Esperanza's POV

I wanted to be friends with Zoë, but it seemed like she did not want to be friends with me! I was very sad when I went to the elephant classroom.

The teacher, Mr. Fulcrock, was very nice, which made me happier. We were doing interesting stuff about 1 and 2 and 3 when I heard a shout, "I will karate-chop you!"

I knew that voice, of course.

"Zoë?" I shouted uncertainly. The other kids, including her brother Luke, looked at me like I was crazy. I did not care.

"C'mon, Luke!" I pulled Luke with me to the door. Mr. Fulcrock was doing something with his phone and did not see us go out the door.

"W-what are you doing, Esperanza?" Luke asked in a small voice. Scaredy-cat.

"We are going to help Zoë." I said firmly.

Zoë stood there face to face with...Mrs. Cherry or something. They looked very mad. Mrs. Cherry had steam coming out of her nose holes.

"Zoë!" I shouted again.

At the sound of my voice Zoë's head turned and she looked at me.

"Espie?" she said.

At that moment, Mrs. Cherry attacked.

"Duck!" Luke shrieked suddenly, in a very loud voice. Mrs. Cherry was shooting green water from her...teeth? But they were sharp.

"I know this creature." Luke whispered. His eyes were big and his face was white. "I read about it. It's called---"

"WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW, LUKE!" Zoë screamed. "Karate-chop Mrs. Fatty!"

Huh. So Mrs. Fatty was her name, not Mrs. Cherry.

We attacked.

Zoë did a high kick at Monster Mrs. Fatty. It hit her in the nose. She shrieked and stepped back. Her nose had gold water coming out. It was nice to watch.

Luke pulled books out of his clothes and threw them at Monster Mrs. Fatty. The books were really heavy and knocked her down. But it was only for a bit before she got back up.

"RAWR!!!" she roared. "PUNY DEMIGODS!!!"

"What's a damigod?" I asked Zoë before I punched Monster Mrs. Fatty again.

Zoë shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe---HELP!!!"

Monster Mrs. Fatty's green water had hit Zoë. She screamed as her right arm, once it touched the green water, started to make a strange sound, SSSST.

"It hurts." she cried.

"NO!!!" I yelled. "GET AWAY FROM MY BESTIE!!! LUKE, HELP ME!!!"

"What's happening?"

10 people suddenly came out at the front door.

Our parents.

Luke's POV

"Daddy, Mommy! You have to help Zoë! She's hurt." I cried.

I didn't want Zoë to die! According to my books, the green water was called poison, and it hurt a lot. A tear escaped from my eye as I looked down at my sister.

"Get back, Luke. Mommy will handle this." Mommy said fiercely as she pulled me to the side. She looked like a goddess, glowing and strong and brave. As I looked up at her, I truly believed Zoë would be safe.

Auntie Calypso, Esperanza's mommy, quickly pulled Esperanza to the side, like me. She cradled Zoë in her arms and whispered something under her breath.

Zoë let out a sigh of relief. Her arm was still smoking, but the poison had stopped spreading.

"Auntie Calypso, Zoë's going to be alright, isn't she?" I looked at her anxiously.

Auntie Calypso smiled wearily at me. "Yes, Luke. Your sister's gonna be fine."

Esperanza and I watched as our parents, aside from Auntie Calypso who was watching us, battle Mrs. Cherub, or at least the monster she was now. I shivered just to think of that horrible green poison, and checked Zoë once more to see if she truly was safe.

It turned out our parents all had powers! Daddy battled the monster with water from the drinking fountains, Mommy used a smart tactic to dodge and attack with a glowing bronze knife, Uncle Jason controlled the winds to make Mrs. Cherub fall over and over again, Aunt Piper used her beauty to confuse Mrs. Cherub into thinking she was on her side, then stabbed her with another bronze knife like Mommy's. Uncle Frank transformed into a bear and attacked Mrs. Cherub savagely, while Aunt Hazel buried her under a pile of gemstones. Then finally Uncle Leo set her on fire and we all watched as somehow, Mrs. Cherub disintegrated into dust.

It was silence for a moment.

Finally Uncle Leo spoke up. "Yeah, baby!" he grinned. "Who killed the monster? I did, that's who! Yup, Flaming McShizzle at your service, hot ladies!"

Auntie Calypso lightly punched his arm. "Stop it, Valdez. Here," she turned to Mommy and gently passed my sister into Mommy's arms.

Mommy smiled wearily at Auntie Calypso. "I'm just so glad that Zoë is all right." she said, looking down at Zoë in her arms.

"Of course, Zoë'll have to take sick leave for her 'food poisoning'." Daddy joked lightly. Mommy glared at him playfully, then turned to me.

"Luke, you go back to class with Esperanza, okay?" she said, bending down to my level. "Don't tell the teachers about this...incident, got it?"

I nodded solemnly. I had a feeling this was a huge secret, even thought I didn't know why.

"Come on, Esperanza." I said, tugging her towards the classroom as we watched our parents go. "We still got school."

"Luke," Esperanza began. I gazed at her questioningly.

"Do-do you think Zoë's gonna be all right?" she asked me.

I was surprised. "Of course she is! She's my sister, and the Zoë I know would never go down without a fight. She recovers quickly."

Esperanza smiled. "Okay." she said, following me to the elephant classroom.

Just then, Jasper poked his head out from the classroom next to ours, the giraffe one.

"What happened?" he asked curiously. "I heard stuff going on. It sounded like Mrs. Cherub."

Esperanza laughed. "We'll explain later."