Catching Water (Discontinued, rewrite in progress)

The Orthus Needs to Brush it's Teeth

  I had little time to look around, choosing my first move carefully. I held up kýmastono̱keanó, allowing it to send its radiant white light everywhere. It would provide a small distraction, and alert someone that I was being attacked. 

        The Orthus looked at Ocean Wave like it had never a sword before.

        "I don't think so." I say. "Why have you summoned me?" I ask. I turn the sword to the trident, trying to confuse the monster.

        One of the Orthus' heads laughed.

        "To eat you of course, little demigod. Though it was more finding you than summoning you.

        I determined that the Orthus was the type of monster that liked to talk about food. 

        I'd never actually killed a monster without help. When Percy and I fought the Minotaur, I just used accidental magic. Percy killed Medusa. He was the one that had fought the Chimera. Shame courses through me. I'd been so cowardly and hopeless, using my own brother to hide from the fact that I was a demigod. I'd promised myself many times that I wouldn't anymore. I'd been trained to fight monsters, of course, but I was afraid of what I'd become. Now, I'd been taken the moment my guards were down, faced by a huge Greek monster that towered way above me.

        A man, looking to be in his mid-forties, comes around the corner of a small building, staring at the monster, shocked.

        The monster takes my distraction and snaps at my ear. I dodge just in time, the Orthus' rotting teeth missing me by an inch. Siliva sprays everywhere. Later, I'd remember that I'd dropped my trident.

        "Yuck!" I yell. "Did your mom ever teach you how to use toothpaste?"

        The man yells "WHAT SHOULD I DO?"

        "STAY OUT OF THIS!" I yell. The serpent tail of the Orthus spirals from behind me. A plan forms in my mind.

        Somehow, I am able to use the thrashing serpent tail to climb onto the monster's back. 

        "Get out of there!" the man yells. "I'll deal with it!"

        "No!" I yell back to him, wincing as the snake tails fangs graze my ankle. "It's after me, not you!" I concentrate on staying on the monsters back. If he attempted to roll over, I'd be flattened to a pancake. I glance at my spear, and put into action the first idea that comes to mind.

        "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" I yell, hoisting the spear into the air. Too late, the monster looks up. It was a card house in a blender as it disintegrated to yellow monster dust. I jump at the last moment, crumbling down on my wounded ankle. The man rushes over to help.

        "That was incredibly foolish." The man says, "But also incredibly brave. I value bravery."

        I nod, not entirely listening. "Did you summon me here?" I demand, wishing I had a canister of nectar with me. 

        "Summoned you?...." the man trails off, looking at my ankle. "Is that--"

        "Poison." I determine. "The stupid fangs were poisonous. Just my luck."

        "You are a witch, correct?" The man says.

        I glare at him. "I have many secrets, and I'm not one to just go telling people them."

        "Alright, alright." The man says. "I was just going to offer you a place in a school my friends and I just started up."

        "I already go to Hogwarts, thank you." I say.

        The man freezes. "If you did, you'd know who I was."

        "Who are you, then?" I ask. The man seems to stand up straighter, his scarlet robes billowing behind him.

        "I'm Godric Gryffindor, of course." 

        I scoff. "Yeah, and I'm Zeus."

        Thunder rumbles overhead.

        "Why wouldn't I be me?" The man says.

        "Oh, maybe because he died a thousand years ago!" I scowl. Ocean Wave turns back to a necklace, but I do not pocket my wand, pointing it at the man, who was staring at me in shock. 

        "No! Please." He said. "Come with me. I think I can explain what just happened!"

        I raise my eyebrows at him. "Fine, but if I find that you are lying, which I'm 99 percent sure you are..." I gesture to my wand. The man pays no attention to my words. He's already turning away.

        Why had I suddenly left Hogwarts? Had Luke found a way to get me here? I was confused, scared, and angry. I'd been having a very important conversation with my friends regarding the sorcerer's stone, and suddenly, I find myself here. It just doesn't make sense!

        The man claiming to be Gryffindor leads me to a somewhat familiar place. A lake glistens in the distance. A young forest stretches out overhead. And, to my surprise, the beginning structure of a castle is in the middle of these, exactly where Hogwarts would have been. Suddenly, it clicks, and I feel myself grow pale.

        Kronos was the lord of time. Could he have done this?

        "Alright, sir." I say. "I believe you. This is Hogwarts, but not the Hogwarts I have known."

        I put away my wand, which Gryffindor hadn't been very threatened by anyways.

        "You seem to be a very brave person.... Miss ah..."

        I sigh. "I don't think it wise to use my name lightly. Names have power."

        Gryffindor's brow furrows. "At least your last name?"

        "Fine. Rose." I nod as we walk into the entrance, a building that I know that the Transfiguration classroom would eventually be. Now, surprisingly, it's the entrance hall.

        "Lady Hufflepuff." Gryffindor nods to a woman. "I think we have a bit of a situation in our hands."