The Son of Neptune

Percy, Frank, and Hazel find downtown Portland deserted because of freezing rain. They find Phineas among a group of food trucks, fending off starving harpies with a weed whacker. Phineas is blind, lashing out at the harpies by sound and mostly missing them. However, he does connect with one red harpy, and she disappears down the street. Phineas tells them Gaea brought him back from the dead and cursed the harpies so that they could only get nourishment from his table. He tells them he will give them the information they want, but they must “capture that harpy” (274) for him.

Percy, Frank, and Hazel decide they don’t like Phineas, but they have no choice but to do as he asks. They use some food from Phineas’s table to attract the red-feathered harpy. They discover the red harpy, whose name is Ella, is quite intelligent and that she can remember almost everything she’s ever read. They think that perhaps Phineas is after her for her knowledge. They come up with a plan to use the gorgon blood to get Phineas to tell them what they need to know without hurting Ella.

Phineas is waiting where they left him. Percy tells him they want to play a game with him. They have two vials of gorgon blood, one poisonous, the other healing. Phineas will choose one and drink it, leaving the other for Percy to drink. If Phineas gets the right one, it could cure his blindness. If he gets the wrong one, he will die, but first, he will write down the information they need about Alcyoneus’s location. Phineas agrees, believing Gaea won’t allow him to die because she needs him. However, it turns out that Gaea needs Percy more, and Percy calls Gaea’s bluff as he prays to her before he drinks his vial. Phineas drinks the poison vial while Percy drinks the healing one. Phineas turns to dust, leaving them with a note that tells them Alcyoneus is on Hubbard Glacier.