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Elena swore to Hades that if she ever found out who took her favourite shirt, she would kill them. Typical... I should stop leaving things in the Hermes Cabin. God's is she dumb, her morning consisted of running around keeping Ere calm and packing for the journey, she was so busy she forgot to eat breakfast.
She went out holding Ere walking across the green as she saw Piper walking from one direction almost dejectedly. Her hand went up to greet her when she realised she was still holding Ere.
Her moment of epiphany was short lived when she realised there was a huge dragon swooping down from the sky.
"LEO?!" she yelled.
Sure enough, there he was, sitting atop a giant bronze Festus and grinning like a lunatic. Even before he 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.
"Di immortales Leo, he's gorgeous." Elena shouted from underneath as Festus came to nuzzle her, stopping to stare at the baby in her arms as if saying: Since when were you a mother?
The others looked at her as if she was crazy. She couldn't blame them.Festus was huge. He glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture —different shades of copper and bronze—a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. He had bat-shaped wings twice his length that unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped. She smirked Showoff.
Festus reared his head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but 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. Crazy boy she thought, shaking her head attempting to suppress her smile.
"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 like porcupine quills, and he smelled strangely of Tabasco sauce. But he looked absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"
"That thing is dangerous!" Clarisse shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"
"Stand down!" someone ordered.
To her surprise, it was Jason, Man really knows how to make an entrance.
