Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 35. Home Sweet Home

One second Hailey was standing in the dark gloomy surroundings of Tartarus, and the next she was standing in her bright welcoming dorm, breathing in clean air that cleared her nose of the Underworld's decaying scent.

'Hello, bed.' Demi jumped, landing face first on her mattress. She hugged the pillows to her head and sighed in contentment. 'Oh, how I've missed you.'

'Demi, you're covered in dirt, now all your sheets are dirty,' Jayden rebuked her.

'I don't care.' Demi squeezed her pillows tighter. 'I want to lie here forever.'

'Well, we can't.' Alec swallowed. 'We need tell Amathia what happened.'

'Can't we postpone our expulsion a little longer?' Aaron asked.

Demi jerked up, abandoning her bed and pillows, which were now coated in dirt. 'Oh-yeah, we're going to be expelled, aren't we?'

'I'd say so,' Hailey said. 'Amathia already gave us a second chance. I doubt she'll give us a third one, especially considering we were responsible for almost bringing the gods back from the dead.'

'Can we at least use the wand to take us to her?' Demi asked. 'I'm so tired I don't know if I can walk all the way downstairs.'

'No more spells,' Hailey said firmly. The wand had done enough damage, and she was going to make sure it didn't do any more by giving it to Amathia. No, we must protect it, a voice whispered in her head, urging her to hide it in her chest of drawers.

She took a step towards the drawers. Stop! The wand is evil. It almost caused the prophecy to come true. It needs to be destroyed! She shoved the wand into her pocket before it could coerce her to do anything else.

'We better bring the chest too.' Aaron dropped to his hands and knees and fished the ornate gold chest out from under Hailey's bed before the five of them piled into the hallway.

It was empty, but Hailey didn't expect the rest of the palace to be. She twisted the handle on the door to the common room and braced herself for an onslaught of questions from the other first years about where they'd been for the last who-knew-how-many days, and why they looked-and smelled-like they'd been living in a sewer.

She pushed the door open and frowned. Not one student sat in the common room.

Alec scratched his head, his nails black with grime. 'Where is everyone?'

'I'm guessing in bed.' Jayden glanced at his watch. 'It's 5.30 in the morning.'

'Do you think Amathia will be asleep?' Demi looked hopeful. 'Maybe we should go back to our dorm and wait until later.' She moved to walk back.

Jayden caught her by the arm. 'Nymphs don't sleep, Demi.'

She huffed. 'Fine. Let's proceed with the expulsion.'

Hailey took the lead down the stairs, heading towards Amathia's classroom, since it didn't seem like she ever left it.

She wondered what Amathia's reaction would be when they told her exactly what her sisters had been up to. Hailey assumed she'd ban them from the palace; it was the only way to make sure they never tried anything so diabolical again, and to ensure the protection of the students and teachers.

It was a shame Hailey wouldn't get to enjoy Poseidon's Academy without the nereids, but she deserved to be expelled for what she'd done, even if it was inadvertent. Hailey honestly didn't care though. She was too grateful to be alive and free from the Underworld to sob about how she'd never see the palace again.