I 029. I
𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔
❝ barbecue❞
IF ARIADNE COULD KILL SOMEONE WITH A GLARE SHE WOULD'VE KILLED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ALREADY.
Her glare never wavered from the back of Geryon's head, even as Orthus growled at her and bared his sharp fangs. The girl was ready to flip the entire trolley over with one wing of her sword if it meant killing the monster.
But Annabeth was right by Orthus's face, and she didn't doubt that her sister's throat would be bleeding if she tried anything.
Ariadne had made a snide comment numerous times, and each were causing Geryon's nerves to grow. The girl was not going to shut up if it meant keeping her friends safe.
Geryon parked the trolley once they arrived at the ranch house. The deck was set up for a party. Streamers and balloons decorated the railing. He let everyone out before gripping the brunette's arm tightly and pushing her forward, forcing her to walk next to him as he led them up the porch steps.
The two-headed dog followed behind Annabeth closely, making it clear for all of them that if a mood was made then she was dead. She had never hated a dog more than at that moment.
"Eurytion, do me a favor and tie up our guests," Geryon said. "We can't have them running off while Mr. Jackson is cleaning the stables, now can we?"
He took a three large aprons off the porch railing and slipped it over his head. He tied it around his backs, the aprons covering each of his chests, with one word on each, so together they spelled out: KISS—THE—CHEF.
Eurytion grabbed a set of ropes and tied Tyson, Grover, and Annabeth's hands behind their backs. Ariadne didn't make a move to run, knowing that Orthus would hurt her friends.
Nico understood that Annabeth would get hurt if he moved. He didn't put up a fight, even when he was restrained and a gag placed in his mouth. The girl knew he didn't necessarily care for any of them, especially her and Percy, but he understood that Annabeth's life was at stake.
The cowherd walked towards Ariadne, who sat on the porch next to Annabeth, but Geryon raised his hand. "Wait," Geryon said. "Daughter of Dionysus you say?"
Eurytion nodded with a raised eyebrow. "So what?" he asked, ripe in hands. "Am I tying her up or not?"
Geryon scratched his chin. Ariadne glared at him before he snapped his fingers with an idea. "Wine. That's what we need."
He walked off the porch and around the back. A few minutes later he came towing two large barrels before dropping them in the grass, pointing at Eurytion. "Bring her over, lets see what the daughter of Dionysus can really do."
Eurytion nodded at his boss and grabbed her arm, pulling her from her seat and dragging her off the porch and over toward his boss. He dropped her arm and stood behind her with his spiked club over his shoulder.
"Alright, sugar," Geryon said, "I've heard about this daughter of Dionysus, and the one thing that sticks out to me is wine. Now, while Mr. Jackson is trying to save you, and your friends are tied up, you will be making me wine."
Ariadne snorted and crossed her arms. "Doesn't exactly work that way," she told him.
The girl almost laughed. He wanted her to grow grapes and start stepping on them long enough to make wine, and she couldn't do the same trick her brothers could, so he was getting nowhere with her.
"Then lets see if we can make it work that way."
Geryon snapped his fingers and Ariadne panicked.
Orthus snapped his jaws at Annabeth and Grover's face. Tyson's one eye widened in fear as his body quivered in the ropes around his wrists. Her satyr friend was about to pass out, and with a quick glance in her direction the brunette clenched her fists and looked at Geryon.
"Fine," she said.
Geryon gave her a grin. "Splendid."
Eurytion picked up the barrels and stood the upright before her. He sat at a picnic table a few feet away as his dog growled at her friends. The cowherd grabbed a bucket from the side and poured water inside, as if she was Jesus.
The three-bodied monster began walking back towards the porch. "Thank you, sugar. And remember—you try to escape, and Oethus over there ain't gonna be so kind to your little friends. Let's hope your boyfriend doesn't get eaten alive!"
Ariadne grit her teeth before facing the barrels. They were taller than her whole body and she couldn't see inside. The girl let out a loud huff before raising a hand and a vine popped from the ground.
Geryon fired up the grill in front of her fiends, who, by the looks of it, were starving, and she was, too. She wished that granola bar that morning hadn't worn off, and she longe fro eat a hamburger and a rack of ribs like Geryon was planning on doing.
She didn't know how she was meant to turn water into wine like her brothers. The girl hadn't yet figured it out, so she was forced to learn.
Her hand twitched and the girl wished she could see inside. With her eyebrows furrowed she noticed a small hole inside the barrel. The girl leaned her head against the barrel and noticed she could see inside.
The water was still water, and the girl groaned under her breath.
"Sugar," Geryon called, "how's the wine comin'?"
Ariadne gave him a glare.
She focused on the barrel and focused all her thoughts onto it—well, attempted to do so. Her thoughts wandered towards Percy and if he was okay and finding more success in his task than she was with hers.
Finally, the girl heard a pop and gazed inside the barrel to see it had turned a darker color, and she grinned to herself.
All Ariadne could do was try to make water into wine one more time to save her friends.
***
THE SUN WAS DIPPING BEHIND THE HORIZON BY THE TIME PERCY WAS RUNNING UP THE PORCH STEPS.
He saw the decorations. He saw Eurytion at a picnic table, picking his fingernails with a knife. He saw the two-headed dog sniffing the ribs and burgers that were frying on the grill, and his friends tied by their ankles and wrists and gagged in the corner.
But what really got him, was seeing Ariadne gagged and her wrists tied around a pole on the porch, her back against it as she struggled to break free.
After she had turned the barrels into wine, Ariadne had made a grove of vines to free her friend, but the two-headed dog was close to killing Tyson and Nico, and the girl was forced to the porch by Eurytion.
Geryon was flipping burgers on his huge barbecue cooked made from an oil drum. Next to him was a cup of wine that Ariadne had made.
"Let them go!" Percy yelled, still out of breath from running up the steps. "I cleaned the stables!"
Geryon turned. "Did you, now? How'd you manage it?"
Percy impatiently told him about the river naiad who wouldn't let him use her water, but told him about the fossils that created sea water remotely.
Geryon nodded appreciatively. "Very ingenious. It would've been better if you'd poisoned that pest 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 mas 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 Riptide. Orthus growled. One head leaned down next to Grover's ear and bared it's fangs.
"Eurytion," Geryon said, "the boy is starting to annoy me. Kill him."
Ariadne glared at the man. She said something but it was muffled behind her Gaga, which greatly frustrated her.
Geryon pointed his spatula at her. "Quiet, sugar. I'll be having more wine in a bit."
Eurytion studied Percy.
"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."
Geryon three 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.
Ariadne grew a vine behind her, using her body to hide it from the sight of Geryon who was extremely angry. She made it pointed to cut through the tight ropes.
"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 them with Riptide. The other impacted itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion's hand.
Percy went on the attack. Geryon parried his first string with a pair of red-hot tings and lunges at his face with a barbecue fork. Percy got inside his next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle of the chest.
"Aghhh!" He crumpled you his knees. Ariadne waited for him to disintegrate, the way monster usually did. 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 the coals spilled everywhere. One landed next to Annabeth's face, and she let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but his strength wasn't enough to break them.
Percy jabbed Geryon in his left chest, but he only laughed. He stuck him in the right stomach. No good.
Ariadne began to think. Three hearts. The perfect backup system. Stabbing one at a time was no good...
She was able to cut her bonds and rip off the gag and ropes. The girl ran into the house and Geryon hadn't seemed to notice, too busy with Percy.
Percy ran into the house.
"Coward!" Geryon cried. "Come back and die right
The living room walls were decorated with a bunch of gruesome hunting trophies—stuffed deer and dragon heads, a gun case, a sword display, and a bow with a quiver.
Geryon threw his barbecue fork, and it thudded into the wall right next to Percy's head. He drew two sword from the wall display. "You head's gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!"
Percy glanced over at Ariadne, who stood by the wall with the bow. He nodded at her and she gave him a look of understanding.
Ariadne snatched the bow off the wall and grabbed an arrow. She tossed it to Percy who caught them with one hand. She found a small potted plant in the corner and rose a vine.
Percy notched an arrow.
Geryon laughed. "You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword!"
Ariadne glared at the man who hadn't seen her and prayed to her father that it would work. I know you don't like my friends, but please, for me, help us.
He raised his swords and charged. Percy dove sideways. Before he could turn, Percy shot his arrow into the side of his right chest as her vine jabbed straight through him.
She heard THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, as the arrow and vine passed clean through each of his chests and flew out his left side, embedding themselves in the forehead of the grizzly bear trophy.
Geryon dropped his swords. He turned to stare at the two. "You can't shoot," he said to Percy. "They told me you couldn't." His eyes turned to Ariadne. "They told me you weren't a threat..."
His face turned a sickly shade of green. He collapsed to his knees and began crumbling into sand, until all that was left were three cooking aprons and an oversized pair of cowboy boots.
Ariadne and Percy got their friends untied. Eurytion didn't try to stop them. Percy stoked the barbecue and threw the food into the flames as a burnt offering to Artemis and Apollo, who Percy had told her he prayed to.
"Thanks, guys," Percy said. "I owe you one."
The brunette girl used a few vines to drag over the barrels of wine. She let them tip over and flow across the grass. She scooped some up in a bucket and left it for her dad.
It disappeared and the vines swayed, the horizon turning a slight purple haze before fading.
"Yay for Percy and Ari!" Tyson said.
"Can we tie up the cowherd now?" Nico asked.
"Yeah!" Grover agreed. "And that dog almost killed me!"
Ariadne looked at Eurytion, who was still sitting relaxed at the picnic table. Orthus has 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," Ariadne 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 narrows 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 love with."
"You won't try to stop us leaving?"
"Shoot, no."
Annabeth rubbed her bruised wrists. She was looking 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. "Do you Iris-message then about Nico yet?"
"Nope. Geryon was waiting until after the barbecue. They don't know about him."
Nico glared at Percy. Ariadne gave the kid a soft look, boy he scowled at her. She doubted he would join them. But they could t leave him to roam around on his own.
"You could stay here until we're done with our quest," Ariadne told him. "It would be safe."
"Safe?" Nico said. "What do you care if I'm safe? You got my sister killed!"
"Nico," Annabeth said, "that wasn't Ariadne or 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," Ariadne 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."
"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?"
Ariadne stares at the flames in the barbecue pit. She thought about the line in Annabeth's prophecy: You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand. It had to be Minos. She couldn't let Nico listen to him. "Let's as 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 and Percy here."
"Why would she?"
"Because she's been sending us Iris-messages and dreams," Percy said, suddenly sure of it. "She's been trying to warn us what you're up to, so we can protect you."
Nico shook his head. "That's impossible."
"One way to find out. You said you're not afraid," Ariadne turned to Eurytion. "We're going to need a pit, like a grave. And food and drinks."
"Ari," Annabeth warmer. "I don't think this is a good—"
"All right Nico said. "I'll try."
Eurytion scratched his heard. "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."
Ariadne ignored the chill on her spine, glancing at Nico to see he was already watching her. And with a confused look on his face, he shook hit away, glaring at her with enough malice in the world to satisfy Hades himself.