IT WAS CREEPY HOW SIMILAR THE ISLAND LOOKED TO MY DREAM. There was same wide beach, green fields, and tropical trees. The air smelled sweet, like I was surrounded by fields of fruits. There was even the chasm and bridge that I had seen. I squinted in the distance, but I couldn't see the tree or the rug–thing that had been folded on it. 

So, maybe my dream had taken some liberties. 

"The Fleece," Annabeth said. 

I nodded. "That must have been what I saw."

I explained the dream to them. Not that it was needed (aside from the look of relief Veerle gave me when I mentioned Clarisse and Pat had reached the island.) Even without the coordinate senses and my dream, I knew that this was right place. I could feel the Fleece's power. An energy thrummed throughout entire island, making it thrive. 

"If we take it away, will the island die?" Percy asked. 

Annabeth shook her head. "It'll fade. Go back to what it would be normally, whatever that is."

"It was fine before," Veerle said. "According to stories and...well, look at it. The Fleece would need somewhere to start."

I think she was just trying to make us feel better about ruining the island. Still, I decided to believe her. We couldn't turn back now. Clarisse and Pat were somewhere on the island – they wouldn't be able to leave with their damaged boat – and the camp still needed us. And Tyson...and Tyson hadn't been with them. He was gone...he couldn't have died for nothing. 

Soon enough we arrived at a meadow. It was filled with sheep, except I knew for a fact that they weren't just sheep. They were massive. Giant cotton balls the size of hippos. 

Past that was a path that led up into the hills. At the top, right next to the canyon, was a massive oak tree, the one Pat had pointed out in my dream. In person I could see that rug was a sheet of glittering gold wool. The  Fleece. 

"We need to be careful," Veerle said. She pulled out her switch blade, but kept it in its normal form. "Something that important isn't just going to be left unguarded. 

I checked my ring. Black. "Something's here."

"Yeah, the cyclops," Percy said. 

I shook my head. Of course there was the cyclops, but the meadow was wide and open, and I imaged this guy was massive. If he was close enough to trigger the ring, he would also be close enough to see. 

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "There's supposed to be a guardian. A dragon or..."

A deer emerged from the bushes. It trotted into the meadow like something out of a Disney movie. Except instead of breaking into song, it was promptly rushed by a swarm of bleating sheep. They came upon the deer so fast it stumbled. It collapsed. For a moment all I could see was wool, grass, and fur flying everywhere. 

Then the sheep returned to their wandering. All that was left was a pile of clean, white bones. 

The four of us shared looks. 

"Oh." Veerle looked sick. 

"They're like piranhas," Annabeth said. 

Big fluffy piranhas. Guess I know what my ring was picking up on, then. Down the beach, just below the sheep meadow, I spotted something else. The other lifeboat. I could only hope Clarisse and Pat hadn't become evil sheep food. 

♆

ANNABETH WANTED TO SNEAK PAST INVISIBLE. Thankfully, we were able to convince her that was a terrible idea. For all we knew, the evil sheep had some sort of super smell. Then she'd get mauled and we wouldn't even be able to see her. Or there was some second, secret guardian. Sounded like something that would happen to us. 

I don't think she believed us, but she stuck with us anyway. We moored the Queen Anne's Revenge on the back side of the island. Here there was no sheep, but there were massive, sheer cliffs. They went up at a 90 degree angle for about two hundred feet or so. There was some jagged parts that might function as hand or foot holds, but they looked weak and were far between. 

I took a shaking breath and patted the slingshot attached to my belt. There was no way it would slip free, at least. 

There was no shore, so we had to row our lifeboat up to a collection of rocks. Then we climbed. Slowly. 

Annabeth was the best climber, the least likely to fall and knock all of us down with her, so she went first. We climbed carefully. Time was limited, but it wouldn't matter how fast we climbed if we fell all the way back down. Even at that pace, there were some slip ups. Mainly from Percy. First he lost his grip and was left dangling by one hand. Then he took Annabeth's foot to his face when she slipped. 

I had never been a fan of the climbing wall. Since it was, you know, on fire. Now, though, I was regretting my lack of training. Half way up and my arms were shaking so bad a risked breaking the small ledges every time I grabbed them. My fingers felt like they were seconds from snapping in half, and my knees were scraped from running my legs along the rocks. I was getting lightheaded when – finally – we reached the top of the cliff. 

I collapsed as soon as I was on solid ground. We laid there moaning in pain for a moment. 

Then someone bellowed in the distance. 

Despite my exhaustion, I shot to my feet. There was no one there. I almost asked the others if they knew what the sound was, but Annabeth was shaking her head and pointing.

Turns out, the ledge we were sitting on was really skinny. It dropped off right next to us. The voice came from right below us.

"You're a feisty one!" the voice bellowed again. 

"Challenge me!" yelled another voice. Clarisse, there was no mistaking her voice. "Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"

The monster laughed. We crept to the edge. We had somehow arrived right above the entrance of Polyphemus's layer. The cyclops was easy to stop. He was at least three times the size as everyone else. I recognized Grover in...a wedding dress....I guess Percy mentioned that, but it was still weird to see. Clarisse and Pat were hung upside down over a pot of boiling water. 

"Hmm...Eat loudmouth girl and friend now, or wait for wedding feast?" Polyphemus pondered.

"Wait!" Pat suggested. "If you eat us now, you'll have nothing spe–"

"Silence!" Polyphemus jabbed Pat. "What does my bride think?"

He turned to Grover, who backed up and almost tripped over his bridal train. 

"Oh, um, I'm not hungry right now dear," Grover groveled. "Perhaps –"

Clarisse scoffed. "Did you say bride? Who – Grover?" 

Pat cleared his throat and glared at Clarisse. Next to us, Annabeth muttered, "Shut up. She has to shut up." 

Unfortunately, it was too late. Polyphemus glowered. "What 'Grover'?" 

"The Satyr!" Clarisse yelled.

"Oh!" Grover yelped. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from the hot water. Pull them down, dear!"

"Ooo," Pat moaned. "My brain...it's melting..."

Polyphemus wasn't listening. He narrowed his eye at Clarisse. 

"What satyr?" asked Polyphemus. "Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?"

"No, sorry. We meant to, but –" Pat was side eyeing Clarisse like he could will her to shut up.

Which probably just made her talk out of spite. "No, you big idiot!" Clarisse bellowed. "That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!" 

Percy looked like he was five seconds from running down there and throttling Clarisse himself, and I couldn't blame him. What did she think she was doing? I get that she and Grover weren't friend, but was she really trying to get him killed? 

Seething, Polyphemus turned on Grover. Our friend tried to scurry away, but Polyphemus grabbed him and ripped the wedding veil off. It would be hard to not realized what he was. Even far above, I could see his short, curly hair and the tiny horns poking through it. His whispy little beard hadn't grown out since we last saw him. 

"I don't see very well," the cyclops growled. "Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in the eye. But you're no lady cyclops!" 

Polyphemus shredded the rest of Grover's disguise. Beneath – thankfully – was jeans and a t–shirt. He was barely able to duck the cyclops's attempt to take off his head. 

"Stop!" Grover cried. "Don't eat me raw! I – I have a good recipe!"

I didn't even realized I had been reaching for my slingshot until I spotted Annabeth keeping Percy from pulling Riptide. My heart was hammering to I could feel it in my ears, and I was certain it would give us away. There was no way any of us were going to reach Grover in time. Even with my slingshot, my ammo was too small to do anything except anger Polyphemus. Which would put Grover in more danger. 

To my relief, Polyphemus hesitated. Even if he was still holding a massive boulder in his hand. 

"Recipe?" Polyphemus asked. 

"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get E coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney!"

"Mango chutney?" Pat shouted. "I love mango chutney! You've got to try it."

I was pretty sure Pat had never seen mango chutney in his life, but I didn't care. I was too busy being thankful that he was trying to help. 

Polyphemus pondered the idea, studying the two. I think he was straining himself trying to figure out if it was a trick or not. 

"Grilled satyr with mango chutney," Polyphemus mused. He looked back at Pat and Clarisse. "You satyrs, too?"

"No, no, no!" Pat tipped his head – probably the closes he could get to motioning towards it when he was tied upside down. "No horns, see?" 

"You overgrown pile of dung!" Clarisse yelled. "I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now unit me so I can rip your arms off!"

Veerle buried her face in her hands and groaned. She looked five seconds of dying of embarrassment. 

"Rip my arms off," Polyphemus repeated. 

"And stuff them down your throat!"

"You got spunk."

"Let me down!" 

Polyphemus grabbed Grover and slung him around with the ease of a child manhandling a doll. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course."

Wait. What? 

"But...you're still getting married?" Why did Grover sound hurt by that? "Who's the bride?"

Polyphemus looked towards the boiling pot. Realization hit like a fist to the gut, so insane I wanted to just walk back into the sea and never return. That couldn't be any weirder than what was happening right now. 

It seemed Clarisse also understood what he was saying. "On, no! You can't be serious! I'm not –"

The cyclops ripped Clarisse from her rope and dropped her next to Grover. "Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event!" For a moment it looked like he had decided to leave Pat over the pot, before he finally plucked him up, too. "And you! You will be guest – and then dinner!"

Polyphemus laughed and toss him with the others. Pat managed to flip him just in time to avoid landing on his head. The cyclops whistled. A massive flock – a mixture of smaller sheep and goats – flooded out from the back of the cave. As they passed, Polyphemus patted some and called them by name. Others trotted past entirely unfazed by the massive monsters looming over them.

Once they were all out, he rolled a boulder in front of the doorway.  Our friends were trapped inside. 

Polyphemus thundered across the island. From our spot, we could see him as he fed the man–eating sheep on the far side. 

I prayed that they would eat him. 

They did not eat him. 

Instead, he fed them chunks of meat from a giant wicker basket. My only comfort was that the pieces looked too big to be human. (Percy said it was enough for him to consider vegetarianism at that moment, but given the fact he's still obsessed with hamburgers, I'm not taking his word on that.) 

"Trickery," Annabeth decided. "We can't beat him by force, so we'll have to use trickery."

"Which trick, exactly?" Veerle asked. 

She was flipping her switch blade and eyeing the boulder. I hoped she wasn't planning to try to wedge it open, because it was both as tall and wide as two of us. Despite Polyphemus moving the boulder with ease, there was no way we would be doing the same. 

"I haven't figured that part out yet," Annabeth said. 

"Great," Percy muttered. 

"Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep inside."

"Yeah," I said. "But we're not sheep. We can't get in."

"And that's when he's planning to marry Clarisse and eat Grover and Pat. We won't have time to free them," Veerle pointed out. "Assuming he doesn't close the cave and block us all in." 

Annabeth frowned. I could tell she was thinking about that, too. She always considered every part of her plan. 

"I could get inside," she said. "Invisibly."

"What about us?" Percy asked. 

"The sheep," Annabeth mused. She eyed us like we'd just become the key part in her plan. It made me feel weird. "How much do you guys like sheep?"

♆ 

NOT A LOT, I WAS QUICKLY REALIZING. Especially not when I was hanging upside down from their belly, with my face wedged into their matted wool. It smelt sharp, like someone's dirty clothes had been left to bake in the sun for months. Small sticks and rocks were caught up in the bottom and made for a weird texture.

Also, a loose curl of wool kept sticking me in the eye. To make things worse. 

At least getting onto sheep were easy. They didn't mind that we had crawled under them, and once there the wool was thick enough we could cling to it. 

"Oy!" Polyphemus roared, so suddenly I nearly dropped in surprise. "Goaties! Sheepies!"

The flock started their way back up towards the cave. Thankfully, the ground was smooth enough that I was only slightly jostled. Any rocks that might have caught me were too big for the sheep to go over, anyway. 

I clung to the bottom of my sheep. It let out small bleats whenever I shifted too much, which terrified me into keeping still. The last thing I needed was to get found out because of a whiny sheep. 

By the time we arrived, I was tempted to just let go and run. My hands were cramping from the awkward angle and my legs were five seconds from slipping. The smell made me want to puke. The wool was getting up my nose. I hated this. Anything had to be better than this (except getting eaten, I reminded myself. Pretty much everything was better than that.) 

Polyphemus patted each of the sheep as he entered. I was convinced he would be able to find us then, but he only chuckled about the seep putting on extra weight. 

And then we were inside. I held my breath and shifted ("blaaah" went my sheep, which seemed unfair since he wasn't the one in danger here) to see the opening. The last sheep were coming in. Annabeth would have to distract Polyphemus soon, or we'd be blocked in. 

At the last possible moment, Annabeth shouted, "Hello, ugly!"

Polyphemus stiffened. "Who said that?"

"Nobody!" Annabeth yelled. 

The monster's face turned red with rage. I remember the Odyssey, then, and realized what Annabeth was trying to do. I really wish I realized it before. At least then I'd have been able to tell her it was totally stupid and dangerous. 

For those who don't know – I mean, not every demigod spawns into existence knowing every story ever – "Nobody" was the name Odysseus used to hide his identity from Polyphemus. Before stabbing him in the eye and blinding him (almost blinding him, I mean, because Odysseus actually succeeding would make things too easy for us.) 

It didn't matter that Annabeth must have sounded nothing like the original Nobody. Polyphemus was furious. "Nobody!" he yelled. "I remember you!" 

"You're too stupid to remember anyone," Annabeth taunted. "Much less Nobody." 

Polyphemus bellowed and threw is front door towards Annabeth's voice. It shattered against the wall. Silence followed, and I felt my stomach drop. For a moment I was certain my friend has been crushed to death, and our only chance was to run for the exit. 

Then Annabeth shouted, "You haven't learned to throw any better, either!" 

Polyphemus howled. "Come here! Let me kill you, Nobody!"

"You can't kill Nobody, you stupid oaf!" Come find me!" 

Forgetting about everything else, Polyphemus barreled out of the cave and down the hills towards Annabeth's voice. I prayed that Annabeth would be able to keep ahead of him and dropped off my sheep. It stood there docilely as I scrambled out from below it. To my relief, Percy and Veerle had been able to make it in as well. 

Though, now that I think about it, I definitely would have heard if they hadn't. That's a creepy thought. 

Veerle turned her switchblade into a sword, just in case something was back there, and we started back into the cave. I was surprised by the size. There were massive corridors leading between even bigger rooms. The cave was littered with bones. Bone and...sheep memorabilia. Almost every room had a sheep skin rug. There was a pile of t–shirts with pictures of sheep (which where too small for Polyphemus by far), along with wooly socks, coats, and even a hat with ram's horns on it (the socks, at least, did look like they would fit.) 

There were even life sized statues of sheep. It was pretty clearly Medusa's work, as if I needed more of a reason to be concerned for the fate of Polyphemus's sheep. 

Finally, we found our friends in a spinning room. Grover was trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors. Pat was crouched next to them, twisting his wrists in an attempt to loosen the ropes that way. Neither were working. 

"It's no good," Clarisse said. "This rope is like iron!" 

"Just a few more minutes!"

"That's what you said an hour ago," Pat said. 

"I got it," Veerle said. 

The three startled, having clearly not noticed us yet. Veerle turned her blade backing a knife and jogged to their side to free them. They stared at us in disbelieve as she cut Clarisse and Pat free. 

"Percy? Attie?" Clarisse said. "You're supposed to be blown up!" 

"Good to see you, too," Percy said dryly. 

Despite Clarisse's tone, I suspect she was still happy to see us. Or Veerle at least. As soon as she was free, she gave her sister a hug. It was kind of awkward – stiff, like Clarisse didn't know how they worked – but it was still sweeter than was typical for her. 

Grover, meanwhile, bleated and barreled into Percy. "You heard me!" he cried, as he hugged Percy so tight he was practically strangling him. "You came!"

"Yeah, buddy," Percy said. "Of course I came."

"Hey, I came, too," I added. 

Which might have been a mistake. Grover grabbed me in a crushing hug, too.  I think I hugged him back just as tight. Sure my ribs were probably bruised, but I didn't care. I was too happy to see him. 

"Where's Annabeth?" Grover asked. 

"Is it just you guys?" Pat asked. "Are Annabeth and Tyson with you?" 

I swallowed hard. I didn't like the way he was talking about Tyson, like he didn't know where he was, either. As delusional as it sounds given my dream, I had really hoped that maybe...I don't know, maybe he'd been with them. Just out of sight? Hiding after they got caught? 

"Annabeth's outside, and Tyson..." Percy started hard at the ground, his eyes shining. 

"We don't know where he is," Veerle said. She flipped her blade and it returned to sword form. "Come on, we don't have time to talk." 

This was punctured by an explosion that echoed through the cave. Followed by Annabeth's terrified scream.