𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 •| ⊱ Jason Grace¹

•| ⊱ TWELVE

[ chapter twelve: hermia ]

° • ° • °

They landed in what must have been the penthouse suite; but the place had been hit by a flash freeze. The entry hall had vaulted ceilings forty feet high, huge draped windows, and lush oriental carpets. A staircase at the back of the room led up to another equally massive hall, and more corridors branched off to the left and right. But the ice made the room's beauty a little frightening. When Mia slid off the dragon, the carpet crunched under her feet. A fine layer of frost covered the furniture. The curtains didn't budge because they were frozen solid, and the ice-coated windows let in weird watery light from the sunset. Even the ceiling was furry with icicles. As for the stairs, Mia was sure she'd slip and break her neck if she tried to climb them.

"Guys," Leo said, "fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in."

"Not me." Jason looked uneasily at the staircase. "Something feels wrong. Something up there ..."

"I have to agree with Jason." Mia said as both boys turned to look at her. "I'm not a fan of the cold, but also I wouldn't want to live in a place like this." Mia turned to look at Festus when he shuddered and snorted flames. Mia noticed how frost started to form on his scales.

"No, no, no." Zethes marched over, though how he could walk in those pointy leather shoes, Mia had no idea. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair."

Festus growled and spun his drill-bit teeth. "'S'okay, boy." Leo turned to Zethes. "The dragon's a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I've got a better solution."

"Destroy?" Cal suggested.

"God not this again." Mia mumbled with an eye roll.

"No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait."

"Leo," Piper said nervously, "what are you-"

"Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others ... Ah, here we go."

Mia watched as Leo hooked his fingers behind the dragon's left foreleg. He pulled a switch, and the dragon shuddered from head to toe. Everyone backed away as Festus folded like origami. His bronze plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body. His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a suitcase.

Leo tried to lift it, but from the looks of it that thing looked to weigh about six billion pounds. "Um ... yeah. Hold on. I think-aha." Leo pushed another button. A handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.

"Ta-da!" he announced. "The world's heaviest carry-on bag!"

"That was actually very cool, Dragon boy." Mia said with a smile while Leo sent her a proud smirk.