*1*

Mrs. Dodds Returns…Sort of

It was finally starting to look like my entire year would go normal, no freak incidents, and school seemed average so far. It was the last day of school, and nothing unusual happened. No monsters, nothing.

I sprinted toward my Greek history class, late as always.

I burst into the room, looking like an idiot.

"You-you're late again Percy." Standing there was my Mythology teacher, Mr. Motsenbocker. He was starting to go bald and stuttered a lot, always seeming nervous. Of course, being the immature kids we were, we always made fun of him for that.

I walked in and quietly sat down, while everyone was staring at me in silence.

"A-As I was saying…the Greeks had to come up with a…uh…way to explain all of the…err…natural occurrences in nature. Who created the sky, or-or why do stars shine in the day…," he sighed, "or the night, rather..."

My classmates were jotting down notes as Mr. Motsenbocker went on with his lecture. Some students were snickering at his stuttering and mistakes.

"P-Percy," he called, stuttering once again, "who is the sea of the god, I-I mean the god of the sea?"

"Poseidon, of course," I answered. That was a coincidence.

"Okay. Kristy, who's the god of the s-sky?" Mr. Motsenbocker asked.

"Uhhh…" Silence. A few people giggled.

"It's Zeus," Mr. Motsenbocker answered for her, seeming proud that he may have actually taught us something. "Th-This is a really easy and…uh...fascinating subject if you're interested it. This should n-not be very difficult. Okay, n-now open your text books to page…" As usual I zoned out for the rest of class, convinced that there was nothing he could teach me that I didn't already know, being a demi-god and all. I just prayed the class would be over quick so I wouldn't have to continue to watch Mr. Motsenbocker's self esteem (or confidence whichever you'd prefer) drop with every snicker from the class. Teenagers could be so cruel, which made me wonder why he ever became a teacher in the first place… Just thought I'd add some more detail here to make the story a little more interesting, feel free to change or remove if you'd like.

Finally, I heard the bell ring, releasing me from this dull prison of a class.

Afterwards, I walked out to the parking lot where we have a break between classes. I never really hung out in a particular group, but I tried to keep social. There are the usual types of people you see in almost about every school.

First, there are the jocks, who go around showing off their clothes or talking about how awesome they are. Then, there are the popular girls, in their little clique speaking about the next Twilight movie. "Oh my gawd, isn't Robert Pattinson such a hottie?" I heard one of them say, as I lost a little more hope for humanity.

Then you have the other groups: the loners, the bullies, the nerds, and the just regular people.

So far the only few I've befriended are Mary Owen, Dan Miller, and Mike Hoang, all juniors in high school, like me. Mary had elegant blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and freckles that dotted her cheeks. She always had the fashion of the time and never looked plain. Today she wore her favorite pink sweater and dark skinny jeans, simple, but still stylish, as usual. Unlike most popular girls, she doesn't like to exclude people or limit herself to any particular clique; she's just friends with everyone.

Dan was a rather gaunt kid with ruffled brown hair and deep brown eyes. He never really spoke much; he was the typical quiet type. You would think he's miserable, but truthfully, he's a great guy, he just doesn't get out often. He wore a polo a size too big and baggy pants.

And then, you have Mike. He's sort of the opposite, always happy and looking on the bright side of things. He has sleek black hair and dark brown eyes, with a big grin that seems to perpetually occupy his face. He wore oval shaped glasses and was 17 years old, like the rest of us.

"So how's it going?" Mary asked.

"It's great! I got a 100 on my algebra test!" exclaimed Mike. He's always the smart one, not surprisingly…

"Well, I didn't have it so easy." I said. "I made another D in my literature class. I hate Ms. Bushwookie." Man, I swear my teachers' names keep getting weirder and weirder. "She's always so hard on me."

As if on cue, right as I said the word hate, Ms. Bushwookie appeared behind me, seemingly from nowhere. My friends' eyes widened and looked like they just saw death.

"Percy Jackson," she said sternly, "Come with me."

My friends mouthed Come back alive and Good luck. I walked off reluctantly, and followed Ms. Bushwookie into the main building. As I closed the door, Ms. Bushwookie turned and stared at me….

"Ms. Bushw...? Whoa!" I exclaimed. She had glowing black eyes, like burning charcoal

The only other time I've seen those eyes were when I was 12, 5 years ago. It was when I was first starting to get the hang of all of this Greek mythology, and my demon Pre-Algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, one of the terrifying Furies, attacked me….unless.

"I have been waiting to see this happen, Perseus Jackson. To see the end of your life!" Ms. Dodds said coldly.

Then she sprang at me. Her skin peeled off, her fingers grew talons, and she sprouted out wings of a bat from Hades. Instinctively, I reached towards my pocket for my pen. Pen? Yes, pen.But it's not just any ordinary pen. It's an I'm-going-to-vaporize-you pen. It was given to me by my instructor, Chiron, during my first encounter with Mrs. Dodds. I uncapped Riptide, formally known as Anaklusmos. Its celestial bronze blade glowed when I drew my sword.

In mid-air, her expression changed, from absolute anger to absolute fear. She quickly beat her wings and she flew up before I could swing Riptide. Our last encounter didn't end to well, and she didn't want to get vaporized again. I looked up and saw her flying in the air, staring down at me with evil eyes.

She swooped down, grabbing at my shirt as I rolled forward. She ripped my shirt, just barely skimming my back. Scowling, she turned, and right at that moment, someone burst through the doors. It was my friend, Annabeth. She stepped back, startled by Mrs. Dodds. She quickly pulled out her bronze knife, carefully watching the Fury. I looked at Annabeth, she had gotten even prettier than the last time I saw her. She was wearing her usual jeans and a hoodie over her orange "camp-Half Blood" T-shirt. Her golden blonde hair wasn't pulled up in a ponytail this time, but instead hung down loose.

Focusing again on the Fury, I jumped to the side of Annabeth.

"Kindly One?" asked Annabeth. I noticed she hadn't used the term Fury. Names are powerful things in this world.

"Yep. She seems pretty mad."

"You think? After you sliced her a few years ago, I think she wants some revenge."

Seeing this as an opportunity, Mrs. Dodds swiftly dove down at breakneck speed towards us. Annabeth and I ducked, dodging the Fury. She slammed into the wall behind us, knocking down a bulletin board. It reminded me of those cartoons of Wile Coyote and the Roadrunner, I almost laughed. But due to the likelihood of my pending death, it seemed inappropriate.

I raised my sword and swung downward. Instantly she turned around and blocked the attack with her gruesome hooked nails.

I tried coming in from the side, but that didn't work. I just got a face-full of mummy breath as she hissed and took off.

I looked at Annabeth hopefully. By looking at her, I could tell she was forming a plan. Athena's children always have plans.

Then Mike and Mary opened the door. "Hey Percy, are you, HOLY…"

They ran in fear, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Hold on guys…" But they didn't come back. I didn't expect them too, but I wasn't concerned, I had more important matters on my hands right now. But how did they see Ms. Bushwookie as a Fury? Maybe the Mist made her look like a tiger or something, I don't know. You never can judge how mortals will react to the Mist. The Mist was like a magical veil that hid all mythological items or creatures from mortal eyes. Instead, the mortal saw an illusion, a distorted perspective of the world.

"Foolish half-bloods!" Mrs. Dodds screeched as my friends ran away.

"Half-bloods?" I questioned.

But I didn't think too much about it, and just grabbed a nearby textbook and hurled it at Mrs. Dodds. She dodged, and hissed horribly.

"How dare you attack me? I will banish you to the Underworld and torment you for all eternity!" cursed Mrs. Dodds.

An ice cold shiver ran down my spine. I hate ice cold shivers down my spine.

Annabeth suddenly screamed, "Hey! Eat celestial bronze!"

Mrs. Dodds looked in confusion as Annabeth hurled her bronze knife at the Fury. Unfortunately, she missed, and angered the Fury even more. I looked at Annabeth in amazement. That was her only bronze knife and she was now weaponless.

But, to my surprise, she pulled out another celestial bronze knife. This one seemed new and still had its luster. I'd never seen that knife before, and guessed that she must have gotten it not too long ago.

This fight wasn't going anywhere, so I assumed it was time to bring out the last trick up my sleeve.

I closed my eyes, which I thought was kind of stupid. I made me very vulnerable, but I knew it would be well worth it if my plan worked. I concentrated on the water in the bathrooms. Yeah, I know it seems weird but don't question what I'm doing just yet. I concentrated hard, but I didn't get a wrenching pain in my gut as I sometimes did when I summoned water.

Just then, a surge of water burst through the bathroom doors. I aimed my hands in the direction of Mrs. Dodds and the water shot at her. She was thrown back to the wall by a torrent of water with a great slam, and the glass doors broke at the force of impact.

She fell to the ground with a thud. Looking up, I saw that her eyes had faded slightly, but they lit up immediately in anger. She stood up, dripping wet. She tried flying, but the water had soaked her wings.

I nonchalantly walked up to her, as if I had all the time in the world, while she stood there defenseless. Staring at me in disgust rather than fear, she made a hopeless attempt to escape, but I pinned her up against the wall with my sword.

"One move and I'll shove this through your body," I said boldly.

"Erre es korakas!" she spat. "Go to the crows!"

I always somehow understand Ancient Greek; I guess it's a half-blood thing.

Kill her, I thought to myself. Like the angel and demon in cartoons, my conscience had begun an argument with itself.

Let her go.

But she tried to kill you!

Shut up! She doesn't deserve it. You don't have to kill her.

Finally, I gave in, lowering my sword, and backing away.

The Fury looked at me in amazement. She swallowed down her worry, and stood up straighter, giving me a look, and if looks could kill, I would have been dead on the ground that instant. But then she just disappeared, evaporated even, back to the Underworld.

"That was cool, how you let her go," Annabeth said, picking her other knife up and sheathing it. She blew a stray hair out of her face.

"Well, there's something else," I said.

"Like what?"

"It's what the Fury said that freaked me out. She called my friends half-bloods. Could we have a demigod situation?"

"Well, that would explain why your friends freaked out," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, they must have seen through the Mist."

"Well, we're going to have to go get them before anything else happens."

Annabeth and I ran out the main building and back outside. Hopefully, Mike and Mary haven't gotten too far, or got into even more trouble themselves.