Now stranded on Polythemus’ island with nothing but the cyclops himself, your friends (some held capture, some not), and a whole lot of sheep is not what you had planned for this quest.

In truth, you weren’t even chosen for the quest—nobody was, with the exception of Clarisse. But, you, Percy, and Annabeth had all left camp in order to save Grover, with the added bonus of snagging the golden fleece, too. Which could hopefully be done before Clarisse did.

Unfortunately, now you’re looking down at Percy as he lays on the cave floor on his back, groaning distantly in pain. Grover, the first to be held captive after mistakingly following the scent of Pan, and instead getting scooped up by Polythemus, a cyclops—and Clarisse, who had been caught too after her zombie ship hadn’t made it out of the vortex in the Sea of Monsters. At least she wasn’t turned into a guinea pig. Sharing a cage with rodent Percy wasn’t enjoyable.

You hissed, rubbing a hand down your face. What were you supposed to do now? Annabeth was off distracting Polythemus in her invisible cap—all you could really do was stare up at the golden fleece, and figure out how to climb up there. You tried not to look at the giant hole that dropped into the cave below, and tried to focus on the overhanging branches where the fleece lay.

As soon as you reach to climb, there’s a rough voice behind you. “Don’t even think about it,” says Luke Castellan.

Oh, as if this couldn’t get any better? Now your…whatever Luke was to you is here!

You sigh, raising your hands in surrender. You couldn’t go one quest without seeing him.