AEceros: Seems like a pretty chill story. I like the characterization so far, so I think it would be fun to follow this story for a while. Ava seems like a strong contender for an OC pairing with how much screen time you've given her. Not bad in all honesty, though it's early and later developments will have to increase her character depth if she's to remain interesting. I'm really curious if you'll have the godly world intrude on him at all or not. I would honestly be fine either way; it's pretty chill and reminds me of my time on the Ultimate Frisbee team in college. Though, the development in the first chapter about Hekate's gift giving an extra store of energy seems pretty OP considering Percy's strong demigod presence. Either it's simply an unending store of energy for running or it could be a strong source of power during mythical fights.

There's something really fun about playing a sport on a small team. I love it. I won't comment on the rest, it's better to keep some surprises. Thank you for the support!

Just a fan of fics: Good second chapter Ava has been a pretty good OC so far and it's great to see Rachel, it's really great seeing a story about Percy just being a normal kid without all the mythological stuff getting him down.

Thank you! Sorry to disappoint, but it won't stay like this for the entire story. A large majority of it, though, will be monster-free!

Ihonestlyhavenoidea: Love it. The plot, everything is just perfect. Just one question though, do you plan on bringing Annabeth or other campers into the story?

You'll get your answer in this chapter!

You've turned an awesome story into a high school fic. No offence but it's just not my thing at all. Some sort of connection and plans for the supernatural world are necessary for it to actually be a Percy Jackson story.

That wasn't my idea at all. I'm trying to play it a certain way, and high school will only be a plot filler.

Without further ado, on with the chapter!

"So, what's the plan?"

I looked up at mom, who was leaning against the doorway to the dining room. I had gotten home from the race and almost immediately sat at the table with a notebook and my phone.

"How do you know I'm planning something?"

She rolled her eyes, before sitting across from me. "You came home, didn't even celebrate your 1st place medal, got cleaned up, then sat at the desk with a notebook and your phone rather than passing out on the couch. There's no way you're not planning something."

I nodded, "Fair enough. The race was fun, but it was too easy. I can run faster, I know that, but I want to run further. You know me, if I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it big. So, I decided I want to train for a Marathon."

"I'm really not surprised. You never did anything small. Do you have one chosen so far?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm hoping to start at the Long Island Marathon. It's in four weeks on Saturday. I don't even have a Cross Country meet that weekend!"

Mom smiled fondly at me, not saying anything. I set down my pencil, "What? You're staring at me."

She rubbed my cheek, "It's like looking in a mirror."

"What do you mean?"

"I ran cross country when I was in middle and high school. I said something similar about the 5k and I got around to running 10ks and half marathons."

"Why did you stop?"

"I tore my ACL. When it healed I was so far out of practice, it would've taken me years to get back there. Then I went to college and started training again, but I had to get a job so that dropped and the rest is history. In my older age, I just don't have it in me to run that type of distance. I walk in Central Park occasionally now, though."

"I'm sorry…"

"This wasn't your fault, this happened long before you were even born. Don't worry. Now, what's your training schedule like?"

I sat up, knowing that since she changed the subject there wouldn't be a respectful way to go back to it. "Monday will be a medium distance run after practice, 15 miles. Tuesdays are mile repeats, a minimum of 5. Wednesdays are hills."

Mom interrupted me, "How will you do hills? We're in Manhattan, it's not like there are just fields with hills just hanging around."

"Goode has a dirt mound hill, probably twenty feet high. The football team uses it for sprint training."

"Oh, that's nice."

"I think so. Thursdays will be interval sprint training."

"What's your circuit?"

""I'll run a 100 meter, rest for 30 seconds, run 200, rest 30 seconds, run a 400, rest 30 seconds, run an 800, rest 30 seconds, run a 1600, rest 30 seconds, run an 800, rest 30 seconds, run a 400, rest 30 seconds, run a 200, rest 30 seconds, and run a 100. I'll rest for three minutes then repeat that six times."

"You really want to run a Marathon, huh?"

I nodded, "Hell yeah. If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna win it. That's what I'm training for."

She just smiled, "I'm proud. Now, what's Friday?"

"Fridays are tempo runs."

"What's a tempo run?"

"I'll have a designated time limit and I'll run at my own pace for that time period to get a feel of my comfortable pace. I'll use that to understand my pace and find a better way to track it."

"We never did those. Really smart."

"Thank you! I found them doing research, since the biggest marathons don't allow you to wear a pacing watch, so I need to rely on myself."

"So, what do you do on Saturdays?"

"Well, I'll do my long runs on Saturdays. A minimum of 20 miles. Sundays are rest days, so I'll basically take ice baths, stretch, and do a very slow run, just to get the blood moving and remove lactic acid."

"How long will that run be?"

"Probably two miles. That's just the afternoon, though, and for the first week."

"Afternoon? Do you have something for the mornings? Does it change every week?"

"Yeah! Every morning I have something and it gets harder every week. Do you just want to see my schedule?"

She nodded and I slid my notebook over to her. She looked down and read as I put it into my phone, so I'd have the alarms to wake up and so I'd always know what I'm doing, even if I don't have my notebook.

Week 1

SUN (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

SUN (PM)- 30 miles, same pace as AM

MON (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 15 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 20 miles

Week 2

MON (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 18 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 26 miles

Week 3

MON (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 18 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 26 miles

Week 4

MON (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 20 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 30 miles

Week 5 (Marathon week)

MON (AM)- 10 miles, race pace

MON (PM)- 15 miles, race pace

TUE (AM)- 15 miles, race pace

TUE (PM)- 20 miles, race pace

WED (AM)- 20 miles, race pace

WED (PM)- 25 miles, race pace

THUR (AM)- 25 miles, race pace

THUR (PM)- 30 miles, race pace, Ice bath

FRI (AM)- Sleep in

FRI (PM)- Plyos, stretch, ice bath

SAT (AM)- Marathon race

SAT (PM)- Ice bath

Mom slid it back to me, "You're gonna have to take full advantage of your demigod-ness for this to work."

"What do you mean?"

"It's an amazing schedule, don't get me wrong, but this is the type of schedule that Mo Farah or Eulid Kipchoge would run. You're not that fast yet and you don't have the same stamina as them."

"I mean, I need to be really trained for the marathon. I want to win."

"I'm going to let you do this, under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to sit, fully submerged at least up to your waist in water, for a minimum of three hours every day. You can eat dinner there, do homework, I don't care. But you have to use your water healing ability."

I nodded, "I can do that."

She nodded back, "Good. Then go ahead, I'll set up your meal plan."

"Meal plan?"

"Well, yeah. If you're gonna train like this you need to eat accordingly. I assume you don't want to be a scrawny runner?"

I shook my head, "Not a chance."

"Then I'll set you up with a big muscle diet. Red meat, Grilled chicken, salads, oatmeal, protein shakes, baked potatoes, pasta, the works."

"That'd be awesome!"

"Great. You'll have Breakfast before you leave in the morning, an after workout meal, lunch, dinner, and a late night meal. By the way, don't run within an hour of eating."

I nodded again. I'm doing that a lot. "Makes sense. Constant energy input and I won't cramp."

"Exactly. Now, I'll go shopping and I'll start meal prepping when I get back."

"Want me to join you?"

She shook her head, "No, you need to sleep. I want you rested up and ready to start on Monday. You need to be in top shape."

"So you're telling me to sleep?"

"Yes. Now go."

I hopped up from my chair and gave her a hug, "Wake me up when you get home. I want to help."

She nodded, "Okay. Go to bed, I'm heading out."

I did as she said, not complaining. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I was woken up again, mom in the doorway. "You want to get started on meal prepping?"

I rolled out of bed, "Sounds like a plan. I want to actually help."

"You mean cooking? You want to help me in the kitchen?"

I rubbed my neck, "I mean, yeah. It seems like an important life skill."

She gave me an approving look, "Well, look at you. Acting like a grown up, huh?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, a big man right here. All grown up, looking into the real world."

She laughed, "My baby boy, I'm so proud."

"So, what are we doing first?"

"Spaghetti alla carbonara. We need to make seven servings. This will be your dinner every night until next sunday."

I nodded, "Sounds good. Now, what can I help with?"

She shrugged, "Nothing, really. This is a one person job. You can keep me company, though."

"Sounds like a plan."

We talked and cooked, me occasionally finding something to help with occasionally until Paul got home. After dinner, we started separating the food into tupperware containers. We said our goodnights and I got ready for bed, before setting my alarm to 03:00. I sighed, knowing waking up that until I got used to waking up that early this was going to suck. I closed my eyes, as I felt myself drift into Morpheus' realm.

"BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEE-"

I slammed my fist on the alarm clock, groaning. "Oh, for fucks sake."

I sat up in bed and swung my legs off. I sat there, with my elbows on my knees for a few seconds. "I'm really doing this shit, huh? Well, fuck it. Better get a move on."

I left the embrace of my sheets and pillows, getting dressed in my running clothes, before throwing sweat pants and a hoodie over it. I brushed my teeth and grabbed my breakfast that mom had set up for me the night before. I checked my watch, reading 3:30. I ate quickly, before walking to the parking garage and getting on my bike and zipping through the mostly empty streets towards Astoria Park.

Half an hour later at 4:00, I pulled off the road into the parking lot and did warm up stretches before my run. I set up my water bottles and started my watch, taking off at a light half mile jog to warm up. I did a couple plyometric stretches, like lunges and skipping high knees. I reset my watch and took a couple deep breaths. I checked my watch again, reading 4:10. I'd be running these 10 miles at a five minute pace, so I'd be done with the main run at 5:00.

I slipped my headphones in and took off at a run. Within the first mile, I had found my cadence and I knew I'd be in for a good run.

My brain seemed to perceive everything in slow motion, allowing me to think. The last couple weeks had been a clusterfuck of emotion, going through some of my lowest lows and some moderate highs.

What would I do about camp? Annabeth? God, it was all so confusing. The more I thought about it, she was definitely leading me on. I wasn't as dense as I pretended to be, but I'm not pretending to be intuitive with girls. I could tell that she was flirting a lot, it was hard to miss. Grabbing my hand when she would pull me somewhere around camp, the jealousy she showed anytime she was around Rachel, her giving me the kiss in the Labyrinth.

I checked my watch again, reading mile 6. I let myself wander back to my thoughts, continuing down the train of thought.

It was a lie. It was all a lie. The deeper I looked into it, I could start to understand how robotic her actions were, as if they were rehearsed. The way Annabeth was always hiding what she was doing, the panic in her eyes and the nervous smile that would play across her lips whenever she would shoot that one line, 'Don't worry about it, Seaweed brain.'

It hurt, that wasn't something I could deny. It really did hurt, knowing that she had been hiding something all along, playing with his emotions when he had trusted her so explicitly. He thought that Annabeth felt the same way. I mean, afterall, it's not everyday that someone is willing to take a poisoned dagger for you.

I managed to rationalize it, just because someone doesn't like you doesn't mean they want you dead. I was the child of the prophecy, so she probably thought that by keeping me alive, she'd protect Olympus. I knew I couldn't escape my emotions forever, so I'd need to confront her later.

My wrist buzzed and I slowed down, checking my watch. 10 miles at a pace ranging from 5:01 to 4:59. I ran it in 49:58, so I had kept to my pace almost perfectly. I walked a lap around the track with my water bottle, letting my body cool down and to help reduce cramps. I finished the water and felt noticeably better, but not as well as I should have. It felt as if my connection with the water was almost… diminished? I don't know, but it wasn't as absolute as it used to be.

I checked my watch for the time, one more time and read 5:02. It made sense, I took a couple minutes to get dressed. And pack my bag back up. I ate the banana I brought, to help with cramps and recovery. I slung myself back over my motorcycle, strapping the helmet on and tearing out of the parking lot, at highly illegal speeds. Using a little bit of the mist, everyone ignored me and tore through the streets.

I got home and showered quickly, before sitting down for my next meal of eggs, bacon, toast, and milk. Mom had outdone herself, I tell you that. A quick shower later, I was feeling a bit better. Instead of getting out, since I was clean, I filled the bathtub with cold water and sat down, letting the ice water do its thing, allowing myself to relax. I set an alarm for thirty minutes and waited for it to go off. When it did, I got out and got dressed in my usual clothes now of days, blue jeans, a white v-neck, my brown leather jacket, and a pair of white Nike high tops that Aphrodite had given me.

I did a bit more stretching in my room, burning some time off, since I had got up really early. It was my new schedule for my school days, and I wasn't going to slack on the weekends. While I stretched, I got to thinking. It's been a while since I've seen Chiron. It'd be nice to visit camp again, as long as I didn't run into Annabeth.

I wrote a quick note, letting mom know where I was going. A quick walk and a ride later, I was on Long Island. I tucked myself closer to my motorcycle and gunned it, 65 miles an hour was seen and passed within a few seconds, and I soon passed 100, then 110, 120, 140, 160, 190, before keeping at 200 for the full run. I used my control of the mist to keep all the cars out of my lane and kept cars from crossing the road when I was practically flying down the road.

As I drove, I did the math in my head. From home, to camp, it's 114 miles. If I manage to run at 200mph perfectly for the entire run, then I'd get to camp in something close to 34 minutes, I think? Way faster than the almost two and a half it takes if you drive the speed limit, anyways.

I shut down my brain, since I needed to be on high alert. I expanded my sense over the water in the air, to see where the cars were for close to a mile ahead of me. That'd give me about 18 seconds of reaction to whatever may be happening up there to maneuver or slow down. I still needed to do this, since I was spreading the mist thin, almost beyond what I could control. It worked on regular mortals, but clear sighted mortals would just have a slight feeling that they shouldn't, but they'd still be able to do it.

I took the winding road, revelling in the speed everything was disappearing behind me. Using a bit of my already strained water powers, I kept a constant stream of water around the engine, keeping it from overheating.

I didn't have any problems with clear sighted mortals and soon started slowing down, coming to a halt at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. I drove the motorcycle slightly into the woods, so it wouldn't be seen by anyone driving by and turned it off, giving it a chance to finally cool down. I was fighting a smile the entire way up the hill, my mind giddy with excitement from the insane speed I had just covered.

I crested the hill, seeing the camp just starting to wake up. Approaching the big house, I saw Chiron in his wheelchair with a mug of what I assumed to be coffee. Upon seeing me, he gave a light smile.

"Good morning, Percy. How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing pretty good, just wanted to visit. How's camp? Any more quests?"

Chiron lowered his head slightly, before rolling inside, "Let's sit down. There's something I need to tell you."

I nodded hesitantly, "Okay, what's up?"

I sat down on one of the couches and he clasped his hands in his lap. "I know the truth about what happened between you and Annabeth. However, she managed to get into the head of the campers."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, "She's convinced the campers that you left because you didn't like the demigods, that the only reason you used your wish as you did was to keep the minor gods from attacking you in vengeance, that you didn't really care for them at all. She led them to believe that you used them as cannon fodder to get the glory yourself."

I leaned back, in shock, "I- uh- what? Why would they believe that? Didn't I fight with them? Did they not see me at every pyre burned?"

"They did. However, immediately after the funerals and the award ceremony, you left. Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, as you well know. She's intelligent beyond belief and she's a master manipulator. I'm disappointed in her behavior. You may stay as long as you wish, know that you're always welcome here by Dionysus and I, however the campers may be more hostile towards you."

I nodded in understanding, my lips pressed in a thin line. "Thanks for the head's up."

He gave me a small smile, "Well, I've heard through the grapevine that you're planning on running a Marathon, hmm?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I am. Who told you? Mom?"

"Yes, she did. Would you mind sharing your training regime with me?"

"Not at all."

I pulled out my phone and showed it to him, "This is my plan going into it. Mom has me taking an ice bath before school everyday."

He looked over the list, "I'd recommend adding a saltwater aquarium solute to the water and letting it dissolve before adding the ice. As a son of Poseidon, you'll heal with saltwater faster."

"Good idea. I'll buy some from the pet shop on the way home."

Chiron tapped his chin a couple times. "How long are you spending in the water?"

"Thirty minutes, why?"

"As a son of Poseidon, you can spend as long in water as you want, the longer you're in the better it would be. Would it be possible for you to spend an hour after each run?"

"I mean, yeah. I guess. Would it really be necessary?"

"A runner takes about a week to heal from a run, and for the improvements they made to their body to take effect. Sitting in the right mixture of water and solutes would incite your healing ability to the point where you could jam a week's worth of healing into some time in the water. This is four full weeks of training, yes?"

"Yeah. Wha-"

He continued, cutting me off. "Four weeks so 28 days, two workouts a day, so 56 workouts in total. You could get the equivalent of a year and a month's worth of training in the space of four weeks."

My eyes widened, "Holy shit."

Chiron rolled his eyes, "Language, Perseus."

I blushed, "Sorry. But thank you."

He rolled to the door, "It was good talking to you, Percy. I need to go to breakfast, probably to keep Clarisse from killing anybody."

I nodded, "Yeah. The usual."

"Are you coming to breakfast?"

I shook my head, "No, I already ate at home. I have a pretty strict diet that I have to follow. Thanks, though."

I stood and we went outside, where we parted ways. "Well, Percy. Do enjoy yourself. Make sure to stop by before you leave."

"Will do, Chiron."

He stood from his wheelchair and trotted to the dining pavilion and I made my way to my cabin, ignoring the cold looks and whispers of the people leaving theirs.

"Percy?"

I turned around and saw Lou Ellen, a daughter of Hecate who never left for the Titans. My face broke out into a grin, "Hey, Lou. What's up?"

She kept a blank face, "Why are you here?"

"I was coming by to see you guys, just hang out, you know?"

She scoffed slightly, "Seriously? Why would you want to see us?"

"You're my friends."

"Really? Friends? After what you've said about us?"

"I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Lou rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Don't act stupid. We can't keep up with sarcasm, right? We're weak minor demigods. We can't handle that type of stuff."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lou clenched her fists, bringing them to her sides and yelled, "You're a fucking idiot, aren't you? Annabeth told us what you said! She told us how you really feel about us! About how you were using us as cannon fodder against our own siblings!"

"Really? You believe that?"

"Why the fuck wouldn't I? Annabeth knows you better than you know yourself! She told us, and frankly, she's always been better to us than you have been. She didn't send us to die. You did. Got that? You killed my brothers, sisters and friends. These deaths were your fault."

"I-"

Lou interrupted me, "They died because of you. You aren't welcome here anymore. Clear out your cabin and leave. Don't even try to apologize, you fucking idiot. We don't want your apologies, we want you gone."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek, before quickly wiping it away. Lou gave a cold laugh, "Oh, look at you. Crying. For what? Are you sad that you finally got caught? You're fucking pathetic."

"Everyone believes Annabeth?"

"No shit, yeah."

I took a deep breath before I glared back at Lou. "You're a special kind of fucking stupid, you know that?"

She reeled back in surprise and I continued, "I've never told anyone but Annabeth this, so it makes sense that you wouldn't know. My fatal flaw is loyalty. We fought for the same cause, so I would do anything to keep you alive. I nearly sacrificed my very soul to keep you safe. Everything Annabeth told you was a godsdamn lie."

"What's your proof? Frankly, I believe Annabeth over you."

My eyes hardened a bit and I set my jaw. "I swear on the Styx that everything I just said is truth."

Thunder rumbling in the sky and I spun away from her and walked to my cabin, ignoring her shocked expression. I guess Chiron was being completely honest. I knew he was, but I didn't want him to be.

I packed my stuff up, throwing away all my camp shirts, figuring I'd save a bit of space that way. I scrawled my address on a piece of paper and tossed a drachma on it. It disappeared in a pop and I knew Hermes had dropped it off at home.

I looked around, knowing I wasn't going to be back here for a while. I closed the door and headed to the dining pavilion, where I gave Chiron a hug, "I'm on my way home."

Chiron adapted a concerned look, "Did something happen?"

I nodded, "I ran into Lou, the daughter of Hecate. Had a few choice words for me on behalf of the camp. I don't want to be here anymore, if they're that willing to believe that I'm some evil asshole."

He sighed but nodded, "Stay safe, okay?"

I nodded back, "I will. By the way, do you have my phone number?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't. I don't have anything to write it down on right now, so I'll get it from Sally, is that good?"

I nodded again, "Yeah, I'll keep you up to date with my training."

"Thank you, Perseus. Take care."

"I will, you too. I'll see you later."

"Goodbye."

I ignored the stares from the campers again and kept a straight face as I walked over Half-Blood Hill and got back on my motorcycle, torquing the throttle and sending myself flying down the road at speeds that were again, highly unsafe.

RING! RING! RING!

I flinched, before realizing that the noise was coming from my helmet. I had checked out the helmet last week and found it had bluetooth, so I paired it to my phone. I clicked one of the buttons on my helmet and answered the call.

"Hello, who is this?"

I heard an easily recognizable laugh through the speaker. "It's me, doofus."

I grinned, despite knowing she couldn't see me. "Hey, Ava. What's up?"

"I'm just super bored."

"What are you doing?"

"I was working on my car but I'm waiting on Ant to come by with a couple spark plugs but he's at work, so I'll be here for the next couple hours."

"Where's here?"

"Rent-a-Rage, that Garage rental place in Harlem. You know, where I work on my car?"

"Yeah, want me to come by? I'm free almost all day."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome!"

"Just send me the address, I'll be there soon enough."

"Sweet! I'll be waiting."

"You want me to bring lunch?"

"Percy, it's 8 in the morning."

"I'm in Montauk right now, and despite the fact that I'm driving way above the speed limit, it'll take me awhile to get there. Probably around 10."

She laughed, "Don't do anything too illegal."

I grinned, "No promises. What do you want for lunch?"

I could practically hear the smile in her voice, "Surprise me."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

"See you."

She hung up and I continued riding, this time with a smile on my face.

I accelerated again, going faster in anticipation of actually having something to do with my day.

I got to the garage with a backpack full of food. Came to a stop in front of her unit and saw Ava with headphones on, sitting in a chair facing away from me. Me, being the mature and sensible person I am, snuck up behind her and picked her up along with the chair, just for her to scream and hit me in the jaw.

"Ugh, fuck."

She scowled at me, playfully. "You deserved it, asshole. Don't scare me."

I rubbed my jaw, pouting. "I came all the way out here with food just to get hit."

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks for coming out. Oh, by the way, this is my baby. Her name is Jamie. She's a 2013 Subaru BRZ."

"I'm gonna make a wild guess and say she's about as far from stock as humanly possible?"

Ava laughed, "What gave it away? The fact that the hood is carbon fiber, the bucket seats, or the massive wing?"

I rolled my eyes, "What's going on under the hood?"

She grinned, before going around and popping the hood. "She has a 6 psi turbocharger and she's been tuned to 450 horsepower. I've replaced all the hoses with silicone rubber and replaced the radiator with a race spec one."

She led me around to the driver's door and opened it. "I've replaced all the entire dash and almost every interior panel with carbon fiber or aluminum. A racing gear shift and steering wheel. Race spec rims, brembo brakes, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires. She's about as good as she's gonna get."

"Bet my bike is faster."

Ava just scoffed, "No shit, that thing is barely street legal. Of course it's faster. But guess what?"

"What?"

"I can ride mine during winter without dying."

"Fine, you have me there."

"Damn right I do. Now, what food did you bring?"

I blushed and took off my backpack and we walked further into the garage, where she had a workshop table covered in tools.

"You have somewhere for me to put all this? I brought a lot."

Ava raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I do. Let me pull this out…"

She slid a folding table out from behind a huge, rolling tool chest. I dropped my backpack on it and unloaded it.

"I brought Taco Bell, Chipotle, McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, and Chick Fil A."

"Jesus, why did you buy so much?"

"You told me to surprise you…"

"Well, this sure as shit is a surprise. Thank you, so much!"

"No problem. Take what you want, I'm not eating any of it."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm on a pretty strict diet now."

"Why it's not like you're in bad shape. Far from it, actually."

"It's a training diet, I'm getting ready for a big race."

"What race? If it's cross country, we don't have a big race for another, like, three months."

"Nah, not cross country. I'm running the Long Island Marathon."

"Isn't it in, like, 4 weeks or something?"

"Yeah, four weeks. I've been training for a while, but I'm cleaning up my diet in preparation. Don't want to cramp during the run and I'm trying to win. I need to be in the proper shape to do it."

"Well, good luck. Isn't that the one sponsored by one of the car dealerships here?"

"Nah, not a dealership. There's this dream car lottery thing in the UK. It's called Best of the Best and they want to expand to America and this is their US opener thing."

"Cool! Do you get something from them if you win?"

"Yeah. I get a surprise car. What it is, I don't have a clue but it has to be something pretty cool."

I paused for a second, "I probably won't be able to afford the insurance, either."

We laughed and continued talking for a while. Ant dropped by and grabbed the Taco Bell before leaving again to do who knows what.

I glanced down at my watch and sighed. "I've got to get going. I have training to do."

"For the marathon? Seriously? Today's our only off day for cross country."

I smiled and shrugged, "Not for me, really. Our 5k workouts aren't hard for me, so I don't ever go home really tired afterwards."

"You're insane. Well, I should probably get heading home too. It's my turn to cook dinner tonight."

We said our goodbyes and I drove back to the apartment building just to grab my running bag and a quick bite to eat before driving off again, back to Astoria Park for my afternoon run. I pulled up my phone and checked the afternoon workout.

30 miles, same pace as this morning. I repeated my warmup process from this morning and took off at the same pace as then. 5 minute pace for thirty miles, so… two and a half hours of straight running. Might as well get started. I was slightly annoyed, having to run around everyone I was passing, since this was a public track.

"Why are you running out here? You'll never be able to get a pace if you're constantly swerving around people."

I glanced to the side and saw Hermes jogging beside me, where he definitely wasn't before. "I can't afford anywhere else. I don't have a job, you know."

Hermes just rolled his eyes. "That wasn't what I was asking. You know you just had to ask and I'd get you set up, right? You're my friend, I'm going to make sure you're prepared for the race. You've run, what? A mile?"

"Not even, I'm on my third lap."

"Stop, You'll never train for a professional pace in an environment like this."

I did as he asked and he continued, "There's a place in West Manhattan, Chelsea Pier Fitness. Indoor, temperature controlled facility."

"How far away is it from home?"

"From your apartment, probably 15 minutes, maybe? It's not that far. It's really nice, too. A boxing ring, massages, basketball, and just about anything you could want. It's a full, indoor 400 meter track. They also have a cafe, convenience store type thing."

"Sweet! Let's head over there then."

I went to get on my bike and Hermes just rolled his eyes, putting a hand on my shoulder and the other on my bike. "Close your eyes."

I did as he asked and felt myself be teleported. I opened my eyes and I got off my bike and he led me inside. He got me set up on an account and hesitated, "Head over to the track, I'll meet up with you in a bit."

He jogged over back to the front desk and I shrugged, walking off to the locker room and dropping off my bag. Since I was already in my running clothes I didn't need to change I just walked to the track and waited for Hermes to come before I started running.

Hermes came out of the door and tossed me a card. "Here. Scan this when you go to the cafe. Free food and other stuff."

"Damn, thanks man."

"No problem. Eh, I can take a few hours off. Let's get this run started."

We took off at a jog, making sporadic small talk throughout the run until we got to about mile twenty five. I was breathing deeply enough that I couldn't talk without screwing up my cadence. Hermes glanced at me when I didn't respond to his question and I just made a gesture towards my chest heaving.

Hermes nodded, "Want to just talk telepathically? Just think and I'll hear it. Only if you want to, though."

I nodded hesitantly and spoke between breaths, "Yeah. That'd be good."

"So, what I had asked was how you've been training for your marathon?"

I blinked a couple times, in hopes that it'd make hearing Hermes' voice ringing in my head any easier to bear. "Do I just think?"

"Yes, Percy. Just think."

"Well, I don't really know. I have an idea, but it's a rough one that I haven't really planned yet. Mostly just races I want to run"

"Give me the rough one then."

"Well, I know I want to run that big marathon thing that goes around the world. Apple Marathon Majors, or something like that."

"You mean the Abbott World Marathon Majors?"

"Yeah! That's it. I want to do that, the Dubai Marathon, the Seoul Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon."

Hermes nodded, "The Dubai Marathon is huge, I can see why you'd want to do it. They pay, what was it, a quarter million? $250,000?"

"Yeah! If you run a world record you get another $100 grand!"

"Sweet, I can see why you'd want to run it."

"Yeah. It'll take a few years for me to get there, though. Flying to Dubai is stupidly expensive."

Hermes was silent for a second, "I could sponsor you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I have a couple companies. The one that I was thinking was my primary one, Hermès."

"Isn't that a French designer brand?"

"Yeah. It was originally a joint company between Uncle P and I. It started as horse saddles and just kind of evolved from there. Uncle P moved on to other companies. He mostly builds luxury yachts now in his freetime so he sold his portion of the company to me."

"Damn, I never knew."

"We're gods, we get bored with all the time on our hands, we might as well have some fun with it. Anyways, back to what I had asked, do you want a sponsorship? We'll do things like fund your transport, hotels, and running gear. You'd get some perks, like basically free clothes and travelling the world to events to represent us."

"Hell yeah! That'd be awesome!"

"Great! We'll get the mortal paperwork done tonight."

"Wait a sec… I'm going to be in the mortal world, doing mortal things. I'll need to have a backstory as to how a young, American, rookie on the Marathon stage would be really confused about how I got a designer sponsorship?"

Hermes didn't respond for a few seconds again, "I have a mortal identity, currently Axel Dumas. I'm still the CEO of Hermès. I'll say I was here in New York and I decided to partake in the Long Island Marathon. I'll say I saw something in you and that I could tell there was something about you that I knew you would be great. We talked for a while and I offered a full sponsorship."

"... That would work. You're a quick thinker, you know that?"

He mentally scoffed, "Of course I am. I'm the god of speed and thieves. I have to be quick. So, I'll take and meet you at the race?"

"Sounds like a plan."

We came to a halt on the track, having just finished our 120th lap. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, me heading home and Hermes to do whatever gods do. I guess I had also decided what language I was going to learn in school. Hell, if I'm going to be sponsored by a French company I might as well learn to speak French.

I can't wait for the marathon, but I need to keep up with my 5ks. Next Saturday is the next race, so I better run my ass off.

I opened my apartment door and waltzed into the living room, where mom and Paul were reading. Paul looked up at me over his glasses, "Hey, Percy. How was your day?"

I dropped my bag on the ground and dropped onto the couch, "You're not gonna believe what I'm about to tell you."

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