Valen woke up on the cold hard floor of what looked like a warehouse. Pushing himself off the ground, he glanced around himself. There was a hole in the ceiling large enough for multiple people to fit through. In the dim light, Valen had no difficulty making out the company logo on the metal wall, even though it had been completely covered with graffiti.

He sniffed the air, something smelt funny, like a mixture of burning oil and bad breath. Monster, maybe?

He could hear someone yelling and quietly headed towards the noise. It was definitely a monster, that much he was certain now. As he reached the room, he witnessed a boy being burnt alive in a firestorm.

Ah, I was too late? He thought, unbothered.

He heard a girl scream and glanced toward the noise, and noticed two other demigods hanging upside down from the claws of a crane, restrained by metal chains.

The cyclops shrieked with delight, but the boy didn't burn and the fire died out soon enough. The girl gasped and called his name.

The cyclops looked astonished. "You live?" Then she took that extra step forward, "What are you?"

"The son of Hephaestus," He said. "And I warned you I'd destroy you with fire."

He pointed one finger in the air and summoned all his will. He'd never tried to do anything so focused and intense—but he shot a bolt of white-hot flames at the chain suspending the engine block above the Cyclops's head—aiming for the link that looked weaker than rest. The flames died. Nothing happened.

The cyclops laughed. "An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It's been many centuries since I saw a fire user. You'll make a spicy appetizer! "

The chain snapped—that single link heated beyond its tolerance point—and the engine block fell, deadly and silent.

"I don't think so," Leo said as the monster was smashed to golden dust in an instant.

Not bad, Valen thought, this turn might just be easy.

"Not immune to engines, huh?" Leo said. "Boo-yah!"

Then he fell to his knees, his head buzzing. Valen sprinted towards him and knelt beside him, offering him a cube of ambrosia, "Here, take this."

Leo didn't respond at first, and it wasn't until a few more inquiries that he did. He looked up, "Who-?"

"An ally, now eat this." He said pushing the ambrosia towards him. As the boy took the cube, Valen left him for the other two demigods.

"Who are you?", The girl asked as he released her from the chains.

"I'll explain later, after we're out of here." He said as he let the other demigod down. Piper narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, before deciding to comply for the moment.

Carefully, he dripped some nectar into the boy's mouth, and the welt on his head shrunk, his skin returning to a healthy complexion.

"Yeah, he's got a nice thick skull," Leo said from behind him. "I think he's gonna be fine."

"Thank god," Piper sighed. Then she looked at Leo with something like fear. "How did you—the fire—have you always … ?"

Leo looked down. "Always," he said. "I'm a freaking menace. Sorry, I should've told you guys sooner but—"

"Sorry?" Piper punched his arm. When he looked up, she was grinning. "That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives. What are you sorry about?"

Leo blinked. He started to smile, but his sense of relief was ruined when he noticed something next to Piper's foot.

"They're forming again," Leo stated.

Piper stepped away from the dust. "That's not possible. Annabeth told me monsters dissipate when they're killed. They go back to Tartarus and can't return for a long time."

"Something is definitely wrong, but we don't have much time here," Valen said pushing Jason upright, "Take him and go, I'll keep them at bay."

"Are you sure?" Piper asked.

"I'm stronger than I look," He said, handing Jason to her, "I'll catch up to you guys and we'll talk then."

"Uh, dude, we're going to be flying on a dragon." Leo pointed out.

"I can fly, I'll manage." He said, "Now go."

As the demigods left the warehouse, the wind suddenly picked up, gathering up the golden dust into a sphere the size of a car. With a flick of his fingers, the sphere split into nine other spears.

Lowering the spheres to the ground, he waved his arm, expecting the shadows to swallow them up and take them back to Tartarus. But to his astonishment, it didn't work. His control over shadows were nonexistent. In fact all of the powers he had gotten from Hades were missing.

He looked up at the ceiling, "What's your play here, Erebus? Why give me only part of my power this time?"

Unsurprisingly, he didn't receive an answer.

He sighed, scattering the spheres all over the place and splitting them up even more. The metallic roar of a dragon caught his attention for a moment, and he glanced at the exit.

He spread his arms and the wind began churning violently, tugging at the cargo containers and cranes as a small hurricane was formed inside the warehouse.

It began dying as he stopped supplying it with his mana and elapsed out of the warehouse. He could see the flying form of a golden dragon in the distance, and took off after it.

When he caught up to them, Jason was already awake and Piper was explaining to him all that had happened during his involuntary nap.

"So, you're a demigod too?" Leo asked as they talked.

Valen deadpanned at him, "I'm literally flying beside you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He chuckled, "Son of Zeus?"

"It's...complicated, but no, not a son of Zeus." Valen said, he wasn't about to get into the details of his birth.

"I'm not alone, then," Jason said after Piper mentioned the son of mercury the cyclops had killed. "There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us."

"I—I know … but something Hera said. I was having a dream…" He proceeded to tell them what Hera had said to him from her cage about the exchange.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Jason shook his head. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way—"

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy—that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that … she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

Jason wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "Did you say …Porta-Potty?"

Leo told them about the big face in the factory yard. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

"Hold on, this woman, were her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping?" Valen interrupted, a feeling of dread overcame him.

"Uh yeah, I think so. Why?"

Valen cursed under his breath, "She's already begun preparing."

"Who has?" Piper asked, "Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

"Enceladus?" Jason didn't think he'd heard that name before.

"I mean …" Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Valen narrowed his eyes at her, something was wrong and he knew it. Deciding he would ask her later, he continued speaking, "That lady is the primordial of the earth, Gaea."

"Mother earth is evil?" Leo inquired.

Valen nodded, "Very much so, she's the one who convinced Kronos to kill his father and mated with Tartarus for the sole intention of creating offspring that act as the nemesis of the Olympian gods."

"The giants," Piper whispered.

"Yes," Valen agreed, "They were notoriously hard to kill, and only a god working together with a demigod could kill one."

"Good luck with that with Olympus closed off and the gods silent." Leo joked

"..." Valen remained silent, he tried to form a connection with the shadows on Festus, but it was like a void had been placed between them. It was unlike the other two times, something was off with the whole thing and Valen didn't know what.

Leo cleared his throat, breaking the silence, "Anyways, old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?

"Porphyrion?" Piper asked. "He was the giant king, I think."

Jason envisioned that dark spire in the old reflecting pool —growing larger as Hera got weaker. "I'm going to take wild guess," he said. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"I think so," Piper agreed. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, allowing Valen to delve deep in his thoughts. The last two times, he had access to all of his powers, albeit a watered down version of them, it was Erebus' way of teaching him control. By giving him a lesser version of his powers but putting him against foes stronger than he should have been able to kill. It allowed him to learn to control his powers in a way he never had before. To use the least amount of mana as efficiently as possible. But, this time things were different. He was back to his full power, but was missing a big chunk of them. It was almost as if he had been brought back to reality, but Erebus would have let him know before he sent him back, right?

The dragon dove through a break in the clouds, and below them, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighborhoods and roads.

"Chicago," Jason said.

Valen sighed, I'll think about it later, for now I should just make sure this quest is successful.

"One problem down," Leo said. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

Jason saw a flash of movement below them. At first he thought it was a small plane, but it was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiraled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and changing shape—and, just for a moment it became the smoky figure of a horse.

"How about we follow that one," Jason suggested, "and see where it goes?"

Jason was afraid they'd lose their target. The ventus moved like … well, like the wind.

"Speed up!" he urged.

"Bro," Leo said, "if I get any closer, he'll spot us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane."

"Slow down!" Piper yelped.

The storm spirit dove into the grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was way too wide. His left wing clipped the edge of a building, slicing off a stone gargoyle before Leo pulled up.

"Get above the buildings," Jason suggested. "We'll track him from there."

"You want to drive this thing?" Leo grumbled, but he did what Jason asked.

Valen sighed and split off, following the ventus through the streets, making sure to keep enough distance between them. It zipped through the streets with no apparent purpose—blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, making cars swerve. Valen almost bumped into a building one time.

A second ventus blasted around the corner of the Renaissance Hotel and linked up with the first. They wove together in a chaotic dance, shooting to the top of a skyscraper, bending a radio tower, and diving back down toward the street.

Grumbling under his breath, Valen did his best to follow them and reached a wide avenue next to a lake-side park where the ventus were converging. At least a dozen of them whirled around a big public art installation.

Valen glanced at the fountain, it was nothing too out of place. Two five-story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, flashing the combined image of a giant face that spewed water into the pool.

As he watched, the image on the screens changed to a woman's face with her eyes closed. "Gaia," He whispered.

Then the screens went dark. The venti swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to its center, popped off a drain cover, and disappeared underground.

Valen blinked in surprise, "Thats a weird place for storm spirits to go into."

He looked up at the bronze dragon, who maneuvered over to an open beside the lake. The dragon's hot metal feet hissed as they touched down. Festus flapped his wings unhappily and shot fire into the sky, but there was no one around to notice.

Valen flew up to them as they dismounted off the dragon. Festus the dragon stomped his feet. One of his ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like he was blinking.

"Is that normal?" Jason asked.

Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon's bad eye, and the light went back to normal. "Yes," Leo said. "Festus can't hang around here, though, in the middle of the park. They'll arrest him for loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle …"

He rummaged in his tool belt, but came up with nothing.

"Too specialized?" he guessed. "Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops."

Valen raised an eyebrow, there was definitely a story about that bag, he decided to ask him about it later.

This time, Leo pulled out a big plastic orange whistle. "Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen." Leo blew the whistle. The shrill sound probably rolled all the way across Lake Michigan. "You hear that, come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians."

The dragon snorted—hopefully in agreement. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air.

Piper took one step and winced. "Ah!"

"Your ankle?" Jason said, guilt clear in his voice, "That nectar we gave you might be wearing off."

"It's fine." She shivered. She took a few more steps with only a slight limp, but Jason could tell she was trying not to grimace.

"Let's get out of the wind," he suggested.

"Down a drain?" Piper shuddered. "Sounds cozy."

Valen shrugged, "I've been in worse."

According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied out except for a few patches that were starting to freeze.

They stepped to the center of the pool. No spirits tried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the gloom. Jason went first. As he climbed, he braced himself for horrible sewer smells, but it wasn't that bad. The ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor.

Valen went in next, with Piper and Leo following him. "Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered.

"No," Leo said. "Trust me."

"Most of them are about as disgusting as you'd expect." Valen said dryly.

Jason frowned. "How do you know—"

"Hey, man, I ran away six times. I've slept in some weird places, okay?" Leo cut him off.

"I was homeless for four years, I've had some experiences," Valen said when Jason turned his gaze to him. He cleared his throat, "So, where to now?"

Jason tilted his head, listening, then pointed south. "That way."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"There's a draft blowing south," Jason said. "Maybe the venti went with the flow."

It wasn't much of a lead, but nobody offered anything better. Unfortunately, as soon as they started walking, Piper stumbled. Jason had to catch her.

"Stupid ankle," she cursed.

"Let's rest," Jason decided. "We could all use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day. Leo, can you pull any food from that tool belt besides breath mints?"

"Thought you'd never ask. Chef Leo is on it!"

Valen went by Leo as he shuffled through his pack. In the years he spent alone, he had picked up a few skills. As he helped Leo prepare the food, he began talking.

"Whats the deal with that belt of yours?" He asked, as Leo lit a fire.

"This?" He said, pointing at the belt as he pulled out some supplies, "Magic I guess? Haven't really figured it out yet, I can summon just about any regular tool out of it, plus some neat stuff like these"

"Huh, it must transport them from somewhere then," He said, slicing the tofu into four pieces, using sharp wind currents as a knife.

Leo nodded, "I had the same thought."

He cooked the tofu with some bell peppers in a pan, and stirred them as they began sizzling, "Yeah, baby! Almost there."

As he took them off the pan, Valen began assembling the tacos and adding the final touches. A moment later, they were done.

"And bingo!" Leo announced as they came over with two plates stacked over each of their arms.

"Leo," Piper said in amazement. "How did you—?"

"Chef Leo's Taco Garage is fixing you up!" he said proudly. "And by the way, it's tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don't freak. Just dig in!"

While they ate, Leo tried to lighten the mood and joke around. Jason was grateful Leo was with them. It made being with Piper a little less intense and uncomfortable. At the same time, he kind of wished he was alone with her; but he chided himself for feeling that way.

After Piper ate, Jason encouraged her to get some sleep. Without another word, she curled up and put her head in his lap. In two seconds she was snoring. Jason looked up at Leo, who was obviously trying not to laugh.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking lemonade Leo had made from canteen water and powdered mix.

"Good, huh?" Leo grinned.

"You should start a stand," Jason said. "Make some serious coin."

But as he stared at the embers of the fire, something began to bother him. "Leo … about this fire stuff you can do …is it true?"

Leo's smile faltered. "Yeah, well …" He opened his hand. A small ball of flame burst to life, dancing across his palm.

"That is so cool," Jason said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Leo closed his hand and the fire went out. "Didn't want to look like a freak."

"I have lightning and wind powers," Jason reminded him. "Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs."

"I can fly and control thunder too, among other abilities," Valen said, "With what we can do, your fire powers make you no less a freak than us."

Jason nodded, "And, hey, maybe you can fly, too. Like jump off a building and yell, 'Flame on!'"

Leo snorted. "If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than 'Flame on!' Trust me, Hephaestus cabin doesn't see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen. Really bad."

"Maybe it's the other way around," Jason suggested. "Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed most."

Leo cleared away the plates. "Maybe. But I'm telling you …it's not always a gift."

Jason fell silent. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

Leo didn't answer. He didn't have to.

The fact that he was quiet, not joking around—that told Jason enough. "Leo, her death wasn't your fault. Whatever happened that night—it wasn't because you could summon fire. This Dirt Woman, whoever she is, has been trying to ruin you for years, mess up your confidence, take away everything you care about. She's trying to make you feel like a failure. You're not. You're important."

"That's what she said." Leo looked up, his eyes full of pain. "She said I was meant to do something important—something that would make or break that big prophecy about the seven demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it."

"No one ever is," Valen said, "When I went on my first quest to rescue a goddess, very similar to yours, I was far from ready. I had just entered Camp Half Blood, after four years of roaming around the country. I was inexperienced and naive, all I really had was a mixture of trickery and surprise. Even then, we succeeded in rescuing her. Although I did technically die there…"

"I dont know man, you look pretty alive to me." Leo joked, poking his shoulder.

But Jason frowned, "You mentioned the camp."

"Huh?"

"It just occurred to me, that you never told us your name." He said, looking up at him, "And you said you've been to Camp Half-Blood, even completed a quest. Who are you, really?"

"..." Valen remained quiet for a moment, confused. In the last two cycles, the demigods remembered him, they had memories of him. It was as if he had always been there. But it was not the case now, things were different than before. He did not have his shadow based powers, and the demigods dont have memories of him.

Maybe they remembered me because I knew them in my own world? He thought, the other two cycles had included demigods he was friends with after all.

"Cyrus Delphon," He said, lying through his teeth, "My name is Cyrus Delphon and I'm a grandson of Zeus."

"Grandson, then-"

"That makes you my uncle I guess?" He said, "Oh well, Olympian family relationships are too messed up for that."

"Hear, hear." Leo said.

"That's why you can control the wind." Jason said.

He nodded, "Yeah, and my sword lets me control a little bit of thunder."

"Your sword?"

Valen nodded, spinning his mothers ring, "Frourós kataigídas, or Stormguard in english."

"Okay, that's a cool sword." Leo said, "How does it work? Is the lightning constantly circulating around inside the sword? Does touching it shock you? What is it powered with?"

"Yes, no, and I don't know." Valen answered, "I've learned not to question things like this too much, most of the time they don't make sense."

He sheathed his sword back into its ring form, "Anyways, my point is that being able to control fire does not make you a freak, regardless of what your cabin says."

Jason nodded, "Yeah, you're a cool guy."

Leo chuckled, "Poor wording there bro."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. After a while Valen sighed and got up, "Get some rest, both of you. I'll take first watch."

Jason opened his mouth to protest, but Valen interrupted, "You still haven't completely recovered from your head injury, have you?"

Jason didn't have an argument to that, and reluctantly went to sleep. That left Valen alone and with ample time to consider his situation.

He sighed and sat down in a meditative position. Inhaling deeply he looked within himself. He could see the mana inside him taking the form of a thundercloud, loud and violent and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

For a moment he thought he saw a wisp of shadows, but it vanished before he could get a good look at it.

At the center of his being, right over his heart, lay a hole in the fabric of his existence. A deep, dark hole that radiated nothing but troves of dreadful darkness. A small thread jutted out of it, reaching beyond the confines of his body and vanishing into the air. His connection with Erebus was intact, and exactly how it had been the other two times. Why then, did this cycle have so many differences?

It was hard to measure time in the sewers, Valen assumed they slept for a bit over four hours. Yet he was no closer to the answers he seeked. It troubled him, the uncertainty of whether it was reality or fantasy, he did not know what to do anymore.

They started down the tunnel after breaking camp. It twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever. The long walk gave Valen even more time to linger on his thoughts. He walked a few steps behind them, lost in silent thought.

As such he almost bumped into Leo when they stopped. They had stopped infront of polished steel elevator doors, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator was a directory, like for a department store.

"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."

"Or Monocle Motors stil?" Leo said. "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up."

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level

Furnishings and Café M: 1

Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2

Men's Wear and Weaponry: 3

Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4

"Kennels for what?" Piper said. "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"

"Or sells poisons," Leo said. "Man, what does 'sundries' even mean? Is that like underwear?"

"Me, personally, I'm interested in the weaponry department." Valen said looking over the directory.

Jason took a deep breath. "When in doubt, start at the top."

The doors slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator. Jason stepped out first, sword ready.

"Guys," he said. "You've got to see this."

Piper joined him and caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."

The department store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The entire ceiling was a stained glass mosaic with astrological signs around a giant sun. The daylight streaming through it washed everything in a thousand different colors. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so they could see al the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they were hard to look at.

Two sets of glass escalators ran between the levels. The carpeting was a riot of oriental patterns and colours, and the racks of merchandise were just as bizarre. There was too much to take in at once.

"This looks more like a demigod convenience store than anything," Valen said, looking at the armoured clothing.

Leo stepped to the railing and looked down. "Check it out."

In the middle of the atrium a fountain sprayed water twenty feet into the air, changing color from red to yelow to blue. The pool glittered with gold coins, and on either side of the fountain stood a gilded cage—like an oversize canary cage.

Inside one, a miniature hurricane swirled, and lightning flashed. Somebody had imprisoned the storm spirits, and the cage shuddered as they tried to get out. In the other, frozen like a statue, was a short, buff satyr, holding a tree-branch club.

"Coach Hedge!" Piper said. "We've got to get down there. "

A voice said, "May I help you find something?"

All four of then jumped, and Valen cursed at the loss of his soul sensing ability.

A woman had just appeared in front of them. She wore an elegant black dress with diamond jewelry, and she looked like a retired fashion model—maybe fifty years old, though it was hard to judge. Her long dark hair swept over one shoulder, and her face was gorgeous in that surreal supermodel way—thin and haughty and cold, not quite human. With their long red-painted nails, her fingers looked more like talons.

She smiled. "I'm so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?"

A shiver went down Valens spine, something was really wrong with the woman. Even without his powers, he could see she wasn't meant to be there. Her soul was so tainted with death, that it took an almost physical form.

"Um," Jason started, "is this your store?"

The woman nodded. "I found it abandoned, you know. I understand so many stores are, these days. I decided it would make the perfect place. I love colecting tasteful objects, helping people, and offering quality goods at a reasonable price. So this seemed a good … how do you say … first acquisition in this country."

She spoke with a pleasing accent, and Valen could sense the magic in her voice, but his body relaxed against his will and he remained motionless.

"So you're new to America?" Jason asked.

"I am … new," the woman agreed. "I am the Princess of Colchis. My friends call me Your Highness. Now, what are you looking for?"

Colchis…that name struck a chord inside Valen but he could not tell why.

Piper poked Jason in the ribs. "Jason …"

"Um, right. Actually, Your Highness …" He pointed to the gilded cage on the first floor. "That's our friend down there, Gleeson Hedge. The satyr. Could we … have him back, please?"

"Of course!" the princess agreed immediately. "I would love to show you my inventory. First, may I know your names?"

Jason hesitated. It seemed like a bad idea to give out their names. A memory tugged at the back of his mind —something Hera had warned him about, but it seemed fuzzy. On the other hand, Her Highness was on the verge of cooperating. If they could get what they wanted without a fight, that would be better. Besides, this lady didn't seem like an enemy.

Piper started to say, "Jason, I wouldn't—"

"This is Piper," he said "This is Leo, thats Cyrus. I'm Jason."

The princess fixed her eyes on him and, just for a moment, her face litera ly glowed, blazing with so much anger, Jason could see her skul beneath her skin. Jason's mind was getting blurrier, but he knew something didn't seem right. Then the moment passed, and Her Highness looked like a normal elegant woman again, with a cordial smile and a soothing voice.

"Jason. What an interesting name," she said, her eyes as cold as the Chicago wind. "I think we' l have to make a special deal for you. Come, children. Let's go shopping."

Valen didn't even question it this time and followed her wordlessly.

A/N : Yeah, I know its a bit late, a month to be exact. I had some stuff going on, and my laptop had to be fixed, didn't get that done until like mid august. And then I was distracted by certain things (*cough* genshin *cough*) along with college. But yeah, I'm back and I'll try to update at least somewhat frequently now.