Hi everyone! I'm finally starting to feel better and have done a lot of work on this story and am trying to gear up towards the final push of posting. It's not totally finished, however, I've got most of the frame work laid out and hopeful that I will actually be able to post more consistently. Thank you to everyone who is still reading and your patience, I knew I posted this story way earlier than I should have, but I appreciate everyone for the positive feed back and understanding when I've had to go a while between updates. I think I learned my lessons and will not post any future story ideas before I have so much more written out than this one, but hopefully despite the slow pace people are still enjoying the story. This chapter is shorter than some of the previous updates, but I'm hoping to getting the next one out pretty quickly so bear with me. It just made more sense in my head for the two updates to be broken up rather than rolled all into one. Thanks again for your patience, and I hope you enjoy the update!

~ secrethalfblood

Apov

I wasn't aware of being shoved into the Interrealm, until I caught a glimpse of what I thought were the Library doors, before I smacked hard against them and ricocheted in a totally different direction.

When I did crash back into the mortal world, I hit the ground hard. Luckily, whatever I landed on, was relatively soft.

"Gods." I groaned realizing only when I felt it jammed between my shoulders blades, that I had landed on my quiver.

Hopefully it hadn't broken…

"Hey." Said an irritated voice, and I felt my blood run cold. "Get up."

Something, a foot probably, nudged my side, and I didn't even bother to take in my surroundings before I rolled to my feet, bow drawn.

Standing in front of me, at point blank range, was James.

Rage pounded through me as I weighed my options, wondering if I had it in me to shoot someone who didn't have a weapon drawn. If there was ever someone who deserved it after all, it was James, and I had more than enough reasons to want to cause him pain. But despite the fury I was feeling, I couldn't seem to bring myself to do it.

He looked rough. Injuries, his clothes ripped and stained with what looked like a mixture of acid burns and blood. Whether from himself or monsters, I wasn't entirely sure.

"Start talking." I spat, well aware that in my current state, I probably wasn't in the proper mindset for an interrogation but I didn't care. I was so angry with him, and had so many questions. I wasn't even sure where to begin. "What's going on with you and the Library? How did you-"

But I cut myself when a strange noise caught my attention, it took me a second to realize what it was. The faint roar of rushing water, crashing on to what I now realized was sand. It was the sound of waves.

Making sure not to take my gaze off him for more than second, I glanced around to see that we were no longer in Alexandria. Maybe no longer in Egypt at all.

The city had been replaced by a narrow beach that bordered a dense jungle not far from the shore line. Above us, the sky was dark and full of so many stars, I knew from the lack of light pollution, that there couldn't be anyone near by.

We were on an island. And thought it was dark, there was enough moonlight for me to tell it was probably uninhabited. Though which island we'd ended up on, I had no idea.

"Where are we?" I asked him confused.

"I've no clue." He said. He hadn't put his hands up, but his posture was relaxed. Relaxed enough that it seemed like for the time being, he wasn't planning to attack, but I didn't lower my bow. "I tried to take us to the library, but it looks as if the doors are locked."

"How?" I asked frowning and he shrugged.

"Beats me. It's not always easy, but I'm usually able to find a way in. I've never been shut out before."

At this point, I half expected Harper to chime in with some random passage, from a text written hundreds of years ago in a far distant corner of the world explaining exactly what was going on with the library, but she didn't.

I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see her glaring daggers at James, but she wasn't there.

Panic gripped me.

"Where's Harper?" I asked turning on him, pulling the bow string tighter.

"Finally noticed she isn't here, have you?" he asked raising an eyebrow, his tone unpleasant. "I'm surprised it took you so long."

"Where is she?" I snarled.

"I don't know." He snapped back. "When I pushed you two through the portal, I was trying to get to the library. I didn't exactly have a backup plan. She could be anywhere. Here or the Doors might have dumped her at random."

"Pushed us?" I asked incredulously, trying to tamp down the fear at realizing that, once again, I'd been separated from Harper. "You were at the ruins?"

"Of course, I was." He said darkly. "And you're lucky I was. Unless you really felt like taking on a company of a Titan's army."

"So Lucy was right." I said feeling my eyes narrow. "You are tangled up with Kronos."

He winced and I saw his jaw tighten as he responded, his words soft, but furious nonetheless.

"Leave her out of this."

"What's wrong with her?" I asked unable to help myself, keeping my aim steady, targeted straight at his heart. "Why is she so…"

I didn't finish the statement, but I didn't have to. For the first time, I thought I saw a flash of the rage I was feeling cross his features.

"I don't have to explain a damn thing to you Wells."

"I disagree." I said sharply. "It's going to take a lot to convince me I shouldn't turn you over to the gods right now. Trust me, I don't think the Olympians are going to be too happy you're making deals with their father. But," I shrugged. "Better you than Bambi."

"You do realize that is the dumbest nickname you could have given your best friends sister, don't you?" he asked shaking his head a little distractedly. "You might as well have passed out flyers saying you were in love with her."

Unable to contain my anger, I adjusted my aim to his leg and let go of an arrow, only to be brought up short when it hit sand.

He was no longer there.

"That was a bit uncalled for." He said sarcastically, and I whirled to see he was behind me, looking a little bored as I notched second arrow.

"How did you do that?" I asked him.

I hadn't seen him move at all.

"We're wasting time." He said ignoring my question and shaking his head, seeming to be a little exasperated at the question. "We need to find Harper."

"You've got to be kidding me." I said angrily.

Did he really think I was letting him get anywhere near her?

Apparently he did, because ignored me and continued seemingly talking more to himself than me as he continued with.

"We need to figure out where we are, where she might have ended up."

He started to pace.

"You're not going anywhere" I said aiming for him again.

"Don't do this Wells." He said sounding distracted, as if his mind was on other things.

I released the arrow, hoping his preoccupation would be enough but he vanished again, and I felt something slam into my chest throwing me back into a rock almost ten feet, forcing the breath out of me.

I stared dazed, wondering how he'd done that.

Head spinning, I reached for my bow again only to hear James's voice.

"Don't." he said flatly. "I don't want to hurt you."

Ignoring the warning, I went for my bow only to feel another blow to the chest pin me against the rock and I was almost certain I felt a rib crack.

"Just stop." He said wearily. "I told you. I don't want to hurt you. And I don't want to hurt Harper either. I know you probably don't believe that."

"Of course, I don't." I muttered my voice tight with pain.

Something wasn't right. I'd sparred against James before in the arena, he wasn't this strong. No one was, even for a demigod this was insane. I clutched at my sides as I glared up at him. Hatred coursing through me like poison.

"How-" I started, but he seemed to know what I was going to ask and had already worked out an answer.

"There are more than just records in the library, you know." He said stiffly. "If you knew anything about what was happening right now, you'd know that. If it's sealed itself from the outside world however, then we really need to find Harper. We need her help."

"We?" I asked incredulously, my laugh turning into a cough that wracked pain throughout me. "What do you mean we? What on earth makes you think she'd want to help you?"

That seemed to catch his attention. He looked at me.

"I thought Harper of all people-"

"Would what?" I asked struggling to get to stay on my feet, my body aching in protest and I winced, bracing myself against the stone. "Hand a weapon to the Titans that would leave Olympus wide open? Are you insane? Yeah, we know what you're trying to do James." I added when I saw his eyes go wide.

"I thought she'd want the library open." He said quietly, averting my eyes. "I thought-"

"Newsflash James," I spat. "Olympus is pissed. They found a hole in their defenses that they were unaware of for centuries thanks to you. And know there's someone out there trying to exploit it. And since they can't get to you at the moment. Guess who they're planning to take it out on."

A look of total shock crossed his expression at this.

"They're blaming Harper?" he asked quietly.

"Of course they are you idiot!" I almost shouted at him, almost ready to strangle him at this point. I might have if I thought I could get a hold of him in my condition. "What did you expect?"

"I-I thought." He said looking stunned. "I thought Athena would-"

"Protect her?" I laughed, but it was bitter and causing spasms of pain all through my chest. "You clearly haven't spent any time around the twins mother. She all but threw Harper to the gods."

I was surprised to see at this he went white.

"She gave us a ten day window to fix what you started." I continued, still leaning against the boulder, grimacing through the pain. "A decent amount of which has already passed."

"This wasn't supposed to happen." He said shaking his head, and running his fingers through his hair then glaring at me as if this was somehow my fault.. "You weren't supposed to come after me. I thought if I left on my own she wouldn't-"

"You thought?" I asked furiously.

I couldn't believe this, how stupid James was acting. As if he were trying to claim some sort of innocence about the whole situation, but I had to admit, despite the fact that I knew he must be acting, he looked genuinely disturbed.

"You don't know Harper." I continued incredulously. "If you did, you never would have thought she wouldn't come after you."

"She didn't have the scrolls." He said softly. "I didn't think she could."

"She didn't need them." I spat. "If you did know her, you would have known that. Her memory is insane, and this isn't the sort of thing that she'd forget."

He didn't have an answer for this and seemed to be thinking looking far more disconcerted than he ever had staring down one of my arrows.

"What's going on with you and Kronos?" I asked trying to take advantage of his discomposure.

The pain had started to subside a little, and though it still hurt, I managed to stand on my own, wincing a little but remaining up right.

"That's a long story…" he muttered, his expression far away.

"So you don't deny it then?" I said in disgust. "That you're working with him?"

He didn't answer.

"He made you stronger? Didn't he?" I asked, remembering how easily he'd sent me flying through the air. How even I couldn't seem to hit him with an arrow.

"It would take too long to explain." He said queitly

"I think we've got the time."

"No," he said bitterly. "We don't."

I felt my eyes narrow again and he let out a sigh, and when he continued he sounded miserable. Miserable, and tired. As if somehow, before even the age of twenty, he'd been utterly defeated by life.

"Kronos's monsters found Harper once," he said eventually. "They can do it again. And she's probably alone."

He hesitated and looked away, as if he couldn't bring himself to meet my gaze as he continued, sending a wave of paralyzing fear over me as he said.

"They've been ordered to kill her, or capture her if they can, but either way, Kronos wants her eliminated."

It felt as if my heart had stopped.

"Why?" I asked softly, fear closing in, gripping me like claws of ice as panic sent adrenaline surging through me in time with my rapid heart beat.

"Because she'll beat me to the key, we all know it. He wants her out of the way."

"No." I said feeling my hands curl into fist. "What does it matter to you if he kills her? Why do you care?"

I didn't know what sort of trouble James had gotten himself mixed up in, but it was obvious that he didn't care about Harper. That he never had. What did it matter to him if she was alive or not?

"Look Ashton, I know you think I'm some sort of monster, but I meant it when I said I never wanted to hurt her. And I sure as hell didn't want you involved."

He shook his head.

"And you don't need to tell me I'm a horrible excuse for a person," he said forestalling my interruption, a bitter laugh escaping from him as I glowered. "I already know that Wells. No one's more acquainted with that than I am."

"What are you talking about?"

He didn't answer at first, only looked out over the water for a moment, as if he didn't hear me. Lost in his own thoughts like Harper so often was, but eventually, he sighed.

"You've had to live with the consequences from my mistakes for a few days." he muttered, still refusing to look in my direction. "I've had to deal with them for years."

He sounded angry again, but there was also pain in his words. Something raw, and agonizing, and almost unbelievably, scared.

"You might not think I'm capable of feeling, but even if that were true. I'm the last person in the world that would want Harper dead."

He did look at me this time, and his words seemed sincere.

"And why's that?" I asked quietly.

I knew I shouldn't have engaged, that I shouldn't have trusted a word that James said, but I couldn't help it. Something about the pain and self-hatred in his voice had me thinking he wasn't acting. Had me almost believing him.

"Because," he said tonelessly. "She's the only one who can help me."

"Help you what?" I asked, hearing the venom return to me with the sarcasm. "Save your own skin? Harper's smart, but if you're banking on her helping you weasel your way out of punishment with the gods then you really-"

"I don't care about me!" He shouted, sounding almost as furious and frustrated as I felt and I found myself looking at him a little uneasily.

As angry as he had been for pretty much this whole conversation, this seemed to be the first time his control had really snapped.

"Then what could you possibly…"

But I let my sentence fade, a familiar sense of anxiety was filling me as I realized I recognized his expression. Recognized, the way his hands were shaking, trembling from anger that was only just barely covering the fear.

I'd seen this before. In fact, I'd seen it recently, while being screamed at over an Iris message.

He looked like Charlie.

"Lucy." I said, more to myself than him and by the way he turned away, I knew I was right.

And suddenly, it all was starting to make sense. Why, someone like James, outgoing and more likely to be found in the arena, was pushing so heavily about the library. Why, even though most guys found Harper's inattention sometimes discouraging, it hadn't rattled him. Had seemed to find it a little endearing.

Like Charlie, he'd grown up with a book lover. And now, like Charlie, he was losing it because he had no way to get back to her.

"She's your sister."