Triwizard Mechanics

Prologue

                Leo and Calypso flew into the sky on Festus, happy as could be. Sure, they didn’t have a clue where they were going. They were together, and that’s all that mattered. Festus was exhausted. Leo didn’t know how far he could travel, but he didn’t mention it. He didn’t want to worry Calypso.

                After what seemed a couple of hours, the two started to feel little tremors and noises coming from Festus. Calypso was getting worried.

                “Leo, is Festus okay?” she asked. Another churning noise came from Festus.

                “Ummm… yeah… it’s fine…” Leo said uncertainly. “He’s just um… tired. Yeah tired. We should probably land, though. You know, so he can… um… rest.”

                Calypso nodded, suspicious. Obviously Leo was lying, but she figured he could handle whatever it was. After all, he had to be a really good mechanic to handle this giant dragon.

                Suddenly, Festus dropped a few feet. “Uh oh,” thought Leo. He opened a panel in front of him. Steam rose out of it. There was a spark, and Festus dropped a few more feet.

                “We need to land.” Leo looked around. Off in the distance was land and… was that a castle?! “Hey, let’s go to the old-timey place. It looks cool.” Calypso laughed and Leo swerved Festus toward it.

                As they came closer, Festus started to drop more and more often. Leo patted Festus’s neck. “It’ll be okay, buddy. It’s just a tiny bit farther.”

                The trio was flying over the land soon. Festus shuddered. Calypso screamed and tightened her grip around Leo’s waist as Festus suddenly took a nosedive.

                CRASH!  Leo and Calypso were thrown off Festus’s back as they hit the ground. Leo groaned as Calypso fell on top of him.

                “Are you alright?” he asked.

                “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay,” Calypso groaned. “But I think my wrist is broken. Are you okay?”

                “Yeah. Just be glad you don’t weigh a lot.” Leo smirked. He looked around at for Festus. Off to the right was a smoldering crater. “Whoa. I didn’t realize we were going that fast,” Leo helped Calypso up. “Festus, buddy, are you okay?” Festus made a weak groan. Leo ran over to him, Calypso close behind. He slid into the crater. Festus had a few holes in him, and his legs had gone to pieces. “Festus! It’s okay buddy, we’ll get you all fixed up. It could be a while though. I don’t know where we’re going to get the supplies.”

                Leo had left his magic tool belt at camp. He wished he had it now. The belt had the magical ability to hold anything you put in it. It was like a bottomless pit. All you had to do was think of what you need, and it will come to you from the belt. It was pretty sweet.

                “Calypso, I’m gonna go see if I can find someone I can borrow tools from. Will you be alright?” Calypso nodded. “ Okay. If anyone comes, hide.”

                “You seem to be forgetting that I’m a titan.” Calypso laughed. “Don’t worry, Leo, I’ll be fine.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now, go and be all mechanicky!”

                Leo jogged in the direction of the castle. He heard a wolf howl. It seemed awfully loud for a wolf… maybe this place just had abnormally large wolves. Leo kept going. Then, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It looked as if it was a centaur. It didn’t look as crazy as Chiron’s relatives. Maybe there were other demigods here. Leo started running a little faster. They could be out of here in no time if there were some of Hephaestus’s kids living here.

                Leo wasn’t paying attention where he was going. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see the person running right toward him.

                THUD! “OUCH!!!” Leo suddenly found himself on the ground…