▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY TWO ▬▬▬

PLEASE READ THIS!

So uh... hey guys...

I know last chapter I promised that I wouldn't update UNTIL I've written more chapters for this book and since it's been 2 months already... I... have only managed to write one 🤡

I'm sorryyyyyyyy. I'm losing my juice, not just for this series, but for the HP and PJO fandom in general! Every time I try to write a chapter, I blank out and go back to Jujutsu Kaisen 😥 As you can see, JJK has me in a fucking chokehold and I can't and don't want to leave.

I've been trying to bring my interests back up by reading fanfics for HP and PJO and even crossovers of the two, but I just get bored and do something else. It doesn't help that I'm EXTREMELY picky about what I read. All the books just seem the same to me or I'm not feeling the plot/characters. The books that I DO like haven't been updated since forever.

The only reason I'm updating today is because I feel bad that I left you guys hanging for two months. And unfortunately, I don't know when the next update's going to come. I keep trying to write for this series, but I get discouraged so easily because of the lack of ideas I have for Steresis and I just seriously hate the other chapters that I've prewritten. I can't even finish planning for Steresis because BOO is just so hard to write for.

I don't wanna say that this is discontinued, but a hiatus is more appropriate. For now, I'll continue writing "TSUNAMI" because JJK is my biggest obsession. I don't know when I'll start regaining my love for PJO and HP again, but let's hope it comes back soon 💖

AFTER GETTING KIDNAPPED BY HER unstable Roman half-brother, Lou Ellen honestly expected to be locked away in some dungeon, or maybe beaten up and drugged unconscious. Something along those lines.

She wasn't expecting to be taken to a shopping trip in Paris instead.

"Do you like flowers? I like flowers. I think this dress would suit you," Étienne blabbered on excitedly, taking a floral patterned dress from the clothes rack. It was so fancy and adorned with so many little jewels, she was certain it cost more than her whole closet back at camp.

He shoved the dress into the hands of an unfortunate American tourist (and she knew he was American because he wore the flag on his shirt) who he charmspoke to act as some sort of servant. The poor dude had been following them around boutique to boutique, carrying their bags and everything.

"Thanks..." Lou Ellen tried to smile as if there was nothing wrong.

Étienne seemed to have bought it because he moved on to the next clothes rack.

"So, um," she tried to make conversation, wanting to gather as much information as possible. "Where exactly are we going after this?"

"Well, I spotted a quaint looking cafe on the way here, I suppose we can stop by there to eat? Surely you must be hungry." He offered.

This guy is the nicest kidnapper I've ever met, she couldn't help but think. Though to be fair, she didn't know that many kidnappers. The only one she knew personally was Ethan, and she had no idea if he ever treated Esmerelda to a nice shopping trip and lunch meal back when he kidnapped her.

"Uh, yeah," she lied. Getting kidnapped and snatched away from her girlfriend kind of ruined her appetite, but she would do anything to buy herself more time. "And where are we going after that?"

"Le Palais Rosier," he said, the French words smoothly rolling off his tongue.

"Uh, sorry?"

He let out a small giggle, and she was honestly just so flabbergasted at how innocent he seemed. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.

"The Rosier Palace," he translated. "My house, basically."

Her jaw dropped. "You live in a palace?"

"Yes, but it's nothing special," he answered offhandedly. He might as well have said 'yeah I live in a palace. It's no biggie'. "I just hope those stupid aurors got rid of the bodies."

Lou Ellen blinked. "Excuse me?" She said politely.

"The bodies of my dead family members," he clarified all too casually that it was almost laughable. "I killed them a few months ago. I hope their corpses aren't still there. I don't know the spell to get rid of the dead body stench."

"Oh, that's..." She trailed off. "Totally relatable."

"Even when they're dead, they still continue to annoy me," he grumbled under his breath, but then his green eyes lit up upon spying a shirt with a cartoon smiling daisy on it. "Oooh, that one looks cute! You'll be getting that one as well!"

This was so crazy to her. One second he was casually talking about his dead family (who he killed) and now he was back to shopaholic mode.

They shopped around a few more boutiques for about an hour. Naturally, neither of them paid for a thing. Étienne used his skills in the Mist to get everything for free. She could tell that he was using it to make the mortals around them see them differently too since neither of them were calling the police upon seeing his face that was literally plastered all over social media.

Right now they were sitting at the quaint little cafe Étienne recommended. The poor mortal man (who's name she didn't even know) was still with them, standing stiffly while they ate with his arms full of shopping bags. It was a little creepy especially with the blank expression he had on, but also a little sad.

"Étienne..." She began hesitantly.

"Hmm?" He hummed, barely glancing up at her since he was too busy wrapping his ham and cheese sandwich (or a croque monsieur as he called it) in a napkin.

"Before you um... took me," she figured using the word 'kidnap' might upset him. "You mentioned something about me being in danger?"

His face fell and she almost felt bad for bringing it up. Then she mentally slapped herself.

Stop feeling bad for him! She scolded herself. Just because he looks innocent and sweet doesn't mean he really is! He's a kidnapper! He was going to kill a bunch of innocent people!

She never had this issue with Esmerelda, who shared the same similar angelic visage as his. Though that was mainly because Esmerelda wasn't an unstable maniac who enjoyed killing innocent people. She certainly had a few (or many, really) screws loose, but she wasn't a sadist like this dude.

First Alabaster and now him, she lamented. Why are our brothers like this? I wish Essie and I had more sisters. They would probably be more saner.

"You have no idea how sorry I am for all the trouble I caused," Étienne said, looking like he was expecting to get slapped. He looked so miserable and sad, the average person would probably fall for it and try to comfort him, but Lou Ellen was smarter than that.

(Well, now she was. She wasn't going to forget how she foolishly lowered her guard when she first met him.)

"I did something stupid," he went on. "A big mistake."

Lou Ellen set her teacup down. "What do you mean?" She asked, listening intriguingly.

She wondered if he would express genuine regret for the murders he committed or the people he hurt. He looked so regretful, so loathing of himself, that she was certain that whatever mistake he had made was a big one.

But then again, he was crazy so she really shouldn't have been surprised when all he said this:

"I didn't kill Octavian," he said, sighing in a 'oh woe is me' manner.

She stared at him.

"All of my problems would've been solved if I had just killed the little shit, but nooo I spared him because I wanted to prolong his suffering and humiliation after he failed to get me executed," he rolled his eyes.

"That's..." She honestly didn't know what to say at this point.

"I know, biggest mistake of my life," he moaned in despair before delicately patting his chin clean of bread crumbs like the fancy little boy he was. "Next time, I'll make sure to kill my enemies."

"...I'm... glad you learned a valuable lesson from this," she said awkwardly. "So, uh, what exactly does you not killing this guy have to do with me?"

"It all started when a bunch of Greeks bombed Camp Jupiter," he began (a little dramatically in her opinion). "I was going to kill them all, but they brought up some pretty good points when they defended themselves. Anyways, after ascertaining that they were being truthful, I decided to let them live and also helped them escape after forcing them to promise that they would find our beloved sister after she..."

"After she, Ethan, and Nico fell into Tartarus," Lou Ellen finished for him, nodding along. "They made it out."

"Oh I know," he smiled in relief. "He already told me."

She was automatically suspicious. "Who?"

He waved her off. "I'll tell you later. Now as I was saying, I got into a bit of some trouble and was labeled as a traitor for helping them escape. I was scheduled for an execution the morning after—"

"—Execution?" She nearly choked on her croque monsieur. "They do that at your camp?"

"Yes, and most of the executions aren't even fun to watch," he said with a roll of his eyes. "In my opinion, my execution was the most entertaining and that was all because of me. Stupid Octavian's idea of a show was to just keep blabbering on and on. It was murder to my ears."

He let out a scoff and took another vicious bite of his sandwich.

Where the fuck is this story going? Lou Ellen wondered.

He then went on to give her a very detailed retelling of how he foiled Octavian's plans. "He tried to set me on fire, but luckily I knew a spell that made the flames tickle me instead of hurting me. Then I broke free from my chains and called my sword to me. I was hoping that my sword would behead a few people, but it didn't, which is a pity... Once I got my sword, I summoned a bunch of dead people to attack everyone. You should've seen the look on everyones' faces! It was hilarious!"

So in other words, this psychopath unleashed a miniature zombie apocalypse in Camp Jupiter before leaving.

"And then after I ruined Octavian's awful excuse of an execution, I escaped!" He said brightly.

"Uh, congrats?"

He preened at that and went to take another bite of his sandwich before pausing. "Oh right. You wanted to know what this had to do with you."

Oh my gods, she thought. After all that dramatic story-telling, he actually forgot the main reason why he was telling her all of this in the first place.

He set his sandwich back down. "A confidante of mine gave me some information on Octavian's plans. He's aware of your existence, and plans on executing you simply because of your relation to me. The same goes with Essie. I can't lose any of you, so I brought you here for your protection."

Lou Ellen was frowning. "Hold on, that doesn't add up. How would this guy even know of me? I've never heard of him before."

"He's a legacy of Apollo," he explained. "He has the ability to see things or whatever through animal stuffing."

"Animal what now?"

"Oh no, no, I meant stuffing as in literal stuffing. He kills stuffed animals." He clarified.

That was so weird. She was pretty sure the kids over at the Apollo cabin never had to do something like that before, and they were more closely related to Apollo than this Octavian dude was.

"Who exactly is this confidante you were talking about?"

"His name is Theodamas," he answered. "Oh and he's a giant."

She stilled. "Hold on. Giant as in... Gaea's children? Our literal enemies? The people trying to kill us? That's your confidante?"

He winced as if he understood where she was going with this. "I was skeptical about him too, but he's trustworthy. He sent me visions, you see, trying to warn me. He showed me you, Essie, and Alabaster," he scowled when he said that name. "He even showed me visions of Essie being in danger... of her dying... I didn't believe it until she arrived and told me herself."

"Étienne..." She said carefully, knowing that she was treading on dangerous waters now. "The giants are trying to capture the Nine, Ethan and Essie especially. I think—I think Theodamas is trying to trick you. He wants you to bring Essie to him so that he could—"

Étienne abruptly rose up from his seat.

"—Alright, we're done here," he said with a forced smile. "Let's get to Le Palais Rosier, shall we?"

He didn't give her much of a choice. He grabbed her by the wrist and the two of them were sucked into the shadows.

When they were spat back out, Lou Ellen realized that the mortal man had been taken along as well. Étienne's charmspeak was controlling him so well that he didn't even look fazed by the rough journey.

"Here we are, home sweet home," Étienne said with a bitter tone.

She looked up and almost fainted.

The palace was the most majestic thing she had ever seen—enough to put billionaires to shame. It had multiple stories, designed in a French gothic architecture, and full of so much gold that it was a miracle people hadn't come and tried to rob the place. She could sense a lot of magic in the air though, so there were probably guards put up to keep regular mortals from seeing it.

"Mon seigneur!" A bunch of little voices cried out cheerfully.

She looked down and made a little jump. A bunch of small, weird looking creatures were gathered in front of them. All were looking at Étienne as if he was a god himself, but then their wide eyes turned to her and suddenly she was getting the same treatment.

"Hello everyone," Étienne greeted them with a smile. "This is my little sister, Lou Ellen Blackstone. She doesn't speak any French, so please make sure to speak in English."

A bunch of bows were sent her way.

"Get her room ready, because she'll be staying with us," he ordered. "Also, someone move these shopping bags into her room and organize them into her closet."

They all nodded enthusiastically, as if they were happy to do some labor work. One of the creatures snapped their fingers and all the shopping bags in the mortal man's arms disappeared, which surely was a relief for him.

Now the three of them were alone.

"Well, I don't need you anymore," Étienne said, turning to the mortal man who was still under his control.

Lou Ellen tensed up. No, she thought, her palms growing sweaty. He was going to kill him, wasn't he?

To her surprise, he merely snapped his fingers. The mortal man blinked owlishly, looking towards them in utter confusion before scanning the unfamiliar area he was in. He was so bewildered that he wasn't even in awe at the majestic looking palace before them.

"What... Where the fuck—"

"—Bye!" Étienne interrupted happily. He gave him a hard shove that knocked the man backwards into a shadow. The shadow swallowed him up whole and he was gone in an instant.

"D-did you kill him?" She asked.

Fortunately, he shook his head. "No. I just sent him away."

"Where?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't really have a particular location in mind. He could've ended up in a swamp full of crocodiles or something. Guess we'll never know. Oh well! Anyways, let's get you settled in!"

He started dragging her into the massive house. He pushed open the double doors and stepped inside.

The first thing Lou Ellen noticed was the unbearable heat. It was so hot in here that she could probably die of heat stroke after five more seconds.

The second thing she noticed was the source of the heat: the numerous fire braziers that were placed around the foyer. There were probably even more of them throughout the house.

She had no idea why that was all necessary. It was already summer, why make the place hotter? She would've mulled over it some more, but the heat was already getting to her head. It made her movements more sluggish, her mind more muddled. She knew something about this was off, but she felt so dazed that she couldn't even think straight.

Only Étienne didn't seem to be affected by it.

"Don't worry. I know you miss Essie, but I'll get our sister soon," Étienne was saying, but his voice sounded so far away now. All she could really focus on was the heat on her skin and the crackling from the fire.

"Then we can all be together." He finished with an eerie smile.

After that, Lou Ellen blacked out.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Esmerelda was happy to be back in Venice again, and with Nico at her side especially.

The Argo II was docked at a busy wharf. On one side stretched a shipping channel about half a kilometer wide. On the other side of the city of Venice—red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of Valentine candy hearts—red, white, ochre, pink, and orange.

It's a lot more colorful than before, she noted with a pleased hum. And busier too.

Everywhere there were statues of lions—on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings. Where streets should have been, green canals etched their way through the neighborhoods, each one jammed with motorboats. Along the docks, the sidewalks were mobbed with tourists shopping at the T-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores, and lounging across acres of outdoor café tables, like pods of sea lions.

Esmerelda wasn't used to the amount of tourists. Venice was well-known back when she was Maria, sure, but there weren't many tourists around. Though, to be fair, that was mainly because of the war.

However, she was the only one really appreciating the scenery. Everyone else had gathered around the starboard rail with her to stare at the dozens of weird shaggy monsters milling through the crowds.

Each monster 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.

"What are they?" Hazel asked.

Everyone looked at Esmerelda.

She blinked at all the stares. "Uh, sorry. I don't really remember these things being here back in my day—" She could not believe she just said that! "—but then again, I wasn't clear-sighted when I was Maria. They might have been here since then without me knowing it. Nico? Do you remember?"

The younger boy frowned, thinking deeply. "I... I don't know. They're familiar but..."

He trailed off. He had never seen these guys in real life before, but there was a chance he learned about them in his Mythomagic games... but he hadn't been playing that in a long while now.

They watched as one of the creatures lumbered across the promenade, snuffling and licking the pavement with its long tongue. The tourists parted around it, unconcerned. A few even petted it. Then the monster's appearance flickered. For a moment it turned into an old, fat beagle.

Jason grunted. "The mortals think they're stray dogs."

"Or pets roaming around," Piper added. "My dad shot a film in Venice once. I remember him telling me there were dogs everywhere. Venetians love dogs."

"But what are they?" Frank asked, repeating Hazel's question. "They look like... starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair."

He waited for someone to enlighten him. Nobody volunteered any information.

"Maybe they're harmless," Leo suggested. "They're ignoring the mortals."

"Harmless!" Gleeson Hedge laughed. The satyr wore his usual gym shorts, sports shirt, and coach's whistle. His expression was as gruff as ever, but he still had one pink rubber band stuck in his hair from the prankster dwarfs in Bologna. "Valdez, how many harmless monsters have we met? We should just aim the ballistae and see what happens!"

"Not a good idea," Ethan droned. "Then we'd be hunted down by the mortal authorities for being suspected as international terrorists and trust me, we do not want that to happen."

Him and Esmerelda being hunted down for being a suspected mafia and yakuza couple was already bad enough. International terrorists? They would never be left alone.

"That, and the mortals would get hurt by the blast and the creatures might cause a dangerous stampede too," Esmerelda added.

"Oh. Right."

"We'll have to walk through them and hope they're peaceful," Frank sighed, hating the idea already. "It's the only way we're going to track down the owner of that book."

Leo pulled the leather-bound manual from underneath his arm. It was the book they got from the kerkopes. He'd slapped a sticky note on the cover with the address the kerkopes in Bologna had given him.

"La Casa Nera," he read. "Calle Frezzeria."

"The Black House," Nico translated. "Calle Frezzeria is the street."

"You speak Italian?" Frank asked.

He shot him a warning look as if he was saying 'watch the questions'.

Frank withheld the urge to shudder. Nico and Ethan may not have been biologically related, but their glares were so similar that it was terrifying.

"Be nice now, Nico," Esmerelda chided him cheerily, not at all fazed by the dark look on his face.

His shoulders slumped. "Sorry, mom."

She raised her brows at him expectantly.

He heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Frank begrudgingly. "Sorry, Frank," he practically forced himself to say.

"Uh, i-it's okay," Frank stammered.

Esmerelda beamed down at her (scary) son like she was saying, 'Good job! You made your first ever apology!'. Frank wouldn't have been surprised if she whipped out a cookie out of nowhere to give it to him as a reward.

Ethan snickered.

Nico sent him a scathing look and when Esmerelda wasn't looking, discreetly stepped on his foot.

Ethan stopped snickering in an instant. His glare looked murderous. "Oh you little shi—"

"—Anyways," Nico continued loudly, shooting the fuming boy a shit-eating smirk. "Frank is right. We have to find that address. The only way to do it is to walk the city. Venice is a maze. We'll have to risk the crowds and those... whatever they are."

Thunder rumbled in the clear summer sky. They'd passed through some storms the night before and it was still going on even now. The air felt as thick and warm as sauna steam.

Jason frowned at the horizon. "Maybe I should stay on board. Lots of venti in that storm last night. If they decide to attack the ship again..."

He didn't need to finish. They'd all had experiences with angry wind spirits. Jason was the only one who had much luck fighting them.

Coach Hedge grunted. "Well, I'm out, too. If you softhearted cupcakes are going to stroll through Venice without even whacking those furry animals on the head, forget it. I don't like boring expeditions."

Ethan nodded empathetically, like he understood what it was like to be deprived of some good ol' violence.

"It's okay, Coach." Leo grinned. "We still have to repair the foremast. Then I need your help in the engine room. I've got an idea for a new installation."

There was a crazy gleam in Leo's eyes. Since he had found the Archimedes sphere, he'd been trying out a lot of "new installations." Usually, they exploded or sent smoke billowing upstairs into Frank's cabin.

"Well..." Piper shifted her feet. "Whoever goes should be good with animals. I, uh... I'll admit I'm not great with cows."

Ethan scoffed. "You're not great with a lot of things."

Piper looked like she wanted to fight him right then and there, but wisely decided against it. Ever since they rescued Nico, a majority of the crew had been giving her the cold shoulder, though some were less obvious with it.

Ethan hated her before, but now he abhorred her. His treatment towards her had gone worse, and it didn't help that Esmerelda was no longer around to stop him from insulting or trying to 'lightly' hurt her. Nico would glare her down menacingly anytime they were in the same room together and lower the temperature down enough to give her the chills. Esmerelda would throw around backhanded comments here and there. Hazel would ignore her (and by extension, so would Frank). Jason scowled any time he saw her, and Leo would look at her as if she was some maniac.

They clearly weren't very happy with her for withholding important information to them and hindering their mission to save Nico—though that was pretty much understandable to everyone but her.

Piper just sent Ethan a bitter glare, huffing quietly through her nose as if he was the one being unreasonable.

"Ethan and I will go," Esmerelda chimed in next, smiling wistfully at the city. "It's been a while since I've been in Venice."

"I'll go too," Frank volunteered, which made sense since he was the animal shapeshifter here. There was a good chance he could communicate with those weird creatures.

Leo patted him on the shoulder and handed him the leather-bound book. "Awesome. If you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours and a gallon of tar?"

"Leo," Hazel chided. "It's not a shopping trip."

"I'll go with them," Nico offered.

Frank's knees buckled slightly. He looked like he could faint. Esmerelda shot him a confused look. She didn't understand why people seemed so scared around Nico. Her son was wonderful! A joy to be around!

"Uh... you're good with animals?" Frank asked nervously.

Nico smiled without humor.

"Actually, most animals hate me. They can sense death. But there's something about this city..." His expression turned grim. "Lots of death. Restless spirits. If I go, I may be able to keep them at bay, my mom can help me too. Besides, as you noticed, I speak Italian."

Leo scratched his head. "Lots of death, huh? Personally, I'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"

"I'll go too." Hazel slipped her arm through Frank's.

Frank's eyes darted between her and the other three. Esmerelda, Ethan, Nico, and Hazel. Parents and their children.

...And Frank.

He inwardly grimaced. Now he felt like he was intruding on a family trip. Everyone knew those four were like some weird, but somehow cute, family unit. Nico was Esmerelda's son, and since Ethan was dating her, that made Nico his step-son in a way too. And there was also the fact that Esmerelda practically adopted Hazel too.

Oh dear gods, Frank thought, his eyes widening in horror. He remembered all those sappy teen movies where the girl would bring her boyfriend over to meet her family which usually consisted of a disapproving father, an overprotective brother, and a sweet mother who was the only one who supported the relationship.

He felt like he was in one of those movies right now. But less rom-com and more survival and apocalyptic.

I'm doomed, he thought.

A part of him wanted to say, 'uh, never mind! I can't go, I have to go fold my laundry!', but that would make him look lame and the last thing he wanted was to look like some loser to Ethan and Nico.

I can do this, he thought, trying to hype himself up. I can do this, I can do this. Besides, even if I end up looking like a failure, at least Essie would still approve of me, right? Right?

Yeah no. He definitely couldn't do this.

Unfortunately, it was too late for him to take back his offer.

Nico stared at the canals, as if wondering what new and interesting forms of evil spirits might be lurking there. "All right, then. Let's go find the owner of that book."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"This is not the Venice I remembered," Esmerelda grumbled under her breath as she tried to weave through the crowd of annoying tourists and monsters.

Summertime was always tourist season in Venice, but today's tourist season was a lot different than the tourist season in the 1910s to 1940s. The city was practically overrun by tourists and 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 noted. "That's good news."

Hazel slipped her hand into his. "Unless they supplement their diet with demigods. Let's hope not."

"Do you live around here?" Ethan asked Esmerelda curiously. He had a tight grip around her hand which she appreciated since the streets were so crowded.

"In this area? Oh no," she shook her head. "We lived... ah, somewhere in the San Marco district."

Ethan nodded, looking around. From what he knew, the di Angelos were a very wealthy family. He couldn't really picture them living amongst this tiny, crowded street.

Esmerelda suddenly let out an involuntary shudder.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah it's fine," she replied, looking around with a small frown. "I just sense some dead people nearby."

Frank nearly tripped on his feet. "Huh?"

Nico stopped. "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 commented.

"Yeah, but look," Nico said. "Past that archway."

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 they had seen so far in Venice.

"La Casa Nera," Frank guessed.

Hazel's grip tightened on his fingers. "I don't like that plaza. It feels... cold."

"I'm guessing that's where the dead people are?" Ethan asked. He didn't seem that bothered with it, unlike Frank.

Nico nodded. He studied the town-house windows, most of which were covered with wooden shutters. "Yeah. 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," Nico clarified. "Lemures go back to Roman times. They hang around a lot of Italian cities, but I've never felt so many in one place."

"Oh!" Esmerelda suddenly lit up. Frank had no idea why she suddenly looked so happy. "Oh Nico, do you remember the stories I used to tell you about the ghosts of Venice? Gods, I recall how scared you and Bianca were and how you would always sneak into my bedroom because you were scared that the ghosts would come and get you—"

"—Mooom!" Nico looked like he wanted to bury himself in the ground. "Don't tell them that part!"

Ethan looked amused. "You used to be scared of ghost stories?"

He sent him a withering glare. "I was not scared."

"I bet you used to pee on the bed."

Nico looked like he was going to football-tackle him down until Esmerelda sent her boyfriend a disappointed look.

"Ethan." She said, frowning.

His shoulders slumped. "Sorry."

Hazel and Frank glanced at each other. They didn't know whether to laugh at the familial scene or pretend they never saw it for the boys' sake.

Frank chose the latter. He cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"So, the lemures..." He swallowed. "How do we avoid them?"

"I'm already on it," Nico said. "I'm sending out the message that they should stay away and ignore us. Hopefully that's enough. Otherwise... things could get messy."

Hazel pursed her lips. "Let's get going," she suggested.

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. Under all that hair, Esmerelda could catch glimpses of glowing green eyes. If these guys turned out to be related to her somehow, she was going to cry.

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," Nico said. "Look at your feet."

They glanced down and caught his breath. Under their shoes, the paving stones were moving—spiky plant tendrils were pushing up from the cracks.

Nico stepped back. The roots snaked out in his 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."

"We're standing on their food," Ethan hissed. "That's why they're so pissed at us."

And he was absolutely right (as he always was).

The entire herd was now looking in their direction, making foghorn growls and stamping their hooves.

"Don't meet their eyes," Frank warned. "I'll distract them. You guys back up slowly toward that black house."

The creatures tensed, ready to attack.

"Never mind," Frank said. "Run!"

The mission went bad pretty quickly.

Frank ended up wasting five precious minutes trying to turn himself into a rhino, and a few of the cow monsters separated from the herd and attacked Hazel and Nico. Esmerelda and Ethan stepped in, but more monsters came.

Ethan accidentally tripped over one of the thick roots and while fighting, Esmerelda didn't notice him and toppled over him next. It was embarrassing and they were glad the herd was surrounding them so closely that neither of the kids saw what really happened.

"I'm sorry!" Esmerelda gasped, getting off of him.

"It's fine," Ethan grunted, letting her help him up.

Two more cow monsters charged at them. Esmerelda shot one down with magic, but the second one came after her next. She was ready to kill it, until it blasted a green gas in her direction.

Before it could touch her, Ethan quickly yanked her behind him and took the brunt of the gas, but not before managing to stab it through the head first.

"ARGH!" He cried out. He dropped his sword, clutching his face as he fell to the ground in pain.

"Ethan!" Esmerelda shouted. She hurried after him, waving aside all the falling golden dust.

Ethan was still writhing on the ground in agony when she dropped her knees at his side. She tried to pry his hands away from his face, but then his body started convulsing... before finally going still.

"Ethan?!" She panicked. In the distance, she could hear the roar of a lion (Frank most likely shifted into one), but paid it no mind. She quickly removed his hands from his face, but was left stunned. His face had no marks or injuries.

The gas must have been deadly to inhale, not touch.

"Mom! Frank!" She heard Nico call out.

She whipped her head to the side. To her horror, Ethan wasn't the only victim to the gas either. Hazel was propped against the wall behind her brother, and she wasn't moving.

Frank ran towards them, forgetting about the monster herd that had miraculously calmed down thanks to scaring them off as a lion.

"What—what happened to them?!" He fretted, looking between the two victims.

"I didn't see the gas in time and he pushed me back!" Esmerelda almost wailed, her breathing coming faster. "He inhaled it all and now he's like this!"

"And Hazel got a blast of green gas right in the face," Nico said miserably. "I—I wasn't fast enough."

"We need to get her back to the ship," Frank said.

Before either of them could reply, a voice said from behind them, "Your friends can't help you. They don't know the cure."

Esmerelda looked back. 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 they doubted he was actually friendly. He probably wasn't even human.

"Can you cure them?!" Esmerelda asked desperately.

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

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Trusting the man turned out to be a bad idea. Surprise, surprise.

The man—whose name was Triptolemus (the god of farming)—was very quick to turn on them the second he found out Hazel and Nico were children of Pluto/Hades.

(Why were children of Pluto/Hades so hated? It made no sense!)

He even had the audacity to turn Nico into a potted corn plant! At this point, Esmerelda was going to lose her gods damn mind.

"Why on earth would you do that?!" She blew up. "He literally didn't do anything wrong! He was just worried about his sister! You can't just—"

He snapped his fingers and suddenly she was a carrot plant.

"That's better," he sighed. "She's less mouthy now too."

I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS! She wanted to scream.

Of course, Triptolemus couldn't hear her. Right now, he was fawning over the almanac Frank returned to him. Meanwhile, Ethan and Hazel stayed motionless on the cots they laid them on. Nico—or corn!Nico really—stayed still beside her, being a potted plant and all.

Okay, Essie, you've been in a situation like this before, she told herself. A few years ago, during a family spat, Persephone turned Nico into a dandelion and she spent a whole day trying to revert him back. It was some complex transfiguration, but she managed it after some time...

But in order to help him, she needed to help herself first. And right now, she was stuck as a fucking carrot.

"Look," Frank was saying. "We did bring you the almanac. And my friends are really nice. They're not like those other children of Hades you've met. Essie and Ethan aren't even related to him... sort of. So if there's any way—"

"—Oh!" Trip snapped his fingers. "I see where you're going!"

"Uh... you do?"

"Absolutely! If I cure your friends Hazel and Ethan and return the other ones, Nicholas and Esmeralda—"

"Nico and Esmerelda."

"If I return them to normal..."

Frank hesitated. "Yes?"

"Then in exchange, you stay with me and take up farming! A child of Mars as my apprentice? It's perfect! What a spokesman you'll be. We can beat swords into plowshares and have so much fun!"

THIS IS USELESS! Esmerelda wanted to shout. JUST KILL HIM ALREADY!

Suddenly her little carrot form twitched a little. She didn't know if it had anything to do with her magic or her anger, but that was enough to spark some hope in her.

"I have a better offer," Frank blurted out. "I can fix that."

He pointed at a broken chariot.

Trip's smile melted. "Fix... my chariot?"

"I'll go find a way to fix the chariot," he promised. "In return, you fix my friends. Let us go in peace. And—and give us whatever aid you can to defeat Gaea's forces."

Triptolemus laughed. "What makes you think I can aid you with that?"

"Hecate told us so," Frank said. "She sent us here. She—she decided Hazel is one of her favorites, and Essie's a daughter of hers as well."

The color drained from Trip's face. "Hecate?"

His eyes darted over to the potted carrot.

YEAH, YOU SHOULD BE SCARED, Esmerelda to snarl at him. Her carrot form twitched again, and she could feel her leaves bristle in contempt.

"The goddess guided us to your almanac in Bologna," Frank said. "She wanted us to return it to you, because... well, she must've known you had some knowledge that would help us get through the House of Hades in Epirus."

Trip nodded slowly. "Yes. I see. I know why Hecate sent you to me. Very well, son of Mars. Go find a way to fix my chariot. If you succeed, I will do all you ask. If not—"

"—I know," Frank grumbled. "My friends die."

"Yes," Trip said cheerfully. "And you'll make a lovely patch of sorghum!"

Frank left after that, and now Triptolemus was alone with two plants and two unconscious demigods.

He looked down at the carrot. "I hope you won't inform your mother about this," he said, sounding a little nervous. "I didn't mean to turn you into a carrot, I was just... ah, my powers go into haywire sometimes. Being a young god and all."

BULLSHIT! She screamed. She channeled as much magic as she could, desperate to go back to her human form.

Come on, please! She begged.

This was kind of like the first time she shifted into her animagus form and she struggled to turn back. All she had to do was think about being human again. Maybe that would work here? She had her magic to help her out after all.

But almost a whole hour had passed, and the most she had done was shake a leaf or two. Not much progress. During that time, Triptolemus busied himself with random things around the room, shooting her an occasional wary glance. She wondered if he could sense her trying to break free.

She tried picturing herself as a human. The leaves were her hair and her legs were the bottom of the carrot. She imagined it splitting apart into limbs and the orange color slowly turning into her pale skin.

Up on the cots, Ethan and Hazel were shivering erratically. They were still alive, but they were barely breathing at this point.

Suddenly her form started to vibrate.

Triptolemus jumped.

"Oh dear," he said. His eyes were wide.

The carrot started to shake even more violently.

"Ohhhhh no," he said.

Suddenly there was a poof and the carrot was gone. Esmerelda stood in its place, furious. The second they locked eyes, she let out a cry of anger and body slammed into him.

He let out a panicked yelp only to get cut off when he hit the ground.

"WAIT!" He was screeching. "We can talk this through! I'll let you borrow my tractor—blargsh!"

She grabbed a miniature figurine of tractor and bashed it against his face.

"FIX THEM NOW!" She screamed.

Rather than replying, he let out a high-pitched shriek and tried to run to the other side of the room. She chased after him and jumped onto his back, wrapping her arm around his neck to put him into a choke hold.

"You're—crazy—!" He rasped out.

She grabbed a nearby picture frame on the wall and smashed it against his face. Golden ichor spilled down the little cuts she made.

"You're mother and I are friends!" He tried to tell her.

"You turned her daughter into a fucking carrot! Consider that friendship over!" She spat, tightening her grip around his neck. She doubted it would kill him, but she was too angry to care.

He rammed himself into the wall behind him, slamming her against it in hopes to deter her. Her hold loosened and her other arm unlatched itself. Triptolemus bit her on the wrist.

"OW!" She shouted. "YOU GODS DAMN—"

The door to the room swung open.

Esmerelda and Triptolemus froze.

Frank, with a gigantic python lugged over his shoulder, stepped into the room. "Alright, I found your—"

He stopped speaking when he saw what was happening.

Frank almost dropped his python. After spending a whole hour killing the katoblepones in the city and leaving just one for his father to turn into a python, he hadn't expected to come back to witness Esmerelda latching on to the god of farming's back and trying to put him into a chokehold while said god was currently trying to gnaw her wrist off.

"What—what is going on here?" He said, looking between them in utter bewilderment.

Triptolemus' jaw dropped. "You found a python?" He didn't seem to hear the boy's question.

"Python?" Esmerelda asked, slipping off of his back.

"Uh yeah. His chariot is missing one of the snakes needed to fly so..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, what is going on here? Essie, weren't you a carrot?"

"I broke free," she grunted, shooting Triptolemus a scathing look. "Now Frank got you your snake, so get to healing."

Triptolemus crossed his arms. "How do I know the snake will work?"

"The snake is a gift from Mars," Frank growled. "It will work."

As if on cue, the Burmese python slithered over to the chariot and wrapped itself around the right wheel. The other snake woke up. The two serpents checked each other out, touching noses, then turned their wheels in unison. The chariot inched forward, its wings flapping.

"You see?" Frank said. "Now, heal my friends!"

Triptolemus tapped his chin. "Well, thank you for the snake, but I'm not sure I like your tone, demigod. Perhaps I'll turn you into—"

Esmerelda was about to murder him, but much to her surprise, Frank beat her to it.

He lunged at Trip and slammed him into the wall, his fingers locked around the god's throat. Esmerelda's jaw dropped in amazement.

"Think about your next words," Frank warned, deadly calm. "Or instead of beating my sword into a plowshare, I will beat it into your head. I'll have Essie help me too. I know how much she's itching to get her hands on you."

Esmerelda nodded in agreement, knowing very well that the god could see her over Frank's shoulder.

Triptolemus gulped. "You know... I think I'll heal your friends."

"Swear it on the River Styx." Frank ordered.

"I swear it on the River Styx."

Frank released him. Triptolemus touched his throat, as if making sure it was still there. He gave Frank a nervous smile, edged around the teens, and scurried off to the front room. "Just—just gathering herbs!"

The two of them watched as the god picked leaves and roots and crushed them in a mortar. He rolled a pill sized ball of green goop and jogged to Hazel and Ethan's side. He placed the gunk ball under their tongues.

Instantly, they shuddered and sat up, coughing. Their eyes flew open. The greenish tint in their skin disappeared.

The anger melted away from Esmerelda immediately.

"Ethan!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly as Frank did the same with Hazel.

Ethan stared around the room in confusion, his features on high alert already. "Essie... where are we? All I remember is the stupid cow..."

"It poisoned you," she informed him. "But Trip healed you."

His jaw tightened. "Who the hell is Trip?"

"That would be me," Triptolemus scowled, making himself known to the two couples. "No need to be jealous, boy, unless you're into having your girlfriend strangle the life out of you."

He sent her a vicious glare at that. She flashed him an innocent, sheepish smile.

Ethan looked between them in confusion. What the fuck did he miss?

"Now, if we're done here...?" Triptolemus trailed off.

"We aren't," Esmerelda narrowed her eyes at him. "Nico?"

The farm god rolled his eyes. He pointed at the corn plant, and BAM! Nico di Angelo appeared in an explosion of corn silk. Nico looked around in a panic.

"I—I had the weirdest nightmare about popcorn." He muttered.

"Nico!" Esmerelda removed herself from Ethan and went to hug him next.

"What happened?" He asked her.

"Everything's fine now," she assured. "You're no longer corn!"

Nico was about to ask her what the fuck she was talking about before Frank added, "And Triptolemus was about to tell us how to survive theHouse of Hades. Weren't you, Trip?"

The farm god raised his eyes to the ceiling, like, Why me, Demeter?

"Fine," Trip said. "When you arrive at Epirus, you will be offered a chalice to drink from."

"Offered by whom?" Nico asked.

"Doesn't matter," Trip snapped. "Just know that it is filled with deadly poison."

Hazel shuddered. "So you're saying that we shouldn't drink it."

"No!" Trip said. "You must drink it, or you'll never be able to make it through the temple. The poison connects you to the world of the dead, lets you pass into the lower levels. The secret to surviving is—" His eyes twinkled. "—barley."

Frank stared at him. "Barley."

"In the front room, take some of my special barley. Make it into little cakes. Eat these before you step into the House of Hades. The barley will absorb the worst of the poison, so it will affect you, but not kill you."

"Seriously?" Ethan glared. "Hecate sent us halfway across Italy just so you could tell us to eat barley?"

The demigods all sent Esmerelda a look like they were asking her 'why the hell is your mom like this'.

She pretended not to see it.

"Good luck!" Triptolemus sprinted across the room and hopped in his chariot. "And, Frank Zhang, I forgive you! You've got spunk. If you ever change your mind, my offer is open. I'd love to see you get a degree in farming!"

"Yeah," Frank muttered. "Thanks."

"And Esmerelda," he continued, his smile tight. "Please never visit me again."

Esmerelda reached out to grab another one of his farming figurines to lob at him, but Trip hastily made his retreat. He pulled a lever on his chariot. The snake-wheels turned. The wings flapped. At the back of the room, the garage doors rolled open.

"Oh, to be mobile again!" Trip cried. "So many ignorant lands in need of my knowledge. I will teach them the glories of tilling, irrigation, fertilizing!"

The chariot lifted off and zipped out of the house, Triptolemus shouting to the sky, "Away, my serpents! Away!"

And he was gone.

"I hate gods," was all Ethan could say.

A few grunts of agreement could be heard in the room.

"The glories of fertilizing." Nico brushed some corn silk off his shoulder. "Can we get out of here now?"

Hazel put her hand on Frank's shoulder. "Are you okay, really? You bartered for our lives. What did Triptolemus make you do?"

Frank gulped slightly. "Those cow monsters... the katoblepones that poisoned you... I had to destroy them."

"That was brave," Nico said. "There must have been, what, six or seven left in that herd."

"No." Frank cleared his throat. "All of them. I killed all of them in the city."

All four of them stared at him in stunned silence. Frank started to shrink a little, thinking that they didn't believe him.

Ethan spoke up first, "There must have been hundreds in this city... That's impressive, man."

Frank's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"And in such a short amount of time too," Esmerelda marveled.

"I-It's not really that great," Frank stuttered, his face, neck, and ears turning red. "My dad, he uh, he kind of gave me a temporary blessing so—"

"—You're amazing!" Hazel cheered. She ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. Frank's face turned rapidly white and he kept shooting fearful glances towards Ethan for some odd reason.

"Well," Nico (being who he was) just had to cut the romantic moment short. "Does anyone know what barley looks like?"

— author's note —

So I recently noticed that people were upset when Frank got a blessing from Mars. For those who don't know, Mars blesses Frank while he was fighting against all of the katoblepones in the city which left him temporarily. It also changed his appearances too. Frank used to be chubby looking, but the blessing made him taller and more muscular. Lots of people claimed that to be an act of fatphobia on Rick's end.

Honestly, I can't blame those guys for thinking that because if you remember in The Last Olympian, Clarisse also received that exact same blessing... but she wasn't reported to have grown taller or more muscular. Instead, she just became momentarily invincible and that was it. So yeah, I can see why people were upset.

So in here, Frank receives the blessing, but there's no insta-buff bonus. It's the exact same one Clarisse got.

Étienne: *is a murderer and a kidnapper*

Also Étienne:

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