Partners in Crime || PJOxHP || Marauders' Era

Archery

When Jessica came to, the deck was set up for a party. 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. 

And then Jessica saw her friends: Tyson, Grover, Annabeth, and Nico all tossed in a corner, tied up like rodeo animals, with their ankles and wrists roped together and their mouths gagged. Jessica was tied to a chair, wrists and all, but thankfully enough, her mouth hadn't been gagged.

"Let them go!" she yelled, kicking against her chair. She instantly fell on her face onto the ground- thankfully, it was not covered in horse poop. She continued to talk in a muffled voice, calling Geryon every cursed creature known to mankind. 

Eurytion stood up and plopped the chair back onto the ground. "Stay down, princess." His smile looked cruel, but Eurytion's eyes were full of sympathy- and his hands... well, his hands brushed past hers, and Jessica felt something loosen up around her wrists. Her eyes widened.

Eurytion had just set her free. But he sent her a look- Don't break the play just yet.

Geryon was smiling, "I want to see how much the Lord of the Skies would pay for his only mortal heir." He turned back to his burgers. "We'll see that tonight."

"Let them go!" Percy was suddenly there, out of breath from running up the steps. "I cleaned the stables!"

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 was pretty impatient, but he told the monster. Percy's eyes flickered nervously from Jessica to his friends. Geryon 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 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."

It was the most un-Ares like thing Jessica had ever heard son of Ares say. 

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 Riptide. The other impaled itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion's hand.

***

Percy went on the attack. Geryon parried the first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at Percy's face with a barbecue fork. He got inside Geryon's next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest.