[Third Person Pov]
Percy let out a sharp laugh at Lucian's dramatic entrance call, turning toward him with an incredulous grin. "You saw it too?"
The rest of the group exchanged baffled looks, unable to understand what joke they had apparently missed. Their confusion was cut short as heavy, thunderous footsteps echoed from deep within the cavern—each booming step shaking dust loose from the ceiling.
Lucian cocked his head toward Percy, eyes glinting with mischief. "Well? Want to handle this one? After all… this is your quest."
Percy exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders. "You know what—yeah. Sure." He stepped forward, no longer content with merely observing from the sidelines. In a flash of shimmering ocean-blue light, his trident materialized in his hand. The steel-blue prongs hummed faintly.
A massive shadow sprawled out of the cave and swallowed the group in darkness. They all instinctively tilted their heads back—then stepped back—and then stepped back again just to take in the sheer enormity of the figure emerging from the cavern mouth.
Polyphemus was a mountain of flesh and muscle. His single eye, clouded milky white from Odysseus' infamous stake, roamed blindly across the chamber. Every exhale revealed a waft of foul, green-smoked breath that made a few of them gag. Despite his swollen, almost bloated frame, every inch of him rippled with brute strength.
"Why," the Cyclops bellowed, voice shaking pebbles loose from the walls, "have you intruded upon my marriage ceremony?!"
Lucian immediately stepped forward with arms spread high, voice overflowing with theatrical cheer. "Intruded?! No, no, no—dear Polyphemus, we haven't come to interrupt anything. We've come to be a part of it! Your beloved family has traveled far and wide to celebrate this glorious day with you!"
He dramatically wrapped an arm around Percy and Tyson. "Here, we have your two half-brothers…" Then he swept his hand toward Bianca, Nico, and Thalia. "Your cousins!" And finally he gestured to Scylla. "And look—your Aunt has honored you with her presence!"
Everyone stared at Lucian as if he had spontaneously grown a second head.
"Aunt?!" Scylla screeched, whipping her head toward Polyphemus and then back toward Lucian. She mentally traced her family tree, froze, and slapped both hands over her face in horror. "Oh gods. OH MY GODS—I'm his aunt?!"
Polyphemus blinked his milky eye in wonder. "Heheheh… really? You all came for me?" He rubbed the back of his head shyly, looking absurdly flattered.
"We sure did…" Lucian purred, flashing a grin so wicked it should've come with a warning label. Anyone else would've felt chills. Polyphemus, however, looked delighted.
Then a strained, high-pitched voice echoed from the cavern. "Honey, who is it?" Soft, hurried hoofsteps pattered toward the entrance.
Grover appeared—wearing an elegant white wedding dress.
He clutched a bouquet of flowers. A delicate floral crown rested on his head, poorly concealing the goat horns poking out from beneath it. Veil, lace, everything. He looked like the world's most miserable woodland bride.
"Pffft—" Clarisse slapped both hands over her mouth, shoulders shaking.
The rest of the group hurriedly turned away, trying—and failing—to stifle their laughter. Snorts slipped out. Someone wheezed. Someone else choked.
Percy and Lucian, however, didn't even pretend to be polite. They were already leaning on each other for support, pointing directly at Grover's face as they burst into wild, merciless laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Grover stared at them with a perfectly blank expression, clutching his bouquet like he wished it were a weapon. He waited a full ten seconds for the laughter to die down.
"Are you done?" he asked flatly.
"No," Percy and Lucian answered in perfect unison—and immediately collapsed into fresh hysterics.
"Honey, they came to be part of the ceremony!" Polyphemus called out proudly.
"Honey!!" Percy and Lucian echoed, turning to each other as if discovering the funniest word in existence. Their laughter doubled, then tripled, until they were practically on the floor, holding their stomachs.
Grover sighed, wilting like a flower in the heat. "I seriously hate you both…"
Bianca dragged a hand down her face. "Percy has been spending way too much time with Lucian. He's picking up his personality."
Polyphemus' confusion deepened as he sniffed the air again—long, loud inhales like a dog trying to hunt down a scent. His cloudy eye swiveled toward Lucian. The Cyclops leaned in, nostrils flaring aggressively.
"You," he growled, "why do you smell like my fleece?!"
Lucian instantly straightened, posture snapping from relaxed mischief to rigid innocence. "Oh, that? That's just my cologne."
Annabeth snorted loud enough for everyone to hear. The fact that Lucian produced that excuse in less than half a second was impressive even by his standards.
Thalia jabbed a thumb toward the Cyclops. "Hey, Grover, why does this doofus think you're his bride?"
Grover grabbed a handful of his dress and practically sprinted toward the group, hooves clacking frantically against the stone. "It was the only way I could think to survive—!"
He froze mid-sentence. His eyes flicked to Lucian. Then narrowed.
"Why do you feel… different?" Grover murmured, voice trembling in confusion. "You feel more… attuned with the Wild. Almost like a child of Pan. Is it because of the Golden Fleece?"
Lucian only smirked, quiet and mysterious. "No comment."
Polyphemus, still squinting into the blur of figures, huffed. "Who's Grover? And who are you calling a doofus?!"
Thalia threw her hands up. "Holy crap, can we just kill him already? I want to go home."
"What?" The Cyclops gasped. "Kill me? Honey, get back inside! These people are dangerous. Don't worry—I'll protect you—"
The enormous hand reached toward Grover, fingers spread.
But Percy moved before anyone else could blink. His trident flashed and slashed across the Cyclops' palm, leaving a deep burning line.
His voice turned sharp, cold, unwavering. "First of all—his name is Grover, not 'honey.' Second—he doesn't need your protection."
"AHHH!!" Polyphemus bellowed, stumbling back while clutching his bleeding palm. "You—you HURT me!"
Grover stared at Percy, eyes wide with gratitude. Surrounded by demigods, by friends who had come for him, his fear slowly melted. Their presence made him feel stronger—safer—than he had in days.
He tossed the bouquet to the floor with a hard thump. Then he grabbed the dress and ripped it off, throwing the whole thing aside. "I'm done with this. Done pretending. I'm not your bride. I never was." He straightened proudly. "I'm a Satyr—and I am proud of it!"
"Impossible!!" Polyphemus roared, his face twisting in betrayal and fury. He squinted harder, trying to focus on the shapes before him. "You—you LIED to me?!"
His rage exploded. "UNFORGIVABLE!!"
He raised his massive fist and slammed it toward the group.
Percy reacted instantly. With a sweeping arc of his trident, he summoned a dome of rippling ocean-blue water that surged into place around them. The Cyclops' punch crashed against the barrier with earthshaking force. Shockwaves rippled outward, fracturing the ground into jagged slabs.
Percy twisted his trident and redirected the force, shoving the Cyclops' fist aside. The water shield burst outward in a controlled wave as Percy stepped forward, summoning more water from the air, the stone, even the moisture on their breath. He unleashed it in a roaring surge—a tidal wave slamming into Polyphemus.
The impact pushed the Cyclops back—barely.
Percy's jaw tightened. He flicked his trident and the water instantly chilled, frost spiraling outward. It hardened, freezing mid-crash into a massive slab of glittering ice that encased Polyphemus entirely.
For a moment, silence.
Then cracks spiderwebbed across the frozen prison. Polyphemus flexed, bellowed, and shattered the ice in an explosion of flying shards.
He raised both fists and slammed them into the ground. The earth buckled, thick cracks racing toward the group like lightning.
Lucian casually raised his foot and stomped once. A shockwave blasted outward, colliding with the oncoming tremors and cancelling them out in an instant.
Thalia uncrossed her arms, electricity crackling eagerly around her palms. "So? Want to handle this alone, or do you want help?"
Percy twirled his trident, stepping forward with calm determination, eyes locked on the Cyclops. "Like Lucian said… this is my quest. I need to prove I can handle myself just fine."
Lucian fanned himself dramatically. "Oh my, how dreamy~"
"Shut Up." Percy muttered—but there was an amused scoff behind it as he walked forward, resting his trident across his shoulders.
The others chuckled quietly as Percy advanced alone toward the towering Cyclops.
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