Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 3. Poseidon's Academy

Hailey's feet hit solid ground, and the same salty scent that had hung on her acceptance letter swarmed her nostrils.

'Welcome to Poseidon's Academy.' Master Anderson stood before her, wearing gold shorts and a white polo shirt, and holding a crystal orb—the same one he'd thrown into the sea to create the whirlpool. Hailey wondered how something so small could contain a portal so powerful, and then she looked up, finding the whirlpool spinning two feet above her, ready to drop the next student.

A hand latched around her wrist and jerked her aside. 'You're looking the wrong way,' Demi told her.

Hailey followed her best friend's gaze and gasped when she saw Poseidon's Academy.

The palace looked as if it belonged in a fairy tale set in an ice kingdom. Its blue crystal exterior sparkled with the colours of a rainbow as invisible rays of light glinted off its turrets and spires, which rose towards the sapphire blue sea.

The enormous grounds that encircled it were even more enchanting. Sea-anemones and coral formed bright gardens of pinks, purples, blues, and greens. Between them grew trees with coral trunks. One type sprouted big bunches of pearls. Another lot resembled cherry blossom trees, but instead of pink flowers, each tree bloomed a different type of jewel: there were tanzanite trees, aquamarine trees, turquoise trees—basically jewel trees every colour of the sea. There were also trees that looked like weeping willows, with seaweed draping from their branches.

Hailey stared down at the transparent ground, where rainbow reefs grew beneath her feet. Her eyes widened as a school of fish swam by, their tails long like veils, and their scales shiny and iridescent like opals.

Her gaze drifted to the sea surrounding the grounds, which stretched over the top of the palace like a dome of water. She wondered what was keeping it from flooding in on them like a tsunami. Perhaps a spell cast by the goddess Hecate herself, she mused.

'This place is amazing.' Jayden gaped, coming to Hailey's side.

'It's unbelievable,' Hailey agreed, drinking in every inch.

She'd only expected a palace. She'd never thought there'd be grounds surrounding it, or that those grounds would have magical trees growing topaz and lapis lazuli.

'I'm going to be rich,' Demi declared, stuffing emeralds the same colour as her eyes into her skirt's pockets.

'Demi, no stealing,' Jayden chided her.

'I'm not stealing. They're lying on the ground. And there's about fifty trees here. I don't think anyone will miss a few jewels.'

'Demi, put them back.'

'But—'

'Look, I don't know what the rules are here,' Jayden said, 'but stealing jewels could equal expulsion.'

Demi's eyes widened, and she emptied her pockets so quickly, Hailey thought she'd gained the power of super speed.

About twenty minutes passed before Madam Grayson dropped from the portal. She flicked her long black plait behind her shoulder. 'You can close it now, Rowan.'

Master Anderson raised the orb and said, 'Zdaoknav svdaeat.' The whirlpool descended like a tornado, pouring into the orb, where it swirled inside the blue crystal, raging to be set free again.

Madam Grayson moved to the front of the group, the transparent ground making it look as though she were walking on water. 'Now that we're all here, let's begin the tour,' she said. 'Hephaestus created the palace, and the diamond ground. He also designed the invisible force field that keeps the sea from flooding in. Poseidon, with the help of Demeter, created the plant life. And it should go without saying that it's forbidden to pick or take the jewels and pearls.' Demi sighed along with several other students. 'To reduce the chances of humans discovering the palace, Poseidon and Hephaestus created the grounds to travel constantly through the sea,' Madam Grayson continued. 'In other words, the palace is always moving, but it's gradual enough that you won't feel it. Let's head inside.'