I don't know what other people saw, but I saw it. Mrs. Pip wasn't a teacher, she was a Monster! But what monster? Was it my mind playing tricks on me? I pondered this when suddenly I heard a scream. Then all the tension in the room exploded. People were yelling, screaming, crying. I was shocked of course but what brought this on? Then I remembered the Mythology unit last year. Wasn't the monster I saw Medusa? I was afraid to look up all of a sudden. The lights flickered back on. I heard an object crash. Stone… I saw a gray flash before me before it landed with a thump. I stared for a while at the persons glazed face expression. I turned away from Mrs. Pip and started looking for a mirror or something. I found a bronze plate from the corner of the room and slowly held it up until Mrs. Pip was in view. Her hair was hissing and her eyes were big. I saw the red pupils and started feeling goose bumps appear on my neck. She hissed at something and another gray figure crashed. Then Medusa/Mrs. Pip just sat there. She wasn't moving. Then a wave of light appeared, blinding me for half a second, and a Woman stood where Medusa was. I stared at her features through the bronze trying to figure out who this person was. The woman spoke, "Hello Daughter. I do think you recognize me don't you?" Her hands held a tiny box the size of a chestnut. It clicked in my brain. I said causally, "Are you Pandora?" Pandora smiled, but it wasn't nice… more forced. "I bet you wondered what happened to your classmates. I had to eliminate them so I called my friend Medusa." Something was wrong with the way she spoke and looked. "Ever since that wretched man Zeus gave me that ugly box, I turned it against him." I frowned and replied, "What do you mean? Zeus? They aren't real… “I was hesitant at the end. Pandora laughed and said, “My, My, my, we have a lot of work to do. I’ll send Hades to help you." Pandora disappeared just like that leaving me staring at the blank chalkboard. I looked around. All the students were stone and were broken at my feet. I stared for a while. I bent down and touched a girls arm. It flickered for a moment and turned to stone again. Confused, I did it again but kept my hand there. It slowly spread warmth across this student. I saw her eyes flicker open and then helped her up. I racked my brain trying to remember this girl’s name. Nina. That's it. I asked her," Hey Nina… Um did you see anything there?" Nina replied, rubbing her eyes, "You, you don't know?"
"What do you mean?"
"The Greek gods are true. They are alive watching us. Everyone here is born from a descendant of a God. I'm the daughter of Zythos."
"So… I'm a daughter of Pandora? She said Zeus was… "
"I know. Pandora held a grudge against Zeus. Ares gave her the ability to be unforgiving. You see how that turned out."
I started turning everyone back into humans. They all told me their moms or dads and showed some pity when I replied that I was a daughter of Pandora. Nina led me to a room I had never seen in the School before and stepped in front of the door. A hidden eye-scanner scanned her face for a second and then the door opened with a loud creaking noise. A huge plume of dust slapped my face as we stepped into the damp, cobweb full room. There were blueprints and drawings on the wall and Greek sculptures here and there. I saw quite a lot of demigods, squeezed in the tight space. I asked, "Nina, how come it’s so crowded?" Nina looked at me and answered slowly, "Pandora doesn’t try to capture you... but we had more numbers than this." After that I didn't speak very much. Lots of the demigods here said they knew Pandora and helped me fix the broken pieces.

Pandora used to be a beautiful princess inside and out. She lived happily with her husband, Epitheus. Zeus gave Pandora the gift of extreme curiosity and used this as revenge against Prometheus (the guy who made humans). Zeus gave a box filled with bad things and told not to open it to Pandora. Pandora of course tried to listen but the extreme curiosity won out and Pandora opened the box. Blasts of bad things exploded from the box leaving out the window and into the world of mortals. Pandora was of course frightened but found the strength to peer into the box again. Inside was a white butterfly imprisoned inside. It whispered, "Please Pandora. Free me. I am Hope." Pandora of course was confused but later on she did let it out and the world had hope… Until Pandora captured it and used it to her own will. She forced it to let all the bad guys roam free and used it to frighten and capture demigods. To make demigods lose hope of surviving. We were now in a full scale attack against Pandora. The demigods told me that I was there only hope of surviving. I was lost. Where did I come in all of this? It was scary all right. Nina stated that (after reading a “Demigods for Dummies”) I had powered to bring back people from stone and to fully change disguises. That caught my attention. I though in my brain, Ok… Gray hair, Blue eyes, a cane, and some old shoes. When I opened my eyes, I was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, I could see out of the corner of my eyes some gray bouncy hair, and I had a baseball bat in my hand. Nina started to laugh. A girl next to me introduced herself as Pam. Pam told me that I should concentrate more and focus more on the disguise and forget whatever else I am thinking about. So I thought, Ok then, Pink skirt, Hazel eyes, Blond straight hair flowing across my back, and some really big high heels. When I opened my eyes the second time, I got the look I was trying to achieve. Everyone clapped and then got back to making something. I changed back to my regular self and tapped on Pam.
"Hey Pam? What are you guys doing?"
"Oh… You don't know? Nina should have told you!"
"Oh that's ok but what are you making?"
"We are trying to make a battle plan that will capture the very essence of Pandora!!"
"Will it work?"
"We don't know yet."
"Ok, how can I help?"
"Um… I don't know… Why don't you ask Bobby? He's the main thinker here."
"Ok. Thanks."
"No problem"
So I went to Bobby. Bobby had really bright hair and he was kind of short. He wore glasses and twitched his nose a lot. When I asked him if I could help, he told me all about the War Plan and I got to say, my eyes glazed over. It was so boring and Bobby explained it to the very last thought. I managed to escape by saying I had to go to the bathroom and rushed away to Nina. I was still pretty confused though with all these turn of events. I decided to clear my head in my room. I said bye to all my new friends and checked the clock. It said 1:30 pm. The last time I checked it was 1:30 pm. They must have frozen time. No wonder teachers weren’t outside of classrooms. I walked all the way home. By the time I got home I was so tired and sweaty I just collapsed unto the coach. I went upstairs after some time and picked up a sheet of paper along the way. I heard the garage door opening and went a little faster up the stairs. My babysitter was home. She came home every day at 8:00p.m. Sharp. The only language she spoke to me was in Spanish. I literally learned Spanish all because of her. Her name was Stacy. Whenever I asked her where my real parents were, she always responded, “No comprendo." Which means I do not understand. I started at the blank page wondering where to start. My mind was elsewhere and the sudden scream downstairs brought me back to my senses. I dropped everything and ran downstairs wondering why Stacy screamed. When I got downstairs to the living room, I saw a stone statue of my bony Babysitter. No one else was in view. I immediately went to a kitchen drawer and looked for a mirror. Stacy kept one everywhere (as if her reflection was legendary). I finally found a pink rimed mirror and slowly started backing away searching for Medusa or Pandora. Instead I see a Man. Dressed in simple black pants and a black, crisp, full sleeve t-shirt. He had black hair…. More than black, it was like midnight but even darker. His skin was as pale as the moon and when you looked at his eyes, his eyes were calling you to a sleep which you knew you wouldn't wake up. I shook off the scary feeling and turned around. Now being face to face, I could see a thin scar running along his neck. This man also had a light glow around him… like a god. It hit me. "You're Hades." I whisper. I don't know why but I felt as if the world wanted me to be quiet. As quiet as a mouse. Hades just looked at me and got up. He towered higher than any man I had ever seen. He said in a deep voice, “Come then Pandora's child. You shall follow me outside and tell me if you think Gods are real or not." I trudged behind him wondering if this was his move to kill me though I thought against it. I mean surely Pandora provides me with a little bit of protection right? Hades stopped abruptly and I almost ran into him. He kept staring ahead. I leaned to the right and gasped at what I saw. It was a 3 headed dog! It must be Cyberus from the myths! But isn't Cyberus so much bigger than this? I mean he wasn't any bigger than a tiny puppy! In fact, Cyberus looked completely harmless. I don't know why but I felt a sudden urge to go pet the dog.

By now Hades was angry and started yelling in Ancient Greek. I couldn't understand him because the only language I knew other than English was Spanish but something strange happened. It was like an old memory waiting for its turn to surface in my brain. I could understand every single word he was saying! I also realized he wasn't yelling at Cyberus, he was yelling at… a girl named Jenny? Then I saw a little girl peek out behind a maple tree. She couldn't be any older than 7 and was wearing a leaf dress… Or at least a nature dress. She had Auburn hair and you could tell she had tears in her eyes. I felt very sorry for the girl. She looked as if she was about to wail. I (of course) opened my big mouth and yelled at Hades to be quiet and stop yelling at the girl. It was the wrong move. Hades became still. He turned and whispered, "You think that’s a little girl? She is a nymph. They steal hearts and don't listen to whatever you say. I told her not to bring Cyberus along and LOOK WHAT SHE DID!" His voice had risen to a shout. I asked in a level tone, "What's so bad about Cyberus?"
"He grows."
"So? All dogs grow!"
"Cyberus grows big. He's the GUARDIAN of the Underworld! That means the souls are escaping! I better go Pandora's child. Learn to watch your tongue with a God."
Hades vanished into a thin wisp of air. I had trouble breathing, the air had shot down to at least 14 degrees. The little girl was quietly petting Cyberus who was whimpering. I kneeled down and asked if her name was Jenny. Jenny said an answer so soft I had to point my ear to her voice. She murmured a Yes and asked for my name. I replied Sharon and then she looked confused for a second. As if she was remembering a past memory. She shook her head and ran off fast as lightning. Cyberus whimpered and trotted over to where I was standing. It sat obediently and watched me as I thought of what to do next. When I decided to go inside again, Stacy had become flesh and blood and was waiting for me… drumming, drumming, and drumming her fingers on the table. Cyberus kept close right behind me which caused Stacy to go berserk. She yelled in Spanish how she despised dogs and pets alike. I just ignored her and ran into my room. I curled up on to my bed and stroked Cyberus's three heads as I fell to a horrible sleep. When I woke up, I heard raindrops pattering the window. Quiet yet loud at the same time. It was comforting for a while. As I scanned the room, Cyberus was gone. Probably went to Hades. I did notice another new object though. It was a note. It read, “Meet me downstairs.” I slowly tip-toed downstairs. Stacy had gone home but another person was sitting there. It was a woman. With black strings of curly hair rolling down her back. Her eyes were a sharp gray color kind of like storm clouds. She was wearing plain jeans with a long black and blue checkered sweater. She had a light glow to her like Hades… was this another god? The woman spoke first and said, “Hello Sharon. I guess you want to know who I am." There was a slight amused face she had kind of like "You are impeccably dumb". I feebly answered a yes. She rose to full height (a good foot or so higher than me) and said in a bold voice, "I am Athena, goddess of learning and wisdom. Pandora sent me here saying you needed wisdom at the moment after Hades failed her." I just stared blankly at her. She had a motherly tone, but way more strict. Now that I was closer, her hair had gray steaks on some of the curls. Athena stared at me and noticing my blank face, she said in a more impatient, slower talk, "I…am…going…to…teach…you…about…Greek….gods…and…goddesses." It was like I couldn't find my voice when I was around Athena. Hades made me feels angry. Athena made me feel speechless. What's next?

Athena pulled out a chalk board-the old fashioned ones- and wrote some stuff on it in ancient Greek. Then she glanced at me and erased it and in return wrote in English. I was hating Athena more and more. It wasn't that she was mean or said anything mean but she acted like she was better than me. I didn't like that. I liked to be equal or normal. Athena wrote on the old-fashioned chalk board in a hastily "I am rushed" way and then explained it to me. She told about the Greek god and goddesses starting from Zeus and slowly going down to gods and goddesses like Iris, the Rainbow goddess. Go figure. Even though there was a lot of proof and evidence that Greek legends and myths existed, I didn't believe in them. It was way too much baloney mixed with mustard to figure out. My brain was a plate of swirled brain cells eaten by Greek myths. Soon Athena packed up her tiny, magical purse that fit a chalkboard in it, and she also was carrying a small owl chain. The clip part that helps you fasten it onto your neck was broken. I eyed it suspiciously but then temptation won out.
"Hey, um, Athena?"
"Ma'am"
"Um... Ma'am? I can fix that necklace for you."
"… No you can't. No one can. Not even Hermes can."
"But... I can help!"
"Why are you talking back? Where are your manners?"
"I…I never learned them. No one taught me."
Athena was silent for a long time. Then she finally said, "What did Pandora say when she first met you?"
“She said that Hades would help me understand and then she walked away.” I replied.
Athena stood there for what seemed like an eternity. Then she said, “Follow me Sharon. We have work to do.”
Athena walked off in a briskly fashion and I struggled to keep her pace. She went outside the door and still kept walking. I had to jog to catch up. The wind was blowing angrily as if it understood it was almost the end of fall. Finally Athena stopped about a block away from my house. She turned and looked at me with a gleam in her eye. Athena said, “I’m taking you to Zeus.”

The trip to Mt. Olympus was a scary and fun ride. Athena turned into an owl but then realized I can’t fly so she turned back to human form and whistled. A beautiful girl appeared with rainbow hair and Multi-colored eyes. She took one look at Athena and then disappeared and a rainbow Greek style chariot took her place. Athena got on and gestured me to follow. The minute I got on the world became fractured. Then a blast of rainbow hit my face. I saw the rainbow lady beside me checking twitter and Athena had her eyes open and calculating. After about 5 minutes, we were there. The mountain went sky high. Little thunder bolts floated around. Athena went close to the mountain and pressed her hand on the keypad. An automatic voice said in an even tone, “Welcome Athena, Goddess of wisdom.” Athena muttered under her breath something about everyone knows that and then a blast of air pushed us up to the top. I expected my ears to pop but strangely they didn’t. We soon reached the edge and stepped off. A man was standing there. He had blue eyes, almost like electricity, and had gray hair and beard flowing down his back. He was muscular but looked like he didn’t go to the gym that much. This must have been Zeus. At his side was another lady. With an evil gleam in her eye. Pandora. She was leaning away from Zeus like Zeus was a poisonous insect. Zeus on the other hand looked like he was enjoying himself. Athena glanced quickly at Zeus and scowled at Pandora. Pandora faked a shocked expression and ran off into the room, laughing silently. Zeus made some way and let us in. Some magical chairs floated around and placed its self-right next to me. I sat down and Athena did the same. All this time the room had been quiet. Not a peep. Then Zeus said in a bold voice, “So what brings you here with that little girl Athena?”
Athena replied,” Well first get Artemis here now.”
“Well she isn’t free right now so-“
“Now.”
“Alright, alright. ARTEMIS!”
Artemis came in running as if she was in a marathon. She had a silver bow strapped to her side. Her hair bouncing in the wind. Her eyes were silver and blue sort of. You could tell Artemis was related to Zeus. Athena said in a steely voice, “Artemis… You haven’t done your job well.”
“What? Yes I have Athena! I shot a bear yesterday!”
“What about your other job?”
“What?”
“You left Sharon all alone for the past 12 years and you still deny it?”
“Wha-What? I would never do such a thing!”
Artemis’s face had darkened. Her eyes large but irises small. Pandora was standing in the back quietly laughing her head off again. I felt bad for Artemis. Even if she never took care of me, it was probably Pandora’s fault.

After an intense argument, Athena won. Artemis was punished by taking me wherever she goes and to protect me till I am 77 years old. Don’t ask why 77 because I don’t know. Maybe an unlucky number. I didn’t want to follow Artemis 24/7 so I asked for a compromise with Athena. She said I don’t have to follow Artemis… She has to follow me. Pandora on the other hand, did not get punished which made me sort of angry. Zeus said it wasn’t anyone’s fault and was a “simple mistake” but you could tell he just wanted to go eat something and relax on the plush, red coach. Athena disappeared in a gray flourish leaving me with Artemis. Artemis looked at me and quietly said, “Go on. I have to follow you for a while.”

As I walked slowly to the door and a slow gentle wind picked me up and dropped me to my feet. Artemis was already at my side. Artemis suddenly asked while we were walking, “Did you really stay home alone for 12 years?”
“Yeah, I guess. I never remembered Pandora as my Mom. But somehow in the back of my mind… I knew gods and goddesses were real.”
“So, I guess you are part of the... What do you call it? Oh right. The anti-Pandora thing right?”
“I guess so...”
“You don’t sound too sure.”
“I am.”
“Ok then.”

My mind was so muddled, it was like a fork has spun my brain into noodles. I was walking very randomly and not exactly looking for where I was going. Soon I almost slammed into a sign if Artemis hadn’t pulled me back. The sign pointed to a place called Fortune at your hand. I went inside to find a very, very, very old lady with wrinkles over top of wrinkles. Her hair-or used to be hair -was stringy and stuck to her face. Her eyes… I wasn’t prepared for them. They were a milky white. Scary and haunting. To tell you that your fortune is not always good. The old woman gestured me to sit down. Then a green mist escaped her mouth and went through one of my ears. It whispered in a raspy voice, “What do you seek Pandora’s child?” I replied in a steady voice surprisingly. I said, “I want to know if Pandora will be defeated and hope will arise.” The woman cocked her head and then stood up with a VERY quiet sound she said, “A goddess shall capture Pandora, a demigod shall unlock hope, one will turn evil, another will leave. The end of time will come soon, if you don’t stay alive.”

Then the woman was gone. Artemis said that this line was a prophecy meaning it was the future but in a riddle. I stared quietly ahead, my mind racing faster than my pace. A goddess shall capture Pandora… That might be Artemis. The part when it comes to one will turn evil, one will leave bothered me. Could it be me? Nina maybe? I decided to head to school first. Nina said the Demigod-meetings ran 24/7 so when I entered the school building, demigods were running everywhere. Scrambling with papers and machine parts. I instantly spot out Nina who was wearing a bright red, long sleeved, dress. I called out for Nina and ran to her side. When Nina turned she screamed.

Nina screamed and everyone froze. Artemis was the only one with a bow ready in her hands though. Nina suddenly stopped and said in an excited, not-so-hushed voice, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You brought a God to our side?! WE WILL WIN!!”
Artemis just frowned and said, “I’m a goddess dear.”
Nina just smiled. The day passed by pretty much by Artemis, Nina, Pam, and me talking over battle ideas. Artemis said Athena was probably on our side due to the fact they hate Pandora. Next we started out the plan. We would put some bait and wait for Pandora. When she gets there, all fury is loose. We all agreed it was a good plan except… what were we going to use as bait? Then all eyes fell on me. I started to back away but they already were holding some sacrifices I would make. I sighed and walked to the sacrifice burner. Nina and Pam placed food and toys behind me so I could easily bend down and pick it up. I took a deep breath and put some juicy strawberries first inside. I prayed,” Pandora, Pandora, please help me? I need you to come down here and help me! “The fire burst in to a blue flame and then a voice answered, “Well daughter, what do you need?”

I replied back, “I need some hope! I need it to understand that Zeus is bad!” The voice said in a bored tone, “Fine. But only for you Sharon. “
And then a whirl of flowers brought Pandora standing to the side of me. I turned and held out my hands. This was our secret signal. BOOM! The guns roared. Cannons springing to life. Artemis howled and using catlike strength stepped in front of me. Pandora looked around and then said treachery out loud. She lifted her arms. On each side armies came out with baring teeth and deadly weapons. We were against twice the size of our army. But we charged anyway. CLASH, and BANG were all the sounds I could hear. While the fighting was going on, it was my job to unlock hope. I saw a flash of black and to my surprise, I saw Jenny. I had completely forgotten about her in my haste to defeat Pandora. I ran around for a while to find Hope and realized Pandora had hidden Hope in a miniature, girly purse. I gave another signal and Artemis unleashed full power on Pandora… It wasn’t enough. But then a flash of gray and feathers came beside Artemis and unleashed her power as well. Athena. I couldn’t have been happier to see her. While the 2 goddesses were fighting Pandora head on, I ducked and jumped over to Pandora’s back. I slashed the purse’s handle and it fell to the floor. I reached down but then felt a searing pain in my leg. I looked down and see blood. I take the purse and hurl it at the direction of the knife thrower. My leg is on fire. I ran as fast as I dare in to the building. I run to the nurse’s office and rummage for a bandage. Anything really. I find a white butterfly clung to my wound. It slowly is beginning to heal the longer the white butterfly is on it. I slowly find that the wound is gone. The butterfly flew out and I soon hear the CLASH and BANG stop. Not a sound comes from outside. I slowly limp outside and see the butterfly as sucked in all the wounds and bad guys, leaving Artemis, Athena, Pandora and all the demigods. Soon Artemis and Athena took a struggling Pandora to Olympus leaving us to clean up. Soon everything is clean and we are all cheerful. But then I realized someone was missing. Nina. “Where’s Nina?!” I yell, my breath rate going faster and faster. Artemis tensed and her eyes turned in a menacing fashion.

The prophecy. One will disappear. I immediately looked up and saw Pam, holding hope, with a too familiar evil grin. Pandora had taken over Pam. Athena had appeared at my side and was getting ready to fight. I held my hand and said, “Don’t. This is Pandora in Pam’s head.”
Artemis suddenly said, “I know! We can ask my annoying brother to free Pam and banish Pandora for good!”
Artemis vanished to get her brother Apollo leaving us to try to capture Pam before she escaped. Pam put up a very good fight but eventually we had her pinned down and were trying to keep it that way. Artemis came and brought a God with her. Apollo had sandy hair and had a flashy, too bright, smile. His only resemblance with Artemis was the eyes. In a slightly British accent, he said, “Well, I guess Pandora had her fun. Now it’s my turn.”
He held up his hand and murmured something I couldn’t quite catch. The struggling Pam slowly stopped moving until she completely stopped. A wisp of air came out of her mouth and it screamed,





“I’LL BE BACK, AND WHEN I AM, I’LL GET MY REVENGE”