Poseidon's Academy Box Set

by Sarah A Vogler

  She paused outside the Ancient History room. Where to now? She had two hallways to choose from. One led towards the stable, and the other she’d never been down before. She decided the latter was a good choice, and snuck down it, continuing to guess her way through a few more hallways until she became completely lost.

  Hailey stared at three new hallways, each identical to one another. ‘This is impossible,’ she declared, throwing her arms up.

  It was stupid to think she could magically find the nereids’ room by guessing. Now she was stuck in some forbidden part of the palace with no idea how to get back to the entryway. At least she had the wand, so she could zap herself back to her dormitory.

  Hailey pulled the wand from her pocket and an idea struck her. ‘I wonder,’ she mused and shrugged, thinking she had nothing to lose. She aimed the wand at the pearl floor. ‘Eidau wat kda kiat nereids.’

  Silver sparkling footprints materialised, leading down the middle hallway. Blue skies, Hailey thought, following the footprints. They led her to a mother-of-pearl door in the deepest parts of the palace.

  She approached the door with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Excitement because she’d found the nereids’ room, and apprehension because the nereids were so close. I’m invisible; they can’t see me, she reminded herself, pressing her ear against the cold mother-of-pearl door.

  Hailey cursed and stepped back. All she could hear was mumbling. She pointed the wand at the door and whispered, ‘Vkaekatr.’

  She leaned her ear against the smooth mother-of-pearl again. This time the nereids’ voices were so clear, it was as if Hailey was standing in the room with them.

  ‘I don’t feel it a wise plan. I believe we should focus our attention elsewhere. You know he won’t be pleased to learn of this when he returns.’

  ‘I agree with Nesso. We should find another way.’

  ‘No, Maera. We must follow through with the plan. It will not be long now.’ Hailey recognised Nemertes’s voice.

  ‘Are you certain it’s worked?’

  ‘Yes, Pherusa, they have it. We must be patient while they learn its purpose,’ Nemertes replied calmly.

  ‘We have been patient for centuries, sister.’

  ‘I know, Nesaea. But we must wait a few more full moons.’

  ‘And then what?’ another voice asked.

  ‘Then we cull the rest, Ligea. Come, let us speak to our sister once more and see if we can sway her towards abolishing this school.’

  Hailey backed away from the door and muttered, ‘Gnarkaei,’ flicking the wand at the footprints.

  The footprints disappeared as Nemertes, accompanied by five other nereids, slithered into the hallway. Hailey stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut. Please stay invisible. Please stay invisible.

  Silence pressed against her, and she imagined Nemertes standing in front of her with the other nereids, each of them wearing matching venomous glares that promised Hailey would never get to tell anyone what she’d heard.

  She couldn’t stand the tension anymore. She scrunched one eye open and exhaled a long breath. The nereids weren’t surrounding her. She whirled around in time to see them disappear down another hallway. Seriously, how do they not make sound when they walk?

  * * *

  ‘Learn its purpose? What is that supposed to mean?’ Aaron asked, leaning against Demi’s bed.

  Hailey shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. But I think it’s clear they’re up to something.’

  ‘Maybe we should tell Amathia,’ Alec suggested.

  Demi rolled her eyes. ‘When are you going to stop with the tell-a-teacher stuff? Haven’t we corrupted that goodie-goodie behaviour out of you yet?’

  Alec blushed. ‘I just think we tend to get into more trouble when we don’t tell a teacher, that’s all.’

  ‘We can’t tell a teacher,’ Jayden argued. ‘That would mean admitting we have the wand. We need to work out what they’re up to ourselves.’

  ‘Jayden’s right,’ Hailey said, feeling pretty certain that Amathia wouldn’t believe she’d “accidentally” overheard the nereids talking. She pulled the wand from her pocket and tossed it to Demi. ‘You’re playing spy tomorrow—but it’s only for spying,’ she added before her best friend could get any ideas, like giving Venus acne.

  Demi dropped the wand into her lap and muttered, ‘Killjoy.’

  ‘I guess you’re right,’ Alec sighed.

  Aaron punched him playfully on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Alec, I won’t let the evil nereids get you.’

  23

  June Holidays

  Hailey’s eyes flew open. She sucked in a breath and shot up in bed, cursing when she headbutted the person looming over her.

  ‘Ouch, Hailey.’

  ‘Vkalike,’ Hailey said, the crystal orb floating beneath the ceiling flaring to life. Demi stood beside her, rubbing her forehead. ‘Sorry. I didn’t realise it was you shaking me,’ Hailey said, tentatively touching her own throbbing head.

  ‘Well, I thought you’d get angry if I woke you up by turning on the light,’ Demi countered, dropping her hand to reveal a red mark above her eyebrow. ‘I’ll remember that’s the safer option next time.’

  ‘So why’d you wake me up? Did you forget to do your Creative Arts homework again?’

  Demi’s face lit up. ‘It’s been a month since we left Killer Island, and it’s midnight. Our neutralising bracelets are off!’

  Hailey glanced at Demi’s bracelet-free wrist and then stared down at her own, where her neutralising bracelet dangled loosely. She shook it off, warmth rushing into her fingertips like the stretching beams of a sun.

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ Demi lingered at the door, staring back at her like Hailey had been touched by a spirit of madness.

  Hailey frowned. ‘What do you mean?’ She suddenly noticed that Demi was dressed in shorts and a singlet. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To use my powers. Dah. Come on, hurry up and get dressed.’

  Hailey quickly threw some clothes on and trailed Demi downstairs. She drifted into the grounds and froze. She’d never been there at night before, and was shocked to find it looked exactly like it did in her nightmare, with fluorescent coral and sea-anemones casting a pink, blue, green, and purple glow over the grounds. Her eyes darted to the sea, and she relaxed when she saw the palace was above water—no sea-monster would be drowning her tonight.

  ‘Hailey, why aren’t you blowing some wind around or something? Don’t you want to use your powers?’ Demi stood under a pearl tree that had tripled in size.

  Hailey pushed away all thoughts of her nightmare. She gazed at the sky and smiled at the sparkling stars, feeling the cold nip of a breeze against her skin. Only a few clouds were hanging around, which she cast away with a swipe of her hand.

  ‘Huh. Look what I found in my pocket.’ Demi was clutching a small silk pouch.

  ‘What is it?’ Hailey asked, moving to get a closer look.

  ‘It’s the bag I stole from the griffin’s nest. I forgot all about it. Let’s see what’s inside.’ Demi pulled the thin tasselled rope tied around the top of the pouch loose and tipped the bag’s contents into her hand.

  Hailey expected something treasurey to fall out—like gold coins or a diamond bracelet. Instead, two gold seeds slipped from the pouch. Hailey frowned. ‘Is that it?’

  Demi shook the bag and then tossed it. ‘Guess so.’ She brushed her fingers over the bean-shaped seeds. ‘I bet they grow something magical—like a jewel tree.’

  ‘Um, Demi, we’re surrounded by jewel trees.’

  ‘Which we’re not allowed to pick from. But if we had one in our backyards, they’d come in pretty handy.’ She placed a seed on the diamond ground and raised her palm over it.

  Hailey leaned forward and waited to see what magical plant would grow.

  But the seed remained a seed.

  Demi frowned. ‘That’s weird. My powers have never not worked before. They’re probably still messed up from the neutralising
bracelet. Let me try again.’ As Demi placed her hand back over the seed, it vanished.

  Hailey blinked. ‘Where’d it go?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Demi stared at the empty ground. ‘It just… disappeared. Maybe it’ll work this time.’ She bent to put the last seed down, but Hailey stopped her.

  ‘Don’t waste it. Maybe it’s not meant to be planted in the ground. We should keep it until we know what to do with it.’

  ‘So you don’t think it was my powers?’ When Hailey shook her head, Demi relaxed and smiled. ‘Good. Because I know I’m one Tartarus of a Demeter, and if this was a normal seed, I’d be able to grow it in a millisecond.’

  ‘Come on, let’s go back to bed before someone catches us.’

  A door creaking open whipped Hailey’s head around, and she ducked to the ground, dragging Demi down with her.

  ‘Wh—’ Demi began.

  Hailey pushed a finger against her own lips and nudged her head behind Demi.

  The nereids were gliding their way from the side of the palace towards the grounds’ edge. They were a good twenty yards from where Hailey and Demi crouched behind a pearl tree.

  Hailey tilted her head, listening for any titbits of conversation, but the nereids walked in silence, not uttering so much as a syllable before leaping into the sea and disappearing.

  ‘This is bad,’ Hailey said, keeping her voice low. The nereids sneaking out in the middle of the night was basically the same as them running around screaming, “We’re up to something, and it’ll probably lead to all of you dying.”

  ‘Should we follow them?’ Demi whispered. ‘I can run and get the wand.’

  The wand probably could give them the power to breathe underwater. ‘Yeah, but—’ Hailey tensed again, crouching even lower.

  Amathia appeared from the side of the palace, tracing the same path to the grounds’ edge her sisters had. She dove into the sea.

  ‘Don’t worry about the wand,’ Hailey said, relieved to know Amathia really was keeping an eye on her sisters.

  ‘Should we tell the boys about this?’

  ‘Not now. Tomorrow.’ She didn’t think it was something they needed to be woken up for, considering they couldn’t do anything except hope Amathia uncovered whatever diabolical plan the nereids were forming.

  * * *

  Demi clutched the wand, looking towards her overflowing suitcase on her bed as if contemplating stuffing it inside. ‘Do we really have to leave it behind?’

  Hailey zipped up her suitcase and straightened to meet Demi’s petulant eyes. ‘Yes.’ She held her hand out. ‘Give it to me.’

  Demi pouted and handed it over.

  Hailey buried it under a pile of jeans in her chest of drawers. ‘Trust me, I’d love to take it and use it to help us with whatever horrible punishments our parents plan to give us when we tell them about Killer Island, but I really think we should only use it to spy on the nereids. Which means we won’t have any use for it while we’re back home.’

  ‘I thought you were over your whole the-wand-is-evil fear.’

  ‘I am. But if we start using it for other stuff, like tormenting Venus, we’ll increase our chances of getting caught, which would mean the wand would get taken from us.’

  ‘Hmmm, I guess that does make sense,’ Demi agreed before turning to finish packing her suitcase.

  It was true that Hailey had taken the wand off probation. They’d been using it to spy on the nereids for the past six weeks, and Hailey hadn’t received any more violent flashes. She still didn’t like the way the wand’s power rushed into her whenever she touched it, but as long as she stayed in control of her own body when she held it, she couldn’t complain.

  But despite the wand’s power, it hadn’t been coming in too handy lately. Aside from the first day Hailey had started spying on the nereids, she hadn’t overheard a single thing of importance. She figured they were probably discussing their plans on their frequent night swims, which was the one place Hailey wouldn’t follow them: A. because swimming in the sea at night freaked her out, and B. because Amathia always tracked the nereids into the water a few minutes later. So Hailey figured it was safe to assume Amathia knew about whatever her sisters were up to at night, and, if it related to killing students, that she’d stop them.

  ‘Ready to go home?’ Demi plunked her suitcase on the floor.

  The June holidays had arrived, which meant Hailey got to go home for three weeks. She couldn’t wait. She was desperate to see her mum again—and to get away from all the palace drama. ‘Yep, I’m ready.’

  They fought their way into the common room, where Madam Grayson, who was holding a wooden box that looked like a mini treasure chest, was handing out travelling necklaces.

  Hailey joined the line, watching the students in front of her put on a necklace and swirl into a smear of colours before vanishing. She couldn’t decide whether to be excited or anxious about going home. She was dying to see her mum again. But at the same time, she’d have to tell her about Killer Island, which wouldn’t end well—her mum would probably be so mad she wouldn’t talk to her for the entire three weeks.

  ‘Here you are,’ Madam Grayson said, handing Hailey a gold travelling necklace. ‘Enjoy your holiday.’

  Time to face the Fates, Hailey thought, slipping the necklace over her head and closing her eyes.

  Her body erupted in tingles as a floating sensation swept through her, making her feel as though she were flying. A few seconds later, her head stilled and she opened her eyes. The common room no longer lingered in front of her, but her familiar blue bedroom.

  Hailey leapt onto her neatly made bed and hugged her pillows. She didn’t care that her mattress felt like a table compared to the sea-sponge one at the Academy. All that mattered was she was home; the one place where she didn’t have to worry about what the nereids were up to, or what deadly situation she’d be thrown into next.

  She was safe here.

  She jumped off her bed when she heard hurried footsteps on the stairs; her mum appeared in the doorframe a second later.

  ‘Hailey!’ Evonee flew towards her, pulling her daughter into a tight hug. ‘I’ve been so worried.’

  Hailey hugged her mum back, inhaling her vanilla and turpentine scent. Tears pricked her eyes, and she hugged her mum tighter, suddenly realising how much she’d missed her.

  A minute passed before they broke apart, Evonee’s paint-smeared overalls leaving green, blue, and yellow paint blotches on Hailey’s jeans and jumper. Evonee fixed her gaze on Hailey’s. ‘What happened?’

  Hailey gulped. She had no idea how to tell her mum about stealing sea-horses to go to an island, or entering a deadly forest, without completely freaking her out. One thing was for sure: she wasn’t telling her about her run-ins with Scylla, the knoxen, or the griffin, because her mum would never let her out of her sight again if she did, which meant no more Poseidon’s Academy.

  ‘Maybe you should sit down.’

  Evonee bit her lip. ‘I’m not going to like this, am I?’

  ‘Please sit down,’ Hailey said, her stomach feeling queasier by the second.

  Evonee took a deep breath before perching on Hailey’s bed. ‘Okay, tell me.’

  ‘Please don’t freak out… You see, there was this girl, Kendra, who’s an Artemis. I caught her borrowing one of Poseidon’s sea-horses so she could go to a nearby island and spend time with some animals,’ Hailey explained, deciding to put a big focus on how the whole thing had been a rescue mission and not her going for a joy ride. ‘I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t, and she left. I know I should have gone to a teacher after that, but I was afraid they’d expel Kendra, so I… um… kind of went to Kille—to the island with Demi, Jayden, and some of my other friends to rescue her. And we… ah… lost track of time and had to spend the night there.’ Hailey sped through the last part of the story and leaned away from her mum, anticipating an explosion of anger.

  But there wasn’t one.

  Hailey frowned at her
mum. She’d completely blanched. Her blue eyes were focused on Hailey, but they looked distant, like her mum was somewhere else. Hailey dared to lean back towards her. ‘Mum? Are you okay?’

  Evonee continued to stare, unblinkingly, as if her brain had shut down.

  ‘Mum, I’m sorry for what I did. But I’m all right.’

  Evonee didn’t stir.

  As much as Hailey appreciated not being yelled at, the silence was worse. It made her uneasy not knowing what her mum was going to do. ‘Please say something.’

  A light flicked back on in Evonee and she lurched up. ‘What were you thinking? I can’t believe you would be so stupid as to go to an island. Anything could have happened. You could have been killed!’

  ‘I’m really sorry, Mum. I should have told a teacher about Kendra leaving. But I felt responsible for letting her go.’

  ‘That doesn’t make it right, Hailey. I can’t believe you did this.’ She rubbed her temples. ‘Maybe it was a mistake sending you to that school.’

  ‘No!’ Hailey’s voice was desperate. ‘Please don’t take me out of Poseidon’s Academy. I love it there.’

  Yes, the palace came with constant drama, but she couldn’t imagine attending school anywhere else. She’d die of boredom if she was taught Ancient History by a teacher who had only read about it in books. And she couldn’t simply abandon the other students there to the likes of the nereids.

  Hailey watched her mum with dreaded anticipation as she paced towards the window, staring out at the rows of houses. She lingered there for a good few minutes before turning back around. ‘I’ll let you go back, but only if you promise never to do anything so stupid again.’

  ‘I promise.’

  Evonee walked back to Hailey and hugged her. ‘You’re so lucky to be alive. Please don’t ever make me worry like that again. You’re all I have left.’

  24

  Jail Break

  Hailey materialised outside Demi’s house in a swirl of colours, the floral scent of perfume engulfing her the second she arrived. Red, yellow, pink, and purple tulips bloomed in Demi’s front yard, alongside pansies, snapdragons, chrysanthemums, and periwinkles; and jasmine climbed over the house, almost completely covering up its brick exterior. Hailey pulled off her bronze travelling necklace, tucking it into her jacket pocket, before knocking on the door.