"Books, I'm going to kill you," Cressida snapped quietly.
"Just don't let go!" Annabeth said, standing somewhere invisibly near them.
"I'm going to kill her. Painfully."
"I'll help," Percy groaned from where he was in the same position as her, hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep. The sheep were surprisingly accommodating, even the smallest one of the flock would've been able to support their weight. They twirled the thick wool into handles and hooked their feet against the sheep's thigh bones. Then the only hard part became breathing with the wool that kept getting into their mouths and noses.
The sun was going down and just as they'd gotten into position, the cyclops roared, "Oy! Goaties! Sheepies!" The flock dutifully began trudging back up the slopes towards the cave.
"This is it!" Annabeth whispered. "I'll be close by. Don't worry."
Cressida sent a quick prayer to her father, praying that she'd live to see her brothers again and make sure they were ok as the sheep started plodding up the hill, her already sore limbs becoming even sorer as the sheep walked a hundred metres towards the cyclops who began petting them and naming them.
Both Cressida and Percy almost fell off their steeds when Polyphemus petted them before herding them inside the cave. But just before he could roll the boulder shut again, Annabeth's voice called out from beyond the cave.
Polyphemus then went chasing after Annabeth, who was invisible and tricked the cyclops into chasing after Nobody.
The two of them then dropped off their rides, Percy patting his on the head.
"Annabeth is facing a cyclops by herself and you're petting sheep?" Cressida scolded and Percy just rolled his eyes as they began to search the main room but there was no sign of Clarisse or Grover. With their weapons in one hand, Percy took Cressida's in the other as they pushed through the sheep and goats and Percy led her down the corridors littered with bones and past rooms with sheepskin rugs and Medusa statues of sheep.
This was trust right here as Percy led her down corridors he'd dreamed about until he finally found the spinning room where Grover was huddled in the corner trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors.
"It's no good," Clarisse said. "This rope is like iron!"
"Just a few more minutes!"
"Grover," she cried, exasperated. "You've been working at it for hours!"
"Hey, losers," Cressida called and they both whirled. "Guess we have to save you now," she smirked and Clarisse glared at her.
"I wish you'd blown up," she muttered.
"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated and tackled him with a goat hug. "You heard me! You came!"
"Yeah, buddy," he said. "Of course, I came."
"Cressida!" Grover exclaimed before he wrapped her in a hug.
"Good to see you, Grover," she smiled before he pulled away.
"Where's Annabeth?" the satyr asked.
"Um, hello?" Clarisse called and Cressida collapsed her spear and pulled out her bronze switchblade from her boot.
"Look who's the hero now," Cressida boasted as she began to cut the ropes.
"Shut up and get me free," Clarisse snapped as the last of the rope fell away and she stood stiffly. The daughter of Ares regarded her for a moment as she rubbed her wrists. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"You're welcome," Cressida replied.
"Clarisse, was there anyone else on board your lifeboat?" Percy asked and she looked surprised.
"No. Just me. Everybody else aboard the Birmingham ... well, I didn't even know you guys made it out."
Clarisse and Grover were both surprised when Cressida moved over to squeeze Percy's hand, a silent message passing between the two before Percy pulled his hand away and said, "Ok. Come on, then. We have to help-"
An explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a scream. It was Annabeth crying out in fear.
"Move!" Cressida ordered and they broke into a sprint as Percy led them out of the cave.
******************************************************************
"I got Nobody!" Polyphemus gloated. They 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.
"Hah!" the Cyclops said. "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.
"I'll rush him," Percy whispered to Clarisse. "Our ship is around the back of the island. You and Grover –"
Percy was cut off both by Grover and Clarisse shouting, "No way!" and by Cressida not waiting for anyone as she ran at the Cyclops. She'd drawn her spear and sent it flying into the cyclops' knee.
"Hey, Ugly!" she called. "I'm the one who insulted you. I'm Nobody!" she said and Percy's eyes widened in shock.
"Shit," Percy swore before looking at his friends. "Attack plan Macedonia," he said and they nodded before they got to work, Clarisse armed with a rams-horn spear and Grover with a sheep's thigh bone. He was grateful that they'd all taken the same training courses at camp so they knew exactly what he was talking about.
"You are Nobody?" the Cyclops asked after pulling her spear out of his leg like a toothpick and throwing it away.
"That's right, dumbass!" she shouted back. "Now put her down and get over here so I can blind you again!"
"RAAR!" he bellowed as he dropped Annabeth but he dropped her head first onto the rocks where she lay motionless, the gash on her forehead making her look scarily dead.
Now it was Cressida's turn to get angry. No one hurt her friends.
Percy had only just made it to her side as she drew her spear again but this time it was in thyrsus form with a sharpened end. She let out a battle cry before bringing it down into the earth that began to crack as the fissure raced for the cyclops that was barrelling towards them and vines sprouted from the crack.
The thick plants wrapped around the giant's ankles as they began to move upwards, holding his entire body like a cast.
"I can't hold it long!" Cressida yelled and Percy looked to Grover.
"Get Annabeth!" he ordered as the satyr grabbed her invisibility cap before picking her up and navigating his way out of the rocks with ease.
Clarisse, however, took the opportunity to whale on the cyclops through the gaps in the vines Cressida summoned, but the problem with that meant that Polyphemus was writhing in pain and that meant more moving which made Cressida's job harder. Percy also joined in the fray as Cressida took deep breaths, keeping her focus as she thought about Annabeth being hurt and keeping the person that hurt her immobile.
As Percy fought, he saw Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge out of the corner of his eye. It didn't seem like the best idea considering that there were man-eating sheep on the other side but at the moment that looked a whole lot better than the side they were on - which gave him an idea.
"Fall back!" he told Clarisse before running over to Cressida who was sweating and visibly losing her battle. "Let go," he said as he dropped to her side, her purple eyes opening to look at him tiredly. "It's ok. Let him go. I have a plan."
Cressida let go as she pulled her thyrsus out of the ground, her vines being smashed and broken easily by the cyclops as Percy took her hand and pulled her into a complete all-out sprint towards the bridge, taking on most of her weight as she was still woozy on her feet.
"Grover! Get Annabeth's knife!" Percy yelled as Clarisse ran with them, her ram's horn abandoned.
Cressida's lungs felt as if they were going to pop with how bad her stitch was as they scrambled onto the bridge, their only chance to make it across now.
"We're going to die," Cressida panted.
"Think positive," Percy returned as the first strand snapped.
"Can we die quickly?" Cressida asked as the bridge began to sway as Polyphemus bounded after them, the ropes half cut.
The three demigods dived for solid ground, air not able to stay in their lungs enough as 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.
They just couldn't catch a break.
"Failed!" he yelled gleefully. "Nobody failed!"
Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies. Percy then charged the cyclops and Cressida got to her feet as she changed her thyrsus into her spear. If she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting, trying to save her friends and her home.
It was a ridiculous battle considering the odds, but they'd faced worse odds - they hadn't because Polyphemus was presumably worse than Ares but Percy had said to think positive.
She went low as Percy went high...ish. She stabbed at Polyphemus' knee again while Percy went for his stomach and he doubled over. Percy smacked him in the nose with the hilt of his sword and Cressida poked a hole in his cheek.
At least until she became one of the ones swatted away like a fly, her body stinging from the impact before she crashed into the ground, her brain seeming to rattle inside her skull.
And the sight of her fallen body on the ground had more than just strength bubbling inside Percy. Rage festered inside him even worse than any Ares could've summoned. Cressida had been hurt enough throughout her life - more than enough - and if he could help it, no one would hurt her again. And gods above, could he help it.
Percy slashed and kicked and bashed until the next thing he knew was standing above the cyclops who was sprawled on his back with Riptide aimed at his throat.
"Uhhhhhhhh," Polyphemus moaned.
"Percy!" Grover gasped. "How did you –"
"Please, noooo!" the Cyclops moaned, his nose and cheek bleeding as 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.
All Percy had left to do was stab - one quick strike.
"Kill him!" Clarisse yelled, Cressida's head on her lap as she tried to rouse the girl. "What are you waiting for?"
But had Cressida been awake, she would've known why he hesitated. The cyclops sounded so heartbroken...just like Tyson.
"He's a Cyclops!" Grover warned. "Don't trust him!"
Annabeth would've said the same thing as it dawned on Percy that the creature below him was also the son of Poseidon and he didn't know if he could kill someone even as terrible as Polyphemus in cold blood.
"We only want the Fleece," Percy told the monster. "Will you agree to let us take it?"
"No!" Clarisse shouted, the girl had found the leftover ambrosia in Cressida's boot. "Kill him!"
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 informed. "One false move..."
Polyphemus nodded like he understood.
Percy took one step and as fast as a cobra, Polyphemus smacked him to the edge of the cliff.
"Foolish mortal!" he bellowed, rising to his feet. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first."
He opened his enormous mouth to expose his rotten molars before something flew over Percy's head.
A rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus's throat.
The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backwards, 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.
And as Percy turned, Cressida's indigo eyes opened to see who stood halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep.
"Bad Polyphemus!" Tyson said. "Not all Cyclopes are as nice as we look."