Alright a couple things to get out of the way first.
First I know all of you who have been with the story from the start hate me for how long I've drawn this out. I hate when people take forever and then I have to reread most of there story just to remember what it was about, but tis life and so we deal with it. My apologies for the delay.
Secondly If you are new to the story I appreciate you taking the time to read my story and hope to make it so you don't have to endure the long wait my seasoned readers have waited through.
Thirdly as always I don't own anything not Percy Jackson and the affiliated characters, not the United States Olympic team, and not Mike Palls (who upon being informed not to use non-fictional characters by the fanfiction website, I must add has no relation what so ever to real life athlete Michael Phelps) as owning people is typically frowned upon in this day and age.
Lastly I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed as well as those of you who have just read the story. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
Percy's POV
I lay in bed that night next to Annabeth completely exhausted, trying to catch my breath. She had introduced a new victory celebration to me a couple minutes ago that I was more than happy to add to the ritual. "You were quite amazing mister Jackson I'm quite impressed." She said which I gotta say is a huge ego booster.
"Well you were pretty great yourself, but I think it's all just instinct." I answered.
"No Seaweed Brain I meant today in the pool, and please, I was fantastic." She had us both laughing. "I liked seeing you in your element." She continued when she stopped laughing, "I think I may be finally coming around to the whole Athens' Olympics idea."
"I told you Annabeth, it's all so I can take care of my future family." I gave her a kiss on the top of her head as she had curled up onto my chest. "Do you know how much athletes make for a gold medal? Like $20,000. That times 9 medals times 3 Olympics that's like a million dollars plus sponsorship money."
She shook her head at me, "Percy I don't care about the money, what I care about are your dreadful math skills. At your assumption you'd make about $540,000 on medals and the real amount for gold is $25,000 which brings your total to $675,000. Now sponsorship is where the real money is an elite American Olympic athlete can make anywhere from 1-5 million dollars a year in those."
I stopped her ranting with a kiss, "I love when you go all daughter of Athena and research everything." I laughed.
"Well when my future husband starts talking about our future together, I have to put some initiative into to make sure it's in our best interest, because he's a bit of an impulsive fish for brains." She laughed and kissed me letting me know she was joking. "Seriously though Perce, what would we do with all that money?"
"I don't know, I was thinking get my mom out of her tiny apartment and get her a big house. Probably make sure it has a big yard so her future grandkids could play in it. Make it somewhere close to the house I'd have built for my family, close to Camp Half-Blood so we could get there in a flash if need be, but far enough that monsters that wander up to the boarders of camp don't find their way over to our house for a surprise visit. I'd have the head architect at the architecture firm I start design both houses."
That apparently was all she could take because she captured my mouth in a kiss, "Wow, and here I didn't think that you thought about the future, that all sounds wonderful. Would you really start an architecture firm?"
"Of course I would I can't have you sitting around doing nothing living off my successes..ugh" I received a nice jab in the gut ending my joking, it didn't hurt but I didn't want her to think about that and hit me where my curse didn't protect me. "It was a joke Wisegirl, besides you're going to be busy trying to find me a head architect. It's not like I can have some high school student running my company…aghh." The resulting jab into my lower back did hurt however and I was left temporarily speechless and immobile.
She took advantage and straddled me giving me a glare and pointing her finger in my face. "Joking or not Kelp Head I could care less if you hire some great architect to run the company why I finish school, but if you think for one second that I'm letting someone else decorate my mother-in-laws or my house you're out of your damn mind."
I just raised a questioning eyebrow at her, "Your house?"
"Yeah, my house a mom has to rule her kingdom, you got a problem with that?" she asked with a smirk.
"No mam a 'dad'" I emphasized the word, " is there to support and protect his wife."
She leaned down and kissed me, "Gods I can't wait to start designing the houses." She rolled off of me and backed her backside into me grabbing my arm and draped it over her protectively. "Now go to sleep Seaweed Brain, you've got a big day in front of you." Before I knew it I was fast asleep wrapped securely around her.
Nico's POV
I paced back and forth across the living room again, "should I go in there and get him up." I asked Thalia who was relaxing on the couch trying to stay awake. Neither of us are morning people and it was 5:30 a.m.
She shuddered a little bit, "I wouldn't last time I did that Percy was in only his boxers and he may not even be that now that Annie has given him the green light." She gasped and looked really awake for the first time, "I never said that." She threatened.
I immediately took my hand off the doorknob, no thank you on seeing Percy like that, and Annabeth was like my big sister. I pounded on the door again "Come on Percy wake up we're gonna be late. Annabeth I know you're at least up kick him into gear." I shouted through the closed door.
"I don't wanna," was her tired reply, "3 days is too long to be apart."
"Oh please, it took you 18 years to get laid, you can't be that hurtin for it that 3 days will kill you." I answered without thinking.
There was another shocked gasp from Thals on the couch, "Oh you should run now." Was her laughed response.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY DI ANGELO!" came the shout from behind the door, immediately followed by the point of a dagger sticking out right where my head had been a minute ago. How she could have that kind of aim from behind a closed door is beyond me but I wasn't hanging around to find out. "GODS DAMN IT THALS THAT WAS A SECRET BETWEEN A GIRL AND HER BEST FRIEND!"
"Oh please you told Piper, the whole camp probably knows you are trying to make little guppies now." Thalia shouted back.
I leaned down and kissed her, "See you on Friday. Try not to get murdered, tell Percy me and Mrs. O'Leary are in the park," I told her before running to the corner and disappearing.
"WE ARE NOT TRYING TO MAKE GUPPIES!" was the last thing I heard before I was gone with a laugh.
"You'd think Thals could come up with something better than making guppies, I mean come-on?" I heard from behind me as I was throwing a 'stick' (tree branch) for Mrs. O'Leary to chase and fetch.
"I don't know I kinda liked it, I mean what else would she say?" I responded with a smile and continued to play with the hell hound.
He shrugged, "I don't know, but she's always been the good one with nicknames not me. I will say it was one Hades of a wakeup call though, having to break Annabeth out of full on murder mode." Mrs. O'Leary brought the stick over to Percy and he scratched her under her chin before throwing it for her.
"So no damage to my girlfriend or the apartment?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
He just laughed, "Gods its weird hearing you say you're girlfriend," he laughed at my blush at his words, "and no, there is no permanent damage to the apartment or you're girlfriend."
"Permanent?" he just shrugged off my question, "I guess I didn't expect her to get off scot-free. You about ready to head out? I could really use some breakfast and/or some more sleep."
He whistled for Mrs. O'Leary and we proceeded to climb on her back. When we were secure she took off into the shadows and the next thing I knew we were in the blistering heat looking at the outside of a large building with a huge domed window ceiling.
Percy's POV
To say that the US Olympic Trial Arena was impressive would've been an understatement. It was enormous and housed 4 Olympic sized swimming pools, 2 cool down pools, a diving pool, a gigantic weight room, a sauna about 20 locker rooms, a full track, and was attached to a 32 floor hotel that would house all the people trying to qualify for the United States summer Olympic team. I gave Mrs. O'Leary a dog treat I had in my backpack and sent her to roam around. As Nico and I were walking into the pool area the smell of chlorine was unmistakable even from the parking lot.
When we opened the doors we were met with a large lobby that had several concession stands, signs pointing people in the direction of different attractions in the building, and several tables with people sitting behind them registering athletes for their events. I smiled at the girl behind the table and gave her my name along with all nine of the events I would be trying to qualify for. She seemed a little shocked that I was trying for so many. "Wow Mr. Jackson, are you sure you want to spread yourself so thin with so many events. I mean the most ever was by Mike Palls and he only competed in 8 events. To hear him talk about it, it was very draining for him." She questioned, and I could tell that she thought I was just being cocky trying to show him up.
I just laughed, "Thank you for the concern about my wellbeing, but I'll be alright. I will be racing all 9 of those events in Athens, you can take that to the bank." I saw she had a notebook that looked like a reporter's notebook sitting next to her. "I'll tell you what," I glanced at her nametag on her shirt, "Jenny, when I qualify for all 9 events I'll give you the official exclusive interview that would probably get you a job at any magazine or newspaper in the country. Oh, and its Percy, not Mr. Jackson."
She smiled really wide at that, "Alright Mr. Ja…Percy, I look forward to our interview." She handed me my packet that had my schedule for the next 3 days along with my room key and a pamphlet with local attractions and restaurants to check out while down here. I smiled politely waved goodbye and walked over to Nico who was standing off to the side out of the way.
"So, am I not supposed to tell Annabeth that you flirted with the registration girl?" he asked with a smirk.
My mouth gaped open, "I did not flirt with her, she was clearly a struggling reporter and I decided to give her a break."
He laughed at me, "You are such an idiot Perce, you set up a date with her."
"Oh shit, I swear I didn't mean it like that. She was nice and I wanted to help her out. Do you think I should go back and tell her I'm engaged and it was just a simple offer for an interview?" I asked a little panicked.
He just laughed harder, "No, what I think we should do is bring our stuff up to our room, and go get some food before you have to be down at the pool. You can tell her that you didn't mean to come across as interested in a date when you qualify and set up the interview." What he said made since so we made our way to the hotel section of the building and caught the elevator to go up to our floor.
Nico and I were the only two people on the elevator. I looked at the room information and saw that we were on the 21st floor, so I hit that button. Just before the doors shut a hand came through and caught them opening them back up, and in walked Mike Palls. He looked at the lit up 21 button nodded and stood quietly to the side looking forward. I looked at Nico wide eyed and whispered "That's Mike Palls." Nico shook his head no, and I know there is the unwritten elevator rule where you don't talk and everyone just stands there quietly, but come on this was my idol and how often do you share an elevator with your idol. "You're Mike Palls." I blurted out, he glanced at me and nodded a greeting. I looked at Nico and half choked half giggled, looking back I probably looked kind of insane. "You won a world record 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. You have 22 Olympic medals and 18 of them are gold, making you the most decorated Olympian athlete of all time. You are kinda my idol, and my hero, and I can't wait to see you in the pool, I mean be in the pool with you, I mean race against you." I shot at him rapid fire like. I knew I must sound crazy, but I just couldn't stop what was coming out of my mouth. I wondered idly if this is how Annabeth felt when she saw some crazy architectural feat.
He glanced at the number on the wall that said we were on the 11th floor and he hit the 12th floor button making the elevator come to an abrupt stop at the next floor. He quickly stepped off, "You know this is actually the floor I needed to be on, it was a pleasure to meet you uhh…" He trailed off.
"Oh I'm Percy, Percy Jackson." I filled in for him, "I'm a swimmer from New York. I'm going to beat all your records." And with that the doors shut leaving a stunned and bewildered looking Mike Palls on the 12th floor.
Nico instantly was on the floor of the elevator crying he was laughing so hard. "That was the single scariest thing I've ever seen in my life." He finally choked out. "That was like a mix of Athena child fact shooting and Aphrodite child fangirling all mixed up into one terribly uncomfortable ride."
My face was bright red, "Oh my gods, I can't believe I just did that. I need to stop hanging out with Piper so much. I couldn't even stop it from coming out of my mouth, and then I insulted him by saying I was going to break all of his records. Maybe he will forget all about it?" I asked hopefully.
Nico tried to keep a straight face as he picked himself off the floor, "Oh yeah sure, he's bound to forget the stalkeresk verbal beat down he just took on an elevator, in a couple of hours when he is in the pool by you. Besides when he's swimming he'll have no reason to think of you, it's not like you challenged that you were going to take away all of his records that he's worked his entire life for. I'm sure he'll forget all about you." I may not be the brightest guy in the world, but even I could tell that he just served up a buffet of sarcasm. I hung my head and sulked off the elevator and to room 2143. When we opened the door we saw that there was a TV on one wall, a desk, an arm chair, the bathroom with a sink and shower, and 1 queen sized bed. Nico just shook his head, "You will be sleeping in no less than shorts and a t-shirt, and if you cuddle up next to me I will cut off one of your hands." He said sternly. I just nodded.
After my embarrassing display on the elevator I decided we should just order room service and avoid seeing anyone famous until I absolutely had to. This was short lived however when 2 hours later there was a knock on the door. I opened it up to see the USA's head swim coach, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Jackson, I'm Kelly Jacobs." He said offering his hand. I shook it and told him to call me Percy. He continued, "Very well Percy, I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you how excited we are to have you onboard with us this year, and I wanted to introduce you to one of our best, most experienced swimmers. I purposefully put you across the hall from each since you share so many events." He knocked on the door across the hall and my heart dropped when they answered the door. "Percy I'd like for you to meet 3 time Olympian Mike Palls. Mike I'd like for you to meet one of our most promising newcomers."
He was cut off by Palls, "Percy Jackson the kid who's going to beat all of my records." My face turned red and I laughed a little.
Mr. Jacobs looked confused. "Have you two met before?"
"I kind of word vomited all over him on the elevator earlier." I answered while shaking my head. "I'm sorry about that by the way Mr. Palls I don't know what came over me."
He just laughed and we awkwardly shook hands. After a little more small talk Mr. Jacobs led me around on a tour of the place, and before I knew it I was in the pool doing some practice with other swimmers trying to prepare for the next two days of tryouts. The day flew by and the next thing I knew I was walking into my room only to find Nico with a packed bag over his shoulder and an apologetic look on his face. "Look Perce I'm sorry I gotta do this to you, I know that the event paid for 3 days for 2 people to do everything, but Thalia is really sick with a high fever and throwing up, and I'm going to head back and help take care of her."
I was disappointed it wasn't going to be nearly as fun here alone, but I figured if the roles were reversed I'd want to leave to take care of Annabeth. "Alright man, it won't be the same without you. Go take care of your girl though." He gave me a pat on the back and then he was gone.
I showered and threw on a pair of old sweats thinking of how shitty it was gonna be to have to hang out by myself, as I laid down in bed when there was a knock on the door. I didn't even bother to throw on a shirt, I just turned sports center down on the TV and walked to answer the door. I was met with another surprise as I'd forgotten all about her coming down as well. "Hey Percy, can I come in?" Kristen asked as she stood there in a nice brown summer dress.
Didn't mean to leave it like this but I've got stuff to do and I figured I've made you wait long enough I might as well give you something to sink you're teeth into until I can update again. As always i hope you enjoyed it and that you review. Again I'm sorry about the long delay, I've just been busy and had another story idea in my head which I will be posting later on, either tonight or this week, so if you like my writing style keep an eye out for that. Don't worry, this will be my primary story that I'm working on, and I will finish it. I just had to get the other ideas I had down before my mind would let me focus on this again.
For those of you wondering about the double update, I will reiterate again. It was brought to my attention that I may have had a non-fictional character in my story and needed to change it. Sorry if it brings you any confusion.
Until next time, Bitch I'm the Bomb like tic-tic.