The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

Lore & Background

Following the defeat of Gaea, a new threat emerges from the shadows: the Triumvirate Holdings, a corporate empire run by three immortal Roman emperors—Nero, Commodus, and Caligula—who have survived into the modern era. The company is trying to control all the oracles. To combat this, Apollo's ancient oracle at Delphi must be restored, but the site is currently silent and corrupted by the Python.

Reader's Guide

The narrative opens with Apollo falling into a dumpster in a New York City alley, turned by Zeus into a human teenager named Lester Papadopoulos. Meg McCaffrey saves him from two thugs and claims his service, and with the help of Percy Jackson and his mother Sally they reach Camp Half-Blood. At camp, Demeter claims Meg as her daughter after Meg reveals that her golden rings turn into sickles of Imperial gold. Rachel Elizabeth Dare reveals that Triumvirate Holdings is trying to control all the oracles, starting with Dodona, which lies at the camp and has been drawing campers to itself.

At the Grove of Dodona, Nero reveals that he is Meg's stepfather and the 'well-placed help' inside the camp, and tries to burn the grove; the dryads sacrifice themselves to save it. Apollo helps Meg hang Rhea's wind chimes on the largest tree, which gives him a prophecy, and with Percy and the campers he destroys the Colossus Neronis with a plague-enchanted arrow.