The Prophecy of Seven is the main focus of The Heroes of Olympus series. It is also the first prophecy spoken by Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and is considered the next great prophecy after the completion of the first by Percy Jackson.
History
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
After the events of the Second Olympian War and Kronos' defeat at the hands of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, the Great Prophecy had been fulfilled. Rachel Elizabeth Dare used Blackjack to fly to Camp Half-Blood, where she took on the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi. Shortly after the spirit settled into Rachel's body, Rachel collapsed and soon began to speak a new prophecy which would later be known as the Prophecy of Seven. While a few of the campers tried to figure out the meaning of the prophecy, Apollo said that it may not even come true in their lifetimes as the first great prophecy took almost seventy years to complete.
The Heroes of Olympus
The Prophecy of Seven had also been known for some time by the Romans. The prophecy was kept in the Sibylline Books, a collection of prophecies that detailed every major event in Roman history. The books however were lost in a fire and only a few prophecies were saved from the flames, including the Prophecy of Seven. The prophecy was handed down through the years as the Twelfth Legion followed Western Civilization and recruited Roman demigods to the Legion for training. The Prophecy of Seven was then engraved, along with many other prophecies, on the floor of the Temple of Jupiter.
During the 1980s a demigod by the name of Michael Varus thought he could fulfill the Prophecy of Seven against the advice of the current augur. However, wanting glory he lead the Fifth Cohort north to Alaska in hopes of finding the true meaning of the prophecy. The cohort was completely wiped out by Alcyoneus and the Twelfth Legion's Eagle was lost, bringing shame to Fifth Cohort. From then on, the prophecy laid ignored on the floor of the Temple of Jupiter for almost twenty years.
However, knowing that Gaea would soon awaken and wage war against the gods, Hera/Juno began to visit the seven mentioned in the prophecy, preparing them for the day that they would have to face it. She watched over Leo Valdez as his baby sitter for many years. She also saved Frank Zhang's life by telling his mother and grandmother about how his life was dependent on a burned log in the fire. She took Jason Grace away from his family when he was two to be trained by Lupa in order to one day make it to Camp Jupiter.
Before Hera was eventually captured by Khione and Gaea, she sent Jason Grace to the Wilderness School without his memory. There, Jason met Piper McLean and Leo Valdez and the three were taken to Camp Half-Blood. At the same time, Hera had also taken Percy Jackson and placed him in a deep sleep until the time was right for him to arrive at Camp Jupiter. With Jason earning the trust of the Greek demigods and Percy eventually becoming one of the leaders of Camp Jupiter, Hera hoped the two groups could work together and stop Gaea's rise, as well as her children, the Gigantes.
After Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, fulfilled the first prophecy, his friend Rachel, the new Oracle, gave the next Great Prophecy:
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire, the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death
Unraveling the Prophecy
- The first line refers to seven half-bloods that will try and save Olympus from Gaea and her most powerful children, the Gigantes. The seven half-bloods are, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang.
- The second line refers to either Leo or Jason as the one who was destined to defeat Gaea. At first, the line could also be referring to Percy, as he had some control over the weather due to his hydrokinesis, but the meaning of the line was finally revealed when Leo, with the help of Jason, Piper, and the recently rebuilt Festus, was able to defeat Gaea using his pyrokinesis, dying in the process (although he came back to life after using the Physician's Cure).
- Leo, who died after defeating Gaea, was brought back to life with the use of The Physician's Cure. The explosion sent Leo and Festus (with his body rebuilt) to Ogygia, where Leo reunited with Calypso and completed the oath he made to take her out of the island.
- This could also be Bob's brief promise in The House of Hades to keep Percy and Annabeth safe. He and Damasen most likely died in the end, making it the "final breath".
- Gaea opened the Doors of Death to allow the most evil beings of the Underworld to rise again and monsters to revive quicker. During The House of Hades, Percy, Annabeth, the Titan Iapetus, and the peaceful Gigantes Damasen (with the help of his eternal foe, the Maeonian drakon) all meet at the Doors of Death. Gigantes, Titans, and demigods are normally enemies, but they worked together to seal the Doors of Death, preventing Gaea from reviving her forces.
The Seven
The Seven Heroes of Olympus, as officially announced in The Demigod Diaries:
The demigods of the Prophecy of Seven
- Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon
- Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena
- Jason Grace, son of Jupiter
- Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus
- Frank Zhang, son of Mars and legacy of Poseidon
- Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite
- Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto
Trivia
- The seven demigods needed to stop Gaea and her Giant children from destroying the Olympians in Greece to destroy the world, could be a reference to the seven continents around the world.
- This is the second prophecy which ended with the lines '…breath' and '… death' the first being the prophecy for the quest of the labyrinth.
- This is the first prophecy to have its full meaning decoded before its events came to pass. It was figured out by Jason, Piper and Leo in the House of Hades, while the events occured later.