The Poseidon Girls

Chapter 6 ~ Questing (CASS)

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Katniss had come up to Coral and I to say she'd make us weapons that would be ready in the morning, and that was about it. Coral and I wondered off to the Poseidon cabin to get some sleep for our quest starting tomorrow morning.

It was like any other day when I woke up. Honestly, I almost forgot what was going on that day, until I saw Coral sitting on her bed wearing leggings that seemed to be made of denim (no, they weren't skinny jeans, Coral had told me before that she couldn't wear those), a Camp Half-Blood top, and black ankle boots.
"Finally awake, then?" She asked me. I just smiled at her and grabbed an outfit to wear - a Camp top, with shorts, and Converse.
"Ready?" I asked Coral. She nodded, and threw me a backpack. When I looked inside it, I saw spare clothes (Coral must have taken them out of my wardrobe for me), a water bottle, and a plastic bag filled with squares of ambrosia. "Thanks."
"No problem. Let's go wait outside." We set off outside the cabin to wait for Jason, Leo, and (hopefully) Piper.

Outside, we were met with screams of terror.
"What's going on?" I asked Newt as he ran past.
"There's a dragon here, it normally stays in the woods. It's out of control, has been for ages. It's back in the main camp." He explained.
"That's bad..." I muttered, before running after Coral, who had set off to get a better view of the dragon. Piper ran right over to us.
"Hey!"
"Hi, Piper! Newt said that there's a dragon?"
"Oh, that." Piper laughed. "It's Leo's way of air transport. Come on!" Piper led Coral and I through the swarm of freaking out demigods until we stood in front of all of them. A huge, copper dragon landed in the clearing, and Leo yelled,
"It's cool! Don't shoot!" Archers hesitantly lowered their bows, and warriors backed away, keeping their swords and spears ready. A loose, wide ring was made around the dragon. Nobody seemed anxious to get close to the dragon, and I couldn't blame them. The humungous dragon shined brightly in the morning sun, and the glowing eyes were made from rubies. The dragon's bat-shaped wings were twice its length and unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins falling out a slot machine every time they flapped.
"It's beautiful." Piper muttered. The dragon reared its head and shot a column of flames into the sky. Campers scrambled away, and hefted their weapons, but Leo calmly slid off the dragon's back. He held up his hands as if he was surrendering, except he still had a crazy grin on his face.
"People of earth, I come in peace!" He shouted. He looked like he'd spent all night rolling around in the campfire. His army coat and face were smeared with soot. His hands were stained by grease, and he now wore a tool belt around his waist. His eyes were bloodshot, his curly hair was so oily that it stuck up in porcupine quills, and he smelled oddly of Tabasco sauce. Yet he still looked positively delighted. "Festus was just saying hello!"
"That thing is dangerous!" Clarisse shouted as she brandished her spear. "Kill it now!"
"Stand down!" Jason ordered. He pushed through the crowd, flanked by Annabeth and Nyssa.
"Katniss asked me to give you these." Nyssa told Coral and I as she handed us two swords with notes attached. They were perfectly balanced, Celestial bronze, and had a trident at the start of the blade. We both had different colours on our marble handles - Coral's was coral, and mine was the same colour as the sea. The sheaths were made of the same marble as the handles, and I noticed buttons and switches at random points on the sheaths. Coral and I sheathed our new swords.
"Thanks." I replied. Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement.
"Leo, what have you done?"
"Found us a ride!" Leo grinned. I decided to read the note Katniss left me about my sword.
Cass,
Here's the sword I made you last night. Yours and Coral's swords aren't as cool as I can normally make them (sorry about that), but normally I need days to make swords. Don't worry, they can still do awesome things. You'll find out what they can do soon, I hope.
Katniss
By the time I finished reading, Nyssa was pointing out the the dragon, Festus, had wings.
"Yeah!" Leo said. "I found them and reattached them.
"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?" Leo hesitated, and it was obvious that he was hiding something. But what could he possibly want to hide?
"In... the woods." He told us. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa questioned. Festus' head twitched. It tilted to one side, spilling black liquid (hopefully just oil) all over Leo out of its ear.
"Just a few kinks to work out." Leo explained.
"But how did you survive ...?" Nyssa was still staring at Festus in awe. "I mean, the fire breath ..."
"I'm quick." Leo answered. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?" Jason scratched his head.
"You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?" Festus twitched, and shuddered, and flapped his wings.
"That's a yes, bro!" Leo beamed. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the - um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous." Since Leo said the weapons were making Festus nervous, I studied the buttons and switches on the sheath of my sword, and noticed that one of the buttons said 'RIPTIDE'. Curious to see what the button did, I pressed it, and my sword changed into a pen, which I then placed in my pocket. I noticed Coral staring at me in amazement, so I showed her were the riptide button was. Jason frowned at Leo.
"But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just -"
"Go," Annabeth told us. She was the only person who didn't look scared. Her expression was sad and wistful. It was clear that she was remembering Percy. "Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!" Jason nodded, and smiled at Piper.
"You ready, partner?" He asked her.
"You bet." She grinned. I was kind of nervous about riding Festus, but, thankfully, Leo helped me up before he clambered back on.

Flying on a dragon had to be one of the coolest things I'd ever done. The air was freezing cold because of how high we were flying, but Festus generated so much heat, I felt like we were flying in a cold-proof bubble. The grooves in Festus' back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't even uncomfortable. Leo had showed us how to hook our feet in the chinks of Festus' armour, like stirrups, and use the leather safety harness cleverly hidden under the exterior plating. We sat in single file: Leo was in the front, then Piper, then Jason, then me, and then Coral. (A/N yes, Festus is longer. How else could he fit 5 demigods?).

Leo used the reins to steer Festus into the sky like he'd been doing it his whole life. The huge, metal wings worked perfectly, and, soon, Long Island was just a blurred line on the horizon. We sped over Connecticut, and climbed up into the grey winter clouds. Leo grinned back at us.
"Cool, right?"
"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.
"The Mist." I answered. "It stops Mortals from seeing what they shouldn't. You know, monsters, flying dragons, that sort of stuff. If a mortal sees us, they'll either say we're a UFO or a small plane." Piper glanced over her shoulder at me.
"You sure about that?"
"Positive." I assured her.
"We're making good time. Probably get there by tonight."
"Where are we heading?" Piper asked.
"To find the God of the North Wind." Jason answered. "And chase some storm spirits."

Hello again! Yay I've already finished this chapter!! Turns out chapters in TLH aren't super long like I expected. If you want me to combine two TLH chapters in a chapter for this, just tell me and I'll do that.