| chapter ten |
in which polyphemus has as many lives as a cat

"I GOT NOBODY!" gloated Polyphemus.

Nia, Percy, Grover, and Clarisse all crept to the cave entrance and saw Polyphemus grinning wickedly and holding up empty air. He shook his fist and a Yankees baseball cap fluttered to the ground. Suddenly, Annabeth appeared, hanging upside down by her legs.

"Hah!" Polyphemus said. "Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!"

Annabeth struggled, but she had glassy eyes and a really nasty cut on her forehead.

"I'll get Annabeth," Percy whispered. "Our ship is around the back of the island. You guys—"

"No way," all three of them said at the same time. Clarisse armed herself with a highly collectible ram's-horn spear from the Cyclops's cave. Grover had found a sheep's thigh bone, which he didn't look too happy about, but he was gripping it like a club, ready to attack. Nia gripped her bow and slung a quiver of arrows over her head.

"We'll take him together," growled Clarisse.

"Yeah," said Grover. Then he blinked, like he couldn't believe he'd just agreed with Clarisse about something.

"You're not doing this without us," said Nia determinedly, notching an arrow in her bow.

"All right," Percy said. "Attack plan Macedonia."

They all nodded at the mention of the training course they'd taken at Camp Half-Blood. Percy hefted his sword and shouted, "Hey, Ugly!"

"Another one?" Polyphemus whirled toward him. "Who are you?"

"Put down my friend. I'm the one who insulted you."

"You are Nobody?"

"That's right, you smelly bucket of nose drool!"

Nia furrowed her brows. "That's the best insult you have?"

"I couldn't think of anything else," Percy quietly defended himself. "I'm Nobody and I'm proud of it! Now, put her down and get over here. I want to stab your eye out again."

"RAAAR!" he bellowed.

Polyphemus dropped Annabeth, but he dropped her headfirst onto the rocks, where she lay motionless as a rag doll.

"For Pan!" Grover rushed in from the right. He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster's forehead.

Nia quickly ran towards Polyphemus from behind, leaped up, and slashed his legs with Thalia's dagger. He howled and swatted Nia aside. She would've ended up the same way as Annabeth if she hadn't had the good sense to protect her head.

Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. Polyphemus wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled.

But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft and kept advancing on Percy. The son of Poseidon drew Riptide and moved in.

The monster made a grab for Percy. He rolled aside and stabbed Polyphemus in the thigh.

"Get Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

Grover rushed over, grabbed Annabeth's invisibility cap, and picked her up while Clarisse, Percy, and Nia all tried to keep Polyphemus distracted.

Clarisse charged the Cyclops again and again. Polyphemus pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. And as soon as she made an attack, Percy or Nia followed up by stabbing the monster or shooting an arrow.

But they couldn't keep it up forever, Nia knew. Eventually, they would tire out or Polyphemus would get a lucky shot.

Grover was carrying Annabeth across the rope bride. If Polyphemus plowed through them, Annabeth and Grover would be easy targets.

Nia glanced at Percy, who had a strange look in his eyes, the kind that made Nia think that he had an idea. And sure enough, he called out to Nia and Clarisse, "Fall back!"

Clarisse rolled away as the Cyclops's fist smashed the olive tree beside her. Nia lowered her bow and arrows. Instantly, Nia knew what he meant. If they managed to get down across the bridge and get Polyphemus to fall into the pit. . .

All three of them ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind them. He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, but all they'd done was slow him down and make him mad.

"Grind you into sheep chow!" he promised them. "A thousand curses on Nobody!"

"Faster!" Percy yelled.

They tore down the hill, running faster than ever before. Nia's thighs were burning and she was barely breathing, but she didn't dare slow down, not even a little bit. The bridge was their only chance at any hope of survival.

Grover had just made it to the other side and was setting Annabeth down. Percy, Annabeth, and Nia had to make it across, too, before the giant caught them.

"Grover!" Percy yelled. "Get Annabeth's knife!"

The satyr's eyes widened when he saw the Cyclops behind them, but he nodded like he understood. As the three other demigods scrambled across the bridge, Grover began sawing at the ropes.

The first strand went snap!

Polyphemus bounded after them, making the bridge sway wildly.

The ropes were now half cut. Clarisse, Percy, and Nia all dove for solid ground, landing right beside Grover. Percy made a wild slash with his sword and cut the remaining ropes.

And with that, the bridge fell away into the chasm, and Polyphemus howled. . . with delight. Because he was standing right next to them.

"Failed!" he yelled gleefully. "Nobody failed!"

Nia's heart dropped to her stomach.

Both Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies. Nia shot an arrow up at his face, but Polyphemus scooped her up, clutching her in a death grip. Nia struggled and twisted, but she couldn't get loose.

Suddenly, Polyphemus doubled over and dropped Nia, who tumbled to the ground. Luckily, Clarisse and Grover both caught her before she could break every bone in her body. Slightly dazed, Nia looked up at the Cyclops.

And there was Percy, somehow repeatedly hitting Polyphemus — who was sprawled on his back — again and again in anger. Percy stood over him, the tip of Riptide hovering over his eye.

"Uhhhhhhhhh," moaned Polyphemus.

"Percy!" gasped Grover. "How did you—"

"Please, noooo!" the Cyclops moaned, pitifully staring up at me. His nose was bleeding. A tear welled in the corner of his half-blind eye. "M-m-my sheepies need me. Only trying to protect my sheep!" He began to sob.

Percy kept standing over him, almost as if he were frozen.

"Kill him!" Clarisse yelled. "What are you waiting for?"

"He's a Cyclops!" warned Grover. "Don't trust him!"

But Nia said nothing. She just stared at Percy, waiting to see what he would do. Eventually, Percy said, "We only want the Fleece. Will you agree to let us take it?"

"No," Clarisse shouted. "Kill him!"

Polyphemus sniffed. "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace."

"I'm going to step back slowly," Percy told him. "One false move. . ."

Polyphemus nodded. Percy stepped back. . . and as fast as a cobra, Polyphemus smacked Percy to the edge of the cliff.

"Percy!" Nia yelled, rushing over to him.

"Foolish mortal!" he bellowed, rising to his feet. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first." He opened his enormous mouth, ready to swallow both Percy and Nia whole.

Then something went whoosh over their heads and thump!

A rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus's throat. The giant Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, and the great Polyphemus made chicken wing motions that did nothing to help him fly as he tumbled into the chasm.

Still amazed, both Nia and Percy turned.

Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, stood Tyson the Cyclops.

Nia grinned and murmured, "As I live and breath."

"Bad Polyphemus," said Tyson. "Not all Cyclops as nice as we look."

AFTERWARDS, TYSON GAVE THEM ALL THE SHORT VERSION: Rainbow the hippocampus — who'd apparently been following them all ever since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him — had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. He and Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find them, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.

"Tyson, thank the gods," Percy said. "Annabeth is hurt!"

"You thank the gods she is hurt?" he asked, puzzled.

"No!" Percy knelt beside Annabeth. The gash on her forehead was worse than Nia'd realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood and her skin was pale and clammy.

Nia's mind raced — what were they going to do? They'd never get her back to camp in time; she'd bleed out before they could even make it off the island.

Grover, Percy, and Nia all exchanged nervous looks. Nia said, "You guys, we don't have a lot of time. Whatever we do, we need to do it fast."

Then Percy's idea face appeared. He said, "Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?"

"Which one?" Tyson asked him, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.

"In the tree!" Percy said. "The gold one!"

"Oh. Pretty. Yes."

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. He reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back toward us, but Percy yelled, "No time! Throw it!"

The gold ram skin sailed through the air. Percy and Nia both caught it and it practically knocked the wind out of her. It was heavier than Nia had expected — sixty or seventy pounds of precious gold wool. She guessed she could understand that. If there was a literal golden fleece that could help anyone, do practically anything, it would be heavy.

The two of them spread the Fleece over Annabeth, covering everything but her face.

Please, please, please, please, please, Nia silently prayed to the gods.

The color suddenly returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close. She saw Grover and said weakly, "You're not. . . married?"

Grover grinned at her. "No. My friends talked me out of it."

Nia beamed and gave Annabeth a fierce hug. "I'm so fucking glad you're okay — I don't have the time or the energy to find a new best friend."

Annabeth laughed slightly, then winced.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "just lay still."

But despite their protests, Annabeth sat up. But she was looking a lot better — practically the picture of health.

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. "Down!" he told them as they tried to climb onto him. "No, sheepies. This way! Come here!"

They herded him, but it was obvious that they were hungry, and they were starting to realize that Tyson didn't have any treats for them.

"We have to go," Percy said. "Our ship is. . ." He trailed off, then got another idea. "Tyson, can you lead the flock as far away as possible?"

"The sheep want food."

"I know! They want people food! Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there."

Tyson looked doubtful, but he whistled. "Come, sheepies! Um, people food this way!" He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.

"Keep the Fleece around you," Percy told Annabeth. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"

Annabeth tried to, with Nia steadying her, but her face turned pale again. "Shit! Not fully healed."

Clarisse dropped next to her and felt her chest, which made Annabeth gasp. "Ribs broken," the daughter of Ares said. "They're mending, but definitely broken."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

Clarisse glared at him. "Because I've broken a few, runt! I'll have to carry her." With that, Clarisse picked Annabeth up like a sack of flour and lugged her down to the beach. Nia, Grover, and Percy all followed.

As soon as they got to the edge of the water, Percy closed his eyes, and a huge ship titled the Queen Anne's Revenge — Blackbeard's ship, Nia remembered — rounded the tip of the island.

Nia blinked. "Sweet ride."

"I know, right?" Percy grinned at her, and Nia's cheeks heated.

Tyson saved her from answering. "Incoming!" he yelled, bounding down the path to join them. The sheep were about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration from their lack of people food.

"They probably won't follow us into the water," Percy said. "All we have to do is swim for the ship."

"With Annabeth like this?" protested Clarisse.

"We don't have any other choice," Nia countered.

"We can do it," Percy insisted, sounding confident. "Once we get to the ship, we're home free."

And they almost made it, too.

They were just wading past the entrance to the ravine when they heard a tremendous roar. Nia turned — and there was Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised, splashing towards them with a boulder in each hand.

"OH, DAMN IT!"  Nia yelled in frustration."Can he just die already?"

"Yeah, you'd think he'd run out of rocks," Percy said in agreement.

"Swim for it!" Grover yelped. He and Clarisse plunged into the surf. Annabeth hung on to Clarisse's neck and tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down.

"You, young Cyclops! Traitor to your kind!" Polyphemus suddenly roared.

Tyson froze at his words.

"Don't listen to him!" Percy pleaded. "Come on."

But Tyson turned and faced Polyphemus. "I am not a traitor."

"You serve mortals!" shouted Polyphemus. "Thieving humans!" He threw his first boulder, but Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

"Not a traitor," Tyson said. "And you are not my kind."

"Death or victory!" Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded from Clarisse's spear. He immediately stumbled and fell flat on his face. Nia burst out laughed, then stopped abruptly when he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.

"Percy! Nia!" yelled Clarisse. "Come on!" She, Annabeth, Grover were almost to the ship with the Fleece.

"Go," Tyson told Percy and Nia. "I will hold Big Ugly."

"No!" Percy protested. "He'll kill you. Nia, get to the ship."

"What?" Nia looked at him.

"Tyson and I can do this. If we don't make it, you need to go with them."

"But Percy—"

"Go!"

Nia looked at Percy in the eyes, then sighed. She quickly hugged Tyson, then kissed Percy on the cheek. "If either of you die, I'm going to kill you." Then, before either of them could respond, she turned and waded in the water for the ship.

Once she got over to the Queen Anne's Revenge, Nia gripped the ladder and began to haul herself on board.

Both Tyson and Percy charged Polyphemus. Against all odds, the two managed to take the older Cyclops down, leaving him in the sea and cupping his enormous hands over his eye.

The two sons of Poseidon plunged into the waves. Nia trusted that they were making their way to the ship. Then, stupid, stupid Clarisse shouted from the deck above Nia, "Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!"

"Rarrr!" Polyphemus picked up a boulder and threw it toward the sound of Clarisse's voice.

Nia stared up at Clarisse, horrified. "Clarisse," she hissed. "Shut it!"

But Clarisse didn't hear her and started taunting, "Yeah, yeah! You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you big idiot!"

Then Percy's voice came from the sea: "Clarisse! Shut the fuck up!"

Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time, it sailed and crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge. The ship creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide.

Annabeth, Grover, Clarisse, and Nia were all sinking fast, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship's wreckage.

Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but she wasn't making much progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water. Nia was trying to keep calm and desperately clutched her hunting bag, which was serving as a sort of floatation device. But the current was just too strong. Pieces of timber from the ship were swirling around them. Nia took a shaky breath and prepared to die.

Suddenly, four horses with fish tails shimmered and whisked into the wreckage — the hippocampi! 

Nia clung to the neck of the closest one and her hippocampus burst upward in a cloud of bubbles where both Tyson and Percy were wading in the water above.

Rainbow, the largest, raced over and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane. Annabeth and Grover were on another, and Clarisse was on the third. Nia's hippocampus went over to Percy who quickly climbed on behind her.

They all broke the surface of the water and raced away from Polyphemus's island. Behind them, Nia could hear Polyphemus roaring in triumph, "I did it! I finally sank Nobody!"

For everyone's sake, Nia prayed that he would never find out the truth.

The hippocampi skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared.

Nia sighed in relief, eyes drooping and body growing heavy. Now that the immediate danger was over, maybe she could take a quick nap, just enough to give her a bit of energy. Nia slumped against the hippocampus and closed her eyes.

But before she could fall asleep, Nia felt someone rest their head against her back and mumble something unintelligible. Nia was too tired to remember who.

Her body slacked and she was dead to the world.

good morning everyone! i like how this one turned out — just the right amount of dialogue and action and clarisse being a dumbass and nia acting weird around percy. . .

i decided to update, just to raise my happiness and because it's a beautiful day! ( damn I'm usually not this positive in the morning ) 

anyways what did y'all think?

talk soon!

—icedcoffeemug

EDIT: ok so this chapter was originally way too short, so i decided to make it much longer by combining the next chapter. of course, this'll make everything off-balanced for the rest of the book, but i'm honestly good with that