Olympus Academy: The Complete Series

by Raine, Eliza

  ‘Let’s find out,’ I breathed.

  24

  I raised Alifthoros over my head, and stumbled as it began to spin in my hand, pulling me across the deck. The seahorses zoomed around my head, bouncing excitedly, until the sword wrenched itself free from my grasp. The ship began to sink through the air towards the ocean below us and I watched with increasing panic as the sword soared up past the sails into the air, growing in size. The seahorses froze, as though they were watching too. Then the sword stopped moving and began glowing a brilliant turquoise. The clear blue sky was dimming, dark clouds rolling in from nowhere and gathering above Alifthoros. I held my breath, waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly the sword span in the air and began to plunge back down towards us. For a brief moment I was terrified it was going to tear through the deck of the ship, but it changed course at the last minute, soaring over the prow of the Tethys. I rushed back to the railings in time to see it pierce the ocean waves, its intense glow fading seconds later as it moved deep below the surface. I looked at my mom, my eyebrows raised and chest pounding. Adrenaline was surging through my system so fast I felt sick. She stared back at me, then I felt the water bracelet, cool against my skin as it whizzed around my wrist.

  ‘You can do this,’ she said, her voice barely more than a whisper but her words clear. The seahorses danced towards my wrist, as though they were admiring the bracelet.

  ‘I can do this,’ I repeated, as the sky darkened, and the ocean itself began to rumble.

  The clouds above us began to swirl and crackle with blue lightning and the waves, now only ten feet below the ship, began to churn and batter the hull. The air had turned cold and smelled of salt, spray from the huge, angry waves blowing across the deck.

  ‘Dora?’ called Zali uncertainly from where she still gripped the railings, her amber eyes huge. I pushed my senses out. The water was more turbulent than I’d ever felt it, fierce and angry and immense. I saw the tidal wave rising from the depths before it hit us.

  ‘Hold on to something!’ I screamed, and dragged Icarus down to the deck with me, wrapping my arms around the railings. He wound his good arm around the wood and I locked my legs onto his just as the first wave hit. It was the size of a mountain, battering into the side of the Tethys and sending the ship rocking over at a terrifying angle. Screams carried across the furious winds, and I willed the Tethys to rise, to get out of reach of the storm, but it ignored me, fervent and excited. The ship belonged here, in the thick of the ocean storm. The next wave hit us from the other side, the boat lurching in the opposite direction, and I felt my stomach heave as my legs swung out across the slippery deck. I clamped them harder around Icarus’s, looking into his panicked green eyes.

  ‘It’ll be OK,’ I shouted, with no idea whether that was true. I daren’t push my senses out again, I needed all my concentration to hang on to the rails. Another mountainous wave pounded into us, and this time it crashed over the top of the deck, drenching us completely. I saw a flash of color and gasped as I saw my mom, running across the heaving, slippery deck.

  ‘Oceanus!’ she bellowed, then to my utter astonishment, she leapt onto the railings in one graceful move and dove straight off the edge of the ship.

  ‘Mom!’ I screamed, and suddenly the Tethys stilled. The sky remained dark and grey above us, the winds still stretching the sails taught and beating across us, but the titanic waves had stopped hammering the ship. I scrambled to my feet and leaned carefully over the railings. The water still churned and frothed below us, but I could see a blue glow deep under the surface, far in the distance. It got brighter and brighter as it approached us, then there was a roar as something massive erupted from the waves.

  For a split second I was sure my heart had stopped beating completely. I stumbled backwards, my jaw dropping as Oceanus, the Titan god of the sea, rose from the churning ocean in front of me.

  ‘Who awakens me?’ He roared, and my knees felt like they had turned to jelly. He was still growing, easily twice the size of the ship now. He was shirtless but his massive beard whipped around his bare chest and he wore shining metal shoulder plates and a matching belt wrapped around his middle. Below the belt, his body was that of a snake’s, like a mermaid’s tail, but much much longer, and it was thrashing around in the water behind him. He had a crown on top of his head, holding back his long hair, with a starfish in its center that pulsed with light.

  I tried to answer him, but when I opened my mouth, the wrong words came out.

  ‘Where’s my mom?’ I shouted. Oceanus’s magnificent face morphed, his eyebrows drawing together.

  ‘I said, who awakens me?’ he bellowed, even louder than before. My breath caught in my throat, and I drew on the water bracelet, trying to steady my racing pulse. There was no point trying to use the ocean around me, there was no question that that turbulent power belonged entirely to him.

  ‘I’m Pandora. My mother is a sea nymph, descended from you.’

  ‘You mean this one?’ he said, and I cried out as he reached down towards the water and scooped something up. It was my mom.

  ‘Is she OK?’

  ‘She dove deep to find me,’ he boomed, then reached forward and dropped her onto the deck of the ship, pausing before withdrawing his hand. ‘She will be fine. This is the Tethys?’ he said disbelievingly as I rushed to my mom. I reached her at the same time as the others did.

  ‘She’s breathing,’ Zali whispered, as I dropped to my knees by her unconscious body.

  ‘Mom?’ I gripped her shoulder.

  ‘Do not ignore me, little mortal,’ boomed Oceanus, and I felt my body straighten. ‘You will do as you are commanded!’ Against my will, I was dragged from my mom by an invisible force, and Icarus leapt to his feet, following me as I floated into the air, a foot off the planks. I cried out, but I couldn’t move a muscle. I came to a stop at the very front of the ship, and Oceanus leaned forward and peered down at me. ‘How have you brought me my ship?’

  ‘I can control it,’ I shouted, frustration morphing into panic as I tried to control my limbs. ‘Please, let me go.’ Oceanus’s eyes flicked to my mom, and he raised one eyebrow.

  Feeling rushed back to my body and I fell the short distance to the planks, landing awkwardly but managing to stay on my feet.

  ‘Now, answer my questions. Why are you here?’ said Oceanus.

  ‘We’ve come to free you.’

  ‘Free me?’ He laughed, a huge echoing laugh, the waves beneath us crashing in time with the sound. ‘I don’t need freeing, silly child! I have some peace and quiet here, away from that fool, Zeus, and his minions. Leave me be.’

  ‘But... but what about all the clues? What about the box and the vial and the trail we’ve followed? What about the poem?’ Oceanus said nothing for a moment, then leaned even closer.

  ‘Do you have my sword?’ he said eventually.

  ‘I did, but it... left,’ I said lamely. Suddenly the two little seahorses bounced into view, whizzing around my head again. Oceanus let out a bark of surprise.

  ‘Well I never!’ he exclaimed. ‘If you can wield my sword and control the Tethys... You did not find me by accident.’

  ‘Of course we didn’t!’ I exclaimed. ‘We’ve nearly been killed by Ares and Evenus, not to mention almost upsetting Artemis and surviving your storm!’

  ‘I vowed that if one of my descendants was ever strong enough to find me... Maybe it is time I returned.’

  ‘Yes!’ I said, nodding hard. ‘Titans are not treated well in Olympus. We need you.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ he said, then he frowned again.

  ‘So you opened the box?’

  ‘Yes. We got the vial that unlocked our powers.’

  ‘Our powers?’

  ‘Yes. This is Icarus, descended from Prometheus.’ I nodded my head towards Icarus.

  ‘Interesting,’ he muttered. ‘And you defeated the demons?’

  ‘Um, not exactly,’ I said. The thoughtful look vanished from Oceanus’s face, replaced by
anger.

  ‘What?’

  ‘We defeated the sea demon, and captured the Keres demon but the fire demon...’

  ‘Fire demon? There’s no such thing as a fire demon,’ he said.

  ‘Well, that’s what he said he was,’ I answered, dread beginning to trickle through me.

  ‘You spoke to the demon?’

  ‘Um, yeah. He’s kind of a teacher at our school.’

  Oceanus stared at me.

  ‘What does he call himself?’

  ‘Neos.’

  Lightning flashed behind Oceanus, the waves peaking and frothing around him. Fear set my heart banging in my chest.

  ‘Child, I believe you and I have both been tricked. The third demon I imprisoned in that box was no fire demon. It was a Eurynomos.’

  ‘Then who or what is Neos?’ asked Icarus.

  ‘The last thing I did before coming to this place of solitude was visit with Hades. He gave me the three demons to imprison, as part of my tests to find a worthy descendant. Before I left his realm, I visited Tartarus, where my Titan family are imprisoned. I wanted to remind myself that even though I hated what Zeus had done to my family, he had done it for good reason. Many of the Titans are viciously cruel and evil. Crius, one of the most intelligent Titans and almost as cruel as his father, Cronos, saw me and began a conversation. He told me...’ Oceanus frowned deeply and the lightning sparked around him. ‘I only left the box unattended for a few minutes, but... It may have been enough.’

  ‘Enough to what?’

  ‘Enough for him to escape. To switch places with the Eurynomos.’

  ‘Neos is a Titan?’ I gaped at Oceanus.

  ‘Surely the other gods would have detected him?’ said Icarus.

  ‘Titan power is strong. He could hide if he wanted to.’

  ‘He was the one who wanted us to come and find you,’ I said.

  ‘He wants a war with the Olympians. But I will not play his games. I made my decision centuries ago, and I will stand by it,’ he boomed.

  ‘Why did you leave him alone with the box?’ asked Icarus, staring at the god.

  ‘Do not question me boy!’ Oceanus bellowed, his face reddening, and I couldn’t help flinching as the waves leapt up around him. ‘Crius is smarter than you ever will be, I’d like to meet someone he hasn’t tricked!’

  I longed to defend Icarus, to tell Oceanus that Icarus was as smart as they came, but I didn’t think it would help. He was clearly not going to admit how he’d been tricked, and I couldn’t really blame him. I was feeling pretty stupid too.

  ‘What will Neos do once you return?’ I asked instead.

  ‘He will wage war on Zeus.’

  ‘Oh gods,’ I whispered. ‘Zeus already hates me.’

  ‘I’m not surprised. He has an unpleasant disposition towards all Titans. Even those who rallied to his cause.’ Oceanus’s voice was bitter. ‘He is a spoiled brat.’ I said silent thanks that Vronti had left the Tethys before we’d got here. That would have been seriously awkward.

  ‘Well, I can’t imagine he’ll let me stay in Olympus once he finds out that I freed an angry Titan,’ I said, feeling sick. I’d felt guilty enough when I’d thought I’d released a bunch of demons. But a full on Titan, who wanted to destroy Zeus? I was done for.

  ‘All you need to do is prove to him that you are loyal. Zeus is a simple creature,’ said Oceanus, pretty casually for a supremely powerful being. But it was almost exactly the same thing that Dasko had said to us way back when we joined the academy.

  ‘How do we prove that?’

  ‘Stop him.’

  ‘Stop Neos? Or Crius, or whatever his name is?’ I gaped at Oceanus as he nodded solemnly.

  ‘How in the name of all Olympus are we supposed to stop a Titan? Even Zeus needed the help of the other Olympians!’

  ‘Then I suggest you enlist some assistance.’

  ‘Will you help us?’

  ‘I cannot. If you do not prove to Zeus that you are on his side then he will expel you from Olympus or kill you. This is something you must do alone. But I believe you already have a box capable of containing him.’ I stared at Oceanus, my mind reeling. How could we possibly do this?

  ‘Mighty Oceanus,’ said a voice behind us. I turned to see Arketa, setting the box down on the wet deck. ‘We have the Keres demon is this box.’ Oceanus leaned forward and ocean spray soaked us all where we stood.

  ‘You are the of the blood of Aphrodite,’ he said curiously.

  ‘Yes. The Keres demon stole the souls of those we love. We hoped you might hold an audience with Hades and offer him his demon back in return for those souls.’ Her voice rang clear and confident across the wind.

  ‘Why would I do that?’

  ‘Because we are graciously asking you to,’ she said, bowing her head. Admiration for her bravery as well as her eloquence washed through me.

  ‘Well, since you have proven your worth by making it to my place of peace alive... I will ask Hades. I have many things to discuss with him, once we have dealt with this little Crius problem.’ I felt myself sag in relief and saw tears begin to stream down Arketa’s cheeks.

  ‘Thank you, so much, Oceanus,’ she said. His huge face creased into something that reminded me painfully of one of my dad’s expressions, and he let out a long sigh.

  ‘Pandora,’ he said, his voice deadly serious. ‘You clearly carry much of my ichor in your veins. Those two wouldn’t have taken to you like they have otherwise.’ He gestured at the little seahorses, still prancing excitedly around me. ‘But I can see fire in you.’ My stomach lurched under his gaze. ‘Fire and water do not mix, little Titan.’

  ‘So I’ve been told,’ I said quietly.

  ‘It is a shame. I do not believe a person of your strength is born often. But at least you will have a chance to use that strength for good. One last test. Capture Crius. It will take every ounce of power you have, and every single friend you have.’

  I took a deep breath as I looked into the ancient god’s face, the power of the ocean filling my body. The longer I looked into those unearthly eyes, the more sense the world seemed to make. They contained life, pure and true and more immense than my brain could fully comprehend. He was the source of something larger than I could ever understand, but he was also a part of me. He didn’t feel like my dad, or my home, but like something that had always been there, always been trapped in the pit of my stomach. The thing constantly longing to get out and be free, that knew there was more to the world around me than I was seeing.

  ‘I’m ready,’ I said.

  ‘Good.’

  ‘May I ask something of you?’ I said, tentatively, totally failing to mimic Arketa’s formal authority. Oceanus raised his eyebrows at me. ‘I have a bond with a phoenix, trapped inside a feather. I believe you knew him once, actually. I just wondered... Could you find him a new body?’

  Oceanus chuckled, the rasps soon turning into full laughter.

  ‘That’s what you ask the most powerful god in Olympus for? The body of a bird?’

  ‘He’s been good to me!’ I protested. Oceanus smiled at me, a real, true smile, and the clouds parted, light shining on his beautiful crown.

  ‘Soak his feather in this.’ A small tank of glowing gold liquid appeared at my feet. ‘And in the meantime... You may find use for this.’ Turquoise light caught my attention over his shoulder, and I realized with a start that it was Alifthoros, hurtling towards me. The sword came to a shuddering stop right in front of me, shrinking down in size as I reached out for its hilt. ‘Good luck, Pandora. If you survive this, I’ll do whatever I am able to help you,’ Oceanus said, and there was a flash of blinding white light.

  25

  I flung my arm across my eyes, shielding them from the intense light. When it faded I dropped my arm and looked around. We were no longer over Oceanus’s churning, stormy sea. The sky was peaceful, pastel clouds above us, and the ocean below was calm.

  ‘Where are we?’

  ‘Look.’ said
Arketa, and pointed at a round tower, poking up through the waves.

  ‘The pegasus tower,’ I breathed. We were back at the academy.

  Before doing anything else, I dropped Alifthoros on the now motionless deck, and jogged to my mom. She was still laid out on the planks, her head on Zali’s lap.

  ‘Are you OK?’ I asked her, gently.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, her blue eyes dim. ‘I need to be in the water. I will heal quickly.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Will... Will you come back and help us?’ I asked tentatively.

  ‘Yes.’

  I stepped back and Zali and I helped to her to her unsteady feet. I willed the Tethys lower, and when we were hovering just above the waves we helped her climb over the railings.

  ‘See you soon,’ I said as she dropped wordlessly off the edge of the ship, sinking fast into the ocean.

  ‘She’s a sea nymph, you don’t need to worry about her,’ said Zali reassuringly as I leaned over, watching her plummet out of sight.

  ‘Do you think she’ll come back?’

  ‘Of course she will. Why would she have come this far only to let you down now?’

  ‘She kind of has a track record,’ I said dryly.

  ‘No, she didn’t leave you alone at the academy after all,’ Zali said.

  ‘Hmmm,’ I looked sideways at her. ‘It would have been nicer if I’d known she was there, looking out for me. But I guess she does care. It was pretty impressive, her leaping off the ship into the storm like that.’

  ‘It was,’ Zali nodded. ‘Technically, she was the one who woke Oceanus up.’

  ‘She did more than that,’ I said quietly. ‘She made me this when I really needed it, more than once.’ I held my wrist up, the water bracelet still spinning silently around my skin. Zali wrapped her arm around my shoulders.