Sunburn- phoebus apollo

--xii. clarisse flies home alone

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 them, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.

"Tyson, thanks the gods." Percy said. "Annabeth is hurt!"

"You thank the gods she is hurt?" Tyson asked, puzzled.

"No!" Percy knelt beside Rhea, who was already holding Annabeth's head in her lap. She'd already stopped the bleeding with her powers, but she was still pale and unresponsive, and Rhea wasn't advanced enough like Apollo to do much more.

"Tyson, the Fleece," Percy said. "Can you get it for me?"

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

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

"Oh. Pretty. Yes." 

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If any of them tried to approach the Fleece, they would've been eaten alive, but Rhea guessed that 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 towards them, but Percy yelled, "No time! Throw it!"

The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag frisbee. Percy caught it with a grunt before he spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face.

Rhea held her breath. Please, please, please.

The color returned to Annabeth's face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close. She saw Grover and said weakly, "You're not... married?"

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

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

But despite everyone's protests, she sat up. Rhea 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.

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. "Our ship is..." The Queen Anne's Revenge was a long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, and they'd just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was 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 looked doubtful, but he whistled. "Come, sheepies! Um, people food this way!"

He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.

"Keep the Fleece around you," Percy told Annabeth. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"