Dancing with Death

Raiding the Mythical Mall

Eliza had never been a huge fan of the city and Chicago was no exception. Everything was so... loud. She couldn't concentrate. Thinking was hard enough with ADHD. She didn't need to add jackhammers, car horns, and yelling people to her already noisy mind. It felt like she'd head butted a wall.

She rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut. "Did I ever mention how much I hate wind spirits?"

Jason chuckled. "You may have brought it up a time or two."

"Well," she met Jason's gaze. "I'll say it again. They suck."

"Don't you mean they blow?" Leo snickered at his own joke.

Eliza leveled him with a fierce glare. "Not in my experience."

Leo cleared his throat and muttered under his breath. "Way to ruin the mood."

Eliza was about to retaliate, but Jason laid a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She sighed, but let the conversation drop.

They wandered the city until Jason spotted a pair of wind spirits. They raced along the sidewalk before following the wispy creatures into the sewage system.

"Well, this is just wonderful." Piper plugged her nose and stepped over a murky puddle.

Eliza shrugged. "Just be glad it's not full."

Jason and Leo shot her a look.

"What?" She asked. "I'm trying to look on the bright side." A smirked curled her lips. "Or would you rather be trudging through neck-deep water full of human..."

"That's... enough." Jason was cringing so hard, his shoulder looked like they might fuse to his neck.

Piper's face was noticeably green and Leo had his fist to his mouth like he was holding back vomit.

"Let's just find those wind spirits." Jason led the way through the dank tunnel until they reached a dead end with sleek elevator doors cutting off their path.

"Well," Eliza deduced. "unless Venti can phase through walls, I'd say we go up."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Leo stared at the metal doors.

Eliza shot him a snide smile. "No problem, foc Prost."

His brow furrowed. "What'd you just call me?"

Her smile widened. "I'll never tell."

Leo looked to Jason, who was biting back a laugh. "What'd she say?"

Jason cleared his throat. "Doesn't matter. We need to focus on our mission." He stepped inside the elevator and pressed the top button.

They road up to the uppermost level and exited into what looked like a mythological mall. There were almost a dozen floors of weird stuff - armor, potions, assorted monster parts - but also clothes and camping gear and other normal things.

Whatever this place was, it creeped Eliza out. "Why would the Venti come here?" She studied the building carefully for signs of a trap.

"Because they work for me, silly." A tall woman with long silky hair and dark eyes that sparked with mischievous glee, appeared before them. "It's been a long time since I've had visitors." Her smile was warm, but it looked forced.

Something was wrong. Eliza could feel it.

The woman focused on the boys. "Welcome to my humble abode." She drenched the word 'humble' with so much mock modesty it made Eliza want to puke. "Won't you have a look around?"

"Of course." Jason's voice didn't sound quite right, almost like was half-asleep.

Eliza shot Piper a concerned look as the boys followed the woman compliantly. What was wrong with the boys? Who was this woman?

Piper's charmspeak - her ability to control people with her voice - had little to no effect on the boys when faced with the strange woman. She seemed to have the same power, but... only over men.

Eliza followed behind their group, frantically trying to formulate a plan. She had nothing. All the brightly colored objects and shiny armor were really distracting. She knew her ADHD was supposed to protect her in a fight, like battle instincts, but hers just seemed to make thinking impossible.

The woman led them down from one level to another, picking up different items and telling the boys how much they "needed" it.

Thankfully, Piper intervened so the boys didn't spend any of their money.

Soon they were on the ground level. The Venti were in a cage on one side of the room, with Coach Hedge frozen next them in his own cage. He was right in the middle of screaming a vulgar insult with his club raised above his head. Good old Coach Hedge.

While Eliza was examining the cages, Piper tried to snap the boys out the woman's thrall. It wasn't going too well. Eliza heard a clang of metal and turned to find Jason and Leo facing off near the fountain in the middle of the room. Not good. She raced across the floor, slid, kicking Leo's legs out from under him, and tackled Jason.

She pinned his arms to the ground, muscles straining as he struggled to free himself. "Jason! Snap out of it!"

Leo grabbed her from behind and yanked her off Jason, shoving her aside.

Her legs hit the edge of the fountain and she tripped backwards into the cold water. The water was only a few inches deep, but the shock of the cold made her tense up. She found the bottom of the basin with her hands and pushed herself up. She heaved long breaths as her eyes readjusted to the odd colorful light of the mall.

Suddenly, the woman - Medea - appeared in front of Eliza and grabbed her shoulders. She smirked menacingly as she shoved Eliza back under water.

Eliza kicked and struggled, but Medea was surprisingly strong. Her lungs started to burn. She couldn't hold her breath much longer. In desperation, she jerked and twisted one last time, pouring the rest of her strength into the effort.

Medea gasped and released Eliza.

Taking advantage, Eliza kicked Medea in the stomach and burst out of the water, coughing and spluttering.

Piper was finally getting through to the boys and they had stopped fighting.

Medea clutched her stomach where a small red stain had begun to soak through. Blood. Glaring at Eliza with a vengeful fire in her eyes, she whistled.

Two hatches opened in the floor and horse-sized lizards rose up from below.

Eliza leaned heavily on the side of the fountain. "Dragons."