The Curse of Achilles (PJO AU)

The Son of Neptune (Part 3)

Portland, Oregon

Percy and Phineas uncorked their vials and drank. Immediately, Percy doubled over, his throat burning. His mouth tasted like gasoline.

"Oh, gods," Hazel said behind him.

"Nope!" Ella said. "Nope, nope, nope."

Percy's vision blurred. He could see Phineas grinning in triumph, sitting up straighter, blinking his eyes in anticipation.

"Yes!" he cried. "Any moment now, my sight will return."

Percy had chosen wrong. He'd been stupid to take such a risk. He felt like broken glass was working its way through his stomach, into his intestines. He hadn't felt pain like this since . . . since before he took on the mark of Achilles. He still couldn't remember when that was.

Percy had become too comfortable with his invulnerability. Even during those days on his own, running from monsters and searching for Camp Jupiter, he'd almost thought that nothing could hurt him. With iron skin, who could blame him? But no matter how thick his skin was, it couldn't protect him from voluntarily drinking poison. This pain was worse than anything he could remember—not that he could remember much.

And Annabeth—whoever she was, wherever she was—would be so disappointed in him for making such a dumb mistake. Of all the ways to go, Percy never thought it would be like this.

"Percy!" Frank gripped his shoulders. "Percy, you can't die!"

Percy gasped for breath . . . and suddenly, his vision cleared.

At the same moment, Phineas hunched over like he'd been punched.

"You—you can't!" the old man wailed. "Gaea, you—you—"

He staggered to his feet and stumbled away from the table, clutching his stomach. "I'm too valuable!"

Steam came out of his mouth. A sickly yellow vapor rose from his ears, his beard, his blind eyes.

"Unfair!" he screamed. "You tricked me!"

He tried to claw the piece of paper out of his robe pocket, but his hands crumbled, his fingers turning to sand.

Percy rose unsteadily. His mouth still tasted awful. He didn't feel cured of anything in particular. His memory hadn't magically returned. But the pain had stopped. Percy was more relieved about that than he cared to admit.

"No one tricked you," Percy said. "You made your choice freely, and I hold you to your oath."

The blind king wailed in agony. He turned in a circle, steaming and slowly disintegrating until there was nothing left but an old, stained bathrobe and a pair of bunny slippers.

"Those," Frank said, "are the most disgusting spoils of war ever."

A woman's voice spoke in Percy's mind. A gamble, Percy Jackson. It was a sleepy whisper, with just a hint of grudging admiration. You forced me to choose, and you are more important to my plans than the old seer. But do not press your luck. When your death comes, I promise it will be much more painful than Gorgon's blood.

Hazel prodded the robe with her sword. There was nothing underneath—no sign that Phineas was trying to re-form. She looked at Percy in awe. "That was either the bravest thing I've ever seen, or the stupidest."

Frank shook his head in disbelief. "Percy, how did you know? You were so confident he'd choose the poison."

"Gaea," Percy said. "She wants me to make it to Alaska. She thinks . . . I'm not sure. She thinks she can use me as part of her plan. She influenced Phineas to choose the wrong vial."

Frank stared in horror at the remains of the old man. "Gaea would kill her own servant rather than you? That's what you were betting on?"

"Plans," Ella muttered. "Plans and plots. The lady in the ground. Big plans for Percy. Macrobiotic jerky for Ella."

Percy handed her the whole bag of jerky and she squeaked with joy. "Nope, nope, nope," she muttered, half-singing. "Phineas, nope. Food and words for Ella, yep."

Percy crouched over the bathrobe and pulled the old man's note out of the pocket. It read: HUBBARD GLACIER.

All that risk for two words. Percy wanted to believe they'd thwart Gaea. He didn't really have any other option. But the Gorgon's blood had reminded him just how vulnerable he still was. Iron skin or not, he knew Gaea would make good on her threat if he gave her the chance.