Plexure (leo Valdez x male reader)

19) Medea

I WATCHED JASON AND LEO WHILE THEY were off to check out the living fur coats as Piper went to talk to the women.
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. I couldn't help but smile at Leo and grab it from him putting it back. His laugh did something to me. Jason was ogling the men's sportswear. Boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they were under an evil spell.
Leo and I clamped our hands together as we went around looking at things. I eyed Jason once in a while to make sure he wasn't touching things he wasn't suppose to, but I felt a little more confident that he won't do that compared to Leo.
I saw something that caught my eyes. It was a military necklace. On once side it had 'Always remember you are braver than you believe stronger than you seem smarter than you think & loved more than you know.' I let go of Leo's hand picking it up. I turned it around feeling my blood run cold. The other side had Lorcan Reid on it and 1985-2001. It was the exact years of my father serving in the military.
I ran my fingers over it feeling weird. I put it in my pocket ignoring the weird feeling I had because of it being here randomly.
Jason called, "Hey, check it out!"
From a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple T-shirt like the one he'd worn on the school field trip —except this shirt looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.
Jason frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"
"Jason, it's like yours," Piper said. "Now we really have to leave."
"Nonsense," the princess said. "The boys aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular —tradeins 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 looked disturbingly like dried blood.
"Your Highness," Piper said, trying to control her nerves. "Why don't you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."
Her words didn't have any effect on the princess, but the boys turned, suddenly interested. I frowned also interested walking to Leo who walked away from me when I was busy.
"More story?" Leo asked.
"I like more story!" Jason agreed.
The princess flashed Piper an irritated look. "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?"
The princess's tone made her meaning clear: I can take it out on you.
"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," Piper remembered. "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."
"And you killed your own brother," Piper said, the horrible story all coming back to me, along with a name—an infamous name that began with the letter M.
"What?" Jason stirred. For a moment he looked almost like himself. "Killed your own—"
"No," the princess snapped. "Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn't have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end."
Jason still looked uncomfortable. "What did he do?"
The princess held the sliced-up toga against Jason's chest, as if measuring him for an assassination. "Don't you know the story, my boy? You of all people should. You were named for him."
"Jason," I said realizing the story. "The original Jason. But then you're —you should be dead!"
The princess smiled. "As I said, a new life in a new country. Certainly I made mistakes. I turned my back on my own people. I was called a traitor, a thief, a liar, a murderess. But I acted out of love." She turned to the boys and gave them a pitiful look, batting her eyelashes. I held my head high. All the not letting Drews charmspeak me came to a good cause.
"Wouldn't you do the same for someone you loved, my dears?"
"Oh, sure," Jason said.
"Okay," Leo said.
"Guys!" Piper ground her teeth in frustration. "Don't you see who she is? Don't you—"
"Let's continue, shall we?" the princess said breezily. "I believe you wanted to talk about a price for the storm spirits —and your satyr."
Leo got distracted on the second floor with the appliances. "No way," he said. "Is that an armored forge?"
Before I could stop him, he hopped off the escalator and ran over to a big oval oven that looked like a barbecue on steroids.
When we 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. "Imperial gold?"
The princess nodded. "Yes, my dear. Like that 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.
"Leo, don't!" I warned and grabbed his arm.
He blinked. "How much for both?"
"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—" She led Leo into the appliance section, giving him prices on various items.
Piper looked at me clearing telling me to follow Leo as she went to Jason. I nodded and held Leo's hand yanking Medea hand off of him.
She looked at me for a moment. "I did not think a son of Enyo can hold off my charmspeak like its nothing."
"People don't really know what the kids of Enyo can do," I responded pulling Leo towards me. "And you certainly do not know what I can do, Medea."
Her eyes flames up. "You are much smarter than I hoped."
"Don't mess with me. You can't die now, but when you can I hope its painful."
I pulled Leo with me to Piper with Medea walking faster and went in front of me.
"Children." The princess looked at us. "If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"
We took the escalator down to the base of the fountain. For the first time, I noticed two large bronze sundials —each about the size of a trampoline—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 I couldn't tell how many there were—dozens, at least.
"Hey," Leo said, "Coach Hedge looks okay!"
We ran to the nearest canary cage. The old satyr seemed to have been petrified at the moment he was sucked into the sky above the Grand Canyon. He was frozen mid- shout, his club raised over his head like he was ordering the gym class to drop and give him fifty. His curly hair stuck up at odd angles. If I just concentrated on certain details—the bright orange polo shirt, the wispy goatee, the whistle around his neck—I could imagine Coach Hedge as his good old annoying self. But it was hard to ignore the stubby horns on his head, and the fact that he had furry goat legs and hooves instead of workout pants and Nikes.
"Yes," the princess said. "I always keep my wares in good condition. We can certainly barter for the storm spirits and the satyr. A package deal. If we come to terms, I'll even throw in the vial of healing potion, and you can go in peace." She gave Piper a shrewd look. "That's better than starting unpleasantness, isn't it, dear?"
"We can negotiate," she said. I gave Piper a look.
"Totally!" Leo agreed. "Name your price."
"Leo!" I snapped slowly losing my temper.
The princess chuckled. "Name my price? Perhaps not the best haggling strategy, my boy, but at least you know a thing's value. Freedom is very valuable indeed. You would ask me to release this satyr, who attacked my storm winds—"
"Who attacked us," Piper interjected.
Her Highness shrugged. "As I said, my patron asks me for small favors from time to time. Sending the storm spirits to abduct you—that was one. I assure you it was nothing personal. And no harm done, as you came here, in the end, of your own free will! At any rate, you want the satyr freed, and you want my storm spirits—who are very valuable servants, by the way—so you can hand them over to that tyrant Aeolus. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it? The price will be high."
"You're Medea," she said. "You helped the original Jason steal the Golden Fleece. You're one of the most evil villains in Greek mythology. Jason, Leo—don't trust her."
Jason stepped away from the sorceress.
Leo scratched his head and looked around like he was coming out of a dream making me let go of him.
"What are we doing, again?"
"Boys!" The princess spread her hands in a welcoming gesture. Her diamond jewelry glittered, and her painted fingers curled like blood-tipped claws. "It's true, I'm Medea. But I'm so misunderstood. Oh, Piper, my dear, you don't know what it was like for women in the old days. We had no power, no leverage. Often we couldn't even choose our own husbands. But I was different. I chose my own destiny by becoming a sorceress. Is that so wrong? I made a pact with Jason: my help to win the fleece, in exchange for his love. A fair deal. He became a famous hero! Without me, he would've died unknown on the shores of Colchis."
Jason—Piper's Jason—scowled. "Then ... you really did die three thousand years ago? You came back from the Underworld?"
"Death no longer holds me, young hero," Medea said. "Thanks to my patron, I am flesh and blood again."
"You ... re-formed?" Leo blinked. "Like a monster?"
Medea spread her fingers, and steam hissed from her nails, like water splashed on hot iron. "You have no idea what's happening, do you, my dears? It is so much worse than a stirring of monsters from Tartarus. My patron knows that giants and monsters are not her greatest servants. I am mortal. I learn from my mistakes. And now that I have returned to the living, I will not be cheated again. Now, here is my price for what you ask."
"Guys," Piper said. "The original Jason left Medea because she was crazy and bloodthirsty."
"Lies!" Medea said.
"On the way back from Colchis, Jason's ship landed at another kingdom, and Jason agreed to dump Medea and marry the king's daughter."
"After I bore him two children!" Medea said. "Still he broke his promise! I ask you, was that right?"
Jason and Leo dutifully shook their heads, but Piper wasn't through.
"It may not have been right," she said, "but neither was Medea's revenge. She murdered her own children to get back at Jason. She poisoned his new wife and fled the kingdom."
Medea snarled. "An invention to ruin my reputation! The people of the Corinth—that unruly mob—killed my children and drove me out. Jason did nothing to protect me. He robbed me of everything. So yes, I sneaked back into the palace and poisoned his lovely new bride. It was only fair—a suitable price."
"You're insane,"Piper said.
"I am the victim!" Medea wailed. "I died with my dreams shattered, but no longer. I know now not to trust heroes. When they come asking for treasures, they will pay a heavy price. Especially when the one asking has the name of Jason!"
The fountain turned bright red. I took my necklace off having my sword appear. "Jason, Leo —it's time to go. Now."
"Before you've closed the deal?" Medea asked. "What of your quest, boys? And my price is so easy. Did you know this fountain is magic? If a dead man were to be thrown into it, even if he was chopped to pieces, he would pop back out fully formed—stronger and more powerful than ever."
"Seriously?" Leo asked.
"Leo, she's lying," I said. "She did that trick with somebody before—a king, I think. She convinced his daughters to cut him to pieces so he could come out of the water young and healthy again, but it just killed him!"
"Ridiculous," Medea said, and Piper could hear the power charged in every syllable. "Leo, Jason—my price is so simple. Why don't you two fight? If you get injured, or even killed, no problem. We'll just throw you into the fountain and you'll be better than ever. You do want to fight, don't you? You resent each other!"
"Guys, no!" Piper said. But they were already glaring at each other, as if it was just dawning on them how they really felt.
Leo scowled. "Jason's always the star. He always gets the attention and takes me for granted."
"You're annoying, Leo," Jason said. "You never take anything seriously. You can't even fix a dragon."
"Stop!" Piper pleaded, but both drew weapons—Jason his gold sword, and Leo a hammer from his tool belt.
"Let them go, Piper," Medea urged. "I'm doing you a favor. Let it happen now, and it will make your choice so much easier. Enceladus will be pleased. You could have your father back
today!"
Medea's charmspeak didn't work on Piper or me, but the sorceress still had a persuasive voice.
"You work for Enceladus," she said.
Medea laughed. "Serve a giant? No. But we all serve the same greater cause—a patron you cannot begin to challenge. Walk away, child of Aphrodite. This does not have to be your death, too. Save yourself, and your father can go free."
Leo and Jason were still facing off, ready to fight, but they looked unsteady and confused—waiting for another order. Part of them had to be resisting, I hoped. This went completely against their nature.
"Listen to me, girl." Medea plucked a diamond off her bracelet and threw it into a spray of water from the fountain. As it passed through the multicolored light, Medea said, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me the office of Tristan McLean."
The mist shimmered, and I saw someones study.
Sitting behind his desk, talking on the phone, was a girl in her dark business suit, her hair swirled in a tight bun.
"Hello, Jane," Medea said.
Jane hung up the phone calmly. "How can I help you, ma'am? Hello, Piper."
"You—" Piper was so angry she could hardly talk.
"Yes, child," Medea said. "Your father's assistant. Quite easy to manipulate. An organized mind for a mortal, but incredibly weak."
"Thank you, ma'am," Jane said.
"Don't mention it," Medea said. "I just wanted to congratulate you, Jane. Getting Mr. McLean to leave town so suddenly, take his jet to Oakland without alerting the press or the police—well done! No one seems to know where he's gone. And telling him his daughter's life was on the line—that was a nice touch to get his cooperation."
"Yes," Jane agreed in a bland tone, as if she were sleepwalking. "He was quite cooperative when he believed Piper was in danger."
"I may have new orders for you, Jane," Medea said. "If the girl cooperates, it may be time for Mr. McLean to come home. Would you arrange a suitable cover story for his absence, just in case? And I imagine the poor man will need some time in a psychiatric hospital."
"Yes, ma'am. I will stand by."
The image faded, and Medea turned to Piper. "There, you see?"
"You lured my dad into a trap," Piper said. "You helped the giant—"
"Oh, please, dear. You'll work yourself into a fit! I've been preparing for this war for years, even before I was brought back to life. I'm a seer, as I said. I can tell the future as well as your little oracle. Years ago, still suffering in the Fields of Punishment, I had a vision of the seven in your so-called Great Prophecy. I saw your friend Leo here, and saw that he would be an important enemy someday. I stirred the consciousness of my patron, gave her this information, and she managed to wake just a little—just enough to visit him."
"Leo's mother," I said. "Leo, listen to this! She helped get your mother killed!"
"Uh-huh," Leo mumbled, in a daze. He frowned at his hammer. "So ... I just attack Jason? That's okay?"
"Perfectly safe," Medea promised. "And Jason, strike him hard. Show me you are worthy of your namesake."
"Im knocking them out," I said feel irritated,
"No!" Piper ordered.
I put my hand up. "Alright."
"Jason, Leo—she's tricking you. Put down your weapons."
The sorceress rolled her eyes. "Please, girl. You're no match for me. I trained with my aunt, the immortal Circe. I can drive men mad or heal them with my voice. What hope do these puny young heroes have against me? Now, boys, kill each other!"
"Jason, Leo, listen to me." Piper put all of her emotion into her voice. "Medea is charming you. It's part of her magic. You are best friends. Don't fight each other. Fight her!"
They hesitated, and Piper could feel the spell shatter. Jason blinked. "Leo, was I just about to stab you?"
"Something about my mother ... ?" Leo frowned, then turned toward Medea. "You ... you're working for Dirt Woman. You sent her to the machine shop." He lifted his arm. "Lady, I got a three-pound hammer with your name on it."
"Bah!" Medea sneered. "I'll simply collect payment another way."
She pressed one of the mosaic tiles on the floor, and the building rumbled. Jason swung his sword at Medea, but she dissolved into smoke and reappeared at the base of the escalator.
"You're slow, hero!" She laughed. "Take your frustration out on my pets!"
Before Jason could go after her, the giant bronze sundials at either end of the fountain swung open. Two snarling gold beasts—flesh-and-blood winged dragons—crawled out from the pits below. Each was the size of a camper van, maybe not large compared to Festus, but large enough.
"So that's what's in the kennels," Leo said meekly.
The dragons spread their wings and hissed. I could feel the heat coming off their glittering skin. One turned his angry orange eyes on me.
"Don't look them in the eye!" Jason warned. "They'll paralyze you."
"Indeed!" Medea was leisurely riding the escalator up, leaning against the handrail as she watched the fun. "These two dears have been with me a long time—sun dragons, you know, gifts from my grandfather Helios. They pulled my chariot when I left Corinth, and now they will be your destruction.Ta-ta!"
The dragons lunged. Leo, Jason and I charged to intercept.
Medea was almost to the second floor, where she'd be able to choose from a wide assortment of deadly appliances.
"Oh, no, you don't," Piper growled, and took off after her.
I focused on trying to kill the damn dragon but not look at them in the eyes which was difficult.
Leo was blowing his safety whistle, while Jason and I were yelling to keep the dragons' attention.
Leo called, "Alister, help!"
I looked at him and saw one of the dragons had Leo pinned to the floor. It was baring its fangs, ready to snap. I was all the way across the room battling the other dragon, much too far away to assist.
Jason looked at me," I can do it, go!"
I hit the dragon that was in my way with the sword which he then whimpered a bit. I ran to Leo. My adrenaline running crazy. I felt like I was going to make it in time.
CRASH! The stained glass ceiling splintered in a rain of multicolored shards, and Festus the bronze dragon dropped into the department store.
He hurtled into the fray, snatching up a sun dragon in each claw. Only now did I appreciate just how big and strong their metal friend was.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled.
Festus flew halfway up the atrium, then hurled the sun dragons into the pits they'd come from. Leo raced to the fountain and pressed the marble tile, closing the sundials. They shuddered as the dragons banged against them, trying to get  out, but for the moment they were contained.
The whole fourth floor was on fire now. The air filled with noxious gas.
Leo, Jason and I were on board Festus's back. The bronze dragon flapped his mighty wings, snatched the two cages with the satyr and the storm spirits in his claws, and began to ascend. We were looking around for Piper.
The building rumbled. Fire and the smoke curled up the walls, melting the railings, turning the air to acid.
       "You'll never survive your quest without me!" Medea growled. "Your boy hero will stay ignorant forever, and your father will die. Take me with you!"
She plummeted for only a second before Jason and I caught her, hauling her aboard the dragon.
I heard Medea screaming in rage as we soared through the broken roof and over downtown Chicago. Then the department store exploded behind us.