I hate being a hostage(Annabeth pov)
Geryon had a trolley—like one of those kiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted black and white in a cowhide pattern. The driver’s car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the horn sounded like a cowbell.
Nico sat in the very back, probably so he could keep an eye on us. Eurytion crawled in next to him with his spiked club and pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes like he was going to take a nap. Orthus jumped in the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony. Percy, Hanora, Tyson, Grover, and I took the middle two cars.
“We have a huge operation!” Geryon boasted as the trolley lurched forward. “Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too.”
We came over a hill, and I gasped at the sight. “Hippalektryons ? I thought they were extinct!”
At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of these what I thought had been extinct creatures. Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws. They had feathery tails and red wings. As I watched, two of them got in a fight over a pile of seed. They reared up on their wings at each other until the smaller one galloped away, its rear bird legs putting a little hop in its step.
“Rooster ponies,” Tyson said in amazement. “Do they lay eggs?”
“Once a year!” Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. “Very much in demand for omelets!”
“That’s horrible!” I said. “They must be an endangered species!”
Geryon waved his hand. “Gold is gold, darling. And you haven’t tasted the omelets.”
Hanora patted my back to keep me from getting up and smacking this man silly, but she looked just as annoyed as I was.
“That’s not right,” Grover murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour.
“Now, over here,” he said, “we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They’re bred for war, naturally.”
“What war?” Percy asked.
Geryon grinned slyly. “Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows.”
Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry-colored cattle were grazing the side of the hill.
“So many,” Grover said.
“Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them,” Geryon explained, “so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there’s such a demand.”
“For what?” Percy asked.
Geryon raised an eyebrow. “Meat, of course! Armies have to eat.”
I felt a shiver of disgust run through Hanora since she was pressed next to me in our cart. Apparently, she could speak to cows the way Percy could with horses and other sea life, so seeing them treated like this must have really bothered her. Probably as much as it bothered Grover.
“You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?” Grover said. “That’s the against ancient laws!”
“Oh, don’t get so worked up, satyr. They’re just animals.”
“Just animals!” Grover shouted and Hanora echoed softer with a far-off look.
“Yes, and if Apollo cared, I’m sure he would tell us.”
“If he knew,” Percy muttered from the other side of Hanora.
Nico sat forward. “I don’t care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn’t it!”
“All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game.”
The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.
“Triple G Ranch,” Percy said, like he found a missing piece to the puzzle. “Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you.”
“Quintus…” Geryon mused. “Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?”
“Yeah.”
“Never heard of him,” Geryon said. “Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them.”
As long as you had a working nose you did not need to see the stables. Once we were within three hundred yards I could smell them. Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck (Which for those who don’t know muck refers to horse poop). It was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were really gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe—worse than the garbage boats on the East River.
Even Nico gagged. “What is that?”
“My stables!” Geryon said. “Well, actually they belong to Aegas , but we watch over them for a small monthly fee. Aren’t they lovely?”
“They’re disgusting!” I said.
“Lots of poop,” Tyson observed.
“Oh gods,” Hanora muttered.
“How can you keep animals like that?” Grover cried.
“Y’all getting’ on my nerves,” Geryon said. “These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions.”
“Doubtful,” Hanora said.
“Plus, you’re too cheap to have them cleaned,” Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.
“And there it is,” Hanora snarked with a huff.
“Quiet!” Geryon snapped. “All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so, what? My clients still pay me well.”
“What clients?” Percy demanded.
“Oh, you’d be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. Wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time.”
“You’re a monster,” I decided.
Geryon stopped the trolley and turned to look at me. “What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?”
“You have to let these animals go,” Grover said. “It’s not right!”
“And the clients you keep talking about,” I said. “You work for Kronos, don’t you? You’re
supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need.”
Geryon shrugged, which was very weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself. “I work for anyone with gold, young lady. I’m a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer.”
He climbed out of the trolley and strolled toward the stables as if enjoying the fresh air. It
would’ve been a nice view, with the river and the trees and hills and all, except for the quagmire of horse muck.
Nico got out of the back car and stormed over to Geryon. The cowherd Eurytion wasn’t as sleepy as he looked. He hefted his club and walked after Nico.
“I came here for business, Geryon,” Nico said. “And you haven’t answered me.”
“Mmm.” Geryon examined a cactus. His left arm reached over and scratched his middle-chest. “Yes, you’ll get a deal, all right.”
“My ghost told me you could help. He said you could guide us to the soul we need.”
“Wait a second,” Percy said. “I thought I was the soul you wanted.”
Nico looked at me like I was crazy. “You? Why would I want you? Bianca’s soul is worth a thousand of yours! Now, can you help me, Geryon, or not?”
Despite how upset Hanora had been before she snorted, “Damn Jackson, he just called your soul trash. How will you ever recover?”
Percy pushed her shoulder with a bit of a relieved smile, and for a moment something passed over Nico’s face that was difficult to discern as he watched her. Then he turned back to Greyson as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, I imagine I could,” the rancher said. “Your ghost friend, by the way, where is he?”
Nico looked uneasy. “He can’t form in broad daylight. It’s hard for him. But he’s around somewhere.”
Geryon smiled. “I’m sure. Minos likes to disappear when things get…difficult.”
“Minos?” Percy echoed “You mean that evil king? That’s the ghost who’s been giving you advice?”
“It’s none of your business, Percy!” Nico turned back to Geryon. “And what do you mean about things getting difficult?”
The three-bodied man sighed. “Well, you see, Nico—can I call you Nico?”
“No.”
“You see, Nico, Luke Castellan is offering very good money for half-bloods. Especially powerful half-bloods. And I’m sure when he learns your little secret, who you really are, he’ll pay very, very well indeed.”
Nico drew his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand. Before Percy or Hanora could get up, Orthus pounced on their chests and growled, his faces an inch away from Percy’s. For some reason they made no move to directly threaten Hanora aside from pinning her down. Even I was not spared from the force of his body which also kept me smushed into my own corner of the car.
“I would stay in the car, all of you,” Geryon warned. “Or Orthus will tear Mr. Jackson’s throat out. Now, Eurytion, if you would be so kind, secure Nico.”
The cowherd spit into the grass. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you fool!”
Eurytion looked bored, but he wrapped one huge arm around Nico and lifted him up like a wrestler. Hanora struggled a little, but Orthus inched his faces closer to Percy, so she stopped.
“Pick up the sword, too,” Geryon said with distaste. “There’s nothing I hate worse than Stygian Iron.”
Eurytion picked up the sword, careful not to touch the blade.
“Now,” Geryon said cheerfully, “we’ve had the tour. Let’s go back to the lodge, have some lunch, and send an Iris-message to our friends in the Titan army.”
“You fiend!” I cried.
Geryon smiled at me. “Don’t worry, my dear. Once I’ve delivered Mr. di Angelo, you and your party can go. I don’t interfere with quests. Besides, I’ve been paid well to give you safe passage, which does not, I’m afraid, include Mr. di Angelo. Nor does it include-” He cast a strange look at Hanora,” well let's just say one of you goes for quite the pretty penny on the market.”
“Paid by whom?” I said, trying to stall for enough plan making time. “What do you mean?”
“Never you mind, darlin’. Let’s be off, shall we?”
“Wait!” Percy said, and Orthus growled. “Geryon, you said you’re a businessman. Make me a deal.”
Geryon narrowed his eyes. “What sort of deal? Do you have gold?”
“I’ve got something better. Barter.”
“But Mr. Jackson, you’ve got nothing.”
“You could have him clean the stables,” Eurytion suggested innocently.
“I’ll do it!” Percy said. “If I fail, you get all of us. Trade us all to Luke for gold.”
“Percy, don’t-” Hanora whispered, but she stopped when I gripped her hand. If anyone could do this Percy could.
“Assuming the horses don’t eat you,” Geryon observed.
“Either way, you get my friends,” Percy said. “But if I succeed, you’ve got to let all of us go, including Nico.”
“No!” Nico screamed. “Don’t do me any favors, Percy. I don’t want your help!”
Geryon chuckled. “Percy Jackson, those stables haven’t been cleaned in a thousand years…though it’s true I might be able to sell more stable space if all that poop was cleared away.”
“So, what have you got to lose?”
The rancher hesitated. “All right, I’ll accept your offer, but you have to get it done by sunset. If you fail, your friends get sold, and I get rich.”
“Deal.”
He nodded. “I’m going to take your friends with me, back to the lodge. We’ll wait for you there.”
Eurytion gave Percy a funny look, it was almost sympathetic. He whistled, and the dog shifted off of him to sit on me and Hanora instead. I yelped at an embarrassingly high pitch. Once again, I was being held hostage, I was getting tired of being treated like a damsel.
Percy got out of the car and locked eyes with me.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said quietly.
“I hope so, too.”
Geryon got behind the driver’s wheel. Eurytion hauled Nico into the backseat.
“Sunset,” Geryon reminded him. “No later.”
He laughed at me once more, sounded his cowbell horn, and the trolley rumbled off down the trail heading back to the farmhouse.
***
Despite the fact that we outnumbered our captures five to three, we were overwhelmed rather quickly when we got to the house. Part of that might have been Grover and Tyson’s reluctance to give Orthus a reason to sink his teeth into me, the other part was definitely because Hanora’s hands were pinned down so all she could do was use her multilingual curses as a weapon. And cussing out a monster and his henchman was not enough for them to give up and let us go.
Once we were corralled to the deck of the farmhouse Greyson ordered Eurytion to tie us up. He did so with a bored expression, but his eyes held the same sympathy he had looked at Percy with before he left. So that was how all five of us ended up hog tied with our ankles and wrists tied together. And probably because of Hanora’s colorful language we were also gagged a couple of minutes later. Honestly in those couple of minutes I learned a plethora of new curse words from several different languages and time periods. None of which I feel comfortable repeating, if Percy were here, he’d probably pretend to clutch his nonexistent pearls.
And in case you were wondering, it was incredibly difficult to form a plan when you and your friends are bound and gagged. I tried pulling against the rope, but it was too tight to even shift my position slightly. Grover looked like he was thinking about eating his gag, and Tyson kept pulling on his own ropes with no success. Clearly the ropes could not be broken from brute strength. Hanora had gone rather quiet and still since being gagged, it was unsettling to say the least. She almost looked like she had powered down to charge, her eyes were slightly glassy staring at the floor. I was worried if whatever was happening was her thinking and conserving her strength, or maybe she was using her thread abilities to help Percy, or the scariest option. She was having a silent panic attack.
Unfortunately, in my position there was nothing I could do, I couldn't even move closer to her without looking like a beached whale. And if I did that, I would make too much noise and draw attention to us, which could lead to worse circumstances. So, my best plan was to wait and pray.
I lost track of how much time had passed as I listened to Geryon set up his little deck party barbecue. There were streamers and balloons decorated the railing. Geryon was flipping burgers on a huge barbecue cooker made from an oil drum. Eurytion lounged at a picnic table, picking his fingernails with a knife. The two-headed dog sniffed the ribs and burgers that were frying on the grill.
“Let them go!” Percy yelled, a bit out of breath. “I cleaned the stables!”
I turned to look at him and aside from his breathless state he looked unharmed.
Geryon turned. He wore an apron on each chest, with one word on each, so together they spelled out: KISS—THE—CHEF. “Did you, now? How’d you manage it?”
Percy rather impatiently recounted his stable cleaning endeavors, and honestly his ingenuity was impressive and a little scary to think that he could summon water, anywhere.
He nodded appreciatively. “Very ingenious. It would’ve been better if you’d poisoned that pesky naiad, but no matter.”
“Let my friends go,” Percy said. “We had a deal.”
“Ah, I’ve been thinking about that. The problem is, if I let them go, I don’t get paid.”
“You promised!”
Geryon made a tsk-tsk noise. “But did you make me swear on the River Styx? No, you didn’t. So, it’s not binding. When you’re conducting business, sonny, you should always get a binding oath.”
Percy drew his sword. Orthus growled. One head leaned down next to Grover’s ear and bared its fangs.
“Eurytion,” Geryon said, “the boy is starting to annoy me. Kill him.”
Eurytion studied him with disinterest. “Kill him yourself,” Eurytion said.
Geryon raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Eurytion grumbled. “You keep sending me out to do your dirty work. You pick fights for no good reason, and I’m getting tired of dying for you. You want to fight the kid, do it yourself.”
It was the most un- Ares like thing to say, but it reminded me of my own secret weapon that I could still access.
Geryon threw down his spatula. “You dare defy me? I should fire you right now!”
“And who’d take care of your cattle? Orthus, heel.”
The dog immediately stopped growling at Grover and came to sit by the cowherd’s feet.
“Fine!” Geryon snarled. “I’ll deal with you later, after the boy is dead!”
He picked up two carving knives and threw them at Percy. He deflected one with his sword. The other impaled itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion’s hand.
Percy went on the attack. Geryon parried his first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at his face. with a barbecue fork. Percy got inside his next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest.
“ Aghhh!” He crumpled to his knees. I waited for him to disintegrate, the way monsters usually do. But instead, he just grimaced and started to stand up. The wound in his chef’s apron started to heal.
“Nice try, sonny,” he said. “Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup system.”
He tipped over the barbecue, and coals spilled everywhere. One landed next to my face, and I couldn’t help but let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but his strength still wasn’t enough to break them. I shifted my hands trying to get a grip on my ring, if I could just twist it maybe Hanora’s improved ‘B2’ as she liked to call her could help.
Percy jabbed Geryon in the left chest, but he only laughed. He turned and stuck him in the right stomach. No good. I gripped the ring and twisted, feeling the familiar bronze liquid drip down onto the floor.
Three hearts. The perfect backup system. Stabbing one at a time was no good he had to get all three at the same time.
Percy ran into the house.
“Coward!” Greyson cried. “Come back and die right!”
I couldn’t see what was happening but B2 formed and ran into the house after them.
Greyon’s voice echoed out the door. “Your head’s gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!”
There was several awful crashing and clashing metal sounds coming from inside. I closed my eyes and started praying to my mother to help Percy understand how to destroy this monster. To help him make a plan.
Geryon laughed. “You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword.”
Smack! Clang!
“What on Gaea is that thing?!” Greyon screamed.
Some more commotion could be heard before a squish, swoop and thunk into the wall.
The sound of two metal swords crashing onto the floor reverberated through the walls. A confused and hurt Greyon’s voice whispered out “You can’t shoot. They told me you couldn’t…”
***
Percy ran over and untied us with B2 assisting him. Thankfully, Eurytion didn’t try to stop us. Then Percy stoked up the barbecue and threw the food into the flames as a burnt offering for Artemis and Apollo. (He told me later about how he had prayed for their help to be able to shoot through all three of Greyon’s hearts)
“Thanks, guys,” Percy said. “I owe you one.”
The sky thundered in the distance, so clearly, they were pleased
“Yay for Percy!” Tyson said.
“Can we tie up this cowherd now?” Nico asked.
“Yeah!” Grover agreed. “And that dog almost killed me!”
“I’m pretty sure if he wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already, Grover.” Hanora snarked, color finally returning to her face.
I looked at Eurytion, who was still sitting relaxed at the picnic table. Orthus had both his heads on the cowherd’s knees.
“How long will it take Geryon to re-form?” Percy asked him.
Eurytion shrugged. “Hundred years? He’s not one of those fast re-formers, thank the gods. You’ve done me a favor.”
“You said you’d died for him before,” Percy remembered. “How?”
“I’ve worked for that creep for thousands of years. Started as a regular half-blood, but I chose immortality when my dad offered it. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I’m stuck here at this ranch. I can’t leave. I can’t quit. I just tend the cows and fight Geryon’s fights. We’re kinda tied together.”
“Maybe you can change things,” Percy said.
Eurytion narrowed his eyes. “How?”
“Be nice to the animals. Take care of them. Stop selling them for food. And stop dealing with the Titans.”
Eurytion thought about that. “That’d be all right.”
“Get the animals on your side, and they’ll help you. Once Geryon gets back, maybe he’ll be working for you this time.”
Eurytion grinned. “Now, that I could live with.”
“You won’t try to stop us leaving?”
“Shoot, no.”
I rubbed my bruised wrists and called B2 back into the ring. She looked a little banged up, clearly, she must have either used herself as a battering ram or a ‘human’ shield for Percy. I looked up at Eurytion suspiciously. “Your boss said somebody paid for our safe passage. Who?”
The cowherd shrugged. “Maybe he was just saying that to fool you.”
“What about the Titans?” Percy asked. “Did you Iris-message them about Nico yet?”
“Nope. Geryon was waiting until after the barbecue. They don’t know about him or your friend.”
“Our friend?” I asked, changing a glance at Hanora, who was more interested in checking Nico’s wrists. And surprisingly he was letting her, although a little begrudgingly.
Eurytion shrugged, “something about the titans wanting some blonde girl with glasses, who would probably be traveling with the son of Poseidon. They said they would pay handsomely for her, alive of course.”
I scrunched up my nose and caught Percy’s concerned gaze. He did not seem surprised, but he was still upset that there was a bounty on her head.
Nico was glaring at Percy like he was the foulest of creatures. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about him, but Hanora was about two seconds from wrapping herself around him like a protective cocoon.
“You could stay here until we’re done with our quest,” Percy told him. “It would be safe.”
“Safe?” Nico said, sitting up a bit away from Hanora. “What do you care if I’m safe? You got my sister killed!”
“Nico,” I said, “that wasn’t Percy’s fault. And Geryon wasn’t lying about Kronos wanting to capture you. If he knew who you were, he’d do anything to get you on his side.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side. And I’m not afraid.”
“You should be,” I said. “Your sister wouldn’t want—”
“If you cared for my sister, you’d help me bring her back!”
“A soul for a soul?” Percy said.
“Yes!”
“But if you didn’t want my soul—”
“I’m not explaining anything to you!” He blinked tears out of his eyes. “And I will bring her back.” Hanora yanked Nico back into her arms and held his squirming form.
“Bianca wouldn’t want to be brought back,” Percy said. “Not like that.”
“You didn’t know her!” he shouted. “How do you know what she’d want?”
You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand this had to refer to Minos, Percy seemed to think so too.
Percy said, “Let’s ask Bianca.”
The sky seemed to grow darker all of a sudden.
“I’ve tried,” Nico said miserably. “She won’t answer.”
“Try again. I’ve got a feeling she’ll answer with me here.”
“Why would she?”
“Because she’s been sending me Iris-messages,” Percy said with increased confidence. “She’s been trying to warn me what you’re up to, so I can protect you.”
Nico shook his head. “That’s impossible.”
“We are demigods, the impossible is just a Tuesday for us.” Hanora mumbled as she stood up bringing Nico with her.
“One way to find out. You said you’re not afraid.” Percy turned to Eurytion. “We’re going to need a pit, like a grave. And food and drinks.”
“Percy,” I warned. “I don’t think this is a good—”
“All right,” Nico said. “I’ll try.”
Eurytion scratched his beard. “There’s a hole dug out back for a septic tank. We could use that. Cyclops boy, fetch my ice chest from the kitchen. I hope the dead like root beer.”