(Disclaimer: all of this belongs to Rick Riordan, except for Terra. I made her up.
Note: Here's Reyna!!!)

Eventually Piper and Leo woke up. Which made me happy because every once and a while Jason and I would stare at each other. It was so freaking awkward. But it was also kind of sad because Leo was a good snuggler.
Finally we broke camp and started down the tunnel. Piper's leg seemed to be working fine.

The tunnel twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever. I wasn't really sure what to expect at the end. Maybe some other tunnels going off in different directions, or another monster waiting to kill us. Ooo, maybe some sort of way to a fast food restaurant above. But it was a sewer, it probably lead to a nastier surprise that we didn't really want to encounter. Probably Dirt Queen using potty-sludge to attack us. Some time after we had left Leo kept smiling next to me.

"What are you smiling about, Valdez?" I asked smiling a little bit since his smiles are so contagious.

"Nothing." He said still smiling.

"You're so full of it, Leo." I said pushing him a little bit.

He laughed, then he grabbed my hand. I couldn't help but blush and smile. It felt like an electrical surge went up my arm and spread out into my body when Leo touched me. Soon we stopped.
Instead of any tunnel leading to a fast food restaurant, we found some polished steel elevator doors, each one with a cursive M. Next to elevator was a directory, like for a department store.

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

"Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo said.

"Pssh. Hope not." I said.

"Guys, read the directory. It's messed up." Leo said.

It took me a while to figure out what it said with my dyslexia, but this is what I could make out:

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance ~ Sewer Level

Furnishings and Cafe 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 it's entrance in a sewer?"

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

"Oh gross Leo." I said laughing a little.

"When I doubt, start at the top." Jason said.

We walked up to the elevator and pressed and Jason pressed a button on the side that I wasn't able to see. The doors slid open and we piled in. The inside of the elevator had mirrors on the sides of the walls and I noticed that I looked a little dirty and that my hair was messed up. I groaned and quickly braided my hair into a French braid that started on the right side of my head and came down to my left. I made an ice scrunchy and wrapped it around the end of my thick braid. Jason had his sword out and ready, so I felt compelled to have my bow out and sword on my hip. The doors opened to the fourth floor and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator.Jason decided to be the "noble" one and go first.

"Guys," he said. "You've got to see this."
We all walked in and Piper caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."

I had to agree. This department store was absolutely breath-taking. The store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The entire ceiling was a stained glass mosaic 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 a huge central atrium, so we could see all the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they were hard to look at.

Aside from the stained glass ceiling and the elevator, I couldn't see any other windows or doors, but two sets of glass escalators ran between the levels. The carpeting was a riot of oriental patterns and colors, and the racks of merchandise were just as bizarre. There was too much to take in at once, but I could see some normal stuff like shirt racks and shoe trees mixed in with armored manikins, beds of nails, and fur coats that seemed to be moving.

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

In the middle of the atrium a fountain sprayed water twenty feet in the air, changing color from red to yellow to blue. The pool glittered with drachmas, and on either side of the fountain stood a gilded cage-like and oversize canary cage.

Inside one, a miniature hurricane swirled, and lightning flashed. Whoa, somebody had imprisoned the storm spirits. The cage shook vigorously as they tried to get out. In another, frozen like a statue (not made of ice, sadly), was a short, buff satyr, holding a tree-branch club. I'm guessing that's-

"Coach Hedge!" Piper said confirming my unfinished thought. "We've got to get down there."

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

We all jumped back, but mine wasn't a jump. It was more like a ninja jumping off a Pogo stick that was on a trampoline while having a mini seizure. I somehow landed on one foot with my other raised and bent towards my body and my index finger and middle finger stuck out with my right hand against my chest and my left out in front of me. Leo looked at me and snorted. I gave him the "Oh, shut up" look and stood normally. I somehow made my bow disappear in the process, so I unsheathed my sword.

A woman had just appeared in front is us out of nowhere. She wore an elegant black dress with diamond jewelry, and she looked like a retired fashion model-maybe fifty years old, though it was hard to tell. Her long dark hair swept over one shoulder, and her face was gorgeous in that surreal super-model way-thin and haughty and cold, not quite human. With her long red-painted nails her fingers looked more like talons.

She smiled. "I'm so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?"
I kind of wanted to deal with this to figure out who the heck this lady was, but apparently I can't even ask because Jason just decided to go ahead and steal the show.

"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 resonable price. So this is a good....how do you say....first acquisition in this country."

She spoke with a pleasant accent, but I couldn't really tell where the heck it was from. Clearly she wasn't hostile, though. I started to relax a little. Her voice was so rich and exotic, I wanted her to talk forever. But there was a small voice inside my head that was freaking out and panicking. Why was part of me doing that? There was no reason to freak out.

"So your 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?"

I've heard of rich foreigners buying American department stores. Of course most of the time they didn't sell poisons, living fur coats, storm spirits, or satyrs, but still-with a voice like that, the Princess of Colchis couldn't be all bad.

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

"Um, right. Actually, Your Highness....." He pointed to the gilded 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?"

We all seemed to hesitate, but I was the most hesitant. That feeling of "Run!!! Stranger Danger!!!!" was getting stronger. It was also a very bad idea to give out our names to someone we don't even know. But, hey! This princess lady was very nice, she wouldn't harm us or use any of our information against us, right? And she was on the verge of cooperating. If we could get what we wanted without a fight, that would be better.

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

"This is Piper," Jason interrupted her. "This is Leo, that's Terra, and I'm Jason."

The princess fixed her eyes on Jason and, just for a moment, her face literally glowed with anger and rage. I thought I had seen her skull beneath her skin, this wasn't right at all. Then the moment passed, and 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 Chicago wind. "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 potions?"

"Cool," Jason said.

"Awesome," I agreed.

"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. "Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." I said.
What was Piper's problem? This nice lady was helping us.

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

Piper started daggers at Leo. Geesh, what is her problem?

"Of course it's okay." Her Highness put her hands on Leo's and my shoulders and steered us towards the cosmetics. I couldn't wait to buy some things. I'm pretty sure that I have a few drachmas in my backpack. "Come along, children."

"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, form 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.

The princess pointed to a blood red vial-a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."

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

"Any disease, sweet boy."

"Cool." I said. My voice sounded distant and tired.

"And this vial-" she pointed to a swan-shaped container with blue liquid inside, "will kill you very painfully."

"Awesome," Jason said.

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

"Geesh, Piper. What are you so worried about?" I said.

"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.

I looked at him and laughed a little. "Nice one."

"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 can cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or-"

"Wait." Piper was still staring at the red vial. "Could that cure lost memory?"
I starred at the red vial again. I had been regaining my memory slowly. If we got that I could just get it all back real quick. Jason could get his memory too.

The princess narrowed her eyes. "Possibly. Yes. Quite possibly. Why my dear? Have you forgotten something important?"

"How much?" I 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 eyes 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 still looked half in a trance, but the idea seemed to bother him. It bothered me too.

"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 and me. "I'm sure, my dears, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him."

I saw Piper blush a little, and I felt like I was starting to blush. This was awkward. She was talking about how Piper wanted to help Jason regain his memory and maybe she thought we both liked Jason or something. Oh gag. No, I was thinking about helping myself, but then that thought of helping Jason to got in there..... I wonder if this lady could read our minds. My knowledge of Greek mythology started nagging at my brain. I felt like I knew who this lady was. I wish she would tell us more about herself.

"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 eyed Piper very carefully. It looked like she was trying to see what price she should sell Piper for.

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

"No, I won't pay any price. But a fair price, maybe. After that, we need to leave. Right, guys?"

I felt confused. Why would we leave? This place was so wonderful. I wanted to stay and shop here forever, Piper is such a party-pooper.

"Leave?" Jason said.

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

"Yeah, shopping first." I agreed.

"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, children." She turned towards Leo, Jason, and I. "Would you like to see more?"

"Sure," Jason said.

"Lead the way." I said.

"Okay," said Leo.

"Excellent," the princess said. "You'll need all the help you can get if you're to make it to the Bay Area."

Piper looked slightly scared and her hand went to her dagger. "The Bay Area? Why the Bay Area?"

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

What? We're going to die? That doesn't make sense. This lady is so kind and loving, she'd never let us die. I followed her to the escalator, ready to shop until I drop. We went down to the third floor and I followed Jason and Leo over to the living fur coats.

It was so cool!! I found a white fox tail that you would clip to the back of your pants, it would even move to my emotion. Leo found a raccoon hat and put it on. We both laughed as the hat moved while he walked. I found some really cool sunglasses and posed for Leo. He laughed and searched through the piles of clothes. He came out with a fox scarf that started to move and wriggle and a magician's hat with real bunny ears poking out of the top. We laughed as he put it on.

This is so much fun! I never want to leave this place! I walked over to a shelf and grabbed a clown nose, put it over the end of my nose and showed Leo. He laughed and squished it. It honked really loudly, which made us laughed even more. Jason started wandering around a section marked "Distressed Clothing". I took of the sunglasses, clown nose, and fox tail and walked over to the rack. There were torn and burnt jackets, aprons with pockets that are utterly useless because they were cut down to the seam, plaid shirts you would normally see on zombies, khakis and jeans all worn out like rock-star pants, and much, much more.

"Hey, Terra! Check this out!" I heard Leo shout from behind me.

I turned around and saw Leo wearing a Roman toga and a wreath on his head, but somehow managed to get his hands on a creepy clown mask, so I jumped back at first, but then started laughing.

"Nice one, Leo." I said, still laughing a little about how scared I was.

"Your face was hilarious!" Leo said, taking off the mask and pulling his head back and laughing. Then he mimicked me, and I had to admit that it was pretty funny.

"Hey, check it out!" Jason said.

I looked over and saw him holding up a ripped up purple shirt with the gold letters SPQR with a golden wreath around it. I gasped.

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

"Jason, it's like yours," Piper said.

"That's the shirt that people keep wearing in my dreams." I walked up to it and held it in my hands.

"Now we really have to leave." Piper said.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Nonsense," the princess said. "Your friends aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular-trade ins from previous customers. It would suit both of you very well."

I stared at the shirt. So the dreams I were having were memories. How could I dream up something so big? That means that Octavian is real. I bet he's out there somewhere looking for me, judging from my memories I've gained so far we were really good friends.

"You're having dreams about people wearing shirts like this?" Jason asked, but in a whisper to where only I could hear.

"Yeah, you were in one. I don't know why I'm starting to regain them now of all times. I wonder how many of my memories that I thought were real are fake." I said.

"I was in one of them? Were we friends? How old was I?" Jason asked.

"You were about thirteen or so, but we were definitely......." I saw his expression and found it hard to say that we were enemies. I wanted to feel mad, maybe slap him in the face even, but something inside me stopped me from saying that. "friends. We were friends."

He gave a smile that stretched out his scar a little. "Good. Did we have any other friends?"

"I can only remember one other kid, but I don't think he was really your friend. His name was, or is, I guess, Octavian." I said.

"Octavian." Jason said, frowning.

"What is it? Do you remember something?" I asked.

Jason was about to respond when Piper spoke. "Your Highness, why don't you tell my friends how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

"More story?" Leo said.

"I like more story!" I said in a tired voice.

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 grudges against a goddess, can I?"

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," Piper said. "Didn't he, Your Highness? He married you just like he promised."

My brain started to work, it was like the gears in my head were starting to turn again. The M on the door. The potions, the weapons, the princess of Colchis........... Medea. That's why she reacted so violently when she figured out Jason's name. The old Jason was the young hero that had betrayed her. I wanted to run, hide in a corner, go back to Camp Half-Blood........again. But I couldn't let my friends fend off this evil sorceress, could I? I felt the charmspeak now, that's why my voice sounded so tired, she was using a very potent charmspeak against us.

"Guys, she's-" Medea interrupted me.

"At first," Medea 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, a look of slight horror on her face.

"What?" Jason stirred. "Killed your own-"

"No," Medea 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."

"Yeah, because you're-" I was interrupted by Jason this time.

"What did he do?"

Ugh. Jason I swear if we ever get out of this I will......

*I apologize for the inconvenience, but Terra was using language I promised myself I wouldn't use in this story and she has created a new type of torture that should never be discovered and open to the people. I also have a feeling that children might be reading this, so I will let them keep their innocence for as long as they could possibly have it. Let's just get back to the story and hope Jason will be able to live when they're finished with Medea.*

Medea held up a 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."

"I knew it! You're-" Then I was interrupted by Piper. At this Point I just gave up and let my friends figure it out on their own.

"Jason," Piper said. "the original Jason. But then you're-you should be dead!"

"Yes! You figured out who she is? Thank you! I've been trying to tell you guys for the past couple minutes but you guys wouldn't-"

"As I said," Medea smiled. "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."

"Listen to me....." I said finishing my sentence before I had been interrupted again. I looked at Piper. "Did you even hear what I said before she started flapping her trap again?" I gestured to Her Royal Rudeness.

Piper turned to me. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I thought so." I rubbed my face with my hands. "I feel so loved right now." I said sarcastically.

"Wouldn't you do the same for someone you loved, my dears?" Medea asked, she was charmspeaking towards Leo, Jason, and I, but I was the only one who wasn't really under a spell who answered.

"I guess." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh, sure," Jason said.

"Okay," Leo said.

Medea stared at me, she probably realized that the charmspeak wasn't working on me anymore.

"Guys!" Piper said in frustration. "Don't you see who she is? Don't you-"

"Let's continue shall we?" Medea said breezily. "I believe you wanted to talk about a price for the storm spirits-and your satyr."

It looked like Piper was going to scream. I stood next to her and patted her shoulder. "I know the feeling."

"You're not being controlled by her charmspeak?" She asked.

"Nah. After I realized who she was, I put up my 'charmspeak resistant shield' up that I had developed from fighting Drew for a while and tried to warn you guys, but, you know, you guys weren't really listening to me, so, yeah."

We went our way down the stairs and lost Leo to the second floor.

"No way," he said. "Is that an armored forge?"

He hopped off the escalator before Piper or I could stop him and ran over to this big oval oven that looked like a barbecue on steroids.

When we caught up with him, Medea said, "You have a good taste. This is the H-2000, designed by Hephaestus himself. Hot enough to melt Celestial bronze or Imperial gold."

Something at the back of my head nagged again. "Imperial gold?" Jasons dm I asked in unison. We looked at each other, confused.

Medea nodded. "Yes, dears. Like that weapon of yours, Jason, 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 that as an order because he began walking towards it in a trance.

"No! Leo, don't!" I ran over to him and grabbed his shoulder to hold him back.

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-"

Piper pulled me aside. "Watch Leo and make sure he doesn't buy anything or get in trouble. I'm going to try to reason with Jason."

"Alright." I nodded my head and went over to Medea and Leo.

Medea was showing Leo various appliances and giving him ridiculous prices that he seemed to ponder very hard. Some were like "For this pile of junk that you could make in ten minutes by yourself back at Camp Half-Blood, you could by it now if you just cut off your arm and give it to me!" It drove me up the wall. I mean, some things were really cool, I've always had a fascination with machines and building stuff, but the prices, oh gosh, kill me. I swear Leo could make 99.9999% of the items in the shop for like 10% or less of Medea's cost. Well, I guess that's what a saleswoman does, right? She gets things and sells them for more than what she payed for to get them so she can make a profit. But I got so bored I started playing with what looked like a Celestial bronze eggbeater that had been fused together with a kaleidoscope. It looked really cool.

"Hey, Leo. What does this thing do?" I asked, looking through the kaleidoscopeish part.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Medea said. "It's a hand powered laser that could penetrate through Celestial bronze and Imperial gold in three seconds."

I rolled my eyes. "I was asking Leo, not you, your Royal Rudeness." Oh gosh, I sounded like Percy right there. That's funny. I guess sass is contagious.

Leo stared in awe at the laser, so I just handed it to him so he would be happy, he looked like a kid in Willy Wonka's factory. Medea, on the other hand, just stared at me like, "*snap* Oh no you didn't, girl. I will whoop you so hard your grandchildren will hurt." I felt slightly scared on the inside, but on the outside I returned the glance.

"Your rudeness will be excused......for now. Anyway, Leo." His head popped up at the sound of his name. "If you want it, it will cost you-"

"An arm and a leg." I whispered to myself, luckily Medea didn't hear me when she named the real price. (Which was one year of his life. I guess I was pretty close.)

Medea looked over at Jason and a very frustrated Piper. "Children." Medea walked over to them and only followed her because Leo was. "If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"

"Yes." I said sternly and we all went down the escalator to the floor with the storm spirits and Coach.....Hedge, was it? And the base of the huge fountain we saw when we came in.

When we got down there, there were 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 and gilded oversized 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, and there was no way to tell how many there were-dozens, at least.

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

We ran over to the nearest canary cage. The satyr was petrified in mid-shout, his club raised over his head like he was about to clonk someone on the head. His curly hair stuck up in odd angles with stubby horns poking out at the front of his head.

"Who was he trying to kill before this happened?" I asked a little scared.