The group rides the Erymanthian Boar west until sunset, when it stops near the tiny desert settlement of Gila Claw, Arizona. Beyond the abandoned buildings lies an immense junkyard of cars, appliances, weapons, and scrap metal. Grover reads his acorns and warns that trouble lies ahead in the junkyard, so the group camps for the night.

At the campfire, the group discusses the stars, Pan, and Bianca's strange ability to destroy one of the skeleton warriors. Planning their route west leads Bianca to panic at the mention of Las Vegas. Percy realizes Bianca and Nico once stayed at the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where time moves strangely, and Zoë helps expose that Bianca's memories are decades out of date. Bianca is shaken by the revelation that she and Nico lost about seventy years, but she still cannot remember who removed them from the hotel.

A white limousine appears, and Ares forces Percy's friends away so Percy can meet Aphrodite inside. Aphrodite reveals that she helped Percy join the quest because she is interested in his feelings for Annabeth, not in saving Artemis. Aphrodite urges Percy to follow his heart, warns that the Hunters are his enemies, and cautions him not to take anything from her husband Hephaestus's junkyard. Ares then warns Percy that Percy may start the greatest war in history and promises future revenge.

Ares transports the group directly into the junkyard. Zoë leads them west by the stars, and the group sees discarded divine objects, including crowns, weapons, statues, and enchanted items. Thalia and Zoë warn everyone not to touch anything because the items are defective or cursed, but Bianca becomes fascinated by a Hunter's bow and later secretly takes a small god figurine meant as a gift for Nico.

Near the exit, the group passes what looks like enormous metal toes. The scrap mound rises into Talos, a defective bronze giant built by Hephaestus, apparently awakened because someone took something. Talos attacks, and the demigods and Grover scatter. Bianca admits she took the figurine for Nico, but dropping it does not stop the giant. Percy notices a maintenance hatch in Talos's heel and plans to enter it, but Bianca insists on taking responsibility because her theft caused the attack.

Bianca gets inside Talos while the others distract it. She manages to make the giant freeze, stagger, and destroy itself, saving Grover and the rest of the questers. However, Talos falls apart and runs back into the junkyard before anyone can rescue Bianca. The group searches the wreckage until sunrise but finds no sign of her. Grover realizes the prophecy has come true: one has been lost in the land without rain, and Bianca di Angelo is gone.