I apologize for taking longer than expected to finish this admittedly short chapter. I just wanted to go ahead and post a little something before I become overwhelmed with work again. I barely had any time to check for mistakes, so expect to find plenty.

Hope you all enjoy this nonetheless. Thanks so much for your reviews on the previous chapter.

Monkey in a Barrel

"Easy," Percy coaxed, standing behind Thalia and helping her to steer the helm. "It's a delicate flower."

The daughter of Zeus scoffed. "It's not a plant, Percy."

She was one to talk about plants.

"You know what I meant."

Things had been somewhat awkward around the ship. The son of Poseidon hated that there seemed to be a sort of wedge between them now. He understood that she had felt vulnerable hours before, and with good reason, but didn't she get that he was there for her? Didn't she know that he wanted to console her? He hated to see her so torn.

He didn't even know what to think about the whole 'Thalia having a sibling' thing. It was definitely unexpected, but it made sense now that he really thought about it. The way she seemed indifferent with people, as if they might vanish at any minute. The way she was overprotective of her close friends.

Percy had lost Tyson. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a full-blooded brother at a very young age. Thalia had known—what was his name?—Jason for all of her brother's life. It was different. Even though he wanted to, Percy could not fully empathize with her.

"What's on your mind?" she asked him quietly, and it was then that he noticed that she had been properly steering the ship for a good few minutes.

"For a daughter of Zeus, you aren't doing half-bad," Percy joked, trying to brush her question off.

She narrowed her bright blue eyes doubtfully, but didn't say anything.

Percy studied her. He couldn't recall the last time he actually just looked at her, without words or actual intentions.

Her dark hair was wild and curly, just as his was. The sea breeze had not been good to them, but he thought her curls still looked neater than his. She had already dressed back into her brother's armor, and it fit her more tightly than it had previously. Due to her earlier swim, she smelled faintly of sea salt, which was strange for her; she usually smelled like sweet citrus. Her alabaster cheeks had the smallest tint of red—a minuscule sunburn, courtesy of the blazing sun and tropical climate.

Thalia caught him staring at her and parted her full lips to say something, but they almost immediately snapped closed again. Percy followed her gaze, and he felt his stomach begin to nervously churn.

The island they were swiftly approaching had green meadows, a white sandy beach, and forested hills. It was familiar to Percy, and he realized that it was the exact same island that he had seen plenty of times in his dreams. It filled him with a sense of danger, and the waves thrashed pointedly against the ship, almost as if to warn him to turn back.

"It's—"

"The home of Polyphemus."

"Why is it so—?"

"Beautiful?" Thalia guessed.

Percy sighed. "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Finish my statements," the demigod said indignantly, like the fact should have been obvious.

Thalia shrugged again, her expression nonchalant but subtly humored. "Well, I suppose you have an inability to spit it out."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so I don't talk fast enough for you?"

"Yes. I believe that is what I'm getting at here."

"Whatever," he brushed off. "Back to the point. Why would a monster be living there?"

"Did you forget what we were here for?" she sounded as if she were teasing him, although her expression was very serious. "The Golden Fleece. It brings beauty to any land that it resides in. It increases prosperity, harvests, and a bunch of other junk."

"So, like, you think the island used to be worse?"

"I'm not jumping too any conclusions. I'm not an expert of fleece-ology, Percy. Or island ecology for that matter."

"Well, it sounds like our best bet," the son of Poseidon stated decisively. "In that case, I'm guessing the island will become horrible again once we take the fleece."

Thalia bit her lip in sullen contemplation, refusing to meet his eyes. "Are—are you having second thoughts about this? After we came all this way?"

"Thalia," he said, smiling. "There's no way we aren't going to get it. We have to save your tree, remember?"

The daughter of Zeus cheered up slightly, and the grin that spread on her face was undeniably beautiful. "Yeah," she answered confidently. "You're right."

For once, Percy resisted mumbling.

Thalia, as if sensing something, turned her head sharply to the right. Her eyes caught sight of something, and her face drew together in a scowl. "The Fleece," she said, pointing to the large oak tree in a meadow. A beautifully glittering fleece was hanging from its lengthy and healthy branches.

"It's that easy?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Of course not," the daughter of Zeus replied. "It never is. There's some trap, possibly more than one."

The son of Poseidon scoffed. "It's filled with large sheep. It's not like they're a threat—" He was silenced as they watched the sheep hurriedly surround a harmless deer and strip its bones clean. "I think I found the trap."

"You're kidding me," the brunette girl muttered. "Fucking sheep?"

"More like piranhas with wool," Percy corrected, earning a laugh from his female companion. "We need to get on the island. I know where we can anchor the ship."

Percy sailed the ship around the backside of the island, which is where he knew they would be hidden from plain sight. After the Queen Anne's Revenge was anchored behind tall cliffs, the demigods prepared a lifeboat to take them to the shore. They slowly edged their way towards the rocks, and when they arrived, they swiftly climbed from the boat.

Thalia glanced up at the cliffs and suddenly realized his plan. "Oh, there is no way in Hades."

"We have to climb over them," he said, frowning sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Thalia. Will you be able to do it?"

The daughter of Zeus released a nervous breath of air. "I can."

"Are you sure—?"

"Kelp Head," she cut him off. Her expression was firm and there was a determined glint in her eyes. "I can climb it."

Percy smiled reassuringly. "Of course you can. I think you should go first."

The demigoddess sent him a small glare before she mustered up the courage to begin climbing. He watched her closely as she grabbed onto a jagged edge and used it to propel her body upwards. He began to climb directly behind her, groaning in protest whenever she accidentally kicked a pebble into his eye.

Suddenly, Thalia stopped climbing, holding tightly onto a jagged end. They weren't even one-third of the way to the top, and she was stopping? Percy leaned his head to the side, about to call her attention, when he realized why she had stopped. There were very few rocks or indentions to use as leverage, and the rest of the cliff above them appeared relatively smooth.

"Luke's flying sneakers would come in handy right about now," Percy griped, struggling to keep his grip. His knuckles were turning white, but he did his best to ignore his pain.

Thalia's eyes bravely glanced to the ground, and he only briefly saw the fear in her expression. "I'm going to try something," she announced confidently. "Can you back down a little? I need room."

Percy snorted incredulously, doubting his agility. He would probably end up slipping and falling to his death, but this was Thalia and he couldn't say no to her easily. "Yeah," he grunted softly as he tried to feel for a step with his foot. "You got it."

Sure enough, his foot didn't fully connect with the step below him. He lost his grip as a result, and found himself sliding roughly down the cliff and through the air. Percy barely registered Thalia falling as well. Desperately, he closed his eyes tightly and braced himself for the surely lethal impact. He was mere feet from face-planting into a jagged rock when he felt cold arms wrap around his waist, causing his eyes to flicked open.

"Thalia?" he questioned nervously, feeling his stomach grow queasy as he floated in midair.

The daughter of Zeus made a noise of amazed disbelief, and he couldn't help but smile whenever her arms tightened around him.

"Are you all right?" she asked him worriedly. He nodded shakily. "I'm sorry for asking you to step down. I should've realized that your clumsy ass would end up falling."

"Hey!"

"Dude, what if we fall?"

"Oh my gods, shut up."

The demigoddess laughed quietly at his fright even though it was obvious that she was just as terrified. Trying to make her voice more firm, she instructed him to shift his body around. His chest was soon pressed firmly against her own, their arms wrapped around each other.

"Hold onto me tighter," Thalia ordered, closing her eyes.

He did as she asked—hell, he had no problem with it—and tightened his grip. She was still slightly taller than him, and he roughly came up to her high cheekbone, but she felt perfect against him.

He closed his eyes and before he knew it his feet had landed gently. Thalia softly urged him to open his eyes, and he wasn't surprised to see that she had floated them all the way to the top of the cliff.

"You over your fear?" he asked curiously.

Thalia scoffed, humored. "Hell no. That's why I closed my eyes. Now, let's get a move on. We have to save Grover before he marries that thing."

"Garr!" a loud yell resonated through the air, cutting off what Percy had been about to say.

"Speaking of the devil," the son of Poseidon mumbled. He pointed over the other side of the cliff, calling her attention. "Look."

Percy realized that they were standing right above the entrance to Polyphemus' cave. Grover stood next to his Cyclops fiancé, and the demigods were horrified at the sight of Annabeth, Clarisse, and Silena tied and hung above a boiling pot of water.

"Challenge me, you filthy bastard!" the daughter of the God of War bellowed, her voice confident and strong.

"Hmm…eat the loudmouth girl now and save her friends for the wedding dinner, or eat them all now?" Polyphemus pondered before glancing to Grover. "What does my bride think?"

Grover started, appalled, and nearly tripped over his shoddy bridal train. "Oh, dear, really. I'm not that hungry at the moment." His voice was falsely high-pitched and cracked from the strain.

"Bride?" Clarisse bellowed.

Thalia and Percy heard Annabeth and Silena muttering below.

"Shut up. She has to shut up."

"Clarisse, don't—"

"You mean Grover?" the daughter of Ares continued to question, her eyebrows arching in incredulity.

"What is Grover?" Polyphemus glowered in reply.

"Grover! The fucking satyr that's standing right next to you, you big dumbass!"

"Clarisse!" Silena sharply yelled, surprising all of the demigods present. No one had ever heard the daughter of Aphrodite sound so…well, harsh. "Shut your mouth!"

Almost instantly, Clarisse's lips closed.

But it was far too late.

Polyphemus, enraged, ripped off Grover's wedding dress.

"Whew," Thalia muttered under her breath. "Might want to wait for the honeymoon, big fella."

Grover had the nerve to look aghast, standing in his orange camp shirt and coarse fur. "Now, wait just a damn minute—"

"You," the Cyclops growled low in his chest, his voice growing progressively louder as he continued to speak, "are satyr! I eat satyrs!"

"No!" the satyr yelled.

Polyphemus bellowed angrily, "No?"

"I—I mean," Grover stumbled pitifully over his words. "I have an excellent recipe, for demigods and satyrs."

"Demigods?" Polyphemus squinted at the three bound girls, although it did little to assist his damaged and mangled eye. "You are not satyrs?"

"Of course not, you stupid piece of shit!" Clarisse snarled, tugging against her ropes as best as she could. "I am the daughter of Ares, God of War. Let me down and I'll prove it to you when I knock your puny brain from your overgrown skull."

Surprisingly, Polyphemus appeared bewildered. He rubbed in irritation at his huge eye, before grunting softly to himself. "Feisty girl."

His comment only fired Clarisse up even more. "I'll show you feisty, ya scumbag!"

Polyphemus ignored the malice in her tone, turning to Grover and lifting him expertly. "What is in recipe? Besides tasty satyr and godlings?"

"Uh…mango chutney," Goat-Boy spoke in false-confidence, obviously pulling the answer out of the blue. "Mangos. We need mangos. Ooh, I know. You can go look for mangos, and just leave us right here!"

"No." The Cyclops shook his head.

"No?"

"Have to graze sheep now," Polyphemus answered simply. "Wedding will go on tonight. We will eat yummy satyr and friends for main course!"

"You're still getting married?" Grover asked, and Percy thought he sounded suspiciously jealous. "Who's the bride?"

Percy and Thalia had to try their hardest not to laugh as the Cyclops' eye drifted pointedly to the enraged form of Clarisse. Before she could call him another degrading name, Polyphemus tossed her and Grover into his cave. Ungently, he threw Silena and Annabeth, still bound by rope, in after their friends.

With a whistle, the monster lured his flock of goats and sheep out of the cave and into the fields. As soon as the animals were out, Polyphemus rolled a huge boulder in front of the entrance to the cave, muffling the screams of the demigods and satyr inside.

Grumbling about mangos, the monster wandered his way down the mountain. When he was out of earshot, Thalia leaned closer to whisper to the son of Poseidon. They were both lying on their stomachs, lifting their slim, athletic upper bodies with their forearms.

"How do you want to go about this?" Percy asked.

"I don't know yet. Even if we manage to kill Polyphemus, there's nothing saying that we'll have enough strength to get them out of the cave."

"Rash decision it is."

"Not necessarily," the daughter of Zeus disagreed, as he had already suspected she would. "We just have to think…for once."

"Thalia, you and I are only good at rushing into things."

"Well, that has to change," the demigoddess stated with finality. "If only for a moment. We need to come up with an actual plan this time. I hate it, you hate it, and we both suck at it, but Polyphemus has the advantage here."

"How are we going to come up with a plan before he decides he wants a little snack before the wedding reception?"

"Do what all heroes do."

"Be unoriginal?"

"You betcha."

"Okay," Percy said, sighing. "Let's think. Odysseus. He blinded Polyphemus, didn't he?" Thalia nodded. "How did he do it?"

The daughter of Zeus froze for a moment, contemplating. In a short minute, the brief flicker of a smile was displayed on her face. "He got him drunk."

Percy furrowed his brows, not understanding why she looked so smug. It's not like they had anything that they could use to get Polyphemus drunk—

Oh.

Wait a minute.

A memory flashed through his mind of the two of them on the Princess Andromeda. They had been in the bed chamber, getting ready to ditch the boat. He had just barely witnessed her stuffing something into her bag as he went to wake Tyson. It had glinted in the sunlight like a…like a bottle.

"Did you…?"

"The bottle I snatched from the ship is already long gone," Thalia said although she did not sound particularly upset about it.

"Then how are we going to get him drunk?"

"Kelp Head, we came here on a pirate ship," the daughter of Zeus responded bluntly.

A bright grin lit up his face and he waggled his eyebrows. "Rum."

"Exactly," she agreed, unable to hold back a snort of amusement. "We need to get back to the ship, but first we need to ensure how much time we'll have to fetch the barrels."

Percy nodded in understanding. "I'll scout the fields as best as I can. While I'm gone, you can—"

"See if the boulder will budge," she finished.

"Seriously?" he asked incredulously. When would she stop finishing his statements? She shrugged, feigning innocence. He sighed. "Whatever. We'll meet back up here in five minutes."

He turned away, beginning to climb back down the cliff. She grabbed him by the arm, causing him to spin back around and meet her eyes curiously.

His eyes widened as he felt her soft lips barely brush against his cheek. As soon as those velvety red pillows had made contact with his skin, they were gone.

"Be safe," she murmured.

Caught between staring into the deep blue of her eyes and trying in vain not to turn red, he could just barely muster up the ability to nod at her.

Sure, they had kissed before—boy, had they kissed—but somehow, the small peck on the cheek had carried more sentiment, more care, more compassion than any kiss he had ever experienced.

Reluctantly, Percy turned back around and began to carefully make his way back down the cliff. He was starting to regret not asking her to just quickly fly him down there.

By the time he hit the ground, his tired state was beginning to bug him. He shook it off, knowing that he had to stay focused. The son of Poseidon had never been one for stealthy missions, but he managed to do his best—weaving through the grass, hiding behind large chunks of rock, pressing himself against trees. He felt like he was a kid again, playing Mission Impossible.

He watched from afar as Polyphemus tended to his flesh-eating flock of sheep. He dug his mighty hand in a large wicker basket, pulling out strips of strange meat to feed to the animals. Percy's nose crinkled in disgust at the sight of the bloody slabs.

The son of Poseidon decided that the Cyclops would be busy for a long while-after all, he still had his other, non-carnivorous animals to feed.

The demigod nonchalantly made his way back to the cliff. Thalia was waiting for him a the bottom, still attempting to budge the mighty boulder. She only barely managed to make it wobble, causing tiny rocks from above to tumble down and peck the crown of her head.

She cursed under her breath, rubbing the sore top of her head. "Where is Herculean strength when I need it?"

"Herculean strength?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to face him. Her cheeks were flushed from exerting herself. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He did not fail to notice how she carefully avoided his question.

"We have a while until he gets done," Percy announced.

Thalia nodded, biting her lip. "Well, I couldn't get it to budge. We better go get the barrels now."

He agreed. They had time to come up with the rest of their plan later.

It took them a long time to get a majority of the barrels to the shore. Thalia had reasoned that they needed at least three to even get the Cyclops buzzed, so they had hauled nearly seven of them to the patch of grass next to the still-boiling pot.

"What if he sees them?" Percy asked nervously.

"Then hopefully, he'll want them."

"He'll bring them into the cave," the son of Poseidon pointed out. "He won't leave them out here and drink them."

Thalia thought for a moment, her lips curling downward in a reluctant scowl. "You're right."

Percy smirked. "Luckily for us, I have a plan."

"Oh, gods."

"Hear me out," he said. "Polyphemus will take the barrels inside." Thalia nodded hesitantly. "He'll move the boulder enough for us to squeeze through, but we can't let him see us."

The daughter of Zeus began to twirl the ring on her finger. "I have this."

"We haven't tested that out yet. We don't know what it does."

"It could make me invisible."

"It could self-destruct. It could set you on fire. It could do a lot of things, Sparky."

"Only one way to find out."

"Now, wait a minute-"

With a full twist of the ring, his friend shimmered and disappeared. Percy exhaled in relief. "Okay, Thalia, it works. Now, turn it back again."

His command met silence.

"C'mon. Stop playing around," he urged nervously.

Suddenly, he felt a discomfort in his pants. It took him a moment to realize that his underwear was gradually being tugged up from behind him.

"A wedgie?" he shrieked. "Really?"

Thalia's laughter sounded before she became visable once again, standing in front of him. "Had to make sure you weren't just telling me that it worked."

Percy grumbled to himself.

"So, I'm going to get into the cave. What are you going to do?"

The demigod hadn't considered that. "I...I don't know."

Thalia hummed thoughtfully, obviously holding back a smirk. He knew that amused glint in her eyes like he knew Montauk.

She had an idea. And he wasn't going to like it one bit.

Finally, that smirk that he had grown to be wary of appeared on her face. "Hey, Percy?"

He gulped. "Yeah?"

"You know what you'd look great in?" she questioned.

Percy climbed into the empty barrel, pouting as he did so. He didn't want to believe that he actually let Thalia talk him into this. Admittedly, it wasn't like he could very well say no to her. It smelled of old rum and his clothes were getting stained with red. He held his breath, willing the unwelcome scent away.

A bucket of seawater was poured onto his head, and he allowed his clothes to get soaked. He thought it might get some of the rum out from the material. Thalia was trying not to laugh as she loaded the barrel to the rim with water. Before she resealed it on him, he popped his head out of the water.

"Thalia?"

"Yeah, Kelp-for-Brains?"

"Make sure he doesn't drink me."

Polyphemus could do without a Percy Cocktail.

"I'll get you out before he even gets to you," she assured, forcefully dunking his head back into the water.

The one advantage to being crammed into a barrel of seawater? It helped to rid him of his body's exhaustion. He was growing stronger and more refreshed by the minute. Being the son of Poseidon certainly had its benefits. He watched as Thalia closed the barrel again, the sound of the Cyclops' approaching stomps ringing in his ears.