CHAPTER NINE / VOL. I, AN ITCH YOU CAN'T SCRATCH

IT'S TOO FAMILIAR—the darkness, that is. Wasting away in the shadows, Will is reminded of the months following her mother's death when she was feral in every way that mattered. Like a rabid dog, she bared her teeth with saliva brimming at her jowls, hungry for more than just flesh and blood. But Will was seven then. She was seven and sloshing through mire, discovering demons and a dark predilection for violence that kept her alive. Eventually it stopped being about survival and the hunger for another kill became all consuming. It's an abysmal thing to realize that your appetite for carnage can never be fulfilled. Instead, you'll only feel more empty than before and you'll be desperate for your next high, taking it in whatever form you can.

But those days are gone, and even with all the good around her, she is still learning how not be a wolf anymore. She still jolts when hands reach for her and instinct tells her to sever the limb from their body, because monsters always prey on little girls and the people aren't any better. And then she'll remember when her knife is pressed to Sherman's throat that she's allowed to let her guard down now. She doesn't have to worry about when she'll get her next meal or about the shadowy figures that lurk around the corner. But even six months of this is hard to unlearn and after ten years Will is still grasping how to be human again.

Ever since they'd arrived in Chicago, everyone could feel the shift. No one could quite place why things had been unsettled, but they did seem to realize that Will was far too silent, in a way that was more daunting than anything else. But most importantly she seemed sad. They'd never seen her like this—eyes dark like coal and trailing down the tunnel like bad memories are lurking around every corner. Even Leo noticed the change and thought that maybe for now Will was human enough to be forgiven for her transgressions.

Piper's eyes are on Will as they pack up their camp, but everything else becomes background noise and all she can focus on is the girl who sharpens her dagger to stop her hands from trembling. Her eyes are marked with plum-colored bruising and the burn marks from yesterday look even angrier than before. It doesn't help that her face is still smudged with dried blood, though most of it had been wiped off. Piper wonders if she'd slept at all last night, and if not, then what had been running rampant in her mind? It does cross her mind that Will might be missing Annabeth, and Sherman, and even Luke whom she's never talked about. The one time Piper had tried to talk about him, Will had made it abundantly clear that his name was never to be uttered again.

Something about that whole conversation had rubbed her wrong—and not even because Will was standoffish and cold, but because Leo had poked and prodded at the most sensitive parts of Will. For some reason, Piper resents him for that. She knew that his words had affected her more than Will, but Piper wasn't fearless like the daughter of Ares. Even if Will had fled, Piper wouldn't say that it was out of cowardice. Will is tactical and realistic in every way. She chose survival over friendship, and as much as she wanted to, Piper couldn't hate her for that. She couldn't stomach the thought of Will getting hurt anyways.

But Leo's words had left a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the night. In his eyes, Will was every bit the villain of the story because she valued self-preservation above all. So what would he say to Piper who'd been lying to her friends the entire time. If anyone's a bad friend, it's Piper. And she knows this to be true because she has lied shamelessly throughout the entire quest despite how valiantly Jason has tried to help her. But Piper is weak and afraid and would bend to the will of someone who would have her friends slaughtered. And what other choice does she have?

          She notices Jason approaching Will who no longer holds a sad expression. Instead she looks something violent and points the tip of her dagger at his chest after he says, "About last night."

Her clipped response is: "Don't bring it up again."

Jason opens his mouth before closing it quickly. Piper's eyes follow every movement, analyzing each gesture that might help her understand what lies between them. He then puts his palm flat against the blade and pushes it to the side. Piper thinks that Will would send the dagger straight into his jugular or at least look at him like she's fantasizing about severing his head from his body, but to her surprise the girl does nothing of the sort. Will rolls her eyes but pulls Éleos away, swiping it against the whetstone in a way that suggests boredom.

"But what about when we—"

That's when Piper walks towards them, holding out Jason's windbreaker that he'd bunched up under her head last night as a replacement for his legs. "Here's your jacket back. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" The truth is that she has interrupted something and she's well aware of the fact.

"No," Will says though it looks like Jason disagrees. He takes the limp jacket gingerly from Piper's outstretched hand but the disappointment still lingers.

          "OK, good. Well, I just wanted to say thanks, Jason... for being so nice about this whole situation."

Will takes this as her que to leave, slipping away as Jason watches her with longing, itching to follow her like a moth to a flame. His attention is quickly pulled back to Piper when she clears her throat. "Oh," he says. "Uh... what situation?"

"Our... relationship," Piper supplies, fiddling with a loose strand of hair that falls against her cheek. "I know you didn't have any memories at all, but the ones that I had of us felt so real. I mean, I know that they weren't and I've accepted that none of it was true... but it was just hard to adjust in the beginning."

"Of course," Jason says understandingly and it kills her how genuine he sounds. "I can't imagine how hard it would be to be told that your memories aren't true."

Piper nods. "You know, for a while there I was convinced that I could fix it somehow."

"Fix it?"

"Fix it," Piper muses. "Fix us." She smiles, wanting to seem at ease, unbothered and ignorant to the complexities of her own words. "When I was talking to Will about everything back at Camp, she said something to me."

          "What'd she say?"

          "We lie to ourselves all the time."

          "What'd she mean by that?" he asks with a frown, fiddling with the coin in his pocket. He almost doesn't want to know the answer. Something tells him it will only disappoint him in the end, just as she will.

          Piper bites back a smile. His curiosity works in her favor, though she feels a tug of guilt as she looks to Will. "Well, we were talking about whether or not I could salvage our relationship. Don't worry," she reassures, though she something forbidding lies beneath her words, "I don't think it'd work out between us anyway. But, I think Will was suggesting that I try to mend it even if none of it was real. It's an interesting take, isn't it? I mean, Will thinks that love is something that doesn't need to be real. I'm sure you don't see it that way though, do you?"

She knows she shouldn't be doing what she's doing, but Piper is driven by envy that warps her perspective and makes her mind go fuzzy with wrath. Everyone has parts of themselves that they're afraid to look at—jealous, manipulative, unkind parts that they run from out of fear of becoming them. Piper is still running from hers.

Jason looks deep in thought now as he glances towards Will who is walking alongside the tunnel and letting Éleos drag against the brick beside her. He knows that's not how love is supposed to be, and admittedly Piper's words tug at his heartstrings. He thinks about this as they venture further into the tunnels, dissolving into the shadows with only a single beam of light to lead the way. He can't help but think that maybe Will would never know what love is supposed to be. Looking towards her, he sees her picking at the blistering on her arm, digging beneath the scabs just to see it bleed, and he wonders whether or not she's even capable of love. Or if she had it, would she want it?

WILL CAN'T STAND BEING HERE. It brings back too many memories—more bad than good—and for some reason, she can't shake the feeling that they're drawing closer to the end. But everything feels like the end when life is a prison and love is a death sentence, and that's to say that the end is always near. No matter what she does, it always comes back to this feeling—like something cataclysmic looms on the horizon, but Will has had enough of tragedies. She is tired and missing people who should still be here. Ever since they came to Chicago, Will could feel a fire burning deep inside of her—violent and volatile, just like that night. Her mood only worsens when they come across polished steel elevator doors that brandish the letter M.

          "M for Macy's?" Piper guesses, glancing back to her friends with a furrowed brow. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."

          "Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo suggests.

          Will shakes her head, eyeing the doors warily. "Why would either of those have an entrance in the sewers?"

          "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up." Jason points at the sign on the wall that lists:

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level
Furnishings and Café M: First Floor
Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: Second Floor
Men's Wear and Weaponry: Third Floor
Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: Fourth Floor

"Kennels for what?" Piper squints at the sign before turning back to her companions with a look of doubt. "And Will's right. What kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"

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

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

When the elevator doors finally open onto the fourth floor, Will is met with a sickeningly sugary scent like when she walks by the Aphrodite cabin and is flooded with the smell of cherry blossoms and putrid sweetness. Will steps out first, sword at the ready as Jason follows close behind her. Her mind is having a hard time focusing on one thing with the smell still penetrating her nostrils and the blinding light that swamps them as soon as they exit the elevator. When Will had first arrived at Camp Half-blood she would be overwhelmed by every sound and smell that pierced her senses. She had worked hard to use this to her advantage. In battle she could hear every labored breath and see every falter in her opponent's step, and then she would wait like a wolf for the right moment to tear into them. But now, it's like she's a kid again—overwhelmed by every unknown noise and scent—still learning what it takes to survive.

"Guys," Jason murmurs with wide eyes. "You've got to see this."

Piper joins them, lips parting in pleasant surprise. "This is not Macy's."

The entire ceiling is a stained glass mosaic with astrological signs floating around a colossal sun. Light trickles in, casting unimaginable colors around the store and catching the reflection in the fountain at the middle of the atrium. Will notes that Miranda would love it because for some reason the daughter of Demeter insisted that astrology meant something. She called Will a cancer which supposedly meant that she was emotional and insecure, but Will just called it bullshit. She managed to make Miranda cry that day, which Sherman was not pleased with. This is the extent of her interest though, and while the rest of her companions are gazing around in awe, Will is taking notice of the lack of windows and doors. There's the elevator they entered in and the skylight, but nothing else. Everything about the store feels like a gilded cage and they are the four little songbirds whose songs will only be of sorrow. Her stomach churns.

Leo steps toward the railing and looks down at the fountain spraying water up into the air. Like a kaleidoscope, it shifts from yellow to blue to any other color imaginable. "Check it out."

That's when their gaze trails past the fountain to a gilded cage a hurricane swirling inside of it—storm spirits, Will recognizes. In the other is a stout satyr with a club gripped in his curled hands. She deems him less than interesting until Piper says, "Coach Hedge! We've got to get down there."

"You know him?"

"Yeah, from Wilderness School," Piper explains.

"He was your protector," Will deduces.

A soft and silky voice fills the void. The dulcet accent should bring nothing but warmth, however something sharp lies beneath the surface like the serrated edge of a knife. "May I help you find something?" Upon turning around sharply, Will can see that the woman is unnaturally beautiful in a way that might be considered haunting but still sylphlike and elegant in every way. Her skin is warm like honey and clings to her bones, making every inch of her seem as sharp as a razor blade, but there's still a softness in her expression that Will knows to be misleading. She smiles, yet somehow there's nothing comforting about it. "I'm so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?"

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

She nods. "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."

"So you're new to America?" he asks.

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

Will is glad she hadn't put her sword away. The Princess of Colchis triggers every alarm in her head, and she racks her brain for reasons why, but the answer eludes her. Her mind goes fuzzy and for some reason she can't even remember what she was thinking of in the first place. The familiarity goes forgotten and Will has to blink away the grogginess that threatens to dull her mind.

"Flyboy..." She tugs at his sleeve.

"Um, right. Actually, Your Highness..." His pale finger sweeps 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 says with a cutting smile. "I would love to show you my inventory. First, may I know your names?"

Jason hesitates, but like Will, his mind feels numb.

Piper starts to say, "I wouldn't—"

"This is Piper," he interrupts, not even sparing a glance at the daughter of Aphrodite who grimaces as her name passes his lips. "That's Leo and Will. I'm Jason."

Something in the air shifts then. The princess wears a look of wrath that twists her lips into a scowl and brings a dangerous glow to her face. As daunting and monstrous as she looks now, Will can't help but think how natural it looks—like this woman seethed with anger in every way. She seemed human enough, but there was still a tangible darkness around her. Will likens this feeling to what she felt at Monocle Motors—a constant state of dread because something dark and ancient looms like a storm cloud. But just as soon as the expression crosses her face, it's gone. Instead she gives a tight smile that Leo and Jason think nothing of, but Will and Piper can't help but frown at.

"Jason. What an interesting name," she replies, her eyes like a serpent in the brush. "I think we'll have to make a special deal for you. Come, children. Let's go shopping."

As the princess begins to the lead the boys away, Piper tugs at Will's arm gently, guiding her to the back of the group. Will allows it because the look on Piper's face is reflective of what she is feeling as well.

          "I know," Will says before Piper can utter a word. "I feel it too."

          "About the princess," she has to ask, eyes flicking towards the group in front of them.

          "Something's wrong. But..." Will frowns. "I don't know why." She hated feeling this way. The most important aspect of war was knowing your enemy, but she'd been racking her brain for any recollection of the Princess of Colchis only to come up empty handed. If this was war, they were losing.

          The princess gestures toward the cosmetics counter. "Shall we start with the potions?"

          "Cool."

          "Guys," Piper interrupts urgently, stepping forward, "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," she coos. "I'm a saleswoman. Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, hm?"

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

          "Of course it's OK." The princess put her hands on Leo's and Jason's shoulders and steers them toward the cosmetics. "Come along, boys."

          "Hey, are you OK," Will asks, against her better judgement. She's looking at Piper like she's trying to solve a puzzle, and if she wasn't so clinical about it, Piper might even call the gesture sweet.

          Piper nods. "I just don't like department stores... and I really don't like that woman," she stresses.

          "I feel like I should know her," Will admits. "It's like there's an itch in the back of my head, and if I dug beneath the surface it would be there. But I just feel... hazy. Like I'm driving down a road in the fog and I can't find my way out. I'm trying to focus but every time I think I'm there, my mind starts to wander."

          "I think Leo and Jason are feeling it too."

          "And what about you?"

          "What about me?" Piper asks.

          "Do you feel it too?"

          "No," she says hesitantly. "Not really."

          "Good," Will asserts, glaring at the woman ahead of them. "Then you're our best bet for getting out of here. You saw the way she looked at him..."

          "Like she hated him," Piper supplies, eyes trailing after Jason who's none the wiser.

          "Like she knew him," Will corrects. "Or his namesake. And did you notice that there's no windows or doors? Just the elevator we came up in and the skylight. Those are the only ways we're getting out... if we're getting out."

          "You don't think it'll come to that, do you?"

          "I think," Will muses. "That you should really stop listening to what I have to say."

Piper frowns, thinking back to Monocle Motors. It seems like the abandoned warehouses would hold nothing but bad memories for everyone—Will most of all. Still, Piper shakes her head. It didn't matter what Will had said or done. She came back. That's what mattered.

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

          The counter is crammed full of bubbling beakers and smoking vials that are filled with kaleidoscopic potions, most of which look volatile and uninviting. The princess points to a dark vial with a lethally sharp red nail. "This one will heal any disease."

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

          "Any disease, sweet boy. And this vial—" She points to a swan-shaped container with a sloshing blue liquid inside. "Will kill you very painfully."

          "Awesome," Jason says. His voice is laced with fatigue and his eyes scan the counter lazily, a small lopsided smile tugging at his lips. He's nothing like himself at all in this moment.

          "Jason, we've got a job to do," Piper reminds. "Remember?"

          Will hears the sweet tone to her voice though it doesn't seem to be enough. Piper seems unsure of herself and the charmspeak comes out weak and poorly wielded. So Will elbows Jason in the side instead with enough force that he stumbles. It doesn't work as well as she'd hoped but he still sucks in air through clenched teeth, rubbing at his ribs before muttering, "Job to do. Sure. But shopping first, OK?"

          The woman beams at him. "Then we have potions for resisting fire—"

          "Got that covered," Leo says.

          "Indeed?" She studies 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's eyes are hovering over the red vial, before she glances to Jason. "Could that potion cure lost memory?"

          The princess narrows her eyes. "Possibly. Why, my dear? Have you forgotten something important?"

          Will watches Piper with interest, seeing her expression remain flat, but the gears in Piper's head are spinning overtime. Before anything, Jason is her friend—she knows that. But then comes the question of what happens if his memory is restored. Will wonders this too. He could be their enemy or someone entirely different to the person they thought he was. He was one of the only people that didn't think she was a monster. Even though Will had done nothing to deserve it, he'd defended her against his friend and seemed adamant that there was good in her. This kind of devotion is too familiar. And then Will thinks, what if he thinks I'm a monster too? She shakes the thought from her head. Why should it matter what anyone thinks of her? Monsters don't know inhibition. Piper, on the other hand, is thinking that maybe Jason will leave them in the end. And is that for better or worse? There's a moment of silence before she decides. It doesn't matter what she wants—before anything else, Jason is her friend.

"How much?" she asks.

The princess has a faraway look in her eyes that leaves a sour taste in Will's mouth. "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." She looks to Jason and Will gets the same feeling that nothing good can come from this. She wants to raise her dagger and plunge it into the gaunt woman who reeks of malevolence, but her hands grow heavy and her mind feels too numb. "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 frowns, though he's still in a trance.

Will shakes her head though it does nothing to disrupt the haziness. Like an itch you can't scratch, it lingers in the back of her mind. "Why is it so familiar," she mutters. No one hears her.

"Oh, don't worry," the princess says. "I demanded a high price. The young man had to take me away with him. He was quite good-looking, dashing, strong..." She looks to Piper. "I'm sure, my dear, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him."

Piper's eyes go wide and she tries to control the flurry of emotions that come over her. She looks at Jason and then Will, but the latter's expression reveals nothing. In fact, Will has taken on a blank expression eerily similar to Leo and Jason's. But Piper sets aside any emotion to focus on the familiarity of the princess's story. The myths that she'd read with her father come back to her, but there's no longer any fondness when she thinks of them. How can there be any sentiment left at all when suddenly they hold so much weight?

"At any rate," the woman continues, "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 asks, frowning as if trying to remember something important. The itch comes back.

"That's messed up," Leo comments sympathetically, though there's still an emptiness to his voice that suggests he's not fully there.

The princess pats 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?"

He nods. "What were we buying again? I'll take two."

Piper interrupts again, this time more adamantly. "So, the vial,Your Highness—how much?"

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

She looks as though she's going to say yes, and really she wants to, but then she understands why the woman's words sound so sweet. So she says, "No, I won't pay any price. But a fair price, maybe. After that, we need to leave. Right, guys?"

"Leave?" Jason mutters, glancing to Piper for the first time in a while.

Will nods, slightly dazed. Piper had noticed her growing even more distant. "Maybe we should," she agrees.

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

The princess tilts her head with a look of interest. She examines Piper like she's just found something worthwhile about her that hadn't been there before. "Impressive," she hums. "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, hm?"

"But the vial—"

"Now, boys." She turns to Jason and Leo in a way that leaves no room for question. "Would you like to see more?"

"Sure," Jason shrugs.

"OK."

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

Piper's hand shifts to her dagger, thinking about her dream of the mountaintop—the place where she would inevitably betray her only friends for the life of her father. A simple enough choice, isn't it?

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

The princess smiles but something about it is sharp and predatory, eyes glinting with malice that hadn't surfaced until that moment. "Well, that's where they'll die, isn't it?"

Piper clasps onto her dagger, feeling her hearts sink and her skin go cold, but she feels useless. She feels cursed.

          "Die?" Will questions, blinking slowly. The word strikes a chord with her and for a moment Piper is given hope that she won't be alone in this. Having a coherent Will by her side will ensure all of their survival—assuming that she stays instead of fleeing.

          The princess sucks her teeth. "You're a tricky one, aren't you? Not a child of Aphrodite, that's for certain," she drawls, looking Will up and down, "But you're certainly resisting better than your friends. Tell me, who is your godly parent?"

          "Will, maybe—" Piper begins.

          "Ares," Will says with a shrug.

          She scrunches her nose up with distaste, eyeing Will's wounds and collection of weaponry. "That does make sense." Her expression changes quickly and another smile is plastered across her lips. "I think you'll really like the next floor," she remarks with the same sickly sweet tone in her voice that weaves itself into Will's mind like a lullaby.

But it's too late. The itch is back and it never leaves.

note: so uh... the next chapter is over 8,000 words... oops? i tried to split it into two so it wasn't so dense but i couldn't find a good place to separate it:((