Here we are! (This is HecateA writing an article about the other chapter bit the nice Heroes of Olympus fans have)
That Daniel Cook/Emily Young/Daniel Book moment was brought to you by imagination!
Anyways, here I am, and here you are, so let’s get started!
I’m guessing you’re all familiar with that extra piece of chapter we got. If not; you must head to the links right now! For those of you who are familiar (or are coming back from the link section), here’s my take on this, and guess what? I’m going to use the magic of copy-paste, bolding the not-Hecate’s-ideas, and throwing in Hecate-ideas in this article, just because the whole thing is squirming with important. (I’m sorry if you just got back from the link section after reading it- tee hee)
So here we go!
Part of him wanted to head west to the ocean; that's where he'd be safest. That's where his power would be greatest. But those Roman guards at the door made him uneasy. Something inside him said, "This isn't my territory. This is dangerous."
"You're right, of course," said a voice next to him. He jumped. At first he thought, Stheno had managed to sneak up on him again. But the old lady sitting in the bushes was even more repulsive then a gorgon. She looked like a hippie that was dumped on the side of the road 40 years ago where she had been collecting trash and rags ever since. She wore a dress made of tie-dyed cloth, ripped up quilts and plastic grocery bags. Her frizzy mop of hair was gray-brown like root beer foam, tied back with a peace sign headband. Worts and moles covered her face. When she smiled, she showed exactly 3 teeth.
"It isn't a maintenance tunnel," she confided. "It's the entrance to camp!" A jolt went up Percy's spine. Camp… yes! That's where he was from! Maybe this was his home. Maybe Annabeth was right. Maybe she was close by.
Hold it! ‘Maybe Annabeth was right’. Umm, what about? What did Annabeth tell him that he can remember about camp? Well, obviously something. Dream? Faraway memory of ‘The Lightning Thief’ when she was giving him the tour and telling him ‘this is home’?
You decide, but personally, I like the idea that there was some kind of communication, although that seems like a bit of a breakthrough. Maybe he saw her sitting at her desk sketching or something and muttering ‘he should be approaching camp…’ Maybe there was a fake memory of her telling Percy that she’s kidnapped or something! MAYBE SHE IS KIDNAPPED!!!
And of course, a lot of us (like me!) had already guessed that the Caldecott tunnel was the entrance to Camp Caesar Salad and congrats to us, it’s right. But how does it work? Do demigods pop out at the other end but its camp? That would be annoying if you’re actually trying to get through the Caldecott tunnel. Maybe there’s a secret door. Maybe Camp is in the Caldecott tunnel or in another dimension of it…
Then Stheno shrieked with delight and pointed in Percy's direction. The old hippie lady raised her eyebrows.
"Not much time child. You need to make your choice."
"Who are you?" Percy asked, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The last thing he needed was another harmless mortal who turned out to be a monster.
. "Oh, you can call me June." The old lady's eyes sparkled like she had made an excellent joke. "It is June, isn't it? They named the month after me."
Okay, here’s proof number 1 that June is actually Juno in disguise. Some of the months are actually named after Roman gods! Like the planets are; check it:
January- Janus (beginning of year, god of begging, how nice)
March- in French its ‘Mars’ which is, well, Mars.
June- Juno
"Uh, okay. Look, I should go. Two gorgons are coming and I don't want them to hurt you." June clasped her hands over her heart.
"Oh, how sweet. But that is part of your choice." Percy glanced nervously at the hill. The gorgons had taken off their green vests. Wings sprouted from their backs, small bat wings that glistened like brass. Since when did they have wings? Maybe they were ornamental, maybe they were too small to get a gorgon into the air. Then the two sisters leaped off the apartment building and soared toward him. Great, just great
So not only is that new, but it’s not on the UK cover! I’m not saying I like the UK cover, or that I think it’s totally legit (unless Percy gets a buzz cut at Camp Caesar Salad or it’s another son of the sea wearing an orange shirt under the caption of ‘Percy Jackson is back’- yeah right) but the gorgons on there don’t have wings. Do they lose them? Maybe the same way Percy loses his Achilles curse… Either way, there’s also a myth on those wings and tusks.
"Yes," June said, as if she was in no hurry. "You can leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and escape to the ocean. You can make it there safely, I guarantee you.
Can I get that in writing? Does the offer stand for the whole series?
The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monsters will bother you. You'll be safe at the bottom of the sea. You can begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and suffering that is in your future." Percy was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the second option.
"Or?"
"Or you can do a good dead for an old lady. Carry me to camp with you."
"....Carry you?" Percy hoped she was kidding. Then June hitched up her skirts, showing him her swollen purple feet.
"I can't get there by myself," she said. "Carry me to camp across the highway, through the tunnel, and across the river."
This is proof number 2 that June is Juno, because Hera asked Jason the exact same thing! So Jason (our Jason) loses a shoe, and Percy gets to carry Hera as Juno as an old lady across a river while he’s on his way to something important (the original Jason was on his way to claim his throne)
Percy didn't know what river she meant, but it didn't sound easy. June looked pretty heavy. The gorgons were only 50 yards away now, leisurely gliding toward him as they knew the hunt was almost over.
"And I should carry you to this camp because?.."
"Because it's a kindness!" she said. " And if you don't, the gods will die, the world as we know it will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. Of course, you don't remember all that so I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll be safe at the bottom of the sea." Percy swallowed. The gorgons shrieked with laughter as they soared in for the kill.
What river she meant… Could it be a mythological river? Well, here my BFF Google came in handy, as well as those little factoids that I keep in my head just in case I get myself on Jeopardy.
-The Underworld and the living world were separated by 5 major rivers:
• Lethe (been there)
• Styx (done that)
• Acheron- This is where Charon travelled in his ferry, bringing souls to Hades. It was never called by name, but they did go on the theory, so I guess we (got the t-shirt)
• Cocytus – Picture Asphodel, except in the form of the river and you’ve got your evil people, your brave, died-in-battles, was-just-that-awesome types and your average Joe all in there. Why? Because no matter who you were, if you weren’t buried properly you ended up in Cocytus. Thus why the Greeks gave so much importance to proper burial rites (there’s a myth about that)
• Phlegethon – River of pure fire that doesn’t hurt anything while it’s inflamed. Weird; yes. But doesn’t it make sense that that’s on the outskirts of roman camp? You’d have to be pretty brave and daring and obey-your-instincts type to go through that.
That theory would make sense if Hazel was a daughter of Pluto like people like to think.
-Hera has a sacred river that only she knows about. Not the greatest of my theories, but seeing as Hera is RIGHT THERE I thought of throwing it in. Other problem; it’s a secret. So how the Hades is it a secret if all the roman campers all went there?
-The Potamoi. You know how there’s Oceanus, right? His kids were the Oceanids and the Potamoi, who were river gods. And then their kids were the naiads.
-So I typed ‘river in roman myth’ in Google, but that’s okay because Google is used to me being so specific. ANYWHO, the first thing that crops up is ‘Tiber River’. This thing is the third biggest river in Italy, and can you guess what its famous for? Being the main water source for the City of Rome when it was still all cute, little and not that big-and-macho-and-grr-I-want-to-rule-the-world. It even has its own river god; Tiberinus. Now, what's interesting about Tiberinus is that Tiberinus gave a few pointers to Aeanas when he was trying to find a spot for Rome to establish. Maybe he'll click with Piper? Also; after the she-wolf Lupa lost her cubs, he gave her Remus and Romulus, and married their mother, Rhea Silvia. Important much? And seeing as Percy and river deities get along so well…
*Sidenote- There’s an oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico called ‘Tiber Oil Field’
-The river Lemnos (explanations will come later- hold your Pegasi)
-A mortal river! Yeay!
*Sidenote- If the river isn’t big and magical; it might be their version of Camp Half-Blood’s creek. (OMG it’s the same water source and Percy can get back to camp through that! :O)
And where is this river? Because you’ve got road, tunnel, camp. Or is it- road, tunnel, river, camp…
And moving on to the ‘whoa…’ part of that bit, Hera’s little And if you don't, the gods will die, the world as we know it will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed
Percy’s supposed to save the world. What else is new?
But seriously, this one seems really important… If you haven’t read my cover analysis; I’ve got a theory that wraps all this up (even if it's probably not right, but whatever).
To go the war the gods used Zeus’ staff which coincidentally looks like what Percy’s holding on a cover (so it’s not a chicken after all) but if that staff is gone how in the world are they going to war against giants? Answer they won’t and it’ll just suck to be on not-Gaia’s-side. So Percy’s stuck playing fetch with Zeus’ magical items again. Also, if Khione took it and Percy destroys the palace where they got it from in the process, that explains some more of the cover, whoop-dee-doo, alright.
Common Percy, work your magic!
And also; Juno’s mentioning his old life. Again, Percy really cares for that old life of his. Is there something drawing him to it; something Jason didn’t have?
"If I go to camp, will I get my memory back?"
"Eventually," June said. "But be warned, you'll sacrifice much, you'll lose the mark of Achilles, and you'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. But you might have a chance to save your old friends and reclaim your old life."
Okay, hold your Pegasi here!
You’ll lose the mark of Achilles? How the Fontus’ll that happen??? How can it happen?
I’d like to tell you there’s a myth exactly on ‘Achilles angered the goddess blehblehsomething and in the night she poisoned him with herbs from blehblehsomethingelse’.
Sadly; no. The only 3 cases recorded of the curse are Achilles, Luke and Percy.
Well, Achilles and Luke lost it by dying. I’m full ready to look into other options.
Several things are going ‘DINGALINGALING!’ in my head about this. Ways that Percy might just might lose the curse.
a) Maybe he’ll give it away. Frank or Hazel could be freaking DYING and Percy transfers the blessing to them someway.
b) Maybe it’s a sacrifice ‘if you give me the chicken- I mean eagle staff, you have to let us go’ (I’m sure Gaia would love for Percy to lose invulnerability, she and Kronos probably had enough of a chat in Tartarus for the ‘oh by the way, watch out for this kid’ to come up.
c) Remember how Sally Jackson had to give the blessing to Percy so he could get the curse? Maybe she’ll just be so frustrated one day and be all ‘curse this quest’ or ‘ I wish he’d never done it’ and then BAM! It reminds me of a certain myth actually, except the mom burns a log associated with the guy’s life and he dies. But that seems totally unlike Percy’s mom…
d) He’s cursed by a force that’s just that big or by a lot of gods or something… ‘By a lot of gods’ wouldn’t work because they all (fine, they nearly all) hate him, but they wouldn’t take away his curse because the boy needs that!
e) Remember how Stheno let that little comment drop about gorgon blood? Well, it’s –like most mythological facts of Percy Jackson, and I’m saying most because I doubt Charon really wore Italian suits, I’m thinking more of drab and creepy hooded cloak- real. And listen to (or read depending on if you can hear my voice from where you’re sitting) this.
In Greek mythology, blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison. Athena gave a vial of the healing blood to Asclepius, which ultimately brought about his demise.
So say we reenact this. Percy is on Hazel’s deathbed and Frank is off doing something will the bulletproof elephant (haven’t you heard?), so it’s all up to Percy. And Athena tried to be helpful with Percy just this once, and gave him 2 jars of Gorgon juice earlier in the quest (‘Gorgon juice’ sounds nasty, like something you could get at a Tartarus bar). He has to pick the right one to save Hazel’s life. Well he’s not sure which one, so he takes a drop himself to see which is best. Seaweed brain can’t read Latin that great, so he ended up taking ‘LEFT’ instead of ‘RIGHT’. But instead of dying, the curse goes POOF! Then Percy has to give all of the ‘right’ to Hazel to save her so he can’t get the curse back and then they’re off to go save Frank and get that chicken-on-a-stick.
Maybe not, but a scenario such as (^) could happen.
Either way; we are GOING to see Gorgon blood put to SOME use. I don’t see any other reason to mention that except for the readers’ brain nutrition.
f) Maybe he swaps it. “Kay Khione, you give me the chicken-on-a-stick, and I’ll drop the curse’.
g) Okay, this is interesting and made all those visits to MortalNet worth it. Remember in LT how Zeus was like ‘I must go purify the Lightning bolt in the river Lemnos!’? I know it’s far back from actual book, yeah yeah, but according to the user who posted, maybe that’s the river and Percy is going to get ‘purrified’ and he’ll lose the curse! I’m not sure why it would be so close to CCS, because if it flows near humans we’re just going to ‘unpurify’ it with our stench (thanks Zeus, really means a lot to us all). But it seems strange for Percy to lose the curse so early in the book, doesn’t it? Anyways, thought I’d throw it in, and give credit to the user on this link; her comment is at the bottom.
link
And we can be pretty sure that Percy loses the curse before whatever the cover's about goes down, because there's a guy holding an important looking staff emerging from ice water on the cover. He's wearing something that looks strikingly similar to Logan Lerman's movie outfit, and he's got a cut on his cheek; watch.
Pain, loss, missery beyond anything he’s ever known, well that sounds lovely, thank you very much June.
The gorgons were circling right overhead, probably studying the old woman, wondering who the new player may be before they struck. "What about the guards at the door?" Percy asked. June smiled.
"Oh, they'll let you in, dear. You can trust those two.
‘You can trust those two’. This is like the thing with June, a lot of people have already caught it but those two guards could very well be Hazel and Frank. Trust those two? What is it about them? Are they close family *cough*Son of Neptune*cough*daughter of Pluto*cough*? Do they have some kind of knowledge about Percy being their road to finding Jason? Are they going to be in the prophecy that sends Percy packing and back to wherever he’ll find the chicken-on-a-stick? (No I will not stop using that line, I think its genius! Mr-RR’s-son you are genius!)
And this might be a ‘no duh Hecate’ moment, but we’re missing a chunk between chapter 1’s end (or where it cuts in chapter 1). You can’t go from Percy jumping and doing a stupid, typical Percy sledding trick and then to there. I WANT FULL COVERAGE OF THE SLEDDING TRICK!
So, what do you say? Will you help a defenceless, old woman?" Percy doubted June was defenceless. At worst this was a trap. At best this was some kind of test. Percy hated tests! Since he lost his memory, his whole life was one big fill in the blank. He was blank from blank, he felt like blank, and if the monsters caught up with him, he'd be blank. Then he thought about Annabeth: the only part of his old life he was sure about. He had to find her.
Question time; how sure is he about Annabeth? Does he know about the fact that they’re going to get married and have blond children that can swim really well someday? Okay, maybe not, but does he know about the whole dating thing? I like to think that yes. Juno would have left him that, it’s just that more motivational to save your twue wove than your best friend (even though he’s always done good at saving his best friends, don’t you find?)
Either way; I think that the roman girl threat is clear! The Romans probably wouldn’t consider love as their main preoccupation, just a distraction, so relationships might be frowned upon. Marriage in the roman army was also illegal, so couples can’t be that common. Maybe Jason and Reyna is there just because it’s Jason and Reyna.
And fine, just for you Percy/Annabeth suckers: aww…
"I'll carry you."
Of course you did, Percy.
Percy scooped up the old woman. She was lighter than he expected. Percy tried to ignore her sour breath and her calloused hands that gripped his neck. He made it across the first lane of traffic. The driver honked, another yelled something that was lost in the wind. Most just swerved and looked annoyed, as if they had to deal with a lot of bratty kids carrying old hippy women across the freeway.
Do they? Or is Juno just testing Percy in particular? I believe the later, but who knows.
Answer: nobody knows nothing about anything. So we’re going to have to wait for nice Mr Rocco and Riordan and the nice folks at the book company to Release the damn kraken- I mean character art and profiles, more chapters, more interviews, another synopsis maybe (or all of those things) *is starring at the cited just in case they are reading this*
*I broke my record for most pics in an article!
That Daniel Cook/Emily Young/Daniel Book moment was brought to you by imagination!
Anyways, here I am, and here you are, so let’s get started!
I’m guessing you’re all familiar with that extra piece of chapter we got. If not; you must head to the links right now! For those of you who are familiar (or are coming back from the link section), here’s my take on this, and guess what? I’m going to use the magic of copy-paste, bolding the not-Hecate’s-ideas, and throwing in Hecate-ideas in this article, just because the whole thing is squirming with important. (I’m sorry if you just got back from the link section after reading it- tee hee)
So here we go!
Part of him wanted to head west to the ocean; that's where he'd be safest. That's where his power would be greatest. But those Roman guards at the door made him uneasy. Something inside him said, "This isn't my territory. This is dangerous."
"You're right, of course," said a voice next to him. He jumped. At first he thought, Stheno had managed to sneak up on him again. But the old lady sitting in the bushes was even more repulsive then a gorgon. She looked like a hippie that was dumped on the side of the road 40 years ago where she had been collecting trash and rags ever since. She wore a dress made of tie-dyed cloth, ripped up quilts and plastic grocery bags. Her frizzy mop of hair was gray-brown like root beer foam, tied back with a peace sign headband. Worts and moles covered her face. When she smiled, she showed exactly 3 teeth.
"It isn't a maintenance tunnel," she confided. "It's the entrance to camp!" A jolt went up Percy's spine. Camp… yes! That's where he was from! Maybe this was his home. Maybe Annabeth was right. Maybe she was close by.
Hold it! ‘Maybe Annabeth was right’. Umm, what about? What did Annabeth tell him that he can remember about camp? Well, obviously something. Dream? Faraway memory of ‘The Lightning Thief’ when she was giving him the tour and telling him ‘this is home’?
You decide, but personally, I like the idea that there was some kind of communication, although that seems like a bit of a breakthrough. Maybe he saw her sitting at her desk sketching or something and muttering ‘he should be approaching camp…’ Maybe there was a fake memory of her telling Percy that she’s kidnapped or something! MAYBE SHE IS KIDNAPPED!!!
And of course, a lot of us (like me!) had already guessed that the Caldecott tunnel was the entrance to Camp Caesar Salad and congrats to us, it’s right. But how does it work? Do demigods pop out at the other end but its camp? That would be annoying if you’re actually trying to get through the Caldecott tunnel. Maybe there’s a secret door. Maybe Camp is in the Caldecott tunnel or in another dimension of it…
Then Stheno shrieked with delight and pointed in Percy's direction. The old hippie lady raised her eyebrows.
"Not much time child. You need to make your choice."
"Who are you?" Percy asked, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The last thing he needed was another harmless mortal who turned out to be a monster.
. "Oh, you can call me June." The old lady's eyes sparkled like she had made an excellent joke. "It is June, isn't it? They named the month after me."
Okay, here’s proof number 1 that June is actually Juno in disguise. Some of the months are actually named after Roman gods! Like the planets are; check it:
January- Janus (beginning of year, god of begging, how nice)
March- in French its ‘Mars’ which is, well, Mars.
June- Juno
"Uh, okay. Look, I should go. Two gorgons are coming and I don't want them to hurt you." June clasped her hands over her heart.
"Oh, how sweet. But that is part of your choice." Percy glanced nervously at the hill. The gorgons had taken off their green vests. Wings sprouted from their backs, small bat wings that glistened like brass. Since when did they have wings? Maybe they were ornamental, maybe they were too small to get a gorgon into the air. Then the two sisters leaped off the apartment building and soared toward him. Great, just great
So not only is that new, but it’s not on the UK cover! I’m not saying I like the UK cover, or that I think it’s totally legit (unless Percy gets a buzz cut at Camp Caesar Salad or it’s another son of the sea wearing an orange shirt under the caption of ‘Percy Jackson is back’- yeah right) but the gorgons on there don’t have wings. Do they lose them? Maybe the same way Percy loses his Achilles curse… Either way, there’s also a myth on those wings and tusks.
"Yes," June said, as if she was in no hurry. "You can leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and escape to the ocean. You can make it there safely, I guarantee you.
Can I get that in writing? Does the offer stand for the whole series?
The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monsters will bother you. You'll be safe at the bottom of the sea. You can begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and suffering that is in your future." Percy was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the second option.
"Or?"
"Or you can do a good dead for an old lady. Carry me to camp with you."
"....Carry you?" Percy hoped she was kidding. Then June hitched up her skirts, showing him her swollen purple feet.
"I can't get there by myself," she said. "Carry me to camp across the highway, through the tunnel, and across the river."
This is proof number 2 that June is Juno, because Hera asked Jason the exact same thing! So Jason (our Jason) loses a shoe, and Percy gets to carry Hera as Juno as an old lady across a river while he’s on his way to something important (the original Jason was on his way to claim his throne)
Percy didn't know what river she meant, but it didn't sound easy. June looked pretty heavy. The gorgons were only 50 yards away now, leisurely gliding toward him as they knew the hunt was almost over.
"And I should carry you to this camp because?.."
"Because it's a kindness!" she said. " And if you don't, the gods will die, the world as we know it will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. Of course, you don't remember all that so I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll be safe at the bottom of the sea." Percy swallowed. The gorgons shrieked with laughter as they soared in for the kill.
What river she meant… Could it be a mythological river? Well, here my BFF Google came in handy, as well as those little factoids that I keep in my head just in case I get myself on Jeopardy.
-The Underworld and the living world were separated by 5 major rivers:
• Lethe (been there)
• Styx (done that)
• Acheron- This is where Charon travelled in his ferry, bringing souls to Hades. It was never called by name, but they did go on the theory, so I guess we (got the t-shirt)
• Cocytus – Picture Asphodel, except in the form of the river and you’ve got your evil people, your brave, died-in-battles, was-just-that-awesome types and your average Joe all in there. Why? Because no matter who you were, if you weren’t buried properly you ended up in Cocytus. Thus why the Greeks gave so much importance to proper burial rites (there’s a myth about that)
• Phlegethon – River of pure fire that doesn’t hurt anything while it’s inflamed. Weird; yes. But doesn’t it make sense that that’s on the outskirts of roman camp? You’d have to be pretty brave and daring and obey-your-instincts type to go through that.
That theory would make sense if Hazel was a daughter of Pluto like people like to think.
-Hera has a sacred river that only she knows about. Not the greatest of my theories, but seeing as Hera is RIGHT THERE I thought of throwing it in. Other problem; it’s a secret. So how the Hades is it a secret if all the roman campers all went there?
-The Potamoi. You know how there’s Oceanus, right? His kids were the Oceanids and the Potamoi, who were river gods. And then their kids were the naiads.
-So I typed ‘river in roman myth’ in Google, but that’s okay because Google is used to me being so specific. ANYWHO, the first thing that crops up is ‘Tiber River’. This thing is the third biggest river in Italy, and can you guess what its famous for? Being the main water source for the City of Rome when it was still all cute, little and not that big-and-macho-and-grr-I-want-to-rule-the-world. It even has its own river god; Tiberinus. Now, what's interesting about Tiberinus is that Tiberinus gave a few pointers to Aeanas when he was trying to find a spot for Rome to establish. Maybe he'll click with Piper? Also; after the she-wolf Lupa lost her cubs, he gave her Remus and Romulus, and married their mother, Rhea Silvia. Important much? And seeing as Percy and river deities get along so well…
*Sidenote- There’s an oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico called ‘Tiber Oil Field’
-The river Lemnos (explanations will come later- hold your Pegasi)
-A mortal river! Yeay!
*Sidenote- If the river isn’t big and magical; it might be their version of Camp Half-Blood’s creek. (OMG it’s the same water source and Percy can get back to camp through that! :O)
And where is this river? Because you’ve got road, tunnel, camp. Or is it- road, tunnel, river, camp…
And moving on to the ‘whoa…’ part of that bit, Hera’s little And if you don't, the gods will die, the world as we know it will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed
Percy’s supposed to save the world. What else is new?
But seriously, this one seems really important… If you haven’t read my cover analysis; I’ve got a theory that wraps all this up (even if it's probably not right, but whatever).
To go the war the gods used Zeus’ staff which coincidentally looks like what Percy’s holding on a cover (so it’s not a chicken after all) but if that staff is gone how in the world are they going to war against giants? Answer they won’t and it’ll just suck to be on not-Gaia’s-side. So Percy’s stuck playing fetch with Zeus’ magical items again. Also, if Khione took it and Percy destroys the palace where they got it from in the process, that explains some more of the cover, whoop-dee-doo, alright.
Common Percy, work your magic!
And also; Juno’s mentioning his old life. Again, Percy really cares for that old life of his. Is there something drawing him to it; something Jason didn’t have?
"If I go to camp, will I get my memory back?"
"Eventually," June said. "But be warned, you'll sacrifice much, you'll lose the mark of Achilles, and you'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. But you might have a chance to save your old friends and reclaim your old life."
Okay, hold your Pegasi here!
You’ll lose the mark of Achilles? How the Fontus’ll that happen??? How can it happen?
I’d like to tell you there’s a myth exactly on ‘Achilles angered the goddess blehblehsomething and in the night she poisoned him with herbs from blehblehsomethingelse’.
Sadly; no. The only 3 cases recorded of the curse are Achilles, Luke and Percy.
Well, Achilles and Luke lost it by dying. I’m full ready to look into other options.
Several things are going ‘DINGALINGALING!’ in my head about this. Ways that Percy might just might lose the curse.
a) Maybe he’ll give it away. Frank or Hazel could be freaking DYING and Percy transfers the blessing to them someway.
b) Maybe it’s a sacrifice ‘if you give me the chicken- I mean eagle staff, you have to let us go’ (I’m sure Gaia would love for Percy to lose invulnerability, she and Kronos probably had enough of a chat in Tartarus for the ‘oh by the way, watch out for this kid’ to come up.
c) Remember how Sally Jackson had to give the blessing to Percy so he could get the curse? Maybe she’ll just be so frustrated one day and be all ‘curse this quest’ or ‘ I wish he’d never done it’ and then BAM! It reminds me of a certain myth actually, except the mom burns a log associated with the guy’s life and he dies. But that seems totally unlike Percy’s mom…
d) He’s cursed by a force that’s just that big or by a lot of gods or something… ‘By a lot of gods’ wouldn’t work because they all (fine, they nearly all) hate him, but they wouldn’t take away his curse because the boy needs that!
e) Remember how Stheno let that little comment drop about gorgon blood? Well, it’s –like most mythological facts of Percy Jackson, and I’m saying most because I doubt Charon really wore Italian suits, I’m thinking more of drab and creepy hooded cloak- real. And listen to (or read depending on if you can hear my voice from where you’re sitting) this.
In Greek mythology, blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison. Athena gave a vial of the healing blood to Asclepius, which ultimately brought about his demise.
So say we reenact this. Percy is on Hazel’s deathbed and Frank is off doing something will the bulletproof elephant (haven’t you heard?), so it’s all up to Percy. And Athena tried to be helpful with Percy just this once, and gave him 2 jars of Gorgon juice earlier in the quest (‘Gorgon juice’ sounds nasty, like something you could get at a Tartarus bar). He has to pick the right one to save Hazel’s life. Well he’s not sure which one, so he takes a drop himself to see which is best. Seaweed brain can’t read Latin that great, so he ended up taking ‘LEFT’ instead of ‘RIGHT’. But instead of dying, the curse goes POOF! Then Percy has to give all of the ‘right’ to Hazel to save her so he can’t get the curse back and then they’re off to go save Frank and get that chicken-on-a-stick.
Maybe not, but a scenario such as (^) could happen.
Either way; we are GOING to see Gorgon blood put to SOME use. I don’t see any other reason to mention that except for the readers’ brain nutrition.
f) Maybe he swaps it. “Kay Khione, you give me the chicken-on-a-stick, and I’ll drop the curse’.
g) Okay, this is interesting and made all those visits to MortalNet worth it. Remember in LT how Zeus was like ‘I must go purify the Lightning bolt in the river Lemnos!’? I know it’s far back from actual book, yeah yeah, but according to the user who posted, maybe that’s the river and Percy is going to get ‘purrified’ and he’ll lose the curse! I’m not sure why it would be so close to CCS, because if it flows near humans we’re just going to ‘unpurify’ it with our stench (thanks Zeus, really means a lot to us all). But it seems strange for Percy to lose the curse so early in the book, doesn’t it? Anyways, thought I’d throw it in, and give credit to the user on this link; her comment is at the bottom.
link
And we can be pretty sure that Percy loses the curse before whatever the cover's about goes down, because there's a guy holding an important looking staff emerging from ice water on the cover. He's wearing something that looks strikingly similar to Logan Lerman's movie outfit, and he's got a cut on his cheek; watch.
Pain, loss, missery beyond anything he’s ever known, well that sounds lovely, thank you very much June.
The gorgons were circling right overhead, probably studying the old woman, wondering who the new player may be before they struck. "What about the guards at the door?" Percy asked. June smiled.
"Oh, they'll let you in, dear. You can trust those two.
‘You can trust those two’. This is like the thing with June, a lot of people have already caught it but those two guards could very well be Hazel and Frank. Trust those two? What is it about them? Are they close family *cough*Son of Neptune*cough*daughter of Pluto*cough*? Do they have some kind of knowledge about Percy being their road to finding Jason? Are they going to be in the prophecy that sends Percy packing and back to wherever he’ll find the chicken-on-a-stick? (No I will not stop using that line, I think its genius! Mr-RR’s-son you are genius!)
And this might be a ‘no duh Hecate’ moment, but we’re missing a chunk between chapter 1’s end (or where it cuts in chapter 1). You can’t go from Percy jumping and doing a stupid, typical Percy sledding trick and then to there. I WANT FULL COVERAGE OF THE SLEDDING TRICK!
So, what do you say? Will you help a defenceless, old woman?" Percy doubted June was defenceless. At worst this was a trap. At best this was some kind of test. Percy hated tests! Since he lost his memory, his whole life was one big fill in the blank. He was blank from blank, he felt like blank, and if the monsters caught up with him, he'd be blank. Then he thought about Annabeth: the only part of his old life he was sure about. He had to find her.
Question time; how sure is he about Annabeth? Does he know about the fact that they’re going to get married and have blond children that can swim really well someday? Okay, maybe not, but does he know about the whole dating thing? I like to think that yes. Juno would have left him that, it’s just that more motivational to save your twue wove than your best friend (even though he’s always done good at saving his best friends, don’t you find?)
Either way; I think that the roman girl threat is clear! The Romans probably wouldn’t consider love as their main preoccupation, just a distraction, so relationships might be frowned upon. Marriage in the roman army was also illegal, so couples can’t be that common. Maybe Jason and Reyna is there just because it’s Jason and Reyna.
And fine, just for you Percy/Annabeth suckers: aww…
"I'll carry you."
Of course you did, Percy.
Percy scooped up the old woman. She was lighter than he expected. Percy tried to ignore her sour breath and her calloused hands that gripped his neck. He made it across the first lane of traffic. The driver honked, another yelled something that was lost in the wind. Most just swerved and looked annoyed, as if they had to deal with a lot of bratty kids carrying old hippy women across the freeway.
Do they? Or is Juno just testing Percy in particular? I believe the later, but who knows.
Answer: nobody knows nothing about anything. So we’re going to have to wait for nice Mr Rocco and Riordan and the nice folks at the book company to Release the damn kraken- I mean character art and profiles, more chapters, more interviews, another synopsis maybe (or all of those things) *is starring at the cited just in case they are reading this*
*I broke my record for most pics in an article!