Ooooookkkkaaaay. So, finally I've been able to upload the last chapter to this story. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story this long. This has been one of the most difficult stories of mine to write due to everything having to come together and make sense, but it's also been one of my favorites creativity wise. I knew it was going to be a struggle having uploaded it so early but I'm glad I did because I don't think it would have been finished if I hadn't, and I ended up getting so many ideas and so much fun with character developement that had never occurred to me at the start of this story. I really hope people enjoyed it even with the amount of patience keeping up with this story required. Thank you again to everyone who took the time and waited for it all to come to it's eventual end. I really do hope people liked it. As always thank you to everyone who reads/follows/favorites/reviews. I really appreciate the positive support. It means a lot.
Also, unlike the end of previous stories, I probably won't go on a crazy long posting hiatus like I tend to do because I've got two other ideas well underway at this point as I've previously mentioned. Part of the reason the end of this got delayed more than I expected it to. I'll put more info about them at the end of this chapter for anyone who might be interested in further stories, and if you have a strong preference, please let me know so I know which should get more of my attention as I get ready to start another story upload.
Hope you enjoy the final update!
~secrethalfblood
...
Apov
4 months later
"Well look who finally decided to grace us with her presence." Charlie muttered and while his tone was gruff, he couldn't quite hide his grin.
I looked up and smiled as I saw Harper talking to Chiron in front of the Big House, no doubt about something important and related to whatever current crisis was going on with the divine world and the Gods.
As always, James was with her, arms crossed over his chest, broad sword strapped to his back like some sort of bizarre mythological version of the secret service.
He must have sensed me staring however, because he turned, caught my gaze then said something to Harper who nodded before turning back to Chiron and he started walking towards Charlie and I.
He drew attention from campers as he passed, and I could tell their reactions to him were mixed, some suspicious, some interested, others clearly intimidated.
Word had gotten around about James. That he wasn't exactly normal anymore, well, if you could call any demigod normal. And there had been stories circulating that he'd taken it even further.
He didn't seem to mind though, in fact, it didn't look as if he'd noticed anyone looking at him at all as he stopped in front of us. I couldn't help but notice how different he looked than even just a year ago when he'd first come to camp. Charming, arrogant, and, if I was honest, a total pain in the ass.
He'd dropped a lot of the act now, and now he just looked tired. Tired and far more serious, with a lot more battle scars. Though, I noticed, none of the wounds looked recent.
"I'd heard you'd taken a dip in a pretty nasty river." Charlie said, clearly having made a similar observation. "What, are you trying to become a human tank or something?"
I was surprised when James laughed at this, not least because recently it seemed almost as if he and Charlie were starting to be on friendly terms.
Being honest, I hadn't seen that one coming.
"I thought you of all people would be happy about that. Your sister's got a lot of enemies." He pointed out. "She makes a lot of waves. It makes things difficult for a lot of really old people."
"Good." Charlie said and he sounded genuinely pleased at the thought.
He'd never really gotten over the fact that had things gone differently over the summer, Harper might not have been around today to make jokes about. I wasn't sure he'd ever forgive Olympus for it.
"So it's true then?" I asked with some curiosity despite myself. "You did it? Jumped into the Styx and took on Achille's Curse?"
"Yes." He said sounding a little uncomfortable, but clearly trying to go for bored.
"How was it?" Charlie asked almost eagerly and James gave him an alarmed look, as if, like me, he thought Charlie was looking far too excited to hear about the finer details of accepting an ancient curse.
"Not great." He said still looking at Charlie like he'd started sprouting a second head. "It wasn't exactly fun, but when Kronos has been sending you nightmares since you were eleven, you've pretty much seen it all."
It was moments like this that had a tendency to humanize James for me, and no matter how many reasons I had for disliking him. I could sometimes see why it hadn't been difficult for Harper to forgive James for the things he'd done, even if I still struggled sometimes. In the end, the dude had had a pretty messed up life, and considering how things had turned out, I wasn't sure I could have done any better.
"You weren't scared?" I asked unable to help myself and he shrugged.
"No." He said and while it didn't sound like he was lying, there was a hesitation in his tone that had me thinking he wasn't exactly telling the whole truth.
He seemed to notice my expression, because he continued.
"I wasn't worried about me. I honestly didn't expect to live past this summer, I wasn't going to let some rubbish filled river wash my life away. Not when I got a second chance at it." he hesitated again before saying. "Harper was threatening to do it as well."
"What?" Charlie screeched at the exact time as I said. "You can't be serious."
"Relax, I talked her out of it for now." He said gruffly, but I could see his shoulders set in a way that told me he was feeling uneasy. "But I can see how to her it might make sense. Everyone would worry about her running in to Kronos's cronies a lot less if they couldn't manage to kill her, but I pointed out we had no idea what would happen to the library if something went wrong. Who's hands it would end up in or if it would even exist if whoever's in charge of it had their life force just… fade."
There was a moment of silence that fell between us as we all very clearly tried not think about what that meant. If Harper hadn't listened to James, and if she was gone.
It was a pain I didn't want to come anywhere close to experiencing, and I could tell even just the thought of it was distressing to them as well.
"You don't think that makes you a bit of a hypocrite?" Charlie asked eventually, raising an eyebrow. "Telling her not to do exactly what you've just done?"
"No actually, I don't." he said without embarrassment. "It's not the end of the world if something happens to me. Harper's smart and she's plenty powerful, and Lucy would still have someone looking after her. I don't want to know what would happen, if something happened to Harper." He looked genuinely disturbed at this thought. "Not now that the Gods know about the Doors and the key. But what I do know, is that it wouldn't be good."
Charlie didn't answer this and I had a feeling it was because we both thought he had a point. If something had happened to Harper before she'd had a chance to choose a successor to her place in the library, I could only imagine what the gods would have done to try and get a hold of it. Or get a hold of someone who could control it. They'd each want influence over the person watching the gateways into their realms, and I was pretty sure they'd all be willing to go pretty far to get it, no matter who they hurt. At they very least, it would affect the demigods at camp if they went looking for a champion to act as her replacement. At the worst, all out war.
Harper, who'd seen this coming before any of us, had made it clear from the start she intended to act as a neutral party, something the gods had agreed with. But if she was gone, and one of the Big Three thought they might have a chance at power over the others...
"Well," Charlie said, clearly trying to gloss over what was rapidly becoming a darker and darker line of conversation. "I was thinking about going to the basketball court." He glanced at me. "Want to come?"
I was about to tell Charlie I was planning to talk to Harper and to head to the court himself when a series of hushed, squabbling voices caught my attention.
"You ask him."
"Why don't you do it?"
"He's your brother."
"Alright, Gods…"
I looked over to see Trent, a brother of mine who'd only just started at camp, and a couple of the younger demigods he'd befriended walking in our direction, apparently arguing over something. Each of them looking a little embarrassed.
"Is it true?" he asked suddenly, and while his tone was a little sheepish, there was a curiosity under that that was reflected in their rest of the faces in the group.
"Is what true?" I asked a little confused, but before he could answer, one of the girls burst out.
"Are you really dating the keeper of the Cordrian library?"
She went red as I looked at her, and I had a feeling she hadn't meant to say that out loud. That she hadn't really expected to talk to me at all.
"Who? Harper?" I asked noticing as I glanced in her direction, that she was heading this way.
They nodded eagerly and I was alarmed to see James narrow his eyes the group of tweens. Almost as if he were sizing them up.
"Who wants to know?" he asked suspiciously.
The dude brought a whole new dimension to the word paranoid.
"Everyone's been talking about it." Trent said reclaiming my attention, apparently oblivious to James's scurtiny. "They're saying that's the reason she's here. To see you. You're her brother, right?" he asked eagerly, apparently just having noticed Charlie and I thought how strange it was, hearing him referred to as Harper's brother, when not that long ago, it would have been the other way around.
"Twin actually." Harper corrected with a smirk as she stepped into ear shot, clearly amused at the way their eyes went wide as they gaped at her. "Don't let him tell you otherwise."
"Whoa…" one of the boys whispered while the girl practically vibrated with excitement.
"Is it true you stopped a titan from getting into Olympus?" she asked in amazement.
"Um, sort of?" Harper said awkwardly, looking a little surprised at the question. "It wasn't that straight forwar-"
"Do you really know everything that's written in the library's books?" another boy asked.
"Yes."
"Wooow." The girl said in awe, if possible, her eyes going even wider.
"Well I'm going to let you hang out with your fan club." Charlie said glancing at his sister with some exasperation. "I'll see you later?"
She smiled.
"Yeah."
"Cool, you coming Ash?"
He gestured towards the basketball courts, but I shook my head.
"Nah, go ahead without me."
"Alright." He said clapping a hand on my shoulder then pulling Harper into a brief hug when James shocked us all by saying.
"I'll go."
Everyone, even the younger campers, was staring at him. Well, except Harper, who just looked amused.
"What?" he asked looking uncharacteristically self-conscious. "It's been a while since I've been able to play."
"Yeah, sure man." Charlie said sounding completely thrown, but after a quick glance at me, and a shrug from Harper, gestured for James to follow him towards the basketball courts. "Just try not to kill anyone."
"We need to be in the Underworld in an hour." Harper reminded James. "Hades says he has a couple of books he wants to donate from his private collection."
"Yeah, for purely altruistic reasons I'm sure." James said rolling his eyes, but waving to show that he would remember to be on time.
"He is so cool." The girl who'd just been gawping at Harper said staring after James. She was blushing again and Harper looked as if the thought of James continuing his 'heart throb' reputation around camp was laughable. Even if it was for very different reasons now.
"He spends most of his time annotating texts of magical theory predating the fifth century." She said raising her eyebrows. "Last Friday, he decided he wanted to shake things up' by alphabetizing our out of print textbooks by publisher."
"Yeah, but with a six pack." The girl pointed out and Harper rolled her eyes before turning to me.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready?" I asked confused. "Ready for what?"
Her eyes went wide behind her glasses.
"Ash, don't tell me you forgot. It's the 20th. Of December. Your mother's waiting for you at the marina."
"My mom? What-" I started then cut myself off. "The cruise."
"Yeah. She said glancing at her phone. "It's supposed to leave in like a half an hour."
"She finished her surgery?"
"Yeah. I picked her up right before I came here. But we probably shouldn't keep her waiting."
I took her hand as we started walking towards my cabin, very aware of the stares we were attracting, but though having the whole camp staring at me while walking with Harper would have been my worst nightmare this time last year, now… Now I just couldn't care and as always, it looked as if Harper was too deep in thought to even notice she was being talked about.
It didn't take long to grab what I would need, and took even less time to jump from camp to the docks.
"How are you still so bad at this." I said catching Harper as she staggered into me as we reentered the mortal world. "You literally control where we're going."
"I don't want to hear it." she said, tucking the glowing key under her shirt and putting a hand out on the nearest palm tree to steady herself. "I already get enough comments from James."
"Yeah I bet." I said.
James never seemed to have an issue jumping through the doors, probably because he'd been doing it for so long and was still the one who used them the most. Like me, he was always catching Harper from hurtling out of the Interrealm and falling flat on her face.
I was about to continue teasing her when a familiar voice shouted.
"Ashton! Harper!"
We turned to see my mother waving at us from high up on the decks of massive ship, looking utterly bizarre to me in a yellow sundress and hat that looked nothing like her normal work attire.
"Is that…?" Harper started, narrowing her eyes at a bottle my mother was pointing at with her free hand between waves.
"Sun screen, yes." I said with a sigh. "She is relentless."
"You don't burn."
"I know." I said but smiling anyways and returning the wave, before returning my gaze to Harper. "You know, you could always join us for a bit." I pointed out. "Take a break for once. If you even remember what a vacation is at this point."
She rolled her eyes at this and I grinned.
"I hear it's a lot more fun than the Underworld."
She laughed.
"Yeah, it probably is, but I need to go. And you should spend the time with your mom. If you're going to keep playing sports next year, you're not going to have a lot of free time."
"Yeah you're probably right." I said with a sigh. "I'm still going to miss you though."
I pulled her into a hug as a loud blaring from the ship signaled it was close to its boarding deadline.
"Thanks for doing this Bambi." I said softly, not wanting to let her go, but knowing I had to. "You didn't have to."
"Perks of having a monopoly of interdimensional travel." She said with half a smirk. "I get to use it as I see fit."
"Yeah, well, try not go mad with power." I said grinning before giving her a quick kiss.
There was another blast from the ship's horn and I readjusted my bag, knowing I needed to get moving.
"I'll be back in a few days to get your mom to her post op appointments. She sent me her schedule just let me know if there are any changes."
I nodded.
"Will do."
"Have fun Ash."
"Thanks Bambi."
She gave me one last kiss before urging me to get to the platform that would lead me to the ship, and I made it just as the employees were walking towards the gates.
"You know." My mother started as I'd managed to push my way through the crowd and tackle her into a hug. "I have to admit. When you told me your girlfriend had figured out a way to make the cruise work around our schedules, I wasn't really sure if it was possible. But I think the explanation raised more questions than it answered."
She held out the bottle of sun screen which I reluctantly took, then put in my back pocket.
My mother noticed, but though clearly irritated, decided not to comment.
"So." She raised an eyebrow. "You want to tell me what's going on with Harper Davis, and why some grumpy British kid is following her around?"
I was startled into a laugh.
"So you met James then?" I asked amused by this description of him and she frowned.
"Yes." She said her frown deepening. "Is it just me or is he a little… uptight." Her eyes went a little wide when she added. "And that's me saying that."
I laughed again, unable to think how weird this would have sounded last year, if someone told me I was actually taking a vacation with my mother, dating Harper, and James of all people was thought of as 'uptight.'
"It's kind of a long story." I said. "No actually not even kind of. It's very long."
"Well." she said glancing over her shoulder back at Harper who was waving from the docks. "I've got an entire team covering my on call duties for the next four days, and you're on you're winter break. I'd say we've got the time."
We both waved at Harper who gave me one final thumbs up, then, with a flash of what looked like sunlight against metal, was gone.
"I know you and your friends aren't exactly normal." My mother said turning towards me. "But even for a group of demigods, this new ability of your girlfriend seems… unique."
"It is." I said adjusting my bag on my shoulder again and glancing at her. "I never told you about my summer, did I?"
"No." she said. "The last thing I heard was you and Harper were off to Egypt and when you came home, you were so upset I didn't want to ask. I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would when you were ready."
"A lot has happened since then." I said spotting a flyer advertising all you could eat specialty tacos at the pool side bar. I wondered if they had any idea how much food a teenage athlete and a demigod on top of that could put away. "Wanna talk about it over tacos?"
She glanced at the flyer and looked a little amused, clearly thinking along the same lines as I was.
"They're probably going to regret that." She said amused.
"Oh they're definitely going to regret that." I said with a grin and she laughed.
It wasn't until she did, that I realized how long it had been since I'd seen her laugh. I'd missed it.
"Please don't eat all of the ship's food." She said managing to regain her composure, but still smiling as we started dragging out luggage towards the rooms. "If you do they won't let us back next year."
She then cut herself off in surprise before saying.
"You know, if you'd like to come back." She said, suddenly sounding extremely self conscious. "I know you're planning on playing sports with Charlie next year after you got you acceptance letters, and you'll be busy with school and your friends. And we don't always get along but-"
"I'm sure we can make it work Mom." I assured her and she smiled.
"Who knows." She said looking extremely relieved. "Maybe if things turn out well, we can invite your friends."
I shook my head.
"I dunno about that." I said and she looked a little disappointed for a moment before I continued with. "Charlie could probably come, but I doubt Harper could make it. Hers is a schedule even mythological teleportation can't reconcile."
"That bad huh?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
We'd stepped into the halls of the living quarters now, and she swiped a key card, pushing open the door to reveal a small but lavishly decorated room with two beds and an insane amount of pillows.
I dropped my bag on the one of the left and sat on the blankets.
"Our last date was a fifteen minute window I had between games at my last tournament, at the coffee shop in the mall across from the gym, and that was because that was the only time she had between meetings with her mother and Zeus."
"Wasn't that like a week ago?" she asked uncertainly.
"Two."
"Jeez. Sounds like she's even worse than I am." My mother said grinning a little, sitting on her bed across from me.
"Oh yeah." I said with a laugh.
"And I once brought flash cards one a drive with your father."
"In his chariot?" I asked feeling my eyes go wide.
"Yeah." she nodded. "I had a test the next day." She said looking half amused, half embarrassed. "His expression was similar."
"Oh my gods." I said laughing. "Mom that's so lame."
"Yeah, yeah. Well she's lucky she has you. Most people wouldn't be able to handle that, especially at your age. But you shouldn't be too hard on your girlfriend." She said, clearly trying to sound nonchalant, but something about her tone had me narrowing my eyes.
"What?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." She said with a shrug.
"What is it?" I asked looking over my shoulder realizing she was looking at something, only to see a narrow door set in the wall next to my bed that I hadn't noticed on my initial glance at the room.
"Why don't you check out what's on the other side." She said, nodding towards the door and I got to my feet, frowning a little.
"Okay…" I said uncertainly, expecting to see a small closet or something, but feeling a surge of surprise to through me as behind it, was another room, furnished exactly like ours and sitting on the beds were two familiar faces.
"Surprise!"
I laughed in shock as I was tackled in a hug by both of the Davis twins and I looked between them, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked I looked at Harper. "I thought you were busy today."
"I was." Charlie said dramatically. "But I managed to move some things around. It broke Annie's heart, but I told her to be strong without me."
Harper looked at her brother as if he was insane.
"Literally the first thing you did when I brought you here was ask me for the wifi password so you could video call her."
"I don't deny that." He said shamelessly and Harper rolled her eyes.
"I thought you were supposed to be in the Underworld right now." I said looking at her and she waved a hand carelessly.
"James can take care of Hades, they actually along surprisingly well." She said easily while Charlie pulled a face.
"That's not really a ringing endorsement for either of them."
"Anyways." Harper continued, clearly trying to steer the conversation back on topic. "When I was talking to your mom about her schedule, she said Charlie and I should come along. So blocked out my schedule and I might be a little in and out over the week depending on your mom's work and what else might come up but, in general."
She smiled, clearly excited.
"I've got nothing this whole week."
"Awesome." I said grinning, but feeling a little uncertain and asking. "Is the library going to be ok without you for that long?"
"Yeah." She said with a shrug. "It's going to be closed for the most part, James and Lucy can handle the rest."
This didn't seem like news to Charlie who must have talked about this with Harper while coordinating for the cruise, however, at the mention of Lucy's name, a flash of concern crossed his features.
"How's she doing by the way?"
"Better." Harper said with a nod, but something about her tone was a little brittle. Harper had gotten extremely close with James and Lucy over the last several months. I knew she didn't like it when either of them was upset, especially Lucy. "She's excited for Christmas. Says she wants to go gift shopping."
"Does she realize she'd have to leave the library to do that?" Charlie asked tentatively and Harper shook her head.
"No, I don't think so."
There was a moment where no one seemed to know what to say, as we were all confronted with an ugly truth. The fact that though the entrances to the library, and the doors between the worlds were now finally under control, not everyone that had wandered into the library had gotten better. Primarily, Lucy. She'd been improving a little, finally seeming to understand the idea that both she and James had aged several years since they'd first discovered a way into the library, but didn't seem to understand the concept she could leave.
Approach the subject on a good day and she might laugh at you, on a bad day, it usually led to a break down. On a really bad day, you couldn't rule out an attack.
"You could shop online." My mother pointed out as she unpacked on the other side of the room, clearly only half paying attention to the conversation.
"That's a good idea." Harper said thoughtfully. "Right now she's trying to find the 'most strategic' position for the mistletoe."
Harper put air quotes around the world. The twins had always decorated their dad's place to the point of almost ridiculous for the holidays, and it looked as if in this tradition, Harper had found a kindred spirit in James's little sister. They decorated the library for almost every major holiday they could think of, and even some of the nerdy ones like Pi day and May the 4th.
At this information, Charlie snorted.
"What does that mean? Does she expect the library to be the romance destination of the holiday season?"
Harper didn't answer this and I could tell by her expression, it hadn't occurred to her to wonder why Lucy had been obsessing over this particular decoration.
"I really hope not." She said frowning.
"Are you guys ready to go grab food?" my mother asked.
She'd finished the basics of unpacking her bag and was looking at us expectantly.
"It's been a while since I've seen you two." She continued looking at Harper and Charlie, who both looked a little surprised to be addressed by her. "We can all catch up."
It was clear she was making an effort with my friends, which I was grateful for and as we stepped out into the hall, my mom asked Charlie about our latest season, and I felt Harper slip her hand into mine as we walked back onto the main deck of the ship.
I glanced over the side of the ship only to see what looked like the flash of a mermaid's tail, and when my mother and Charlie stepped into the patio area next to the pool where the sign had advertised there'd be tacos, I pulled Harper to a stop before she walked in.
"You ok?" she asked looking at me, clearly concerned.
"Yeah." I said said shaking my head. "Yeah I'm fine I just, thanks for doing all this Harps. I know you're crazy busy lately, but it means a lot. It really does."
Already this was looking to be the best Christmas I'd had in a very long time, maybe even the best I'd ever had. And she'd made it happen.
"Of course." She said smiling at me. "I'm glad things worked out with your mom. With us on break, it all sort of lined up perfectly."
"If you can magically transport people halfway across the world."
"Which I can."
She was smirking now, but it was playful and I couldn't help but think she looked extremely pretty with the ocean sunlight shining off her hair, glittering behind her glasses in her eyes.
I almost couldn't believe she was real, and that this was really happening. Finally on a vacation with my mom who was sitting with my best friend, waving me and Harper, my girlfriend, over to the table they had grabbed as Charlie, predictably, made a face at his sister.
All because of her.
"You know you're amazing Bambi, right?" I asked her and she laughed.
"I'm just bookworm."
"An amazing bookworm." I said quietly, brushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and resting my hand on her cheek. "I love you."
She smiled.
It wasn't the first time I'd said it and I knew it wouldn't be the last. Humiliatingly, we'd only been officially in a relationship for a few weeks before I'd let the words slip out, but it hadn't seemed to bother her. She'd said it back then, and she said it again now.
I was certain I'd never get tired of hearing the words.
"I love you too."
I smiled feeling my heart skip a beat, but just as I'd leaned down to kiss her, I heard Charlie shout.
"Ashton! Get a move on, I'm hungry!"
I sighed and looked over at him.
"Really dude?"
Harper laughed a little but took my hand and pulled me towards the patio where Charlie was looking at us, eyes narrowed.
"No making out with my sister right before I eat."
"What about after you eat?" Harper asked sitting next to her brother, pretending to make her tone thoughtful while my mother looked over the menu on the table.
"No. Think of it like the swimming rule, no gross couple activity an hour before or after I eat."
"Yeah, I'm not doing that." Harper said her expression flat.
"Me either."
"Fine, fifteen minutes?" he said and I looked at Harper who shrugged, her expression mild.
"Alright." I agreed and Charlie looked relieved.
"Thank you." Charlie muttered also turning his attention towards the menu, but when Harper picked up hers, I noticed her squinting through her lenses and I plucked them off of her face.
"Ash." She said a little surprised, her vision adjusting. "What-"
"You're not working this week Bambi, you don't have to wear these."
She blinked for a second, her eyes clearly adjusting, before looking around at the ship.
"Besides, I heard there's an archery range on the ship." I grinned. "I wanna see how much you've improved."
Harper didn't have a lot of free time these days, but when she did, often she and I found ourselves doing target practice. After so many years of struggling, Harper was actually starting to become pretty decent shot.
Maybe even better than Charlie…
We didn't actually end up in the archery lanes, however. We spent hours at the table regaling the events of the summer to my mother and catching up with Harper's insane incidents as she, Lucy, and James attempted to the restore the library, which apparently had taken somewhat of a liking to its chaotic nature. Despite its resistance in strange ways, they seemed to be making a lot of progress, installing new technologies like a security system and modernizing the process for checking books in and out of the library.
From what it sounded like, the library was slowly but surely being brought into the twenty first century by the sheer will power of Harper and her friends. It wasn't doing it without a fight however.
Before I knew it, Charlie and I were practicing free throws on the basketball court attached to the ship's fitness center while my mother and Harper sat on the bench, my mother explaining the finer points of her next article submission to one of her many medical journals. She'd explained it to me, and while I'd gotten completely lost after the abstract, it seemed to fascinate Harper.
"Is it just me, or is that a little weird?" Charlie asked tossing me the ball, nodding towards Harper and my mother who were laughing at something on her laptop, probably some nerdy medical joke Charlie would have had to explain to me, that neither of us would have laughed at.
They seemed to be enjoying it however.
"I don't think I've ever seen your mom talk that much."
"I have." I said grinning. "But she was yelling at me."
He grinned a little.
"The jet ski incident?"
"The jet ski incident." I confirmed with a nod and he clearly held back a laugh, probably also remembering the time we'd crashed not one, but two jet skis we'd taken without express permission from one of the parents on our basketball team, the summer they'd offered to host a team retreat at their lake house.
They didn't offer it for the next year.
"You'd better be careful dude." Charlie warned as I took a shot, unsurprised to see it sail easily through the netting. "I think your mom and your girlfriend are on the road to becoming friends."
"That's a bad thing?" I asked and he shot me a significant look.
"That depends." He said dryly. "Just how often do you want to be asked when you're proposing during college?"
"From Harper?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"From your mom, dude." Charlie said flatly before jogging after at the ball.
I looked over my shoulder at the two, wondering if Charlie was going a bit far only to see my mother, serious, heart surgeon, Ivy League lecturing mother, was taking a photo with Harper with her front facing camera. An honest to gods selfie.
'What is going on?' I thought in shock.
Still… it was sort of nice.
After the events of the summer, I hadn't been sure how much my mother and Harper were going to get along even they had known each other for years.
'There are worse problems to have.' I thought grinning a little, only to turn back to the hoop to see a basketball hurtling towards my face.
I caught in reflex, only to see Charlie smirking at me.
"Get your head in the game Ash." He said before taking the ball out of my hands and lining up for another shot.
We continued to practice for a while, but eventually I found myself walking along the main deck of the ship with Harper, her hand in mine watching the sun set on the horizon.
My mother had gone to the business center to take a call from one of her colleagues, and we'd managed to get rid of Charlie by brining Annie onboard through the doors.
"This doesn't seem very ethical." I said watching as Charlie and Annie walked towards the pool. "There's probably some rule about using the doors to sneak stowaways on cruise ships."
"It's not like she's gonna be here for that long." Harper said easily. "Besides, it keeps Charlie from third wheeling. If there's consequences I'll take them."
"You know I actually like your brother, right?" I said grinning at her as she leaned against the railing, her back to the water. "That we're friends."
She made a face.
"Why?"
"He's not that bad Bambs." I said putting an arm around her and she shot me a dubious look.
"Debatable."
She'd stopped protesting the nickname these days and I had a feeling that though she'd never admit it, Harper might actually like it. Or at least didn't hate it as much as she'd pretended to.
I grinned as a breeze rolling off the ocean caught her hair, strands glinting in the gold of the setting sun.
I brushed them back from her face and kissed her, feeling the world and everything in it, mortal and mythological fade away, almost unable to believe a moment could be so perfect. That someone like her, so smart and beautiful and brave, could exist in one person. Even more impossible, that she'd give me any of her time let alone make me a priority.
I pulled her closer, amazed that finally, after all this time, the girl I'd spent days working up the courage to talk to on the court was mine. Even if both our lives were an entire world apart from what they had been when we'd met.
Every time she looked at me and smiled, or laughed at one of my stupid jokes, or even I caught her looking at me on the court it felt like the first time. I didn't think I'd ever get over it.
I didn't want to either.
I was convinced that nothing could ruin this moment. That I could have spent the rest of my life here with her and been happy, needing nothing else.
That was until we were drenched with sea water.
We sprang a part in surprise and opened my eyes to see Harper, her hair and her dress streaming with water.
"Oh my gods." She started furiously turning around to see the man behind the railing, supported by a pillar of salt water. "I'm on vacation!"
"The gods don't get vacations." He said glowering at Harper, looking pointedly at the bonze key that rested as a pendant on the chain around her neck. "And neither do you."
Poseidon was a big man, heavily muscled like most of the gods, tan with dark hair, and sea green eyes that stood out against his beard. From the lines on his face, I could tell he was a man who, under normal circumstance, smiled easily. But he wasn't smiling at Harper, he was glaring at her and I had to admit, it made me uneasy to see someone so massive staring down my tiny girlfriend.
Harper didn't seem concerned however. She looked like she wanted to strangle Poseidon and I wouldn't have put it past her to try.
"What do you want?" she asked darkly.
Water was splashing on to the deck from the column and while the mortals clearly didn't see the god for what he was, I noticed they were clearing away from the area and I wondered what they thought was happening. A very small rain storm? A very determined wave washing up against the side of the boat?
"We've been looking for our father." Poseidon said crossing his arms over his chest. "Hades found a concentration of his essence in the Underworld but we think we might have found some symbols tied to him at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. We need to look through the library, and ideally, we'd like to have someone directing us for what we might be looking for."
"You could have messaged James about this." Harper said flatly.
"Olympus doesn't deal with gate keepers." Poseidon said irritably, but then smirked. "Except you. You're an exception."
"Lucky me." She said sarcastically.
"You should be grateful Harper Davis." He said with a frown. "We've let your friend and his sister live, but don't forget on what conditions our agreement was made. We've left your friend alone-"
"Apart from about a thousand monster attacks…" Harper muttered.
"And in return, you agreed to be our ally. We won't trust Hermes's child with this information, not when he's proven already he can be compromised." He gave her a stern look. "Your assistance is required. And it would be such a shame, wouldn't it, if your pleasant vacation," he put an emphasis on the word. "Were to be cut short? You know treacherous the open ocean can be after all."
He smirked and looked out over the water where the waves were getting choppier, more unruly, and I felt a surge of adrenaline go through me as the ship start to rock ever so slightly. A cold wind around us starting to pick up.
He looked back at us, smiling, his eyes intense as the water grew rougher, sea foam churning between the waves.
"It would be a shame if the ship had to turn back due to a sudden storm."
"So that's why they sent you is it? To threaten to ruin my trip?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
Her tone was resentful, but with what looked like enormous self-restraint, she didn't continue.
Her hands were tied, and they both knew it, and while Poseidon was smiling at her like cat who'd cornered a mouse, I recognized the look she was giving him. It was the look she had in chess, right before I realized I'd done something stupid, and noticed that she'd sacrificed a pawn, to get to my queen.
"Alright." She said evenly. "I'll help you find what you want to know. But while I have you here," she continued smoothly and his smile faltered. "And since we're on the topic of the library, we should probably talk about what happened on the lower levels."
"What happened?" I asked curiously as I saw Poseidon looked embarrassed.
"One of his cyclopes went on a rampage and flooded the lower floors." She said crossing her arms over her chest. "It completely trashed the plumbing system for days. He's actually barred from visiting the library right now until he pays to offset the damages, and he hasn't been returning our calls."
And just as I had so many times facing off against Harper across the game board, I saw Poseidon starting to wonder just how many steps in advance she was thinking, and how he'd managed to end up in the middle of a trap.
"Is this why you're here?" Poseidon asked furiously. "In the middle of the Ocean, just so-"
"I'm on vacation." Harper said stubbornly, then glanced a little guiltily at me. "But you know." She shrugged. "Two birds."
"Unbelievable." He said shaking his head, droplets of water flying off before he shot her a wary look. "Alright, what do you want?"
"I'll let you into the library, and overlook my outrageous plumbing bill if you do something for me."
"What?" he asked carefully and she smiled.
"The weather on our way to Mexico and back is going to be perfect. You got that?" she asked and he squinted at her for a second, as if he wasn't sure she was being serious or not. "And no monsters."
"That's it?"
"That's it." she said simply and he continued to consider her for a moment, before he stuck out his hand.
"Deal."
She shook it.
"The information you're looking for is on the third level in the locked wing, forth row, third shelf. James can unlock the room for you. From everything in the tablets that I've seen, the symbols have been there since the first titan war, but you might want to compare them in case there's anything new."
"You're not coming?"
"I. Am. On. Vacation." Harper said slowly. "And you doused me in sea water."
She frowned at him.
"Ally or not, you don't have to be an ass."
I felt my eyes go wide. Insulting the gods wasn't something mortals, especially demigods, were supposed to do. I was a little surprised, however, when Poseidon grinned.
"Message received daughter of Athena."
"Good." Harper smiled. "James will come down if he hears the doors. He can handle this from here. I can send you from Atlantis."
"Then I'll be off." He said, now definitely looking amused.
His gaze met mine briefly, and I thought I caught the basic gist of his thoughts. It was clear he was wondering how if Olympus couldn't manage Harper, how could I possibly hope to, but I smiled.
"Didn't think this through, did you?"
"Perhaps not." He agreed looking over the ocean. "But something tells me you did."
He looked at Harper with a hint of approval, and something like respect in his gaze before saying.
"Good luck with that one son of Apollo. She might be around longer than we thought."
He then crashed back through the surface of water, sending ocean spray into the air and rocking the boat once more, and again, I found myself drenched.
"Still an ass." Harper muttered.
"I kind of liked him." I said and when she raised an eyebrow, I continued. "Oh come on Harper, you have to admit, he handled getting out smarted pretty well. His brothers wouldn't have been so cool about it."
"I guess that's true." She said quietly leaning against the railings, her expression thoughtful.
"You're not really not working this week, are you?" I asked and she looked up at me.
"No I am." She said with a nod. "I just knew he might get ideas if I was out on the open water."
She grinned a little.
"I don't exactly use public transportation anymore, and they're used to me being around James." She shrugged. "I figured they probably wouldn't be able to resist taking a shot. Though I'm surprised Poseidon didn't put together James can definitely contain a cyclopes."
She frowned.
"You'd think he'd have figured that out."
"So wait." I said incredulously. "You let a cyclopes clobber the library's pipes on purpose?"
"We moved the important stuff out the way." She said shrugging. "And that's sort of the funny thing about having complete control over a magical building."
She shot me an expression that was half sheepish, half self-satisfied.
"It's not all that hard to repair a few broken pipes."
"So you lied about the plumbing bill?" I asked incredulously. "To Poseidon of all people?"
"Well I'm sure it would have been expensive if I had had to call a plumber." She said a little awkwardly. "But yeah kind of."
"Why?"
"So he wouldn't bother us."
"You manipulated the god of the Sea, so we could have nice weather on our trip?" I asked incredulously.
"And avoid some of the nastier ocean monsters." She pointed.
I stared at her uncertain if I was more impressed, or startled by the amount of manipulation that had just played out in front of me.
"You know you can be a little terrifying, right?" I asked quietly and she looked at her feet.
"I didn't want your trip with your mom to get messed up." She admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. "Especially not because of me. When your mom invited me and Charlie on the trip, I figured I should start planning, just in case."
"That Poseidon might come up and literally try to push us around?"
"Well, yeah." She said with a shrug before looking up at me. "I know how important this trip is for you."
Her gaze was uncertain as it met mine, clearly unsure if I was ok with or freaked out by everything she'd done and I just looked at her, utterly stunned.
"You did all this for me?" I asked softly.
"You're right." She said shaking her head and looking away, clearly embarrassed now. "Maybe it was over kill I just-"
"What did I do to deserve you?" I asked softly and she looked up, clearly startled by the question.
"It wasn't that big of a-"
But I'd already kissed her.
I didn't care if we were soaked with ocean water, or who might see us and as she relaxed against me, I pulled her closer, still unable to believe I got to do it. That months ago, when James had said my relationship with Harper could have real consequences in the mythological world, he'd been right.
The significance of it was a little overwhelming. That someone smart enough to out maneuver the gods in their own territory, cared so much about me. Had considered something as trivial as how an interruption in my travel plans might affect my feelings, and then acted on it. Even if it pissed them off to no end.
"I love you." I said resting a hand on her cheek and leaning my forehead against hers and closing my eyes. "Harper, I don't think you understand I-"
"I love you too." She said quietly putting her hand over mine.
I smiled and leaned in to kiss her again when someone said.
"What happened to you?"
I looked over my shoulder to see Annie and Charlie staring at us, Annie smiling a little awkwardly, giving us shell-shocked wave while Charlie gaped.
"Did you two fall overboard or something?" Charlie asked incredulously and both Harper and I looked down at our sopping clothes.
"We had a visitor from Atlantis." Harper said flatly and Charlie seemed to understand.
"Ah." He said glancing out over the horizon, before looking back at us. "What did he want?"
"Information for the most part," Harper said with a sigh.
"And the wet clothes part of it?" Annie asked uncertainly, her hand was in Charlie's but they both seemed preoccupied by our apperance.
"Just his colorful flair."
"I hope you told him to leave you alone." Charlie said frowning. "We're busy."
"Don't worry." I said with a smile. "Harper scared him off."
"Atta girl." He said with a nod of apparent pride. "Let's get going. I heard they're doing a double token special at the arcade in the next hour. You two should change."
He gestured for us to follow him and Annie as they made their way in the direction of our rooms.
"Alright." I said with a shrug, but when I glanced down at Harper, she was biting her lip and she looked worried.
I thought I knew what was on her mind.
"You're thinking about James and Lucy, aren't you?"
"He and Poseidon don't really get along." She said frowning.
"You want to go check on them?"
"They'll probably be fine." She said automatically. "James might be a bit hot headed but he isn't stupid. He won't pick any fights with Lucy around."
"Probably." I said with a shrug. "But that's not what I asked."
She hesitated, looking conflicted.
"Go." I said and she shook her head.
"No," she said clearly forcing her tone to be even. "I'm here with you and your mom and Charlie. They'll be fine I should just stop worr-"
"You should check on them." I said, even more forcefully and she glanced at me guiltily.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." I said certainly and when she still didn't look convinced I continued. "They're your friends Harper. You're allowed to be worried about them."
She seemed to consider this for a second, then come to a decision.
"Just to make sure Poseidon and James don't try to kill each other." She said quickly. "I'll be back by dinner. Before that probably."
"Alright."
I smiled as she kissed me on the cheek then started making her way towards the nearest door, knowing she'd be gone before she reached the other side of it, a little amused to realize she hadn't bothered to change out of her waterlogged clothes.
She opened the door stepped through and with a flash of gold, she was gone.
It was a sight that was starting to become familiar, Harper disappearing into the Interrealm and while I couldn't say it was my favorite thing, at least I knew she'd becoming back.
It wasn't that long ago when I wasn't so sure.
Now that I knew what that feeling was like, how close I'd actually come to losing her, I'd take whatever time she could give me.
I leaned against the deck railings, staring out over the water as the sun slowly but surely started to sink below it.
My mother had said that Harper was like her, and my father had warned me not to make the mistakes he had in the past. I hadn't realized what they'd been trying to tell me back then, but I thought I was starting to now.
Harper wasn't the sort of girl who was going to be contained, not for a boyfriend, not for her brother, not even for the gods. She was going to do whatever she was going to do, and the people who loved her could either be there for it or not, but she wasn't going to stop. Even if it was dangerous, even if, to someone who didn't know what she was thinking, it might seem insane.
But I didn't want her contained.
My father had wanted to keep my mother safe and hidden from the world, not realizing that if he had, he would have destroyed everything he'd grown to love about her. It was why she'd left him.
But my parents weren't Harper and I, and their story, wasn't our's. I wanted to be with Harper for who she was, not a shadow of who she could be. Laughing at every crazy story from the library, amazed by every argument in which she countered the gods, even if it was dangerous, even if it sometimes scared me. I trusted Harper, believed that she knew what she was doing, and I wanted to be there for all of it.
"Are you guys coming?" Charlie's voice asked from behind me, but when I turned around and he realized I was alone, he stopped. "Where's Harper?"
"She had to take care of something." I said waving his question away. "She'll be back in bit."
"She's gone?" he asked incredulously.
"To be fair." Annie said little amused as she looked at Charlie. "She does that a lot."
"Unbelievable." Charlie said shaking his head. "She's not supposed to be working right now, this is supposed to be a fun trip."
He turned still ranting while Annie patted him consolingly on the arm.
They were heading towards the arcade and I thought about going back to my room to change, but most of my clothes were pretty lightweight and almost dry. And the arcade was by the pool, so I figured a damp t shirt wasn't going to cause any real problems.
I followed the pair, catching up with them pretty easily as we passed a machine that dispensed tokens for quarters.
"I know she's my sister, but you really put up with a lot Ash." Charlie continued reaching into his pocket and putting some change into the machine.
All around us were flashing lights and loud crashing noises from the games as well familiar themed music.
We drifted around the arcade for about an hour before Annie dragged us to a game where you could shoot hoops for points.
"You guys ready to win some tickets?" she asked brightly as both Charlie and I grinned.
We each fed a quarter into the machine and grabbed a ball as a pile of them came rolling towards us.
We didn't talk for a minute as the clock counted down, but after it had finished I was pretty sure the machine was going to run out of its ticket reel before it was done calculating our points.
"I can't believe she just bailed." Charlie said with a sigh, looking disappointed as tickets continued to spit out of the machine. "I know she's important and has a lot to do, but even your mom managed to get time off for Christmas."
He frowned a little, different colors of light flashing across his face and a loud siren noise alerted me to the fact I'd set a new record on my machine.
"How do you put up with it?"
He was clearly trying to look casual about the question, but something about his expression had me wondering if I wasn't the only who had trouble adjusting to Harper's crazy schedule sometimes.
"Because," I said shrugging. "It's who she is."
I looked up from ripping my literal of pile of tickets away from the machine, to see Harper stepping into the arcade, her hair still damp but her clothes changed. She looked more like herself in a camp shirt and shorts, but even still, I couldn't help but think she looked insanely gorgeous, her eyes lighting up behind her glasses as she spotted me and smiled.
She waved, then shot me an expression as she made her way towards us, that let me know that in the brief time she'd been gone, she'd gained yet another story to tell me and I grinned, wondering what the hell she and her friends had gotten up to this time. And I knew the words were true as I answered, his question.
I wasn't going to be like my parents. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes as my father, and mess up the best thing that had ever happened to me just because she was a little busy.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I said smiling, and pulled Harper into a hug.
"So." I started, glancing down at her as we grabbed a booth by the pizza counter, while Annie and Charlie, after greeting her, wandered over to a photo booth. "Did they kill each other?"
"No." she said shaking her head, but she sounded preoccupied by and I figured something must have happened. "But I'm glad I went back."
"What's up?"
"It's kind of a long story." she said shaking her head. "All three of the brothers ended up being there and it turned into this whole who's the more powerful god irritating thing. Book cases got smashed, ugh."
She sighed.
"Sorry." she said a little guiltily. "It really isn't all that interesting. I know I'm not supposed to be talking about work."
I laughed.
"Only you could end up in a power struggle between the Big Three, and file that under uninteresting."
I had a feeling Harper's almost constant immersion in the mythological world outside of the few remaining strong holds of her mortal life like school and her brother, was starting to skew her idea of what was normal these days. Even for a demigod.
"It really wasn't. It was annoying."
"What happened?"
"You really don't want to know." she said frowning. "Seriously. It was stupid, we're on vacation it's just-"
"I want to know." I said taking her hand over the table and she looked at me for a moment, a little uncertain, but smiled as I continued. "This is something you care about. That's important to me."
I didn't care if it was exams or a trip to the science museum, or an argument between the gods. Even if it was explaining the latest concept in the endless line of nerdy books she picked up. If it was a part of Harper's life, I wanted to be involved. For as long as she would let me.
"Tell me everything."
...
Hello everyone! Well that's it for this story, thank you for your patience to everyone that kept reading and I hope you enjoyed it! As mentioned above, I have a couple of ideas for more stories but would like to know what potential readers would be more interested in before I start posting one over the other. The first would be an unrelated story with completely new characters in a different story in the PJO universe, but the second would be a continuation in this story line like the Blind series, it would continue to build on where the characters in this one are headed but it would focus on a new main focus, primarily James, and his story. I'm really excited about the concept and have actually written a lot for it so it probably will eventually end up on the site, but if people would like to continue to read my stories, but would like a break from this particular group of characters I can start posting the other one which has about as much written. If you'd like to continue reading about James and his storyline, let me know.
As always a big thank you to everyone who's been reading/favoriting/following/reviewing. It really does keep me writing. I hope everyone enjoyed the end and let me know what you think about the next story direction.
Enjoy your week!
~secrethalfblood