misplaced || l. valdez

21 || piper and the creepy saleswoman share stories

° ~ •. ♆ chapter twenty-one ♆ .• ~ °
"piper and the creepy saleswoman share stories"

Mari went with Jason and Leo while Piper cornered the princess.  She was still bothered by what the princess had said, but as she looked through the racks and shelves of items, her worries seemed to ease away. The sparkling dresses and glowing jewelry were so beautiful and Mari wanted to try them all.

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. Jason was ogling the men's sportswear, grabbing some color-changing basketball shorts.

As Mari walked around, something caught her eye. It was buried under piles of bright purses and colorful handbags. She dug it out of the pile to see what it was: a leather water-skin. It looked normal at first glance; shaped like a bent tear drop, with brown leather and a strap to wrap around your waist. But if you looked at it closely, it shimmered with some kind of faint silvery blue glow.

Before she could ask how much it was, Jason called, "Hey, check it out!"

Mari gave the water-skin one last curious look before hastily tying it around her waist. She shoved the pouch part under her shirt as she turned to see what Jason was talking about. He was holding up a tattered purple shirt similar to the one he had when they first met.

Mari stared at the shirt, walking over to Jason. She motioned for him to give it to her. As she held the purple cloth, it felt like her brain was going haywire. Why did this shirt feel so much better to have than her orange camp shirt?

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

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

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

Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion— acid, maybe?— and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that disturbingly looked like dried blood. Mari frowned at the sight of it, anxious about its strange familiarity.

"Your Highness." Piper said. "Why don't you tell my friends how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

Mari, Leo, and Jason turned to her, interested in what she had to say.

"More story?" Leo asked.

"Ooh, story time!" Mari said excitedly.

"I like more story!" Jason agreed.

The Princess flashed Piper an irritated look before speaking. "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?"

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis." Piper said, like she suddenly remembered something important. "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."