Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! I, unfortunately, am Forever Alone on this day so I'm not enjoying it so much..which is why I am able to post this new chapter. :) It's not that long and not very climatic. I'm sorry if I have disappointed you with that one but I promise that the "finding Annabeth's glasses is coming very, very shortly.

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about that one.

But I do not own PJO or glasses. Or McDonald's. Or Siri.

Anyway...enjoy!

The one thing that Leo noticed was that the size that the room looked like from the outside was nothing compared to the inside. It looked like any ordinary closet but then once he stepped inside, the ceiling seemed endless although they were already way above the clouds. The room reached further back, shelves lined in rows, plaques attached to it, organizing Hephaestus's finished projects. It looked like a giant maze; the labyrinth that Percy and Annabeth mentioned now and then.

The stone walls made it seem like an underground cave, dark and cavernous except for the few lights that hung above.

Leo stopped right in front of the door in his ADHD gaze of detecting what everything was and how it was chosen to look like that. Hephaestus laid a hand on Leo's shoulder, gently pushing him to go further so that he could close the door.

In front of them were three tables, two more rows behind them with three more in each row. Leo walked to the closest table, resting his hands on the surface of the smooth wood. He still looked around the room though.

"Which do you mean?" Hephaestus wondered about Leo's question.

"I mean….everything!" Leo spluttered.

He stared at every wire, tube, metal, and every object that he could see poked out of the shelves against the back wall. Standing in one corner, though, he could see a giant robot whose face was shadowed from the dark—Leo could only see it from the chest up because it was so tall.

He saw one shelf labeled, "APHRODITE AND ARES TRAPS" and another marked, "WAR MACHINERY".

Leo felt a pang in his stomach. Was his dad like the rest of the gods? Only out to seek revenge and kill for fun and selfishness?

Hephaestus stood beside Leo, taking his wrist. "Come," he muttered and led Leo down to the skyscraper shelves. They passed the two. Leo could then see more labels:

GADGETS WEAPONS OF DEACESED

TOOLS

SHIELDS

And many more. They went deeper and deeper, Leo's eyes following the plaques as they walked past them and Hephaestus occasionally sneaking glances back at his son.

Finally they stopped at one. But this shelf wasn't labeled.

Hephaestus then led Leo down this corridor. Leo was curious because he knew that his dad wanted to show him something.

It began to grown darker and darker and the shelf seemed to last forever.

"Are we there yet?" Leo asked starting aggravated.

Suddenly, the god stopped and Leo smashed his nose into his dad's shoulder. Leo groaned and stumbled back, holding his nose.

"Sorry," Hephaestus said.

"S'okay," Leo put himself back on his two feet.

"I just want you to know that…" Hephaestus was trying to find the right words. He hadn't ever really talked to any of his children like this before except for Charlie. But that was as the monsters on the ship knocked him out; talking to his son when he was unconscious. But now that he was talking to one in person, he couldn't change what he would say.

"I haven't brought anyone else in here. Maybe Aphrodite…but not anymore." A sad look was in his eyes.

Leo nodded.

Hephaestus was about to continue, but then an object in front of them whirred to life, sparking occasionally. It purred, making the two jump, startled.

In the dim light, it looked like a bronze bug to Leo. He wasn't sure but then he saw a long tail.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Something I have for you. But it looks like I'll have to be making some readjustments." The god placed the object in the palm of his hand, caressing it as he walked back the way they came. Leo hurried along, knowing he'd get lost back there if he didn't.

Leo walked on his toes, looking over his dad's shoulder to see what it was.

Finally they came into full light.

"Whoa! Is that a…dragon?"

They got to the entrance and Hephaestus swiped his arm over the surface of the middle table, pushing all of his tools and wires, saws and metal plates to the side against his blacksmith mask and another in-progress project. Some blueprints fell on the other side. The god set the bronze object on the table.

Leo's eyebrows knit in confusion. Why would his dad be giving him this? He wasn't even sure what it was.

"Do you mind reaching into that red toolbox and getting me a Phillip's head?" Hephaestus asked, nodding his head at something past Leo.

Leo turned around and found a rusted out, red toolbox sitting on a stool in front of the table behind him. He arched an eyebrow as he pointed to the toolbox and Hephaestus nodded. Leo reached in and almost fell in.

"Whoa!" He interjected. His whole entire arm could fit inside. It must be made of magic and enlarged on the inside. He felt around, his fingertips barely brushing the bottom. It seemed only a foot tall on the outside. Leo craned his chest over the stool, giving some more arm length and he could then touch the bottom. He felt around some more and finally grabbed something that when he touched it, his brain had a neon sign go off on the inside saying that it was a Phillip's head screwdriver. His mind then showed him a picture of the screw looked like and showed how to turn it in his mind.

"Whoa…" he finally slid his arm back out, stumbling back in a daze. That had never really happened before and it almost gave him a headache. He set the screwdriver next to Hephaestus. "Finally got it," he announced.

Hephaestus seemed to not have listened as he took the screwdriver, twisting it into the ridges of the screw on its back. The dragon immediately turned off once his spine, a twisting DNA of wires, was exposed. Its tiny head thumped against the table.

Finally, as Hephaestus's hands flew into picking at the inside of the small dragon, he said, "I want you to look at those blueprints of this gift over there, on the table behind me."

Leo walked around the table and had to search through others that showed a chariot on one, a watch on another, and something that looked oddly like the McDonald's sign on another. But finally he found it.

It was titled: FESTUS II

Leo's breath caught in his throat and his fingers trembled. His dad went through his time just to make him another Festus?

"Dad—Father. What…?" Leo slowly turned around, standing next to the god.

Hephaestus's cheeks began to flush. His cheeks and forehead wore a warm pink color that spread over his scars and bites.

The god sighed. "Leo, I'm so proud of you and what you and your friends have accomplished. Defeating the mother of all gods is a hard task to conquer."

Leo scoffed. "Yeah, really,"

"But I am so proud of you and that little dragon right there," Hephaestus picks up the dragon after fastening the screws and placed it into Leo's palm. He continued, "I came up with this little dude, remembering how Festus had crashed and the only thing recovered from it was his head, which you placed in front of the ship. So I figured: I bet he misses him. And so, here is Festus II." Hephaestus explained.

Leo's hand was stiff from holding the frail dragon with fragility. He looked down at it, looking at each curve and color and found that it was almost an exact replica of his dragon.

"Does it do anything?" Leo said in a low voice. The atmosphere around them was quiet and soft.

"It can do just about anything your tool belt can't. He can give directions by doing this…" Hephaestus clicked a tiny button on the underside of the dragon's armpit. Suddenly, the dragon opened its mouth and on Leo's chest was a hologram picture of Mount Olympus.

"He can also tell you a person's identity. There are little bugs in his eyes that can look at someone and soon, if you don't have his sound on, the name and details show up on his back here." Hephaestus showed him. He then explained the other things mini Festus could do like call people without attracting monsters, he can locate any god or any person where they are at the time, he can mimic sounds of other people like if you were to distract an enemy, and he can pinpoint the weak targets in your opponent.

"What if I lose him?" Leo wants to know.

"You know your friend, Perseus Jackson, has Anaklusmos—or Riptide?"

Leo nodded, remembering Percy's wicked cool sword.

"His weapon can return to his pocket whenever it is out of his reach."

"So you've done that with Festus?" Leo asked hastily.

"Not exactly your pocket, but he'll be in a special place of your tool belt. He will always be there."

Leo wasn't sure, but it looked as if Hephaestus was giving him a pointed look, saying, "Don't you dare lose it because it cannot be replaced" like almost every normal parent would. (A/N: Cough, cough. My parents do it all the time. Cough, cough.)

Leo smiled and suddenly, mini Festus stirred in his hand. He and his dad looked down at the small bronze dragon as it shook its head, the red light in his eyes growing dimmer for a split second and then brighter, as if he was blinking. It squeaked at them, cocking its head to the side. There was a whirring noise from the gears in its neck that made the action possible.

Leo's shoulders began to relax. Normally, he wouldn't let anything replace his dear Festus. But seeing how this one is an exact replica and is already trying to flap its metal wings so that it could fly with him, he felt like he was really looking at the old Festus. Except minimized by a thousand sizes.

Leo grinned as Festus pecked at his hand.

"So, uh," Leo swallowed, "thanks. For mini Festus, I mean. So did you just want to show me this or…" Leo trailed off, his eyes landing on a pile of gears and screws and a hammer lying nearby longingly.

"You may work here if you would like. I have other things in the back that I was going to work on but you can stay here." Hephaestus stood. "Just don't break anything."

"Well if I broke it, I could always just fix it, right?"

Hephaestus chuckled. "Right. But don't take anything either. Or else I will have to ground you to the Underworld for eternity."

Leo's breath caught in his throat. "Wow. An eternity's a…long time."

Hephaestus sighed. "Indeed it is," his eyes went into a daze as he stared at the ground as if he had been through an eternity.

"Well, duh," Leo thought. "He's a god; immortal." Leo wondered if his dad had ever disliked being a god or if he cringed at the thought of staying as one for the rest of his life—which would be practically for forever.

Hephaestus recovered. "If you need anything…" He pointed to the shelves, but really intending the back of the room. Leo nodded and his dad was soon lost in the shadows.

Leo watched the space where his dad used to be.

And then he finally breathed. His shoulders relaxed more.

Festus flapped his wings and breathed fire into the air like he was enjoying his first time doing it.

Leo jumped and said, "Hey, watch where you're pointing your morning breath."

Festus squeaked and the two sat down on the stool the god of craftsmen was just sitting at. Soon, Leo heard a sawing noise and an axe and knew that his dad must've been in way too deep of his thoughts.

Leo pulled out a sheet of blank blueprints. He thought of what he could make. There was something nagging at him, screaming it out to him. He knew he should try to build something especially in here because it might be the last time he could step foot in the room.

His ADHD was catching to him. Leo began to think if the room could change locations so that the other gods couldn't sneak in without Hephaestus's approval. He looked at all the other works of art in the room, wondering the symbolism behind it. He pet mini-Festus and asked him random things like where Siri was.

"I wonder what Annabeth and them are doing," Leo said, his cheek squished from the ball of his hand against his cheek, his elbow on the table.

Festus squeaked, his eyes turning brighter like he was trying to tell Leo something.

But the thought struck Leo. He slammed his palms against the table, leaning forward toward the small dragon.

Right when mini Festus thought that Leo understood his message, his owner said, "Festus, how in the world can there be a back room back there?"

The gears in the tiny dragon seemed to fall, his oiled heart sinking. Festus shook his head as Leo continued.

"I mean, this room is already so huge…" he trailed off.

He finally stopped and began to doodle on the blueprints. Something caught in his brain and he leaned forward, losing himself in his work. He was on to something, he knew it. He scribbled furiously, a shape suddenly forming. Leo could picture them now and he knew exactly what he was going to set himself to do. All these different ideas formed in his head and he even looked at Festus for something helpful.

Soon, it was done.

And they looked exactly like he had hoped they would.

"Festus, we've got some work to do." Leo said. He reached into the red toolbox again and pulled out all kinds of tools and gears. He arranged some wires into their matching patterns and a block of weightless steel. He slammed the hammer against it. The hammer must've been coated with magic in order for it to break apart the steel. Before he was finished with the steel, he grabbed a bucket of black and gray paint.

He worked furiously listening to the music that was booming from Festus's small metal mouth.

Leo hoped Annabeth wouldn't find the perfect pair before he was done.

Does anyone know why those stupid gray lines come up when you're going over the document before submitting it into your file of documents? It's like every time I scroll, they show up and they bug the crap out of me. So annoying. I'm afraid if it shows up so please tell me if it does. I mean, I know when you double click, a paragraph full will disappear but I'm afraid to check over the chapter because they keep coming back!

I don't love them back and they need to go away. So please tell me if they show up or if it's just because it's only on here.

It would also make my Valentine's Day better if I got some lovin' on a review on the chapter:)

I see the ending to this story...I'm warning that there will probably be three chapters left after this. So...yeah it was really fun:)

Have a good day!

I feel like that sounds awkward...