Extra Credit in the Underworld.

Extra Credit in the Underworld.

My friend Bella and I were just trying to pass our sophomore history project, but then everything went totally sideways. We were checking out this swampy creek behind the school that everyone says is cursed. Turns out, it's actually the Lerna swamps, which the ancient Greeks thought were an entrance to the Underworld. I didn’t know what that was before I learned it in Mr. Haven’s class.

"Omg, look at this," Bella said, pointing her phone flashlight at this disgusting, murky water. "The textbook says the Lernaean Hydra used to chill here as a guard dog. It says if you chop off one head, two more grow back. Total boss battle mechanic." "Yeah, and its breath is super super toxic. Like, one sniff and you might be dead." I joked, swatting away a massive bug. Suddenly, the water started straight-up boiling.

A massive, slimy green serpent erupted from the swamp. It didn't just have one head—it had nine, and they were all hissing. "Yeah, and its breath is super, super toxic. Like, one sniff and you might be dead," I joked, swatting away a massive bug. Suddenly, the water started straight-up boiling. A massive, slimy green serpent erupted from the swamp. It didn't just have one head—it had nine, and they were all hissing.

"Oh my god, it's real!" Bella screamed, dropping her backpack. Before we could even run, a bright golden flash blinded us. Hermes, the messenger god, touched down right in front of us. His winged sandals were fluttering super fast, like she was nervous. "Uh, mortals? You need to move. Hera is throwing a massive tantrum on Mount Olympus, and she just let her favorite pet out of the constellation."

Right on cue, a giant crab made of glowing stars—Karkinos—slid out of the mud next to the Hydra and snapped its claws. "I got the crab!" Hermes yelled, pulling out his wand-staff thing to smack it. "You guys handle the Hydra! Where is Heracles when you actually need him?!" "We don't have Heracles, but we have my mom’s camping gear!" I yelled. One of the Hydra heads lunged, shooting a blast of actual fire right at us. The air smelled like rotten eggs and toxic waste.

"Bella! Remember what Heracles's nephew did!" I screamed, dodging a spray of poisonous purple blood that literally melted a rock. "We have to burn the stumps so they don't roll!" Bella grabbed a big stick and a bottle of strong perfume, which I thought was a really strong scent from her bag, and clicked her lighter to make a makeshift blowtorch. "Go for the neck; I'll burn it!"

I grabbed a rusty boat oar from the mud and swung it with all my varsity softball strength, whacking one of the heads clean off. Instantly, two tiny heads started sprouting from the neck like weird pimples. "Now, Bella, now!" Bella blasted the neck with the fiery spray bottle. The flesh sizzled and blackened, and the extra heads stopped growing. The Hydra roared, its other eight heads thrashing around wildly. Just as the monster reared back to blast us with its toxic breath, a massive silver arrow flew through the air, piercing the Hydra's main head. The beast shuddered, collapsed into the mud, and dissolved into glowing blue dust that floated back up into the sky.

Just as the monster reared back to blast us with its toxic breath, a massive silver arrow flew through the air, piercing the Hydra's main head. The beast shuddered, collapsed into the mud, and dissolved into glowing blue dust that floated back up into the sky.We turned around. Standing on a ridge was the goddess Artemis, holding a glowing silver bow. Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god of the dead, was standing right next to her, looking highly annoyed.

"You kids did alright," Artemis said, lowering her bow. "But Hades is complaining about the noise, and Anubis here was helping me track down some rogue underworld escapees." "Yeah, thanks for the help," Bella panted, totally out of breath. "Can we get extra credit for this?" Anubis just blinked his jackal eyes. "No. Go home."

And honestly? We did. We didn't even finish the poster board for the project, but I think our teacher has to give us a passing grade anyway. What Bella and I had expected was crazy; I didn’t know that for Mr.Haven’s class I would experience what I did. Bella and I went to school the next day and told Mr. Haven what we had experienced, and he didn’t believe us at first, but once we showed him the marks the creatures had left on our arms, he finally believed what we had seen and gave us a good grade even when we didn't do the poster board.