Ch22
Chrysaor looked at his younger siblings and the two girls as his ship made its way through the Sea of Monsters. "Alright guys listen up," he said as he grabbed a bag of cotton balls. "We will be approaching Polyphemus's Island soon."
Looking at the daughters of Bellona he resisted the urge to frown. Roman demigods. I'll deal with it later. Frankly he didn't know what to do with them but since he promised to bring them to camp safely he would do it. Don't know if I should blow Percy's mind yet, for now lets just focus on the task at hand.
"Do you have a plan to get the fleece?" Hylla asked.
"We will distract Polyphemus and save our friend who is trapped there," he said taking out the flask of potion he snagged from Circe's place.
"Do you think he'll take it?" Percy asked.
The cyclops nodded. "Polyphemus is smart. That flask smells of bad magic."
"I know but would he reject a gift from his bride to be?" He asked. "If we could pass it to Grover it should be easy."
"Sounds good," Percy said turning to the two girls. "Will they stay aboard?"
He frowned and looked at the two girls. "Both of you could stay here with Tyson if you want. I take it you both don't have training?"
Hylla and Reyna looked at each other. He could tell that they were nervous about fighting. "Fine we'll stay with the cyclops," Reyna said.
Hylla shrugged. "We swore not to backstab you or free Circe. While we could help we don't have sufficient training to face off against Polyphemus."
"Fine. I have some weapons you both could just in case," he said. "For now we will focus on the task at hand."
"Hey we are the sons of Poseidon we can do anything," Percy said with a smile.
He laughed, "Yeah true. Three sons of Poseidon in the Sea of Monsters, no one would be foolish enough to mess with us."
Tyson smiled at them. "We are stronger. My brothers are very strong I know we will win."
"We just need the right plan," Percy said. "Grover can only handle being there for so long, the sooner we find him and rescue him the better. What do you know about Polyphemus's island?"
He scratched his head, "Polyphemus has these sheep that can dear the bones off of any living creature. Trust me they will be the least of our problems, we'll have to trick him just like Odysseus did back in the old days."
Hylla nodded. "Lady Circe always said he was a fearsome beast. It won't be
"Can you immobilize him with your eyes?" Percy asked.
"I could try but for a very short time and Polyphemus isn't easy to kill," he said folding his arms. "But I believe the potion I took from Circe might be of use. I took a lot of it all we have to do is trick him into drinking it."
He quickly went to retrieve the flasks of Circe's potion and the large golden goblet he found at her place along with two swords for the girls. "It was her specialty to turn men into guinea pigs, I believe it could work."
Percy and Tyson observed the flasks. Tyson picked one up and sniffed it and recoiled, "Bad magic."
He handed a sword to Reyna and another to Hylla. "We'll try to make it quick."
Hylla looked him in the eyes and nodded. "Good. We'll be safe here." In her eyes he saw a mixture of emotions, if they died they would be stuck here. Them leaving and being safe depended on their victory. Besides, he hid Circe in a chest only he could open.
"I think we can make this work," Percy said as a smile spread across his face and took out the baseball cap. "Grover said Polyphemus thinks he is his bride and what kind of wedding would it be without alcohol. We'll save Grover, get the fleece back and return to camp in one piece."
"Sounds good," he said looking at Polyphemus's Island in the distance. "Looks like Clarisse is alive." He pointed to the wreckage of the Civil War ship on the island.
"Great we can save her too I guess," Percy said before turning to Tyson. "Can Tyson help us?"
He nodded, "He can help us distract the sheep. They probably won't notice him since he is a cyclops."
"We better hurry then if this guy is as bad as you say," Percy said as the ship approached the island. "Look the fleece!" Percy pointed to the fleece which was surrounded by a group of sheep that quickly ate passing a passing animal tearing the flesh off of it.
"Yikes they are dangerous," Percy said.
He nodded. "Tyson the sheep won't harm you since you are cyclops try and see if you get them away from us. Percy you and me will go find Grover." He then turned to Reyna and Hylla. "Keep an eye on Tyson but be careful."
"We will," Reyna said.
"Come on lets take out Polyphemus together," he said handing Percy the goblet with Circe's potion.
"Got it," Percy said as he put on the cap and turned invisible.
Percy carefully scanned the island as he and Chris got off. Tyson quickly went over to the sheep and played with them to distract them while Hylla and Reyna stood guard on the ship. Alright lets do this.
"Percy take this," Chris said handing him a flask of potion and a golden goblet.
"Got it," he said his heart pounding in his chest. "You think he'll fall for it?"
"I hope so," Chris said his voice not sounding too confident. "Come on lets go."
Well I hope so too. Taking a deep breath he put on the invisibility cap as they headed into the island
"Let me go you bastard!" Clarisse yelled as she spewed a series of profanities. "I'm going to beat your ass and take the fleece."
Polyphemus laughed, "You will make a great meal for me and my bride."
"Percy give the potion to Grover and have him try to convince him to drink it," Chris whispered. "I'll distract Polyphemus while you give it to Grover. He was to be convincing though."
"Got it," he whispered. "What if he doesn't fall for it?"
"Polyphemus likes to drink trust me," Chris said reassuringly. "I sold a lot of booze to him in the past. Besides how could he resist a present from his bride? If worse comes to worst we will make a quick getaway."
"Alright just try to distract him," he said gripping the goblet and flask tightly. Hopefully he drinks it and it works.
Chrysaor nodded and carefully went to the other side of the ledge. "Nobody is here for a visit!"
Polyphemus turned around his face contorted with anger, "Nobody! You bastard where are you?"
Chrysaor smiled as he ducked away and quickly dashed to another safe spot. Polyphemus searched the area he was just at. Good luck. He quickly ran over to where Grover was.
His friend was wearing a wedding dress and looked as frightened as ever. "Grover its me," He whispered.
"P-Percy," Grover said softly. "Where are you?"
"I'm invisible here take this," he whispered. Taking the hat off he quickly handed the potion and goblet to him. "Make him drink it, say it is a present or something."
Grover sniffed it and frowned. "I don't know the magic is pretty strong in this."
"Just say you made it just for him and has some sort of aphrodisiac or something," he said quickly as he heard Polyphemus roar in anger. "Come on Chris can't hold them forever."
Grover sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."
He nodded and quickly went over to Clarisse who was struggling against her chains and swearing. "Hey calm down," he said patting her on the shoulder.
Clarisse jerked and turned to where he was. "Is that you Prissy?"
Despite being invisible he still frowned. "Yeah. Just be quiet, we got this under control."
The daughter of Ares's face stiffened, despite not liking her he did notice the wetness in her eyes the pride in them was hurt. "Don't worry you can it take back," he said softly. He knew she must have a lot riding on this, being a child of Ares wasn't always easy.
Clarisse said nothing she just frowned at the ground as Grover began to yell
"O-Oh s-sweetie c-come back I have a gift for you," Grover called his body shaking. "It is really special. Please come quickly so you can try it."
Polyphemus stood up his frown turning into a smile, "You did dear? What is it?"
Grover's face tensed as the cyclops ran over to him. "I-It's wine dear." The satyr carefully held the goblet out. "P-Please drink I made it just for you."
His heart raced in his chest. Please work please work. Polyphemus took the goblet and sniffed it. "It smells weird. Is there magic in this?"
"O-Of course that's my love and joy," Grover said through a tense expression. "It has some aphrodisiac in it. Don't tell me you don't like it? I would cry if you don't like my wine. I made it just for you."
Come on Grover you can do it. He swore Grover shot him a frown from the distance and he motioned for him to make it convincing. "You don't like it do you," Grover said in a mock sob. "I made it with all the love of my heart and you don't like it? Why don't you want my love?" Grover began to sob and cry as Polyphemus tried to console him.
Good job G Man. His friend even put in a few fake sobs for the effect. Polyphemus's eye widened. As he tried to console his "bride."
"Oh no no no sorry dear I just thought it smelled weird," Polyphemus said quickly. "Look I'm drinking it now see?" The cyclops quickly chugged down the goblet and coughed. Polyphemus rubbed his head as he rubbed his eyed. "It tastes sweet dear. What kind of drink is this?"
"Um berries and red wine," Grover said with a tight smile and through a sob. "I made it with all of my love just for you."
Polyphemus scratched his head, "It tasted sweet," the cyclops yawned and rubbed his head. "I feel sleepy, lets's eat dear."
The cyclops yawned and stumbled as he fell to the ground and groaned. "Ugh what was in that?" The cyclops moaned as he began to shrink. The cyclops continued to shrink until he was a small fat guinea pig with one eye.
Grover and Clarisse watched in shock as Polyphemus began to trot around and squeak in anger and indignation. Chrysaor then came around the corner his body covered in sweat. "Well that worked." With that, they both freed Clarisse and Grover. "How the hell did you guys do that?" Clarisse asked avoiding his gaze.
"We'll explain later lets just get out of here," he said.
Chrysaor picked up Polyphemus who tried to break free. As soon as they made it to the ship they found Tyson with the fleece in his hands. "Brothers I got it!"
"Good job Tyson," Percy said as he took the fleece from him.
Reyna and Hylla came up to them. "You both did it. Come on we should get out of here," Hylla said.
They didn't argue with that. They all got on board and frankly his heart was still racing from all of the excitement. I can't believe that worked.
"Get us out of here!" Chris ordered.
Polyphemus tried to struggle free from his brother's grip, "Oh no you don't," Chris said as he removed his glasses and froze the guinea pig before chucking him into the ocean with all of his strength. The guinea pig screeched in the air as he fell into the water in the distance.
The ship took off and when Polyphemus's island was out of sight he breathed a sigh of relief. "Clarisse are you ok?" he asked.
Clarisse frowned at them, "I'm fine," she muttered as she glared at the fleece.
"It's ok this is your quest we don't intervene anymore if you don't us to," He said. "We were here to save Grover nothing else.
Clarisse avoided their gaze, "Whatever."
He nodded. A part of him felt sorry for her, this was her quest and they did kind of hijack it. "I meant what I said. If you want to take it back go ahead we won't get in your way," he said. The daughter of Ares said nothing and only looked at the waters as they sailed through the Sea of Monsters.
Clarisse remained silent for the remainder of the trip mostly ignoring anyone's attempts at conversation so in the end they just decided to rest for the remainder of their journey back home.
With that, they all managed to rest until they left the Sea of Monsters. The next day he spotted a city not far in the distance. The sound of seagulls and the smell of various foods filled the air as they approached the harbor.
"Where are we?" Grover asked.
"I think its Miami," he said before ordering the ship to dock. Once they all got off his ship disappeared into the water.
Hylla and Reyna both looked around their eyes wide with excitement. "I can't believe we are out of there," Reyna said looking around at the city in awe.
"You both can come to camp with us if you want," he said. "It is a safe place for demigods, I can tell you both will be strong in the future."
The two girls exchanged a look and nodded. "Fine we will accept your offer," Hylla said. He noticed his brother tensed up, he didn't know why but a small part of him felt like he did something wrong by inviting them to camp.
"Great how are you supposed to get to camp now!" Clarisse grumbled while gripping the fleece tightly. "Thalia's tree could die any day now."
"We have to think of something," Grover said quickly.
"Clarisse what did your prophecy exactly say?" Chris asked.
Clarisse sighed and mumbled her prophecy. She avoided their gaze as she recited it her body shaking as she stared at the ground. "I think you're supposed to go home alone," he said. "Take the fleece back to camp, we can take our ship back but it would still be a few days at top speed."
"Are you guys sure?" Clarisse asked avoiding their gazes.
He nodded, "This was your quest you should finish it."
Grover nodded, "Yeah this is your quest you should finish it."
Clarise avoided their gazes but she accepted the golden fleece. "How am I supposed to get home though?"
"We can get some money somehow," He said as they all emptied their pockets and gave her all the money they had on them.
"There that should be enough now go save camp," Chris said as they hailed a cab for her.
Clarisse nodded, "Thank you." Her gaze and tone were both grateful as she entered the cab and left.
"Well that went better than I thought," Grover sighed.
"Yeah lets go home now," he said turning to the two girls. "Come on we should stick together."
They all nodded and were about to head to the beach when on the way back he heard growling from behind him "Well guys where is the fleece," Luke said as a group of monsters surrounded them.
Damn it we are surrounded. They were all tired, yeah he could probably take a lot of them but there were a lot of monsters to right through. Hylla and Reyna gripped the swords that they were given standing close to each other in a protective stance
"You're too late Luke," he said. "The fleece is gone."
Luke's face contorted with anger, "Take them to the ship I'll question them myself."
The monsters pointed their spears at them, Chris was about to draw his sword when he grabbed his arm and shook his head. "Lets just play along," he said softly. He wanted to get back at Luke, he wasn't going to let him get away with all that he did.
"Don't worry we'll keep you both safe," He said to Reyna and Hylla. The two girls looked at him and nodded as they slowly lowered their weapons.
Chris looked at him and nodded. With that they allowed themselves to be taken away.
