"Are you certain?" Poseidon's question stopped him before he could reveal himself.
"Dad." Percy sighed. "Eight out of the twelve gods present know who I am, nine out of thirteen if we also count Hermes."
"I always have to be counted." Hermes entered with a masked Luke following him.
"You should not be out of bed!" Apollo squawked. "Hermes, you should have made him stay!"
"There wasn't a doctor around to give me orders." Luke shrugged nonchalantly.
"Can you begrudge me for not wanting him to leave my sight?" Hermes raised an eyebrow.
"Not at all," Poseidon responded faintly, and Percy realised his dad's eyes hadn't left him once.
Percy pulled his mask off and gave Poseidon a warm smile. "Hey, dad?"
He ignored the mutters from the rest of the council as their guesses or questions were answered and headed straight for his dad.
"Son." Poseidon stood and seemed to guess what he wanted immediately, shrinking down so he could wrap Percy in a warm hold.
"Jackson?" Ares yelped, followed by a sound of pain.
"What have you done now?" Apollo sighed.
"Kid shouldn't have scared me when I was holding a dagger!" Ares protested as he dropped said dagger, clutching the fingers of his left hand with his right, golden ichor quickly dripping from between them.
"And how many times have I told you, do not clean your nails with a dagger?" Apollo strode towards him, growing until he was god-sized again so he could fuss over Ares' bleeding limb.
"How else am I supposed to intimidate punk demigod upstarts when they come callin' on us?" Ares huffed.
"Maybe try smiling at them," Poseidon suggested. "It'd definitely intimidate a Great White."
"If you weren't so damn happy over getting that kid back, I'd fight you right now," Ares threatened.
"Not when you're already bleeding, you idiot." Apollo scolded.
"Who are you calling an idiot, sunshine?" Ares growled.
"I'm brighter than you." Apollo gave him a sunny smile, grip on Ares' injured fingers tightening into a painful squeeze for a moment as he bandaged them. "Can we not fight, please?"
"Fine." Ares relented, wincing as Apollo released him.
"Can we please return to the matter at hand?" Athena asked with a disdainful stare at Ares.
"I'm, err, going to go out on a limb and say that it would be a good idea to talk about what happened this morning." Hermes grinned.
"I can't quite put my finger on what happened, I need someone to make it clearer to me." Artemis nodded, hiding a smile behind her hand.
"You've hit the nail on the head there." Hades nodded.
"Funny." Ares growled. "Jackson, talk."
After some shuffling and rearranging, Percy, Nico, Luke and Apollo were sat on a hastily conjured couch in front of human-sized gods on human-sized thrones.
"So, Kronos." Percy tackled the elephant in the room. Percy could feel Luke flinch against him, his friend using him for both comfort and support.
"It appears he has risen, though we thought he would never do so again," Zeus stated gravely.
"It's why you summoned us though, is it not?" Percy gestured to himself and Luke. "You knew about the cult of his former followers trying to raise both him and Gaia, that's the reason you gave to Chaos to bring us here."
"Until we heard about the cult, we did not think he would raise." Hades pointed out.
"You assured us that the cult was just whispers of rumours, not a threat in any form." Poseidon's voice rose slightly.
"Brother, you were fragile." Zeus winced. "I did not think you could take more bad news."
"What, like you knew where my son was and didn't tell me?" Poseidon's eyebrow climbed. "How you let me think I was going insane because I could still feel his life essence when Hades had every Underworld god swearing to the heights of Olympus that he had passed, but they knew not where his soul was. I thought I had betrayed my son for some brat who can't tell ice from water, who's very existence makes me call into question what in Erebus I was thinking when I had him. I don't even remember who his mother is!"
"Actually..." Percy interrupted the brewing fight. "We need to talk about Nathan in addition to Kronos."
"Tell me he's in the cult," Poseidon begged. "Give me the perfect reason to disown him, please. Even Bessie hates him, and Bessie loves everyone."
Percy glanced over at the aforementioned creature who was swimming happily in his aquarium. "He's even worse than I thought." He shuddered.
"Topic," Athena called.
All eyes went to her.
"We're straying off topic again." She pointed out with a sigh.
"Apologies." Percy smiled sheepishly. "Kronos first, then Nathan."
"Kronos first, then potentially disowning Nathan, perfect." Poseidon nodded.
"How about we start from the beginning?" Athena suggested.
Percy glanced over Luke's head to Apollo who nodded.
"I woke up thinking about how things had been relatively quiet, which is not what we are used to." Percy began. "That the peace was undisturbed. That's when I walked out of the cabin to find Apollo waiting and I reassessed that statement. The peace was very much disturbed."
That garnered some laughs and an obligatory protest from Apollo who pretended to sulk, folding his arms and pouting.
"We were chatting, he wanted to know where I had been and what I had been doing." He adjusted the truth slightly, knowing what Apollo had been asking was personal. "And then we heard the shouts coming from the hill. Clovis, the Head Counsellor for the Hypnos Cabin had gone to feed Peleus and had discovered that there was an army waiting in the field. An army of monsters."
"It took me a moment or two to recognise Kronos' essence, I've only ever encountered it when he's been dead," Apollo interjected.
"I didn't recognise him until Apollo told me who it was. Same soul, different host." Percy nodded. "He's taller, broader, meaner and shockingly unattractive. Nothing like Luke."
"That boy was corrupted by him, he was never anything like Kronos anyway," Zeus growled. "This new host was most likely found as a replacement the first time around, groomed by Gaia and fuelled by hatred in the last few years if he is already strong enough to command a league of monsters."
"He challenged us, over-confident as he proclaimed that only Perseus Jackson could kill him. Ironic, considering it was Perseus Jackson he was talking to." Apollo grinned.
"We knew we'd only be able to settle it with a fight, it's what my team are trained for anyway. We're short on numbers, but we all suited up. Solani, one of my archers fired the first shot. She was bored of waiting. Along with Apollo and Nico, there were ten of us. There would have been more if we had waited for campers and the Huntresses, but we knew that Kronos wouldn't want to keep talking for much longer." Percy recounted, condensing it as much as possible.
"Solani?" Artemis perked up slightly.
"Before you ask, I made an Oath to not intentionally reveal any identity but my own to a god to all of my teammates." Percy held up a hand and winced. "Heros and the rest of the team have also made the same Oath."
"A stupid Oath." Ares scowled. "What if we guess?"
"I can neither confirm or deny." Percy shrugged.
"Topic." Athena murmured.
"Are you going to remind us whenever we stray?" Poseidon raised an eyebrow.
"I certainly plan to remind you whenever you stray," Athena smirked at him.
"Save your flirting for later, it's not on topic," Hermes announced gleefully, grinning as the two began to splutter.
"Anyway!" Percy intervened, wanting to prevent what he feared would be an argument between his dad and Athena. "You want to know about the fight?"
"Yes Percy, we would like to know about the fight." Aphrodite nodded, trying to keep a straight face.
"It went surprisingly quickly considering there were only ten of us and a few skeletons that Nic summoned," Percy responded.
"You told me you didn't summon any skeletons!" Apollo yelled indignantly, leaning past Luke and Percy to scold Nico.
"Did I say skeletons?" Percy asked innocently. "I must have been mistaken."
"We are having words later, di Angelo." Apollo huffed.
"The monsters fell fast." Percy quickly jumped back into recounting the events of the morning before Apollo tried to murder Nico there and then. "I could see the dust swirling, trying to reform as soon as they were down. It reminded me of then the Doors of Death were open, and they were just coming straight back to life. I half thought that they were going to reform, but I was distracted when I ended up face to face with Kronos. I managed to cut his arm, as he was leaving. It was a swing I didn't expect to connect but my sword came away with a coat of ichor. When I spoke to Solani, Angelus and Medicus afterwards, they all said that the arrows they shot that should have hit him just went through him with a golden shimmer."
"It was as if he was an illusion, not fully there yet. As if he had reformed but doesn't yet have the strength to be corporeal." Nico spoke up. "I could feel his soul, same as Apollo, but I couldn't feel his life-force. It flickered like when someone is on the verge of death – but I couldn't even grasp the flickers of it. Dad might have been able to if he was there, I don't know, but I couldn't, and Angelus couldn't either."
"You refer to Bianca here, yes?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Who has revealed her identity."
"Yes." Percy nodded. "It's just a habit to refer to her as Angelus."
"He told me that he would strike when we least expected it and transported away." Percy finished. "That's when Heros passed out. We think it was to distract us so he could make his escape."
"Why not knock you out or kill you?" Zeus frowned.
"We've already discussed that," Hermes interjected, trying to protect Luke.
"My soul is connected to Kronos in ways that Percy's is not," Luke spoke up, sounding scared to those who knew him well. "I was the easier target and me going down distracted Percy from properly striking out as he made his escape. Even if Percy was slipping into unconsciousness, he would have tried to strike, and if Kronos tried to kill him, Percy would have fought back. And Percy managing to land a blow when arrows had passed through him, probably spooked him. He wouldn't have wanted to risk a fight with no support, even if he believed that he couldn't be killed."
"Your soul is connected?" Zeus repeated.
"Yes," Luke admitted. "I was disillusioned, I fought on the wrong side of the Titan War. I fought for Kronos when I should have been against him."
"So, you were one of his followers?" Zeus pressed.
"Would you repeat what you said before about Luke Castellan if he was in this room?" Luke asked, voice now trembling slightly.
"Heros..." Percy winced, knowing where this was going.
Luke had been adamant about people not knowing and he had told Nico, Leo and Jason because they were family and friends to Percy. He'd been revealed to Apollo when Percy hadn't prevented the removal of his mask and he'd been revealed to Hermes when again, Percy had failed to prevent the removal of his mask – not knowing whether Luke would want it in the light of his father being in such a state, whether that would change his mind.
And here he was, in front of the Olympian Council, preparing to reveal his identity because Percy hadn't thought to find a good cover story as to why Kronos downed his Lieutenant instead of him.
"Yes," Zeus answered. "I would. Luke Castellan died a hero in our eyes."
"You say that because you think I'm dead and cannot be a threat again." Luke stopped leaning on Percy, sitting straight to take his mask off and gaze at the gods. "What about if I am alive?"
There was a smattering of mutterings, glances exchanged as the council took in the shock. Percy's reveal hadn't been a shock when the majority had figured it out anyway, but this, this was a shock.
"As I said, you died a hero." Zeus seemed unphased.
"Did you think that we did not know?" Hades asked. "I may have been bound by an Oath older than most of the gods here not to tell who I had released to those who did not know, but I had to authorise each name on that list. I authorised your rise without hesitation. Everyone who does not get sent to the Fields of Punishment deserves a shot at redemption."
"Admittedly, I was a little sceptical when he told me." Zeus nodded. "But I agreed with his reasoning, it was sound. You've obviously shaken his influence and turned your animosity for one another into a deep friendship, a bond that cannot be broken."
"He saved my life." Percy nodded. "I would have died on a stupid classified mission if it wasn't for him and he would have been the only one to know how it happened if he hadn't refused to let me die."
"He had to be alive, just so I could kill him for endangering himself." Luke grinned.
"Just how many times has he nearly died in the last five years?" Poseidon asked, frowning.
"How about we move on from Kronos to Nathan?" Percy suggested, pretending that he hadn't heard his dad's question.
"We will speak about this later," Poseidon warned.
"Sure dad, can we talk about you disowning Nathan now?" Percy asked, wanting to move on as swiftly as possible.
"I'm always down to talk about Nathan being disembowelled." Nico grinned menacingly.
"Disowned, Nico." Percy corrected.
"I said what I said." Nico's grin just widened.
"Ignoring Nico's murderous tendencies, we need to discuss Nathan's recent behaviour." Percy couldn't hide his petty smile. "But, before we do, I have to ask that you refrain from acting. He doesn't know that we know what we do so we can use it to our advantage."
"He's part of the cult, isn't he?" Poseidon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"That and more," Percy confirmed.
"Oh, gods above, there's more?" Poseidon sank in his seat, glaring around the room. "Come on now, it's the first time in a while that any of my kids have gone to the dark side."
"Yeah, it's also the first time you've had kids in a while," Hades smirked at him.
"Speaking of, dad?" Percy grinned at Poseidon. "I have a question."
"Yes, son?" Poseidon raised an eyebrow.
"What was the name of Nathan's mother?" Percy asked, curious about what the response would be.
Poseidon frowned. "It's been years since somebody asked me that question."
"Do you know the answer?" Percy pressed.
"No, no I don't." Poseidon frowned.
Nico stood and crossed the floor to hand Poseidon his hPhone. He gave Poseidon a sympathetic smile and grimaced. "Then, perhaps, you should watch this."