Percy’s raft returns him to Camp Half-Blood, where he finds the camp gathered in the amphitheatre for his funeral. Annabeth is burning his shroud and praising his bravery when she sees Percy alive. The campers react with shock and relief, and Annabeth angrily hugs him before Chiron carries Percy and Annabeth to the Big House for a private explanation.

Percy tells Chiron and Annabeth about Mount St Helens and the island, but Percy omits Calypso. Percy explains Hephaestus’s clue: a clear-sighted mortal can help guide them through the Labyrinth. Annabeth resists because the quest is hers, but Chiron confirms there is precedent and supports Percy’s idea. Chiron also tells Percy that Grover and Tyson remain missing, Grover’s searcher’s license has been revoked, Chris Rodriguez is near death from his Labyrinth madness, and Quintus has disappeared into the maze, strengthening suspicions that Quintus serves Luke.

Before dinner, Percy visits Mrs O’Leary, who is lonely without Quintus but delighted to see Percy. Clarisse arrives to practice and, shaken by Chris’s condition, warns Percy not to trust Daedalus. Clarisse believes anyone who built the Labyrinth must be evil and tells Percy to kill Daedalus if Percy finds him.

That night Percy dreams of King Minos tracking Daedalus to King Cocalus’s court by using a shell-threading riddle. Cocalus nearly betrays Daedalus for gold, but Cocalus’s daughters, led by Aelia, trap and kill Minos in a bath to protect their teacher. Daedalus, convinced that Minos will pursue him even after death, retreats into the Labyrinth and hints that his nephew’s notes may help him escape death itself.

Percy’s dream shifts to Luke in the Labyrinth, where Luke says maps are useless and that Quintus will help him secure Ariadne’s thread. Luke’s men report finding a lone half-blood cornered in the maze. The next morning Annabeth says Eurytion sent an Iris-message: Nico has left the ranch and reentered the Labyrinth, apparently still influenced by Minos. Percy realizes the half-blood in Luke’s dream may be Nico.

Argus drives Percy and Annabeth to Manhattan. They visit Sally Jackson, who is relieved that Percy is alive and hears about the quest, Paul Blofis’s concerns after the school incident, and Percy’s plan to recruit Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Percy calls Rachel, and Percy and Annabeth meet Rachel in Times Square while Rachel is performing as a gold-painted living statue for an art fundraiser. At a café, Percy explains the Labyrinth and the danger, and Rachel agrees to help. When Annabeth describes Daedalus’s mark, Rachel reveals that she has already seen that symbol on a Labyrinth entrance in the Marriott basement.