THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

TWELVE

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]

C H A N D L E R
chapter twelve: i inflict fear into the hearts of demigods via fire-breathing dragon as a teenaged menace to society should

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"LEO? CHANDLER?" piper yelled up at them, eyes blown wide in disbelief. her hair, still perfect, chocolatey ringlets, blew back harshly by the force of the winds made by festus's new wings. dust kicked up by the strong winds caused her kaleidoscope to squint, an attempt to see the demigods aboard the dragon more clearly.

sure enough, there the pair of hephaestus siblings were, sitting atop a giant bronze death machine, and grinning like absolute lunatics. even before chandler landed the dragon, the camp alarm went up. the famous conch horn blew. all the satyrs started screaming, don't kill me!

more than half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor — one of chandler's favorite looks had to be will's plain t-shirt covered by a bronze breastplate, and his sky blue boxers decorated obnoxiously with smiley suns with shades on. she snorted at his disheveled sunny blonde hair, and wriggled her fingers at the son of apollo as the dragon set down right in the middle of the springy green grass. seeing will reach for a bronze arrow from his quiver, and his eyes squinting in a calculating glare, chandler yelled a panicked, "william, don't shoot!"

hesitantly, will, and the other archers lowered their bows at chandler's command, their trust in her outweighing their anxiousness of the dragon standing in the middle of their home. the warriors backed away, keeping their spears, and swords ready, chandler pointedly narrowed her eyes at axel — one of the warriors with their sword still raised defensively. chandler scoffed under her breath, she wanted to reach over, and back slap that idiot, but that would be considered impolite so early in the morning.

they all huddled close, and made a wide ring around the metal monster. other demigods hid behind their cabin doors, or peeped out the windows. nobody seemed particularly anxious to get close. chandler couldn't blame them, the dragon was absolutely huge. it glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture with different shades of beautiful coppers, and bronze. festus was a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons, 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," chandler heard piper breathe, the aphrodite girl's voice glowing in pride at what her friend, and his older sister created. the other demigods glanced over at her from the corner of their eyes in mild confusion, or disbelief as that was the first thing she thought seeing two demigods on a potentially dangerous fire breathing dragon.

the dragon reared its head, and shot a column of fire high into the sky. campers scrambled away, and hefted their weapons. leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. he held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face that chandler was sure she had herself. "people of earth, we come in peace!" leo shouted to them all.

he looked as if 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 his new tool belt his sister gifted him around his waist. his eyes were bloodshot, and his curly hair was so oily, it stuck up in porcupine quills. he smelled strangely of tabasco sauce, but he looked absolutely delighted. "festus is just saying hello!"

"that thing is dangerous!" an ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "kill it now!"

"stand down!" chandler, and someone else ordered in unison. to the hephaestus' girl's surprise, it was jason. he pushed through the crowd, flanked by annabeth, and chandler's younger sister, nyssa. chandler tucked an oily curl from away from her face, her beanie long back at bunker nine. her eyes shined with excitement, and adrenaline as festus flicked his tail.