"Delia! Wake up!"

Someone yanks me out of bed by the foot and I hit the floor. I sit up, rubbing my eyes. My assaulter is 13-year-old Rosalind. She and Butch are already dressed for the day. As always, her hair (currently dyed magenta) is in double French braids, and she's wearing her pink sneakers with rainbow laces, which means she thinks it's going to be a good day.

"What?" I groan. She grabs my arms and tugs, forcing me to my feet.

"You need to pack before your quest, Delia," Rosalind lectures me.

I roll my eyes and gesture to the stuffed backpack sitting on top of my trunk. "I packed last night, Roz." I push past her to get to my trunk. I snatch up some clothes to change into and head for the bathroom. Just before the bathroom door closes, I catch Butch and Rosalind exchanging concerned looks. Usually, I'm a morning person, but last night...

Last night took a lot out of me.

I change into a white ribbed mock turtleneck, black skinny jeans, and a long black coat paired with my yellow Converse. I consider doing some makeup. Not much, just enough to make it look like I got my eight hours. But I decide against it and slip out of the bathroom. I'm double-checking my backpack when the camp alarm sounds off.

Seconds later, I'm outside, shouldering my bag and staring at the giant mechanical dragon landing in camp. I know that dragon. It's the dragon the Hephaestus cabin has been trying to capture, the one that went haywire after Charlie died. But since when did it have wings?

"It's cool!" Leo's shouting from his spot on the dragon's back. "Don't shoot!" Everyone forms a loose circle around the dragon but still maintains a more than healthy distance.

"It's beautiful," Piper says, and I can't help but agree. Its body is a shifting patchwork of bronze and copper. It's absolutely massive and has insane teeth with bat-like wings. It reminds me of the dragon Harry goes up against in the fourth book/movie. Sure, it's terrifying, but who says something can't be both terrifying and beautiful?

The dragon seems to appreciate Piper's compliment. It rears its head and shoots a plume of fire up into the sky. Leo slides off its back, grinning like a mad scientist. He raises his hand in mock surrender. "People of Earth, I come in peace! Festus is just saying hello." Damn, Leo looks even worse than me. He's covered in grime and judging by his eyes, he got even less sleep than I did.

"That thing is dangerous!" Clarisse shouts, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" someone commands. Jason breaks through the crowd followed by Annabeth and Nyssa. Rosalind is at my side, cowering behind me. Jason stares wide-eyed at the dragon. "Leo, what have you done?"

Leo's smile impossibly widens. "Found a ride! You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"

His grin is infectious. I'm smiling too now. I lurch forward and raise my hand for a high-five. "Leo, this thing is dope as fuck!" Leo's hand hits mine and it's at that point I remember it's covered in grease. Oh well.

"It has wings," Nyssa stammers.

"Yeah!" Leo has this brilliant light in his eyes. "I found them and reattached them."

Nyssa frowns. "But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"

Leo hesitates, then carries on with his eccentric act. "In the woods. Repaired his circuits too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire." I wince and take a few steps back. 'Mostly' doesn't sound great. Nyssa is wondering the same. As if to confirm our worries, the dragon tilts his head and oil pours out of his ear, dumping it all over Leo.

"Just a few kinks to work out," Leo assures us.

"But how did you survive...?" Nyssa presses. "I mean...the fire breath."

Leo simply answers, "I'm quick. And lucky. Now, am I on this quest or what?" and it's then I know he and I are going to get along very well.

Jason looks like he's trying to hold back a laugh. "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?" I giggle. Festus flaps his wings.

"That's a yes, bro!" Leo exclaims. "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."

"Sounds good, dude," I say, and I go to climb up on Festus, but Leo throws out his arm in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

"Wait, are you coming?" he asks.

I scoff and cross my arms over my chest. "What, do you think I carry around a backpack for fun? Fuck yeah, I'm coming. Someone has to keep you assholes from getting yourselves killed." And then I push him out of the way and I hop up on Festus like I've been doing it all my life. I take the backseat like I always do on roller coasters and do up my leather safety harness.

"But we haven't planned anything yet," Jason protests. "We can't—"

"Go," Annabeth orders. "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!" 

She's dressed for travel too. She'd told me last night she was going to go out to look for Percy. She's looking at Jason so wistfully. Then she looks at me like it's the last time we'll ever see each other. I blow her a kiss. She pretends to catch it and tuck it in her pocket.

Leo, Jason, and Piper hop up too. Leo takes the front seat. Piper's behind him and Jason's behind her, meaning he's in front of me. I'm not quite sure what I'm thinking, but I give his shoulder a quick squeeze and say, "Don't worry. We got this."

Jason turns around to smile at me. Next thing I know, we're in the air. I throw my hands up, my head back, and cheer. The higher we rise, the colder it gets, but Festus is generating heat like our own personal fireplace. Leo steers our new metal friend with reins. It's kind of like riding the pegasi, but better.

Don't tell the pegasi I said that.

"Cool, right?" Leo questions, grinning at us.

"This is fucking amazing!" I scream back. He howls with laughter.

Piper looks concerned. "What if we get spotted?"

"We won't," I assure her. "The Mist keeps mortals from seeing anything magic. They'll see us as an airplane or something." Piper glances over her shoulder and catches sight of something in Jason's hands. I peek over his shoulder and furrow my brow. Why is Jason carrying a picture of Thalia around? I guess she is his half-sister, but still. Kind of weird.

"We're making good time," Jason says. "Probably get there by tonight." I nod in agreement even though I have no idea where we're going.

Piper doesn't seem to know either. "Where are we headed?"

"To find the god of the North Wind and chase some storm spirits," he replies.

"Wake me up when we get there," I request, then wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. I'm so fucking exhausted that I pass out almost immediately, but just before my eyes close, I feel Jason lean his head on mine.

As soon as I fall asleep, I'm dreaming. I'm back in August, just days after the Battle of Manhattan. We're on the beach because I insisted we had to do something for Percy's birthday, even if we were a bit late, and the weather is exceptionally nice today. Percy is in the water with some other campers. Annabeth and I are sitting next to each other on her towel. She's trying to read an architecture magazine and I'm watching everyone else splash around. I'm wearing one of Butch's shirts over my bathing suit.

Annabeth puts down her magazine and looks at me. "Are you going to stay down, or get back up?"

I scoff playfully. "What?" I glance back at the others in the water. When I look back at Annabeth, she's gone. In her place is the old woman from that day. Hera.

"Well?" she prompts.

"I already got back up," I tell her, rolling my eyes. It's probably not wise to roll your eyes at the queen of the gods, but no one's ever described me as wise before. That's Annabeth's title.

She rolls her eyes right back. "Petulant child. I save your life, and this is how you repay me?"

"Save my life?" I echo. "I saved my own damn life." It was my powers that got me out of that coffin. It was me who got back on my feet. I killed my dad. Not her.

"For a human glowstick, you're quite dim," Hera retorts.

I scowl. "Why does everyone else get a 'Free me from my prison young hero' message and I get you insulting me?" She chuckles and the beach scene around us gives way to what looks like a little kid's bedroom. The soft pink walls are plastered with posters for pop stars and boy bands. The bed is a wooden four-poster frame topped with a tall mattress draped in sheets patterned with small rainbows. We're sitting on the floor by the foot of the bed on a worn carpet shaped like a flower. The room is a mess. Clothes everywhere, half-finished homework abandoned on a desk. The roof of the room is sloped, so the room is shorter to the left of the bed. There's a skylight built into the roof so anyone laying on the bed would get a nice view of the clouds.

For a second, I wonder why the fuck we're here, but then I look around the room a second time. My eyes fall on a collage of pictures taped to the wall above the dresser. The same girl appears in almost every picture. Her face is the only one that isn't blurred. My face. This is my childhood bedroom.

"Why?" I ask. "Why are we here? Why did you take my memory?"

Her face softens. "Are you scared, Cordelia?"

I want to say no. "Yeah, I am."

"You're not like the others, Cordelia," Hera says. "But of course, you knew that already." I've always known. Always felt it in my bones. I don't know what I'm meant for, but I know I'm meant for something.

I check my fingertips. Like always, in my dreams, they're perfectly normal. "Why did my dad try to kill me?"

"You'll have your answers soon enough," she promises. "For now, I think it's time you wake up." She vanishes before I can press her for any more information.

I feel someone shaking me. "Cordelia, we're here." I only half-open my eyes. Jason's looking down at me.

"Five more minutes," I mumble.

He smiles softly. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty. We got a god to interrogate."

*

i am in love with: them*

*jason and cordelia