PLEASE READ:

Hi everyone. I know it's been a while. I wanted this posted way sooner, but I've been extremely sick and on strong medication for weeks and it looks like it's gonna be that way for at least another month, (for those concerned, my health issues are unrelated to the current global situation). I have no clue what my posting schedule will be like. I really wish I could be more consistent but the fatigue has left me pretty brain dead and I just haven't been able to work on this story. I apologize, I'm determined to finish this story as soon as I can, but really have no clue how quickly that will happen.

Wishing everyone the best, and as always, thanks for the support.

~secrethalfblood

...

Hpov

Ashton managed to keep his balance after crashing through the doors, but had to catch me as I shot past him and almost landed face first into stone.

"Why didn't you trip?" I asked, glaring resentfully at the space through which we'd been dumped back into the mortal world, only to feel my eyes go wide. "Whoa."

It had been early afternoon when we'd left Ashton's house, but here the sun was already starting to sink. There was more than enough light, however, to see we'd made it to the right place. All round us were pale ruins of what must have been an absolutely massive series of structures built and carved out of stone.

I turned, glancing around in amazement, completely forgetting my embarassement as I took in my surroundings

A warm breeze picked up over the ruins and I beamed at Ashton.

"This is so cool."

"You are such a nerd." he said smirking, but unable to keep from looking around himself.

The ruins of the Library of Alexandria looked less like a library, and more like the crumbling remains of some sort of miniature city. Ancient walls and columns seemed laid out in what looked like some sort of grid system completed with walkways, and roads stretching out to the shore in the distance from where the breeze was blowing.

I ignored the taunt, still taking in the ruins.

I'd seen photos of it before, layouts of the area, and recreations of what scholars thought it might have looked like but even still. It was bigger than I would have thought it was.

"So," he said and I tore my gaze from an elaborately carved entry way back to Ashton. "We're looking for a specific part of the ruin, right?" he asked, looking as if he were trying to remember our conversation from earlier. "The Sera-something?"

"Serapeum." I corrected automatically and he nodded looking vaguely around.

"Yeah, that one."

It was clear to me after a few seconds that he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for, and eventually, he turned back to me.

"Well. Where is it?"

I couldn't help but smile a little and pointed behind him, the exact opposite direction he'd been searching.

"That way."

He turned to see a tall column standing alone across the ruins, one that, I could tell by his expression, seemed to surprise him.

"I've seen this before." He said narrowing his eyes at the feature.

"It's Pompey's Pillar." I said amused at face he was making. "C'mon. We should probably get moving before someone realizes were not a part of the tours."

I gestured towards one of the serval knots of people that were moving around the site, then took his hand and dragged him towards the walk way.

It wasn't hard to find that catacombs, or to slip away from the tour group we'd attached ourselves too without much attention from the guide.

"You'd think this would be a bit more difficult." he said as we descended steps.

The stone had been worn smooth over the centuries of foot traffic and I found myself wondering just how many people had walked along them over the centuries.

"Just be happy we haven't run into the Minotaur or something." I said tersely, trying to ignore my anxiety as I scanned the dark halls.

Though the sun hadn't totally set, it was dim in the tunnels of the catacombs, the soft lights set into the ground doing little to dispel the gloom of the corridor around us.

"Don't be so quick to assume we won't." He chided, raising his palm and gathering what light he could from the darkness, allowing us to more easily see.

The hallway was narrow and short, increasing the feelings of claustrophobia I'd been experience since we'd been underground.

It was much cooler down here than it was on the surface, and I felt a shudder go over me that I wasn't sure was entirely related to the cold.

"Is it just me," Ashton asked as we continued to walk through the hall. "Or does something feel sort of… off, about this place?"

"It's not just you." I said quietly glancing over my shoulder, but seeing nothing apart from an empty stretch of corridor.

I'd never been afraid of the dark, or small spaces for that matter, but something felt weird about this place. Usually the thought of the dead didn't bother me, however, the thought was prevalent in my mind. We were after all looking for dead people, and Ashton was right. They didn't often like being disturbed.

I pushed this thought away, and couldn't help but smile when I caught his anxious expression.

He must have noticed, because he glanced sideways as I hastily turned away.

I wasn't fast enough however.

"You got something you want to say there Bambi?" he asked his tone accusing and I bit my lip.

"Nope."

"You're laughing at me." He continued sourly and despite my best efforts, my smile grew.

"Does that seem like something I would do?"

"Yes." He said flatly and this time I did laugh.

"Sorry." I said and he scowled

"Smirk all you want. But it's not unusual to be creeped out by dead people."

"I could point out we haven't actually seen any dead people."

"Not for lack of trying on your count." He muttered and I shrugged, feeling a bit better as we pressed further down the hall.

"Who knows," I said as we continued to walk. "There's no grantee we'll find anything down here. It was just a hunch."

"Your hunches tend to be right." He pointed out and I smiled.

"Well, I could be wrong this time." I said, but unable to help adding. "There's a first time for everything.

"Yeah, ok." he said rolling his eyes but seemed gratified when I took his free hand in my own.

…

"This might be a bust." I said peering down yet another corridor and feeling disappointed.

We'd been wandering underground for a while, finding nothing, and I knew the longer we were down here the more likely we were to run into the site guards or something much, much worse.

"Maybe we should turn back." I said glancing over my shoulder then at Ashton who was still holding light in his palm, illuminating the surrounding area.

He however, clearly hadn't heard me.

His eyes were narrowed, as if he were trying to spot something at the light's edge.

"Ash?" I asked and he blinked, shaking his head before his eyes flitted towards me. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." He said but his brow furrowed, and he held his hand higher, the beams glowing brighter as he squinted towards the shadows. "I thought I saw something further down…"

His tone faded, but as the illumination increased, I saw it too. A faint glimmer. Something reflecting the light.

I had no idea why, but instantly, something felt familiar about it.

"Harper." Ashton hissed after me as I started after it.

It didn't take long for me to reach the object, or for Ashton to catch up to me, looking irritated at first, then just as confused as I felt as I spotted the lenses.

"Are those-" he started and I nodded, in complete shock as I picked them up, and turned to face him.

"My glasses." I said glancing down at the spectacles in what felt like disbelief.

"James must have been here." Ashton said as I inspected the glass, looking for any scratches or cracks in the frame as I held them up. They seemed ok. "Maybe that's why we're not finding anything."

I let out a shout as I caught sight of something through the glass and almost dropped them in surprise.

"What is it?" Ashton asked quickly but I shook my head, willing my heart rate to settle as I looked at the glasses again, then put them back on, this time prepared for what I was going to see.

Ghostly figures drifted through the hall, glowing specters from different cultures and different eras, all apparently indifferent to the living, breathing figures alongside them.

"Harper?" Ashton asked, but I ignored him. A strange golden haze overcoming the walls of the catacombs, wiping away centuries of erosion and use leaving behind what looked like a temple fully intact…

"Harper…" Ashton again but his voice seemed far away as I continued to look around the hall, hardly aware of where I was headed, watching the spirits drift in a strange sort of super natural current, clutching papers and scrolls, all looking as if they were going about their daily business. Totally unaware of the two intruders into their routine.

I continued to walk, not entirely sure where I was headed until my eyes locked on a singular spirit that was not drifting among the halls.

He was at the far end of the passage, glowing faintly in the dimness, the edges of his transparent robes brushing against the stone.

I hesitated, wondering if he alone of the spirits could sense me, when his gaze met mine and a chill went down my spine.

'Daughter of Athena'

The spectral whisper emanated not from the man, but seemingly from the walls of the catacombs itself and I felt the temperature around me plummet as it lifted a skeletal hand, indicating for me to follow it.

I started after it.

"Harper where are you going?" Ashton asked sounding startled but the spirit was moving fast.

I increased my pace.

"Harper!"

But I barely heard Ashton, trying to keep a lock on the ghost so as not to lose him in what felt like a virtual quagmire of souls.

Sprinting through the halls, Ashton hot on my heels we flew up the steps after the man but the moment we breached the surface I froze.

"What-" I started in total confusion.

The shimmering mist had exploded across the landscape, restoring ruins to a bustle of activity. Ghosts were gaining color, collecting the shade of tall buildings, towering over neat roads through which scholars crossed to their lectures. I felt the heat of a Egyptian sun beating down from overhead, heard men laughing, prayers drifting from the temple.

What was going on?

I shook my head and ran after the spirit, the lone figure that seemed to have kept it's spectral appearance.

I didn't bother to avoid the men, feeling a wave of cold wash over me as I sprinted through them, trying not to lose my target in the crowd. I had no idea where Ashton went, but hardly spared this a thought.

I'd almost caught up to the ghost now, practically within arm's reach.

I extended a hand only to see in horror, they'd gone pale with cold, the nails blue as my body started to shiver.

A wave frost went over me as I grabbed the man's robes.

He turned, a guttural hiss escaping from his skeletal face when suddenly, the sky went dark, and lighting split the sky.

It crashed between the spirit and I, blasting me off my feet, throwing me to the ground.

I pushed myself up only to see horses bolting in terror and shouts as scholars darted in and out of crumblings buildings, their arms full of scrolls. Flames whirled around me as people screamed, sprinting for exits, as Roman legionaries marched along the roads. Monsters snatching unsuspecting mortals from out of the chaos.

I watched the devastation in horror as centuries of human knowledge vanished before my very eyes.

'No.' I thought in panic. This couldn't be happening... I had to do something.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and I heard someone cry out to my left.

I turned to see there was a man trapped under a support from one of the toppling buildings, the bag of scrolls he'd been carrying spilled out before him as he scrambled trying to get free.

Without thinking, I dashed forward wary of the fire that was creeping closer and closer along the wooden beam, coughing from the smoke of the ruins burning around us.

Without combined effort, we were able to lift the support long enough for him to crawl out from under it.

He shouted in a language in didn't know, but from his expression it wasn't hard to understand the meaning.

'Run'

I was just about to follow him when I spotted the bag he'd been carrying, the fire creeping closer and closer to the scrolls.

I hesitated, then dove for it only to feel something catch me and pull me back.

"Let me go!" I shouted desperately trying to fight the grip, but whatever had grabbed me was too strong.

"Let me god, I can still-"

Panic gripped me as I watched the flame creep closer to the bag, the scrolls catching flame as whatever held me, a monster probably, reached for my face.

I screamed.

"Harper!"

"No!" I shouted still struggling. "Let me go I-"

I let out another shriek as I felt my glasses torn from me as the voice shouted.

"Bambi! It's me!"

Recognizing the name, I stopped struggling.

"Ash?" I asked my heart beating rapidly in my chest, my breathing ragged as the panic continued to rage through me.

"Harper," Ash panted sounding terrified, his eyes wide as they met mine. "What is going on? What happened to you?"

"I-" I started confused, looking around but the fire was gone. The ruins were dark now, stars, not smoke, scattered across the sky. Everything was quiet, like this place had been for centuries.

"I'm ok." I said realizing Ashton was still holding me, and while he looked uncertain for a moment, he let me go and I looked around.

Night had fallen and but I could still see the library, what it had been centuries ago, in my mindseye.

We were no longer in the temple, but in front of a giant amphitheater, that descended in rows towards what was once obviously a space for lectures.

"What happened?"

"I dunno." He said his tone cautious, and I could tell his eyes were on me. "You just sort of froze up after you put your glasses on and then started running like Hades himself was after you. I'm not sure where you were headed but you almost dove right off the edge here. That's when I pulled you back."

An unpleasant sensation went through me as a memory flashed behind my eyes, James catching me just before I stumbled into a lava pit. Scolding me, as if it was something he'd done many times.

"What did you see?" he asked sounding concerned and I shook my head, gesturing for him to put on the glasses to see for himself.

He frowned for a moment, clearly debating if it was wise before looking through the lenses.

"I don't see anything." He said frowning and glancing at me confused.

"Nothing?" I asked in disbelief and his shook his head.

"Give them to me." I said incredulously, snatching them from his offering hand, but before I could put them on, I spotted a lone, ghostly figure in the center of the amphitheater.

"Ash?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah Bambi?"

"Do you see that?"

I gestured towards the spirit, only to see Ashton squint in the direction I was pointing.

"See what?"

"That." I said indignantly, pointing at the ghost, but though he frowned and continued to gaze in the direction I'd indicated, no expression of recognition crossed his features. "The spirit, it's right-"

But it was obvious he didn't see it, and when he shot a beam of light over the area, the sprit dissipated, but not before a familiar shape gleamed in the flash of light.

"Was that-" he started.

"An owl." I finished excitedly, hopping down the first ring of seats towards the basin with Ashton shouting warnings behind me.

The floor of the amphitheater was stone like the rest of the ruin, but carved into it, burning with bright celestial bronze was an elaborate symbol of a regal woman wearing a battle helmet. She was holding her favorite weapon, a spear and on her shield, was an owl. The portrait was framed by a laurel of olive branches that curved along the base of the amphitheater in front of the bottom row.

There was no mistaking it. This was my mother's seal.

"Don't tell me you don't see this." I said looking up as Ashton landed on the final row besides me, his hair glowing in the light of the bronze.

"Oh I see it." He said his eyes scanning the symbol, then darting to me. "But what do we do now?"

As if in answer to his question. A warm breeze blew over us, snatching at our hair as, with a bright flash, the bronze of the seal exploded with light and there was the sound of stone scraping against stone.

I squinted at the center of the seal, where a podium of bright marble was rising from the shield.

With each passing second the podium rose, the bronze grew brighter and brighter until it was white hot, the wind gusting off it blistering and dry until suddenly, the podium slowed to a stop. The light died, leaving behind nothing but an after image imprinted on my vision.

"Well that was something." Ashton said quietly.

He was looking at the podium with obvious curiosity. On it, rested what looked like an ancient scroll, but I had a feeling he didn't see the ghost levitating behind it. And it wasn't looking at him.

I hesitated for a moment, watching the spirit as I started walking along the first row of seats, not entirely surprised to find that it was tracking my movements.

"So what do you think?" Ashton asked watching me pace along the outside of the seal, mapping it's design from memory. I tried to piece out the lines of the symbol, picturing them on the floor which was now blank. "Think we can just go up and grab that or-"

I jumped off the bottom row of the Amphitheater only to land on a blank stretch of stone, flamings springing to life around me exactly where I'd figured they would.

"Harper!" Ashton shouted in shock attempting to jump after me but recoiling as a burst of flames shot at him, singeing his shirt.

"I'm fine!" I called back walking alone the edges of the fire realizing that they, had in fact, shot towards the sky in the same pattern as the bronze earlier, a perfect ring of flames surrounding the podium where the shield had once been, protecting the scrolls.

'Very Clever daughter of Athena,' the voice hissed over the crackling of the fire and I looked up to see the spirit shimmer into existence behind the scroll.

"I'm guessing that won't be clever enough." I sighed to myself, still walking along the edges of the fire, aware of Ashton running along the perimeter of the basin, trying to find a way to me through the flames.

"Fire tested men through time.' The spirit said as the flames around me grew taller, the heat radiating as images flickered into life. Visions, the very same visions I'd had of the library burning, terrified people running for their lives, leaving the library behind. 'A select few have succeeded. Can you young daughter of the wise, pass through the flames unheeded?'

I saw same man, trapped in the vision, only in my place was James. I half expected James to run, to leave the man to fend for himself, but he didn't. James helped the man as I had, but took off as the he'd scrambled to gather his scrolls.

"That wasn't real." I said frowning as the building collapsed, the bag catching fire as the scrolls burst into flame.

The spirit didn't answer me as the flames grew hotter, and an image of James, trapped in the same seal that smoldered before me. He attempted reach the scroll through various means only to recoil, burned.

I sighed.

"That probably was real." I muttered looking around me.

As of right now, there was an exit to the seal. The laurel was only a semicircle, it's open end facing the exit of the amphitheater. It was why I'd jumped where I had. There was no escaping the ring surrounding the scroll once I was in it, and I'd already seen proof that it could burn.

In the end, James had run off, escaping the fire just before it grew out of control and sealed the exit off. But if I could get the scroll… It could be information he didn't have...

It might put us ahead.

'Gods.' I thought shaking my head and taking a deep breath.

Was I really considering this?

"Harper!"

Ashton had found the break in the fire and was running towards me. There would only be a few seconds before he closed the distance between us, and if he did, he would try to stop me.

"You're doing something stupid." I said feeling my heart rate kick up as I braced myself. "This is really, really stupid."

The flames were growing wild now, creating chaotic updrafts as they burned up the oxygen in the air around us.

"You could be wrong…" I muttered but squared my shoulders anyways, and set my jaw.

Ashton must have realized what I was planning at this point because he shouted.

"No! Stop!"

But I had already jumped.

From the moment my feet left the ground, it was as if the world had entered a state of slow motion. I watched, my mind strangely clear as the flames grew closer and closer, and suddenly, my vision was obscured by gold.

Then everything felt as if it had been sped up.

I crashed back into reality almost over shooting the podium and clinging onto it so as to not go head long into the flames once more.

I stood there for a moment, catching my breath and trying to banish the adrenaline surging through my veins before I looked down and inspected myself, only to see that, as I had expected. I was unharmed.

"Can't say I'm not relieved." I said to myself as I stood, brushed myself off and waved to Ashton, who was shouting, to indicate I was fine.

He looked pretty upset and I had a feeling I was going to get a talking to once I was back on the other side but I couldn't hear him over the flames for now and I had other things I had to worry about.

I turned to the spirit, only to see it staring at me from behind the podium

'You've fared well with fire, young demigod with heart, but bravery alone, has torn your kind apart. You seek our knowledge wisely, and helpful we can be, but did you have the foresight, to offer some to me?'

"I didn't come empty handed." I said annoyed, sliding my book bag off my shoulders and pulling out the journal Ashton's mother had given me. I thrust it at the spirit who accepted it without a trace of emotion. "Now enough with the riddles. Tell me what I want to know."

'Arrogance will aid you not, young demigod with pride. Cool your temper now, take care when you confide, those you love and those you trust, might not be worthy still, and you might find friends in strange ways, if destiny's fulfilled. Through fire you were tested, through flames you've proven fair. The Keepers trials have begun, one fire, water, air. Trust your instincts demigod, but of this fact beware. Know you are not the only one. And he might beat you there.'

Then, with a blast of cold air, the spirit vanished in a whirl of flames, the journal gone with it. I squinted at the spot for just a second, before grabbing the scroll, the flames around me sputtering as my mother's symbol vanished, leaving the ruins in shadows.

"What the hell was that Bambi?"

I turned to see Ashton behind me, out of breath, clearly having sprinted after me the moment the fire had died.

The space above his palm was glowing and he was looking at me incredulously.

"Wha-" I started a little confused, but he cut me off.

"Maybe next time you decide to jump into a wall of fire, you give me aheads up will you?"

"I was fine."

"That's not the point." He said shaking his head. "Did you even know what was going to happen?"

"No." I admitted a little hesitantly. "But I thought-"

"You thought?" he asked indignantly. "You thought? Harper what if you were wrong?"

"But I wasn't."

"That's not the point!" he practically shouted in exasperation. "You could have gotten hurt!"

"But I'm not." I said flatly, holding up the scroll. "And I got what we needed. Ashton, you should be happy."

"I don't care about that." He said angrily. "I care about you, and you not being burnt to a crisp."

I didn't know how to answer this, but was surprised to feel a surge of resentment go through me.

"Well, what exactly was your plan?" I asked trying, and failing, to keep my tone devoid of any emotion. "Like it or not Ash, we're on a timeline and I'll take a couple of burns over facing Olympus."

He winced at this.

"I didn't-"

"Trust me." I said, interrupting his excuses. "You didn't trust my judgement."

"You didn't give me a chance to!" he said incredulously. "You didn't tell me anything you just took off!"

He shook his head looking frustrated.

"Harper, I know you get stuck in your thoughts sometimes but, you can't expect others to read them. I care about you." he said, and I was surprised to hear the amount of sincerity in his tone. "If you do something dangerous, I'm allowed to be concerned."

I wasn't sure what to say to this, and was again, unwillingly presented with the memory of the dream I'd had last night, how different the situation had been.

In the dream, when I'd been in danger, James saved me. He's saved me and he'd laughed.

'I think it's safe to say that James doesn't care about you.' the voice in the back of my mind.

So why did it keep popping back up in my mind? And why did that spirit warn me against people I cared about? Something just felt wrong.

'Who knows, maybe if James was here, he would have laughed if I'd jumped into the fire, and he would have continued laughing even if I did get burned.'

And it wasn't as if it was a bad thing that Ashton cared.

"I'm sorry." I said eventually. "You're right. I shouldn't have kept you in the dark, I didn't think I just-"

"I know." He said gently, pulling me into a hug. "But you gotta remember Harps. Not everyone thinks like you. You're usually several steps a head of the rest of us. Sometimes you gotta help people catch up."

"And you should remember I don't do stuff for no reason." I said as we broke apart. "No one knows more about the Library than I do. I'm not an idiot. You need to trust me."

"Alright."

"Well isn't this just so sweet?" a cruel voice said with an audible sneer, causing both Ashton and I to jump.

We turned, Ashton's bow at the ready in a blur of movement, but my heart sank as in the dim light he'd been providing, I saw several figures stepping out of the darkness. Talons and fangs set into monstrous forms, that ringed the amphitheater on each row of seats.

"Sorry to ruin such an adorable moment demigods." The voice continued, and a monster slithered out of the shadows, the scaly frame familiar, but unlike the poor sighted Lily, the dracaena seemed far from having an anxiety attack. "But we've got work to do."

Her sneer increased, and while she spoke to her army, her eyes never left Ashton and and me.

"Get the girl." She snapped, but before any of the monsters could take so much as a step, there was a flash of gold, as if the world had suddenly been thrown back into flames. And all hell broke loose.

...

As stated in the AN, I've been pretty sick for about a month and a half so I'm sure my editing and writing quality is not up to it's usual standard, but I hope readers enjoyed. I've no idea when I'll be able to post again or what my recovery time line will be, but I finally managed to get the editing done for this update. Thanks for your patience and your support.

Have a good weekend, hope everyone reading and their loved ones are safe.

~secrethalfblood