The book begins with the prophecy that Meg spoke while sitting on the Throne of Memory in Chapter 40 of the previous installment in the series, The Dark Prophecy. The prophecy was delivered in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet (three stanzas and a closing couplet). The prophecy indicates that Apollo and Meg must go west with the satyr Grover as their guide. There, Meg will find her ancient roots. The prophecy also indicates that Apollo must locate the emperor who mastered a horse and release the Oracle who speaks in crossword puzzles. He has five days to complete the quest and must walk in his enemy’s shoes to do so.

The first-person narrator, Apollo, proclaims that he will not tell this part of his story, which is the most humiliating in his 4,000 years of existence, but he relents and concedes that “record[ing] [his] shame for posterity” must be part of Zeus’s punishment. He also warns of much “suffering” to come (1).

Apollo’s story picks up with Meg, Grover, and Apollo proceeding through the Labyrinth. Apollo is sure that they are lost, but Grover insists that they are not.