Lpov
I bit my lip a little nervously, waiting by the desk Harper had left me at, trying to ignore the massive statue of Athena staring down at me as I glanced around the library.
Well, being honest, she was staring at a book. But I swore I could see her eyes following me as I walked around, trying not to stray too far from the desk's central location, getting a better look at the place.
It was clear the library was old, some of the books bound with real leather, their titles written by hand in gold ink. But it was far from run down. No, this place was what would be described as 'historic'. Tall shelves made of glossy wood spiraling around the main hall, the floors were polished marble and iron work lighting kept what I was now starting to realize was a deceptively massive building well-lit with a soft, pleasant glow.
Around the statue was a clear, well, for lack of a better word, moat. The shallow channel was cut into the floor, reflecting a brilliant blue sky and fluffy clouds through the most magnificent glass ceiling I'd ever seen.
It stretched up in a dome that even a harpy would have had room to soar around and seemed to protrude right into the sky.
When I'd entered through the doors, I'd thought the library might have been under ground seeing as I'd stepped into what looked like some sort of cavern. But now I was wondering if we were up on a mountain.
I knew that technically, the library wasn't anywhere in the four realms as it had the ability to shift between them. But it looked as if right now, the dome was brushing against the edge of Olympus and I wondered if Zeus knew how close this place was to entering his realm.
'This was how James had done it, wasn't it?' I found myself wondering. 'Break into Olympus…'
The thought come from out of nowhere and wasn't all together welcome. I was starting to regret how I'd handled the situation upstairs, not least because I was pretty sure I'd infuriated Harper by insulting her friend, but because before I'd known who James was, I'd started to think I actually sort of liked him.
He hadn't seemed to mind my talking, which couldn't be said for a lot people, and I found my spirits sinking as I remembered our brief conversation.
Gods it was humiliating. Especially because looking back, I was pretty sure he'd known who I was, and while he'd been perfectly polite, I was sure he wasn't interested in the fifteen year old healer who might have been developing a crush on him when he was confined to the infirmary a few years ago.
'But you're not fifteen now.' The voice reminded me as I paced, still glancing up at the ceiling occasionally, trying to forget my humiliation of flirting, most likely unsuccessfully, with James of all people.
It had been almost four years since I'd seen him. What did that make him? Twenty one like Ashton and the twins? Twenty two?
'Probably old enough not to be interested in me.' I thought then hastily and mentally added. 'Not that that would matter.'
Ashton was my brother. I was pretty sure I was supposed to hate the guy, right?
"Pretty, isn't it?" said a voice and I nearly jumped out of my skin to see a girl about my age with the same accent as James, looking up at the sky, the deep shades of blue reflecting in her eyes. "I always love it when we can see the sky like this. You know she did it for you." she continued smiling at me. "You're Libby, right? Daughter of Mr. Sunshine."
"Yeah." I said a little shocked, but laughing at the description of my father.
"I figured." She said with a nod before glancing up again. "You look like your brother, I'm so jealous of you two with the natural blonde."
She gestured towards her hair, which was a pretty shade of light brown, but by her expression I could she wasn't thrilled about it.
"A lot of people say that." I said awkwardly and she smiled.
"I bet."
"So, do you not normally see the sky like this?" I asked interested and Lucy shook her head.
"No. Sometimes we're underwater, other times underground and you can see bats and souls whirling around." She grimaced a little at this. "During the night time though, if you can see the sky, the stars are something else. I'm Lucy by the way." She said holding out her hand and I realized this had to be who Ashton was talking about, the mortal girl with clear sight.
"Oh, Ashton mentioned you." I said shaking it, a little surprised by the way her eyebrow raised at this.
"What? Did he warn you away from me and my brother?"
"No." I said confused, once again slow to make the connection. "Who-"
But I cut myself off. The answer was obvious.
"You're related to James?"
"Unfortunately." She said with a dramatic sigh, but her put upon expression quickly turned into a grin.
"I didn't realize James had a sister." I said realizing after the fact that James had several siblings in the Hermes cabin. Most of whom I'd met.
"That's because he never tells anyone about me, isn't that right brother?" she asked rising her voice and looking at something over my shoulder.
I turned to see Harper had returned with James who looked startlingly paler than just a few minutes ago, his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat and I was about to ask Lucy what the hell was down in 'containment' when he responded.
"Who exactly do you expect me to talk to Luce? The Hydra?"
She stuck her tongue out at him, seemingly unconcerned by his altered appearance. Whether because she hadn't noticed or knew not to be concerned I wasn't quite sure, but after years of healing shifts in the infirmary, I could sense his pulse was racing from clear across the room.
Not sure if this was normal, or if I should offer to look James over, I glanced at Lucy for some sort of cue, but she was already looking at Harper.
"You got an Iris message from Atlantis while you were down in containment."
"Of course, I did." Harper said with a sigh sounding exhausted. I noticed that she was looking at James a little concerned as he muttered something I couldn't hear and walked off. "What does he want?"
"He wants to negotiate the late fee policy." Lucy responded and I was surprised at how casually they were talking about, who I assumed was, Poseidon.
"Not this again." she said shaking her head.
"He says it's over the top."
"He's had the scroll for over five thousand years!" Harper said indignantly then shook her head. "I can't believe this. No. No, he's not allowed back until he settles this."
She was muttering to herself, gesturing in irritation, walking towards the spiral staircase.
"I'm going to get this worked out."
"Want me to get James?" Lucy asked helpfully but again, Harper shook her head.
"No. He needs sleep. I can handle his lordship salty gills."
Lucy laughed at this and I stared at Harper stunned.
She'd said it without a single trace bravado or fear, as if she didn't care what the literal God of the Sea thought of her, or the fact he could probably wipe her off the face of the earth if he had the inclination.
"You know he's going to be a nightmare if you go without him." Lucy warned but Harper waved her away.
"I'll deal with James later."
She then made her way down the steps leaving me alone with Lucy.
"God I do not want to be around for that fight." She muttered. "He's going to be so upset."
"Why? Because Harper went to Atlantis?"
"Because she went without him." She said giving me a significant look. "James can pass for normal when he wants to, but he's actually a bit of a nervous wreck. Completely paranoid."
She sighed sounding a little weary, but it wasn't enough to keep me from questioning her further.
"Why?" I asked frowning.
From what everything I'd heard, not only was James powerful, but he was almost impossible to kill. For someone who wasn't an immortal at least. I couldn't imagine James of all people had a lot to be worried about.
A shadow crossed over her expression at this, but it quickly cleared.
"It's kind of a lot to explain." She said with a shrug.
I was about to point out I had nothing but time considering Harper, who I'd been waiting for had just sort of left, but decided against it. Lucy didn't know me, and whatever was going on with James was their business. Even if I was extremely curious…
"So how can Harper just like… show up to Atlantis?" I asked curiously glancing around the room. "I mean I know how, she can go pretty much anywhere she wants through the doors, but isn't it underwater?"
"There's rooms in the palace that are designed specifically for visitors who need air to breathe." She said. "That's where Harper sends herself when she wants to talk to Poseidon."
"I didn't know that." I said with interest. "Have you ever been?"
"No." she said with a shrug seeming to be happy to leave her response at that, and I felt the conversation crash to a halt.
I wasn't sure what was weirder, knowing Lucy was a mortal who appeared to be completely fine with being thrust into the mythological world, or the fact that she was just so nonchalant about some of the more incredible parts of it. Not only did she know about the gods, but she was comfortable laughing at them. Something even the most powerful of demigods knew came with serious risk.
"So," I said glancing around again, catching what I thought might be one of the hunters of Artemis walking into a row before I looked back at Lucy. "Is Harper coming back any time soon?"
She was supposed to show me around the library, but after what had just happened, I had the feeling she'd totally forgotten I was here…
"Probably." She said glancing at a phone that was identical to the one I'd seen Ashton using earlier, but it was covered in stickers, the most prominent of which was a large print of the Union Jack that took up most of the back of the device. "We've got a whole bunch of merpeople who are supposed to turn up in few hours." She said after checking the time. "That's probably why she went. To get this settled before they get here."
"Merpeople?" I asked stunned. "What like mermaids?"
"And mermen." She said. "Whoever wants to come as long as they put their names down."
"Right." I said looking around at the tall bookshelves. I imagined anyone with legs would have difficulties reaching the tops let alone a tail designed for underwater movement. "How exactly do they…"
At this she grinned.
"You've got a lot to learn about the library Libby. C'mon. I'll show you around." She gestured for me to follow her. "You'll get to see everything just in time for it all to change."
…
Ashton was right about Lucy. She was pretty cool, extremely friendly and just as chatty as I was. It didn't take her long for her to abandon what she said was her 'typical tour route' before she was darting between shelves showing me her favorite sections and funny books with weird titles like 'Prancing with the Pegasai' and 'The complete collection of Hephaestus's poetry: the copper edition' along with several other volumes devoted to different types of metals.
As we walked, I caught glimpses of the different visitors that were currently in the library. They ranged from inquisitive centaurs and Satyrs trotting down the long aisle ways to shy nymphs looking at us curiously from between books.
I even thought I saw a dracaena prowling the section on bronze age artifacts, but when I did a double take she was gone so I figured I must have imagined it.
"So," We were looking at a display of some of the more delicate artifacts that had been donated to the library. They were several thousands of years old, including what looked like a horseshoe from the original Pegasus. "What's with your guy's organizational system?"
I looked at the shelves around me trying to determine a method of classifying the subject matter and failing.
"It doesn't look like any library I've ever been to."
"That's because it changes." Lucy said brightly and I raised an eyebrow.
"It does?"
"Uh huh." She said still in that happy go lucky tone and I thought about the sheer number of books on this floor alone.
Moving them seemed like a massive undertaking.
"How often-"
"It depends." Said a voice from behind us and I jumped to see that James was walking towards us, his hands in his pockets, looking perfectly at ease.
Some of his color had returned, but he looked a little bleary eyed, as if whatever sleep he'd managed to get over the last few hours hadn't been enough. His hair, the same shade as Lucy's, was tousled and it infuriated me to realize that it was actually kind of adorable.
"Harper creates the library's layout. Lower floors with less information that's likely to be targeted stays in place longer. Floors with higher security get changed more frequently, some after every time they're used."
"What that what she was doing when we found her?" I asked and he nodded looking around.
"This floor doesn't get changed very often, about every three weeks unless we need to make accommodations for guests."
"Accommodations?" I asked and Lucy grinned.
"You'll see in a bit."
She then turned to her brother.
"Speaking of accommodations, aren't you supposed to be sleeping right now?"
"Didn't you promise to tell me whenever Harper went charging through the doors without me?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
The look he was giving his sister was one I'd never seen from James before. He didn't look angry, but oddly stern. It was clear that out of all of his siblings, Lucy was James's favorite, even if she was a mortal. The one he was most protective of and it was obvious by her answering smile, that she was used to taking advantage of it quite frequently.
"Yes." She said innocently. "But why on earth you believed I would actually do it I've no idea."
He rolled his eyes.
"So, where'd she go?" he asked glancing around the library as if he expected her to materialize. "Ashton's? School?"
This time, Lucy did look a little uncomfortable. She didn't have time to answer however.
There was the sound of a heavy door opening and we glanced at each other, before walking back to the main hall of the library to see Harper stepping into, it carrying a massive bag of what looked like tightly woven fishermen's net. It was filled to bursting point with what at first I thought were small beads, until she passed under a lamp and I realized they gleamed softly in the light.
"What's that?" Lucy asked curiously as Harper hefted the bag onto the giant desk I'd been waiting by earlier, and took a moment to catch her breath.
"That." She started, sounding a little winded. "Is a down payment on a multiple thousand years old late fee. In pearls." She added when she spotted our obvious confusion.
This seemed to resonate with James because he threw Lucy a dark look before turning on Harper, apparently furious.
"You went to Atlantis?"
"I collected a late fee." She said with dignity.
"At the bottom of the ocean?" He snapped and she faltered.
"Well… yes."
"Harper."
"James, it was fine," she said in exasperation. "Nothing happened we just negotiated how much money he'd have to give-"
"Did it ever occur to you that Poseidon might have realized he'd have to pay us nothing if he simply refused to let you leave?" James asked her incredulously. "What would have happened then Harper?"
"Well, then no one gets into the library." Harper shrugged. "And his problem isn't solved."
"Harper!" James said throwing up his hands in frustration. "You have to stop thinking you can play logic police with the gods. They don't operate that way."
"Well." Lucy said dubiously, pointing to the bag that Harper had just returned with. "I think there's an argument to be made in this instance that they do."
But James was looking as if he was about to have an aneurysm, and I was starting to see what Lucy meant about him being somewhat of a nervous wreck.
"I think James is right on this one." I said unable to keep my thoughts to myself and everyone looked at me, apparently shocked to hear me voice my opinion. "What?" I asked a little defensively. "The gods aren't exactly known for honoring their agreements with mortals. It's not like they haven't used their power to avoid paying debts before."
"Thank you," James said gesturing towards me and giving Harper an exasperated look. "I've only been saying this for how many years? You have to be more careful."
"You're telling me to be more careful around the gods?" Harper asked incredulously. "You? The guy who kicked Hephaestus down the stairwell?"
"He had a crossbow." James said in a tone that told me this was an argument that had come up more than once.
"He was doing research for a new design."
"Well he didn't bother to tell us that, did he?" James said darkly. "Or think that the weapons policy applied to him. You and Lucy were both on that floor."
"Oh boy." Lucy sighed, perching on the edge of one the smaller desks that guests must have used during their visits.
She watching the pair with a resigned sort of interest. Like she wanted to see how this would end, but didn't want to sit through the argument to reach it's resolution.
"You might as well get comfortable." She continued, gesturing towards one of the chairs at the desk. I couldn't help but think she looked a lot like James, attractive angular features and clever blue eyes that were fixed on the two, half exasperated, half amused as they continued argue. "This is probably going to take a while."
"Does this happen a lot?" I asked curiously and she shook her head.
"No. Usually they're a pretty good team, but god, I think Harper might be the only person I've met that is actually more stubborn than James. And he's pretty bad." She gave me a significant look. "Sometimes wires just get crossed and they have to fight it out."
They continued to go back and forth for a bit until Harper finally said.
"Ugh, we're not getting anywhere. We don't have time for this. Table the issue until tomorrow."
I didn't how I expected James to react to this statement, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened.
"Agreed." He said flatly before turning back to his sister. "Luce, can you put these away?"
He nodded to the massive bag of pearls and she pulled a face.
"Those look heavy." She responded with a frown. She was sitting on the desk completely at this point, feet tucked under her as she squinted at James. "Why can't you do it? Aren't you basically superman now anyways?"
James didn't look amused at this comparison, but Harper laughed.
He seemed to want to avoid conflict however, because he grabbed the bag and started making his way towards what I assumed was either a vault or storage space on one of the other levels.
"Superman?" I asked Lucy raising an eyebrow.
I knew James was powerful, but this comparison seemed to be a bit much.
Lucy however, grinned.
"Watch."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to be an ordinary pen. She then whipped it, with surprising accuracy, towards the back of James's head.
He moved so quickly, I didn't even see him turn and I felt my eyes go a little wide as I realized he caught the pen right out of the air.
"Stop doing that." He said, glowering at his sister who was once again smiling innocently.
It seemed to have worked because his lip twitched a little as if he were almost amused, but then his gaze caught mine, and his expression went wary. As if he'd wished I hadn't witnessed what he'd just done.
"You should move." Was all he said before turning and walking away.
"Move?" I asked confused, watching him for a moment and feeling strangely guilty at his expression, though I wasn't sure why.
I might have been a bit harsh on him earlier, but it wasn't anything he didn't deserve, right?
From everything I'd heard, James had been involved in some pretty terrible things. Put a lot of people, including Harper and himself in danger, and honestly, it looked as if he'd gotten out of it with no punishment whatsoever.
"He's right." Lucy said interrupting my thoughts.
She'd gotten to her feet now and was standing on the table, reaching down a hand clearly to invite me up.
"You should move, unless you brought a change of clothes or want your hair to smell like sea weed."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, but taking her hand anyways and allowing her to pull me up.
"Just watch." She said with a grin.
"You ready?"
I turned to see Harper was also standing on a table, her hand braced against a bookshelf.
"Yeah." Lucy nodded excitedly before beaming at me. "You're going to love this."
"Love wha…" I started, but felt my jaw hit the floor as I saw the bookshelf that Harper had been leaning against, was starting to transform.
From the place her hand had made contact, a pink, rocky coral was spreading, taking over the wood, and the more it expanded, the faster it grew.
As it reached the floor, I watched fascinated as it melted away, replacing the aisle with wide channels of salt water so deep, even a pod of dolphins would have had fun racing up and down from the sandy flooring.
The glass lights that had been strung along the aisle were now softly glowing orbs that, ironically, looked like pearls the size of softballs set into ornate sea shells. Weather real or decorative I wasn't sure.
A blue hue was casting over the room. I glanced up to see that the ceiling, which had just been full of the bright golds and oranges and pinks of a sunset was now shimmering, sinking under what looked to be tons of gallons of sea water. Schools of fish glided over head as rays of sunlight filtered through deep ocean, and the air dropped in temperature by several degrees.
"Holy Hades." I said in amazement glancing at Lucy who, I was sure had seen this many time, was watching, still apparently fascinated by the shift.
"Brace yourself." Harper cautioned and suddenly, there was a pulse as a shock wave went through the library, causing me to stagger into Lucy who steadied me.
With a noise like a damn that had opened its flood gates, water poured in massive columns from the ceiling creating an almost temple like effect around the statue of Athena. I watched fascinated as, as if on their own accord, tendrils of water started winding their way around the now completely transformed rows of books.
I wondered what they were doing for a moment, until I saw a fish dart happily between the records and fiction sections, and realized that they weren't spreading at random. What they were actually doing was creating a sort of high way between the channels and the shelves, so that those who could only move quickly in water, could reach all the materials. Even the ones stacked several feet over what even Ashton would have been able to reach.
A cool breeze pulled at my hair and caught the smell of salt water.
I looked down and saw that I was no longer standing on a table, but a flat rock protruding from the water around me.
"Clear!" Harper shouted removing her hand from what had been the bookshelf and rubbing her temples. "Gods, that gives me a head ache every time…"
"She did all that?" I asked looking, awestruck, at Lucy who nodded.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
I didn't even know what to say. Amazing just didn't seem like a big enough word to cover what had just happened. All the changes that had been made.
James had said being in charge of the library had given Harper some unique abilities. Looking around at it now, I was starting to think that was one hell of an understatement.
He had returned now, walking along one of the many stone ridges that had popped up, obviously for non-water dwellers to use to get around.
He seemed remarkably unfazed by the transformation the main hall had undergone in his absence, but then again, he'd never really seemed like the sort of guy who was really thrown by anything. And that was before he spent all this time in a dimension traveling magical library.
"The pearls were a nice touch." He said glancing at one of the lamps, easily stepping over breaks and divots in the rocks.
"I thought that would amuse you." Harper said grinning, hopping from her perch and landing easily on one of the ridges. "Now let's go, we're running behind. The visitors from Atlantis should be ready to enter any minute."
"Alright, you want to come Luce?" he asked glancing at his sister.
"Sure." She said with a relaxed shrug. "There was this really cute merman that came last time that I was getting some pretty flirty vibes from." She grinned. "He said my eyes reminded him of home."
James snorted at this derisively.
"Don't be daft Lucy." He said rolling his eyes. "Are you really going to fall for such a terrible line?"
"You're just jealous no one's complementing your eyes." She said haughtily but jumped onto the stone next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she landed.
She started to follow Harper who was already making her way towards the doors and for a second, I'd thought they'd forgotten I was here when James turned and raised an eyebrow at me.
"You coming?"
I wasn't sure why, but I felt a stab of resentment surge through me. Now that he was no longer wearing Harper's glasses or looked as if he'd caught a nasty bout of flu, I could see the younger version of himself in the expression he was giving me. Cool and confident if not just a little bit arrogant and I hated it. It made me feel like stupid little teenager who was just the tiniest bit more excited for a shift in the infirmary when I knew he was there. Even if I'd never admit it to anyone.
"I'm surprised you remembered I was here." I said sarcastically, calling up my anger at being misled earlier, to cover what I was now realizing to be embarrassment.
How hadn't I recognized him? He was a littler taller now, his attitude far more serious, and, no longer a teenager, a bit broader in the shoulders, but he didn't look that different. Gods, looking back it had been so obvious. Why had I tried to flirt with him? What could have possibly made me think that would have been a good idea? He'd probably thought it was funny, thinking I was some sort of joke or something. I'd always been so bad at it…
"We don't really lose track of visitors here." He said his voice maddeningly calm, completely ignoring the hostility in my tone. It was as if he hadn't noticed it.
'Gods why couldn't he be being more of an ass right now?' I thought furiously.
It would have make staying angry easier…
"Harper knows pretty much everything that's goes on around the library." He continued, glancing at the place she and his sister had now disappeared, no doubt to greet the visitors who were about to travel from Atlantis through the library doors. "I'd be impressed if you managed to fall off her radar."
I tried to read his expression as he said this, but gained about as much as I had from his tone.
There had been a time where he'd had his sights on running this place I knew that, had even tried to beat Harper to that goal, but there was no jealousy or malice to his tone. It was simply direct. A fact. Harper had beaten him to controlling the library and it was something he'd accepted. Might have even respected her for.
I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at him, trying to work this all out until he broke the silence between us.
"Do you need help?"
"What?" I asked completely confused by this question.
"You haven't moved." He said gesturing towards the out cropping of rock on which I was still standing. "Do you need help?"
"I'm fine." I said stiffly.
I could tell by the way he'd shifted his weight that he was about to offer his hand to help me across and again I felt the humiliation ignite within me.
At this point, I was almost certain that James's irritating lack of emotion was because he didn't think the annoying little healer from camp that always talked his ear off was worth spending the energy to get heated over. For some reason, it made me want to scream.
I didn't though.
Instead, I made an irritated noise and jumped off the out cropping towards the rocky pathway, determined not to have anymore interaction with James that I had to, only to miss the landing.
My foot slipped as it landed a slick patch of rock and a jolt of shock went through me as I realized I was headed down.
I hastily tried to regain my balance, but it was too late. My stomach lurched as I toppled backwards and just as the surface of the water came rushing towards me, I felt a hand catch my own and steady me, allowing me to regain my footing.
Almost immediately, I felt my cheeks burn bright red.
I closed my eyes then, after a deep breath pulled my hand out of James's and turned to face him.
"Thank you." I muttered, unwilling to meet his gaze.
"You seem to be having quite the day today." He said and I was surprised to hear that his tone sounded as if he was grinning.
"I'm guessing you can't really relate." I said running my hand through my hair and glancing up at him uncertainly. "Pen repelling reflexes and all."
A part of me expected him to laugh at this, or respond arrogantly and four years ago, at camp, he might have.
But not this time.
"I'm pretty sure I've had far worse days than you ever will Lib." He said diverting his gaze from mine, and, putting his hands in his pockets, he continued to make his way after his sister and his friend towards the library doors, leaving me feeling, if it was even possible, even more confused about the sort of person James had been, and who he'd become.