𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀 | No way out, nothingness, or the impenetrable. A puzzle or something puzzling.
Esmerelda spent the school year dog-hunting after discovering the truth about the mortal side of her family during a 'visit' to the Underworld. Her summer v...
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▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY TWO ▬▬▬
EURYTION LED THEM DOWN A dirt path. The sun glared above them, which was a stark contrast to the chilling cold winds from San Francisco. Esmerelda had no problems dealing with it since this time, her clothes were better suited for it.
The ranch was certainly interesting. Every so often she'd see a pen full of red cows or even stranger animals. She even saw a corral where the fence was coated in asbestos. Inside it was a herd of fire-breathing horses that milled around. The hay in their feeding trough was on fire. The ground smoked around their feet, but the horses seemed tame enough.
"What are they for?" Percy asked as one horse whinnied fire at him.
Eurytion scowled. "We raise animals for lots of clients. Apollo, Diomedes, and... others."
"Like who?"
"No more questions."
They reached the woods a moment later. Perched on a hill above us was a big ranch house—all white stone and wood and big windows.
"It looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright!" Annabeth exclaimed.
Esmerelda glanced over to Percy for a translation. He was usually the best at understanding her.
"Probably an architecture thing," he guessed.
"Don't break the rules," Eurytion warned as they walked up the steps to the front porch. "No fighting. No drawing weapons. And don't make any comments about the boss's appearance."
"Why?" Percy, who was most likely to break the rules, asked. "What does he look like?"
Before Eurytion could reply, a new voice said, "Welcome to the Triple G Ranch."
The man on the porch didn't look as scary as Eurytion, but Esmerelda felt no relief from that. Something about him didn't sit right with her, like he could possibly be the biggest threat in the ranch. He had a weathered face from years spent under the sun, slicked black hair, and a pencil moustache like the villains from vintage movies. He was smiling at them, but it was more amused than friendly, as if he had just found more people to torture.
That was just his face, though. The rest of him... was concerning. He had three bodies. Literally. His neck was connected to the middle chest, but he had two more chests on either side, connected at the shoulders with a few inches between. His left arm grew out of his left chest, and the same on the right, so he had two arms, but four armpits, if that makes any sense. The chests all connected into one enormous torso, with two regular but very beefy legs, and he wore an over-sized pair of Levis. His chests each wore a different color Western shirt—green, yellow, red, like a stoplight.
Geryon surveyed the kids before his eyes landed on her. A greedy and excited look lit up his face, and if this were a cartoon, there would've been dollar signs in his eyes.
