Chapter 8
We're off to complete the quest, the quest to save Hera
LEO AND VIVIAN FINISHED ATTACHING THE WINGS ON TO FESTUS AND NOW HE WAS READY FOR BLAST OFF.
"Now all we have to do is get him to camp," Leo said.
"We did a great job," Vivian patted Leo on the back. The two now were head to toe covered in grease. Vivian's hair was in a messy bun. She took the hair tie out of her hair and let it fall. Aphrodite would probably be screaming her head off if she saw her like this.
Festus snorted. Leo and Vivian climbed onto Festus and started their way back to camp.
*Time skip brought to you by Percabeth*
"Leo, Vivian?" Piper yelled.
Sure enough, there they were, sitting atop a giant bronze death machine and grinning like lunatics. Even before they landed, the camp alarm went up. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started screaming, "Don't kill me!" Half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor. The dragon set down right in the middle of the green, and Leo yelled, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"
"Seriously don't shoot us!" Vivian also yelled.
Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. The warriors backed away, keeping their spears and swords ready. They made a loose wide ring around the metal monster. Other demigods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. Nobody seemed anxious to get close.
Vivian couldn't blame them. The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture —different shades of copper and bronze—a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. It had bat-shaped wings twice its length that unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped.
"It's beautiful," Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.
The dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but Leo and Vivian slid calmly off the dragon's back. They held up their hands like they were surrendering, except they still had that crazy grin on their faces.
"People of Earth, we come in peace!" Vivian shouted. They both looked like they'd been rolling around in the campfire. Leo's army coat and Vivians camp t-shirt and their faces were smeared with soot. Vivian's hair was in a messy bun. Their hands were grease stained, and Leo wore a new tool belt around his waist. His eyes were bloodshot. His curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills, and they both smelled strangely of Tabasco sauce. But they looked absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"
Then out of nowhere Vivian was covered in a pink smoke and when it disappeared, she was... wow! All the soot and grease was gone and she was spotless. Her hair was in a high ponytail. She had some light makeup on and some hoop earrings. Her clothes were different as well. She had a black t-shirt, ripped denim shorts and a flannel wrapped around her waist. She was still wearing the same black shoes though. She also smelled like fresh flowers.
"Thanks Aunt Aphrodite!" Vivian yelled at the sky.
Huh. I guess my mom gave V a small makeover. Piper thought. It was simple but Vivian was looking stunning.
Despite the makeover there was still a dangerous dragon. "That thing is dangerous!" an Ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"
"Stand down!" someone ordered.
To Vivian's surprise, it was Jason. He pushed through the crowd, flanked by Annabeth and that girl from the Hephaestus cabin, Nyssa.
Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, V, what have you done?"
"Found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, we got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere! We fixed him up!"
"It—has wings," Nyssa stammered. Her jaw looked like it might drop off her face.
"Yeah!" Vivian beamed. " We found them and reattached them."
"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"
Leo hesitated, but Vivian jumped in saving him. "We found them in the woods. Piper could tell they were hiding something. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.
The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid—maybe oil, hopefully just oil—poured out of its ear, all over Leo.
"Just a few kinks to work out," Leo said.
"But how did you survive ... ?" Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "Imean, the fire breath ..."
"I'm quick," Leo said. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"
"I'm also a fire user, remember?" I reminded her.
Jason scratched his head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"
The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.
"That's a yes, bro!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the —um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."
Jason frowned. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"
"Go," Annabeth said. She was the only one who didn't look nervous at all. Her expression was sad and wistful, like this reminded her of better times. "Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"
Jason nodded. Then he smiled at Piper. "You ready, partner?"
Piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky, and those talons that could've shredded her to pieces. "You bet," she said.
Flying on the dragon was the most amazing experience ever, Vivian thought.
Up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon's metal hide generated so much heat, it was like they were flying in a protective bubble. Talk about seat warmers! And the grooves in the dragon's back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't uncomfortable at all. Leo and Vivian showed them how to hook their feet in the chinks of the armor, like in stirrups, and use the leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating. They sat in a single file: Leo in front, then Vivian, then Piper, then Jason.
Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. The metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line behind them. They shot over Connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds.
Leo grinned back at them. "Cool, right?"
"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.
"The Mist," Jason said. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."
Piper glanced over her shoulder. "You sure about that?"
"No," he admitted.
"But I can!" Vivian says. She snapped her fingers. "Now the mortals will think that we are just a cloud. My friend Thalia Grace taught me."
"Nice!" Leo said.
"Where are we heading?" Piper asked.
"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."