𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 - jason grace

11. A DANGEROUS GAMBLE

𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 for what was about to happen. She'd tried telling herself that it would be fine. She'd done it once – whatever 'it' really was – and so, she could definitely do it again. Right?

She held her hands together behind her back, trying to stop the violent shaking that would've otherwise been obvious. Maia did not deal well with her anxiety, it was something that had followed her since she was younger. At camp, she'd had nervous breakdowns over smaller things, but over the course of her four years residing there, she'd managed to calm down quite a bit. When Jason disappeared, she'd started getting anxiety attacks more frequently, and, if she didn't know herself any better, she'd lie and say she totally wasn't on the verge of one right now.

She'd tried, really tried, to tell Percy she had no idea how she did what she'd done at the war games. She'd hoped she'd gotten that through pretty clearly to Frank and Hazel. But, apparently she hadn't!

"Trust yourself," Percy had told her. "It's okay to be nervous, especially when you've just discovered what you can do, but at one point, it's gonna start being almost natural to you. Just trust your instincts, Mai."

And Hazel and Frank had both reassured her — they believed in her. But, that wasn't exactly what she was hoping to hear.

And she tried. She really did. But after years of trying to suppress the very thing she'd been asked to do, even if it was unconscious, Maia was terrified. She was scared her legs would start to wobble unsteadily and she'd soon find herself falling face first to the ground if she had to sit there any longer.

The old seer was right where they'd left him, in the middle of the food truck parking lot. He sat on his picnic bench with his bunny slippers propped up, eating a plate of greasy shish kebab. His weed whacker was at his side. His bathrobe was smeared with barbecue sauce. Maia wrinkled her nose.

"Welcome back!" he called cheerfully. "I hear the flutter of nervous little wings. You've brought me my harpy?"

"She's here," Percy said. "But she's not yours. "

Phineas sucked the grease off his fingers. His milky eyes seemed fixed on a point just above Percy's head. "I see...Well, actually, I'm blind, so I don't see. Have you come to kill me, then? If so, good luck completing your quest. "

"I've come to gamble. "

The old man's mouth twitched. He put down his shishkebab and leaned toward Percy. "A gamble...how interesting. Information in exchange for the harpy? Winner takes all?"

"No," Percy said. "The harpy isn't part of the deal. "

Phineas laughed. "Really? Perhaps you don't understand her value. "

"She's a person," Percy said. "She isn't for sale. "
"Oh, please! You're from the Roman camp, aren't you? Rome was built on slavery. Don't get all high and mighty with me. Besides, she isn't even human. She's a monster. A wind spirit. A minion of Jupiter. "

Ella squawked. Just getting her into the parking lot had been a major challenge, but now she started backing away, muttering, "'Jupiter. Hydrogen and helium. Sixty-three satellites. ' No minions. Nope. "

Hazel put her arm around Ella's wings. She seemed to be the only one who could touch the harpy without causing lots of screaming and twitching.

Frank stayed at Percy's side. He held his spear ready, as if the old man might charge them.

And Maia... Well, she stood back, breathing in deeply. She struggled to hold back the ocean of 'what if's' she knew would start pouring out of the mental dam she'd built. She knew the possibilities of failure would soon flood her thoughts and cause her even more problems. She knew she had to steady herself, because thinking about the bad outcomes wouldn't help at all right now. She needed to be strong, for her friends.