Death and Madness|| Nico di Angelo

I discover that I can talk to leopards

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.

"I remember riding one of these" Percy groaned. "Alexandra loved them"

Nico and I sat at the very back, probably so the emo could keep and eye on the others. I don't know if Nico felt any different about Percy now, but the guy didn't seem that bad. And I swear I wasn't warming up to him just because he's hot. That part was just a bonus.

Eurytion climbed in front of us 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.

Annabeth- the blonde girl (sidenote: also hot), Tyson- the cyclops, Grover- the satyr and Percy 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 Annabeth gasped. "Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!"

"Annabeth's a daughter of Athena, she knows random stuff like that" Nico whispered to me. I nodded and tried not to stare too obviously. 

At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of the weirdest animals I'd ever seen. 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. "Do they lay eggs?"

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

"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "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."

"What war?" I asked.

Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows."

Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry-coloured cattle were grazing the side of the hill.

"Strawberry milk cows" I grinned. Percy turned back to look at me and gave me an impressed thumbs up, but turned back around when Nico gave him a death glare.

"You didn't tell me he was hot" I whispered to Nico. 

Now it my turn to be glared at by Nico, so I shut up. 

"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."

"For what?" Percy asked.

Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."

"You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?" Grover said. "That's the against ancient laws!"

"Oh, don't get so worked up, satyr. They're just animals."

"Just animals!"

"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."

"If he knew," Percy muttered.

Nico sat forward. "I don't care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn't it!"

"All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game."

The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.

"Triple G Ranch," Percy said as if he were remembering something. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you."

"Quintus..." Geryon mused. "Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?"

"Yeah."

"Never heard of him," Geryon said. "Now, over here we have leopards for Dionysus"

This field was also ringed in barbed wire. The whole area had about twelve leopards, they didn't look dangerous though, more depressed. 

Help us mistress

I almost jumped out in surprise when the leopard talked to me. Still I didn't believe it had been him. 

"Did you just talk to me?" I asked him. Sure it must have looked crazy to the others, but I needed to know. 

Yes mistress, help us... tell the Lord Dionysus about Geryon, he-

"You're a daughter of Dionysus" Annabeth realised. 

"And you can talk to leopards" Nico deadpanned.

"Yeah, and they're miserable" I said loudly. "What do you do to them Geryon?"

"Do to them? Nothing" Geryon waved my concern away. 

"They look like they're starving" I argued. 

"Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them." Geryon changed the topic.