orenda [leo valdez]

lxvi. Festus Declares War on Indiana

❝moon dust in your lungs, stars in your eyes,

you are a child of the cosmos and ruler of the skies❞

⤷ trenzalours

△△△

Out of all the states, Kira found it odd that their dragon hated Indiana. When Festus declared war on the state, she knew it would be a rough day.

The four been traveling west for six weeks, and Festus had never shown such hostility toward a state. New Jersey he ignored. Pennsylvania he seemed to enjoy, despite the battle with the Cyclopes of Pittsburgh. Ohio he tolerated, even after our encounter with Potina, the Roman goddess of childhood drinks, who pursued us in the form of a giant red pitcher emblazoned with a smiley face.

Yet for some reason, Festus decided he did not like Indiana. He landed on the cupola of the Indiana Statehouse, flapped his metallic wings, and blew a cone of fire that incinerated the state flag right off the flagpole.

"Whoa, buddy!" Leo pulled the dragon's reins. "We've talked about this. No blowtorching public monuments!"

Behind him on the dragon's spine, Calypso gripped Festus's scales for balance. "Could we please get to the ground? Gently this time?"

Kira said nothing, holding onto Leo's waist so she didn't plummet to her death. In the very back of the dragon, Apollo spit Calypso's hair out of his mouth. Festus's claws scrabbled for a hold on the green copper dome, which was much too small for a dragon his size.

Leo glanced back, his face streaked with soot. "Apollo, you sense anything?"

"Why is it my job to sense things? Just because I used to be a god of prophecy—"

"You're the one who's been having visions," Calypso reminded him. "You said your friend Meg would be here."

Kira sighed sadly at the name. She remembered dragging Apollo and Meg to Camp Half Blood, her kicking Sherman Yang in a private area, and Connor in his eyes. Good ol' times.

"That doesn't mean I can pinpoint her location with my mind! Zeus has revoked my access to GPS!"

"GPS?" Calypso asked.

"Godly positioning systems."

"That's not a real thing!"

"Guys, cool it." Leo patted the dragon's neck. "Apollo, just try, will you? Does this look like the city you dreamed about or not?"

Apollo fell quiet, and Kira assumed he was searching the horizon. Turning around, she was met with Calypso's glare. She turned back around fairly quickly.

"This is the spot," Apollo said. "Before this dome collapses under us, I suggest we get to the ground."

Calypso grumbled something in a language Kira couldn't understand. Her and Apollo began arguing in the language, and Leo turned to face Kira helplessly.