Chapter 19
We fight a dead witch
PIPER AND VIVIAN CORNERED THE PRINCESS as Jason and Leo went off to check out the living fur coats.
"You want them shopping for their deaths?" Piper demanded.
"Mmm." The princess blew dust off a display case of swords. "I'm a seer, my dears. I know your little secrets. But we don't want to dwell on that, do we? The boys are having such fun."
Leo laughed as he tried on a hat that seemed to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. Its ringed tail twitched, and its little legs wiggled frantically as Leo walked. Jason was ogling the men's sportswear. Boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they were under an evil spell.
Vivian glared at the princess. "Who are you?"
"I told you, my dear. I'm the Princess of Colchis."
"Where's Colchis?" Piper pressed.
The princess's expression turned a little sad. "Where was Colchis, you mean? My father ruled the far shores of the Black Sea, as far to the east as a Greek ship could sail in those days. But Colchis is no more—lost eons ago."
"Eons?" Piper asked. The princess looked no more than fifty, but a bad feeling started settling over Vivian—something King Boreas had mentioned back in Quebec. "How old are you?"
The princess laughed. "A lady should avoid asking or answering that question. Let's just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. My patron finally brought me through. She made all this possible." The princess swept her hand around the department store.
Vivian's mouth tasted like metal. "Your patron ..."
"Oh, yes. She doesn't bring just anyone through, mind you —only those who have special talents, such as me. And really, she insists on so little—a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. In exchange for a new life? Really, it was the best bargain I'd made in centuries."
Run, Vivian thought. We have to get out of here.
But before she could even turn her thoughts into words, Jason called, "Hey, check it out!"
From a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple T-shirt like the one he'd worn on the school field trip —except this shirt looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.
Jason frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"
"Looks like the one you were wearing, you idiot!" Vivian said. "Now we really have to leave." But she wasn't sure he could even hear her anymore through the princess's enchantment. "Nonsense," the princess said. "The boys aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular —trade-ins from previous customers. It suits you."
Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion—acid, maybe?—and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looked disturbingly like dried blood.
The bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion acid reminded her a lot of Selena's, before she...
"Your Highness," Piper said, trying to control her nerves. "Why don't you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."
Of course. How did I not notice sooner?
Her words didn't have any effect on the princess, but the boys turned, suddenly interested.
"More story?" Leo asked.
"I like more story!" Jason agreed.
Vivian facepalmed. They were acting like children!
The princess flashed Piper an irritated look. "Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Aphrodite had me under a spell. If it wasn't for her—but I can't hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?"
The princess's tone made her meaning clear: I can take it out on you.
"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," Piper remembered. "Didn't he, Your Highness? He married you just as he promised." Piper continued.
The look in the princess's eyes made Piper want to apologize, but she didn't back down.
"At first," Her Highness admitted, "it seemed he would keep his word. But even after I helped him steal my father's treasure, he still needed my help. As we fled, my brother's fleet came after us. His warships overtook us. He would have destroyed us, but I convinced my brother to come aboard our ship first and talk under a flag of truce. He trusted me."
"And you killed your own brother," Vivian said, the horrible story all coming back to her, along with a name—an infamous name that began with the letter M.
"What?" Jason stirred. For a moment he looked almost like himself. "Killed your own—"
"No," the princess snapped. "Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn't have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end."
Jason still looked uncomfortable. "What did he do?"
The princess held the sliced-up toga against Jason's chest, as if measuring him for an assassination. "Don't you know the story, my boy? You of all people should. You were named for him."
"Jason," Vivian said. "The original Jason. But then you're —you should be dead!"
The princess smiled. "As I said, a new life in a new country. Certainly I made mistakes. I turned my back on my own people. I was called a traitor, a thief, a liar, a murderess. But I acted out of love." She turned to the boys and gave them a pitiful look, batting her eyelashes. Vivian could feel the sorcery washing over them, taking control more firmly than ever.
"Wouldn't you do the same for someone you loved, my dears?"
"Oh, sure," Jason said.
"Okay," Leo said.
"Guys!" Piper ground her teeth in frustration. "Don't you see who she is? Don't you—"
"Let's continue, shall we?" the princess said breezily. "I believe you wanted to talk about a price for the storm spirits —and your satyr."
Leo got distracted on the second floor with the appliances.
"No way," he said. "Is that an armored forge?"
Before the girls could stop him, he hopped off the escalator and ran over to a big oval oven that looked like a barbecue on steroids.
When they caught up with him, the princess said, "You have good taste. This is the H-2000, designed by Hephaestus himself. Hot enough to melt Celestial bronze or Imperial gold."
Jason flinched as if he recognized that term. "Imperial gold?"
Like your sword idiot!
The princess nodded. "Yes, my dear. Like that weapon so cleverly concealed in your pocket. To be properly forged, Imperial gold had to be consecrated in the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill in Rome. Quite a powerful and rare metal, but like the Roman emperors, quite volatile. Be sure never to break that blade..." She smiled pleasantly. "Rome was after my time, of course, but I do hear stories. And now over here —this golden throne is one of my finest luxury items. Hephaestus made it as a punishment for his mother, Hera. Sit in it and you'll be immediately trapped."
Leo apparently took this as an order. He began walking toward it in a trance
"Leo, don't!" Vivian warned.
He blinked. "How much for both?"
"Oh, the seat I could let you have for five great deeds. The forge, seven years of servitude. And for only a bit of your strength—" She led Leo into the appliance section, giving him prices on various items.
Piper didn't want to leave him alone with her, but she had to try reasoning with Jason. Piper looked over to Vivian and nodded. Piper will go to Jason. Vivian will go to Leo. Time to knock some sense into the idiots.
Vivian walked over to Leo and pulled him aside before the princess could say anything. And slapped him. Right across his face.
"Ow," Leo muttered sleepily. "What was that for?"
"Snap out of it!" Vivian hissed.
"What do you mean?"
"She's charmspeaking you. Can't you feel it?"
He knit his eyebrows. "She seems okay."
"She's not okay! She shouldn't even be alive! She was married to Jason—the other Jason—three thousand years ago. Remember what Boreas said—something about the souls no longer being confined to Hades? It's not just monsters who can't stay dead. She's come back from the Underworld!"
Leo shook his head uneasily. "She's not a ghost."
"No, she's worse! She's—"
"Children." The princess was back with Jason and Piper in tow. "If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"
Vivian had to choke back a scream. She was tempted to pull out her sword and take on this witch herself, but she didn't like her chances—not in the middle of Her Highness's department store while her friends were under a spell. Vivian couldn't even be sure they'd take her side in a fight. They had to figure out a better plan.
They took the escalator down to the base of the fountain. For the first time, Vivian noticed two large bronze sundials —each about the size of a trampoline—inlaid on the marble tile floor to the north and south of the fountain. The gilded oversize canary cages stood to the east and west, and the farthest one held the storm spirits. They were so densely packed, spinning around like a super-concentrated tornado, that Piper couldn't tell how many there were—dozens, at least.
Hey," Leo said, "Coach Hedge looks okay!"
They ran to the nearest canary cage. The old satyr seemed to have been petrified at the moment he was sucked into the sky above the Grand Canyon. He was frozen mid-shout, his club raised over his head like he was ordering the gym class to drop and give him fifty. His curly hair stuck up at odd angles. If Vivian just concentrated on certain details—the bright orange polo shirt, the wispy goatee, the whistle around his neck—she could imagine Coach Hedge as his good old annoying self.
"Yes," the princess said. "I always keep my wares in good condition. We can certainly barter for the storm spirits and the satyr. A package deal. If we come to terms, I'll even throw in the vial of healing potion, and you can go in peace." She gave Piper and Vivian a shrewd look. "That's better than starting unpleasantness, isn't it, dear?"
Don't trust her, warned a voice in Vivian's head. If they were right about this lady's identity, nobody would be leaving in peace. A fair deal wasn't possible. It was all a trick. But her friends were looking at her, nodding urgently and mouthing, Say yes! Piper and Vivian needed more time to think.
"We can negotiate," Vivian said.
"Totally!" Leo agreed. "Name your price."
"Leo!" Piper snapped.
The princess chuckled. "Name my price? Perhaps not the best haggling strategy, my boy, but at least you know a thing's value. Freedom is very valuable indeed. You would ask me to release this satyr, who attacked my storm winds—"
"Who attacked us," Vivian interjected.
Her Highness shrugged. "As I said, my patron asks me for small favors from time to time. Sending the storm spirits to abduct you—that was one. I assure you it was nothing personal. And no harm done, as you came here, in the end, of your own free will! At any rate, you want the satyr freed, and you want my storm spirits—who are very valuable servants, by the way—so you can hand them over to that tyrant Aeolus. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it? The price will be high."
Piper and Vivian could see that their friends were ready to offer anything, promise anything. Before they could speak, Piper played her last card.
"You're Medea," she said. "You helped the original Jason steal the Golden Fleece. You're one of the most evil villains in Greek mythology. Jason, Leo—don't trust her."
Piper put all the intensity she could gather into those words. She was utterly sincere, and it seemed to have some effect. Jason stepped away from the sorceress.
Leo scratched his head and looked around like he was coming out of a dream. "What are we doing, again?"
"Boys!" The princess spread her hands in a welcoming gesture. Her diamond jewelry glittered, and her painted fingers curled like blood-tipped claws. "It's true, I'm Medea. But I'm so misunderstood. Oh, Piper and Vivian my dears, you don't know what it was like for women in the old days. We had no power, no leverage. Often we couldn't even choose our own husbands. But I was different. I chose my own destiny by becoming a sorceress. Is that so wrong? I made a pact with Jason: my help to win the fleece, in exchange for his love. A fair deal. He became a famous hero! Without me, he would've died unknown on the shores of Colchis."
Jason—Piper's Jason—scowled. "Then ... you really did die three thousand years ago? You came back from the Underworld?"
"Death no longer holds me, young hero," Medea said. "Thanks to my patron, I am flesh and blood again."
"You ... re-formed?" Leo blinked. "Like a monster?"
Medea spread her fingers, and steam hissed from her nails, like water splashed on hot iron. "You have no idea what's happening, do you, my dears? It is so much worse than a stirring of monsters from Tartarus. My patron knows that giants and monsters are not her greatest servants. I am mortal. I learn from my mistakes. And now that I have returned to the living, I will not be cheated again. Now, here is my price for what you ask."
"Guys," Vivian said. "The original Jason left Medea because she was crazy and bloodthirsty."
"Lies!" Medea said.
"On the way back from Colchis, Jason's ship landed at another kingdom, and Jason agreed to dump Medea and marry the king's daughter." Vivian continued.
"After I bore him two children!" Medea said. "Still he broke his promise! I ask you, was that right?"
Jason and Leo dutifully shook their heads, but Piper and Vivian weren't through.
"It may not have been right," Piper said, "but neither was Medea's revenge. She murdered her own children to get back at Jason. She poisoned his new wife and fled the kingdom."
Medea snarled. "An invention to ruin my reputation! The people of the Corinth—that unruly mob—killed my children and drove me out. Jason did nothing to protect me. He robbed me of everything. So yes, I sneaked back into the palace and poisoned his lovely new bride. It was only fair—a suitable price."
"You're insane," Piper said.
"I am the victim!" Medea wailed. "I died with my dreams shattered, but no longer. I know now not to trust heroes. When they come asking for treasures, they will pay a heavy price. Especially when the one asking has the name of Jason!"
The fountain turned bright red. Piper drew her dagger, but her hand was shaking almost too badly to hold it. Vivian drew her sword. "Jason, Leo —it's time to go. Now."
"Before you've closed the deal?" Medea asked. "What of your quest, boys? And my price is so easy. Did you know this fountain is magic? If a dead man were to be thrown into it, even if he was chopped to pieces, he would pop back out fully formed—stronger and more powerful than ever."
"Seriously?" Leo asked.
"Leo, she's lying," Piper said. "She did that trick with somebody before—a king, I think. She convinced his daughters to cut him to pieces so he could come out of the water young and healthy again, but it just killed him!"
"Ridiculous," Medea said, and Vivian could hear the power charged in every syllable. "Leo, Jason—my price is so simple. Why don't you two fight? If you get injured, or even killed, no problem. We'll just throw you into the fountain and you'll be better than ever. You do want to fight, don't you? You resent each other!"
"Guys, no!" Vivian said. But they were already glaring at each other, as if it was just dawning on them how they really felt.
Vivian had never felt more helpless. Now she understood what real sorcery looked like. She'd always thought magic meant wands and fireballs, but this was worse. Medea didn't just rely on poisons and potions. Her most potent weapon was her voice.
Leo scowled. "Jason's always the star. He always gets the attention and takes me for granted."
"You're annoying, Leo," Jason said. "You never take anything seriously. You can't even fix a dragon."
"Stop!" Vivian pleaded, but both drew weapons—Jason his gold sword, and Leo a hammer from his tool belt.
"Let them go, Piper and Vivian," Medea urged. "I'm doing you a favor. Let it happen now, and it will make your choice so much easier. Enceladus will be pleased. You could have your father back today! And Vivian, you could get your brother back!"
Medea's charmspeak didn't work on the girls, but the sorceress still had a persuasive voice. Vivian's broth back today? Despite her best intentions, Vivian wanted that. She wanted her brother back so much, it hurt. But Vivian knew she was lying. Medea can't bring her brother back.
"You work for Enceladus," Piper said.
Medea laughed. "Serve a giant? No. But we all serve the same greater cause—a patron you cannot begin to challenge. Walk away, child of Aphrodite. This does not have to be your death, too. Save yourself, and your father can go free."
Leo and Jason were still facing off, ready to fight, but they looked unsteady and confused—waiting for another order. Part of them had to be resisting, Vivian hoped. This went completely against their nature.
"Listen to me, girl." Medea plucked a diamond off her bracelet and threw it into a spray of water from the fountain. As it passed through the multicolored light, Medea said, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me the office of Tristan McLean."
The mist shimmered, and Piper saw her father's study. Sitting behind his desk, talking on the phone, was her dad's assistant, Jane, in her dark business suit, her hair swirled in a tight bun.
"Hello, Jane," Medea said.
Jane hung up the phone calmly. "How can I help you, ma'am? Hello, Piper and Piper's friend."
"You—" Piper was so angry she could hardly talk.
"Yes, child," Medea said. "Your father's assistant. Quite easy to manipulate. An organized mind for a mortal, but incredibly weak."
"Thank you, ma'am," Jane said.
"That's not a complement." Vivian said.
"Don't mention it," Medea said. "I just wanted to congratulate you, Jane. Getting Mr. McLean to leave town so suddenly, take his jet to Oakland without alerting the press or the police—well done! No one seems to know where he's gone. And telling him his daughter's life was on the line—that was a nice touch to get his cooperation."
"Yes," Jane agreed in a bland tone, as if she were sleepwalking. "He was quite cooperative when he believed Piper was in danger."
Piper looked down at her dagger. The blade trembled in her hand. Vivian pulled out her compass, ready to go into gladiator mode. Piper couldn't use her weapon for a weapon any better than Helen of Troy could, but it was still a looking glass, and what she saw in it was a scared girl with no chance of winning.
"I may have new orders for you, Jane," Medea said. "If the girl cooperates, it may be time for Mr. McLean to come home. Would you arrange a suitable cover story for his absence, just in case? And I imagine the poor man will need some time in a psychiatric hospital."
"Yes, ma'am. I will stand by." Jane said.
The image faded, and Medea turned to Piper. "There, you see?"
"You lured my dad into a trap," Piper said. "You helped the giant—"
"Oh, please, dear. You'll work yourself into a fit! I've been preparing for this war for years, even before I was brought back to life. I'm a seer, as I said. I can tell the future as well as your little oracle. Years ago, still suffering in the Fields of Punishment, I had a vision of the eight in your so-called Great Prophecy. I saw your friend Leo here and Vivian, and saw that Leo would be an important enemy someday and Vivian was very powerful. I stirred the consciousness of my patron, gave her this information, and she managed to wake just a little—just enough to visit them."
"Leo's mother," Vivian said. "Leo, listen to this! She helped get your mother killed!"
"Uh-huh," Leo mumbled, in a daze. He frowned at his hammer. "So ... I just attack Jason? That's okay?"
"Perfectly safe," Medea promised. "And Jason, strike him hard. Show me you are worthy of your namesake."
"No!" Piper and Vivian ordered in unison. They knew it was their last chance.
"Jason, Leo—she's tricking you." Piper told them.
"Put down your weapons." Vivian said.
The sorceress rolled her eyes. "Please, girls. You're no match for me. I trained with my aunt, the immortal Circe. I can drive men mad or heal them with my voice. What hope do these puny young heroes have against me? Now, boys, kill each other!"
"Jason, Leo, listen to me." Piper said.
"Don't do this," Vivian pleaded.
Piper and Vivian put all of her emotion into their voice. For years Piper has been trying to control herself and not show weakness. Vivian was the daughter of the mighty Poseidon, she wasn't supposed to be scared, but now the girls poured everything into their words —fear, desperation, anger. Piper knew she might be signing her dad's death warrant, but she cared too much about her friends to let them hurt each other. "Medea is charming you. It's part of her magic. You are best friends.
"Don't fight each other. Fight her!" Vivian pointed to Medea.
They hesitated, and Vivian could feel the spell shatter.
Jason blinked. "Leo, was I just about to stab you?"
"Something about my mother ... ?" Leo frowned, then turned toward Medea. "You ... you're working for Dirt Woman. You sent her to the machine shop." He lifted his arm. "Lady, I got a three-pound hammer with your name on it."
"Bah!" Medea sneered. "I'll simply collect payment another way."
She pressed one of the mosaic tiles on the floor, and the building rumbled. Jason swung his sword at Medea, but she dissolved into smoke and reappeared at the base of the escalator.
"You're slow, hero!" She laughed. "Take your frustration out on my pets!"
Before Jason could go after her, the giant bronze sundials at either end of the fountain swung open. Two snarling gold beasts—flesh-and-blood winged dragons—crawled out from the pits below. Each was the size of a camper van, maybe not large compared to Festus, but large enough.
"So that's what's in the kennels," Leo said meekly
The dragons spread their wings and hissed. Vivian could feel the heat coming off their glittering skin. One turned his angry orange eyes on her.
"Don't look them in the eye!" Jason warned. "They'll paralyze you."
"Indeed!" Medea was leisurely riding the escalator up, leaning against the handrail as she watched the fun. "These two dears have been with me a long time—sun dragons, you know, gifts from my grandfather Helios. They pulled my chariot when I left Corinth, and now they will be your destruction. Ta-ta!"
The dragons lunged. Leo and Jason charged to intercept. Vivian was amazed how fearlessly the boys attacked—working like a team who had trained together for years.
Medea was almost to the second floor, where she'd be able to choose from a wide assortment of deadly appliances.
"Oh, no, you don't," Piper growled, and took off after her.
"You take care of the dragons, me and Piper will go after Medea," Vivian said, running after Piper.
When Medea spotted Piper and Vivian, she started climbing in earnest. She was quick for a three-thousand-year-old lady
Piper and Vivian climbed at top speed, taking the steps three at a time, and still they couldn't catch her. Medea didn't stop at floor two. She hopped the next escalator and continued to ascend.
The potions, Vivian thought. Of course that's what she would go for. She was famous for potions.
Down below, Vivian heard the battle raging. Leo was blowing his safety whistle, and Jason was yelling to keep the dragons' attention. Vivian didn't dare look—not while she was running with a sword in her hand. She could just see herself tripping and stabbing herself in the nose. That would be super heroic.
Vivian grabbed a shield from an armored manikin on floor three gave it to Piper, and continued to climb. Vivian imagined Coach Hedge yelling in her mind, just like back in gym class at Wilderness School: Move it, Gomez! You call that escalator-climbing?
They reached the top floor, breathing hard, but they were too late. Medea had reached the potions counter.
The sorceress grabbed a swan-shaped vial—the blue one that caused painful death—and Piper did the only thing that came to mind. She threw her shield.
Medea turned triumphantly just in time to get hit in the chest by a fifty-pound metal Frisbee. She stumbled backward, crashing over the counter, breaking vials and knocking down shelves. When the sorceress stood from the wreckage, her dress was stained a dozen different colors. Many of the stains were smoldering and glowing.
"Fool!" Medea wailed. "Do you have any idea what so many potions will do when mixed?"
"Kill you?" Vivian said hopefully.
The carpet began to steam around Medea's feet. She coughed, and her face contorted in pain—or was she faking?
Below, Leo called, "Jason, help!"
Vivian risked a quick look, and almost sobbed in despair. One of the dragons had Leo pinned to the floor. It was baring its fangs, ready to snap. Jason was all the way across the room battling the other dragon, much too far away to assist.
"You've doomed us all!" Medea screamed. Smoke was rolling across the carpet as the stain spread, throwing sparks and setting fires in the clothing racks. "You have only seconds before this concoction consumes everything and destroys the building. There's no time—"
CRASH! The stained glass ceiling splintered in a rain of multicolored shards, and Festus the bronze dragon dropped into the department store.
He hurtled into the fray, snatching up a sun dragon in each claw. Only now did Vivian appreciate just how big and strong their metal friend was.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled, while Vivian whooped.
Festus flew halfway up the atrium, then hurled the sun dragons into the pits they'd come from. Leo raced to the fountain and pressed the marble tile, closing the sundials. They shuddered as the dragons banged against them, trying to get out, but for the moment they were contained.
Medea cursed in some ancient language. The whole fourth floor was on fire now. The air filled with noxious gas. Even with the roof open, Vivian could feel the heat intensifying. They backed up to the edge of the railing, keeping their weapons pointed toward Medea.
"I will not be abandoned again!" The sorceress knelt and snatched up the red healing potion, which had somehow survived the crash. "You want your boyfriend's memory restored? Take me with you!"
Vivian glanced behind her. Leo and Jason were on board Festus's back. The bronze dragon flapped his mighty wings, snatched the two cages with the satyr and the storm spirits in his claws, and began to ascend.
The building rumbled. Fire and the smoke curled up the walls, melting the railings, turning the air to acid.
"You'll never survive your quest without me!" Medea growled. "Your boy hero will stay ignorant forever, and your father will die. Take me with you!"
For one heartbeat, Vivian was tempted. Then she saw Medea's grim smile. The sorceress was confident in her powers of persuasion, confident that she could always make a deal, always escape and win in the end.
"Not today, witch!" Vivian yelled, creating an ice shard in her hands and thrusted it towards Medea, as the ice impeded her. They jumped over the side. They plummeted for only a second before Leo and Jason caught them, hauling the girls aboard the dragon.
She heard Medea screaming in rage and pain as they soared through the broken roof and over downtown Chicago. Then the department store exploded behind them.