Chapter 20

July 5

The next morning Polyphemus went out to tend to his flock and decide which one he was going to eat next but stopped after he spotted the Golden Fleece had fallen during the night. Luck was on Naruto's side as Polyphemus was still partially blind from the time when Jason rammed the stake into it. He picked up the cloth, and unknowingly Naruto, and hung it back on the nail. Naruto stayed motionless for another hour until the sense of weightlessness caught up to him.

"Ahh, where am I?" said a still drowsy Naruto, only now noticing he was handing from the back of his shirt. "Why am I hanging from the back of my shirt?"

He unraveled the back of his shirt and landed on his feet, Naruto then began to look only to a field.

"Seriously, where am I?" asked Naruto, "The last thing I remember was going to sleep under a cliff."

Naruto walked into the field but continues to see nothing until he heard a 'baaa' in the distance. Wander, if he was near a farm, he followed the noise only to discover a flock of giant sheep. At first, he thought the sheep were harmless until they attacked and ate a deer that decided to drink from the nearby stream. After seeing that he made a very logical decision, he somehow ended up at Polyphemus's farm. Naruto ran to the surrounding foliage to try and hide, but one of the sheep noticed him and walk towards his hiding spot. He panicked as sheep tend to follow each other, but a weird thing happened, the sheep did see him but just walked pasted him and ate the surrounding grass.

'Why am I being ignored?' thought Naruto, 'they immediately attacked that deer once they spotted it.'

Naruto decided to test this theory and walk further in the flock. Again, like the last sheep, they know he was there, but they just went back to grazing. This puzzled the demigod, weren't they supposed to act as a form of security. The ground began to shake as Polyphemus got closer, so Naruto decided to pull a Jason and hide underneath one of the sheep. With the rest of the group, Rachnera and Silena were looking around for Naruto.

"Where is he?' said Silena, "He was here last night."

"Maybe Polyphemus took him," replied Rachnera

"If that was the case, then the big, one-eyed idiot would have taken all of us," comment Clarisse.

"Then where could he have gone," said Rachnera

As the group of three were looking, they spotted a black ship on the horizon, fearing that they may encounter another enemy they prepared to fight. They dropped their guard when they spotted the flag flying overhead, it was a trident with a handprint in paint. Once Clarisse saw that flag, they know who was on that ship, Percy and his crew.

"I see they finally decided to show up," said Clarisse with her arms crossed

The Queen Anne's Revenge reached the shoreline and Percy lowered the gangplank, the son of the sea was followed by Athena's daughter and Percy's monster brother. Silena began to talk to Tyson about what happened so far while Clarisse interrogated Percy.

"Spider!" yelled Annabeth once she saw Rachnera.

While Clarisse was 'talking' to Percy, Silena was tiring to get Annabeth out of the tree, she climbed out of fear.

"Alright shrimp, where were you? Because the rest of us almost died because of your idiocy," said Clarisse.

"What did I do?!" yelled Percy

"You drove Naruto away before we could implement his plan," said Clarisse, "If we did went through his plan then we would still have our ship and be done with this quest

days ago."

"But That would have taken too long." said Percy, "Grover could have died before we made it over the cliff."

"We have a climbing wall in the camp that we use daily," said Clarisse, "and the entrance to the Sea of Monster doesn't spew hot magma at us as we climb."

"Oh," said Percy, now realizing his mistake.

"Think before you act otherwise you're are just a liability," said Clarisse as she turned around and walked back to the cliff

While Percy's group was getting acquaintance with Clarisse's group, and trying to convince Annabeth that Rachnera was harmless. Naruto was starting to panic as Polyphemus began to shear his sheep. The sheep he was hiding under was the third one in line, so he had to think fast.

'Okay, he's partially blind, so he might have a hard time distinguishing my shape from a distance, thought Naruto, 'but then what? I climb up the cliff to be over his head, or do I stay on the ground and hope he doesn't step on me.'

Naruto's hiding spot was next to be sheered so he made the best choice he could, he stayed on the ground and hope Polyphemus leaves his cave. Naruto let go of the sheep

and run to the nearest shadow, he made it because Polyphemus was too busy sheering his sheep to notice him. Polyphemus removed the boulder that was blocking the cave's

entrance, letting his flock and leaving Naruto in the cave.

'Alright, he's gone,' thought Naruto as he began to climb, 'now time to investigate.'

It took a few minutes for Naruto to reach the top 'shelf' of Polyphemus's cave and what he saw amazed and weirded him out.

"Who know Polyphemus was a hoarder.' said Naruto as he looked around, seeing a giant pile of old bones. They look like enormous chicken wings to him, with the bones of his sheep beside it. He had a giant recliner with stretched sheepskin covering it. Further in he found what would be classified as junk, who hoards old TV anyway.

'Where's Grover?' thought Naruto, 'he's small and smells of goat, you would think he would stand out.'

Naruto's search ended early when he noticed the boulder started to move, and he could hear two additional voices accompanying Polyphemus.

"Honey I'm home and I found two girls for dinner," said Polyphemus as he held Silena and Clarisse in his meaty hand.

"Let us go you one-eyed freak!" shouted Clarisse

"Wait! why don't we made them my bridesmaids," said Grover who was on the cave below Naruto, "you can't have a real wedding without bride maids. Besides, they look kind of thin for dinner."

"Really," replied Polyphemus, not knowing much about weddings, "then it's a good thing I found them, and I really like the scent you have, goat."

"That's why I got it," replied a nervous Grover

"Show these females the dresses while I look for any other intruders," said Polyphemus

Once Grover was sure his 'fiancée' was gone, he turned his attention to the two girls.

"Thank the Gods you are safe," said Grover only to get hit in the arm by Clarisse

"Just for the record, I'm not thin I am just well apportioned," said Clarisse

"How did you get here?" asked Grover

"By boat, but our quest was interrupted by Percy," said Clarisse. "Once he got involved, things got complicated, our boat exploded, and we had sailed by lifeboat."

"Sound rough," replied Grover, "but there's only two of you, where's the third?"

"Right above you," said Naruto as he descended from the cliff, "where's Percy and the others?"

"Executing the second part of the plan," said Silena, "With Polyphemus distracted Percy and the others will go after the fleece."

"But wouldn't that be the first place he would look," commented Naruto

"Oh," said Silena

"And that's why we should have gone with my plan," said Clarisse

"Your plan involved fighting the giant head-on," replied Silena

They argued as Naruto cradled his head to alleviate the coming headache.

"Listen, I'll take care of the giant idiot while you concentrate on escaping from the cave," said Naruto

"Fine," said Clarisse and Silena as they turned away from each other.

Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth continued to struggle in their fleshy prison as they were being lifted to the cave. What both parties didn't notice was Rachnera getting a ride

on the cyclops' pants.

'Don't worry, hubby,' thought Rachnera, 'your adorable wife is coming.'

When Polyphemus was capturing the three demigods, Rachnera hid and waited for the right opportunity to strike. Since the idiot was so big, he didn't notice the extra passenger. Polyphemus removed the boulder that blocked his cave and places his new prisoners in an iron cage he kept around his cave.

"More meat for the wedding feast," said Polyphemus

"How are we going to escape this?" said a frantic Percy

"Snap out of it," said Annabeth as she slapped Percy, "I'll think of something."

"We not doomed," said Tyson

"We're going to find," said Annabeth, but inside she too was panicking.

"Need help?" said Rachnera

"Spider!" yelled Annabeth as she hid behind Percy.

"Spider lady!" said a happy Tyson, "yes for help."

"Give me a minute to pick the lock," said Rachnera climbed up the cliff wall

"What if Polyphemus see you?" asked Percy as he held Annabeth.

"He'll probably think she is just a regular spider and leave it alone." said Naruto as he hung from the ceiling, "I was wondering when you would come."

"Honey!" yelled Rachnera as she embraced her husband.

"Naruto!" yelled the group of three, "you're alive!"

"Yeah~," said Naruto as he looked away, "apparently, I slept walked towards the fleece."

"As long as you're okay then I'm good," said Rachnera as she continued to hug Naruto

"Wait, you touched the fleece?" asked Annabeth, "Did anything weird happen afterward?"

"Other than Polyphemus's sheep ignoring me, but other than that nothing else," replied Naruto

"We can talk later, we need to get out of here," said Annabeth, "He plans to eat us for dinner."

"Don't worry I have a plan for the idiot and Grover is already out of here with Clarisse and Silena," replied Naruto

"But wouldn't he notice his 'bride is missing?" asked Percy

"He's an idiot, a hoarder, and partially blind," said Naruto, "he probably forgot about Grover several times. We're good."

"What about the Golden Fleece?" asked Percy

"I can grab it as we escape," said Naruto, "I'm one of the fastest runners in the camp, I can keep up with the nymphs on a good day."

"Just be okay, alright," said Rachnera as she kissed Naruto's cheek.

"Okay," said a blushing Naruto

"Honey, honey, where are you?" Said Polyphemus

Due to his giant size and lack of good eyesight, he couldn't see the rope near the ground. His ankle caught the rope, causing Polyphemus to fall and land on the cave

floor. He wasn't hurt by it but did distract him from his current objective.

"What was I doing," Said Polyphemus as he rubbed his head, "Right I was looking for that goat."

'Phase one, complete," thought Naruto as he began to climb the cliff face, 'time for phase two.'

Naruto rigged a giant boulder on a string to fall on the giant cyclops and hopefully slow him down even further. The weaver kicked a smaller stone, anchoring the boulder

in place, causing the boulder to fall and swing at Polyphemus's head. This trap actually causes the cyclops to bleed from his temple.

'Now to get his to remove the boulder blocking the entrance.' thought Naruto.

"Spider annoying, must squash!" yelled Polyphemus as he swung at Naruto, missing as he couldn't pinpoint Naruto. Naruto purposely led the giant towards the boulder blocking the entrance. Clarisse and Silena told Naruto the plan. They even provided the perfect hiding spot for him, which was a pocket in the cave wall.

"Where did pest go!?" Said Polyphemus as he looked around, "must be outside!"

Polyphemus grabbed the boulder and began to move it out of the way.

"Alright now is now is our chance," said Naruto as he signaled the others to run.

The reunited group was a couple of yards away from Polyphemus. Still, their luck ran out when the giant somehow located the escaping group.

"Pest is escaping with food!" Yelled Polyphemus as he gave chase.

"Okay, this isn't part of the plan," said Naruto as he ran, "any ideas?"

"We'll act as bait as you break off and get the fleece." said Clarisse, "you're small and fast while we have the numbers to defeat him."

"Under normal circumstances, I would be offended, but this time I'll let it pass," said Naruto as he broke off from the rest of the pack and run toward the fleece.

Since he was small, Polyphemus didn't notice Naruto's absents and continued to chase the rest of the group. Naruto reached the tree that the fleece was hanging on and managed to grab it on the first try, but the fleece was off the tree; the landscape around it began to change. The once luscious field now became barren and grey, without the nature-infused fleece, the island is basically dead. When Polyphemus saw that something was wrong with the Golden cloth that made his field grow. He stopped chasing the group and changed the direction towards the fleece. "Let go of golden blanket!" yelled once he 'spotted' Naruto with the fleece.

'Oh Hades,' thought Naruto as he clenched the fleece close to his chest, 'What do I do?'

Polyphemus ran towards Naruto in an attempt to retrieve the fleece only to fall on

the way. Naruto looked and saw that the cyclops had tripped on a vine that grew out of the ground.

'How did that get there?' thought Naruto, just began to run around the fallen giant

Polyphemus gave chase once he managed to get up. Still, due to Naruto's small frame, he couldn't catch the weaver. Naruto reached the coastline when he ran into the water and began to swim to the sitting ship. The crew on the ship threw a life-preserver to Naruto and hauled him onto the ship. Polyphemus stayed on his island and began to shout at the escaping demigods, the situation got worse for the demigod as the enraged giant began to throw giant boulders at the ship. The boulder tossed the ship around, messing us Percy's consideration, and on some occasions, almost capsizes the Queen Ann's Revenge. Tyson ran towards the side of the ship. He began to yell for help, making Clarisse and Silena believe he's gone crazy and was answered by a herd of the Hippocampus.

"Rainbow!" shouted Tyson

Seeing the herd, Naruto came up with an idea formed in his head.

"Tyson tries and convinces Rainbow and the herd to pull our ship away from the idea and possible out of this accursed sea," yelled Naruto holding onto the mainmast.

While Tyson was talking to the Hippocampus, Naruto was twisting some rope to act as harnesses for the water horses. Luck was on their side as the herd moved towards the

stern of the boat and allowed Naruto to harness them, making a Greek-style motorboat. The sudden acceleration surprised Clarisse and Silena as the two landed on

their butts and slide along with the desk, only being safer by the net that Naruto made.

The ship pasted by the various island in a matter of minutes, but the crew began to worry as they were nearing the exit.

"How are we going to get past the guardians?" yelled Percy as he hung onto the reins, "Go for that hole in the cliff," replied Naruto, "That's how Jason and his crew got through."

Now knowing this, Percy directed the herd towards the hole in the wall and hoping that Naruto was right.

"What! Why did we just you that in the first place?" yelled Clarisse

"It's exit only," replied Naruto, "It doesn't appear on the other side."

"Oh," was the reply of both Clarisse and Silena.

"Didn't you two read about Jason and the Argonauts?" asked Naruto

"We did but wasn't really paying attention at the time," reply Silena.

"Should have known that," said Naruto, "Anything that doesn't involve fighting is last on Clarisse, but I thought you paid attention Silena," said Naruto

"I have my airhead moments," replied Silena, "We all have them."

"True," replied Naruto

"I can think of non-fighting subjects," whispered Clarisse.

The ship fit through the opening and exited on the other side where calmer waters lay.

"Next stop Camp Half-Blood," yelled Percy as he directed the Hippocampus towards the camp.