‘It’s not safe to be anywhere near the grounds at the moment,’ Master Anderson informed them. ‘Not until the diamond floor is fully repaired. So get back to your common rooms.’
The students scattered, some disappearing up the stairs and others heading through the middle archway into the main hall. Master Anderson positioned himself in front of the double doors, guarding against any more curious students who might come along.
Hailey and her friends joined the students pushing their way up the stairs.
‘I hope they can repair it,’ Alec said. ‘If the grounds shatter, I don’t think there’s anyone who’d be able to rebuild it—except Hephaestus himself.’
Guilt tugged at Hailey as they climbed past the second floor. Her tornado had uplifted the trees and caused cracks in the diamond—the very cracks that were threatening to destroy the entire grounds. But if Hailey hadn’t created it, the octopus-monster would have destroyed everything, and killed her and her friends. Plus Amathia told her to do it, so it had been the right choice, right?
‘Nice work destroying the grounds.’
Hailey ground her teeth and stopped on the third-floor staircase, glaring up at Venus and the twins as they slithered down the stairs. ‘I almost died because of you.’
Venus feigned shock as she stopped in front of Hailey, pressing a hand to her heart and gasping. ‘Me? I’m pretty sure it was the sea-monster trying to kill you.’
‘You left me. You ran away to save yourself.’ Rage bubbled in Hailey’s stomach like a volcano about to erupt. More than anything she wanted to create a tornado to sweep up Venus so she’d know what true terror felt like.
‘Better you die than me.’
‘Harpy!’ Demi launched at her, grabbing Venus’s curls.
Venus shrieked, her hand swiping out and slapping Demi across the face so hard Demi almost stumbled off the step.
‘That’s enough.’ Jayden was standing a few steps above the evil trio. ‘Everyone should go their separate ways before a teacher shows up and you end up with another month of detention.’
Venus looked ready to push Demi down the stairs, and Demi looked ready to claw out Venus’s eyes. Hailey would help her. She’d left her to die in those grounds. She hadn’t even bothered to try and pull her free. She’d just run away. ‘You’re a coward.’ Hailey couldn’t hold the words back. ‘I guess that’s not something you can help.’
Venus glared at her with eyes as poisonous as Nemertes’s. She rammed past Demi and Aaron, stomping down the stairs with the twins.
Demi rubbed her red cheek. ‘I really hate her.’
‘I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about us,’ Jayden remarked.
‘Us?’ Demi shook her head. ‘There’s no us anymore, Jayden.’
Jayden shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘Look, I want to talk to you. All of you. Please.’
Jayden had helped save Hailey. The least she could do was hear him out. ‘Okay.’ She ignored the look of betrayal from Demi. ‘Common room?’
He nodded and the five of them headed up to the common room, where students were crowded around the windows, gazing into the grounds.
‘You’re okay!’
Hailey barely had time to spot Kora running from the girls’ dorms. She wrapped her arms around Hailey and Demi, squeezing them into a hug. ‘I heard you guys were in the grounds when it happened.’
‘Yeah,’ Hailey said when Kora let her go.
‘It was awesome… and terrifying,’ Demi blurted. ‘There was this huge sea-serpent that came out of nowhere. And then this octopus thing grabbed Hailey, so I jumped into monster-slayer mode and—’
‘Demi,’ Aaron interrupted. ‘Jayden’s waiting.’
Jayden was sitting in front of the fireplace, staring into the blue flames.
‘You can tell me later,’ Kora said. ‘I’m glad you’re all okay.’
‘So where’s your girlfriend?’ Demi asked as she, Hailey, Alec, and Aaron joined Jayden on the floor. ‘You two are always together.’
‘No, we’re not,’ Jayden retorted. ‘Anyway, I don’t want to talk about Cady. I know what happened that day in the common room between you two was because of that first year,’ he told Demi. ‘I forgive you for it.’
‘Gee, thanks. I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t listen,’ Demi bit back. ‘So that’s what this conversation is about?’
‘No, I, um. I wanted to say that I don’t want us to avoid each other all the time. I still want to be friends.’
Alec blew out a breath, as though he were the Titan Atlas, and the weight of the sky had just been lifted off his shoulders. ‘Oh, good. I was really getting sick of all the tension.’
‘Considering you helped save us, I think that’s fair.’ Aaron patted Jayden on the back, acting as if he were welcoming a friend back from exile.
‘Yeah,’ Hailey agreed. She was tired of fighting with Jayden—or more like not having anything to do with him. She wanted her best friend back. Yes, he has been a total jerk since school started back, but when someone saves your life it’s hard to tell them to go jump in the River Styx.
Demi tossed a stray hunk of driftwood into the fireplace, the blue flames crackling. ‘So does that mean we’d have to be friends with Cady as well?’
Jayden raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, yeah. I would like you to get along with my girlfriend. What exactly have you got against her?’
‘Nothing,’ Demi said defensively. ‘I just think our group is big enough without another member.’
‘It wouldn’t be all the time,’ Jayden assured her. ‘We could hang out in class again. Cady isn’t in the same group, so it would only be the five of us.’
Demi traced her finger over the bumpy pearl floor. ‘I guess that would be okay.’
‘Jayden.’ Cady rushed towards their little group. ‘Are you okay? Please tell me you stayed in the common room like I said and didn’t go into the grounds.’
‘I—’
‘So you give commands now?’ Demi said.
Cady shrank back a little, as though she’d only just realised Jayden wasn’t alone. ‘I, um… No. I told him I wanted him to wait in the common room for me.’
‘Well, he didn’t listen,’ Demi snapped.
‘What?’ Cady’s eyes flew to Jayden. ‘You were in the grounds?’
‘I’m okay.’ Jayden climbed to his feet to show off his uninjured body. ‘I was hungry. I went to the main hall for a snack, and that’s when I heard the screaming.’
Cady’s face lost all colour. ‘You could have died.’
He clasped Cady’s hands, squeezing them. ‘I didn’t. I’m fine.’
‘Uck, get a room,’ Demi muttered. ‘And we’re okay, too, by the way.’
‘Did you finish what you needed to get done in the library?’ Jayden asked Cady, ignoring Demi.
‘Huh?’
‘You went to the library,’ Jayden reminded her. ‘You said you needed to find a book for our Powers class.’
‘Oh, right. Yeah, I did. I forgot about that—with the attack and everything.’
Aaron cleared his throat.
Jayden seemed to remember he wasn’t alone. ‘Sorry, guys. I’ll catch up with you later.’
Hailey waved goodbye, not sure whether to feel happy about having her friend back, or sad because he was hurting her other friend. ‘You okay, Dems?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be? I’m happy Jayden’s happy, and Cady seems nice.’ The words sounded forced, and as bitter as lemon rind. She threw another stray hunk of driftwood into the fire, the flames burning a brighter blue. ‘Everything is perfect.’
10
Hephaestus’s Fall from Grace
Hailey settled into a scallop-shell chair in the front of the Ancient History classroom. Amathia sat behind her long coral desk, reading through a stack of papers, while the rest of the class shuffled into the room.
‘Thanks for letting me sit with you,’ Jayden said, sitting between Alec and Aaron.
‘
It’s a free world.’ Demi dumped her books on her desk. ‘You can technically sit wherever you like.’
‘Well, thanks anyway.’
Hailey leaned down to pull her books out of her bag and noticed a pocket-sized notebook under her desk. She picked it up. Property of Lacey Mcderven: First Year, was scrawled across the first page. She flipped to the next page and found random sentences: Cupcakes with chocolate frosting made out of melted Ares bars. And maybe sprinkled with some crushed chocolate pearls. Could I sell these? Is that allowed at the Academy? Must ask my overseer, Sir Bliss. On another line was written: Art project—I could create a painting of one of the grounds’ trees and use jewels from outside. I’m sure they’d let me use them if it was for schoolwork. Must ask Sir Bliss.
‘Time for class to begin.’
Hailey closed the notebook as Amathia rose from her desk. She made a mental note to hand it in to Amathia at the end of class, and pulled out her Ancient History textbook.
‘Today, we will pick up from where we left off last week—focusing on the disputes between the gods themselves.’ Amathia pressed her slender fingers to the crystal orb on her desk; white light flooded the room.
Hailey was floating on her back in the sea, her hands trailing through the silky water as she inhaled the salty sea-air. She smiled at the beaming sun, its warmth kissing her skin. This is nice, she thought, just as a splash shattered the calm and a spray of water washed over her.
An unmoving form bobbed in the water like a dead body. Hailey swam towards it, gently flipping the body over. Please don’t have dead scary eyes. Hailey pushed away the black hair sticking to the figure’s face. ‘Hephaestus?’
The man didn’t stir. His eyes were closed, and ichor was spilling into the sea around him, tingeing the water gold. Hailey would have thought the Olympian god was dead, except she knew this story well enough to know he survived—barely.
She clasped his hand, an airy sensation swarming her body, like she was floating in the water again, and then she was standing in front of a cave at the bottom of the sea. She slipped inside it, tugging Hephaestus in behind her.
Luminescent blue, green, and purple sea-flowers grew on the cave’s walls, casting the darkened place in a colourful glow. The same flowers stretched along the bottom of the sea outside the cave, resembling a glowing garden. It looked like another world to Hailey, especially with the fluorescent fish darting through the flowers.
The world flashed white and then reformed. Hailey was still in the cave, but now Hephaestus’s head was supported with a sea-sponge pillow, and a pearl-encrusted goblet brimming with green liquid rested beside him.
Hephaestus groaned, his eyes fluttering open.
‘It’s all right,’ Hailey assured him, touching his arm.
His eyes shot to her. ‘Who are you?’ He lurched into a sitting position and cringed with pain before crumpling back on the sea-sponge pillow. ‘Ah! What happened? What have you done to me?’
‘I am Amathia, a nereid. I found you floating in the sea. I think you may have fallen from Olympus. I brought you here when I realised you were injured.’
Hephaestus clawed a hand in his dark hair as if trying to rip away some of his pain. ‘I did not fall. I was thrown.’
‘Thrown? Who would do such a thing to an Olympian?’
‘Zeus,’ Hephaestus growled.
‘Why?’
Hephaestus clenched his teeth, pure hate radiating from his gold eyes. ‘Because I disagreed with him. He is intent on punishing humans for the slightest transgressions. A human couple had paid him tribute and given him some of their harvest. But it had been harvested the day before. Zeus took it as an insult and slaughtered them in front of their children. I told him he shouldn’t have done it. That he was a tyrant and should start treating humans with kindness.’ Hephaestus swallowed. ‘He did not like that. He dragged me outside and threw me from Olympus. My mother, Hera, did nothing to stop him... That is the last thing I remember.’
Zeus was one evil jerk. ‘How awful.’
Hephaestus slowly raised himself on his elbows, gazing around at the glowing flowers. ‘Where am I? Am I in the sea? How is that possible? I do not possess the ability to breathe underwater.’
‘This is an underwater cave,’ Hailey explained. ‘My father, Nereus, used his powers to keep the water from flooding in. It’s my secret hideaway. I wasn’t sure who had harmed you, so I thought it wise to hide you away here.’
‘That was very… kind of you,’ he said, sounding unsure, as though kindness wasn’t something he was used to. ‘Thank you. I won’t impede on you anymore though.’ He moved to stand up and cried out, collapsing onto his back. ‘My legs!’ He gasped. ‘So much pain.’
‘Drink.’ Hailey lifted the goblet to his lips.
Hephaestus spat green liquid everywhere. ‘What is that? It’s vile.’
‘Algae. It has many powers. It will help heal you.’
Hephaestus wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. ‘My body will heal itself.’
‘Your injuries are grave,’ Amathia argued. ‘You may be immortal, but a fall such as the one you endured likely shattered every bone in your body. It will take time for you to heal.’
Hephaestus sighed. ‘Fine. Give me the green poison.’
The cave flooded with white light again as the memory fast forwarded. This time Hailey entered the cave with a woman. Gold thread was woven into her long blonde curls, making her hair sparkle. Hephaestus was standing in a corner, admiring a blue glowing flower.
‘Hephaestus!’ the woman cried, and moved towards him.
Hephaestus whirled around and glared. ‘Aphrodite?’ He held his hand out to stop the goddess from coming any closer. ‘Why are you here?’
Hailey pressed into the farthest corner, giving the Olympians their space.
‘When I heard what Zeus did to you I was so worried,’ Aphrodite explained. ‘I have spent the past three days searching for you. ‘This nereid’—she waved a hand in Hailey’s direction—‘brought me to you. I am so glad you are safe.’
Hephaestus scoffed. ‘As if you care about me, Aphrodite. We may be married, but we both know you do not love me. Should you not be away with Ares? Or perhaps that mortal Adonis? Or one of your other many lovers?’
‘Don’t be like that, Hephaestus. Our marriage was forced. You know my heart lies with Adonis, but I still care for you,’ Aphrodite said. ‘Why did you defy Zeus? You know better than to disagree with him, especially when it involves humans.’
‘Why do you defend him?’ Hephaestus almost yelled the words. ‘Do you not recall that it was he who forced us to marry after he discovered you had fallen in love with a human?’
Aphrodite dropped her head in surrender. ‘Yes. But he is our king, and our father. He is too powerful to stand up to.’
‘Not if we stand together.’ Hephaestus stepped forward, his right leg dragging behind him.
Aphrodite gasped. ‘What happened to your leg? Why has it not healed?’
‘Too damaged,’ Hephaestus said simply. ‘Zeus did this to me. He would harm any one of us in an instant, even kill us, for speaking against him. But if we grouped together we could find a way to depose him.’
‘You are delirious,’ Aphrodite said, the slightest hint of fear in her voice. ‘The other Olympians are too loyal. They would never stand against Zeus, especially his precious Athena. Now return with me. If you apologise to Zeus, he will welcome you back.’
‘I would rather die,’ Hephaestus spat. ‘You can leave now. You have pretended long enough to be the caring wife. Go and find one of your lovers to keep you entertained.’
Aphrodite flinched as if he’d slapped her. ‘As you wish.’ She dematerialised, rose petals falling in the spot where she’d been standing; they disappeared a heartbeat later.
‘Why did you bring her here?’ Hephaestus demanded, turning his raging eyes on Hailey.
She peeled away from the cave wall. ‘I heard from other nymphs she was searching for yo
u. I thought you would appreciate seeing her.’
Hephaestus clenched and unclenched his fists. ‘You were wrong. If she does not wish to help me stop Zeus, then I will do it myself. I will stop all of the Olympians… I need to get to my workshop, but it’s too far for me to travel while I’m injured. Can you take me? The only issue is it’s in the ocean, and I don’t want the oceanids knowing about it.’
‘It will require some stealth, but I can get you there without alerting the nymphs of the ocean,’ Hailey said.
The world flashed white, only for a moment, and then Hailey was stepping into another world—at least that’s how it felt. She was on an island. A forest of green stretched before her, with a volcano in the middle of it—steam rising from its top. But that wasn’t the incredible thing about this place. It was that it was underwater. The sea stretched over the island like a dome, reminding Hailey of the grounds at Poseidon’s Academy.
‘You created this?’ Hailey asked in awe, watching pink, green, blue, and purple fish swim in the sky of water above.
‘I needed somewhere to hide my workshop—somewhere my kin wouldn’t think to look for me. What better place than the middle of the ocean?’
‘It reminds me of Poseidon’s palace,’ Hailey said. ‘Except the trees here are ordinary,’ she added, running her hand down the rough bark of a papaya tree.
‘That’s because Poseidon gave me the idea. When he asked me to help him create his palace, he leant me his powers so I could create the force field. While he was off entertaining himself with his nereids, I slipped away and came here to create my own oasis,’ Hephaestus said as a fluorescent pink octopus swam past the force field, chasing after a fish double its size. ‘I used Poseidon’s powers to sink this island, and then I created a force field to match his palace’s.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Um, thank you for everything you did. I’ll forever be indebted to you.’ Flames shot up in a circle around him.
Hailey’s hand lunged towards Hephaestus, reaching through the flames. Tingles prickled over her skin as she grabbed his shoulder and dematerialised with him. The green forest swirled out of sight. Gloominess replaced it as the world reformed into a dank space that looked a lot like a cave. Floating orbs of light like the ones at the Academy illuminated the room, revealing a forge and anvil. An enormous pair of tongs and hammer rested beside the anvil. Metal was strewn across the floor and on wooden tables. Swords, shields, helmets, and axes ran along the walls, some of them rusted and cracked, in need of repair.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 72
