Okay. I was gonna die here today.

That monstrous hag that should be Mrs. Dodds would agree with me on that.

She-no, it, bared its fangs and spread its wings. She looked even worse with her wings spread. Since I figured I was gonna die anyway, I decided to go out in style.

"Ay hag!" I yelled at… The being that used to be Mrs. Dodds, "you look fucking ugly with your wings spread! Not that you can look worse anyway."

I guess I jinxed myself. Somehow, black, oily feathers erupted across her torso. She looked like a knobby grandmother cosplaying as a chicken with black feathers. She looked absolutely terrifying.

"You should treat your teachers with respect." She screeched, and a talon shot out, pinning me in place, my back to the stele. "Now, you'll you be so kind as to tell me where you put it?"

What? "Put what?"

"The bolt and helm. Where, is it?"

Bolt?

"Own up, now. Or you'll die in three…two…one-"

"Wait, wait! Stop! I don't understand? First, who's Chiron. Secondly, What bolt…oh no."

I watched as she retracted her talons, the tip of it brushing against my face, leaving a thin, angry red line on my cheek. The being that was Mrs. Dodds then reared back and let out a horrid screech so loud it reverberated around the museum.

I gulped.

Then she attacked.

I had no idea how I dodged her. One moment I was in front of her, and then the next I was kneeling behind her, one hand on the floor. The stele had a massive slash across it's front- behind where I was standing moments ago.

Okay, that's bad.

"What ho, Perseas!" a familiar voice behind me called out. I twirled around to find Mr. Brunner racing up to me at high speed, pulling a fountain pen from his chest pocket and tossing it to me. I barely missed the next slash from Mrs. Dodds, her talons tearing my sleeve slightly. I watched in slow motion as the pen flew from Mr. Brunner's hand towards me, and I quickly snatched it out of the air, all whilst rolling to dodge the next slash from Mrs. Dodds. How did I do that? I dunno.

But what was I supposed to do with a fountain pen? Write curses on Mrs. Dodds? Toss ink into her eyes? "Mr. Brunner! How in hell do-woah."

In my hand, the pen Mr. Brunner tossed to me wasn't just a classy-looking fountain pen anymore. It was a full-blown sword-glowing bronze, sharp around the edges, and it looked ancient. It looked cool.

It looked very similar to the one Mr. Brunner welded on tournament days.

But I didn't have time to think about this. Mrs. Dodds swung around to face me, snarling. I could see gooey black drool drip from her fangs, the murderous look in her eyes. And then, I watched as she leapt up the already damaged stele, and launched herself at me, wings spread and talons outstretched. My knees felt like jelly, my heart pounded as my blood filled with adrenaline. I watched in slow-motion as Mrs. Dodds soared towards me, malice in her eyes.

"DIE!"

I swung the sword.

It connected with her arms and torso, slashing clean through. Her eyes widened in surprise as she hissed, then howled. But there was something else odd about her-she didn't bleed. Or rather, she didn't bleed blood. Instead, like a quicksand trap, sand poured out. And then, she imploded into a mist of yellow dust, just in time for the stele behind her implosion point to collapse, smashing into fragments and kicking up more dust.

"ugh what the-cough-" I coughed as the yellow and grey dust coated me. It smelled terrible, and it irritated my nose and eyes. "Ack!" I stumbled back, spluttering and coughing. "What the hell?" I glanced at the place where Mrs. Dodds had…died? I wasn't sure what to call that, but she was definitely gone. At least, for the moment. Only a splatter of yellow dust on the ground was proof that she ever existed. The stele lay in ruins, fragments of it still clinging to the display dais it was stuck onto.

I glanced in awe at the destruction I had…accidentally caused? I didn't know what had occurred. A winged terror that was once Mrs. Dodds trying to kill me, remembered Mr. Brunner's pen turning into a sword-

Wait,

I looked down at my hand, and…the sword was gone. In it"s place was a fountain pen, the same one Mr. Brunner had tossed over to me. Had I been hallucinating? The yellow dust and the ruined stele told me the opposite.

But why was Mrs. Dodds trying to kill me? And…she'd said something about a bolt. And a helm. What was that about? Was I implicated in…something?

But it doesn't matter, not now at least. I'd ruined an artifact and killed…something. It was time I got the hell out of doge.

Staggering down the halls of the museum, I could hear footsteps approaching. It was really time to flee the scene. Looking back once more, I could see the yellow dust slowly dissipating. But I didn't care anymore. I'd be caught sooner or later, and I wished to be free as long as possible.

But first, I had to excuse myself from Grover. And Mr. Brunner.

I staggered out of the museum entrance to a very alarmed Grover. "Percy! What the hell happened?" He asked urgently. "Are you hurt? You got a scratch in your cheek." "It's nothing wrong, I…tripped." I said unconvincingly. "Okay…where's Miss Kerr?"

"Who?"

"Miss Kerr. The maths teacher. She said to follow you into the museum. Where's she gone off to?" Grover asked. "Are you okay, Percy? You don't seem well."

I brushed him off. "I'm fine, Grover. Where's Mr. Brunner?" It probably came out harsher than I intended it to. Grover recoiled from me, worry in his eyes. "If you say so, Percy. I'll…I'll leave you to it." I ignored him and brushed past him, feeling his gaze on my back. I saw Mr. Brunner in the distance, and walked over to him.

"Oi brat! Hope your ass got whooped by Miss Kerr!" Nancy yelled. "Fuck off!" I retorted, before realizing what she said. Miss Kerr. Who the hell is she…? Everyone said "Miss Kerr" was the maths teacher. Wasn't Mrs. Dodds our maths teacher? What the hell?

Well, at least I found solace in the fact that Nancy was soaked to the bone.

"Percy." Mr. Brunner wheeled up to me, a stern look in his eyes. "I believe you have gotten the adequate punishment. Now, I hope you won't cause any more trouble." I opened my mouth, and then closed it, His gaze left my face, and then refocused on my right hand. "I see you have my pen. Thanks for returning it to me." With a jolt, I realized that I was still clutching the fountain pen he had tossed to me tightly. I loosened my grip and held it out for him, where he tentatively plucked it out of my hand, wpied my palm sweat off (oh gods, that must've been disgusting) and the placed it in his chest pocket.

"Now Percy, I trust you have brought your own eating utensils. Don't go causing more trouble now, and I hope you have a good lunch." Without waiting for a response, he turned his back on me, and rolled away. I sighed-was it with relief or exasperation? Either way, I turned on my heels and walked back, dejected, towards the fountain rim and sat down, with my back facing to it. At least I still had a sandwich to enjoy.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed. The air felt wrong, my senses felt sharper, and Grover-and Mr. Brunner- seemed to be worried. About me. What was going on?