"Hmm. This is a short one." Hades said.
"Should we take a break after this one?" Aphrodite asked
"I think we can do another one after this one because the next on is pretty short too." Hades said, flipping through the pages. Everybody nodded.
THEY SPIRALED THROUGH…panel on the dragon's neck.
Hephaestus closed his eyes because he felt the stinging of the wind in his eyes due to the curse as well.
He toggled the switches…drive system was overloaded.
Beckendorf and Leo winced.
Festus didn't have the strength…Piper and fly out of here!"
"What about you?" Jason asked in worry
"I guess that I'm going to try to fix him as much as I could and then land with him itself." Leo said.
"No! You could die." Hephaestus said, looking concerned
"I think I have to try dad." Leo said with a small smile.
"What?" "We need to lighten…shooting into the air.
"Blonde superman." Percy muttered and grinned at Jason who rolled his eyes playfully at his cousin.
"Now," Leo said…wind kept extinguishing it.
Hephaestus and Beckendorf were on the edge of their seats, looking extremely worried for Leo. Hephaestus knew that he wouldn't have warned Leo about losing tools and machines if something bad wasn't going to happen. He had a feeling that Festus won't be able to make it as a full dragon but he might come in useful as something else which would help during the prophecy.
The others looked concerned as well. Aphrodite, Zeus and Hera were a little relieved that Jason and Piper were out of harm but they weren't looking happy about Leo falling with a dragon either.
He pulled a wire…turned into a steep glide.
"Yes. Come on Leo." Beckendorf encouraged and nodded. The demigods nodded.
"You can do it." Chris encouraged.
"Good!" Leo said…They could make this!
"Isn't that technically trespassing?" Reyna asked.
"No choice." Leo said
The demigods grimaced that even the thought 'they could make this' could jinx stuff.
Then everything went wrong…cut to shreds — and BOOM
"No!" Leo shouted. "Festus." He said, looking close to tears. Hephaestus put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a side hug.
"Hey. We'll repair his disk this time around. Even if the quest doesn't happen, we'll make the upgrades that you made." Beckendorf said gently to Leo who nodded.
Leo blacked out.
Hephaestus fell unconscious.
When Leo came to his…head felt like it was floating.
Hephaestus regained consciousness and held his head and closed his eyes.
They'd landed inside…frozen rosebushes like a pillow.
"No." Leo said miserably. Jason and Piper looked upset about Festus as well and exchanged glances and sighed sadly.
"No," Leo sobbed…"It's not fair," he said.
"Sometimes it isn't." Hephaestus sighed sadly.
"Thanks for the warning dad. I'm sure it made things a little better." Leo said with a weak smile. Hephaestus nodded and gave a small smile to his son.
The dragon clicked… repeating over and over.
Leo sighed.
"You have a good relation with the dragon. You can understand and communicate with him." Beckendorf smiled at his brother.
"Anybody who knows Morse code can communicate with him." Leo said
"Yes but he will have a unique relation to you as you were the one who fixed him and first talked to him and rescued him from falling into traps." Hephaestus said. Leo smiled at that.
"Yeah," Leo said…wasn't even embarrassed
Hephaestus had watery eyes as the curse acted up.
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about." Piper said gently to Leo who nodded. Jason nodded in agreement with Piper.
"It would be hard for anybody, man. It's not embarrassing." He said. Leo gave the two of them grateful looks and smiles.
His friends stood on either…sky and disappeared.
"Thanks dad." Leo said gratefully.
"Of course." Hephaestus smiled
"Hephaestus." Zeus sighed. He didn't sound mad or anything so nobody glared at him or scowled instead some of the demigods just raised their eyebrows at each other at the tone because it surprised them that he wasn't grumbling or shouting or angry for that matter.
Piper looked at him…calibrated exactly right.
Hephaestus felt the pain of Leo and how upset he was which made Hephaestus feel upset too.
"It feels like that at first but it does get better. And Festus isn't gone exactly. He will be used later on so you'll have him back again. At least a part of him." Will said to Leo who sighed.
"But it just hurts, man. That I lost something this good and a good friend." Leo said "But you have a point." He said with a small smile.
The demigods sighed, knowing how it felt to lose somebody close to them. Though, they had got most of their loved ones back, they still knew how it would feel.
Still, he couldn't afford…he bronze plating to ashes.
"That is some security system." Percy whistled.
"The two of you almost said the same thing." Hades said to Percy and Jason in amusement as he read the next line. Jason and Percy high fived from a distance in the air.
"If there are lasers then I wonder what else would be there. Whoever lives in the mansion seems to be paranoid about thieves or housebreakers. So I don't think that lasers are going to be the only dangerous security system he's added." Thalia said
"Agreed. I'm pretty sure that there are going to be some well hidden traps for going in." Leo said, nodding.
Jason whistled…"He saved our lives again."
"Yes, it's not your fault. That's the kind of way Festus would've wanted to go." Hephaestus told Leo who sighed but nodded.
"But what now?"…we'll have to go in."
"But there is a crazy defense system." Travis said worriedly. Leo gave him a grin.
"Commander Tool Belt can handle the traps." He said. Travis grinned back.
"I'm sure you can." Piper grinned at Leo who grinned back. Hephaestus and Beckendorf chuckled and nodded.
"Chapter's done." Hades said
"I'll read." Poseidon said. Hades handed his brother the book. Poseidon looked amused.
"I was expecting you to throw the book." He said. Hades took the book back and threw it at his brother who caught it and grinned. Everybody laughed and chuckled. Hades grinned at his younger brother. It had been time since the two of them had had this kind of an interaction and even though it was a short one, the two of them liked it.