"Finally." A tired voice I vaguely recognize says, sounding far-away. "She's coming back."

"About time." Another voice, gruff but relieved, grunts.

A gentle hand probes my temples, and my eyes shoot open as lightning arcs through my head. I sit up and instantly gasp in pain, my hands jumping to my forehead. Two sets of footsteps stumble backward, and I look through white spots to see Sera and Will Solace looking at me with concern and shock.

"Well, that worked." Will says lightly.

Sera guffaws. "Ya think?"

"What happened?" I ask. My head has stopped pulsing, so I lower my hands, letting them fall into my lap.

Will shrugs. "You went to sleep last night in Hermes cabin, and when everyone woke up, you were white as a sheet, making weird noises, and you'd thrashed around so much you tore open the Kindly Wound from yesterday."

I groan, covering my face with my hands.

"It's not as bad as yer thinkin'." Sera assures me. "Will already stitched ya back up easy, the cut's pretty much gone now."

"I'm pretty sure that's not what she's worried about, Sera." Will says.

I peer through my fingers. "I didn't... hurt... anyone... did I?"

Both of them exchange a confused glance. "No." Sera eventually says. "Except maybe my fingertips. You were freezing to touch when they called me to carry you here."

I look around in surprise on the word "carry". I hadn't noticed I was in the Big House again. "How long was I like that?"

"Pretty long." Will says, casually rolling a tube of bandages up. Only then do I notice the bags under his eyes. "I had to use some serious magic to get you back, and I'm honestly don't know what pulled you under in the first place."

I shudder, wrapping my arms around myself. "I might know."

Will stops rolling up bandages and looks me in the eye. "You would?"

I shrug as nonchalantly as I can, clutching myself harder to control my shaking. "I have... um. Since I was really little, I have these awful nightmares." I wince, realizing how stupid it sounds when I say it out loud. Seeder's the only one I've told, but I don't fully trust his reassurance that it's normal.

But to my shock, Will and Sera look sympathetic. "Makes sense." Sera says, patting my shoulder.

"Wait---you don't think I'm lying?" I ask incredulously.

Will shrugs. "Demigod dreams are a frequent occurrence. Maybe not quite as bad as the one you had last night, but definitely something we've all dealt with at one point or another."

My jaw drops open. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Sera promises. "Believe me, we get some pretty freaky ones. Luckily, dreams are... ah, slightly less frequent at camp. So hopefully you'll be able to avoid 'em soon."

"I doubt that." I grumble. "I've had them nearly every single night since I was little."

"Are they always that bad?" Will asks me.

"No. I've never had one that did that to me."

Will scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe the cut the Kindly Ones gave you helped influence it a bit. Or being around so much demigod-ness."

"That's your only medical explanation?" Sera demands.

"I mean... we're in new territory." Will shrugs. "I have never seen a demigod's dreams pull them under that badly. I've seen ones that are hard to wake up from, sure, but not ones that had that much of an effect."

I wince. "Is it as bad as it sounds?"

"No, it actually had a nice side." Will says cheerfully. "You being out allowed me to use some more... painful... methods to fully seal your Kindly One wound. Since you opened it so weird last night, it'll leave a scar, but not a deep one. But good news is, it's healed!" Will spreads his hands wide, a grin on his face.

Sera rolls her eyes. "What he's saying is, you're clear to go on the lava wall now."

A small spark of excitement flares up in me. "Well, that's good, I guess."

"See? Bright side!" Will claps my shoulder, and I'm pleasantly surprised when it doesn't hurt in the slightest.

"Trust the Healer." Will reminds me, winking. "You're free to go if you want, but still be just a tad careful. I loaded you up with a ton of ambrosia and nectar."

I wince, rubbing my head as I stagger to my feet and all the blood drains to my feet. "Yeah, I can tell."

Sera laughs, patting my shoulder so hard I'm sure it'll leave bruises. "Don't worry. You'll be fine once you experience the lava w---"

Suddenly, an alarm blares so loudly all of us slam our hands over our ears.

"PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT'S A BREAKFAST BELL I'LL BE HEARING EVERY DAY!" I shout.

Sera shakes her head. "That's the emergency alarm! C'mon!" She lets go of her hears to grab Will's arm and my own, dragging us out of the Big House and down into the main green, where that insane kid Leo is sitting atop an enormous golden dragon, waving at everyone and yelling, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"

The campers obey, though looking very reluctant about it as they back away, forming a wide ring around the dragon and holding their weapons ready.

Sera chokes. "He brought that thing into camp!? It's going to murder everyone!"

"No, it won't. It's... beautiful." Piper argues softly, and I turn to notice she's a few feet behind us, watching the dragon with wide eyes. Her makeup and hair is still picture-perfect, but she's wearing more sensible traveling clothes now.

The dragon suddenly rears its head back, belching a column of flames into the sky. Campers scramble backward, even Will, but Sera, Piper, and I stay rooted in place, watching with awe as Leo slips calmly off the dragon's back and raises his hands in surrender.

"People of Earth, I come in peace!" he shouts, looking delighted at the camper's horrified stares. "Festus is just saying hello!"

"That thing is dangerous!" Sera shouts, flicking her wrist. A spear appears at her side, and she raises it into the air. "Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" someone orders. Campers all start in surprise when Jason comes striding into the clearing, joined by Annabeth and Nyssa. He stares at the dragon in disbelief. "Leo, what have you done?"

"Found a ride!" Leo explains, beaming. "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!"

The Latin instantly translates in my head. 'Happy'? I wonder what the Latin word for Hogan is. Then Leo could claim Happy Hogan was his chauffeur.

"It—has wings," Nyssa stammers, her jaw hanging open wide.

"Yeah!" Leo says proudly. "I found them and reattached them."

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

Leo hesitates, only for a second. "In ... the woods," he says firmly. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."

"Mostly?" Nyssa repeats, glowering at the curly-haired boy.

Festus the dragon suddenly flinches, tilting its head to one side and pouring a glob of black liquid onto Leo's head.

Leo coughs, wiping it off of his hair. "Just a few kinks to work out," Leo says.

"But how did you survive ... ?" Nyssa stares at Festus. "I mean, the fire breath ..."

"I'm quick," Leo says. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"

Jason scratches his head, considering. "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 shudders, flapping his wings in... if it was didn't know better, I'd call it 'anticipation'.

"That's a yes, bro!" Leo says, clapping his hands in delight. "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."

Jason frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"

"Go," Annabeth interrupts. She's the only one who looks calm right now, her hands on her hips as a clear sign of authority. "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 nods. Then he turns to smile at Piper. "You ready, partner?"

Piper looks up at the golden dragon, the blond boy, and the maniacal latino in front of her.

"You bet," she says, sounding extremely unsure.

_______________________________________

Welp, I'm all caught up now! 

Happy 2020 New Year, anybody who reads this!  :D

Also fun fact I was supposed to be born today. Kinda wish I had, because that would be AMAZING.