madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-Vecna?-

Leo got distracted on the second floor with the appliances. What a dork. 

An incredibly distracted cute dork that was definitely going to hurt himself on whatever evil traps the evil princess had hidden in there.

"No way," he said in awe. "Is that an armoured forge?" Piper reached out to grab him, but he hopped off the escalator and ran over to a big oval oven that looked like a barbecue on steroids. Teqi didn't really want to know what Medea would be barbecuing on it. 

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

Jason flinched as if he recognized that term, but didn't remember it. What a surprise. "Imperial gold?"

The princess nodded quickly. "Yes, my Jason. Like that little weapon 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 this as an order. He began walking toward it in a trance. Teqi reached out and grabbed him, pinning his arms down as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She turned back to the princess once she knew he wouldn't be sitting down on cursed chairs or huge barbecues.

He blinked, seeming to not mind the constricting hug he was currently in. "How much for both?"

Princess bitchy face replied excitedly. "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 grabbed Jason, leading him away. With Leo now distracted by forges and buildy things they would never get through to him, so hopefully Jase would come back to his senses. Teqi followed after an eager Leo and suspiciously happy princess, she probably thought she would get years of strength from him.

Princess lady showed them through rows of appliances that blurred together after a while, but after Leo nearly killed himself with a neon drill and an explosive whoopee cushion, Teqi decided they had had enough of that.                                                                                                                                         

Hopefully Piper had snapped Jason out of his shopping trance. Leo whined as they left behind the now pink drill, looking back at it longingly. "Morada please! It's like a light up sketchers drill!" 

Teqi huffed and dragged him back to a, you guessed it, still angry Piper. Leo's puppy eyes didn't work this time. 

Barely.

He groaned about it while they took the escalator down to the base of the fountain. For the first time, Teqi saw that there were two large bronze sundials —each about the size of a pegasus stable —inlaid on the marble tile floor to the north and south of the fountain. The gilded oversize 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, that Teqi's growing headache worsened. She really needed to release all the mind energy before she accidentally blew up Leo's head.