When the light receded, and the nothingness from the bright flash was replaced by a battle-weary landscape, the cold, clammy clasp around his heart clenched. Apollo dashed through the wrecked clearing, ducking under melting icicles gripping onto trembling branches resolutely and broken pieces of lumber that were half sank in the muddy ground. The heat from his blast had dispelled the hurricane that Percy had conjured up but the evidence of his emotional turmoil were scattered across the ground.

In a part of his mind, he was cringing; reminding himself that he would clean it up later, the larger, more frantic part of him was fixated on that prone form in the middle of the wreckage.

When Apollo came up to Percy, he was kneeling on the soggy ground, head bowed and staring at his palms in his lap. Apollo took in the pink burns on them and felt disgusted at himself. He chanced shuffling a bit closer, having been hovering a few inches away, wary of a potential backlash at the sight of his person. "Percy, are you okay? Gods, I'm so sorry. Where are you hurt?"

He still hadn't looked up at him and Apollo felt something in his heart throb painfully at the thought of Percy hating him forever. He couldn't help it; he lowered himself down to Percy's level and watched him stiffen a bit, still not looking at him. Then he cautiously reached out to clasp him by his shoulders, feeling him tense dangerously, before throwing caution to the wind and winding his arms around Percy firmly, as though terrified that he would escape. Which he was actually.

At first, he was worried that he'd gone too far, too fast after the emotional upheaval, because Percy remained tense in his arms and he was obviously trying to restrain himself from pushing Apollo away, judging from the tic in his hand-

Then he leaned forward with a sigh and words could not explain the relief that Apollo felt burst in his heart when Percy melted against him, still not totally trusting but willing to give him a chance. He felt his arms wrap around his neck hesitatingly.

"I'm really sorry for lying to you, Percy," said Apollo somberly into the quiet surrounding them after a few seconds.

He knew that Percy had heard the sincerity and sorry in his voice when his form relaxed a fraction more. But there was something curious and cautious in his voice when he spoke next.

"Are you really a god?" Percy asked him quietly. He squirmed in Apollo's arms and Apollo released him reluctantly but not totally as he left his hands clasped tightly around his shoulders. The position allowed Apollo to see Percy's green eyes- now lightened to a jade green but still with that wary and bemused spark in them- and unbeknownst to Apollo, it allowed Percy to gauge the sincerity in his warm brown eyes as well. He didn't know it (but he'd be relieved by the fact), that Percy accepted his apology whole-heartedly after he had caught a glimpse of the worry and care and anxiety in Apollo's eyes. It made him happy, yet a little overwhelmed, because he wasn't used to having that gaze directed at him- the gaze of a loving parent.

Apollo, ignorant of the test he'd just passed, tried himself look as honest and earnest as possible.

"Yes," he told him solemnly before cracking a small grin and sketching a half-bow," Apollo, at your service."

The small grin almost changed into a full-fledged smirk when Percy perked up at the name. "Like the sun god?" Percy asked shocked, mouth agape.

He looked more like a little kid when he didn't keep up the façade of seriousness that was seriously not suited for a mischievous face like his.

"The one and only."

"Cool," Percy looked thoughtful for a second, green eyes becoming far-seeing as he thought hard about something. Apollo was content to wait. He shifted, tired of squatting uncomfortably and decided to sit on the soggy ground, not minding the dirt that clung to his jeans, but he pulled Percy down to sit beside him nonetheless.

Percy jolted at the handling but smiled reluctantly when he saw that Apollo was giving him his utmost attention. He felt the last of his reservations leave him; it was hard to stay mad at the guy.

"Was the fire thing one of your powers?" he finally asked him quietly, remembering the wall of fire and his utter shock at the sight of it that it had dispelled the storm in his head for a fraction of a moment.

A fraction of a moment which apparently had been just enough to snap him out of his anger.

He was thankful for it now, aware of how uncontrollable he'd been, but he'd never forget the jolt of fear he'd felt at the sight of it hurling towards him. It had gotten close enough for orange-yellow flames to lick at his palms, before destabilizing into a heated gust of wind.

"Yeah." Percy quickly tuned into reality when Apollo spoke. Apollo was looking at him and he smiled slightly, having noticed his preoccupation.

Percy would have flushed but he was too busy connecting abstract dots in his head.

"And the stuff with the water," he continued on a tangent. "Was that… me?"

He observed Apollo, who had paused, uncertain of how much information he should give away.

Finally, he told, "Yeah, it was you."

"Why?"

"Because you're a demigod," Apollo stated in a matter-of-fact way, yet staring earnestly at Percy, willing him to understand how serious he was.

"A demigod? Isn't that the child of a god and a mortal?" Percy had heard of the term before, the knowledge coming to him easily due to his exposure of living with a Greek-buff of a Mum. He steadfastly ignored the tug at his heart at the thought of his mother. It was easier because the moment he'd heard the phrase, his heart had started thrumming in his through- whether in excitement or shock, because what Apollo was saying now, it was like he was implying that Percy was a-

"Yeah," Apollo's voice said and it thankfully grounded him for a second, letting him breath as he listened to the man's words. His stomach plummeted again, though, when Apollo's brown eyes were on him, solemn and filled with gravitas.

"But that would mean that my dad was-" Percy's voice trailed off into oblivion even as his thoughts did not. They were whirring like a whirlwind in his head, making impossible statements. That would mean that my dad was a god. He thought about the person who was supposed to be there with his mother. The person who would have been the person Smelly Gabe wasn't. An actual father. It sounded so weird that it made him recoil a bit from the thought.

He'd always thought of his dad with a tinge of resentment. Who wouldn't? What with him leaving his mum alone with a guy like Smelly Gabe? His mother had always discouraged such thinking when she had been alive but it had been hard to think anything positive of him when he'd been absent all his life.

Though, if he really was a god, then it would make sense, sort of, maybe- God, he didn't know anymore.

Apollo, sensing the turmoil within him, slung an arm around him to give him a brief hug from the side, pressing him against his side. He felt a bit like a furnace, Percy noted, it felt nice.

"Your dad was a god, Percy," he said gently.

Percy bit his lip so hard it stung. Helpless, his hands fluttered a bit as he tried to reconcile himself with the fact. "Bu- But," he stumbled over, still thinking furiously, "Are you sure?"

Apollo treaded carefully," I didn't know for sure at first. But I had suspected, especially when I saw you the first time. And, I know for certain now, when I saw how you got when you were angry."

His words rang in his ears. Saw you the first time. Didn't Apollo say something to him the first time they met? Something he had thought had been totally odd and out-of-the-blue that time? Didn't his mum always tell him that he looked so much like his father? His power was control over the water, wasn't it? Oh my god-

"Is my dad Poseidon?" Percy asked, his brain somehow short-circuiting after reaching the conclusion but his mouth still moved numbly. Oh God, he wanted to laugh or frown or do something but all he could do was gape, unseeming, when Apollo only nodded reluctantly. It was curious how he aborted the action halfway, though, and shook his head. Then he looked frustrated.

"No, yes, I don't know, maybe?" Apollo looked Percy over again, though, and the fire of belief in his eyes gained a few embers. "I think so, though."

Percy took a second to swallow the statement. His father was Poseidon, possibly, and he'd never in his life heard an inkling of this from his mother. It sounded so absurd! But-

He remembered his mother's insistence to go to the beach, the feeling of serenity that had always filled him standing by the shoreline, the sense that something more was hidden under the waves- something powerful. His weird ability to talk to fishes.

He forced himself to stop thinking. A resigned sort of acceptance hovered over him. There wasn't any other plausible explanation for his weird life; he might as well accept it.

"Okay," he said finally, after what seemed like an eternity of gears grinding. His eyes had settled into a mild, calm sea-green as he looked up at Apollo acceptingly. "Alright."

For Apollo's part, he was shocked but relieved that Percy had taken the revelation so… well. Personally, his mind was still spinning that his Uncle P could have produced a child that was so… level-headed- the total opposite of him. In fact, his mind was still stuck on the fact that Uncle P had a child at all.

All at once, it struck him. Poseidon had broken the oath. Poseidon had sired a child. Percy was a child of the Big Three. Percy was a child of the Big Three.

The realization was so big yet so obvious to him that he suddenly released a dazed exhale of wind. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized the implications of Percy's parentage before. Gods, what would Zeus do when he realized that Poseidon had a child? He'd never let it go. His own kid had died because of Hades. He'd waste no time! He'd ki-

His brown eyes flashed gold and hardened at the though. A flash of protectiveness made itself known in his chest. He looked at the demigod sitting, clothes grimy and face tear-streaked, beside him. Coincidentally, Percy met his gaze at the same moment. The humble trust he found in his eyes humbled him and strengthened his resolve. Zeus wouldn't lay a hand on Percy. He wouldn't allow it.

He'd work on how later. Deciding that he and Percy had suffered enough shocks for the day, he pulled himself onto his feet with a groan and offered Percy a hand up.

"Let's go home?" he prompted him gently.

Percy looked at the ostensibly plain-looking hand. He grasped it and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Okay."

Hello! Apologies for the long hiatus but I've updated to tell you faithful readers that I'm having my exams currently so I can't afford to spend my time writing fanfiction during this period. I promise that this fic is not abandoned, along with my other fanfics- just that I don't have time to update them yet. I hope you guys understand. Thank you all for your continued support and especially to those who still review to ask me to update them. I know how it feels to read a story that will never be completed so I won't do that to you guys! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And stay tuned! Don't forget to review!