Hpov

I didn't really have particular place in mind when I sent Ashton and I back to camp through the Interrealm. In fact, the only thing I'd really been thinking of was my brother.

This was, in fact, a huge mistake.

Ashton and I stumbled back into the mortal world in the middle a cloud of dust, with the sounds of swords and chariots clashing all around us as horses pounded around the arena.

I scrambled out of the way of a massive wheel, catching Ashton's hand as he helped me to my feet only to realize we were in the middle of a violet chariot race. The one Chiron had been hinting at earlier this summer.

"Harper?" A voice asked in shock over the screaming campers in the stands, cheering for their champion.

I looked around in the chaos to see Tamera deck one of the boys from Cabin nine and knock him out cold before turning to me, a battle axe in her hands.

"Oh my gods." I said looking around.

We were in the middle of an all-out demigod brawl with no armor.

'This is bad.' I thought desperately looking around.

Charlie must have been in one of the chariots, and the doors had done exactly as I asked and taken me to him.

"Well this is problematic." Ashton muttered ducking a spear and firing a well-placed arrow to pin the girl who'd thrown it to the wall by a strap on her armor.

"You two need to get out of here!" Tamera shouted.

"Harper!" Allison said brightly poking her head up from behind the side of the chariot she'd been working all summer on, a scimitar embedded in its side. "You're back!"

I waved at her a little uncertainly taking out my sword in case I got pulled into any fights when suddenly, a booming voice shouted over the crowd.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

There was the screeching sounds as breaks engaged, some chariots crunching into each other as the clanging of metal against metal came to a stop and a spluttering noise as we turned to see Tamera with one of her sisters in a head lock.

She let her go once she noticed us staring at her, but seemed a little reluctant about it.

There was a sound of cantering hooves and both Ashton and I turned to see Chiron streaking into the arena, looking more furious than I'd ever seen him.

"Harper Davis and Ashton Wells, you've got a mountain of explaining to do!" he yelled and while typically Chiron was a levelheaded figure, it was clear both Ashton and I were in for a scolding of what might be mythic proportions. "Both of you, in my office NOW! And if either of you thinks about disappearing again so help me gods…"

He turned and made his way towards arena's exit, his tail flicking irritably and I glanced at Ashton only see his attention was fixed on something else.

Across the arena, in full armor in a chariot next to Terry was Charlie who seemed to be cycling through a mix of emotions at an alarming speed. Anxiety, fury, relief, incredulity, and indignation were just some of the ones I recognized. Guilt flooded through me and I looked away knowing there was nothing to be done about it at the moment.

"It'll be fine." I said quietly to Ashton, grabbing his arm and pulling him after Chiron with me. "Come on."

I knew Charlie was going to be a basket case when Ashton and I finally got to talk to him, but I also knew he'd get over it.

From Ashton's expression however, I was pretty sure he didn't think Charlie ever would.

We followed Chiron out of the arena, and I was well aware of the stares we were attracting as well as the whispers.

I tried to ignore them, but when I looked up into the crowd, I spotted a cloister of the Hermes campers in the stands, some looking anxious, others really concerned.

It couldn't have escaped them that Ashton and I had come back alone, and if their expressions were anything to go by, they hadn't seen James.

It was clear now some of them were wondering if they ever would again.

We stepped into the Big House and I realized how strange it was to me that everything here looked exactly the same as it always had. I wasn't sure why I expected it to change. Maybe because I felt so different, but with so many insane things happening over the last several days, I felt sort of weird that my surroundings were so… normal. It didn't feel right after seeing what had happened to Lucy, and hearing about everything that had been forced on James to just be back at summer camp. As if it had all been some terrible dream that I could just walk away from. Only, there were people still trapped in that nightmare.

Images flooded through my mind, pages and diagrams of old magic, curses, written in ancient languages that felt older than the gods themselves.

My head throbbed and it was as if my brain had smacked into a wall.

I winced and staggered a little.

"Are you ok?" Ashton asked anxiously and I felt his hand on my back, steadying me.

"Yeah." I said shaking my head. "I think, I think I'm just getting used to all this new stuff in my head."

"That and you probably have a concussion." He said glancing at what I assumed was an injury on my forehead but hadn't actually seen for myself yet.

"That would explain why I can't remember who you are." I said smirking at him and while he smiled, he said.

"Not funny Davis."

"Yes it was Wells."

We stepped into Chiron's cluttered office, only to be stunned to see a familiar figure standing inside.

"There you are." My mother said briskly as if Ashton and I had shown up for a meeting she'd planned, but just barely on time. "I was just explaining to Chiron the very great service the two of you have done for the gods and how I've given my full permission for Harper to come and go from the camp as she sees fit during the rest of her stay for the summer."

Despite having seen her less than an hour ago, my mother was no longer in her flowing toga and battle helmet, but was now in a neat power suit, tall but sensible heels, her dark hair pulled back into a sleek up do. Despite this rather forbidding ensemble, she smiled.

"I have a feeling she's going to be very busy soon, and I trust her judgement."

I surge of something went through me and I wasn't sure if it was gratitude or relief, but Ashton made a noise of incredulous disbelief. He was looking at my mother as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked his tone obviously angry. "After everything you-"

"Ashton." Chiron snapped, cutting him off, but I could tell Ashton was working up to a tirade.

"But," he started hopelessly, gesturing at my mother, as if appealing to Chiron to back him up. "You heard what she said to Harper the last time she was here." He glared at my mother. "It was awful. It was cruel. You were-"

"Ash," I said wearily. "It's ok."

"No," he said angrily. "It's not. The last time she was here she humiliated Harper in front of the entire camp, insulted her intelligence and then threatened her if we didn't accomplish an impossible task in the span of ten days!"

"Ashton." Chiron snapped, and he looked almost as angry as Ashton now. "Who do you think convinced Zeus to give Harper that time?"

At this, Ashton's fury seemed to deflate. He looked at my mother who was regarding him coolly.

"Do you really think I would hand my daughter over to Olympus so easily?" my mother said and her gaze was like steel. "You have a lot to learn about the world of the gods young son of Apollo. When Zeus called Chiron demanding my daughter to be turned over, I advised against it. Not just because she was my child but because I knew it would be unwise. Punishing Harper would have only given Hermes's child more time to find a way to control the library my beloved Athenians built so many thousands of years ago. I advised my father it would be better to have the library in my daughters hands than left for anyone to find, anyone to travel through. He saw the wisdom in it but we all knew there was limited time."

"So you gave us a deadline." I said quietly.

"An insane deadline." Ashton muttered, but my mother ignored him.

"I knew she could do it, but in order to be deemed a worthy guarding for one of the world's most ancient strong holds of knowledge, there could be no interference from any of gods. Myself included. She had to do this alone."

She then shot Ashton a look somewhere between amusement and irritation.

"Well, not completely alone. But she could have no help from me."

I could tell that Ashton wasn't completely satisfied by this response, but wasn't quite sure what he should say next.

"I recommend no punishment for these two Chiron." My mother said turning back to the centaur. "I understand they broke several rules leaving the way that they did, but I think an argument can be made for extenuating circumstances. Emergencies do happen after all, and you can't argue with the end result."

"Far be it from me to argue with the will of the gods." Chiron said composedly, but I could tell even if it was only on some very small level, he was a little annoyed.

"Excellent. Well, I've done all I've come here to do." She said looking back at me. "Harper, I'm sure we'll being seeing quite a bit of each other in the upcoming months."

She smiled at me and started to walk out of the room, but not before shooting Ashton a significant expression, one that almost looked like a warning, though I had no idea what it might be about.

He seemed to however, because his expression looked thoughtful and also a bit conflicted. As if he was debating something with himself.

He looked over his shoulder as she stepped through the doorway and looked back at me.

"Harper, I need to talk to you about something."

"You two can talk after you make your reports." Chiron said testily. "I want to hear everything that happened, since you've been gone and it had better be the truth."

I glanced at Ashton, not entirely sure where we were even supposed to start but eventually said.

"Well, we found the library."

…..

I knew it would take a while to go through our mission debriefing with Chiron, but somehow, it seemed to take even longer than I expected. So much had happened over the last several days, it felt like it had been months since we were gone, not just a little over a week.

Training demigods for as long as he had, I'd figured Chiron had seen just about everything when it came to the mythological world, but even he seemed stunned by some of the things Ashton and I had run into. We went over what felt like absolutely every little detail with excruciating scrutiny and finally, when he had no more questions, I was surprised when Chiron asked Ashton to leave the room, saying he wanted to talk with me privately.

Ashton didn't seem happy about this, but knew better than to argue and eventually left glancing at me from over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

Chiron waited a few moments, probably to make sure Ashton made it a bit of a ways down the hall before fixing me with an almost incredulous gaze.

"So." He said sounding a little stunned. "After all these years, you managed to find it."

"James found the library." I pointed out. "I found the key."

"Yes well, it was actually James I wanted to talk to you about." He said softly, his brow furrowing with concern. "Without Ashton present. I know he never liked him very much."

That was one hell of an understatement.

"I didn't get to talk to your mother for very long before you and Ashton walked into the room, but from something she said, it sounded as if she thought you might know where he is."

I didn't answer this, mostly because I did know. Though I wasn't entirely sure I knew how I knew it.

"She also says you refused to help Olympus bring him in."

"I did."

I expected him to yell at me for this, or tell me it was stupid, but was surprised when he didn't.

In fact, he almost looked as if he might be feeling a little relieved.

"Well," he said softly. "I can't exactly say defying a direct order from the gods is the wisest thing you've ever done. But I won't pretend a part of me isn't glad to hear it."

He sighed.

"I hope he's alright."

It was moments like these, that I remembered deep down in his heart, Chiron was a teacher. One who'd been training demigods for thousands of years.

I'd always heard one of the reasons why teachers got so upset by a student failing, was because it felt to them, if a student failed, it was as if they had failed themselves at their job. James had been one of Chiron's students, a promising one. He might not have been at camp for very long, but I could tell despite everything that had happened and everything James had done, Chiron still cared about James and his wellbeing. Maybe even felt a little responsible for his fate.

"I'd pray to the gods that they never get their hands on that boy, but," he grinned a little bitterly. "I don't think anything I say would sway their opinion all that much."

I felt myself scowl at this.

"I will handle Olympus." I said irritated. "They're not going to pin this colossal mess up on demigods this time."

I wouldn't let them. We never would have been in this mess if the gods had bother to intervene with the library. My mother's story about pushing me to find it was all well and good, but she'd had known it was there. Had probably known on some level, people over the centuries were getting trapped in it. But none of them had bothered to do anything about it. Now they wanted to blame James for Kronos attempting to cross into Olympus through a boundary they hadn't bothered to secure.

I didn't exactly know exactly what was going on with James, but I was certain it wasn't as black and white as the gods were trying to make it seem. It never was.

"That's a tall order." Chiron said, his eyebrows raising at the statement but his obvious doubt didn't weaken my resolve.

"I'm a smart girl." I said with a shrug. "They've already underestimated me once. They'll learn if they try to do it again."

"You realize how dangerous this is don't you? Angering the gods?" he asked, his tone tinged with concern. "Harper, I know you're intelligent, but you are so young." He hesitated. "If you start this journey already stepping on toes, I'm not sure you're ready for what they might send your way. I'm not sure anyone would." He pressed when he saw my expression. "I know you've heard all the stories, read all the legends, but I was there for most of them. You're a strong demigod Harper, but you have no idea what the gods are capable of." The look he gave me was grave. "I hope you've thought this through."

I didn't respond to this, but the truth was, I had thought this through. I'd been thinking this whole time. Both James and Olympus had caught me off guard with this whole situation. Pushed me into a position I never thought I'd be in. Had never wanted to be in.

I didn't want to be blindsided like this ever again.

"I take it you're not planning on sharing any of those thoughts with me, are you?" He asked a little wistfully.

"You report to Olympus."

He grinned.

"In theory, so do you."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to this, but he didn't seem to require an answer.

"You're playing a high stakes game Harper Davis." He warned his tone reproving, but also a little proud. "Don't lose."

I nodded and I saw his eyes travel to the injury on my forehead.

"You should probably get to the infirmary and get checked out." He continued, pointing to spot Ashton had been inspecting. "That looks as if it hurts."

He walked with me to the infirmary where I saw Libby, one of Ashton's younger sisters by a few years, was attending to a camper with an arrow lodged in a gap between his armor, no doubt from the chariot race. The boy looked a little green as she chatted to him about getting her license next summer and I sighed, wishing I could just be checked over by Ashton.

So much was going through my head at the moment, I wasn't sure I was up for small talk. Luckily, whatever was happening in my head, was apparently really interesting to Libby, and it seemed to distract her from her talking for once.

"I've never seen anything like this." She said curiously, inspecting the injured area as the last of the bruising faded. "It's almost like there's magic darting all across your neurons…"

She shot me an interested expression.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired." I said honestly, I was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, ignoring the strong urge to simply lie down and take in nap in it. There was so many thing I had to do. "Though that could be from a lot of things."

"How's your head?" she asked.

"It hurts." I admitted. "But not too bad."

I kept getting pulled down wild rabbit holes of information, some of it seemingly at random. It was extremely distracting.

I'd just tried to force away a flood of horrible sonnets written by Hephaestus when I realized Libby was still talking to me.

"What?" I asked glancing at her and she gave me half a smile.

"You didn't hear any of that, did you?"

"No." I admitted rubbing my head. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She said easily. "I was saying you seem to be ok. Your vitals are fine but we might want to keep an eye on you. Make sure your brain isn't like… melting or something weird like that over the next few days from all the magic."

"Right." I said, a little disturbed at the mental image of this. "So I can head out?"

"Mhmm." She said grabbing a chart and scribbling in the notes section before heading to the cabinets.

"Here." She said grabbing a bottle and opening it, shaking out a few pills before handing them to me with a small paper cup of water. "For your head."

"Thanks." I said taking the medication and leaving the cup on the nightstand next to me.

I walked out of the room, still pushing away random page numbers and subject titles, pretty certain even I of all people, wasn't interested in tile purchase orders from a church in the Mediterranean in the thirteen hundreds.

I didn't know where also this information in my brain was being stored, but maybe that's what Libby had been talking about, saying there was magic in my brain.

'Disturbing.' I thought a little uneasily, wondering if I should get a second opinion from Ashton.

'Where is he anyways?' I wondered making my way towards the door of the Big House.

It didn't take me long to figure it out.

I stepped out on to the porch of the Big House, still rubbing my forehead when I saw that Charlie was shouting at Ashton in the grass in front of me, with just about the whole camp gathered around to watch.

"I can't believe you!" he shouted. "We were supposed to be friends!"

"Charlie, calm down." I said frustration, trying to keep my tone reasonable.

I knew Charlie would be upset the moment we got back to camp, but honestly, my brother's paranoia was the last thing I wanted to deal with right now.

"We're fine. No one got-"

It was as if he hadn't even heard me.

"I can't believe you went behind my back like that Ashton, you of ALL people. Snuck off with my sister when I trusted you!"

"Charlie," Ashton said clearly tryign to keep his composure, but I could tell he was hurt by what he was hearing. "We had no choice."

"Of course, you had a choice!" he shouted. "She's my sister Ash! MY sister, and you were supposed to be my best friend. Not some traitorous, back stabbing piece of-"

But I'd heard enough. Rage mixed with the fear and anxiety I'd experienced over the last several days, on top of the anger I had with the gods and the confusion about the circumstances surrounding James, reached a boiling point with in me, then exploded.

"You don't own me Charlie!" I shouted at him. "Stop yelling at Ashton, this isn't his fault!"

At this he let out a laugh, but it was cold and strangely bitter.

"Not his fault? Harper don't be stupid. This is COMPLETELY his fault!"

"Charlie." Ashton said, warning in his tone but Charlie continued to rant.

"All of this is his fault, the prophecy, James, finding this stupid library. It all started with HIM! He set it all into motion." he gestured to Ashton who looked horrified and I stared at my brother, totally confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked but suddenly, there was yet another flood of information torrenting through my mind.

Books, scrolls and even napkin papers of hastily scribbled divinations from oracles over time, finally landing on a final series of text. One that somehow, I knew, had been brought into the library mere hours ago, from a certain son of Hermes all of Olympus wanted to get their hands on.

"Charlie." I said feeling the color draining from my face. "What's going on?"

I was having a hard time trying to focus on what was going on in front of me while piecing together the meaning behind the words.

"Don't act like you don't know." Charlie said caustically, pointing at Ashton a second time. "Like he didn't tell you. You were always able to get him to do whatever you wanted."

"Ashton, what is he talking about?" I asked looking at him, but Ashton seemed to shocked to say anything.

He looked terrified, as if his life was crashing down around him on all sides.

People were whispering now, and ice formed inside me, a mixture of fury and fear solidifying into something dark and painful.

"Ashton." I repeated. "What the hell is going on?"

"Harper…" he started quietly, but he didn't seem to have any words and the sentence died as I looked between him and my brother.

Charlie had gone white.

"You didn't tell her?" he asked glancing at Ashton.

"Tell me what?" I said my voice tight, I felt like something was closing in on me, something huge and heavy, and it was as if I was staring down some sort of emotional train that was preparing to barrel me over

Neither Charlie nor Ashton seemed to want to speak however, and I felt the anxiety spark into anger.

"One of you say something!"

Something darted across Ashton's expression, it almost looked like pain, but eventually, it was Charlie who spoke.

"When we first appeared to our father." He started but I cut him off.

"When we were infants?" I asked and he winced, but continued.

"We weren't the only thing our mother sent to him." He continued quietly. "He said that when we first arrived, in the basket with us there was a scroll."

And just like that, the feelings that had been frozen inside of me shattered.

"It was a prophecy." Charlie continued looking away from me as my eyes started to sting, and it felt as if my throat was beginning to close. "One that was obviously about you."

"How long have you known about this." I asked feeling, despite the tears, oddly… hollow.

But it was all coming together now. Finally, after all these years of fighting and dealing with Charlie and his paranoia, wondering why he was always so worried about me, it was all starting to make sense. Why neither of my parents had ever stepped in. Why Chiron, before Ashton and I had left the camp, had seemed so concerned. Convinced something was going to happen to me. Why Ashton had been apologizing to me, acting as if he thought this was all his fault.

The whispering was getting louder now, and everyone was staring at us.

"Years." Charlie said quietly. "Ever since we were kids."

"And you?" I asked turning to Ashton, my heart pounding heavily in my chest.

The train was about to hit me, I knew it was, but all I could do was stand here and watch it come.

"Charlie told me right before we left." Ashton said in a voice that was barely above a whisper and I felt as if I really had been hit by a steam engine.

"And neither of you thought to tell me?" I asked quietly, fury shaking my tone as the first of the tears started to spill.

"Harper…" Ashton started quietly, looking heart broken.

"Not once did either of you think this might be something I should know?"

I couldn't believe this. I knew my relationship with my brother wasn't perfect, but never did I think he'd go and do something like this. And that Ashton, of all people, would help.

"It was better if you didn't-"

"How is this better Charlie?" I almost screamed at him, gesturing towards him and Ashton then back at myself. "How on earth is any of this supposed to be fixed when you've lied to me our entire lives? Were either of you ever planning on telling me?"

I continued to look between the two who were looking not just upset, but also guilty. And it was at that point I knew. I could tell by their expressions that if left to their own devices, neither Charlie nor Ashton would have said a word to me about this. That instead of trusting me to decide the outcome of my own fate, they'd hope to keep me from ever knowing about it. That this insane cycle of lying and hiding secrets to avoid any actual problems was never going to stop. Not if I didn't make it stop.

I'd had enough.

The cruel part was that I didn't know which was worse. Charlie lying to me since we were kids, making my life difficult and hiding the truth from me for years. Or Ashton, after everything we'd just been through, all that talk about Charlie having to get over us leaving camp together, get over everything that had to do with us, protecting those lies.

I'd thought for once, being away from Charlie, Ashton was finally being honest with me about things. That maybe, finally, he wasn't going to let Charlie's opinion of him influence everything he did. Especially when it came to me.

But clearly that wasn't the case.

"I-I can't be here." I said. This was all too much.

"Harper wait." Ashton started, his tone pleading, but I shook my head.

"No, I really can't be around you, either of you."

I started to walk, not caring about the people that were staring at me, the rumors I could already hear begin to form.

"Harps," Charlie said sounding panicked. "Just listen for a second. You can't-"

"Don't tell me what I can't do Charlie!" I snapped whirling on him. The tears were gone now replaced by a dull, pointless sort of anger and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. "Both of you, just… stop."

I didn't want to do this anymore. The constant arguing, talking Charlie down when he exploded, combating Ashton's fear or apathy to the situation as well as Charlie's lack of reason. I was exhausted, not just from the mission, but everything. Not knowing the truth, who was lying to me, who was angry with each other, what fire had to be put out next. And why, after everything Charlie had done, hidden from the both of us, and after everything we'd gone through, was Ashton still far more concerned about Charlie's feelings than he ever seemed to care about mine.

It seemed to me that Charlie cared more than enough about his own comfort and feelings. I didn't see why he needed any help from Ashton. Especially when Charlie was the one who seemed to want to do nothing but scream at him right now.

"I'm tired of this." I said shaking my head and continuing to walk away from the campers, from Charlie, from Ashton. Away from everything.

How many people here had known about the prophecy? And even if they hadn't, how long had people been seeing Charlie's insane behavior and simply done nothing. Worse, they'd laughed about it. Made it the running joke every time we visited camp.

James might have been a traitor, but at least he'd had the decency to call it out.

I glanced up to see several of my siblings were watching me, looking worried, but none of them said anything. As usual, no one seemed to want to rock the boat.

I continued to search the crowd, seeing Allison and Tamera at its edge. Allison looked as if she wanted to say something, maybe even come over to talk to me but Tamera caught her shoulder.

She shook her head, then glanced at me, jerking her head in the direction away from the rest of the campers as if to say.

'Go on, we'll talk later.'

I nodded, feeling a little bit better and figured I'd send them an Iris message a little later once things had cooled down.

I made my way to my cabin, grabbed a few of my things, shoved them into what was left of my book bag after the mission, noting that the charm Ashton had given me last summer had disappeared.

A surge of disappointment went through me but again, it felt hollow. What was the point?

I slung my bag over my shoulders, trying not to think much of anything, stepping out of the door of the girls bunk room only to see the world dissolve into gold around me.

Without Ashton to catch me, I slammed into the stone in front of the door to the mortal world, knowing without even having to look up I was where I wanted to be.

I laid there for a moment, allowing myself to feel a few more degrees miserable before picking myself up, and dusting off my clothes.

I looked up at the Doors that though I'd seen them only a couple of times, were strangely familiar, and I watched with interest as suddenly, all of them flared into life at once, the torches flaring into life, the space between the arches burning a bright, fiery gold.

It was as if they were invited me to step through them, any of them, and for the first time really, I realized that as of today I had the ability to go anywhere. Anywhere I wanted, and not just in the mortal world either.

Ironically, however, there wasn't anywhere I wanted to go.

Well, that wasn't true. There were many places I wanted to visit and I felt a mounting sense of excitement as I realized they were all pretty much available to me. Any country on any continent, mortal or mythological, it didn't matter. No one could stop me.

But I knew it would have to wait.

I started to walk up the spiral steps to the Main Hall of the library knowing that this was where I needed to be. And all the temptation of kangaroos in the Outback, and pizza in Italy, ruins in South America and all the other amazing places across the world, couldn't pull me away from that fact.

I stepped out into the hall feeling an odd mix of resignation, but also excitement as I took in the dusty volumes and battered shelves.

"What a train wreck." I muttered.

But it was my train wreck. And I could do whatever I wanted with it.

Already a sense of seemingly endless possibility washed over me as I looked around. Of course, I'd have to figure out how to get the people who were stuck in here out of whatever sort of spell they were under, but I was certain there was something in the library that could help.

Almost as if responding to an internet search, names and titles started to pop into my head, as well as, strangely, their locations in the building.

Confused, I looked around for one of the titles at random only to realize it seemed to be… moving.

I turned only to see the scroll hovering in front of me, as if waiting patiently to be read.

Startled, I grabbed the scroll out of the air, then reached for the nearest shelf, only to have one of the books leap off it and into my hand.

"Ok…" I said dropping both, and somehow unsurprised to see them returning to their respective spaces.

That was new.

I walked among the shelves testing this new found ability realize that my head no longer hurt. Whether it was because of the medication Libby had given me, or because I was no longer fighting the flood over information that was filtering in and out of my mind now, I wasn't sure.

I stopped however, when I spotted a familiar sitting in front of the statue of my mother, just before water, looking up at her.

Again, I found I wasn't surprised by this information.

James didn't look up when I took a seat next to him, he reached into pocket however, and placed something between us. A small scroll, tied with gray silk, a familiar insignia on the faded parchment.

"I didn't think they'd tell you." he said quietly as I picked up the scroll, and opened it, only to see the words scrawled on it that I knew would be there.

"Where did you get this?" I asked quietly, letting it close and glancing at him.

"It wasn't all that hard to find, actually." He said with the ghost of a grin. "When Ashton told me about it, he'd said Charlie had it at camp. It was just sort of sitting there in his trunk. I'm not really sure what his plan was if you'd ever gone looking in there."

"Ashton told you?" I asked incredulously. "He told you, but didn't bother to tell me?"

At this, James did grin, and it almost looked amused.

"Yeah, I don't really think he does very well under pressure."

"I can't believe this." I said shaking my head, then realizing something. "So wait, you've been back to camp?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "You had a few of those olive things we'd been using to jump around left, it got me off the island and I figured I could make one detour before I disappeared."

"Do you realize what would have happened if someone had caught you?" I asked him. "They would have turned you over to the gods. Like, immediately."

"They could have tried." He said and while the statement implied his doubt that they would have succeeded, something about it didn't sound arrogant.

He'd said it like a fact. One as simple as the truth that the sky was blue, or that you shouldn't call Zeus an idiot. At least not to his face.

"Ashton said there was something different about you."

"Yeah, well that makes two of us now, doesn't it?" he asked looking at me for the first time and I frowned, wondering how I could sit here, casually talking with the guy who'd just completely wrecked my life, and not be angry.

Maybe it was because deep down, I knew things in my life had to change. Tossing a grenade on it obviously wouldn't have been my first choice, but I couldn't have continued to live my life appeasing my brother forever. Or being lied to by seemingly everyone who was closest to me.

But even though this made sense, I knew it couldn't be the only reason. There were other, easier ways of fixing the problems I had with Charlie that wouldn't have resulted in such a disaster. I looked around the library.

Then again, would any of those scenarios have led me here?

"Why'd you go back?" I asked, hugging my knees to my chest, watching him for his reaction. "For the scroll, I mean."

I didn't make any sense to me. This had nothing to do with James and if he'd been caught, it would have put him in a large amount of danger. Despite everything he'd done, and him having every reason to fear that I'd hate him, turn him over to Olympus the moment I saw him, this had been an entirely selfless act.

He hadn't had to do it. And yet, he did.

"I dunno." He said with a shrug. "I just thought you should know."

It was like when he'd asked me why I'd saved him from his visions in the water. I hadn't had time to think about it, and I hadn't really had an answer. I hadn't had to think about it. I'd just done it. And for some reason I knew that James had been in the same position. He hadn't seemed to think twice.

And maybe this was the real reason I wasn't angry with James after everything he'd done. Because deep down, on some unquantifiable level, I understood James. We thought the same way.

It didn't make it right. It didn't mean he hadn't made a hundred bad decisions, and done a bunch of terrible things. But if everything I'd pieced together from listening to Ashton, Lucy, and the gods was true, I knew James probably hadn't had a lot of options when he was making those choices. And if I were in his shoes I'd have probably done the same.

"Speaking of Ashton." He said. "I know you're probably pretty angry with him right now, and rightfully so, but try not to be too hard on him."

"Why do you care?" I asked frowning at James. "You two don't even like each other."

"I don't have much of an opinion on Wells one way or the other." James said with a shrug. "I know he messed up, like really messed up, but that idiot loves you. Trust me, he'll learn his lesson."

"Ashton's not an idiot." I said irritated and while James shrugged, I could tell by his expression James wasn't totally sure if he agreed. "And if any of that were true, why does he always choose Charlie over me."

"Because your brother needs him more than you do." James said, as if this should have been obvious, and it had me looking at James, wondering, in the short space of time that he'd been at camp, just how much he'd been watching all of us.

"Besides, he doesn't always choose Charlie, does he?"

I thought back over the years, how much Charlie had relied on Ashton's friendship. Practicing basketball for hours with Charlie even when Ashton was clearly the more talented player, clinging to him as the only point of reason in the more ridiculous of our fights, debating with him for weeks if he should or shouldn't ask the pretty new girl in the Aphrodite cabin, Annie, to the fireworks. I'd laughed, thinking he had no chance but Ashton had encouraged him to at least try.

But James was right. How many times had Ashton walked with me to the book store near our house on a Friday night when Charlie hadn't wanted to, and my father wouldn't let me go alone. Even when we'd both know Charlie would have wanted me there, Ash had helped me get away from a birthday party he'd known I would have hated. All the time I'd ranted to Ashton about Charlie's insanity. Late night conversations on the nights he'd stayed at our house, after Charlie had already gone to bed, even though Ashton always woke up the earliest out of all of us.

And in the end, when I'd asked Ashton to leave camp with me and leave his best friend behind. He had, hadn't he?

"Look," he said with a sigh. "I get it if your furious with him, believe me. But you should know, when he told me about the prophecy, I didn't get the impression Charlie was the reason he hadn't said anything to you about it. I think he didn't want to upset you. And that was something your family kept from you for a very long time. You had a lot going on. I'm sure he thought knowing all of this wouldn't have helped. Besides," he said and I noted that his tone had shifted from intentionally even, to reluctantly impressed. "When we ran into each other on the island, I'm pretty sure I cracked at least part of his ribcage. Even then, all he wanted to do was yell at me about all the terrible things I'd done to you."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked him uncertainly.

James couldn't have had anything to benefit from all this. Maybe he was just dragging out the time he thought he had left in the library, but what he said next surprised me.

"Harper, not everyone is lucky enough to find someone who loves them more than they love themselves." James said quietly, but there was a strange weight to the sentence, and for the second time it felt as if something was closing in on me. But the feeling wasn't as terrifying this time around. "You were. I wouldn't give up on that if I were you, just because he made a mistake."

"I'm still pissed about it."

"You can be pissed about it." he said with a shrug. "But I'd give him the chance to make it up to you when you're ready. Something tells me it took him about twenty seconds after you left, to realize lying to you was probably one of the dumbest things he's ever done. I don't think he'll do it again."

I wanted to point out to James that he didn't really know Ashton all that well, or me either for that matter, but it seemed sort of pointless.

"Look I know I can't stay here." James said quietly. "And I know an apology doesn't come close to making up to everything I've done." His voice caught and he took a deep breath before saying. "But I am sorry Harper. For everything I did to you. For getting you, your brother, and Ashton all wrapped into this mess and I know I'm not in a position to be asking any favors from you, but please…" he hesitated for a moment, as if steeling himself before he continued. "Whatever happens to me. When or if the gods catch up with me, just, watch out for Lucy."

He glanced past me and I saw that at one of the many tables scattered among the rows, Lucy was sitting, reading what looked like a novel.

"I don't care what they do to me." He said softly. "I know it won't be long for them to find me when I leave, just…just don't let them do anything to her."

I hesitated for a moment, trying to sort through all of the thoughts and feelings going through me at the moment, a little uncomfortable at the emotion in his but honestly, what could I expect?

"James," I said eventually. "No one is asking you to leave."

He stared at me.

"What?"

"I'm not asking you to leave the library." I said shaking my head and looking around at the crumbling library. "This place, it needs to be fixed. I could use some help." I glanced back to his disbelieving face. "From everything I can tell, you and Lucy know more about this place than anyone else alive."

"Are… are you serious?" he asked, sounding as if he wasn't sure he could trust what he was hearing.

"Yes." I said with a nod, but he continued to stare at me as if I'd grown another head.

"Harper, have you gone insane?" he asked incredulously. "I can't stay here. If I do, the gods will come after me. They'll come after you. There's no way they'll let either of us live."

"They will if we play our cards right." I said calmly. "I've made a deal with Olympus." I continued as he stared at me, eyes wide. "They've agreed to leave you and Lucy alone, provided I remain a neutral party among the three and help keep each other, and other things, out of their territory."

I'd kept the sentence innocent enough, but James seemed to cut through words to their deeper meaning.

"You're blackmailing the gods with the Doors?" he asked, stunned.

"We've come to an understanding." I corrected mildly. "I overlook the fact they tried to punish me for a crime I didn't commit, they get the security of having someone who isn't totally pissed off at them controlling the Doors. I expect they'll be wanting to call in some favors, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"We?" he asked in amazement, sounding a bit dazed. As if I'd just hit him with a sledge hammer and her was only starting to process what had just happened. "Why would you do this for me?" he asked glancing at me, his expression uncertain and suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "After everything that's happened?"

"You didn't have to save us in Egypt."

"You didn't have to pull me out of the water in the caves." He said with a frown. "As far as I can tell, we're even."

"Well then I guess you're just going to have to owe me for a bit." I said standing, and reaching down to help him to his feet. "You can start by showing me the worst of the trouble spots around here, tell me everything you know."

"Alright." He said, but he was grinning now as he took my hand, straightening up and brushing off his jeans.

He looked awful, exhausted, with more injuries than I'd ever seen on a demigod but for the first time in my entirety of knowing him, I thought he looked genuinely happy.

"There is one condition though. If we're going to rebuild this place."

His smile faded.

"What is it?"

"We don't lie to each other." I said shaking my head. "Ever. Ok?"

I was sick of being lied to, sick of not knowing the truth and being 'protected'. I didn't want to be protected anymore, I wanted to finally be in control of my life.

He hesitated for a moment, clearly really thinking through what this meant and I wondered how long James had had to lie to everyone around him. How long he'd had to keep secrets, never be truly honest about who he was. And though it probably should have been a warning sign, I thought I understood his reservation.

"I'm serious James." I said looking at him. "If this is going to work, you and I are going to have be a team. We have to be on the same page. And if you're doing something dangerous or stupid, or just flat out crazy, I want to know about it. And I'm going to tell you what I think."

"And I'm guessing you expect the same from me?"

I smiled.

"Of course."

"Alright." He said with a shrug glancing over our surroundings then back at me. "Then I think you're stupid for trusting me, even if I'm grateful for it."

"Noted."

"But the gods aren't the only ones we have to worry about Harper." he continued seriously. "Kronos-"

"They've agreed to keep him contained." I said. "Hades is looking for him in the Underworld. As long as we keep anything contaminated by his power here away from others, they should be able to wear his influence down."

"He's not going to go down easy." James said. "Harper, you have to know, he'll come after you."

"I know." I said shrugging. "Luckily for me, I'm pretty smart. And you've agreed that you're going to tell me everything."

He looked at me for a moment, searching my expression.

"And you trust me to do that, do you? Honestly?"

"Yes."

"You realize that, that is quite stupid. Don't you? After everything that's happened?"

"Yes I've been told that several times." I said rolling my eyes. "But I don't think it is."

"Why not?"

"James. Do you want to leave the library?" I asked him and he paused, clearly not expecting the question.

"No."

"Don't you want to see your sister, to have the gods help at separating Kronos from you and her?" I asked and while he didn't answer, I knew what it was.

His expression looked as if he was only just now starting to realize what he was hearing might actually be a possibility, and it was going to change his life. But he also looked as if he didn't trust himself enough to start hoping.

"You're getting a second chance James." I said quietly. "I don't think you're stupid enough to screw it up."

"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked uncertainly.

I thought I saw a shadow of doubt cross his expression, as if he was waiting for another disaster to fall. And I found myself wondering how messed up his life had been to make him uncertain if he could trust an offer like this.

"Just because you're not locked up in it like the others, didn't mean this place didn't wreck your life." I said glancing at the statue of my mother, a mix of emotions surging through me. "The library has caused a lot of damage in the long time the gods never bothered to check up on it, and it's not your fault you got caught up in it. But," I sighed. "This place is mine now. And I might never be able to, but I want to make it right. For you, for Lucy, everyone that's stuck in here." I said looking over my shoulder at the numerous figures drifting in and out of the shelves, seemingly unaware of how long they'd been in the library, or that there was even a world outside it.

"I think this place can be great again." I said looking up at the ceiling through a dome of glass to see a brilliant sky with towering white clouds and the perfect shade of summer blue. "I'm not sure if it can be done in my life time." I said shaking my head. "But I'm sure having you and Lucy here to help me would be a good way to start."

"Where do we start?" he asked looking around, and I saw some of the feelings of being overwhelmed start to hit him as they had me, as he took in the broken furniture and listless visitors.

"With you." I said and his gaze slid back to me apprehensively, as if he expected me to suddenly run at him with my mother's spear.

Then again, I had pointed a bow at him before, arrow drawn. Maybe that was what he thought.

"Tell me everything that happened to you and Lucy." I said. "You can point out to me any of the trouble spots you're aware of while we talk."

"Everything," he said with a sigh. "That's going to be a long story Harper, one I'm not sure you want to hear."

"I think I've got the time." I said certainly. "And I do want to hear it. I want to hear it all."

He glanced at me, his expression cautious, but also slight curious until I explained.

"I want to make sure that whatever happened to you and your sister, never happens to anyone ever again."

His face was hard to read at first, and it made me think that on some level, James wasn't entirely sure he trusted me. Maybe, after everything that had happened to him, it would take him a while to be able to trust anyone but eventually, his gaze met mine, and after searching my expression, he nodded.

"Me too." He said quietly.

There was a moment where neither of us spoke, and thought it wasn't awkward, it was significant. As if the enormity of the situation was hitting us at the same time.

"In that vein." He said suddenly. "And for the sake of transparency, there is something you should know about me."

"You read some stuff you shouldn't have." I said as he cracked his knuckles and he grinned.

"Why am I not surprised you know that?"

"I think both our definitions of bizarre has sort of gone out the window at this point." I said, wondering why he'd jumped the ring of water surrounding my mother's statue, but past the point of questioning pretty much anything at the moment. "I might be just as weird as you are by now."

"Yeah. Well, knowing and seeing are two different things."

He then shook out his arms, took a steadying breath, then punched the marble at it's base.

A shock wave hit the library, as cracks radiated from the point of impact.

They shot up the statue as I staggered, barely staying on my feet and I watched, stunned as books toppled off their shelves and the statue quite literally cracked in half.

It fell to the water in chunks and in a flash faster than lightning, James was back at my side. His expression clearly entertained by mine.

"Sorry about your mum." He said glancing back at the pile of rubble.

"It's fine…" I said still a little too surprised to feel anything other than shock as I stared at the wreckage and then scratched the back of my head. "I think one could make the argument right now that she kind of deserved it.

At this he laughed.

"Still think you're as weird as I am?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

I held out my hand, feeling one of the books that had fallen dart into it, while the others returned themselves back to their places on the shelves.

"Yes." I said dropping the book and he looked a little impressed as it hovered in front of me.

"That's different." He muttered. "What else can-"

But all this commotion had apparently attracted Lucy's attention, because she'd wandered over from the table.

"You're back." She said looking at James with a smile, then her eyes landed on me. "Oh." She said clearly confused. "When did you get here?"

It was clear that Lucy was still sort of oblivious to her situation, and she seemed remarkably unperturbed by the mountain of broken marble that stood behind us that had once been a statue. Whether she hadn't noticed or just didn't care, I wasn't quite sure.

"I'm glad you're here Harper." She said as if she'd been waiting for me to return all along. "I've been meaning to tell you. I had an idea for the records section, it's impossible to find anything in there. We really have to figure out a new system for returns too, I'm pretty sure there's a family of bats living in that drawer."

"Returns?" James asked confused. "Lucy, what are you talking about?"

She looked at her brother like he was an idiot.

"Well we are opening the library back, up right?" she asked. "Isn't that what you guys were just talking about now that Harper is in charge. Am I the only one with any ideas?"

"How do you know that?" I asked confused.

This time, I was the one who's intelligence was obviously being assessed.

"The statue."

"What?" I asked while James and I both glanced at the pile of rubble.

"The statue." She said as if this should have been obvious. "What are you guys looking at? Come with me."

She made an impatient noise, then gestured for us to follow her.

I looked at James, before following his sister over cracked tiles, sleeping library guests, and what looked to be a pile of oysters. No doubt left over from one of the Library's many run in with the edges of Atlantis.

Lucy took us down a flight of stairs hidden in a narrow passage way it was clear by James's expression, he'd never found.

They were narrow and stone, and frankly, seemed sort of like a hazard waiting to happen. But they ended at a heavy wooden door that she pushed through.

Immediately, torches lit and I stared in shock as I was faced were hundreds of statues, all carved elaborately into marble with the skill only the greatest's of the masters had ever achieved.

I walked between them, stunned only to realize I recognized the faces, each of them carved with a familiar figure of a key.

I circled back to door only to come face to face with the final statue, the shape of the key dangling off the wrist of the hand of the book she was holding, glasses hanging on the collar of her shirt, a sword resting casually on her shoulder, her attention focused on the pages.

It was me.

"That is so creepy." James said frowning before glancing at his sister who shrugged.

"I think she looks nice."

"How long has this been here?" I asked taking off my camp necklace and dangling the key next to it's marble counterpart. It was an exact match.

"I'm not sure." Lucy said. "I don't always come down here, but if I had to guess some time earlier today. I just got the feeling to check, you know?"

I looked at Lucy critically, wondering just how in tune with this place her time here had made her. James was staring at her, clearly wondering the same thing.

"Lucy."

"Yeah?"

"What's the first thing you would do to change this place, if you got to pick?" I asked her and she smiled, clearly a thousand thoughts and ideas coming to her at once, but the smile vanished, and an anxious expression crossed her features.

"There's a ghost living on one of the upper levels, and I don't mean to be offensive to the other spritis running around here." she said lowering her voice as if not to be overheard. "But that guy is just straight up terrifying."

"We have ghosts here?" James asked his eyes widening.

"Yeah, but the rest of them are fine." Lucy said breezily. "Just this one, he keeps wailing about blood."

"I see." I said quietly.

"Also there's a pit scorpion in the third stall of the mens bathroom on the second level." Lucy added thoughtfully. "But I don't really go in there."

"That I did know about." James said gingerly, leading me to believe there was a story there.

"A pit scorpion?" I asked horrified and she nodded, her smile bright and helpful.

"If you want I can make a list of other stuff."

"That would be great." I said putting my head in my hands and I heard Lucy scamper away excitedly, clearly ecstatic to be involved in this process.

I could feel James's eyes on me, and strangely, I could feel his smile.

"Gods what have I gotten myself into?" I asked quietly.

"Gotten all of us into." He reminded me.

"Yes, thank you James." I said irritably and he laughed.

"Don't worry Harper." He assured me. "You're not doing this alone."

I looked up at him to see he'd crossed his arms over his chest and was looking at me clearly amused.

"Don't forget, you've got me and Lucy, and this disturbingly accurate representation of you in stone for company." He nodded towards the statue.

"It is kind of weird how it just sort of turned up isn't it?" I muttered and he grinned.

"I like to think you have a stalker who's been working on it for years, and saw an opportunity to show you the fruits of his affections."

"Don't make it weirder James."

"Eh, I can always punch it for you." he leaned an arm against the statue's shoulder then made a gesture with his hands that clearly indicated a cloud of dust exploding. "The problem would go away."

"I think we've had enough art demolition for one day." I said, but I was surprised to find I was holding back a laugh.

"Yeah maybe." He said still sounding entertained before glancing at the stair case after his sister then looking at me. "Harper, I-" he cut himself off, clearly not entirely certain what he wanted to say, but eventually continued with. "Thank you. Really." He pressed when I tried to wave him off. "For both me and Lucy, I. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't talked to the gods."

"Don't thank me yet." I said seriously his expression changed, he suddenly looked extremely worried. "Apparently we have a murderous ghost to deal with, we might die today."

He laughed and cracked his knuckles again, stretching his arms out in front of him as he did.

"That, I can help you with."

I grinned and followed him after Lucy up the steps to see her sitting at a table scribbling in a bright purple journal I assumed James must have given to her, a glitter pen darting quickly across the lines of the page.

"Ready?" James asked, gesturing towards a door further down the room that, tough I'd never been through it, I somehow knew would lead to higher levels of the library. Ones that contained gods only knew what, waiting for us to flush them out of buckling shelves that contained material that was thousands of years old.

I looked around at the wrecked library, the clear sighted mortal who seemed oblivious to her surroundings, and all the others, lost here with her, then finally at the guy who'd gotten me stuck in this mess. Who could apparently pack a punch so hard, it could reduce a statue of a god to rubble.

"Yeah." I said feeling strangely… at home. Far more at home than I ever had at school or at camp.

'Well,' a soft voice whispered in the back of my mind, accompanied by memories. 'Maybe not all the time.'

But I pushed away images of laughing with Ashton at Charlie, when he'd accidentally closed his jacket in his locker at school, talking to him in the infirmary, his hand in mine in Greece, kissing him in his room, not knowing what was going to happen next but knowing that it couldn't have been too bad. Not if he was there.

But just because he wasn't here now, didn't mean I had to be afraid of what would happen. Him or Charlie. Even if a part of me wished they were.

"Yeah," I repeated with a nod. "I think I am."