scared? | a nico di angelo fanfic

chapter 14: geryon's place

double update bc i forgot to post the last one lol

Dazed, tired and hungry, they trekked onward, taking turns whenever Minos told them to. Nico would now never let her take the lead again, afraid that she might get herself killed again despite her promise to him.

Finally, they ducked into a tunnel and saw light up ahead. They stared at daylight streaming through a set of bars above their heads: a steel grate made out of metal pipes. Hoa peeked around and saw lush trees and bright blue sky.

Then, a shadow fell across the grate and a cow stared down at her. It looked like an ordinary cow but bright red—like a cherry.

She pointed. "Why do they have an Apollo cow here?"

Nico sighed. "I don't know. Let's go."

Tentatively, she stepped over the bars that made a cattle guard, but they were extremely slippery. "You're shitting me."

Nico frowned. "Don't you have super strength? Just pop it out."

"I don't think the owner of the cattle will be too happy with us."

"Well, we kind of have no choice. You can just put it back later because of your super strength, right?"

She regretted telling Nico about her powers. "Fine."

Hesitantly, she put two hands on the edge of the frame, slowly lifting it up with ease. It creaked, but she didn't give up, propping it up vertically. "Go," she told Nico.

He ran to the other side quickly, giving her room to run her hands down the metal and slowly lower it.

When Hoa reached the other side, she dropped it, making a satisfying THUD!

She wiped the sweat off her brow. "Damn."

Nico paused. "What was that?"

At first, everything seemed quiet.

That was until Hoa heard the distant baying of dogs. The underbrush rustled, and a dog popped out.

Wait, no. Two dogs.

Gods, I'm slow, Hoa thought. One dog with two heads.

The dog looked like a greyhound, long, snaky, and sleek brown, but at the neck of the mutt it V'd into two heads, one of them trying to turn around and bark while the other sniffed Hoa's hand.

Hoa gasped. "Doggo!" She reached her hand out, but Nico slapped it away. Turning to him, she pouted. "Let me pet the doggo."

Nico curled his hand around hers. "We don't know if they have rabies," he said. "And the dog might bite."

"That's fine," she said. "Death by petting doggo sounds like a good death to me."

"Well, it doesn't to me. If we can avoid the prospect of dying, let do so."

A person emerged from the woods, and Hoa waved. "Hi, is this your dog?"

The man was huge, with stark white hair, a straw cowboy hat, and a braided white beard. He wore jeans, a DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off so you could see his muscles. On his right bicep was a crossed-swords tattoo. He held a wooden club about the size of a nuclear warhead, with six-inch spikes bristling at the business end.

The man gave a curt nod to Hoa. "Yes ma'am, the hound belongs to me." he said. "Heel, Orthus."

"Orthus? Is that their name?"

"Yes, ma'am. Now," he said, "What've we got here?" he asked. "Cattle rustlers?"

"Just travelers." Hoa responded.