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Summary

Chapter 3

Percy and Tyson meet Annabeth in an alley by the school. She demands to know why Percy is friends with Tyson, and Percy is offended and confused on his behalf. He then looks at Tyson’s hands and is astonished to see that they are unburnt after handling explosive dodgeballs. Annabeth explains that the monsters in the gym were Laistrygonians, a race of giant cannibals, and tells Percy they need to hurry because she has been having strange dreams about camp. Tyson interjects and asks why one of the monsters in the gym referred to Percy as Son of the Sea God. Percy tries to explain that he and Annabeth are demigods (Percy is the son of Poseidon, and Annabeth is the daughter of Athena), but Tyson does not seem surprised to learn that the gods are real. The three make their way through New York City, and Annabeth uses a drachma, the currency of Mount Olympus, to hail the Gray Sisters’ taxi service, asking that they take them to Camp Half-Blood. The three sisters (Temper, Wasp, and Anger) do not initially want to drive Tyson’s “kind,” but they agree after Annabeth offers them more money. While driving, one sister says they know the location that Percy seeks but they will not tell him where or what it is. Percy grabs their one shared, eye and refuses to give it back until they tell him—eventually they say he is looking for “30, 31, 75, 12,” but they refuse to elaborate any further. The taxi arrives at Half-Blood Hill, and Percy realizes that the camp is under attack. 

Chapter 4

Camp Half-Blood is being attacked by two Colchis bulls—fearsome, fire-breathing bronze bulls that were created by the god Hephaestus. Clarisse, daughter of Ares and a camp bully, is trying to defend the hill with the help of her fellow campers. Tyson manages to defeat one bull while Clarisse takes down the other. Once again, Percy is amazed that Tyson appears to be impervious to fire. Annabeth guides him to the realization that Tyson is a baby cyclops, one-eyed monsters who work in the forges of the gods. Annabeth explains that Tyson is one of the “homeless orphans”—children of nature spirits and gods that do not “come out right”—who grow up wild on the streets because nobody wants them or claims them. Annabeth says they should take Tyson to Chiron. However, Clarisse informs them that Chiron was fired and replaced by Tantalus because someone poisoned Thalia’s tree—the site that marks the location where Thalia, daughter of Zeus, sacrificed herself to save Luke, Grover, and Annabeth. Zeus turned his daughter into a pine tree, which powers an invisible barrier that protects the campers at Camp Half-Blood from monsters.

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