Percy Jackson's Sister

Dude, You're Glowing

Something was different this time. I was still in my body, I was just not in control. Still, I sensed the bigger danger was the cyclops, not Percy.

I balled my hands into fists and shot icy blasts towards the cyclops, freezing the bottom half of the monster. He was caught off guard and he yelled, throwing a rock at me.

Grover shoved me out of the way and my head hit the ground, hard. I was brought back into control of my body as another rock flew, but it came from the opposite direction.

The rock landed cleanly inside his throat. Polyphemus began to choke, staggering backwards, strong enough to break the ice that had enclosed his legs. Too late, he realized there was nowhere to land his foot on. The edge of the cliff crumbled, taking Polyphemus with it.

Grover was still half on top of me. I gently pushed him off, "Thanks."

"What was that?" He asked.

I realized he was talking about the ice, but I was more curious as to where the rock had come from.

There, in the middle of the man-eating sheep, stood a tall familiar figure.

"Bad Polyphemus," Tyson said. "Not all Cyclopes as nice as we look."

-

Tyson quickly explained that Rainbow, his hippocampus, had been following us since we left camp, eager to play with Tyson again. When the ship exploded, Rainbow rescued him, and together, they found this island.

I was going to run up and hug him but he was still in the middle of the carnivorous sheep, so I decided against it.

Percy ran up to us and leaned on me for support. "Tyson, thank the gods. Annabeth is hurt!"

Tyson looked at him confused. "You thank the gods Annabeth is hurt?"

"No!" Percy knelt next to Annabeth, his face contorting in worry. Annabeth's pale complexion remained unmoving.

Percy called out, "Tyson! The Fleece. Can you get it for me?"

"Which one?" He asked.

"The shiny one, in that tree" I pointed to the Fleece.

"Oh, yes. Pretty!" Tyson lumbered towards the tree. He had no trouble getting past the sheep, maybe since he smelled like their master. He reached the tree and grabbed the Fleece. As soon as the Fleece left the tree's branches, the leaves turned yellow and old.

Making his way down to us Percy shouted, "No time! Just throw it."

Tyson chucked it directly at Percy who caught it, staggering back. He hadn't anticipated the weight of the Fleece.

Percy spread the Fleece on top of Annabeth as we all made a loose circle around her. Slowly, the paleness of her face melted away, the gash on her forehead began to close and her eyes began to open.

"You're not... married?" She asked Grover.

We all let out the breath we'd been holding in. Grover grinned. "No. My friends talked me out of it."

"Annabeth," Percy said, "just lay still."

Annabeth didn't listen. She sat up and took in her surroundings. The cut on her forehead was now almost completely closed and she looked much healthier. She even slightly glowed. Then her eyes landed on me and she frowned.

"Please don't tell me you froze the island," she said, spotting my blue eyes.

I was about to answer before I heard Tyson yell. "Down!"

The sheep were beginning to lose interest in him, spotting a meal. Unfortunately, that meal was us.

"No, sheepies!" Tyson tried to distract them. "This way! Come here!"

"We have to go," Percy said. "Our ship is..."

His voice trailed off as he realized we had cut the rope bridge that led to our ship. Our only other option was to go through the sheep.

"Tyson," Percy called, "can you lead the flock as far away as possible?"

"The sheep want food."

"I know! They want people food! Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there."

Tyson was hesitant, but he listened to Percy.

"Come sheepies! Um, people food this way!" He jogged up the hill, leading them away from us.

"Keep the Fleece around you," Percy told Annabeth. "Just in case your not fully healed yet."

"Can you stand?" I asked.

Annabeth tried but she stumbled and her face turned pale. I caught her by the arm and helped her sit down again.

"Ow. Not fully healed yet," she said.

Clarisse put a hand on her chest, causing her to gasp.

"Broken ribs," she stated. "Mending, but definitely broken."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

"Because I've broken a few myself, runt! I'll have to carry her."

Clarisse picked up Annabeth unceremoniously and began lugging her to the beach. Grover, Percy and I followed.

As soon as we got to the beach, Percy willed the boat to come towards us. We watched as it slowly made its way, hoping nothing else would go wrong.

"Incoming!" I turned around and Tyson was running towards us, the flock of sheep in pursuit. The ship wasn't there yet.

"We have to swim for it," I said. "They won't follow us in the water."

"With Annabeth like this?" Clarisse pointed out.

"We can do it," Percy sounded sure. "Once we get to the ship we're home free."

I felt the same anxiousness to get back to sea as he did.

We began wading in the water but before our feet could even leave the ocean floor, it all went to Hades.

We heard an angry roar behind us. Polyphemus was bruised and beaten, his clothes in tatters, but still alive. And he was lumbering towards us with a boulder in each hand.