As Percy hugs Geras, he imagines hugging his grandparents, whom he never met. Geras is shocked; nobody ever embraces old age. He concedes that killing Percy now would mean that he could never get old, and Geras wants everyone to get old. He gives Percy the chalice and disappears. As the friends celebrate Percy’s victory, a hula-hoop falls from the sky. It is one of Ganymede’s symbols; attached is a message asking for immediate assistance. Zeus is throwing a feast right now, so Ganymede needs the chalice.

Zeus is hosting a brunch to celebrate his mother, the titan Rhea. Percy hates brunch. Annabeth gives Percy her baseball cap and heads to school. Percy and Grover go to the Empire State Building, where there is a secret entrance to Mount Olympus. Grover tells Percy to enter Zeus’s palace through the kitchens, where a cloud nymph called Naomi will help him. Grover distracts the security guard by hula-hooping while Percy, wearing the cap and carrying the chalice, takes the elevator to the 600th floor.

Annabeth’s cap keeps minor gods and spirits from noticing Percy as he runs toward Zeus’s palace, but he knows it will not work against the major gods.