I don't own this. Enjoy.
PIPER WANTED TO RUN FOR THE ELEVATOR.
Her second choice: attack the weird princess now, because she was sure a fight was coming.
Tristan's face paled. "This is Piper's time to be the hero for her friends, isn't it?"
The gods nodded. "Next time they get in trouble will be Jason's." Athena said.
Esperanza leaned over as Apollo started reading again. "Now you know how I feel." She whispered.
Tristan said, "Thanks." back to her.
The way the lady's face glowed when she'd heard Jason's name had been bad enough. Now Her Highness was smiling like nothing had happened, and Jason and Leo didn't seem to think anything was wrong.
"Can I just say that right now, I hate charmspeak. So far we have that little tyrant at the camp and now we have this princess charmspeaking the boys. The only good that came from it was Piper's work on the Boreads and even then it was only with Aphrodite's blessing that it worked. I mean I can see the good it can do, but with all of the bad that happens with it . . . No offence Lady Aphrodite." Emily said.
"None taken. Many people hate it. And don't worry, with someone's help from the seven she gets really good at it." Aphrodite said proudly.
The seven's parents exchanged looks each one secretly hoping it wasn't their kid.
"Can I read now?" Apollo asked. At the many nods he received he picked up the book.
The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter. "Shall we start with the potions?"
"Cool," Jason said.
"Guys," Piper interrupted, "we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this—princess—is really our friend—"
"Oh, I'm better than a friend, my dear," Her Highness said. "I'm a saleswoman." Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glittered like a snake's—cold and dark.
Apollo shivered as he read that. Python was enough for snakes for him. And having to face him twice was really too much. The only good thing was that he got to spend time with Will.
"Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?"
Leo nodded eagerly. "Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, Piper?"
Piper did her best to stare daggers at him: No, it is not okay!
"Of course it's okay." Her Highness put her hands on Leo's and Jason's shoulders and steered them toward the cosmetics. "Come along, boys."
Piper didn't have much choice except to follow.
She hated department stores—mostly because she'd gotten caught stealing from several of them.
Hermes lit up at that. "Please tell me she actually owns up to it." He pleaded.
Apollo read further and frowned. "Sorry bro. Not this time."
Well, not exactly caught, and not exactly stealing.
Hermes deflated. Then perked back up. "She'll admit it. One of these days she will." He vowed.
She'd talked salesmen into giving her computers, new boots, a gold ring, once even a lawn mower, though she had no idea why she wanted one.
Tristan's eyebrow raised further at each thing it had said she had "stolen".
She never kept the stuff. She just did it to get her dad's attention.
Tristan looked defeated.
"It'll be okay. You'll spend time with her now, right?" Sally asked.
Tristan nodded firmly. "Definitely."
"Well, then she won't do it anymore." Sally stated.
Tristan nodded again. "Thanks." He said, this time more sincerely to Sally. It was hard to not like Sally. Since she knew the most about the gods she was easily the leader of the group of parents. The voice of reason when things got tough and heated. Also the one to calm everyone down and the one to make everyone more determined. He wondered if she was somehow related to Aphrodite.
He tuned back in as Apollo started reading.
Usually she talked her neighborhood UPS guy into taking the stuff back. But of course the salesmen she duped always came to their senses and called the police, who eventually tracked her down.
Anyway, she wasn't thrilled to be back in a department store—especially one run by a crazy princess who glowed in the dark.
Hermes snickered at that. Apollo tried to keep the amusement out of his voice when he read that.
"And here," the princess said, "is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."
The counter was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the display shelves were crystal flasks—some shaped like swans or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells—ugh! Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents of burning tires, skunk spray, and gym lockers.
Everyone wrinkled their noses.
The princess pointed to a bloodred vial—a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."
"Even cancer?" Leo asked. "Leprosy? Hangnails?"
"Pretty sure hangnails aren't a disease." Apollo said before reading further.
"Any disease, sweet boy. And this vial"—she pointed to a swan-shaped container with blue liquid inside—"will kill you very painfully."
"Awesome," Jason said. His voice sounded dazed and sleepy.
All traces of amusement fled the room at that statement reminding everyone of the peril that the three teenagers were in.
"Jason," Piper said. "We've got a job to do. Remember?" She tried to put power into her words, to snap him out of his trance with charmspeak, but her voice sounded shaky even to her. This princess woman scared her too much, made her confidence crumble, just the way she'd felt back in the Aphrodite cabin with Drew.
"Come on, Pipes you can do it." Tristan muttered, clutching the couch he was sitting on.
"Job to do," Jason muttered. "Sure. But shopping first, okay?"
The princess beamed at him. "Then we have potions for resisting fire—"
"Got that covered," Leo said.
"Indeed?" The princess studied Leo's face more closely. "You don't appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen
"Trademark sunscreen . . . Jason . . . Colchis . . . Princess . . . need more information." Frederick was muttering.
…but no matter. We also have potions that cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or—"
"Wait." Piper was still staring at the red vial. "Could that potion cure lost memory?"
The princess narrowed her eyes. "Possibly. Yes. Quite possibly. Why, my dear? Have you forgotten something important?"
Piper tried to keep her expression neutral, but if that vial could cure Jason's memory …
"Not good. Not there. Not now." Hera murmured, worried.
Do I really want that? she wondered.
If Jason found out who he was, he might not even be her friend. Hera had taken away his memories for a reason. She'd told him it was the only way he'd survive at Camp Half-Blood. What if Jason found out that he was their enemy, or something?
"Good instincts." Zeus muttered to Hera. "Might be the first child of her's I'll actually like."
"Me too." Hera whispered back.
He might come out of his amnesia and decide he hated Piper. He might have a girlfriend wherever he came from.
It doesn't matter, she decided, which kind of surprised her.
Jason always looked so anguished when he tried to remember things.
Beryl flinched at that.
Piper hated seeing him that way. She wanted to help him because she cared about him, even if that meant losing him. And maybe it would make this trip through Her Craziness's department store worthwhile.
"How much?" Piper asked.
The princess got a faraway look in her eyes. "Well, now … The price is always tricky. I love helping people. Honestly, I do. And I always keep my bargains, but sometimes people try to cheat me." Her gaze drifted to Jason. "Once, for instance, I met a handsome young man who wanted a treasure from my father's kingdom. We made a bargain, and I promised to help him steal it."
Something about that niggled at the back of Frederick's mind.
"From your own dad?" Jason still looked half in a trance, but the idea seemed to bother him.
"Oh, don't worry," the princess said. "I demanded a high price. The young man had to take me away with him. He was quite good-looking, dashing, strong …" She looked at Piper. "I'm sure, my dear, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him."
Tristan looked slightly angry.
Piper tried to control her emotions, but she probably blushed. She got the creepiest feeling the princess could read her thoughts.
She also found the princess's story disturbingly familiar. Pieces of old myths she'd read with her dad started coming together, but this woman couldn't be the one she was thinking of.
"Oh, she's real alright." Hades sighed.
"At any rate," Her Highness continued, "my hero had to do many impossible tasks, and I'm not bragging when I say he couldn't have done them without me.
Hera snorted. "Jason was the best hero of that time. He certainly could have done it by himself."
I betrayed my own family to win the hero his prize. And still he cheated me of my payment."
"Cheated?" Jason frowned, as if trying to remember something important.
"That's messed up," Leo said.
Her Highness patted his cheek affectionately.
Esperanza grew angry as well.
"I'm sure you don't need to worry, Leo. You seem honest. You would always pay a fair price, wouldn't you?"
Leo nodded. "What were we buying again? I'll take two."
Piper broke in: "So, the vial, Your Highness—how much?"
The princess assessed Piper's clothes, her face, her posture, as if putting a price tag on one slightly used demigod.
Aphrodite was angry. Her daughter wasn't an object.
"Would you give anything for it, my dear?" the princess asked. "I sense that you would."
The words washed over Piper as powerfully as a good surfing wave. The force of the suggestion nearly lifted her off her feet. She wanted to pay any price. She wanted to say yes.
The mortals looked worried. If Piper succumbed to her . . . The didn't want to think about it.
Then her stomach twisted. Piper realized she was being charmspoken. She'd sensed something like it before, when Drew spoke at the campfire, but this was a thousand times more potent.
Tristan turned anxious.
No wonder her friends were dazed. Was this was what people felt when Piper used charmspeak? A feeling of guilt settled over her.
Aphrodite beamed. "See, Emily, this is was makes Piper a good charmspeaker. She won't turn out like the others."
Emily nodded.
She summoned all her willpower. "No, I won't pay any price. But a fair price, maybe. After that, we need to leave. Right, guys?"
Just for a moment, her words seemed to have some effect. The boys looked confused.
The mortals looked hopeful.
"Leave?" Jason said.
"You mean … after shopping?" Leo asked.
Then they sagged. Maybe by the end of the chapter they will be fine? The could only hope.
Piper wanted to scream, but the princess tilted her head, examining Piper with newfound respect.
"Impressive," the princess said. "Not many people could resist my suggestions. Are you a child of Aphrodite, my dear?
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "Got a problem with that?" She asked.
Ah, yes—I should have seen it. No matter. Perhaps we should shop a while longer before you decide what to buy, eh?"
"But the vial—"
"Now, boys." She turned to Jason and Leo. Her voice was so much more powerful than Piper's, so full of confidence, Piper didn't stand a chance.
"Come on, Pipes, you can do it." Tristan murmured.
"Would you like to see more?"
"Sure," Jason said.
"Okay," Leo said.
"Excellent," the princess said. "You'll need all the help you can get if you're to make it to the Bay Area."
Piper's hand moved to her dagger. She thought about her dream of the mountaintop—the scene Enceladus had shown her, a place she knew, where she was supposed to betray her friends in two days.
Esperanza and Beryl flinched. They didn't see any way possible they could do both, save Hera and Tristan.
"The Bay Area?" Piper said. "Why the Bay Area?"
The princess smiled. "Well, that's where they'll die, isn't it?"
Then she led them toward the escalators, Jason and Leo still looking excited to shop.
"Okay. That's not natural." Poseidon said, disturbed.
"I'm done anyway. Who's next on the list Athena?" Apollo asked.
"Either Ms. Jackson or Ms. Valdez." Athena said looking at her notes.
The two women looked at each other. "I'll read." Esperanza said after a moment.
Apollo handed her the book.
"Chapter 28 Piper."
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