The Son of Neptune
Copyright © 2011 by Rick Riordan
All rights reserved. Published by Disney Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Hyperion Books, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690. First
Edition
ISBN 978-1-4231-4059-7
Map illustration on pp. viiiix by Kayley LeFaiver
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Table of Contents
Also By Rick Riordan
I Percy
II Percy
III Percy
IV Percy
V Hazel
VI Hazel
VII Hazel
VIII Hazel
IX Frank
X Frank
XI Frank
XII Frank
XIII Percy
XIV Percy
XV Percy
XVI Percy
XVII Hazel
XVIII Hazel
XIX Hazel
XX Hazel
XXI Frank
XXII Frank
XXIII Frank
XXIV Frank
XXV
XXVI Percy
XXVII Percy
XXVIII Percy
XXIX Hazel
XXX Hazel
XXXI Hazel
XXXII Hazel
XXXIII Frank
XXXIV Frank
XXXV Frank
XXXVI Frank
XXXVII Percy
XXXVIII Percy
XXXIX Percy
XL Percy
XLI Hazel
XLII Hazel
XLIII Hazel
XLIV Hazel
XLV Frank
XLVI Frank
XLVII Frank
XLVIII Frank
XLIX Percy
L Percy
LI Percy
LII Percy
Glossary
Coming Fall 2012
The Percy Jackson Series
The Kane Chronicles
The Throne of Fire
The Heroes of Olympus
About the Author
Also by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One:
The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two:
The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Three:
The Titans Curse
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Four:
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five:
The Last Olympian
The Kane Chronicles, Book One:
The Red Pyramid
The Kane Chronicles, Book Two:
The Throne of Fire
The Heroes of Olympus, Book One:
The Lost Hero
To Becky, who shares my sanctuary in New Rome. Even Hera could never make me forget
you.
THE SNAKE-HAIRED LADIES WERE starting to annoy Percy.
They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on
them at the Napa Bargain Mart. They should have died two days ago when he ran over
them with a police car in Martinez. They definitely should have died this morning when he
cut off their heads in Tilden Park.
No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder,
they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies. He couldnt even seem to outrun
them.
He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since hed last killed
them? Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.
The past few days, hed hardly slept. Hed eaten whatever he could scrounge
vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a
new personal low. His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime.
Hed only survived this long because the two snake-haired-ladiesgorgons, they
called themselvescouldnt seem to kill him either. Their claws didnt cut his skin. Their
teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him. But Percy couldnt keep going much longer.
Soon hed collapse from exhaustion, and thenas hard as he was to kill, he was pretty
sure the gorgons would find a way.
Where to run?
He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he mightve enjoyed the
view. To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of
cows. To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched westa vast
checkerboard of neighborhoods, with several million people who probably did not want
their morning interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod.
Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog
had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers
of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A vague sadness weighed on Percys chest. Something told him hed been to San
Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeththe only person he could
remember from his past. His memory of her was frustratingly dim. The wolf had promised
he would see her again and regain his memoryif he succeeded in his journey.
Should he try to cross the bay?
It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water
always revived him. Salt water was the best. Hed discovered that two days ago when he
had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait. If he could reach the bay, he might be
able to make a last stand. Maybe he could even drown the gorgons. But the shore was at
least two miles away. Hed have to cross an entire city.
He hesitated for another reason. The she-wolf Lupa had taught him to sharpen his
sensesto trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was
tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was closealmost right under his feet. But
how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop.
The wind changed. Percy caught the sour scent of reptile. A hundred yards down the
slope, something rustled through the woodssnapping branches, crunching leaves,
hissing.
Gorgons.
For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses werent so good. They had always
said they could smell him because he was a demigodthe half-blood son of some old
Roman god. Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-
freshener sticks in his pockets so hed have that new car smell; but apparently demigod
stink was hard to mask.
He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope
plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside.
Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hills base and wound its way toward
Berkeley.
Great. No other way off the hill. Hed managed to get himself cornered.
He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were
in one of them. Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a
tunnelright under his feet.
His internal radar went nuts. He was in the right place, just too high up. He had to
check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highwayfast.
He slung off his backpack. Hed managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain
Mart: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, a Comfy
Panda Pillow Pet (as seen on TV), and a Swiss army knifepretty much every tool a
modern demigod could want. But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled.
That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, or stand and fight. Both
options sounded pretty bad.
He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket.
The pen didnt look like much, just a regular cheap ballpoint, but when Percy
uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword. The blade balanced perfectly. The
leather grip fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard
was an Ancient Greek word Percy somehow understood: AnaklusmosRiptide.
Hed woken up with this sword his first night at the Wolf Housetwo months ago?
More? Hed lost track. Hed found himself in the courtyard of a burned-out mansion in the
middle of the woods, wearing shorts, an orange T-shirt, and a leather necklace with a
bunch of strange clay beads. Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had had no idea how
hed gotten there, and only the vaguest idea who he was. Hed been barefoot, freezing, and
confused. And then the wolves came.
Right next to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: There you are!
Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill.
It was the smiley oneBeano.
Okay, her name wasnt really Beano. As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic,
because words got twisted around when he tried to read. The first time hed seen the
gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green button that read: Welcome! My
name is STHENO, hed thought it said BEANO.
She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress.
If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebodys dumpy old
grandmotheruntil you looked down and realized she had rooster feet. Or you looked up
and saw bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red,
and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes.
The most horrible thing about her? She was still holding her big silver platter of free
samples: Crispy Cheese n Wieners. Her platter was dented from all the times Percyhad
killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine. Stheno just kept toting them
across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him. Percy didnt
know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor, he was going to make
it out of Crispy Cheese n Wieners. They were indestructible.
Try one? Stheno offered.
Percy fended her off with his sword. Wheres your sister?
Oh, put the sword away, Stheno chided. You know by now that even Celestial
bronze cant kill us for long. Have a Cheese n Wiener! Theyre on sale this week, and Id
hate to kill you on an empty stomach.
Stheno! The second gorgon appeared on Percys right so fast, he didnt have time to
react. Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention. I told
you to sneak up on him and kill him!
Sthenos smile wavered. But, Euryale She said the nameso it rhymed with Muriel.
Cant I give him a sample first?
No, you imbecile! Euryale turned toward Percy and bared her fangs.
Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she
looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks
were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is DIE,
DEMIGOD SCUM!
Youve led us on quite a chase, Percy Jackson, Euryale said. But now youre
trapped, and well have our revenge!
The Cheese n Wieners are only $2.99, Stheno added helpfully. Grocery
department, aisle three. Euryale snarled. Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front!
Youre going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this
demigod. Or have you forgotten that hes the one who vaporized Medusa?
Percy stepped back. Six more inches, and hed be tumbling through thin air. Look,
ladies, weve been over this. I dont even remember killing Medusa. I dont remember
anything! Cant we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?
Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks.
Can we?
No! Euryales red eyes bored into Percy. I dont care what you remember, son of
the sea god. I can smell Medusas blood on you. Its faint, yes, several years old, but you
were the last one to defeat her. She still has not returned from Tartarus. Its your fault!
Percy didnt really get that. The whole dying then returning from Tartarus concept
gave him a headache. Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a
sword, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that
Percy was the son of a barnacle-encrusted god from five thousand years ago. But he did
believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way
he knew his name was Percy Jackson. From his very first conversation with Lupa the
wolf, hed accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality.
Which pretty much sucked.
How about we call it a draw? he said. I cant kill you. You cant kill me. If youre
Medusas sisterslike the Medusa who turned people to stoneshouldnt I be petrified
by now?
Heroes! Euryale said with disgust. They always bring that up, just like our mother!
Why cant you turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone. Well, Im sorry
to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusas curse alone. She was the most hideous one in
the family. She got all the luck!
Stheno looked hurt. Mother said I was the most hideous.
Quiet! Euryale snapped. As for you, Percy Jackson, its true you bear the mark of
Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But dont worry. Well find a way.
The mark of what?
Achilles, Stheno said cheerfully. Oh, he was gorgeous! Dipped in the River Styx as
a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. Thats what
happened to you, dear. Someone mustve dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like
iron. But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it,
and then we can kill you. Wont that be lovely? Have a Cheese n Wiener!
Percy tried to think. He didnt remember any dip in the Styx. Then again, he didnt
remember much of anything. His skin didnt feel like iron, but it would explain how hed
held out so long against the gorgons.
Maybe if he just fell down the mountainwould he survive? He didnt want to risk it
not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or
He looked at Sthenos large silver platter of free samples.