pocket full of posies
❛ xii. nobody wins! ❜

━━━━━ "I GOT NOBODY!" gloated Polyphemus.

Posie, Percy, Grover, and Clarisse crept to the cave entrance and saw the Cyclops, grinning wickedly, holding up empty air. The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground. There was Annabeth, hanging upside down by her legs.

The Cyclops laughed. "Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be roasted with mango chutney!'"

Annabeth struggled, but she looked dazed. She had a nasty cut on her forehead. Her eyes were glassy.

From beside Posie, Percy whispered, "I'll rush him. Our ship is around the back of the island. Posie, you can lead Clarisse and Grover—"

"No way," the rest of them said in unison. Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible rams-horn spear from the Cyclops's cave. Grover had found a sheep's thigh bone ( though he looked pretty unhappy about it ) and was holding it like a club, ready to attack. Posie readied her hold on both Anthos and Arsis, saying, "We're not leaving you behind, Percy. We take him as a group."

"And beat his ass," added Clarisse, grinding her teeth.

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

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

The others nodded. They had all taken the same training courses at Camp Half-Blood; they were mandatory. ( Suddenly, Posie was grateful that they were and that Lee was such a stickler for attendance. ). They would sneak around either side and attack the Cyclops from the flanks while someone would keep his attention in the front ( probably would be Percy or Posie doing this part, hopefully Percy and not Posie ). Now this means that they would all die instead of just Percy, but—bonding, right?

Percy hefted his sword and shouted, "Hey, Ugly!"

Polyphemus whirled around. "Another one? Who are you?"

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

"You are Nobody?"

"That's right, you smelly bucket of nose drool!" ( His insults weren't as insult as Annabeth's. ) "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."

The Cyclops bellowed.

The good news: he dropped Annabeth. The bad news: he dropped her head first onto the rocks, where she lay motionless as a rag doll. The other bad news: Polyphemus barreled towards Percy, a thousand smelly pounds of Cyclops that Percy would have to fight with a very small sword.

"For Pan!" Grover rushed in from the right. He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster's forehead. Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dived out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing for Percy.

Posie dove out of the way, and as she watched Polyphemus, it all started to set in. How the hell could she fight a full-grown Cyclops with two measly daggers?

"Posie!" Clarisse yelled at her. "What are you doing? Help Percy!"

✿

That was the problem with heroes like Annabeth, Clarisse, and especially Percy; they didn't understand cowardness. Posie did. And through her involuntary listening to the Sirens, she understood why she let cowardness win so much. That doesn't mean it was suddenly easier to fight the fear of course—fear or something similar was her fatal flaw.

The problem with fatal flaws was that they were, well, fatal.

And the problem with friends who didn't suffer from the same cowardliness that Posie did was that they just didn't understand. They were all so ... reckless; they just pushed away that crippling fear so easily, and that made Posie so incredibly jealous. She wished she could push away her fear and her self-doubt, but she just ... couldn't.

The monster made a grab for Percy. The boy rolled aside and stabbed the Cyclops in the thigh. Polyphemus only roared in anger as Percy yelled, "Get Annabeth!"

Posie was ready to jump at the chance to get out of the fight when Grover nodded and snatched up Annabeth's cap. That left Posie to have to keep Polyphemus distracted as Grover picked up Annabeth. The skin of her hands tingled as Posie watched Polyphemus.

No, no, she practically pleaded. I can't. Not now. This can't be happening!

You have to learn to control it! Onesimus yelled back. That's the only way.

That was a little impossible considering there was no crash course of plague abilities.

The others seemed just fine. Clarisse was annoyingly brave; she kept charging the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, and grabbed at her, but she was too quick. As soon as the daughter of Ares made an attack, Percy followed up by stabbing the monster in the ankle or the hand. All whilst Posie watched, the strong grip on her daggers weak now.

In her very spineless opinion, Posie Easton was a coward. She often hid behind the term pacifist, and sure, that was true—but Posie was a pushover first and foremost. She stood off like a coward as everyone risked their lives, and she understood why now that flaw was holding her back.

Apollo. And what he had told her. She really meant it when all her problems came back to her godly father.

She could control plagues, but they really controlled her. Her fear of messing up held her back. This wasn't child's play; this was the potential to kill someone. And it would be all Posie's fault.

Even last summer, she gave Medusa boils and a cough, and that wasn't even the extent of the curse. Posie hadn't even touched the monster and she did that. Then she rusted a whole bronze bull that could breathe fire. If Posie accidentally touched any of her friends, what could happen to them? Would they shrivel up? Would they break out in hives and never recover? Would their skin suddenly become all leather-like and they would just be a corpse? She had no idea what would happen, and that petrified Posie.

The more she watched, the more it all started to become so much more real. The dull, muted sounds stopped and everything seemed to pound inside her skull—the wind smacked her around, and the yells of her friends and the Cyclops were ferocious. Her mouth had dried up and her heart pounded so hard in her chest, that she thought it would break her ribs.

She knew what this was; a panic attack. Of all times, now? Posie put her mind back to Mrs. Hall, trying to hear the woman's soft voice. Mrs. Hall had helped with panic attacks before—"Slow your breathing," Mrs. Hall would always say. "Don't think of anything else."

That became a little hard when Percy bumped into her and yelled, "Fall back!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Posie saw Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge. Clarisse rolled away as the Cyclops's fist smashed the olive tree beside her. Percy didn't say anything about the tears in Posie's eyes as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

They ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind them. He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, but all Percy and Clarisse had done was slow him down and make him mad.

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

"Run faster!" Percy yelled Clarisse, pulling Posie along behind him. He looked over his shoulder to tell her, "C'mon, breathe, Posie. Breathe in—hold for five. Breathe out—hold for five. Repeat."

Posie had no idea how Percy knew all of this, but she found herself listening. Her tight muscles slowly unloosened, to the point she was able to run herself. He didn't let go of her hand still as they started bolting.

They tore down the hill. The bridge was their only chance. Grover had just made it to the other side and was setting Annabeth down. They had to make it across, before Polyphemus 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 Clarisse, Posie, and Percy scrambled across the bridge, Grover began sawing at the ropes.

The first strand went snap!

Polyphemus bounded after them, making the bridge sway wildly.

Posie's mind felt dulled, to the point Onesimus was nothing but whispers ( and he never whispers ), but she had no choice but to continue. She dove for solid ground, and so did Percy and Clarisse, who all landed beside Grover. Percy made a wild slash with his sword and cut the remaining ropes.

The bridge fell away into the chasm, and the Cyclops howled ... with delight, because he was standing right next to them.

"Failed!" he yelled gleefully, his rotten teeth pulling into a cruel smile. "Nobody failed!"

Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies. Anthos, which was still in Posie's right hand, glowed a little green, but she tucked it behind her back. Emotions only set the curse off. And acting on emotions was dangerous, just like the curse.

But she didn't have the chance to even think of doing anything. Suddenly, Percy screamed and he raised Riptide, forgetting he was hopelessly outmatched, but the look on his face said that he didn't care. Percy jabbed the Cyclops in the belly. When the monster doubled over Percy smacked him in the nose with the hilt of his sword. He slashed and kicked and bashed until the next thing Posie knew—Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning, and Percy was standing above him, the tip of Riptide hovering over his eye.

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

"Please, no!" the Cyclops moaned, pitifully staring up at the son of Poseidon. 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. He was broken and beaten, and all Percy had to do was stab—one quick strike. But he was hesitating.

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

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

Percy looked back at Polyphemus, and Posie saw something in Percy's eyes—regret. "We only want the Fleece," he told the monster. "Will you agree to let us take it?"

"Percy, no," said Posie, knowing it was unfair to get mad at him for hesitating when she did not too long ago.

"Percy, kill him!" growled Clarisse.

The monster 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 the monster. "One false move ..."

Polyphemus nodded as if he understood. ( That boy is an idiot ... Onesimus grumbled. )

And as Percy stepped back, Polyphemus moved as fast as a cobra, smacking Percy to the edge of the cliff. "Foolish mortal!" he bellowed, rising to his feet. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first."

Anthos became like a ten-pound weight in Posie's hand, and she was aware of the green glow seeping from between her fingers. The anxiety turned into anger—or something similar. She got to her feet, jumping for Polyphemus, and managed to stab him right in the back, right above the hip. The gold blade ripped through the ugly blue suit the Cyclops wore and sunk into the monster's skin. The green that coated the blade in a film spread to the blue fabric and to the skin and muscles, and just like Posie's worst fears—the skin and clothes began to rot.

Polyphemus opened his mouth and bellowed in pain. Then something went woosh through the air, breaking the shocked stares of everyone. There was a loud thump! and a rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus's throat—a beautiful three-pointer that would make Lee and Austin jealous. The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backward and Grover had to pull Posie out of the way to not get trampled, but there was no place to stagger anymore. 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.

Anthos hung loosely in Posie's hand as she whirled back around to face where the rock had come from.

Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, was an old friend.

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

✿

Tyson gave them the short version: Rainbow the hippocampus—who'd apparently been following them 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 the others, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.

Posie had never wanted to hug a Cyclops more, but the whole killer sheep flock was a problem. "Tyson?" she managed, nearly bursting into tears again. "You're back!"

"Thank the gods," agreed Percy. "Annabeth is hurt!"

"You thank the gods she is hurt?" Tyson asked, clearly puzzled and tilting his head to the side.

"No!" Percy knelt beside Annabeth, and Posie quickly followed. The gash on the blonde's forehead was worse than Posie had realized. Annabeth's hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy. Grover, Posie, and Percy exchanged nervous looks. Posie thought about her dreams—the one where the man showed her Polyphemus's island—then she had a thought.

Quickly, she whirled back around to face Percy's brother. "Tyson, get the Golden Fleece for me!"

"None of these are golden, friend," said Tyson, looking around confused at the hundreds of sheep.

Posie blinked. "No, no—the one that's already been fleeced, Tyson. In the tree! It's, well, golden."

"Oh. Pretty. Yes."

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If anyone else had tried to approach the Fleece, they would've been eaten alive, but Posie figured that Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn't bother him at all. They just cuddled up to him and bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket.

Tyson reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. He started wading back towards them, but Percy yelled, "No time! Throw it!"

The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag frisbee. Percy caught it with a grunt. It must've been heavier than Posie thought it was. She helped Percy spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but the blonde's face, and prayed silently to all the gods.

The color returned to Annabeth's 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. "No. My friends talked me out of it."

"Annabeth." Posie leaned over the blonde. "Just lay still."

"You sound like Lee right now," the daughter of Athena murmured weakly.

"Well, he is my brother."

Despite everyone's protests, Annabeth sat up, and Posie noticed that the cut on the blonde's face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter.

( For a moment, Posie thought about taking a sliver of the Fleece with her. Maybe if she accidentally hurt someone with plagues, she could just lay that on top of them.

I don't think that would work, said Onesimus. What if ripping the Fleece just kills any powers it has? )

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. "Down!" he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food. A few were sniffing in their direction. "No, sheepies. This way! Come here!"

They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, and they were starting to realize Tyson didn't have any treats for them. They wouldn't hold out forever with so much fresh meat nearby.

"We have to go," said Percy. "Our ship is ..." The Queen Anne's Revenge was a very long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, and they had just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was through the sheep.

"Tyson," Percy called down, "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," Posie advised Annabeht. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"

Annabeth tried, but her face turned pale again. "Oh. Not fully healed."

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

"How can you tell?" Percy frowned at the girl.

Clarisse glared at him. "Because I've broken a few, dumbass! I'll have to carry her."

"Broken yours or other people's ...?" Posie asked quietly, but she knew Clarisse heard her.

The daughter of Ares didn't answer, instead, picking up Annabeth like the girl was a sack of flour and lugging her down to the beach. Posie, Grover, and Percy had no choice but to follow. As soon as they got to the edge of the water, the Queen Anne's Revenge started to round the tip of the island.

"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding down the path to join them, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.

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

"With Annabeth like this?" Clarisse protested.

"We can do it," Percy insisted. His expression started to turn less anxious and more confident; Posie assumed it had to do with getting back on a boat in the middle of the ocean. "Once we get to the ship, we're home free."

They almost made it, too. They were just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when Posie heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing towards them with a boulder in each hand.

✿

"You'd think he'd run out of rocks," Percy swore furiously.

"Swim for it!" Grover said.

He, Clarisse, and Posie plunged into the surf. Annabeth hung on to Clarisse's neck and tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down. But the monster's attention wasn't on the Fleece.

"You, young Cyclops!" Polyphemus roared, pointing at Tyson. "Traitor to your kind!"

Tyson froze.

"Tyson!" Posie yelled back. "Don't listen to him, okay? Percy—move Tyson!"

Percy was pulling on Tyson's arm, but it looked like Percy was trying to pull on a mountain more than anything. "Come on!" pleaded Percy. "We have to go!"

Tyson turned and faced the older Cyclops. "I am not a traitor."

"You serve mortals!" Polyphemus shouted. "Thieving humans!"

Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

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

"Death or victory!" Polyphemus charged into the surf, but the stab wound Posie dealt clearly was an issue. The Cyclops immediately howled in pain and fell on his face. That would've been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.

"Percy!" Clarisse yelled. "Come on!"

They were almost to the ship with the Fleece, and Percy was far behind. "Go," Tyson told his brother. "I will hold Big Ugly."

"No!" Percy protested immediately. "He'll kill you. We'll fight him together."

"Together." Tyson nodded.

Posie watched in disbelief as Percy drew his sword. Polyphemus advanced carefully, limping worse than ever, holding the stab wound in his back. But there was nothing wrong with his throwing arm. He chucked his second boulder. Percy dove to one side, but he still would've been squashed if Tyson's fist hadn't blasted the rock to rubble.

Behind Percy, a twenty-foot wave surged up, lifting Percy on its crest. He rode towards the Cyclops and kicked him in the eye, leaping over his head as the water blasted the Cyclops onto the beach.

"Destroy you!" Polyphemus spluttered. "Fleece stealer!"

"You stole the Fleece!" Percy yelled back. "You've been using it to lure satyrs to their deaths!"

"So? Satyrs good eating!"

Grover's teeth chattered as they climbed aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge.

"The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!"

"I am a child of the gods!" Polyphemus swiped at Percy, but he sidestepped. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!" He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see, and Posie realized the Cyclops was searching using their voices.

"Poseidon won't curse me," Percy said, backing up as the Cyclops grabbed air. "I'm his son, too. He won't play favorites."

Polyphemus roared. He ripped an olive tree out of the side of the cliff and smashed it where Percy had been standing a moment before; Posie winced silently, accidentally swallowing ocean water. "Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!"

Grover was helping Annabeth aboard the ship. Clarisse pulled Posie up the rest of the ladder, thumping the girl on the back to make Posie cough up any ocean water she consumed.

Tyson worked his way around Polyphemus, trying to get behind him.

"Young one!" the older Cyclops called. "Where are you? Help me!"

Tyson stopped.

"You weren't raised right!" Polyphemus wailed, shaking his olive tree club. "Poor orphaned brother! Help me!"

No one moved. Nothing but the sound of the ocean for Polyphemus to hear.

Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. "Don't fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the—"

Polyphemus spun towards his voice.

"Tyson!" Percy screamed.

The tree struck Tyson with such force it would've flattened any demigod. Tyson flew backward, plowing a trench in the sand. Polyphemus charged after him, but Percy shouted, "No!" and lunged as far as he could with Riptide.

Polyphemus bleated just like his sheep, and swung at Percy with his tree. Percy dove, but still got raked across the back by a dozen jagged branches. Polyphemus swung the tree again, but this time Percy was ready; he grabbed a branch as it passed, and was jerked skywards. At the top of the arc, Percy let go and fell straight against the giant's face—landing with both feet on his already damaged eye.

Polyphemus wailed in pain. Tyson tackled him, pulling him down. Percy landed next to them—sword in hand, within striking distance of the monster's heart. But he locked eyes with Tyson, and stopped. Posie knew what was going through Percy's mind: he couldn't kill a Cyclops in front of Tyson.

"Let him go," Percy told Tyson. "Run."

With one last mighty effort, Tyson pushed the cursing older Cyclops away, and they ran for the surf.

"I will smash you!" Polyphemus yelled, doubling over in pain. His enormous hands cupped over his eye, and his other was still cradling the stab wound Posie gave him.

Tyson and Percy plunged into the waves.

"Where are you?" Polyphemus screamed. He picked up his tree club and threw it into the water. It splashed off to Percy's right.

Percy and Tyson started gaining speed, and Posie was becoming a bit hopeful that they would get out alive—

"Yeah, Jackson!" Clarisse cheered from the edge of the Queen Anne's Revenge deck. "In your ugly ass face, Cyclops!"

"Clarisse—shut up!" Posie and Grover said together.

Polyphemus roared and picked up a boulder. He threw it toward the sound of Clarisse's voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing Tyson and Percy.

"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse taunted. "You throw like a bitch! Teach you to try marrying me, you fucking dumbass!"

"Clarisse!" Percy yelled, clearly as angry as Posie. "Shut up!"

Too late.

Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time Posie watched helplessly as it sailed through the air and crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge. You wouldn't believe how fast a ship can sink. The Queen Anne's Revenge creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide.

Posie tried to keep from hitting the railing, but she slid across the wooden deck and slammed into the wood. Annabeth and Grover were trying to cling to any raised planks they could, and Clarisse was already starting to go under.

Posie's mistake was trying to help the girl who caused the hole in the hull. She reached out for the daughter of Ares, but she only lost ahold of the deck—

Then her head slipped under the water.

✿

Dare Posie says it, but—drowning was much worse than a panic attack. Her throat was clogged with salty sea water, and bubbles escaped from her mouth as she tried coughing up any water in her lungs. She tried pushing through the water to break the surface, but it was like the ship was pulling her down with it. Her hair floated above her, moving around in the water.

Somewhere across the sinking ship, bubbles escaped Grover's mouth as he tried to bleat and kick with his hooves. Annabeth's blonde braids floated around as she clung onto the Golden Fleece, which glittered like waves of pennies. Clarisse was trying to pull herself to the surface, too, but the pieces of timber swirling around were nearly whacking her in the head.

Posie's eyes burned, and she thought it was her frantic imagination, but she spotted shapes shimmering in the darkness below—four horses with fishtails, galloping upwards faster than dolphins. The hippocamp whisked into the wreckage, and a moment later burst upwards in a cloud of bubbles—Grover, Annabeth, Posie, and Clarisse each clinging to the neck of a hippocampus.

The largest one—Rainbow—had Clarisse. He raced over to Tyson and allowed the Cyclops to grab hold of his mane. The one that Posie held onto raced over to Percy.

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

Posie only hoped he never found out he was wrong.

They skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared. "Did it," Annabeth muttered in exhaustion. "We ..." She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep.

Posie turned to Percy, frowning. "I'm sorry."

He frowned back at her. "For what?"

"For bailing when you and Clarisse were fighting Polyphemus," she said. "And then I ..." She shrugged, "started crying like an idiot."

"Hey." Percy brushed some of Posie's tangled hair out of her face. "That's not your fault. Panic attacks ... they suck. And they always come at the worst times."

"But I thought I had them under control ..." she admitted with a whisper.

"Yeah, well, a lot's happened. You shouldn't blame yourself," said Percy. "Get some rest, Posie. I won't let you fall off."

Now that idea was in her head, the last thing Posie wanted to do was fall asleep and then fall off, but her body couldn't fight anymore. She slumped against the hippocampus's neck and instantly slipped into dreams.

✿  OCT. 23RD, 2023  /  i actually don't like this chapter at all tehe (i'm not laughing)

percy helping posie 🫶 i love them so much it's not even funny

anyways,, thoughts? opinions??

(not edited nor proofread)