Helios's narration seemed believable. He is strong and luck was on his side. He happened to come across help in the form of retired royal guards. Then they escaped together.
No one suspects that he knows that the cavern would be there. How would he know that? Helios didn't lie about stumbling into the cavern. He knew the area it should be in, not the area it is. So he had to try several times to find it. He stumbled upon it, he just didn't stumble aimlessly into the cavern.
Helios asked carefully, "So what will be done about the demigods? I'm sure they are suffering."
The Celestial Supreme answered. "We wait for their demands."
Harkam wanted to speak up but he kept quiet. He doesn't like to wait but he thought it better not to voice his disagreement especially since he doesn't have a better idea. Instead, he turned his ire to Helios.
"You're done here. Your presence is no longer needed. Leave unless you have something important to say. We don't need the help of a useless mortal..."
He wanted to say more but he wisely chose to keep silent when he saw the frosty eyes of the Celestial Supreme.
"I understand that you're impatient so I will let this go for now. This will be the last of this. The next time you dismiss an audience that I haven't dismissed, you will face the consequences in full."
Harkam stood up and bowed slightly, "I'm grateful for your understanding. I promise that I will not interrupt the proceedings of this meeting again."
The Celestial Supreme nodded and Harkam sat down. The atmosphere in the temple turned chilly. No one wanted to talk after that particular nasty reprimand with the threat of death.
Helios spoke up again and everyone's attention turned to him. "I have something that we can do while we wait. We can capture those escaped royal guards."
"And what use will that be?" The Celestial Supreme asked.
"They are clearly important to the ant queen even more now that she has the power to control them. We can use them as bargaining chips with her during negotiations. I'm sure some giant bugs are nothing to the pantheon in the grand scheme of things that's why you ignored them. Even the god that is helping them is of little importance. If the god was so strong, they wouldn't be hiding. They will fail at the end of the day."
He made a suggestion and also gave the gods an excuse for why they didn't come up with it themselves. It is essential to keep your superiors happy as you serve them. They won't notice when you poison them.
The gods began to murmur quietly. Even Harkam nodded his head appreciatively.
'This boy has a good head on his neck. It's just like that time he suggested that we bomb the area close to the ant mound. He makes really good suggestions.'
"That's a good suggestion. I am impressed with your resourcefulness." The Celestial Supreme praised him.
"It's nothing, your divine greatness. I was just thinking about everything that could help my fellow demigods." Helios bowed graciously.
"You've made a helpful suggestion and must be rewarded for it. Ask me what you want. I will grant it to you as long as it is not that I should allow you to become a divine lord." The Celestial Supreme spoke magnanimously.
Helios became shy again. He glanced at the sun god before turning back to the Celestial Supreme. "I don't dare ask for anything. It is already my grace to be of significance."
The Celestial Supreme frowned. He said to Stelios, "Surely you must know what he wants. He is your son after all."
Stelios smiled. He asked Helios. "You want the sun core don't you?"
Helios nodded. "I want the sun core but I wouldn't dare ask for it. You might have other plans for it."
Stelios shook his head with mirth. He waved his hand and threw three sun cores to him. "That should do."
Helios bowed after receiving them. "I thank my divine father and the Celestial Supreme for this graciousness shown to this lowly and cowardly demigod that chose to escape instead of braving death like a hero should."
His words stroked the gods' ego and they felt good.
The Celestial Supreme felt satisfied too. "You may go now. We will call you if we need you for anything."
"I'll always be at the service of the great gods." Helios bowed again and left the temple.
"What a cute kid." The goddess of power and might said Stelios.
That's what most gods thought about him. He is cute. He may have given a piece of useful information, but he is still their plaything. And just like Helios said, they only missed his idea because they thought the royal guards were inconsequential. So it is a case of an inconsequential demigod noticing some inconsequential bugs.
They didn't suspect that they might have missed something about him just like they missed the bugs because they know all that is there to know about Helios. Some of them were there when he was born and are aware of his short unexposed life in the sun city. He is just a cute naive demigod. Who would suspect him of more?
Helios left the temple and found a corner to absorb the sun cores. The gods decided to wait patiently but didn't stay idle. The escaped royal guards were captured swiftly. The gods also called for more troops from various churches. One of them called for the rare Colossus.
Tree Father's POV.
A few years ago. A seed was tossed into the plane from beyond the void of the plane. This seed landed in the desert. It didn't dry up and die. It began to grow despite the harsh environment. It was tossed into a desert without water and yet it grew. It didn't grow into a herb or shrub or some ordinary plant. It grew into a tree.
