Chapter 33

"We're going to need some food first so you all grab some food from him since I doubt these will leave my side right now" Thalia said as she pet the heads of various harpies, smirking as the cooed from her touch.

Thalia crouched down as she looked at the birds that flocked around her, a slight frown on her face as they all looked so thin. "Look you all need to be good little birdies and not attack the red harpy when we give her food, if everything goes well then you all will be able to eat all you want" she said as the nervous birds nodded and frowned, twitching as they nervously looked between the table full of food and the old man that guarded it.

She patiently waited for her friends to come back, all carrying food to help get the red feathered harpy to come to them. Since it was an infinitely restocking bench she doubted Phineas would mind.

"We got food, we grabbed like anything we thought a harpy would like" Frank said nervously as he grew a bit pale at how intently the harpies were staring at them like they were prey.

"Good now you all be good and stay there, we will be right back" Thalia said as she pointed towards one of the empty picnic tables a safe distance away from Phineas. "Hazel give them the food you grabbed and you girls I don't want to see any fighting!" she said as Hazel set down the food at the bench before backing away quickly.

The rest of the group was a bit surprised as the harpies listened to her, hopping and flapping as they all sat around or on the table. They even carefully grabbed for food, not fighting in a flurry like they were doing earlier.

"Well? Come on guys, we can't wait long if we want the plan to be believable" Thalia said as she snatched what looked like to be a cinnamon roll but longer like a burrito.

"How did you get the harpies to listen you like that? Did Iris give something to you like a blessing or something?" Frank asked as harpies were supposed to be pack creatures that don't listen to anyone but occasionally Jupiter, or Juno he guessed now.

"Iris didn't bless me, I guess it's something with having Juno as a mother of mine" Thalia said as she ran her finger over her tattoo but felt like it might be something else helping her with the harpies besides her mom.

"It doesn't matter, we need to get what we need from the man before we kill him, he needs to be dead again" Percy said with a frown as someone as vile as Phineas didn't deserve being alive again.

"Once we get the red feathered harpy we can work on killing him again" Thalia said, walking ahead of the group, heading towards where she saw the red one go off towards.

They found themselves walking through the park across from where Phineas' table was. She looked up, still seeing the harpy circling above before she unwrapped the cinnamon pastry, wafting the scent up into the air.

"We aren't going to hurt you sweetie! Please come down and eat so we can talk to you!" Thalia called up in a calming tone but loud enough for the harpy to hear her.

The red harpy streaked down in a flash of speed, landing on the elephant statue next to them.

She was painfully thin, her feathery legs were like sticks and her face would have been very pretty if not for her sunken cheeks. She in jerky, rather bird like twitches, her coffee brown eyes darting restlessly as he fingers clawed at her plumage, earlobes and her shaggy red hair.

"Cinnamon" she muttered, looking sideways "Ella likes cinnamon".

"Your name is Ella? That's a very sweet name" Thalia said with a smile as she unwrapped more of the pastry.

"Ella. Aella. 'Harpy'. In English. In Latin. Ella likes cinnamon" she said all without taking a breath or making eye contact. Her hands snatched at her hair, her burlap dress, and the raindrops. Basically anything that moved.

Quicker than most could register Ella lunged, snatching the cinnamon pastry before reappearing on top of the elephant as if she hadn't even moved.

"Gods she's fast!" Hazel said in shock.

"And heavily caffeinated" Frank guessed as Thalia kept her eyes on the thin harpy.

Ella sniffed the burrito hesitantly before nibbling on the edge of it and shuddering from head to foot, letting out a cawing noise that sounded like she was dying. "Cinnamon is good, good for harpies. Yum" she said as she started to eat more of the burrito.

"E-Ella is small. Ella is w-weak. Ella never gets cinnamon" Ella stuttered out with a bit of anger, some tears in her eyes.

"Ella, sweetie, we want to be your friends. We can get you a lot more food but-" Thalia said Ella shot her head up.

"Friends. Ten seasons. 1994 to 2004" Ella said before she looked around, eyes glancing sideways at Percy before she then looked up in the air and started to recite to the clouds. "A half blood of eldest gods shall sixteen against all odds. Sixteen. You're sixteen. Page sixteen of Mastering the Art of French Cooking 'Ingredients: Bacon, Butter" Ella rambled on at a speed that was difficult for them to understand most of what she was actually saying.

"Ella? What was that? What did you just say?" Percy asked, suddenly feeling dizzy as if he had been plunged 100 feet underwater and then back up again.

"Bacon, butter…" she muttered as she caught a raindrop out of the air.

"No before that. Those lines, I know those lines" Percy said as he rubbed his forehead in slight pain.

"It does sound familiar like a prophecy. Maybe it's something she heard Phineas say" Hazel said with a frown.

The second the name Phineas was said Ella squawked in terror and flew away with such speed that made the leaves around them burst away.

"Wait! I didn't mean to scare you! I'm so stupid" Hazel said as she realized her mistake of mentioning the man that terrorized the harpies.

"It's okay, look" Frank said as he pointed off.

They watched as Ella flew off, not nearly as fast as she took off, flapping her way to the top of a three story redbrick building before scuttling out of sight over the roof.

"You think that's her nest?" Frank asked as Thalia nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not sure there is an entrance to the roof so you guys stay down here, I'll go up since harpies seem to like me and only Percy and I can scale walls" Thalia said as Percy nodded.

"I'll stay down, try and get her to come down with you" Percy said with a slight frown as Thalia nodded, grabbing more of the food from the table from Frank and started to walk up the wall of the library, using chakra to stick to it like it was nothing.

As Thalia got up to the roof she frowned at the nest of books that Ella was huddled in under a makeshift cardboard shelter. She slowly got closer to Ella, who wasn't paying attention to her as Ella was picking at her feathers while muttering under her breath like she was practicing lines for a play.

"Ella? Sweetie I'm sorry we scared you. I brought you some more food" Thalia said as she knelt down and held out more food for Ella before the harpy lunged for the food and snacked on it. "I'm glad you finally got some food, seeing you so thin just feels wrong" she said as Ella looked up.

"Photosynthesis, noun. Biology. The synthesis of complex organic materials. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…" Ella muttered out before she went back to eating.

Thalia rose an eyebrow as she wondered what Ella was saying before it clicked. "Ella? Are you quoting books?" she asked as she noticed all the books around Ella and how they were all open and mildewed.

"Farmer's Almanac 1965, Start breeding animals, January twenty-sixth" Ella said in between bites of her food.

"Have you read all of them?" Thalia asked as Ella blinked at the question.

"More. More downstairs. Words. Words calm Ella down. Words, words, words" she said as she almost hugged the piece of food she was nibbling on close to her.

Thalia, deciding to test something picked up on random book, a tattered copy of A History of Horseracing. "Ella, do you remember the third paragraph of page 62?" she asked as Ella looked up quickly.

"Secretariat, favored three to two in the 1973 Kentucky Derby, finished at standing track record of one fifty-nine and two fifths" Ella said almost instantly as she closed the book.

'It's word for word' she thought as she couldn't help but smile at the thought of Annabeth, who she felt would love Ella's knowledge of books. It slightly saddened her as she wanted her memories back to remember everything about the girl she loved.

As she realized that Ella had an eidetic memory a fear bubbled in her that made her wonder if the reason Phineas wanted Ella was because of the prophetic like line she had recited earlier. If she recited one who knew how many others she could pop out later.

"Ella, my friends and I are going to find a way to break the curse. I promise we will, would you like that?" Thalia said as Ella shook her head nervously.

"It's Impossible, recorded in English by Perry Como, 1970" she said as she shook her head.

"Nothing is impossible. Now I'm going to say his name and you don't have to run away sweetie. We're going to save you from the curse. We just need a way to figure out how to beat Phineas" she said as she expected Ella to bolt again only for her to vigorously shake her head.

N-N-No! No Phineas. Ella is quick. Too quick for him. B-But he wants to ch-chain Ella. He hurts Ella" she said as she tried to reach the gash on her back.

"Can I heal that wound up sweetie?" Thalia asked as she summoned the green glow of her healing technique.

Ella stared at the glow a bit nervously but nodded, slowly turning her back to her and allowing Thalia to work on it.

A few minutes later Thalia smiled, the wound completely closed and smiled as Ella turned back around. "See? All better" she said as Ell frowned.

"Phineas is bad. And weed whackers. And cheese" Ella insisted as Thalia nodded, sitting down in front of Ella's nest.

"Absolutely. We won't ever let him hurt you again. We need to figure out a way to trick him. Do you know anyway to trick him?" she asked as Ella nervously darted her eyes around her nest.

"N-No. Tricks are for kids. 50 Tricks to Teach Your Dog, by Sophie Collins, call number six-three-six-" Ella started to list off before Thalia comfortingly pet her feathered wing, calming her down instantly.

"Okay Ella but does Phineas have any weaknesses besides being blind?" she asked as Ella furrowed her brow in thought.

"Chance, games of chance. Two to one. Bad odds. Call or fold" she said as Thalia's smirk grew massively.

"So he's a bad gambler?" she asked as Ella's feathers puffed up a bit nervously.

"Phineas s-sees big things. Prophecies. Fates. God stuff. Not small stuff. Random. Exciting. And he is blind" Ella said as Thalia couldn't help but smirk.

"Great! So if I can tempt him to make a bet, giving him the chance of getting something he wants it could work but I'll need to find something he needs that I can actually offer" she said as Ella peaked her head up.

"Sight," she muttered as she hopped a bit closer to her "sight is good for blind me. Healing…nope, nope. Gaea won't do that for Phineas. Gaea keeps him blind, dependent on her. Yep" she said as Thalia couldn't help but pull in the harpy in for a hug.

"Oh Ella I love you! This is perfect! I wanted to use the Gorgon's blood from the get go and now I actually can!" she said as Ella nervously hugged her back as best as she could with her clawed hands.

"Now sweetie to fool Phineas to keep you safe I'm going to need your dress. I can give you a new dress if you want" she said as Ella's eyes lit up a bit at the idea of new clothes.

After a few minutes, needing them to modifying a couple Camp Jupiter shirts to make a purple dress for the red feathered harpy, Thalia carefully hopped off the library with Ella fluttering down after.

"Is everything okay?" Frank asked as he saw the burlap dress in Thalia's arm as Ella huddled close to Thalia.

"Everything is perfect, let's get back to the old fart" Thalia said as she held Ella's hand comforting the still scared harpy.

Thalia, completely confident in what she had planned went straight towards Phineas. "Percy my plan can work now and if what that woman told us on the hill before we came to Camp Jupiter is true then this bet is going to be a sucker's bet" she said with a smirk as Percy nodded, still a slight frown on his face as he tossed her a baggie containing a set of two vials of the gorgon's blood.

"Wait what do you have planned?" Hazel asked, a bit worried for her friend as Thalia smiled.

"You'll see, I wouldn't want to spoil anything" she said as they came back towards Phineas' food trucks and the other harpies hopping towards her again, Ell clinging even closer to her.

"Calm down girls, don't hurt Ella" she ordered as they gave the smaller harpy her space. "Now I need you all to be good and calm when we go in there and the second I uncork the vials I need you guys to run behind Phineas and flap your wings. I need some gust to get the scent towards me" she said as the harpies nodded a bit confused as she gave Ella's hand a squeeze.

"You stay by my friends though, I don't want to get you to get to close to him" she said as Ella nodded and they walked back to Phineas.

The old man was the same where they left him while he smiled back at them "Welcome back!" he said cheerfully. "I hear the flutter of wings so I guess all the harpies are with you. Does that mean you have brought the little one to me?" he asked as Thalia glared, moving Ella behind her.

"She's here in the flock but she isn't yours" Thalia said as the other harpies bristled their feathers at the old man.

"So does that mean you have come to kill me then? If so good luck completing this quest of yours" he said as Thalia smirked, unseen by the blind man.

"I've come to gamble" she said as the old man's mouth twitched, holding back a smile.

"A gamble? How interesting. Information in exchange for the harpy? Winner take all?" he asked, leaning closer to her and making the harpies almost hiss at him.

"No. The harpy isn't part of the deal, none of them are" she said while Phineas laughed as if she told a hilarious joke.

"Perhaps you don't understand her value" he said with a laugh and a smirk.

"She's a person. She isn't for sale and nothing you can say will change it" she said using a tone that made it clear saying anything more would get nowhere.

"Fine, so be it you odd Roman. What is the bet" Phineas said as he crossed his arms.

"It's a wager. I have two flasks of gorgon's blood. One kills. One heals. They look the same. I don't know which is which. If you chose the vial that has the blood from the right side of the gorgon it could even heal your blindness" she said as Phineas' hands shot out eagerly.

"Let me feel them. Let me smell them" he said as Thalia pulled her hands back.

"Not so fast. You have to agree to the terms first before anything" she said as Phineas clenched his jaw.

"Terms…" he said, breathing slowly as Thalia could tell how hungry he was 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!" he exclaimed as Ella nervously clung to her.

"N-Nooo! Nope, nope, nope" she said nervously as Thalia pet the harpy's hair, calming her down and easing her fears somewhat while Phineas laughed a villainous laugh.

"Very well demigod, what are your terms?" Phineas asked, clearing his throat after the loud laugh.

"We both choose a vial. No uncorking and no sniffing before you decide and even then only one smell so neither of us try anything" she said as Phineas frowned.

"That's not fair! I'm blind!" Phineas yelled as if he was being cheated.

"Yeah and I don't have your insane sense of smell" she countered, instantly making him clench his jaw again. "You can hold the vials and I'll swear on the River Styx that they look exactly identical and are what I told you: gorgon's blood, one vial from the left side, and the other from the right. And I swear that I do not know which is which" she said while she looked towards Hazel.

"River Styx oaths are still binding aren't they Hazel, Ms. Daughter of Pluto?" she asked as Hazel nodded.

"Yes," Hazel answered instantly with no hesitation "To break such a vow…you just don't do it. It's worse than death" she said with a shiver.

"So I choose which vial to drink and you have to drink the other. We swear to drink at the same time?" Phineas asked while stroking his beard.

"Right and the loser dies" she said curtly.

"With a poison that powerful it would even keep me from coming back for a long time. My essence would be scattered and degraded. I'm risking a lot here girl" he said as Thalia nodded.

"But if you win you get everything. And if I die my friends will swear to leave you in peace, not take revenge in the slightest. You have your sight back which is something that even Gaea won't give you" she said, smirking as the look on Phineas' face told her she had struck a very clear nerve.

"But if I lose I'll be dead, unable to give you the information? How does that help?" he asked while Thalia pulled a napkin out from under a dish.

"You write it down before hand, the location of Alcyoneus's lair. You keep it to yourself but you swear on the River Styx that it is specific and accurate. Also you have to swear if you lose and die the harpies are set free from the curse that is on them" she said, giving Ella's shoulder a soft squeeze to show the harpy that if she was going to win then everybody was going to win.

"Thalia Otsutsuki, these are high stakes. You face death. Wouldn't it be simpler to hand over the harpy?" he asked making Thalia's Sharingan and activate to the Eternal Mangekyo level.

"Not. An. Option" she hissed out, her eye spinning as her protectiveness over Ella rose.

Her need to protect Ella only rose more as she saw Phineas slowly smile. "So you are starting to see her worth. Once I have my sight back I'll capture her myself. Whoever controls that harpy…well, I was king once. This gamble could make me king again" he said, his smile now large on his face.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? You still have to agree to the deal and my conditions" she said, growing her own smirk.

Phineas tapped his nose with a chuckle "I can't see the outcome of this. Annoying how that works. A completely unexpected gamble…it makes the future cloudy. But I can tell you this, Thalia Otsutsuki, 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" Phineas said as Thalia chuckled.

"I refuse to believe in fate and the set events of it, as blasphemous as that sounds. I decide what my life is and what road I go down, not some old ladies with some string" Thalia said with a smirk "So do we have a deal?" she asked, making Phineas laugh with a grin.

"I swear on the River Styx to abide by the terms just as you have described them. Frank Zhang, descendent of an Argonaut. I trust your word. If I win do you and your two friends swear not to seek revenge and to let me leave in peace?" he asked as Frank clenched his hands so tight Thalia thought he might break the golden spear in his hands.

"I swear on the River Styx" Frank said as Hazel and Percy nodded.

"I also swear" Hazel said, looking nervously at Thalia.

"I swear as well" Percy said in a calm tone, completely trusting her friend in her wager.

Phineas couldn't hold in his laugh as he gave a massive smile, showing off his teeth. "Well in that case find me something to write with and get this started" Phineas said, clearly off a section of his table.

Thalia couldn't help but smile, having complete faith that she would be the one to win the bet. 'I'm not going to die just yet Annabeth, I refuse to die before I find you again' she thought full of confidence as she sat down at the table, read to get this over with.