Act II - Heart Of The Ocean

Part VI - Help! I need somebody! Not just anybody! You know I need someone!

In the meadow, at the base of the ravine, several dozen huge sheep were milling around. 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 with something gold glittering in its branches.

A deer emerged and trotted into the meadow. It happened so fast Andy thought she had imagined. The deer was lost in a sea of sheep. A second later, the sheep moved away and where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

Andy and Anthony exchanged a glance. With no way to pass the sheep, they went to the edge of the rocks and made their way up the cliff. Climbing seemed possible and they decided it was the best idea. They started off slowly. Anthony went first because he was better at it. When they reached the top, their muscles were shaking from exhaustion and they collapsed on the floor.

"You're a feisty one," a deep voice bellowed from below them.

"Challenge me!" Clarisse's voice was clear. "Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"

The monsters roared with laughter. Anthony and Andy exchanged another look and crept to the edge of the cliff. They were right above the entrance to the Cyclops cave. Below them stood Polyphemus and Grover wearing a wedding dress, gods knew why. Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water.

Polyphemus pondered, "Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?" He turned to Grover.

Andy almost choked at that.

"I'm not hungry right now, dear," Grover told him.

"Oh, please!" mocked Clarisse. "He's a satyr!"

Grover yelped. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear."

"What satyr?" Polyphemus narrowed his eye. "Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?"

"You already have one, you idiot!" Clarisse said. "The one in the wedding dress."

Anthony cursed and put his Yankees cap on, disappearing. Polyphemus turned and inspected Grover. "I don't see very well," he said. "Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in the eye. But YOU'RE NO LADY CYCLOPS!" Grover yelped and ducked as the monster swiped over his head.

"Stop!" he pleaded. "Don't eat me raw. I—I have a good recipe!"

Polyphemus hesitated. "Recipe?"

"Oh, y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get botulism and all sorts of horrible diseases. I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You can go get mangoes, I'll wait right here."

The monster pondered, "Grilled satyr with mango chutney." He looked back at Clarisse. "You a satyr, too?"

"No, you overgrown pile of shit!" she yelled. "I'm the daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!"

"Rip my arms off," he repeated.

"And stuff them down your throat!"

"You got spunk."

"LET ME DOWN!"

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course."

"You're still getting married?" asked Grover, a little offended. "To whom?"

Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot. Clarisse made a strangled sound. "Oh, no! No, no, no! Don't even think about it, nerd!"

Polyphemus plucked her off the rope and tossed her and Grover inside the cave. "Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event."

"Better not come back at all," Clarisse's voice came from within the cave. "Or I'll rip your—" The Cyclops whistled and a flock of goats and sheep flooded out of the cave. He was about to roll a boulder to seal the cave when Anthony yelled from somewhere, "Hey, ugly."

Polyphemus stiffened. "Who said that?"

"Nobody," Anthony answered. Polyphemus's reaction was priceless. His face turned red with rage.

"Nobody!" The Cyclops yelled. "I remember you!"

"You're too stupid to remember anybody," Anthony taunted, "much less nobody."

Polyphemus roared and started throwing rocks at where he thought Anthony was. Andy held her breath hoping he was very wrong.

Anthony laughed, "You haven't learned to thrown any better, either!"

Polyphemus howled. "Come here, let me kill you, Nobody!"

"You can't kill nobody, you stupid oaf!"

Polyphemus barreled down the hill toward his voice. Andy hoped he'd be okay. She went down the hill as fast as she could without dying, and pushed through the crowd of sheep toward the back of the cave. Grover was huddled in the corner, trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors.

"It's no good," she said. "This rope is like iron." Then she saw Andy. "YOU! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BLOWN UP!"

"Good to see you, too."

"Andy!" Grover bleated her name and tackled her with a goat-hug. "You heard me! You came!"

"Of course I came!"

"Where's Anthony?"

"Outside," Andy said. "No time. Clarisse, hold still." Andy uncapped Riptide and sliced off the ropes. Clarisse stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists. She glared at Andy and mumbled, "Thanks, Jackson."

"You're welcome, La Rue. Did anyone else survived the Birmingham?"

Clarisse shook her head. "Just me. I didn't even know you guys had made it out."

Then an explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a Anthony's shout—"ANDY!"

"I got Nobody!" Polyphemus gloated. He shook his first and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground revealing Anthony hanging upside down by one leg. Anthony struggled, but he looked dazed. There was a nasty cut on his forehead that was dripping blood on the ground.

Clarisse armed herself with a ram's horn spear from the Cyclops' cave. Grover had a sheep's thigh bone. "Let's get him together," Clarisse said. "Attack plan Macedonia." Andy had had the same training as Clarisse and immediately understood what she meant. She hefted Riptide and shouted, "Yo, ugly!"

The giant whirled toward her. "Another one? Who are you?"

"Put Wonder Boy down," said Andy. "I'm the one who insulted you, really."

"You are Nobody?"

"That's right, you smelly ugly monster! I'm nobody and I'm proud of it! Now, put him down and get over here. I'll stab your eye again. Only this time, I'll make sure you'll never see the sky again."

"RAAAR!" He bellowed. Polyphemus dropped Anthony and Andy realized the mistake she had made. Anthony felt head first onto the rocks and didn't move again. Then Polyphemus barreled toward Andy.

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 dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops kept advancing. He made a grab for Andy who rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh.

Grover rushed to Anthony's side. Clarisse charged the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. Andy followed her attacks, stabbing the monsters wherever she could. Grover was dragging Anthony across a rope bridge to the man-eating sheep side of the island. Clarisse and Andy followed, Polyphemus right behind them.

"A thousand curses on Nobody!" The Cyclops promised.

They tore down the hill. Grover made it to the other side. "Cut it down!" Andy shouted at Grover. He took Anthony's knife and started cutting. Polyphemus bounded after them, making the bridge sway wildly. Clarisse and Andy dove for solid ground. Then Andy stood and with a wild slash with her sword she cut the remaining ropes.

The bridge fell into the chasm and the Cyclops howled with delight because he was standing right beside them. "Failed!" He yelled. "Nobody failed!" Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but he swatted them aside like flies.

That's when Andy snapped. Her friends were hurt. Tyson was dead. Chiron had been banished. Thalia's pine tree had been poisoned. It just wasn't fair. They had come this far and, gods be her witness, she was going to beat this beast. Strength coursed through her body. She raised her sword and attacked. She smashed and kicked and bashed until Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning. Andy stood above him, her sword hovering over his eye.

"Uhhhhhh," the Cyclops moaned.

"Andy!" Grover gasped. "How did you—"

"Please, no!" Polyphemus cried. His nose was bleeding. He started to sob. "M-m-my sheep need me!"

"Kill him!" Clarisse urged. "What are you waiting for, Jackson?"

But the Cyclops sounded so heartbroken. He sounded like... Tyson.

"He's a Cyclops!" Grover warned. "Do not trust him, Andy!"

Andy knew Grover was right. She knew Anthony would've said the same thing. But Tyson had been a Cyclops too and he'd died trying to save them. She'd have trusted him with her life. And Polyphemus was, after all, a son of Poseidon too. Like Tyson. Like Andy. How could she kill him? She felt her own eyes filling with tears for the brother she'd lost. There hadn't been time to miss him just yet. But here it was, taking her breath away, making her sword hand tremble.

"We just want the Fleece," she told him. "Let us take it. And I'll let you live."

"No!" shouted Clarisse. "Kill him right now, Andy Jackson!"

The monster sniffed. "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace." With her hands shaking, Andy stepped back and as fast as a snake, Polyphemus smacked her down to the edge of the cliff. "Foolish mortal! Take my Fleece? I eat you first!"

He opened his enormous mouth but something went whoosh over Andy's head and sailed into Polyphemus's throat. The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped and the great Polyphemus tumbled into the chasm.

Andy turned. Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep was Tyson.

He gave them the short version of the whole thing: a hippocampus, who had been following them, 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 Andy and Anthony.

Andy hugged him tightly. "Oh, Tyson, thank the gods!" Then she remembered. "Anthony is hurt."

"You thank the gods he is hurt?"

"No, you silly Cyclops!" Andy rushed to where Anthony was lying. The gash on his forehead was really bad and was bleeding a lot. His skin was pale and clammy. Andy fought back the tears. "Tyson, go get the Fleece," she asked.

"Which one?" Tyson asked watching the sheep.

"The golden one. In the tree. Bring it to me!" Tyson did as he was told. The thing weighed a ton, but Andy had no choice. She spread it over Anthony, covering everything but his face. Then she closed her sea-green eyes and prayed to whoever was listening. When Andy opened her eyes the color had returned to his face. His cut began to close. Andy gasped. Anthony's eyelids fluttered open.

"Grover's not m-married?" he asked.

Grover grinned. "My friends talked me out of it."

Anthony tried to sit up and Andy, unable to contain herself, crushed him in a embrace that made him moan, "Ouch!"

"Oh. I'm sorry!"

Clarisse approached and dropped next to Anthony and felt his chest. "Rips broken, but healing," she declared. "Come on. I'll help you, you geek, or Jackson might break something else." And she helped Anthony to his feet.

The five of them headed to the beach to where the Queen Anne's Revenge was. And they almost made it too. But then Polyphemus was roaring, splashing toward them with a giant boulder in his hand.

They entered the water and swam. Anthony was in pain and the Fleece was weighing him down. But Polyphemus's attention was on Tyson.

"You," he called. "Traitor to our kind!"

Tyson froze.

"Don't listen to him," Andy said. "Just keep swimming!"

But Tyson turned around. "I am no traitor."

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

"You are not my kind," Tyson told him.

"Jackson!" Clarisse called. Andy looked; they had reached the ship.

"Go," Tyson told her. "I'll distract the monster."

"No," Andy refused. "We'll do it together."

Tyson hesitated for a moment. "Together," he then agreed.

Polyphemus threw some boulders that Tyson deflected. Andy willed the sea to rise. She rode a wave toward the Cyclops and kicked him in the eye. "Die!" Polyphemus shouted. "Fleece stealer!"

"You're the one who stole it! The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!"

"I am a child of the gods!" Polyphemus said, as if just remembering that fact. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!" He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see.

"Poseidon won't curse me," Andy told him. "I am his child, too."

Polyphemus roared. "Young one! Where are you? Help me! You weren't raised right. Poor orphaned brother! Help me!"

No one moved. Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. "Don't fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the—"

Polyphemus spun toward his voice and threw a rock that hit Tyson with such force he flew backward. Polyphemus charged after him, but Andy lunged between them and stabbed the monster on the leg. Polyphemus bleated and hit Andy with his giant hand.

She was bleeding and bruised and exhausted. And now she was also mad as hell. Polyphemus grabbed a tree and swung at her. She grabbed a branch as it passed, ignoring the pain in her hands as she jerked skyward, and let the Cyclops lift her into the air. At the top of the arc, she let go and fell straight against the giant's face—landing with her sword right into his eye.

The monster yowled in pain. Tyson tackled him, pulling him down. Andy landed next to them. They glanced at each other, realizing they couldn't do it. It just wasn't right. "Let him go," she told Tyson over the Cyclops screams. Tyson agreed and, together, they headed to the ship. Polyphemus got up and trashed everything around him, stumbling blindly, yelling curses.

Andy and Tyson were very close to the ship when Clarisse decided to shout, "In your face, Cyclops." That was all he needed. Polyphemus grabbed another boulder and threw it at them. He missed. "You throw like a wimp!" Clarisse taunted. "Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!"

Polyphemus tried again and this time he hit the spot. The boulder crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge and the ship sank faster than you could say 'shut the hell up, Clarisse.'

Everyone was having trouble swimming. The ship was pulling them down like a sinkhole. Andy swam toward them, and made a grab for Anthony who was sinking faster than the others because of the weight of the Fleece.

Tyson started calling for help. A bunch of dolphins appeared to save them. They broke the surface of the water and raced away from that horrible place. Behind them, they could hear the Cyclops go, "I did it! I finally sank Nobody!"

Andy asked the gods that he never find out he was wrong.