forest green ● jason grace

eight

Now that she knew that Jason was alive, Daria was ecstatic. 

Obviously, she couldn't voice this, as Percy looked like he was on the brink of death and Frank and Hazel looked like they wished they were in the same situation. But regardless, there was adrenaline coursing through her veins and memories of blond hair and blue eyes coursing through her mind.

Daria made it up the hill easier than the others; a skip in her step. Even the evil basilisks couldn't ruin her mood. Dakota was always telling her to be more upbeat. Then, something hissed in the grass behind them and Daria nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Go!" Frank yelled.

Percy stumbled. While Hazel helped him up, Frank turned and nocked an arrow and Daria drew her swords.

"They're poisonous, you know," Daria nodded her head towards the grass. Wherever it touched, the grass withered and died. "Look."

Frank and Daria heard their friends climbing the steps of the store. She didn't dare turn and run. The demigods and the snake studied each other. The snake hissed, flames billowing from its mouth.

"Nice creepy reptile," Frank said, very aware of the driftwood in his coat pocket. "Nice poisonous, fire-breathing reptile."

"Frank, Daria!" Hazel yelled behind him. "Come on!"

The snake sprang at him. It sailed through the air so fast, there wasn't time to nock an arrow. Daria sliced through the monster's head in one single movement, watching in grim satisfaction as it crumbled to dust in front of them.

Frank made a surprised sound next to her, and it was only then that she realized her sword was steaming. It was Imperial Gold, it wouldn't melt, but it would be nearly impossible to clean it off without getting the poison on her. She groaned and tossed it far away so that it landed with a "thud" on the ground; with any luck it would reappear the next time she summoned it. And if it didn't...well, they were pretty much screwed anyway.

So much for optimism.

She heard an outraged hiss, answered by two more hisses farther downhill. The two of them ran for the porch. Percy and Hazel pulled Frank up the steps. 

When they turned, she saw the other two monsters circling in the grass, breathing fire and turning the hillside brown with their poisonous touch. They didn't seem able or willing to come closer to the store, but that wasn't much comfort to Daria. She'd lost her sword.

"You saved my life," Frank stared at Daria.

Daria gave him a puzzled glance, "What else was I going to do?" She took in their surroundings, looking for a possible exit. "We'll never get out of here,"

"Then we'd better go in." Hazel pointed to the hand-painted sign over the door: RAINBOW ORGANIC FOODS & LIFESTYLES.

It looked like pretty much every store in the Bay Area.

The wide aisles were lined with bins of nuts and dried fruit, baskets of apples, and clothing racks with tie-dyed shirts and gauzy Tinker Bell-type dresses. The ceiling was covered in wind chimes. Along the walls, glass cases displayed crystal balls, geodes, macrame dream catchers.

"Fortune-teller's shop?" Frank wondered.

"Hope not," Hazel muttered.

Percy leaned against her. He looked worse than ever, like he'd been hit with a sudden flu. His face glistened with sweat. "Sit down..." he muttered. "Maybe water."

"Yeah," Daria said. "Let's find you a place to rest."

The floorboards creaked under their feet. She navigated between two Neptune statue fountains.