Hey guys, I will respond to the reviews in next chapter, I'm in a rush today, sorry!

Frank didn't even think. He just ran, sprinting towards Hazel, ignoring the monster herd, almost pushing Bianca out of the way as he gripped Hazel's shoulder and her head slumped forward against her chest.

"She got a blast of the green gas right in the face." Bianca's voice was miserable and when Frank glanced up he could see that there were tears in her eyes. "I wasn't fast enough I didn't protect her- I'm not enough I- I couldn't protect her I couldn't- I couldn't protect them-" and Frank knew that she wasn't just talking about Hazel.

"We need to get back to the ship." his mind was racing as he clutched Hazel close. "Will can help her. He'll help her." he had total faith in the son of Apollo. And gods but was Hazel even breathing? He couldn't tell.

The cow monster herd prowled cautiously just beyond the archway. They bellowed their foghorn cries. From nearby streets, more monsters answered. Reinforcements would soon have the demigods surrounded.

"We won't make it on foot." Bianca choked out, "Frank you- I saw you transform when- with the statue- forget about me. I can- please just get her back to the ship I can't lose her I- I can't fail again."

With his face burning and the voices screaming in his mind, Frank wasn't sure he could change shape; but he was about to try when a voice behind them said, "Your friends can't help you. They don't know the cure."

Frank spun. Standing in the threshold of the Black House was a young man in jeans and a denim shirt. He had curly black hair and a friendly smile, though Frank doubted he was friendly. Probably he wasn't even human.

At the moment, Frank didn't care.

"Can you cure her?" he asked.

"Of course," the man said. "But you'd better hurry inside. I think you've angered every katobleps in Venice."

They barely even made it inside. As soon as their host threw the bolts, the cow monsters bellowed and slammed into the door, making it shudder on its hinges.

"Oh, they can't get in," the man in denim promised. "You're safe now!"

"Safe?" Frank demanded. "Hazel is dying!"

Their host frowned as if he didn't appreciate Frank ruining his good mood. "Yes, yes. Bring her this way."

Frank carried Hazel as they followed the man farther into the building. Bianca offered to help, but Frank didn't need it. Hazel weighed nothing, and Frank's body hummed with adrenaline. He could feel Hazel shivering, so at least he knew she was alive; but her skin was cold. Her lips had taken on a greenish tinge—or was that just Frank's blurry vision?
His eyes still burned from the monster's breath. His lungs felt like he'd inhaled a flaming cabbage. He didn't know why the gas had affected him less than it had Hazel. Maybe she'd gotten more of it in her lungs. He would have given anything to change places if it meant saving her. He was in love with her- Hazel was- he'd never felt this way about anyone else. He wouldn't even hesitate.

The voices of Mars and Ares yelled in his head, urging him to kill Bianca and the man in denim and anyone else he could find, but Frank forced down the noise.

The house's front room was some sort of greenhouse. The walls were lined with tables of plant trays under fluorescent lights. The air smelled of fertilizer solution. Maybe Venetians did their gardening inside, since they were surrounded by water instead of soil? Frank wasn't sure, but he didn't spend much time worrying about it.

The back room looked like a combination garage, college dorm, and computer lab. Against the left wall glowed a bank of servers and laptops, their screen savers flashing pictures of plowed fields and tractors. Against the right wall sat a single bed, a messy desk, and an open wardrobe filled with extra denim clothes and a stack of farm implements, like pitchforks and rakes.

The back wall was a huge garage door. Parked next to it was a red-and-gold chariot with an open carriage and a single axle, like the chariots Frank had raced at Camp Jupiter. Sprouting from the sides of the driver's box were giant feathery wings. Wrapped around the rim of the left wheel, a spotted python snored loudly.

"Set your friend here," said the man in denim.

Frank placed Hazel gently on the bed. He removed her sword and tried to make her comfortable, but she was as limp as a scarecrow. Her complexion definitely had a greenish tint and he brushed his fingers over Hazel's cheek, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall.

"What were those cow things?" Frank demanded. "What did they do to her?"

"Katoblepones," said their host. "Singular: katobleps. In English, it means down-looker. Called that because—"

"They're always looking down-" Bianca blinked, "Gods I- I should have remembered."

Frank glared at her. "Now you remember?"

"It-" Bianca's face went red, "When Nico was little he was obsessed with this card game- used to make me play it with him, before I-" she shook her head. "I remember the card. Gods I don't- I don't even know if he still plays it I'm a terrible sister. The last time I had anything to do with Mythomagic I almost got him killed."

Frank blinked, "I played Mythomagic I never saw that card."

"You'd have to ask Nico." Bianca shook her head, "He was obsessed like I said." and- that was a weird thought.

Frank didn't know Nico that well. He knew that the other demigod was Percy, Hazel and Biancas brother, and that he was powerful from what Percy had told him, and loyal too of course, but he hadn't realised that he had something other than caring about the same people in common with him.

Unfortunately there was a chance he'd never actually get to talk to the other demigod again- if they didn't get to the Doors of Death.

Their host cleared his throat. "Are you two done, ah, geeking out, as they say?"

"Right, sorry," Bianca shook her head "Anyway, katoblepones have poison breath and a poison gaze I think. I thought they only lived in Africa."

The man in denim shrugged. "That's their native land. They were accidentally imported to Venice hundreds of years ago. You've heard of Saint Mark?"

Frank wanted to scream with frustration. He didn't see how any of this was relevant, but if their host could heal Hazel, Frank decided maybe it would be best not to make him angry. "Saints? They're not part of Greek mythology."

The man in denim chuckled. "No, but Saint Mark is the patron saint of this city. He died in Egypt, oh, a long time ago. When the Venetians became powerful…well, the relics of saints were a big tourist attraction back in the Middle Ages. The Venetians decided to steal Saint Mark's remains and bring them to their big church of San Marco. They smuggled out his body in a barrel of pickled pig parts."

"That's…disgusting," Frank said.

"Yes," the man agreed with a smile. "The point is, you can't do something like that and not have consequences. The Venetians unintentionally smuggled something else out of Egypt—the katoblepones. They came here aboard that ship and have been breeding like rats ever since. They love the magical poison roots that grow here—swampy, foul-smelling plants that creep up from the canals. It makes their breath even more poisonous! Usually the monsters ignore mortals, but demigods…especially demigods who get in their way—"

"Got it," Frank snapped. "Can you cure her?"

The man shrugged. "Possibly."

"Possibly?" Frank had to use all his willpower not to throttle the guy.

He put his hand under Hazel's nose. He couldn't feel her breath. "Bianca, please tell me she's doing that death-trance thing, like you did in the bronze jar."

"I don't know if Hazel can do that." Bianca shook her head, "I mean- her dad is Pluto, not Hades and there is a difference so-"

"Hades!" cried their host. He backed away, staring at Bianca with distaste. "So that's what I smell. Children of the Underworld? If I'd known that, I would never have let you in!"

Frank rose. "Hazel's a good person. You promised you would help her!"

"I did not promise."

"Listen!" Bianca's voice was angry- and suddenly the temperature seemed to plummet around them, "She's my sister. I don't know who you are but if you can cure her you will! I will not fail to protect her like I failed Nico I won-"

"Oh, blah, blah, blah!" The man waved his hand. Suddenly where Bianca had been standing was a potted plant about five feet tall, with drooping green leaves, tufts of silk, and half a dozen ripe yellow ears of corn.

"There," the man huffed, wagging his finger at the corn plant. "Children of Hades can't order me around! You should talk less and listen more. Now at least you have ears."

Frank stumbled against the bed. "What did you—why—?" The man raised an eyebrow. Frank made a squeaky noise that wasn't very courageous. He'd been so focused on Hazel, he'd forgotten what Annabeth had told them about the guy they were looking for. "You're a god," he remembered.

"Triptolemus." The man bowed. "My friends call me Trip, so don't call me that. And if you're another child of Hades—"

"Mars!" Frank said quickly. "Child of Mars!"

Triptolemus sniffed. "Well…not much better. But perhaps you deserve to be something better than a corn plant. Sorghum? Sorghum is very nice."

"Wait!" Frank pleaded. "We're here on a friendly mission. We brought a gift." Very slowly, he reached into his backpack and brought out the leather-bound book. "This belongs to you?"

"My almanac!" Triptolemus grinned and seized the book. He thumbed through the pages and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Oh, this is fabulous! Where did you find it?"

"Um, Bologna. There were these"—Frank remembered that he wasn't supposed to mention the dwarfs—"terrible monsters. We risked our lives, but we knew this was important to you. So could you maybe, you know, turn Bianca back to normal and heal Hazel?"

"Hmm?" Trip looked up from his book. He'd been happily reciting lines to himself—something about turnip-planting schedules. Frank wished that Ella the harpy were here. She would get along great with this guy.

"Oh, heal them?" Triptolemus clucked disapprovingly. "I'm grateful for the book, of course. I can definitely let you go free, son of Mars. But I have a long-standing problem with Hades. After all, I owe my godly powers to Demeter!"

Frank racked his brain, but it was hard with the voices screaming in his head and the katobleps poison making him dizzy.

"Uh, Demeter," he said, "the plant goddess. She—she didn't like Hades because…" Suddenly he recalled an old story he'd heard at Camp Jupiter. "Her daughter-" Frank paused, "Persephone-" And that made his heart ache, "He kidnapped her right?"

"Exactly!" Trip said.

"So…Persephone was a friend of yours?"

Trip snorted. "I was just a mortal prince back then. Persephone wouldn't have noticed me. But when her mother, Demeter, went searching for her, scouring the whole earth, not many people would help her. Hecate lit her way at night with her torches. And I…well, when Demeter came to my part of Greece, I gave her a place to stay. I comforted her, gave her a meal, and offered my assistance. I didn't know she was a goddess at the time, but my good deed paid off.
Later, Demeter rewarded me by making me a god of farming!"

"Wow," Frank said. "Farming. Congratulations."

"I know! Pretty awesome, right? Anyway, Demeter never got along with Hades. So naturally, you know, I have to side with my patron goddess. Children of Hades—forget it! In fact, one of them—this Scythian king named Lynkos? When I tried to teach his countrymen about farming, he killed my right python!" And wonderful, none of this was exactly boding well for Frank was it? And gods but he needed to find a way to get Bianca back to normal and to get the god to cure Hazel, or else... well, he didn't want to consider the alternatives.