Sorry for the long wait, my lovely readers! Here you go!

Chapter Twenty Three

Point of View: Zianthos

"Where would Helios be?" Frederick questions. 

"Did he give you any clues?" Zach turns his query to me. 

I shake my head in the negative and he sighs, going quiet. 

"We'll need to draw him out," Sirius inputs. "He wants his former place as the main deity of the sun." 

"Lord Apollo, he mentioned that you stole his position. I doubt that, I always thought he passed it down," I speak up. 

"He did pass it down. He was exhausted of all the fighting. I thought he faded a millennia after he disappeared from the ceremony. Maybe my father forced him to do so because it became the era of the Olympian gods. It is no excuse, but you don't see Selene trying to kill Artemis," Apollo admits. 

"So why now? Because Kronos and Gaea called on him and corrupted him or because he feels detached?" Ishron demands. 

"He did say he was gone but that he reformed on the sun," I recall and everybody looks at me. "Perhaps he is angered at being resurrected," I suggest. 

"All immortals have pride and it probably damaged his sense of pride when Lord Apollo took over. If he was that exhausted, fading should have kept the sun from restoring him with his powers gone," Ben comments. 

"Did someone use the sun to reconnect him?" Deni wonders. 

"Like who? No deity alive other than Lord Apollo and Helios have control over the sun," Hycu remarks. 

"Lord Apollo was severely weakened during the previous two wars. If a Primordial Goddess and the Lord of Time tried calling for Helios, time would have reversed whatever process in what little time Kronos had to do so and then Gaea probably set the gears in motion. Time effects everything and a Primordial is crazy strong. With our lord being weak, Helios would have had the chance to rise again," Zachariah surmises. 

"But now we are in so much more trouble," Jarren whines. "We can fight Gaea and the rest of them, even try to convince Helios of what he really wants. But if it comes to fighting Helios...we are screwed." 

"Let's play a game," Senna says and smacks his fist into his hand. 

"You really are insane," I mutter and he rolls his eyes. 

"I'm talkin' a serious game, Lieutenant," Senna presses. "Like you said, our hymns would purify anything, especially the source of our patron's power. If we can lure him out, we can surround him. The old-fashioned cat and mouse should do the trick." 

"Who's the bait?" Wisthman hops on the idea train. 

"I mean, Helios is trying to help our enemies win. The more we interfere, the worse his frustration gets. If we do enough damage to force him into appearing, it'll work. We can't harm him, but we can certainly bind him for his own good," Senna clarifies. 

"But who to hunt?" Marshall muses curiously. 

"We purified Gration and Leon and it has angered Gaea," Lau inputs. "We should hunt the banes of the gods first as they do the most damage to not only the gods but their children." 

"Agreed," Gen speaks up. "I think we should go after Alcyoneus and Porphyrion first." 

"Why not the weaker ones like Polybotes, Ephialtes, Otus, all of them?" Zach wonders. 

"Porphyrion is their leader and King and Gaea's most prized Giant. And Alcyoneus needs to be dealt with, stupid abilities. We can recreate how stick-boy and the witch did the trick the last time he rose," Gen explicates. 

"Should we leave everyone else out of the loop?" Ishron wonders. 

"What good would they do? The enemies are stronger than usual and though their numbers have grown, they are also dwindling in skill and powers," Hycu reasons, sighing in annoyance. He's most likely remembering all the nagging everybody has done since we arrived at the Camp. 

"Some of us need to stay behind and try to train them to give them a fighting chance when the time comes," I say and see all the frowns pass through our ranks. "I will stay here with Zach and Ishron. There will be no arguments. Sirius, Senna, Marshall, Benjamin, and Frederick, you will hunt down Alcyoneus. The rest of you will go after Porphyrion." 

"Yes, Lieutenant," they all respond. 

"Good. Move out," I order and those who are not to stay exit the cabin. "We will explain the training regiment to the campers tomorrow. Strengths and weaknesses need to be worked on, survival as well." 

"Alright," Ishron sighs. 

"You think you'll survive the worry with them outside the camp without you?" Zach inquires softly. 

"I'll live," I say and a smile stretches my lips. 

I am back and ready to write! Love you, my lovely readers!