Although Percy and Annabeth had talked about what she'd seen, I'd told them I wasn't ready to talk about what I'd heard from the Sirens yet and needed time to think. They didn't press and gave me some space, for which I was grateful. Any thoughts about what I'd learned were soon pushed aside, however, as we had soon come upon the island of Polyphemus, meaning that now we were just a few steps away from saving Grover, and getting the Golden Fleece. Percy and Annabeth described the island to me, and it sounded rather nice. Colourful meadows with sweet smelling flowers, pale sandy beaches with a sparkling sapphire surf, ripe tropical trees with fruit bigger than our heads…I could understand the appeal of living here. Apparently the only mar on the island was the giant chasm with a rope bridge hanging across it. There was also a ravine with giant sheep grazing in the meadow at the bottom of it, or rather, the sheep seemed to just be standing around, relaxing in the sunlight. It sounded perfect. Therefore, it had to be deadly. There was a path behind the giant sheep leading to the hills, and that's where Percy told me he could see something gold hanging in the branches of an oak tree. Hopefully, it's the Golden Fleece. "This is too easy." My brother informed us both rather flatly, as suspicious as we were. "We could just hike up there and take it."
"There's supposed to be a guardian. A dragon or…" She trailed off for some reason, so I nudged my brother who told me a deer had just appeared from some bushes. A deer? Cute. Like Bambi or something. I then heard a collective orchestra of bleating and for a moment, I thought of Grover, but then realised the bleating was far too deep to be Grover. Anyway, both Annabeth and Percy suddenly recoiled in disgust and I kind of dreaded asking them what had happened now. "Um…there's no deer anymore." Okay, so not Bambi.
"They're like piranhas." Annabeth announced, and suddenly I didn't think of these giant fluffy wool clouds as cute and cuddly anymore.
"Piranhas with wool. How will we…?" But Annabeth suddenly shouted, telling my brother to look. I of course had to wait for them to remember to tell me what they were seeing, but when they did I stood upright with hope. There was another boat on the beach below the sheep's meadow, and according to them, it was a lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham. Someone else had gotten here, and all my hopes were pegged on Tyson. Hell, I'd even be glad if Clarisse made it out of there alive too. I let Percy steer the ship since he could find us the best hiding place. Only problem was, it was next to a cliff that was sheer and tall. Taller than the ship, granted, but taller than I wanted it to be. Percy and Annabeth were nervous enough about climbing it, then they looked at me as I scowled with my head tilted up, hoping I was glowering at the cliff with my unrestrained annoyance. Now I wish I'd practiced on the lava wall back at camp.
"Well…what's the worst that can happen?"
"There's rocks at the bottom. The water won't save you if you fall, you'll get crushed." Percy told me bluntly, but still I shrugged.
"The water wouldn't save me anyway. It doesn't like me like it likes you. Come on, we're nearly there. Let's go get Grover and the Fleece." Giving them no other choice, Annabeth suggested that I climb first so at the very least, she and Percy could call to me where to put my hands and feet. It was a tricky business, and completely terrifying. To be honest it was probably the scariest thing I had ever done, and that was saying something. I was climbing completely blind up a sheer cliff that was wet and slippery with nothing more than two kids beneath me telling me where I should probably put my hands and feet next. I say probably, because they couldn't really tell what looked strong or not. I had to take my time, to move each of my limbs one at a time in order to test the strength of my next hold before I put any weight on it, and gradually hauled myself up the cliff and tried not to freak out when either Percy or Annabeth yelped from slipping below me. I slipped most of all, but I grit my teeth and got on with it, grateful that I had the body of a demigod because it meant I was stronger than most and with all my training which I had kept up over the past year by hitting the gym, I was still in excellent shape.
Still, I soon started to grow tired, and the weight of my backpack started to pull on me even though I'd lightened the load to bare essentials. At one point I genuinely thought I was going to die, grazing my hand which slipped against the rock as I'd unwittingly shifted my weight too much and lost both my footholds, holding on for a bare second before I lost my grip entirely. Percy started to yell my name but caught himself, knowing that he couldn't attract attention, but I could hear the fear in his echo. Before my fall could gain too much speed I smashed my hand against the rock face and grabbed on, somehow managing to find another hand hold and quickly brought my other hand to it and pressed my feet flat against the cliff, poising myself there for a moment until Annabeth hastily told me where to go next, realising that I was stuck there and couldn't move until I knew where to put my feet. Thankfully I didn't plummet to my death, and when I reached the top I was so glad to be on horizontal land that I flopped down and groaned, Percy and Annabeth soon joining me. We should really get rewards for these kind of accomplishments. At the very least, stickers in an achievements booklet or something.
When a voice bellowed I had immediately gone for my weapon but Annabeth grabbed my hand the same moment she had stifled Percy's yelp. Telling me that there was another ledge behind us, we all realised that the voice was coming from deep within. Something big and I'm guessing, very ugly. "You're a feisty one!" It was saying, and I could hear the bubbling broth of boiling water below, as well as the grunts of someone fighting to get free.
"Challenge me! Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!" Well, that was Clarisse, there's no mistaking that, but what about Tyson? I looked to Percy expectantly, and he must have understood what I was asking him because he murmured a sad and disappointed 'no'. Tyson wasn't there, which meant he hadn't washed ashore with Clarisse. Heaviness overcame me all over again. Turning back to what was happening below, I turned my head so that my ear was facing the cavern, able to pick up some finer sounds that the other two might have missed, such as the clicking of shoes on the ground, the big shuffle of feet, and the continuing bubbling of the water.
"Hmm…eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?" The Cyclopes questioned and I couldn't help but picture Grover as Percy had described him, in a wedding dress and a thick veil to hide his face all in the hopes of fooling Polyphemus long enough for us to get there to rescue him. Well…we managed to get here alive. Now how do we get out without being eaten? Or worse, added to the wedding feast menu. Grover stammered in a high pitched squeak which to be honest sounded just like him when he was anxious, so I guess it wasn't really that difficult for him to put on since he was most likely terrified all the time. He told his prospective husband that he wasn't hungry, however Clarisse, big, dumb, clueless Clarisse, couldn't keep her stupid mouth shut.
"Did you say bride? Who – Grover?" Annabeth started to beg with Clarisse to shut up quietly as Polyphemus shuffled his weight in confusion, probably to look between Grover and Clarisse as he what a Grover was. "The satyr!" You know what? I think we'll just leave Clarisse here. Maybe she can marry the Cyclopes instead.
"Oh!" Grover squeaked, his voice now impossibly high. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from the hot water. Pull her down, dear!" But I don't think Polyphemus was listening to Grover anymore, because now he was asking Clarisse what satyr she was talking about, wondering if she'd brought one with him. Still she didn't catch on, and if I could, I would have lobbed a stone at her and hoped it hit her on the head just to shut her up.
"No, you big idiot! That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!" Grover was screwed. There was the sound of something being wrenched and torn, and clearly whatever it was gave Grover away because next thing I knew, the Cyclopes was bellowing.
"I don't see very well. Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU'RE – NO – LADY – CYCLOPES!" I heard Grover give a pathetic bleat of fear as the other garment was torn of next, either the veil or the wedding dress. My money would be on the dress. Grover cried out for Polyphemus to stop, telling him that he had a good recipe so long as he didn't eat him raw. Percy must have gone for his sword because Annabeth stopped him, telling him to wait with a sharp hiss. "Recipe?" The dumb voice rose up from below, and I let out the air I'd been holding in and moved my hand away from Amaryllis in order to wait a little longer, trusting in Annabeth to tell us when the time was right to strike and also what to do.
"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get E. coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. I'll taste much better roasted over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You could go get some mangoes right now, down there in the woods. I'll just wait here." Silently I praised Grover's quick thinking because honestly it was what kept him alive. Polyphemus had thought long and hard about it before deciding that roasted satyr with mango chutney sounded much tastier than raw satyr, before then turning to Clarisse in order to ask if she was a satyr too.
"No, you overgrown pile of dung! I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!" You know, if we managed to all get out of this alive, I think Clarisse would benefit from having a sit down chat about how to manipulate your opponents into letting you go, because threatening to maim and kill them really wasn't the way to go and if she hadn't realised that by now, then she wasn't going to do well in future quests. Polyphemus, however, sounded intrigued by her threats as he echoed her words in fascination which made me feel a little nauseated.
"Rip my arms off."
"And stuff them down your throat!" I could almost hear the grin in his voice.
"You got spunk." Not caring, Clarisse once more demanded to be let down. I heard movements and a bleat of fear, making me grasp at Annabeth's hand so she hushed me, assuring me that Grover wasn't about to be eaten. Hopefully. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course!"
"But…you're still getting married?" I wasn't entirely sure if Grover sounded afraid or wounded. I couldn't wait to ask him later. Polyphemus didn't answer but through her thick skull, Clarisse seemed to understand what he meant and she made a horrible cry of disgust.
"Oh, no! You can't be serious. I'm not…!" But Polyphemus cut her off, and all I could do was listening to the echoes of his massive footsteps as he told them to make themselves comfortable and that he would be back at sundown for the big event, meaning that we probably didn't have long to figure out a way to get everyone out of there. A sharp whistle stung my ears before a sudden rumbling sound of bleats and calls from sheep and goats, all sounded much smaller than the other herd that Percy had described in the meadow above the beach. With Polyphemus gone the entrance was unfortunately sealed up, meaning our only way inside was now blocked and no amount of force could shift it. The only other way I could think of was to shake it free with an earthquake, but I reasoned that this would probably bring Polyphemus running back to investigate, which meant that we'd have no time to get Clarisse and Grover then get out before we were faced with a very hungry, albeit amorous, Cyclopes. Percy was growing increasingly frustrated as we tried one last time, my trident thrust under the rock to try and use some leverage, but it did not good, the boulder wouldn't move.
"Trickery." Annabeth finally decided after I'd flopped down in order to take a rest and puff exhaustedly. "We can't beat him by force, so we'll have to use trickery." Percy was up for this, but when he asked what kind of trick, Annabeth admitted she hadn't figured that part out yet, much to Percy's dismay. "Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep inside." She reminded us, though I think she was mostly talking to herself as she tried to formulate a plan.
"At sunset. Which is when he'll marry Clarisse and have Grover for dinner. I'm not sure which is grosser."
"No, but I know which is funnier." I pointed out with a grin, imagining Clarisse in Grover's old wedding dress being henceforth known as Mrs Polyphemus. I can't wait to lord this one over her. After a moment, Annabeth pointed out that she could get inside invisibly because of her cap, though that left Percy and I. I pointed out that with my bracelet, Polyphemus would probably be unable to smell me for a while, and since his eyesight was as bad as mine I could probably even sneak around him too, which just left Percy. Unfortunately for him, this left only one way left into the cave without being seen, and it did not sound very fun. The double misfortune? I had to hide too. Just to be safe. So that's how Percy and I ended up clinging onto the underbellies of sheep, though I hissed at him that he better not speak a word of this to anyone. Still as bad as the smell was, it would probably help to cover up our half-blood scents too, and I smirked as I told Annabeth she should get herself covered in sheep muck to make sure she didn't get smelled. Somehow I don't think she was too thrilled with that idea.