𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲; 𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗌𝖾

Yay! another dead person who doesn't stay dead

Leo pushed himself to his feet and ignored their calls. Then he saw the wreckage.

Despite the crash, the canary cages had landed unharmed. However, Festus hadn't been so lucky.

The dragon had disintegrated. His limbs were scattered across the lawn. His tail hung on the fence. What remained of his hide was a charred, smoking pile of scraps. Only his neck and head were somewhat intact, resting across a row of frozen rosebushes like a pillow.

"No," Leo sobbed. He ran to the dragon's head and stroked its snout. The dragon's eyes flickered weakly as oil leaked out of his ear.

"You can't go," Leo pleaded. He sounded so heartbroken that Ivy really just wanted to turn around right then. "You're the best thing I ever fixed."

The dragon's head whirred its gears, as if it were purring. Ivy, Jason and Piper stood next to him, but Leo kept his eyes fixed on the dragon.

"It's not fair," he said.

The dragon clicked. Almost like a pattern which only Leo seemed to understand.

"Yeah," The boy said. "I understand. I will. I promise."

The dragon's eyes went dark. Festus was gone, and Ivy couldn't believe she actually felt so sad about it.

The saddest part for her was Leo's reaction though.

He cried, and the other 3 couldn't do anything but pat his shoulders and say comforting things.

Leo seemed so far away that he only came back when Jason said, "I'm so sorry, man. What did you promise Festus?"

The brunette boy sniffled and opened the dragon's panel. "Something my dad told me. Everything can be reused."

"Your dad talked to you?" Ivy asked. Apart from Hera, there hadn't been a single contact with the gods.

Jason seemed to think the same. "When was this?"

Leo didn't answer. He worked at the dragon's neck hinges until the head was detached.

He looked up at the starry sky with the head in his arms and said, "Take him back to the bunker, Dad. Please, until I can reuse him. I've never asked you for anything."

Surprisingly, the wind picked up, and the dragon's head floated out of Leo's arms like it weighed nothing. It flew into the sky and disappeared.

Piper looked at him in amazement. "He answered you?"

"I had a dream," Leo managed. "Tell you later."

Ivy wanted to know, but he sounded like he could barely speak. They all understood, and none of them pressed any more on the matter.

"Where are we?" He asked as he looked at the heavily guarded mansion near them. " I mean, what city?"

"Omaha, Nebraska," Piper said. "I saw a billboard as we flew in. But I don't know what this mansion is. We came in right behind you, but as you were landing, Leo, I swear it looked like—I don't know—"

"Lasers," Leo said. He picked up a piece of dragon wreckage and threw it toward the top of the fence. Immediately a turret popped up from the brick wall and a beam of pure heat incinerated the bronze plating to ashes.

Ivy's eyes widened. Since she had shadow traveled, she hadn't seen the lasers on her way down. "Who the hades is even able to afford that"

She knew rich people had weird things, but that was movie stuff on another level.

Jason whistled and nodded. "Some defense system. How are we even alive?"

"Festus," Leo said miserably. "He took the fire. The lasers sliced him to bits as he came in so they didn't focus on you. I led him into a death trap."