νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 3-12: THE MONSTER DOES MONSTROUS THINGS????

ANNABETH

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Geryon had a trolley thing- 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. I figured maybe this was how he tortured people. He embarrassed them to death riding around in the moo-mobile.

Nico sat in the very back, probably so he could keep an eye on us. Tempest forced him to sit right next to her, which looked a little ridiculous. Nico was a grumpy eleven-year-old with his arms crossed and an awful look on his face, while Tempest sat there very calmly while humming ninety-nine bottles of beer. It was a weird relationship they had, but Tempest often had weird relationships. I guessed it was like that because of the whole Oedipuss incident.

Eurytion crawled in next to both of them 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, Tyson, Grover, and I took the middle two cars.

"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile 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 the weirdest animals you'd ever see. 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.

Tempest leaned over my shoulder and I held my breath, since it probably didn't smell great and that would be embarrassing.

"Do they lay eggs?" she asked.

"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. "Very much in demand for omelettes!"

"That's horrible!" I blurted out. "They must be an endangered species!"

Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelettes."

"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."

Tempest's eyes narrowed. "What war?"

I stilled as 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."