Percy and his friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare drive to a ridge overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There, Rachel reveals that her father is trying to get her to go to a finishing school, Clarion Ladies Academy, that she does not want to go to. She asks if Percy has decided whether he would go with her and her family for vacation or not. Before he could answer, Blackjack, Percy's pegasus, lands on the hood of the car with Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, on his back. Beckendorf announces that it is time for them to take out the Princess Andromeda.
