Pandemonium

That night, Percy and Apollo sat with the Blofis family at the dinner table.

While the family was relieved, the news of Kronos's return had dampened the mood significantly.

Percy was beyond worried by the implications of the previous two days. Not only had Kronos managed to kidnap his mother, he had taken over an area of New York and made it a time capsule. Not to mention the disappearance of the kidnappers. There was a lot at play that they weren't seeing.

Sally had told them all that she could remember. How she'd been writing at a little coffee shop and had then woken tied up in the back of a truck amongst huge cardboard boxes.

They didn't do anything to her at all. In fact, according to her, the people who had kidnapped her had seemed like they had never been in a fight before.

While she was still in the truck, she had heard snippets of conversation.

"What I still don't get is why it's a professor." Somebody had said.

"Symbolic, I guess. Wouldn't it make an absurd kind of sense?"

She wasn't sure what they were talking about at all. It could've been about a movie for all she cared. It didn't sound in the slightest way to be related to her or her family. Percy agreed with her on that point. He was a professor, but he had no rivals academically and kidnapping his mother would achieve nothing.

She went on to tell them about how they had dosed her with some sedative again and then woke up tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse.

The men were all young, seemingly in their late twenties. One of them stepped up to her. He had tan skin, short brown hair and dark eyes. He had asked her, "What do you know of the Illuminati?"

Percy was only confused by the question.

Sally said that they seemed to expect her to react in some way but she was only confused.

"Isn't that some conspiracy theory or something?"

"Just tell us, woman. Is your son part of the Illuminati?" The voice got harsher.

"No. I don't even know what that is."

"Is he a member of the Illuminati or not?" He screamed in her ear.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

She thinks it was then that the man had walked close to her and she managed to kick him in the shins. Another had tried to contain her, but she resolutely but his hand.

"Don't try to lie to us. We know everything about your son."

Sally's eyebrows had risen at that.

"Him and his friends don't have too long to hide. The King will make sure of it."

That was when Matt had interfered and rescued her.

Percy couldn't make head or tail of it. The King was definitely the Titan King. But what did the Illuminati have to do with anything?

"So, you might've been kidnapped by conspiracy theorists to check if Percy is a member of the Illuminati?"

It was Estelle who broke the silence first. She was a stubborn teenager now. She had grown so much over the years, Percy couldn't believe it. It seemed like it had been yesterday when he had first held her in his arms. He still had a tendency to view her as a child, one that she often fought with him for.

"What do you know about the Illuminati?" Apollo asked her, like a teacher testing their student's prior knowledge before teaching.

"They were some group of extremely influential individuals who were rumoured to have influence over the whole world. That's what I've heard from the crazy theorists in my class. They try to find 'symbols' of the Illuminati in all kind of things."

"But what does this have to do with Percy?" Paul was the one who asked this time and Apollo answered him.

"I think I understand what's happening here. But I'm not 100% sure about it." He paused and then continued.

"The Illuminati were rumoured to be a group of highly intelligent and influential people. Mostly men of science who scorned religion. This was during the time of scientists and philosophers like Galileo. They were making discoveries and stating theories that defied a lot of religious texts. Over time, the legend of the Illuminati turned from men of science to worshipers of Satan to group of people in places of power who dictate the events on earth."

"Oh. I see what he might be doing here." Percy said, as he had started to gain some clarity on the idea when Apollo had started explaining.

This time, Apollo lets Percy explain what he'd inferred.

"He hired conspiracy theorists and encouraged their ideas by posing as someone who knew the secrets of the Illuminati. Then he gives them a few names and maybe some proof in the form of pictures we have together, making it seem like we are the Illuminati. It helps that some of us are very well known in our fields. He convinces them to kidnap mom for some reason. But why though? Why did he do this?"

"I can't guess why either. But two reasons stand out and I don't think I like either of them." Apollo said, his tone turning foreboding.

He continued, though Percy sensed that he did not want to say it. He'd been left with no choice but to put it out in the open.

"The first possibility is that he intends to slowly and surely plant doubts in people's minds, simultaneously making us all anxious and then going on to make a grand reveal along with an attempt at world domination. This will help him by making the public wary of us and significantly reducing support and power on our side."

Percy had thought as much, but hearing it said out loud made it feel much closer than it actually was. The room seemed to get colder by a few degrees.

"The only second explanation I can think of is that this was a distraction. While we searched for Sally, he did something that he didn't want us to notice. Something big. "

-

Percy and Apollo decided to not waste any more time and call the council for an emergency meeting.

Gods did not need sleep, but they were still extremely grumpy at being called at midnight for a council meeting. The only reason many of them decided to show up was because it was Percy and Apollo who had called it. Seeing how inactive they had been during council meetings and the way they had avoided all social gatherings, it raised more than a few eyebrows when they called a meeting.

Hermes was the first to arrive. He wore pajamas with small turtle prints on them, and a turtle plushie in one hand, the caduceus in the other. He simply looked between Apollo and Percy and smirked.

Artemis came next, looking like she always does, only pausing to raise an eyebrow at the two of them. She was followed by Demeter in a nightgown loudly complaining about her best night in months being interrupted.

"This issue better be catastrophic or I'll curse your children with vitamin deficiencies."

Then came Athena, cold and neutral and looking like a strict college lecturer. She didn't bat an eye.

Ares and Aphrodite materialised together, still half naked and not bothering to cover themselves up. Hephaestus came next and just sighed in resignation at the sight.

Poseidon materialised some seconds later, but Percy didn't even turn to look at him, pointedly looking anywhere but at him. He was still furious with the god of the seas.

Dionysus, Hera and Zeus were the last to appear. Hera was wearing a silk bathrobe and a tiara. Percy had no idea why. Zeus was in a grey tuxedo, and Dionysus in leopard print boxers.

They were gods who could look any way they wanted. Percy had no idea why they decided to materialize the way they did. But then again, he and Apollo were wearing casual jeans and sweaters.

"Why?" Zeus asked. He couldn't have sounded more bored. It made Percy's skin bristle.

"Father." Apollo began. "Sally Jackson was kidnapped the day before yesterday."

"We know that. And she was found hours ago, why are you bothering us with this right now?" Ares interrupted, lust filled eyes still fixed on Aphrodite.

"We have reason to believe that it was Kronos who did it." Percy said, using the name on purpose to induce the desired effect.

All eyes turned to him, and silence reigned.

"Preposterous!" Zeus bellowed, his voice booming like thunder as lightning struck the Empire State building. "Do not try to spread false rumours to-"

-

Needless to say, it took over two hours for the council to finally accept that they were telling the truth. They were still only willing to entertain the 'possibility' that he might be back.

"Fine, we'll treat it as a minor issue for now." Zeus had said.

When Percy and Apollo protested, he shot it down and said,

"It could be one of Odin's bastards again for all we know. Let's not jump to conclusions. Besides, I do need to send a missive to Odin anyways and ask him to formally apologize for the conduct of his wards. What transpired was simply unacceptable. Thor needs to be taught his place."

Percy sighed in resignation at that. He had expected as much, but it was still disappointing to see that the King of the Gods would be the one encouraging denial.

Besides, he was only trying to divert the topic by then, because they all knew that Thor had been given some leeway for protecting New York from the invasion and for restraining Loki. He only had to ask for their permission now to visit and he was allowed nearly a month to visit per year.

Percy was jolted back to the meeting when he felt a warm hand over his, giving it a little squeeze to get his attention. He knew that the gesture wasn't necessary, but decided to ignore it and turned to look at Apollo.

"I might have forgotten to mention something." Apollo's sheepish voice resonated in his head.

Even if his tone was light, Percy couldn't help the surge of worry that had welled inside him.

"Don't worry. It's nothing serious." He heard Apollo say in a hurry.

"I might've visited the Tower to check if you were there."

Percy narrowed his eyes at Apollo. He knew that tone, and also knew that the visit had been anything but normal. So Percy completely tuned out the council meeting and concentrated on what Apollo was about to say.

"I couldn't sense you sometime after you left and I just had this gut feeling that something was wrong because I've always been able to sense you. So I walked in like a normal person, asked to meet Stark and all that and they let me in no questions asked. The whole team was in the room and I asked if you were there but Stark got mad at me for some reason and then I realised you weren't there and hadn't been there at all from seeing their reactions and I was so worried I was walking out before I knew it and Romanoff threw a knife at me. I caught the knife and threw it back at her and...left."

Right. So the Avengers knew that Percy was supposed to be there at the Tower but hadn't reached there. And Stark was probably frustrated with trying to figure out what was going on with Percy. That'd explain why the entire team would be gathered. And Tony had only ever seen Percy argue with Apollo and figured that they weren't on the best of terms. This would've maybe played a part in Natasha throwing a knife at him. But it could also be her standard reaction to anyone walking out on her. Percy wouldn't be surprised. But something about Apollo's story didn't sit right with him.

"How did you leave the building?" Percy asked him, tone decidedly suspicious, and the face Apollo made put his suspicions to rest.

"I wiped the camera footage though." He said, like it made anything better.

"You do realise that Tony is smart right? He'll check all exits to see if there's any footage of you leaving. Then he'll try to reason how and why you vanished into thin air. I know you were worried Apollo, but be a little careful around them. Please. They're my friends, and I don't want to drag them into this."

"I'm really sorry, Percy. I admit I hadn't thought it through. I promise, there won't be a next time." Apollo looked genuinely apologetic and looked so cute, Percy mentally memorized the look on his face to revisit it sometime.

"It's ok. I understand. Let's just hope our cover story still works. I'll have to speak to them soon, or they'll go searching for information and we don't know what they'll find. We can't risk it."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Percy would love to have the support, but he knew he had to do this alone. They were his friends. They deserved an earnest explanation from his side.

"No." Percy said. "Thanks for offering though. I just have to do this alone. They're my friends after all."

Apollo seemed to understand, and they smiled at each other. Percy couldn't believe this was happening. They were talking again. They were smiling at each other. He just hoped this wasn't a cruel dream he'd been thrown into.

He remembered that he had something to say to Apollo and asked him to wait at his palace for them to talk after the meeting. Apollo seemed curious but didn't ask and squeezed his hand.

They slowly tuned back in to the meeting and waited for it to finish.

-

Percy had managed to avoid Poseidon for years now, and easily managed to do the same after the meeting. He wasn't so lucky with avoiding the rest of the council though.

Aphrodite had cornered him and conspicuously placed a condom in the pocket of his jeans. He threatened to saw her hand off. She laughed.

Then he was stopped by Hermes.

"You two are talking." He said, still in his pyjamas with a plushie. Percy didn't have to ask who he was talking about.

"I apologised. I was being unreasonable." He knew he'd have to make it up to Apollo somehow.

"Good. I know you're my friend too, but if you hurt him in any way, remember that blood is thicker than water."

If he was being technical, Percy controlled both blood and water, so he didn't see how the analogy worked here. But he didn't refute it and just nodded sincerely. It was the sentiment that counted after all.

"Send Sally my regards. I hope she's feeling better. And don't hesitate to ask for help. I believe you two." He said yawning, and vanished.

When Percy had thought he was finally free to go, he was stopped by an arrow to his throat.

"If you hurt him in any way. I'll make sure you regret existing."

He sighed. He had a lot of apologising to do. Apollo-gising, he thought. There's no way that word was derived from his name.

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I wasn't fair to him. I've apologized and I know it's not enough, but I'm trying to redeem myself." He told her, noting that she looked nothing like her twin. Long dark hair and eyes like the moon, she was the very embodiment of a scary night, while Apollo reminded him of pleasant summer days.

As the arrow withdrew from his neck, he noticed that she relaxed considerably.

"I believe the two of you." She said next. "Father is being stubborn as always. And grandfather knows that he'll repeat the same mistakes. He'll be monitoring your father"- Percy barely stopped his face from twitching -"and our aunts and uncles. It's up to us to take any decisive action in the meantime and it needs to be done in the sly."

"You are right. We'll hold another meeting today to discuss our strategy for now. Until then I want to check on my family and the camps. Security is most importance at this time and I want to make sure the camps are equipped to deal with any oncoming threat."

"I'll prepare my hunters. Thalia sends her regards."

They nodded to each other and left.

-

As Percy materialised in Apollo's wing of their palace, he noticed that everything was the same as it had been five years ago. The ostentatious decorations. The golden sheen to the walls and pillars and the sophisticated feel of a Victorian mansion.

Apollo was looking out the window in the living room. It had a beautiful view of all the Olympian gardens. Percy walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

He spoke into their mental communication link, "To the bedroom."

Apollo drew his brows in confusion, but led Percy to his bedroom. It was as grand as the rest of the mansion with a huge four poster bed and bright yellow curtains covering floor to ceiling windows. But this was more personal. More Apollo, Percy thought. It had musical instruments arranged in neat rows, paint and canvases strewn about, and small knick knacks like a tiny sundial keychain and a gold plated guitar pick.

Percy felt oddly at home. He sat on the bed and relaxed, turning to answer Apollo's unvoiced question.

"I don't want to risk being overheard. What I'm about to say has to be strictly confidential and I believe the only places your father doesn't usual spy on are the bedrooms?" He finished dryly, leaving out the king's name on purpose.

Apollo laughed at that and said, "He can spy on us, but he doesn't usual sneak a peak into bedrooms of gods, especially not of his children."

Percy grimaced at that, but nodded, satisfied with the arrangement.

"So, what did you have to say?" Apollo asked, his demeanor deceptively calm, although Percy knew him well enough to know that he was nervous.

"Ares is a traitor."