Hailey pulled the wand from her pocket. No, you must keep it a secret. Protect it! She dropped it on Amathia’s desk, feeling the wand’s hold over her shatter like the memory of her dad dying had in the Underworld, and sank back on her chair. Aaron placed the gold chest beside it.
‘I’m relieved you are all all right,’ Amathia said, not showing the slightest surprise at the objects now sitting on her desk. ‘I believe I know where you have been, judging by the wand, but I would like to hear it from you.’
Demi blurted out the entire story: how they’d found the wand, how they’d read a spell, and how they’d ended up in the Underworld.
Hailey expected Amathia to show some shock when Demi told her about Hades and Persephone being back, but she simply nodded, as though she’d already worked that part out.
‘You have, once again, been on an adventure worthy of Homer,’ Amathia said when Demi finished her story. ‘It was wise to erase the captives’ memories so they will never remember their ordeal. And I also believe the world would rather remain ignorant of how near they came to the prophecy being fulfilled.’ Amathia’s eyes were regretful as she surveyed them. ‘I’m sorry for what you have been through. It is much more than any one person should have to endure, let alone children—I mean teenagers.’
‘It was all your sisters’ plan,’ Aaron said, anger radiating from him. ‘We heard them talking about Poseidon coming back, and we didn’t know what they meant by it until we were in the Underworld and saw Hades. Then we realised they’d known about the wand and us reading the spell the whole time.’
Amathia trailed a finger over the blue glass teardrop hanging from her neck. ‘Yes, I know all about what my sisters have been up to, and I assure you I have had words with them.’
‘Words!’ Demi cried in outrage. ‘They tried to wake up the gods—and kill us! They deserve to be kicked into the sea!’
‘I understand your frustration with them,’ Amathia replied in an even tone. ‘But Poseidon’s palace is as much their home as it is mine. I cannot force them out.’
What?! Hailey leaned her hands on the desk, careful not to touch the wand. ‘Amathia, I don’t want to be rude, but your sisters will try something like this again if you let them stay.’
‘I promise you, they won’t. If they had the means to awaken the gods in another way, they would have done so by now.’
‘Maybe that’s true, but what about their plan to kill off all the students and teachers in the palace?’ Aaron asked.
Amathia was only stunned for a second. ‘I don’t know how you learned of Nemertes’s threats, but I promise you they are empty. Nemertes is not—what’s that expression you humans sometimes use?—Ah, I remember... Nemertes is not one to get her hands dirty, nor are my other sisters. She has blustered about purging this palace of students and teachers since I first opened the Academy, but she has never taken action. All the same, I do keep a close eye on my sisters to ensure they don’t harm anyone. I will admit, I did let this duty of mine lax slightly this year, and, as a consequence, you five were harmed. But I will not let them out of my sight again.’ Amathia picked up the wand. ‘I will have to destroy it so nothing like this can occur again.’
Hailey’s fingers itched for her to snatch the wand back. She fisted her hands and pinned them to her sides. ‘Are we expelled now?’
‘Of course not. None of this was your fault.’
Um, what? Amathia was letting them off the hook again?
‘Wasn’t everything our fault?’ Alec countered. ‘I read the spell that woke up two gods and the Erinyes, and we kept the wand a secret from you.’
Amathia placed the wand back on her desk, splaying her fingers over the top of it, as if holding it down. ‘Wands are immensely powerful—especially Hecate’s—they are infused with so much magic that it grants them life. A life they protect by casting a spell over everyone who touches them to never reveal their existence to anyone who would seek to destroy them.’ Amathia tapped her fingers on the wand. ‘As I’m a spirit, I’m immune to the wand’s power, but the five of you were not. The wand used its magic to coerce you to do its bidding.’
Hailey didn’t know what to be more shocked about: that Amathia wasn’t expelling them or that the wand had basically possessed them.
‘There is one thing I would ask you to do,’ Amathia said. ‘I believe it wise not to tell anyone where you have been, as it will only serve to create a mass panic.’
Hailey could see it now. If she told the other students about her time in the Underworld, they would tell their parents, who would then tell their friends, and pretty soon the entire world would know some of the gods still lived. People would be terrified of the prophecy coming true, and that would mean everyone would look to Hailey to do something. No way did she want that.
‘What do we tell them instead?’ Hailey asked.
‘That you snuck into a forbidden part of the palace and wandered into a room that traps all who enter it.’
Alec leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. ‘Is there really a room like that here?’
‘What about Alec’s powers?’ Aaron asked before Amathia could answer. ‘He could’ve walked through the door and gotten help.’
‘Not if he were wearing a neutralising bracelet,’ Amathia contradicted.
Demi crossed her arms. ‘That’s kind of boring. Could we tell people we got trapped in a room with a monster and had to kill it instead?’
‘Your version is fine,’ Jayden cut in, shooting Demi a chiding look.
‘Yeah, we’ll tell everyone what you said,’ Hailey agreed.
‘Thank you.’ Amathia bowed her head.
Epilogue
THE MISSING 718 REMAIN CLUELESS
One month has passed since the missing 718 returned home with no memory as to who kidnapped them or where they were being kept. Hecates have been working extensively with the missing 718 to restore their memories, but, as yet, no potion they have brewed has worked. While police are assuring everyone that they are continuing their investigation into the kidnappings, it doesn’t look promising that the world will ever learn the mystery of who kidnapped the missing 718 and why.
Good, Hailey thought, tossing the newspaper onto her clamshell nightstand. If the Hecates hadn’t worked out how to restore the prisoners’ memories by now, then they probably never would, which meant no one, besides her, her friends, and a few teachers, would ever know the truth about the Underworld and the gods.
‘This is impossible.’ Demi was wrestling with the zipper on her suitcase.
‘You’d probably be able to shut it if you folded everything up instead of shoving it all in,’ Hailey remarked, stacking a pile of clothes into her own suitcase, which was open on her bed.
‘Too late for that now.’ Demi plunked down on her suitcase lid and zipped it closed. ‘Yes,’ she cheered.
Hailey laughed and closed her suitcase. ‘I can’t believe it’s been a year. Or that we actually survived it.’
‘Yeah, those exams were pret-ty hard.’
‘I meant about us almost getting expelled twice, and nearly being killed by Scylla, a knoxen, a griffin, Fifth, Hades, and the Erinyes.’
‘Hades and the Erinyes? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was too busy being trapped in a room.’ Demi smirked.
Hailey tossed a pillow at her. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
They wheeled their suitcases down to the common room, which was already packed with soon-to-be second years.
‘Out of my way.’
Someone bashed into Hailey, who had to press a hand to her suitcase to keep from falling. She glared at Venus sauntering away with the twins.
‘Bet you wish you could punch her again,’ Demi muttered.
Hailey clenched her hand into a fist. ‘You have no idea.’ Considering what had happened to them in the Underworld, Amathia had allowed Hailey breaking Venus’s nose to slide. She doubted she’d get away with doing it a second time.
‘Ready to go home
?’ Jayden asked, pushing towards them with Alec and Aaron.
‘Definitely,’ Hailey replied. All she wanted to do was go home, hug her mum, and never have to think about what had happened to her in the Underworld again.
‘Excuse me,’ Madam Grayson said, making her way past them with the chest of travelling necklaces. She stopped in the middle of the room, the students forming a circle around her. ‘I think we’ve had a pretty good year, and I have every hope next year will be even better,’ she said with a smile. ‘I’d like to remind you your report cards will be mailed in the next couple of weeks and are for your parents to open, not you.’ Madam Grayson paused to make sure this last bit sank in. ‘I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, and I look forward to seeing you next year.’ She placed the chest on the ground and took a couple of cautious steps back.
‘Demi, we can wait,’ Jayden called as Demi leapt into the horde of students diving for the chest, everyone seeming eager to escape the school—or more like escape schoolwork.
Hailey wanted to follow her, but a fear of being trampled kept her from joining the throng. ‘I think she’s pretty desperate to get home after everything we’ve been through.’
‘Who can blame her?’ Alec said. ‘I hope next year isn’t as eventful.’
Aaron crossed his arms. ‘Yeah, we’ll see about that.’
‘Got them,’ Demi announced, squeezing her way back through the crowd of dematerialising students and handing them each a necklace.
‘Thanks.’ Hailey slipped the necklace over her head. ‘See you in a couple of days.’ She shut her eyes and thought of home.
‘Hailey!’ Evonee leapt from Hailey’s bed and yanked her into an excruciatingly tight hug.
‘I missed you too, Mum, but you’re kind of crushing me.’
Evonee released her. ‘Sorry. I’ve been wanting to do that since the school told me you were missing again. I can’t believe you got locked in a room for two nights. How does that even happen?’
Hailey hated lying to her mum, which is why she decided to tell her the truth. ‘Actually, we weren’t locked in a room. We were in the Underworld—prisoners of Hades in fact. We met the Erinyes and Persephone as well. But Hades accidentally killed Persephone. We put Hades and the Erinyes back to sleep, so you don’t have to worry about them doing any more damage,’ Hailey said all of this very casually.
Evonee chuckled. ‘You have such a big imagination. If you’re too embarrassed to tell me how you got yourself locked up that’s fine.’
It was the exact reaction Hailey had assumed her mum would have. The truth was pretty unbelievable. But it had been the truth, and if it ever came up again and her mum realised Hailey really had been in the Underworld for two days, Hailey could say that she’d told her all about it and she hadn’t believed her.
‘Why don’t you settle in a bit and then come downstairs. I’ll make pizza for lunch.’ Evonee kissed Hailey on the head before ruffling her hair, the gesture reminding her of her dad.
She opened her mouth to call her mum back as she left the room, but stopped herself. While she was tempted to tell her about seeing her dad, Hailey didn’t know if it had even been real. Her mind had been about to implode on itself from pain and guilt, so the more reasonable explanation for her dad suddenly coming back from the dead was a hallucination to help her survive all that.
But what if it really was him? It had felt so real, and she could still smell his coppery scent as he’d hugged her goodbye. Real or not, her dad had saved her life and made her see that she wasn’t the giant failure she’d been spending the last five years thinking she was.
‘Thanks, Dad,’ she said, clutching her heart pendant and sagging back onto her bed.
She was finally home—and in one piece. She was still in disbelief over her first year at Poseidon’s Academy. When she’d jumped into that whirlpool, she’d never thought her year would consist of battling monsters, two gods, and the Erinyes. She wanted to believe that her second year wouldn’t be nearly as action packed, but with the nereids hanging around the palace, it was doubtful.
But that was next year’s problem.
Want to know how Hecate’s wand ended up in the griffin’s nest and what happened in the Underworld when Alec read the awakening spell?
Sign up to the Poseidon’s Academy Reading Group to get a free 2000-word story that shows exactly what unfolded. As a bonus, you’ll also discover what Demi, Jayden, Alec, and Aaron saw when they entered the fear rooms.
sarahavogler.com
And if you can find the time to leave a review for Poseidon’s Academy on your favourite book website, such as Amazon or Goodreads, that would mean so much to me, as I’d love to hear what you thought of Hailey’s adventure.
Join Hailey for her second year at Poseidon’s Academy in…
Hailey returns to Poseidon’s Academy hoping for a less eventful year to last, but with the nereids still intent on resurrecting the gods, things are set to become even more challenging.
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About the Author
Unlike Hailey, Sarah attended an ordinary high school, and a villain-free university—The University of Queensland—where she completed a bachelor’s degree in writing and ancient history, and a master’s degree in writing, editing, and publishing.
Prior to that, Sarah spent her younger years watching Xena: The Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which sparked her interest in Greek mythology and saw her spend entire days sitting by her bedroom window, waiting for a pegasus to swoop out of the sky and take her on an adventure worthy of Homer. When it was clear a pegasus wasn’t going to rescue her from her dull life, Sarah turned to writing her own adventures.
First Published in Australia by Enchanted Inkwell
This edition published 2018
Copyright © Sarah A Vogler 2018
Typesetting: Prepress Plus
Cover design: Simon Critchell
The right of Sarah A Vogler to be identified as Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN number: 978-0-6484701-1-3 (Kindle)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication entry:
For my mother—my number one fan
Greek Mythology Pronunciation Guide
(Note: this is a general guide only. Certain names have varying pronunciations.)
THE GODS
Aphrodite: afro-die-tee
Apollo: uh-pol-o
Ares: air-eez
Artemis: ar-tuh-miss
Asclepius: as-kleh-pee-uhs
Athena: uh-thee-na
Demeter: deh-mee-tur
Gaia: guy-uh
Hades: hay-deez
Hecate: hek-uh-tay
Hephaestus: huh-fes-tus
Hera: hair-uh
Heracles: hair-uh-cleez
Hermes: her-meez
Hypnos: hip-nos
Morpheus: more-fee-us
Persephone: per-sef-uh-nee
Poseidon: poh-sigh-den
Thanatos: than-uh-tos
Tyche: ty-key
Zeus: zoos
NYMPHS
Dryad: dry-ad
Naid: ney-ad
Nereid: neer-ee-id
MONSTERS AND CREATURES
Arachne: uh-rak-nee
Cyclops/Cyclopes: sigh-clops/sigh-clo-peez
Erinys/Erinyes: e-rin-es/e-rin-eez
Gorgon: gaw-gon
Harpy: hahr-pee
Hippocampus/Hippocampi: hip-uh-kam-pus/hip-uh-kam-pee
Hydra: hy-druh
Medusa: meh-doo-sa
Minotaur: min-uh-tor
<
br /> Pegasus/Pegasi: peg-uh-suhs/peg-uh-see
Siren: sigh-ren
Sphinx: sfingks
Stymphalian Birds: stim-fey-lee-uhn birds
PLACES
Olympus: uh-lim-pus
Tartarus: tar-ta-rus
1
Welcome Back
Hailey rocketed through the sea, the reefs below a blur of rainbow. She stopped suddenly, shooting upwards out of the water. ‘I’m not too late,’ she said, sighing with relief to see the Ethiopian city crowded with mud brick houses a hundred yards away, where laughing children chased each other through the dirt streets, while their parents bartered at the marketplace, oblivious to the threat lurking in the sea.
A giggle snapped Hailey’s attention to her left, where six nereids wearing flowing blue dresses lounged on a rock lapped by the sea. The nereids’ bloodthirsty eyes were trained on the city.
Hailey surged over to them and slammed her fist against the rock with a bang. ‘You must end this! There is still time.’
Nemertes, the nereid nearest Hailey, flicked her dark wavy hair behind her shoulder. ‘No. They need to be punished. They insulted us.’
‘A mistake. A careless slip of words. Please, Nemertes.’
Nemertes’s green eyes met Hailey’s, glee sparkling in them. ‘It’s already begun. He is here.’
The sea began rising and churning as if an angry monster were waking from its sleep. Higher and higher the water climbed, forming a forty-foot tidal wave in front of Hailey that remained frozen in place, like an enormous wall of water. The nereids laughed and clapped.
‘Tell him to stop, Nemertes. Please!’
A wicked smile curved the nymph’s lips. ‘Too late.’
The wave shot forward, ploughing through the city like a swarm of charging sea-monsters, turning buildings to rubble and sweeping the city’s population into the sea.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 28
