Riordan Wiki:Featured Articles/The Titan's Curse

The Titan's Curse is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, written by Rick Riordan. It was published on May 1st, 2007.

In this book the third, a quest is undertaken by both Hunters and campers to save Annabeth Chase and the goddess Artemis when it is realized that they have been abducted by the same forces. The quest they will undergo, however, is not all that it seems to be as secrets are revealed and the time of the Great Prophecy draws ever closer.

In December, six months after the Sea of Monsters adventure, Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace and Annabeth Chase go to Westover Hall to meet Grover Underwood, who had found two powerful demigod siblings there, Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Thalia displays the ability to manipulate the Mist, and tries to convince a resident teacher and the vice principal there that the three belong to the school. She manages to not let the three get kicked out before they could find the satyr.

Grover soon informs them that Dr. Thorn, the vice-principal of Westover hall, is a manticore (a half scorpion, lion, and human monster), and is suspicious of the two half-bloods' true identities, and therefore he was not fooled by Thalia's trick of the mist. She formulates a plan to distract Dr. Thorn; however the plan backfires on them. Percy, who is forced to dance to blend in with the crowd, sees Dr. Thorn attempting to sneak away with the two half-bloods. He is unable to spot Thalia, Annabeth, or Grover in the crowd and so follows Dr. Thorn.

As he nears Bianca and Nico, Dr. Thorn throws a thorn and it grazes his shoulder. Percy realizes that poison has entered his system. Percy is too weak to fight and instead, listens to the manticore as he talks about The Great Stirring. Percy tries to reassure Bianca who is panicking and Nico who is both overjoyed and scared. Percy lets Dr. Thorn bring them to a cliff and they wait for the manticore's allies to collect them. Percy tries hard to send a message to Grover that he was in danger. It works and soon Grover, Thalia and Annabeth show up and Dr. Thorn reveals his true form as a manticore.

Suddenly, some silver arrows pass Percy and hit the manticore. Thorn retaliates and shoots a volley of thorns to the shooters and more silver arrows come out and split them perfectly in half. The archers get out of the bushes. They are all adolescent girls wearing silver clothing. Thalia introduces them as the Hunters of Artemis. They are about to shoot when Dr. Thorn lunges at Percy and Thalia, knowing they are both weak and stunned. Annabeth climbs on Dr. Thorn with her knife, but the hunters release their arrows, and he falls from the cliff, taking Annabeth with him as she leaves her Yankee's cap behind.

Artemis appears and orders the Hunters to set up camp. Percy is invited to come and have a talk with the goddess, who appears in the form of a girl around the age of twelve. She asks Percy to restate what Dr. Thorn mentioned and concludes that dangerous times are near. She decides to hunt a powerful monster, one that has the power to bring down the gods and Olympus. Before she goes alone to do so, Zoë Nightshade, her lieutenant, is placed in charge of the Hunters and is told to stay at Camp Half-Blood until Artemis returns. During their short stay at the outskirts of Westover Hall, Bianca chooses to join the Hunters and attain immortality and a new family, along with forswearing romantic love forever, while leaving Nico in the trust of those at Camp Half-Blood.

The group receives a ride from Artemis's brother Apollo who lets them use the sun chariot, with Thalia at the wheel. The combination results in a gut-wrenching experience for the group because Thalia is scared of heights and the sun chariot can fly. Soon, they arrive at Camp Half-Blood, almost crashing in the canoe lake. Percy and Thalia lead Nico to the Big House for a conversation with Mr. D and Chiron. The two are quickly forbidden to carry out any rescue plans they have for Annabeth, with Dionysus stating that there is a small chance that she would survive.

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