Poseidon's Academy Box Set

by Sarah A Vogler

Hailey and her friends pressed themselves against the bars to see what she was doing.

  ‘Uh oh,’ Alec squeaked.

  The woman raised her hands, and the centre of the wall groaned, sliding upwards to reveal a passageway. She ducked through it, the wall slamming shut behind her.

  ‘Well that can’t be good,’ Demi stated the obvious.

  ‘Where does the passageway go?’ Aaron asked Alec, who looked ready to faint.

  ‘Um, everywhere. They’re how Circe, our guard hydra, travels between rooms. She can come out wherever she wants.’

  ‘We need to split up and find her,’ Aaron said.

  Alec shook his head. ‘No, we don’t have to. When someone triggers the screecher alarm, all the doors and windows in the house go into lockdown mode. The only way out is through the front door.’

  ‘Let’s get there then.’

  Hailey didn’t want to guard the front door, waiting for some psycho woman with the power of telekinesis and an indestructible sword, but she followed Aaron anyway. ‘Where are the police?’ she asked, jogging with Alec down a hallway lined with ancient vases. ‘Shouldn’t they have been notified when the alarm went off?’

  ‘No,’ Alec puffed beside her. ‘Only my dad gets alerted when – the alarm goes off. Alerting the police as well – would draw too much attention.’

  The four of them flew into the entryway, taking their stand in front of the double doors. Doors that looked really tempting for Hailey to run through. She hadn’t signed up for this. She was supposed to be exploring Alec’s library and watching movies, not fighting some random woman. But Hailey couldn’t let her leave. What if she wants Perseus’s sword to break into a safe made of something only adamantine can cut through? What if the safe is filled with weapons? What if she uses those weapons to go on a killing spree? Where are Alec’s parents? Please, Tyches, let them show up before we have to face this crazy woman who took down a hydra.

  ‘So where’s your dad?’ Aaron asked.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe he thought Demi decided to touch something again and that it was a false alarm.’

  ‘That was one time,’ Demi said, referring to the first time they’d been in Alec’s house and she’d touched the apple of discord.

  ‘I’m calling the police,’ Alec said, digging into his trouser pocket for his phone.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’ The intruder crept from the right hallway, her injured ankle leaving a trail of blood on the white floor. ‘I warned you.’ She flicked her hands at them.

  An invisible force flung Hailey to the side, pain blasting through her shoulder as she hit the marble ground.

  ‘Ouch!’ Demi groaned as she smashed onto the floor beside Hailey.

  ‘Don’t try and stop me,’ the woman warned, limping towards the doors.

  Aaron sprang to his feet and darted in front of her. ‘You can’t leave with that sword.’

  The woman ground her teeth. ‘I’ve had enough of you kids.’ She flung her hand at Aaron.

  This time he was faster. Aaron’s hands shot out, and his force field became visible for a second, rippling like water as the intruder’s telekinetic powers hit it and then rebounded, ploughing into the woman. She soared backwards and smashed onto the stairs.

  ‘Oh no, she landed on the sword!’ Alec shrieked.

  ‘It’s indestructible,’ Demi reminded him, standing back up with Hailey.

  Hailey rubbed her aching shoulder, wishing she had Kora around to heal it for her. ‘Is she unconscious?’ she asked as Aaron approached the unmoving intruder.

  ‘Yeah, make sure she’s not faking,’ Demi added. ‘She might spring up when you get close—that’s what they do in the movies.’

  Aaron climbed up the first few steps and crouched beside her, poking her in the ribs. ‘She’s unconscious,’ he said, rolling her onto her side and yanking Perseus’s sword free.

  Alec lunged forward, snatching it from Aaron’s hands and combing his eyes over the glittering metal. He blew out a breath. ‘It’s okay.’

  ‘Medusa! What happened?’ Alaric, wearing spectacles and having the same gangly figure as Alec, had materialised in front of the doors with Amelie, who’d traded in her usual Grecian dress attire for trousers and a button-down shirt.

  Alaric’s eyes landed on the sword in Alec’s hands. ‘Perseus’s sword! Is it okay?’ He plucked it from Alec’s grasp, giving it the same once over Alec had.

  ‘Yeah, but I can’t say the same for the weapons room.’ Alec dragged a hand through his hair, his cheeks flushing. ‘Circe fell over in it.’

  ‘Is everybody okay?’ Amelie asked.

  They all nodded.

  ‘Who is that?’ Amelie nudged her head towards the unconscious woman.

  ‘She tried to steal the sword,’ Demi blurted. ‘We were walking around looking at the artefacts when the screecher alarm started wailing, and then we heard someone say they were going to kill Circe and everyone else in the house. We got down there in time to see her fight the hydra, which she managed to knock out with a pillow—you might want to think about upgrading to a stronger monster. Then the woman in black escaped into the passageway, and we waited for her here. She never stood a chance.’

  ‘I’m calling the police.’ Amelie pulled a circle of glass with a pair of gold wings printed on it from her trousers, and rested it in the palm of her hand. ‘Call the police,’ she said, touching the wings. Gold light shone up from the symbol, and a heartbeat later a man’s head appeared, floating above the phone.

  ‘What is your emergency?’ the hologram asked.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Alaric said as Amelie began telling the police what had happened. ‘How did that woman defeat Circe?’

  ‘I told you—with a pillow.’

  ‘The sleeping dust,’ Alec explained. ‘She’s an Inbetweener with the power of telekinesis. She must’ve used her powers to lift the glass case off so that when the sleep dust exploded from the trap around the sword, she wasn’t affected. And then she used that dust to knock out Circe.’

  ‘My word.’ Alaric clucked his tongue. ‘We definitely have some kinks to work out in the security system. Thank the Tyches you saved the sword. I better return it.’

  Alaric veered down the left hallway just as two police officers materialised beside Amelie.

  ‘Where’s the intruder?’ one of them asked.

  Aaron pointed to the stairs, where the woman was still unconscious. The police officer who’d spoken marched over to her and slid gold cuffs onto her wrists to neutralise her powers. A winged pendant hung around the officer’s neck. He touched a hand to it, while keeping his other one latched around the intruder’s wrist. They both swirled into a mixture of colours, like a rainbow ice-cream, and then disappeared altogether.

  ‘I’ll need to ask you some questions,’ the other officer said.

  The next hour consisted of Hailey and her friends answering about a thousand questions before the other police officer vanished too. In that time, five more people had arrived. Alaric had informed Hailey and her friends that they were members of the TripleAS—The Archaeological Ancient Artefacts Society—before disappearing with them somewhere inside the mansion, to no doubt discuss upgrading the security system.

  ‘I called your parents,’ Amelie informed Hailey, Demi, and Aaron, who were sitting halfway up the staircase, trying to process everything that had happened. ‘Everyone’s mums are on their way. When they get here, remember that everything here is a replica. This was a simple home invasion. Perseus’s sword was a fake, understand?’

  They nodded. Hailey wanted to laugh at the idea of this being a simple home invasion. Someone had broken into the mansion to steal an indestructible sword, and they’d almost killed a hydra—one specifically trained to defend the artefacts here. There was nothing simple about what had happened. Why do I keep finding myself in these life or death situations? Did a Hecate curse me? Did the Tyches of the world make a pact to suck away all of my good luck?

  ‘W
hy didn’t you and Dad come when the alarm sounded?’ Alec’s voice bordered on accusatory as he turned to his mum, who was standing beside him.

  Guilt strained Amelie’s face. ‘We didn’t know. When we arrived at the Egyptian dig site, the officials there made us hand in our phones—something about security measures. But we quickly found out the whole thing was a hoax. The double-headed sphinx was a fake. As soon as we collected our phones and saw the alarm had been activated, we came back. I’m so glad you’re okay.’ She hugged Alec to her side.

  Alec pulled away and shook his head. ‘No, it’s all too perfect. There’s something you’re not telling us. How did that woman know you and Dad wouldn’t be home? And that you wouldn’t be able to see that the alarm had been activated? And how did she know about the real sword being here? Who was she, Mum?’

  Amelie hesitated. Her eyes shifted to Hailey, Demi, and Aaron before she sighed. ‘I suppose you’ve been through enough to know the truth... It seems very convenient that your father and I were called away on a hoax discovery only an hour before someone tried to steal Perseus’s sword. I can think of one group who might want to get their hands on that sword more than anyone else… The Olympian Mysteries.’

  Hailey cocked an eyebrow. ‘The Olympian Mysteries?’

  ‘Yes. It’s a secret cult who believe the Olympian gods are the rightful rulers of this world, and strive to resurrect them.’

  Hailey’s stomach dropped. She thought only the nereids were concerned with bringing back the gods, but now there was a cult too. It’s okay, she didn’t get what she wanted, Hailey reminded herself. And now that the police have her, they can find out whatever the Mysteries’ plan is and who else is in the cult.

  ‘Seriously?’ Demi shifted on the stairs. ‘Have they not heard the stories about how evil the gods were? If they come back, they’ll probably destroy the world in vengeance for our ancestors killing them.’

  ‘They believe the Olympians will reward them with positions of power,’ Amelie explained.

  ‘How do they plan on bringing the gods back?’ Hailey’s voice was almost a whisper; the very thought of them having a plan to resurrect the gods made her want to hide in an underground bunker. She’d already faced two gods and almost died—and they hadn’t even been Olympians.

  ‘They don’t really have a plan,’ Amelie said. ‘They mainly steal the gods’ statues and possessions. I think they believe that worshipping the Olympians will bring them back—which would never work.’

  ‘Why would they want the sword though?’ Aaron tapped his fingers on the step, where the intruder’s blood still stained the white marble. ‘How would that bring back the gods?’

  ‘It wouldn’t,’ Amelie said. ‘But it would make a great weapon against anyone who came after them. It’s a good thing you stopped her. Now the police have a chance of disassembling the cult.’

  ‘You think they’ll be able to?’ Hailey’s voice was desperate. She’d destroyed the nereids’ plans to reawaken the gods, and now there was another group with plans to follow in their footsteps. She couldn’t deal with worrying about the gods returning at any moment. Not again. Not when it meant everyone would turn to her—the only Zeus in the world—to stop them.

  Amelie gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Of course. You have nothing to worry about. The gods are dead, and that’s how they’ll stay.’

  2

  Back to School

  ‘Hailey, do you need any help?’ Evonee, Hailey’s mum, called from downstairs.

  Hailey tossed her stationary kit in her somewhat-neatly packed suitcase. ‘No, I’m coming down now.’ She zipped it up and wheeled it towards the door, sparing her blue room one last look before making her way downstairs, her suitcase thumping against every step.

  ‘Mum?’ Hailey called, reaching the living room. The sweet buttery scent of pancake batter drifted in from the kitchen where they’d eaten chocolate-chip pancakes for lunch—something that had become a tradition since starting at Poseidon’s Academy.

  ‘I’m here.’ A teenage girl with dark auburn hair strolled out from beside the stairs, a giant grin on her face.

  Hailey gasped and took a step back. ‘Mum, stop it. You do this every time. You know I hate it when you use your powers like this.’

  ‘But I’m really coming with you this time,’ Evonee said.

  ‘Mum, I’ve told you before. I love you, but you’re not a teenager. You’re forty-two, not fifteen.’

  Evonee’s face began stretching and contracting at the same time, as if she were morphing into a different person. ‘I’m actually thirty-two, thank you very much,’ she said as she shot up several inches, now looking like an adult again.

  Hailey rolled her eyes. ‘That’s just how old you choose to look.’

  Evonee smirked. ‘Being a Hebe does have its perks.’ She tucked a strand of hair that had freed itself from her ponytail behind her ear; blue, red, yellow, and green paint speckled her hands. ‘But I was serious when I said I wanted to come with you. You barely sent me any letters last year.’

  Technically that hadn’t been Hailey’s fault. When PET had seized control of the Academy, they’d confiscated everyone’s stamps and only allowed them to send letters sparingly—after PET had read them to make sure they weren’t revealing anything about the takeover. Not to mention a deadly disease had swept through the school—thanks to Pandora—and letters had been sent even less after that. Her mum didn’t know anything about those things though.

  Amathia had used a spell to make sure the students couldn’t tell anyone back home about the takeover—it was the only way to keep PET from finding their way back to the palace. And as for the disease, aside from Hailey, her friends, and a few teachers, no one knew Pandora had been responsible. Amathia had told everyone that Hecate had left behind a plague potion, and that the nereids had slipped it into the Academy’s drinking water.

  ‘I’m sorry. I promise I’ll send you at least two a week.’

  ‘Three.’

  Hailey smiled. ‘Deal.’

  Evonee pulled her into a hug. ‘I’m going to miss you, kiddo.’

  ‘Me too,’ Hailey said, the sweet scent of vanilla drifting up her nose, mixed with the slightest hint of turpentine.

  Evonee wiped at a few tears and sniffed. ‘It’s almost four thirty-three.’

  Hailey reached into the pocket of her midnight blue skirt and pulled a necklace with a gold-winged pendant from it. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Twenty seconds left until her departure time. ‘I’ll see you in the mid-semester break holidays,’ she told her mum.

  Evonee nodded, wiping away more tears.

  Hailey’s eyes shifted back to the clock. Five, four, three, two. She slipped the necklace over her head and managed a half-wave to her mum before Evonee and the entryway swirled into a mess of colours. Pins and needles pricked at Hailey’s skin as the colours swirled faster and faster around her, like a rainbow tornado. And then slowly the world reformed, revealing a sea that sparkled like aquamarines, sapphires, and turquoises in the beaming sunlight.

  ‘Welcome back, Hailey.’

  Madam Grayson, her overseer, stood beside her. Her long dark hair was tied in a plait like always, draping over her Grecian dress—an outfit all the female teachers wore, making them look like priestesses from ancient times. She ticked Hailey’s name off a list covered in names and arrival times, while Hailey scooted out of the way before the next student scheduled to arrive could crush her. She gazed around the tropical island. White sand as soft as powdered sugar covered the island, with coconut trees spread all around. Teachers dressed in Grecian outfits stood at various points, ticking off names as students materialised in front of them.

  Hailey spotted Demi and Alec with the other third years, lounging under a coconut tree a few yards away; she wheeled her suitcase over to them, its wheels squeaking against the soft sand.

  ‘Hailey.’ Demi leapt up and gave her a quick hug.

  ‘Hi, Hailey,’ Alec said, standing up and w
iping sand off his long midnight blue trousers.

  ‘Where’s Jayden?’ Hailey glanced around.

  Demi’s jaw jutted out. ‘He’s over there.’ She waved an irritated hand to the left.

  Hailey spotted his overly-gelled black hair about five coconut trees over. Cady, another third year, was sitting with him, the two of them cuddling up. ‘I didn’t know they were such close friends,’ she remarked, a little hurt that Cady was probably the reason why Jayden had barely spent any time with them over the holidays.

  ‘I think they might be more than friends,’ someone said from behind her.

  Hailey swung her head around. ‘Oh, hey, Aaron.’ She stared back at Jayden and Cady, watching him tuck a strand of her brown flyaway hair behind her ear. ‘You might be right about that.’

  Demi crossed her arms over her midnight blue blazer, where the Academy’s emblem—a gold trident with the letters P and A encircled by a swirl of water—was stitched onto the breast pocket. ‘He doesn’t even remember we exist.’

  ‘I doubt that’s true,’ Hailey said. ‘Jayden. Jayden, we’re here,’ she called out, waving a hand above her head.

  Jayden glanced over, giving her a little wave before returning to his conversation with Cady.

  Hailey dropped her hand and swallowed down the bitter taste in her mouth. Her best friend since primary school had just ignored her, all because he had some stupid girlfriend.

  ‘Told you he doesn’t care about us anymore.’ Demi turned her back on the pair.

  Aaron punched her playfully on the shoulder. ‘What’s the matter, you don’t want to share him? He just has a girlfriend now. We’ll still get to see him.’

  ‘Yeah, he’s still our friend,’ Alec agreed, sounding a little unsure.

  Demi shrugged. ‘Whatever you think.’

  ‘Third years gather up,’ Madam Grayson called out, standing a few feet from the shoreline.

  ‘Come on, Dems, we’re about to start our third year. Don’t let Jayden get to you,’ Hailey said.

  ‘You’re right. He’s so not worth it.’ Demi smiled. ‘And I am pretty excited about seeing the palace again.’