“I’ve come to gamble.”
The old man’s mouth twitched. He put down his shishkebab and leaned toward Percy. “A gamble…how interesting. Information in exchange for the harpy? Winner take all?”
“No,” Percy said. “The harpy isn’t part of the deal.”
Phineas laughed. “Really? Perhaps you don’t understand her value.”
“She’s a person,” Percy said. “She isn’t for sale.”
“Oh, please! You’re from the Roman camp, aren’t you? Rome was built on slavery. Don’t get all high and mighty with me. Besides, she isn’t even human. She’s a monster. A wind spirit. A minion of Jupiter.”
Ella squawked. Just getting her into the parking lot had been a major challenge, but now she started backing away, muttering, “‘Jupiter. Hydrogen and helium. Sixty-three satellites.’ No minions. Nope.”
Hazel put her arm around Ella’s wings. She seemed to be the only one who could touch the harpy without causing lots of screaming and twitching.
Frank stayed at Percy’s side. He held his spear ready, as if the old man might charge them.
Percy brought out the ceramic vials. “I have a different wager. We’ve got two flasks of gorgon’s blood. One kills. One heals. They look exactly the same. Even we don’t know which is which. If you choose the right one, it could cure your blindness.”
Phineas held out his hands eagerly. “Let me feel them. Let me smell them.”
“Not so fast,” Percy said. “First you agree to the terms.”
“Terms…” Phineas was breathing shallowly. Percy could tell he was hungry to take the offer. “Prophecy and sight ... I’d be unstoppable. I could own this city. I’d build my palace here, surrounded by food trucks. I could capture that harpy myself!”
“N-noo,” Ella said nervously. “Nope, nope, nope.”
A villainous laugh is hard to pull off when you’re wearing pink bunny slippers, but Phineas gave it his best shot. “Very well, demigod. What are your terms?”
“You get to choose a vial,” Percy said. “No uncorking, no sniffing before you decide.”
“That’s not fair! I’m blind.”
“And I don’t have your sense of smell,” Percy countered. “You can hold the vials. And I’ll swear on the River Styx that they look identical. They’re exactly what I told you: gorgon’s blood, one vial from the left side of the monster, one from the right. And I swear that none of us knows which is which.”
Percy looked back at Hazel. “Uh, you’re our Underworld expert. With all this weird stuff going on with Death, is an oath on the River Styx still binding?”
“Yes,” she said, without hesitation. “To break such a vow…Well, just don’t do it. There are worse things than death.” Phineas stroked his beard. “So I choose which vial to drink. You have to drink the other one. We swear to drink at the same time.”
“Right,” Percy said.
“The loser dies, obviously,” Phineas said. “That kind ofpoison would probably keep even me from coming back tolife…for a long time, at least. My essence would be scattered and degraded. So I’m risking quite a lot.”
“But if you win, you get everything,” Percy said. “If Idie, my friends will swear to leave you in peace and not take revenge. You’d have your sight back, which even Gaea won’t give you.”
The old man’s expression soured. Percy could tell he’d struck a nerve. Phineas wanted to see. As much as Gaea had given him, he resented being kept in the dark.
“If I lose,” the old man said, “I’ll be dead, unable to give you information. How does that help you?”
Percy was glad he’d talked this through with his friends ahead of time. Frank had suggested the answer.
“You write down the location of Alcyoneus’s lair ahead of time,” Percy said. “Keep it to yourself, but swear on the River Styx it’s specific and accurate. You also have to swear that if you lose and die, the harpies will be released from their curse.”
“Those are high stakes,” Phineas grumbled. “You face death, Percy Jackson. Wouldn’t it be simpler just to hand over the harpy?”
“Not an option.”
Phineas smiled slowly. “So you are starting to understand her worth. Once I have my sight, I’ll capture her myself, you know. Whoever controls that harpy…well, I was a king once. This gamble could make me a king again.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Percy said. “Do we have a deal?”
Phineas tapped his nose thoughtfully. “I can’t foresee the outcome. Annoying how that works. A completely unexpected gamble…it makes the future cloudy. But I can tell you this, Percy Jackson—a bit of free advice. If you survive today, you’re not going to like your future. A big sacrifice is coming, and you won’t have the courage to make it. That will cost you dearly. It will cost the world dearly. It might be easier if you just choose the poison.”
Percy’s mouth tasted like Iris’s sour green tea. He wanted to think the old man was just psyching him out, but something told him the prediction was true. He remembered Juno’s warning when he’d chosen to go to Camp Jupiter: You will feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you’ve ever known. But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family.
In the trees around the parking lot, the harpies gathered to watch as if they sensed what was at stake. Frank and Hazel studied Percy’s face with concern. He’d assured them the odds weren’t as bad as fifty-fifty. He did have a plan. Of course, the plan could backfire. His chance of survival might be a hundred percent—or zero. He hadn’t mentioned that.
“Do we have a deal?” he asked again.
Phineas grinned. “I swear on the River Styx to abide by the terms, just as you have described them. Frank Zhang, you’re the descendant of an Argonaut. I trust your word. If I win, do you and your friend Hazel swear to leave me in peace, and not seek revenge?”