Lpov

"Good shot." I said with approval, grinning at Martin, the latest child of Dionysus claimed at camp.

Though he couldn't have been older than eleven or twelve, he was tall for his age with wild black hair that went in every direction with its curls. He smiled, at the encouragement, his dark eyes lighting up.

Usually, I would have been at the clinic on a Friday, but since James had apparently sweet talked me into a couple of days off and I hadn't been scheduled to be at the library, I'd decided to take the unexpected free time to resume my studying of the pegasi at camp, agreeing to help Ashton run his introductory Archery lessons in the arena.

It was going well, they all had at least hit something, but of the gaggle of newly discovered demigods trying to sort out how to properly hold a bow, Martin alone seemed to have any real promise.

"Thanks Libby." He said looking a little embarrassed, and while his expression was determinedly neutral, he'd flushed a little and I could tell he was pleased.

It hadn't been a bullseye, but his shot had hit the inner ring, and it seemed to be intentional.

He glanced over to Ashton, who was helping a tiny girl with red pigtails pull back the bow string, her expression pinched with concentration as she struggled with the effort.

When she let go, she did hit the target and was also blushing, though I had a feeling that was mostly because she, like half the girls at camp it seemed, thought Ashton was cute.

I grinned.

It was crazy to think that at one point, Harper had been one of them. Still was, I guess.

The group continued to practice and I walked along the row of archers, encouraging and occasionally correcting form when I spotted any mistakes.

Eventually, Ashton called the activity to a close releasing the campers to their next activity and setting up for the next lesson, an advanced course.

I shot him a wave, which he returned, then made my way towards my cabin, looking to grab my school bag and head to the stables when I was surprised to hear my name called.

"Hey! Libby!"

I turned to see Martin was jogging after me, his expression a little uncertain at first, but shifting to one of determination when he saw me pause.

"What's up?" I asked as he slowed to a stop and hesitated, clearly trying to sort out what he wanted to say.

Eventually, it came out.

"You're friends with that guy James, right?" he asked surprising me with the question, and he must have realized it because he quickly continued. "Ashton's fiancée's friend, or whatever? The mega librarian."

This description caught me so off guard I couldn't help but laugh, picturing Harper's expression if she'd heard it.

"Yeah." I said unable to fight a grin. "I know James."

He seemed pleased that he'd made me laugh, but his smile faded a little as he asked.

"Why does everyone hate him?"

My stomach dropped and I could feel my expression fall right along with it. A nagging sense of unease swelled over me as he quickly continued, clearly sensing my shift in mood.

"It's just… no one will tell me." He said frowning. "Everyone is so weird about it, but you seem really nice, and Ashton is super cool. No one can believe you talk to him, and everyone is super weird about her too. It's like they don't want to talk about it." He shrugged. "I just thought," another shrug. "Maybe you would."

"Does it matter?" I asked frowning, not wanting to get into a discussion about James and his life while he wasn't here, as well as feeling a surge of resentment go through me that I wasn't sure what to do about.

It was fierce and protective, like I was ready to lash out against anyone who wanted to use what had happened to James to judge him or Harper, and it wasn't like me. But Martin wasn't seeming to want to judge anyone. In fact if anything, it was the opposite. Like he was trying to find what he thought was a reliable source.

"I dunno." He said his brow furrowing, seeming to really think about the question. "Everyone talks about them kind of like they talk about the gods. Like if they say the wrong thing, or get caught saying it, something bad will happen but you seem pretty normal."

He hesitated.

"You work with them, right?"

"Sort of."

"So then, what's the deal?"

From his expression, it didn't look as if his inquiry was because of anything malicious. Martin hadn't been here for enough time for any longstanding camp prejudices to really set in. It was likely he was simply curious and I didn't know what to do.

What was I supposed to tell people if they asked about James? That we were friends? We were. Are, I guess. But being his friend, I didn't know if I should talk about him or what had happened. I didn't know if he'd mind people knowing, or if he'd even care. He'd said talking about his past didn't bother him, but Martin was right. He and Harper were so secretive. Whether that was intentional or because people were too afraid to ask about James was another question. Maybe it was a bit of both. And if that was the case, what should I say?

I could finally appreciate the position Harper had been in when I'd asked her about James and his history.

She hadn't told me anything, and maybe I should have followed her example, but under the gnawing, anxious feeling chewing away at my stomach at the moment, I also felt a bloom of something that almost felt like… hope.

I didn't have to tell Martin everything, right? I didn't have to go into details, or bring Lucy or Harper into it. He was only asking about James, and James didn't really seem to care what most people thought...

But over the past few weeks, I was starting to realize that I did. Not about me, but about James. The more I got to know James, the more I realized I did care what people thought of him. How unfair all of this was.

No, James wasn't perfect. He and Harper were right. I couldn't pretend James hadn't done the things that he had done, but it wasn't as simple as either James and the camp liked to make it seem. None of this was straight forward. And maybe, if Martin understood that, it would be one less camper who'd go forward hating him. Who might even, one day, defend him. Maybe if I gave him some of the truth, it would start to unpack this super screwed up situation he and the rest of the mythological world had gotten involved in. Maybe things would change…

"Look." I said with a sigh. "What happened to James is," I hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Complicated. Demigods lives usually aren't easy and he got dealt a pretty terrible hand pretty early on in life, even for us. I'm sure you've heard rumors about him and what he's done, and I don't know. Some of them might be true. In fact, I know some of them are. He's not a monster though, no matter what everyone here says about him. It's just... not my story to tell."

Martin looked disappointed, and again I was struck with the thought that not that long ago, I'd been in his position. Asking about James, from someone I thought knew him better than any other source I was likely to find, and I remembered the answer I was given.

"You could ask him." I pointed out.

James wasn't usually at camp, but he'd been around more often this summer, mainly, I realized feeling my heart skip a beat, because of me.

Martin's eyes went wide.

"What are you nuts?" he asked. "That dude is terrifying. I heard he once put Hera in a sleeper hold."

I thought about James who obsessed over things like the security system and panicked at the thought of Harper talking to the gods without him. The guy who teased me about sugary drinks, but made coffee for me and his best friend when it was late, as if it was just part of his routine. Who laughed surprisingly easily when you got to know him and bought his sister presents when he went somewhere new. Just because he know it would brighten her day.

"He's not scary." I said in exasperation.

"Yeah, well of course you think that." He said something obvious in his tone. "He likes you."

There was an interest in his expression at this, as well as an implication in his tone that I thought was best to try and ignore along with the flutter in my chest.

"One of my sisters was talking about that the other day, when you two were here in the infirmary. She said when he was talking to you, it was the only time she'd ever seen him smile."

"I'm a cheerful person." I said with a shrug, avoiding the clear invitation to elaborate on the subject of my relationship with James. "It rubs off on people."

"Uh huh." He said, but it was skeptical and his gaze narrowed, unusually perceptive for a kid his age.

"James is misunderstood." I said to keep the conversation moving, trying to shift the direction it was headed. "His life was pretty messed up and he doesn't trust people enough to bother explaining any of it."

"That doesn't make any sense." He said frowning.

"That's what what happened to him does to you." I said shrugging, feeling a bit hopeless. "Everyone looks like the enemy, so you don't tell anyone anything. But he doesn't want to hurt anyone." I assured him. "I think he just wants to be left alone."

I looked out over the camp realizing the words as I said them were true. It was why James didn't care what people thought about him, or said. Why it didn't bother him to irritate the gods, but didn't really go out of his way to antagonize them either. Or try to fix his relationship with them.

He wanted nothing to do with it, the gods, the camp, even fellow halfbloods, and the thought broke my heart a little.

How lonely must that feel? And how tired must you be if you wanted to completely shut out the world? To reject an entire part of your identity, half of your own DNA because of how badly it had affected you. How terribly you were treated. And in the end, James hadn't even wanted revenge. All he'd wanted, it seemed, was for it to stop. To be able to move on.

"He must really like you then." Martin said snapping me out of my thoughts and I looked at him.

"What?"

"To come back here and stay all that time." He said gesturing vaguely around at the camp. "If what he wants is to be left alone. People were talking about him a lot. They didn't seem happy he was here."

I felt a stab of guilt go through me at this.

"Uh yeah," I said glancing down. "I guess."

"Sorry, that came out wrong." he said quickly, sounding upset. "I just mean, it didn't seem like something someone so terrible would do. Waiting like that. Making sure you were ok. It's why I wanted to talk to you."

I looked back at him and he shrugged.

"It just seemed out of character from the way that everyone talked about him." He continued. "So I thought I'd ask. It sounds like he's not all that bad of a guy, at least, not these days."

"He's not." I agreed automatically, thinking about the way, even after a fight, he'd gone to check on his best friend and make sure she was taking care of herself. His endless patience with Lucy and her antics, how he always reassured me whenever I was feeling anxious or upset, even when I was being ridiculous, and had gone out of his way to make sure Harper did as well. "He's actually pretty great once you get to know him."

One of his eyebrows darted up.

"I'll take your word for it." he said, something about his grin causing my cheeks to go a little warm, but before I could even begin to salvage the situation, someone snapped.

"You want to tell me why Harper denied my request to visit the library next week?"

I looked in the direction of the voice to see a towering Ares brother I thought was named Elijah glowering at me as he stormed in my direction. His dark auburn hair was buzzed brutally short and his brown eyes were so dark, they were almost black. He looked like an angry, roided up shark headed in my direction.

"What?" I asked confused.

"I'll see you later Libby." Martin muttered looking wary and jogging off to his next activity, clearly not wanting to stand in the path of a pissed off camper from cabin 5.

"Don't play dumb." He said grinding his teeth and scowling. "You work with them, don't you? She denied my application to come in next week again. This is the fourth time. What. Gives?" he asked emphasizing the last two words and I frowned.

"Honestly, I have no idea." I said.

I didn't even know campers could apply to visit the library. It was why I'd thought I'd had to go through Ashton to ask. I didn't think I'd ever seen one there, but if Elijah was any example, it wasn't for lack of trying on their part.

"Then what use are you?" he asked irritated. "Because she doesn't seem to have any problem letting visitors in if it's you."

"I work there." I pointed out.

"Yeah." He said with a snort. "Right."

A flash of annoyance went through me at this, but I bit back an angry retort and said.

"I'll ask Harper about it."

"You'd better." He sneered and glanced behind me, where Ashton was still setting up for next activity. "We can't all have brothers who gets her to play favorites by putting a pretty ring on her finger."

I was too stunned by the comment to be able to respond.

He shot me one last venomous look of contempt before walking away, and I stared after him, appalled.

"Favorites?" I asked annoyed.

As if being in the library hadn't caused me to shoot one god, infuriate another, and almost get my head knocked off by Hephaestus's stupid bookmark, not to mention all the hours of checking and re-shelving returns, scheduling visitor requests, getting creatures like harpies unstuck from light fixtures and whatever other crazy thing that seemed routine at the library. All around my own research.

Incensed, I continued my way to my cabin and grabbed my bag, so irritated I hoped not to run into anyone on my way to the stables, for once not in the mood to talk. Luckily, it was only Rue that was there.

"Hi." She said brightly.

"Hey." I said automatically.

She was holding a brush and it was clear she'd only just started her usual routine, so I decided to give her a hand, grabbing a second brush sitting in a bucket hung on the far wall.

"You ok?" she asked frowning, a line creasing her brow. "You look… angry."

She looked surprised as she said it, and I guess I could see why. Usually I was in a much better mood, especially around animals.

"I'm fine." I said with a sigh and rubbing my temple, trying to stave off a head ache though I doubted it would work. "Just one of the Ares brothers."

"Being way too much as usual?" she asked and I gave her a half-hearted grin.

"Yeah."

She shot me a sympathetic look.

Being my friend, Rue was well acquainted with my seemingly unending battle against cabin 5 and its campers to get them to sit down, take their meds, and be calm for once. At least while they were injured. They were generally the worst to have in the infirmary, apparently unaware that not every situation can be solved by a variety of weapons or a punch.

"I'm sorry." She said but then smiled. It was wicked. "You can always skim a bit of sedative from the animal clinic and knock him out for a few hours."

I laughed.

"Tempting as that is," I said smiling. "I'd get caught. You know I have a terrible poker face. The second anyone asked any sort of questions I'd totally crack under the pressure."

"How can you deal with gross things like punctured organs and bones sticking out of people, but not a couple of pointed questions?" She shuddered. "It's the weirdest thing. Even the thought of dealing with one of the capture the flag injuries would have me gagging."

"I'm not squeamish." I said shrugging. "And you don't have to lie to remove arrows from limbs."

She made a face at this mental image, but left the subject alone.

I spent the next few hours reading and taking notes, attempting to sketch diagrams of the Pegasi and wishing James were here. Who knew feathers were so difficult to draw?

By dinner, I was in a much better mood and was walking towards the Pavilion realizing that I was pretty sure Harper still hadn't noticed the drawing on the chalk board he'd done, when I was surprised to spot her talking to Ashton outside our cabin, looking remarkably out of place among all the orange T-shirts.

I glanced down and with a jolt realized I wasn't wearing one either, my school's logo plastered across the front.

Had I stuck out that much all day?

"Hey." I said approaching the couple a bit awkwardly, wondering if I was interrupting but they smiled when they saw me. I looked at Harper. "Where's James?"

"He's taking a rare but well deserved personal day." She said easily and while the statement was casual enough I felt a jolt of anxiety go through me.

'A personal day?' I thought in surprise.

That didn't track with anything I knew about James at all. Was he sick?

"Is he alright?" I asked concerned and Harper looked surprised at the question.

"He's fine." She said as if she couldn't fathom why he wouldn't be. "Just had a couple of errands he had to take care of. So, I'm picking you up."

Harper didn't look worried, still, I had to wonder what sort of personal things someone like James had to do. Picking up antidotes for gorgon poison from an Olympian drug store? Pet sitting Cerberus? Maybe he was part of a divine fight club? I'd bet anything Ares had tried to organize one…

It appeared they had made up after their argument, and while James had seemed tired and pretty upset about it, I remembered his comments about Harper and the emotional storage locker.

I saw Ashton's expression shift slightly and I figured he'd probably been informed about the argument, and like me, was wondering if things were truly as settled as Harper seemed to feel they were, but he didn't say anything and I figured I should probably follow his lead.

She didn't elaborate and I couldn't tell if it was because she wasn't supposed to, or it just didn't even occur to her that she should, but before I could figure out how or if I could ask, she'd turned back to Ashton.

"You know you should do it yourself sometimes. The whole personal day thing." Ashton said smirking and Harper shot him a tolerant look.

"I like my job." She said emphasizing the word and he grinned.

"Nerd."

I could tell by the teasing note in his tone, his expression was probably supposed to be something like exasperation, but it just ended up looking like complete adoration the giant sap he was.

"You love me." She copied the smirk and the grin he gave her in return had me feeling extremely awkward, almost certain I'd been forgotten about. "Any chance you want to come by tonight and help catalogue spell scrolls?"

She shot him a hopeful expression that I thought was very un-Haper like. Or maybe just un-work Harper like.

"Tempting," he said playfully. "But Charlie and I have a flag to capture this evening."

"Ah that's right." She nodded. "Try to keep my brother murdering a twelve-year-old."

"Will do Bambs." He said grinning as she stood on her toes and he leaned down to give her a kiss.

I looked away feeling mildly revolted.

Hopelessly in love or not, Ashton was still my brother...

"Get a room Ash." I said and by the time I looked back he was rolling his eyes, but the expression he gave me was only mildly annoyed before he glanced back at Harper.

"See you Harps," he said quietly.

"Bye Ash."

He turned and started walking towards the dining pavilion to join the rest of our siblings for dinner.

"Bye Lib."

"Bye you big dork."

He waved this off and I glanced at Harper, who was watching him walk away, still smiling a little in a way that had me thinking she wasn't even aware of it.

"You two are hopeless." I said looking at her.

She blinked and her eyes darted to me, her expression returning to its usual, neutral state.

She didn't really answer, but I didn't think she was offended. Just shrugged and asked.

"You ready?"

"Yeah." I said thankful I'd grabbed my bag earlier. "But I have a question."

"What's up?" she asked already heading towards the door of the Apollo cabin and I followed her.

"Elijah said you denied his request to come into the library next week. Why?"

"Who is Elijah?" she asked frowning.

"He's one of the Ares brothers."

"Oh." She said flatly opening the door and stepping through it.

I was unsurprised to see a flash of gold and quickly darted after her, figuring this was so normal for Harper, she planned to continue our conversation through to the other side.

I landed by the doors and caught Harper's arm as she pitched forward, almost taking us both down as I struggled to keep her upright.

"Thanks." She said a little breathlessly straightening her shirt as I let her go, amazed how much she still struggled with traveling between the domains and the library.

"No problem." I said following her as she made her way towards the stairs. "So about Elijah-"

"There was a conflict." She said and I waited for her to continue, but she didn't.

"Which was…?" I asked, wondering if I'd be irritating her by pressing the subject.

"He wanted to come in the same day as a dangerous visitor. The whole day is completely blocked. No one else is allowed to come in, not just Elijah."

"Who's the visitor?" I asked curiously and while Harper's expression didn't change, her shoulders stiffened a bit before saying.

"Medusa."

A shock went through me at this and while I knew the question was stupid, I couldn't help but ask.

"Medusa? Like the Medusa? With snakes for hair?"

"Yes, that one." Harper confirmed with a nod and when she glanced at me, one of her eyebrows darted up. "Still think Elijah should have been approved?"

"No." I said quietly as we stepped into the main floor and while it was clear Harper was getting tired of the question game, I asked. "Still, he said this was the fourth time he was denied. What was the reason for the other times?"

"Something similar I'm sure." Harper shrugged sounding distracted.

"Did you tell him that?"

This caught her attention.

"No. Why would I do that?"

"So he doesn't think he's being excluded!" I said indignantly.

"He can just apply to visit another time." Harper pointed out.

"Yeah but if you don't tell him why he's being rejected, after a while, he's going to think it's personal."

"It's a scheduling conflict." Harper said frowning. "How is that personal?"

"You are hopeless." I said in exasperation, wondering how the hell someone who knew so much could be so obtuse.

Seriously, how did she navigate people in the real world?

'James and Ashton must just do all the talking.' I thought vaguely, having a new appreciating for Ashton's assessment of Harper's bluntness.

"Did you even give him options for alternative times when the library would be open?"

Harper didn't answer as she continued to her desk, but I could tell by her expression she hadn't.

"Does the library even have a posted schedule?" I asked.

"Not for guests."

I stopped.

"Seriously?" I asked. "So what? This whole time people have just been guessing when they can come in?"

Harper frowned at this, as if this possibility hadn't occurred to her.

"I suppose some of them might be."

I stared at her, certain my expression must be nothing short of incredulous.

"Harper."

"What?"

"Do you care at all about customer service?"

"No."

She continued walking and I watched her for a moment, stunned.

I shook my head and jogged after her.

"I'll sort out a schedule system for visitors with Lucy." I muttered when I caught up with her.

"If you want to." She said neutrally.

I couldn't tell if she approved of this idea or not, or if she even cared but figured she would have said something if she was upset about it.

"Can I suggest a few windows for Elijah to visit?" I asked uncertain how it would be received and Harper hesitated, glancing at me hesitantly.

This was much more of something that was Harper or James's territory, approving visitors. While Lucy and I looked at requests, we mostly just organized them and looked for potential conflicts. In the end, either James or Harper had the final say about who got to come in and when.

She seemed to be thinking for a moment before she nodded.

"Just make sure there aren't any monsters in the library at the time. They typically don't play nicely with demigods."

"Ok." I said feeling relief as well as a thrill of excitement, both at the fact I could go back to Elijah with good news and get him off my case, and that Harper trusted me with this sort of decision.

She sat at her desk which was piled with spell scrolls and I figured I probably shouldn't continue to bother her as she started to scan them.

I looked around at the library and saw that it was back in its usual state. Polished floors, heavy expensive looking wooden book cases, but the sky above was golden with the unmistakable light of sunset.

I smiled a little, figuring having just seen him, Ashton was on her mind.

Adjusting my bag, I made my way towards the living area, where the staff's weekly schedule was posted along with reminders of upcoming important visits, hoping to run into Lucy on the way. Determined, if possible, to fix this egregious schedule situation on my own if I had to. Whether Harper liked it or not.