I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Thirty-One - Harper

"Ha! I win again!"

"Ugh, go screw yourself."

Harper grinned, readjusting her ponytail and stretching her legs out, watching her two friends shuffle the cards.

"Are you going back to New Mexico to visit your family, Cami?"

"Maybe. It depends on how I finish this semester." Camille replied. Sai Lin gave a tiny hum and fiddled with her earring.

"Harper?"

"I might. It depends." She glanced at her phone worriedly.

Harper had been at NYU for her first year, meeting Camille and Sai Lin in the process. Both were freshmen like her, and they got put in the same dorm together. Camille was beautiful, with luscious brown skin, a curvy build and short curls that made her look like she could kick your butt and still look cute yet fierce. Sai Lin was also beautiful, with her Japanese features, olive skin and chin length black hair and thin build, she was perfect for acrobatics.

Also, she was 99.9% sure that they were half-bloods.

"Have you heard from your family?" Sai Lin asked, putting out the cards.

"No. I called my brother on his birthday, and we talked for a short time before he said he had to go." She glanced at it again, picking it up and turning it on. Of course, no messages from her parents or Carlos.

"I'm getting worried… I mean, we didn't talk much after winter break, but still…"

"He's probably busy with finals or something." Camille said. "It's hard when you have dyslexia, especially at seventeen."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" She put it down and picked up her cards.

"I'm so hungry! When will that food get here?" Sai Lin said, patting her stomach. "It's been thirty minutes since we called."

"It's on its way. It's raining, so whoever is delivering it is probably caught in traffic or something." Camille told her, looking at her computer screen. Harper chuckled just as there was a knock on the door.

"Oh, finally!" Sai Lin said. Harper got up.

"I'll get it." She walked to the door, pulling up her sweats in the process, yawning. She unlocked it and opened it, expecting to see a Chinese food delivery boy with the red and black take out outfit, but instead, she got a girl.

The first thing that struck Harper was the aura of power that the girl emitted, then her beauty. Her hair was shoulder length, pitch black and naturally curly. The left side was shaved, and it wasn't even wet. In fact, her clothes or skin were wet. The rain was heavy and made that really pleasant smell of rain on concrete and asphalt, yet this woman wasn't wet. Her eyes were like a wolf's, the color a striking and stern silver, green around the pupil. Her skin was a perfect tan, like Apollo had kissed her skin. She wore a black short sleeve and jeans with Converse hi-tops and fingerless gloves. Bandages, white ones like you see in anime or something, went all the way up from her wrists to under her shirt. Three scars were on her face, and somehow, Harper could tell that she was a demigod from the power she radiated.

Still, she was suspicious.

"You're not the Chinese delivery guy." She said, crossing her arms. The woman nodded.

"No, I'm not. I've come on behalf of your brother." She narrowed her eyes. "I need your help."

"How do you know my brother?" The woman sighed.

"It's a very long story, but he's been kidnapped." She stiffened.

"Who are you to tell me that? If my parents knew this they would tell me."

"I'm his friend."

Okay, number one, Carlos would never associate himself with a girl like this, especially one with bandages and multiple earrings. Two, this woman was shady as heck.

"I don't trust you." The woman sighed.

"My name is Alyx."

"Okay, who cares?"

"Look, sweetheart," she took a step towards her, jabbing her finger into her chest. "I don't have all day to convince you. If you want to save your brother, meet me at Central Park in no more than an hour." Her eyes darkened and she tried not to back down.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms. "And if I don't show up?"

"Then it's your fault your brother died or has been taken as a slave." She pushed herself away, her arms dropping to her sides.

To say the least, Harper was very surprised that she didn't soil her pants at the look she got.

Cold, veteran and steel colored eyes that shone in the faint light reminded her very much like a wolf's.

She gulped.

A guy came out from his dorm room, yawning.

"What's the ruckus?" he asked.

"Uh…" She looked to look at Alyx, but was startled that no one was there. "Nothing, don't worry. Probably the rain."

"Oh, okay." And went back in. She looked at the spot she had stood in, but there was no sign of the weird girl so she went back inside.

"You okay?" Camille asked. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"Not… Not really…" Harper replied, sitting down and picking up her phone.

"Something wrong…?" Sai Lin asked.

"Family emergency." She replied softly. Harper stood. "Mind if I go?"

"Sure."

"Just put my food in the fridge or something." She went to their shared room, pulling on jeans, a sweater and grabbing her emergency satchel that her dad and mom made before she left. It was filled with a couple of vials of nectar, a baggie of ambrosia, her dagger that had been her mom's, food and water, a roll of mortal cash, a bag of drachmas and a first aid kit. She put her phone in her sweater pocket and headed out.

She wondered who the heck this creep was. And if Alyx was a goddess in disguise or something.

She caught a cab to the park, and as soon as she was dropped off, she looked around. She spotted Alyx's black hair underneath a canopy, talking with a tall guy. She took a breath and headed toward them.

"Oh, look, you came." Alyx said without turning around.

"I'm only here to get my brother back." She said, pulling off her hood. The guy turned bright red and turned around, grabbing his pack, Alyx raising her eyebrow.

"This is Isaac. Isaac, this is Harper, Carlos's sister." He turned back, giving a nod.

"Let's make this quick." Alyx nodded and tapped the wall, a portal appearing. Isaac looked like he'd seen some more weird things in his life, but this was new.

"You can create portals?"

"Yup." Alyx replied. "I'll go in first to make sure there aren't any guards." And she slipped through.

They waited for a few minutes, awkward silence between them.

"So…" Harper cleared her throat. "How long have you known her?"

"My whole life." He replied. He was handsome, with short black hair, light brown skin and brown eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Nice." He made a face.

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Because our parents-" Alyx's arm came through, her thumb pointing up as a sign to say, 'good to go'.

So they stepped through and into a hallway. The floor was made of obsidian, the pillars white marble and the walls a dark grey. Lights with blue flames lit up the hallway.

"Ready?"

And they plunged into the darkness.

To Be Continued...