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harpy wins the read-a-thon

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"We'll need some of your food," Percy shouldered his way around the old man and snatched stuff off the picnic table- a covered bowl of Thai noodles in mac-and-cheese sauce, and a tubular pastry that looked like a combination burrito and cinnamon roll.

Hadley wished he dumped the food on the blind man's head. But instead, Percy turned to his friends. "Come on, guys." He led them out of the parking lot.

They stopped across the street. Percy took a deep breath. The rain slowed down to a half-hearted drizzle.

"That man..." Hazel smacked the side of a bus-stop bench. "He needs to die. Again."

It was hard to tell in the rain, but she seemed to be blinking back tears. Her long curly hair was plastered down the sides of her face. In the gray light, her gold eyes looked more like tin.

Hadley wasn't surprised that she had come back from the Underworld. The rumor had been swirling around camp for months, and the young girl had a tendency to avoid talking about her past. Not to mention Nico di Angelo being so secretive and cautious about them.

But that didn't change anything. Hadley knew from the moment she met Hazel that the girl had a good heart. She deserved to be a regular kid, and grow up and have a future. She wasn't a ghoul like Phineas.

"We'll get him," Percy promised. "He's nothing like you, Hazel. I don't care what he says."

"None of us do," Hadley agreed. "He's just an undercooked loaf of sourdough."

Hazel shook her head. "You don't know the whole story. I should have been sent to Punishment. I- I'm just as bad-"

"No, you're not!" Frank balled his fists. He looked around like he was searching for anybody who might disagree with him- enemies he could hit for Hazel's sake. "She's a good person!" he yelled across the street. A few harpies squawked in the trees, but no one else paid them any attention.

Hazel stared at Frank. She reached out tentatively, as if she wanted to take his hand but was afraid he might evaporate.

"Frank..." she stammered. "I- I don't..."

Unfortunately, Frank seemed wrapped up in his own thoughts. He slung his spear off his back and gripped it uneasily.

"I could intimidate that old man," he offered, "maybe scare him-"

"I'd skip right to the stabbing part," Hadley crossed her arms.

"Frank, it's okay," Percy said and glanced at Hadley. "Let's keep that as a backup plan, but I don't think Phineas can be scared into cooperating. Besides, you've only got two more uses out of the spear, right?"

Frank scowled at the dragon's-tooth point, which had grown back completely overnight. "Yeah. I guess..."

Hadley opened her mouth but any words she was about to say were cut off by Percy turning to her again. "And you're not going to stab him with your "unlimited uses" sword."

She promptly shut her mouth and sent Percy a playful glare. Hazel managed a small laugh at the exchange but Frank was still deep in thought. Hadley wasn't sure what the old man had meant by his life depending on a stick. Or his family history with a great-grandfather destroying camp, or an Argonaut ancestor. It clearly shook him. But Hadley wasn't going to ask any questions. She didn't need answers, and she didn't want to see him reduced to tears.