message, reaching Dionysus, who begrudgingly intervenes to save them. Afterward, Grover safely escorts the Ophiotaurus back to Long Island with Poseidon’s help, while Percy offers his lion pelt to his father as a sacrifice of gratitude.

Confronting Atlas

Percy and the others visit Annabeth’s father, @Frederick Chase, who lends them his car and weapons for their mission. Before leaving, Percy promises Mrs. Chase to tell Annabeth she still has a home with them. As they drive up Mount Tamalpais, @Kronos strikes the car with lightning to enrage Thalia, forcing the group to continue on foot. At the @Garden of the Hesperides, Zoë is poisoned by the dragon @Ladon while confronting her sisters, and the group presses on to where Artemis is struggling beneath the sky’s weight. They find Annabeth bound by Luke and Atlas, and Percy takes the burden of the sky from Artemis to free her. During the ensuing battle, Atlas kills Zoë, and Artemis traps him once more beneath the sky. Thalia defeats Luke, seemingly killing him, while Percy witnesses @Mount Othrys — the Titans’ fortress — beginning to rebuild. In honor of Zoë, Artemis turns her into a constellation, the Huntress.