Home|| Leo Valdez

12

—Sitting atop a giant bronze death machine and grinning like lunatics, Alex and Leo descended. 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!"

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.

"It's beautiful," Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.

Festus reared his head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but Leo and Alex slid calmly off the dragon's back. Leo held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face.

"People of Earth, I come in peace!" he shouted. 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. But he looked absolutely delighted and ok... a little cute.

"Festus is just saying hello!" Alex added, it was something about seeing Leo do what he loved that made her realize that she maybe could admire how.... nice looking her best friend was. Knowing Leo though, she knew it was a losing game to hope anything happened with her crush, so she kept her expectations in check. 

She took out the dagger she had eyed in bunker nine and showed it to Piper who nodded in approval. The blade was about ten inches long and made of celestial bronze with a seashell embedded in it's hilt, it made Alex feel closer to her father.

"That thing is dangerous!" an Ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" Jason ordered. He pushed through the crowd, flanked by Annabeth and Nyssa.

Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, Alex, 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. Her jaw looked like it might drop off her face.

"Yeah!" Leo said. "I found them and reattached them."

"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"

Leo hesitated, so Alex stepped in. "In the woods," she said. "Leo 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. "I mean, the fire breath..."

"I used my water powers" Alex lied. "Now are we going or not?"

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?"

"You bet," she said.

—Flying on the dragon was the most amazing experience ever, Alex 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 showed the other two 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 single file: Leo in front, then Alex, then Piper, then Jason. And Alex had the urge to wrap her arms around Leo, but she didn't.

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."

"You sure about that?" Alex asked.

"No," he admitted. Then Alex saw he was clutching a photo in his hand-a picture of a girl with dark hair.

She gave Jason a quizzical look, but he blushed and put the photo in his pocket. "We're making good time. Probably get there by tonight."

Alex wondered who the girl in the picture was, but she didn't want to ask; and if Jason didn't volunteer the information, that wasn't a good sign. It was probably a photo of someone in his life before Hera picked him up and wiped his memory.

"Where are we heading?" Piper asked.

"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."