Heroes of Olympus Series. Annabeth Chase X Male Reader Story

The Aftermath of Eating Rocks

Piper's POV

Piper wanted to run for the elevator. Her second choice: attack the weird princess now, because she was sure a fight was coming. The way the lady's face glowed when she'd heard Jason's name had been bad enough.

But now she knew something was off, as her friend told her to 'play along' she knew there was something else at work here. Now Her Highness was smiling like nothing had happened, and Jason and Leo didn't seem to think anything was wrong.

She glanced down and saw that the man who came with them was holding himself strangely, as she looked at his hands, she noticed that he had been twisting some rings that were placed on his fingers.

That was sign enough that he was expecting this to end badly, and was enough for Piper to start running her fingers down the hilt of her dagger, ready for it to be drawn at a moment's notice, their hostess didn't seem to notice.

The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter. "Shall we start with the potions?" "Cool," Jason said. "Guys," Piper interrupted, "we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this—princess—is really our friend—"

"Oh, I'm better than a friend, my dear," Her Highness said. "I'm a saleswoman." "What do you sell? Snake oil?" The man beside her asked, she smiled at him gently, but Piper got the feeling he was already testing her patience.

She had seen how her highness had glared at him, just like Jason, and for a moment she wondered if the two knew each other, if they had some kind of history that Piper was unaware of. But she pushed that to the back of her mind as her highness captured Piper's attention.

Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glittered like a snake's—cold and dark. "How very funny..." She brushed off his remark "Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?" Leo nodded eagerly. "Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, Piper?"

Piper did her best to stare daggers at him: No, it is not okay! "Of course it's okay." Her Highness put her hands on Leo's and Jason's shoulders and steered them toward the cosmetics. For a moment. Piper saw something.

Originally, her hand went to fall on the man's shoulder, but she must have thought that wouldn't be wise, instead she hovered her fingers over his shoulder to guide him.  "Come along, boys." Piper didn't have much choice except to follow.

She hated department stores—mostly because she'd gotten caught stealing from several of them. Well, not exactly caught, and not exactly stealing. She'd talked salesmen into giving her computers, new boots, a gold ring, once even a lawn mower, though she had no idea why she wanted one.

She never kept the stuff. She just did it to get her dad's attention. Usually she talked her neighborhood UPS guy into taking the stuff back. But of course the salesmen she duped always came to their senses and called the police, who eventually tracked her down.

Anyway, she wasn't thrilled to be back in a department store—especially one run by a crazy princess who glowed in the dark. "And here," the princess said, "is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."

The counter was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the display shelves were crystal flasks—some shaped like swans or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells—ugh!

Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents of burning tires, skunk spray, and gym lockers. The princess pointed to a bloodred vial—a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."

"Even cancer?" Leo asked. "Leprosy? Hangnails?" "Any disease, sweet boy." "See through skulls?" Her highness completely ignored the final one, as if she hadn't heard the question.