Cressida was the second person to hug Tyson. After Percy had run down to do so, she limped with the help of Clarisse to wrap her arms around him. He'd just finished explaining how Rainbow - who'd been following them since Long Island Sound waiting for Tyson to play with him - had found him sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. The two of them had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since trying to find them until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and yummy grapes and followed it.
"You're ok!" she exclaimed.
"Pretty Girl said to come back. Tyson came back," he said and her heart all but melted as she pulled his head down to kiss his cheek and his face went red as she stumbled back.
"Lynn, you good?" Clarisse asked as she caught her.
"My ankle's still dislocated - or broken. Got any ambrosia left?" she asked.
"No. That was the last of it," Clarisse said as she held up the empty bag.
"What is ambrosia?" Tyson wondered.
"Food of the gods. Good for demigods," Cressida answered the pain in her ankle, actually in all of her body, was rather bad as Clarisse helped her sit on the ground.
"Is this it?" Tyson asked as he pulled the last Ziploc bag out of his jacket pocket and held it up. "Rainbow said it not good to eat for us."
"Yes!" Percy exclaimed as he grabbed the bag and began to open it as he knelt by Cressida who shook her head.
"No. Annabeth," Cressida reminded them as they turned to where Grover was resting her head in his lap. The gash on her forehead was worse than anyone realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy.
"Make sure she eats this. All of it," Percy said to Clarisse as he broke off some of the godly food but Cressida instantly started fighting back.
"I'm not an invalid! And what about Annabeth?"
"Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?"
"Which one?" Tyson asked as he looked around at the hundreds of sheep.
"In the tree. The gold one!" Percy said.
"Oh. Pretty. Yes."
"Some manners wouldn't kill you, Jackass," Cressida reprimanded as she smacked Clarisse's hands away from her face as snatched the ambrosia from it.
"And what would you know about manners, Grape Girl?" Percy retorted as Tyson lumbered over to the Fleece, careful not to step on the sheep that cuddled up to him, thinking he was their master.
"More than you. I'm a damn delight," she fired back as she ripped the corner of the square off with her teeth.
"Yeah, well..." Percy cut himself off as he watched Tyson lift the Fleece off its branch and immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow as he began trying to get back to them. "No time! Throw it!"
The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag frisbee. Percy caught it with a grunt, the Fleece being heavier than he expected. He then spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face as they all stood there, still and waiting, praying to every god and goddess they could think of.
The colour 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. "No. My friends talked me out of it."
"Annabeth, just lay still," Percy advised but she sat up anyway, the cut on her face fully healed, actually her entire body looked a lot better.
"Glad you're ok, Books," Cressida smiled and Annabeth just returned it.
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 our 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.
"Got Grover, got the Fleece, time to go," Cressida said nervously.
"Our ship is....Tyson, can you lead the flock as far away as possible?" Percy asked.
"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 then said to Annabeth. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"
She tried, but her face turned pale again. "Ohh. Not fully healed," she groaned.
Clarisse dropped next to her and felt her chest, which made Annabeth gasp. "Ribs broken," Clarisse said. "They're mending, but definitely broken."
"How can you tell?" Percy asked.
Clarisse glared at me. "Because I've broken a few, runt! I'll have to carry her."
Before anyone, including Annabeth, could argue, Clarisse picked up Annabeth like a sack of flour and lugged her down to the beach. And Grover and Percy turned to Cressida.
"Can you stand?" Grover wondered and both boys pulled her to her feet but she still couldn't put much weight on it.
"I can manage. Just until the ambrosia kicks in. I'll be fine," she promised but they didn't trust her words, however, they didn't really have time to come up with another plan.
They each took one of her arms as they made it to the edge of the water, Percy willing the Queen Anne's Revenge to come to him and the ship rounded the tip of the island.
"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding down the path to join them, the sheep about fifty metres behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.
"I can slow them down, but not for long," Cressida said.
"They probably won't follow us into the water," Percy said. "All we have to do is swim for the ship."
"With Annabeth and Lynn in their conditions?" Clarisse protested.
"We can do it," Percy insisted. "Once we get to the ship, we're home free."
And Clarisse and Annabeth plunged into the surf as Percy turned to Cressida. "Ready?"
"Do I really have a choice?" she replied with a weak smile and the water was cold on their skin.
They almost made it too.
They were wading past the entrance to the ravine when a tremendous roar thundered through the air.
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 muttered.
Annabeth hung onto Clarisse's neck as she 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. "Traitor to your kind!"
Tyson froze.
"Don't listen to him! Come on," Percy pleaded before trying to pull Tyson's arm but he didn't budge as Grover swam forward to help Clarisse and Annabeth, leaving Cressida clinging to Percy with her foot dead weight in the water.
"I'm not a traitor!" Tyson bellowed to the older Cyclops.
"You serve mortals!" Polyphemus shouted. "Thieving humans!" Polyphemus threw his first boulder.
"Tyson," Cressida called nervously but Tyson just 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. He immediately stumbled and fell on his face. That would've been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.
"Percy! Lynn! Come on!" Clarisse yelled from where they'd almost made it to the ship with the Fleece. They just needed a little longer.
"We have to buy them time," Cressida said.
"Go, I will hold Big Ugly," Tyson told them.
"No! He'll kill you," Percy exclaimed. "We'll fight him together."
"Together," Tyson agreed with a small smile before they turned to Cressida who still had an arm around Percy's shoulders.
"What are friends for?" she smirked as she and Percy joined hands.
Polyphemus advanced carefully, limping worse than ever. But there was nothing wrong with his throwing arm. He chucked his second boulder.
"Vine!" Percy shouted as one rose from beneath the waves and wrapped around the projectile, pulling it from its path and under the water.
"Wave!" Cressida called and together they caused a six-metre wave to lift them up, no weight being put on Cressida's ankle as the water did all of the work, both of them surfing on it until they attacked. Percy kicked him in the eye while Cressida landed on his head, grabbing onto the locks of hair as her ankle throbbed with pain.
But that didn't stop her from hauling herself up to feel his scalp as her hand shone and her eyes fired. "Blind."
And she fell into the ocean as Polyphemus roared as his vision went black.
"Destroy you!" Polyphemus spluttered. "Fleece stealer! Sight stealer!"
"You stole the Fleece!" Percy yelled as he willed the current to float Cressida's body over to Tyson. "You've been using it to lure satyrs to their deaths!"
"So? Satyrs good eating!"
"The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!" Percy spat back.
"I am a child of the gods!" Polyphemus swiped at Percy who sidestepped him. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!" he prayed, blinking hard as if he could bring back his sight by doing that, locating Percy by the sound of his voice.
"Poseidon won't curse me," Percy said as he backed up and the cyclops grabbed air. "I'm his son, too. He won't play favourites."
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. "Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!"
Grover was helping Annabeth aboard the ship as Clarisse waved frantically at them, telling them to come on. Tyson had tied Cressida to his back using his massive jacket like a full body sling, Cressida who was still unconscious as Tyson tried to work his way around Polyphemus.
"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!"
Tyson turned his head as if trying to hear something Cressida said but she still looked wholly unconscious. Other than that, no one else moved, there was no other sound but the ocean.
Tyson then stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. "Don't fight, Cyclops brother," he said. Put down the -"
"TYSON!" Percy screamed as Polyphemus spun towards the voice. Tyson may not have had time to move but he had time to adjust himself, so he took the hit as he and Cressida went hurting through the air. "NO!" Percy bellowed as he lunged as far as he could with Riptide. Percy had been aiming for the back of his thigh, but he ended up getting a bit higher than he planned.
"Blaaaaah!" Polyphemus bleated just like his sheep and swung again with the tree. Percy dived but he still got raked across the back by a dozen branches.
The cyclops swung again, but this time the tree was pulled out of his grip and crushed into pieces by a giant grapevine and Percy's eyes moved to where Cressida was sitting on the beach, propped up inside the huge trench that they'd formed when they'd landed. He had no idea how she was even alive much less using her powers, but he was grateful for it as her arm lay motionless on her lap as the other was outstretched, a nasty scratch on her face, likely from the sand scrapping on her skin. And when the vine sank, Cressida was dazed as she seemed to be fighting sleep as she sat on the sand and Tyson ploughed Polyphemus down.
The ocean had Percy landing next to his half-brother, his sword within striking distance of the monster's heart.
But when he met Tyson's eyes and then Cressida's, he knew he couldn't do it. It just wasn't right.
"Let him go. Get Cressida and run," Percy ordered and with one last mighty effort, Tyson pushed the cursing older cyclops away before he ran for Cressida who couldn't stand as Tyson scooped her up and they ran for the surf.
"I will smash you!" Polyphemus yelled, doubling over in pain. His enormous hands cupped over his eye. "Where are you?" Polyphemus screamed. He picked up his tree club and threw it into the water. It splashed off to their right.
Once again, they were so close, the cold of the water helping keep Cressida awake to see Clarisse shouting from the deck of the ship, "Yeah, Jackson! That was badass, Lynn! In your face, Cyclops!"
"La Rue," Cressida panted as the current carried them towards the ship. "Shut up."
But even though she didn't say anymore, Polyphemus had heard enough. He lobbed another boulder in the direction of Clarisse's voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing the trio in the water.
"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse taunted. "You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!"
"Clarisse!" Percy yelled. "Shut up!"
And it was too late, once again as Polyphemus through another boulder and this time no one was able to stop it as it crushed into the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge.
And the ship began to sink like the rock that hit it.
"Dive!" Percy warned and Cressida barely had time to hold her breath as Percy pushed her head under the water and another rock sailed over their heads.
Not many people realize that when a ship goes down, it acts like a sinkhole, pulling down everything around it. Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn't making any progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of new pennies.
Percy kept a tight hold on Cressida as they came up for air, her hair plastered to her face. "Dolphins," she gasped. "Percy, dolphins," she coughed, and it took a second to understand what she meant.
They needed help.
Together, he and Tyson called for help as they closed their eyes and concentrated.
They heard them first, the sound of dolphins chittering as they swam next to shimmering shapes in the water, almost as if they were escorting them.
Rainbow and his friends seemed to know exactly what they needed as two of them plunged into the wreckage and came up with Grover and Annabeth gripping onto one and Clarisse clinging to the neck of the other. Rainbow, the largest, had Clarisse. He raced over to the trio still in the water and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane.
The dolphin in the meantime hand moved to help Cressida stay afloat while Percy climbed onto the last hippocampus and reached his hands for Cressida, the dolphin helping boost her onto the creature. Percy had her in front of him in case she fell off and the dolphin chittered again as it dove into the water and began leading the hippocampi.
Polyphemus was cheering in triumph, "I did it! I finally sank Nobody!" and they all prayed to the gods that he never found out he was wrong.
"Did it," Annabeth muttered in exhaustion as the island became a dot in the distance. "We..." She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep in front of Grover.
Rainbow then rode up next to her, Clarisse grabbing the Fleece as she and Tyson moved next to Percy and Cressida. "Here. She needs it more," she said as she handed it to him, nodding to where Cressida was still hugging her limp arm grunting in pain as she tried to keep herself awake.
Percy thanked her as he covered her with the Fleece and Cressida's head fell back onto his shoulder. "That...that feels better," she murmured dreamily, a warm and fuzzy feeling enveloping her as her breaths became slower and her skin seemed to shine.
"Hey, thanks for saving me again," he said, and her eyes were already half closed as she grinned lazily.
"Who else is going to save you?"
"Get some rest, Grape Girl," he said with a nostalgic smile on his face. "You'll see your brothers soon."
But his words fell on deaf ears because she was already asleep, her head on his shoulder surprisingly comfortable. And as she leaned back on him, he leaned forward on her as sleep found him as well.