Wow, that was a lot to take in. Hailey had thought the Olympian Mysteries had infiltrated the school and given Stetho the necklace. She’d never thought it was another student. But it wasn’t Lacey’s fault. It was Nemertes. Again. That conniving harpy! Hailey put a hand on Lacey’s shoulder. ‘Lacey, trust me when I say this wasn’t your fault. The nereids are really manipulative. How were you supposed to know that a shade was really a nereid in spirit form pretending to be a shade? You were trying to help a spirit move on, and Nemertes used your powers against you.’
‘Thanks.’ Lacey twirled one of her ponytails. ‘I still feel bad though. I wanted to say that I’m sorry for what I put you through. It must have been really scary facing a gorgon.’
‘It was,’ Hailey agreed. ‘But I’ve faced a few monsters in the past.’
Lacey’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah, anyway, I better go find my friends.’
‘Okay. I’ll see you later.’
Hailey repeated everything Lacey had told her the second she found her friends in the common room, where they were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.
‘Amathia should have killed those harpies.’ Demi tossed a small piece of charred wood into the blue fire.
‘So that’s what Amathia was referring to when she mentioned the silver lotus back in the maze—Stetho never used it. She got Amathia to get it so she could give it to Nemertes,’ Alec said, nodding his head with understanding. ‘They’ve been planning this attack since last year.’
‘You’ve got to admit it was a smart plan.’ Aaron leaned back on his hands. ‘I bet Nemertes was really proud of herself when she came up with it.’
‘I think they’re out of plans now,’ Hailey said. ‘We might finally be rid of them.’
‘I hope so.’ Demi flicked another wood crumb into the fire. ‘Because I need to take like a year off from monster slaying. I’m exhausted.’
‘Amathia wants everyone in the main hall for lunch,’ Madam Grayson announced, ducking her head up from the stairs before disappearing back down them.
Hailey and her friends ambled towards the staircase with the rest of the third years.
‘Can you believe how many students didn’t come back?’ Kora asked, appearing beside Hailey as she made her way down the stairs.
‘My parents almost didn’t let me come back,’ Tahlia said. ‘I thought I’d have to hit them with sleep dust and steal my travelling necklace from them.’
‘At least they’ll be less fighting when it comes to getting a table in the main hall,’ Demi pointed out.
They picked a spot near the front of the main hall at Demi’s request, just in case Amathia chose to bring them up for the whole school to congratulate them on saving everyone.
Amathia entered the main hall fifteen minutes later, her dress flowing behind her as she walked between the rows of tables and came to a stop at the front of the hall. ‘I’m glad that most of you have returned. I understand that allowing you to come back here was a difficult choice for your parents. I made a promise to them that I would keep you safe, and that is a promise I have every intention of keeping. There are no more monsters lurking in hidden chambers.’
The students chuckled.
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that.’
Hailey’s head whipped around, and her heart stumbled to a stop as she lost the ability to breathe. A man with a black beard peppered with grey, and wearing a toga made of the same fish-scale-like material as the nereids’ dresses, was striding down the centre of the main hall. Hailey easily recognised him from her Ancient History classes. But he couldn’t be here. Poseidon was meant to be dead.
‘Poseidon!’ the word was a gasp from Amathia.
The hall was deathly quiet, as if a silence spell had been cast over the room. Hailey guessed everyone was feeling the same as her—like this was some kind of trick, because there was no way an Olympian god was here right now.
‘Yes, I have returned, as was prophesised,’ he said to Amathia, stopping in front of her. ‘I am sickened that you have filled my sacred palace with humans. I always knew you held compassion for them, but this is too far, Amathia.’
Amathia didn’t say anything, just stared at Poseidon, completely lost for words.
Poseidon faced the hall of students. His eyes radiated so much hate that Hailey thought everyone might burst into flames. ‘OUT!’ he roared, throwing his arms to the sides.
Nobody moved. Everyone was frozen in terror and disbelief as they stared at the Olympian. Power radiated from him, giving the air an electric feel.
The roar of rushing water forced Hailey’s eyes from the god and back towards the archway. A wave as tall as the ceiling pummelled into the main hall. The terror that had paralysed everyone lifted as students screamed and scrambled from their chairs. But there was nowhere to run.
The water blasted in like a tsunami.
Hailey grabbed Demi’s and Alec’s hand a heartbeat before the wave hit her. The water felt like a glass wall slamming into her, and the force of it ripped Demi’s hand from her grip. She’d have shouted out her friend’s name if she hadn’t been afraid of water gushing into her lungs and drowning her. Alec’s grip tightened, almost breaking her fingers as he held on to her for dear life.
Hailey’s head bobbed up, and she sucked in a breath before more water plunged her again. She clawed back to the surface as the water dragged her into the entryway, which was now a pool, with water reaching halfway up the staircases. Hailey tried to swim towards the stairs, but the water’s current held her as tightly as a giant holding its captured prey as it sent her straight towards a wall.
She tensed, waiting for the impact. An airy feeling, like she was made of wind, swept over her body instead, and she passed through the wall as though it were nothing more than an illusion. The water carried her into the flooded grounds, where wave after wave rose from the sea, surging straight for the palace as though determined to turn it into rubble.
Hailey inhaled a breath of air before her head was dunked again. She did this a few more times, bobbing up and down, until the current finally released her. This time when her head broke the surface, she was in the calmer part of the sea—about thirty yards from the palace.
‘It’s a good thing your powers grew when they did,’ Hailey told Alec, letting go of his hand. ‘Otherwise I’d have smashed into that wall.’
Alec only managed a nod. His lips were pressed together so tightly he looked as if he were about to vomit.
She shook him. ‘Come on, we can freak out later. We need to find Demi and Aaron.’
How is this possible? Hailey’s mind reeled as she swam past crying and shaking students. How is Poseidon alive? Pandora watched the nereids all year, and they never left the island, at least not long enough to swim off and resurrect the gods. But who else would have awakened Poseidon... the Mysteries? How? And did they awaken the other Olympians too?
‘Hailey! Hailey!’
Hailey broke from her thoughts and swam up to Kora, Tahlia, Tanzy, and Lexa.
‘This is insane!’ Kora exclaimed. ‘How is Poseidon alive? The gods are meant to be dead.’
‘Not anymore.’ Tahlia shuddered.
‘So do we wait until we drown or a sea-monster eats us?’ Lexa asked, her long hair floating on top of the water
‘Need a ride?’
Relief flooded Hailey when she saw Demi riding a sea-horse towards her, with Pandora on the back.
‘How did you get to the stable?’ Alec asked, swimming up beside Hailey as Demi came to a stop next to them.
‘Aaron used his force field to repel the water,’ Demi explained, her horse kicking its flippers just slightly enough to tread water. ‘He figured it was probably a good idea to let the sea-horses out to save people.’
‘Is that Kendra?’ Kora squinted at the sky.
Hailey spotted Rain’s sparkling white fur as she soared through the air, with Kendra riding on her back.
‘Yeah, we le
t Rain out too,’ Demi said. ‘Kendra was near us when Aaron used his force field, so she came to the stable with us.’
Something shiny dropped from the sky, and then another thing, and another. ‘What’s Kendra throwing?’ Hailey asked.
‘Travelling necklaces,’ Pandora said. ‘I saw a chest of them floating in the water and grabbed it.’
‘And here are the others.’ Tahlia plucked a travelling necklace from the water as it floated by her. ‘They must have been in the grounds when Poseidon sent the wave. At least now we have a way out.’
‘Let’s hand them out,’ Lexa said.
‘Where’s Aaron?’ Hailey asked, only just realising he wasn’t with Demi.
Demi waved a hand behind her. ‘Saving people.’
Aaron was on a sea-horse, right near the palace, scooping out necklaces from the sea and handing them to students’ outstretched hands. Hailey watched the students vanish. What will they tell their parents when they materialise a couple of hours after leaving, she wondered. What would she tell her mum? Would she even believe her about Poseidon and the gods? Actually, where are the other gods? Are they already revealing themselves all around the world, creating monsoons and raining down fireballs?
‘Hailey, help us.’ Kora nudged her.
Hailey plucked a travelling necklace from the water, staring at the gold-winged pendant. Her hands moved towards her head, to put it on so she could head straight home and find out if her mum was safe. ‘Here you go.’ She ripped her hand away from her head and handed the necklace to a first-year boy with teary red eyes.
As much as she wanted to make sure her mum was okay, and to warn her, she couldn’t abandon everyone here. She needed to stay and help, and hope that Poseidon was the only god on the loose.
Hailey didn’t know how long it took to get the necklaces distributed to everyone. Thankfully, most students were smart enough to see the necklaces floating and put one on—plus Inbetweeners with the power to dematerialise were saving students from the sea. Hailey kept glancing towards the palace, waiting for Poseidon to reappear, but he never did, and eventually the crashing waves stopped. She prayed to the Tyches that no one was left inside, or drowning at the bottom of the sea. She didn’t even want to think about what had happened to Amathia. Or the teachers. She hadn’t seen any of them out here. What did Poseidon do with them? Maybe they had their own stash of travelling necklaces on them.
‘Our turn,’ Aaron said after Kora, Tahlia, Tanzy, and Lexa disappeared.
‘I have to stay.’ Pandora shifted to the front of the sea-horse as Demi dropped into the water.
‘What?’ Hailey frowned. ‘You can come back with me.’
Pandora shook her head. ‘No. I need to help Amathia somehow.’
‘You’re not exactly immortal anymore,’ Demi pointed out.
‘Deactivate,’ Pandora said to the bracelet. Click. It expanded around her wrist, dangling loosely before slipping into the water and sinking out of sight.
‘I’ll come back with you,’ Aaron volunteered, still on his sea-horse.
‘No. It’s too dangerous, and I’ll be able to sneak around better on my own. Please go. I’ll find you after I’ve rescued Amathia.’ Pandora didn’t give them a chance to argue; she gently nudged her sea-horse in the ribs, and soared through the water back towards the palace.
‘Do we go after her?’ Demi asked, reaching her hands onto the back of Aaron’s sea-horse, getting ready to jump onto it.
‘No.’ Hailey felt awful saying it, but Pandora knew the gods, and she was immortal. She was the best person to go back to the palace and help anyone left behind. ‘We need to trust her.’
‘What’s the plan?’
Kendra was hovering above them, the wind from Rain’s flapping wings cooling the water on Hailey’s skin.
‘Go home. We’ll send you a letter with a plan when we have one,’ Aaron said.
‘I’ll have to fly—I’m not leaving Rain here. See you in a bit… I hope.’
Rain flapped her wings faster, rising back into the air and flying off over the palace, leaving only the four of them floating in the sea.
‘You can go back home now,’ Aaron told his horse as he slipped off its back and splashed into the water. ‘Everyone needs to get their families together and meet at Alec’s house,’ Aaron said once the sea-horse began paddling back towards the grounds.
‘My house? Why?’
‘Because you’re the one with all the ancient artefacts,’ Aaron said. ‘We’ll need weapons to fight the gods.’
Alec shook his head. ‘We’re not fighting the gods. We’re not in the military—we haven’t even finished school!’
‘Stop arguing,’ Aaron snapped. ‘I’ll bring my dad and his team. They’ll come up with a plan.’
‘Okay,’ Alec squeaked as he turned as pale as a Thanatos’s victim.
‘I know we’ve been through a lot,’ Demi said, ‘but I’m really scared.’
‘Me too,’ Hailey agreed, her mind still trying to comprehend how the Olympians—or at least one of them—could be back from the dead. ‘See you soon,’ she told her friends, slipping the travelling necklace over her head and praying to the Tyches that her mum hadn’t left the house.
Did you enjoy joining Hailey for her third year at Poseidon’s Academy? For newbie authors like me, reviews are really important, so if you can find the time to leave one on your favourite book website, such as Amazon or Goodreads, it would mean a lot to me.
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Sign up to Poseidon’s Academy Reading Group to stay in the loop on everything related to Poseidon’s Academy, and as a bonus, you’ll receive a 2000-word story that answers some questions from book 1.
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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 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 no pegasus was going to rescue her from her ordinary life, Sarah turned to writing her own adventures.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 93
