The Hidden Follower

13.

"You turn around first." Were the Delta spoke as she heard the dragon get closer.

"No way, you've been here longer! You turn around first."

"Okay, how about we compromise, yeah? We both turn around on the count of three. Okay. 1..2..3!"

Neither of them turned around. "Well now I'm disappointed in both of us Leo." Delta then grabbed Leo and spun him around before turning around herself.

At the edge of the pit, fifty feet away, two glowing red eyes were staring at them. The dragon gleamed in the moonlight, and Delta was surprised that the dragon had finally been able to sneak up on people so fast now. Delta saw the dragon looking at something close to them and realized his gaze had been on Leo's hand, fire covering it like a blanket. When Leo discovered both Delta and the dragon were looking at his hand he extinguished the flame.

  They could still see the dragon just fine. He was about sixty feet long, snout to tail, its body made of interlocking bronze plates. His claws were the size of butcher knives, and his 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. Leo was looking at him like he was going to snap him in half but, Still looking as if he was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. There was only one Problem with the dragon that Leo didn't need.

  "You don't have wings," Leo said.

"That's weird, I could've sworn he had wings before?"

"Then why doesn't he have wings? Huh Delta."

"Oh my gods! Leo you can't just ask why dragons don't have wings." Before Leo could answer the dragon's snarl died and tilted his head as if to say, Why aren't you running away in terror?

  "Hey, no offense," Leo said. "You're amazing! Good god, who made you? Are you hydraulic or nuclear-powered or what? But if it was me, I would've put wings on you. What kind of dragon doesn't have wings? I guess maybe you're too heavy to fly? I should've thought of that. "

"Leo you can't bo—" The dragon snorted, more confused now. It was supposed to trample People. It took a step forward, and Leo shouted, "No!"

The dragon snarled again.

   "It's a trap, bronze brain," Leo said. "They're trying to catch you. "

The dragon opened its mouth and blew fire. A column of white-hot flames billowed over Leo, more than he'd ever tried to endure before. He felt as if he were being hosed down with a powerful, very hot fire hose. It stung a little, but he stood his ground. When the flames died, he was perfectly fine.

"Oh so now Hephaestus kids can be fire proof. Great!"

"Be glad my pants didn't burn off asshole!"

  The dragon stared at Leo. His face didn't actually change, being made of metal and all, but it looked like Leo was reading his expression. A spark flew out of its neck like it was about to short-circuit.

  "You can't burn me," Leo said, trying to sound stern and calm.

"You do know that's a dragon, not a dog?"

Leo ignored her advice "Stay, boy. Don't come any closer. I don't want you to get caught. See, they think you're broken and have to be scrapped. But I don't believe that. I can fix you if you'll let me—"

  The dragon creaked, roared, and charged. The trap sprang. The floor of the crater erupted with a sound like a thousand trash can lids banging together. Dirt and leaves flew, metal net flashing. Leo was then knocked off his feet, turned upside down, and doused in Tabasco sauce and oil. He was sandwiched between the vat and the dragon as it thrashed, trying to free himself from the net that had wrapped around them both.

"Fun facts proven by Leo and Delta: don't tell a sixty foot dragon you want to 'fix' it and don't call him an it."

"You really need to stop talking Delta."

"Just doing my job as the annoying older sibling. Though I might need to make the sarcasm a bit stronger." The dragon blew flames in every direction, lighting up the sky and setting trees on fire. Oil and sauce burned all over them. It probably didn't hurt Leo but, his mouth was stuffed full of the liquids. "See? The dragon agrees."

  "Will you stop that!" he yelled.

  "Me or the dragon?"

"Both!" Delta stopped but, the dragon kept squirming. Leo once again ignoring Delta's presence had managed to wriggle out from between the dragon and the vat. He squirmed his way through the net.

  He ran to the dragon's head and he tried to snap at Leo, but its teeth were tangled in the mesh. He blew fire again, but seemed to be running out of energy. This time the flames were only orange. They sputtered before they even reached Leo's face.

  "Listen, man," Leo said, "you're just going to show them where you are. Then they'll come and break out the acid and the metal cutters. Is that what you want?"

  The dragon's jaw made a creaking sound, like he was trying to talk.

  "Okay, then," Leo said. "You'll have to trust me. "

  And Leo set to work.

  It took him almost an hour to find the control panel, Delta sat down quietly only looking up when Leo made to much noise. He found the panel right behind the dragon's head, which made sense. He'd ended up keeping the dragon in the net, because it was easier to work with the dragon constrained, but the dragon didn't like it.

"Hold still!" Leo scolded.

The dragon made another creaking sound that might've been a whimper.

Leo examined the wires inside the dragon's head. He was distracted by a sound in the woods, but when he looked up it was just a dryad, putting out the flames in her branches. Fortunately, the dragon hadn't started an all-out forest fire, but still the dryad wasn't too pleased.

Leo returned his attention to the wiring.

"Ha," he said. "Well, no wonder. "

Creak? the dragon asked with its jaw. "I agree with Festus, creak?"

"You named the dragon that? Out of all things that?"

"I like it, it means happy."

"Whatever," Leo started talking to Festus again. "You've got a corroded control disk. Probably regulates your higher reasoning circuits, right? Rusty brain, man. No wonder you're a little ... confused. " He definitely almost said crazy. "I wish I had a replacement disk, but ...this is a complicated piece of circuitry. I'm gonna have to take it out and clean it. Only be a minute. " He pulled out the disk, and Festus went absolutely still. The glow died in its eyes. Leo slid off his back and began polishing the disk. He mopped up some oil and Tabasco sauce with his sleeve, which helped cut through the grime, but the more he cleaned, the more concerned he looked. Some of the circuits looked beyond repair. Delta thought he would be able to make it better though, just maybe not perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, so in the a/n where ⟟ talked about ⏃ book that was not Percy Jackson related ⟟ only had one other book at the time and I've drafted other books since then so ⟟ wanted to take ⏃ vote on which to post later, and yes ⟟ know some are PJO related.

     Peter Parker x Male OC

    Ben Hargreeves x Male OC

Ranboo x Male OC

Tommyinnit x Fem OC

Luke Castellan x Fem OC

    Luke Castellan x Male OC
      (ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜʙʟsʜ)

   PJO and HOO one-shots/headcanons

Written: July 21,2021
Published: July 21,2021
Edited: ____ __,____