𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒! percy jackson

ix. Noxious Cows

━━ chapter nine
noxious clouds

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

     SAM HATED how he got bad memories from the good memories that stemmed from Venice. It didn't put him in a good mood. He tried to keep his usual positive nature up and running, but the jokes and comments came out dry like he was a bottle with his final drip of water in a long-lasting drought. 

    It wasn't that Venice was a bad place. It was really nice━sure, it had its moments, but don't all tourist attractions? Sometimes, the hype really overshadows the truth. Like, Sam is pretty sure all those tourist pictures don't account for the really weird monster cows. Truth was, Sam didn't really remember seeing the guys the last time he was here, even if he had been young. Maybe he didn't stink 'Demigod' as much as he did then, but Sam had gone through his trip with his father to Venice monster-freak free. It wasn't until he got back that things started to change. 

     And not for the better. 

    Don't go down that hole, Sam told himself and instead focused on what these strange cows were eating, and what they might be. He hated not knowing; he should know. He watched one find something it seemed to like at the edge of a canal. It nibbled and licked at the crack between the stones until it dislodged some sort of green root. The monster sucked it up happily and moved along.

    "Well, they're plant-eaters," said Frank. "That's good news."

     Sam stepped closer; hesitant as he tried to see. He gripped Fiona's pugio, holding it very tight after almost losing it forever to those stupid Kerkopes. "Eh ..." he murmured as he did. "I wouldn't be too sure; best not to jinx it."

     Hazel slipped her hand into Franks, agreeing, "Yeah. Unless they supplement their diet with demigods. Let's hope not."

     "Maybe they're like a Brachiosaurus," suggested Sam. The others looked at him strange. He frowned. "You know, the dinosaur? The one with the long neck that ate plants? Literally right up there with the fame beside the T-Rex?" Hazel, Frank and Nico just stared at him blanky. "Right, 'course. Well, I was gonna say they could have multiple stomachs for digestion, but whatever. Probably don't want that ... because that might make them Omnivores━aka, weird greet root eaten to digest demigods."

     Frank made a face, "Yeah. Better not be that."

     Sam gave the crack in the stone another glance before he joined the others and they continued their walk through the narrow streets. The water of the canals struck at Sam's nose; muddy━like he had walked into an old home with wet, dripping paster and mold in the ceiling corners. 

     Nico suddenly stopped. "There."

     He pointed and they followed him into a smaller street, leaving the canal behind. Ahead was a small plaza lined with five-storey buildings. The area was deserted━as if the mortals could sense it wasn't safe. In the middle of the cobblestone courtyard, a dozen of the strange monsters were sniffing around the mossy base of an old stone well.

     "A lot of cows in one place," said Frank.

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

     Sam frowned. Nico's eyes must be way better than his. He squinted━at the far end of the plaza was a stone archway carved with lions. It led into a narrow pass where one town house was painted completely black━the only black building Sam has seen in Venice.