Chapter 8

Percy Tries to Kill Himself

Natalie's P.O.V.

I didn't ask to come back. I didn't want to. But here I was, sitting in the back of a taxi, rushing through the streets of Portland. Of course, I was feeling happy about that gift from Dad. Meeting Mr. And Mrs. Richardson was great. But going back towards the house, and getting the will….well, I was really grateful to Mr. Richardson for giving them, but it felt like I didn't belong. I'd left that place long ago, sworn not to come back, after all that happened.

But the fates had to do this. They'd probably be watching me now, grinning like crazy old grandmothers with that evil creepy look. But, it's fine, really. Because I couldn't allow myself to get lost in the past. Besides, the thing we were going to do in Alaska, my friends needed each other's support, not a lunatic girl getting lost in the past. So back to the journey, yeah. So we were going to meet an old seer, who was also supposed to be a madman, and who fought with chickens. Yippie Skippie!

We got off the taxi, near the golf field. I bet we would all have been thinking - The hard part now, finding the old man. It didn't turn out to be hard, because the way Phineas was shouting, we could have heard that from half a mile away, had the windows remained open.

"He must be the guy," Percy muttered.

Hazel nodded. "Yeah sure, the day just gets better and better."

The area was covered with abandoned food trucks, though I didn't have any idea why. Portland is a crazy city, I said to myself. People don't question anything here. The main scene was Phineas chasing the harpies. Or rather, the harpies were chasing him. It was a bit hard to figure out with the swarm of chicken ladies.

"Get away!" Phineas yelled.

We stared at him for a few seconds. "Let's go and talk. See if he helps us."

"And if he doesn't?" Percy asked.

"Thanks for the encouragement," I said.

It was really hard to get near him with the harpies. So Percy did the best thing. He yelled. "Hey, Phineas! We need to talk with you!"

The harpies suddenly started flying away. I didn't know what had scared them, or perhaps they were waiting for us to talk to Phineas. Perhaps they hoped that either one of the parties would get killed. Real fun! Phineas turned towards us, his expression like he'd known all along we were here. Like he was waiting for us to make a move. Then, he did something that surprised me.

"Ahh, demigods. After a long time, I see one of your kind," he said. I got two thoughts immediately in my mind. First - How did he see us if he was blind? Second - Did he speak like that only for an impression or does he speak like Yoda all the time?

"Oh, nothing to fear from me. Come here, let's sit and talk," he said, pointing to a table beside the nearest food truck. The only one which was open. Okay, definitely not Yoda.

"This chicken chasing man is supposed to be blind, but he can see?" Frank muttered.

Phineas looked straight at Frank, with a toothless grin. "This chicken chasing man has excellent ears, and can hear too."

We looked at each other, and made our way towards the table, and sat on one side. Phineas sat on the other side. We waited. No one spoke. Then again, Percy did the best thing. He spoke first.

"Okay, so you heard me when I yelled, so I'm gonna assume you're Phineas–,"

"Correct," Phineas said.

"–and we need your help on our quest–,"

"I know that."

"–by which, we were hoping you could tell us Alyceoneus' location in Alaska."

"I know that too."

"You do?" I asked, staring at him.

"Oh yes, girl. I was blessed. I can see the future. I am a seer. And as for that blind thing. First, I can smell demigods from a mile away. Second, my sight told me you would be coming and helped me in sensing."

Hazel looked perplexed, much like all of us. "So you're blind, but you can see?"

"Exactly. Now, for example. You, dear girl," he pointed to Hazel with his finger."– are Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. You," he pointed at Frank. "–are Frank Zhang, son of Mars, descendent of Periclymenus, which indirectly makes you a descendant of Neptune. And you both–," he pointed to me and Percy. "–are the children of Neptune. I can smell sea blood better than any other. I myself am a son of Neptune, you know. Makes you my half-siblings."

Right, so he was my half-brother. Gross! Things like this had to happen. But what caught me was what he had said about Frank.

"Hold up," Percy said, raising a hand. Then he turned to Frank. "You're a descendant of Neptune?"

"I didn't know it either, man," Frank muttered. He was already looking so shocked, I felt like it had been more bad for him than us. This quest was really making me meet my relatives.

"Oh, yes," Phineas nodded. "Makes you what? My great-great-great-great….Bah! Lost the count."

It felt more weird imagining Frank as my great-great-great-great... possibly more greater grandchild. Godly families are seriously a mess. But, we had come here for information.

"So Phineas," I said, leaning forward. "You said you knew where Alyceoneus is."

Phineas grinned. "Oh yes, I know things. Such as, a new trilogy of Star Wars is going to be released after six years. The protagonist of that will be Palpatine's granddaughter, the winner of next season of Who Wants to be A Millionaire will be Arnold Carmel, Hazel–"

"Wait, hold up," I said. "What did you say about Star Wars?"

All four of them stared at me.

"–anyways, as I was saying. Hazel here is a returned soul from the underworld. Frank's life is tied to a stick. Miss Star Wars is hiding her whole past, her worst crime from you, and Percy….well I know who you are, but I'm not gonna tell you. That's the fun!"

Silence. It felt like he'd slapped all of us in the face. I didn't know which thing was more shocking. Thousands of thoughts crowded my mind. My head started spinning. He knows who Percy is? Frank's life is tied to a stick? Hazel is a returned soul? He knows about me?

"Shocked, huh? You all have been thinking what? You all are friends. Going on a happy little trip. You all don't even know anything about each other. You have been hiding things from the very people you say to be your best friends. You demigods have always been like this. Trust me, I've been around for more time than you. Your kind never improves. Lying, trickery, hiding...can you still trust each other now that you know you all have been playing hide-my-secrets, huh?"

I stared at my fingers on the table. Phineas was right. I'd been hiding things from my friends. If they knew what I did, they'd never want me along. If they knew the hideous thing I'd done…

"You are treacherous," Hazel said, her voice trembling. "You're trying to get us to fight each other. You're…,"

"What? Telling the truth. You haven't denied what I've said, missy."

Percy took a deep breath. "We might not know each other, but we know that none of us is what you think, Phineas. We don't judge each other by our pasts. Now, tell us about the location of the giant."

"Still on the point, huh? Anyways, why should I tell you this, boy? Gaea is my patron. I work on the concept of fair deals. If you want information, you'll have to do some work of mine."

I tried to get myself out from my trance. "What work?"

"Oh, you know that these chickens are troubling me. But there's a particular one. The one who gave me this," Phineas pointed to a scar on his face. "She's very valuable too. I want you to capture her and bring her to me."

"What will you do with her? You'll torture and kill her!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Now, girlie. If you want your information, only way to get it. You see that building. She lives there. Go and get her. Now, that's enough time I've given to you. Good luck," he said, getting up and going inside the food truck.

We sat silently. None of us was speaking now that Phineas was gone. His words still echoed in my mind - "her worst crime…". No, I couldn't let Phineas get what he wanted. He said this to break us, make us distrust each other. To get us away from the main thing. I couldn't do that. I had to focus on the quest. Hazel and Frank were still in shock.

"Hey! Snap out of it! Look, let's figure this out later, okay. First we have to get Alyceoneus' location. And I'm not doing any work for that old man."

Percy stood up. "Come on, let's go away from here. Think of something." He went near the food truck and took some food. "We'll be needing this," he told Phineas. We went near the building. It was a three storey brick building, painted in red. I squinted at the sign. The words were floating out. My dyslexia was acting up. To me it seemed like - NDAPRTOL LCIPBU BRALIYR.

"Can't read it. Dyslexia. Can anybody tell me what it says?" I asked.

Frank said, "PORTLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY."

"A harpy who lives in a public library?" Percy asked.

"Whatever happens, we are not giving her to Phineas. I saw her, she's not at all bad. She's scared of him. Phineas has to die," Hazel said, clenching her fists.

"No, we are not. Let's just talk to her. We'll see what to do with Phineas later."

The library was absolutely not the place for me. So many words here and there, they just agitated me more. We made our way past rows of shelves and climbed up. The floor had more books. Great. We found her in a nest in the corner of the library, covering her face with her feathers, muttering. "Don't kill Ella. Don't take Ella to Phineas."

I slowly approached her. "Hey, Ella. That's your name, right? We won't hurt you."

Ella peeked out one eye. She was awfully skinny, and had bad wounds over her feathers. Her leg was bleeding.

"Hey, it's all right, okay? We won't hurt you. Can we come near you? We're friends, okay?" I said.

She slowly nodded. "Friends, ten seasons. Seasons, rotation of Earth."

We went near her slowly. We didn't want to scare the poor thing out of her wits.

"Gods, you are wounded. Does somebody have first aid supplies?"

"Here," Frank said, taking out a small bag from his pack and giving it to me. "I kept these, for emergencies."

I and Hazel dressed her wounds. Percy gave her the food we'd brought for her. We watched her munch down the food. The poor thing had probably not eaten for days. Watching her made me so mad at Phineas, I wanted to go down and punch the lunatic in his ugly face right now.

"She knows things. That's why Phineas wanted her. The way she was saying all that information…"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah. Maybe that's why she lives at the library."

Ella had finished eating her food. She looked at Percy, then frowned. "A half blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all the odds. You are sixteen. Sixteen, a bad number for harpies."

The colour from Percy's face drained. "Wait - Ella? What did you say right now? Half blood?"

Ella got scared. She hid her face again in her feathers and started whimpering.

"Hey, it's alright," he said quickly. "Fine, don't repeat it."

Frank and Hazel tried to calm down while Percy took me to one corner.

He whispered. "The lines. I think I know them. I've read them. I just," he tapped his temple furiously. "I just can't remember."

"They sounded like a prophecy." I nodded.

He looked at a book. It looked like it had architectural designs. Percy stumbled. I caught him.

"Hey! Are you okay? Of course, you aren't. Sit down."

I led him to the nearest chair. He looked green again, just like he had when we'd seen Polybotes. Remembering him sent a chill through my spine. Frank and Hazel came by.

"What happened?" Frank asked, noticing Percy.

"It's - it's like a distant memory. It's tugging at my brain so hard. Architecture. It has something to do with Annabeth. I just -,"

"Don't push yourself too hard. Just, relax."

"How's Ella?" he asked m

"She's good now. But we still have to figure out how we'd get the information out of Phineas."

It was seeming more impossible now. Phineas was not a man who'd be threatened to cooperate. Without the location, we'd never make it to Thanatos, much less free him. Percy, who looked better now, suddenly stood up.

"I have an idea. A stupid one, but it's our only shot at Phineas."

"What idea?"

He explained to us what he was thinking. His plan to get the information without Ella.

"No! Are you an idiot? This is - this is stupidity. We won't be doing this," I exclaimed. The thing he was saying, I wanted to punch him.

"Yeah Percy. She's right. Phineas is still a seer. He has the upper hand, man. The chances of this working are more slim than a line drawn on a paper." Frank told him.

"Look, it's the only way. If this works, I'd probably get my memory back too. And this is the only way Phineas will stay in the underworld for a while. I - I know it will work, alright. You guys convince Ella to come with us. I don't think she'll be safe here. The other harpies are not too good to her," he said. He was right, we couldn't leave Ella. The harpy had so many claw marks. But Percy, he was playing a gamble that he was bound to lose. Surviving his plan...I couldn't lose anyone else. Not again.

"Come on Frank," Hazel grabbed his hand and led him away. "Let's go talk with Ella."

Percy met my gaze.

"Hey, I know that I'm being reckless. But, that's the way right? I know it is. This is the only way."

"I know." My voice felt heavy. "But…. it's just - I don't want to lose anyone else. You may be stupid, but you're still my brother. But you're really annoying."

He cracked up. "I know right. That's why I was born. To annoy my sister. I'll make it out."

At that moment, I felt like hugging him. But I held back. This might be the last time I'd be seeing him, but something told me maybe he was right. That he would succeed.

"Wait a minute," I said. I took off my chain from my neck. It was a gift my mother had given me and my brother - identified seashell shaped silver pendants. "I will always be with you. In here," she had said.

"Here," I tied the pendant on his neck. "It brings good luck. My mother gave me and my brother this. Identical ones. You're my brother too."

Percy held up the silver seashell. "You believe in this?"

"No, but I do believe in my mother's blessings."

He smiled, looking at me gratefully. "Thanks."

That single word had so many unspoken sentences.

"Hey, guys," Frank came back. "Ella's ready. Let's go."

By the time we stepped out of the library. The harpies had started troubling Phineas again. But Phineas had lost his patience now. He took a celestial bronze knife from the truck and ran it through a big fat harpy. It exploded in a puff of monster dust. The other harpies fled back.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, turning towards our direction(now, seriously. He's supposed to be blind. What good it is if he can sense everything?). "You've brought the harpy. Good."

"We won't give her in, Phineas."

"I see. Well then, you won't be getting any inform–,"

Percy cut him mid sentence. "We've come here to gamble with you."

Phineas looked surprised. He probably hadn't expected us to figure out anything else.

"Why don't we sit and talk about your….ah, gamble," he said, rubbing his hands.

We sat in the same position again.

"Look," Percy said, taking out two vials from his pocket (Frank had given them to him on our way downstairs). "This is gorgon blood. I'm sure you can smell that they are real, not fake. One can kill, one can heal. So here's the shot, I keep them on the table, you pick one, I pick the other. We both drink it at the same time. If you survive and I die, my friends will do your bidding, whatever you want and you'll get your eyesight back. But if I survive, you'll have to tell us the location of Alyceoneus."

Phineas grinned. "Ha! Have you gone mad, boy. I'm a seer, which gives me one more advantage than you. Are you sure you want to play this trick?"

I leaned forward. "Yes, but you'll write the giants' location somewhere right now. And swear on the Styx that it is correct."

He raised an eyebrow. "Quite smart, aren't you, missy? Chosen an unpredictable game. You thought I won't win? I don't have any problem with that. Because you're gonna lose."

He went near the truck and brought a pen and tissue paper. He wrote something down on it and folded the tissue.

"I swear on the River Styx that the location I've written in this tissue is the correct location of the giant. And if I lose, I'll let them have it."

Lightning crackled.

"Okay, so Phineas, you choose first."

"Gaea, help me. Show me which vial is the correct one," Phineas said.

"Hey!" Frank protested. "That's cheating."

"I didn't swear that I'll guess it myself, boy."

Frank would have protested more, but Percy grabbed his hand. He closed his eyes, frowning. The vial on the right started to shake.

"I will choose the right one. Ha, good pun. Right one. " he said proudly.

Percy took the left one. I crossed my fingers. They opened the vials and drank together. Phineas smiled, but Percy became pale. He stood and doubled up beside the table. I ran towards him. It had all gone wrong. It didn't work. Suddenly, Percy's colour returned to his face.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," he said.

We looked back at Phineas. He was clutching his stomach.

"No!" he shouted. He tried to grab the tissue, but Hazel was fast. Phineas screamed and yelled.

"You - Hazel Levesque, shouldn't you return back to the underworld like me? And you Frank, Iris told you you'd die holding that stick, didn't she? And you, Natalie? Repeated your crime again, have you? Killed your own bro–,"

"No!" I shouted. Phineas disintegrated. I realized I was shaking badly. Frank and Hazel were too. Ella, who'd been hiding beside Percy all this time squeaked. Percy slowly took the tissue out of Hazel's hand.

"It says Hubbard Glacier."

Hazel's voice was small. "I know that place. It's quite famous. But we've got a long way to go."

My voice trembled when I spoke. "Then let's get out of here and leave on the boat. As soon as we can."

Hello, everyone! Natalie's story coming to your screen in the next chappie….