Sokrates stared directly into his eyes. “And there’s some particularly good reason, which you’ll now explain, why you brought me to this particular point in time, and not earlier or later?”

“Crocus is still here,” Thetis put in. “And he’ll be so glad to see you. He often talks about you.”

“Crocus!” Sokrates said, swinging around, plainly delighted.

“He’s a real philosopher, and a sculptor,” Ikaros said. “I’m glad he’s still going strong. I’ve always felt the Workers were one of our most unexpected successes.”

“Good,” Sokrates said. “I’ll be glad to see him.” Then he turned back to Pytheas expectantly. “Well?”

“I told you. Athene’s lost. Also, I can’t be in the same time twice, so we couldn’t come here until after my mortal body died, which happened this afternoon.”

“Right.” Sokrates’s mobile face contorted as he assimilated that.

“And Hilfa is part of her message, so I needed to come here where he was,” Pytheas went on.

“I have given my part of the message,” Hilfa said. “I don’t know about anything more the gods need me to do.” He took a step backwards, towards me.

“I hope you can lead a happy and fulfilling life from now on, free from what she has done to you,” Pytheas said. “But I fear you may still be needed.”

“Did Athene … create Hilfa?” Ikaros asked.

“She and Jathery caused him to come into being in some way, yes,” Pytheas said. “She put him in a box and gave the box to Neleus’s daughters, to open in case she was lost. I’m not clear on the details of why this seemed like the best plan. I’m expecting an explanation when we decode her notes. Unless you know more about it?”

“I don’t know anything about her message, beyond the paper she left with me, which I can’t read either,” Ikaros said. “I don’t know why she didn’t tell you herself, or leave all her notes with me, or with some one person. That riddle … She and I and Jathery did talk about going into Chaos a great deal, about ways and means. She was excited about going. The only thing I know about any explanation is that she talked about needing to take proper precautions.”

“Who’s Jathery?” Sokrates asked.

“One of the Saeli gods,” Pytheas said. “He—”

“She,” Ikaros interrupted, and at the same moment, much more quietly, Hilfa said, “Gla.”

“Gla,” Pytheas corrected himself, “is a trickster god who has gone with Athene into the Chaos before and after time.”

“Why do we need to rescue her?” Sokrates asked.

“Are you still that angry with her?” Ikaros asked, sadly.

“How long did she leave you as a fly anyway?” Thetis asked, which was what I was also wondering.