𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲.

An old dead friend comes to visit

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. They 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 Annabeth's face, and she let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but even his strength wasn't enough to break them.

He jabbed Geryon in the left chest, but he only laughed. Percy stuck him in the right stomach. No good. He might as well have been sticking a sword in a teddy bear for all the reaction he showed.

Three hearts. The perfect backup system. Stabbing one at a time was no good... Percy ran into the house.

"Coward!" he cried. "Come back and die right!"

Lilia heard muffled movements, things getting thrown around, from inside the house.

"Your head's gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!"

Geryon's laugh was muffled. "You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword."

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP,

"You can't shoot. They told me you couldn't..."

They sat waiting, the house went quiet, then Percy ran back out a slight grin on his face. He untied them all, then went over to the barbecue and threw some food in.

"Thanks guys, I owe you one." He looked up at the sky as lightning grumbled in the distance.

"Yay for Percy!" Tyson said.

"Can we tie up the cowherd now?" Nico asked rubbing his wrists where they'd been tied.

Lilia looked over at Eurytion, who was still sat relaxed, he wasn't going to stop them.

"How long will it take Geryon to re-form?" Percy asked.

"Hundred years? He's not one of those fast re-formers. Thank the Gods, you've done me a favour."

"You said you'd died for him before," Lilia 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," she 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." She shrugged.

Eurytion grinned. "Now, that I could live with."

"You won't try to stop us leaving?" Percy asked sceptically

"Shoot, no."

Annabeth rubbed her bruised wrists. She was still looking at Eurytion suspiciously. "Your boss said somebody paid for our safe passage. Who?"