𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XVI; near-death

━━━near death

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Phineas was right where they left him, sitting in front of a plate of greasy shish-kabob, furry pink slippers propped up on the table.

    "Welcome back!" He called cheerfully, "I see you've brought me my harpy!"

Cal clenched her jaw, "She's here, but she's not yours."

"Oh?" Phineas said, "Are you backing out? Good luck on your quest without my help."

Percy stepped forward, "I've come to gamble."

Phineas' lips twitched. "A gamble? How interesting. Is this for the harpy? Winner takes all?"

"No." Percy pulled the gorgon's blood out of his pocket, "for your sight."
    Phineas's back straightened.

"We don't know which is which, so it's anyone's guess. You pick the right one, you get your sight back. Apparently, Gaea won't even do that."

"Let me feel them" Phineas's hands reached out.

"No way." Percy leaned back, "agree to the terms first."

"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 of poison would probably keep even me from coming back to life...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 I Die, 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."