Annabeth and Luke were already on the deck when Percy returned to the ship. They, along with Grover, sat on one end discussing something while splitting breakfast.
Percy, feeling much better after his long stint in the sea, smiled and made his way towards them. "Hey! Any left for me?"
All three of them turned to him. Annabeth and Luke still looked a little apprehensive, though less so than the day before, and Grover practically beamed. He held out a plate of food for Percy.
"G-man, you're the best!" he said, taking the plate and plopping on the floor. The rest of them had taken the few built-in seats, but he really didn't care. He stuffed his mouth full of the pancakes and strawberries. It wasn't ambrosia, but it was still good, so he beamed and swallowed. After another couple of bites, he decided to take the plunge. "So, what's the plan?"
Luke and Annabeth exchanged glances before the younger blond took a deep breath. "You said there were both regular and carnivorous sheep on the island, right?"
Percy frowned thoughtfully. "Yeah. They're separated by a ravine. Polyphemus can hop right over it, but no normal—or even the carnivorous—sheep could. Difficult for us demigods too, now that I think about it. There is a rope bridge, but it's usually blocked off when the normal sheep aren't in the cave, and I'm not sure how well it would hold up to more than one or two carnivorous sheep at a time. They're that big."
"And how fast are they? The carnivorous ones."
Percy remembered the deer they'd seen eaten alive and winced. "Fast." Not the fastest monsters he'd ever seen, but nothing to scoff at either. "About the same as the Nemian Lion."
Everyone else exchanged glances. Oh, right. They hadn't gone up against the Nemian Lion. Well, it should still give them an idea, he hoped.
"Okay, then, Maia," Luke said suddenly, and then he was hovering in the air.
Percy blinked. He should have recognized those earlier. He really, really should have.
"I could fly over the gap pretty easily. Will it be fast enough?"
Percy considered that. "How high can you go?"
Luke blinked. "Um, tree-top level? Probably higher. I haven't tried."
"I don't know if the sheep can jump, but even if they can, you should be able to avoid them," Percy said, nodding. "That's my best guess, though."
Annabeth shook her head. "The biggest problem is Polyphemus himself. With both him and the sheep, there's no guarantee even you will be fast enough, Luke. Or that you'll be able to go high enough. We'll likely still have to distract the carnivorous sheep."
Grover bleated. "How? Live bait?"
"You could dress in drag and do the hula," Percy said with a grin. Everyone blinked at him. His smile faded. "Have you seriously not seen Lion King?!" Even in the future, he'd made sure the kids could watch movies every now and then in his camp. It had become a bit of a staple… but now that he thought about it, he did remember implementing it. Styx. They didn't even get how much of a throw back it was to Grover in a wedding dress.
This would definitely have to change. Classics were classics.
"I saw it years ago," Annabeth said. "Before I ran away."
"Same," Luke shrugged.
"What's 'The Lion King?'" Grover asked. Which was beyond ironic seeing as he was the one who actually left camp. Then again, he did tend to focus on his assignments pretty hard… for good reason.
"Anyway…" Annabeth said slowly, "back on track?" She fixed Percy with her stormy gaze. He refused to let it affect him and just stared back. "Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon. Before I talk about any plans, do you have any solutions?"
Percy blinked at her. She did have a point and was likely thinking about Charybdis (very open-minded regarding monsters), which, he was really proud of her for, even if it was only to appease him. He frowned thoughtfully.
Polyphemus wouldn't be like his sister. Charybdis had been a daughter of his father and… Gaea. Which, Really, Dad? She's your grandmother! A full-sister to Antaeus, actually. That… didn't help. He didn't sense anything back from his father at that thought, which was probably for the best, but myth said his sister had been cursed by Zeus. Hmm, maybe he could do something about that….
Later, brain! Later.
Polyphemus, on the other hand, had definitely changed from ancient times. In the Odyssey, Odysseus had really only stumbled across the Cyclops. As a monster, he hadn't traveled and actively sought out people to eat, from what he recalled. (Had he mentioned he really missed his eidetic memory?) Although, hadn't there been other cyclopes on the island in the Odyssey? Could Polyphemus just need some company? He had wanted to marry Grover in the other life.
The time-traveler almost snorted at the thought. So what if he did? How would they get other cyclopes here? Asking Dad for help was out of the question. What would Percy even ask him for? 'Hey dad? Can you, I don't know, find a Cyclops spouse for one of your kids, so I don't have to go kill him while still allowing me to complete this quest? And could it be right now? I'm kinda on a time crunch here.' He really couldn't see that going over well.
Even if Poseidon listened to him, what would that do, now that he thought about it? Would that be a good enough distraction? Or would the second cyclops help Polyphemus? He knew the giant cyclops could get off the island. He'd chased Grover all the way to Miami… Though, how. He didn't have a boat as far as Percy knew. Even if he could breathe under water, did that mean he could somehow travel? Water travel? But then, why hadn't he chased Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Tyson the first time? He had thought he'd finally sunk 'Nobody's' ship, but if he'd been able to chase them anyway….
Percy shook his head, there had to be specific circumstances. And while he couldn't think of any off the top of his head, he also didn't have enough information to make a plausible guess. Still… the idea of waltzing onto the island, stealing the fleece (whether it belonged to the cyclops or not), killing him, and then waltzing off didn't sit well with Percy. He had no love for Polyphemus, brother or not, but what if there was something he was missing. He didn't think so, but… how could he make sure? Without putting them all in danger.
Finally, Percy shook his head. "Dad won't get involved in an issue between his children, for better or worse, and Polyphemus will probably try to eat me anyway, brother or not. Some cyclopes are great. I've met them in Dad's forges." Luke and Annabeth exchanged glances but said nothing, so Percy continued. "But some…" he shrugged and left it at that, knowing how they'd finish that thought.
"And if we have to kill him?" Luke asked.
Percy frowned. He didn't like killing cyclopes unless they were attacking him. He didn't see Tyson in every cyclops, but it wasn't difficult to imagine his brother there either. He really wished he'd been able to find him when he'd gone looking for him earlier that year, but either Tyson was avoiding him or something was blocking him because Percy hadn't found him.
Back to the topic at hand, thank you ADHD.
"If we have to, we have to. Though Polyphemus isn't easy to kill."
"You could though," Annabeth said, eyes fixed on him, almost daring. For a moment, he didn't see thirteen-year-old her sitting there, judging him, he saw sixteen-year-old Annabeth surrounded by the dimness of Tartarus, kneeling and begging, eyes wide with fear as she pleaded with him to stop. They'd talked about it later—multiple times—and Annabeth had come to the realization that she'd been scared and exhausted and influenced by Tartarus and seeing Percy with the Death Mist but also so angry and willing to kill a primordial goddess (which, admittedly, wasn't like him) and so she'd apologized for making him promise not to use that power. Especially after he explained how his therapist said he had that power, and it was a part of him now, no matter what, and denying that entirely could have devastating consequences. She'd apologized, multiple times even. It had still taken him a long time to be able to use his 'general liquid manipulation' abilities after that without feeling guilty, and he'd never been able to fully erase that image of her, also looking like a corpse, pleading with him to just stop.
It took a minute for him to realize why he'd related the two instances. She was referring to Circe's island and what had happened there. How he'd frozen everyone by taking control of their blood.
Percy felt himself stiffen. Of course she'd put it together. If he could control someone's blood, he could stop it altogether, or make it expand in certain areas, speed it up, condense it.
He could kill with a thought.
And even if a monster had ichor, she'd likely guessed he could still do it. He knew he could, even now. It would be harder to control ichor, might even start his ascension again, but he could do it. He knew for a fact Polyphemus didn't have ichor, though.
And so did Annabeth.
That was why she was daring him. Would he lie to her? Try to play it off? He knew a lot of gods would. Especially those like Apollo and Demeter who put on facades. What kind of person was he? What kind of god? She wanted to know.
This was a test. One he wasn't sure he wanted to pass, but knew he couldn't afford to fail.
He saw her pleading eyes in Tartarus one more time—the single time she'd been afraid of him. That was what would really set his Annabeth and this one apart in his mind, he realized. This one was always afraid of him.
And he couldn't change that. Not now. Maybe not ever. So why lie?
"Yes."
"What about the sheep?" Luke asked. "Could you use your weird Poseidon powers to just freeze all of them?"
Percy sighed. As a god? Sure. But now…
"It would be too much. I couldn't control all of them at once over that large of an area, especially while confronting Polyphemus." He glanced back at Annabeth. "That's what you want, isn't it. You want me to distract him while you three steal the fleece."
Slowly, she nodded.
"Then you're going to have to implement your plan for distracting the sheep, whatever it is," he agreed. The whole conversation left a sour taste in his mouth and it took all his effort to not huff and sit back. He was too old to pout.
"You said one side of the island had regular sheep on it?" Annabeth clarified, voice steady and pragmatic. That sense of wariness still hadn't left her though. He didn't need to read her emotions to see that.
"Yes. When they're not in the cave, but I don't know how often he just lets them out."
"Wait, we are not using innocent sheep as bait!" Grover cut in suddenly. Everyone turned to him in surprise. He stood firmly, glare fixed on them and arms folded in defiance. He would not budge on that. Percy smiled. That was the Lord of the Wild he remembered. No wonder Pan had chosen him to carry on his legacy.
Annabeth frowned, tapping her chin. "What if we put them somewhere safe?"
"Like where?" Percy asked.
"Behind a wall. How long will your ice last?"
Percy blinked. "As long as any normal ice."
She stared at him, deadpan. "We're in the Bermuda triangle. The tropics."
Right. Percy rubbed his head sheepishly. "Then it depends on how thick I make it."
If anything her expression dried out even more. Grover sighed and Luke covered his eyes with his hand. What?
"Then make it thick, Seaweed Brain."
He winced and looked away from her. Ouch.
"Don't call me that," he said quietly. "And yeah, I can make it thick enough to protect the sheep for a couple of hours."
"Good," Annabeth said, nodding. "We can worry about getting the sheep back to the right side of the island once we have the fleece."
Grover nodded once in satisfaction and sat back down.
"So, we need a way onto the island and a bridge," Annabeth went on. "So the sheep can cross over the ravine and we can trap them there. Can you do that before you confront Polyphemus?"
"Probably," Percy answered. "Depends on how fast we move and how quickly he notices."
"Then I guess we'll have to move fast," Luke said. The others nodded.
"Alright," Annabeth said, standing up and looking at Percy again. "That's our plan. You can get us close to the island without damaging the boat, right?"
"Of course," he said. "And I can even stop him from smelling us, at least while we approach." With that, he reached out to the water, letting it rise around them in a bubble, then dragged the boat below.
Annabeth nodded appreciatively and told him to focus on that while everyone else got ready. So he did.
Twenty minutes later, they'd reached the island and circled around it, fairly certain Polyphemus hadn't spotted them. He let the boat come to the surface in the shelter of the ravine and let the bubble drop. His gut ached a little, but nothing he couldn't push through. Apparently his near-ascension had done wonders for his divine stamina.
He didn't really want to think what that meant.
Building a small dock out of ice wasn't difficult, and once he and his questmates had climbed onto it, Annabeth and Luke shivering a little, Percy pushed the boat back out to sea. Once he was sure it would be safe for a while, he turned to everyone else.
"Thick ice coming right up," he said, reaching into the still wild water and pulling. It rose, higher and higher, freezing into a stairwell all the way up the cliff wall over their heads, zig-zagging back and forth like a fire escape. They could climb like they had the first time, but he didn't see a need to put them in that kind of danger when building ice steps wasn't that taxing. Though drawing a bubble around them to once again stop the smell did make it a little worse. He'd just have to get some ambrosia at the top. Just in case he had to fight.
He didn't think he'd have to.
It took them another twenty minutes to make it to the top of the ravine.
"Show off," Annabeth muttered as she handed him a square of ambrosia. Percy grinned as he took a bite out of it and reveled in his mother's cookies. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Luke. "You go first. You know what to do."
He nodded and peeked up over the side as Percy finally let the bubble fall.
"He'll be able to smell us now," he warned. They probably wouldn't have been seen in the ravine unless the cyclops had been looking directly into it, but now they had a finite amount of time.
"Coast is clear," Luke said. "And that side seems to be the one with the normal sheep. At least, they're not giants." He pointed across from them. Percy nodded and built a bridge from the ice below the lip of the cliffs. It took a bit to draw the water from below, but within minutes, they were all hurrying across the ravine. Percy kept thinking 'the cold never bothered me anyway' but knew the others wouldn't get the reference. Frozen hadn't come out yet, after all. Still a weird thought.
Once on the other side, all four of them leaped up and began to run at the sheep. Predictably, they didn't much care for the newcomers and ran away. Apparently Grover was even talking to them as some stragglers came over to the group, that began to calm down. In minutes, they had the sheep herded.
"That's good enough," Percy said, nearly out of breath. (And he'd even been training!) Pushing that thought aside, he drew more water from the ocean.
"I smell goat!" A voice roared. All four of them flinched. "And demigods!"
"Hurry!" Luke said nervously.
"I am!" Percy said through gritted teeth. After a moment, the water came and he built an ice wall around the sheep, thick enough to keep them safe.
"The bridge!" Annabeth said, already back at the ravine. The Ambrosia had definitely helped Percy, but his gut was starting to ache a little again. Still, this should be the last time he really needed to use his power if all went well. (When did all ever go well?)
"You dare trespass on my island?!" the deep voice boomed again, closer this time.
"Percy!" Annabeth said.
"The water's a long way down!" he rebutted. It only took him a couple more seconds to build and freeze the second, much larger bridge. It would have to support gigantic carnivorous sheep after all.
Once he was satisfied, he turned to the others. "I'm done. I'll go find Polyphemus."
"I can hear you!"
The others looked worried, but nodded, and Percy sprinted off. A couple of the carnivorous sheep saw him and began to hurry towards the bridge.
"Hey! Over here!" Grover yelled, waving his hands at the carnivorous sheep.
"Satyr!" Polyphemus sounded utterly delighted. He must have been down on the other side of the island near the beaches. Definitely out of sight, but that wouldn't last long. Percy raced through the meadow towards the beaches.
He ran almost directly into Polyphemus coming around a large boulder. Not difficult to do as he'd forgotten just how large the cyclops was. In all directions. He still had arms as big around as Percy was… probably bigger as he was twelve instead of thirteen now. And that stench. Yeah, Percy couldn't forget that, no matter how many years had passed. Sure, it wasn't Tartarus level bad, but if so many monsters that smelled like a rotting skunk lived in the other realm, no wonder it had smelled so awful.
Percy probably didn't look like much, skidding to a halt before barreling right into the faded purple shirt that said 'SHEEP EXPO 2001' stretched over Polyphemus' body, especially breathing heavily and sweat-ridden as he was.
"Demigod!" the enormous cyclops said happily the moment Percy came into view, lunging towards him. Percy managed to dodge.
"Hey! I'm your brother, you know!"
What? It was the only thing he could think of. Thankfully, it worked. The large monster paused.
"A son of Poseidon?"
"Yes!" Percy said.
"Sea food!"
Percy scowled. That hadn't been the first time a monster had said something like that to him, but he had just claimed the cyclops as a brother. Expecting it or not, he still felt his stomach sink a little. Polyphemus reached for him again, not lightning fast, but much faster than anyone his size had any right to move.
"Look, dude!" Percy said as he stood from that dodge, taking a couple of steps back, "I'm giving you a chance here."
"Wait… what you doing to my sheep?!" Polyphemus suddenly yelled. Percy glanced behind him. Grover was running with all his might away from the ice bridge as several enormous, carnivorous sheep chased him. Percy wanted to rush after him, but Polyphemus growling drew him back.
"You here to steal fleece!"
Oh, Percy remembered this conversation. He rolled to the side as a frustrated cyclops lunged for him again.
"You stole the fleece to begin with! And you lure satyrs here to eat!"
"So?" Polyphemus asked. "Hold still!"
Percy's destructive side began to bubble with his anger. "They're sentient, sapient beings!"
"They're good eating!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Grover screamed behind him.
"You won't let us go, then?" Percy asked, voice going quiet. Anyone who knew him would be wary of that. Polyphemus didn't know him.
"No! I feast tonight!"
Yeah, they'd had enough of this. "No, you won't."
Percy reached out and grabbed the cyclops' blood, freezing him in place. The ache in his gut that had almost vanished with the ambrosia grew in intensity, but he ignored it.
Polyphemus blinked his single, yellow eye as it went wide in shock. "What…?"
Percy sighed, striding up to the cyclops casually. "I gave you a chance. I was willing to let you go, you know. For Father's sake."
"F-father?" Polyphemus asked, then yelled loudly. "Father! Help me!"
Percy snorted. "He won't get involved. This is our matter to handle."
"Of course he will! I am favorite!"
Another snort left the demigod's mouth. "Cruel, stupid, and delusional. And worse, unwilling to work on any of those. Tell Nobody I said hi."
"Nobody?!" Polyphemus yelled, but couldn't say anything else as his blood expanded rapidly. He burst into dust around Percy, who just stood there, staring at where the cyclops had been. Right then, he felt far more like Perseus and had to restrain himself from taking his disappointment and anger out on the world around him.
Your wrath.
"Poseidon, father of monsters," Percy muttered as he watched the golden, sulfur dust drift away in the wind blowing in off of the sea.
"HEEEEEEEELP!"
Grover's yell drew him away from the pile of dust blowing away in the wind. Apparently, Grover was headed right for Percy. Understandable.
He reached out to the sea, drawing water from the nearest source: the ravine. But he wasn't sure it would reach them in time. He could see Grover's wide, terrified eyes, and the giant sheep behind him opened their mouths fangs on full display.
"Come on," he said, teeth once again clenched as he pulled harder at the water. "Come on!"
"PEEEEEERCYYYYYYY!"
There! The water came into view, racing towards him over the lip of the cliff. Just as Grover flew past him, Percy slammed the wall of water down and froze it. Sheep burst through, and then stopped inches from his face as the ice solidified. He stared at them. They stared at him. Several thumps and loud, angry bleats came from the other side of the ice wall as more sheep piled into it.
Then the five sheep half way through the wall began to struggle, bleat, and gnash their very sharp teeth at Percy. He sighed and drew more water from the ravine to reinforce the wall.
"That… was too… close," Grover huffed from behind him.
"Yeah," Percy said with a sigh. His gut has settled into a steady, if dull ache. He pulled out the ambrosia square from his pocket, taking another bite, though he would prefer to save it in favor of a long dip in the ocean, just to spare their resources. So he only took a nibble and stuffed the rest back in his pocket.
"Come on. Annabeth and Luke have to have the fleece by now. We need to meet up with them." He turned and stalked down the side of the island towards the beach.
"Um," Grover said.
"I need to recover, so we should probably swim for the boat," Percy said. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."
"Why are you so angry?"
Percy froze mid-step, hand on a tree as he'd been about to step down the rocky trail.
He took a deep breath. He owed Grover something at least. "Polyphemus… didn't care. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he still wanted to eat me. We're family and he…. I suspected—knew it really—but…. He liked hurting people. He only had loyalty to himself. Personal loyalty can cover that, but it's corrupted." Oily, slick, slimy, disgusting… that was how it read to him. "If I have power over that, what does that make me?" He chuckled mirthlessly again at the old question. "I'm a child of the Father of Monsters. Always have been. Always will be. I just… don't like to acknowledge it. And I don't like it thrown in my face." He was angry at himself. For hoping. For wanting all cyclopes to be like Tyson. Of course they weren't, just like not all humans were like Ghandi. Polyphemus was a monster. Always had been.
Just like Percy.
With that, he continued to step down.
"You're not a monster."
Percy paused again. It took him several moments to gather the courage to turn around and face his friend. He didn't want to see the fear there. He didn't want to feel hope that he wouldn't find that fear—didn't want that hope shot down.
And yet… Grover stood there, worried and nervous, but also steady somehow. No judgment in sight.
"You don't know me well enough yet," Percy muttered, unsure as to why he was arguing for something he really didn't want to be true.
"Satyrs sense emotions, you know."
Percy frowned. "Of course I—"
"And all I almost ever get from you is relief and happiness. When you're at camp, you look at the campers around you and see them happy and that makes you happy. That's not a monster's trait."
The time-traveler bit his lip, unable to bring himself to believe what Grover was saying, even if he was right about how being at camp put him at ease. How seeing demigods happy and healthy kept a rope inside of him from tying itself into knots that squeezed until something broke.
"Monsters? Gods? In our pantheon, I don't see a difference."
Grover caught his breath.
"I accepted it a long time ago," Percy assured him, trying to force a smile on his face. "It just… is."
They stood there for several seconds, Grover processing what the former god had just said while Percy just waited, watching his friend's expressions carefully. If Grover wanted to distance himself after this little chat, he'd under—
A flash of movement and somehow, the satyr had bounded down the rocks slamming into Percy. His arms wrapped tightly around him, hugging him close.
What?
"If you're a monster," Grover said softly, "then I wish all other monsters were like you."
That… struck Percy more than he thought it would.
"You just saw me kill someone in cold blood," he whispered, hands coming up to clutch at his best friend almost against his will.
"Really? It looked like self-defense to me."
"Looks can be deceiving."
"Not this time."
"But—"
"No," Grover stepped back, stern eyes fixed on Percy. "You can't convince me you're a monster just because you're a little powerful right now. And if you think you are, we'll just have to agree to disagree."
He folded his arms again, and once again Percy saw the Lord of the Wild. Not a god, not an immortal, but definitely someone powerful in his own right. He'd lasted the longest of Percy's mortal friends, only having died a couple of decades back. Percy wished he'd been offered immortality at least.
"Never change, Grover," he said, smiling softly—a real smile. The satyr never had changed in the previous timeiline. Not really. And for once, that was definitely for the better.
The satyr blinked, and all his confidence melted away, sadly. "Baa-ah-ah," he bleated. "Um… we need to go… help Annabeth and Luke."
Oh, right! They were probably climbing down those ice steps, but if they'd melted too much, that could be dangerous. And while he doubted the sheep could follow them (too heavy), there was enough of a chance that he didn't have time to sit and rehash old fears and pains.
Percy nodded, and together, they hurried down to the beach. Percy brought their boat back towards them, controlling the water easily. He stayed in the water while Grover climbed onto the boat. The ache in his gut had almost faded again, thankfully.
He made it to the ravine in time to see one of the giant sheep plummet into the water with a splash that made cannonballs look tiny. He blinked at that for a moment before looking up at the staircase he'd made. It was already melting, but Luke and Annabeth were about half-way down. Luke had the fleece wrapped around his shoulders while Annabeth checked each stair before they stepped on it. They could see it dripping and getting slippery.
Immediately, Percy reached out and solidified it. They both noticed and glanced down. He waved almost shyly at them.
"What about the sheep?" Grover shouted from the boat floating a little ways back.
Percy sighed, but less out of a 'why do I have to do this' and more out of, 'get ready' because he'd do just about anything for Grover just then.
Well, he would more or less any time, but hey.
"I'll go take care of it," he said, then reached into the water and lifted a pillar up with himself at the top.
"Taking care of the sheep!" he called to Annabeth and Luke as he ascended past them, up the ravine.
"Wait, Percy!" Annabeth called. He paused. "Be careful."
For a moment, everything felt right with the world, especially when Luke nodded from beside her. He felt a warm smile crawl onto his face and the knots in his stomach loosened.
"I will be!"
He pushed himself up again, and peeked over the edge of the ravine to see that most of the sheep that had been caught in his wall had freed themselves, but were scrambling at the ice to try and get past it. A few may have escaped down towards the beach, a good thing he and Grover had gotten away. Percy frowned. He didn't have time to go hunting, but he couldn't potentially leave the predators there with the other sheep. Frustrated, he glanced around again, saw the ice-pen he'd put the normal sheep in, and got an idea. Drawing more water to him, he shot over the side and then built a pillar on the land and froze it.
"Hey! You! I'm right here!" he called, then built the pillar taller as the carnivorous sheep rushed towards him like a hoard of zombies. He just kept building the column until he was sure the sheep couldn't reach him as they practically climbed over each other below in their struggles to reach him.
"Just like the ants," he muttered, remembering being cornered the year before by the myrmekes in the camp forest.
Shaking his head, he glanced over at the normal sheep ice pen again and rearranged it. He didn't have as much control over ice as he did over water and liquid in general, but he could make do. It wasn't difficult, but it was time consuming, to herd the sheep inside to the ice bridge he made and more or less shove them (gently) across to the empty meadow on the other side. Then he melted the bridge and the ice, leaving the carnivorous sheep on the near side of the island, and the regular sheep safe and sound on the far side. He could sense water over there, and they'd likely have more than enough food for now. It was honestly the best he could do.
And he was getting tired.
So, with that, he glanced down at the ravine only a couple of yards away.
Looked like he was always fated to jump large heights into water far below on his 'first' quest.
At least it wasn't the Mississippi this time.
Taking a deep breath (he still didn't like heights himself), he leaped forward and right into the ravine.
It was nothing like taking a dive off of the Saint Louis Arch. It was a lot like falling into Tartarus. Trying not to panic, he reached for the water below and drew it up to catch him, hearing Luke and Annabeth screaming at him. Was he screaming too? Probably.
Then the ocean caught him, wild but soothing at the same time, easing that ache in his gut that thankfully hadn't been too bad this time. He let out a long breath and relaxed for a moment, reveling in the water and the welcome he felt there. It may not have been under his father's control, per se, but it was still water.
After a couple of minutes, though, he grudgingly realized he needed to get back to the quest and swam to the surface. Luke and Annabeth had reached the platform at the bottom of the stairs and were yelling for Percy. He felt a little bad for making them think he'd been hurt.
"Hey," he said, popping out of the water.
Annabeth yelped and Luke looked about ready to pounce on him.
"You…" Annabeth hissed.
"I knew I could survive," he said. "I've fallen farther than that before." And if his voice got a little dark, well, he was too tired to explain it to them, so they'd have to deal.
"What about that was you being careful?!" Annabeth shrieked.
"Hey, I'm alive."
She spluttered. Luke took a deep breath.
"Polyphemus?" the older demigod asked.
Percy's face fell into something more neutral. "Dead."
"Good."
"And the sheep?" Annabeth asked.
"Safe."
She nodded and sighed, looking far more tired and older than a twelve-year-old really should. He felt kind of bad for being a part of that.
"Can we go home now?" Luke asked, also sounding about as tired as Percy had ever heard him.
"Yeah," Percy said, hoping he didn't sound too tired himself.
xXx
Percy knew the feeling of finishing a quest well: a heady mix of accomplishment, relief, fear, and horror that settled into a haze over his brain. Rarely did even the successful quests end without heartache or some pretty nasty PTSD, after all. He pushed the boat out of the Sea of Monsters in a heavy silence while the other demigods (and satyr) came to terms with what had just happened and their success at the same time. It wasn't an easy cocktail of emotions to process, so Percy just focused on driving the boat as fast as he could towards the Atlantic ocean.
Though, now that he thought about it, he didn't remember much of the trip back to the mortal world the first time. The hippocampi had taken everyone to Miami, and they could swim far faster than he could probably push a boat at the moment (he hoped that changed a little faster this time around, he wanted to be able to swim at mach 5 again). He was pretty sure they wouldn't be getting back within a day this time. No Centaurs to take them and they weren't flying. Then again, they didn't really have a time-limit, so that helped.
"Hey, you okay man?" Grover asked a while after they'd sped away from Polyphemus' island. He probably wanted to continue their talk from earlier, but Percy really wasn't up for it.
He sighed. "Yeah. I just…" Well, his gut ached and he was a little tired.
"You're exhausted," the satyr said, deadpan. Oh. That was not what he'd been expecting.
"I've got to keep pushing the boat," Percy replied, not taking his eyes off of the horizon.
"Dude, we've got a sail, and enough gas for the motor," he made a face, but shook his head and focused on Percy. "If we have to, we'll use that. But for now, go take a nap."
Percy blinked and finally glanced at his friend. Grover stood there, hooves set firmly and arms crossed. His expression dared the subject of his ire to defy him.
No, seriously, Lord of the Wild. How had everyone missed this before? Including himself!
The time-traveler couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips. "You won't take 'no' for an answer, will you." It wasn't a question.
Grover just raised an eyebrow pointedly.
Laughing, Percy held up his hands. "Fine, fine. I'll go get some sleep."
"Good," Grover said.
Shaking his head in amusement, Percy made his way below deck. Thankfully, Luke and Annabeth had taken the seats at the front of the boat, leaving the room below empty. He was more than grateful for that, enjoying the sense of security that came with being alone. (One he'd only picked up long after his wife died.)
Sighing and pulling out a blanket, he settled on one of the beds and fell asleep almost instantly.
xXx
Either Bianca had skipped the Lotus Hotel, or they'd gotten in and out quickly, because she, Clarisse, and Rachel were wandering around L.A. this time. Percy heard them ask for directions a couple of times, to D.O.A. Recording Studio, so at least they knew where they were going, but they seemed to have about as easy of a time of finding the place as Percy had the first time.
Still, it looked like they were heading in the generally right direction, so Percy just watched as Clarisse scared off a couple groups of kids while Bianca and Rachel—who was carrying the single backpack they still had—trudged tiredly behind her.
After a while, they wandered right by Crusty's place without even glancing at it. Percy made a mental note to try and get out there to stop the monster himself, or goad the Romans into taking care of the situation later.
They'd almost walked right by the Studio itself, again not even looking at it, when Bianca stopped them. Blinking and frowning, she looked around. When she caught sight of the building, she jumped, taking a step back. Like she hadn't seen it at all initially. Then she slumped, looking so done and tired at that point, just accepting it as Clarisse hissed and asked where that had come from colorfully. Rachel bit her lip, pale as she stared at the building. That was the Mist for them. They'd better get used to it.
Something about that seemed off to him, but he couldn't put his finger on what.
The three girls walked inside the studio and up to Charon behind the desk. For some reason, Percy didn't follow. At first the psychopomp seemed amused and pleasantly surprised. Then his expression faded to annoyance. Eventually, Bianca said something and Charon visibly paled, to a point where Percy almost saw him flicker to the bone-white of his skeleton form.
Then he bowed.
Oh. She must have told him who she was. Percy watched Charon stiffly lead the way into the back and the dream faded. He drifted awake (unusual, but not unwelcome) to the sound of a motor running in the background. He felt better than he had the entire quest, and a moment later he realized why. Over the blanket he'd pulled on earlier lay the Golden Fleece. On the other side of the room, on the second bed, sat Luke, who was playing with some small, metal sticks. His lock-pick set?
Percy sat up. The movement must have caught the older demigod's eye, because he glanced up and smiled. It wasn't the happiest or most welcoming smile, but it seemed genuine, so Percy would take it.
"Hey," Luke said.
"Hey," Percy replied with his own smile.
"Grover said everything that had happened had taken its toll on you and he suggested using the fleece."
Percy's smile widened as he looked down at it. He could always count on Grover. "I do feel better."
"Good."
"Thanks," Percy said quietly. "For thinking about and considering it." He… hadn't expected that from Luke, to be honest.
"Well, if our motor fails, you are our ticket home."
The time-traveler snorted. "Yeah. Though I bet Annabeth could come up with something. Maybe use the raft as a sail? I know there are myths where Athena is the goddess who taught the Greeks how to sail."
Luke snorted as well. "Maybe. Hopefully it won't come to that."
Percy nodded.
"Did you have another dream about the other quest?" Luke asked after a couple of moments.
"Oh, yeah," the son of Poseidon said. "They were heading into the underworld." He thought back on the dream and frowned. Something really had seemed off. What was it?
"That's where they're going?"
"I didn't tell you?"
Luke shook his head. "But why? Isn't that where you went when you thought Lord Hades had stolen the…"
"In my big dream?" Percy asked pointedly.
Luke blinked and then shook his head. "Yeah. Sorry."
Percy shrugged. "Yeah, that's where I went in my dream."
"But this time, they know who stole it… or who didn't."
"Yeah," the time-traveler nodded, "but he might have more information, or it could be that they'll find their answer on the way. Wouldn't be the first time."
Luke snorted, far less amused than before. "Find the answer in the journey. Yeah, right."
Percy shrugged, but found his mind drawn back to the dream again. What was so off?
"Is everything okay?" Luke asked cautiously. "You keep frowning like something's wrong."
"Something is wrong," Percy admitted, "but not with us, with them. With their quest. I just can't put my finger on… wait…"
Rachel had been surprised at the 'appearance' of D.O.A. Recording Studios. She'd initially walked right by it and been surprised after Bianca had pointed it out. She hadn't said anything but… it was obvious. She couldn't see through the mist. Not like clear-sighted mortals.
Rachel was a clear-sighted mortal.
Just like with Grover, that wasn't actually Rachel.
Bianca and Clarisse had just gone into the underworld with an unknown person… who had been carrying their only remaining backpack.
The last time this had happened, a backpack had held a certain Master Bolt…
"Styx."
xXx
Omake Crack Idea thanks to Fey-Yell:
Percy: Ummmm. Aphrodite? Can you give Polyphemus a love interest to distract him while I go get this fleece? Preferably Not one of us, please, as I want all of us to return to camp.
Aphrodite: What an interesting challenge! Hmm…
Percy: No demigods!
Aphrodite: Oh pssh. You're no fun.
xXx
Omake Crack Idea thanks to Snow:
Will the Real Rachel Elizabeth Dare please stand up! Please stand up! Please stand up! *cough*
xXx
AN: SO, you all get a SUPER long chapter this time. I considered splitting it in two, but the best spots would have made one still very long and the other really short, so you just get it all. Feel loved.
Thank you so much for reading! And, as always, a special thanks to my beta readers, discord helpers, and tier 3 and 4 readers: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, Snow, Starlight3, Squirps, and The Chronomancer! Also, all of my discord peeps and my readers here! Thank you! (If I've missed anyone, PLEASE let me know!
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy
And don't forget my youtube channel! :D www. youtube . (com/) (at symbol) heathercampbell6059 (no spaces or parenthesis)