chapter sixteen

─── i think i succumb to peer pressure too easily

          ℑn hindsight, I should have learnt the signs for mind control but then again, I was an amnesiac so it wasn't entirely on me.

In the moment, I didn't know what to do. Everything was a vague haze in my ears and my eyes. I was aware that Piper's hand was wrapped around my arm, that she was trying to get me to listen to her but the haze over my mind was too deep and too dense.

Someone's hand was on my shoulders, steering me away from Piper and as much as my mind was trying to break free of the dense fog that was covering the rational part of my brain, I couldn't quite do it.

My eyes were processing what was ahead of me, potions and smoking vials on tripods. There were crystal flasks of every colour, some shaped like swans or bears and there were so many smells. Some were pleasant, flooding my sense with smells of freshly based cookies, roses and lilies and then others made me want to throw up, like old gym locker smell.

A hand appeared in my vision, pointing at a blood red vial that looked so simple.

"This one will heal any disease." A voice filtered through into my ear as I watched it. Did that mean it could heal amnesia? Was that a disease or did that not count? The finger pointed to a swan shaped, deep blue one. "This one will give you any disease."

"Awesome." Awesome? Really, awesome? I didn't say things like this normally, so why was I saying it now?

"-got a job to do, remember?" Those words were bringing back memories, reminding me of something.

"Job to do." My head ached. "Sure, but shopping first, okay?"

She moved us through, and my thoughts twisted. One part of me wanted to turn, to reach for that vial, to get my memories back, but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Piper was still speaking, they were conversing about something. A story. I knew it, vaguely at least.

"Once, for instance, I met a handsome young man who wanted a treasure from my father's kingdom. We made a bargain." The princess was saying that, the one who said we should call her Your Highness. "We made a bargain and I promised to help him steal it."

"From your own dad?" I scrunched my eyebrows up at that, trying to remember the story. I knew this. I was sure I did, but where did I know it from.

"Oh don't worry." The princess patted my hand, smiling. "The young man had to take me away with him. He was quite good-looking, dashing, strong...I'm sure, my dear, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero and want to help them."

This story was so familiar, on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't place it in the slightest. Curse my amnesia.

"At any rate, my hero had to do many impossible tasks, and I'm not bragging when I say that he could not have done them without me." The princess explained. "I betrayed my own family to win the hero his prize. And still, he cheated me of my payment."

"Cheated?" I was sure I knew this.

"That's messed up." Leo replied.

"I'm sure you don't need to worry, Leo. You seem honest." I closed my eyes, thinking. Princess who helped a hero with tasks. Couldn't be Hercules, had to be the other one. Which one was that?

My brain was so foggy, I couldn't think of what was going on.

"-We need to leave, right guys?" The words registered, the fog lifting for a moment as I turned to face Piper.

"Leave?"

"You mean after shopping?" Leo questioned as Piper gritted her teeth. She had a look on her face like she wanted to hit us but I couldn't work out why. What had we been doing?

"Now, you two." The princess drew our attention back to her. "Would you like to see more?"

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Memory wasn't exactly my strong point if current predicaments served me well. However, I was sure that this shirt was familiar. It was purple and I knew I recognised it, but it was clawed through as if a tiger had taken a go at hand washing it.

"Why does this look so familiar?" 

"Cress, it's like yours." Piper shouted at me, hurrying towards me. "Now we really have to leave."

"Nonsense." The princess stated, as I turned back to her. "They aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular trade ins from previous customers. It suits you."

There was one of those orange Camp Half-Blood shirts with a hole through the middle like it had been hit by a javelin. A dented breastplate, a toga that was stained with something that looked like blood.

"Your Highness." Piper spoke up, "Why don't you tell them about how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

I turned, as did Leo, both of our eyes going wide.

"More stories?" Leo grinned. "I like more stories!"

"Can we hear it?" I grinned.

"Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper." The princess was hissing as I tried to work out what was happening. "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?"

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis." This story was starting to become a bit more familiar now, my mind becoming a little clearer. "Didn't he? He married you just as promised."

"At first, it seemed he would keep his promise but even after I helped him steal my father's treasure, he still needed my help." The princess shook her head. "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." Piper stated as the fog left my mind. I knew this story, I knew it.

"What? You killed your own-"

"No!" The princess snapped at me, her face turning to anger for a moment. "Those stories are all 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 his body. This gave us time to get away, All this, I did for my husband. He forgot our bargain! He betrayed me!"

"What did he do?" I think I knew what the answer was already. The princess held the toga with the dried blood on it up to my chest, and I gulped. 

"You know my story, don't you girl?"

"Your husband was Jason, the original Jason." I muttered. "But if you're Medea, then you should be dead."

"I was spurned, called a traitor, a thief, a liar but I only acted out of love." The wave of fog descended back over my mind and in a moment, my brain was gone once more. I couldn't seem to remember why all of this was dangerous.

There was an armoured forge on the second floor, flames leaping from the bellows.

"Hot enough to melt Celestial bronze or Imperial gold." That term made me flinch, sending an aching shockwave through my head. I knew that.

"Imperial gold?"

"Yes dear." Medea nodded. "Like that weapon so cleverly concealed in your pocket."

How did she know about the coin? I reached for my pockets, feeling the weight of the coin in one, and the round, soft weight of the toy bird in the other. I didn't like this. This situation felt so weird.

"To be properly forged, Imperial gold has to be consecrated in the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill in Rome." The Princess continued to explain as I thought of the small coin. "Quite a powerful and rare metal, but like the Roman emperors, quite volatile. Be sure to never break that blade..."

She went onto have a monologue of thrones and appliances, years of servitude, but a harsh yank had me turning to face Piper.

"What-" She smacked me around the face, as I hissed and brought my hand to my face. "Ow! No need! What was that for?"

"Snap out of it! She's charmspeaking you, can't you feel it?" I couldn't feel it.

"She seems fine."

"Don't be delusional! She should be dead!" Piper hissed, before smacking me again for good measure as I hissed and rubbed my jaw. "She was married to Jason, three thousand years ago."

"She looks good for her age." I muttered, not fully believing her in that moment.

"Be serious." Piper growled as I pulled a face. "Remember what Boreas said, souls no longer confined to Hades?"

"She's not a ghost." I pointed out.

"No, she's worse."

"Children-" The princess returned, Leo in tow, as both of us turned to look at her with wide eyes. I wanted to believe the Princess, but Piper was so earnest and so fearful that I couldn't quite bring myself to. There was also the issue with the purple shirts, the toga and the breastplate. That was a definite cause for concern. "Why don't we go and see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"

We all headed down the escalators, to the centre of the ground floor where the two cages were. The one of storm spirits was packed full, with barely enough space for them to move, and the other contained our protector that had been taken when we were first extracted to Camp Half-Blood.

"Hey, Coach Hedge looks okay." Leo pointed out, hurrying us over to the canary cage. Coach Hedge did look fine, there were no visible injuries and he didn't look in pain.

"I always keep my wares in good conditions. We can certainly barter for the storm spirits and the satyr." The princess explained. "A package deal. If we come to terms, I'll even throw in the vial of healing potion, and you can go in peace. That's better than starting unpleasantness, isn't it sweetheart?"

The tone of voice was rubbing me the wrong way, and one look at Piper's face had me steeling myself and twisting towards the charmspeaker.

"We can negotiate." The princess twisted, as if not expecting me to have come through. The pain in my cheek from Piper's hand had done the trick though. "Name your starting price."

"The girl knows how to haggle." I narrowed my eyes. "Freedom is very valuable indeed. You would ask me to release this satyr, who attacked my storm winds-"

"-Who attacked us!" Piper shot in, glaring as the princess shrugged.

"My patron asks me for small favours from time to time. Send storm spirits to abduct you, that was one. I assure you it was nothing personal and no harm done, you came here of your own free will." She smiled kindly, but I clutched the bird toy, remembering everything that had happened and the boy at the altar. I had people to get back to and I would not die here. "You want the satyr freed, and you want my storm spirits to hand them over to that tyrant Aeolus. That does not seem fair. So, the price will be high."

"That's Medea." Piper confirmed my thoughts, her hand on the back of Leo's shirt as she dragged him half behind me. "She helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece and was one of the most evil villains in mythology. I remember now."

"That is all true, I am Medea but I am so misunderstood." She began to plead. "Do you know what it was like in the old days. Women had no power, no rights, no leverage. I could not even choose my own husband but I did. I chose my destiny, who I helped and served? I made a pact with Jason, to help him get the fleece in exchange for his love and he would have died without me! He would have died!"

Her face turned angry as I shook my head, backing further away from her. We needed Coach Hedge and those storm spirits but it didn't look like we'd be getting them without a fight now.

"He became a famous hero and what happened to me? What happened to the woman? I was scorned, spat on, and he left! He left me! His wife, for the youngest daughter of a king." Medea shook her head. "I gave him all of my youth and my powers and he stole it from me and gave his attentions to someone else."

"You died three thousand years go. You should have stayed dead." I scowled.

"Death cannot hold me, nor my patron. I am flesh and blood again!"

"You reformed." It was not me or Piper who spoke that time, both of us turning to see Leo's eyes narrowed. "Like a monster."

"You are all blind, mere children. This is far worse than a stirring of monsters." Medea smiled eerily. "My patron knows that monsters and giants are no longer her greatest servants. I am mortal. I have learnt from my mistakes and now, I have returned to the living and I have learnt."

"You were cheated on and I sympathise with that, but that's no cause for murder." I shook my head.

"I gave him two children!"

"You then killed them!" Piper shot back at the princess. "You poisoned his new wife and fled the kingdom."

Medea snarled and glared.

"Lies! The people of Corinth killed my children and drove me from my home and Jason did nothing to protect me so I made him pay his dues. An eye for an eye."

"There is no eye for an eye with death. Death should never be answered with more blood." I shook my head.

"I am the victim!" Medea wailed. "My dreams were stolen from me, my children killed! I learnt never to trust humans or heroes or those who cheat and lie. You are Cressida! You left your lover for-"

"She died. I am not that Cressida." I pointed out. "She was tricked and sold just as you said women of your time were, so you do not get to speak of her like that. I am Cressida, I am a Daughter of Zeus, and I will not be tricked by you."

"You could have completed this so easily. The fountain only needs a dead man's body thrown into it and it could resurrect them more powerful than ever before and you would be able to complete your quest."

"You, lady, are like the queen of sleazy car dealership men." Leo pointed out with a scowl. "I don't trust it!"

"Pipes, you get her." I muttered as Piper turned to me with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You can charmspeak, wear her down. I'll help Leo with the cages and then, then I'll come help you." Leo was already pulling things from his toolbelt, ready to start trying to unattach the cages without touching the fountain as Piper hurried off, both of them beginning to talk and swipe at each other. 

The reverberations of charmspeak were enough to make my head ache and eyes blur, but I pushed through. I often forgot just how powerful it was, and how terrible it felt to be on the end of it.

"Man, I feel like shit." Leo groaned, as I hummed in agreement, sparking lightning between my fingers like I was some form of travel sized plug.

"Leo! She killed your mother, helped to at least!" Leo paused, turning to Piper, who had given up on trying to kill Medea for the moment to run back over to ask for help from us. "She's behind part of this, working with dirt woman! I know it!"

"I'll simply collect payment another way." Medea stalked after Piper, pressing a mosaic tile on the floor as the building rumbled, before dissolving into smoke and reappearing at the base of the elevators.

"So she can teleport? Fantastic!" Leo snarked. "I can't get this undone."

"No time." I pointed out as two snarling, golden, dragons crawled out of the pits below. "We've got problems."

"So that's what's in the kennels." Leo gulped before pulling a hammer from his toolbelt. "Why couldn't it be puppies?"

The heat radiating off them was eye watering and they were angry, hot enough to barbecue us I'd think. I remembered the stories about them, the myths that came with them.

"Don't look them in the eye." I called to the other two. "They'll paralyse you."

"Indeed!" Medea was riding the escalator up, watching all of this with a half smile on her face. "Sun dragons from my grandfather, Helios. They pulled my chariot and now, they will be your destruction."

The dragons lunged, and I pulled out and flipped the coin, battering into them in an instant. I tried to keep an eye on the other one, but they were surprisingly slippery creatures.

"I've got your back, Cress." Leo called, launching a hammer at one.

"Do you know how to fight?" I was a little worried about this.

"Nope!" Leo wasn't serving to make my anxiety less. We worked in unison, trying to keep our backs somewhat to the other so when Leo needed my help, I wasn't too far. Piper was hurtling after Medea, who had finally decided that this was not exactly going the way she needed it to, and I slashed upwards as the dragon's claw came slightly too close to my eye. I did not want to lose that.

A piercing whistle hit me, and I saw Leo blowing the safety whistle as hard as possible, before yelping as he got sideswiped to the other side of the courtyard. 

"Cress, help!"

"Yeah, I'm trying." The dragon and I continued to tussle, before I began to work up the energy to call lightning. I had to turn it into a concentrated force and hurl it towards the dragon, but not hit Leo. Simple? I was ready. I could do this!

The stained glass window above us shattered.

All of us looked up, only to be met with ruby red eyes and a large bronze form as Festus hurtled into the fray. He snatched up a sun dragon in each claw, smashing them together as Leo let out a peal of hysterical laughter.

"That's my boy!" Festus hurled the dragons back into the pits, slamming the lid down as I sent a prayer out to whatever gods ensured that dragons came at whistle call before rushing towards him.  Leo and I were quick to scramble onto Festus' back. "Get the cages!"

Festus took off, powerful wings pushing us upwards as he grasped a cage in each paw and shot us further upwards. The potions floor was now a cloud of noxious gases and flames.

"Where's Piper?" Leo questioned, both of us growing concerned.

"There!" I leapt forward, grabbing onto Leo with one hand and grasping Piper in the other, before hauling us all back onto the dragon as we took to the air through the broken roof, over downtown Chicago. Medea was screaming and maybe, there was a slight possibility she'd live and hunt us do-

The store blew up and that train of thought stopped quite quickly.

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Hiya,

So, Cress gives in to peer pressure, i actually really like this chapter but it just took me a while to write. They're all a lot of fun and not gonna follow the actual book because i didn't think that cress and leo would actually fight. also, loved piper smacking cress and festus and yeah.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx