Olympus Academy: The Complete Series

by Raine, Eliza

  ‘He’s in here,’ Arketa mumbled, and I snapped my attention back to my surroundings. I realized with a jolt of surprise that we were at the base of the massive pyramid. I gaped up at it, the light reflecting off the gilded statues so bright I was forced to cover my eyes. The bottom level of the pyramid had large doorways every ten feet or so and there were lots of people moving through them. A particularly leathery looking harpy caught my eye as she bustled out of the pyramid holding more bags than she could comfortably carry.

  We walked through the nearest opening and I stared around in renewed wonder. We were in a massive hall with more doorways along the back wall, a little like the main temple at the academy, except that where we normally had tables, this place had market stalls. Glinting jewelery caught my eye everywhere I looked, gemstones of every color I could imagine shining on the tabletops, set in gold and silver. There were stalls covered in piles of fabric too, some with hanging rails draped with translucent materials that shimmered. But even more impressive than the stalls were the walls of the hall itself. They were carved like the statues I’d seen outside, with geometric patterns crawling over every surface. Within the patterns were faces, wide, square-shaped eyes popping out of the carving wherever I looked. It should have been creepy, but I found them oddly cute. As I followed Arketa towards the back of the space I couldn’t keep my eyes off a stall spread with clay pots, each filled with neon colored powders.

  ‘Want your crush to fall in love with you? I got something that can make that happen,’ asked the lady behind the table, a wicked gleam in her eye.

  ‘Err, no, thank you,’ I mumbled, hurrying on. Then I saw a stall that made me stop in my tracks completely. There, lying on a table covered in green fabric, nestled between piles of books, was a cell phone.

  ‘How...’ I reached out, picking it up and turning it over in my hands. A painful wave of homesickness crashed over me.

  ‘That’s from the mortal world, dearie,’ said a man who looked mostly human, but had a beak for a nose, and jet black, beady eyes.

  ‘I know,’ I said, staring at the phone. The screen was black and dead. ‘Do you have the charger for it?’

  ‘Charger?’ he asked, eyebrows raised. I sighed. I didn’t imagine it would work in Olympus anyway, even if I could charge it up. The thought of being able to speak to Dad though... ‘Do you have anything else from the mortal world?’ I asked the stall-keeper.

  ‘Sure,’ he said, and lifted a box off the stone floor onto the table. I dug through it eagerly, but it was mostly clothes. Band t-shirts, a packet of aspirin, a few biro pens. The sort of stuff that would be left in the bottom of a purse or rucksack. ‘Anything you like the look of?’

  ‘Pandora, what are you doing? We don’t have time for this.’ I turned to Arketa.

  ‘We need to buy clothes, I said defensively.

  ‘And you want this trash? That’s not going to help us blend in. Come on,’ she said. I shrugged apologetically at the man with the beak, dropped the t-shirts back into the box, and continued after her. Eventually we reached the back wall, and I saw that there were little signs over each doorway. Arketa stopped in front of one and pushed open the door.

  ‘Good day to you,’ a booming voice said as we stepped into the room. ‘I’m sorry you are in a position to be seeking medical treatments, but I hope I can help you.’ The room was similar to the last apothecary, though much brighter. It was lined with shelves filled with jars and vials, and a tall pot bubbled over a hearth in the middle of the room. But the man tending it couldn’t have been more different to the satyr. He was huge. Really huge. He was a few feet taller than me whilst sitting down.

  ‘Therapeftis,’ Arketa said, and he peered at her closely. His face looked squished somehow, and he had piercing blue eyes under black, bushy eyebrows. I trusted him immediately, though I had no idea why.

  ‘You came to me many years ago, for ambrosia. Did it work?’

  Arketa shook her head.

  ‘No. But I need more today.’

  ‘I am sorry to hear that.’ His eyes flicked to me. ‘ambrosia is highly addictive. It can send a person mad if it is stronger than their power.’

  ‘It’s for a Titan descendant,’ I said. Arketa glared at me, but I didn’t care. ‘He has lost the use of his arm. Will ambrosia fix it?’

  The giant stared at me a moment, then nodded.

  ‘Yes. And Titan blood should be able to withstand it’s dangerous side-effects.’ He stood up slowly and my mouth fell open slightly. He only just fit inside the room. He lumbered towards some shelves and with surprisingly delicacy for such massive hands, he plucked a vial from the back. The liquid inside was thick and amber, like honey. ‘Here,’ he said, and handed it to Arketa. ‘I’m sorry again that it could not help you before.’

  ‘How much?’ she answered shortly.

  ‘No charge. I hope it does better for you this time.’

  ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘No, we must pay you. I will not take charity.’

  ‘It is not charity. Your family paid handsomely last time you were here, and besides, I hardly sell any of this stuff. Few can use it legitimately and I refuse to sell to addicts. It is gathering dust on my shelf.’

  I had a feeling he wasn’t being entirely truthful. From everything I’d heard about the stuff, I knew it was valuable.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said, before Arketa could say anything else. ‘Hopefully one day we can repay your kindness.’ He nodded at me, giving a broad smile.

  ‘I’d like that. Good day to you.’

  We said nothing as we walked back through the hall, Arketa’s pace even faster than it had been before. Discomfort rolled through me. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to return to somewhere so full of awful memories, and I was hardly the right person to comfort her. Zali should have gone with her, I thought, cursing myself for insisting on joining her.

  ‘You’re very brave,’ I said quietly, as we stepped back out into the dappled sunlight and damp heat. She whirled on me, tears streaking down her cheeks.

  ‘My sister’s death has just helped your boyfriend, who is a Titan! Do you understand how wrong that is?’ Her anguished voice cracked, and my stomach knotted at the hatred in her eyes.

  ‘He’s a good person,’ I whispered. She glared at me as more silent tears slid down her face. ‘And he’ll help get Kiko back.’

  ‘He’d better,’ she hissed, and stamped away from me.

  Thom and Zali were exactly where we’d left them by the arch, and so was Vronti, leaning against the stone and looking bored. Zali’s face lit up when she saw us, then fell as Arketa stormed past her, towards the bridge.

  ‘Did you two have an argument?’ She asked.

  ‘Something like that,’ I mumbled. ‘Did you get everything?’ Thom stepped aside to reveal a small cart that looked like a wheelbarrow. It was loaded with joints of meat wrapped in cloth, vegetables, bags full of fabric and glass bottles.

  ‘Yep,’ he said. He looked a bit happier than when I’d seen him last, and I was glad the two of them had had a better time bonding than Arketa and I had.

  ‘And you?’ I asked Vronti. He shrugged.

  ‘No.’

  ‘That’s a shame,’ I said, suspiciously. ’Let’s go.’

  6

  When we got back to the Tethys we unloaded all the food and packed it away in the galley cupboards, then Zali handed out new traditional togas to everybody, along with soap, toothpaste and a few other bits and bobs she’d picked up. Arketa took hers without a word and disappeared immediately.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Zali, after she’d gone. Vronti looked at me expectantly.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ I mumbled.

  ‘OK. Thom and I were thinking, we’re going to go and practice his shifting on the top deck.’

  ‘Good idea,’ I said, smiling at Thom. He looked back at me nervously.

  ‘I think the masts are sturdy enough to tie me to. But just i
n case... Would you mind staying up there with us? Your water power is probably enough to restrain me if anything goes wrong.’

  ‘Of course. Let me go check in on Icarus and I’ll meet you up there.’

  Icarus was sleeping when I pushed open his door, so I kissed him lightly on the cheek and left him in peace. My mom was leaning against the hauler when I stepped out of it on the top deck.

  ‘Did you get everything?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good. Where are we going next?’

  ‘Wherever the ship wants to go. We have everything we need now. We’re ready.’ I strode past her to the front of the ship.

  ‘You need to tell it that.’ I stopped and turned to her.

  ‘Really?’ She nodded.

  ‘You are the captain, as you announced so loudly yesterday. The ship will go where you command it. Or nowhere at all, if you do not.’

  I stared at her, then subtly reached out my conscious to the ship. Restless energy hummed through my mind, and I realized she was right. The Tethys was going nowhere.

  ‘How do I ask it to find Oceanus?’

  ‘Lay your hands on the wheel or the mast and concentrate on the feeling the ship gives you. That sense of him.’

  I walked to the main mast of the ship, directly in front of me. It was wide enough that two of us could hide behind it, the wood rich and dark and vibrant. I looked up at the massive iridescent sails, pulsing with light.

  ‘They’re so beautiful,’ I breathed.

  ‘Yes. But everything beautiful about them is what makes them look like liquid,’ mom said, staring up at them.

  ‘Do you think?’

  ‘Yes. The way they move, the refraction of light, the rippling... They’re like light moving through water, liquid currents swirling.’

  I’d never heard her sound less stern, some real emotion lacing her words.

  ‘Do you live in the ocean?’ I asked her, before I could stop myself.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, looking at me. ‘In a dome not dissimilar to those in Aquarius, like the one academy is built in. Except, there are many, many more pools, allowing passage out to the ocean.’

  ‘How long can you hold your breath?’

  ‘Indefinitely.’

  Once I started asking questions, I couldn’t stop.

  ‘Can you speak underwater?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you ever get cold or tired from swimming?’

  ‘That would take days.’

  ‘Do you need air at all or could you live permanently underwater?’

  ‘That’s enough question’s for now,’ she said, and a very small smile appeared at the corners of her lips. I remembered I was mad with her, and crushed down the curiosity forcing the questions from my mouth. ‘Lay your hands on the wood and think about Oceanus.’

  I did as she told me, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath through my nose, concentrating on the smell of the sea, the faint breeze carrying its scent. The ships energy buzzed to life under my hands. The Tethys wanted to fly over the waves, feel the spray of the ocean on her hull, speed across the world in never-ending freedom. The rush almost made me giddy, and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to sail the skies forever. But I dragged my desires back under control and thought about the ocean, about water, about the life under the surface and the all-powerful god who had once owned it all. Oceanus, I projected at the ship. Take us to Oceanus. But the restlessness intensified, no longer excited but frustrated, the energy beginning to feel bottled up instead of ready to go.

  ‘I... I don’t think the ship knows where he is,’ I said slowly, opening my eyes. ‘The Tethys is frustrated when I think of Oceanus.’

  ‘Really? Are you sure?’ The worry on her face caused my own anxiety to kick in. What if this was all for nothing? We’d run away from the academy, stolen drachma from the ship, followed a demon’s instructions, perhaps all for nothing. Could I be wrong? I didn’t know what I was doing. I looked at my mom, something occurring to me.

  ‘You’re descended from him too, why can’t you do this?’ I asked her, surprised the thought hadn’t come to me before.

  ‘Do you know how many sea nymphs are descended from Oceanus?’ I shook my head. I had no idea. ‘You know, you’ve done surprisingly little research into your own heritage,’ she said dryly. My anger spiked.

  ‘Coming from the woman who abandoned her own child? You don’t get to judge me for not wanting to know more about you!’

  ‘That’s fair I suppose,’ she said, narrowing her eyes begrudgingly. ‘Sea nymphs very rarely have human children. Usually, they are nymphs too. And nymphs are not demigods. There is a big difference.’

  ‘Are all sea nymphs descended from Oceanus?’

  ‘No. Mostly from Poseidon.’

  ‘Oh. So why you can’t nymphs fly the ship?’

  ‘I could try, but I doubt I can bond with it as deeply as you will be able to. My powers are not the same as yours.’

  I stepped aside, gesturing at the mast.

  ‘Have a go.’ She sighed and laid her hands on the wood. Her fingernails looked like they were made of pearls, I noticed, and her pale skin shimmered a tiny bit, almost like scales. I looked down at my own hands. Human as they could be, no hint of sea nymph heritage.

  ‘This will not work, Pandora.’

  ‘Have a more positive attitude,’ I chided her. She didn’t reply but closed her eyes. After a few seconds, I got bored of staring at her shiny nails, and my eyes began to roam over the wood and up towards the solar sails. I wondered what home would be like if we had magic like this. I supposed we did sort of did, in the form of solar energy. Would the sails work in the mortal realm? My neck was hurting from looking up, and as I brought my head back down, I noticed something in the wood in front of me. My eyebrows drew together as I squinted at a patch of wood on the mast a few feet above us. It looked like something was carved there.

  I span around, looking for something to stand on so that I could get a better look, when mom turned to me.

  ‘I can get nothing from the ship at all,’ she said, her voice tight.

  ‘Can you see what that is?’ I asked her, pointing at the carving. I doubted that she could, she wasn’t much taller than I was.

  ‘No. I shall lift you,’ she said. I looked at her in alarm.

  ‘I’ll... just find something to stand on,’ I mumbled, and raced off to the hauler. I found a small empty crate that looked the right size in the cargo deck and dragged it back up to the top deck as quickly as I could. I dropped it in surprise when I got back to the mast. My mom was wrapped around the mast like a monkey, six feet off the deck.

  ‘It is a riddle,’ she called. ‘Do you have pencil and paper?’

  I let out a small noise of exasperation, and darted off again, this time to my cabin. I grabbed my backpack, then ran back. She was still there, legs vice-like around the mast.

  ‘You took your time,’ she said. I scowled at her.

  ‘Read it out.’

  ‘A precious metal, mined from the earth

  A word for someone long after their birth

  The power of Thanatos, whom all mortals hate

  The owner of this ship, Titan, true and great

  Oceanus’s opposite power, sending many to their graves

  Tethys’s favorite ocean creature living beneath the waves

  A stunning goddess born by chance from a Titan’s torture and pain

  A great woman whose efforts to save her children were not in vain.’

  I stared down at the words, a mixture of annoyance and excitement mingling together in my mind. More riddles. I felt like I’d already put my time in solving stupid riddles, and the last one had taken us weeks. But this time it wasn’t just me and Icarus trying to solve it. And surely this meant we were on the right track to finding Oceanus.

  7

  ‘I found something,’ I said, as I reached Zali and Thom, waiting at the prow of the ship. They both hurried towards me. ‘It was ca
rved into the mast.’ I read the riddle aloud again.

  ‘All that was written on the mast?’ Zali gaped at me.

  ‘In tiny writing, yeah.’

  ‘I think I know what a few of those are,’ said Thom.

  ‘I think I do too,’ I said. ‘Let’s all meet in Icarus’s room, as we’ll need him too. Do you know where Vronti is?’

  Within minutes of everyone crowding around Icarus’s bed I wanted to punch Vronti in the nose.

  ‘For the last time, Vronti, shut up and let me read it out!’ I shouted at him.

  ‘I could have solved it by now, why do we need to entertain this circus?’ he sneered.

  ‘Shut up, Vronti,’ said Arketa, from where she lounged at the foot of the bed, at the same time Icarus leapt to my defense.

  ‘Get over yourself, lightning boy,’ he snapped, and Vronti raised his eyebrows at him.

  ‘Lightning boy?’

  ‘Yeah. Wing boy and Titan girl thought you could do with a nickname,’ he said, glaring. ‘Now she’s captain on this ship, so listen.’

  Butterflies skittered through my stomach as I stared at Icarus. I’d never seen him so assertive. I liked it.