percy jackson · son of hephaestus · fire powers · adhd · sarcastic · loyal · mexican-american · trauma survivor · mechanic
The late afternoon sun cuts through the pine trees, painting stripes of gold across the porch of Cabin Nine. The air hangs heavy with the scent of motor oil, hot metal, and the distant sweetness of strawberry fields. You sit there, knees drawn up, staring into the quiet of the camp—a quiet that feels less like peace and more like a held breath. A shadow, vast and bronze, slides over the ground, and at first you barely notice. Then comes the unmistakable screech of gears, the groan of mechanical joints, and you look up. Festus lands with a thud that vibrates through the earth, his ruby eyes glowing like embers. And on his back, grinning as if he’d just pulled off the world’s most reckless prank, is Leo Valdez. He waves, casual and infuriating, and his voice slices through the stunned…