Poseidon's Academy

by Sarah A Vogler

  Jayden scratched his head. ‘Why would it be pre-programmed into it? Why wouldn’t the spell just be written in Goldarin?’

  ‘Because this wand was meant for humans, and back in the ancient times humans couldn’t read or speak Goldarin.’

  ‘But if it was meant for humans, wouldn’t Hecate have created the wand to respond to English… or Greek—whatever humans spoke then?’ Aaron asked.

  ‘That’s a good question.’ Alec tapped his lip, thoughtful. ‘Maybe the spell was also meant to give the reader the ability to speak Goldarin. But since I already know the language, it getting downloaded into my brain isn’t noticeable to me. Anyway, the point is, we didn’t wake anyone up, we merely awakened the wand’s magic.’

  Hailey thought about it for a second and relaxed too; it was a perfectly logical explanation. Why else would the wand have glowed and vibrated like it was filling with power?

  The gods aren’t coming back. They’re dead.

  ‘Well, in that case, I can’t believe we found a wand!’ Demi gushed, clapping her hands together. ‘We can have anything we want—like a big screen TV, or a—’

  ‘We’re not keeping it,’ Alec said before Demi could finish rattling off her list. ‘We need to give it to Amathia.’

  ‘No.’ Hailey snatched the wand up before anyone could touch it; power shot up her arm like electricity and coursed through her veins. ‘We might get into even more trouble for stealing from a griffin’s nest,’ she explained as four pairs of eyes narrowed at her.

  ‘I’m with, Hails. It would be stupid to give the wand up,’ Aaron said. ‘We could use it to get back at Venus.’

  ‘That’s brilliant. I never even thought of that.’ Demi’s eyes gleamed with amusement as she got lost in whatever plans she was thinking of for tormenting Venus and the twins.

  ‘I don’t agree with revenge.’ Jayden shot Demi and Aaron a censorious glance. ‘But it could help us prevent Venus from bullying Uniques.’

  ‘I don’t know about this,’ Alec said, carefully rolling the scroll back up and fastening it with the string. ‘I really think we should give it to Amathia. And you all remember what happened the last time you didn’t listen to me—we almost died on an island.’ He nestled the scroll back in the gold chest.

  Considering it had only just happened, Hailey remembered it pretty well. But she thought Alec was wrong in this case. She stood up, clutching the wand against her chest. She had a feeling if they took it to Amathia, she’d destroy it.

  And finding a wand was a once in a lifetime kind of thing—or more like once in a million lifetimes. ‘Sorry, Alec, but you’re outvoted,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised you’re so against us keeping it, especially when you were the one who risked going back for the chest. Isn’t this something you’d like to show your dad?’

  ‘Of course it is.’ Alec craned his neck to look up at Hailey. ‘But artefacts like that shouldn’t be kept by one person. They should be put in a museum for everyone to see. And they definitely shouldn’t be used. I think a wand is too powerful to be unleashed on the world.’

  Hailey scoffed. What kind of person gives up a wand, and consequently the chance to have anything they want, so that a bunch of people can ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over it in a museum? Hailey and her friends were the ones who had risked their lives to get it, so it was only fair they should be the ones to keep it.

  Movement on Demi’s side of the dorm caught the corner of Hailey’s eye. Demi saw it, too, and strode to her desk. Her face was ashen when she turned back around grasping a pile of letters. ‘They’re from my parents.’

  Hailey stiffened. Amathia must’ve told their parents about their disappearance. She’d been too tired to even glance at her desk when Madam Grayson had finally finished yelling and let them go to their dorms. But looking over at her desk now, she could see her own pile of letters.

  Her poor mum was probably having a heart attack worrying about where she was. ‘I’ll keep the wand safe until we deal with our parents.’ She drifted towards her chest of drawers to hide the wand.

  Jayden got to his feet with Alec and Aaron. ‘Don’t look so glum, Dems. Just think, our parents can’t ground us while we’re here.’

  ‘That’s right, they can’t punish us until the holidays,’ Aaron agreed. ‘And that’s a whole month and a half away, so maybe they’ll forget all about it.’

  Demi plunked down on her bed, still clutching the letters in her hands. ‘I doubt it. You boys better go face your own letters.’

  ‘I guess it’s better to get it over with,’ Aaron said, raising his shoulders and looking as if he were about to charge into battle. ‘Don’t use that wand until we can find a way to sneak back here,’ he instructed Hailey, and nudged the gold chest under her bed with his foot. ‘Come on, Alec.’

  Alec didn’t move. He stood in the centre of the dorm, staring at the drawer Hailey had hidden the wand in. She stepped in front of it, ready to fight him off if he lunged.

  But Alec didn’t make a move for the wand. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Hailey as if he’d never seen her before. Aaron put a hand on his shoulder and steered him from the dorm.

  The materialisation of another letter, this time on her desk, distracted Hailey from thinking about why Alec was being weird. She trudged over to her desk, where four letters addressed in her mum’s handwriting waited—she could practically feel the tension and panic coming off them. No point delaying the inevitable, she thought with a sigh, sitting down.

  She picked up the letter with the least furious-looking writing and opened it.

  Hailey,

  Where are you? The school says you’ve disappeared, and it’s almost dark.

  I don’t know what to do. They won’t tell me where Poseidon’s Academy is, so I can’t come and look for you myself.

  I hope you’re only lost in the palace. When you get this letter, please write back to me STRAIGHT AWAY!!! Before I have a panic attack, which I’m on the verges of!

  Please be all right!

  Love Mum

  Guilt pulsed through Hailey’s heart as she imagined how distressed her mum would have been when she was told her daughter was missing. She felt even worse when she thought about how much more freaked out her mum would have been after Amathia told her where Hailey had spent the last twenty-four hours.

  She’d probably be grounded for the rest of her life—providing her mum didn’t kill her first.

  The next two letters matched the first one, with her mum pleading for Hailey to tell her where she was and what she should do. Hesitantly, she opened the last one, preparing herself for the disappointment and anger she knew would be waiting inside.

  Hailey,

  The school told me they’ve found you. You have no idea how relieved I am. I was up all night worrying about you. I even went to the beach thinking I might spot the palace.

  Amathia didn’t tell me what happened to you. She said it was best to hear it from you. All she told me was they found you this morning, unharmed, which is all that matters to me.

  As soon as you get this letter, write back to me so I know you’re safe. I’ve got half a mind to pull you from that school for losing you.

  Please write back quickly!

  Love Mum

  ‘What were your letters like?’ Demi asked from her bed, letters and ripped open envelopes scattered around her.

  Hailey twisted in her chair to face her. ‘Mum was just really worried. Amathia didn’t tell her what we did.’

  ‘Yeah, same with my parents.’ Demi sighed. ‘Now I have to tell them about it myself. What am I supposed to say? “Dear Mum and Dad, I went on a rescue mission to an island, which I have decided to dub Killer Island because I almost died about a dozen times.” That’ll go down really well with them.’

  Hailey thought about what she should do. By not telling her mum what had happened, Amathia had given her the perfect opportunity to lie. But she couldn’t bring herself to do that to her mum. Of course Demi had a good point about their
adventure not being something you told someone through a letter.

  ‘I think I’ll just tell my mum I’m okay, and that I’ll tell her what happened when I go home for the holidays. That way she’ll get to yell at me in person—I also like your name for the island,’ Hailey added, thinking Killer Island suited it perfectly, considering how many monsters had attacked them.

  Demi perked up. ‘Great idea, Hails. It’ll delay the freaking out and lecturing.’

  * * *

  Hailey perched on the edge of her bed, staring at the drawer the wand was in. She tapped her fingers against her mattress, resisting the urge to snatch it out. She’d promised not to touch it until Jayden, Alec, and Aaron could sneak back into their dorm.

  But she couldn’t wait.

  She needed to hold it.

  To use its magic.

  She glanced over to make sure Demi, who had decided to take another nap, was still asleep before yanking open the drawer. She sifted through her clothes until she found the wand. Power pulsed into her from the onyx, filling her like electricity, begging her to use it. But what would she use it on? Her eyes landed on the closed window.

  Hailey flicked the wand at the window and said, ‘Open.’

  Nothing happened.

  She flicked the wand again. ‘Open.’

  The window remained shut.

  She smacked her hand against her head. ‘Of course, it only responds to Goldarin. Dazatr.’

  The wand’s moonstone tip glowed, the shades of blue in it shimmering, and the crystal doors flew open.

  Hailey was grateful Amathia had made it compulsory for all first years to study the language of the gods; otherwise, the wand would have been useless to her.

  ‘Hailey? What are you doing? Is that the wand?’

  Hailey reeled around. Demi was awake and sitting up. ‘It’s incredible, Dems.’

  Hailey expected her best friend to leap out of bed, proclaiming it her turn. Instead, she regarded Hailey with the same uneasy look Alec had. ‘Are you feeling okay? You seem kind of… different.’

  Hailey moved towards Demi. The only way she would understand what Hailey was talking about was if she touched the wand. ‘Here. Take it.’ She offered it to her. ‘But you have to speak in Goldarin.’

  ‘Well, I suppose I deserve to have some fun with it. I am the one who stole it after all.’

  The power coursing through Hailey cut off like a switch being flicked when Demi took the wand. She flicked it at her polished coral desk, speaking the Goldarin words to change it from white to purple.

  ‘This is so cool!’ she squealed, changing the desk back. ‘We have to tell the boys.’

  ‘They’re probably in the common room.’

  Demi pocketed the wand, and she and Hailey headed to the common room, where they found Jayden, Alec, and Aaron hiding in one of the corners on the casual half of the room, just behind an armchair.

  ‘We were just discussing how to get back into your dorm,’ Aaron said when Hailey and Demi joined them on the ground, sitting down on the sea-sponge floor cushions.

  ‘What’s with the smile?’ Jayden asked Demi, who was having a hard time containing her glee. ‘Did your parents not give you as much grief as you thought they would?’

  Demi leaned towards the boys. ‘We tried out the wand.’

  ‘You were meant to wait until we were all together,’ Aaron griped, looking annoyed.

  ‘We got tired of waiting,’ Demi said dismissively. ‘Here, it’s your turn.’ She un-pocketed the wand and held it out to him.

  ‘Not here, Demi,’ Jayden snapped. ‘Someone might see.’

  Demi’s eyes gleamed with an idea. ‘Sdarsatnav,’ she said, whirling the wand around the five of them.

  A chill spread through Hailey’s body, like someone had just injected ice water into her veins. ‘Demi, what did you do?’

  Demi grinned. ‘Dah, I made us invisible, so we don’t have to worry about anyone seeing the wand.’

  Alec was horrified. ‘Demi, you shouldn’t be using the wand. We need to give it to Amathia before it hurts someone.’

  ‘Shut up, Alec,’ Aaron said. ‘I want to see if the spell worked.’ He strolled over to a boy heading towards one of the armchairs. ‘Hey, can you see me?’

  The boy turned towards Aaron, frowning. Hailey thought the spell hadn’t worked, but then the boy shrugged and walked off, as if he’d decided he’d been hearing things.

  Aaron moseyed back over to them and sat down. ‘I think it’s safe to say it worked.’ He grabbed the wand off Demi.

  ‘Don’t do it,’ Jayden’s voice admonished.

  Aaron smirked impishly. Hailey followed his gaze to Venus, Nerissa, and Cleo, who were sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, painting their nails.

  ‘Gnarkaei.’

  The sofa the three girls were on vanished, sending them thumping to the floor and spilling their magenta nail polish all over the white pearls. Venus was stunned for a second, and then sprang to her feet, glaring at the laughing first years with eyes of pure fury. ‘That wasn’t funny! If any of you ever use your powers on me again, you’ll regret it!’ She stormed off with the twins.

  Hailey could barely breathe she was laughing so hard.

  ‘Give me that.’ Jayden snatched the wand from Aaron’s hands with a reproachful shake of his head. His eyes widened for a split second before he joined in their laughter. ‘It was pretty funny.’

  Alec was the only serious one now. He was staring at them with such consternation that Hailey wondered if they’d suddenly grown a pair of fangs. ‘There’s something wrong,’ he said. ‘The wand is doing something to you. I’m going to get Amathia.’

  Hailey and Aaron grabbed Alec before he could stand up. The wand was theirs. And no one was going to take it from them.

  ‘I think you need to hold the wand, Alec.’ Demi plucked the wand from Jayden’s hand and shoved it into Alec’s before he could protest.

  Alec stiffened, his breath hitching. ‘You’re right. We can’t give the wand to Amathia. We need to keep it for ourselves.’

  21

  Fun and Games

  The next hour consisted of them arguing about who got to use the wand first, and what they should do with it. In the end, they all agreed they should only use it when they were together, and the best thing to use it for was paying Venus back for all the cruel things she’d done.

  They were in the middle of devising a plan against her when Kora, Tahlia, and Kendra called out their names. Demi swished the wand around to make everyone visible and waved them over.

  Hailey considered telling them about the wand, since they’d been on the island, too, but she didn’t want to share it. And she didn’t know if she could trust them not to tell other people about it.

  The wand needs to be protected by keeping it a secret.

  ‘We’ve got detention,’ Kendra said.

  Hailey sighed along with her friends. Reluctantly, they reported to Madam Grayson in the Monsters and Creatures classroom. ‘Since you like spending time with the sea-horses so much, I think you can spend your first detention cleaning their stable,’ she said, disapproval clear on her face as she marched them out of the classroom.

  Demi reached into her pocket and leaned towards Hailey as they trudged after Madam Grayson down the hallway, towards the stairs. ‘I’ve got the wand. We can use it to help us clean the stable,’ she whispered.

  Hailey was tempted, but a wand being whipped out would raise questions from Kora, Tahlia, and Kendra. She shook her head. ‘Not with them here.’ She jerked her head towards the three girls, who were a few steps in front of them. ‘Don’t worry, the floors are self-cleaning, remember? So we won’t have to shovel horse manure.’

  ‘I need a chocolate sundae,’ Kora announced when they all shuffled into the entryway twenty minutes later, covered in bits of dried seaweed and smelling like salt. ‘Anyone wanna join?’

  ‘Yes, I definitely—’ Demi started.

  ‘No,’ Jayden cut her
off. ‘We’ve got some stuff to do back upstairs.’

  ‘Your loss.’ Kora shrugged and headed between the stairs.

  ‘See you later,’ Tahlia said, following behind her with Kendra.

  Demi rounded on Jayden. ‘What was that? I want a sundae.’

  ‘It can wait,’ Jayden told her.

  ‘Yeah, it’s time for phase one,’ Aaron added.

  ‘Oh, right.’ Demi grinned.

  ‘Looks clear,’ Alec said, scanning the stairs to make sure no one was on their way down.

  Demi whipped out the wand and whirled it around them. ‘Sdarsatnav.’

  Hailey shivered against the icy chill that swarmed her body.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Aaron said, taking the lead up the stairs.

  A sly smile crept over Hailey’s face as she ascended the stairs. Venus had been getting away with making the Uniques’ lives a living Tartarus since the beginning of the year, but Hailey was about to ensure that she didn’t get away with it anymore.

  She and her friends ambled into the common room, where they carefully manoeuvred their way through students, dodging and diving out of the way to avoid running into anyone, before finally making it into the girls’ dorms.

  ‘No one’s screaming, so I guess that means the invisibility spell is working,’ Jayden remarked.

  ‘The wand would never let us down,’ Demi proclaimed, kissing its moonstone tip.

  ‘Come on, let’s find her dorm,’ Hailey said, scanning doors for Venus’s name.

  ‘It’s down here,’ Demi announced a minute later. She was peering at the last door on the right.

  Hailey scurried over to her with the boys and glanced at the name on the door. Apparently, Venus didn’t like the calligraphy everyone else’s names had been inscribed in, because her name, Venus Montgomery, was emblazoned in sparkling blue diamonds.

  ‘Who does she think she is, a princess?’ Aaron muttered under his breath before opening the door.

  Hailey scooted inside, the sugary scent of pink bubble gum engulfing her, and froze. She’d expected Venus to have the same dorm as everyone else: two beds, two desks, two side tables, and two chests of drawers. But thinking about it now, she realised what a ridiculous thought it had been.