| PANDEMONIUM | Percy x Apollo

Chapter 23

Percy felt light trying to claw at his vision.

He had gone without it for such an imperceptible amount of time that he opened his eyes eagerly, not waiting to check if it was indeed advisable to do so.

It wouldn't have been the first reckless decision of his life after all.

And in this case, he had been rewarded handsomely. In quite the literal sense, because hovering over his face was the very definition of the word.

His husband.

Phoebus Apollon.

Percy's newly attained consciousness must have been limiting his common sense, because the first thing he did was run a hand through Apollo's forehead in an attempt to smooth away the lines of worry that had formed there.

That one action gave Percy a bunch of realisations. Apollo was sitting on the ground, with Percy in his arms. Apollo's hands and body felt like brands on his skin, and after the cold darkness in his cell, Percy found himself nuzzling into the other god.

But the alarming realisation was that arm he raised up to Apollo's face seemed to be covered in ichor. A quick look showed that even Apollo seemed to be covered in the godly blood.

His concern must have shown on his face, because Percy's face was soon being held in a gentle grip.

"I'm not hurt, sweetheart. You have nothing to worry about."

He then felt a gentle kiss on his forehead and found himself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

-

Tony found himself lying in his suite, in his tower, with his head resting on Pepper's lap, with her fingers carding through his hair.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Pepper questioned.

Tony had been lying there for quite some time by then. He had only just gotten the chance to process the happenings of the past few days.

Even then, he wasn't sure he had covered all the topics he wanted to.

"They're gods, Pepper." He simply said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me, Pep. I wanted to believe that they were just aliens. I mean, I've seen them fight. I've seen them do things that blow my mind. You know why there have been so many accidents in the sea lately? It's because Percy's dad is throwing a hissy fit over his favourite son's disappearance."

Pepper arched a perfect eyebrow.

"What? The man himself said it. And also, quick note, don't take their names when you don't want to attract their attention to your conversation."

"You're telling me that just by using their name in a sentence, however unrelated it may be, they'll just listen in?"

"Yup. Kinda like Voldemort. Learned that the hard way."

"Do I wanna know?"

"Definitely not."

"Hmm. What else?"

Her fingers had started massaging his scalp slightly, making Tony feel very drowsy.

"You wouldn't want to believe me, but remember Rachel Dare? She's Apollo's Oracle it seems. She actually spouts prophecies and stuff." He yawned. "I haven't seen it happen but I doubt Triton would lie about something like that."

"True. That guy is so straight laced, I wouldn't believe he was Percy's brother if the two didn't look so similar."

That brought a light chuckle to Tony's lips.