Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 23. June Holidays

Hailey's eyes flew open. She sucked in a breath and shot up in bed, cursing when she headbutted the person looming over her.

'Ouch, Hailey.'

'Vkalike,' Hailey said, the crystal orb floating beneath the ceiling flaring to life. Demi stood beside her, rubbing her forehead. 'Sorry. I didn't realise it was you shaking me,' Hailey said, tentatively touching her own throbbing head.

'Well, I thought you'd get angry if I woke you up by turning on the light,' Demi countered, dropping her hand to reveal a red mark above her eyebrow. 'I'll remember that's the safer option next time.'

'So why'd you wake me up? Did you forget to do your Creative Arts homework again?'

Demi's face lit up. 'It's been a month since we left Killer Island, and it's midnight. Our neutralising bracelets are off!'

Hailey glanced at Demi's bracelet-free wrist and then stared down at her own, where her neutralising bracelet dangled loosely. She shook it off, warmth rushing into her fingertips like the stretching beams of a sun.

'What are you waiting for?' Demi lingered at the door, staring back at her like Hailey had been touched by a spirit of madness.

Hailey frowned. 'What do you mean?' She suddenly noticed that Demi was dressed in shorts and a singlet. 'Where are you going?'

'To use my powers. Dah. Come on, hurry up and get dressed.'

Hailey quickly threw some clothes on and trailed Demi downstairs. She drifted into the grounds and froze. She'd never been there at night before, and was shocked to find it looked exactly like it did in her nightmare, with fluorescent coral and sea-anemones casting a pink, blue, green, and purple glow over the grounds. Her eyes darted to the sea, and she relaxed when she saw the palace was above water-no sea-monster would be drowning her tonight.

'Hailey, why aren't you blowing some wind around or something? Don't you want to use your powers?' Demi stood under a pearl tree that had tripled in size.

Hailey pushed away all thoughts of her nightmare. She gazed at the sky and smiled at the sparkling stars, feeling the cold nip of a breeze against her skin. Only a few clouds were hanging around, which she cast away with a swipe of her hand.

'Huh. Look what I found in my pocket.' Demi was clutching a small silk pouch.

'What is it?' Hailey asked, moving to get a closer look.

'It's the bag I stole from the griffin's nest. I forgot all about it. Let's see what's inside.' Demi pulled the thin tasselled rope tied around the top of the pouch loose and tipped the bag's contents into her hand.

Hailey expected something treasurey to fall out-like gold coins or a diamond bracelet. Instead, two gold seeds slipped from the pouch. Hailey frowned. 'Is that it?'

Demi shook the bag and then tossed it. 'Guess so.' She brushed her fingers over the bean-shaped seeds. 'I bet they grow something magical-like a jewel tree.'

'Um, Demi, we're surrounded by jewel trees.'

'Which we're not allowed to pick from. But if we had one in our backyards, they'd come in pretty handy.' She placed a seed on the diamond ground and raised her palm over it.

Hailey leaned forward and waited to see what magical plant would grow.

But the seed remained a seed.

Demi frowned. 'That's weird. My powers have never not worked before. They're probably still messed up from the neutralising bracelet. Let me try again.' As Demi placed her hand back over the seed, it vanished.