There was nothing more terrifying than someone that you loved with your whole heart crying out in fear. Aurora couldn't hear anything but rage as she crept to the cave entrance and saw Polyphemus grinning wickedly, holding up empty air.

The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground, revealing Annabeth hanging upside down by her legs. She struggled, but still looked dazed. Aurora's hands shook and a lump formed in her throat at the nasty cut on the blonde's forehead, her gray eyes classy.

"I'm going for it," Aurora whispered, her voice hoarse as she swallowed her terror. "The ship is around the back of the island. Percy will show you where it is. I'll rush him, and—"

"No." Percy grabbed Aurora's elbow, his green eyes narrowed and darkened as he pulled her closer to him. His grip on her arm was firm to the point where the daughter of Persephone was unsure she could break free from his grasp, but he didn't look at her. Instead, he directed his attention to Clarisse and Grover, his expression grim as he held Aurora next to him, as if watching a leash-less puppy so it wouldn't run away. "Ro's not doing this alone, and I'm assuming you guys aren't going to just leave?"

"No fucking way," Clarisse responded, which was predictable. Her gaze sharpened at Percy's sudden initiative, but, for once, she didn't argue with him. "We'll take him together."

"Yeah," Grover said. Then he blinked, like he couldn't believe he'd just agreed with Clarisse about something.

"Stop—" Aurora started, but Percy talked over her, shaking his head.

"Fine," he instructed with authority, authority that Aurora had never expected from the son of Poseidon. Her eyebrows shot up at how quickly he was able to shut her up—which he would so pay for later. "Attack plan Macedonia."

"No? Who do you think you are?" Aurora scoffed, disputing with an incredulous look.

"Someone who you trust." Percy replied almost automatically, his expression blank yet earnest. His head whipped around to face hers, and he pressed his lips into a thin line as if the words had tumbled out without his permission.

But he wasn't wrong.

Slowly and without assurance whatsoever, Aurora nodded begrudgingly along with Grover and Clarisse. They'd all taken the same training courses at Camp Half Blood, they all knew what Percy was talking about.

"Hey, fuckwad!" Aurora hefted Oleander and shouted with enough power to shake a couple grown men. Percy groaned as the girl took a step forward, as if she was going to let him be the one to die. However, his brain probably cleared up, and he snuck around to the left of the Cyclops as Grover and Clarisse took the other sides, completing the plan.

The giant whirled toward Aurora with confusion. "Another one? Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am, dumbass?" Aurora taunted, dancing dangerously close to the Cyclops. "Put down my friend. I'm the one who insulted you."

"You are Nobody?"

"Oh, so you can think!" Aurora exclaimed. "Of course I'm Nobody. Now, put her down so I can stab your eye out again. Or are you too scared?"

Pro tip: if you ever want to get to any male—halfblood, god, even a monster—insult his masculinity. It makes them outraged and want to kill you. Whether or not that's a good thing will be up to you to decide.

The Cyclops bellowed and dropped Annabeth, which would've sounded like a good thing. But he dropped her head first onto the rocks, and Aurora couldn't watch as she lay motionless on a rag doll.

The strawberry blonde took a ragged breath—or tried to, at least, which was a hard feat, as the Cyclops smelled even worse than the pegasi stable back at camp—and instead decided to face reality: Polyphemus was barreling toward her, and all she had to defend herself was a very small sword, and very small arrows.

"For Pan!" Grover rushed in from the right. He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster's forehead. Clarisse ran in from the back and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing on Aurora.

Aurora moved in with Oleander, which was seemingly brave until the monster made a grab for her. She rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh. However, instead of Polyphemus maybe showing the slightest bit of pain—or a reaction to begin with—he continued to swat at her with rage.

"Be useful!" Aurora screeched to Percy, who was standing with Riptide at the ready. In her language, that meant to get Annabeth, and luckily for her, he understood.

Percy rushed over to where Annabeth's invisibility cab lay and picked her up. He handed her to Grover before charging towards the Cyclops.

Together, the three of them organized some sort of improvised ploy, almost like a game. Clarisse charged the Cyclops again and again. While he pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, she was quick enough to escape his clutches, and as soon as she made an attack, Percy and Aurora followed up by stabbing the monster or shooting an arrow at his eye.

But they couldn't keep that up forever. They were tiring, and the monster was getting more and more angry. It would only take one hit to kill them all.

Out of the corner of Aurora's eye, she could see Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge. Now, Aurora wasn't really thinking much besides, It would be great to survive this, but Percy always came up with the stupidest, most insane ideas.

And this one wasn't any different.

"Fall back!" He told Aurora and Clarisse with urgency.

Aurora rolled away as the Cyclops's fist smashed the olive tree beside her, and Clarisse froze mid attack. They ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind them. He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, but all they'd done was slow him down and made him mad.

"Grind you into sheep chow!" he promised. "A thousand curses on Nobody!"

"Boo, you schlampe. Shut up!" Aurora yelled back, rolling her eyes. He was simply relentless, this fucking Cyclops.

"Schlampe?" Percy repeated, raising a brow as they continued to run. "And run faster!"

"Says you, Mr. I Don't Do Cardio." Aurora retorted, her feet slapping against the uneven, unpaved dirt road. "It's 'slut' in German."

"And you know German because..." Percy asked with humorous dubiety.

"Gracie is, like, zillion-lingual." She responded with blunt plainness as the three of them tore down the hill.

She wasn't going to admit it, but Percy was right. The bridge was their only chance of safety. Grover had just made it to the other side and was setting Annabeth down. All they had to do was make it across too before the giant caught them.

"Grover!" Clarisse shouted. "Get Annabeth's knife!"

His eyes widened when he saw the Cyclops behind them, but he nodded like he understood. As the three demigods scrambled across the bridge, Grover began sawing at the ropes, the first string snapping quickly.

Polyphemus bounded after them, making the bridge sway wildly. The ropes were now half cut. Clarisse, Percy, and Aurora dove for solid ground, landing beside Grover. The son of Poseidon made a wild slash with his sword and cut the remaining ropes. The bridge fell away into the chasm, and the Cyclops howled... with delight, because he was standing right next to them.

"Failed!" he yelled gleefully. "Nobody failed!"

Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies. Percy, however, stayed firmly by Aurora's side, his frown set deeply into his forehead and his jaw ticked and clenched.

"Great." Aurora muttered angrily, her fists curling tighter around her sword. She was so done with everything. They'd come this far, lost Tyson, suffered through so much, only to fail—stopped by a big stupid monster in a baby-blue tuxedo kilt. And looking at Percy's dejection and pure fury—he'd lost so much more than her, hurt so much more... she wasn't going to give up.

She couldn't.

Percy grabbed her elbow, just as he had done earlier, but this time, it wasn't with restriction or to signal something. It wasn't to contain her, to instruct her. No. It was to reaffirm her, to give up control to her. To show that he was there.

Aurora raised her sword and attacked, temporarily purposefully forgetting that they were hopelessly outmatched. She jabbed the Cyclops in the belly. When he doubled over, Percy smacked him in the nose with the hilt of Riptide, while Aurora simultaneously slashed and kicked and bashed until the next thing she knew, Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning, and Percy and Aurora were standing above him. The tip of Percy's sword hovered over his eye, her arrow nocked in the same position.

One single releasing move, and he would be done for.

"Percy! Aurora!" Grover gasped. "How did you—"

"That's my girl!" Clarisse whooped, a bit too celebratory for people in their destitute situation.

"Please, no!" the Cyclops moaned, pitifully staring up at the two demigods. His nose was bleeding. A tear elled in the corner of his half-blind eye. "My sheepies need me. Only trying to protect my sheep!" He began to sob.

"Kill him!" Clarisse demanded. "What are you waiting for?"

Aurora drew the arrow back further, a cruel, sadistic smile causing her lips to curl to the side ever so slightly. However, Percy was hesitating. She could see it in the way his sword began to waver, the way his shoulders began to deflate.

She wanted to smack him in the back of the head. Was he being serious right now?

"He's a Cyclops!" Grover warned. "Don't trust him!"

"He's right. You know that." Aurora agreed, attempting for a convincing tone. But Percy watched as Polyphemus sobbed, and the green of his eyes seemed to turn even greener, as if he was watching the start of a movie he'd seen before, and he knew he didn't like the ending.

"We only want the Fleece," Percy told the monster quietly. "Will you agree to let us take it?"

"No!" Clarisse shouted. "Kill him!"

"I'm going to kill him, whether you like it or not." Aurora seethed, gritting her teeth together. But Percy turned towards her with wide, helpless eyes, and she simply couldn't take it. She pressed her tongue against her top teeth, let out a deep, annoyed breath, and threw her hands in the air with disbelief. He was an absolute idiot, wasn't he?

The monster sniffed. "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace."

"I'm going to step back slowly," Percy told Polyphemus. "One false move..."

Polyphemus nodded like he understood. Hah.

Percy grabbed Aurora's hand and stepped back—more like pulled her back—and as fast as a cobra, Polyphemus smacked Percy to the edge of the cliff.

"Foolish mortal!" he bellowed, rising to his feet. Aurora simply let out a huff, staring at where her friend had once been. Her hand was now empty. Usually, Aurora liked when Percy was proven wrong. And the switch up was quite hilarious to her. But Percy's touch had brought her warmth, which it was now lacking, and she was getting extremely fed up wit this one-eyed, overgrown baby of a monster. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first."

Aurora drew her bow and was two seconds away from releasing her arrow—perfectly positioned, mind you—before a rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus's throat.

She let out a gasp that turned into a hysterical fit of laughter as the Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, and the great Polyphemus fell like Aurora did off of the Gateway Arch as he tumbled into the chasm.

"That was funny." Aurora commented drily as she stood on her tiptoes, tilting her head to see who had thrown the rock. Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, was an old friend.

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

"Tyson!" Aurora exclaimed, and she had never run faster in her entire life than to greet a friend who had risen from the dead. Somehow, Tyson protected her from the man eating sheep surrounding them.

Tyson gave them the "short" version: Rainbow the hippocampus—who'd apparently been following them ever since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him—had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. He and Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find us, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.

"Long story short, he survived!" Aurora clasped her hands, looping her arm through Tyson's—which was much taller than initially anticipated.

"Tyson, Chase is hurt." Clarisse informed the Cyclops, sniffing graciously. Hey, if it was her way of showing her thanks—and it was—so be it.

Tyson carried Aurora back to safety, before she stumbled out of his embrace and rushed toward her sister-like best friend, and she nearly threw up at the sight of the daughter of Athena. The gash on her forehead was worse than she'd realized, her hairline sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy.

Percy and Aurora exchanged nervous looks. Her voice was wobbly as she produced an idea that could either be really stupid or really smart—but nothing could be stupider than Percy, so she went for it. "Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?"

"Which one?" Tyson said, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.

"In the tree!" Percy said patiently. "The gold one!"

"Oh. Pretty. Yes." Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If any of them had tried to approach the Fleece, they would've been eaten alive, but Aurora guessed Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn't bother him at all. They just cuddled up to him and bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket. Tyson reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back toward them, but Clarisse yelled, "No time! Throw it!"

Percy caught it with a grunt and handed it to Aurora, as the two spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face, and prayed silently to all the gods.

And thank the gods, the color returned to her face, her eyelids fluttered open, and the cut on her forehead began to close, as if a myth came alive. Annabeth saw Grover and murmured weakly, "You're not... married?"

Grover grinned. "No. My friends talked me out of it."

"Annabeth," Aurora let out a breath of pure, unadulterated relief, hugging the blonde as gently as she could, "just lay still. Rest a little."

But despite their protests, she sat up, and Aurora noticed that the cut on her face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter. It was similar to how Percy healed when surrounded by water, or how she felt internally during the month of May.

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. "Down!" he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food. A few were sniffing in their direction. "No, sheepies. This way! Come here!"

They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, and they were starting to realize Tyson didn't have any treats for them. They wouldn't hold out forever with so much fresh meat nearby.

"We have to go," Percy said hurriedly. "Our ship is... um, really far away." And they had just destroyed the only bridge out.

As Percy instructed Tyson to lead the flock of man-eating sheep as far away as possible so they could go through the sheep's path, Aurora was whispering sweet nothings to Annabeth to keep her stable mentally. "Keep the Fleece around you," She told Annabeth. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"

She tried, but her face turned pale again. "Uh, no. Not fully healed."

Clarisse dropped next to her and felt her chest, just left of her stomach, which made Annabeth wince.

"Ribs broken," Clarisse declared definitively. "They're mending, but definitely broken."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

Clarisse glared at him, her usual sneer coming back. "Because I've broken a few, little fucker. I'll have to carry her."

Before anyone could possibly argue, Clarisse picked up Annabeth like a sack of flour and lugged her down to the beach. Grover, Aurora, and Percy followed, trailing behind like blind men.

As soon as they got to the edge of the water, Percy started doing his weird magic shit. But thank the gods it worked, and after a few anxious minutes, the ship rounded the tip of the island.

"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding down the path to join us, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.

"They probably won't follow us into the water," Percy told the others. "All we have to do is swim for the ship."

"With Annabeth like this?" Aurora protested with a frown, pointing to the said girl's limp body in Clarisse's arms.

"We can do it," He insisted, clearly starting to feel confident again, as if the sea was a drug and he was an addict overly excited to be back in his element. He was sort of cute, the way his voice brightened—in the way like a little kid on Christmas. Not in an actual cute way. "Once we get to the ship, we're home free."

"Super inspirational, Jackson." Aurora snorted, but she went along with it, per usual. Percy was wrong most of the time, but that slim twenty percent chance that he was right was pretty reliable to pet on.

They almost made it, too.

They were just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when they heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward them with a boulder in each hand.

But Aurora was more than done with the Cyclops at this point, and her bow was still very much in her hand, her arrow still very much unused. There were so many missed opportunities, and Aurora wasn't going to leave this quest with any regrets. So, with a simple, swift movement, she nocked her arrow against the thick string of her golden bow, pulled it back with full credence and conviction, sent a quick prayer up to Artemis, and released it straight into Polyphemus' singular eyeball.

ೀ⋆｡🌷 the mother of perora speaks ...

word count: 3233

date published: august 9, 2024

thoughts: i was so close to not publishing anything today because i started this chapter about an hour ago and it was so boring and i'm so ready to be done with sea of monsters, but it's here!! yay!! i'm so done with all of this. this chapter was horrible and so boring and i hate it sm, it's basically just som and i tried to add so many more banter moments but like it's impossible this chapter is so somber but i added schlampe! shout out to the annabeth chase fan club. anyway, sorry for publishing this so late and sorry it was so bad, i love you all!!