The next several days are torture. Preparing for the chariot race is no fun. In addition, while Percy likes Tyson, he feels slighted by having the cyclops as a brother. The campers make fun of him. Percy tries to object that Tyson is more like “a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family” (67), but no one believes him, including himself. In the evenings, Percy continues border patrol of camp with some of the other campers, despite Tantalus’s orders to cease patrols. Percy’s sure Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes who betrayed him last summer, is responsible for poisoning Thalia’s tree.

One night, Percy dreams about Grover. Grover projected himself into Percy’s mind and formed an empathy link, which means they can communicate but also that their life forces are linked. If Grover dies, Percy will likely die, too. Grover’s trapped on an island in the Sea of Monsters with the cyclops Polyphemus, who has the Golden Fleece—the only magic powerful enough to restore camp. Polyphemus thinks Grover is a lady cyclops who’s taking time to weave a bridal train, but he’s getting impatient.