Jpov
My heart slammed against my chest as my blistered feet stumbled over sharp rocks and fractured ground. Bitter wind kicked ash into the air as I gasped, coating my lungs. Each ragged breath was painful, toxic gases searing me from the inside but I kept running, the howls and shrieks of monsters echoing around as they gained on me from all sides. They laughed as they snatched at me and I ducked not even bothering to fight, ignoring several injuries as I searched desperately.
'Where was Lucy?' I thought sliding under a ledge, feeling my skin split on my shin and narrowly missing the claws of the furies. 'Where had they taken her?
I stumbled over a rock, staggering in exhaustion only to stop just short of a jet of flames erupting a crack in the stone.
Poison fumes choked me as I gagged on the smoke, unable to breathe. My surroundings blurred as the creatures around me closed in, eyes glittering evilly in the dim light. I gasped for air only to find there was none. The world tilted as my lungs burned.
Darkness was closing in on my vision as I felt something grip me, no doubt to bring my lifeless body to the king of terrors himself… Thrashing violently, I tried to shake it off but already I could feel my body staring to slow. I couldn't breathe. My vision was fading.
Where was she?
Just as I'd accepted my fate, reality crashed into me, or maybe I to it, as I broke the surface of the water and was dragged to a stone bank, coughing and spluttering up what felt like half the reflecting pool as I collapsed onto the rock, shivering and retching.
"I think we should stop doing this." Harper's voice said and after several deep breaths, I looked up to see her soaked, water streaming from her hair and clothes, looking at me in concern as she shivered.
The water hadn't affected her because of course it hadn't. It never really had, at least not like it did for other people. It was clear she'd had to pull me out again, like she had to every time we did this. Four years later and nothing had changed…
"No." I said stubbornly, shaking my head feeling water droplets launch away from me as Harper groaned and laid back against the stone. "No. I can do this I just need to-"
The door to the room opened, and I saw the silhouette of a tall figure back lit against corridor. Immediately I got to my feet ready to kick whoever it was out of this section of the library when I caught a flash of gold and hesitated.
"Bambi, you in here?" asked a familiar voice as Ashton, Harper's boyfriend stepped into view, then stopped, apparently shocked at the scene before him.
'Gods…' I thought irritated, unable to believe he still called her that idiotic nickname.
He'd managed to get even taller than when we were teenagers somehow, not by much, but enough that Harper looked even more ridiculous when standing next to him. He looked stronger too, no doubt due to multiple years of college sports. Massive as hell, blonde, with friendly, attractive features, he looked pretty much exactly like you'd expect a son of Apollo to. The tried and true mold of a demigod. Not that anyone's size particularly bothered me...
Athlete or not, everyone present knew I could kick Ashton into the Underworld if he annoyed me too much. But then I'd have to deal with Harper telling me off about breaking several of her boyfriend's bones… again.
"What happened to you guys?" He asked raising an eyebrow, but while he'd asked the room in general, we all knew he wasn't talking to me.
Ashton was too polite to ignore anyone, but he never really spoke to me if he could help it.
I didn't blame him. I didn't completely dislike the guy, and he seemed to make Harper happy enough which was all I really cared about, but something about him had always annoyed me. Maybe it was because he was the sort of person everything came easily to. Sports, friends, music, popularity. Even the Aphrodite girls had loved him at camp, despite the fact it was clear he was never going to get over the sister of his best friend. And the one thing he had struggled with, school, managed to get sorted by his athletic talent and insanely clever best friends.
He was the sort of guy who had everything, and what made it worse was you couldn't even hate him for it. He was too nice.
Growing up I hadn't had much of anything. It wasn't until I'd had my skin saved by Harper that I realized what a difference that sort of support made in someone's life. Having a real friend.
Maybe a part of me had always envied him because of it. All the things he had going for him, things that someone like me would have done almost anything for in my previous life. It was hard to resent him too much however, or take him that seriously when, like always, he smiled as his eyes landed on Harper. It was as if he thought she was the most adorable thing in the world. His tiny, distractible, nerdy girlfriend. Not the extremely stressed out protector of one of the most volatile collections of knowledge in the history of the world…
"James is facing his demons." Harper said as he reached down to help her up automatically.
"Have you tried therapy?" he asked glancing almost unwillingly in my direction, and I grinned in the way I knew would irritate him. Just for fun.
"I'm pretty sure if I told a therapist even ten percent of my life I'd be locked in a mental institute."
"Like you'd let them do that to you." he said dryly before turning to Harper. "And if they did, you'd break him out."
"We've got deadlines." She said dismissively, but her hand was still in his from when he'd helped her up, and I noticed she seemed to be edging closer to him without conscious effort.
I knew why. Already always cold, Harper must have been freezing after pulling me from the water and being a child of Apollo, Ashton radiated warmth to an absurd degree. She was like a cat when he was around, always inching closer to him without even realizing it, or if she did, trying to play it off. Like it was just some sort of coincidence she ended up next to her boyfriend.
But she didn't fool me and Lucy, or her brother probably.
It was moments like these told those who really knew Harper just how much she liked him. He was the one person in any of the dominions to get her to think of something other than the library. Who seemed to have any sort of consistent ability to get her out of her own head.
To others, this might not seem like such an accomplishment, but having spent most of my time with her over the last several years… I had to admit it was significant.
'That and she didn't smile like that for anyone.' I thought a little ruefully as she beamed up at him. 'Only him.'
"Not tonight you don't." he said sounding amused and tugging at a strand of her hair that was starting to wave slightly as it dried. "Get changed. I've got a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" she said with interest. "What kind of surprise?"
"Well if I told you that, it would sort of defeat the purpose wouldn't it?" he asked grinning.
Not for the first time I was starting to feel like a third wheel around the couple, a very forgotten about third wheel, and while Harper seemed genuinely curious about what Ashton had planned, it wasn't terribly difficult for me to deduce what it probably was.
Despite some obvious issues with anxiety when we were teens, especially when it came to his mother and his friends, Ashton in general was remarkably laid back. He'd overcome a lot of insecurities of the past few years, that much was obvious, but it was apparent to me that right now he was nervous and he was dressed far nicer than he normally was. Sports shirts and hoodies branded with his school's logo had been replaced with a blazer, dress shirt, and a nicer pair of shoes that looked as if it hadn't been anywhere near the basketball court. A rarity for him.
It was clear Harper hadn't noticed, but when he put his hands in his pockets, his left one was gripped around something.
My guess was a ring box.
I leaned against the wall of the room, not entirely certain how I felt about the situation.
It wasn't as if we all hadn't seen it coming, or knew what she would say. And it wasn't as if it particularly bothered me... I was happy for Harper.
Still…
It was a bit awkward seeing Harper going to college, growing in her relationships and in some ways, leaving Lucy and I behind. Even if it was just the natural order of things.
I knew that unlike me, Harper had a life outside of the library, even if she was here so much it might not always seem like it. But over the last few years we'd created our own little family here Harper, Lucy and I. A trio outcast by the Olympians, staying far enough to escape their suffocating laws and ideas of justice. We spent so much time together, away from the mortal and mythological worlds… it was hard to see her moving on with her life when Lucy and I so obviously weren't.
It wasn't as if she'd ever abandon us, I knew that, but it was still weird. Even if I knew it made her happy.
"I guess I better get ready then." She said brightly before giving me a final smile and making her way towards the door.
Ashton and I watched as Harper walked out before simultaneously seeming to realize that with her gone, we didn't really have much to say to each other.
"You ok?" he asked hesitantly, and only then did I realize my heart rate was still up from the visions in the pool. A trained medic like his sister, it was obvious Ashton hadn't missed this.
I figured he'd asked more out of habit then genuine concern. Due to his training and his high-profile surgeon mother, he probably didn't have it in him to ignore someone in medical destress, and knowing this made it hard to appreciate the question.
"Fine." I said shaking my head and straightening up. "No need to stand on ceremony Wells. I'm sure you can find your way out."
He made a noise that seemed half way between irritation and exasperation.
"Alright." He muttered turning, clearly put out by my manners, or maybe the apparent lack of them, and making his way out after Harper.
Figuring I was going to have to put up with him even more after the evening, I decided to do some damage control.
"Good luck." I said reluctantly turning back to the water and sitting beside it, watching as vague nightmares roiled in and out of focus under it's eerily smooth surface. "Not that you'll need it, she's going to say yes. But," I shrugged. "You know."
I could tell he was surprised by this as he'd stopped walking. There was a slight scraping noise from one of his shoes I knew most people wouldn't have been able to hear, suggesting he'd turned to look at me.
I didn't bother to confirm. What did it matter?
"Thanks." He said sounding surprised and oddly… grateful. He hesitated for a moment, clearly conflicted before asking, seemingly in spite of himself. "You really think so?"
He sounded nervous and this time, I did look at him.
"Don't be an idiot Ashton."
It was clear he was shocked at this response, but he didn't look all that offended. He gave me one last uncertain glance before following Harper out of the room and I turned back to the water.
I wasn't sure how long I sat there, watching the disturbing images flash in and out of existence, one terrifying memory after the next but eventually I stood and walked to the stairs, making my way back to the main floor of the library.
It didn't surprise me to see Lucy sitting at Harper's desk managing what looked like a stack of titles on the hold list. What did catch me off guard however, was seeing Libby sitting at one of the tables nearest her, going through a pile of scrolls she seemed to have grabbed off the shelves.
Both girls looked up at the sound of my footsteps, Lucy laughed while Libby looked a little alarmed.
It was only then that I remembered my clothes were still wet.
"Did you guys have another visit from the Atlantians or…?" she started clearly unsure how to react to my appearance.
Lucy simply smirked.
"I take it your little experiment didn't go so well?"
"No." I sighed, before looking at Libby. "What are you doing here?"
She wasn't scheduled to be here as far as I could tell, and I didn't like not knowing who was building.
She flushed.
"I came with Ashton." She said averting her gaze and I felt a pang of regret when I realized she thought I was upset with her.
I ignored it though.
"We left from camp. He said he was visiting Harper so I thought… well if he was already headed this way…"
"Where is she anyways?" Lucy asked, clearly not picking up on Libby's embarrassment.
"Probably getting engaged." I said and a look of startled interest crossed Libby's features.
"How did you-" but Lucy, who was nodding sagely, cut her off.
"That explains the suit." She said with sudden understanding. "And why Ashton was acting so twitchy."
She grinned.
"Think she noticed?"
"No."
Ashton might not have been subtle, but even he was no match for Harper's ability to be oblivious, especially about other people. It was no wonder they were together.
"Figures." Lucy said amused going back to her work leaving Libby and I in silence that might have been even more awkward than when I'd been left with her brother.
"What are you looking at?" I asked extremely aware of how stupid I must appear, drenched from head toe in murky, magical water that had been stagnating for thousands of years.
"Currently?" she asked sounding a little nervous. "I'm looking to see if anyone has isolated and broken down the different components of pit scorpion venom."
I looked at her for a good ten seconds a little dumbfounded before I was able to shake off the shock.
"Is there a particular reason you want to do this?" I asked frowning and crossing my arms over my chest, unable to fathom a reason as to why Libby wanted to look into subject. "Or is this your idea of a passion project?"
"Because." She said flushing again as I approached her table and averting her gaze. "Apart from divine food and drink, we don't really have an antidote and we can't rely on those if one of the pegasai gets stung. It's extremely toxic stuff, and I don't think anyone's bothered to make an anti-venom. But I wanted to look through here to double check."
"Find anything?" I asked with interest, taking the seat across from hers and opening one of the discarded scrolls.
"That one's not in English." She said disappointed.
"I know." I said easily, continuing to scan the familiar lettering and she looked perplexed.
"You can speak Latin?"
"I can read it." I said and when she looked impressed, I felt compelled to explain. "I can read in many languages, I can't speak them though. It's not hard to pick it up when that's basically all you do. Reading with Harper's glasses help. You start to learn the gist of what common words and phrases mean."
"Oh." She said softly and returned to a scroll written in greek.
She was blushing again, and I really didn't understand why and I looked at her for just a second longer than I normally would have before returning to the text.
"It appears as if the Romans might have been on to something." I said pointing to what looked like a list of ingredients next to what, I could only assume, was supposed to be a crudely drawn sketch of the creature. "Unfortunately, I happen to know we don't have the full collection of these scrolls." I continued dropping the one I was holding back on the table.
"You don't?" she asked sounding surprised and also somewhat disappointed.
"No. My guess if they had a worked out an antidote, it would be in one of the missing volumes."
"Any idea where they might be?" she asked curiously. "You said you and Harper go looking for that sort of thing, right?"
"No." I repeated. "Though it wouldn't surprise me if it had ended up in the libraries at New Rome."
"New…?" she started in confusion, then looked as if she'd been smacked in the face with some sort of realization. "The Roman demigods?"
"Forgot about them did you?"
"No." she said her tone defensive, but it was clear from her expression that she rarely spent any time thinking about the Roman demigods, if ever. "It's just, I haven't had a lot of experience with them, you know?"
I nodded, but didn't see the need to say anything further.
While supposedly Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood were at peace at the moment, and the campers were allowed to visit each other, the citizens of New Rome weren't so different from those of the original, and the two cultures of the camps often clashed. There wasn't a lot of cross over these days. Not unless you were important.
"Do you think they'd let us look through their records?" she asked eagerly. "What time is it there? Do you think Harper could-"
"Slow down Libby." I said grinning a little at her enthusiasm.
Gods, she really hadn't changed at all…
"Harper isn't sending anyone to New Rome, let alone asking to go through their archives."
"Why not?" she asked sounding crestfallen. "Isn't this the whole point of this place? To collect everything about the mythological world people have learned?"
"It's not that simple." I said shaking my head. "First off, it's not that easy to get to. This place, anyone's welcome as long as they want to learn but it was built by the Athenians. Not the Romans. Camp Jupiter is protected from outsiders," I continued as her expression turned skeptical. "It's not like other places where Harper can always just drop someone inside or easily pull them back out. And even if she managed it, you're assuming they want to share anything. Or that they even know this place exists."
At this, Libby looked stunned.
"They don't know about the library?" she asked indignantly. "Harper hasn't told them?"
"No."
"Why not?" she asked and she almost sounded angry. "They're just as much demigods as you or I. This place, there's so much here that could benefit them, and I'm sure they know things that could benefit us. Why-"
"We've got enough issues dealing with our parents in their Greek forms." I interrupted. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to start dealing with the issues of their Roman counter parts too. Besides."
I shot her a look.
"According to the Romans, Harper's mother isn't supposed to have any kids. They're inherently uncomfortable with the children of Athena as it is. Can you imagine how upset they'd be if one turned up in the middle of their senate building, with crazy powers, another Greek demigod on steroids as a body guard with the ability to retreat a place to a place they can't reach her. They might think the Greek demigods had been hiding this from them for centuries. Or worse, consider it an ambush." I raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think they'd believe we didn't know about it? That we hadn't considered its capabilities in military strategy?"
"Well, not after this many years." She pointed out. "And you kind of did hide it from them."
"Nevertheless." I continued. "Telling the Romans about the library might not be that great of an idea. Best case scenario, they're annoyed the Greeks found something so powerful, even if Harper doesn't take sides. Worst, and the more likely scenario, it could spark another war."
"You really think they'd be that pissed?" she asked hesitantly.
"Bellum Romanum." I said smirking a little and she huffed. "There's a reason why it's a saying. It isn't as if the Romans aren't known for being a little high strung."
"I think you're underestimating them." Libby said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. "We're supposed to be allies right? Who's to say showing them the library wouldn't be seen as an act of good faith?"
"Harper doesn't work for Camp Libby." I reminder her. "Neither do I. And no matter what they might want to think, we don't work for the gods either. It's unrelated."
"You're demigods." She countered gesturing towards the room at large. "We're all demigods. That seems pretty related to me."
"Actually, we're not." I said looking over at my sister who was typing something on the computer apparently engrossed in her task.
She must have noticed me staring however, because she looked up and shot me a smile.
I smiled back, but felt a strange pang of sadness go through me at the same time.
"You know what I mean." Libby said in exasperation, but I shook my head.
"I don't think you get what I mean." I said quietly. "We're not an extension of Olympus here Libby. You need to understand that. This isn't like camp. We deal with the gods because we have to, and it's better than what would happen if we didn't. But we don't pick sides ok? Not Greek, Not roman, not divine. It's better that way."
"I guess." She said, but she sounded unconvinced and I noticed that again, she didn't want to seem to meet my gaze.
A part of me wanted to pursue the subject, make her understand, but after everything with the reflecting pool I just didn't have the energy.
'Besides.' I thought, a wave of resignation and exhaustion washing over me. 'Who's to say she even would understand?'
Despite spending more time here than the average person, Libby was still a normal demigod, a member of Camp Half Blood. In good standing with Olympus. She might not ever understand why Harper and I didn't necessarily feel the same.
'It doesn't matter.' I thought shaking my head and grabbing another scroll, attempting to read it but not making much progress.
Harper was right. Libby wouldn't be here for that long, and eventually things would return to normal.
Well... not entirely normal.
Eventually Harper would graduate and if Ashton's behavior earlier was anything to go by, get married, probably have kids while Lucy and I… Well we'd just be here. It was weird to think about after being together so much all this time.
I tried to ignore the sinking feeling that accompanied these thoughts, push them back like I'd always managed to, it felt harder than before.
There was a moment where neither I nor Libby seemed to know what to say.
Normally silence between people didn't bother me, and if it was 'uncomfortable' it was almost certainly not on my end. But I felt unsettled at the moment. I'd been feeling it a lot recently, and I didn't know what to do about it. I got the impression it wasn't helped by the fact that Libby was here.
"What does this say?" she asked eventually, frowning at a note that had been scribbled on the scroll she'd been studying. "Can you read it?"
I leaned forward, looking at the text she'd indicated. It wasn't Latin but Spanish, and while I was more familiar with the former, I'd picked up enough of the latter language to get the gist of what it was saying.
"It looks old judging by the quality of the ink, but it seems as if whoever wrote this was having a griffin problem. They were hoping pit scorpion venom might act as a repellant to keep them away from their farm."
"Spanish?" Libby said sounding confused. "I thought griffins were hunted to the point of extinction in Spain forever ago. In practically all of Europe for that matter."
"Yeah, well, not in the Andes." I pointed out. "Lots of people speak Spanish." I added when she looked confused. "Who says that this person was from Spain?"
"Griffins don't live in the Andes." She said frowning.
"Sure they do." I said with a shrug. "In my experience, the griffins down in South America are a real pest."
"The ones in Canada too." Lucy called from across the room, apparently having caught the tail end of our conversation. "Up in the Rockies."
"Yeah those ones are aggressive." I agreed, wincing at the memory of one of my more painful encounters as a kid with sharp beaks and talons.
"What?" Libby said sounding almost indignant, then shook her head. "Hold on."
She got to her feet, and I watched as she grabbed a few books off the shelves seemingly at random until I noticed they were titles she'd been looking at before.
She opened the biggest of the volumes to what appeared to be a world map. Several places were shaded and highlighted suggesting some sort indication of habitable zones.
"I've been keeping tabs on the declining numbers in griffin populations for years. I've been researching their nesting locations ever since I've been here. None of these books have said anything about griffins roosting in the Americas."
"Well this book does appear to be a few centuries out of date." I said looking at the map with a frown. "Maybe back then there weren't."
She didn't seem to have a response for this, but was looking at the book intently.
"Don't forget the ones in Australia!" Lucy called helpfully and it seemed to snap Libby out of her reverie.
"Stay here."
She walked off for a moment in which I glanced at Lucy who shrugged.
When she returned, Libby was holding a massive roll of paper.
She cleared a space on the desk between us then unrolled the page, weighing the corners down with the books she'd just pulled from the shelves.
In front of me was a large, and from what I could tell, accurate world map. At least for the modern day.
She was frowning at it, as if thinking for a moment. Then, after apparently steeling herself about something, she looked back at me.
"You and Lucy have been all over the world, right?"
The expression she was giving me was one I recognized, but rarely ever saw from her. It unusually focused. Determined even. It was the sort of look she got when someone had gotten really hurt back at camp and she'd been the medic on call. When all of the sunshine and small talk was locked away, superseded by something she knew was more important.
It reminded me a little of Harper in a bizarre sort of way, and it made me a little uneasy.
"Yes." I answered eventually when she continued to stare at me for a response.
"And you've seen griffins everywhere? Not just single adults. Actual nesting grounds?"
"Well we weren't exactly looking for them." I pointed out. "And not everywhere."
"But more than it says here?" she asked gesturing towards map in the textbook she'd opened to.
I glanced at the pages, then thought for a moment trying to sort through all the years Lucy and I had been crawling over mountain chains on the planet, and spelunking with Harper looking for old manuscripts and ancient spell books.
Eventually I nodded and again, I found the look Libby was giving me was strange expression.
It was as if she wasn't quite sure what to make of me, but also, as if that gesture, a simple nod, had unlocked a world of possibility. And she wasn't sure if I'd be helpful with that world, or just in the way.
"Show me." She said eventually, then gestured towards the map.