OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

013

❛013❜

WHEN YOU THINK of an island inhabited by monsters, you think craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the sirens.

the cyclops's island was nothing like that. okay, it had a rope bridge across a chasm, which was definitely not giving good vibes. you might as well put up a billboard that said, something evil lives here! passage to the underworld on 50% discount! but, except for that, the place looked like a caribbean postcard. it had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches. as they sailed towards the shore, ivy breathed in the sweet air. "the fleece," she said in realization.

she couldn't see the fleece yet, but its power was palpable. ivy could believe it would heal anything, even thalia's poisoned tree.

"if we take it away, will the island die?" percy asked, his eyes flickered around the island in amazement.

annabeth shook her head. "it'll fade. go back to what it would be normally, whatever that is."

ivy felt a little guilty about ruining this paradise, but she reminded myself they had no choice. camp half-blood was in trouble. and tyson... tyson would still be with us if it wasn't for this quest. she truly wished she could apologize to him.

in the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. they looked peaceful enough, but they were huge – the size of hippos. just past them was a path that led up into the hills. at the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was a massive oak tree. something gold glittered in its branches.

"this is too easy," percy said. "we could just hike up there and take it."

"is the prospect of fighting a cyclops too easy for you?" ivy hissed. she didn't mean to snap, but she was more nervous than she was ready to admit. sure, she liked tyson now but not other cyclopes. the brunette had a limit of how many cyclopes made her list of friends, one was more than enough.

"there's supposed to be a guardian." annabeth said with narrowed eyes. "a dragon or..."

that's when a deer emerged from the bushes. it trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal. it happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.

grass and tufts of fur flew into the air.

a second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

annabeth, ivy and percy exchanged looks.

"they're like piranhas," annabeth murmured.

"piranhas with ugly wool," ivy deadpanned.

percy sighed exasperatedly, "how will we –'

"guys!" annabeth gasped,"look."

the blonde pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground... the other lifeboat from the css birmingham.

they decided there was no way they could get past the man-eating sheep. annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the fleece, but in the end ivy and percy convinced her that something would go wrong. the sheep would smell her. another guardian would appear. something. and if that happened, they'd be too far away to help.