Festus



"(While scratching his head in confusion) You named the dragon Festus, Leo? Do you know in Latin, Festus means 'happy'? You want us to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

- Jason Grace

Festus (meaning Happy :) in Latin ) was an automaton created by the old Hephaestus cabin, with the blessing of their father, many years before the series to defend the camp. It was created before Thalia's tree gave the camp magical borders. The dragon kept the camp safe for over a decade and then it ran away because it was starting to malfunction. The dragon was friends with Beckendorf and Leo, the latter of whom named him Festus. It is hinted in The Lost Hero that mortals see him as something like a helicopter. Festus' picture shows Leo on his back trying to tame him and his eyes are glowing red. Piper described Festus as 'beautiful',and when she did so, the other campers looked at her 'as though she was crazy'.

History
Sometime before the events of the books, Festus was created and activated inside Bunker 9 by the Hepahestus campers and a blessing from the fire god. A set of wings was revealed inside the bunker in The Lost Hero; it's unknown whether they were originally for him and, if they were, why they were never put on him. Also, before his creation, a set of blueprints was made for a Greek trireme lit by flames, and Festus's head was planted in the bow of the ship.

Festus was created to defend the camp from monsters before Thalia's Tree, but about fifteen years before the books, he malfunctioned and ran off into the woods and eventually broke down.

The Demigod Files
He first appeared in The Demigod Files as the unnamed Bronze Dragon. During a game of Capture the Flag, its head was found by the Myrmekes and the dragon was reactivated by Percy, Annabeth, and Silena to help them rescue Beckendorf from getting eaten by the Myrmekes. He was deactivated by Beckendorf with Percy's help afterwards, due to the fact that it was unstable and dangerous. It is fixed by the Hephaestus cabin to protect the camp sometime after this.

The Lost Hero
Following Hephaestus' cabin being cursed after Beckendorf's death, the dragon went haywire and hid himself in the forest. Leo manages to catch him in a trap, fix him and gave him wings, naming him "Festus" after he first pronounced "Hephaestus" that way. Festus then helped Leo, Piper and Jason on their quest by taking them across the country. He took them first to Quebec, and then to Detroit, where he was knocked out of the sky by Khione, who also damaged his control disk. After Leo fixed him, he took them to Chicago and saved them from Medea's sun dragons. He made his final flight to Omaha, where he malfunctioned once again due to Khione's damage. Leo was able to temporarily reboot him before attempting to land him on a massive mansion's lawn. However, the mansion turned out to belong to King Midas, and a set of lasers cut Festus to shreds. Festus then uses Morse Code to give Leo his last wishes, which are not revealed. Leo then asks his father to transport Festus' head back to Bunker 9.

Later on, it is revealed that the head of Festus was in the drawing of a boat that Leo created when he was a child, and this boat would eventually be determined by Leo as the same as the blueprints of what he would call the Argo II. Leo announced to his cabin-mates and a few others that the Hephaestus cabin would build this boat, using the head of Festus as the figurehead, to voyage to the Greek mainland and to stop the Giants from destroying the original Mount Olympus, and thus destroying the "roots of the Gods."

The Son of Neptune
He is briefly mentioned by Percy when he sees the Argo II, and says the masthead looked 'oddly familiar'.

Appearance
Festus is described as having a perfect mix of bronze and gold scales, giant sphere rubies for eyes that can light up like high-powered searchlights, having bronze wings, drill-like razor sharp teeth. he is close to 50 tons in weight but can still easily fly with passengers.

Trivia

 * 'Festus' is Latin for 'Happy'. Jason notices this, and jokingly calls him "Happy the Dragon" in The Lost Hero.
 * Leo has a safety whistle, summoned from his toolbelt, which Festus will come to when it is blown.