A/N: HELLO INTERNET! This chapter ended up being really long, so I split it into 2. The second half should be up soon.
Hope you like this chapter... There were some characters that I LOVED to include, though they weren't supposed to make an appearance.
Disclaimer: if it's mentioned, I probably don't own it. Kinda why it's called FANfiction. Please don't sue me.
Annabeth
Despite my irritation at Leo and his horrid driving skills, my jaw drops when we step through the doors to the Olympus Records office building. It's no Parthenon, but it's still an architect's dream. What's a shiny, sleek rectangle outside is beautiful indoors. Marble floors, a painted ceiling, and statues of the Greek Muses are only some of the features. Album covers, presumably ones that have gone gold or platinum, border the walls.
When we approach the front desk, the assistant greets us less-than-cheerfully.
Leo saunters right up to the desk, and in true Leo fashion leans on an elbow and grins.
"Hey Reyna."
The girl was not amused. Tersely, she returned the greeting. "Hi." Her tone was dry and serious.
"Never fear, Leo is here!"
"Joy." Reyna looked like this was anything but a joy.
Leo was not to be deterred. "So, whatcha doing Friday night?"
"Things that are none of your concern." Ouch. Anyone else would have gotten the hint by now, but not poor Leo. Either he was oblivious to Reyna's contempt for him, or he was stubborn. "Apollo's on the third floor. Good day." She turned back to her work.
"Reyna, baby, we've been down this road before. You should give me a chance! Don't all ladies love a bad boy?" I fought the urge to throw my hand over my face in embarrassment. But this wasn't the end of it. He kept talking. "I'm the super-sized McShizzle! All the ladies love Leo!"
Frank and Nico had set down the drum set, and Jason was checking the big digital clock overhead.
"And I'm sure you remember what was at the end of that road," Reyna said lightly before leaning over the counter, her face inches from Leo's. He grinned like a Cheshire Cat. She smiled back coyly, and reached her hand up to his cheek.
And then promptly twisted his ear.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, pulling back. "What was that for?" But Reyna wasn't done; she pressure pointed him, and then flicked Leo's head.
"Welcome to Olympus Records. Have a nice day."
Thalia
"Sil, I'm sorry you have to deal with Bobby and Matthew. They're bratty little pests." I was sitting with Silenna in the rec room while she supervised Annabeth's brothers. To get them in on the plan, I needed her to leave the room. Which, to my annoyance, she wasn't doing.
"They aren't any worse than Travis and Connor. I can handle them."
Dang, she actually likes the kids. I offer: "What would you say to a break?" Playing ninjas and trains and bug laboratory all afternoon has got to get boring at some point.
Sil jumps at the chance. "I'll take it. Good luck." She hops out of her seat and leaves the room.
The brothers look at me with wide eyes. Matthew protests. "But we were having fun! We don't want you!" He throws out a fist to hit me; I stop it easily.
I give a mischievous smile. "But we were going to pull pranks!" The boys share psychopath grins. Time to get to work.
Percy
The elevator ride to the third floor is probably the calmest moment yet. Then again, maybe least-chaotic is a better phrase; with Leo, nothing can ever be completely calm. He continues complaining about Reyna, and how he thought that 'this would be the day' she said yes and 'did he deserve the flick?'.
These encounters were nothing outside of the usual. Every time we came to OR, Leo would try to flirt with the pretty secretary. Even after she said no for the first time, he kept trying. And kept trying, even after she threatened and then carried out the threats of bodily harm. This could've been worse; he once ended up with a black eye and a bleeding lip in the same week.
Apollo could have cared less.
"Don't mess with Reyna," he'd once said while we were recording. "She's got her reasons for doing what she does."
He'd been drunk at the time of this statement, otherwise he wouldn't have said anything. Minutes later, he was composing poetry about himself and demanded we have a poetry slam like they do in coffee shops.
Once we arrive at the third floor, it's a shuffle to get off with all of the drum set. With my bass slung across my back, I lead the way to Apollo's office.
The door is closed, but music blares from inside. Not just any music: stuff like Fur Elise. Not music you'd expect to hear at full volume through a door.
We don't bother to knock; he wouldn't be able to hear us anyway. He's not doing anything, just sitting at his desk and playing air harp, a cowboy hat sitti stop his head.
"Oh! Hello!" He jumps up from his chair and pauses the music. "Didn't expect to see you guys back so soon. And you brought a guest. Who's this lovely lady?"
Annabeth, who has been lingering behind the rest of us, moves closer. "Annabeth Chase. And you're Apollo?"
"So, you're Percy's little girlfriend." He sticks out a hand, and we shake. "Nice to meet you. I hear you're going to sing for us, then?"
"Well... Um, I guess?"
Apollo claps his hands together and his eyes glow with enthusiasm. "Wonderful. I'm assuming those two-" he points to Jason and Leo- "Haven't worked out the song yet? You said you wanted to do a cover?"
I nodded. "You got it. We were thinking something that lots of people know, but that hasn't been overdone, y'know?" One could only listen to so many bad renditions of Hallelujah. Enough was enough.
"Leo, Jason, go into the booth to argue it out. The rest of you, sit down, get comfy. We'll be here for a while." After Jason and a still-grumbling Leo were sealed in the soundproof recording booth, Apollo continued. "How long have they been at it?"
After dumping the equipment, I plop down on one of the overstuffed couches next to Annabeth. Frank and Nico create a tower out of the drums before sitting on the other couch. Nico pulls out his GameBoy and headphones; Frank feels around in the cushions until he finds what he's been looking for: the peg game Apollo picked up at a Cracker Barrel ages ago. Hs addiction to it is almost as bad as Candy Crush.
"A couple of days. It was really bad this morning."
He nods knowingly. "You'll have to intervene on tour. People won't like it if they bicker all the time."
"Wait... On tour?" The agreement was that we weren't touring. Frank's grandmother would never let him be gone that long ("Shirking responsibility, Fai Zhang!") and I couldn't leave Annabeth. I doubted she wanted to hang around backstage the entire time. Hazel wasn't fond of the idea, either.
"Just a couple of shows." Placing a hand on the 'Play' button, he looked at Annabeth and I. "Do you mind? I'm going a bit stir crazy without background noise."
"No, go ahead." He sighs in relief and presses Play.
The soft notes of a piano reach our ears, and Apollo leans back in his chair. "Much better. Now, about the tour. It's just a few shows in the city and surrounding areas. Nothing major. Should take a week."
I swallow. "How many is 'a few'?" One week. We might be able to do one week. A few shows is about three, right? Maybe four.
"Six."
Six. Six shows in seven days. "When?"
"September. Right after you guys get back." He gestures to Annabeth and I, and it's then that it hits me: at the end of week, I'm getting married. In a few days... It's so soon.
"Oh. Okay?" It sounds more like a question than a confirmed answer. And really, I'm not sure of anything at this point. It all depends on locations and how long the shows will actually last.
"Excellent! I'll sign you both up. Who knows? After today, you might have a new member of the Half-Bloods." He wiggles his eyebrows at Annabeth, who blushes. Her hair falls in front of her face, like a silky blond curtain.
"I don't think so," she says sheepishly, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Not really into the whole performance thing. If you don't mind my asking, what's with the classical music?"
Apollo opens his mouth to answer when a shout is heard from the recording booth.
"Are you insane! Absolutely not!" cries Jason, while Leo shouts back in rapid-fire Spanish. And I don't speak it, but I get the feeling that Esperanza Valdez would not be pleased with the words coming from of her son's mouth.
"Quiet down, guys!" The album producer scolded through the speaker. "Keep it to a dull roar/ Or just don't argue anymore/ These are rules that you need to follow..." Oh, gods. He's not on the poetry kick again, is he? We'd assumed (and prayed. And begged. And considered sacrificing a prized sheep.) that he'd given it up. And now the man can't think of something to rhyme with follow. "Quick! I need a word!"
With a sigh, Frank and I began listing off various examples that were not 'Apollo'.
"Hollow."
"Swallow."
"Wallow." I was running out of vocabulary words. Oh, why didn't I pay more attention in Mr. Brunner's Latin class? We'd done a section on poetry, and I'd completely ignored it.
"Fellow?"
What the hell? Fellow doesn't rhyme with wallow, does it? "Um... Yellow?"
I glanced at Annabeth, who pursed her lips and had eyes alight with amusement. Frank shifted uncomfortably and began to fidget. Nico, oh dear gods. Nico was bent over in giggles, clutching his stomach like his guts would spill out.
And, really, what was so funny about yellow?
"Or else I'll paint you yellow! Yes, I like it!"
"That was, err... Lovely," Annabeth assured him. Apollo beamed like a child on Christmas.
Annabeth
This was the musical genius Apollo? This immature, sorry excuse of a poet was one of the greatest producers of all time? And what was with the Stetson?
This had to be some kind of joke.
Then again, Percy and Frank weren't much better. Who rhymes 'follow' with 'yellow', for gods' sakes?
We were back on the subject of classical music.
"Do you understand why I listen to it? While modern music is well and good, it would be nowhere without the classics. This music paved the way for today. Listen." He pressed play on the CD player, and soft notes of music fill the air. It sounds like a lullaby, or something played in Carnegie Hall.
It's beautiful, and sounds very familiar.
"Petzold, right? Minuet in G?"
"Correct. You know the classics?" His eyebrows lift slightly, in curiosity.
I shrug. "A little." My mom used to play them while she worked on her sculptures. I'd sit in the floor and color while she worked, creating designs for houses in outer space.
And so we go on with the game, with the occasional pause to yell ideas to Jason and Leo. ("Kumbaya! Let's sing Kumbaya!" Nico had declared excitedly, before being reminded that he wasn't in the band. He'd gone back to sulking after that.) They had begun throwing things at each other again, though quickly ran out of ammo, since there were only so many papers in a recording booth.
"Are they done yet?" Apollo calls out to Percy, who shakes his head.
"Not even close. They might need an intervention." I think an intervention was the least of their worries. They might need a doctor, specifically a mental health specialist.
"Okay. Last one, Annabeth." He presses play.
I get it in four seconds. "Debussy. Clair de Lune."
"Very good." Glancing towards the booth, Apollo sighs. "Time for them to get out. They aren't doing anything but pissing each other off."
He gets up and walks towards the booth; Nico puts down his Gameboy and Frank continues moving pegs in his game.
"This is what you guys have been doing? Rhyming 'yellow' with 'follow'? And playing peg games?" I give Percy and Frank each a pointed look; both of them look ashamed of themselves.
Nico isn't bothered at all. "Yep," he says casually, slouching seeping into the couch cushions. "Pretty much. Had a Mythomagic tournament once."
Thalia
"Okay, remember," I address the two boys in front of me. Bobby and Matthew stand attentively, their eyes holding a gleam of mischief. "Travis and Conner are grown ups-" Well, physically, anyway... "And they have jobs that they can't lose. So don't let them get caught, okay?" I'd had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the Stoll brothers one day in the garden. One of them (that I later learned was Travis) had been tied to a tree with a green garden hose. Luke also told tales of how they'd snuck into the kitchen and swapped all of the sugar for salt. When Annabeth had mentioned the idea of pulling a prank on Carol, I knew they'd be perfect for the job.
I was, however, a bit wary of getting the four troublemakers together.
"Okay, Thalia, we got it!" Matthew said, his tone growing sarcastic. Bobby nodded along in agreement. "I thought you said we were going to prank Mom."
Gods help me. "Yeah, we will. When Annabeth gets home. Right now, you and Travis and Connor are going to plan your prank." They were the distraction, for when Annabeth and I would do the actual pranking.
The two bus pondered this for a moment, before Bobby said something unexpected. "Annabeth's getting married." He was so serious, so solemn. It was a bit unnerving.
"Yeah," I said hesitantly. "She is." And then a thought hit me like a bus: what would leaving do to Annabeth's brothers? Sure, they were brats half the time, and, yeah, they did have a bitch of a mother. But they were attached to Annabeth, and they'd wonder what happened to her.
But they're, like, seven. They'll be the easiest to console. And, eventually, the fact that way had an older sister would be a distant memory.
"I don't want her to."
He took the words right out of my mouth. "I don't, either, kiddo," I whisper. "I don't, either."
Percy
Once Apollo brings Jason and Leo back, we get down to buisness. And, no, we are not defeating Huns.
"Okay," Apollo takes a deep breath. "Let's go about this calmly. Does anyone have a song idea?" I suddenly felt like I was in pre-school, when the teacher sat us down and explained that 'boys and girls, we do not... pants people.' (It was Leo that started the pants-ing fiasco at Little Smiles Pre-School. It had started a trend of onesies and tightly-cinched belts.)
No one said a word. After a few seconds of silence, Apollo continued. "Okay. Does anyone know what song they refuse to perform?" Nico raised his hand. "Yes, Nico?"
Nico addressed all of us, not just Apollo. "If you dare to cover Death Cab for Cutie, I will never speak to any of you again. Capiche?" Huh. Who knew Nico felt so strongly for Death Cab.
"Anyone else?" Our album producer cleared his throat.
And I'm not sure how it started, but everyone was screaming again. I couldn't understand entire conversations, but the snippets I caught were enough to understand: we were such a mess. And until we got organized, just a little, we'd never get anything done.
"But I want to be the harmonica player!"
"-do I look like I want to keel over? Absolutely-"
"-and then she's like 'do these jeans make me look fat?' And I swear to gods, I was going to-"
"-just line the bottom of the pan. They'll taste amazing! Hazel makes brownies all the time, but she won't add M&Ms-"
"-wouldn't it just be easer to let Annabeth pick? She has to-"
Amid all the shouting male voices, there was a soft, feminine voice. "Percy?" I look away from the madness into the concerned eyes of Annabeth. She's drumming her fingers against the leather arm of the couch. "Do you think they'll mind if we slip out? It's a bit hectic."
But before we can go, Jason starts yelling at us.
Annabeth
"No, that's a stupid song!"
"Annabeth!" Jason shouts, and the room instantly grows quiet. Five sets of eyes land on me, and I cease my tapping.
"What?" No way I was getting involved in this argument. The yelling was too much.
"What's the first song that comes to mind?"
Proof. "I don't know...? Happy Birthday?" I shrug and feel my cheeks grow hot.
My answer disappoints them. Leo facepalms, Frank snickers, and Jason rolls his eyes. "Seriously. Name a song. And please don't say something like the Barney theme song, I beg of you." He sends a glare at Leo, who I assume suggested the Barney theme song.
"Oh, okay? Um..." My mind is stuck on that one. And the guys like Paramore, right? Taking a deep breath, I rush my words. "Proof by Paramore. Best song ever. Nothing else needs to be said."
All four (sorry, five: Nico's still sitting under the table with his Gameboy) boys and Apollo remain silent and still, or so they want me to think. I see them steal glances out of the corners of their eyes, the slight head gestures.
I move my hands in a 'let's speed this up a bit' motion, and Leo finally speaks up.
"I'm fine with it. It's a good song."
"Works for me," pipes up Frank, who has migrated to the other couch.
Apollo throws his hands into the air. "Finally! Okay, Percy, Annabeth... Into the booth. We have a song to record, and not much time to do it."
"Baby, if I'm half the man I say I am," Percy met my eyes as he sang,
"If I'm a woman with no fear just like I claim I am." I felt myself grinning, even though we'd sung the song at least six times. They'd tried to get us to record separately so they could mash the recordings together, but we were playing off each other's energy so much that it was foolish to record it any other way.
"Then I believe in what you say, there's nothing left for you to do. The only proof that I need is you."
"That's a wrap!" the producer clapped his hands together. "You guys can come out now." Jason, Leo, Frank, and Nico had been sent down the hall to another booth to record the instrumental. These few minutes before they got back would be the most quiet I'd had all day, and I planned not make the most of it.
"Sit down," I'd demanded Percy, pushing his shoulders down. Maybe he'll sit so I can use him as a pillow. A nap sounds nice right now. The rest of the Half-Bloods had left me mentally drained. "You are now my pillow. Don't move." Percy didn't complain. I lean on his shoulder, and my eyelids close.
Apollo had turned the lullabies back on, more quietly this time, and they were adding to the effect. I was lulling off to dreamland when Nico came bursting through the door, screaming at lightning speed.
"PERCYANDANNABETHLET'SGO! Jason says we're GONNAGOTOSTORMWOOD,WHATEVERTHEHELLTHATIS! WE'LLMEETYOUINTHECAR. LEOISN'TDRIVING!"
Fighting a groan, I sit up straight. By the time I get my bearings, Nico had disappeared. "What the hell? Did you understand a word that came out of his mouth?"
Percy shrugs. "Ehh. He said something about Stormwood Castle."
Now this piqued my interest. "They have castles in New York?" I'd thought the whole castle movement had ended in Europe, and that, with the exception of a few Hollywood mansions, there weren't any in America.
"Yeah, we have one. You'll love it- for a while, it was part of the Catholic Church and it got a bit of redecoration- it's beautiful." Calling out a quick goodbye to Apollo, Percy took my hand and we dashed out to the minivan.