So not too different from canon this chapter- but we do need the occasional chapters with our guys up above so you know what's been happening lol- so this one and the next two are with Frank, Hazel and Bianca. Also, just updating you guys, I have finished the chapters with Nyx, just so yall know.
Replies:
Undeath9087: You'll just have to wait and see how things pan out now won't yall, it should be fun lol.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Up to a certain point yeah.
Guest: Bob and Damasen's fates always made me sad too, and you shall have to wait and see- though the run in with the Arai will go differently than canon, obviously.
Frank wasn't happy. He knew that none of them were but still, he wasn't happy. And he also knew that the other wouldn't be happy with him either- if they knew that he'd been keeping secrets, but he didn't want to worry them.
None of the others seemed to be having his issue either, he was almost jealous- because having the voices of his dads two personalities yelling in his head most of the time was not fun- and it had been going on since the fighting had broken out at Camp Jupiter. All he'd been doing was trying to ignore them- and it was getting harder as time went on- especially with the new stress of having three of his friends in the worst place imaginable.
And the days since it had happened hadn't made things any easier- they'd been attacked by the Keropes- as Annabeth had called them, luckily she, Jason and Luke had chased the twins, who had been cursed by Zeus. They'd managed to retrieve the stuff the twins had stolen- along with a book that hadn't been theirs which they'd decided to return to it's original owner, and they'd sent them off to mess with the Romans- Frank did feel somewhat guilty about that- but, well,
if it could buy his friends home some more time then it had to be a good thing right?
In any case, he'd at least managed to quiet the mini-gods in his head down somewhat by the time he'd made it up to the deck, and it had been decided that he would go into the city with Bianca and Hazel- and he was painfully grateful for the fact that he was with Hazel- it wasn't that he disliked Bianca, he didn't know her well really, she seemed nice but- well, he was dating her sister-and... and there was the fact that he felt somewhat guilty for his friends falling into Tartarus-
which included Bianca's older- younger- Frank really wasn't sure what they were- brother.
And, to make matters worse there were a lot of monsters around- each was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures' heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes- the mist was making them look like dogs to the mortals, who stopped to pet them from time to time.
It didn't help that Frank did not want to meet the restless spirits that Bianca had said she could sense in the city- he could remember the army of Roman ghosts- and Percy wasn't here now- she'd fended the army on her own- he missed her fiercely, and he pushed back those thoughts as they moved through the city.
And he might have liked Venice if it hadn't been summertime and tourist season, and if the city wasn't overrun with large hairy creatures. Between the rows of old houses and the canals, the sidewalks were already too narrow for the crowds jostling one another and stopping to take pictures. The monsters made things worse. They shuffled around with their heads down, bumping into mortals and sniffing the pavement.
One seemed to find something it liked at the edge of a canal. It nibbled and licked at a crack between the stones until it dislodged some sort of greenish root. The monster sucked it up happily and shambled along.
"Well, they're plant-eaters," Frank said. "That's good news."
Hazel slipped her hand into his. "Unless they supplement their diet with demigods. Let's hope not."
Frank was so pleased to be holding her hand, the crowds and the heat and the monsters suddenly didn't seem so bad.
He felt needed—useful.
Not that Hazel required his protection. Anybody who'd seen her charging on Arion with her sword drawn would know she could take care of herself. Still, Frank liked being next to her, imagining he was her bodyguard. If any of these monsters tried to hurt her, Frank would gladly turn into a rhinoceros and push them into the canal.
Could he do a rhino? Frank had never tried that before.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Bianca stopping dead, her eyes narrowing. "There."
They'd turned onto a smaller street, leaving the canal behind. Ahead of them was a small plaza lined with five-story buildings. The area was strangely deserted—as if the mortals could sense it wasn't safe. In the middle of the cobblestone courtyard, a dozen shaggy cow creatures were sniffing around the mossy base of an old stone well.
"A lot of cows in one place," Frank said slowly, "That's probably not a good sign."
"Maybe not." Bianca shot him a strange look- Frank did not want to think too much about it.
Had Hazel told her that they were together yet? Everyone else knew- but, well, Bianca had that whole protectiveness thing- and- she'd given up a lot to protect Hazel. He could understand if she didn't like him because of that. "But look there. Past the archway." she pointed, and Frank followed her gaze, squinting slightly.
At the far end of the plaza, a stone archway carved with lions led into a narrow street. Just past the arch, one of the town houses was painted black—the only black building Frank had seen so far in Venice.
"La Casa Nera," he guessed.
Hazel's grip tightened on his fingers. "I don't like that plaza. It feels…cold."
Frank wasn't sure what she meant. He was still sweating like crazy.
But Bianca was nodding at Hazel's words, and she was eyeing the town house windows carefully. "You're right Hazel." she said after a moment, "This neighborhood is filled with lemures."
"Lemurs?" Frank asked nervously. "I'm guessing you don't mean the furry little guys from Madagascar?"
"Angry ghosts," Bianca said. "Lemures go back to Roman times. They hang around a lot of Italian cities, but I've never felt so many in one place. My mom told me…" she hesitated, a sad look in her eyes "She used to tell Nico and I stories about the ghosts of Venice."
Frank hesitated. He knew some of the basics of Bianca's backstory but- it was incredibly awkward- he was aware that for the last several months she'd been incredibly isolated from everyone other than Hazel. And he winced at the hopeful look Hazel gave him.
"Your mom was Italian?" and gods but he felt so awkward. "I- Percy mentioned that you and Nico didn't age for a while but she said you didn't remember much-"
"We were from here." Bianca admitted, a sad smile playing across her lips, our mom met Hades here back in the 930s. As World War Two got closer, she fled to the U.S. With Nico and I. Some of it's still fuzzy. Dad dumped us both in the Styx before she shoved us in the Lotus Casino. Nico probably remembers the language too."
"Uh-" Frank shifted uncomfortably- "That must have been hard on your mom." he really, really didn't want to talk about Nico right now. It might not be logical but the guilt was horrible. "I guess we'll do anything for someone we love."
Hazel squeezed his hand-and Frank felt a rush of warmth at the look he gave her- and Bianca was looking away, a pained look on her face.
"Feelings are complicated." Bianca spoke slowly, "Sometimes they make us do stupid things." and he could tell, it was clear that she was thinking of her brother, she'd been back with him for such a little time and then he'd chosen to leap into the pit which she'd only recently escaped from.
"So, the lemures…" He swallowed, trying to change the subject. "How do we avoid them?"
"I'm already on it," Bianca told them "I'm sending out the message that they should stay away and ignore us. Hopefully that's enough. Otherwise…things could get messy. If Nico was here- he's better than me with his powers. I didn't train so much."
"You're still insanely strong." Hazel said quickly-and Bianca gave her a faint smile."
"This coming from you." there was pride in her voice. "But uh- we should get going."
Halfway across the piazza, everything went wrong; but it had nothing to do with ghosts.
They were skirting the well in the middle of the square, trying to give the cow monsters some distance, when Hazel stumbled on a loose piece of cobblestone. Frank caught her. Six or seven of the big gray beasts turned to look at them.
Frank glimpsed a glowing green eye under one's mane, and instantly he was hit with a wave of nausea, the way he felt when he ate too much cheese or ice cream.
The creatures made deep throbbing sounds in their throats like angry foghorns.
"Nice cows," Frank murmured. He put himself between his friends and the monsters. "Guys, I'm thinking we should back out of here slowly."
"I'm such a klutz," Hazel whispered. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault," Bianca gasped out. "Look at your feet."
Frank glanced down and caught his breath.
Under their shoes, the paving stones were moving—spiky plant tendrils were pushing up from the cracks.
Bianca scrambled backwards, a panicked look on her face as the roots snaked out in her direction, trying to follow. The tendrils got thicker, exuding a steamy green vapor that smelled of boiled cabbage.
"These roots seem to like demigods," Frank noted.
Hazel's hand drifted to her sword hilt. "And the cow creatures like the roots."
The entire herd was now looking their direction, making foghorn growls and stamping their hooves. Frank understood animal behavior well enough to get the message: You are standing on our food. That makes you enemies.
Frank tried to think. There were too many monsters to fight. Something about their eyes hidden under those shaggy manes…Frank had gotten sick from the barest glimpse. He had a bad feeling that if those monsters made direct eye contact, he might get a lot worse than nauseous.
"Don't meet their eyes," Frank warned. "I'll distract them. You two back up slowly toward that black house."
The creatures tensed, ready to attack.
"Never mind," Frank said. "Run!"
As it turned out, Frank could not turn into a rhino, and he lost valuable time trying.
Bianca and Hazel bolted for the side street. Frank stepped in front of the monsters, hoping to keep their attention. He yelled at the top of his lungs, imagining himself as a fearsome rhinoceros, but with Ares and Mars screaming in his head, he couldn't concentrate. He remained regular-old Frank.
Two of the cow monsters peeled off from the herd to chase Bianca and Hazel.
"No!" Frank yelled after them. "Me! I'm the rhino!"
The rest of the herd surrounded Frank. They growled, emerald-green gas billowing from their nostrils. Frank stepped back to avoid the stuff, but the stench nearly knocked him over.
Okay, so not a rhino. Something else. Frank knew he had only seconds before the monsters trampled or poisoned him, but he couldn't think. He couldn't hold the image of any animal long enough to change form.
Then he glanced up at one of the town-house balconies and saw a stone carving—the symbol of Venice.
The next instant, Frank was a full-grown lion. He roared in challenge, then sprang from the middle of the monster herd and landed eight meters away, on top of the old stone well. The monsters growled in reply. Three of them sprang at once, but Frank was ready. His lion reflexes were built for speed in combat.
He slashed the first two monsters into dust with his claws, then sank his fangs into the third one's throat and tossed it aside.
There were seven left, plus the two chasing his friends. Not great odds, but Frank had to keep the bulk of herd focused on him. He roared at the monsters, and they edged away.
They outnumbered him, yes. But Frank was a top-of-the-chain predator. The herd monsters knew it. They had also just watched him send three of their friends to Tartarus. He pressed his advantage and leaped off the well, still baring his fangs. The herd backed off.
If he could just manoeuvre around them, then turn and run after his friends…
He was doing all right, until he took his first backward step toward the arch. One of cows, either the bravest or the stupidest, took that as a sign of weakness. It charged and blasted Frank in the face with green gas.
He slashed the monster to dust, but the damage was already done. He forced himself not to breathe. Regardless, he could feel the fur burning off his snout. His eyes stung. He staggered back, half-blind and dizzy, dimly aware of Bianca screaming his name.
"Frank! Frank!"
He tried to focus. He was back in human form, retching and stumbling. His face felt like it was peeling off. In front of him, the green cloud of gas floated between him and the herd. The remaining cow monsters eyed him warily, probably wondering if Frank had any more tricks up his sleeve.
He glanced over his shoulder. Under the stone arch, Bianca was holding her black Stygian iron sword, gesturing at Frank to hurry. At Bianca's feet, two puddles of darkness stained the pavement—no doubt the remains of the cow monsters that had chased them.
And Hazel…she was propped against the wall behind her brother. She wasn't moving.
