Daughter Of Lightning - Book 2 (A Percy Jackson x OC fanfic)

CHAPTER 27

(Percy's POV)

Below us in the cave were Polyphemus & Grover, still in his wedding dress. Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water. I was half hoping to see Tyson down there, too. Even if he'd been in danger, at least I would've known he was alive. But there was no sign of him.

"Hmm," Polyphemus pondered. "Eat loud mouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?"

He turned to Grover, who backed up & almost tripped over his completed bridal train. "Oh, um, I'm not hungry right now, dear. Perhaps-"

"Did you say bride?" Clarisse demanded. "Who-Grover?"

Next to me, Annabeth muttered, "Shut up. She has to shut up."

Polyphemus glowered. "What Grover?"

"The satyr!" Clarisse yelled.

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

Polyphemus's eyelids narrowed over his baleful milky eye, as if he were trying to see Clarisse more clearly.

The Cyclops was an even more horrible sight than he had been in my dreams.

Partly because his rancid smell was now up close & personal. Partly because he was dressed in his wedding outfit-a crude kilt & shoulder-wrap, stitched together from baby-blue tuxedoes, as if the he'd skinned an entire wedding party.

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

"No, you big idiot!" bellowed Clarisse. "That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!"

I wanted to wring Clarisse's neck, but it was too late. All I could do was watch as Polyphemus turned & ripped off Grover's wedding veil-revealing his curly hair, his scruffy adolescent beard, his tiny horns.

Polyphemus breathed heavily, trying to contain his anger. "I don't see very well," he growled. "Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU'RE NO LADY CYCLOPS!"

The Cyclops grabbed Grover's dress & tore it away. Underneath, the old Grover reappeared in his jeans & T-shirt. He yelped & ducked as the monster swiped over his head.

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

I reached for my sword, but Nora said, "Wait!"

Polyphemus was hesitating, a boulder in his hand, ready to smash his
would-be bride.

"Recipe?" he asked Grover.

"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get E coli & botulism & all sorts of horrible things. I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire...with mango chutney! You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I'll just wait here."

The monster pondered this. My heart hammered against my ribs. I figured I'd die if I charged. But I couldn't let the monster kill Grover.

"Grilled satyr with mango chutney," Polyphemus mused. He looked back at Clarisse, still hanging over the pot of boiling water. "You a satyr, too?"

"No, you overgrown pile of dung!" she yelled. "I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!"

"Rip my arms off," Polyphemus repeated.

"Let me down!"

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course!"