Poseidon swallowed down his rage. The best revenge he could get on humans was to survive. He walked the rest of the way to the throne room, leaving gold bloody footprints behind him. A similar scene to the entryway greeted him. Twelve thrones, each one designed to reflect the god it belonged to, circled the round room. Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis sat slumped in theirs. Only moments before they’d been on the battlefield fighting fiercely, and now they were pale and trembling, looking a few breaths away from death.
Hermes, Hestia, and Hephaestus, who had not taken part in the battle, were standing in the centre of the thrones, along with Zeus and Ares.
Zeus was staring at Poseidon, impatience clear on his face. ‘What took you so long?’ he demanded.
‘The minor gods’ powers are falling to the earth,’ Poseidon said, striding towards Zeus and the others. ‘We cannot allow them to possess our powers. They are not worthy.’
‘We should obliterate them.’ Ares crushed his hands into fists.
‘You know of the prophecy that speaks of what will happen if a fifth race is ever created,’ Zeus said.
Ares’s fists clenched tighter. ‘We will destroy that race, too, and create another.’
Zeus shook his head. ‘The risk is too great.’
Hestia gasped and stumbled to her knees.
‘We’re running out of time,’ Hermes said. ‘We must act now. I retrieved what we needed from Hecate.’ He held up two chests that resembled oversized jewellery boxes. One was carved of moonstone, its milky blue colours shimmering in the sunlight streaming through the windows. The other was black onyx, the stone so polished it reflected the room.
‘Are you sure this will work?’ Ares asked. ‘I do not wish to waste my last moments on a failed plan when I could be killing humans.’
‘It will.’ Zeus’s tone dared anyone to contradict him; no one was that foolish. ‘As we discussed, everyone will need to pass their powers to Hestia or Hephaestus—both have nobly volunteered to remain behind.’ Hephaestus exchanged a look with Aphrodite at the mention of his staying behind, which Poseidon assumed translated to good riddance. ‘The spell Hecate created will only work if we are mortals.’
Poseidon’s mouth turned bitter at the thought of becoming a mortal. How vile. A burst of pain reminded him his choices were limited. He bit down a cry and forced his body to remain upright, not wanting to appear weak in front of his kin.
Artemis’s scream tore through the throne room. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the arms of her silver throne, her nails digging into the metal. ‘I do not have long left,’ she gasped out. ‘All of my temples will soon be ashes, and so will I.’
‘Do it now, Hestia and Hephaestus,’ Zeus ordered. A clenching of his jaw was the only hint Poseidon saw that Zeus was feeling the burning flames as well.
Hestia grasped her trembling hands with Artemis’s. Blinding white light enveloped the room like a blazing star.
‘That feels so much better—the pain is gone,’ Artemis said when the light faded. Her shallow breaths turned deep, and her skin flushed with colour.
‘Now the others,’ Zeus ordered Hestia and Hephaestus.
The two gods absorbed Hera’s, Aphrodite’s, Athena’s, and Apollo’s powers next, bright white light flooding the room each time. Hephaestus stepped towards Poseidon. The god of fire and metalworking glowed with power as he gripped Poseidon’s hands.
A voice in Poseidon’s head yelled at him to keep his powers. To stay an Olympian god. But the price was death. They will be restored to me when I rise again, Poseidon reminded himself, letting his powers flow from him and into his nephew like a stream of energy that crackled the air with electricity.
The burning pain ebbed, fading to nothingness as Hephaestus let go of Poseidon’s hands. What replaced the pain was a feeling of utter weakness. Like his bones would shatter if a slight breeze drifted into the room. I will not be mortal for long, he reassured himself, settling onto his seashell and jewel-encrusted throne. I will be an almighty god again.
Hestia and Hephaestus took the rest of the Olympians’ powers, before finally collapsing onto their thrones. Sweat glistened on their skin as they gasped in tiny breaths.
‘All right, Hermes, bring the chest around,’ Zeus said from his gold throne.
Hermes picked up the moonstone chest from where it rested in the centre of the throne circle, and opened the lid. Poseidon leaned forward to see the twelve white lights inside it. According to Zeus, Hecate had spelled them to freeze the Olympians until whomever Nemertes sent up here opened the other chest, which would release a spell to awaken them.
Hermes held the chest towards Hera, offering her the first light. She took one, staring at the light curiously, which looked like a miniscule version of the glowing orbs that lit Poseidon’s palace. The moment the light touched Hera’s tongue, it vanished, and her body stiffened as spider webs of frost spread over her skin, making her look as though Chione had used her ice powers to freeze the goddess.
‘See, it works,’ Zeus said, the slightest hint of relief in his voice.
How exactly? Poseidon wondered. Will it be like Hypnos’s sleep dust and I’ll wake up centuries from now with no memory of how much time has passed? Or will I be frozen, aware of every miserable moment as it passes by? His lip curled at the thought of being stuck in this room, forced to stare at his kin for centuries. I’d rather death than that endless torment.
One by one, the gods took a white light, freezing in their thrones as frost snaked over their skin. And then it was Poseidon’s turn. He plucked a light from the chest. Cold bit into his fingers, mixed with the burn of fire as the light gleamed in his hand. Power pulsed inside it like a heartbeat.
‘I am here.’ Demeter stumbled into the throne room on shaky legs.
Zeus narrowed his eyes. ‘Demeter? I thought you were spending the last of your days in the Underworld with Persephone.’
A fleeting smile passed over the goddess’s lips, but she quickly replaced it with a sombre look. ‘Although I love my daughter dearly, I do not wish to die.’ Her words were strained, and Poseidon guessed her change of heart had more to do with not being able to endure the pain any longer.
‘Very well,’ Zeus said. ‘Give your powers to Hestia or Hephaestus. Quickly, before they expire.’
Hestia and Hephaestus were not screaming. But one look told Poseidon they were in a great deal of pain. They were hunched in their thrones, nails digging into the armrests as sweat trickled down their faces.
‘Poseidon.’
Zeus’s voice drew Poseidon’s focus back to the light. Rage as hot as an erupting geyser burned in his veins. Why should he have to banish himself from a race he and the other gods created? Traitorous vermin! His hand moved towards his trident, which rested against his throne, as the desire to kill every last human clawed at him again. No, they deserve much more torment than a quick death. I will return, and when I do, I will drown this world in misery. The promise was enough to ease his hand away from the trident.
A wicked smile curved his lips. See you soon, humans. He slipped the light into his mouth.
1
Lockdown
A myriad of colours swirled around Hailey, melting and merging into one another before reforming into a set of gold towering gates. Beyond them extended an enormous yard leading up to a white mansion bordered by stone pillars that looked ancient enough to have come from the gods’ temples.
Demi latched her hands around the gates’ gold bars, leaning towards them as if trying to squeeze through. ‘I keep forgetting how amazing this place is.’
‘Living here would be awesome,’ Hailey agreed, pressing the button beside the gates as she imagined how cool it would be to have an entire mansion to herself—plus her mum of course.
‘Hello?’ Alec’s voice came out of the speaker next to the button.
‘It’s us,’ Demi hollered. ‘Open up.’
The gates creaked open. Demi flew through them the second they wer
e wide enough for her to slip through.
‘Wait for me.’ Hailey hurried onto the stone pathway after her best friend, trying not to look at the hundreds of statues dotting the acre of front yard. Something about human statues creeped her out, like maybe those statues had once been people who’d been unfortunate enough to cross paths with a gorgon.
Hailey passed through the pillars bordering the front of the house and climbed up the four steps to the portico. Demi was already rapping on the double doors with the gold lion door knocker.
‘I can hear you. Stop knocking,’ Alec’s voice called from the other side, right before the doors swung in.
‘Well, if the doors were already open, I wouldn’t have had to knock,’ Demi said, wiping her sweaty brown hair from her face and rushing past Alec. ‘Hey, Aaron,’ she said, waving to him as he walked down the stairs to meet her.
Hailey blinked as she entered the entryway. She’d forgotten how huge it was; it looked big enough to fit her entire house in it. The white marble floor matched the polished pillars, and gold-leaf patterns adorned the ceiling high above.
‘Is Jayden here?’ Demi glanced up the wide staircase and down the hallways that led from the entryway.
Alec raised an eyebrow. ‘No. I thought he told you he couldn’t come?’
Demi’s smile faltered. ‘He did. But I thought maybe he’d gotten out of whatever plans he had. I don’t understand what could be more important than hanging out with us anyway. I haven’t seen him all holidays, and he barely answers my calls or voice texts.’
‘I think he’s just busy helping his parents with their volunteer work,’ Hailey said.
‘Yeah, he’s probably in the Sahara Desert using his powers to water plants,’ Aaron agreed.
Demi shrugged. ‘Whatever. I don’t care.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘I want a tour.’
‘My dad gave you a tour the last time you were here,’ Alec reminded her.
‘Yeah, but that was before I knew all the artefacts in here were real.’
Alec’s eyes widened. ‘Shh, that’s top secret,’ he hissed, casting an apprehensive look around, as if expecting to find someone hiding in the corner, spying.
Demi rolled her emerald green eyes. ‘There’s no one here, Alec. Where’s your dad? Do we need him to show us the stuff or can you do it?’
‘He got called away to Egypt. Apparently, someone uncovered the ancient remains of a two-headed sphinx. Mum went with him.’
‘So we’ve got the place to ourselves? Awesome!’ Demi dashed into the left hallway.
‘Demi, wait.’ Alec jogged after her. ‘Please don’t touch anything!’
‘We better go help Alec stop Demi,’ Hailey said to Aaron, following after her friends.
Rooms were spread out along the hallway, none of them having any doors. Everything was open—like a museum. Hailey found Demi in a room lined with glass cases that each protected some mystical item. In one, Hailey glimpsed a hunk of wood that looked like it had washed up from the sea. She peered at the plaque stuck to the base of the case: A piece of Argo: the ship Jason and his Argonauts sailed on their journey to find the Golden Fleece. In another case, a gold necklace gleamed with two serpents touching their hissing mouths together to form a clasp—the plaque said it belonged to Harmonia.
The one Demi was standing in front of brought back a lot of memories. It was a clear crystal orb streaked with gold and silver. In Goldarin—the original language of the gods and the first race of humans—it was called a watwdaom atpkonaskdao, which translated to “memory extractor”. Last year Alec’s dad used it on PET: a team of highly trained soldiers tasked with retrieving valuable items—a team led by Aaron’s dad, Jake. They’d been after Poseidon’s trident, but they’d left instead with no memory of ever being at the Academy.
‘Demi, you can’t touch anything,’ Alec pleaded.
Demi tapped her fingers against the glass, as if trying to wake up the memory extractor. ‘I’m just looking. So are Jake and the other PET people’s memories inside the orb?’
‘Maybe. I honestly don’t know,’ Alec said. ‘All we know is that it can take memories. But I suppose it would make sense that they could be stored in it somehow.’
‘How’s your dad?’ Hailey asked Aaron while Demi moved her attention to a cornucopia, and Alec began pleading again with her not to touch anything.
A flicker of sadness glinted in his eyes as he ran a hand through his brown hair, which looked like it hadn’t been combed in a week. ‘He doesn’t remember anything, if that’s what you mean. And he has no intention of tracking Poseidon’s Academy down again. The Government has deemed Operation Trident a failure.’
‘But how is he towards you?’
Aaron shrugged. ‘Same as usual. Except now he asks me about what happened in the palace and how I knew about Operation Golden Goose. I’ll never tell him though.’
‘You’re so boring, Alec,’ Demi whined. ‘You have all these amazing artefacts and you don’t use any of them. Like the Ring of Gyges,’ she said, pointing to a silver ring resting on a satin pillow. ‘If we took this ring, we could use it to make ourselves invisible and sneak around the palace.’
‘We don’t need to sneak around the palace anymore with the nereids gone,’ Alec countered.
‘Maybe they ambushed the palace and took control. Or maybe Amathia was stupid enough to listen to their lies about not trying anything diabolical again. We should take it just in case.’ Demi reached for the ring.
A high-pitched screech exploded from somewhere, sounding like a screaming sea-demon. Hailey’s hands flew to her ears.
‘Demi!’ Alec scolded.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Demi said, pressing her hands to her ears too. ‘I never even touched the glass.’
‘Mute alarm,’ Alec shouted, and the shrieking cut off, leaving Hailey’s ears ringing.
‘Medusa!’ someone cursed in the distance.
Ice trickled through Hailey’s veins; they weren’t alone in the house.
‘No one is stealing anything on my watch,’ Demi declared, and bolted from the room.
‘Demi, this isn’t a game,’ Aaron called after her.
Hailey hesitated. Am I seriously going to run towards the person who’s broken into the house? What if they have a knife or a fireball gun?
‘Circe will get them,’ Alec said, sensing Hailey’s thoughts, and then, to her surprise, he ran after Aaron.
Well if Alec, who always argued they should tell someone else whenever there was danger, wasn’t afraid, then Hailey had nothing to worry about. She followed him.
They didn’t have to run too far down the hallway before they found the room the intruder was in—the weapons room. Bars now blocked the room’s entrance, turning it into a prison cell. On the other side of them was a woman with auburn hair a few shades lighter than Hailey’s, dressed head to toe in black, and wielding a sword with a slight curve to it. The woman didn’t even notice Hailey and her friends peering at her; her attention was focused on the nine-headed monster slithering towards her on a serpent tail—a hydra.
The intruder twirled the sword in her hand, the blade’s silver metal sparkling with the faintest tinge of blue.
‘Don’t you dare scratch Perseus’s sword!’ Alec shrieked.
The woman’s eyes flew to the bars, and the hydra attacked, slashing out its tail and knocking the intruder’s feet out from under her.
She thudded to the ground beside a glass case with a double-headed axe in it. Perseus’s sword clattered from her grip.
The hydra’s heads launched as the woman reached towards the back wall, where swords, axes, spears, and shields were on display. One of the shields began vibrating as if trying to shake free from the wall, and then it flew across the room, landing in the intruder’s hand, only just blocking the hydra’s snapping heads.
She shoved the shield forward, pushing the dazed hydra back enough to jump to her feet. One of the heads sunk its teeth into her ankle; blood dripped onto the floor
as the woman shrieked. She aimed her free hand back towards the weapons. This time the entire wall of weapons came free, spears and swords flying through the air, their sharpened tips aimed straight at the hydra.
The monster’s heads snapped around, sensing the weapons’ approach. Its mouths snapped closed, catching every sword and spear in its teeth and tossing them aside. The woman sucked in a breath, and Hailey thought she was bracing for the hydra to rip her apart. But then she threw her arm towards the satin pillow Perseus’s sword had rested on inside a glass case. The pillow hovered in the air for a second, and then whacked against the hydra’s heads, sprinkling what looked like gold glitter.
Demi snickered. ‘Does she really think she can defeat a hydra with a pillow?’
The hydra’s nine heads swayed from side to side, its eyes blinking as if confused, and then the monster lolled backwards. Smash! Glass cases shattered under it as it hit the ground.
Hailey gulped. The intruder had taken down a hydra—a hydra—and now she was scooping up Perseus’s sword and stalking towards them.
Hailey backed away from the bars.
‘Open this gate.’ The woman tapped the sword against the iron bars.
Alec shook his head of blond hair, his face whiter than snow.
‘Put the sword back and maybe the cops will go easy on you,’ Aaron told her.
An amused smile curved her lips. ‘Perseus’s sword is made of adamantine—an indestructible metal. I bet it can slice right through this cage.’ She drew back the sword and slashed it forward. The bars glowed bright blue as the blade clanged against them. ‘A spell,’ the woman muttered. Her eyes shot to Aaron. ‘Let me out of here right now and I won’t harm you. But if I have to find my own way out, it’ll be a different story.’
Aaron crossed his arms; they’d doubled in size since last year, the endless push-ups Hailey always saw him doing finally paying off. ‘You can’t hurt us.’
Her smile turned wicked, promising terrible things. ‘We’ll see about that.’ She slid the sword into a sheath strapped to her back and limped to the right wall.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 63