LEO.
——- "Leo?!" Leo heard Piper yell from the ground. He and Y/n were seated on top of Festus after constructing him a pair of wings.
All night into morning, the two helped each other (more like Y/n watching and occasionally handing Leo tools. He didn't want her to get hurt) make the addition to the dragon's body. They both were covered in oil and grease, and Y/n had her hair pulled back (with a headband, clip, or ponytail. Or whatever you want.)
Leo sat at the front, grinning like a maniac, and Y/n waved from behind him, slightly sitting up to be seen over his shoulder.
Before he could land, the alarm horn went off, and an army of half awake demigods armed with weapons and pajamas stood in a dazed formation. "Don't kill us!" Leo shouted. The dragon landed, "It's cool! Don't shoot!" The archers lowered their bows reluctantly, and the others kept their weapons ready.
Campers swarmed and surrounded Festus, worried to get too close. Festus glowed in the morning light, sun rays ricocheting from his bronze and copper paneling, making his sharp teeth and talons glisten in the light. His ruby eyes shimmered, reflecting a glare into a few of the campers eyes. The expressions on his cabin mates faces were priceless; he thought they'd bust a lug nut.
Festus extending his beautiful wings so everyone could see; for a dragon, he sure loved to show off.
"It's beautiful." Piper said, earning stares from other campers. Festus stood on his hind legs and shot out a beam of fire into the sky, and as the campers prepared for battle, Leo just slid off, followed by Y/n.
"People of Earth, I come in peace!" Leo shouted, and Y/n smiled beside him. The two looked... insane. They were covered in grease and soot, and their hair looked dirty, like they'd rolled around in oil. Leo wore a new tool belt, and they both had bloodshot eyes; and Y/n's looked worse than Leo's. The Tabasco sauce to the eye and all nighter made her look like she had pink eye, but she smiled like she didn't care.
"Festus is just saying hello!" Leo announced.
"That thing is dangerous! Kill it now!" An Ares girl shouted, pointing at Festus with her spear.
"Stand down!" Jason piled in through the crowd, a look of astonishment on his face. "What did you two do?"
"I got us a ride! It's what you wanted, right?" Leo explained.
"It... it has wings..." Nyssa stuttered.
"Yeah! I found them and reattached them." Leo grinned.
"But it never had wings... where did you find them?"
"Umm..." Leo began, "In the woods." Y/n finished.
"Yeah, the woods. I also replaced and repaired all his circuits, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.
Just then, Festus's head tilted, and he poured oil all over Leo and Y/n's heads, soaking them completely.
"Just a few kinks to work out." Leo said.
Nyssa stared in awe, "But how did you survive? I mean... the fire breath..."
"I'm quick. And lucky." Leo made up an excuse. "So, he good for the quest or what?"
Jason looked at the three skeptically, "You named him Festus...? You know that in Latin Festus means happy, right? You want us to ride off and save the world on Happy the Dragon?"
"That's a yes, bro! Now, I'd really suggest we get going soon. We already picked up some supplies in the... woods... and all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous." Leo answered.
Jason furrowed his eyebrows. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just — "
"Go." Annabeth continued. "You've only got three days until the solstice, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"
Jason smiled at Piper, "You ready, partner?"
Piper looked at Festus, and back to Jason, "You bet."
The two climbed on behind Leo and Y/n, and they took off soon after. Leo loved this; flying on Festus with his closest friends. He felt content just soaring through the skies, and Y/n's hands on his shoulders as she looked over him to see ahead wasn't too bad either.
The sword at Y/n's hip lightly tapped against her thigh from the turbulence. Back in bunker 9, Leo had found a dagger hidden under one of the work benches, and when he pressed a button on the side of the hilt, it shot out and became a full fleshed sword. It was a golden bronze color, that illuminated a gold hue. The blade had a series of slits of V-shaped paneling that would allow the blade to retract into itself. The hilt was wrapped with a thick, solid leather, and the cross guard was the same golden bronze. The sword itself was a little longer than most of the other ones at camp.
When he found it, Leo gave it to Y/n, saying she needed a weapon, and Leo wasn't a sword guy anyways. She took it happily, and it felt familiar resting in her hands.
Leo watched as they soared over Connecticut, straight through the clouds. "Cool, right?" He asked his friends seated in the back. Festus's back had special grooves that made little seats for passengers that were surprisingly comfortable, and the heat emitting from the dragon was enough to keep them warm. Cool was an understatement.
"What if we get spotted?" Piper wondered.
"The mist." Jason answered, "it keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."
"You sure about that?" Piper questioned over her shoulder.
"No." Jason admitted. He was holding onto a photo, and when Piper saw it, he put it away quickly. "We're making good time, we'll probably be there by tonight."
Piper had a weird look on her face, "Where are we going?"
"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason replied, "and chase some storm spirits."
Leo sat in the front, deep in thought. "Shut up, me." He accidentally said out loud.
"What?" Y/n asked from behind him.
"Oh, you know. Long night. Probably just hallucinating, it's cool." He answered.
He noticed his friends in the back has heard him, and dawned worried looks on their faces. "Just joking. So what's the plan bro? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"
Jason laid out the game plan as they flew over New England. The first thing they needed to do on their quest was find a God named Boreas.
"His name is Boreas? What is he, the god of boring?" Leo joked.
Ignoring him, Jason continued. The next thing they had to do was find the venti that attacked them at the Grand Canyon.
"Can't we just call them evil storm spirits? Venti is too confusing for people like us." Leo said, motioning to him and Y/n.
Lastly, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for so they could find Hera and set her free, Jason finished.
"So you wanna look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose; the guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds." Leo questioned.
"That's about it," Jason agreed, "Well... There may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."
In reference to the wolf, Jason shared details about the dream he had last night — the big mother wolf and burned out house with stone spirals growing out of a swimming pool.
"Uh-huh, but you don't know where this place is, right?" Leo asked. He was thoroughly confused.
Jason nodded reluctantly, "Nope."
Piper added on, "There's also giants, the prophecy said the giant's revenge."
"Hold on, giant's — like more than one? Why can't it just be one giant who wants revenge?" Leo inquired uneasily.
"I don't think so," Piper said. "I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants."
Leo muttered, "Great, of course, with our luck, it's an army. So you know anything else about these giants? Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"
"Your dad's an actor?" Jason asked.
Laughing, Leo answered. "I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Ha. Forgetting about amnesia. That's funny. But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."
"Uh — sorry, what was he in?"
"It doesn't matter, the giants — well there were lots of giants in Greek mythology. But if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war — I mean the first Titan war, thousands of years ago — and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same as giants —" Piper began.
"Chiron said it was happening again, the last chapter. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details." Jason continued.
"So... Giants who can throw mountains," Leo whistled, "friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness, evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."
"Is this another joke?" Piper asked.
Leo told him about his old babysitter, Tía Callida, who was really Hera, and how she appeared to him at camp recently. He didn't tell him about his fire powers. That was a touchy subject, especially after his sister had told him that fire demigods tended to destroy cities and stuff. Besides, then Leo would have to explain how he caused his mom's death and... No. He wasn't ready to go there. He did manage to tell them about the night she died; not mentioning the fire, just saying the shop collapsed. It was easier not having to look his friends in the eye — just looking straight ahead as they flew.
And he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who appeared to be asleep and seemed to know the future.
Before his friends started to speak up, Leo assumed that the entire state of Massachusetts probably passed below them.
"That's... Disturbing," Piper added.
Leo agreed, "Bout sums it up. Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates demigods. And the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering... Why are we doing this?"
"She chose us," Jason said. "all four of us. We're the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."
Leo didn't feel any better at that, but he had to agree with Jason. This did feel like the start of something huge. He just hoped that if there were four more demigods destined to help them, they show up as fast as possible. Leo wasn't itching to hog all of the terrifying life-threatening quests.
"Besides, helping Hera is the only way we can get back our memory." Jason said, referencing his friend. "And that dark spire in my dream seems to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of giants by destroying Hera — "
"Not a good trade off, at least Hera is on our side — mostly. Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She's the main one who keeps the peace in the family. And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan war." Piper continued.
Jason nodded, "Chiron's also talked about worst forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all — something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill the demigods — "
Leo finished, "might be that weird sleeping lady, Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."
"But who is she?" Jason asked, "and what does she have to do with the giants?"
It was a good question but none of them had any answers. While they flew in silence, Leo wondered if he done the correct thing; sharing so much. He'd never told anyone about what happened to his mom. Even if he hadn't told them the whole story, it still felt weird, like he'd tore open his chest and taken out all the gears that made him tick. He was shaking, but not from the cold. He hoped Y/n sitting behind him couldn't tell.
The forge and dove shall break the cage. Was that the prophecy line? It meant he and Piper would have to figure out how to break into that magical stone prison, assuming they could even find it. Then they'd unleash Hera's rage, causing a lot of death. That sounds fun! Leo had seen Tía Callida in action; she likes snakes, knives, and putting babies in open fires. Yeah, let's definitely unleash her rage. Great idea.
Festus continued his flight path. The snowy forest beneath them seemed to continue on endlessly and the temperature got lower and lower. Leo didn't know the exact whereabouts of Quebec. He told Festus to take them to the Palace of Boreas, and Festus ventured North. Hopefully he knew the way, and they wouldn't end up at the north pole.
"You two should get some sleep, you've been up all night." Piper proposed.
Y/n patted her shoulder. "I'll take the first shift. In case something goes wrong, we'll need you to take care of it, right?" She grinned. Leo smiled back; it felt nice to be needed.
He leaned back and muttered, "right." He agreed, and quickly fell asleep against his friend, letting her support his weight. She smiled, and wrapped an arm around him.
unedited.