Chapter 4
Leo didn’t know what to do as they had some free time when he saw the dark building that Angel walked into. It more resembled a mausoleum then anything else.
“So… Why is Angel going into the darkest scarcest building?” Leo asked
The twins from earlier grinned “Because he’s the angel of death”
“What… so his name is Azrael? Is that why you call him angel.”
The brothers smiled and nodded as grins grew on their faces. “You can call him that” they said excited.
Leo wasn’t too sure on how to take the answer he got. He walked away from them as he thought about it. He was fiddling with things from his pockets for who knew how long when he spotted Jason and Angel sitting under a tree talking. Angel didn’t look happy, the kid looked really sad actually. Jason looked seriously sorry as it seemed they were talking about Jason’s memory. Leo stepped up to Angel and Jason smiling “So Angel…”
The death punk boy sighed “Not you too” he groaned. Jason glared annoyed.
“What?” Leo asked confused “It’s his name, isn’t it?” Leo asked using both hands to point at Angel. Jason blinked the jealousy suddenly gone as he looked confused.
“My Name is Nico” The death punk kid stated bluntly. “The Stroll brothers call me Angel because my surname is di Angelo”
“OH” Leo suddenly understood. “So, I call you Nico then” then he frowned “and here they had me believing your name was Azrael”
Nico blinked then snickered “That’s Thanatos” he said amused
“Are we really all children of the gods here?”
“Yes, there are a few exceptions and there are children of Titans.”
Leo’s head was spinning “Wait, that means we’re all what... Cousins?”
“Technically yes, I think the farthest apart any of us here at camp get is second cousins twice removed of the main pantheon. It can get up to like sixth cousins. but no one counts it, there’s no real point. Gods don’t actually have a genetic code so you can date in the camp, just not your own cabin, those are siblings.” Leo nodded sort of getting it but not really. Jason was looking completely lost so he didn’t feel too bad.
That’s when Campfire was called, using the conch shell. Leo followed the other two to the amphitheatre for campfire. Leo however was called over by his cabin to sit with them under their banner. Jason and Nico wander to go sit under a black banner with a bronze bident on it. There was a larger space around them then the rest due to their number. The one beside them was a weird collection of kids. It was the Hestia cabin. He remembered that explanation.
The Apollo cabin was leading campfire as it seemed normal, even if the fire seemed to change colour and brightness to match the mood of the campers, Nyssa was great for explaining things. Jason wasn’t sure what was going on but seeing Hari and Nico, who were normally so quiet, jumping around with the others made him smile. Seeing them act like kids seemed to make the rest of the campers just try even harder. All while Chiron was roasting marshmallows on a spear. It was fun actually, being able and expected to act silly even if the entire song was about Grandma getting dressed for war.
That was when Piper and a ginger, who Nyssa explained was Rachel their oracle, arrived. They didn’t get a chance to sit down before chaos broke out. That’s when the Great Prophecy was announced to have started, the Camp learned it was now active. Leo and any new campers were all confused, but this seemed know to the older ones. “For those of you who have not heard it,” Rachel said, “the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived last August. It goes like this:
“Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—” Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he’d just been tasered. Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. “J-Jason?” she said. “What’s—”
“Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus,” he chanted. “Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem.” An uneasy silence settled on the group. Leo was so confused by the sudden tension.
“You just … finished the prophecy,” Rachel stammered. “—An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—”
“I know those lines.” Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. “I don’t know how, but I know that prophecy.”
Nico looked panicked as this was the first time, he’d seen Jason in pain like this. It was making him fret. Jason settled and Nico fussed over him, being a little clingy, Jason didn’t mind from the smile and how he’d naturally held hands with him. The rest of the camp were startled and a few were having ‘aw’ moments at Nico being adorable… not that they’d say it in fear of him. Leo was blushing at it and seriously felt jealous of them.
“Well,” Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. “So, yeah, that’s the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it’s starting now. I can’t give you proof. It’s just a feeling. And some weird stuff is happening. The seven demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here.”
The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, “I’m here! Oh … were you calling roll?”
“Go back to sleep, Clovis,” someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed. Leo felt his own dragged out of him.
“Anyway,” Rachel continued, “we don’t know what the Great Prophecy means. We don’t know what challenge the demi-gods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad.”
“No, this will be worse” Hari stated leaning forward on her elbows with her chin braced on her hand, she looked weirdly dangerous and sexy. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, reacting to everyone’s fears. That was getting on Leo’s nerves actually, freaking him right out.
“What we do know,” Rachel said, “is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken.”
Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once. “We were told she was gone.” someone yelled. His fellows were looking scared. Leo didn’t understand what was going on at all.
Hari stood up and the campers went silent. “Hera fell at the end of the Titan war. I will be confirming with My Father this evening if this is truly Hera or merely a shard that has somehow regained consciousness.” The crowd settled “Rachel, if you could explain as you have the most information right now.”
Rachel took a steadying breath as she told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods. Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera’s shrine. Piper tried to keep a calm expression, even when she noticed one of the Aphrodite girls in the back row, pantomiming a faint, and her friends giggling. Leo felt mad for her sake as Hari looked absolutely flat annoyed. Finally, Rachel told them about Jason’s vision in the living room of the Big House.
“Jason,” Rachel said. “Um … do you remember your last name?”
Jason looked self-conscious, but he shook his head. She then looked at Hari and Nico they could all tell knew him but both shook their heads. “Can’t say it” Nico stated looking uncomfortable, things had already been discussed behind closed doors. Leo felt like he’d missed so much learning about his cabin.
“We’ll just call you Jason, then,” Rachel said. “It’s clear Hera herself has issued you a quest.”
Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone’s eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, He looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. “I agree.”
“You must save Hera to prevent a great evil,” Rachel continued. “Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don’t yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now.”
“That’s the council day of the gods,” Annabeth said. Nyssa informed him was the head Councillor for Athena “If the gods don’t already know Hera’s back, they will definitely know then. They’ll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of bring her back. That’s what they usually do.”
“The winter solstice,” Chiron spoke up, “is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things … stir.”
“Okay,” Annabeth said, glaring at Chiron “Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever’s going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—”
“Why hasn’t he been claimed?” somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. Nyssa informed him that was Clarisse, Head counsellor of Ares cabin “If he’s so important—”
“He has been claimed,” Chiron announced. “Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration.”
“He did already during capture the flag. Or did you guys seriously miss The Stoll brothers yelling ‘full counter’?”
“That doesn’t explain why he wasn’t claimed.”
Hari sighed and Nico groaned, both looked annoyed really. “Then arguing that Neither have Hari or I” Nico said rather loudly.
They all stopped arguing. “Then who is his Parent?”
“Jupiter,” Jason said. “I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky.”
Apparently, the rest of the camp wasn’t so sure. Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms. “Hold it!” she said. “How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three … their pact not to have mortal kids … how could we not have known about him sooner?”
“Because the Gods know more then you and share even less” Hari stated
“Oh, Shut up. Just because your dad is the new King of Olympus doesn’t mean you get to hang this over our heads.”
“I’m also not held under the same oath laws!” Hari snapped. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t apply to me!”
“The important thing,” Rachel said breaking up the argument before blades could be drawn, which seemed plausible with these two from the tension in the campers “is that Jason’s here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy.”
She closed her eyes and swooned. There was chaos as a series of trained motions all happened to get Rachel seated. A green mist started swirling around Rachel’s feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient.
“Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth, The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera’s rage.” On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but was caught before she could fall. She was carried away and laid in the corner to rest.
“Is that normal?” Piper asked. When she realized she’d spoken into the silence and everyone was looking at her, she was deeply embarrassed. That started a whole slew of arguing and snarking from the campers about the quest itself. Hari was biting her lip as she shared a look with Nico as he had turned to look at her. There was an exchange going on between them. They knew more then they were telling. Which was missed by the arguers and the ones watching the chaos. Harley had to tell Leo who the Aphrodite’s leader was, Tina wasn’t a nice person apparently, no one but her little followers liked her.
“It’s Jason’s quest,” Annabeth announced stopping the arguments before they could get more heated, “so it’s Jason’s choice. Obviously, he’s the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions.”
Travis, one of the guys that had tried to trick Leo about Nico’s name, yelled “Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You’ve got the most experience.”
“No, Travis,” Annabeth said. “First off, I’m not helping Hera. Every time I’ve tried, she’s deceived me, or it’s come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I’m leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy.”
“It’s connected,” Piper blurted out “You know that’s true, don’t you? This whole business, your boyfriend’s disappearance—it’s all connected.” Leo completely believed her. Piper had these Epiphany moments that seemed to be weirdly accurate. That’s when the argument broke out again
Leo instantly noticed that Hari and Nico weren’t listening to the arguments between Annabeth, Tina, Nyssa, and Piper. Jason added his two cents in. “It says who I pick,” Jason agreed. “The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul—Hephaestus.”
Leo came out of his random thoughts to see Nyssa’s shoulders slumped, like she’d just been given a heavy anvil to carry. “If you have to beware the earth,” she said, “you should avoid traveling overland. You’ll need air transport. The flying chariot’s broken,” Nyssa continued, “and the pegasi, we’re using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I’m senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest.” She didn’t sound enthusiastic at all.
Leo got this really odd feeling, that calm where he’d lose hours when working on something. That fear from seeing his old babysitter. He felt like he needed to go… He Had to go. Leo stood up as if possessed “It’s me,” he said. He ignored the stirrings of his cabin mates. Even of Harley and a few of there others trying to get him to sit down but Leo resisted. “No, it’s me. I know it is. I’ve got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!”
Jason studied him for a moment. Leo was blushing under the sudden scrutiny that felt a little too hot for a simple assessment the bullies did before deciding to let him stay or beat him up. Jason smiled. “We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you’re in.”
“Yes!” Leo pumped his fist. He was so excited. He was in. All that was left was to find that dragon.
“It’ll be dangerous,” Nyssa warned him. “Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive.”
“Oh.” Leo suddenly was a crushing realization he’d just Volunteered for a mission that would probably get him killed. Then he remembered everyone was watching and turned everything back to his mask as he grinned. “I mean … Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let’s do this.”
Annabeth nodded. “Then, Jason, you only need to choose the third quest member. The dove—”
“Oh, absolutely!” Tina was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile.
“The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours.” A male sassed doing that weird limp wrist thing with his hand which caused Tina to turn red as the half of the cabin that hadn’t been tormenting Piper started to snicker. That must have been humiliating.
Leo looked at Piper to see her step forward. “No.” she said in that voice that said not to piss her off or she’d hurt you.
Leo couldn’t quite figure out the girly arguing that followed, he was suddenly thinking up plans to catch that bronze dragon. Leo suddenly was tossed out of his thoughts when Piper was doing that thing with her voice again, when it got richer and could convince people to agree with her… Leo just thought it was pretty to listen to, not that he liked her in that way. Leo was confused as he looked around to see people nodding, to what ever Piper had said. Then someone barked and Leo could see that confidence wane as it always did when she tried to explain things she couldn’t.
“Well,” Tina said smugly, “I guess that settles it.”
“I’m going” The guy from earlier said. This little snit fit among the ‘doves’ seemed to be making feathers metaphorically fly.
That’s when something happened. There was collective gasp. Even Leo was focused on Piper. There was this weird reddish glow and Leo blushed as Piper turned beautiful. It was amazing—She’s got makeup! It’s a miracle!
“What?” Piper demanded breaking the spell on Leo. Leo burst out laughing, he couldn’t help it as she yelped as she realized she was in a Dress. An actual Dress! Even her hair was long and done up. It was totally not Piper which made it all the funnier. “Oh, god,” Piper was freaking out “What’s happened?” A stunned Annabeth pointed at Piper’s dagger, which Piper seemingly pulled out to use as a makeshift mirror. Leo was snickering as Piper lost even more of her ever-loving marbles.
“Beautiful,” Jason exclaimed stunned but he was looking at her aesthetically. “Piper, you … you’re a knockout.” Nico jabbed him in the side with a finger, pouting. Jason obviously didn’t understand what was going through Nico’s mind from his confused expression as he looked at his boyfriend.
Tina’s face was full of horror and revulsion. “No!” she cried. “Not possible!”
“It’s totally possible. Suck it, Tina!” One of the smaller girls stated grinning. There was obviously a war going on in the cabin.
“This isn’t me,” Piper protested. “I—don’t understand.”
Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example. Except Hari, Nico, and Jason. “Hail, Piper McLean,” Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. “Daughter of Aphrodite, Lady of the Doves, Goddess of Love.”
Soon enough the campfire ended for Leo as he bolted for the forest. If he was going to get this done by morning, he had to do it now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So that’s how an Aphrodite kid is claimed.” Nico muttered
“I was curious too.” Hari muttered
“Have you never seen a claiming before?” Annabeth asked frowning
“Not an Aphrodite kid.” Hari stated “We’ve missed them all.” Annabeth seemed to accept that as she was heading towards Chiron. Everyone else unhappily scattered to cabins and bed.
Jason separated from them to talk to Piper and officially invite her on the quest. He felt more like they could be friends as he wrapped a blanket over her shoulders. She was muttering about getting mugged by her mom, as The Goddess had stolen her snowboarding jacket during the sudden transformation. They then parted to head to their cabins.
Jason found the small pile of clothes for him and he changed into a pair of sweats to wear to bed. Though when the other campers offered him an orange shirt before campfire, he was dreading more of them. He got hit in the face with a black one. It was… a match to Nico’s but without the Cerberus on the front, it was still a Pegasus. The black made him smile as it had a skull on it with the words ‘Claimed’ on the back. They each crawled in a different bed. Hari and Jason were both out pretty quick. Hari was going to speak with their father, this way was easier. Jason was just exhausted.
Nico couldn’t sleep even after laying in bed so he went wandering around camp. There was no one else awake to bother him. He wandered into the forest. He’d been hearing the clamour of the ghosts there from bed which might have been why he couldn’t sleep and went to go see what was going on. Only he got sidetracked and heard a living noise. Nico followed the noise.
The source of the noise was an inexperienced camper who hadn’t learned to walk silently or confidently through the forest yet. Nico spotted the flames in Leo’s hand; the small amount of light was enough for Nico to see him. Nico blushed and hated himself a little bit for that, he was dating Jason. Well not really as it felt wrong to be calling Jason without his memories his boyfriend.
Nico approached the twitchy Leo “Hi”
Leo screamed and fell backwards the flame going out in his panic. Nico in dodging the flailing arms and legs stumbled backwards yelping as he ended up tangled in tree roots. There was a click and a flash of light.
Nico sighed just getting comfortable on the ground. “What was that? Are we under attack?” Leo was panicking.
“No, you are still safe.” Firenze stated “However, what are you two doing out after curfew? You know the forest is dangerous right now.”
“We know.” Nico stated rolling his eyes. “Was there a reason you had to take our picture?”
“The Gods expect pictures.”
“Wait, is my dad going to see that?” Leo panicked and started freaking out he was so embarrassed all while failing to get himself unhooked from the tree roots.
“Yes” Nico sighed “I think they compete on who has the best kid. Or some days the best pictures.” Nico didn’t care anymore and that was fine with him.
They both sighed as Firenze picked them up by the backs of their coats and put them on their feet. “Be safe you two.” The centaur stated and left them to it, knowing they would be fine. It wasn’t his job to babysit them, it was to get pictures to send to parents, godly or otherwise.
“Why didn’t he get mad at us?” Leo asked confused
“Firenze is cool. He doesn’t interfere, Also I’m the Ghost King. I’m perfectly safe, so are you so long as I’m here.”
Leo snorted “Ghost King? Really, that’s the nickname you give yourself, not I don’t know… Deathscythe? What are you going to do? Summon Casper?”
Nico raised an eyebrow at him. It looked creepy and very dangerous but also a little cute. “Did you seriously make a Gundam Wing reference?” Nico asked dumbfounded
“Yeah, most people don’t get those.”
“I binge watched it with my sister before school started.”
“Sweet…” Leo grinned then turned as he saw something that turned out to be a floating figure go from foggy and faint to clear and slivery but transparent.
‘Welcome back Ghost King. Have you come looking for the dragon?’ The ghost stated
Leo twitched “Yes…” Leo said not really believing a ghost had just appeared in front of him.
‘It’s ahead and to the left. It’s been circling the traps trying to find a way through them.’
“Thanks, we’ll take a look” The ghost bowed to Nico then floated away fading out as it got farther away from him.
“Do they always do that?”
“Do what?” Nico asked tilting his head looking bemused, it was cute, even if the Aura was doing really weird things to Leo’s senses.
“Fade in and out like that around you?”
“Umm they get stronger around me and my sister, I don’t know about fading out, he’s heading to the west.” Nico said still able to perfectly see the ghost until he couldn’t see them anymore because they were too far away.
“Right, Dragon” Leo led the way, his flame back. Nico didn’t say anything at the flame. “It doesn’t freak you out?”
“My sister’s is green. I’ve gotten used to it just randomly appearing.” Nico explained
At the bottom of a clearing, he saw the first trap. It was a hundred-foot-wide crater ringed with boulders. In the center of the depression sat a metal vat the size of a hot tub had been filled with bubbly dark liquid, a mix of Tabasco sauce and motor oil. On a pedestal suspended over the vat, an electric fan rotated in a circle, spreading the fumes across the forest.
“Whoa” Nico tilted his head cutely and Leo blushed as it was cute, even if the aura was still getting him. “The trap, it’s pretty ingenious.” Leo explained
“It’s just a giant bronze net…” Nico stated frowning
“You can sense it too?”
“Yes, because it’s Imperial bronze, it’s a precious metal… I’m not good at it but I know it’s there.”
“No, seriously though, wait… Can metal dragons even smell? Because that fan is useless otherwise.”
“I’d guess as much. Gloria is made out of Stygian iron and she seemed to be able to smell things. Reacts to catnip too.”
“Gloria?”
“My cat” Nico blushed adorably.
“Neat” Leo grinned he dragged his eyes away from Nico looking nervous and shy. It made Leo swallow. Leo then hopped down to approach the vat to hid his blush.
“Aren’t you nervous at all?” Nico asked cautious
“Why? Its obviously pressure sensitive. There’s nothing heavier then a metal dragon in these woods so us on the same trigger plate shouldn’t even make it twitch. Otherwise, they could catch an animal, human, smaller monster, whatever…” Leo looked nervous for a second, “There is nothing heavier, right?”
“Not unless you count the Ares cabin and/or the Hephaestus cabin in full amour jumping on one.” Nico stated hopping down onto the trigger plate, his bomber jacket getting a little dirt on the elbow.
Leo snickered then looked at the trap closer “The six large strips of bronze stretched out from the vat like the spokes of a wheel. They would all be pressure sensitive. So as soon as the dragon stepped on one, the net would spring closed, and voilà. One gift-wrapped monster.” They picked their way down the crater and approached the vat. The fumes were almost overpowering, and their eyes started watering. Leo looked for a trigger, something that would disable the net. He didn’t see anything. Nico wasn’t helping as he stood there with his hands in his pockets.
Leo had a moment of panic. Nyssa had said there were several traps like this in the woods, and they were planning more. What if the dragon had already stepped into another one? How could Leo possibly find them all?
“What are you looking for?” Nico asked breaking Leo out of his spinning thoughts.
“An off switch, a release mechanism… anything. I need to get that dragon.” Leo sighed starting to despair. Then he heard the sound. It was more of a tremor. The deep sort of rumbling you hear in your gut rather than your ears. It gave him the jitters, but he didn’t look around for the source. He just kept examining the trap, thinking. Nico seemed to be keeping watch anyway. Then they heard a grinding snort, like steam forced out of a metal barrel. Leo turned slowly at the poke to his shoulder. Nico was suddenly beside him.
At the edge of the pit, fifty feet away, two glowing red eyes were staring at him. The creature gleamed in the moonlight, and Leo couldn’t believe something that huge had snuck up on them so fast. Too late, Leo realized its gaze was fixed on the fire in his hand, and he extinguished the flames. He could still see the dragon just fine. It was about sixty feet long, snout to tail, its body made of interlocking bronze plates. Its claws were the size of butcher knives, and its mouth was lined with hundreds of dagger-sharp metal teeth. Steam came out of its nostrils. It snarled like a chain saw cutting through a tree. It could’ve bitten Leo in half, easy, or stomped him flat. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, except for one problem that completely ruined Leo’s plan.
“You don’t have wings,” Leo said.
The dragon’s snarl died. It tilted its head as if to say, why aren’t you running away in terror?
Leo was more intent on dorking out all over the beautiful bronze creature, even as he lamented the lack of wings. Then the Dragon who decided after being very confused that eating Leo was in the plan as it stepped forward.
When Leo yelled at it to stop or get trapped. The dragon opened its mouth and blew fire. A column of white-hot flames billowed over Leo. It stung a little, but he stood his ground. When the flames died, he was perfectly fine. Even his clothes were okay, which Leo didn’t understand, but for which he was grateful. He liked his army jacket, and having his pants seared off would’ve been pretty embarrassing, especially with the slight reaction he was getting due to how cute Nico was. “Um…” Leo looked to see Nico wasn’t beside him anymore.
“Over here…. Damn… that was cool” Nico was at the other end of the trap with shadows whispering around him, he was grinning in awe, a dork apparently too.
“Hot actually”
Nico blushed “No, that’s Jason.”
Leo went to retort… “him too.” He admitted already aware of how he reacted to Piper’s boyfriend that wasn’t actually her boyfriend. It was weird and not the time to think about that.
The dragon stared at Leo. Leo didn’t need the dragon’s expression to change to read it as confused. A spark flew out of its neck marking damage to the dragon.
“You can’t burn me,” Leo said, trying to sound stern and calm. He’d never had a dog before, but he talked to the dragon the way he thought he should talk to a dog.
The Dragon didn’t like that as it creaked, roared, and charged. The trap sprang. Leo was knocked off his feet, turned upside down, and doused in Tabasco sauce and oil. He found himself sandwiched between the vat and the dragon as it thrashed, they were both trapped in the net.
The dragon blew flames in every direction, causing the expected chaos. Oil and sauce burned all over them. It didn’t hurt Leo, but that didn’t mean it tasted good. “Will you stop that!” he yelled. The dragon kept squirming. Leo had to move or he was going to get even skinnier. He managed to wriggle out from between the dragon, the net and the vat. He barely got hung up with holes big enough for him to fit through.
Leo ran to the dragon’s head. It tried to snap at him, but between the net tangling it’s teeth and the shadows dancing around he seemed to be safe enough. It kept blowing fire, which did nothing but tire it out. Leo tried to talk the dragon calm, not that it worked. After telling the dragon a third time about the others trying to kill it, it finally settling down. Leo set to work.
It took almost an hour to find the control panel. It was right behind the dragon’s head, which made sense. The dragon stayed in the net, because it was easier to work with the dragon constrained. The dragon didn’t like it.
“Do you need my help or should I get snacks?” Nico asked seeing Leo had everything in order now.
Leo looked at him “Snacks sound amazing right now.”
Nico vanished and came back about ten minutes later with McDonalds. Nico looked at him stunned, “I leave you for ten minutes and you’re filthy.”
“’Clean hands, dirty equipment’, My mom used to say” Leo muttered cleaning the Dragon’s control panel.
Nico shrugged not trusting Leo to feed himself without a good scrub. He sat in front of him holding the open burger still in half it’s wrapper out for Leo to take bites out of as he worked. Even holding the cup and its straw for him.
By the time Leo had finished eating the burger he was done cleaning the control disk. They scrambled up on top of the dragon so Leo could clean the gearbox while Nico was feeding him fries which was safer due to Leo’s hands being black with grease. Nico was munching on his own food at the same time.
By the time Leo was through, his hands were black with grease and his clothes looked like he’d just lost a mud-wrestling contest, but the mechanisms looked a lot better. He slipped in the disk, connected the last wire, and sparks flew. The dragon shuddered. Its eyes began to glow. “Better?” Leo asked.
The dragon made a sound like a high-speed drill. It opened its mouth and all its teeth rotated.
“I guess that’s a yes. Hold on, I’ll free you.” Leo said even thought it took another thirty minutes even with Nico’s help to find the release clamps for the net and untangle the dragon. Finally, it stood and shook the last bit of netting off its back. It roared triumphantly and shot fire at the sky.
“Seriously,” Leo said. “Could you not show off?” Leo was purposely not looking at Nico’s amused expression. The dragon seemed confused by that. “You need a name,” Leo decided. “I’m calling you Festus.” The dragon whirred its teeth and grinned. At least Leo hoped it was a grin. “Cool,” Leo said. “But we still have a problem, because you don’t have wings.”
Festus tilted his head and snorted steam. Then he lowered his back in an unmistakable gesture. He wanted Leo to climb on. Leo was way too excited as he climbed onto the dragon’s back; Nico scrambled up behind him. Festus bounded off into the woods.
Leo lost track of time and all sense of direction, mostly because he was very much distracted by Nico sitting directly behind him, close enough that he could hear Nico’s amusement, but not so close they were touching. They were passing an area they actually played Capture the Flag in, not that Leo knew that. The dragon’s glowing red eyes were like headlights.
After crossing a stream, they came to a limestone cliff a that was impossible to climb. This was a border they used in Capture the Flag; most avoided it so not to get trapped. Festus stopped at the base pointing at something. Leo slid to the ground, Nico landing softly behind him. They walked up to the solid rock called a cliff.
Leo put his hand on the cliff for nothing else to do. Suddenly his fingers smoldered. Lines of fire spread from his fingertips like ignited gunpowder, sizzling across the limestone. The burning lines raced across the cliff face until they had outlined a glowing red door five times as tall as Leo. He backed up and the door swung open, disturbingly silently for such a big slab of rock. It was like that door to Moria in The Lord of the Rings but way bigger. “Speak friend and enter…” Nico whispered then snickered behind him. Leo snickered too even if the voice Nico did was creepy.
“Perfectly balanced,” he muttered. “That’s some first-rate engineering.”
“Seems to be keyed to Children of Hephaestus.” Nico muttered “I doubt anyone even knows about this place.”
The dragon unfroze and marched inside. Leo and Nico followed him, and the door began to close. He had a moment of panic. Nico’s hand on his wrist made him breath, a heartbeat later the lights flickered on, a combination of electric fluorescents and wall-mounted torches.
When Leo saw the cavern, he forgot about leaving. “Festus,” he muttered. “What is this place?” Leo snickered as the dragon stomped to the center of the room, leaving tracks in the thick dust, and curled up on a large circular platform.
“I think this is what they call a workshop fit for a god…” Nico muttered having finally released his wrist, Leo smiled at the shy blushing look on Nico’s face, his hands now stuffed in his pockets.
The workshop was the size of an airplane hangar, with endless worktables and storage cages, rows of garage-sized doors along either wall, and staircases that led up to a network of catwalks high above. Equipment was everywhere. From hydraulic lifts, welding torches, hazard suits, air-spades, forklifts, to something that might actually be a nuclear reaction chamber. Bulletin boards were covered with tattered, faded blueprints. There was the usual demi-god stuff, then there were war supplies all over the place, a lot of only partially finished projects. Hanging from chains far above the dragon’s platform was an old tattered banner almost too faded to read. The Greek letters read, Bunker 9.
“Do you think it means nine as in the Hephaestus cabin, or nine as in there were eight others?” Leo asked looking at Festus, still curled up on the platform, it had probably been built on that pad.
“I’d say for Cabin nine.” Nico stated
“Do the other kids know …?” Leo’s question was instantly answered just looking around. The place had been abandoned for decades. They were the first one in this bunker in a long time ago. Bunker 9 had been abandoned with a lot of projects half finished on the tables. Locked up and forgotten. Leo wanted to know why.
Leo looked at a battle map of camp on the wall. The paper was cracked and yellow. The date at the bottom read, 1864. A blueprint on a nearby bulletin board caught his eye. his heart almost leaped out of his throat. He ran to the worktable and stared up at a white-line drawing almost faded beyond recognition: a Greek ship from several different angles. Faintly scrawled words underneath it read: prophecy? unclear. flight?
“Weird, but not unheard of.” Nico muttered
“What?”
“Getting visions like this about things that need to be built. The gods see it but can’t always time them so they send them to their children to at least record them in case another demi-god needs them.” Nico explained distracted “Weird… this is from the American civil war…that might explain why they were concerned. Also, why this place might have been abandoned.”
Leo was pulled out of his thought about the flying ship from his dreams. “What are you talking about?”
“The civil war was lead by demi-gods. Sort of caused it actually.” Nico said cringing
Leo frowned “That’s a thing?”
Nico nodded now examining the blueprint as well out of curiosity. Leo examined it a little closer. Someone had tried to build it here, or at least sketched out the idea. Then it was left, forgotten … a prophecy yet to come. Weirdest of all, the ship’s masthead was the head of a dragon. “Looks like you, Festus,” he murmured. “That’s creepy.”
The masthead gave Leo uneasy feelings. He touched the blueprint, hoping he could take it down to study, but the paper crackled at his touch, so he left it alone. He looked around for other clues. No boats. No pieces that looked like parts of this project, but there were so many doors and storerooms to explore.
“This blueprint is important right?” Nico asked pointing at the ship blueprint
“Yes. But it’s too fragile to take down.” Leo complained
“I’ll worry about that” Nico muttered examining it in a way Leo didn’t understand.
Festus snorted like he was trying to get Leo’s attention, reminding him they didn’t have all night. It was true. Leo figured it would be morning in a few hours, and he’d gotten completely sidetracked. He’d saved the dragon, but it wasn’t going to help him on the quest. He needed something that would fly.
Festus nudged something toward him, which turned out to be a leather tool belt that had been left next to his construction pad. Nico turned at the sound of a buckle. Then his eyes traveled up. “Well, you were complaining about a lack of wings.” Nico muttered looking up.
Leo couldn’t see what Nico saw until the dragon switched on his glowing red eye beams and turned them toward the ceiling. Leo looked up to where the spotlights were pointing, and yelped when he recognized the shapes hanging above them in the darkness.
“Festus,” he said in a small voice. “We’ve got work to do.”
Nico watched as Leo wasn’t fighting the bronze dragon so much as trying to fix the dragon. The determination on his face was very different then his constant happy expression. Nico realized quickly that Leo and him were opposites when they got depressed. Leo forced himself to be happy where Nico got angry instead.
Nico decided, as Leo worked, to figure out how the Hephaestus cabin-built coffee pot worked shadow travelling to pick up snacks, coffee and sugar. It also gave him some time to figure out which spell to use to allow Leo to have his blueprints without them crumbling. He’d rather take his time on this one, better safe then sorry.
Leo blinked at the coffee being handed to him. He looked at Nico who was perfectly calm and drinking a cup of his own coffee. Leo gave a lopsided smile. The Aura was a little off-putting but it was quickly vanishing in the sights of such a cute expression. Leo didn’t have time to deal with the rush of blood to … places, in a way no girl had ever managed to do to him.
Nico finally yawned as Leo was filling his pockets with the left-over snacks. He even managed to clean up a little… mostly just washing the worst of the grease and grim off his hands with the weird soap by the sink that seemed stained by this sort of thing. Leo was flying Festus to camp. Nico shadow traveled to bed. He didn’t need to stay up for the chaos he knew was coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason actually woke up looking though sheer black curtains to see Nico was curled up with Hari in the bed across from him, both in tees with the blanket pulled up around them. It was also really cute as they both had this pale ghost like look but were so cuddly, even if they were a little cold. It did make the cabin cool though. Which made going back to sleep after his nightmare of wolves easier. Only he realized he couldn’t sleep as if his brain knew it was morning.
Jason wandered out and saw it was daylight, real daylight. He was blind after the darkness of the cabin. “I think I’m blind.”
“Close the door or I’m turning you into a gremlin.” Hari growled darkly from the bed.
“You can’t murder my boyfriend” Nico muttered curling up even deeper under the blankets as Hari pulled them over both their heads.
Jason was snickering as stepped back in closing the door and packing his gear up, the last of it which had somehow involved a toiletry kit and an extra warm jacket. He grabbed the hoodie off the bed and felt for some deep reason that it was his, but Nico had been wearing it from the lingering scent of ash and frost.
Jason walked out getting more grumbles before he stepped out of the cabin. Jason frowned as he found something he hadn’t noticed before. It was a covered area of pictures pinned to a notice board. He frowned at it.
“It’s a memorial wall on one side and just pictures others want to show off on the other. The gods put some up too.” Annabeth said smiling she touched one of the pictures. It was of a much younger Annabeth with a blond boy and a girl with black hair all grinning in one of those photo kiosks.
“These are Luke and Thalia, they were family to me… we lost Luke in the last war, and Thalia… she’s serving Artemis now as a hunter, she was a Daughter of Zeus.”
“How old is she now?” he asked.
“Hard to say. She was a tree for a while. Now she’s immortal.”
“What?” the expression on Jason’s face must have been pretty good, making Annabeth laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s not something all children of Zeus go through. It’s a long story, but … well, she was out of commission for a long time. If she’d aged regularly, she’d be in her twenties now, but she still looks the same as in that picture, like she’s about … well, about your age. Fifteen or sixteen?”
Jason was frowning as he was thinking, between Hari and Nico not giving him details while explaining things he didn’t know a lot. “What’s her last name?”
Annabeth looked uneasy. “She didn’t use a last name, really. If she had to, she’d use her mom’s, but they didn’t get along. Thalia ran away when she was pretty young.” Jason waited. “Grace,” Annabeth said. “Thalia Grace.”
Jason froze up as something hit him like a ton of bricks. Annabeth was concerned which made Jason nervous. The shred of memory a tiny piece that Hera had been unable to touch, to steal. It had been too integral to his mind, a secret that had kept him strong. Something he’d known was dangerous to chase and impossible to ignore. Chiron knew something specific about Jason’s family. Something Hari and Nico hadn’t known. The she-wolf ’s words in his dream finally made sense to him, her clever joke at his expense. He could imagine Lupa growling a wolfish laugh.
It was only then after some back and forth and a promise from Annabeth that she wouldn’t tell, that Jason admitted to the cause of panic… His last name, Grace. Thalia was his older sister. Annabeth went through every reaction then came to a different one then expected. She pulled out a small hard case. She opened it to reveal photos. “Here, it was taken last year. Her girlfriend Luna is the one beside her. Keep it. I’ve got one of me and Thalia.”
Jason looked at it and felt something as he clutched the photo. “Thanks.”
“We’ll talk when we both get back. Deal?”
“Deal”
“Anything else I should know?” Annabeth asked with a sigh
Jason told her about the rest of the dream he’d had, she was surprised, even gave him a good suggestion on where to look. Even where to start his quest with a smile. She knew what she was doing and talking about. Then there was a freak out as a dragon came flying down o the camp. “Where are Hari and Nico when you need them?” Annabeth hissed
“Asleep” Jason muttered. Annabeth gave him a look dryer then a desert. Jason couldn’t help the snort that escaped. He had that thought already this morning.
“LEO?” Piper yelled in shock from across the cabin field looking ready to leave.
Sure enough, Leo was grinning like a lunatic sitting on top of a giant bronze death machine of a dragon. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started screaming. Nyssa was right there with Jason and Annabeth as half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor. Apparently, pre-breakfast was a bad time to startle Demi-gods.
The dragon set down right in the middle of the grass near the center of the cabins, with Leo yelling, “It’s cool! Don’t shoot!”
Jason recognized the falling from attack positions but still prepared for battle. The armed campers made a loose wide ring around the metal monster. Other demi-gods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. Nobody seemed anxious to get close. Unlike Leo who was still grinning and sitting on it.
Jason couldn’t help but admire the dragon. Not only was it huge, it glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture of a sixty-foot-long serpent. 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 fully audible in the silence of the group. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane. Jason smiled completely agreeing with her, apparently so did the dragon as it shot fire into the air making the campers twitchy. Jason was more amused looking at Leo as he slid off the dragons back as if surrendering. Jason had an image in his head that was not suited to the situation about Leo surrendering… even if that grin would have been a little less sleep depravation and more… playful.
“People of Earth, I come in peace!” Leo shouted being his usual self. Even though he looked like he’d been rolling around in the campfire. His army coat and his face were smeared with soot. His hands were grease-stained, and he 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 he smelled strangely of Tabasco sauce. He looked absolutely delighted. “Festus is just saying hello!”
“That thing is dangerous!” Clarisse shouted, brandishing her spear. “Kill it now!”
“Stand down!” Jason ordered before things could get out of hand, which he felt was quickly. Jason shook his head in amazement. “Leo, what have you done?”
“Found a ride!” Leo beamed. “You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!”
“It—has wings,” Nyssa stammered in complete shock awe and disbelief.
“Yeah!” Leo said. “I found them and reattached them.”
“But it never had wings. Where did you find them?”
Leo hesitated; it wasn’t hard to tell he was hiding something. They’d deal with it after the quest when they had more time. “In … the woods,” he said. “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 oil from the smell, and this was where the tabasco smell was coming from poured out of its ear, all over Leo. “Just a few kinks to work out,” Leo was talking even as he tried to get the worst of the oil off him.
“But how did you survive …?” Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe now as shock had worn off. “I mean, the fire breath …”
“I’m quick,” Leo said. “And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?”
Jason scratched his head not sure how to deal with all this, it was also really awkward to think of getting Leo in a shower... “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 apparently able to translate metal dragon speak “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 as if he’d had this argument before with Hari of all people. “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, of times she’d spent with people important to her. “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 feeling he understood those feelings but not remembering them. “You ready, Piper?”
Piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky. She grinned “You bet.”
They all climbed on into what seemed to be high-tech saddles all in a single line, three in total. Leo in front, Piper in the middle and Jason at the back. Jason placed himself at the back to keep the temptation of touching Leo at bay. After his talk with Nico, it felt strange being attracted to both of them for different reasons. Leo, obviously hyper due to adrenaline, lack of sleep was the entire cause, explained about the safety harnesses tucked under the exterior plating and the stirrup like chinks in the armour, for adjustments on long rides. This was a perfect quest vehicle.
Festus launched into the air, Leo steering with the reins, it seemed perfectly natural for Leo. Jason smiled swallowing as he imagined Nico in bed… with Leo along side him. Thankfully Piper and Leo’s banter gave him an excuse to pull himself out of his thoughts. He laid out the game plan, go to Quebec to find Boreas and ask him about the storm spirits. They traded information between them. Only Piper pulled Leo to her chest and told him to get some sleep. Jason was Jealous as Leo passed out on Piper. Thankfully Festus could steer himself to their location. It gave Piper and Jason time to figure out where they stood. Mostly it was apologizing for being awkward.