As Percy exits Mount Olympus, he stops to talk to Hermes. The latter notes that there has been a lot of destruction in New York, but the people will bounce back: “The mortals are shaken, of course. But this is New York”(356). The two discuss Luke, and Percy apologizes for saying Hermes was a bad father. Percy encourages Hermes to become closer to his other children, and Hermes agrees, asking Percy to take his other children to Camp Half-Blood. Hermes also notes that Kronos may be defeated now, but how “you can’t kill a Titan” (357).

Percy also encounters Athena, who cautions him: “Don’t mess up” (360). He meets his mother and step-father in the lobby. Finally, Nico tells Percy that Rachel is riding Blackjack to Camp Half-Blood.

Percy, Annabeth, and Nico head to Camp Half-Blood, riding hippocampi across the Long Island Sound. Rachel has made it into camp despite all of the magical barriers, and she is at the Big House. Chiron has invited her, and Rachel thinks that the curse of Hades on the Oracle has been lifted. The Oracle emerges from the Big House, and “green Mist curled into a hundred smoky serpents” (366).