Daughter of Mother Earth

Chapter Eighteen

Nudging him, Leo looked up and yelped.

"We've got a lot of work to do..." He quietly said.
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At some point, Crystal fell asleep on the dragon's face.

Odd, right? She and Leo stayed up all night to attach Festus's wings. It was hard work. By the time they were finished, Crystal was tired, dirty, and her hair a mess. Crystal blew a strand of brown hair out of her face and slumped against Festus's snout.

She closed her eyes for a moment, but was jolted awake when the dragon snorted as if to say This is no time to sleep.

Crystal stood and walked over to Leo, who was adding the last touches to the wings. He looked worse than her. His face and army coat was smeared with soot and his toolbelt was around his waist. His curly hair was so oily that it stuck up like quills on a porcupine. He also smelled like Tabasco sauce. Leo hopped off the dragon, landing by Crystal's side.

"We did it!" He laughed and high-fived her.

"It's time to go." Crystal replied.

Leo nodded. He climbed back onto Festus and pulled Crystal up. He set her in front of him.

"W-wait! I don't know how to steer this thing!" Crystal informed.

Leo just ignored her and said, "Here we go, Festus!"

Festus bounded off into the woods. Once there was a clearing, he took off into the air. Crystal shrieked in fear, but also joy.

Leo chuckled in her ear and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey, it'll be okay. I won't let you fall."

Festus flew towards the camp and landing in the green not far from the cabins. Before Festus even landed, the camp alarm went off. About half the camp ran to Festus in armor and pajamas. The archers raised their bows, about to shoot.

"Wait, stop! Don't shoot! It's alright!" Leo yelled.

The archers slowly lowered their arrows, but campers still kept their weapons ready. They made a ring around the metal animal. Festus shot a column of fire into the sky and campers moved back, ready to attack. Leo slid off Festus's back and helped Crystal get off.

"Guys, it's cool! We come in peace!" He shouted.

"This monster is dangerous! Kill it! Kill it now!" Someone shouted out.

"No," Jason pushed through the crowd. "Stand down!"

"Leo, what did you do?" Piper asked, looking at the dragon.

"I found us a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got a ride. Well, here he is! Festus can take us anywhere!"

"It has wings? Where did you find them? It never had wings before." Nyssa said, in awe.

Leo hesitated.

"We found them in the woods!" Crystal answered. "We fixed him, mostly, and now he has no more problems going out of control. Leo and I put his wings back on!"

Festus tilted his head and black oil poured out of his ear and all over Crystal.

She spit out a stream of the liquid, scruching her nose, "Well, there are a few things we need to work out."

"It has fire breath. How are you not toast?" Nyssa asked.

"I'm just too fast and lucky," Leo shrugged. "So, am I on this quest?"

"Wait," Jason raised an eyebrow. "'Festus' means 'happy' in Latin. We're going to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

"Yes, yes we are." Crystal smiled.

"Now, uh, I think we should go, guys. We already have packed some supplies in the- uh, woods. Plus, Festus is getting nervous from all these weapons."

Annabeth stepped up, "He's right. There's only three days until the solstice, and a nervous dragon is not good. Go!"

Jason nodded and turned to Piper, "You ready?"

She nodded, "As I'll ever be."