Renee POV

"Throw a pillow at her?"

"What?"

"Just do it. It gets some of them up."

"Oh my gods, Percy, who have you tried that with?"

"Um….nobody."

I pressed the pillow against my face because I still wanted to sleep. Also, I knew that one time last year, he had used it on Annabeth. Or so he told Clara (who told me, naturally). Apparently it had been on their quest last year. I shipped Percabeth. I just did, and for no reason at all. So that made me a little uncomfortable.

"I think she actually is awake," Annabeth said in mock surprise. "Renee, we've reached it. The island of Polyphemus."

"Go away." I was still mad about what she had said about fatal flaws.

"Don't you want to save the camp?"

"Not if Clara won't be there."

"We can't just leave you here."

"Fine. Just give me a minute."

I rose out of the bed and glared at the sunrise, which reminded me of Clara. And then I remembered what I had seen as I fell asleep, remembered there was still hope. But I would keep my suspicions to myself.

I ambled out to join my friends, in much better spirits than I had been before.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the island. I hadn't exactly expected it to look like a perfect Caribbean postcard. I breathed in and I could feel the Fleece radiating around me.

"If we remove it, will the island die?"

"No, it'll just go back to….whatever it was before," Annabeth said. Percy and I nodded. We approached the vivid mango trees and the lime green grass. She frowned. "There's supposed to be a guardian….a dragon or something," she puzzled.

That's when a deer darted out of the forest. The sheep glanced up, and then the deer was covered in a wool tornado. And then it was gone, with just a pile of bones in its place. I covered my eyes.

"How do we get Grover?" I shivered a little at the thought of being up there. "They're like wooly piranhas."

But Annabeth was looking elsewhere. "Percy, Renee, look! It's the other rowboat from the CSS Birmingham!"

"Could it be….?" Percy trailed off.

"Only one way to find out. Know any spells, Renee?" Annabeth looked at me.

"One, but I've never used it on a person."

"What do you mean?" Percy gulped. "Renee, are you sure this is safe?"

"Totally. I mean, I think. Watch." I pointed my wand at the rowboat. "Wingardium levi-o-sa!"

Hermione would have been proud, at least according to something Ginny had told me about Ron.

"That's cool, but I don't really want to-" Percy started, but Annabeth cut him off.

"It isn't really flying, Seaweed Brain, just a little levitation. Better than climbing. How will you get up there, though?"

I hadn't thought of that. But I had an idea. I glanced at the levitating rowboat, pulling it down with my hand.

"You can't be serious!"

"Shut up, Wise Girl. Let me try it."

"Fine," Annabeth huffed.

She and Percy stepped into the boat. "Now, I'll need you guys to pull me up once it's about to my chest. Can you do that?"

"I think so," Percy said, and Annabeth nodded in resigned agreement.

"Wingardium leviosa. Wingardium leviosa. Wingardium levi-oh!" I felt strong hands on my back as Annabeth and Percy pulled me up. We floated up to the top of the cliff, Percy gripping the side for dear life. Annabeth looked sick, but I just beamed.

We got out on the fresh grass and looked around. I quickly grabbed the boat again and motioned to some bushes. Annabeth nodded and slipped on her invisibility hat. A minute later, she said, "All clear."

"Garrr!" Bellowed another voice. We looked around, knowing it must have come from Polyphemus. Annabeth found him first.

"Look," she hissed. We turned, silent as statues. The ledge we were on was narrower than it had looked from the ground. The noise had come from right below us.

"You're a feisty one," the deep voice roared.

"Challenge me!" I gasped as I realized it was Clarisse. "Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"

Deep, booming laughter. We looked down and realized we were right above the cyclops' cave. Below us stood Polyphemus and Grover in something that looked like a wedding dress. I scowled at the sight. But then I saw Clarisse, tied up upside down over a boiling pot, and my scowl turned to a grimace. I half hoped to see Clara, but at least it meant she had died peacefully in the water, instead of….here.

"Hmm…." Polyphemus pondered. "Eat loudmouthed girl now, or wait for wedding feast. What does my bride think?"

I could see Grover panicking. "Um, I'm not hungry now, dear. I think-"

Clarisse cut him off. "Your bride? Grover?"

I wondered if charmspeak worked as telepathy. Clarisse, stop! Stop!

It didn't work, but she did look up. And then I mentally slapped myself. My charmspeak was probably strong enough for telepathy, but Clarisse had made herself immune to it. But she must have felt something. It was too confusing to think about.

Polyphemus glowered. "What 'Grover?'"

"The satyr!"

I saw Percy's horrified look. Shut up, Clarisse!

"Oh!" Grover grimaced. "Put her down, dear. Her brain is boiling from that pot!"

The cyclops squinted, as if he were trying to see Clarisse more clearly. The smell overcame me, and I blinked a few times. That guy was rancid!

"What satyr? You bring me a satyr? Satyrs good eating!"

"No, you overgrown pile of dung, that satyr! In the dress!"

"I'll kill her," Percy muttered. I put a finger to my lips.

Polyphemus turned to grover and ripped off the wedding dress and veil. "I don't see very well-not since the last hero poked my eye out-but YOU'RE NO LADY CYCLOPS!"

I shuddered. But Grover was smart. I supposed he had to be, if Jade was in love with him. Okay, that wasn't confirmed, but I had noticed it.

"Oh!" he squealed as the cyclops held him up. "Don't eat me raw! I know a nice recipe! And if you eat me raw you'll get food poisoning!"

"Recipe?"

"Oh yes. With mango chutney. Just go pick a few mangoes from over there in that forest beyond your sheep! Then I'll tell you the rest."

"Grilled satyr with mango chutney. That might be better." Then he rounded on Clarisse. "You a satyr too?"

"No, you giant slug! I'm a girl! Daughter of Ares! Now let me go so I can rip your arms off!"

"Rip my arms off." The monster smirked.

"And shove them down your throat!"

"You got spunk."

"Let me down!"

He picked up Grover and threw him deeper into the cave. "Wedding postponed til sundown."

"But….you're still getting married? Who's the bride?" Grover sounded hurt and shocked.

Polyphemus looked at the boiling pot, and Clarisse gasped. "No! You can't be serious! I'm not-"

I tried to think of something to do, but the cyclops plucked Clarisse off her post and threw her in deeper with Grover, then walked over and bound their arms. "I come back at sunset for the main event! Have to go graze sheepies now. But then we'll get married and have satyr as the main course!"

He called the sheep by name-"Tammany, Beltbuster, Lockhart…." I was too terrified to laugh at the name "Lockhart."

"Now, what is mango?" He grumbled to himself, leaving us alone with a pot of boiling water and a six ton boulder.

Annabeth jumped down, and reached for us. Percy went first, and then I dived after him. I didn't even care if I lived or died anymore, as long as we rescued Grover and Clarisse, and got the Fleece to save the camp. Annabeth frowned at my recklessness.

We banged and pulled on the rock for what seemed like hours, but if Grover and Clarisse could hear us, we couldn't hear them.

"This is useless. We need a plan to get in."

"Expelliarmus!" I screamed, hoping it would somehow just eject our friends. No luck. "Wingardium leviosa? Lumos?" I had really lost hope if I thought a spell that brought light would do any good. "Alohomora?"

"Try charmspeak," Percy suggested.

I laughed dryly. "It's powerful, but not enough to work on inanimate objects."

"Just try," Annabeth pleaded.

"Okay, fine." I scrunched up my face in concentration. "Open."

"That wasn't English," Percy told me, frowning.

"Even I didn't recognize that language," Annabeth added.

I blushed. The last time I had to force something to open, I had to use parseltongue. "Oops. I'll explain that later.

"Open."

"Wait," said Annabeth. "I've got something." She whispered her plan to us.

"Why Nobody as the name?" I asked.

"Odysseus used it when he first blinded Polyphemus. He should still have a grudge against it."

"Ah."


"Don't let go!"

Easy for her to say. She wasn't hanging off the belly of a sheep named Lockhart. Curse the gods, why were the fates so cruel?

The sheep didn't care, though, and it wasn't too hard. In fact, I liked this Lockhart better than my ex-professor, so that was something.

"Hasenpfeffer!" Polyphemus said, patting the sheep three in front of me. "Einstein. Widget….eh there, Widget."

Crap, that was Percy's sheep. "Putting on some extra mutton there?" My heart raced. "Don't worry. Soon Polyphemus will eat you for breakfast." And just like that, Percy was in.

If Polyphemus noticed anything about my sheep, he didn't let on, and Lockhart followed Widget into the cave.

I hoped Annabeth would do her thing soon, and at just that second, I heard her voice.

"Hello, ugly!"

Polyphemus looked around, startled. "Who said that?"

"Nobody!"

"Nobody! I remember you! You poked my eye out!"

"You're too stupid to remember anybody! Let alone Nobody!"

Polyphemus threw a boulder at Annabeth's voice, and for a terrible moment, there was silence. I shuddered, but then, "And you haven't learned to throw any better, either, you big lump!"

"Come here." Polyphemus boomed. "Let me kill you, Nobody."

"You can't kill nobody, you big oaf," Annabeth taunted. "You'll have to come and find me."

Annabeth was right that Polyphemus still held a grudge about that name. He hadn't even stopped to consider that Annabeth was female, whereas the last Nobody was male. But then, he had been trying to marry Grover, so he must not have had the whole male/female thing figured out.

I saw Percy hop off of Widget, and I followed suit. We searched the room, but couldn't see Grover and Clarisse anywhere. I glanced at the last place I had heard Annabeth's voice, but she must have been on the move again. Good.

"How do we navigate this place?" I whispered. "Have your dreams told you anything?"

"Not sure. Stay close."

I nodded, and eventually we found the spinning room, amidst the piles of sheep junk and rams' horns. Grover was trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors, and very obviously failing.

"It's no good," he moaned. "This rope's like iron!"

Percy pulled out Riptide. "Grover," Clarisse cried. "You've been working at it for hours!"

Suddenly, she glanced over and saw us. "Percy? Renee? You're supposed to be blown up!"

"Nice to see you too," I said.

"Perrrcy! You heard me! You came! But where's Clarrra?"

Percy glanced at me. "Tell you later," I told him. I knew it was hard, but I had to save them first.

"Where's Annabeth?" Clarisse asked.

"She's coming. Hold still!"

He walked up and uncapped the pen that was Riptide, then slashed at the ropes.

"Thanks."

A thought struck me. "Clarisse, was anyone else on your lifeboat?" I wasn't going to give up hope yet, not for me or for Percy.

Clarisse looked surprised. "No. Just me. Everyone else on the CSS Birmingham….I didn't even know you guys made it out."

Just then, there was a terrified scream. "I got Nobody!" Polyphemus roared. "Nasty invisible girl. Already got feisty one for a wife, so I guess you gotta be grilled with mango chutney."

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

"I'll rush him," Percy whispered to us. "Renee, lead them to the ship-"

"No!" We cut him off. "We'll take him together!" Clarisse growled.

"Yeah!" Grover said, and then he gasped. "Did I just agree with Clarisse?" He mumbled to me. I shrugged.

"Alright," Percy said. "Attack plan Macedonia."

We'd all taken the same training at camp. Actually, it was kind of similar to the way Clara and I had beaten Clarisse at the inflatable fencing on the Andromeda Jean, although I'd never thought about it that way before.

Percy would do the distraction, and the three of us would do the attack. I pulled out my sword and handed it to Grover, who shot me a grateful and puzzled look. I waved my wand at him and he understood.

"Hey, ugly," Percy called.

"Another one? Who are you?"

"I'm the one who insulted you."

"You are Nobody?"

"That's right, you smelly bucket of nose drool. Now put her down and get over here! I want to stab your eye out again!"

"RAAR!" the monster bellowed, dropping Annabeth on her head onto a pile of boulders. Grover ran over to her, his hooves clip-clopping rapidly on the ground. He offered me my sword, but I showed my wand again.

He nodded and gathered her up, throwing me her invisibility hat instead. I jumped up and caught it. Luckily, or unluckily, I guess, Polyphemus was still dealing with Percy and Clarisse and hadn't noticed anything.

"Fall back!" Percy yelled. We ran for the bridge, Polyphemus lumbering along behind us. We had to reach the other side and get to Grover and Annabeth, that was our only hope.

"Grover," I yelled. "Use my sword!" Grover nodded to show he understood. "Faster, guys!"

Grover started sawing at the rope bridge.


Clara POV

I saw the commotion on the rope bridge on the cliff. "Looks like we found them," I told Tyson. "For better or worse, anyway. Feed Rainbow the apple, and then I'll beam us up."

"Are you sure you will be able to carry my weight?"

"Are you kidding? I just carried us on a hippocampus!"

"Oh. Right."

I had recovered my strength. I didn't even need to concentrate at all this time. I tenderly grasped Tyson's hand and we jumped onto the beam and whizzed to the top of the cliff.

"Stay here. Pick up that boulder and throw." I noticed the cyclops picking up Percy.

"But Percy is in trouble."

"I know. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Don't throw until absolutely necessary!"

I sped off, leaving Tyson to defend from afar.


Renee POV

I thought I saw a flash of light around Polyphemus, but it must have been my imagination. There would be no savior from afar. I had to act now.

"Put him down!"

"Gah! Charmspeak! You think that works on me, silly mortal girl?"

There was another flash and I swear I saw golden hair. I blinked and it was gone. But Polyphemus seemed to notice it too. He paused for a moment, and it was just long enough for Percy to wriggle out of the cyclops' reach.

In a flash, he had his sword out, and he stabbed Polyphemus. The monster howled in pain, but Percy was quick.

"Please," he said. "We only came for the Fleece."

"What are you doing?" Clarisse screeched. "Kill him!"

"No, Clarisse, he can't! He's a son of Poseidon too!" Clarisse and I were locked in an intense staredown for a minute before a beam of light broke our concentration. Then I was sure Clara was there somewhere. But she could travel as fast as, well, light, when she wanted to on her sunbeams.

"Fine. Take the Fleece, prize of my collection, and go in peace, mortal!"

"Don't trust him!" Grover yelled. "He's a cyclops!"

Percy and I locked eyes for a sec, but Percy shook his head. "I'm going to back away very slowly," Percy told Polyphemus. "One false move…."

I looked up and finally saw Clara, about twenty feet above my shoulder. She put a finger to her lips and then sped off, but I knew we had a backup plan if Percy had made a wrong guess. Clarisse, Grover, and I stood with our weapons ready.

Percy stepped back, and Polyphemus shot up like a cobra. "Foolish mortal!" He growled at Percy. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first!"

Percy screamed, and Clara darted down from wherever she had been flashing. Suddenly, a boulder the size of a basketball went sailing into the cyclops' throat. He dropped Percy in surprise, and Clara rushed to him. She caught him just in time.

"Thanks, Clara. Clara! And Tyson!" His look of amazement was only rivaled by Clarisse's. "How?"

"Later," Tyson said, noticing Annabeth..

"I'll get the Fleece!" Clara yelled. Then she held out a hand to me. "Coming?"

I pulled myself onto the sunbeam, and we sped off towards the tree that held the Fleece. Clara plucked it off the tree and zoomed back to Percy. She threw it down to him and hugged me tightly.

"Renee! I was so worried we wouldn't make it in time!"

"I thought I'd never see you again!"

We stood there for a minute, not willing to let go.


Clara POV

"Hurry!" Clarisse called. "Clara, use your other Apollo powers!"

"I'm not a healer, Clarisse. And I think the Fleece is doing it's job."

Indeed, Percy had thrown it over Annabeth and she was reviving, a little bit. We landed and ran to help the others.

Annabeth opened her eyes and looked at Grover. "You're not….married?" She smiled weakly.

"My friends talked me out of it."

"Annabeth, keep the Fleece around you," Renee said. "Just in case you're not fully healed. Can you stand?"

She stood up, and then almost fell. I ran to her aid. "Oh. Not fully healed," Annabeth moaned.

"Clara, how many of us can you carry?" Clarisse demanded. "I mean, on your sunbeam?"

"Um…."

"Take Annabeth and go! Percy, where's the ship?"

"We saw it coming up," I lied. "Back there, right?"

"Yeah, right beyond those rocks," Percy said.

"You don't know where it is, do you?" Renee asked fearfully. She knew me too well. "I'm coming too. Run after us. Lead them, Percy!"

She jumped up on the beam before Annabeth or I had time to say anything. Clarisse, Percy, and Tyson were hot on our heels.

Percy dove into the water and tried to control it, pushing the ship to rise.

"He's gotten really good at that," I commented.

"Yeah."

"There's the ship. Is that….the Queen Anne's Revenge? Blackbeard's ship?"

Renee started to explain, but Annabeth yelled, "No time! Look!"

I beamed them up quickly, and we watched in horror as Polyphemus threw boulders at Percy and Tyson. But the sons of Poseidon seemed to be holding their own. Clarisse sped toward us, Grover close behind. I'd never before appreciated how fast some people could swim. Renee lowered the ladder, and they climbed on, dripping all over the deck.

"Lucky sunbeams," Clarisse grumbled.

"Mom will give us some new clothes soon," Renee replied calmly, calmer than I'd ever seen her around Clarisse. "I'm sure of it."

"Okay. How do we help them?"

Was she actually looking to me for ideas? "Just stay," I said, knowing in my gut it was right. "They can handle it."

We stood in silence until-"Yeah, Jackson! In your face, cyclops!"

We glared at Clarisse as Polyphemus threw a boulder in our direction, but she continued. "Yeah, yeah. You throw like a wimp. Teach you to try marrying me!"

"Shut up!" Renee yelled. "Shut up!"

"Percy! Percy! Percy!"

"Gag her," Annabeth whispered to me. I nodded, but couldn't find anything to gag her with.

But Polyphemus had thrown another boulder, and it reached us. I had just enough time to summon a sunbeam and yell, "Hop on!" before the ship reached the water. Clarisse heaved Annabeth up, but Renee was the only one who made it onto the sunbeam.

I saw Percy flailing in the water. Then Tyson yelled, "Rainbow! We need help!" and I felt saved.

Rainbow showed up, with three friends in tow, almost instantly. "Clarisse, over here!" I yelled, speeding toward her. "Annabeth, come on!"

I reached Clarisse. Renee and I took Annabeth from her hands. We hurried down to the nearest hippocampus, which was thankfully big enough for the three of us. I might be able to beam with someone later, but now I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe.

Annabeth sank into my lap and fell asleep. Rainbow, who was bearing Clarisse, leaned forward for me to grab his mane, completing a chain of hippocampi that safely encompassed us. Renee held on to my hand, and we fell asleep together as well.


A/N: So yeah, sorry that was a busy chapter. I wanted to include the whole Polyphemus scene, but that may have made it a little long. Oh well.

Let me know at any time if you're at all bothered by how much I'm switching POV between Clara and Renee. I know it can be a little confusing, and if people are having trouble following it, I'd be happy to reduce the number of POV switches in the next few chapters.

Anyway, please review. Thanks.

~Hufflepufferfish