madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-Racoon hats are in style-

They were walking through the winding tunnels underground, avoiding puddles of stuff Teqi didn't want to think about. 

Jason had woken them all up after a few hours, and Teqi was still exhausted, but she could last a bit longer. Hopefully. She didn't actually know where they were heading, and she wasn't sure if Jason, who was directing them, knew either. She was still waiting to find the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when Piper interrupted the silence.

"Hey Jase, guess what? Teqi can carry you!" 

Jason turned around shocked, interrupting Leo and Teqi's thumb war, which she was thankful for. [Leo had won the last eight].                                                      

"You guys are always so shocked, should I be offended? I could carry Leo and Pipes at the same time, wimps." 

Jason frowned eyeing up her baggy stranger things jumper [ Ollies]. "Prove it." He stated, grinning cockily. "I'll give you ten bucks if you carry them the rest of the way."

"I like those odds, and its Drachmae dumbass." Teqi smiled, motioning to her back, and Piper hopped up, piggy backing the smug girl. Leo slowed down, and wrapped his arms around Teqi's neck. Then he kicked his legs up until he was being carried princess style. 

Teqi strutted past a shocked Jason.

After a while of Teqi telling Jason to pay up, and Leo pretending too need rescuing, they approached polished steel elevator doors, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator was a directory, like for a department store. 

"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed; she hopped down from Teqi's back. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."

"Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo said, not bothering to get down. "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up." Teqi pretended to scan the words on the wall, and hoped they wouldn't be important. 

"Kennels for what?" Piper said, ignoring Teqi asking what Macey's was. "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"

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

Jason took a deep breath, and pushed the shiny UP button. "When in doubt, start at the top."

"That was never a saying dude."

The doors slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator, Teqi crinkled her nose, she would definitely get a headache. And not just because her mind was overpowering. Jason stepped out first, sword ready. Good, he was learning.

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

Piper joined him and caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."                                                                                           It didn't really narrow down exactly what Macey's was, but Teqi forgot about that as soon as she saw wherever they were. The department store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. That would not help her headache. 

The entire ceiling was a stained-glass mosaic with astrological signs around a giant sun, it was beautiful. She wished she could take a photo. The daylight streaming through it washed everything in a thousand different colours. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so they could see all the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly; they were hard to look at.