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CHAPTER EIGHT
five finger discount
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DOROTHY'S FACE WAS wet with tears when she woke up. She somehow ended up with her head on Jason's lap while she slept so her neck wasn't killing her. Wiping at her face, she looked back down at her hat, she recognized the animal pinned to her hat now, it was a polecat, one of the patron animals of Hecate.

"You alright?" Jason asked quietly.

Dorothy looked at him over her shoulder, she was sure her face was on its way to turning red from the crying. She shook her head as she looked down at her hat, trying to collect her thoughts. Her father went looking for her as best as he could. Her whole gang didn't doubt her for a second.

"I had another dream about the past," Dorothy frowned, "it showed me what happened the night Jonathon and I disappeared."

She took a shaky breath.

"Jonathon, he wrote a letter that made it look like we were running away together," Dorothy furrowed her eyebrows, "he was trying to say that I was pushing intentions into his mind to make him want to betray the gang and run off but, I've never used magic back then, I didn't know I had magic, I was under the impression my mom died of pneumonia until she claimed me."

Jason put his hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention back to him. He had a comforting smile on his face.

"My father never doubted me for a second," Dorothy let out a sob, "he thought that Jonathon would lead me to the Camp because he was already planning to leave for it soon but for some reason we went south through the desert in Utah Territory."

Piper and Leo who were now awake for her dilemmas took a minute to sit with her. All four of them had different stories to tell, yet, they all understood what she was going through exactly.

Finally they broke camp, Dorothy fixed Pipers splint, and they started down the tunnel.

It twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever. Dorothy wasn't sure they were walking into, she's already seen so much in the past three days, and she knew that whatever next was going to amaze her in some other horrific way— she just had to wait.

Instead, they found polished metal doors with no handles, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Dorothy pressed her hands to the doors and tried pushing in but they didn't budge. She frowned as she looked to the sign next to the doors.

"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."

"Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo said. "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up."

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level Furnishings and Café M: 1

Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2

Men's Wear and Weaponry: 3

Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4

"Kennels for what?" Piper said. "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"

"Or sells poisons," Leo said. "Man, what does 'sundries' even mean? Is that like underwear?"

"No it's just random stuff," Dorothy explained, "trinkets, odds and ends, that kind of thing."

Jason took a deep breath. "When in doubt, start at the top."

• • •

DOROTHY WATCHED IN amazement as the doors of the elevator slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator. Her nose wrinkled at the strong smell as it started to give her a headache. Jason stepped out first, sword ready.

"Guys," he said. "You've got to see this."

Piper joined him and caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."

When Dorothy stepped out, she grabbed onto the closest person to her: Leo. She squeezed his arm as her eyes widened, her mind was struggling to take in everything. The store was nothing like she's ever seen. The entire ceiling was made up of stained glass with astrological signs around a giant sun. The daylight streaming through it washed everything in a thousand different colors. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around the ground floor, so they could see all the way down. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they hurt Dorothy's eyes to look at.

Dorothy quickly noticed the lack of any other exits, there were no other doors or windows beside the glass ceiling and the doors behind them, but she quickly became entrances by the set of magical stairs. One constantly moved down and the other was constantly going up. The rug covered the whole floor, it was a mess of foreign patterns and a jumbled collection of colors, and the racks of merchandise were just as bizarre.

There was too much to take in at once, stuff like shirt racks and shoe trees were mixed in with armored mannequins, beds of nails, and fur coats that made Dorothy do a double take when she saw that they were moving..

Leo stepped to the railing and looked down. "Check it out."

In the middle of the ground floor, a fountain sprayed water twenty feet into the air, changing color from red to yellow to blue. The pool glittered with gold coins that people no doubt tossed in to make a wish, and on either side of the fountain stood an oversized canary cage.

Inside one, a miniature hurricane spiraled around, and lightning flashed. Somebody had imprisoned the storm spirits, and the cage shuddered as they fought to get out. In the other, frozen like a statue, was a short, muscular satyr, holding a tree-branch club.

"Coach Hedge!" Piper said. "We've got to get down there."

A voice said, "May I help you find something?"

All four of them jumped back.

A woman had appeared in front of them. She wore an elegant black dress with diamond jewelry, and she looked beautiful even with her face aging, she was maybe fifty years old, though it was hard for Dorothy to pin it down. Her long dark hair was swept over one shoulder, and her face was gorgeous in an unsettling way— thin and haughty and cold, not quite human. With their long red-painted nails, her fingers looked more like talons.

She smiled, it sent a chill down Dorothy's spine.

"I'm so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?"

Leo glanced at Jason like, All yours.

"Um," Jason started, "is this your store?"

The woman nodded. "I found it abandoned, you know. I understand so many stores are, these days. I decided it would make the perfect place. I love collecting tasteful objects, helping people, and offering quality goods at a reasonable price. So this seemed a good... how do you say... first acquisition in this country."

She spoke with a familiar accent but Dorothy couldn't place where she heard it before. Her nerves were slowly put to rest, this woman wasn't bad, despite what the turn in Dorothys gut told her, maybe they squirrel wasn't as well cooked as she thought, it was pretty dark in the tunnel.

"So you're new to America?" Jason asked.

"I am... new," the woman agreed. "I am the Princess of Colchis. My friends call me Your Highness. Now, what are you looking for?"

Dorothy wasn't unfamiliar with people coming to America for a new start, from the looks of her stores, this Princess seemed to be doing well for herself. Dorothy looked around in amazement.

Piper poked Jason in the ribs. "Jason..."

"Um, right. Actually, Your Highness ..." He pointed to the cage on the first floor. "That's our friend down there, Gleeson Hedge. The satyr. Could we... have him back, please?"

"Of course!" the princess agreed immediately. "I would love to show you my inventory. First, may I know your names?"

Piper started to say, "Jason, I wouldn't—"

"This is Piper, this is Leo." He pointed to the two of them and then to Dorothy, she smiled and waved, "this is Dorothy, and I'm Jason."

The princess fixed her eyes on him and, just for a moment, her face literally glowed, blazing with so much anger, her skull beneath her skin revealed itself. Something in Dorothy's body was telling she something was wrong but a familiar fuzziness was clouding her mind as she looked on at the woman. Her Highness looked like a normal elegant woman again, with a cordial smile and a soothing voice.

"Jason. What an interesting name," she said, her eyes as cold as the wind and snow outside. "I think we'll have to make a special deal for you. Come, children. Let's go shopping."

The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter.

"Shall we start with the potions?"

"Cool," Jason said.

Dorothy felt like a kid at the candy counter as she looked on at the various potions and the delicate handwriting on each label. She remembered the first time she ever had chocolate. They had just arrived in New York, Dorothy was only 11 and her father had caught wind of a potential train full of money, and people who had a lot of money. Josiah had taken her on a supply run a few hours before the train was going to be going through their part of the city.

The General Stores clerk saw Dorothy eyeing up a piece of chocolate and snuck a bar into her fathers bag when he was checking out, it was one of the few times he ever did. Josiah and Dorothy shared that bar on their way back to camp, promising to keep it a secret together.

"Guys," Piper interrupted, making Dorothy look over at her, "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."

Another round of fuzziness flooded Dorothy's brain as she looked back at the potions, consciously putting her hands behind her back. "Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?"

Leo nodded eagerly. "Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, Piper?"

"Yeah, it's not like the Satyr can go anywhere at the moment," Dorothy added on, she wanted to see what every potion would do, but she stuck to just reading the labels, this princess had very neat handwriting.

"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."

The princess had one hand on each of the boy's shoulders as she brought them to the counter that Dorothy was admiring. If there was a glass protecting the shelf, her face would've been pressed against it by now.

"And here," the princess said, "is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."

Dorothy was delighted by the assortment of bubbling beakers and smoking vials on structures with three legs. Lining the display shelves were flasks and as Dorothy squinted, she could see the flasks that looked to be made of crystal —some shaped like swans or bears. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells... Dorothy's nose wrinkled as multiple scents hit her. Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents like the rubber that burnt at the Cyclops lair, skunk spray, and body odor— Dorothy hated how she was all too familiar with that last one.

The princess pointed to a bloodred vial—a simple tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."

"Even cancer?" Leo asked. "Leprosy? Hangnails?"

"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.

"Jason, Dorothy," Piper said. "We've got a job to do. Remember?"

Something about what Piper said brushed the back of her mind. Dorothy furrowed her eyebrows to look back at the girl who was looking at her with wide eyes.

"Job to do," Jason muttered. "Sure. But shopping first, okay?"

"Yeah, I think a couple potions could be useful for the job," Dorothy chimed in. Jason nodded in agreement with what she said.

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... 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?"

"Well, what if the memory was stolen?" Dorothy asked, she was about to mention Jason's name but again, Piper's hardened stare made Dorothy offer something else, "I have a friend at Camp Half Blood that got on the wrong side of a goddess and now she's suffering from memory loss, took nearly a whole cabin of Hermes kids to get her to calm down."

"Well stolen memories might take a little longer, but sure, that vial would surely do the trick to help your friend," The princess smiled.

Dorothy looked to Piper, the vial could be useful, not just for Jason's memories but just incase anyone else got even more hurt beyond the ankle injury Piper received.

"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."

"From your own dad?" Jason asked, a frown on his face. Dorothy's expression matched his as she listened. This woman betrayed her father?

"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."

Pipers expression flashed with something that could be called uncomfortable disgust. Something was turning in Dorothy's gut as she looked over at Jason. Was the princess referring to Hera's memory manipulation?

"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. 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. "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. Dorothy didn't like the unease that was spreading in her gut, as if her mind was clearing up. She knew then that the woman had some charm speaking ability like Piper. She didn't want to reveal that she was thinking clearly, trying to school her face into keeping its blank expression.

"Would you give anything for it, my dear?" the princess asked. "I sense that you would."

Pipers face ran through a range of emotions, it seemed the princess was powerful enough to influence her. Though before Piper could say the wrong thing, it seemed that she pulled herself out of the charm, a glare settled onto the princess when Piper realized.

"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.

"Leave?" Jason said.

"You mean... after shopping?" Leo asked.

"After shopping," Dorothy gave Piper a subtle wink as she looked on at the array of things the princess had for sale.

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? 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 pleasant tone was anything but pleasant. "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."

"The Bay Area?" Piper said. "Why the Bay Area?"

The princess smiled. "Well, that's where they'll die, isn't it?"

Alarm bells were violently ringing in Dorothy's mind as she side stepped to the cart, keeping her eyes on the princess whose focus was on the boys as she led them toward the escalators, Jason and Leo still looking excited to shop. Out of her peripheral, she snuck the red vial into her satchel, returning her face to a blank expression, she ran to catch up to the princess.

• • •

DOROTHY DESPERATELY TRIED to wake Leo and Jason from their haze, but they were too entranced by the fur coats that snarled and hissed at them. One was even barking.

"Jason," Dorothy whispered to him as she pulled him further away from the princess, wanting to get out of ear shot, she pointed to some artifacts to keep a cover, "you have to wake up, there's something wrong, I feel it in my gut."

"We're fine, the princess wants to help," Jason shrugged, "besides, you said so yourself, there could be supplies that we need."

"Jason," Dorothy hissed with wide eyes, "haven't you noticed were the only ones here? Something is seriously wrong here."

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. A hand went to Dorothy's forearm as she was pulled to an array of clothing, all of it modern. Jason pulling clothes off of a rack, holding them up to his body, sizing stuff up. Occasionally he would find a shirt more suited to a woman and hold it up to Dorothy.

She looked at him with wide eyes at the audacity of the action, hands balled into fists, she knew that she would blow her cover if she couldn't get Jason to knock it out. He was still too busy with the clothes, all so modern looking and strange, there was nothing about this that Dorothy could wrap her brain around.

Jason's eyes went wide with excitement as he looked at a purple shirt, Dorothy's eyes went wide too, but with horror. He called, "Hey, check it out!"

It was a shirt like the one he wore the day Dorothy met him, but this was severely distressed like the label for this section of clothes said. It was shredded as if the person who owned it had a horrible run in with a bear.

Jason frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"Jason, it's like yours," Piper said. "Now we really have to leave."

"Nonsense," the princess said. "The others aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular— from previous customers. It suits you."

Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt with a hole through the middle, as if the owner of the shirt had been pierced by a spear. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate that had been eroded in some parts, Dorothy had a feeling that it didn't happen over time. A Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with dried blood caught her eye and she took a side step to get away from it.

"Your Highness," Piper said, trying to control her nerves. "Why don't you tell the others how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

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.

"You betrayed your family?" Dorothy asked, hoping that it would help the boys wake up, she pushed up a faraway look, remembering how the history books called her a traitor to her gang.

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?"

Dorothy didn't have to do too much reading between the lines to understand that meant the princess had no restrictions on taking it out on Piper and her friends.

"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."

"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," Piper said, her face couldn't hide the horror that she clearly felt, as if she realized something devastating.

"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," Piper 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."

"I've been called a traitor," the fog was clouding Dorothy's mind again, she started walking closer to the princess, "that wretched fool stole from my family and I was the traitor for trying to get the money back from him."

Medea gave Dorothy a sympathetic smile. The princess put a hand on her shoulder, batting her eyes. She could sense that the woman knew exactly what Dorothy felt when she thought back on that.

"Us powerful women are always to blame for the actions of men, aren't we, alas, I did betray my family," she frowned before flashing her eyes towards Jason and Leo, "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?"

Dorothy watched Leo hopped off the moving stairs and ran over to a big oval oven that looked like it could bake a whole meal and dessert for after all at once.

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?"

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."

Dorothy wanted to give the seat a try but it looked like Leo wanted to take a turn at it first as he walked closer.

"Leo, don't!" Piper 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 took her hand off Dorothy's shoulder and led Leo into the appliance section, giving him prices on various items.

Dorothy felt Piper grab her arm and noticed that the girl was pulling her and Jason aside. A swift stinging slap on her cheek and Dorothy blinked, a frown on her face as she held her face. Some of the fog was gone, but confusion remained.

"Ow," he muttered sleepily. "What was that for?"

"Snap out of it!" Piper hissed.

"What do you mean?"

"She's charmspeaking you. Can't you feel it?"

The fog cleared and Dorothy wanted to kick herself in the ass for getting drawn in so easily.

"I'm going to kill her," Dorothy glared at the Princess once more before focusing on Jason. There was a spell in the book Lou Ellen gave her that could free someone from mind control, she wondered if it would work with someone being controlled by charmspeak.

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!"

Jason shook his head uneasily. "She's not a ghost."

"No, she's worse! She's—"

"Children." The princess was back with Leo in tow.

"If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"

Dorothy trying clawing her away from the fog but it took over her mind once more. The glaze covered her eyes like a film as she joined the princess by the moving stairs.

They took those very stairs down to the base of the fountain. There were two large bronze sundials which were half the size of the fountain on the marble tile floor to the north and south of the fountain. The oversized cages stood to the east and west, and the farthest one held the storm spirits. They were densely packed, spinning around like a furious tornado.

"Hey," Leo said, "Coach Hedge looks okay!"

They ran to the nearest cage. From the expression on his face and the stance he was frozen in, he was just as how they described him, at least personality wise. They forgot to mention the goat-like features, though "Satyr" was enough to fill the blanks. He was frozen mid-shout, he had a club raised over his head like he was about to command an army of.. maybe the students he was apparently watching over. His wild, curly hair stuck up at odd angles as if he had just woken up or maybe stood in that tornado of wind spirits for a second too long.

"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 a piercing look. "That's better than starting unpleasantness, isn't it, dear?"

Dorothy wanted to speak up, to offer to pay, she even was starting to want to fess up for stealing the healing potion that the princess offered earlier, a strange sense of guilt spreading in her chest for stealing from a woman who went through something so similar to Dorothy.

"We can negotiate," she 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," Piper 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."

Dorothy opened her mouth to say something, but Piper cut her off, a sharp glare sent to Dorothy just before she did.

"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. Guys— don't trust her."

Dorothy stepped away from Medea, the fog in her mind pulled far enough away for her to regain her control of her thoughts. Jason pulled her further away from the demon woman. Dorothy's hands subtly went to her sides, lightly grazing her guns handles, ready to start firing at a moments notice.

"What are we doing, again?" Jason asked, he was coming back at a slower rate that Dorothy was. Medea could see that as Leo was slowly trying to put distance between himself and the woman, he was also coming back as slow as Jason.

"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, my dear, 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— the one who was trying to hide the fact that Dorothy was inching closer to just shooting Medea anyways— 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 perfect, razor sharp 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," Piper 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."

"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 wasn't through.

"It may not have been right," she 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, casting everyone everyone around it in a crimson light. It didn't help Medea with Monster accusations that Leo threw at her. Dorothy pulled her guns out of her holsters, a little unsure, she didn't move after that, if she set Medea off at the wrong time, she might become the victim of the strange powers that the princess possessed.

"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 Piper 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!" Piper said. But they were already turning on each other, as if they just realized how they really felt.

Dorothy, wide eyed, backed away from Jason, not wanting to get in the way and get hurt. She wished she could do more, she considered throwing up a wall of her energy between them, maybe even pushing them to opposite corners of the giant building, but they needed to get out of there and having everyone so far away could cause trouble.

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!" Piper pleaded, but it was like their weapons materialized in their hands—Jason held his gold sword, and Leo pulled a hammer from his tool belt.

"Let them go, Piper," 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!"

Dorothy's eyebrows furrowed and she looked over at Piper and Medea. What was this woman talking about? She took an unsure step towards Piper, she was doubting everything inside her and the effects of Medea's charmspeak didn't help.

"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."

Dorothy raised her guns, everything felt wrong inside but she was still certain that Medea needed an appointment with the undertaker. The movement didn't slip past Medea's sharp eyes as she directed an evil smile on her, sending goose flesh over Dorothy's skin.

"Trelawney," a sickening smile spread on Medea's evil face, the fog was returning, "I know what your thieving hands have done, there are some things we shouldn't inherit from our fathers, and you've fully given in to his ways."

The smile turned into a sneer as Dorothy was rooted in her spot, her arms never lowering as she stared the woman down, seemingly petrified as her heart raced.

"Pick your favorite blade from that wall and cut off the hand that steals," Medea's piercing stare went down to Dorothy's bones.

Dorothy had to be punished. She needed to atone for what she did. How dare she steal from a princess of all people. Anger for her father rose up her gut as she approached the wall, her focus fully attuned to the array of swords and knives on the wall, a few machetes were thrown in there as well.

It was like a particular blade was calling to her, but she wasn't sure where it was. She holstered her guns, spreading her hands, she let her purple mist. The haze on her mind was so thick that it took her a minute to find the blade whispering distantly in the back of her mind.

Dorothy could barely process that she had an axe in her left hand, her right held out on a table.

"DOROTHY!" Piper's scream made Dorothy jump, snatching her hands to her chest when the axe fell to the ground as of grew smaller in shape. She looked at the wall to see an outline of the axe where it had been hung for a long time, "Atalanta" was written in bold under the outline, making her furrow her eyebrows.

Realization of what she was about to do made Dorothy take a shaky breath as anger began to surge through her veins. She snatched the blade off the ground and found Medea again, a glare that could level an army was sent down on the woman, but it didn't even phase her.

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."

The conversation was finally being processed in full, Medea sent the dirt woman to kill Leo's mom. Dorothy's eyes went wide when she glanced over at her friend, the pain in his face was something Dorothy never wished to see again.

"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 dragons— made of skin and flesh unlike Festus— crawled out from the pits below. They were twice the size of the car she saw those law men climb out of when she was stopped, no where near as large as Festus, but too large for a gunshot to do any damage.

"So that's what's in the kennels," Leo said meekly. The dragons spread their wings and hissed. The heat that came off their body's rolled over Dorothy like ocean waves. The story of the princess of colchis was somewhere deep in the back of Dorothy's mind, heading what Piper mentioned brought back the rest of the story about the Sun Dragons that were gifted to her. One turned his angry orange eyes on Piper.

"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, instinctively, Dorothy pulled her gun out with her free hand and aimed, managing to shoot one of the dragons in the eyes. An angry screech bellowed out of the beast as it spit fire into the air above it. Leo and Jason charged at it to intercept. Dorothy wanted to shoot the other dragon but she could almost feel it's piercing glare on her and she knew that if she looked up at it, she would be dead.

Her revolver now holstered, Dorothy used two hands on the axe as it grew in size and weight. Now that the one dragon was blinded, Dorothy didn't have any problem charging at it. The heat was bellowing out now, as if the pain she caused added fuel to the fire within the golden beast.

Her instincts were dialed to 11 as her body screamed at her to jump left, when she did, a column of fire shot down where she once stood. The heat was like nothing she ever felt before. She wished she stole the potion that resists fire as she scrambled from the flame that followed her. She hoped that the damned beast would run out of breath or something before she became barbecued.

Another streak of fire appeared before her, definitely from the blinded dragon as it was 20 feet off, but she realized he was listening for her footsteps.

"KEEP IT DISTRACTED!" Jason yelled at her over the flames and Leo's shrill whistle.

"I'M TRYING!" Dorothy screamed back as she barrel rolled out of the way of a ball of fire. The steady stream of flames that followed her sputtered out and Dorothy grabbed her gun again, firing a couple shots in the direction of the dragon who's vision was still in tact.

A pained screech came from her left, but Dorothy was smarter than that. She kept her focus on the blinded dragon before her. She had never handled an axe before, but it was like a switch had been flipped inside her. She swung the weapon around, lodging it perfectly into the blind dragons hind leg.

Golden blood spurted out of the wound as Dorothy ripped the axe out of the dragons wound. She dove to the floor when he swiped his talons, just barely missing her. Jason used that as an opportunity to leap into the air, striking the dragon in the face, it only cut the cheek, sending out a spray of hot golden blood that burned Dorothy's arm when she tried scrambling back from the liquid that hissed. She cried out from the pain, swiping at her arm to try and get as much of it off of her as she could.

From Dorothy's left, Leo called, "Somebody, help!"

Dorothy snapped her attention over to him and her gut twisted in horror. The dragon that still had its vision had Leo pinned to the floor. It was baring its fangs, ready to bite his head off.

Dorothy scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her arm as she gripped the axe tight. She took a deep breath, keeping her eyes locked onto Leo as she charged at the dragon. She wouldn't get to Leo fast enough, her heart thundering in her chest and tears pricking her eyes, she couldn't accept that fact that he was so far.

"You've doomed us all!" Medea screamed from above. The smell of a fire was in the air, Dorothy couldn't risk looking now, Leo was still under that dragons paws. "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 downpour of multicolored shards, and Festus dropped into the building. Dorothy's already burning arms screamed from the hundreds of cuts from the glass slicing her on its way to the ground. Festus snatched up a sun dragon in each claw, freeing Leo with a loud roar.

"That's my boy!" Leo yelled as Dorothy finally reached him and helped him to his feet.

Festus flew halfway up the building, 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.

Dorothy looked up at Piper who was on the edge of the top floor, her back leaning on the golden railing, Medea still had her attention. Jason was by Dorothy's side now, guiding her to Festus, Leo sat in the front with Jason behind him. Dorothy occupied the seat behind him, now waiting for Piper. The axe in her hand glowed for a moment and when it returned to its normal celestial bronze, a simple sheath was wrapped around the weapons handle. Dorothy was quick to put the axe around her waist, adjusting it to sit next to her right revolver on her hip.

Piper glanced behind her. Dorothy watched as 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, ready to meet Piper at the top to get them the hell out of there.

The building groaned and shook, dust and plaster sprinkled around as smoke started to get thicker the closer Festus got to Piper. Fire crawled up the walls, melting the railings, turning the air to a dark smog.

"Not today, witch!" Piper yelled before she jumped over the side. She plummeted for only a second before Dorothy shot out her hands, catching her friend with her mist safely seating her in her spot on the dragon. They all heard Medea screaming in rage as they soared through the broken roof and over downtown Chicago. Then the department store exploded behind them.

*.·:·.⟐.·:·.*

7.9k words

ooo good lord this one took me a lil minute because it was becoming increasingly difficult to insert Dorothy. Mind control has never been real fun for me to write, even if it's for my superhero oc's like Diana bc at least she still has control over her thoughts, but charmspeak is so DIFFERENT.

anyways hope you all loved the Atalanta incorporation, that woman was a FORCE to be reckoned with.

thank you all for reading and see you at the next update!!

—greta!