Piper XVI

"Now, dears," the lady begins, "why don't I show you around the shop so that you can browse and see if you like anything."

Leo nods enthusiastically, but Reyna shares a distrustful look with Piper. Something isn't quite right about this, but the daughter of Aphrodite isn't quite sure what.

"What's that purple shirt?" Reyna asks suddenly. "And this cape. I think that I've seen them before."

The lady nods. "Yes, I imagine that you would have, my dear."

"How do you know that?" Piper asks.

Reyna, however, is staring at the purple cape as if in a trance. When she looks away and back towards Piper, her eyes are glazed over like Leo's are. The woman sighs and clucks her tongue. "Oh, I had such high hopes for her, since she studied under Aunt C.C." The woman says disappointedly. "But it was so easy to lull her into complacency. All I had to do was show her a piece of her old life."

"Old life?" Piper asks.

"Yes, dear. Her old life in California before she was kidnapped by Hera and brought to Nevada. It's a shame, really." The woman says. "She had such a beautiful love story with her fellow praetor, Jason Grace." The woman's gaze sweeps across the shop before returning to Piper. "I suppose it's for the best, though. I never did trust anyone named Jason, especially after what happened to me all of those years ago."

Suddenly, it all clicked. "You're Medea, and your aunt is Circe. How did Reyna study under Circe?"

Medea smiles. "I am Medea, clever girl. However, I have no idea how Reyna studied under my aunt. It must have been years ago, or else it wouldn't have been so easy to trick her."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Does it matter?" Medea asks. She walks away towards one of the escalators, and Reyna and Leo follow her eagerly. Reyna's attention was still on the purple cape, which she held securely in her hands like it was a tether to who she really was. Maybe, Piper thought, that's what it really was. "But if you really must know, it's because my Patron asked me to."

"Who's your Patron?" Piper asked.

Medea merely laughed. "You ask far too many questions for a daughter of Aphrodite, Piper McLean."

"How do you know my name?" Piper asked.

"I know about all three of you. How Leo Valdez is terrified of fire and his own powers, because that's what killed his mother. How Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano refuses to show weakness, even when she doesn't know who she is. How Reyna is a wolf among sheep, if you will." The analogy caused Piper to shiver. Was Reyna going to hurt them instead of save them? "And how your father, Piper, is with a giant on top of a mountain."

"Stop." Piper whispered. "Don't talk about me or my friends."

Medea laughed again. "Are they really your friends, Piper? One is a boy who cannot control his flames, while another is a wolf whom you only think that you know. Are they really your friends?"

Piper nodded despite the doubts she suddenly felt. "They are. I trust them, and they trust me."

Medea nodded, and finally gave Piper her full attention as they approached a shelf of potions. "Of course, Piper." She said, but she sounded like an adult saying that simply to appease a petulant child.

Medea showed her several potions, and Piper found herself nodding along with the sorceress's words.

Then, quick as lightning, Reyna struck. Somehow, Reyna had snapped out of her stupor and had transformed her bracelet into a dagger. The dark-haired girl used the dagger to attack Medea and knock over the potions.

Reyna's attack on Medea snapped Leo out of it too, who blew the orange plastic whistle to call Festus. When the dragon descended, Piper rushed to grab the two cages –one with a bunch of venti and the other with Coach Hedge inside –and jumped onto the dragon behind Reyna.

They flew away, and Piper tried to block out the horrible sound of Medea's screams as the combined potions killed her. Or, at least hopefully killed her. Piper and Leo tried to talk to Reyna, but the amnesiac refused to talk to them. "O pater, mē concede. O mater in caelis, prōtege mē malō." (1). She repeated the phrases over and over again, so the two Greek demigods just left her alone.

"Is she okay?" Leo asked finally. "Do you know what she's saying?"

Piper shook her head. "No… I… I have no idea. Should we… should we try to talk to her? To figure out what's going on?"

Leo shrugged. "Your call, Beauty Queen. I'm just the repair boy."

Piper frowned at her friend. "You are not, Leo. You're an important member of this team. We need you with us." If he could turn around to face her, Piper would smile at her friend and say something sarcastic. But…that wasn't what he needed right now. "I'm going to try to get through to her."

"Reyna? Are you okay?" Piper reached forward to shake Reyna's shoulder. "Talk to me, tell me what's wrong."

Reyna shuddered, and her mouth snapped closed. "Don't use your honeyed voice on me, striga (2)," the girl bit out angrily. "I won't be tricked again."

Piper pulled back her hand as if she'd been burned. What? She knew that Reyna could be a bit snappy, but… she'd never been so mean. Piper didn't know exactly what "striga" meant, but judging from Reyna's tone it wasn't a compliment.

"Just because you don't have your memories doesn't mean you can just snap at us whenever something goes wrong, Reyna," Leo cut in. "We're all trying our best here, and we need to work as a team. Either tell us what's wrong, or don't. But don't take whatever you're feeling out on us."

Reyna stilled. The harsh words had gotten through to her, and had been what she'd needed. "Yes, Centurion." Reyna paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "I don't know why I called you that, Leo. Sorry."

"Okay, that one we can blame on the amnesia." Leo turned around for a second and grinned at them. "Why don't you two try to get some rest? We've all had a stressful day. If I need some sleep, I'll just pull over somewhere."

Piper grinned at that comment. She pictured Leo driving Festus like a car, and using his turn signal to pull over to the side of the road. Would they get a traffic violation for parking their dragon in a No Parking zone?

Once she was done amusing herself with that joke, Piper closed her eyes and leaned forward to sleep on Reyna. The other girl was already slumped against Leo's back and asleep, so Piper had no qualms about doing the same.

"Good night, Leo."

"Sweet dreams, Piper."


I have no excuse. At least corona quarantine has given me the time and willpower to return to this fanfic. Maybe. We'll see.

1: "Oh father, forgive me. O mother in the heavens, protect me from evil"

2: "Witch"