Normally, I'd jump at a chance to go shopping. But with the lady my dad (at least, I think that voice in my head was Poseidon) had just warned me about? Not on my 'Top 10 Epic Things to Do List'. But, unfortunately, I didn't have much choice. I still hadn't shaken off the creeped out feeling I had about her reaction to Jason's name, but Katherine and the boys didn't appear to think anything was wrong. The princess gestured to the cosmetics counter.
"Shall we start with the potions?" She suggested.
"Cool," Jason agreed.
No, not cool, Jason! She's taking us to the potions. She's going to give us a dangerous one or something! I thought, panicking a bit.
"Guys, we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge." Ah, thank the gods! Piper was sane as well. "If this - princess - is really our friend -"
"Oh, I'm better than a friend, my dear," Her Highness replied. "I'm a saleswoman." Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glinted cold, and dark, almost like a snake's. Her eyes creeped me out, but at least they weren't bottomless pits like Snape's eyes, I guess. Her voice didn't sound nearly as pretty as it did before. "Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?" Leo nodded eagerly.
"Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, Piper?"
"Leo... this really isn't a great idea..." Cass warned.
"Awwww. Please, Cass?" Katherine begged. "It'll be fine!"
"Of course it will." Her Highness placed her hands on Leo and Katherine's shoulders, and steered the pair towards the cosmetics. Jason followed eagerly. "Come along, Jason, Leo, and Katherine." Piper, Cass, and I didn't have much choice but to follow them, but I seriously didn't want to.
"And here is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere." the princess announced proudly.
"Even better than what Professor Snape can make?" Cass asked jokingly. The princess looked at her strangely.
"Certainly." The counter the Princess had led us to was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the shelves were crystal flasks, some shaped like swans, or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside them were every colour imaginable, from glowing white to polka-dots. And the smells were just... eugh! Some were pleasant, like fresh roses, or freshly-baked cakes, but they were mixed with disgusting smells - petrol, skunk spray, and mouldy food. The princess pointed to a blood red vial - a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."
"Even cancer?" Leo asked. "Leprosy? Hangnails?"
"Dragon pox?" This time, it was my turn to challenge the princess with a Harry Potter-based question.
"Any disease, dear children. And this vial -" she pointed to a swan shaped container containing blue liquid - "will kill you very painfully."
"Awesome," Jason said, his voice sounding dazed and sleepy.
"Jason," Piper cut in. "We've got a job to do. Remember?" I was caught off guard by her Charmspeak.
"Job to do," Jason mumbled. "Sure. But shopping first, okay?" The princess beamed at him.
"Then we have potions for resisting fire -"
"Got that covered," Leo interrupted. Was it just me, or did he wink at Cass when he said that?
"Indeed?" the Princess studied Leo's face more closely. "You don't appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen... but no matter. We also have potions that cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or -"
"Wait." Piper was staring at the red vial. "Could that potion cure lost memory?" The princess narrowed her eyes.
"Possibly. Yes. Quite possibly. Why, my dear? Have you forgotten something important?" I had a feeling why Piper wanted the vial - if it could heal amnesia, maybe, just maybe, it could heal Jason.
"How much?" She asked. The princess got a faraway look in her eyes.
"Well, now... the price is always tricky. I love helping people. Honestly, I do. And I always keep my bargains, but sometimes people try to cheat me." Her gaze drifted to Jason. "Once, for instance, I met a handsome young man who wanted a treasure from my father's Kingdom. We made a bargain, and I helped him steal it."
"From your own dad?" Jason was still half in a trance, but that idea seemed to bother him.
"Oh, don't worry," the princess assured. "I demanded a high price. The young man had to take me away with him. He was quite good-looking, dashing, strong..." She looked at Piper. "I'm sure, my dear, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him." Piper blushed a little. The story the princess told was alarmingly familiar to me, as if it was one of my favourite Greek myths. If only I could just remember the princess's name... but did I really want to? I already knew she was bad, maybe knowing her name would make it even worse.
"I knew it..." Cass muttered. The princess glanced at Cass, showing a little bit of fear.
"At any rate," the princess continued. "My hero had to do many impossible tasks, and I'm not bragging when I say he couldn't have done them without me. I betrayed my own family to win the hero his prize. And still he cheated me of my payment."
"Cheated?" Jason frowned, as if he was attempting to remember something important.
"That's messed up," Leo declared. Her Highness patted his cheek affectionately.
"I'm sure you don't need to worry, Leo. You seem honest. You would always pay a fair price, wouldn't you?" Leo nodded.
"What were we buying again? I'll take two." Piper broke in.
"So, the vial, Your Highness - how much?" The princess observed everything about Piper.
"Would you give anything for it, my dear?" The princess asked. "I sense that you would." The words washed over me with incredible force. I was tempted to answer for Piper, to tell the Princess that yes, I, she, any of us, would pay any price. Then my dad spoke inside my head again.
Take care, Rellie, for the princess of Colchis is a powerful charmspeaker.
I was pulled out of the princess's Charmspeak, thankfully.
"No, I won't pay any price. But a fair price, maybe. After that, we need to leave. Right, guys?"
"Definitely." I agreed.
"Yeah, we'll have to grab Hedge and the Storm Spirits, and go." Cass agreed. Even the other three looked confused.
"Leave?" Jason asked.
"You mean... after shopping?"
"Yeah, I want to look around a bit..." The princess tilted her head, examining Piper, Cass, and I with newfound respect.
"Impressive," she told us. "Not many people could resist my suggestions. Are you children of Aphrodite, my dears?" Piper nodded, while Cass and I shook our heads. "Indeed?" The princess asked Cass and I. "Who is your Godly parent, then?"
"We're not that stupid, you know." Cass laughed.
"No matter. Perhaps we should shop a while longer before you decide what to buy, eh?"
"But the vial -"
"Now, you three." She turned to Jason, Leo, and Katherine. "Would you like to see more?"
"Sure," Jason replied.
"Okay," Leo nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds great," Katherine agreed enthusiastically.
"Excellent," the princess smiled. "You'll need all the help you can get if you're to make it to the Bay Area." My hand moved to inside the pocket of my hoodie, where my sword waited for me in the Riptide disguise. I hadn't gotten the time to see what else it had, though.
"The Bay Area?" Piper asked.
"Why the Bay Area?" I added. The princess smiled at the three of us who weren't under her Charmspeak spell.
"Well, that's where they'll die, isn't it?" She led us towards the escalators, Jason, Leo, and Katherine all looking excited to shop.
YOU ARE READING
The Poseidon Girls
RandomCoral and Cass thought they were ordinary girls. Until they found Camp Half-Blood by accident. As soon as the best friends enter the Camp, their whole life changes. They find out they're actually half-sisters. They discover all those Ancient Greek m...
