I summoned Titan to my office. He waited just inside the door until I motioned him in. Ares and Helios stood beside the desk, and Zeus sat in a chair with one foot crossed over a knee. Bill stood just inside the door. “When you sought Hecate, did you ever find any indication of where she may be living?”

“She has a house in Hades’s realm. When I went looking, she wasn’t there, however. Perses and I looked all over the Underworld and she was nowhere to be found down there. That is when I returned to you.”

“Circe and Hecate were absent from the battle today. We have to find them both.”

He nodded his agreement. “What do you suggest?” Titan asked.

“I don’t know, yet.” I said. I motioned with my hand and he exited the office. I stared without seeing the ships that approached the Newport News Port beyond the window. A thought was forming, but I didn’t like it. The only way to battle Circe was one on one until one of us died.

“You are thinking hard,” Zeus said.

I nodded my acknowledgement. “I have a plan, but I want to think about it first.” They waited in expectation while I pondered my idea further.

I arose from my chair and crossed the hall to my bedroom. The four followed. Without turning around to look at any of them, I asked, “Has Hermes finished healing the wounded?”

“Nearly,” Eli responded.

I looked over Chesapeake bay. The eastern horizon held a smudge of brighter sky, promising sunrise in a very short time. As I watched, the smudge grew larger and the sky changed from deepest navy blue to indigo. Hermes entered the room and announced, “It is accomplished,” meaning my followers were wound free.

Without me giving anyone instructions, I removed my clothes, just as Helios had done every morning for three thousand years and I crossed the livingroom and out to the cold tiles of the balcony. Helios, Ares, Bill and Hermes joined me, all of us similarly clad in just our skin. The wind blew softly, bringing a chill to my naked flesh and I was instantly covered in goosebumps. We watched, we five, as the sun crept closer to the edge of the earth.

The slider opened behind me and Zeus joined us on the patio, still clothed, but watching the dawn with us. My power partners and I all joined hands just as the edge of the sun crept touched the horizon, growing larger every second. We took our cue from Helios, as he emptied his mind and just felt the rays of sun on his skin. He absorbed the morning light. Our minds became one in the brightening light and communed together, feeling the warmth, tasting the breeze, getting stronger by increments. This is where Helios gained his strength and he willingly shared with me and his other partners. We breathed in the power of the sun and of the morning, the darkness of the battle slipping away.

The sun was at about 25 degrees above the horizon when we broke contact. Suddenly, I felt the cold air, more acutely than I did when we first stepped outside.

I ran in and quickly dressed in a pair of wide leg blue jeans, long-sleeved tshirt, heavy blue sweater and my blue suede booties. A glance out of the slider on the other side of the living room told me Zeus still stood, watching the morning sun. Fully clothed, I went back outside and stood beside him. “Still communing?” I asked.

“Nope. Still thinking. I know what you have to do and I don’t like it.”

“I have to meet Circe, alone.” I didn’t have to read Zeus’s mind to know that’s where his thoughts journeyed.

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“Yes, you do.”

“I intended to weaken her further. If her people will not join me, I will kill them,” I told my father.

“Has Ares’s warrior spirit finally permeated your brain?”

“Maybe. I just know if I allow them to remain alive and running free, I will have to face them again and again until they are all dead, anyway.”

He hung his head and nodded his agreement. “It’s never easy, is it?” I knew he asked about the weight of the crown on my head.

“No, it’s not.” We watched the sun for a few more minutes and then I said, “I have to get something to eat and then I will go back to the valley in the Andes.”

“Do you only think about food?” my father teased.

“Of course not. Sometimes, I think about chucking all of this and going back to my nice quiet bookstore, and thereby leaving this mess right back in your lap.”

Zeus followed me back inside the house, chuckling.

I made my way to the kitchen and joined at least thirty people in a breakfast feast. The buffet set on the bar was large and sumptuous. Ariadne, Hebe, Themis and Metis labored to keep up with the starving people who lined up for food. When I walked in, everyone moved aside to allow me to get to the buffet ahead of them. Rank does have its privileges.

I filled my plate with bacon, sausage, hash browns, waffles, and biscuits with sausage gravy. I refilled my plate with strawberries, scrambled eggs and extra large blueberry muffins. Coffee abounded and I drank my fill.

Once I finished stuffing myself, I felt ready to meet Circe’s people.

We - Eli, Bill, Ares, Hermes, Zeus and Mnemosyne - transported back to the valley we had quit just a few hours before.

I approached the waiting and expectant followers of the witch Circe. Without making any kind of lengthy speech of explanation, I said, “You will follow me by giving me an Oath of Binding.”

Pasiphae stood a little in front of Circe’s followers. “We will not,” she said.

“You do not speak for everyone here,” I said. “Anyone who wishes to join me, step forward now. My patience is not unlimited and I will not beg. You are Athenian or you are an enemy of Athena. Choose.”

I watched all 313 of the remaining ones of Circe’s people as they looked from one to another and a few began moving forward.

Once they separated themselves, I told the ones who waited before me, “Mnemosyne will witness your oath and if it is not true, she will know it and will inform me.”

They sorted themselves again and after shuffling, I gained 56 followers. Hermes and Mnemosyne took my new followers to the Valley in the Caucasus, after they took a knee before me to swear their oaths.

Ares, Bill, Eli, Zeus and I remained. Bill, as my enforcer, stepped forward and said to the 257 remaining, “You will have one last opportunity to swear allegiance to Lady Athena. You are Athenian or you are an enemy of Athena. Choose.” He waited for about thirty seconds and then said, “Very well. You have waged war against your rightful queen and you have lost. You were given two chances to join her and you refused. Therefore, all of you are sentenced to die.”

“Wait!” Pasiphae shouted. “You didn’t tell us we had to swear to you or die.”

“I shouldn’t have to,” I said to her. “I gave you the chance to join me of your own free will and not merely to save your traitorous hide.”

I motioned to Bill and he said, “Your execution will follow immediately.”

Then, just as I had done in the Caucasus Valley, and with my assistance, Eli unleashed the metaphysical power held within. I felt it spreading outward and up the sides of the mountains. Trees, bushes, grass, fish in the lake, and Circe’s people all vanished in an instant. A fine powder drifted down on Eli, Ares, Bill, Zeus and me.

“Impressive,” Zeus said to me. “Too bad I missed it the first time.” I glared at him and then brushed the dust off of my clothing and shook my head to remove it from my hair. “Let’s go home,” I said and Eli transported us to the Highrise.