The Son of Neptune

Percy ends up beside a busy highway where he spots a maintenance tunnel that is guarded by two teens. His instincts tell him he will find protection on the other side of the tunnel. As he moves closer, an elderly lady calls out to him. She tells him he has two choices: He can escape to the ocean and turn his back on everything happening around him, or he can do the old lady a favor by carrying her into the camp that sits beyond the tunnel. The lady warns him that if he chooses to help her, he will suffer “pain, misery, and loss” (16), but if he doesn’t, everyone who matters to him will suffer. Percy can see the gorgons approaching and knows they will hurt the old lady if he abandons her. Percy quickly picks up the old lady and runs for the maintenance tunnel.

One of the guards, a boy named Frank, uses a bow and arrow to keep the gorgons away from Percy. The other guard, a girl named Hazel, tells them to run for the camp while she keeps the gorgons busy. Frank and Percy burst out of the tunnel and arrive in a large valley surrounded by hills. There is a city and a military fortress locked away behind gates. A river surrounds both the city and fortress. Behind them, an explosion takes place inside the tunnel and Hazel appears at the entrance. They all run toward the river as an alarm sounds in the fortress. Hazel crosses first. The hippie lady tells Percy he will lose the mark of Achilles the moment he sets foot in the river, the Little Tiber. The gorgons have reappeared outside the tunnel. Percy continues, aware he has little choice. As Percy reaches the other side, Frank is overcome by the gorgons in the middle of the river. Percy sets the hippie lady down and uses his water powers to save Frank. The gorgons are killed again, their bodies turning to ash and washing away in the river. Frank comes out of the river with two vials that he quickly slips into his pockets.

As they are joined by soldiers from the fortress, the hippie lady transforms into the goddess Juno. The goddess introduces Percy Jackson to the people of Camp Jupiter and tells them that his fate is in their hands. Juno then disappears. Reyna, the praetor of the Twelfth Legion at Camp Jupiter, orders Hazel to bring Percy to the principia for questioning and that he will then visit Octavian, the augur, to determine if he is friend or foe.

Hazel walks Percy through the fortress where he finds himself the object of curiosity and scorn by the Lares—house gods or ancestral spirits—that live there. The Lares identify Percy as “Graecus” (28) or Greek, but he does not understand why. At the principia, Reyna places Percy in front of her two greyhounds who can sniff out lies before asking him questions. Percy tells her about waking without his memories, about living with Lupa and her pack, and how Lupa sent him south with the promise that if he survived, he would regain his memories and find a new home. Reyna believes him, but she is concerned because the arrival of a son of Neptune is a bad omen. Not only that, but her fellow praetor, Jason Grace, is missing and a new election is to be held during the Feast of Fortuna. When Percy hears mention of the feast, he tells her that both the gorgons and Juno said there would be an attack on Camp Jupiter on that day. Reyna ends the meeting and sends Percy away.

Hazel shows Percy around the camp as she takes him to Temple Hill and Octavian. Percy learns that families of former campers live in the city, New Rome, and he meets a faun who is a homeless beggar. On Temple Hill, Percy learns that Mars—known as Ares to the Greek—is the second most important god in Rome, which bothers Percy for reasons he cannot explain. He also learns that the Romans do not trust Neptune or his children because they do not like the sea. Not only that, but a child of Neptune reportedly caused the 1906 earthquake that destroyed Camp Jupiter.

In the temple of Jupiter, Percy meets Octavian, the camp prophet. They discuss the Prophecy of the Seven and books Octavian wants to find, known as the Sibylline books, a collection of prophecies. Percy learns that Romans once used animal intestines to tell the future, but now Octavian uses the stuffing of toy animals. Octavian takes a stuffed panda from Percy’s bag to read Percy’s future with the legion. He pronounces that Percy is welcome to remain in camp and join the legion. Octavian asks Hazel for her support in the election for praetor, suggesting he knows a secret she is keeping. Octavian tells Hazel her brother, Nico di Angelo, is in camp.