In Between Two Worlds (HP/PJO Crossover)

Chapter 74: We Go Down With The Ship.

"You'd think he'd run out of rocks," I muttered.

"Swim for it!" Grover said.

He, Clarisse and I plunged into the surf. Annabeth hung on to Clarisse's neck and tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down.

But the monster's attention wasn't on the Fleece.

"You, young Cyclops!" Polyphemus roared. "Traitor to your kind!"

Tyson froze.

"Don't listen to him!" Percy pleaded. "Come on."

Tyson turned and faced the older Cyclops. "I am not a traitor."

"You serve mortals!" Polyphemus shouted. "Thieving humans!"

Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

"Not a traitor," Tyson said. "And you are not my kind."

"Death or victory!" Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded. He immediately stumbled and fell on his face. That would've been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.

"Percy!" Clarisse yelled. "Come on!"

We were almost to the ship with the Fleece. He needed to hurry up.

"Go," Tyson yelled to him. "I will hold Big Ugly."

"No! He'll kill you. We'll fight him together."

"Together," Tyson agreed.

We reached the boat and I pulled my wand out to lowered the rope ladder. Grover and Annie went up first so Clarisse and I watched as Percy and Tyson fought Polyphemus.

"Destroy you!" Polyphemus spluttered. "Fleece stealer!"

"You stole the Fleece!" Percy yelled. "You've been using it to lure satyrs to their deaths!"

"So? Satyrs good eating!"

"The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!"

"I am a child of the gods!" Polyphemus swiped at Percy, but he sidestepped. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!" He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see, and I realized he was targeting by the sound of Percy's voice.

"Poseidon won't curse me," He said, backing up as the Cyclops grabbed air. "I'm his son, too. He won't play favorites."

Polyphemus roared. He ripped an olive tree out of the side of the cliff and smashed it where Percy had been standing a moment before. "Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!"

Tyson worked his way around Polyphemus, trying to get behind him.

"Young one!" the older Cyclops called. "Where are you? Help me!"

Tyson stopped.

"You weren't raised right!" Polyphemus wailed, shaking his olive tree club. "Poor orphaned brother! Help me!"

No one moved. No sound but the ocean and my own heartbeat. Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. "Don't fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the-"

Polyphemus spun toward his voice.

"Tyson!" Percy shouted.

The tree struck him with such force it would've flattened me into a Karlee pizza with extra olives. Tyson flew backward, plowing a trench in the sand. Polyphemus charged after him, but Perc shouted, "No!" and lunged as far as he could with Riptide.

"Blaaaaah!" Polyphemus bleated just like his sheep, and swung at Perc with his tree.

I looked away as Clarisse shoved me toward the rope ladder. Grover and Annie were almost half way up. I started to climb as I heard Polyphemus cry out in pain. I looked back at them and saw Tyson tackled him, pulling him down.

With one last mighty effort, Tyson pushed the cursing older Cyclops away, and they ran for the surf.

"I will smash you.'" Polyphemus yelled, doubling over in pain. His enormous hands cupped over his eye.

Tyson and Percy plunged into the waves.

"Where are you?" Polyphemus screamed. He picked up his tree club and threw it into the water. It splashed off to their right.

Percy must have done something because they moved really fast. Clarisse and I had just reached the top of the ladder. I was beginning to think we might make it to the ship, when Clarisse shouted, "Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!"

"Shut up!" I hissed. But she ignored me.

"Rarrr!" Polyphemus picked up a boulder. He threw it toward the sound of Clarisse's voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing Tyson and Percy.

"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse taunted. "You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!"

"Clarisse!" I yelled, unable to stand it. "Shut up!"

Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time I watched helplessly as it crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

You wouldn't believe how fast a ship can sink. The Queen Anne's Revenge creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide. We hung onto the railing but it didn't help for long. The ship sunk in seconds.

We were sinking fast, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship's wreckage.

Not many people realize that when a ship goes down, it acts like a sinkhole, pulling down everything around it. Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn't making any progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of new pennies. I had one arm around Annie and my other was frantically paddling. Annie was still weak so she couldn't do much.

Shapes shimmered in the darkness below-three horses with fish tails, galloping upward faster than dolphins. They whisked into the wreckage, and a moment later we burst upward in a cloud of bubbles-Grover, Annabeth, Clarisse and I each clinging to the neck of a hippocampus.

Rainbow, the largest, had Clarisse. He raced over to Percy and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane. His friend came over and got Percy on his back. Annie and I were on one, mostly so I could monitor how she was doing, Grover was on his own which I think he was happy about. He wasn't stuck with Clarisse. I felt kinda bad for Tyson though.

We raced away from Polyphemus's island. Behind us, I could hear the Cyclops roaring in triumph, "I did it! I finally sank Nobodys!"

I hoped he never found out he was wrong.

We skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared.

"Did it," Annabeth muttered in exhaustion. "We ..."

She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep.

I didn't know how far the hippocampi could take us. I didn't know where we were going. I just propped up Annabeth so she wouldn't fall off, covered her in the Golden Fleece that we'd been through so much to get, and said a silent prayer of thanks.

"You're a genius," I told Annabeth quietly.

Then I put my head against the Fleece, and before I knew it, I was asleep, too.