𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

27

Ajax loved Venice. 

Frank looked like he was trudging through hell and Nico as usual was frowning. 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."

Ajax ran his fingers through his hair. The hair tie Piper had given to him "for emergencies" was still around his wrist. He seemed to be borrowing a lot of things. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that he grabbed from Jason, pants that were Leo's since they were the only ones that fit him and a hat Frank had bought that said "Italy!".

Of course, there was also Piper's flannel he had on. The point is, he looked ridiculous. Coach said he looked like something out of Percy's dream, covered from head to toe in blue. Ajax chose to take it as a compliment.

"Let's just hope the dogs don't supplement their vegetarian diet with demigods"

Frank had been decent with Ajax, even siding with him in the whole Nico vs Ajax debacle. He wouldn't say they were friends exactly, but Frank seemed to be glad that Ajax was there. At least he wasn't alone with Nico.

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 said.

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

Nico's eyes must've been better than his. Ajax squinted. 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 Ajax had seen so far in Venice.

It looked ridiculously out of place, but it also reminded him of Nico on board the Argo II. Covered in black, all emo and self isolating.

"La Casa Nera," Ajax guessed. He shivered slightly, even though he had been sweating a moment ago. There was something wrong with the house, Ajax could feel it, "I don't like that plaza. It feels...cold."

Frank looked at him incredulously, still fanning his face because of the heat. But Nico nodded.

He studied the town-house windows, most of which were covered with wooden shutters. "You're right, Avery. This neighborhood is filled with lemures."

"Lemurs?" Frank asked nervously. "I'm guessing you don't mean the furry little guys from Madagascar?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Ajax started to sing the song under his breath, "I like to move it, move it, I like to move it, move it, I like to move it, move it-"

Nico smacked his shoulder, glaring at him silently "Angry ghosts," He 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..." He hesitated. "She used to tell me stories about the ghosts of Venice."

Again, Ajax was curious about Nico's past. He tried not to talk about it, changing topics quickly if it was brought up. Still, Ajax persisted. Nico was a person, like any of them, he wasn't a god or a monster. He had good experiences and bad ones, and some time, he would have to start acting human, why not now?

"Your mom was Italian?" Ajax guessed, "She was from Venice?"

Nico nodded reluctantly. "She met Hades here, back in the 1930s. As World War Two got closer, she fled to the U.S. with my sister and me. I mean...Bianca, my other sister. I don't remember much about Italy, but I can still speak the language."

Frank seemed stuck, trying to think of a response.

"Must have been hard on her" Frank said earnestly. Ajax liked the big guy, he was very open and honest. "I guess we'll do anything for someone we love."

Nico stared at the cobblestones. "Yeah," he said bitterly. "I guess we will."

Ajax wasn't sure what Nico was thinking. He had a hard time imagining Nico di Angelo acting out of love for anybody, except maybe Hazel.

"So, the lemures..." Frank 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."

Ajax pulled out a chapstick and started applying it, ignoring the look Frank was giving him. "Toxic masculinity much? You'll regret it later when my lips are hydrated and soft and very kissable and yours are all chapped and gross" He gave Frank a sarcastic smile. "Let's 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 Ajax stumbled on a loose piece of cobblestone. Frank caught him almost as a reflex. Six or seven of the big gray beasts turned to look at them. Ajax 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 even after his dad had told him to stop.

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."

"Shit, I should've watched where I was going" Ajax gathered himself from Frank's arms and stood up, "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," Nico said. "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.

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.

Ajax's fingers drummed on the side of his legs, the ring on his middle finger seemed heavier now. All he had to do was flick his hand and his sword would materialize in his hand. He had a feeling that a glowing sword would not help the cow creatures to relax. "And the cow creatures like the roots."

The entire herd was now looking their direction, making foghorn growls and stamping their hooves. Ajax understood animal behavior well enough to get the message: You are standing on our food. That makes you enemies.

Ajax tried to think. There were too many monsters to fight. Something about their eyes hidden under those shaggy manes...Ajax 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, as if reading Ajax's mind "I'll distract them. You two back up slowly toward that black house."

The creatures tensed, ready to attack.