The Hidden Oracle

Apollo is shocked to see that instead of “golden ichor,” blood now runs through his veins. Cade and Mikey examine Apollo’s wallet and are disappointed to find just a hundred dollars, since their boss had told him Apollo would be “loaded.” Apollo realizes someone deliberately sent Cade and Mikey to confront him. Assuming only a God would know where to find him, Apollo asks the two young men about their boss. They mock him again. Cade advances toward Apollo with a knife, but he is distracted by a 12-year-old girl standing on a fire landing, asking Cade to leave Apollo alone. Apollo notes the girl is “pudgy” and dressed in mismatched clothing, and despite her small stature, she is confident. She tells Cade and Mikey to leave Apollo alone since this is her alley and Apollo is her prize. Cade and Mikey try to attack the girl, but she summons discarded food items from the dump to beat them. Hit by a torrent of rotting fruit and vegetables, Cade and Mikey flee, screaming.

Apollo thanks his “savior,” whom he recognizes has the powers of a demigod, or the offspring of a god and a mortal. Apollo notes matching golden rings with crescent signets on both her middle fingers. The girl doesn’t seem surprised to learn that Apollo is a God. She introduces herself as Meg, short for Margaret, McCaffrey. Apollo tells Meg he has been robbed of his godly powers two times before, and each time he had to enlist in the service of some “important demigod” to regain his powers. Apollo hopes to offer his services to his demigod friend who lives on the Upper East Side. However, before Apollo can say anything else, Meg claims Apollo’s service. As if to confirm Meg’s claim, thunder rumbles in the sky. Meg demands Apollo lead them to the friend Apollo mentioned, who in turn will lead them to Camp Half-Blood, the training ground for demigods. The demigod is Percy Jackson, son of the sea-god Poseidon.

As Apollo and Meg head to the Upper East Side, Apollo wonders if his “divine radiance” is making pedestrians stare at him. Meg informs him that people are staring at him because he smells and looks like he has been mugged. Apollo catches his reflection in a store window. He looks 16, with dark hair and blue eyes. To his horror, he realizes his cheeks are covered in acne. He wails to Zeus, asking him why the divine God has punished him in this way; Apollo misses his six-pack abs and godly physique. Meg’s wild, carefree behavior on their walk makes Apollo think she either is hiding something or is a “feral demigod.” Apollo recognizes Percy’s house by the old blue Prius parked outside. Meg informs Apollo that they are being followed by “shiny blobs.” Apollo notes that the blobs are probably spirits. At Percy’s apartment, Apollo is disappointed by the lukewarm welcome. Percy is shocked to learn that Apollo’s appearance is not a disguise and that Apollo is now a mortal. He reluctantly invites Apollo and Meg inside.

At Percy’s apartment, Apollo asks the reader how mortals can live in such small spaces; the Jackson apartment doesn’t have a “throne room” or even a landing deck for flying chariots. As Percy’s mother, Sally Jackson, steps out to meet him, Apollo is terrified to see her swollen belly. Sally explains to Apollo that she is seven months pregnant. Sally sends Apollo for a bath and takes Meg with her. Percy offers Apollo ambrosia and nectar—the food of the gods—but Apollo is not sure the food is safe to consume in his mortal state. However, he notes that his wounds appear to be healing faster than a mortal’s. He assumes Zeus is accelerating his healing, though this is the least the king of the gods can do for him.

Percy jogs Apollo’s memory about the cause of his fall. Apollo recalls that the gods and demigods battled side by side against an army of giants in the Acropolis at Athens, events that are described in Riordan’s book The Blood of Olympus, the finale of the Heroes of Olympus series. When the blood of an injured Percy hit the earth, it angered and awakened slumbering earth mother Gaia. Gaia duped Octavian, a son of Apollo, into starting a civil war between the Greek and Roman demigod camps, which almost destroyed the world. Blaming Apollo for Octavian’s mistake, Zeus publicly “vaporized” Apollo. Apollo has been missing since last September’s war. Since it is now January, Apollo may have inhabited a limbo or stasis for the past six months. Apollo expects Percy to help him regain his godhood, but Percy confesses that the only help he can presently offer is to drive Apollo and Meg to Camp Half-Blood. Percy has promised his girlfriend, Annabeth, that he will avoid getting involved in more wars for some time, catch up with his classes, and join her at college next autumn.