𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘! 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 ¹

Sheep Taxi: the Newest Mode of Transportation

CHAPTER NINE: LYDIA

When you think "Monster Island," you think craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach, you know, all that fun stuff. The Cyclops's Island was nothing like that. It was—to briefly describe it—a paradise.

The place looked like a Caribbean postcard. It had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches.

It had a rope bridge across a chasm, too—which was not a good sign, but that was about it.

As they sailed toward the shore, Annabeth breathed in the sweet air.

"The Fleece," she said.

Lydia nodded. They couldn't see the Fleece yet, but they could feel its power. She almost didn't want to  believe it would heal anything. It just seemed too OP.

"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."

In the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. They looked peaceful enough, but they were huge—the size of hippos. Just past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was a massive oak tree. Something gold glittered in its branches.

"This is too easy," Lydia said, most likely jinxing it.

"We could just hike up there and take it?" Percy suggested.

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

That's when a deer emerged from the bushes. It trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal.

It happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves. Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air. A second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

Annabeth, Lydia and Percy exchanged looks, and Lydia blamed herself for jinxing it.

"They're like piranhas," Lydia said.

"Piranhas with wool. How will we—"

"Guys!" Annabeth gasped, grabbing their arms. "Look."

She pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground...the other lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham.

They decided there was no way they could get past the man-eating sheep.

Annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the Fleece, but in the end they convinced her that something would go wrong. The sheep would smell her. Another guardian would appear. Something. And if that happened, they'd be too far away to help. Besides, their first job was to find Grover and whoever had come ashore in that lifeboat—assuming they'd gotten past the sheep.

Lydia glanced at Percy. He looked really nervous in a kind of hopeful way. She knew what he was hoping for and she would hate it if his hopes ended up getting crushed. She took his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

Earlier, Annabeth had noticed the friction between Lydia and Percy. Both of them were too embarrassed to interact with each other for different reasons.

While Lydia felt ashamed for putting Percy through the trouble of having to save her and Annabeth, Percy was feeling guilty over the way he'd reacted. He never wanted to make Lydia cry, ever.

Annabeth had forced Percy to make the first move. He had sat Lydia down and apologized for getting angry with her. Lydia had told him that his anger was justified, but he wasn't having any of it. Their make-up session ended with a cute hug that had Annabeth awe-ing from her hiding spot.